North Korea has designated South Korea a “hostile state”, its state media said on Thursday, confirming that its national assembly had amended the constitution in line with their leader’s vow to drop unification as a national goal.

The North’s KCNA news agency reported that the military had blasted sections of road and rail links with South Korea on Tuesday as legitimate action against a hostile state as defined by the constitution.

Sixty-metre (66-yard) sections of the road and railway on the North’s side of the border were now completely blocked as part of a “phased complete separation of its territory” from the South, it said.

The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, approved new industrial, food processing, and MSME policies on October 16.

To encourage investors to partner with Andhra Pradesh for investments, the Cabinet has approved six critical policies, namely, the 'AP Industrial Development Policy 4.0', 'AP MSME & Entrepreneur Development Policy 4.0', 'AP Food Processing Policy 4.0', 'AP Electronics Policy 4.0', 'AP Private Parks Policy 4.0', 'AP Integrated Clean Energy Policy 4.0'.

All the policies are designed to be forward-looking, aiming to boost industrial growth by focusing on job creation, fostering entrepreneurship, addressing climate change, and ultimately generating wealth for the state, the Andhra Pradesh government said.

In move towards strengthening relations between India and Turkiye, the constitution of the Indo-Turkiye Friendship Association (ITFA) was announced in Hyderabad on Wednesday (October 16, 2024). The initiative aims to foster cooperation in areas such as economy and trade, culture and tourism, science and technology, and education between the two countries.

At a media interaction, Consul General of Turkiye in Hyderabad, Orhan Yalman Okan, and ITFA Chairman Faiz Khan underscored measures the association would take up to strengthen ties between the countries.

A Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, in a majority judgment of 4:1 ratio, on Thursday upheld the constitutionality of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955, which permits immigrants from Bangladesh residing in Assam to secure Indian citizenship, as a valid piece of legislation aligned to the Preambular value of fraternity.

The principle of fraternity cannot be selectively applied to one section living in Assam while another lot are labelled “illegal immigrants”, Justice Surya Kant, who authored the lead opinion for the five-judge Bench, observed.

Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud has recommended Justice Sanjiv Khanna to the government for appointment as the 51st Chief Justice of India.

Under the Memorandum of Procedure for appointment of Chief Justice of India and Supreme Court Judges, the Law Ministry seeks the recommendation of the outgoing Chief Justice about the next appointment. The letter from the government kick-starts the appointment process for the next Chief Justice of India.

Justice Sanjiv Khanna is the next in line to be Chief Justice of India in accordance with the seniority norm.

Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh, unveiled the country’s first self-powered indoor air quality monitor, Pavana Chitra, at Thiruvananthapuram International Airport today. Pavana Chitra embodies a powerful fusion of technology, tradition, and art, presenting an off-grid, self-powered indoor air quality monitor powered by indigenous indoor solar cells developed by CSIR-NIIST. It is crafted from locally available materials and designed to mimic the natural process of photosynthesis.

An upcoming artist from Karnal in Haryana, who recently graduated from a UK university, has been named winner in the Emerging Illustrator category at the prestigious Victoria and Albert Museum's Illustration Awards in London.

Aditi Anand, 25, from Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) in Cambridge, England, received the award at a recent ceremony for her artwork ‘Marigolds’, which will be on display at the world-famous Victoria and Albert (V&A) Design Museum in London until September 2025.

Selected from over 2,000 entries that the V&A awards received, ‘Marigolds’, which bagged the GBP 3,000 prize, is set in India and addresses the theme of child labour and lost childhoods.

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly was on Thursday appointed Director of Cricket for JSW Sports, his role covering all its cricketing properties including the Delhi team in the IPL and the WPL along with the Pretoria Capitals franchise in SA20. JSW Sports and GMR Group co-own Delhi Capitals in the IPL and WPL (Women's Premier League) while Pretoria Capitals is owned solely by JSW Sports. "In his role, Ganguly will spearhead all cricketing properties owned by JSW Sports, including the Delhi Capitals men's IPL and women's WPL teams, and the Pretoria Capitals that plays in the SA20 League in South Africa," said JSW Sports in a statement.

Ganguly joined Delhi Capitals in 2019 as an advisor, where he worked alongside coach Ricky Ponting, and later returned to the franchise as Director of Cricket after his stint as BCCI president.

Ganguly's appointment came soon after it was decided that the management of cricket operations for Delhi Capitals' teams in the IPL and the WPL will be handled in a two-year rotation policy between GMR Group and JSW Group.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah honoured Maharishi Valmiki on his Jayanti by garlanding his statue at the Legislators' House in Vidhana Soudha. He used the occasion to announce key initiatives to promote equality and empowerment for marginalised communities.

In a major move, Siddaramaiah declared that all government residential schools in Karnataka will be renamed as 'Maharshi Valmiki Residential Schools.' Additionally, Raichur University will be renamed as 'Maharishi Valmiki University,' aligning with efforts to honour the contributions of Maharishi Valmiki.

Reiterating the message of social reformer Dr BR Ambedkar, Siddaramaiah highlighted the importance of tackling both economic and social inequalities.

India's central bank barred four non-bank finance companies (NBFCs) from sanctioning and disbursing loans due to "usurious" pricing and breaching regulatory norms, it said in a release on Thursday.
The ban on Asirvad Micro Finance, Arohan Financial Services, DMI Finance and Navi Finserv is effective from the close of business on Oct. 21, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said.

The companies' pricing policies in terms of their weighted average lending rate (WALR) and the interest spread charged over their cost of funds were found to be excessive and did not adhere to regulations, the RBI said.

"In addition to usurious pricing, these NBFCs were variously found to be in non-adherence with the regulatory guidelines on assessment of household income and consideration of existing/ proposed monthly repayment obligations in respect of their microfinance loans," the RBI said.