On the directives of Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, a nine-member delegation of the party on Monday met the family of a Dalit woman who died here after allegedly being raped by two men.

Led by Congress Legislature Party leader Aradhana Mishra, the delegation met the family members and enquired about the details of the case.

Later, talking to newspersons, Mishra said she will be handing over a report of the case to Priyanka Gandhi soon and also meet Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

She said her party demands proper security for the victim's family and immediate arrest of all culprits. We also demand a compensation of Rs 1 crore for the family and a government job for one of family members, she said.

To a question, Mishra said crime rises under a government which gives shelter to criminals and the Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state is an example of that.

She cited the Unnao rape case and Chinmayanand case among others to stress the point.

The 22-year-old Scheduled Caste woman died while being taken to a hospital after she was allegedly raped last week.

Both the accused in the incident have been arrested.   -- PTI

The Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday asked Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to take action against Aam Aadmi Party MLA Kuldeep Kumar under the Epidemic Diseases Act for his 'irresponsible behaviour', saying despite testing COVID-19 positive, he visited the family of the woman who died after being allegedly gang-raped in Hathras.

The AAP MLA from Kondli assembly constituency on September 29 tweeted that he had tested positive for coronavirus.

However on Sunday, Kumar posted several videos of him visiting the family of the woman who was allegedly gang-raped in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras.

'I have come to meet the victim's family in Hathras. Fear is being created within the family. It is a murder of democracy and the Constitution,' he had tweeted with a purported video of the meeting.

This was just five days after he said he tested positive for COVID-19.

Kumar was not immediately available for comments.

'Aam Aadmi Party can stoop down to any level for its political interest and corona-infected Delhi MLA Kuldeep Kumar's political sojourn in Hathras is proof of their dirty politics,' Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta said in a statement.

When asked about Kumar's Hathras visit, AAP spokesperson Durgesh Pathak said he is 'yet to get in touch with Kumar and he is not sure if he had tested negative and then gone to Hathras or not'.

'I don't have much information on it yet,' he said.

Gupta said AAP MLA Kuldeep Kumar himself tweeted on September 29 that he was Corona infected and the country saw him in Hathras playing 'dirty politics' on Sunday.

"With his irresponsible behaviour MLA Kuldeep Kumar might have spread corona to thousands of people," he claimed.

Gupta said in wider public health interest, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal should order action against MLA Kuldeep Kumar under Epidemic Diseases Act.  -- PTI

In a slight change in the schedule of Rahul Gandhi's visit to Haryana, the Congress leader will now be arriving for a day-long visit to the state on Tuesday instead of earlier two days as part of his tractor rally against the new farm laws.

Gandhi held tractor rallies across Punjab on Sunday and Monday against the contentious legislations that were passed by the Parliament last month and got presidential assent.

"Rahul Gandhi ji's Haryana visit will now be of one day instead of two days," state Congress president Kumari Selja tweeted on Monday evening.

She said Gandhi would enter Haryana's Pehowa at 10 am on Tuesday morning from Punjab.

Later, he will go to Kurukshetra, where his 'Kheti Bachao Yatra' would culminate.

Selja had been for the past two-three days taking stock of preparations in view of Gandhi's visit to Haryana.

As per the earlier schedule given by the state Congress, Gandhi was also to address a gathering in Karnal on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, the Haryana government said Gandhi could bring a few people in the state, but it would not allow a big crowd from Punjab which can 'disturb' the atmosphere.   -- PTI

The Shiv Sena may contest 30 to 40 assembly seats in Bihar, Sena MP Sanjay Raut said on Monday.

The Rajya Sabha member said a decision on the number of seats to be contested is expected to be taken in a day or two.

"Our people in Bihar want us to fight 50 seats. We are saying we should contest 30 to 40 seats," he told reporters.

Asked if the Shiv Sena will field a candidate against former Bihar director general of police Gupteshwar Pandey if he is in the poll arena, Raut quipped, "Keep watching."

"I will go to Bihar. I will resply to this query when I reach Bihar," Raut said.

Shiv Sena has been targeting Pandey since he sought a CBI probe in actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death.

The Sena- Nationalist Congress Party-Congress, partners in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra, have been critical of the former IPS officer over his remarks.

Pandey, while heading the Bihar Police force, had pitched for a CBI probe into Rajput's death case.

He took voluntary retirement from service last month and joined the Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal-United.

The Bihar assembly polls will be held in three phases on October 28, November 3 and November 7, and the counting of votes will take place on November 10.   -- PTI

Actor Tamannaah Bhatia on Monday said she was being discharged from a Hyderabad hospital after testing positive for coronavirus and will now self quarantine.

The Baahubali star was shooting for a project when she developed mild fever and eventually underwent a COVID-19 test last week.

In a statement, Bhatia, 30, said she feels 'relatively well' now.

"Although my team and I have been very disciplined on set, I unfortunately succumbed to a mild fever last week. After undertaking the mandatory tests, I was diagnosed as COVID-19 positive.

"I admitted myself into a private hospital in Hyderabad to mitigate adverse health outcomes and after being under the care of expert medical professionals I am now being discharged," the actor said.

Bhatia said it has been a 'strenuous week' but she is optimistic she would 'recover fully from this health peril which is distressing so many people around the world'.

'For the present, I will be self isolating as advised. A big virtual hug to everyone for their love, concern and positivity. Stay safe, stay healthy, stay well,' she further said in the statement.

In August, Bhatia's parents had tested positive for COVID-19.

The actor will be next seen in Bole Chudiyan, also featuring Nawazuddin Siddiqui.

She is also set to reprise Tabu's role in the Telugu remake of the Sriram Raghavan directorial Andhadhun, scheduled to go on floors in November. -- PTI

Pakistani troops on Monday opened fire and shelled mortars in forward areas along the Line of Control in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir, a defence spokesperson said.

There was no report of any casualty in the Pakistani shelling, he said.

Pakistan initiated the unprovoked ceasefire violation by firing with small arms and intense shelling with mortars around 6.30 pm.

The Indian Army retaliated befittingly and the cross-border firing between the two sides in Nowshera sector was going on when last reports were received, the spokesperson said.   -- PTI

A crucial meeting of the GST Council on Monday failed to reach a consensus on ways to compensate states as the panel was split on political lines over using borrowing as a tool.

Briefing reporters after a marathon meeting of the panel, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said 21 states had opted for one of the two options the Centre had previously suggested for borrowing to meet the shortfall in GST collections.

But some states did not opt for any of the two options, and the Council decided for more deliberations, she said, adding the panel will meet again on October 12.

She said the panel decided to extend using GST cess collections to compensate states beyond previously agreed June 2022 timeframe.

The panel besides easing compliance burden of small taxpayers also exempted satellite launch services by ISRO and Antrix, Finance Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey said.   -- PTI

Former Union minister and five-time Lok Sabha MP Rasheed Masood died on Monday at a Roorkee hospital where he had been admitted for the management of post-COVID complications, his nephew said. He was 73.

Masood's nephew Imran Masood told PTI that his uncle Rasheed Masood had tested positive for the coronavirus infection some time back and had undergone treatment at a Delhi hospital.

He had even recovered from the infection there and had returned to Saharanpur, said Imran, himself a former MLA in Uttar Pradesh.

His condition, however, deteriorated again a few days ago and he was admitted to a nursing home in Roorkee where he died on Monday morning, said Imran.

Born on August 15, 1947, Masood was a BSc and an LLM-degree holder from the Aligarh Muslim University.

Masood was the Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare with independent charge in the National Front government led by V P Singh.

He was in the V P Singh government from April to November 1990.

Masood had been a five-time member of the Lok Sabha, representing Saharanpur for a total period of 17 years.

He was elected from Saharanpur on an Indian National Congress ticket in 1977, JNP in 1980 and again on an INC ticket in 1989.

He was also elected to the Lok Sabha from Saharanpur on a Bharatiya Janata Party ticket in 1991 and on a Bahujan Samaj Party ticket in 2004.

He also represented Uttar Pradesh in the Rajya Sabha thrice -- first between 1986 and 1989, then between 2010 and 2012 and finally 2012 to 2013.

In October 2013, Masood became the first elected member of the Parliament to be disqualified from the Rajya Sabha following his conviction in a corruption case involving the fraudulent nomination of undeserving candidates to MBBS seats allotted to Tripura in medical colleges across the country from the central pool.

He was convicted in the case by a CBI court in September 2013 and sentenced to four years in jail after which the Rajya Sabha issued a notification on October 13 disqualifying him as the member of the Upper House and from contesting any election during the period of sentence and six years after that.

He was a Congress member when he was sentenced and incurred disqualification.

Masood was also a United National Progressive Alliance candidate for the vice-president in the August 2007 election and was placed third with 75 votes.   -- PTI

AP Singh, the lawyer who fought the case for the accused in the Nirbhaya rape case will now defend the four Hathras gang rape accused in court.

Singh has been hired by the upper caste group Akhil Bharatiya Kshatriya Mahasabha to appear for the Hathras accused.

A bench led by Chief Justice of India Sharad Bobde will tomorrow take up a plea seeking a judicial probe into the Hathras gangrape and murder case.

The plea has also demanded that the place of trial be changed from Uttar Pradesh to Delhi.

Students will attend schools only with the written consent of parents and there will be flexibility in attendance, say guidelines issued today by the government for the reopening of schools.

The SOPs were released by the Department of School Education and Literacy. 

In its Unlock 5 announcement, the home ministry had said states and Union Territories can decide when to reopen schools and coaching centres.

According to the SOPs, students can opt for online classes. Schools must ensure proper sanitisation of equipment and classrooms. Schools have been asked to form task forces for ensuring hygiene and quick response to emergency situations.

The SOPs say physical distancing must be maintained at schools and students and teachers must wear face masks at all times.

Schools will be required to make a comprehensive academic calendar for the whole year focusing on the learning outcomes, following the alternative calendar prepared by the NCERT. Schools must also ensure smooth transition from home-based schooling to formal schooling, the guidelines said.

The Education Department has also asked States and Union Territories to develop their own SOP based on the centres guidelines. Schools and colleges have been shut since March, when the country went into a lockdown to check the spread of the coronavirus.

The head of emergencies at the World Health Organisation says its "best estimates" indicate that roughly one in 10 people worldwide may have been infected by the coronavirus.

  

Dr Michael Ryan, speaking Monday to a meeting of the WHO's 34-member executive board focusing on COVID-19, said the figures vary from urban to rural, and between different groups, but that ultimately it means "the vast majority of the world remains at risk".

The estimate -- which would amount to more than 760 million people based on current world population of about 7.6 billion -- far outstrips the number of confirmed cases as tallied by both WHO and Johns Hopkins University, now more than 35 million worldwide.

Experts have long said that the number of confirmed cases greatly underestimates the true figure.

"Security has been tightened around the victim's house in Hathras and her family members have also been provided security," Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Kumar Awasthi told PTI. In the village, 12-15 PAC personnel have been deployed for "24-hour security" of the family, Hathras police said, adding that two security men have been deployed for the brother. 

Elaborate security has been ensured to prevent any tension in the area, they said. Besides constables, three SHOs, a deputy SP-rank officer have been deployed, they added.

Women policemen have also been deployed there for around-the-clock security in the village, besides magistrates are also there to to keep an eye on the situation, police said. 

A 19-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly raped by four upper-caste men in Hathras on September 14. She died on September 29 at Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital during treatment. The victim was cremated in the dead of the night near her home on September 30. 

Her family alleged they were forced by the local police to hurriedly conduct her last rites. Local police officers, however, said the cremation was carried out "as per the wishes of the family". The state government has already recommended a CBI probe in the matter and quoting FSL reports, it has denied the rape charge. -- PTI

Starting off on a high note, the 30-share BSE Sensex zoomed to the day's peak at 39,263.85, before ceding some ground to settle at 38,973.70, up 276.65 points or 0.71 per cent. 

Likewise, the broader NSE Nifty rose 86.40 points or 0.76 per cent to close at 11,503.35. TCS was the top performer on the Sensex chart, rallying 7.30 per cent. In the process, the IT giant became the second Indian firm after Reliance Industries to cross the Rs 10 lakh crore market valuation mark.

Other prominent gainers included Tata Steel, Sun Pharma, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, IndusInd Bank, HCL Tech, ICICI Bank, HUL, Kotak Bank and HDFC Bank, spurting up to 4.71 per cent. On the other hand, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Auto, PowerGrid and ITC were among the major laggards, shedding as much as 2.70 per cent. 

With the global markets' focus turning to US President Donald Trump's COVID-19 treatment, reports of an improvement in his health boosted investor sentiment, analysts said. Asian shares rose following Trump's health update, while European markets too opened on a firm footing. -- PTI

However, Reliance has now had a rethink and has decided not to pursue the merger route, sources with direct knowledge of the development said. Instead, the company is now keen to invest more in digital content creation. Digital media and entertainment is an essential pillar of telecom unit Jio's digital business strategy, they said adding Reliance plans to invest aggressively and grow the digital media business. 

Reliance, they said, wants to retain management control over the digital operations and invest behind creating India's No.1 OTT destination as well as a broadcast platform. -- PTI

The first information report (FIR) was lodged at the Chandpa police station on Sunday afternoon and names unknown as accused, according to police officials. 

The FIR mentions 19 charges under the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The IPC sections include 124A (sedition), 505 (intending to cause public alarm and inducing someone to commit offence against state or public tranquility), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups). The police have also invoked section 67 (transmitting obscene material in electronic form) of the IT Act, according to the FIR. 

The UP government's statements and facts related to the Hathras incident are being forged, manipulated and circulated through social media. Misleading content is being shared with forged logos of media houses, a police officer told PTI. Some accused are circulating material that could trigger caste-based conflict and these are serious offences considering the current situation in the region, the officer said, adding the investigation is underway. 

According to local officials, the Hathras police have so far registered around a dozen complaints under the IT Act related to the Dalit girl's case and they are being probed by the Cyber Cell. The Dalit teen had died of grievous injuries in a Delhi hospital on September 29, a fortnight after she was allegedly raped at her village by four upper caste men. -- PTI

The first information report (FIR) was lodged at the Chandpa police station on Sunday afternoon and names unknown as accused, according to police officials. 

The FIR mentions 19 charges under the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The IPC sections include 124A (sedition), 505 (intending to cause public alarm and inducing someone to commit offence against state or public tranquility), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups). The police have also invoked section 67 (transmitting obscene material in electronic form) of the IT Act, according to the FIR. 

The UP government's statements and facts related to the Hathras incident are being forged, manipulated and circulated through social media. Misleading content is being shared with forged logos of media houses, a police officer told PTI. Some accused are circulating material that could trigger caste-based conflict and these are serious offences considering the current situation in the region, the officer said, adding the investigation is underway. 

According to local officials, the Hathras police have so far registered around a dozen complaints under the IT Act related to the Dalit girl's case and they are being probed by the Cyber Cell. The Dalit teen had died of grievous injuries in a Delhi hospital on September 29, a fortnight after she was allegedly raped at her village by four upper caste men. -- PTI

When Singh was about to speak to mediapersons from TV news channels, a man threw ink on his white kurta while shouting, "PFI dalal wapas jao".

The Popular Front of India (PFI) is an extremist and militant Islamic fundamentalist organisation. Singh sat in his car and left the spot immediately after the incident. Visuals of the occurrence went viral on the electronic media. Singh is among the several political leaders who have visited Hathras to meet the family members of the 19-year-old Dalit woman who died on September 29 after she was allegedly raped by four upper caste men. -- PTI

"Fourteen police teams have been deployed to work out the case, said Unnao Superintendent of Police Anand Kulkarni. The missing child, a class one student, is the son of the brother of the 23-year-old woman, who was allegedly gang-raped by five men last year. She was later set ablaze by the accused when she was heading for a court hearing in the gang-rape case. She later died during treatment in a Delhi hospital. Lucknow range IG Lakshmi Singh visited the village on Sunday and met the family members of the kidnapped child and assured them of all possible help. Three constables, Narendra Yadav, Anuj and Rajesh Kumar, deployed for the security of the family, have been suspended for dereliction of duty after the alleged kidnapping of the child. 

The five suspects named in the kidnapping case -- Captain Bajpai, Saroj Trivedi, Anita Trivedi, Sundara Lodhi and Harshit Bajpai are the relatives of the gang-rape-murder accused, police said. After the alleged kidnapping at about 4 pm on Friday, the family members tried to search the child, but when they could not trace him, they approached the police. PTI

Prior to their work, the discovery of the Hepatitis A and B viruses had been critical steps forward, but the majority of blood-borne hepatitis cases remained unexplained. The discovery of Hepatitis C virus revealed the cause of the remaining cases of chronic hepatitis and made possible blood tests and new medicines that have saved millions of lives.

Singh, while speaking in reference to the Hathras gang-rape and murder case, said if parents instil 'sanskar' in their daughters while raising them, incidents of rape can be avoided. "Even if the government flaunts sword before the rapists that won't help in stopping such crimes unless parents teach their daughters to dress properly," he had said.

"If he wants to come alone or with just a few people, there is no problem. He can come 100 times, we have no objection. But if he comes with a big crowd from Punjab to disturb Haryana's atmosphere, then we will not permit. We are not going to allow that," Vij told PTI on Monday. 

"This issue concerns our law and order. Last month, two Congress-sponsored rallies were also stopped by us from entering our state. Congress is in power in Punjab and they want to use state machinery to spoil Haryana's peaceful atmosphere, which we will not allow," he added.

He alleged that Congress is trying its best to instigate the farmers of Haryana but the state government will not allow them to succeed in their designs. "Under no circumstances will we allow Congress's evil designs to spoil peace and tranquillity in Haryana, we won't permit (it) at any cost," he said. Vij, who is also the health minister of Haryana, had said on October 1 too that Gandhi's tractor rally won't be allowed to enter the state, prompting Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to ask him if a "jungle raj" was prevailing there. 

During his two-day visit to Haryana, Gandhi, according to party leaders, is scheduled to address a farmers' gathering in Pehowa. 

After a night halt in Kurukshetra, he will visit Pipli on Wednesday morning, where he will meet the farmers who were allegedly lathicharged during a protest against the three pieces of farm legislation on September 10. 

The former Congress president will then proceed to Nilokheri and Karnal before returning to Delhi. Vij, who has been vocal against the rule of Nehru-Gandhi family, said no permission will be given to gather huge crowds at one place inside Haryana. "I am bound by law, how can I permit huge crowds," Vij said.

On Amarinder Singh's jungle raj comment, Vij said, "Actually, it is Punjab where there is no law and order. They talk about farmers, but they burn the tools they worship. First they (youth Congress workers) set fire to a tractor on Ambala border, later a tractor was set on fire by them in Delhi. They are not concerned with farmers, they are only doing politics in their name. Rahul Gandhi, Amarinder Singh and (Punjab Congress chief) Sunil Jakhar ride a modified tractor during their tractor rally in Punjab, even during their so-called protest they do not want to part with luxury. They should see how hard a farmer toils in his fields," he said. Vij said the Congress was misleading farmers on farm laws, which are going to bring a big change for the better in the lives of peasants. -- PTI

Asked if the Shiv Sena will field a candidate against former Bihar director general of police Gupteshwar Pandey (if he contests), Raut cryptically said, "Keep watching." 

"I will go to Bihar. Will answer this when I will go there, he added. Pandey, while heading the Bihar Police force, had pitched for a CBI probe into actor Sushant Singh Rajputs death case. He took voluntary retirement from service last month and joined the Nitish Kumar-led JD(U). The Bihar Assembly polls will be held in three phases on October 28, November 3 and November 7, and the counting of votes will take place on November 10. PTI

"The chief minister has maintained from the beginning that things will be unlocked in a phased manner... you can impose 50 per cent restrictions on restaurants while reopening them, but it is not possible in the case of temples," he said.

"The state's chief minister is speaking to organisations representing all religions. Soon, the chief minister will take a decision on it," Raut said. 

"Tardeo police informed us of the body being found at sea off the Haji Ali Dargah coast. The family identified the corpse from the clothes and ornaments on it," he said. Tardeo police station senior inspector Firoz Bagwan said the body was found near Haji Ali Dargah lotus point. -- PTI

Singh was reacting to Gandhi's tweet on his controversial statement on Saturday that "rapes can only be stopped if parents teach sanskar (values) to their daughters". Gandhi reacted to Singh's remark, saying on Sunday, "This is the filthy RSS male chauvinist mentality at work. Men do the raping but women need to be taught good values." 

He had also tagged a newspaper report on Singh's statement in his tweet. On Monday, the BJP legislator from Bairia constituency, in Ballia district, responded to Gandhi and said the former Congress president "is totally ignorant" about the Indian culture. 

"Rahul is a person of dual character and foreign mentality. He is totally ignorant about Indian culture," Singh told reporters at his residence. 

"He will understand the definition of nationalism if he takes tuition from nationalists. He could not understand the crux of the country's culture." "The dual characters of Rahul and Priyanka (Gandhi Vadra) became obvious during their journey to meet the victim's family in Hathras. While they were laughing during their journey, they shed tears at their homes," Singh claimed. 

The Congress leaders met the family on Saturday evening, after an earlier attempt by them was scuttled by Uttar Pradesh authorities, who briefly detained them and other Congress workers in Greater Noida outside Delhi. They have declared that they will fight for justice to the Dalit woman who died a fortnight after being allegedly gang raped on September 14.

Speaking on the incidents of rape, the BJP legislator said, "Immoral works cannot be stopped till the head of the family - the father or the mother - don't monitor the activities of the daughter or the son." For a "cultured society", government and family support are necessary, Singh said, adding that he stands by his statement given earlier.

Singh in his earlier statement had said, "It's the duty of all mothers and fathers to imbibe good values in their daughters and bring them up in a cultured environment. I am a teacher and MLA. Such incidents (like rape) can be stopped only with 'sanskar' not with governance or or might." PTI

Addressing a press conference ahead of Air Force Day on October 8, Bhadauria said Chinese air power can't get the better of India's capabilities but at the same time added that there is no question of underestimating the adversary.

He also said that the IAF is prepared to deal with a two-front war along the northern and western borders if such a scenario arises. 

"Be rest assured that we have deployed strongly to deal with any contingency," the IAF chief said when asked about the situation in eastern Ladakh and possible threat from China in the region. "We have made deployment in all relevant areas; Ladakh is a small part," he said. 

The Air Chief Marshal said the IAF is "very well positioned" to deal with any action along the northern border. India and China are locked in a five-month-long bitter border standoff in eastern Ladakh that has significantly strained their ties. Both sides have held a series of diplomatic and military talks to resolve the row. 

However, no breakthrough has been achieved to end the standoff. The armies of the two countries are scheduled to hold a fresh round of talks on October 12 with a specific agenda of firming up a roadmap for disengagement of troops from the friction points. PTI

The ministry, in a statement, said that new recoveries have exceeded the new cases in the recent days. While 76,737 recoveries have been registered in the last 24 hours in the country, only 74,442 the new confirmed cases have been reported in the same period.

"The Centre-led strategies of "TEST TRACK TRACE TREAT TECHNOLOGY" have been followed by the State and Union Territory Governments, as part of the Whole of Government approach. Early identification of the cases through aggressive and accessible countrywide testing combined with other measures such as prompt and efficient tracking and tracing of the contacts have borne results," the statement said.

It said that the Central government has issued the Standard Treatment Protocol which has ensured a standardised standard of treatment and cure across various hospitals and health facilities, public and private.

"India's total recoveries stands at 55,86,703 today. The higher number of single-day recoveries has resulted in a sustained increase in the national recovery rate, currently pegged at 84.34 per cent," the statement said.

"75 per cent of new recovered cases are recorded in 10 States and Union Territories. Maharashtra alone has contributed more than 15,000 to the new recovered cases followed by Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh with more than 7,000 cases each," it added. -- ANI

The Central Bureau of Investigation is carrying out searches at 14 locations in Karnataka and Maharashtra at the premises of Congress leader D K Shivakumar in an alleged corruption case, officials said on Monday.

The agency has registered a fresh case against the Congress leader based on a source information, they said. 

United States President Donald Trump's blood oxygen level dropped twice in recent days and he was given supplemental oxygen, the White House physician said on Sunday, asserting that his "condition has improved" since then and he could be discharged from the hospital as early as Monday.

Trump, 74, and his wife First Lady Melania Trump, 50, tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, a development that upended the Republican leader's election campaign just weeks before the presidential polls on November 3.

Trump was flown to Walter Reed Military Medical Centre in Bethesda, a Maryland suburb of Washington DC, on Friday.

"Late Friday morning, when I returned to the bedside, the president had a high fever and his oxygen saturation was transiently dipping below 94 per cent," White House physician Dr Sean Conley told reporters outside the hospital on Sunday. 

After this the president was given supplemental oxygen for about an hour on Friday. He also experienced a drop in oxygen level on Saturday, but the doctors said he wasn't sure whether Trump was given supplemental oxygen a second time.

"I'd have to check with the nursing staff. I don't think that - if he did, it was very, very limitedAnd the only oxygen that I ordered, or that we provided, was that Friday morning, initially," he said.

Conley said that there has been improvement and the president has no fever since Friday. He could be discharged from the hospital as early as Monday, he added. 

He said the president was given dexamethasone, a steroid, after his blood oxygen level dipped on Saturday.

In a video posted late Saturday, Trump said he has started to "feel much better" and thanked the American people and global leaders for their support.

"I came here. Wasn't feeling so well. I feel much better now. We're working hard to get me all the way back. I have to be back because we still have to Make America Great Again," Trump said in the video message from the military hospital in a suburb of Washington on Saturday.

President Trump is feeling "very well", but will stay hospitalised, White House national security adviser Robert O'Brien said. on Sunday.

Conley earlier said the president is "not yet out of the woods".

"While not yet out of the woods, the team remains cautiously optimistic, he said, adding that the plan for Sunday is to continue observation in between doses of Remdesivir, closely monitoring his clinical status while fully supporting his conduct of presidential duties.

Conley, in a memorandum issued late Saturday night, said the president had received Regeron's antibody cocktail on October 2.

"President Trump continues to do well, having made substantial progress since diagnosis," Conley said, adding that the president completed his second dose of Remdesivir without complications.

Conley said the president remains fever free and off supplemental oxygen with a saturation level between 96 and 98 per cent all day.

The president, he said, spent most of the afternoon conducting business, and has been up and moving about the medical suit without difficulty.

In the video message, that lasted for a little over four minutes and was posted by Trump on Twitter, the president asserted that he has to come back to win the election and complete the job.

"We still have steps to go and we have to finish that job. And I'll be back. I think I'll be back soon. I look forward to finishing up the campaign the way it was started and the way we've been doing," he said.

The president said he is fighting the virus and expressed hope to beat it.

"We've been so proud of it. But this was something that happened and it's happened to millions of people all over the world and I'm fighting for them. Not just in the US, I'm fighting for them all over the world. We're going to beat this coronavirus or whatever you want to call it. And we're going to beat it soundly," Trump said.

Trump said the therapeutics which he is taking are nothing less than miracles. -- PTI