1. India’s coronavirus tally crossed the 7 lakh-mark on Monday evening and rose to 7,00,150, according to a calculation by PTI. Earlier in the day, the health ministry said the country has 6,97,413 cases and the toll stood at 19,693. India is now the world’s third worst-affected country, behind only the United States and Brazil.
  2. The number of coronavirus cases in Delhi crossed the 1 lakh-mark in the evening. The city reported 1,379 new infections, taking the total to 1,00,823. Maharashtra saw an increase of 5,368 new cases. With this, the worst-hit state’s tally rose to 2,11,987. As many as 3,827 new cases were reported in Tamil Nadu, taking the total number to 1,14,978.
  3. The Union Home Ministry allowed universities and institutions to conduct final year examinations. The new guidelines by the University Grants Commission state that exams in universities should be conducted by September-end. It added that exams can be held online and offline or a mix of both mediums. In case a student cannot appear in September, provisions will be made so that they can take the exams later.
  4. The Karnataka government revised the quarantine norms for travellers coming from other states, including Maharashtra, and exempted them from the mandatory seven-day institutional quarantine. According to the new rules, travellers coming to Karnataka from other states will be placed in 14-day home quarantine.
  5. The Maharashtra government said that hotels and lodges outside containment zones will be open to guests from July 8, but with strict safety measures in place to check the spread of the coronavirus. The government said that the establishments will be allowed to operate at 33% of their capacity.
  6. The finance ministry, in a report, said that India’s gross domestic product is expected to contract 4.5% in the 2020-’21 financial year as predicted by the International Monetary Fund. The ministry cited “unprecedented Covid-19 induced supply-demand shocks” for the downward revision of the economic growth.
  7. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi claimed that in the future, Harvard Business School will have case studies on failures of the Narendra Modi-led government, such as its handling of the coronavirus crisis, demonetisation and the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax.
  8. In an open letter to the World Health Organization, 239 scientists from 32 countries have claimed that the Covid-19 coronavirus is airborne. The claim contradicts previous evidence that suggested that it was transmitted from person-to-person through droplets from the nose or mouth, which are expelled when a person with the disease coughs, sneezes or speaks.
  9. The border between Australia’s Victoria and New South Wales states will be closed from Tuesday for the first time in 100 years amid a surge in coronavirus cases. Movement between the two states was last banned during the Spanish flu pandemic in 1919.
  10. The global coronavirus count is now 1,14,70,637. The toll stands at 5,34,784, according to the Johns Hopkins University. As many as 61,93,538 people have recovered so far.