Pinch for Tickling Thursday || 5th Nov 2015 ||

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• Senior BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya on Wednesday retracted his tweets on Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, saying he was "misconstrued by some". He had on Tuesday attacked the superstar over his "extreme intolerance" comment, saying his "soul" is in Pakistan though he lives in India and also painted him as an "anti-nationalist".
• BJP faces more controversy with party lawmaker Yogi Adityanath comparing the popular actor with 26/11 terror mastermind Hafiz Saeed of Pakistan. "Shah Rukh should understand that if Muslims don't see his films, he will be on the roads. There is no difference in what Shah Rukh Khan and Hafiz Saeed say," said Aditynath.
• The woman researcher, who leveled charges of sexual harassment against environmental scientist R.K. Pachauri, has quit her job at The Energy Research Institute (TERI). "Your organisation has treated me in the worst possible manner. TERI failed to uphold my interests as an employee, let alone protecting them," the 29-year-old woman said in her resignation letter. In February this year, the woman complained to police that Pachauri, the 75-year-old environmental scientist, began harassing her soon after she joined TERI.
• Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said the government in the next few days will list out the exemptions to be phased out as part of its plans to gradually bring down corporate tax rate to 25 percent, the first tranche of which will be announced in the Budget in February.
• China on 3 November 2015 launched a civil communication satellite Chinasat 12 from the Xichang space center. The 11000 pounds satellite was launched aboard the launch vehicle Long March 3B rocket which placed the satellite in its orbit successfully.

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Pinch for Wow Wednesday || 4th Nov 2015 ||

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• Indonesia has cleared the decks for deporting underworld don Chhota Rajan, who was arrested in Bali last week and faces more than 70 cases at home. Meanwhile In an explosive claim, he told reporters that a few corrupt officials of the Mumbai police are colluding with wanted terrorist Dawood Ibrahim, who is currently based in Pakistan.
• To protest against 'growing intolerance' in the country, top Congress leaders including Sonia and Rahul Gandhi are marching to the Rashtrapati Bhawan. They will submit a memorandum to President Pranab Mukherjee urging him to take actions against growing intolerance in the country.
• An Uber cab driver Shiv Kumar Yadav was on Tuesday sentenced to life imprisonment till his natural death for raping a woman executive in his taxi 11 months ago by a Delhi court.
• A cyclone with hurricane-force winds made landfall on Yemen’s Arabian Sea coast on Tuesday, flooding the country’s fifth-largest city Mukalla and sending thousands of people fleeing for shelter. Officials and meteorologists say the storm is the most intense in decades in the arid country, whose storm response is hampered by poverty and a raging civil war.
• An influential parliamentary committee in Britain has warned PM David Cameron against pressing ahead with a vote on UK airstrikes against the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group in Syria. The Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Commons said Cameron should instead focus on efforts to end Syria's civil war, raising concerns about the legal basis for any UK action.

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Pinch for Terse Tuesday || 3rd Nov 2015 ||

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• Security of underworld don and India's most wanted terrorist Dawood Ibrahim has been enhanced in Pakistan after the arrest of his bete noire Chhota Rajan in Indonesia. Special commandos of the Pakistan Army have been deployed at Dawood's residences in Karachi and Islamabad where he has been living for more than two decades after the 1993 serial blasts in Mumbai, sources said quoting intelligence reports.
• The Uber cab driver, who was held guilty of raping a woman passenger in his taxi and trying to strangulate her while committing the act last year, is likely to be sentenced tomorrow by a Delhi court. Additional Sessions Judge Kaveri Baweja, who had convicted 32-year-old Shiv Kumar Yadav, is scheduled to hear arguments on quantum of sentence and pronounce the order tomorrow.
• Maneka Gandhi today expressed helplessness in extending punishment to the juvenile convict of Dec-16 gang rape case. She stressed on the need to keep a "close watch" on him following his impending release. The parents of the 2012 December 16 gangrape victim on Monday expressed their exasperation with the legal system and wondered whether he has undergone any reform. 
• Ace footballer Lionel Messi will endorse Tata cars and utility vehicles (UVs) in India and globally, Tata Motors Ltd said in a statement on Monday. The decision to appoint a brand ambassador, for the first time, comes as the maker of Nano, Indica, Safari, Zest and Bolt brands struggles to connect with the young, upwardly mobile car buyers in a competitive car market.

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Post for Moody Monday || 2nd Nov 2015 ||

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• Bihar recorded 57.59% turnout in the fourth phase of polls, higher than the voting in the first three phases of the assembly elections. The fifth and final phase of voting will be on November 5 in 57 constituencies. The turnout was 54.85% for Phase 1, 54.99% for Phase 2 and 54.24% for Phase 3.
• In a surprising move, Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) backed Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) which had openly blamed SAD(B)'s alliance partner BJP for shedding crocodile tears on the issue of investigating Sikh's genocide in 1984. 
• Union home minister Rajnath Singh asked the litterateurs, historians and artistes to reveal reasons and give suggestions instead of returning Akademi and National awards. He said that these cases of intolerance are matters of law and order which are subjects of the state government and how can Prime Minister or union government be targeted with these issues.
• Hero MotoCorp founder and superman of Indian two wheeler industry Brijmohan Lall Munjal dies after brief illness. Mr. Munjal had retired from active role and became chairman emeritus of the over $4-billion group earlier this year and remained on the board of the company as non-executive member.
• Astrophysicists at the University of Toronto have found that a close encounter with Jupiter about four billion years ago may have resulted in another planet's ejection from the Solar System altogether. Planet ejection occurs as a result of a close planetary encounter in which one of the objects accelerates so much that it breaks free from the massive pull of the Sun.

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Pinch for Wow wednesday || 28th Oct 2015 ||

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• Gujarat High Court on Tuesday refused to quash sedition case slapped against Patel quota agitation leader Hardik Patel. Hardik had moved the high court on Monday after he was arrested on charges of sedition and waging war against the government.
• External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday said that India and Africa can no longer be excluded from the permanent membership of the UN Security Council. She was speaking at the ministerial meeting of the Third India-Africa Forum Summit. 
• Highway building through PPP mode is set to take a leap with government planning to launch 100 such projects next year, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Tuesday. Asking investors to change their perception about public-private-partnership (PPP), the Road Transport and Highways Minister said all problems pertaining to the mode have been addressed and this year seven projects worth Rs 11,500 crore have already been awarded in contrast to a nil last year.
• The Railway Ministry has received funds to the tune of Rs 2,000 crore as a loan from the Life Insurance Cooperation (LIC) as financial assistance for investment in capacity augmentation projects. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Tuesday received the first installment.

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Pinch for Tasty Tuesday || 27th Oct 2015 ||

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• A report on Monday said that the 55-year-old arrested by Indonesian police officials in Bali on Monday was Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje better known in Mumbai gangster lore as Chhota Rajan. If these reports are confirmed, it could represent the end of a more than two-decade-long run for Chhota Rajan as a fugitive.

• At least 35 people were killed in Afghanistan and Pakistan after a powerful 7.5-magnitude earthquake in northern Afghanistan was felt across much of South Asia on Monday, shaking buildings from Kabul to Delhi, cutting power and communications in some areas. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) said the epicentre of the quake was in the far northern province of Badakhshan, which borders Tajikistan and China. It said the epicentre was near Jurm in northeast Afghanistan, 250 kilometres (160 miles) from the capital Kabul and at a depth of 213.5 km.

• The Madras High Court has called for a consideration of the castration of people convicted for child sex abuse.  The court's remarks came in response to a plea filed by a British national accused of pedophilia for quashing of the charges against him. The court said that the punishment of castration for child rapists would lead to magical results.

• Geeta, a speech and hearing impaired woman who made an emotional return to India after being stranded in Pakistan for nearly 15 years, did not recognise a family from Bihar that had claimed her, foreign minister Sushma Swaraj said on Monday. Geeta, as of now, is refusing to recognise her family after meeting them. We will still do DNA tests (to identify her family),” Swaraj told a news conference she addressed along with the woman who accidentally strayed across the border as a child.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has turned down a proposal from the government to allow up to 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) in banks, a move that may come as a damper for several private sector lenders such as ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank.

• Scientists have discovered an unidentified flying object(UFO) named WT1190F or WTF headed straight for Earth. They suspect that the object may be a piece of old man made space junk which appears to be around 2 meter long and seems to be hollow or bent. It is said to collide with Earth, whatever bits of it that will not burn up in the Earth's atmosphere, at about 6.15am on November 13 in the Indian ocean around 40 miles off the southern tip of Sri Lanka.

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Pinch for Moody Monday || 26th Oct 2015 ||

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• In a new twist to Aarushi-Hemraj double murder case, it has emerged that CBI does not have complete raw footage of narco-analysis conducted on Krishna, assistant of Rajesh Talwar, in its records. A new video purportedly of the test conducted on Krishna has surfaced on social networking site YouTube which is 58.55 minute long. CBI sources claimed the agency, in its records, has only about 45 minutes of video of the test conducted on Krishna at Forensic Science Laboratory.
• Britain's World War I Army included Indian children as young as 10-years-old fighting against the Germans on the western front, according to a new book ('For King and Another Country: Indian Soldiers on the Western Front 1914-18') on the role of Indian soldiers in the Great War. The account by writer and historian Shrabani Basu is based on official papers at the National Archives and British Library. 
• Putting an end to the anxiety among PHD aspirants, HRD minister Smriti Irani today made it clear that the non-NET fellowship is not being discontinued. 
• Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair acknowledged the 2003 invasion of Iraq played a part in the rise of the Islamic State militant group, and apologised for what he described as mistakes in planning and intelligence before the war.
• Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Sunday his country must "eradicate terrorism" to find a political solution to its civil war, as he reportedly expressed a willingness to hold new elections. Meeting with a Russian parliamentary delegation as Moscow steps up efforts for a political deal, Assad emphasised the need for greater security.
• South Africa outplayed India on Sunday in all departments of game to won the series 3-2. Playing first South Africa scored 438 in reply India got all out on mere 219.
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Post for Sunny Saturday || 24th Oct 2015 ||

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• Sahitya Akademi, on Friday, asked leading writers to take back the awards they recently relinquished to protest rising intolerance as it condemned the killing of rationalist thinkers such as Kannada writer MM Kalburgi. The Akademi asked the centre and state governments to take action following a silent protest by about 100 prominent people who had demanded the institute pass a resolution pledging to take stern steps to safeguard freedom of speech.
• Home Minister Rajnath Singh told on Friday that ministers must be careful while making statements they cannot get away by saying that the statement was misinterpreted or twisted. Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Friday demanded immediate sacking of Union Minister V.K. Singh for his dog remark on the Dalit killings in Faridabad.
• China's central bank cut interest rates for the sixth time since November on Friday in another attempt to jumpstart a slowing economy. China has pursued its most aggressive policy easing cycle this year since the 2008/09 global financial crisis, as policymakers seek to invigorate an economy beset by weak demand and excessive industrial capacity.
• Honda Cars India (HCIL) on Friday said it will voluntarily recall 3,879 units of continuously variable transmission (CVT) variants of the City sedan manufactured between February and November 2014.
• Former JD(U) minister Bhim Singh today joined BJP, which claimed that no leader of substance from Extremely Backward Caste (EBC) was now left with the grand alliance, even as the JD(U) shot back and reminded BJP of the one-day strike it had called over Singh's controversial remarks about Indian jawans.
• Over 50,000 tonnes of pulses, mostly imported tur dal, have been seized from hoarders in raids across 10 states even as retail prices today showed no signs of declining and  still rule at Rs 210 per kg. On Friday alone, 15,000 tonnes were seized.

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Pinch for Funny Friday || 23rd Oct 2015 ||

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• On Thursday referring to Faridabad Dalit killings, Gen V K Singh said, “For everything…like if somebody throws a stone at a dog, then the government is responsible…it is not like that.” The opposition demanded the resignation of Gen Singh and the registration of a case under the SC/ST Act for allegedly using “casteist” and “inhumane” remarks.
• Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday struck an aggressive posture against the BJP, his party's coalition partner in Maharashtra. Addressing party workers at the Dussehra rally at Shivaji Park in Dadar, he hit out at the BJP on a wide range of issues, including the Dadri case, price rise, Ram Mandir and VK Singh's controversial remark on Dalits. He also expressed no regret over the cancellation of the Ghulam Ali concert and the ink attack on Sudheendra Kulkarni.
• Virat Kohli slammed a brilliant 138 before the bowlers produced an impressive performance as India comfortably beat South Africa by 35 runs to level the series 2-2. India piled up a commendable 299 for 8 in 50 overs and then restricted South Africa to 264 for 9 despite a classy hundred by their captain AB de Villiers.
• The Delhi government has superseded the Delhi Wakf Board and taken away all its power for a period of six months, prompting the caretaker body of all Muslim property in the city to move court against the decision.
• President Barack Obama is expected to press Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on ties with the Taliban, nuclear safety and a range of other fraught issues Thursday when the troubled allies meet at the White House.
• Scientists using Nasa’s repurposed Kepler space telescope have uncovered strong evidence of a tiny, rocky ‘planet’ being torn apart as it spirals around a white dwarf star. This discovery validates a long-held theory that white dwarfs are capable of cannibalising possible remnant planets that have survived within its solar system.

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Pinch for Terse Thursday || 22th Oct 2015 ||

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• On Wednesday, Sanped village in Haryana's Faridabad erupted in grief and indignation after a dalit family was burnt alive leading to the death of two toddlers. Locals blocked Delhi-Agra highway with their bodies in protest as politicians joined them in mourning the horrific killings.
• An Indian Air Force (IAF) MI-17 chopper today made an emergency landing at the Bandra Kurla Complex following a technical snag, a Defence spokesperson said. The aircraft and all the four passengers on board are safe while a technical support team has been dispatched to the spot to assess the aircraft.  
• India has contracted to import 2.5 million tonnes of pulses for shipment in October to January, but the bulk of the purchases could be cancelled if the Maharashtra government continues a stock limit policy introduced earlier this week, the head of a trade body said. This could exaggerate shortages in India and push prices to new highs.
• In its first ever acquisition, Reliance Capital Asset Management (RCAM) today announced takeover of global giant Goldman Sachs' mutual fund business in India for Rs 243 crore in an all-cash deal as yet another foreign player exits the Rs 13 lakh crore Indian MF market.
• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has received the first astronomer’s telegram (Atel no. 8185) from the Scanning Sky Monitor (SSM) observations onboard Astrosat, which is India's first dedicated multi wavelength space observatory.
• Hard-disk drive maker Western Digital Corp said it would buy SanDisk Corp for about $19 billion, giving it better access to flash memory storage chips used in smartphones and mobile devices. 

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Post for Wow Wednesday || 21st Oct 2015 ||

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• The 'Nawab of Nazafgarh' Virender Sehwag, announced retirement from all form of the international cricket and IPL on Tuesday. Shewag is the first and only Indian player to score triple century in test matches and he is one among only four players in world who scored triple century twice in their career. Shewag also holds record for fastest triple century. 
• A Delhi court on Tuesday convicted the Uber cab driver for raping a 25-year-old women executive in his taxi and endangering her life in December last year. The court said the detailed judgment would be made available on October 23 after pronouncement of sentence. It had reserved the verdict on October 7 with today's verdict. Yadav faces a maximum of life term which under the relevant provision means imprisonment till his remaining natural life. 
• Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal has convened an emergency cabinet meeting as protests continued for seventh day in various parts of the state against the alleged desecration of Sikh holy books. Paramilitary forces were also deployed in Amritsar, Ludhiana and Jalandhar.
• Indian Cricketer Amit Mishra was summoned by the Bengaluru  police on Tuesday for questioning, after he was booked for the alleged sexual assault of a woman in his hotel room in the city last month.
• Every day the renewed conflicts between the Turkish military and the PKK deepens existing rift in Turkey and after bombing in Ankara now the division is starting to play out elsewhere in Europe. Diaspora groups of both the communities are protesting in different parts of Europe.
• The biggest steel maker in Britain may cut 1200 UK jobs as part of restructuring. The steel major is planning to halt steel plate production which will lead to these many jobs cuts from different sites.

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Pinch for Tangy Tuesday || 20th Oct 2015 ||

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• International rating agency S&P has affirmed its 'BBB-' long-term and 'A-3' short-term sovereign credit ratings for India. The outlook for country remains stable, the ratings on India reflect the country's sound external profile and improved monetary credibility, it said. These factors, combined with strong democratic institutions and a free press, both of which yield policy stability and predictability, underpin the investment-grade rating on India.
• A man went on a shooting rampage at a bus station in southern Israel on Sunday, killing an Israeli soldier. He wounded 10 more people before police shot him dead. Though the attack in Beer Sheva comes at a time of increased violence between Israelis and Palestinians, it isn't clear if the gunman was motivated by those tensions.
• President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday expressed apprehension whether tolerance and acceptance of dissent are on the wane and said that humanism and pluralism should not be abandoned under any circumstances. The President was addressing a gathering in Birbhum district of West Bengal during a function organized by Nayaprajanma, a local weekly newspaper.
• Virender Sehwag on Monday denied reports of retirement from international cricket after news of his retirement went viral on the social media. Sehwag, who is in Dubai attending a ceremony of Master Champions League (MCL), hinted at retirement to make himself eligible for the inaugural edition of MCL.  
• Major fire broke out in East Delhi’s Mongolpuri area early on Monday. According to the report, around 400 ‘jhuggis’ (slum dwelling) were gutted in the fire. Around 2 am fire brigade received call about the blaze that also destroyed a plastic go-down.

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Pinch for Magic Monday || 19th Oct 2015 ||

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• Finance minister Arun Jaitley said on Sunday that the Supreme Court judgment striking down the NJAC Act is based on erroneous logic. As per him, Indian democracy cannot be a tyranny of the un-elected and if the elected are undermined, democracy itself would be in danger.
• BJP digs out 23-year-old Nitish Kumar's letter taken from author Srikant's book 'Bihar: Chitthion ki Rajniti' (Bihar: Politics of Letter) to attack Lalu Prasad. In letter Nitish had charged Prasad with fostering corruption and giving leverage to a particular caste in government jobs. The BJP published selectively from Kumar's letter in full-page advertisements in vernacular dailies yesterday and asked people to decide for whom to vote. 
• ANTRIX, the commercial arm of ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) will launch six satellites for Singapore in December. ISRO's demonstrated its launch capabilities time and again using its reliable PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) and even won the prestigious Space Pioneer Award 2015 for Mangalyaan mission. 
• Egyptians voted today in the first round of the long-delayed elections to choose a new parliament as President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi seeks to tighten his grip on power over two years after he ousted his Islamist predecessor. The election consists of two rounds of voting and results are not expected to be known until early December.
• South Africa took lead in five match series by winning third match played at Rajkot on Sunday by 18 runs. South Africa scored 270 for 7 wicket in reply India could manage to score only 252 from loss of 6 wickets.

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Pinch for Smart Sunday || 18th Oct 2015 |

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• Just a week after the horrific rape and torture of a four-year-old girl in Delhi, two more cases of young girls being gang-raped have been reported from the capital. Both the girls have suffered severe injuries and are recovering in hospital. Targeting Modi and Jung for failing to provide adequate safety and security in the city, Delhi CM Arvind said that police was not under democratic control.
• The volume of black money stashed inside India is much more than that kept abroad, vice-chairman of special investigation team (SIT) Justice (retired) Arijit Pasayat said on Saturday.
• Advertising veteran Prasoon Joshi is likely to create the re-launch campaign for Maggi. While Publicis Worldwide remains Maggi's advertising agency, manufacturer Nestle India has hired McCann World Group to manage the new project as the noodle brand tries to make a re-entry into the market four months after the company recalled it.
• Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Saturday that the aim of Russia's military operation in Syria was not to keep President Bashar al-Assad in power but to defeat Islamic State (ISIS) jihadists. Russia began air strikes in Syria in late September.
• A top American journalist has said in his testimony that Pakistan's former military dictator Pervez Musharraf was responsible for the assassination of ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto because she had informed him of the death threats she was facing,

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Post for Sunny Saturday || 17th Oct 2015 ||

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• The Supreme Court on Friday declared National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act unconstitutional and rejected it. The constitution amendment and the NJAC Act were brought by NDA government to replace the 1993 collegium system for the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court and high courts.
• In Bihar elections, of all the phases, the 2nd phase posed the greatest challenge to security personnel as all six districts have been affected by Naxal violence one time or the other. This phase resulted in 55% voting, 3% more to 2010.
• The Akal Takht on Friday revoked its pardon to Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in a 2007 blasphemy case after Sikh outfits protested the leniency shown to the controversial sect leader. 
• In an exclusive interview to The Indian Express, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that Muslims can continue to live in this country, but they will have to give up eating beef because “the cow is an article of faith here”. Later on he apologized for the same. 
• Swiss multinational food giant Nestle on Friday lowered its full-year growth forecast to 4.5% this year due to ban on Maggi noodles in India and slower sales recovery in China.
• Sweden is on track to becoming the world's first cashless society, thanks to the country's embrace of IT as well as a crackdown on organized crime and terror. There are less than 80 billion Swedish crowns in circulation. The result of collaboration between major Swedish and Danish banks, Swish is a direct payment app that is used for transactions between individuals in real time.

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Post for Flying Friday || 16th Oct 2015 ||

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• The second phase of Bihar assembly elections begins Friday morning. Spread across six Naxal-hit districts, around 86 lakh voters (close to 46 lakh male voters and about 40 lakh female voters) of 32 assembly constituencies will decide the fate of 456 candidates, including 32 female candidates.
• RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan on Thursday welcomed Supreme Court ruling on use of Aadhar card in more schemes and said it will help in financial inclusion drive. With an UIDAI number, a person will now be able to open a bank account as it will work as an identification document and will help in easier access to loans. 
• Telecom regulator TRAI is likely to soon come out with recommendations on compensating consumers for call drops. According to sources, the regulator is likely to propose a compensation of Rs 1 for each call drop and the recommendations may come as soon as tomorrow.
• Reversing policy on Afghanistan, US President Barack Obama announced on Thursday that he will slow the pace of withdrawing U.S. troops, prolonging the 14-year U.S. engagement there and effectively handing off the task of pulling out to his successor. Calling it a "modest but meaningful" adjustment Obama said the United States will maintain a force of 9,800 through most of 2016 because Afghan troops are not yet as strong as they need to be.
• In an embarrassment to CBI, a special 2G court today discharged former telecom secretary Shyamal Ghosh and three telecom firms in the 2002 additional spectrum allocation case, saying that the chargesheet was "full of distorted and fabricated facts" and that the agency has tried to "mislead" the court by creating an impression that a grave crime was committed, whereas there was none and there was "no incriminating material on record" against the accused.

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Pinch for Thumping Thursday || 15th Oct 2015 ||

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• A Jawan was killed on Wednesday in a gun-battle with militants as the army foiled an infiltration bid along the LOC in Poonch district of J&K. Lance Naik Govind Singh was injured in the firing and died while being rushed to hospital.
• Former Pakistan foreign minister Khurshid Kasuri has tried to put the blame of failed talks between India and Pakistan, in Agra in 2001, on the then home minister Lal Krishna Advani. According to him, Pakistan had provided India with addresses of terrorist camps operating in Kashmir as part of its deal to bring peace to the Valley. However, Advani's demand to hand over terrorist Dawood Ibrahim derailed the talks.
• Villagers in Khurd Jawahar in Faridkot blocked traffic in Kotakpura on Monday evening after finding four torn pages of Guru Granth Sahib in the village. Anger spilled over to neighboring Moga on Tuesday where Sikh protesters clashed with police who tried to disperse them.
• Researchers have estimated that the Martian pebbles traveled roughly 50 km from their source, supporting the idea that Mars once had an extensive river system and conditions that could harbor life.
• Around eight lakh pharmacies across the nation took part in one day strike on Wednesday to demand a crackdown on online drug sales, which they say is unregulated, eroding their business and putting customers at risk.
• Finally a victory for India on South Africa’s tour. Dhoni played captain’s knock and India beat South Africa by 22 runs.
• Vodafone is considering an Initial Public Offering of shares in India, Vodafone Group CEO Vittorio Colao said here on Wednesday. He told that the “preparatory work” for the IPO is underway.

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Pinch for Wonderful Wednesday || 14th Oct 2015 ||

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• The Dutch Safety Board said on Tuesday that the Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down on the July 2014 crash that killed all 298 aboard. It was shot down over eastern Ukraine by a Russian-made Buk missile. However board did not specify who launched the missile.
• R Subramanian, Founder of Vishwapriya Group popularly known for Subiksha chain of retail stores is in the custody of Economic Offences Wing of the Tamil Nadu police on complaints of cheating hundreds of depositors. Subramanian was arrested by a special team of the EOW on Saturday. 
• Government has drafted guidelines to regulate ride-hailing companies, including US-based Uber and its domestic rival Ola, for the first time laying down federal rules that could end months of uncertainty on how they operate in the country. The transportation ministry has asked states to ensure companies operate with call centres and their taxis follow emission norms and the guidelines also call for extensive background checks of drivers to ensure passenger safety.
• Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate called for jihadists to attack Russia over its air strikes in Syria, as rockets hit Moscow's Damascus embassy Tuesday where demonstrators had gathered to back the intervention. 
• Jerusalem suffered its bloodiest day on Tuesday in a wave of unrest, with at least three people killed and many wounded in shooting and car-and-knife attacks on Israelis. 
• Technology major Cisco has made its first acquisition in India by taking over Bengaluru-based IT security company Pawaa for an undisclosed amount. Pawaa, which provides security solutions and cloud-based file-sharing software, will be integrated with Cisco’s Software Platform Group. 

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Pinch for Tough Tuesday || 13th Oct 2015 ||

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• The first phase of the Bihar assembly elections on Monday saw a voter turnout of 57 per cent. Polling was held for 49 of 243 constituencies on the state. The Election Commission said this voter turnout is a record for Bihar. In the 2010 assembly elections only 50.85 per cent of the electorate had voted.
• The Supreme Court on Monday formally buried the coffin-gate scandal, involving import of coffins, missiles and munitions at exorbitant prices allegedly for kickbacks, during the Kargil war. The irregularities had come to light after a CAG report highlighted them, estimating the loss at over Rs 24,000 cr. SC threw out the PIL after CBI said that all the accused were discharged by court for lack of evidence.
• Former Pakistan foreign minister Khurshid Kasuri’s book "Neither a hawk, nor a dove - An insider's account of Pakistan's foreign policy" was launched in Mumbai amid tight security. On Monday, Shiv Sena accused Sudheendra Kulkarni, who is the main organizer of the event, of being a "Pakistani agent" and protested the book launch by blackening his face.
• A Chinese court on Monday sentenced Jiang Jiemin, former chief of the state-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, to 16 years in prison for accepting bribes. Apart from accepting bribes, Jiang, 60, was found guilty of holding huge amount of property with unidentified sources and abusing power. His personal assets worth 1 million yuan (about $160,000) were also confiscated.
• British-born economist Angus Deaton has won the 2015 economics Nobel Prize for his work on consumption, poverty and welfare that has helped governments to improve policy through tools such as household surveys and tax changes.

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Pinch for Mingling Monday || 12th Oct 2015 ||

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• PM Modi on Sunday categorically ruled out scrapping the reservation system and assailed a “group of liars” for the false propaganda that it is under threat. Modi said “Falsehood must stop, terrorizing society must end. This is not politics”.
• Reeling from protests and quakes, Nepal chooses new Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli. He said "I will work alongside everybody to implement the constitution, repair the damage inflicted by the earthquake and address the hardships raised by the Indian blockade". Many people from Nepal's plains feel the constitution signed last month perpetuates long-standing domination by highland politicians.
• Iraqi air forces have bombed the convoy of the terrorist Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi while he was heading to Karabla to attend a meeting with ISIS commanders. Several senior figures from Islamic State were killed in an air strike while meeting in a town in western Iraq, but the group's leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi did not appear to be among them, residents of the town and hospital sources said.
• Traders body CAIT has alleged that e-commerce firms such as Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal are violating FDI norms by holding forthcoming festive season sales. These companies claim to be a marketplace and therefore can provide only a technology platform for the sellers who are registered with them. Since ownership of inventory is not held by the said companies, they cannot offer 'sale' or 'Discounts' in totality on their online portals but they are doing so. This establishes that they are not marketplace and as such openly flouting FDI policy.
• In a last ball thriller India fell short of four runs while chasing a mammoth 303 of South Africa. Rohit Sharma played brilliantly to score 150 but South Africa held the nerves in last over to come as winner.
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Pinch for Sunny Sunday || 11th Oct 2015 ||

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• Nearly simultaneous explosions targeted a Turkish peace rally Saturday in Ankara, killing at least 97 people and wounding scores in Turkey's deadliest attack in years. Suicide bombers stuck the Pro Kurdish and labor activists outside Ankara's main train station.
• The CBI on Saturday conducted raids at residences and offices of flamboyant liquor baron Vijay Mallya and his now-grounded Kingfisher Airlines in connection with a Rs.900 crore loan to the airline by IDBI bank and now declared a non-performing asset.
• In a major boost for ruling Trinamool Congress ahead of next year's assembly polls, the party on Saturday scored landslide victory in violence-marred elections to Bidhannagar and Asansol Municipal Corporations and wrested Bally civic body from the Left Front. 
• Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray will not be attending PM Modi's functions in Mumbai on Sunday as he will be away in Marathwada to review the drought situation there. Modi will be in the city to lay the foundation stone for Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar's memorial at Indu Mills in Dadar and to conduct 'bhoomi pujan' for two new Metro lines.
• Israeli security forces on Saturday shot dead two Palestinians aged 12 and 15 in protests along Gaza's border fence. Israeli security forces have arrested around 400 Palestinians since the October 1 outbreak of violence in the occupied West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem. Approximately half of them were aged 14-20 and 100 were arrested in east Jerusalem, the Palestinian group said.

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Post for Soft Saturday || 10th Oct 2015 ||

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• On Friday, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal sacked Environment and Food Minister Asim Ahmed Khan for allegedly demanding a bribe of Rs 6 lakh from a builder and recommended a CBI probe into the case. Kejriwal said Khan was removed as part of AAP's zero tolerance policy towards graft and dared BJP to sack MP and Rajasthans' CMs, both of whom have been accused of corruption.
• The Supreme Court on Friday declined a plea by Neelam Katara to award death sentence to Uttar Pradesh politician D.P. Yadav’s son Vikas and his nephew Vishal for murdering her son Nitish in 2002. A bench led by Justice J.S. Khehar said the crime can neither be classified as an honor killing nor be in the category of the rarest of rare crime warranting death penalty.
• Renowned scientist Sekhar Basu was appointed as chairman of Atomic Energy Commission on Friday. Basu is presently director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and chief executive of the Nuclear Recycle Board (NRB). Basu, a Padma Shri recipient, has also been appointed Secretary, department of atomic energy.
• The Nobel Peace Prize 2015 has been awarded to the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet for their immense contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy in Tunisia following the Jasmine Revolution of 2011. The Quartet was formed in 2013 when the democratization process was endangered due to political assassinations and widespread social unrest. 
• Russian air force jets hit 60 Islamic State targets in Syria over the past 24 hours and killed around 300 terrorists as per Russian defense ministry.

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Pinch for Frank Friday || 9th Oct 2015 ||

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•  India has reacted very sharply to reports of US mulling a nuclear deal with Pakistan on the lines of India-US pact. India stated that anyone considering a nuke pact should first see Islamabad's proliferation track record.
•  In a big relief for telecom major Vodafone India, the Bombay High Court set aside an order of Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), which had ruled that the IT department had powers to raise tax demand on the company in a Rs. 8,500 crore transfer pricing case.
• Hillary Rodham Clinton has joined her Democratic presidential rivals in opposing President Barack Obama’s Pacific trade deal, delivering a major blow to a Democratic president as she works to court her party’s liberal base. 
• Under growing domestic pressure over her open-door policy on refugees, Germany's Angela Merkel has come out swinging, insisting "we will manage" the crisis, set to define her nearly decade-old chancellorship. The migrant crisis has deeply polarised Germany.
• In much anticipation, NASA has discovered that Pluto has red water ice and blue skies. The Earth-like skies were seen in the first color images of Pluto's atmospheric hazes, which show them shining against the darkness of space.
• The Nobel Prize 2015 in Literature went to 67-year-old Belarusian author Svetlana Alexievich. The Nobel was awarded for her polyphonic writings, "a monument to suffering and courage in our time". She used the skills of a journalist to create literature chronicling the great tragedies of the Soviet Union and its collapse- World War II, the Soviet war in Afghanistan, the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster and the suicides that ensued from the death of Communism.

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Pinch for Tangy Thursday || 8th Oct 2015 ||

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• A week before the Bihar election begins, another opinion poll has given the victory to the BJP-led NDA alliance. The BJP alliance, spearheaded by PM Narendra Modi is expected to surge ahead of the Grand Alliance by a margin of at least four percent. 
•  Modi govt has turned down IAF's request for more foreign fighter planes and instead is pushing for Made-in-India Tejas aircraft. PM's decision, in line with his Make-in-India policy to encourage domestic industry, is a blow for many foreign manufacturers circling over the Indian military aviation market worth billions of dollars. 
• On Wednesday, the Supreme Court declared that the appeal of former PM Manmohan Singh would be heard by a special bench. His appeal is challenging the trial court order summoning him as an accused in a coal scam case. The observation was made by a bench headed by Chief Justice H L Dattu.
• PM Modi  is to tell states to raise electricity prices in return for access to a financial bailout package. Modi's idea seems to overhaul country's largely loss-making utilities (buckling under $66 billion of debts) at top priority. 
• Pakistani ghazal singer Ghulam Ali’s concert, scheduled to be held in Mumbai on October 9, was cancelled on Wednesday  after Shiv Sena threatened to disrupt it. The opposition was predictable. For opposing any cultural ties with Pakistan, the Sena has maintained that the government should call off every cultural and sporting relation with the neighboring country till it stops all terror activity on Indian soil.

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Pinch for Welcome Wednesday || 7th Oct 2015 ||

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• In an official statement from IMF it was declared that Indian economy is expected to grow faster than other major emerging economies. Growth Projection for India stands at 7.5 per cent in 2016 against China’s 6.3 per cent.
• A three-member Committee chaired by former Secretary General of the Lok Sabha PDT Achary, in its report submitted to Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel, on Tuesday, favoured a 400 per cent hike in the basic salary of the Capital’s MLAs — from Rs. 12,000 to Rs. 50,000 per month — in addition to a slew of other allowances.
• Six persons have been arrested for the theft of a consignment of 600 high-end mobile phones worth Rs 1 crore from the cargo hub of the Delhi airport in July. Police said that as many as 200 mobile phones were later sold to customers across India, allegedly through Flipkart. The IGI Police have sent a notice to Flipkart, asking it to join probe and clarify how stolen phones were being sold to customers through its website without verification.
• Japanese scientist Takaaki Kajita and Canadian physicist Arthur B McDonald have won the Nobel prize in Physics 2015 "for the discovery of neutrino oscillations, which shows that neutrinos have mass". 
• Russian jets hit ISIS targets in the Syrian city of Palmyra and the northern province of Aleppo, The strikes destroyed 20 vehicles and three weapons depots in ISIS-held Palmyra.
• An image of India-Pakistan border taken from the International Space Station (ISS) by NASA shows one of the few places on the Earth, where an international boundary can be seen all lit by security lights at night.  

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Pinch for Tickling Tuesday || 6th Oct 2015 ||

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• Four army personnel were martyred while a militant was killed in two separate gun-battles between terrorists and security forces in J&K on Monday. Four jawans lost their lives in the encounter with militants during an operation launched in Haphruda forest in Handwara after a tip off about the presence of terrorists.
• On Monday, Narendra Modi hailed Germany as a "natural partner" of India after signing deals with Angela Merkel on clean energy and speeding up the European powerhouse's investment in India. A deal to fast track approvals for German companies in India and Euro 1 billion solar power fund by Germany were among major takeaways. 
• A curfew was imposed for a short period today in parts of Varanasi after clashes between protesters and the police. Issue started when Police did  lathi-charge on a religious leader and his followers, who were heading to the banks of river Ganga for the immersion ritual. 
• Samsung has launched a new rugged smartphone, Galaxy Active Neo in the budget segment. The phone has been launched in Japan at 20,000 yen (Rs 10,900 approximately) but is also expected to soon make its global debut.
• South Africa won the second T20 match by 6 wickets to take a lead of 2-0 in three match series. India played first and scored only 92 which South Africa chased with ease to win the match and series.
• A walking fish, a unicorn (of sorts), a blue eyed frog, a ‘sneezing’ monkey, are among the two hundred and eleven new species discovered in Eastern Himalayas in the last six years, says the WWF Living Himalayas Initiative’s latest report termed “Hidden Himalayas: Asia’s Wonderland” released on Monday.

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Pinch for Magic Monday || 5th Oct 2015 ||

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• German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrived in India on Sunday night on a three-day visit. She will be holding talks with PM Narendra Modi on Monday to scale up bilateral relations with special focus on boosting trade, security and defence ties. 
• The Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) during an operation in open sea off Karachi apprehended 12 Indian boats and arrested 65 fishermen for allegedly violating its territorial waters. Both countries regularly arrest fishermen who stray in to each other's waters due to poorly marked sea boundary.
• Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said a military campaign by Russia, Syria and its allies will decide the fate of the Middle East, and a year of US-led air strikes against ISIS militants had only helped the spread of terrorism. Assad further said if Syria, Russia, Iran and Iraq unite in battling terrorism, their efforts would yield practical results.
• Switzerland will publish a list of accounts in December that have remained unclaimed for 60 years. The Swiss Banking Ombudsman said that a new banking law, which has come into force this year, has mandated that assets over 500 Swiss franc that have been dormant for 50 years (that is 60 years after the last contact) have to be published.
• Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR), Leh, a constituent establishment of DRDO established Extreme Altitude Research Centre which is world’s highest terrestrial R&D centre at 17,600 ft above mean sea level at Chang La in Jammu and Kashmir. The centre was inaugurated by DRDO chief S Christopher, who highlighted its utility for R&D work in frontal areas of food and agriculture and bio-medical sciences for well being of the soldiers deployed in high-altitude cold desert.

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Pinch for Settling Sunday || 4th Oct 2015 ||

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• Shashank Manohar is all set to be elected unopposed as BCCI president. This time around it was the turn of East Zone to elect the new president and all of its six members have nominated him marking an unusually smooth transition of power following the demise of Jagmohan Dalmiya.
• Amid the ongoing agitation by Patels for quota, an organization of Brahmins in Gujarat has demanded reservation for community members in government jobs and educational institutes in the State. All Gujarat Brahm Samaj also wants the Government to pay monthly salary to Brahmin priests serving in temples across the State.
• A US air strike has reportedly hit a hospital run by Médecins Sans Frontièrs (Doctors Without Borders) in the Afghan city of Kunduz on Saturday, killing at least 16 people and wounding 37 others. The US has promised to investigate the incident. These attacks are part of on going strikes against Taliban insurgents in the area.
• Saturday marks the fourth day of Russian airstrikes in Syria. With every passing day, the international community raises alarms over Moscow's intentions. In a joint statement, a coalition made up of the United States, Britain, Turkey, France, Germany, Qatar and Saudi Arabia accused Russia of attacking the Syrian opposition and civilians, instead of fighting ISIS.

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Pinch for Smiling Saturday || 3rd Oct 2015 ||

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• In a major development, Enforcement Directorate has attached 6.2 Cr worth assets of former Air Chief S.P.Tyagi as part of VVIP Chopper scam investigation. According to ED, S.P. Tyagi’s cousins and their firms received 10.5 Lacs Euros as bribe from AgustaWestland-UK to help swing the Rs. 3,700-crore VVIP chopper deal in its favor. 
• CBI interrogated former UP CM Mayawati in connection with alleged fraud of funds in the implementation of centrally funded National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) scam earlier this week. During her examination she is alleged to have evaded most of critical questions and pleaded ignorance.
• Yet again, in the bizarre case of missing Indonesian air-crafts, a passenger plane carrying 10 people lost contact with air traffic control during a flight in Sulawesi island of Indonesia on Friday.
• In the first match of India-South Africa T20 series, SA chased down India’s total of 199 for 5 with 7 wickets to spare. Rohit Sharma did score a maiden hundred but it didn't help India enough to win the match.
• Earlier this week a video from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir had went viral indicating the atrocities of Pakistani army on the locals. Reacting to that on Friday, India said that this video exposes Paksitan's brutality and has lifted the veil of ISI and Pakistani Army. Pakistan has downplayed the video claiming that it is doctored.
• NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft has sent incredible images of Pluto’s largest moon Charon back to Earth. The latest images reveal the moon’s complex and violent history.

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