Your Wire on 2 December

IMPORTANT INTERESTING IGNORED

Demonetisation: Toll collection on national higways to resume from midnight

The collection of toll at all toll plazas on national highways across the country will resume from midnight, with the government taking several steps to ensure a smooth movement of traffic.

All toll plazas have been equipped with adequate numbers of swipe machines through which people can make payments using their credit or debit cards.

Toll fee can also be paid through prepaid instruments and electronic wallets.

Low visibility due to dense fog: 3 killed, 6 injured in road accidents in UP; flights, trains delayed

At least three people were killed and six others injured after being run over by a truck in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, due to poor visibility as shallow to moderate fog engulfed the state since Thursday night.

As visibility dropped sharply due to dense fog in many parts of the country, Jet Airways on 2 December stated that due to adverse weather conditions in Delhi, Lucknow and Amritsar, they are expecting delay in the arrival and departure of flights.

"Due to poor visibility in fog at Delhi, arrival and departure delays are expected at Delhi airport," Jet Airways tweeted.

Supreme Court to hear all pleas on demonetisation today

The Supreme Court will hear all pleas, including the transfer petition filed by the Centre on the demonetisation of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 currency notes on 2 December.

The Centre had submitted an affidavit last week on the demonetisation move in the Supreme Court, saying it is an attempt to unearth black money stashed over the last seven decades.

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi said that the Centre had filed a reply in the Supreme Court in compliance with the top court's earlier order on the issue.

Army moves away from toll booths after face-off with Mamata

After a high drama over "deployment of army" at certain toll plazas in West Bengal, chief minister Mamata Banerjee decided to stay put at the state secretariat 'Nabanna' for the night, even after the force was removed from a toll plaza near it as per her demand.

"I am the custodian of common people. So I can't leave them insecured. I will stay put here for the whole night and observe the situation," Banerjee told reporters at around 1.30 AM.

About her demand that she would leave the office only when Armymen were removed from the second Hooghly bridge toll plaza near Nabanna, she said, "These people may have gone. But they are there in 18 other districts."

Devendra Fadnavis asks for Aadhar linkage of bank accounts for student scholarships

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has asked for Aadhar linkage of all accounts for availing different scholarships and other benefits by students.

He also directed officials to prepare a plan to bring the University of Mumbai, Savitribai Phule Pune University and Nagpur University among the top in global rankings.

"The CM has set the target and asked to prepare a plan to bring Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur universities among top in global ranking. Aadhar linkage of all the accounts for availing different scholarships and other benefits by students is also necessary," an official of the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said on 1 December.

Cyclonic storm 'Nada' brings respite to Tamil Nadu, weakens into depression

The cyclonic storm Nada, that was expected to hit coastal areas of Tamil Nadu weakened into a depression, and made a landfall this morning between Nagapattinam and Vedaranyam, the MeT Department said.

"A large chunk of the depression has crossed coast early morning. However, over 25% of the system is yet to make the land fall which will happen soon," a MeT official said.

Area cyclone warning centre director S Balachandran said, "Moderate rainfall at many places and heavy rainfall at 1-2 places. We are monitoring the eastern side. Depression is getting weakened. Fishermen are advised not to work for the next 12 hours."

IMPORTANT INTERESTING IGNORED

Japan becomes first Asian country to name an element

After the approval of the International Union for Pure and Applied Chemistry, the element Nihonium has become the first element on the periodic table to be named by researchers from an Asian country, Japan.

The name, proposed by the Japanese government-backed Riken research institute, combined the word Nihon, which means Japan, with the 'ium' suffix generally used for substances.

The Riken team secured the naming rights after proving that they were indeed the first team to discover the element, successfully creating it first in 2004. The element is created by bombarding Bismuth with Zinc ions. It is artificially synthesised and has a half-life of less than a thousandth of a second, making it very hard to observe or use.

Forget happy pills, take magic mushrooms instead

A new study has uncovered a new weapon in the fight against depression, and, unlike the bevy of artificial medicines used to treat it, this one is completely natural - magic mushrooms.

The result is the conclusions of two different trials conducted in the United States of America on patients with advanced cancer. According to the results, which were published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, a single dose of psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, was enough to alleviate depression in trial subjects by up to 6 months.

The findings have raised calls from leading scientists and palliative care experts for further research. Currently, magic mushrooms are classified as a schedule 1 drug, making research both financially and legally daunting.

IMPORTANT INTERESTING IGNORED

Hundreds allegedly abused as children by UK football clubs

One of Europe's premier football leagues, England's Premier League, has been rocked by an ever-growing wave of child sex abuse allegations.

After several former players came out in the open, throwing light on a culture of child sex abuse by coaches at football clubs, a dedicated hotline by UK police has received a flood of calls from alleged victims.

UK Police have received more than 250 calls relating to past abuse allegations in football. Meanwhile, a hotline set up by children's welfare charity in response to the revelations, received more than 50 calls in its first two hours.

The Football Association which manages the sport in the UK have acknowledged that this may be the biggest crisis it has ever faced.