The bodies of Riyaz Naikoo, the operational commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, and his associate who were killed in an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Wednesday will not be handed over to their families but instead will be buried by authorities at an undisclosed location.

The decision, officials said, was taken to stop glorification and big funeral processions of terrorists.

Amid record rise of COVID-19 cases in some districts on Maharashtra and Gujarat, the Centre has raised concerns over high fatality rate in the two states.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan held a meeting to discuss the situation in both Maharashtra and Gujarat and expressed concern over high fatality rate among COVID-19 patients in some districts of Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Ahmedabad reported 291 new coronavirus cases, taking the total to 4,735, while the death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 298 on Wednesday.

25 deaths were recorded in a day on Wednesday.

The worst affected city in Gujarat and one of the worst-hit cities in the country, Ahmedabad has announced several measures to contain the spread of the virus in the city.

Around 39 crore poor people received financial assistance of Rs 34,800 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP) as on May 5, 2020, the government said on Wednesday.

The package was announced by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on March 26, 2020 to protect them from the impact of the lockdown due to COVID 19.

In a tragic news, at least three people including a child lost their lives while several others fell ill after a chemical gas leaked at a pharmaceutical company in Andhra Pradesh's Visakhapatnam on Thursday.

The incident occurred at RR Venkatapuram village of the area where gas leakage was identified at LG Polymers in Gopalpatnam.

At least five people were injured after a huge fire broke out at a residential tower in UAE's Sharjah on Tuesday night. So far, no casualties have been reported and the firefighters have managed to bring it under control.

According to Gulf News, the residential tower is named Abbco Tower and it has 49 floors, excluding parking.

United States President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the country has already 'flattened the curve', and it is ready for a 'phased and gradual reopening' even though coronavirus cases and deaths shows no sign of stopping.

Thanks to the profound commitment of our citizens, we have flattened the curve and countless American lives have been saved. Our country is now in the next stage of the battle - a very safe phased and gradual reopening, reopening our country, Trump said.

Shares of ITC were trading lower for the third straight day, falling 8 per cent to Rs 161 on the BSE on Wednesday on heavy volumes. The stock of cigarette manufacturer has slipped 12 per cent in the past three trading days on reports that the Health Ministry has notified new health warnings for tobacco products. The counter has seen huge trading volume, with a combined 22.4 million equity shares changing hands on the NSE and BSE till 10:13 am.

The month long lockdown in April led to services activity contracting at the fastest pace in over 14-years in India to unprecedented low levels, according to a monthly survey released on Wednesday.

The Nikkei India Services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) saw an extreme decline in April, posting just 5.4. This was significantly lower than March's 49.3. In PMI parlance, the 50-mark threshold separates expansion from contraction.

After killing a terrorist in the Awantipora sector of the Pulwama district in Jammu and Kashmir, security forces have a cornered a top terrorist in the area after an overnight operation.

The terrorist has been identified as as Riyaz Naikoo - a top Hizb-Ul-Mujahideen commander. He carries a bounty of Rs 12 lakh on his head.

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