International Financial News

Bharat Biotech International Ltd on Sunday said it has started clinical trials of tuberculosis vaccine candidate MTBVAC in India. The only vaccine in use today--BCG (Bacillus Calmette and Guerin)--is an attenuated variant of the bovine TB pathogen. This is more than a hundred years old and has a limited effect on pulmonary tuberculosis, which is mostly responsible for the transmission of the disease. Studying the safety, immunogenicity and efficacy of MTBVAC in the most populated country in the world and the one with the highest number of cases of this infectious disease is key to continue advancing in this vaccine," the company said. The trials have been done in collaboration with Spanish biopharmaceuticals company Biofabri to evaluate the safety, immunogenicity and efficacy of MTBVAC in India. «MTBVAC is being developed for two purposes: as a more effective and potentially longer-lasting vaccine than BCG for new-borns, and for the prevention of TB disease in adults and adolescents, for whom there is currently no effective vaccine,» Bharat Biotech International said. MTBVAC, the Spanish tuberculosis vaccine, is the first live attenuated vaccine of mycobacterium tuberculosis isolated from a human.

Investing.com – Israel stocks were higher after the close on Sunday, as gains in the Insurance, Real Estate and Oil & Gas sectors led shares higher.

Mint had reported in January that the department of promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT) had asked for details of its shareholding patterns. The company is learnt to have cited US regulations for not providing the details of complete disclosure of ownership, as required by the commerce ministry, in this case.

Congress in a big way, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Sunday, saying the internal surveys have indicated the party’s win in 20 seats. The CM, who reviewed the poll preparedness in Kodagu-Mysuru and Chamarajanagar seats in Mysuru, said the Congress had an electoral setback in 2019 because of its alliance with the JDS. Since the regional party had now gone with the BJP, the Congress had an electoral edge this time, he added. “We don’t lie like the BJP does and claim we will win all 28 seats,” Siddaramaiah said, answering queries from the media at the Mysuru airport.

stores across Sri Lanka shut Sunday after the US fast-food giant launched a legal battle with its local franchise holder over allegations of poor hygiene, court officials said. The Commercial High Court of Colombo ordered the closures until April 4, after the parent company accused the local franchise holder of failing to meet international hygiene standards.

Philippine troops were injured in the latest China Coast Guard water cannon attack on a Filipino supply vessel near a South China Sea reef, Manila's national security adviser said Sunday. The Philippine government said Saturday's confrontation caused severe damage to the Unaizah May 4 vessel while it was on its way to deliver troops and provisions to a Philippine navy ship grounded atop the Second Thomas Shoal. China claims almost the entire South China Sea, brushing off rival claims from other countries, including the Philippines, and an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.

India has «incredibly affordable» airfares and the country's aviation market has the kind of growth potential where Akasa Air as well as other carriers can do well, according to the nearly two-year-old airline's chief Vinay Dube. As Akasa Air prepares to take the international skies on March 28 with the first overseas flight from Mumbai to Doha, Dube also asserted that the airline is not about «marketing gimmicks». Akasa Air is aiming to be among the world's top 30 airlines by 2030 and will go public in future. «We think we have a great financial future. Listing is in our future… but you never say never. We hope to list some day,» he told PTI in an interview this week. While acknowledging that aviation competition has always been intense, he said that as long as the focus is on fundamentals, there is enough room not just for Akasa Air to thrive in the future but for others as well.

Penalty provisions can act as a deterrent to the development and dissemination of deepfakes and misinformation, a senior official of global think tank Cuts International said while calling for the deployment of technology interventions to check misuse of AI-generated content. CUTS International, Director, Research, Amol Kulkarni told PTI that internet users would require adequate opportunities to verify the genuineness of content and it becomes important during the election season while the role of credible fact-checkers and trusted flaggers becomes crucial.

Bharat Biotech International Ltd on Sunday said it started clinical trials of the Tuberculosis vaccine Mtbvac on adults in India. This is the first vaccine against Tuberculosis derived from a human source by the Spanish biopharmaceutical company, Biofabri, a press release from Bharat Biotech said. The release said that Mtbvac is being developed for two purposes; firstly, as a more effective and potentially longer-lasting vaccine than BCG ( Bacillus Calmette Guerin) for newborns and secondly, for the prevention of TB in adults and adolescents, for whom there is currently no effective vaccine. The trials are carried out by Bharat Biotech in close collaboration with Biofabri. Trials to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of Mtbvac have started with a pivotal safety, immunogenicity and efficacy trial which has been planned to start in 2025, the release said. It is a giant step to test in adults and adolescents in the country where 28 per cent of the world's TB cases accumulate.

Aditya Vision, Crisil, HUDCO, REC, and SBI Card will trade ex-dividend, while Persistent Systems will trade ex-split this week. On Thursday, 28 March, Aditya Vision (Rs 5.1/share), Crisil (Rs 28/share), HUDCO (Rs 1.5/share), Prithvi Exchange (Rs 2/share), R Systems International (Rs 6/share), REC (Rs 4.5/share), SBI Cards and Payment Services (Rs 2.5/share), Standard Industries (Rs 0.5/share), and Thinkink Picturez (Rs 0.1/share) will trade ex-dividend.

Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi chief Prakash Ambedkar said the alliance with Shiv Sena (UBT) doesn't exist any longer, Sanjay Raut of the Uddhav Thackeray-led party termed it as a «one-sided» and unfortunate decision. Talking to reporters here on Sunday, Raut said when Uddhav Thackeray and Prakash Ambedkar announced their alliance more than a year back, the upcoming Lok Sabha elections were not on the agenda. It was basically working together for the assembly and local bodies elections, he said. «The alliance was made with good intentions,» the Sena (UBT) leader said.

Is MS Dhoni going to retire after IPL 2024? "The BCCI offered me captaincy in 2007, but my body was in terrible shape. My observation of MS Dhoni was very good. His mind is very stable, he's calm, he's instinctive, and makes the right decisions.

Vedanta Ltd will invest USD 6 billion across businesses that span from aluminium and zinc to iron ore, steel and oil and gas as it looks to add at least USD 2.5 billion to annual EBITDA, its executives said in an investor meeting. It has a pipeline of more than 50 active projects and expansions to drive growth, which is expected to generate incremental revenue of over USD 6 billion and boost EBITDA from an expected USD 5 billion in the current fiscal ending March 31 to USD 6 billion in the next and up to USD 7.5 billion by FY27, they added. Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal, according to a presentation made at the investor meeting, said the company «will get to a different level in the next 25 years». His brother and vice chairman Naveen Agarwal gave details of the plans.

As Fed policymakers stuck to their path of lowering rates this year, the Bank of England also moved closer to cuts. Here are some of the charts that appeared on Bloomberg this week on the latest developments in the global economy:

coal to history, the dirtiest fossil fuel is having a moment. Thanks to a combination of China’s energy insecurity — pushing Beijing back to trusted power sources — plus rising Indian demand, the continued fallout from the war in Ukraine and faltering international programs to wean developing economies off fossil fuels, coal is proving remarkably resilient. Output hit a record last year, and producers are preparing for a future where they will be required for decades yet to balance renewable energy. Even prices are holding up. While thermal coal is trading at just a fraction of the lofty levels reached in 2022, after Russia’s invasion of its neighbor, prices are still well above historic norms. Benchmark Newcastle coal futures are changing hands just under $130 a ton, roughly a quarter of the peak but higher than any level between 2011 and 2020.

global warming and other human threats like underwater noise, pollution and disrupted food sources, according to a new stocktake of their population. Researchers found the greatest genetic differences among the blue whale populations in the eastern Pacific, Antarctic subspecies and the pygmy subspecies of the eastern Indian and western Pacific. Blue whales average about 27 metres in length. Natural selection could be one of the reasons behind these differences, they said. «Each of these groups need to be conserved to maintain biodiversity in the species, and there are indications that natural selection in different environments contributed to driving genetic differences between the high-level groups,» said Catherine Attard, College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Australia. He is the first author of the study published in the journal Animal Conservation.

SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korean and Chinese officials have met in Beijing and committed to further develop bilateral ties, North Korean media said on Sunday, as Pyongyang seeks to expand its diplomatic engagement after COVID-19 lockdowns.

Dividend Stocks: Shares of some companies such as SBI Cards and Payment Services, CRISIL Ltd, REC, among others will trade ex-dividend in the coming week, starting from Tuesday, March 26. Along with these, some other firms will also trade ex-split, ex-rights, and ex-bonus, according to data on the BSE. The ex-dividend date is the day on which the equity share price adjusts to reflect the next dividend payout.

United Nations Security Council for a two-year term from 2025 to 2026, a media report said on Saturday with a promise to «contribute meaningfully» to the council's mandate for international peace and security. Pakistan's Permanent Representative to UN Ambassador Munir Akram formally announced the cash-strapped country's candidacy at a reception organised in connection with Pakistan Day celebrations at the UN on Thursday, The Express Tribune newspaper reported. Seeking support from the international community for Pakistan's UNSC bid, Ambassador Akram expressed confidence in Pakistan's ability to «contribute meaningfully to the UNSC's mandate for international peace and security».

GTA 6's development is facing challenges, sparking concerns among senior Rockstar executives regarding potential delays in hitting the scheduled release. Bloomberg's February report indicates a supposed directive for employees to resume office work by April 2024, suggesting Rockstar's concern over finalizing development stages remotely and averting a possible release delay until 2026. Despite concerted efforts to maintain progress, uncertainties persist about the game's release timeline.

KKR vs SRH IPL 2024: India's young batter Shreyas Iyer is all set to lead Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) against World Cup-winning captain Pat Cummins, who is heading the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in IPL 2024. The match is scheduled at the historic Eden Gardens International Cricket Stadium in Kolkata and is ready to witness the high-voltage clash in the evening.