News Digest: Detained Geelani has free run on net

		THE TIMES OF INDIA
		Thursday, August 18, 2016
		Today's Headlines

		India
		Detained Geelani has free run on net Though the government had imposed suspension of phone and cellular data services in Kashmir to prevent mobilization of violent rioters and check separatist propaganda, Geelani continues to tweet divisive messages and videos with ease. PMO scraps 32-year blacklist of 212 Sikh NRIs ahead of Punjab polls Ahead of Punjab polls, the PMO has scrapped a 32-year government blacklist that banned India visits by Sikh NRIs from 212 families. The blacklist was put in place by a Congress government after Operation Bluestar in 1984 and the Kanishka bombings in 1985 Centre may rope in e-tailer to market cheap pulses With most states reluctant to lift pulses offered by the Centre at subsidised rates, the government is looking to engage a professional organization, which could be a big retailer or e-commerce player, to manage the buffer stock and sell it so that consumers do not end up paying high prices for dal. More India News»

		Business
		Alibaba to lease 20k sq ft in B'luru Alibaba eyes deal with ShopClues Chinese internet behemoth Alibaba, which aims to enter the domestic e-commerce market by early next year, has held discussions to acquire online marketplace ShopClues, which is valued at over $1 billion. Alibaba wants to merge the marketplace of Paytm, in which it has a stake, with the much bigger rival ShopClues, as it is prospecting several acquisition targets to firm up an India entry against rival Amazon, people familiar with the matter said. Snapdeal closes fashion portal 1 yr after acquisition Online marketplace Snapdeal has shut Exclusively.com - a premium online fashion and accessories platform it had acquired in February last year. The development marks continuous efforts made by the SoftBank-backed company to rationalise costs amid a funding slowdown. According to sources, Exclusively.com had a team of about 40 people who will now be merged with Snapdeal and focus on the overall fashion business of the company. Business daily Mint reported earlier on Wednesday about the closure of the portal. More Business News»

		Environment
		Odisha to fix coast erosion though natural process Odisha government said it would check the sea erosion in Puri coast through natural process and avoid constructing any structure on the beach which will mar the beauty of the coast. Officials said a team from IIT-Madras had visited the spot and they will suggest the state on how to check the erosion Rhino dies at Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park The carcass of a rhino was recovered from near the Timikana camp of the Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park in Assam on Wednesday. Melting glaciers pose threat beyond water scarcity More Environment News»

		World
		Pakistan military unlikely to stage a coup now: US experts Pakistan's powerful military is not prepared to bring down the civilian government but would maintain its 'dominating influence', prominent US scholars have said amid efforts to find a successor to army chief General Raheel Sharif. North Korea says it has resumed plutonium production North Korea says it has resumed plutonium production by reprocessing spent fuel rods and has no plans to stop nuclear tests as long as perceived US threats remain. North Korea, also said it had been producing highly enriched uranium necessary for nuclear arms and power "as scheduled". S Korea says N Korea deputy ambassador to Britain defected to Seoul South Korea said on Wednesday that North Korea's deputy ambassador to Britain had defected to Seoul with his family, in a major loss of diplomatic face for Pyongyang. "They are under government protection and are going through necessary procedures with related institutions," ministry spokesman said More World News»

		Entertainment
		Rare moments of B-town's brother-sister jodis On Rakshabandhan we bring you the famous brother sister jodis of Bollywood. 'I am used to being called a gora' This time, the pitch happens to be the camera. Brett Lee's debut film 'UnIndian', sees him being bowled over by an Indian maiden, Tannishtha Chatterjee. Childhood secrets of Bollywood siblings More Entertainment News»

		Science
		Stephen Hawking's prediction about black holes observed in lab Scientists who created a virtual black hole in the lab claim to have observed for the first time a phenomenon predicted by English physicist Stephen Hawking more than 30 years ago according to which some particles can escape black holes. Estrogen, the most important hormone in a woman's life - from womb to tomb Dr Death: When life-savers turned life-takers More Science News»

		Sports
		Wrestler Sakshi Malik wins India's first medal in Rio Wrestler Sakshi Malik ended India’s medal drought at Rio Olympics by winning bronze in women’s 58kg freestyle. Sakshi defeated Kyrgyzstan’s Aisuluu Tynybekova 8-5 to become first female wrestler from India to win an Olympic medal. Rio Olympics: Sakshi sizzles, Srikanth goes down fighting Wrestler Sakshi Malik brought cheers back to Indian camp by winning a historic bronze medal in women’s 58kg freestyle on day 12 of the Rio Olympics on Wednesday. Rio live: Golfer Aditi tied 7th in round one After Kidambi Srikanth lost his quarter-final match and a disappointing sixth-place finish by Tintu Luka in 800m, Indian contingent has now been pinning its hopes on wrestler Sakshi Malik to end the medal drought on Day 12 of the mega event. More Sports News»

		Technology
		Huawei P9 review: For the shutterbugs Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei has just launched its flagship smartphone – the P9, in India. Although the P9 has almost everything one would expect from a flagship-class Android device, its USP is undoubtedly its dual-camera setup. The P9’s dual cameras (each 12MP) have been engineered in collaboration with German imaging pioneer Leica. While one of the cameras shoots regular colour photos, the other outs monochrome shots. Priced at Rs 39,999, the Huawei P9 is powered by the company’s own Kirin 955 chipset, coupled with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. Running Android 6.0 Marshmallow with Emotion UI 4.1, it has a 3,000mAh battery. That all sounds good on paper, but does it translate to a well-rounded device in the real world? We review the Huawei P9 in detail to find out. 11 things you must know about your smartphone, laptop's battery Charging up your gadgets may look simple but there's actually a lot going on behind the scenes. Cisco Systems to cut 14,000 jobs: Report Cisco is expected to announce the cuts within the next few weeks, as the company transition from its hardware roots into a software-centric company. More Technology News»

		Education
		DU's longest admission season still continuing It has been 110 days and the Delhi University undergraduate admissions are still not over. Not just that, with almost 7,000 unfilled seats, the varsity's admission committee has now decided to issue three more cutoff lists. ​ IGNOU looks at tie-up with self-financing colleges NEET results declared, Kota students bag top 3 positions After claiming top three slots in JEE-Advanced (IITs), Kota has weaved another big success story. This time in the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Exam (NEET), results of which were announced by CBSE on Tuesday. Top three students who cleared NEET are from Kota. More Education News»

		Mumbai
		SC bars minors, puts 20-feet cap on height of dahi handis Refusing to heed the contention that the tradition of Lord Krishna stealing butter as a kid inspires the dahi handi custom, the Supreme Court has said that no one below 18 years of age can take part in human pyramids formed to celebrate Janmashtami. It also capped the height of such pyramids at 20 feet. Broke state plans to sell land, raise Rs 2L cr infra funds Taking a leaf out of the Chinese development model, the Fadnavis government has drafted an ambitious but controversial plan to monetise government land for bankrolling work on ongoing irrigation and infrastructure projects. AAP accuses Sena mantri of 500cr scam in APMC The Aam Aadmi Party has accused minister of state for textiles Arjun Khotkar of illegally selling Jalna Agricultural Price Marketing Committee (APMC) galas and making Rs 500 crore profit. More Mumbai News»

		Delhi
		Apathy raises a stink outside 'swachh' school NEW DELHI: With handkerchiefs placed over their noses to ward off the overpowering stench, the parents waiting to pick up their wards outside the Government Co-ed Senior Secondary School in east Delhi's West Vinod Nagar go through a dreadful experience every day . But if their plight is bad, one can only imagine how difficult it must be for the 1,360 students who spend the entire day in the school. Lost world: Their twin hopes of reconnect are in a shambles DU's longest admission season still continuing It has been 110 days and the Delhi University undergraduate admissions are still not over. Not just that, with almost 7,000 unfilled seats, the varsity's admission committee has now decided to issue three more cutoff lists. ​ More Delhi News»

		Bangalore
		Q1 over, but students yet to receive bicycles Although the first quarter of the current academic year is drawing to a close, class 8 students of government and aided schools are still waiting for their bicycles which the government was supposed to distribute in June-July. Govt allows making Jog a perennial fall The iconic Jog Falls is all set to be privatised with the Karnataka cabinet giving permission for developing it into a tourism hotspot and making it a perennial waterfall. Nobody should hold convention sans party's nod: BSY The BJP core committee meeting on Tuesday failed to resolve the dispute between state president BS Yeddyurappa and opposition leader in the legislative council and former home minister KS Eshwarappa. More Bangalore News»

		Hyderabad
		One more held in Eamcet leak case CID sleuths arrested one more culprit in the TS Eamcet-II (medical entrance) examination question paper leak case on Wednesday. State to have 27 districts by Dasara Around Dasara festival this year in October, Telangana will have 27 districts in place of the current 10. Constitution does not sanction quota The six new games that the government wants to be included are: tennicoit, powerlifting, netball, throwball, sepaktakra and boxing. More Hyderabad News»

		Chennai
		Survey: Over 50% of TN citizens obese, diabetic Doctors and healthcare experts are pinning down hard evidence from a massive screening programme done by the Tamil Nadu government under the `Amma Arogya Thittam' to show how more than half the number of people in the state are obese, diabetic or hypertensive. MLA seeks govt to issue house pattas for people Velachery MLA Vagai Chandrasekar on Wednesday wanted the revenue department to issue house pattas to residents of his constituency. Baby gets new liver, AP minister pays visit Andhra Pradesh health minister Kamineni Srinivas visited the family of an eight-month-old child who underwent a liver transplant in a city-based private hospital. More Chennai News»

		Ahmedabad
		Devotees bid tearful adieu to Pramukh Swami Committee to decide medical admission on Friday The Admission Committee for Medical Professional Courses will meet on Friday to decide on the admission for the medical, dental and para medical colleges. Earlier the ACMPC was to begin the admission from the September 3. Sibling Revelry for Shrenu Parikh More Ahmedabad News»

		Allahabad
		Naseemuddin no more than a collection agent: Maurya BJP leader Swami Prasad Maurya said that BSP general secretary Naseemuddin Siddiqui is no more than a collection agent for party president Mayawati. STF nabs sharpshooter of Munna Bajrangi The UP special task force (STF) on Tuesday nabbed Dharmendra Pratap Singh alias Rinku Singh, a sharp shooter of Munna Bajrangi gang, after an encounter at Naini on Tuesday. Downpour spins life out of control, city gridlocked Incessant rains that continued to lash the city on Tuesday threw life out of gear.While almost all the localities witnessed waterlogging, traffic jams made things worse for commuters. More Allahabad News»

		Bhubaneswar
		State asks Chhattisgarh for project details again On July 29, the Chhattisgarh chief secretary had promised to provide the details about projects on Mahanadi within 15 days at a meeting convened by the Union water resources ministry. BJP holds Tiranga Yatra in state The BJP on Wednesday conducted Tiranga Yatra in Sambalpur and Dhenkanal districts in the presence of Union minister for tribal affairs Jual Oram and Union minister of state for consumer affairs C R Chaudhury. BMC's Friday date with senior citizens To help senior citizens know their officers, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to launch interactive sessions called 'know your officer' from Friday. More Bhubaneswar News»

		Bhopal
		NEET paper leak: Uttarakhand Police approach Vyapam scam busters for help Madhya Pradesh to have supermarkets in tribal belt MP govt's dialysis initiative for kidney patients faces 'technician' difficulties Prakash Jain (63), resident of this town in north Madhya Pradesh travels 120km to Gwalior thrice every week to keep himself alive. He is a kidney disease patient and needs dialysis to survive. More Bhopal News»

		Chandigarh
		Height of Punjab Police's recruitment campaign! Do you become a better policeman just because you are six feet tall? At least the Punjab Police seems to think so. The department has moved an inch ahead and implemented the proposal to give 15 out of 30 marks for just height in the selection of 7,416 constables. Ahead of 2017 polls, Raj ex-royal is Punjab guv V P Singh Badnore, scion of the erstwhile principality of Badnore in Rajasthan who was passed over for a second nomination to the Rajya Sab ha, has been appointed as governor of Punjab at a time when assembly elections in the state are less than six months away. Is AAP-Sidhu match-up over? Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu's flirta tions with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) seem to have failed to lead to a political marriage at least for the time being. More Chandigarh News»

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