LIVE: Delhi sees 366 new Covid cases in 24 hrs, positivity rate at 3.95%

Doctors on Tuesday had said that it was not a panic situation as the count of daily cases was still low, but had cautioned against dropping the guard

11:02 PM

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar hosts Iftar party at his residence

10:47 PM

Ukraine says five killed in shelling in city of Mykolaiv

Five people were killed by shelling in the Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv on Friday and cluster munitions were used, Vitaliy Kim, the governor of Mykolaiv region, said on Telegram on Friday.

 

Reuters could not independently verify the statement. Russia denies targeting civilian areas in Ukraine.

10:46 PM

Zelenskiy asked Biden to designate Russia a 'state sponsor of terrorism': Washington Post

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy recently made a direct appeal to U.S. President Joe Biden for the United States to designate Russia a "state sponsor of terrorism," the Washington Post reported on Friday, citing people familiar with their conversation.

 

Biden did not commit to specific actions during that call, the newspaper reported. The label can be applied to any country that has "repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism," the newspaper said, citing a State Department fact sheet. The list currently includes four countries: North Korea, Cuba, Iran and Syria.

9:52 PM

Delhi Covid positivity rate rises to 3.95%, 366 new cases in 24 hrs

9:40 PM

Police: Over 900 civilians dead in Kyiv area

The bodies of more than 900 civilians were discovered in the Kyiv region following the withdrawal of Russian forces, the regional police chief said in a briefing Friday.

 

Andriy Nebytov, the head of Kyiv's regional police force, said the bodies had been abandoned in the streets or given temporary burials. He cited police data indicating that 95% of the casualties had died from sniper fire and gunshot wounds.

 

“Consequently, we understand that under the (Russian) occupation, people were simply executed in the streets,” Nebytov said. “The number of killed civilians has surpassed 900 — and I emphasize, these are civilians, whose bodies we have discovered and handed over for forensic examination.” He added that more bodies were being found every day, under the rubble and in mass graves.

9:31 PM

Moscow says 18 members of EU mission in Russia must leave the country

9:17 PM

Ukraine evacuates 2,864 people from conflict areas on Friday: Deputy PM

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said that 2,864 people had been evacuated from conflict areas on Friday, including 363 people from Mariupol who used their own transport.

 

She said in a statement on Telegram that the evacuees also included 370 people from Luhansk region in the east and 2,131 people from cities in Zaporizhzhia region.

8:40 PM

Eshwarappa arrives at Karnataka Chief Minister's residence

8:20 PM

Russian cenbank says it used cash FX accumulated in state reserves

The Russian central bank had accumulated cash foreign currency which it has used, Central Bank Deputy Governor Ksenia Yudayeva said on Friday, without providing details.

 

Yudayeva said sanctions against Russia will have negative impact on the global economy, adding that a ban on operations with the Russian central bank and the government was unprecedented.

 

Foreign sanctions have frozen around $300 billion out of $640 billion that Russia had in its gold and forex reserves in February.

7:21 PM

Ukraine says street battles ongoing in Mariupol

Ukraine's defence ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said on Friday that street battles were ongoing in the besieged port city of Mariupol, which Russian forces had not managed to completely capture.

 

Motuzyanyk said active fighting was taking place around Mariupol's Illich Steel and Iron Works, as well as in the port area.

7:19 PM

Russia says it thwarted 'terrorist attack' on military facility: TASS

Russia's FSB security service on Friday said it had detained four members of an Islamist militant group in the Kaluga region south west of Moscow and said one was preparing a "terrorist attack", the TASS news agency reported.

 

The four were members of the Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham group, it said.

6:31 PM

Ukraine says Russia used long-range bombers on Mariupol; 1st time in war

Ukraine's defence ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said on Friday that for, the first time since the start of its invasion, Russia used long-range bombers to attack the besieged port city of Mariupol.

 

Motuzyanyk said Russia was concentrating its efforts on seizing the cities of Rubizhne, Popasna and Mariupol.

6:05 PM

Ukraine's top steelmaker says it will never work under Russian occupation

Ukraine's biggest steelmaker Metinvest said on Friday its enterprises would never operate under Russian occupation and that Ukraine had lost access to 30% to 40% of its metallurgy production capacity in the besieged port city of Mariupol.

 

It told Reuters in a statement that Ukraine, one of Europe's biggest suppliers of iron ore, had already more than halved its iron ore production due to the invasion that Russia launched on Feb. 24.

5:28 PM

Ukraine ups 2022 spring sowing area forecast to 14 mn ha

Ukraine's agriculture ministry on Friday revised up its forecast for the area to be sown to 2022 spring crops, giving no reason for the new outlook.

 

Around 14 million hectares of various grains, cereals and oilseed might be sown this year, compared with the previous forecast of 13.4 million hectares, the ministry said in a report.

 

The acreage is still smaller than in 2021 due to hostilities in some Ukrainian regions cause by the Russian invasion.

5:20 PM

Russian Deputy PM says several buyers agree to pay in roubles for Russian gas

Several buyers of Russian gas have agreed to switch to payments in roubles, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Friday.

 

"We expect the decision (to switch to roubles) from other importers," he added, in comments published in the ministry's in-house magazine. He did not disclose the identities of customers who had already switched.

 

President Vladimir Putin said last month that buyers of Russian gas from "unfriendly" countries should pay in roubles, a move rejected by European Union authorities under the bloc's sanctions regime against Moscow.

5:03 PM

Tesla looks to resume production at Shanghai plant on April 18: Report

Tesla is preparing to resume production at its Shanghai plant on Monday following a three-week stoppage, having received the go-ahead from local authorities, two people familiar with the matter said.

 

The Shanghai factory, located in the Pudong district east of the city's Huangpu River, suspended production on March 28 after the city started rolling out lockdown measures to combat a surge in COVID-19 cases that were later implemented city-wide.

 

The plan for resuming production has the blessing of local authorities but could still be subject to change depending on how the epidemic situation develops in the city, said the people, who declined to be named as the matter is private.

4:29 PM

China cuts banks' reserve requirement ratio as economy slows

China's central bank said on Friday it would cut the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves for the first time this year, releasing about 530 billion yuan ($83.25 billion) in long-term liquidity to bolster slowing economic growth.

 

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) said on its website it would cut the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) for all banks by 25 basis points (bps), effective from April 25.

 

The central bank said it will cut RRR by an additional 25 bps for some smaller banks.

 

The RRR cut, which follows a broad-based reduction in December, marks the latest step by Chinese policymakers to cushion a sharp slowdown in the world's second-largest economy.

4:16 PM

Russia says 20 buildings and school damaged by Ukrainian shelling in Belgorod: TASS

More than 20 buildings and a school were damaged as a result of Ukrainian shelling of a Russian village in the Belgorod region on Thursday, TASS news agency reported on Friday, citing regional authorities.

 

Reuters was not able to independently verify the report.

4:08 PM

Russia may be in default, says Moody's

Moody's said Russia may be in default because it tried to service its dollar bonds in roubles, which would be one of the starkest consequences to date of Moscow's exclusion from the Western financial system since President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

 

If Moscow is declared in default, it would mark Russia's first major default on foreign bonds since the years following the 1917 Bolshevik revolution, though the Kremlin says the West is forcing a default by imposing crippling sanctions.
 

Russia made a payment due on April 4 on two sovereign bonds - maturing in 2022 and 2042 - in roubles rather than the dollars it was mandated to pay under the terms of the securities.

 

Russia "therefore may be considered a default under Moody's definition if not cured by 4 May, which is the end of the grace period," Moody's said in a statement on Thursday.

3:56 PM

Russia loses warship, says will increase attacks on Kyiv

A day after Moscow suffered a stinging symbolic defeat with the loss of the flagship of its Black Sea fleet, Russia's Defense Ministry promised Friday to ramp up missile attacks on the Ukrainian capital in response to Ukraine's alleged military “diversions on the Russian territory.” The threat of intensified attacks on Kyiv came after Russian authorities accused Ukraine of launching airstrikes on residential buildings in Bryansk, a region that borders Ukraine, and wounding seven people. Authorities in another border region of Russia also reported Ukrainian shelling Thursday.

 

Life in Kyiv has been gradually returning to some normalcy after Russia failed to capture the capital and withdrew its troops in northern Ukraine to focus on a concentrated assault in the country's east. A renewed bombardment could return the city's residents to sheltering in subway stations and the steady wail of air raid sirens.

3:42 PM

Ukraine's port of Mariupol holds out against all odds

Unbroken by a Russian blockade and relentless bombardment, the key port of Mariupol is still holding out, a symbol of staunch Ukrainian resistance that has thwarted the Kremlin's invasion plans.

 

More than six weeks after the Russian siege began, Ukrainian troops are continuing to fight the vastly superior Russian forces in ferocious battles amid the ruins of what once was a bustling city on the Sea of Azov coast.

 

2:49 PM

Speak up to reduce communal tension in nation, Gehlot urges PM Modi

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to spread a message among people to reduce the increasing communal tension in the country and direct the state governments to take action against mischievous elements who are creating nuisance in the name of religion.

"I again appeal to the Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri @NarendraModi to give a message to the nation to reduce the increasing communal tension in the country and direct the State Governments to take action against the mischievous elements who are creating nuisance in the name of religion," he posted on twitter in Hindi.

2:08 PM

Future Enterprises defaults on Rs 1.22 cr interest payment for NCDs

Debt-ridden Future Enterprises Ltd (FEL) has defaulted on the payment of interest of Rs 1.22 crore due on non-convertible debentures, according to a regulatory filing. The due date for payment of Rs 1.22 crore interest was April 13, 2022, FEL said in the regulatory filing.

"The company is unable to service its obligations in respect of the interest on Non-Convertible Debentures was due on April 13, 2022," it said.

This is the second default by the Kishore Biyani-led Future group firm this week. On April 12, FEL had informed about the default on the payment of Rs 9.10 crore interest due on NCDs.

1:50 PM

Vengeance with which BJP bulldozing Constitution has reached homes of minorities: Mehbooba

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Friday accused the BJP of bulldozing the Constitution and the saffron party's leaders of "outdoing each other in stripping Muslims" of their homes and livelihood. She was referring to the Khargone district administration in Madhya Pradesh demolishing at least 50 "illegal" structures of people accused of pelting stones at a Ram Navami procession.

A stone thrown at a Ram Navami procession during which loud music was being played near a mosque in Khargone led to arson and communal tension last Sunday. Curfew was imposed in the town after that. The BJP government in Madhya Pradesh said the damage caused to public and private properties during the violence will be recovered from rioters.

1:23 PM

Russia says Mariupol port liberated, analysts believe Ukrainian city would fall in next few days

Russia has claimed that it has "liberated" the commercial seaport in Mariupol from Ukrainian forces and is on the verge of controlling the strategically important industrial city in the south-east of Ukraine.

 

Major General Igor Konashenkov, a representative of the Russian Ministry of Defence, said that the sea trade port has been completely liberated from the "militants of the Azov formation" and those remaining in the city are left with no opportunity to escape. "All the hostages held by the Nazis on ships in the port, including foreign ones, have been released," Konashenkov said during his daily media briefing.

 

He also said that as many as 1,026 Ukrainian servicemen of the 36th Marine Brigade have voluntarily laid down their arms and surrendered in the city as a result of a successful offensive by the Russian Armed Forces and Donetsk People's Republic militia units.

1:01 PM

Rajasthan: Mysterious illness claims lives of 7 children in Sirohi

A total of seven children have lost their lives due to a mysterious viral infection in the Sirohi district of Rajasthan. "On the basis of a conversation with the collector, it was observed that 7 children have died after contracting a viral infection," Rajasthan Health Minister Parsadi Lal Meena told ANI on Friday.

 

Following the death of three minors in the district on Thursday, Sirohi Collector Dr Bhanwar Lal said that a survey is being conducted in the area to identify the cause of sudden death amongst the children.

12:59 PM

Focusing on filling up vacancies of judges, infrastructure: CJI

Chief Justice of India Justice N.V. Ramana on Friday said that the judiciary is overburdened and that he is giving priority to filling up vacancies of judges and improving infrastructure to deal with the backlog of cases. He said after taking over as the CJI, he took up both these issues.

"The reason is access to justice is possible only when we provide sufficient number of courts as well as infrastructure so that litigant public can approach the institution for justice," he said at the inaugural session of two-day conference of judicial officers of Telangana here.

12:24 PM

India to get record number of new doctors in coming 10 years: PM

India to get record number of new doctors in coming 10 years: PM Modi

 

12:20 PM

Only when medical expenses do not bother the poor that they can work to get out of poverty: PM

It is only when the medical expenses do not bother the poor that they can work to get out of poverty. All the schemes of the health sector that have been implemented in the last years have been inspired by this thinking: PM

12:14 PM

PM gives special message to the people on Himachal Day