In its weekly report on the pandemic, the World Health Organisation said on Tuesday that the incidence of COVID-19 has increased globally, initially driven predominantly by transmission of the Delta variant, particularly in the European region.

With the administration of nearly 80 lakh vaccine doses in a span of 24 hours, the cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has exceeded 158.04 crore as per provisional reports till 7 am.

At a time when rallies and large gatherings are banned by the Election Commission in view of a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases, political parties in Punjab are battling it out on social media platforms as they promote their agendas for people and also counter any negative propaganda by their opponents.

Of the estimated 7.4 crore (7,40,57,000) population in the 15-18 age bracket, over 3.45 crore have received the first dose of Covaxin so far and their second dose is due in 28 days, he said.

India has 50 startups with the potential to achieve the coveted 'unicorn' status in 2022 and by the end of the year, the list of the new-age companies valued at over $1 billion will be at least 100, a report by a consultancy firm said on Monday. In 2021, which witnessed a huge spike in company valuations in the listed and unlisted space driven by ample liquidity, according to some watchers, India added 43 startups to the list and the number of unicorns shot up to 68 by the end of the year. Over $10 billion was invested in the Indian startup ecosystem in the October-December quarter alone, according to the report by PwC India.

The country saw 1,702 new cases of Omicron variant, the highest in a single day so far, and an increase of 28.17 per cent since Saturday.

Immunity boosting foods and drinks. Sustainable fashion. Beauty products with natural ingredients. There was always a market for these, and the pandemic has only made it bigger. Within beauty, brands have recorded a greater demand for ayurveda products.

Besides law and order, the long standing demand for junking Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, economic woes of the land-locked state which has hardly any industries, are expected to figure high on the agenda of the unfolding electoral battle between the two main parties with smaller local parties such as National People's Party and the Naga People's Front chipping in with their own demands.

Images from Day 4 of the third Test between South Africa and India, in Cape Town, on Friday.

More than 75 per cent of those who succumbed to the novel coronavirus infection in the current wave in Delhi were unvaccinated, health minister Satyendra Jain said on Friday.

The wholesale price-based inflation bucked the 4-month rising trend in December 2021, and eased to 13.56 per cent, mainly on account of softening in fuel, power and manufacturing items even though food prices hardened. WPI inflation has remained in double digits for the ninth consecutive month beginning April. Inflation in November was 14.23 per cent, while in December 2020 it was 1.95 per cent.

The total number of active cases across the state is now 1,15,733. There were 2,363 discharges, taking the total number of recoveries to 29,70,365, a health department bulletin said.

'In India, a deadly wave of infection with the Delta variant stole 240,000 lives between April and June and disrupted economic recovery. Similar episodes could take place in the near term,' said the report.

Delhi's previous biggest daily jump of 28,395 cases was recorded on April 20 last year.

The study also noted that the booster dosage of the company's COVID-19 vaccine Vaxzevria also increased the immune response to Beta, Delta, Alpha and Gamma SARS-CoV-2 variants.

AI and machine learning will only continue to grow in 2022, with a significant increase in the demand for such roles, notes Sekhar Garisa, CEO, Monster.com.

The daily requirement of medical oxygen in the state has witnessed a rise, it said, adding that the present demand is 400 metric tonnes.

Three big cities in the country -- Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru -- witnessed huge spike in daily COVID-19 cases on Wednesday even as Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain claimed hospital admissions have stabilised indicating the current coronavirus wave peaked and cases may start declining soon.

With Covid-19 cases across the country rising rapidly once again, demand for health insurance products has spiked. Insurers are seeing an uptick in inquiries for such products and underwriting more premiums in the segment. Already, health insurance was growing at a rapid pace since the onset of the pandemic as awareness around risk had heightened among consumers. But the country recorded more than 600,000 Covid-19 cases in the past week, which is almost a six-fold rise than the previous week. Owing to this, the spike in demand for health insurance products is inevitable, experts said.

'Gerson existed at the intersection of principle and conscience. 'One of our conversations turned to his return to India from Brazil. 'He spoke about the choices he made and the things he felt he had failed at. 'What emerged was how he always steadfastly stuck to his beliefs and was true to them and himself. 'The need to -- in Spike Lee's words -- Do The Right Thing.' Director Dev Benegal remembers Gerson da Cunha, 'friend, guide, light'.

The researchers believe their findings provide a blueprint for a second-generation, universal vaccine that could prevent infection from current and future SARS-CoV-2 variants, including Omicron.

Four Supreme Court judges and almost five per cent of its staff have tested positive for COVID-19, official sources said on Sunday, as the national capital witnesses a sharp spike in coronavirus cases.

Live commerce, quick commerce, group buying, WhatsApp commerce, dukaantech have made their mark.

Mumbai on Friday recorded 20, 971 new coronavirus infections, the highest one-day spike to date, while Delhi registered the highest single-day spike too with the national capital reporting 17,335 new infections, highest since May 8 last year

Ahead of the weekend curfew, which will come into effect from Friday at 8 pm to Monday 5 am, Karnataka Excise Minister K Gopalaiah said there will be no sale of liquor for two days starting from tonight across the state.

'Everybody is losing money as interest costs keep piling up.' 'Some films will wait for a theatrical release and some won't, keeping their profit and loss situation in mind.'

The reduced severity of Omicron is good news for now, but it is the result of an "evolutionary mistake" as Covid-19 is transmitting very efficiently and there is no reason for it to become milder, indicating that the next variant could be more virulent, a leading Indian-origin scientist from the University of Cambridge has warned.

Private equity investments hit a record high of $40.1 billion in 2021, an increase of over 15 per cent from the previous year, led by a $3.6 billion flow into Flipkart and $1.93 billion into Bundl Technologies, as per a report. According to the data collated by Refinitiv, an LSEG business, while the value of inflows rose 15.2 per cent from $34.8 billion in 2020 to $40.1 billion in 2021, the deal volume soared to 990 in the reporting year from 588 in 2020. Analysts at the agency expect the inflow momentum to continue in 2022 as technology companies, especially startups, continue to attract capital from both private and public markets.

In a massive surge, Delhi on Thursday recorded 15,097 fresh COVID cases, the highest single-day rise since May 8, and six deaths while the positivity rate mounted to 15.34 per cent, according to data shared by the city health department.

The reduced severity of the Omicron variant is good news for now, but it is the result of an 'evolutionary mistake' and does not indicate that the virus which causes COVID-19 is becoming less virulent, a leading Indian-origin scientist from the University of Cambridge warned on Thursday.

Outperforming peers following a crisis in the debt markets is an act that ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company fund manager Manish Banthia has pulled off more than once.

As COVID-19 infections spike in the country resulting in restrictions in various states and impacting the fragile recovery, many economists are expecting RBI to delay the policy normalisation move, which is expected in the February review. The country has reported a single-day rise of 58,097 new Covid-19 cases as of Wednesday morning--the highest in around 199 days -- of which 2,135 are Omicron cases and later in the day, the first confirmed Omicron-related death has also been reported. Maharashtra recorded the maximum number of 653 Omicron cases followed by Delhi at 464, Kerala 185, Rajasthan 174, Gujarat 154 and Tamil Nadu 121 cases, taking the total tally of cases to 3,50,18,358.

The Congress on Wednesday cancelled its four marathon races listed this week and also decided not to hold any big rallies in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh amid rising cases of the novel coronavirus infection.

The Centre said the upsurge of COVID-19 cases is happening in cities and the Omicron variant is the predominant circulating strain.

Maharashtra recorded the maximum number of 653 Omicron cases followed by Delhi at 464, Kerala 185, Rajasthan 174, Gujarat 154 and Tamil Nadu 121 cases.

'In 2022, active management, long-short strategies, multi-asset strategies, and asset allocation strategies need to be considered to meet long-term investment goals.'

Maharashtra on Tuesday reported 18,466 fresh coronavirus positive cases, around 52 per cent or 6,303 cases more than the previous day's tally, and 20 fatalities, the state health department said.

The B.1.640.2 variant has been reported by researchers at institute IHU Mediterranee Infection in at least 12 cases, and has been linked to travel to African country Cameroon.

Interacting with reporters, he said experts have been saying that the spike in Covid cases in Delhi should be considered largely due to the Omicron variant.

The most important finding of the study was that the Spike-protein neutralising antibodies found in the mixed vaccine groups were significantly higher than the same-vaccine groups, D Nageshwar Reddy, Chairman of AIG Hospitals said.