NEW DELHI, Oct 25: India logged 862 new coronavirus infections, the lowest in 196 days, taking the tally of COVID-19 cases to 4,46,44,938, while the active cases declined to 22,549, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday.
The death toll climbed to 5,28,980 with three fatalities which include two deaths reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated. One death has been reported from Delhi in the last 24 hours.
The country had earlier reported low Covid cases on April 11 when 796 infections were logged.
The active cases comprise 0.05 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate increased to 98.76 per cent, the ministry said.
A decrease of 644 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.
The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.35 per cent while the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 1.02 per cent, according to the ministry.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,40,93,409, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.18 per cent.
According to the ministry, 219.56 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive. India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.
The country crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23 last year. It crossed the four-crore mark on January 25 this year. (Agencies)

London, October 24: Rishi Sunak will become Britain’s next prime minister after he won the race to lead the Conservative Party, leaving him with the task of steering a deeply divided country through an economic downturn set to leave millions of people poorer.
Sunak, one of the wealthiest politicians in Westminster and set to be the country’s first leader of colour, will be asked to form a government by King Charles, replacing Liz Truss, the outgoing leader who only lasted 44 days in the job before she resigned.
He defeated centrist politician Penny Mordaunt, who failed to get enough backing from lawmakers to enter the ballot, while his rival, the former prime minister Boris Johnson, withdrew from the contest saying he could no longer unite the party.
“This decision is an historic one and shows, once again, the diversity and talent of our party,” Mordaunt said in a statement as she withdrew from the race just minutes before the winner was due to be announced. “Rishi has my full support.” The pound and British government bond prices jumped briefly on news of Mordaunt’s withdrawal, but soon returned to their previous levels. According to an ITV reporter, the king was returning to London and could accept Truss’s resignation either later on Monday or on Tuesday.

Sunak, the 42-year-old former finance minister, becomes Britain’s third prime minister in less than two months, tasked with restoring stability to a country reeling from years of political and economic turmoil.
The multi-millionaire former hedge fund boss will be expected to launch deep spending cuts to try to rebuild Britain’s fiscal reputation, just as the country slides into a recession, dragged down by the surging cost of energy and food.
He will also inherit a political party that has fractured along ideological lines, a challenge that damaged the fortunes of several former Conservative leaders.
PERMA-CRISIS
Britain has been locked in a state of perma-crisis ever since it voted in 2016 to leave the European Union, unleashing a battle at Westminster over the future of the country that remains unresolved to this today.
Johnson, the face of the Brexit vote, led his party to a landslide victory in 2019, only to be driven out of office less than three years later after a series of scandals. His successor Truss lasted just over six weeks before she quit over an economic policy that trashed the country’s economic credibility.
Economists have questioned whether Sunak can tackle the country’s finances while holding the party’s multiple warring factions together.
Finance minister Jeremy Hunt – the fourth person in that role in four months – is due to present a budget on Oct. 31 to plug a black hole in the public finances that is expected to have ballooned to up to 40 billion pounds.
Sunak came to national attention when, aged 39, he became finance minister under Johnson just as the COVID-19 pandemic hit Britain, developing the successful furlough scheme.
The former Goldman Sachs analyst will be the United Kingdom’s first prime minister of Indian origin.
His family migrated to Britain in the 1960s, a period when many people from Britain’s former colonies moved to the country to help it rebuild after the Second World War.
After graduating from Oxford University, he went to Stanford University where he met his wife Akshata Murthy, whose father is Indian billionaire N. R. Narayana Murthy, founder of outsourcing giant Infosys Ltd. (Agencies)

The nine Vice Chancellors (VCs) of various Kerala Universities, who were asked to resign before 11.30 a.m. on Monday by Governor Arif Mohammed Khan in his capacity as the Chancellor of the University, have refused to quit. Instead, the VCs approached the Kerala High Court against the Kerala Governor’s directive.

It may be noted that the Kerala Governor had on Sunday in an unprecedented move directed the nine Vice Chancellors of the state to resign from their respective posts. The Governor had issued the directive on the basis of the Supreme Court verdict directing the Kerala Technical University Vice Chancellor to demit office due to discrepancies in the selection process.

The order of the Governor came as a shock to the Left-front government. In a press conference on Monday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that there was no need for the Vice Chancellors to resign. The Kerala Chief Minister also said that the Governor will have to face the mass uprising against him in the state.

Newly-elected Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday attacked the Centre over India sliding down on the hunger index and said the government should solve the problem rather than discrediting the organisation.

“Rather than discrediting and ignoring reports by organizations, the @BJP4India Govt should work towards solving the hunger crisis. In the last 8 years, we have seen that there has been slow progress on this front and the Govt data also reveals the same,” he said.

“Diwali celebrates victory over defeat and awareness over ignorance, an occasion to celebrate life with renewed hopes and new dreams. May this auspicious occasion light up your life with health, happiness and peace. Happy Diwali!”,Kharge said.

A few days back, the Centre had said that “misinformation seems to be the hallmark of the annually released Global Hunger Index”.

“The index is an erroneous measure of hunger and suffers from serious methodological issues. Three out of the four indicators used for calculation of the index are related to the health of children and cannot be representative of the entire population. The fourth and most important indicator estimate of Proportion of Undernourished (PoU) population is based on an opinion poll conducted on a very small sample size of 3,000,” said a statement by the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

The Global Hunger Report 2022 released by Concern Worldwide and Welt Hunger Hilfe, Non-Government Organisations from Ireland and Germany, respectively, has ranked India at 107 among 121 countries.

Union Home and Cooperative Minister Amit Shah has said that the party will give 25 per cent tickets to new faces in the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections. He, however, added that the winnability of the candidate will be considered for renominations as well as nomination.
In an informal chat with the mediapersons in Vadodara on Sunday evening, Shah said, “There is no fixed strategy of repeat and no repeat, winnability is the only criteria, the party’s parliamentary board will finalise candidates. But the party will nominate at least 25 per cent fresh faces.”

After this statement, the party is likely to nominate 45 to 46 new faces.

Party can renominate candidate even if one has got elected three to four times, if the winnability probability is higher than other aspirant candidates.

The state Assembly strength is 182 seats. In the 2017 Assembly elections, the BJP won 99 seats which increased to 111 after wins in bypolls and turncoats joining them.

Commenting on the AAP’s presence in the Assembly election, Shah said, “In the past, parties had to get independent candidates in fray to divide votes, that place will be replaced by the AAP, independent candidates did not seriously contest elections till last, but the AAP will seriously contest elections till counting is over.”

The former BJP president said the AAP will dent Congress votes and benefit BJP in increasing its votes margin. His calculation is that in the last elections the BJP won some 35 seats with less than 5,000 margin, and now with AAP’s presence in 2022 elections, this will increase the BJP margin on these 35 seats and the party candidates will win with 8000 to 10,000 votes.

He also feels that it is a direct fight between the BJP and Congress and the people will vote BJP to power and most likely Congress will be seated on the opposition bench.

Kargil (Ladakh), October 24: Highlighting the reforms in armed forces by the Centre, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said the induction of women officers will boost the country’s strength.
Prime Minister landed in Kargil on Monday to celebrate Diwali with soldiers.
“For me, all of you have been my family for years now. It is a privilege to spend Diwali with our brave jawans in Kargil,” Prime Minister Modi saids.
“Over the last eight years, we have laid emphasis on implementing reforms in the armed forces. We have opened positions in the forces for women. Women’s power will strengthen our armed forces. The induction of women officers under ‘permanent commission’ will result in the growth of our power,” he said.
PM said the armed forces are the pillar of the country’s safety and security. “A nation is safe when the border is secure, the economy is strong and the society is full of confidence. India wishes this festival of lights paves way for global peace,”
He said it is because the armed forces are protecting borders that every citizen in India sleeps peacefully.
“From this victorious land of Kargil, I wish the countrymen and the world a very happy Diwali. There has not been a single war with Pakistan where Kargil has not hoisted the flag of victory. Diwali means ‘festival of end of terror’ and Kargil made it possible. Our Army in Kargil crushed the fountainhead of terror and people till date remember the Diwali of victory the country celebrated,” Prime Minister said.
He said while the jawans are protecting the borders, every citizen in the country is working towards strengthening the nation.
“Just like all of you are protecting us at the borders, we are working within the country to fight evils like terrorism, Naxalism, corruption. ‘Naxawad’ had taken a huge part of the nation in its grasp, but today that stretch is rapidly decreasing,” PM Modi said.
During the Ukraine war, he said. The Tricolour became a shield for Indian stranded there. “India’s respect has increased across the world. It is happening because India is standing successfully against its internal and external enemies,” he added.
Prime Minister said the Centre is developing hi-tech infrastructure in the border areas with seamless connectivity.
He said in the age of technology armed forces are ready, with new training, new reforms and new technology
“I commend all the three armed forces who have decided that over 400 types of defence equipment will not be imported but rather be built in India. When our jawans fight with made-in-India weapons, they will not only feel proud but also have an element of surprise to defeat the enemy,” he said.
PM Modi said when India’s strength rises, it is beneficial for global peace and prosperity. (Agencies)

The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has greeted the people on Deepavali. He also wished that this festival of lights bring happiness and good health in everyone’s life.

Taking to microblogging site Twitter, the Prime Minister tweeted; “Wishing everyone a Happy Diwali. Diwali is associated with brightness and radiance. May this auspicious festival further the spirit of joy and well-being in our lives. I hope you have a wonderful Diwali with family and friends.”

In a message, the President said, “On the auspicious occasion of Diwali, I extend my warm greetings and best wishes to all the fellow citizens living in India and abroad. Diwali is a festival of happiness and joy. On the day of Diwali, people worship Goddess Lakshmi in their homes and pray for everyone’s happiness and prosperity.”

“The festival of Diwali is also an occasion to further strengthen the spirit of mutual cooperation and harmony. The light of Diwali symbolizes the knowledge that dispels all the darkness of our inner and outer ignorance. May energy and light spread in our lives like a Diya. May the spirit of helping the underprivileged grow deep in the minds of people and let us all continue our tradition of ‘Subh’ and ‘Labh,’” she added.

Diwali is a festival of lights and one of the major festivals celebrated all over India.

Diwali symbolizes the spiritual “victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance.” According to mythology, on this day Lord Ram returned to his kingdom Ayodhya with his wife Sita and brother Lakshman after defeating Ravan in Lanka and serving 14 years of exile.