The Morning Wrap is HuffPost India's selection of interesting news and opinion from the day's newspapers. Subscribe here to receive it in your inbox each weekday morning.
Essential HuffPost
India's telecom regulator ruled in favour of net neutrality saying it will not allow internet service providers to charge differently for different kinds of data. This means that Facebook's Free Basics app will not be allowed in the country.
India’s archers, wrestlers and weightlifters won a majority of gold medals to ensure a third successive day of supremacy at the 12th South Asian Games being held in Guwahati. India continued to top the medals' tally with a count of 72, which included 48 gold, 18 silver and six bronze medals.
The post-mortem report of the six-year old student found dead in a water tank on the Ryan International School campus suggested that there was no prima facie indication of any sexual assault, said the police.
Meet the Syrian YouTube star who's making Germany laugh. Firas Alshater, a drama student and filmmaker, is the star of a new YouTube video series that explores German society from a refugee's point of view.
US President Barack Obama attempted to allay fears about the mosquito-borne Zika virus, reminding people that the virus is not deadly. “The good news is, this is not like Ebola," he told CBS News. “People don't die of Zika, people get it and they don't know they have it.”
Main News
A jawan who was buried under 25 feet of snow was found alive in a critical condition six days after an avalanche hit an army post in the Siachen glacier. “Five bodies have been recovered so far and four bodies have been identified. All other soldiers are regrettably no more with us,” said Northern Army commander Lt Gen DS Hooda.
A Surat resident was arrested by the local police for dressing his pet dog in the Tricolour during a pet run organised on Republic Day. Wrapped in the Tricolour, Bharat Gohil's Labrador drew more attention than other fancily dressed pets.
A meteorite crashed into an engineering college in Vellore district causing an explosion that killed one man and injured three others, the Tamil Nadu government said. Scientists, however, said it wasn't clear how the government concluded that a meteorite strike caused the blast. There has been no established death due to a meteorite hit in recorded history, they said.
British accomplices of slain Islamic State terrorist executioner "Jihadi John" were unmasked as Londoners who formed part of a so-called "Beatles" terror gang. Mohammed Emwazi became known as "John" in reference to John Lennon, lead singer of the iconic British rock group, due to his English accent.
India and the United Arab Emirates are expected to sign a number of agreements on cyber security and law enforcement during the February 10-12 visit by Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The visit is also expected to lead to the signing of an MoU on nuclear cooperation between the two countries.
Off The Front Page
Since January 5, the Greater Chennai Corporation started using WhatsApp to discipline staff reporting late for work in its urban primary health centres, following complaints from patients. Officials across 15 zones are required to visit at least two hospitals every day between 8:00 -8:30 am, take a photograph of the staff present, and post it on a WhatsApp group along with attendance details.
A 52-year-old man from Kerala spooked his family out by insisting he was pregnant. The unemployed father of two children, who has a postgraduate degree, cited abnormal sensations in his abdomen and believed he had “conceived” after being in a homosexual relationship.
In a unique initiative, the prison authority in Ernakulam district jail, Kerala, launched a share meal scheme to serve free food to the poor and homeless. The programme, which takes a cue from similar initiatives in the Western countries, envisages receiving contribution from people in the form of free-meals coupon from the prison retail store here.
Cows in Haryana are set to walk the ramp. The state government is holding a contest on February 27 and 28 to select the best cow and bull specimens of indigenous breeds. During the contest, cows and bulls, decked up in all traditional paraphernalia, will strut before a crowd in Rohtak. A panel of judges will pick the best from the cattle brigade.
Meet the scientist whose aerial video of Kolkata has gone viral. Those who have watched it on Sandip De’s Facebook page and his website insist that Kolkata's monuments — Victoria Memorial, Shaheed Minar, Howrah Bridge and the Vidyasagar Setu — have never looked so beautiful before.
Opinion
David Headley’s deposition is also a reminder of the role of Pakistan’s deep state, the ISI’s meticulous planning and the intelligence agency’s linkages with terrorist groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba, writes Harinder Baweja in the Hindustan Times. “That the National Investigation Agency doesn’t know just how many terrorists attacked Pathankot or from where and how they crossed over to India is yet another Headley-like reminder of how exposed India continues to be, from land and sea.”
The intolerance debate must go on, but the intolerance tamasha must end, writes Sandip Roy in HuffPost India. “Whether the room for the dissenting view is shrinking in public discourse is a debate worth having. But let’s have a moratorium on asking every celebrity around, minor or major, for their sound bite on the intolerance debate. That risks turning the debate over intolerance into the intolerance tamasha.”
For the health, dignity and safety of women in slums, a comprehensive policy for the maintenance and construction of public toilets is needed, writes Shaina NC in The Indian Express. “Open defecation poses a serious threat to the health of children in India and is the main reason why India reports the highest diarrhoeal deaths among children under five."
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