Sensex slumps to terrorist flees in Srinagar hospital attack: Top stories of the day

Shares slid and the rupee weakened as a global market rout whacked sentiment. Militants attacked a Srinagar hospital and helped a Pakistani terrorist to escape. These stories made news on Tuesday. Here is more about them.

Shares slid and the rupee weakened as a global market rout whacked sentiment. Militants attacked a Srinagar hospital and helped an imprisoned Pakistani terrorist to escape. These stories made news on Tuesday. Here is more about them.

Security personnel comb Srinagar after a terrorist escaped from police custody during an attack on the city’s Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital Hospital.(PTI)

Sensex drops for sixth session amidst global rout

Benchmark indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty fell for a sixth consecutive session, as the global market rout whacked sentiment, with lingering concerns of a tighter monetary policy ahead of a central bank meeting on Wednesday. The Sensex ended 561 points lower after falling 1,274.35 points in intraday trade, while Nifty closed 168 points down. In the early trade, both Nifty and Sensex fell nearly 3.5%, their biggest intraday fall since August 2015.

Pakistani terrorist flees after shooting at Srinagar hospital

Two policemen were killed when militants attacked a government hospital in Srinagar and helped a Pakistani terrorist to escape, police said. Naveed Jat, aka Abu Hanzulla, fled after armed gunmen shot at policemen accompanying him at the Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital for his health check-up.

Bank of Baroda’s misadventures drag it into South Africa’s political crisis

A scandal involving the Bank of Baroda’s (BoB) South Africa operations, Indian-origin Gupta brothers, and South African President Jacob Zuma, has undermined the reputation of India’s second largest bank and resulted in an unprecedented penalty by the South African Reserve Bank. A Hindustan Times investigation reveals a laundry list of potential violations, and a seeming disregard for banking ethics and regulations by BoB’s branches in Johannesburg and Durban.

38 infected with HIV in UP district, quack blamed

Thirty-eight people in Bangarmau town in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao district contracted HIV after a quack used a single syringe to “treat his patients”, said officials. Rajendra Yadav bicycled village to village and treated people for Rs 10 as fees but is now untraceable.

State of emergency in Maldives, ex-president seeks India’s help

Maldivian police stand guard on a main street during a protest by opposition supporters against the government's delay in releasing their jailed leaders, including former president Mohamed Nasheed. (REUTERS)

The Maldives’ top judge was arrested as security forces stormed the Supreme Court at dawn, after President Abdulla Yameen declared a state of emergency in the honeymoon islands. Exiled former Maldivian president Mohamed Nasheed urged India to “act swiftly” to help in resolving the crisis in his nation.

22 candidates file papers for Nagaland elections; boycott ends

Candidates for assembly elections in Nagaland started filing their nomination papers, ending a boycott announced by 11 political parties. As many as 22 candidates submitted their papers to returning officers at 17 of the total 60 constituencies. National and regional parties had signed a joint declaration not to take part in the election till the Naga political problem was resolved.

Formula soon to give special package to Andhra Pradesh: Arun Jaitley

Andhra Pradesh will get funds to manage its finances after the state was split for the formation of Telangana, said finance minister Arun Jaitley. “I think a solution by which an amount can be given through an alternative mechanism is being worked out,” he said. The Telugu Desam Party, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s biggest southern, ally has been pressing for a financial package.

No notice to taxpayers for minor filing mismatch in income tax returns

The Income Tax department will not issue demand notice to people if there is a minor mismatch between their income tax return and their corresponding tax credit data it collects. The measure is aimed to help small and salaried class of taxpayers.

Possibility of misuse is no reason to strike down Aadhaar law: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Tuesday observed that the possibility of misuse of Aadhaar law cannot be a reason for striking it down. Emphasising the need to have a data protection law to safeguard an individual’s privacy, Justice Chandrachud said, “Even voluntary parting of personal data to a private entity is only “notionally consensual”. That is why we have pointed out (in the privacy judgment) the need for a proper data protection regime.”

Twitter accounts of Anupam Kher, Ram Madhav, Swapan Dasgupta hacked

Turkish hackers Ayyildiz Tim apparently broke through the Twitter accounts of actor Anupam Kher, BJP general secretary Ram Madhav and Rajya Sabha member Swapan Dasgupta on Tuesday after similar attacks on the social media accounts of conservative American personalities last month.