With 44,684 new coronavirus infections and 520 fatalities, India's COVID-19 tally neared the 88-lakh mark on Saturday. The total caseload in the country has moved up to 87,73,479, data published by the Union Health Ministry showed at 8 am today. As many as 1,29,188 people have died of the highly-infectious disease so far. The active cases stand at 4,80,719 while 81,63,572 have recovered from the contagion, as per the latest data.
A petition has been filed before the Supreme Court on Friday seeking its direction to the Central government and all the state governments to fix the maximum rate for the RT-PCR test for COVID-19 to Rs 400 uniformly across India. Petitioner lawyer Ajay Agrawal claimed that the apex court should pass appropriate directions and orders to the Central government and all states to fix the RT-PCR test at Rs 400 uniformly across the country.
Continuing the tradition of spending Diwali with soldiers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will celebrate the festival with the soldiers of the Western border today. He will be accompanied by Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Bipin Rawat, Border Security Force (BSF) Director General Rakesh Asthana and Army Chief MM Naravane during celebrations at Longewala, originally a BSF Post and a strategic point en route to capturing vast tracts of land and also a pivotal theatre of war in engaging India on the western front during the 1971 War. 
Delhi on Saturday recorded 'very poor' and 'severe' air quality at several places, as the national capital continues to remain engulfed in a blanket of smog. According to the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) data today, the Air Quality Index (AQI) was at 424 (severe) in Anand Vihar, at 328 (very poor) in IGI Airport area, 400 (very poor) in ITO, and 354 (very poor) in RK Puram.
Serum Institute of India, the world's largest vaccine maker, is ramping up production of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 shot to have 100 million doses ready by December for an inoculation drive expected to begin across India that same month. SII and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) are collaborating on the clinical trials of the vaccine in the country. While ICMR has funded the clinical trial site fees, SII is taking care of other expenses for Covishield. At present, SII and ICMR are conducting II/III clinical trial of the vaccine at 15 different centres across the country. 
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has changed the timings of train services on the occasion of Diwali. According to the DMRC, the last service from terminal stations of all Delhi Metro lines will start at 10 pm on Saturday.
Delhi recorded 7,802 fresh COVID-19 cases in a day taking the infection tally in the national capital to over 4.74 lakh on Friday, while 91 more fatalities in the same period pushed the death toll to 7,423, authorities said. These fresh coronavirus cases were detected from 56,553 tests conducted the previous day. Delhi recorded a positivity rate of 13. 80 per cent amid the festive season and rising pollution in the city, according to the bulletin issued by the health department.Republic Day 2024 : As India's 75th Republic Day Parade kicked off in the national capital, a 30-member band contingent and a marching c...
