With a total Covid-19 tally of 1,16,752 positive cases and over 5,600 deaths, Maharashtra is by far the worst coronavirus affected state in the country. Mumbai, the financial capital of India, has been caught so off-guard that the confirmed number of cases there alone has crossed 61,500.

While on one hand cases are rising at an alarming rate, the lacuna in the health infrastructure in the state has left citizens shaken and wanting. From lack of enough beds for Covid patients to unhygienic hospitals wards for those who managed one, it’s been a hellish few months for coronavirus infected people.

In order to address this pressing concern, the Mumbai civic authorities have launched a mobile application that will provide information on the availability of beds and ventilators in the city hospitals.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Thursday launch the auction of coal mines for commercial mining via video conferencing at an event here.

As many as 41 coal blocks will be put up on sale for commercial mining, according to sources. The virtual auction event will be centred on the theme "Unleashing coal: New hopes for Aatmanirbhar Bharat", the coal ministry said.

Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi had earlier said that by allowing commercial mining, the government has completely opened up the sector for investments.

Terming the commercial coal mining as one of the biggest-ever reforms in the sector to boost ease of doing business, the minister had said several restrictions have also been removed, promoting free trade of coal.

As India has recently embraced the Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, the coal and mining sector has started gearing up to make the country self-reliant in coal mining through structural reforms, according to the coal ministry.

The Jammu and Kashmir administration was conferred with three prestigious Deen Dayal Upadhyay Sashaktikaran Puraskar (DDUPSP) awards for its outstanding contribution to the socio-economic development of the gram panchayats.

The awards conferred by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj were given to three different panchayats of the Rajouri and Pulwama districts, , a spokesperson said.

Rathal and Badakana in Rajouri and Meej in Pulwama district were adjudged the best performing panchayats in recognition of their work in improving the delivery of services to the public like sanitation, natural resource management, maintaining record, construction of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (Gramin) houses, data management, implementation of agriculture-related schemes and electricity coverage, he said.

Jammu and Kashmir administration was earlier awarded three different national awards by the Union Ministry under Nanaji Deshmukhh Rashtriya Gaurav Gram Sabha Puraskar (NDRGGSP), Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) Award, Child-friendly Gram Panchayat Award appreciating the good work done at different levels in the union territory, the spokesperson said.

The government of India has decided to launch a massive rural public works scheme ‘Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan’ to empower and provide livelihood opportunities to the returnee migrant workers and rural citizens.

PM Modi will launch this Abhiyaan on June 20 at 11 am through video-conference in the presence of the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar.

The Abhiyaan will be launched from Village – Telihar, Block- Beldaur of Khagaria District of Bihar. Further, the Chief Ministers of other five States and Union Ministers of concerned Ministries will also participate in the virtual launch.

The villages across 116 districts in the six States will join this programme through the Common Service Centres and Krishi Vigyan Kendras, maintaining the norms of social distancing in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

This campaign of 125 days, which will work in mission mode, will involve intensified and focused implementation of 25 different types of works to provide employment to the migrant workers on one hand and create infrastructure in the rural regions of the country on the other hand, with a resource envelope of Rs. 50,000 crore.

The Asian Paralympic Committee (APC) on Wednesday announced that Bahrain will host the fourth edition of the Asian Youth Para Games from December 1 to 10 next year.

An estimated 800 athletes under 20 years of age are expected to compete in nine sports including athletics, badminton, powerlifting, swimming and table tennis.

The competition will take place across numerous venues in Khalifa Sports City, a multi-use stadium in Isa Town, and Isa Sports City, the national indoor facility.

APC President Majid Rashed said: “The APC’s new vision is to ‘Make for an inclusive Asia through Para-sport’ and I can think of no better place to start achieving that than with the region’s youth.

Former Supreme Court judge DK Jain has been given a one-year extension by the Board of Control for Cricket India (BCCI) to serve as BCCI's Ethics Officer and Ombudsman. He was initially appointed by the Supreme Court in February 2019 as BCCI's Ombudsman and later on handed the role of Ethics Officer. Jain's term had ended in the last week of February.

"Yes, my contract has been extended for a period of 12 months and I formally took over last week after sending my consent," he confirmed to IANS. "I am yet to start the proceedings. There was a gap of two months in between and thus I will have to look at the pending matters and decide future course of action accordingly," he added.

Veteran journalist and freedom fighter Dinu Ranadive passed away on Tuesday. He was 95.

Ranadive was widely respective throughout his career and even after for his investigative journalism, relentless coverage of social movements, and activism for the downtrodden. His wife Savita had passed away exactly a month ago on May 16. She was a school teacher and a union activist.

Ranadive started his career as the founder-editor of Samyukta Maharashtra Patrika in the 1950s, which had a lasting impact on the movement for the unification of Maharashtra as a State based on language. He then did exemplary reporting on the Goa Freedom Struggle in 1961.

Lt Gen (retd) Raj Mohan Vohra, who was a 1971 war hero and a Maha Vir Chakra awardee, has died due to COVID-19, senior officials said on Tuesday. He was 88.

The decorated officer breathed his last on June 14, they said.

"He was admitted initially to a private hospital for stent procedure. He died on June 14 due to COVID-19 infection," a senior official said.

His cremation was held on Sunday, the officials said.

Then a lieutenant colonel, Vohra commanded the elite Hodson's Horse in the Shakargarh Sector during the Indo-Pak War of 1971 and was awarded the Maha Vir Chakra for his conspicuous bravery and leadership.

During the Battle of Basantar, the regiment came under heavy fire from the enemy and faced huge resistance, but 27 enemy tanks were destroyed under his able command, the officials said.

The Uttar Pradesh government on Monday said that it has engaged 57.13 lakh workers under the MGNREGS, thereby emerging as the top state in the country to give employment under the rural employment guarantee scheme.

Briefing mediapersons here, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Kumar Awasthi said that Uttar Pradesh now accounts for 18 per cent of the total workers employed under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in the country and has generated 7.93 crore man-days.

“These 57.13 lakh workers are engaged across 56,981 panchayats out of the total 58,000 panchayats. During a meeting to review the lockdown and coronavirus situation, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered to provide MGNREGA jobs to 10 lakh more people,” Awasthi said, adding that UP is followed by Rajasthan, which has engaged 53.45 lakh workers. Andhra Pradesh with 36 lakh workers and West Bengal with 26 lakh and Madhya Pradesh with 23.95 lakh workers are the other states with high MGNREGA employment.