NEW DELHI: India saw a single-day rise of 33,376 coronavirus infections, taking the overall tally of cases to 3,32,08,330, while the number of active cases increased marginally since Friday to stand at 3,91,516, according to the Union Health Ministry.

The number of active cases have increased to 3,91,516, comprising 1.18 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 97.49 per cent, the health ministry said.

An increase of 870 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

On Friday, the country had recoded 3,90,646 active cases.

Also, 15,92,135 tests were conducted Friday, taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for the detection of COVID-19 in the country to 54,01,96,989.

The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 2.10 per cent. It has been less than 3 per cent for the past 12 days. The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 2.26 per cent.

It has been below 3 per cent for the past 78 days, according to the health ministry.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease increased to 3,23,74,497, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.33 per cent, the data showed.

The cumulative number of Covid vaccine doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide drive has crossed 73.05 crore, according to the ministry.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.

It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.

India crossed the grim milestone of 2 crore cases on May 4 and 3 crore on June 23. The 308 new fatalities include 177 from Kerala, and 44 from Maharashtra.

A total f 4,42,317 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,38,061 from Maharashtra, 37,472 from Karnataka, 35, 119 from Tamil Nadu, 25,083 from Delhi, 22,864 from Uttar Pradesh, 22,303 from Kerala and 18,553 from West Bengal.

NEW DELHI: India and Australia on Saturday began a high-level foreign and defence ministerial dialogue aimed at further ramping up their overall defence and strategic cooperation including in the Indo-Pacific amid China’s increasing military assertiveness in the region.

The in-person talks are taking place at a time the global focus has been on the situation in Afghanistan and the issue is likely to figure in the deliberations.

While Singh held wide-ranging discussions with Australian defence minister Dutton on Friday, Jaishankar met foreign minister Payne ahead of the ‘two-plus-two’ dialogue.

In their talks, the two defence ministers discussed the fragile security situation in Afghanistan and their “common concerns” relating to the possible spread of terrorism from the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.

The foreign and defence ministerial talks are taking place amid renewed efforts by the Quad member countries to expand cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region.

Besides India and Australia, the Quad comprises the US and Japan.

In an address at an event organised by the Observer Research Organisation, Payne on Friday said the Quad has evolved “swiftly” and very “effectively” and commended India for taking a strong leadership role in the region.

Talking about “significant challenges” facing the Indo-Pacific, the Australian foreign minister said Canberra seeks a region where rights of large and small countries are respected and that no “single dominant power” dictates the outcome for others

The dialogue between the foreign and defence ministers was instituted as part of an overall goal to expand strategic cooperation between the two countries.

India has such a framework for talks with a very few countries including the US and Japan. The defence and military cooperation between India and Australia is on an upswing in the last few years.

In June last year, India and Australia elevated their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership and signed a landmark deal for reciprocal access to military bases for logistics support during an online summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison.

The Australian Navy was part of the recent Malabar naval exercise that also featured navies of India, the US and Japan.

Kolkata: Two persons have died due to diarrhoea and around 300 people are suffering from the infection in North 24 Parganas district’s Kamarhati, with the West Bengal health department declaring a cholera outbreak in the area, a senior official said on Thursday.

Medical camps have been set up in that locality for distribution of ORS packets, the official stated.

“At least 297 people from Kamarhati Municipality have reported ill at Sagar Dutta Medical College and Hospital due to the water-borne disease. As of now, 150 people are undergoing treatment at the hospital.

“Of the samples that were sent for detailed examination, three tested positive for ‘Vibrio cholerae 01 Ogawa’. Fortunately, the causative agent is sensitive to most drugs,” he explained.

A team of senior doctors from the state health department, during the day, visited the Sagar Dutta Medical College and Hospital and places in Kamarhati and inspected the water supply system, further advising adequate chlorination to kill germs, the official underscored.

“Three medical camps have been set up in Kamarhati, and over 16,000 ORS packets, along with plenty of halogen tablets, distributed to people in the affected areas,” he added.

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Police has booked AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi for allegedly vitiating communal harmony, violating Covid norms and making “indecent” remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Adityanath, police said Friday.

The FIR against the All India Majlis-e-Itthehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief was registered Thursday night at Barabanki city police station after his party’s rally.

IPC sections 153A (promoting enmity on ground of religion, race etc.), 188 (disregarding order of a public servant), 269 (negligent act likely to spread disease dangerous to life), 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease) and the Epidemic Act have been slapped against him, Superintendent of Police, Barabanki, Yamuna Prasad said.

He said the Hyderabad MP violated Covid guidelines — on mask and social distancing — by arranging huge crowds at the party rally at Katra Chandana Thursday.

“In his speech, the AIMIM chief made statements for vitiating communal harmony and said the 100-year-old Ram Sanehi Ghat mosque was razed by the administration and its debris was also removed. This is contrary to the fact,” the SP said.

“By this statement, Owaisi tried to vitiate communal harmony and incite feelings of a particular community. He also made indecent and baseless remarks against the PM and the Uttar Pradesh chief minister,” he said.

Owaisi was on a three-day trip to Uttar Pradesh, where his party plans to contest 100 seats in the upcoming assembly polls.

In a scathing attack on PM Modi, Owaisi had Thursday alleged there have been efforts to turn the country into a “Hindu Rashtra” since he came to power seven years back.

Referring to the law against instant triple talaq, the Hyderabad MP also mentioned the “plight” of Hindu women, while directing a personal barb at Modi.

“Ever since Narendra Modi became prime minister, efforts are on to demolish secularism and make the country a Hindu Rashtra,” he had said.

Criticising the triple talaq law, Owaisi said, “BJP leaders talk about injustice against Muslim women subject to talaq but remain mum on the issue of the plight of Hindu women discarded by their men.”

“My bhabhi (PM Modi’s wife) stays alone in Gujarat but nobody has an answer for her,” he had said.

Manchester: All the 21 players of the Indian Test squad have tested negative for COVID-19, a development that clears the decks for the fifth Test against England to proceed as scheduled from Friday after the uncertainty triggered by a positive case in the visiting contingent.

The entire Indian group had to undergo RT-PCR tests after assistant physio Yogesh Parmar tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday.

The Indians had already lost their head physio Nitin Patel, who is currently in isolation after testing positive along with head coach Ravi Shastri and bowling coach Bharath Arun in London.

“All the players have returned with negative test,” a senior BCCI source told PTI on Friday.

While chances have increased of the Test match happening, sources are also saying that at least one senior Indian player doesn’t want to take the field as he fears someone might test positive while playing the game.

The BCCI is trying to persuade that senior cricketer, whose family is also against him playing the game, according to a source.

New Delhi: The Congress has lost the highest number of its electoral candidates as well as MPs and MLAs to other parties in the past seven years with the BJP emerging the biggest gainer since it came to power at the Centre in 2014, according to a report released on Thursday.

A total of 222 electoral candidates left the Congress to join other parties during polls held between 2014 and 2021 while 177 MPs and MLAs quit the party during this period, shows an analysis of the candidates’ poll affidavits by the National Election Watch and the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

The BJP also lost as many as 111 candidates and 33 MPs and MLAs during the elections since 2014. Yet, the saffron party remained the biggest gainer as a total of 253 candidates and 173 MPs and MLAs came to its fold quitting their respective parties, the report shows.

The Congress, which saw 399 of its leaders quitting the party to join others in the past seven years, got 115 candidates and 61 MPs and MLAs coming to its fold from other parties.

The National Election Watch-ADR report is based on the analysis of the poll affidavits of 1133 candidates and 500 MPs and MLAs, who changed parties and recontested elections held during the Lok Sabha and assembly polls since 2014.

After the Congress, it was Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) which saw a considerable number of its candidates and lawmakers joining other parties during the elections.

According to the report, as many as 153 candidates of the BSP and 20 of its lawmakers left the party to join another party during elections since 2014.

The BSP, however, saw 65 candidates and 12 lawmakers joining its fold from other parties.

The report shows that Samajwadi Party (SP) lost 60 of its candidates and 18 lawmakers to other parties during the elections since 2014. It, however, saw just 29 candidates and 13 lawmakers coming to its fold from other parties.

As many as 31 candidates and 26 lawmakers of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) left the party to join another party in the past seven years. A total of 23 candidates and 31 lawmakers, however, joined the TMC leaving their paries since 2014.

The Janata Dal-United (JD-U) lost 59 of its candidates and 12 of its MPs/MLAs as they switched sides during the elections. The party, however, saw a total of 23 candidates and 12 lawmakers coming to its fold from other parties in the past seven years.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) lost 20 its electoral candidates and 11 lawmakers to other parties during elections in the past seven years, and saw 15 candidates and six lawmakers joining it from the other parties.

The report shows that the NCP lost as many as 52 of its electoral candidates and 25 lawmakers in the past seven years even as the party saw 41 candidates and eight lawmakers joining it from other parties during this period.

While the CPI’s 13 electoral candidates and two lawmakers switched sides during elections, just five candidates joined it leaving their respective parties since 2014.

The CPI-M lost 13 of its electoral candidates and six lawmakers to other parties but got just one electoral candidate in its fold from another party.

K Chandrashekhar Rao’s TRS, which lost four of its electoral candidates and four lawmakers to other parties during elections in the past seven years, got as many as 12 electoral candidates and 30 lawmakers in its fold from the other parties.

The TDP lost 32 of its candidates and 26 lawmakers to the other parties during the elections. A total of 11 candidates and 16 lawmakers joined the TDP deserting their parties.

While a total of five electoral candidates and eight lawmakers quit the AIADMK to join other parties, six electoral candidates and two lawmakers joined it leaving their respective parties.

In the past seven years, the DMK has seen five electoral candidates and three lawmakers joining it from other parties, while it lost four of its candidates and two lawmakers to other parties as they switched sides.

Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) lost three of its electoral candidates and six lawmakers switching sides in the past seven years. It, however, also saw 16 electoral candidates and three lawmakers coming to its fold from other parties.

The “most plausible” reasons behind such defections and switching of parties include absence of value-based politics, lust for money and power, strong nexus between money and muscle, reward for office, and dearth of efficient, honest and credible leaders, according to the National Election Watch-ADR report.

“Until and unless these trends are not reined in, our current electoral and political situation is bound to deteriorate further,” the report has suggested, making a host of recommendations to arrest the trend which includes “a comprehensive” law to regulate political parties’ affairs.

Pune: Activist Anna Hazare on Thursday said he would launch an agitation if the Maharashtra government did not enact a Lokayukta Act and appoint an independent anti-corruption ombudsman.

Despite “repeated reminders” to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, his deputy Ajit Pawar and others about holding further meetings of the committee set up to draft the legislation, there was no response, Hazare alleged in a press release.

The state government was deliberately avoiding holding meetings, he alleged.

“There is a lot of corruption in the state and the state government should take steps to curtail it. Presently, the Lokayukta is chosen by the chief minister. Since the Lokayukta does not have autonomy, he is not powerful. In such a situation, where will the common man seek justice? Hazare asked.

Perhaps time has come for him “to steer a non-violent agitation at the age of 85 years”, he said, appealing volunteers across the state to “get ready for a mass agitation.”