Breaking news on October 16

Two Punjab based apple traders, Charanjeet Singh & Sanjeev shot at by terrorists in Trenz, Shopian at around 7:30 pm today. Charanjeet succumbed to his injuries, while Sanjeev is stated to be in a critical condition.

Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police has arrested Surinder Arora, the former Director of Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank. He was called for questioning earlier today.

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Spiritual guru and member of Supreme Court-appointed mediation panel Sri Sri Ravi Shankar expressed his gratitude towards the Supreme Court after today's development. He posted a tweet.

"I thank the Supreme Court for the confidence they have placed in the mediation. I thank all the parties for their sincere & tireless participation. The entire mediation process happened with a sense of brotherhood & understanding which is a testament to the values of this nation," he said in his tweet.

Supreme Court bench hearing the Ayodhya Case will sit in chamber tomorrow (October 17). Deliberations about the case are likely.

The five-judge bench led by CJI Ranjan Gogoi has reserved its verdict in the 70-year-old Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case. The bench also comprises Justice S.A. Bobde, Justice Ashok Bhushan, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, and Justice S.A. Nazeer.

Tomorrow, the Supreme Court bench will decide further course of action.

Government of India makes amendment in the import policy of Indian National Flag, prohibits the import of national flag not adhering to the specifications prescribed in the Flag Code of India, 2002.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee meets the family of Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee, in Kolkata. Abhijit Banerjee shares this year's Nobel Prize for Economics, with his wife Esther Duflo and USA's Michael Kremer.

Lawyers Rajeev Dhavan and K Parasaran

Lawyers representing Hindu and Muslim sides in Ayodhya case set an example of unity and camaraderie after Supreme Court of India reserved verdict on Ram Mandir Babri Masjid case. Rajeev Dhavan, representing the Muslim side and K Parasaran, representing the Hindu side stood beside each other, their hands on each other's shoulder while others took a picture.

Varun Sinha, the lawyer representing Hindu Mahasabha, claimed that decision in Ayodhya case will come within 23 days.

Mahant Dharma Das said that he was confident that the Supreme Court will rule in favour of Ram Mandir. He said that the documentary evidence bolsters Hindu side's claim that there indeed was a Ram Mandir at the site. He said that there was 'no chance' that Ram Lalla Virajman will be removed from the location.

1. Supreme Court Reserves Judgment in Ayodhya Case 
2. The arguments in one of the most talked-about cases in India's judicial history has come to an end today. The five-judge bench hearing the case has reserved the verdict in the Ramjanmbhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit. 
3. #AyodhyaCase: After 40 days of the hearing, the Supreme Court of India's 5-judge bench has reserved its Judgment in the Ayodhya dispute.
4. Written submissions to be submitted in three days. 

#Ayodhya #RamMandir #BabriMasjid

Advocate Rajeev Dhawan, the lawyer representing the Muslim side said the right to reconstruct the building also belongs to them (the Muslim parties).

Both, Hindu and Muslim parties in the Ayodhya dispute are submitting their final arguments in the court. 

Rajeev Dhavan, the advocate representing the Muslim side asserted that Waqf board can take possession of 'Waqf properties'.

As the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute hearing draws to a close, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh focuses on -- what's next? The ideological mentor of the RSS has called a meeting in Haridwar to primarily discuss on this and much more, staring October 31.

The high-level meeting is not just any meeting. This takes place once in every 5 years. Though the Sangh has not said in clear terms, but sources say Ram Mandir will be the top agenda when Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat meets his top ranking deputies including Bhaiyaji Joshi, Dattatreya Hosebole and Krishna Gopal.

5-judge Constitutional Bench headed by CJI Ranjan Gogoi has risen for lunch. Post lunch break Muslim counsel Rajiv Dhavan will begin arguments.

Not a single document was placed before the court to prove that Babur had released the revenue for Babri Masjid in Ayodhya. The Muslim side argued that Babur released a revenue of Rs 302 for the maintenance of the mosque: Sushil Kumar Jain, counsel for Hindu parties.

Muslim party pleaded that Babur had constructed the mosque the burden of proof lies on them to prove so, which they have failed at, says Advocate Sushil Kumar Jain, who represents the Nirmohi Akhara.

"This will be decided by the SC. Normally it was a propriety issue. The laws for propriety has already been decided. In 1885 it was decided that it was Masjid and the courtyard is Ram Temple and Sita’s kitchen is there. This matter is in court. This is about the people of the country how much they will drag this issue," Historian Irfan Habib told news agency ANI.

"This will be decided by the SC. Normally it was a propriety issue. The laws for propriety has already been decided. In 1885 it was decided that it was Masjid and the courtyard is Ram Temple and Sita’s kitchen is there. This matter is in court. This is about the people of the country how much they will drag this issue," Historian Irfan Habib told news agency ANI.

"With great respect to the Court, I have not disturbed the decorum of the Court," the lawyer of All India Hindu Mahasabha says.

"If these are the kind of arguments going on, then, we can just get up and walk out," says CJI Ranjan Gogoi after submissions made by lawyer for All India Hindu Mahasabha in Ayodhya Ram Temple-Babri Masjid land case.

"Lawyers are wasting time as judges could just read the submissions instead of hearing arguments," CJI loud objections are not in line with decorum of the court, after Advocate Dhavan tears maps in the courtroom

Senior advocate Rajiv Dhavan tears the pages handed to him to lodge his opposition, reports say. 

The map was handed to him by Senior Advocate Vikas Singh who was presenting some photos and maps presented by the Hindu Mahasabha. 

Seeing this CJI Ranjan Gogoi told the senior counsel Rajiv Dhavan: "You can shred it further". 

"Ayodhya is a place we have believed for centuries is Ram Janmasthan. We can't call any place in Delhi as Ram Janmasthan. Muslims may have several other places of worship. We have only this one," Lawyer for Ram Lalla, a stakeholder in the Ayodhya's decades-old temple-mosque dispute tell top court.

The Ayodhya mediation panel files its report in the Supreme Court today.

The Ayodhya case is being heard by a Constitution Bench of Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and Justices SA Bobde, DY Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and Abdul Nazeer.

"I have argued on the preexisting right to pray of the Hindus all along," Senior Advocate Ranjit Kumar was quoted as saying by Bar & Bench.

"Yeh Veer Savarkar ke hi sanskar hain jo rashtrawad ko humnein rashtra nirman ke mool mein rakha hai," says PM Modi in an election rally in Maharashtra's Akola.

"Would it not be advantageous to have judges of differing opinions on the bench? If we succumb to this, this will be a black spot in history. This is not a personal issue. Everything is official," Justice Arun Mishra says.

Hearings in the politically sensitive Ram Janmbhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute at Ayodhya begins on Monday after the week-long Dussehra break. The verdict in the Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid case is expected before the Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi's retirement on November 17.

The three-Judge Bench of the Supreme Court has begun hearing the case concerning Kashmir shutdown.

The petition was filed by Kashmir Times Editor Anuradha Bhasin. 

Bhasin's counsel has told the Supreme Court that the Government's rejoinder filed does not mention orders under which lockdown in the region was imposed.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta has just told the bench that situation on the ground is changing and time would be needed for filing an amended affidavit. 

"Predisposition can be on facts, but also on a question of law. Here we are dealing with the construction of Section 24(2)," Divan argues in Ayodhya hearing.

"There is a difference between expressing an opinion and final view. The latter calls for predisposition," he adds.

The Uttar Pradesh administration on Sunday imposed Section 144 in Ayodhya till December 10 in anticipation of the simmering tensions, as hearing in the politically sensitive Ram Janmbhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute at Ayodhya enters last leg.

Ram Temple-Babri Masjid land case in Supreme Court: Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi has refused to take any intervention application of one of the parties Hindu Maha Sabha in the case. 

You want a bench of your choice, your formulations, those who may favour you. This will destroy the independence of judiciary. This is bench hunting, nothing less. This is taming the judiciary: Justice Arun Mishra opposing the prayer for his recusal from Ayodhya matters.

This matter is going to be over by 5 pm today. Enough is enough says Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi while dismissing intervention application of one of the parties Hindu Maya Sabha in Ayodhya land case.

Five-judge Constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi begins today's hearing in the Ayodhya Ram Temple-Babri Masjid land case in Supreme Court. Today is the 40th day of hearing in the case.

The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) on Wednesday opened on a positive note.

The Sensex of the BSE opened at 38,637.05 and touched a high of 38,660.25 and a low of 38,587.79, after closing at 38,506.09 on Tuesday.

The Sensex is trading at 38,611.13 points up by 105.04 points or 0.27 per cent.

On the other hand, the broader 50-scrip Nifty at National Stock Exchange (NSE) opened at 11,464.95 points after closing at 11,428.30 points.

The Nifty is trading at 11,461.55 points in the morning.

The trade war between the United States and China will drag the global economy down with the gloomiest growth forecast for 2019 and 2020 since the financial crisis, warned the International Monetary Fund.

Predictions estimate the world economy will grow by only 3 per cent in 2019 picking up to 3.4 per cent by 2020, a considerable slowdown from 2017's 3.8 per cent growth.

"This subdued growth is a consequence of rising trade barriers, elevated uncertainty surrounding trade and geopolitics, idiosyncratic factors causing macroeconomic strain in several emerging market economies, and structural factors, such as low productivity growth and aging demographics in advanced economies," IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath, said while presenting the Global Economic Outlook report on Tuesday, Efe news reported.

The US dollar declined against the British pound after news reports showed Britain and European Union (EU) negotiators are closing in on a draft Brexit deal.

EU officials were cited by Bloomberg as saying that there could be a breakthrough before the end of Tuesday, Xinhua news agency reported.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, decreased 0.16 per cent at 98.2867 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro was up to US $1.1034 from US $1.1031 in the previous session, and the British pound increased to US $1.2781 from US $1.2576 in the previous session.

Karti Chidambaram and Nalini Chidambaram also reach Tihar jail as ED interrogates Chidambaram in the INX Media case. 

Delhi: Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials reach Tihar Jail to interrogate Congress leader P Chidambaram.

Yesterday, a special court had allowed 3 ED officials to interrogate P Chidambaram in INX media money laundering case. Currently, he is in judicial custody in INX CBI case.

Christchurch Airport has added robot Pepper to its study of disruptive technologies, alongside the Autonomous Smart Shuttle and Virtual Reality training for its fire service. From this week, Pepper is living and learning in the Digital Innovation Zone on the first floor of the airport terminal, opposite South bar, for a few hours each Monday to Friday, Xinhua news agency reported.

Airport Chief Executive Malcolm Johns said three Pepper robots have been under wraps at the airport for a few months while staff test what Pepper can and could do, but one is about to go into the terminal to learn a whole lot more in public view.

"We want to understand robots to consider what they can and might do to assist us and our airport visitors," he said. "We are interested to see what people think and feel about interacting with a robot and what information they get and might like from it.

Top Democratic presidential aspirants on Tuesday overwhelmingly supported the move of their party colleagues in the House of Representatives to impeach President Donald Trump, saying he has broken the law and there is strong evidence. They launched fierce broadsides against Trump over the Ukrainian scandal at the heart of the impeachment inquiry.

Indian American Senator Kamala Harris, a former prosecutor and California Attorney General, said the evidence against Trump is so strong that it would not take enough time to complete impeachment proceedings against him.

"I don't really think this impeachment process is going to take very long because as a former prosecutor I know a confession when I see it and he did it in plain sight. 

India has halved its poverty rate since the 1990s and achieved a seven-plus growth rate over the last 15 years, the World Bank said on Tuesday. India is both critical to the success of global development efforts, including eliminating extreme poverty, and as an influential leader for global goods such as addressing climate change, the bank said ahead of the annual meeting between it and the International Monetary Fund.

The country has achieved annual growth exceeding seven per cent over the last 15 years, halved its poverty rate since the 1990s, and enjoyed strong improvements in most human development outcomes, the World Bank said.

Noting that India’s growth is expected to continue and elimination of extreme poverty in the decade is within reach, it said at the same time, the country's development trajectory nonetheless faces considerable challenges. 

Union Home Minister and BJP President Amit Shah to address rallies in Faridabad, Samalkha, Bahadurgarh and Gurugram in Haryana, today

It is important for India to keep fiscal deficit in check, even though its revenue projections look optimistic, Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Gita Gopinath has said. As against India's real growth rate of 6.8 per cent in 2018, the IMF in its latest World Economic Outlook, released on Tuesday, projected the country's growth rate at 6.1 per cent in 2019 and noted that the Indian economy is expected to pick up at 7 per cent in 2020.

In India's case, there has been a negative impact on growth that has come from financial vulnerabilities and the nonbank financial sector, and the impact on consumer borrowing and borrowing of small and medium enterprises, Gopinath said.

The prominent Indian-American economist was speaking to reporters ahead of the annual meeting of the IMF and the World Bank.

The trade war between the United States and China will drag the global economy down with the gloomiest growth forecast for 2019 and 2020 since the financial crisis, warned the International Monetary Fund. Predictions estimate the world economy will grow by only 3 per cent in 2019 picking up to 3.4 per cent by 2020, a considerable slowdown from 2017's 3.8 per cent growth.

"This subdued growth is a consequence of rising trade barriers, elevated uncertainty surrounding trade and geopolitics, idiosyncratic factors causing macroeconomic strain in several emerging market economies, and structural factors, such as low productivity growth and ageing demographics in advanced economies," IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath, said while presenting the Global Economic Outlook report on Tuesday, Efe news reported.

An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan has acquitted 15 suspects out of 33 people accused of attacking and setting on fire the country's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah's residence in Balochistan province six years ago. ATC Judge Rahim Dad Khilji on Monday acquitted the 15 suspects because of lack of proof against them.

On June 15, 2013, militants attacked the historic building in Ziarat with hand grenades, completely destroying the house where Jinnah spent his last days.

The CBI has booked a Bangalore-based person for allegedly forging a letter to the justice department masquerading as an official of the Prime Minister's Office seeking probe against a judge, officials said Tuesday. Following the FIR, the CBI carried out searches at the residence of S P Srinivasan Rao in Bangalore, from where the agency claimed to have recovered several forged letters purportedly from the PMO to various ministries including the Department of Justice among others.

It is alleged that through the purported letter, Rao posing as a PMO official had sought inquiry against a judge from the Justice department, they said.

The agency has booked Rao for alleged forgery, they said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party unit in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh will celebrate "Accession Day" of Jammu & Kashmir with the Union of India on October 26, the party's state general secretary Ashok Kaul said. Kaul, after discussing preparations for a successful programme, told reporters that it will be celebrated across the state at every level in the organisation.

Addressing the meeting, Kaul, said on October 26, 1947, Maharaja Hari Singh, the ruler of the Jammu and Kashmir then, signed the instrument of accession of J&K with the Union of India, and as such this day forms a very important landmark in the history.

"The historic day forms an essential part of our lives and every resident of the state must celebrate it," he said.

A CRPF constable was on Tuesday duped of his debit card and mobile phone by two men who had shared an auto-rickshaw with him on his way to Connaught place from Kashmiri Gate, said police. The constable was duped while withdrawing cash from an ATM booth at Connaught Place. As the constable headed to an ATM booth after leaving the auto-rickshaw at Connaught Place, the two co-passengers in the auto too followed him and managed to see him punching the PIN for his card.

After he withdrew money, one of the two tricked the constable in handing over his debit card to his co-passenger, said police. As the man was inspecting the card, the other one asked for his phone and the moment the CRPF constable gave it to him, the duo ran away, said police.

The duo later withdrew Rs 20,000 from his account, police said.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday apprised Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton about his country's relations with India and Afghanistan as the royal couple began their first visit to the country, described as the "most complex".

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, both 37, held a cordial meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan at the Prime Minister House, where a lunch was hosted for the guests.

Two men involved in over a dozen cases of robbery and snatching have been nabbed by the Special Cell of Delhi Police following a shootout at Wazirabad Burari road on Tuesday night, police said. Police uniforms, two pistols and a motorcycle were seized from them.

The incident took place at around 10.15 pm when a police team stationed on Wazirabad-Burari road near Jagatpur flyover spotted a motorcycle coming from Wazirabad side and signalled it to stop but the bike-borne miscreants opened fire on the police team, they said.

The duo fired four rounds, forcing police to retaliate resulting in one of the accused, later identified as Ravi (26) suffering bullet injury in his leg, they said. The second accomplice, Mustakin (51) was apprehended unhurt, the police said. The injured was admitted to a nearby hospital, a senior police official said.