The Congress on Friday attacked the Modi government over the recurring deaths of civilians and military personnel due to repeated ceasefire violations by Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir and asked the government to “wake up”.

“Ceasefire violations have gone up by 500 per cent in 44 months. Over 303 military personnel and 193 civilians have died in Jammu and Kashmir. Today again two civilians died and four (were) injured… Saheb (Prime Minister Narendra Modi), when will our government wake up?” Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala asked in a tweet.

44 महीनों में Ceasefire Violation में 500 % की बढ़ोतरी !

जम्मू और कश्मीर में 303 जवान शहीद, 193 नागरिक मरे,
आज फिर 2 नागरिकों की मौत, 4 घायल।

पाकिस्तान की नापाक हरकतें पड़ रहीं हैं भारी,
षड्यंत्रकारी बरसा रहे रोज़ गोलियाँ ढ़ेर सारी,
‘साहेब’, कब जागेगी सरकार हमारी? pic.x.com/Bw4RJyMTqd

— Randeep S Surjewala (@rssurjewala) January 19, 2018

Surjewala’s remarks came after two civilians were killed in heavy shelling and firing by the Pakistan Rangers in Jammu and Kashmir’s R.S. Pura sector early on Friday.

Whatever Sachin Tendulkar does, people make it an event on social networking sites. The cricket legend, who is also known as the ‘God of cricket’ because of his exceptional batting skills, was seen in action on his official Instagram page.

Sachin shared a video on photo-sharing application in which he could be seen in perfect vacation wear — T-shirt and shorts. In the video shared by Tendulkar, he was seen snaring a lemon off a tree in a farmhouse.

The lemon was not about to give up without putting a fight and Tendulkar brought it down by to twisting it around the fruit and yanking it hard. Tendulkar shared the video with a cheeky caption that read, “It’s a six ….. errr it’s a limboo.”

It’s a six ….. errr it’s a limboo 😃

A post shared by Sachin Tendulkar (@sachintendulkar) on Jan 18, 2018 at 12:28am PST

The camera person while shooting the video was doing commentary on how Tendulkar was tackling a mango but once the fruit landed on the ground. Sachin said, “Arre mango tree nahi, limboo hai”. It’s a limbo, my friend,” Sachin added.

A number of people following Sachin Tendulkar on Instagram wrote: “Sir where is your helmet?’

“Sir please wear helmet agar limbu sir par lag jata to? Aur peche wale ko bhi boliye helmat pehne,” commented a fan on his post.

Meanwhile,  Sachin Tendulkar on Thursday wrote a special Tweet for Indian skipper Virat Kohli after he swept International Cricket Council Awards for 2017.

 “No surprises there at all. You deserved it. Many congratulations, @imVkohli!,” wrote Sachin Tendulkar from his official Twitter handle.

No surprises there at all. You deserved it. Many congratulations, @imVkohli! #ICCAwards @ICC

— sachin tendulkar (@sachin_rt) January 18, 2018

The Alexis Sanchez saga is, after much deliberation and consternation, set to finally come to an end by the weekend, according to both Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho.

Two of the bitterest rivals, in agreement for once. There is a certain irony to that but Arsenal fans are up in arms over the immense sale of their star player to an arch-rival.

Arsene Wenger had famously (or is it infamously now?) stated in the aftermath of Robin van Persie’s acrimonious move to the Red Devils in 2012 that Arsenal will never sell to Manchester United again but here we are in 2018 and it’s an eerily similar situation once more.

Must read: Fantasy Premier League Pundit Picks: Gameweek 24

A proven match-winner, unhappy with the club’s lack of ambitions and inability to compete for silverware, with a few world-class seasons left in him, wants to move and Old Trafford seems the likely destination.

In an ideal world, Sanchez would have signed a contract extension and stayed put at the Emirates, where he would have ended his career a club legend but the time to view professional football through rose-tinted glasses is long gone.

Don’t miss: 5 players Arsenal could lose in January

So while it’s not the best situation for Arsenal, here’s why the Gunners faithful should be happy at the departure of the wantaway Chilean, even if he goes into the arms of the much-reviled Jose Mourinho.

Gunners get rid of a divisive player akin to deadweight

Often, Alexis Sanchez would be carrying Arsenal on his back throughout seasons, forget matches.

This campaign, however, has seen a reversal of sorts.

His petulance was apparent towards the latter stages of the 2016-17 season, when reports of him stalling on signing a contract extension came to light.

Coincidence?

Unfortunately not, for despite attempting to break their wage structure in order to keep the South American in North London, Arsenal have kept a player who’s clearly unhappy for another half-season and his performances have been dire, at least by his lofty standards.

Sanchez didn’t sign an extension (surprise, surprise!), Wenger had his way and kept the Chilean out of Manchester City’s clutches beyond the summer transfer window deadline but things have been far from rosy since then.

Rumours of a dressing-room rift have been out for too long to be completely untrue, his team-mates have even refused to celebrate goals with him at times. And that’s when he has scored, for his stats aren’t exactly pretty(eight goals in all competitions).

Like a spoilt kid playing truant often, Sanchez’s defiance has obviously not set an ideal example as the likes of Jack Wilshere and Mesut Ozil are also running down their contracts.

So with everything that’s been mentioned, is it truly worth keeping Sanchez for another few months and then letting him go for free in the summer or just getting ‘something’ in exchange for now at least?

Gunners get a hurting Henrikh Mkhitaryan in exchange

Henrikh Mkhitaryan is a quality player but as fate would have it, the soft-spoken Armenian has fallen out of favour with Jose Mourinho.

And we all know what happens when a player doesn’t see eye-to-eye with the Special One.

So with United desperate to offload the former Borussia Dortmund man in order to secure a move for Sanchez, one can’t imagine what must be going on in Mkhitaryan’s mind.

His reputation is effectively in tatters after an underwhelming season-and-a-half at Old Trafford with many doubting his ability to compete in the tough environs Premier League.

The jury’s still out on him of course, but nothing’s more dangerous than a wounded animal and Mkhitaryan falls in that category, which bodes well for the Gunners.

There’s plenty of time left in the 2017-18 season for him to fire a riposte back at his doubters and there’s no denying that Arsenal’s aesthetically-pleasing style will suit him more than the effective but dour one Jose Mourinho employs at Manchester United.

With Alexandre Lacazette in front of him, Mesut Ozil and perhaps Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang alongside, the ‘Armenian Magician’ could thrive in North London and revitalise a club that have long been anything but elite.

Arsenal can finally move on from Alexis Sanchez

The spectre of Sanchez’s transfer has been hanging over the club for over a year now.

Will he go? Will he stay?

Questions like the above have been thrown at Arsene Wenger for almost every press-conference since January 2017.

That’s one whole year of being asked quizzed on the same issue.

The strain on the French tactician must be immense, as on the club board and of course the fans’ nerves must have been frayed to an unforeseen extent.

However, with the aforementioned acquisition of Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (discussions are underway according to a multitude of reports to bring the Gabonese to the Emirates), Arsenal could transform into a powerhouse again.

Of course, issues at the back and in midfield remain, but Arsenal can’t overhaul their entire squad in one go and acquiring two quality players who are eager to prove themselves, for differing seasons, in place of a player who is quite obviously jaded is a good deal all round.

Usually, a move for Aubameyang would have been met with snorts of derision all round, as Arsenal aren’t exactly known for their tendencies to splurge but after a series of clashes with the club management, the African striker is apparently available at a bargain price.

Of course, there’s plenty a slip between the lip and the cup.

Arsenal could, against all odds, hang on to Sanchez and their moves for Mkhitaryan and Aubameyang would collapse and we would say this is mere speculation, so now’s the time to hope for the best and keep pressing that refresh button on your browser!

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended the Shalom Bollywood event in Mumbai where he greeted the friendship between the two countries.

Not only this, he proposed an ‘Oscar selfie’ by saying, “I want everyone in Indian and Israel to know about the phenomenal friendship between our countries. So I have an idea. One of the most viral pictures took place at the Oscars where several celebrities took a selfie together”.

He added, “So I want all the Bollywood actors, directors, producers present here to join me right now for a selfie so millions of people can see the great friendship between the two countries”.

Netanyahu posed with Bollywood superstars as a symbol of the “great friendship” between India and Israel, and recreated the viral ‘Oscar selfie’, which featured some Hollywood stars in one picture, on Thursday night in Mumbai.

He tweeted-

Will my Bollywood selfie beat @TheEllenShow Hollywood selfie at the Oscars? @SrBachchan @juniorbachchan @rajcheerfull @imbhandarkar @vivek_oberoi @ pic.x.com/v1r0GIhKLy

— Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) January 18, 2018

At the event, top stars from the industry, including Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan, and filmmaker Karan Johar.

You could also see other celebrities like Randhir Kapoor, Vivek Oberoi, Sara Ali Khan, filmmaker Imtiaz Ali, Madhur Bhandarkar, Nikkhil Advani, Abhishek Kapoor, Subhash Ghai, lyricist Prasoon Joshi posing for the selfie.

At the event, Aishwarya with producer Ronnie Screwvala welcomed the Prime Minister and the first lady, Sara Netanyahu.

Speaking at the event, Amitabh Bachchan said, “We as a community watch films in a darkened hall, we never ask the caste or creed, or color or religion of the person sitting next to us. We enjoy the same film, laugh at the same joke, cry at the same emotion. In a world where we see humanity disintegrating in front of us, cinema is perhaps (among) the few yet prominent entities that bring people together.”

PM Netanyahu said, “Bachchan has 30 million more followers than me on Twitter”, while he stressed on how if India and Israel come together, “magic will happen.”

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis was also present at the event.

Tecno Mobile, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Transsion Holdings, on Thursday launched its budget selfie-centric smartphone ‘Tecno Camon i’ in India. The device marks Tecno’s new Camon series’ first global launch.

The ‘Tecno Camon i’ smartphone features a 5.65-inch HD+ device with 18:9 “Full View” IPS 2.5D display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3. It sports 13MP front-facing camera with dual flash and 13MP rear camera with Quad-LED flash.

Tecno says that Camon i selfie camera offers a wide angle 80-degree view capture ability with screen flash and LED flash. The primary 13MP rear camera with Quad-flash is optimised with ‘Night Shot Algorithm’ to make images brighter in low-light conditions.

The ‘Tecno Camon i’ is powered by the MediaTek 6737H quad-core 1.3GHZ processor coupled with 3GB RAM and 32GB of internal storage, which is expandable up to another 128GB via microSD card.

‘Tecno Camon i’ full specifications

• 4G VoLTE dual-SIM, Android 7.0 Nougat with HiOS, Fingerprint sensor
• 5.65-inch HD+ (720 x 1440 pixels) FullView 2.5D curved glass display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3
• 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6737 64-bit processor
• 3GB RAM, 32GB internal storage, expandable up to 128GB
• 13MP rear camera with 5P lens, quad-LED Flash
• 13MP front-facing camera with LED flash
• 3050mAh battery

Commenting on the launch, Gaurav Tikoo, Senior Vice President Marketing, TRANSSION India said, “The “Magic in any light” positioning for our Camon i series resonates with this consumer requirement. The Full View display powered by Quad core processor again aligns itself to consumers’ love for large screens and a good processor for high-quality mobile browsing experience. We are a product focused company with an aim of being among top five smartphone brands in India by end of 2018.”

The ‘Tecno Camon i’ is priced at Rs. 8,999. It comes in Champagne Gold, Midnight Black and City Blue colour options. It will be available from the first week of February across 30,000 retail outlets.

The body of a Haryanvi folk singer Mamata who went missing on Monday was found in Rohtak district with her throat slit, police said on Friday.

DSP (Rohtak) Rohtash Singh said a complaint was registered by the 40-year-old singer’s family on January 16, alleging that she went missing the previous day.

He said the family told them that Mamta had left home with her associate to attend an event in Gohana.

“The associate, Mohit, said when they were on their way, they came across a car at Lahli village. Mamta joined its occupants, saying she was going with her friend to Kalanaur and will join them in Gohana soon. However, according to her family, she went missing thereafter,” he said.

Mamta’s body was found with her throat slit in in some bushes Baniyani village on Thursday, the DSP said.

“Her body bore injury marks which seemed to have been inflicted by a sharp edged weapon. The body was sent to the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS), Rohtak, for postmortem,” he said.

The DSP said she was wearing some jewellery but it was found intact when the body was found.

A case of murder was registered against unknown people.

“We are questioning various people. We are also going through her call records and are hopeful of getting an early breakthrough in the case,” he said.

Indian Railways is firming up a proposal to develop a railway heritage theme park, a first-of-its-kind in the country, at Rewari, in cooperation with the Union Tourism Ministry and the Haryana government.

The rail theme park, to be developed on the pattern of UK’s Devon Railway Centre, would comprise of narrow gauge toy train, model train stations, railway exhibits and a convention centre to host corporate events.

Similar theme parks exist in other countries, like the Edaville Park in the US and Ferrymead Heritage Park in New Zealand.

The rail theme park will be part of the development of the Madhogarh-Mahendragarh-Narnaul-Rewari heritage route being developed by the Tourism Ministry under the Swadesh Darshan scheme.

“Since the Railways has a heritage steam loco centre at Rewari, the development of a rail theme park on the adjoining land can convert the place into a tourist hotspot,” a senior Railway Ministry official told IANS.

Rewari, being easily accessible from the capital and Gurgaon, can become a major crowd-puller — in the process developing its local economy and promoting tourism, he added.

The Railways has earmarked 8.8 hectares of land adjoining Rewari steam loco centre for the rail theme park.

The Rewari steam loco centre has been recently renovated with many tourist facilities being provided for the purpose.

There is a steam loco simulator where tourist can enjoy the feel of driving a Darjeeling Himalayan Railway steam locomotive, a 3-D virtual reality coach simulator depicting evolution of passenger coaches over time, a toy train, and a garden-scale model train system to educate visitors about various aspects of a train’s operation.

In addition, the Rewari steam centre has an indoor exhibition gallery, a 35-seater projection room to display videos and conduct visitors’ orientation, a century-old dining car and a cafeteria with a souvenir shop.

Besides, it is also on the itinerary of the steam-hauled tourist special train which runs between Delhi Cantonment and Rewari every second Saturday during October-April.

Currently the footfall at the Rewari centre ranges between 250 and 450 a day, primarily comprising domestic and foreign tourists, students and local visitors.

Once the rail heritage theme park under Swadesh Darshan comes up, the place will become a tourist hub, said the official.

The Swadesh Darshan scheme has finalised five circuits — heritage, Ramayana, Buddhist, eco and spiritual — to promote tourism across the country.

The development of the Madhogarh-Mahendragarh-Narnaul-Rewari heritage circuit will be executed by the Tourism Ministry at an estimated cost of Rs 147 crore, including the Haryana government’s share of Rs 48 crore.

“We have written to the Haryana government for including the rail heritage theme park in the heritage circuit under the Swadesh Darshan scheme,” the official said.

Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said the online availability of data has opened corporate activities to public gaze and raised the possibility of detecting any impropriety.

He said the ease at which the data is available now and is open for dissection has put pressure on everyone to ensure that there are compliance and transparency.

“It’s now all open to public gaze. And being open to public gaze has its own advantages. It has the advantage that there is a pressure on everyone to make sure that compliances do take place, everyone is on his feet and realised that if there is any impropriety the possibility of it being detected is going to be very high,” said Jaitley, who also holds the charge of the Corporate Affairs Ministry (MCA).

The minister was speaking at the launch of National CSR Data Portal and Corporate Data Portal of the MCA.

He said because of online availability of data, it has become easier to dissect any impropriety, including that of funds being channelled through shell companies.

“Therefore this transparency is good for the system, good for corporate India, it’s good that your details to the extent that is to be made public, are being made public,” Jaitley said.

With regard to corporates undertaking CSR activities, Jaitley said the 2013 amendment in the Companies Act has almost “formalised corporate philanthropy” in India.

Under the Companies Act, 2013, certain class of profitable entities are required to shell out at least two per cent of their three-year annual average net profit towards Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities.

Jaitley said philanthropy in India, unlike in the West, was more family and community centric, religious groups and caste groups, social groups did it.

“But corporate India didn’t have a structured manner of doing it. Some did it on their own initiatives. Now even though the provisions have been incorporated persuade corporate India to move in that direction, so far I think there has been a fairly credible and positive response to it,” he said.

Jaitley said a public gaze into the CSR activists through the MCA portal would further institutionalise and consolidate it.

As per the Companies Act, in case a company fails to spend the specified amount, then its board has to provide the specific reasons for the same in the board report.

A total of 5,870 companies shelled out Rs 9,553.72 crore towards CSR activities in 2014-15. In 2015-16, as many as 7,983 companies incurred CSR expenditure of Rs 13,625.24 crore, as per official data.

Neeraj Pandey’s upcoming espionage thriller ‘Aiyaary’ is shot on real locations across Delhi, Sri Nagar, and London.

The film which is set against the army background is shot at real locations to meet the peculiar needs of director Neeraj Pandey. The filmmaker who is known to give importance to intricate details opted for real locations to shoot the espionage thriller.

The earlier films of the director too showcased Neeraj Pandey’s realistic approach to filmmaking, as M.S. Dhoni being a biopic too was shot at Dhoni’s house and school. For Aiyaary too, director Neeraj Pandey took to realistic filmmaking.

While the locations in Kashmir showcased the cast and crew at the army front, Delhi indulged into more of the political side. As the trailer suggests Sidharth Malhotra aka Major Jai Bakshi going rogue, the scandalous parts are shot in London.

The poster of the film too emphasized on the locations of the film along with the characters. The poster vividly showcases the London Bridge, India Gate, and mountains of Kashmir.

‘Aiyaary’ revolves around two strong-minded army officers having completely different views, yet right in their own ways, the film portrays Sidharth Malhotra as an army officer sharing a mentor-protege bond with Manoj Bajpayee.

Starring Manoj Bajpayee and Sidharth Malhotra as the mentor and protege, ‘Aiyaary’ also stars Anupam Kher, Naseeruddin Shah, Rakul Preet Singh, Kumud Mishra, Pooja Chopra, Adil Hussain and Vikram Gokhale in pivotal roles.

Neeraj Pandey’s espionage thriller will yet again present a mind-bending story by the pioneer of the genre. ‘Aiyaary’ will showcase the ace filmmaker’s hold over the genre after films like ‘Special 26’, ‘Baby’, ‘Rustom’, ‘M.S.Dhoni’, ‘A Wednesday’.

The trailer of ‘Aiyaary’ has got everyone hooked and is adding to the excitement of the film.

Plan C and Jayantilal Gada (Pen) presents ‘Aiyaary’ A Neeraj Pandey Film. Produced by Shital Bhatia, Dhaval Jayantilal Gada, Motion Picture Capital is slated to release on 9th February, 2018.

Rani Mukerji is done with the shooting of her upcoming film ‘ Hichki’ and now she has begun with the promotions. The actress was on Salman Khan’s show Bigg Boss 11 to promote her film. And now she is set to appear on Sourav Ganguly’s reality TV show.

According to a report in DNA, Rani would be traveling to Kolkata to shoot for the episode. “Rani and Sourav’s episode will be the most special one that we have ever shot. They make for a winning combination on TV. Sourav, or Dada as he is fondly called, will be speaking to Rani about her forthcoming film. The Mardaani actress has started a campaign that sees her quiz icons about their real-life hichkis (weaknesses). She will quiz Sourav on the same. It will be quite interesting to know about dada’s hichki,” revealed a source from the channel.

Rani’s film Hichki is inspired by a Hollywood film Front of the Class. However, this film was originally adapted from a book ‘Front of the Class’.

Taxi operators on Friday kept their vehicles off the roads of Goa despite the state government yesterday invoking the Essential Services Management Act (ESMA)prohibiting the strike.

The strike, which has seen the state’s 18,000-odd taxis off the roads, left hundreds of passengers and tourists stranded at railway stations, the airport and hotels, officials said.

A fleet of 350 yellow and black pre-paid taxis which operate exclusively from the airport were seen ferrying passengers in the morning but later joined the strike.

Hundreds of taxi operators gathered at the historic Azad Maidan in Panaji to express solidarity.

“We will not tolerate the harassment which is being meted out to us by the state government. We are against the installation of speed governors in our vehicles. When other states have not installed it as yet, why should we be forced to do so?” asked North Goa Tourist Taxi Owners Association President Laxman Korgaonkar.

The state government, meanwhile, pressed into service private vehicles and buses to tide over the strike.

The state run Kadamaba Transport Corporation Limited deployed 25 buses to ferry airport passengers and seven buses to link railway stations, its managing director Deryk Netto said.

Airport Director BCH Negi said that the strike had not affected airport operations as adequate arrangements were made by state authorities.

In a design overhaul, Apple has updated its cumbersome App Store web interface similar to the user-friendly iOS 11 App Store.

“The new redesign takes cues from the all-new App Store in iOS 11, which offers larger images, a focus on curation and reviews, and more. On the new webpage, you’ll see a larger app heading, preceded by ‘this app is only available on the App Store for iOS devices’,” 9to5Mac reported late on Thursday.

As part of the design overhaul, Apple is showcasing app screenshots from its latest iPhone X.

“Previously, the web interface used the old square interface of screenshots from older iPhone devices. In the case of screenshots from apps that are not optimised for iPhone X, Apple still shows the older images,” the report added.

The Cupertino-based giant redesigned and launched the iOS 11 App Store in September last year. The design change to the web interface follows the company’s decision to remove the App Store from the iTunes desktop application.

Apple rolled out a similar redesign for Apple Music on the web last year. The new look is much more streamlined and makes it clearer how apps can be downloaded on an iOS device.

Akshay Kumar starrer PadMan’s producer and wife of the actor, Twinkle Khanna, spoke at the Oxford Union on Thursday.

The author and producer talked why she felt the need to describe the story of PadMan and emphasized the significance of menstrual hygiene to deal with the taboo around periods in India.

Twinkle, earlier, had written the story of entrepreneur Arunachalam Murugunatham, the man who invented the machine to produce cheap sanitary pads, in her book titled ‘The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad’, which has been showcased in the movie.

She believes that the movie will become a revolutionary movement for women in India, while she presented her argument at the Oxford Union and said, “I hope this movie (PadMan) becomes a movement where women are no longer held back or shamed by their biological functions.”

.@mrsfunnybones: I hope this movie becomes a movement: where women are no longer held back or shamed by their biological functions #PadMan #periodpoverty 💪🏻💪🏼💪🏽💪🏾💪🏿 pic.x.com/88DjTsjQDO

— Oxford Union (@OxfordUnion) January 18, 2018

She addressed the students of the Oxford University and presented her view on failure, as she said, “I would say failure has been my role model. Every time there was an obstacle in my life, I examined it, and invariably it taught me something about myself or the world around me that I didn’t know. To not be afraid to keep leaping is what I’ve always believed in.”

.@mrsfunnybones: I would say Failure has been my role model. Every time there was an obstacle in my life, I examined it, and invariably it taught me something about myself or the world around me that I didn’t know. To not be afraid to keep leaping is what I’ve always believed in. pic.x.com/vWwUKLnImc

— Oxford Union (@OxfordUnion) January 18, 2018

Twinkle also said, “My primary motivation to make a movie on menstruation was to bring awareness to a subject that so far has been tucked away in shadows and like Voldemort is never mentioned.”

She also discussed with Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai that why is it important to end the taboo around menstruation.

Talking about the real-life PadMan, Twinkle said, “He is a man who most people would have perhaps dismissed because he was not fluent in English- but he went on from being a school dropout to an award-winning innovator.”

PadMan which is clashing with Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat on January 25, is still a rage among the movie buffs.

Well, it is a great start for the movie even before its release that it became the first ever Indian movie to be discussed at The Oxford Union.

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea filed by a US researcher challenging the Delhi High Court verdict acquitting Peepli Live’ co-director Mahmood Farooqui in an alleged rape case.

The apex court rejected the plea filed by the 30-year-old woman, saying it would not interfere with the high court’s verdict which is a “well-written judgement”.

“We are not satisfied. We will not interfere with the high court verdict. It is a well-written judgement,” the bench comprising Justices S A Bobde and L Nageswara Rao said.

Farooqui was earlier convicted and sentenced to seven years jail term by a trial court here in August 2016.

However, the high court had allowed Farooqui’s appeal last year and had acquitted him in the case.

The police had on June 19, 2015, lodged the FIR against Farooqui on the woman’s complaint after which he was arrested.

On July 29, 2015, the police had filed its charge sheet against Farooqui alleging he had raped the research scholar from Columbia University at his Sukhdev Vihar house in South Delhi on March 28, 2015.

Farooqui had denied all allegations.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu expressed “pain” on Friday over NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar’s observation that the state might not require handholding support to surmount the problems caused by the bifurcation.

The chief minister said the state would approach the Supreme Court, if required, to get its due, asserting that he was not seeking any “extra favour”.

“After reading newspaper reports today, it pained me a bit. Yesterday, he (Rajiv Kumar) made that comment and at the same time Telangana Chief Minister (K Chandrasekhar Rao) also remarked that there was no comparison with AP. This pained me,” Naidu said.

He was speaking at the second day session of the two-day conference of district Collectors here this morning.

NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman, during his day-long visit to AP yesterday, observed that the state neither required handholding nor special category status (SCS) given its economic growth story.

“With an average per capita income higher than the national average, special status demand is…well, you should think about it,” he also said.

Naidu pointed out, “Yes, even today the highest GSDP contribution in the country is ours, which means we are number one in (economic) growth. But the main problem is we are in the low base.”

He said he seeking the Centre’s handholding till a level-playing field was established.

“I am not asking any extra favour. Once you give me level-playing field, then we can fight, we can contribute for the nation building. I am taking this up with the Centre every time. If it does not happen…we will go to court on one or two issues,” the chief minister said.

“We will go to Supreme Court, the highest in the country. We will list out all the injustices done to AP (on account of bifurcation). We will take whatever the Centre gives. Then we will move forward,” Naidu asserted.

He said AP hasn’t yet recovered from the affects of bifurcation.

“Everybody is talking that injustice has been done to AP. To recover from this and come up equally with other states, there are two ways. One, we have to work hard. Two, the Centre should cooperate in creating a level-playing field through handholding,” he added.

Referring to the comments of his Telangana counterpart, the AP chief minister said there was only one answer to it.

“Before and after 1995…analyse Hyderabad’s growth…it becomes obvious,” he said.

In a bid to take the industrial manufacturing in India to a new level, printing and PC major HP Inc on Wednesday made its acclaimed Multi Jet Fusion 3D Printing solution commercially available in India.

The Multi Jet Fusion 3D Printing solution can be purchased through HP specialised partners – starting from Rs 2.5 crore – which includes pre- and post-processing unit, the 3D printer and initial consumables.

“Manufacturing in India today constitutes 18 percent of the GDP and the government is trying to push that towards 25 per cent. It is an opportune time for HP to bring its award-winning, revolutionary 3D technology to India to facilitate digital transformation of the manufacturing industry,” Sumeer Chandra, Managing Director, HP Inc India, told IANS.

“We are targeting mainstream manufacturing use cases in India. Initially, companies will use our 3D solutions for prototyping but eventually, it will help them make parts for real-time production,” Chandra added.

HP’s Multi Jet Fusion 3D Printing solution is a production-ready commercial 3D printing system that delivers superior-quality physical parts up to 10 times faster and at half the cost of current 3D printing systems.

To begin with, as a certified HP 3D printing reseller partners, Mumbai-based Imaginarium and Noida-based Adroitec will bring best-in-class expertise and knowledge of HP’s Multi Jet Fusion technology to customers deploying the solutions.

By scaling its business, HP continues to reinvent the $12 trillion global manufacturing market, including the $6 trillion Asia-Pacific and Japan manufacturing segment where India is a strategic hub for this significant shift.

According to Alexandre Lalumiere, Director, Asia Pacific & Japan (APJ) 3D Printing, HP Inc, 3D printing or Additive Manufacturing (AM) has huge potential to replace conventional manufacturing.

“3D printing is the building block that allows the digitization of production. Industry is yet to fully understand what this technology can achieve but beyond prototyping, industry is now looking at building spare parts, applications like tools, fixtures, moulds, etc. We are aiming to make 3D technology work for mass production environments and customization,” Lalumiere told IANS.

Currently, HP 3D printing solutions are available in Asia-Pacific, EMEA and the Americas, with more than 65 channel partners engaging with customers and more than 25 experience centres showing Multi Jet Fusion in action.

“We are jubilant to be the first company to bring the HP MJF machine to India. With its revolutionary Voxel technology, the HP MJF machine will be a game changer for the Indian manufacturing sector,” said Atit Kothari, Business Development-Leadership Team at Imaginarium.

“This partnership will allow Adroitec to offer rapid production of functional parts to its over 6,000 customers, improving their design capabilities and offering them faster time-to-market,” added Saroop Chand, Founding Director, Adroitec.

With more than 500,000 high-quality, 3D-produced parts in the last year alone, HP’s Jet Fusion solutions lead the industry in speed, economics, quality and reliability.

According to HP CEO Dion Weisler, after producing plastic-based products, the company now aims to sell 3D printers that produce metal objects.

In 2016, HP Inc unveiled the world’s first production-ready commercial 3D printing system to bring disruptive manufacturing solutions to markets.