New Delhi, May 9 () The testing capacity for COVID-19 has been scaled up to around 95,000 tests per day and a total of 15,25,631 tests have been conducted so far across 332 government and 121 private laboratories, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Saturday. The minister, who reviewed the status of COVID-19 in the northeastern states along with the measures taken for its containment and management, also stressed on the need to take concrete action to check the use of non-smoking tobacco and prohibiting spitting in public places which shall help in preventing the spread of the infection, according to a statement. During the high-level meeting with Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim, Vardhan appreciated the dedication of all the states

Kolkata, May 9 () A number of entrepreneurs basedin rural areas of the country have taken to manufacturing facemasks amid dwindling demand for their regular produce in thewake of the coronavirus pandemic, an official said onSaturday.Around, 500 rural entrepreneurs have so far producedand sold 3.5 lakh such masks under the Start-up VillageEntrepreneurship Programme (SVEP), he said.They produce around 2,500 masks per day for healthprofessionals, policemen, media personnel and cleaning staff,the official said.In West Bengal, 38 entrepreneurs manufacture nearly600 masks a day in blocks of Dinhata, Pathar Pratima andManikchak in different districts of the state.The entrepreneurs, trained under SVEP -- under theNational Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) -- have sold 49,000masks in the state till date,

Jammu, May 9 () Activities under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) resumed in Jammu division on Saturday after an almost two-month suspension owing to the coronavirus-forced lockdown, officials said.The decision to resume works under MGNREGA was taken following a Home Affairs order allowing select additional activities in rural areas outside containment zones to mitigate the economic hardships being faced by people due to curbs, a spokesperson said.Work has resumed on 5,800 projects in all the 10 districts of Jammu division."More than 25,000 job card holders have been engaged in these works. The director of Rural Development Department RDD has instructed the officers concerned to complete all works under MGNREGA, while ensuring that guidelines for curbing

Raipur, May 9 () Five people were discharged fromthe All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Raipurin Chhattisgarh on Saturday after recovering from the novelcoronavirus infection, health officials said.Those discharged include two women and a five-year-oldboy, an official informed.So far 43 people have been discharged while the numberof active cases in the state is 16, he added."Two women and a boy from Kabirdham, two men from Durgand Surajpur were discharged after two consecutive tests werenegative for the infection. They will be kept in a quarantinecentre as a precaution before they are allowed to go home," apublic relations officer of AIIMS Raipur told .Chhattisgarh COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positivecases 59; New cases nil; Deaths nil; Discharged 43; Activecases 16; People

Kolkata, May 9 () All the state universities inWest Bengal will implement the academic calendar in theirrespective institutions within a month after the lockdown islifted, Education Minister Partha Chatterjee said on Saturday.Chatterjee, who earlier in the day held avideoconference with vice-chancellors of all the stateuniversities, told reporters at an online press conferencethat the VCs have decided on how to conduct the classes andthe final semester examinations."The academic calendar, including examinations, willbe put into effect within a month after the lockdown islifted," he said.Chatterjee said the institutions have also receivedthe University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines in thisregard and the issue came up in the meeting held during theday.He had earlier said that the UGC guidelines

The 22-year-old pop star missed out on the VMAs and instead partied alone at a bar in Studio City where he stunned regulars with a karaoke turn after a few neat whiskeys/

Stars come out to celebrate The Black Movie Soundtrack II as Prince and Whitney are paid tribute at the Hollywood Bowl concert

Stuart Vevers takes the brand in a new direction

He is known for giving back to the community

She's topped the charts, married the man she loves, and reinvented herself as a fashion model.

The mother-of-two managed to still show off her petite figure in black sweats, stretched at the bottom, that she paired with a long-sleeve, partly mesh top.

Her fans have gone absolutely crazy for her new pop up shop in Los Angeles.

It was close to 80F when she and her family left the Hawaian island of Kauai on Monday. So the 35-year-old actress, who looked a little down, bundled up as she left eaterie Craig's on Friday evening.

A few days ago she was in New York promoting her new album, Remnants, on NBC's Today Show. But the singing star turned up at Staples Center in Los Angeles for Backstage At The Grammys on Friday.

She's heading the Social Impact Jury at the Greenwich International Film Festival in Connecticut. And the 34-year-old actress pulled out all he stops in a black and white gown on Friday.

The ‘Debutante’ start, FEMME served her fans with the announcement last Friday of her newly released single ‘Fire with Fire’.

They dated from April 2010 to March 2013 before splitting up because of their busy work schedules. The 42-year-old congratulated his ex on her nuptials on ABC's Live! With Kelly And Ryan on Monday morning.

Released her new song 'Fire with Fire'

Actress Skye P. Marshall’s talent isn’t shy of the indie scene starring in the short film Return to the Pleasure Dome

Lead actress 'marvel' Kim Maresca, who plays housewife turned diva said: 'I am so excited that this show I love so much is getting new life here in London'.

Jussie Smollett was flanked by security as he made his return to the stage on Saturday following a brutal attack last week.

They've been happily dating for several months.

Skateboard legend Tony Hawk dished up some impressive moves at the opening of a new Mexican restaurant in Newport Beach, California, Saturday.

The 55-year-old writer and producer was married to Kaeppeler for five years and reportedly has a prenuptial agreement with his second wife.

Heather Locklear did not hesitate when she was asked to star in the Melrose Place reunion to raise money for the Actors Fund amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The wife of Kanye West showed off her tiny waistline and toned arms in a suit that flattered her petite 5ft3in frame. It was a sparkly wine-colored two piece with a bra top and briefs that rode high.

Major Robert Campbell, 46, was cleared more than a decade ago of the manslaughter of 19-year-old Said Shabram, who drowned in a canal in Basra in 2003.

Major cities are on heightened alert amid fears that the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group may have sleeper cells in the U.S. that are ready to retaliate.

Iran's Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi said: 'In a potential conflict in the future, which I don't think they have the courage to carry out, it will become clear where five and two will belong.'

Kerr, left, tweeted Friday to say Pence, right, 'is lying about Soleimani's involvement in 9/11'. He added: 'One thing I've learned...is to not believe our government when it comes to matters of war.'

Protesters across the West have gathered today to condemn the US drone strikes following the death of Iran's highest ranking general Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad.

Democrats slammed Donald Trump saying he is not a 'dictator' after he warned his tweet should serve as notification to Congress that the U.S. will 'strike back' if Iran launches a revenge attack.

A defiant Lindsey Graham appeared on Fox News on Sunday and pulled no punches when asked about some of the president's fiercest critics, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

More Americans back Donald Trump's decision to conduct an airstrike that took out Iranian General Qassem Soleimani than those who disapprove, according to a poll released Monday.

In the early hours of this morning representative of the supreme leader in Iran, Saeed Jalili (pictured) retaliated and mocked President Trump by posting an image of the Iranian flag.

In a statement to MPs yesterday, Mr Wallace said he was taking 'urgent measures' to protect the UK's soldiers and citizens from potential reprisals by the Tehran regime.

Brent crude futures, spiked by more than $3 per barrel in London before retreating as stock markets in London and Frankfurt opened lower before recovering some of its losses.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she'd return a phone call to Vice President Mike Pence Tuesday night after he called to inform her about the Iranian missile attacks on U.S. targets in Iraq.

The US Federal Aviation Authority on Wednesday also barred US airliners from flying over Iraq and Iranian airspace in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman.

Australia could potentially find itself embroiled in another conflict in the Middle East after Iran launched a revenge rocket attack on American air bases in Iraq .

Iranians prepared for missile strikes on two Iraqi airbases housing U.S. troops by making sure intelligence could detect the plans via satellites and eavesdropping, officials say.

The State Department warned that Iraq's access to its main account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York could be shut off if the Iraqi government asks American troops to leave.

Four Iraqi soldiers were wounded in the attack, two military sources told Reuters. The military sources said the mortar bombs fell on a runway inside the base.

At the time the attack was launched at 1.35am on January 8, the US Army was flying seven unmanned aerial vehicles over Iraq to monitor bases where US-led coalition forces are deployed.

Damien Mander spent three years in Iraq training the country's paramilitary, before finding his new calling in Africa training poachers to secretly track and arrest poachers illegally hunting animals.

Veterans of Foreign Wars said Trump (left) must apologize for saying concussion suffered by troops in the Iraq attack is 'headaches' - as Joe Biden (right) branded comments 'disgusting'.

President Donald Trump fired Lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman from the White House on Friday after the war hero testified against him in the House impeachment inquiry.

'Fake News @CNN & MSDNC keep talking about "Lt. Col." Vindman as though I should think only how wonderful he was,' Trump wrote in a tweet on Saturday morning from the White House.

Grace Campbell, 25, whose Yorkshire-born father Alastair served as the Downing Street press secretary, told Sunday Mirror Notebook she's spent her life competing for her dad's attention.