LIVE: Ukraine officials come under shelling attack on front

8:51 PM

Ukraine officials come under shelling attack on front

Top Ukrainian military officials came under a shelling attack during a tour of the front of the separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine.

 

The officials fled to a bomb shelter before hustling from the area. A journalist from The Associated Press was on the tour.

 

Earlier Saturday, separatist leaders in eastern Ukraine ordered a full military mobilization Saturday amid a spike of violence in the war-torn region and fears in the West that Russia might use the strife as a pretext for an invasion.

8:43 PM

Germany urges nationals to leave Ukraine

Germany's foreign ministry on Saturday told German nationals to leave Ukraine now, as tensions between Russia and Ukraine increased further.

 

"German nationals are urged to leave the country now," the ministry said in a statement. "A military confrontation is possible at any time."

 

Other countries including Britain and the United States have also asked their nationals to depart immediately.

8:35 PM

Karnataka reports 1,137 new cases

7:45 PM

55 companies of CAPF deployed in Farrukhabad ahead of third phase of polling in UP

7:25 PM

Delhi reports 635 new cases

7:08 PM

Jaishankar speaks in Munich

6:44 PM

I am confident this will be a memorable IOC session in 2023: PM Modi

6:25 PM

Kerala registers 6,757 new Covid cases

6:16 PM

Covaxin will be evaluated as a Covid vaccine candidate in US

5:56 PM

Centre gives Kumar Vishwas a Y category security with CRPF cover

5:12 PM

Russia launches hypersonic missiles as part of nuclear drills

Russia hit sea and land-based targets with ballistic and cruise missiles on Saturday as part of strategic nuclear exercises overseen by President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart, the Kremlin said.

 

The annual exercises featured launches of Kinzhal and Tsirkon hypersonic missiles and a number of other weapons, the Kremlin said in a statement.

4:55 PM

US VP Harris warns Russia of huge financial costs if it invades Ukraine

The United States, together with its allies, will impose significant and unprecedented economic costs on Russia if it further invades Ukraine, Vice President Kamala Harris said on Saturday.

 

National borders should not be changed by force, she said.

 

"We have prepared economic measures that will be swift, severe, and united," Harris said. "We will target Russia's financial institutions and key industries." The United States will not stop with economic measures, but will further reinforce the eastern flank of NATO, Harris said at the Munich Security Conference, which she attended in person.

4:15 PM

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3:50 PM

Scholz says Russian attack on Ukraine would be 'serious mistake'

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Saturday that a Russian attack on Ukraine would be a "serious mistake" with high "political, economic and geostrategic costs".

 

There was no justification for some 100,000 soldiers massing on Ukraine's borders, he told the Munich Security Conference in a livestreamed speech.

 

"Russia has made the issue of Ukraine's possible NATO membership a casus belli, which is a paradox because here is no decision on this on the agenda," he said.

 

The West was nonetheless ready to negotiate over Russia's security demands "without being naive". "We will differentiate clearly between untenable demands and legitimate security interests," he added.

3:46 PM

PM Modi meets members of the Sikh-Hindu Delegation from Afghanistan

3:12 PM

Russia's thinking 'may cost it a prosperous future': EU's von der Leyen

Moscow's threats towards Ukraine could reshape the entire international system, the chief of the European Union's executive said on Saturday, warning Moscow that its thinking from "a dark past" could cost Russia a prosperous future.

 

"The world has been watching in disbelief as we face the largest build-up of troops on European soil since the darkest days of the Cold War, because the events of these days could reshape the entire international order," Ursula von der Leyen told the Munich Security Conference.

3:12 PM

NATO chief invites Russia's Lavrov to engage in dialogue

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Saturday that he had sent a letter to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to engage in dialogue within the NATO-Russia Council to avert a conflict in Ukraine.

 

Stoltenberg told the Munich Security Conference that there were no signs of a Russian withdrawal from the borders of Ukraine and that the risk of a conflict was real.

3:11 PM

We are your 'baap': Raut to Rane

2:36 PM

Multiple explosions heard in north of rebel-held city in eastern Ukraine

Multiple explosions could be heard on Saturday morning in the north of the separatist-controlled city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, a Reuters witness said.

 

The origin of the explosions was not clear. There was no immediate comment from separatist authorities or from Kyiv.

2:17 PM

UP govt to end night curfew from tonight as Covid cases fall

1:41 PM

Reports of massive Covid fatalities in 2021 are speculative, says govt

1:32 PM

Will give befitting reply to corrupt people targeting AAP, says Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said that he will give a befitting reply to the "corrupt people targeting AAP" by inaugurating 12,430 modern classrooms in Delhi schools today.

 

"All the corrupt people of the country have gathered against us. Today, by inaugurating 12,430 modern classrooms in the Delhi schools, we will give them a befitting reply," read Kejriwal's tweet roughly translated from Hindi.

 

The Delhi CM said that the country has decided to move forward and not bow down to the "corrupt people".

 

1:28 PM

Seeking votes for work done by Modi-Yogi govts, says UP BJP chief

A day before the third phase of voting in the ongoing Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state unit chief Swatantra Dev Singh on Saturday said that the party is seeking votes on the basis of the work done by the Narendra Modi government at the Centre and the Yogi Adityanath headed state administration.

 

Singh said that the BJP led governments at the Centre and the state fulfilled the basic needs of the people which weren't addressed for 70 years.

 

Addressing a press conference here, Singh said, "The Modi-Yogi governments have fulfilled the basic needs of the people that were not addressed for 70 years. We are going to the people to seek votes on the basis of the works done."

1:13 PM

Imran Khan govt surrendered country's economic control to IMF: Pak Opposition

Pakistani leader and Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) chief Sirajul Haq has lashed out at Imran Khan government for destroying every institution over the last three-and-a-half years, and said that the surrender of the country's economic control to the IMF and the world money lenders is a disastrous tsunami for the country.

 

The PTI government is the worst in the country's history, which devalued the national currency by over 58 per cent without the country fighting any war or undergoing any emergency," reported the News International quoting Sirajul Haq.

1:12 PM

Local body polls: TN CM Stalin casts votes; exudes confidence of winning 21 corporations

Chief Minister MK Stalin on Saturday cast his vote at a polling booth at SIET College in Teynampet, and urged people to cast their votes and exercise their democratic rights while voting for the local body elections in 38 districts of Tamil Nadu was underway.

Speaking to reporters, CM Stalin said, "Mahatma Gandhi had mentioned the importance of civic bodies in the Indian polity. The civic bodies help the government schemes to reach out to the people. People should compulsorily vote."

He further said, "A couple of days, AIADMK MLA SO Velumani staged a protest, demanding the deployment of Paramilitary forces in the city. This is nothing other than just a drama."

1:02 PM

2 Army men, terrorist killed in encounter in J-K's Shopian

Two Army men and a terrorist were killed in an encounter in south Kashmir's highly volatile Shopian district, officials here said on Saturday.

Security forces launched a cordon and search operation after receiving specific intelligence about the presence of terrorists in Zainpora area of Shopian, they said.

During the operation, the hiding terrorists opened fire at the security forces and in the ensuing encounter, two Army men were killed, the officials said.

1:02 PM

Ready to help state govts to improve their education, health infrastructure: Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said his dispensation was ready to help state governments in improving their education and health infrastructure without the consideration of political ideologies for the welfare of the country.

He was speaking at the launch of 12,430 classrooms in Delhi government schools.

"I am making an offer today. If any state government, irrespective whether it is led by BJP or Congress, wants to improve its education infrastructure, we are ready to loan Education Minister Manish Sisodia to it, Kejriwal said.

12:59 PM

CPI inflation likely peaked out; expected to moderate in February

India's consumer price indexed inflation is expected to moderate in February 2022 from the levels in January, said Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

Notably, high commodities cost especially of transport fuel prices triggered a wider inflationary trend in January 2022.

As a result, India's main inflation gauge -- Consumer Price Index (CPI) -- which denotes retail inflation surged on a sequential as well as year-on-year basis.

12:42 PM

Ukraine rebels order troop mobilisation amid invasion fears

A separatist leader in eastern Ukraine ordered a full military mobilisation amid growing invasion fears.

Denis Pushilin, the head of the pro-Russian separatist government in the Donetsk region, released a statement Saturday announcing a full troop mobilisation and urging reservists to show up at military enlistment offices.

The move comes amid a spike in violence along the line of contact between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed rebels in the region in recent days that fueled Western fears that Moscow could use it as a pretext for an invasion.