News Digest: National health policy to focus on preventive healthcare

National health policy to focus on preventive healthcare

World Bank OKs $175m for nat'l hydro project

Indian flyers: Love is OK, not rudeness

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GST Council caps cess on demerit goods at 15 per cent
The actual cess on demerit goods, which will help create a corpus for compensating states for any loss of revenue from GST implementation in the first five years, may be lower than the cap as the Council has kept a "little" headroom for future exigencies, finance minister Arun Jaitley said.

India's engineering exports likely to cross $60 billion
Union minister for commerce and industry Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said India's engineering exports are likely to cross $60 billion in fiscal 2016-17 on the back of revival of demand in the US and for select products like iron.

Mizoram govt presents tax-free surplus budget
Mizoram finance minister Lalsawta on Thursday presented a tax-free surplus budget for 2017-2018 amounting to Rs 8,803.10 crore.

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Indian grey hornbills make nests early this year
Indian grey hornbills, the birds that nest in cervices of trees have shown a remarkable change in their nesting behavior in the city. This year the birds have built their nests a much earlier.

Tata Chemicals Haldia plant gets shutdown notice
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has directed Tata Chemicals to shut down its fertilizer plant in Haldia (West Bengal) for violating liquid waste discharge rules. The CPCB directive follows an analysis of the company’s samples, which showed a non-compliance in effluent discharge norms.

Arctic ice loss driven by natural swings: Study
The study indicates that an ice-free Arctic Ocean, often feared to be just years away, in one of the starkest signs of man-made global warming, could be delayed if nature swings back to a cooler mode.

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Pak army chief on 1st visit to China, meets top leaders
China's top leadership has assured Pakistan army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa that they completely understood the geopolitical, economic and security situation in the region and its implications for the two "all- weather" friends, the Pakistan Army said on Thursday.

Donald Trump: Different strokes

Erdogan accuses EU of launching anti-Islam 'crusade'
Turkey's president on Thursday accused the EU's top court of starting a "crusade" against Islam after a ruling allowing European companies to ban employees from wearing religious or political symbols including the Islamic headscarf.

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Akshay donates Rs 1.08 crore to martyred jawans' kin
The actor has donated Rs 1.08 crore to the families of twelve slain jawans of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)

Movie Review: Beauty and the Beast
This is a live-action remake of Disney’s classic love story. ‘Beauty lies within’ is what an enchantress expects a vain and arrogant prince (Dan Stevens) to know.

Shahid in talks with SLB for another film?
The film in question is apparently a light-hearted rom-com with a lot of dancing.

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SpaceX launches communications satellite into orbit
SpaceX on Thursday successfully launched a communications satellite into space from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The satellite will be placed in orbit more that 35,000 kilometers above the earth and provide telecommunications service to Brazil.

Having children may add two years to your life: Study
Despite giving you sleepless nights, constant worry and financial headaches, parenthood may be key to having a longer life, particularly in older age when health and capacity start to decline, a new study has claimed.

'Lost' Chandrayaan-1 found orbiting Moon: NASA
India's first lunar probe - the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft - which was considered lost, is still orbiting the Moon, NASA scientists have found by using a new ground-based radar technique.

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Ranchi Test: Smith, Maxwell make India toil
India went wicketless in the final session of Day 1 of the Ranchi Test as Australia, on the back of Steven Smith's 19th Test century, reached 299/4 at stumps, their highest total of the series.

No serious concerns over Kohli's shoulder injury: BCCI
Indian cricket team had a huge sigh of relief after the relevant investigations revealed that there are no serious concerns to captain Virat Kohli's shoulder injury he suffered during the second session of the first day's play of the third Test in Ranchi.

PM Modi outwits Ravi Shastri in sporting style on Twitter
Former Indian cricket team captain Ravi Shastri congratulated Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) on their landslide victory in the recently held UP assembly elections on Thursday.

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WhatsApp breaks silence on its 'Status' feature
Once the update is rolled out, users will be to set text-based status updates by navigating to the ‘About’ section of their WhatsApp profiles.

Google may be working on a third smartphone besides Pixel, Pixel XL successors: Report
For those unaware, Google assigns names of aquatic animals as codenames for its devices. The Nexus 5, Nexus 6 and Nexus 6P were codenamed ‘Hammerhead’, ‘Shamu’ and ‘Angler’ respectively.

Google Nexus 6 gets downgraded from Android 7.1.1 to 7.0 Nougat
Some Reddit users also revealed that apps on the Nexus 6 are crashing continuously after the downgrade. The device needs to be wiped to restore normal functionality.

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29% women do not pursue MBA Programme due to financial constraints, finds GMAC
A white paper from US-based Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), which conducts GMAT, has revealed that one in every three women around the world does not choose MBA due to financial constraints. The bleak observation came on International Women’s Day.

Sanchi University to introduce 5-year integrated course in Mandarin
​​The Chinese language is so much in demand that Madhya Pradesh government has decided to introduce a five-year integrated course in Mandarin at its Sanchi University of Buddhist India-Indic Studies, 40 kilometers from Bhopal, from the next academic session.

Second phase of digital financial literacy campaign from May

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No bail for sailor accused of raping senior's daughter

Man detained by ATS for IS ties told to reappear for questioning today

Home in on more kids with learning disabilities: Expert

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Beleaguered singer Afrin gets social media support
Beleaguered Assamese singer Nahid Afrin has received support from various quarters on social media. BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad, Congress' Milind Deora and CPI(ML)'s Kavita Krishnan were among those who tweeted in favour of the former reality TV show contestant.

Garbage gone, Khirki gets a park

Uber cabbie harasses woman, throws her out
In a social media post that has since gone viral, the woman alleged that the cabbie first chatted her up and then started harassing and intimidating her during a ride on Wednesday. Her ordeal did not end with getting thrown out of the cab. The woman said the cabbie then started following her till she managed to scare him away with some smart thinking.

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No development plans for startups in this budget
The Karnataka chief minister's 12th state Budget has been criti cized for many reasons, most stridently for the absence of a loan waiver for farmers.

Cost of wage revision for govt staff not accounted for
Between 1995 and 2000, when Siddaramaiah was finance minister, the rev enue surplus turned into a massive revenue deficit of Rs 2,325 crore, fiscal deficit tripled and tax collection went up 50%.

Woman IPS officer criticizes BJP MP's social media post
D Roopa, DIG, state prisons, said that politicization of the bureaucracy did not bode well for the system and society.

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Yadadri temple to be ready by Oct

All govt schools to have toilets by June: Dy CM

School to campus: Mid-day meal in degree colleges too

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Tamil Nadu scales down foodgrains target
Failure of monsoon and farmers' distress have forced the state government to scale down the target for foodgrains production for the next financial year to 100 lakh tonnes, a 32% fall from the initial target set for the current financial year.

Budget populist, fiscal deficit is alarming: Industry
While industry bodies appreciated the Tamil Nadu budget's plans for enhancing investment and creation of funds for small and medium enterprises, there was concern that the budget does not directly address the rising fiscal deficit.

No new taxes in budget, doles push Tamil Nadu towards debt trap
The Tamil Nadu budget presented on Thursday showed that the state's financial situation may well be heading towards a crisis in which the state's borrowings increasingly go to meet interest payments ­ expected to hit Rs 26,000 crore next year.

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Delhi Public School Bopal hikes tuition fees by 10%
Delhi Public School in Bopal, has increased its tuition fees by 8-10% from next academic year, stating it was a standard increase. School authorities have also assured that parents, who need further clarity on the hike could approach them next week.

2002 riots convict gets parole for daughter's board examination
Gujarat high court has granted parole to a convict of the 2002 riots case to help his daughter, who is taking the board examinations. Prahlad Patel, who has been convicted to life imprisonment in the Sardarpura massacre case, had sought parole for a month so that he could help his daughter in commuting from home to the exam centre as she is appearing in class XII examinations.

Investigating officer didn't comply with order to get sanction: CBI court to HC
A special CBI court told the Gujarat high court that the investigating officer (IO) in the 2004 Ishrat Jahan encounter case has not complied with its “instructions” to get the necessary sanction for prosecution of the accused persons.

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Where Holi celebrations begin days after the festival
Be they traders, shopkeepers or employees of government or private firms, people came out on streets with a predominance of colours as traditionally Holi is played in these localities on the third day of the festival.

Chetak helicopter topples during emergency landing in UP
A chetak helicopter of the Indian Air force toppled at an open field of village Kataula Ghauspur under Pipri police station of the Kaushambi district, on Wednesday morning. The ill-fated chopper was on a routine training sortie from IAF Bamrauli, Allahabad for the training of army pilot.

IAF chopper topples during training sortie, pilots safe
A Chetak helicopter of the Indian Air Force toppled while making an emergency landing during a training sortie from Bamrauli near Allahabad on Wednesday.

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First Odia-Telugu bilingual film 'Sitaramanka Bahaghra Kalijugare' to release on March 31
At a time when Odia film industry has been passing through a transition period popular upcoming first bilingual film in Odia and Telugu 'Sitaramanka Bahaghara Kalijugare' has brought a ray of hope among Odia actors and technicians.

1895 farmers committed suicide in Odisha between 2005 and 2014
As many as 1895 farmers committed suicide in the state between 2005 and 2014, agriculture minister Pradeep Maharathy said on Wednesday quoting the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report.

Gangster Raja Acharya's troubles far from over
Won't Be Released From Jail Despite SC Granting Him Bail

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Bhopal: 15 cops suspended for Holi revelry in uniform
Fifteen policemen were suspended for Holi revelry in an unrestrained manner -- shouting and drinking beer -- outside Purana Chavni police station in Gwalior

Stray dogs of Madhya Pradesh bit a tiger and scare leopards too
It has repeatedly been proved that stray dogs of Madhya Pradesh are more dangerous like the big wildcats. In 2013 a stray dog had bit a tiger on its tail in Panna Tiger Reserve and got away with it.

BJP names Arvind Singh Bhadoria & Shivnarayan Singh for bypolls
BJP on Wednesday cleared the names of Arvind Singh Bhadoria as party candidate for Ater (Bhind) and Shivnarayan Singh for Bandhavgarh (Umaria) assembly bypolls slated for April 9.

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Parents protest outside school against fee hike
There was high drama at St Joseph School in Sector-44 here on Thursday, after about 100 parents gathered outside the school protesting against the fee hike, for almost three to four hours.

Rajnath Singh, Radha Mohan Singh to attend Haryana agri leadership summit
Apart from this, an MoU for technology transfer would be signed between CIFE), Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Mumbai and Department of Fisheries, Haryana.

Punjab CM Amarinder Singh keeps Home Department; allocates portfolios
Manpreet Badal, the estranged nephew of outgoing Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, will also handle the portfolios of Planning and Employment Generation.

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