Pfizer says it plans to meet with top US health officials Monday to discuss the drugmaker's request for federal authorization of a third dose of its COVID-19 vaccine as President Joe Biden's chief medical adviser acknowledged that it is entirely conceivable, maybe likely that booster shots will be needed.

The company said it was scheduled to have the meeting with the Food and Drug Administration and other officials Monday, days after Pfizer asserted that booster shots would be needed within 12 months.

A decline in average daily vaccination against the coronavirus has been seen since June 21, when the new phase of universalisation of COVID-19 vaccination commenced, government data showed.

According to data available on CoWIN platform, an average of 61.14 lakh doses of COVID-19 vaccine were administered daily in the week from June 21-27 which dropped to 41.92 lakh doses daily in the subsequent week from June 28-July 4.

The price of 22-carat gold on Monday slid to Rs 46,810 for 10 gm from Rs 46,980 on Friday and silver was trading at Rs 69,300 per kg, according to the Good Returns website.

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

E-commerce company Flipkart Group has raised $3.6 billion in funding in a round led by international groups that included Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments), SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Tiger Global. The investment values Flipkart at $37.6 billion post-money.

USA’s Walmart last July led a $1.2-billion round in Flipkart, valuing the firm at $24.9 billion. Walmart bought Flipkart bought for $16 billion in 2018 and is now battling Amazon and Reliance’s JioMart for dominance in India’s online retail market. Walmart was part of the latest investing round.

With 37,154 new coronavirus infections, India's total tally of COVID-19 cases rose to

3,08,74,376, while the total recoveries crossed three crore, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday.

The death toll climbed to 4,08,764 with 724 fresh fatalities.

Eighteen people, including seven children, were killed in separate incidents of lightning in Rajasthan's Jaipur, Kota, Jhalawar and Dholpur districts on Sunday, police said.

Twenty-one people, including six children, were also injured in lightning incidents in separate villages in the state, they said.

Shares of Kitex Garments hit a 52-week high of Rs 165 as they rallied 17 per cent on the BSE in intra-day trade on Monday on the back of heavy volumes. The stock of Kitex Garments, one of the world's leading infant apparel manufacturers, has rallied 50 per cent in three days after the company announced a Rs 1,000 crore investment in Telangana.

At 09:57 am, the stock was trading 16 per cent higher at Rs 163 on the BSE, as compared to a 0.53 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. The trading volumes on the counter more-than-doubled, with a combined 5.8 million equity shares having changed hands on the NSE and BSE so far.

Gautam Adani is increasing his footprint in fossil fuels, new research shows, even as the Indian billionaire vows to make his ports-to-power conglomerate carbon negative.

The Adani Group is doubling its coal-fired power capacity to 24 gigawatts, plans to own, develop or operate coal mines with a combined capacity of 132 million tons a year, and is pursuing oil and gas projects, including a partnership with France’s TotalEnergies SE, according to a report published Monday by environmental nonprofit Market Forces.

India's cumulative Covid-19 vaccination coverage crossed 37 crore on Friday with 30,55,802 doses administered across the country in the last 24 hours. A total of 37,21,96,268 vaccine doses have been administered through 48,04,423 sessions, as per the provisional report of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) till 7 a.m. on Saturday.

In the ongoing massive vaccination coverage, 1,02,44,459 Healthcare Workers (HCWs) have so far administered first dose of the anti-Covid jabs and 73,84,439 of them have been provided second dose.

The Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee on Friday held a signature campaign at petrol pumps across the national capital to protest against the fuel price rise.

DPCC president Anil Chaudhary attacked the Delhi government and the central government, saying regular hikes in the prices of petrol and diesel add to the "sky-rocketing expenses" of households.

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