From the Newsroom: UP CM Yogi Adityanath visits Ayodhya ahead of Ram Temple 'bhoomi pujan'

In today’s episode, The BCCI has said that it will grant amnesty to registered players who voluntarily declare any age fraud but those found to be in breach of the unusual scheme could be slapped with a two-year suspension; Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath visits Ayodhya to review preparations for Ram temple ‘Bhoomi Pujan’; The BBMP is planning to press paramedical students and National Service Scheme (NSS) cadre into doing swab collection for Covid-19 testing and six employees at the Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa's office have tested positive for Covid-19.

Here are the top news of today, Monday: August 3, 2020:

The BCCI on Monday said it will grant amnesty to registered players who voluntarily declare any age fraud but those found to be in breach of the unusual scheme could be slapped with a two-year suspension.

The measures will be applicable to all cricketers participating in the board's age-group tournaments from the 2020-21 season onwards.

"Under this scheme, players who voluntarily declare that they have manipulated their date of birth by submitting fake/tampered documents in the past will not be suspended and allowed to participate in the appropriate age group level if they disclose their actual date of birth (DOB)," the BCCI said in a release.

"Players have to submit a signed letter/email along with supporting documents to BCCI Age Verification Dept. revealing their actual DOB before 15th September 2020."

The apex body also made it clear that if the players don't accept it now and are later found to be guilty of age fraud then they will be heavily sanctioned.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday visited Ayodhya to review preparations for Ram temple ‘Bhoomi Pujan’ by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 5.

The Chief Minister reached Ayodhya in the afternoon and visited the Ram Janmabhoomi site where the Bhoomi Pujan is to be held.

He also visited Hanuman Garhi temple and was seen giving various directions to the senior officers.

Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Kumar Awasthi, Ayodhya District Magistrate Anju Kumar Jha and DIG Deepak Kumar also accompanied the CM during his visit in which he also sought details of seating and other arrangements for the event, a senior official said here.

CM had to visit Ayodhya on Sunday but the plan had to be cancelled due to the death of state minister Kamla Rani Varun.

Meanwhile, Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Monday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to call off the foundation stone laying ceremony for the Ram Temple contending that the time chosen for it was inauspicious.

Singh accused the BJP of playing with the sentiments of thousands of Hindus by ignoring the advice of religious leaders such as the Shankaracharya of Dwarkapeeth Swami Swaroopananda Saraswati who had claimed that the time chosen for the foundation stone laying ceremony was inauspicious.

Indian drugmaker Wockhardt Ltd will supply millions of doses of multiple COVID-19 vaccines to the UK, including the one being developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, it said on Monday.

The company has reserved fill-and-finish capacity - the final manufacturing step of putting vaccines into vials or syringes and packaging them - as part of an agreement with the UK government, it said.

Shares in Wockhardt jumped 10% after the news in a downcast Mumbai market.

The UK government has also reserved one fill-and-finish production line at a Wockhardt subsidiary in Wrexham, Wales for its exclusive use for the next 18 months to secure supply.

More than 150 vaccines are being developed and tested around the world to stop the pandemic, with 25 in human clinical trials, according to the World Health Organization.

The BBMP is planning to press paramedical students and National Service Scheme (NSS) cadre into doing swab collection for Covid-19 testing.

BBMP Commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad issued an order, stating that it was necessary to engage the services of paramedical students at the graduate and postgraduate programmes at colleges affiliated to the Rajiv Gandhi Health Sciences University for testing work.

Prasad listed 994 students from 21 colleges registered under RGUHS and directed the varsity to ensure all the paramedical students report to the deputy commissioner (administration), BBMP.

Similarly, the BBMP has invited NSS students to work for swab collection in various wards and announced remuneration of Rs 14,000 per month.

Prasad wrote to state NSS convener Dr Gananatha Shetty with a request to allot NSS students from colleges for swab collection in Bengaluru city wards.

The total number of tests for detection of Covid-19 has crossed the two-crore mark in India, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) data.

A cumulative total of 2,02,02,858 samples have been tested up to August 2 with 3,81,027 samples being tested on Sunday, the ICMR said.

The total number of tests for detection of Covid-19 had crossed the one-crore mark in India on July 6.

There are now 1,348 testing labs in the country comprising 914 in the public sector and 434 private labs.

Six employees at the Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa's office have tested positive for COVID-19, official sources said on Monday.

After the Chief Minister tested positive, his office and residence were sanitised. Besides, contact tracing was done during which the six of his staff members were confirmed to have contracted the virus, the sources said. However, Governor Vajubhai Vala and Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai, whom the Chief Minister had met on July 31, have tested negative.

Officials said random tests were conducted at the Chief Minister's premises and the six were found infected. They included a gunman, a driver, and house-keeping staff.

In a video released by his office, the Chief Minister said the health of the people of the state was his priority and requested them to follow measures like maintaining distance and wearing masks to control the spread of the virus.

"Last night around 8:30-9:00, as soon as I got to know that I was corona positive, I came to the hospital and I'm undergoing treatment.

Doctors after tests last night and this morning have said that there are no issues and I will recover and go out soon," Yediyurappa said in the video message.

IT and Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Monday said he has gone into self-isolation for a few days as per protocol since he had met Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday evening.

Shah, on Sunday, had said he had tested positive for coronavirus and was getting admitted to a hospital following the advice of doctors.

Prasad, who is also the Law Minister, tweeted on Monday that he has isolated himself at home for a few days, as per protocol.