Here are the top updates from Tuesday:

  1. Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company Biological E said it has entered a licensing agreement with Providence Therapeutics Holdings to manufacture the Canadian company’s mRNA Covid-19 vaccine in India, Reuters reported.
  2. India reported 1,27,510 new coronavirus cases during the previous 24 hours on Tuesday. Its total count of cases since the outbreak of the pandemic last year rose to 2,81,75,044. The toll rose by 2,795 to 3,31,895.
  3. The Central Board of Secondary Education and the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations on Tuesday cancelled the Class 12 board exams in view of the coronavirus situation across the country. In April, both the CBSE and the CISCE had cancelled the exams for Class 10.
  4. The Centre clarified that no changes have been made in the dosage regimen of coronavirus vaccine, Covishield, as far as the number of shots were concerned. Niti Aayog (Health) member VK Paul also said that the research on mixing of vaccines was still underway and directed health workers to keep following the existing standard operating procedure.
  5. The Union health ministry said that more than 23 crore doses of vaccines have so far been provided to the states and Union Territories, and they still had 1.57 crore doses left in stock. Meanwhile, Indian Council of Medical Research chief Balram Bhargava said that the country will have enough supply of vaccines to inoculate one crore beneficiaries a day by mid-July or early-August.
  6. A national expert group has found that the coronavirus infection in children may take two forms. In the first form, symptoms like infection, cough, fever and pneumonia may occur, followed in some cases by hospitalisation. In the second case, 2-6 weeks after getting an asymptomatic, the patient may show symptoms like fever, body rash, and inflammation of eyes or conjunctivitis, breathing troubles, diarrhoea and vomiting. Meanwhile, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights informed the Supreme Court that 9,346 children aged 17 or less have been orphaned or abandoned during the coronavirus pandemic.
  7. BRICS, a group of countries comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, backed a proposal to temporarily waive off patent on coronavirus vaccines. The proposal was moved by India and South Africa in the World Trade Organization in October.
  8. National Capital Delhi reported 623 new cases of coronavirus and 62 deaths due to the infection. Among other states which have been witnessing high caseloads, Maharashtra reported 14,123 new cases, Tamil Nadu logged 26,153 infections, while Karnataka reported 14,304 of them.
  9. The Indian Medical Association wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, seeking an act to protect healthcare professional against violence in the country. The request came after a doctor was attacked in Assam’s Hojai district, following a Covid-19 patient’s death.
  10. Globally, the coronavirus has now infected over 17.07 crore people and killed over 35.51 lakh since the pandemic broke out in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization approved a vaccine made by Sinovac Biotech for emergency use listing, Reuters reported. The vaccine became the second one developed in China to have received the nod.