Plane with Brazilian soccer team crashes in Colombia

A chartered aircraft with 81 people on board, including a Brazilian first division soccer team heading to Colombia Plane Crash for a regional tournament final, has crashed on its way to Medellin's international airport.

Aviation authorities said there are reports of at least six survivors.

"It's a tragedy of huge proportions," Medellin Mayor Federico Gutierrez told Blu Radio on his way to the site in a mountainous area outside the city where aircraft crashed.

Aviation authorities said the British Aerospace 146 short-haul plane, operated by a Bolivian charter airline named Lamia, declared an emergency at 10 pm on Monday (0830 IST Tuesday) due to an electrical failure.

Authorities and rescuers were immediately activated but an air force helicopter had to turn back because of low visibility.

They urged journalists to stay away from the hard-to- access zone and stay off the roads to facilitate the entry of ambulances and rescuers. The area has been hit by heavy rains in recent days.

An ambulance transporting a male passenger with oxygen and covered in a blanket arrived on a stretcher to a local hospital, Blu Radio reported. He was apparently alive.

The aircraft, which made a stop in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, was transporting the first division Chapecoense soccer team from southern Brazil. Read More

Nagrota terror attack: 3 Army personnel killed in terror attack on army unit near Jammu

Militants in police uniform on Tuesday attacked an army artillery unit in Nagrota on the outskirts of the city

Militants in police uniform on Tuesday attacked an army artillery unit in Nagrota Attack on the outskirts of the city, killing three Army personnel, including an officer, and leaving several others injured.

There were unconfirmed reports that four militants were killed in the ensuing gunfight.

A senior Army officer said that heavily-armed militants in police uniform stormed the 166 artillery unit, opening indiscriminate fire.

An army officer and two other personnel were killed while several others were injured in the attack, the senior officer said.

A fierce gunbattle is underway at the site, a senior police officer said.

Nagrota is the headquarters of the Army's 16 corps.

In view of the attack, the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway has been closed for traffic in the area.The district administration has closed all schools in Nagorta tehsil as a precautionary measure. Read More

Melania Trump is set to be a long-distance first lady

She was an elusive figure in the campaign, had no political experience before her husband's stunningly successful outsider campaign

A long-distance first lady will be one of the many different things about Donald Trump's administration.

Breaking with tradition, Melania Trump and 10-year-old son Barron will remain in New York City until the end of the school year, after the new president moves into the White Houseon January 20.

The decision sets Melania Trump apart from other first ladies. But it seems in character for the former model and naturalised US citizen from Slovenia.

She was an elusive figure in the campaign and had no political experience before her husband's stunningly successful outsider campaign.

In an interview with US Weekly earlier this year, Melania Trump said that Barron "needs a parent at home, and I like to keep it as normal as possible.

Read Source>>>

FIFA should start promoting 2018 Russia World Cup more actively

By involving star footballers and advertising it during qualifying matches ahead of the tournament

World governing body FIFA should start promoting FIFA World Cup 2018 more actively by involving star footballers and advertising it during qualifying matches ahead of the tournament, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko has said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin would meet with FIFA President Gianni Infantino here on Friday, reports Sputnik.

But Mutko said before the meeting that they expect FIFA to start its preparations to reach a global audience. Read More

5 ways how India stands to benefit from the US pulling out of TPP

United States President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday said the US will quit the TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP (TPP) trade deal on his first day in the WHITE HOUSE. The mega trade deal involves 12 Pacific rim nations including major economies like Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. With a collective population of about 800 million, almost double that of the European Union’s single MARKET, the bloc currently accounts for 40 per cent of world trade. While the free trade deal will see tariffs slashed between member nations to boost falling trade, sections within the US has argued it will further accelerate the slide in American jobs and production. Guessing that Trump does not go back on his decision, something he is known to do, India stands to benefit in a plethora of ways if TPP does not materialise.

---

HERE ARE A FEW OF THEM:-

1) Access to lucrative US market to be cut for India’s export competitors:

2) The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership deal to come into focus:

3) Pressure to conform with TPP standards in ongoing trade negotiations to slide:

4) India’s concerns over trade diversions and othernon-tariff barriers to lessen:

5) Greater chance of bilateral boost to trade by India and US:

---

READ SOURCE>>>

No transaction charges on debit card payments: Govt

The move comes after govt reviewed the situation post demonetisation of 500 and 1,000 rupee notes

To encourage widespread usage of digital payments post demonetisation, the government on Wednesday said no transaction charges will be levied on debit cards till December 31.

All public sector banks and some private sector ones have agreed to waive the transaction cost for all payments made through Debit Card Payments, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das said.

The move comes after the government reviewed the situation post demonetisation of 500 and 1,000 rupee notes and decided to encourage digital payments.

"Public sector banks and some of the private sector banks, and some of the service providers who provide switching services, have agreed to waive the service charges on the use of debit cards up to December 31, 2016," Das said.

As of now, Rupay debit cards have already waived the switching charges. Other debit cards which operate international card network companies like Mastercard and Visa, currently charge transaction charges.

So far, customers bear the transaction cost commonly known as merchant discount rate (MDR) on payments made to the government.

"The MDR charges on use of debit cards, the charges being levied by the banks and the switching charges will stand completely waived. So, there will be no charge on use of debit cards. Read More

Will supporters of demonetisation please click yes, PM Modi asks nation

Through 'Jan Jan Ki Baat,' Modi asked 10 questions to gauge the mood of nation post demonetisation

After ‘Mann Ki Baat’, the Narendra Modi government is experimenting with ‘Jan Jan Ki Baat’ to get people’s feedback on burning issues. Within an hour of the Prime Minister asking citizens of the country to rate his latest initiative—demonetisation—on his narendramodi app, there were 3,700 retweets and 7,900 likes on his Twitter handle. Soon, Jan Jan Ki Baat was trending on social media with ‘’cashless India’’ stopping to give its feedback on the banning of big notes.

It is not known yet how many have taken time out to assess the latest initiative of the government, but the questions asked are pointed. With several state elections lined up through 2017, the PM wants to be sure how people have responded to demonetization as a step to eliminate black money.

It’s a 10-step survey, beginning with a simple question—do you think there’s black money in India. Then it goes on to ask whether you think it needs to be eliminated and what you think of the government efforts in eliminating black money etc. From the fifth question onwards, the survey gets into demonetisation full steam. Question number 5: How do you assess the government move to ban Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes? One has to move the fingers along the wheel to rate, while green and red lights flash on the screen to suggest what your assessment is. Read More

Jumla is the new black: Has Modi really rescued India from black money?

Modi's demonetisation drive marks a break from past practice but his claim is just a jumla

It’s hard to tell whether demonetisation will turn out to be a bold hit or a costly miss, but it appears to many that the government has taken the black money bull by the horns. Announcing the withdrawal of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, Prime Minister Narendra Modilisted several steps that his government had taken so far in its war on black money:

Looks impressive, what’s not to like? Just that, once you discount the hype, it’s not very different from what’s been done by past governments, whether the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) or the United Front (UF).

Show me the money

Consider the figure of Rs 1,25,000 crore collected over two-and-a-half years. The government hasn’t provided a break-up, but based on finance ministry replies to parliamentary questions, it includes the following:

Rs 65,250 crore declared under the 2016 Income Disclosure Scheme (of which 45% will flow in as actual taxes)

Rs 21,354 crore of undisclosed income seized from individuals and businesses (under Section 132(4) of the Income Tax Act)

Rs 22,475 of additional income assessed from taxpayers by surveys (carried out under Section 133A of the Income Tax Act)

Rs 8,186 crore of undisclosed income held by Indians in accounts with HSBC Geneva, revealed by the French government in 2011

Around Rs 5,000 crore of offshore holdings by Indians that an International Consortium of Investigative Journalists investigation exposed in April 2013

All of which adds up to Rs 1,22,265 crore – close enough to our headline figure. But how remarkable is this effort?

The income disclosure scheme is a one-off (more about that later), but what about the black money brought into the open via searches, seizures and surveys? The chart below shows the record in previous years (source here):

interesting. Using the same definitions used by the Modi government, it turns out that the quantum of black money exposed in the last two years of the UPA was more than Rs 1,30,800 crore. That’s right – the UPA tracked down more black money than the Modi government did and in a shorter time frame.

As always, there are caveats. Not all the money assessed under Section 133A should be strictly considered “black”; some of it consisted of income that taxpayers felt was not taxable for whatever reason, but the authorities disagreed. Still, if the Modi government wants to count all those funds under its “black money” haul, it cannot deny the UPA credit for a bigger haul.

Bring back the money

That’s fine, you might say, but hasn’t the Modi government adopted a much more comprehensive approach to black money than the scam-tainted UPA? It’s passed bills to bring back black money, succeeded with its income disclosure scheme and, as Modi himself stated, reached agreements with many foreign countries to provide tax information. Read More

Decoding the big ATM problem: India just doesn't have enough engineers for the job

Only once the ATMs are recalibrated and enough Rs 500 notes are printed, the chaos will be under control, say bankers.

Ten days on, the banking sector is yet to recover from the government's demonetisationmove. There are two main reasons for this. One, there is just not enough new notes being supplied by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), even after running its printing presses over time. And the second, there are not enough technicians to recaliberate automated teller machines in the countries.

Only once the ATMs are recalibrated and enough Rs 500 notes are printed, the chaos will be under control, say bankers.

Even as top bankers are assuring public that the situation will normalise in a week, bankers behind the counters think otherwsie.

The new 500 notes have not been released in rural areas. Most of the branches just 20-30 kilometers from metros have not seen the new 500 rupee note as the currency chests are currently available only in cities. Even in metros, the stockpile of the new notes is thin.

A public sector bank branch manager in the outskirt of Kolkata told Business Standard that the currency chests are now dispensing soiled, old Rs 100 notes. Several customers withdrawing money from banks confirmed this. Customers who have withdrawn Rs 100 notes are not releasing them for daily transactions. Hoarding has ensured that the central bank is being forced to release old scrapped notes to the general public again.

The lack of technicians is the bigger problem.

At the end of August 2016, scheduled commercial banks had 2,02,801 ATMs (both onsite and offsite). There are also some more white level ATMs but they are shut as banks don’t have enough cash to feed even their own ATMs. Read More

Also Read:

Long queues outside banks a 'serious issue', says SC

Demonetisation: Wholesellers in West Bengal suffering panic attacks

No respite from queues, chaos; ATMs grapple with cash shortage

Demonetisation halts disbursements by MFIs, hits self-help groups

Demonetisation: Get Rs 2,000 cash at petrol pumps from Nov 18

India vs England दूसरा टेस्टः टी तक भारत 210/2

भारत और इंग्लैंड के बीच विशाखापत्तनम के डॉ. वाईएस राजशेखर रेड्डी स्टेडियम में सीरीज का दूसरा टेस्ट मैच खेला जा रहा है। पहले दिन टी तक भारत ने 2 विकेट के नुकसान पर 210 रन बना डाले। लंच तक भारत ने 2 विकेट के नुकसान पर 92 रन बना लिए थे और इसके बाद कप्तान कोहली और चेतेश्वर पुजारा की जोड़ी ने भारतीय पारी को मजबूती दी।

कोहली और पुजारा ने शानदार 186 रनों की साझेदारी की। टी तक पुजारा ने 97 रन और कोहली 91 रन बनाए। पहले दिन के खेल में कोहली ने अपने करियर का 13वां और पुजारा ने 11वां अर्धशतक लगाया। कोहली को 42.2 ओवर में एक जीवनदान भी मिला, जब बेन स्टोक्स की गेंद पर रशीद ने उनका कैच छोड़ा। पुजारा भी कोहली के साथ विकेटों के बीच ठीक से संवाद न कर पाने की वजह से दो बार रन आउट होते-होते बचे।

पहले दिन लंच तक भारत ने 2 विकेट खोकर 92 रन बनाए। लंच से पहले तक भारत अपने दोनों सलामी बल्लेबाजों एल. राहुल और मुरली विजय को शुरुआती 5 ओवर में ही खो चुका था। भारत को पहला झटका दूसरे ओवर में लग गया था, जब गौतम गंभीर की जगह प्लेइंग इलेवन में मौका पाने वाले एल. राहुल (0), स्टुअर्ट ब्रॉड की गेंद पर बेन स्टोक्स को कैच थमा बैठे। इसके बाद भारत का अगला विकेट भी जल्द ही गिर गया और मुरली विजय (20) 5वें ओवर में जेम्स ऐंडरसन की शॉर्ट बॉल का शिकार हुए।

Reddys, a Rs 500 cr wedding and the BJP connect: What you need to know

Sources said some 50,000 people, including politicians and celebrities, have been invited for the wedding

Mining baron Gali Janardhana Reddy has returned to Bellary in Karnataka with a bang and is hosting an over Rs 500 crore lavish wedding of his daughter at the Bangalore Palace grounds on Wednesday. The details of the marriage have taken social media by storm at a time when the nation is scrambling for cash after the government's demonetisation announcement.

The Bellary mining baron was arrested in 2011 on charges of illegally mining iron ore and was in prison for over three years. Reddy was also the state tourism minister in BS Yeddyurappa’s government before his arrest. Reddy is said to have minted Rs 5,000 crore through iron ore mining in Bellary. The criminal charges against Reddy relate to the Andhra Pradesh branch of the multi-billion dollar mining empire he runs with family and two brothers, popularly called the Bellary brothers.

Several reports suggested that various BJP leaders attended one of the functions despite a party diktat to not be associated with Reddy who is out on bail. India Today reported that a state BJP leaders attended the wedding functions with the upcoming elections in mind as both Janardshan Reddy Daughter and his confidante BSR Congress MLA Sreeramulu have a strong hold in the Bellary region and several parts of Hyderabad-Karnataka. The wedding is being touted as a 'PR masterstoke' to indicate that Gali Janardhan Reddy is back in the game.

From cards to venue, everything is larger than life at this extravagant wedding. However, Reddy is now embroiled in political storm as an activist has filed a complaint with the directorate general of income tax (investigations) questioning the extravagant nature of the wedding, Hindustan Times reported.

In the complaint, RTI activist T Narasimha Murthy said the arrangements have raised eyebrows as the comman man is standing in long queues to withdraw cash after demonetisation.

Here is everything you need to know about the wedding: Read More

Six advantages of using WhatsApp new video call

The video call is end-to-end encrypted which means other than the sender and receiver no one can access it

WhatsApp finally rolled out its video calling feature on Monday though slightly late to the party dominated by Facebook's own Messenger, Google's Duo, Skype, and Viber. But with its massive user base of more than one billion, Facebook's backing and other features similar to Snapchat like stories, animations, filters and graphics it can make up for the lost time.

WhatsApp has more than 160 million users in India and they don't have to download other apps to make video calls anymore.

WhatsApp has even said it has optimised the feature to handle the low-bandwidth internet connectivity and cheap phones used in most parts of India.

Since WhatsApp chat is based on the phonebook contacts you don't have to deal with annoying call requests from anonymous people.

The video call is end-to-end encrypted which means other than the sender and receiver no one can access it.

Unlike Apple's FaceTime it works on both Android and iPhone mobiles. Whatsapp's claims that video calling feature would work even on slower networks, which is a major issue in India with low internet penetration.

Read More

SBI reportedly writes off bad loans of Rs 7,016 cr; Cong rakes up issue in Parliament

The clean-up drive saw the bank forgoing almost Rs 1,201 crore in dues owed by Vijay Mallya's defunct Kingfisher Airlines

The State Bank of India has cleaned up non-performing assets worth Rs 7,016 crore from its books by writing off loans given to 63 wilful defaulters, Daily News & Analysis reported on Wednesday. Of the 63 accounts, 31 have been partially written off and six shown as NPAs.

The clean-up drive saw the bank forgoing almost Rs 1,201 crore in dues to Vijay Mallya’s defunct Kingfisher Airlines, which is at the top of the list of wilful defaulters. In other words, loans given to Kinfsiher Airlines will no longer be shown in the bank’s balance sheet, though the airline has outstanding dues of almost Rs 1,201 crore. Some of the other prominent defaulters who feature in the write-off list are KS Oil (Rs 596 crore), Surya Pharmaceuticals (Rs 526 crore), GET Power (Rs 400 crore) and SAI Info System (Rs 376 crore).

The Congress party immediately reacted to the article and linked it to the government's demonetisation drive. "As Modiji's blue-eyed boy Vijay Mallya gets a Rs 1,200-cr write-off, fighting black money is political hypocrisy at its worst," said Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala.

Even Congress leader Anand Sharma expressed apprehensions that the money received from people migth be used to recapitalise the banks and wipe out Rs 6 lakh crore of non-performing assets of big industrialists.

"The Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) are to the tune of Rs 6 lakh crore. Do they want to utilise the money deposited by people in banks to wipe out the NPAs (on account) of industrialists who have played fraud on the country?" party spokesman Kapil Sibal said at a briefing by the All-India Congress Committee.

He claimed that the Reserve Bank of India RBI would transfer the money to the government, which would recapitalise banks and clear their balance sheets, and the "whole thing has nothing to do with black money; it is a compromise on black money and with NPAs".

Even Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has called demonetisation the biggest scam.

"This is what we feared. The hard-earned money of people will be put into banks to write off the loans of crorepatis. They have already started doing it," he said on Twitter."

READ OUR FULL COVERAGE OF THE MODI GOVT'S DEMONETISATION MOVE

Sushma Swaraj at AIIMS for kidney failure; speculation about a stand-in minister

Swaraj, ever since having taken over at South Block in June 2014, has followed a punishing schedule

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is unwell. On Wednesday, Swaraj tweeted that she is hospitalised because of kidney failure and is undergoing tests for a kidney transplant. This has led to speculation within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) that Prime Minister Narendra Modi might look for her successor.

Swaraj tweeted: "I am in AIIMS because of kidney failure. Presently, I am on dialysis. I am undergoing tests for a Kidney transplant. Lord Krishna will bless. Friends, this is to update you on my health."

The job of an External Affairs Minister involves hectic travelling. Swaraj, ever since having taken over at South Block in June 2014, has followed a punishing schedule. Swaraj, in seven months of 2014, visited 15 countries.

She visited neighbouring countries and ASEAN member countries as part of the PM's vision to strengthen ties with India's neighbours and his 'Act East Policy'.

She visited 15 countries in 2015. Swaraj started keeping unwell in the last few months and could only visit eight countries this year. Currently, Minister of State MJ Akbar has been shouldering much of the burden of overseas visits.

On December 3 and 4, India will be hosting the sixth Heart of Asia Ministerial Conference. It will be held in Amritsar. Swaraj had travelled to Islamabad in December 2015 to attend the previous edition of the conference. The meeting had also led to revival of India-Pakistan comprehensive dialogue. Read More

Has demonetisation stopped stone pelting, curbed terror financing in J&K?

In the last few days after PM's daring move there hasn't been stone pelting on security forces.

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has hailed the government's demonetisation decision and said it has let to decline in stone-pelting incidents in Jammu and Kashmir.

"Earlier, there were rates: Rs 500 for stone pelting (onsecurity forces in Kashmir) and Rs 1,000 for doing something else. PM has brought terror funding to zero," Parrikar said.

"In the last few days after PM's daring move there hasn't been stone pelting on security forces. I congratulate PM for it," Parrikar said.

According to a report in Deccan Herald, the incidents ofstone pelting have declines in the Valley ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi scrapped Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes across the country.

While police handouts on the situation in the Valley stated that no incidents of stone-pelting were reported from anywhere in the past few days, officials said a major reason behind the sudden decline in violence was that the "money channels" of inciting violence have been sealed.

In the past, several complaints had cropped up that separatists were paying stone-pelters and other anti-national elements in big currency notes. Apart from taking on corruption, black money; the step by the Modi government has resulted in peace and calm in the Valley.

Security analysts believe that Kashmir will remain largely calm in the coming days as miscreants will run short of money to keep their network operational.

For the last four months, the Valley was brought to a standstill but now things are falling back into place with people carrying out their daily chores, schools being opened and students appearing for exams.

Barring a few law and order incidents at some places, hundreds of vendors put up their stalls at the weekly flea-market in the city on Sunday while banks across Kashmir witnessed a rush of customers in view of the demonitisation of 500 and 1000 currency notes, bringing some semblance of normalcy in the unrest-hit Valley.

Normalcy ceased to exist in Kashmir due to unrest triggered by the killing of Hizbul Majhideen militant Burhan Wani since July 8.

However, there has been increased movement of people and public transport, except buses, in Srinagar in the last month. Apart from private vehicles, auto-rickshaws and inter- district cabs were also plying in large numbers.

Defying separatists' call for protest, 95 per cent students appeared for class 12th board exams in Kashmir on Monday. About 94.88 per cent of the total 31,964 students appeared in the examination, an official of Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education (BOSE), which conducts the examinations, said.(more)