Washington: US President Joe Biden has decided to ban Russian oil imports, toughening the toll on Russia’s economy in retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The move follows pleas by Ukrainian President Volodmyr Zelenskyy to US and Western officials to cut off the imports, which had been a glaring omission the massive sanctions put in place on Russia over the invasion.

Energy exports have kept a steady influx of cash flowing to Russia despite otherwise severe restrictions on its financial sector.

Biden was set to announce the move as soon as Tuesday, the person said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter before an announcement.

The White House said Biden would speak on Tuesday morning to announce actions to continue to hold Russia accountable for its unprovoked and unjustified war on Ukraine.

The US will be acting alone, but in close consultation with European allies, who are more dependent on Russian energy supplies. Natural gas from Russia accounts for one-third of Europe’s consumption of the fossil fuel. The US does not import Russian natural gas.

Mumbai: Alleging that Enforcement Directorate officers were acting as an “ATM” for the BJP, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Tuesday said the Mumbai Police were probing extortion charges against four officers of the central agency and some of them will go to jail.

Addressing a news conference here, Raut said whenever there has been an Enforcement Directorate raid on any company, it has transferred money to firms belonging to one Jitendra Navlani.

The ED and some of its officials have become an ATM (automated teller machine) for the BJP, Raut said, maintaining he has shared details of the same with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

The Mumbai Police were probing extortion and corruption charges against four ED officials. The Mumbai Police are capable of that. And mark my words….some ED officials will go to jail, the Rajya Sabha MP claimed.

Raut, however, did not reveal the names or designations of these ED officials.

His remarks came on a day when some Shiv Sena office-bearers, including a leader considered close to Maharashtra Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray, were raided by the Income Tax Department.

Kolkata: Suspended BJP leader Jaiprakash Majumdar, who has been attacking the state leadership of the saffron party for the last few months, on Tuesday joined the Trinamool Congress.

He was appointed as the state vice-president of West Bengal’s ruling party.

Majumdar joined the TMC in the presence of Chief Minister and party supremo Mamata Banerjee during its organisational meet at Nazrul Mancha here.

He was handed over the party flag by senior TMC leader Firhad Hakim.

“Jaiprakash Majumdar will be the TMC state vice-president,” Banerjee said.

Majumdar and Ritesh Tiwari were suspended from the BJP in January for anti-party activities.

New Delhi: The government has decided to restart scheduled international flight services from March 27 after a two years hiatus due to COVID-19, according to civil aviation ministry officials.

Scheduled international flight services have remained suspended in India since March 23, 2020.

However, special international flights have been operating between India and about 35 other countries since July 2020 under air bubble arrangements.

After deliberation with stakeholders &keeping in view the decline in the #COVID19 caseload,we have decided to resume international travel from Mar 27 onwards.Air Bubble arrangements will also stand revoked thereafter.With this step,I’m confident the sector will reach new heights!

Devendra Fandavis

Pune : Police have registered a case against an unidentified person for allegedly hurling a slipper at the convoy of Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly Devendra Fandavis in Pune, an official said on Tuesday.

The incident took place on Sunday when Fadnavis had come to inaugurate the Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee garden at Purna Nagar in Pimpri Chinchwad area, he said.

Minutes before the arrival of former chief minister Fadnavis, some BJP and NCP workers clashed at the venue, prompting police to resort to a mild lathicharge.

As per the police, when Fadnavis reached the venue, a person from the crowd allegedly hurled a slipper at the convoy.

“We have registered a case against an unidentified person under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code,” an official from Chikhali police station said.

The NCP workers had come to the spot alleging that the BJP leader was inaugurating the garden though its work was incomplete.

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das

Mumbai: RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Tuesday launched a new service, which will enable over 40 crore feature phone users to undertake digital payments in a secure way.

The service christened UPI (unified payments interface) ‘123PAY’ is a three-step method to initiate and execute services for users which will work on simple phones which do not have an internet connection.

Das said, as of now, the multifaceted features of UPI are mostly available only on smartphones, which excludes people from the lower rung of the society from an economic perspective, especially in the rural areas, from accessing the popular service, even though the smartphone prices are going down.

He said, the UPI volumes have touched to Rs 76 lakh crore in FY22 so far, as against Rs 41 lakh crore in FY21, and added that the day is not far when the overall volumes will touch Rs 100 lakh crore.

There are an estimated 40 crore mobile phone users who possess feature phones.

At present, UPI services are available for such users through the USSD-based services, but the same has been found to be cumbersome and all the mobile operators do not allow such services, Deputy Governor T Rabi Shankar said.

Feature phone users will now be able to undertake a host of transactions based on four technology alternatives. They include calling an IVR (interactive voice response) number, app functionality in feature phones, missed call-based approach and also proximity sound-based payments, the RBI said.

Such users can initiate payments to friends and family, pay utility bills, recharge the FAST Tags of their vehicles, pay mobile bills and also allow users to check account balances, it said, adding customers will also be able to link bank accounts, set or change UPI PINs.

A 24×7 helpline for digital payments was also launched by Das on Tuesday, which has also been set up by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

The helpline christened ‘Digisaathi’ will assist the callers/users with all their queries on digital payments via website and chatbot.

Users can visit www.digisaathi.info or call on 14431 and 1800 891 3333 from their phones for their queries on digital payments and grievances.

NEW DELHI:  Elections to fill 13 Rajya Sabha seats across six states which will fall vacant in April, including those of Congress veteran leaders A K Antony and Anand Sharma, will be held on March 31, the Election Commission said on Monday. 

While members from the state of Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Nagaland and Tripura are retiring on April 2, five members from Punjab are retiring on April 9.

“Out of the five seats to be filled from Punjab, three are to be filled by holding one election and other two through another election as these seats belong to two different biennial cycles,” the Election Commission said in a statement.

The notification for the biennial elections will be issued on March 14 and the polls will be held on March 31. As per established practice, the counting will be held on the day of polling from 5 pm onwards.

Prominent among the members who are retiring are Antony (Kerala), Sharma (Himachal Pradesh), and Pratap Singh Bajwa and Naresh Gujral (Punjab).

While former defence minister Antony, Deputy Leader of Congress in Rajya Sabha Sharma and Bajwa are from the Congress, Gujaral is from the Shiromani Akali Dal.