News Digest: Delhi lags behind Kerala, Tamil Nadu on health indicators

		THE TIMES OF INDIA
		Thursday, June 25, 2015
		Today's Headlines

		India
		Delhi lags behind Kerala, Tamil Nadu on health indicators Delhi remains behind states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu in key health indicators, such as the infant mortality rate (IMR). Former central police forces personnel also demand OROP Joining the chorus for One Rank One Pension (OROP), the retired employees of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) on Wednesday demanded the same benefits, arguing that the role of CAPFs has become akin to the armed forces since under the changed scenario over the past few decades "direct war conflicts" have made way for "proxy war". Congress sceptical of Lalu accepting Nitish's primacy Congress remains sceptical of Lalu Prasad’s intentions for Bihar elections, notwithstanding his open endorsement of Nitish Kumar as chief ministerial candidate. More India News»

		Business
		Govt draws up plan to put 8 coal mines on block The government will put on the block eight more mines after 10 mines are auctioned in the third phase, for which the process has already begun, a top official said on Wednesday. Greece's creditors demand better deal Greece's international lenders demanded on Wednesday that it improve proposed tax and reform measures in a last-minute race to clinch a deal to unlock aid and avert a debt default next week. Auto exports to Sri Lanka jump four-fold in May Sri Lanka, Italy and Spain provided traction to India's automobile exports while Mexico, the UK, Algeria and Bangladesh witnessed a major slowdown in shipments in May, engineering exporters' body EEPC said on Wednesday. More Business News»

		Environment
		Rare red-wattled Lapwing sighted at Nahargarh A city-based wildlife enthusiast has spotted a rare bird of Red-wattled Lapwing specie at Nahargarh biological park recently. HC warns of action for flouting noise pollution rules The Bombay high court on Wednesday asked the Maharashtra government chief secretary to identify officers responsible for not implementing noise pollution rules so that contempt action could be taken against them. Natural cooling of Sun will not save Earth A rapid decline in the Sun’s activity is making it increasingly likely that within the next half century the world will experience a “grand solar minimum”. More Environment News»

		World
		Boston bomber apologizes, admits guilt for 2013 attack Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on Wednesday apologized for the deadly 2013 attack at a hearing before a U.S. judge formally sentenced him to death for killing four people and injuring 264 in the bombing and its aftermath. India loves Bharat Ombaba, er, Barack Obama A new global survey by the Pew Research Foundation shows that Obama's image is mostly positive across the globe, with a median of 65% polled across 40 countries saying they have confidence in Obama to do the right thing in world affairs. Mistrust between US and France over spying charges The United States and France, who constitute one of the oldest alliances in modern history with ties going back to the times of George Washington, Napoleon, and Tipu Sultan, have opened a new chapter in mistrust after it has been revealed that the United States spied on a succession of French Presidents, including incumbent Francois Hollande. More World News»

		Entertainment
		I am a typical pathan: Adnan Sami The supremely talented Adnan Sami has not just sung a song for Bajrangi Bhaijaan, but we have learnt that for the first time he has also shot for it and makes a special appearance in the video. Guddu Rangeela based on honour killing case Subhash Kapoor was a political journalist before he became a filmmaker, who is known for his satirical comical dramas Phas Gaye Re Obama and Jolly LLB. Akki performs stunts on a family holiday Akshay Kumar had left for his annual family vacation in Europe with wife Twinkle, son Aarav and daughter Nitara on June 13. More Entertainment News»

		Science
		Is cancer hiding in your home? 28-nation study flags common drugs, chemicals A staggering range of commonly used chemicals – from insecticides to plastic additives to some common medications – are likely to cause cancer even in very low amounts. Children born by C-section at 20% more risk of autism, finds study It has for long been known that birth by Caesarean section (C-section) heightens the risk of asthma and diabetes for the newborn, but it’s now being associated with autism too. NASA spots more 'mysterious' bright spots on Ceres New images of Ceres from NASA's Dawn spacecraft has provided more visible images of mysterious bright spots and also revealed a pyramid-shaped peak towering over a relatively flat landscape. More Science News»

		Sports
		India crush Bangladesh by 77 runs to avoid series whitewash Indian bowlers fired in unison to guide their team to a convincing 77-run victory over Bangladesh in the third and final match of the ODI series in Mirpur, Dhaka. Time to decide on kind of fast bowlers we want: Dhoni Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Wednesday hit out at his fast bowlers, saying that the time has come to decide on the future of the existing pace attack. Want to be on top of my game in the Worlds: Parupalli Kashyap Parupalli Kashyap wants to train hard for seven weeks and be at the peak of his game and fitness ahead of the August 10-16 World Badminton Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia. More Sports News»

		Technology
		10 good smartphones you've probably never heard of Here are some of our favourite smartphones from around the world into a list of phones you've probably never heard of. Google launches free streaming service Google has launched a free version of its music streaming service on June 23, as it sought to upstage the debut of Apple Inc's rival service next week. TCS, Infy issue aside, 1 lakh H-1B visas given to Indians last year US consul general in India Phillip A Min, while refusing to comment on the fresh probes on Indian IT firms Infosys and TCS for possible violations of H-1B visa norm. More Technology News»

		Education
		Fake EWS admissions: Another module busted in Delhi The crime branch has busted another module that facilitated fake nursery admissions in top schools in Delhi. Police have also arrested a key player, Neeraj Kumar, a former bank employee. DU admission: Slight dip in a few subjects but massive jump in cutoffs for humanities Forced to issue a single cutoff for every stream this year, most colleges have set their cutoffs close to the upper limits of their last year’s ranges. The result: a small increase—or even a drop—in the cutoff for some streams and a massive jump for others, most often the humanities’ students. West Bengal: Delay in results? Cough up a fine State universities cannot escape accountability by ducking under the autonomy clause. Its employees — teachers, officers and non-teaching staff — will all come under the West Bengal Right to Public Service Act, 2013, and will be liable for penalty for delay in services, such as publication of results. More Education News»

		Mumbai
		Transgender may be allowed to reside in Jogeshwari house after TOI report After a TOI report on Joe Paul, a transgender woman asked to vacate a Jogeshwari flat allegedly on grounds of sexuality, she may now be allowed to continue living there. Visually impaired shoot into limelight by taking pictures In January 2015, an ad for soap featuring Katrina Kaif drew four million hits online. The still photographs had been shot by 26-year-old Bhavesh Patel who was born blind. Late results may hit admissions in state colleges The delay in releasing JEE (Main) ranks is likely to have an impact on admissions to engineering colleges in Maharashtra too. More Mumbai News»

		Delhi
		House ruckus: BJP members 'evicted', 3 Bills passed Assembly proceedings were disrupted for the first 45 minutes on Wednesday after the three-member opposition demanded that the recommendations of the fourth economic survey be implemented. After more than half-an-hour of sloganeering, the trio—Vijender Gupta, O P Sharma and Jagdish Pradhan— was marshaled out of the House only after which proceedings could properly start. The trio did not return for the rest of the day. Centre should limit no-fail policy till Class III: Sisodia The Aam Aadmi Party government does not agree with the Centre's policy to not fail students till Class VII and considers it a factor for the falling pass rate in Class IX. Delhi: In 10 years, prices of pulses, oil & mutton nearly doubled In the past seven years, the prices of many food items seem to have doubled in Delhi.The Economic Survey of Delhi for 2014-15 shows that pulses, oil and even mutton are now twice as costly. More Delhi News»

		Bangalore
		Government hands out sops to slum-dwellers Ahead of BBMP polls next month, the Congress is raining sops on Bengalureans under what the government calls 'BBMP Bhagya'. Ruling on fake encounter case expected today Nearly 12 years after the sensational case of Sagayam alias Sagai's death in an under-construction building in Vijinapura, made headlines, a case of him possibly having been killed in a fake encounter is posted for judgment on Thursday. Centre should give 90% funds, says Karnataka CM In the first meeting of the Swachch Bharat sub-committee under NITI Aayog, Karnataka urged the Centre to increase funds for the programme. More Bangalore News»

		Hyderabad
		`Bahubali' a copy of Hollywood films? Touted as the most expensive film ever made in Telugu ­ it has an eye-popping budget of over Rs 175 crore ­ Bahubali is also in the limelight for all the wrong reasons. And the main allegation against it is plagiarism in the disguise of `inspiration'. Aarogyasri: More deaths in govt hospitals It seems that the nability of the Telangana overnment to rein in private hospitals empanelled under Aarogyasri from rejecting dmissions to critically ll patients is pushing up fa alities in state hospitals, doc ors said. No advisory sent to governor from Delhi, says Sadananda Gowda The Central government has not sent any official communication to governor ESL Narasimhan on the issue of implementing Section 8 of the AP Reorganization Act, Union law minister DV Sadananda Gowda said on Wednesday. More Hyderabad News»

		Chennai
		Photo exhibition to highlight Vitiligo There is a misunderstanding among people that vitiligo (leucoderma) is contagious. As a result, many who suffer from this skin disease undergo severe psychological problems due to the indifferent attitude of people. No gas: Celebrities surrender LPG sop Among the 8% of all consumers in the country who have surrendered their LPG subsidy are from Tamil Nadu, including such celebrities as actor Kamal Haasan, singer Yesudas and director Mani Ratnam. More than 1000 from previous batches may bag MBBS seats this year Even as the first phase of medical counselling continued for the fifth day on Wednesday, worried parents of the current batch of students have worked out a chart that spells more trouble for their wards. The calculation shows that more than 1,800 students from the previous batches have the required cut-off to get a medical seat this year which would spell disaster to the current batch as they would be eligible only for merely 400 odd seats that are left over. More Chennai News»

		Ahmedabad
		Now, a Vibrant India Summit for education The central government will organize the country’s first-ever Vibrant India Global Education Summit in the last week of November. This two-day summit will be held in Gujarat — at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar.  Ambedkar Yatra: BJP dithers The government of Gujarat had announced the celebration of the 125th birth anniversary of Dr B R Ambedkar throughout year, however, three months (April to June) have passed but the state government has failed to organise even a single event. Dholera airport work to take off in Q3 of FY'16 The work on much awaited international airport at Dholera, a major transport link for the industries coming up in the 920 sq km Dholera special investment region (SIR), is likely to begin in the third quarter of 2015-16. More Ahmedabad News»

		Allahabad
		Brilliance emanating from villages, inspires other kids to go to school Although success story of the two sons of a poor daily wager Dharamraj Saroj of Rehua Lalgunj village of Lalgunj block of Pratapgrah district, who have made it to IIT has changed the fortune of not only this dalit family, the sheer determination of Brijesh and Raju has also become an inspiration for other dalit students of the region like them. Admin seeks details of 49,000 arms license holders The Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) is compiling National Database of Armed License (NDAL) to check proliferation of arms and keep an eye on the number of licenses issued across the country. Air quality of Allahabad's green belt worsens, health problems on rise Air quality level in the green belt as well as in busy market areas of Sangam city has decreased to a dangerous level in the Sangam city exposing the citizens to fine dust particles pollutants called Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM) and Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter (RSPM). More Allahabad News»

		Bhubaneswar
		Odisha govt sets target to make state free of open-defecation by December, 2017 The state government on Wednesday set the target to become a total open defecation free (ODF) by December, 2017. Woman raped near Jagannath Temple in Puri Police in Puri detained two persons on charges of raping a physically challenged woman near Jagannath Temple in Puri on Wednesday. Hiring delay forces govt to extend ad hoc teachers' term by a yr The state government on Tuesday announced to extend the tenure of around 350 ad hoc lecturers by another academic year, indicating further delay in the regular recruitment process by Odisha Public Service Commission. More Bhubaneswar News»

		Bhopal
		CG cops in Bhopal to interrogate chit fund fraudster A week after arrest of the chit fund fraudster, who allegedly duped investors of hundreds of crores of rupees in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh police have come to Bhopal and are likely to take custody of accused for forgery cases registered against him there. Livid over job loss, man murders his replacement Irked over losing his job on charges of irregularities, a man along with his son-in-law allegedly murdered the man who was kept in his place. Death in boundary cave-in: HRC panel seeks answers Two days after a woman died when a portion of boundary wall of Madhya Pradesh Board of Secondary Education (MPBSE) came on her, Madhya Pradesh Human Rights Commission (MPHRC) took cognizance of the incident. More Bhopal News»

		Chandigarh
		HC advocate on vacation, thieves break into house The Sector 2 house of a high court advocate was burgled by reportedly two men on Monday night. Haryana minister seeks Tricity planning board Haryana health, sports and youth affairs minister Anil Vij has sought setting up of a planning board for the Tricity of Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula on the lines of the NCR planning board for health, education and infrastructure development, a proposal that might trigger a debate. Swinging Seventies Back In Vogue The swinging 70s' are back with a bang and proving all fashion forecasts correct, they have become the favorite decade of 2015. More Chandigarh News»

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