Breaking News: October 20, 2020 | Highlights

Singapore citizens, permanent residents and long-term pass holders, who travelled out of the country on or after March 27, will now be able to access government subsidies and insurance coverage for treatment if they are found to be COVID-19 positive after their return.

A low-pressure area, the third in a month, formed over the Bay of Bengal on Tuesday and it is expected to bring heavy rains in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and West Bengal in the next three days, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

It said conditions are becoming favourable for further withdrawal of the southwest monsoon from the remaining parts of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, northern West Bengal and Sikkim, Jharkhand, the remaining parts of Madhya Pradesh, northern Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra, and the remaining parts of Gujarat during the next two to three days. 

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday announced that all women passengers will be allowed to travel in local trains in Mumbai and suburbs from Wednesday.

Currently, only those engaged in frontline duties and the essential staff as categorized by the Maharashtra government are allowed to travel in the local trains run by the Central Railway and the Western Railway, through a QR code mechanism.

The Maharashtra government on October 16 requested the Railways to allow women to commute by local trains during the non-peak hours - from 11 am to 3 pm, and from 7 pm till the end of the day's services. 

Finland’s national carrier said Tuesday it will cut 700 jobs - over 10% of its workforce - by the end of March next year due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global travel.

Finnair, which is heavily focused on flights from Europe to Asia, said Tuesday that some 600 of the redundancies would be in Finland and another 100 outside the Nordic country.

One person was killed after an old building collapsed in the Entally area of Kolkata on Tuesday, police said. The person was trapped under the debris of the two-storey dilapidated structure on Convent Road, a police officer said.

The building came crashing down in the morning hours, he said.

The person was declared dead by a doctor after being dug out from beneath the debris, the officer said.

The identity of the person is yet to be known, he said, adding there are no reports of more people being trapped under the debris. The rubble is being cleared and disaster management personnel along with the police are at the spot.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said the number of seats in the MBBS course has increased to 4,000 in the state with the
addition of 250 seats in two medical colleges.

The Punjab Assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed four Bills and adopted a resolution against the Centre’s farm laws. The Bills were passed after an over five-hour discussion, in which BJP MLAs did not take part. The BJP has two legislators in the assembly. The Opposition SAD, AAP and Lok Insaaf MLAs backed the legislations.

The state government's legislative counter provides for imprisonment of not less than three years and fine for sale or purchase of wheat or paddy under a farming agreement below the minimum support price.

The provisions exempt farmers from attachment of land up to 2.5 acres and provide for prevention of hoarding and black marketing of agricultural produce.

Earlier, Chief Amarinder Singh had urged all parties to unanimously pass his government’s “historic Bills” in the Vidhan Sabha.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will visit Sri Lanka and the Maldives this month, a senior official here said on Tuesday, as America seeks to balance China's growing influence in the region. Pompeo will hold talks in Colombo on October 28, cabinet spokesman and minister Keheliya Rambukwella said.

Rambukwella said Pompeo's visit will focus on the travel bubble arrangement in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The foreign ministry officials said the US Secretary of State will travel to the Maldives after Sri Lanka.

Pompeo's visit comes two weeks after a high-powered Chinese delegation led by ruling Communist Party Politburo member Yang Jiechi visited Colombo.

Florida, a key battleground US state, broke its record for in-person early voting for the November 3 presidential election, with at least 350,000 people casting their ballots.

Voting by mail, which started earlier this month, racked up more than 2.5 million ballots headed into Monday, more than double the 1.2 million during the same timeframe in 2016, reports Politico news.

A team of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) visits Hathras victim's residence for the second time to meet the family members.

Two unidentified terrorists killed in an ongoing encounter at Hakripora (Kakapora) area of Pulwama. Police and security forces are on the job. Further details shall follow, says Kashmir Zone Police

Delhi High Court seeks response of Election commission of India on a plea by Plural Party to use a common election symbol of chessboard to contest #BiharElections2020

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be sharing a message for citizens at 6 PM today.

Three people were killed when their motorcycle was hit by a truck at Dunkin Ganj crossing here, police said on Tuesday. The accident took place under Pakdi police station area on Monday evening when the motorcycle was trying to overtake the truck, they said.

Those killed have been identified as Ramakant Rajbhar (48), Kishan Dev Rajbha (45) and Ramashray Rajbhar (36 ), police said, adding that the bodies have been sent for post-mortem.

Infuriated over the the accident, villagers staged a protest at Nagra Sikandarpur Road on Tuesday. Senior officials rushed to the spot and assured them of adequate compensation, following which the protest ended. 

Union Cabinet meeting to be held tomorrow, via video conferencing.

National Investigation Agency (NIA) to file chargesheet today against the ten accused in Hizbul Mujahideen narco-terror case in NIA Special Court, Mohali.

The percentage of active cases have fallen below 10%. The total positive cases of the country today are less than 7.5 lakhs (7,48,538) and comprise merely 9.85% of the total cases, says Ministry of Health

The total recovered cases have crossed 67 lakhs (67,33,328). The difference between active cases and recovered cases is consistently increasing and stands at 59,84,790 today. 69,720 patients have recovered and discharged in the last 24 hours.

Around 78% of the new recovered cases are observed to be concentrated in 10 states/UTs and 75% of the new confirmed cases are from 10 states and UTs. Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala contribute more than 5,000 to the new confirmed cases, says Ministry of Health

Two men have been hacked to death and their bodies dumped beside a road in Jharkhand''s Gumla district, police said on Tuesday. The bodies were found near Khurshuta village in Raidih police station area on Monday, Chainpur SDPO Kuldeep Kumar said.

The deceased have been identified as Vinod Ekka (24) and Rahul Tirkey (28), he said. Prima facie, it seems the murder was a result of a personal rivalry but this can be confirmed only after a detailed probe, the officer said.

The bodies have been sent for post-mortem examination, he added. 

Sensex inches 12.84 points higher to 40,444.44 in opening session; Nifty up 3.05 points to 11,876.10. 

A minor girl, who was allegedly raped in Basantpur area of Balrampur, Chhattisgarh attempts suicide by consuming poison.

"After incident on 16th Oct, girl consumed poison & was hospitalised for 2 days. Team has been sent to arrest  accused," says Prashant Katalam, ASP, Balrampur

As per new directives, helmets are mandatory for all two-wheeler riders who are over four years of age. State govt has imposed a 3-month suspension of driving license along with a penalty in case of violation, says State Department of Transport, Karnataka.

A body of a girl has been found from the bushes under the Tariyani police station area limits. There are speculations that she was murdered after being raped. We are investigating the matter, said Santosh Kumar, SP Sheohar.

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 1,122,953 fatalities. More than 40,639,204 patients are reported to have recovered.

Total positive cases country-wise: