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  • The Supreme Court of India upheld the Bombay High Court's decision quashing the 2020 write-off of ₹8,415 crore in additional tier-1 bonds issued by Yes Bank (Yes Bank). The court ruled that the bank's administrator lacked the authority to extinguish the bonds under the final reconstruction scheme, strengthening bondholders' claims
  • The Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission of India, Delhi Police and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, in separate petitions concerning electoral-roll revision and protests held in Delhi on October 10–12. The court also directed the preservation of CCTV footage linked to allegations of police excesses
  • The Supreme Court ruled that a person converting from Hinduism to Islam cannot automatically claim backward-class reservation benefits in the new religious community solely on the basis of their previous caste status. The judgment upheld the Madras High Court's decision striking down a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order that permitted such certification for specified communities
  • The Election Commission of India ordered a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 14 states and three Union Territories, using January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date for voter eligibility. The draft rolls are scheduled for publication on November 12, claims and objections will be accepted until December 11, and the final rolls are due on January 4, 2027
Delhi HC refuses to ban CJP's Tiranga rally at Central Park in Connaught Place today /////// Police says will control and regulate it /////// NDMC closes the park for the public on Friday and Saturday
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WHO Is Wrong On Covid Death Count In India

By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2022-05-06 03:07:04

About the Author

Sunil Garodia The India Commentary view

The World Health Organization (WHO) has dropped a bombshell. It has reported that there were three times more Covid deaths across the world than were reported. For India, the WHO figures are even more damning. It says that more than 47 lakh people died due to Covid in India while the official figure is just 4.8 lakh. This means that according to WHO India underreported 90% of deaths due to Covid. The Centre has strongly rejected the WHO report by saying that it lacked "academic rigour".

While there is no denying that the Covid deaths reported by India are not perfect (and they are not so for most other countries), the WHO figures also seem to be grossly exaggerated. In a country as large and chaotic as India, some Covid cases may have gone unreported. But the probability of such unreported cases being more than 10 percent is very low mainly because India has a robust death recording system down to the panchayat level and is now recording up to 92 percent of deaths every year. In fact, in most towns and cities, no bodies are allowed to be cremated or buried without producing a doctor's or hospital's death certificate providing cause of death based on which the municipal body records the death in the death register and issues a official death certificate.

Further, although there was stress on the cremation and burial grounds during the second wave and some bodies were also found floating in rivers during the second wave as relatives could not arrange for proper cremation or burial, they were not as overwhelming in numbers as the WHO report seems to suggest. If we look at the total infections and recovery rate, then also the WHO death figures do not add up. Also, if the WHO report is taken as correct, it undermines the historical deaths recorded in India every year and the figures for total deaths in 2020 and 2021 are grossly inflated if WHO figures are added. Finally, if so many people indeed died due to Covid in India, why are their relatives not coming forward to claim Covid compensation? Thus, it is safe to assume that while the government figures are not entirely correct, WHO's figures are also grossly exaggerated.

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