Photostream: News Digest: Full text of PM Modi's address to the nation

Sunday, January 01, 2017

Today's Headlines

Full text of PM Modi's address to the nation

PM's announcements will enable a cleaner GDP: Arun Jaitley
Hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the nation, BJP said the welfare measures announced by him were his way of thanking people for their unstinted support to demonetisation and will help the poor and boost economy.

Focus on normalising cash situation as soon as possible, PM Modi tells banks
"My effort is to take the banking system to normalcy as fast as possible in the new year. I have asked all concerned officers in government to focus their attention to this task," the PM said in his televised address to the nation on New Year's eve.

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Business

IDBI Bank reduces MCLR for various tenors
State-run IDBI Bank on Saturday said it has reduced its marginal cost of funds based lending rate (MCLR) for various tenors, effective from January 1. For overnight tenor, the bank has reduced its minimum lending rate to 8.50 per cent.

After losing to India in FDI, China opens up economy more
China, which last year lost the top position as an investment destination to India, has now opened up more sectors for foreign investors to catch up. It is offering segments like public transport and railway equipment to foreign players besides cutting down the number of restrictions from 93 to 62.

At Rs 26,500cr, 2016's IPO kitty highest in 6 years
In addition to the nearly Rs 26,500 crore through IPOs on the main board of the stocks exchanges, 2016 also saw Rs 495 crore raised through the SME platform and another Rs 13,000 crore through offer for sales (OFS) by listed entities, data from Prime Database showed.

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Environment

China to ban ivory trade by end of 2017
China says it plans to shut down its ivory trade by end of 2017 in a move designed to curb mass slaughter of African elephants. Chinese government will end processing and selling of ivory and ivory products by end of March as it phases out legal trade, according to a statement released on Friday.

World's oldest male panda dies: Officials
The world's oldest male panda, with more than 130 descendants, has died aged 31, officials said. Pan Pan Pan, whose name means “hope” in Chinese was a prolific father, siring many cubs over the years that have gone on to have offspring of their own.

Delhi's air quality enters 'severe' zone yet again
Level of pollutants had seen a rapid build up before Christmas; however, the situation improved a little thereafter and remained so for at least two days. Air quality had started falling again on December 27. The average AQI of December 27 and 28 were 329 and 385, both in the very poor category.

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World

UN Security Council to vote on Syria ceasefire agreement
The UN Security Council will vote on Saturday on a resolution that would endorse the ceasefire agreement in Syria brokered by Russia and Turkey, and reiterate support for a roadmap to peace that starts with a transitional government.

Pakistan to hand over dossier on India to new UN chief
Pakistan would hand over a dossier on alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav and evidence of attempted violation of maritime boundary by an Indian submarine to incoming UN secretary general Antonio Guterres on Monday, his first working day after assuming office.

Two blasts in central Baghdad kill at least 21
Two bombs exploded at a busy market in central Baghdad on Saturday killing at least 21 people and wounding more than 40 others, police and medics said.

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Entertainment

Hottest celebrity Instagram accounts of 2016

Priyanka Chopra can't say no to this director

See: Bipasha-Karan's vacay pics from Australia

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Science

NASA solar observatory to add leap second to master clock
Pan Pan, whose name means “hope” in Chinese was a prolific father, siring many cubs over the years that have gone on to have offspring of their own. On Dec 31, official clocks around the world will add a leap second at 23 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

NASA's Curiosity rover discovers purple rocks on Mars
The image captured from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on Curiosity Mars rover shows purple-hued rocks near the rover’s late-2016 location on lower Mount Sharp. Variations in colour of the rocks hint at the diversity of their composition on lower Mount Sharp, NASA said.

NASA may build ice homes on Mars to protect astronauts
The surface of Mars has extreme temperatures and the atmosphere does not provide adequate protection from high-energy radiation. The researchers believe that their “Ice Home” design provides a sound engineering solution to offer astronauts a safe place to call home.

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Sports

Matter of time before I do well in all formats: Pujara
Cheteshwar Pujara was one of India's most consistent batsmen in 2016. The 28-year-old, with 836 runs from 11 Tests in the year, is looking to keep the good work going and develop into an all-format cricketer.

EPL: Pogba seals late Man United comeback win
Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial scored late goals as Manchester United came from behind to beat Middlesbrough 2-1 on Saturday and spare Jose Mourinho the embarrassment of losing to his former assistant Aitor Karanka.

Will assess Indian Olympic Association's situation: IOC
Asked if the IOC plans to take action on IOA for elevating Kalmadi and Chautala to life presidents, IOC media relations manager Michael Noyelle said in a written reply that it will first get in touch with the NOC of India.

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Technology

All that ruled the technology world in 2016: Glimpses
It's again time to bid goodbye to the current year and welcome a new one. And with all this, it's aloso the time to look back at all that dominated the world of technology during the year -- good, bad and no-so-good. The hottest product launches of the year, the startups that made a mark and the ones that dissapeared and more ...

This is the new smartphone Asus is working on
As per the information available on Tenaa, it may have a 2GB, 3GB, or 4GB RAM configuration padded with 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB storage options.

Android Nougat manual for Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 Edge reveals more upcoming features
A few screenshots seen in the manual show the behaviour of the new top row of Quick Toggles.

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Education

Medical students will have to clear exit test for 'Dr' tag
The draft Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill 2016 said the medical students will have to pass the National Exit Test (NEXT), which is expected to create a level-playing field in medical education. An official said NEXT would improve the quality of medical education and help benchmark students.

Centre to set up five new universities for minorities
The Centre has decided to set up five new universities for imparting higher education including medical to students belonging to minority communities, Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi announced here on Thursday.

Sharp fall in number of offers at IITs this year
A 'global slowdown' has resulted in a sharp decline of job offers in the first phase of the recruitment process in IITs. Though the number of recruiters has gone up, number of jobs offered has gone down. India Inc, both public & private, though have not directly linked the trend to demonetisation.

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Mumbai

Mumbaikar brutally assaulted in Dahanu local over seat
Request for a seat share landed a youth in a Palghar hospital nursing his grievous injuries after he was brutally assaulted by a "group" in Dahanu train on Friday afternoon.

Centre extends deadline for rabi crop insurance till January 10
The insurance is being offered by National Insurance Company and their officials will be facilitating enrollment of farmers in the scheme, the minister said.

Mumbai: Woman found murdered in Nalasopara
A 28-year-old married woman who had gone missing three days ago was found dead in a room in Nalasopara on Saturday.

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Delhi

PM Modi's speech disappointing: Kejriwal
He also hit out at the prime minister for "not offering any relief" to the people suffering due to demonetisation.

Delhi University adopts new recruitment policy

2017's Big Shows
Films that Hollywood might’ve had lined up for release in 2017 – if it worked out of Delhi.

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Bangalore

Bengaluru: Brain dead man gifts life to three

Bengaluru: Rescued bear undergoes MRI, CT scans, reports indicate good health

Tipu jayanthi is being politicised by BJP: Siddaramaiah

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Hyderabad

Hyderabad-based engineering & construction company bags Rs 242.56 crore project in Karnataka

Rahul Gandhi likely to address rally in Hyderabad next month
The party is demanding that the BJP Government adequately compensate women and small businessmen who have incurred losses during the past 50-days.

Natotsav begins on an emotionally high note

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Chennai

Shravanthi looked pretty partying at Gatsby in Chennai
They were happy for all the good things they had in 2016 and this was how they celebrated it.

Inspector, SI suspended for taking bribe from red sander smugglers

Kapaleeswarar temple property retrieved
Authorities of the Kapaleeswarar temple in Mylapore have retrieved temple property measuring 4,952sqft at Triplicane after the occupant failed to pay 34.12 lakh in rent dues. The property is worth 12 crore.

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Ahmedabad

Gujarat goverment begins smart services under Wi-Fi project at Gandhinagar
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani showed confidence that the capital of Gujarat is now equipped with Wi-Fi facility and will create not only prestige of Gujarat but of India among the national-international dignitaries to visit forthcoming Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit-2017.

Biggies bite dust, small firms shine
Even as the sensex ended 2016 on a positive note, gaining 260 points on December 30 - the final trading session of the year, it was mixed bag for investors.

BPA gets new Braille printer
Thawar Chand Gehlot, Union minister of social justice and empowerment, inaugurated a state-of-the-art Braille press at the Blind People's Association (BPA) premises on Friday evening.

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Allahabad

Cow's that! Learn with fun about bovines

BJP poll pitch picks up with sloganeering

To fuel Olympics dream, marathon winner seeks 'safai karmi' job
Aradhana Bind is a gutsy long-distance runner. In November, without any training, she won the bronze medal at the prestigious Indira Marathon.

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Bhubaneswar

State Election Commission imposes restriction on publicity of schemes and distribution of booklets

Odisha government seeks public suggestions to prepare annual budget
The state government on Saturday sought suggestions and inputs from common men, civil society organisations and different advocacy groups to shape the annual budget 2017-18.

Cash worry hits rural poll aspirants in Odisha
During poll season, money flows like liquor. From lunch to freebies to posters, candidates can’t do without ‘vitamin M’. But demonetisation has put a spanner in their works and with traders and contractors, people who would generally come forward to support aspirants, putting their hands up, those contesting the panchayat polls are in a bit of a fix.

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Bhopal

2 booked for hunting ducks at Bairagarh
The forest department booked two men on Thursday for illegally hunting protected migratory ducks at Bairagarh near Sehore Naka. The two are being questioned to find out if they were involved in poaching in the past as well.

Traffic cops on toes to check drunk driving on New Year
Bhopal traffic police would run a dedicated vehicle checking drive to check driving under the influence of alcohol in the city on New Year's Eve. Officials said apart from traffic police, cops from police stations would also be deployed in the vehicle checking drive.

Use khadi once a week, government staff told
The Madhya Pradesh government has appealed to its employees to promote khadi and handlooms by wearing khadi clothes at work once a week.

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Chandigarh

Cleanliness drives marks the second day of NSS camp at Panjab University

'De-addiction centres to cover tobacco addicts'
Punjab government has been making serious efforts to tackle the problem of tobacco use. In its endeavour to save the youth and children from addiction to tobacco/nicotine, the government has been strictly implementing various laws and provisions.

Dalal sees scam in fishermen recruitment

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