Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday ordered strict implementation of lockdown on weekends and public holidays as the state continues to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The decision has been taken amid concerns over the deadly virus reaching the community transmission stage in Punjab.

There are projections indicating that the peak in the state is still two months away.

The Delhi High Court on Thursday issued directions to constitute a committee of doctors, with a request to visit two proposed hotels--Surya Hotel, New Friends Colony and Crown Plaza (Okhla) and give a report on the feasibility of these hotels to be used as extended COVID-19 hospitals.

The court also requested Dr Randeep Guleria, Director, AIIMS and Dr V.K Paul, Member of the Niti Aayog, to visit the two hotels and give their report.

Microblogging site Twitter on Thursday suspended at least 1.7 lakh accounts for sharing information that favoured the Chinese government.

As per the experts working with the social media company, these posts were related to the COVID-19 crisis, and Hong Kong protests, CNN reported.

Twitter accused these accounts of spreading misleading narratives which were favourable to the Communist Party of China, thus violating the platform's policy on manipulation.

The Jammu and Kashmir Police has busted a massive narco-terror module in the valley, seizing 21 kg heroin worth Rs 100 crore and arresting three Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists.

Officials said the money earned through the racket was to be used for terror activities in Kashmir.

While the Indian economy has registered a slowdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Fitch Ratings on Wednesday predicted that it would register a growth rate of 9.5 per cent in the next fiscal year if further deterioration in the financial sector is avoided.

In its APAC Sovereign Credit Overview released that was on Wednesday, the credit rating agency forecast a 5 per cent contraction in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the current fiscal.

Pakistan on Wednesday initiated unprovoked ceasefire violations by firing with small/heavy weapons and shelling with mortars in Manjakote, Keri, Balakote and Karol Maitran sectors in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri, Poonch and Kathua districts.

One Indian Army jawan was martyred in the firing in the Rajouri sector, army sources informed.

Microblogging site Twitter on Wednesday announced that it will be testing a new feature, possibly on Android.

The new feature will include a prompt message which will pop up whenever a user is about to retweet an article. The prompt will ask the user if he would like to read the article before retweeting it.

The Resident Doctors of New Delhi Municipal Council's (NDMC) Kasturba Hospital have threatened to tender mass resignation over non-payment of their salaries since March.

Dr Sunil Kumar, president of Resident Doctors' Association of Kasturba Hospital alleged that the resident doctors have not received their salaries for the last three months and as it is not the right time to go on strike, the doctors have decided to tender mass resignations.

As coronavirus cases continue to rise in the world, Cente on Wednesday announced that it had decided to lift the ban on Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), an anti-malarial drug that has been regarded as some including President Donald Trump as the cure for coronavirus.

Department of Pharmaceuticals has approved the lifting of ban on Export of Hydroxychloroquine API as well as formulations.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday expressed his happiness over the increasing population of the majestic Asiatic Lion in Gujarat’s Gir Forest as the population of wild beast has grown to 674, 29% up from its 2015 count.

Sharing the report of Gujarat government, the Prime Minister said in a tweet, Two very good news: Population of the majestic Asiatic Lion, living in Gujarat’s Gir Forest, is up by almost 29%. Geographically, distribution area is up by 36%.

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