Congress RS MP from Ananda Rapolu protests against GST in front of the Gandhi statue in the Parliament complex.

Approaching the end of his tenure in Rashtrapati Bhavan, President Pranab Mukherjee today said he got "immense love" from political colleagues and people of the country during his long career in public life.

The government has lowered interest rate on small saving schemes like PPF, Kisan Vikas Patra and Sukanya Samriddhi by 0.1 per cent for the July- September quarter, a move that will prompt banks to lower deposit rates.

The rates have been lowered by 0.1 per cent across the board compared to the April-June quarter.

However, interest on savings deposits has been retained at 4 per cent annually.

Since April last year, interest rates of all small saving schemes have been recalibrated on a quarterly basis. A finance ministry notification said investments in the public provident fund scheme will fetch lower annual rate of 7.8 per cent.

Kisan Vikas Patra investments will yield 7.5 per cent and mature in 115 months. The one for girl child savings, Sukanya Samriddhi Account Scheme, will offer 8.3 per cent annually, from 8.4 per cent at present.

The investment on 5-year Senior Citizens Savings Scheme will yield 8.3 per cent. The interest rate on the senior citizens scheme is paid quarterly. Term deposits of 1-5 years will fetch a lower 6.8-7.6 per cent that will be paid quarterly while the 5-year recurring deposit has been pegged lower at 7.1 per cent.

"On the basis of the decision of the government, interest rates for small savings schemes are to be notified on a quarterly basis," the ministry said while notifying the rates for second quarter of financial year 2017-18.

While announcing the quarterly setting of interest rates, the ministry had said the rates of small saving schemes would be linked to government bond yields. The move is expected to prompt banks to lower the deposit rate in line with the small savings rate as offered by the government.

While I was working in India I was very conscious of the fact that this is not my country, says Ali Zafar as we sit down for a chat. Pakistan is my country. Things between India and Pakistan are very uncertain. Things can come to a stop anytime. Which is why, contrary to popular perception, I never shifted my base to India. Read more

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said he aspires to build a grand monument of Lord Buddha in Gujarat's Aravalli district where Buddhist relics were found during an excavation.


Addressing a gathering in Modasa city on the second day of his visit to the state, Modi, dressed in a traditional tribal attire, said the recent excavations in Aravalli have established that the Buddha was revered in the western belt of India as well.


"There was a general notion earlier that Lord Buddha was popular in the eastern belt of the country only. But, the excavation at Dev ni Mori near Shamlaji temple (in Aravalli) some time back has established that Lord Buddha's influence had reached the western belt too," he said.


"It is my dream to build a grand monument of Lord Buddha at Dev ni Mori, so that people from across the world can come here and visit this place. I'm confident of fulfilling my dream with your blessings," Modi said.


Image: The Buddha monument in Hong Kong.

"It would be ok if the 'Not In My Name' protests were merely futile. One has to speak up and speak out even if one doesn't succeed, they argue. Silence is complicity. Fair enough. The problem is that the protests were actually counter-productive. A closer look at the PM's speech shows he made a distinction between non-violent cow protection and killings-in-the-name-of-cow-protection. He spoke at length on the issue of cow protection, narrating a story."

Read more

The Kailash Mansarovar yatra through the Nathu La pass in Sikkim has been cancelled, an official said today. The decision comes in the wake of a face-off between Indian and Chinese troops over a disputed area along the Sino-Indian border.

The move will come as a disappointment to the 400 devotees who were hoping to visit the high altitude area, believed to be the abode of Lord Shiva, following an arduous trek along the Nathu La route.

Though the yatra through Nathu La in Sikkim will not take place this year, pilgrims travelling through the Lipulekh Pass in Uttarakhand will continue as scheduled, the government official said.

Eight batches, each comprising around 50 pilgrims, were scheduled to have taken the Nathu La route to Mansarovar in Tibet. The first batch was to have crossed over to China through Nathu La on June 20 and the last batch on July 31. It would have taken a batch 21 days to complete the pilgrimage.

China had issued visas for the first two batches and applications for the other pilgrims were put on hold because of the tension along the border. The first batch of Kailash Mansarovar pilgrims had to return from the Nathu La border post as the stand-off between India and China showed no signs of easing.

The pilgrims returned to Gangtok on June 23 after staying in Nathu La for three days awaiting permission from the Chinese side for the onward journey.

The second batch of pilgrims did not move from Gangtok and was eventually told to return home.

The Sikkim route to Mansarovar was thrown open to the public in 2015. The pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar, located at an altitude of 15,160 feet, takes place from June to September each year through the two routes. The Kailash Mansarovar yatra is considered holy by Hindus, Buddhists and Jains and is undertaken by hundreds of pilgrims every year.

Rahul Gandhi on GST: "A reform that holds great potential is being rushed through in a half-baked way with a self-promotional spectacle. India deserves a GST rollout that does not put crores of its ordinary citizens, small businesses & traders through tremendous pain and anxiety. Unlike demonetisation, GST is a reform that @INCIndia has championed & backed from the beginning.


The Congress on Friday tweeted undated clips of Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying "GST can never be successful" and implementing it is "impossible" without the requisite infrastructure.


"This is what Modi ji & the BJP really think of GST" is what the Congress captioned one clip. In it, Modi is seen saying: "On the question of GST, it is the BJP's view and the Gujarat government's view, from the very beginning, that GST can never be successful."

The Congress tweeted: "Modiji how quickly you forget your own words. Why are you rolling out GST without developing the proper infrastructure #GSTTamasha."


The Congress said yesterday it won't attend the GST rollout event at midnight, because, among other things, it finds its present format "unacceptable".

In a horrific incident, a man accused of raping and murdering an eight-year-old girl, was allegedly lynched by mob in Dumka's Ramgarh.

The incident took place on Thursday when a man raped and then murdered a eight-year old girl, who hailed from Kusumdih, came to Ramgarh to attend a wedding at her uncle's place.

As per reports, the 30-year old man identified, as Mithun Hansada, abducted the victim while she was playing at the bank of a river in the village and took her in the forest where she was raped and later killed.

It is speculated that Hansada was intoxicated.It was only when the parents of the girl were unable to find her after a stretch of time, they started looking for her and later recovered her body from the forest.

Enraged with the incident the locals lynched the accused.Later, the police reached the spot and took Hansada into their custody.

"We have taken the body in our custody, but so far it is not confirmed that the girl the raped or not," Deputy Superintendent of Police, Roshan Gudiya.

So, the SP has also decided to attend the GST launch. Party spokesperson Naresh Agarrwal tweets:  We oppose #GST, its a black law but since Pres will attend launch we will go as we do not want to create controversy.

@abdullah_omar  tweets a warning. Kingfisher bought Deccan and crashed, Jet bought Sahara & very nearly disappeared. I hope Indigo doesn't bite off more than it can chew. 

India has finally countered China's claim that Indian troops 'trespassed the Chinese border to obstruct construction of a road', saying Chinese troops had entered into the Doklam area.

In a statement,the MEA said it has conveyed to the Chinese government that such construction (in Doklam) will represent significant change of status quo with serious security implications.

The MEA said India has consistently taken a positive approach to the settlement of its own boundary with China, along with associated issue of tri-junctions.

India said it was deeply concerned at the recent Chinese actions and the road construction by China in Doklam area. India has asked China to maintain restraint and status quo.

India said on June 16, a PLA construction party entered Doklam to construct a road. It's our understanding that the Bhutan Army patrol tried to dissuade them. India Wants to solve border issues through dialogue."

China has refused entry to around 50 Indian pilgrims who were scheduled to travel to Kailash Mansarovar through the Nathu-la pass in Sikkim following which India has taken up the issue with Beijing.

The recent face-off between Indian and Chinese soldiers reportedly took place over road construction on the borders of 269-sq.km Doklam plateau in Bhutan, but claimed by Beijing. The face-off was followed by China pushing back Indian pilgrims and stopping them from the Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra.

Congress ally, NCP, hits out at the party over its decision to boycott the GST launch. The NCP has remained non-committal over its participation, but the party's senior leader Praful Patel's tweet could be read as its intent to ditch its ally and participate in the midnight launch.


NCP leader Praful Patel tweeted this morning, to say,  "All parties unanimously passed #GST in parliament. State Governments of different parties approved the rates. Now why so much fuss over the launch function.#GSTMegaDebate #GSTIndia #GSTLaunch
#GSTNews".


At the stroke of the midnight hour, the Goods and Services Act will be launched in the Central Hall of in Parliament.


The event is being hailed as India's second tryst with destiny after Independence on August 15, 1947 and will be graced by the presence of President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.


Former prime ministers Manmohan Singh and HD Deva Gowda were also invited to the launch, but Dr Singh along with the Congress will skip the event. The TMC, RJD and many other parties will also skip the event, while the SP and the NCP are undecided.


The launch event will start at 11 pm on June 30 and extend into the midnight, coinciding with the rollout of the GST regime. Amitabh Bachchan and Ratan Tata will also be in attendance during the GST rollout.

Germany legalises same-sex marriages.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today chaired a high-level meeting of top foreign policy officials to discuss ties with India amid tension over ceasefire violations in Kashmir.

Radio Pakistan reported that Sharif would be briefed about important foreign affairs issues, including ties with India and Afghanistan. The meeting is being attended amongst others by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and senior officials of the Foreign Office.

The meeting was held amid tensions between India and Pakistan after a number of ceasefire violations in Kashmir for which both sides blame each other. It comes days after the US declared Pakistan-based Hizbul Mujahideen leader Syed Salahuddin a global terrorist.

The government condemned on Friday the lynching of a 45-year-old Muslim meat trader in Jharkhand. The man was lynched for allegedl;y carrying beef and died as a result of his injuries.

The government condemned the incident but said there was no "religious angle' to it.

"It's a barbaric incident, should be condemned by all, don't bring religious angle in it," Union urban development minister Venkaiah Naidu told news agency ANI.

The comments came a day after the prime minister warned cow vigilantes to not take the law in their own hands and condemned any violence in the name of an animal considered holy by many Hindus.

But hours later, a 100-strong mob thrashed trader Alimuddin aka Asgar Ali, who died in hospital.

Photos showed the mob hitting the man, meat pieces strewn on the road, and his car in flames. In one photo, a bloodied and dazed Alimuddin was caught minutes before his death.

Incidents of cow vigilantism have mounted in India since the BJP stormed to power in 2014.

In April, a Muslim dairy farmer was lynched in Rajasthan's Alwar. Last week in Jharkhand's Giridih, a 200-strong mob thrashed a 55-year-old Muslim dairy owner and set his house ablaze after a cow carcass was found near his home.


Image: A vehicle was torched during a protest against the lynching of a man in Ramgarh district of Jharkhand. PTI Photo

Markets managed to apply brakes on their early losses today, but the Sensex and the Nifty still moved in the red as investors braced for the final countdown to the GST launch.


The landmark tax reform Goods and Services Tax is set for a mid-night launch today. Telecom, capital goods, realty and auto stocks wobbled amid sluggishness in global shares.


The 30-share Sensex resumed lower before trading at 30,813.05 at 1125 hours, down 44.47 points, or 0.14 per cent. The NSE 50-share Nifty also fell by 18 points, or 0.19 per cent, at 9,486.10 at 1125 hours.


L&T went down 2.29 per cent, Bharti Airtel 2.22 per cent, ICICI Bank 1.26 per cent and Tata Motors 1.23 per cent. The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices declined by 0.04 per cent and 0.08 per cent, respectively. Foreign portfolio investors sold shares worth a net Rs 1,140.77 crore yesterday, as per provisional data.

Domestic institutional investors bought shares worth a net Rs 600.23 crore yesterday. Asian stocks declined despite marginal improvement in China's manufacturing activity as select technology shares around the region got sold off.

US President Donald j Trump's temporary ban on travelers from six Muslim countries came into effect on Thursday, June 29. 

In a huge embarrassment for Yogi Adityanath-led UP Government, a Cabinet Minister failed to spell out the full form of GST, which is scheduled to be rolled out at midnight today.


Social Welfare, Scheduled Castes and Tribal Affairs minister Ramapati Shastri, who was here to make people aware about the nitigrities of the GST, was caught by media person when he was not able to tell the extended form of GST.


The Uttar Pradesh minister started fumbling when asked about the full form of the GST. One of his aides even volunteered saying it was Government-Tax, but someone else brushed it off. The minister tried to cover up his goof up and said he was aware of the full form but had forgotten it.

"I know the full form. I am going through all the important documents to gather more knowledge about the GST," said Ramapati.

The GST is slated to be rolled at midnight today.

GST will bring the Indian economy under a single tax bracket.

Amarnath yatra resumes from Pahalgam and Baltal routes after weather improves: Shrine Board.

Violating the ceasefire, Pakistan today targeted Indian posts and civilian areas with mortar bombs and automatic weapons along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district. Indian troops effectively retaliated to the violation.


The ceasefire violation started at 0415 hours targeting Indian Army posts along the LoC in Bhimbher Gali sector, a Defence spokesman said.


Yesterday, two Indian Army jawans were injured when Pakistani troops fired from small arms and shelled mortars on forward posts and civilian areas along the LoC in Poonch district. On June 27, Pakistani had violated the ceasefire by shelling areas along the LoC in Bhimbher Gali sector. There have been 23 ceasefire violations by Pakistan in June besides a cross-LoC attack.

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar will not be attending GST's midnight launch party. Instead, he has deputed state minister Vijendra Yadav to attend on behalf of the JDU.  Almost all Opposition parties have boycotted the event, though the SP is yet to make up its mind.

Nitish Kumar has maintained that all political parties should support the GST and participate in the launch function as it was a great tax reform which would benefit every state including Bihar.

The Congress on Thursday said it would skip the government's June 30 midnight session for the launch of the goods and services tax, prompting more and more opposition parties to jump on the boycott bandwagon.

The Congress, Trinamool Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Samajwadi Party and Left parties announced they would not attend the special celebrations announced by the government. The Congress, in an all-out attack on the meet convened by the government, called it a 'grand self-promoting tamasha (gimmick)' to gain publicity.

If one goes by his son's account, Giridih milkman Usman Ansari (50) should have been the last person to be attacked by a mob for killing a cow as the Ansari family treats cows like members of their family. A Muslim family selling milk for decades in Hindu-dominated Barwabad village (not Bhandara as reported earlier) in Giridih, the family fears to eat even chicken, said Kalim Ansari (27), a mason, at Dhanbad's Central Hospital run by the BCCL where his father Usman, thrashed on Tuesday by a mob over rumours of cow slaughter, is recovering. Read more

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Friday said he would be attending the midnight celebration of the GST roll out in the Central Hall of Parliament as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has met his "grievances".

Talking to ANI, Swamy said the Prime Minister has implemented two of his suggestions that CAG should audit the decision of the GSTN and other that the Home Ministry must carry out a security clearance.

Meanwhile, the Congress has announced to boycott the midnight GST rollout and branded this as 'publicity stunt' or 'tamasha' (drama) of the Narendra Modi-led Government.

Theresa May has been finally confirmed as the British Prime Minister, almost three weeks after the election, as she won a Commons vote on the Queen's Speech, owing to her stand on the abortion regulations which earlier threatened to bring down her Government.

The Tory leader avoided a major upset when she announced that they would fund abortions for Northern Irish women.322 MPs voted in favour of her agenda, with 309 voting against, with Jeremy Corbyn failing to win support for an anti-austerity motion.

There was another boost for the Tories when dozens of Labour MPs rebelled against Jeremy Corbyn's Brexit stance to support a motion keeping Britain in the single market.

The vote on the Queen's Speech is considered a vote of confidence on the Government as a whole - meaning that the PM would have had to quit if she lost. Despite the Tories losing their majority in the General Election on June 8, the party said it was confident of being able to stay in the Government.

Later, May struck a deal with the DUP, that she actually could be sure of commanding the support of a majority in the Commons.

JK Rowling has once again politely thrashed President Donald Trump on social media.After Trump attacked MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' co-host Mika Brzezinski for an alleged face-lift and called her "low I.Q" and "crazy," the 'Harry Potter' author replied by posting a quote from Abraham Lincoln on Twitter.


She wrote, "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."MSNBC also released a statement, calling it "a sad day for America when the president spends his time bullying, lying and spewing petty personal attacks instead of doing his job."


Rowling has been quite vocal about showing her disappointment over Trump's decisions.Rowling has previously defended her right to criticise the Trump regime, despite not being an American citizen, arguing, "When a man this ignorant & easy to manipulate gets within sniffing distance of the nuclear codes, it's everyone's business."

The beef ban and the crackdown on illegal meat shops and slaughterhouses by some states may have benefited Venky's (India) Ltd, whose shares are burning up Dalal Street.


Shares of Venky's, which specializes in poultry products (including broiler chicken, day-old broiler chicks and eggs), chicken feed and animal health products, have risen 279% in 2017. They touched a record high of Rs1,636 in intraday trading on Thursday. In contrast, the Sensex and the Nifty (benchmark indices of BSE and the National Stock Exchange) are up 15.9% and 16.1%, respectively. Read more

The US has urged China to respect civil liberties in Hong Kong as the territory marks the 20th anniversary of its hand over to Beijing's rule.