New Delhi [India], March 19 (ANI): Amid a surge in coronavirus cases in the country, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla on Friday wrote to all states and UTs and reiterated the significance of COVID-appropriate behaviour like wearing of face masks, hand hygiene and social distancing.
With 39,726 new COVID-19 cases recorded in the last 24 hours, the total cases in the country reached 1,15,14,331 on Friday.
Maharashtra has reported the highest daily new cases at 16,620 (accounting for 63.21 per cent of the daily new cases). It is followed by Kerala with 1,792 while Punjab reported 1,492 new cases.
India crossed a significant milestone in its fight against COVID-19 as the cumulative number of vaccine doses administered in the country crossed the 4 crore mark, Union Health Ministry said on Friday.
A total of 4,11,55,978 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been given, as per the provisional report till 7 pm today. (ANI)

Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], March 19 (ANI): Taking note of the low vaccination numbers in the state, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday asked all private and government hospitals and health facilities to offer hassle-free vaccination services for at least 8 hours daily, seven days a week, till March 31.
There should be no requirement of a separate certificate if an eligible over 45 year-old person brings the medical record regarding co-morbidities, he said.
The directions came during the COVID review meeting chaired by the Chief Minister, who pointed out with concern that of the 1291 registered private facilities, 891 have reportedly not administered a single dose.
An official release said the Chief Minister asked the district administration to come down strictly on such hospitals, stressing that private hospitals need to join the government battle against COVID-19 for the survival of the state and its people.
Rates to take the vaccine in private healthcare institutions must be publicised and overcharging should not be permitted, he told the Health Department.
He asked all elected and local leaders to make efforts to reach out to the public and address vaccination hesitancy.
“Community participation through Lok Sanjhedari should also be reorganised and mobilised to address vaccination hesitancy and COVID appropriate behaviour,” he said.
The Chief Minister said the Covid incidence in Punjab has remained relatively low over the last one year, and the state has consistently remained at the 18th position among all states in India in terms of the no. of Covid cases. Though the death rate has been a matter of concern but at 206 deaths per million population, Punjab compares well against Delhi at 542 and Maharashtra at 431, he added.
However, it was a matter of concern, said the Chief Minister, that after bringing the problem under control by the end of the last year, the state is again seeing a surge for the last one month.
From a low of around 200 cases daily and deaths in single digits, Punjab has gone to around 2000 cases per day, and the deaths are also increasing, he noted.
“We have to be prepared for this second surge,” he said noting that the 1918 Spanish flu had four spikes. “We have to be prepared for a long battle,” he added.
The Chief Minister assured, however, that his government was fully prepared to deal with the second wave. (ANI)

New Delhi [India], March 19 (ANI): The services of social media sites WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook were down on Friday night.
Many users, including those in India, were unable to access both Instagram and Facebook on Android and iOS. They were greeted with a “couldn’t refresh feed” message.
According to DownDetector, a site that tracks outages, the technical glitch took place after 11 pm (IST).
Several users took to microblogging site Twitter and wrote about their problems in accessing Facebook and Instagram, using the hashtag #instagramdown and #facebookdown. More details awaited. (ANI)

New Delhi [India], March 19 (ANI): With 39,726 new COVID-19 cases recorded in last 24 hours the total cases in the country reached 1,15,14,331 on Friday.
According to a statement issued by the union health ministry, as many as 39,726 new COVID-19 cases and 20,654 recoveries were reported in India in the last 24 hours.
With the addition of fresh infections, the total cases in the country reached 1,15,14,331, including 2,71,282 active cases and 1,10,83,679 recoveries.
The death toll stands at 1,59,370 including 154 fatalities recorded in the last 24 hours.
Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh continue to report a surge in fresh COVID-19 cases and they account for 80.63 per cent of the daily new cases.
Meanwhile, as the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive reached its 63rd day, India has administered more than 4 Crore doses have been administered.
A total of 4,11,55,978 vaccine doses have been given, as per the provisional report till 7 pm today.
Delhi reported 716 new COVID-19 cases, 471 recoveries and four deaths in the last 24 hours, as per the state health department on Friday evening. This was the highest number of COVID-19 cases which the national capital has reported since the onset of this year.
The total cases have mounted to 6,46,348, including 3,165 active cases and 6,32,230 total recoveries.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra reported 25,681 fresh COVID-19 cases, 14,400 recoveries and 70 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per the state health department.
Out of the new cases reported in Maharashtra, 5,065 cases were recorded in the Pune district.
Uttar Pradesh reported 393 new COVID-19 cases, 123 recoveries and 4 deaths in the last 24 hours.
Gujarat reported 1,415 new COVID-19 cases, 948 recoveries, and four deaths in the last 24 hours.
The state health department said that the total count for the COVID-19 cases in the state increased to 2,83,864. The tally of discharges and deaths stand at 2,73,280 and 4,437 respectively while the active case stands at 6,147.
Madhya Pradesh reported 1,140 new COVID19 cases, 556 recoveries and 7 deaths in the last 24 hours.
Andhra Pradesh reported 246 fresh COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, informed the state health department on Friday.
There are 1,909 are active cases in the state.
The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation on Friday informed that malls and multiplexes here will remain closed on weekends due to the recent surge in daily COVID-19 cases. (ANI)

New Delhi [India], March 19 (ANI): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday issued a whip to all its members in the Lok Sabha and asked them to be present in the House on March 22, requesting their support for the government’s stand on “very important legislative business” which is scheduled to be taken up on Monday in the ongoing Budget Session.
“All BJP members in Lok Sabha are hereby informed that some very important legislative business will be taken up for discussion and passing in the Lok Sabha on Monday, the 22nd March 2021,” a whip, signed by the party’s chief whip Rakesh Singh, said in letter.
“All members of BJP in Lok Sabha are, therefore, requested to be positively present in the House throughout the day on Monday and support the government’s stand,” it added.
The Budget Session of the Parliament, which had commenced with the address of President Ram Nath Kovind on January 29, concluded on February 29. The second part of the session started on March 8 and is scheduled to conclude on April 8. (ANI)

Dibrugarh (Assam) [India], March 19 (ANI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said Congress will give a boost to manufacturing in Assam and alleged that there had been little impact of programmes of Modi government to boost domestic manufacturing.
“PM Modi talks about ‘Make in India’, but if you check mobile phones, shirts, you will find ‘Made in China’ on them, instead of Made in Assam and India. But we want to see Made in Assam and India. This can’t be done by BJP,” he said while addressing a public meeting here.
Gandhi, who arrived in the state on a two-day campaign for assembly polls, interacted with students at a college in Lahowal in Dibrugarh and met tea garden workers at Dinjoy tea estate in Dibrugarh.
The Congress is contesting the assembly polls in an alliance that includes All India United Democratic Front.
Assembly elections in Assam for 126 seats will be held in three phases starting on March 27. The counting of votes will take place on May 2. (ANI)