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9:32 PM

Ex-ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar, husband arrested in loan fraud case

Former ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak arrested by CBI in loan fraud case.

8:23 PM

Ministry of Finance releases Monthly Economic Review MER for November 2022

Ministry of Finance @FinMinIndia releases Monthly Economic Review #MER for November 2022.

For full report ➡️ https://t.co/NA0WqPAs2w

Key highlights

6:32 PM

Nepal deports notorious French serial killer Charles Sobhraj to France

6:31 PM

Maha: 139 dead, 264 injured in road accidents in Raigad in 2022

A total of 139 persons died and 264 were injured in road accidents in Maharashtra's Raigad district in 2022, a rise from 124 deaths and 184 injuries in 2021, an official said. Almost 80 per cent of the accidents took place on the three arterial routes, namely Mumbai-Goa national highway 66, Mumbai-Pune Expressway and Mumbai-Pune national highway 04, that pass through the district, he informed.

 

6:30 PM

PM Modi, Pres pays condolences to sixteen brave army soldiers who were killed in Sikkim

PM Modi was "pained" by the loss of lives of brave Army personnel due to a road mishap in Sikkim. "Condolences to the bereaved families. May the injured recover soon," PM said. President Droupadi Murmu was anguished at the loss of lives of brave soldiers of the Indian Army in a road accident in Sikkim. "My heartfelt condolences to the families of the deceased. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured," the President said.

 

6:26 PM

Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan gets bail

He was in jail for two years. He was granted interim bail by the Supreme court imposing the condition of no interaction with the media.

 

6:25 PM

Delhi Congress instructs party workers to mask up

Ahead of Bharat Jodo Yatra tomorrow, Delhi Congress instructs its party workers and leaders who will be participating in the Yatra to come wearing face masks: Sources

 

6:25 PM

MoHFW directs States/UTs to focus on 'Test-Track-Treat, Vaccination', adherence of Covid appropriate behaviour

MoHFW directs all States/UTs to focus on 'Test-Track-Treat &Vaccination' and adherence of Covid-19 appropriate behaviour of wearing mask, maintaining hand hygiene and physical distancing, considering the upcoming festival season and new year celebrations.

 

5:50 PM

2 dead, 4 injured in central Paris shooting, gunman is in 60s

Two people were killed and four injured in a shooting in central Paris on Friday, police and prosecutors said, adding that the shooter, in his 60s, had been arrested.

The motives of the gunman remain unclear, with two of the four injured left in a serious condition, the French officials said.

A shopkeeper in the area told AFP she had heard seven or eight shots in rue d'Enghien in the 10th arrondissement, saying "it was total panic. We locked ourselves inside."

2:53 PM

FinMin asks banks not to use unethical practices to sell insurance policies

Concerned over rising incidence of mis-selling, the finance ministry has directed heads of public sector banks to put in place strong mechanisms to avoid unethical practices for selling insurance policies to customers.

The Department of Financial Services has received complaints that fraudulent and unethical practices are adopted by banks and life insurance companies for procuring policies from the bank customers, a letter addressed to chairpersons and managing directors of public sector banks said.

There have been instances where life insurance policies were sold to customers aged above 75 years in Tier II-III cities. Usually, branches of the banks push products of their subsidiary insurers.

When resisted by customers, branch officials would sheepishly convince that they are under pressure from top. Insurance products are pushed when customers go to seek any kind of loan or buy a term deposit. In this regard, it said, the department has already issued a circular wherein it has been advised that a bank should not adopt restrictive practices of forcing customers for getting insurance from a particular company.

 

2:15 PM

India sends 125 SUVs to Sri Lanka police under 'Neighbourhood First Policy'

India has handed 125 SUVs to the Sri Lankan police under a line of credit as part of its ongoing efforts to support the cash-strapped island nation and address the serious mobility restriction issues faced by the police due to non-availability of vehicles.

As part of its 'Neighbourhood First' policy, India has extended multi-pronged assistance to Sri Lanka over the last 12 months to help the country tide over its worst economic and humanitarian crisis since its independence from Great Britain in 1948.

Indian High Commissioner Gopal Baglay on Thursday handed over 125 SUVs to Sri Lanka's Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles for Sri Lanka Police in an official ceremony.

Taking to Twitter, the Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka said that another 375 SUVs will be dispatched to Colombo under an existing line of credit.

 

1:54 PM

States to undertake mock drill to ensure readiness of Covid facilities

States and Union territories will undertake a mock drill across all health facilities on Tuesday to ensure the operational readiness of the Covid-dedicated facilities, with a specific focus on oxygen plants, ventilators, logistics and human resources, according to official sources.

An advisory in this regard will be issued by Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya at a virtual meeting with the health ministers of the states and Union territories at 3 pm on Friday, the sources said.

The states have been asked to strengthen surveillance in accordance with the surveillance strategy already issued (health facility-based sentinel surveillance; pan-respiratory virus surveillance; community-based surveillance, sewage/wastewater surveillance).

They have also been asked to ensure the ramping up of the testing infrastructure, encourage precautionary dose uptake and ensure adherence to Covid Appropriate Behaviour (CAB) in view of the upcoming festive season and the New Year.

 

1:29 PM

'Do not expect a surge in India': Gagandeep Kang on Covid-19 variant BF.7

XBB and BF.7, the variants behind a surge in Covid-19 cases in China have been in India for a while, and a wave of new cases from them is thus not expected in India, Gagandeep Kang, virologist and professor in the Department of Gastrointestinal Sciences at the Christian Medical College, Vellore said on Friday.

In a series of tweets, Kang signalled that the situation in India is not alarming and there are no new variants of the virus.

"At the moment, India is doing fine. We have a few cases, we have had the XBB & BF.7 for a while and they have not driven an upsurge in India. In the absence of an even more highly infectious variant, I do not expect a surge," she said.

"As far as we know, there are no new variants. China has the capacity to sequence, and we hope it will share data in real time. The variants now circulating in China have been in the rest of the world for months. The behaviour of the virus is not any different from expected," she added.

 

1:16 PM

Union Bank files case with CBI of fraud of nearly Rs 4,037 cr to consortium of 20 banks

CBI has registered a case on a complaint by Union Bank of India against a Kolkata-based private company and others incl its Promoters/ Directors, unknown Public Servants nd Private persons on the allegations of bank fraud of nearly Rs 4,037 crore to the consortium of 20 banks, says CBI

 

1:13 PM

India's economic growth 'extremely fragile', needs support: RBI MPC member

India's economic growth is now 'extremely fragile' and needs all the support that it can get, as private consumption and capital investment are yet to pick up, RBI Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member Jayanth R Varma said on Friday.

Varma further said out of the four engines of growth for the economy, exports and government spending supported the Indian economy through the pandemic, but other engines need to pick up the baton now.

" I like to think in terms of the four engines of growth for the economy: exports, government spending, capital investment and private consumption.

"...while exports cannot be the main driver of growth because of the global slowdown, government spending is necessarily limited by fiscal constraints," he told PTI.

 

12:50 PM

Meta to pay $725 mn damages for sharing user data with Cambridge Analytica

Meta Platforms Inc. has agreed to pay $725 million to settle a long-running lawsuit that claimed Facebook illegally shared user data with the research firm Cambridge Analytica.

It’s “the largest recovery ever achieved in a data privacy class action and the most Facebook has ever paid to resolve a private class action,” the plaintiffs said in a court filing late Thursday.

The settlement brings Meta a step closer to resolving the 2018 suit brought by Facebook users after it was revealed that the UK research firm connected to Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign for president gained access to the data of as many as 87 million of the social media network’s subscribers. The agreement requires the approval of a federal judge overseeing the suit.

 

12:26 PM

1 policeman killed, 6 people, including 2 civilians, injured in Islamabad suicide attack

One policeman was killed and at least six people, including four police officers and two civilians, have been injured in a suicide blast in Pakistan's Islamabad today, reports local newspaper, Dawn, quoting police officials.
The Islamabad police on Twitter said, “A suicide bomber aboard the vehicle detonated himself soon after the car stopped near the officers.”

12:17 PM

Parliament winter session ends, both houses adjourned sine die

The Parliament's winter session ended today as both houses, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, were adjourned sine die. The winter session six days ahead of its schedule amid continuous uproar in both houses by the Opposition leaders over India-China troops clash in Arunachal Pradesh's Tawang area

11:21 AM

India logs 163 new Covid infections; active cases decline to 3,380

India logged 163 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases declined to 3,380, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.

The Covid case tally was recorded at 4.46 crore (44,676,678).

The death toll stands at 5,30,690 with nine fatalities. While six deaths were reconciled by Kerala, two deaths were reported from Maharashtra and one from Delhi in the last 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am stated.

The active cases comprise 0.01 per cent of the total infections, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate has increased to 98.80 per cent, the ministry said.

A decrease of 22 cases has been recorded in the active Covid-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

 

11:04 AM

Bharat Biotech's intranasal Covid vaccine to be available from today in pvt hospitals

"Bharat Biotech's intranasal Covid vaccine will be available in pvt centres, to be introduced on CoWIN on Friday evening," reports PTI quoting official sources

 

10:57 AM

Not convinced about UNSC resolution's impact on issues in Myanmar: India

India has said that it is still not convinced about the impact the UN Security Council resolution would have in making progress towards resolving the long-standing issues in Myanmar, including an immediate end to violence in the neighbouring country and the release of political prisoners like Aung San Suu Kyi.

The 15-nation Security Council, under India's Presidency this month, adopted its first-ever resolution on Myanmar on Wednesday.

The resolution reiterated the call by the 15-member Council for the country to uphold democratic institutions and respect human rights.

Twelve members voted in favour, none against, while India, China and Russia abstained.

 

10:19 AM

India, Bangladesh discuss trade settlement in rupee, free trade agreement

Union minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal and his Bangladeshi counterpart Tipu Munshi discussed the settlement of trade in Indian rupees in New Delhi on Thursday. The two countries will also likely develop a free trade agreement (FTA) soon.

"A joint feasibility study on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) has been carried out after the two countries agreed to explore a bilateral FTA," said the commerce ministry.

Under CEPA, two countries either significantly reduce or eliminate customs duties on maximum numbers of goods traded between them. Besides, they ease norms for promoting trade in services and attracting investments.

India and Bangladesh agreed to start discussions on CEPA "at an early date" as it "would provide a sound basis for substantial enhancement of trade and commercial partnership".

 

10:06 AM

Dense fog, biting cold waves cover North India; 21 trains running late

Parts of North India including the national capital witnessed cold wave conditions with dense to very dense fog observed over Punjab, Haryana, northwest Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar for the second morning on the trot on Friday morning, India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

According to the IMD, Delhiites woke up to dense fog in the morning on Friday with a partly cloudy sky and the temperature dropping to below 8 degrees Celcius in most parts of the Delhi-NCR region.

Palam recorded a minimum temperature of 7.9 degrees Celcius; Lodhi Road- 7.3; Gurgaon- 7.6; Ayanagar- 5.6; Ridge- 5.3; Faridabad 9.4; Ghaziabad- 8.0; Jafarpur 7.5; Najafgarh- 9.1; Noida- 8.1 Pitampura, Sports Complex, Mayur Vihar recorded a minimum temperature of 10, 10, and 8.7 degrees Celcius respectively.

 

9:43 AM

Bharat Jodo Yatra resumes from Kherli Lala on last day of Haryana leg

The Congress's Bharat Jodo Yatra, led by party leader leader Rahul Gandhi, resumed on Friday from Kherli Lala in Sohna on the third and last day of its Haryana leg in the first phase.

Senior Congress leaders from the state have been part of the foot march that entered Nuh in Haryana from Rajasthan on Wednesday.

Braving the morning chill, among those who walked along with Gandhi were former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and senior leaders Randeep Singh Surjewala and Kumari Selja.

The yatra will pass through Faridabad district, including Pakhal village, Pali Chowk and Gopal Garden, during the day.

 

9:24 AM

US House Jan 6 panel report describes Trump's engagement in 'conspiracy'

The House Jan. 6 committee's final report asserts that Donald Trump criminally engaged in a multi-part conspiracy to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 presidential election and failed to act to stop his supporters from attacking the Capitol, concluding an extraordinary 18-month investigation into the former president and the violent insurrection two years ago.

The 814-page report released Thursday comes after the panel interviewed more than 1,000 witnesses, held 10 hearings and obtained millions of pages of documents.

The witnesses ranging from many of Trump's closest aides to law enforcement to some of the rioters themselves detailed Trump's actions in the weeks ahead of the insurrection and how his wide-ranging pressure campaign to overturn his defeat directly influenced those who brutally pushed past the police and smashed through the windows and doors of the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

The central cause of January 6th was one man, former President Donald Trump, who many others followed, reads the report. None of the events of January 6th would have happened without him.

9:00 AM

Ukrainians hail Prez Zelenskyy after trip to US dismissed by Putin

Ukrainians hailed President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's wartime visit to the United States as a success, while Russian officials said Thursday that it only fueled the conflict.

The US has announced a new $1.8 billion military aid package, including supplies of the Patriot air defense systems, the most powerful such weapons to be delivered to Ukraine yet. Ukraine also stands to receive an additional $44.9 billion in U.S. aid as part of a massive government spending bill the Senate approved Thursday.

We are returning from Washington with good results, with things that will really help, Zelenskyy said on a video message shared Thursday night on his Telegram account. He thanked President Joe Biden and the U.S. Congress for supporting Ukraine's fight against Russia.

Neither Zelenskyy nor any other Ukrainian authorities have confirmed if he's already back in Kyiv.

 

8:45 AM

Over 2000 flights cancelled in US due to heavy snow, freezing temperatures

Ahead of Christmas holidays, more than 2,270 US flights were cancelled on Thursday (local time) due to heavy snow and freezing temperatures, reported CNN.

Snow, rain, ice, wind and frigid temperatures are disrupting air travel plans across the United States and bus and Amtrak passenger train service.

Airlines cancelled just over 2,270 US flights by 6 ET pm Thursday and proactively cancelled almost 1,000 flights for Friday, according to the flight tracking site FlightAware.

Eighty-five flights were already cancelled for Saturday. Delays were even more extensive on Thursday: More than 7,400 as of 6 pm, reported CNN.

 

8:21 AM

Russian President Putin aiming for a speeding end to war in Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said Russia was aiming for a speedy end to the conflict in Ukraine and that fighting should end as soon as possible, reported The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH).

"Our goal is... to end this conflict. We are striving for this and will continue to strive... so we will seek to make sure that it all ends, and the sooner, the better," Putin told reporters.

Putin's comments were met with scepticism by Ukraine and its allies.

White House spokesman John Kirby said Putin had "shown absolutely zero indication that he's willing to negotiate", an end to the war that began with Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, reported SMH.

 

8:02 AM

'Mask up': PM Modi cautions against complacency at crucial Covid meet

Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a high-level meeting yesterday cautioned against complacency and advised masking up and taking precautionary doses amid rising Covid cases in China and other countries. Modi told officials to strengthen surveillance measures, especially at international airports. He also stressed the need to ensure that the entire Covid infrastructure at all levels is maintained at a high level of preparedness in terms of equipment, processes, and human resources.

Modi said states must audit Covid-specific facilities to ensure operational readiness of hospital infrastructure, including oxygen cylinders, pressure swing adsorption plants, ventilators, and human resources. Read more

 

8:01 AM

Mandaviya to hold meeting with state health ministers over Covid surge

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will hold a meeting with health ministers of states and Union territories on Friday over rising Covid-19 cases in some parts of the world. Mandaviya made a suo motu statement in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday on India's preparedness. "We are constantly monitoring the situation. There are no direct flights between China and India but people come via other routes," he said. He said the focus is to ensure that no unknown variant of the virus enters India and at the same time there is no impediment to travelling. Read more