A US court has ordered the release of migrant children held in the country's three family detention centers -- Berks in Pennsylvania, South Texas (Dilley) and Karnes County Family Residential Centers in Texas -- by July 17 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Judge Dolly M Gee of the US District Court for the Central District of California called for the immediate release of the migrant children who are at the three family detention centers, which are run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and located in Texas and Pennsylvania, CNN reported. 

According to the ruling, there are 124 children in the ICE custody as of June 8.

Judge Gee further said that the children must be released with their parents or to "available suitable sponsors or other available COVID-free non-congregate settings" with the consent of their parents or guardians.

"By July 17, 2020, ICE shall transfer Class Members who have resided at the FRCs [family residential centers] for more than 20 days to non-congregate settings through one of two means: (1) releasing minors to available suitable sponsors or other available COVID-free non-congregate settings with the consent of their adult guardians/parents; or (2) releasing the minors with their guardians/parents if ICE exercises its discretion," Sputnik quoted the order.

According to the latest update by the Johns Hopkins University, the US has reported a total of 24,67,837 and 1,25,039 deaths so far. 

Maharashtra on Saturday registered the highest-ever single-day spike of 5,318 new COVID-19 cases, state health department said.

The state's total case count now stands at 1,59,133.

With 167 deaths, the fatality count has gone up to 7,273, it said.

Of the 167 deaths, 86 people died in the last 48 hours.

Saturday's spike in cases has surpassed the record 5,024 detections recorded on Friday.

The total number of recoveries has fast outgrown the number of active COVID-19 cases, with the difference between the two nearing one lakh fast, the Union health ministry said on Saturday.

  

The recovered cases have exceeded the active cases by 98,493 as of Saturday.

The number of active cases stood at 1,97,387 while 2,95,880 patients have recovered, the ministry said, adding, "With this encouraging status, the recovery rate is touching 58.13 per cent amongst COVID-19 patients."

India's COVID-19 tally raced past the five-lakh mark on Saturday with the biggest single-day surge of 18,552 cases, while the death toll climbed to 15,685 with 384 fatalities.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, a cumulative total of 79,96,707 samples have been tested up to June 26 with 2,20,479 samples being tested on Friday, the highest in a day since the beginning of the pandemic.

Intensifying his attack on the Congress, BJP president J P Nadda on Saturday asked the opposition party 10 questions, including about alleged links between the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and China, and said that his party will leave no stone unturned in "exposing double-faced politicians".  

"I want to tell Sonia Gandhi that under the garb of China and COVID-19 crisis, one should not shy away from answering the questions the nation wants to know...  It's a shame. It's a sacrifice of national interest by accepting money from foreign powers in personal trusts," Nadda told reporters while attacking the Congress president. 

Amid the standoff with China, he asserted that India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi is safe and secure, and that its brave armed forces are fully capable of protecting the country. The central government has also handled the COVID-19 crisis in the best possible manner, he added.

Nadda alleged that the RGF, which is headed by Sonia Gandhi, received donations every year from the Chinese embassy between 2005-09 and from the "tax haven" of Luxembourg, which is full of "hawala transactions", between 2006-09.

NGOs and companies with "deep commercial interests" also donated to the foundation, he alleged.

The Congress had earlier dismissed Nadda's attack on the RGF over alleged donations to it from the Chinese embassy and the Prime Minister National Relief Fund as a "diabolical game of deception" by the ruling party to divert attention from the alleged Chinese occupation of Indian territory.  

Hitting out at the Congress, Nadda said, "Congress and corruption are synonymous. Our party will contribute to the nation's development to change its face, and will also leave no stone unturned in exposing double-faced politicians."    

Nadda asked the Congress on Saturday to come clean on its "links" with China, and the details of its MoU with the Communist Party of China. 

With this, the national capital's tally has gone up to 80,188 including 28, 329 active cases, 4, 9301 recovered/discharged/migrated cases and 2,558 deaths.

AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria said that the rise in Covid-19 cases in India is not as high as compared to other countries. 

On a day when the country reported its highest single-day spike of 18552 cases, Guleria said that although the number of cases has been rising, the rise is not as high as compared to those in other countries like in the US, which has reported a surge of 80,000 cases in the last two days. 

Guleria said, "The number of cases is increasing. We can look at two things, one that this rise is not that high as compared to other countries. In the US, there has been almost 40,000 cases per day for two days. The other thing is the number of cases per million population continues to remain below. The most important thing is that we still continue to have low mortality. Considering the size of our population, the number of cases will be large in absolute terms. But if we are able to keep mortality down then it will be a big success for the country."

Earlier today Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said that the COVID-19 recovery rate has surged over 58 per cent in the country with around 3 lakh cured and discharged patients. "Our mortality/fatality rate is near 3 per cent which is very less. Our doubling rate has come down to nearly 19 days, which was 3 days before the lockdown," he said.

Meanwhile, the AIIMS director when asked about the rise in cases in Delhi said, "In Delhi, the cases are rising from hotspots and what we call containment zones. There has to be lot of responsibility on part of the people, local community leaders in these areas to make sure that people stay at home, isolate themselves, wear masks and social distancing."

"Unfortunately in these areas, people are not following social distancing. This is promoting the spread of the infection," he added.

The AIIMS director said that peak in infection rates in India will occur at different times in different parts of the country.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday hit out at the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh over an employment generation programme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking whether only "publicity" will create jobs.

  

Modi on Friday launched the 'Atma nirbhar Uttar Pradesh Rozgar Abhiyan' seeking to promote local entrepreneurship with industrial associations to provide employment.

"Yesterday, an employment event was started in UP with a lot of fanfare," Priyanka Gandhi said in a Facebook post.

"Most of the categories of employment mentioned at the event are facing problems. Self-employed people are in tremendous crisis due to lack of direct financial support from the government. The condition of small and medium scale industries is so bad that it is estimated that 62 per cent of MSMEs will cut jobs and 78 per cent will cut wages," she said.

In Uttar Pradesh, the condition of chikan industry, woodwork, brass industry, powerloom sector, the carpet industry is also bad, she said.

"Recently, the incidents of suicide by migrant labourers from outside in Bundelkhand are before us. Tragic incidents of suicide have come to light in Kanpur due to financial constraints and lack of employment," she said.

"In such a situation, what is the UP government trying to hide? Will only publicity provide employment?" the Congress general secretary in-charge UP East asked.

Asking on which government portal figures on employment are available, she asked the Yogi Adityanath government to come out with the truth.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday visited a newly created COVID-19 care facility with over 10,000 beds in the national capital and reviewed arrangements.

 

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal accompanied Shah during his visit to the sprawling facility in south Delhi.

During his visit, the home minister took stock of the preparedness of the facility, a home ministry official said.

The facility on the Radha Soami Satsang Beas campus in the Chhatarpur area will have two wings -- a COVID care centre where asymptomatic positive cases will be treated and a dedicated COVID healthcare centre.

The Indo Tibetan Border Police has been given the responsibility for the management of the centre and act as the nodal agency.

The national capital has reported nearly 80,000 coronavirus cases while the virus has claimed about 2,500 lives so far in Delhi.

Amid heightened Chinese fighter aircraft and helicopter activities along the Line of Actual Control, the Indian armed forces have deployed their advanced very quick-reaction surface-to-air missile defence systems in the Eastern Ladakh sector.

"As part of the ongoing build-up in the sector, the air defence systems of both Indian Army and the Indian Air Force have been deployed in the sector to prevent any misadventure by the Chinese Air Force fighter jets or the People's Liberation Army choppers there," government sources said. 

In the last couple of weeks, the Chinese forces have brought in heavy air superiority aircraft like the Sukhoi-30 and its strategic bombers to the rear locations which have been detected flying near the Indian territory maintaining the 10 km plus distance from the boundary.

Sources said that India is also very shortly getting a highly capable air defence system from a friendly country which can be deployed and the entire area can be taken care off to prevent any enemy flying there.

Sources said the Chinese choppers have been flying their very close to the Indian LAC in all the troubled sectors including the Sub Sector North (Daulat Beg Oldie sector), Galwan valley near Patrolling Point 14, Patrolling Point 15, Patrolling Point 17 and 17A (Hot Springs area) along with the Pangong Tso and Finger area where they are now moving closer to the Finger 3 area.

The Indian quick reaction air defence missile includes the Akash missile which can take down very fast-moving combat aircraft and drones in few seconds and many modifications and upgrades have already been done in it to make it suitable for deployment in the high mountainous terrain.

Former Union finance minister Yashwant Sinha on Saturday alleged that the Centre is resorting to "profiteering" by increasing fuel prices on a daily basis.

  

On one hand, the Centre announced a Rs 20-lakh crore package to uplift the economy, while on the other, it "robbed" people who travel by motorbikes, scooters and other vehicles, he said.

While diesel rates were hiked for the 21st straight day on Saturday, petrol prices have been increased on 20 occasions in three weeks.

"There are occasions when the price hike in petrol and diesel (prices) becomes imperative. But I can tell you on the basis of my experience that it is nothing but sheer profiteering in today's circumstances," Sinha said at a press conference.

"It is unfortunate and saddening to know that the government is resorting to profiteering," he said.

Sinha said it is well known that "crude oil price is soft in the international market".

On Saturday, the price of petrol was hiked by 25 paise per litre and diesel by 21 paise per litre, taking the cumulative increase in rates in three weeks to Rs 9.12 and Rs 11.01, respectively.

On June 7, oil companies had restarted revising prices in line with costs after ending an 82-day hiatus during which they adjusted steep excise duty hikes by the government against the fall in benchmark international oil rates. 

A 43-year-old Central Reserve Police Force official succumbed to the novel coronavirus on Saturday taking the total number of deaths in the country's largest paramilitary force to eight, officials said.

 

This is also the 24th death among the five Central Armed Police Forces -- CRPF, BSF, CISF, ITBP and SSB.

They said the constable rank official, posted as a driver in the administration wing of the CRPF headquarters at Lodhi Road in New Delhi had been suffering from a chronic kidney problem and hypertension.

The jawan was found COVID-19 positive on Friday and he breathed his last at a Delhi hospital on Saturday, they said.

The personnel hailed from Bihar, the officials said.

The 3.25 lakh personnel strong CRPF accounts for over 1,000 COVID-19 cases, out of more than 3,300 cases reported till now in these five CAPFs and two other central forces -- the NSG and the NDRF.

As per the latest data, there have been over 868 coronavirus cases in the BSF, 733 in the CISF, 306 in the ITBP, 184 in the National Disaster Response Force, 139 in the SSB and 70 in the National Security Guard.

Out of these, about 2,000 personnel have been cured and only about 1,280 are under treatment at various health facilities across the country, the data showed.

These forces have reported 24 deaths from the disease till now.

The CISF has had seven fatalities while five deaths have been reported in the BSF and two each in the ITBP and the SSB.

 

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Union Home Minister Amit Shah will visit the new Covid Care Center at Radha Soami Satsang Beas in Chhatarpur, south Delhi, at 5:00 pm today.

The care centre will have 10,000 beds out of which 10 per cent will be oxygenated beds. The entire area will have 500 urinals, 450 bathrooms and 300 wheel-chairs.

The centre is expected to be up and running on July 1.

Amid a war of words between the Congress and the BJP over the face-off with China, NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday said matters of national security shouldn't be politicised and added one cannot forget China had captured about 45000 sq kms of Indian land after the 1962 war.

Pawar's comments came in response to a query about Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's charge that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had surrendered Indian territory to the Chinese aggression.

Pawar also said the Galwan Valley incident in Ladakh cannot immediately be labelled as a failure of defence minister, as Indian soldiers were alert during patrolling.

Speaking to reporters, the former Union minister said the entire episode is "sensitive" in nature. It was China which played the provocateur in the Galwan Valley, he said.

Twenty Indian soldiers were killed in a violent clash with their Chinese counterpart in eastern Ladakh on the night of June 15.

Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw, popularly known as Sam Manekshaw and as Sam Bahadur, was one of the greatest military officers of India. The death anniversary of the seventh Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw falls on June 27 and the Indian Army paid homage to the legendary officer.

One of the greatest officers of the Indian Army, Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw died at the age of 94 on June 27, 2008, at Wellington in Tamil Nadu. He was the Army Chief in 1971 when the Pakistani Army was crushed by the Indian Army, resulting in the creation of Bangladesh.

Taking to Twitter, the Indian Army wrote, ''General MM Naravane #COAS and all ranks of #IndianArmy pay homage and rich tribute to Field Marshal SHFJ Manekshaw (3 Apr 14 - 27 Jun 08) on his death anniversary. He led the Indian Army in the Victory of #1971 war.''

Mumbai Police on Saturday questioned casting director Shanoo Sharma in the alleged suicide case of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput.

The interrogation session of the casting director of Yash Raj Films took place at Bandra Police Station. The actor's detailed post-mortem report has also confirmed that he died by "asphyxia due to hanging."

The final report quoted, "No signs of any struggle before death, nothing found from his nails."

The report was analysed by a team of five doctors. Police are now awaiting the viscera report.

Mumbai Police had earlier recorded statements of 23 people in connection with the case. 

The Union health ministry has revised its clinical management protocol for Covid-19. 

Glucocorticosteroid dexamethasone is now allowed as alternative to methylprednisolone for moderate and severe Covid-19 patients in need of oxygen support who experience excessive inflammatory response, says health ministry.

Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said: "Our recovery rate has gone above 58 per cent and around 3 lakh people have recovered from the novel coronavirus. Our mortality/fatality rate is near 3 per cent which is very less. Our doubling rate has come down to near 19 days, which was 3 days before the lockdown."

Amid the search for a Covid-19 cure, India now has over 5 lakh novel coronavirus cases with the highest single-day spike of 18,552 cases in the last 24 hours. 

The death toll in the country stands at 15,685, as per the latest health ministry data released Saturday morning.

As Sushant Singh Rajput's family tries to come to terms with his loss, they have decided to honour his legacy and celebrate his passion for cinema, science and sports.

  

In an emotional statement shared on Saturday, the Bollywood actor's family remembered him as a free-spirited person who worked hard to turn his dreams into reality.

He was free-spirited, talkative and incredibly bright. He was curious about just everything. He dreamed without restraints, and chased those dreams with the heart of a lion. He smiled generously. He was the pride and inspiration of the family, the statement read.

Rajput, 34, known for films like "Kai Po Che!", "MS Dhoni: The Untold Story" and "Chhichhore", was found dead in his Bandra apartment on June 14, sending shockwaves in the film industry and elsewhere.

The family said that the actor's untimely demise has created an irreparable void in their lives.

We can't bring ourselves to accept that we wouldn't get to hear his easy laughs anymore. That we wouldn't see his sparkling eyes again. That we wouldn't hear his endless rants about science again. His loss has created a permanent, glaring void in the family that will never be filled.

Thanking his admirers for being a constant support as they try and recover from the loss, the family added that Rajput, truly loved and cherished every single one of his fans.

To honour his memory and legacy, the family has decided to set up Sushant Singh Rajput Foundation that will support young talents in cinema, science and sports.

His childhood home in Rajiv Nagar, Patna, will be turned into a memorial, where all his personal memorabilia and belongings, that include thousands of books, his Meade 14'' LX-600 telescope, flight-simulator, will be on display for his fans and admirers.

The actor's family, who used to fondly call him Gulshan, will also maintain his social media accounts as legacy accounts to keep his memories alive.   

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said Delhi is waging a difficult war against coronavirus pandemic and will emerge victorious, but it will take time for it.

 

The Delhi government is combating the pandemic by increasing beds for COVID-19 patients, raising the number of tests, providing oxymetres and oxygen concentrators to patients in home isolation, providing plasma therapy, and through survey and screening, he said in a briefing.

In the past one month, the number of beds have been raised significantly in hospitals and now there is no lack of beds. Out of 13,500 available, 7,500 are vacant, he said. 

Kejriwal also said that currently around 20,000 tests for COVID-19 are being undertaken daily in the city.

He said a serological survey has started for ascertaining the level of coronavirus spread in the city. Under the survey started on Saturday, 20,000 samples will be collected, the chief minister said.

An Enforcement Directorate team landed at veteran Congress leader Ahmed Patels Delhi residence on Saturday in connection with a money laundering case involving Sterling Biotech Ltd.

The agency had gone to Patels house to record his statement in the case. He was earlier summoned for questioning, but the leader said he cant come due to Covid-19 guidelines as he is a senior citizen. The health ministry had issued advisory for citizens above 65 years to stay at home to protect themselves against the coronavirus pandemic.

It is alleged that Sterling Biotech took loans of over Rs 5,000 crore from a consortium led by Andhra Bank, which had turned into non-performing assets. The total volume of the alleged loan defraud is pegged at Rs 8,100 crore.

On Friday, the Central Bureau of Investigation carried out searches at multiple premises linked to Ratul Puri - nephew of former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath - in connection with a fresh FIR registered against him on Thursday for allegedly cheating a consortium of banks led by Punjab National Bank of Rs 787 crore, officials familiar with the matter said. The agency teams, wearing personal protection equipment, raided several buildings in Delhi and Noida.

Pakistan on Saturday conveyed to India that it was ready to reopen the Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib for Sikh pilgrims on June 29. In an announcement this morning, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said Islamabad was prepared to reopen the corridor on the occasion of the death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh.

The corridor was shut in March this year as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

As places of worship open up across the world, Pakistan prepares to reopen the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor for all Sikh pilgrims, conveying to the Indian side our readiness to reopen the corridor on 29 June 2020, the occasion of the death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh, Qureshi tweeted.

In March this year, New Delhi had temporarily suspended registration and travel to the corridor due to the pandemic.

Health officials in Punjab had said that since Pakistani citizens also had access to Kartarpur Sahib, there was a danger that some infected individuals could pass on the virus to Indian pilgrims visiting the shrine. 

India is much better placed than many other nations with respect to the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, prime minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday. PM Modis comments came during his inaugural address on the occasion marking the 90th birth anniversary celebrations of Rev. Dr Joseph Mar Thoma Metropolitan.

The world is fighting a strong battle against a global pandemic. Covid-19 is not only a physical sickness that is a threat to the lives of people but also takes away our attention to unhealthy lifestyles, the prime minister said during his virtual address.

The prime minister said that earlier this year, some people had predicted that the impact of the virus in India would be very severe but due to the lockdown, various initiatives taken by the government and a people-driven fight, India is much better placed than many other nations.

Indias recovery rate is rising, he added.

He started his speech by wishing a long life and best health to Rev Dr Joseph Mar Thoma Metropolitan and described him as someone passionate about the removal of poverty and working for women empowerment.

Delhi conducted the highest number of COVID-19 tests in a single day on Friday, said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday.

He informed that the government has increased testing four times in the national capital and now a strategy of very aggressive testing and isolation is being followed to combat COVID-19. "Delhi conducted highest no of tests in a singly day yesterday- 21,144. We have increased testing 4 times. Delhi now following strategy of very aggressive testing and isolation," Kejriwal tweeted.

On Friday, the CM had said that the "number of COVID-19 cases in the national capital is high but the situation is under control and there is no need to worry".

"COVID-19 cases in Delhi are mild and most of them do not require hospitalisation. Right now, we have over 13,500 beds ready," he added.

Delhi has confirmed 77,240 COVID-19 cases, including 2,492 deaths, as per the Union health ministry's Saturday bulletin. 

President Ram Nath Kovind has promulgated the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 to bring all urban cooperative banks and multi-state cooperative banks under the supervision of the Reserve Bank of India in order to protect the interest of depositors.

The Ordinance amends the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 as applicable to cooperative banks, an official statement said on Saturday.

'The Ordinance seeks to protect the interests of depositors and strengthen cooperative banks by improving governance and oversight by extending powers already available with RBI in respect of other banks to Co-operative Banks as well for sound banking regulation, and by ensuring professionalism and enabling their access to capital,' it said.

The amendments do not affect existing powers of the State Registrars of Co-operative Societies under state co-operative laws, it added.

The amendments also do not apply to Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) or co-operative societies whose primary object and principal business is long-term finance for agricultural development, and which do not use the words 'bank', 'banker' or 'banking' and do not act as drawees of cheques, it said.

'The Ordinance also amends Section 45 of the Banking Regulation Act, to enable making of a scheme of reconstruction or amalgamation of a banking company for protecting the interest of the public, depositors and the banking system and for securing its proper management, even without making an order of moratorium, so as to avoid disruption of the financial system,' it said.

There are 1,482 urban cooperative banks and 58 multi-state cooperative banks having about 8.6 crore depositors with total savings deposit of about Rs 4.85 lakh crore.

The decision assumes significance in the wake of scams in cooperative banks, including the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank, affecting lakhs of customers who are facing difficulty in withdrawing their money due to restrictions imposed by the RBI.  -- PTI

Buildings in congested areas and slums of north Mumbai will be sealed considering the rise in COVID-19 cases here in the last 15 days, Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh said.

During a visit to north Mumbai on Friday, the city top cop attributed the spread of coronavirus infection to the high population density here.

North Mumbai, which includes Dahisar, Borivali, Malad, Charkop and Kandivali areas, has seen a sharp rise in cases in the last 15 days.

Singh took stock of the COVID-19 count and precautionary measures taken by the police and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to contain the viral spread.

Several cases have been reported from buildings located in slums and other high-density places, he said, adding that the police were sealing such structures and the results of these measures will be seen in the next few days.

The city currently has 750 containment zones, of which 300 are located in north Mumbai alone, Singh said.

Apart from this, the police have identified 27 hotspots and a strict lockdown has been enforced in these areas, he said.

People should follow social distancing norms to break the chain of the spread and should wear masks, use sanitisers if they step out of their homes for any urgent work, Singh said.

According to the BMC's data, Mumbai has so far recorded 72,287 COVID-19 cases, while the toll stood at 4,177.   -- PTI

IMAGE: Health workers in protective gear walk in a slum lane to take health details of the residents of a containment zone at Kajupada area, in Mumbai, on Friday. Photograph: PTI Photo

JUST IN: India crosses 5 lakh mark as it reports highest single-day spike of 18,552 new COVID-19 cases; 384 deaths in last 24 hours.

Positive cases in India stand at 5,08,953 including 1,97,387 active cases, 2,95,881 cured/discharged/migrated and 15,685 deaths, says the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Swarms of locusts have attacked Hasteda village in Chomu where a farmer claimed that his crops were destroyed.

Sheeshpal, the farmer on Friday said, "Locusts have attacked our village for the fourth time. They have caused severe damage to our crops and cattle fodder. We appeal to the state government to provide us with some relief."

Earlier on Wednesday, BR Kadwa, Deputy Director of Rajasthan Agriculture Department had said that the Centre is planning to use helicopters to control the locust swarms which are entering Rajasthan from Pakistan.

"Locust attack has been ongoing for 1.5 months. Rajasthan is one of the most affected states as some districts -- Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Barmer, Ganganagar - share border with Pakistan from where locusts are entering other districts," Kadwa had said.

"Operations are on to control them. The issue is, we had killed older swarms but new swarms are coming now. The government of India says that Air Force helicopters will also be used to control it. Locusts have made border areas near Pakistan their breeding centres from where they're coming here and Pakistan is unable to control them," he had added.

The official had also said that with the fast-approaching monsoon season, the new swarms can also set up breeding grounds in the desert areas of the state which could further aggravate the problem. -- ANI

In a shocking incident, the body of a municipality employee, who later tested positive for COVID-19, was taken to the graveyard on a JCB earth mover in Palasa town of Andhra Pradesh's Srikakulam district on Friday.

The family of the victim called the incident 'an inhumane act' as the necessary protocols for shifting a deceased coronavirus patient were not followed.

On receiving information about the incident, the Andhra Pradesh government officials met district collector J Nivas and ordered immediate action against the accused.

Palasa Municipal Commissioner T Nagendra Kumar and Sanitary Inspector N Rajiv have now been suspended.

Telugu Desam Party chief and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu condemned the incident and tweeted, 'Utterly shocked to see the deceased bodies of coronavirus victims wrapped in plastic and transported on JCBs and tractors. They deserve respect and dignity even in death. Shame on YS Jagan government for this inhumane treatment of the mortal remains.'

A similar incident took place on June 24 in the same district where a woman who died of COVID-19 was taken on a tractor in Sompeta town. -- ANI

Fuel prices were hiked by the oil marketing companies for the 21st day in a row on Saturday.

Petrol and diesel will now cost Rs 80.38/litre and Rs 80.40/litre respectively in the national capital.

The price of petrol is increased by Rs 0.25 per litre while that of diesel by Rs 0.21 per litre.

Rates differ from state to state depending on the incidence of value-added tax (VAT).

Notably, oil marketing companies have been adjusting retail rates in line with costs after an 82-day break from rate revision amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

These firms on June 7 restarted revising prices in line with costs.

The Congress party had called the increase in the price of petrol and diesel 'unjust', 'thoughtless' and demanded from the Central government to roll back increase with immediate effect and pass on the benefit of low oil prices directly to the citizens of this country.

In an official statement, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) had said that no government should levy and impose such unacceptable strain on its people.

Before the nation entered the lockdown, the average price of petrol and diesel in Delhi was Rs 69.60 per litre and Rs 62.30 per litre respectively. -- ANI

Former Congress MLA Neeraj Bharti was arrested on Friday for allegedly posting 'anti-national and objectionable materials' on the social media regarding the Sino-India standoff in Ladakh's Galwan valley, Himachal Pradesh police spokesperson Khushhal Sharma said.

The former legislator from Jawali in Kangra district was arrested in connection with a first information report registered against him under Indian Penal Code sections 124A (sedition), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) at the Crime Branch police station, CID Shimla on June 20, he added.

Bharti, a former chief parliamentary secretary (CPS), was summoned to the police station for questioning, Sharma said, adding that he was quizzed for three days from June 24 to 26 on various aspects relating to the case.

Subsequently, he was arrested in the case for investigation purposes and will be produced before the chief judicial magistrate's (CJM) court on Saturday, the police spokesperson said.

The FIR was lodged on the basis of a complaint from lawyer Narendra Guleria.

In his complaint to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the state police, Guleria alleged that messages posted by Bharti on the social media were an attempt to spread hatred and disrespect the government.

Two years ago, the Congress leader was booked for allegedly making derogatory remarks on Facebook against Bharatiya Janata Party leader Pratibha Bali, a police official in Shimla said.    -- PTI

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said on Friday that Ganesh mandals should not install idols with a height of more than four feet in the coming Ganesh festival.

Thackeray had earlier appealed Ganesh mandals -- groups which celebrate the festival in public -- to keep the celebrations low-key this year in view of the coronavirus pandemic.

Ganesh festival is set to begin from August 22.

Tall Ganesh idols are especially popular in Mumbai.

In a statement in Mumbai, Thackeray said faith and devotion are more important than the height of idol.

Coronavirus pandemic has affected culture and traditions too, he said.

'To avoid crowds, all places of worship have been shut. We need to avoid crowds which gather to see huge Ganesh idols in Mumbai and Pune. I have spoken to Ganesh mandals and they are unanimous about maintaining discipline and social responsibility,' Thackeray said.

Ganesh idols of mandals should not be more than four feet tall as bigger idols need more volunteers, the chief minister said.

The Dahi-handi (Janmashtami) celebrations in August have been canceled and Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik, who organises Dahi Handi in a big way, has instead donated Rs 1 crore for coronavirus relief fund, Thackeray noted.   -- PTI