Pune police have arrested five students of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII)  for allegedly forcibly confining institute Director Prashant Pathrabe to his office. Meanwhile, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has offered the protesting FTII students temporary space in Delhi to run their classes till the centre agrees to their demands for the removal of Gajendra Chauhan as the institutes chairman. Reacting to the incident, Kejriwal tweeted, “Am shocked to hear whats gng on at FTII. An internationally reputed institute being systematically destroyed by govt’s wrong decisions.”

Pakistan provokes again, invites separatists for talks with Sartaj Aziz
Pakistan has invited Kashmiri separatists for a talk with NSA Sartaj Aziz on August 23 in New Delhi . This could jeopadize national security advisor-level talks being held in Delhi on August 23. Aziz will travel to India for talks with his counterpart Ajit Doval. India had cancelled foreign secretary-level talks in August last year after the Pakistan high commissioner in New Delhi held consultations with Kashmiri separatists.

Delhi court to hear RK Pachauri's plea to attend global meet
A Delhi court will on Wednesday hear a plea by environmentalist RK Pachauri for permission to visit China and Japan to attend a global meet on environmental issues.Pachauri is an accused in a sexual harassment case and scheduled to deliver a lecture on a report of intergovernmental panel on Climate Change (IPCC) at the International Ecosystem Management Partnership (IEMP) in China from August 22-28.

Sensex flat, Nifty below 8,450 on weak global cues
The S&P BSE Sensex was trading flat after slipping over 25 points in trade on Wednesday following muted trend seen in other Asian markets. at 10 am  it was 27,806 down 25 points. The 50-share Nifty index came under pressure and fell below its crucial psychological level of 8450.

PDS success: 26 states, union territories achieve 100% digitization of ration cards
To plug leakage and malpractices in subsidised foodgrains supply under the public distribution system ( PDS), 26 states and Union Territories have completed 100 per cent digitization of ration cards. Six states have digitized the supply chain for better monitoring of grain moving from godowns to the doorstep of consumers. The states that have achieved 100 per cent progress include Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh. With this the overall digitization of ration cards across the country is about 92 per cent and the process is likely to be completed in the next 6-7 months.

Man booked for uploading 'objectionable' video on Facebook against PM Modi
A 27-year-old man was booked on Tuesday for allegedly uploading an 'objectionable' video on social media website Facebook against Prime Minister and a religious community. Jishaan, native of Afzalgarh in Bijnore dist of UP, has been booked under sections 153 A and 504 of the IPC for trying to incite tension in the society. IPC section 153 A deals with spreading disharmony or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different religious, racial, language or regional groups, while Section 504 relates to intentional insult to provoke breach of peace. The accused has been living in Kuwait for last four-five years and had come to India some ten months back to get married, the police said. Currently, he is in Kuwait these days.

Coal prices fall to 12-year lows as China, India join global slowdown in demand
Coal futures have fallen to 12-year lows, hit by soaring production and a slowdown in global buying, including from India and China which have until recently been pillars of strong demand. Benchmark API2 2016 coal futures last settled at $52.85 a tonne, a level not seen since November 2003.

Jaitley launches India Aspiration Fund to boost startups
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday launched the India Aspiration Fund (IAF) to be set up as a fund of funds under the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) in order to boost the startup ecosystem in the country. An initial corpus of Rs 400 crore has been already allocated to various venture funds, The Economics Times reported. The IAF will be managed by an investment committee. Jaitley also launched a new scheme called SIDBI Make in India Loan for Small Enterprises (SMILE) with an allocation of Rs 10,000 crore.

Delhi is now India’s rape capital, show NCRB data
Delhi is officially the “rape capital” of India. Even while the pace of increase in the number of reported rapes in the city has slowed down, the number of such cases proportionate to its women population was higher than for any other city or State last year. However, Gwalior and Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh reported higher numbers of rapes proportionate to their populations. This year, Delhi is higher in both absolute and proportionate terms, show data from the National Crime Records Bureau released on Tuesday. The NCRB collates data from all first information reports filed in police stations across the country.

Nitish Kumar to be chief guest at Delhi government's event today
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will be the chief guest at 'Bihar Samman Sammelan' programme being organised by the Delhi government on Wednesday. He will share stage with Delhi chief minster Arvind Kejriwal, who may campaign for Kumar in Bihar. The national capital has a sizeable number of people from Poorvanchal and Bihar.

NSA-level talks will be "dialogue of deaf", says Yashwant Sinha
Former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha today claimed the proposed national security advisor-level talks between India and Pakistan will be a "dialogue of the deaf" and that BJP has "deviated" from its stated policy regarding talks with Pakistan. Sinha said there has been an increase in terror, and terror and talks cannot go together. Sinha has been external affairs minister.

Sushma meets families of 11 Indians detained in Nigeria
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday met the families of 11 Indians detained in Nigeria and assured that the Indian mission in Abuja was providing all necessary assistance. They were arrested in Nigeria last year for sailing into that country's waters. The 11 Indians are employees of a shipping company.

India asks Myanmar to hand over Khaplang, 3 others
India has asked Myanmar to hand over four top leaders of Naga outfit NSCN-K, including its chief SS Khaplang, holding them responsible for killing of 18 Army soldiers in Manipur on June 4. Besides Khaplang, India sought the custody of Niki Sumi, Kirichu and Asang, who were believed to have planned and supervised the attack in Manipur's Chandel district.

Govt's Suraksha Bandhan gets rolling in social security push
The government on Tuesday said it has rolled out a drive called 'Suraksha Bandhan' to facilitate enrolment under Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) through innovative schemes like gift cheques and special deposits. The special initiative has been launched by participating banks and insurers keeping in view the upcoming festival of Raksha Bandhan. The drive aims to take forward the government's objective of creating a universal social security system in the country, designed specially for the poor and under-privileged.

Aadhaar number to be mentioned on pensioners' identity cards
All pensioners would get a laminated identity card with their Aadhaar numbers mentioned on it, the Centre has said. The move comes after it was observed that various departments are either not issuing pensioners' identity card to the retired employees or they are not in a prescribed format. The pensioners' identity card is issued by the department in which the employee last worked. There are about 50 lakh central government pensioners.

Govt invites nominations for Padma awards 2016
The process of honouring eminent persons with Padma awards for 2016 has begun with the Home Ministry inviting nominations for various categories of the top civilian honours. The last date for receipt of the nominations for the Padma awards 2016 is September 15, 2015. Nominations can be sent in a prescribed proforma available in the website of the Home Ministry along with citation (maximum in 800 words). All persons, except government servants, without distinction of race, occupation, position or sex are eligible for the awards. Nominations can be made by  ministers, chief ministers, governors and members of parliament. A self nomination is also acceptable.

Puri seer invites Hurriyat, Ulfa leaders to discuss peace
Shankaracharya of Govardhan Peeth at Jagannath Puri, Odisha, Swami Adhokshjanand Maharaj has invited separatist leaders from Kashmir and heads of militant groups like Ulfa and Bodo to participate in a debate on peace at the ongoing Kumbh mela in Nashik. He described the Kumbh mela at Nashik as a symbol of peace and cultural unity. The Shankaracharya was skeptical about the recent Naga peace pact, saying that such an agreement was also made during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, but problems continued.