A look at the headlines right now:

  1. Doctors say they are open to talks with Mamata Banerjee, but will decide venue later: Earlier on Saturday, doctors had turned down Banerjee’s offer of talks behind closed doors, terming it an eyewash.  
  2. India to levy higher tariffs on 28 US products from today: These 28 items include almonds, apples and walnuts.  
  3. Making India a $5-trillion economy by 2024 is challenging but achievable, Modi tells NITI Aayog: The prime minister, who addressed the fifth meeting of NITI Aayog’s Governing Council in New Delhi, said the help of states would be needed to fulfil the goal.  
  4. Woman civil police officer dies after being set ablaze by traffic policeman in Kerala: The incident occurred in Alappuzha district. The assailant, identified as Ajaz, is in intensive care unit of a hospital.
  5. Hong Kong suspends controversial extradition bill after violent protests: Carrie Lam said that the city’s legislature would stop all work on the bill and that further steps would be decided after consultations with several parties.
  6. Seven workers die after inhaling toxic gas while cleaning septic tank in Gujarat’s Dabhoi taluka: The hotel owner, who has been booked for causing death due to negligence, was arrested by Dabhoi police on Saturday morning.
  7. ‘Metro man’ E Sreedharan writes to PM Modi against AAP’s proposed scheme for free travel for women: Sreedharan said if the Delhi government was ‘so keen’ on helping female commuters then it can pay for the cost of travel directly to them.
  8. Pakistan will hold talks with India on the ‘basis of equality’, says Shah Mehmood Qureshi: The foreign minister of Pakistan claimed the Indian leadership had not come out of the extreme position it had taken against Islamabad during the elections.
  9. Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan to visit Bihar as encephalitis toll climbs to 67: The minister said the Centre was constantly monitoring the situation and supporting state health authorities to manage the encephalitis cases.  
  10. Italian film director Franco Zeffirelli dies at 96 in Rome: He was well known for his 1967 film ‘Taming of the Shrew’, which starred Elizabeth Taylor, and for directing Judi Dench on stage in ‘Romeo and Juliet’.