January 24: Top news at noon

Developing stories

*The Army says it has foiled infiltration bid along the LoC in Sundarbani sector of Jammu and Kashmir, killing one infiltrator

*The Supreme Court has agreed to hear on February 3 the plea of a consortium of banks led by SBI seeking intervention and hearing in the Aircel-Maxis case. Banks have lent money to companies concerned in the deal and they needed to be heard, said Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi.

Demonetisation to have limited impact on Nepal: IMF

The International Monetary Fund has said that India's demonetisation would have a limited impact on Nepal as it projected a 5.5% growth rate for the Himalayan country in the current fiscal year. "India's sudden withdrawal of high-denomination banknotes is expected to have a limited impact on activity overall; bank holdings of Indian rupee currency are small but some corporates and households who hold such notes have seen their purchasing power affected," the IMF said in its annual report on Nepal.

"The main risk to the outlook pertains to failure of capital budget implementation to improve," the IMF said, noting that Nepal's economy is rebounding after a slowdown caused by the 2015 earthquakes and trade disruptions, supported by the government's reform efforts.

Police aspirant dies during physical test in Cuttack

A youth aspiring to be a jawan in the India Reserve Battalion (IRB) died of cardiac arrest after a long distance physical endurance test in Cuttack, Odisha. Harekrushna Sahoo (23) of Dhenkanal district ran the 1,600 meters race at the 6th OSAP ground here yesterday. The race was part of his physical test for recruitment into the 9th IRB, the police said. "Soon after completing the race in requisite time, the aspirant while taking rest under a tree, complained of chest pain. He was immediately rushed to the nearby SCB Hospital from where he was shifted to a private hospital under the guidance of his relatives. But, the youth died," said an official of the recruitment Battalion.

Relatives of the deceased, however, alleged that Sahoo was not given proper first aid and was not taken to the hospital on time.

1 dies as crowd goes berserk after SRK arrives at Vadodara station

One person was killed and two policemen were injured as crowd went berserk after Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan arrived at the railway station in Vadodara late last night by August Kranti Rajdhani Express for promotion of his upcoming film Raees. Officials at the railway police control room here said, "At around 10.30 pm the train arrived at platform 6 of the station and halted for 10 minutes. Shah Rukh's fans had gathered in large number to have a glimpse of the actor who had boarded the train from Mumbai and is going to Delhi as part of the promotional campaign for his film," railway police said. "The crowd went berserk when the train halted and began banging its window panes and even falling on top of each other. Police had to resort to mild lathicharge to control the crowd.

"When the train started moving, people started running along with it. Due to the rush, one person died of breathlessness and two policemen posted there to control the crowd were injured," they said. Local authorities said the deceased has been identified as Farheed Khan Pathan, a local politician.

Paralympic swimmer Binod Singh found dead

Paralympic swimmer Binod Singh was today found dead in Lacho village in Bihar's Bhagalpur district, with police suspecting that he was strangled to death. District SSP Manoj Kumar said the body of the Paralympian was found in an orchard. Preliminary investigation indicate that Singh was killed around five days back. The body has been sent for post mortem.

An FIR had been lodged in Patna on January 6 by the swimmer's father at Sachivalaya Police Station about Singh's suspected kidnapping, police said. Binod's father had alleged his 30-year-old son had an affair with a girl, who is also a sportsperson. The relationship was opposed by the girl's family and they were targeting his son, the officer said, adding, probe is on.