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Live news updates: "India was hardly counted in start-up ecosystem; it now ranks third in the world," PM Modi said

9:44 AM

Amit Shah in K'taka to hold talks on cabinet expansion

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who is on a visit to Bengaluru, is scheduled to hold several meetings on Tuesday before taking a final call on the cabinet expansion or reshuffle.

He is also chairing a core committee meeting at Jagannath Bhavan, the state BJP headquarters in Malleshwaram between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m.

Amit Shah will finalise on the cabinet expansion and strategise for the party in the wake of the Assembly elections in 2023.

9:44 AM

India reports 2,568 new cases in 24 hours

India on Tuesday has reported 2,568 fresh cases, 2,911 recoveries and 20 deaths in the last 24 hours. Active cases at 19,137, according to health ministry

9:43 AM

Beijing goes to extreme lengths to avoid Shanghai covid woes

China’s capital is deploying an increasingly hardcore playbook to contain its nascent Covid-19 outbreak, from repeat testing of most residents to barring access to public places without a negative result as it seeks to avoid the chaos seen in Shanghai.

 

Beijing halted dining-in at restaurants for the duration of the May Day holiday, which runs through Wednesday, made entry into places like parks and monuments dependent on a negative Covid test and has shuttered gyms. 

 

Authorities have also locked down apartment blocks -- forcing some residents to stay in their units, not allowed out for groceries or exercise -- and ordered another three rounds of mass testing to rein in an outbreak that added 62 new cases Monday, according to the state-run CCTV, up from 41 on Sunday. In Shanghai, new cases fell to 5,669 from 7,333.

9:33 AM

Amit Shah wishes Parshuram Jayanti, Akshaya Tritiya to countrymen

8:58 AM

Global Covid caseload tops 514 mn, deaths surge past 6.23 mn

The global coronavirus caseload has topped 514 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 6.23 million and vaccinations to over 11.31 billion, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

 

In its latest update on Tuesday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and the death toll stood at 514,090,956 and 6,237,775, respectively, while the total number of vaccine doses administered increased to 11,318,641,528.

 

The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 81,444,332 and 993,999, respectively, according to the CSSE.

 

8:49 AM

April 2022: Record not just for max but also for minimum, mean temperatures & rainfall

A month of records and contradictions. That was how April 2022 would go down in India Meteorological Department (IMD) records that have been meticulously maintained since 1901.

 

The unusually dry April has led to the average maximum temperature over the country as a whole being the third highest with 35.30 degrees Celsius after the years 2010 (35.42 degrees Celsius), 2016 (35.32 degrees Celsius) since 1901 while the mean temperature was second highest with 29.41 degrees Celsius after the year 2010 (29.48 degrees Celsius) since 1901.

 

The average minimum temperature was also the second highest at 23.51 degrees Celsius after the year 2010 (23.54 degrees Celsius) since 1901.

 

"The absence of active Western Disturbances (WDs) in the month over north India caused highly subdued rainfall and very less thunderstorm activities over northwest and central parts of India. It led to frequent and also prolonged spell of heat wave to severe heat wave days and higher than normal temperature over these areas on most days," IMD explained in its climate summary for the month of April.

 

The climatological data based on the period of 1981 to 2010 are used to calculate the normal.

8:30 AM

India's position on Ukraine takes care of our principles, interests: Foreign Secretary

Addressing a press briefing at the conclusion of the first leg of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Europe visit on Monday (local time), newly appointed Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said that India's position on the ongoing war in Ukraine "amply takes care of our principles as also our interests".

 

The Foreign Secretary made the remarks, in response to a question asking "what India's value space considerations are in this conflict (in Ukraine)?"

 

"We have consistently right from the onset of the conflict talked about an immediate and early cessation of hostilities and the resolution path which goes through diplomacy and dialogue. I think these have been the central pillars in terms of our position which we have explained many times," Foreign Secretary Kwatra said.

8:01 AM

Protest at Sri Lanka's 'Galle Face' continues for 24th day as government faces no-trust motion

As the ongoing economic crisis continues to fuel unrest in the Island country, the protests at 'Galle Face' in Colombo in front of the Presidential Secretariat continued for the 24th day on Monday even as the government faces the prospect of a no-confidence motion in the upcoming parliamentary session.

 

A large number of people from various parts of the island were present at the protest today as well demanding the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, Colombo Page reported.

 

The protests are being attended by religious leaders, youth, civil activists, artists, university students, journalists, disabled war heroes, trade union representatives, scholars and people from all walks of life from various parts of the country, the report added.

8:00 AM

Hardik Patel drops Cong from Twitter bio, fuels talks of political switch

Ahead of any state elections, it is common for political leaders to switch sides. And Gujarat, which is going to the polls later this year, is no different on this count.

 

Gujarat Congress working president Hardik Patel, the face of the reservation movement of 2016-17 who joined the grand old party in 2019, is the latest in the state to fuel talks of a political somersault after he dropped the party's name from his Twitter bio on Monday.

 

The phrase 'Working President of the Gujarat Congress' is now missing from Hardik Patel's Twitter bio, which reads: "Proud Indian Patriot. Social and Political Activist. Committed to a better India."

7:46 AM

US says military readiness unaffected by aid to Ukraine

The Pentagon has denied that arms transfers to Ukraine have impacted America's military readiness amid concerns that the Pentagon's own stockpile of Javelin weapons might be dwindling.

 

"We are comfortable that our readiness has not been impacted by the series of presidential drawdown authorities that we've executed," a senior US Defense Department official told reporters on Monday.

 

The official also said that the US has delivered more than 5,000 of the 5,500 Javelin anti-tank weapons systems Washington has committed to Ukraine.

7:46 AM

Hardik Patel drops Cong from Twitter bio, fuels talks of political switch

Ahead of any state elections, it is common for political leaders to switch sides. And Gujarat, which is going to the polls later this year, is no different on this count.

 

Gujarat Congress working president Hardik Patel, the face of the reservation movement of 2016-17 who joined the grand old party in 2019, is the latest in the state to fuel talks of a political somersault after he dropped the party's name from his Twitter bio on Monday.

 

The phrase 'Working President of the Gujarat Congress' is now missing from Hardik Patel's Twitter bio, which reads: "Proud Indian Patriot. Social and Political Activist. Committed to a better India."

7:46 AM

CCPA gets complaints against cab aggregators; calls meeting next week

Amid a rise in customer complaints against cab aggregators, consumer protection regulator CCPA has called a meeting of ride-hailing platforms like Ola and Uber next week for seeking details about their policies related to pricing and cancellation of rides.

 

Speaking to PTI, Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) Chief Commissioner Nidhi Khare said, "We have received several complaints from consumers regarding the cancellation and pricing policy of cab aggregators. The number of complaints are very high and therefore we have called the cab aggregators for explanation of their policies."

 

Citing a few examples, Khare said the regulator has received many complaints of alleged unfair trade practices, including cab drivers forcing consumers to cancel a trip and bear a penalty as the drivers do not want to accept the ride for whatever reason.

7:45 AM

NTAGI meet this week to review vaccine data for 5-12 age group

India’s vaccine think-tank the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) is likely to meet mid-week to review the data of Covid-19 vaccines Covovax and Corbevax for the age group 5-12 years, according to sources in the know.

 

This may pave the way for the inclusion of younger children in the national immunisation mission if the NTAGI finds the data satisfactory. A senior government official had told Business Standard last week that so far there was no scientific evidence to expand the vaccination programme to young children. “There are no plans yet to include children below 12 years in the vaccination drive. There is no scientific evidence about their vulnerability,” the official had said.

7:45 AM

India believes there will be no winner in Russia-Ukraine conflict: PM Modi

Asserting that India is on the side of peace, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday that India believes there will be no winner in the Russia-Ukraine conflict and all will suffer losses.

 

Addressing a joint press event with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz here, Modi said that from the start of the Ukraine crisis, India has called for immediate cessation of hostilities and stressed that talks are the only solution to resolve the dispute.

 

 

"We believe that there will be no winner in this war and all will suffer losses. Therefore, we are on the side of peace," he said.