Breaking News: October 13, 2020 | Highlights

The Mizoram government on Tuesday announced that it will provide full sponsorship, including coaching expenses, to students who aspire to join civil and other central services.

At a meeting, chaired by chief minister Zoramthanga, the state government decided to work with reputed coaching institutes in Delhi to facilitate aspirants to prepare for the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exams, officials said.

Former Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister and head of People's Democratic Party (PDP) Mehbooba Mufti has been released from preventive detention after over 14 months. Rohit Kansal, J&K government spokesman, tweeted that "Ms Mehbooba Mufti is being released."

Mufti was detained along with other mainstream politicians on August 5, 2019, the day Articles 370 and 35A were abrogated and the erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir was reorganised as a Union territory.

All other senior mainstream J&K politicians including NC leaders Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar Abdullah, who were also detained on August 5 last year, have already been released.

India and Norway on Tuesday carried out a comprehensive review of their fast expanding relationship and resolved to further boost trade and investment ties.

The two sides deliberated on a range of key issues at a virtual meeting of the India-Norway Joint Commission which was co-chaired by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Norwegian counterpart Ine Eriksen Søreide.

In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs said the two sides also hoped for an early conclusion of the India and EFTA (European Free Trade Association) trade negotiations.

The famous Akshardham Temple in Delhi reopened to devotees on Tuesday after remaining closed for over 200 days due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with special precautionary measures against the virus in place.

Over 700 devotees visited the temple on Tuesday as compared to an average daily footfall of thousands before the pandemic, said temple spokesperson Harish Patel.

Religious places in the city had started reopening in the second week of June under relaxations announced by the central government under Unlockdown 2.0, but Akshardham Temple decided to wait further for the situation to improve.

The body of an Uttar Pradesh official who was missing for the past four days was found at a government building in Lucknow on Tuesday, police said. Naseem Akhtar, 43, of the Estate Department was deputed at the OCR building and resided on the 11th floor. His body was found in the duct on the second floor, Hussainganj police station incharge Dinesh Singh Bisht said.

The family members of Akhtar had filed an FIR stating that he was missing for the past four days. Police is probing the matter and his body was sent for post-mortem, the officer said.

The OCR building is near the assembly, and legislators, government officers and journalists used to reside there.

The state-run Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) will partially resume its interstate bus service, which was suspended in March to contain COVID-19 spread, from Wednesday, Transport minister Bikram Singh said. However, only non-AC bus service has been resumed for now.

In a statement issued here on Tuesday, the minister stated that the interstate bus service would be resumed on 25 routes in the first phase.
 
These routes include Pathankot, Hoshiarpur and Ludhiana in Punjab, Ambala in Haryana, Haridwar in Uttarakhand and Union Territory Chandigarh, he added.
 
Singh further said that the interstate bus service would be started from October 14 onwards in view of the upcoming festive season and Navratri.
 
The bus service would also be started for other states shortly, he added.

COVID-19 guidelines would be strictly followed during resumption of interstate bus service, the minister said.

The Congress in Rajasthan has formed six election organising committees while the BJP appointed three incharges for six municipal corporations which go to polls in November and filing of nomination papers for which begin on Wednesday.

According to the State Election Commission, voting for 560 ward councillors in these municipal corporations spread across Jaipur, Jodhpur and Kota will be held in two phases.

In the first phase, on October 29, voting will be held for Jaipur Heritage, Jodhpur North and Kota North municipal corporations while Jaipur Greater, Jodhpur South and Kota South municipal corporations will go to polls on November 1.

An amendment bill, providing 50 per cent reservation for women in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, was passed on Tuesday by the Telangana Legislative assembly. The assembly, which met for a day, passed the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2020, providing for the reservation and three other amendment bills.

The national capital's air quality hit an eight-month low and was recorded just a notch shy of the “very poor” category on Tuesday, largely due to calm winds and low temperature that allowed accumulation of pollutants.

According to the Ministry of Earth Sciences' Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi, an increase was also observed in farm fires in Punjab, Haryana and neighbouring regions of Pakistan, but its impact on the capital's air quality was marginal.

The city's air quality index (AQI) hit “very poor” levels in the morning and stood at 306 at 11 am. Thereafter, the pollution levels dipped slightly due to an improvement in the ventilation index.

The 24-hour average AQI was recorded at 300 at 4 pm, which falls in the “poor” category. The last time the air quality hit such a poor level was on February 12 when the AQI was 320.

Retirement fund body EPFO has launched a WhatsApp helpline service for speedy redressal of grievances of its subscribes, the labour ministry said on Tuesday.

This facility is in addition to various other means of grievance redressal forums of EPFO which include EPFiGMS portal, CPGRAMS, social media platforms (Facebook & Twitter) and a dedicated 24x7 call centre.

The Himachal Pradesh government on Tuesday said it will resume interstate services of Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) on select routes from Wednesday.

Transport Minister Bikram Singh said the bus services will resume on 25 routes in the first phase, including to and from Chandigarh, Pathankot, Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana, Ambala, Haridwar, and other cities and towns.

Only non-AC HRTC buses will ply on these interstate routes, including during night hours, in view of the Navratri and Dussehra festive season.

Congress fields Rakesh Mishra as the party's candidate from Malhani assembly constituency for the upcoming by-election to Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly.

IT services major Wipro on Tuesday posted 3.4 per cent decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 2,465.7 crore for the quarter ended September 30, and said its Board has approved up to Rs 9,500 crore buyback plan.

 Uttar Pradesh Excise Minister Ram Naresh Agnihotri has tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday.

A statue of Dr BR Ambedkar vandalised by unknown miscreants in Katrenipadu Village of Razole Mandal in East Godavari District, AndhraPradesh. "We will file a case and investigate the matter," said police.

Three minor sisters were attacked with a chemical while sleeping on the first floor of their house in Uttar Pradesh's Gonda. Doctors are investigating what chemical was used. The girls are stable. One has 30% burn injuries, while the other two have 20% & 7%. Probe underway.

Maharashtra Governor wrote to CM Uddhav Thackeray, seeking re-opening of places of worship with COVID precautions.

"I wonder if you're receiving any divine premonition to keep postponing re-opening or you've suddenly turned 'secular' yourselves, the term you hated?" letter states.

Two children - aged 5 and 8 years - died after a car rammed into them in the Model Town area, Delhi. Two, including another child, injured. Police probe underway.

Election Commission of India announces dates for elections to 11 Rajya Sabha seats as the term of these members (10 from Uttar Pradesh, one from Uttarakhand) is set to expire on 25th November.  Election to be completed before November 11. Voting to be held on November 9 and counting to be conducted on the same day.

2,275 new COVID-19 cases and 2,577 recoveries reported in Odisha till October 12. The total number of cases rises to 2,56,937, including 2,30,192 recoveries and 25,635 active cases.

BJP workers protest outside Mumbai's Siddhivinayak temple against the state govt, demanding that all temples in Maharashtra should be re-opened for devotees. Protesters try to enter the temple amidst heavy police deployment and barricading.

BJP Leader Prasad Lad said, "We are demanding that we should be allowed to enter the Siddhivinayak temple. If they don't give us entry, then we will force our way into the temple. This is a pan-Maharashtra movement as we want that all temples in the state should be reopened asap.

Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tej Pratap Yadav reached Rosera in Samastipur, Bihar, to file nomination for the Hasanpur Assembly seat for the upcoming Bihar polls. He is being accompanied by his brother and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav.

Resident Doctors' Association of Delhi's Kasturba Gandhi Hospital said that they will go on a week-long strike starting tomorrow, alleging non-payment of salaries over last few months.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi releases autobiography of former Union minister Balasaheb Vikhe Patil on Tuesday. He said that Patil worked for improving lives of poor, farmers and villagers. PM Modi said, "Opportunities being created for transition of farmers into entrepreneurs."

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team has reached the crime spot where the 19-year-old girl was allegedly gangraped and assaulted in Hathras.

India reported a spike of 55,342 new COVID-19 cases, 706 deaths in the last 24 hours. The total case tally stands at 71,75,881 including 8,38,729 active cases, 62,27,296 cured/discharged/migrated cases and 1,09,856 deaths.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan during a Group of Ministers' meeting said, "We're expecting that early next year we should have vaccine in the country from maybe more than one source. Our expert groups are formulating strategies to plan on how to roll out the distribution of the vaccine in the country."

Telangana recorded 1,708 COVID-19 cases, 2,009 recoveries and 5 deaths yesterday, taking total cases to 2,14,792 including 1,89,351 recoveries, 1,233 deaths and 24,208 active cases.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, "Aarogya Setu app from India has been downloaded by 150 million users, and has helped city public health departments to identify areas where clusters could be anticipated and expand testing in a targeted way."

Delhi High Court adjourns till November 6, a petition filed by businessman and diamantaire Mehul Choksi, who is an accused in the PNB scam, against the Netflix documentary titled 'Bad Boy Billionaires'.

Modinagar sub-divisional magistrate Saumya Pandey who gave birth to a baby girl recently, rejoined office 14 days after her delivery. She said, "District Magistrate and administration's supported me throughout my pregnancy period as well as after my delivery."

India is showing a trend of declining average daily cases over the past 5 weeks. After a month, on October 9, active cases fell below the 9 lakhs mark and have steadily followed a downward slope.

Yog Guru Swami Ramdev reveals yoga asanas to improve kidney heart and lungs.

18 new COVID-19 cases reported in Mizoram, taking the total tally to 2,202. The number of active cases is at 156 while 2,046 people have been discharged so far. No death reported in the State till date.

Hello and welcome to today's live coverage of coronavirus news in India and across the world, with me, Madhu Rao (@MadhuL13) and my colleagues Vani Mehrotra (@vani_mehrotra), Priya Jaiswal (@priyajais), Nidhi Taneja (@nidhiindiatv), Shashwat Bhandari (@ShashBhandari​), Rashi Hardaha (@rashihardaha), Analiza Pathak (@analizapathak) and Abhinav Ranjan. Stay tuned to Indiatvnews.com (@indiatvnews) for all the latest updates on what's happening around the world.

Here's a quick overview:

The total number of global cases has surpassed 38 million, including more than 1,085,352 fatalities. More than 28,597,846 patients are reported to have recovered.

Total positive cases country-wise:

USA- 8,037,789
India-  7,173,565
Brazil-  5,103,408
Russia-  1,312,310
Colombia-  919,083