News Digest: Detour For Vehicles Ahead of I-Day

Here are some headlines from the daily newspapers:

1. Detour for vehicles ahead of I-Day

Traffic restrictions will be enforced in the Capital on Saturday on account of a full-dress rehearsal of Independence Day celebrations, and also on August 15, reports The Hindu.

Between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m. on both days, stretches including Netaji Subhash Margh, Lothian Road, S P Mukherjee Marg, Chandni Chowk Road, Nishad Raj Marg and Esplanade Road will remain closed.

Vehicles without parking labels for the rehearsal will have to avoid Tilak Marg, Mathura Road, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, Subhash Marg, JLN Marg and the Ring Road between Nizamuddin Bridge and ISBT bridge.

2. Govt working to balance demand & supply

The health ministry is opting for a multi-dimensional approach to minimise the gap between need for organ transplants and their availability, reports The Times Of India.

Focusing on cadaver donation, the ministry is trying to create mass awareness, strengthen infrastructure, streamline process and address the medico-legal complexities. “The idea to completely institutionalise organ donation so that both donors and receivers are at ease,“ a senior official said.

3. India Gate festival to promote rich diversity

A week-long cultural festival will begin at India Gate on Friday . Organised by the Union ministry of tourism, Bharat Parv, will be inaugurated by defence minister Manohar Parrikar. “We are organising the event to generate a patriotic mood and to promote the rich cultural diversity of the country ,“ said a senior tourism official.

Nearly 100 stalls, selling various Indian cuisines and handicrafts, will be set up. Entry is free but visitors will have to show their identity cards to enter the venue. There will be dance performances by artistes from various states, reports The Times Of India.

4. CBSE XII math paper pattern altered

After tough mathematics exams for two years, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has toned down the difficulty level for Class XII students. The new question paper design has capped the higher order thinking skills (HOTS) questions at 10% and introduced two-mark questions to bring relief to lakhs of students,reports The Times Of India.

In a circular on the board's website, the CBSE said the changed question paper design would be applicable for the board examination scheduled to be held in 2017.

5. No surge pricing after August 22

Cab users can travel easy come August 22 with the Delhi High Court on Thursday directing that after the said date all app-based aggregators like Ola and Uber will have to abide by the Delhi government's tariff policy and under no circumstance can they charge more than the prescribed fares, reports The Hindu.

6. MJ Akbar to Visit Syria, Terror Fight on Agenda

India is sending an emissary to Syria for the first time since the Arab Spring of 2011 with new Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar scheduled to travel to Damascus next week to meet President Bashar alAssad to explore steps to counter growing threats from the Islamic State that has attracted some young men from India, reports The Economic Times.

7. Gau Rakshaks Now Change Names as Mamata Cracks Whip

With the Narendra Modi government coming down heavily on the “Gau rakshaks,“ the cowvigilantes, who have recently flourished in Bengal, took a new avatar. Following an advisory issued by the Union Home Ministry asking state governments to take strict action against the `selfstyled cow vigilantes'the Gau Rakshak committee camouflaged them as `Gau Vikashak', reports The Economic Times.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee directed her administration to take stringent action against such groups. Emboldened with MHA 's advisory , the state government has already initiated action against the Gau Rakshaks. In West Midnapore district, police registered a complaint against a group of `Gaurakshak' for fomenting `communal tension'. Significantly , in the last two weeks, the committee organised two Sammelan of Gau Rakshaks.The programmes took place on July 31and August 7 in two districts, West Midnapore and East Midnapore.

8. Chanakya Shakha in Lutyens Zone

It has tentatively been christened the `Chanakya Shakha' after the author of Arthshastra and the name sits just right. The newest Shakha is taking shape right in Lutyens Zone and it is an exclusive club of Swayamsewaks loaned out by the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh to BJP and is associated in official capacity with ministers, MPs and party seniors as personal assistants, additional private secretaries, private secretaries and officers on special duty, reports The Economic Times.

9. India has only 3% share in world mobile revenue

With nearly a billion subscribers, India is the world’s second largest mobile market. No wonder, every sixth subscriber of mobile device across the world is an Indian. But when it comes to revenues, India is a pygmy, with average monthly spends of $4 per user or 2.7 per cent of the world’s, reports Business Standard.

Mobile rates in India are among the lowest in the world. In other Asian markets, average user spends is a little over $20 a month. At the end of 2015, Indian telecom revenues stood at $31 billion, compared with global revenues of $1,093 billion.

10. Buffalo meat exports to grow 50% in five years: Icra

Buffalo meat exports from India are likely to grow by 50 per cent over the next five years, thanks to growing demand. A report from credit rating agency Icras shows that India’s annual buffalo meat exports will touch the Rs 40,000 crore mark in the next five years, compared with Rs 26,682 crore in FY16. This means compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8 per cent, reports Business Standard.

In the last eight years, India’s buffalo meat exports have recorded CAGR of 29 per cent, rising from the Rs 3,533 crore-level in FY08. “While India has been exporting buffalo meat for almost two decades, the industry has gained momentum only in the last decade. This can be attributed to multiple factors like increasing demand from developing countries (like China, Vietnam, Thailand, etc), slaughtering method meeting the religious requirements of certain ethnicities, price competitiveness, high buffalo population, and low domestic consumption,” said Sabyasachi Majumdar, senior vice president — corporate sector rating, Icra.