A look at the headlines right now:

  1. Sabarimala temple opens today, state government asks women to get SC order to enter shrine: The shrine will be opened at 5 pm and security has been tightened with over 10,000 police personnel posted in and around the area.
  2. Government to amend law to increase insurance cover on bank deposits, says Nirmala Sitharaman: The finance minister said the government will address the concerns of the telecom sector after Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea reported historic losses.
  3. Shiv Sena closer to forming Maharashtra government with NCP-Congress, to meet governor today: Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar claimed the alliance would last the entire five years.
  4. Consumer expenditure survey withheld because of data quality problems, claims Centre: Reports had said on Friday that consumer spending fell for first time since 1970s in 2017-’18. Meanwhile, Union minister Suresh Angadi claimed the economy was doing fine as people were getting married and airports were full.
  5. CBI searches Amnesty office in Bengaluru over alleged FCRA violations: In a statement, Amnesty India said that in the past year, a ‘pattern of harassment’ had emerged every time the organisation flagged human rights violations.
  6. Pakistan must hand over terrorists if it wants to improve ties with India, says S Jaishankar: Islamabad must show that it is willing to cooperate, he added during an interview to French newspaper Le Monde.
  7. Former J&K Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti moved to warmer location as temperatures dip: Around 30 other political detainees were also moved for similar reasons, officials said.
  8. SC raps northern states, says odd-even scheme not a long-term solution to solve air pollution: The bench said the governments of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Haryana had failed to take effective steps to curb pollution. A parliamentary panel’s Friday meeting on pollution was cancelled as key officials as well as 25 of the 29 MPs, including Gautam Gambhir, were not present.
  9. In Shehla Rashid sedition case, court tells Delhi Police to give 10 days’ pre-arrest notice to activist: The court issued the direction after dismissing an anticipatory bail plea by Rashid.
  10. SC verdict on Rafale paved way for CBI inquiry, say petitioners Yashwant Sinha, Bhushan, Arun Shourie: Lawyer Prashant Bhushan said the CBI had to seek the Centre’s permission to look into the case and had three months to do so.