Top stories on 8 January in a capsule
INDIA
Serious problem at home: Rahul Gandhi in Bahrain
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Italy court acquits main accused in VVIP Chopper Scam
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SC to revisit criminalising homosexuality under Section 377
The Supreme Court on Monday sparked fresh controversy in the issue of decriminalizing homosexuality as a three judge bench decided to revisit the 2013 verdict. Headed by Chief Justice Dipak Mishra, the apex court said "a section of people who exercise their choice should never remain in a state of fear", said the judges. Referring the matter to a larger bench, the court also sent the Govt a notice seeking a response to a writ petition that was filed by members of the LGBTQ community.
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Bengaluru fire kills 5 employees of a restaurant
5 people were reported dead in a fire accident that took place on Bengaluru’s Kailash Restaurant on Monday. Located at the busiest market are of Kalasipalyam in the heart of the city, was completely charred before it was bought under the control of the fire department. The five deceased, who were employees of the restaurant were sleeping when the incident occurred.
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Delhi local body pulls up Khan Market, shuts over 30 eateries
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Women can travel to Haj alone, no need of 'Mehram'
Muslim women can now travel to Haj, without a male companion or mehram accompanying them, confirmed Minister of Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Monday. Taking to Twitter Naqvi said "For the first time, Muslim women from India will go to Haj without 'Mehram' Separate accommodation and transport will arranged. Women 'Haj Assistant' will be deployed for their assistance.”
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AMU scholar from Kashmir joins terror group
A research scholar of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) who had gone home on a holiday break, joined the terror group, Hizbul Mujahideen on Monday. Mannan Wani, from Kashmir was enrolled in the AMU since the last five years as a PhD student of Applied Geology. It was after his photograph of holding a AK-47 surfaced in social media then Wali’s family contacted the police officials.
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India scraps multi crore ‘warship deal’ with South Korea
The Ministry of Defence on Monday scrapped the Rs 32,640
crore warship deal wiuth South Korea over reasons of ‘commercial complications.’
One of the costliest deal under the ‘Make in India’ campaign, the project was to
build 12 ‘minesweepers’ that detect, track and destroy underwater enemy wines. The
minesweepers were an immediate need for the Indian Navy to secure the east and
west coasts as the existing fleet will be decommissioned by 2018 to 2020.
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As many as 20 people scored the perfect 100 percentile in the Common Admission Test (CAT) this year, among the 199632 applicants. Last year too had twenty people cracking the perfect score, all consisting of engineers and men. This year, however the 20 perfect scorers include two women and three non-engineers. Sai Praneeth Reddy from Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh; Meet Aggarwal from Surat, Gujarat, Patrick D'Souza from Thane, Maharashtra, Vishal Vohra from Kolkata, West Bengal; are some of the candidates who scored Overall 100 Percentile in CAT 2017.
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Indian equity benchmarks rose to fresh record high on Monday, led by IT and pharma shares. The BSE Sensex hit a new intra-day record of 34,385 before closing on 34,352 points. In last two days, the index has gained 360 points. Similarly, the NSE Nifty 50 touched a new intra-day high of 10,631 before ending a new closing high of 10,623, up by 64 points. Coal India, Infosys, Sun Pharma and Hero Motor Corp were among the top gainers while Airtel, ONGC, SBI and Tata Steel were among the top losers.
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Ramdev Baba led Patanjali is all set to enter into agreements with 8 leading e-tailers to boost online sales. Amazon, Flipkart, Paytm Mall, 1MG, BigBasket, Grofers, Shopclues and Snapdeal will help in selling the Ayurveda brand’s products online. Patanjali is organising a function in the capital on January 16, which is expected to bring together representatives of all the online players and the company's founder as well as its MD Acharya Balkrishna.
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Months after the government initiated a process for strategic disinvestment of Air India, a parliamentary panel has concluded that it wasn’t the right time to privatise the carrier and it should at least be given five more years for its revival, explore the possibility of 'an alternative to disinvestment of our national carrier which is our national pride', media reports said. As on 30 September last year, Air India's total outstanding loans stood at Rs 51,890 crore. Earlier this month, the government informed the Rajya Sabha that the national carrier's projected net loss for 2017-18 was estimated at over Rs. 3,500 crore, less than the provisional figure for 2016-17.
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CAT 2017 results: women, non-engineers under perfect 100 percentile score
As many as 20 people scored the perfect 100 percentile in the Common Admission Test (CAT) this year, among the 199632 applicants. Last year too had twenty people cracking the perfect score, all consisting of engineers and men. This year, however the 20 perfect scorers include two women and three non-engineers. Sai Praneeth Reddy from Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh; Meet Aggarwal from Surat, Gujarat, Patrick D'Souza from Thane, Maharashtra, Vishal Vohra from Kolkata, West Bengal; are some of the candidates who scored Overall 100 Percentile in CAT 2017.
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WORLD
Golden Globes 2018: Big Little Lies wins big, Oprah steals the show
The 75th edition of the Golden Globes awards took place on Sunday (Monday 6 am IST) amidst celebrities flaunting black outfits as a protest against allegations of sexual harassment that had dominated the year. Among the big winners were Three big billboards outside the Ebbing, Missouri in film and Big Little Lies in TV Series. However it was the speech of legendary TV personality and actress Oprah Winfrey that summed up the mood of the evening, as she won the honorary Cecil B DeMille. Being the first black woman to receive the award, Winfrey said, "For too long, women have not been heard or believed if they dare speak the truth to the power of those men. But their time is up!”
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Supporters of Kulbhushan hold 'Chappal Chor Pakistan' protest in US
A group of protesters, hailing from Indian, Afghan and Baloch origins in America on Monday held ‘Pakistan Chapal Chor’ protest in reaction to the country’s ‘mistreatment’ against jailed Indian diplomat Kulbhushan Jadhav’s family. The crowd shouted slogans outside the Pakistan embassy in Washington over the alleged controversy that the slippers of Jadhav’s mother and wife were stolen by Pakistan officials, when they came to him in Islamabad on December 25, 2017.
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A group of protesters, hailing from Indian, Afghan and Baloch origins in America on Monday held ‘Pakistan Chapal Chor’ protest in reaction to the country’s ‘mistreatment’ against jailed Indian diplomat Kulbhushan Jadhav’s family. The crowd shouted slogans outside the Pakistan embassy in Washington over the alleged controversy that the slippers of Jadhav’s mother and wife were stolen by Pakistan officials, when they came to him in Islamabad on December 25, 2017.
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Sensex, Nifty close at record highs
Indian equity benchmarks rose to fresh record high on Monday, led by IT and pharma shares. The BSE Sensex hit a new intra-day record of 34,385 before closing on 34,352 points. In last two days, the index has gained 360 points. Similarly, the NSE Nifty 50 touched a new intra-day high of 10,631 before ending a new closing high of 10,623, up by 64 points. Coal India, Infosys, Sun Pharma and Hero Motor Corp were among the top gainers while Airtel, ONGC, SBI and Tata Steel were among the top losers.
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Patanjali to partner with e-tailers to boost online sales
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Give Air India 5 more years for revival: Panel
Months after the government initiated a process for strategic disinvestment of Air India, a parliamentary panel has concluded that it wasn’t the right time to privatise the carrier and it should at least be given five more years for its revival, explore the possibility of 'an alternative to disinvestment of our national carrier which is our national pride', media reports said. As on 30 September last year, Air India's total outstanding loans stood at Rs 51,890 crore. Earlier this month, the government informed the Rajya Sabha that the national carrier's projected net loss for 2017-18 was estimated at over Rs. 3,500 crore, less than the provisional figure for 2016-17.
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