NEW DELHI -- India's COVID-19 tally rose to 33,347,325 on Thursday, as 30,570 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the country, the health ministry's latest data showed.

Besides, as many as 431 deaths due to the pandemic were registered since Wednesday morning, taking the total death toll to 443,928.

Most of the new cases and deaths were reported from the southern state of Kerala. (India-COVID-19)

- - - -

KABUL -- The acting governor of Da Afghanistan Bank, the country's central bank, has assured the safety of Afghans' deposits in commercial banks, the bank confirmed in a statement on Thursday.

"Da Afghanistan Bank assures our countrymen that all commercial banks operating in the country are under serious supervision and are conducting their operations better than before. The banks are completely secure," governor Mohammad Idrees was quoted in the statement as saying.

All commercial banks in the region and the world usually keep 10 percent of their capital as cash and use the remainder in various commercial activities and provide useful services to their people, the statement said. (Afghanistan-Central Bank-Deposits)

- - - -

KUALA LUMPUR -- Malaysia reported another 19,495 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight Wednesday, bringing the national total to 2,030,935.

Of the new cases, 11 are imported and 19,484 are local transmissions, data released on the ministry's website showed.

Another 422 more deaths have been reported, bringing the death toll to 22,009. (Malaysia-COVID-19)

- - - -

VIENTIANE -- The Lao government has extended the current nationwide lockdown for 15 more days to contain the spread of COVID-19.

The lockdown will be extended to Sept. 30 as the COVID-19 cases continued to rise, Deputy Head of the Prime Minister's Office Thipphakone Chanthavongsa told a press conference here on Wednesday. (Laos-COVID-19-Lockdown)

- - - -

TOKYO -- Good exports in Japan saw a 26.2-percent expansion in August from the previous year, keeping to recover rapidly from the initial influence of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, government statistics showed Thursday.

A preliminary report by the finance ministry showed that exports gained for the sixth consecutive month to 6.61 trillion yen (60 billion U.S. dollars), thanks to active exports of steel to the European market and semiconductor-producing equipment to some Asian nations. (Japan-Export)