COVID-19: Active cases in country lowest in 152 days
New Delhi(PTI): India logged 30,948 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases declined to 3,53,398 comprising 1.09 per cent of the total infections, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday.
The total tally of COVID-19 cases has increased to 3,24,24,234. The death toll has climbed to 4,34,367 with 403 fresh fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am.
The active cases have declined to 3,53,398, the lowest in 152 days, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has increased to 97.57 per cent, the highest since March 2020, the health ministry said.
A reduction of 7,942 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.
As many as 15,85,681 tests were conducted on Saturday taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 50,62,56,239. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.95 per cent. It has been less than three per cent for the last 27 days.
The weekly positivity rate was recorded at two per cent. It has been below three per cent for the last 58 days, according to the ministry.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,16,36,469, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.34 per cent, the data stated.
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 two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23.
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Kharge speaks with CPI's D Raja, seeks support for TVK
New Delhi (PTI): Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has spoken with CPI general secretary D Raja and urged his party to support the TVK for the formation of a secular government in Tamil Nadu, sources said on Friday.
Sources said Kharge called Raja on Thursday to emphasise that the CPI should take an early decision so that the BJP does not get a chance to try and grab power through the backdoor.
Raja is understood to have said that CPI will consult its local allies, including the DMK, and decide on it soon.
The Congress, a long-time ally of the DMK, on Wednesday announced its support to actor-politician Vijay's TVK to form the government in Tamil Nadu and severed ties with the Dravidian major.
The DMK dubbed the act of Congress to snap ties with it and join forces with TVK as "backstabbing."
The TVK won 108 seats in the 234-member Assembly in the April 23 polls. Though the Congress, which has five MLAs, has extended support to the TVK, the actor-politician-led party is still short of as many seats to touch 118, the majority mark.
The CPI executive committee, which met here on Friday over support to the TVK, is involved in weighing the pros and cons, the party said.
The Communist Party of India is keen on safeguarding its ideology and ensuring that a common minimum programme is followed in case the party decides to back the TVK, a source in the party said.
The CPI won two seats in the April 23 Assembly election in alliance with the DMK.
Earlier, CPI general secretary D Raja told PTI Videos that the party was keen on keeping the right wing away from the state.
"We will come to some conclusion and we want a stable government that will work in the interest of the state, keep away communal right-wing forces and uphold secular democratic values," Raja said, adding, the party's position would be clear by the evening
