LIVE: Soldier killed in firing by Pak troops along LoC in J&K's Rajouri

Latest News Live: An army man was killed as Pakistani troops opened fire and shelled forward posts along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district on Friday. Firing and mortar shelling from across the LoC was reported in the Nowshera sector of the district around 3:30 pm and at 5:30 pm. Indian troops are retaliating to the unprovoked ceasefire violations by Pakistan.

After leasing two predator drones from the US, the Indian Navy is now going to urgently acquire 10 shipborne drones for enhancing its surveillance capabilities in the Indian Ocean Region, for which it has received the government approval recently.

People across India bid adieu to 2020 and welcomed the New Year 2021 with muted celebrations as night curfew has been imposed in the national capital till January 2 amid pandemic. No celebratory events, congregations and gatherings at public places were permitted and section 144 have been imposed in Bengaluru, Mumbai and Pune. 

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of Light House Projects in six states and distributed PMAY (Urban) and ASHA-India awards. 

Stay tuned for LIVE updates

10:23 PM

Theatres to open from January 5 in Kerala: CM Vijayan

As a New Year gift to the people of the state, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has announced the opening of movie theatres in the state from January 5. Theatres will be allowed to function with only half of their strengths and tickets for only half of the strength will be sold. Chief minister also said that stringent action will be taken against Cinema theatres if they violate Covid protocol.

The Chief minister also said that the government will constitute a new authority to prevent corruption and people will be able to register their complaints regarding corruption in a software. He also said that the details of those who provide information will not be publicized and people will be free to provide information against corruption. He said that the authority if necessary will convey the details provided to the vigilance department. This will commence from January 26 of this month. He also announced the government sanction to conduct art and culture programmes, both indoor and outdoor programmes during religious festivals.

Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that aged people will be provided with government services without having to go to the offices. He said that volunteers will be deployed for the service of old people. Pinarayi Vijayan also said that 1000 scholarships of 1 lakh rupees each will be provided to students who have performed exceedingly well in academics in degree classes and the annual income of their families are below 2.5 lakh rupees.

9:43 PM

ED attaches Rs 72-cr assets of man whose wife transferred funds to Sanjay Raut's spouse

The ED on Friday said it has attached assets worth Rs 72 crore of a Maharashtra-based man whose wife's alleged transaction with Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut's spouse is under its scanner in the over Rs 4,300 crore PMC Bank money laundering case. The central probe agency alleged that the man, Pravin Raut, had "siphoned off" Rs 95 crore worth of funds from the scam-hit bank in the garb of loan, out of which he paid Rs 1.6 crore to his wife, Madhuri Raut, who subsequently transferred Rs 55 lakh in two tranches to Varsha Raut, wife of Sanjay Raut, as an "interest-free loan."

The ED recently summoned Varsha Raut for questioning with regard to this transaction and a few other deals leading to a political blame game between Maharashtra and the Centre with various constituents of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) led state government alleging that the Centre was using federal probe agencies to harass them. Varsha Raut skipped the agency's notice thrice and is now expected to join probe before the ED in Mumbai on January 5.

Sanjay Raut, while holding a press conference in Mumbai early this week, had denied any wrongdoing on the part of his wife and said they were in correspondence with the ED in connection with the case for about one-and-a-half months.

8:50 PM

CBI books Shakti Bhog Foods in alleged Rs 3,269-crore bank fraud case

The CBI has booked Delhi-based Shakti Bhog Foods Limited for an alleged fraud of Rs 3,269 crore on a consortium of 10 banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI), officials said on Friday. On a complaint from the SBI, the agency has booked the managing director of the company, Kewal Krishan Kumar, and other directors Siddhrath Kumar and Sunanda Kumar, they added.

 

According to the SBI complaint, the directors allegedly falsified accounts and forged documents to siphon off public funds.

 

The 24-year-old company, which is into manufacturing and selling wheat, flour, rice, biscuits, cookies etc., had grown organically as it ventured into food-related diversification over a decade with a turnover growth of Rs 1,411 crore in 2008 to Rs 6,000 crore in 2014, the bank said. READ ON...

 

8:42 PM

LIVE: Soldier killed in firing by Pak troops along LoC in J&K's Rajouri

An army man was killed as Pakistani troops opened fire and shelled forward posts along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district on Friday. Firing and mortar shelling from across the LoC was reported in the Nowshera sector of the district around 3:30 pm and at 5:30 pm. Indian troops are retaliating to the unprovoked ceasefire violations by Pakistan, the officials said.

 

"At about 1530 hours today, the Pakistan army initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by firing with small arms and intense shelling with mortars along the LoC in the Nowshera sector in district Rajouri," a defence spokesman said.

 

Indian army retaliates befittingly. Pakistan again shelled the Nowshera sector at 5:30 pm. Naib Subedar Ravinder was critically injured in the 5:30 pm incident and he later succumbed.

8:20 PM

India may impose anti-subsidy duty on imports of Butadiene Rubber from Korea

India may impose anti-subsidy duty on imports of a particular kind of rubber from South Korea as the commerce ministry has recommended for the same after concluding an investigation, PTI reported. The commerce ministry's investigation arm Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) has conducted the probe to see whether the subsidy programmes of South Korea for exports of "Styrene Butadiene Rubber" to India is impacting the domestic industry.

 

The DGTR concluded that the product has been exported to India from Korea is subsidised and due to this, the domestic industry has suffered material injury.

 

"The authority is of the view that imposition of duty is required to offset subsidization and injury. Therefore, authority considers it necessary and recommends imposition of anti-subsidy duty on imports," DGTR has said in a notification.

8:14 PM

India-UK flights to resume from January 8: Union Civil Aviation Minister

8:01 PM

Cold wave to abate north India, temperatures to rise by 3-5 Deg C from Jan 3: IMD

North India, which has been reeling under a severe cold wave, is likely to get some relief from January 3 as temperatures are expected to rise by three to five degrees Celsius, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Friday.

 

A Western Disturbance as a cyclonic circulation lies over Afghanistan and its neighbourhood at the middle and upper tropospheric levels. It is likely to move slightly eastwards to central Pakistan and its neighbourhood during the next 48 hours and remain practically stationary there during the subsequent three to four days. There is also an induced cyclonic circulation over southwest Rajasthan.

 

"Under the influence of these systems light/moderate fairly widespread rainfall/snowfall over the western Himalayan region is likely during January 4-6. With its peak intensity on January 4 and 5, there is a possibility of heavy rain/snow over Jammu and Kashmir. Hailstorm at isolated places is also likely over western Himalayan Region during this time," the IMD said.

7:41 PM

Pakistan army shells forward posts along LoC in Nowshera sector of Jammu and Kashmir

7:27 PM

PM Modi will lay foundation stone of permanent campus of IIM Sambalpur on Saturday

6:53 PM

GST collections touch record high of over Rs 1.15 trillion in Dec 2020: Finance Ministry

GST collections surged to an all-time high of over Rs 1.15 trillion in December as economic activities picked up after lifting of stringent lockdown restrictions.Mop-up from the Goods and Services Tax (GST), which is levied when a consumable item is sold or a service such as travel booking rendered, in December was 12 per cent higher than such receipts in the same month of 2019.

 

At Rs 1,15,174 crore, the collections were 10 per cent more than the mop-up in the previous month -- the biggest growth in monthly revenues in the last 21 months.

 

In a statement, the finance ministry said the December collections were the highest ever since the implementation of the nationwide tax in July 2017. The previous best was in April 2019 when Rs 113,866 crore was collected.

6:14 PM

Delhi's air quality remains in 'severe' category

The air quality (AQI) in Delhi remained in the 'severe' category on Friday morning according to System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR). The New Year morning has been wrapped with dense fog with the minimum temperature recorded at 1.1 degrees Celsius at the Safdarjung observatory in the national capital. As per SAFAR, the level of PM10 particles observed in the morning was 440.

 

Cold wave conditions continue to persist in Delhi with dense fog reducing the visibility in most parts of the national capital in the New Year morning.

 

India Meteorological Department (IMD) in its daily bulletin issued on December 31 at 9.00 pm, said that cold wave to severe cold wave conditions are likely to persist in isolated places over Delhi during next 2 days. IMD also said that dense to very dense fog is very likely in some pockets of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, and Delhi during the next 2 days.

5:37 PM

Cinema halls and theatres in Odisha allowed to operate from today

5:00 PM

Govt approves Indian Navy proposal to buy shipborne drones

After leasing two predator drones from the US, the Indian Navy is now going to urgently acquire 10 shipborne drones for enhancing its surveillance capabilities in the Indian Ocean Region, for which it has received the government approval recently.

 

"A proposal moved in fast track mode by the Indian Navy before the Defence Ministry, under which it will buy 10 Naval Shipborne Unmanned Aerial Systems for around Rs 1,300 crores has been cleared by the government," government sources told ANI.

 

The Navy will acquire these drones through an open bid under the Buy Global category and then soon deploy them on its large size warships for surveillance and reconnaissance activities.

 

As per the plans of the Navy, the drones would be deployed on big size warships of the force and would help them in the detection of activities of the Chinese as well as other adversaries in and around Indian territorial waters, they said.

 

4:20 PM

India set to begin its two-year tenure as non-permanent member of UNSC

India, which has been at the forefront of the years-long efforts to reform the UN Security Council, will begin its two-year tenure as a non-permanent member of the powerful organ of the world body on Friday. The country will sit in the 15-nation United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for the 2021-22 term as a non-permanent member - the eighth time that the country has had a seat on the powerful horseshoe table.

 

On Friday, India, Norway, Kenya, Ireland and Mexico will join non-permanent members Estonia, Niger, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tunisia and Vietnam and the five permanent members China, France, Russia, UK and the US. India will be UNSC President in August 2021 and will preside over the council again for a month in 2022.

 

The presidency of the council is held by each of the members in turn for one month, following the English alphabetical order of the Member States' names.

 

"As the largest democracywe will be promoting very fundamental values like democracy, human rights and development," India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti told PTI.

3:57 PM

Rupee settles 4 paise lower at 73.11 (provisional) against US dollar