The United States has entered an agreement with drugmaker Moderna Inc to acquire 100 million doses of its potential COVID-19 vaccine for around $1.5 billion, the company and White House said on Tuesday. The United States in recent weeks has made deals to acquire hundreds of millions of doses of potential COVID-19 vaccines from several companies as part of its Operation …

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Mahmood Khan on Wednesday launched anti-polio immunization campaign in the province. According to details, a polio vaccination campaign will be carried out in 21 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province. Overall 4.6 million children would be administered polio drops during the five days campaign, while 19 polio teams have been formed for the vaccination …

MOSCOW: Russia said on Wednesday the first batch of its Covid-19 vaccine would be ready for some medics within two weeks and rejected as “groundless” safety concerns aired by some experts over Moscow’s rapid approval of the drug. President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russia had become the first country to grant regulatory approval to a COVID-19 vaccine, after …

Google added an earthquake alert system in California on Tuesday, saying it is working on letting Android-powered smartphones double as tremor detectors. Android phones will receive warnings triggered by a “ShakeAlert” earthquake early-warning system implemented on the West Coast by the US Geological Survey and partners. ShakeAlert uses signals from hundreds of seismometers across the state to trigger warning messages …

South Korea has opened a high-tech new front in the battle against coronavirus, fortifying bus shelters with temperature-checking doors and ultraviolet disinfection lamps. Ten advanced facilities have been installed in a northeastern district of Seoul, offering protection from monsoon rains, summer heat, and the novel coronavirus. To enter, passengers must stand in front of an automated thermal-imaging camera, and the …

ISLAMABAD: Parlia­mentary secretary for national food security and research Ameer Sultan on Tuesday claimed that there was no fault in the fertiliser subsidy scheme, but held the Punjab government of his own Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) responsible for its failure. Mr Sultan said the Punjab government did not deposit the required amount in the bank account due to which farmers could …

p ISLAMABAD: Pakistan can increase its exports by up to $12 billion by 2024 even after taking into account disruptions due to Covid-19, according to the International Trade Centre’s latest export potential assessment for the country. More than half of the country’s exporters struggle with domestic and foreign regulatory barriers, says Invisible Barriers to Trade — Pakistan 2020: Business Perspectives. The report was …

KARACHI: After a two-day breather, bulls were back in the market. The KSE-100 index started on a firm note and continued to climb all the way to the intraday high by 791 points. It achieved sizeable gain of 644 points (1.6 per cent), roaring past the strong barrier of 40,000 level to close at 40,559. Banks, exploration and production, oil …

KARACHI: Moody’s on Tuesday changed the outlook of five Pakistani banks to stable, a press release issued by the rating agency showed. The outlook on all five Pakistani banks’ long-term local currency deposit ratings was changed to stable as a result of the change in the sovereign rating outlook to stable, said the press release. Moody’s confirmed B3 long-term local-currency …

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s fiscal deficit came in at 8.1 per cent of GDP in 2019-20, almost 1pc lower than anticipated, mainly because of under utilisation of Prime Minister’s Economic Relief and Support Package. The data released by the Ministry of Finance put the country’s total budget deficit at Rs3.376 trillion in fiscal year ending June 30, 2020 or 8.1pc of GDP. …