Maharashtra recorded another huge surge of 5,257 new Covid-19 cases on Monday as the state&rsquo;s tally touched 1,69,883, as per state health department data. There were 181 casualties, including 92 in Mumbai that took the death toll to 7,610 in the state. Mumbai recorded 1,226 new cases to take its tally to 76,765. The Covid-19 tally in Dharavi rose to 2,262 with 17 new cases; one fresh death takes the toll in Asia's largest slum to 82.

Maharashtra recorded another huge surge of 5,257 new Covid-19 cases on Monday as the state’s tally touched 1,69,883, as per state health department data. There were 181 casualties, including 92 in Mumbai that took the death toll to 7,610 in the state. Mumbai recorded 1,226 new cases to take its tally to 76,765. The Covid-19 tally in Dharavi rose to 2,262 with 17 new cases; one fresh death takes the toll in Asia's largest slum to 82.

PTI, New Delhi:&nbsp;No one should be turned away from hospital due to higher cost of treatment, the Supreme Court Tuesday said while asking the government to consider framing guideline on the issue of cost of treatment for Covid-19 infection.
Though the apex court opined that &ldquo;cost of the treatment should not be higher at the present time," it also said that court is not equipped to either regulate cost of treatment or say what should be the best model of treatment for patients infected with coronavirus.
A bench comprising Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices R S Reddy and A S Bopanna, was hearing through video-conferencing a plea filed by advocate Sachin Jain who has sought a direction for regulating the cost of treatment of Covid-19 at private hospitals across the country.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, told the bench that government is looking into all the issues related to coronavirus and concerns raised by the petitioner would be taken care of. During the hearing, the bench referred to the affidavit filed earlier in the matter by the Centre which had said that there is no provision under the Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2010 "whereby it is mandated that the private hospitals running on the public land shall treat Covid-19 patients on free basis". "It is again reiterated that such policies may only be defined and implemented by the respective state governments," the Centre&rsquo;s affidavit had said.
The counsel appearing for federation of private hospitals said that states have their own models and there cannot be a uniform pricing for all the states.
He said as far as charitable hospitals are concerned, they are already providing free treatment to Covid-19 patients.
He said each state is grappling with the problem of coronavirus and it is not that private hospitals are making money during the time of pandemic.
Jain claimed in the court that some private hospitals are charging exorbitant rates for Covid-19 treatment at this time of this pandemic.
The apex court said that concerned authority of Union health ministry should consider framing guideline on this aspect. In June, the apex court had asked private hospitals whether they were ready to provide treatment to Covid-19 infected patients at the charges prescribed under the government's Ayushman Bharat Scheme.

PTI, Kolkata:&nbsp;The West Bengal government on Tuesday extend the total lockdown in containment zones till July 19.
According to a notification by the Home Department, the rigorous containment in these areas would be extended from July 15 to July 19.
These zones are located in and around Kolkata, besides Jalpaiguri, Malda, Cooch Behar, Raiganj and Siliguri, it said.
The total lockdown was enforced in the containment zones from 5 pm of July 9 to stem the spike in Covid-19 cases.&nbsp;

Nine more people died on Tuesday as floods continued to ravage Assam. Reports say the floods have so far&nbsp;affect nearly 33 lakh people from 28 districts of the northeastern state.&nbsp;Barpeta&nbsp;is the worst-hit district with 5.49 lakh people affected in the deluge followed by 4.10 lakh people in Dhubri district.
A&nbsp;government report on Tuesday said&nbsp;371 villages&nbsp;are currently underwater and the floodwaters submerged 1.28 lakh hectares of agricultural land.&nbsp;Over&nbsp;44,108 people are currently taking shelter at 517 relief camps in 24 flood-hit districts.&nbsp;
Over 21 lakh domestic animals are also affected in the deluge.&nbsp;The water levels of all major rivers are flowing above danger level mark in many places of the state.&nbsp; &nbsp; Authorities in the state confirmed 77 deaths due to inundation and mudslides since the beginning of the floods late last month, and said vast tracts were still underwater with 26 of the state's 33 districts badly affected.&nbsp;

The Congress on Tuesday attacked the Narendra Modi government after a report in The Hindu newspaper claimed that&nbsp;Iran had decided to proceed with the Chabahar port rail project&nbsp;by itself citing funding delays from India.&nbsp;Claiming that China gave Iran a &lsquo;better deal&rsquo;, the&nbsp;main opposition party&nbsp;called the development a &lsquo;big loss&rsquo; for the country even as it questioned the diplomatic tactics of the Centre.
The report said that Iran had decided to proceed with the construction of a rail line from Chabahar port to Zahedan, along the border with Afghanistan, on its own following alleged delays from the Indian government in funding and starting the project.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu&nbsp;Singhvi&nbsp;tweeted:&nbsp;&ldquo;This is the diplomacy of the Modi government that won laurels even without getting the work done,&nbsp;China&nbsp;worked quietly but gave them a better deal. Big loss for India. But you can&rsquo;t ask questions!&rdquo;&nbsp;
 The development comes in the backdrop of Iran&nbsp;finalising&nbsp;a 25-year strategic partnership deal with China worth $400 billion.&nbsp;The Hindu report said that the&nbsp;partnership will include Chinese involvement in Chabahar&rsquo;s duty free zone, an oil refinery nearby, and possibly a larger role in Chabahar port as well.
&nbsp;&nbsp; Chabahar, which is located 72 kilometers west of Pakistan&rsquo;s Gwadar port, holds immense strategic and economic significance for India.&nbsp;
India and Iran signed an agreement to construct the rail line four years ago.
&nbsp;

PTI, New Delhi:&nbsp;Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal inaugurated Delhi's second plasma bank at the state-run Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital on Tuesday, and asserted that plasma therapy was "really helpful" in saving lives of Covid-19 patients.
Kejriwal inaugurated the first plasma bank at the state-run Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences on July 2. He said over 200 people have taken plasma from ILBS so far.
"Plasma therapy is really helpful in saving lives. We cannot say it can save 100 percent of the lives...but the death rate has reduced in Delhi and plasma has a role in it," the chief minister said at the launch.
The LNJP Hospital is located in central Delhi, so it is easily accessible to those willing to donate plasma, he said.
Covid-19 patients can donate their plasma 14 days after recovery.
Such people should aged between 18 and 60 and weigh not less than 50 kg.
However, women who have been pregnant, people with diabetes, hypertension, cancer survivors, those with chronic heart, liver, lung and kidney diseases and high blood pressure cannot donate plasma.
"We do not want to store plasma in plasma bank forever, but no one should suffer for lack of plasma either. The arrangement should be such that those needing plasma get it easily. So far, no one has been denied plasma," Kejriwal said.
He said his government will continue setting up facilities and beds even if the beds for COVID-19 patients remain vacant to ensure there is no shortage if the cases increase.
He said the spread of COVID-19 in Delhi is gradually reducing.&nbsp; "The recovery rate is increasing very fast. Earlier, 35 out of 100 people tested would be diagnosed with coronavirus. Now only 7 or 8 people out of 100 are found positive.
The chief minister said the number of fatalities has also decreased.
"In mid-June, there were about 101 deaths per day but there are about 40 deaths now. All of us together have to reduce it further," he said.
However, Kejriwal cautioned people against any complacency.
"Nothing is known about COVID-19, it may rise again tomorrow. Therefore, we need to take precautions. We always have to wear a mask, maintain social distancing, wash our hands and sanitize them repeatedly," he said.
He also said the city government has successfully implemented the home isolation programme and there has been no death among those undergoing home isolation.
Kejriwal said he was happy that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also praised the model implemented in Delhi and everyone's cooperation in it.
&nbsp;

PTI, Chandigarh: Former Jalandhar Bishop Franco Mulakkal, accused of raping a nun in Kerala, has tested positive for coronavirus, a Health Department official said on Tuesday.
A Kottayam court in Kerala had on Monday cancelled Mulakkal&rsquo;s bail for his failure to appear for the trial in the rape case and issued a non-bailable warrant against him.
&ldquo;He (Mulakkal) has tested positive for coronavirus,&rdquo; said COVID-19 nodal officer for Jalandhar, T P Singh.
Mulakkal&rsquo;s report, confirming him to be positive for COVID-19, came on Monday evening, he added.
The rape case against the Bishop was registered by Kottayam district police in Kerala.
In her complaint to the police in June 2018, the nun had alleged that she was subjected to sexual abuse by the Bishop between 2014 and 2016.
The bishop, who was arrested by the Special Investigation Team which probed the case, has been charged with wrongful confinement, rape, unnatural sex and criminal intimidation.

Weighing in on the Rajasthan&nbsp;political crisis, former Congress leader Jyotiraditya&nbsp;Scindia, who joined BJP in March this year, said in a tweet, "In present circumstances, there is no place for ability in the Congress party. This can be seen in every state."&nbsp;Scindia's&nbsp;comments came after&nbsp;the Congress sacked Sachin Pilot as the deputy chief minister of Rajasthan for his revolt, as he skipped the second meeting of MLAs in two days.&nbsp;Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said Sachin Pilot was "ensnared" by the BJP to bring down the Congress government in Rajasthan.&nbsp;

PTI,&nbsp;New Delhi:&nbsp;The HRD Ministry on Tuesday announced guidelines for online classes by schools and recommended a cap on duration and the number of sessions in a day for students.&nbsp;
 The guidelines have been framed by the ministry, following concerns raised by parents about schools conducting online classes like regular schools, which has increased children's screen time after the COVID-19 pandemic mandated a shift from classroom teaching to online learning as schools continue to remain shut for over four months.&nbsp;
In the guideline called "Pragyata", the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has recommended that the duration for online classes for pre-primary students should not be for more than 30 minutes.&nbsp;
For classes 1 to 8, the HRD Ministry has recommended two online sessions of up to 45 minutes each while for classes 9 to 12, four sessions of 30-45 minutes duration have been recommended.&nbsp;
"The Covid-19 pandemic has led to closure of schools and has impacted over 240 million children of the country who are enrolled in schools. Extended school closures may cause loss of learning.&nbsp;
"To mitigate the impact of the pandemic, schools will not only have to remodel and reimagine the way teaching and learning have happened so far, but will also need to introduce a suitable method of delivering quality education through a healthy mix of schooling at home and schooling at school," HRD Minister Ramesh&nbsp;Pokhriyal&nbsp;'Nishank' said.&nbsp;
He said that the guidelines have been made with a focus on online education for students who are at home.&nbsp;
"The guidelines have been developed from the perspective of learners, with a focus on online, blended, digital education for students who are presently at home due to the lockdown.&nbsp;These guidelines on digital education provide a roadmap or pointers for carrying forward online education to enhance the quality of education,"&nbsp;Nishank&nbsp;added.&nbsp;
 Universities and schools across the country have been shut since March 16, when the Centre announced a countrywide classroom shutdown as part of measures to contain the Covid-19 outbreak. A nationwide lockdown was announced on March 24, which came into effect the next day.&nbsp; While the government has largely eased restrictions, schools and colleges continue to remain closed.&nbsp;

PTI,&nbsp;Kolkata:&nbsp;West Bengal BJP leader and Hemtabad MLA Debendra Nath Roy died due to hanging and no other injury mark was found on his body, according to the post-mortem report released on Tuesday.
The BJP, however, refused to accept the report and demanded a CBI inquiry into the incident to bring out the truth.
Roy's body was found hanging from the ceiling of a verandah outside a shuttered shop near his home in Bindal village in North Dinajpur district on Monday.
The post-mortem report stated, "Death is due to hanging. No other injury is detected." The report also said the "death is due to the effects of hanging as noted above- antemortem in nature. Further information if any will be provided after receipt of the chemical examiner's report".
West Bengal police have said a suicide note was found in his shirt's pocket where he blamed two people for his death.
West Bengal Home Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay said the police, after going through pieces of circumstantial evidence and post-mortem report, suspect Roy killed himself.
"On the basis of the post-mortem report and on examining circumstantial evidence and version of the witnesses, the West Bengal police are prima facie of the opinion that this is a case of a suspected suicide," he told reporters at the state secretariat.
A piece of paper or note purportedly written by the deceased found in the pocket of his shirt he was wearing at that time "names two persons, provides their photographs and mobile numbers", the home secretary added.
"The WB police have examined the antecedents and activities of the two aforesaid named persons whose photos and mobile numbers were also apparently given by the deceased and it appears that these two persons are involved in some para banking or money lending activities in the locality.
"The West Bengal police are examining the context of unregistered banking," the IAS officer said.
Bandyopadhyay said the state government "is committed to transparency and comprehensive investigation into the incident" and will not allow any political or extraneous considerations to influence the probe.
"The investigation has already been handed over to the CID. No political or extraneous considerations will be allowed to interfere in the pursuit of truth through impartial investigation," he added.
Roy's family and the BJP, however, claimed he was "murdered by the TMC", a charge denied by the ruling party in the state.
Roy's family members and the saffron party demanded a CBI inquiry into his death.
The BJP has termed the post-mortem report a "cover-up and an attempt to project a murder as suicide" and reiterated its demand for a CBI inquiry to bring out the truth.
"We don't have faith in state police and administration. They want to cover up the matter. The post-mortem report called the 'murder' a suicide', so we have no confidence in this report.
"The state should either hand over the investigation to CBI or order a judicial probe under the supervision of a sitting judge of the high court," said Rahul Sinha, National Secretary, BJP.
Meanwhile, BJP supporters clashed with the police and pelted stones at buses during a 12-hour bandh called by the party in North Bengal on Tuesday over the unnatural death of Roy.
The bandh that started at 6 am evoked mixed response with shops remaining closed in some places and lesser number of public transport vehicles on the roads.
The BJP Yuva Morcha held a sit-in demonstration near Mahatama Gandhi statue at Mayo Road in Kolkata demanding justice for Roy and an end to political violence by alleged TMC goons in the state.
Roy had won the Hemtabad (reserved) seat on a CPI(M) ticket in 2016 but later joined the BJP.
He had, however, not quit his assembly seat.

PTI, UN: The number of undernourished people in India has declined by 60 million, from 21.7 per cent in 2004-06 to 14 per cent in 2017-19, according to a UN report.
The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report, released on Monday, said that there were less stunted children but more obese adults in India.
The report -- considered the most authoritative global study tracking progress towards ending hunger and malnutrition -- said that the number of undernourished people in India declined from 249.4 million in 200406 to 189.2 million in 201719.
In percentage terms, the prevalence of undernourishment in the total population in India declined from 21.7 per cent in 2004-06 to 14 per cent in 2017-19, it said.
The two subregions showing reductions in undernourishment -- eastern and southern Asia -- are dominated by the two largest economies of the continent -- China and India.
&ldquo;Despite very different conditions, histories and rates of progress, the reduction in hunger in both the countries stems from long-term economic growth, reduced inequality, and improved access to basic goods and services,&rdquo; it said.
The report is prepared jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
It further said that the prevalence of stunting in children under 5 years of age in India declined from 47.8 per cent in 2012 to 34.7 per cent in 2019 or from 62 million in 2012 to 40.3 million in 2019.
More Indian adults became obese between 2012-16, it said.
&nbsp; The number of adults (18 years and older) who are obese grew from 25.2 million in 2012 to 34.3 million in 2016, from 3.1 per cent to 3.9 per cent.
The number of women of reproductive age (1549) affected by anaemia grew from 165.6 million in 2012 to 175.6 million in 2016.
The number of infants 05 months of age exclusively breastfed grew from 11.2 million in 2012 to 13.9 million in 2019.
The report said that almost 690 million people globally were undernourished (or hungry) in 2019, up by 10 million from 2018.
The hungry are most numerous in Asia, but expanding fastest in Africa.
Across the planet, the report forecasts, that the COVID-19 pandemic could push over 130 million more people into chronic hunger by the end of 2020.
In percentage terms, Africa is the hardest hit region and becoming more so, with 19.1 per cent of its people undernourished.
At the current trends, by 2030, Africa will be home to more than half of the world's chronically hungry.
The COVID-19 is intensifying the vulnerabilities and inadequacies of global food systems - understood as all the activities and processes affecting the production, distribution and consumption of food.
&ldquo;While it is too soon to assess the full impact of the lockdowns and other containment measures, the report estimates that at a minimum, another 83 million people, and possibly as many as 132 million, may go hungry in 2020 as a result of the economic recession triggered by COVID-19,&rdquo; it said, adding that the setback throws into further doubt the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal two, whose target is achieving zero hunger.
The latest estimates are that a staggering three billion people or more cannot afford a healthy diet.
In sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia, this is the case for 57 per cent of the population - though no region, including north America and Europe, is spared.
In 2019, 191 million children under five were stunted or wasted - too short or too thin. Another 38 million under-fives were overweight.
Among adults, meanwhile, obesity has become a global pandemic in its own right.
The study calls on the governments to mainstream nutrition in their approaches to agriculture; work to cut cost-escalating factors in the production, storage, transport, distribution and marketing of food - including by reducing inefficiencies and food loss and waste.
It also urges them to support local small-scale producers to grow and sell more nutritious foods, and secure their access to markets; prioritise children's nutrition as the category in greatest need; foster behaviour change through education and communication; and embed nutrition in national social protection systems and investment strategies.
The report noted that generally, cash transfer programmes are considered an appropriate instrument to increase dietary diversity in well-connected urban or rural contexts, while in-kind transfers are more appropriate for remote areas, where access to markets is severely limited.
&ldquo;In India, for instance, the country&rsquo;s Targeted Public Distribution System represents the largest social protection programme in the world, reaching 800 million people with subsidised cereals that can be purchased from more than 500,000 fair price shops across the country.&rdquo;
In India, rural business hubs have facilitated linking smallholder farmers to rapidly growing urban markets.
Apart from procuring food products from the farmers, these hubs provide services such as farm inputs and equipment, as well as access to credit.
Having food processing, packaging and cooling facilities at the same location allows consumers to benefit from economies of agglomeration and, on the whole, reduce transaction costs throughout the food supply chain.
This model in India has given rise to rural supermarkets that provide cheaper staple food, it added.

PTI, New Delhi: As the number of coronavirus cases crossed the 9-lakh mark on Tuesday, the Health Ministry said that 86 per cent of the total active cases were recorded in 10 states of the country.&nbsp;
Addressing a press briefing, Rajesh Bhushan, the officer on special duty in the Health Ministry, said two of the most affected states are Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu which are contributing to 50 per cent of the total active cases (154,134 active cases).&nbsp;
Karnataka, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal, Gujarat and Assam are the other affected states that contribute to 36 per cent of the total active cases (111,068 active cases) Bhushan also said that the total recovered cases of COVID-19 are about 1.8 times the number of active cases.&nbsp;
On Covid-19 testing, he said that 22 states are currently performing more than 140 tests per day per million population.&nbsp;
Responding to a question on the fatality rate, he said the national COVID-19 fatality rate is 2.6 per cent and it is coming down rapidly.&nbsp;
"Compared to the global case, fatality rate it is significantly lower," he added.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Ravinder Raina, who is the president of BJP&nbsp;in Jammu and Kashmir has&nbsp;tested positive for Covid-19.&nbsp; Reports said&nbsp;Raina was in isolation in the Narayana hospital in the Katra town of&nbsp;Reasi&nbsp;district.
On Sunday,&nbsp;Raina accompanied Union Minister of State (PMO) Jitendra Singh, national General secretary of the BJP, Ram Madhav and other senior leaders to offer condolences to the family of Wasim Bari, the local BJP leader who was killed along with his father and brother by militants in the Bandipora town in north Kashmir.&nbsp;
Singh on Tuesday&nbsp;went into self-quarantine as a precautionary measure. In a tweet, Singh said, "Have gone into self-quarantine with immediate effect, after receiving the news about Corona positive test of J&amp;K BJP President Ravinder Raina who had accompanied us from Srinagar to Bandipora on July 12."
&nbsp;

PTI,&nbsp;Kolkata:&nbsp;Congress Leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Tuesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking his intervention for the release of Telugu poet Varavara Rao who was arrested in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case in Maharashtra.
Rao at 81 years of age "cannot be a threat to one of the strongest countries" in the world, Chowdhury said.
"A person of 81 years of age has been languishing in jail for years without knowing his offence, now he has been mentally disoriented, having no medical assistance.
"You may please intervene into this matter and save his life, otherwise our future generations will not forgive us (sic)," he wrote in his letter to Modi.
Rao and nine other activists were arrested in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist link case, which was initially probed by the Pune police and later transferred to the National Investigation Agency in January this year.
The case pertains to the alleged inflammatory speeches made at the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017, which, the police claimed, triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial located on the outskirts of the western Maharashtra city.
The poet was admitted to J J Hospital in Mumbai on Monday night after he complained of dizziness.

PTI, Patna:&nbsp;There will be a total lockdown in Bihar from July 16-31 to contain the spread of Covid-19, Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi on Tuesday announced.
On his official Twitter handle, Modi said the 16-day lockdown will remain in force at all municipal, district, sub divisional and block headquarters level and that guidelines were being prepared.
"The government has taken a decision to this effect... Corona has neither any vaccine nor any medicine," Modi said in a virtual rally, details of which were shared on his Twitter handle.
The move comes close on the heels of recent spike in positive cases which had necessitated lockdowns, imposed by the local administrations, in several districts.&nbsp;

PTI, Jaipur:&nbsp;Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday accused rebel leader&nbsp;Sachin&nbsp;Pilot of playing into the hands of the BJP.&nbsp;
Speaking after the Congress announced the sacking of Pilot and his two aides from the state cabinet,&nbsp;Gehlot alleged that that the BJP wanted to repeat what it had done in Madhya Pradesh.&nbsp;
The Congress government led by Kamal Nath in Madhya Pradesh had collapsed in March after a rebellion by Jyotiraditya Scindia.&nbsp;
Gehlot said: but the BJP's intentions will not fructify in Rajasthan.&nbsp;The chief minister said that Pilot and other ministers as well as MLAs were given ample opportunities but they did not attend the Congress Legislature Party meeting on Monday and Tuesday.&nbsp;
"There is nothing in the hands of&nbsp;Sachin&nbsp;Pilot. He is playing into the hands of the BJP which is making all the arrangements,&rdquo; he told reporters after meeting Governor&nbsp;Kalraj&nbsp;Mishra.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I am very sad that horse trading was going on. It is for the first time in the country that democracy is under such grave threat,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp;
Gehlot that he had fulfilled the rebel leaders demands by making budget announcements and "their works were done but still they were like this".&nbsp;
After attempts to assuage Pilot failed, the Congress on Tuesday removed him from the posts of Rajasthan's deputy chief minister and the party's state unit chief.&nbsp;

Moments after the Congress party removed him from the post of Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister and state&nbsp;Congress president, rebel&nbsp;Sachin&nbsp;Pilot took to twitter and wrote that &lsquo;truth can be troubled, cannot be defeated&rsquo;.
The 42-year-old leader, who didn&rsquo;t attend a second meeting of Congress legislature party on Tuesday, also&nbsp;changed his twitter bio. The action against, Pilot, who is campaign in the national capital, comes after he also skipped the legislative meet on Monday. Over 100 MLAs&nbsp;had turned up for the meet on Monday, which passed a resolution backing Pilot's rival and chief minister Ashok&nbsp;Ghelot. The Congress after the Monday's meeting had left the door open for Pilot and had requested him to join the Tuesday's meeting in Jaipur.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; In his changed twitter bio, the former minister at the Centre,&nbsp;has removed the designation of Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister and state&nbsp;president. Besides other information, Pilot&rsquo;s bio now reads that his is an MLA from&nbsp;Tonk.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Pilot&rsquo;s two loyalists&nbsp;Vishvendra&nbsp;Singh, Ramesh Meena have also been dropped from the Gehlot Cabinet. Govind Singh&nbsp;Dotasra&nbsp;has been made Congress state president and will replace Pilot. Hem Singh&nbsp;Shekhawat&nbsp;has taken over as the&nbsp;Sewa&nbsp;Dal state president.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; On Monday, the Rajasthan Congress Legislature Party passed a resolution to extend their support to the Ashok Gehlot-led government, which Pilot claimed, has been reduced to a minority.&nbsp;
Rajasthan governor Kalraj Mishra&nbsp;accepted Gehlot's proposal to remove Sachin Pilot as Deputy CM, and Vishvender Singh and Ramesh Meena as ministers, news agency ANI reported.

The Centre has given in-principle approval to construct a strategic tunnel under the Brahmaputra river, Hindi newspaper Hindustan has reported. The four-lane tunnel will link Gohpur and Numaligarh towns in Assam. This is the first time that India will be constructing an under-river tunnel, the report said and it will be close to the Chinese border. It will be longer than the under water tunnel being built by China below the Taihu Lake in Jiangsu province, it further added. The proposed tunnel in India will provide year-long connectivity between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. It will also help in transporting military supplies and ammunition.

Amid the Congress internal trouble, the BJP on Tuesday demanded that CM Ashok Gehlot take a floor test in Rajasthan Assembly to prove the numbers. The Congress numbers are rapidly shrinking reportedly with more defections. Gehlot, who claims to hold the majority, met Governor Kalraj Mishra after the MLAs meet and decision to sack rebel Sachin Pilot as Dy CM. BJP, which has been in wait-and-watch mode till now has now rushed senior leader and in-charge of Rajasthan Om Mathur to Jaipur. The Congress had claimed support of 106 MLAs in the 200 member house after the rebellion, but since then 3 more MLAs have defected to the Pilot camp leaving Gehlot with a slender majority.

Sachin Pilot has been sacked as Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister, said Congress leader Randeep Surjewala&nbsp;on Tuesday. Govind Dotra has been appointed as the new Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Chief.
The move comes after the Congress Legislature Party meeting, where a proposal to remove Sachin Pilot as the state president and to expel rebel MLAs was put forward, which was then sent to the AICC.
Sachin Pilot skipped the Congress Legislature meeting again on Tuesday, despite&nbsp;several senior leaders reached out to him to end his dispute with chief minister Ashok Gehlot but he remained unmoved by the party's overtures since Monday.

Did Congress lobby to help Priyanka Gandhi keep the govt bungalow after she was served a vacation notice? Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Puri on Tuesday tweeted that a senior Congress leader requested him to allot the 35, Lodhi Estate bungalow, where Priyanka lives, to some other Congress MP so that the Congress general secretary&nbsp;can continue to live there.
Responding to minister's revelation, Priyanka Gandhi tweeted that she thank the said Congress leader and the minister for their concerns but the fact remains that she has not made any request.&nbsp;
Puri's tweet came in response to Priyanka Gandhi calling reports of her request for more time vacate as fake news. Priyanka on Tuesday stated that she would vacate the bungalow by August 1 as asked.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development had last week served a notice on her to vacate the said premises before August 1 as she no longer comes under SPG security cover.
"Consequent to withdrawal of SPG protection and grant of Z+ security cover by MHA, which does not provide for allotment or retention of government accommodation on security grounds to you, the allotment of type 6B house No. 35 Lodhi Estate is hereby cancelled wef July 1. One month concession period on same rent till August 1 is allowed as per rules," the Housing Ministry notice had said.

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5,000+ single-day surge in Maharashtra, state tally over 1.69 lakh

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