-The Hindu Chennai: It is the only State which goes entirely by RT-PCR testing, says Health Secretary Nearly nine months after it started testing samples for COVID-19, Tamil Nadu on Sunday hit the milestone of one crore tests using RT-PCR kits. “Tamil Nadu is the only State which goes entirely by RT-PCR testing. With laboratories in all districts, the State’s capacity is over one lakh tests per day,” Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan said. With...

-PTI/ The Hindu BJP, in its manifesto for Bihar elections, had promised free COVID-19 vaccine once it is cleared by the ICMR. The BJP’s promise of providing free Coronavirus vaccine in its manifesto for the Bihar assembly polls is not violative of the provisions of the model code, the Election Commission has held. Responding to a complaint by RTI activist Saket Gokhale, the commission said it has found no violation of the provisions...

-The Indian Express ASER report flags burden of digital inequality on children, and opportunity for government schools. The digital pivot in India’s schooling system risks pushing it into deeper inequality, seven months after schools shut down across the country to tackle the pandemic. A majority of children without access to internet has been thrown into distress — a handful to the point of self-harm, as several reports in this newspaper attest —...

-Livemint.com A return of the Coronavirus in Europe has spooked global markets. Even as India recovers, some regions are at a similar risk, including the national capital Several parts of Europe are under threat of fresh lockdowns as the dreaded “second wave" of the Coronavirus sweeps through the continent. Markets globally are reacting in panic, with European stock futures touching a five-month low on Wednesday. Indian markets have also been jittery in...

-The Telegraph RTI body issues notice to three wings of the central govt for ‘obstruction of information and providing an evasive reply’ At 7.25pm on Tuesday, 16.23 crore Indians were using the Aarogya Setu App but the departments concerned in the Narendra Modi government have claimed in writing that they do not have any information on who created the app and they do not possess files relating to this “mandatory” tool to...