The overall global Covid-19 caseload has topped 174.7 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 3.78 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

In its latest update on Saturday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and death toll stood at 175,181,504 and 3,780,592, respectively.

Malaysian palm oil futures fell 4.8 per cent on Friday to post their biggest drop in nearly a month due to technical selling after the contract broke support. The benchmark palm oil contract for August delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange ended lower for a fifth consecutive session, falling 4.8 per cent to 3,658 ringgit ($890.89) a tonne, its biggest intraday drop since May 17.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday cautioned that the chances of the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic were quite real, while he asserted that his government was preparing on a "war-footing" to combat it.

Indications are coming from the UK on the fear of the third wave. Cases are rising there, despite 45 per cent of vaccination. So, we cannot afford to sit idle, he said.

Due to a shortage of vaccines in Indore, district health authorities on Friday opened only nine vaccination centres out of 350 for administering the second dose of Covid vaccine to beneficiaries.

Several vaccination centers were closed in Indore from Thursday due to the shortage of vaccines, however, the Health Department was able to get only 11,000 vaccines, after which only nine vaccine centers were opened instead of 350 centres, that too for the administration of the second doses only.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday welcomed back her former close aide Mukul Roy into the party fold from the BJP and claimed that more leaders from the BJP will come back to join Trinamool in the coming days.

She, however, cleared that those who criticised the party and betrayed it just before the recent West Bengal assembly election and joined the BJP for money will not be considered back into the party's fold.

Sri Ganganagar, a small city in northernmost part of Rajasthan near the India-Pakistan border has become the first city in the country where retail prices of both auto fuels -- petrol and diesel -- have crossed the century mark.

The city already had the distinction of having the highest pump price of petrol across the country at Rs 107.23 a litre. With diesel prices now increasing there by another 25 paisa per litre on Saturday it reached Rs 100.06 a litre.

The daily Covid-19 count in India remained below the 100,000 mark for the fifth consecutive day with the country reporting 84,332 fresh cases, its lowest in 70 days, according to data updated by the Union Health Ministry on Saturday.

With the fresh cases, the infection tally has climbed to 29,359,155. The Covid-19 death toll climbed to 367,081 with 4,002 daily deaths, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The Jammu and Kashmir government has suspended 13 officers for unauthorised withdrawal of developmental funds.

An order issued on Friday evening by the principal secretary rural development department said that these officers had withdrawn funds from e-FMS (Electronic Financial Management System) accounts without any authorisation.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will chair the 44th meeting of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council today which is expected to take a decision on relief in respect of COVID-19 related individual items based on the report of Group of Ministers.

The meeting will take place at 11 am and Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur along with finance ministers and senior officials of states and union territories (UT) will be in attendance.

Shares of Coal India hit a 52-week high of Rs 164.45 as they rallied 5 per cent on the BSE in intra-day trade on Friday amid expectations of improvement in earnings going forward. The stock of the state-owned company surpassed its previous high of Rs 162.95, touched on February 26, 2021.

In the past two weeks, the stock has outperformed the market by gaining 12 per cent as compared to a 2.2 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. A sharp rally in the stock price has helped Coal India regain the market capitalisation of Rs 1 trillion.

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