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KCR moves to his new 50Cr house

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao moved into a sprawling, newly-built vaastu-compliant official bungalow at Begumpet. The official complex was formally inaugurated by the Chief Minister in the early hours at 5.22 am on Thursday, which is considered as auspicious time. Chandrashekhar Rao and his wife performed the housewarming ceremony. The windows of the building have also been fitted with bulletproof glass. The cost of construction of the entire complex has crossed Rs 50 crore. Although, KCR has an office on the sixth floor of the C block at the Telangana Secretariat, he had stopped going there more than a year ago and had been functioning from the CM camp office at Begumpet. Leader of Opposition in Telangana Legislative Council, Mohammed Ali Shabbir, said that it was morally incorrect and insensitive of the Chief Minister to move into a posh new bungalow without fulfilling the poll promise of providing double bedrooms to the poor. He also questioned the huge wastage of public money and running of state administration on grounds of superstitions and beliefs.

PM's App Survey: 90% in Favour of Note Ban

Despite the inconvenience involved in queuing up at banks and ATM kiosks, more than 90% people are in favour of demonetisation of old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes , according to a survey conducted on PM Narendra Modi's NM App. The survey was conducted through the official app of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday to gauge the mood of the nation  about the Centre's move to spike the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes. "I thank people for the historic participation in the survey. Its satisfying to read the insightful views & comments," PM Modi said on Twitter on Wednesday. Over 5 lakh people from 2000 location across the world participated in the survey. Of them, 73 per cent gave it a five-star rating. On the fight against corruption, over 92 per cent rated the government as either good or very good, 57 per cent rated it as very good. Only 2 per cent have rated the move one-star, which means very poor while 86 per cent believe that some anti-corruption crusaders are now actually backing black money, corruption and even terrorist financing.

Madame Tussauds’ wax musuem in Delhi

Madame Tussauds’ one of the most popular tourist destinations when in London will finally make its way to India’s capital city. Madame Tussauds’ 22nd branch is all set to open in Delhi’s Regal Cinema complex in mid-2017. 'We are delighted to be announcing that our 22nd Madame Tussauds attraction will be opening in Delhi. Ever since we introduced Amitabh Bachchan as the first Bollywood figure in Madame Tussauds London in 2000, we have seen how Madame Tussauds appeals to the Indian consumer...having a permanent attraction in the heart of the country's capital made perfect sense for the evolution of the Madame Tussauds story,' Merlin Entertainments Chief New Openings Officer John Jakobsen said. Madame Tussauds is famous for lifelike wax figures of celebrities. Some among them are Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sachin Tendulkar, and American celebrity Kim Kardashian. Actor Amitabh Bachchan's statue is also expected to feature in the Delhi museum, which will be spread across two floors.

A unique IAS love story

In 2015, twenty-two year old Delhi girl Tina Dabi topped the UPSC exam while 23-year-old Athar Aamir Ul Shafi Khan from Anantnag, Jammu and Kashmir, got the second rank. Recently, Tina shared on Facebook a life event where she declared herself to be 'in a relationship' with Aamir. Needless to say that while a lot of love poured in for the couple, others criticised their choice. Since Khan hails from a small village in J&K and is a Kashmiri Muslim while Dabi, a Delhi girl, is a Dalit. "As an freethinking independent woman I am entitled to certain choices. I am very happy with my choice and so is Aamir. Our parents are happy too," Dabi said. "There are comments that are anti-caste, targeting reservations, religion. It's as if I have committed a crime by falling in love with someone who is not the same religion or caste as me." she added, "It is just that 5 per cent. The majority are very happy. You would have seen in my Facebook timeline that most of the comments are encouraging. In fact, I am overwhelmed by the support and congratulatory messages."

Union Min hit by cash crunch

Union Minister DV Sadananda Gowda on Tuesday became victim of the hardship of demonetisation scheme which was implemented by his own government on November 8. When his brother DV Bhaskar passed away, the hospital where Gowda's brother was admitted refused to take old currency notes to settle the bills and refused to release the body till the bills were settled either through the new notes or through a cheque. Gowda finally paid the bill through cheque and took a written declaration from the hospital that they refused to accept old currency notes. DV Bhaskar was suffering from jaundice and was undertaking treatment at the Kasturba medical college in Mangaluru. Bhaskar passed away due to complications and Sadananda Gowda rushed to Mangaluru from Delhi on hearing that his brother had died.

No service charge on cards till Dec 31

Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das said following the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) waiving 'switching charges' till December 31, to ensure greater usage of RuPay cards, banks including private ones and service providers have agreed to waive the service charge on use of debit cards till December-end.This is to encourage widespread usage of digital payments post demonetisation. RBI announced certain relaxation yesterday on E-wallets, enhancing the limit from Rs 10k to Rs 20K in respect of individuals. Around 82,000 of the 2.2 lakh ATMs in the country had been recalibrated to dispense new currency. within a few days, the remaining ATMs would be recalibrated. On seizures of unaccounted cash, Mr. Das said the Revenue Department would soon make a statement on the exact quantum.

Rahul calls demonetisation a scam

"We feel that this decision is a scam. The PM had informed his close friends about this before the announcement," Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi told reporters in New Delhi today. With a united opposition protesting and almost 200 MPs from various parties participating in the discussion, the Prime Minister should explain in Parliament why he took such a decision and why he "leaked" the decision to his industrialist friends and BJP leaders, he said. “What PM Modi has done is biggest impromptu financial experiment, he didn’t discuss this with anyone. This is not Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s decision but the Prime Minister’s,” he said. Rahul demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into allegations that the BJP had informed its friends beforehand on the banning of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, announced by Modi in a televised address on November 8.

900 Flights Cancelled Over Pilot Strike

One of the most popular airlines, Lufthansa, said it would cancel nearly 900 flights on Wednesday because of a strike by pilots. The pilot union said in a statement that all of Lufthansa's short and long-haul flights out of Germany will be affected by the continued industrial action. Out of its roughly 3,000 scheduled flights, 876 would be cancelled due to the strike, "affecting some 100,000 passengers", Lufthansa said in a statement. It is the union's 14th strike since April 2014. Cockpit had initially called for a 24-hour stoppage but said late yesterday that the strike would continue into Thursday for both long- and short-haul flights leaving Germany. The union is calling for an average increase of 3.7 percent in pay for 5,400 pilots in Germany over a five-year period dating back to 2012. However, Lufthansa, which is trying to cut costs to cope with increased competition from low-cost carriers and leaner Gulf rivals, has offered a 2.5 percent increase over the six years until 2019.

Delhi Dy CM detained during Protest March

Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) member Kapil Mishra were detained near the Parliament building. They were marching towards the Parliament in protest against the demonetisation of Rs 500 and 1,000 notes. The AAP leader was leading a protest march from Jantar Mantar to Parliament. Last week, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal along with West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee launched a blistering attack on the Central government over its decision to scrap the use of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. Both the leaders addressed a rally at Azadpur Mandi in Delhi where Mamata Banerjee served an ultimatum to the Narendra Modi-led NDA government demanding them to roll back the decision. "Sisodia has been detained along with some AAP leaders and supporters," Deputy Commissioner of Police Jatin Narwal said. While inaugurating the Delhi Pavilion at the 36th India International Trade Fair at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi on Monday, Sisodia criticised the central government for demonetisaion of higher currency notes and asked how trade would go on without any cash.

PM asks for people's view on demonetisation

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday asked the people to directly convey their views to him on the move via the Narendra Modi app - which is available for Android, iOS, and Windows Phone. “I want your first-hand view on the decision taken regarding currency notes. Take part in the survey on the NM App,” he said in a tweet. Clicking on the Share Your Opinion section, users are guided to a survey where they are asked questions such as "Do you have any suggestions/ideas or insights you would like to share with PM Narendra Modi?", "Do you think black money exists in India?", "Do you think the evil of corruption and black money need to be fought and eliminated?", "What do you think of government's move of banning old Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes?" The Prime Minister’s move to gauge the views of the people comes at a time when the opposition has escalated its attack on the issue of demonetisation and have been demanding that the Prime Minister attend Parliament and give a statement with regards to the issue. 

Post demonetisation Paytm's stunning business

Mobile payment platform Paytm has seen a rise in transaction following the demonetisation move. The company is now witnessing about 7 million daily transactions worth about Rs 120 crore, helping it cross $ 5 bn Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) sales, four months ahead of its target.Last year, Paytm’s GMV was at $3 bn. The Alibaba-backed company, which offers both mobile payment platform and e-commerce marketplace. “Paytm is registering over 7 million transactions worth Rs 120 crore in a day as millions of consumers and merchants across the country try mobile payments on the payment platform for the first time,” company vice-president Sudhanshu Gupta said. The company is currently doing more transactions than the combined average daily usage of credit and debit cards in India, he added. Paytm has been able to serve over 45 million users in last 10 days alone and over 5 million new users added since the demonetisation drive, Gupta said.

Earthquake sparks Tsunami in Japan

A 7.4 magnitude earthquake off Japan's Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures has sparked tsunami waves of more than 1m. There were no reports of deaths or serious injuries several hours after the quake hit at 5:59am (20:59 GMT Monday). Television footage showed ships moving out to sea from harbours as tsunami warning signals wailed, after warnings of waves of up to 3 metres (10 feet) were issued. All Japan's nuclear power plants on the coast threatened by the tsunami are shut down in the wake of the March 2011 disaster, which knocked out Tokyo Electric Power Co's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, spilling radiation into the air and sea. A spokeswoman for Tokyo Electric Power, known as Tepco, said the cooling system for a storage pool for spent nuclear fuel at the reactor at its Fukushima Daini Plant had been halted. A spokesman said the cooling system had restarted soon after. Only two reactors are operating in Japan, both in the southwest. Even when in shutdown, nuclear plants need cooling systems operating to keep spent fuel cool.Officials have said there is no sign of damage to the plant this time.

CBI gets non-bailable warrant against Mallya

An extradition request to bring back former liquor baron Vijay Mallya from the United Kingdom through a Special Court in Mumbai, was initiated by CBI today. Mallya, who has been declared a proclaimed offender by an Enforcement Directorate (ED) court, allegedly owes thousands of crores of rupees in loans to various Indian banks. The ED wants Mallya to join its investigation "in person" in connection with probe under the Prevention of Money laundering Act (PMLA), and in cases related to a Rs 900-crore loan from IDBI Bank. Mallya had left the country on March 2 and has not returned ever since, they said. Recently, the bank had sent the loan amount in its ‘write-off’ list which kicked-off a controversy. However, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley asked Opposition members in the Rajya Sabha not to go by the literal meaning of write-off. “So there is a little bit of malapropism involved in this. Don’t go by literal meaning write-off. Write-off does not mean loan waiver. Loan still remains. You still continue to pursue,” Jaitley had said.

I-T dept raids Gali Janardhan Reddy's offices

The Income Tax department on Monday raided the offices of mining baron and former Karnataka minister Janardhan Reddy on Monday, days after the extravagant wedding of his daughter grabbed headlines. The offices of Obulapuram Mining Company and Associated Mining Company, both owned by mining baron his family was raided by Income Tax sleuths. Reddy, a former BJP lawmaker, is on bail after languishing 40 months in jail for his alleged involvement in the multi-crore mining scam that rocked Karnataka in 2010-11. Billed as one of the most expensive marriages in the sub-continent, the five-day grand event drew all-round flak at a time when lakhs were queueing up outside banks and ATMs for cash. The raid was based on a complaint filed by a social activist, details of which are yet to be known. Recently, a report said that Reddy had said that he would submit details of expenditure to I-T department once the marriage was over. Confirming the development, an official with the I-T department said “departmental action is ongoing”. Reddy, part of the powerful Bellary brothers whoamassed huge fortunes in mining, attracted criticism for the ostentatious wedding which was said to have cost in excess of Rs 500 crore.

Farmers can now buy seeds with old Rs 500 notes

The government today allowed farmers to purchase seeds with the old Rs 500 bank notes. The revised rule, intended to help farmers for the current Rabi crop, says seeds can be purchased from the above locations on production of a proof of identity. With the onset of winter, farmers were gearing for the Rabi season. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s November 8 announcement has taken a toll on rural population as the agriculture sector is entirely cash-dependent. Cash crunch meant that farmers had no money to pay farm hands, threatening production of key commodities. This is in addition to the decision taken earlier for making cash available with the farmers by permitting them to draw up to Rs 25,000 per week from their KYC compliant accounts subject to the normal loan limits and conditions apart from the other facilities announced last week.

Ahead of Punjab polls big Shock to Sidhu

Navjot Singh Sidhu, the cricketer turned politician was in for a huge shock just ahead of Punjab polls. The politician’s new Awaaz-e-Punjab forum seems to have been divided way before the elections. Its a heavy jolt as two of its founding members are set for a tie up with the Aam Admi Party ahead of the state assembly polls. Simarjit Bains and his brother Balwinder Singh Bains, both independent legislators from Punjab's Ludhiana, met AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal in Bathinda on Sunday. A formal announcement of them joining the party is expected today. "We were seeking a credible anti-Badal face. Not a copy of Badals in the form of Captain Amarinder," Simarjit said. If the reports are true then this leaves the former cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu, his wife Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu, both of whom had left the BJP earlier this year and former Indian Hockey captain Pargat Singh, who had broken off from the SAD, stranded with Congress being the only viable option at the point. Navjot Singh Sidhu had earlier clarified that his forum will not become a party and contest the elections independently.

Vizag Test: Ind win by 246 runs over Eng

India dismissed eight England batsman on the fifth and final day to cruise to a 246-run win in the 2nd Test in Vizag. England, who lost their first two wickets in 60 overs, capitulated under sustained pressure on the final day, with Indian bowlers picking the remaining eight within 37 overs, thereby securing a 1-0 lead in the five-match series on Monday. It was Jayant Yadav who was impressive with the ball as he was with the bat earlier. He removed Stokes. But, the highlight of the day was Mohammed Shami's spell. He took an over to warm up properly but once he did, boy did he get going. He got the all-important wicket of Joe Root and within no time, sent Adil Rashid packing. England lost their 10 wickets for 83 runs after a 75-run opening stand - a defiant display put up by Alastair Cook and Haseeb Hameed as they blunted the Indian attack. In a dominant performance by the home spinners, led by Ashwin who finished with match figures of 8/117 with debutant Jayant Yadav picking up 3/30 in second innings. Virat Kohli was declared the man of the match for his wonderful display with the bat in both the innings.

Rahul Gandhi visits ATM again

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Monday yet again visited another ATM in the city and interacted with the people standing in the queue. The Indian National Congress(INC) tweeted saying, "Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi met people standing in queue early morning outside an ATM in Jahangirpuri area, Delhi". Before heading to Parliament, Gandhi visited ATMs in several areas including Anand Parbat, Zakhira, Inderlok and Jahangirpuri where he enquired from people about the difficulties being faced by them following the Centre's decision to withdraw Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes. This was Gandhi's third ATM visit post the Centre's demonetisation move on November 8. This move by the Congress leader came right before the huddle by the opposition in both Houses of Parliament today at 9:30 a.m. to discuss fresh strategy to counter the Centre's move to demonetise high value currency notes. Both the Houses of Parliament have been witnessing a stormy debate over demonetisation during the first three days of the winter session.

PM attacks Mamta Banerjee for chit fund scam

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday attacked Mamata Banerjee for opposing government’s demonetisation move saying those who looted poor people with chit fund scam are doubting government’s intention. PM said, "I know what sort of people are raising their voice against me? Does the country not know whose money was invested in chit fund business? Lakhs and crores of poor people invested money in chit funds. But with the blessings of politicians, crores and crores of rupees have vanished.” “Due to chit fund loss, hundreds of head of families were forced to commit suicide. Look at history and they are raising fingers on me,” he said. PM Modi, who launched the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna, also expressed his condolences on the deaths of 103 people in Indore_Patna Express derailment. He further said that the Centre would probe the incident. "Many people lost their lives, got injured in train derailment near Kanpur this morning. Rescue operation are still continuing," said PM Modi.