From the Newsroom: India's Covid-19 death rate falls below 1.5%; Delhi records coldest October in 58 years, says IMD

In your evening news brief, From The Newsroom, India's Covid-19 case fatality rate falls below 1.5%; Congress MP Shashi Tharoor says Hindutva movement is the "mirror image" of the Muslim communalism of 1947; IMD says October was the coldest in 58 years in the national capital; Russia says it would provide "necessary" assistance to Yerevan in its conflict with Azerbaijan if fighting reached Armenia and mayor of the Italian city of Florence lashed out against protesters.

Here are the top stories of October 31, 2020:

India's Covid-19 case fatality rate (CFR) fell below 1.5 per cent on Saturday, the Union health ministry said, crediting the Centre-led strategy of 'test, trace, track and treat' for keeping coronavirus-related deaths low and within the manageable number.

Deaths per million population in the country stand at a very low level of 88, it said

The ministry said 23 states and union territories in the country have a CFR lower than the national average, while 65 per cent of the total deaths so far were recorded in five states.

The Hindutva movement is the "mirror image" of the Muslim communalism of 1947 and its triumph would mark the end of the Indian idea, says senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, asserting that Hindutva is a political doctrine, not a religious one.

A 'Hindu India' would not be Hindu at all, but a "Sanghi Hindutva state", which is a different country altogether, says Tharoor in his new book 'The Battle of Belonging' that was released on Saturday.

The month of October was the coldest in 58 years in the national capital, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD) data.

The mean minimum temperature in October this year was 17.2 degrees Celsius, the lowest since 1962, when it was 16.9 degrees Celsius, the IMD said.

Normally, Delhi records a mean minimum temperature of 19.1 degrees Celsius in October.

Russia said Saturday it would provide "necessary" assistance to Yerevan in its conflict with Azerbaijan if fighting reached Armenian territory after its ally requested help.

Earlier Saturday Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan formally asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to begin "urgent" consultations on security assistance in its conflict with Azerbaijan over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The mayor of the Italian city of Florence lashed out against protestors on Saturday after violent skirmishes broke out between police and demonstrators opposed to the government's anti-Covid-19 measures.

Police arrested approximately 20 people during an unauthorised protest late Friday after about 200 people gathered in the city centre were stopped from entering the Renaissance city's Piazza Della Signoria, newspapers reported.