Here's a bit of news that might make you smile.

"Thank you bhaiyya," said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, acknowledging a group of journalists who congratulated him for the demonetisation decision of his government.   

In order to facilitate the smooth movement of passengers, the civil aviation ministry has suspended parking charges at all airports till midnight of November 21. 

Pakistan army chief General Raheel Sharif today ordered troops to 'effectively' respond to firing by India across the Line of Control after the death of seven Pakistani soldiers.

The army chief was in Jhelum near Rawalpindi to attend the funeral prayers of the dead soldiers, according to army spokesman.

He was given a briefing by the senior commanders about the latest situation on the LoC.

General Raheel said on the occasion that army 'will continue to respond effectively' and it ordered that it should 'leave no stone unturned to defend motherland'.

Meanwhile, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that Pakistan responded effectively to the Indian fire and 'it would have surly killed Indian troops'.

He claimed that India was hiding its losses on the LoC.

A 45-year-old farmer allegedly committed suicide as he was apparently upset over not being able to get his high-denomination notes exchanged for fresh ones due to serpentine queues in banks.

The farmer Ravi Pradhan's wife Pushplata claimed that he was in urgent need of money to help their two sons who were in Tamil Nadu, but was facing inconvenience after old high currency (Rs 500 and Rs 1,000) notes were banned.

"Pradhan's body was found hanging at his house in Maharajpur village under Saria development block in the night of November 12," Sarangarh Sub Divisional Officer of Police Junas Bada said.

"The exact cause that prompted him to take the extreme step was yet to be ascertained as no suicide note was found at the spot," he said.

As per preliminary information, Pradhan was ailing and was undergoing treatment. The statement of his wife was yet to be recorded, he said.

A case has been registered in this connection, the SDOP said, adding that further probe was on.

"My two sons Sunil, 22, and Anil, 20, were working at a yarn mill in Tamil Nadu. On November 10, one of my sons called his father (through his mobile) and informed that they urgently need money as their contractor escaped without giving them their wages. They wanted to come back home for which they were in need of cash," she said.

As old currency notes were scrapped, Pradhan had to immediately go to the bank for the exchange.

He stood in queues for two consecutive days at a bank branch in Saraia, around two kms away from Maharajpur, to get exchanged Rs 3,000, but unfortunately he could not reach the counter (before the bank shut down), she claimed.

"He was extremely upset with it," she said.-- PTI

United States President-elect Donald trump had told New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in 2015 that he didn't expect to make it past October, reveals an upcoming book by CNN on the 2016 Presidential elections.

Christie's endorsement of Trump had shocked observers in February this year as the first sign of capitulation from the Republican establishment to the man who would eventually become their nominee -- and then their president.

However, it could've easily been the other way around, according to the book Unprecedented: The Election that Changed Everything, written by CNNs Thomas Lake with reporting from Jodi Enda, Susan Baer and CNNs political team.

'Trump told Christie in 2015 that he didn't expect to make it past Octoberat which point he would endorse Christie, according to a Christie adviser who asked not to be named in order to speak about behind-the-scenes maneuvers,' the book says.

'I think they always had an understanding that the first one out would probably endorse the other,' the adviser had said.

Read more

In Delhi, a high-level BJP meet begins, PM Modi in attendance. LK Advani, Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley are part of the key strategy meet. The meet is to discuss the government strategy ahead of the Winter Session of Parliament beginning Thursday.


The BJP's national executive also held a meeting in Allahabad on Sunday, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party president Amit Shah, senior members of the Union Cabinet, Chief Ministers of the BJP-ruled states and members of Parliament will be in attendance.


At the meeting, party leaders formulated the strategy for the next round of assembly elections in several states, including the electorally important Uttar Pradesh.


File Pic: PM Modi with party president Amit Shah

One terrorist was killed as army foiled an infiltration bid along the Line of Control in Naugam sector in Kashmir today.

"An infiltration bid was foiled along the LoC in Naugam sector," an army official said.

He said one militant was killed in the anti-infiltration operation and one weapon was recovered from the slain ultra.

Petition filed in Lahore High Court seeking extension in tenure of Army Chief Raheel Sharif: Pak media

Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is poised to become Germany's next president, after the two main parties in Chancellor Angela Merkel's grand right-left coalition agreed to back his nomination, party sources said today.


Party leaders have been wrangling for months over whom to nominate as a potential successor to President Joachim Gauck, a 76-year-old former pastor from the former communist East Germany who is stepping down due to his advanced age.


Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) today agreed on Germany's most popular politician, Steinmeier, whose name had been put forward by his Social Democratic Party.


The third party in the coalition -- the CDU's Bavarian allies CSU -- is expected to announce its decision later Monday. Party sources said there is unlikely to be opposition to the plan.


The new president -- a figure who is meant to transcend party politics and serve as a moral standard bearer for the nation -- will be elected on February 12 by parliament and delegates from Germany's 16 federal states.


Steinmeier, 60, has emerged in recent months as one of the most strident critics of US President-elect Donald Trump.


He warned a day after Trump's shock election that US foreign policy would become more unpredictable, making things "more difficult".


The foreign minister has also been frank in expressing Germany's disapproval of Turkey's widening crackdown following a failed military coup in July. The crackdown, Steinmeier said, should not be used as an excuse to muzzle the opposition.

PM Narendra Modi's Ghazipur rally a flop. People brought in from Bihar to fill up seats, they were paid Rs 250 each, says BSP chief Mayawati.


Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a blistering attack on opposition parties for criticising the Centre's demonetisation policy. Addressing a rally in Uttar Pradesh's Ghazipur, Modi said, "After demonetisation, poor enjoying sound sleep, rich running from pillar to post to buy sleeping pills."


In a bid to fight black money and stop terror funding, the Central government scrapped the use of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. Talking about inconvenience faced by the people, he said, "New whitewash gives out foul smell, but it is necessary. Only when people are ready to face inconvenience, then corruption will go."

The I-T Department may slap a hefty 200 per cent penalty on unexplained high cash deposits in banks even before annual income tax returns are filed so as to prevent black money being converted into white during the 50-day window provided for turning in the junked Rs 500/1000 notes, a Finance Ministry official said.


It is also collating data on spurt in deposits in zero-balance Jan Dhan accounts and will slap a 200 per cent penalty on unexplained high value cash deposits, he said. After withdrawing old 500 and 1000 rupee notes, the government has allowed the banned notes to be deposited in bank accounts or exchanged for new legal tenders till December 30.


This has led to cash balances popping up in millions of Jan Dhan accounts, opened under a government scheme for beneficiaries to get their entitlements like LPG subsidy. Tax Department is collating data on spurt in Jan Dhan accounts. It will analyse all data and impose tax plus a 200 per cent penalty in cases of unexplained high value deposits, the official said.


Under Section 12 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, tax department can ask for any information from any agency including the Reserve Bank of India and cooperative banks besides all scheduled banks. To prevent misuse of the 50-day window provided for exchange of genuine holdings of the scrapped 500 and 1000 rupee notes, the tax department may resort to imposing tax and penalty even before annual Income Tax Return (ITR) is filed, the official said.


Any unexplained source of income can be charged with tax and a 200 per cent penalty on it. That can happen before filing of ITR. No retrospective amendment is required if high value deposits are caught before filing ITR, he said. Finance Ministry has carried out series of advertisements in newspapers assuring people that their hard earned money is safe and depositing junked Rs 500/1,000 notes of up to Rs 2.50 lakh in bank accounts will not be reported to the tax department.


It has also stated that farm income continues to remain tax free and can be easily deposited in bank. Small businessmen, housewives, artisans, workers can also deposit cash in their accounts without any apprehensions, it has said. On farm income, the official said the tax department will match the acre of land the person has and the deposits made in the bank account to identify any discrepancy.

Breaking:Pakistan summons Indian High Commissioner Gautam Bambawale to the Foreign Office.

The Pakistan army on Monday said at least seven of its soldiers were killed in firing allegedly by Indian troops across the Line of Control.


The seven Pakistani soldiers were killed at the LoC in the Bhimber sector in retaliation to ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops that had left one soldier dead.

"Support India on terror, ours not a friendship to hide," says Israeli President Reuven Rivlin who is in India for six days. 


Israel President Reuven Rivlin arrived in Mumbai on Monday morning on a six-day visit to India. Rivlin, who is accompanied by a large delegation of businessmen and academicians, will leave for New Delhi later in the day. He will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and visit several sites of cooperation and joint projects between the two nations. He will join President Pranab Mukherjee in opening an agrotech conference in Chandigarh. He will pay his respects at the sites of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks in Mumbai and lay wreaths at memorials for Mahatma Gandhi and for Indian soldiers, who fell in the World War I. Six Jews were killed at the Mumbai Chabad house during the Mumbai terror attacks on November 26, 2008. Rivlin will hold meetings with senior Indian officials and with leaders of the Jewish community.


File pic: PM Modi with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin

The vanity project, of absolutely no use to most Indians, will suck money that could be used for health and education, says Aakar Patel. Read more

"But I have an authority letter and all the ID proofs and... I pleaded."'Authority letters don't work for exchange, you can deposit the cash." I stepped out of the line, feeling more dejected than when Ranbir Kapoor gets turned down by a girl before coming of age in all his movies. Paloma Sharma -- the only non-middle aged, non-canine member of the home -- on a Sunday spent at the bank. Do read

Opposition parties to meet at 4 pm to discuss Parliament strategy ahead of the Winter session of Parliament set to begin on November 16.

A stormy winter session awaits Parliament with the ruling NDA and opposition parties at loggerheads over the withdrawal of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes.

Apart from inflicting hardships on people, what the demonetisation has also done is unite the opposition.

Opposition parties left no stone unturned to slam the government over the inconvenience caused to the people who in large numbers queued up outside Banks and ATMs to get cash. From Congress to Aam Aadmi Party and Left, every party has criticised the Modi government and has demanded immediate withdrawal of the decision.

Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan and the government have called for all-party meetings to discuss the issues before the session starts on 16 November.

#FLASH Toll suspension for all national highways has been extended till midnight of 18th November

In other news, seven Pakistani soldiers were killed Sunday night during cross-border firing across the Line of Control, Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations said. 

Coming down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his assertion that he left his home and family for the nation, the Congress Party on Monday said there is nothing great in it in terms of politics, adding this is cheapness of the worst limit.


"If you believe that politics is a service to the nation, thousands of people have done it.what is so great about it? This is kind of extremely cheap. If you have to do it, you shouldn't announce it. That means you have actually not sacrificed anything, you have done it as a tool to project yourself. I think it is a cheapness of the worst limit," Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit told ANI.


Escalating his attack on the Prime Minister, Dikshit asked, "What has he done for the country except for being the Chief Minister and the Prime Minister, which is a political job, which you aspire for."


"What is it that he has done extraordinary that others have not done. What social service was he doing before that when he left his family and his wife? He was only a pracharak of the Rashtriya Swayemsevak Sangh(RSS) or a leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP). Was he doing some social service.was he standing on the border?" he added.

-- There are some who are instigating housewives. I want to assure all of you that your hard-earned money is safe with the banks. In fact you will get interest on this. The Income Tax department will not ask you about your savings of 2.5 lakhs.


-- I will never let anyone loot the money that belongs to the poor of India.


-- Have you ever heard that people are throwing currency notes in the Ganga. I must warn those people, their sins won't be washed away with all this.


-- Yes, those against me are strong people. But, I will not be scared of them. I will not leave the path of truth and integrity.


-- I am saying again just give me 50 days. The bank staff is working for 18 hours a day.


-- This is 'mahayagya', this is the festival of honesty. I seek your blessings (for success of currency ban).

PM Modi ends his speech


Image: The PM distributes passbooks to beneficiaries of the Sukanya Samirdhi Yojana at Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh. Pic: AIR

No one carry bags to fund terrorism, it is more via online transfers: Sitaram Yechury responds. 

More highlights from PM's speech at Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh:

-- Our enemy is printing counterfeit notes across the border.

-- Enemy is flooding our nation with these counterfeit notes. We need to put an end to this.

-- Ye jo naaliyon mein note phenkne aate hain, vo agar CCTV mein qaid ho gaye to unhe hisaab to dena hi padega.

-- Yes, those against me are strong people. But, I will not be scared of them. I will not leave the path of truth and integrity.

-- Leaders used to be garlanded with notes. But now isn't everyone equal?

-- Poor people are sleeping peacefully at night.

-- Yes, those against me are strong people. But, I will not be scared of them. I will not leave the path of truth & integrity.

Shaktikanta Das, Economic Affairs Secretary, gives an update on how the government is planning to tackle the immense hardships faced by customers in the aftermath of demonetisation. Highlights...


-- The PM has addressed the supply of cash.

-- Enough cash is available with the RBI, no need to panic.

-- Supply of cash will be improve.


-- Focus of government is to dispense cash fast.

-- Banking correspondent will be now allowed to withdraw cash multiple times as opposed to only once a day earlier.


-- The focus of the govt is to activate all channels whereby cash is dispensed to the public.


-- 2.5 lakhs points in the rural areas will be able to dispense cash.

-- ATM recalibrations have started. From tomorrow some of the ATMs will start dispensing higher denominations.


-- Increased withdrawal from ATMS (up to Rs 24,000 from the earlier Rs 20,000 in week) will be applicable only from recalibrated ATMs. Customers are now allowed to withdraw the entire Rs 24000 allowed in a week, in a day,  against the Rs 10,000 per day withdrawal allowed earlier.

-- More money for post offices.

-- Separate queues for senior citizens at banks.

-- 3 lakh crore deposited so far in Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with senior ministers in the wee hours of Monday to review demonetisation and its impact.

The meeting at Prime Minister's residence was attended by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley+ , I&B Minister Venkaiah Naidu, Power, Coal and Mines Minister Piyush Goyal, Economic Affairs Secy Shaktikanta Das and top officials of the Finance ministry.

The meeting came amid continuing chaos and growing public anger across the country over limited cash availability following the surprise demonetisation of two higher value currency notes by Modi.


Also read: Old notes valid for utility payments till Nov 24.

With banks struggling to cope with rush to get alternative currency, the government has extended use of old defunct Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes for paying household utility bills, fuel, taxes and fees and purchases from co-operative stores till November 24.


While withdrawing Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes from the night of November 8-9, the government had allowed use of the old currency at government hospitals, railway ticketing, public transport, airline ticketing at airports, milk booths, crematoria/burial grounds and petrol pumps for 72 hours.


This list was later expanded to include payments for metro rail tickets, highway and road toll, purchase of medicines on doctor prescription from the government and private pharmacies, LPG gas cylinders, railway catering, electricity and water bills and ASI monument entry tickets.


As banks struggled to give alternate currency, the deadline was extended by another 72 hours. That deadline was to end at midnight tonight, but has now been extended till November 24, official sources said.

The youngest MP in the current House is 28, and the oldest MP is 88. The median age of MPs is 58, that is half of the MPs are 58 years and above. In 2011, the median age of India was 24 years. MPs aged 56-70 years have the highest share of seats (44 per cent) in the current Lok Sabha, while the demographic accounts for only eight per cent of the total population.
Read more

"I was lying in bed with a plaster cast at the age of 16, soon after the tribal invasion of the Kashmir Valley had begun. We were in Jammu and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru came on a brief visit to the palace, but I was not able to see him. Having grown up reading his books and being inspired by them, especially his autobiography and Discovery of India, I complained to my father for not having had the opportunity to meet him. When he came for the second time, my father brought him into my room and said to him, "Tiger is your great admirer."


Dr Karan Singh on Jawaharlal Nehru and 8 reasons why he remembers Panditji on his birth anniversary today. Do read

The annual Class 10 and 12 board examinations in the Kashmir Valley will kick-off from Monday.


As per reports, all arrangements have been put in place for the smooth conduct of the examinations for Classes 10 and 12, which are scheduled to start on November 14 and 15, respectively. Officials allayed fears of any trouble or inconvenience to the students appearing for the annual examinations.


Former J-K CM Omar Abdullah tweeted, " Good luck to all the kids appearing in their board exams in J&K starting from today. Block out the distractions & politics as best you can."

As per reports, around 480 examination centers have been set up for about 48,000 Class 12 candidates, whereas nearly 550 examination centers have been established for Class 10 candidates.


State Education Minister Naeem Akhtar said he is hopeful that the examinations would be conducted in a peaceful atmosphere.


A restive situation in the Kashmir Valley prevails since the killing of Jaish-e-Mohammed militant Burhan Wani on July 8.

A Muslim teacher in a Georgia high school said someone left her an anonymous note in her classroom on Friday, telling her that her "headscarf isn't allowed anymore."

The note, scribbled in black ink, also told her to "tie" her headscarf around her neck and "hang yourself with it," reports The Washington Post.

The note ended with the word "America" along with a drawing of the American flag.

Mairah Teli, a teacher at Dacula High School in Gwinnett County, located outside Atlanta, posted a picture of the note to her Facebook page Friday.

"As a Muslim, I wear a headscarf as a practice of my faith. I want to share this to raise awareness about the reality and climate of our community. Spreading hate isn't going to 'make America great again,'" she wrote.

A spokeswoman for the Gwinnett County Schools told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the district is working to find out who wrote the note. It's unclear at this time whether the person who wrote it was inspired by Donald Trump's election to the presidency, but Teli's post on Facebook assumed as much.

"I feel children feel safe making comments that are racist or sexist because of him," she told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The incident comes as similar incidents involving harassment and hateful messages against people from certain backgrounds were reported in other parts of the country following Trump's victory. On the campaign trail, the president-elect had promised to keep Muslims from entering the United States. He later backed off from a complete ban, saying his proposal would keep immigrants from countries that have been "compromised by terrorism."

In his victory speech, Trump kept a unifying tone and promised to be "president of all Americans" - a departure from his campaign rhetoric.
"He said, 'We're going to calm the waters. We're going to bring people together,'" Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus told Fox News on Wednesday morning.


Image: Mairah Teli's Facebook page. 

Legendary musician Leonard Cohen was buried next to his parents in a Montreal cemetery. The musician was buried in "an unadorned pine box" on Thursday, his son Adam wrote in a recent Facebook post.


"My sister and I just buried my father in Montreal. With only immediate family and a few lifelong friends present, he was lowered into the ground in an unadorned pine box, next to his mother and father. Exactly as he'd asked.


"...There's so much I wish I could thank him for, just one last time. I'd thank him for the comfort he always provided, for the wisdom he dispensed, for the marathon conversations, for his dazzling wit and humor...And I'd thank him for music; first for his music which seduced me as a boy, then for his encouragement of my own music, and finally for the privilege of being able to make music with him," Adam wrote. Cohen died last week in Los Angeles. His gravestone is reportedly unmarked, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Demonetisation humour. 

Critiquing the Centre's unpreparedness in dealing with the currency crunch after it demonitised Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam has said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision is ultimately affecting the livelihood of the general public instead of weeding out the menace of black money.


"For the past 10 days, people are getting starved, they are unable to purchase groceries, they cannot purchase vegetables, so if it was planned 10 months earlier, then the government should have come out with a proper plan and not put people into trouble," DMK secretary T.K.S. Elangovan told ANI.


Elangovan's comments came in response to Prime Minster Modi's claim that the decision to cancel the legal tender of Rs.500 and Rs.1000 was taken after a through deliberation of ten months.


Downplaying Prime Minster Modi's assertion that he sacrificed his life to serve the people, Elangovan said, "Every leader has done the same, even Mahatma Gandhi did not have a smooth family life, he lived for his ideologies. So, as a leader, he (Modi) is bound to sacrifice his family and work for the nation. That is why people regard them as leaders."


During an emotional address to the people in Goa, Prime Minister Modi said he left his family and home to serve the nation and added that he understands the pain of the people who have been waiting in long queues to exchange their currencies.


"I was not born for sitting on a chair of high office. Whatever I had, my family, my home...I left it for the nation," Prime Minister Modi said."Yes, I also feel the pain. These steps taken are not a display of arrogance. I have seen poverty and understand the problems of the people," he added.


On November 8, Prime Minister Modi announced demonetisation of currency notes in a major assault on black money, fake currency and corruption

Israel President Reuven Rivlin arrives in India for a six-day visit.  Rivlin, who is arriving with a large delegation of businessmen and academics, will join President Pranab Mukherjee in opening an agro-tech conference in Chandigarh, hold meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and visit several sites of cooperation and joint projects between the two countries.


He will also pay his respects at the sites of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks and lay wreaths on the tomb of Mahatma Gandhi and at the memorial for Indian soldiers who fell in the WWI in combat in Israel and the Middle East.

"Donald Trump's election victory might be intellectually and politically more significant than Indian liberals imagine. 'Might' is the key word here; we don't yet know if the ascent of Trump signals the end of America's claim to being the standard-bearer of liberal democracy. He might be an aberration, impeached inside a year as David Brooks suggests in his column in the New York Times. But since Brooks is generally wrong about everything it's probably safe to assume that Trump is here to stay. If he does serve out a term (or two) in the White House, will the liberal ideal in society, geopolitics and democracy, suffer irreparable global harm?"

Read Mukul Kesavan's column here.

Israel President Reuven Rivlin arrives in Mumbai for a six-day visit to India.

Israel President Reuven Rivlin arrives in Mumbai for a six-day visit to India.

US President-elect Donald Trump has said he would take USD 1 as his salary a year and not the USD 400,000 that comes with the US president's job and will refrain from going on any vacation.


Asked whether he was going to the president's salary, 70-year-old Trump said, "No, I'm not gonna take the salary. I'm not taking it," confirming a promise he made in a campaign video in September. "I think I have to by law take USD 1, so I'll take USD 1 a year. But I don't even know what it is," Trump told CBS's "60 Minute" in an interview aired yesterday.


Trump said he did not know what the salary of a US President is and also said he would not take any vacation. "We have so much work. There's so much work to be done. And I want to get it done for the people," he said. "I want to get it done. We're lowering taxes, we're taking care of health care. I mean, there's just so much to be done. So I don't think we'll be very big on vacations, no," Trump said, ruling out a vacation for himself.


Trump defeated his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in Tuesday's presidential vote, in a result which shocked many who had expected her to win following favourable opinion polls.