'One Nation, One Election' will create confusion among voters: Deve Gowda

New Delhi, May 3: Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Sunday said that India's COVID-19 mortality rate of 3.2 per cent is the lowest in the world and over 10,000 coronavirus patients have been discharged from hospitals after recovering from the disease so far.

"Today more than 10,000 COVID-19 patients have been discharged. Those still admitted at hospitals are on the road to recovery. If in last 14 days doubling rate was 10.5 days, then today it is around 12 days," the Minister told ANI after visiting Lady Hardinge Hospital.

"Our mortality rate of 3.2 per cent is the lowest in the world," he said.

With 2,644 more COVID-19 cases and 83 deaths in the last 24 hours, the number of people infected from coronavirus in the country has reached 39,980 including 1,301 deaths, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Sunday.

Currently, there are 28,046 active cases while 10,633 COVID-19 positive patients have been cured/discharged.

May 18: Goldman Sachs expects India will experience its deepest recession ever after a poor run of data underscored the damaging economic impact of lockdowns in the world’s second-most populous nation.

Gross domestic product will contract by an annualized 45% in the second quarter from the prior three months, compared with Goldman’s previous forecast of a 20% slump. A stronger rebound of 20% is now seen for the third quarter, while projections for the fourth quarter and first of next year are unchanged at 14% and 6.5%.

Those estimates imply that real GDP will fall by 5% in the 2021 fiscal year, which would be deeper than any other recession India has ever experienced, Goldman economists Prachi Mishra and Andrew Tilton wrote in a note dated May 17.

India’s government has extended its nationwide lockdown until May 31, while further easing restrictions in certain sectors to boost economic activity, as coronavirus cases escalate across the country. The announcement followed Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s fifth briefing in as many days, in which she outlined details of the country’s $265 billion virus rescue package, which is equivalent to 10% of India’s GDP.

 “There have been a series of structural reform announcements across several sectors over the past few days,” the Goldman economists wrote. “These reforms are more medium-term in nature, and we, therefore, do not expect these to have an immediate impact on reviving growth. We will continue to monitor their implementation to gauge their effect on the medium-term outlook.”

Infections are surging across the South Asian nation of 1.3 billion people, with more than 91,300 infections, including 2,897 deaths as of Sunday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

New Delhi, May 30: As the NDA government completes one year of its second term, Prime Minister Narendra Modi listed several achievements and initiatives taken by his government in the past year in an audio message addressed to the people of the country.

PM Modi said, "This day last year began a golden chapter in the history of Indian democracy. It was after several decades that the people of the country voted back a full-term government with a full majority."

"Your role has played a pivotal role in creating this chapter. In such a situation, this day is an opportunity for me to bow to the citizens of the country and the democratic ethos of our nation," said PM Modi.

"Had the situation been normal, I would have got the chance to meet you. Your affection and active support in the past year have given me new energy and inspiration. During this period, the way you have shown the collective powers of democracy, they have become an example for the whole world," he added.

PM Modi talked about several important initiatives taken by his government in 2014 as well as India's demonstration of its mettle through the surgical strike and airstrike.

"Six years ago in 2014, the people of this country voted to bring a major change in the country. You voted to change the country's policy and manner. During that tenure where surgical strike and airstrike took place, one rank one pension, one nation one tax GST, and better MSP for farmers were also fulfilled. That period was dedicated to fulfilling many needs of the country."

He further said that in these years the country has seen systems coming out of the quagmire of inertia and corruption. The country has seen governance change to make life easier for the poor.

"During that period, India's stature in the world increased. By opening bank accounts of poor people, by giving them gas connections, by providing free electricity connections, by building washrooms, by building houses, the dignity of the poor has also been increased," said PM Modi.