News Digest: Stray dogs are terror threat to Delhi airport, says DIAL

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

1. Stray dogs are terror threat to Delhi airport, says DIAL

Stray dogs can be used by terrorists to launch 'fidayeen attacks' on the Delhi airport, authorities have said. The Delhi International Airport Limited has asked the South Delhi Municipal Corporation to relocate all stray dogs that roam around near terminal areas of the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, according to a report in Hindustan Times.

The letter comes in the wake of a terror attack on the air force base in Pathankot.

The airport authorities, however, could not be contacted for comments despite repeated attempts.

2. Non-metros in India have better quality of life

Hyderabad ranks highest among seven Indian cities in a global ranking of quality of living released on Tuesday, but the Indian cities are nowhere near the top and rank as low as 139 and below in the survey.

Vienna was assessed the best city to live in while Baghdad was the worst, according to the 18th Mercer Quality of Life index that helps multinational companies and other firms compensate employees fairly while placing them on international assignments.

The Hindustan Times reported that New Delhi figured last among the seven Indian cities in the list, most likely due to high levels of pollution. The first three Indian cities in the list are non-metros: Hyderabad, Pune and Bengaluru.

3. Three-fold hike likely in funding for toilets under Swachh mission

The Centre is all set to hike the budget for the rural leg of 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan' which aims to provide access to sanitation facilities to all rural households by 2019.

As against Rs 3,600 crore for 2015-16, the allocation for the programme for this financial year is going to be Rs 9,000 crore, sources said.

As per a report in Hindustan Times, the move to almost triple the financial allocation for its ambitious programme comes in the backdrop of government pushing the target for building toilets per year from Rs 90,000 lakh to Rs 1.25 crore.

4. Invest $2 billion in India, stay here and get good things cheap

If a foreign company invests $2 billion, it will get residency permits allowing long stay in India for its key executives as well as cheap rates for utilities and a special package on upscale housing. That's the latest policy idea of the Modi government, which is pushing hard to make India a more attractive foreign investment destination.

Senior officials, who spoke on the condition they not be identified, told Economic Times the proposal could be formally unveiled after the Budget session of Parliament gets over in mid-March.

The government is mulling residency permits, special rates for utilities and upmarket housing for big investors.

5. 6-year-old girl a rape victim, Ranchi school asks parents to 'pull her out'

The parents of a six-year-old girl in Ranchi have alleged that a private school asked them to pull her out of the institution because she is a rape victim.

The girl's stepmother told The Indian Express that the six-year-old and her stepsister were admitted to RNG Public School last Wednesday.

"On Saturday, when I went to fetch the children from school, I was asked by the principal to return her fee receipt. On Monday, the principal told me I should not bring my daughter because she is a rape victim. This led to an hour-long argument," said the stepmother.

6. Corporate tax exemption cuts may start with SEZs

A phasing out of accelerated depreciation and incentives for special economic zones could be among the first of the series of corporate tax exemptions that could be put on the block by the government in the Budget for 2016-17.

According to The Indian Express, this will set the ball rolling on the Centre’s plan to initiate a calibrated reduction in corporate tax rate over the next four years alongside a gradual phasing out of corporate tax exemptions.

Exemptions for some types of plant and machinery, research and development, cinematograph films, which account for the highest rates of depreciation of 100 per cent, are likely to face possible cuts in the Budget.

7. Greater scrutiny of RAW & IB will risk own existence: SC

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to admit a plea for greater scrutiny of the actions and funds of the country's key intelligence agencies including Intelligence Bureau, Research and Analysis Wing, and National Technical Research Organisation, saying any such move will endanger "national security" and "our very own existence".

The Economic Times reported that a bench comprising justices Dipak Misra and Shivakirti Singh said, "A judicial order to audit these agencies will create a dent in their functioning and security. This would lead to a dangerous situation.Sorry, we will not interfere. We must give them room to work and there is no need for judicial interference."

The plea was filed by NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation in 2013 and its case was being argued by lawyer Prashant Bhushan.

8. Some forced to take bath in office

Mohit Kumar, a resident of Uttam Nagar, leaves for office a littler earlier than usual these days. No, he isn't in the middle of an important project, he just needs the extra time to take care of personal hygiene.

"There has been no water in Uttam Nagar for the past three days, and I have been taking a bath in the office," he told the Times of India. Kumar and thousands others have been left coping innovatively by the water scarcity caused by the blockade of water channels from Haryana by the protesting Jats.

Several areas in west and central Delhi are among the worst affected areas, helped little by the Delhi Jal Board's inability to provide adequate water through tankers.

9. Flats in Noida to get costlier

Homebuyers in Noida are staring at a 2% hike in registration charges, a double whammy for many of them as thousands of flats are anyway being delivered late.

The Uttar Pradesh stamps and registration department told the Times of India it will hike registration charges from the current 5% to 7% to bring the rate in Noida on a par with the rest of the state.

If this proposal is implemented, it won't go down wel with homebuyers who were forced to wait out a legal battle on the demarcation of an eco sensitive zone around the Okh la Bird Sanctuary (OBS), in whose vicinity they bough flats but couldn't register them Besides, thousands of flats tha couldn't be completed because of the stay during the lega battle that took over two years to resolve are being delivered now. The 2% hike could affect all these registrations.

10. World's 1st quick-action rabies drug set for launch this year

The 'rabies human monoclonal antibody' (RMAb) has been developed by Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) and US-based MassBiologics of the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

It has been found safe and effective during various phases of human clinical trials spanning nine years in India and abroad. "Our new drug -Rabishield -is a first-of-itskind rabies human monoclonal antibody in the world and it has been grown in a laboratory set-up," Adar Poonawalla, the chief executive officer of SII, told The Times of India.

"It automatically precludes chances of transmitting blood-borne infections that are present in rabies immunoglobulin, the current line of treatment for severe dog bite cases," he said.