President of India Ram Nath Kovind along with Vice President of India M. Venkaiah Naidu on Friday through video-conferencing held a meeting with all the governors, lieutenant Governors and administrators of all states and Union Territories in an effort to tackle the COVID-19 outbreak.

In the conference, the President urged the governors, lieutenant governors and administrators of all states and Union Territories to mobilise volunteers of Indian Red Cross society, voluntary and religious organisations to contain the pandemic.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Kristalina Georgieva on Friday said that the coronavirus pandemic has hit the global economy so hard that the world has entered into a recession. The economy will require massive funding to help the developing nations turn around from the downturn resulting from the pandemic, the IMF chief said.

It is clear that we have entered a recession that will be worse than in 2009 following the global financial crisis, she said in an online press briefing.

Setting an example for the world at large, Indian scientists have revealed a microscopy image of SARS-CoV-2 viral strain which causes the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the individuals that it affects. Scientists examined a sample extracted from the saliva of a woman who returned from China's Wuhan and managed to fetch a photo of the virus under an electron microscope.

Scientists said that the picture and the findings are published in the latest edition of the Indian Journal of Medical Research (IJMR), the journal of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson has tested positive for coronavirus. In a video posted on Twitter, Johnson confirmed that he had developed a mild fever and symptoms, following which he took a test for COVID-19, which returned positive.

Johnson confirmed that over the last 24 hours, he had developed 'mild symptoms', after which he was tested positive. He will now self-isolate at Downing Street but will continue to lead the British government's response via video-conference.

The global coronavirus death toll crossed 27,000 on Saturday as the number of cases worldwide neared 600,000.

While Italy has reported the highest number of deaths at 9,134, 919 in a single day on Friday, the number of affected people is highest in the US where it has crossed 100,000-mark.

Speaking at the virtual G20 summit on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the world has taken time to respond to the Coronavirus crisis even as he has called on a new concept of globalisation in which collective well-being of humankind is the focus.

Even 3 months after the crisis, we are trying to find a coordinated response, PM said, adding that G20 meeting shows international community has come together but it has taken some time to respond to the crisis with this magnitude and dimension.

Shares of Aurobindo Pharma gained 12 per cent to Rs 406 on the BSE on Friday, after the company announced that its Hyderabad-based facility has received an Establishment Inspection Report (EIR) with Voluntary Action Initiated (VAl) status from the US FDA. The stock of drugmaker was trading higher for the fourth straight day and has rallied 38 per cent during the period.

The Islamic state in a fresh statement has said that the attack on a Sikh temple in Kabul was revenge for Kashmir.

In a statement issued through its Amaq News Agency, it said that the attack was carried out as an act of revenge for Kashmiri Muslims without elaborating further.

The board of Dr Reddy's Laboratories Limited (DRL) on Friday approved company borrowings of up to an aggregate amount of Rs 2,000 crore in one or more transches. For the purpose, the company is allowed to pursue any of the multiple modes available such as issuance of commercial paper, debentures, bonds and/ or through bank credit lines, term loans including external commercial borrowings that it may deem fit, according to a stock exchange filing.

In a bid to help its employees during Covid-19 lockout, Cognizant has announced an additional payment of 25 per cent of the base pay for April for employees up to associate level in India and the Philippines. The company said it will be reviewing this approach monthly.

This applies to more than two-thirds of the India workforce.

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