Live: RIL's Q4 consolidated PAT rises 22.5% YoY to Rs 16,203 crore

Live: Reliance Industries on Friday reported its Q4 results.

9:20 AM

India's active Covid caseload at 19,688

8:38 AM

Global Covid caseload tops 516 mn

The global coronavirus caseload has topped 516 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 6.24 million and vaccinations to over 11.32 billion, according to the Johns Hopkins University, IANS reported.

 

In its latest update on Friday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and the death toll stood at 516,026,519 and 6,247,076, respectively, while the total number of vaccine doses administered increased to 11,325,868,591.

 

The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 81,692,541 and 996,946, respectively, according to the CSSE.

8:21 AM

There will be no winning side in Russia-Ukraine conflict: India tells UNSC

Asserting that there will be no winning side in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, India has told the UN Security Council that diplomacy will be a lasting casualty while underscoring the immediate need to evacuate innocent civilians from areas witnessing intense fighting in Ukraine, PTI reported.

 

Speaking at the UNSC briefing on Ukraine on Thursday, India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti said India remains on the side of peace.

 

"Ever since the commencement of the conflict in Ukraine, India has been consistently calling for complete cessation of hostilities and for pursuing the path of dialogue and diplomacy as the only way out.

8:14 AM

Biden announces Karine Jean-Pierre as new White House Press Secretary

8:01 AM

China says sanctions make world economy worse amid pressure to condemn Russia

Amid a mounting pressure on China, especially from the US to condemn the Russian actions in Ukraine, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said that "sanctions only make the world economy worse", ANI reported.

 

The Chinese spokesperson made the remarks during a press briefing when asked to comment on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently downgrading its 2022 global economic growth forecast to 3.6 per cent, Xinhua reported.

 

"Facts have already proved that sanctions cannot bring peace but only make the world economy worse," Zhao said, adding, "the United States, as the world's largest economy, should do more that is conducive to the recovery of the global economy and the stability of the global supply chain."

7:46 AM

US FDA limits use of Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine over blood clot risk

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday said that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine that has been administered to more than 18 million Americans can potentially cause "life-threatening blood clots", and thereby warranted "limiting the authorized use of the vaccine," ANI reported.

 

"After conducting an updated analysis, evaluation and investigation of reported cases, the FDA has determined that the risk of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), a syndrome of rare and potentially life-threatening blood clots in combination with low levels of blood platelets with onset of symptoms approximately one to two weeks following administration of the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine, warrants limiting the authorized use of the vaccine," the FDA in a statement.

 

The Johnson and Johnson vaccine was authorised for emergency use in February last year.

7:32 AM

World War taking place at economic level: Russian Envoy to UN

Russian envoy to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia said during a UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine that a world war is currently taking place at an economic level in light of the measures taken against Russia in response to its special military operation in Ukraine, ANI reported.

 

"This is not a war in Ukraine, contrary to what you say, this is a proxy war of the collective West against the Russian Federation. It is as if you were eagerly awaiting this moment to unleash repression against Russia. And if we were to talk about world war then, without a doubt, it is being waged at the economic level today," Nebenzia said on Thursday.

 

Judging by the speed with which the economic war against Russia was unleashed, the West has been preparing for it for a long time, Nebenzia said.

7:12 AM

UN chief calls for end to 'cycle of death, destruction' in Ukraine

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday called for an end to the "cycle of death and destruction" in Ukraine, ANI reported.

 

As he briefed the UN Security Council on his shuttle diplomacy last week in Russia and Ukraine, Guterres said that he "did not mince words" when he spoke with the presidents of Russia and Ukraine about ending the conflict.

 

The conflict must "end for the sake of the people of Ukraine, Russia, and the entire world...the cycle of death, destruction, dislocation and disruption must stop," the secretary-general said at a Security Council meeting on the situation in Ukraine.

 

"In my meeting with (Russian) President Putin, I, therefore, stressed the imperative of enabling humanitarian access and evacuations from besieged areas, including first and foremost, Mariupol," said Guterres, appealing strongly for a safe and effective humanitarian corridor for civilians to reach safety from the Azovstal plant, where hundreds have been living underground for weeks.

 

6:27 AM

Pfizer inaugurates global drug development centre in IIT Madras Research Park

6:21 AM

Nearly 15 mn deaths directly or indirectly linked to Covid: WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that almost 15 million deaths globally were directly or indirectly associated with the Covid-19 pandemic by the end of 2021, IANS reported.

 

According to the WHO's estimates, the full Covid-19 death toll, or "excess mortality," was approximately 14.9 million between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2021. This figure is calculated as the difference between the number of deaths that have occurred and the number that would be expected in the absence of the pandemic based on data from earlier years, Xinhua news agency reported.

 

Aside from the deaths directly caused by Covid-19, the "indirect deaths" were attributable to other health conditions for which people were unable to access prevention and treatment, because health systems were overburdened by the pandemic.