1. India on Friday reported 17,296 new coronavirus cases – the biggest one-day increase in infections so far. The country’s tally rose to 4,90,401. The toll rose to 15,301 with 407 new deaths. More than 2.8 lakh people across the country have recovered.
  2. The Assam government announced a two-week lockdown in Guwahati from Sunday midnight and night curfew across state amid rising cases. Jharkhand extended its lockdown till July 31. Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, meanwhile, said there would be no fresh lockdown in Bengaluru to control the spread of the coronavirus.
  3. The Centre on Friday extended the suspension of international commercial air travel till July 15. Domestic passenger services had commenced from May 25.
  4. Maharashtra on Friday reported an all-time single-day high of 5,024 coronavirus cases, taking the state’s total to 1,52,765, while the number of fatalities reached 7,106. With 3,460 new cases, Delhi’s count rose to 77,240 and the toll to 2,492. Tamil Nadu, meanwhile, reported 3,523 new cases and 46 deaths, taking the state’s total to 74,622, including 957 fatalities.
  5. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while launching the Atma Nirbhar Uttar Pradesh Rojgar Abhiyan, praised the state government’s efforts to combat the coronavirus. The prime minister said that Uttar Pradesh’s population was equal to that of four European countries combined, and yet it recorded only a fraction of their toll.
  6. The Supreme Court approved the assessment scheme submitted by the Central Board of Secondary Education for the cancelled Class 10 and 12 exams. The board said that it would mark students based on the subjects for which exams have already been conducted and internal evaluation. The results will be declared by mid-July.
  7. The Telangana government put on hold the random collection and testing of samples through special camps in capital Hyderabad and surrounding areas for two days starting Thursday to clear the backlog of pending coronavirus tests. The government clarified that coronavirus tests in hospitals would continue.
  8. The Indian Railways cancelled all regular trains scheduled to run between July 1 and August 12 amid rising coronavirus cases in the country. The special trains running since May 12 and the 100 pairs of mail and express trains plying since June 1 will continue to operate. The passengers will get refunds for the cancelled trains.
  9. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres encouraged countries to use environmental-friendly energy sources for their plans to counter the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic and said that there was a need to create more sustainable systems. “There is no good reason, for example, for any country to include coal in their Covid-19 recovery plans,” he said.
  10. The European Medicines Agency suggested giving conditional approval to Gilead Sciences Inc’s remdesivir drug for treating coronavirus patients. Globally, the coronavirus has infected over 96.65 lakh people and claimed 4.90 lakh lives so far, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker. However, more than 48.79 lakh people across the world have recovered.