Dr Reddys Laboratories Ltd, which soft-launched Russia's COVID-19 vaccine, Sputnik V here on May 14 has expanded the pilot project to over 50 other cities and towns in the country.

In a tweet on Monday night, the city-based drug maker said it will strengthen the commercial rollout of Sputnik V in the coming weeks.

The Indian rupee strengthened by 14 paise to 74.44 against the US dollar in early trade on Tuesday, tracking a firm trend in the domestic equity market.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 74.49 against the dollar, then inched higher to 74.44, registering a gain of 14 paise over its previous close.

ASK Property Investment Advisors (ASK PIA), the real estate private equity arm of the ASK group, on Tuesday said it is announcing a new real estate-focused fund called - ASK Real Estate Special Opportunities Fund – IV.

The fund is targeting a corpus of Rs 1,000 crore and an additional Rs 1,500 crore via a green shoe option. ASK PIA is looking to the raise funds via a mix of offshore and domestic investors.

Shares of SBI Life Insurance (SBIL) hit a record high of Rs 1,049.85, up 1.5 per cent on the BSE in the intra-day trade on Tuesday. The stock of the insurance company surpassed its previous high of Rs 1,040, touched on May 7, 2021.

In the past three months, SBIL has beaten the market by gaining 16 per cent, as compared to an 8 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. In January-March quarter (Q4FY21), SBIL had reported 31.1 per cent year-over-year (YoY) increase in gross premium to Rs 15,647 crore in Q4FY21, driven by a strong growth in new business premium (NBP) as well as renewal premium.

The overall global Covid-19 caseload has topped 187 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 4.03 million and vaccinations soared to over 3.46 billion, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

In its latest update on Tuesday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload, death toll and the total number of vaccine doses administered stood at 187,168,058, 4,036,857 and 3,461,552,559, respectively.

More than 40 people have died after a fire broke out in a Covid-19 isolation ward at a hospital in Iraq.

The blaze at the Al-Hussein hospital in the southern city of Nasiriya was brought under control late on Monday, the BBC reported.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), on Monday warned of the devastating outbreaks caused by the Delta variant of Covid-19, saying that the new strain of the virus was infecting people at a scorching pace.

Last week marked the fourth consecutive week of increasing cases of Covid-19 globally, Tedros said at a virtual press conference from Geneva, adding that after ten weeks of declines, deaths are increasing again.

Paytm’s shareholders on Monday finalised the digital financial services company’s primary fundraise of Rs 12,000 crore by issuing fresh equity.

Sources said shareholders, at an extraordinary general meeting, approved a proposal that Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Paytm’s founder, would not be identified as promoter of the company. He will continue to be the Chairman, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the company. Sharma holds about 14.61 per cent equity in the company.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla Monday said all Covid-related protocols will be followed during the Monsoon Session of parliament scheduled to begin from July 19.

He said those who have not been vaccinated against coronavirus will be requested to undergo an RT-PCR test before entering the parliament premises during the session.

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.

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