Tedros took note of India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's efforts at supporting the global efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic

Drug maker Johnson & Johnson's single-shot COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective as per the data submitted from its ongoing multi-national Phase 3 trials; Top banker Uday Kotak has welcomed the Centre's decision to lift the embargo on grant of government businesses to private banks; Amid recent surge in demand for cryptocurrencies, the Reserve Bank of India has raised concerns that the digital currency may impact financial stability in India. Watch this and more on News Blast.Also Read: RBI working on digital currency, wants to tap on blockchain technology: Das

The real-world study involved around 1.2 million people in Israel. Pfizer vaccine has also proved to be effective against B.1.1.7 variant, also known as the UK variant of coronavirus

Vaccines will be given free of cost at govt centres. Amount people will need to pay in private hospitals will be decided by health ministryin 3-4 days, says Union minister Prakash Javadekar

India can swiftly take up the COVID-19 vaccine doses at a shorter time and at a reasonable cost if private firms enter to vaccination process, Azim Premji said

In the wake of rising coronavirus cases in Pune, hotels will close at 11 pm instead of 1 am, whereas non-essential activities will be allowed on roads between 11 pm and 6 am

National Intelligence Service (NIS), the chief intelligence agency of South Korea informed lawmakers about the alleged cyber breach on Tuesday, February 16, during a closed-door briefing to a parliamentary intelligence committee

With no relief in sight from incessant rise in petrol and diesel prices, people turned to Twitter to vent their frustrations on the matter; The central government is set to notify the rules under new labour codes, which will have an impact on employees' cost to company (CTC) as well as employers' wage bills; Vaccination drive against COVID-19 and improving economic indicators have enthused employers to recruit. Watch this and more on News Blast.Also Read: Amazon to manufacture Fire TV Stick in India from this year

Coronavirus vaccination: Bangladesh purchased the most number of vaccines, around 50 lakh, followed by Brazil and Morocco with 20 lakh each

The recoveries have surged to 1,06,11,731 with 11,016 patients getting discharged in a span of 24 hours

The European Union will speed up approvals of coronavirus vaccines adapted to combat mutations, the bloc's Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said in a newspaper interview on Sunday

A WHO-led mission in China said this week that it was not looking further into the question of whether the virus escaped from a lab, which it considered highly unlikely

US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping held their first phone call as leaders and appeared at odds on most issues. While Xi has called for 'win-win' cooperation, Biden has called China America's 'most serious competitor' and vowed to 'out compete' Beijing; The job market continues to improve sequentially across the country, with job postings getting improved in some industries; The UK coronavirus variant that has wreaked havoc in the country and spread to multiple countries could eventually become the dominant strain, say experts. Watch this and more on News Blast.Also Read: Centre made Rs 100 crore by sharing vehicle data with private companies: Nitin Gadkari

It is imperative that India can lean on and leverage its healthcare and logistics footprint and expertise to support the global fight against any pandemic

Investigators of the World Health Organization (WHO) have found that coronavirus may have originated outside the country and brought to China through import of frozen foods; Adar Poonawalla-led firm Rising Star Holdings is planning to acquire controlling stake in financial services company Magma Fincorp via open offer; Niche bike maker Royal Enfield may look at hiking prices from April in view of rising commodity prices, a top company official said on Wednesday. Watch this and more on News Blast.Also Read: Do business in India but follow laws too, Ravi Shankar Prasad to Twitter

Stock Market News Updates Today: Tata Motors, L&T , Infosys, Airtel, SBI, ONGC, ITC, Nestle were among the top losers today while HUL, Titan, M&M, TCS, Bajaj Finance, HDFC traded among the top gainers.

WHO highlighted the need to reduce virus circulation and prevent infections so that it reduces the opportunities for coronavirus to mutate further.

The study, carried out by the University of Sheffield in the UK, is the largest global review of factors associated with distress amongst health care workers during an infectious disease outbreak

A study from South Africa's University of the Witwatersrand and Oxford University showed the vaccine had significantly reduced efficacy against the South African variant

The Reserve Bank of India projected Indian economy to grow as much as 26.2 per cent during the first half of the upcoming financial year; Drugmaker AstraZeneca PLC said on Friday it had applied for approval in Japan of its COVID-19 vaccine; Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Zomato for empowering street food vendors. Watch this and more on News Blast.Also Read: Oxford-Astrazeneca COVID-19 vaccine effective against mutant UK variant