[wanabidii] News Digest: Prospects of rate cut bleak as dollar, crude rise: Assocham

		THE TIMES OF INDIA
		Sunday, December 18, 2016
		Today's Headlines

		Business
		Prospects of rate cut bleak as dollar, crude rise: Assocham Prospects of interest rate cut in near future may be bleak due to factors like continuous pressure on rupee against dollar, firming of US rates and hardening of crude oil prices. Even though there exists ample liquidity in the banking system following demonetisation, this cannot be regarded normal. Banks to again auction Kingfisher House, Villa at lower prices this week The reserve price for over 17,000 sqft Kingfisher House near the airport will be auctioned on Monday at Rs 115 crore, which is 15% lower than the failed second auction held in August, when the minimum price to sell the asset was fixed at Rs 135 crore. Going cashless shouldn't become like a diet plan: Arundhati Bhattacharya SBI chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya has, in recent weeks, emerged as the voice of the banking industry. It’s a voice that rings out clear and sharp, signalling purpose amidst the mess of demonetisation. More Business News»

		Environment
		'Why shouldn't diesel buses be barred from entering Delhi' Noting that ambient air quality was poor during winters, a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar asked the states of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana to take clear decision on switching to CNG vehicles and buy buses with additional fuel cylinders to resolve the issue of providing sufficient fuel in these buses. China on red alert as Beijing, 23 cities hit by high pollution 23 cities in China including capital Beijing have activated red alerts and enforced odd-even rules to restrict traffic as the country tries to address severe pollution after the sky turned grey across much of northern part of the country on Saturday. Many studies on genetic modification biased: Report Out of the 579 published studies on GM crops that were analysed, about 40 per cent showed conflict of interest, mostly because of having an employee of a GM producing company as one of the authors or having received funding from the company. More Environment News»

		World
		Breakthrough in Japan, Russia islands row eludes Abe, Putin Putin was heading home with promises of economic cooperation after appearing to achieve what experts said was a key objective - easing international isolation when Russia faces Western condemnation over the destruction of eastern Aleppo in Syria, where it is backing President Bashar al-Assad’s forces. Suicide bomber kills at least 30 in Yemen's Aden A suicide bomber killed at least 30 soldiers in the southern Yemeni port city of Aden on Sunday, officials there said, a week after an attack by the militant Islamic State group killed 50 troops nearby. The officials said the soldiers were queuing to collect salaries near a military base in the Khor Maksar district when the attacker blew himself up. 6.0 magnitude quake hits off Solomon Islands A 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck off the Solomon Islands Sunday, the US Geological Survey said, the third strong tremor off the Pacific nation in less than two weeks. The quake hit at 4.46 PM (1116 IST) at a depth of 39 kilometres about 83 kilometres west-northwest of Kirakira, the USGS added. More World News»

		Science
		Earth overdue for crash with 'dinosaur-killing' asteroid, Nasa warns Planet Earth is effectively defenceless in the face of a "dinosaur-killer" asteroid strike, a Nasa scientist has warned. And the planet is overdue for an extinction-level event involving a giant space object - such as an asteroid or comet - following a number of close encounters over the last 20 years, Dr Joseph Nuth said. No blue or green, everyone has brown eyes: Expert "Everyone has melanin in the iris of their eye, and the amount that they have determines their eye colour," said Dr. Gary Heiting, a licensed optometrist and senior editor of the eye care website All About Vision. "There's really only (this) one type of pigment." 'Apollo 11 lunar sample belongs to buyer, not Nasa' A mistakenly sold bag containing samples from the first manned mission to the moon belongs to the woman who bought it in a sale "conducted according to law", a US district court judge has ruled. More Science News»

		Technology
		Cyrus Mistry removed as director from Tata Teleservices Board Mistry said in a letter to the board last month that the business was "continuously haemorrhaging" and had even questioned the alliance in his statements to the group. Yahoo hit by world's biggest hacking attack Yahoo has warned that it had uncovered yet another massive cyberattack, saying data from more than 1 billion user accounts was compromised in August 2013, making it the largest breach in history. Wipro creates independent India unit Effective April, the India and Middle East unit will be reorganized into two separate businesses, signalling the increasing opportunities in the domestic market as the government embarks on large-scale digital transformation projects. More Technology News»

		Education
		President Pranab Mukherjee to preside over Army College of Dental Sciences convocation President Pranab Mukherjee would preside over the convocation ceremony of Army College of Dental Sciences (ACDS), Secunderabad here on December 23. NEET super specialty exam to be held on June 10, 2017 "The examination being conducted by the National Board of Examinations, shall be held as a computer-based test and shall comprise of 200 multiple choice questions from the MD/MS curriculum followed at medical colleges in India duly prescribed /adopted by Medical Council of India with prior approval of the Health Ministry," said the statement. Prakash Javadekar confident X Boards will be reintroduced from 2017-18 "This month there will be a CBSE Board meeting, in which there will be a resolution (for compulsory class X board exams). So, I am very sure from academic session 2017-18, Board examination will be mandatory for all students," Javadekar told PTI. More Education News»

		Mumbai
		Times NIE: Students meet mayor, learn about Mumbai's infrastructure and maintenance Mayor Snehal Ambekar, at a meeting with 28 select students and Times NIE star correspondents from schools across the city, spoke about the developmental changes that the city's infrastructure had undergone in the recent past. It's official: PM Narendra Modi to lay foundation stone for mid-sea Shivaji memorial on December 24 Devendra Fadnavis lays down two conditions for alliance with Sena for BMC polls More Mumbai News»

		Delhi
		'Govt school vacancies DSSSB fault' Delhi Commission for Women asks for Sushma Swaraj's help to get Delhi man's body from Japan 1,613 acres of land slip out of DDA hand More Delhi News»

		Bangalore
		Miss Supranational Srinidhi Shetty hobnobs with the best of Bengaluru Subodh Yadav moved out of Karnataka Public Service Commission Angry investors accuse builder of cheating More Bangalore News»

		Hyderabad
		Demonetisation: Huge deposits into two labourers' accounts A daily worker received the shock of his life when senior bank officials from Hyderabad called him seeking details of Rs 1.84 crore deposited into his bank account. Court confirms ED seizure order worth Rs 749 crore against Jagan Mohan Reddy, others 'Baahubali' director to help design Andhra Pradesh's new capital More Hyderabad News»

		Chennai
		Sasikalaa names Theni couple's baby Jayalalithaa Supporters of Dravidian parties in Tamil Nadu are keen on getting their newborns named by their party leaders. Some of them even wait for months to get an appointment from their leaders to name their children. O Panneerselvam to meet PM Modi seeking assistance for damages from cyclone Vardah Changing narrative of dance: Group acts take centre stage More Chennai News»

		Ahmedabad
		111-year-old Gujarat market is 'country's oldest mall' for villagers Nestled in the dusty alleys of Kharaghoda village in Gujarat, a 111-year-old covered market set up the British and called the "country's oldest mall" by locals has been catering to the needs of the villagers besides acting as their meeting point. A 100 trees hacked for Vibrant Summit in Gujarat These runway bravehearts shattered beauty stereotypes Fashion's bravehearts who dared to challenge the norms of beauty and body image in their own unique style. More Ahmedabad News»

		Allahabad
		HC declines plea of Cong leader for probe of cases The Allahabad high court on Saturday dismissed a writ petition filed by a Congress leader of Rampur requesting the court to direct a probe by an independent agency into the criminal cases filed against him. Land allotted to seers washed away When the preparations for Magh Mela is going, the strong current of Ganga has led to erosion of banks on both sides of the river. PCS to be conducted online, on par with UPSC exam PSCs would conduct provincial civil service (PCS) exams online and bring them on par with that conducted by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) from 2017. More Allahabad News»

		Bhubaneswar
		Jual Oram clears air on BJP-BJD 'alliance' "Let us not read too much into what PM and HM (home minister Rajnath Singh) said praising Naveen Babu.It is in the context of fighting against black money/demonetisation," Oram tweeted. Court restrains telecast of Bhubaneswar mayor's alleged sex clip A court here has restrained the telecast of the sex clip allegedly showing city mayor Ananta Narayan Jena in a compromising position with a woman. Berhampur weavers feel cash crunch heat Weavers are feeling the heat of demonetisation with the number of orders dwindling despite the marriage season and cooperatives unable to pay them due to cap on the withdrawal limit. More Bhubaneswar News»

		Bhopal
		Malnutrition deaths: Madhya Pradesh government yet to respond to rights' panel Almost two months have passed since the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) slapped a notice on the state government, seeking details of malnutrition deaths in Madhya Pradesh. But, the government is yet to respond. Demonetisation: Give 50 days for normalisation, says SP leader Amar Singh Not everybody affluent like BJD MP Jay Panda, say Madhya Pradesh MPs More Bhopal News»

		Chandigarh
		Sobering up India's highways In poll-bound Punjab, Rahul Gandhi at Beas dera This is Rahul Gandhi's second visit to the dera, the first one being in March. It comes weeks after visits of Punjab deputy CM Sukhbir Badal. With deras in Punjab playing a crucial role every year in elections, the visit may further consolidate ties between the sect and Congress for 2017 polls. Ahead of Punjab polls, painkiller a pain Ahead of Punjab assembly elections, an innocuous painkiller, tramadol, has become a nagging worry for narcotics monitoring authorities in the state. More Chandigarh News»

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