Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal is facing flak for appointing Swati Maliwal, the wife of a party colleague, as the new head of the Delhi Commission for Women.Opposition parties have accused Kejriwal of indulging in nepotism and double standards. Maliwal is currently Kejriwal's advisor on grievances. She is the wife of Aam Aadmi Party leader Naveen Jaihind.

Narendra Modi launches National Skill Development Mission

On the occasion of the first World Youth Skills Day, the government has launched Skill India campaign today. On this historic occasion, prime minister Narendra Modi formally unveiled the national policy for skill development and entrepreneurship 2015 and launched “National Skill Development Mission”.

Champions League T20 tournament scrapped due to lack of interest

The Champions League Twenty20 tournament, run since 2009 by the BCCI, Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa, has been discontinued with immediate effect because of lack of interest.The development has come just a day after supreme court appointed Justice Lodha Committee gave a stinging verdict suspending IPL teams CSK and Rajasthan Royals for two years. The 2015 edition was scheduled for September and October. Launched by the three cricket boards in 2008, the competition offered a highly lucrative prize pool of $6 million with $2.5 million going to the winners.

Iran nuclear deal means cheaper oil and gas

Iran has reached a historic nuclear deal that is likely to result in easing of sanctions in exchange for curbs on Tehran's nuclear programme. The biggest takeaway from the deal is that India can buy oil at a cheaper price because of a possible drop in oil prices as Iran looks to double crude exports. Iran also has one of the largest natural gas reserves in the world and India plans to buy five million tonnes of natural gas per year. Therefore,  IMF said countries like India  will reap modest benefits from lower global oil prices as it does not fully pass on the benefits to consumers. IMF expects India’s GDP to get a boost of between 0.4 and 0.6 percentage point in 2015 and 2016.

Anna Hazare to begin hunger strike on October 2 over Land Acquisition Bill, OROP

Social activist Anna Hazare on Wednesday announced that he would go on indefinite hunger strike from October 02 over Land Acquisition Bill and One Rank, One Pension (OROP). Hazare will stage his strike from Ramlila Maidan in Delhi. He has voiced his opposition against the contentious land bill. Hazare had written to the prime minister  urging him not to pass the new ordinance on the legislation. Today he met former defence officials at his native village Ralegan Siddhi in Ahmednagar district and discussed ways in which the OROP issue could be taken up with the government.

Diabetic eligible for appointment in govt posts, rules Madras HC

Making it clear that a diabetic is eligible for appointment in government posts as there is no scientific proof to show such a person would not be able to discharge his duties, the Madras High Court has directed Southern Railways to appoint an applicant within eight weeks. A division bench comprising Justices V Ramasubramanian and T Mathivanan gave the direction while dismissing a petition by Chief Personal Officer of Southern Railway, denying appointment to a woman on the ground that she was a diabetic.

Indians keen to send kids abroad for higher studies: HSBC

Parents are increasingly willing to spend more for kids' education overseas as 88 percent of them want to send their children abroad for post-graduate studies, said an HSBC survey. According to the global financial services company, India has the world's highest proportion of parents (88 percent) who are willing to send their children abroad for higher studies, ahead of Turkey (83 percent), Malaysia and China (82 percent each).

Andhra Pradesh orders probe into stampede at pushkaram

A day after a stampede at the bathing ghat in Rajahmundry claimed 27 lives, authorities today stepped up vigil, diverting pilgrims to various bathing ghats to avoid overcrowding even as the state government ordered a judicial inquiry into the mishap that occurred on the first day of the 'Pushkaram' festival. Policemen were on their toes as heavy rush was expected on the day of "Aadi Amavasya" today, which is considered auspicious to perform rituals, even as pilgrims have been told not to flock to a single ghat.

PM Modi preoccupied, to miss President Mukherjee's Iftar

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sudhanshu Trivedi has said that the peime minister Narendra Modi is preoccupied with important programs, and therefore, would not be able to attend the Rashtrapati Bhavan event.