Live: Russia may try to split country, says Ukraine intelligence

Live news updates: India will resume scheduled international flights from Sunday; Joe Biden meets Ukraine ministers and Polish president.

5:00 PM

Govt agencies told to ensure round-the-clock power supply amid strike

Ahead of the two-day nationwide strike called by trade unions, the power ministry on Sunday advised all the state-run utilities and other agencies to be on high alert and ensure round-the-clock electricity supply and stability of the national grid.

A joint forum of central trade unions has called for a nationwide strike on March 28 and 29 in protest against central government's policies affecting workers of various sectors.

Workers of roadways, transport and electricity departments have decided to join the strike in spite of the impending threat of ESMA (Essential Services Maintenance Act) which is likely to be imposed in Haryana and Chandigarh, the joint forum had said in a statement.

Financial sectors, including banking and insurance, are also joining the strike, it had said.

"The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) have called for a nationwide strike with effect from 06:00 hrs of March 28 to 06:00 hrs of March 30, 2022," an advisory issued by the power ministry said.

 

4:45 PM

Malta's premier claims election win for latest Labour triumph

Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela on Sunday was claiming victory in his nation's parliamentary election hours before official results were expected.

If win is confirmed, that would mean the Labour Party will start its third consecutive term in office, beating out its traditional rival, the Nationalist Party.

The election was held Saturday in the Mediterranean island nation of around 400,000 people that is a member of the European Union.

We have a clear indication that the Labour Party will have an absolute majority, Abela told the Maltese state broadcaster. Labour had the lead in all public opinion polls before the balloting.

About 85% of eligible voters cast ballots. Normal turnout usually tops 90%.

Abela in January 2020 became prime minister after Joseph Muscat quit amid protests linked to the 2017 car bomb slaying of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who investigated corruption and ties between business interests and politicians in Malta.

During the election campaign, the sale of Maltese citizenship to the wealthy came under fire in the campaign amid EU sanctions against Russian oligarchs in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

4:44 PM

India, UAE to establish Investment Council as part of CEPA

India and the UAE on Sunday have agreed to set up a technical council on Investment, Trade Promotion and Facilitation, as part of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) signed between the two countries last month.

India and the UAE on February 18 had signed CEPA with a view to boosting bilateral trade to USD 100 billion over a five-year period and creation of lakhs of jobs.

The pact covers areas including goods, services, rules of origin, customs procedures, government procurement, intellectual property rights, and e-commerce.

Under the agreement, the two trading partners reduce or eliminate customs duties on the maximum number of goods traded between them.

UAE will be chaired by the Under Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, or the authorised representative thereof, and India will be chaired by the Joint Secretary (or equivalent), Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Government of India, the text of the CEPA agreement released on Sunday said.

4:35 PM

AIADMK slams CM Stalin's Dubai visit as a 'family picnic'

AIADMK top leader K Palaniswami on Sunday hit out at Chief Minister M K Stalin alleging that in the eyes of the people his Dubai visit was only a 'family picnic'.

Palaniswami said that when Stalin was leader of the opposition, he had mocked at him and his cabinet as "AIADMK picnic cabinet," as he had taken 3 of his ministers and government officials during his official visits abroad.

However, Stalin's entire family has now gone along with him to Dubai, the leader of opposition said. If Stalin had taken only secretaries of departments and ministers, it would have been appropriate, he told reporters here.

The AIADMK joint coordinator claimed that in the eyes of the people, the Chief Minister's Dubai visit was only a 'family picnic.'

On Stalin inaugurating the Tamil Nadu pavilion on Friday at the Dubai Expo 2022, Palaniswami said that it was amusing since the event, which began on October 1 last year is set to conclude on March 31. The event is a 'pretext' to visit Dubai, he said.

Palaniswami hit out at Stalin, saying his foreign visit was not for attracting investments to the state or for Tamil Nadu people's welfare.

The AIADMK leader alleged: "People talk that it is for their personal reasons and it is the people who ask whether he has gone there to bring or make investments."

4:16 PM

Ukraine separatist leader floats vote to join Russia

A separatist leader in eastern Ukraine says that his region wants to hold a vote on joining Russia.

Leonid Pasechnik, the head of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic, said Sunday that it could hold a referendum in the nearest time asking voters whether they support making the region part of Russia.

Russia has supported the separatist rebels in Luhansk and the neighbouring Donetsk regions since an insurgency erupted there in 2014 shortly after Moscow's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula.

Moscow recognised their independence on Feb. 21 and then cited their call for military assistance to launch the invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.

In talks with Ukraine, Moscow has urged it to acknowledge Russia's sovereignty over Crimea and the independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Pasechnik's statement could herald a shift in the Russian position.

 

3:51 PM

NC was ready for coalition govt with BJP in J&K in 2014, claims Rana

Former legislator and BJP member Devender Singh Rana has claimed that National Conference (NC) leader Farooq Abdullah was ready to form a coalition government with the saffron party in Jammu and Kashmir in 2014.

Rana, a former NC member, had joined the BJP in Delhi October last year, along with former minister S S Slathia.

His remark assumes significance as it contradicts the statement of NC vice president and former chief minister Omar Abdullah that he had cautioned PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed against forming a government with BJP in 2014, saying its would be a "disaster".

After the hung verdict in the 2014 assembly elections, I was sent as a leader of a delegation to Delhi by my then leadership to persuade BJP to form the government with National Conference ... we were ready to form a coalition government with the saffron party, Rana said addressing a public meeting in Doda district.

Rana had taken over the post of provincial president of National Conference in 2011 after relinquishing his office as political advisor to Omar.

He said PDP fought the assembly polls on the plank of keeping BJP out of power but later formed the coalition government with the same party.

 

3:49 PM

Apple reaches 60% sales share mark first time since 2017

Driven by strong 5G upgrades for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 series, Apple reached the 60 per cent sales share mark globally last year -- for the first time since 2017.

According to a new report, the delayed launch of Apple devices in 2020 also pushed demand to 2021.

Apple, with its strong brand power, is in the best position to gain Huawei's premium smartphone users, says a new report by Counterpoint Research.

"This is also indicated by Apple's growth in China, where the brand reached its highest ever market share in Q4 2021. Apple was the top OEM (original equipment manufacturer) in the premium segment in every region in 2021," the report showed.

In 2021, the growth in the premium smartphone segment outpaced the 7 per cent (on-year) growth in the overall global smartphone sales.

The premium segment alone contributed to 27 per cent of the global smartphone sales, its highest ever share.

3:46 PM

Blinken: US not seeking Russian regime change

Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the US is not trying to topple Russian President Vladimir Putin, despite its harsh condemnations of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Blinken spoke a day after President Joe Biden said of Putin during a speech in Warsaw: For God's sake, this man cannot remain in power.

At a news conference in Jerusalem, Blinken said Biden's point was that Putin cannot be empowered to wage war or engage in aggression against Ukraine or anyone else.

He said the US has repeatedly said that we do not have a strategy of regime change in Russia, or anywhere else for that matter.

In this case, as in any case, it's up to the people of the country in question. It's up to the Russian people, Blinken said.

3:41 PM

EU envoy in Tehran amid hopes to restore nuclear agreement

A leading European Union diplomat held talks in Tehran on Sunday, Iran's state-run media reported, amid hopes that an agreement to restore Iran's tattered nuclear deal with world powers could be completed.

The meetings between the EU's envoy, Enrique Mora, and Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani come at a sensitive moment for talks to revive the deal, as the glimmers of a resolution to some of the thorniest issues in the negotiations have emerged.

The report on the talks in Tehran gave scant detail, saying only that the diplomats discussed the latest on the nuclear agreement, with Kani repeating that Iran believed a deal was within reach if America was realistic in its demands.

Former President Donald Trump abandoned the nuclear deal in 2018 and re-imposed crushing sanctions.

Iran gradually breached the agreement with a massive expansion of its nuclear work.

Nuclear talks broke off earlier this month as last-minute wrangles in Vienna coincided with Russia's invasion of Ukraine and financial sanctions imposed by the West on Moscow.

 

3:12 PM

Muslims placing faith now in Modi, Yogi: UP's lone minority minister

Danish Azad Ansari, the only Muslim minister in Uttar Pradesh, on Sunday claimed that his community is warming up to the BJP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

The Ballia resident was inducted into the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government as a minister of state on Friday and needs to be elected to the state assembly or the legislative council in the next six month to continue on the post.

Ansari said the Muslim community is now shedding the "illusion" created by opposition parties like the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress.

"The BJP is getting the love of Muslim society now and the love for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is increasing continuously in the Muslim community, he told PTI.

Faith in the BJP is being awakened in the community," he added.

Ansari, 34, said Modi's vision of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Vikas' is expanding the BJP vote base and Muslims are being drawn more towards the BJP.

3:10 PM

Adani Total Glass enters electric mobility infra sector

Adani Total Gas Ltd (ATGL), India's leading City Gas Distribution company, has forayed into Electric Mobility by launching its first electric vehicle charging station (EVCS) in Ahmedabad.

The EVCS, located at ATGL's CNG station at Maninagar in Ahmedabad, will enable quick turnaround time for EV owners with best-in-class fast charging technology and convenient to use digital platform.

"The Commencement of EV business with setting up the first charging station in Ahmedabad is yet another milestone for Adani Total Gas to provide choice of newer green fuel to the larger consumer base in India while timely ceasing an emerging business opportunity aligned to our vision to offer sustainable fuelling solutions on across all major cities and towns in India," said Suresh P. Manglani, CEO of Adani Total Gas.

The company aims to expand its network by setting up 1500 EVCS across the country and has kept an expansion plan ready to move beyond 1500 EVCS, based on the demand generation and momentum building of the EV ecosystem in the country.

ATGL has a strong footprint across the country as a retailer of CNG. It is uniquely positioned to play an active role in the Electric Mobility business by virtue of owning the retail space, huge experience of serving the domain customers and a wide customer base across India.

2:40 PM

Ukrainian rebel region may hold referendum on joining Russia

The Russian-backed self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic in eastern Ukraine could hold a referendum soon on joining Russia, the rebel region's news outlet cited local leader Leonid Pasechnik as saying on Sunday. "I think that in the near future a referendum will be held on the territory of the republic," Pasechnik said, according to Reuters.

2:04 PM

Ukraine asks Red Cross not to open office on Russian frontier

Ukraine asked the Red Cross not to open a planned office in Russia's Rostov-on-Don, saying it would legitimise Moscow's "humanitarian corridors" and the abduction and forced deportation of Ukrainians.

12:55 PM

Russia says it struck Ukraine's Lviv with cruise missiles

Russia struck military targets in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv with high-precision cruise missiles, the Russian defence ministry said on Sunday.

 

12:37 PM

Ukraine and Russia 'agree to' two humanitarian corridors

Ukraine and Russia have agreed two 'humanitarian corridors' to evacuate civilians from frontline areas on Sunday, including allowing people to leave by private car from the southern city of Mariupol, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said, according to Reuters.