Covid LIVE: Kerala sees 6,580 new cases, 7,085 recoveries in last 24 hours

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that country's success is no longer bound by old ways and a 'new India' has a new vision to be one of the leading economies in the future

12:28 AM

Iran registers 8,633 new Covid-19 cases

Iran's Health Ministry has reported 8,633 new Covid-19 cases, taking the country's total infections to 5,973,457.

 

The pandemic also claimed 132 lives in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to 127,053, according to the update by Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education on Friday.

 

A total of 5,574,246 people have recovered from the disease or been discharged from hospitals across the country, while 3,732 remain in intensive care units, according to the Ministry.

 

By Friday, 54,764,071 Iranians have received their first doses of Covid-19 vaccine, 37,784,542 of which have taken two jabs, Xinhua news agency reported. A total of 36,057,315 tests have so far been carried out across the country.

12:02 AM

Assam reports 239 new Covid-19 cases, five deaths in a day

Assam reported 239 new COVID-19 cases, 210 recoveries and 5 deaths in the last 24 hours.

 

The state health department on Friday said that the total cases have now gone up to 6,11,895.There are 2,107 active COVID-19 cases in the state. The death toll has gone up to 6,024 and the total recoveries from this virus are at 6,02,417.

 

The fatality rate is at 0.98 per cent.

 

In the last 24 hours, 35,000 tests to detect the presence of COVID-19 were conducted. So far, 2,48,81,386 tests have been conducted in the state.

 

Districts with a high caseload include Kamrup Metropolitan, followed by Barpeta and Kamrup (R).

11:32 PM

Meghalaya govt cuts VAT on fuel by Rs 5.20 per litre following excise duty cut

The Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government on Friday announced a reduction in the value-added tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel by Rs 5.20 per litre each.

 

Addressing reporters after a Cabinet meeting, Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong said, the state government in February this year had already slashed VAT on petrol from 31.62 per cent or Rs 17.60 per litre to 20 per cent, and from 22.59 per cent or Rs 12.50 per litre to 12 per cent on diesel.

 

With today's decision, we have further reduced the tax percentage on petrol from 20 per cent to 13.5 percent per litre and from 12 per cent to 5 per cent per litre for diesel. The amount, if converted to cash, comes to Rs 5.20 per litre for both petrol and diesel.

 

After reduction of VAT on the prices of both the fuels, Meghalaya will have the lowest price of petrol and diesel in the country, the deputy chief minister claimed.

11:28 PM

Fire at shop in Delhi, seven injured

A fire broke out at a gas stove repair shop in northeast Delhi's Jafarabad area on Friday, injuring five fire service personnel and two civilians, officials said. The injured were shifted to GTB Hospital, they said. According to the officials, a gas cylinder explosion triggered the fire.

 

The injured fire personnel have been identified as Suhil, Feroz, Suresh, Rakesh and Mahavir, officials said, adding that Suhil's condition is serious.

 

A call about the fire in Jafarabad was received by the fire brigade around 8.15 pm, they added. According to police, the fire broke out at a gas stove repair shop and also affected an adjoining grocery and a mobile store. Eight fire tenders brought the blaze under control.

10:45 PM

Goa petrol, diesel dealers face Rs 6-crore loss after excise duty, VAT cut

The sudden cut in excise duty and value-added tax on petrol and diesel on Diwali eve by the Centre and the Goa government has resulted in a loss of around Rs 6 crore for dealers of the two fuels in the state, a senior official from the industry said on Friday.

 

All Goa Petrol Pump Dealers' Association President Paresh Joshi told PTI that all the 130 dealers in the state have suffered a cumulative loss of around Rs 6 crore. He said oil companies had asked the dealers to keep their tanks full on the eve of Diwali as filling terminals would be closed for the next two days.

When the dealers had taken the stock to their optimum limit, there was sudden announcement of reduction in prices by the Centre and later by the state government. This resulted in whopping losses for the dealers who had purchased the fuels at older rates," Joshi said. 

9:56 PM

Bankers of McLeod Russel sign ICA for resolution on debt recast

Bulk tea major McLeod Russel India on Friday said its bankers have signed an Inter Creditors Agreement (ICA), a precursor to a resolution plan for debt restructuring, that rekindled hope of revival of the once largest tea producer of the world.

 

After the promoters of McLeod reach a settlement with a financial creditor, Techno Electric & Engineering, the company could be out of National Company Law Tribunal's insolvency process. The trigger for the insolvency application by Techno was a loan agreement for providing Rs 100 crore inter-corporate deposit (ICD).

 

We hope to reach a satisfactory resolution shortly with the bankers on debt recast, a McLeod official told PTI.

9:55 PM

India trounce Scotland by eight wickets in T20 World Cup to stay alive in semifinal race

India trounce Scotland by eight wickets in T20 World Cup to stay alive in semifinal race

9:48 PM

At 802, Maharashtra logs lowest Covid cases in 18 months; 17 die, 886 recover

Maharashtra on Friday reported 802 new COVID-19 cases, the lowest daily count since May 2, 2020, and 17 fresh fatalities, a health department official said.

 

With these additions, the tally of COVID-19 cases in the state increased to 66,16,101, while the death toll rose to 1,40,362, he said. The state has witnessed a dip in new COVID-19 cases, a tally which came on the back of less than 60,000 tests, and also fatalities as compared to Thursday, when it had logged 1,141 COVID-19 cases and 32 deaths.

9:11 PM

Covid-19 cases in Tamil Nadu continue to decline

Tamil Nadu continued to report a decline in COVID-19 cases below the 1,000 mark for the fifth consecutive day, with the state logging 875 infections, pushing the tally to 27,07,368. Thirteen people succumbed to the virus, taking the toll to 36,204 till date, a health department bulletin said.

 

Recoveries eclipsed new infections with 1,012 people getting discharged in the last 24 hours, aggregating to 26,60,419 leaving 10,745 active cases. A total of 1,05,832 samples were tested in the last 24 hours, pushing the cumulative number of specimens examined to 5,17,29,726, the bulletin said.

9:08 PM

Demand to release seriously ill Chinese activist who exposed Wuhan Covid lockdown

Chinese authorities should immediately and unconditionally release Zhang Zhan, an activist wrongfully imprisoned for reporting on the Covid-19 pandemic in the city of Wuhan in early 2020, Human Rights Watch said. Her family says she is in desperate need of medical care.

 

Zhang, 38, has been on multiple hunger strikes since being detained in May 2020. She was hospitalized for 11 days in August 2021 but has since been returned to prison despite her worsening health condition.

 

Zhang's mother, who had a video visit with Zhang in October, said her daughter could not hold her head up for lack of strength. Zhang is 1.77 meters (5 feet, 10 inches) tall yet now weighs less than 40 kg and urgently needs medical treatment.

7:51 PM

NCB's Delhi unit to probe Aryan Khan case, say officials

7:34 PM

I've not been 'removed' from drugs-on-cruise probe, says NCB's Wankhede

6:58 PM

DoT fixes Dec 2022 deadline for transition to new IP addresses

The Department of Telecom has fixed December 2022 as the deadline for internet service providers to customise their network as well as change modem and routers at customer premise for the services as per the internet protocol address, IPv6, PTI reported.

 

The DoT has set June 30, 2022, as the last date for government organisation for complete transition to IPv6, according to an official note issued on November 2.

 

"All new retail wireline customer connections provided by service providers after December 31, 2022, shall be capable of carrying IPv6 traffic either on dual stack on native IPv6," the note said.

6:56 PM

Mumbai reports 238 new Covid cases

6:28 PM

MP govt plans 100% Covid vaccination coverage by year end through mega drives on four days

In a bid to achieve the target of COVID-19 vaccination of the entire eligible population in Madhya Pradesh by the end of this year, the state government has decided to conduct mega inoculation drives on four days, with the first one scheduled to be held on November 10, an official said, according to PTI.

 

In order to make this campaign - COVID Vaccination Maha Abhiyan' - successful, government officers and employees of all departments have been given the responsibility of identifying those people who are yet to get either both the doses or the second jab of anti-coronavirus vaccines, he said.

 

The drives will be conducted on November 10, 17, 24 and December 4. This will be in addition to the regular vaccination programmes conducted throughout the week, he said.

 

6:24 PM

Kerala sees 6,580 new cases, 7,085 recoveries in last 24 hours

6:03 PM

Anil Deshmukh's son skips ED summons, to move court

Hrishikesh Deshmukh, the son of former Maharashtra minister Anil Deshmukh, on Friday skipped summons by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and is likely to move court seeking anticipatory bail, his lawyer said here, IANS reported.

 

Advocate Inderpal Singh said Hrishikesh Deshmukh was called for questioning by the ED, but he did not appear as he is likely to move the sessions court or the Bombay High Court for bail.

 

Singh added that he has sought a week's time to appear before the ED and he also may approach the courts for anticipatory bail.

6:02 PM

TDP seeks protection for its candidates in local body polls

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national president N. Chandrababu Naidu on Friday demanded the State Election Commissioner (SEC) to provide security to its candidates filing nominations for local body polls after a TDP candidate was attacked in Kuppam, IANS reported.

 

The former chief minister alleged that TDP candidate V. Venkatesh was attacked when he was filing nomination for polls to Kuppam municipality.

 

In a letter to SEC Neelam Sawhney, Naidu said it came to his notice that the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) goons attacked V. Venkatesh, who is the TDP candidate for the 14th ward in Kuppam municipality.

5:22 PM

143 people arrested in Delhi for lighting fireworks since late Sept

5:20 PM

No proposal to extend PMGKY beyond November 30 as of now

4:59 PM

Will make Congress win 80-100 seats in 2022 polls: Navjot Singh Sidhu

4:55 PM

Edible oil prices show a declining trend across country, says govt

4:31 PM

Rising sea levels will further exacerbate the destructive power of tsunamis: UN Chief

4:22 PM

India to host NSA level regional conference on Afghanistan on Nov 10: Report

4:14 PM

'I have withdrawn my resignation as Punjab Cong chief,' says Sidhu

3:16 PM

Bomb recovery: Amarinder Singh hopes Punjab govt will take threat seriously

Two days after an explosive-filled tiffin box was found in the fields along the India-Pakistan border in Ferozepur district, former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday hoped the Punjab government will come out of "denial mode" and take this threat seriously, PTI reported.

 

The Punjab Police had said it had recovered the bomb in Ali Ke village on Wednesday following interrogation of three people.

 

In a tweet, Singh said, Hope@PunjabGovt India, HM (Home Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa) Punjab in particular, will come out of denial mode and take this threat seriously".

3:13 PM

Aryan Khan appears before NCB to mark his weekly presence

2:51 PM

Odisha logs 170 new Covid-19 cases, lowest in 7 months

Odisha on Friday registered 170 new COVID-19 cases, the lowest in seven months and 181 less than the previous day, pushing the state's tally to 10,42,943, a health department official said, PTI reported.

 

The COVID-19 death toll rose to 8,350 as three more persons succumbed to the infection. This apart, 53 other COVID-19 patients have also died in the state due to comorbidities.

 

The official said that the state had for the last time reported 170 new cases on March 24 this year.

 

2:51 PM

Amazon, Apple, Mahindra join First Movers Coalition to drive zero-carbon tech demand

Global giants like Amazon and Apple as well as Mahindra Group and Dalmia Cement (Bharat) from India have joined as founding members of the 'First Movers Coalition' to work towards driving demand for zero-carbon technologies, the World Economic Forum has said, according to PTI.

 

The Coalition has been launched at the COP26 Summit being held in Glasgow.

 

Roughly half of the emission reductions needed to reach the 2050 climate goals rely on technologies in early development, demonstration or prototype phases, while accelerating innovation in this decade is critical to bring these technologies to market and make them cost-competitive.

2:33 PM

Karnataka govt withdraws night curfew that was enforced due to Covid