Task force report recommends reducing personal income tax | News on Sept 23

Three people have been injured in an explosion that occurred in Luv Kush Nagar, Amritsar. "We are trying to identify the object that exploded," the police official said.

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal today launched  'Mukhya Mantri Street Light Yojana' to end dark spots in Delhi.

Kejriwal's plan will be implemented in the city under which 2.1 lakh street lights will be installed. These lights will be controlled by sunlight sensor.

The country's foodgrains production is estimated slightly lower at 140.57 million tonnes in the Kharif season of 2019-20 crop year on likely fall in rice and pulses output, according to the latest data released by the Agriculture Ministry.

Foodgrains production stood at 141.71 million tonnes (MT) in the Kharif season of the 2018-19 crop year (July-June).

HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and ICICI Bank's shares were prominent gainers on Monday as Sensex surged 1075 points on Monday. 

Extending gains for the second consecutive session, domestic equity benchmark BSE Sensex skyrocketed 1,075 points on Monday driven by continued euphoria over the government's tax booster.

Prominent shares that ended on a 52-week high include ICICI and HDFC Bank among others

1. HDFC Bank's shares gained 6.92 per cent to its 52-week high of Rs 1,282.70.
2. Hindustan Unilever shares jumped 6.64 per cent to touch its 52-week high of Rs 2,100.65 on the NSE.
3. Kotak Mahindra Bank's shares surged 6.87 per cent to its 52-week high of Rs 1,644.60 per share on the NSE.
4. ICICI Bank's shares surged 7.54 per cent to its 52-week high of Rs 449.

The task force on Direct Tax has recommended to bring down the income tax slabs for individuals, CNBC TV reported Monday.

"The report proposed a 10 per cent income tax rate for individuals earning between Rs 5 and 10 lakh per year, as against the current rate of 20 per cent," CNBC TV reported.

The news comes on the heels of the government reducing the corporate tax to boost the sagging economy and put it back on the growth path. Reducing income tax slab is a long-standing demand of the service sector employees. 

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A school collapsed in Kenya’s capital on Monday morning, and officials said at least seven children were killed.

Parents wailed at the scene of The Precious Talent Top School in Nairobi. Hundreds of people gathered as emergency workers picked through debris. It was not clear whether anyone was trapped underneath.

Government spokesman Cyrus Oguna said 57 students had been taken to hospital. Local media reported that most were in stable condition.

ABVP protest rally to Jadavpur University stopped midway by police, agitators pelt stones at barricades. 

Scuffle was also reported between police and ABVP workers outside the gates of the Jadavpur University. 

ABVP workers tried to jump the barricade installed at the gates but were stopped by the police.

1. Voting was underway peacefully on Monday for the by-poll in BJP-ruled Tripura's Badharghat Assembly constituency and the voting will continue until 5 p.m.
2. Counting of votes will take place on Friday.
3. "After five hours of voting, around 42 per cent of the 57,906-electorate have cast their votes. No incident was reported from anywhere in the constituency," Returning Officer Tarun Debbarma told IANS.

Assam: 10 people have died and several others have been injured in a collision between a bus and a tempo traveller on NH-37 in Demow, Sibsagar district, today. Injured have been admitted to hospital.

Three people have died of suspected dengue in Maharashtra's Aurangabad city in last 48 hours, PTI reports.

The civic authorities have alerted hospitals in the city to gear up to handle the situation.

A digital application, an app will be used for population census in the year 2021. It will be a transformation from paper to digital census, says Home Minister Amit Shah

Sensex jumps by 1260.05 points, currently at 39,274.67

UK PM Boris Johnson says Iran is responsible for Saudi oil-industry attacks and the UK could join US-led military effort.

Travel giant Thomas Cook has collapsed. More than 21,000 employees working directly with Thomas Cook have lost their jobs.

Longtime British tour company Thomas Cook collapsed after failing to secure rescue funding, and travel bookings for its more than 600,000 global vacationers were canceled early Monday.

The Civil Aviation Authority said Thomas Cook has ceased trading, its four airlines will be grounded, and its 21,000 employees in 16 countries, including 9,000 in the UK, will lose their jobs. The company several months ago had blamed a slowdown in bookings because of Brexit uncertainty for contributing to its crushing debt burden.

Justices Krishna Murari, S. Ravindra Bhat, V. Ramasubramanian and Hrishikesh Roy sworn in as Supreme Court judges

Anil Ambani-led Reliance Capital has slammed CARE Ratings for downgrading its debt and called actions by the rating agency "pre-meditated and prejudiced".

Reliance Capital said there was a delay in payment of interest for non-convertible debentures (NCDs) due to a technical glitch and the payment was made on the next working date.

The company said interest payment for NCDs due on September 9, 2019, could not go through due to technical glitch in bank servers on that date, and the payment was cleared on the very next bank working day which is September 11, 2019.

State Bank of India on Monday said it will adopt repo rate as the external benchmark for all floating rate loans for MSME, home and retail loans, from October 1, 2019.

On September 4, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had mandated all banks to link all new floating rate personal or retail loans and floating rate loans to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to an external benchmark from October 1 onwards.

“We have decided to adopt repo rate as the external benchmark for all floating rate loans for MSME, housing and retail loans effective October 1, 2019,” the bank said in a release.

Giving a glimpse of his empathetic side, Prime Minister Narendra Modi apologised to Senator John Cornyn's wife as on her birthday the US lawmaker was attending the Indian leader's mega diaspora "Howdy Modi!" event.

In a video tweet posted by the Prime Minister's office, Modi is seen directly addressing Cornyn's wife Sandy, who is in her late 60s, while apologising and wishing her a prosperous and peaceful future ahead.

The 67-year-old Senator is seen standing next to Modi smiling.

Maharashtra: Bodies of a woman and her 4 daughters found floating in a well in Buldhana's Malegaon.

There is a communication breakdown between terrorists in the Kashmir Valley and their handlers in Pakistan but there is no communication breakdown between people to people, says Army Chief General Bipin Rawat in Chennai.

An Uttar Pradesh state transport bus overturned in Greater Noida on Monday morning after a collision with an unidentified vehicle, police said.

The incident took place at the Sirsa roundabout around 6 am, the police said.

The bus was on its way to Noida from adjoining Bulandshahr district, SHO Site-5 police station Prabhat Dixit said. 

"Besides the driver and conductor, there were only two passengers in the bus. The driver received minor injuries while others were unhurt during the incident," Dixit said.

The driver has been admitted to a private hospital and further probe is underway, he added.

Former prime minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday visited the Tihar Jail to meet P Chidambaram who has been lodged there in connection with the INX media case, sources said.

Chidambaram has been lodged in the Tihar Jail since September 5.

The two Congress leaders were accompanied by Karti Chidambaram, the former Finance minister's son who is also a Lok Sabha MP, the sources said.

Sensex soars over 900 pts to 39,000; Nifty reclaims 11,500 in opening trade

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres asked the banking industry to invest in climate action and to disinvest from fossil fuels and pollution in general.

He made the appeal as he was launching the UN Principles for Responsible Banking on Sunday.

"Climate action has multiple benefits, including job creation, reduced air pollution, improved public health, and greater security for nations and (economies)," said Guterres.

The US president confirmed that he discussed former Vice President Joe Biden with Ukraine's president during a July call, a conversation that has prompted Democrats to accuse the president of pressuring a foreign leader to investigate a political opponent.

Scrutiny over Trump's interactions with Ukraine has ricocheted across Washington and onto the campaign trail, spurring new calls for impeachment proceedings to begin, after

The Wall Street Journal reported that the president repeatedly pressured new Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate the former US vice president's anti-corruption efforts in the country while his son Hunter Biden was also working there.
 

In yet another incidence of mob lynching in Jharkhand, a man was beaten to death over suspicion of cow slaughter. Two others were also injured in the incident. 

Hong Kong pro-democracy activists took their protests to several shopping malls connected to the city's rail operator, targeting businesses linked to mainland China and vandalizing metro station facilities.

The rallies, which started peacefully with slogan chanting and singing, later descended into chaos as the afternoon unfolded on Sunday. At around 18.00 local time, riot police fired teargas and sponge rounds on a road near New Town Plaza, a shopping mall in the satellite town of Sha Tin.

The British-flagged oil tanker Stena Impero seized by Iran a couple of months ago has been released, the Ports and Maritime Organisation in the southern Iranian province of Hormozgan said.

"After the issuing of the ruling for the end of detention of the English tanker Stena Impero this vessel will soon, and after the passing of 65 days, begin its movement from the port of Bandar Abbas toward international waters," the head of the Ports and Maritime Organization of Iran in Hormozgan Province, Allahmorad Afifipour, said on Sunday, according to the semi-official news agency Tasnim.

Theft at the residence of Delhi Health Minister, Satyendar Jain in Saraswati Vihar.

"House was locked for the past 6 months. Some taps and showpiece items are missing. A case has been registered," say police. 

Petrol price in Delhi was hiked by Rs 0.29 in Delhi on Monday. The price was hiked from Rs 73.62 to Rs 73.91 in the national capital. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for New York to address the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and participate in other "multilateral and bilateral" engagements after his "historic" visit to Houston, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Sunday.