The new lineage called B.1.618 is distinct from the B.1.617, also known as the 'double mutant' virus that contains two mutations, E484Q and L245R, and is believed to be behind the powerful second COVID-19 wave sweeping through India.
A total of 27,920 people have been cured of the disease with 1,685 in the last 24 hours, taking the recovery rate to 34.06 per cent, the ministry said.
The Congress needs to reorganise itself at the grassroots, infuse younger blood, and have more boots on the ground. Just offering freebies is not the answer anymore. Leadership matters, asserts Ramesh Menon.
There should have been a focus on sanitation and not on littering or garbage. Absence of sanitation affects the health of children, explains Aakar Patel.
'The state government is putting Maharashtrians in danger by letting people escape institutional quarantine mandate for the sake of their personal vasuli'
Social stigma and low testing are the key reasons for the high mortality rate among COVID-19 patients in West Bengal, where the disease, like elsewhere in the country, is still an urban phenomenon, experts say. The state's Trinamool Congress government has been drawing consistent criticism from the Centre and opposition parties over the way it has tackled the pandemic, and has been accused of under-reporting data about the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths.
'Where did this fungus suddenly come from and get all over the country?'
"A recent Columbia University study that supports that death is prevented by earlier lockdowns bears the fact that Narendra Modi's government has done an excellent job in clamping lockdown," Tennessee-based Dr Indranill Basu Ray said in a statement.
This apart, to further increase capacities, Bharat Biotech has partnered with Indian Immunologicals (IIL) to manufacture the drug substance for Covaxin. The technology transfer process is underway and IIL has the 'capabilities and expertise' to manufacture the inactivated viral vaccines at commercial scale.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Thursday warned the Bharatiya Janata Party not to 'provoke' the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, saying it will not be able to 'bear the consequences' and that his party also knows 'all types of politics', escalating his attack on the saffron party after the arrest of his cabinet colleague V Senthil Balaji.
The court had acquitted six other accused, including Asaram's wife Laxmiben, their daughter, and four disciples who were accused of aiding and abetting the crime, for want of evidence, the prosecution said.
To mark the day, the BJP has asked its workers to facilitate the COVID-19 vaccination drive as it eyes record-breaking numbers on Friday.
India is the seventh worst-hit nation by the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of the number of infections, after the US, Brazil, Russia, the UK, Spain and Italy. While the recovery rate in coronavirus infections is improving and has reached 48.19 per cent in India, there has been steady decline in the case fatality which is now 2.83 per cent, the health ministry said.
'He is a key fulcrum point in the pan-Indian creation of an effective Opposition to the BJP.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's three-day visit to Britain has seen India and the UK agreeing on Rs 90,000 crore deals.
'There is a special benefit in the matter being taken up by the Supreme Court rather than the high courts.' 'The orders of the high courts are limited, but the Supreme Court order is binding upon everybody.'
Over 29 lakh tourists visited the Statue of Unity, located near the Sardar Sarovar Dam, since it was inaugurated and this generated a revenue of Rs 82.51 crore, the government had told the assembly in December last year
The burgeoning death notices come amid apprehensions that the number of cases and casualties are being underreported for a variety of reasons.
'Aggressively stepping up vaccinations will constitute the most enduring stimulus of all in the coming quarters,' observes Sajjid Z Chinoy, Chief India Economist at J P Morgan.
Amid the growing queues of ambulances waiting for patients to be admitted with ventilators and oxygen, only time will tell if the state government has lost the plot or not.
There are 8,15,538 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country.
Governors must be impartial, fair, and above narrow politics to uphold the values and spirit of the Constitution. But in a rapidly changing political culture where the unstated rule is to crush the Opposition, such values have no meaning. At stake are Constitutional values, federalism and governance, asserts Ramesh Menon.
Amid a scare about the spread of the Omicron variant, Delhi recorded 331 fresh coronavirus cases on Monday, the highest single-day rise since June 9, and one death in the past 24 hours, while the positivity rate mounted to 0.68 per cent, according to data shared by the city health department.
While Covishield supplies would meet the target of 500 mn doses between August and December, it looks like Covaxin would miss the target of 400 mn unless the partner sites of Bharat Biotech ramp up very rapidly, reports Sohini Das.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,25,16,068.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Tuesday said one of the major reasons for the surge in cases was people becoming lax towards following COVID-appropriate behaviour and urged them take up mass awareness campaigns to re-instill the importance of such measures among the masses.
The employers, many of whom had virtually abandoned the migrant labourers, are sending them train and even flight tickets to fetch them back as factories whir back to life, construction activities pick up and the sowing season sets in.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Monday took on Narendra Modi today saying that the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate was 'irresponsible' and had made 'wrong statements' at his rally two days ago.
'...Where there is clearly no evidence of community transmission, letting life return to normal in those districts while continuing to rigorously control the spread of the infection.'
The company claimed that its product is "three times better than remdesivir and that 'AAYUDH Advance starts where vaccines stop'."
A meeting chaired by Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba reviewed India's preparedness to deal with the virus amid mounting global concern over increasing number of cases in China and several other countries.
How should one billion Indians, for whom deprivation has become an inescapable way of life, join us in celebrating 75 years of Independence? And where do we go from here? asks Kalyan Singhal.
IMD has said the temperature in April-June across most parts in India is expected to be 0.5-1 degrees Celsius warmer than normal. However, doctors and scientists say they haven't found any direct correlation between the speed of COVID-19 spread and warm weather.
As many as 121,739 claims settled by insurers so far, amounting to Rs 1,165.81 crore.
'Safety is my first priority.' 'I need to ensure that any drug or vaccine that our citizens get is first safe.'
A June 11 survey by cLocalCircles across 299 districts puts overall vaccine hesitancy levels at 18 per cent, with 11 per cent of the respondents saying they were not convinced if the currently available vaccines would protect them against the new strains; and 5 per cent said they do not plan to take the vaccine at all.
The coming year will be one that will test sabka vishwas to the utmost, predicts Aditi Phadnis.
All these persons have been kept in single room isolation at designated health care facilities by respective state governments and their close contacts have also been put under quarantine, the ministry said.
India is the fifth worst-hit nation by the COVID-19 pandemic after the United States, Brazil, Russia and the United Kingdom, according to data issued by the Johns Hopkins University.
The oxygen shortage was inevitable to an extent given the tsunami of Covid cases, but the problem is the lack of even basic preparation by both the Centre and states, notes Shyamal Majumdar.
