India adds 30,757 COVID-19 cases, 541 fatalities
New Delhi, Feb 17: With 30,757 people testing positive for the coronavirus infection in a day, India's total tally of cases rose to 4,27,54,315, while the recovery rate crossed the 98 per cent-mark again, according to Union health ministry data updated on Thursday.
The death toll has climbed to 5,10,413 with 541 daily fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.
The daily COVID-19 cases have been recorded at less than one lakh for the last 11 consecutive days.
The active cases have declined to 3,32,918, comprising 0.78 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 98.03 per cent, the health ministry said.
The recovery rate had last crossed the 98 per cent-mark on January 5, when it was 98.01 per cent.
There has been a reduction of 37,322 cases in the active caseload in a span of 24 hours, it said.
The daily positivity rate has been recorded at 2.61 per cent while the weekly positivity rate has been recorded at 3.04 per cent, according to the health ministry.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has increased to 4,19,10,984, while the case fatality rate has been recorded at 1.19 per cent, it said.
The cumulative doses administered so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 174.24 crore.
India's COVID-19 tally crossed two crore cases on May 4 and three crore cases on June 23.
#Unite2FightCorona#LargestVaccineDrive#OmicronVariant
— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) February 17, 2022
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
