Covid LIVE: Maharashtra sees over 15,000 new cases; 25,317 in Tamil Nadu

Coronavirus live updates: India reported 133,228 fresh Covid-19 infections today, taking the caseload tally to 28,307,832. Death toll stands at 335,102. Stay tuned for corona-related news

3:25 PM

Odisha logs record 40 fresh Covid fatalities, 8,399 new cases

Odisha on Wednesday registered 40 more deaths due to COVID-19, the highest so far in a single day, pushing the toll to 2,831, a health department official said. At least 8,399 new coronavirus-positive cases raised the caseload in the coastal state to 7,82,131, he said.

 

Taking to Twitter, the Health and Family Welfare Department said, "Regret to inform the demise of forty COVID positive patients, while under treatment in hospitals." Five fresh fatalities each were reported from Angul, Cuttack, Kalahandi and Khurda, four from Jharsuguda, three each from Boudh and Rayagada and two each from Deogarh, Nabarangpur and Sambalpur.

3:19 PM

Covid LIVE: Delhi sees 576 new cases in a day; positivity rate at 0.78%

3:16 PM

Coronavirus LIVE updates: MP, Gujarat cancel Class 12 state board exams

3:00 PM

Uttar Pradesh first state to complete 5 crore Covid tests

Uttar Pradesh has become the first state in the country, to have conducted more than 5 crore corona tests. The additional chief secretary (ACS), health Amit Mohan Prasad said, "So far, a total of 5 crore and 32 thousand tests have been done. In the last 24 hours, only 1,500 positive cases were found in the state. Now the recovery rate has also gone up to 97.1 percent and the number of active cases has come down to 28,000."

 

On Tuesday, the state conducted 3,31,511 lakh tests in 24 hours.

 

Additional chief secretary, health also informed that before the third wave of corona, special steps are being taken by the UP government for the children.

2:39 PM

Over 1.64 crore COVID-19 vaccines still available with states: Centre

More than 1.64 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses are still available with the states and UTs to be administered, the Union Health Ministry said on Wednesday. The Centre has so far provided, both through the free of cost and through direct state procurement categories, more than 23 crore vaccine doses to states and UTs.

 

Of this, the total consumption, including wastages, is 21,71,44,022 doses, the ministry said. A total of 1,64,42,938 COVID-19 vaccine doses are still available with the states and UTs to be administered, it said. As part of the nationwide vaccination drive, the Centre has been supporting the states and UTs by providing them COVID-19 vaccines free of cost.

2:35 PM

This entrepreneur claims his graphene-silver-coated masks kill coronavirus

It's an allotrope of carbon that has become a buzzword in industry for its tensile strength, which is about 100x that of steel of the same thickness. Scientists say the material, graphene, isn't something new and has, in fact, been used unknowingly for centuries in pencils and other applications of graphite. But its rediscovery in 2004 got scientists at the University of Manchester the Physics Nobel in 2010.

Graphene today has applications in semiconductors, electronics, solar cells, smart phones, filtration, construction and even bio-engineering and cleaning up oil spills.

And now, Nanomatrix, a self-funded startup established in February 2020 by second-generation entrepreneur Vikas Bardiya, is using patented Graphene-Silver, a strong anti-viral and anti-bacterial substance, in non-surgical and N95 face masks. READ MORE...

2:19 PM

Coronavirus LIVE updates: Gujarat cancels Class 12 state board exams

2:14 PM

Aurangabad records 157 new COVID-19 cases; seven casualties

As many as 157 fresh cases of coronavirus and seven deaths were reported in Maharashtra's Aurangabad district, an official said on Wednesday.

 

The latest cases and casualties recorded on Tuesday have taken the tally of infections to 1,42,889, while the toll reached 3,214, the official said.

 

A total of 1,36,463 patients have recovered from the infection so far, leaving the district with 3,212 cases, he said. The district has conducted 11,57,953 tests so far, he said, adding that on Tuesday, the positivity rate in the district stood at 2.75 per cent. At least 108 ventilator beds and 2,204 oxygen beds are available in Aurangabad, the official said.

1:50 PM

Covid LIVE: Amid pandemic, industry can't stick to IP Rights, says Harsh Vardhan

1:44 PM

Uttarakhand CM inaugurates 500-bed Covid-19 Care Centre at Haldwani

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat on Wednesday virtually inaugurated a 500-bed COVID-19 Care Centre built by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in Haldwani. The Centre has been dedicated and named after late former Army chief Gen Bipin Chandra Joshi.

 

According to DRDO, the Centre will become fully operational from tomorrow.

 

The centre, built in just 21 days, is supported with 375 oxygen beds and 125 ICU beds with ventilators. Earlier on May 26, the Uttarakhand Chief Minister had inaugurated a 500-bed 'Jaswant Singh Rawat Covid Care Center' in Rishikesh, set up by DRDO. Meanwhile, Uttarakhand on Tuesday reported 981 new COVID-19 cases, taking the overall tally to 3,30,475.

1:16 PM

HC dismisses senior doctor's plea against Delhi govt notif on COVID duty

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday dismissed a petition filed by a senior doctor challenging Delhi government notification that directed doctors and allied medical staff to function in a single category irrespective of differences in their seniority and core medical specialisation in the treatment of the Covid patients.

 

The bench of Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh on Wednesday while dismissing the petition also imposed a cost of Rs 5,000 on the petitioner. The court observed that it was a warlike situation when the order/notification came into existence. Read on...

12:33 PM

China jails blogger for 8 months over remarks on casualties in Galwan clash

A popular Chinese blogger, detained earlier this year for his comments regarding military casualties of Galwan valley clash with India, has been sentenced to eight months in prison.

 

Qiu Ziming, an internet celebrity with more than 2.5 million followers, on Monday received a jail term of eight months for 'defaming martyrs', marking the first such case in China since a new amendment was attached to the Criminal Law, reported Global Times.

 

The blogger, who is known online as 'Labixiaoqiu', was also ordered to publicly apologize through major domestic portals and the national media within 10 days, ordered a Nanjing court in East China's Jiangsu Province. Read on...

12:32 PM

Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurates vaccination drive at Indian Oil Headquarters in Bhubaneswar

12:30 PM

We lost 22.7 million jobs in April & May during second wave: Mahesh Vyas

We lost 22.7 million jobs in April & May during second wave. Total number of jobs in the country is of the order of 400 million. Of these 400 million people who were employed, 22.7 million lost their jobs in past 2 months: Mahesh Vyas, Chief of Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy

11:59 AM

Arunachal Pradesh reports 370 new coronavirus cases, 1 more death

Arunachal Pradesh reported 370 new Covid-19 cases, pushing the tally in the state to 27,642, a senior health department official said on Wednesday.

 

The Covid-19 death toll in the state increased to 116 after a woman succumbed to the infection on Tuesday, State Surveillance Officer (SSO) Dr Lobsang Jampa said.

 

The Capital Complex region continued to witness the highest number of fresh cases with 81, followed by Lower Subansiri (32), Lower Dibang Valley and Changlang at 30 each, Namsai (25), Tawang and West Kameng at 23 each, Anjaw (21), East Siang (17), Upper Subansiri (14), Dibang Valley (13), East Kameng (12) and Lohit at 11 cases. Read on...