News Digest: No plan to privatise healthcare, clarifies govt

		THE TIMES OF INDIA
		Monday, February 22, 2016
		Today's Headlines

		India
		No plan to privatise healthcare, clarifies govt The Narendra Modi government has clarified it has no plans to exit or completely privatise healthcare as suggested by an official press release put out on Saturday. No beef at AMU, say cops; mayor vows to barge in UP Police say they have found “no evidence” of cow meat on the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) campus in its initial probe. Investigations into the BJP allegations of beef being served at the AMU canteen are still on. Steep rise in debts offsets value of family assets With everything from a pair of jeans to a nose job available on EMIs these days, it’s no surprise that the average Indian family is deeper in debt now than ever before. Though a household’s assets have become more valuable over the past decade, its debts too have grown at times outpacing the former. More India News»

		Business
		DoT finds Trai's base price for 700MHz low The department of telecom (DoT) will seek a review of Trai’s spectrum auction recommendations as the government found an “anomaly” in the reserve prices suggested by the regulator, especially in the 700MHz band which will be sold for the first time ever. Oil prices likely to stay low for 3-5 yrs: Mukesh Ambani Billionaire Mukesh Ambani, owner of the world’s largest refining complex, on Sunday said global oil prices are likely to remain low for 3-5 years, benefiting a net importing nation like India. Ajay Piramal spots value in venture capital investing The family office of Ajay Piramal is stepping into venture capital investing to get a slice of the fast-growing entrepreneurial ecosystem in the country. More Business News»

		Environment
		Green norms relaxation in naxal areas till 2018 To expedite creation of public infrastructure in Left Wing Extremism affected areas by government departments, the Centre on Sunday extended the relaxation of green norms for these projects till December 2018. Ventilation "paths" to tackle smog in Beijing Peacock off proposed vermin list in Goa BJP, which is the ruling party in Goa, said peacock has been removed from the proposed list of vermins while a decision on including Indian Bison is still under consideration. A recent report mentioned that peacock and Indian Bison were among animals proposed to be listed as vermins, making them easier to cull. More Environment News»

		World
		John Kerry urges Palestinians, Israelis to ease tensions US Secretary of State John Kerry met Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas Sunday and discussed tensions between Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem, the US State Department said. US rejected North Korea peace treaty bid: State Dept The United States said Sunday it received a North Korean proposal to discuss a peace treaty for the Korean peninsula but rejected it when Pyongyang refused to consider reducing its nuclear arsenal. Russia's defence minister on surprise visit to Iran Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on Sunday started a previously unannounced visit to Tehran with the conflict in Syria high on his agenda, Iranian state media reported. More World News»

		Entertainment
		Dalbir cooks kadhi-chawal, saag for cast of 'Sarbjit' The cast of the biopic of Sarbjit Singh, the Indian prisoner who was killed in a Pakistan jail, got a taste of authentic home-cooked Punjabi cuisine while shooting near his native village in Bhikhiwind in Punjab. Dalbir Kaur, Sarbjit’s sister, sent delicacies for the whole crew. The idea was director Omung Kumar’s, who met Dalbir recently and expressed his desire for home food, and Dalbir promptly prepared and dispatched lunch for the full crew. She said, “It was village-style food – kadhi-chawal, saag with desi ghee, adrak-galgal ka achaar and pinnis. Since most of them love sweets, I also made gurvaley chawal.” Arjun Kapoor confesses he's a work-in-progress boyfriend The actor, who plays a dream husband in the film, doesn’t think he’s ready for a relationship in real life. While talking to Mumbai Mirror, the actor confessed that he’s open to the idea of a relationship but doesn’t want to get into it until he’s ready. Bollywood's Top 10 must watch deleted scenes More Entertainment News»

		Science
		Ventilation 'corridors' to tackle Beijing smog Authorities in Beijing plan to develop a network of ventilation “corridors” to help tackle the city’s notorious air pollution, news agency Xinhua reported on Sunday. Exposure to air pollution may up obesity, diabetes risk Exposure to polluted air may increase the risk of obesity and lead to high cholesterol and more insulin resistance, a precursor of Type 2 diabetes, a new study has warned. A black hole in 5D could spell doom for relativity theory Scientists have shown how a ring-shaped black hole could cause Einstein’s general theory of relativity, a foundation of modern physics, to break down — assuming the universe contains at least five dimensions. More Science News»

		Sports
		Punjab Warriors beat Kalinga Lancers to clinch maiden HIL title Having lost the final in the last two seasons, the Punjab Warriors finally struck gold to become third-time lucky as they clinched their maiden Hockey India League (HIL) title. Rohit & I can emulate Tendulkar & Ganguly: Dhawan Their understanding of each other's game improving with every match, Shikhar Dhawan hopes his opening partnership with Rohit Sharma will not only be as successful as the that of the legendary Sachin Tendulkar-Sourav Ganguly pair but will one day surpass them too. Comebacks are much more difficult than debuts: Nehra Back in the national cricket team after being ignored for almost five years, veteran India pacer Ashish Nehra on Sunday said it is tougher to make a comeback than making a debut. More Sports News»

		Technology
		LG unveils G5 smartphone with Snapdragon 820, slide-out battery  Ahead of MWC 2016, LG today unveiled its new flagship G5 smartphone at its special event in Barcelona. Comparison: LG G5 vs Apple iPhone 6S  Here's how the LG's latest high-end smartphone G5 compares with Apple's iPhone 6S. Huawei unveils Windows 10-powered MateBook at MWC 2016 Huawei today, at its special MWC 2016 event, unveiled Windows 10-powered 2-in-1 device called MateBook. More Technology News»

		Education
		Maharashtra varsities lag behind in research, says scientist Central universities are favoured over state varsities and this has led to quality of knowledge and research going down at the latter, said noted scientist GD Yadav on Saturday as he called for doing away with traditional style of classroom teaching. UGC tells universities to celebrate Matribhasha Diwas on March 3 In a letter written to vice-chancellors, University Grants Commission has said that since February 21, which is celebrated as the Mother Languages Day falls on a Sunday, it has been decided to celebrate 'Matribhasha Diwas' on March 3. Homi Bhabha National Institute gets HRD ministry's nod to start its off-campus centre The HRD ministry has given approval to Mumbai-based Homi Bhabha National Institute to start an off-campus centre at Bhubaneswar in the name of National Institute of Science Education and Research. The ministry said it has issued a notification in this regard on the advice of the UGC. More Education News»

		Mumbai
		Automan returns jewellery bag A 55-year-old autorickshaw driver was rewarded by the Kasturba Marg police on Sunday for returning a bag containing gold jewellery that a female passenger had left behind in his vehicle. Kailash Yadav, the driver, had ferried Sanjana Gupta, 50, from Dahisar East to Borivli (E) railway station earlier in the day. 'Mentally disturbed' woman stalls train A Western Railway local was delayed at Andheri station on Saturday afternoon after a woman, who was purportedly mentally disturbed, created a ruckus in one of the general compartments. Star tortoises, parakeets rescued from Crawford Mkt A clutch of protected reptiles and birds was rescued during a raid conducted on two shops in Crawford Market on Friday evening. Four star tortoises, a dozen Alexandrine parakeets and four rose-ringed parakeets were found stuffed in a cage, said an animal activist who was part of the rescue team. More Mumbai News»

		Delhi
		JNU sedition case: Cops question 7 journalists Delhi Police on Sunday questioned at least seven journalists of leading newspapers and TV channels who have been covering the JNU sedition case, before it emerged that the missing students were back on campus. Man held for conning girl of Rs 30 lakh A 30-year-old man was arrested from Indore after he befriended a girl on Facebook and then duped her of Rs 30 lakh on different pretexts.He was arrested after the girl registered a complaint of forgery against him DTC plans to float fresh tender for 1,000 buses More than two years and multiple tenders later, the Delhi Transport Corporation state bus agency has decided to float another tender - this time for 1,000 buses More Delhi News»

		Bangalore
		Power crisis grips Karnataka The recent fire accident at Sharavathi hydroelectric power plant and the shortage of water at state’s thermal plants has pushed Karnataka to the edge, with the government already mulling for zone wise load shedding. Man killed on his way to pick wife, child from railway station A 28 year old man, on his way to pick his wife and two year old daughter from the Yeshwanthpur railway station, was knocked down by a water tanker. MAD holds camp to help kids realize their dreams To make children's dream come true and to motivate them, nonprofit organization Make A Difference (MAD) kickstarted its annual two-day Dream Camp at a resort here on Saturday. More Bangalore News»

		Hyderabad
		Tiger stages midnight sit-in, holds up traffic It was a spine-chilling experience on a chilly winter night deep in the forests of Jinnaram in Adilabad district on Saturday for a group of pilgrims returning home in a TSRTC bus from the Sammakka-Saralamma tribal fair at Medaram in Warangal district. Former CBI top honcho's son booked for defrauding banks Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials have booked a case against K Srinivas Kalyan Rao, son of former top honcho of CBI for defrauding a consortium of banks, including the Central Bank of India, to the tune of Rs 304 crore. AP woos mid-level firms to boost IT growth Andhra Pradesh is looking at Non Resident Indians (NRI) from the region to boost the information technology sector's growth in the state. More Hyderabad News»

		Chennai
		Chennai scientists in core team to set up LIGO observatory in India The city will soon make waves in cutting edge gravitational physics, with scientists from IIT Madras and Chennai Mathematical Institute (CMI) all set to play a crucial role in the development of a state-of-the-art LIGO interferometer in the country. UT adviser leads solar delegation to UK UT adviser Vijay Kumar Dev led a delegation comprising 12 experts from different fields in a two-day workshop on "Opportunities in Indian Solar Sector" organized by British High Commission in London, UK, on February 18 and 19. Woman jumps in path of a hurtling train, dies on spot By the time the locomotive engineer of a fast suburban train saw her it was much too late for evasive action. More Chennai News»

		Ahmedabad
		Taking Gujarati to globe Over the past 100 years, Gujaratis have settled in almost all corners of the world – from the Arctic Circle to New Zealand. These Non-Resident Gujaratis (NRGs) have taken with them their culture, including their mother tongue. Gujarati sailed the seas with traders As the world celebrates International Mother Language Day on February 21, it is worth recalling what the 17th century French traveller Franco Pyrard had to say about Gujarati in his book, ‘East India and Persia’. Pyrard’s account of his travels covers nine years — 1672 to 81. Cong vote share up 6% in 2015 polls In the 2015 local self government elections in Gujarat, the BJP's vote share fell by 2.92 percentage points while Congress recorded an impressive 6.09 percentage points gain. More Ahmedabad News»

		Allahabad
		Rahul Gandhi speaking Hafiz Saeed's language: Giriraj Singh Minister of state in ministry of micro, small and medium enterprises, Giriraj Singh has termed the language, being spoken by AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi, on the issue of JNU, synchronizing with that spoken by Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed. Vizianagram Hall tiles to be replicated The restoration of the historical Vizianagram Hall and its magnificent dome at Allahabad University's science faculty has entered the crucial phase of tile-selection for the dome. UP Board: Glitch prevents upload of attendance data More Allahabad News»

		Bhubaneswar
		ECoR to run Holi special trains In a bid to cope with the extra rush of passengers during Holi festival, the East Coast Railway (ECoR) has decided to run two pairs of special trains in two routes, Bhubaneswar-Patna and Puri-Bhanjapur (Baripada) between February 26 and March 26. Six lakh to appear in Odisha Class X board exam from Monday Tight security arrangements have been made for smooth conduct of the Class X board examinations in 2882 centres across the state, in which 6, 01, 348 students will appear. Capital records hottest day in Feb in 53 years The state capital on Saturday recorded a maximum temperature of 40.9°C, the highest in a February since 1963.Bhubaneswar also turned out to be the hottest in the state. More Bhubaneswar News»

		Bhopal
		Jat stir leaves railway passengers stranded in MP For Canada-based IT professional Saurabh Shrivastava and his wife, the ongoing Jat stir for reservation cost them dearly - Reason: their train Bhopal Express that was to leave on Sunday night was cancelled due to the agitation besides other trains. Do away with semester system, demand profs Professors have demanded to end semester system, with the demand from teachers coming during annual general meeting of State Government Collegiate Education Professors’ Association on Sunday. Smart City projects: IAS officers to be appointed as CEO IAS officers will be appointed as CEO for implementation of Smart City projects in three cities of the state chosen for the coveted tag. More Bhopal News»

		Chandigarh
		Aiming to produce more Satnams When India's first NBA draft, Satnam Singh Bhamara, showed prowess in basketball as a nine-year-old, it was only on the initiative of his father, Balbir Singh (57), that he moved from his non-descript village, Ballo Ke in Barnala district, to 100 kilometres away in Ludhiana to realize his true potential. 70-yr-old robbed Three miscreants allegedly robbed a 70-year-old woman of her gold bangles in Sector 30 on Sunday. Robotic surgical procedures shown at PGI Various advanced robotic surgical procedures and conventional open surgical procedures were demonstrated through live transmission from robotic centre to lecture theatre complex during the second day of the live operative workshop at PGI. More Chandigarh News»

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