India on Sunday reported 1,890 fresh Covid-19 cases in a single day which is the highest in 149 days. According to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.56 percent while the weekly positivity rate stood at 1.29 percent.

As per the Health Ministry, the active cases in the country rose to 9,433 which now comprises 0.02 percent of the total infections. Earlier, India recorded the highest number of cases in a single day on October 28 which was 2,208.

India also logged seven deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 5,30,821. Three deaths were reported from Kerala while two deaths were reported from Maharashtra and Gujarat each. The case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 percent.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,41,63,883. The Covid case tally was recorded at 4.47 crore (4,47,04,147), while the national Covid-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 98.79 percent, the ministry said.

Kerala has the highest number of active Covid-19 cases at 2,311 followed by Maharashtra at 1,956, and Karnataka at 683.

According to the ministry’s website, 220.65 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide vaccination drive.

A US-based Indian journalist alleged verbal abuse and physical assault by Khalistan supporters while he was covering a pro-Khalistan protest outside the Indian Embassy in Washington on Saturday afternoon.

In a tweet on Sunday, Washington-based Indian scribe, Lalit Jha, while sharing a video of the altercation, alleged that he was hit on his left ear with sticks by Khalistan supporters as he was covering the protest.

Jha also thanked US Secret Service for protecting him, and helping him do his job.

Speaking to news agency ANI, Jha said he mulled calling 911 as he feared for his physical safety but luckily spotted some Secret Service officers and narrated the incident to them.

Narrating his ordeal, Jha said that pro-Khalistan protesters waving Khalistan flags descended upon the Indian Embassy in presence of the US Secret Service. The protesters raised slogans in favour of fugitive Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh and Khalistan, threatened to vandalize the embassy premises and even issued threats to Indian Ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu.

According to reports, turbaned men of all ages from various parts of the DC-Maryland-Virginia (DMV) area, descended upon the embassy and shouted anti-India slogans and pro-Khalistani speeches on microphones while also accusing the Punjab Police of human rights violations during their ongoing search for Amritpal Singh.

The Indian Embassy in a statement condemned the incident saying that the attack on Jha highlights the “the violent and anti-social tendencies of the so-called ‘Khalistani protestors’ and their supporters, who routinely engage in wanton violence and vandalism.”

The embassy said that Jha—a senior journalist working for the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency—was “verbally intimidated and then physically assaulted”. The embassy also thanked US law enforcement agencies for their prompt response.

Over the past week, Khalistan supporters have staged multiple protests outside the Indian embassy and the San Francisco Consulate—which also came under attack on March 20.

Pakistan court on Friday gave a death sentence to a Muslim man for posting blasphemous content in a WhatsApp group. The accused was convicted under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act and Anti-Terrorist Act by a Peshawar court.

The accused, identified as Syed Muhammad Zeeshan, was also fined Rs 1.2 million or $4300 and awarded imprisonment of total of 23 years.

The court in an order said that an accused Syed Muhammad Zeeshan, son of Syed Zakaullah in custody has been convicted and sentenced after being found guilty. Zeeshan, a resident of the northwest city of Mardan, has the right to appeal against the court’s conviction order on the highly-sensitive issue of blasphemy in Pakistan.

Blasphemy is an extremely sensitive topic in Pakistan, a country with a majority of Muslims, where even unverified accusations can incite mobs and violence.

Zeeshan was undergoing court proceedings in the same case for almost two years after Muhammad Saeed, a resident of Talagang in Punjab province, accused him of posting blasphemous content in a WhatsApp group. Saeed filed an application with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in 2021 againsy Zeeshan for blasphemous content.

As per the reports, the FIA had confiscated Zeeshan’s cell-phone and its forensic examination proved him guilty.

In the past 20 years, 774 Muslims and 760 members of various minority religious groups have reportedly faced blasphemy charges, according to the National Commission of Justice and Peace, a human rights and legal help organisation in Pakistan.

Last month, Pakistan banned Wikipedia after it refused to remove the allegedly offensive or blasphemy material from the website.