The Editors Guild of India today sought government intervention for the withdrawal of an FIR filed by the UIDAI over a newspaper report on the breach of details of more than one billion Aadhaar cards and called for an "impartial" investigation into the matter.
Criticising the lodging of the FIR, the Guild said it was "deeply concerned" over reports that Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) Deputy Director B M Patnaik had registered an FIR over The Tribune newspaper report in the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police.
20: 35 Bhim Army chief in preventive detention prior to protest
The chief of the Bhim Army outfit, Ashok Kamble, was today taken into preventive detention, police said.
Kamble was to hold a meeting in suburban Mulund today to protest the January 1 violence at Bhima-Koregaon and Mulund police said that he was detained in view of this protest.
20: 25 New Haj policy panel head suggests removing age bar on women travelling sans Mehram
The head of the committee that framed a new Haj policy has said the government should allow women below 45 years of age to go on Haj without a "Mehram".
Afzal Amanullah said it had suggested to the government that the age limit on women travelling without "Mehram" -- a term for a close male relative a woman cannot marry, such as her father, brother or son -- be removed.
20: 20 Congress attacks Centre after FIR filed over Aadhaar data breach
The Congress today attacked the Centre after the UIDAI filed an FIR with the Delhi Police over a newspaper report on the breach of details of more than one billion Aadhaar cards, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of being "evasive" and shooting the messenger, instead of probing the leak.
Congress's chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said "every Indian must condemn this mindless act" of the government.
20:04 Fresh response needed for changed strategy of terror outfits: BJP
A day after four policemen were killed in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in Sopore, the BJP today said terrorist outfits had changed their strategy and a fresh response from intelligence agencies and security forces was needed to counter it.
Party spokesperson Brigadier (retd) Anil Gupta said the last major IED attack on the Army in the valley took place in Narbal on the Srinagar-Baramulla highway in 2008. Repeated attempts were made but without much success.
However, there have been indicators in the recent past which should have alerted police and intelligence agencies, he said.
19:12 Two hurt in blast outside Stockholm area metro
One person was seriously injured and another slightly hurt today in a blast outside a metro station in a Stockholm suburb.
A man in his 60s was badly injured when "according to witnesses he picked up an object off the ground which promptly exploded," police spokesman Sven-Erik Olsson told AFP.
18:54 Rajinikanth's yogic symbol worries Mumbai startup Voxweb as it has a similar logo
A yogic symbol made popular by Rajinikanth may well be seen by the superstar's fans as his calling card, but has got a young startup all worked up.
Mumbai's Voxweb, an 18-month-old social networking app, says that it is similar to its logo.
17:35 Centre okays construction of 14,000 bunkers along LoC, IB
Over 14,000 community and individual bunkers would be constructed along the Line of Control (LoC) and the International Border (IB) for border residents facing Pakistani shelling in Jammu division, officials said today.
While 7298 bunkers would be constructed along the LoC in the twin districts of Poonch and Rajouri, 7162 underground bunkers would be constructed along the IB in Jammu, Kathua and Samba districts.
16:35 Lalu may seek parole to attend only sister's last rites
According to a PTI report, RJD chief Lalu Prasad, sentenced to three-and-a-half years in jail in a fodder scam case, is likely to seek parole to attend the last rites of his only sister, Gangotri Devi, who passed away today.
Tejashwi Yadav, Prasad's son, said the family had tried to communicate the news of Gangotri Devi's death to Prasad through the prison authorities in Ranchi.
16:16 UIDAI files FIR against The Tribune for data breach report, asks newspaper for further details
The Unique Identification Authority of India, the agency that administers Aadhaar, has filed an FIR against The Tribune newspaper, asking it to provide further details about a story it published last week about obtaining access to the entire Aadhaar database from anonymous sellers over WhatsApp for a small fee.
In addition to the FIR, the UIDAI also issued a statement late Saturday night, addressed to the Editor-in-Chief of The Tribune, asking the paper to provide details about the claimed data breach by 8 January, 5 pm.
14:57 Pakistan will continue to have engagement with US: Pak foreign secretary
Pakistan will continue to have engagement "as far as possible" with the US despite all the "rhetoric" coming out of America, Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua has said.
"We need to continue to have a measured response to all the rhetoric coming out of the US, Janjua said, delivering a lecture on 'Pakistan’s Foreign Policy Issues at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) in Karachi yesterday.
14:18 Desi cuisine, yoga to open WEF Davos meet; Indian presence to be largest everDesi cuisine and yoga will mark the start of the five-day annual jamboree of the rich and powerful from across the world in the snow-laden Swiss ski resort town of Davos later this month, where India will be in the spotlight with Prime Minister Narendra Modi expected to be present for the first time.
The Indian presence is set to be the largest-ever with as many as six union ministers, two chief ministers, several top government officials and over 100 CEOs, among others, already figuring among the registered participants.
13:53 Chidambaram takes to Twitter to attack BJP for failure to end militancy in Kashmir
Senior Congress leader and former finance minister P Chidambaram launched a 9-tweet attack on the Modi government on Sunday, saying its “militaristic” approach had failed to end infiltration and militancy in Jammu and Kashmir.
Taking to Twitter on Sunday, Chidambaram referred to the December 31 militant attack on a CRPF camp in the state’s Pulwama district and questioned the scope of “mandate” given to the Centre’s special representative, Dineshwar Sharma.
13:51 Govt open to proposals to further cleanse political funding: Jaitley
The electoral bonds mechanism is a substantial improvement in transparency over the present system and the government is open to suggestions to further cleanse political funding, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said today.
13:49 PIL in HC seeks revocation of ban on book on Gandhi's assassination
A Public Interest Litigation has been filed in the Bombay High Court seeking revocation of a ban on the import of a book published over five decades ago in Portugal that alleged larger conspiracy behind the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.
The PIL has been filed by city-based researcher and trustee of right wing group Abhinav Bharat, Pankaj Phadnis, seeking the court to quash and set aside a notification dated December 29, 1979 issued by the then Union government banning import of the book 'Who Killed Gandhi', authored by Portugal-based writer Lourenco De Sadvandor.
12:44 Don't privatise Air India, give it 5 years to revive: Parliamentary panel
This is not an appropriate time to divest government stake in Air India, which should be given at least five years to revive and its debt written off, a parliamentary panel is likely to tell the government.
The panel is also understood to have concluded that the equity infusion in the national carrier, as part of the turnaround plan (TAP), was made on a "piece meal basis", adversely affecting its financial and operational performance and "forcing" the airline to take loans "at a higher interest rate to meet the shortfall".
11:32 1,463 bad loan accounts owe PSU banks Rs 100 crore or more
As many as 1,463 entities account for bad loans of Rs 100 crore or more in 21 public sector banks (PSBs), finance ministry data showed.
In State Bank of India (SBI) alone, 265 accounts had bad loans of more than Rs 100 crore each, totalling Rs 77,538 crore, at the end of the September quarter.
11:15 Step up performance to match pvt players: Parliamentary panel to SAIL
A parliamentary panel has said PSU steel giant SAIL must adopt necessary measures to remove all bottlenecks and focus on overall improvement in performance inview of competition from private players.
Observing that Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) achieved its highest ever hot metal production at 15.73 million tonnes (MT) during 2016-17, the Standing Committee on Coal and Steel, chaired by Rakesh Singh, said though physical parameters have improved, it should step up efforts.
10:36 Four Weightlifters Killed in Accident Near Fog-Hit Delhi Border, World Champion Seriously Injured
Four national-level weightlifters were killed and two others, including a world champion, were seriously injured when the car they were travelling in met with an accident near the Delhi-Haryana border on Sunday, police said.
The accident took place at around 4 am near Alipur village of Delhi, close to the Singhu border between Delhi and Haryana, IANS reported.The athletes were travelling on the Delhi-Panipat National Highway-1 in a Swift Dezire car.
10:30 Govt may opt for fiscal deficit range in budget: Icra's Takkar
The narrower-than-expected win in Gujarat and upcoming polls in other states will lead to a reorientation of priorities for the government with a greater focus expected on the farm and small businesses sectors, thehead of a domestic rating agency has said.
However, the increased spends which it may entail will have repercussions on fiscal deficit and the government may go for relaxed targets in the upcoming budget, Icra's managing director and chief executive Naresh Takkar told PTI recently.
10:16 Standard procedure for GST profiteering complaints soon
Faced with increasing number of complaints under the anti-profiteering rules, the Finance Ministry will soon come out with a standard operating procedure (SOP) for handling grievances relating to over-charging after GST roll out.
09:50 US May Work With China to 'Convince' Pakistan on Terror Crackdown
China shares some of the concerns of the US, about the terrorism problem in Pakistan and Washington is seeking to work with Beijing and other regional players to convince Islamabad, about the need to crackdown on terror safe havens, a senior White House official has said.
As Trump Administration is determined to eliminate terrorist safe havens in Pakistan, which is key to bring stability in Afghanistan and in the region, the official hoped that China will play a helpful role in convincing Pakistan that it is in its own national interest to crackdown on these sanctuaries.
09:32 Senior Congress leader and former law minister Ashwani Kumar today said the trial court's verdict against RJD chief Lalu Prasad in a fodder scam case was not the final decision and that he deserved bail while respecting the judicial process.
He said the trial court judgement was a part of the legal process that allowed him to appeal against it and seek bail.
09:30 Pakistan has added 26/11 Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed’s Jamaat-ud-Dawah to its updated list of banned outfits, an inclusion prompted by the United States’ decision to suspend approximately USD 2 billion in security assistance to Islamabad.
Apart from JuD, Saeed’s so-called charity Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation is also among the 72 banned outfits on the list released by the country’s Interior Ministry, the Express Tribune reported.
