Phase 1 voting begins in Assam, West Bengal; Covid situation in country; more

The polling in phase 1 of West Bengal and Assam Assembly elections started at 7 am and will conclude at 6 pm. In phase 1 of West Bengal and Assam Assembly elections, over 1.54 crore voters will be able to exercise their franchise to elect the next governments in the states. In West Bengal, voting will be held for 30 seats while in Assam, 47 seats are going to polls in phase 1. India reported 62,258 coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, the highest single-day rise so far this year. With fresh cases, the nationwide Covid-19 tally has mounted to 1,19,08,910, according to the Union Health Ministry's data released on Saturday. India's active caseload has increased to 4,52,647, while the number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,12,95,023.