LIVE News Updates: Padma Vibhushan Pandit Jasraj passes away at 90

Padma Vibhushan Pandit Jasraj passes away in New Jersey, US at the age of 90 , reports ANI

Dharavi COVID-19 tally rises to 2,672 with addition of four new cases: Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation

422 new COVID-19 cases reported from Jammu and Kashmir today; 81 from Jammu division and 341 from Kashmir division, taking the total number of cases in the Union Territory to 28,892. Death toll is at 548: Govt of J&K.

Kerala reports 1,725 fresh COVID-19 cases. The total numbers of active and recovered cases are 15,890 and 30,009 respectively: State Government.

Singer SP Balasubrahmanyam continues to be on life support in ICU. His condition remains critical: MGM Healthcare, Chennai

A young woman was thrashed to death on the suspicion of practicing black magic in Jharkhand's Giridih district on Monday, the police said.

According to the police, Geeta Devi, 30, a resident of Gawa village in Giridih district, was beaten to death by local villagers. Munsi Mahto surrounded the house of Geeta Devi along with 10 to 15 people, dragged her out and then brutally attacked her with rods.

Geets died on the spot. The police have sent the body for post-mortem.

Drishyam director Nishikant Kamat passed away at 50, he was suffering from Liver Cirrhosis

PMCares for Right To Improbity, tweeted Rahul Gandhi.

September 1 to be celebrated as 'Police Diwas' to pay respect to all the police personnel who are working for the people during this pandemic: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee

One more terrorist killed (total 2). Operation going on in Baramulla, Jammu and Kashmir. Further details shall follow: Kashmir Zone Police

The total number of COVID-19 cases in Indore crossed the 10,000-mark as 245 more people tested positive for the disease in the Madhya Pradesh district in last 24 hours, an official said on Monday.

Out of the total 3,359 samples tested in the last 24 hours, 245 came out positive in-charge Chief Medical and Health Officer Poornima Gadaria said.

With this, the total number of COVID-19 cases in the district has gone up to 10,049.

Odisha Rural Development Minister Susanta Singh has tested positive for COVID-19.

He is the first Minister in the state to have tested positive for the virus. The Minister is stable.

In a tweet, Singh advised those who came in contact with him to stay isolated and get tested for the virus.

Earlier, several MLAs tested positive for COVID-19.

Restrictions imposed in the state extended till September 6: Government of Bihar

West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress legislator Samaresh Das, who had tested positive for COVID-19, died at a hospital in West Bengal's East Midnapore district on Monday.

Das was a three-time MLA from Egra Assembly constituency in the district. He was admitted to the hospital a few days back after he had tested positive for coronavirus on July 18 and developed multiple complications of heart and kidney and died this morning.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed condolences, saying: "I am deeply saddened at the demise of Samaresh Das who was an MLA from the Egra Assembly constituency in East Midnapore. His untimely death will create a great vacuum in the field of politics”.

Moderate risk of flash floods for next 24 hours over some areas of North Chhattisgarh, East Madhya Pradesh, West Madhya Pradesh & adjoining areas of Rajasthan & South Gujarat sub-division: Central Water Commission Official Flood Forecast citing IMD flash flood guidance

Rajasthan reported 10 COVID-19 deaths and 693 fresh cases of the virus on Monday, according to an official report.

The deaths were reported from Banswara (2), Bikaner (3), Jaipur (3) and Kota (2).

With the fresh fatalities, the death toll in Rajasthan has climbed to 886.

Maximum cases were reported from Jodhpur where 157 people have tested positive for COVID-19.

A fire broke out in a shop located next to a mosque on Mohammed Ali Road in south Mumbai on Monday morning, a civic official said.

There was so far no report of any casualty, he said.

The fire broke out in the shop located next to Juma Masjid in Bhendi Bazar area at around 11 am, an official from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.

The death toll due to COVID-19 in Telangana crossed the 700-mark on Monday as 10 more people succumbed to the virus.

The fresh fatalities pushed the death toll to 703 while 894 people tested positive during the last 24 hours, ending Sunday 8 pm.

This is the second time this month that the daily count of cases slumped below 1,000 as the authorities also reduced the daily tests.

302 new COVID-19 cases, 184 recoveries & 4 deaths reported in Puducherry today. The total number of cases stands at 8,029 in the state till date, including 4,627 recovered cases, 3,288 active cases & 114 deaths so far: Government of Puducherry, reports ANI

NEET and JEE Main 2020: The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the plea seeking postponement of NEET and JEE examinations 2020. A three-judge bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra said that “life has to go on” despite COVID and the court cannot put career of students in peril by interfering with the decision of the National Testing Agency, reports Hindustan Times.

Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar has tested negative for Covid-19, an aide said here on Monday.

The 79-year-old NCP patriarch had undergone a test last week at Breach Candy Hospital after a couple of his security personnel and some aides had tested positive.

Though Pawar had not come in contact with any of them, as a precaution, he has gone into self-isolation for at least four days cutting off all public contact, the aide, requesting anonymity, told IANS.

Despite the weekend lockdown and safety measures by the district administration, 28 fresh COVID-19 cases have been reported in Agra in the last 24 hours.

The district health department has reported 103 deaths so far. The Covid tally now stands at 2,318, with 323 active cases and 1,892 recoveries. There are 155 containment zones in the district.

Health department officials explain the spurt due to higher number of samples being tested on a daily basis. However, people do not seem satisfied with this explanation.

The Tamil Nadu state government has decided to reopen retail liquor shops in Chennai from Tuesday onwards after a gap of several months.

Liquor retail is a state monopoly run by the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation or popularly known as Tasmac.

According to the government, the liquor shops will function between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. and only 500 tokens will be issued daily.

Customers will have to wear masks and maintain social distance.

Liquor shops had reopened across the state, except Chennai, on May 7 after 45 days.

2,244 new COVID cases, 1,550 recoveries reported in Odisha on 16th August. Total number of cases stands at 62,294 including 19,612 active cases and 42,276 recovered cases: Health & Family Welfare Department, Odisha.

93 new COVID-19 positive cases and one death recorded in Maharashtra Police force, in the last 24 hours. Total positive cases stand at 12,383 including 9,929 recoveries, 2,328 active cases & 126 deaths: Maharashtra Police.

Sushant Singh Rajput death case: Ritesh Shah, CA of Rhea Chakraborty, has been summoned by Enforcement Directorate (ED) to join the investigation today.

Jungle raj of caste-based violence and rape is at its peak in UP.

Now another bizarre incident has surfaced in which a Dalit sarpanch Satyamev was killed because he said 'NO'.

Condolences to the family members of Satyamev Ji, tweeted Rahul Gandhi

Sikkim on Sunday recorded 19 new

cases of COVID-19, taking the state's tally to 1,167, officials said.

There are 463 active cases in the state at present, they said.

Eight of the new cases were detected among those working in the state's pharma companies, they added.

Besides, a personnel of the ITBP posted in Lingdum was also found to be positive.

In a novel move, a private bus operators' association in West Bengal has decided to reserve two seats for transgender commuters in buses affiliated to it, an official said.

Joint Council of Bus Syndicates general secretary Tapan Banerjee said two seats in every bus associated with the organisation will be marked as "Tridhara".

He claimed that around 35,000-40,000 buses in the state are affiliated with the association.

Eshan Khan and Aslam Khan, brothers of Bollywood thespian Dilip Kumar, have been admitted to a hospital here after testing positive for COVID-19.

The octogenarian brothers were rushed to Lilavati Hospital on Saturday night after they complained of breathlessness. Both brothers have been kept under artificial breathing support, reports hindustantimes.com.

The brothers are in ICU but they have not been intubated. They were admitted to hospital after they tested positive for COVID-19 via rapid antigen test.

Rajendra Mishra, another aide of gangster Vikas Dubey and father of slain Prabhat Mishra, who was carrying a reward of Rs 50,000, has been arrested from near a factory in Shivrajpur area.

Superintendent of Police (Rural) Brajesh Srivastava said Mishra was wanted under sections 147, 148, 149, 302, 307, 394, 120b, 7 Criminal Law Amendment Act (CLA) and 3/25 Arms Act in connection with Bikru shootout on July 3 in which eight policemen were killed."

The SP said that Mishra was caught near a factory on Sunday while he was going to the place of an acquaintance to seek help for his surrender before the court.

"During questioning, Mishra broke down and confessed that he and his son had opened fire from a pistol at the police party on July 3.

Ninety inmates of a government women shelter home have tested positive for COVID-19.

Deputy Director of Women Welfare Department, Nita Ahirwar said, "In the past two days, 90 inmates of Nari Niketan here have tested positive for COVID-19. All of them have been isolated.

"How the inmates got infected with the coronavirus is being investigated," she said.

All the inmates are asymptomatic and they have been quarantined at the two-storied home.

A lawyer has been shot dead allegedly by his relatives over a land dispute in Gorakhpur district.

The incident took place on Sunday in Shivpur village of the Gagha area in the city and two persons have been arrested.

The deceased has been identified as Rajeshwar Pandey, 45. He was practicing at Gola tehsil in Gorakhpur.

The Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) office spokesman said, "On Sunday, Rajeshwar had some argument over land with the grandfather of his relative Chanki Pandey. After a heated argument, someone fired at the back of the lawyer from close range. He was rushed to the hospital but succumbed to injuries on the way."

South Africa's coronavirus recovery rate has reached 80 per cent, 48 per cent more than a month ago, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said.

The number of recoveries currently stood at 472,377, Xinhua news agency quoted Mkhize as saying in his daily update.

Currently, South Africa's overall caseload stood at 587,345.

Of the total tally, 3,692 cases were reported in the past 24 hours, Mkhize said.

A minor girl was allegedly raped and singed with cigarette butts by two men in the Gola area of Gorakhpur district.

The girl was found unconscious on Sunday and is currently undergoing treatment at the district hospital.

The police have registered a case against one Arjun of Dehribhar village and another unidentified man on the basis of a written complaint from the victim's mother.

According to reports, the teenage girl, daughter of a brick kiln labourer, had gone to fetch water from a hand pump on Saturday night, when the two accused forcibly took her to a hut near a pond in the village on a motorcycle and allegedly raped her.

They also tortured the girl by inflicting burn injuries on her with cigarette butts and fled when she became unconscious.

The girl has identified one of the accused as Arjun.

Spike of 57,982 cases and 941 deaths reported in India, in the last 24 hours. The COVID-19 tally in the country rises to 26,47,664 including 6,76,900 active cases, 19,19,843 discharged/migrated & 50,921 deaths: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, reports ANI

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday announced that the general elections, initially scheduled to be held on September 19, have been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic and will now take place on October 17.

"The Electoral Commission, via the Ministry of Justice, has advised me that a safe and accessible election is achievable on this date," Xinhua news agency quoted Ardern as saying to the media here.

This short delay gives the commission more time to prepare including freeing up facilities for early voting during school holidays, she said.

Moving the date by four weeks also gives all parties a fair shot to campaign and delivers New Zealanders certainty without unnecessarily long delays, Ardern said.

The overall number of global coronavirus cases has topped 21.5 million, while the deaths were nearing 774,000, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

As of Monday morning, the total number of cases stood at 21,598,893 and the fatalities rose to 773,934, 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 infections and fatalities at 5,403,213 and 170,052, respectively, according to the CSSE.

Brazil came in the second place with 3,340,197 infections and 107,852 deaths.

Fire breaks out on the 6th floor of the Parliament Annexe Building, Delhi. 7 fire tenders were engaged in the fire fighting operation. Fire under control

Gujarat on Sunday recorded 1,120 new COVID cases, taking its tally to 78,783, while the toll rose to 2,787 with 20 more deaths.

Meanwhile, 989 patients were discharged, taking the total number of recoveries to 61,496. The state currently has 14,500 active cases, out of which 82 critical patients are still on ventilator.

The state has been recording over a 1,000 cases per day in August, to see its tally rise by 17,350 so far this month.