When Russian regulators approved the country's own coronavirus vaccine, it was a moment of national pride, and the Pavlov family was among those who rushed to take the injection. But international health authorities have not yet given their blessing to the Sputnik V shot.

So when the family from Rostov-on-Don wanted to visit the West, they looked for a vaccine that would allow them to travel freely a quest that brought them to Serbia, where hundreds of Russian citizens have flocked in recent weeks to receive Western-approved COVID-19 shots.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said the Indian Coast Guard had initially started with less than than six boats and today it has more than 150 ships, and 66 aircraft, becoming one of the prime maritime forces in the world.

While speaking at the Investiture Ceremony at the National Stadium Complex here, he said the growth of the maritime force was possible because of the morale, enthusiasm and energy shown by the Indian Coast Guard.

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Saturday said she will write to the Election Commission demanding surveys by media organisations and other agencies be banned six months before any elections, so that the polls in the particular state are not influenced by it.

Addressing the 15th death anniversary of BSP founder Kanshi Ram here at the Kanshiram Smarak Sthal, Mayawati demanded that Bharat Ratna be given to the late Dalit leader and added that people in Uttar Pradesh have made up their mind on changing power in the state.

Senior Taliban officials and U.S. representatives are to hold talks Saturday and Sunday about containing extremist groups in Afghanistan and easing the evacuation of foreign citizens and Afghans from the country, officials from both sides said.

It's the first such meeting since U.S. forces withdrew from Afghanistan in late August, ending a 20-year military presence there, and the Taliban's rise to power in the nation. The talks are to take place in Doha, the capital of the Persian Gulf state of Qatar.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday spoke with Japan's newly elected Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and discussed the robust cooperation between India and Japan in the Indo-Pacific region.

Japan's parliament had elected Kishida prime minister on Monday.

India logged 19,740 new COVID-19 cases and 23,070 recoveries in the last 24 hours, reports the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Saturday.

With this, the country's active caseload now stands at 2,36,643, which is the lowest in 206 days.

Mumbai Indians wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan has revealed that Virat Kohli gave him clarity on his role in the upcoming T20 World Cup and that helped him in clearing his mind.

A very good thing for me and for the team getting some runs, and getting into good touch before the World Cup. Was in a good state of mind, was very positive. We had to get somewhere around 250-260, it was the intent and positive intent.

The US has condemned the suicide bomber attack on a mosque in northern Afghanistan that killed at least 46 people, saying it is an enormous tragedy and people of that country deserve better.

Obviously, any loss is an enormous tragedy, and our heart goes out to the families who lost loved ones, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at her daily news conference on Friday.

Bars in Brazil's biggest metropolis, Sao Paulo, are full again for Friday happy hours and lawmakers in the capital have nearly done away with video sessions via Zoom.

Rio de Janeiro's beaches are packed and calls for strict social distancing seem but a memory.

The subject expert committee (SEC) advising the Central Drugs Stan­dard Control Orga­nisation (CDSCO) has allowed US pharma major Johnson & Johnson (J&J) to conduct clinical trials on adolescents for its two-dose Covid-19 vaccine, albeit with some conditions.

The firm had on August 17 sought approval from the CDSCO to conduct trials on children aged 12-17 years.

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