Covid-19: SC plans to begin physical hearings soon on a trial basis; AP’s tally rises to 3.16 lakh

10.45 pm: Read today’s top updates here.

10.34 pm: Haryana registers 994 new coronavirus cases, pushing the state tally close to the 50,000-mark, reports PTI. The toll rises to 567 with 10 more deaths.

10.30 pm: Uttar Pradesh records 5,156 cases, 5,620 recoveries and 53 deaths in 24 hours, reports ANI, citing the state health department data. There are 49,645 active cases in the state, and 1,15,227 patients have recovered so far. The toll stands at 2,638.

10.24 pm: Rajasthan’s coronavirus tally rises to 65,289, with 1,312 new cases, reports ANI, citing the state health department. The toll in the state rises by 12 to 910.

10.04 pm: The Supreme Court has said it plans to begin physical hearings after nearly two weeks on an “experimental basis”, reports Live Law.

9.47 pm: The Delhi High Court raises concern over Covid-19 cases “floating around 1,300-odd cases” in the Capital and testing through RT-PCR varying between 2,927 and 6,015 tests with an average of under 5,000 tests every day, reports ANI.

9.44 pm: An Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur student, residing in its campus, tests positive for Covid-19, reports PTI. The institute has decided to seal all of its hostels for sanitisation.

9.34 pm: Uttarakhand records 264 new cases, taking the state’s tally to 13,225, reports ANI. The toll in the state stands at 178, and there are 3,865 active cases.

9.32 pm: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan says that those with poor immunity are more susceptible to the coronavirus, and stresses on the need to boost immunity by eating right. “It is rightly said that food plays an important role in building immunity,” he says, according to PTI. “Today those people are getting more infected by COVID-19 whose immunity is not strong.”

9.30 pm: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan asks people to celebrate the Onam festival at home, reports The Indian Express. He also urges people to use “locally-available flowers” for the festival.

9.28 pm: Rajasthan’s Election Commission says polls to 129 municipal bodies will be postponed for two months amid the pandemic, reports PTI.

9.26 pm: Mumbai’s Covid-19 count rises to 1,31,542 with 1,132 new cases. The toll in the state goes up by 46 to 7,265, reports PTI, citing the civic body.

8.06 pm: Punjab on Tuesday recorded 1,693 new Covid-19 cases, 941 recoveries and 24 deaths, ANI reports. With this, the state’s tally of infections rises to 36,083 and the toll stands at 920.

8.01 pm: Chandigarh’s tally of coronavirus cases rises to 2,396 as it recorded 91 new cases on Wednesday, ANI reports. The toll stands at 31.

7.59 pm: Maharashtra registers 13,165 coronavirus cases, 9,011 recoveries and 346 deaths on Wednesday, ANI reports. With this, the total number of infections in the state rises to 6,28,642 and the toll stands at 21,033. As many as 4,46,881 people have recovered so far.

7.16 pm: The Delhi Disaster Management Authority allows the reopening of hotels and weekly markets in the Capital, The Mint reports. Gymnasiums, however, will continue to remain closed. The decision was taken in a meeting of DDMA, which was also attended by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal through video conference.

7.08 pm: Manipur records 111 cases, 96 recoveries in 24 hours on Wednesday, ANI reports, quoting the state health department. With this, the state’s tally of Covid-19 infections rises to 4,876 and the toll stands at 18.

7.06 pm: Jammu and Kashmir’s tally of Covid-19 cases rises to 30,034 after 708 new infections were reported on Wednesday, ANI reports. The toll from the disease rises by 11 to 572.

7.04 pm: Delhi records 1,398 new coronavirus cases, 1,320 recoveries and nine deaths in 24 hours on Wednesday, ANI reports. With this, the Union Territory’s tally of infections rises to 1,56,139 and the toll from the disease is 4,235.

7.02 pm: Tamil Nadu registers 5,795 coronavirus cases, 6,384 recoveries and 116 deaths on Wednesday, ANI reports. The state’s total tally now stands at 3,55,449 and the toll is 6,123. As many as 2,96,171 people have recovered so far.

5.52 pm: Andhra Pradesh records 9,742 new coronavirus cases and 86 deaths today, according to ANI. With this, the tally rises to 3,16,003 and the toll is at 2,906.

5.50 pm: Playback singer SP Balasubrahmanyam, who tested positive for the coronavirus on August 5, continues to remain critical, reports ANI. “He is on the ventilator and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support in ICU,” according to MGM Healthcare in Chennai.

4.57 pm: Bihar records 2,884 new coronavirus cases, taking the state’s total to 31,460, according to ANI.

4.55 pm: The Maharashtra government has allowed resumption of inter-district bus services of the state transport corporation, reports PTI. The services were suspended since March due to the coronavirus crisis.

4.52 pm: Iran has recorded over 20,000 deaths due to the coronavirus, reports AP. This is the highest toll for any Middle East country so far in the pandemic.

3.46 pm: South Africa has lifted a ban on cigarette and alcohol sales, almost five months after imposing it, at the country had gone into complete lockdown, AFP reports.

3.37 pm: Pope Francis warns against any prospect that the rich should get first access to the vaccine, PTI reports. “The pandemic is a crisis. You don’t come out of it the same – either better or worse,” Francis says.

3.16 pm: C Guruswamy, the former MLA of Chamarajanagar Assembly constituency in Bengaluru, who was undergoing treatment for coronavirus, has died of a heart attack at a hospital in Mysuru, PTI reports.

3.11 pm: Shops on either sides of the road in Kalyan and Dombivali towns in Maharashtra have Kalyan-Dombivali Municipal Corporation allowed commercial establishments, barring malls, gymnasiums and swimming pools, to operate on all days. The corporation also extended the timings for shops to remain open.

2.55 pm: The Karnataka government has set rules for Ganesh idols during Ganesh Chaturthi on August 22. The Bengaluru administration says only one idol allowed to be installed in each ward. The idol must not be more than 4 feet tall. Idols installed at home should be only 2 feet tall, and immersion should be done at home, ANI reports.

2.27 pm: The United States government has delivered the final tranche of 100 ventilators to India, says US Ambassador to India Kenneth Juster, ANI reports.

2.12 pm: Tripura reports 236 more cases, taking its tally to 7,663. The toll mounts to 65 with three more deaths.

1.16 pm: Odisha records 2,589 new coronavirus cases and 10 deaths on Wednesday, PTI reports. The state’s tally rises to 67,122 and the toll reaches 372.

1.12 pm: The Union health ministry says India’s coronavirus recovery rate is now 73.64% while the death rate is 1.91%. The number of recoveries in India crossed 20 lakh on Wednesday.

12.45 pm: A court in New Zealand rules that the first nine days of the coronavirus lockdown in the country (from March 26 to April 3) were justified, but unlawful, Reuters reports. The court notes that stay-at-home orders were not passed by the government till April 3, so New Zealanders’ rights and freedoms were unlawfully limited for those first nine days.

12.42 pm: Mahatashtra’s Aurangabad city records 106 coronavirus cases on Wednesday, taking its overall tally to 19,258, PTI reports. Seven more deaths take the city’s toll to 602.

12.40 pm: The Mizoram government on Tuesday allowed the authorities to reveal the identity of suspected and confirmed coronavirus patients to facilitate contact-tracing, according to PTI.

12.35 pm: Puducherry’s coronavirus tally rises to 8,762 on Wednesday as the Union Territory records 368 new cases, PTI reports. Six more deaths take Puducherry’s toll to 129.

12.33 pm: Rajasthan records 699 new coronavirus cases and 10 deaths on Wednesday. The state’s tally rises to 67,676 and the toll reaches 908.

12.29 pm: The Army Research and Referral Hospital in Delhi says former President Pranab Mukherjee has developed a lung infection, ANI reports. He continues to be on ventilator support.

11.15 am: Arunachal Pradesh reports its highest-single day rise in coronavirus cases as 133 people, including 29 security personnel, have tested positive today, reports PTI.

11.11 am: Union minister Sanjeev Balyan has gone into self-quarantine after he came in contact with Uttar Pradesh minister Atul Garg, who tested positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday, reports PTI.

10.33 am: Telangana reported 1,763 new coronavirus cases and eight deaths on Tuesday. The state’s tally rose to 95,700 and the toll reached 719.

10.29 am: Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison says coronavirus vaccine should be made compulsory for all of the country’s citizens, AFP reports. “There are always exemptions for any vaccine on medical grounds, but that should be the only basis,” he says.

10.24 am: The World Health Organisation on Tuesday urged all countries to join its shared coronavirus vaccine programme.

“We have learned the hard way that the fastest way to end this pandemic and to reopen economies is to start by protecting the highest risk populations everywhere, rather than the entire populations of just some countries,” WHO Director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was quoted as saying by AFP at a press briefing.

10.18 am: As many as 38 public sector enterprises in the country have contributed over Rs 2,000 crore to the PM-CARES fund, which was set up in March to provide for a reserve to deal with the coronavirus crisis, The Indian Express reports.

10.16 am: Eighteen jails in Maharashtra, including the Arthur Road Prison in Mumbai, are free from the coronavirus, NDTV reports. Several jail inmates have also volunteered to donate their plasma.

10.14 am: Jharkhand Health Minister Banna Gupta also tested positive for the infection on Tuesday.

10.12 am: Karnataka BJP MP V Srinivas Prasad tested positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday, according to PTI. Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa’s son BY Vijayendra, who had met Prasad earlier in the day, went into home quarantine.

10.08 am: China and the United States will allow their air carriers to double the number of current flights to eight per week amid the coronavirus crisis, Reuters reports.

10.04 am: Hong Kong on Tuesday banned Air India flights till August 31 over coronavirus fears, according to The Indian Express.

9.59 am: Japan-based United Nation World Peace Association, a non-profit organisation, praises West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s government for its handling of the coronavirus crisis in the state, PTI reports. Bengal reported a record 3,175 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, taking its tally to 1,22,753. The state’s toll stood at 2,528.

9.56 am: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday directed officials to adopt a location- specific strategy to curb the spread of the coronavirus in the state’s hotspots, according to PTI.

9.32 am: The Indian Council of Medical Research has tested 3,17,42,782 samples so far, ANI reports. Of this, 8,01,518 samples were tested on Tuesday.

9.23 am: India’s coronavirus tally rises to 27,67,273 as 64,531 new cases are reported in 24 hours. The toll increases by 1,092 to 52,889. India now has 6,76,514 active cases, while 20,37,870 people have recovered.

8.50 am: The Centre will allow foreign journalists with valid visas to come to India along with family members, PTI reports. Foreign nationals holding Journalist (J-1) visas and their dependents holding J-1X visas would now be able to enter the country amid the coronavirus crisis.

8.45 am: The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation on Tuesday reduced the perks and allowances of its employees by 50%, citing financial constraints due to the coronavirus crisis, according to PTI.

8.40 am: NITI Aayog member and the chairperson of a national task force for coronavirus management VK Paul on Tuesday said that India would have to wait for a few weeks for the results of phase one and two human clinical trials of two indigenous coronavirus vaccines, according to Hindustan Times.

8.30 am: Globally, the coronavirus has infected 2,20,46,135 people and claimed 7,78,557 lives, according to the Johns Hopkins University’s tracker. More than 1.4 crore people have recovered from the infection so far.

8.20 am: Here are the top updates from Tuesday:

1. The number of coronavirus cases in India rose by 55,079 to 27,02,742 on Tuesday. The toll rose to 51,797 after 826 more deaths were reported in the last 24 hours. As many as 19,77,779 people in India have recovered from the coronavirus so far.
2. Maharashtra registered 11,119 new coronavirus cases, 9,356 recoveries and 422 deaths, taking the state’s tally of infections – which is the highest in the country – to 6,15,477. The toll stood at 20,687. Tamil Nadu recorded 5,709 coronavirus cases and 121 deaths in 24 hours, taking the state’s tally to 3,49,654 and the toll to 6,007.
3. Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh became the third state after Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu to cross the three lakh-mark, after the state recorded 9,652 new coronavirus infections, taking the tally to 3,06,261. The toll rose by 88 to 2,820.
4. Union Home Minister Amit Shah was on Monday night admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi. Shah, who had contracted the coronavirus, had tested negative on August 14.
5. Uttar Pradesh Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Atul Garg tested positive for the infection.
6. The Supreme Court has ruled that the PM CARES Fund, set up in March in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic by the prime minister’s office, cannot be directed to be deposited or transferred to the National Disaster Relief Fund. While disposing the petition, the court added that there was no need for a fresh national disaster relief plan for the pandemic.
7. The Election Commission said that it will come up with “broad guidelines” for holding polls within the next three days, amid the coronavirus pandemic.
   
8. Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said India has begun negotiations with 13 more countries to establish air bubble arrangements for international flight services. The countries include Australia, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Nigeria, Bahrain, Israel, Kenya, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand.
9. The Supreme Court has reserved its judgement on a bunch of petitions that challenged the University Grants Commission’s directive to conclude final year exams by September 30 amid the coronavirus pandemic. The court gave three days to all parties to submit their written arguments.
10. The condition of former President Pranab Mukherjee, who underwent a brain surgery on August 10, is unchanged and he continues to be on ventilator support, the Army’s Research and Referral hospital said. He was also diagnosed with the coronavirus that day.
11. Nearly 50 lakh salaried persons lost their jobs in July, the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy has said. This was the impact of a continuing partial lockdown imposed to combat the coronavirus pandemic. India began its “Unlock” procedure on June 1, to restart all economic activities.