The 'potential' third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic may not happen anytime soon as health experts say that there is no evidence so far of mutation or emergence of a new variant of the deadly virus. The expert claim is based on genome sequencing and other studies conducted till mid-October.

Dr V Ravi, nodal officer for genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2, also said that studies show that infections are limited to the Delta lineage of the COVID-19 virus, adding that the infection seems to be waning.

Ten gram of 24-carat gold was on Tuesday selling at Rs 48,070, unchanged from yesterday’s trading price. Silver was at Rs 63,600 per kg, according to the Good Returns website.

Gold jewellery price varies across India, the second-largest consumer of the metal, due to excise duty, state taxes, and making charges.

Shares of Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) soared 19 per cent to hit a record high of Rs 956.15 on the BSE in Tuesday’s intra-day trade after the company announced the board will consider a maiden bonus issue proposal in their forthcoming board meeting on Thursday, October 21, 2021. The stock surpassed its previous high of Rs 819 touched on October 13, 2021.

The board of directors of the company in their meeting scheduled on October 21, 2021, shall inter-alia, also consider the proposal for declaration of bonus issue of equity shares subject to the approval of the shareholders of the company, IEX said in an exchange filing on Monday after market hours.

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) joined the elite club of companies commanding Rs 1-trillion market capitalization (m-cap) on the BSE, after its share price hit a new high of Rs 6,332.25 in the intra-day trade on Tuesday. The shares rallied nearly 8 per cent today and have zoomed 33 per cent in the past five trading days.

At 09:32 am, IRCTC, which is engaged in the travel support services business, was trading 6.9 per cent higher at Rs 6,283.50, with a market-cap of Rs 100,612 crore, BSE data shows.

Sterlite Power on Monday said it has bagged Nangalbibra -Bongaigaon inter-state power transmission project worth Rs 324 crore.

Sterlite Power, a leading private sector power transmission infrastructure developer and solutions provider, has been awarded the Nangalbibra-Bongaigaon interstate power transmission project worth Rs 324 crore through tariff-based competitive bidding (TBCB) by virtue of emerging as the L1 bidder, a company statement said.

Infrastructure firm Larsen & Toubro Limited on Monday emerged as the lowest bidder for the construction and maintenance of the first three buildings of the Common Central Secretariat under the Central Vista redevelopment project.

According to the Central Public Works Department's bid documents, Larsen & Toubro Limited quoted around Rs 3,141 crore, which is 3.47 per cent less than the estimated cost. The firm submitted a total bid amount of Rs 31,41,99,87,657.

Farmers in Punjab and Haryana squatted on rail tracks on Monday morning as part of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha's six-hour 'rail roko' protest demanding the dismissal and arrest of Union Minister Ajay Mishra in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri violence.

The stir disrupted the movement of trains in both the states, causing inconvenience to passengers who could be seen waiting for long hours with their baggage.

People who received a first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine followed by an mRNA vaccine shot had a lower risk of infection compared to those immunised with both doses of the AstraZeneca preventive, according to a nationwide study in Sweden.

Since the use of AstraZeneca's vector-based vaccine against COVID-19 was halted for people younger than 65 years of age due to safety concerns, all individuals in Sweden who had already received their first dose of this vaccine were recommended an mRNA vaccine as their second dose.

India added 13,596 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,40,81,315, while the active cases declined to 1,89,694, the lowest in 221 days, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday.

The death toll climbed to 4,52,290 with 166 fresh fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am.

Shares of HCL Technologies (HCL Tech) were down 2 per cent at Rs 1,225 on profit booking on the BSE on Monday in an otherwise strong market after the management reiterated its guidance of double-digit USD revenue growth and 19-21 per cent earnings before interest tax (EBIT) margin for FY22, although it lowered its Products and Platforms (P&P) growth to 0-1 per cent from low-single digits.

HCL Tech announced a payout policy, which fixes payouts at minimum 75 per cent of net Income cumulatively over the next five years i.e FY22- 26.

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