218: Top News Podcast: China plane crashes with 132 on board; India considering COVID booster shots for all adults; Maruti Suzuki’s EV push and more

A China Eastern Airlines aircraft with 132 people on board crashed in mountains in south China on Monday while on a flight from the city of Kunming to Guangzhou, China's Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said. The jet involved in the accident was a Boeing 737 aircraft and the number of casualties was not immediately known, state broadcaster CCTV said.

Meanwhile, Russia's war in Ukraine is in its 26th day and shows no signs of abating. The invasion has wreaked devastation and destruction, exacting a heavy toll on civilians. The UN says more than 3.38 million people have fled Ukraine.

The battle for Ukraine's strategic port of Mariupol raged today as Ukraine rejected a Russian offer to evacuate its troops from the besieged city and Russian bombardment continued. The key port city has seen some of the heaviest fightings since the invasion. Russian and Ukrainian soldiers are fighting block-by-block for control of the city where at least 2,300 people have died, some buried in mass graves.

On the domestic front, a Reuters report suggests India is considering making all adults eligible for booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. This, as cases grow in some countries and some Indians find it hard to travel abroad without a third dose. At present, only frontline workers and those older than 60 are allowed to take booster doses in India, whether free in government centres or paid for in private hospitals. The government is debating whether to provide boosters to other groups for free, the report said.

Electric vehicle manufacturing in India is set to get a further boost as Japanese automaker Suzuki Motor Corporation has said it will invest nearly Rs 10,445 crore by 2026 for local manufacturing of battery electric vehicles (BEV) and BEV batteries in Gujarat. The company has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to this effect with the Gujarat government.

Meanwhile, according to a CRISIL report on the auto sector the utility vehicle segment is booming and rising multi-fold in India vis-a-vis the long-held view that India is a small car market.

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