Single-day spike of 37,148 COVID-19 cases; India's tally rises to 11,55,191
New Delhi: India recorded 37,148 COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, pushing its tally to 11,55,191 while the total number of recoveries increased to 7,24,577, according to Union health ministry data on Tuesday.
The death toll due to the disease rose to 28,084 with 587 fatalities reported in a day, the data updated at 8 am showed.
There are 4,02,529 active cases of the coronavirus infection currently in the country, while 7,24,577 people have recovered till now. Thus, 62.72 per cent people have recovered so far, it said.
The total number of confirmed cases includes foreigners.
This is the sixth consecutive day when COVID-19 cases increased by more than 30,000.
Of the 587 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, 176 are from Maharashtra, 72 from Karnataka, 70 from Tamil Nadu, 54 from Andhra Pradesh, 46 from Uttar Pradesh, 35 each from West Bengal and Delhi, 20 from Gujarat, 17 from Madhya Pradesh and 10 from Jammu and Kashmir.
Nine fatalities have been reported from Rajasthan, followed by eight in Punjab, seven in Telangana, six each in Haryana and Odisha, four in Jharkhand, three in Uttarakhand, two each in Tripura and Meghalaya, and one each in Assam, Goa, Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Puducherry.
According to Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a cumulative total of 1,43,81,303 samples have been tested up to July 20 with 3,33,395 samples being tested on Monday.
Of the total 28,084 deaths reported so far, Maharashtra accounted for the highest 12,030 fatalities followed by Delhi with 3,663 deaths, Tamil Nadu 2,551, Gujarat 2,162, Karnataka 1,403, Uttar Pradesh 1,192, West Bengal 1,147, Madhya Pradesh 738 and Andhra Pradesh 696.
So far, 568 people have died of COVID-19 in Rajasthan, 422 in Telangana, 355 in Haryana, 262 in Punjab, 254 in Jammu and Kashmir, 217 in Bihar, 97 in Odisha, 58 in Assam, 55 in Uttarakhand, 53 in Jharkhand and 43 in Kerala.
Puducherry has registered 29 deaths, Chhattisgarh 25, Goa 23, Chandigarh 12, Himachal Pradesh 11, Tripura seven, Meghalaya four, Arunachal Pradesh three, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu and Ladakh have reported two fatalities each.
The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to co-morbidities.
Maharashtra has reported the highest number of cases at 3,18,695 followed by Tamil Nadu at 1,75,678, Delhi at 1,23,747, Karnataka at 67,420, Andhra Pradesh at 53,724, Uttar Pradesh at 51,160, Gujarat at 49,353 and Telangana at 46,274.
The number of COVID-19 cases has gone up to 44,769 in West Bengal, 30,390 in Rajasthan, 27,646 in Bihar, 26,858 in Haryana, 25,382 in Assam and 23,310 in Madhya Pradesh.
Odisha has reported 18,110 infections, Jammu and Kashmir 14,650, Kerala 13,274, while Punjab has 10,510 cases.
A total of 5,756 people have been infected by the virus in Jharkhand, 5,561 in Chhattisgarh, 4,642 in Uttarakhand, 3,853 in Goa, 3,079 in Tripura, 2,092 in Puducherry, 1,925 in Manipur, 1,631 in Himachal Pradesh and 1,195 in Ladakh.
Nagaland has recorded 1,021 COVID-19 cases, Arunachal Pradesh 790 Chandigarh 737 and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu together have reported 684 cases. Meghalaya has reported 466 cases and Sikkim 305 cases.
Mizoram has registered 297 infections so far, while Andaman and Nicobar Islands has recorded 207 cases.
"Our figures are being reconciled with the ICMR," the ministry said, adding the state-wise distribution is subject to further verification and reconciliation.
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AI, IndiGo, SpiceJet seek ATF price relief; say airline industry on verge of 'stopping operations'
Mumbai (PTI): Air India, IndiGo and SpiceJet have told the government that the country's airline industry is under extreme stress and on the verge of "stopping operations", as they sought revision in ATF pricing and financial support.
The West Asia turmoil has pushed up oil prices, and airspace restrictions have increased airlines' operating costs, especially on long-haul routes. Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) accounts for around 40 per cent of a carrier's operational expenses.
Against this backdrop, the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) has written to the civil aviation ministry, seeking steps to extend the same fuel pricing mechanism uniformly across both domestic and international operations as was done in the past with the establishment of the crack band.
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With an unprecedented rise in jet fuel prices and exorbitant crack/differential between crude and ATF, the federation said the operation of airlines is being challenged in totality.
"... any ad hoc pricing (domestic vs international) and/or irrational increase in the price of ATF will result in unsurmountable losses for airlines and will lead to grounding of aircraft, resulting in cancellation of flights," the federation, which represents Air India, IndiGo and SpiceJet, said.
"In order to survive, sustain and continue operation, we request your urgent intervention for immediate and meaningful financial support to tide over the current situation," it said in a letter on April 26.
Also, the airlines have sought temporary deferment of excise duty on ATF, which is at 11 per cent.
"With the abnormal increase in ATF prices from the pre-crisis period, adding rupee depreciation to the increased prices, the 11 per cent excise duty also increases manifold for the airlines and adds to the ATF price as a big impact on airlines," they said.
Last month, the government limited the hike in ATF price to Rs 15 per litre for domestic operations, but for international operations, the price rose by Rs 73 per litre.
The airlines said the situation has practically made international operations, along with domestic operations, completely unviable and resulted in significant losses for the aviation sector in April.
Seeking urgent intervention on the current ATF ad hoc pricing, FIA said the current situation is creating a severe imbalance in domestic and international operations and rendering airline networks unviable and unsustainable.
"The airline industry in India is under extreme stress and is on the verge of closing down or of stopping its operations."
The federation has pitched for a transparent pricing framework under the crack band mechanism (USD 12–22/BBL) that was implemented in October 2022, saying there was a fair and reasonable margin for Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs).
According to FIA, the country's largest aviation hub Delhi has the second-highest value-added tax (VAT) of 25 per cent on jet fuel, while the highest rate is 29 per cent levied in Tamil Nadu.
"The other major aviation cities, viz. Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Kolkata range between 16 per cent and 20 per cent. These 6 cities cover more than 50 per cent of airlines' operations within India," the federation said.
