Hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that Centre will be the single agency for all vaccine purchases, sources told News18 that the HLL Lifecare Limited, a public sector undertaking, will be procuring the vials on behalf of the government.

The company had already issued the supply order on behalf of the Union Health Ministry in the name of Prakash Kumar Singh, Additional Director, Government and Regulatory Affairs at Serum Institute of India (SII), a news agency reported.

India had recently granted emergency use authorisation to two vaccines, Oxford's Covishield being manufactured by Serum Institute in India and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin. Both vaccines, according to a statement from the Health Ministry, have established safety and immunogenicity.

Hyundai Motor and Apple Inc plan to sign a partnership deal on autonomous electric cars by March and start production as early as 2024 in the United States, local newspaper Korea IT News reported on Sunday.

The report follows a statement on Friday from Hyundai Motor that it was in early talks with Apple after another local media outlet said the companies were aiming to launch a self-driving electric car in 2027, sending Hyundai shares up nearly 20 percent.

Citing industry sources, the latest report said the pair plan to build the cars at Kia Motors' factory in Georgia, or jointly invest in a new factory in the United States, with a plan to produce 100,000 vehicles in 2024 at the proposed plant with an annual capacity of 400,000 vehicles. Kia Motors is an affiliate of Hyundai Motors.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has beaten market expectations and delivered another winning performance in the quarter ending December 2020. It reported its strongest third quarter results in nine years, thanks to COVID-induced acceleration in tech adoption.

The overall profit of the company stood at ₹8,701 crore, up by 16.4% over the second quarter.

TCS, India’s largest IT services company, reported a revenue growth of 4.7% over the previous quarter. Its consolidated revenues stood at ₹42,015 crore, growing by 5.4% when compared to the same period last year.

The government is planning to conduct the largest vaccination drive in the world in the coming days. It is contemplating providing two vaccines to every part of the country, for which the Centre will extensively use the transport aircraft fleet of the Indian Air Force. This would include the C-130J and Antonov-32 cargo planes.

Containers specially designed for transporting the COVID-19 vaccine have been prepared by the vaccine manufacturers. These would keep the vaccine at the desired temperatures during transportation to different parts of the country for a 24-hour period, top government officials stated, according to India Today.

The Indian Air Force will also use its exclusive military airfields and advanced landing grounds to transport the vaccine to the remotest parts of the country, including places like Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh, the officials added.

The Eastern India Motion Pictures Association (EIMPA) has requested the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to allow the screening of movies in multiplexes and cinema halls in the State with 100 percent occupancy.

EIMPA secretary, Ashish Banerjee said, “The Tamil Nadu government has allowed theatres to open with 100 percent capacity. Citing the example of Tamil Nadu, we have requested our Chief Minister to allow 100 percent occupancy in the theatres.”

On January 4, 2021, the Tamil Nadu government allowed theatres in the state to open with 100 percent capacity. The decision was taken after well known actors including Vijay and Silambarasan requested the Chief Minister to allow the function of cinema halls with full occupancy in their state.