New Delhi: With US President Joe Biden testing positive for COVID-19 ahead of the Presidential elections, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued a reminder that the pandemic is far from over. The WHO emphasized the ongoing threat of COVID-19, which continues to claim 1,700 lives every week worldwide.

The WHO urged those planning summer holidays to take precautions, including vaccination, mask-wearing, and testing.

In a statement dated July 15, 2024, the WHO reported that from May 27 to June 23, 2024, the percentage of SARS-CoV-2 PCR tests returning positive results rose from 5.6% to 7.1% across 84 countries, with 16,888 specimens tested weekly. Variants KP.3 and LB.1, descendants of JN.1 and classified as variants under monitoring (VUMs), have been increasingly prevalent globally.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus highlighted a concerning decline in vaccination rates among health professionals and those over 60—groups most at risk from COVID-19. “WHO recommends that people in the highest-risk groups receive a COVID-19 vaccine within 12 months of their last dose,” Tedros stated.

In the UK, some hospitals have reinstated mask requirements and advised individuals with COVID-19 symptoms to avoid medical facilities unless necessary. The Tour de France has mandated mask-wearing for participants when interacting with teams or competitors due to a surge in cases.

The WHO has recorded approximately seven million COVID-19 deaths, though the actual number is believed to be higher. The pandemic has significantly impacted health systems and economies. In May 2023, Tedros declared the end of the COVID-19 international public health emergency. The virus was first identified in Wuhan, China, in late 2019.

The latest WHO COVID-19 Vaccination Insights Report for the first quarter of 2024 (January-March) revealed that 9.8 million people received a vaccine dose across 73 reporting Member States, representing 22% of the global population. Among older adults, 4.9 million received a dose in 60 reporting Member States, corresponding to an uptake rate of 0.42% this year.

While in isolation, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre assured the public that Biden, who has received booster shots, continues to perform his presidential duties. Biden’s physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, confirmed that the President’s symptoms remain moderate.

WazirX reported a significant security breach, causing the crypto exchange to temporarily halt INR and crypto withdrawals. This decision followed the suspicious transfer of $230 million worth of assets from one of its multisig wallets, which require two or more private keys to access.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), WazirX stated, “We’re aware that one of our multisig wallets has experienced a security breach. Our team is actively investigating the incident. To ensure the safety of your assets, INR and crypto withdrawals will be temporarily paused. Thank you for your patience and understanding. We’ll keep you posted with further updates.”

Third-party blockchain analytics tool Lookonchain reported that the stolen assets included $102 million in Shiba Inu, $52.5 million in Ethereum, $11.24 million in Matic, $7.6 million in Pepe coin, $135 million in Tether, and $3.5 million in Gala.

Responding to the incident, Ashish Singhal, co-founder of CoinSwitch, said, “We are aware of the recent security breach on the WazirX platform. We want to assure our users that their funds on CoinSwitch are secure and unaffected by this incident. We advise all our crypto investors to be mindful of potential market volatility during this time and exercise caution in their trading and investment activities.”

Sumit Gupta, co-founder of CoinDCX, added, “In light of the recent #WazirX breach, we want to reassure all CoinDCX users that your assets are safe and not impacted in any manner. Our wallet security remains robust.”

Edul Patel, CEO of Mudrex, commented, “We conduct regular audits to ensure a 1:1 ratio of funds. Additionally, our codebase goes through extensive scrutiny and review at many layers to ensure our tech infrastructure is immune to such exploits.”

Elon Musk announced that the headquarters for both X and SpaceX will relocate to Texas, citing frustration over California’s laws, where the companies are currently based.

Musk made the announcement on his X social media site on Tuesday. He pointed to a new law in California, which became the first US state to ban school districts from requiring teachers to notify parents about changes to a student’s sexual orientation and gender identity.

SpaceX’s headquarters are currently in Hawthorne, California, but the company has been expanding a large facility in South Texas, known as Starbase, over the past few years. The Boca Chica site is the primary location for building and launching SpaceX’s massive Starship rocket system.

Recently, SpaceX added a massive warehouse factory at Starbase called the Starfactory, which has replaced many of the site’s production tents.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott stated in an X post that the move “cements Texas as the leader in space exploration.”

Musk’s announcement follows the company’s earlier decision this year to move its business incorporation to Texas from Delaware. Musk also shifted the incorporation of many of his companies out of frustration with a judge’s decision to void his pay package as CEO of Tesla Inc.

Musk also announced on Tuesday that X’s headquarters will move to Austin.

In December 2021, Musk moved Tesla’s headquarters from California to Austin due to frustration with pandemic lockdowns. However, Tesla still maintains a significant presence in California, with an engineering headquarters in Palo Alto.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal discussed deeper economic ties and free trade agreements (FTA) with his counterparts from the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (UK) during the G7 Trade Ministers meeting in Italy on Wednesday, the commerce ministry said in a statement.

“The meeting served as a pivotal platform for discussions on enhancing global trade relations and economic cooperation,” the ministry stated. “Goyal engaged in several high-level bilateral meetings with international counterparts, reflecting India’s commitment to fostering stronger economic partnerships globally.”

During the two-day event in Reggio Calabria, Italy, Goyal met with Antonio Tajani, Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister; Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission; Todd McClay, New Zealand’s Trade Minister; Jonathan Reynolds, the UK’s Secretary of State for Business and Trade; and Robert Habeck, Germany’s Federal Minister for Economic Affairs & Climate Action. According to the commerce ministry, these meetings highlighted India’s proactive approach to engaging with global economies to foster trade and economic cooperation.

Other initiatives discussed included the G20 Generic Framework for Mapping GVCs, the IPEF association, the trilateral Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI), and the India-European Union Trade and Technology Council (TTC).

India’s efforts with strategic partners such as the US, GCC countries, and the EU, including the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) to strengthen supply chains, and domestic measures to enhance multimodal connectivity were also addressed, the ministry added.

As it stands, India and the 27-nation EU have concluded eight rounds of talks on a proposed free trade agreement and are likely to meet for further discussions in September. India has previously raised concerns about issues such as the EU’s ‘carbon tax’ and the relaxation of the EU’s rules on the maximum pesticide residue allowed in agricultural goods. Meanwhile, the proposed India-UK free-trade agreement is nearly ready and could be signed as early as October.

“The minister proposed collaboration among trusted partners to reinforce global supply chains in critical areas such as minerals, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, and green energy. He advocated public-private partnerships, investments in critical infrastructure, innovation, and consistent regulatory frameworks across G7 countries and partner nations,” the commerce ministry said. “He emphasised the need for resilient supply chains that endure beyond the current generation.”

The Supreme Court has dismissed a petition seeking a review of its January 3 verdict, which refused to order a separate investigation into allegations of accounting fraud and stock manipulation against Adani Group companies. These allegations were initially raised in a report by US short-seller Hindenburg Research in January 2023.

A three-judge bench, led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, found no merit in the plea moved by Anamika Jaiswal, one of the original writ petitioners in the case.

“Having perused the review petition, there is no error apparent on the face of the record. No case for review under Order XLVII Rule 1 of the Supreme Court Rules 2013. The review petition is, therefore, dismissed,” stated the bench, which also included Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. The review petition was dismissed on May 8, but the order was made public on Monday. Judges consider review petitions in their chambers without holding oral hearings.

Jaiswal’s petition, filed in February, claimed that the court’s judgment contained errors apparent on the face of the record and overlooked the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (SEBI) regulatory failures, which contributed to alleged regulatory contraventions and statutory violations.

Arguing that the court should not have endorsed SEBI’s investigation without acknowledging the outcomes of the probe, Jaiswal pointed out that SEBI’s status report merely indicated the completion status of the 24 investigations without disclosing any findings or details on actions taken. She asserted that unless SEBI’s investigation findings are publicly reported, it cannot be concluded that there was no regulatory failure.

The review plea further argued that legislative amendments made by SEBI in 2018 and 2019, which modified the Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPI) regulations, diluted the requirements for disclosing beneficial owners (BOs) and listing disclosures by removing the prohibition against an FPI having an “opaque structure.” The petition contended that the apex court failed to notice the impact of these amendments.

In its January verdict, the top court concluded that there was no material to show “glaring, willful, or deliberate inaction” by SEBI in its investigation or any suggestion of regulatory failure by the market regulator. The court dismissed the reliance on the Hindenburg report or other unsubstantiated news reports as the basis for questioning SEBI’s comprehensive investigation. It rejected pleas, including one filed by Jaiswal, for the creation of a special investigation team (SIT) to investigate Hindenburg’s allegations, noting that newspaper articles or reports by third-party organizations cannot be treated as conclusive proof of SEBI’s probe inadequacy.

The judgment recorded that SEBI had completed investigations into 22 out of 24 allegations against the Adani group, giving the regulator three months to conclude the two pending investigations. It also directed investigative agencies of the Union government to probe whether the loss suffered by Indian investors due to the conduct of Hindenburg Research and other entities involved any infraction of law and to take suitable action if so.

Hindenburg’s report, published in January 2023, claimed “brazen accounting fraud” and “stock manipulation” by the Gautam Adani-led group. Though the conglomerate rejected the report as “unresearched” and “maliciously mischievous,” it triggered a massive rout of Adani group stocks, which lost over $140 billion in days and forced the cancellation of a planned ₹20,000 crore share sale.

A set of petitions filed separately by lawyers and activists demanded a court-monitored probe into the matter by setting up an SIT under the supervision of a retired judge. Some petitioners also questioned the validity of the 2018 and 2019 amendments in the FPI regulations. However, the court judgment rejected the petitioners’ contentions, ruling that the impugned amendments had tightened the norms on disclosure of BOs under the FPI and LODR (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements).