Of the 20 people dead, a few were policemen. Lahore Police Chief Capt (R) Amin Wains confirmed that it was a suicide blast and the “target was police”. He also confirmed that it was a suicide blast.

The injured were shifted to the hospitals and emergency was declared in city’s hospitals by the rescue team. According to the official “the condition of several injured is said to be critical”. The explosion took place at a busy market near the Arfa Karim Software Technology Park, said the officials.

Citing police sources, Geo News reported that a suicide attacker targeted police personnel deployed at the site. The area has been cordoned off by a heavy contingent of security forces and the section of the road sealed. In April this year, six people were killed and 15 injured when a suicide bomber targeted a population census team in Lahore’s Bedian Road.

The counting of votes for the presidential election began at 11 am on Thursday. The contest, between the ruling NDA’s Ram Nath Kovind and the Opposition’s Meira Kumar, both Dalits, had seen nearly 99 per cent lawmakers and legislators cast their vote – the highest ever.  Current President Pranab Mukherjee’s term is ending on July 24 and Kovind will take the oath the next day to become India’s 14th President.

Though he won by a comfortable margin, his rival Meira Kumar ended up with the best haul for an opposition candidate in recent times.  “I realise it is a great responsibility,” the 71-year-old said at his home in Delhi, where a crowd burst crackers and distributed sweets in celebration. PM Modi tweeted: “Congratulations to Shri Ram Nath Kovind Ji on being elected the President of India! Best wishes for a fruitful & inspiring tenure.”

Scott Ludlam and Larissa Waters, born in New Zealand and Canada respectively, resigned from the Senate after they found out they actually held citizenship to those countries on account of their birth. Both said they were unaware of their foreign citizenship, due to having left those countries at very young ages. Section 44 of the Federal Constitution blocks dual citizens from entering Parliament.

There are 23 other Australian MPs and senators aside from Ludlam and Waters who were born overseas. All of them have told the ABC they comply with the Constitution’s citizenship requirements and nearly half of them have also made public clarifications in the wake of their colleagues’ bungles.

Labor senator Sam Dastyari, who was born in Iran, was quick to jump on social media after the announcements, revealing he spent $25,000 to give up his Iranian citizenship. MPs Rebekha Sharkie (Nick Xenophon Team), Brian Mitchell (Labor), and former Liberal prime minister Tony Abbott were all born in the United Kingdom, and also said they had given up their foreign citizenship. For the record I’m Australian. “Made sure my dual UK citizenship renounced BEFORE election #trueblue”- tweeted by Rebekha Sharkie.

He stated that post demonetisation, 37000 companies have been detected to be indulging in tax evasion and over three lakh firms are under the scanner for suspicious dealings. “With stricter norms and legal actions the current government has been successful in deregistering over 1 lakh firms,” he said.

He also highlighted the fact that it would become tougher day after day for the people who are stashing illicit funds in the Swiss Bank, once automatic tax information exchange regime commences between India and Switzerland. He also emphasised on how the government has changed the older laws and strengthened the new ones against corruption and black money. “GST will weed out black money” said Modi. During the launch of the new curriculum, PM tried to link the new provisions of GST to the enhanced role of CAS in our country.

Highlighting the role of CA’s, he encouraged them to bring their clients on the path of integrity and honesty and how the development of a country can be hindered due to their indulgence in unfair practices. “Your signature is more powerful than that of the prime minister and the government also believes the accounts signed by you,” he said addressing the CAs. Further, he asked CAs that if they know anyone with black money, they should warn them that they would not be spared.

The Prime Minister stressed, besides the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, the country is also cleaning its economy and has taken a tough stand against those who have looted the nation. He believes that it is the responsibility of CA’s to safeguard society’s economic health. He motivated them to never let any opportunities slip out and start preparing a roadmap for 2024 – when the institute would be completing 75 years.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, other ministers as well as bureaucrats were present at the function which was also telecast at various city capitals.

“The pilgrims headed for base camps at Baltal and Nunwan are requested to check the status of the yatra with the control room or helpline set up by the SASB before starting off, ” the official said.
Braving inclement weather, over 6,000 pilgrims on Thursday paid obeisance at Amarnath amid tight security.

Accordingly, the next Union Budget could be presented by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in November this year. This would be another historic change after advancement of the Budget presentation to February 1 this year, ending the decades-old practice of presenting the annual exercise in the last week of February.

The financial year from April 1 to March 31, currently in vogue nationally, was adopted in 1867 principally to align the Indian financial year with that of the British government. Till then, the financial year in India used to commence on May 1 and end on April 30 of the following calendar year.

After Modi expressed his desire to align the financial year with the calendar year, the government had last year appointed a high-level committee to study the feasibility of shifting the financial year to January 1.

A few months back, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance also recommended shifting the financial year to the January-December. Modi while advocating a change in the financial year had said that there is a need to develop robust arrangements that could function amidst diversity. “Because of poor time management, many good initiatives and schemes had failed to deliver the anticipated results,” the prime minister had said.

Around 16 minutes after lift-off, the rocket placed its main payload -Cartosat-2 Series Satellite– in orbit. The satellite is the sixth in the Cartosat-2 series. The launch also marked the second highest number of payloads in a single flight after ISRO launched 104 satellites onboard PSLV-C37 on February 15 this year.

As the rocket propelled further up the space, it ejected 30 other nano satellites. Twenty-nine satellites belonged to 14 foreign countries — Austria, Belgium, Chile, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, the UK and the US.One nano satellite was made by students of Noorul Islam University in Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu

PM Narendra Modi congratulated ISRO on the successful launch. “Congratulations to ISRO on its 40th successful Polar Satellite launch carrying 31 satellites from 15 countries. You make us proud!” he says in his tweet.

BJP President, Amit Shah announced Ram Nath Kovind, Governor of Bihar, as the presidential nominee of the party. If got elected, Ram Nath Kovind would become the second Dalit President after KR Narayan. 71 year old Kovind is known as the loyal supporter of Dalit and voice of the weaker sections. “Ramnathji has always spoken for the deprived sections, and has had a long career in speaking out for Dalits and oppressed sections,” said Mr. Shah, while making the announcement.

Kovind joined BJP in the year 1991 after serving 16 years as a lawyer. After his graduation in law, he went to Delhi to study for the civil services examination, which he cleared in the third attempt. Later, in the year 1994 he was elected as the Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh. He served as the MP for two consecutive terms, i.e. for twelve continuous years till 2006. The President of India appointed him as the Governor of Bihar on 8^th August 2015.

The selection of a Dalit leader for President is a move by the BJP to consolidate its growing support among backward castes and poorer voters. “With his illustrious background in the legal arena, Shri Kovind’s knowledge and understanding of the Constitution will benefit the nation. I am sure Shri Ram Nath Kovind will make an exceptional president and continue to be a strong voice for the poor, downtrodden and marginalised,” Mr. Modi tweeted after the decision of the parliamentary board meeting became public.

A baby boy was delivered 35000 feet above the sea level on Sunday, 18 June 2017 on Jet Airways from Saudi Arabia (Dammam) to India (Kochi). The newborn was rewarded with a free lifetime pass for air travel.

A 30 weeks pregnant lady went into premature labor and a baby boy was born around 8:45 A.M. An emergency landing of Boeing 737 took place at the Mumbai airport and both the mother and the baby were rushed to a nearby hospital there and were said to be doing well.

Thanks to the quick actions of cabin crew and a trained paramedic on board, the baby was born healthy before the plane landed. The airline commended its crew “for their response and promptness that saw them successfully translate their training into life-saving action”

The plane later resumed its onward journey to Kochi and reached its destination at 12:45 P.M. after a delay of 90 minutes.

A thousand praises to Illumination for keeping the minions down to the very minimum. In the few scenes they are employed, they do manage to bring in laughter. The best thing is their time as a ruthless prison gang, snapping fingers on unison as they abuse fellow convicts.

It has truckloads of action to keep you entertained and a bit of drama to evoke emotions. There is so much going on in every scene it becomes impossible to stop and complain about anything. Fast-paced and loaded with adventure, this one rarely has a dull moment. Hence, the last instalment of Illuminations can be considered the “Knight and Day” and “Mission Impossible” of animated films.