News Digest: Government takes on mining mafia with new rules

		THE TIMES OF INDIA
		Friday, January 22, 2016
		Today's Headlines

		India
		Government takes on mining mafia with new rules Seeking to strike a balance between construction as well as ecological concerns, the Centre has notified a policy of granting environmental clearances for minor minerals, including sand, and has come out with guidelines to monitor present mining activities. It's almost official: Congress to go it alone in Assam It is almost official. Congress will not tie up with any of the regional outfits for the Assam elections and would prefer to take the crucial assembly test on its government's "performance". Student's suicide: Congress indulging in politics of hate, BJP says The BJP on Thursday accused Congress of indulging in “hate politics” by driving a wedge between students on caste lines and said “politicization” of the death was more painful than the death itself. More India News»

		Business
		Housing gets Rs 100cr more from SoftBank Online real estate portal Housing has raised Rs 100 crore from its existing investor Japan's SoftBank as it struggles to stay afloat. RCap's Q3 net rises by 10% to Rs 235 crore The consolidated third quarter net profit of Reliance Capital - a lender, which is also the holding company for the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group's financial service businesses - increased by 10% to Rs 235 crore from Rs 213 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. IndiGo Q3 net at Rs 657cr, a record for any Indian carrier Low-cost carrier (LCC) IndiGo on Thursday reported a profit of Rs 657 crore in the quarter ended December 31, 2015, up 23.7% from Rs 531 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. More Business News»

		Environment
		Archaeologists discover dinosaur fossils in Gujarat A team consisting of a German archaeologist and two Indians discovered dinosaur fossils during an ongoing research in Gujarat. New bird species in India, first in a decade The find of a new species of bird in northeastern India and adjacent parts of China has marked the first discovery in a decade and the fourth since 1949. Carcasses of over 150 Olive Ridley turtles found Carcasses of over 150 Olive Ridley turtles and a bottlenose dolphin washed ashore were on Wednesday recovered by Forest department officials here, a top official said. More Environment News»

		World
		Jobless protests stir growing unrest in Tunisia Fresh protests over unemployment and poverty in central Tunisia on Thursday raised fears of growing social unrest five years after the country's revolution ignited by similar grievances. Suspected extremists attack restaurant in Somali capital A Somali police official says a suicide car bomber rammed the gates of a restaurant near a beach in the capital and then gunmen fought their way into the building.It wasn't immediately clear if there were any casualties. Ex-US cop sentenced to 263 yrs for raping 4 women A former Oklahoma City police officer convicted of raping four women and sexually assaulting several others while he was on duty was sentenced on Thursday to 263 consecutive years in prison, the maximum allowable sentence. More World News»

		Entertainment
		Ranbir throws a party, Katrina not invited With each passing day, more and more details about the Katrina Kaif-Ranbir Kapoor split keep surfacing. A couple of days ago, a picture of Katrina’s car parked outside her old apartment, Guldev Sagar on Waterfield Road, Bandra, made headlines. Farhan Akhtar and Adhuna part ways 10 films we DON'T want to be remade More Entertainment News»

		Science
		2^74,207,281 - 1 is the largest prime number A computer has helped scientists find the largest prime number ever with over 22 million digits, breaking the previous record by around 5 million digits. Most fairy tales thousands of years older than believed Fairy tales such as ‘Beauty And The Beast’ are much older than previously thought and are actually thousands of years old, a research has found. Found: Lost ancient city in Honduras Archaeologists have begun excavations in what they believe to be the legendary lost city of Ciudad Blanca, or White City, in the Honduran jungle. More Science News»

		Sports
		Dhoni is still most suitable for captaincy: Hussey MS Dhoni found backing from Mike Hussey, who says the Indian captain was the most suitable to lead the team as he still has a lot of fire in his batting. Ferrer ends era by sending Hewitt into retirement Spain's David Ferrer ended an era in Australian tennis by sending former world number one Lleyton Hewitt into retirement with a 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 victory in their second round clash at the Australian Open. Boomer Collins: The baseball player whose goal is cricket Two former baseball players, one American and the other English, are attempting to write a script that could prove path-breaking. More Sports News»

		Technology
		10 sub-Rs 12K smartphones with 'best' battery life  Battery backup is one of our primary concerns when we think of buying a new smartphone. Keeping this in mind, we bring you a list of best 10 budget smartphones, which offer great battery life. Kingston HyperX Cloud Drone headphones review: Good budget headphones for gamers The Kingston HyperX Cloud Drone headphones are priced at Rs 3,999 and come with a swivel mic and volume control and braided cable of 2m length with a splitter. Samsung launches Gear S2, Gear S2 Classic in India starting at Rs 24,300 Samsung has finally introduced its Gear S2 smartwatch in India. The company has launched two variants of the device called Gear S2 and Gear S2 Classic priced at Rs 24,300 and Rs 25,800 respectively. The smartwatches will be exclusively available on Flipkart starting from today. More Technology News»

		Education
		NCC demands increase in quota for CET seats The Karnataka and Goa directorate of National Cadet Corps (NCC) has sought increase in quota in professional colleges in the state. Delhi schools to suspend primary classes due to cold weather Delhi government has directed the schools run by it to suspend primary classes in wake of the chilly weather in the national capital and private schools to alter their timings. CA success rate dips by 2.5% After a steady rise in the success rate of students in the final chartered accountancy (CA) exam in the last three chances, the performance of students dropped in the November 2015 exam. More Education News»

		Mumbai
		Car runs over three at Mohammed Ali road A white Mercedes allegedly ran over at least three people at Mohammed Ali road late on Thursday. Tobacco ban crackdown rakes in 3.6L The Food and Drug Administration, in probably its first serious attempt to implement the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), has penalized nearly 2,500 people and establishments across the state over the last two days. It is one among 25 agencies empowered to implement the act. Blow to out-of-school count as NGOs pull out In a setback to the ongoing round of identifying out-of-school children in the state, some participating NGOs have decided to boycott the process alleging loopholes in it. However, state officials denied the allegations and said the process has been initiated in all 35 districts across the state. More Mumbai News»

		Delhi
		Afghan boxer steals MP's arms licences, arrested An Afghan-origin boxer posing as a translator was arrested by the crime branch after he stole valuables and three AK-47 licences from his country's Member of Parliament who was visiting India for medical treatment Government panel to scan records of 3 corporations In what could lead to a fresh confrontation between the AAP government and the BJP-run municipal corporations, the former has constituted a committee to scrutinise the records of the three civic bodies in order to check if they are performing their "obligatory functions". A letter issued by deputy CM Manish Sisodia said the divisional commissioner can appoint district magistrates to perform the "fact finding" work. SC seeks reports from Delhi, UP and Haryana on action against dust pollution Days after rapping realtors for constructing housing conglomerates without environment clearance, the Supreme Court on Thursday asked Delhi, UP and Haryana to detail action taken against builders who failed to adhere to norms for controlling dust pollution at their sites More Delhi News»

		Bangalore
		IISc to indigenize hardware for Digital India, cyber security As part of the Centre's cyber-security programme, researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) are looking to develop indigenous hardware architecture to protect our networks, besides helping to achieve the Digital India dream through self-reliance. Head to Turahalli to shoot wildlife Budding photographers wanting to sharpen their skills can head to Times Passion Trails, a daylong photography workshop at Turahalli reserve forest, off Kanakapura Road, on Saturday (January 23). Aadhaar or voter ID mandatory while applying for RTE seats The education department has made it mandatory that either Aadhaar or voter ID card be produced while applying for a seat under the Right To Education (RTE) quota. More Bangalore News»

		Hyderabad
		Old City bustles as campaign begins for GHMC elections The campaigns of various political parties slugging it out in the Old City ahead of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections appears to be in full steam with parties eyeing voters, assuring them that their problems would be looked into. Rebellion in parties over ticket denial On the last day of withdrawal of nominations and submission of Bforms to confirm their party affiliation in the GHMC elections, some aspirants and their supporters created a ruckus at their respective party offices on Thursday. T, AP tussle over projects has river board in a fix After a change in stance by Telangana government over the submission of projects details on Godavari, the Godavari River Management Board (GRMB) is all set to seek clarity from the Centre. More Hyderabad News»

		Chennai
		Why restrict LPG autos to Chennai, court asks govt The Madras high court has given four weeks to the Tamil Nadu government to undertake a survey of air pollution as per national ambient air quality standards, and take decision with regard to grant of permits to LPG-run autorickshaws of 3+1 seat capacity in areas other than Chennai. Will babu swap end Chennai's woes? As Corporation of Chennai commissioner Vikram Kapur and Metrowater managing director B Chandramohan exchange the hot seats of the city's prime civic bodies, the latter will be inheriting at least two challenging tasks: Widening the city roads and improving sanitation. Core city gets water, suburbs run dry Three weeks of pounding rain. Too little and too much marked B Chandramohan's three-year-long tenure as managing director of Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board -a seat most bureaucrats would have been glad they didn't occupy, considering the city saw both ends of the spectrum: an impending drought and a deluge. More Chennai News»

		Ahmedabad
		No water: Rabi sowing down by 40% in Saurashtra Sowing for rabi season is nearing its end. Data released by the state’s agriculture department, however, shows a 40% drop in land cultivated this season in Saurashtra. 'Nimo' finds oneness in the city Hip-hopper turned musician with social concern, Nimesh Patel takes the city slum kids to world stage, cuts album about his experiences Gujarat govt performs free Cochlear Implant under School Health programme Under the School Health checkup programme the state government carried out Cochlear Implant Operation free of cost treatment on two deaf and dumb students. As a part of the programmes these two girls child were operated free of cost. More Ahmedabad News»

		Allahabad
		AU denies permission to symposium on campus As the `hostage-like situation' continued for half an hour, police were summoned to safely escort Varadarajan and Singh out of the campus. The activists and students were protesting against Varadarajan's entry on the campus. Siddharth Varadarajan held hostage in Allahabad at VC's office by ABVP Senior journalist Siddharth Varadarajan along with Allahabad University student union president Richa Singh was held hostage for around half an hour inside the office of AU VC, RL Hangloo when the senior journalist went to meet the VC at his office on Wednesday. Mela was source of revenue for British Around 150 years back, Magh Mela used to be a major source of revenue for the then British regime.The revenue was used for annual salary budget, maintenance of buildings and im proving the sanitation facilities in the city. More Allahabad News»

		Bhubaneswar
		Bangladeshi caught trying to get passport with fake documents A Bangladeshi national was arrested today for allegedly attempting to secure a passport by producing forged documents to the Regional Passport Office (RPO) here, police said. 'No power cut in Odisha till April' The state government on Thursday said there would be no power cut till the end of April. Bhubaneswar gets new police commissioner The state government on Thursday appointed 1990 batch IPS officer Y B Khurania as the new commissioner of police of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. Khurania is likely to assume the new office, replacing R P Sharma a day after the Republic Day. More Bhubaneswar News»

		Bhopal
		CM Shivraj meets PM Modi, hails crop insurance scheme Even as Madhya Pradesh had planned its crop insurance policy in view of severe drought conditions in parts of state, chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi and dubbed centre’s new crop insurance scheme as a 'revolutionary step'. M.P. bags award for 4th year: 2 farmers to get Krishi Karman Award As Madhya Pradesh is poised to get prestigious Krishi Karman Award for total food grain production, third time in succession, two progressive farmers of the state will also be felicitated for their efforts in agriculture. BJP MLA calls Digvijaya's son `future CM', rakes up controversy In an embarrassment to ruling BJP, which is preparing for another bout with Opposition Congress in Maihar by-poll, it’s MLA from Banda constituency in Sagar district Harvansh Singh Rathore has described Jaivardhan Singh, Congress MLA from Raghogarh and son of AICC general secretary Digvijaya Singh, as the future CM. More Bhopal News»

		Chandigarh
		Panel approves Aravalli landscape, plain landscape The Haryana State Steering Committee of Green India Mission, which held its first meeting under the chairmanship of chief secretary DS Dhesi on Thursday approved the perspective plan of the state having three broad landscapes namely Shivalik landscape, Aravalli landscape and plains landscape under Green India Mission. Bhagat Singh's kin wants Chandigarh airport to be named after martyr Bhagat Singh's grand nephew, Abhitej Singh Sandhu on Thursday said the youth will not allow the Chandigarh International Airport to operate until the Central government names the airport after the martyr. Mea debate contest concludes at Dokshant International School Vox Populi: The Debating Phenomenon' being hosted at Dikshant International has concluded. The event saw the participation of over 100 Young Debaters from different Schools & Educational Institutions of the region. More Chandigarh News»

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