Breaking News: October 19, 2020 | Highlights

The air quality at some places in Faridabad remained “very poor” on Monday while it was “poor” in parts of Gautam Buddh Nagar, Ghaziabad and Gurgaon in the National Capital Region, according to a government agency.

There was heavy concentration of PM 2.5 and PM 10 pollutants in the air of the four immediate neighbouring districts of Delhi, according to the air quality index (AQI) maintained by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

According to the index, an AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', and 401 and 500 'severe'.

Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' on Monday said that institutions like NIT Rourkela in Odisha will play a significant role in the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP). The minister made this observation while virtually inaugurating the newly constructed Golden Jubilee Building of NIT Rourkela. The Golden Jubilee Building was planned to commemorate the completion of 50-years of the existence of the institute.

 The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday cautioned against any relaxation of response actions following the recent slight decline in COVID-19 cases in the South-East Asia Region, saying the pandemic continues unabated and our response only needs to be strengthened further to curtail virus transmission.

The upcoming festive season and the approaching winter/cold season threatens to aggravate the situation if we let our guards down, Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia Region said.

Uttar Pradesh schools opened on Monday after a gap of seven months caused by the coronavirus pandemic. According to Additional Chief Secretary (Secondary Education) Aradhana Shukla said students of Classes 9 to 12 attended the schools.

The classes were run in two shifts due to the COVID-19 protocal in the state, she said, adding that arrangements were made for sanitisers and thermal scanning at the schools.

Official sources said in 28,474 secondary education schools, parents of 33.71 students (34,68,933 out of 1,02,89,154) gave their consent to send their wards to schools.

The Tamil Nadu government on Monday announced Rs 10 crore aid to Telangana for relief works in flood-affected Hyderabad and other districts.

Chief Minister E.K. Palaniswami conveyed in a letter to his Telangana counterpart K. Chandrasekhar Rao that he has ordered immediate contribution of Rs 10 crore from the Chief Minister's Public Relief Fund as a token of support.

The Tamil Nadu government will also send blankets and mats as relief materials to the affected families.

Security forces killed a militant after an encounter in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir on Monday, police said. His identity is being ascertained, they said.

Security forces had launched a cordon and search operation at Melhura in Zainapora this evening following information about presence of militants.
The search operation turned into an encounter after militants opened fire at security forces, a police official said.

Details were awaited, he added.

Former national general secretary of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) K K Sachan and former MLA Mithilesh Katiyar on Monday joined the Samajwadi Party.

"Sachan, who was BSP's former national general secretary and former state president along with former MLA from Rajpur in Kanpur dehat, Ms Katiyar, have joined the SP," party's chief spokesperson Rajendra Chowdhury said.

Both Sachan and Katiyar met Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and assured him that they along with their supporters would work to ensure that the party comes to power in the 2022 Assembly polls.

Akhilesh Yadav said the two leaders will strengthen the Samajwadi Party.

The Uttarakhand government on Monday issued an order to not deduct one day salary of state government employees under the COVID fund with effect from October 1.

Online darshan, home delivery of prasad and COVID-19 test for priests and cooks are some of the unique measures that Durga Puja organisers in the national capital have come up with to safely host the festival in the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic.

Tata-SIA joint venture airline Vistara on Monday announced its partnership with the Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL) for its loyalty programme Club Vistara (CV).

Under the tie-up, which is effective from October 19, Club Vistara members can earn three CV Points for every Rs 100 eligible spends on stay at Taj, SeleQtions, Vivanta Hotels, and amã Stays & Trails, Vistara said in a release.

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Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said, "5,034 beds occupied at hospitals in Delhi, around 70% still available. Situation slightly better than what it was around 1 month back. Still, I request all to wear mask and maintain social distancing, so that COVID-19 doesn't spread again during festive season."

"I had said it for months. Don't know what compulsion is he under to not accept it. If even lakhs of cases aren't considered to be community spread, when will it be considered?" Jain said on Union Health Minister's statement of community spread in some districts of few states. 

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath attends E-Inauguration ceremony of community toilets and Panchayat Bhawan in the state. 

"We achieved the target of making Uttar Pradesh 100% open defecation free before deadline. Building community toilets are part of Swachh Bharat Mission," he said. 

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray visits flood-affected areas of Sholapur district and reviews the situation while meeting the local residents.

69 Maharashtra Police personnel tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, taking total cases to 25,701 in the force, including 1,908 active cases, 23,525 recoveries, and 268 deaths till date. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a virtual meeting with Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina on December 16 or 17.

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) members protest on tractors against Punjab govt ahead of State Assembly session. 

"Punjab govt didn't send earlier resolutions against Farm Laws to central govt. They are playing a fixed match with Centre," says SAD leader Bikram Majithia.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed centenary convocation of University of Mysore. He said, "There might be restrictions due to COVID-19 but enthusiasm for celebration is still same. Heavy rain dampened it a little. I express my sympathies to affected families. Centre and state are making efforts to provide relief."

No new cases reported in Mizoram in the last 24 hours. The state's COVID-19 tally stands at 2,253, including 2,148 discharges. The active cases stand at 105. 

India crosses 75-lakhs marks with 55,722 new COVID-19 cases and 579 deaths in last 24 hours.

Total cases - 75,50,273
Active cases - 7,72,055 (dip by 11,256 since yesterday)
Cured/discharged/migrated - 66,63,608 (rise by 66,399 since yesterday)
Deaths - 1,14,610 (rise by 579 since yesterday)

Donald Trump Jr said, "I think the relationship of my father President Donald Trump and PM Modi is incredible...It has been an honour to watch and I love that they have a great & powerful relationship that will benefit both of our countries going into the future."

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A local BJP leader Mushtaq Qureshi was beaten up with sticks by some miscreants allegedly over property issue. Case registered & prime accused has been arrested. Trying to locate others and further investigation is underway. 

An earthquake with a magnitude of 3.6 hit Ladakh today at 4:44 am, informs National Centre for Seismology.

BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis in Bodh Gaya said, "We will hold meetings in every five villages of a constituency through LEDs parallelly. This way we will hold 100 meetings at a time. This will be our effort towards ensuring social distancing in view of COVID-19."

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 (@jaiswalpriyaa), 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 40 million, including more than 1,118,167 fatalities. More than 30,108,031 patients are reported to have recovered.

Total positive cases country-wise:

USA- 8,387,798
India-  7,548,238
Brazil-  5,235,344
Russia- 1,399,334
Argentina-  989,680