Ayodhya ‘bhoomi pujan’, Mumbai rain and more: A round-up of the top stories on August 04, 2020

A brief look at all the news you need to start the day with during the time of social distancing.

'No compromise': India's tough talk on border row with China

The Indian army has categorically conveyed to China's PLA at the fifth round of military talks it will not compromise on India's territorial integrity, and clearly said disengagement of troops from Pangong Tso and a few other friction points in eastern Ladakh should be completed at the earliest. Read More

Rituals begin as Ayodhya prepares for Ram temple ‘bhoomi pujan'

Barricades are already in place in the temple town and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath issued an appeal, asking only those invited for Wednesday's ‘bhoomi pujan’ ceremony to come to Ayodhya. Read More

Heavy rains, flooding in Mumbai: Train, bus services affected

The western line has been completely stopped, while the harbour line has been stopped between Kurla and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, and the central line is running with slow speed, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said. Read More

Former Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah tests positive for COVID-19

"I have been tested positive for Covid-19 and also been admitted to the hospital on the advice of doctors as a precaution. I request all those who had come in contact with me to check out for symptoms and to quarantine themselves,” Siddaramaiah said. Read More

Despite several effective vaccines for coronavirus, no silver bullet: WHO

"A number of vaccines are now in phase three clinical trials and we all hope to have a number of effective vaccines that can help prevent people from infection. However, there's no silver bullet at the moment and there might never be. For now, stopping outbreaks comes down to the basics of public health and disease control," according to an official statement by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Read More

China to retaliate if US forces out Chinese journalists: Global Times editor

The Global Times newspaper is published by the People’s Daily, the official newspaper of China’s ruling Communist Party. Read More

Donald Trump: US Treasury should get cut of TikTok deal

The US president said he made a demand for a "substantial portion" of the purchase price in a phone call at the weekend with Microsoft's boss. He also warned he will ban the app, which is owned by China's ByteDance, on 15 September if there isn't a deal. Read More

Fan accuses Amitabh Bachchan of endorsing Nanavati hospital

Amitabh was discharged from the hospital on Sunday after spending 23 days in the isolation ward of the hospital. His son Abhishek Bachchan is still undergoing treatment for COVID-19 at the same hospital. Read More

Dhoni told me ‘selectors not looking at you for 2019 World Cup’, reveals Yuvraj

The all-rounder revealed that it was Virat Kohli who backed him till the very end, but former skipper MS Dhoni showed him the real picture and said that he wasn't in the scheme of things for 2019 World Cup. Read More

1.5M Italians had coronavirus, lockdown critical in stemming infection: Antibody test

That figure is six times the number of confirmed cases in Italy's official virus tally. The results - viewed with the country's overall death toll of close to 35,000 -align with the 2.3% estimated mortality rate of the virus. Read More