1.New mining law to give Rs 10,000 crore to 60 tribal districts::  The bill for the new mining law and the repeal of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 is on the agenda for the Cabinet meeting scheduled for Friday. The bill proposes that coal companies set aside 25% of their post-tax profits into a fund. In addition, an amount equal to the royalty for iron ore, bauxite and limestone will also flow into the fund.

2. Vachati mass rape case: 215 forest personnel held guilty, nine for rape:: The CBI had investigated the case in which tribals accused forest and police personnel of raping and torturing them during the Veerappan operation by the forest and police personnel in June 1992.

3. Digvijay objects some hate mails on website etc::  Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh on Thursday approached the Delhi Police with a complaint against the hate mail, objectionable pictures and abusive comments posted against him on social networking sites. He named 22 people and eight websites.

4. Unique identification authority said the Aadhaar cards issued by it are a valid residence proof for opening a bank account. “Aadhaar is a valid ‘Know Your Customer’ (KYC) document for opening a bank account.”says Nilekhani.

5. China puts Unmanned space lab into orbit:: China on Thursday successfully launched its first unmanned “space laboratory” . The Tiangong-1 , which means “ Heavenly Palace” , blasted off from a site in the Gobi Desert around 6.46pm.

7. Supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad threw stones and tomatoes at US ambassador Robert Ford and other US diplomats who were visiting an opposition figure in Damascus.

8.  Groupon launched its online retail arm Groupon Goods for its American subscribers, moving beyond daily group discounts to compete with leaders like Amazon Inc.

9. Airtel and Nokia-Siemens Deal:: Telecom giant Bharti Airtel said it has signed an agreement with Nokia Siemens Networks to expand its second generation (2G) network and deploy third generation (3G) network in seven African countries.

10. Amitabh Bachchan felicitated Lata Mangeshkar by honouring her with the very first ‘Hridayanth‘ award on the occasion of her 82nd birthday last night in Mumbai.

11. Ban on Sardar Singh and Sandeep Singh is no-more (HI):: Some cheers have finally returned to Indian hockey fans and players alike as ace drag-flicker Sandeep Singh and star midfielder Sardara Singh were handed a lifeline today after Hockey India decided to lift the two-year ban imposed on them for indiscipline.

12. India may face a ban from participating in London Olympics Hockey:: The FIH has issued a veiled threat to block India’s participation in the 2012 London Olympics in case the government does not grant Hockey India the status of National Sports Federation and if all lawsuits, including the one filed by IHF against it, are not terminated.