Coronavirus LIVE: Tamil Nadu sees 26,513 new cases in a day; 831 in Mumbai

Coronavirus live updates: India reported 127,510 fresh Covid-19 infections today, taking the caseload tally to 28,175,044. Death toll stands at 331,895. Stay tuned for corona-related news

8:33 PM

WHO approves Chinese Covid vaccine by Sinovac Biotech for emergency use listing

8:21 PM

Covid LIVE: 'A big relief,' says Delhi CM on cancellation of Class 12 exams

8:13 PM

Covid impact may increase in children if virus changes behaviour: Govt

The government on Tuesday cautioned that even though the coronavirus infection has not taken a serious shape among children till now, its impact can increase among them if there is a change in virus behaviour or epidemiology dynamics, and said preparations are on to deal with any such situation.

 

"We reassure you that the needs of the paediatric population will be arranged and no gaps will be left," NITI Aayog Member (Health) V K Paul said, adding "we will do an audit of what is required and would be required in the worst-case scenario and be put into action."

 

Addressing a press conference, Paul said multi-system inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) has been seen post-COVID among children and a national group has been formed to look into the pediatric complications related to the infection.

 

Paul said the children are generally asymptomatic or symptoms are minimal. "Even if they get infected, it does not take a serious shape and hospitalisation is rarely required.

8:11 PM

CBSE 12 board exams cancelled; PM says anxiety among students, parents, teachers must end

The government on Tuesday decided to cancel the CBSE Class XII board exams amid the continuing COVID-19 pandemic across the country with Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserting that the decision has been taken in the interest of students and the anxiety among the students, parents and teachers must be put to an end.

 

The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Modi in which it was decided that the CBSE will take steps to compile the results of Class XII students as per a well-defined objective criteria in a time-bound manner.

 

With the decision coming amid a high caseload of COVID-19 cases in several states and continuing health-related apprehensions about the future, Modi said the health and safety of students are of utmost importance, and there would be no compromise on this aspect.

 

Anxiety among students, parents and teachers must be put to an end, and students should not be forced to appear for exams in such a stressful situation, a government statement quoted the prime minister as saying.

8:06 PM

A huge step for new generation: Dharmendra Pradhan on cancellation of Class 12 board exams

8:06 PM

Students should be calculated on their earlier performances: Manish Sisodia on cancellation of Class 12 exams

8:00 PM

1,895 fresh Covid cases, 32 more deaths reported in Jammu and Kashmir

Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday recorded 1,895 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the total number of infections to 2,92,360 while 32 deaths in the past 24 hours pushed the toll to 3,939 in the Union Territory, officials said. Out of the fresh cases, 633 were from the Jammu division and 1,262 from the Kashmir division, they said.

 

The officials said Srinagar district recorded the highest of 304 cases, followed by 218 in Jammu district and 185 in Pulwama district.

 

The number of active cases has dropped to 33,276 in the Union Territory, while 2,55,145 patients have recovered so far, the officials said. The death toll due to the disease rose to 3,939 as 32 patients died in the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, the officials said, there were 10 confirmed cases of mucormycosis (black fungus) in the Union Territory.

7:51 PM

No CBSE Class 12 exams this year, decision in interest of students: PM Modi

The union government on Tuesday has decided to cancel CBSE Board exams for Class 12 in view of the prevailing coronavirus situation.

 

Earlier during the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired an important meeting regarding class 12 board exams, which was attended by senior ministers and officials.

 

The CBSE had on April 14 announced cancellation of class 10 exams and postponement of class 12 exams in view of the surge in coronavirus cases. READ MORE...

7:50 PM

Karnataka reports 14,304 new Covid cases, 464 deaths, and 29,271 recoveries in the last 24 hours

Karnataka reports 14,304 new Covid cases, 464 deaths, and 29,271 recoveries in the last 24 hours; active cases at 2,98,299

7:42 PM

Health and safety of students of utmost importance: PM Modi on cancelling 12 board exams

The Prime Minister chaired a review meeting regarding the Class XII Board exams of CBSE. Officials gave a detailed presentation on the wide and extensive consultation held so far and views received from all stakeholders, including State governments.

 

In view of the uncertain conditions due to COVID and the feedback obtained from various stakeholders, it was decided that Class XII Board Exams would not be held this year. It was also decided that CBSE will take steps to compile the results of class XII students as per a well-defined objective criteria in a time-bound manner

 

The Prime Minister said that the decision on Class 12 CBSE Exams has been taken in the interest of students. He stated that COVID-19 has affected the academic calendar and the issue of Board Exams has been causing immense anxiety among students, parents and teachers, which must be put to an end. 

 

PM said that the Covid situation is a dynamic situation across the country. While the numbers are coming down in the country and some states are managing the situation through effective micro-containment, some states have still opted for a lockdown. Students, parents and teachers are naturally worried about the health of the students in such a situation. PM said that students should not be forced to appear for exams in such a stressful situation.

 

The Prime Minister stressed that the health and safety of our students is of utmost importance and there would be no compromise on this aspect. He said that in today’s time, such exams cannot be the reason to put our youth at risk.

 

 

7:40 PM

Class 12 board exam: Students should not be forced to appear for exams in such stressful situation, says Modi

Class 12 board exam results will be made as per well-defined objective criteria in time-bound manner. Health, safety of students of utmost importance and there would be no compromise on that aspect. Decision to cancel Class-12 CBSE exams taken in interest of students. Anxiety among students, parents, teachers must end; Students should not be forced to appear for exams in such stressful situation: Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

7:31 PM

Covid LIVE: CBSE Class 12 board exams cancelled

7:20 PM

Scientists in UK urge caution over lockdown end amid Covid third wave fears

Scientists in the UK have urged the government to exercise caution when making a decision about a scheduled June 21 timeline for an end to all lockdown restrictions amid growing fears on Tuesday of a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

 

Professor Ravi Gupta, an Indian-origin scientist from Cambridge University, said that while the infection rates in the country currently remain low, the B1.617.2 variant, first identified in India and now renamed as Delta, has led to an exponential rise in case numbers in recent days.

 

He advised a few weeks' delay to the June 21 date to allow the vaccination programme to catch up with the highly transmissible variant of COVID-19.

7:13 PM

Total 21.60 crore vaccine doses administered in India: Health Ministry

6:58 PM

SC seeks details of PM Cares Fund scheme to help kids orphaned by Covid-19

The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Centre to provide details of the scheme recently announced under PM Cares Fund to help children who were orphaned due to Covid and how the scheme will be implemented.

 

Amicus curiae, advocate Gaurav Agrawal submitted before the top court that the government announced a scheme on May 29 to benefit children orphaned due to the pandemic. He added that they don't know yet how many children are beneficiaries of this scheme, though it said children who have lost parents, adoptive parent, etc would be its beneficiaries.

 

A bench comprising Justices L. Nageswara Rao and Aniruddha Bose asked the Centre's counsel to file an affidavit regarding the announcement of package made under PM Cares Fund. Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati submitted that the details of the scheme, including identification of beneficiaries would be filed before the court.