After two South Africa-returnees tested positive for COVID-19 and amid increasing concern over the new variant 'Omicron', the Bengaluru airport has made seven days quarantine compulsory for all international passengers.

Addressing the media after inspecting Kannur International Airport Ltd (KIAL) airport yesterday, the Bengaluru Rural District Health Officer Tippeswamy said, "All international passengers who test negative for COVID-19 on arrival in Bengaluru will be put in quarantine for seven days. They will be tested again after seven days."

The Delhi Health Department has designated Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital as the dedicated facility to treat patients testing positive for the new COVID-19 variant Omicron.

The hospital has been asked to earmark wards for isolating and treating such patients.

Twitter Inc.’s new Chief Executive Officer Parag Agrawal is now the youngest CEO in the S&P 500, but apparently just barely.

Agrawal, who was appointed Monday to succeed Twitter founder and CEO Jack Dorsey, is 37, the same age as Meta Platform Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Citing security concerns, Twitter wouldn’t disclose Agrawal’s date of birth, but confirmed he was born later in 1984 than Zuckerberg’s May 14 birthday. Dorsey, at 45, was already among the dozen youngest CEOs in the collection of the largest U.S. companies.

The price of 10 gram of gold decreased by Rs 10 on Tuesday: 24-carat is trading at Rs 48,310 and 22-carat at Rs 47,310. The rate of 1 kg of silver increased by Rs 700 with the precious metal trading at Rs 62,700 on Tuesday.

In Delhi, the rate of 24-carat gold stands at Rs 51,380, while in Mumbai the yellow metal's price is at Rs 48,310, according to the Goodreturns website.

The Gamaleya Institute believes that both Sputnik V and Sputnik Light will neutralise the latest variant of Covid-19, Omicron, Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund on Monday.

Dmitriev said that the Gamaleya Institute, based on existing protocols of immediately developing vaccine versions for variants of concern, has already begun developing the new version of Sputnik vaccine adapted to Omicron.

The World Health Organization warned Monday that the global risk from the omicron variant is very high based on early evidence, saying the mutated coronavirus could lead to surges with severe consequences.

The UN health agency, in a technical paper issued to member states, said considerable uncertainties remain about the variant that was first detected days ago in southern Africa.

The domestic markets regained some ground on Monday, following their worst decline in seven months, as investors assessed the threat of the new coronavirus variant Omicron. The gains were capped as the impact of the new variant on the economic recovery and central bank policy action remained uncertain.

The rupee, on the other hand, slipped 18 paise to close at a five-week low of 75.07 against the dollar as fresh worries over the new coronavirus variant weighed on already weak investor sentiment.

Indians can now use WhatsApp to order groceries from billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s JioMart via a new “tap and chat” option, as his Reliance Industries Ltd. challenges the domination of Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc.-owned Flipkart.

Delivery is free and there’s no minimum order value, according to JioMart users who got WhatsApp shopping invites with a 90-second tutorial and catalog. Among the daily essentials on offer are fruits, vegetables, cereal, toothpaste and cooking staples like paneer cottage cheese and chickpea flour.

Shares of Indigo Paints hit a record low of Rs 2,137, down 4 per cent on the BSE in Monday’s intra-day trade on concerns of weak operational performance.

With today’s decline, the stock has corrected 36 per cent from its high of Rs 3,348 touched on February 3, 2021. It was trading at its lowest level since its market debut on February 2, 2021. Indigo Paints had raised funds by issuing shares at price of Rs 1,490.

Shares of Vodafone Idea hit a fresh nine-month high of Rs 12.39, surging 14 per cent on the BSE in Monday’s intra-day trade on back of heavy volumes. In the past six trading days, the stock of telecom services provider has rallied 24 per cent after the company increased its prepaid tariff by 20-25 per cent from November 25, 2021.

The stock was trading at its highest level since February 12, 2021. It had hit a 52-week high of Rs 13.80 on January 15, 2021. At 9:48 am, Vodafone Idea had pared some of its gains and was up 6 per cent at Rs 11.54 on the BSE.

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