India

NEW DELHI, May 29 (Xinhua) -- India's COVID-19 tally reached 27,729,247 on Saturday, with 173,790 new cases added during the past 24 hours, said the federal health ministry.

Besides, as many as 3,617 deaths since Friday morning took the death toll to 322,512.

There are still 2,228,724 active cases in the country, with a decrease of 114,428 cases in the past 24 hours. The number of daily active cases has been on the decline over the past few days after a continuous surge since mid-April.

NEW DELHI, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday in his monthly radio programme said the production of liquid medical oxygen, a key component in the treatment of COVID-19 patients, in the country has gone up by 10 times.

"In the normal course, here we were producing 900 metric tonnes of liquid medical oxygen in a day. Now the production has gone over 10 times to 9,500 metric tonnes a day," said the Prime Minister.

Lucknow, May 28 (PTI) Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday accused the Uttar Pradesh government of pursuing dictatorship after the Essential Services Maintenance Act was extended for the third time in the state.

She said the Yogi government is following policies aimed at suppressing democratic rights of employees.

Ayodhya, May 28 (PTI) The government has granted tax exemption to those contributing for the construction of the mosque, for which the Supreme Court had allotted five acres in the Babri Masjid-Ramjanmabhoomi land dispute case, according to members of the trust overseeing the project.

The decision came nine months after the Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation (IICF), the trust overseeing the project, applied for it first.

New Delhi, May 29 (PTI) Petrol price on Saturday crossed the Rs 100-a-litre mark in Mumbai after the 15th increase in fuel prices this month.

Petrol price was increased by 26 paise per litre and diesel by 28 paise a litre, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers.

The increase - 15th this month - took petrol and diesel prices to a fresh all-time high across the country.

Washington, May 29 (PTI) The informal grouping of four countries in the Indo-Pacific region comprising Australia, India, Japan and the United States fills a very important gap that has emerged in contemporary times, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said.

Pune, May 29 (PTI) Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Karambir Singh on Saturday called for the "jointness" of three defence forces, saying that it is far more important in today's changing nature of war than it was in the past.

He was speaking at the National Defence Academy (NDA) at Khadakwasla here in the morning, after reviewing the Passing Out Parade of 140th course of the academy.

Jammu, May 29 (PTI) Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha on Saturday inaugurated the Defence Research and Development Organisation's (DRDO) 500-bed Covid hospital in Jammu to ramp up the healthcare infrastructure to effectively deal with the coronavirus pandemic.

Of the total 500 beds here at Bhagwati Nagar Centre, 125 would be Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds, while others would be a set of Covid beds with 24 hours oxygen facility.

NEW DELHI, May 28 (Xinhua) -- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday reviewed the damage rendered by Cyclone Yaas that hit India's eastern states of West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand on Wednesday.

Modi undertook an aerial survey of the cyclone-affected areas in Bhadrak and Baleswar districts of Odisha, and Purba Medinipur in West Bengal.

In Odisha state's capital city Bhubaneswar, the PM chaired a meeting to review the relief and rehabilitation measures being undertaken.

Jaipur, May 28 (PTI) Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday rubbished the allegations of the BJP that 11.5 lakh doses of coronavirus vaccines in the state have been wasted.

He said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is trying to do politics by spreading lies and bringing down the morale of frontline workers.