11.21 am: The Central Board of Secondary Education submits its assessment plan for Class 12 students to the Supreme Court, Live Law reports.

The assessment criteria will consider the students’ marks in Class 10 and Class 11 results. Class 12 pre-boards will account for 40% of the marks.

On June 3, the Supreme Court had given both CBSE and the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education two weeks to decide on the criteria to evaluate Class 12 students. Board exams for Class 12 were cancelled in view of the coronavirus crisis.

Hearing in the matter is still on and the ICSE will submit its plan too.

11.17 am: Arunachal Pradesh reports 250 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, taking the total count of infections to 32,188, according to PTI. The state does not record any death.

11.14 am: Shops in Kerala open as government eases Covid-19 related restrictions.

11.07 am: The Covid-19 vaccine manufactured by Biological E is likely to be 90% effective against the infection, NK Arora, the chairperson of the government’s Covid Working Group, tells NDTV. Arora adds that the vaccine is about to go to phase three trials and could become available by October.

9.49 am: In view of the Covid-19 crisis, Pakistan refuses to allow a group of Sikh pilgrims to visit the country to mark the death anniversary of 19th-century ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh, PTI reports.

9.45 am: United States President Joe Biden asks if China is even trying to find out how Covid-19 originated, Reuters reports

“China is trying very hard to project itself as a responsible and very, very forthcoming nation, and they are trying very hard to talk about how they’re helping the world in terms of COVID-19 and vaccines,” he says. “Look, certain things you don’t have to explain to the people of the world, they see the results. Is China really actually trying to get to the bottom of this?”

9.43 am: Hospitals in Delhi are reporting cases of multi inflammatory syndrome among children as a complication after Covid-19 infection, The Indian Express reports.

9.41 am: A lion from the Arignar Anna Zoological Park in Chennai, who was being treated for Covid-19, dies, PTI reports. On June 3, a lioness from the zoo had also died due to the infection.

9.35 am: Gujarat Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Harsh Sanghavi, while responding to accusations in the High Court that he hoarded anti-viral drug Remdesivir, says the he did so to save lives, PTI reports.

9.31 am: The Covid-19 lockdown in Kerala will be eased from Thursday. Odisha will also partially ease its restrictions, the Hindustan Times reports.

9.13 am: India records 67,208 new coronavirus cases on Thursday morning, taking its overall tally to 2,97,00,313 since the pandemic broke out in January 2020. The toll rises by 2,330 to 3,81,903. The number of active cases stand at 8,26,740.

Source: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

9.11 am: One dose of the Covishield vaccine is 61% effective against the delta variant of Covid-19, NK Arora, the head of the Covid Working Group, tells NDTV. Two doses are 65% effective.

9.08 am: The “delta plus” variant of Covid-19 could trigger a third wave of the pandemic in Maharashtra, the state’s health department has warned, according to PTI.

9.06 am: Here are the top updates from Wednesday: