New Delhi, July 9 (ANI): India reported the highest single-day spike of 24,879 new positive cases and 487 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country to 7,67,296, according to the Union ministry of health and family welfare.   Out of the total number of cases, 2,69,789 are active, 4,76,378 have been cured/discharged/migrated and 21,129 have died.   Maharashtra remains the worst-affected state due to COVID-19 with as many a

NEW DELHI, JULY 8 (IANS): After the Union Home Ministry set up an inter-ministerial committee to probe alleged violations of law by Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, Rajiv Gandhi Trust and Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi hit back saying truth cannot be "intimidated".   Rahul Gandhi in a tweet said, "Mr Modi believes the world is like him. He thinks every one has a price or can be intimidated." "He will never understand that those wh

MUMBAI, JULY 8 (IANS): The shocking incident of at least two persons vandalising 'Rajgruha' - the Mumbai home of the late Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar - sparked off a political uproar in Maharashtra on Wednesday with various political parties demanding for stringent action.   Describing Rajgruha as a "place of reverence", Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said the government will not tolerate what has happened and strict action will be taken against the culprits.

NEW DELHI, JULY 8 (IANS): The Supreme Court Wednesday issued notice on a plea by DMK leader R. Sakkrapani seeking a direction to the Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Assembly to immediately decide on disqualification petition in connection with 11 MLAs, who had voted against Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami in 2017.   A bench comprising Chief Justice of India S.A. Bobde, R. Subhash Reddy and A.S. Bopanna took up the matter through video conferencing. The bench refused to hear

CHENNAI, July 8 (Reuters):  Indian police have arrested 12 LG Polymers officials, including its South Korean Chief Executive Sunkey Jeong, an officer said on Wednesday, two months after a gas leak at the company's south Indian chemical plant killed 12.   The arrests were made under a case of culpable homicide filed against the company, a unit of South Korea's LG Chem Ltd, and its officials, stemming from the leak that occurred in the early hours on May 7 in th

NEW DELHI, JULY 8 (IANS): The Chinese People's Liberation Army troops have pulled back around 2 kilometres at Patrolling Point 14 and Patrolling 15 in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh while the process of pull back has started at the Hot Springs, sources said on Wednesday.   The disengagement started after a two-month military standoff and it is happening "as per agreed terms in the Corps Commanders' meeting". However, it has not been verified on the gro

NEW DELHI, JULY 8 (IANS): The Jammat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) has urged Muslims to take precautions during Eid ul-Adha (Bakrid), to be celebrated in the last week of July, and has issued guidelines on offering prayers and sacrifices.   "The namaz should be offered by adhering to the social distancing norms at eidgahs and mosques. Muslims should offer the Eid prayer at home in the same manner as they had done during Eid ul-Fitr in areas where restrictions have been imposed du

NEW DELHI, JULY 8 (IANS): A Delhi court on Wednesday granted bail to Chinese, Brazilian, Australian, Fijian, and Philippines nationals who participated in the Tablighi Jamaat congregation at Nizamuddin Markaz here in March.   They were granted bail on a personal bond of Rs 10,000 each. They have also moved a plea bargaining application before the trial court.   Plea bargaining is a pre-trial negotiation between the accused and the prosecution where the accused agr

NEW DELHI, JULY 8 (IANS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be making the inaugural address at the India Global Week 2020 on Thursday, his first speech to a global audience in the post Covid-19 era.   Modi tops a list of speakers across three days between Thursday and Saturday, including External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, IT & Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Skills Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey, from India.   The line

NEW DELHI, JULY 8 (IANS): In the backdrop of the alleged custodial death of father-son, Jayaraj and Bennix, in Tamil Nadu, a plea has been moved in the Supreme Court seeking laying down of guidelines to prevent custodial torture/ deaths/ rape.   The petition moved by People's Charioteer Organization (PCO), through its secretary legal cell Devesh Saxena contends that paradoxically, Indian police system under Indian Police Act, 1861 continues to have colonial coercive mach

New Delhi, July 8 (IANS) In the absence of a COVID-19 vaccine or drugs, the researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have warned that India might record 2.87 lakh coronavirus cases per day by the end of winter 2021.   The world may witness 249 million (24.9 crore) cases and 1.8 million (18 lakh) deaths by spring 2021 if there are no effective treatments or vaccination, according to the study conducted by the researchers Hazhir Rahmandad, TY Lim and John S

New Delhi, July 8 (PTI): With 22,752 people testing positive for coronavirus infection in a day, India's COVID-19 caseload increased to 7,42,417 on Wednesday, while the death toll climbed to 20,642 with 482 people succumbing to the disease, according to the Union health ministry data.   The number of recoveries stands at 4,56,830, while there are 2,64,944 active cases of coronavirus infection presently in the country, the updated data at 8 am showed.   "T

Kolkata, July 7 (IANS) The Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government on Tuesday decided to impose complete lockdown in all the designated Covid-19 containment zones across the state from July 9.   According to sources in the state secretariat Nabanna, the new restrictions will be imposed in all the containment zones from 5 p.m. on July 9.   No business activities would be allowed in the containment zones, so that the spike in the number of fresh Covid-19 cases ca

New Delhi, July 7 (IANS) Reacting to a research report that Indians are worst-hit on the economic front and that 8 out of 10 rural households had lost income during the coronavirus pandemic, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday alleged that the economic mismanagement was a tragedy that was out to destroy millions.   "India's economic mismanagement is a tragedy that is going to destroy millions of families," he tweeted.   He said that it would no l

New Delhi, July 7 (PTI): The Central Board of Secondary Education has rationalised the syllabus for classes 9 to 12 for the academic year 2020-21 by up to 30 per cent to make up for academic loss caused due to COVID-19, Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' announced on Tuesday. "Looking at the extraordinary situation prevailing in the country and the world, CBSE was advised to revise the curriculum and reduce course load for the students of classes 9 to 12.&n

New Delhi, July 7 (IANS) Noting the emergence of "green shoots" in the economy, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant on Tuesday emphasised that India will soon bounce back from the novel coronavirus or COVID-19 crisis.   Citing examples of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), he said key sectors like FMCG have already come back to work in positive signs to bring back the economy from the crisis.   "I am optimistic that we will bounce back with vengeance,"

India has ramped up its hospital infrastructure to adequately and effectively manage coronavirus cases, the Ministry said. New Delhi, July 7 (PTI): India’s total number of coronavirus cases and fatalities per million population is one of the lowest in the world, the Union Health Ministry said on July 7 even as the country’s infection tally went past the 7 lakh-mark and the death toll rose to 20,160. Referring to the ‘WHO Situation Report-168’ dated July 6, th

New Delhi, July 7 (PTI): A close relative of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who had been staying at his official residence in Patna, has tested positive for COVID-19, highly placed sources said on Tuesday. They said test reports of the relative, niece of the chief minister, came out on Monday after which she was taken to the isolation ward at a hospital here for treatment.    The sprawling 1, Anne Marg premises were, meanwhile, being sanitised thoroughly, they added

New Delhi, July 7 (ANI): The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday said it has made the seventh arrest in the Pulwama attack case, in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed in an IED blast on February 14, 2019. NIA arrested the seventh accused named, Bilal Ahmed Kuchey, whom the agency has termed as "a terror associate" on July 5.    According to the agency, Kuchey a resident of Hajibal, Kakapora, Jammu and Kashmir, runs a sawmill at his place and harbou

New July 7 (IANS) Vikas Dubey's plunge into crime coincided with Sunny Deol thriller "Arjun Pandit" which released in 1999. Taking a cue from the movie Dubey also became Vikas Pandit, and has been known so in political circles and even among the police personnel, who referred to him as 'Pandit'.   Local journalist who came to know him, on condition of anonymity said that he was fond of being called Pandit.   The Bollywood thriller though pann