The 7th pay commission will submit its report to the government at 7.30 pm today. The recommendations of the commission have to be implemented with effect from 1 January 2016 and are likely to further burden the government exchequer and put pressure on inflation.Meanwhile, the government employees are holding a national protest day todaqy (Thursday), opposing contractualization of jobs, and demanding a better salary structure. However, the central government has asked all ministries and departments to stop employees from taking leave or joining a workers’ strike today.

RBI employees strike today
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) employees are on “mass casual leave” today (Thursday) in protest of institutional changes proposed by the central bank’s governor Raghuram Rajan and to push for higher pension. The walk-out could affect bond trading and some banking operations as the clearing and settlement of transactions through real-time gross settlement (RTGS) may slow down. Rajan had spearheaded an organizational structure change in 2014-15 wherein the central bank reclassified roles and departments, according to a cluster approach. The unions are demanding that the government should refrain from clipping the powers of the RBI. The other key issue is that the pension of the central bank employees must be revised adjusting to the rising wages.

Sensex, Nifty trade higher on positive global cues
At 9.40 am lthe S&P BSE Sensex is up 0.54%, or 137.11 points, to 25,619.63, while the 50-share CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange rose 0.52%, or 40.55 points, to 7,772.30. Meanwhile, Asian shares climbed on Thursday and the dollar backed off highs on expectations the Federal Reserve would be confident enough of the US economy to raise rates in December but would then proceed with great caution on further tightening. The pick-up in risk sentiment combined with the dip in the dollar gave commodities a reprieve from recent selling, with oil and gold edging higher.

50 Uttar Pradesh districts declared drought-hit
Lucknow: As many as 50 of the 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh were on Wednesday declared drought-hit by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav with revenue realisation suspended in these. As per the MeT Department, only 53.50 per cent rainfall was recorded between June to September 30. In 33 of these districts, rainfall of 40 to 60 per cent was recorded while, in 16 districts, it was below 40 per cent. The district magistrates of these districts having been asked to chalk out a plan to deal with the situation and ensure that farmers are not harassed in the name of revenue relisation.

Shots fired near PM's residence; police call it accident
Shots were fired "accidentally" by a Delhi Police constable outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 7, Race Course Road residence on Wednesday night. An inquiry has been ordered into the episode which occurred at around 8:15 PM. No FIR has been registered so far, he said. The police said a constable posted with the PCR wing "accidentally" fired three rounds while loading his AK-47 rifle during change of duty in the media parking lot opposite the prime minister's residence.

4 TN lawyers directed to tender apology in open court
Observing that members of the Bar are officers of the court and should not impede its functioning, Madras High Court on Wednesday directed four advocates to tender an apology to a magistrate court for closing its door and preventing its presiding officer from entering it. A division bench comprising Justice Satish K Agnihotry and Justice P Devadass gave the direction while closing a suo motu contempt petition against advocates K Ramamurthy, K Mayilsamy, R Dominic Ravi and G Prabakaran. The four advocates had locked the court hall of the District Munsif-cum-Judicial Magistrate in Rameswaram on March 17 last during a protest. The court staff and others were also prevented from entering the court. When the Presiding Officer and the staff entered the court through another entrance and started the proceedings, the four lawyers came inside the Court Hall, used abusive words against the Presiding Officer and disrupted the proceedings. When high court took up the contempt matter, the laywers submitted apology letters and assured that in future such things will not occur.

BJP makes first gains in Kerala and takes control of Palakkad municipality
Gaining power for the first time in a local body in Kerala, BJP took control of the Palakkad municipality. Palakkad, bordering Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, is considered to be the gateway to Kerala. BJP's Prameela Sashidharan was elected chairperson of the municipality as she defeated UDF candidate Priya in the election that was held following the recent civic polls.  Though it failed to get a simple majority in the civic polls, BJP, with 24 members, emerged as the single-largest party in the 52-member municipal council.
The party made inroads in various areas, especially in Thiruvananthapuram, Palakkad and Ernakulam, thus posing a stiff threat to both the fronts. In the 100-member Thiruvananthapuram City corporation, BJP managed to wrest 34 seats, pushing UDF, with 21 seats, to the third position while LDF, which held the corporation for the last two decades, managed to win 42 wards.

Govt sets up fund to prevent student loan defaults
The government has set up a higher education credit guarantee fund that will guard against default of education loans, giving bankers confidence to lend to students, reported Mint. The Credit Guarantee Fund For Education Loans will provide credit guarantee for a maximum loan amount of Rs.750,000 without any collateral or third-party guarantee. As a guard against possible default, all education loans will be linked to Aadhaar number of the borrower and will be tracked by a credit information bureau like Credit Information Bureau Ltd (CIBIL).