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Eco/Invest/Demography

Hyderabad set to emerge as global hub for COVID-19 vaccine in 2021

The vaccine development process by Bharat Biotech, Biological E Ltd and Aurobindo Pharma are currently in various stages, while Dr Reddy”s and Hetero have tie ups for manufacturing the vaccine.

Some of these companies have also drawn up plans to scale up their vaccine manufacturing capacities. Besides vaccine makers, the International Airport here has also stepped up the cold-chain infrastructure for vaccine transportation.

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Nifty, Sensex at record high on boost from Reliance, banking stocks

The NSE Nifty 50 index was up 0.7% at 13,844.75 by 0347 GMT, while the S&P BSE Sensex was 0.71% higher at 47,307.78. Both indexes hit record highs.

Broader Asian shares rose at the start of the final trading week of 2020 as a source said Donald Trump signed into law a pandemic aid and spending package, averting a partial federal government shutdown in the United States

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Global coronavirus count surpasses 79 million

The United States continues to be the worst-affected country in the world with regard to most cases and most deaths from the virus in the world. Currently, the US caseload stands at 18,756,360 and the death toll stands at 330,246.

India and Brazil continue to be the second and third most-affected countries in the world reporting over 10.14 million cases and 7.44 million cases respectively.

Brazil has the second-highest Covid-19 death toll after the US reporting 190,488 deaths in the South American nation.

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Financial frauds push cyber crimes to peak in Delhi

“Among the complaints received by various victims, the predominant ones are of online financial fraud, accounting for around 62 per cent of the total. 24 per cent of the complaints have been related to the social media, primarily online harassment, and the rest 14 per cent of other cyber crimes such as hacking, identity theft, data theft and some more,” said DCP Cyber Crime Anyesh Roy

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UK’s post-Brexit trade deal maintains the existing standards on environment, workers’ rights and climate change

There is a clear commitment not to lower standards on the environment, workers’ rights and climate change from those that currently exist and mechanisms to enforce them, the BBC reported.
Similarly, the restrictions compensation for unfair subsidies to companies “do not apply” in situations such as natural disasters, the BBC said. That will exempt the EU’s large current pandemic support package for aviation, aerospace, climate change and electric cars.

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Hammered by virus, investors rethink role of bonds, tech and ESG in 2021

Now, as investors face lower-for-longer rates even as growth picks up, doubts are emerging whether developed-market government bonds can continue to provide both protection and diversification as well as satiate investors seeking income gains. There’s also a debate over the traditional investing policy of putting 60% of funds in stocks and 40% in bonds, even though the strategy proved to be resilient during the year.Innovative stocks now are being valued on intangible factors such as goodwill and intellectual property rather than traditional methods like price-to-earnings ratios, Alan Wang, portfolio manager at Principal Global Investors in Hong Kong said, adding that investors should adopt such valuation strategies.

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COVID-19: Lowest daily cases recorded in India after gap of nearly 6 months

The COVID-19 case fatality rate was registered at 1.44 per cent

There are 2,78,690 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country which comprises 2.73 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated
The 279 new fatalities include 60 from Maharashtra, 23 from Delhi, 33 from West Bengal, 21 from Kerala, 14 from Uttar Pradesh, 13 from Uttarakhand and 12 each from Punjab and Chattisgarh

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EU launches vaccine rollout, historic day in virus fight

The rollout marks a moment of hope for a region that includes some of the world’s earliest and worst-hit virus hot spots Italy and Spain and others like the Czech Republic, which were spared earlier in the year only to see their health care systems near collapse in the fall.

It also should ease frustrations that were building up, especially in Germany, as Britain, Canada and the United States kicked off their inoculation programs with the same vaccine weeks earlier

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Hungry for change: Faulty food systems laid bare by COVID-19 and climate crises

Farmers and poor urban residents have so far borne the brunt of the pandemic, meaning inequality between and within countries could deepen further in 2021, said Ismahane Elouafi, chief scientist at the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

“Even before COVID-19 hit, 135 million people were marching towards the brink of starvation. This could double to 270 million within a few short months,” warned David Beasley, head of the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP), in emailed comments.

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