LIVE News Updates: Chhattisgarh CM urges Centre not to hold JEE-NEET as COVID-19 pandemic is at its peak

COVID-19 pandemic at its peak, don't hold NEET, JEE: Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel to Centre.

Congress MP from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu, H Vasanthakumar, who had tested positive for the coronavirus has died, authorities said on Friday.

The 70-year old leader was admitted to the Apollo Hospitals in Chennai on August 10 with coronavirus infection, the hospital had said.

He was in critical condition after contracting severe pneumonia, doctors said.

A first-time MP from Tamil Nadu, H Vasanthakumar had also been elected MLA twice in the past, reports NDTV

A 40-year-old man was repeatedly hit with an iron rod by two Gramin Sewa drivers after the man along with his pregnant wife asked for their missing seven-year-old son in Delhi's Okhla Industrial area.

The profusely bleeding man was rushed to the hospital by the police but was declared brought dead. The incident took place on Thursday night. The two accused, who are brothers and were drunk, were later nabbed by South East Delhi police.

On Thursday night, a weeping pregnant lady was found by an emergency response vehicle (ERV) in a nervous state. She was not able to narrate her ordeal.

No police personnel has been injured in the encounter in Kiloora area of Shopian district. We will increase our operations from November in order to eliminate remaining terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir: Vijay Kumar, IGP Kashmir, reports ANI.

Manipur detects 2 deaths and 118 new cases of COVID-19 infection, taking the total number of positive cases to 5,843, including 1,759 active cases, 4,057 recoveries and 27 deaths: State Health Department, reports ANI.

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 state government and the petitioner, All India Idaara-E-Tahafuz-E-Hussainiyat, reached an agreement and informed the court of the same on Friday, following which, the court granted permission for the procession.

As rains lashed the national capital on Friday, bringing respite from the humidity, Delhiites experienced traffic woes and waterlogging as they stepped out on the roads.

According to the MeT department, the Safdarjung Observatory recorded 23.2 mm rainfall while Palam recorded 35.8 mm rainfall between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm.

The Lodhi Road and Ridge areas received 23.6 mm and 44 mm rainfall respectively in the said period.

The minimum temperature in the city was recorded at 26.8 degrees Celsius, a notch above the season's average. The maximum temperature was recorded at 32.8 degrees Celsius with the weatherman predicting light rains for Saturday.

Four militants killed in encounter with security forces in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir: Police.

India’s economy has been destroyed by three actions:

1. Demonetisation

2. Flawed GST

3. Failed lockdown

Anything else is a lie, tweeted Rahul Gandhi

Jammu and Kashmir: Encounter breaks out between security forces and terrorists in Kiloora area of Shopian district.

Himachal Pradesh: Four houses damaged due to heavy rains and landslide in Malana village of Kullu district. No one has been injured in the incident so far, reports ANI.

The body of a child was found under the Mahamaya flyover in Uttar Pradesh's Noida, police said on Friday.

Aged between 8 to 10 years, the child's body was spotted Thursday afternoon in a green belt under the usually busy flyover in the city and its identity ascertained later in the day, they said.

"The child's body was found under the Mahamaya flyover. His family, which lives in Sector 44's Chhalera village, has been traced. A probe is on and police team are enquiring about the incident from the locals, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Noida, Rajesh S said.

It was not clear how the child died and the body was sent for post-mortem, the officer said, adding other details would be available only after the autopsy.

The autopsy report was yet to reach the police, an official from the local Sector 39 police station told PTI Friday afternoon.

A 24-year-old man suffering from mental health issues and missing from his home in Bihar was found dead under a metro station in Uttar Pradesh's Greater Noida on Friday, police said.

Dilip Malla was found in an "unconscious state" under the Pari Chowk metro station around 8 am by some locals, who then alerted the nearby police post officials.

"He was then rushed to a private hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead," SHO of the local Knowledge Park police station Varun Panwar said.

Three people, including a four-year-old boy, were killed by falling trees after a storm lashed the Australian state of Victoria on Friday, authorities said.

Gusts of up to 158km/h were recorded, causing widespread damage and knocking out power to 95,000 homes, reports the BBC.

The deaths took place in suburbs across the state capital, Melbourne - a city already reeling from a COVID-19 outbreak.

The four-year-old boy was crushed by a tree on a footpath in the suburb of Blackburn South and died in hospital, the authorities added.

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

Delhi HC dismisses PNB scam accused Mehul Choksi's plea seeking pre-screening of Netflix documentary 'Bad Boy Billionaires'.

CBI asks Rhea Chakraborty why she called for a probe in Sushnat Singh Rajput case, among other questions, reports NDTV.

Amid growing coronavirus risk in the country, it is necessary to listen to the parents and students who are taking the JEE & NEET exam. These children are the future of the country.

The concerns of students have to be viewed sensitively and not stubbornly and politically, tweeted Priyanka Gandhi

346 more police personnel found COVID-19 positive and 2 died in the last 24 hours in Maharashtra. Total number of Corona positive police personnel in the state reaches to 14,641 including 2,741 active cases, 11,752 recoveries and 148 deaths till date: Maharashtra Police.

6 opposition ruled states request SC to review its decision to conduct JEE & NEET exams, reports NDTV.

Ahmedabad: Members of National Students' Union of India (NSUI) detained by police during a protest against Centre's decision to conduct JEE and NEET examinations in September, reports ANI.

Stating that COVID-19 cannot be a ground for postponing the Bihar elections, the Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a PIL seeking to defer the assembly polls till the state is free of the novel coronavirus.

Two persons were grievously injured after their car fell off a flyover in West Delhi's Vikaspuri area, police officials said on Friday.

Three people killed, four injured after roof of a building collapses, in Guru Nanak Pura area, following heavy rainfall last night

Supreme Court upholds the University Grants Commission's July 6 circular to hold University final year exams. Court says States must hold exams to promote students. It says states under Disaster management Act can postpone exams in view of pandemic & can consult UGC to fix dates.

Supreme Court says students cannot be promoted without University final year exams.

Rhea Chakraborty's associate Samuel Miranda arrives at the DRDO guest house in Mumbai where the Central Bureau of Investigation team investigating Sushant Singh Rajput's death case is staying.

50 Sashastra Seema Bal personnel at SSB's Gawaldam Camp test positive for COVID19: GS Rana, Chief Medical Officer Chamoli, Uttarakhand

Nepal reported 1,100 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours, a record high number of single-day infections in the Himalayan country.

The Uttar Pradesh BJP has served a show-cause notice to Dr. Radha Mohan Das Agarwal, a four term MLA from the Gorakhpur seat, for anti-party activities on the social media platforms.

Prosecutors on Thursday charged a 17-year-old from Illinois in the fatal shooting of two protesters and the wounding of a third in Kenosha, Wisconsin, during a night of unrest following the weekend police shooting of Jacob Blake.

Unite your voice with lakhs of suffering students. #SpeakUpForStudentSafety from 10am onwards. Let’s make the Govt listen to the students, tweeted Rahul Gandhi

India's COVID-19 case tally at 33.87 lakh with a record spike of 77,266 fresh cases, & 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 & 61,529 deaths: Health Ministry

The overall number of global coronavirus cases has topped 24.3 million, while the deaths have increased to over 829,000, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

As of Friday morning, the total number of cases stood at 24,356,619 and the fatalities rose to 829,861, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed in its latest update.

The US accounted for the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 5,863,363 and 180,595 respectively, according to the CSSE.

Brazil came in the second place with 3,761,391 infections and 118,649 deaths.

In terms of cases, India ranks third (3,310,234), and is followed by Russia (972,972), South Africa (618,286), Peru (613,378), Mexico (579,914), Colombia (572,243), Spain (429,507), Chile (404,102), Argentina (380,292), Iran (367,796), the UK (332,491), Saudi Arabia (311,855), Bangladesh (304,583), France (297,485), Pakistan (294,638), Turkey (263,998), Italy (263,949), Germany (240,571), Iraq (219,435), Philippines (205,581), Indonesia (162,884), Canada (128,836), Qatar (117,988), Ukraine (114,663), Bolivia (112,094), Ecuador (111,219), Israel (110,403) and Kazakhstan (105,243), the CSSE figures showed.

The other countries with over 10,000 deaths are the Mexico (62,594), India (60,472), UK (41,564), Italy (35,463), France (30,581), Spain (28,996), Peru (28,124), Iran (21,137), Colombia (18,184), Russia (16,758), South Africa (13,628) and Chile (11,072).