Agusta Westland accused Christian Michel missing, says lawyer A day after a Dubai court declared that middlemen accused in the million deal VVIP chopper deal Agusta Westland will be extradited to India, British man Christian Michel has been reported missing by his lawyer. According to lawyer Amal Alsubei, Michel has not been found since the order was published. “He will be arrested if found. He is likely to appeal to the Supreme Court,” Alsubei was quoted by news reports. Michel, a British consulate was accused in the 3,600 crore scam in 2014 for conspiring to provide helicopters for the Indian President, Prime Minister among others in favour of Italian helicopter design and manufacturing company, AgustaWestland. ____________________ Amazon, Samara Capital acquire Birla's grocery chain More American multi-millionaire Amazon along with private equity fund Samara capital acquired the grocery chain of Aditya Birla Group on Wednesday for a Rs 4,200 crore deal.  Bill...

Portrait of Muhammad Ali Jinnah sparks row in Aligarh Muslim University At least three students were injured in police lathicharge at the prestigious Aligarh Muslim University, which has been witnessing a row over a decades-old photograph of Pakistan founder and freedom fighter Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The police on Wednesday lobbed teargas shells to disperse AMU students demanding the arrest of protesters who had barged into the campus, shouting slogans over a portrait of Muhammad Ali Jinnah which hangs at the student union office. The protesters were agitated over the portrait of the Pakistan founder which a local BJP MP wanted to be removed. The right-wing activists were demanding the removal of Jinnah's photo, to which the students objected. ________________ Demolition of illegal construction continues in Kasauli The demolition drive of illegal constructions resumed as per the Supreme Court’s order a day after the firing incident near Kasauli in which a woman go...

Nepal PM to press India for exchange of Rs 950 crore banned notes Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, during his visit to India this week, will press India to exchange demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1000 Indian bank notes worth Rs 950 crore held in Nepal. “The Indian demonetisation has hurt Nepali nationals. I will raise this in my meetings with Indian leaders and request them to resolve the issue,” Oli told the Nepal parliament late on Tuesday. The Indian currency is widely used by businesses and individuals in Nepal as India is Nepal’s largest trade partner and the supplier of the bulk of consumer goods. Central Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) officials informed the media that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) verbally agreed to allow every Nepali national to exchange up to 4,500 rupees worth of scrapped Indian bank notes in a meeting in March last year. “But nothing has been communicated to us formally so far,” NRB Deputy Governor Chinta Mani Shivakoti told News agency Reuters. _____...

Amazon pumps 2,900 crore in India In a bid to compete against rival Flipkart, e-commerce giant on Wednesday had announced a 2,900 crore investment in its Indian markets, its second investment in a month. The fresh investment is part of Amazon's commitment to put in 5 billion dollars into the Indian market. Amazon's investments this year takes its total investment in India to almost double of Flipkart's Rs 8,349 crore. The company had invested Rs 1,680 crore into its India unit in June and Rs 1,620 crore last month, surpassing its investment of Rs 2,010 crore last year. _________________ Revised GST rates come into effect  More than 200 items will be cheaper from Wednesday as the government’s amendments on the Goods and Service tax (GST) will come into effect. Several daily-use products, such as chocolates, detergents, personal cosmetics such as shampoos and deodorants as well as furniture will cost less. Eating out may get cheaper too, as the governme...

BHU violence: UP CM orders judicial probe, VC in the dock The UP government on Tuesday ordered a judicial inquiry into the “brutal” crackdown by the police on Banaras Hindu University (BHU) students, who were protesting molestation charges on the campus. The protests were against the assault of a BHU girl student by motorcycle-borne men inside the campus in Varanasi last week. The violence erupted after some protesting students wanted to meet the Vice-Chancellor at his residence. Meanwhile, V-C Girish Chandra Tripathi labelled the incident as "one of eve-teasing” and termed “the students as liars" who made a big deal of the whole incident. According to several media reports, Tripathi has been summoned by the HRD Ministry in Delhi, on Tuesday. However, he has denied the report. More than 74,600 companies set up this year till August As many as 74,600 companies were registered in the first eight months of this year in India, according to official data publis...