Here are the top updates from Tuesday:

  1. The Centre directed states to step up vaccination against the coronavirus situation and closely monitor districts with a high count of active cases, NDTV reported. “Effective planning for vaccination focusing on prompt coverage of priority groups and hubs of economic activity should be prioritised,” Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla said in a letter. “There should be a continuous focus on the five-fold strategy for effective management of COVID-19 i.e. Test-Track-Treat-Vaccination and adherence to COVID appropriate behaviour.”
  2. India reported 37,566 new infections, taking the total number of cases since the Covid-19 outbreak to 3,03,16,897. This is the lowest single-day rise in cases since March 18, when the tally rose by 35,871. The country’s toll rose by 907 to 3,97,637. Meanwhile, the Centre said that 51 cases of the “Delta plus” variant of Covid-19 had been found in 12 states.
  3. The Centre announced that India’s drug regulator has granted permission to import Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine for restricted emergency use.
  4. Moscow’s Gamaleya Institute, which developed Sputnik V, said that the vaccine is around 90% effective against the Delta variant of Covid-19.
  5. Delhi recorded 101 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, taking its total number of infections since the outbreak of the pandemic in January 2020 to 14,34,094. This was a huge jump compared to the 59 cases that the Capital recorded on Monday. Delhi’s toll rose by four to 24,971.
  6. The Supreme Court directed all states and Union Territories to implement the “one nation, one ration card” scheme by July 31. The scheme will allow them to get subsidised food from the public distribution system from any part of the country.
  7. The Supreme Court refused to stay the Delhi High Court order allowing the Central Vista project work in the national Capital to continue amid the coronavirus crisis.
  8. The Uttarakhand government has postponed the Char Dham Yatra till further orders. The Tirath Singh Rawat government had earlier issued a fresh set of Covid-19 related guidelines for the pilgrimage despite an Uttarakhand High Court order putting a stay on it.
  9. The European Union said that its drug regulator has not received a request for approval of Covishield for the bloc’s Covid-19 “vaccination passport” programme. Meanwhile, the drug regulator, the European Medicines Agency, said it would assess the manufacturing site of Serum Institute of India before approving the Covishield vaccine against Covid-19.
  10. Globally, the coronavirus disease has infected over 18.13 crore people and killed more than 39.28 lakh since the pandemic broke out in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University.