New Delhi: Daily COVID-19 cases in India dropped below 75,000 and deaths under 1,000 were reported after nearly a month, while total recoveries crossed the 51 lakh-mark, according to the Union Health Ministry's data updated on Tuesday.

The total coronavirus cases in the country mounted to 61,45, 291 with 70,589 new infections, while the death toll reached 96,318 after 776 people succumbed to the disease in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The total recoveries surged to 51,01,397 pushing the recovery rate to 83.01 per cent. There are 9,47,576 active cases in the country which comprise 15.42 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.

The COVID-19 case fatality rate was recorded at 1.57 per cent.

India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23 and 40 lakh on September 5. It went past 50 lakh on September 16 and crossed 60 lakh on September 28.

According to the ICMR, a cumulative total of 7,31,10,041 samples have been tested up to September 28 with 11,42,811 samples being tested on Monday.

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Kochi: The official Facebook page of Malayalam news channel MediaOne TV has been restored after being blocked without prior notice, the broadcaster said on Wednesday.

The channel was quoted by Maktoob as saying that the restriction was lifted automatically, with Meta Platforms informing it that the action had been taken following a “government request” which has now expired or been reversed.

The development came shortly after the channel approached the Kerala High Court challenging the blocking of its page, terming it arbitrary and in violation of legal provisions and judicial precedents. The High Court had issued notice to Meta via email hours before the restriction was withdrawn.

In its petition, the channel said access to its Facebook page had been restricted for users in India without citing any specific content or alleged violation. It contended that while individual posts may be taken down under applicable a rule, blocking an entire page goes beyond the scope of such measures.

The incident followed an earlier action taken against the channel in 2022, when the Ministry of Information and transmitting prohibited it from transmitting. It cited national security concerns regarding the Ministry of Home Affairs' refusal of security clearance.


The Supreme Court of India in April 2023 set aside the ban, observing that national security claims cannot be made without substantive basis and that criticism of government policies does not render a media outlet anti-national.