News LIVE updates: Germany refuses to boycott Russian energy

News Live Updates: Zelensky had earlier said that Ukraine would not compromise on its territorial integrity and sovereignty.

8:59 PM

Ex-journalist for Russian state TV says she quit over war

A former Paris-based Europe correspondent for Russian state-controlled broadcaster Channel One said Tuesday she resigned this month due to Russia's war against Ukraine and voiced fears she'll be accused of being a highly paid spy.

 

Zhanna Agalakova quit as the war broke out in Ukraine, joining a string of colleagues from Russia's strictly state-controlled network. She told a press conference in Paris that when I spoke to my bosses, I said I cannot do this job anymore ... I left Channel One specifically because the war started.

 

The 56-year-old, who used to be a newsreader at the channel, said she believed Russian networks had been commandeered by the Kremlin to broadcast lies and propaganda for years now, leaving little remaining in the way of independent media.

 

Russians, she said, were being zombified as a result.

8:54 PM

CID team reaches West Bengal to investigate Birbhum incident

8:42 PM

TRAI begins pilot study at Delhi airport for telecom infra deployment using street furniture

Telecom regulator TRAI has started a pilot study at the Delhi International Airport for next-generation telecom infrastructure deployment using street furniture, according to a statement.

 

The findings of the study will help in enabling small cell deployment at Indian airports using existing street furniture such as traffic signals, lit signage, lamp posts, light poles, utility poles and billboards, among others.

 

Street furniture is a generic term for pieces of equipment installed and deployed along streets and roads for various purposes.

 

"In order to expedite the availability of digital infrastructure for quick roll-out of next generation networks, TRAI has... started a pilot study at GMR International Airport at Delhi," the regulator said in a statement.

8:33 PM

Delhi reports 104 new Covid cases in a day

8:11 PM

Oil rises towards $116 as EU weighs Russian ban

Oil rose towards $116 a barrel on Tuesday, adding to a 7% surge the previous day, supported by supply risks from a potential European Union oil embargo on Russia and concern about attacks on Saudi oil facilities, Reuters reported.

 

European Union foreign ministers are split on whether to join the United States in banning Russian oil. Some countries, including Germany, say the bloc is too dependent on Russia's fossil fuels to withstand such a step.

 

"It is still not clear whether this will really happen," wrote Carsten Fritsch of Commerzbank in a report, adding: "a decision of this kind requires unanimity."

 

Brent crude rose 13 cents, or 0.1%, to $115.75 a barrel by 1326 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude added 11 cents, or 0.1%, to $112.23. Both contracts had settled up more than 7% on Monday.

 

7:56 PM

Pak PM says OIC and China should partner up to find solution to Russia-Ukraine conflict

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday warned that the world was heading in the "wrong" direction characterised by a Cold War' and the politics of rival blocs, as he suggested that the Muslim countries and China should partner up to find a solution to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

 

Delivering the keynote address at the inaugural session of the 48th Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) at the Parliament House here, Khan also talked about his concept of Muslim welfare state, Islamophobia and the global political affairs.

 

"The world is going to a Cold War and may be divided into blocsThe world is moving towards a direction which is worrisome for all of us, Khan told the conference which is being attended by more than 600 delegates, including Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi as a special guest.

7:47 PM

Over Rs 4,350 cr transferred to ineligible beneficiaries under PM-KISAN scheme: Govt

More than Rs 4,350 crore has been transferred to ineligible beneficiaries under the PM-KISAN scheme and an advisory has been issued to states for getting refunds, the government said on Tuesday.

 

The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana (PM-KISAN), which was announced in February 2019, is a central scheme that aims at providing financial assistance to landholding farmer families, subject to certain exclusion criteria, to enable them to take care of expenses related to agriculture and allied activities as well as domestic needs.

 

Under the scheme, an amount of Rs 6,000 per year is transferred in three four-monthly installments of Rs 2,000 directly into the bank accounts of the farmers.

7:32 PM

No provision for holding re-examination in case candidate fails to appear in exam, UPSC tells SC

The UPSC has told the Supreme Court that there is no provision for holding re-examination in case a candidate fails to appear in the test on the scheduled date for any reasons, including ailment or accident incapacitating him to take the exam.

 

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has filed an affidavit in the apex court which is hearing a plea by three aspirants who had cleared the UPSC-2021 prelims exam but could not appear in all papers of the main exam after testing positive for COVID-19 and are now seeking an extra attempt to appear in the exams.

 

The UPSC said that any decision regarding age relaxation and compensatory/extra attempt in the civil services examination is a policy matter which falls under the domain of the Department of Personnel and Training (DoP&T).

7:28 PM

Petrol, diesel price hiked by 80 paise; LPG at record high after Rs 50 rise

Petrol and diesel prices were on Tuesday hiked by 80 paise a litre each while domestic cooking gas LPG rates were increased by Rs 50 per cylinder as state oil firms ended an over four-and-a-half month election-related hiatus in rate revision.

 

Petrol in Delhi will now cost Rs 96.21 per litre as against Rs 95.41 previously while diesel rates have gone up from Rs 86.67 per litre to Rs 87.47, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers.

 

In Mumbai, the petrol price has been hiked by Rs 0.84 per litre to Rs 110.82 per litre, and diesel by Rs 0.86 to Rs 95 per litre.

7:23 PM

MHA seeks report from West Bengal govt on killing of 8 people

The Union Home Ministry on Tuesday sought a report from the West Bengal government after eight people were found burnt to death in Birbhum district, officials said.

 

The move came after a nine-member delegation of BJP MPs from West Bengal met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and sought his intervention and action against the perpetrators of the crime.

 

In a communication, the ministry asked the West Bengal government to maintain law and order and ensure security of common people in view of the killings, officials said.

7:18 PM

Serbia refuses to slap sanctions on Russia

A senior Serbian official says Belgrade will never impose sanctions or join the Western hysteria against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

 

Serbia's Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin said Tuesday: Serbia will never be part of the anti-Russian hysteria in which the property of Russian citizens and the property of the Russian Federation is stolen, just as we will not ban Russian media.

 

The Balkan country is a staunch ally of Russia, though it has condemned its invasion of Ukraine. Serbia is seeking membership of the European Union, but it is the only European country that has refused to join international sanctions against the Kremlin.

7:12 PM

No survivors found in plane crash: Chinese official

Over a day after a passenger aircraft with 132 people on board crashed in south China, a Chinese official announced on Tuesday that no survivors have been found, official media here reported. No survivors have been found in the China plane crash, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted a Chinese official in a brief report.

 

The announcement came as hundreds of rescuers carried desperate search operations in the mountainous regions of China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region where the Boeing 737 on the way from the Chinese city of Kunming to Guangzhou plunged and crashed on Monday.

 

People on-board the aircraft are still unaccounted for as the rescue work is underway at the mountainous site, state television CGTN reported on Tuesday over 24-hours after China's worst air disaster in a decade. Aircraft debris and some personal belongings have been found at the air crash site in Tengxian County of Wuzhou City, but no survivors, state-run CGTN reported on Tuesday.

6:35 PM

UK-bound Ukraine orphans stuck in Poland awaiting paperwork

Dozens of Ukrainian orphans and their carers who are headed to refuge in the UK were on Tuesday stuck in Poland due to missing paperwork from Ukraine.

 

The nearly 50 youngsters from orphanages in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro were due to fly to London on Monday before travelling on to Scotland, but instead waiting in a luxury hotel, which stepped in to give them free accommodation, until the bureaucratic holdup could be dealt with.

 

Their journey has been organised by a Scottish charity called Dnipro Kids, which was set up in 2005 by supporters of Hibernian Football Club in the Scottish capital Edinburgh. The effort to offer them temporary refugee until the war is over has the support of the British government.

6:28 PM

Kerala logs 702 new coronavirus cases, four deaths in a day

Kerala on Tuesday saw Covid test positivity rate fall below 3 per cent, after a very long time, to 2.89 while 702 new cases were registered, Health Minister Veena George said in a statement.

 

When there were 730 fresh recoveries, the total active cases in the state stood at 5,353 of which 10.4 per cent were admitted in various hospitals.

 

There were four new Covid deaths, taking the total death toll to 67,415.

6:25 PM

Discoms owe Rs 1 trillion to power generating firms till Feb: Power Min

Power distribution utilities outstanding dues stood at Rs one lakh crore at the end of February this year, Parliament was informed on Tuesday.

 

"As per data provided by the power sector Generating companies, on the PRAAPTI Portal, at the end of February 2022, a total amount of Rs 1,00,931 crores is due from the DISCOMs," Power Minister RK Singh said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

 

According to the reply, this overdue amount does not include the disputed amount.

 

The outstanding amount of the discoms (power distribution companies) becomes overdue after 45 days of raising the bill for supply of power by gencos.