A look at the headlines right now:
- India jumps 30 places to 100th position on World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business ranking: However, the country is ranked a poor 156th out of 190 countries on the parameter of starting a business and 181st on granting construction permits.
- BJP names Prem Kumar Dhumal its chief ministerial candidate for Himachal Pradesh Assembly election: He has held the post in the state twice before, from March 1998 to March 2003 and from January 2008 to December 2012.
- Suicide bomber strikes diplomatic area in Afghanistan’s Kabul, many feared dead: At least ten injured were taken to city hospitals, an official said.
- CBI clears Madhya Pradesh CM’s name in the Vyapam scam, files chargesheet against 490 people: The investigation agency said there was no tampering of evidence in the case.
- Bharti Airtel’s net profit declines 76.5% in July-September quarter: The company’s total revenue fell to Rs 21,777 crore, a decline of 11.7% compared to its second-quarter report in 2016.
- Law Commission asks Centre to ratify UN convention against torture, submits draft bill: The panel said that there has to be an effective mechanism to protect the interests of the victims of torture, the complainants and the witnesses.
- Rising intolerance has thrown Indira Gandhi’s idea of India into question, says Rahul Gandhi: On the occasion of her 33rd death anniversary, he said a view of Indianness that is one-sided, discriminatory and even warped was being thrust upon the country.
- Centre’s appointment of interlocutor is an ‘exercise in futility’, say separatist leaders: In a statement, Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik said the government must first acknowledge there is a dispute to be resolved.
- Man planted hijack note because he wanted girlfriend to quit her job at Jet Airways, say police: Birju Kishore Salla is the first person to be arrested under a tough new anti-hijacking law and is facing life in prison.
- Security beefed up amid shutdown call in Amritsar to protest death of Hindu Sangharsh Sena leader: The bandh coincided with the death anniversary of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassin, Beant Singh.
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