News Digest: Samajwadi patron done in by party turncoats

		THE TIMES OF INDIA
		Tuesday, January 03, 2017
		Today's Headlines

		India
		Samajwadi patron done in by party turncoats Soon, 10% rebate on vacant train berths An exercise in judicial legislation, say dissenters More India News»

		Business
		SBI hopes rate cuts to help boost sagging loan market The nation's largest lender State Bank of India on Monday said the 90-basis points-reduction in the lending rates is likely to prop up its sagging loan growth and expects to boost the loan book to 8-9 per cent for the current financial year. ​ Rupee breaches 68-mark to usher in 2017, plunges 30 paise The rupee started 2017 on a weaker note and plummeted by a whopping 30 paise to 68.22 against the US dollar due to huge demand for the American currency. The RBI fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 68.0225 and for the euro at 71.51. Sensex trips on first trading day of 2017, logs loss In listless trading, the Sensex on Monday closed with a marginal fall of over 31 points at 26,595 on the first trading day of 2017 as banking stocks felt the heat due to worries that the lending rate cuts will hit their bottom line. More Business News»

		Environment
		Environmentalists protest hunting bison plan in Poland Environmentalists are protesting Poland's plan to allow hunters to shoot bison, while authorities say it is necessary for the well-being of the oversized herd and will earn money for its upkeep. Greenpeace had gathered almost 9,000 signatures online by Monday afternoon on a letter asking Prime Minister Beata Szydlo to stop the plan. 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. More Environment News»

		World
		Maintain 'zero tolerance' for child abuse: Pope to bishops Pope Francis has told bishops around the world they must adhere to a policy of zero tolerance for clergy who sexually abuse children. Francis said: "I would like us to renew our complete commitment to ensuring that these atrocities will no longer take place in our midst." Enhance cooperation to protect common interests: Xi to BRICS BRICS countries should enhance solidarity, cooperation and safeguard common interests as they face growing uncertainties and instabilities in international situations, according to Chinese President Xi Jinping, who assumes the Presidency of the five-member bloc this year. At least 60 killed in Brazil prison riot, say state officials Around 60 people have been killed in a bloody prison riot sparked by a war between rival drug gangs in the Amazon jungle city of Manaus, in some of the worst violence in years in Brazil's overcrowded penitentiary system. More World News»

		Entertainment
		Nandita Das splits with husband after 7 years Actress Nandita Das and her entrepreneur-turned-actor husband Subodh Maskara have decided to part ways after seven years of marriage. Salman and KJo's first joint venture stars Akshay It cannot get bigger than this in Bollywood. Two of the industry’s power centres — Salman Khan and Karan Johar — are all set to team up as producers. And, their first joint production will star none other than Akshay Kumar! Kalki Koechlin: Now, my struggle is to break stereotypes In an interview with BT, the actress gets talking about feminism, friendships, industry dynamics and of course, what the New Year has in store! Excerpts... ​ More Entertainment News»

		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. More Science News»

		Sports
		'Best wishes if SC feels retired judges can do better' Anurag Thakur issued a statement with a snide remark in response to the judgement stating if the Supreme Court feels the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) could do better under retired judges, he wishes them all the best. Djokovic survives scare in season opener in Doha Novak Djokovic battled back from 5-1 down against the world number 63 Jan-Lennard Struff to claim his first victory of the season at the Qatar Open in Doha on Monday. Clichy, Aguero get 10-man Manchester City back on track Manchester City overcame the first-half dismissal of Fernandinho and another Claudio Bravo error to secure a nervy 2-1 Premier League victory over Burnley on Monday. More Sports News»

		Technology
		WhatsApp no longer works on these iOS and Android phones Popular social media application WhatsApp has stopped working in older iPhones and Android handsets to ensure that it could continue to introduce new features and stay secure, which relies on the app being used on newer operating systems. Microsoft is testing a fix for one of the most annoying things about Windows 10 Winaero's Sergey Tkachenko has noticed that Microsoft is testing out a fix for the upcoming Windows 10 Creators update, dropping in March 2017: A leaked, in-progress version of Windows 10 for Windows Insider beta testers contains a new "pause updates" option. Azim Premji asks Wipro employees to focus on core principles in 2017 He added that the year 2016 had raised questions and obstacles which could not be ignored. More Technology News»

		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. More Education News»

		Mumbai
		PM speech, weekend exodus drive down New Year drinking at bars by 30% Portrait of Sena founder's father now in BMC hall Court allows copies to be used in Malegaon case More Mumbai News»

		Delhi
		Filmmakers get threat calls Police version on custody death riddled with holes Gold worth Rs 60 crore seized at IGI last year More Delhi News»

		Bangalore
		I want an honourable exit: Srinivas Prasad Rather than planning on establishing himself as the new face of the dalit community in the BJP, former Congress minister V Srinivas Prasad, who joined the party on Monday, said he intends to retire in a dignified manner from politics. Oommen Chandy: Solar scam case is attempt to defame me Former Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy on Monday appeared before a Bengaluru civil court in connection with the solar scam cheating case. The senior Congress leader filed an affidavit/examination-in-chief before the court denying the allegations against him in the case filed by M K Kuruvilla. High Court: Dispose of plea against Jayachandra The Karnataka high court on Monday disposed of the petition filed by the enforcement directorate (ED) under the Foreign Exchange Management Act & Prevention of Money Laundering Act, challenging the order of a city court to grant interim bail on December 15 to suspended bureaucrat S C Jayachandra More Bangalore News»

		Hyderabad
		Post Office-SCB Land mafia makes a killing in IT corridor Thieves run Rs 1.64cr 'trade' on full steam More Hyderabad News»

		Chennai
		Union minister not in favour of exhumation of Jayalalithaa's body Sasikala to meet workers, seek support At rest after lifting patients for a century More Chennai News»

		Ahmedabad
		50 Myanmar cops to study forensics at Gujarat Forensic Sciences University Next Monday, the first batch of 10 police officers from Myanmar police will arrive at Gujarat Forensic Sciences University (GFSU), Gandhinagar, for a three-month intensive training programme in forensic sciences. Myanmar is the ninth country to send its law enforcement personnel to GFSU for study. Couple caught making scam calls from home A team of Chandkheda police arrested a couple for allegedly making calls to US citizens, posing as loan agents and government officials. Police earlier seized a laptop from their residence, which had a script used for fraud calls, and some leads to make the calls. Dutch and Indian students to solve water issues A group of nearly 25 students and professionals from India and the Netherlands are participating in Wetskills Water Challenge 2017, a two-week fieldwork-based event to start on Tuesday. More Ahmedabad News»

		Allahabad
		BJP bikes arrive in Allahabad for door-to-door drive The BJP leadership in Uttar Pradesh is stressing door-to-door campaign to prepare and collect data of voter in all the 403 assembly constituencies in the run-up to 2017 state assembly polls. Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha activists want Maurya as CM if BJP wins A large number of Bharatiya Janata Party and Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) activists assembled at Ramghat, on the banks of Ganga here on Sunday and prayed for the success of the party in the Assembly election. Allahabad police lines to run on solar power The district’s reserve police lines will run on solar power following state government nod to the ‘Green Police Line’ project of the city police. State government has already sanctioned Rs 1 crore for the project and Allahabad reserve police lines would be the first in the state to get the green tag. More Allahabad News»

		Bhubaneswar
		Unseasonal rain and hailstorm causes crop loss in western Odisha Unseasonal rain and hailstorm lashed different parts of western Odisha on Monday evening bringing the temperature down in the region. The rain has badly damaged harvested paddy crops and onions. Mahima Mishra's business empire under ED scanner More trouble seems to be in store for business tycoon Mahimananda Mishra, better known as Mahima in the state, as the enforcement directorate (ED) pulled up its socks to probe his financial dealings. Dense fog affects air, road and rail communication in Odisha Capital city woke up to dense fog on Monday morning causing poor visibility, which has affecting air, rail and road communications badly. However, things have become normal due to sunshine by the noon. More Bhubaneswar News»

		Bhopal
		MP Cong calls strategic meeting on demonetisation protest Court should ban use of 'anti-secular' tag BJP: Prabhat Jha Senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha member Prabhat Jha hailed the Supreme Court ruling on misuse of caste for seeking votes and said court should also direct to stop misuse of 'anti-secular' word used by rival parties against BJP. Gun totters in Chambal resent hike in licence fee More Bhopal News»

		Chandigarh
		Hubby, his brother held for killing pregnant woman Ludhiana's roads retain their killer tag Love for watches drives Congress MLA Kewal Singh Dhillon campaign The Congress MLA from Barnala, Kewal Singh Dhillon, has such a fetish for wristwatches that he has distributed nearly 1,000 of them among his supporters and members of his election campaign staff. More Chandigarh News»

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