LIVE: Moscow claims it killed five Ukrainian troops who crossed into Russia

10:03 PM

Ukraine crisis figures in talks between Jaishankar and French foreign minister

France on Monday said the "rigorous dialogue" with Russia for respecting Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity figured in talks between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian in Paris.

 

Jaishankar arrived in Paris on Sunday on a day French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a marathon telephonic conversation to defuse the crisis in Ukraine amid apprehension of a Russian invasion of the eastern European nation.

 

A day after the talks between Jaishankar and Le Drian, the French foreign ministry on Monday said they exchanged views on international and regional issues, including the situation in Ukraine.

9:31 PM

Oil rises as Russian-Western stand-off alarms tight market

Oil prices rose on Monday as tensions between Russia and the West ratcheted up, adding to supply concerns that have kept oil prices near $100 a barrel. Brent crude futures jumped $1.23, or 1.3%, to $94.77 a barrel by 1300 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose $1.13, or 1.2%, to $92.20 a barrel.

 

Russian forces killed a group of five saboteurs who breached the country's southwest border from Ukraine on Monday, news agencies quoted the military as saying, an accusation that Ukraine called fake news.

 

French President Emmanuel Macron said earlier on Monday that U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed in principle to a summit over Ukraine, but the Kremlin said there were no immediate plans for a meeting.

 

9:14 PM

China is interested in Ukraine's defence-industrial complex, says report

Ever since Ukraine rejected the Chinese bid to buy a major stake in the Ukrainian aviation company Motor Sich and imposed sanctions on Chinese individuals and entities involved in the deal, Beijing has reportedly employed covert tactics to acquire Ukrainian military technology.

 

Some experts believe in the fact that China is carrying out tech theft in cahoots with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), which may be interested in doing away with importing the tank engines from Ukraine.

 

In one of his blogs for the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC), political analyst Valerio Fabbri writes how Chinese intelligence is shrouded in mystery. Even security experts are often in the dark about its functioning.

 

Unlike the traditional way of employing professional spies, Beijing uses the "Thousand Grains of Sand" technique to utilize Chinese students, academicians studying and working abroad, tourists and even companies for intelligence collection.

8:57 PM

'No prospects' for peace plan to end Ukraine conflict, says Putin: Report

8:51 PM

Maharashtra: Aaditya Thackeray launches scuba dive boat in Tarkarli

8:06 PM

Putin says recognition of breakaway Ukraine regions needs to be considered

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday told his security council it was necessary to consider an appeal from the leaders of two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine for Russia to recognise them as independent.

 

Putin said in televised remarks that the threat to Russia would substantially increase if Ukraine were to join NATO.

7:52 PM

‘Everything under control in Shivamogga, 200 more police personnel sent from Bengaluru’: K’tak Home Min

7:05 PM

Russia says it prevented border breach from Ukraine, Kyiv calls it fake news

Russia's military said on Monday that troops and border guards had prevented a "diversionary reconnaissance" group from breaching Russia's border from Ukrainian territory and that five people had been killed, Russian news agencies reported.

 

Ukraine rejected the report, calling it fake news, and said no Ukrainian forces were present in the Rostov region where the incident was alleged to have taken place.

 

Interfax cited the Russian military as saying that Ukrainian armed vehicles had been destroyed.

 

The reported incident took place at a moment of extreme tension between the two countries as Russia continues to deny statements from the United States and its allies that it could invade Ukraine at any time.

6:52 PM

Russia says killed 5 'saboteurs' from Ukraine on Russian territory

6:22 PM

Biological E's Corbevax gets emergency use nod for 12-18 age group

5:37 PM

UP Polls: BJP won’t talk about terror of unemployment & inflation, says Priyanka Gandhi

4:38 PM

Delhi HC reserves judgement on pleas seeking criminalisation of marital rape

3:41 PM

Russia's FSB says shell from Ukrainian territory destroys Russian border guard post: Report

Russia's FSB security service said on Monday a shell from Ukrainian territory had completely destroyed a border guard post in Russia's Rostov region but had caused no casualties, the Interfax news agency reported.

 

The incident occurred 150 metres from the border between Russia and Ukraine, Interfax cited the FSB as saying.

 

Sporadic shelling across the line dividing Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists in the east has intensified since Thursday.

 

3:16 PM

‘Challenged the verdict in HC, hopeful that judgement will change’: Tejashwi Yadav

2:34 PM

UP Polls: Everyone is saying SP is coming, says Akhilesh Yadav

2:16 PM

UP Polls: Farmers neither paid nor received fertilisers, says Sonia Gandhi

2:05 PM

Unlike BJP, I come to Manipur with humility, says Rahul in Imphal

2:04 PM

CBI court in Ranchi sentences Lalu to 5 years' imprisonment

1:27 PM

Reliance Jio Infocomm to lay undersea cable in Maldives

Reliance Jio Infocomm, India's largest mobile operator, will lay the multi-terabit India-Asia-Xpress (IAX) undersea cable system in Hulhumale, Maldives, according to a statement on Monday. The high capacity and high-speed IAX system will connect Hulhumale directly with world's major internet hubs in India and Singapore.

12:48 PM

Two ITBP soldiers injured in Manipur bomb blast

Two soldiers of paramilitary ITBP were injured when a bomb exploded in Manipur's Kakching district Sunday evening. The soldiers, who were on security for elections in the state, were attacked during night patrol, PTI reported.

12:10 PM

Budget seeks sustainable growth, predictable tax regime: Sitharaman

The Union Budget’s proposals for infrastructure will create a multiplier effect for India’s economy, said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday. “A sustained recovery is what we would want. The budget has growth revival as a priority along with messages for sustainability as a priority and on predictable tax regimen,” she said in Mumbai.

11:20 AM

Modi explains why Budget was moved to Feb 1

Annual budget was moved forward to February 1 from February 28 so that is debated properly and then implemented from April 1, says PM Narendra Modi.

11:12 AM

Budget proposals on education will empower youth: PM Modi

10:52 AM

Andhra's Industries minister dies of heart attack

Mekapati Goutham Reddy, Andhra Pradesh’s minister for industries and information technology, died of heart attack in Hyderabad Monday morning, PTI reported. Reddy, 50 is survived by wife, a daughter and a son.

10:48 AM

Russia's Binnopharm to acquire 2 anti-bacterial brands from Dr Reddy's

Binnopharm Group firm will acquire Dr Reddy's Laboratories' anti-bacterial medicines under the Ciprolet and Levolet brands in Russia, Uzbekistan and Belarus, the two sides said in a joint statement on Monday. Binnopharm is a leading pharmaceutical production company in Russia, PTI reported.

10:32 AM

Kejriwal begins UP tour from Monday, will also visit Gorakhpur

Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal begins his four-day Uttar Pradesh tour from Monday to drum up support for party candidates in the ongoing assembly polls, AAP office-bearers said.

Kejriwal, the Delhi chief minister, will begin the tour with an address at a public meeting in the state capital's Qaisarbagh area, party spokesperson Vaibhav Maheshwari said.

Kejriwal will also be visiting Barabanki and Prayagraj and Gorakhpur during the four-day visit and join various election-related programmes of the AAP," Maheshwari said. 

10:24 AM

Heavy fog disrupts flight operations at Kolkata airport

Hundreds of passengers were stranded and several fights diverted as heavy fog disrupted operations at the Kolkata airport on Monday morning, officials said.

No flight could take off or land at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International (NSCBI) Airport as a thick blanket of fog engulfed the area, they said.

Hundreds of passengers were stranded with all the early morning flights departing from Kolkata being rescheduled as visibility was down to 50 metres, officials said.

10:17 AM

No perfect solution to protection from COVID-19 amid growing fatigue: Fauci

Top U.S. infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said there is no perfect solution to the need of protecting U.S. citizens from COVID-19 infection amid growing fatigue with the pandemic.

In a report carried recently by Singapore's Chinese-language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao, Fauci said that U.S. states are facing tough choices in their efforts to balance the need to protect their citizens from contagion and the growing fatigue with the pandemic that has entered its third year.

"There is no perfect solution to this," said Fauci, a member of the White House COVID-19 Response Team, in an interview with Reuters.

10:16 AM

FATF Plenary to begin from today, Pakistan will look to exit 'grey list'

As the FATF Plenary and Working Group Meetings is set to begin in Paris from Monday, all eyes will be on Pakistan as it would look to exit the "grey list" of the global anti-terrorist financing and anti-money laundering watchdog.

Pakistan has been on the Paris-based FATF's grey list for deficiencies in its counter-terror financing and anti-money laundering regimes since June 2018. This greylisting has adversely impacted its imports, exports, remittances, and limited access to international lending.

10:06 AM

Has been nice to see younger guys come through in Windies series: Dravid

Team India head coach Rahul Dravid has said that it was pleasing to see the younger guys perform in the white-ball series against West Indies.

With the 17-run win in the third T20I, India won the three-match T20I series 3-0. Earlier, the Men in Blue had defeated West Indies 3-0 in the ODI series as well. India will next lock horns against Sri Lanka in a three-match T20I series, beginning Thursday.

"It's been a learning experience. I've learnt a lot. I am not stressed too much about the results. I want to team to get better, I want to move them in the right direction. South Africa was a reality check for us in the one-day format. Test format - few things could have gone our way if we had a bit of luck," said Dravid during a virtual press conference.