Live: Ukraine says explosion aboard Russian warship was missile strike

Live news updates: US official says the stricken vessel was still trying to put out a fire.

11:09 PM

DGCA issues notices to SpiceJet, firm over training of 90 pilots

India’s aviation regulator has sent notices to SpiceJet and a training company for the way 90 pilots were taught to use the 737 Max simulator, officials said Thursday. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) barred earlier this week 90 SpiceJet pilots from flying Boeing 737 Max aircraft. Officials said the stick shaker--an equipment that vibrates when an aircraft is unable to lift itself--was not functioning in the Max simulator of CAE Simulation Training Pvt Ltd (CSTPL) when the pilots were being trained, PTI reported.

10:50 PM

Elon Musk aims for Twitter, says takeover needed for sake of free speech

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk took aim at Twitter Inc with a $43 billion cash takeover offer on Thursday, with the Tesla CEO saying the social media company needs to be taken private to grow and become a platform for free speech. "Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it," Musk, who is already the San Francisco-based company's second-largest shareholder, said in a letter to its board on Wednesday. The offer was made public in a regulatory filing on Thursday.

8:28 PM

Mumbai logs 56 new Covid cases, one death from disease

Mumbai on Thursday recorded 56 new cases of Covid-19 and one death from the disease, PTI reported. The daily cases raised the tally of infections to 10,58,623 and toll to 19,561, an official from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said. After a rise in infections over the last three days, the daily cases in the metropolis have witnessed a dip, while the city reported the second casualty of the month.

7:59 PM

Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor make their first public appearance after tying the knot in Mumbai

7:21 PM

Musk targets Twitter with $41 bn cash takeover offer

Elon Musk took aim at Twitter with a $41 billion cash offer on Thursday, with the Tesla CEO and billionaire entrepreneur saying the social media giant needs to be taken private to grow and become a platform for free speech. "Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it," Musk, who is already the company's second-largest shareholder, said in a letter to Twitter's board on Wednesday. The offer was made public in a regulatory filing on Thursday.

6:17 PM

Ukraine says it sank Russian flagship, Moscow denies

Ukraine said Thursday its forces sank the flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet in a missile attack, but Moscow said the vessel was merely damaged, making no mention of an assault. The loss of the ship would be a major military and symbolic defeat for Russia as its troops regroup for a renewed offensive in eastern Ukraine after retreating from much of the north, including the capital, the AP reported.

5:19 PM

Goldman Sachs profit nearly halves

Goldman Sachs Group Inc reported first-quarter profit that nearly halved on Thursday, as capital markets activity normalized from bumper levels a year ago, weighing on the bank's investment banking business. With the U.S. Federal Reserve beginning to wean the economy off pandemic-era support, dealmaking slowed in the quarter and cast a pall over some of Goldman's most lucrative businesses, Reuters reported.

5:04 PM

Ukraine economy could contract by at least one-third this: Central bank

Ukraine's central bank said on Thursday that the economy could contract by at least one-third in 2022 and inflation could exceed 20%, reflecting the impact of Russia's invasion. The central bank said it would postpone a decision on its key interest rate for the second time since the war started on February 24, Reuters reported.

4:42 PM

India on track to becoming $5 trn economy: Finance Ministry

The Union Budget’s capex will boost manufacturing and tax revenue collections to keep India on track to becoming a $5 trillion economy, the finance ministry said on Thursday. Tax revenues in the last fiscal year grew by a record 34 per cent to Rs 27.07 trillion, which the ministry said is "a remarkable testimony to the rapid recovery" of the economy in the coronavirus pandemic, PTI reported.

4:25 PM

Petronet LNG considers setting up 4th facility in India

Petronet LNG Ltd, the operator of the world's largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal, may look at setting up a fourth facility in the country to meet the rising energy demand in Asia's third-largest economy, its CEO A K Singh said. Petronet operates a 17.5 million tonnes a year LNG import facility at Dahej in Gujarat and another 5 million tonnes facility at Kochi in Kerala, PTI reported. 

3:52 PM

Elon Musk has offered to buy Twitter

Billionaire Elon Musk has offered to buy Twitter for $54.20 per share in cash.

3:40 PM

Worldwide coronavirus cases cross 499.91 million

More than 499.91 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 6,584,384 have died, according to a Reuters tally. Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.

3:35 PM

Masks, social distancing helped slow Covid outbreak: Online survey

Maintaining social distancing and wearing masks diligently prevented of eight out of 10 families in India from getting infected with Covid, a new survey has claimed. The survey, conducted by digital platform LocalCircles, received over 29,000 responses from citizens across 345 districts of India, said PTI.

3:01 PM

Vistara to start flights connecting Coimbatore with Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru from May 20

Vistara on Thursday said it will start flights connecting Coimbatore with Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru from May 20 onwards.

"The airline will operate daily flights to the city (Coimbatore) from Delhi and Mumbai effective May 20 and May 27 respectively; and double daily connectivity from Bengaluru starting June 3," the airline's statement noted.

Coimbatore is 31st city in the country to be connected with Vistara flights, it mentioned.

3:00 PM

CNG price hike: Auto, cab drivers to go on strike on April 18

With a fresh hike of Rs 2.5 in CNG prices, the members of auto, taxi and cab drivers' associations on Thursday warned authorities that they will go on a strike from April 18 to press for their demand of subsidy on gas prices.

On April 11, hundreds of auto, taxi and cab drivers staged a protest at the Delhi secretariat, demanding subsidy on CNG prices. The protest was held under the aegis of the Delhi Auto Rickshaw Sangh.

General Secretary of Delhi Auto Rickshaw Sangh, Rajendra Soni, said that their protests against the policies of Centre and Delhi government will continue and they will go on strike from April 18.