(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's Active Caseload further contracts to 4.03 Lakh after 138 days, Total Recoveries surpass 91 lakh, New Cases per million population in India in the last week one of the lowest in the world

India’s total Active Caseload has significantly fallen to 4.03 lakh (4,03,248) today. This is the lowest after 138 days. The total active cases were 4,02,529 on 21^st July, 2020. Continuing with the trend of the last nine days, India has reported more daily recoveries than the daily new cases during the past 24 hours. India’s Active Caseload presently consists of just 4.18% of the Total Positive Cases. While 36,011 persons in India were found to be infected with COVID, 41,970 new recoveries were registered during the same period. The new recoveries have led to a net decline of 6,441 in the Total Active cases. New cases per million population in India in the last seven days are 186. It is one of the lowest in the world. The difference in New Recoveries outnumbering New Cases has also improved the Recovery Rate to 94.37% today. The total recovered cases have crossed 91 lakh (91,00,792). The gap between Recovered Cases and Active Cases, that is steadily increasing is nearing 87 lakh (86,97,544) today. 76.6% 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 5,834 newly recovered cases. Kerala follows closely with 5,820 new recoveries. Delhi registered 4,916 new recoveries. 75.70% of the new cases are from 10 States and UTs. Kerala reported the highest daily new cases at 5,848. It is followed by Maharashtra with 4,922 new cases. Delhi recorded 3,419 new cases. 482 case fatalities have been reported in the past 24 hours. Ten States/UTs account for 79.05% of new deaths. Maharashtra saw the maximum casualties (95). Delhi and West Bengal follow with 77 and 49 daily deaths, respectively. The daily registered deaths per million population during the past week when compared globally demonstrate that India has one of the lowest at 3 deaths/million population.

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PM inaugurates construction work of Agra Metro project in Agra

PM inaugurated construction work of Agra Metro project in Agra, Uttar Pradesh today through video conference. Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Shri Yogi Adityanath, and other dignitaries attended the event. Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister pointed out that one of the major problems of the country's infrastructure sector has been that new projects were announced, but not much attention was given to where the money would come from. He added that his government has ensured the necessary funds at the start of the new projects itself. The Prime Minister said that more than Rs 100 lakh crore will be spent under the National Infrastructure Pipeline Project. Work is also being done on the Multi-modal Connectivity Infrastructure Master Plan. He added that efforts are on to attract investment from all over the world to improve the country's infrastructure.

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Text of PM’s address on inauguration of construction work of the Agra Metro Project

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PM to address India Mobile Congress 2020 tomorrow

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will give the inaugural address at the virtual India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2020 on 08 December 2020 at 10:45 AM. IMC 2020 is being organised by the Department of Telecommunications, Government of India, and the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI). It will be held from 8th to 10th December 2020. The theme for IMC 2020 is "Inclusive Innovation - Smart, Secure, Sustainable”. It aims to align to the Prime Minister’s vision to promote ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, ‘Digital Inclusivity’, and ‘Sustainable development, entrepreneurship & innovation’. It also aims to drive foreign and local investments, encourage R&D in the telecom and emerging technology sectors.

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PM delivers keynote address at IIT-2020 Global Summit

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi delivered the keynote address at the IIT-2020 Global Summit, organised by PanIIT USA, on Friday through a video conference. The Prime Minister said that the Government is fully committed to the principle of "Reform, Perform, Transform". He stressed that there is no sector left out from the ambit of reforms. He listed many path-breaking reforms brought in by the Government in various sectors such as assimilating 44 Union labour laws into just 4 codes, having one of the lowest corporate tax rate in the world, Production Linked Incentive Scheme in ten key sectors to enhance exports as well as manufacturing. He highlighted that even in these testing times of COVID-19, India has got record investment and much of this investment has come in the tech sector. He said our actions today will shape our planet's tomorrow. He stressed that the post Covid-19 order will be about: Re-learning, re-thinking, re-innovating and re-inventing. This, along with a series of economic reforms in almost every field is what will re-energise our planet. He said this will ensure 'Ease of Living' and positively impact the poor as well as marginalised. He said several innovations came out during the pandemic emerged from collaboration between the industry and academia. He said the world today needs viable solutions to adjust to the new normal.

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Text of PM’s Keynote address at Pan IIT Global Summit

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Dr. Harsh Vardhan e-inaugurates curtain raiser programme of CSIR-IMMT, Bhubaneswar for IISF 2020 in the presence of Union Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan

The Union Minister for Science & Technology, Health & Family Welfare, and Earth Sciences e-inaugurated the curtain raiser programme of CSIR-IMMT, Bhubaneswar for the 6^th India International Science Festival 2020 (IISF-2020) on Saturday. The Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Minister of Steel. Shri Dharmendra Pradhan was the Chief Guest at the event. Dr.Shekhar C Mande, DG, CSIR & Secretary, DSIR and Prof .SuddhasatwaBasuDirector, CSIR- IMMT, Bhubaneswar were present on the occasion. The theme of IISF-2020 is “Science for Self-Reliant India and Global Welfare”. Delivering the inaugural address, Dr HarshaVardhan said, “The proposed theme of IISF-2020 - Science for Self-Reliant India and Global Welfare is very relevant in the present context when the nation is looking towards science and technology for spearheading growth and for implementing the vision of our Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi Ji of an “Atmanirbhar Bharat” playing a significant role in the global economy. Many great scientific discoveries and technological advancements in various fields have showcased the excellence of our efforts in science and technology to the world”.

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Dr Harsh Vardhan addresses the curtain raiser event of RGCB for IISF 2020

The Minister for Science & Technology, Earth Sciences, Health & Family Welfare, Dr. HarshVardhan on Friday addressed the virtual curtain raiser program of IISF 2020 hosted by Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Thiruvananthapuram. Various outreach and popularization programs are going on across the country in the run up to IISF 2020. Addressing at the curtain raiser event, Dr. HarshVardhan said , “The aim of theScience Festival is to engage the public with science and celebrate the joy of science and show the ways how Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics(STEM) provide us with the solutions to improve our lives”. He further elaborated that the unique platform of India International Science Festival has been created which intends to inspire curiosity and make learning more rewarding.IISF, 2020, being organized in virtual platform will help in connecting to the science loving people from the remotest corner of the country in a single click, thereby increasing the digital footprint, the Minster explained.  Appreciating the work done by RGCB, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that RGCB, in addition to testing for infectious and non-infectious diseases, has been at the forefront of COVID testing since the outbreak started in India. RGCB has done over one lakh of COVID testing till now, he disclosed.

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Dr Harsh Vardhan virtually inaugurates the 2^ndCancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) 2020 Conference

The Minister of Science and Technology and Vice President of Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Dr HarshVardhan virtually inaugurated the 2^ndTCGA 2020 conferencein New Delhi on Friday. Delivering the inaugural address,Dr Harsh Vardhan reiterated commitment of government of India to reduce the burden of cancer in the country by employing latest technologies in the genomics, proteomics, metabolomics and artificial intelligence and machine learning- mediated data analysis. He said, “Diverse molecular mechanisms- including genetic and lifestyle factors contribute to cancer, posing significant challenges to treatment. Therefore, it is necessary to better understand the underlying factors- patient by patient. In this context, it is important that we create indigenous, open-source and comprehensive database of molecular profiles of all cancer prevalent in Indian population”.The Union Minister acknowledged the efforts of the consortium comprising of scientists and clinicians from across the world, who have come together to build an Indian Cancer Genomics Atlas (ICGA).

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Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Ministry of AYUSH decides to set up an AYUSH Export Promotion Council

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Ministry of AYUSH have decided to work together to set up an Export Promotion Council to boost AYUSH exports. This decision was taken recently in a joint review of AYUSH trade and Industry by Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce and Industry and Shri Shripad Naik, Minister of AYUSH. It was also decided in the review that the entire AYUSH sector will work together to achieve price and quality competitiveness to boost AYUSH exports. The review was held through video conference on 4^th December 2020, which was attended by nearly 50 industry and trade leaders from the AYUSH Sector. More than 2000 stake-holders of the AYUSH Sector also attended the e-event through live streaming on virtual platforms. Secretary AYUSH initiated the discussions with a presentation on the action taken on the recommendations of the previous meeting by the Ministry of AYUSH. He also briefed about the various other initiatives taken by the Ministry of AYUSH to mitigate the COVID19 situation and to promote AYUSH industry.

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Indian economy will be among top economies in the world in next few years using science, technology, and innovation in all sectors,bouncing back soon from after effects of COVID 19: NITI Aayog Vice Chairman

Vice-Chairman, NITI Aayog, Dr. Rajiv Kumar, emphasised that the Indian economy will be among the top economies in the world in the next few years using science, technology, and innovation in all sectors, bouncing back soon from the after effects of COVID 19, at a webinar organized to celebrate 50 years of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) recently. “Steps and reforms have been taken by the Government in all the sectors, like agriculture, modern medicine, traditional medicine, New Education Policy, Small & Medium Enterprises, labour sector and so on, to target being among the world’s top three economies,” he said at the webinar on DST Golden Jubilee Discourse Series - On the other side of the Pandemic - organised by National Council for Science & Technology Communication and Vigyan Prasar. He said that the pandemic has changed many things and shown new ways of doing things and many of these are going to stay in the post-COVID world, and we need to have an innovative economic system in the post-COVID world to remain floating. Dr. Kumar added that the economy post-COVID has been in the recovery mode after the first quarter and hoped that Indian economy will bounce back in next few quarters from the effects of COVID-19 disruptions, will grow by average 7-8 percent in next 20-30 years and become the third-largest economy by 2047.

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Fourth South Asia Forum on SDGs

In the backdrop of the 4^th South Asian Forum of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), UNESCAP South Asia and Pacific virtually organised a special dialogue on disaster and climate resilience in South Asia on Friday. The key objectives of the High Level meeting were to identify the opportunities and imperatives to overcome the challenges in implementing the systemic approach to disaster and public health risk management. Minister of State for Home Affairs Shri Nityanand Rai addressed the gathering. In his speech the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Nityanand Rai highlighted that South Asian nations are facing challenges of extreme weather events like floods, cyclone, heat waves, cold waves, landslides and drought as well as COVID-19 pandemic and its recovery. Public health issues are posing an additional challenge to all countries of South Asia. For such situations, we need to have a strong collaborative framework for cooperation.

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COVID-19 might prove to be a game-changer for India’s fisheries sector – Vice President

The Vice President, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu today opined that COVID-19 might prove to be a game-changer for India’s fisheries sector as the pandemic has made people conscious of adopting healthy dietary habits.Addressing the scientists and staff at the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) and Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT) in Visakhapatnam today, the Vice President said that the fish is a great source of protein and holds the key for reducing malnutrition in the country, especially in children. In this regard, he asked the health experts and nutritionists to bring awareness among the common people about the many benefits of having fish in our diet. “Fish is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which are necessary for our body and good for cardiovascular health. This aspect needs to be popularized and conveyed to the common man”, he added.

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INPUTS FROM PIB FIELD OFFICES

• Assam: In Assam, 97 cases detected out of 11,514 tests conducted with positivity rate of 0.84% while 84 patients discharged. Total cases- 213759, recovered- 97.87% & active cases- 1.66%, tweeted State Health Minister.
• Sikkim: 27 new cases take Sikkim’s COVID-19 tally to 5,194.
• Kerala: As the first phase of the three-tier local body elections is to be held in Kerala tomorrow, polling booths are being sanitized as part of COVID protocol. The State health department has issued guidelines for safe conduct of the civic polls, which is taking place in the midst of the pandemic. Health Minister K.K. Shylaja said though the number of new cases on a daily basis had come down, there are many indicators which shows that there could be a resurgence of the infection in some parts of the state. Public Health experts are also of the opinion that the case graph could spike again after the polls. During the polling, not more than three voters would be allowed in one booth. Those who tested positive 10 days before the poll date can do postal vote till 3 pm on the previous day of the polling. 11,225 polling stations have been arranged for the first phase of election to be held tomorrow in five districts. 88. 26 lakh voters will decide the destiny of as many as 23, 584 candidates in this phase.
• Tamil Nadu: As many as 1,320 more persons tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday, taking Tamil Nadu’s case tally to 7,90,240. 16 persons, all aged above 60, died in the last 24 hours, taking the Covid-19 toll in the State to 11,793. Struggling MSMEs in Tamil Nadu, which were already paralyzed during the pandemic, are hit hard due to rise in raw material price as those placing orders want consignments at older rates, reports media.
• Karnataka: Most of the districts fail to achieve Covid 19 test targets, Chikkamagalur and Bangalore urban have conducted test over and above targets. and in the stare significant decline in ICU cases presently 280. State government will likely take decision on restrictions for celebration of new year.
• Andhra Pradesh: The Government Hospital in Eluru has been grappling with a mysterious illness which has so far affected nearly 340 people, reporting one death. Since Saturday evening, several people with symptoms like nausea and foam oozing from mouth have been admitted to the hospital. According to Government hospital doctors, blood reports of the patients are normal and patients were found Covid-19 negative. Experts from AIIMS, IICT and ICMR are arriving to investigate the cause of the illness, according to officials.  Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy visited the Government General Hospital in Eluru where over 150 patients were admitted with complains of nausea, giddiness and epilepsy and interacted with those afflicted by the mysterious disease.
• Telangana: 517 new cases, 862 recoveries & 2 deaths reported in the last 24 hours in Telangana. Total cases: 2,73,858; Active cases: 7,778; Deaths: 1474; Discharges: 2,64,606. Telangana’s Covid recoveries continue to outnumber new cases.
• Maharashtra: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Commissioner, Iqbal Singh Chahal has said that the COVID-19 positivity rate has fallen to just 5 per cent, the lowest in the past 10 months since the outbreak of the pandemic. He said the Covid-19 test positivity rate for the past 10 days including today in Mumbai looks promising. He said when the pandemic hit Maharashtra in full force in March, the positivity rate was as high as 35-36 per cent.
• Gujarat: Gujarat on Sunday reported 1,455 fresh coronavirus positive cases, taking the count of infections to 2,18,788. With 17 more patients succumbing to the viral disease, the cumulative toll in the state mounted to 4,081. At 1,485, the number of recoveries exceeded the new cases. The tally of recoveries in the state now stands at 2,00,012, taking the case recovery rate to 91.42 per cent. The state now has 14,695 active cases. 
• In the Union Territory of Daman, Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, the COVID-19 caseload mounted to 3,315 with the addition of two new cases, while the recoveries rose to 3,299.
• Rajasthan: Twenty more fatalities related to the coronavirus infection took the death toll in Rajasthan to 2,429 on Sunday, while 2,089 new cases pushed the infection tally to 2.80 lakh. Of the total caseload, 22,427 are under treatment while 2,55,729 people have been discharged after treatment till now. Of the new cases recorded on Sunday, Jaipur accounted for 481, Jodhpur 221, Ajmer 105, Kota 101, Alwar 95, Udaipur 91 and Bhilwara 81.
• Madhya Pradesh: Madhya Pradesh government has initiated preparations for vaccination for Covid-19 on war footing so that it can be executed with ease once the vaccine is available. All protocols and supporting arrangements to facilitate movement, storage and administration of the vaccine have been undertaken by the state government.
• Chhattisgarh: Chhattisgarh on Sunday recorded 1,229 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the count of infections to 2,46,809. With 12 more patients succumbing to the infection, the cumulative toll in the state rose to 2,989. The number of recoveries mounted to 2,23,772 after 93 people were discharged from various hospitals while 623 patients completed their home isolation during the day. The state now has 20,048 active cases. Raipur district reported 143 new cases, taking its total count to 47,745, including 671 deaths.
• Goa: Goa on Sunday reported 112 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the count of infections to 48,686. With one person succumbing to the viral disease, the death toll went up to 698 in the state. The number of recoveries rose to 46,624 with 131 people being discharged after treatment in the day, leaving the state with 1,364 active cases.

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