Sanjay Kothari, the secretary to the president, was on Saturday appointed the Central Vigilance Commissioner, according to a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique.

A Rajasthan High Court lawyer appeared in an online bail hearing in vest, drawing the ire of a judge.

 An educational institute in coronavirus-hit Pune district has offered a hall in a mosque inside its premises as a quarantine facility.

A police case has been registered against Kannan Gopinathan, who resigned from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) last August, for not joining duty as directed by the government amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Two militants and a "hardcore" militant associate were killed in an encounter with security forces in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, police said.

The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 775 and the number of cases climbed to 24,506 in the country on Saturday, according to the Union Health Ministry.

In a reprieve to public at large, the government on Friday night allowed opening of neighbourhood and stand alone shops, including those located in residential complexes within municipal areas, but at a 50 per cent strength and after taking necessary precautions.

As India completes a month under lockdown that brought the world's most populous democracy to a virtual standstill, with no or very minimal social and economic activities to prevent the spread of COVID-19 pandemic, several medical experts feel that these restrictions were crucial in preventing a "US or Europe-like" situation from materialising in the country.