India's active COVID-19 tally drops to lowest in 150 days
New Delhi (PTI): India logged 36,571 new coronavirus infections, taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,23,58,829, while the national recovery rate improved to 97.54 per cent, the highest since March 2020, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.
The death toll climbed to 4,33,589 with 540 fresh fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am.
The active cases have declined to 3,63,605, the lowest in 150 days, and comprise 1.12 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, the ministry said.
A reduction of 524 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.
As many as 18,86,271 tests were conducted on Thursday taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 50,26,99,702.
The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.94 per cent. It has been less than three per cent for the last 25 days.
The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 1.93 per cent. It has been below three per cent for the last 56 days, according to the ministry.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,15,61,635, 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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Tamil Nadu: Cong stages statewide protests against guv over govt formation
Chennai (PTI): TNCC on Friday launched a statewide protest against Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar for his refusal to invite the TVK to form the government despite it emerging as the single largest party in the recently concluded Assembly elections.
Leading a spirited demonstration at Anna Salai in Chennai, AICC in-charge for Tamil Nadu, Girish Chodankar, and TNCC President K Selvaperunthagai accused the Raj Bhavan of acting as a "puppet" of the BJP-led Centre and subverting democratic norms.
Speaking to reporters at the protest site, Chodankar launched a scathing attack on the Governor's delay in government formation.
"The Governor has a mission, but he is following (Union Home Minister) Amit Shah. That is his problem," Chodankar charged.
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When asked about mounting speculation regarding a potential "outside support" arrangement between traditional rivals DMK and AIADMK to keep the TVK-Congress combine out of power, Chodankar said, "Let them come together. Let everyone get exposed before the people of Tamil Nadu.”
According to him, if that happens people will know who is really secular and who is ready to stand by them in this situation.
"I am confident that many secular parties are not ready to see BJP or RSS rule enter Tamil Nadu and will definitely oppose it," said Chodankar.
Addressing his party's recent exit from the DMK-led alliance to support actor-turned-politician Vijay's TVK, Chodankar dismissed allegations of "backstabbing" by his party's former ally.
"In a democracy, people are the masters. We have respected the people's mandate," he stated.
Selvaperunthagai demanded that the Governor immediately invite the single largest party to form the government.
"The Governor must implement the Constitution. That is our only demand, and that is why we are protesting today," Selvaperunthagai said.
The Congress, which recently snapped its long-standing ties with the DMK, has aligned itself with the TVK, which won 108 seats. The party cadres held demonstrations across all district headquarters, raising slogans against the Governor and the Union government, while demanding that the democratic mandate of the 2026 elections be respected without further delay.
The protests come amid a tense political climate in the state, as the DMK and AIADMK -- who both suffered significant losses to the TVK -- reportedly explore tactical manoeuvres to navigate the hung assembly.
TVK with 108 seats has the support of Congress' five MLAs but the party is still short of five legislators to form government.
