Defence secretary tests positive

India's Defence secretary Ajay Kumar tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday, following which the defence ministry carried out a massive contact-tracing exercise, official sources said.

Kumar's condition is stable and he is currently under home-quarantine, they said.

At least 35 officials working at the ministry's headquarters in South Block in the Raisina Hills have been sent on home quarantine after reports of Kumar testing positive for the infection emerged on Wednesday morning.

There was no official comment on Kumar's health condition. The defence ministry spokesperson refused to comment on the issue.

It is learnt that defence minister Rajnath Singh did not attend office as part of a precautionary measure.

The offices of the defence minister, the defence secretary, the Army chief and the Navy chief are on the first floor of the South Block.

The sources said all laid down protocols on contact-tracing and quarantining of people are being scrupulously followed.

India saw a record single-day jump of 9,304 Covid-19 cases on Thursday pushing the nationwide tally to 2,16,919, while the death toll due to the disease climbed to 6,075 with 260 new fatalities, according to the Union health ministry.

India stood seventh among the nations worst hit by the Covid-19 pandemic after the US, Brazil, Russia, the UK, Spain and Italy.

The health ministry said the number of active Covid-19 cases in the country stood at 1,06,737 till 8 am on Thursday.

The country has now registered over 8,000 fresh cases for the fifth consecutive day, according to government data.

A total of 1,04,107 patients have recovered from the disease in the country so far, with 3,804 of them recovering in the last 24 hours.

'The recovery rate is 47.99 per cent amongst Covid-19 patients,' the ministry said.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a total of 42,42,718 samples were tested for coronavirus infection as on 9 am on Thursday, with 1,39,485 of those tested in the last 24 hours.

'The apex health research body, ICMR, has further ramped up the testing capacity for detecting the novel coronavirus in infected persons. The number of government laboratories has been increased to 498 and that of private laboratories to 212,' the ministry said.

Of the 6,075 fatalities, Maharashtra has reported the maximum of 2,587, followed by Gujarat (1,122), Delhi (606), Madhya Pradesh (371), West Bengal (345), Uttar Pradesh (229), Rajasthan (209), Tamil Nadu (208), Telangana (99) and Andhra Pradesh (68).

The death toll has reached 53 in Karnataka, 47 in Punjab, 34 in Jammu and Kashmir, 25 in Bihar, 23 in Haryana, 11 in Kerala, eight in Uttarakhand and seven in Odisha.

Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and Jharkhand have registered five Covid-19 deaths each, Assam has recorded four while Chhattisgarh has reported two fatalities so far. Meghalaya and Ladakh have reported one Covid-19 death each.

According to the health ministry's website, more than 70 per cent of the deaths were due to comorbidities.

The highest number of confirmed Covid-19 cases has been reported from Maharashtra at 74,860, followed by Tamil Nadu (25,872), Delhi (23,645), Gujarat (18,100), Rajasthan (9,652), Madhya Pradesh (8,588) and Uttar Pradesh (8,729).

The number of coronavirus cases has risen to 6,508 in West Bengal, 4,390 in Bihar and 4,080 in Andhra Pradesh. Karnataka has reported 4,063 cases, Telangana 3,020, Haryana 2,954, Jammu and Kashmir 2,857 and Odisha 2,388.

Punjab has reported 2,376 Covid-19 cases, while Assam has registered 1,672. A total of 1,494 people have been infected with the virus in Kerala and 1,085 in Uttarakhand.

Jharkhand has registered 752 cases, Chhattisgarh 668, Tripura 468, Himachal Pradesh 359, Chandigarh 301, Manipur 118, Ladakh 90 and Puducherry has reported 82 cases.

A total of 79 cases have been reported in Goa, 58 in Nagaland, 38 in Arunachal Pradesh and 33 each in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Meghalaya. Mizoram has reported 14 cases, Dadra and Nagar Haveli has eight cases while Sikkim has reported two cases till now.

On its website, the ministry said, '7,483 cases are being reassigned to states. Our figures are being reconciled with the ICMR.' State-wise distribution is subject to further verification and reconciliation, it added.

MSI accessories for customers

The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) on Thursday said it has introduced a range of accessories, including face shield visor and masks, amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The company's 'Health and Hygiene' genuine accessories for car and personal care are priced from Rs 10 to Rs 650, MSI said in a statement.

The products include three ply face mask, protective goggles, show cover, hand gloves and face shield visor.

Besides, the company has also introduced items for vehicle interiors like a cleaner and a cabin protective partition.

Customer can visit the nearest dealership or raise an enquiry online at website for the new range of accessories, MSI said.

To strengthen the customer confidence, company will add more items under its 'Health and Hygiene range, it added.

Maharashtra AAP asks govt to waive off power bills

The Maharashtra unit of Aam Aadmi Party has demanded that the state government waive off electricity bills of up to 200 units for people who have suffered economically due to the Covid-19 lockdown.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the party said that the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown has hit people financially and it was imperative that they receive adequate support at all levels from the state government.

The party noted that the Centre's Rs 20 lakh crore special economic package was not going to help the common man directly.

'It is thus extremely important that the Maha Vikas Aghadi government immediately take measures to alleviate the economic crisis that has gripped the aam aadmi (common man),' it said.

The MVA government should waive off electricity bills for up to 200 units for the last four months, the statement read.

Health workers attend a training session on handling the coronavirus pandemic in villages in Fatehpur, Wednesday, June 3, 2020. AP

Clinical trials for evaluating ayurvedic drug

Dalmia Healthcare on Thursday said it has started clinical trials to evaluate the efficacy and safety of its polyherbal combination 'Astha-15' for treatment of Covid-19.

All regulatory guidelines will be followed to conduct the multi-centric, Phase III clinical trials, the Dalmia Group firm said in a statement.

'We are conducting human trials of our highly efficient ayurvedic composition which can potentially help in curing Covid-19 patients,' Dalmia Group of Companies Chairman Sanjay Dalmia said.

The polyherbal combination by the company has previously undergone a randomised double-blind, placebo-controlled study on patients in a speciality government hospital in Chennai, the statement said.

As per the study, the drug acts as a bronchodilator, decongestant, anti-inflammatory, lung detoxifier and did not show any side-effects, it added.