More than five crore 55 lakh four thousand doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the country so far. The Health and Family Welfare Ministry has informed today that over 23 lakh 58 thousand doses of vaccines have been administered to the beneficiaries in the last 24 hours.

Meanwhile, the country’s COVID-19 recovery rate stood at 95.08 per cent with a total recovery of 32,987 people within 24 hours. The Health Ministry said, more than one crore 12 lakh people have already recovered from the infection. However, the active caseload is continuously rising in the country due to sudden spike in the cases reported from various States. 

At present, there are 4,21,066 active cases in the country. Amid the rising new cases, a total of 59,118 new cases have been reported in the country in the last 24 hours taking the cumulative positive cases to over one crore 17 lakh. Five States, Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat have reported a surge in daily new cases. 

Maharashtra continues to report the highest daily new cases at 35,952. It is followed by Punjab with 2,661 while Karnataka reported 2,523 new cases. Three States, Maharashtra, Kerala and Punjab together account for over 73 per cent of the total active cases in the country.

The Health Ministry said, 257 deaths have been reported within a day taking the toll to over one lakh 60 thousand across the country.

Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan has said that government is ensuring supplies of vaccines to the states as per their per day vaccination capacities. Speaking at the India Economic Conclave, he said, government is keeping a close watch on the number of beneficiaries being vaccinated each day and number of people in the prioritized age group vaccinated till date. He said, the ongoing vaccination drive is being strengthened on a daily basis to increase the number of vaccinations administered each day. All stakeholders are involved in this drive to make it a Jan Andolan.

Dr Harsh Vardhan said, no significant adverse event following immunization has been reported in India till date. The Minister said, all cases of adverse events following Immunization are monitored through a well-structured and robust surveillance system. He reiterated that both the vaccines being used in the country are completely safe and immunogenic. Dr Harsh Vardhan said, the detailed concerted efforts of Central and State Governments and India’s investment in the Test, Track and Treat strategy have resulted in recording one of the lowest cases and deaths per million population.

National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued notices to the Chief Secretary, and the Director General of Police, Rajasthan over complaints of exponential increase in the incidents of crime against women in the State.

The Commission has taken cognizance of complaints alleging exponential increase in the incidents of crime against women in Rajasthan. In a statement, the NHRC said, allegedly, 80 thousand cases were registered in the State in the last one year.

The Commission has observed that the allegations and the incidents appear to be serious in nature indicating violation of human rights. It said, it is the duty of the State to protect the rights of the women and punish the perpetrators without fail.

Accordingly, the Commission has issued notices to the Chief Secretary, and the Director General of Police, Rajasthan directing them to enquire into the specific incidents and submit an Action Taken Report within four weeks.

They will also inform the Commission about the steps being taken by the State for inspiring confidence in the women and the girls ensuring their safety and security in the State.

In view of upcoming festivals, the Centre has asked the States to take all necessary measures to regulate crowds by ensuring strict observance of COVID appropriate behaviours. They include wearing of mask and maintaining social distance.

In a letter to State Chief Secretaries while citing upcoming festivals including Holi, Shab- e- Barat and Easter, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla urged them to issue necessary instructions to the District Administrations and Police Authorities to scrupulously enforce COVID norms and SOPs in all public gatherings during these festivals. He also asked  States to launch awareness campaign to sensitize the people in this regard.

Earlier, Union Health Ministry had also advised States and Union Territories to consider on imposing local restrictions during these festivals and limit mass gatherings in view of rising cases of Covid 19.

Election Commission has banned the conducting of any exit poll and publicizing their results between 7 AM today and 7.30 PM on 29th of next month.

The Commission has notified this period during which publishing or publicizing the result of exit polls by means of the print or electronic media or in any other manner will be prohibited in the ongoing assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and  Puducherry as well bye polls in various states.

The poll panel has also prohibited displaying any election matter including results of any opinion poll or any other poll survey, in any electronic media during the period of 48 hours ending with the hour fixed for conclusion of poll in the poll-bound areas in each phase of the election and bye-elections. 

Polling has begun for the first phase of assembly elections in Assam and West Bengal. In Assam, polling began at 7 this morning and will conclude at 6 PM. Voting is taking place for 47 constituencies spread over 12 districts. 264 candidates including 23 women are in fray for 47 seats. Over 81 lakh voters including 40.32 lakh women and 124 Third Gender persons will decide the fate of these candidates.

There are three main alliances this time including the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance with partners Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) and Mahajot or Grand Alliance led by the Congress.

It includes All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), Bodoland Peoples’ Front (BPF) and the Left parties while yet another conglomerate of Assom Jatiya Party (AJP) and Raijor Dal is also there. Congress has fielded 43 candidates, AJP has 41, BJP-39, AGP-10 while 78 independents along with others are also trying their luck.

The prominent leaders contesting during the First Phase include Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal from Majuli, State Congress President Ripun Bora from Gohpur, Asom Gana Parishad President Atul Bora from Boka khat, Raijor Dal President Akhil Gogoi from Sivsagar and Assam Jatiya Parishad President Lurinjyoti Gogoi from Duliajan and Nahakatia.

In West Bengal, polling began at 7 AM and will conclude at 6:30 PM. 191 candidates including 21 women are vying for the 30 seats spread over five districts in this phase. Over 74 lakh voters including 36.28 lakh women and 63 Third Gender persons will decide the fate of these candidates.

Out of 30 seats, BJP is contesting 29 and alliance partner AJSU is fighting from the Baghmundi seat in Purulia district while TMC is contesting in 29 seats and supporting an independent candidate in Joypur Constituency after the nomination of the party candidate was rejected. Congress, Left parties and their alliance partner Indian Secular Front are fighting under the banner of Sanyukt Morcha.

Election Commission is using Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) along with Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) at every Polling Station, with a view to enhance the transparency and credibility of the election process, as VVPAT allows the voter to verify his/her vote. The arrangements have already been made to ensure the availability of adequate number of EVMs and VVPATs for the smooth conduct of elections.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged people to vote in record numbers in Assam assembly elections. He particularly called upon young friends to vote. Mr Modi also requested all those who are voters in the seats polling today in West Bengal to exercise their franchise in record numbers.

India will continue to supply COVID-19 vaccines to partner countries over the coming weeks and months in a phased manner. Official Sources said, India has not imposed any ban on exports of vaccines unlike many other countries.

More than 60 million doses of Made in India vaccines have been supplied to over 75 countries so far. 

No other country has supplied the world with as many doses as India has supplied so far. India commenced domestic COVID-19 vaccination programme on 16th January this year and within days, it also commenced external supplies.

India remains committed to help the world with vaccines, including through COVAX facilities. Given the current manufacturing capacity and requirements of national vaccination programmes, there may be a need to calibrate the supply schedules from time to time. 

Central Bureau of Investigation has conducted searches at more than hundred places across India in connection with more than 30 cases of bank fraud amounting to over 3,700 crore rupees. These searches are part of Special Drive to book the fraudsters on the complaints received from different public sector banks. The complainant banks include Indian Oversea Bank, Union Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank, State Bank of India, IDBI, Canara Bank, Indian Bank and Central Bank of India.

The cities or towns where the searches were conducted include Kanpur, Delhi, Ghaziabad, Mathura, Noida, Gurugram, Chennai, Thiruvarur, Vellore, Tiruppur, Bangalore, Gantur, Hyderabad, Bellary, Vadodara, Kolkata, West Godavari, Surat, Mumbai, Bhopal, Nimadi, Tirupati, Visakhapatnam, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Karnal, Jaipur and Sri Ganganagar.

During searches, various incriminating documents and other material, digital evidence have been recovered.

CBI has been receiving a number of complaints from various  Banks  alleging cheating, diversion of funds, submission of fake or forged documents by different defaulting firms while obtaining loans or credit facilities. There have been allegations that such firms have been turning defaulters resulting into the loans becoming Non Performing Assets, thus causing heavy loss to the public sector banks. 

Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh has filed a public interest litigation in the Bombay High Court seeking an immediate and unbiased probe against Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh. 

This comes a day after the Supreme Court asked Singh to approach the Bombay High Court with his grievances. The apex court had said that Singh’s claims that Anil Deshmukh had asked police officer Sachin Vaze to collect 100 crore rupees from bars and restaurants as extortion money was quite serious. 

In his plea filed before the High Court, the former Mumbai top cop has reiterated that Deshmukh held several meetings with Mumbai police officials in February this year. Seeking a CBI probe, the plea added that Deshmukh regularly interfered with police functioning and often misused his office. 

BJP has released a list of candidates for Lok Sabha by-polls in six States. Party has fielded Mangala Suresh Angadi for Belgaum Lok Sabha by-poll in Karnataka and K Ratna Prabha for Tirupati Lok Sabha in Andhra Pradesh.

Ganga Narayan Singh will contest from Madhupur assembly seat in Jharkhand, Ashrit Pattanayak in Pipili seat in Odisha, Rahul Singh in Damoh, Madhya Pradesh and Deepti Maheshwari from Rajsamand seat in Rajasthan.

Byelections to the Lok Sabha Constituencies and 14 Assembly Constituencies in various States will be held on 17th April. 

Campaigning for the first phase of polls in Assam concluded last evening and Voting will be held tomorrow for 47 assembly constituencies. People will exercise their right to franchise in more than eleven thousand five hundred and thirty polling booths spread across the State.

As the intense election campaigning has subsided from last evening, now all turned to the voters of Assam who will decide the fate of contesting candidates in the voting process to be held tomorrow in the first phase election in Assam.

The concerned district administrations has set up all necessary polls related structures and polling personals started journey to their designated polling stations.

Meanwhile, the police have also intensified patrolling and checking in various places to avoid any unwanted situation. The Assam Assembly Election will have three phases and the counting will be held on 2nd May.

The Election Commission is fully geared up to conduct safe, smooth and peaceful polls on Saturday in the first phase in Assam. Polling will be held in 47 seats in this phase.

Chief Electoral Officer Nitin Khade  said that a total of 264 candidates including 23 women are in fray in the first phase. Mr. Khade said that there would be 11 thousand 537 polling stations in the first phase.  He said that there would be 11 thousand 537 polling stations in the first phase. The CEO mentioned that all Covid related protocols would be followed during the voting process. Mr. Khade mentioned around cash and liquor of  88 crore rupees were seized by the various agencies in the state so far.

50 percent polling stations will be covered through a web casting system in Assam. Participating in an AIR talk show last night, Joint CEO Rahul Chandra Das said that webcasting will be arranged especially in the vulnerable, critical and sensitive polling stations, and in those polling stations having large numbers of electors.

He said that all arrangements are put in place to ensure free , fair and safe polling. Mr. Das informed that special emphasis has been given to ensure voters safety in the wake of Covid 19.

Similarly, polling will also take place in 30 assembly constituencies of Five districts of West Bengal tomorrow under the first phase of election. These districts are East Medinipur, West Medinipur, Purulia, Jhargram and Bankura. The Election Commission is all set to conduct the polls smoothly.Polling parties will reach polling stations by this evening. AIR correspondent reports that security has been briefed up in those places where polling is scheduled tomorrow. 

The Election Commission has deployed a large number of paramilitary forces to ensure a peaceful and fearless environment for the polling. The borders of the state are being closely monitored by the security personnel. Vehicles entering the borders of the district and cities are being checked by the paramilitary personnel in the presence of a magistrate.

Meanwhile, senior leaders of BJP, Trinamool Congress and Sanyukta Marcha have shifted their election campaign in those constituencies where polling will take place in the second and third phase.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a two day visit to Bangladesh from today. The visit is in connection with the commemoration of three epochal events including Mujib Borsho, the birth centenary of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The other events are 50 years of the establishment of diplomatic ties between India and Bangladesh and 50 years of Bangladesh’s war of liberation. During the visit, the Prime Minister will attend the National Day programme of Bangladesh as the guest of honour. He will also call on Bangladesh President Md. Abdul Hamid. Foreign Minister of Bangladesh Dr. A.K. Abdul Momen will call on the Prime Minister.

This will be the first visit of Prime Minister Modi to a foreign country since the outbreak of the Covid pandemic, which highlights the priority India attaches to Bangladesh. The Prime Minister had last visited Bangladesh in 2015.

We spoke to our correspondent Yogesh Pandya from Air Force Station Palam just before the departure of Prime Minister Modi to Dhaka.

Prime Minister Modi will be the guest of honour at the National Day celebrations of Bangladesh in Dhaka today. It will also commemorate the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation of Bangladesh, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Prime Minister will also visit Bangabandhu’s Samadhi in Tungipara to pay his respect. He will also visit the ancient Jashoreshwari Kali Temple, one of the 51 Shaktipeeths in the Puranic tradition to offer prayers to Goddess Kali. He will also visit Orakandi and interact with the representatives of the Matua community. Apart from this, Prime Minister will also have substantive discussions with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. He will also meet Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid and dignitaries.

This is the first foreign visit of Prime Minister Modi after Covid19 pandemic, which itself signifies its importance. Mr. Modi is visiting Bangladesh at the invitation of his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina. 

Moreover, Bangladesh is our friendly neighboring country, which shares deep cultural, linguistic and people-to-people ties with India.

India and Bangladesh are likely to sign several MoUs during Prime Minister Modi’s visit. These will be in the field of disaster management and cooperation between some institutions of the two countries. The focus will remain on people to people contact and strengthening the bilateral ties on the strong bonding of history, culture, language and other similarities. India will also extend its support to Bangladesh’s remarkable economic development. India will also express its solidarity and support for Bangladesh’s fight against COVID-19.

Both the leaders first met in 2014 on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. Since then, both the leaders have already met several times and are enjoying strong personal bonding, which has further strengthened the bilateral ties between the two neighboring countries. Prime Minister Modi described Bangladesh as a key pillar of India’s “Neighbourhood First” Policy, while his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina also called India a true friend.

In Israel, 67.2 per cent eligible voters cast their ballots to elect a new Parliament yesterday. This was the fourth parliamentary elections in two-years to elect 120-member Knesset. Israel’s Central Elections Committee does not expect all of the votes to be counted this afternoon due to coronavirus-related restrictions.
 
According to exit polls, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and its allies are projected to win 52 or 53 seats in the 120-seat Knesset. Mr Netanyahu has been in power continuously since 2009, having served an earlier three-year term in the late 1990s.
 
His campaign focused on Israel’s world-leading Covid-19 vaccination programme and his diplomatic success in normalising ties with some Arab countries. Yair Lapid, a former finance minister who heads the centrist Yesh Atid party, has emerged as Netanyahu’s main challenger.

Union Health Minister has written to the States to immediately undertake necessary measures for expansion of covid 19 vaccination drive to include  beneficiaries aged 45 years and above. Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan has written to the Chief Secretaries and Administrators of all States and Union Territories to direct the concerned officials in this regard.
 
He said, they should ensure wider dissemination of information of such expansion amongst citizens for increased uptake of vaccination services. He said, special focus should be given on optimal utilization of the  capacity of COVID-19 vaccination centres while minimizing the wastage of vaccines. Mr Bhushan said that National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19, NEGVAC has been guiding all aspects of COVID-19 vaccination drive on the basis available scientific evidence.
 
Based on the recommendation of NEGVAC, the government of India has now decided to expand the prioritized age group to include all persons aged 45 years and above for COVID-19 vaccination from 1st April,2021. He said there will now be no need for a comorbidity certificate for people aged 45 years to 59 years. The CoWIN software is also being suitably  modified for doing away with the need for confirmation of comorbidities  at the time of online registration  and on-site registration  or for uploading the comorbidity certificate at the time of vaccination. The registration on CoWIN would begin from 1st of April, 2021.

American credit rating agency Fitch has revised India’s GDP growth estimate to 12.8% for next fiscal from the previous 11% on the back of a stronger carryover effect, a looser fiscal stance, and better virus containment.
 
The ratings agency, in its latest Global Economic Outlook GEO, anticipates the level of the country’s GDP to remain well below its pre-pandemic forecast trajectory. Fitch also expects GDP growth to ease to 5.8% in Fiscal Year 2023.
 
In a report it said, India’s recovery from the depths of the lockdown-induced recession in the second quarter of 2020  has been swifter than expected. GDP surpassed its pre-pandemic level in the fourth quarter of current fiscal.
 
It also added that High-frequency indicators point to a strong start to 2021. The manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index PMI remained elevated in February, while the pickup in mobility and a rise in the services PMI point to further gains in the services sector.
 
The ratings agency notes that it no longer expects the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to cut its policy rate, owing to a brighter short-term growth outlook and a more limited decline in inflation than it had forecast.