Maharashtra records 9,677 new Covid-19 cases while daily deaths drop to 156; fresh infections in Mumbai fall to 693

Uttarakhand government will allow Char Dham yatra for locals from July 1, but all appropriate Covid restrictions will have to be followed. Priests of all four shrines will also be vaccinated.

Tamil Nadu government extended lockdown till July 5 with certain relaxations. Private companies situated all the districts of Chennai, Kanchipuram, Chengalpattu, Thiruvallur have been allowed to operate at 100% capacity, and shopping complex and malls can reopen with 50% capacity, reported ANI.

India and China agreed on the need to find an early resolution to the issues persisting along the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh in the 22nd meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) held on Friday, said the Ministry of External Affairs in a statement

Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) director general said pregnant woman can be vaccinated against Covid-19, and that it is useful. The ministry of health has also issued guidelines to this end, he added.

MC Josephine, the Kerala Women's Commission chairperson, resigned on Friday after facing backlash for her controversial remarks on television to a domestic abuse survivor, reported news agency ANI.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) West Bengal general secretary Sayantan Basu on Friday said that the party will hold Lalbazar Abhiyaan (Kolkata Police headquarters march) against the law and order situation in the state with 100,000 party workers next month, reported ANI.

An encounter broke out between police, security forces and terrorists in Hanjipora area of Shopian in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday, reported ANI.

Karnataka health minister Dr K Sudhakar on Friday said that the state government will be setting up six labs for genome sequencing. "We are setting up six labs in the State for genomic sequencing. These labs will be located at Bengaluru, Mysuru, Mangaluru, Hubli, Vijayapura, Shivvamoga," ANI quoted Sudhakar as saying.

President Ram Nath Kovind along with his wife boarded a special train from Safdarjung railway station for his native place in Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh.

Railways minister Piyush Goyal and Railway board chairman and CEO Suneet Sharma were also present.

India's first indigenous aircraft carrier will be commissioned next year, said Union defence minister Rajnath Singh in Kochi on Friday.

Kerala high court on Friday granted anticipatory bail to Lakshadweep filmmaker Aisha Sultana in sedition case.

Another team of Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh's residence in Mumbai's Worli area on Friday. His residence at Nagpur was also raided earlier in connection with an alleged money laundering case

Dehradun district magistrate Dr Ashish Srivastava has issued instructions for Covid safety to all the passengers coming from every flight at Dehradun airport, especially those coming from Maharashtra, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh, where cases with Delta Plus variant have been detected. The medical superintendent has instructed to conduct testing of the passengers, reported ANI.

Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday raided former home minister of Maharashtra Anil Deshmukh's residence in Nagpur, in connection with an alleged money laundering case.

"This is how Congress trampled over our democratic ethos. We remember all those greats who resisted the Emergency and protected Indian democracy," the PM added.

A portion of a building collapsed in the Fort area of Mumbai on Friday. "At least 40 people have been rescued. No injuries reported so far. Rescue operation underway," ANI quoted the police as saying.

Two leading US senators-Senator Pat Toomey and Senator Chris Van Hollen-called on President Joe Biden to use powers under a bill they authored to impose sanctions on those responsible for causing the closure of Hong Kong's Apple Daily newspaper. The letter by the senators also suggested that foreign banks were among those implicated.