India and Russia sign over $5 billion deal for S-400 Air defense missiles
India and Russia on Friday sealed a deal of $5.43 billion to purchase S-400 missiles which are expected to be delivered by 2022. The signing agreement happened in Hyderabad after the bilateral talks between PM Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin where they discussed several global and key regional issues which include the US sanctions on Iran oil imports. On Thursday morning Putin arrived in India for a two-day visit to attend the 19th India-Russia bilateral summit. Since August, US has imposed Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) and the countries engaged in trade can face similar sanctions but India is exempted from it.
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RBI maintains repo rate unchanged at 6.50%
The Monetary policy committee of RBI kept the repo rate unchanged at 6.50% as per the bi-monthly monetary policy conducted on October 5. The Repo rate was hiked twice in this year, the first one being on June 2018. RBI indicated that the standpoint on key policy rates depends on “calibrated tightening” and changed its stance from “neutral” position. Now the banks will decide on whether it will retain the existing interest rates or inflate it. However, many commercial banks were increasing interest rates since the first hike in 2018 repo rate. Also, the reverse repo rate where RBI borrows from commercial banks is kept at 6.50%. After the announcement of unchanged repo rates, the rupee plunged into all-time low and stands at 74.10 against the US dollar.
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IAF Aircraft crashes near Baghpat, people rush to click selfies
An Indian Air force airplane carrying three passengers crashed into a sugarcane field in Baghpat district of Uttar Pradesh on Friday morning. Two pilots and one passenger are safe and no casualty is being reported so far. What however caught the attention of the media is the rush with which localities rushed to click selfies with the fallen aircraft. The aircraft took off from Hindan airbase situated in Ghaziabad during morning hours as part of its routine procedure. The aircraft is a Slovenian manufactured product which is used for observation duties and bird recce missions.
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Missing son of BARC Scientist found dead in Mumbai
Bhaba Atomic Research Centre scientist Bhaskar Dutt’s 17-year-old son, who went missing on September 23, was found dead at Mora Sagarai beach near Elephanta Caves on Thursday. According to the post-mortem reports the cause of death is cited as drowning, whereas the police suspect suicide. Naman, son of BARC scientist, who lived with his parents, was seen leaving his apartment at 10:30 pm on 23rd Sept as per the CCTV reports. His parents came to know about his disappearance at 1:00am when his father woke to drink water. Naman’s photo was circulated all over the social media and he was an aspirant for IIT exams.
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Odisha man threatens suicide after failing to withdraw PF
A 60-year-old man working with the general electrical department in Odisha threatened to commit suicide on Friday, after he failed to withdraw his EPF. Santosh Jena from Mayubanj district was unable to withdraw the amount as there was a mismatch of details with his Aadhaar. He is been working for 30 years and could not claim his fund after his date of birth mentioned in his birth certificate did not match with the one mentioned on Aadhaar. Jena said that needed the EPF money for his son’s education and his daughter’s marriage. Jena further added that the family is suffering from a financial crisis since the past one year. UIDAI has a provision of change in birth details and other information but it can be done only in regional offices of UIDAI. Jena has claimed that he has approached many government officials to rectify the error but no help was granted.
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