ammu and Kashmir police chief Shesh Paul Vaid was transferred on Thursday, and posted as a transport commissioner in the same state.

Dilbagh Singh, a 1987 batch IPS officer, will take charge as the new DGP. He will also hold the post of DG (Prisons).

NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Parrty MP and Minister of State Giriraj Singh on Friday alleged that the pictures from Congress chief Rahul Gandhi's Kailash yatra were photoshopped. Tweeting a picture of Rahul in which he can be seen along with a fellow pilgrim, the BJP leader said, "This is photoshopped. Where is the shadow of the wooden cane?" Rahul can be seen holding a cane in the photo.

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The man who Prime Minister Narendra Modi appointed to fix public spending has some plain advice as the Government prepares its first full-year Budget — do not be so dogmatic about trimming the fiscal deficit that you crimp economic growth.

Bimal Jalan, a 73-year-old former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), heads a panel tasked with suggesting measures to reduce India’s subsidy bill and create space for capital spending without compromising fiscal discipline.

In an interview with Reuters, Mr. Jalan said Modi should not shy away from loosening the deficit target to ramp up public investment.

“What I am trying to get at is that nothing should be cast in stone,” he said. “Your policy should be in tune with the changing economic dynamics.”

The Supreme Court on Friday gave a week’s deadline to those states who have failed to file a compliance report on incidents of cow vigilantism and mob lynching as per its July 17 order. Only 11 states and seven union territories have submitted their report till now.

Directing all the states to comply with its directions on the case, the apex court said the home secretary of the defaulting state will have to appear in person if the report is not filed within the given timeframe.

The bench was hearing a plea by Congress leader Tehseen Poonawala, seeking initiation of contempt proceedings against Rajasthan officialsm including the Chief Secretary and the police chief, for alleged violation of the apex court’s verdict in the alleged lynching of dairy farmer Rakbar Khan on July 20.

During the hearing, the central government informed the court that an empowered Group of Ministers has been set up to consider framing a law on mob violence following the top court’s verdict.

In its July 17 hearing, the top court had called for a special law to deal with incidents of lynching and vigilantism and directed that a slew of “preventive, remedial and punitive” measures be adopted to deal with such offences across the country.

After months of delay, the high profile 2+2 Dialogue between India and the US has finally taken place in New Delhi on Thursday. The meeting comes at a much important time – Pakistan’s new government, Taliban’s renewed violence in Afghanistan and American sanctions on Iran and Russia – had sparked many speculations within the Indian strategic community on what would be on the discussion agenda. With a meeting duration of only a few hours, both sides as expected tried to cover as much ground as possible to discuss issues of mutual interest. But here are the key takeaways:

Indore: Amid widespread anger, including calls of 'Bharat bandh', against the amendment to the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has said all political parties should get together to discuss the issue.

A Bharat bandh was called Thursday by some anti-reservation bodies against the amendment to the Act last month.

The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha had, on August 6 and August 9 respectively, passed the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill to overturn a Supreme Court order concerning certain safeguards against arrest under this Act.

SP Vaid, former Director General of the J&K Police has been transferred out of office, following kidnappings of close relatives of ten personnel of the J&K Police who were abducted by militants on September 1. Even as the relatives of the police personnel were later released, the situation raised an alarm throughout the valley, and left the top brass of the police embarrassed.

Vaid, a 1986 batch IPS officer, has been posted as Transport Commissioner J&K, headquartered in Jammu. DGP Prisons, Dilbagh Singh will take his place till a new appointment is made. Vaid served as Director General of the J&K police from March 2016, until now.

West Indies legend Brian Lara, who is in New York as a part of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 Trophy Tour, picked Team India skipper Virat Kohli and England's Test captain Joe Root as the best batsmen in the world right now. During the Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) session, Lara also pointed out that England speedster James Anderson and South Africa pacer Kagiso Rabada are his favourite bowlers. Kohli and Root's units are currently engaged in a five-match Test series in which England have gained an unassailable 3-1 lead. In spite of the result, this series has been a personal triumph for the 29-year-old Indian skipper, who is the leading run-scorer with one match still to be played. The number one Test batsman in the world has scored 544 runs in four matches, including two centuries and three fifties. The fifth and final Test between India and England will be played at the Kennington Oval in London from Friday.

While covering an array of topics during the session, Lara also said that he had a hard time facing spin wizards Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne during his playing days.

Hours after the dissolution of Telangana state Assembly on Thursday, caretaker Chief Minister and TRS President K Chandrasekhar Rao called Congress President Rahul Gandhi as the “biggest buffoon” in the country and dismissed rumours about aligning with a “non-secular” party like BJP for the 2019 elections.

“Everyone knows what Rahul Gandhi is…the biggest buffoon in the country. The whole country has seen how he went and hugged Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Parliament and winked,” Rao said at a press conference, where he also announced candidates for 105 constituencies. He said only two sitting candidates were denied tickets.

When asked about Gandhi’s plans to extensively campaign in Telangana, the TRS chief said, “The more he comes, it will be easier for us (to win elections).” KCR said the Gandhi scion had inherited the legacy of the Congress Delhi empire and appealed to the people of Telangana not to become slaves to Delhi. “The decisions of Telangana should be taken in Telangana,” he said.

Rupee opened higher but failed to sustain initial strength

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the local currency opened higher at 71.67 a dollar against its previous record closing of 71.75, but failed to sustain initial strength and fell back to breach the 72-mark.

The rupee's unabated fall continued for the sixth straight session on Wednesday, hitting yet another closing low of 71.75, down 17 paise against the USD.

Demand for the American currency weighed on the domestic currency

On Wednesday, the rupee plummeted to a historic low of 71.97 a USD in intraday trade.

Forex dealers said besides strong demand for the American currency from importers, concerns about fears of rising fiscal deficit and capital outflows mainly weighed on the domestic currency.
Moreover, weakness in emerging currencies overseas against the dollar too weighed on the domestic currency, they added.