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Sacked Disney employees in US sue two Indian outsourcing firms

HCL and Cognizant, two Indian firms, have been sued in the US along with Walt Disney World, for conspiring to replace American workers with cheaper workers from India, reports the Hindustan Times. Leo Perroro and Dena Moore who filed the law suits had been fired by Walt Disney World in 2015, and were made to train their replacements, temporary workers from India on H-1B visas, before they left. Perroro and Moore were among 250 employees fired by the US company.

IAF shoot down unidentified 'balloon-shaped object' in Barmer during R-Day parade

While the nation watched the Republic Day parade on 26 January, an Indian Air Force fighter jet intercepted and shot down a 'balloon-shaped object' near Barmer, Rajasthan, reports the Hindustan Times. The IAF caught the object on its radar while the Republic Day parade continued and sent a Sukhoi-30MKI fighter aircraft to intercept it on suspicion that it was flown across the Indo-Pak border. An IAF team has been sent to investigate the object, said defence spokesperson Lt Col Manish Ojha. Further details are awaited.

8 ministries now involved in Ganga clean-up

Eight ministries have been roped together to clean up the Ganga, reports The Indian Express. The Human Resource Development Ministry, the Water Resource Ministry, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, the Youth Affairs and Sports Ministry, the Ministry of Shipping, the Rural Development Ministry, the Tourism Ministry and AYUSH have all been given roles in the Namami Gange programme, aimed to keep the riverside clean, provide villages with infrastructure such as waste management facilities, and create sustainable shipping.

Women's rights activists marching to Shani Shingnapur temple foiled by police

The Bhumata Brigade that had planned to storm the Shani Shingnapur temple in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, so as to access the sanctum which women have been banned from entering, was stopped by the police, reports The Indian Express. The brigade, comprising about 400 women volunteers, was detained by the police at Supa, about 70 km from the Shani temple. They were later released, and no arrests were made. The Bhumata Brigade were aiming for equal rights between men and women for worship.

Manipur policeman accused of killing unarmed man confesses 6 years after the crime

Six years after he was suspended for a fake encounter in Imphal, Manipur Police head constable Thounaojam Herojit Singh has confessed that he did shoot an unarmed alleged insurgent, reports The Indian Express. He said he had been ordered to do so. Herojit said he decided to tell the truth after he had been picked up by police while he was returning from court, and interrogated about his movements for five to six hours. "I am scared for my life. I no longer have faith in the system," he said. Herojit Singh is one of nine accused policemen in the case that is being investigated by the CBI.

Hyderabad University may replace acting VC with someone more acceptable to protesters

Hyderabad University is considering replacing its acting vice chanceller Prof. Vipin Srivastava, with someone more acceptable to the students protesting the suicide of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula, reports The Indian Express. The idea is to "at least open a channel of dialogue with the students." Students at the university were outraged when Srivastava was appointed acting VC after Prof. Appa Rao Podile went on leave on Sunday. Srivastava, they pointed out, had been chairman of the committee that had recommended the suspension of five Dalit students, including Rohith Vemula, who committed suicide on 17 January.

ISIS offers Indian hackers $10,000 for sensitive government data

ISIS is offering Indian hackers up to $10,000 per job for providing the terror group with sensitive data from government sites, reports Mail Today. They are also paying hackers to trawl social media platforms and identify potential recruits for ISIS. Over 30,000 Indian hackers have already been contacted, says cyber-crime expert Kislay Choudhury. They are in contact with handlers in Syria over Skype, WhatsApp, Silent Circle and Telegram. ISIS supporter in India are now communicating with potential recruits via Facebook profiles in local languages.

Next hearing for Arunachal Pradesh President's Rule on 1 February

The Supreme Court on 27 January set 1 February as the next date for hearing in the case.

Arunachal Pradesh Governor JP Rajkhowa submitted a report on why the President's Rule needs to be imposed in the state. In the report, Rajkhowa claimed that the law and order situation in the state had severely deteriorated.

President Pranab Mukherjee on 26 January signed off on central rule for the state.

The family that goes to school together stays together

At Hazrapur High School in West Bengal's Nadia district, class 11 student Biplab Mondal sits alongside his father, 41-year-old Balaram Mondal, as his mother Kalyani Mondal, 31, catches up with her own missed education in the girls' section of the same classroom, reports the Hindustan Times. Circumstances had led to the senior Mondals having to stop their education midway, and now they have joined their son in class, having completed their class 10 board exams in 2013 and 2014. "I am lucky to have my parents as classmates," says Biplab.

Watch Ricky, a Kannada film about love during the time of Naxalism

What happens when a white tiger tracking environment conservationist, Ricky, falls in love with Radha, who lost her parents to the State's arbitrary land acquisition for a SEZ project and is drawn to Naxalism and becomes Comrade Seetha?

Rishab Shetty's Ricky is a film set against the context of forceful land acquisitions for SEZ projects and star crossed lovers in jungles belonging to Naxalites amid Mangaluru's mountainous regions as a colourful canvas. Deccan Herald calls Ricky "a riveting romance".

What should I wear, asks Zuckerberg

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg showed off his drab wardrobe as he returned to work after paternity leave. He snapped his collection of identical grey T-shirts and hoodies, asking his millions of Facebook followers: "First day back after paternity leave. What should I wear?"The billionaire entrepreneur has previously said that he wears the same outfit each day to make his life more simple. The Facebook founder has been on two months of paternity leaveIn 2014 he said making clothing decisions each day was a "frivolous" waste of time, adding: "I really want to clear my life to make it so that I have to make as few decisions as possible about anything except how best to serve this community." Later, Facebook executive director Sheryl Sandberg posted photos of Mr Zuckerberg - wearing one of his grey T-shirts - at Facebook's headquarters.

17 Indian Reserve Battalions approved by Cabinet

The union cabinet on Wednesday approved 17 Indian Reserve Battalions (IRB) by Jammu and Kashmir and Left Wing Extremism affected states. Five battalions in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, four in Chhattisgarh, three in Jharkhand and Odisha and two in Maharashtra. Major objective of these battalions would be the recruitment of local youths. The scheme of IRB was introduced in 1971, and till now 153 battalions have been sanctioned across states.

It's not cars, but the energy sector that pollutes

A report from India to the United Nations on climate change has revealed that India's energy sector is responsible for 71% of country's total greenhouse gas emissions (GHG's).

"The emission intensity of GDP has reduced by 12% from 2005 to 2010, on course to meeting the voluntary target of 20-25% reduction in emission intensity of GDP by 2020," Union minister of environment, forest and climate change Prakash Javadekar said in the report.

The report said that carbon dioxide or CO2 dominates the total GHG emissions and the energy sector comprising of electricity production, manufacturing industries, transport sector and fugitive emissions generates the maximum CO2 in the country. Mr Kejriwal, are you listening?

As Delhi freezes, homeless people stay away from night shelters and sleep on the streets

Ever wondered how poor people are coping with the cold wave in the capital? A news report in The Hindu found that the poor prefer to sleep on the streets than using the Government constructed 245 night shelters across the city, because caretakers asked for money.

After reports of ten homeless people dying in the past three days due to the cold wave in the Capital, teams of district SDMs took a round of the various night-shelters across the city to see the condition of homeless people. They found out that many people were not ready to live inside the shelters because they were asked to pay a bribe.

Ankur Garg, the Central Delhi District Magistrate is known to have asked the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) to conduct an inquiry into the allegation.

Scientists blame humans for extreme weather conditions

World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) scientists claimed on Wednesday that high global temperature in 2015 was the result of human activities that led to El Nino, drought, rising sea level and greenhouse gas emission. Significantly, 2015 was the hottest year recorded since the 19th century. The most alarming aspect is that 15 out of the 16 hottest years in history belongs to the current century. There is an urgent need for different forms of energy that cause less damage to the environment. The only good news- effect of El Nino is going to subside.