News Digest: Silence hangs heavy over Modi's plush homes

		THE TIMES OF INDIA
		Saturday, February 17, 2018
		Today's Headlines

		India
		Silence hangs heavy over Modi's plush homes While the watchman and neighbours were trying to fend off curious onlookers all day, ringing the bell to his second floor apartment with two nameplates - 'Deepak Kr Modi' (his father) and 'Neeshal D Modi' (his youngest brother) opened no doors. An address fraud too? Two of the companies, Solar Exports and Stellar Diamonds, have their registered offices at Nagindas Mansion at Opera House. When TOI visited Nagindas Mansion, a Nirav staffer said the firms had shifted to Kamala Mills in Lower Parel long ago. Neighbours surprised by unassuming retiree's 'role' ​​On Thursday and Friday, CBI teams visited Shetty's house. An official said they wanted to know when the flat was purchased, how the payment was made and what the source of funds was. They also wanted to know about his bank accounts, lockers and other assets. The officials questioned his family and relatives. More India News»

		Business
		India's fraud problems extend far beyond PNB, shows RBI data Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data shows state-run banks have reported 8,670 "loan fraud" cases totalling Rs 61,260 crore ($9.58 billion) over the last five financial years up to March 31, 2017. Sensex falls nearly 300 points as PSU banks bleed Nirav Modi case: SBI discloses $212 million exposure through PNB More Business News»

		Environment
		100,000 orangutans killed in Borneo Borneo orangutans dying off as forests are lost: Study Japan ready to help India in addressing air pollution: Harsh Vardhan More Environment News»

		World
		Lanka PM skips India visit to face political crisis at home No programme, no debate but Putin cruising to poll win Although the numbers planning to vote for him have dipped from last year's high of 76.9 percent, Putin still commands a 71.5 percent of support, VTsIOM figures show. UK PM May heads to Berlin to face tough German line British Prime Minister Theresa May travels to Berlin on Friday to meet German leader Angela Merkel, hoping to overcome near-deadlock in her attempts to negotiate a Brexit deal with the European Union. More World News»

		Entertainment
		Sonam introduces cast of 'Ek Ladki Ko Dekha...' Father-daughter duo Anil Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor have started shooting for their first film together, ‘Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga’. The film that shares its title with Anil’s famous yesteryear romantic number from the film ‘1942: A Love Story’, also stars Rajkummar Rao as the leading man and Juhi Chawla in a prominent role. 'Manikarnika' to clash with 'Gold'? Kangana Ranaut’s ‘Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi’ may clash with Akki’s film as the actress feels that the biopic on the warrior queen would make for a fitting Independence Day release Dev Patel-Radhika Apte shooting in Jaipur Dev Patel of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ fame is currently in India and has started the shooting of his next with actress Radhika Apte who just saw the release of her latest film ‘PadMan’. More Entertainment News»

		Science
		Heart surgery in infants may cause deafness Researchers discovered that around 21 per cent of 348 pre-schoolers, who had survived cardiac surgery, suffered hearing loss. This rate was 20 times higher than that prevalent among the general population. Russian cargo ship docks at International Space Station Andromeda galaxy was formed in 'recent' star crash: Study For the latest study, French and Chinese researchers led by Paris Observatory astronomer Francois Hammer used "the most powerful available computers in France" to crunch about a terabyte of data - the equivalent of two million 500-kilobyte photos. More Science News»

		Sports
		6th ODI: India beat South Africa by eight wickets to clinch series 5-1 After an impressive bowling display, skipper Virat Kohli led from the front with the bat to help India beat South Africa by eight wickets in the sixth one-day international at the SuperSport Park in Centurion on Friday. Kohli first to score 500 runs in bilateral ODI series Indian skipper Virat Kohli continued his sublime form in the ongoing tour of South Africa and created yet another world record by becoming the first batsman ever to score 500 runs in a bilateral ODI series. Zadran becomes youngest ever to take five-for in ODIs Teenage Afghan spin sensation Mujeeb Zadran scripted history on Friday by becoming the youngest ever player to take a five-wicket haul in ODIs. At 16 years and 325 days, Zadran broke Pakistan legend Waqar Younis' record who took his first five-for at the age of 18 years and 164 days. More Sports News»

		Technology
		Can offline expansion bring growth for smartphones in India? Are all smartphones in India sold online? Not really. This is something which should come as a surprise to the cyber-savvy buyers of gadgets and gizmos. Facebook, Twitter not affecting face-to-face contact with friends: Study Debunking a popular belief that use of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter alienates people from friends and family, a new study claims that this is not the case. Ola investigating HR head on fraud charges An Ola spokesperson confirmed the development, claiming "there is an internal investigation which is currently on and one cannot give further details at the moment. More Technology News»

		Education
		UP budget: No allocation of free laptops and sweaters for students Centre weaves quality education dream with target of 562 new 'Ekalavya schools' The ministry of tribal affairs has said it is working towards a target of 562 Ekalavya schools in tribal areas of the country to deliver on Budget announcement of providing every block with more than 50% tribal population high quality education through Ekalavya model residential schools by 2022. Ahead of exam time, kids lend an ear to PM's Mann ki Baat When prime minister Narendra Modi interacted with students of Delhi schools on Friday, students of various CBSE schools, including all the Kendriya Vidyalayas of the city, were listening in. More Education News»

		Mumbai
		HC raps Navi Mumbai police commissioner for ignoring cop cover directive Bldr's Son Files Plea Over Withdrawal Of Protection IIT-Bombay placements: 50 offers in phase II Flipkart visited IIT-Bombay's campus yet again in the second phase of placements that commenced mid-January.The e-commerce giant made offers for 'product management profile'. Maharashtra fined Rs 20,000 as revenue officials seize vehicles, goods Bombay high court imposed a fine of Rs20,000 on Maharashtra government over "illegal action" of revenue officials to seize vehicles and goods. More Mumbai News»

		Delhi
		Second Arvind Kejriwal lawyer quits Arun Jaitley case Arvind Kejriwal in the defamation suit filed by Union finance minister Arun Jaitley quit on Thursday citing "embarassment" in court due to "inadequate briefing". Resolve issue of high ammonia level in Yamuna: NGT Unitech case: Chennai firm told to deposit Rs 90 crore by March More Delhi News»

		Bangalore
		8 years on, probe fund for police stations still 25,000 Investigation charges towards expenses incurred by police while handling cases were introduced by then DG-IGP Ajai Kumar Singh in 2010 to spare cops the burden of bearing the cost out of their pockets. Crash toll touches four; BBMP engineer, property owner held Hitting a high note, with an eye on vote More Bangalore News»

		Hyderabad
		Iranian diaspora in Hyderabad euphoric, seek to boost business "The President of Iran has made the effort to visit Hyderabad in particularly because of the strong ties the city has with Iran. Iran President pays homage at Qutub Shahi Tombs The ongoing conservation of the magnificent and imposing tombs of the Qutub Shahi kings, the founders of Hyderabad, has received the much needed boost with the visit of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Friday. Two years after 'harassment' over ISIS link, SIT shuts sedition case against 3 A national news channel, which had flashed footage of the trio announcing allegiance to ISIS, has failed to furnish material evidence against them, a top detective department official said. More Hyderabad News»

		Chennai
		Police take prime suspect in techie attack to crime scene Three days after a man brutally mugged a software engineer in Arasankazhani near Perumbakkam, just 2km from the IT Corridor, investigators on Friday took the prime suspect in the case to the crime scene. 3 die on bridge, officers booked for bad road Spurned by schoolgirl, suitor sets her on fire A 14-year-old schoolgirl from Naduvakottai village near Tirumangalam in Madurai district was doused with petrol and set ablaze on Friday evening by a relative whose proposal for marriage she had rejected. More Chennai News»

		Ahmedabad
		Dalit activist who set self ablaze succumbs Family members of Vankar confirmed that he had succumbed to injuries around 10pm on Friday. 'Real' Padmavati story on show at expo 'The country faces education and health challenge' More Ahmedabad News»

		Allahabad
		Ahead of exam time, kids lend an ear to PM's Mann ki Baat When prime minister Narendra Modi interacted with students of Delhi schools on Friday, students of various CBSE schools, including all the Kendriya Vidyalayas of the city, were listening in. VHP's 'Ram Rajya Yatra' crosses Allahabad Antara, Chhaya to aid female contraception In a first, both injectable and weekly oral contraceptive pills would now be available at district women’s hospitals. The two temporary methods —Antara (injectable contraceptive) and Chhaya (weekly oral contraceptive pills) — were launched on Thursday by the health department under its Mission Parivar Vikas. More Allahabad News»

		Bhubaneswar
		Odisha government mulls rescheduling of class timing for nursery kids Over 8.5 lakh youths skilled in Odisha in past four years Odisha govt mulls rescheduling of class timing for nursery kids The directorate of elementary education has urged the school and mass education department to take a decision regarding shifting the class time of nursery students from 7 am to 9 am. More Bhubaneswar News»

		Bhopal
		Class 2 kids thrashed with sticks for not answering question Cops face HC wrath for arrest delay School van catches fire, 11 kids hurt More Bhopal News»

		Chandigarh
		'Will pay tax, but Chief Minister must get rid of advisers, OSDs' Khaira, who is the leader of opposition in the Punjab assembly, said charity began at home and demanded the CM first "set an example by disbanding the army of his advisers and officers on special duty (OSD)". Jassi distances himself from Sirsa dera, wants CBI to probe Maur blast Jassi's move has come a few days after Punjab Police claimed to have got major leads behind the blast, which indicate the involvement of Sirsa-based dera in the incident. Punjab targeted killings: NIA's application seeking transfer of accused to Tihar jail dismissed More Chandigarh News»

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