Bihar's COVID-19 recovery rate on friday touched 94.24 per cent, which is the highest among all states of India and countries having registered more than one lakh positive cases, Health Minister Mangal Pandey said.

The state's coronavirus death toll went up to 981 with nine more people succumbing to the disease in the past 24 hours, while 1,062 fresh cases took the tally to 2,01,886.

State-owned Coal India on Friday said it had declared a performance-linked reward (PLR) of Rs 68,500 per employee to all its non-executive cadre workforce for 2019-20 which would have an estimated financial implication of a little over Rs 1,700 crore.

This is linked to the attendance of the employees during the period, Coal India (CIL) said in statement.

The Telangana government has requested the Centre to release RS 1,350 crore as immediate assistance for taking up relief and rehabilitation works in the areas affected by the incessant rain in the last couple of days.

Of this, Rs 600 crore is proposed as assistance for farmers and Rs 750 crore will be spent on relief and rehabilitation works in the GHMC area.

Budget carrier SpiceJet on Friday said it has operated over 1,000 charter flights to repatriate 1.75 lakh passengers so far in times of the pandemic.

The charter flights included 16 long-haul services to and from London, Amsterdam, Toronto and Rome, among others, SpiceJet said in a release.

With the assembly elections in Bihar just a few days away, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold 12 rallies in the state starting October 23, former Maharashtra Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Bihar in-charge Devendra Fadnavis said on Friday.

PM Modi will hold 12 election rallies in Bihar for NDA (National Democratic Alliance) candidates. On October 23, he will hold rallies in Sasaram, Gaya and Bhagalpur. On October 28, Prime Minister will hold rallies in Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur and Patna. On November 3, he will hold rallies in Chhapra, East Champaran and Samastipur. On November 3, rallies in West Champaran, Saharsa and Araria will be held, Fadnavis said during a press conference.

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Friday said that there are only two governors in the country -- one in West Bengal and another in Maharashtra.

Raut's comments came following Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray regarding the opening of temples in the state.

Launching another attack on the Narendra Modi-led BJP government at the centre, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday criticised its handling of the COVID-19 crisis and said that even Pakistan and Afghanistan did a better job than India.

Another solid achievement by the BJP government. Even Pakistan and Afghanistan handled Covid better than India, he tweeted along with a graph of GDP projection for 2020-2021.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will release a commemorative coin of Rs 75 denomination on the occasion of 75th Anniversary of Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on 16 October to mark the long-standing relation of India with Food and Agriculture Organisation.

Issuing a statement, the Prime Minister's Office said that PM Modi will also dedicate to the nation 17 recently developed bio-fortified varieties of eight crops.

A charter staffer who was on board Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's campaign plane has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the former Vice President's campaign announced.

The staffer flew with Biden to the state of Ohio on Monday and Florida on Tuesday, but they were always over 50 feet away from each other and wore masks, Xinhua news agency quoted the campaign as saying in a statement on Thursday.

Gold prices today climbed to Rs 53,740 from Rs 53,730 per 10 gm, while silver was trending at Rs 61,000 per kg, according to the Good Returns website.

Gold jewellery prices vary across India, the second-largest consumer of the metal, due to excise duty, state taxes, and making charges.

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