[wanabidii] News Digest: After losing to India in FDI, China opens up economy more

Saturday, December 31, 2016

Today's Headlines

After losing to India in FDI, China opens up economy more
China, which last year lost the top position as an investment destination to India, has now opened up more sectors for foreign investors to catch up. It is offering segments like public transport and railway equipment to foreign players besides cutting down the number of restrictions from 93 to 62.

At Rs 26,500cr, 2016's IPO kitty highest in 6 years
In addition to the nearly Rs 26,500 crore through IPOs on the main board of the stocks exchanges, 2016 also saw Rs 495 crore raised through the SME platform and another Rs 13,000 crore through offer for sales (OFS) by listed entities, data from Prime Database showed.

ATM operators to seek compensation
The ATM industry stands to lose crores as banks continue to starve machines of cash. ATM operators manage networks on behalf of banks and often make capital investments in machines. Although the bank lends its name to the machine, the ownership and management of half the ATMs are with operators.

More Business News»

Environment

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.

Delhi's air quality enters 'severe' zone yet again
Level of pollutants had seen a rapid build up before Christmas; however, the situation improved a little thereafter and remained so for at least two days. Air quality had started falling again on December 27. The average AQI of December 27 and 28 were 329 and 385, both in the very poor category.

More Environment News»

World

Two blasts in central Baghdad kill at least 21
Two bombs exploded at a busy market in central Baghdad on Saturday killing at least 21 people and wounding more than 40 others, police and medics said.

Russia, brushing off Obama, looks to Trump
Russia is looking straight past President Barack Obama to Donald Trump in hope that the president-elect will reverse the tough US stance toward Moscow of the last eight years. In a stunning embrace of a longtime US adversary, Trump is siding with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

'Greek ambassador killed by wife's lover'
Police in Brazil believe that Greece's ambassador to the country was killed by his wife's lover under her orders in a house in the Rio area and have detained three suspects, authorities said on Friday.

More World 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»

Technology

All that ruled the technology world in 2016: Glimpses
It's again time to bid goodbye to the current year and welcome a new one. And with all this, it's aloso the time to look back at all that dominated the world of technology during the year -- good, bad and no-so-good. The hottest product launches of the year, the startups that made a mark and the ones that dissapeared and more ...

Flipkart revamps fashion business to strengthen its lead
The home grown e-tailer is reintroducing its fashion business as it partners with over 100 stylists who will curate fashion trends and accordingly push products on its platform.

Apple 'blamed' for car crash, family sues company
A family in the US who lost their young daughter in a car crash recently filed a lawsuit against Apple for allegedly encouraging distracted driving through "FaceTime" video calling app, media reported.

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

Government circular unlawful: Profs

Police identify man who fired at builder's aide

Air quality to worsen on last day of year

More Mumbai News»

Delhi

Argument triggers Dalit-Gujjar clash, six injured

Before polls, south corporation junks tax-hike proposals

Traffic curbs, special drive for 2 days

More Delhi News»

Bangalore

Department directive: PU college lecturers will do BEd course on stipend
The New Year brought bad news for 733 government pre-university (PU) college lecturers, who were appointed in 2013 through the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC).

Gold missing from locker: Police wait for complainant to submit documents
investigating the mysterious disappearance of one kg gold from the locker of the HDFC bank in Whitefield said the probe can progress only after the complainant submits all relevant documents.

Bengaluru prepares to host puppet festival
The city is all set to play host to the international puppet festival in January 2017 for the third consecutive year. Dhaatu, a renowned puppet theatre troupe will organize the festival from January 4 to 8. Pupeeters from India, and other countries such as Sri Lanka, Czech Republic and Egypt will participate in the event.

More Bangalore News»

Hyderabad

Drive drunk: No passport, bad appraisal
If you are high on liquor and grooving under psychedelic lights on New Year eve, then don't grab the driving wheel when you return home. This year, the Hyderabad police has planned a massive crackdown on drink driving, which won't be limited to fines or pushing breathalyzers into your mouth.

Singareni to buy radar for instant alerts of cave-ins
In view of the Jharkhand mine cave-in late on Thursday night that killed 10 workers, two opencast mines in Singareni Collieries will get additional state-of-the-art equipments, which will provide instant alerts of a possible cave-in.

Tight security cover, traffic curbs to usher Numaish-2017
Numaish, the most awaited and popular annual exhibition of Hyderabad, will begin on January 1 amid tight security and several traffic restrictions in place. The exhibition will be inaugurated by IT minister K Taraka Rama Rao.

More Hyderabad News»

Chennai

Inspector, SI suspended for taking bribe from red sander smugglers

Kapaleeswarar temple property retrieved
Authorities of the Kapaleeswarar temple in Mylapore have retrieved temple property measuring 4,952sqft at Triplicane after the occupant failed to pay 34.12 lakh in rent dues. The property is worth 12 crore.

Corporation to plant native species in green cover restoration
The city corporation will adopt a scientific approach to tree planting and conservation. At a re-plantation strategy meet at Ripon Buildings on Friday, Greater Chennai Corporation officials said future tree conservation efforts would be treated as a component under the smart city package.

More Chennai News»

Ahmedabad

Gujarat goverment begins smart services under Wi-Fi project at Gandhinagar
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani showed confidence that the capital of Gujarat is now equipped with Wi-Fi facility and will create not only prestige of Gujarat but of India among the national-international dignitaries to visit forthcoming Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit-2017.

Biggies bite dust, small firms shine
Even as the sensex ended 2016 on a positive note, gaining 260 points on December 30 - the final trading session of the year, it was mixed bag for investors.

BPA gets new Braille printer
Thawar Chand Gehlot, Union minister of social justice and empowerment, inaugurated a state-of-the-art Braille press at the Blind People's Association (BPA) premises on Friday evening.

More Ahmedabad News»

Allahabad

Cow's that! Learn with fun about bovines

BJP poll pitch picks up with sloganeering

To fuel Olympics dream, marathon winner seeks 'safai karmi' job
Aradhana Bind is a gutsy long-distance runner. In November, without any training, she won the bronze medal at the prestigious Indira Marathon.

More Allahabad News»

Bhubaneswar

Cash worry hits rural poll aspirants in Odisha

BDA body to oversee smart city station project

Sushma Swaraj seeks report on Iranian

More Bhubaneswar News»

Bhopal

2 booked for hunting ducks at Bairagarh
The forest department booked two men on Thursday for illegally hunting protected migratory ducks at Bairagarh near Sehore Naka. The two are being questioned to find out if they were involved in poaching in the past as well.

Traffic cops on toes to check drunk driving on New Year
Bhopal traffic police would run a dedicated vehicle checking drive to check driving under the influence of alcohol in the city on New Year's Eve. Officials said apart from traffic police, cops from police stations would also be deployed in the vehicle checking drive.

Use khadi once a week, government staff told
The Madhya Pradesh government has appealed to its employees to promote khadi and handlooms by wearing khadi clothes at work once a week.

More Bhopal News»

Chandigarh

'De-addiction centres to cover tobacco addicts'
Punjab government has been making serious efforts to tackle the problem of tobacco use. In its endeavour to save the youth and children from addiction to tobacco/nicotine, the government has been strictly implementing various laws and provisions.

Dalal sees scam in fishermen recruitment

Woman held with heroin, villagers clash with cops

More Chandigarh News»