Bharat Biotech International Ltd on Tuesday announced the launch of Hillchol, a novel single-strain oral cholera vaccine.

A press release from the vaccine maker said Hillchol (BBV131) was developed by Bharat Biotech under licence from Hilleman Laboratories (funded by Merck USA and Wellcome Trust) to combat Cholera.

Global demand for Oral Cholera Vaccines (OCVs) exceeds 100 million doses annually, making them crucial for cholera control. Globally, there is a shortage of OCVs as there is only one manufacturer.

BBIL has established large-scale manufacturing facilities in Hyderabad and Bhubaneswar with a capacity to produce up to 200 million doses of Hillchol, it further said.

Australia will put a limit on the number of international student enrolments to 270,000 in the year 2025 to make the system “fairer”, country’s Education Minister Jason Clare said on Tuesday.

In an official press release, the education minister said that the move would ensure that the sector is on a ‘more sustainable footing going forward’.

“There’s about 10 per cent more international students in our universities today than before the pandemic, and about 50 per cent more in our private vocational and training providers,” Clare said during a press conference.

Cupertino tech major Apple has announced the appointment of Indian-origin executive Kevan Parekh as its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO), effective January 1, 2025. Parekh, who has been with Apple for over a decade, will succeed Luca Maestri, a company veteran who has served as CFO since 2014. Maestri will transition from his role at the end of this year but will continue to lead Apple’s corporate services teams, reporting directly to CEO Tim Cook.

Parekh’s appointment comes at a critical time for Apple, as the company prepares for the launch of its iPhone 16 series. The upcoming product launch is expected to include significant software upgrades, including new artificial intelligence (AI) features. These enhancements are seen as crucial for Apple as it seeks to counter a global sales slowdown, particularly in key markets like China, and to stay competitive against rivals who have already integrated AI into their offerings.

Mohanlal has resigned as the president of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists. The actor announced his decision on Tuesday afternoon and left everyone shocked. He was the president of the association and had a 17-member executive committee. However, all the members of the executive committee submitted their joint resignation.

“AMMA has decided to disperse the executive committee on moral grounds in the light of allegations made by some actors against some of the committee members. A new committee will be formed after an election within two months,” the statement read.

The association informed that within two months the general body meeting of the association will be called to select the new governing body. “We hope that a leadership that is capable of revamping and strengthening the association will take over soon. Thankful to everyone for pointing out our errors,” it added.

Professor U Dinesh Kumar, Dean of Faculty at IIM Bangalore, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Mr Mathew Cyriac, Executive Chairman of Florintree Advisors Pvt Ltd and an alumnus of the PGP Class of 1994. The agreement aims to establish the Tony James Centre for Private Equity and Venture Capital, a global Centre of Excellence at IIM Bangalore.

Mr Tony James, former President, Chief Operating Officer, and Executive Vice Chairman of the New York-based global asset management firm Blackstone, is widely recognized as a prominent investment banker on Wall Street.

“This is the single largest ever contribution from an alumnus and we are grateful to Mathew not just for his generous support but for his extreme thoughtfulness in contributing to the naming of four classrooms on campus after faculty who taught his batch, and for his clarity in setting up scholarships for PGP and PhD students to continue excellent work in the area of finance,” said Professor Rishikesha T Krishnan, Director, IIM Bangalore, at the MoU exchange, adding that he hoped the Tony James Centre would make great impact, nationally and globally.

Former Swedish tennis player Peter Lundgren, who also coached Roger Federer early in the Swiss player's career, has passed away at the age of 59, his family said Friday.

"One of the best has unfortunately left us far too soon," his son Lukas Lundgren wrote on Facebook.

Lundgren was part of the wave of Swedish tennis players in the 1980s that followed in the wake of icon Bjorn Borg, playing alongside the likes of Mats Wilander and Stefan Edberg.

"Peter Lundgren was a wonderful person with a big heart and a lot of humour," Borg told Swedish daily Aftonbladet.

"He was loved by all. He'll be missed in the tennis world."

Tata Power Renewable Energy Ltd (TPREL) on Friday (August 23) said its wholly-owned subsidiary Tata Power Solar Systems Ltd (TPSSL) has announced a collaboration with ICICI Bank to provide financing solutions for residential and corporate customers interested in adopting solar energy.

ICICI Bank will provide loans of up to ₹90 lakh, with collateral-free options and a repayment tenure of up to 5 years. Customers seeking higher loan amounts can opt for collateral-backed loans with tenures extending up to 20 years.

"Under this collaboration, ICICI Bank will offer tailored financial solutions* with attractive interest rates, for the purchase of solar panels from TPSSL. Customers can avail of loans up to ₹90 lakh with collateral-free options and tenure extending up to 5 years.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has lowered India’s growth forecast by 20 basis points each for this year and the next, citing a contraction in central government expenditure.

The bank now expects the nation’s economy to expand at 6.7% in calendar 2024, and 6.4% in 2025. The current year’s downgrade factors a 35% year-on-year contraction in government expenditure during the April-June quarter that coincided with the weeks-long general election, the US bank’s economist led by Santanu Sengupta wrote in a report Friday.

India’s growth next year will be hampered by the government’s commitment in the budget to bring down the fiscal deficit to below 4.5% of gross domestic product. Expansion will also face headwinds from slower real consumption growth, driven by a slowdown in household credit due to the Reserve Bank of India’s stricter rules to control unsecured lending by banks, the economists said.

The Reserve Bank on Thursday modified its e-mandate framework and allowed auto-replenishment of FASTag and National Common Mobility Card (NCMC). The current e-mandate framework requires a pre-debit notification at least 24 hours before the actual debit from the customer’s account.

In June, the RBI announced that auto-replenishment of balances in FASTag and NCMC, which are recurring in nature but without any fixed periodicity, would be facilitated under the e-mandate framework.

"It has been decided to include auto-replenishment of FASTag and NCMC, as and when the balance falls below a threshold set by the customer, under the e-mandate framework," the RBI said in a circular.

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi announced the approval of an initiative for women's empowerment, Subhadra, in the state legislative assembly.

"I take this opportunity on this auspicious day to inform this House about the approval of a path-breaking initiative for women's empowerment, Subhadra, by the state cabinet. As decided by the state cabinet in its meeting held on August 22, 2024, at Lok Seva Bhawan, the scheme has been approved for implementation from the financial year 2024-25 to the financial year 2028-29. An outlay of Rs 55,825.00 crore has been made for this initiative," a press release from the CMO said on Friday.

According to the CMO, Subhadra will transform the lives of more than 1 crore women in the state. It will cover all eligible women aged 21 years or above and less than 60 years old.