The country’s COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 95.46 per cent as more than 29 thousand COVID patients have recovered during the last 24 hours.

The Health Ministry said, the total number of recoveries has gone up to over 95 lakh 50 thousand. India’s COVID recoveries have witnessed a steep exponential rise from 50 thousand in May to over 95 lakh in December.

Currently, India’s Case Fatality Rate is at 1.45 per cent, which is one of the lowest globally. India’s cumulative tests for detection of COVID-19 have crossed the 16 crore mark today. 

Enforcement Directorate has attached assets worth 11.86 crore rupees belonging to former chief minister Farooq Abdullah and some others in connection with Jammu Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) scam. While the book value of these attached properties is 11.86 crore rupees, their market value is about 60 to 70 crore rupees.

The ED issued provisional attachment order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and the attached properties are located in Jammu and Srinagar. Two immovable assets are residential, one is a commercial property while three other plots of land have also been attached by the Enforcement Directorate.

Mr Abdullah is being investigated over allegations of misappropriating 113 crore rupees that was sent to the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The allegations pertain to a time when he was president of the JKCA. Mr Abdullah has been questioned by the ED in this case a number of times, the last being in October at Srinagar. 

Election Commission of India has issued advisory to Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Puducherry for transfer and posting of officers connected with conduct of assembly elections to be held next year. ECI has advised that government officers directly connected with the conduct of elections must not be posted in her or his home district.

It said officers against whom the Commission had recommended disciplinary action in past and which is pending or which has resulted in a penalty or the officers who have been charged for any lapse in any election or election related work in the past, should not be assigned any election related duty. Further, any officer, who is due to retire within the coming six months, should not be associated with any election related duty. It also said the officers posted on recommendation of the Commission during 2019 Lok Sabha elections may be exempted from the transfer policy.

The Prime Minister said even during the pandemic, when the whole world is troubled for investment, record FDI and FPI have come to India as the world trusts the Indian economy now. He gave a call for the industry to increase the domestic investment drastically in line with the increased confidence of the world.
 
Delivering the keynote address  virtually at ASSOCHAM Foundation Week 2020 on saturday, the Prime Minister asked the Indian industry to increase their investments in Research and Development especially in sectors like agriculture, defence, space, energy, construction, pharma and transport.
 
 
Mr Modi also urged  all the companies to earmark a certain amount for Research and Development in every sector. He said, the world is moving rapidly towards the fourth industrial revolution. He said, challenges will come in the form of new technology and many solutions will also come.
 
The Prime Minister said this is the time to show Capability, Commitment and Courage of Indian industry to the world. He called upon industries and businesses to put all their energies in the coming years to establish a self-reliant India. He said, in 27 years the country will be celebrating its centenary of Independence and what the country is going to deliver in the coming 27 years will not only determine India’s global role, but will also test both the dreams and dedication of Indians.
 
The Prime Minister said, from corporate governance to profit-sharing, the best policies of the world must be adopted as early as possible and a profit-centric approach should be made purpose-oriented and more integrated with the society.
 
Mr Modi said, the country stands beside enterprises and wealth-creators that will give India’s youth a lot of opportunities. He said, India’s youth is making its name in innovation and the start-up sector.
 
The Prime Minister said, the Government is constantly doing reforms to promote manufacturing in India and more than 10 sectors have been brought under production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme. He said, positive results have been witnessed in a very short period. Mr Modi said, the reforms in the country have influenced in changing the sentiment of the industry from ‘Why India’ to ‘Why not India’ in investing.
 
Mr Modi stressed on the need to have an effective mechanism for how India will meet any sudden demand in the global supply chain. The Prime Minister said, India is also capable of helping the world while meeting its needs.
 
The Prime Minister said that the Government is engaged in providing broadband connectivity to every village in the country so that the reach of the village farmer is also up to Digitally Global Markets.
 
On the occasion, the Prime Minister presented the ASSOCHAM Enterprise of the Century Award to Industrialist Ratan Tata, who received the award on behalf of the TATA Group.
 
The Prime Minister said, for the past 100 years, ASSOCHAM and TATA Group have been involved in improving the economy of the country and the lives of crores of Indians.
 
ASSOCHAM was established in 1920 by promoter Chambers representing all regions of India. Having in its fold over 400 Chambers and Trade Associations, and serving over 4.5 lakh members across India, ASSOCHAM has emerged as the fountainhead of knowledge for Indian industry. 

All India Football Federation (AIFF) has formally announced its candidature to host the AFC Asian Cup 2027 and deliver a brighter future together for football in India and across Asia.
 
Unveiling its plans at the launch in New Delhi, AIFF showcased the unrivalled potential of hosting Asia’s flagship football event in the world’s fastest emerging football market, home to 1.3 billion people.
 
The bid promises to take Asian football to new heights by working in partnership with the AFC to unlock new commercial opportunities, drive growth and build on an ever-growing love for the sport among the country’s youthful population.
 
In addition to the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2017 India is also due to host the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup and the AFC Women’s Asian Cup in 2022.
 
The India 2027 campaign’s powerful logo, revealed at the launch, represents the ambition, commitment, focus and spirit of the bid, epitomized by the royal tiger. The tiger is also an emblem of India’s national team, the Blue Tigers.
 
The slogan, Brighter Future Together, highlights the exceptional opportunity the bid presents for AFC and AIFF to work in partnership and take Indian and Asian football to the next level.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appealled to rich nations to support the purchase of coronavirus vaccines for poor countries.

Mr. Guterres said, it is not with vaccine nationalism that we are going to defeat the COVID, it is with international cooperation. He said, the U.N.-backed COVAX programme needs 5 billion dollar until the end of next month. The program, created to ensure access to COVID-19 vaccines for all countries, currently faces a shortfall of more than 20 billion dollar, he said.

Urging governments to donate excess doses to COVAX the U.N. chief said, at the same time, he sees countries that have bought more vaccines than several times the volume of their population or at least made the bids in that regard. He noted it is in the best interest of the world to ensure broad immunization because nature always strikes back. If we don’t eradicate the disease, a virus can mutate, he added. 

Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu today called for fully tapping the immense tourism potential of the North-Eastern states and stressed the need to improve air connectivity to the region. He said that eco-tourism and cultural tourism can become the mainstay of development in the North-East if the tourism potential was fully leveraged.

Noting the efforts of Central and State governments in providing connectivity and tourism infrastructure, Mr  Naidu said that improving air connectivity to the region can singularly bring a significant positive impact on tourist inflows. Pointing out that India has 26 million outbound tourists every year, Mr Naidu  said that one could assume that most of them would prefer to ‘travel local’ in the post-Covid-19 phase. He said, this presents a huge opportunity for North-Eastern states to promote their tourism sector for this domestic audience.

Virtually releasing the book ‘Oh Mizoram’, written by Governor of Mizoram,  P S Sreedharan Pillai, the Vice President, praised the region for its pristine natural beauty and said that Mizoram’s colorful festivals, folk music, and energetic dance make Mizo society truly unique. He added that often called as “Songbird of the East ”, the Mizos are blessed with a natural talent for music.

The Vice-President said, the whole North-East region presents a mosaic of diverse Indian culture with its more than 220 ethnic groups and an equal number of dialects. Urging the state and central governments to fully tap the tourism potential of the region, he suggested to them to consider the possibility of incentivizing travel to the North-East.

In Cricket, India were 9 for one in their second innings against Australia at Adelaide in the first Test of the 4-match series at stumps on day 2. Mayank Aggarwal and Jasprit Bumrah were at the crease when stumps were drawn.

The visitors lead by 62 runs. Earlier, India bowled out Australia for 191 for a first-innings lead of 53 runs this afternoon. For India, Ravichandran Ashwin claimed 4 wickets while Umesh Yadav bagged 3 wickets.    

India were all out for 244 in the first session of play, adding only 11 runs to an overnight score of 233 for six. Indian captain Virat Kohli had won the toss and elected to bat first. Kohli played a patient captain’s knock of 74 and Ajinkya Rahane with 42 and Cheteshwar Pujara with 43 gave him able support in their first innings.

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal today said that there is tremendous scope for Australian investment into India as India has eased its FDI norms and opened up different sectors.

Addressing the CII session on Enhancing India Australia Bilateral Economic and Trade Relationship, Mr Goyal said that India has also opened up the Agri sector for greater investments in food processing and value addition. He also launched India-Australia Economic Strategy Report.

The Minister said that India is continuously trying to make the FDI policies more facilitative, congenial and supportive of foreign investment. He said that newer areas like space, nuclear energy and defence production will open up good opportunities for the mutual engagement.

The country’s COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 95.40 per cent, as more than 31 thousand COVID patients have recovered during the last 24 hours.

The Health Ministry said, the total number of recoveries has gone up to over 95 lakh 20 thousand. The actual caseload currently comprises only 3.14 per cent of the total positive cases. Presently, the total number of active cases in the country is around three lakh 13 thousand.

During the past 24 hours, 22 thousand 889 new cases were reported taking the total number of positive cases in the country to over 99 lakh. Currently, India’s Case Fatality Rate is at 1.45 per cent, which is one of the lowest globally. During the last 24 hours, 338 deaths were reported taking the toll to one lakh 44 thousand 789.

According to Indian Council of Medical Research, more than 11 lakh 13 thousand tests were conducted during the last 24 hours. The total number of samples tested so far has reached 15 crore 89 lakh.

The Prime Minister assured that the intention of the government is as holy as the river of Maa Ganga and Maa Narmada. He said, the government has stopped black marketing of urea. Prime Minister Modi said that the opposition parties are spreading the illusion that the MSP system will end. He said, there is no greater lie than this.

Prime Minister Modi said that the second big lie is that the mandis will end. He assured that no agricultural produce market of the country will be closed and in fact they are going to spend more than 500 crore rupees on their modernization. He said, the Farming Agreement Act they have enacted provides protection to farmers.

The Prime Minister clarified that the new law has given freedom to farmers to sell in the mandi or outside. He said in contract farming, only crops or produce are transacted but the land remains with the farmer, the agreement has nothing to do with the land. Even if a natural disaster strikes, the farmer gets full money. The Prime Minister said, the new law has ensured a share of windfall profits to the farmers.

On this occasion, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also inaugurated agricultural infrastructure works worth more than 70 crore rupees. Kisan Credit Cards were also distributed to two thousand fishermen and livestock farmers. The Chief Minister said that all the farmers of Madhya Pradesh are with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and congratulated and thanked him for implementing the new agricultural laws.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the government is ready to talk to farmers on every issue. Addressing more than 50 lakh farmers of Madhya Pradesh at the Kisan Mahasammelan organized at Raisen virtually today, the Prime Minister assured to address the concerns of farmers on recent agricultural reforms. He stressed that there is no reason for mistrust in these reforms done by the government and there is no place for lies.

He asked the people to ponder, why would the Swaminathan Committee report be implemented, if the Government intended to remove the MSP system.  Mr Modi accused the opposition of using farmers for politics whereas the NDA government is dedicated to farmers for their development.

The Prime Minister stressed that all the three agricultural laws are extremely beneficial for the farmers. He said, these laws are very important for the progress of agriculture and these reforms should have been implemented in the country 25-30 years ago. He said the previous governments mentioned about implementing them in their manifestos but did not act. Mr Modi said, the Swaminathan Committee report on agrarian reform was suppressed by the previous government, while the NDA government has implemented it.

Prime Minister Modi said, the Madhya Pradesh government is completely dedicated to the farmers and continuous work is being done for the welfare of the farmers in the state. He said, 35 lakh farmers of Madhya Pradesh whose crops were affected due to hailstorms are being provided with a financial aid of 1600 crore rupees which is being transferred directly to their bank accounts.  

In Jammu and Kashmir, polling is now on for the 7th phase of District Development Council elections. In this phase, 31 DDC constituencies are electing their representatives. Of these, 13 are in Kashmir Valley and 18 in Jammu division.

AIR correspondent reports that, amid severe cold and elaborate security arrangements, the polling began at seven in the morning and will conclude at 2 in the afternoon.148 candidates are in fray for 13 constituencies of Kashmir Valley and 150 for 18 in Jammu division.

Nearly seven lakh voters are going to decide the political fate of these candidates. In all 1852 polling booths have been set up in both divisions for today’s polling. In earlier 6 phases, over 50% polling was recorded in 221 DDC constituencies. The polling for the remaining 28 constituencies will be held on December 19 in the last phase and counting will take place on 22nd of December.