(Contains Press releases concerning Covid-19, issued in last 24 hours, inputs from PIB Field Offices and Fact checks undertaken by PIB)
Updates on Covid-19 from Ministry of Health and Family Welfare: Recovery Rate further climbs up to 62.42%; 18 States/UTs have Recovery Rate more than National average; Fatality Rate declines further to 2.72%
The trend of progressive increase in the number of recovered COVID-19 patients continues. The last 24 hours saw a total of 19,138 COVID-19 patients get cured, taking the cumulative figure of recovered cases among COVID-19 patients to 4,95,515. Consequently, the national recovery rate is 62.42% today. There are 2,76,882 active cases and all are under medical supervision. As of today, we have 1218 Dedicated COVID Hospitals, 2705 Dedicated COVID Healthcare Centres and 10,301 COVID Care Centres. There are as many as 18 States/UTs with Recovery Rate more than the national average. At the national level, the Case Fatality Rate has declined to 2.72%. This is lower than the Fatality Rates observed in many other countries in the world. There are 30 States/UTs which have a fatality rate lower than the national average. Acute focus on ensuring the nationwide implementation of Test, Track and Treat strategy has led to 1,10,24,491 samples tested for COVID-19 identification. The tests/day also continue to depict an upward trend- during the last 24 hours 2,83,659 samples have been tested. The testing lab network in the country is further strengthened with 835 labs in the government sector and 334 private labs. There are as many as 1169 labs in the country.
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More than 41 thousand Ayushman Bharat- Health & Wellness Centres (AB-HWCs) provide Universal and Comprehensive Primary Health Care especially during COVID-19
Health and Wellness Centers (HWCs) form the primary pillar of Ayushman Bharat envisaging to provisioning of universal and comprehensive primary health care through transformation of 1,50,000 Sub Health Centres and Primary Health Centres into HWCs by 2022. There are numerous examples of the extraordinary contribution being made by the AB-HWCs in the fight against COVID-19. As a testimony of the foundational work in the communities they serve, 8.8 crore footfalls have been recorded at the HWCs in the five months since February 1st of this year. Apart from this, in the last five months, 1.41 crore individuals were screened at the HWCs for hypertension, 1.13 crore for diabetes and 1.34 crore for oral, breast or cervical cancer. Medicines were dispensed at the HWCs to about 5.62 lakh patients of hypertension and 3.77 lakh diabetes patients during the month of June alone, despite the challenges posed by COVID-19. As many as 6.53 lakh yoga and wellness sessions have also been organised at the HWCs in the period since the COVID-19 outbreak. From January to June, 2020, additional 12,425 HWCs were operationalized, increasing the number of HWCs from 29,365 to 41,790.
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PM Shri Narendra Modi dedicated Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Power project to the Nation
The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi dedicated to the Nation the Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Power project to the Nation via video conference today. It is Asia's largest power project. Speaking on the occasion the Prime Minister said the Rewa project will make the entire region a major hub for pure and clean energy in this decade. He said in all the programs of the government, priority is being given to environmental protection as well as Ease of Living. He referred to programmes like Swachch Bharat, supply of LPG cylinders to the poor households, the development of CNG networks as one which focussed on Ease of Living and improving the lives of the poor and the middle class. Referring to the ongoing crisis owing to the pandemic COVID-19, the Prime Minister said for either the Government or the society, compassion and vigilance are the greatest motivators to tackle this difficult challenge. He said right from the beginning of the Lockdown the Government ensured that the poor and needy are assured of supply of food and fuel. He said with the same spirit, the Government decided to continue the free supply of food and LPG till November this year, even during the phase of unlockdown. Not only this, the government is also giving full contribution to the EPF account of millions of private sector employees. Similarly, through the PM-Swanidhi scheme, those who have the least access to the system get benefitted.
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Text of PM's address at the dedication of 750 MW Rewa Solar Project to the Nation
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Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship launches AI-based ASEEM digital platform to bridge demand-supply gap of skilled workforce across sectors
In an endeavour to improve the information flow and bridge the demand-supply gap in the skilled workforce market, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship today launched ‘Aatamanirbhar Skilled Employee Employer Mapping (ASEEM)’ portal to help skilled people find sustainable livelihood opportunities. Apart from recruiting a skilled workforce, the Artificial Intelligence-based platform has been envisioned to strengthen their career pathways by handholding them through their journeys to attain industry-relevant skills and explore emerging job opportunities, especially in the post COVID era. Announcing the launch of the ASEEM portal, Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey, Minister of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, said that the initiative aims to accelerate India’s journey towards recovery by mapping skilled workforce and connecting them with relevant livelihood opportunities in their local communities especially in the post COVID era.
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Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh holds telephonic conversation with Defence Minister of Republic of Korea
Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh today spoke over telephone with Minister of National Defence of Republic of Korea (RoK) Mr Jeong Kyeong-Doo. The two Defence Ministers had discussions on issues pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic situation. Shri Rajnath Singh informed Mr JeongKyeong-Doo on India’s contribution to international efforts against COVID-19 and discussed areas of mutual cooperation in the global fight against the pandemic. The Ministers agreed to work together to deal with the complex challenges posed by this pandemic. During the telephonic conversation, the Ministers reviewed the progress on various bilateral defence cooperation initiatives and expressed commitment to further promote defence cooperation engagements between the Armed Forces.
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Quick Estimates of Index of Industrial Production and Use-Based Index for the Month of May, 2020 (Base 2011-12=100)
The Quick Estimates of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) are released on 12th of every month (or previous working day if 12th is a holiday) with a six weeks lag and compiled with data received from source agencies, who in turn receive the data from the producing factories/ establishments. In view of the preventive measures and announcement of nation-wide lockdown by the Government to contain spread of COVID-19 pandemic, majority of the industrial sector establishments were not operating from the end of March, 2020 onwards. This has had an impact on the items being produced by the establishments during the period of lockdown and the subsequent periods of conditional relaxations in restrictions. The Index for the month of May 2020 stands at 88.4 as compared to 53.6 for April 2020, indicating a graded pickup in industrial activity in the economy. The number of units responding has improved in May 2020 as compared to the earlier months of lockdown. The weighted response rate at time of QE of April 2020 was 87 percent which is now revised upwards to 91 percent at first revision.
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States/UTs can complete distribution of remaining free food grains and whole gram allocated under AatmaNirbhar Bharat scheme by 31st August 2020
Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution Shri Ram Vilas Paswan has said, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi started the two biggest food grains distribution scheme-PMGKAY and ANBA for poor and needy persons, so that no one sleeps hungry at the time of Covid-19 pandemic. Shri Paswan also briefed media about the cabinet decision to allow extra time period for distribution of balance of allocated free food grains to beneficiaries of AatmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyan till 31st August 2020.Shri Paswan said that the implementation of these two schemes will ameliorate the hardships faced by the poor and needy due to economic disruption caused by Covid-19 outbreak in the country. The minister informed that the states and UTs have distributed 2,32,433 MT of food grains to 2.24 crore beneficiaries in May and to 2.25 crore beneficiaries in June,2020. He informed that around 33,620 MT whole gram have been dispatched to the states and UTs. He mentioned that a total of 201.1 LMT food grains have been allocated for PMGKAY-2 to States and UTs for the 5 months period July to November 2020. This includes 91.14 LMT wheat and 109.94 LMT rice.
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EESL signs agreement with NOIDA authority to install EV charging units and related infrastructure
Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a joint venture of PSUs under the Ministry of Power, Government of India, has signed an agreement with the New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (NOIDA) to promote electric vehicles and install public EV charging stations & related infrastructure. The partnership will also facilitate the creation of an infrastructural ecosystem to accelerate e-mobility uptake as the nation emerges from the lockdown post COVID-19 pandemic.
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Bamboo sector will be one of the important components of India's Post-COVID economy: Dr.Jitendra Singh
Union Minister of State Dr Jitendra Singh today said that Bamboo sector will be one of the important components of India’s Post-COVID economy. Addressing a webinar with various clusters of Cane and Bamboo Technology Centre (CBTC) and persons associated with Bamboo Trade, he said that Bamboo will propel the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan in the North Eastern Region and isgoing to be an important vehicle of trade for India and the sub-continent. The Minister said that Bamboo is not only vital to North East India's Post- COVID economy but it will also herald a new momentum for Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s clarion call of “Vocal for Local”.
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INPUTS FROM PIB FIELD OFFICES
- Chandigarh: World Youth Skills Day will be observed on 15th July, 2020 in the challenging environment of COVID-19. The pandemic and lockdown measures have led to the worldwide halt of all activities including the technical institutions. However, the need of skill development has increased due to slow down of economic activities and attrition in the employment. In this context, Chandigarh Skill Development Mission in collaboration with India Skills has decided to celebrate this day of Youth through digitization/online interaction mode. In this endeavor, Chandigarh Skill Development Mission (CSDM) has launched a series of Webinars, which started on 7th July 2020 and will continue till 15th July 2020 ie World Youth Skill Day.
- Punjab: Even as the state government is prepared to launch its pilot Rapid Antigen Testing project in five of the worst affected districts, Punjab Chief Minister has given the go-ahead for establishment of a Plasma Bank to facilitate Covid plasma therapy treatment, which is already being carried out as an ICMR trial project in the state’s government hospitals. The Plasma Bank would serve as a ready inventory source for seriously ill patients or those at risk of severe disease, and thus will enable a wider range of adults to be treated with convalescent plasma.
- Haryana: Haryana Minister of State for Women and Child Development has launched a campaign started by the Haryana State Women's Commission to distribute masks and sanitizers so that people can be saved from getting affected due to Novel Corona Virus. She said that to contain the COVID-19 infection, we should strictly adhere to the guidelines which issued by time to time by Centre and State Government. Beside this, people should be made aware about this Pandemic, so that this Pandemic can be eradicated as soon as possible.
- Maharashtra: 6,875 new patients have been identified as Covid positive in the state over the last 24 hours, taking the state tally to over 2.30 lakh cases. The number of patients cured is 1.27 lakh leaving 93,652 active cases. The count of coronavirus infected patients in Mumbai has gone up to 88,795. Meanwhile, the state government is contemplating to fix a price cap for Rapid Antibody Tests in Maharashtra.
- Gujarat: In Gujarat, the single biggest spike of 861 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, has taken the state tally to 39,280. The maximum of 307 new cases have been reported from Surat city and Surat district. Ahmedabad city recorded 153 new cases, while 43 cases have been reported from Vadodara. The number of active cases in the state is 9,528. The Foods and Drugs Control Authority of Gujarat has unearthed a black market racket of the drug - Tocilizumab, considered to be quite effective in the treatment of Covid-19 patients. Tocilizumab drug is said to be very effective in the treatment of Corona infection and is right now being imported from Switzerland through a single Indian firm. However, the demand far outweighs the supply which is very limited. This is the reason for the drug being sold in the black market.
- Rajasthan: The COVID-19 tally of Rajasthan has gone up to 22, 678 with the report of 115 new cases this morning. Maximum of these cases are from Pali district(35), followed by Jaipur (22) and Ajmer (10) .
- Madhya Pradesh: 305 new positive cases have been identified in the state on Thursday. As a result the COVID-19 patient count has gone up to 16341 in Madhya Pradesh. While there are 3,475 active patients presently, the number of recoveries has gone up to 12,232.
- Chhattisgarh: 133 new cases have been identified which have pushed the corona infection count in Chhattisgarh to 3,666. However, the number of active patients in the state is 748.
- Goa: 112 new samples have tested positive for COVID-19 in Goa taking the state tally to 2,151. Out of these, 869 are active cases.
- Assam: In Assam 4 more COVID-19 patients admitted in GMCH ICU succumbed to their infection today tweeted Health Minister.
- Manipur: Autonomous District Council of Chandel, Manipur donated three foot operated hand sanitiser dispensers, hand sanitisers, masks and COVID-19 awareness posters to district administration. One lady doctor of JNIMS has tested positive for Covid19. Total number of infected persons in Jiribam district of Manipur has reached 51.
- Meghalaya: 26 more persons from BSF, Umpling, Meghalaya have tested positive for COVID19. The total active cases in the state stands at 121 while 45 have recovered so far.
- Mizoram: 23 new Covid-19 cases confirmed in Mizoram today taking the tally to 226 with 83 active cases.
- Nagaland: 36 new positive cases of COVID-19 have been detected in Nagaland taking the total tally of positive cases to 732 with 428 active cases and 304.
- Kerala: State Health Minister K.K.Shylaja says situation in Poonthura, in the state capital, is very critical and she warned the public to exercise caution while interacting with people from other states. Covid-19 has spread across Tamil Nadu and many people from there come to Kerala for trade. The Minister also urged people not to believe in the false campaign against antigen test. Meanwhile, hundreds of residents in Poonthura protested in open defiance of the triple lockdown imposed. Fishing and fish selling has been banned in Kollam and Alleppey. 339 new active cases of Covid-19 were detected in the state yesterday, out of which 133 were cases of local transmission and seven with unknown sources. 2,795 patients are still undergoing treatment and 1,85,960 people in quarantine in different districts.
- Tamil Nadu: Palm reader infects 13 people in Karaikal, Puducherry. AIADMK MLAs hold dharna in Puducherry legislative assembly premises, demand Covid-19 relief to every family holding a ration card. TN State Minister for Cooperation Sellur K Raju tests positive for Covid-19; two other ministers were tested positive for the infection earlier along with 11 State MLAs. As cases spike in Tamil Nadu districts, Central team visits state. After a marginal dip over the last two days, the State on Thursday recorded 4,231 fresh cases, of which 1,216 were in Chennai. Total cases till yesterday: 1,26,581 Active cases: 46,652 Deaths: 1765 Active cases in Chennai: 20,271.
- Karnataka: Chief Minister in home quarantine after three staffers test positive for Covid-19. ASHA workers to go on state-wide strike on Friday over issues mostly related to their remuneration and terms of work. The Karnataka High Court directed the State government to submit the status of the migrant workers who had chosen to remain in Bengaluru. State Government decides to promote all intermediate semester students pursuing degree & post-graduation courses including engineering, and diploma courses for the academic year 2019-20 without examinations. 2228 new cases, 957 discharges & 17 deaths reported yesterday. Total positive cases: 31,105 Active cases: 17,782 Deaths: 486.
- Andhra Pradesh: APSRTC to launch ‘Pratham’ mobile application, on July 20 to encourage cashless transactions by passengers. The school education commissioner issued orders stating that all educational institutions to remain closed till July 31. AP Intermediate Board decides to pass all Second Year failed students in compartmental. State excludes Tirumala from containment zone after a controversy. 1608 new cases, 981 discharged and 15 deaths reported during last 24 hours after testing 21,020 samples. Total cases: 25,422, Active cases: 11,936 Deaths: 292 Discharges: 13,194.
- Telangana: Health Minister Eatala Rajender requested recovered Covid-19 patients to come forward and donate plasma to the ones undergoing treatment. State now has the highest positivity rate of Covid-19 cases in the country. Just a couple of weeks ago, the state was trailing Maharashtra and Delhi. Now, it tops the chart at 21.91% (as on July 8). This is three times more than the national positivity rate of 7.14%. Total cases reported till yesterday: 30,946 Active cases: 12,423 Deaths: 331 Discharges :18,192.
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