March 2020

Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok survives assassination attempt Sudan’s Prime Minister survived an assassination attempt on Monday after an explosion went off near his convoy in the capital of Khartoum, Sudan’s state media said. Abdalla Hamdok’s office and his family confirmed he was safe following the explosion. Sudanese state TV said Mr. Hamdok, a longtime economist, was heading to the Cabinet’s offices when the attack took place, and that he was taken to a “safe place.” The attack highlighted the fragility of Sudan’s transition to civilian rule, almost a year after pro-democracy protesters forced the military to remove autocratic President...

As Italy Remains in Lockdown, Pope Francis Tells Priests to Go Out and Meet the Coronavirus-affected Pope Francis urged Catholic priests on Tuesday to “have the courage” to go out and help those sickened by the novel coronavirus, hours after Italy was placed on a nationwide lockdown. “Let us pray to the Lord also for our priests, that they may have the courage to go out and visit the sick… and to accompany the medical staff and volunteers in the work they do,” the pontiff said during a mass in Vatican City. St Peter’s Square in the Vatican — in...

China’s Xi Jinping says Wuhan has ‘turned the tide’ againt coronavirus epidemic Chinese President Xi Jinping said Tuesday that Wuhan has turned the tide against the deadly coronavirus outbreak, as he paid his first visit to the city at the heart of the global epidemic. Xi’s visit came as unprecedented quarantine measures that have sealed off Wuhan and the rest of central Hubei province since late January appear to have paid off, with new infections dropping dramatically in recent weeks. During Xi’s trip, Hubei announced it would ease travel restrictions to allow healthy people in low-risk areas to travel throughout...

Narendra Modi calls off visit to Dhaka India is ready to work with Bangladesh to stop the spread of COVID-19, which prompted cancellation of the inauguration ceremony of the birth centenary celebrations of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in Dhaka. A statement from External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar on Monday confirmed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, scheduled to participate in the March 17 event, would not travel to Dhaka. He said Bangladesh had formally communicated that the authorities were forced to “defer” the event in the prevailing health scenario in Bangladesh. “While expressing understanding of the circumstances that necessitates this deferment,...

Israel PM announces two-week quarantine for all arrivals Israel will impose a two-week quarantine on all travellers entering the country, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday, toughening already significant travel restrictions. “After a day of difficult discussions, we have taken a decision: all those coming to Israel from abroad will be placed in isolation for 14 days,” Netanyahu said in a video broadcast on his Twitter account. “This is a difficult decision but it is essential to maintaining public health, which takes precedence over everything,” he added, according to a statement. Source: Moneycontrol

White House says US President Trump not tested for coronavirus President Donald Trump remains in excellent health and has not been tested for coronavirus, the White House has said, even though he was in contact with multiple lawmakers who have since gone into self-imposed quarantine due to their proximity to someone with the virus. White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said on Monday that testing was not necessary because President Trump is not showing symptoms and the lawmakers aren’t confirmed to be infected. “The President has not received COVID-19 testing because he has neither had prolonged close contact with any known...

Will continue with capex plans: Shashi Shanker, ONGC chairman NEW DELHI: Oil and Natural Gas Corp will not cut its investment plans despite a sharp fall in oil prices that’s expected to hit profit, ONGC chairman Shashi Shanker has said. “Profit will obviously be affected. But we are a national oil company and we are in it for the long haul. So we are not going to redraw our plans. We will continue to invest,” Shanker told ET in an interview. “We have seen several cycles. The last time when prices fell to $28 in 2016, we continued to invest.”...

PayPal CTO says in for the long haul in India, to back UPI soon New Delhi: US payments company PayPal looks at India as a critical market to build local products working with the country’s domestic card system RuPay, and intends to support the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), the open platform that has revolutionised digital payments in the country. “As a global company, India is a very critical market for us. It is very, very important and we think of it longterm,” PayPal chief technology officer Sri Shivananda told ET. “There’s a lot that we are doing in terms of...

China Condemns Mike Pompeo’s Remarks Branding COVID-19 as ‘Wuhan Virus’ China on Monday condemned US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for branding the COVID-19 as the “Wuhan virus”, terming his remarks as “despicable behaviour” and an attempt to stigmatise the Communist nation. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has officially named coronavirus as COVID-19, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a media briefing here responding to Pompeo’s comments. “Certain US politicians turning a blind eye to science and the decision of WHO has rushed to stigmatise China and Wuhan under the pretext of COVID-19. We condemn such despicable behaviour,” Geng...

RSS chief Bhagwat lauds MG Vaidya’s contribution to Sangh RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said on Saturday that veteran Sangh ideologue MG Vaidya had played a crucial role in the RSS earning respect and guided the organisation with his ideas and intellectual thoughts. While felicitating the former RSS spokesperson on his 98th birthday in Nagpur, Bhagwat said Vaidya’s contribution was more special because it came at a time when the RSS was facing a crisis. Vaidya was one of the prominent RSS functionaries who pushed the organisation with the ideas of nationalism and Hinduvta, Bhagwat added. “We have inherited the very...