News Digest: DRDO building Star Wars-like laser weapons
News Digest: DRDO building Star Wars-like laser weapons
Here are some important reports from the biggest newspapers of India.

Here are some important reports from the biggest newspapers of India:

1. DRDO building Star Wars-like laser weapons

India is taking baby steps towards developing directed energy weapons (DEW) such as high-energy lasers and high-powered microwaves and catching up with the US, Russia and China in the field, reports The Times of India.

The DRDO has built and tested a 10-kilowatt DEW to be used against unmanned aerial vehicle-like targets with "technologies of precision tracking and laser beam combination".

The development of such sophisticated weapons has been identified as a top priority in the defence ministry's 15-year roadmap.

2. Looks like hackers follow our VVIPs everywhere

A day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Afghanistan in December 2015, the email account of India's then ambassador to the country Amar Sinha was hacked by cyber attackers when he downloaded a malicious MS Word document sent as an email attachment. Sinha, now secretary (economic relations) at the external affairs ministry, told Economic Times that the attacker could not get any valuable information from his system.

Officials said a spike in cyberattacks before important diplomatic meetings is a worldwide trend that targets government and defence personnel. But while Sinha acted in time and reported the attack, several others go unsuspected and unreported, they said.

India, according to experts, is grossly un derprepared to deal with the diplomatic spying wars that are being played out in cyberspace.

3. Three lynched in Jharkhand over 'cattle theft', 6 tribals arrested

The police on Sunday arrested six people for the lynching of three tribal brothers for allegedly stealing cattle in West Singhbhum's Udajo village in Jetia block on March 24.

Those arrested are tribals as well, said a report in The Times of India.

Cops said the bodies of Sanatan Laguri and Surja Laguri were found inside a forest, 2km from the village, following a search operation. The body of the third, Sukra Koda, cousin of the Laguri brothers, has still not been found.

4. Green penalty may go up from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 crore

Seeking to impose a serious and effective deterrent to prevent violation of environmental laws, the Centre plans to introduce an amendment bill proposing to scale up the fine to a minimum of Rs 5 crore up from Rs 1 lakh and imprisonment up to seven years for causing 'substantial' environmental damage.

The bill will be introduced during the second half of the budget session between April 25 and May 13.

The bill sets the the upper limit of fine as high as Rs 20 crore and imprisonment may be extended to a life term, reported The Times of India.

5. Tech education council slashes tuition fees at biz schools

Private educational institutions, business schools, and engineering colleges operating with the All India Council for Technical Education's (AICTE) approval will have to lower their fees to comply with a national committee's recommendations.

The AICTE made it mandatory in February to implement proposals of the National Fee Committee, a 10-member panel headed by former Supreme Court Judge BN Srikrishna, which was formed in 2014 to prescribe fee guidelines for technical institutions. The panel submitted its report in August 2015.

AICTE chair man Anil D Sabasrabudhe directed all the states to put into practice proposals in the report from the next academic session, said a report in Hindustan Times.

6. Methane trapped beneath makes Ghazipur landfill in Delhi a ticking time bomb

Amid the waist-deep muck and the unbearable stench at Delhi's 70-acre Ghazipur landfill, there is a disaster waiting to happen. The waste gathered at the bottom of the pile generates methane, which is highly flammable.

Mindful of the danger, scantily clad ragpickers take each step carefully on the garbage pile. One wrong step can release the gas from the waste, which then catches fire instantly.

The landfill seems to be a Deonar in the making. A massive fire engulfed the Mumbai landfill on March 20, reported Hindustan Times.

7. They have meat to feast on, no water to cook it in

Looking at the preparations for a feast at Baro Pelia, the village where began what is now known as the Lalgarh movement of 2008, provides a sense of how little has changed since then.

As the meat was being prepared Saturday, villagers pointed out that it would be some time before they could begin the feast. There is still no water in the village to cook the food with, reported The Indian Express.

In the eight years since the violent movement, the Left's iconic red had been replaced with the TMC's wild flowers. But the new water tower at the village, complete with what the villagers have been told is a Japanese-made solar panel, does not serve them yet.

8. Police stop 'suspicious' car, find man stabbed to death inside

A man was killed and another injured after members of a 'gang' allegedly had a fight over distribution of cash from a recent robbery.

The incident came to light when policemen deployed at a picket near Dwarka noticed "suspicious" cars. When police tried to stop the two cars, the driver of one braked abruptly, got out and ran to the other one, an officer told The Indian Express.

"The second car sped away and we could not stop it. When we approached the first car, we found two men in a pool of blood inside. We rushed them to the nearest hospital, where one of them was declared dead," said the officer.

9. Dadri lynching: Father of accused, village chief call 'mahapanchayat' to seek CBI probe

Some residents of Bisara, the village in Uttar Pradesh where 50-year-old Mohammad Akhlaq was killed in September last year, have decided to organise a 'mahapanchayat' (public meeting) in April to demand a CBI inquiry in the case.

Police have arrested 19 men, including a juvenile from Bisara over the killing of Akhlaq, who was beaten to death by a mob on suspicion of storing and consuming beef.

Alleging that the investigation into the case was one-sided, some residents have formed a 'sangharsh samiti', reported The Indian Express.

10. Plan to overhaul medical council set in motion

The BJP government has begun work on a major overhaul of the Medical Council of India as it looks to create more medical colleges and produce more doctors to cater to growing healthcare needs.

Sources told The Times of India that during a review meeting of the health sector, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the health ministry had discussed the option of even scrapping the country's apex medical education regulator which has been shrouded in controversy in recent years.

Although sources ruled out such a drastic measure, the government has set up a three-member committee to prepare a blueprint to revamp the current setup.

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