Top stories in 14 November on a capsule

INDIA

Pradyuman murder case accused was 'forced' to confess

In the latest twist to the Pradhyuman Thakur murder case, the accused juvenile took back his confession that he had killed Pradhyuman, on Tuesday. The Class XI student alleged that he gave the statement under pressure from the CBI and legal investigating team, who used physical torture as well. The accused also changed his version of the events of the murder, saying that he went inside the washroom only when he heard the cries of Pradhyuman. While the CBI refused to comment on the issue, the statement has put them under scanner a day after they had accused the Haryana police of falsely accusing first suspect, bus conductor Ashok.

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Chennai: Stalker burns woman for refusing proposal

A 21 year old engineer was burned to death in Chennai by an alleged stalker on Monday night, at the very doorstep of her house. The victim, identified as S Induja had been classmates with the accused Aakash, and had continuously refused his proposal. At around 8:45 pm, Aakash visited Induja’s house and set her ablaze, injuring her mother and sister in the tragedy. The duo suffered from 43% burns, mostly on the face and hands, while Induja was declared dead on the spot. The police, who apprehended Aakash said informed that he has been stalking the victim for a month.

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NGT refuses exempting women and two wheelers from Odd-Even scheme

The Delhi government on Tuesday, took back its review petition for the Odd-Even car rationing scheme from the National Green Tribunal (NGT). The AAP lead government had sought for an exemption of woman and two-wheelers on in its petition to the green court on November 11, in wake of the surging air pollution levels. The NGT slapped the question, “When reports have stated that two-wheelers are more polluting than four-wheelers, why do you give arbitrary exemptions?” The state, on its part said thay could file a review petition on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the non-polluting industries and essential goods manufacturer were permitted to operate in the NCR region.

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New video on Hardik Patel focuses on alcohol

A day after the sex CD row surfaced amidst controversy and political blame game, on Tuesday another video of Patidar leader Hardik Patel emerged. In the alleged video, a man, seemingly Patel is shown having drinks with two men and a woman. According to media reports, the video which has been circulated on the social media amongst the Gujarat circle, has shown a shaved head Patel, who had done the same during his protest again PM Modi in May, 2017. Though Patel is yet to react on the second video, on Monday he seemed unfazed by the leak of the tape, citing that he expected it. “This is just the beginning of dirty politics,” Patel added.

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SC refuses probe in bribery charges against judges 

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused a plea that demand fed an SIT probe into the allegations of bribery against senior judges in medical colleges scam. The apex body called it a case of ‘irresponsible allegations’ made by veteran lawyers. The case follows CBI’s accusations of bribery against Orissa High Court judge IM Qudussi, and others for assuring several medical colleges of favours from the SC. “Filing of such plea raised unnecessary doubts on the integrity of the judiciary,'' the court said. It also ruled that no one can file an FIR against a HC judge, without prior consultation from the Supreme Court, referring to the CBI’s chargesheet.

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WORLD

Saudi Arabia welcomes Yoga as a sports activity

Saudi Arabia on Tuesday officially introduced Yoga into the country, as an Sports activity. The Ministry of Trade and Industries permitted anyone to teach or learn the age old Indian practice, by procuring a license, including women. The move has been a welcome change for Nouf Marwaai, the professional yoga instructor who had appealed to the government for allowing Yoga in the Islamic country since 2005. This has also been a fresh development by Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salamn who, in recent times has made remarkable changes in the country’s history like permitting women drivers and curbing corrupt ministers.

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US-India pledge to make world’s greatest militaries

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with US President Donald Trump have pledged to create worlds greatest military in the coming years, said the White House on Tuesday. The leaders who had a meeting on the lines of the 31st ASEAN Summit, talked about strategic partnerships and shared interest on the idea of an open Indo-Pacific region. "They pledged to enhance their cooperation as Major Defense Partners, resolving that two of the world’s great democracies should also have the world's greatest militaries.” PM Modi had also talked of his excitement for the upcoming Global Enterpreneurship Summit, which will be attended by Trump’s daughter Ivanka.

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SPORTS

Gianluigi Buffon retires after Italy fail to qualify for World Cup

Italy’s legendary keeper Gianguili Buffon has confirmed his International retirement after his side failed to qualify for next year’s World Cup in Russia. Buffon had confirmed that the 2018 FIFA World Cup would be his final tournament for his country but Sweden’s heroics have forced the 39 year old to hang his boots. Italy have failed to reach the World Cup finals for the 1st time in 60 years. Buffon lifted the World Cup in 2006 after the Azzuri beat France in the final.

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Kohli 3 test match wins away to surpass legend Ganguly’s tally

Current skipper Virat Kohli is on a roll this year breaking records after records becoming the fastest batman to score 9000 runs. Another milestone is in sight with Kohli now requiring just 3 wins to surpass Ganguly’s record of 21 Test wins. Kohli currently stands at 19 Test wins from the 29 matches. Ganguly's record of 21 Test wins came from 49 games while MS Dhoni sits atop the list with 27 wins in 60 Test matches.

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TECH

Time Running Out to Save Planet, 15,000 Scientists Warn

Over 15,000 scientists from 184 countries today warned that the Earth is in danger and time is running out to save it. They raised an alarm saying that, urgent action must be taken to avoid substantial harm to the planet. The report states that human activities have depleted the Earth and if left unchecked, it would eventually make the planet uninhabitable. The scientists then listed all of the ways that the Earth was suffering on account of humanity, from ozone depletion to exploitation of water supplies to the destruction of rain forests.

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Body sweat to unlock your smartphone?

Scientists are now working on a new biometric-based security system that will use your body sweat to securely unlock your device. The researchers at Albany University have based the study on analyzing skin secretions or sweat to build an amino acid profile that is unique to every individual or device owner. "Using sweat as an identifier cannot be easily mimicked/hacked by potential intruders. It is close to full- proof," Jan Halamek a professor at Albany University said. The next step according to Halamek is to collaborate with engineers who can help with implementation.

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BUSINESS

WPI inflation at 6 month high in October

The Wholesale price inflation for the month of October reached a 6 month high at 3.59% against the 2.60% in the month of September. The prices for onions and Vegetables rose sharply, leading to this growth. Fuel inflation also rose by 10.5% in October from 9% in September as international crude oil prices hardened. Crude oil price of the Indian basket stood at $62.66 per barrel on Monday.Last month, the Reserve Bank kept benchmark interest rate unchanged on fears of rising inflation while lowering growth forecast to 6.7 percent for the current fiscal.

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Indian Indices end at 3-week low

The Sensex and Nifty ended at a three week low on Tuesday, after market sentiment was hurt by Monday’ evening’s retail inflation numbers. The Sensex 0.3% low at 32,941 while the Nifty lost 0.4% to 10, 186. Inflation at the Wholesale level too raced to a six-month high of 3.59% in October, fuelled by food articles, according to released data. The Reserve Bank of India meets next month to rule on rates. L&T, HDFC twins, Infosys, ITC pushed the market lower; but Reliance Industries and auto stocks capped losses

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Saudi Arabia’s oil exports fall to a 30- year low

The US bought just 525,000 barrels a day of Saudi crude in October, the lowest since May 1987 and down from 1.5 million barrels a day 10 years ago ago, a Bloomberg report said on Tuesday. This is part of the strategy of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to fight a worldwide oil glut, which caused prices to drop. Since July, Saudi state-run oil company Aramco has cut down on supply in an effort to drain the storage tanks in refineries across the United States, which it hopes will lift oil prices. These countries are scheduled to meet later this month to discuss keeping on with the cuts through 2018.

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Alibaba seeks permission to invest in Bigbasket

Chinese e-commerce major Alibaba has sought approval of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for acquiring stake in online grocery platform, BigBasket. With operations in 14 cities, Bigbasket will help Alibaba backed Paytm in India. The notice, however, did not spell out the details of the proposed investment, including the level of investment and the financial value of the deal. Earlier this year, there were reports citing sources that Alibaba along with Paytm Mall were in discussions with BigBasket to pick up a minority stake for about USD 200 million. According to a report by Franchise India, the online grocery market is expected to be Rs 2.7 billion market by 2018—19.

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Airtel sells stake in Bharti Infratel

Parent company Bharti Airtel on Tuesday sold 800 million shares in its subsidiary Bharati Infratel for 3,325 crores. The sale was carried out by Bharti Airtel via its wholly-owned subsidiary Nettle Infrastructure Investments. The allocation was done to global investors, fund managers and long-only funds, including many repeat investors. Bharati Infratel's's shares have dipped by 5% after the news reached the markets. Bharti Airtel will primarily use the proceeds from this sale to reduce its debt.