Odisha attracted new investments of over Rs 1 lakh crore across multiple sectors even during the COVID-19 pandemic, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said on December 12. Addressing FICCI's Annual Convention, Patnaik said his state is fast emerging as a manufacturing hub of eastern India and listed a series of measures taken to accelerate industries and investments across multiple domains.

Indian government is preparing to administer 30 crore people in the first phase of COVID-19 vaccines. Out of this 30 crore, Vinod Paul, Member, Niti Aayog said about 26 crore people who are above the age of 50 will get the vaccine. “As per the mortality data, of all the deaths that took place 80 percent are people who are above 50 years,” Paul said.

AstraZeneca announced buying US drugmaker Alexion Pharmaceuticals for $39 billion in cash and shares to strengthen its positions in immunology and rare diseases. AstraZeneca, one of the frontrunners in the drugs industry's search for a COVID-19 vaccine, opined that Alexion shareholders would receive $60 in cash and 2.1243 AstraZeneca American Depositary Shares (ADSs) for each Alexion share.

There is a need for a development finance institution (DFI) for funding long-term needs of the infrastructure sector, SBI managing director Ashwani Bhatia said on December 12. The government is actively considering developing a DFI to meet the financing demands of the infrastructure sector. However, it requires massive funding of Rs 111 lakh crore over the next five-year period ending in 2024-25.

Bharat Biotech announced on Saturday said it has so far recruited 8000 candidates out of the proposed 22000 participants in the phase-3 efficacy trial. The pharma giant initiated phase-3 trials on November 17. “This is the first efficacy trial in developing world, India has not done an efficacy trial,” said Krishna Ella, Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Biotech, speaking at a FICCI event.

The Finance Ministry on Saturday said it has approved Rs 9,879.61 crore worth capital expenditure proposals of 27 states. Of this, Rs 4,939.81 crore has been released as the first instalment. In a statement, the ministry said all states, except Tamil Nadu, have availed benefits of the newly announced scheme for 'Special Assistance to States for Capital Expenditure'.

Google’s new Search option will enable viewers to find details about COVID-19 vaccine information effortlessly. The new feature will show a list of all the regulatory board authorized vaccines in their location as well as information about each vaccine. With the European Union giving nod to Pfizer and BioNTech for emergency use, the feature will be first launched in the UK.

SBI will prefer the co-origination model to cater to the financing needs of MSMEs and collaboration with fintechs is a good idea as it helps in assessing the risk profile of the borrower in a better manner, its chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara said on Saturday. He also pointed out that the MSMEs are constrained today in terms of cash flows, time gap in realising receivables, among others.

The RBI promoted three Chief General Managers (CGMs) as Executive Directors. The new Executive Directors (ED) are R Subramanian, Rohit Jain, and RS Ratho. Subramanian will look after Foreign Exchange Department and Financial Markets Regulation Department among others, Jain will look after the Department of Supervision, and Ratho will look after the Financial Markets Operations Department.

Quick restaurant chain Burger King is expected to witness a strong debut on December 14 as shares traded at a 75 percent premium in the grey market on December 11. It was available at a premium of Rs 20-25 per share before the IPO opening and at Rs 30-35 per share after the closing of IPO. The Rs 810-crore public offer was subscribed 156.65 times.

Unrest broke out at the Wistron Corp production facility near Bengaluru that makes iPhones in India, after workers allegedly damaged property demanding unpaid salaries from the company. Wistron has a manufacturing plant at Narasapura in Kolar district, about 52km from Bengaluru, in Karnataka. The unrest was over salary payments and workers have resorted to stone-pelting.

Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) on Saturday said it has extended a $448-million line of credit (LOC) for various infrastructure projects in Uzbekistan. The LOC has been extended on behalf of the Indian government, Exim Bank said in a statement. With the signing of this LOC Agreement, Exim Bank has now in place 266 LOCs, covering 62 countries.

Oracle Corp announced on Friday it will move its headquarters from Silicon Valley to Austin, Texas, and let many employees choose their office locations and decide whether to work from home. The business software maker said it will keep major hubs at its current home in Redwood City, California, and other locations. The company believes the move will ensure growth and flexibility of staff.

Air India received some reprieve from a UK court after being allowed time until 11th January to make payments of unpaid dues of over USD 17.6 million. The judge accepted the “broad thrust" of the airline’s financial difficulties, due to the grounding of flights during the lockdown. However, the judge rebuked the carrier for its “unsatisfactory and discourteous" conduct in relation to the case.

Tata Motors on December 11 floated a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) for third time in four years, in an effort to control costs. The VRS scheme is applicable to all permanent employees of the automaker and staff working at the plants, Business Standard reported citing a communiqué. The VRS scheme is open till January 9, 2021, and will cover nearly half of Tata Motors' 42,957 employees.