The government is helping vaccine manufacturers get more production units, financing and supply of raw materials, the PMO said on Friday after Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed the progress of the country's COVID-19 vaccination drive.

While reviewing the status of vaccine wastage in various states, Modi said the wastage numbers are still on a higher side and that steps need to be taken to bring them down.

The Anti-Narcotics Cell of the Mumbai police arrested a 50-year-old woman, who is suspected to be a drug peddler at Kalbadevi area, the police said on Friday.

According to the police, 1.27 kg heroin worth over Rs 3 crore has been seized from her possession.

The overall global Covid-19 caseload has topped 172.4 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 3.70 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 172,449,514 and 3,708,248, respectively.

NITI Aayog member VK Saraswat said that India coped with the second wave of coronavirus very well as the number of new cases of infection has come down significantly. He also emphasized that preparations should be completed to deal with the third wave of COVID-19, which is expected to affect the younger population more.

In a bid to enhance subscriber experience in Odisha, Reliance Jio, has successfully completed deployment of additional 20 MHz spectrum acquired in the recent spectrum auctions.

Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (RJIL) in March announced that it had successfully acquired the right to use spectrum in all 22 circles across India in the recently concluded spectrum auctions conducted by the Department of Telecommunications, Government of India.

Adani Enterprises has now become the second most valuable company among the Gautam Adani-led Adani Group of companies as the stock hit a new high of Rs 1,694 after rallying 7 per cent on the BSE on Friday in intra-day trade. The stock was trading higher for the fifth straight day and has rallied 30 per cent during the week, as compared to 1.5 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex.

Adani Enterprises, the flagship of Adani Group, surpassed the other group company Adani Total Gas to become the second-most valuable of the Adani Group companies.

Top US infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci has called on China to release the medical records of nine people whose ailments might provide vital clues into whether Covid-19 first emerged as the result of a lab leak, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.

I would like to see the medical records of the three people who are reported to have got sick in 2019. Did they really get sick, and if so, what did they get sick with? the report https://on.ft.com/3igFTgU quoted Fauci as saying about three of the nine.

The Defence Ministry on Friday cleared a mega project to build six conventional submarines for the Indian Navy at a cost of around Rs 43,000 crore, a decision aimed at narrowing the gap with growing naval prowess of China, government sources said.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

People fully vaccinated with two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine are likely to have more than five times lower levels of neutralising antibodies against the Delta variant (B16172) when compared to the original strain, according to new laboratory data that supports Pfizer's plans to deliver booster shots in Autumn.

This antibody's response was even lower in people who had only received one dose.

India reported 1,32,364 new coronavirus infections taking the country's total tally of COVID-19 cases to 2,85,74,350, while the recovery rate crossed 93 per cent, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.

The COVID-19 death toll climbed to 3,40,702 with 2,713 fresh deaths, while the active cases were recorded below 20 lakh for the fourth consecutive day, the data updated at 8 am showed.

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.