The government has just announced that those who wish to purchase jewellery above Rs 50,000 do not require to show their PAN card. 

Former Maharashtra CM Narayan Rane, who recently quit Congress and formed his own party, decides to join the BJP-led NDA. 

Mumbai is suddenly lashed with heavy rains. The BMC says there's nothing to worry about, high tide post midnight. 

The Supreme Court Collegium has decided to upload on the apex court's website decisions taken by it including elevation, transfer and confirmation of judges in order to ensure transparency in its proceedings. The decision was taken on October 3.


"The decisions henceforth taken by the Collegium indicating reasons shall be put on the website of Supreme Court, when recommendation(s) is/are sent to Government, with regard to cases relating to initial elevation to High Court Bench, confirmation as permanent Judge(s) of High Court, elevation to the post of Chief Justice of High Court, transfer of High Court Chief Justices/Judges and elevation to Supreme Court, because on each occasion the material which is considered by the Collegium is different.


"The Resolution is passed to ensure transparency and yet maintain confidentiality in the Collegium system," the resolution said. -- PTI

The Indian economy is expected to see a gradual cyclical recovery with GVA growth averaging 6.7 per cent this fiscal, slightly higher than 6.6 per cent in 2016-17, says a Nomura report.


According to the Japanese financial services major, there could be some downside to the RBI's near-term projections.


"In our baseline, we expect some of the growth drag caused by demonetisation and GST to reverse and growth to recover from July-September quarter of 2017," Nomura said in a research note.


It however noted that though its lead indicators are signalling a pick-up in non-agriculture GDP growth, reduced sowing of crops and shortages of working capital since GST implementation suggest a more gradual uptick.


Moreover, investment also continues to hobble due to low capacity utilisation and bank balance sheet stress.  -- PTI

One civilian was injured after terrorists opened fire in the Tral area of Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday. The incident comes just days after terrorists attacked the Border Security Force (BSF) Camp near Srinagar airport, which claimed life of a BSF trooper. Three terrorists were gunned down in the encounter. -- ANI

VK Sasikala told to surrender by 6 pm on October 12.

The jailed AIADMK leader was today granted parole for five days by prison authorities in Karnataka to meet her husband, who underwent a liver and kidney transplant at a Chennai hospital.


Sasikala had sought parole for 15 days, but she has been granted for five days, jail authorities said. After her first application was rejected on "technical grounds" on October three for not producing certain requisite documents, Sasikala had filed a fresh plea for parole. She is expected to leave for Chennai in the afternoon.     


Rajya Sabha member from Tamil Nadu Navneet Krishnan has  given an undertaking for Sasikala's parole, her lawyer  Krisnappana told reporters outside the jail premises. "Rs 1,000 surety also has been deposited," he added.   Around 100 supporters of Sasikala gathered outside the jail premises. Krisnappana said Sasikala's nephew TTV Dhinakaran had arrived at the jail and was completing the parole formalities.


Tamil Nadu Police had earlier issued an NOC to the Karnataka government for granting parole to Sasikala, he said. Sasikala's husband, M Natarajan (74) underwent the liver and kidney transplant on October 3 with the organs harvested from a brain-dead youth, according to Gleneagles Global Health City hospital in Chennai. Sasikala has been in Parapana Agrahara central jail here since February this year after the Supreme Court upheld her conviction by a special court in a disproportionate assets case.


Her relatives Ilavarasi and V N Sudhakaran are also serving four-year jail terms.

Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs V.K. Singh on Friday expressed grief over the loss of lives in an IAF Mi-17 V5 helicopter crash incident, which left seven people killed.


Singh said, "There could be any reason behind the crash, either technical or climate reasons. We can't say anything until the investigation is completed."


The former Chief of Army Staff also added that it would not be right to make any predictions over the accident.


The incident took place at around 6 am today near Arunachal Pradesh's Tawang Sector, bordering China, when the helicopter was on an air maintenance mission.Mi-17 V5 chopper is a Russian helicopter which is considered to be one of the world's most advanced military transport helicopters. 

SC Collegium decides to upload on apex court's website decisions taken by it including elevation, transfer and confirmation of judges to ensure transparency.

The lines in the peace symbol, made for the 1958 British Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, represent the letters 'N' and 'D'.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2017 to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).


The organization is receiving the award for its work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons.


The average age of the winners so far is 61, with the youngest by some margin being Malala Yousafzai who was just 14 when she won in 2014. Of the 104 individuals who have won a prize, just 16 have been women.

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons has been awarded the 2107 Nobel Peace prize. The chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Berit Reiss-Andersen, said the award had been made in recognition of the group's work "to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons'.

The water level in 91 major reservoirs across the country has risen to 67 per cent of their total storage capacity from 66 per cent last week, the government said today.


As of September 28, the water storage in the reservoirs was 103.429 billion cubic metres (BCM). It has now increased to 105.851 BCM.


The latest water levels in the reservoirs are 90 per cent of the storage reported during the corresponding period last year, the Union Water Resources Ministry said in a statement.


These are 89 per cent of the decadal average for the corresponding period, the statement said.


The reservoirs in states such as Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana reported lesser storage level than last year.


Maharashtra recorded the storage equalling that last year. Major dams in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu reported better storage level vis-a-vis the corresponding period last year. -- PTI

With the widening alcohol prohibition threatening to impact the country's tourism industry, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant today said it is not the states' business to decide what a tourist should eat and drink.


"Indian states can't get into what a tourist want to eat and drink. Just not possible...what he wants to eat and drink is his individual business and not the states' business," he said at India Economic Summit of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in New Delhi;.


He was asked whether states banning beef and alcohol have failed to realise what did Dubai do so brilliantly, as the country needs tourists who should be extended every facility they need.


"I have been a long term believer on couple of things. Tourism is essentially civilisational in character, you can't have garbage and filth and say that we have great heritage sites. So, India must focus on cleanliness. It is number one. Number-2 its about seamless experience," he said.


At least four states -- Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Daman -- have announced plans to bar liquor sales, adding to the list that includes Gujarat, Bihar, Nagaland and Manipur which are already dry.


The proponents of prohibition maintain India has highest whiskey sales in the world leading to a plethora of social ills and needs to be checked. Also, they say, drunk driving is a leading cause of road accidents and binge drinking is a big problem in the country.  -- PTI

Intensifying its crackdown on black money, the government today said it has collated information about 5,800 shell companies whose near zero- balance accounts saw nearly Rs 4,574 crore of deposits post note ban and Rs 4,552 crore withdrawal thereafter.


"Vital information has been received from 13 banks regarding the bank account operations and post-demonetisation transactions of some of the 2,09,032 suspicious companies that had been struck off the Register of Companies earlier this year," the government said in a statement today.


Last month, the government imposed restrictions on operations of bank accounts of over 2 lakh 'struck-off' companies.


Terming it as a "major breakthrough" in fight against black money and shell companies, it said the first installment of data pertains to about 5,800 companies -- out of more than 2 lakh that were struck off -- involving 13,140 accounts.


"Few of the companies have been found to have more than 100 accounts to their names. The highest grosser among these is a company having 2,134 accounts, followed by others having accounts in the range of 900, 300 etc," it said.


The data on pre-demonetisation accounts and transactions conducted during the cash ban period is "startling", the government stated. After separating the loan accounts, these companies had a meagre balance of Rs 22.05 crore on November 8, 2016.


"However, from November 9, 2016 (after the announcement of demonetisation), till the date of their being struck off, these companies have altogether deposited a huge amount of Rs 4,573.87 crore in their accounts and withdrawn an equally large amount of Rs 4,552 crore," the statement said.
 -- PTI

The government has made biometric identification Aadhaar mandatory for all post office deposits, PPF, the National Savings Certificate scheme and Kisan Vikas Patra. Existing depositors have been given time till December 31, 2017 to provide the 12-digit unique identification number.


The Ministry of Finance has issued four separate Gazette notifications making Aadhaar mandatory for opening all post office deposit accounts, Public Provident Fund (PPF), National Savings Certificate scheme and Kisan Vikas Patra deposits.


"Provided that where Aadhaar number has not been assigned, the depositor shall submit proof of application of enrolment for Aadhaar," the notification dated September 29 said.


Existing depositors who have not provided Aadhaar number at the time of application for such deposit "shall submit his Aadhaar number to the post office savings bank or deposit office concerned, on or before December 31, 2017," it added.


The government has insisted on quoting Aadhaar for bank deposits, obtaining mobile phone and several other utilities to weed out benami deals and black money.


Last month, it extended the deadline for obtaining Aadhaar for availing government schemes and subsidies by three months to December 31. Earlier, those who did not have Aadhaar were asked to procure it by September 30.

-- PTI

Jailed AIADMK leader VK Sasikala has been granted five days' parole to be with her ailing husband M Natarajan, who had been suffering from both kidney and liver failure. He had been on the organ transplant waiting list since April and had multiple organ transplants after a donor became available.


Sasikala had applied for a 15-day parole, but was granted a five-day parole. She will now head to Chennai to visit her husband who is in hospital.


This morning, her nephew, ousted AIADMK leader, TTV Dinakaran, reached Bengaluru jail to escort her to Chennai.


Sasikala's lawyer said that the jail authorities had received an e-mail from the Chennai police commissioner agreeing for parole with certain conditions, but now the jail authorities were discussing with higher officials about conditions imposed by the Chennai police.  "If Sasikala is able to affix her signature accepting all the conditions, then she will out within half an hour," her lawyer said today. 


Meanwhile, the Supreme Court will today hear Dinakaran's plea to extend the deadline for settling the dispute over the party's 'two leaves' electoral symbol.


Dinakaran approached the top court on Friday, a day after the Madras High Court turned down his plea to extend its October 31 deadline to February 28 next year.

EAM Sushma Swaraj calls on Donald Tusk, President of European Council & Jean-Claude Juncker, President of European Commission.

PM Narendra Modi welcomes Donald Tusk, President of European Council & Jean-Claude Juncker, President, European Commission at Hyderabad House.

Just in: Responding to a plea on the reopening of Mahatma Gandhi's assassination probe, the Supreme Court today asked senior advocate Amarendra Sharan to assist the court as an amicus curiae in the case.

The court asked several questions on the plea to reopen a probe into Mahatma Gandhis assassination.

Dr Pankaj Phadnis - founder of a modern-day 'Abhinav Bharat' - has filed a PIL in the Supreme Court, questioning the belief that three bullets were fired at the Mahatma. He said four shots were fired and it is the fourth bullet that took his life. An earlier petition of Phadnis seeking reopening of the case was dismissed by a high court earlier.

The Panchkula Police on Friday sent a notice to 45 members of the Dera Management Committee in connection with the August 25 violence that broke out in Panchkula when Dera Sacha Sauda Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was declared guilty of rape by a special Central Bureau of Investigation court.

The police have also recovered a hard disk which allegedly contains details of Dera's revenue.

Meanwhile, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Thursday blamed the Punjab Police for delay in the arrest of Honeypreet Insan. "There is surely something suspicious about it [Daal me kuch kaala hai]," Khattar told media.

Honeypreet, the adopted daughter of Ram Rahim Singh, was arrested by the Haryana Police on Tuesday, on the highway near Chandigarh, along with another woman.

At least 36 people were killed and hundreds were injured in the violence following conviction of Ram Rahim in 2002 rape case. -- ANI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday will visit Bilaspur city in Himachal Pradesh to lay the foundation stone for All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).


Approximately Rs. 1350 crore will be allocated towards building the 750-bed hospital, which will also function as a medical college for imparting medical education at the under-graduate and post-graduate level, besides nursing.


Later in the day Prime Minister Modi will also lay the foundation stone for the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), in Una.


The Prime Minister is also scheduled to inaugurate a Steel Processing Unit of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL). He will end his day by addressing a public meeting. -- ANI

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat today escaped unhurt after his car collided with another vehicle in his cavalcade on the Yamuna Expressway near Mathura.


The accident happened after the tyre of an escort vehicle in Bhagwat's motorcade burst, Sangh Prachar Pramukh Manmohan Vaidya said.


"Sarsanghchalak Mohanji is safe and has resumed his journey to Vrindavan. It was a minor accident," Vaidya told PTI. All people travelling in the cavalcade are safe, he said and added that Bhagwat will attend events in Vrindavan as scheduled.  -- PTI

Update on the IAF chopper crashes in Arunachal Pradesh. Six personnel on board the IAF chopper have died, reports India Today. One person has been critically injured. Two bodies have so far been recovered. The chopper, which was on an air maintenance mission, crashed at around 6:30 am. The IAF has ordered a Court of Inquiry into the incident.

Indian Air force Mi-17 V5 chopper crashes in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh during a training sortie this morning. Five personnel have dead, one critically injured, says the IAF.  Details awaited.


File pic.

Former United States President Barack Obama? dubbed Las Vegas musical concert massacre as 'senseless tragedy.'


The former US President, in a tweet said, "Michelle & I are praying for the victims in Las Vegas. Our thoughts are with their families & everyone enduring another senseless tragedy.


"President Trump also expressed his condolences to the victims of the families and labelled, the deadliest massshooting in US history as, 'an act of evil.'


Trump said that he would be visiting Las Vegas on Wednesday to offer his condolences to the families of those killed and commiserate with the injured admitted to hospital.


The tragic incident took place at a country music festival opposite the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Resort on the Las Vegas Strip at the Jason Aldean concert. -- ANI

Jailed AIADMK leader VK Sasikala has been granted parole and is likely to visit Chennai today to meet her husband who underwent surgery on Thursday, according to The Times of India.


Sasikala had applied for a 15-day parole to be with her ailing husband M Natarajan, who had been suffering from both kidney and liver failure. He had been on the organ transplant waiting list since April and had multiple organ transplants after a donor became available.


The former AIADMK general secretary had applied for parole on Monday and said she wished to be with her husband following his surgery. Prison authorities had said their legal team would "consider" her application, Parappana Agrahara Prison Superintendent PS Ramesh was quoted as saying by PTI.


Sasikala's (60) husband M Natarajan (74) had been admitted to the intensive care unit of Chennai's Gleneagles Global Hospital.


Sasikala has been in jail Bengaluru since February after the Supreme Court upheld her conviction by a special court in a disproportionate assets case.


Along with Sasikala, her relatives Ilavarasi and VN Sudhakaran are also serving four-year jail terms.Meanwhile, Sasikala's nephew and sidelined AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran had confirmed on Monday that the jailed party leader had applied for a 15-day parole to meet her ailing husband.

Banwarilal Purohit takes oath as the Governor of Tamil Nadu.

At least eight infants have died at the Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Medical College and Hospital (FAAMC) in Assam's Barpeta district since Wednesday.

Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said about five crib deaths at FAAMC since on Wednesday, while its principal said three more infants died on Thursday evening.

"The (five) infants died due to serious neo-natal medical complications and not due to human negligence. Doctors tried their best to save the newborns and adequate medicines were available in the hospital," the minister said.

Three more infants, aged between one day and two months, died due to birth asphyxia, FAAMC Principal Dilip Dutta said.

Birth asphyxia is a condition when a baby's brain and other organs do not get enough oxygen before, during or right after birth.

The infants had low birth weight or were admitted to the hospital in a very critical condition at a very late stage, Dutta said.

Among the deceased infants, eight were male and one female. "I have talked to the doctors concerned and they have categorically said that the infants could not be saved in spite of their best possible care," the minister said.

These mortalities are related to purely critical nature of the case like age of the mother or weight of the baby, Sarma said.

The minister ordered an inquiry into the crib deaths by the Director of Medical education who visited the hospital along with consultants from UNICEF to audit the deaths.

An expert team of doctors has been called from Guwahati Medical College and Hospital to support the doctors at FAAMC, Dutta said.  -- PTI

Representative image