Global coronavirus death toll crosses 2 lakhs
Paris: The new coronavirus has claimed at least 200,736 lives since its outbreak in China in December, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP.
More than 2,864,070 cases were registered in 193 countries and territories. Of these cases, at least 772,900 are now considered recovered.
The tallies, using data collected by AFP from national authorities and information from the World Health Organisation, probably reflect only a fraction of the actual number of infections.
Since Friday evening, 6,813 new deaths and 93,320 infections were recorded worldwide. The United States, the worst-hit country, registered 2,710 of those deaths, Britain 813 and Italy 415.
The United States has the highest number of deaths with 53,070 from 924.865 cases.
Italy has the second highest toll with 26,384 deaths out of 195,351 cases, followed by Spain (22,902 deaths and 223,759 cases), France (22,614 deaths and 161,488 cases) and the UK with 20,319 fatalities and 148,377 cases.
China -- excluding Hong Kong and Macau -- has to date declared 4,632 deaths and 82,816 cases, just 12 more since Friday.
Europe has a total of 122,171 deaths from 1,360,314 cases, the United States and Canada have 55,586 deaths and 969,896 cases, Asia has 7,854 deaths from 195,102 cases, Latin America and the Caribbean have 7,434 deaths from 150,162 cases, the Middle East has 6,225 deaths from 150.625 cases, Africa has 1,361 deaths from 29,981 cases and Oceania has 105 deaths from 7,991 cases.
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After fake ID crackdown, IRCTC daily new accounts down to 5000 from one lakh: Railways
New Delhi (PTI): With a new, stringent system to establish user identity, the number of new user IDs being added daily on the IRCTC website has declined to about 5,000 from nearly one lakh, officials said on Saturday.
Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw noted that the crackdown by Indian Railways on train ticket booking through fake identities is yielding positive results, according to a press note.
Before the latest reforms, this number had touched nearly one lakh new user IDs per day, it said.
"Following the introduction of a stringent system to establish user identity and detect fake IDs, about 5,000 new user IDs are now being added daily on the IRCTC website," the note said.
The officials stated that these steps have already helped Indian Railways deactivate 3.03 crore fake accounts.
"Another 2.7 crore user IDs have either been temporarily suspended or identified for suspension based on the suspicious activities they are indulging in," they said.
The Union minister directed officials to ensure that the ticketing system is reformed to a level where all travellers are able to book tickets easily through a real and genuine user ID, the press note added.
Additionally, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has directed officials to provide local cuisine of the region in Vande Bharat trains.
Introducing local cuisine that reflects the culture and tastes of the regions being traversed will significantly enhance the passenger experience, officials said.
This facility will be expanded to all the trains progressively in future, they added.
