Latest LIVE: CRPF jawan, abducted in Chhattisgarh Naxal ambush, released

The Andhra Pradesh State Election Commission has resumed conduct of stalled poll procedure to the MPTC, ZPTC in the state today. Stay tuned for Latest LIVE news

10:04 PM

Congress celebrates its wins in HP's two municipal corporations

A day after getting a clear majority in two of the four municipal corporation elections, the Himachal Pradesh Congress on Thursday celebrated its victory with its workers dancing on drum beats.
 

In the results announced on Wednesday for the four municipal corporation polls in the state, the Congress had attained a clear majority in Palampur and Solan while the ruling BJP had emerged as the single largest party in Mandi and Dharamshala.
 

State Congress president Kuldeep Singh Rathore said the Congress would have won all the four municipal corporation polls, “had the ruling BJP not used money power and misused government machinery in the last 36 hours”.
 

On the other hand, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said the BJP secured a majority in Dharamshala by getting the support of three of the four independent councillors.
 

The BJP won eight out of a total of 17 wards in Dharamshala and was short of one seat for a clear majority. The Congress got five and the independents four seats in Dharamshala municipal polls.
 

Thakur said the BJP has now secured a majority in Dharamshala and Mandi municipal corporation polls.
 

The chief minister said the current BJP government created three new municipal corporations of Solan, Mandi and Palampur for planned development in these areas.
 

10:02 PM

Faced with 'natural deadline', SC favours mechanism for appointment of ad-hoc judges in HCs

Faced with a “natural deadline”, the Supreme Court on Thursday geared up for setting up a mechanism for appointment of ad-hoc judges in the high courts to reduce backlog of cases plaguing the judiciary.
 

The top court by referring to the "natural deadline" perhaps meant the retirement of Chief Justice SA Bobde on April 23.
 

The top court asked group of senior lawyers representing different high courts to hold a virtual conference among themselves to deliberate and prepare within a week a road-map on four major points which could trigger the initiation of appointment process like-what could be percentage of pendency, how many ad-hoc judges could be appointed, how much could be the tenure of ad-hoc judges and what should the procedure.
 

A special bench of Chief Justice SA Bobde and Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Surya Kant said, “We don't have much time. We are facing a natural deadline. We cannot hear each and every point as it will take enough time. It will be better if you all should hold a virtual conference among yourselves and deliberate the issues and submit a report by next Wednesday”.
 

It listed the matter for further hearing for April 15.
 

9:02 PM

Latest News: Dassault Aviation rejects fresh allegations of corruption in Rafale deal

French aerospace major Dassault Aviation on Thursday rejected fresh allegations of corruption in the Rafale fighter jet deal with India, saying no violations were reported in the frame of the contract, days after French online journal 'Mediapart' alleged that the jet manufacturer had paid nearly one million Euros to an Indian middleman.

 

According to the French media, the report was based on an investigation by the country's anti-corruption agency Agence Francaise Anticorruption (AFA).

 

Rejecting the allegations, a Dassault Aviation spokesperson said,"numerous controls are carried out by official organisations, including the French Anti-Corruption Agency. No violations were reported, notably in the frame of the contract with India for the acquisition of 36 Rafales." (PTI)

8:05 PM

Latest News: Wall Street opening higher, led by health care, utilities

Shares are opening slightly higher on Wall Street, following gains in Europe and Asia overnight.

 

The S&P 500 rose 0.2 percent at the start of trading, after inching to a new record high a day earlier thanks to gains by some Big Tech stocks.

 

Utilities and health care stocks led the index early Thursday, but the index's rise was held back by big drops in energy and banking stocks. (AP)

7:48 PM

Re-poll at polling station number 88-Paramanandapur Prathamik Vidhyalay on April 10

7:16 PM

Latest News: MP govt aiming to generate 100,000 jobs per month, says CM

The BJP government in Madhya Pradesh was aiming to generate one lakh jobs per month, mostly in small and micro industries, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Thursday.

 

He said his goal was to see a vast network of small industries flourishing in the state and maintained the government was ready to become bank guarantorsfor prospective entrepreneurs.

 

Our target is to generate one lakh employment each month. To achieve this, our small and micro industries will help us, Chouhan said. (PTI)

6:22 PM

Rakeshwar Singh, kidnapped by Naxals during Bijapur attack on April 3, has been released

5:59 PM

Latest News: High decibel campaign ends for fourth phase of polling in West Bengal

Campaigning for the high-decibel fourth phase of polling, for 44 assembly seats scheduled in five districts of West Bengal on April 10, ended at 5pm on Thursday.

 

A total 1,15,81,022 voters including 58,82,514 men, 56,98,218 women and 290 members of the third gender, will decide the fate of 373 candidates in Friday's polling in constituencies spread over Howrah (Part II), South 24 Parganas (Part III), Hooghly (Part II) in south Bengal and in north Bengal's Alipurduar and Coochbehar.

 

The polling will be held between 7AM to 6.30PM in 15,940 polling stations.At stake are nine assembly constituencies in Howrah, eleven in South 24 Parganas, five in Alipurduar, nine in Coochbehar and ten in Hooghly. (PTI)

5:49 PM

Latest News: Kalyan Jewellers shares jump nearly 5%

Shares of Kalyan Jewellers on Thursday gained nearly 5 per cent after the company said it has witnessed a robust increase in consumer demand and seen revenue growth of nearly 60 per cent in its India operations in the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2021.

 

The stock jumped 4.58 per cent to close at Rs 73.10 on the BSE. During the day, it gained 7 per cent to Rs 74.85.

 

On the NSE, it rose by 4 per cent to close at Rs 72.75.

 

In traded volume terms, 717,000 shares were traded at the BSE and over 4.8 million shares at the NSE during the day. (PTI)

5:41 PM

Latest News: India, Sri Lanka agree to jointly work against terror groups, fugitives

India and Sri Lanka on Thursday agreed to work jointly against terrorist groups and fugitives wherever they are present and active, and emphasised on sharing real time intelligence.

 

In the first delegation level virtual police chiefs' dialogue, India and Sri Lanka also decided to strengthen the existing cooperation mechanisms, as also designate "nodal points" for timely and effective handling of existing as well as emerging security challenges.

 

The Indian delegation was led by Director of Intelligence Bureau Arvind Kumar and the Sri Lankan team was led byC D Wickramaratne, Inspector General of Police. (PTI)

5:21 PM

LIVE: PM Modi holds high level virtual meeting with President Ramkalawan of Seychelles

5:16 PM

LIVE: EC can serve 10 notices, but my reply will be same, says Mamata

EC can serve 10 notices on me but my reply will be the same -- no religious division, says Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on row over her appeal to minority voters.

 

5:06 PM

Latest News: India Inc set to report 15-17% revenue growth in Q4 FY21, says report

After eight quarters of either decline or single-digit growth, corporate revenue grew in high double-digits of 15-17 per cent in the March quarter of FY'21 to Rs 6.9 lakh crore, partly because of the low base and better realisation due to higher commodity prices, pushing up their operating profits by a much higher 28-30 per cent, says a report.

 

With a visible recovery in the second half of fiscal 2021, the overall revenue may be a just 50 bps lower than that of fiscal 2020, according to a pre-earnings forecast by Crisil Ratings on Thursday.

 

The estimates of 15-17 per cent revenue growth to Rs 6.9 lakh crore in Q4 of FY21 are based on an analysis of 300 companies, which account for 55-60 per cent of the market capitalisation (excluding financial services and oil companies) of the NSE, the agency said, adding operating profit jumped be 28-30 per cent in the quarter. (PTI)

4:41 PM

Latest News: Strong growth in new seller addition in India despite pandemic, says Amazon

Amazon India has witnessed a strong growth in seller addition and rise in number of 'crorepati' businesses on the platform even during the pandemic-hit year, a top company executive said.

 

Speaking to PTI, Amazon Global Senior Vice President and Country Head India Amit Agarwal said more than 2.5 lakh new sellers have joined since last year, and that the rate at which sellers have come online has gone by 50 per cent post Covid-19.

 

There will always be naysayers out there who would not embrace technology but the right kind of people take advantage and embrace technology and (they) are going to come out of it (pandemic) as far more robust digital businesses and serve their customer base, online and offline and in ways that were not possible before, he added. (PTI)

4:36 PM

Latest News: NCLAT orders stay on CoC formation in proceedings against subsidiary, says Oyo

Hospitality firm OYO on Thursday said the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has ordered a stay on the formation of committee of creditors in proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code against its subsidiary OYO Hotels and Homes Pvt Ltd (OHHPL).

 

Earlier, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) had admitted a petition for initiating insolvency proceedings against OHHPL for recovery of Rs 16 lakh, an order that the hospitality firm challenged before the appellate tribunal on Wednesday.

 

"Closing@riteshagar's thread from yesterday - Today NCLAT has admitted our plea and ordered a stay for the formation of COC in IBC proceedings against OHHPL, an OYO subsidiary. The claimant has already drawn the INR 16 Lakhs which we paid under protest," OYO said in a tweet. Read here

4:27 PM

LIVE: SC says allegations against Anil Deshmukh very serious that warrant an independent probe

Supreme Court refuses to interfere in the Bombay High Court order directing CBI inquiry into the allegations made by foremer Mumbai top cop Param Bir Singh against former Home Minister Anil Deshmukh. It states that the nature of allegations are serious and warrants an independent inquiry. 

4:20 PM

LIVE: SC rejects Anil Deshmukh's plea, says there can be a CBI probe

LIVE: SC rejects Anil Deshmukh's plea, says there can be a CBI probe

4:14 PM

LIVE: SC says high officials of Maharashtra are involved in the matter

Kapil Sibal representing Anil Deshmukh says before SC that the law must be uniform for everyone. It can’t be that just because the Police Commissioner has said something, his words become evidence, he added. (ANI)

4:07 PM

LIVE: Oral allegations made without any substance, Anil Deshmukh tells SC

Oral allegations made without any substance and CBI probe ordered by HC without hearing me: Maharashtra’s former Home Minister Anil Deshmukh tells SC

4:06 PM

LIVE: Nothing wrong in probing allegations by senior officer, says SC

It is only preliminary enquiry, nothing is wrong in it when serious allegations are made by senior officer against senior minister, says SC on Maharashtra government plea seeking to quash CBI probe against Anil Deshmukh (PTI)

3:52 PM

Latest News: Mamata asks voters to be on guard, fears intimidation by central forces

Apprehending that a section of central paramilitary forces may visit villages to intimidate people, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday asked voters to be on guard.

 

Addressing a public meeting here in Hooghly district, Banerjee alleged central forces are working on instructions of the "Union Home Ministry run by Amit Shah."

 

"I have respect for the central paramilitary forces but they are working on instructions from Delhi. They are committing atrocities on villagers before polling day, some of them are even harassing women. They are asking people to vote for BJP. We will not allow this to continue," the TMC chief said. (PTI)

3:40 PM

Latest News: Equity MFs see an inflow for first time in 9 months in March

Equity mutual funds witnessed a net inflow of Rs 9,115 crore in March, making it the first net infusion in nine months.

 

Prior to this inflow, equity schemes had been witnessing net outflow since July.

 

However, investors pulled out Rs 52,528 crore from debt mutual funds last month after investing Rs 1,735 crore in February, data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) showed on Thursday. Read here

3:37 PM

Latest News: Messaging platform Gupshup joins unicorn club after $100 million funding

Gupshup on Thursday said it had raised $100 million from investment firm Tiger Global Management, valuing the messaging services provider at $1.4 billion.

 

The company, which had its last funding round about a decade ago, said it saw greater investor demand than anticipated and would raise additional funds as it looks to scale up its existing product portfolio.

 

"This funding allows us to scale our product and sales efforts that will make it a more attractive company to public market investors," Chief Executive Officer Beerud Sheth said, adding that the funding "accelerates" the company's ability to go public. (Reuters)

3:32 PM

Latest News: MacBook, iPad production delayed as supply crunch hits Apple, says report

Production of some of Apple Inc's MacBooks and iPads has been postponed due to a global component shortage, the Nikkei reported on Thursday.

 

Chip shortages have caused delays in a key step in MacBook production, the report said, adding that some iPad assembly was postponed because of a shortage of displays and display components. 

 

As a result of the delay, Apple has pushed back a portion of component orders for the two devices from the first half of this year to the second half, the report said, citing sources briefed on the matter. (Reuters)

3:19 PM

LIVE: Rohingyas detained in Jammu shall not be deported to Myanmar without following due process, says SC

LIVE: Rohingyas detained in Jammu shall not be deported to Myanmar without following due process, says Supreme Court

3:13 PM

Latest LIVE: SC hearing plea by Maharashtra govt seeking to quash CBI probe against Deshmukh

SC starts hearing a plea filed by the Maharashtra govt and former state Home Minister, Anil Deshmukh, against Bombay High Court's April 5 order of preliminary inquiry against him by the CBI into corruption allegations made by ex-Mumbai police commissioner, Param Bir Singh, reports ANI.

3:08 PM

Latest News: India, China to hold 11th round of military-level talks on April 9

After having successfully disengaged with China in the Pangong lake area, Armies of India and China are scheduled to hold the 11th round of Corps Commander-level talk on Friday to discuss disengagement from friction points in Gogra, Hot Springs and Depsang plains in Ladakh."Indian and Chinese Army are scheduled to hold the 11th round of Corps Commander-level talks at Chushul in eastern Ladakh tomorrow at 10

 

The credit for the disengagement was given to all stakeholders by Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane who also talked about the country benefitting from the inputs given by the National Security Advisor Ajit Doval during the crisis. Read here

3:03 PM

Latest News: UK condemns bullying' as Myanmar ambassador locked out of embassy

The UK government on Thursday condemned the bullying actions of the Myanmar military junta after the country's ambassador, Kyaw Zwar Minn, was refused entry to his own embassy in London and had to spend the night in his car.

 

Zwar Minn has been critical of the junta's coup in Myanmar, which have sparked widespread protests and clashes in the region since February, and called for Myanmar's ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi to be released.

 

He was forced to spend Wednesday night in his car after he was dismissed as the country's representative and staff were asked to leave the building by Myanmar's military attache. (PTI)

2:54 PM

Latest News: SC collegium headed by CJI Bobde holds scheduled meeting

The Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) S A Bobde is holding its scheduled meeting on Thursday to discuss possible candidates for appointment of judges in higher judiciary, sources familiar with the development said.

 

The CJI, who would superannuate on April 23, has been holding the collegium meeting to discuss appointment of judges in the top court and high courts, they said.

 

The 5-member collegium's pre-scheduled meeting assumes significance in the wake of the fact that President Ram Nath Kovind has formally appointed senior most judge N V Ramana as the next CJI. (PTI)

2:39 PM

Where is the problem in law and order from our side? asks BJP leader Mithun Chakraborty