Delhi

New Delhi, Sep 11 (PTI) Social activist Swami Agnivesh, who was suffering from liver cirrhosis for a long time, died of multi-organ failure at a Delhi hospital on Friday, doctors said. He was 80.

His last rites will be performed on Saturday at Agnilok Ashram in Behelpa, Gurgaon at 4 pm. Before that, his body will be kept at his office in 7, Jantar Mantar Road so that people can pay last respects.

Those coming to pay last respects have been urged to follow COVID-19 protocols.

New Delhi, Sep 12 (PTI) India's COVID-19 caseload raced past 46 lakh with a record 97,570 infections being reported in a day, while 36,24,196 people have recuperated so far taking the national recovery rate to 77.77 per cent on Saturday, according to Union health ministry data.

The total number of coronavirus cases has mounted to 46,59,984, while the death toll climbed to 77,472 with 1,201 people succumbing to the infection in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed.

New Delhi, Sep 11 (PTI) Mohalla clinics in the city have been instructed to start COVID-19 testing with immediate effect as part of the Delhi government's strategy to ramp up testing amid a surge in coronavirus cases here.

According to an order issued on September 10 by Dr Shalley Kamra, state nodal officer of the Aam Aadmi Mohalla Clinic (AAMC), tests will happen on all working days between 2 pm and 5 pm.

There are nearly 450 mohalla clinics in the national capital.

New Delhi, Sep 10 (PTI) The Delhi High Court Thursday questioned Arnab Goswami for running a parallel investigation and trial in the Congress leader Shashi Tharoor's wife Sunanda Pushkar's death case and directed the journalist to be bound by his undertaking on showing restraint and bringing down the rhetoric while covering the matter.

Justice Mukta Gupta said the court was not saying that anyone will gag the media but at the same time, sanctity of investigation must be maintained.

New Delhi, Sep 10 (PTI) After years of negotiations, India and Japan have inked a landmark agreement that will allow their militaries to access each other's bases for logistics support, a key development that comes in the backdrop of growing concerns over China's military muscle flexing in the region.

The acquisition and cross-servicing pact was signed by Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar and Japanese Ambassador Suzuki Satoshi, a defence ministry spokesperson said on Thursday.

New Delhi, Sep 11 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that school students should have a new curriculum, which is in sync with the new National Education Policy, by 2022 when the nation celebrates its 75th year of Independence.

New Delhi, Sep 11 (PTI) India's COVID-19 caseload sprinted past 45 lakh and the death toll climbed to 76,271 with a record 96,551 infections and 1,209 fatalities being reported in a day, while the recoveries crossed 35 lakh on Friday, according to the Union Health Ministry data.

The total coronavirus cases mounted to 45,62,414, while the recoveries surged to 35,42,663, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The COVID-19 case fatality rate has further dropped to 1.67 per cent while the recovery rate was recorded at 77.65 per cent.

New Delhi, Sep 8 (PTI) An 86-year-old woman was allegedly raped by a man in a secluded area in south west Delhi's Chhawla area, police said on Tuesday.

The accused Sonu (37), a plumber, is a resident of Rewla Khanpur. He has been arrested in connection with the incident, they said.

The incident took place on Monday evening when the elderly woman was on her way to a nearby village. On the way, she happened to meet the accused who offered her lift on his two-wheeler, a senior police officer said.

New Delhi, Sep 8 (PTI) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday accused the Modi government of selling the country's assets to recover its economic losses and described as "shameful" reports of the sale of stake in Life Insurance Corporation (LIC).

"Modi ji is running the 'Sell Government Companies' campaign. The country's assets are being sold one by one to make up for their own economic mess," he said in a tweet in Hindi.

New Delhi, Sep 8 (PTI) Fitch Ratings on Tuesday projected a massive 10.5 per cent contraction of India's economy in the current financial year.

India recorded one of the sharpest gross domestic product (GDP) contractions in the world in April-June.