1. Pharmaceutical company Pfizer on Thursday said that its coronavirus vaccine was highly effective, around 90%, against Delta variant of Covid-19, reported Reuters.     
  2. India reported 54,069 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, taking the total number of infections since the outbreak of the pandemic in January 2020 to 3,00,82,778. The country’s toll rose by 1,321 to 3,91,981. India’s tally of active cases stood at 6,27,057, while the number of recoveries reached 2,90,63,740.
  3. The Meghalaya High Court has held that forceful or mandatory vaccination violates the fundamental right to livelihood. The bench cited several court orders to highlight that vaccination by force has been discouraged. The bench’s order also highlighted matters concerning bodily autonomy.
  4. Ratings agency S&P Global Ratings lowered India’s growth forecast for the financial year 2021-2022, to 9.5%, from the earlier projected 11%. The ratings agency lowered the growth projection as a result of the lockdowns imposed in several states amid the second wave of Covid-19 in April and May.
  5. The Andhra Pradesh government cancelled the state board examinations for Class 10 and 12 after the Supreme Court reprimanded it for planning to go ahead with the tests. The court had said that the state government would be held responsible if anyone died due to the infection. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court also directed states that have cancelled Class 12 exams to formulate an internal assessment scheme within 10 days and declare results by July 31.
  6. The Maharashtra government told the Bombay High Court that at least 2,053 residents have been given fake Covid-19 vaccines at unauthorised immunisation camps in Mumbai so far. Chief Public Prosecutor Deepak Thakare said that nine such unauthorised camps were found in the city and four first information reports had been registered.
  7. Brazilian federal prosecutors have begun investigation into a contract by the country’s health ministry to buy 20 million (2 crore) doses of the coronavirus vaccine developed by India’s Bharat Biotech. The comparatively high prices for Covaxin, which had not cleared regulatory hurdles, drew prosecutors’ attention to the deal signed in February. 
  8. The police in Kolkata have uncovered an unauthorised Covid-19 vaccination drive, where the recipients reportedly did not receive a message confirming their inoculation. This was revealed after MP Mimi Chakraborty, who participated in the vaccination drive, approached the police.
  9. Congress leader Sonia Gandhi asked the party’s general secretaries to raise awareness amid hesitancy to get vaccinated against Covid-19, reported PTI.
  10. Globally, the coronavirus disease has infected over 17.95 crore people and killed more than 38.90 lakh since the pandemic broke out in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University.