COVID-19: India logs 36,401 new cases, 530 fatalities
New Delhi, Aug 19: India has added 36,401 new COVID-19 infections, taking the total tally of cases to 3,23,22,258, while the death toll has climbed to 4,33,049 with 530 more fatalities, according to Union health ministry data updated on Thursday.
The national recovery rate has improved to 97.52 per cent, the highest since March last year, according to the data updated at 8 am.
The ministry said that active cases have declined to 3,64,129, the lowest in 149 days, and comprise 1.13 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March last year.
A reduction of 3,286 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.
The ministry said that 18,73,757 tests were conducted on Wednesday, taking the total tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 50,03,00,840.
The daily positivity rate has been recorded at 1.94 per cent and it has been less than three per cent for the last 24 days, it said.
The weekly positivity rate has been recorded at 1.95 per cent and it has been below three per cent for the last 55 days, according to the ministry.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has increased to 3,15,25,080, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.34 per cent, the data stated.
Cumulatively, 56.64 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered under the nationwide vaccination drive so far.
India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7 last year 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 last year.
India crossed two crore cases on May 4 and three crore cases on June 23.
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Bengaluru: Four arrested for housebreaking, threats, extortion; fake PSI among accused
Bengaluru: Vidyaranyapura police have arrested four persons, including a man posing as a Police Sub-Inspector (PSI), for allegedly breaking into a house, threatening the occupants, and extorting money while wearing police uniforms.
The arrested accused have been identified as Mallikarjuna, Pramod, Vinay, and Hrithik.
Police said the accused had hatched a plan to pose as police personnel, conduct fake raids, and extort money from residents by intimidation.
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According to the police, Mallikarjuna had failed the PSI examination twice and later falsely projected himself as a PSI. He allegedly conducted photo shoots in his hometown, Siraguppa, wearing a police uniform, baton, cap, and shoes, claiming to be serving as a PSI in Bengaluru.
On December 7, the four accused allegedly went to the house of Naveen in the Vidyaranyapura limits, threatened him with a stick and an iron rod, and claimed they had information that he was selling ganja. Under the pretext of searching, they allegedly extorted ₹87,000 through bank transfer, ₹53,000 in cash kept in the house, and ₹2,000 from his wallet.
Following Naveen’s complaint, Vidyaranyapura police registered a case and launched an operation, leading to the arrest of all four accused. Police have seized ₹45,000 in cash and the car used to commit the crime.
Further investigation is underway.
