A change in the name of the Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) magazine 'suggests a refocusing' of the terror group from Afghanistan to Kashmir, a United Nations report has said.

In a significant push to popularise cricket in the US, a $120 million funding has been secured from prominent Indian-American business leaders, including Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, to launch the first professional T20 league in the US. Major League Cricket (MLC), the first professional Twenty20 Cricket League in the US, announced Thursday that it has completed an initial close of a $44 million Series A and A1 Fundraising Round led by a group of America's leading business leaders. It said that with an additional commitment of $76 million in further fundraising over the next 12 months in place, MLC plans to deploy more than $120 million to launch the country's first-ever professional T20 league.

As the Ukraine conflict impacts the global GDP, India is projected to grow by 6.4 per cent in 2022, slower than the last year's 8.8 per cent but still the fastest-growing major economy, with higher inflationary pressures and uneven recovery of the labour market curbing private consumption and investment, according to a UN report. The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs said in its World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) report released on Wednesday that the war in Ukraine has upended the fragile economic recovery from the pandemic, triggering a devastating humanitarian crisis in Europe, increasing food and commodity prices and globally exacerbating inflationary pressures. The global economy is now projected to grow by only 3.1 per cent in 2022, down from the 4.0 per cent growth forecast released in January 2022.

The minister emphasised that India will play its due role in advancing global food security and it will do so in a manner in which it upholds equity, displays compassion, and promotes social justice.

The US hopes India will "reconsider" its decision to ban wheat exports, with Washington "encouraging" countries not to restrict exports as that will exacerbate food shortages, amidst Russia's invasion of Ukraine. India, the world's second-biggest wheat producer, has banned wheat exports in a bid to check high domestic prices amid concerns of wheat output being hit by scorching heat waves. The decision would help control retail prices of wheat and wheat flour, which have risen by an average 14-20 per cent in the last one year, besides meeting the foodgrain requirement of neighbouring and vulnerable countries.

The resolution was adopted by a vote of 33 in favour, China and Eritrea voting against and 12 abstentions, including India, Armenia, Bolivia, Cameroon, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Namibia, Pakistan, Senegal, Sudan, Uzbekistan and Venezuela.

The Dutch envoy said to Tirumurti "You should not have abstained in the GA. Respect the UN Charter."

India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti said India remains on the side of peace.

The global body added that national meteorological and hydrological departments in both countries are working closely with health and disaster management agencies to roll out heat health action plans.

Twitter's India-born CEO Parag Agrawal has told worried employees that he doesn't know "what direction this company will go in" once the whopping $44 billion deal, which will take the social media giant private, closes with new owner billionaire Elon Musk.

Guterres will visit Moscow where on April 26 he will "have a working meeting and lunch with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and will be received by President Vladimir Putin," Eri Kaneko, associate spokesperson for the secretary-general said on Friday.

Earlier this week, Guterres had written to Putin and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to receive him in Moscow and Kyiv 'to discuss urgent steps to bring about peace in Ukraine'.

Ten people -- seven males, three females -- were injured by gunfire and an additional 13 were either injured as they rushed to get out of the train station or they suffered smoke inhalation.

A 62-year old Black male, initially identified as a 'Person of Interest' by the New York Police Department in the Brooklyn subway shooting, has now been named suspect in the attack that left 23 people injured, including 10 who were hit when he fired at least 33 shots with a nine mm handgun.

The Consulate General of India in New York said in a tweet that the 'assault on two Sikh gentlemen in Richmond Hills, New York' is deplorable.

The victim, identified as Kartik Vasudev, had been shot at an entrance of the subway station in Toronto.

Abstaining in the UN General Assembly on a vote to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council, India on Thursday asserted that if it has 'chosen' any side, it is the side of 'peace and it is for an immediate end to violence.'

India on Thursday abstained in the UN General Assembly on a vote moved by the US to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council over allegations that Russian soldiers killed civilians while retreating from towns near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.

Tirumurti said India continues to remain deeply concerned at the worsening situation and reiterates its call for immediate cessation of violence and end to hostilities.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the UN Security Council on Tuesday that the atrocities committed by Russian troops are no different from terrorists like the Islamic State extremists as he demanded immediate action to bring the Kremlin's forces to justice for "war crimes".