Here are some important reports from the biggest newspapers of India:
1.) India's first nuke submarine INS Arihant passes deep sea tests
India's first nuclear armed submarine is now ready for full-fledged operations, having passed several deep sea diving drills as well as weapons launch tests over the past five months and a formal induction into the naval fleet is only a political call away.
Multiple officials closely associated with the project to operationalize the INS Arihant nuclear missile submarine have confirmed to Economic Times that the indigenously-built boat is now fully-operational and over the past few months, several weapon tests have taken place in secrecy that have proven the capabilities of the vessel.
The Arihant, which is the first of five nuclear missile submarines or SSBNs planned for induction, has also undergone deep sea dives off Vishakhapatnam where it was build. A Russian diving support ship - the RFS Epron that arrived on October 1 - has been accompanying the Arihant on its deep sea dives and launch tests, officials told ET.
2.) 9 media houses to give footage, photos of assault, say police
A day after two Delhi Police personnel identified three lawyers, including Vikram Singh Chauhan, as among those who assaulted students and journalists at Patiala House Courts complex last week, police have sent notices to nine media houses to provide photographs and raw footage of the incident.
Meanwhile, the lawyers caught on camera beating up journalists and students at Patiala House Courts Complex last week, told The Indian Express that they would be filing a criminal defamation case against three media houses for calling them "goons".
On Saturday, police had arrested one of the accused lawyers, Om Sharma. He was granted bail after an hour.
3.) Maharashtra Police reveals JNU, DU's dark Maoist secret
Maharashtra Police's startling revelations may bring further infamy to the already-embattled Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). The Inspector General of Police (IGP) of Nagpur Range, Ravindra Kadam, has told Mail Today that a few students of the university had joined the underground Maoist cadre at the behest of arrested Delhi University (DU) professor GN Saibaba, currently lodged in Nagpur jail.
The Maharashtra Police have also said those students who joined the Maoists in their anti-state struggle were members of the Democratic Students' Union (DSU), the same students' body Umar Khalid, who the Delhi police want to question in relation to the Afzal Guru show case, had once been associated with.
Kadam told Mail Today that Professor Saibaba had been active with Left-leaning students of both JNU and DU and had been indoctrinating and recruiting them for the Maoist movement. Gadchiroli Police had arrested Saibaba in 2014 for his alleged links with Maoists.
4.) Beaten, forced to wave saffron, Maharashtra cop says his force let him down
Yunus Sheikh, the Assistant Sub-Inspector who was assaulted, forced to carry a "saffron flag" and paraded through a town in Maharashtra's Latur by members of a fringe right-wing group, has said that he was let down by his own colleagues who failed to save him.
A report in The Indian Express said that the 50-year-old's family has demanded a departmental probe into why reinforcements from Renapur police station failed to arrive in time to tackle the mob at Pangaon, around 15 km away, on Saturday.
Sheikh, who is posted at the Renapur station, was on duty at Pangaon chowky.
5.) Beggar's alms fund Rs 1 lakh pigeon tower
Popat, a mentally challenged beggar, has spent nearly 40 years beneath the famous chhatris (cenotaphs) dedicated to valiant Rajput warriors of Kutch. But soon, Popat will have a concrete tower with his name engraved on it, and that too as its donor. As per a report in The Times of India, priests of a famous Shiva temple in Bhuj will oversee the construction of a 'chabutro' (pigeon tower), which will cost Rs 1.15 lakh that panhandler Popat has collected in the last 40 years in alms.
While Popat may not be able to even identify coins and notes, temple priest Mauni Baba has maintained a separate account of the money he has been paying for his tea since 1973. “Popat has been coming to the temple daily since 1973.After the darshan, we offer him tea. Despite being mentally challenged, he never forgets to pay. But I have been maintaining an account of his contribution and it has swelled to Rs 1.15 lakh," said Mauni Baba of Biharilal Mahadev temple. “We decided to immortalise Popat by engraving his name on the chabutro as the donor," Baba added.
Popat, who loiters around town, spends most of his time at Dhobi Talan near the royal chhatris. Recently , some kindhearted people arranged for his eye surgery that was performed by a Bhuj opthalmologist, Dr Sanjiv Upadhyay .
6.) 'Aam aadmi' may get extra general coach in trains
Getting a seat in one of the world's most overcrowded railway service could become a little easy for the common man as a general coach will be added to every train having unreserved coaches, reported Hindustan Times.
At an average of 100 seats in one general coach in 10,000 trains, this single decision will create one million additional low-cost seats for budget passengers. The government has cleared the proposal for an extra coach and an announcement is expected when the Railway Budget is presented on February 25.
The move is inspired by Jan Sangh ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyay's concept of Antyodaya, uplift of the last man in society, a source told HT on Monday. The nation's biggest transporter is considering naming the additional coach after either Antyodaya or Upadhyay.
7.) Dirty picture app launched to clean up monuments
The government on Monday launched a mobile app which will enable people to send pictures of dirty spots at tourist places to the authorities for "immediate action" as part of Swachh Bharat mission. The 'Swachh Paryatan Mobile App', launched by tourism minister Mahesh Sharma, will initially be available for 25 heritage monuments, including Taj Mahal, Fatehpur Sikri, Humayun's Tomb, Qutab Minar and Red Fort, among others.
A Times of India report states that the ministry plans to extend the facility to other tourist destinations across the country. “People can send pictures of dirty places on which immediate action will be taken. Besides, people can also send their suggestions in bringing improvement at the tourist places,“ Sharma said. He said nodal officers had been appointed to take immediate action to clean up the place shared by tourists. “The cleanliness of the place will be restored in a 1-2 hour duration. If the nodal officer fails to perform, action will be taken against him,“ Sharma said.
8.) Make in India runs into high royalty fee hurdle
High patent royalty fees charged by foreign technology firms are fast emerging a major hurdle for India's ambitions of turning into a global mobile manufacturing hub.
Mobile phone makers such as Micromax, Intex, Lava and iBall will together pay at least Rs 2,000 crore in royalty payments over the next four years to foreign telecom equipment makers, reported Hindustan Times.
Standard essential patents owners demand royalty payments on the end value of the mobile device rather than on the value of the component used.
9.) PMO directs HRD to redraft IIM Bill
Calling for retaining the existing autonomy of Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), the Prime Minister's Office has told the HRD ministry to rework its draft bill to ensure that it does not lead to excessive regulation of the premier institutes.
According to Hindustan Times, the human resource development (HRD) ministry had proposed a bill to give IIMs a status of 'institutes of national importance' that would have empowered the IIMs to grant degrees, and not diplomas.
The prime minister's office is learnt to have advised the education ministry against any dilution of the autonomy of IIMs.
10.) Pakistani SIT won't get access to Pathankot Airbase for probe
India has ruled out the possibility of allowing a Pakistani special investigation team access to the Pathankot airbase, which was targeted by terrorists belonging to the Jaish-e-Mohammed. Officials of the external affairs ministry and NIA while making this clear to Economic Times added they expected Pak investigators to probe the role of suspects in Pakistan first.
The statements came a day after Pakistan announced that a SIT will shortly visit India in connection with the probe and India had agreed to it in principle. Government sources said they were ready to share details of investigation conducted by the National Investigation Agency but Islamabad needed to ensure that a detailed probe was conducted into the role of those who perpetrated the attacks.
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