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UPSC has informed the Supreme Court that it would not be possible to defer the UPSC preliminary exams beyond October. Stay tuned for Latest LIVE news

5:17 PM

Delhi: Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju unveils new logo of SAI

5:00 PM

Delhi to use agri tech to curb stubble burning

4:51 PM

UK GDP collapsed nearly 20% in second quarter in historic Covid hit

Britain suffered a record collapse in economic output in the second quarter of 2020 when Covid-19 lockdown measures were in full force, though the decline was slightly smaller than first estimated.

 

Gross domestic product shrank by 19.8% in the three months to June, the Office for National Statistics said, slightly less than the initial estimate of a quarterly 20.4% crash but still more than for any other major advanced economy.

 

The fall was the biggest since the ONS records began in 1955. Other data has suggested Britain is on course for its biggest annual fall since the 1920s. Britain's economy had already shrunk by 2.5% in the January-March period as the country entered lockdown in late March.

4:43 PM

Babri mosque verdict will be challenged in high court: Jilani

Senior lawyer and member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) Zafaryab Jilani on Wednesday said the verdict of a special court acquitting all the 32 accused in the Babri mosque demolition case would be challenged in the high court.

 

There were hundreds of statements by the witnesses and in criminal cases these are very important, Jilani said, adding that among those who gave their statements were IPS officers and journalists who had said that the accused persons were sitting on the dias and inflammatory speeches were being given.

 

The special CBI court has given its verdict ignoring the evidence and so Muslims will challenge it in the high court, he said. He also indicated that the board might also be a party.

4:35 PM

BJP appoints ex-Maharashtra CM Fadnavis as Bihar poll in-charge

The BJP on Wednesday appointed former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis as its in-charge for the Bihar assembly elections, the party said in a statement.

 

The announcement came on a day party president J P Nadda is holding talks with state BJP leaders here to discuss the three-phase polls to the 243-member state assembly, including seat-sharing arrangements with allies like the JD(U) and the LJP.

 

The LJP has been blowing hot and cold over the issue as it is said to be unhappy over the offer being made to it by the BJP. For the last few weeks, Fadnavis had been participating in the party's internal meetings over the Bihar polls and has even visited the state a few times.

 

4:25 PM

NDA 'gathbandhan' to fight Bihar elections: Bhupendra Yadav

4:21 PM

NGT denies nod to Delhi Police for construction on Yamuna floodplains

The National Green TribunalWednesday junked a plea by the Delhi Police seeking permission to raise construction for accommodation of the trainees in the flood plains of river Yamuna.

A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said the project is located right on the flood plains and thus cannot be allowed.

It refused to agree with the submission of the Delhi police that the Principal Committee, formed to oversee Yamuna rejuvenation, made recommendations in favour of the Delhi Police.

4:16 PM

I-T refunds worth Rs 1.18 trn issued to 3.35 mn taxpayers till Sep 29

The Income Tax department on Wednesday said it has issued refunds worth over Rs 1.18 trillion to over 3.3 million taxpayers in 6 months till September 29.

 

This include personal income tax (PIT) refunds amounting to Rs 32,230 crore issued to 3.17 million taxpayers, and corporate tax refunds amounting to Rs 86,094 crore to over 1.78 lakh taxpayers during this period.

 

"CBDT issues refunds of over Rs 1,18,324 crore to more than 33.54 lakh taxpayers between 1st April, 2020 to 29th September,2020. Income tax refunds of Rs 32,230 crore have been issued in 31,75,358 cases & corporate tax refunds of Rs 86,094 crore have been issued in 1,78,540 cases," the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) tweeted.

 

4:05 PM

SBI to raise up to Rs 5,000 cr through debt instruments in FY21

State Bank of India on Wednesday said it will raise up to Rs 5,000 crore through debt instruments in the current financial year.

 

The central board of the bank in a meeting held on Wednesday accorded the approval for raising of capital by way of issuance of Basel-III compliant debt instruments in Indian rupees during FY21, SBI said in a regulatory filing.

 

The board said it has approved "raising of additional tier-I (AT1) bonds to the extent of Rs 5,000 crore by way of issuance of Basel-III compliant debt instruments in INR, within the overall capital plan earlier approved by the board for raising equity during FY21," SBI said.

3:59 PM

Punjab: Farmers burn stubble, says 'we are helpless'

3:57 PM

India's media, entertainment segment to reach Rs 1.86 trillion revenue in FY22: Report

The media and entertainment sector, which was badly hit due to the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, is expected to rebound to touch a revenue of Rs 1,86,600 crore in 2021-22, due to acceleration of digital adoption among users across geographies, according to a report.

The sector should recover and post a 33 per cent growth in 2021-22, following a contraction of 20 per cent in 2020-21, which still implies a loss of around two years of growth, said KPMG in India Partner and Head (Media and Entertainment) Girish Menon.

He was quoting the KPMG Media and Entertainment (M&E) report, 'A year off script: Time for resilience', which examines the performance of the M&E sector during a particularly challenging period.

 

3:43 PM

Retail inflation for industrial workers eases to 5.63% in August

Retail inflation for industrial workers eased to 5.63 per cent in August as compared to 6.31 per cent in the same month a year ago, mainly due to lower prices of certain food items.

Retail inflation measured in terms of the Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) is the benchmark for working out dearness allowance for central government employees and dearness relief for pensioners.

"Year-on-year inflation (CPI-IW) based on all-items stood at 5.63 per cent for August 2020 as compared to 5.33 per cent for the previous month (July 2020) and 6.31 per cent during the corresponding month (August 2019) of the previous year," a labour ministry statement said.

 

3:25 PM

Hathras case: DCW chief writes to CJI demanding action against those involved in cover up

Delhi Commission For Women chairperson Swati Maliwal on Wednesday wrote to the Chief Justice of India demanding action against those officials who were allegedly involved in covering up the brutal Hathras gangrape and murder incident.

Maliwal also demanded a high court-monitored investigation and a trial to ensure the strictest and swiftest possible punishment to the accused in the letter which was also addressed to the Supreme Court's judges.

"Immediate suspension and punitive action against all erring police and administrative officials including the senior-most officials who tried to coverup the incident. Setting in place definite mechanisms to ensure that no other daughter has to suffer the same fate," the letter said, listing out her demands.

3:19 PM

India posts current account surplus of $19.8 bn as trade deficit narrows

India’s current account balance (CAB) recorded a surplus of $19.8 billion (3.9 per cent of GDP) in Q1 of 2020-21. This contrasts with a deficit of $ 15 billion (2.1 per cent of GDP) in April-June 2019 (Q1Fy20).

 

The surplus in April-June 2020 (Q1Fy21) comes on top of a surplus of $0.6 billion (0.1 per cent of GDP) in the preceding quarter (Q4 Fy20), said the Reserve Bank of India in a statement. The surplus was due to a sharp contraction in the trade deficit to $10 billion, as the country’s merchandise imports declined sharply relative to exports on a year-on-year basis. Read more

3:03 PM

Hathras rape case: Congress demands UP CM's resignation

The Congress Wednesday slammed the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh over the Hathras gang-rape victim's family being allegedly denied the right to properly perform her last rites, demanding Prime Minister Narendra Modi ask for Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's resignation.

"The way she was cremated is a gross violation of her human rights, a Congress spokesperson said in Delhi.

The 19-year-old Dalit woman, who died in a Delhi hospital a fortnight after she was gang-raped in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras, was cremated in the early hours of Wednesday, with her family alleging the local police forced them to conduct the last rites in the dead of the night.