Drugmaker Johnson & Johnson says it will be able to provide 20 million US doses of its single-shot COVID-19 vaccine by the end of March, assuming it gets the greenlight from federal regulators.

J&J disclosed the figure in written testimony ahead of a Congressional hearing on Tuesday looking at the country's vaccine supply. White House officials cautioned last week that initial supplies of J&J's vaccine would be limited.

The total number of global coronavirus cases has topped 111.7 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 2.47 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

In its latest update on Tuesday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and death toll stood at 111,705,909 and 2,473,742 respectively.

Shares of billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries (RIL) rose 2 per cent to hit an intra-day high of Rs 2,048.70 on the BSE after the company said it has begun the process of carving out the O2C business into an independent subsidiary and expects to get the necessary approvals for the same by the second quarter of the next financial year.

The company said the O2C business will be turned into a separate entity that will be 100 per cent owned by RIL and will result in no change in the company's shareholding.

The United States on Monday crossed a grim heartbreaking milestone in its fight against COVID-19 as the death toll due to the disease crossed 500,000, a staggering figure that is more than the combined American casualties during World War I, World War II and the Vietnam War.

As a nation, we can't accept such a cruel fate. We've been fighting this pandemic for so long. We have to resist becoming numb to the sorrow. We have to resist viewing each life as a statistic or a blurb or on the news, President Joe Biden said on Monday as he led the nation in mourning the dead.

Shares of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), on Tuesday, hit a fresh 52-week high of Rs 113.95 after rallying up 7 per cent on the BSE on the back of rising oil prices. Besides, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. predicted prices could advance above $70 in the coming months.

Thus far in the month of February, the stock of the state-owned oil exploration company has rallied 29 per cent, as compared to 8.5 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex.

Food delivery giant Zomato has raised another $250 million in primary fundraise from existing and new investors, ahead of its expected initial public offering (IPO) this year. Info Edge (IE), which is an existing shareholder in Zomato said in a stock exchange filing that the transaction has taken the post-money valuation of the company to $5.4 billion. This is an increase from its previous valuation of $3.9 billion in December last year when it closed a $660 million primary financing round.

The first shipment of AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccines by Serum Institute of India (SII) will leave for 25-30 countries under the Covax arrangement by Tuesday, said a senior World Health Organization (WHO) official.

Speaking at a webinar on Monday, Soumya Swaminathan, chief scientist at WHO, said, By tomorrow (Tuesday), the first shipments from India would go out from Serum Institute to 25-30 countries. Then, we hope that this will be followed by other vaccines that would be made in India.

The CBI on Monday will question Rujira Banerjee, wife of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee in the coal scam. This inquiry will be conducted from 11 am to 3 am at the CBI's Kolkata office or Rujira's residence. The probe agency's action against Mamata's family has intensified the tussle between the BJP and TMC.

Notably, the CBI has clamped down on Mamta Banerjee's nephew and TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, his wife Rujira Narula Banerjee and Rujira's sister Maneka Gambhir.

Colombo/New Delhi: Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan will be using Indian Air space for travel to Sri Lanka. He will be on a 2-day visit to the country from today (February 23), his second visit that comes months after his visit to Afghanistan.

Pakistan had requested for use of air space, which India gave permission for. As protocol. whenever heads of state or governments pass through the air space of any other country, the country is alerted and due permission taken.

As several regions in Maharashtra witness a spike in COVID-19 cases, the administration in Nagpur as taken strict measures to keep the infections in check. In wake of the new cases, Minister Nitin Raut has said that strict regulations will be implemented in Nagpur.

The administration has closed all the weekly markets till March 7. Additionally, schools, colleges and coaching centres have also been ordered to be closed till March 7. Hotels have been asked to operate only till 9 pm and at 50% capacity.

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.