India has crossed yet another landmark milestone in the fight against the global pandemic. The cumulative testing has crossed 15 Cr. 9,22,959 samples were tested in the last 24 hours which has increased India’s total cumulative tests to 15,07,59,726. The past one crore tests were added in just 10 days. Comprehensive and widespread testing on a sustained basis has resulted in bringing down the positivity rate. In another significant achievement, India has reported less than 40,000 new daily cases for eleven continuous days. In the last 24 hours, only 31,521 persons were found to be COVID positive in the country.

India also registered 37,725 new recoveries in the same duration which has led to a further contraction of the Active Caseload. India’s present active caseload of 3,72,293 consists of just 3.81% of India’s Total Positive Cases. The total recovered cases have surpassed 92.5 lakh (92,53,306) today. The Recovery Rate has improved to 94.74%. The gap between Recovered cases and Active cases is steadily increasing and presently stands at 8,881,013.

▪️ Cumulative tests cross 15 crore, 1 crore tests conducted in the last 10 days

▪️ Active caseload of 3,72,293 consists of just 3.81% of total positive cases; recovery rate improves to 94.74%

More updates in PIB’s daily #COVID19 bulletin
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— PIB India (@PIB_India) December 10, 2020

77% of recovered cases in 10 States/UTs

77.30% of the new recovered cases is contributed by ten States/UTs. Maharashtra saw 5,051 persons recovering from COVID. Kerala and Delhi reported 4,647 and 4,177 new recoveries, respectively. Ten States/UTs have contributed 74.65% of the new cases. 77.67% of the 412 case fatalities that have been reported in the past 24 hours are from Ten States/UTs. 18.20% of new fatalities reported are from Maharashtra which reported 75 deaths. Delhi also saw a figure fatality count of 50 contributing another 12.13% of the fatalities. The daily new deaths have been less than 500 from the last five days.

Dr Harsh Vardhan addresses Curtain Raiser ceremony by ICMR-National Institute of Research

Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Science and Technology, and Earth Sciences digitally addressed the virtual Curtain Raiser Ceremony by ICMR-National Institute of Research in Tribal Health, at Jabalpur as a part of 6th India International Science Festival 2020 (IISF 2020). The 6th IISF‐2020 is being organized by Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) in collaboration with Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and Vijnana Bharati (VIBHA).

Delivering the address, Dr Harsh Vardhan said, “IISF, launched in 2015, has always been about showcasing the progress of science and its application for the betterment of the lives of our people. It is indeed a privilege to preside over this Curtain Raiser Ceremony being organized by the ICMR-NIRTH, Jabalpur.”

6th instalment of Rs 6,000 crore released to States

The Ministry of Finance has released the weekly instalment of Rs. 6,000 crore to the States to meet the GST compensation shortfall. Out of this, an amount of Rs. 5,516.60 crore has been released to 23 States and an amount of Rs.483.40 crore has been released to the 3 Union Territories (UT) with Legislative Assembly (Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir & Puducherry) who are members of the GST Council.

The remaining 5 States, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim do not have a gap in revenue on account of GST implementation. The Government of India is borrowing this amount on behalf of the States and UTs through a special borrowing window to meet the estimated shortfall of Rs.1.10 lakh crore in revenue arising on account of GST implementation. The amount released this week was the 6th instalment of such funds provided to the States. The amount has been borrowed this week at an interest rate of 4.2089 %. So far, an amount of Rs. 36,000 crore has been borrowed by the Central Government through the special borrowing window at an average interest rate of 4.7106%.

FM lauds higher procurement & payment of over Rs 21000 crore to MSMEs

Union Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman reviewed the situation about payment to the MSMEs and expressed satisfaction and appreciation on the excellent work done by the Ministry of MSME. As part of Prime Minister of India’s vision the Finance Minister had announced AtmaNirbhar Bharat package in May, 2020, it was also stated that the MSME dues should be paid in 45 days. Since the month of May 2020, regular follow-up and concerted efforts have been made by Government of India, particularly by the MSME Ministry for payment of these dues. Particular focus was placed on Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) and the Central Government Agencies for payment of dues to MSMEs.

As a result, over Rs 21000 crore of MSME dues have been paid in past 7 Months since May 2020 by the Central Govt Agencies and CPSEs. The highest level of Procurement was achieved in October of over Rs 5100 crore and payment of over Rs 4100 crore. Going by the reports received in first 10 days for November 2020, this level of performance is expected to be surpassed as Procurement of about Rs 4700 crore and payment of about Rs 4000 crore have already been reported.

Education Minister virtually interacts with teachers, parents and students

Union Education Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank ’virtually interacted with teachers, parents and students across the country on upcoming competitive and board exams. During the one-hour interaction, the Minister responded to the various concerns and queries of the students relating to school examinations, entrance examinations, among others. Speaking on the occasion Shri Pokhriyal said that the students are the brand ambassadors of the National Education Policy-2020.

Emphasizing that all of us have to take collective efforts to make the policy a grand success, he sought the cooperation of students and teachers in effective implementation of the policy. While hoping that students will soon return to their normal school days, the Minister urged them to continue their studies along with adhering to all the precautions and guidelines on COVID. Addressing the students, he suggested that student can use this time to revive the pen friend culture that is writing letters to friends. Going beyond the current trend of SMS, Whatsapp, this practice of writing letters to friends will bring in more joy and happiness.