China on Thursday said it has extended punitive tariffs on Indian optical fiber products for five years.

The announcement from China’s Commerce Ministry follows a yearlong review after a previous tariff expired in 2019. It takes effect Aug. 14.

It is unclear if the move is in any way related to a recent bout of antagonisms between the Asian giants linked to a border clash in which 20 Indian soldiers died.

The tariffs on single-mode optical fiber range from 7.4% to 30.6% and were first imposed in August 2014.

Optical fiber is used in telecommunications networks.

Earlier this month, India kept in place tariffs on Chinese-made solar power products that were imposed to protect its own manufacturers.

The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan has imposed its first nationwide lockdown after detection of Covid-19  infection in a returning traveler who had been released from quarantine.

The government's statement said the lockdown would be enforced from five to 21 days “to identify and isolate all positive cases, immediately breaking the chain of transmission.”

The government issued a stay-at-home order for its approximately 750,000 people, and all schools, offices and commercial establishments were closed.

The 27-year-old Bhutanese woman returning from Kuwait tested negative in mandatory quarantine for arriving travelers. But between her discharge from quarantine and her positive test result Monday, she is believed to have traveled extensively in Bhutan.

The tourism-dependent country closed its borders to foreign travelers in March after an American tourist was hospitalized with COVID-19. Bhutan’s 113 reported infections were all quarantined travelers, except for one with conflicting test results.

India total infections neared 2.4 million as it reported 66,999 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, said sources at India's federal health ministry.

The country has reported 66,999 new cases in the past 24 hours, taking the total Covid-19 cases to 2,396,637, reports Xinhua.

Besides, 942 people died during this period, mounting the total deaths in the country to 47,033, according to the data.

Still there are a total of 653,622 active cases in the country, as 1,695,982 people have been successfully cured and discharged. Over the past 24 hours 56,383 people were discharged from various hospitals across the country, which is said to be a new high.

Over the past two weeks, a single day spike of over 50,000 new cases have been registered in the country, and at times even more than 60,000 new cases per day. This is mainly due to ramping up of samples testing.

As per the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), till Wednesday a total of 26,845,688 samples were tested out of which 830,391 samples were tested on Wednesday alone.

Three people were killed  in the Indian city of Bangalore after police fired on crowds protesting  an"offensive" Facebook post about Prophet Muhammad.

Crowds gathered outside the house of a local politician whose relative was accused of making the post about Prophet Muhammad, reports BBC.

They set fire to vehicles and attacked policemen who arrived on the scene with stones, police told BBC.

Police have arrested the man, and also 110 others who were in the crowd.

City commissioner Kamal Pant said that at least 60 policemen including senior officers were injured in the violence on Tuesday night. Curfew was also imposed in two police districts of the city, he said.

The deaths were confirmed by the home minister of Karnataka state of which Bangalore is the capital.

The violence started after protesters massed outside the politician's house as well as a police station after spotting the post, which local media say has since been deleted.

Meanwhile, the lawmaker, Akhanda Srinivas Murthy, made a video appeal to protesters to stay calm and promised them justice.

Health condition of former Indian president of  Pranab Mukherjee, who was  put on ventilator support after a surgery on Monday, has been worsened . 
The Army's Research and Referral (R&R) Hospital made the disclosure on Tuesday, reports Times of India. 
Mukharjee got admitted to the military hospital with critical health condition on Monday noon and tested positive for coronavirus. 
Later, he was found with a large brain clot for which he underwent emergency life saving surgery. 
In a statement, the hospital authority said "Shri Pranab Mukherjee's health condition continues to remain critical at Army Hospital (R&R) Delhi Cantonment. The former president, who underwent lifesaving emergency surgery for brain clot on 10 August 2020, has not shown any improvement and his health status has worsened. He remains on ventilator support."
A multidisciplinary team of doctors is constantly monitoring the health of the former president.
In a tweet on Monday, Mukherjee himself disclosed that he had been diagnosed with Covid-19 and urged people who had come in contact with him in the last week to isolate themselves and get tested for the novel coronavirus.
Soon after the news of his hospitalisation, wishes poured in from various quarters for his early recovery and a number of leaders sent their wishes on Twitter.

President Ram Nath Kovind also spoke to Mukherjee's daughter Sharmistha Mukherjee and enquired about his health on Monday evening.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also sent in his best wishes to the former president and wished him early recovery.

A powerful orator and scholar, Mukherjee had been a Congress stalwart before he was elected as India's 13th President and served from July 2012 to 2017 in the top post.