Delhi

New Delhi, Sep 2 (PTI) India's COVID-19 tally of cases galloped past 37 lakh on Wednesday with 78,357 new instances of the disease reported in a day, while the number of recoveries crossed 29 lakh pushing the recovery rate to 76.98 per cent, the Union health ministry data showed.

The death toll climbed to 66,333 with 1,045 more fatalities reported in 24 hours. India has so far reported 37,69,523 cases of the viral disease, according to the data updated at 8 am.

New Delhi, Sep 1 (PTI) Former bureaucrat Rajiv Kumar on Tuesday assumed charge as the new election commissioner.

He takes the place vacated by Ashok Lavasa who joins the Asian Development Bank as vice president.

Kumar, a retired 1984-batch IAS officer of the Jharkhand cadre, will have a five-year tenure and retire in 2025.

He will preside over the next Lok Sabha polls in 2024.

New Delhi, Aug 31 (PTI) The Indian economy contracted by 23.9 per cent in the April-June quarter of this fiscal amid the COVID-19 crisis, official data showed on Monday.

The gross domestic product (GDP) had expanded by 5.2 per cent in the corresponding April-June period of 2019-20, according to data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO).

New Delhi, Aug 31 (PTI) The Congress Monday attacked the government over a sharp decline in the GDP numbers and alleged the NDA dispensation ignored the party's warnings and took no preventive steps to cushion the fall.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the government ignored his warnings in this regard six months ago, while his party colleague and former finance minister P Chidambaram stated it will take many months before the economy turns the corner and registers positive growth.

Kolkata, Aug 31 (PTI) Parties in West Bengal cutting across political lines Monday condoled the death of former president Pranab Mukherjee and said his demise brought down the curtains to a glorious political career and ended an era.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Monday expressed deep sorrow over the death and said with it "an era has come to an end".

New Delhi, Sep 1 (PTI) The Delhi High Court on Tuesday granted bail to a member of Pinjra Tod, a women's collective, in a case related to the communal violence in northeast Delhi during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act in February.

Justice Suresh Kumar Kait gave the relief to JNU student Devangana Kalita on furnishing of a personal bond of Rs 25,000 and a surety of the like amount.

The court directed that she shall not directly or indirectly influence witness or tamper with the evidence.

New Delhi, Aug 31 (PTI) The Congress on Monday attacked the government over the Chinese aggression at the border and asked when will Prime Minister Narendra Modi show his "red eyes" to China.

"Another brazen attempt at aggression by China in Pangong Tso Lake. Everyday there is a Chinese intrusion...Pangong Tso Lake area, Gogra and Galwan valley, Depsang plains, Lipu Lake, Doka La and Naku La pass.

New Delhi, Aug 31 (PTI) Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who was admitted to the AIIMS here for post-COVID care, was discharged on Monday morning, the hospital said.

Shah, 55, had undergone treatment at the Medanta Hospital as he tested positive for the novel coronavirus and was discharged after he tested negative. He was later admitted to the AIIMS on August 18 following complaints of fatigue and body ache.

New Delhi, Aug 31 (PTI) Following is the chronology of events in which the Supreme Court on Monday imposed a token fine of Re 1 on activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan in a contempt case, which will have to be paid by September 15.

-- Jun 27: Bhushan tweets about undeclared emergency in the country and the role of the Supreme Court and last four chief justices of India.

-- Jun 29: Bhushan tweets about Chief Justice S A Bobde trying a Harley Davidson super-bike in his hometown Nagpur during the coronavirus outbreak.

New Delhi, Aug 29 (PTI) The Delhi High Court has expressed concern over the sudden "steep" increase in the premium of insurance policies by government companies for lawyers and said this would completely defeat the purpose of the Chief Minister's Advocates' Welfare Scheme.

The court perused a status report filed by the Delhi government, which showed that after the opening of the financial bids for the policies, the insurance companies have substantially increased the amount of premium and reneged on their earlier quotations given in November and December last year.