1. India on Monday reported a record daily jump of 90,802 new coronavirus cases, taking its tally to 42,04,614. The country displaced Brazil to take the second place after the United States in terms of caseload. This is the second consecutive day when India reported over 90,000 new cases. The toll rose by 1,016 to 71,642. As many as 32,50,429 people have recovered so far, pushing India’s recovery rate to 77.31%. The case fatality rate declined to 1.70%.
  2. Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh are the five worst-hit states in India due to the pandemic. Meanwhile, the Centre has sent a team to Punjab and Chandigarh to contain the increase in new cases.
  3. The Punjab government announced significant relaxations and reduced night curfew timing to seven hours from earlier 10 hours – from 9.30 pm to 5 am. The state administration also allowed hotels and restaurants to remain open on all days, till 9 pm.
  4. Metro services resumed in a phased manner in Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Hyderabad despite India adding more cases each day than other country since the pandemic began.
  5. The Taj Mahal and Agra Fort will be open for tourists from September 21, said District Magistrate Prabhu N Singh. Superintending Archaeologist of the Archaeological Survey of India (Agra circle) Vasant Kumar Swarnkar said only 5,000 tourists will be allowed at the Taj Mahal and 2,500 tourists at Agra Fort every day. “Masks are mandatory to enter the monuments and all tickets must be purchased online,” he added.
  6. Former Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan said that India’s dismal gross domestic product figures – a 23.9% contraction for the April to June quarter – should alarm everyone. He added that the government must be “frightened out of its complacency” and pointed out that India’s economy had fared worse than the United States and Italy – two developed countries which have been severely hit by the coronavirus crisis.
  7. The World Health Organisation on Monday said it was in talks with India about joining the Covax global vaccine allocation plan. “India is certainly eligible, like all countries in the world, to be part of the COVAX facility and discussions are ongoing in that regard,” said WHO adviser Bruce Aylward.
  8. Family members of a 53-year-old coronavirus patient alleged that he died in Maharashtra as he could get an oxygen-equipped ambulance in time. The Nagpur Municipal Corporation said it will find out the reason behind the delay.
  9. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the country expects to receive its first batches of a potential coronavirus vaccine by January. Pharmaceutical company CSL Ltd has agreed to manufacture a vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University if trials prove successful.
  10. Globally, 8.82 lakh people have died from the disease, out of a total caseload of 2.70 crore, according to Johns Hopkins University tracker. Over 1.80 crore people across the world have recovered from the infection.