Breaking highlights: Maharashtra adds 275 new Covid-19 cases, 2 more deaths

The Bombay high court on Friday granted bail to Gautam Thapar in connection with the Yes Bank fraud case. Thapar is the promoter of Avantha Group of Companies.

Maharashtra on Friday registered 275 new Covid-19 infections in the last 24 hours, which pushed the caseload to 78,73,231. Two more patients died due to the viral disease, and the toll has climbed to 1,47,779. 

Chhattisgarh's Covid-19 caseload climbed to 11,52,038 after 18 new infections were recorded. No fresh fatalities were seen and the toll remain unchanged at 14,034.

As many as four Russian officials have been charged with malicious hacking of critical infrastructure around the globe including the United States energy and aviation sectors between 2012 and 2018. 

The White House has said that North Korea has "more in store" after successfully test-firing a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile this week. 

"We see this as part of a pattern of testing and provocation from North Korea... we think there is likely more in store,"White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said. 

The Union government informed the Rajya Sabha on Friday that more than 29 lakh farmers have benifitted from the from the Pradhan Mantra Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY) since the inception of its respective component schemes.

Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday took a veiled jibe at the Modi government by saying that it is spreading terror. “The constitution is in tatters, democracy is in danger. Somewhere lynchings are underway, somewhere encounters & ED raids;govt is spreading terror. Whenever polls come, raids come along. Every citizen should be worried about the condition of the country," Gehlot said while speaking to reporters. 

Yogi Adityanath on Friday took oath as Uttar Pradesh's chief minister for second consecutive time, after the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP's) landslide victory in the recently concluded assembly elections. 

German health minister Karl Lauterbach said on Friday that it is too soon to declare a freedom day from the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. “The pandemic isn't over by a long shot. There can be no talk of a freedom day. Quite the contrary," Lauterbach told reporters. 

Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot met his Chhattisgarh counterpart Bhupesh Baghel in Raipur on Friday. The two leaders discussed the ongoing coal issue between the two states. 

Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann said on Friday that former state MLAs will get pension for only one term, adding the money saved from this will be spent on public welfare. 

"Ex-MLAs in Punjab, even if they have won twice, five times or ten times, they will now get pension for one term only," Mann said. 

BJP workers on Friday held a protest in Chennai against this year's Tamil Nadu budget presented by chief minister MK Stalin's government. 

Trinamool Congress (TMC) general secretary Kunal Ghosh said on Friday that his party will cooperate with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the Birbhum case probe. Ghosh accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)  of using the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for politics. 

Rajya Sabha proceedings adjourned briefly amid uproar after BJP MP Roopa Ganguly raises Birbhum incident in West Bengal, reported news agency PTI. 

With Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi in New Delhi for an official visit, exiled Tibetans have called upon India to press Beijing to resume dialogue with the Dalai Lama, reports news agency ANI.

Calcutta high court has ordered a CBI probe into the Birbhum violence case. Eight people, including two children, were charred to death as nearly a dozen huts were set ablaze in West Bengal's Birbhum district early Tuesday in a suspected fallout of the murder of a ruling TMC panchayat official.

Chinese foreign minister Wangi Yi has arrived at national security adviser Ajit Doval's office in New Delhi.

Congress MP Manickam Tagore moved an adjournment motion in Lok Sabha to discuss the increase in the prices of diesel, petrol, and LPG cylinders.

China's official Xinhua News Agency said on Friday that the second black box of crashed China Eastern jet has yet to be found, reported Reuters. Earlier, CAAC News, a publication managed by the aviation regulator, said China had found the second black box, but it later deleted the news post from its official social media platforms.