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Following are the top stories: NATION DEL68 BIZ-2ND LD SERUM-VACCINE-PRICE Serum Institute prices Covishield at Rs 400/dose for govts; Rs 600/dose for pvt hospitals New Delhi: Serum Institute of India's Covishield vaccine will cost private hospitals Rs 600 per dose and state governments Rs 400, a rate which will also apply to central government procurement once the existing contract for Rs 150 a dose ends, its chief executive said on Wednesday.

BOM29 MH-OXYGEN HOSPITAL-TOLL Nashik hospital tragedy: Death toll rises to 24 as 2 more die Mumbai: The death toll in the Nashik hospital oxygen leakage incident on Wednesday rose to 24 after two more COVID-19 patients died in the evening, a top district official said.

DEL79 VIRUS-LD HEALTH MINISTRY Govt releases COVID data showing severity, demography of victims in second wave same as first New Delhi: The health ministry on Wednesday released a slew of comparative data, showing that the severity, virulence and demography of the victims in the ongoing second wave of COVID-19 are about the same as the first wave.

DEL88 VIRUS-OXYGEN-SUPPLY 7500 MT oxygen being produced in India daily, 6,600 MT allocated to states for medical use: Govt New Delhi: Amid reports of oxygen shortage in the country, the Centre on Wednesday said of the total 7,500 metric tonnes of oxygen being produced in India per day, 6,600 metric tonnes, as on date, is being allocated to states for medical use and assured that efforts are being made to increase its supplies in the coming days.

DEL89 CONG-GOVT-LD VIRUS Govt's failures have turned India from being vaccine leader to vaccine beggar, alleges Cong New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday alleged that India has been reduced from being a leader in vaccine production in the world to a ''vaccine beggar'' due to the failures of the government.

DEL60 CONG-LD VACCINE Congress demands one nation, one price for COVID vaccines New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday slammed the Centre over the differential pricing for COVID vaccines, saying it was discriminatory and will benefit only a ''few big industrialists'' while common people will suffer.

DEL82 VIRUS-BJP Nation seeing Gandhis' shameful arrogance when everyone needs to come together: BJP New Delhi: The BJP lashed out at the Congress on Wednesday over its criticism of the Centre's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, saying the country was seeing the Gandhi family's ''shameful arrogance'' at a time when everyone needed to come together to fight the virus.

DEL47 BIZ-LD BHARAT BIOTECH-COVAXIN Bharat Biotech says Covaxin has shown 78 pc efficacy against mild to severe COVID-19 New Delhi: Bharat Biotech on Wednesday said its coronavirus vaccine Covaxin has shown efficacy of 78 per cent against mild, moderate and severe cases of COVID-19, as per Phase III interim analysis results.

CAL17 LDALL-MAMATA-COVID-PM 2nd COVID wave Modi-made disaster, says Mamata, rules out lockdown Chanchal/Harirampur/Balurghat (WB): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday sharpened her attack on the prime minister over the resurgence of Covid-19, terming it a ''Modi-made disaster'' and demanded that he quit if unable to provide adequate medical supplies to combat the disease.

DEL93 EC-WB-LD POLLS EC rules out change in Bengal poll schedule; tells TMC not feasible to club remaining phases New Delhi: The Election Commission on Wednesday ruled out any change in the schedule of the West Bengal assembly polls and told the Trinamool Congress that its suggestion to club the last three of the eight phases is ''not feasible''.

MDS7 AP-TIRUMALA-HANUMAN TTD declares 'Anjanadri' in Tirumala is Hanuman's birthplace Tirupati: The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, which governs the ancient shrine of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala here, on Wednesday announced that Lord Hanuman's birthplace was Anjanadri, a hillock at Japali Theertham located about 5 km from north of the hill temple.

DEL78 BIZ-LDALL ONGC-KIDNAP Armed militants abduct 3 ONGC employees from rig site in Assam Guwahati/New Delhi: Five armed militants early on Wednesday abducted three employees of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) from a rig site in Assam using a company vehicle driven by a driver employed by the firm.

LEGAL LGD15 DL-HC-LD VIRUS-OXYGEN Provide oxygen forthwith to hospitals by whatever means: HC to Centre New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the Centre to ''forthwith'' provide oxygen by whatever means to the hospitals in the national capital which are treating serious COVID-19 patients and are facing scarcity of oxygen.

SPORTS SPF19 SPO-FOOT-SUPERLEAGUE-MADRID-LD MILAN Atlético, Inter, AC Milan, Juventus drop out of Super League Madrid: Atlético Madrid, Inter Milan, AC Milan and Juventus all dropped out of the Super League on Wednesday, leaving the new competition essentially extinct before it even started.