Morning briefing: Notification for second phase of Bihar polls today, BJP targets Yadav votes

GN Bureau | September 21, 2015



The Election Commission of India (ECI) will issue a notification for the second phase of assembly elections in Bihar on Monday. Voting of this phase will be held on October 16 in 32 constituencies out of 243 assembly seats. Last day of nomination paper is 28th September. Scrutiny will be on next day 29th September. Candidates can withdraw their nomination paper till 1st October. Polls to the 243-seat Bihar Assembly will be held in five phases between the 12th of next month and the 5th of November. The counting of votes will take place on November 8. Meanwhile,  BJP has nominated three more Yadavs for the Bihar polls — taking the total count of its Yadav candidates to 22 — in what is being seen as a sign of its hope of eating into the votes of the community staunchly aligned with Lalu Prasad.

India-Pakistan to hold flag meeting today
India and Pakistan will be holding a flag meeting today at Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir. The agenda of the meeting is peace on the volatile border, which has been witnessing constant firing from across the border and tense situation. The meeting will be of Brigade Commander level and it will take place at Chakan da Bagh crossing point at LoC.

Sensex slips due to Asian jitters
The S&P BSE Sensex slips over 200 points in trade on Monday following muted trend seen in other Asian markets.The 50-share Nifty index slipped below its crucial psychological level of 7,950, and was trading near its crucial support level of 7,900. At 10 am sensex was 26025.86, down 193 points. Asian shares followed Wall Street lower on Monday after the Federal Reserve's decision to keep interest rates at record lows raised fresh concerns about growth globally, particularly in China. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index and South Korea's Kospi traded with heavy losses, shedding 1.5 per cent each. Australia's ASX 200 was down by 2.5 per cent while China's Shanghai Composite traded with marginal gains of 0.6 per cent. Japan's Nikkei will remain closed till Thursday on account of public Holidays.

Income tax notices to be sent by email
The Income Tax Department has decided to launch a new system of issuing email notices, eliminating  postal delays and obviating the need for a physical interface with the tax department officials.  If a taxpayer provides the department with a bona fide email address in his/her income tax return (ITR), the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) will be able to send him/her an e-notice and not a paper document dispatched through post for which he/she usually has to travel and meet the Assessing Officer (AO). The taxpayer can respond through the email.

Delhi will be top three air polluted cities till 2050
A new research published in science journal 'Nature' said Delhi had the world's second highest number of deaths caused by sources of air pollution and, further projected that in the absence of adequate measures to combat it, the city may continue to be among the top three air polluted cities till 2050. Poor air quality means many diseases and premature mortality.

RBI issues new Rs 100 and 500 notes
The RBI has issued Rs 100 and Rs 500 denomination bank notes in Mahatma Gandhi Series – 2005. The new numbering pattern has numerals in both the number panels in ascending size from left to right, while the first three alphanumeric characters are constant in size, which is a visible security feature in the bank notes so that the general public can easily distinguish a counterfeit note from a genuine one. Apart from ascending numerical patterns for the visually impaired there are angular bleed lines on both right and left side of the note on the front side. While rupees 100 will have four bleed lines rupees 500 and rupees 1000 notes will feature five and six bleed lines respectively. Another identification mark used is a triangle sign for rupees 100 while a circle and diamond sign on rupees 500 and rupees 1,000 notes respectively.

Competition panel to study healthcare sector service delivery and nexus
The Competition Commission of India will conduct a detailed study of the pharma and healthcare services sector in the national capital region after observing various factors like non-availability of essential medicines, increasing price of drugs , nexus between pharmaceutical companies and pharmacists, nexus between pharmacists and doctors, nexus between doctors and pathological laboratories, nexus between doctors and pharmaceutical companies, and nexus between hospitals and insurance companies. The regulator has invited Expression of Interest (EOI) from entities for carrying out the study.

Internet ban in Gujarat hits startups, e-commerce ventures
Quota agitation by the Patels has hit business in Gujarat. The suspension of internet and mobile phone text message services in the state in view of the reservation stir  has been affecting startups and ecommerce ventures. Stoppage of these services has affected online orders, operational efficiency of ecommerce ventures and payment issues as online shoppers need one-time password SMS validation system for payments.

FDI cap in DTH, cable networks may go up
Government may raise FDI limit in broadcasting carriage and content services, including DTH and cable networks. The proposals, made by  the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) in 2013, include hiking foreign direct investment cap in cable networks, direct-to-home (DTH), Mobile TV, HITS (Headend-in-the Sky Broadcasting Service) and Teleports to 100 per cent, from 74 per cent at present.In case of broadcasting content services - uplinking of news and current affairs TV channels, the proposal under discussion is to raise the limit to 49 per cent from the present 26 per cent, they said.

CAT 2015 registration low, extension by 5 days
Due to less number of candidates, the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) have extended the CAT (Common Admission Test) 2015 registration window by five days.  IIM Ahmedabad, the organising IIM for CAT 2015, has extended the deadline, allowing candidates to register till September 25th.

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