Three civilians were killed and eight others injured on Friday in fresh ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistani troops indulged in unprovoked firing and heavy mortar shelling in the RS Pura sector. Mortar shelling from the Pakistan side was still on and the Border Security Force (BSF) troops were retaliating accordingly. The injured have been admitted to hospital and are receiving medical aid.

1965 war anniversary today; President Mukherjee to pay homage to martyrs
President Pranab Mukherjee will on Friday pay homage to the martyred soldiers to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1965 India-Pakistan war. Nearly 3,000 soldiers, sailors and airmen were killed in the 17-day war. The President will lay a wreath at the Amar Jawan Jyoti memorial to the Unknown Soldier at the India Gate in Delhi.The war saw aircraft of the Indian and Pakistani air forces engaging in combat for the first time since independence in 1947. During the conflict, India captured around 1,920 sq km of Pakistani territory, while Pakistan captured 550 sq km of Indian territory.

Parrikar to chair Defence Acquisition Council meet today
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar will chair a crucial Defence Acquisition Council meeting on Friday during which some significant decisions on procurements would be taken. Since the new government took over in May last year, the DAC has cleared defence purchases worth over Rs 1.5 lakh crore.

Sensex jumps over 350 pts; Nifty reclaims 8,050
The S&P BSE Sensex surged over 300 points in trade on Friday tracking positive trend seen in other Asian markets. The rally in the index was led by gains in HDFC Bank, ITC, Infosys, HDFC and RIL.The Nifty surged over 100 points to reclaim its crucial psychological resistance level of 8050, supported by gains in FMCG, Pharma, IT, banks, capital goods and realty.

Senior ministers, top RSS brass to meet next week
The Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh brass will huddle together with representatives from over three dozen of its affiliates, including the BJP, in the national capital next week for "coordination and exchange of notes." The September 2-4 conclave will be attended by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and its top office-bearers. Several senior ministers of the Narendra Modi government are likely to drop in during the discussion on specific issues. Prime minister Narendra Modi may also be present in one of the sessions.

Gujarat okays laws to make land acquisition easy
In absence of opposition, the Gujarat Legislative Assembly today passed two crucial bills facilitating industries as well as civic bodies to acquire, develop or sell land by amending present land laws. While the 'Gujarat Agricultural Lands Ceiling (Amendment) Bill 2015' seeks to amend prevailing Agricultural Land Ceiling Act, enacted in 1960, the 'Gujarat Tenancy and Agricultural Land Laws (Amendment) Bill 2015 aims at amending various Acts related to tenancy enacted more than 60 years ago.  the Gujarat Agricultural Land Ceiling (Amendment) Bill, 2015, proposes use of surplus farm land for industrial purpose, the Gujarat Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2015, promises equity shares to those who sell their land to companies for industrial development

Coal block allocation formalities for fourth round in last stage
Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal has said the process and formalities of the fourth round of coal block auctions are in the last stage. The first three rounds of coal block auctions had fetched state governments Rs 3 lakh crore spread over 30 years.

Celebrations for Onam to start from today
Floral decorations outside home, early morning visit to a temple followed by grand lunch and spending day with family and friends is how people will be looking to celebrate Onam in Kerala and other parts of the world. Onam, a festival that goes on for three days is celebrated to mark the return of King Bali who ruled present day Kerala. Legend has it that Lord Vishnu in Vamana avatar after taking over all land from Bali gave him a promise to allow him to visit his people once every year.

Govt, RBI reach consensus on monetary policy committee
The government and the Reserve Bank have reached a consensus on the structure for the proposed interest-rate setting Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said on Thursday. "As far as MPC is concerned, we have reached a consensus with RBI. On that, a (Cabinet) note has been prepared. We will have to see when it gets to the Cabinet," he said. He did not elaborate on the composition as well as voting rights of the RBI Governor in the MPC, which is to replace the current practice of the Governor deciding on interest rate on advice of the technical advisory committee.

Registration for Modi's Silicon Valley event beats Madison Square Garden rush
After registration for members of the 500 community organisations, individual registration to the Silicon Valley community reception for prime minister Narendra Modi have kicked off here, less than a month before his scheduled second visit to the US. Through posts on social media and the website -- www.pmmodiinca.org -- the Indo-American Community of West Coast said individuals have time till August 31 to register for the September 27 reception at the SAP Centre in San Jose, California. More than 40,000 people signed up for the reception, surpassing the 30,000 registrations for the Madison Square Garden reception in New York last September.

Treat acid attack victims or face action: Govt to pvt hospitals
The government on Wednesday warned private hospitals of cancellation of their registration in case they refused to treat acid attack victims in the national capital. In its order issued on August 25, the government referred to the recent changes in law, mandating providing of first-aid or free treatment to victims of certain offences including acid attack.

RBI withdraws 25% bank compensation for detecting fake note
The Reserve Bank on Friday said it has withdrawn the instructions on compensation to banks at 25 percent of the notional value of counterfeit notes detected. "The instructions on compensation to banks at 25 percent of the notional value of counterfeit notes detected and reported and the system of lodging claims for compensation by Forged Note Vigilance Cell of banks stands withdrawn," RBI said in a communication addressed to all bank chiefs.