Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday condoled the death of six people and announced Rs 25 lakh compensation for the family members of the victims of the gas leak-triggered explosion at a chemicals manufacturing unit at Akkireddygudem.

Thirteen people were also injured in the fire accident.

India logged 1,007 new coronavirus infections, taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 4,30,39,023, while the active cases rose to 11,058, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.

The death toll climbed to 5,21,737 with one fatality reported from Maharashtra, the data updated at 8 am stated.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday paid tributes to B R Ambedkar on his birth anniversary and said he gave India its strongest pillar of strength the Constitution.

A key architect of India's Constitution, Ambedkar is regarded as an icon, especially by Dalits, for his relentless work for social reforms and empowerment of the disadvantaged sections of society.

As the number of new Covid-19 cases and deaths continues to decline, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said the pandemic remains a public health emergency, advising countries to be prepared to scale up Covid-19 response rapidly.

"On Covid-19, there's good news. Last week, the lowest number of Covid-19 deaths was recorded since the early days of the pandemic," WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press briefing in Geneva on Wednesday.

Six persons died in a fire accident in a chemical factory located in Akkireddygudem in the district and 12 others sustained burns, police said on Thursday.

According to Rahul Dev Sharma, Superintendent of Police, Eluru, the injured are being treated in a Government Hospital in Vijayawada.

Bihar has received an investment proposal of Rs 817 crore for setting up data centres across the state.

Data management firm VueNow, which is planning the investment, will develop a four-tier data centre of 100 racks with Patna as the master hub. Four other centers will come up in Dharbhanga, Bhagalpur, Purnea and Buxar in the first phase, said an official statement.

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd. is weighing a possible bid for Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.’s international drugstore unit, according to people familiar with the matter.

Reliance is in the early stages of exploring the feasibility of an offer for the Boots chain, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information.

Information technology major Infosys on Wednesday projected a revenue growth rate of 13-15 per cent for 2022-23 (FY23) on the back of a “strong demand environment” and “robust deal pipeline", even as its key numbers for the March quarter (Q4) of FY22 missed analyst estimates.

Infosys reported a subdued performance in the quarter but met its guidance for the full year. The company reported a net profit of Rs 5,686 crore in Q4, up 12 per cent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis but down 2.1 per cent sequentially.

India saw a single day rise of 1,088 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 4,30,38,016, while the active cases dipped to 10,870, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday.

The death toll climbed to 5,21,736 with 26 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.

Big Indian crypto exchanges CoinSwitch Kuber and WazirX have disabled rupee deposits for the purchase of cryptocurrency using a widely-used state-backed transfer system, spurring users to voice concern on social media.

India has spent years on a law to ban or regulate cryptocurrencies, with its central bank backing a ban over their threat to financial stability, but a recent decision to tax income from them suggests acceptance by authorities.

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