India’s COVID-19 recovery rate over 58 pc, fatality rate near 3 pc : Dr Harsh Vardhan

27 June  New Delhi [India] (ANI): Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Saturday said that the COVID-19 recovery rate has surged over 58 per cent in the country with around 3 lakh cured and discharged patients.

“Our recovery rate has gone above 58 per cent and out of the total five lakh confirmed patients around 3 lakh people have recovered from COVID-19. The rest are also on the road to recovery and will hopefully return to their homes safe and sound,” Dr Harsh Vardhan said. He further said that 85 per cent of the patients came from eight states and Union Territories and not just this “over 87 per cent of the unfortunate deaths due to the disease also came from these eight states.”

“Our mortality/fatality rate is near 3 per cent which is very less. Our doubling rate has come down to nearly 19 days, which was 3 days before the lockdown,” Dr Harsh Vardhan said. He said that the testing facilities have been ramped up significantly in the country and yesterday alone over 2,30,000 tests were conducted in the 1,026 approved labs in the country.

Earlier in the day, a Group of Ministers (GoM) meeting under the chairmanship of Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan was being held through video conferencing. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri were also present in the meeting.

India on Saturday crossed 5 lakh-mark with record highest spike of 18,552 cases of coronavirus reported in the country in the past 24 hours, according to the Union Health Ministry. Also, with 384 fatalities in the past 24 hours, the total deaths inched closer to the 16,000-mark.

With this, the total number of active cases is 1,97,387 while a total of 2,95,880 people have been cured or discharged from hospitals.

(ANI) Fifteen Taliban Members Killed, 6 Injured by NATO Forces in S. Afghanistan – Authorities Kabul [Afghanistan], June 27 (Sputnik/ANI): Fifteen members of the Taliban organisation were killed and six others were wounded in an attack by the NATO-led international forces in Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar province, the provincial governor’s press office said in a statement on Saturday.

“Taliban insurgents in the Siasang Valley of Kandahar’s Arghandab district wanted to attack security forces at around 11:00 p.m. [18:00 GMT on Friday], the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) launched an airstrike on them and 15 killed and six others were injured,” the press office said. In a separate incident in the Maroof district, six Taliban members were killed in clashes with security forces.

Moreover, in the east of Afghanistan, two armed Taliban were killed and four others were injured in clashes that erupted after the militants attacked security posts. “Last night, Taliban insurgents attacked security and defence checkpoints in Qassaban, Dewi and Manozai areas of the Alishang district of Laghman province. Two Taliban insurgents were killed and four others were injured in the clash,” Laghman police spokesman Shafiullah Afghanyar told Sputnik.

No Afghan security forces were killed or wounded in the incident in Laghman. The Taliban have not commented on the attacks. (Sputnik/ANI) Will only publicity provide employment? Priyanka Gandhi asks UP govt New Delhi [India], June 27 (ANI): A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the “Atma Nirbhar Uttar Pradesh Rojgar Abhiyan”, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra attacked the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government saying that only publicity will not provide employment.

“Yesterday, an employment event was started in Uttar Pradesh with a lot of publicity,” Priyanka wrote in a Facebook post. She alleged that most of the categories of employment mentioned at the event is not in good health. Self-employed people are in crisis due to lack of direct financial support from the government, she added.

“The condition of small and medium scale industries is so bad that as per an estimate, 62 per cent of MSMEs will cut jobs and 78 per cent will cut wages,” she wrote. Priyanka said that the condition of chikan industry, woodwork, brass industry, powerloom sector, carpet industry is bad in Uttar Pradesh.

“Recently, the incidents of suicide by migrant laborers from outside in Bundelkhand are before us. Tragic incidents of suicide have come to light in Kanpur due to financial constraints and lack of employment,” she said. Later she asked, “In such a situation, what is the Uttar Pradesh government trying to hide? Will only publicity provide employment?” (ANI)