Diwali damper: Loans to get costlier
RBI hikes repo rates
Guv Rajan says vital to break spiral of rising prices
New Delhi, October 29
Continuing to persist with its priority to fight inflation, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today hiked the key lending rate, repo rate by 25 basis points or 0.25 per cent which is likely to make home, auto and consumer loans more expensive for the consumer, in the middle of the festival season.

Key officials in Kharar govt lab helped drug dealers: Police
Tinkered with reports to bail out smugglers; 4 held
Amritsar, October 29
The Punjab Police today conducted raids at several places after uncovering a nexus between drug smugglers, government officials and policemen.

SC panel seeks report in NDPS case
Edit page: Punjab drug menace

coal scam
SC rejects plea for FIR against PM
New Delhi, October 29
The Supreme Court today rejected a plea for registration of an FIR against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in connection with the coal block allocation scam.

Flag meet
India, Pak to keep calm along border
Octroi BOP (Indo-Pak Border), October 29
Officers from the BSF and the Pakistan Rangers met for nearly three hours today and agreed to ease 10 days of intense shelling by Pakistan.

Brigadier Mateen of Pakistan Rangers with BSF DIG JC Singla during flag meeting in RS Pura on Tuesday. A Tribune photograph

J&K page: Pak army targets posts in Rajouri

Fighter pilot Raha to be next IAF chief
New Delhi, October 29
Ace fighter pilot Air Marshal Arup Raha has been appointed the next Chief of the Indian Air Force. He will succeed Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne, also a fighter pilot, on December 31.

Air Marshal Arup Raha

India, Peru sign pacts to boost education, defence
Lima, October 29
India and Peru have signed four agreements in the presence of Vice-President Hamid Ansari here to promote bilateral cooperation in the fields of education, culture and defence and to set up a joint commission to diversify relations.

Vice-President Hamid Ansari with President of Peru Ollanta Humal in Lima. — PTI

UP gold hunt abandoned Lucknow, October 29 Local seer Shobhan Sarkar’s dream about 1,000 tons of gold buried in the depths of the historic fort at Daudikalan village in Unnao had become a nightmare for the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). Finally, excavation was abandoned today after 11 days of high drama which caught international attention. As the misadventure had become increasingly difficult to explain due to media hype, better sense appears to have been prevailed.