Fri, 10 Nov 2017 17:23 IST
Cut the clutter and read evening bulletin to know the top 10 stories of the day.
GST, odd-even scheme, PM Modi, Donald Trump: Top trending news of the day
Top trending stories of the day
GST on 50 items of mass consumption slashed to 18 per cent
The GST rate on 50 items of mass consumption, that were in the 28 per cent tax slab, has been slashed to 18 per cent, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, who heads the panel of Group of Ministers for tackling IT-related glitches, said on Friday.
"All items of common consumption have been reduced from 28 per cent to 18 per cent tax rate. "Tax on goods of mass consumption like chewing gum, chocolates, shaving items, shampoo and skin creams, whose revenue implication is not much, has been reduced," PM Modi told reporters on the sidelines of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council meet.
Free travel in DTC, cluster buses during odd-even days
The Delhi government will allow free travel for commuters in all DTC and cluster buses during the odd-even scheme to encourage use of public transport, Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said today. The odd-even car rationing scheme will be rolled out in Delhi for five days from November 13 as part of a graded response plan to tackle the alarming level of pollution in the city.
"To encourage use of public transport during Odd-Even, Delhi govt to allow free travel for commuters in all DTC and Cluster buses from 13-17 November," Gahlot tweeted. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the move will encourage people to switch to public transport. The Delhi Transport Corporation has a bus fleet of around 4,000 buses while there are over 1,600 cluster buses that form the backbone of the public transport along with Metro.
Lalu Prasad names Tejashwi Yadav as RJD's next CM candidate
Ending speculation, RJD chief Lalu Prasad on Friday said his son Tejashwi Yadav will lead the party in the next Bihar Assembly polls. He will also be the Rashtriya Janata Dal's Chief Ministerial candidate."RJD will contest the 2020 Assembly polls under Tejashwi's leadership. He will be our Chief Ministerial candidate," Lalu Prasad told the media.
He spoke after senior RJD leaders Abdul Bari Sidddiqui and Raghuvansh Prasad Singh reportedly said there was no clarity yet on the next Chief Ministerial candidate of the party. On Wednesday, RJD state President Raam Chander Purve had proposed Tejashwi Yadav's name as the next Chief Ministerial candidate. Later, Siddiqui and Singh expressed their disagreement over Purve's view. Lalu Prasad also praised his younger son's work. A former Deputy Chief Minister, Tejashwi Yadav, who turned 28 on November 9, is now Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar assembly.
Supreme Court refuses to stay release of Bollywood movie 'Padmavati'
The Supreme Court today refused to entertain a plea seeking a stay on the release of the upcoming Bollywood movie 'Padmavati', saying the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) considers all aspects before granting certificate to any film. A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud said there were enough guidelines to be followed by the censor board to grant certification of a film before its release.
The bench was hearing a plea filed by Siddharajsinh M Chudasama and 11 others, which also sought setting up of a committee of eminent historians to check the veracity of the script to prevent any inaccuracy in the portrayal of Rani Padmavati. The petitioners have sought a stay on the release of the film till such time the alleged historical inaccuracies in the movie are corrected by the producer and the director.
Ryan student murder: School bus conductor to file case against officers who framed him
A day after a 16-year-old student of Gurgaon's Ryan International School was apprehended by the CBI in connection with the murder of a class 2 student, the family of Ashok Kumar, the school bus conductor who was arrested initially, decided to file a case against police officers who "framed" him. "Now it is almost clear that my son Ashok was framed and made a scapegoat. We have decided to file a case against Gurgaon Police SIT officers who framed and used torture and even drugged him to confess before the media that he had committed the crime," said Ashok's father Amirchand.
He said the family was seeking financial help from the villagers in filing the case. "Villagers are with us and they all want us to demand justice for Ashok and action against irresponsible police officials," he said. In a sensational twist to the case, the agency announced yesterday that it had apprehended a senior student of Ryan International School on Tuesday night in connection with the murder of Pradhuman Thakur, rejecting the Gurugram police's theory that the killing was the handiwork of Ashok Kumar. The CBI has said that there was no evidence against Kumar so far.
BCCI rejects NADA demand of testing Indian cricketers
In a stern response to India's anti-doping body NADA, the BCCI has said that government body has no jurisdiction to conduct dopes tests on Indian cricketers. In a letter written on November 8 to NADA chief Navin Agarwal, BCCI CEO Rahul Johri made it clear that there is no requirement for NADA to tests its cricketers since the board is not a National Sports Federation (NSF) and its present anti-doping system is robust enough.
"It is relevant to mention here that BCCI is not a National Sports Federation. Accordingly, NADA does not have jurisdiction to conduct dope testing of Indian cricketers in any domestic or international event organised or under the aegis of BCCI," Johri wrote in the letter. "In light of the aforesaid, there is no requirement for any BCCI official to co-ordinate with NADA for dope testing of Indian cricketers either during competitions or out of completions."
Income Tax raids at Sasikala's kin, associates continues
For the second consecutive day on Friday Income Tax (IT) officials continued their massive raids at the premises of close relatives of jailed AIADMK leader VK Sasikala, their business associates and organisations connected to them, a senior IT official said. He also said that "sizeable volume of cash and documents" have been seized at the searched premises.
"The volume and value of cash and documents seized would be known only after they are totalled after completing the entire operation," he told IANS preferring anonymity."In some places the search operations have ended and in many places it is still going on," he added. The searches were conducted in connection with unexplained routing of cash post-demonetisation through shell companies allegedly connected to Sasikala and Dinakaran. The IT department will look at the routing of funds within India whereas other agencies will look into the routing of money outside India, the official said.
'Tipu Jayanti' held in Karnataka amid massive security
Bringing the state under a thick security blanket, "Tipu Jayanti" celebrations were held amid protests across Karnataka today to mark the birth anniversary of the controversial 18th-century ruler of the erstwhile Mysore kingdom, Tipu Sultan. With a sharply divided opinion over Tipu's legacy and rising political temperature, opposition BJP, several Hindu organisations and individuals opposed the Karnataka government celebrating Tipu Jayanti through statewide protests.
As over 54,000 police personnel and platoons of the Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP), bolstered by the Rapid Action Force (RAF), kept a hawk-eyed vigil, functions were held at the district headquarters, where in-charge ministers and others hailed the legacy of Tipu. There were reports of stones being hurled at a state transport bus and over 100 people, including local BJP MLA Appachu Ranjan, being detained in Kodagu district, where widespread protests and violence had marred the Tipu Jayanti celebrations two years ago, when a local VHP leader died and several others, including policemen, were injured.
NGT asks Delhi government to establish the basis for odd-even scheme
The National Green Tribunal today directed the Delhi government to submit data or studies on the basis of which it has planned to introduce the odd-even car rationing scheme for five days from next week. The green panel questioned the rationale of the AAP government in rolling out the scheme when reports by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) had found that the levels of PM10 and PM2.5 were cumulatively higher when the scheme was implemented twice earlier.
On April 21 last year, the CPCB had told NGT that there was no data to suggest that the odd-even scheme has led to a decline in vehicular pollution in Delhi-NCR. Under the scheme, vehicles with odd and even numbers are allowed to ply on alternate days. Directing the city government not to implement the scheme unless it established that it was not counter-productive, the NGT asked it to give an undertaking that it will roll out odd-even only when particulate matter (PM) 2.5 was over 300.
Donald Trump praises India's growth story, PM Modi at APEC Summit
US President Donald Trump today praised India's "astounding" growth after it opened its economy and also lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he has been working successfully to bring the vast country and its people together. Speaking at a gathering of CEOs on the sidelines of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit here in Vietnam, Trump said that countries outside of the grouping were also making "great strides in this new chapter for the Indo-Pacific".
He pointed out that India was celebrating the 70th anniversary of its independence and highlighted that the country was a sovereign democracy with a population of 1.3 billion as well as the largest democracy in the world. "Since India opened its economy, it has achieved astounding growth and a new world of opportunities for its expanding middle class," Trump said. "And Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi has been working to bring that vast country and all of its people as one. And he has been working at it very successfully indeed," the US President said.