Indian Sub-continent

Varanasi (UP), Mar 4 (PTI) Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav conducted a road show here late Friday evening, a little after the conclusion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's campaign, ahead of the March 7 polling.

Standing atop his Samajwadi Rath', Yadav began his roadshow from the Rath Yatra roundabout in the pilgrim city and moved around in the areas covering the three Assembly seats -- Cantonment, Varanasi North and Varanasi South. He campaigned on the route different than the one taken by Modi earlier.

Mirzapur (UP), Mar 5 (PTI) The contest for the five assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh's Mirzapur appears to be challenging for the BJP even though it had swept the district, neighbouring the prime minister's Varanasi parliamentary constituency, last time riding the Modi wave .

The five seats of Mirzapur Chunar, Mariyan, Mirzapur Nagar, Majhawan and Chhanbey will vote in the last phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, and are poised for a strong contest between the BJP and the Samajwadi Party.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — A suicide bomber struck inside a Shiite Muslim mosque in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar during Friday prayers, killing at least 56 worshippers and wounding 194 people, hospital officials said.

No militant group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Both the Islamic State group and the Pakistani Taliban — a militant group separate from the Taliban in Afghanistan — have carried out similar attacks in the past in the area, located near the border with neighboring Afghanistan.

New Delhi, Mar 3 (PTI) The Supreme Court Thursday asked Attorney General K K Venugopal to use his office in helping evacuate some Indian medical students stranded in war-ravaged Ukraine near the Romania border.

A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana took note of the submissions of a lawyer that several students are stuck near the Romanian border in freezing cold and the government is not running flights from Romania.

Mumbai, Mar 3 (PTI) A special court here on Thursday extended the ED custody of Maharashtra Minority Affairs Minister Nawab Malik till March 7 in a money-laundering probe linked to the activities of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim and his aides.

Malik was arrested on February 23 after being questioned for about five hours at the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) office in south Mumbai.

He was produced before special court judge RN Rokade at the end of his initial remand on Thursday.

New Delhi, Mar 3 (PTI) State Bank of India, the nation's largest lender, has stopped processing transactions of Russian entities that have been sanctioned by the West over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, sources said.

To effect this, SBI has issued a circular as it fears that any transaction with entities or sectors under sanction will invite sanction on it as well, sources said.

Mumbai, Mar 3 (PTI) The rupee declined by 14 paise to close at 75.94 against the US dollar on Thursday, pressured by surging crude oil prices amid intensifying conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Persistent foreign capital outflows and subdued domestic equity markets also affected market sentiment, forex dealers said.

Colombo, Mar 3 (PTI) Sri Lanka's economy was facing "mounting challenges" with public debt reaching "unsustainable levels", the IMF has said, calling for urgent reforms in the island nation's economy as it is facing the worst economic crisis.

Sri Lanka is currently reeling under a severe foreign exchange crisis with falling reserves and the government is unable to foot the bill for essential imports.

Islamabad, Mar 3 (PTI) India has agreed to provide additional data on several western hydropower projects to Pakistan during an annual meeting between the officials of the two countries held here under the Permanent Commission on Indus Waters (PCIW), a media report said on Thursday.

The three-day meeting between the two commissioners of PCIW completed discussions on all agenda items on Wednesday. The talks were held in a very cordial environment and the final outcome of crucial parleys is expected to be announced on Thursday.

Jaipur, Mar 3 (PTI) Indian students who returned here from Ukraine said the situation at the war-hit country's border with Romania was horrific, with Ukranian soldiers thrashing Indians and firing tear gas shells.

The eight students who arrived here after fleeing the war-torn nation amid the intense Russian military offensive also accused the Indian embassy officials in Ukraine of not extending any support.