India's drug regulator has given approval for a study to be conducted by the Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore on mixing of COVID-19 vaccines Covaxin and Covishield, official sources said on Wednesday.

An expert panel of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) on July 29 had recommended granting permission for conducting the study.

Shares of Hinduja Global Solutions were locked in the upper circuit of 5 per cent at Rs 3,397.60, also its new record high on the BSE on Wednesday, rising 10 per cent in the past two trading days in an otherwise weak market after the company announced divestment of its healthcare services business to funds affiliated with Baring Private Equity Asia (BPEA) for an enterprise value of US$ 1,200 million.

In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.45 per cent or 244 points at 54,311 at 10:38 am.

API Holdings Pvt., owner of India’s largest online pharmacy PharmEasy, is considering a Mumbai initial public offering that could raise as much as $1 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

The company, backed by TPG and Temasek Holdings Pte, is working with advisers on a potential offering that could take place by March 2022, the people said.

Shares of Manappuram Finance slipped 11 per cent at Rs 170.45 on the BSE in the intra-day trade on Wednesday after the company reported consolidated profit after tax (PAT) at Rs 436.90 crore, up 18.7 per cent year on year (YoY), but down 8 per cent quarter on quarter (QoQ) for the quarter ended June 2021 (Q1FY22).

The company missed Street expectations due to lower net interest income (NII). In Q1FY22, NII was up 13.3 per cent YoY, and down 2.3 per cent QoQ. Meanwhile, provisions were elevated at Rs 120 crore.

The photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his words in COVID vaccination certificates is to reinforce the message for creating awareness among people to follow COVID-appropriate behaviour even after getting jabs, the Centre informed the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

A question was raised in the Upper House of Parliament on whether it was necessary and compulsory to print PM Modi's photographs on the COVID-19 vaccination certificate.

State-owned Coal India (CIL) on Tuesday reported a 52.4 per cent rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 3,169.85 crore for the quarter ended on June 30, 2021, on the back of higher revenue from operations. The company had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 2,079.60 crore in the year-ago period, Coal India said in a filing to BSE.

The consolidated revenue from operations increased to Rs 25,282.15 crore in the April-June period over Rs 18,486.77 crore in the year-ago period, the filing said.

Coronavirus cases and hospitalisations in the United States are at a six-month high, fuelled by the rapid spread of the Delta variant across swathes of the country grappling with low vaccination rates.

Nationwide, Covid-19 cases have averaged 100,000 for three days in a row, up 35 per cent over the past week, according to a Reuters tally of public health data. The surge of the disease was strongest in Louisiana, Florida and Arkansas.

An Israeli medical institute, which is soon to publish a study claiming almost one-third of Jerusalem youngsters were likely infected with COVID-19, has also revealed another vital finding.

In another study from Israel’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center, the neutralizing antibodies that develop after contracting COVID, start declining in children after only four months.

Shares of Tech Mahindra continued their upward movement on Tuesday, with the stock of the information technology (IT) consulting & software company hitting a new high of Rs 1,322.40, up 2.7 per cent on the BSE. The stock was quoting higher for the fourth straight trading day.

In the past one month, Tech Mahindra has outperformed the market by surging 25 per cent, as compared to a 4.4 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex.

Even as foreign Covid-19 vaccines get the Indian regulator’s nod, actual availability may be still some time away. Sources claim that India is not keen to ‘bow down’ to demands related to indemnity against legal liabilities in case any vaccine recipient develops severe adverse reactions post inoculation.

Talks are on with foreign vaccine makers. However, there is a general consensus that if indemnity is given, then it will be for all vaccine players, not just a handful, said a senior government official who added that no final decision has been taken on the matter yet.

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