Hindustan Times News | 3rd March 2022 | 8 AM

HT Daily News Wrap

Russia is putting in place “humanitarian corridors” for the safe evacuation of Indians, India on Wednesday abstained from voting on a resolution against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine at the United Nations General Assembly, The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor on Wednesday said he would immediately open an investigation into possible war crimes committed in Ukraine & other top news in this bulletin.
Russia is putting in place “humanitarian corridors” for safe evacuation of Indians stranded in conflict zones in eastern Ukraine and will conduct an investigation into the death of an Indian student in Kharkiv, Russian ambassador-designate Denis Alipov said on Wednesday. The evacuation of some 4,000 Indians stranded in Kharkiv, Sumy and other conflict areas in eastern Ukraine has become the Indian government’s top priority following the death of 21-year-old medical student Naveen Shekharappa Gyandagoudar on Tuesday. India has demanded safe passage for its citizens from both Russia and Ukraine. Alipov told a virtual briefing the Russian side hopes to have the corridors in place “as soon as possible” so that Indians in conflict zones are moved to Russian territory. The Russian side also intends to stop military operations in Ukraine as soon as possible as the situation is a “tragedy” for both countries, he added.

India on Wednesday abstained from voting on resolution against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine at the United Nations General Assembly. “India is deeply concerned about deteriorating situation in Ukraine. An Indian national was killed in Kharkiv yesterday. We express our deepest condolences to his family & to every civilian who has lost his/her life in this conflict,” TS Tirumurti, India’s permanent representative to the United Nations, said. “We demand safe & uninterrupted passage for all Indian nationals including our students, particularly from Kharkiv and other conflict zones. My government has deployed senior ministers to neighbouring countries of Ukraine to facilitate evacuation,” he added.

A week after Russian President Vladimir Putin sanctioned the all-out attack on Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky late on Wednesday addressed his countrymen in a video posted on the Telegram messaging service in which he said Ukraine has been successful in breaking the enemy’s ‘sneaky’ plans of years in a week. “We are a nation that broke the enemy’s plans in a week. Plans written for years: sneaky, full of hatred for our country, our people,” he said. “Every occupier must know: he will receive a fierce rebuff from the Ukrainians. So much so that he will remember forever that we will not give up! We are the people who broke the enemy’s plans in a week,” Zelensky said. “We smashed the plans they had been preparing for years. Their morale is deteriorating. More and more occupants are fleeing to return home. I sincerely admire the Ukrainians who go out with their bare hands and chase the occupiers out of their cities!” the president added claiming nearly 9,000 Russians have been killed in one week. Russia said 498 of its troops have been killed announcing the death toll the first time since the launch of the attack.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor on Wednesday said he would immediately open an investigation into possible war crimes committed in Ukraine, following requests to do so by an unprecedented number of the court’s member states. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 has yet to overthrow the government in Kyiv but thousands of people are believed to have been killed or injured, according to officials in both countries and the United Nations. “Active investigations formally commence in Ukraine upon receipt of referrals by 39 state parties”, prosecutor Karim Khan tweeted. The referrals by member states fast-track an investigation as it allows the prosecutor to skip having to seek approval of the court in The Hague, shaving months off the process. The prosecutor had already said on Monday that he would seek court approval into allegations of war crimes in Ukraine. The prosecutor’s office would start collecting evidence for “any past and present allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide committed on any part of the territory of Ukraine by any person”, Khan said in a statement.

Average temperatures across seasons have seen a sharp upward trend in the country since 1991, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The trend is in comparison to the average surface air temperature baseline recorded between 1981 and 2010. “The excess heat is increasing the moisture holding capacity of atmosphere during these seasons, leading to a spike in heavy and extremely heavy rainfall events,” M Mohapatra, director general of IMD, said on Wednesday. The temperature rising trend is more evenly pronounced during monsoon (June to September) and post-monsoon (October to December) seasons. “There is also a rising trend in both minimum and maximum temperatures, but the rise is significant in case of the latter,” according to IMD data shared by Mohapatra during the Anil Agarwal Dialogue 2022, organised by the Centre for Science and Environment. “There is a rise of 0.26 degree C in average minimum temperatures over the country 1901 onwards, but a rise of 0.99 degree C in average maximum temperatures over the same period,” the data suggest.