A look at the headlines right now:

  1. ‘We have a responsibility to protect your data’, says Mark Zuckerberg on Cambridge Analytica scandal: Ravi Shankar Prasad accused the Congress of having links with Cambridge Analytica, while Congress denied the allegations.  
  2. Five security personnel, five suspected militants killed in Kupwara encounter in Kashmir: The gunfight began in the district’s Arampura-Halmatpura area on Tuesday, but the Kashmir Zone Police reported fresh firing on Wednesday.
  3. CBI files case against Chennai-based jeweller Kanishk Gold for cheating 14 banks of Rs 824 crore: The State Bank of India has alleged that the directors of the company had misrepresented and falsified the financial statements to receive credit.  
  4. Ex-French President Nicolas Sarkozy charged with corruption for alleged illegal campaign financing: Though Sarkozy has faced several investigations since 2012, these are the most severe allegations against a former French president in decades.
  5. Supreme Court frames six questions for Centre about Aadhaar scheme, privacy and data security: The court asked the central government why pensions should be linked to Aadhaar, and whether the scheme could lead to financial exclusion.
  6. New House rules forbid Madhya Pradesh MLAs from asking about riots, Opposition cries foul: The Congress moved a no-trust motion against the Assembly speaker after he refused to have a discussion on the amended rules.
  7. US Federal Reserve raises interest rates to its highest level since 2008 financial crisis: The central bank noted that the economic growth in the United States was strengthening.
  8. BJP’s Dalit leaders seek review of Supreme Court order on arresting public servants under SC/ST Act: The party’s Scheduled Castes Cell chief, Vinod Kumar Sonkar, said the top court’s judgment gives impunity to harassers.
  9. Cabinet approves healthcare scheme that will allot Rs 5 lakh each to 10 crore families every year: The government has dubbed the Ayushman Bharat-National Health Protection Mission the ‘world’s largest state-funded health programme’.
  10. Boko Haram sends back 91 of 110 girls abducted from Nigeria’s Dapchi town in February: The militant group reportedly apologised to the girls’ parents, claiming it had mistaken them to be Christians.