Hello listener, this is your daily dose of news from Onmanorama. I'm your host, Gopika KP. These are the major news stories of the day
1. Missiles fired at several Ukrainian cities as Russia launches 'full-scale invasion'
2. Opposition boycotts Assembly proceedings after Speaker refused discussion on Swapna Suresh
3. Indian embassy in Ukraine asks Indians to keep calm, remain safe in fresh advisory
4. Former Australian wicketkeeper Rod Marsh suffers heart attack
5. Accused planned to murder Haridasan on February 14 as well, says remand report
Let’s get into the details.
1) Russian forces fired missiles at several cities in Ukraine and landed troops on its south coast on Thursday, officials and media said, after President Vladimir Putin authorised what he called a special military operation in the east. Shortly after Putin spoke in a televised address on Russian state TV, explosions could be heard in the pre-dawn quiet of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. Gunfire rattled near the capital's main airport, the Interfax news agency said, and sirens were heard over the city.
2) The Opposition UDF boycotted proceedings in the Assembly on Thursday in protest against Speaker M B Rajesh outright rejection of an adjournment motion on Swapna Suresh's new revelations about Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's former private secretary M Sivasankar's role
in the gold smuggling scandal. In a break with tradition, the Speaker even refused to give the mike to the opposition leader after rejecting the adjournment motion. The Speaker went ahead with the proceedings unmindful of the noisy slogan-shouting by the UDF members who massed before the Speaker's podium. After making the opposition wait for nearly 15 minutes, the Speaker allowed the opposition leader to speak.
3) India on Thursday was firming up contingency plans including activating alternate air routes to evacuate its citizens from Ukraine as the spectre of a massive Russian offensive loomed over the
eastern European country after President Vladimir Putin announced a military operation. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) held a series of high-level meetings to put into operation certain contingency plans in view of the rapidly changing situation in Ukraine.
4) Former Australian wicketkeeper Rod Marsh was rushed to hospital today after suffering a heart attack, Australian media reported. Marsh, who played 96 Tests and 92 One-Day Internationals, had the heart attack when being driven in a car to a hotel in Bundaberg soon after landing in the city in northern Queensland state. Marsh, 74, was in Bundaberg for a charity cricket match for Bulls Masters, a local non-profit organisation.
5) The police team investigating the murder of CPM activist K Haridasan has come across more evidence regarding the involvement of the RSS-BJP leaders arrested in the case. Meanwhile,
the investigating officers also questioned a policeman who is a relative of one among the accused after it emerged that the two had spoken over phone before and after the murder.
Now, let’s check out the covid update
6) India logged 15,102 new coronavirus infections, taking the total tally of COVID cases to 4.28 crore, while the active cases declined to 1,64,522. The death toll climbed to 5,12,622 with 278 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated. The daily COVID-19 cases have remained below one lakh for 17 consecutive days.
That brings us to the end of this episode! Be sure to come back tomorrow. As always, thanks for listening to Daily News Dose.