The Ministry of Railways on Friday started the bidding process for 44 train sets to be run as luxurious Vande Bharat Express.

Train 18, which was launched last year as the first Vande Bharat, was made by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai. Currently, there are two semi-high speed Vande Bharat trains, running runs between New Delhi and Varanasi, and between New Delhi and Katra.

The Uttar Pradesh government on Friday said the fine for violating mask rule in the state amid COVID-19 pandemic has been raised to Rs 500 from the current penalty of Rs 100.

Anyone found without a mask in public would be fined Rs 500.

This comes as a 55-hour lockdown over the weekend comes into effect at 10 pm today.

Gold prices jumped to Rs 49,100 from Rs 48,7000 per 10 gram, while silver climbed to Rs 51,900 from Rs 50,020 per kilogram, according to Good Returns website.

Gold jewellery prices vary across India, the second-largest consumer of the metal, due to excise duty, state taxes, and making charges.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday firmly rejected President Donald Trump's arguments for sweeping presidential immunity and ruled that a New York prosecutor can obtain his financial records but prevented - at least for now - Democratic-led House of Representatives committees from getting similar documents.

The twin 7-2 rulings authored by conservative Chief Justice John Roberts mark another milestone in Trump's tumultuous presidency and in the short term prevent details of his finances from becoming public because lower courts must resolve lingering issues.

India's Reliance will load its first cargo of Venezuelan crude in three months this week in exchange for diesel under a swap deal the parties say is permitted under the U.S. sanctions regime on the Latin American country, according to a Reliance source and a shipping document from state oil firm PDVSA.

Washington has exempted some Venezuelan oil trade from sanctions, when transactions are in exchange for fuel and food or to repay debts rather than for cash.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is scheduled to meet Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and the three service chiefs to dicuss the current military standoff between the Indian and Chinese troops along the Line of Actual Control (LOC) in Eastern Ladakh today.

The meeting will also focus on the overall security situation of the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate to the nation the 750 MW Solar Project set up at Rewa, Madhya Pradesh on Friday.The project exemplifies India`s commitment to attain the target of 175 GW of installed renewable energy capacity by 2022.

The Project comprises of three solar generating units of 250 MW each located on a 500-hectare plot of land situated inside a solar park (total area 1500 hectare).

The World Health Organisation on Thursday admitted that the novel coronavirus has the potential to spread via air but at the same time stated that more research was required regarding the matter.

On Thursday, the WHO released new guidelines after receiving an open letter written by over 200 scientists urging the Geneva-based body to update its guidelines to include aerosol transmission.

Nepal has banned all Indian news channels, except DD News, for alleged propaganda against the country.

Reports say that Nepal cable operators have stopped getting signals of Indian news channels.

A team of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officers will arrive in Tamil Nadu's Madurai on Friday to take over investigations into the father-son custodial death case, the counsel for the agency informed the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday.

The CBI counsel also added that the agency had sought all necessary facilities from the Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary for the investigation into the case.

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