COVID-19 caseload in India breaches 45-lakh mark
New Delhi: India's COVID-19 caseload sprinted past 45 lakh and the death toll climbed to 76,271 with a record 96,551 infections and 1,209 fatalities being reported in a day, while the recoveries crossed 35 lakh on Friday, according to the Union Health Ministry data.
The total coronavirus cases mounted to 45,62,414, while the recoveries surged to 35,42,663, the data updated at 8 am showed. The COVID-19 case fatality rate has further dropped to 1.67 per cent while the recovery rate was recorded at 77.65 per cent.
There are 9,43,480 active cases of COVID-19 in the country which comprises 20.68 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated. The country had recorded over 95,000 cases on Wednesday and Thursday.
India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23 and it went past 40 lakh on September 5.
According to the ICMR, a cumulative total of 5,40,97,975 samples have been tested up to September 10 with 11,63,542 samples being tested on Friday.
Of the 1,209 new deaths, 495 are from Maharashtra, 129 from Karnataka, 94 from Uttar Pradesh, 88 from Punjab, 68 from Andhra Pradesh, 64 from Tamil Nadu, 41 from West Bengal, 28 from Delhi, 25 from Haryana, 21 from Madhya Pradesh, 18 from Assam, 16 from Chhattisgarh, 15 from Gujarat, 14 from Rajasthan, 13 each from Jammu and Kashmir and Telanagan and 12 from Kerala.
Eleven fatalities have been reported from Odisha, ten from Bihar, six each from Goa and Puducherry, five each from Jharkhand and Uttarakhand, four from Manipur, three each from Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh, while Ladakh and Meghalaya have registered one fatality each.
Of the total 76,271 deaths, Maharashtra has reported the maximum at 28,282 followed by 8,154 in Tamil Nadu, 6,937 in Karnataka, 4,702 in Andhra Pradesh, 4,666 in Delhi, 4,206 in Uttar Pradesh, 3,771 in West Bengal, 3,164 in Gujarat and 2,149 in Punjab.
So far, 1,661 people have died of COVID-19 in Madhya Pradesh, 1,192 in Rajasthan, 940 in Telangana, 907 in Haryana, 845 in Jammu and Kashmir, 785 in Bihar, 591 in Odisha, 517 in Jharkhand, 493 in Chhattisgarh, 414 in Assam, 396 in Kerala and 377 in Uttarakhand.
Puducherry has registered 353 fatalities, Goa 268, Tripura 173, Chandigarh 83, Himachal Pradesh 66, Andaman and Nicobar Islands 51, Manipur 44, Ladakh 36, Meghalaya 20, Nagaland 10, Arunachal Pradesh nine, Sikkim seven and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu two.
The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.
"Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research," the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.
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Two arrested in K'taka for assaulting minors, uploading CSAM content
Bengaluru (PTI): Two men were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls, recording the acts on mobile phones and uploading the videos online as child sexual abuse material, police said on Thursday.
The accused have been identified as Kiran Kumar (29), hailing from Chitradurga district, and Aditya M K (20), hailing from Shivamogga district, they said.
A probe was initiated after information was received from the NCRP portal regarding a suspected instance of creation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) for online dissemination, police said.
Accordingly, a case was registered at Kaggalipura Police Station under relevant sections of the IT Act on May 10, they added.
Investigation revealed that two minor girl victims were exploited and videos were created and uploaded to the internet. The child victims have subsequently recorded their statements as per procedure and further necessary legal steps have been taken, Pronab Mohanty Director General of Police, Cyber Command, said in a statement.
Based on the statements of the victims, the accused persons, who allegedly assaulted the minors, recorded the acts on mobile phones and uploaded the videos online, were arrested, he said.
Following the probe, sections 65(2) (rape) and 70 (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the POCSO Act, have been added to the FIR, police said.
Officials collected relevant information and on May 12, arrested the accused persons and seized three mobile phones belonging to them, in which the videos had allegedly been recorded, he said.
The accused were later produced before the court and taken into police custody for further investigation, he added.
According to him, in CSAM cases, police usually apprehend offenders who have downloaded such content or have kept them in their possession after obtaining them from elsewhere, usually the internet.
"The present case is one of the very few instances where content creators and uploaders have been apprehended," Mohanty added.
