Over 343,144 fresh cases reported India reported 343,144 fresh coronavirus infections on Friday, taking the cumulative caseload to 24 million, according to central health ministry data. The country saw 4000 deaths due to the pandemic, taking the death toll to 262,317. The active caseload is at 3.7 million, while the total recoveries have surged to 20 million. As many as 179 million shots have been administered since the nationwide inoculation programme kicked off on January 16. Of these, 2 million were given on Thursday. Read more Vaccine being developed by IISc better than others: Karnataka Health Minister Karnataka Health Minister K Sudhakar has claimed that the Covid-19 vaccine being developed at Bengaluru's Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is better than existing vaccines, a report in The Indian Express said. “Vaccine being developed by IISc promises to have (a) more neutralising effect than the existing vaccines and can be stored at normal temperature up to 30 degrees Celsius,” Sudhakar said. The vaccine, which is yet to begin human trials, could be a big breakthrough as India is grappling with a surge in cases and a shortage of vaccines, the institute said. Read more