LIVE: 20 Indian soldiers killed on LAC; 43 Chinese casualties, reports ANI

Indian Army officer and two soldiers killed in Ladakh's Galwan Valley on Monday night during "violent face off" with Chinese: Army

7:51 AM

227 Maharashtra cops test positive for coronavirus in last 72 hours

227 police personnel found Covid-19 positive in the last 72 hours in Maharashtra.

 

The total number of cases among police personnel in the state is now at 3,615 including 1,388 active cases and 40 deaths. 2,187 cops have recovered from the virus.

7:49 AM

Pune Covid-19 cases rise by 318 to 12,243; death toll 511

With 318 more people from Maharashtra's Pune district testing positive for coronavirus in the last 24 hours, the tally of cases has risen to 12,243, a Health official said on Monday.

 

With 13 more people succumbing to the infection, the death toll mounted to 511.

7:31 AM

DGCA permitted 870 chartered flights during lockdown

7:28 AM

Odisha to conduct door-to-door health screening for Covid-19

In a bid to ensure COVID-19 testing of all symptomatic persons and close contacts of people infected with the novel coronavirus, ASHA and ANM workers have been tasked to conduct door to door health screening in Odisha. "According to the ICMR guidelines, State Government is testing Symptomatic Persons and contacts persons of COVID-19 patients, so in that step, ASHAs and Health Workers will trace the persons with COVID-19 symptoms, through the door to door survey of every house in rural areas and slums of urban areas, so that persons having symptoms whall be tested as early as possible," said Shalini Pandit, Director National Health Mission Odisha.

7:21 AM

Trump announces major US troop cut in 'delinquent' Germany

US President Donald Trump has said he is ordering a major reduction in US troop strength in Germany, a move widely criticised by members of his own party as a gift to Russia and a threat to US national security. We're putting the number down to 25,000 soldiers, Trump said at the White House on Monday. The US currently has about 34,500 troops in Germany far fewer than during the Cold War, when Germany was the central focus of American and NATO efforts to deter invasion by the former Soviet Union. In recent decades, Germany has hosted key American military facilities and provided a jumping-off point for troops deploying to the Middle East, including during years of conflict in Iraq.

7:19 AM

'Introspect': India slams Pak for raising Kashmir at UNHRC

India has slammed Pakistan for raising the Kashmir issue at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and expressed "serious concern" over Pakistan's audacity to accuse others of "effecting a state-sponsored genocide." Exercising its Right of Reply after Pakistan raised Kashmir at the 43rd session of UNHRC, Senthil Kumar, the First Secretary of India's Permanent Mission called out Islamabad for misusing the rights forum and its mechanism and asked the neighbouring country to introspect on its grave human rights situations before extending unsolicited advice to anybody. Drawing the attention of the Council to crimes against humanity in Pakistan, New Delhi stated that enforced disappearances, state violence, forced mass displacement, extrajudicial killings, army operations, torture camps, detention centres, and military camps are a regular feature in Balochistan.

7:17 AM

UK begins trial of latest virus vaccine candidate this week

Scientists at Imperial College London will start immunising people in Britain this week with their experimental coronavirus shot, becoming the latest entry into the race to find an effective vaccine to stop the pandemic. In a statement, the British government said 300 healthy people will be immunised with two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed at Imperial, which has been backed by 41 million pounds in government funding. So far, the vaccine candidate developed by Imperial College London has only been tested in animals and in the laboratory, where it produced much higher levels of antibodies than would normally be seen in infected people.

7:15 AM

155 Indian companies create nearly 125K jobs in US: CII report

As many as 155 Indian companies have invested USD 22 billion in the US, thus creating nearly 125,000 jobs in the country, according to a report issued by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII). The report, Indian Roots, American Soil 2020, is a state-by-state breakdown of tangible investments made and jobs created by 155 surveyed Indian companies doing business in all 50 states, as well as Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico. Texas, California, New Jersey, New York and Florida are home to the greatest number of workers in the US directly employed by the reporting Indian companies, the report said.

7:09 AM

India says UNHCR's UPR mechanism should not be 'tinkered'

India has termed the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) an effective and visible instrument for the promotion and protection of human rights. Delivering India's National Statement under Agenda on UPR on Monday at the 43rd Session of the UNHRC, Vimarsh Aryan, First Secretary, India's permanent mission to United Nation's Office at Geneva (UNOG), said the country strongly believes that the UPR mechanism should not be "tinkered" with, as any such attempt carries the potential of diluting the universal support that it currently enjoys. "It is our firm belief that the UPR mechanism is an effective and visible instrument for the promotion and protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms," he said.

7:07 AM

US FDA ends emergency use of hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19

The Food and Drug Administration on Monday announced the withdrawal of the emergency use authorisation for chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) as treatment for severe Covid-19 patients. The decision on the so-called 'wonder drug' as touted by the US President Donald Trump is taken in the wake of recent clinical trials that showed that the antimalarial drugs were not effective against the coronavirus. "In light of ongoing serious cardiac adverse events and other serious side effects, the known and potential benefits" of hydroxychloroquine no longer outweigh those risks, the FDA wrote on its website on Monday.

7:06 AM

93rd Oscars postponed to April 25, 2021

In a first in 40 years, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that the 93rd Oscar Awards, originally scheduled for February 28, 2021, has been pushed back to April 25 of the same year due to coronavirus concerns. "For over a century, movies have played an important role in comforting, inspiring, and entertaining us during the darkest of times. They certainly have this year. Our hope, in extending the eligibility period and our Awards date, is to provide the flexibility filmmakers need to finish and release their films without being penalized for something beyond anyone's control," Variety quoted a statement of Academy president David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson.

7:02 AM

Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover plans to cut over 1,000 jobs

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), the British premium automobile brands owned by Tata Motors, is planning to cut over 1,000 contract-agency jobs amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic pressures. JLR, the UK's largest automotive manufacturer, had on Friday reported a 30.9 per cent drop in sales in the aftermath of the pandemic-related lockdown. It said the cuts were part of its transformation programme to improve operational efficiencies. "Through its ongoing transformation programme, Jaguar Land Rover is taking action to optimise performance and achieve further operational efficiencies to enable sustainable growth and safeguard the long-term success of our business," a company statement read.

Jaguar Land Rover, JLR