German local media reports that Cologne train station has been evacuated after a telephone bomb threat was given. 

Former Pakistani president General Pervez Musharraf (retd) has claimed that ex-army chief Gen Raheel Sharif helped him leave the country by keeping the government from pressuring the courts.

Board exams for Class X are set to become compulsory for all CBSE students from 2018 as CBSE's governing body today "unanimously approved" a proposal in this regard.

Water level in 91 major reservoirs in the country has dipped to 62 per cent of their total capacity, the government said today.

Just In: Jordan policeman killed in shootout with gunmen in Karak: AFP quoting security source.

Did you plan to wait till December end to deposit old Rs 500, Rs 1,000 notes in the bank as the Reserve Bank of India and the finance ministry had assured you not to rush?

Did you get a message from your bank asking you to deposit the old notes at ease as you have time till Dec 30?

If yes, then sadly you will now have to fill a long form and provide transaction details of 7 months if you have more than Rs 5,000 to deposit.

Those who then asked you not to rush will ask you 'why the amount could not be deposited earlier' and numerous other questions.

Checkout the snapshot of the bank form, posted on Twitter by Sagar (‏@sagarcasm)

'I have to deposit 25k in current acc. Bank has asked me to submit IT returns and receipts of all cash transactions from April to Nov,' he tweeted.

'So to deposit 25 notes, I will have to submit more than 100 pieces of papers in the bank,' he said in another tweet.

'This plus 17 questions typed on their PC along with all those documents,' he wrote.

Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said on Tuesday that India would now seek to issue a Red Corner notice against Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar and three others.

"We will issue a Red Corner notice against four terrorists living in Pakistan and initiate extradition process," he told ANI, adding that they will fast-track the cases against them.

The NIA has termed Azhar as the mastermind of the Pathankot terror attack and filed a chargesheet against him and three other JeM commanders. Sanction for prosecution has been obtained from the Ministry of Home Affairs, under the Section 45(1) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, as amended.

The Income Tax Department said it has detected undisclosed income of Rs 3,185 crore and seized Rs 428 crore in cash and jewellery since note ban, PTI reports.

The I-T department sources were quoted as saying by ANI that more than action has been taken in more than 677 cases since November 8.

Also, more than 3,000 notices have been issued to various persons.

JUST IN: German police says it arrested wrong man; true perpetrator of Berlin Christmas market attack armed and still at large, reports Die Welt News.

Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is in the forefront of anti-demonetisation protests, today said senior party leader Sudip Bandopadhyay has received three calls from the Central Bureau of Investigation, but that will not deter the party from fighting against note ban.

Banerjee said the TMC will not be cowed down by the 'Centre's tactics of browbeating my party'.

Stating that Bandopadhyay, who is TMC parliamentary party leader in Lok Sabha, has received three calls from the CBI, she said, "Nothing will deter us from the fight against demonetisation."

When contacted, Bandopadhyay said he has received three calls from CBI.

"I called them (CBI) back. They said you have to come to our office," he said.

Bandopadhyay is also the chairman of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Railways. -- PTI

JUST IN: Navjot Singh Sidhu meets Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi, meeting went on for 45 minutes.

Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova has been injured in a knife attack at her home in the eastern Czech town of Prostejov, The Independent reported.

Kvitova, 26, from the Czech Republic, suffered knife wounds to the tendons in her left hand, but her injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.

Karel Tejkal, a spokesman for Kvitova, confirmed that she had suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was being treated by doctors after a person wielding a knife attacked her in what was described as a burglary.

Read more.

India and Kyrgyztan on Tuesday firmed up broad contours of a bilateral investment agreement and inked six other pacts covering a range of areas even as they resolved to work closely to combat the challenge of terrorism, extremism and radicalism.

In their comprehensive talks, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev also decided to strengthen ties in areas of defence, security, mining, IT, agriculture and energy.

'We discussed how we could work together to secure our youth and society against common challenges of terrorism, extremism, and radicalism. We agreed on the need to coordinate and work closely in addressing and overcoming these challenges for our common benefit,' Modi said in a media statement.

During the deliberations, the two leaders reviewed the 'cooperative engagement' in defence with Modi calling the Kyrgyz-India Mountain Bio-Medical Research Center as an excellent example of successful collaboration.

Modi said work on a Kyrgyz-India Joint Military Training Center in Kyrgyztan has commenced. Besides joint military exercises, the two countries have been cooperating on high-mountain biomedical research to know impact on soldiers when they carry out operations at high altitude.

Aiming to broaden economic engagement, the two sides signed a bilateral investment agreement. The six MoUs will provide for deeper cooperation in areas of agriculture, tourism, culture, broadcasting and youth affairs.

A joint statement said the two leaders noted the challenges posed by terrorism and extremism globally as well as in the Asian continent, and emphasised the importance of ensuring a stable and secure environment for peaceful economic development.

Photograph: @MEAINdia/Twitter

Asserting that the Reserve Bank of India keeps making new rules on deposits post demonetisation and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley contradicts them, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Tuesday stated that the citizens have no clue who to believe as both authorities have zero credibility.


Taking to Twitter to Chidambaram continued his attack on Centre, saying that the government was resorting to desperate measures.


"Breaking PM's promise of Nov 8 and FM's assurance of Nov 11, RBI makes new rule on deposit, FM contradicts. Who should citizen believe? Neither has credibility," he tweeted.


The Reserve Bank of India on Monday announced that deposits in old notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 exceeding Rs 5,000 would be allowed to be deposited only once till December 30.


However, Arun Jaitley clarifying over the confusion on reports, saying there is no limit as such of Rs 5000 and any person can deposit any amount in the old currency, however, not repeatedly.Questioning the government over its latest notification, Chidambaram tweeted as to why could not the people deposit old notes till December 30, as was promised by the government in the first instance. "Old notes usable until Dec 15. Why can't we deposit remaining notes until Dec 30 as notified?" he said.


Condemning the move of demonetisation, no where even near to the objective of curbing black money and corruption, Chidambaram said, "Hoarders have laundered their old notes. The poor and middle class left high and dry."


Meanwhile, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi has hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi yet again over the RBI ruling."RBI is changing rules like the PM changes his clothes," he said in a tweet.


After banning old 500 and 1,000-rupee notes on November 8th, the government had allowed all of the cash holdings with any person to be deposited in bank accounts till December 30. There was no limit on the quantity or value of the junked notes that could be deposited.However, the government on December 17th issued a gazette notification putting restrictions on deposits henceforth

Swapan Dasgupta's reposte to Yogendra Yadav's takedown of the RBI's new rule that says deposits totaling more than Rs 5,000 in old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes can be made only once per account until December 30. Yadav posted a picture of the letter he wrote to his bank explaining why he was depositing the notes. Dasgupta tweeted: I think @_YogendraYadav handwriting is a wonderful example to all students--at least all those who still use a pen.

As Kareena Kapoor Khan and husband Saif Ali Khan welcomed their first child together, the actress' girl squad congratulated the couple, with sister Karisma Kapoor leading the wishes. Karisma posted a picture on Instagram the read "It's a baby boy that makes me a proud maasi!".

She captioned the photo with various hashtags including the little one's name Taimur Ali Khan Pataudi. Kareena's best friend Amirta Arora welcomed her to the "mommy club".


"My darling welcome to the best club everrrrr....'Mommy club'....Love u#whenthebabybecomesamomma," she captioned a picture of Kareena and Saif.


Malaika Arora Khan, who is also part of the girl gang, shared Amirta's post. Kareena delivered the baby at 7:30 am at the Breach Candy Hospital, in south Mumbai and Saif's sister Soha said both mother and child are doing well.


"The family is delighted. Taimur Ali Khan Pataudi is a beautiful baby boy and both mother and son are doing very well!!," Soha told PTI. The 36-year-old actress' close friend, filmmaker Karan Johar, wished the couple on Twitter. "My Bebo had a baby boy!!!!!!! Am so so happy!!!!!!! #TaimurAliKhan," Karan tweeted.

Swapan Dasgupta clarifies his tweet: Pointing out a misstep does not in any way diminish my complete endorsement of demonitisation. Trolls can look elsewhere for sceptics.

Dasgupta had tweeted earlier today saying, "New caveats on depositing old notes till Dec 30 were unnecessary & will undermine people's faith in govt assurances. A terrible last move."


This comes after the RBI on Monday said that deposits totaling more than Rs 5,000 in old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes can be made only once per account until December 30.

RBI is changing rules like the PM changes his clothes, says Rahul Gandhi.

The Congress VP's comment comes after the RBI issued a statement yesterday that deposits of above Rs 5,000 in banned banknotes can be made only once till December 30. This is the latest in a series of banking restrictions after the government recalled high-value bills.

Such deposits will be accepted only after two bank officials satisfy themselves on why the deposits were not made earlier. The accounts must also be compliant with customer information details, called KYC, otherwise deposits can be restricted to Rs 50,000, the RBI said.

"The (depositor's) explanation should be kept on record to facilitate an audit trail at a later stage,' the central bank said in a notification.

The government pulled out 500-and 1,000-rupee bills on November 8, in an effort to fight a parallel 'black economy', and has since announced near-daily changes to banking rules to manage the transition. The banned notes can be deposited in banks till December 30 and thereafter at select RBI counters till March 31.

On November 12, a week after PM Narendra Modi announced demonetisation, finance minister Arun Jaitley held a press conference where he outlined the rules under the demonetisation scheme. One of the pointers towards tackling the government's new move was: "Dont rush to banks right now for exchanging or withdrawing old Rs 500 or Rs 1000 notes as there are massive crowds. Wait for a few days as the scheme is open till December 30."

Yogendra Yadav, former AAP member and now founding member of Swaraj Abhiyan, gives voice to the growing frustration of Indians to the government's whimsical and ever-changing rules on demonetisation.

The RBI on Monday said that deposits totaling more than Rs 5,000 in old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes can be made only once per account until December 30.

The RBI said yesterday that if someone has more than Rs 5,000 in old notes, a deposit will only be allowed after the depositor satisfactorily answers why they couldn't put the money into their account earlier.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley said today, "If you have old currency, deposit it with banks at one go as repeat deposits of such notes raise doubt."


Accordingly, Yadav posted this letter given to his bank, saying:

This is the "explanation" I have given to my bank for making a small deposit today:

"I have made no cash deposit in my account since 8 november 2016.
I see no reason to offer any special explanation for the same [for making the deposit now]. I normally like and wait for the queues to end. I was assured by the Prime Minister,the Finance Minister and the RBI that there was no need to rush to the banks and that I had till 30 December for making any deposit. I believed them."


On November 12, a week after PM Narendra Modi announced demonetisation, finance minister Arun Jaitley held a press conference where he outlined the rules under the demonetisation scheme. One of the pointers towards tackling the government's new move was: "Don't rush to banks right now for exchanging or withdrawing old Rs 500 or Rs 1000 notes as there are massive crowds. Wait for a few days as the scheme is open till December 30."


A PIL has now been filed in the SC challenging the December 19 government notification permitting only one-time deposit of old currency of more than Rs 5000 between Dec 20-30.


Image: Yogendra Yadav posted a copy of his letter to his bank on his Facebook page.

A few weeks before Monday's terror attack in Berlin, German agents arrested one of their own -- a 51 year old man who was charged with passing on information to Islamist terrorists.


Even though he had been working at Germany's domestic intelligence agency only since April, the man, who was assigned to monitor Islamic radicals in German cities, was working for the very people he was supposed to keep under surveillance.


German Chancellor Angela Merkel -- who welcomed refugees fleeing the civil wars in the Middle East -- will be under severe pressure from her political rivals after the Berlin attack.


At least 10,000 Salafists -- Muslims who observe a strict version iof Islam -- live in Germany, at least a sixth of whom are considered likely terrorists.

In a possible bid to lend legitimacy to its proposal to institute VK Sasikala as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, the AIADMK has now tweeted a video grab of Jayalalithaa's interview with Simi Garewal, where the former TN CM talks about her friend and companion. The AIADMK tweets: Puratchi Thalaivi Amma speaks about Thirumathi.V.K.Sasikala.#Mytruefriend. Jayalalithaa admitted in the 2012 interview with Simi Garewal that she said things she has never admitted to before.


VK Sasikala, the AIADMK general secretary and a close friend and confidante of the late J Jayalalithaa, the former Tamil Nadu CM, has now written to President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress VP Rahul Gandhi thanking them for their visit to Chennai for Jayalalithaa's funeral. While the letters may be common courtesy, what they establish is that Sasikala is in fact, using the Poes Garden home as her official residence.

Vedanilayam, Jaya's imposing bungalow at Poes Garden has been Sasikala's residence as well for about 30 years. This is where she lived as a companion to the former TN CM from 1987. 

Weeks before he presents India's first combined general and railway budget, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said rail commuters must pay for the service they receive even as he made a strong case for outsourcing of non-core functions like hospitality services.


He said year after year, the success of Railway Budget was measured by subsidising consumers and making populist announcements regarding trains.


"Railways got caught in a battle where populism prevailed over performance and the basic principle on which any commercial establishment is to be run, the first essential principle is that consumers must pay for the services that they receive," he said.


Citing the example of power and highway sectors which started doing well only after consumers paid for services they got, Jaitley said worldover, only those services have succeeded where there is a financial model which says that consumers pay for what they receive.


"(But) We turned this whole theory upside down by a self imposed indiscipline that populism requires that I require that consumers not to pay for service that they receive. Therefore any establishment will start crumbling in its own weight and contradictions," he said.

Rajya Sabha BJP MP Swapan Dasgupta criticises the Modi government for changing its stance yet again on the deposit of old notes. Dasgupta tweeted: "New caveats on depositing old notes till Dec 30 were unnecessary & will undermine people's faith in govt assurances. A terrible last move."


This comes after the RBI on Monday said that deposits totaling more than Rs 5,000 in old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes can be made only once per account until December 30.


If someone has more than Rs 5,000 in old notes, a deposit will only be allowed after the depositor satisfactorily answers why they couldn't put the money into their account earlier.


In the event that someone tries to make multiple deposits in amounts smaller than Rs 5,000 - to try and circumvent the system - they can't, as they will be held up to the same scrutiny as if they went just once with more than Rs 5,000.


On November 12, a week after PM Narendra Modi announced demonetisation, finance minister Arun Jaitley held a press conference where he outlined the rules under the demonetisation scheme. One of the pointers towards tackling the government's new move was: "Dont rush to banks right now for exchanging or withdrawing old Rs 500 or Rs 1000 notes as there are massive crowds. Wait for a few days as the scheme is open till December 30."

India's rulers have always had high expectations from Indian science. Nehru said to Indian Science Congress in 1937, "It is science alone that can solve the problems of hunger and poverty, of insanitation and illiteracy, of superstition and deadening custom and tradition, of vast resources running to waste, of a rich country inhabited by starving people."   Read more

"We are in the middle of the biggest self-created crisis of this government. A crisis which involves and includes citizens and affects the way we go about our lives. It is a crisis that is being managed poorly by the government and, it is absolutely clear, even more shoddily by the Opposition," says Aakar Patel.

Read more


Image: A man sits in a queue to deposit or exchange his old high denomination banknotes outside a bank. Photograph: Amit Dave/Reuters

Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan Pataudi have been blessed with a son this morning. Both the Khan and Kapoor family members were present at the Breach Candy Hospital when Kareena was wheeled in for the delivery. Friend and filmmaker Karan Johar was the first to tweet the name of the baby. Johar shared the name in a tweet, "My Bebo had a baby boy!!!!!!! Am so so happy!!!!!!! #TaimurAliKhan."


Saif and Kareena issued a statement on the birth of their son moments later: "We are very pleased to share with you all the wonderful news about the birth of our son: Taimur Ali Khan Pataudi, on the 20th of December 2016.

"We would like to thank the media for the understanding and support they have given us over the last 9 months, and of course especially our fans and well wishers for their continued affection."

Congratulations!

Accusing the government of "experimenting on us, to try and prove itself correct", Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, today slammed the Centre for scrapping high-value notes, and worse, for constantly changing the rules.


Vadra's comments came a day after the RBI, in yet another rule change since November 8, said that people can now only deposit Rs 5,000 in scrapped notes and do that only once until December 30.


Further, the RBI said that those depositing more than Rs 5,000 in scrapped currency notes will be scrutinised and questioned. All this, despite the Centre initially - when announcing demonetisation on November 8 - allowing the deposit of old notes totaling any amount, until December 30.

Kareena Kapoor Khan and Saif Ali Khan have been blessed with a baby boy. Kareena gave birth to the baby boy at Breach Candy Hospital at 7.30 am on Tuesday morning. Both the mother and the baby are said to be doing fine.


Karan Johar ‏@karanjohar  tweeted his happiness, "My Bebo had a baby boy!!!!!!! Am so so happy!!!!!!! #TaimurAliKhan."

No confirmations yet, if the baby has in fact been named, Taimur. 


File pic.

A man stormed into a Zurich mosque on Monday evening and opened fire on people praying, injuring three, Swiss police said.


They said they had collected evidence inside the building and would make more details available on Tuesday. They declined to comment on the potential motive.


Two of the three men -- aged 30, 35 and 56 -- were seriously injured in the attack shortly after 5:30 pm local time near the main train station in Switzerland's financial capital, Zurich police said. A third sustained less severe injuries. All three were brought to hospital.


The unidentified suspect, a man around 30 years old who according to witnesses was wearing dark clothing and a dark wool cap, fled the mosque, police said. Police said a body was found nearby but would not comment on any link to the shootings while investigations continued.


People at the scene told Reuters the Islamic Centre on Zurich's Eisgasse was used as a mosque, often by Somalis.


"We never once had a problem," said Abukar Abshirow, a Somali who said he was a regular worshipper at the centre that attracted Muslims from around the world.


"We never had anyone come and say why are you here. We never had that," Abshirow said. He said the three victims were Somalis.


Two thirds of Switzerland's 8.3 million residents identify as Christian but the nation has been wrestling with the role of Islam as its Muslim population has risen to 5 percent, swelled by the arrival of immigrants from the former Yugoslavia.


Image: Police stand outside an Islamic Centre in central Zurich. Pic: Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters

India has renewed its demand for international action against Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and "their shadowy supporters".


Pressing for international action against Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, India today delivered a sharp message to Pakistan at the UN, saying "what you sow will bear fruit." Denouncing the two organisations, whose leadership is based in Pakistan, as affiliates of al-Qaida, India's Permanent Representative Syed Akbaruddin told the Security Council that it was imperative to take action against the support they get from outside.In an implied criticism of China, he blamed the "split' in the UN bodies that mete out sanctions on terrorist organisations for the world body's inability to deal with the terrorism.


China has blocked India's efforts to have international sanctions imposed on Pakistan-based JeM chief Masood Azhar by a committee that takes action against al-Qaida and its affiliates. Azhar was behind the attack on the Pathankot air force base this year. As a member of the Security Council, China has also provided cover for Pakistan releasing on bail Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, the LeT commander who masterminded the 2008 attack on Mumbai which killed more than 160 people. He was already on the UN list of those facing sanctions as terrorists.


"We need to address, as an imperative, the support that terrorist organizations like the Taliban, Haqqani Network, Daesh, aI-Qaeda and its designated affiliates such as Lashkar-e-Toiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammed which operate entirely outside the fabric of international law draw from their shadowy supporters outside Afghanistan," Akbaruddin said.


"While the Taliban sanctions regime remains split for more than five years, the designated terrorist group makes concerted effort to capture and hold territory,' he said. "Therefore, for numerous Afghan women, men and children there is no respite from the plague of terrorism."

Reacting to Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's remark that demonetisation helped "50 families" gain 60 percent of India's wealth, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said the Gandhi family is among those who became billionaires under the UPA regime and are now frustrated as they had lost their corrupt money post demonetisation.


"Frustration of Rahul Gandhi was quite evident. The question that he raised was about 50 families and commission from across the India going to the pockets of 50 families. My question to Rahul Gandhi is these 50 families did not became billionaires over night or in the last two-and-a-half years they became billionaires on your period, you have to answer the question," BJP leader Sambit Patra told ANI.


"The bigger question is whether "the political family' (Gandhi family) which finds mention in the Agusta Westaland scam is part of the 50 families or not. And secondly, from the jeep scam to the chopper scam, money of commission of corruption went to the pockets of a single family and we all know which family it is. Naturally, when this corrupt money has reduced its value because of demonetisation the frustration of the Congress vice president is quite evident," he added.


Addressing a rally in Uttar Pradesh's Jaunpur district yesterday, Rahul Gandhi said, "Demonetisation was not a fight against the corrupt. It was a fight against the poor, the farmer, the under-privileged. Prime Minister Modi gave 60 per cent of India's wealth to one per cent of India's population. A handful of families hold majority of this 60 percent wealth, around 50 families."

The Union Government has sought help from IT firms and its industry body National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) to participate in training more people with digital payments.


The activity is jointly planned by Niti Aayog and Ministries of IT and Telecom in a move to educate as many people on online payments and other cash-less financial transactions.Nasscom and Nasscom Foundation will carry out the activity through two functions - public events and one-on-one training on online payments and other financial transactions and setting up of Call Centre Help Desks to spread awareness on digital payments.


In a letter, the Government and Nasscom urged the IT companies to participate and form team of volunteers with minimum 100 employees who have abilities to train groups of 10 people on online payments. The in-person training will be designed and conducted by Nasscom Foundation with the help of these representatives of IT firms.


While the two functions will complement each other, relevant materials for in-person trainings can be sourced from the Call Centre Help Desks, the letter noted.

Ayan Pramanik/Business Standard

In Mumbai, fire broke out in the Air India building, Nariman Point. The fire has now been doused. Four fire tenders at the spot.

Highly placed government sources on Monday denied media reports that the government is setting a limit on keeping cash at home.


Media reports stated that the government would set a limit on the amount of cash that can be kept at home. The limit was speculated to be between Rs 3-15 lakhs.


Experts were of opinion that India being a developing economy, it would be difficult to set a minimum limit.


Earlier today, the Reserve Bank of India announced that any deposit of old Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes exceeding Rs. 5000 in old notes, shall be made only once per account until December 30.


Tenders of Specified Bank Notes (SBN) in excess of Rs. 5000 into a bank account will be received for credit only once during the remaining period till December 30. The credit in such cases shall be afforded only after questioning the tendered, on record, in the presence of at least two officials of the bank, as to why this could not be deposited earlier and receiving a satisfactory explanation.


Despite many ATMs being recalibrated and huge amount of new money injected into the economy, the common man is still bearing the brunt of demonetisation.


Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while announcing the move, asked for 50 days which is going to end on December 31

The Chinese military is expected to return a seized underwater probe to the US Navy in the South China Sea on tomorrow, a US defense official said. The small craft, taken around 90 kilometres northwest from Subic Bay in the Philippines last week, will be handed over to the crew of a US warship in the vicinity of Scarborough Shoal.