Breaking news highlights: Chhattisgarh adds 405 new Covid cases, 6 more deaths

Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo announced Monday that his government will administer Covid-19 vaccines for children as young as 12 after the country’s Food and Drug Monitoring Agency green-lighted emergency use of the Sinovac vaccine for children. Read more

Chhattisgarh on Monday recorded 405 new Covid-19 disease cases and six more deaths, taking the caseload and death toll to 993,694 and 13,437 respectively. The number of active cases in the state have come down to 6,208 while over 974,000 patients have been discharged so far.

After facing severe backlash, Twitter on Monday got rid of a controversial map of India which showed Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh as a separate country. Read More

A case was on Monday lodged before a court in this north Bihar town against Union Petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan in connection with the spiralling rise in petrol prices. Local resident Tamanna Hashmi filed the case before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Muzaffarpur, alleging that it was a "conspiracy" to sell petrol at high rates across the country though the price of crude oil was quite low.

Maharashtra's Covid-19 tally rises by 6,727, taking the total tally to 60,43,548. The death toll stands at 1,21,573 after addition of 101 fresh fatalities.

Delhi reports 59 new Covid-19 cases, 72 recoveries, and 2 deaths in the last 24 hours. The death toll in the city now stands at 24,967 and the number of active case has fallen to 1,553.

India’s cumulative vaccination coverage exceeds 32.85 crores, more than 48.01 lakh vaccine doses administered till 7 pm today. More than 8.95 crores vaccine doses administered in the age group 18-44, so far, says Union health ministry.

A paediatric sero-survey conducted in Mumbai has shown that 51.18% of those below the age of 18 in Mumbai have antibodies against coronavirus disease (Covid-19). The survey was conducted by civic body-run BYL Nair Hospital and Kasturba Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory (KMDL) between April 1 to June 15. Read More

Process for getting World Health Organisation's emergency use approval for Covaxin proceeding very well, says VK Paul, member of NITI Aayog. Hope decision comes soon, he also said as per PTI report.

West Bengal government extends Covid-19 restrictions till July 15, but allows gyms to reopen and relaxes curbs on markets and public transport. Govt and public offices may now allow 50% employees. Earlier it was 20%.

> FM says ₹23,220 cr to be provided for paediatric care/paediatric beds at hospitals.

> Free foodgrain to poor till Nov 2021 to take total cost of Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Anna Yojana to ₹2.27 lakh cr.

> Additional ₹14,775 cr fertilizer subsidy to be provided over and above ₹85,413 cr budgeted.

Govt extends Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana from June 30, 2021, to March 31, 2022. Over 21.4 lakh people of nearly 80,000 establishments have already benefited from the scheme, said Sitharaman.

To further boost tourism, Sitharaman announces ₹10 lakh loan to travel agencies and ₹1 lakh loan to tourist guides.

Once visa issuance starts again, first 5 lakh tourist visas to be issued free of charges, announces Sitharaman. "Once international travel resumes, first 5 lakh tourists who come to India will not have to pay visa fees. Scheme applicable till March 31, 2022, or will be closed after distribution of first 5 lakh visas. One tourist can avail benefit only once," she said.

"We are announcing a totally new scheme," Sirtharaman said as she announced a "credit guarantee scheme to facilitate loans to 25 lakh persons through micro finance institutions."

"The focus is on new lending, and not repayment of old loans," she also said.

All borrowers (including defaulters upto 89 days) are eligible for the scheme. Lending will be upto ₹1.25 lakh.

The government is expanding the scope of emergency credit line guarantee scheme. We are adding another 1.5 lakh crore to the existing corpus of ₹3 lakh crore, the finance minister announced.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday announced ₹1.1 lakh crore loan guarantee scheme for Covid-affected sectors. The healthcare to get ₹50,000 crore, aimed at upscaling medical infrastructure targeting underserved areas. ₹60,000 crores for other sectors, she announced.

Eight new set of economic relief measures meant to boost growth, says Sitharaman in the briefing.

'The United Nations's human rights chief called on country leaders to do more to end racism. All states' must 'stop denying, start dismantling racism' to avoid repeating deaths like that of George Floyd, she said as per AFP report.

Indonesia has recommended the Covid-19 vaccine made by China's Sinovac Biotech for children above 12, a spokesman for its Covid-19 task force said on Monday.

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal announces 200 units of free power in Punjab if AAP wins next year's state polls.

At least 3,319 more persons tested positive for Covid-19 on Odisha, which pushed the tally to 9,03,789, while 43 fresh fatalities raised the toll to 3,930, a health department official said.

More than 1.15 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccines are still available with states and union territories, the union health ministry informed on Monday.

Bahujan Samaj Party will not contest the Zilla panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh this year, said party Chief Mayawati on Monday.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visits Karu Military Station in Ladakh.