New Delhi: India on Thursday reported 6,395 new coronavirus infections, taking the tally of COVID-19 cases to 4,44,78,636, while the active cases declined to 50,342, according to the Union health ministry data.
The death toll has climbed to 5,28,090 with 33 fatalities in the last 24 hours, including 14 deaths reconciled by Kerala.

The active cases comprise 0.11 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has increased to 98.70 per cent, the health ministry said.

A decline of 252 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

NEW DELHI, Sept 8: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 8, 2022 said India has become the fifth largest economy in the world and this is not an ordinary achievement.
“Every Indian is feeling proud of it. We need to maintain this enthusiasm,” Mr. Modi said.
He was virtually addressing beneficiaries of various government schemes and those present at a mega medical camp organised in Olpad area of Surat city in Gujarat, where the Assembly polls are due later this year.
The Prime Minister interacted with some of the beneficiaries and appealed to farmers to switch to natural farming, saying this will result in better yield at minimum cost.
He lauded the Gujarat government and referred to the BJP-led state and the Centre as “double engine government”.
“Recently, India has become the fifth largest economy in the world. This achievement gave us confidence to work even harder and achieve bigger goals in this Amrit Kaal. This progress is not ordinary. Every Indian is feeling proud about it. We need to maintain this enthusiasm,” the Prime Minister said.
Referring to the Centre’s Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Mr. Modi said, “As many as three crore houses were built by the government across the country for the poor during the last 8 years. Of these, nearly 10 lakh houses were constructed in Gujarat alone.”
Mr. Modi praised the health infrastructure in Gujarat, saying the state has a robust network of multispecialty hospitals.
“The number of medical colleges has gone up from 11 to 31 in the last two decades. An All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is coming up (in Rajkot) and several new medical colleges are also proposed for the state,” he said.
The entire event and the medical camp were organised by Gujarat Minister of State for Agriculture, Energy and Petrochemicals Mukesh Patel, who is the MLA from Olpad in Surat.
On the occasion, Modi urged doctors deployed at the medical camp to talk to patients about their lifestyle and the importance of having nutritious food, which can keep people away from many illnesses.
He said nearly four crore people in the country, including 30 lakh in Gujarat, have already availed benefit of the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat scheme, which provides health cover of up to Rs five lakh per family in a year.
Praising the Gujarat government, Modi said 97 per cent of rural homes in the state are now getting drinking water through the ambitious ‘Nal Se Jal’ scheme.
“Under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme, farmers across the country have received Rs two lakh crore through direct transfer so far. Sixty lakh farmers from Gujarat and nearly 1.25 lakh farmers from Surat have availed the benefit of this scheme,” he said.
He said farmers earlier used to get nothing despite tall promises made by previous governments at the Centre.
“But, the interests of farmers are always a priority for our double engine government. That is the reason why farmers of the country and Gujarat give us their blessings,” he said.
Before the address, Modi virtually interacted with some of the beneficiaries of the state and centrally sponsored schemes, such as the widow pension, Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi, Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana and the Ayushman Bharat Yojana.
While talking to Sukhdevsinh Rana, a differently-abled farmer, the PM appealed to all cultivators to switch to natural farming, saying this would provide better yield with minimum cost.
During his interaction with Kanchanben Patel, a widow from Olpad taluka, Mr. Modi asked if coastal villages in Olpad are now getting clean drinking water.
Patel informed the Prime Minister that the government has resolved the issue.
Talking to another widow Kirtiben Patel, Mr. Modi appealed to her to spread awareness about various government schemes in her village so that no eligible person is left behind in getting the benefits. (Agencies)

The Delhi Metro will be providing bus service for those visiting India Gate and Central Vista from September 9 onwards, after the inauguration of Central Vista.

Anuj Dayal, the Principal Executive Director of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), told ANI that the visitors will be able to board the buses from Bhairon Road. “Electric buses will be deployed at the pickup point of Bhairon Road to pick up the visitors and drop them at gate No 1 of the National Stadium C Hexagon, from where the India Gate and Central Vista can be accessed by walk.

The director also said that six buses will be operated on the route and will be available for the visitors from 5 pm and the last pick up will continue till 9 pm. This facility will be available initially for a week.

Earlier on Wednesday, Alap Patel, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Traffic told ANI about the route diversion and traffic arrangement in the capital.

“In order to facilitate the safety of pedestrians and to ensure smooth movement of traffic in New Delhi District, the following road will be diverted from C-Hexagon; Tilak Marg, Purana Quila Road, Dr Zakir Hussain Marg, Pandara Road, Shahjahan Road, Akbar Road, Ashoka Road, KG Marg, and Copernicus Marg,” the DCP said.

“Other than these, the following roads and junctions are expected to witness heavy volumes of traffic during the period; W-Point, Mathura Road, Ashoka Road, Subramanian Bharti Marg, APJ Abdul Kalam Road, Rajesh Pilot Marg, R/A Windsor Place, R/A Claridge Hotel, R/A MLNP, Janpath, Firoz Shah Road, R/A Mandi House, Sikandra Road, Q-Point, Prithvi Raj Road, and Akbar Road,” he added.

The DCP also suggested people not come with private vehicles and use public transport during the event. “Two areas have been allocated for parking spaces having the capacity of around 500 and 300 cars respectively. But, as huge crowds are expected to turn at the event, we would suggest people not bring their private vehicles and use DMRC buses and other public transport.”
Central Vista will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday.

Drone shows and cultural programs will also be organized for the public from September 9 to 11. For security purposes, drones will not be permitted near Central Vista on the day of the PM’s visit. But, it will be allowed for the rest of the days.

The Supreme Court on Thursday said that it will proceed with the three issues suggested by the Attorney General of India while hearing the constitutional validity of reservations on the basis of economic conditions.

A Constitutional Bench headed by Chief Justice of India UU Lalit said that it will proceed with the first three issues suggested by the Attorney General as they encapsulate the entire case.

The issues suggested by the Attorney General of India KK Venugopal are – whether the 103rd Constitution Amendment can be said to breach the basic structure of the Constitution by permitting the State to make special provisions, including reservation, based on economic criteria.

The other two issues are – whether the 103rd Constitution Amendment can be said to breach the basic structure of the Constitution by permitting the State to make special provisions in relation to admission to private unaided institutions, and whether the 103rd Constitution Amendment can be said to breach the basic structure of the Constitution in excluding the SEBCs/OBCs/SCs/STs from the scope of EWS reservation.

The arguments in the matter will begin on September 13.
The constitutional validity of the 103rd Amendment Act, 2019 which enabled the State to make reservations in higher education and matters of public employment on the basis of economic criteria alone will be the first matter to be examined by a five-judge bench, led by Chief Justice of India UU Lalit.

A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice UU Lalit had said earlier that the Janhit Abhiyan case will be the lead matter now.

Janhit Abhiyan’s matter is relating to the challenging of the constitutional validity of the 103rd Amendment Act, 2019 which enabled the State to make reservations in higher education and matters of public employment on the basis of economic criteria alone.

Moreover, the Janhit matter will be heard together with a case filed by the Andhra Pradesh government against the High Court’s decision of quashing its decision of granting reservations in education and public service for the entire Muslim population of the State in 2005.

Earlier, the court had appointed Shadab Farasat, Kanu Agarwal and two others as nodal counsels to see common compilation.

ODISHA, Sept 8: India has successfully completed six flight-tests of the Quick Reaction Surface-to-Air Missile (QRSAM) system from the Integrated Test Range in Chandipur off the Odisha coast, as part of evaluation trials by the Army, the DRDO said on Thursday.
The flight-tests were carried out against high-speed aerial targets mimicking various types of threats to evaluate the capability of the weapon systems under different scenarios, it said.
“During these tests, all the mission objectives were met establishing pin-point accuracy of the weapon system with state-of-the-art guidance and control algorithms, including warhead chain,” the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said in a statement.
The performance of the system has been confirmed from the data captured by a number of range instruments like telemetry and Radar and Electro Optical Tracking Systems (EOTS) deployed by ITR, it said.
The tests were conducted in the final deployment configuration consisting of all indigenously-developed sub-systems, including the missile with indigenous Radio Frequency (RF) seeker, mobile launcher, fully automated command and control system, surveillance and multi-function radars, the statement said.
The uniqueness of the QRSAM weapon system is that it can operate on the move with search and track capability, and fire on short halt, the DRDO said.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has complimented the DRDO and Indian Army on the successful flight trials.
The system is now ready for induction into the Army, the statement added. (Agencies)