Prime minister Narendra Modi and German chancellor Angela Merkel are in India's IT capital today (Tuesday) and will attend two major events in the city. The German chancellor, who is on a three-day visit to India, arrived in Bengaluru on Monday evening and Modi came in this morning. They will attend events hosted by German business conglomerate Bosch and Indian IT association Nasscom.  The first official programme in the itinerary of the German chancellor will be a visit to the Bosch facility in Audugodi. The company will showcase its innovative projects and the group’s commitment to skill development in India. Merkel will experience firsthand industry 4.0 and Internet of Things in the making in Bengaluru. After, which both Modi and Merkel will have tour of the vocational facility of Bosch and is expected to make a joint statement.Later, both leaders will jointly address an Indo-German summit hosted by Indian IT association Nasscom in association with Fraunhofer called ‘Digitizing Tomorrow Together’. Both the leaders will also interact with Indian and German business leaders who are participating in the event.

German to be taught again in Central schools
Students in Kendriya Vidyalaya schools (KVs) will be able to opt for German as an additional foreign language, in conformity with the National Education Policy, the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development announced on Monday, after signing a joint declaration of intent with Germany.Through collaboration between Max Mueller Bhavan and the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, German as a foreign language will be promoted in India while modern Indian languages will be taught in Germany. The Human Resource Development Ministry’s earlier decision to discontinue the teaching of German in KVs had escalated into a diplomatic row, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel raising the issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G20 summit in Brisbane last year.

Pakistan NSA Sartaj Aziz rules out cricket with India
Pakistan's National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz on Monday ruled out a potential cricket series against India, saying he saw no chance of a revival of ties between the arch-rivals under "the current situation". Aziz's remarks come with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) awaiting a final response from their Indian counterparts on a series due to be played in December-January in United Arab Emirates. "I see no chance of cricket between Pakistan and India under the current situation," Aziz told Pakistani media in Islamabad. "We need to make (the) situation favourable for cricket and other things."

Sensex surges to touch 27,000
BSE Sensex and Nifty moved higher on Tuesday, tracking gains in global markets. The Sensex surged over 200 points to regain 27,000 while Nifty rose to 8,180 at day's high. These developments were mainly due to the prospect of a delay in the U.S. Federal Reserve's plan to raise interest rates and signs of some stability in oil and commodity markets boosted Asian stocks on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei led the rally and traded 1.5 per cent higher. Overnight, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 304.06 points, or 1.85 per cent, to 16,776.43. The S&P 500 rose for a fifth straight session for the first time this year.

Bihar Polls: NDA close to 2/3rd majority, says new survey
The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance is likely to romp home, even with a two-third majority, going by the latest survey by Zee News and JantaKaMood on Bihar polls. The survey – conducted on September 29 and 30 in all 243 assembly seats with a very big sample size – shows the NDA emerging a clear winner, bagging 147 seats against 64 by the 'Grand Alliance', consisting of JD-U, RJD and the Congress. Survey finds a close fight in the remaining 32 seats, and any party can win from these seats. In the overall percentage share of votes, the NDA is seen enjoying 53.8 percent, the 'Grand Alliance' 40.2 percent and others 6 percent. The five-phase polls in state are to be held from October 12 to November 5, and counting will be on November 8.

Govts get 72-hour deadline to frame policy to stop polluting trucks entering Delhi
The Supreme Court on Monday pressed the alarm button on devising ways and means to arrest the rampant pollution of Delhi's ambient air by over 50,000 trespassing trucks every night. It gave just three days to the Centre, the Delhi government and municipal corporations to chalk out a viable plan.The green bench comprising Chief Justice H L Dattu and Justices Arun Mishra and Adarsh K Goel was in agreement with amicus curiae Harish Salve, who moved the application informing the court that 52,146 commercial vehicles (excluding taxis) entered Delhi every night using the national capital as a transit route mainly to save on the toll they would pay if they used alternative national highways.
 
Health report on Indrani Mukherjea to be submitted to court today
Indrani Mukerjea's statement will recorded today (Tuesday) as she told police on Monday that she did not consume nor was she fed any medicine on Thursday or Friday, when she collapsed at the Byculla jail in Mumbai. Her repeated denial has deepened mystery around the possible reason behind the sudden deterioration of her health and subsequent hospitalization. Though the tests done to determine drug overdose has come negative at the FSL, the test at Hinduja hospital has confirmed presence of anti-depressants in her blood. Officials said this has raised a strong suspicion on the possibility that she herself procured the medicines or somebody fed her. A magistrate on Monday asked the state to submit the status report of Indrani's health on Tuesday.

American Airlines pilot dies during US flight
An American Airlines pilot became ill and died during a flight from Phoenix to Boston Monday but the co-pilot was able to safely land the plane, the US carrier said.The aircraft, an Airbus A320 with 147 passengers and a five-member crew on board, was diverted to Syracuse Hancock International Airport in New York state. "Unfortunately, our pilot passed away. We are incredibly saddened by this event, and we are focused on caring for our pilot's family and colleagues," American Airlines said in a statement. The airlines did not provide any details on the cause of death.

NITI Aayog to evaluate World Bank-funded projects
The government wants the NITI Aayog to evaluate World Bank assisted projects in India for an independent assessment of their impact, an exercise it believes will help build capacity in the new think tank and enhance its credibility besides raising its stature internationally, reports Economic Times. Monitoring and evaluation is one of the key tasks of the Aayog and the government is in the process of reconstituting the Programme Evaluation Organisation of the erstwhile Planning Commission as the Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office to undertake evaluation of all flagship schemes of the Centre.

AirAsia offers festival discount on air tickets
AirAsia India is offering all-inclusive fares starting as low as Rs 1,290 (all-inclusive), aiming to tap festival season demand. Bookings under the AirAsia scheme - valid for travel between October 7, 2015 and February 29, 2016 - can be made till October 18, 2015. Tickets for travelling from Bengaluru to Visakhapatnam and Imphal to Guwahati, and vice versa, are priced at Rs 1,290 - the lowest all-inclusive fare offered under the festival offer.

Asia's biggest coal mine coming up in Jharkhand
Work has started last month in Magadh area of Jharkhand state at a mine site which in five years will be Asia's biggest coal mine. At the open-cast mine, which involves the clearing of more than 18,000 hectares (44,500 acres) of land, noisy excavators are busy digging for coal that will feed a huge power plant being built nearby. India is opening a mine a month as it races to double coal output by 2020.

UP govt asks Twitter to remove objectionable tweets on Dadri
The Uttar Pradesh government has directed the social networking websites to remove objectionable posts and pictures related to the public lynching of a 50-year-old Mohammad Akhlaq over rumours that his family had consumed and stored beef. The UP police, on the directions of the Samajwadi Party government, had written a letter to Twitter Inc asking them to remove some photographs and text uploaded on the social networking platform believed to be related to the Dadri incident.