Kerala government will start from today disbursing three instalments of various welfare pensions to a tune of ₹650 crore. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said this would be the UDF government’s first Onam festival reward to the people of Kerala. Nearly 30 lakh people are expected to benefit from this.

The centre will today sell 5 per cent of its stake in the country's largest dredging company, Dredging Corporation of India, in a move that can fetch up to ₹57 crore to its kitty. The government will sell up to 14 lakh shares of face value of ₹10 each.

The second edition of ‘Fragrances from the North East’, a three-day festival of cinema organised by the Directorate of Film Festivals, will open in New Delhi. Besides film screenings there will be cultural programmes, exhibitions of handicrafts and books from the northeast and food stalls.

Senior Congress leader Capt Amarinder Singh will lead a gherao of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s residence today to press for the long pending payment to the sugarcane growers and the delay in compensation to the farmers whose crops were damaged during the unseasonal rains and floods in the State.

India will host a mega summit of 14 Pacific Island leaders in Jaipur today, hoping to expand its economic and strategic footprint in the Asia-Pacific region amid China's increasing presence in the area. This will be the first time India is hosting a summit of Pacific leaders.

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