Live news: Ukraine says Russia pounding Donbas, failing to take targets

Live news updates: Russian Foreign Minister says lifting Western sanctions on Russia was part of peace talks.

6:45 PM

Russia says risks of nuclear war must be kept to minimum

Russia believes the risks of nuclear war should be kept to a minimum and that any armed conflict between nuclear powers should be prevented, the TASS news agency quoted a foreign ministry official as saying on Saturday. Vladimir Yermakov, the foreign ministry's head of nuclear non-proliferation, said all nuclear powers must stick to the logic laid out in official documents aimed at preventing nuclear war, Reuters reported.

6:16 PM

Russia will quit international space station over sanctions

The head of Russia’s space program said Moscow will pull out of the International Space Station, state media reported, a move it has blamed on sanctions imposed over the invasion of Ukraine.

4:38 PM

Russia says it seeks to move away from US dollar

Russia is seeking to move away from the US dollar and rely less on imports in response to sanctions, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told China’s Xinhua news agency. Lavrov also said that video calls between Ukraine and Russia are happening daily, Bloomberg reported. 

 

3:48 PM

Russia expects trade with China to reach $200 bn by 2024

Russia's foreign ministry on Saturday said it expected commodity flows with China to grow and trade with Beijing to reach $200 billion by 2024, the Interfax news agency reported, as Moscow looks east in the face of growing western isolation. The ministry said Chinese companies must be wary of the risk secondary sanctions pose, but said Beijing was ready to expand its cooperation with Moscow, Interfax reported.

2:42 PM

NW, central India experience hottest April in 122 years

As a result of the continued heatwaves, the maximum temperatures in northwest and central India were the highest for the month of April in the last 122 years, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) announced on Saturday.

The all India temperatures (maximum and mean) recorded till April 28, 2022, are the fourth highest with 35.05 degrees Celsius in last 122 years.

Earlier, March 2022 was the hottest in 122 years for the country, as well as northwest India.

The average maximum temperature was 35.90 degrees Celsius and 37.78 degrees Celsius for northwest and central India, respectively, for April 2022.

2:41 PM

Indian students in Chinese universities relieved at Beijing announcement on their return to campus

Indian students enrolled in Chinese universities heaved a sigh of relief with China announcing plans to allow the return of "some" of them who have been stranded in India for over two years following the visa and flight restrictions imposed by Beijing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rohit Kumar Yadav, an MBBS student at Shihezi University, said he is relieved that he will be able to return to campus and appear in offline exams.

"Medicine is a practical-oriented course and despite all the efforts by university to make online classes more interactive, it is not the same kind of exposure... I am glad this difficult phase will end and I will be able to return to campus and also appear in offline exams," he said.

2:23 PM

Govt 'totally unprepared' to tackle coal-rail-power crisis: Chidambaram

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday took a swipe at the Centre over the issue of widespread power outages, saying the government has found the "perfect solution" to it which is to cancel passenger trains and run coal rakes.

He also said the ministries of coal, railway and power are desperately inventing excuses to hide their "monumental incompetence".

Various states continued to reel under power crisis on Friday with soaring mercury pushing demand higher, as opposition parties blamed the Centre for coal shortage at thermal plants.

2:03 PM

Sri Lanka's powerful Buddhist clergy threatens to issue anti-govt decree

Sri Lanka's powerful Buddhist clergy has threatened to issue a decree against the government led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and decided to stage a protest against it on Saturday for its failure to make way for an interim government to resolve the ongoing political and economic crisis.

Thousands of demonstrators have hit the streets since April 9, as the government ran out of money for vital imports; prices of essential commodities have skyrocketed and there are acute shortages in fuel, medicines and electricity supply.

In recent weeks, the Buddhist clergy, civil society and trade chambers have demanded the formation of an interim government in the predominantly Buddhist nation.

1:55 PM

Amid heatwave, Haryana's power demand touches all-time high

Amid a heatwave spell, the peak power demand in Haryana touched an all-time high with additional requirement of 3,000 MW electricity.

The BJP government claims necessary arrangements are being made to overcome the shortage.

About 400 MW will be produced through a short-term forecasting model, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said at a recent review meeting with officers of power distribution companies here.

1:42 PM

CJI Ramana urges chief justices of HCs to improve judge-to-population ratio

Chief Justice of India N V Ramana on Saturday highlighted the issue of judicial vacancies and urged the chief justices of high courts to improve the judge-to-population ratio so that it is comparable to advanced democracies.

Ramana said as on today, out of 1,104 sanctioned posts of high court judges, there are 388 vacancies.

Speaking at a joint conference of chief ministers and chief justices of high courts at Vigyan Bhawan here, he said an important factor in promoting access to justice is filling up of judicial vacancies and increasing the sanctioned strength of judges.

"From day one, it has been my endeavour to fill judicial vacancies. We have made 180 recommendations for appointments in various high courts last year. Out of these, 126 appointments have been made. I thank the Government of India for clearing the names.

1:36 PM

General Manoj Pande takes charge as Army chief

General Manoj Pande took charge as the 29th Chief of the Army Staff on Saturday after incumbent Gen MM Naravane retired from service.

Gen Pande, who was serving as the vice chief, became the first officer from the Corps of Engineers to helm the force.

Before taking charge as vice chief of the Army on February 1, Gen Pande was heading the Eastern Army Command, tasked with guarding the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh sectors.

Gen Pande took charge of the Army at a time India is facing myriad security challenges, including along the borders with China and Pakistan.

As the Army chief, he will also have to coordinate with the Navy and the Indian Air Force on the government's plan to roll out theatre commands.

1:04 PM

Ukraine fights to hold off Russian advances in south, east

Ukrainian forces fought to hold off Russian attempts to advance in the south and east, where the Kremlin is seeking to capture the country's industrial Donbas region, and a senior US defence official said Moscow's offensive is going much slower than planned.

 

While artillery fire, sirens and explosions were heard Friday in some cities, the United Nations sought to broker an evacuation of civilians from the increasingly hellish ruins of Mariupol, where the mayor said the situation inside the steel plant that has become the southern port city's last stronghold is dire.

 

Citizens are begging to get saved, Mayor Vadym Boichenko said. There, it's not a matter of days. It's a matter of hours.

12:38 PM

While discharging our duty, we should be mindful of Lakshman Rekha: CJI

Chief Justice of India (CJI) N V Ramana on Saturday said the Constitution provides separation of power among the three organs of the state and while discharging duty, one should be mindful of 'Lakshman Rekha'.

 

Speaking at the Joint Conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices of High Courts, Ramana said deliberate inaction by governments despite judicial pronouncements is not good for the health of democracy.

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the joint conference.

12:33 PM

Ukraine says Russia stole 'several hundred thousand tonnes' of grain

Russian forces have stolen "several hundred thousand tonnes" of grain in the areas of Ukraine they occupy, Ukraine's deputy agriculture minister said on Saturday.

 

Speaking to Ukrainian national TV, Taras Vysotskiy expressed concern that most of what he said was 1.5 million tonnes of grain stored in occupied territory could also be stolen by Russian forces.

 

Ukraine's foreign ministry accused Russia on Thursday of stealing grain in territory it has occupied, an act it said increased the threat to global food security.

12:10 PM

Thousands of elderly people in Shanghai hit hard by lockdown

Thousands of elderly people in the Chinese city of Shanghai have been hit hard by a Covid-19 lockdown that has now dragged on for five weeks.

Since the outbreak began in early March, more than 500,000 people have tested positive for the virus, with 337 deaths, according to a BBC report.

Nearly 10,000 of those people have been aged over 80, the report said.

China's Covid rules demand that anyone who is infected, or a close contact, must be sent to a state-run quarantine centre.

It is not uncommon for hundreds of people to be put together in such centres.

Images shared on social media have showed unsanitary conditions, with clogged up toilets and overflowing rubbish bins, the BBC reported.

12:02 PM

PIL has turned into personal interest litigation, says CJI Ramana

Chief Justice N V Ramana on Saturday expressed concern over frivolous litigations in courts and said the concept of PIL has now turned into personal interest litigation and is at times being misused to stall projects or put pressure on public authorities.

Speaking at a joint conference of chief ministers and chief justices of high courts, Ramana said abiding by law and the Constitution is key to good governance.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the conference.

11:59 AM

PM Narendra Modi bats for use of local languages in courts

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday made a strong pitch for use of local languages in courts, contending that it will increase the confidence of common citizens in the justice system and they will feel more connected to it.

"We need to encourage local languages in courts. This will not only increase the confidence of common citizens in the justice system but they will feel more connected to it," Modi said addressing a joint conference of chief ministers and chief justices of high courts here.

The prime minister also appealed to chief ministers to repeal outdated laws to make delivery of justice easier.

11:47 AM

Mobile internet services suspended in Punjab's Patiala, 3 senior police officers transferred

The Punjab government on Saturday suspended mobile internet and SMS services in Patiala district, a day after clashes between two groups over an anti-Khalistan march left four people injured.

The government also transferred the inspector general of police (IG) Patiala Range, the Patiala senior superintendent of police and the superintendent of police with immediate effect.

A spokesperson of the Chief Minister's Office said Mukhwinder Singh Chinna has been appointed as the new IG-Patiala while Deepak Parik will be the new Patiala SSP. Wazir Singh has been appointed as the new superintendent of police of Patiala.

11:46 AM

Afghan envoy at UN lodges official complaint with Security Council over Pak airstrikes in Kunar, Khost

The Charge d'Affaires at Afghanistan's UN mission here has lodged an official complaint with the Security Council over airstrikes launched by Pakistan in the eastern Afghan provinces of Kunar and Khost this month, saying cross-border shellings by the Pakistani military forces are reprehensible" and these breaches will further destabilise peace and security in the region.

Naseer Ahmad Faiq, the Charge d'Affaires at the Permanent Mission of Afghanistan to the United Nations wrote to the President of the Security Council for the month of April, the UK, that the airstrikes by the Pakistani Air Force inside Afghanistan are an aggression against territorial integrity of Afghanistan.

These airstrikes are a flagrant breach of international laws, principles of the UN Charter, UN General Assembly and Security Council resolutions, including on Kabul Declaration on Good-Neighbourly Relations', he said.

11:36 AM

India reports 3,688 new Covid cases, 50 deaths

India on Saturday reported a marginal increase of 3,688 new Covid cases, against the 3,377 infections reported the previous day, the Union Health Ministry said.

In the same period, the country reported 50 Covid fatalities, taking the nationwide death toll to 5,23,803.

Meanwhile, the active caseload of the country has reported a considerable rise at 18,684, accounting for 0.04 per cent of the country's total positive cases.

The recovery of 2,755 patients in the last 24 hours took the cumulative tally to 4,25,33,377. Consequently, India's recovery rate stands at 98.74 per cent.

9:59 AM

WhatsApp likely working on multi-phone, tablet chatting

Meta-owned WhatsApp is likely working on a feature that would let users chat with the same account on multiple phones, or on a phone and a tablet.

A screen found in a beta version of the app by the site WABetaInfo gives instructions for registering the device you are using as a "companion" by scanning a code with your main phone, though currently there does not appear to be an actual code to scan, reports The Verge.

Meanwhile, a screen found in a previous beta showed that devices could be getting the ability to sync recent messages, even though they are end-to-end encrypted.

9:37 AM

COVID: 1,607 new cases in Delhi; positivity rate 5.28%

Delhi has recorded 1,607 fresh COVID-19 cases with two people succumbing to the virus in the last 24 hours, while the positivity rate stood at 5.28 per cent, the city health department said on Saturday.

These figures refer to the Friday's heath bulletin which was issued by authorities this morning.

With these new cases, the national capital's overall Covid tally has increased to 18,81,555 while the death toll has risen to 26,174.

9:18 AM

Mass graves with 900 bodies found at places in Kyiv Oblast: Zelensky

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that the mass grave with 900 bodies had been found in different places in Kyiv Oblast.

Ukraine's The Kyiv Independent earlier said that the Ukrainian President said a mass grave with 900 people was found in Kyiv Oblast. But after that, the media outlet issued a correction and said that Zelenskyy had been referring to the total number of people found in different mass graves in Kyiv Oblast.

"Hundreds of civilians have been killed in the region by Russian troops," the media outlet reported.

On Friday, The Kyiv Independent reported that three Russian missiles hit Kyiv Oblast.

9:17 AM

Premature to attribute extreme heat in India, Pak solely to climate change but heatwaves more intense: WMO

As large parts of India and Pakistan experience scorching temperatures, the UN's specialised agency on weather has said while it is premature to attribute the extreme heat in the two countries solely to climate change, it is consistent with a changing climate, with heatwaves starting earlier than in the past.

Extreme heat is gripping large parts of India and Pakistan, impacting hundreds of millions of people in one of the most densely populated parts of the world, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said on Friday.

It said that according to The India Meteorological Department, maximum temperatures reached 43-46C in widespread areas on April 28 and that this intense heat will continue until May 2.

9:16 AM

Kim Jong-un vows to 'pre-emptively' contain nuke threats

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un stressed the need to bolster the country's military power to "pre-emptively and thoroughly contain" nuclear threats from hostile forces, Pyongyang's state media reported on Saturday.

He met top military commanders who organised a massive street parade in Pyongyang earlier this week, the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a report.

Kim was quoted as calling on his military commanders to maintain the "absolute superiority" of the armed forces and constantly develop in order to "pre-emptively and thoroughly contain and frustrate all dangerous attempts and threatening moves, including ever-escalating nuclear threats from hostile forces, if necessary", Yonhap News Agency cited the KCNA report as saying.

8:59 AM

Global Covid caseload tops 513 mn, deaths surge past 6.23 mn

The global coronavirus caseload has topped 513 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 6.23 million and vaccinations to over 11.35 billion, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

In its latest update on Saturday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and the death toll stood at 513,045,386 and 6,233,848, respectively, while the total number of vaccine doses administered increased to 11,353,172,747.

The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 81,320,794 and 993,571, respectively, according to the CSSE.

India accounts for the second highest caseload at 43,072,176.

8:49 AM

Aviation Minister Scindia holds talks with US aerospace giants on bolstering alliance with India

Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia held discussions with American aerospace giants on further strengthening collaboration with the industry in India.

Scindia arrived here on Thursday for the first leg of his visit to North America and began his engagements with discussions with New York-based technology-powered, global air mobility platform Blade.

On Thursday, he also interacted with members of the Indian diaspora during a session and reception hosted by Consul General of New York Randhir Jaiswal.

8:46 AM

Moderna to build Covid-19 vaccine facility in Canada

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that Covid-19 vaccine developer Moderna will build a manufacturing facility in the country's Quebec to deliver up to 100 million mRNA vaccine doses annually.

 

Construction is set to start this year and the facility is expected to be operational in 2024 at the earliest, subject to planning and regulatory approvals, Trudeau said on Friday in a press release.

 

In addition to Covid-19 vaccines, the facility is expected to be able to produce vaccines for other respiratory diseases such as influenza, pending the ongoing development by Moderna and approval by Health Canada, according to the news release.

8:43 AM

Ukraine continues to block foreign ships in its waters: Lavrov

Ukraine continues to block foreign ships, creating a threat of shelling in its internal waters and territorial sea, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

 

"Russia is taking measures to ensure civil navigation in the waters of the Black and Azov seas. Every day a humanitarian corridor is opened, which is a safe lane for the movement of ships," he said in an interview with Xinhua.

 

"However, the Ukrainian side continues to block foreign ships, creating a threat of shelling in its internal waters and territorial sea," he said.

8:43 AM

Singapore detects two cases of new Omicron subvariant

Singapore has confirmed two COVID-19 cases with the new Omicron subvariant BA.2.12.1 through active monitoring of the disease and genetic sequencing for surveillance, the Channel News Asia reported.

 

The two community cases were detected as part of the authorities' active monitoring of the COVID-19 situation and genetic sequencing for surveillance, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) in its daily update on Thursday (April 28) night.

 

All cases self-isolated after testing positive for COVID-19, it said.