The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has done away with one of its longstanding eligibility requirements for the 2021 Oscars, due to COVID-19.

New Delhi, May 9 () With 224 new instances of the novel coronavirus infection, the total number of cases reported in the national capital climbed to 6,542, the Delhi government said on Saturday.The fresh cases were reported between 4 pm to midnight of May 8.No fresh death due to the virus was reported in this period. Delhi has so far reported 68 deaths.Of the total cases reported in the city, 4,454 are active while 2,020 patients have been cured of the disease, the health bulletin stated. SLB NSDNSD

(Eds: Adds daily COVID stats, other info) Noida (UP), May 9 () A 62-year-old man died due to coronavirus in Noida, becoming the second COVID-19 fatality in Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddh Nagar district, officials said on Saturday. The man, a resident of sector 66, died on Friday but the report of his COVID test came out as positive on Saturday, they said. "He expired yesterday (Friday) evening. The cause of the death was cardio-respiratory failure," District Surveillance Officer Sunil Dohare said in a statement.Another person who tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday is a 52-year-old man residing in sector 45's Khajoor Colony, the officer said."Total 100 reports have been received in the last 24 hours of which two were positive and the rest negative for COVID-19. The cumulative positive cases

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

New Delhi May 9 () Following is a state-wise tally of the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in India at 6:45pm as per information provided by respective governments.State/UTConfirmed Discharged Deaths------------------------------------------------------------Andaman & Nicobar33330 ------------------------------------------------------------Andhra Pradesh193088744 ------------------------------------------------------------Arunachal Pradesh110 ------------------------------------------------------------Assam59341 ------------------------------------------------------------Bihar5852625 ------------------------------------------------------------Chandigarh146211 ------------------------------------------------------------Chhattisgarh59380 ------------------------------------------------------------Delhi6542202068

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,

Thiruvananthapuram, May 9 () Two fresh cases ofCOVID-19 were reported from Kerala on Saturday, both beingforeign returnees who reached the state from Dubai and AbuDhabi on May 7 and were among the expatriates airlifted by theCentre as part of its mission to bring back stranded Indiansabroad. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said with the twonew patients, the total number of cases in the state has goneup to 505 and there are currently 17 under treatment. "One patient from Idukki, who was under treatment,has been cured today.The two new cases are now under treatmentin Kochi and Kozhikode. They reached the state on May 7 in the Abu Dhabi-Kochi andDubai-Kozhikode flights, respectively," Vijayan toldreporters. "There are 23,930 people under observation in thestate out of which 334 are in isolation

Chennai, May 9 () The Tamil Nadu government onSaturday set up a high-level committee headed by formerReserve Bank of India governor C Rangarajan to examine fiscalchallenges facing the state owing to the COVID-19 pandemic andsuggest the way forward to improve its fiscal position. The committee, which will also consist of FinanceSecretary S Krishnan as coordinator, will submit its report tothe government within three months, according to a GovernmentOrder. The committee, with 21 members, would assess theoverall immediate and medium term impact of the COVID-19pandemic on different sectors of the state's economy includingthe impact of lockdown, additional costs and implications dueto social distancing and their precautionary measures. Also, it would assess the opportunities and threatsin the

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

Bhopal, May 9 () The 23-year-old daughter of apoliceman who died of the novel coronavirus infection lastmonth in Madhya Pradesh has been appointed as sub-inspector inthe force by the state government, said an official onSaturday.The 59-year-old policeman, in charge of Neelgangapolice station in Ujjain district, died in an Indore hospitalon April 21 after getting infected while performing his dutyin a containment area, the official said."Minister for Home and Health Narottam Mishra spoke tothe 23-year-old woman on Saturday over phone and told herabout the appointment as PSI as announced by Chief MinisterShivraj Singh Chouhan. She is likely to join duty next week,"a state public relations department official said. ADU MASBNM BNM

Sir Antony Sher stars in the Royal Shakespeare Company's exceptional enactment of the classic King Lear, which impresses our reviewer Quentin Letts.

Moby announces at Mercy for Animals gala that he will headline vegan festival

Twin Peaks icon Julee Cruise sings at Creatures of the Wind Spring Summer 2017 collection

18th Century portraits, British Punk and the Queen at Libertines statement New York Fashion Week show

Saddle up Cowgirls! Roping, ridin rodeo style at Rodarte Spring Summer New York Fashion Week 2016

Stuart Vevers takes the brand in a new direction

He is known for giving back to the community

Natalie Portman talked family, food and how she tackled playing the iconic First Lady on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Wednesday in Burbank, California. Ellen decided to place a big bet, too!

She's famous for saying in her TV courtroom, 'I love the truth.' And the truth is, the legal celebrity looked like a million dollars when she was spotted leaving her favourite West Hollywood eatery Craig's on Sunday.

In a photo obtained by InTouch the couple are seen taking a stroll around a neighbourhood in Yorba Linda, California, close to Gary's home.

The 32-year-old Keeping Up With The Kardashians star put all her results of her gym workouts on display in a fitted velvet outfit as she stepped out in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

Olivia Wilde will make her Broadway debut May 18 in a play based on 1984. Deeply honored, and beyond excited to help tell this terrifyingly relevant story,' she tweeted after the casting news broke.

A delighted Chris Pratt received a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame on Friday.

The chic and jewel of the Miami South Beach peninsula was the talk of the town at Art Basel

Get ready for a frightfest

The 47-year-old actress' friend and former Beverly Hills, 90210 co-star - who played Dylan McKay to her Brenda Walsh - suffered a stroke last week. And it has hurt Shannen.

Shannen Doherty and Ian Ziering both took to their Instagrams on Thursday to share throwback photos from the set of their highly-popular Nineties drama with words of encouragement.

Daniel Craig, who first appeared as James Bond, 14 years ago, has been enduring a gruelling diet and fitness regime that culminated in staggering 12-hour workout sessions last week.

They've been happily dating for several months.

Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi are teaming up to help raise funds for the Garden State's pandemic relief fund, by performing at the #JerseyForJersey benefit on April 22.

While Kanye keeps busy 'creating', Kim is being mostly left to take charge of their four children.

Ellen Degeneres is continuing to feel the heat from former staffers over her alleged behind-the-scenes bad behaviour.

The former actor told People it was his 52-year-old wife Nancy Juvonen who was the 'brains' behind his at-home The Tonight Show, figuring out the tone, the setting and the props.

'Im so f***ing tired of y'all commenting on every damn thing i do since i was a f***ing kid,' the sister of Miley Cyrus e said on Twitter.

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.

The Russian President shook hands with Syria's dictator on Tuesday as visited the headquarters of his forces in Damascus to hear military reports, amid fears of a war between ally Iran and the US.

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.

PETER OBORNE: The firing of ballistic missiles at US bases is the biggest and most dangerous military confrontation between America and Iran since the American hostage crisis in 1979.

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.

Andrew Demma, an Iraq War veteran who served a one-day prison sentence for child porn charges, will be re-sentenced in Dayton, Ohio. Federal officials say the conviction was 'unreasonably low.'

The Ministry of Defence has named the British servicewoman killed in a missile attack on Camp Taji in Iraq as Lance Corporal Brodie Gillon, 26.

I watched President Trump's COVID-19 press briefing yesterday in which he stated with unequivocal confidence: 'It's something we have tremendous control of.' Really, Mr President?

A series of photographs taken in recent days from Libya to Singapore show deserted streets after governments across the world shut down borders to contain the deadly coronavirus.

Documents show Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II (left), was informed of a meteorite that killed one man and paralysed another after landing in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, on August 22, 1888.

Khloe Kardashian cuddled with one-year-old daughter True in matching white satin pajamas amid the social distancing recommendation in the wake of coronoavirus pandemic.

The 24-year-old KUWTK star drove with her friend since 2016, Fai Khadra, as well as a brunette resembling her half-sister Kourtney Kardashian

Kim Kardashian is one of many celebs who are taking the coronavirus pandemic very seriously.

The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star has donated a whopping $1M to help doctors get the face masks, face shields and protective gear they need to help the sick suffering from COVID-19.