(Contains Press releases concerning Covid-19, issued in last 24 hours, inputs from PIB Field Offices and Fact checks undertaken by PIB)

India posts highest ever single day recoveries of 56,383 in a single day, Total recoveries nearly 17 lakhs; On a continuous slide, Case Fatality Rate further improves to 1.96%

India touched another peak of highest ever single day recoveries of 56,383 in a single day. With this number, the total recovered COVID-19 patients have touched nearly 17 lakh (16,95,982) today. The concerted, focused and collaborative efforts of the Centre and the State/UT governments along with support of lakhs of frontline workers have ensured the successful implementation of TESTING aggressively, TRACKING comprehensively & TREATING efficiently. While the Recovery Rate has crossed 70% (70.77% today), the case mortality among COVID patients has further regressed to 1.96%, and steadily declining. The record high recoveries have ensured that the actual caseload of the country which is the Active Cases has reduced and currently is only 27.27% of the total positive cases. The recoveries exceed the active cases (6,53,622) by more than 10 lakh.

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Union Govt reaches the landmark of distributing more than 3 Cr N95 Masks to States; More than 1.28 Cr PPEs and 10 cr HCQ distributed Free of Cost by Central Government

In the relentless work of State/UT governments for containmentand management of COVID-19, the Union Government has been providing medical supplies free of cost to them to supplement their efforts. Most of the products supplied by Government of India were not being manufactured in the country in the beginning. The rising global demand due to the pandemic resulted in their scarce availability in the foreign markets. With the combined efforts of Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW), Ministry of Textiles and Ministry of Pharmaceuticals, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, DRDO and others, the domestic industry has been encouraged and facilitated to manufacture and supply essential medical equipment like PPEs, N95 masks, ventilators etc., during this period. As a result, resolve for ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ and ‘Make in India’ has been strengthened and most of the supplies made by the Union Government are domestically manufactured. Since 11^th March 2020, the Union Government has distributed more than 3.04 crore N95 masks and more than 1.28 crore PPE kits to States / UTs / Central Institutions, free of cost. Also, more than 10.83 crore HCQ tablets have been distributed to them. In addition, 22533 ‘Make in India’ ventilators have been delivered to various States / UTs / Central Institutions. The Centre is also ensuring their installation and commissioning.

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India conducts a record high of more than 8.3 lakh tests in a single day; More than 2.68 crore samples tested as on today; Tests Per Million (TPM) jumps to 19,453

Crossing the 8 lakh/day milestone of tests in a single day, India has registered a record high of 8,30,391 tests conducted in the last 24 hours in India. In pursuance of the “Test, Track and Treat” strategy, India is geared up to reach the testing capacity of 10 lakh tests per day. The week-wise average daily tests conducted saw a sharp increase from around 2.3 lakh in the first week of July 2020 to more than 6.3 lakh in the current week.With a record high more than 8 lakh tests done in the last 24 hours, the cumulative testing as on date has jumped to 2,68,45,688 crore. The Tests Per Million has seen a sharp increase to 19453. From merely one lab in January 2020, the country is today enriched by 1433 labs with 947 in the government sector and 486 private labs.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi launches platform for “Transparent Taxation - Honouring the Honest”

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi launched a platform for “Transparent Taxation - Honouring the Honest” today through video conferencing.Speaking on the occasion he said that the process of Structural Reforms in the country has reached new heights today. The Prime Minister said the platform of “Transparent Taxation - Honouring the Honest, has been launched to meet the requirements of the 21st century taxation system. He elaborated that the platform has major reforms like Faceless Assessment, Faceless Appeal and Taxpayers Charter. He said that Faceless Assessment and Taxpayers Charter have come into force from today while the facility of faceless appeal will be available for citizens across the country from 25th September i.e. DeenDayalUpadhyay's birth anniversary. The new platform apart from being faceless is also aimed at boosting the confidence of the taxpayer and making him/her fearless. The PM said that the focus of the Government in the last six years has been “Banking the Unbanked, Securing the Unsecured and Funding the Unfunded” and that the platform of “Honouring the Honest” is in the similar direction. The Prime Minister praised the role of honest taxpayers in nation building and said that making the lives of such taxpayers easy is the responsibility of the government. The Prime Minister said that the latest laws reduced the legal burden in the tax system where now the limit of filing cases in the High Court has been fixed at up to 1 crore rupees and up to 2 crores for filing in the Supreme Court. Initiatives like the 'Vivaad Se Vishwas' Scheme pave the way for most of the cases to be settled out of court. Prime Minister said that the tax slabs have also been rationalised as a part of the ongoing reforms where there is zero tax upto an income of 5 lakh rupees, while the tax rate has reduced in the remaining slabs too. He said India is one of the countries with lowest Corporate Tax in the World.

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Text of PM’s address at the Launch of ‘Transparent Taxation- Honoring the Honest’

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India ranks first in number of organic farmers and ninth in terms of area under organic farming

The growth story of organic farming is unfolding with increasing demand not only in India but also globally. In a world battered by the COVID pandemic, the demand for healthy and safe food is already showing an upward trend and hence this is an opportune moment to be captured for a win-win situation for our farmers, consumers and the environment.India ranks first in number of organic farmers and ninth in terms of area under organic farming. Sikkim became the first State in the world to become fully organic and other States including Tripura and Uttarakhand have set similar targets. North East India has traditionally been organic and the consumption of chemicals is far less than rest of the country. Similarly the tribal and island territories are being nurtured to continue their organic story.

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INPUTS FROM FIELD OFFICES

• Maharashtra : The state reported 12,712 new Covid cases, and 13,804 recoveries on Wednesday, leaving 1.47 lakh active cases. More than 3.81 lakh people have been cured in Maharashtra, even though the state also accounts for highest death toll at 18,650.Indian Medical Association has urged Maharashtra Govt to review notification on Covid-19 hospital fees. IMA's Maharashtra unit says the rates mentioned under Mahatma Phule Jan ArogyaYojana scheme ranging from ₹4,000 to ₹9,000 per day for the Oxygen beds, ICU without Ventilators and ICU with Ventilators are not really enough for the treatment of serious Covid patients.
• Goa : Chief Minister PramodSawant has said that Goa has a higher number of Covid-19 cases because the rate of testing in the state is the highest in the country. Goa carries out 90,000 tests per million population, far ahead of Delhi, which has a testing rate of 65,000 per million. Goa has 3,194 active cases as on date.
• Rajasthan : State’s healthcare facilities received a major boost as the Government has procured 1,300 new ventilators for Covid-19 patients. Rajasthan has 13,630 active cases.
• .Chhattisgarh : With 438 more people, including the wife of a former chief minister Dr.Raman Singh testing positive for coronavirus in Chhattisgarh on Wednesday, the case count in the state rose to 13,498.  Of the fresh cases, 154 were reported from Raipur district, 55 from Rajnandgaon, 41 from Raigarh, 29 from Durg, 26 from Bastar among others.
• Kerala:   Two Covid-19 deaths have been reported today taking the toll to 128. 41 prisoners of Central jail Thiruvananthapuram have been tested positive today. 25 more positive cases have been reported in the capital till noon in the rapid antigen tests being carried out. The government has granted permission to conduct Covid-19 tests in private labs without prescription of a doctor. Meanwhile, Police have been removed from task of demarcating containment zones and the power has been given to Disaster Management Authority. 1,212 new cases & 880 recoveries were reported in the state yesterday. As many as 13,045 patients are undergoing treatment and a total of 1.51 lakh people are under observation.
• Tamil Nadu: Covid-19 toll crosses 100 in Puducherry with six more deaths, 305 fresh cases recorded; total cases reach 6680 and number of active cases in the UT is 2750 as on today.Tamil Nadu govt bars VinayakaChaturthi rallies this year over Covid-19 fears. After almost a month of an alarming surge in Covid-19 cases in Madurai, the numbers of fresh cases, and active cases and positivity rate came down in the last couple of weeks in the district. 5871 new cases, 5633 recoveries & 119 deaths reported in the State yesterday. Total cases: 3,14,520 ; Active cases: 52,929; Deaths: 5278;  Discharges: 2,56,313; Active cases in Chennai: 10,953.
• Karnataka:The positivity rate in Bangalore city dipped from 24% in July to 18% in August according to data analysed by BBMP Covid war room. Meanwhile BBMP warned private hospitals of blocking of unused beds. Admission for first PUC started from today. A total of 7883 new Covid cases reported in state yesterday which is the highest in a single day.   7034 discharges & 113 deaths were also reported yesterday. Total cases: 1,96,494;  Active cases: 80,343; Total Deaths: 3510; Discharges: 1,12,633.
• Andhra Pradesh:State government sets up coronavirus helpline centre to assist people with precautionary measures. It will also provide telemedicine, 104 call centre details. State issues guidelines framed for Muharram celebrations amid Coronavirus.  Secretary, Minority Welfare Department, made it clear that devotees must abide by the Covid-19 rules which would be in force for ten days from August 20. 9597 new cases, 6676 discharges and 93 deaths were reported yesterday in the State. Total cases: 2,54,146; Active cases: 90,425; Discharges: 1,61,425; Deaths: 2296.
• Telangana: Hyderabad-based generic drug manufacturer MSN Group on Thursday announced the launch of an affordable version of anti-viral drug Favipiravir, being marketed under the brand name ‘Favilow’, for Covid-19 positive patients with mild and moderate symptoms.1931 new cases, 1780 recoveries & 11 deaths reported in the last 24 hours; out of 1931 cases,  298 cases reported from GHMC. Total cases: 86,475; Active cases: 22,736; Deaths: 665; Discharges: 63,074. Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), the virus hotspot in the state, witnessed a considerable dip in the number of fresh infections.
• Arunachal Pradesh: Arunachal Pradesh recorded 103 fresh Coronavirus cases in last 24 hours.  The tally of active cases reached 768 in the state while 1659 patients discharged from hospitals after recovery.Of the new cases in Arunachal Pradesh, Lohit led the caseload with 37 cases, followed by East Kameng with 22 cases and 10 came from Itanagar Capital Region.
• Assam: In Assam during the last 24 hours 143,109 COVID-19 tests have been conducted. This takes the total test conducted in Assam to a record high of 1573800.
• Manipur: In Manipur with 41 new cases and 78 recoveries, the recovery rate rises to 56 percent. There are 1739 active cases in the state.
• Mizoram: 13 recovered COVID-19 patients discharged in Mizoram today. The number of active cases reached to 306 in the state while 343 have been discharged so far.Mizoram government has decided to ramp up testing ratio, 10000 RAT kits will be purchased for the same.
• Nagaland: In Nagaland the Dimapur Urban Council which has 23 wards under its jurisdiction has asked all its federation members to refrain from troubling or harassing frontline workers.
• Sikkim: In Sikkim only two positive cases reported today. Total active cases in the State as of today  is 349 and cured & discharged 581.

FACT CHECK

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