News Digest: Over-reaching advisers give NHAI, ministry headaches

		THE TIMES OF INDIA
		Monday, December 08, 2014
		Today's Headlines

		India
		Over-reaching advisers give NHAI, ministry headaches National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the highways ministry are having a tough time with “advisors” attached to government functionaries, who seem be going beyond their brief and are writing to the agencies directly rather than confining themselves to advising the persons they are attached to. Vaiko attack Narendra Modi govt on Subhas Chandra Bose files Continuing his attack on the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, MDMK chief Vaiko on Sunday said his party would organize a “peaceful protest” in Chennai on December 23 demanding that the files related to the mysterious disappearance of Indian nationalist leader Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose be made public. Vaiko attack Narendra Modi govt on Subhas Chandra Bose files Continuing his attack on the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, MDMK chief Vaiko on Sunday said his party would organize a “peaceful protest” in Chennai on December 23 demanding that the files related to the mysterious disappearance of Indian nationalist leader Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose be made public. More India News»

		Business
		E-tailers beef up logistics for GOSF E-commerce companies and their logistics partners seem to have learnt their lessons from the innumerable delivery bloopers and delays that happened during the Diwali sales this year. ATM transactions dip 9% in November Higher withdrawals for Diwali coupled with banks limiting free ATM withdrawals led to a drop in the number of ATM transactions across the country. RIL in fray to buy SevenHills Healthcare The race for acquiring a large stake in SevenHills Healthcare could get hotter with Nita Ambani, wife of billionaire Mukesh Ambani, exploring an interest in the multi-speciality chain as she looks to expand the hospital portfolio under Reliance Foundation. More Business News»

		Environment
		Debate on emissions to heat up week 2 of Lima climate talks Its week 2 at the climate talks being held in Lima, Peru. Ministers began arriving today and more huddles are expected to break the deadlock over climate change. India says it does not support an ex-ante review INDCs Environment minister Prakash Javedkar will represent India at the talks. Ban calls on India to put forth commitments on climate change UN chief Ban Ki-moon has called on India, the world's third-largest emitter, to spell out its nationally determined commitment on reducing emissions by June, saying a "constructive" role played by it will make a universal climate agreement possible in Paris next year. More Environment News»

		World
		Syria says Israeli air strikes hit near Damascus Israeli warplanes bombed two areas near Damascus on Sunday, striking near the city's international airport as well as outside a town close to the Lebanese border, the Syrian military said. Palestinians wanted peace talks to end: Israeli PM Middle East peace talks collapsed earlier this year because the Palestinians did not want them to continue, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu maintained on Sunday. New massacre leaves 36 dead in DR Congo Suspected Ugandan rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo hacked 36 people to death with machetes and axes, authorities said on Sunday, as an outcry grew against the failure of the army and UN peacekeepers to stop a repeat of such massacres. More World News»

		Entertainment
		Deepika and Ranbir talk about their relationship AbRam to Azad: Cute star kids of Bollywood Shweta Basu Prasad acquitted of prostitution charges The Hyderabad sessions court on Saturday gave a clean chit to actress Shweta Basu Prasad who was arrested in connection with a sex racket. More Entertainment News»

		Science
		Junk food, no play put city kids at health risk Spending too much time on the PlayStation rather than the playground, is taking its toll of our smart-age kids. Out of 43 attempts, only 20 Mars mission have been successful November 28, 2014 was the 50th anniversary of Nasa’s Mariner-4 mission to the red planet. This was the first successful mission to another planet as the flyby managed to send back 21 images showing lunar-type impact craters. It was the seventh attempt for flyby encounters to Mars. Prior to this, one flyby mission by America and five by the Soviet Union had all resulted in failure. Scientists make gelatine from tannery waste Killing two birds with one stone, scientists at the CSIR-Central Leather Research Institute in Chennai have developed a technology to make high-quality gelatine from animal skin waste at leather tanneries. More Science News»

		Sports
		India slump to second straight defeat in Champions Trophy India squandered their hard-earned lead on two occasions as they slumped to their second successive defeat losing 2-4 to Argentina in the Champions Trophy. Federer fashions Indian Aces win over Singapore Slammers World number two Roger Federer hailed the new International Premier Tennis League as "crazy but fun" after sauntering through his debut ties in Delhi. ISL: Mumbai City beat Atletico de Kolkata to stay alive Mumbai City FC bounced back from their three consecutive defeats, as they beat Atletico de Kolkata 2-1 in their 13th round Indian Super League match. More Sports News»

		Technology
		Game review - Assassins Creed: Rogue Is it just a cheap Assassins Creed installment, or a solid entry into the series? We find out... 10 top tech stories of the week Here's a quick look at what made news in the world of technology in the week just gone by... Phablet comparison: Xolo Omega 5.5 vs Xiaomi Redmi Note The biggest competitor for the all-new Xolo Omega 5.5 in India is Xiaomi Redmi Note 4G phablet. Which is better? We find out... More Technology News»

		Education
		International scholarships for Indian students South Asia, with next generation superpowers like India and China, is growing to be an economic force to be reckoned with. Chair set up at IIT Madras for brain research Research at IIT Madras got a fresh impetus with the creation of three chairs in computational brain research, supported by an endowment of Rs 10 crore each. IISc, IIT-B make it to top 100 in varsity rankings India's performance inched up in an international ranking of universities in Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa and 17 other emerging economies. More Education News»

		Mumbai
		130 debutant MLAs raring to make their mark With 130 first-timers on its roll, the 288-strong Maharashtra legislative assembly may well be oozing youth and Yo Yo Singh, political analysts said. Protest over teachers' issue Member of Legislative council from the teachers' constituency, Nago Ganar will go on a hunger strike starting Monday, the first day of the winter session of the state assembly in Nagpur. 'Lobby of veg builders targeting Marathis' Shiv Sena has dropped a bombshell barely two days after joining the BJP government, lashing out at Jain, Gujarati and Marwari builders for denying homes to meat-eaters, mostly Maharashtrians, in Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) schemes in the city. More Mumbai News»

		Delhi
		Aravalis under threat from both rich and poor Despite several court orders and government notifications, the Aravali forest is facing decimation from both the rich and the poor. BJP's Sadhvi to speak at riot-hit Trilokpuri today It seems that no amount of controversy is going to let Delhi BJP shy away from trying to woo poorvanchali voters in east Delhi. Shah, Gadkari to woo Dalits in Old Delhi Delhi BJP is going to organize a maha-rally on Monday to woo the scheduled caste community to create inroads into AAP’s vote bank, and for this they have roped in the party’s Dalit face Udit Raj. More Delhi News»

		Bangalore
		Reopening of UG class put off as evaluation crawls The reopening of undergraduate classes in Bangalore University's affiliate colleges has been put off to December 26. Want 10 marks extra? Build a toilet at home Mandya district has shown that children can be the agent of change. School students were promised 10 grace marks if they ensured construction of toilets in their houses. Canine beauties strut their stuff, win hearts Pet-a-thon Aims To Raise Funds For Indian Dogs More Bangalore News»

		Hyderabad
		Intensive bird survey to map Eastern Ghats While many extensive bird studies have been carried out in the Himalayas and the Western Ghats, for the first time, an intensive study of the rich and diverse avifauna (bird wealth) of the Eastern Ghats is being taken up by a group of organizations next week. Mass exodus of faculty may hit RGUKTs Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies (RGUKT), which is a cluster of three state-run International Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs), could soon be facing an acute teacher shortage. Singapore team to tour capital from today A delegation from Singapore will be visiting Andhra Pradesh on Monday for a recce of the proposed capital city. More Hyderabad News»

		Chennai
		'The angst of the Tamil brahmin: Live and let live' Brahmins may be at the top of the archaic social hierarchy, but in reality they hold little or no power across the country. They are numerically insignificant in most states and are not found in the public sphere at all. This is more so in Tamil Nadu than any other state. Indian Joneses and art crusades They look nothing like Harrison Ford. One is a professional archaeologist who is more than 70 years old and the other a shippie-cum-blogger who is more comfortable doing painstaking background work than with the limelight. Sidetracked by music, man runover by truck A 23-year-old man, listening to music on his cellphone as he was riding a motorbike, died when he hit a barricade and a truck ran over him on Tiruvallur High Road on Sunday. More Chennai News»

		Ahmedabad
		Ray of hope for endangered Marwari horses Scientist from India; South Korea; the University of Cambridge, the UK; and the University of New Mexico, the US, studied the DNA of a 17-year-old stud named ‘Humayun’ belonging to Virendra Kankariya of the Equestrian Club of Gujarat. Crime rate is down, but detection remains a worry City Police breathed a sigh of relief as the crime rate for serious offences slipped by 28% from last year. Chargesheet against Zala, others soon After the expert opinion given by the Forensic Science Laboratory that the lewd letters were indeed written by professor Sarman Zala of Gujarat University, the women police officials are soon going to file chargesheet in the case. More Ahmedabad News»

		Allahabad
		Oxygen ensures life and also aging Life is impossible without Oxygen. This is a well known fact. But not many are aware that a slight increase in its concentration would be highly toxic for all life forms. Besides, oxygen is also responsible for aging and various other ailments. 7th Science Conclave begins at IIIT-A today Nobel Prize Winner for Chemistry in 1996, Prof Robert Flyod Curl would be the key speaker at the inauguration of 7th Science Conclave at Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) on Monday. CBSE organizes film making contest on road safety In a bid to make road safety a national movement, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Union road transport and highways ministry are jointly organizing a national-level national film-making contest on ‘Road Safety India’. The contest is open to school students, staff and people. The winning entries would be screened during 26th National Road Safety Week from January 11-17, 2015. More Allahabad News»

		Bhubaneswar
		Russian sorry for taking Puri temple snaps A tourist from Russia had a harrowing time while taking photographs of Jagannath Temple in Puri by climbing atop a watchtower on Friday. CBI keeps OCA men waiting Two Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) functionaries, summoned for interrogation in connection with Artha Tatwa (AT) Group scam, spent the entire day at the CBI office and were later asked to leave without being questioned. Angul used cycle pump to up tally Angul, which was caught using bicycle pump during sterilization surgeries on November 28, has lagged behind most other districts in conducting tubectomies this financial year. More Bhubaneswar News»

		Bhopal
		CM Chouhan gives presentation on 'Samriddhi' model PM Modi has lauded the successful implementation of Samriddhi. Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques cells to come up in 13 districts of MP For effectively curbing female foeticide, PCPNDT cells are being constituted in 13 worst affected districts of the state including Indore, Bhopal, Jabalpur, Gwalior, Ujjain, Satna, Dewas, Sagar, Dhar, Mandsaur, Chhindwara, Ratlam and Hoshangabad. 'Plan funds should be given to states keeping in view national goals' Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said national goals must to fixed to give direction to country. More Bhopal News»

		Chandigarh
		Shimla to be made congestion free Shimla Municipal Corporation (SMC) has finally geared up to de-congest the main market areas of the city as it has decided to shift all the street vendors from main markets to other areas which will be specified by the end of this month. Shot fire in celebration kills guest Celebrations turned sour during a wedding in Kharawar village of Rohtak district as the groom's close relative died after being hit in the chest by a bullet fired in celebration on Saturday. Haryana village sets up portal, replies to RTI queries within 2 days A village in the Jat heartland of Haryana's Jind district has gone hi-tech, setting up its own portal to make the working of gram panchayat transparent and replying to RTI queries within two days. More Chandigarh News»

		To manage your newsletter subscription settings, click here	Other Newsletters from TOI : Top Headlines | Tech | Entertainment | Movie Reviews | Life & Style