Latest news LIVE updates: 16 Army jawans killed in an accident in Sikkim

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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.