India

New Delhi, Aug 8 (PTI) Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Saturday said he has tested positive for COVID-19 and admitted to AIIMS here.

The minister of state for heavy industries and parliamentary affairs said after developing COVID-19 symptoms he was tested twice and found positive in the second report.

However, he said his health is fine.

Tinsukia, Aug 8 (PTI) A journalist was found dead in his office in Assam's Tinsukia district on Saturday, police said.

Bijendeep Tanti, the owner of news website 'Dinpratidin', was found dead with injuries on his body in his office in the Jyotinagar area, they said.

A woman, who was reportedly last seen with him, has been held for interrogation, official sources said.

Police said they are probing the case from "all angles".

The body has been sent for post-mortem, they said.

Lucknow, Aug 9 (PTI) An aide of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, who was accused in the 2005 killing of BJP leader Krishnanand Rai, was gunned down by the UP Special Task Force here on Sunday morning, a state government spokesperson said.

Rakesh Pandey alias Hanuman Pandey was shot dead in Sarojininagar area of the state capital.

Pandey was involved in the killing of Rai, who was an MLA from Mohammadabad Assembly constituency, on November 29, 2005.

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India will stop importing 101 items of military equipment in an effort to boost domestic defence production, defence minister Rajnath Singh said on Sunday.

Singh said the move follows Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for defence self-reliance. India is one of the world’s top arms importers.

India has accelerated military purchases in the wake of a June border clash between Indian and Chinese troops, with the government approving the purchase of 33 Russian fighter jets and upgrades to 59 other planes in July.

New Delhi, Aug 9 (PTI) Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said the COVID-19 situation in Delhi is under control and the recovery rate is improving.

Speaking at the inauguration of a hospital in Ambedkar Nagar, he said in case the situation takes a turn for the worse, the government is fully prepared to deal with it.

"The hospital was conceived in 2013. It is a 600-bed hospital. We are inaugurating the first 200 beds which will be used for the treatment of COVID-19 patients," Kejriwal said at the launch event.

Jodhpur, Aug 9 (PTI) Eleven members of a family of Pakistan Hindu migrants were found dead at a farm in Rajasthan's Jodhpur district on Sunday morning, police said.

A person of the family, however, was found alive outside the hut they lived at Lodta village of Dechu area, an officer said.

"But he claimed to have no idea about the incident, which believed to have happened in the night," said Superintendent of Police (Rural) Rahul Barhat.

New Delhi, Aug 9 (PTI) With a highest single-day spike of 64,399 cases, India's COVID-19 tally zoomed past 21 lakh (2.1 million) on Sunday, while the death toll climbed to 43,379 with 861 more fatalities, the Health Ministry said.

The number of recoveries surged to 14,80,884 with record 53,879 more people recuperating in the past 24 hours, taking recovery rate to 68.78 per cent,. The case fatality rate has dropped 2.01 per cent, according to the ministry data.

KANPUR: Nearly twenty years ago there came a Hollywood film 'Cast Away' which shows how the desperate actor survives and returns home. Though this film is said to have depicted a real story, a true story of a man in Chakeri who was assumed to be dead returns home alive.

Not even have completed the age of 40, the man from Ompurwa locality was not in touch with the family members since August 2. He left his house after quarrelling with his wife over an issue. He had left the city as he later told.

Jaipur, Aug 8 (PTI) Union Minister of State for Agriculture Kailash Chaudhary has tested positive for coronavirus, he said in a tweet on Saturday.

He is undergoing treatment at a hospital in Jodhpur, he said.

New Delhi, Aug 8 (PTI) With India registering 61,537 more cases, the coronavirus tally reached 20,88,611 on Saturday, while 14,27,005 people have so far recuperated from COVID-19 pushing the recovery rate to 68.32 per cent, the Union health ministry said.

The death toll due to the disease rose to 42,518 with 933 fresh fatalities being reported in a day, data updated at 8 am showed.