Breaking News: August 28, 2020 | As it happened

Full-service carrier Vistara on Friday operated its first long-haul flight from Delhi to London. As per an airline statement, the flight was operated on the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.

Vistara is operating the special, non-stop flights under the bilateral "transport bubble" from August 28 to October 24, and will fly thrice a week between the two capital cities.

Vistara's Chief Executive Officer Leslie Thng said: "Though not regular scheduled flights, we are excited about starting operations to our first long-haul destination."

"This, in many ways, marks the beginning of a new phase of growth in the global skies for Vistara."

The airline is a joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines Ltd.

Enraged over the management of a private school "threatening" parents to pay fees, a group of women forced Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's cavalcade to stop when he was on the way to attend some programme in the city on Friday.

Despite the presence of the police on the route, the group of women suddenly came on to the road at Scheme No. 140 area to stop Chouhan's motorcade as they wanted to air their grievances.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate college and administration buildings of the Rani Lakshmi Bai Central Agricultural University in Jhansi through remote video conference on Saturday, a statement said. The RLB Central Agriculture University is a prominent institute of the Bundelkhand region.

In a tweet, Modi said on Friday, "At 12:30 PM tomorrow, the College and Administration Buildings of Rani Lakshmi Bai Central Agricultural University, Jhansi would be inaugurated. This would improve the education infrastructure & contribute to cutting edge research in agriculture as well as further farmer welfare."

The university started its first academic session in 2014-15 and is offering undergraduate and postgraduate courses in agriculture, horticulture and forestry.

It has been currently operating from the Indian Grassland and Fodder Research Institute in Jhansi as the main buildings were getting ready, the statement said.

The prime minister will also interact with students of the university during the event, it added. 

Over 19 lakh candidates have downloaded admit cards for medical and engineering entrance exams -- NEET and JEE, officials in the Ministry of Education (MoE) said on Friday. While the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) is scheduled to be held on September 13, engineering entrance exam JEE-Main has been planned from September 1-6.

"A total of 7.6 lakh candidates for JEE-Mains and 11.49 lakh aspirants for NEET have downloaded admit cards till today," a senior ministry official said.

As many as 8.58 lakh candidates have registered for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE)-Main and 15.97 lakh have registered for NEET.

Canteens located in central government departments in Delhi will reopen from Monday after a gap of over four months when they were closed as part of preventive measures against COVID-19, an official from the Personnel Ministry said on Friday. The ministry, in an order issued in New Delhi, advised the canteen employees to strictly follow hygiene and safety protocols, and to avoid crowding, especially at the distribution/sale counters.

“As the re-opening of prohibited activities has gradually been allowed, it has been decided to open the departmental canteens located in ministries/departments of Government of India in Delhi," the order said.

The official said the departmental canteens will reopen from Monday.

14,361 new COVID-19 cases and 331 deaths reported in Maharashtra today. The total number of positive cases now stands at 7,47,995 including 1,80,718 active cases, 5,43,170 recoveries and 23,775 deaths.

Congress MP from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu H Vasanthakumar died of COVID-19 at a hospital in Chennai on Friday, the party said. The 70-year old first time MP, who was admitted to the Apollo Hospitals on August 10 after he tested positive for coronavirus, succumbed to the illness, a party spokesperson told PTI.

Earlier, in a statement, Apollo Hospitals said the MP was in critical condition and treated by a team of doctors for severe COVID pneumonia.

Vasanthakumar was a two-time MLA and elected to the Lok Sabha in the 2019 elections.

The Union Home Ministry on Friday said the process of online nominations for the 2021 Padma awards, recognising distinguished and exceptional achievements and service in various disciplines, will be available till September 15. The nominations or recommendations for the Padma awards will be received online only on the portal https://padmaawards.gov.in, a home ministry statement said.

Children and teenagers are less likely than adults to develop severe COVID-19 or die from the disease, according to a new UK study, dubbed the world’s largest study of hospital patients with COVID-19. However, the report did find that obesity, Black ethnicity and being under one month old increased the risk of a child being admitted into intensive care if infected with the coronavirus.

"There have been no deaths in otherwise healthy school-age children,” said study author Calum Semple, Professor in Child Health and Outbreak Medicine and Consultant Respiratory Paediatrician at the University of Liverpool.

The Bombay High Court on Friday granted permission for a Muharram procession in the city with stringent restrictions in place in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A bench of Justices S J Kathawalla and Madhav Jamdar gave permission after the Maharashtra government granted hearing to a local Shia Muslim organisation that had petitioned the court seeking permission for a symbolic procession for Muharram amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The direct air connectivity between Kochi and Europe, a long-cherished demand of the NRIs and business community in this port city fructified on Friday with Air India commencing services in the London-Kochi sector. The Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) welcomed the AI 1186 aircraft with a water salute as a mark of gratitude.

In a statement, CIAL said as part of promoting direct connectivity to Europe, it has decided to waive the entire landing fee of airlines operating direct European services to Kochi.

Gold prices slipped by Rs 252 to Rs 52,155 per 10 grams in the national capital on Friday amid a stronger rupee, according to HDFC Securities. In the previous trade, the precious metal had closed at Rs 52,407 per 10 grams.

Silver prices, however, rose by Rs 462 to Rs 68,492 per kg as compared to the previous close of Rs 68,030 per kg.

Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and former CM Devendra Fadnavis on Friday inaugurated a COVID19 Centre in Pune.

 Two unidentified terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces in Kiloora area of Shopian district on Friday, police said. 

Severe waterlogging reported in the Indraprastha area of Delhi following widespread rainfall in the capital.

Former Karnataka minister and JDS leader H D Revanna has tested positive for coronavirus and admitted to a hospital in Bengaluru, party sources said on Friday.

Praying for his recovery, Health Minister B Sriramulu in a tweet said, "H D Revanna has tested positive for coronavirus. I pray that he recovers and gets back to serve people."

As COVID-19 vaccine trials move ahead at a break-neck speed, an approved vaccine is likely to hit the Indian market by the first quarter of 2021, Bernstein said in a report.

Uttar Pradesh BJP President Swatantra Dev Singh has appointed regional presidents for six regions in the state. According to an official release on Friday, Mohit Beniwal will be the regional president for west UP, Rajnikant Maheshwari will be in charge of Braj region and Manvendra Singh will hold charge of Kanpur region.

Shesh Narain Mishra has been named the head of Avadh region, Mahesh Srivastava will be in charge of Kashi region and Dharmendra Singh Sainthwar will be the head of Gorakhpur region.

According to party sources, the six regional presidents have been appointed to mobilise the party cadres for the 2022 Assembly polls and also the panchayat elections that will be held next year.

"The appointees will ensure that the achievements of the Modi and Yogi governments reach down to the grassroots levels and the party machinery remains well-oiled till the village level," said a party functionary.

Extending its winning run for the sixth session, BSE benchmark Sensex rallied 354 points on Friday, boosted by gains in bank stocks amid persistent foreign fund inflows. After touching a high of 39,579.58, the BSE Sensex ended 353.84 points or 0.90 per cent higher at 39,467.31. The NSE Nifty surged 88.35 points or 0.76 per cent to close at 11,647.60.

Waterlogging at the Janpath area after widespread rains in the capital. Heavy rains lashed several parts of Delhi today.

Shinzo Abe resigns as Japan's Prime Minister, reports news agency Reuters.

Rain lashes several parts of the national capital, visuals from Rail Bhawan and Vigyan Bhawan areas.

Rain lashes several parts of Delhi, visuals from near India Gate

Telangana reported 2,932 new COVID-19 cases, 1,580 recoveries and 11 deaths on August 27, taking the total number of positive cases to 1,17,415 in the state. Total number of cases includes 28,941 active cases, 87,675 recoveries and 799 deaths so far. 

Rhea Chakraborty arrives at DRDO guest house, where CBI team investigating Sushant Singh Rajput Death Case, is staying. 

Mumbai receives light rainfall; India Meteorological Department predicts generally cloudy sky with moderate rain in Mumbai till 31st August. 

The total number of samples tested up to 27th August is 3,94,77,848 including 9,01,338 samples tested yesterday: Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)

The water level of Yamuna River recorded at Delhi's Old Yamuna Bridge was 204.30 metres at 8 am today.

Few heavy spells of rain in Vidarbha and moderate to heavy spells in adjoining parts of Marathwada and North Konkan areas in the next 24 hours: India Meteorological Department (IMD), Maharashtra

India's COVID-19 case tally at 33.87 lakh with a record spike of 77,266 fresh cases, and 1,057 deaths in the last 24 hours. COVID-19 case tally in the country stands at 33,87,501 including 7,42,023 active cases, 25,83,948 cured/discharged/migrated and 61,529 deaths: Health Ministry

We have three different vaccines in the final trial stage. We are producing them in advance so that many doses are available. We'll have a safe & effective vaccine this year. Together, we will crush the virus: US President Donald Trump at Republican National Convention

Yoga guru Swami Ramdev reveals yoga asanas to cure substance abuse | WATCH NOW 

In the past 5 months, more than 3/4 of cases have recovered and less than 1/4 are active now. Effective implementation of the Centre's strategic and graded Test-Track-Treat approach has led to higher recoveries and lower fatality. 

29 new COVID-19 cases reported in Mizoram in the last 24 hours, taking the total cases in the state to 1003. A total of 500 people cured/discharged so far. Active cases stand at 503.

Hello and welcome to today's live coverage of coronavirus news in India and across the world, with me, Sushmita Panda and my colleagues  Himanshu Shekhar, Shashwat  Bhandari, Vani Mehrotra, Priya Jaiswal, and Rashi Hardaha. You can get in touch with us directly on Twitter @sushmitapanda, @himaanshus, @ShashBhandari​ @vani_mehrotra​ @priyajais, and  @rashihardaha for news, tips, photos, questions and comments. 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 24.6 million, including more than 835,000 fatalities. More than 17,080,711 patients are reported to have recovered.

Total positive cases country-wise: