Several states across India have sounded an alert to contain the H5N8 strain of bird flu while Kerala began culling thousands of chickens and ducks.

India today said it has not banned the export of Covid-19 vaccines Oxford-AstraZeneca and Covaxin, both of which have been granted restricted emergency use approval by the country’s drug regulator.

India today announced it is ready to introduce Covid-19 vaccine within 10 days from the date of emergency use authorisation, and based on the feedback of the dry run of the vaccination drive held last week.

Coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford will cost USD three to four per shot (Rs 219-292) to the Indian government and will be priced at double that rate in private market once such sales open up, reports PTI quoting the CEO of its Indian manufacturer as saying on Monday.

While investigating an abduction case, India's Assam police have stumbled upon a culvert in Karimganj district -- which borders Bangladesh -- that might have been used as a secret and illegal route between the two countries.

Beximco Pharmaceuticals, the local partner of Serum Institute of India (SII), has said that Bangladesh will get three crore doses of Covid-19 vaccines on time.

Serum Institute of India (SII), the Indian manufacturer of the AstraZeneca/Oxford coronavirus vaccine, has said it intends to concentrate on meeting India’s own immediate demand in the next two months before exporting to other interested countries.

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has expressed his optimism that Bangladesh’s expectations from India will be met as the two countries maintain a strong and a very friendly relationship.

India granted emergency approval to Bharat Biotech’s COVAXIN but faced questions after taking the step without publishing efficacy data for the homegrown coronavirus vaccine.

India's drugs regulator today approved Serum Institute’s Oxford's Covid-19 vaccine Covishield and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin, the country’s first indigenous jab, for restricted emergency use, paving the way for their roll-out soon.

Experts at India’s drug regulator have recommended emergency-use approval for the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine and another developed locally by Bharat Biotech and a state-run research body, the government said.

India’s markets watchdog fined Reliance Industries 250 million rupees ($3.42 million) and its chairman Mukesh Ambani 150 million rupees for what it said were fraudulent trades while selling a stake in a subsidiary in 2007.

India’s drug regulator approved a coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University for emergency use, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

India’s Assam government is going to close down over 600 state-run madrasas and turning those into general schools from next year.

India today announced it would conduct a dry run of Covid-19 vaccine roll-out in all the states on January 2.

Indian authorities clamped night curfew and other curbs in Delhi and Mumbai cities and Odisha state to prevent public gatherings for New Year celebrations in order to check the spread of Covid-19.

Over 100 retired senior civil servants and diplomats urged the Hindu nationalist leader of Uttar Pradesh state to repeal a new law criminalising forced religious conversion of brides, warning in an open letter that it risked fuelling communal tensions.

Covid-19 vaccines will work against the new variants of the virus and there is no evidence that current vaccines will fail to protect against the SARS-CoV-2 mutants reported from UK or South Africa, the Indian government said today.

India today successfully wrapped up a two-day dry run of the Covid-19 vaccination drive that will cover an estimated 30 crore people in the first phase including health workers, frontline workers and people above the age of 50.

An alleged Indian smuggler was shot dead at Suryapur Dumnikura border area under Halaughat upazila of Mymensingh early today.