President Pranab Mukherjee's assent to the Taxation Laws (Second Amendment) Bill 2016, the Act which has provisions to levy total tax, penalty and surcharge of 50 percent on the amount deposited post demonetisation, comes into force on 17 December.

Under the scheme, the money collected from taxes and penalty on undisclosed incomes can be deposited in the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojna (PMGKY) account from 17 December to 31 March.

The declarations will be kept confidential and people can also give information about black money on the e mail ID- [email protected]

Three students from Delhi's St Stephen's College and a resort owner from Kerala drowned in the Periyar river in the state on 16 December evening, police said.

Third year Sanskrit students Anubhav Chandra and Aditya Patel, first year Chemistry student Kenneth John, and Benny, a private resort owner from Kerala, drowned around 6.30 pm at Paniyeli Poru -- a tourist spot.

The bodies were recovered and kept at the Taluk hospital at Perumbavoor, police said.

President Barack Obama on 17 December alleged that Russia - possibly under President Vladimir Putin's directions - carried out cyberattacks during the US polls. He urged his successor Donald Trump to ensure that the American election process is not under potential "foreign influence".

"What I can tell you is that the intelligence that I've seen gives me great confidence in their assessment that the Russians carried out this hack. Not much happens in Russia without Vladimir Putin," Obama told reporters during a White House news conference, indicating Putin's involvement.

Chiding Rahul Gandhi for attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi on demonetisation yet again, Union Minister of Law and Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad on 17 December said the Congress vice president is crossing all limits of morality by speaking in such a shameless fashion.

"Rahul Gandhi is crossing limits of dignitiy. He is speaking in a shameful fashion. He is speaking a lie. For 10 years, his government remained mired by corruption. Congress' allies kept on plundering the country in 2G and coal scams, but they did not take any action against them," Prasad told ANI.

"Farmers were dying, while the nation's money was being siphoned off into foreign countries, but they did nothing to bring back the money. "

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon delivered stark warnings at the forefront of international concern that "the carnage in Syria remains a gaping hole in the global conscience" during his last press conference.

"Aleppo is now a synonym for hell," Ban Ki-moon said at UN Headquarters in New York, bidding farewell to the UN press corps.

"We have collectively failed the people of Syria. Peace will only prevail when it is accompanied by compassion, justice and accountability for the abominable crimes we have seen," he added.