Israel accused the UN's cultural body of fanning tensions in the region by approving a resolution that criticised the Jewish state for "aggressions" against Muslims seeking access to a Jerusalem holy site.
As per a statement, the UNESCO resolution "aims to transform the Israeli-Palestinian conflict into a religious confrontation" in an abuse of the UN agency's mandate.
Researchers have discovered a new species of giant tortoise on the island of Santa Cruz in the centre of the Galapagos Archipelago.
There are two populations of giant tortoises on the island, a large population on the west side in an area known as the Reserve and another on the lower eastern slopes around a hill named Cerro Fatal.
Until the recent discovery, researchers believed that these populations belonged to the same species of tortoise.
Reserve Bank has issued guidelines for the Gold Monetisation Scheme that allow banks to fix their own interest rates on gold deposits.
The RBI notification in this regard comes ahead of the formal launch of the scheme.
The gold deposit scheme is aimed at mobilising a part of an estimated 20,000 tonnes of idle precious metal with households and institutions.
As per the guidelines, banks will be free to set interest rate on such deposit, and principal and interest of the deposit will be denominated in gold.
HDFC Bank Net up 21% on Retail Loans
HDFC Bank, the country's second largest private sector lender, reported a 20.5% jump in net profit to Rs. 2,870 crore in the three months to September, helped by robust performance in retail loans segment and a rise in other income.
The overall set of numbers was also driven by net interest income and operating profit as also stable asset quality despite higher provisions and tax expenses.
Anti-dumping Duty on 4 Chinese Items
The impact of excess capacity in China following an economic slowdown is showing in India with the government rushing in to impose anti-dumping duty on at least four products from across the border as well as some other countries.
Definitive anti-dumping duty has been levied on imports of "plain medium density fibre board of thickness 6 mm and above" originating in or exported from China, Malaysia, Thailand and Sri Lanka. A similar levy has been imposed on "front axle beam and steering knuckles meant for heavy and medium commercial vehicles" shipped from China.
Then, definitive anti-dumping duty has been levied on imports of "hexamine" from China and the UAE as well as on "all fully drawn or fully oriented yarnspin drawn yarnflat yarn of polyester (non-textured and non-POY)" originating in or exported from China and Thailand. The duties would be valid for five years.