| Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day's biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. We hope you are staying home and staying safe. Here are the big stories that you need to follow today: Violent face-off on India-China border Some worrying developments on the India-China border. In a major escalation in the ongoing stand-off between India and China, one Commanding Officer and two jawans of the Indian Army lost their lives during a violent face-off with Chinese troops in the Galwan area of Eastern Ladakh on Monday night. These are the first combat deaths on the disputed boundary since 1975. "During the de-escalation process underway in the Galwan Valley, a violent face-off took place yesterday night with casualties. The loss of lives on the Indian side includes an officer and two soldiers," the Army said in a statement. The Ministry of External Affairs in an official release said, "On the late evening and night of June 15, 2020, a violent face-off happened as a result of an attempt by the Chinese side to unilaterally change the status quo there. Both sides suffered casualties that could have been avoided had the agreement at the higher level been scrupulously followed by the Chinese side." Consequent to the development, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh reviewed the operational situation in Eastern Ladakh along with the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) and three Service chiefs, the Army said. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar was also present in the meeting. On the ground, talks between Major Generals were ongoing in the Galwan area at Patrolling Point 14 to defuse the tensions, sources said. First life-saving drug against coronavirus  In another big development, researchers at the University of Oxford said they have the first evidence that a drug can improve Covid-19 survival. A steroid called dexamethasone reduced deaths by up to one-third in severely ill hospitalised patients, the Associated Press reported. The BBC has also reported it as the first saving life-saving drug in the battle against coronavirus. "Had the drug been used to treat patients in the UK from the start of the pandemic, up to 5,000 lives could have been saved, researchers say. And it could be of huge benefit in poorer countries with high numbers of Covid-19 patients," the BBC said in its report. The study is a large, strict test that randomly assigned 2,104 patients to get the drug and compared them with 4,321 patients getting only the usual care. The drug was given either orally or through an IV. It reduced deaths by 35% in patients who needed treatment with breathing machines, and by 20% in those only needing supplemental oxygen. This is an extremely welcome result, one study leader, Peter Horby of Oxford said in a statement. "The survival benefit is clear and large in those patients who are sick enough to require oxygen treatment, so dexamethasone should now become standard of care in these patients. Dexamethasone is inexpensive, on the shelf, and can be used immediately to save lives worldwide." Pass on benefits of cheap oil prices: Sonia  The Congress chief said that it was "deeply distressing" to note that the government had increased the prices of petrol and diesel on 10 different occasions. Accusing the Centre of profiteering from low international oil prices, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking him to pass on the benefits to citizens by rolling back additional taxes on petroleum products. "I see no logic in why the government would even consider such a price increase at a time when the economic impact of Covid-19 is depriving millions of jobs and livelihood, devastating businesses big and small, rapidly eroding the income of the middle class, even as farmers are struggling to sow the crop of the kharif season," Gandhi wrote, adding, "Your Government is seeking to earn an additional revenue of nearly ₹2,60,000 crores by these ill-advised hikes in excise duty… These price increases are saddling our people with an additional burden of this enormous magnitude that is neither justified nor appropriate." Covid Watch: Numbers and developmentsThe number of coronavirus cases in the country stood at 3,48,041 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 10,034. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that there are signs of green shoots in the economy and that India's fight to tackle the coronavirus pandemic is a fine example of cooperative federalism. He made the comments while speaking with the chief ministers and lieutenant governors of 21 states and Union Territories to discuss the situation in the country. Modi also said India's death rate was among the lowest in the world. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. | 
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