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Strong sales of its COVID-19 vaccine and other medicines helped Pfizer nearly double its second-quarter revenue and boost its profit an impressive 59%, beating Wall Street expectations and leading the drug giant to sharply hike its 2021 sales and profit forecasts. Amid the surging coronavirus pandemic, the COVID-19 vaccine became Pfizer's top seller, bringing in nearly half its revenue — $7.84 billion from direct sales and revenue split with its partner, Germany's BioNTech. Pfizer now anticipates revenue from the two-dose vaccine this year to reach $33.5 billion for the 2.1 billion doses it's contracted to provide by year end. That doesn't include a contract struck last week to provide an additional 200 million doses to the U.S. The New York company on July 29 disclosed that ongoing testing of a booster shot, given six months after the second vaccine dose, showed it raised antibody levels against the more-transmissible Delta variant to 11 times higher in older people and five …

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Screening and vaccination of healthcare workers against hepatitis B at government and private hospitals marked World Hepatitis Day on Wednesday. “Hepatitis Can’t Wait” is the theme this year. With healthcare workers at high risk of contracting the infection, two government hospitals — Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) and Government Medical College Hospital, Omandurar Estate — kick-started an initiative to screen and vaccinate them. Ninety-two staff nurses, hospital workers and technicians were screened for hepatitis B at RGGGH. “Staff nurses handle intravenous lines while hospital workers handle biomedical waste. There are chances of transmission of infection. So, it is important for healthcare workers to be careful and get screened. All of them tested negative and we are planning to vaccinate them against hepatitis B,” E. Theranirajan, Dean of RGGGH, said. At the Government Medical College and Hospital, Omandurar, more than 50 healthcare workers were …

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The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that the US economy is strengthening and making progress on the Fed’s employment and inflation goals, a small step toward dialing back its ultra-low-interest rate policies. The statement the Fed issued after its latest policy meeting said that ongoing vaccinations were helping the economy. But it dropped a sentence it had included after its previous meeting that said those vaccinations have reduced the spread of COVID-19. That was the only reference to the delta variant that has caused a spike in COVID cases in several hotspots in the United States and many other countries. The central bank said it’s keeping its benchmark short-term rate pegged at nearly zero, where it has remained since the pandemic tore through the economy in March 2020. The Fed is also buying $120 billion in Treasury and mortgage bonds each month — purchases that are intended to lower rates on longer-term consumer and business loans to spur more borrowing and spending. The …

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James Madison, who created the basic framework for the U.S. Constitution, once said, “The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite.” But Indian federalism is very different. The British lawyer and academic, Sir Ivor Jennings, was of the view that India has a federation with a strong centralising policy. Nonetheless, India maintained its limited federal characteristics for a fairly long time. Those characteristics are now disappearing in the Modi era. Disregarding an obligation At the time of introducing the new indirect tax regime, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) law assured States a 14% increase in their annual revenue for five years (up to July 1, 2020). But the Union government has deviated from the statutory promise and has been insisting that States avail themselves of loans. Kerala is entitled to a GST compensation of ₹4,041 crore for the …

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The Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday conducted searches on the premises of some Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL) officials in connection with the illegal coal mining and theft allegedly by Anup Majhi and others in West Bengal. “The searches were carried out at 15 locations in West Bengal, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh. The premises of a former and a serving general manager, a manager (security), an inspector (security) and a colliery agent were searched,” said a CBI official. The agency found about ₹20 lakh in cash, jewellery and property documents from the premises of the incumbent general manager. Property papers, locker key and incriminating documents were recovered from another accused. The agency had registered the case on November 27 last year on the allegations of illegal mining and theft of coal in the leasehold areas of ECL in Asansol and its adjoining private land. It conducted searches at more than 100 places in various States. A person was later arrested by the …

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The Maharashtra Cabinet on Wednesday cleared the decision to reduce fees of private schools in the State by 15%. Officials from the Education Department said the guidelines for it would be issued in the next two-three days. “The issue was discussed in the previous Cabinet meeting in which details were sought about it. Today, while finalising the minutes of the last meeting, the issue was discussed again and the Cabinet extended its approval for it,” said an official from the Education Department. Various MLAs from both the ruling and Opposition sides, as well as parents’ organisations, have been demanding a reduction in school fees in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and consequent damage to the economy and the earnings of families. The official said that the decision would be applicable to all schools running with permission from the State government. “Irrespective of Board, be it State Board, CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education), IB (International Baccalaureate), ICSE …

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More than £860 million is to be invested in flood prevention schemes across the UK over the next year, the government has announced. The plan, which will benefit over 1,000 local schemes and help protect homes and businesses, is part of the coastal erosion investment plan, published on Thursday. It comes as heavy downpours battered the country, causing disruption from Scotland to London with the Met Office putting both yellow and amber weather warnings in place. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said the “record investment” would better protect 336,000 properties and reduce the national flood risk by up to 11 per cent by 2027. It added the plan could help avoid up to £3.2 billion in economic damages. Recommended UK weather: Heavy rain, lightning and hail bring disruption — with further storms to come Climate crisis: Britain is hotter and 6% wetter than in late 20th century, Met Office says Why …

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Britain’s last 30 years have been 6 per cent wetter and almost 1C hotter than the preceding three decades, the Met Office says. Its annual climate update also says that the country’s 10 hottest years have all occurred since 2002, with last year being the third warmest on record after 2014 and 2006. As well as being among the hottest, 2020 was also the fifth wettest and eight sunniest on record, the report says. It was the first year that annual values for rainfall, temperature and sunshine were all in the top 10 at the same time. Sea level rise has accelerated in recent years, the report adds. The rate of sea level rise was 1.5mm a year from the start of the 20th century. However, over the period 1993-2019, it increased to over 3mm a year. Dr Mike Kendon, lead author of the research and Met Office senior climate scientist, said the findings reinforced that the UK is already reeling from the impacts of the climate crisis. “Our climate is changing now and that’s …

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The institution of a judicial probe by the West Bengal government into allegations of surveillance using advanced spyware on potential Indian targets marks a significant political and legal pushback against the Union government’s attempts to deny the global media revelations and diminish the potent threat such practices pose to democracy. Given Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s penchant for the dramatic and her endless run-ins with the Centre, it may be easy to dismiss the act of a State government ordering an inquiry into what could be a large-scale intelligence-gathering programme of a state actor as mere political chutzpah. However, in the context of the Centre and the ruling BJP’s aggressive refusal to cede any ground on the growing demand for a credible probe into the use and misuse of Pegasus spyware, the West Bengal inquiry acquires both legal and political salience. The Union government claims that illegal surveillance is not possible in India and has not specifically …

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As north Karnataka rejoices over the elevation of a man from the region to the Chief Minister’s post, there are expectations galore from people who often say they receive “stepmotherly treatment” from those in power. Basavaraj Bommai, who took oath as the 30th Chief Minister of Karnataka on Wednesday, is the eighth leader from the region to occupy the post. And he is the second leader from north Karnataka after Jagadish Shettar to hold the Chief Minister’s post within the last decade. But unlike Mr. Shettar and his father late S.R. Bommai (1988-89) who got just over nine months at the helm of affairs, Mr. Bommai is likely to have a longer tenure of 22 months. The fact that Mr. Bommai knows the problems of the region right from his father’s days as Chief Minister and that he himself was part of various movements that highlighted the regional imbalance have only increased his responsibilities. From a Youth Janata Dal leader to an MLC of the Janata Parivar and then switchover to …

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