The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Africa reached 11,570,885, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.

Over 11.57 crore Covid cases were confirmed as of Wednesday evening, Xinhua news agency reported.

The specialised healthcare agency of the African Union said the death toll across the continent stands at 252,771 and nearly 10,892,454 patients have recovered from the disease so far.

The Pakistani rupee touched a critical threshold of 200 in the open market against the US dollar during intraday trading after shedding Rs 2 on Wednesday, Geo News reported.

Meanwhile, in the interbank market, the local currency continues to be on slippery ground, and with a fresh decline of Rs 2.1, it plunged to yet another historic low of Rs 199 against the greenback during intraday trading, despite suspected intervention by the Central bank.

Telecom gear makers, who are in talks with telcos, say that if all goes well, they are ready to roll out the first phase of 5G services from October this year and cover the country’s top 30-50 cities (in limited areas) by March 2023.

The gear makers expect the telecom companies to give them a heads-up about their plans as well as the equipment required by July, and have promised deployment in three to four months after that. India’s main telecom gear suppliers are Nokia, Ericsson and Samsung.

Ruchi Soya Industries has announced the acquisition of the entire food business of Patanjali Ayurved for Rs 690 crore in order to accelerate its transition to a leading FMCG company.

The acquired food business consists of 21 products, including ghee, honey, spices, juices and atta, among other things.

Shares of Bharti Airtel were down 3 per cent to Rs 689.05 on the BSE in Wednesday’s intra-day trade. The stock erased opening gains despite the company reported nearly three-fold increase in net profit to Rs 2,008 crore in the March quarter results (Q4FY220, led by gains from tariff hike and exceptional income. In the same quarter last year, India's second biggest telecom operator had posted net profit of Rs 759 crore.

The stock of Bharti Airtel slipped 5 per cent from its intra-day high of Rs 727.55.

In a big relief to Indrani Mukerjea in the murder case of her daughter Sheena Bora, the Supreme Court granted her bail saying that Indrani has been under custody for six-and-a-half years and that the trial is unlikely to be completed anytime soon.

The bench comprising Justices L Nageswara Rao and BR Gavai noted that the case is based on circumstantial evidence and that even if 50 per cent of the witnesses are given up by the prosecution, the trial is not likely to be over soon.

The WHO has said that there is benefit of administering an additional booster dose of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine for highest risk groups, health workers, those over 60 years of age or with immunocompromising conditions.

As a general principle, an interval of 4-6 months since completion of the primary series of the vaccine could be considered for a first booster, especially in the context of Omicron, said the World Health Organisation, with the support of the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on immunisation and its COVID-19 Vaccines Working Group.

Shares of Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals (MRPL) hit over three-year high of Rs 89.25, after they rallied 10 per cent on the BSE in Wednesday’s trade. The stock has surged 34 per cent in four trading days after the company reported strong earning for March quarter (Q4FY22). The stock of the state-owned refineries and marketing company quoted its highest level since October 2018.

MRPL is engaged in the business of refining crude oil, and is a subsidiary of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC), which holds 71.63 per cent equity shares.

Shares of Dr Lal Pathlabs hit 52-week low of Rs 2,047.70 and slipped 6 per cent on the BSE in Wednesday’s intra-day trade. The decline comes after the company posted 14 percent dip year on year (YoY) in consolidated profit after tax (PAT) to Rs 72.9 crore in March quarter (Q4FY22). The company, a leading diagnostic and related healthcare service provider, had posted profit of Rs 85.1 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.

The stock breached its previous low of Rs 2,151.05 that it had touched on Monday, May 16, 2022. In the past one month, the stock declined 23 per cent, as compared to 6 per cent fall in the S&P BSE Sensex.

The price of 10 grams of 24-carat gold on Wednesday went up by Rs 330 to Rs 50,780. At the same time, the rate of 1 kg of silver increased by Rs 2,160 to Rs 61,550.

The price of 10 grams of 22-carat gold increased by Rs 300 from the previous day's rate to trade at Rs 46,550, according to the Goodreturns website.

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