Besides announcing a grant of 1,000 crore for relief operations in areas affected by Cyclone Yaas, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday announced that the restrictions imposed in the state in the wake of the pandemic will continue for another 15 days. ....

In a major announcement, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Thursday that the state government has decided to conduct the Higher Secondary (Class XII) exams in the last week of July, while the Madhyamik (Class X) exams will be held in the second week of August, thus becoming one of the first states in the country to announce dates for board exams. ....

Leader of Congress party in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has written a letter to speaker Om Birla urging him to take steps to restore the MPLADS funds scheme to be used for cyclone relief. ....

The Central government on Thursday announced that Covid-19 vaccine trials on children in the country would begin soon. ....

State Education Minister and PCC chief Govind Singh Dotasara said that the Rajasthan Education Board is looking for a window to conduct Class 10 and 12 board examination as soon as the Covid graph flattens in the state. ....

The manufacturing of Russia's Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine will start soon in India as the country has accomplished technology-transfer to Indian companies, said Dr Vinod K. Paul, chair of the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid-19 (NEGVAC) on Thursday. ....

The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has extended the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) in the state, banning strikes in public services, corporations and local authorities under it, for a period of six months, said an official spokesperson on Thursday. ....

The cyclonic storm 'Yaas' in Bay of Bengal has weakened into a "deep depression" and is very likely to move further northwestwards and weaken gradually during the next 12 hours. ....

Zydus Cadila on Thursday announced that its biological therapy ZRC-3308, a cocktail of two SARS-CoV-2-neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) can emerge as one of the main treatments for mild COVID-19. ....

Maharashtra's daily Covid-19 deaths continued to increase while the state's fatalities zoomed above the 91,000 mark, health officials said on Wednesday. ....

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the economic impact left by Covid-19 is huge and our planet will not be the same after the pandemic. ....

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker Nishikant Dubey has sought Shashi Tharoor’s removal as the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology chairperson for allegedly using the panel to further his political agenda. He made the demand in a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla over Tharoor’s comments about the issue of tagging tweets of BJP leaders related the Congress’s alleged “toolkit” to defame the government as “manipulated media”. ....

The Centre has allocated to states and Union Territories (UTs) 29,250 additional vials of Amphotericin-B, a key drug to treat raging mucormycosis cases in India for the 11,717 patients currently being treated at different hospitals across the country. ....

Bye-elections to five assembly seats that fell vacant following deaths of BJP legislators in the second Corona wave, are unlikely to be held. ....

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday asked the government about the shortage of vaccines in the country in her series of "jimmedar Kaun" (who is responsible) posts. ....

IPS officer Subodh Kumar Jaiswal on Wednesday took charge as the new Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). ....

The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) has cancelled a total of six flights to eastern India following the threats from Cyclone Yaas which is made landfall in Odisha at 9.15 a.m., an official said here on Wednesday. ....

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K.Stalin on Wednesday said the government will bring a resolution in the state Assembly asking the Union government to withdraw the three farm laws. ....

The landfall process of very severe cyclonic storm Yaas has commenced and it would cross North Odisha-West Bengal coasts to the south of Balasore within next three hours with wind speed of 130-140 kmph gusting to 155 kmph. ....

A day after recording less than two lakh cases of Covid, India on Wednesday once again breached the mark with 2,08,921 fresh cases while 4,157 fatalities were reported in the last 24 hours, Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry said. ....