Live: Centre sets May 22 as date for unifying Delhi municipal corporations

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Live news updates: The central government has May 22 as the deadline for unification of three municipal corporations of Delhi, following up on a notification issued earlier.

The city’s Aam Aadmi government is against the unification when municipal elections are set to be held. In related news, Delhi lieutenant governor Anil Baijal has said to have resigned after serving a term of more than 5 years.

"Negotiations are not progressing and we note the complete unwillingness of Ukrainian negotiators to continue this process", Peskov said, according to Reuters.

10:04 PM

Russian economic growth slows to 3.5% y/y in Q1: State data

The Russian economy expanded by 3.5% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2022 after growing 5% in the previous quarter, data from federal statistics service Rosstat showed on Wednesday. The first quarter is expected to have been the last with sound growth before the Russian economy took a hit from sweeping sanctions for Moscow's decision to send tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on February 24. The economy ministry said this week it expected gross domestic product (GDP) to contract by 7.8% in 2022, Reuters reported.

9:16 PM

3 Delhi municipal corporations to be merged on May 22

The three municipal corporations of Delhi will be formally merged on May 22, the central government announced on Wednesday. According to a notification issued by the Union Home Ministry, the Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Act, 2022 will come into effect from May 22. The legislation was approved by Lok Sabha on March 30 and by Rajya Sabha on April 5. President Ram Nath Kovind had given his assent on April 18, PTI reported.

6:54 PM

AC-PM recommends employment scheme for urban jobless, universal basic income

The Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) on Wednesday suggested that the government should come out with a guaranteed employment scheme for the urban unemployed as well as introduce a universal basic income and allocate higher funds towards the social sector to reduce inequality in India. The report titled 'The State of Inequality in India', commissioned by the EAC-PM, was prepared by the Institute for Competitiveness. It was released by EAC-PM Chairman Bibek Debroy, PTI reported.

 

6:24 PM

West Bengal minister appears before CBI in recruitment scam probe

West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee on Wednesday evening appeared before the CBI in Kolkata for questioning in connection with the federal agency’s probe of an alleged recruitment scam. Chatterjee, the state's industry minister, would be questioned about the alleged irregularities in the appointments given by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education on recommendations by the School Service Commission (SSC), a CBI officer said. " We have arranged a set of specific questions for him," an officer told PTI. 

6:14 PM

Pakistan opens talks with IMF seeking more cash to aid economy

Pakistan opened long-delayed talks with the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday, seeking the release of more funds from a $6 billion rescue package agreed in 2019 to help shore up the South Asian nation's battered economy. Pakistan has already asked the IMF to increase the size and duration of its $6 billion programme, with foreign reserves falling as low as $10.3 billion so that they cover less than two months of imports, a widening current account deficit, surging inflation and a plunging currency, Reuters reoprted.

6:02 PM

Mahinda Rajapaksa attends Parliament for first time after quitting as Sri Lanka PM

Sri Lanka's former prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa made his first public appearance on Wednesday and attended Parliament, nine days after he was forced to resign and evacuated by the military to a heavily guarded naval base amidst massive anti-government protests. On May 9, Rajapaksa resigned after his supporters attacked anti-government protesters, triggering deadly clashes in the country.

5:36 PM

Global 'storms' prompted RBI to hike rate: MPC minutes

Global political and economic "storms prompted the Reserve Bank to hike the key interest rate in an off-cycle review by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), said the minutes of the rate-setting panel released on Wednesday. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, as per the minutes, said the off-cycle monetary policy actions were aimed at lowering inflation and anchoring inflation expectations with a view to strengthening the medium-term growth prospects of the economy and protecting the purchasing power of the weaker sections of society.

5:23 PM

Russia expels 27 Spanish diplomats in tit-for-tat move

Twenty-seven Spanish diplomats must leave Russia within a week, Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday. Spain said in April it would expel some 25 Russian diplomats and embassy staff from Madrid, joining other European Union countries that have ordered Russian officials to leave.

5:04 PM

UP govt not to give grant to any new madrassa

No new madrassa will be given a grant by the Uttar Pradesh government, the state cabinet has decided. UP minister of state for minority welfare Danish Azad Ansari told PTI on Wednesday that the decision was taken at the state cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath a day earlier.

4:33 PM

Google's Russian subsidiary files for bankruptcy: Report

The Russian subsidiary of Alphabet Inc's Google has filed for insolvency, according to a message posted on Russia's official registry Fedresurs on Wednesday.

The subsidiary was "submitting a notice of the intention to declare itself insolvent (bankrupt)", the note said, according to Reuters. "Since March 22, 2022, it foresees its own bankruptcy and inability to fulfil its monetary obligations, demands to pay severance payments and (or) the remuneration of staff working or previously working under an employment contract, and (or) the obligation to make mandatory payments within the prescribed period," the note said.

4:20 PM

IOB net profit jumps 58 pc to Rs 552 crore in Q4

State-owned Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) on Wednesday reported a nearly 58 per cent jump in net profit at Rs 552 crore in the quarter ended March 2022, mainly due to lower provisioning for bad loans. The bank had posted a net profit of Rs 350 crore in the year-ago period. The bank’s total income in the latest March quarter fell to Rs 5,719 crore as against Rs 6,074 crore in the same period, PTI said.

4:11 PM

Jacqueline Fernandez withdraws plea from court

Bollywood actor Jacqueline Fernandez, being probed in a Rs 200 crore extortion case involving alleged conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar, on Wednesday withdrew her application filed before a Delhi court for suspending a Lookout Circular (LOC) issued against her and permit her to travel abroad, PTI reported. The actor withdrew her application from a court in Delhi, citing that the dates of the event, 2022 IIFA Weekend & Awards in Abu Dhabi, UAE, earlier scheduled from May 17 to 22, were postponed to June.

4:08 PM

Pieter Elbers named new Indigo new CEO

InterGlobe Aviation, the parent company of India's biggest airline Indigo, said on Wednesday Chief Executive Officer Ronojoy Dutta would resign at the end of September. Dutta will be replaced by Pieter Elbers, the company said.

 

3:28 PM

India traders should fulfill local cotton, yarn demand before exports: Goyal

Indian traders and spinning mills should first meet demand from the local textile industry and only then export surplus raw cotton and yarn, Textile Minister Piyush Goyal told industry officials in a meeting. Goyal's comments came after textile mills in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, a leading exporter of garments, went on a two-day strike earlier this week demanding a ban on exports, said Reuters.

3:27 PM

Saudi Arabia's wealth fund takes 5% Nintendo stake

Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) has taken a 5.01% stake in Nintendo Co Ltd as the sovereign wealth fund increases its exposure to the Japanese video gaming industry. The investment in the Kyoto-based group company was made for investment purposes, a filing said, and comes as PIF has also taken stakes in video game companies Nexon, Capcom and Koei Tecmo, Reuters reported.