Live news: Ukraine says Russia pounding Donbas, failing to take targets

Live news updates: Russian Foreign Minister says lifting Western sanctions on Russia was part of peace talks.

12:02 PM

PIL has turned into personal interest litigation, says CJI Ramana

Chief Justice N V Ramana on Saturday expressed concern over frivolous litigations in courts and said the concept of PIL has now turned into personal interest litigation and is at times being misused to stall projects or put pressure on public authorities.

Speaking at a joint conference of chief ministers and chief justices of high courts, Ramana said abiding by law and the Constitution is key to good governance.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the conference.

11:59 AM

PM Narendra Modi bats for use of local languages in courts

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday made a strong pitch for use of local languages in courts, contending that it will increase the confidence of common citizens in the justice system and they will feel more connected to it.

"We need to encourage local languages in courts. This will not only increase the confidence of common citizens in the justice system but they will feel more connected to it," Modi said addressing a joint conference of chief ministers and chief justices of high courts here.

The prime minister also appealed to chief ministers to repeal outdated laws to make delivery of justice easier.

11:47 AM

Mobile internet services suspended in Punjab's Patiala, 3 senior police officers transferred

The Punjab government on Saturday suspended mobile internet and SMS services in Patiala district, a day after clashes between two groups over an anti-Khalistan march left four people injured.

The government also transferred the inspector general of police (IG) Patiala Range, the Patiala senior superintendent of police and the superintendent of police with immediate effect.

A spokesperson of the Chief Minister's Office said Mukhwinder Singh Chinna has been appointed as the new IG-Patiala while Deepak Parik will be the new Patiala SSP. Wazir Singh has been appointed as the new superintendent of police of Patiala.

11:46 AM

Afghan envoy at UN lodges official complaint with Security Council over Pak airstrikes in Kunar, Khost

The Charge d'Affaires at Afghanistan's UN mission here has lodged an official complaint with the Security Council over airstrikes launched by Pakistan in the eastern Afghan provinces of Kunar and Khost this month, saying cross-border shellings by the Pakistani military forces are reprehensible" and these breaches will further destabilise peace and security in the region.

Naseer Ahmad Faiq, the Charge d'Affaires at the Permanent Mission of Afghanistan to the United Nations wrote to the President of the Security Council for the month of April, the UK, that the airstrikes by the Pakistani Air Force inside Afghanistan are an aggression against territorial integrity of Afghanistan.

These airstrikes are a flagrant breach of international laws, principles of the UN Charter, UN General Assembly and Security Council resolutions, including on Kabul Declaration on Good-Neighbourly Relations', he said.

11:36 AM

India reports 3,688 new Covid cases, 50 deaths

India on Saturday reported a marginal increase of 3,688 new Covid cases, against the 3,377 infections reported the previous day, the Union Health Ministry said.

In the same period, the country reported 50 Covid fatalities, taking the nationwide death toll to 5,23,803.

Meanwhile, the active caseload of the country has reported a considerable rise at 18,684, accounting for 0.04 per cent of the country's total positive cases.

The recovery of 2,755 patients in the last 24 hours took the cumulative tally to 4,25,33,377. Consequently, India's recovery rate stands at 98.74 per cent.

9:59 AM

WhatsApp likely working on multi-phone, tablet chatting

Meta-owned WhatsApp is likely working on a feature that would let users chat with the same account on multiple phones, or on a phone and a tablet.

A screen found in a beta version of the app by the site WABetaInfo gives instructions for registering the device you are using as a "companion" by scanning a code with your main phone, though currently there does not appear to be an actual code to scan, reports The Verge.

Meanwhile, a screen found in a previous beta showed that devices could be getting the ability to sync recent messages, even though they are end-to-end encrypted.

9:37 AM

COVID: 1,607 new cases in Delhi; positivity rate 5.28%

Delhi has recorded 1,607 fresh COVID-19 cases with two people succumbing to the virus in the last 24 hours, while the positivity rate stood at 5.28 per cent, the city health department said on Saturday.

These figures refer to the Friday's heath bulletin which was issued by authorities this morning.

With these new cases, the national capital's overall Covid tally has increased to 18,81,555 while the death toll has risen to 26,174.

9:18 AM

Mass graves with 900 bodies found at places in Kyiv Oblast: Zelensky

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that the mass grave with 900 bodies had been found in different places in Kyiv Oblast.

Ukraine's The Kyiv Independent earlier said that the Ukrainian President said a mass grave with 900 people was found in Kyiv Oblast. But after that, the media outlet issued a correction and said that Zelenskyy had been referring to the total number of people found in different mass graves in Kyiv Oblast.

"Hundreds of civilians have been killed in the region by Russian troops," the media outlet reported.

On Friday, The Kyiv Independent reported that three Russian missiles hit Kyiv Oblast.

9:17 AM

Premature to attribute extreme heat in India, Pak solely to climate change but heatwaves more intense: WMO

As large parts of India and Pakistan experience scorching temperatures, the UN's specialised agency on weather has said while it is premature to attribute the extreme heat in the two countries solely to climate change, it is consistent with a changing climate, with heatwaves starting earlier than in the past.

Extreme heat is gripping large parts of India and Pakistan, impacting hundreds of millions of people in one of the most densely populated parts of the world, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said on Friday.

It said that according to The India Meteorological Department, maximum temperatures reached 43-46C in widespread areas on April 28 and that this intense heat will continue until May 2.

9:16 AM

Kim Jong-un vows to 'pre-emptively' contain nuke threats

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un stressed the need to bolster the country's military power to "pre-emptively and thoroughly contain" nuclear threats from hostile forces, Pyongyang's state media reported on Saturday.

He met top military commanders who organised a massive street parade in Pyongyang earlier this week, the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a report.

Kim was quoted as calling on his military commanders to maintain the "absolute superiority" of the armed forces and constantly develop in order to "pre-emptively and thoroughly contain and frustrate all dangerous attempts and threatening moves, including ever-escalating nuclear threats from hostile forces, if necessary", Yonhap News Agency cited the KCNA report as saying.

8:59 AM

Global Covid caseload tops 513 mn, deaths surge past 6.23 mn

The global coronavirus caseload has topped 513 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 6.23 million and vaccinations to over 11.35 billion, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

In its latest update on Saturday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and the death toll stood at 513,045,386 and 6,233,848, respectively, while the total number of vaccine doses administered increased to 11,353,172,747.

The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 81,320,794 and 993,571, respectively, according to the CSSE.

India accounts for the second highest caseload at 43,072,176.

8:49 AM

Aviation Minister Scindia holds talks with US aerospace giants on bolstering alliance with India

Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia held discussions with American aerospace giants on further strengthening collaboration with the industry in India.

Scindia arrived here on Thursday for the first leg of his visit to North America and began his engagements with discussions with New York-based technology-powered, global air mobility platform Blade.

On Thursday, he also interacted with members of the Indian diaspora during a session and reception hosted by Consul General of New York Randhir Jaiswal.

8:46 AM

Moderna to build Covid-19 vaccine facility in Canada

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that Covid-19 vaccine developer Moderna will build a manufacturing facility in the country's Quebec to deliver up to 100 million mRNA vaccine doses annually.

 

Construction is set to start this year and the facility is expected to be operational in 2024 at the earliest, subject to planning and regulatory approvals, Trudeau said on Friday in a press release.

 

In addition to Covid-19 vaccines, the facility is expected to be able to produce vaccines for other respiratory diseases such as influenza, pending the ongoing development by Moderna and approval by Health Canada, according to the news release.

8:43 AM

Ukraine continues to block foreign ships in its waters: Lavrov

Ukraine continues to block foreign ships, creating a threat of shelling in its internal waters and territorial sea, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

 

"Russia is taking measures to ensure civil navigation in the waters of the Black and Azov seas. Every day a humanitarian corridor is opened, which is a safe lane for the movement of ships," he said in an interview with Xinhua.

 

"However, the Ukrainian side continues to block foreign ships, creating a threat of shelling in its internal waters and territorial sea," he said.

8:43 AM

Singapore detects two cases of new Omicron subvariant

Singapore has confirmed two COVID-19 cases with the new Omicron subvariant BA.2.12.1 through active monitoring of the disease and genetic sequencing for surveillance, the Channel News Asia reported.

 

The two community cases were detected as part of the authorities' active monitoring of the COVID-19 situation and genetic sequencing for surveillance, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) in its daily update on Thursday (April 28) night.

 

All cases self-isolated after testing positive for COVID-19, it said.