The Income Tax department has reportedly warned black money holders to come clean and has fixed March 31 as the deadline. The officials also said that they have information about their illegal deposits and they should avail the soon-to-end PMGKY window to come clean. The tax and penalty against those who hide their black money could go as high as 137% of the cash deposits made, added officials.

HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar reportedly said that children would not be deprived of mid-day meals if they do not have an Aadhaar card on Friday. "No one will be deprived of mid-day meals. Everybody will get mid-day meal, and they will get Aadhaar card as well," the Minister said. Notably, the government made Aadhaar mandatory for the school students for the mid-day meal scheme last week.

A few days ago Uttar Pradesh government banned all the slaughterhouses in their State. This resulted in the shortage of meat in the Kanpur Zoological Park since Wednesday. All four slaughterhouses of Kanpur Municipal Corporation has been closed, resulting in the suspension of meat supply for animals. Notably, The Kanpur zoo has 70 carnivorous animals, including lion Ajay and lioness Nandini.

The Supreme Court on Friday has reportedly issued a notice to the Election Commission over a petition that alleged tampering of Electronic Voting Machines in the recently concluded five-state Assembly elections. The petition filed by lawyer Manohar Lal Sharma claimed that the EVMs were allegedly tampered with in these elections and American computer scientists should investigate it thoroughly.

Air India on Friday reportedly blacklisted “unruly” Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad for assaultig its staffer. The MP had admitted to assaulting an airline staffer “25 times” with his shoes and attempted to throw him out of the aircraft on Thursday. The order “blacklisting him with immediate effect” has been issued, an AI official said. However, the period and other details are not yet available.

Opposition parties led by the Samajwadi Party on Friday shouted anti-government slogans in Rajya Sabha alleging a move to disband the OBC Commission. However, Union Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot said PM Modi has repeatedly said that the constitutional position of reservation of SCs, STs and OBCs will continue. Opposition’s protest forced Deputy Chairman P J Kurien to adjourn the proceedings for 10 minutes.

According to reports, the Supreme Court has asked the Central government to file a reply in seven days on a plea seeking lifetime ban on convicted candidates from contesting the elections. The apex court also scheduled the matter for hearing on April 18. Notably, the Election Commission had earlier supported the demand for a lifetime ban before the top court.

Cabinet reportedly has approved the amendment to Right of Children to free and compulsory education (RTE) Act, 2009. This will ensure that all teachers, in position as on 31st March 2015, acquire the minimum qualifications prescribed by the academic authority to extend the period for such training for four years up to 31st March 2019.

A source from the Centre has reportedly said that the Permanent Account Number would become invalid if it’s not linked to the Aadhaar card before December 31, 2017. According to reports, the source also added that government had taken this measure to increase the use of the unique identification number. Notably, over 1.08 billion Indians have Aadhaar card.

Delhi-based helicopter service company Pawan Hans is reportedly set to start chopper rides service in the national capital at a starting price of Rs 2,499. According to reports, a 10-minute ride will cost Rs 2,499, while a longer 20-minute ride, covering areas like Pitampura Tower, Red Fort, Rajghat etc., will be available for Rs 4,999. Notably, the service will be commencing from April 1.

The Uttar Pradesh police department has reportedly suspended over 100 policemen over discipline-related issues after the new government led by Yogi Adityanath assumed office. The crackdown came after the state's police chief Javeed Ahmed issued directives to identify the 'black sheep' among the policemen. Most of these suspensions were reportedly issued in Ghaziabad, Meerut, and Noida, while seven cops were suspended in Lucknow.  

According to reports, the Karnataka has urged the Supreme Court to review its decision to drop proceedings against late Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa in the disproportionate assets case, saying it should recover a Rs 100-crore penalty over her estate's sale. This comes after the apex court had earlier overturned a Karnataka High Court order giving a clean chit to Jayalalithaa, but abated charges against her due to her death.

Former UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani has reportedly supported the Centre’s move to mandate Aadhar card for PAN, and IT returns. According to reports, Nilekani has said that there is nothing wrong in making Aadhaar card mandatory for PAN and filing IT returns. Nilekani also added that some people have had held multiple PAN numbers and evaded taxes.

Bollywood filmmaker Anurag Kashyap has reportedly said that film censorship in this internet era is pointless. According to reports, Kashyap, at the FICCI Frames 2017, also added that he has a problem with the movies that have cuts, and usually he waits for movies to come out on Blu-ray.

Popular TV journalist Arnab Goswami on Thursday asserted that plain vanilla content is boring, and that opinion is the future of journalism. Speaking at an event, he said “I can’t simply be a Wikipedia of facts and tell you what happened. Plain vanilla journalism is dead, overdone, overused, and boring.” Further, Goswami added that opinionated media has the potential to be an activist and an agent of change.

Former Union Minister SM Krishna on Thursday said that he does not see his former party, the Congress, ever recovering lost ground. Further, asserting that Congress doesn’t have a leader, 84-year-old, Krishna added that the Congress must end its obsession with the Gandhi family. Notably, Krishna, a former Karnataka Chief Minister with the Congress, joined the BJP on Wednesday.