A look at the headlines right now:

  1. Set up special courts to expedite cases in which MPs, MLAs are accused, SC tells Centre: The Election Commission has told the top court that it supports banning convicted legislators from ever standing for polls.
  2. Demonetisation and GST have destroyed everything, Rahul Gandhi says in Bharuch: The Congress leader disagreed with the World Bank’s global list on Ease of Doing Business in which India was ranked 100 out of 190 countries on Tuesday.
  3. US President Donald Trump orders vetting of travellers to be increased after New York attack: An Uzbek-origin man driving a truck had killed eight people in Manhattan on Tuesday evening.
  4. Six dead, schools remain shut as rain continues to lash parts of Tamil Nadu: Water had entered people’s houses in Krishna Nagar and Lakshmipuram at Mudichur.
  5. Scientists warn of more smog over next few days in Delhi due to low wind speed: The sudden drop in night temperature and high moisture content also led to a rise in pollution between 9 and 10 am over the last few days.
  6. Centre offers Swiss couple attacked in Agra two nights at five-star hotel: Tourism Minister KJ Alphons wrote a letter to them, saying the offer was a ‘token of our concern’.
  7. Defence Ministry reportedly approves buying 111 naval choppers for Rs 21,738 crore: The government will now identify a foreign helicopter manufacturer and an Indian defence company to form a joint venture for the project.
  8. Over 40% train seats go empty on Mumbai-Ahmedabad route where Centre plans its first bullet train: Seats going vacant on the route accounted for loss of Rs 30 crore in the July-September quarter for the Western Railways, an RTI query showed.
  9. National anthem every morning, Vande Mataram every evening, Jaipur mayor orders municipal staff: Ashok Lahoty said those who oppose the decision should go to Pakistan.
  10. Scientists detect new variant of dengue virus in Southern India: The emergence of the Asian genotype of dengue virus is associated with “extensive and severe” outbreak in Southern India.