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Eco/Invest/Demography

Trust in vaccines vital to end pandemic, WHO says

But with the pandemic continuing to surge after already claiming some 1.3 million lives, she voiced deep concern at growing signs of vaccine hesitancy, with misinformation and mistrust coloring people’s acceptance of scientific advances.
More needed to be done to boost public “confidence in the fact that the vaccines that WHO is involved in evaluating, we will not be compromising on safety or efficacy,” she said.

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Sensex, Nifty make modest gains in special Diwali day session

“Muhurat” means auspicious in Hindi, and many traders believe gains made during this session bring prosperity and wealth in the year ahead. Regular trading resumes on Tuesday.
BPCL investors were among the happiest lot, as the stock climbed 5.19 per cent to Rs 414.45, emerging as the biggest gainer among Nifty constituents. Indian Oil, Tata Motors, HDFC Life Insurance, Sun Pharma and Coal India NSE 0.95 % were other major gainers, rising 1-3 per cent.
On the other hand, Hindalco was the biggest loser in the pack, falling 1.21 per cent to Rs 208. Hero MotoCorp, JSW Steel, SBI, Bajaj Finance and Shree Cement were other top losers, down up to 1 per cent.

Volatility indicator, India VIX, came down further, signalling a drop in nervousness among traders. The index settled 2.8 per cent down at 19.15.
Broader market induces also logged solid gain, outperforming their headline peers. Nifty Smallcap Index added 0.67 per cent and Nifty Midcap 0.38 per cent. Nifty500, the broadest index on NSE, advanced 0.38 per cent.

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HelpAge India receives the 2020 UN Population Award’ for its outstanding service 

There are an estimated 106 million elderly in India. HelpAge India provides relief through various agecare, healthcare & livelihood interventions such as – it runs one of the largest network of Mobile Healthcare Units in India, provides agecare services through care homes. It has pioneered Elder-Self-Help-Groups in rural India, for providing livelihood opportunities. It operates a national Elder Helpline service and empowers seniors through Digital Literacy workshops, so they are not excluded from the social fabric and can lead active & independent lives.

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Vaccine alliance secures $2 billion to fund COVID shots for poor nations

The European Commission, France, Spain, South Korea, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and others had in recent weeks pledged another $360 million to the AMC, the alliance said, bringing total funding over the $2 billion target for this year.

Another $5 billion will be needed in 2021 to procure COVID-19 vaccine doses as they come through development and are approved by regulators, GAVI said in a statement.

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Tsunami-hit reactor in northeast Japan gets final approval to restart

Onagawa was the closest among Japan’s nuclear stations to the epicentre of the magnitude-9 quake in March 2011, which triggered a tsunami that killed nearly 20,000 people as well as causing the worst atomic disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.

The station was swamped by the tsunami, but survived with its cooling system intact, saving its reactors from the threat of meltdowns similar to those that occurred at Tokyo Electric Power’s Fukushima Daiichi station to the south.

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Philippines hunts for missing after its deadliest typhoon this year

Vamco, the 21st and most deadly cyclone to hit the country this year, tore through the main island of Luzon late on Wednesday and early Thursday, just as the country was reeling from Goni, the world’s strongest typhoon of 2020, which killed 25 people and flattened thousands of homes.

Tens of thousands of homes were engulfed by the floods and as the water receded in areas such as Marikina, a suburb east of Manila, homes covered in debris and caked in mud emerged.

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