Government has decided that Aadhaar enrollment of Non-Resident Indians, Persons of Indian Origin and Overseas Citizen of India should be eventually allowed to help them authenticate their identity digitally. At present, all residents including Indian national and foreigners with valid visas can be enrolled and provided Aadhaar number by the UIDAI.“The government has decided that a longer term goal should be to expand Aadhaar enrollment activities in order to ensure that all persons on the Indian soil (Resident Indian, NRIs, OCI/PIO and visa holding visitors) shall be empowered with a unique identity/identifier that can authenticated on a digital platform any time anywhere,” Planning Minister Rao Inderjit Singh said in Lok Sabha.

Rahul attacks Sushma on Lalit Modi issue, protest continues
The Congress and other Opposition members continued their protests against the suspension of MPs from the Lok Sabha, on Friday. They staged a sit in dharna at the parliament house. Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi takes a dig at Sushma Swaraj for making a speech in Lok Sabha 'when opposition was sitting outside'. "Sushmaji made a very eloquent but hollow speech," Rahul Gandhi said on the minister's statement in Lok Sabha on Lalit Modi issue.

Government ready to move motion to revoke suspension of Congress MPs
The government is ready to move a motion to revoke the suspension of 25 Congress MPs if they meet the Lok Sabha speaker and assure her of helping run the house properly, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said on Friday in Lok Sabha. Naidu's comment came when opposition parties like the Left and the Samajwadi Party raised slogans demanding that the suspension of the Congress MPs be taken back.

MPs seek breach of privilege proceedings against Sadhvi Prachi
Opposition MPs today sought breach of privilege proceedings against VHP leader Sadhvi Prachi for her controversial "terrorists in Parliament" remarks and gave a notice to Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari in this regard. Senior parliamentarians from Rajya Sabha including Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad, CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury and TRS member K Keshav Rao were among 20 members who gave the privilege notice against the VHP leader saying her remarks had "violated  the dignity" of Parliament and the privilege of MPs.

Speaking on the opposition to the hanging of 1993 Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon, she was yesterday quoted as saying, "It is a big misfortune that in Indian Parliament, we have one-two terrorists sitting there". "When the court has already proved so, those supporting the terrorist are terrorists themselves I believe," she had said.

Fourth secular blogger hacked to death in Bangladesh
A 40-year-old secular blogger was hacked to death at his flat here on Friday by five machete-wielding assailants. This is the fourth such brutal murder in Bangladesh this year. Niloy Neel was killed by unidentified assailants inside his fourth-floor flat in Dhaka around 1.45 pm. Five assailants had entered the flat after the Friday prayers and killed him.

Australian PM backs Adani, says sabotaging of projects dangerous
Backing controversy-hit mining giant Gautam Adani’s coal mine venture in Australia, prime minister Tony Abbott has said the 16.5 billion dollar project was “vitally important” and “sabotaging” of such developmental plans using legal means was “dangerous” for the country.“We can’t become a nation of naysayers; we have to remain a nation that gives people a fair go if they play by the rules,” Abbott said. His remarks came after a court this week revoked the environmental approval for the Adani project, which aims to build one of the world’s largest coal mine in Queensland, opposed by green groups and local residents.

Govt to impose import duty of 10% on wheat
The government will impose an import duty of 10 per cent on wheat effective until March 31 next year,  Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told Parliament on Friday, reinstating tariffs after a gap of eight years following big purchases in recent months. This is one of the ways to curb overseas purchases when domestic stocks are ample.

India ninth most impacted by ransomware attacks
India ranks ninth globally, after countries like the US, Japan, Canada and Russia, in terms of ransomware attacks, security software firm Symantec today said. Ransomware, a kind of malicious software, encrypts files in a user's computer and blocks access until the user pays a certain sum of money. The average amount demanded by locker ransomware is around $200 (about Rs 12,760). The report said crypto ransomware and locker ransomware both have three per cent each detections in India.

BSE Sensex ends 62 points down, Nifty closes at 8565
The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty closed in red on Friday following weak industrial earnings. The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty ended down 0.22 per cent and 0.28 per cent at 28,236.39 and 8,564.60 per cent, respectively. Shares of auto and oil & gas ended the day in positive terrain.

Monsoon 26% less in past week
Rainfall was 26 per cent less than normal during the week that ended on Wednesday, mainly due to a 50 per cent shortage in the southern states. Overall, till date, the southwest monsoon is six per cent below normal. In the southern peninsula, the shortage is the largest, at 21 per cent less than normal. The good news is that the south is expected to get more — “subdued rainfall activity during the next 10 days”, with another improvement after August 25, says Indian Metereological Department. Rain activity would also rise over Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and some parts of Maharashtra from the coming Tuesday, and then again from August 25.

Nestle not forthcoming on high MSG levels in Maggi:Health minister
With Maggi continuing to be off the shelves in the market place, government on Friday said its manufacturer Nestle was "not forthcoming" on giving reasons for the high MSG levels found in some of the packages. Health Minister J P Nadda said in Lok Sabha that the government did not ban Maggi but had asked Nestle to recall the product and give reasons for the high monosodium glutamate (MSG) level found in it. "They are yet to reply. They are not forthcoming," the Minister said during Question Hour. The MSG PPM level was high in Maggi samples examined in laboratories in Tamil Nadu, Uttarkhand, Madhya Pradesh and some other places.