Covid update: India vaccine progress; another minister infected; IMF on economy

Dharmendra Pradhan attends 2nd Ministerial of US-India Strategic Energy Partnership

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan attended the 2nd Ministerial of US-India Strategic Energy Partnership, which was co-chaired with US Secretary of Energy Dept, Dan Brouillette. The meeting was held in presence of US Ambassador to India Kenneth Juster, Ambassador of India to US TS Sandhu and delegation from US and Indian sides.

Govt working towards making gas available at affordable price: Dharmendra Pradhan

Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan on July 01 said that the natural gas is an important fuel to many industries, we're moving towards rationalization of gas transportation tariff to make gas available at affordable price. Adding on it, he said new tariff structure would facilitate in creating single gas market.

Sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik creates Ram Temple's replica on Puri beach

Sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik created replica of Ram Temple on Puri beach ahead of stone laying foundation ceremony of Ram Temple in Ayodhya on August 05. The event will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Various dignitaries from political and religious fields are likely to participate.

Watch: Devotees light earthen lamps at Ujjain's Mahakaleshwar Temple

Earthen lamps were lit at Ujjain's Mahakaleshwar Temple as part of 'deepotsav', ahead of the foundation stone laying ceremony of Ram Temple in UP's Ayodhya. The event will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Various dignitaries from political and religious fields are likely to participate.

Ayodhya | New mosque, hospital, cultural centre: Trust plan for alternate plot

Amid the preparation for the ground-breaking for a new Ram temple in Ayodhya, what is the status of the plan to build a mosque at an alternate piece of land? Hindustan Times national political editor Sunetra Choudhury speaks to Athar Hussain, spokesperson of the trust constituted to oversee the construction of a new mosque. The Uttar Pradesh Sunni Waqf Board recently accepted the land allotted by the state government, in accordance with the judgment of the Supreme Court, delivered in November 2019. Hussain said that apart from a new mosque, the 5-acre plot is likely to house a 'state-of-the-art' medical facility and a centre highlighting the contributions of the Indo-Islamic culture. The Covid-19 pandemic has stalled progress on the plan, although virtual discussions are still going on, he says. When asked about the completion date of the mosque, Hussain says that unlike the decades-old Ram temple movement, the project for a new mosque was initiated in February this year, and so it may take longer than the temple in Ayodhya. Watch the full video for more.

Coranavirus pandemic: French cities make outdoor mask use mandatory

Covid update: Ayodhya priest worried; South Korea on India, vaccines; gym rules

From another Ayodhya priest testing positive days ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit, to the government issuing guidelines for gymnasiums and yoga centres ahead of their reopening from August 5 - here are the top news updates on the Covid-19 pandemic. The World Health Organisation has reportedly completed the groundwork in China for an investigation into the origin of the virus which causes the Covid-19 illness. WHO Director General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, also warned the world that although there is hope of development of an effective vaccine, there is also the possibility that we might never have a 'silver bullet' against the disease. Meanwhile, South Korean envoy to India, Shin Bong-kil, said that India has always been important when it comes to vaccines and the country also has a strong pharmaceutical industry. A controversy has broken out over the admission of Union Home minister Amit Shah to a private hospital in Gurugram after he tested positive for Covid infection. Congress' Shashi Tharoor said that patronage of the powerful is important to maintain public faith in government institutions. India also crossed a milestone in its fight against the virus. The country passed the landmark of 2 crore total tests on August 2. Watch the full video for the other updates regarding the spread of the Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus.

Vikram Chandra on top leaders testing Covid+, focus back on virus spike

With some of the top political leaders, including home minister Amit Shah and Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa testing positive for the novel coronavirus, the focus is back on the spike in the number of infection which have now crossed the 18-lakh mark. Meanwhile, a blame game has ensued between the Mumbai and Bihar police after a top cop from the eastern state was sent into quarantine in Mumbai. Top stories with Vikram Chandra in this Editorji evening playlist.

Raksha Bandhan: PM Modi, Priyanka Gandhi, Big B & others extend wishes

India celebrated Raksha Bandhan on August 3 this year. Veteran singer Lata Mangeshkar and spiritual leader Mata Amritanandmayi extended their greetings to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the occasion. PM Modi thanked Lata and Amritanandmayi on Twitter. President Ram Nath Kovind extended warm greetings to the countrymen. President Kovind celebrared Raksha Bandhan on Monday along with nurses. Home Minister Amit Shah wished people on the occasion. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and sister Priyanka Gandhi took to Twitter and shared message for each other. Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan penned down a note on sibling bond. Former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar also extended wishes. Meanwhile, a florist in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow made eco-friendly rakhis. In Moradabad, students tied rakhis to trees and prayed for their long life.

Congress MP Karti Chidambaram tests positive for coronavirus

Congress MP Karti Chidambaram and son of former finance minister P. Chidambaram tested positive for COVID-19. Junior Chidambaram experiencing mild symptoms and is under home quarantine. Earlier on August 02, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa also tweeted that he had tested positive for COVID.

Covid | 'Oxford vaccine's late stage trials to start in a week in India': ICMR

At present country has three Indian COVID-19 vaccines which are in different phases of clinical testing, said Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Director General Dr Balram Bhargava on Tuesday. Addressing a press conference in the national capital, he said, "At the present moment, we have three Indian vaccines which are in different phases of clinical testing. The 2 vaccines- Bharat Biotech vaccine and DNA vaccine of Zydus Cadila have completed phase 1 and will begin phase 2 while third is Oxford vaccine." "Oxford vaccine, being manufactured by Serum Institute of India (SII) got approval for phase 2 and 3 clinical trials, which are starting within a week at 17 sites," he added. Dr Bhargava, however, said that social distancing and proper hygiene are the best "vaccine" available now and even after. "Physical Distancing, wearing a mask, proper hand hygiene are the best vaccine available at the moment and even after. We will have to continue with these measures," he said. India has so far recorded over 18 lakh cases and more than 38,900 deaths.

COVID-19: Oxford vaccine's late stage trials to start in a week in India, says ICMR

Director General of Indian Council of Medical Research, Dr Balram Bhargava on August 04 stated that Oxford vaccine, being manufactured by Serum Institute of India, got approval for phase 2 and 3 clinical trials which are starting within a week at 17 sites. Earlier, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has given approval to Serum Institute of India (SII), Pune, to conduct Phase II and III clinical trials of Oxford vaccine.

COVID-19: India reports single-day spike of 52,050 cases

India reported a single-day spike of 52,050 in last 24 hours taking the country's tally to 18,55,746. So far, the country has 5, 86, 298 active cases. With 803 new deaths, the death toll rises to 38938 deaths. The Indian Council of Medical Research reported the total number of COVID-19 samples tested up to 3rd August is 2,08,64,750. 6,61,182 samples were tested on August 03.

BJP demands CBI probe in death of party's WB MLA after meeting President Kovind

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) delegation led by party's national general secretary, Kailash Vijayvargiya and Union Minister of State (MoS) for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Babul Supriyo met President Ram Nath Kovind in Delhi on July 14. They met President Kovind over death of BJP MLA Debendra Nath Ray, whose body was found hanging on July 13. The delegation also apprised him about the "deteriorating" law and order situation in West Bengal. While speaking to ANI, Kailash Vijayvargiya said, "Killing is being covered up as suicide. We demanded President for Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe as we don't trust any agency of Bengal government." "We told that such a government has no right to be in power," he added.