Breaking news on October 24

Continuing its drive against dust and air pollution, the SDMC has in one day issued 310 challans amounting to Rs 21.35 lakh for burning of solid waste, dry leaves and other violations, officials said on Thursday. In Central Zone, 175 challans were issued amounting Rs 10.5 lakh as fine during night patrolling on Wednesday for violations related to solid waste management and pollution-related laws. The teams looked for violations such as burning of solid waste, garbage, dry leaves, and plastic, rubber, and construction activities.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar held a meeting with elected representatives from Patna on water-logging issue, earlier today. Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi and Union Minister Ravi Shakar Prasad were also present.

Security arrangements have been beefed up in Delhi in the run up to Diwali, senior police officers said on Thursday. According to sources, Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik has directed all senior officers of the force to strengthen anti-terror measures in their respective districts, sources said.
Shalini Singh, Joint Commissioner of Police (western range), said patrolling has been intensified in markets and areas witnessing high footfalls across west Delhi.

Former Delhi University lecturer who was also charged and later acquitted in 2001 Parliament attack, SAR Geelani, died earlier this evening in Delhi, following a cardiac arrest.

The External Affairs Ministry on Thursday announced that India will launch RuPay card in Saudi Arabia to help Indian Haj pilgrims visiting Mecca Madina. With this, Saudi Arabia will become the third country in the Gulf region to get the RuPay card facility after the UAE and Bahrain.

A woman died and two other civilians were injured in a ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops along the LoC in the Tangdhar sector of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, police said.

Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked firing, resulting in the death and injuries. 

Properties have also been damaged, they said, adding the Indian Army has effectively retaliated to the unprovoked aggression from the across the Line of Control.

The woman who died in the firing has been identified as Hamida Fatima, police said.

On Saturday, Pakistani troops had resorted to firing in Tangdhar to assist infiltration attempts by militants. Two Indian Army personnel and a civilian were killed and three others were injured.

On Sunday, Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat said 6-10 Pakistani army personnel were killed and three terrorist camps destroyed in a retaliatory action by the Indian Army across the LoC opposite the Tangdhar sector.

Congress leader and senior advocate Kapil Sibal on Thursday said that former union minister P Chidambaram is very ill and he seeks two-day interim bail for his treatment in Hyderabad.

PM Narendra Modi along with Union Home Minister and BJP President Amit Shah on Thursday, will address the party workers at the party headquarters. BJP Parliamentary Board will also meet at the party headquarters.

An 18-year-old youth from Delhi died when he fell off an express train in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut district.

Pawan Gupta was returning from Vaishno Devi shrine on the Jammu-Tawi Shalimar Express with four other friends when the incident occurred between Daurala and Modipuram on Wednesday, the Government Railway Police (GRP) said.

Gupta is a resident of Uttam Nagar area in west Delhi.

A youth was stabbed after he opposed some college students allegedly harassing his cousin in Uttar Pradesh's Shamli district, police said on Thursday.

A clash occurred at a college compound in Kairana town on Wednesday over the harassment incident, during which the youth was stabbed, an officer said.

The youth was rushed to a hospital in a serious condition, an officer said, adding that an accused had been arrested.

Former finance minister P Chidambaram was on Thursday produced before a Delhi court in the INX Media money laundering case after the expiry of his custodial interrogation by the Enforcement Directorate.

Chidambaram, 74, was produced before Special judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar.

The senior Congress leader has been granted bail by the Supreme Court in the INX Media corruption case lodged by the CBI. 

British media on Thursday claimed that the 39 dead bodies found in the back of a truck in Essex, southeastern England, were Chinese citizens.

The Finance Ministry on Thursday states that India has not only improves its ranking in ease of doing business but also made major headway in three other categories of the economy. 

These categories are resolving insolvency, construction permits and trading across borders.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman is addressing a press conference right now. 

Kolkata, Bengaluru will also be added in Ease of Doing Business Rankings: Nirmala Sitharaman said. 

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday holds a press conference in New Delhi as India jumps 14 positions in the World Bank's ranking of ease of doing Business. 

The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the Centre's plea to recover adjusted gross revenue (AGR) of about Rs 92,000 crore from telecom service providers.

A three-judge bench, headed by Justice Arun Mishra, upholded the definition of adjusted gross revenue formulated by Department of Telecom (DoT).

SCL Das. Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, after India & Pakistan signed agreement on Kartarpur Corridor today: The Pakistan side has agreed to make sufficient provision for ‘langar’ and distribution of ‘prasad’ in the Gurdwara premises.

SCL Das, Joint Secretary, MHA, after India & Pakistan signed agreement on Kartarpur Corridor today: For registration of pilgrims, online portal (http://prakashpurb550.mha.gov.in) has gone live today.

India and Pakistan sign an agreement to operationalise the Kartarpur corridor.

A retired veterinarian was arrested by the Crime Branch of the police for allegedly duping a youth of over Rs 6 lakhs by offering him a job in the Jammu and Kashmir bank, officials said on Thursday.

Retired veterinary doctor of the Animal Husbandry department Dr Rehmat Ullah Khora was arrested from Srinagar city for cheating a youth, a Crime Branch officer said.

A court in Maharashtra's Thane has awarded five years' rigorous imprisonment to a woman employee of the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) for taking bribe.

District Judge P P Jadhav, in his order on Wednesday, also imposed a fine of Rs 60,000 on the accused, Sunanda Gaikwad.

According to the prosecution, Gaikwad, an office assistant in CIDCO's estate department, and two others were caught by the Anti-Corruption Bureau in Thane while taking a bribe of Rs 50,000 on June 6, 2012.

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on Thursday said that apart from winning the Haryana and Maharashtra Assembly elections, the BJP will win in the upcoming Jharkhand and Delhi polls as well.

Supreme Court will hear senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad's plea on November 5, who had sought a nod from SC to visit his family members and relatives along with other prayer in Kashmir valley.

A portion of the Mahastupa in Thotlakonda Buddhist Complex has collapsed, following heavy rainfall in some regions of Andhra Pradesh.

India and Pakistan to sign an agreement to operationalise the Kartarpur corridor, shortly at Zero Point.

Delhi HC seeks Enforcement Directorate's response on bail plea of Cong leader P Chidambaram in INX media money-laundering case. 

India has voiced disappointment that the NRC in Assam is being "wrongly linked” with the minority rights issue and asserted that one should not jump to conclusions based on "incomplete understanding" after a UN expert raised alarm over a potential "humanitarian crisis" due to the exercise.

Centre moves SC seeking extension of time for transferring Assam NRC coordinator Prateek Hajela to Madhya Pradesh. 

Union Minister G Kishan Reddy attends the 58th Raising Day Parade of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) at the Lakhnawali Camp in Gautam Budh Nagar.

A BSF jawan suffered minor injuries during cross-border shelling by Pakistan security forces along Line of Control (LoC) in Krishna Ghati sector of Mendhar last night. The jawan has suffered splinter injuries and medical aid has been given to him. 

The Pakistan Foreign Office has said that the country will sign the Kartarpur Corridor agreement with India on Thursday, paving the way for its inauguration next month ahead of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism.

Indian space agency has released fresh set of pictures of impact craters on moon surface taken by its Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Tuesday releasing a picture on its Twitter handle said the images were taken by the Dual Frequency-Synthetic Aperture Radar (DF-SAR) on its Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter.

Equity benchmark BSE Sensex jumped over 250 points in early trade on Thursday tracking gains in index heavyweights HDFC twins and L&T amid mixed global cues.

After hitting a high of 39,327.15, the 30-share index was trading 143.09 points, or 0.37 per cent, higher at 39,201.92 in morning trade, and the broader NSE Nifty advanced 30.10 points, or 0.26 per cent, to 11,634.20.

India has further improved its ease of doing business ranking, jumping 14 places to rank 63. The country also figured among the top 10 performers on the list for the third time in a row.

"India has jumped from 77th to 63rd rank in the Ease of Doing Business Rankings released just now by the World Bank," Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal tweeted.

"Congratulations to PM @NarendraModiji for the path breaking improvements in India's business environment for nation's prosperity and job creation," he said.

India was ranked 142nd among 190 nations when Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office in 2014.

Last year, India jumped 23 places to the 77th position on the back of reforms related to insolvency, taxation and other areas.
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Heavy downpour has affected the train services between Palasa and Vizianagaram districts of Andhra Pradesh.

The Jammu and Kashmir State Administrative Council (SAC) on Wednesday approved creation of a new Department of Registration to provide hassle free and speedy service to people for registration of documents pertaining to property, mortgage etc.

The SAC, which met under the chairmanship of Governor Satya Pal Malik, also approved the creation of 464 new posts under various categories in order to make the department of registration functional.

The new Department of Registration is being created under the Registration Act, 1908 (which is a Central Act), now applicable to Jammu and Kashmir with effect from October 31, the day the state will be formally bifurcated into two Union Territories.

India jumped 14 places to the 63rd position on the World Bank's ease of doing business ranking released on Thursday, riding high on the government's flagship 'Make in India' scheme and other reforms attracting foreign investment.

The country also figured among the the top 10 performers on the list for the third time in a row.

Kamlesh Tiwari Murder case accused Ashfaq and Moinuddin brought to Lucknow from Ahmedabad. A court in Ahmedabad had granted 72 hours of transit remand for the accused.