Top news: P Chidambaram gets bail in INX Media case but remains in ED custody

Karnataka High Court orders HAL employees to call off strike and return to work

The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday passed an interim order restraining the workers of state-run aerospace major Hindustan Aeronautics Limited from continuing their ongoing strike. The court ordered the protestors to stop the disruption of the company’s daily activities.

UP has to be $1 trillion economy if Indian economy wants to grow to $5 trillion: Finance Commission

Fifteenth Finance Commission Chairperson NK Singh on Tuesday said it was important for Uttar Pradesh to become a $1 trillion economy if Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goal of making India a $5 trillion economy has to be realised.

‘Seize Prateek Hajela’s passport till NRC audit is completed,’ says original petitioner

The president of non-governmental organisation Assam Public Works, on whose petition the Supreme Court got involved in the process to update the National Register of Citizens in the state, has urged the government to seize the passport of civil servant Prateek Hajela. Hajela was the coordinator of the NRC exercise.

Reply to plea against reduction of Sikkim CM’s poll ban period, Delhi High Court tells Centre and EC

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked the Centre and the Election Commission to respond to a plea challenging the poll panel’s decision to reduce the six-year disqualification period of Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang to just 13 months. Tamang was convicted and sentenced in a corruption case.

Bank strike: Services of state-run lenders in parts of India disrupted due to anti-merger protest

Operations in state-run banks in some parts of India were disrupted on Tuesday after two bank unions called a one-day nationwide strike to protest against the Centre’s move to merge 10 public sector banks into four entities.

Delhi court issues production warrants for former Ranbaxy promoters in Rs 740 crore fraud case

A court in Delhi on Tuesday issued production warrants for former Ranbaxy promoters Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh for settlement talks on Wednesday. The former Ranbaxy promoters are currently in judicial custody in a Rs 740 crore fraud case. Malvinder and Shivinder Singh, along with three others, are accused of cheating and diverting funds of Religare Finvest Limited. They were arrested by the Economic Offences Wing of the Delhi Police earlier this month.

Jharkhand: Activist Stan Swamy’s properties attached, civil rights group criticises police and state

Civil rights group Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha on Tuesday rebuked the state police for attaching a few items belonging to human rights activist and Catholic priest Stan Swamy the day before. The police took away two tables, three chairs, a cupboard and a mattress from his home at the Bagaicha campus in Namkum near Ranchi.

‘PM joked about media trying to trap me into saying anti-Modi things,’ says Abhijit Banerjee

Nobel Prize-winning economist Abhijit Banerjee on Tuesday said he would not make controversial statements when asked about his criticism of the Indian economy. Banerjee met Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier in the day. “Prime Minister started by cracking a joke on how the media is trying to trap me to say anti-Modi things,” Banerjee said at a press conference in New Delhi. “He has been watching the TV and he has been watching you guys. And he knows what you are trying to do...so i think stop.”

Linking social media with Aadhaar: SC transfers all petitions from various high courts to itself

The Supreme Court on Tuesday transferred to itself all the cases related to linking social media accounts with Aadhaar already pending in different high courts, PTI reported. The court was hearing a petition filed by Facebook to transfer cases being heard in the High Courts of Madras, Bombay and Madhya Pradesh in connection with the linking of social media profiles with Aadhaar.

Tripura: Former PWD minister Badal Chowdhury arrested in alleged Rs 630 crore scam

Communist Party of India (Marxist) MLA and former Tripura Public Works Department Minister Badal Chowdhury was arrested in connection with an alleged scam worth Rs 630 crore, PTI reported on Tuesday. West Tripura district Superintendent of Police Manik Das said that Chowdhury was arrested on Monday night. “Acting on information that Chowdhury was admitted to a hospital, police arrested him,” Das told reporters. “He would be taken into custody after he recovers from his illness.”

West Bengal: Governor asks if there is censorship after district officials refuse to meet him

West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar on Tuesday wondered if there was some kind of censorship in the state after district authorities refused to meet him due to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s administrative tour of North Bengal, PTI reported. Last week, the governor had said that he would hold meetings with district officials and elected leaders of North and South 24 Parganas districts, which he began touring on Tuesday.

Six new lizard species discovered in the Western Ghats

Scientists have discovered six new lizard species of Dravidogecko family in the Western Ghats. Dravidogecko is a small size lizard found in wet forests in mid-to-high elevations.

India is proud of Abhijit Banerjee’s accomplishments, says PM Modi after meeting the Nobel laureate

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday praised economist Abhijit Banerjee after he met the Nobel laureate. The prime minister said the country was proud of Banerjee’s accomplishments.

Indiabulls trying to mislead Delhi High Court by filing perjury petition, says Citizens Forum

The Citizens Whistle Blower Forum has accused the Indiabulls group, the owners of the country’s second-largest housing finance company, of seeking to mislead the Delhi High Court and prevent an investigation into alleged financial irregularities that have come under question.

J&K: Malaysian PM refuses to retract comment amid calls in India to stop palm oil imports

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad reiterated on Tuesday that he will not retract his criticism of India’s decisions in Jammu and Kashmir in August. The statement came a day after an influential Indian trade body told its members to stop buying Malaysian palm oil.

From 2021, no government jobs in Assam for people with more than two children

The Assam Cabinet on Monday announced that government jobs will be out of bounds for people with more than two children. A communique issued by Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said the policy will come into effect from January 1, 2021.

Karnataka to opt for database of immigrants, will not introduce Assam-like NRC, says home minister

Karnataka has decided not to implement the National Register of Citizens in the state. The BS Yediyurappa-led administration has instead decide to create a database of the immigrants without documents and foreigner who had overstayed their visa. “We’ll not introduce an Assam-like NRC,” said Karnataka Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai. “However, we are considering compiling details of citizens that must help the government in tracking down illegal and overstaying foreign nationals.”

PMC Bank crisis: 73-year-old woman dies in Solapur allegedly due to stress over scam

A 73-year-old woman whose family had deposited money in the scam-ridden Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank died on Sunday afternoon in Maharashtra’s Solapur city. Bharati Sadarangani was purportedly under a lot of stress as her daughter and son-in-law were depositors with the bank.

Infosys shares tank over 14% after company discloses whistleblower complaints against top officials

The shares of Infosys plunged over 14% in the morning trade on Tuesday, a day after the company disclosed that it had received anonymous whistleblower complaints accusing its Chief Executive Officer Salil Parekh and Chief Financial Officer Nilanjan Roy of unethical practices. The company’s shares had plunged by over 16% in the United States’ NASDAQ stock market on Monday.

INX Media: Supreme Court grants bail to P Chidambaram in case filed by CBI

The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted bail to Congress leader P Chidambaram in the case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the INX Media case, PTI reported. However, the Congress leader will be in the Enforcement Directorate’s custody till October 24.

Chidambaram had moved the top court last week after the Delhi High Court dismissed his application. The top court said the findings of the Delhi High Court did not have any bearing on the proceedings in the case, according to Bar and Bench.

Chinmayanand demands charges under Gangsters Act against woman who accused him of rape

Former Union minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Chinmayanand on Monday wrote to the Uttar Pradesh Police demanding that they charge the woman who has accused him of rape under the Gangsters Act, PTI reported. While the BJP leader was booked on watered down sexual assault charges but not rape, the complainant was arrested for alleged extortion.

UP reported maximum cases of violence against women in 2017, shows data from crime bureau

India reported 3,59,849 cases of crime against women in 2017, and Uttar Pradesh topped the list with 56,011 cases, according to the National Crime Record Bureau’s Crime in India Report 2017 released on Monday. Maharashtra with 31,979 cases and West Bengal with 30,002 cases were placed in the second and third positions.

Episodes of violence, discrimination in India not following legal protection for minorities, says US

The United States on Tuesday said episodes of violence and discrimination against minorities were not in line with India’s legal protections for minorities, PTI reported. “Incidents of violence and discrimination against minorities in India, including cow vigilante attacks against members of the Dalit and Muslim communities, and the existence of anti-conversion laws in nine states are not in keeping with India’s legal protections for minorities,” said Alice G Wells, the acting assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs.

Trinamool will never allow NRC to be implemented in West Bengal, says Mamata Banerjee

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday reiterated that her party Trinamool Congress would never allow the National Register of Citizens exercise to be implemented in the state, PTI reported. Banerjee said every resident of the state was an Indian. “We will not allow any division among the people of the state,” she said at an event in Mallaguri locality of the city of Siliguri. “Do not be worried. Be rest assured we are your custodians.”

Social media regulation: Centre asks Supreme Court for three more months to frame rules

The Centre on Monday asked the Supreme Court for three more months to finalise and notify rules for regulating social media in India, PTI reported. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology told the court that internet had become a potent tool for causing “unimaginable disruption to the democratic polity”. The ministry said that although technology had aided economic growth and development, it had also given rise to hate speech, fake news, and anti-national activities.

Satya Pal Malik warns Pakistan, says Army can go deep inside its territory to destroy terror camps

Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik on Monday cautioned Pakistan not to carry out or assist “terror activities” in India, PTI reported. The remark came a day after the Indian Army said it had destroyed three militant camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in response to the deaths of two soldiers and a civilian during ceasefire violations in Jammu and Kashmir.

Exit polls predict landslide victory for BJP in Maharashtra and Haryana elections

Various exit polls on Monday showed the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies cruising to a comfortable victory in the Maharashtra and Haryana Assembly elections. The BJP is in power in both states. Chief ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Manohar Lal Khattar look set for a second straight term in office.