The Narendra Modi government on Thursday indicated it may not need to bring a legislation to set up a trust to oversee construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, even as seers continued to demand that the existing Ramjanbhoomi Nyas should be entrusted with the task of construction of the proposed temple.

According to a top government official, the Supreme Court's order last Saturday stated that Section 6 of the Acquisition of Certain Area at the Ayodhya Act 1993 empowers the central government to set up a trust or an authority to whom the land would be handed over.

The record losses posted by Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea and the resulting erosion in their net worth have led to an immediate rise in the leverage ratio of these two operators. While Vodafone Idea has taken the maximum hit, Bharti Airtel has escaped with a minor deterioration in its balance sheet ratios.

Vodafone Idea’s net debt to equity ratio has jumped to a record level of 4.5x at the end of September this year, as against 1.24x at the end of June and 1.8x at March-end.

Following the Supreme Court guideline to incentivise farmers for stopping the burning of paddy crop stubble to check air pollution, the governments of Punjab and Haryana have announced a bonus of Rs 2,500 an acre for small and marginal farmers who are yet to start such activity.

Farmer groups say the incentives could have prevented farmers from burning stubble if it had come on time. More, they want the incentive to be a permanent feature.

In a relief for Rahul Gandhi, the Supreme Court on Thursday closed a contempt plea filed by BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi against the former Congress chief for wrongly attributing to the court his "chowkidar chor hai' slogan against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Rafale case.

The Supreme Court said, "Mr Rahul Gandhi needs to be more careful in future," for attributing to the court his remarks.

The schools in the national capital will be closed on Thursday and Friday, the Delhi government announced on Wednesday.

The city’s air quality reached the higher end of the ‘severe’ category on Wednesday, even as the Centre’s Task Force, meant to advise on implementing the Graded Response Action Plan, recommended that schools be shut and industrial activities be curbed till November 15.

Shares of VST Industries jumped up to 7.5 per cent to hit a new high of Rs 4,600 apiece on the BSE on Thursday, a day after Radhakishan Damani bought 2,70,000 shares at Rs 4,259.99 apiece on the BSE, according to bulk deal data. The data also showed HDFC Mutual Fund sold 273,706 shares at Rs 4,260 apiece.

At 10:53 am, the stock was trading at Rs 4,573.70, up nearly 7 per cent. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading flat at 40,182 levels, up just 0.16 per cent.

A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court on Thursday referred to a larger bench pleas seeking a review of its 2018 ruling that allowed menstruating women from entering the Sabarimala temple in Kerala.

Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice A M Khanwilkar and Indu Malhotra said a larger bench will hear if the court can decide matter of religious practice. Justices R F Nariman and DY Chandrachud gave dissenting opinion.

The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed Rafale review petitions against its December 14, 2018 judgement, after it was found to be without any merit.

The Supreme Court was due to deliver the verdict on the review petitions against its earlier judgment dismissing any corruption in the deal to purchase 36 Rafale fighter jets from a French company.

The Shiv Sena on Thursday alleged that imposition of President’s rule in Maharashtra was a “scripted act” and took a jibe at the governor, saying he has now given parties six months to form government. It also said that former state chief minister Devendra Fadnavis is shedding “crocodile tears” over the imposition of President’s rule as power is still indirectly in the hands of the BJP.

Criticising the governor for giving the Shiv Sena just 24 hours to stake claim and refusing it additional time to muster numbers, an editorial in party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ said, It looked like some invisible power was controlling this game and decisions were taken accordingly.

Shares of Aurobindo Pharma hit an over five-year low of Rs 393, down 9 per cent on the BSE on Thursday after the company received a Form 483 from US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) with 14 observations for its Hyderabad facility. The stock of drug company was trading at its lowest level since September 2014.

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