A look at the headlines right now:

  1. At least 21 people dead after boat capsizes in Ganga on Makar Sankranti: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has ordered a probe into the incident.
  2. Sebi slashes broker fees by 25% to lower overall cost of transaction: Besides, the market regulator tightened merger and acquisitions rules, empowered stock exchanges and allowed celebrity endorsement for mutual funds.
  3. Modi is a better brand name than Gandhi for khadi industry in Haryana minister’s ‘personal opinion’: The Bharatiya Janata Party distanced itself from the comment and said, ‘Gandhi is our icon’.
  4. Jallikattu supporters baton-charged, 30 detained in Madurai on the first day of Pongal: Tamil actor Rajinikanth extended his support to the banned bull-taming sport on Friday.
  5. President-elect Donald Trump may lift sanctions on Russia if they help US ‘battle terrorists’: He reiterated his stand that he would not commit to ‘One China’ policy unless Beijing made significant trade concessions.
  6. BSF jawan’s wife demands CBI probe as ministry report says allegations of bad food baseless: The Border Security Force’s internal investigation will be biased as they will definitely attempt to shield themselves, she said.
  7. Surjit Singh Barnala, former Punjab chief minister, dead at 91: He was a Union minister in the Morarji Desai government and governor of three states and one Union Territory between 2000 and 2011.
  8. Centre says it respects RBI’s autonomy as staff alleges ‘unwarranted interference’ after demonetisation: In a letter to the governor, the United Forum of Reserve Bank Officers and Employees said the apex bank’s image got ‘dented beyond repair’ after note ban.
  9. Zhou Youguang, who developed the Pinyin writing system, dies at 111: He worked for three years with a Communist party committee in the 1950s to create the system that Romanises characters in the Chinese language.
  10. Amarinder Singh wants to defeat CM Parkash Singh Badal on his home turf in Punjab Assembly elections: He said he wanted to free the state from the ‘vicious and destructive rule of the Badals’.