News Digest: Amma grabs dalit, Muslim votebanks

		THE TIMES OF INDIA
		Sunday, May 18, 2014
		Today's Headlines

		India
		Amma grabs dalit, Muslim votebanks AIADMK’s landslide win in Tamil Nadu comes with lessons on the changing social arithmetic. Muslim and dalit leaders lose traditional votebanks to Amma  Despite a soft-on-BJP image that she tried to change by criticising Modi towards the end of the campaign, Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa seems to have managed to win over the hearts of Muslim voters in the state.  BJP betters strike rate in south BJP in the south has managed to improve its strike rate and vote share in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections although the number of seats it won is not considerably higher. More India News»

		Business
		Adani Enterprises Q4 net up six-fold The flagship firm of Adani group had reported a net profit of Rs 473.78 crore in the fourth quarter of FY'13. Captain Nair, founder of Leela hotels, dies at 92 Nair had handed over the chairmanship of the hotels he built to elder son Vivek last year and become chairman emeritus of the company TCS looks for strong FY15 after poll verdict Tata Consultancy Services on Saturday said it is looking at a strong show in FY'15 supported by global economic revival, and hopes of pick up in India business on account of the decisive mandate in elections. More Business News»

		Environment
		65 tiger sightings thrill volunteers in Vidarbha region's national parks The machan census carried out in various sanctuaries, national parks and tiger reserves in Vidarbha thrilled the volunteers with a record 66 individual tiger sightings apart from other wildlife. European bison released into wild Carpathian range Seventeen European bison were released in Romania on Saturday into the wild Carpathian mountain range, one of the largest reintroductions of the endangered mammal in Europe. Garbage treatment plant near monuments in Goa raises a stink A proposed garbage treatment plant near world-famous monuments in Goa, which are protected by the Archaeological Survey of India and visited by a large number of tourists, has drawn opposition from the locals. More Environment News»

		World
		Turkey mine rescue ends, death toll at 301 Turkey today declared rescue operations over following this week's devastating coalmine blast after retrieving the bodies of two last trapped miners, bringing the final death toll to 301. 25 die in record Balkan floods Packed into buses, boats and helicopters, carrying nothing but a handful of belongings, tens of thousands fled their homes Saturday in Bosnia and Serbia to escape the worst flooding in a century. North Korea reports 'serious' building accident North Korea said a “serious" accident last week at a construction site in the capital, Pyongyang, claimed casualties and triggered a major rescue operation but no death toll was mentioned. More World News»

		Entertainment
		Ab ki baar, filmi sarkaar: B-Town's election report One of the starriest elections the country has ever seen has given showbiz big wins and big losses equally, but one thing’s clear – Parliament is set to get a lot more filmi, and B-wood’s celebrating! Sizzling: Hottest sex scenes in a car Whenever we think of our teenage days, we think of our friends, the first kiss and of course the cozy moments we shared with our beloved in the backseat of a car. Sex on the wheels is not uncommon and is something that is very popular among youngsters. OMG: A buffalo called Katrina Bollywood diva Katrina Kaif is furious that an advertisement for a mobile app company has a buffalo called Katrina. More Entertainment News»

		Science
		Scientists create new form of matter from light After an 80-year-long quest, British scientists have discovered how to turn light into matter. Robots pave the way for human landing on Mars With Nasa rovers Curiosity and Opportunity relaying loads of information about the Red Planet, Nasa is inching closer to a manned mission to Mars. Dads with technical jobs more likely to have autistic kids Children of fathers who are in technical occupations are more likely to have an autism spectrum disorder, a new study has found. More Science News»

		Sports
		Novak into Rome final after epic struggle Novak Djokovic reached the Rome Masters final after coming through a tough semifinal with Milos Raonic to beat the Canadian 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/4), 6-3. Ronaldo, Karim injuries cloud Real win Real Madrid ended a run of three league games without a win by beating Espanyol 3-1 on Saturday, but the victory was overshadowed by injury concerns. Culture of sexism at EPL: FA official Scudamore "should give serious consideration to his position" in light of "growing evidence of a closed culture of sexism" at the EPL, said an FA member. More Sports News»

		Technology
		Moto G or Moto E: Which one should you choose? Motorola's Moto G has set the benchmark for budget smartphones with its exceptional performance... Apple, Google settle smartphone patent litigation Google and Apple informed a federal appeals court in Washington that their cases against each other should be dismissed. The next smartphone war is going to be cheap, not nasty The only way to keep high revenues afloat is to increase the number of handsets sold. More Technology News»

		Education
		Marginal rise in ISC pass percentage Even as the country saw a marginal increase in the pass percentage of students who appeared for the ISC exams, from 95.15% to 95.27%, Maharashtra registered a pass percentage of 96.86%, almost 0.43% lower than last year. PhD students at MSU can now write thesis in Gujarati, Hindi The permission was granted by MSU's syndicate members on Saturday when they approved the minutes of the meeting of the Council of Post-Graduate Research and Studies, popularly known as P G Council. Many schools fail to declare results on time Many students who were expecting the results of the Indian School Certificate (ISC) examination on Saturday will have yet another sleepless night as several schools were unable to declare the results on Saturday. More Education News»

		Mumbai
		80 RTO transfers may hit work in Maharashtra Transport-related work across Maharashtra is likely to be affected statewide for a few days as the government transferred around 80 officials across regional transport offices. Not debris, it's soil at Tower of Silence, Parsi committee members say Earlier this week, four Bombay Parsi Punchayet trustees accused Chairman Dinshaw Mehta of dumping around 300 trucks of debris at the sacred Tower of Silence (see pic) and exposing colonies nearby to the threat of landslides.On Saturday, Mehta and Dr Homi Dhalla, who is part of the Doongerwadi committee on a voluntary basis, took journalists’ to inspect the soil and “show how well plants are sprouting in it”. Milkman gets Rs 1 lakh as payout for cattle death The Thane Motor Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) recently awarded Rs 1 lakh to a milk vendor for the death of his cattle that were hit by a truck. More Mumbai News»

		Delhi
		Ask others to support AAP government again: Party MLAs  AAP faces a challenge as its supporters appear to be volatile vote banks shifting choices between December and April. The middle class has largely gone with BJP, deserting AAP in seats where it got top slot in the assembly polls in December. In contrast, large sections of Muslims have clearly broken away from Congress to go with AAP. BJP bagged 60 assembly segments in Delhi, AAP 10 The Congress didn’t just finish a poor third in all seven Lok Sabha constituencies in Delhi. Its humiliation in the national capital runs much deeper — it was third in all but one of the 70 assembly segments as well. Depressed patient jumps off hospital balcony, dies A 55-year-old man allegedly committed suicide by jumping off the fifth floor of Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital on Saturday afternoon, police said. More Delhi News»

		Bangalore
		Power supply to be hit There will be no power supply from 10am to 4pm on Sunday in some areas fed from 66/11 KV Brindavana MUSS due to maintenance works. They beat the odds to dream of success When the ISC results were announced on Saturday, Babu, 18, became the first person from his family to finish schooling. Central Crime Branch raids ComedK office, seizes documents The Central Crime Branch (CCB) raided the office of the Consortium of Medical, Engineering and Dental Colleges of Karnataka (ComedK) in Malleswaram early on Saturday. More Bangalore News»

		Hyderabad
		Youth stabbed in unprovoked attack Two private employees, who went to have tea, were stabbed by miscreants at Dobhighat, Saidabad, in the wee hours of Saturday. Vijayawada-Guntur may be Naidu's choice for capital Having impressed the world with his brand of development politics during his tenure as AP chief minister, TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu will put up a repeat performance in the new state of Seemandhra, forecast political pundits. EC to decide on Allagadda repoll soon Chief electoral officer Bhanwarlal on Saturday informed the Election Commission about the posthumous election of Shoba Nagi Reddy by Allagadda voters. More Hyderabad News»

		Chennai
		Amma grabs dalit, Muslim votebanks AIADMK’s landslide win in Tamil Nadu comes with lessons on the changing social arithmetic. Muslim and dalit leaders lose traditional votebanks to Amma  Despite a soft-on-BJP image that she tried to change by criticising Modi towards the end of the campaign, Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa seems to have managed to win over the hearts of Muslim voters in the state.  Amma grabs dalit, Muslim votebanks AIADMK’s landslide win in Tamil Nadu comes with lessons on the changing social arithmetic. More Chennai News»

		Ahmedabad
		Mother Gujarat delivers second Iron Man It was a shaking Mother Earth in Kutch on January 26, 2001, Republic Day, which delivered a proud patriot Narendra Modi to power close to nine months later. Special session for Modi's farewell Prime minister-elect Narendra Modi will get a big farewell as the chief minister of Gujarat at a special assembly session on May 21.Modi will resign as the CM thereafter. Social media adds contemporary drama to Gujarati theatre A young Chinmay is seen struggling with a poor internet connection.While waiting, he starts to converse with his alter egos called Shunya and Ek, who ask him to get rid of his Twitter addiction. More Ahmedabad News»

		Allahabad
		Fair at Ghazi tomb begins The annual Dargah Mela of Sayed Salar Masood Ghazi will commence from May 18, first Sunday of the Hindu month Jyeshtha. After euphoria, new MPs to face litmus test The euphoria among workers following Bharatiya Janata Party's stupendous victory on Allahabad and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats would subside in days to come and replaced by a litmus test. Website snag makes students' wait longer Students of ISC faced problems in knowing the result of class 12 which was declared on Saturday. More Allahabad News»

		Bhubaneswar
		Big jump for BJD's LS vote share BJD's landslide win in the twin elections saw the regional party garner a significantly higher percentage of votes in the Lok Sabha, compared to its show in the assembly polls. NOTA joke: Netas face rejection slur Incredible as it may sound, 3.32 lakh people pressed the NOTA (none of the above) button during the Lok Sabha election in Odisha, results of which were announced on Friday. High and low of margins Mohana assembly segment recorded the lowest victory margin among all assembly seats with BJD's Basanti Mallick defeating Congress' Dasarathi Gamang by just 115 votes. More Bhubaneswar News»

		Bhopal
		Noon showers take sting out of heat After scorching heat for better part of the day, thundery conditions and showers brought in somewhat cooling affect towards fag end of afternoon. SIMI men hit out at Modi outside Bhopal court A day after the Modi tsunami swept the country, 18 members of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), including its Madhya Pradesh chief Abu Faisal, shouted pro-Taliban slogans and included Narendra Modi’s name in their hit list after they were produced in a court in Bhopal. High & dry: Water supply to be disrupted today Water supply in several areas of the city would remain disrupted on Sunday and Monday due to repair works in Kolar water scheme pipeline. More Bhopal News»

		Chandigarh
		Get ready for a cliff-hanger The stage is set for the city to get its new parliamentarian for the next five years.Key contenders from Chandigarh are Congress candidate Pawan Kumar Bansal, BJP's Kirron Kher and Gul Panag from Aam Aadmi Party. Woman cop's son held for murder Police on Thursday arrested the 19-year-old son of a UT police woman constable, Amit Kumar, for killing his neighbour, Seema, 32, and trying to burn her body at her house in Zirakpur. How to count: Demo for staff Around 300 employees of the election wing participated in a live demonstration of step-wise counting procedures, starting from bringing in electronic voting machines to compilation of results. More Chandigarh News»

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