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

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India reports 37th Day of Recoveries outnumbering New Cases, Positivity Rate and Daily Fatalities continue with sustained Decline

For the second day, new cases reported in the last 24 hours did not cross the 50,000 mark. 45,903 persons have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 24 hours. New daily cases continue to trend downwards with the success of Jan-Andolan promoting COVID appropriate behaviour. The trend of recoveries outnumbering new cases has continued for the 37th Day with 48,405 cases recovering in the last 24 hours. This trend has continued to shrink the active caseload of India which is presently 5.09 lakhs. With a manageable contribution of 5.95% of India’s total positive cases, India’s active caseload stands at 5,09,673. The Recovery Rate has also been boosted with the trend of recoveries exceeding new cases. It presently stands at 92.56%. Total Recoveries today stand at 79,17,373. The gap between Recovered cases and Active cases has steadily widened to 74,07,700. India’s Cumulative Positivity Rate has also dropped to 7.19% today. 79% of the new recovered cases are observed to be concentrated in 10 States/UTs. Maharashtra has reported the maximum number of single day recoveries with 8,232 newly recovered cases. 6,853 people recovered in Kerala followed by 6,069 in Delhi. 79% of the new cases are from 10 States and UTs. Delhi has reported the highest daily new cases, also its highest tally so far with 7,745 new cases. Delhi is followed by Maharashtra with 5,585 cases and Kerala with 5,440 cases. 490 case fatalities have been reported in the past 24 hours. Fatalities have continued to decrease with less than 500 fatalities reported in the last 24 hours. Of these 490 new deaths, ten States/UTs account for nearly 81%.

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Dr. Harsh Vardhan reviews COVID and public health measures with Health Ministers and senior State officials of 9 States

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare today interacted with the State Health Ministers and Principal Secretaries/ Additional Chief Secretaries of 9 states. These states included Andhra Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Telangana, Punjab, Haryana and Kerala. The States/ some districts in the States have been reporting a rise in the number of cases, high average daily cases on a seven day average, decline in testing, high rate of mortality within the first 24/48/72 hours of hospitalisation, high doubling rate, higher death among the vulnerable population groups. Dr. Harsh Vardhan started by reminding everyone that the country had stepped into the 11th month of the pandemic with the first meeting on COVID being held on 8th of January. Restating his concern that the coming winter and the long festive season pose a significant risk that could threaten the gains made collectively till now against COVID-19, he said, “We all need to bemore vigilant for the entire festive season that started with Dussehra and would continue onto Diwali, Chhat Puja, Christmas and then onto Makar Sankranti in the next year. Respiratory virus also spreads rapidly in the winter months.”

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Dr. Harsh Vardhan discusses implementation of Prime Minister’s Jan Andolan with Health and Medical Education Minister of Chhattisgarh

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare on Saturday  interacted withSh. Tribhuvaneshwar Saran Singh Deo,Health and Medical Education Minister of Chhattisgarh in the presence ofDistrict Magistrates and Municipal Commissioners of different districts of Chhattisgarh. Reiterating his concern that the coming winter and the long festive season pose a significant risk that could threaten the gains made against COVID-19, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said, “We all need to be more vigilant for the next three months.Hon’ble Prime Minister’s message of wearing mask, maintaining a physical distance and frequent handwashing should reach the last citizen.” Comparing the COVID trajectory of Chhattisgarh with that of the country, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said, “The recovery rate of Chhattisgarh stands at 87% against the National rate of 92%. The State actually has a lower CFR of 1.19% compared to 1.49% for the entire country.” He expressed concern that the State is still seeing a high positivity in the districts of Rajnandgaon, Durg, Raipur, Bilaspur, Raigarh and Baloda-bazar while cases are increasing in tribal areas as well.

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Dr. Harsh Vardhan holds first of its kind policy consultations with Indian Scientific Diaspora on STIP-2020 in a virtual meeting

Union Minister for Science Technology, Earth Sciences, and Health & Family Welfare, Dr.Harsh Vardhan chaired the first of its kind policy consultation with the highly-skilled Indian diaspora to facilitate channels for them to contribute to India’s Science Technology and Innovation Policy (STIP) 2020, on Sunday evening in New Delhi. Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that the landmark policy initiative has been started as India and the world reorient in the present context of the COVID-19 crisis and emphasised,“The consultation aims at generating and streamlining key ideas in the making of STIP 2020 and involving the Indian diaspora as one of major stakeholders in the policy formulation process.” He encouraged the Indian Scientific diaspora to share their suggestions on the policy adding that these suggestions would be collated and considered to be included in the draft STI policy.

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Health Ministry’s telemedicine service eSanjeevani completes 7 lakh consultations

eSanjeevani, the national telemedicine service set up by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, has completed 7 lakh consultations on Saturday. The last one lakh consultations have come up in 11 days. This novel digital modality to deliver OPD services virtually has been rapidly gaining popularity. With over 10,000 consultations being recorded on eSanjeevani per day, it is shaping into the largest OPD services set up in the country. An innovative intervention to deliver health services, eSanjeevani has started making impact in smaller towns and rural areas. While telemedicine is beneficial for the patients, it also is favourable for the doctors practicing telemedicine as it limits the contact with patients who are present virtually. Utilisation of eSanjeevani in States like Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Karnataka has gone up significantly in the recent past. In Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and Uttarakhand the utilisation of eSanjeevani has already been high and steady for past few months. The top ten States which have registered highest consultations through eSanjeevani and eSanjeevaniOPD platforms are Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Karnataka and Maharashtra. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India along with Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (Mohali) is consistently enhancing the capabilities and adding new functionalities in eSanjeevani in consultation with State Administrations.

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PM inaugurates and lays foundation stone of various development projects in Varanasi

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of various development projects in Varanasi today through video conference. The Prime Minister today launched 16 schemes worth Rs 220 crore and informed that the work has already begun on 14 schemes worth Rs 400 crore in Varanasi. The projects inaugurated today include Sarnath Light and Sound show, upgradation of Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital Ramnagar, sewerage related works, infrastructure facilities for protection and conservation of cows, multipurpose seed storehouse, agriculture produce warehouse of 100 MT, IPDS phase 2, a housing complex for players in Sampurnanand Stadium, Varanasi city smart lighting work, along with 105 Anganwadi Kendras and 102 Gau Ashray Kendras.

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Text of PM’s address at foundation stone laying ceremony of various development projects in Varanasi

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PM addresses 51st convocation of IIT Delhi

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has asked the fresh IIT graduates to recognize the needs of the country and connect with the changes on the ground. He also asked them to identify with the aspirations of the common people in the context of Atamnirbanar Bharat. The Prime Minister was addressing the 51st Annual Convocation Ceremony of IIT Delhi as Chief Guest via video conferencing, on Saturday. Congratulating more than 2000 IITians on their convocation, the Prime Minister said AtmaNirbhar Campaign is a mission that gives opportunities to youth, technocrats and tech-enterprise leaders of the country. He said today a favorable environment has been created for implementation of the ideas and innovation of the technocrats freely and to scale them and market them easily. He said that today's India is committed to provide 'ease of doing business' to its youth so that they can bring changes in the life of crores of their countrymen through their innovation. "The country will give you 'ease of business' you just work for 'ease of living' of the people of this country," Shri Modi said. The Prime Minister said post-Covid world is going to be very different and technology will play the biggest role in it. He said Virtual Reality was never thought of but now Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality have become the Working Reality. He said the present batch of students has a first mover advantage to learn and adapt to the new norms emerging in the workplace and he urged them to make most use of this. He said Covid -19 has taught Globalization is important but Self-Reliance is equally important.

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Text of PM’s address at the convocation ceremony of IIT Delhi

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PM inaugurates Ro-Pax terminal at Hazira

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the Ro-Pax terminal at Hazira and flagged off the Ro-Pax ferry service between Hazira and Ghogha in Gujarat through video conferencing on Sunday. He also interacted with the local users. He renamed the Ministry of Shipping as the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways. Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister said that business will be boosted and connectivity will become faster. He further said RO-PAX service between Hazira and Ghogha has made dreams come true for the people of Saurashtra and South Gujarat, as the journey is shortened from 10-12 hours to 3-4 hours. He said this will save time and expenses will also be reduced. He said about 80000 passenger trains and 30000 trucks will be able to take advantage of this new service in a year. Shri Modi also said better connectivity between Saurashtra and Surat is going to change the life of the people in these regions. He added fruits, vegetables and milk can now easily be transported and pollution will also be reduced due to this service. He thanked all those engineers, workers, who remained courageous to develop the facility amidst a lot of challenges. He wished the people for this new maritime connectivity established between Bhavnagar and Surat.

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English rendering of PM's address at inauguration of Ro-Pax terminal at Hazira

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13th Urban Mobility India Conference on “Emerging Trends in Urban Mobility” Inaugurated

Shri Hardeep S. Puri, MoS (I/C), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has stated that “Future mobility is about striving towards environment-friendly, integrated, automated and personalized travel on-demand. New advancements like intelligent transportation systems, and traffic management applications are in the pipeline for enhanced mobility in major cities.” He was speaking at the 13th Urban Mobility India Conference on the theme of “Emerging Trends in Urban Mobility” today. Prof. Jan Gehl, Founder and Senior Advisor, M/s Gehl, Mr Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, Minister Delegate for Transport, Ministry for the Ecological Transition, Government of France, Dr. Claudia Warning, Director-General GIZ, Shri D S Mishra, Secretary, Housing and Urban Affairs attended the Conference. Addressing the Conference, the Minister said that in the aftermath of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, India is likely to experience a behavioral change in urban mobility. This crisis also presents an opportunity to guide the recovery of urban transport towards long-term development goals. As articualted by Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi that the present crisis should be turned into an opportunity to create an 'Atma Nirbhar Bharat', and the time being ripe enough to make bold decisions and investments. To my friends from abroad, Atma Nirbhar Bharat essentially means “self-reliant India”. Investment in infrastructure to address more effective circulation and interchange of people and goods will have an economic multiplier effect — both job-creation in the present and boosting growth and productivity in the future. During the Conference, Awards for innovations in Urban Transport during Covid-19 were also announced.

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Arunachal Pradesh School Children to Wear Khadi Face Masks

Thousands of school children in Arunachal Pradesh will be sporting tri-color Khadi Face Masks as they return to their schools for the first time post Covid-19 lockdown. Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has supplied 60,000 high quality Khadi Cotton Face Masks for school children as the Arunachal Pradesh government has decided to reopen schools from November 16. This purchase order assumes great significance as this is for the first time that a State Government in North East India has purchased such a huge quantity of Khadi face masks for its students. The purchase order was issued on November 3, and in just 6 days, KVIC has supplied the requisite masks to the government considering the urgency involved. In order to ensure timely delivery of masks, KVIC has dispatched the consignment by air.

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Union Minister and renowned diabetologist Dr. Jitendra Singh says, right food regime plays an important role in disease control

Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh, who is also a renowned Diabetologist, said that proper food regime prescribed for a diabetic patient can also be prescribed for healthy people so that they cannot catch the disease. Delivering the inaugural address, as chief guest on the topic “Digital Outreach for Knowledge Upgradation-Diabetes Specific Nutrition”, organized by Association of Physicians of Indiaon the eve of World Diabetes Week on Sunday, he said, COVID has prompted us to discover new norms in adversity and underlined the importance of Indian Traditional Medicine System.Dr Jitendra Singh said that ever since Narendra Modi took over as Prime Minister of India, he has brought to the centre stage the virtues of indigenous system of medical management. He said, it was Modi, who brought a unanimous resolution in the United Nations to observe International Day of Yoga, as a result of which Yoga has reached virtually every household across the world. While Corona has taught us to live with new norms, Dr Jitendra Singh said, it has also given the physicians a cue to emphasize on the non-pharmacological methods of management including hygiene etc which had somehow lost due importance in recent years. He noted, even after the COVID pandemic is over, the discipline of physical distancing and avoiding droplet infection will act as safeguard against many other infections as well.

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Claims through Affidavit Form no longer required now under Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana (ABVKY) of ESIC

The ESI Corporation in its Meeting held on 20.08.2020 had extended the Scheme, ‘Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana’ from 01.07.2020 to 30.06.2021. It was also decided to enhance the rate of relief under the scheme from present 25% of the average daily earning to 50% of average daily earning and also relax the eligibility conditions for the period 24.03.2020 to 31.12.2020 to provide relief to the workers who have become unemployed during COVID-19 Pandemic.While analysing the response of the beneficiaries to the Scheme under relaxed conditions, it was found that the condition of submitting the claim in Affidavit Form is causing inconvenience to the claimants. Considering the difficulties faced by the beneficiaries, it has now been decided that the claimant who has submitted the claim under Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana online and uploaded the scanned copies of the required documents i.e. copies of Aadhar and Bank details need not submit the physical claim. If the documents are not uploaded at the time of online filing of the claim, claimant will submit the printout of the claim duly signed along with the required documents. Condition for submitting the claim in Affidavit Form has been dispensed with.

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Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi announces Haj 2021 guidelines

Online application process for Haj 2021 started, with Union Minister for Minority Affairs Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi announcing Haj 2021 with significant changes keeping in view the Corona pandemic. While announcing Haj 2021 at Haj House on Saturday, Mumbai Shri Naqvi said that national-international Protocol Guidelines due to Pandemic Position will be implemented and followed strictly during the Haj 2021. The last date of applying for Haj 2021 is 10^th December, 2020. The people can apply online, offline and through Haj Mobile App.Shri Naqvi said that Haj 2021 is scheduled for June-July 2021, and the entire Haj process is being held according to the necessary guidelines issued by the Saudi Arabia Government and the Government of India in view of Corona Pandemic to ensure health and well-being of the people in India and Saudi Arabia. The Haj 2021 process has been chalked out after deliberations among Ministry of Minority Affairs, Ministry of Health, Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Haj Committee of India, Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia and India’s Consul General in Jeddah and other agencies keeping in view all aspects of the pandemic challenges.Shri Naqvi said that the entire Haj travel process has been done with significant changes in view of the pandemic. These include accommodation, period of stay of pilgrims, transportation, health and other facilities both in India and Saudi Arabia.Shri Naqvi said that all the necessary guidelines for Haj 2021 amid Pandemic position from the Saudi Arabia Government will be implemented strictly.

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INPUTS FROM PIB FIELD OFFICES

· Maharashtra:  Covid-19 case positivity ratio has been showing a  declining trend in Maharashtra. In November, so far, the positivity rate has averaged 8.35%. This ratio was around 15% in October and 24% in September. Maharashtra, on Sunday, continued to record a dip in cases over the past few weeks, reporting 5,052 new cases. Mumbai reported 998 new cases.

· Gujarat:  Gujarat recorded 1,020 fresh Covid-19 cases and seven deaths on Sunday, taking the state tally to 1,80,980 and total toll to 3,788. Though declined from the usual over 200 cases, Surat with 194 cases continues to top the state with the highest number of cases reported on a single day. Ahmedabad reported 195 new cases.

· Rajasthan: First week of November has remained slightly better in comparison to last week of October as number of Covid-19 cases and deaths have reduced marginally. October’s last week had reported 12,571 cases and 81 deaths, but in November’s first week, the state reported 12,445 cases and 72 deaths, 126 cases and nine deaths less than October’s last week.

· Madhya Pradesh: After a month-long lull, the number of active Covid-19 casesin the state have started increasing since the past two days. The overall number of Covid-19 cases reported per day have also started increasing steadily since November 2. On Sunday, 891 fresh cases were reported in the state taking the count of total Covid cases reported so far in the state to 1.77 lakhs.

· Chhattisgarh: Chhattisgarh on Sunday reported1,375 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the total count of infections to 2,00,937, a health official said. The count of recoveries increased to 1.76 lakhs after 153 people were discharged from various hospitals while 1,940 patients completed their home isolation period during the day.

· Kerala: State Health Minister K.K. Shylaja has stated that Covid out- patient service will be made available through e-Sanjeevini, the telemedicine service which is implemented under Ayushman Bharat health initiative for tele-consultation. She said treatment for post-Covid issues will also be taken up under this platform. In an effort to analyse the impact of the reverse quarantine implemented in the state following the pandemic outbreak, Kerala has launched a comprehensive study by comparing similar measures adopted by other states. Meanwhile, to assist the increasing number of people seeking assistance of mental health specialists for Covid-induced psychiatric issues, the Health department is considering the recommendations of the Union Health Ministry and the Bengaluru-based NIMHANS for redesigning its intervention programmes.

· Tamil Nadu: State health officials concerned about over-reliance on CT scans to diagnose Covid-19; official say that patients are delaying treatment by skipping PCR tests and opting for scans and blood tests instead. Spread of Covid-19 higher in 3 Tamil Nadu districts, says Chief Secretary; on recent sero-surveys conducted to find people's exposure to virus, he said that only 30 per cent of participants were found to have antibodies. Four doctors and nurses at Madurai Govt. Hospital re-infected with coronavirus. The State government’s finances, especially the collections through the State Own Tax Revenue (SOTR), appear to be on the path of recovery, if the pattern of revenue generation in the last two months is any indication.

· Karnataka:Chitradurga to house Covid-19 vaccine centre; the storage centre will have a capacity to store 10 lakh doses of vaccines at a time and preparations have been made. Auto rickshaws and cab drivers in the state are caught between the Centre’s new Motor Vehicle Act 2019 and the state’s Motor Vehicle Act; though the Centre’s new act has come into force, the state government is yet to issue a gazette notification implementing this act across the state.  As many have lowered their guard with Covid cases coming down, authorities in Mandya are reviving the village-level task force teams to monitor and create awareness on Covid restrictions.

· Andhra Pradesh: State has kicked off second serological surveillance to ascertain the prevalence of coronavirus among citizens, and form strategies to tackle the situation. While the first survey was conducted in two phases, all the 13 districts of the state are being surveyed at once in the second.  As per the results of the first survey, 19.7 per cent of the population in the state has developed antibodies. State Government has taken a decision announcing that it will give top priority to save the lives of corona warriors who risk their lives in government and government-recognised private hospitals, by making available the vaccine as soon as it is launched for public use.

· Telangana: 857 new cases, 1504 recoveries & 4 deaths reported in the last 24 hours; out of 857 cases, 250 cases reported from GHMC. Total cases: 2,51,188; Active cases: 19,239; Deaths: 1381; Discharges: 2,30,568. State government launched its prestigious Telangana Diagnostics initiative aimed at addressing non-availability of diagnostic tests at the government hospitals not only in Hyderabad but across the State. Passenger rides continue to steadily escalate in Hyderabad Metro taking it to the second position, after Delhi Metro, in terms of patronage since commencement of operations post unlock in September.

· Assam: In Assam, 152 more people tested positive for COVID-19 and 395 patients discharged yesterday. Total cases rise to 208789, total discharged patients 201331, active 6512 and 943 deaths.

FACT CHECK

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