India reported 1,20,529 fresh COVID-19 cases, the lowest single-day rise in infections in around two months, taking the infection tally to 2,86,94,879, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Saturday.

The death toll from COVID-19 climbed to 3,44,082 with 3,380 new fatalities, while the number of active cases was recorded below 20 lakh for the fifth consecutive day, the data updated at 8 am showed.

A nine-year-old lioness Neela has died of COVID-19, and few other lions have tested positive for the virus at the Arignar Anna Zoological Park in Vandalur area of Tamil Nadu's Chennai.

A COVID-19 outbreak has been reported in the Asiatic lions at Arignar Anna Zoological Park, Vandalur on June 3. Few of the lion has been found symptomatic and one of them - a nine-year-old lioness Neela succumbed to the disease on the evening of June 3, read a press release from the Zoo issued on Friday.

Mumbai will reopen restaurants, gyms and salons for some hours and with 50 per cent occupancy after the Maharashtra government announced new regulations to unlock the economy battling the Covid-19 pandemic.

Maharashtra’s government issued regulations late on Friday to ease lockdowns to contain the spread of Covid-19 depending on the weekly case positivity rate and occupancy of oxygenated beds in districts.

India has overtaken the US to become the top country in giving the highest number of people at least one dose of Covid vaccines in the world, as of June 3.

With over 174 million first doses administered so far, India has covered over 12.6 per cent of its population. The US, on the other hand, has given at least one dose to more than half its population, according to Our World in Data figures.

Senior BJP Himachal Pradesh MLA and two-time former minister, Narinder Bragta died on Saturday due to post-Covid complications at the PGI Hospital in Chandigarh, his family said.

Three-time legislator Bragta, a prominent apple grower, was currently the Chief Whip of the party in the Vidhan Sabha, with the rank of a Cabinet minister. He was 69.

In an incident that shows that Twitter can withdraw the blue verified badge against any verified account irrespective of the importance of the position of the account holder, the social media platform removed the blue badge from the personal Twitter handle of Vice President of India M. Venkaiah Naidu, @MVenkaiahNaidu, on Saturday.

Although, the official handle of the Vice President of India @VPSecretariat continues to have the blue badge.

The government is helping vaccine manufacturers get more production units, financing and supply of raw materials, the PMO said on Friday after Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed the progress of the country's COVID-19 vaccination drive.

While reviewing the status of vaccine wastage in various states, Modi said the wastage numbers are still on a higher side and that steps need to be taken to bring them down.

The Anti-Narcotics Cell of the Mumbai police arrested a 50-year-old woman, who is suspected to be a drug peddler at Kalbadevi area, the police said on Friday.

According to the police, 1.27 kg heroin worth over Rs 3 crore has been seized from her possession.

The overall global Covid-19 caseload has topped 172.4 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 3.70 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

In its latest update on Saturday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and death toll stood at 172,449,514 and 3,708,248, respectively.

NITI Aayog member VK Saraswat said that India coped with the second wave of coronavirus very well as the number of new cases of infection has come down significantly. He also emphasized that preparations should be completed to deal with the third wave of COVID-19, which is expected to affect the younger population more.

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