India's COVID-19 case fatality rate drops to 2.38%; recovery rate rises to 63.34%
New Delhi: For the third day in a row, the number of COVID-19 recoveries in a 24-hour span saw another record high, with 34,602 patients having recuperated pushing the recovery rate to 63.45 per cent, the Union health ministry said on Friday.
The case fatality rate has further declined to 2.38 per cent, it said.
According to data updated at 8 am, the total recoveries have climbed to 8,17,208, while there are 4,40,135 active cases of coronavirus in the country at present, the ministry said as the COVID-19 tally surged to 12.87 lakh.
India also saw a record single-day spike of 49,310 cases while the death-toll mounted to 30,601 with 740 new fatalities, the data said.
The ministry said as a result of constantly growing number of recoveries, the recovered patients outnumber the active cases by 3,77,073. "This difference is showing a progressively growing upward trend."
Further, a cumulative total of 1,54,28,170 samples have been tested for COVID-19 up to July 23. On Thursday, 3,52,801 samples were tested.
"This translates to 11179.83 tests per million (TPM) for India, which has seen a steady increase since the adoption of the 'test, track and treat' strategy," the ministry said.
The rise in TPM has been achieved with a steady rise in the number of labs (1290 so far), and efforts by the Centre and state governments and union territorty administrations to facilitate wide-spread testing through an array of options, it noted.
There are currently 897 labs in the government sector and 393 private labs.
As for the country registering increasing number of recoveries, the ministry said that efforts of states and union territories are bolstered by the central teams of experts sent to high case-load areas and through strategic discussions held by Central government through video conferencing with state and district officials.
"With the dedicated efforts of healthcare workers, the recoveries are improving and case fatality is continuously falling, which currently stands at 2.38 per cent," the ministry said.
The sustained rise in number of recoveries is the result of a well formulated and executed strategy of containment of COVID-19 by the state and union territory governments under the guidance of the Union government.
It primarily focuses on early detection through aggressive testing along with house-to-house surveys, contact tracing and surveillance of SARI/ILI cases to actively search for cases in the highly vulnerable categories. This is followed by effective containment plans and efficient clinical management through the ramped up three-tier health infrastructure and well executed standard of care protocol.
These have successfully aided in effective treatment in the hospitals and through home isolation which in turn has ensured that the hospitals remain unburdened for critical patients, the ministry said.
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Uttarakhand Assembly passes censure motion against opposition over women's reservation bill
Dehradun (PTI): The Uttarakhand Assembly passed a censure motion against the Congress and other opposition parties on Tuesday for allegedly blocking the passage of the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, in Parliament.
The motion, which expressed the House's formal disapproval of the opposition's conduct, triggered a massive uproar by Congress members, leading to the adjournment of the House sine die.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Subodh Uniyal moved the censure motion, citing the "uncooperative attitude" of opposition parties toward the bill seeking 33 per cent reservation for women in legislative bodies.
Addressing a special daylong session convened specifically to discuss "Nari Samman -- Rights in Democracy", Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said the bill's passage would have benefitted every political party.
Dhami noted that after delimitation, the number of Assembly seats in the hill state would have gone up to 105, with 35 reserved for women. He added that the number of Lok Sabha seats from Uttarakhand would have risen from five to seven or eight.
"The opposition fears that if women from ordinary households enter politics, the shops of dynastic politics run by certain parties will shut down," the chief minister claimed.
He compared the opposition's conduct in Parliament to the assembly in Mahabharat where Draupadi was insulted. Dhami further likened the opposition's behaviour to the "arrogance of Ravan".
The chief minister highlighted his government's initiatives, asserting that Uttarakhand was the first state to implement a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) to protect women's rights. He said the UCC freed Muslim women from practices like "halala", "iddat", polygamy and child marriage.
Leader of Opposition Yashpal Arya questioned the technical feasibility of the bill, calling the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) claims of providing reservation by 2029 "misleading".
He argued that the bill is linked to census and delimitation processes. The Congress leader said the 2026 census would conclude by 2027 and the final data publication would take two more years.
"The delimitation process will take another six years. The actual implementation of this bill is not possible before 2034," Arya said, describing the move as a strategy to protect the BJP's "political ground".
The session also saw high drama outside the Assembly gates, where Congress MLA Virendra Jati staged a protest, demanding the payment of "outstanding" dues to farmers by sugar mills.
Jati arrived at the Assembly's main gate with a tractor-trolley loaded with sugarcane and dumped it on the road. The move brought the traffic to a halt, prompting traffic and security personnel to intervene and clear the area.
Women Congress workers also staged a demonstration against the "anti-people policies" of the state government.
