A massive fire broke out at Terminal 1 gate of Serum Institute of India in Pune on Thursday afternoon. The blaze was reported at an under-construction building in the Manjri area of the city. The SII plant is spread over 100 acres in Pune. Visuals showed large plumes of smoke billowing out of the buildings. As per initial reports, eight fire tenders were rushed to the fire spot.

IT services major Wipro said it had completed its Rs 9,500-crore share buyback programme; Amazon Prime Video is focusing its investments on bringing more content and expanding its service to a larger audience in India; A parliamentary panel has summoned representatives of Facebook and Twitter to appear before it on January 21. Watch this and more on News Blast.Also Read: Mukesh Ambani's JioMart to be available on WhatsApp in next six months

Our finding that smokers are less likely to be seropositive is the first report from the general population and part of growing evidence that despite COVID-19 being a respiratory disease, smoking may be protective, CSIR said

Coronavirus vaccine: A royal source said the vaccines were administered by a household doctor at the queen's Windsor Castle residence, adding that she made the news public to counter any speculation

Fact sheets for recipients of Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines in US and UK clarify that the vaccines are yet to be fully approved; recipients have been asked to get help if they experience severe side effects or allergic reactions

India Inc leader Ratan Tata showed his compassionate side again on Tuesday as he visited an ailing former employee at his home. The 83-year-old is known for his acts of kindness

Patna airport had given the list of passengers who came from the UK between November 23 and December 31 and their addresses. But when health officials went to their houses to put them under quarantine, they found the people were missing

Krishna Ella, Chairman of Bharat Biotech, said that unlike the clinical trials of AstraZeneca vaccine, Bharat Biotech did not try to supress the side effects of vaccine by giving paracetamol to the volunteers

Comprehensive contact tracing has been initiated for co-travellers, family contacts and others.  Genome sequencing on other specimens is going on, says the government

Experts believe that the real numbers of US deaths and infections are much higher and that many cases were overlooked, in part because of insufficient testing

Coronavirus vaccine in India: Adar Poonawalla, CEO of Serum Institute of India that is manufacturing Covishield had said that the company is ready to roll out its vaccine in the coming weeks

Coronavirus vaccine in India: In an interview, Serum Institute CEO Adar Poonawalla said that the company has also been barred from selling the vaccine on the private market

Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan slammed senior Congress party leaders Shashi Tharoor and Jairam Ramesh, and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav for politicising the 'critical issue'

The ICMR head emphasised that the scientists at ICMR have been successfully able to culture the UK strain and the efficacy of Covaxin against it will be further tested in days to come

Calling it a great day for the country, AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria said that initially Serum-AstraZeneca's Covishield will be administered to the people

Two leading vaccine contenders in India have been granted approval for restricted use in the country. Check out how netizens reacted to the news of the vaccines getting approved

COVID-19 vaccine in India: It would make every Indian proud that the two vaccines that have been given emergency use approval are made in India! This shows the eagerness of our scientific community to fulfil the dream of an Aatmanirbhar Bharat, said PM Modi

COVID-19 vaccines in India: Oxford-AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine Covishield and Bharat Biotech's COVID vaccine Covaxin will be India's first vaccines

The SEC has recommended Covaxin for emergency use authorisation; the recommendation, along with rollout modalities, will now be taken up by the DCGI for a final decision on the matter

Coronavirus vaccine in India: Talking about the vaccine, the minister urged people not to pay heed to any rumours. He said India became free of polio disease because of the vaccine