1. India reported 76,472 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, taking the tally to 34,63,972. The toll rose by 1,021 to 62,550. The Centre said more than nine lakh samples were tested for the third consecutive day, adding that it was keeping a sharp focus on “test, track and treat” strategy. The country has tested 4,04,06,609 people for the infection so far. The recovery rate rose to 76.47%, while the case fatality rate is at 1.81%.
  2. The Ministry of Home Affairs issued Unlock 4.0 guidelines and allowed the resumption of metro services from September 7 in a graded manner. Social, academic, sports, cultural, religious, political, entertainment functions and other congregations would be permitted with 100 persons from September 21. The Centre said other guidelines will come into effect from September 1 and the lockdown measures are to be strictly enforced in containment zones till September 30.
  3. Union Home Minister Amit Shah will soon be discharged, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi announced on Saturday, over 10 days after he was admitted for post-coronavirus care.
  4. Uttarakhand Bharatiya Janata Party President Bansidhar Bhagat and Haryana Power Minister Ranjeet Singh tested positive for the coronavirus. The Board of Control for Cricket in India confirmed that 13 personnel out of the total contingent that have travelled to United Arab Emirates for the Indian Premier League have also contracted the infection.
  5. BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj was forcibly home quarantined in Jharkhand for 14 days for violating coronavirus guidelines. The Uttar Pradesh MP had gone to Giridih, over 200 km from Ranchi, to take part in a programme.
  6. The Madras High Court will resume physical hearing of cases from September 7. Virtual hearings will also continue to avoid overcrowding, the court said.
  7. Kerala rejected the two options proposed by the Centre for Goods and Service Tax compensation and asked the government to take loan and clear dues. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at the GST Council meeting had said that the crisis facing the states is an unforeseen “act of God”, referring to the coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, Congress leader P Chidambaram wondered why India’s economy was doing poorly before the pandemic struck this year.
  8. Maharashtra Higher and Technical Education Minister Uday Samant said that a decision about modalities of final year examinations will be announced on Monday. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has directed his ministry to conduct examinations with utmost precaution and in a simplified manner, he added.
  9. Thousands of people took part in a protest in Berlin against pandemic restrictions after a court overturned a ban issued by authorities in the German capital.
  10. Globally, the coronavirus has infected more than 2.46 crore people and killed over 8.35 lakh, according to the Johns Hopkins University’s tracker. Over 1.61 crore people across the world have recovered from the infection.