LIVE: Govt allows import of 20 lakh MT each of crude soybean, sunflower oil

This is for a period of 2 years at nil rate of customs duty and Agricultural Infrastructure and Development Cess

9:29 PM

Govt allows import of 20 lakh MT each of crude soybean oil and sunflower oil

7:37 PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi departs for Delhi from Tokyo airport

6:17 PM

US says China and Russia bomber drill shows depth of their alignment

A joint strategic bomber exercise by Russia and China in East Asia on Tuesday shows the depth of the two countries' alignment, a senior US administration official said.

 

Russia's defense ministry earlier confirmed the joint patrol, which it said lasted 13 hours over the Japanese and East China seas and involved Russian Tu-95 and Chinese Xian H-6 strategic bombers.

 

Planes from the Japanese and South Korean air force shadowed the Russian and Chinese jets for part of the exercise, Russia said.

 

The move marks the first joint military exercise by China and Russia since Moscow invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, according to the U.S. official, and it comes at the tail end of U.S. President Joe Biden's trip to the region.

5:32 PM

Police constable shot dead in Srinagar

A police constable was shot dead by terrorists in the Soura area of the city on Tuesday, officials said here.

 

"Terrorists fired upon Constable Saifullah Qadri at his home in the Anchar locality of Soura," they said.

 

The officials said Qadri was rushed to the SKIMS hospital, where he succumbed to injuries.

4:34 PM

We are proud of Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann: AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal

1:09 PM

EAM S Jaishankar meets US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Tokyo

External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar meets US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Tokyo. 

 

"Continued our conversation on the Ukraine conflict, its knock-on effects and important regional issues. Will work together to take forward the Quad understandings," says EAM.

12:35 PM

Ultimately a nation would only respect if you possess Hard power: Lt Gen RP Kalita

A couple of things stand out clearly from the Russia-Ukraine war. First of them is the importance of Hard power. Ultimately a nation would only respect if you possess Hard power: Lt Gen RP Kalita, GoC-in-C of the India Army's Eastern Command

12:28 PM

Quad summit update

11:47 AM

Qutub Minar row

ASI filed an affidavit in Saket Court in an interim application related to restoration of temples in Qutub Minar complex. ASI opposes the plea and says Qutub Minar is a monument and no one can claim fundamental right over such a structure and no right to worship can be granted at this place. There is no provision under AMASR Act 1958 under which worship can be started at any living monument. Hon'ble High court of Delhi has clearly mentioned in its order dated 27/01/1999, states Archaeological Survey of India.

 

11:25 AM

President Kovind to visit MP from May 27 to 29

President Ram Nath Kovind will visit Madhya Pradesh from May 27 to 29 during which he will lay the foundation stone of some health institutions and address a conference, a state official said on Tuesday. Kovind will arrive in Bhopal on May 27. The next day, he would take part in the foundation stone laying ceremony of some new health institutions in the state capital, he said. On May 29, the president will go to Ujjain to address participants of the All-India Ayurveda Conference at the Kalidas Academy there, the official said.

10:41 AM

UNGA resolution calls for efforts to mitigate food security crisis

The UN General Assembly has adopted a resolution that calls for international efforts to mitigate the current food security crisis. The resolution calls on the international community to urgently support countries affected by the food security crisis through coordinated actions, including the provision of emergency food supplies, food programmes, financial support, and increased and diversified agricultural production, reports Xinhua news agency. It calls for the promotion of a universal, rules-based, open, non-discriminatory and equitable multilateral trading system under the World Trade Organization.

10:40 AM

Local train services on Mumbai's harbour line disrupted due to power issue; office-goers face delays

Local train services on the harbour line in Mumbai were disrupted on Tuesday morning due to power issues, according to a Central Railway official.

 

Following the disruption, a number of passengers, mostly office-goers, complained that trains on the harbour line, which provides connectivity to Navi Mumbai and western suburbs with south Mumbai, were running late by at least 15-20 minutes during the morning rush hour.

10:28 AM

India logs 1,675 Covid cases in a day, 31 deaths

India's COVID-19 case tally rose by 1,675 to reach 43,140,068, while the number of active infections increased marginally to 14,841, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday.

The death toll has climbed to 524,490 with 31 fatalities reported from Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated.

Active cases, which rose by nine in a day, comprised 0.03 per cent of the total infections, while the national Covid recovery rate was 98.75 per cent, the health ministry said.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.41 per cent and the weekly positivity rate was 0.49 per cent, according to the ministry.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has surged to 42,600,737, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.22 per cent.

10:09 AM

Underworld don Dawood Ibrahim is in Karachi, says his sister Haseena Parkar

Underworld don Dawood Ibrahim is in Karachi, Pakistan - his sister Haseena Parkar's son Alishah Parkar tells ED; also tells ED that his family & he aren't in contact with Dawood & that Dawood's wife Mehajabin contacts his wife & sisters during festivals.

10:08 AM

I encourage our students to apply for the Quad Fellowship programme: PM Modi

I encourage our students to apply for the Quad Fellowship programme and join the next generation of STEM leaders and innovators building a better future for humanity: PM Narendra Modi

 

9:41 AM

Hong Kong ‘unlikely’ to scrap hotel quarantine before July

Hong Kong will probably keep mandatory hotel quarantine requirements for incoming travelers until at least the end of June, its outgoing leader said, despite business leaders’ growing calls to join the rest of the world in opening up.

 

Chief Executive Carrie Lam said Tuesday at a regular press briefing that a “significant amount” of the city’s daily infections still came from imported cases. Considering new variants were emerging globally, the financial hub still had to be extremely careful in loosening restrictions on border controls, Lam added.

 

“It’s very unlikely that during my term there would be more relaxations on the border controls,” she said. “In other words, we will still have the hotel quarantine. We will still require vaccination before a passenger can board a plane to Hong Kong and we will still impose the test and hold, whether at the airport or at a hotel, for a PCR test, in order to keep Hong Kong safe.”

 

9:28 AM

There is 'systematic attack' on institutions that allow India to speak, alleges Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has alleged that there is a "systematic attack" on the institutions that allow India to speak and as the conversation is being stamped out, the "deep state" is entering those spaces and redefining the way that conversation is happening in the country.

 

During an event entitled ‘India at 75' at Corpus Christi College at the prestigious Cambridge University on Monday evening, Gandhi spoke on a broad range of subjects from Hindu nationalism, the Gandhi family's role within the Congress party and efforts to mobilise the people of the country as he fielded questions from a largely Indian student base.

 

9:08 AM

Quad set to launch maritime security initiative to track 'dark shipping' in Indo-Pacific

Quad leaders at the Tokyo summit are set to launch a range of initiatives, including a maritime security partnership, that will allow the member countries to monitor illegal fishing, track "dark shipping" and other tactical-level activities.

 

"The benefit of this maritime initiative will allow tracking of dark shipping and other tactical-level activities, such as rendezvous at sea, as well as improve partners' ability to respond to climate and humanitarian events and to protect their fisheries, which are vital to many Indo-Pacific economies," said the White House in a media statement on the sidelines of Quad Summit.

 

Notably, "dark ships" are vessels with their Automatic Identification System (AIS) - a transponder system - switched off so as not to be detectable. This crucial maritime pact between the Quad member countries will enhance the security apparatus of the Indo-Pacific region.

9:07 AM

Summary of MoHFW data (May 24)

Active cases: 14,841 (Net increase: 9)

Deaths: 524,490 (Net increase: 31)

Cured: 42,600,737 (Net increase: 1,635)

Total cases: 43,140,068 (Net increase: 1,675)

Total vaccination: 1,923,845,615 (Increase over previous day: 881,668)

 

 

9:01 AM

Pfizer says Covid shot 80% effective in young kids

Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech have said that preliminary clinical data showed their three-dose Covid-19 vaccine regimen was 80 per cent effective for children aged between 6 months to 5-years-old at preventing illness during the Omicron wave.

The vaccine was found to elicit a strong immune response following a third dose, and was well tolerated by the kids with a majority of the side effects mild to moderate, Xinhua news agency quoted the companies as saying on Monday.

The safety data for the Pfizer vaccine is based on 1,678 children under age 5 who received a third shot at least two months after the second dose when Omicron was the main variant in circulation.

8:58 AM

Covid-19 pandemic is 'far from over', reiterates WHO chief Tedros

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has reiterated here that the Covid-19 pandemic "is far from over".

"... the pandemic is far from over. And even as we continue to fight it, we face the task of restoring essential health services, with 90 per cent of member states reporting disruption to one or more essential health services," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday.

Addressing the 75th World Health Assembly, Ghebreyesus said the Covid-19 pandemic had demonstrated why the world needed the WHO, Xinhua news agency reported.

8:48 AM

Global Covid caseload tops 526 mn, deaths surge to more than 6.27 mn

The global coronavirus caseload has topped 526 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 6.27 million and vaccinations to over 11.44 billion, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

In its latest update on Tuesday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and the death toll stood at 526,061,225 and 6,278,344, respectively, while the total number of vaccine doses administered increased to 11,445,649,266.

The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 83,390,587 and 1,002,376, respectively, according to the CSSE.

India accounts for the second highest caseload at 43,138,393.

8:46 AM

Quad is 'not just a passing fad, we mean business': Biden at Quad summit in Japan

US President Joe Biden on Tuesday said that Quad is "not just a passing fad but it means business," asserting that the four leaders of the grouping are here to get things done for the region and that he is proud of what they are building together.

Addressing the second in-person meeting between Quad leaders, Biden attacked Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, saying it is trying to extinguish a culture.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Australia's newly-elected Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attended the second in-person meeting of Quad leaders here during which they exchanged views about developments in the Indo-Pacific region and global issues of mutual interest.

8:30 AM

Australia's Albanese says goals aligned with Quad, wants to discuss climate change

New Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday said his goals were aligned with the priorities of the Quad grouping of countries, telling the leaders of the United States, India and Japan that he wanted to also discuss climate change.

 

Albanese, the leader of Australia's Labor Party who was sworn in as his country's 31st prime minister a day earlier, also said the Quad stood together for a "free and open Indo-Pacific".

 

The informal grouping of countries, led by Washington, was set up as a potential bulwark against China's increasing political, commercial and military activity in the Indo-Pacific.

8:24 AM

Allahabad HC to get 10 more permanent judges

The Supreme Court Collegium has approved the proposal for the appointment of ten additional judges of the Allahabad High Court as permanent judges.

 

According to the official statement, Justices Sanjay Kumar Pachori, Subhash Chandra Sharma, Subhash Chand (Presently working in Jharkhand High Court on transfer), Saroj Yadav, Mohd. Aslam, Anil Kumar Ojha, Sadhna Rani (Thakur), Syed Aftab Husain Rizvi, Ajai Tyagi, and Ajai Kumar Srivastava-I, have been approved for permanent judges of the Allahabad High Court.

8:23 AM

Quad moving ahead with a constructive agenda for Indo-Pacific: PM Modi

The mutual trust and determination among the Quad member countries is giving new energy to democratic forces and encouraging a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said here on Tuesday at the second in-person summit of the four-nation grouping.

 

The prime minister said Quad is moving ahead with a constructive agenda for the Indo-Pacific which will further strengthen its image of a "force for good".

 

Modi made the remarks in presence of US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and newly elected Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

 

8:01 AM

Global food crisis may worsen by Russia blocking Ukraine from exporting its grains: Joe Biden

Putin is just trying to extinguish a culture. This is more than just a European issue, it's a global issue. Global food crisis may worsen by Russia blocking Ukraine from exporting its grains. As long as Russia continues the war, US will work with its partners: US President Biden

8:00 AM

Despite coronavirus, we've increased our coordination for vaccine delivery: PM Modi

Despite the adverse situation of coronavirus, we've increased our coordination for vaccine delivery, climate action, supply chain resilience, disaster response, economic cooperation and other areas. It has ensured peace, prosperity and stability in Indo-Pacific: PM at Quad Leaders' Summit

7:58 AM

US will be a strong, steady and enduring partner in Indo-Pacific: US Pres Joe Biden

US will be a strong, steady and enduring partner in Indo-Pacific. We are Indo-Pacific powers. As long as Russia continues the war, we are going to be partners and lead a global response. We stay together for the shared values and vision we have: US Pres Joe Biden at Quad Leaders'meet

7:57 AM

We have a lot of work to keep this region peaceful and stable: US President Joe Biden

The Quad has a lot of work ahead of us. We have a lot of work to keep this region peaceful & stable, tacking this pandemic and next and addressing the climate crisis: US President Joe Biden at Quad Leaders'meet