Breaking News, November 15 | HIGHLIGHTS

The Reserve Bank on Wednesday directed Bajaj Finance to stop sanction and disbursal of loans under its two lending products -- eCOM and Insta EMI Card with immediate effect due to the non-adherence of the company to the extant provisions of digital lending guidelines.

Within a space of five days, a second leopard, a six-year-old female, was found dead on the road in Andhra Pradesh. The leopard was found dead on an Andhra Pradesh state highway near Tamil Nadu border, which cuts through a forest in Chittoor district, an official said on Wednesday.

Local people in Jammu and Kashmir's Doda Wednesday accused authorities of failing to repair bad roads in the district despite repeated requests and demanded a probe into the devastating accident that left 37 people dead.

The Karnataka government on Wednesday submitted before the High Court that a discussion of stakeholders called by the Additional Chief Secretary, Urban Development Department discussed payment of compensation of Rs five lakh to families of people who die due to dog bites. It also discussed Rs 5,000 as compensation for those who suffer injuries.

President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday paid tributes to Bhagwan Birsa Munda on his birth anniversary.

The rupee appreciated 21 paise to close at 83.12 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday as the American currency retreated from its elevated levels after the US inflation came lower than expected.

 Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Wednesday said his government is working on a 'mission mode' to implement the welfare schemes of the central and state for the benefit of the people. Apart from the centrally sponsored flagship schemes, the BJP-led government in the northeastern state has introduced 33 programmes for the overall development of the people.

Employees of the Haryana Roadways went on a strike demanding the arrest of attackers who killed a bus driver after an argument in Ambala. The employees, under the banner of the Haryana Roadways Employees' Union, proceeded on the strike from midnight. The protesting employees held 'dharnas' at several bus stands including Yamunnanagar, Charkhi Dadri, Karnal, Sonipat, Sirsa, Hisar and Narnaul. Haryana Roadways bus driver Rajveer (51) died after he was attacked by unknown assailants in Ambala on the intervening night of November 12 and 13. 

Police on Tuesday registered an offence against two men for selling firecrackers without permission in Bhiwandi town of Maharashtra's Thane district, an official said. A police patrol team spotted the duo selling crackers in the open on Badhwad Pipeline Road during the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday, the official of Shantinagar police station said.

India, the US and 12 other members of the IPEF grouping have signed a supply chain resilience agreement that would provide benefits like potential shifting of production centres in critical sectors and mitigating risks of economic disruptions from supply chain shocks. The agreement was signed in San Francisco, where Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal is attending the ministerial meeting of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework For Prosperity (IPEF).

Five people were killed and three others injured after their car crashed into another vehicle after hitting a divider in Haryana's Kurukshetra. The accident occurred near Thikri village on the national highway on Tuesday night. The car driver coming from Pehowa side lost control over the vehicle, rammed into the divider and then hit another vehicle coming from the opposite direction on the other side of the road, a police official said.

The Delhi Police has questioned a 19-year-old youth from Bihar in connection with a deepfake video of actor Rashmika Mandanna that was widely circulated on social media recently, officials said today. The police suspect that the youth had first uploaded the video on his social media platform and later shared it widely on other platforms.

 A 51-year-old man, who was attacked by a wild elephant a day ago near Nilambur in this north Kerala district, died on Wednesday morning, police said. The deceased, identified as Rajan, was a rubber tree-tapper and was attacked early Tuesday morning by a tusker when he was tapping rubber trees, an officer of Nilambus police station said.

Japan's economy slipped into a contraction in the third quarter, decreasing at an annual pace of 2.1% as consumption and investments shrank, the government reported today. Real gross domestic product, which measures the total value of a nation's products and services, fell 0.5% in the July-September period for the world's third-largest economy, the Cabinet Office said. That would produce a 2.1% drop if the quarter's performance continued for a full 12 months.

Assam minister Atul Bora has received a threat to his life on social media, and the CID has been asked to investigate it, Director-General of Police GP Singh said. Bora, the Agriculture and Assam Accord Implementation Minister, is also the chief of Asom Gana Parishad, which is a part of the ruling BJP-led coalition in the state.

The Bihar government said that state cooperative banks would soon provide interest-free, short-term agriculture loans to farmers. Under this initiative, farmers will be given credit for meeting their financial requirements of agricultural and other allied activities along with post-harvest expenses, an official said.

The US State Department labelled Akram al-Ajouri, the leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad's militant wing, as a specially designated global terrorist, CNN reported. The US Treasury Department also imposed sanctions on "key Hamas officials and the mechanisms by which Iran provides support to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)."

An earthquake of Magnitude 5.2 on the Richter scale occurred in Pakistan on Wednesday morning. According to the National Center for Seismology, tremors were felt at around 5:35 am. 

The torrential rain continues to lash various parts of Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu. A holiday has also been declared for all schools in Chennai and Tiruvallur districts on November 15 amid incessant rainfall in the state.

On the sidelines of the IPEF (Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity), Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal attended a series of bilateral meetings aimed at deepening and finding scope for new investment opportunities in India. Goyal, who is on a four-day visit to the US, met Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto and the talks between the two leaders focused on strengthening trade and investment ties between India and Indonesia.