1. India on Wednesday recorded 15,968 new coronavirus cases, taking the overall count to 4,56,183, according to the Union health ministry’s update. The toll rose to 14,476 with 465 new deaths. Of the total patients, 1,83,022 are active cases, 2,58,684 have recovered. Maharashtra reported 3,890 new infections and 208 deaths, taking the total tally of coronavirus cases in the state to 1.42 lakh. The toll from the disease is 6,739. In Tamil Nadu, the number of infections rose to 67,468, with 866 deaths. 
  2. Delhi, meanwhile, crossed the 70,000-mark with 3,788 new cases of the coronavirus and 64 deaths. With a total of 70,390 cases and a toll of 2,365, the Capital now has more infections than Mumbai, which has recorded 69,625 cases, including 3,962 deaths, so far. Earlier in the day, the Arvind Kejriwal-led government will screen every house in the Capital from July 6 as a part of its new coronavirus response plan.
  3. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee extended the lockdown to curb coronavirus cases in the state till the end of July. The government had on Tuesday announced that all educational institutions in the state would be closed till July 31.  
  4. The International Monetary Fund said that India’s Gross Domestic Product will contract by 4.5% in the 2020-’21 financial year, thanks to the lockdown imposed to fight the coronavirus pandemic. This is much lower than the 1.9% positive growth the IMF had forecast in its World Economic Outlook for April.
  5. The Tamil Nadu government has claimed that some Siddha treatments have ensured 100% recovery from the coronavirus. Siddha is an ancient way of treatment originating in Tamil Nadu. Though there is “no empirical verification”, a state minister claimed that there was 100% success.
  6. Trinamool Congress leader Tamonash Ghosh, who had tested positive for the coronavirus in May, died at a hospital in West Bengal’s capital Kolkata. He was 60.
  7. The reliability and capability aspects of 10,000 low-cost ventilators, ordered by the Centre under the PM Cares fund, have been questioned by two government-appointed panels. The Narendra Modi-led administration on Tuesday allocated Rs 2,000 crore from the PM Cares fund towards the supply of 50,000 “Made in India” ventilators.
  8. Over 10 crore children, living in India and other South Asian countries, could slip into poverty as a result of the prolonged impact of the coronavirus crisis, the United Nations said in a report on Tuesday.
  9. Kerala’s Health Minister KK Shailaja was honoured by the United Nations for her efforts to tackle the coronavirus pandemic. She was among a few of the world leaders invited to speak on the occasion of the United Nations Public Service Day.
  10. Globally, the coronavirus has infected more than 92 lakh people and claimed over 4.77 lakh lives, according to the Johns Hopkins University. More than 46 lakh people across the world have recovered.