Two Indians were killed and 10 others injured in a drone attack in Oman’s Sohar province. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs said that five of the injured Indians have been discharged from hospital and the remaining are receiving treatment. One non-Indian was also injured.
The Indian authorities were in contact with Omani officials and were assisting the Indian citizens, the ministry said. Read on.
The stock market crashed further amid concerns about the conflict in West Asia and surging global oil prices. The benchmark Sensex and Nifty indices fell nearly 2% on Friday.
This was the worst week for the markets in four years, with nearly Rs 20 lakh crore in investors’ wealth getting wiped out.
The Indian rupee sank to a record low of 92.4 against the United States dollar. It has lost 1.5% in value since the conflict broke out.
The benchmark Brent crude oil price again jumped above the $100 per barrel-mark on Friday. The price was about $72.8 per barrel on February 27, a day before the conflict started. Read on.
The Union government acknowledged that the supply of liquefied petroleum gas in the country was a “matter of concern”, but added that no distributor had run out of stocks. Sujata Sharma, joint secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, urged citizens not to believe in rumours and to refrain from panic buying.
However, the official urged consumers who can shift from LPG to piped natural gas to do so immediately.
Sharma also maintained that the government has ensured uninterrupted supply to domestic households, and said that LPG supplies are also being provided to hospitals and educational institutions,
The joint secretary said that petrol and diesel are available in adequate quantities at all fuel stations. Read on.
A government mandate to allow monthly menstrual leave may discourage employers from hiring women, the Supreme Court said. However, the court asked the Union government to formulate a menstrual leave policy in consultation with stakeholders.
With this direction, the bench disposed of a petition filed by a man seeking paid menstrual leave in all establishments. It asked why he had filed the petition, noting that no woman had approached the court.
The chief justice verbally observed that the policy could lead to an impression among young women that they are not at par with male employees and that they “cannot work like them during a particular time”. Read on.
Four members of the crew onboard United States’ aerial refuelling aircraft were killed when the plane crashed in western Iraq. The US military said that two of its aircraft were involved in the incident and that the second landed safely.
The accident did not occur because of “hostile fire or friendly fire”, the US Central Command said. Read on.
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