India's COVID-19 tally crosses 37 lakh, death toll 66,333; number of recoveries above 29 lakh
New Delhi: India's COVID-19 tally of cases galloped past 37 lakh on Wednesday with 78,357 new instances of the disease reported in a day, while the number of recoveries crossed 29 lakh pushing the recovery rate to 76.98 per cent, the Union health ministry data showed.
The death toll climbed to 66,333 with 1,045 more fatalities reported in 24 hours. India has so far reported 37,69,523 cases of the viral disease, according to the data updated at 8 am.
The total number of COVID-19 recoveries in the country has surged to 29,01,908, while the fatality rate has further declined to 1.76 per cent. There are 8,01,282, active cases in the country which comprises 21.26 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.
India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7 and went past 30 lakh on August 23.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a total of 4,43,37,201 samples have been tested up to September 1, of which 10,12,367 were tested on Tuesday.
Of the 1,045 fresh deaths, 320 are from Maharashtra, 135 from Karnataka, 96 from Tamil Nadu, 84 from Andhra Pradesh, 59 from Punjab, 56 from Uttar Pradesh, 55 from West Bengal, 39 from Bihar, 32 from Madhya Pradesh, 18 from Delhi, 17 from Haryana, 14 each from Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir, 13 from Rajasthan and 12 from Puducherry.
Eleven fatalities each have been reported from Jharkhand, Odisha and Uttarakhand, 10 each from Chhattisgarh and Telangana, nine from Assam, five from Tripura, four from Kerala, two each from Himachal Pradesh, Goa and Meghalaya, while Chandigarh, Manipur, Ladakh and Sikkim have registered one fatality each.
Of the total 66,333 deaths reported so far, Maharashtra has the maximum at 24,903 followed by 7,418 in Tamil Nadu, 5,837 in Karnataka, 4,462 in Delhi, 4,053 in Andhra Pradesh, 3,542 in Uttar Pradesh, 3,283 in West Bengal, 3,034 in Gujarat, and 1,512 in Punjab.
Till now, 1,426 people have died of COVID-19 in Madhya Pradesh, 1,069 in Rajasthan, 846 in Telangana, 717 in Jammu and Kashmir, 706 in Haryana, 621 in Bihar, 503 in Odisha, 428 in Jharkhand, 315 in Assam, 298 in Kerala, 287 in Chhattisgarh and 280 in Uttarakhand.
Puducherry has registered 240 fatalities, Goa 194, Tripura 118, Chandigarh 57, Andaman and Nicobar Islands 46, Himachal Pradesh 40, Ladakh 35, Manipur 29, Meghalaya 12, Nagaland nine, Arunachal Pradesh seven, Sikkim four and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu two.
The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths were due to comorbidities.
"Our figures are being reconciled with the ICMR," the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.
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SC asks Centre to consider amending law on terminating pregnancy of rape survivors
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Thursday took strong exception to a plea by AIIMS seeking to set aside its order allowing a 15-year-old girl to medically terminate her 30-week pregnancy, and asked the Centre to consider amending the law to permit rape survivors to terminate unwanted pregnancies even beyond 20 weeks.
The top court said when there is pregnancy due to rape, there should not be a time limit.
Law needs to be organic and in sync with evolving time, it stressed.
A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said this is a case of child rape and the survivor will have a lifelong scar and trauma if termination is not allowed.
The top court said if the mother does not have permanent disability then it should be carried out.
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It asked AIIMS to counsel parents of the survivor over the issue and said the decision has to be of the person concerned.
"There are children for adoption. In this country we have lot of sympathies...There are deserted, abandoned children on the streets and even mafias on it. We have to look at them. This is an unwanted pregnancy of a 15-year-old child.
"This is a curative petition. Unwanted pregnancy cannot be thrusted on a person. Imagine she is a child. She should be studying now. But we want to make her a mother. Imagine the pain, the humiliation the child has suffered in this," the bench said.
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for AIIMS, mentioned the curative plea, and said the termination of pregnancy is not possible.
"It will be a live baby with severe deformities. Minor mother will have lifelong health issues and cannot reproduce. Minor mother will have lifelong health issues. This child can be given for adoption. It has been 30 weeks now. It is a viable life now," she said.
The top court said the decision on termination has to choice of the survivor and her parents and AIIMS may help them take an informed decision.
On April 24, a bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan had allowed the girl to medically terminate her pregnancy of 30 weeks.
