News Digest: Want Cash? Just Eye The ATM Near You

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

1. Want Cash? Just Eye The ATM Near You

Ever thought of looking an ATM in the eye to withdraw cash? Well, lenders like DCB Bank, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra are considering using iris-recognition technology for biometric authentication of transactions, as reported in The Times of India.

In a step towards financial inclusion, banks that have been beta-testing or using fingerprint-recognising ATMs on the ground say that while fingerprint scanners are effective, but there are drawbacks.

2. To Improve Sex Ratio, Gujarat Hospital Offers to Waive Charges for Girl Child

Congratulations, it's a baby girl — you will have to pay no hospital bill! This is a special offer from a Ahmedabad-based hospital to make parents value and feel special about the girl child in a state reeling under a skewed child sex ratio of 890 girls per 1,000 boys, as reported in The Times of India.

Run by Sindhu Sewa Samaj, 30-year-old Sindhu Hospital launched this new initiative last month. Over 150 couples have already registered for delivery which otherwise carries a price tag of Rs 7,000 for normal birth and Rs 20,000 for a C-section.

3. Koala, Tiger Skin Sold Online Under 'Code Names'

The next time you look to buy a teddy bear online, make sure it's not Australian. Wildlife traffickers are using code words to sell endangered animals and their body parts on e-commerce sites operating in the country, making it difficult to monitor such sales, as reported in The Times of India.

While an 'Australian teddy bear' may turn out to be a koala, a marsupial native to Australia, 'dhaariwala chaddar' (striped sheet) is the code for tiger skin, the sale of which is illegal in India.

4. Did You Act in Ramlila, What's Your Cell Number, They Ask PM Narendra Modi

RTI queries and replies posted on PMO website, one applicant wanted to know how many cylinders PM used.

This exchange is just one example of the nature of queries relating to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that have been raised by applicants and responded to by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) under the Right To Information (RTI) Act. Read full article in The Indian Express.

5. 240 KV School Principals Get Showcause Over Poor Class XII Performance

The Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS), in an unprecedented step, has issued showcause notices to 240 school principals over unsatisfactory performance in this year's Class XII Board examinations, as reported in The Indian Express.

There are 1,135 Kendriya Vidyalayas in the country which cater to the schooling needs of children of transferable Central government employees. Of these, 875 are up to Class XII.

6. 'IS Men' Stored Powder From Matchsticks to Hit Kumbh: NIA

Six men, suspected to be members of the 'Haridwar module' of the Islamic State and accused of conspiring to attack the Ardh Kumbh Mela with an improvised explosive device (IED), resorted to "extraction of explosive material from match sticks" — it was the recovery of "match stick powder" that established their association with each other. This is what the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has stated in its chargesheet filed Monday in a special court in Delhi, as reported in The Indian Express.

7. Legendary Playback Singer Mubarak Begum Dies at 80

Legendary Singer Mubarak Begum died after prolonged illness at her residence in suburban Jogeshwari (Mumbai) late on Monday. She was 80.

Mubarak Begum was born in Rajasthan. She moved to Mumbai when she was 10-year-old. Among her favourite memories is singing "Woh na aayenge palat kar" from Devdas which released in 1955 starring Dilip Kumar and Vaijayantimala. Read full article in the Hindustan Times.

8. Passengers Will Soon Get Up to Rs 20,000 if Airline Denies Seat

Airlines will be penalised heavily if they deny boarding to passengers due to over booking of seats or fail to inform them of cancellation sin advance, according to new rules framed by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), as reported in the Hindustan Times.

Under the revised rules to come into effect from August 1, airlines will be liable to pay up to Rs 20,000 for denying boarding to passengers and up to Rs 10,000 for failing to inform in time about flight cancellations. HT had first reported on June 2 that the government was reviewing rules related to denied boarding and cancellation charges.

9. TRAI May Float Paper on Net Neutrality in August

The telecom regulator may not make any specific recommendations after the completion of the consultation process on its paper on 'Free Data' and instead may directly make suggestions on the broader subject of net neutrality, thus agreeing with telcos that the two issues should be clubbed together and not seen in isolation, as per a news report in The Economic Times.

"The authority simply wanted to devise a standardised way in which telecom operators could go ahead and offer some sort of free data to customers to encourage the use of mobile broadband after the authority banned discriminatory pricing of data services," a person familiar with the matter said, explaining the rationale behind the consultation paper on free data.

10. 'Do Chai Pe Charcha' With Kashmiris: Sena

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said his government had nothing to hide over the handling of Jammu and Kashmir issue and that his effort would be to take everyone along while making decisions in that regard. At a meeting of NDA floor leaders, Modi spoke out after his allies raised questions over the events in Jammu and Kashmir and efforts at forging a consensus over the Goods and Services Tax Bill, as reported in The Hindu.

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, who attended the meeting of NDA floor leaders, said Mr. Modi touched upon the issue of ongoing unrest in Kashmir and sought views of the BJP allies.The Sena leader said he asked the Prime Minister to hold "chai pe charcha" (talk over tea) with the people of Kashmir. He said people in India had not liked his 'chai pe charcha' with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif though his intentions were good.