[wanabidii] News Digest: Premji, Sikka warn of dangers to world, IT

Tuesday, January 03, 2017

Today's Headlines

Premji, Sikka warn of dangers to world, IT

New treaty: Rules eased for Singapore investors
Settlement of cross-border tax issues, especially transfer pricing, will be easier under the amended India-Singapore tax treaty. Bilateral advance pricing agreements (APAs) and settlement between competent authorities of the two countries of complex and contentious tax issues under the Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP) route is now possible.

Blackstone in race for $250m stake in K Raheja

More Business News»

Environment

NGT notice to environment ministry over realty projects
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Monday issued notices to the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) and the ministry of urban development (MoUD) on an application challenging a recent notification that exempts real estate projects of all sizes from the process of environment impact assessment (EIA) and prior environmental clearance (EC) before beginning construction.

China factories violated anti-smog measures

Environmentalists protest hunting bison plan in Poland
Environmentalists are protesting Poland's plan to allow hunters to shoot bison, while authorities say it is necessary for the well-being of the oversized herd and will earn money for its upkeep. Greenpeace had gathered almost 9,000 signatures online by Monday afternoon on a letter asking Prime Minister Beata Szydlo to stop the plan.

More Environment News»

World

Syria rebels suspend talks with govt over violations
Pro-government forces pressed on with their offensive targeting the water-rich Barada Valley northwest of the Syrian capital Tuesday, as a group of Syrian rebel groups said they were suspending talks about planned peace negotiations because of what they describe as ongoing government violations of a four-day old cease-fire deal.

Japan representative to Taiwan says bilateral ties at their 'best'
Ties between Japan and Taiwan are at their best, Japan's representative on the island said on Tuesday, at the unveiling of a new name for Japan's representative office that has riled China. Japan and Taiwan have extensive business ties and also share concern about an increasingly assertive mainland China.

S Korea calls Trump's tweet 'clear warning' to North
South Korea said Tuesday that US president-elect Donald Trump had sent a "clear warning" to North Korea with a tweet dismissing Pyongyang's ballistic missile claims. "North Korea just stated that it is in the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching parts of the US," Trump tweeted. "It won't happen!"

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

Wipro chairman Azim Premji's letter to employees
Wipro chairman Azim Premji has sent a letter to the company's 170,000+ employees warning of dangers facing the world and the IT industry.

Paytm may get a value boost soon
Industrialists Sunil Munjal and Saroj Poddar are in talks to buy a small stake in digital payments firm Paytm, according to two people aware of the discussions.

WhatsApp no longer works on these iOS and Android phones
Popular social media application WhatsApp has stopped working in older iPhones and Android handsets to ensure that it could continue to introduce new features and stay secure, which relies on the app being used on newer operating systems.

More Technology News»

Education

MP govt to run 'Aaspass Ki Khoj' for students
Madhya Pradesh government would impart lessons to students about local festivals, culture, traditions, rituals and beliefs in their respective areas under its proposed "Aaspass Ki Khoj" (search in the vicinity) programme.

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.

More Education News»

Mumbai

Mumbai police celebrate senior citizen's birthday
It's a visit that might scare any law abiding citizen - seeing the police at the doorstep. But for 82-year-old Lalita Subramanian, there was a beautiful surprise in store.

High Court relief for cellular companies over mobile towers in Pune
In a relief to Cellular operators, the Bombay high court vacation bench on Friday ordered a status quo to prevent Pune municipal authorities from attaching properties for 15 days from December 23, over alleged unpaid property tax.

Youth, 4 friends attacked with knife on New Year's day, 1 held
A 25-year-old man from Vikhroli was arrested on Sunday for allegedly attacking a 20-year-old man and four of his friends with a knife and stealing his cellphone in Powai very early on New Year's day.

More Mumbai News»

Delhi

Normalcy returns on Delhi Metro Blue Line
Commuters on the Delhi Metro's Blue Line were in for a tough time this morning after a snag in overhead wiring between Pragati Maidan and Mandi House stations affected the speed of the trains.

13 flights delayed, 55 trains running late due to fog in Delhi
At least 13 flights were delayed and 55 trains running late due to dense fog in parts of north India on Tuesday morning, an official said.

Filmmakers get threat calls from Dawood Ibrahim

More Delhi News»

Bangalore

Bengaluru mass molestation: Would you like to share your story?

Karnataka's cooperation minister Mahadeva Prasad dies following heart attack
Karnataka cooperation minister Mahadeva Prasad was found dead in a resort in Chikkamagaluru district on Tuesday morning. He was 58 years old. He reportedly suffered a heart attack on Monday night.

Why is Bengaluru failing its women?
Every year on New Year’s Eve, MG Road becomes that place where women are advised to stay away from. Looking out of my car window that night, it was easy to see why. Packs of jeering men, many of them drunk and reckless, hardly make for safe celebrations. Even then, we spotted young women in party clothes, in twos and threes, heading towards Brigade Road.

More Bangalore News»

Hyderabad

Telangana divided into 4 zones for jobs
While Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam are part of Zone-I, East Godavari, West Godavari and Krishna district are in Zone-II.

Andhra Pradesh to achieve 50 per cent cashless economy by March-end
Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday described the demonetisation of high value currency and the introduction of goods and services tax (GST) as the two biggest economic reforms in India after Independence.

Traffic chokes as truck breaks down on flyover
Hundreds of vehicles were stranded on the YMCA flyover in Secunderabad for nearly half-an-hour as a goods vehicle developed a technical problem and broke down. The incident occurred on Monday at 9.20 am. Traffic went haywire with the unexpected incident.

More Hyderabad News»

Chennai

AIADMK functionary hacked to death in Tamil Nadu
A 55-year-old former councillor of Alangulam town panchayat in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu was hacked to death by unidentified gang on Monday night.

Tamil Nadu farmers associations postpone protests after assurance by govt
Following an assurance by the Tamil Nadu government to look into their demands, farmers associations on Tuesday said they have postponed their demonstrations that were to be held on January 5.

AIADMK ally threatens to hold jallikattu
Actor Karunas-led Mukkulathur Pulipadai, an ally of the ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu, on Tuesday threatened to conduct jallikattu during Pongal if the Centre fails to facilitate the conduct of the popular bull taming sport by lifting the ban on it.

More Chennai News»

Ahmedabad

New Year rises with classical cheer
Dressed in red and gold and blue, Begum Parveen Sultana brought to the Saptak stage the buoyancy of sunrise blended with the ocean's solemnity. Those elemental traits - generous illumination and formidable depth - appeared to be yoked together in her presentation of Raga Maru Bihag, on Sunday.

Gold imports plunge to six-month low
While there were frenzied gold purchases for few days after the note demonetization was announced on November 8, 2016, the subsequent cash crunch appears to have hit the bullion trade hard. This could be gauged from the steep decline in imports of gold in December. Data from the Ahmedabad Air Cargo Complex shows that import of the yellow metal in Gujarat tumbled by 92.4% to 1.40 metric tonnes in December, a six-month low, from 18.65 MT in November.

Foul play? 1.4K guinea fowls abandoned
Citizens living near a shallow wasteland on SP Ring Road, Vastral, were shocked on Monday morning to find more than a thousand guinea fowls being offloaded at the water hole by a truck driver. They apprehended the driver and informed the forest department at around 12.30 pm.

More Ahmedabad News»

Allahabad

BJP bikes arrive in Allahabad for door-to-door drive
The BJP leadership in Uttar Pradesh is stressing door-to-door campaign to prepare and collect data of voter in all the 403 assembly constituencies in the run-up to 2017 state assembly polls.

Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha activists want Maurya as CM if BJP wins
A large number of Bharatiya Janata Party and Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) activists assembled at Ramghat, on the banks of Ganga here on Sunday and prayed for the success of the party in the Assembly election.

Allahabad police lines to run on solar power
The district’s reserve police lines will run on solar power following state government nod to the ‘Green Police Line’ project of the city police. State government has already sanctioned Rs 1 crore for the project and Allahabad reserve police lines would be the first in the state to get the green tag.

More Allahabad News»

Bhubaneswar

Bengal MP's poor health hampers ponzi firm investigation
The CBI, probing Rs 17,000 crore-Rose Valley ponzi scam, on Monday said it has been facing difficulties in extracting information from arrested Trinamool Congress MP and Bengali actor Tapas Pal owing to his illness.

Hailstorm, rain lash parts of state
Bhubaneswar/ Unseasonal rain and hailstorm lashed parts of western Odisha on Monday evening bringing down temperature in the region.However, the rainfall has damaged harvested paddy crops and onions.

Tourists flock to see Rushikulya dolphins
The mouth of Rushikulya river off Ganjam coast, famous for the mass nesting of the Olive Ridley turtles, is also considered as the spot for dolphin sightings.

More Bhubaneswar News»

Bhopal

Students of Class 9-12 in government schools to have uniforms
Students from class 9 to 12 of all government schools across Madhya Pradesh will have identical uniform from the coming academic session. The state government has roped in Madhya Pradesh Emporium Mrignayani to design the uniform.

Madhya Pradesh expects bumper wheat output after record sowing
Madhya Pradesh is expecting a numper output of more than 2 crore metric tonnes of wheat this season after record sowing and good rain.

Nutan College: Few takers for uniform on Day 1
Sarojini Naidu PG Girls (Nutan College) opened on Monday after winter break with a small section of students donning uniform.

More Bhopal News»

Chandigarh

Jalandhar youth murders, buries pregnant girl friend
A 19-year-old youth has been arrested for killing his 17-year-old girlfriend after she told him that she was pregnant and wanted him to marry her.He also buried the body at an isolated spot to try and hide the crime.

No written invitation to jathedars: Ex-SGPC boss
Confusion prevails over the arrival of jathedars of Akal Takhat, Kesgarh Sahib and Damdama Sahib at Patna for participating in Prakashotsava celebrations as Avtar Singh Makkar, chairman of Takhat Patna Saheb, denied giving them any written invitation for the event.

Former Punjab CM Captain Amrinder Singh gets rousing welcome
Former Punjab chief minister (CM) and Congress heavyweight Captain Amrinder Singh reached Patna on Monday amid rousing welcome to attend the ongoing 350th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Gobind Singh.

More Chandigarh News»