Live: Russia hits Ukraine's Kyiv, Lviv after sinking of Black Sea flagship

Live: Russia retaliates against UK sanctions on its top officials with entry bans on Prime Minister Boris Johnson and much of his cabinet.

2:15 PM

Cong to oppose Hindi 'imposition' on non-Hindi speaking states

The Congress is gearing up to oppose any move to implement Hindi in the non-speaking states after a controversy erupted since Union Home MInister Amit Shah said that Hindi should be accepted as an alternative language to English.

The Congress said that the BJP is testing the waters by creating an issue and promoting division in the country but the party will oppose any such move when the government enforces it. Congress Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Council B K Hariprasad told IANS: "It's not an easy thing as the non-Hindi speaking states will not accept it and we will oppose any such move. However I speak Hindi, but people will not accept this, the government should see the history, see what had happened before on the issue."

1:26 PM

Pak National Assembly deputy Speaker resigns before no-trust motion against him

Qasim Khan Suri resigned as deputy speaker of Pakistan's National Assembly on Saturday, less than an hour before a session of the House where voting on a no-trust motion against him was to take place for favouring the previous government led by Imran Khan.

Suri from Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party had been functioning as the acting speaker following the resignation of Speaker Asad Qaiser, who resigned on April 9 stating that he cannot hold a vote of no-confidence against Khan.

1:04 PM

Sonia calls meeting of senior leaders, Prashant Kishor joins in

A meeting, called by Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi to discuss issues related to 'Chintan Shivir' and upcoming polls is underway at her residence here, sources said.

Party's senior leaders Digvijaya Singh, Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and Ajay Maken are present in the meeting.

The meeting is also being attended by political strategist Prashant Kishor, sources said.

Notably, Kishor has met the Gandhis several times in the past few weeks and is tipped to join the party.

The Congress is gearing up to call a Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting ahead of the 'Chintan Shivir'. The CWC will meet to finalise the agenda for the Shivir.

12:43 PM

India can't afford to remain stagnant at this juncture, says PM Modi

India cannot afford to remain stagnant at this juncture and it has to become self-reliant, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday.

He was speaking after unveiling a 108-feet tall statue of Lord Hanuman in Gujarat's Morbi via video link on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti.

"India cannot afford to remain stagnant today...We cannot continue to remain where we are. The global situation is such that the entire world is thinking on how to become 'aatmanirbhar'," Modi said.

12:31 PM

Pak Parliament set to appoint former PM Raja Pervaiz Ashraf as new speaker

Pakistan's Parliament is set to meet on Saturday to appoint former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf as the new speaker and take up a no-confidence motion against deputy speaker Qasim Khan Suri for acting in favour of the previous government led by Imran Khan.

Ashraf, 71, from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) will be given the oath of office after he was deemed elected as no other candidate on Friday submitted nomination papers against him till the 12-noon deadline.

12:17 PM

US lawmakers affirm Japan alliance eyeing China, North Korea

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and visiting US lawmakers reaffirmed their commitment to working together under a longstanding bilateral alliance on Saturday, amid heightened global tensions spanning the war in Ukraine to threats from neighbouring China and North Korea.

In a meeting over breakfast, the delegation, led by Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, agreed with Kishida on the importance of maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region, according to the Foreign Ministry.

The six lawmakers' visit follows their earlier stop in Taiwan, where they made a pointed and public declaration of their support for the self-governing island democracy, while issuing a warning to China. They met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday.

11:23 AM

Imran Khan's ouster affirms power in Pakistan lies with Army Chief

After Imran Khan's ouster as Prime Minister, Pakistan has again been reminded that the main power lies in the hands of the Army Chief.

The pattern began with Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, who was elected as the PM in the year 1973. He misused his power as he established a private security organisation to bust heads whenever the Army refused. He began the jihad in Afghanistan in 1973 by exploiting Islamist Afghans and in 1973, he launched a brutal army operation in Balochistan which resulted in thousands of civilian casualties. Then in 1977, he rigged elections to ensure another term. As violence engulfed the country, General Zia-ul-Haq, the Army Chief, who was appointed by Bhutto, deposed him in a coup.

Bhutto was convicted for the murder of a political opponent and went to the gallows. After this Zia assumed the office of the presidency and introduced many controversial provisions such as the eighth Amendment and its Article 582b which empowered the President of the country to dissolve the National Assembly, besides calling Pakistan a Sunni Islamist state. Under domestic and international pressure to hold elections, Zia selected Muhammad Khan Junejo.

11:08 AM

PM Modi to unveil 108 ft Lord Hanuman statue in Gujarat's Morbi today

On the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will unveil a 108 feet statue of Lord Hanuman in Gujarat's Morbi on Saturday via video conferencing. 

 

As per the Prime Minister's Office, the statue is the second of the four statues being built in the four directions across the country, as part of the 'Hanumanji Char Dham' project. 

 

The statue has been set up in the west, at the Ashram of Bapu Keshvanand ji in Morbi, the PMO said in a statement.

11:03 AM

Pak National Assembly to take up no-trust vote against Dy Speaker Qasim Suri today

The session of the Pakistan National Assembly, with the voting for the removal of Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri and the election of the new speaker on agenda, will be held at noon on Saturday, reported Radio Pakistan.

The National Assembly, earlier scheduled to meet on April 22, has now been convened to meet on Saturday to take up the no-confidence motion against Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri, who is currently functioning as the acting speaker, reported the Dawn newspaper.

Notably, Suri had earlier changed the schedule of the sitting of the lower house of parliament from April 16 to April 22. However, Additional Secretary of Legislation of the National Assembly Secretariat Muhammad Mushtaq on Friday informed the members that the resolution for removal of the deputy speaker from the office would be taken up on April 16.

10:28 AM

Covid mRNA tech may create first-ever cure for heart attacks

UK scientists may have discovered the world's first cure for heart attacks using the same mRNA technology as Covid vaccines.

Human heart has no capacity to heal itself after a heart attack.

But with the new technique called genetic tracking - built on the same technology used to create Pfizer and Moderna's Covid vaccines - can help new heart cells replace the dead ones and instead of forming a scar, develop a new muscle tissue.

A team at King's College London tracked genetic codes called mRNAs which are injected into the heart to produce proteins that would generate healthy heart cells, Daily Mail reported.

10:02 AM

India records 975 fresh COVID-19 cases, 4 more deaths

India's COVID-19 tally climbed to 43,040,947 on Saturday with 975 more people testing positive for the viral disease, while the active cases increased to 11,366, according to Union health ministry data.

The death toll reached 521,747 with four more fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.

The active cases comprise 0.03 per cent of the total infections. The national COVID-19 recovery rate remained at 98.76 per cent, the ministry said.

An increase of 175 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

9:41 AM

Global Covid caseload tops 503.5 mn, deaths surge past 6.19 mn

The global coronavirus caseload has topped 503.5 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 6.19 million and vaccinations to over 11.16 billion, according to 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 503,503,651 and 6,195,515 respectively, while the total number of vaccine doses administered has increased to 11,163,943,559.

The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 80,612,659 and 988,558 respectively, according to the CSSE.

9:32 AM

Bhagwant Mann govt announces 300 units of free power for Punjab from July 1

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab on Saturday announced 300 units of free electricity for every household from July 1, according to the State Information and Public Relations Department.

 

The announcement came on the day when Bhagwant Mann-led government completed its one month in the office today.

 

Mann met Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday to discuss the scheme of providing free electricity to the people of Punjab and indicated, in a press conference, that the State government can make a big announcement soon.

 

9:26 AM

Shanghai Covid Cases Top 23,500 as Xian Starts Partial Lockdown

Shanghai’s coronavirus outbreak continued unabated with more than than 23,500 new cases, while the northwestern Chinese city of Xian said it will temporarily impose a partial lockdown after reporting dozens of infections this month.

 

China reported 24,680 new daily infections for Friday, according to the National Health Commission. More than 80% of Shanghai’s cases were asymptomatic as the virus continues to disrupt spread despite the weeks-long lockdown of 25 million people in the financial hub.

 

Xian said on Friday that it will act to reduce movements of its residents for four days till April 19. People are advised to stay at home and refrain from unnecessary out-of-home activities, while major entertainment bushinesses including cinemas, bars, museums and hotels are temporarily closed. Restaurants are required to only provide take-away services.

9:18 AM

Ukraine says 2,500-3,000 of its troops killed in war, no count of civilian deaths

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said about 2,500 to 3,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed in seven weeks of war with Russia and about 10,000 have been injured.

 

There was no count of civilian casualties, he told CNN on Friday.

 

He said 19,000 to 20,000 Russian soldiers had been killed in the war, now in its eighth week. Moscow said last month that 1,351 Russian soldiers had been killed and 3,825 wounded.

 

Reuters could not independently verify either side's numbers.