Shares of pharmaceutical companies were on a roll at the bourses on Monday, with the Nifty Pharma index hitting an all-time high of 14,172, after rising 3 per cent on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on the back of strong rally in stocks like Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Torrent Pharma, Alkem Laboratories, Divis Laboratories, Lupin and Dr Reddys Laboratories. The pharma index surpassed its previous high of 14,020.70, touched in intra-day trade on April 7, 2015.

Bharat Biotech has commenced direct supply of its COVID-19 vaccine 'Covaxin' to 14 states, including Delhi and Maharashtra, with effect from May 1, according to the company's Joint Managing Director Suchitra Ella.

The Hyderabad-based firm has started supplying its COVID-19 treatment vaccine to the states based on the allocations received by the central government.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Sunday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to increase the total quota of oxygen to 300 metric tonnes (MT), and ensure urgent supplies of vaccine for the state, which has been facing shortage on both counts.The Chief Minister raised these issues when PM Modi called him up to discuss the state's COVID-19 situation and the measures being taken to tackle the crisis.The Prime Minister assured of all possible help, Singh said later, adding he hoped the Centre would take immediate steps to supplement the oxygen supplies, and ensure that vaccine doses were sent to Punjab on priority to help the state effective manage the situation triggered by the second wave of the pandemic.

After recording over four lakh fresh cases for four consecutive days, India witnessed a single-day rise of 3,66,161 COVID-19 cases on Monday, which pushed its tally to 2,26,62,575, according to the health ministry.

The death toll due to the viral disease climbed to 2,46,116 with 3,754 more people succumbing to it, the ministry's data updated at 8 am showed.

Amazon, which has been under pressure from shoppers, brands and lawmakers to crack down on counterfeits on its site, said Monday that it blocked more than 10 billion suspected phony listings last year before any of their offerings could be sold.

The numbers were released in Amazon's first report on its anti-counterfeiting efforts since it announced new tools and technologies in 2019. The number of blocked phony listings last year was up about 67 per cent from the year before.

After stablising the liabilities (deposits) side of business, private lender IDFC First Bank intends to become aggressive in home loans to make it 40 per cent of total loan portfolio in long run.

The bank has liabilities with a low cost Current Account and Savings Account (CASA) share of over 51 per cent and is in a position to effectively participate in the prime home loan market. It will also book prime home loans to top corporates now.

In a shocking development, a document has been found in which Chinese scientists and health officials can be found discussing a new era of genetic weapons that could be artificially manipulated into an emerging human disease virus, then weaponized and unleashed. According to Weekend Australian, the document was written in 2015, five years before the coronavirus pandemic.

The BJP's lead strategist in northeastern states and senior leader Himanta Biswa Sarma, who was on Sunday elected as the leader of the newly-elected MLAs of the party, will take charge as the 15th Chief Minister of Assam on Monday.

Governor Jagdish Mukhi invited him to be sworn in after Sarma met him Sunday. Sarma will be administered the oath of office by the Governor on Monday at the Srimanta Sankardeva Kalakshetra at 12 noon.

Stating that the state Home Secretary failed to apprise him of law and order situation regarding post-poll violence, West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday asked the Chief Secretary to see him by evening.

Dhankhar tweeted that the home secretary did not forward reports of the state's director general of police (DGP) and commissioner of Kolkata police to him in this regard.

A company-wise supply plan of Remdesivir, a key drug used in the treatment of COVID-19 patients, has been issued to states and union territories, informed the Central government.

The company-wise supply plan of Remdesivir for the period April 21 to May 16 has been issued to states/UTs, read an official statement.

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