News in Short

• Joe Root stepped down as England test captain after dispiriting tours of Australia and the Caribbean capped a string of poor results that prompted calls for him to stand down.
• England have won just one of their previous 17 tests and the pressure had been mounting on Root even before their 1-0 series defeat by the West Indies.
• Since taking charge in 2017 as Alastair Cook’s successor, Root led England in a record 64 tests. His 27 wins and 26 defeats as captain are also records.

• Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said Egypt, which is one of the largest importers of wheat from Ukraine and Russia, has approved India as a wheat supplier.
• There is a sharp decline in availability of wheat in the global markets due to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Both the nations are major producers and exporters of wheat.
• Egypt imported wheat worth about USD 1.8 billion from Russia and USD 610.8 million from Ukraine in 2020.
• The African nation is looking to import 1 million tonne of wheat from India and would need 2,40,000 tonne in April.

• One of the Russian Navy’s most important warships has sunk in the Black Sea, a massive blow to a military struggling against Ukrainian resistance.
• Moskva, with a crew of almost 500, is the pride of the Russian naval fleet in the Black Sea. Originally commissioned into the Soviet navy as the Slava in the 1980s, it was renamed Moskva in 1995.
• The Moskva is armed with a range of anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles as well as torpedoes and naval guns and close-in missile defense systems.

• Saudi Arabian investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal said that as one of the major shareholders in Twitter he rejected a takeover bid by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk.
• Musk had said that social media giant needs to be taken private to grow and become a platform for free speech.
• The Prince currently owns 5.2% of stakes through the Kingdom Holding Company.