LIVE: India sees worst power cuts in 6 years; braces for more heatwaves

Live news updates: The ongoing heatwave sweeping through vast swathes of the country will intensify in the next five days, the IMD said

11:12 AM

India-Japan ties have deepened in every sphere in 70 years: PM Modi

On the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Japan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that the ties between the two countries have deepened in every sphere, be it strategic, economic or people-to-people contacts.

The recent visit to India by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for the annual summit laid out a roadmap for deepening the Special Strategic and Global Partnership between the two countries in a post-Covid world, Modi said in a tweet, adding that he looked forward to continue working with Kishida to realise that objective.

10:45 AM

Over half of US howitzers are in Ukraine today: Pentagon

Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby announced that more than half of US howitzers are in Ukraine today and the first tranche of soldiers from the war-torn nation have been trained in how to use the long-ranged weapon system.

"Munitions continue to flow into Ukraine, as well as weapon systems... Those soldiers will go back to Ukraine and teach their fellow soldiers as those batteries stand up," Kirby said during a press briefing on Wednesday.

He also claimed that the equipment being sent to Ukraine is "having an effect on the battlefield" and is making a difference on the battle lines in the eastern Donbas region, the site of the major Russian effort in Ukraine.

10:22 AM

Musk takes a u-turn, says Twitter must remain 'politically neutral'

In a bid to silence people who have slammed his 'free speech' idea amid fears of growing polarisation and hatred on the micro-blogging platform, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Thursday that Twitter must remain politically neutral if it wants to keep enjoying public trust.

Musk, who just promoted former US President Donald Trump's new social media platform 'Truth Social' from his Twitter handle, has suddenly changed his tone amid growing criticism against him.

"For Twitter to deserve public trust, it must be politically neutral, which effectively means upsetting the far right and the far left equally," he posted to his more than 87 million followers.

10:21 AM

Godrej Properties buys 58-acre land in Nagpur to develop housing project

Realty firm Godrej Properties Ltd on Thursday said it has acquired a 58-acre land parcel in Nagpur to develop a residential project as part of its strategy to expand business.

The company, which is part of Godrej group, did not disclose the value of this land deal.

The development on this land will comprise primarily of plotted residential units, the company said in a regulatory filing.

The project will offer an estimated saleable area of 1.5 million square feet.

9:53 AM

India records 3,303 COVID-19 cases, 39 deaths

India on Thursday reported 3,303 fresh COVID-19 cases that took its tally to 43,068,799, while the active cases increased to 16,980, according to Union health ministry data.

The daily cases crossed the 3,000-mark after 46 days.

The death toll due to COVID-19 climbed to 523,693 with 39 more fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.

The active cases comprise 0.04 per cent of the total infections. The national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.74 per cent, the ministry said.

An increase of 701 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.66 per cent and the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 0.61 per cent, the ministry said.

9:51 AM

IP protection: India among most challenging economies, says USTR

India remains one of the most challenging major economies with respect to protection and enforcement of intellectual property, the office of the US Trade Representative said in a report as it decided to retain New Delhi on the Priority Watch List.

 

In its 2022 Special 301 Report, the USTR designated seven countries in the Priority Watch List. These are Argentina, Chile, China, India, Indonesia, Russia and Venezuela.

 

The review of Ukraine has been suspended due to Russia's premeditated and unprovoked invasion of the country, the USTR said.

9:33 AM

UK: Allies must 'double down' and send Ukraine tanks, jets

Britain's top diplomat called Wednesday for Western allies to send tanks, warplanes and other heavy weapons to Ukraine, saying fears of escalating the war were misplaced and inaction would be the greatest provocation.

 

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said this is a time for courage, not caution among nations helping Ukraine fight Russia's invasion.

 

Heavy weapons, tanks, airplanes digging deep into our inventories, ramping up production. We need to do all of this, Truss said during an annual foreign policy speech at Mansion House, the residence of the Lord Mayor of London.

9:33 AM

UN working to coordinate evacuation of civilians in Azovstal plant in Ukraine's Mariupol

The UN is following up on an agreement with Russia to coordinate the evacuation of civilians in the Azovstal plant in Mariupol of Ukraine, said a UN spokesman.

 

In a meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed in principle to the involvement of the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in the evacuation of civilians from Azovstal.

 

Follow-on discussions were to be held with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the Russian Defence Ministry, Xinhua news agency reported.

9:32 AM

Turkish President, UN Chief Guterres discuss Ukraine crisis over phone

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres discussed the latter's visit to Russia over the phone.

 

Guterres on Wednesday briefed Erdogan about his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Turkey's Directorate of Communications said in a statement.

 

Before heading to Moscow and Kiev for talks on resolving the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the UN Secretary-General met with Turkish President in the Turkish capital Ankara on Monday, Xinhua news agency reported.

9:22 AM

Ukraine seeks to get $5bn from IMF per month: PM

Ukraine is seeking to receive $5 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) per month, Ukraine's media outlet Hromadske reported, citing the country's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.

 

"We are talking about 5 billion dollars a month -- the need for this amount has been confirmed by both the IMF and the World Bank. These are the funds that the budget of Ukraine needs in order to fulfill all our social and humanitarian obligations," Shmyhal said on Wednesday.

 

He added that the IMF has already set up a special administrative account through which Ukraine's partners will provide assistance for Kiev in the form of grants and loans, Xinhua news agency reported.

9:22 AM

Global growth to slow as inflation bites - Reuters poll

The global economy will expand more slowly than predicted three months ago, according to Reuters polls of over 500 economists, who said higher commodity prices and an escalation in the Russia-Ukraine war could prompt another downgrade.

 

Already under pressure from monetary tightening as central banks try to stem rising inflation, world economic output was dealt a body blow when Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, sending commodity prices through the roof and triggering waves of economic sanctions.

8:58 AM

Rajnath Singh to address Naval Commanders' Conference today

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will address the Naval Commanders' Conference, a platform to discuss important maritime matters at the military-strategic level today.

According to the Ministry of Defence, Singh will address the event at 10 am on Thursday. The Conference serves as a platform for Naval Commanders to discuss important maritime matters at the military-strategic level as well as interact with senior Government functionaries through an institutionalised forum.

The Chiefs of Indian Army General Manoj Mukund Naravane and Indian Air Force Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari will also interact with the Naval Commanders to address the convergence of the three Services vis-a-vis a common operational environment, as well as discuss avenues of augmenting Tri-Service synergy and readiness, stated the government in an official statement.

8:48 AM

Global Covid caseload tops 511.5 mn

The global coronavirus caseload has topped 511.5 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 6.22 million and vaccinations to over 11.31 billion, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

In its latest update on Thursday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and the death toll stood at 511,565,815 and 6,228,089, respectively, while the total number of vaccine doses administered increased to 11,319,187,191.

The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 81,189,357 and 992,722, respectively, according to the CSSE.

India accounts for the second highest caseload at 43,065,496.

8:47 AM

Elon Musk on fun trail says 'buying Coca Cola next'

In the last 48-hour of his buyout of the micro-blogging site Twitter, billionaire Elon Musk is again on a fun trail.

In a flurry of tweets, Musk claimed that he has set eyes on Coca Cola to "put cocaine back in" and "McDonald's to fix ice-cream machines".

After the multi-billion buyout of the microblogging website this week, only Musk knows whether he's kidding or not.

"Next I'm buying Coca-Cola to put the cocaine back in," Elon Musk tweeted on Friday.

Tagging to an old tweet, he said, "Listen, I can't do miracles". But, he promised to make "Twitter maximum fun".

8:46 AM

China logs 1,494 new COVID-19 cases, 47 deaths

The Chinese mainland reported 1,494 new locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases and 47 deaths in the past 24 hours, the National Health Commission said on Thursday.

Of these local cases, 1,292 were reported in Shanghai while the rest of the cases were reported in 16 other provincial-level regions on the mainland including 56 in Jilin, 48 in Beijing, and 46 in Zhejiang, Xinhua reported citing the commission.

The country also reported 9,791 locally transmitted asymptomatic infections of the virus in the past 24 hours, of which 9,330 local asymptomatic carriers were identified in Shanghai.