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Coronavirus latest News liVe updates: 38,628 New Covid Cases in india, Nearly 13% lower than yesterday

Coronavirus live update: rajasthan, Madhya pradesh, Bihar - the three Big states - reported zero Covid deaths.

NeW DeLhI: India today reported 38,628 new Covid cases, a drop of nearly 13 per cent from yesterday's 44,643 cases. The positivity rate stands at 2.21 per cent, less than 3 per cent for last 12 days.

With India crossing the 50-crore mark on Friday in the number of Covid vaccine doses administered, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the country's fight against the pandemic has received a "strong impetus".

Also, the weekly positivity rate, which is currently at 2.39 per cent, remained below 5 per cent.

here are The LIVe UpDaTeS oN INDIa CoroNaVIrUS (CoVID-19) CaSeS:

Trinamool MP Santanu Sen takes jibe at Centre over vaccine shortage in Bengal

Taking a jibe at the Central government for handling the COVID-19 pandemic in a "nonserious" manner, Trinamool Congress MP Santanu Sen on Saturday said that the Prime Minister should be called a "Publicity Master", alleging that the Centre sold one vaccine at three different prices across the country.

Amid the ongoing vaccine shortage in West Bengal, the TMC leader slammed the Centre for its "faulty vaccine policy", and alleged that India's vaccine policy has been "condemned by the World Health Organisation and the Supreme Court".

Speaking to reporters, the TMC MP said, "The problem with the Central Government is that it was never serious in handling the COVID situation since the beginning. On January 16, when the vaccination started, there was not enough awareness among people and they refused to get vaccinated. By the time they understood the importance, there were not enough vaccines left.

Delhi Reports 72 New Covid Cases, One Death In Last 24 Hours

The national capital recorded 72 fresh COVID-19 cases and one death due to the disease on Saturday, while the positivity rate rose to 0.10 per cent, according to data shared by the health department in New Delhi.

This is a marked increase in the number of daily cases, as 44 cases were reported in the city on Friday.

The coronavirus death count in the city has now risen to 25,066, according to the latest health bulletin.

On Friday, five deaths were also reported, while the positivity rate had stood at 0.06 per cent, according to official figures.

On Thursday, 61 cases with a positivity rate of 0.08 per cent, and two deaths were recorded.

No death due to COVID-19 was recorded in Delhi on Wednesday, while 67 fresh cases were reported with a positivity rate of 0.09 per cent.

This was the fifth time since the starting of the second wave of the pandemic in the national capital when zero fatality had been logged in a day.

On July 18, July 24, July 29 and August 2 too, no death due to COVID-19 was recorded, according to official data.

On March 2 this year, the national capital had reported zero death due to the virus. On that day, the number of single-day infections stood at 217 and the positivity rate was 0.33 per cent.

japanese government approves indian contingent's Visit To Its embassy in tokyo

ToKYo Olympics: The Indian Ambassador to Japan Sanjay Kumar Verma will felicitate the medal winners, besides interacting with other athletes.

The Indian contingent at the Tokyo Olympics, including the medal winners, has got the required approval from the Japanese government to leave the Games Village and travel to the Indian Embassy for a felicitation ceremony on Saturday. With the Olympics taking place amid rising COVID-19 cases in the host city and the country, athletes and officials are confined to the Games Village and competition venues. Deputy

Chef de Mission Prem Kumar Verma told PTI that it's an honour for the contingent to be invited by Indian Ambassador to Japan Sanjay Kumar Verma. The Ambassador will felicitate the medal winners, besides interacting with other athletes. "We wanted around 30 members of our contingent to be at the Embassy but the clearance has only come for 13 (due to COVID-19 infection control guidelines). It will be a privilege for all of us to meet the Ambassador," Verma said. Bronze winning men's hockey team captain Manpreet Singh, bronze 36 — THE BRISBANE INDIAN TIMES, August, 2021

winning boxer Lovlina Borgohain and wrestler Ravi Dahiya, who won a silver, are expected to be part of the team to visit the Embassy. mong the Indian officials, Indian Olympic Association president Narinder Batra, Chef de Mission B P Baishya, his deputy Verma, Indian Boxing Federation chief Ajay Singh, Wrestling Federation of India head Brij Bhushan Singh will be there.

The Games organisers have asked the Indian contingent to strictly follow the COVID-19 counter measures at the Indian Embassy, just like they have been following in the Village and competition venues.

tokyo games: bajrang punia to Feature In Bronze Bout, Aditi Ashok In Line For Medal, Women's hockey Team Finishes In Fourth Position

ToKYo GaMeS: Bajrang Punia lost his semi-final bout, and will wrestle in his bronze medal game on Saturday. Meanwhile, golfer Aditi Ashok is still in line for a medal and the women's hockey team lost in the bronze medal match.

The medal proved elusive but the Indian women's hockey team earned plenty of respect with a momentous fourthplace finish in the Olympic Games where golfer Aditi Ashok also stood on the cusp of history even as star wrestler Bajrang Punia disappointed, on Friday. Up against 2016 Games goldmedallists Great Britain in the bronze play-off, India ended 3-4 but managed to give the more fancied team quite a run for its money and in the process earning some more appreciation from the country as well as their opponents.

Rani Rampal and her gutsy teammates cried long after the final hooter had gone off but one thing was clear, history had been scripted by a team that finished last in the previous Games and from whom nobody expected anything. "I said to the girls, 'Listen, I can't take away your tears. No words will help that. We didn't win the medal, but I think we achieved something bigger, and it's inspiring a country and making the country proud'," the team's Dutch coach Sjoerd Marijne, whose fouryear stint with the side also came to an end on Friday, said.

Another unexpected medal contender on the day was Aditi, a 23-year-old Bengalurean whose mother Maheshwari is her caddie at the Games. The unheralded youngster placed herself sole second on the leaderboard and in line for a medal after carding a threeunder 68 in the third round.

Aditi fired five birdies and two bogeys on the day. She was three-under after picking up shots on fourth, sixth and seventh holes before bogeys on ninth and 11th pulled her back. However, she made amends with birdies on the 15th and 17th to keep herself in the hunt.

With a storm forecast for the next two days, there is every possibility that she might just clinch the first ever Olympic medal in golf for India if she holds on or play does not happen because of weather. The event will become a 54-hole affair if storm prevents play on Saturday and Sunday. "I think no matter how I do this week people have heard about golf, and they continue to tune in if they have extended the golf coverage in India, because I'm in the top three or whatever," she said. "I think that's good itself. People seeing golf instead of the other sports, it's always good to get more people aware of the game."

The same, however, could not be said of Punia, who entered the Games as an overwhelming favourite to be among the top two at least. After just about making it to the semifinals following two close wins, the second seeded Punia was outmaneuvered by Azerbaijan's Haji Aliev in the last-four stage, leaving him with a bronze to fight for on Saturday.

There was disappointment as usual in the athletics arena despite a creditable performance by the men's 4x400m relay team. Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Tom Noah Nirmal, Rajiv Arokia and Amoj Jacob combined to break the Asian record after completing the race in 3:00.25sec to finish fourth in the second heat but it was not enough to earn them the final berth.

The earlier Asian record was in the name of Qatar which had clocked 3:00.56 while winning the gold in the 2018 Asian Games. Earlier in the day, the race walkers failed to impress with below-par performances at Sapporo.

National record holder Priyanka Goswami was among the leading pack around the halfway mark but eventually finished 17th while compatriot Bhawna Jat ended at 32nd in the women's 20km race walk event.

In the men's 50km event, Gurpreet Singh pulled out after the 35km mark due to cramps under hot and humid conditions.

Saturday could prove to be historic in Indian athletics when Neeraj Chopra presents his challenge in the javelin throw event. He topped the qualifications with his very first throw and has raised hopes of doing what the likes of late Milkha Singh and P T Usha could not do despite coming very close.