The global coronavirus caseload has topped 202.6 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 4.32 million and vaccinations soared to over 4.52 billion, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

In its latest update on Thursday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload, death toll stood and vaccination tally stood at 204,626,055, 4,323,778 and 4,527,816,903, respectively.

Cybercriminals have breached Accenture in an apparent ransomware attack but the global consulting giant says the incident was immediately contained with no impact on it or its systems.

The LockBit ransomware gang announced the attack Tuesday night on its dark web leak site, setting a deadline of Thursday evening for payment.

India reported 38,353 fresh COVID-19 cases, 36% higher than 28,204 cases reported yesterday. With this, the total tally of COVID-19 cases in India has risen to 3,20,36,511. The country also reported 497 deaths, taking the cumulative death count to 4,29,179.

The active cases have declined to 3,86,351, the lowest in 140 days, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday. The active cases comprise 1.21% of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020. The COVID-19 recovery rate stands 97.45%, the Health Ministry said. A total of 40,013 patients recovered in the last 24 hours.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday attacked the Modi government over the issue of high prices of cooking gas and said if the government is honest about its Ujjwala scheme it should give subsidy to the poor and reduce inflation.

Her attack on the government came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Ujjwala 2.0 -- the second phase of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) -- by virtually presenting free LPG connections to some beneficiaries in Mahoba in Uttar Pradesh, where assembly elections are scheduled early next year.

Shares of recently listed healthcare facilities company Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) surged over 10 per cent to Rs 1,300 on the BSE in the intra-day trade on Wednesday after the company reported a strong 57 per cent growth in consolidated profit after tax (PAT) at Rs 92.0 crore for the quarter ended June 2021 (Q1FY22) on a sequential basis.

Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) was up 41 per cent quarter on quarter (QoQ) at Rs 147.9 crore, while margins improved 200 basis points (bps) to 31.0 per cent in Q1FY22 from 29.0 per cent in Q4FY21.Consolidated revenue grew 31.6 per cent QoQ at Rs 477.50 crore from Rs 362.70 crore in previous quarter.

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.

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