Breaking news: Former MP G Made Gowda passes away

G Made Gowda was undergoing treatment for lung disease in Mandya. Karnataka CM expressed his condolences.

Uttar Pradesh government said that the Kanwar Yatra has been cancelled in the state in view of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic, reported news agency ANI. The Supreme Court had earlier advised reconsidering its decision to hold even a symbolic Kanwar Yatra.

The United Kingdom on Saturday reported 54,674 new cases of coronavirus disease (Covid-19), posting a fresh highest daily total in six months.

Maharashtra has reported 8,172 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, with state capital Mumbai recording 469 new infections.

Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa has called a meeting of legislative party MLAs and ministers on July 26, news agency ANI reported. After meeting BJP president JP Nadda on Saturday, Yediyurappa said he has been told to bring the party back to power in the state.

UK health minister Sajid Javid said he has tested positive for coronavirus disease (Covid-19). Javid was fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as he posted a picture of him getting a second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine on May 16.

Shiromani Akali Dal has accused the Punjab government of misusing the State chopper to fly in Congress general secretary Harish Rawat to Chandigarh, reported news agency ANI. It has demanded a probe into the matter. Rawat, also in charge of the Punjab Congress, met chief minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday amid reports of infighting in the party's state unit.

Odisha government has decided to begin physical classes for 10th and 12th from July 26 but online classes will also continue, reported news agency ANI quoting a government official. Satyabrata Sahu, principal secretary, department of school & mass education, said that the decision to attend physical classes will be on students.

Union minister for civil aviation said that a solo flight of Cessna aircraft crashed in Sagar, Madhya Pradesh. Taking to Twitter, Scindia said that the trainee is safe and an investigation team is rushing to the site.

Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has said that there would be no live streaming of the 'Chardham Yatra' as it is not written in Vedas. He added that the government is also going to file an affidavit in the High Court in this regard.

Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu will head the state unit of Punjab and four working presidents will be appointed with him, news agency ANI reported quoting people familiar with the development.

Amid infighting in Punjab Congress, chief minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday said that any decision taken by the party president will be acceptable to all. HT had earlier reported that Singh wrote to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi expressing his displeasure at the party's handling of the crisis in the state unit.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Saturday took the oath of office for a fourth term after taking 95% of the vote in a controversial election, reported news agency AFP.

Delhi International Airport announced that flight operations at T2 will recommence from July 22 at 0001 hrs. Operation will resume with approximately 200 air traffic movements (100 departures and 100 arrivals) per day and increase progressively up to 280 by August end

Pilgrims began arriving in the holy city of Mecca on Saturday for the second downsized hajj staged during the coronavirus pandemic, circling Islam's holiest site in masks and on distanced paths.

The kingdom is allowing only 60,000 fully vaccinated residents to take part, seeking to repeat last year's success that saw no virus outbreak during the five-day ritual.

A six-year-old girl was killed and five others were injured in a shooting incident in Washington on Friday night.

Ashan M Benedict, the executive assistant chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, said that the girl has been killed and that three men and two women had been injured, reported The New York Times.

"Any shooting that takes place in the city is unacceptable, and again, we are responding to too many calls of children being affected by gunfire," he said adding: "So please help us bring these shooters to justice."

Alleging the shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE), a group of 200 cleaning staff at a hospital in Sydney are refusing to enter the Covid-19 ward of the hospital.

The state health minister has dubbed the matter as "some difference of opinion" between the hospital and the union on the matter, SBS News reported.

"But I've indicated to the team last night that I'd like us to be as generous as reasonable and understanding of our health workers and are on the side of being supportive," said New South Wales (NSW) Brad Hazzard.

The T2 terminal of the Delhi international airport will resume operations from July 22, two months after it was shut down due to significant drop in domestic air traffic owing to the Covid-19 pandemic's second wave, a statement said on Saturday.

The resumption of operations at T2 from July 22 onwards will be with approximately 200 air traffic movements (100 departures and 100 arrivals) per day and increase progressively up to around 280 movements by August-end, the statement of Delhi airport's operator DIAL said.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday demanded that the recent panchayat elections held in Lakhimpur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh be cancelled, and re-polls be held.

She was speaking to reporters after reaching Semra village in Pathgava block of the district.

On July 9, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav had alleged that BJP workers misbehaved with his party candidate Ritu Singh and her proposer Anita Yadav. He also claimed that the saffron party workers pulled the sarees of Ritu and Anita.

Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Saturday met BJP president JP Nadda and said he has been told to strengthen the party and bring it back to power in the state.

The chief minister has said that he will also meet Union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh.

The weekslong trial of former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin cost Minnesota's Hennepin County about USD 3.7 million for employee salaries, courthouse security, victims' services for George Floyd's family and other expenses, according to county documents released Friday.

The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office, which oversees security at the courthouse, spent a total of about USD 3.2 million for employee salaries, equipment and security for the courthouse. The Star Tribune reported that after salaries, the single largest expense was for added courthouse security: USD 773,412 was spent on items such as barbed and razor wire fencing, barricades and boarding. That cost did not include staffing.

A member of the notorious Ashok Pradhan gang was arrested after a brief exchange of fire with police in north west Delhi’s Rohini, officials said on Saturday.

The accused, Gaurav alias Monti, was leading the operations of the gang in Delhi. He was also declared a ‘bad character’ of the Bawana Police Station, they said.

Gaurav, involved in 13 criminal cases including murder, was arrested Friday night, police said.

Delhiites woke up to a clear morning on Saturday with the minimum temperature settling at 28.2 degrees Celsius, a notch above season's normal.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has, however, predicted heavy rainfall at isolated places in the city on Sunday.

“The minimum temperature recorded at the Safdarjung Observatory, considered the official reading of the city, was 28.2 degrees Celsius, and the relative humidity at 8.30 am was recorded at 75 per cent,” it said.

Eleven bodies have been recovered and 19 people rescued from a well, which collapsed on Thursday during a rescue operation to pull out a boy, in the Ganjbasoda area of Madhya Pradesh's Vidisha district, according to a report.

India on Saturday recorded 38,079 new Covid-19 cases. The death toll has also gone up to 413,091 with 560 new fatalities in the last 24 hours, health ministry data showed.