Top Stories on April 4 in a capsule

Nepal PM to press India for exchange of Rs 950 crore banned notes

Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, during his visit to India this week, will press India to exchange demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1000 Indian bank notes worth Rs 950 crore held in Nepal. “The Indian demonetisation has hurt Nepali nationals. I will raise this in my meetings with Indian leaders and request them to resolve the issue,” Oli told the Nepal parliament late on Tuesday. The Indian currency is widely used by businesses and individuals in Nepal as India is Nepal’s largest trade partner and the supplier of the bulk of consumer goods. Central Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) officials informed the media that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) verbally agreed to allow every Nepali national to exchange up to 4,500 rupees worth of scrapped Indian bank notes in a meeting in March last year. “But nothing has been communicated to us formally so far,” NRB Deputy Governor Chinta Mani Shivakoti told News agency Reuters.

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Facebook confirms sharing data of 870 lakh users with Cambridge Analytica

Facebook CTO Mike Schroepfer, in a blog post on Wednesday, confirmed sharing user data of about 870 lakh people with Cambridge Analytica, a data mining firm affiliated with US President Donald Trump’s election campaign. He wrote, "In total, we believe the Facebook information of up to 87 million people — mostly in the U.S. — may have been improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica by apps that they or their friends used”. The revelation came hours after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg confirmed that he will be testifying about the data breach before a House Congressional committee on April 11. Facebook has informed the media that the users who had their data shared with Cambridge Analytica will be informed about it by Monday. Next Monday, all Facebook users will receive a notice on their Facebook feeds with a link to see what apps they use and what information they have shared with those apps, informed Facebook.

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BJP, NDA MP's will not take salary for 23 wasted days

Parliamentary Affairs minister Ananth Kumar on Wednesday informed the media that Bharatiya Janata Party-National Democratic Alliance (BJP-NDA) MPs have decided not to take salary and allowances for 23 days as Parliament has not been functional. He said that said that the MPs have taken the decision as they are paid to serve the citizens of the nation and if they are not able to do so then they have no right to take their money. Kumar accused the Congress of playing negative politics and causing disruptions in both the houses of the parliament and that the productivity of Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha have dipped due to their 'undemocratic politics'. Both the government and the Opposition have been blaming each other for the wash out of the session ever since it resumed on 5 March for the second part of the Budget session.

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Former England Midfielder Rey Wilkins passes away at 61

Former England and Manchester United midfielder Ray Wilkins died at the age of 61 following a cardiac arrest, his former club Chelsea announced on Wednesday. A winner of 84 England caps, Wilkins played at two World Cup finals. He became the fourth player sent off for England when he was dismissed during the 1986 World Cup in Mexico in a game against Morocco. “Everybody associated with Chelsea Football Club is devastated to learn of the passing of our former player, captain and assistant coach, Ray Wilkins. Rest in peace, Ray, you will be dreadfully missed,” the Premier League club said on Twitter.

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PM Modi speaks out on Dalit protests, takes a dig at Congress

PM Narendra Modi on Wednesday hit out at the Congress party for politicising the issue of Dalit atrocities and said that no government apart from the NDA honored the community's icon Dr.Ambedkar more. Modi was speaking at a program organized to mark the inauguration of a building of Western Court Annexe in Parliament complex in Delhi. His comments came two days after the nationwide massive protests by Dalit groups over the amendments in the SC/ST Atrocities Act by the Supreme Court. "At the core of Ambedkar's ideals is harmony and togetherness. Working for the poorest of the poor is our mission," Modi said. Earlier, Congress president Rahul Gandhi had hit out at PM Modi and accused him of "not uttering a word" on the atrocities on Dalits and tribals.
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PV Sindhu leads Indian Contingent in 2018 Commonwealth Games

The 21st edition of the Commonwealth Games was flagged off on Wednesday with a grand opening ceremony being held at the Carrara Stadium in Gold Coast, Australia. Badminton Player PV Sindhu led the Indian Contingent in the opening ceremony. Commonwealth Games 2018 will feature 71 nations competing in 275 events across 18 different sports and seven para-sports over the next 11 days. A 225-member strong contingent will represent India in the games this year. World champion weightlifter Mirabai Chanu and 2010 gold medalist Saina Nehwal are among the several Indian athletes who will play on the first day of the 2018 Commonwealth Games at Gold Coast, Australia on Thursday.
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CBSE paper leak: SC dismisses all pleas including CBI probe

The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed all petitions challenging the Central Board of Secondary Education's (CBSE) decision to conduct a re-examination of the class 12 Economics paper after an alleged leak. The top court said that is the discretion of the board to conduct the re-examination and can't be challenged in the court. The court also stated that it won't interfere with any of the board's decision on a re-exam. The court also dismissed a plea for a CBI inquiry into the alleged paper leak. It dismissed a batch of petitions filed by students and parents. A bench of Justices SA Bobde and L Nageswara Rao asked the students who had challenged the CBSE's decision to appear in the examination if conducted.
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Amazon may offer to buy Flipkart

E-commerce giant Amazon may offer to buy Indian e-commerce firm Flipkart, local daily Mint reported on Wednesday. Flipkart, founded by former Amazon employees Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal in 2007, controls nearly 40 percent of India's online retail, ahead of Amazon, according to estimates by research firm Forrester. Flipkart is currently in talks with Walmart for a stake sale. Walmart intends to buy 40% stake in the company that could value Flipkart at $21 billion, i.e 1.36 lakh crores. On the other hand, Amazon has committed to invest $5 billion (32,500 crores) in India to expand its operations.
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Dawood, Hafiz Saeed among 139 Pakistanis in UN Terror List

The UN Security Council’s updated list of terrorists and militant groups has 139 entries from Pakistan alone, accounting for 40% of the people on the total list. The list is topped by Osama bin Laden's heir apparent Ayman al-Zawahiri also includes 26/11 mastermind, Hafiz Saeed. It identifies all those individuals who have lived in Pakistan, operated from there or have been associated with groups that used Pakistani territory for carrying out their operations. Hafiz Saeed is listed as a person also wanted by Interpol for his involvement in terrorist activities.
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YouTube blocked her content and did not pay her: Shooter’s father

Hours after a woman employee opened fire inside the YouTube headquarters in California, US injuring three people before killing herself, her father has revealed that she hated the company and that he had warned the police that she might commit the crime. Her father said that the company had blocked all her videos and had failed to make payments for her work. Officials from the San Bruno police department identified the accused as Nasim Najafi Aghdam, aged 39, a resident of San Diego. The shooting victims, one male and two females ranging in age of 27 to 36, did not have any connections to the suspect, police added. Several reports added that Nasim's father, Ismail Aghdam, had reported his daughter missing on Monday after she did not answer her phone for two days. 

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