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Health officials reviewing Gilead Science Inc’s remdesivir against COVID-19 should consider all evidence, including a trial in which the medicine failed, before giving it the green light, the top WHO scientist said on Friday. US regulators appeared not to have done so when approving the drug this week, Soumya Swaminathan told a news conference. The US Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved Gilead’s antiviral drug for treating patients hospitalized with COVID-19, making it the first and only drug approved for the disease in the United States. The FDA decision came a week after the release of the results of the World Health Organization’s Solidarity trial, which concluded remdesivir has little or no impact on a patient’s chances of surviving COVID-19. The FDA said its approval was based on three trials, including a 1,062-patient study by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, which found that remdesivir reduced hospital stays to 10 days from 15 days, and hel

Neha Kakkar and Rohanpreet Singh are married now. Pictures and videos from the couple’s wedding are thrilling the Internet. The couple got married in a gurudwara in Delhi on Saturday in the presence of family and close friends. Photos and videos from the wedding have been shared by several fan pages dedicated to Neha Kakkar on social media. In the viral pictures, the singer looks breathtaking in a peach lehenga set while Rohanpreet Singh looks charming in a pale pink sherwani . It has been reported that the newlyweds will host a grand reception in Punjab. Neha Kakkar’s brother, singer Tony Kakkar, also shared a glimpse of the wedding on Saturday.

The government has said that it will implement a loan relief scheme by November 5, aimed at helping borrowers during the coronavirus pandemic, and reimburse the interest on interest applicable to eligible loan repayments due between March and August. In guidelines on the loan relief released on Wednesday, the Department of Financial Services said the relief will be available to the borrowers regardless of whether they opted to defer their EMIs, either fully or partially. The government said lending institutions will first credit the amount – the difference between compound interest and simple interest for the six-month period – on eligible loans up to ₹ 2 crore, which will be reimbursed by the government as part of the scheme. According to operational guidelines issued by Department of Financial Services, the scheme can be availed by borrowers in specified loan accounts for a period from March 1 to August 31, 2020. The relief on compound interest will be applicable to standard accounts

The government on Saturday extended the due date for furnishing annual GST or goods and services tax returns for financial year 2018-19 by two months. The new deadline is December 31, instead of October 31. This is applicable to businesses filing annual returns as well as audit reports for the year to March 31, 2019. Earlier, the taxman had extended the due date by a month till October 31. Now, businesses can file the annual return, using Form GSTR-9, and the reconciliation statement, Form GSTR-9C, for financial year 2018-19 by December 31. The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) said the government has been receiving a number of representations on the need to extend the due date, on account of obstruction to business due to COVID-19-related restrictions. Form GSTR 9 is used by registered taxpayers to file a GST return every year. The return contains details on inward and outward supplies under different heads.

A second wave of COVID-19 remains a threat to the country’s economy and the central bank believes monetary policy needs to remain accommodative despite inflationary pressures, according to the minutes of the Monetary Policy Committee’s latest meeting, released on Friday. The Reserve Bank of India left interest rates unchanged at that meeting two weeks ago, as expected. Almost all members of the MPC said they see room for further easing, but a recent rise in price pressures would need to abate for them to use that space. “This space needs to be used judiciously to support recovery in growth,” Governor Shaktikanta Das wrote in his minutes. Structural reforms to unlock growth are needed but may lack support with growth and employment depressed, Deputy Governor Michael Patra said. “In the absence of intrinsic drivers, the recovery may last only until pent-up demand has been satiated and replenishment of inventories has been completed,” Mr Patra said. “Empirical evidence suggests that consu

Flipkart Big Diwali Sale is starting from October 29 and will last till November 4. The ecommerce platform recently ended its Big Billion Days sale that lasted from October 17 to October 21. And, the Flipkart Dussehra Specials sale is currently underway, will October 28. Now, the e-commerce platform is gearing up for another “Bada Dhamaka” (big explosion). Just like the Big Billion Days sale, the Big Diwali Sale will also start early for Flipkart Plus members. It brings several bank offers, no-cost EMI options, and discounts on a wide variety of products. Flipkart Big Diwali Sale The Flipkart Big Diwali Sale will start from October 29 midnight for Flipkart Plus members, and presumably later the same day for regular customers. We’ve reached out to the company for clarity. It will last for seven days and end on November 4, during which customers can avail 10 percent instant discount on Axis Bank credit and debit cards, and EMI transactions. Customers can also get no-cost EMIs on Bajaj Fi

India’s coronavirus count has crossed 78 lakh with a jump of 53,370 cases in the last 24 hours, government data shows. And 650 deaths in the last 24 hours have pushed the total death count to 1,17,956. Meanwhile, 70,16,046 people in the country have recovered since the beginning of the pandemic. The country has been reporting a steady decline in its daily coronavirus infections after reaching a peak of about 90,000 cases a day in September. India, which reported its first case on January 30, is the second worst-hit country in the world by the pandemic after the United States.