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Eco/Invest/Demography

46,232 new COVID-19 cases in India, tally reaches 90.50 lakh; death toll mounts to 1,32,726

The number of active cases remained below five lakh for the eleventh consecutive day. There are 4,39,747 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country as on date, which comprises 4.86 per cent of the total caseload, as per the data.

The total recoveries have surged to 84,78,124 pushing the national recovery rate to 93.67 per cent, while the COVID-19 case fatality rate stands at 1.47 per cent.

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Indian-American doctor identifies possible COVID-19 treatment

Published online in the journal Cell, the research coming from the lab of Dr Thirumala-Devi Kanneganti, an Indian-born researcher working at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Tennessee, identified the drugs after discovering that the hyper inflammatory immune response associated with COVID-19 leads to tissue damage and multi-organ failure in mice by triggering inflammatory cell death pathways

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China says carbon trading scheme will cover 2,267 power plants in phase one

Under the scheme, firms are given allowances free of charge based on historical emissions, and have to buy additional permits if they exceed their quota. The total amount they need to buy will account for no more than 20% of their allocation.The quota allocations have been determined based on emissions levels from 2013-2019, but the ministry said the collection of relevant data for last year had been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and by funding issues.

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EU denies gas plants a green finance tag, offers possible hydrogen loophole

The landmark EU rules, due to be finalised this year, will force providers of financial products to disclose from the end of 2021 which investments meet climate criteria, and can therefore be marketed as “sustainable”.

Gaining such a label is likely to help companies tap the growing share of investor cash looking to profit from the region’s multi-trillion-euro shift to a net zero emissions economy by 2050.

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PM Modi holds meet to review India’s Covid vaccination strategy

Modi tweeted that the meeting discussed important issues related to progress of vaccine development, regulatory approvals and procurement. “Reviewed various issues like prioritisation of population groups, reaching out to HCWs (health care workers), cold-chain infrastructure augmentation, adding vaccinators and tech platform for vaccine roll-out,” he said.he prime minister directed that a time-bound plan be laid out for speedy regulatory clearances and timely procurement for early roll-out of the vaccination drive when a Covid-19 vaccine becomes available, an official statement later said.

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RBI committee recommends reshaping domestic banking industry

In a report made public on Friday, the committee recommended that banking regulations be amended to allow large industrial houses to act as so-called bank promoters, meaning they could take a significant stake in a lender, something the central bank has strongly resisted in the past.
Bajaj Group, Piramal Group and Reliance Industries are well-positioned to expand into banking, said an investment banker who did not wish to be named.

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