The Scottish parliament backed a bid to hold a new independence referendum in 2018 or 2019, but the British government immediately rejected the proposal.
The stand-off further complicates the United Kingdom`s political situation just as years of daunting negotiations on the terms of its exit from the European Union are about to begin.
The Brexit issue has strained ties between the UK`s four constituent parts because England and Wales voted to leave the EU while Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to remain.
Bharti Airtel sold a 10.3% stake in Bharti Infratel to a consortium of funds advised by U.S. private equity firm KKR and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) for more than Rs. 6,193.9 crore.
The parent company sold 190 million shares at a price of Rs. 325 per share.
Bharti Airtel will primarily use the proceeds from this sale to reduce its debt. Following the transaction, Bharti Airtel’s equity holding will be 61.7% and that of KKR and CPPIB at 10.3%.
Land Leasing, Renting to Attract GST
From 1st July 1 leasing of land, renting of buildings as well as EMIs paid for purchase of under-construction houses will start attracting the Goods and Services Tax.
Sale of land and buildings will be out of the purview of GST, the new indirect tax regime. Such transactions will continue to attract the stamp duty.
Scientists at NASA have developed a stopwatch timer that can measure within a fraction of a billionth of a second. This is an advance that can help record precise height measurements of sea ice, glaciers, forests and the rest of the Earth's surfaces.
Engineers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre built the timer for the Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) scheduled to launch in 2018, which will use six green laser beams to measure height.
India won in the fourth and final test against Australia to secure a 2-1 series victory for the hosts.
The victory was India`s seventh test series win in a row.
Lionel Messi Gets Four Matches Ban
FIFA banned Argentine football legend Lionel Messi for 4 World Cup qualifying games for abusing an assistant referee.
FIFA notified the Argentina Football Association (AFA) that it has opened an investigation into the star forward`s attitude during the 2018 World Cup qualifier.
FIFA’s disciplinary committee could sanction the player and asked the AFA and Messi to deliver their testimonies on the incident.
A total 319 out of the 403 newly-elected MLAs took oath as members of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly.
They were administered oath by Pro-tem Speaker Fateh Bahadur.
The election of the Speaker will be held on March 30.
Senior BJP leader and five-term MLA Hridaya Narain Dixit (69) appeared to be the front runner for the post owing to his knowledge of parliamentary practices.
India's Longest Road Tunnel Set to Open
India's longest road tunnel built on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway will open on April 2.
The name of the tunnel is Chenani-Nashri Tunnel.
It's a 9.2 km-long twin-tube tunnel.
It will reduce the travel time between the two state capitals of Jammu and Srinagar by two-and-a-half hours.