Top headlines:Deadline for 6 airbags extended; Gehlot out of Cong Prez race

Relief for automakers as govt defers six airbags rule to Oct 2023

The government said on Thursday it is deferring until October 2023 the implementation of norms mandating six airbags in all cars, giving the industry a one-year extension.

The decision comes despite the government’s prioritisation of passenger safety irrespective of vehicle cost or variants, said Union minister for road transport Nitin Gadkari. Read more

Won't contest election for Congress president: Gehlot after meeting Sonia

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday announced that he will not contest the Congress presidential polls as he took moral responsibility for the political crisis in his state.

After meeting party president Sonia Gandhi, Gehlot told reporters that he apologised to her for the developments on Sunday when MLAs supporting him defied the central observers and thwarted their move to hold a meeting of party legislators. Read more

Putin to preside over ceremony adding 4 Ukrainian areas to Russia: Kremlin

President Vladimir Putin will on Friday begin formally annexing 15% of Ukrainian territory, presiding at a Kremlin signing ceremony to add four Ukrainian regions to Russia.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the ceremony would take place at 1500 Moscow time (1200 GMT) on Friday "on agreements on the accession of new territories into the Russian Federation." Read more

SoftBank cuts about 150 staff globally, including at Vision Fund: Report

SoftBank Group Corp. has started laying off employees at its loss-making Vision Fund, with cuts expected to exceed 20% of its staff, according to people familiar with the matter.
 

The Tokyo-based company informed some staff Thursday and at least 100 workers will likely be affected, said the people, asking not to be named as the information is not public. The Vision Fund unit, headquartered in London, had about 500 employees including Latin America funds staff. SoftBank had planned staff cuts of at least 20%, Bloomberg News reported earlier this month. Read more