ET NEWS

The Northern Railway has stopped the sale of platform tickets at five stations from Oct 15 to Oct 28, 2025, in view of heavy rush due to the upcoming festivals of Diwali and Chhat. These stations are New Delhi, Old Delhi, Hazrat Nizamuddin, Anand Vihar and Ghaziabad. Himanshu Shekhar Upadhyay, Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO), Northern Railway, said that the decision has been taken to prevent overcrowding at stations, keeping in mind the increase in passengers."However, persons accompanying senior citizens, Divyangjans, illiterate, lady passengers may approach enquiry office for a platform ticket," he added.

Markets regulator Sebi chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey on Wednesday called on public interest directors (PIDs) to ensure that the "public interest" perspective remains central to all key decisions taken by the governing boards of market infrastructure institutions (MIIs).Speaking at the Public Interest Directors Conclave 2025, Pandey emphasised that MIIs must ensure all interventions made by PIDs during board meetings are appropriately recorded.Describing PIDs as "custodians of trust" within the MII ecosystem, he said, "Your role is fiduciary, moral, and institutional. You are not there merely to tick a compliance checkbox".The Sebi chief urged PIDs to exercise their independence while assessing the adequacy of financial and human resources for functions falling under verticals 1 and 2. He advised them to hold separate meetings without management or key managerial personnel (KMPs) to discuss critical governance and operational issues.Under Sebi's framework, vertical 1 covers critical operations, while vertical 2 relates to regulatory, compliance, risk management, and investor grievance functions.Pandey also called on PIDs to bring independent judgment to board deliberations and proactively highlight any risks they identify. "Reinforce the checks and balances that strengthen your institution's governance culture," he said.As the markets grow, the role of PIDs will become even more challenging. The Sebi chief urged PIDs to "balance the legitimate expectations of shareholders with the non-negotiable public purpose of your institution. For this, you have to ensure that ethical governance is deeply embedded into the very DNA of your MII".He further emphasised the need for PIDs to ensure that MIIs have robust internal controls, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and documentation to manage technology risks. Such frameworks, he said, could be developed in consultation with the Industry Standards Forum to ensure uniformity across MIIs.Highlighting Sebi's efforts to empower PIDs, Pandey said the regulator has already implemented several measures to ease appointment and operational processes. For instance, the mandatory cooling-off period for a PID moving from one MII to another competing MII has been removed, leaving the decision to the discretion of individual MIIs.In addition, Sebi has introduced skill evaluation metrics for assessing applications for the appointment or reappointment of PIDs.

Markets regulator Sebi on Wednesday extended the timeline to January 31, 2026, for disclosing the allocation methodology by angel funds in their Private Placement Memorandum (PPM). Earlier, the deadline was October 15. "Based on representation from the AIF industry requesting additional time to meet this requirement, it has been decided to extend the said timeline to January 31, 2026, for ease of compliance," Sebi said in its circular. Accordingly, allocation of any investment made by existing angel funds post January 31, 2026, should be in accordance with the defined allocation methodology disclosed in their PPMs. Under the Sebi's framework, angel funds will have to disclose a defined methodology in their PPMs for the purpose of allocating the investment among angel investors who provide approval for such investment. In September, the regulatory framework for angel funds was revised under AIF (alternative investment fund) norms.As part of the revised framework to streamline fundraising, investment and compliance norms under the alternative investment funds rules, angel funds can raise capital only from accredited investors.

Pakistan said Wednesday it agreed to a 48-hour ceasefire with Afghanistan following days of violence that have killed dozens of people on both sides of the border.Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said the ceasefire was at Afghanistan’s request. There was no immediate confirmation from the Taliban government.Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of harboring armed groups, a charge rejected by the Taliban rulers. Pakistan is grappling with militant attacks that have increased since 2021, when the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan.The escalation of tensions is likely to destabilize a region where groups, including the Islamic State and al-Qaida, are trying to establish a foothold and resurface.Earlier Wednesday, before the ceasefire announcement, Pakistan said its forces killed dozens of Afghan security forces and militants in overnight fighting. The clashes had stopped briefly Sunday following appeals from Saudi Arabia and Qatar.Pakistan forces said they had repelled “unprovoked” assaults, but denied targeting civilians after the Taliban government said more than a dozen were killed and over 100 others wounded when Pakistan targeted sites in a border area of Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province.Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban government's chief spokesman, said Pakistan used light and heavy weapons in assaults on Spin Boldak in Kandahar. Afghan forces returned fire and killed several Pakistani soldiers, seized military posts and captured weapons including tanks, Mujahid added.Pakistan's army also targeted militant hideouts in the Afghan capital, two Pakistani security officials said Wednesday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with the media.People in the Pakistani border town of Chaman reported mortars falling near villages and some families were seen evacuating early Wednesday.“This fighting has been going on since early (Wednesday) morning, and people who live close to the border are leaving the area,” said Chaman resident Najibullah Khan, who urged the two countries to end the fighting to prevent further shelling.Pakistan’s border regions have experienced violence since 1979 when it became a frontline state in the U.S.-backed war against the Soviet Union.“After the Sept. 11 attacks, Pakistan’s tribal belt descended into chaos as the Afghan Taliban, al-Qaida, and other groups operated from both sides of the border for attacks on NATO forces and Pakistani security forces," said Abdullah Khan, a defense analyst and managing director of the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies.As of Wednesday, key border crossings remain closed, officials said.

Amid growing demand for stricter compliance with safety and quality control norms for medical products, the Centre is framing a law to strengthen the legal framework for drug quality testing and market surveillance, along with regulation of medical devices and cosmetics.One of the major reasons behind the drafting of the law is the repeated complaints and concerns flagged by health regulators across the globe, including the WHO, over serious quality lapses by Indian drug manufacturers.The draft of the 'Drugs, Medical Devices and Cosmetics Act 2025' was presented by Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) Dr Rajeev Raghuvanshi at a high-level meeting of the Union health ministry held on Tuesday, the sources said.The meeting was chaired by Union Health Minister J P Nadda.During the meeting, senior officials from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) and the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) outlined the framework of the proposed law.The meeting comes days after several children died in Madhya Pradesh due to a contaminated cough syrup.Once approved, the new legislation will grant the CDSCO authorities statutory power to ensure strict quality checks and surveillance of drugs, medical devices and cosmetics manufactured in India for both domestic use and export, the sources said.Under the new law, they said, the CDSCO will be granted statutory powers for the first time to take immediate action against fake or substandard medicines.It will also include provisions to digitise the licensing process, enhance coordination among state-level regulators and upgrade testing lab capacities.The new law will replace the Drugs and Cosmetics Act of 1940, and it is being developed in line with international standards. The aim is to ensure accountability and transparency at every stage -- from manufacturing to market distribution.The problem of fake and substandard medicines has been a major concern for the authorities.According to the 2023-24 report by the CDSCO, out of approximately 5,500 drug samples tested, 3.2 per cent were found to be substandard or spurious, a source said, adding that in the past two years, over 40 pharmaceutical units have faced action.