I-T raids on close aides of two more Congress MLA candidates

Bengaluru, Jul 30: As the protest by Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) workers entered the 20th day, Karnataka Health Minister B Sriramulu on Wednesday assured them that he would take up their demands with Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa.

The ASHA workers are sitting in protests with a number of demands that include a minimum salary of Rs 12,000 per month.

Assuring that their matter will be taken up, Karnataka Health Minister B Sriramulu said while speaking to reporters, "We know how hard ASHA workers have been working as frontline warriors in the fight against COVID-19. I will discuss with CM about their demand for a minimum wage of Rs 12,000 per month and the final decision will be taken soon."

"We went to the police to allow us to protest. Officials then took us to the CM. During the meeting, he demanded some time to sort out our issues. 

We told him we are protesting for the past 20 days and that it was he who needs to call a meeting with us. Only then will he know the problems being faced by ASHA workers," an ASHA worker said clad in her signature pink sari.

"When asked as to why salaries of ASHA workers were not hiked, while it was done for doctors and other healthcare officials, the CM requested for time to look into the matter. 

We are not much happy now, but will if he comes in front of the media and promises to sort out our issues, then we will listen to him", she added.

New Delhi, Jul 29: Coronavirus infections in India continue to mount as the country's total case tally crossed the 15-lakh mark.

India added 48,513 fresh cases in 24 hours, taking the total tally to over 15.3 lakh, according to the Health Ministry’s 8 a.m. update on July 29.

Key Figures

Total number of confirmed coronavirus cases: 15,31,669
Active cases: 5,09,447
Cured/discharged/migrated: 9,88,029
Deaths: 34,193
Number of fresh cases in 24 hours: 48,513
One-day recoveries: 35,175
One-day deaths: 768
India’s coronavirus epidemic is growing at the fastest pace in the world, increasing 20% over the last week, according to Bloomberg’s Coronavirus Tracker. Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are among the states where the maximum number of daily cares are being reported.

Fresh cases continued to come in at a heightened pace, hovering just below 50,000 for the last six days.

Moderna Inc.’s vaccine candidate against Covid-19 protected against the virus in a trial that inoculated 16 monkeys, an encouraging step on the path to a defense for humans against the pandemic. Pfizer Inc., however, is preparing for the novel coronavirus to endure, leading to long-term demand for a seasonal shot to protect against Covid-19.

“There is a likely scenario that either the vaccine’s immunity will not be lasting forever,” said Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla in an interview Tuesday, “or that the virus will mutate, or that the virus will find ways to come back again and again.”

Even as the transmission rate of Covid-19 remains high in India, the pace of recovery has risen too. On Wednesday, India reported its third day of over 35,000 recoveries.

Global Update

Flare-ups in virus cases from Hong Kong to Europe are proving difficult for policy makers to wrangle. The U.S. neared 150,000 deaths from Covid-19, even as daily infections slowed in some hard-hit states. China reported 101 new cases, up from 68 a day earlier, with 98 of the total from local infections, mostly in Xinjiang.

Philippine health authorities warned that hospitals and infirmaries risk getting overwhelmed.

Globally, confirmed Covid-19 cases have topped 16.6 million with over 658,000 dead.