Breaking News: October 21, 2020 | Highlights

Neighbours Assam and Mizoram held meetings on Wednesday to restore peace and normalcy in the disturbed interstate border areas following the intervention of the joint secretary to the ministry of home affairs (incharge of North East), Satyendra Garg, an official spokesman said.

At the meeting Mizoram agreed to withdraw its forces from Assam's territory, while Assam assured efforts to resume movement of trucks carrying essential commodities which are stranded on its side of the border, an official spokesman said.

Both the states agreed to restore peace and tranquility along the border areas, provide security and instil a sense of safety among the people there, an official spokesperson said.

No-frills carrier AirAsia India has joined the league of Airbus A320Neo operators in the country with its first such plane arriving at the New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport from the European aviation major's Toulouse manufacturing facility on Wednesday, the airline said.

AirAsia India welcomed its first 186-seater Airbus A320neo (new engine option), which arrived in New Delhi on October 21 from Airbus's production facility in Toulouse, France, the airline said in a release

To increase police visibility and combat crime, cops in the outer-north district of Delhi will patrol the streets on bicycles as part of a new initiative launched on Wednesday. 'CoW: Cops of Wheels' was flagged off by Deputy Commissioner of Police (outer-north) Gaurav Sharma from his office in Samaypur Badli on Police Commemoration Day.

It will cover high footfall areas and those prone to street crime in the district, police said.

Police personnel on bicycles from all the eight police stations of the outer-north district will patrol every corner of their respective beats including the hot spots, a police officer said.

A Delhi Police vehicle will accompany each patrolling team to round up habitual offenders caught red handed for violating the law, said Sharma.

Delhi airport operator DIAL on Wednesday said it has been certified as the second safest aerodrome globally for effective implementation of coronavirus-related health and safety protocols.

The safe travel score is an initiative by Safe Travel Barometer, which assessed more than 200 airports on their implementation of health and safety protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Safe Travel Barometer is among the world's largest and most comprehensive tools to monitor traveller health and safety protocols, a release issued by DIAL said.

The Kaziranga National Park (KNP), famed for one-horned rhinoceros, was opened to tourists on Wednesday, after being closed for seven months due to
COVID-19 pandemic.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday spoke to South Korean president Moon Jae-in, as the two leaders reviewed important global developments, including the progress in combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

The two leaders also reviewed the ongoing diversification of international value chains, the need to preserve a transparent, development-oriented and rules-based global trading order, and the important role of the World Trade Organisation, a Prime Minister's Office (PMO) statement said.
 
In a tweet, the prime minister said, "Spoke to my friend, President @moonriver365 today on a variety of issues, including the immense promise that the India-ROK Special Strategic Partnership offers in the post-COVID world."

The two leaders agreed to remain in touch on the above issues, and to further accelerate bilateral cooperation in all areas, the statement said.

The torrential rains lashed some parts of Bengaluru on Wednesday, resulting in waterlogging and uprooting of trees. Many layouts in the low-lying areas had knee-deep water. The worst affected areas were Rajarajeshwari Nagar, Vishveshwarapuram, Lakkasandra, Gottigere, Nagarabavi and Kengeri.

Vehicles in the basement of some apartments in the low-lying areas were submerged.

Deputy Chief Minister C N Ashwath Narayan, along with the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad, visited Rajarajeshwari Nagar.

According to the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre, about 70 mm rainfall was recorded in most parts of the city. Channenahalli received the highest at 126.5 mm. 

People infected with the coronavirus pack into cold basements along with the healthy to hide from artillery fire in Nagorno-Karabakh, while doctors who have tested positive do surgery on those wounded in the shelling. These are the grim realities of the pandemic in a region beset by weeks of heavy fighting.

Nagorno-Karabakh, which lies within Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia for more than a quarter-century, is facing the largest escalation of hostilities since a war there ended in 1994. In just over three weeks, hundreds of people have been killed. Two attempts at cease-fires have failed to stop the conflict.

Anti-inflammatory drug tocilizumab has been shown to reduce mortality by 30 per cent among critically ill COVID-19 patients when administered within the first two days of hospitalisation, according to a study led by an Indian-origin researcher in the US.

Eicher Motors on Wednesday said a fire broke out at Royal Enfield's Jaipur-based transit stockyard facility. Royal Enfield is a part of Eicher Motors.

All shops, restaurants and commercial complexes in Tamil Nadu would be allowed to function till 10 pm from Thursday in view of the coming festive season and to facilitate further economic recovery, Chief Minister K Palaniswami said, easing coronavirus-induced curbs further.

Extending its gains for the fourth session, equity benchmark Sensex ended 163 points higher on Wednesday, led by index majors HDFC twins and ICICI Bank.

After gyrating 825.54 points in a highly volatile session, the 30-share BSE index ended 162.94 points or 0.40 per cent higher at 40,707.31.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty rose 40.85 points or 0.34 per cent to finish at 11,937.65.

Japanese automobile maker Nissan Motor Corporation on Wednesday unveiled its compact sports utility vehicle (SUV) Magnite which will be made in India for Indian and global markets.

Unveiling the new car Sinan Ozkok, President, Nissan India - Operations said termed India as the key market and has invested over Rs 6,000 crore in the country in production, research and development (R&D) and other areas.

Ozkok said the new model Magnite is the first model under Nissan's global transformation plan Nissan Next.

Designed in Japan, Magnite is part of Nissan's 'Make in India, make for the world' philosophy.

All women now allowed to travel in Mumbai local trains after new directives. Earlier, only those employed in essential services were allowed.

Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa holds meeting at Kalaburagi Airport over flood-affected areas.

National recovery rate (88.81%) is fast approaching 89%. 77% of new recovered cases observed to be concentrated in 10 States/UTs. Karnataka outnumbered Maharashtra in new recovered cases with more than 8,500 new recoveries. 

717 deaths have been registered in the past 24 hours. 82% of new deaths are reported from 10 states and UTs. 29% of deaths reported yesterday are from Maharashtra with 213 deaths followed by Karnataka with 66 deaths. 

Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa conducted aerial survey of flood-affected areas in Bellary. 

Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Chirag Paswan sought blessings of his mother before leaving for LJP office for the releases of party's manifesto for the upcoming Bihar Elections in Patna.

113 Maharashtra Police personnel tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, taking total cases to 25,918 in the force, including 1,809 active cases, 23,839 recoveries, and 270 deaths till date. 

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy attends an event organised on Police Commemoration Day 2020 today in Vijayawada.

With 54,044 new COVID-19 infections, India's total cases surge to 76,51,108. With 717 new deaths, toll mounts to 1,15,914. Total active cases are 7,40,090  after a decrease of 8448 in last 24 hrs. Total cured/migrated cases are 67,95,103 with 61,775 new discharges in last 24 hours. 

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International Swing Bridge in Dharchula to open for three days, beginning today. The bridge will be opened to facilitate Nepali citizens who have served the Indian Army and other Indian Organisations to collect their pension.

30 new COVID-19 cases reported in Mizoram, taking the total tally to 2,310. The number of active cases is at 145 while 2,165 people have been discharged so far. No death reported in the State till date. 

Hello and welcome to today's live coverage of coronavirus news in India and across the world, with me, Madhu Rao (@MadhuL13) and my colleagues Vani Mehrotra (@vani_mehrotra), Priya Jaiswal (@jaiswalpriyaa), Nidhi Taneja (@nidhiindiatv), Shashwat Bhandari (@ShashBhandari​), Rashi Hardaha (@rashihardaha), Analiza Pathak (@analizapathak) and Abhinav Ranjan. Stay tuned to Indiatvnews.com (@indiatvnews) for all the latest updates on what's happening around the world.

Here's a quick overview:

The total number of global cases has surpassed 41 million, including more than 1,128,896 fatalities. More than 30,618,147 patients are reported to have recovered.

Total positive cases country-wise: