International community came forward with offers of solidarity and assistance for specific medicines and equipment that were not immediately available in the country during the second wave of COVID-19 and material from 52 countries have been received till date, the government told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said in a written reply that India has imported 31.5 lakh units of Sputnik Component 1 and 4.5 lakh units of Sputnik Component 2 vaccine till date.

The price of 10 gm of 22-carat gold went up on Friday to trade at Rs 47,070: a change of Rs 230 compared to yesterday’s prices. Silver gained Rs 800 over yesterday’s prices to sell at Rs 67,200 per kg, according to the website Good Returns.

Gold jewellery price varies across India, the second-largest consumer of the metal, due to excise duty, state taxes, and making charges.

Shares of Tech Mahindra surged 8.5 per cent to Rs 1,224, also its new high, on the BSE in the intra-day trade on Friday after the IT major reported a 39.17 per cent year-on-year (YoY) jump in its consolidated net profit at Rs 1,353 crore for the April-June period of financial year 2021-22 (Q1FY22) as against Rs 972-crore profit posted in the corresponding quarter last year. On quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) basis, the profit rose by 25.13 per cent.

The consolidated revenue from operations in Q1FY22 grew 11.98 per cent YoY at Rs 10,198 crore.

Israel's prime minister on Thursday announced that the country would offer a coronavirus booster to people over 60 who have already been vaccinated.

The announcement by Naftali Bennett makes Israel the first country to offer a third dose of the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine to its citizens on a wide scale.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday wrote to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman urging the Centre to extend the moratorium on repayment of short-term crop loans of farmers to December 31.

The former Congress Chief also asked the Centre to waive all penal interest on such loans.

New Delhi [India], July 30 (ANI): The Subject Expert Committee (SEC) of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) on Thursday recommended granting permission for trials of mixing COVID-19 vaccines--Covaxin and Covishield--said sources.

As per sources, the application of the interchangeability study protocol of Covishield and Covaxin was moved by Christian Medical College (CMC) in Vellore.

The delta variant has led to a surge in coronavirus outbreaks triggering a fourth wave in the Middle East, where vaccination rates remain low, said the World Health Organization (WHO).

In a statement on Thursday, the global health body said: The circulation of the Delta variant is fuelling the surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths in an increasing number of countries in WHO's Eastern Mediterranean Region. It is now being reported in 15 out of the 22 countries of the Region.

Microsoft Corp is in advanced talks to invest in Indian hotel chain Oyo at a $9 billion valuation, a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

The deal could be announced in the coming weeks and would be a prelude to an initial public offering (IPO) by Oyo, the source said.

Windlas Biotech, manufacturer of pharmaceutical formulations, on Thursday said it has fixed a price band of Rs 448-460 a share for its initial share-sale.

The three-day initial public offer (IPO) will open on August 4 and conclude on August 6, the company announced in a virtual press conference.

Cognizant Technologies, whose quarterly attrition rose to 31 per cent in the quarter ended June 30, said it is looking to hire 100,000 lateral hires, along with thousands of people at the graduate level this year.

In the second quarter (Cognizant follows the January-December cycle) the company said that its voluntary attrition touched 29 per cent on an annualised basis and 18 per cent on trailing 12 months basis (LTM). The company stated in its analyst call that it is ramping up its hiring and skilling mechanism.

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