The Indian rupee hit a lifetime low in opening deals on Monday as a sharp surge in global crude oil prices threatened to push up imported inflation and widen the country’s trade and current account deficits. The partially convertible rupee was trading at 76.92/93 per dollar, after touching 76.96, its weakest level ever. It had closed at 76.16 on Friday. The benchmark 10-year bond yield was trading at 6.86%, up 5 basis points on the day. Oil prices soared more than 6%, touching their highest since 2008 on Monday after the United States and European allies mull a Russian oil import ban while delays in the potential return of Iranian crude to global markets fuelled tight supply fears. Indian shares tumbled over 2% on Monday, with investors dumping risky assets as oil prices soared after the United States and European allies were said to be mulling a Russian oil import ban.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday sought Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s support for evacuating hundreds of Indian nationals stranded in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sumy amid intense fighting in the region. The main focus of India’s evacuation efforts in Ukraine over the past few days has been the safe and secure exit of some 700 Indians, mostly students, from Sumy. Close to 16,000 Indian nationals have been evacuated from across Ukraine, including other areas in the eastern part of the country facing heavy Russian shelling and violence. During a 35-minute phone conversation, Modi sought continued support from the Ukrainian government in ongoing efforts for evacuating Indian nationals from Sumy, people familiar with the matter said.
The Russian military declared a ceasefire in the capital city of Kyiv in Ukraine and three other major cities on Monday to open humanitarian corridors, news agency Reuters reported citing local media. The decision followed a request personally made by French President Emmanuel Macron, the report said. The corridors to allow safe passage to civilians trying to flee the war will open at 1000 Moscow time (0700 GMT). It will continue for 11 hours, according to the report. Besides Kyiv, forces will hold fire in Kharkiv, Mariupol and Sumy. A day earlier, a similar ceasefire was announced in Mariupol. But after a brief pause in firing, Ukrainian officials said Russian forces resumed artillery fire and airstrikes which prevented residents from leaving. Putin has blamed Ukraine for sabotaging the effort.
Police in Thailand said Monday that an autopsy conducted on the body of Australian cricket star Shane Warne has concluded that he died of natural causes. A statement issued by deputy national police spokesperson Kissana Pathanacharoen said the opinion issued by the doctor who carried out the autopsy has been conveyed to Warne’s family and the Australian Embassy. It said the family did not have any doubt that the 52-year-old cricketer, widely considered one of the sport’s greatest spin bowlers, died of natural causes. The statement, issued ahead of a planned police news conference, did not specify the cause of death. Preliminary evaluations from Thai authorities suggested Warne died from a heart attack. Warne was found unresponsive in his hotel room on the Thai resort island of Samui on Friday and could not be revived at a nearby hospital. His body was transferred Sunday to the Thai mainland for an official autopsy at a state hospital.
The Ukraine government has a contingency plan in place if President Volodymyr Zelensky is killed during the Russian invasion, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during an interview with CBS News’ Face the Nation on Sunday. ‘The Ukrainians have plans in place — that I’m not going to talk about or get into any details on — to make sure that there is what we would call “continuity of government” one way or another. And let me leave it at that,’ Blinken said when he was asked if the United States was working on an interim plan to support a Ukrainian government without Zelensky. This comes amid reports that Zelensky has survived three assassination attempts since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Zelensky too talked about the threat to his life. In fact, he opened the recent Zoom meeting with US senators saying that this is probably the last time they were seeing him live.
That’s all from us for now. We will be back with the morning news bulletin.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday held a meeting with all chief ministers via tele-conferencing, the global death toll from the coronavirus topped 100,000 & other top st ... Read more
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday held a meeting with all chief ministers via tele-conferencing, the global death toll from the coronavirus topped 100,000 & other top stories making news throughout the day. Read more
PM Modi scheduled to hold his third video conference with chief ministers, a vaccine for coronavirus is likely to be ready in early 2021, an analysis says & other top stories t ... Read more
PM Modi scheduled to hold his third video conference with chief ministers, a vaccine for coronavirus is likely to be ready in early 2021, an analysis says & other top stories to bring you up to speed with what’s happening around the world. Tune in! Read more
India appears to have been able to control the spread of the coronavirus cases, the Maharashtra government on Friday sent a senior IPS officer on compulsory leave & other top s ... Read more
India appears to have been able to control the spread of the coronavirus cases, the Maharashtra government on Friday sent a senior IPS officer on compulsory leave & other top stories making news throughout the day. Read more
The Centre approved an emergency response package worth Rs 15,000 crore to control COVID-19, India football team retained its 108th spot in the latest FIFA rankings & other top ... Read more
The Centre approved an emergency response package worth Rs 15,000 crore to control COVID-19, India football team retained its 108th spot in the latest FIFA rankings & other top stories for your morning news brief in this episode. Tune in! Read more
India has begun sending consignments of life-saving drugs as gifts to neighbouring countries, PM Modi acknowledged the thank you note of US President Donald Trump & lockdown in ... Read more
India has begun sending consignments of life-saving drugs as gifts to neighbouring countries, PM Modi acknowledged the thank you note of US President Donald Trump & lockdown in Odisha will be extended till April 30. All this in today's episode. Tune in! Read more
SC made tests for the coronavirus disease in private laboratories free, the governing body of athletics has suspended Olympic qualification due to COVID19 and actor Allen Garfield ... Read more
SC made tests for the coronavirus disease in private laboratories free, the governing body of athletics has suspended Olympic qualification due to COVID19 and actor Allen Garfield has died of coronavirus. All this in today's episode. Tune in! Read more
PM Modi on whether the lockdown can be released on 14th April, US President Trump's support on Modi govt's stand on Hydroxychloroquine, COVID-19 hotspots will be completely shut do ... Read more
PM Modi on whether the lockdown can be released on 14th April, US President Trump's support on Modi govt's stand on Hydroxychloroquine, COVID-19 hotspots will be completely shut down in UP and NCR, a new normal for Honda plant in China. All this in today's episode. Tune in! Read more
Update on COVID-19 cases in the country & Wuhan will finally start to lift a lockdown and domestic air traffic is expected to drop to 80-90 million passengers in the current fi ... Read more
Update on COVID-19 cases in the country & Wuhan will finally start to lift a lockdown and domestic air traffic is expected to drop to 80-90 million passengers in the current fiscal. All this in today's episode. Tune in! Read more
The Centre is thinking about extending the 21-day lockdown, Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday wrote a letter to PM Modi, offering five suggestions to tackle COVID-19 & Mohun Bagan and Ea ... Read more
The Centre is thinking about extending the 21-day lockdown, Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday wrote a letter to PM Modi, offering five suggestions to tackle COVID-19 & Mohun Bagan and East Bengal will join a global campaign by the UN & WHO. All this in today's episode. Tune in! Read more
The group of ministers, headed by defence minister Rajnath Singh, will meet today to decide whether the lockdown should be extended, update on COVID-19 cases and Britain's PM Boris ... Read more
The group of ministers, headed by defence minister Rajnath Singh, will meet today to decide whether the lockdown should be extended, update on COVID-19 cases and Britain's PM Boris Johnson has been moved to the intensive care unit of the hospital. All this in today's episode. Tune in! Read more