India has brought back its over 15,920 nationals on 76 flights under evacuation mission 'Operation Ganga' that was launched following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, officials said on Sunday, while around 700 students are still trapped in Sumy, waging a grim battle for survival with supplies depleting fast and exit routes to safety blocked by fierce fighting.

Melting snow to slake their thirst and fast running out of food, hundreds of Indian students stand on roads every morning hoping "today is the day" when they will be rescued from the savagery of the war that has engulfed the nation.

Voting for the seventh and the last phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections began on Monday morning, with 613 candidates in the fray on 54 seats, including those falling in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's parliamentary segment Varanasi.

The fate of Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party president Om Prakash Rajbhar and several state ministers will be decided in this round, in which 2.06 crore people are eligible to vote.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will speak to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday, official sources said.

Modi's expected talk with Zelenskyy comes amid India's all out efforts to evacuate its nationals, mostly students, from the country facing attack from Russia.

Oil prices soared more than 6%, touching their highest since 2008 on Monday after the United States and European allies mull a Russian oil import ban while delays in the potential return of Iranian crude to global markets fuelled tight supply fears.

Brent crude futures rose $8.46, or 7.2%, to $126.57 a barrel by 0128 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $7.65, or 6.6%, to $123.33.

Ten gram of 24-carat gold is selling at Rs 52,040 on Saturday, up Rs 440 since the last trade as demand rose for the safe-haven bullion.

Ten gram of 22 carat gold is selling at Rs 47,700, up Rs 400 from Friday according to the Goodreturns website. One kg of silver is selling at Rs 68,000, up Rs 700 from the last trade.

South Korean tech company, Samsung has suspended product shipments to Russia "due to current geopolitical developments," joining other global giants like Apple and Microsoft who have stopped sales and services in the country after it attacked Ukraine.

"Samsung Electronics said on March 5 that shipments to Russia have been suspended "due to current geopolitical developments", The Kyiv independent, a Ukraine media outlet reported.

With 5,921 people testing positive for coronavirus infection in a day, India's total tally of COVID-19 cases now stands at 4,29,57,477 and that of active cases is at 63,878, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Saturday.

The death toll due to the disease has climbed to 5,14,878 with 289 fresh fatalities being reported in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed.

Singapore has introduced sanctions on the Russian Central Bank and some other Russian banks as well as imposed restrictions on the exports to the country over the Russian military operation in Ukraine, the Singaporean Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.

Financial institutions in Singapore will be prohibited from the following: ... entering into transactions or arrangements, or providing financial services that facilitate fund raising by: the Russian government; the Central Bank of the Russian Federation; any entity owned or controlled by them or acting on their direction or behalf.

Private lender YES Bank is looking to raise equity capital to the tune of up to Rs 10,000 crore by selling shares through a qualified institutions placement (QIP) or in international markets through global depository receipts, American depository receipts, foreign currency convertible bonds, or other instruments, the lender said in a notification to the London Stock Exchange.

The capital raise is to further strengthen its common equity tier-1 (CET-1) ratio, ensure there is capital to support growth, and maintain adequate buffers to deal with any unforeseen impact from a position of strength.

Reliance Industries (RIL) announced the opening of the country’s largest business, commerce and cultural destination — the Jio World Centre — spread across 18.5 acres at Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai.

The initial launches are the Dhirubhai Ambani Square, the musical Fountain of Joy and The Jio World Convention Centre. The Jio World Centre will have a phase-wise opening over the course of the current and the next year, RIL said in a release.

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