The B.1.617.1 and B.1.617.2 variants of the COVID-19, first identified in India, has been named as 'Kappa' and 'Delta' respectively, the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced on Monday as it named various variants of the coronavirus using Greek alphabets.

Today, @WHO announces new, easy-to-say labels for #SARSCoV2 Variants of Concern (VOCs) & Interest (VOIs). They will not replace existing scientific names, but are aimed to help in public discussion of VOI/VOC, Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO's technical Covid-19 lead, tweeted on Monday.

Shares of Bank of Baroda on Monday declined nearly 6 per cent after the company reported a standalone net loss of Rs 1,047 crore in the quarter ended March 31, 2021.

It dipped 5.60 per cent to Rs 79.15 on the BSE.

The stock declined 5.66 per cent to Rs 79.10 at the NSE.

Shares of PNB Housing Finance were locked in the upper circuit of 20 per cent at Rs 525.20, also its 52-week high on the BSE on Monday, after the company board approved a capital raise of up to Rs 4,000 crore, led by entities affiliated to the Carlyle Group Inc.

Till 10:20 am, a combined 2.3 million shares had changed hands and there were pending buy orders for 1.2 million shares on the NSE and BSE. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 0.40 per cent at 51,630 points.

Shares of Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) slipped 7 per cent to Rs 790 on the BSE in intra-day trade on Monday after the management said the tractor industry is expected to grow in low single-digits during the financial year 2021-22 (FY22), with the company focused on gaining market share.

Since May 4, the stock of M&M has outperformed the market by surging 14 per cent, as compared to a 6.6 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex till Friday.

Two people have been arrested after a video went viral on social media showing a COVID-19 patient's body being dumped from a bridge into the Rapti river in Uttar Pradesh's Balrampur district.

In a video statement on Twitter, the Balrampur Police informed that the patient, identified as Prem Nath Mishra, had been admitted to a hospital on May 25 and tested positive for the coronavirus.

Fuel prices have touched an all-time high after Monday's fresh hike.Petrol continued to cost more than Rs 100 in parts of Mumbai and Bhopal.

Petrol in Mumbai stood at Rs 100.47 per litre and diesel at Rs 92.45 per litre.

In Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal, the petrol price stood at Rs 102.34 per litre while diesel stood at Rs 93.37 per litre.

India reported the lowest daily new coronavirus infections in 50 days with 1,52,734 cases, taking the tally to 2,80,47,534 on Monday, while the active caseload declined to 20,26,092, the Health Ministry said.

The toll climbed to 3,29,100 with 3,128 more fatalities, according to the ministry data.

The world needs the cooperation of the Chinese government to trace the origins of Covid-19 and prevent future pandemic threats, two leading U.S. disease experts said Sunday.

Information to support the theory that the SARS-CoV-2 virus may have escaped from a lab in Wuhan, China, has increased, said Scott Gottlieb, a commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration in the Trump administration who now sits on the board of Pfizer Inc.

The overall global Covid-19 caseload has topped 170.1 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 3.53 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

In its latest update on Monday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and death toll stood at 170,174,444 and 3,537,835, respectively.

The government of Andhra Pradesh has passed an order and accorded administrative sanction to the State Skill Development Corporation for the establishment of one skill development university and 30 skill development colleges across the state.

One college will be set up in each of the 25 parliamentary constituency, one each will be set up in IIITs across the state and one will be set up in Pulivendila, Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy's constituency.

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