The global coronavirus death toll crossed 27,000 on Saturday as the number of cases worldwide neared 600,000.

While Italy has reported the highest number of deaths at 9,134, 919 in a single day on Friday, the number of affected people is highest in the US where it has crossed 100,000-mark.

Speaking at the virtual G20 summit on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the world has taken time to respond to the Coronavirus crisis even as he has called on a new concept of globalisation in which collective well-being of humankind is the focus.

Even 3 months after the crisis, we are trying to find a coordinated response, PM said, adding that G20 meeting shows international community has come together but it has taken some time to respond to the crisis with this magnitude and dimension.

Shares of Aurobindo Pharma gained 12 per cent to Rs 406 on the BSE on Friday, after the company announced that its Hyderabad-based facility has received an Establishment Inspection Report (EIR) with Voluntary Action Initiated (VAl) status from the US FDA. The stock of drugmaker was trading higher for the fourth straight day and has rallied 38 per cent during the period.

The Islamic state in a fresh statement has said that the attack on a Sikh temple in Kabul was revenge for Kashmir.

In a statement issued through its Amaq News Agency, it said that the attack was carried out as an act of revenge for Kashmiri Muslims without elaborating further.

The board of Dr Reddy's Laboratories Limited (DRL) on Friday approved company borrowings of up to an aggregate amount of Rs 2,000 crore in one or more transches. For the purpose, the company is allowed to pursue any of the multiple modes available such as issuance of commercial paper, debentures, bonds and/ or through bank credit lines, term loans including external commercial borrowings that it may deem fit, according to a stock exchange filing.

In a bid to help its employees during Covid-19 lockout, Cognizant has announced an additional payment of 25 per cent of the base pay for April for employees up to associate level in India and the Philippines. The company said it will be reviewing this approach monthly.

This applies to more than two-thirds of the India workforce.

Amid reports of difficulties being faced by people in procuring milk and other dairy products due to the ongoing lockdown, Mother Dairy on Friday asked residents to reach out to the company if they were seeking to put up a kiosk within their society premises.

Mother Dairy is with you at this difficult time. If you want to put up a kiosk within your society premises, please DM us your number and location and we will evaluate on priority. Team Mother Dairy, a tweet by the official handle of the company read.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday went all guns blazing to arrest a potential slowdown caused by the coronavirus (Covid-19), lowering the policy repo rate by 75 basis points to 4.4 per cent.

Given the Covid-19 stress, the six-member monetary policy committee (MPC) advanced their March 31-April 3 meetings to meet on March 24-26 and 27, and voted 4:2 to cut the policy repo rate to 4.4 per cent, Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das, who addressed the media through video streaming, said.

China reported more than 50 imported cases of the coronavirus on Friday, hours after announcing a ban on foreigners entering the country.

In recent weeks China's tally of infections has dwindled dramatically, with only a handful of domestic patients each day. But just as the country appears to bring the outbreak under control, nations around the globe have been battling to control soaring numbers of infections in new hotspots.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday assigned union ministers to take charge of specific states to oversee the measures that are being taken to defeat the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak in India.

An ANI report said that a letter from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has been sent to all ministers, asking them to play an active and effective role in stemming the growth of the disease.

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