Johnson & Johnson likely to report COVID vaccine data next week

Johnson & Johnson likely to report COVID-19 vaccine data next week

Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday said it expected to report eagerly-awaited data on its Covid-19 vaccine early next week, and that it would be able to meet the delivery target for doses to countries with which it had signed supply agreements. Public health officials are increasingly counting on single-dose options like the one being tested by J&J to simplify and boost inoculations

Economies must fight inequality, it's only way out of COVID-19 pandemic: Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron emphasised on the need for an economy that fights inequality as the means to move out of the coronavirus pandemic. Speaking at the virtual Davos Agenda Summit on Tuesday, Macron urged companies to play an active role in reducing inequality within society.

Farmers stick to core demands; say no plans to abandon march to Parliament on Budget day

Disassociating themselves from Tuesday's violence, farmers' unions have expressed their determination that they will continue with their protests themselves. The unions said there are no plans to abandon the march to Parliament on Budget Day. Union leaders have not given up their core demands--repeal of laws and legal guarantee to minimum support price (MSP).

Budget 2021: Icra warns against fiscal tightening, pegs fiscal deficit at 5%

Calling for a growth-oriented Budget, rating agency Icra on Monday warned against sharp fiscal tightening by the Centre and the states as it would temper the economic recovery, and projected a 5 per cent fiscal deficit for the next financial year. For the current financial year 2020-21, it forecasts a 7.5 per cent fiscal gap for the Centre and 4.7 per cent for the states, totalling the combined fiscal deficits at 12.2 per cent.

IMF sees Indian economy growing 11.5% in 2021

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday revised upwards the growth forecast for Indian economy to 11.5 per cent in 2021, making it the only major economy expected to register a double-digit growth amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. In its World Economic Outlook Update, the IMF revised higher the forecast for India's growth in 2021 by 2.7 percentage points,  "reflecting carryover from a stronger-than-expected recovery in 2020 after lockdowns were eased". However, it warned about surge in coronavirus infections, and said strong multilateral cooperation is required to bring the pandemic under control everywhere

After containment zones, Google Maps will now show when and where to get COVID-19 vaccine

Google, in October 2020, rolled out a feature that enables users to see containment zones on Google Maps, to make travelling convenient for users. Now, Google is rolling out a feature on Google Maps and Search that will give users more information on vaccination sites near them. As of now, the feature is being rolled out in the US and will roll out in the rest of the countries later.