Some coronavirus high caseload states such as Maharashtra, Rajasthan and West Bengal have scaled-down testing despite their positivity rates being at alarming levels of 15%, 10% and 9% respectively. Maharashtra’s total testing over 14-day periods has come down to 9.7 lakh during October 5-18 compared to 11.52 lakh during the previous fortnight (September 22-October 5).

A day after the CBI responded with speed to a request from UP police and orders from the Centre to take over a ‘TRP scam’ probe in Lucknow, the Uddhav Thackeray-led coalition government on Wednesday blocked the central agency from investigating any case in Maharashtra without the prior consent of the state or the permission of the higher judiciary, reflecting clear escalation.

India recorded less than 60,000 new Covid-19 cases for the third day in a row (not counting Monday’s tally), indicating another step down in infections in the country. The daily death toll remained above 700 for the second straight day. Stay with TOI for the latest developments

Just weeks after deciding to open up the space sector, the department of space (DoS) has proposed to enable private Indian firms to not just use existing space assets for communication services, but also develop new systems, launch satellites and sell services abroad under its Spacecom Policy-2020. As per draft, companies will be allowed to set up control centres outside India.