In a major relief for liquor baron Vijay Mallya, the High Court in London on Thursday deferred hearings on a plea by the SBI-led consortium of Indian banks, seeking the indebted tycoon to be declared bankrupt to enable them recover a loan of around GBP 1.145 billion from him, reported PTI.

Justice Michael Briggs of the insolvency division of the High Court granted relief to Mallya, ruling that he should be given time till his petitions to the Supreme Court of India and his settlement proposal before the Karnataka High Court be determined, allowing him time to repay his debts to the banks in full.

Coronavirus or COVID-19, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2, was first reported in late December 2019, in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The deadly virus since then has infected more than 1.5 million people and caused more than 90 thousand death around the world, according to John Hopkins University on April 9.

Researchers with the Wuhan Centre for Disease Control and Prevention re-analyzed 640 throat swabs collected from patients in Wuhan with influenza-like-illness from 6 October 2019 to 21 January 2020 and found that 9 of the 640 throat swabs were positive for COVID-19.

India on Thursday once again slammed China for raking Kashmir, this time in New York on the website of its permanent mission.

The development came after China in its statement said that it 'immediately' responded and processed the letter by Pakistan on 10 March on Kashmir and it remains high on the agenda of the council. While China's statement on its mission at UN was on Indian media reports, the country as the President of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in the month of March showed no response or urgency to COVID-19 meet.

India has approved requests of about 25 countries to export hydroxychloroquine. The decision was taken after comprehensive stock-taking was done. The approval ranges from commercial orders to aid.

The clearance to export for 25 countries also includes paracetamol, other than hydroxychloroquine.

After months of delay, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) met on Thursday via video conferencing to discuss the COVID crisis but the meet resulted in no concrete outcomes.

The only thing UNSC could agree was on press elements post the meet. The statement said, UNSC expressed their support for all efforts of the Secretary-General concerning the potential impact of the COVID pandemic to conflict-affected countries and recalled the need for unity and solidarity with all those affected.

At least 11 Indians have died of COVID-19 in the United States with another 16 testing positive for the infection which has claimed more than 14,000 lives and afflicted more than four lakh people in the US.

All Indian citizens who have succumbed to the deadly infection in the U.S. are male, with ten of them from New York and New Jersey area. Four of the victims are said to be taxi drivers in New York City.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday gave a warm response to US President Donald Trump's note of thanks regarding India delivering the order of the hydroxychloroquine drug that the US had requested for, stating that times like these bring friends closer. India had partially lifted the ban on the export of the drug to deal with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis, which is spreading like wildfire across the globe, with the US at the frontline.

Shares of IDBI Bank advanced up to 10.5 per cent to Rs 21.95 on the BSE on Thursday after the private lender said it has targeted to raise up to Rs 7,500 crore through rupee bond in the current fiscal.

At 9:34 am, the stock pared its gains partially to trade 5 per cent higher at Rs 20.8 apiece. In comparison, the headline S&P BSE Sensex index was trading 3 per cent higher at 30,773.60 levels.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Wednesday approved Alphabet Inc unit Google's request to use part of a US-Asia undersea telecommunications cable after the company warned it would face significantly higher prices to carry traffic by other means.

Google agreed to operate a portion of the 8,000-mile Pacific Light Cable Network System between the United States and Taiwan, but not Hong Kong. Google and Facebook Inc helped to pay for construction of the now completed telecommunications link, but US regulators have blocked its use.

Leading the way in manufacturing indigenous medical equipment, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday launched COVID-19 testing kits manufactured by Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone (AMTZ).

Minister for Industries, Mekapati Goutham Reddy, said that AMTZ is now manufacturing 2000 testing kits per day. Once it gets the laser welding equipment, the production will be scaled up to 25,000 units per day.

Inviting Real Estate Agents, Job Placements Agents, Educational Institutes, Software Service Providers, Real Estate Builders, Marriage Bureaus, Travel Agents, Restaurant Owners, Health & Fitness Centers and other Local Businesses to Post a FREE Classified Advertisement on Cootera.com Classifieds Website.