Hotels and restaurants have stepped up vigil and some have asked their staff to wear masks and gloves to keep the Covid virus at bay.

“We have once again placed sanitizers at restaurant entrances. Our staff members have been advised to wear masks during peak hours. These are proactive and precautionary measures,” said Anurag Katriar, founder of Indigo Hospitality, which runs eight restaurants in Mumbai.

E-commerce giant Flipkart and PhonePe on Friday announced the full ownership separation of the digital payments platform, setting the two businesses to chart their own paths and unlocking enterprise value for shareholders.

A partial separation was announced in December 2020. The PhonePe Group was acquired by the Flipkart Group in 2016 and is now India's largest digital payments platform.

The health ministry on Friday approved Bharat Biotech's intranasal Covid-19 vaccine for inclusion in the vaccination programme as a booster dose for those above 18 years of age. The needle-free vaccine will be available at private centres. It will be introduced on the Co-WIN platform on Friday evening.

The nasal vaccine -- BBV154 -- received approval from the Drugs Controller General of India in November for restricted use in an emergency for those above 18 as a heterologous booster dose.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday said it has attached immovable properties of Saravana Stores (Gold Palace) in Chennai amounting to Rs 66.93 crore in connection with a money laundering case for defrauding Axis Bank.

The ED initiated the probe under PMLA on the basis of an FIR registered by the Central Criminal Branch, Chennai.

Pharmaceuticals firm Lupin Ltd on Thursday said its US-based arm is recalling four lots of Quinapril tablets used to treat high blood pressure due to the presence of a nitrosamine impurity.

Lupin Pharmaceuticals Inc, the company's wholly-owned arm, is recalling the said tablets due to the presence of a nitrosamine impurity, N-Nitroso-Quinapril, observed in recent testing above the acceptable daily intake (ADI) level, Lupin Ltd said in a regulatory filing.

Electric vehicle company Ola Electric said the investment focus for 2023 will be to make its own lithium-ion cells and develop other products, including motorbikes and small, light-weight commercial vehicles.

The SoftBank-backed firm is also on track to bring electric cars to market by 2024.

Reliance Projects and Property Management Services — a subsidiary of telecom major Reliance Jio — has deposited Rs 3,720 crore in an SBI escrow account to acquire mobile tower and fibre assets of Reliance Infratel.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) gave an approval to Jio for the acquisition of Reliance Infratel (RITL) in November.

India's official entry to the upcoming Oscars "Chhello Show", acclaimed documentary feature "All That Breathes", documentary short "The Elephant Whisperers", and "Naatu Naatu" -- the song from period action blockbuster "RRR" have made it to the 95th Academy Awards shortlist, the organisers said Thursday morning.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the body behind the awards, announced the shortlists in 10 categories: documentary feature film, documentary short film, international feature film, makeup and hairstyling, music (original score), music (original song), animated short film, live action short film, sound, and visual effects.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that amid an ongoing resurgence of the Covid-19 pandemic in China, hospitals across the country seem to be filling up.

Addressing the media here on Wednesday, Michael Ryan, Executive Director of the WHO's Health Emergencies Programme, said: "In China, what's been reported is relatively low numbers of cases in ICUs, but anecdotally ICUs are filling up.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pressed the US Congress for tanks, planes and more money to help repel Russia’s invasion, portraying the war as a battle of democracy against tyranny as he sought to win support from some skeptical Republican lawmakers.

In his first trip abroad since President Vladimir Putin’s forces invaded Feb. 24, Zelenskyy told a joint meeting of Congress Wednesday evening that US support had been crucial so far and predicted the year ahead will turn the tide in the war.

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