Libyan Plane Hijack: 29 Passengers Released and 4 Other Updates.

* Libyan Plane Hijacked with 188 passengers on board.

A Libyan Airbus A320 flight was hijacked and diverted to Malta airstrip on Friday. The flight was carrying 118 passengers and the two hijackers have threatened to blow up the plane into tatters including all the passengers. Malta security forces have surrounded the perimeter and authorities are trying to maintain regular contact with the hijackers.

Operations at Malta airport have been sized and all the inbound flights have been diverted. Hijackers have accepted to release all the passengers accept the flight crew and first set of passengers including women and children have been released as of now.

* Birth Certificate no longer needed to get a passport.

Ministry of External Affairs has announced that birth certificate is no longer mandatory for getting a passport and documents like driving license, PAN card, matriculation certificate and ‘Aadhar Card’ will serve the purpose. According to the modification of rules, online applicants will need to furnish the name of only one parent which will allow single parents to apply for their children’s passport. Further, married applicants will not need to provide their marriage certificates.

* 6% VAT reduction on Petrol in Goa.

Goa Government has slashed 6% VAT on petrol, bring its price to Rs 60 per litre. Assembly polls being around the corner in Goa, the BJP led government has assured to gift the voters some relief. Earlier, the VAT on petrol was 15% and this move has brought down its price by Rs 11. State Government has further promised to keep petrol prices under Rs 60.

* Mohammed Shami to miss ODI and T20 series against England.

Mohammed Shami’s right knee injury has taken him out from the One Day International and T20 series against England which is scheduled to commence in January. Doctors have suggested him a month long rest to fully recover from the injury and BCCI may have to choose between Ishant Sharma and Ashish Nehra to replace Shami in both the series.

* Indian Rupee gains 17 paise and Sensex ends 7-day fall.

Indian Rupee staged a healthy growth of 17 paise and came to Rs 67.82 against US Dollar due to fresh selling by banks and corporates. BSE’s Sensex ended its week long fall and ended up above the 26000 mark. However, the 30 company benchmark recorded a weekly loss of 448.86 points which is the highest in last five weeks. NSE’s Nifty also recorded a weekly loss of 153.70 points after Friday’s trade.

23 Dec 2016
Rohan Jaitly