LEAD

In a historical step days before Republic Day, the Amar Jawan Jyoti flame at the India Gate lawns would be extinguished and merged with the flame at the National War Memorial on Friday.

"The Amar Jawan Jyoti flame at India Gate will be extinguished and merged with the flame at the National War Memorial on Friday in a ceremony," said an Indian Army official to ANI.

The ceremony would be presided over by the Integrated Defence Staff chief Air Marshal Balabadhra Radha Krishna who would merge the two flames, officials said.

Nationwide in India the reported new coronavirus infections are at an eight-month high on Wednesday and a government scientist warned it will take weeks before data on hospitalisations and deaths will show how severe the latest wave driven by the Omicron variant will be.

Delhi reported 13,785 fresh COVID-19 cases and 35 more fatalities due to the viral disease on Wednesday, while the positivity rate climbed to 23.86 per cent, according to data shared by the city health department.

The national capital had logged 11,684 Covid cases and 38 deaths due to the disease on Tuesday, while the positivity rate had declined to 22.47 per cent.

India recorded a sharp uptick in Covid-19 deaths on Tuesday, with the toll rising 40% in a day to cross 350, even as fresh cases surged again after three days to the highest tally in the third wave so far, reports agencies.

There were 353 deaths reported on Tuesday, with data from Tripura awaited, nearly 100 more than the previous day’s toll of 254, making it the sharpest single-day increase during the current wave.

Meanwhile, India reported over 2. 82 lakh fresh Covid cases, a big increase from Monday’s tally of 2,36,841, as the “weekend effect” of low testing started wearing off in the fresh week. Testing increased to 16. 5 lakh, bringing the day’s positivity rate down a shade to 17. 28% from 18% on Monday. The previous highest daily tally during the current wave was 2,69,201 reported on Friday. Thereafter, the numbers fell for three days running.

The national capital Delhi and financial hub Mumbai have reported a big fall in COVID-19 infections in the past two days and most of those who contracted the virus have recovered at home, authorities said on Monday.

Mumbai's daily new infections fell below 10,000 on Sunday for the first time since early this month, after touching an all-time high of 20,971 on January 7. It reported 7,895 infections late on Sunday, Mumbai's municipal corporation said.

Delhi's cases have fallen consistently since hitting a peak of 28,867 on Jan. 13 and is expected to be fewer than 15,000 on Monday, for the first time since early January, the city government's health minister told reporters.

Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Sunday wrote to PM Modi, urging him to reconsider the Centre's decision to exclude West Bengal's tableau from the Republic Day parade in New Delhi in the 75th year of Independence, saying the move had not only "shocked and hurt" her but also "pained" people in Bengal, and pointing out that the omission "belittled" and "undermined" several freedom fighters from the state.

The proposed Bengal tableau was on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's 125th birth anniversary, celebrating his Indian National Army, and had portraits of "some of the most illustrious sons and daughters of this country", including Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar, Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Vivekananda, Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das, Sri Aurobindo, Matangini Hazra, Nazrul Islam and Birsa Munda.