A look at the headlines right now:

  1. India jumps 30 places to 100th position on World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business ranking: However, the country is ranked a poor 156th out of 190 countries on the parameter of starting a business and 181st on granting construction permits.  
  2. BJP names Prem Kumar Dhumal its chief ministerial candidate for Himachal Pradesh Assembly election: He has held the post in the state twice before, from March 1998 to March 2003 and from January 2008 to December 2012.  
  3. Suicide bomber strikes diplomatic area in Afghanistan’s Kabul, many feared dead: At least ten injured were taken to city hospitals, an official said.  
  4. CBI clears Madhya Pradesh CM’s name in the Vyapam scam, files chargesheet against 490 people: The investigation agency said there was no tampering of evidence in the case.  
  5. Bharti Airtel’s net profit declines 76.5% in July-September quarter: The company’s total revenue fell to Rs 21,777 crore, a decline of 11.7% compared to its second-quarter report in 2016.  
  6. Law Commission asks Centre to ratify UN convention against torture, submits draft bill: The panel said that there has to be an effective mechanism to protect the interests of the victims of torture, the complainants and the witnesses.  
  7. Rising intolerance has thrown Indira Gandhi’s idea of India into question, says Rahul Gandhi: On the occasion of her 33rd death anniversary, he said a view of Indianness that is one-sided, discriminatory and even warped was being thrust upon the country.  
  8. Centre’s appointment of interlocutor is an ‘exercise in futility’, say separatist leaders: In a statement, Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik said the government must first acknowledge there is a dispute to be resolved.  
  9. Man planted hijack note because he wanted girlfriend to quit her job at Jet Airways, say police: Birju Kishore Salla is the first person to be arrested under a tough new anti-hijacking law and is facing life in prison.  
  10. Security beefed up amid shutdown call in Amritsar to protest death of Hindu Sangharsh Sena leader: The bandh coincided with the death anniversary of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassin, Beant Singh.