NEW DELIH, Oct 22: India saw a single-day rise of 2,112 new infections raising the COVID-19 tally to 4,46,40,748, while the number of active cases declined to 24,043, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Saturday.
The death toll climbed to 5,28,957 with four fatalities which includes three deaths reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated. One death has been reported from West Bengal in a span of 24 hours.
The active cases comprise 0.05 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has increased to 98.76 per cent, the health ministry said.
A decrease of 994 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 case count in a span of 24 hours.

The number of active cases stood at 25,037 on Friday.
The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.01 per cent. The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 0.97 per cent, according to the health ministry.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,40,87,748, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.18 per cent.
According to the ministry, 219.53 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 one crore on December 19.

India crossed the grim milestone of two crore coronavirus cases on May 4, three crore on June 23 last year and four crore on January 25 this yea

After a political row erupted over the former Union Home Minister and Congress veteran Shivraj Patil’s controversial remark that the concept of ‘jihad’ finds mention not only in the Quran but in the Bhagwad Gita and in Christianity as well, the Congress on Friday disassociated itself from the latter’s remarks and called it “unacceptable”.

At a book launch event in the national capital on Thursday, Shivraj Patil said that Lord Krishna also taught lessons of jihad to Arjun in a part of Gita in the Mahabharat inviting controversy. He also claimed that the concept of ‘jihad’ finds mention not only in the Quran but in the Bhagwad Gita and in Christianity as well.

Taking to Twitter, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh on Friday shared an excerpt from Jawaharlal Nehru’s “Discovery of India” where the former PM talks about Geeta’s ‘universality’.

“My senior colleague Shivraj Patil reportedly made some comments on Bhagavad Gita that’s unacceptable. Subsequently, he clarified. @INCIndia’s stand is clear. Bhagavad Gita is a key foundational pillar of Indian civilisation. Here’s an excerpt from Nehru’s Discovery of India(p110),” Jairam Ramesh said.
In another tweet, the Congress leader said, “Incidentally, I learned Bhagavad Gita in my early teens and have had a life-long fascination with it as a cultural and philosophical text, with a profound influence on Indian society over the ages. I wrote about this in my book The Light of Asia: The Poem that defined the Buddha.”

“It’s said there is a lot of discussion on Jihad in Islam religion… Even after all efforts, if someone doesn’t understand clean ideas, then power can be used. It is not just in the Quran Sharif, but also in the Mahabharata of which Gita is a part,” Patil said.

“Shri Krishna also talks to Arjuna about jihad. It is not like this is only in the Quran Sharif or the Gita but in Christianity also it is written…Christ has said that I have not come here to establish peace but I have come here with sword,” Patil said.

Speaking in Hindi, the Congress leader said that “if even after explaining everything, people do not understand and they are arriving with weapons then you cannot run, you cannot call that jihad and you cannot call it wrong, this is what must be understood, there should not be this concept of making people understand with weapons in hand.”

Patil’s remarks have drawn flak from the BJP which has hit out at the Congress for “Hindu hatred” and “vote-bank politics.”

Patil who was Union Home Minister from 2004 to 2008 and the Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 1991 to 1996 was addressing the audience at a book launch of Congress leader and former Union Minister Mohsina Kidwai. Among the other dignitaries present at the launch were Shashi Tharoor, Digvijaya Singh, Farooq Abdullah and Sushil Kumar Shinde.

We lost Major Mustafa Bohra in Rudra Helicopter crash in Arunachal Pradesh yesterday! He hailed from Udaipur , Rajasthan

NEW DELHI, October 21 : Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh today held an interaction with Srinagar Municipal Corporators wherein he reiterated Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s commitment to strengthen grassroots democracy in Jammu & Kashmir.
The interaction was held at Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), after completion of three-day orientation programme on Urban Governance, Dr Jitendra Singh said, right from the first day, when he took over as Prime Minister in 2014, Narendra Modi has made it clear that he would bring all the peripheral regions of the country like Jammu & Kashmir and North East at par with the rest of the country.
Responding to complaints of Corporators that 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts that were applicable in Panchayati Raj System and the Municipality system in rural and urban areas are not being fully implemented in Jammu and Kashmir, Dr Jitendra Singh said, these are legacy issues and will get resolved in course of time.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, the passion and intensity with which Prime Minister Modi has worked towards this goal is borne out by the fact that in order to ensure the elections of Panchayats in Jammu & Kashmir, the Prime Minister not only demonstrated an uncompromising determination but later also made history by holding the first-ever District Development Council election in Jammu & Kashmir, he said.
Today not only Jammu & Kashmir is on the fast track of development in the last few years, said Dr Jitendra Singh, but a conscious effort has been made to ensure that there is equitable development in every region.

Parvaiz Ahmad Qadri Deputy Mayor, Srinagar Municipal Corporation and 19 other Corporators including Shamima Khan, Syeda, Jameela Akhter, Sheikh Haseena, . Kulsuma Bano, Bashir Ahmad Mir, Sumaira Akhtar, Neelofar Khan, Zarina Akhter, Ghulam Nabi Sofi, Abdul Waheed Dar, Aijaz Rasool Bhat, Mohammad Saleem Bhat, Aashiq Hussain Bhatt, Mohammad Ashraf Palpori, Shri Aaqib Renzushah, Zubair Fayaz Dar and Inayat Hussain Mir interacted with Dr Jitendra Singh.

NEW DELHI, Oct 21: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said terrorism is the biggest violator of human rights as he urged Interpol and its member countries to join hands for cross-border cooperation so that cross-border terrorism can be defeated.
Addressing the 90th Interpol General Assembly on its concluding day here, Shah said criminal syndicates are working in a nexus and hence, global police and intelligence agencies should work together.
“Terrorism is the biggest violator of human rights…. The narrative of good terrorism and bad terrorism, small terrorism and big terrorism cannot go together,” he said, addressing the delegates from 164 countries.
The Interpol general assembly is being organised in New Delhi to coincide with the 75th anniversary year of India’s independence.
Shah said the current crime incidents are “borderless” and all the Interpol member countries will have to rise to meet this challenge and the global police organisation’s role in tackling these issues is “very important.”
Cross-border cooperation is of utmost importance in checking cross-border terrorism, the home minister added.
Narratives of good terrorism and bad terrorism, small terrorism and big terrorism cannot go together, he said.
Talking about online radicalisation, Shah said this cannot be termed a political problem as in that case, the battle against it will be half-hearted.
He said the Narendra Modi government is trying its best to make police forces capable of dealing with all kinds of challenges.
Shah said India is preparing a national database on terrorism and narcotics so that police agencies can use information effectively.
He also said citizens’ security is the first priority of any police force. (Agencies)