Revision of interest rates for small savings scheme.

Exchange rate graphic.

In a no-hold-barred attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi Thursday said people are now heard saying that the country's "watchman' is a "thief'.


The remark at a public meeting provoked immediate condemnation by the BJP with Union minister Smriti Irani telling reporters it showed that the Congress leader has no respect for the prime minister's post. Gandhi was referring to the Prime Minister's "silence' on the Rafale fighter aircraft deal with France and the Modi government's "failure' to bring fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya to book. Modi had said he did not want to become the country's prime minister, but its 'chowkidar' (watchman), Gandhi recalled.


He added now it is heard on the streets that the country's 'chowkidar' is a thief. "Galli galli me shor hai, desh ka chowkidar chor hai,' he said in Hindi at a rally in tribal dominated Sagwara of Udaipur district. Assembly elections will be held in Rajasthan later this year. -- PTI

Ajay Maken on Thursday said that he was suffering from "painful orthopaedic ailment", two days after Congress dismissed as "rumours" reports of his resignation as its Delhi unit chief. Maken tweeted that he was "deeply touched" by outpouring of wishes and concerns about his health but did not comment on the resignation "rumours".


"Deeply touched by the outpouring of good wishes and concern about my health. I'm suffering from an irreversible & progressive orthopaedic ailment, which is extremely painful, but not life-threatening. Seeking 3rd opinion on the exact cause-To arrest progression & obliterate pain(sic)," he tweeted.


The Congress on Tuesday dismissed as "rumours" reports that Maken has resigned and said he has gone for a medical checkup abroad and continues holding the post.


AICC incharge of Delhi affairs P C Chacko had said that Maken was abroad for medical check up and he had informed him as well as Congress president Rahul Gandhi about his trip.


"Maken has not resigned and will continue to be the Delhi Congress chief," Chacko told PTI. "He has left and has informed Congress president Rahul Gandhi and me about his medical checkup. He will return on September 22," Chacko said.  -- PTI

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Thursday launched a scathing attack on Congress president Rahul Gandhi calling him "Clown Prince" and that he was "lying" about Modi government waiving Rs 2.5 lakh crore of loans of 15 industrialists.


Taking to a Facebook blog to reply to Gandhi's charges made during his political rallies, Jaitley said not a single rupee of any debtor has been waived by the BJP government. Loans to the country's 12 defaulters were given out prior to 2014 and it was only the present government which was making recoveries, he said, adding that defaulters are losing their companies and assets as they are being auctioned to recover dues.


"You lied on the Rafale deal, you lied on the NPAs. Your temperament to concoct facts raises a legitimate question -- do people whose natural preference is falsehood deserve to be a part of the public discourse," he said.


"The world's largest democracy must seriously introspect whether public discourse should be allowed to be polluted by the falsehood of a 'Clown Prince'." Gandhi has repeatedly attacked the Narendra Modi government on the deal to purchase Rafale fighter jets from France, which he claims is being done at more than three times the price the previous UPA government had agreed upon.


Also, he has accused the government of waiving Rs 2.5 lakh crore of loans defaulted by top industrialists. Countering his charges, Jaitley in the blog titled - Falsehood of a 'Clown Prince' - said the previous Congress-led UPA government "concealed" the loans despite default by rolling them over and NPAs or bad loans were hidden under the carpet.


"The truth, Mr Rahul Gandhi, is that your Government allowed the banks to be looted. The loans were inadequately securitized. Your Government was in complicity," he wrote. Jaitley charged Gandhi of "concocting a lie" and repeating it as many times and went on to cite previous arguments he had made to counter the charges on Rafale deal.


"In mature democracies, those who rely on falsehood are considered unfit for public life. Many have been banished from political activity because they were caught lying. But this rule obviously can't apply to a dynastic organisation like Congress party," he said.


"If the 'Rafale concoctions' were the first big lie, the second one stated repeatedly is that Mr Modi waived off Rs 2.50 lakh crores of 15 industrialists. Every word of that sentence repeatedly uttered by Rahul Gandhi is false."  -- PTI

The IT ministry is mulling sending a third notice to WhatsApp asserting that it bring in 'traceability' of messages on its platform, even as the American firm has maintained that doing so will impact end-to-end encryption and violate privacy of users.


According to government sources, an internal discussion was held on the issue and a third letter could now be sent to WhatsApp in the next 7-10 days.


The IT ministry feels that technical solutions can be found to trace the originator of a message, without actually compromising end-to-end encryption, said a government official, who did not wish to be named. Citing examples of potential technical solutions that could be brought to the table, the official said traceability can be brought in for a message that has been forwarded to, say, a high number of users within a short span of time. This will not not entail "looking into the content of the message" but simply identifying the originator of such a message that has gone viral and crossed a certain threshold, the official added.


Following multiple incidents of mob-lynching across the country -- incited by fake news circulated on WhatsApp -- the government had asked WhatsApp to look for ways to track the original sender of such provocative and nefarious messages.


WhatsApp was already been slapped with two notices, with the second one warning that it will be liable to be treated as 'abettors' and can face legal consequences if it remains "mute spectators".  -- PTI

A cyclone will hit the coasts of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh on late Thursday night, the India Meteorological Department said. A deep depression is moving at a speed of about 12 kmph and is likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm in the next 12 hours, the cyclone warning division of IMD said in the evening on Thursday.


The depression, which was initially over west-central Bay of Bengal and adjoining areas, moved westward and intensified into a deep depression, IMD said in a bulletin, adding that the depression lay centred at about 300 km east-southeast of Gopalpur in Odisha.


"It (the depression) is very likely to move west-northwestwards. It will cross south Odisha north Andhra Pradesh coasts between Kalingapatnam and Puri (Odisha) close to Gopalpur around midnight as a cyclonic storm with wind speeds of 60 kmph to 70 kmph, gusting to 80 kmph," Mritunjay Mohapatra, Additional Director General of the IMD, said.


The CWD's advisory said the sea will be very rough over central and north Bay of Bengal and off the Odisha, West Bengal and north Andhra Pradesh coasts. There will also be a storm surge of about 0.5 metres above astronomical tides and it is likely to inundate low lying areas of districts of Vizianagaram, Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesha and Gajapati, Ganjam, Khurda and Puri districts in Odisha at the time of landfall. -- PTI


Representational image.

India accepts Pakistan's offer for a meeting between External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Pakistan  counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi on the UN General Assembly sidelines.


In a statement today, the MEA said, "The meeting does not indicate any change in our policy towards Pakistan. The date for the Swaraj-Qureshi meeting is being finalised by the permanent missions of the two countries in New York. We have not finalised the agenda for the meeting, but there will be no dialogue on the Kartar Sahib corridor."


Sushma Swaraj will participate in the SAARC foreign ministers' meeting on the sidelines of the UNGA. Swaraj will leave for New York on September 24. She and Qureshi are heading the delegations of their respective countries to the United Nations General Assembly. The two foreign ministers are to attend the SAARC foreign ministers lunch and get-together on September 27.


The India-Pakistan ties have nose-dived in recent years with no bilateral talks taking place.Relations between the two countries had strained after the terror attacks by Pakistan-based groups in 2016 and India's surgical strikes inside Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. 

Jalandar Bishop Franco Mulakkal has been asked by the Catholic Bishop Conference to step down. The bishop has been relieved of his duties and a new bishop will take his place.


In July this year, the nun filed a complaint with the Kottayam district police chief, alleging that Bishop Franco Mulakkal had raped her and had unnatural sex with her multiple times at a small town near Kottayam between 2014 and 2016. The NCW chairperson said the nun was allegedly facing discrimination after levelling sexual assault charges and that she was not getting support from the church.

National Commission for Women sends a letter to Kerala MLA PC Geroge, saying, it has taken cognisance of the news report in which the MLA has made objectionable statements about the nun who has filed a complaint of rape against a Roman Catholic Bishop. The NCW has asked him to appear before it on October 4.


George, an Independent MLA from Poonjar, told the media on September 8, that the nun, who has accused Bishop Franco of raping her repeatedly, is a prostitute, and that she enjoyed it for 12 times and hence, cannot cry rape the 13th time.


Sister Anupama, one of the nuns sitting on protest demanding justice for the complainant, told ANI that they were being pressurised. "Even if it's one time or 13 times, it's rape. We're fighting for that. Our fight is for the world, for all the women who are the victims of rape."

The rupee is expected to remain under pressure in near-term as the downside risks to the currency are largely driven by the external factors and will take some time to subside, says a report.


According to Dun & Bradsteet's latest economy forecast, elevated crude oil prices, strengthening of dollar, geopolitical tensions and economic sanctions will continue to impart depreciation pressures on the rupee.


"Elevated risks and heightened geopolitical uncertainty, trade wars and economic sanctions along with reworking of trade treaties will continue to impact emerging market currencies, including India," Dun & Bradstreet India Lead Economist Arun Singh said in a research note.


At this time of global uncertainty along with tightening dollar liquidity in the global market, measures to attract foreign investors to support the rupee might have limited impact, at least, in the short-term. -- PTI

Sister Anupama on Vicar's comment -- 'if nun was abused multiple times, it was consensual and not rape': The vicar of the Sisters of Parish was also a witness of the things we said. But people helping the Bishop told him things and made him change his mind. We feel he's being pressurised. Even if it's one time or 13 times, it's rape. We're fighting for that. Our fight is for the world, for all the women who are the victims of rape."

Mumbai-based professional Prashant Sharma had never realised flying could be "so terrifying" until his Thursday morning flight to Jaipur. There was screaming and cries and many of his co-passengers suffered nose and ear bleeding as the crew of the Jet Airways flight "forgot" to turn on a switch that controls cabin air pressure.


According to 39-year-old Sharma, who was on an official trip, the terrifying experience began 5-10 minutes into the flight. As the plane climbed, oxygen masks got deployed from overhead compartments and the crew announced that the flight would return to Mumbai, triggering panic among some passengers.


"I was sitting on an aisle seat when suddenly air pressure in the cabin dropped and oxygen masks came down. I saw a passenger sitting next to me bleeding from nose. Several others complained of extreme pain in their ears," Sharma told PTI after he landed in Jaipur in an alternative flight.


"The crew announced that the plane will return...It then circled overhead for around half-an-hour before landing. There was no announcement (related to the problem) from the crew," said another passenger.


Darshak Hati, who shot a video on board and posted it on social media, narrated a similar story. "I hope that such a situation never occur in the future. There was no response in the first flight that took off from Mumbai. Cabin crew just regretted the inconvenience and delay in the alternative flight," Hathi said at the Jaipur airport.


There were 166 passengers and five crew members on board flight 9W 697 that took off from Mumbai to Jaipur. "During a climb, the crew forgot to select bleed switch due to which cabin pressurisation could not be maintained. As a result, oxygen masks got deployed," the official at aviation regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), said.


The Boeing 737 aircraft returned to Mumbai due to "loss of cabin pressure" and the pilots have been taken off duty pending investigation, a Jet Airways spokesperson said.  -- PTI


Image: A passenger on board the Jet Airways flight said that oxygen masks dropped down, but nobody gave instructions on the use. "They announced after 15 minutes that we're landing but didn't even say where. It was very scary."

Pakistan's new Prime Minister Imran Khan has written a letter to his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, the Pakistan Foreign Office said Thursday, seeking to re-start the bilateral talks on key issues "challenging the relationship" including on terrorism and Kashmir.


In the letter dated September 14, the cricketer-turned-politician, who became the Pakistan prime minister last month, proposed a meeting between Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York this month.


"Building on the mutual desire for peace between our two countries, I wish to propose a meeting between Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, before the informal meeting of the SAARC foreign ministers at the sidelines of the upcoming UN General Assembly in New York," Khan wrote.


Pakistan and India have an "undeniably challenging relationship", he said, while responding to Modi's letter to him on August 18. In the letter to Khan, Modi conveyed India's commitment to pursue "meaningful" and "constructive" engagement with Pakistan and emphasising the need to work for a terror-free South Asia.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief thanked Prime Minister Modi for his "warm greetings" and best wishes on his assumption of charge as the Prime Minister of Pakistan. The two ministers (Qureshi and Swaraj) could explore the way forward, Khan said, adding that the SAARC Summit in Islamabad "will offer an opportunity for you to visit Pakistan and for us to re-start the stalled dialogue process".  -- PTI

Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala meets the family of BSF Head Constable Narendra Singh at their home in Sonipat. The Head Constable had gone missing after an exchange of fire with Pakistan in Jammu's Ramgarh sector on September 18 & was later found dead. His body had been mutilated.

The Supreme Court Thursday reserved its verdict on a plea by historian Romila Thapar and others seeking the immediate release of five rights activists in connection with the Koregaon-Bhima violence case and an SIT probe into their arrest.


A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, reserved the judgment after counsel for both parties including senior advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Harish Salve and Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta concluded their submissions. The bench, also comprising Justices A M Khaniwlkar and D Y Chandrachud, asked the Maharashtra police to file their case diary pertaining to the ongoing investigation in the case by September 24. It also asked the parties to file their written submissions by then.


The five activists --Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Sudha Bharadwaj and Gautam Navlakha-- are under arrest at their respective homes since August 29.


The plea by Thapar and economists Prabhat Patnaik and Devaki Jain, sociology professor Satish Deshpande and human rights lawyer Maja Daruwala has sought an independent probe into the arrests and the immediate release of the five activists. -- PTI

A pack of stray dogs attacked a six-year-old boy outside his house in Bhopal's Gokul Dham area on Wednesday. The victim who got severely injured is undergoing treatment at the nearby hospital.


Speaking to ANI, Surjeet Singh Chauhan, Chairman, Bhopal Municipal Corporation, said the concerned authorities will be directed to take an action in the matter.


"This is a matter of concern. I will direct the concerned authorities to take action in this matter. We will ensure that people of Bhopal are safe," Chauhan said.


The parents of the minor victim held the municipal corporation responsible for the increasing population of stray dogs in the area and not taking any stringent measures to provide safety to people from the brutal stray animals' attack. -- ANI

One passenger of a Jet Airways flight from Mumbai to Jaipur, which returned Thursday after several passengers suffered nose and ear bleeding, has been taken to a hospital here for a medical check-up, an official said.


Several passengers on the flight suffered nose and ear bleeding after the crew "forgot" to turn on a switch that controls cabin air pressure, officials said.


One middle-aged male passenger was brought to the Dr Balabhai Nanavati Hospital in suburban Vile Parle by Jet Airways officials.


"He has been taken for an audiometry test and the hospital will issue a health statement after some time," a spokesperson of the hospital said.


During climb, the crew forgot to select the 'bleed switch' due to which cabin pressure could not be maintained. As a result, oxygen masks got deployed, an official at aviation regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation, said.


The Boeing 737 aircraft returned to Mumbai due to "loss of cabin pressure" and the pilots have been taken off duty pending investigation, a Jet Airways spokesperson said. Out of 166 passengers on board, 30 passengers were affected. -- PTI


Image: Darshak Hathi, a passenger on board the Jet Airways flight says the flight landed at Mumbai airport after an hour and passengers were shifted to a different flight. Pic: ANI

A major part of Mumbai's western suburbs will face a total water cut from the morning of September 25, till 10am the next day, reports the Hindustan Times. There will be a 100% water cut in several areas of Juhu, Andheri, Jogeshwari, Santacruz, Bandra, Khar, Goregaon, Vile Parle, Ram Mandir Road and Bimbisar, while areas in the the H-east ward -- Santacruz (East), Prabhat Colony, Asha Nagar, Jaku Club, Seva Nagar and Hanuman Tekdi -- will get water but at low pressure.

The government has raised interest rates on small savings schemes, including NSC and PPF, by up to 0.4 per cent for the October-December quarter, in line with rising deposit rates in the banks. Interest rates for small savings schemes are notified on a quarterly basis.


Interest rate for the five-year term deposit, recurring deposit, Senior Citizens Savings Scheme has been raised to 7.8, 7.3 and 8.7 per cent, respectively. The interest on the senior citizens' scheme is paid quarterly. However, interest on savings deposits has been retained at 4 per cent, annually.


Public Provident Fund (PPF) and National Savings Certificate (NSC) will fetch annual interest rate of 8 per cent as compared to existing 7.6 per cent, while Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) will yield 7.7 per cent and mature in 112 months as against 118 months in the previous quarter.


The girl child savings scheme Sukanya Samriddhi account will earn higher interest rate of 8.5 per cent rate, 0.4 per cent more then the current rate. Term deposits of one-three years will fetch 0.3 per cent higher interest rate.  -- PTI

One passenger of a Jet Airways flight from Mumbai to Jaipur, which returned Thursday after several passengers suffered nose and ear bleeding, has been taken to a hospital here for a medical check-up, an official said.


Several passengers on the flight suffered nose and ear bleeding after the crew "forgot" to turn on a switch that controls cabin air pressure, officials said.


One middle-aged male passenger was brought to the Dr Balabhai Nanavati Hospital in suburban Vile Parle by Jet Airways officials.


"He has been taken for an audiometry test and the hospital will issue a health statement after some time," a spokesperson of the hospital said.


During climb, the crew forgot to select the 'bleed switch' due to which cabin pressure could not be maintained. As a result, oxygen masks got deployed, an official at aviation regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation, said.


The Boeing 737 aircraft returned to Mumbai due to "loss of cabin pressure" and the pilots have been taken off duty pending investigation, a Jet Airways spokesperson said. Out of 166 passengers on board, 30 passengers were affected. -- PTI


Image: Darshak Hathi, a passenger on board the Jet Airways flight says the flight landed at Mumbai airport after an hour and passengers were shifted to a different flight. Pic: ANI

Zombie cells, which are unable to die or function normally, accumulate in the brain before cognitive loss, and can be targeted to prevent diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, scientists say.

These zombie, or senescent, cells are implicated in a number of age-related diseases.

"Senescent cells are known to accumulate with advancing natural age and at sites related to diseases of ageing, including osteoarthritis; atherosclerosis; and neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's," said Darren Baker, a from Mayo Clinic in the US.


"In prior studies, we have found that elimination of senescent cells from naturally aged mice extends their healthy life span," said Baker. In the study published in the journal, the team used a model that imitates aspects of Alzheimer's disease. -- PTI

The last rites ceremony of BSF head constable Narendra Singh being carried out in Sonipat, Haryana. He had gone missing after an exchange of fire with Pakistan in Jammu's Ramgarh sector on September 18 and was later found dead.


The body of the soldier was found few hours later with multiple bullet injuries. His throat had been slit and eyes gouged out, a brutal action possibly committed by Pakistan troops.


Congress party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala reacts to the brutal killing, saying, "Kahan gaya 56'' ka seena aur kahan gayi laal aankh? Kahan gaya 1 ke badle 10 sar laane ka vaada? The govt is worried about the corrupt but not jawans. Modiji uses army for his political gains but doesn't think of their security. Nation demands answers you'll have to answer."


In 2013, Indian army soldiers, Hemraj, along with Lance Naik Sudhakar Singh, was killed by the Pakistan Army regulars after infiltrating into the Indian territory in the Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir. They were beheaded and their bodies mutiliated.


"First Hemraj, now Narendra Singh. Pakistan murdered him barbarically. What is govt doing? Modiji doesn't your soul call you out?" Surjewala asked.
 

The BJP, which was then in the opposition had bayed for blood with Sushma Swaraj saying, "If Pakistan does not return the severed head of the martyred soldier Hemraj, India should get at least 10 heads from the other side."


The killing comes a day after Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated two pilot projects on Smart Fencing, aimed to strengthen the Border Security Force along the International Border with Pakistan.


The BSF did not rule out Pakistan's Border Action Team possibly carrying out a daring operation, killing the soldier in cold blood. BSF have lodged a protest with the Pakistan Rangers at the sector level. BSF has also roped in Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) to raise the issue with Pakistan at its level.

The Supreme Court Thursday extended by three months the deadline given to the Enforcement Directorate to complete the probe in the Aircel-Maxis deal case.


A bench of Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan said the probe should be completed in three months. Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the ED, said the agency needs some two-three months to complete the probe as it needs to confront some accused with several e-mails.


The apex court had in March given the ED a six-month deadline to complete the probe in the case. The ED is probing a money-laundering case in the Aircel-Maxis matter arising out of 2G spectrum cases.-- PTI

Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wins re-election as leader of ruling party, setting him on course to become Japan's longest-serving premier: AFP

Update on the Jet Airways flight where passengers suffer nose and ear bleeds. The Ministry of Civil Aviation has taken cognisance of the incident in Jet Airways Mumbai-Jaipur flight earlier today and has requested the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to file its report immediately on the issue. The crew is being de-rostered.

Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh has moved a court and filed a complaint against Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Minister Uma Bharti and few police officers for allegedly tampering electronic evidence related with the Vyapam scam.


The plea consisting of a 27,000-page annexure, was filed before Judge Suresh Singh of the special court in Bhopal seeking prosecution of Chouhan and Bharti.


In the plea, Singh has alleged that hard disk obtained from computer of Nitin Mohindra -- one of the key accused in the scam has been tampered by few Indore police officials including the then Inspector General Vipin Maheshwari and Superintendent of Police of Crime Branch, Indore Dilip Soni to save Chouhan and other prominent Bharatiya Janata Party leaders in the case.


The Congress leader has also alleged that the Special Task Force, which probed the case earlier and the CBI ignored strong evidence against Chouhan, Bharti and other BJP leaders. Bharti served as the former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh.


The hearing regarding Singh's plea is posted for September 22.


The scam is an admission and recruitment fraudulent scheme, beginning in 1995, involving politicians, senior officials and businessmen in the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board.


The admission and recruitment scam that was unearthed in 2013 pertains to alleged irregularities in the PMT-2013 examination conducted by Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board, popularly known as "Vyapam"(Vyavsayik Pariksha Mandal). -- ANI

Uttar Pradesh Navnirman Sena has offered a Lok Sabha ticket from Agra to Shambhulal Regar, the man who allegedly hacked and burnt a Muslim man to death in Rajasthan's Rajsamand district last year.


Addressing the press conference in Agra, Uttar Pradesh Navnirman Sena national president Amit Jani announced names of five contestants who would be contesting in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in 2019, which includes Regar from the seat, which is reserved for Scheduled Castes.


Jani claimed that Regar's life is in danger in Jodhpur jail, where he is currently lodged.


"We will save Regar and will give political assurance to him. According to Regar, he did it in self defence and it's up to the court whether he is a killer or not," he said.


Jani further lauded Regar's effort to "save Hindutva". He said, "Regar has the constitutional right to contest election till his conviction. We want only Hindutva faces to contest elections on our party's tickets and there can be nobody better than him."


The victim was identified as Mohammed Afrazul Khan, Bengali migrant worker in Rajasthan, and the accused as Regar, a former marble trader. The videos that were uploaded on social media by the 14-year-old nephew of Regar, recorded him saying he killed Afrazul to save a woman from "love jihad".

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Thursday undertook a joint excursion to Mount Paektu, a volcanic mountain located on China-North Korea border.


The two leaders left Pyongyang's Sunan International Airport after 7 am for Samjiyon airport, the location of the mountain, Yonhap News Agency reported.


President Moon and Kim are set to drive up to the Mount Paektu's peak if weather conditions are favourable, officials said. The two Korean leaders are also slated to reach Chonji, the mountain's well-known crater.


President Moon and Kim are scheduled to return to Pyongyang later in the day, following which the former will return to South Korea.


Earlier on Wednesday, North and South Korea signed a joint military agreement and a joint statement to heighten peace and denuclearisation talks.


Additionally, the two sides agreed to take "additional step" to achieve the process of denuclearisation. -- ANI

Several passengers on a Jet Airways flight from Mumbai to Jaipur Thursday suffered nasal and ear bleeding due to cabin pressure problem, a senior official said. The Boeing 737 aircraft returned to Mumbai.


During the climb, the crew forgot to select the switch to maintain cabin pressure due to which cabin pressure could not be maintained. As a result, oxygen masks got deployed, an official at aviation regulator DGCA said.


Citing initial information, the official said few passengers have nose bleeds. "Out of 166 passengers on board, 30 passengers are affected... some have nose bleeds, few have ear bleeds and some are complaining of headache," he added.


The official said all the affected passengers are being attended to by the doctors at the airport. Response from a Jet Airways spokesperson was awaited. -- PTI