1. India recorded 18,522 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, taking the overall count to 5,66,840. The toll from the disease rose by 418 to 16,893. Over 3.3 lakh people have recovered from the coronavirus so far.
  2. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his address to the nation, announced that the free grain distribution scheme under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana will be extended by five months till the end of November. The scheme, earlier announced for a three-month period, covered 80 crore ration card holders. Soon after Modi’s announcement, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee extended the free distribution of grains till June 2021 in the state.
  3. Delhi recorded 2,199 new coronavirus cases and 62 deaths on Tuesday. The Capital’s case count rose to 87,360 and toll to 2,742. Delhi is the most affected city in India, with Mumbai in second place.
  4. The Drug Control General of India gave its approval to Bharat Biotech to conduct human clinical trials of a potential Covid-19 vaccine. Covaxin, developed in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research and the National Institute of Virology, will be clinically tested across the country from next month.
  5. Tamil Nadu recorded 3,943 new coronavirus cases and 60 deaths today, taking the state tally to 90,167. The toll stands at 1,201. Meanwhile, Maharashtra recorded 4,878 new coronavirus cases, taking the worst-hit state’s tally to 1,74,761. With 245 new deaths, the toll stood at 7,855.
  6. World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the coronavirus pandemic is far from being over. “We all want to get on with our lives,” he said. “But the hard reality is that this is not even close to being over. Although many countries have made some progress globally, the pandemic is actually speeding up.”
  7. The Ministry of Home Affairs on Monday issued fresh guidelines, relaxing lockdown restrictions further from July 1, as part of its “Unlock 2” phase in the fight against the novel coronavirus. Night curfew has relaxed. Ban on metro services and international flights will continue.
  8. After Maharashtra, the Tamil Nadu government extended the coronavirus lockdown across the state by another month till July 31. A complete lockdown will remain in place till July 5 in Madurai and Greater Chennai Police limits, including Chennai, Kanchipuram, Chengalpattu and Thiruvalluvar districts. Tamil Nadu has recorded 86,224 coronavirus cases, including 1,141 deaths so far. Kerala enforced a “triple lockdown” in parts of Malappuram.
  9. The Maharashtra government asked the Indian Railways to allow employees of various Central government offices, high courts and public sector banks to travel by local trains.
  10. The global coronavirus tally reached 1,03,60,882 and the toll rose to 5,07,104, according to the Johns Hopkins University. As many as 52,76,001 people have recovered.