A look at the headlines right now:

  1. Election Commission says it has appointed panel to examine if PM Modi’s announcement of anti-satellite missile launch violated Model Code of Conduct: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called Modi’s announcement of Mission Shakti a violation of the code but Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the Opposition’s criticism was ‘clerical objections’.
  2. China urges peace in outer space after India shoots down live satellite, Pakistan invokes Don Quixote in its response: Pakistan, without naming India, said every country has the responsibility to avoid militarisation of space. 
  3. Electoral bonds will have repercussions on transparency of political funding, EC tells Supreme Court: The poll body also said that the amendments to the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010, will lead to ‘unchecked foreign funding’ of parties.   
  4. CBI requests Delhi High Court for more time to investigate bribery case against Rakesh Asthana: However, Justice Mukta Gupta admonished the agency for not handing over a copy of the plea for extension to the counsel for the former CBI special director.   
  5. Mayawati endorses BJP’s claim that Congress’ minimum income guarantee scheme is a ‘bluff’: However, the Bahujan Samaj Party chief added that the BJP and Congress are ‘birds of the same feather’ in ‘betraying the poor, labourers, farmers and others’.   
  6. Actor Urmila Matondkar joins Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha polls: She said that freedom of expression is very important in a democracy, especially to an artist like her.   
  7. Nawaz Sharif walks out of jail after Pakistan court grants him bail for six weeks on medical grounds: The court asked the former prime minister to surrender voluntarily, failing which he will be arrested.   
  8. Militants kill civilian in Jammu and Kashmir’s Shopian, say police: The police have identified the deceased as 24-year-old Tanveer Ahmad Dar, a resident of Bemnipora.   
  9. Tax officials recover Rs 55 crore after auctioning paintings seized from Nirav Modi’s home: An untitled masterpiece by artist VS Gaitonde fetched Rs 25.24 crore, while a work by Raja Ravi Varma sold for Rs 16.1 crore.   
  10. CBI denies tapping phones of its former special director and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval: The agency was responding to a petition in the Delhi High Court that sought an investigation into the alleged illegal phone tapping.