LIVE News Updates: Punjab reports its highest single-day spike of 665 COVID-19 cases and 19 more deaths

Punjab reports its highest single-day spike of 665 COVID-19 cases and 19 more deaths; toll mounts to 386 and tally rises to 16,119

With the new additions of confirmed cases, the total number of infected went up to 2,45,859, a health department bulletin said.

Andhra Pradesh reports new record single-day high of 10,376 coronavirus cases, pushing aggregate to 1,40,933. Toll touches 1,349. Govt bulletin

Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddh Nagar records 133 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the infection tally in the district to 5,203: Official data

COVID-19 tally breaches 50,000-mark in Bihar with highest single-day spike of 2,986 fresh cases, 13 fatalities push death toll to 298: Health dept

Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal struck down two decisions taken by Kejriwal government to reopen hotels from Saturday, one-week trial for the weekly markets in Unlock 3

A drunken soldier in DR Congo's troubled east opened fire on passers-by, killing at least 12 people including a two-year-old girl, and sparking angry protests, sources said Friday

Delhi reports 1,195 new COVID-19 cases, 1,206 recovered/discharged/migrated cases and 27 deaths in the last 24 hours. Total cases here rise to 1,35,598 including 1,20,930 recovered/discharged/migrated cases and 3,963 deaths. There are 10,705 active cases: Government of Delhi https://t.co/KyWfTTWOJi

Himachal Pradesh government extends lockdown in containment zones till August 31 to curb the sprea of COVID-19

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti’s detention under Public Safety Act extended by 3 months

Even as at least 21 persons died due to alleged consumption of spurious liquor in Amritsar, Batala and Tarn Taran districts of Punjab, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday ordered a magisterial inquiry led by the Jalandhar Divisional Commissioner into the matter.

Five more deaths were reported on Friday in Batala. One person was admitted in hospital in a critical condition.

Four more deaths have also been reported from Tarn Taran.

The inquiry panel will look into the facts and circumstances leading to the tragedy as well as into any other connected issue(s) or relevant to the incident(s) and the circumstances leading to it, an official statement said.

Even as at least 21 persons died due to alleged consumption of spurious liquor in Amritsar, Batala and Tarn Taran districts of Punjab, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday ordered a magisterial inquiry led by the Jalandhar Divisional Commissioner into the matter.

460 new COVID-19 cases reported in Jharkhand today. Total number of cases in the State is now at 10,488, including 6,208 active cases, 4,176 recovered & 104 deaths: State Health Department

The civic body in Bhiwandi city of Maharashtra has urged citizens to celebrate Bakrid at their homes and not assemble in public places, especially mosques, to prevent the spread of coronavirus, an official said on Friday.

Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Conference chief Sajad Lone was released from home detention in Srinagar on Friday, sources said.

Lone was among the 50-odd mainstream leaders arrested at the time of abrogation of Article 370 and 35A of the Indian Constitution on August 5 last year, including three former Chief Ministers.

"Finally five days short of a year, I have been officially informed that I am a free man. So much has changed. So have I. Jail was not a new experience. Earlier ones were harsh with usual doses of physical torture. But this was psychologically draining. Much to share hopefully soon," the Kashmiri politician tweeted.

His party too tweeted: "J&K Peoples Conference Chairman Sajad Gani Lone has been officially released after completing 360 days in detention."

Lone, a former MLA from Handwara, was initially detained at the SKICC in Srinagar before he was moved to the MLAs hostel along with other arrested leaders, and was eventually detained at his home.

Many mainstream leaders who were detained last year have since been released, including former Chief Ministers Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar Abdullah. However, others, including former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, continue to be under home detention.

The report of the Special Investigation Team (SIT), set up to probe the Bikru massacre in which eight policemen were ambushed and killed on July 3, is likely to be delayed.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had asked the SIT to submit the report by July 31.

According to official sources, the SIT has not been able to get certain documents needed for the probe.

These documents are related to the 2001 case in which Vikas Dubey was acquitted in the murder of the then state minister Santosh Shukla inside the Shivli police station in Kanpur.

The Rajasthan government has transferred or redesignated 97 officers of the Rajasthan Administrative Service (RAS). Sub-divisional magistrates are among those transferred, as per an order of the Department of Personnel issued on Thursday night. RAS officers, LN Bunker and Lokesh Kumar, are awaiting posting orders. The state government has recently reshuffled IAS and RAS officers. On Tuesday, two IAS and 12 RAS officers were transferred.

Four people dead after a car rolled down a deep gorge at Lippa village in Kinnaur district last night.

The Congress in Goa on Friday criticised the Pramod Sawant-led BJP government over its plan to construct a new Raj Bhavan building in the state and asked for the need of it when the state was facing a cash crunch.

Manipur registered its fifth COVID-19 death on Friday as a 38-year-old patient succumbed to the infection at a state-run hospital here, a doctor of the medical establishment said.

Delhi High Court grants anticipatory bail to Zafarul Islam Khan, the then Chairperson of the Delhi Minorities Commission, in connection with his 'instigating statement on social media'.

Unable to get liquor due to the Covid induced lockdown in place, nine people died after consuming sanitizer in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh, police said on Friday.

1,499 new COVID-19 cases reported in Odisha in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of cases to 31,877. The number of recovered cases is 19,745 and active cases are 11,918: State Health Department

A penalty of Rs 10,000 to be imposed on people using mobile phones while driving. Notification issued by the State Transport Department on July 30, Thursday after Uttar Pradesh govt passed this mandate in June

Rahul Gandhi interacts with founder of Grameen Bank and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Prof Muhammad Yunus

India's COVID tally crosses 16 lakh mark with the highest single-day spike of 55,079 positive cases & 779 deaths in the last 24 hours. Total cases stand at 16,38,871 including 5,45,318 active cases, 10,57,806 cured/discharged & 35,747 deaths: Health Ministry

The total number of global coronavirus cases has topped 17.2 million, while the deaths have increased to more than 671,000, according to the Johns Hopkins University

The number of initial jobless claims in the US rose to 1.43 million last week amid a resurgence in COVID-19 cases, following an increase in the previous week, the Labor Department reported.

A wildfire was raging about 1.6 km south of the Arizona-Utah state line and has scorched almost 3,000 acres so far, authorities said.

Herman Cain, a former US Republican presidential candidate, died at age 74 after battling the coronavirus, or COVID-19, a spokesperson said.

"We knew when he was first hospitalized with COVID-19 that this was going to be a rough fight," Cain's website editor, Dan Calabrese, wrote in a post on Thursday, Xinhua news agency reported.

Calabrese said there were hopeful indicators, referring to that doctors said less than a week ago that "they thought he would eventually recover."

"We were relieved to be told that, and passed on the news via Herman's social media," the editor explained. "And yet we also felt real concern about the fact that he never quite seemed to get to the point where the doctors could advance him to the recovery phase."

Cain, a stage 4 cancer survivor, was diagnosed with the coronavirus last month and admitted to a hospital in Atlanta, southeastern state of Georgia, earlier this month.