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The Supreme Court has fined Vijay Mallya Rs 10 lakh for violating Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) rules while advertising for Kingfisher at the Formula One championships abroad. Mallya did not take permission from the Reserve Bank of India for paying $2,00,000 to the UK-based Benetton Formula for promoting Kingfisher in F1 races in the UK and some European countries. The Supreme Court dismissed Mallya's appeal against the case lodged by the Enforcement Directorate and imposed the fine as costs towards the case. Mallya was in news just last week for having sold Kingfisher to Heineken for Rs 872 crore.

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With the strike by sanitation workers entering its eighth day, the Telangana government has threatened them with cancelling their job contracts and recruiting new people if they fail to resume work. The government even indicated that it would bring in the army and police to control the agitation if the 27,000 employees and their unions did not withdraw the strike or if they interrupted cleaning activities by other workers. However, the warnings had no impact on the workers who have only vowed to intensify their strike. Last week the Hyderabad police had cleaned up the area near the Charminar after garbage had piled up.

Source: Deccan Chronicle

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A whopping $200 billion worth of wheat, rice and maize crops could be lost by 2050 globally if the issues arising from global warming are not addressed on a war-footing, says the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) - an independent NGO. This decline in crop yields will be mainly due to the shortening of the growing season caused by higher average temperatures. The study also warned that around 750 million people in South Asia could face extreme water shortage, or 1.8 billion people could face chronic water shortage by 2050, due to population growth. Climate-related stress could also add to the already steady growth of migration from rural areas to cities, Arunabha Ghosh, chief executive CEEW, added.

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Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed has urged people to protect Article 370 of the Indian Constitution that gives special status to J&K, saying that the state assembly is the "powerful institution which has the prerogative to accept or reject laws passed in the Indian Parliament." Sayeed was speaking at the Martyrs' Graveyard in old Srinagar, after paying floral tributes to the martyrs of 13 July 1931 who had fought against the British rule. He also welcomed the recent talks between India and Pakistan, saying: "goli se nahi, baat banegi boli se (solutions will happen from talks and not guns)." He expressed concern over the rising water level in the Jhelum and wants to revive a Central Water Commission plan of 2010 to prevent future floods.

Source: Greater Kashmir

Crude oil prices fall. Photo: Getty Images

Iran and the six major powers - the US, the UK, France, China, Russia and Germany have finally arrived at a deal. This involves Iran curbing its nuclear programme and allowing UN inspectors to visit its military sites in exchange for lifting of sanctions. However, the markets reacted with crude oil prices falling by over a dollar, with Brent crude coming down to $56.66 a barrel. Easing of sanctions could see Iran's oil exports increase over a period of time, in a market that is already saturated with oil. An Iranian diplomat told Reuters: "All the hard work has paid off and we sealed a deal. God bless our people."

File photo of people praying at the Godavari ghats. Photo: Getty Images

At least 27 people, mostly women, were killed in a stampede at a bathing ghat in Rajahmundry in East Godavari district during the Maha Pushkaralu festival. Lakhs of people had converged on various ghats for the holy dip. The injured people have been rushed to different hospitals in the city. Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid condolences over Twitter to the bereaved families. Modi also spoke with Andhra Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu about the situation. Naidu, who is monitoring the situation from a control room, has ordered more police to control the crowds. He had taken a dip at the same ghat earlier in the morning.

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Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have been suspended for two years by the Supreme Court-appointed Justice Lodha committee from participating in the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) for two years. Apart from the ban on the two IPL franchises, the Lodha committee imposed a life suspension and a five-year-ban on both Raj Kundra, co-owner RR, and Gurunath Meiyappan, CSK team official. Kundra and Meiyappan were found guilty of betting during the 2013 season of the IPL. When asked about the fate of IPL COO Sundar Raman, Justice RM Lodha said, the committee feels that the investigation requires more work to pronounce a verdict against him.

Photo: Thomas Imo/Photothek/Getty Image

American officials are optimistic that Iran would get more than $100 billion as its assets are unfrozen across the world. However, if Iran does not comply with the terms of the deal, the UN Security Council may impose sanctions again within 65 days. Under the deal, Iran has promised to curb its nuclear programme and will allow UN inspectors to visit its military sites. It will steadily dismantle most of its nuclear infrastructure. In exchange, the harsh economic sanctions, imposed over nine years, will be taken down giving a boosting to Iranian economy. The deal, called the Vienna pact, still needs the approval of the US Congress as well as the Iranian Majlis before it can be implemented.