ROME, April 4 (Xinhua) -- The Italian government has approved a so-called "growth decree" designed to kickstart the country's shrinking economy, Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio announced late on Thursday.

"This decree will have a positive impact on our growth, making it sustainable," Di Maio, who leads the populist Five Star Movement and who also serves as minister of labor and economic development, told reporters in televised comments.

New Delhi, Apr 4 (PTI) As the US waiver on import of Iranian crude oil expires next month, India Thursday said it was engaged with the Trump administration on the issue.

In November, the US granted a six-month waiver to India, China, Greece, Italy, Taiwan, Japan, Turkey and South Korea to continue importing oil from Iran.

The temporary waiver ends on May 2.

New Delhi, Apr 4 (PTI) The Election Commission (EC) Thursday said as many as 10 lakh voters were added to the electoral rolls across the country last week, including four lakh first timers.

It also said that "all preparations" are being made for a smooth conduct of the first and second phases of the Lok Sabha polls, in which over 2,900 candidates are in the fray.

"We have added 10 lakh voters to the list, including four lakh new voters who are in the age group of 18-19," Deputy Election Commissioner Sandeep Saxena told reporters here.

DHAKA, April 4 (Xinhua) -- A state-owned Chinese company on Thursday signed an agreement for improvement of Elenga-Hatikamrul-Rangpur Road to a 4-Lane highway in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

China Construction Seventh Engineering Division Corporation Limited, a subsidiary of China State Construction Engineering Corporation Limited, signed the official contract with the Bangladeshi government's Roads and Highways Department here.

MUMBAI, April 5 (Xinhua) -- Lenders to India's beleaguered airline -- Jet Airways would invite bids for their stake on Saturday till April 9, a release issued by the State Bank of India on behalf of 26 lenders said, late Thursday.

The lenders would also explore other options if the stake sale process does not result in an acceptable outcome, the release said.

The struggling airline, saddled with a debt of over one billion U.S. dollars, prior to the debt restructuring proposal by the lenders, is currently operating 26 aircraft down from its fleet of 119 aircraft.

Jammu, Apr 4 (PTI) The BJP said Thursday that former minister Choudhary Lal Singh was no longer a member of the party for violating party discipline, said BJP's chief spokesperson in the state Sunil Sethi.

Lal Singh had distanced himself from the BJP last year when he floated his outfit 'Dogra Swabhiman Sanghthan' (DSS).

He filed his nomination papers from both Jammu and Udhampur parliamentary constituencies against official BJP candidates Jugal Kishore Sharma and Jitendra Singh, respectively.

KANPUR: Pollution has been a vital factor in rising of heart diseases, lungs cancer, lungs infection, asthma, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases. This city, being one of the most polluted cities in the country, remains badly in grip of the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. It is a common lung disease. It becomes hard to breathe if one has COPD.

Pune, Apr 5 (PTI) Congress president Rahul Gandhi Friday said his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was his "best friend", adding there can be no fights with her.

Interacting with students here, Gandhi said he has seen a lot of violence affecting his family and refereed to the assassinations of former Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.

Interacting with students here, he gave an insight into his rapport with his younger sibling, who formally entered politics a few months ago, and childhood memories.

New Delhi, Apr 5 (PTI) The Delhi government on Friday told a court here that the police filed the charge sheet in the 2016 JNU sedition case in a "hasty" and "secretive manner" and that it will take over a month to decide whether to grant sanction to prosecute former JNU student's union president Kanhaiya Kumar in the case.

The AAP government made the submission to Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Deepak Sherawat

It accused the police of filing the charge sheet secretly and in a hasty manner without obtaining the required sanction from the competent authority.

Coimbatore, Apr 4 (PTI) A man arrested in connection with the rape and murder of a seven-year old girl was thrashed by a section of public at a government hospital here when he was brought there for medical checkup Thursday, police said.

Santhosh Kumar faced the fury of a group of people who rained blows on his face and neck as he was being escorted by police to a van after completion of the check-up.

3 Apr 2019; DW: The Australian man accused of killing 50 Muslim worshippers in a shooting spree at two mosques in New Zealand will be charged with 50 counts of murder and 39 counts of attempted murder at a second court appearance on Friday, New Zealand police say.

Police added that other charges "are still under consideration." The suspect had earlier had a single representative murder charge filed against him for the killings on March 15.

3 Apr 2019; DW: Members of Britain's Parliament have passed a motion to rule out the United Kingdom leaving the European Union without a withdrawal deal.

The bill, put forward by Labour lawmaker Yvette Cooper, would force Prime Minister Theresa May to ask the EU for an extension to stop a no-deal Brexit.