Month: March 2022

Indian batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma on Friday condoled the demise of legendary Australian cricketer Shane Warne.

The iconic leg-spinner passed away in Thailand of a suspected heart attack, his management company said in a statement to Fox Sports.

“Life is so fickle and unpredictable. I cannot process the passing of this great of our sport and also a person I got to know off the field. RIP #goat (Greatest of All Time). Greatest to turn the cricket ball,” Virat Kohli tweeted.

“I’m truly lost for words here, this is extremely sad. An absolute legend and champion of our game has left us. RIP Shane Warne….still can’t believe it,” India men’s captain Rohit Sharma wrote.

Shane Warne was one of the best leg-spinners to have embraced the game and was fondly known as ‘King of Spin’. Warne scalped 708 wickets in his illustrious career which spanned for 145 Test matches.

Warne played 194 One Day Internationals for Australia in which he scalped 293 wickets. The right-hander was also handy with the bat as he scored 3,154 runs in his Test career. He amassed 1,018 runs in the 50-overs format.

The leg-spinner was known for his guile bowling and took a total of 1001 wickets. He became the first-ever bowler to scale the peak of 1,000 international wickets. (ANI)

Concerned over the non-availability of a humanitarian corridor for the evacuation process amid Russia’s ongoing military operation in Ukraine, the Ministry of External Affairs on Friday urged Russian and Ukrainian authorities to announce a ‘local ceasefire’ at least so that Indian nationals can be safely evacuated.

Speaking on a special briefing on Operation Ganga, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, “It (Evacuation) looks difficult without a ceasefire. We urge the parties concerned- Ukraine and Russia, to have a local ceasefire at least so that we can evacuate our people.”

Bagchi said that on the Western borders the things are quite smooth.

“We had requested Ukraine authorities for special trains but haven’t heard anything yet. Meanwhile, we are arranging buses,” he said.

The MEA Spokesperson further said that the highest attention for evacuation is being given to Eastern Ukraine, particularly Kharkiv and Pisochin.

“Highest attention is on the Eastern Ukraine particularly Kharkiv and Pisochin. We have managed to get some buses there. Five buses are already operational, more buses will be functional later in the evening. 900-1000 Indians stranded in Pisochin and 700 plus are in Sumy. We are concerned about Sumy,” added Bagchi.

He said that over 20,000 Indians have left the Ukraine border “since we issued our advisories.”

“During the 24 hours, 18 flights have landed in India with around 4,000 Indians on board. The total number of flights that have landed have been 48, carrying 10348 Indians,” he said.

He mentioned that sixteen flights were scheduled for the next 24 hours including Indian Air Force’s C-17 aircraft.

Meanwhile, a total of 5,245 Indian nationals were airlifted from Romania to the country till March 3 amid Russia’s military operations in Ukraine, informed the Government of India on Friday.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, today chaired a meeting to discuss the ongoing evacuation drive of Indian nationals and the situation in conflict-hit Ukraine.

The government has also deployed ‘special envoys’ to four neighboring countries bordering Ukraine to coordinate and oversee the evacuation process of Indian nationals.

Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri is overseeing evacuation efforts in Hungary, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju in Slovakia, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia in Romania and Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways and Civil Aviation Gen VK Singh in Poland.

Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine’s breakaway regions – Donetsk and Luhansk – as independent entities. (ANI)

The sudden demise of legendary Australian spinner Shane Warne on Friday has left everyone in shock. He was 52.

Warne died of a suspected heart attack reported Fox Cricket. “Shane was found unresponsive in his villa and despite the best efforts of medical staff, he could not be revived,” a statement on the Fox website said.

Several celebrities from the Indian film industry expressed their shock and grief on social media.

Taking to his Instagram handle, Ranveer Singh posted a monochrome picture of Warne along with a broken-heart emoticon in the caption.

Actor Vikrant Massey shared Warne’s photo on his Instagram handle and penned, ” You take a piece of every 90’s kid with you Legend. RIP.”

Filmmaker Ashoke Pandit tweeted his condolences along with a happy picture of the late icon.

He wrote, “Sad to know about the demise of Australian spinner Shane Warne who succumbed to a heart attack in Thailand. It’s a great loss to the cricket world. Heartfelt condolences . . #RIP #ShaneWarne.”

Randeep Hooda tweeted a monochrome picture of the late skipper and wrote, “Rest in Peace Warnie #ShaneWarne #Legend.”

Actor Boman Irani’s son and director Kayoze Irani also shared a monochrome picture of Warne on his Instagram Story and wrote, “RIP,” along with broken heart emoticons.

Shane Warne was one of the best leg-spinners to have embraced the game. Warne scalped 708 wickets in his illustrious career which spanned 145 Test matches.

Warne played 194 One Day Internationals for Australia in which he scalped 293 wickets. The right-hander was also handy with the bat as he scored 3,154 runs in his Test career. He amassed 1,018 runs in the 50-overs format.

The leg-spinner was known for his guile bowling and took a total of 1001 wickets. He became the first-ever bowler to scale the peak of 1,000 international wickets. (ANI)

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday expressed condolences to families of people who died in an explosion in the Bhagalpur district last night and wished for the swift recovery of the injured.

The Chief Minister has also directed Chief Secretary and DGP to probe the matter and take action. Earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also expressed grief over the death of seven people, including a child, in an explosion.

He also discussed the situation with Chief Minister and said that all possible assistance is being provided to the victims of the blast.

Bhagalpur District Magistrate, Subrat Kumar Sen, told ANI, “Prima facie it is coming to light that the family residing in the house where the explosion took place was involved in making firecrackers.”

He added that there was a massive explosion in a building near Yatimkhana in the Kajvalichak area at 11:30 pm on Thursday night. On getting information about the incident, a team of police reached the spot along with senior officers. The debris of the collapsed building is being moved with the help of a JCB.

The explosion was so strong that the building was completely destroyed including the walls of three nearby houses. People sleeping in the adjacent houses were been injured badly. The sound of the blast was heard for several kilometres.

Further investigation is underway. (ANI)

Over 160 educational institutions in Ukraine have been partially or completely destroyed by the shelling of Russian troops, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Ukraine on Friday said.

“According to the Minister of Education of Ukraine, more than 160 educational institutions in Ukraine have been partially or completely destroyed by the shelling of Russian troops,” the MFA tweeted.

This comes against the backdrop of Russian forces launching military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine’s breakaway regions – Donetsk and Luhansk – as independent entities.

Several countries including the UK, the US, Canada, and the European Union have condemned Russia’s military operations in Ukraine and imposed sanctions on Moscow. These countries have also promised Ukraine to help with military aid to fight Russia.

The US, Canada and European allies agreed to remove key Russian banks from the interbank messaging system, SWIFT which means Russian banks won’t be able to communicate securely with banks beyond Russia’s borders. President Putin has also signed a decree on special economic measures against the US and its allies. (ANI)

130 Russian buses are ready to evacuate Indian students and other foreigners from Ukraine’s Kharkiv and Sumy to Russia’s Belgorod Region, Russian National Defense Control Center Head Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev announced on Thursday.

“A total of 130 comfortable buses are ready to depart to Kharkiv and Sumy from the Nekhoteyevka and Sudzha checkpoints in the Belgorod Region since 6 AM today in order to rescue Indian students and citizens of other foreign states,” he said.

It is also reported that places for temporary accommodation and rest have been set up at the checkpoints. The refugees will be provided with hot meals; mobile clinics have also been set up there with a stockpile of medicine, reported Russian News Agency TASS.

“The evacuees will be then transported to the city of Belgorod for subsequent departure to their homeland by air, including via Russian military airplanes,” said General Mizintsev.

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbas republics, he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the UN said that one million people have now fled Ukraine since Russia’s military operations.

The tally from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees amounts to more than 2 per cent of Ukraine’s population — which the World Bank counted at 44 million at the end of 2020.

The agency cautions that the outflows are far from finished. It has been predicted that as many as four million people could eventually leave Ukraine. (ANI)

Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Friday welcomed Indian students who returned from war-hit Ukraine under Operation Ganga, at the Mumbai airport on Friday.

As many as 184 students returned from Ukraine at 12.15 pm on Friday. The students reached Budapest and were evacuated from there in Air India IX 1602.

According to MoS External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi, so far 9,000 Indian citizens have returned from the war-torn country.

Three more Indian Air Force’s C-17 aircraft returned to Hindan airbase late last night and early morning today carrying 630 Indian nationals from Ukraine, using airfields in Romania and Hungary under Operation Ganga.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday chaired a meeting to discuss the ongoing evacuation drive of Indian nationals and the situation in conflict-hit Ukraine.

The meeting was attended by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Minister of Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and other senior officials.

The Prime minister had on Monday chaired two meetings to review the ongoing efforts under Operation Ganga for the return of Indians from Ukraine amid military operations by Russia.

Another meeting was held on Sunday. The Cabinet Committee on Security had met on February 24 in the wake of Russian military actions in Ukraine.

The Centre has ramped up efforts to evacuate Indian citizens stranded in Ukraine amid heightened tensions.

The government has also deployed ‘special envoys’ to four neighbouring countries bordering Ukraine to coordinate and oversee the evacuation process of Indian nationals.

Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri is overseeing evacuation efforts in Hungary, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju in Slovakia, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia in Romania and Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways and Civil Aviation Gen VK Singh in Poland. (ANI)

At a time when the Russia-Ukraine tensions have led to a global crisis, India on Friday announced the postponement of its Defence exhibition ‘Defexpo-2022’ which was scheduled to be held from March 10-14 in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar.

More than 1,000 companies from different countries including the US, Russia, France and other parts of Europe were supposed to take part in the biennial event.

“Due to logistics problems being experienced by participants, the DefExpo-2022 proposed to be held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat from March 10 till March 14 is postponed. The new dates will be communicated in due course,” Defence Ministry spokesperson Bharat Bhushan Babu said in a statement.

The DefExpo is held every two years at different locations and it helps Indian companies showcase their military products to the global market. The global firms also showcase their products at the event.

The last DefExpo was held in Lucknow while the last previous editions were held in Chennai and Goa. Prior to that, the DefExpo was always held in the national capital. (ANI)