Here are the top updates from Friday:
- India set a record by administering over 2.38 crore coronavirus vaccine doses in a day till 11.20 pm as a special push to mark Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 71st birthday. “Let’s do vaccine seva and give him birthday gift by getting vaccinated those who have not taken the dose so far,” Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted. The vaccination was fueled by Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states with Bihar giving over 29 lakh shots, Karnataka over 28 lakhs, Uttar Pradesh more than 27 lakhs, Madhya Pradesh close to 26 lakhs and Gujarat around 24 lakhs.
- India recorded 34,403 new coronavirus cases on Friday, which pushed the country’s overall tally of infections since the outbreak of the pandemic in January last year to 3,33,81,728. The new cases were 12.5% higher than Thursday’s count of 30,570 infections.
- Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the Goods and Services Tax Council has decided to extend the…