LIVE: Court acquits Umar Khalid in Delhi riots case, to stay in custody

Special Public Prosecutor Madhukar Pandey confirmed that Umar Khalid and Khalid Saifi were discharged in the matter by the court of Additional Sessions Judge Pulastya Pramachala

3:32 PM

Sisodia will have to 'face the music' in Excise policy 'scam' case: BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra

The BJP on Saturday claimed that the AAP used the Delhi Excise policy to "receive kickbacks" and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia who was "instrumental" in framing it will "face the music and the law".

 

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy have been weaving stories through press conferences to spread a "lie" that there was no "scam" in the implementation of the excise policy and that Sisodia was innocent, alleged BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra.

3:23 PM

Twitter serving 90 billion tweet impressions per day, says Elon Musk

Twitter boss Elon Musk has said that the micro-blogging platform is serving 90 billion tweet impressions per day.

 

"Twitter is now serving almost 90 billion tweet impressions per day! Just how incredibly alive the system actually is will become obvious as we show view count on all tweets," he tweeted.

3:08 PM

Covid emergency phase closer to end but Omicron transmission remains: WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) said that although the world is "much closer" to end the emergency phase of the Covid-19 pandemic, it warned that Omicron was still circulating rampantly and continues to cause significant mortality.

"We are much closer to being able to say that the emergency phase of the pandemic is over -- but we're not there yet," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at a press briefing here.

The reason behind is that "Omicron has proved to be significantly more transmissible than its predecessor, Delta, and continues to cause significant mortality due to the intensity of transmission".

2:57 PM

Kerala will proceed 'no matter what' with protest-hit Adani port, says minister

India's Kerala state will proceed "no matter what" with a $900 million port project and is open to deploying federal police if needed to protect it from protesters blocking construction, a government minister told Reuters on Saturday.

The local fishing community, led by Catholic priests, has blocked construction of Vizhinjam port by Adani Group for almost four months, erecting a makeshift shelter at the port's entrance. The protesters say the huge project causes coastal erosion that has undermined their livelihoods, calling for a complete halt on the construction.

Adani Group, led by Asia's richest man Gautam Adani, and the Kerala government, which is shouldering two-thirds of the project cost with the federal government, have denied such accusations. Clashes between police and protesters last weekend injured more than 100 people, including 64 police.

2:53 PM

Have no clue why suddenly there are issues: Shashi Tharoor

A section of the Congressmen in Kerala seemed to be jittery ahead of Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor's scheduled visit to Kottayam and Pathanamthitta districts in the next two days.

Tharoor will arrive in Erattupettah, about 40 kms from Kottayam, to address a Youth Congress meeting on Saturday while he will be in Adoor in Pathanamthitta on Sunday.

The two district committees of the party are up in arms on the ground that Tharoor did not inform them and hence they will not cooperate with his visit.

Reacting to the matter, Tharoor said that he fails to understand what has happened in the past two months as complaints are coming up.

"I have no clue what's happening and my office always gives the information. I have committed to attend and I will attend both the meetings and will deliver my speech," said Tharoor.

2:43 PM

IMF can't dictate to Pakistan government: Finance Minister

At a time when Pakistan, under the current coalition government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, is facing a towering challenge of reviving its economic and financial conditions and prevent from moving towards a complete meltdown, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has expressed his displeasure over the delay in the ninth International Monetary Fund (IMF) review, saying that he will not bow down to what he termed as "dictation" of the IMF.

 

Talking to a local media outlet, Dar said that he was not concerned whether the IMF team arrives or not to assess and finalise the pending review of the country's $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF).

 

The Minister said that the IMF team is more than welcome to visit as the compliance details for the ninth review was "completely in order".

 

"I do not care if they come, I don't have to plead before them. I have to look at Pakistan's interest first," he said.

 

2:33 PM

Twitter serving 90 bn tweet impressions per day: Musk

Twitter boss Elon Musk has said that the micro-blogging platform is serving 90 billion tweet impressions per day.

"Twitter is now serving almost 90 billion tweet impressions per day! Just how incredibly alive the system actually is will become obvious as we show view count on all tweets," he tweeted.

Last month, Musk tweeted in which he said that Twitter may exceed one billion monthly users in the next 12 to 18 months.

He tweeted: "I think I see a path to Twitter exceeding a billion monthly users in 12 to 18 months."

2:25 PM

Royal meal: G20 delegates to get a taste of Rajasthani delicacies

A sumptuous meal of Dal bati churma or Jodhpuri kabuli pulao, followed by a lip-smacking dessert of Bikaneri ghevar or Jodhpuri mawa kachauri.

Delegates of G20 countries can choose from a wide range of Rajasthani delicacies during the first Sherpa meeting under Indian presidency in Udaipur.

The delegates will arrive in the city of lakes on Sunday and the meetings will take place on Monday and Tuesday.

On Wednesday, they will visit the magnificent 15th-century Kumbhalgarh fort in Rajsamand and Ranakpur Jain temple in Pali district.

Apart from Rajasthani, the delegates will be served south-Indian dishes, Hyderabadi, Gujarati and Punjabi delicacies during the four days, Udaipur tourism deputy director Shikha Saxena told PTI.

2:19 PM

Pak summons Afghan diplomat to convey anguish over attack on its envoy in Kabul

Pakistan has summoned Afghanistan's Charge d'Affaires in Islamabad and conveyed to him its deep concern over the attack on the country's Head of Mission in Kabul, it emerged on Saturday.

Ubaid-ur-Rehman Nizamani survived an attack on Pakistan's embassy in Kabul on Friday, drawing immediate condemnation and a demand for a probe from Islamabad. Nizamani was targeted by unidentified gunmen while taking a walk in the embassy compound. His guard was critically injured in the attack.

The Pakistan Foreign Office said in a late-night statement that the Afghan diplomat was summoned on Friday evening and conveyed Pakistan's grave concern over the serious incident in which, thankfully, the Head of Mission remained unhurt but the guard was seriously wounded.

1:57 PM

Using abusive words against PM Modi new normal for Congress: BJP

The BJP on Saturday said that using abusive words against Prime Minister Narendra Modi has become a "new normal" for the Congress.

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra cited reports of Karnataka Congress leader V S Ugrappa calling Modi "Bhasmasur", a demon in Indian mythology, to hit out at the opposition party. He noted that it comes close on the heels of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge throwing "Ravan" barb at the prime minister.

It has become an issue of common occurrence as far as the Congress is concerned. The Congress has become an abusive party, he alleged at a press conference.

1:56 PM

World food prices fall slightly in Nov: FAO

Increased stability in grain exports from Russia and Ukraine sent global prices for grains and cereals lower in November, the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said.

The broader FAO Food Price Index was flat compared to a month earlier, remaining near record highs, Xinhua news agency quoted the UN body as saying on Friday.

The Organization said that Russia's rejoining of the Black Sea Grain Initiative was a driving force in November, pushing global prices for wheat 2.8 per cent lower.

1:37 PM

Kerala CM, team spent Rs 43 L on London visit: RTI reveals

A whopping Rs 43 lakh were spent on Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his team's London visit in October, an RTI reply has revealed.

The RTI queries were answered by the Indian High Commission's London office.

Chief Minister Vijayan, along with three other state ministers and top officials, was in London from October 8-12 during which all the expenses were met by the Commission on behalf of the Kerala government.

A detailed split up shows an equivalent of Rs 28.54 lakh was paid for the hotel accommodation while the local transportation cost Rs 22.38 lakh and at the airport lounge it came to Rs 2.21 lakh.

1:16 PM

HP: 3.4 magnitude earthquake jolts Chamba, surrounding districts

An earthquake of magnitude 3.4 jolted Chamba and its surrounding districts in Himachal Pradesh but no loss of life was reported, an official said on Saturday.

The earthquake occurred on Friday night with the epicentre being Dhar Makkan near Tissa area of Chamba district, Special Secretary Disaster Management Sudesh Mokta said.

The tremors lasted a few seconds forcing people out of their homes. No loss of life or property has been reported so far, he said.

1:12 PM

Pakistan averts default; pays $1 billion Sukuk bond before schedule

Cash-strapped Pakistan has averted a default on its repayment of USD 1 billion against a matured international Sukuk (Sharia-compliant bond) three days ahead of schedule on Friday.

The Express Tribune reported on Saturday that as per the actual schedule, the country was to return the maturing investment in the US dollar-denominated global bond on December 5.

"Yes, we have made the payment of USD 1 billion," State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Spokesperson Abid Qamar told the newspaper. The bank has made the payment to Citigroup which would transfer the funds onward to the investors.

12:57 PM

Up to 11 pc of Covid cases that needed hospitalisations had lung scarring: US study

Up to 11 per cent of Covid cases that needed hospitalisation had lung scarring which may be irreversible and could get worse over time, according to a study conducted in the United States.

The study, published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, sought to determine the percentage of COVID-19 patients, with various degrees of severity, discharged from hospital who had a type of fibrotic lung damage, known as interstitial lung disease, that requires follow-up care.

Interstitial lung disease refers to a broad group of diseases that are characterized by lung scarring, including idiopathic lung fibrosis. This scarring makes it difficult to breathe and get oxygen into the bloodstream. Lung damage caused by this may be irreversible and get worse over time.