Bringing cheers to 50 lakh central government employees and 65 lakh pensioners ahead of Diwali, the Cabinet on Wednesday announced an increase of 5 percentage points to 17 per cent in dearness and relief allowances, envisaging an additional annual outgo of Rs 16,000 crore.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Wednesday sought to remind Prime Minister Narendra Modi that "unlike him" former premier Indira Gandhi never sought votes in the name of the "valour of the Army" but had given credit to the security personnel for winning a crucial war for the country.

John Goodenough of the US, Britain's Stanley Whittingham and Japan's Akira Yoshino on Wednesday won the Nobel Chemistry Prize for the development of lithium-ion batteries, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.

The finance ministry has suggested that ailing public sector undertakings Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) be shut down, reported Financial Express.

India has moved down 10 places to rank 68th on an annual global competitiveness index, largely due to improvements witnessed by several other economies, while Singapore has replaced the US as the world's most competitive economy.

Showing indomitable courage, an 11-year-old girl saved her younger brother from a leopard attack in Devkundai Talli village in the district but was badly injured in the process.

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday granted two more months to the CBI to complete probe in a bribery case allegedly involving the agency's then special director Rakesh Asthana.

Naveen Dalal, accused in an attack on former JNU student leader Umar Khalid in Delhi last year, is contesting the Haryana Assembly polls on a Shiv Sena ticket from Bahadurgarh.