Even as reports of the death of dreaded gangster and former RJD MP Mohammad Shahabuddin are doing the rounds, officials at Delhi's Tihar jail have denied the reports.

Reacting to reports that have been circulating regarding his death, Shahabuddin’s lawyer Randhir Kumar said as quoted by The Indian Express, He is fine and news related with his death is false.

Three big private hospital chains -- Apollo, Fortis and Max -- on Friday announced the launch of Covid-19 immunisation drive for the 18-44 age group at limited centres in the country from May 1 while the Delhi government said it will start the vaccination exercise once it receives doses from the manufacturers.

The Serum Institute of India, which manufactures the AstraZeneca coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccine, is planning to start vaccine production in other countries as it struggles to meet supply commitments, its chief executive officer told The Times.

"There's going to be an announcement in the next few days," Adar Poonawalla was quoted as saying by the newspaper in an interview published on Friday.

Threatening a five-year jail term or hefty fine, the Australian government temporarily barred its citizens from entering the country if they happened to be in India within 14 days of their intended arrival.

The decision was announced after a meeting of the National Cabinet on Friday and will come into force from Monday.

As the country is grappling with the massive spike in COVID-19 cases, the government on Friday permitted the import of oxygen concentrators for personal use, through post, courier or e-commerce portals under the gift category. However, this exemption for personal use is only allowed for a period till July 31, 2021, according to a notification of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).

India for the first time has reported more than 4 lakh new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. A total of 4,01,993 fresh COVID-19 cases were recorded in the last 24 hours taking the cumulative count of the cases to 1,91,64,969, the Union Health Ministry reported on Saturday.

With 3,523 people succumbing to the infection in the last 24 hours, the death toll has mounted to 2,11,853.

On the 400th Prakash Purab (birth anniversary) of Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Guru of Sikhism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended greetings to the nation saying his sacrifice gives strength and motivation to many. PM Modi visited Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib in Delhi in the morning and offered prayers on the 400th Prakash Purab of Guru Teg Bahadur. He visited the Gurudwara without a security route and any special security arrangement.

At least 18 coronavirus (Covid-19) patients died after a fire broke out at a hospital in Gujarat's Bharuch in the early hours on Saturday.

There were around 50 other patients at the four- storeyed Welfare Hospital when the fire broke out in the Covid-19 ward at 1 am. They were rescued by locals and firefighters, an official said.

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd, or RIL, reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 13,227 crore for the quarter ended March 2021 (Q4), more than double the Rs 6,348 crore reported in the year-ago quarter.

While the jump should be seen in the light of last year’s low base, when profit was lower on account of an exceptional loss of Rs 4,267 crore, the performance for Q4FY21 is largely in line with analysts’ expectations.

India saw 3,86,452 new coronavirus infections in a span of 24 hours, the highest single-day rise so far, pushing the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 1,87,62,976, while active cases crossed the 31-lakh mark, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.

The death toll increased to 2,08,330 with 3,498 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.

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