India reported 15,102 new Covid-19 cases in a span of 24 hours, which is a marginal rise over the previous day's count of 13,405, the Union health ministry said on Wednesday morning.

In the last 24 hours, a total 278 new Covid related deaths have also been reported, taking the toll to 5,12,622.

Voting for 59 Assembly constituencies spread in nine districts of Uttar Pradesh will take place on Wednesday in the fourth phase of the polls.

The high-decibel campaigning for this phase ended on Monday as sparring among political rivals intensified during the last-minute canvassing.

UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday urged people to vote for those who "protect cows and not those who kill them", vowing that his government will neither allow “cows to be slaughtered, nor farmers' crops to be damaged'.

Addressing an election rally in Ayodhya and later another one in Barabanki, the chief minister also promised a stipend of Rs 900 per month per cow to farmers on forming his government again.

Shares of Adani Wilmar (AWL) freezed in the 10 per cent upper circuit at Rs 345.80 on the BSE in Wednesday’s trade with only buyers seen on the counter. The stock of the Adani Group edible oil major had closed at Rs 314.40 on Tuesday, correcting 25 per cent from its record high level of Rs 419.90 on February 11, 2022.

Till 09:58 am, a combined 7.7 million shares had changed hands and there were pending buy orders for 1.02 million shares on the NSE and BSE. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 0.53 per cent at 57,602 points.

The global coronavirus caseload has topped 427.3 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 5.90 million and vaccinations to over 10.40 billion, according to Johns Hopkins University.

In its latest update on Wednesday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and the death toll stood at 427,358,056 and 5,904,723, respectively, while the total number of vaccine doses administered has increased to 10,403,327,225.

An Air India plane carrying around 240 Indians from Ukraine landed at the Delhi airport at around 11.40 pm on Tuesday.

Amid rising tensions between Ukraine and Russia, Air India operated a Boeing 787 aircraft to bring back Indians from the eastern European country.

Prospective investors in Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India's $8-billion initial public offering (IPO) are seeking assurances from company management that it will not sacrifice their interests to meet the goals set out by the government, its controlling shareholder, said sources.

In virtual roadshows for India's biggest-ever public listing, LIC management and the IPO bankers have been peppered with questions about the insurer's past investments and their quality, four people with knowledge of the matter said.

Shares of Butterfly Gandhimathi Appliances (Butterfly) hit a record high of Rs 1,419, up 2 per cent on the BSE in Wednesday’s intra-day trade, after Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals (Crompton) made an open offer to acquire 26 per cent equity stake (4.65 million shares) of the company at Rs 1,433.90 per share. Post acquisition, Crompton will hold up to 55 per cent stake in the company.

The stock of Butterfly, which is engaged in household appliances business, surpassed its previous high of Rs 1,399.15 touched on February 11, 2022.

The rupee weakened while bond yields jumped as the Russia-Ukraine crisis deepened, pushing global crude oil prices close to $100/bbl.

The governments decision to go ahead with its scheduled auction of bonds this week, after cancelling the previous two auctions, further hurt sentiment in the bond market.

India added 13,405 new coronavirus infections in a single day, taking the virus tally to 4,28,51,929, while the active cases dipped below two lakh after 49 days, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday.

The death toll climbed to 5,12,344 with 235 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.

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