Breaking News: September 15, 2020 | As it happened

The DMRC on Tuesday said it has taken a major step towards development of an indigenously-built signalling technology for metro trains in line with the government's flagship 'Make in India' initiative.

As part of it, i-ATS, an important sub-system of the signalling system, was launched on Tuesday, it said. 

"The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation on Engineers Day (September 15) today took a major step towards the development of an indigenously-built CBTC (Communication Based Train Control) based signalling technology for metro railway with the launch of the i-ATS, which is an important sub-system of the signalling system," the DMRC said in a statement.

The Tamil Nadu Assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed a Bill to provide 7.5 per cent reservation for students from government schools within the current reservation in undergraduate medical courses. Chief Minister K. Palaniswami moved the Bill, which was passed by voice vote.

The provisions of the new law are applicable for medical, dental, Indian medicine and homeopathy streams.

The reservation is also application for admissions into private colleges.

However, the students have to pass the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET).

Palaniswami said owing to the reservation, an additional 300 poor students would be benefitted.

Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020.

Tomato prices are showing an upward trend due to supply crunch following heavy rains in southern and western India with retail prices ruling at as high as Rs 100 a kg in Malda, Aizawl and Imphal.

As per data compiled by the consumers affairs ministry, the average retail price of tomato stood at Rs 50 a kilo in the country on Tuesday, while the maximum price was Rs 100.

The ministry tracks retail prices of 22 essential commodities (potato, tomato, and onion) in 114 market centres spread across India.

Budget carrier SpiceJet on Tuesday reported a net loss of Rs 600.5 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, owing to the suspension of flight operations due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown. It had posted a net profit of Rs 262.8 crore in the corresponding period of the previous financial year.

The airline's operating revenue stood at Rs 521 crore in the first quarter of 2020-21, significantly lower as against Rs 3,002.8 crore a year ago, it said in a statement.

Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed a bill to reduce for one year the salaries of MPs by 30 per cent "to meet the exigencies arising out of COVID-19 pandemic".

• Both India and China agree that to maintain peace and tranquillity in the India-China border areas, it is essential for the further development of bilateral relations
• India and China border issue remains unresolved. Till now, there has been no mutually acceptable solution. China disagrees on border
• China doesn't recognise the traditional & customary alignment of the boundary. We consider that this alignment is based on well established geographical principals
• We have told China through diplomatic channels that the attempts to unilaterally alter the status quo were in violation of the bilateral agreements

Madan Sharma, retired Navy officer who was beaten up allegedly by Shiv Sena workers in Mumbai, met Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari at Raj Bhavan today.

Special NIA Court grants custody of Kerala Gold Smuggling Case accused Sandeep Nair, Muhammad Ali & Muhammad Shafi to NIA till 18th September, for interrogation. Court has not granted custody of accused Swapna Suresh & Muhammad Anwar to the probe agency.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates and lays the foundation stone of seven projects related to urban infrastructure in Bihar, via video conferencing. 
• Out of these, four are related to water supply, two to sewerage treatment and one to riverfront development.
• Our engineers are working hard for the development of this country, says PM Modi
• Urbanisation is the reality of present times. For many decades, it was considered that urbanisation was a problem in itself. But I don't think that way. If it is a problem, there are opportunities also. BR Ambedkar was a big supporter of urbanisation, says PM Modi 

I expected Jaya ji to support what I said. Not everyone in the industry consumes drugs but those who do are part of a plan to finish the world's largest film industry. When Jaya ji & I joined, situation was not like this but now we need to protect the industry: BJP MP Ravi Kishan

People in the entertainment industry are being flogged by social media. People who made their names in the industry have called it a gutter. I completely disagree. I hope that govt tells such people not to use this kind of language: MP Jaya Bachchan in Rajya Sabha

Just because there are some people, you can't tarnish the image of the entire industry. I am ashamed that yesterday one of our members in Lok Sabha, who is from the film industry, spoke against it. It is a shame: Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan in Rajya Sabha

Just because there are some people, you can't tarnish the image of the entire industry. I am ashamed that yesterday one of our members in Lok Sabha, who is from the film industry, spoke against it. It is a shame: Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan in Rajya Sabha

LOK SABHA

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to make a statement on 'Developments on our borders in Ladakh'

Bills for consideration and passing

• The Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament (Amendment) Bill, 2020
• The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020
• The Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2020

RAJYA SABHA

Bills for withdrawal

• The Allied and Healthcare Professions Bill, 2018.
• Bills for introduction
• The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Second Amendment) Bill, 2020.
• The National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions Bill, 2020

Bills for consideration and passing

• The Aircraft (Amendment) Bill, 2020.
• The Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda Bill, 2020.
• The Homoeopathy Central Council (Amendment) Bill,2020.

India's COVID-19 case tally crosses 49-lakh mark with a spike of 83,809 new cases and 1,054 deaths in last 24 hours. The total case tally stands at 49,30,237 including 9,90,061 active cases, 38,59,400 cured/discharged/migrated & 80,776 deaths.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh (in file pic) to make a statement on India-China border issue, in Lok Sabha later today.

Education Ministry to constitute a National Committee for Integration of Vocational Education. It'll consist of experts in vocational education & representatives from across Ministries to help develop different models of vocational education & apprenticeships: Education Minister

Yog guru Swami Ramdev reveals yoga asanas for enhancing structural balance | WATCH NOW 

US Justice Department has launched an internal inquiry into circumstances surrounding the decision to ease sentencing recommendations for President Donald Trump’s long-time friend Roger Stone.

Encounter has started at Marwal area of Pulwama. Police and security forces are on the job. More details awaited: Kashmir Zone Police

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 29.4 million, including more than 932,000 fatalities. More than 21,268,000 patients are reported to have recovered.

Total positive cases country-wise:

• USA 6,749,289
• India 4,926,914
• Brazil 4,349,544
• Russia 1,068,320
• Peru 733,860