New Delhi, Jan 17 (PTI) Following are the top stories at 1 pm:DEL25 BIRJU MAHARAJ-2NDLD DEADLegendary Kathak dancer Birju Maharaj dies in his Delhi homeNew Delhi: Kathak doyen Birju Maharaj, who took the classical Indian dance form to the world and helped make it accessible for generations of students and audiences, died at his home here in the early hours of Monday. He would have been 84 next month.DEL16 VIRUS-LD CASESIndia records 2,58,089 new coronavirus cases, 385 deaths; positivity rate 19.65 per centNew Delhi: India saw a single-day rise of 2,58,089 new coronavirus infections taking the tally of cases to 3,73,80,253, which included 8,209 cases of the Omicron variant detected so far, according to data updated by the Union Health Ministry on Monday.DEL1 WEF-OXFAM-WEALTHWealth of India's 10 richest enough to fund school, higher education of every child for 25 years: StudyNew Delhi/Davos: Indian billionaires saw their combined fortunes more than double during the COVID-19 pandemic, and their count shot up by 39 per cent to 142, while the wealth of the ten richest is enough to fund school and higher education of children in the country for 25 years, a new study showed on Monday.DEL26 CHIDAMBARAM-LD GOA POLLSChidambaram says contest in Goa between Congress & BJP, Kejriwal hits backNew Delhi: Asserting that the contest in Goa is between the Congress and the BJP, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Monday said his assessment that the AAP and the TMC will only fracture the non-BJP vote has been confirmed by Arvind Kejriwal.DEL27 POLL-AAP-PUNJAB-CM FACEAAP's chief ministerial candidate for Punjab polls to be announced on Tuesday: KejriwalNew Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said that his party's chief ministerial candidate for Punjab assembly polls will be announced on Tuesday.CAL4 AS-MN-EARTHQUAKESTwo earthquakes hit parts of North EastGuwahati: Two earthquakes of magnitude 3.5 and 3.8 hit parts of the North East region in a span of 30 minutes on Monday, National Center for Seismology said.BOM2 POLL-GA-LOURENCOGoa polls: Joining 'outsider' TMC was mistake, says Lourenco; hints at returning to Cong campPanaji: Weeks after he walked out of the Congress fold, joined the Trinamool Congress and quit it a day before without assigning any reason, former Goa Congress working president Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco on Monday hinted at rejoining his parent party.BOM1 MH-IIT BOMBAY-SUICIDEIIT-Bombay student jumps to death from hostel buildingMumbai: A 26-year-old student of IIT Bombay committed suicide by jumping off the terrace of his hostel located on the Powai campus here in the early hours on Monday, police said.MES1 KL-ENVIRONMENTALIST-DEMISENoted environmentalist M K Prasad passes wayKochi: Noted environmentalist Prof M K Prasad, a prominent figure in the historic grassroot level movement to save the evergreen tropical rain forests in Kerala's Silent Valley from destruction, passed away on Monday morning, his colleagues said here.FOREIGNFGN20 CHINA-POPULATIONChina's population grows by less than half-a-million in 2021; birth rate falls for 5th consecutive yearBeijing: China's population grew to 1.4126 billion by the end of last year, increasing by less than half-a-million as the birth rate fell for the fifth consecutive year, stoking fears of a looming demographic crisis and a consequent economic slowdown in the world's most populous nation. By K J M Varma