Commercial vehicles major Ashok Leyland Ltd on Wednesday announced it has signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) with Phinergy of Israel to secure long-term arrangements for its electric vehicle plans.

In a statement here, Ashok Leyland said: “With the intention of providing varying Energy Management solutions to the customers, Ashok Leyland and Phinergy will work towards the adaptation of unique, competitive and sustainable solutions for high-energy applications in the commercial vehicles space.”

According to the statement, Phinergy has developed cutting-edge technology solutions for the use of Aluminium Air Batteries for electric vehicles and other applications.

With Ashok Leyland, Phinergy will be tailoring its unique technology to meet the demanding high-energy requirements of commercial vehicles in the Indian market, the statement said.

“Over the next few months, we will develop the first few prototypes and trial pilots on different platforms in order to better tune Phinergy’s offering for various CV (commercial vehicles) applications. Our approach to electric vehicle commercial vehicles will continue to be such that we move people and goods rather than batteries, with optimal use of battery capacities,” S.A. Sundaresan, Head of eMobility Tech, Ashok Leyland, was quoted as saying.

Actors go to extremes to prepare for their characters. Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar is known for trying out unconventional roles. He dedicates everything to the character and his upcoming film PadMan is a proof for that.

Recently, Akshay has been promoting his to be released film PadMan but what interest the fans most is his baldness. He could be seen with a bald look in the promotions and everybody has the same question, what is it for?

Earlier, India Today reported, “Akshay Kumar went bald to avoid a surgery for hair bonds, as his hair follicles were too weak to hold onto artificial hair bond,” On a TV show, The Drama Company, where Akshay arrived to promote his film he was again asked about his bald look. This time the actor’s answer has put all rumors at rest.

ALSO READ: PadMan: This is how Akshay Kumar got to know about menstruation

According to Mid-Day reports,” Akshay Kumar completely shaved off his head, as it was getting uncomfortable to don a huge turban for the Kesari and a tonsured head provides some respite from a sweaty head.”

On the work front, Akshay Kumar is shooting for Kesari, which is based on the 1897’s battle fought between British army of Sikh soldiers and Pashtun Orakzai tribesmen. The battle took place in Saragarhi. The film would be a period drama. It is co-produced by Karan Johar and Akshay Kumar, to be released in 2019.

The Jammu Kashmir government on Wednesday said 195 security personnel lost their lives in the last three years in terror incidents in the Kashmir Valley.

In a written reply to a question of BJP’s Ramesh Arora, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti told the Legislative Council that 195 security personnel were killed in “terrorist-related violence” in the last three years in the valley.

Of these, 78 were killed in 2017, 74 in 2016 and 43 in 2015, she said.

As top diplomats from 20 countries met in the Canadian city of Vancouver to discuss the North Korea crisis, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono pushed for continued pressure on Pyongyang, saying that the world should not be blinded by Pyongyang’s recent “charm offensive”.

The meeting on Korean peninsula security was held on Tuesday and co-hosted by the US and Canada. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland were present, the BBC reported.

China and Russia, two of Pyongyang’s biggest allies, were not invited. Both countries have been accused of not putting enough pressure on North Korea to stop it from developing its nuclear ambitions.

The two Koreas recently held formal bilateral talks for the first time in more than two years, using the opening offered by next month’s Winter Olympics in South Korea.

Japanese Foreign Minister Kono called the North’s newfound receptiveness to dialogue an attempt to gain time for weapons development, asserting that the country’s relentless pursuit of its nuclear and missile programmes must not be ignored.

He warned against being swayed by North Korea’s “charm offensive”.

“The international community should unite behind the goal of complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula”, Kono said.

North Korea has in the past two years rapidly advanced its nuclear and conventional weapons programmes, despite increasing international sanctions.

Its latest ballistic test, on November 28, sparked a new series of fresh sanctions from the UN, which targeted petrol shipments and travel.

The US echoed Kono remarks, with Tillerson calling for an increase in pressure on Pyongyang to the point where it “must come to the table for credible negotiations”.

South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha told the meeting she believed recent sanctions and pressure had a part to play in North Korea’s recent willingness for talks.

“Indeed the concerted efforts of the international community has begun to bear fruit,” she said.

In their final joint statement, the 20 nations said they would consider imposing tougher sanctions on Pyongyang going beyond those required by UN Security Council resolutions.

Beijing dismissed the meeting as “illegitimate”. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said: “The most important relevant parties of the Korean peninsula issue haven’t taken part in the meeting so I don’t think the meeting is legal or representative.”

Judwaa 2 actor Varun Dhawan was spotted on a movie date with his rumoured girlfriend Natasha Dalal on Tuesday.

The actor stepped out for a movie date and opted for a grey sweatshirt and denim while Natasha too complimented him by keeping it casual in a grey crop top and black jeans.

Victory Sign..!! #VarunDhawan with #NatashaDalal and Varun’s Victory Sign ..!! 🕵️‍♂️ Whatever.. they are looking beautiful together..!!✌🏻 pic.x.com/gJQHIZR0iK

— Altaaf Shaikh (@altaafshaikh) January 16, 2018

The couple was in smiles and photographed together. In one of the pictures, Varun was seen holding hands of Natasha.

Protective Hubby to be @Varun_dvn 👌👏👏👏 pic.x.com/4waJPCiDXh

— Ryana Roy (@DrivingMeNuts28) January 17, 2018

A lot has been said in the past that the two have parted ways. Natasha was also seen attending a family lunch with Dhawans and was also seen at Varun’s housewarming party, in the recent times.

In an Instagram post, Varun shared a picture of him with his friends in his new house and sitting next to him was Natasha. He captioned the picture, “Home is where your friends are #newbed”.

Home is where your friends are #newbed

A post shared by Varun Dhawan (@varundvn) on Dec 16, 2017 at 3:42am PST

The two are often seen spending quality time together around the city and even going on holidays and spotted at Mumbai airport.

On the work front, Varun upcoming projects are Sui Dhaaga, Shiddat. His last release was Judwaa 2 was a super hit.

A 13-year-old boy allegedly died after shooting himself with his father’s rifle at his house in Ashok Nagar here, police said on Wednesday.

The incident that took place yesterday saw Gaurav Shukla taking the extreme step when his mother and younger sister were busy doing household chores, they said.

According to Circle officer Suryapal Singh, after hearing gunshot sound, both, the mother and sister, rushed to the room and saw Gaurav lying dead in a pool of blood with his father’s licensed rifle next to him.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Akhilesh Kumar Meena said that the rifle was seized and empty shell were found from the crime scene.

“Prima facie it appeared that the teenager was insisting on not going to coaching classes and was scolded by mother,” SSP said.

A case has been registered and police is investigating the matter for further details, the SSP added.

In a rare sight, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu flew a kite at the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad after paying their obeisance to Mahatma Gandhi.

Modi along with Netanyahu and his wife Sarah reached the ashram where apostle of peace Mahatma Gandhi spent considerable time of his life at around 12 noon after holding a mega roadshow along the 8-km-long stretch that began at Ahmedabad airport.

Playing the guide, Modi showed the couple around the place as the trio took a tour of different wings of the Ashram, where Gandhi lived for about 12 years with his wife Kasturba, guiding the non-violent struggle for freedom from colonial rule.

Netanyahu and Sarah sat down and tried their hand at the ‘charkha’ (spinning wheel), emblematic of India’s quest for self- reliance during the freedom struggle.

The duo also visited ‘Hridaykunj’ at the Ashram and was presented a copy of Mahatma Gandhi’s autobiography, “My Experiments with Truth” by Modi.

After paying floral tributes to a statute of Gandhi at the end of their tour, Modi escorted the guests out in the open and in a few moments of leisure was seen flying a kite with the Israeli PM.

Along with a lesson in kite flying, Modi also explained the importance of the festival of Uttarayan to Netanyahu and his wife Sarah as both of them appeared to be having a ball, pulling the string and trying to manoeuvre the shimmering, grey coloured kite.

Earlier in the day, folk dancers in colourful attires, cultural tableaux and thousands of cheering locals lined the 8-km-long stretch of the grand roadshow from Ahmedabad airport to Sabarmati Ashram.

Modi, along with Netanyahu and his wife Sarah arrived at the Ahmedabad airport at around 11 am and were received by Modi as folk dancers welcomed the dignitaries.

The trio then climbed aboard a black Land Cruiser SUV and began the roadshow as thousands of locals cheered and waived at the dignitaries while holding flags of India and Israel and placards endorsing the strong bond between the two nations.

Contrary to earlier reports, the leaders travelled in the bullet proof SUV instead of an open jeep. In September 2017, Abe and Modi had travelled the same 8-km distance in an open jeep.

The Haryana Police on Wednesday said the body of a 19-year-old youth, who was named in the FIR as the alleged abductor in the savage rape and murder case of a 15-year-old Dalit girl from a village in Kurukshetra district, has been in a canal near Jyotisar.

The body was found late Tuesday night from the Bhakhra Canal.

Police said the body of the Class XII student was found in a decomposed condition and was identified by his parents from a tattoo on his arm.

Police had earlier launched a hunt to nab the accused who is alleged to have abducted the girl from Kurukshetra when she went to attend a tuition class.

The youth had been named as the alleged abductor in a complaint lodged by the girl’s family after the teenager had gone missing last week from her village in Kurukshetra after leaving home to attend a tuition class.

“On the complaint of the girl’s parents, we were treating the youth as a suspect for kidnapping. His body was found yesterday night from a canal near Jyotisar. Though there were no visible injury marks, the postmortem will reveal the exact cause of his death,” Kurukshetra SP, Abhishek Garg told PTI over phone.

The Class X student’s half-naked body was found on Saturday from near the bank of a canal in a village in Jind district after she had gone missing last Tuesday.

Asked about the allegations levelled by the girl’s family that local police did not immediately act upon the complaint lodged with them when the girl had gone missing, the Kurukshetra SP said the SHO concerned had been placed under suspension.

The girl was brutally assaulted, her private parts mutilated and some of the vital organs ruptured, police had said earlier.

The incident triggered nationwide outrage, with the opposition Congress slamming the Khattar government over its alleged failure to ensure safety and security of women.

Alleging complete breakdown of law and order machinery, the Congress had also asked the M L Khattar led BJP government to resign on moral grounds.

Police had earlier said they believe the number of accused in the crime could be more than one. However, with the body of the youth being found, the mystery of how the girl reached 100 km away from her home in Jind district where her body was found has further deepened.

“It is an ongoing investigation. We have also detained a few persons. Our teams are investigating the case from all angles,” he said.

The shocking incident came close on the heels of another incident last month, in which a six-year-old girl was brutally raped and killed in Haryana’s Uklana area in Hisar district.

Besides, an 11-year-old girl was also raped and killed in a separate incident in Panipat last week while a 23-year-old woman was allegedly kidnapped and then gang-raped in a moving car in Faridabad.

In the wake of recent incidents of rape and murders being reported from different parts of Haryana, DGP B S Sandhu yesterday held a meeting with senior officers of the police department and asked field units to accord priority to cases.

Katrina Kaif, who reunited on-screen with Salman Khan after five years for Tiger Zinda Hai — which has turned out to be the actors’ highest ever grosser — says the film gave the entire team memories to cherish.

Directed by Ali Abbas Zafar and produced by Yash Raj Films, Tiger Zinda Hai crossed the Rs 300 crore mark at the box office.

Talking about it, Katrina said in a statement: Tiger Zinda Hai has given all of us so many amazing memories to cherish. From it being Salman’s biggest hit, Ali’s biggest film, to it also becoming my highest ever grosser – we are extremely happy as a team that the film has done so well.”

In the movie, Katrina played super-spy Zoya, a role for which she trained in mixed martial arts and pulled off some daring stunts.

“The entire team had pushed themselves to make a quality film that entertains audiences and gives them a product that they have never seen before. I’m glad the film is getting incredible love from audiences that it totally deserves,” she added.

The Madhya Pradesh Congress demanded a case against Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan after a video of him allegedly slapping a member of his security detail went viral on social media.

In the video, Chouhan is allegedly seen shoving a security officer to a side as they try to navigate through a huge crowd of supporters. The incident happened in Sardarpur in Dhar district during poll campaigning on 14 January.

“We demand that Chouhan be booked for hitting his securityman under section 353 (assault to deter a public servant from performing his duty) of IPC,” Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Ajay Singh said.

The Congress said that power has blinded the CM. Singh said that Chouhan’s frustration due to his “failed” policies was evident in the incident.

While demanding registration of a case against Chouhan, KK Mishra, Congress spokesperson in MP, said there could not be two rules – one for the common man and another for the Chief Minister.

Congress spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi tweeted: “The Chief Minister has slapped a policeman. Why a case of obstructing a Public Servant is not being registered against the leader of a party which keeps harping on morality?”

But the BJP claimed that the video was being wrongly interpreted.

Senior BJP leader Dr Hitesh Bajpai said, “There was a huge crowd around Chouhan, and the securityman twice stepped on the chief minister’s injured foot. In an immediate human or knee-jerk reaction, Chouhan only removed him to protect himself and the action was never intended to hurt anyone with any ill-intention.”

The chief minister’s Public Relations Officer (PRO) did not offer any comments when contacted by PTI.

(With inputs from agencies.)

While pinching your nose and clamping your mouth shut to contain a forceful sneeze may be part of the workplace etiquette, it can rupture the throat, doctors have warned.

Ear, nose, and throat (ENT) specialists at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust warned that trying to withhold a forceful sneeze should be avoided as it could lead to “numerous complications”.

“Halting sneezing via blocking (the) nostrils and mouth is a dangerous maneuver, and should be avoided,” said researchers including Sudip Das, an ENT specialist at the hospital.

In the paper detailed in the journal BMJ Case Reports, they cited the case of a 34-year-old man, who ruptured the back of his throat during this maneuver, leaving him barely able to speak or swallow, and in considerable pain.

The young man explained to doctors that he had developed a popping sensation in his neck which immediately swelled up after he tried to contain a forceful sneeze by pinching his nose and keeping his mouth clamped shut at the same time.

A little later he found it extremely painful to swallow and also lost his voice.

When the doctors examined him they heard popping and crackling sounds (crepitus), which extended from his neck all the way down to his ribcage — a sure sign that air bubbles had found their way into the deep tissue and muscles of the chest, which was subsequently confirmed by a computed tomography scan.

“It may lead to numerous complications, such as pneumomediastinum (air trapped in the chest between both lungs), perforation of the tympanic membrane (perforated eardrum), and even rupture of a cerebral aneurysm (ballooning blood vessel in the brain),” the researchers explained.

Because of the risk of serious complications, the man was admitted to a hospital, where he was fed by tube and given intravenous antibiotics until the swelling and pain had subsided.

After seven days he was well enough to be discharged with the advice not to block both nostrils when sneezing in future.

The occasion of Sankranthi hasn’t been very kind to the films and Box Office released on the day of the festival. Though movies like Gang and Jai Simha is performing better in mass areas and has seen a growth in their box-office viewership, the overall mood at the box office seems rather gloomy.

Produced by Nagarjuna and directed by Sree Ranjani the movie Rangula Raatnam failed to impress the box office. Rangula Raatnam stars Raj Tarun and Chitra Shukla in lead roles in what can be described as a very slow paced family drama. The critics of the Rangula Raatnam pointed out the fact that there was hardly anything in the film that would appeal to the audiences. The story’s base was very familiar but told in a very lethargic way.

Rangula Raatnam has failed miserably both in the domestic markets and in USA. The gross collection reports in USA show only a $40,000 plus in its opening weekend.

Six tourists from Madhya Pradesh were killed and five others seriously injured when a van carrying them rammed into railings of a four-lane highway in Tuticor in district on Wednesday, police said.

All the six, including two women, died on the spot in the accident which occurred near Kayathaaru, about 140 km from here, when the tourists were on their way to Kanyakumari.

Quoting preliminary investigation, police said the driver dozed off and lost control when the van was speeding, resulting in the accident.

The tourists had arrived here by train and left for Kanyakumari by van late last evening.

Police, on being alerted about the accident by drivers of vehicles which passed by the spot, rushed and rescued five injured persons with the help of employees of a nearby toll plaza.

The injured had been admitted to the government hospital in Tirunelveli.

The deceased were identified as Rekha, Vindhya, Rameskumar, Kanayalal, Deekam and Lalchand.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday remembered former Chief Minister Jyoti Basu on his seventh death anniversary.

Basu, the longest-serving chief minister of West Bengal, had passed away on January 17, 2010. The communist leader had served as the chief minister from 1997 to 2000.

“Solemnly remembering former Chief Minister Jyoti Basu on his death anniversary,” Banerjee wrote on her Twitter handle on Wednesday morning.

Basu, who was born on July 8, 1914, had led the Marxists to power for five consecutive times in West Bengal.

The “Housing for All by 2022” mission has set the stage for a robust recovery in the residential property market. In the past two years, we have seen an unprecedented focus on reforms channelised through the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act 2016, demonetisation, Real Estate Regulatory Act (RERA) and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. So, this time, the Budget for FY2018-19 will be much more critical than ever. The provisions, if moved in positive directions, will have the power to continue the momentum and cement home buyers’ confidence.

While so many tough decisions have already been taken, it will be worthwhile to rationalise further the direct tax structures impacting home buyers. I believe that there is room for improvement in some of the prime income tax (IT) provisions meant to incentivise the home buyers.

Deduction on home loan interest: The IT Act has provisions under which a home buyer can claim a deduction on home loan interest paid towards an under-construction property, in five equal instalments for five financial years. But this deduction is included in the overall deduction amount of Rs 2 lakh that one can claim in a financial year.

Also, the condition of equal deduction during five years leaves limited room for home buyers to claim benefit of the current year’s interest paid. Buyers can claim the benefit only after receiving possession of the property and thus there is no benefit during the construction period. Given so many properties are delayed in possession, the interest component paid during construction can also become very high.

Sample this: A home buyer pays Rs 7.5 lakh over five years of construction period as interest towards home loan. In this case, he can claim Rs 1.5 lakh every year, but then this amount is included in the overall limit of Rs 2 lakh, thus making no significant impact on his taxable income.

To provide relief to home buyers as well as encourage investment in under-construction properties, the government should introduce a separate tax benefit for pre-EMI interest during the construction period.

Deduction on interest paid after completion for let-out properties: As budget 2017 has imposed a limit of Rs 2 Lakh on deduction of interest paid for non-self-occupied properties under Section 71 of Income Tax Act, investment in properties for rental have become less attractive. Rental housing is an important part of the housing industry as it provides a roof to people who cannot afford their own houses. To make rental housing more attractive, the government should increase the limit to Rs 3 lakh.

Section 80EE: Under Section 80EE of the IT Act, first-time home buyers are entitled to claim deductions of up to Rs 50,000 a year towards payment for home loan interest, in addition to the limit of Rs 2 lakh defined under Section 80C of the Act, although there are conditions attached to it. Firstly, the home loan should be taken in the period between April 1, 2016, and March 31, 2017. Secondly, the value of the property should be below Rs 50 lakh.

There is a need to review these two conditions. The threshold of property value as Rs 50 lakh deprives many home buyers in metro and Tier 1 cities to take benefit of this deduction. Even the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) defines properties under Rs 65 lakh as affordable properties in metros and Tier 1 cities. Therefore, this threshold should be raised to Rs 65 lakh.

Section 54 & 54F: Under these sections, a home buyer can claim an exemption for long-term capital gains if he/she invests the sale proceeds of one property to buy another within three years. However, the person can lose this benefit if the property is not completed within three years.

This condition penalises a home buyer for a reason which is out of his control. Residential projects take anywhere from 3-7 years and given the present scenario, the period of three years is not realistic. This period should be raised to five years.

The forthcoming Budget presents an opportunity to further build momentum to fulfil the core need of housing for millions and, given the kind of focus and push by the government, the Finance Ministry should leave no stone unturned in contributing towards the cause of “Housing for All by 2022”.

Reality star Kim Kardashian and her rapper husband Kanye West announced the birth of their third child, a baby girl on Tuesday who was born via surrogacy.

She is here! We’re so in love, Kardashian, wrote in a post on her website and then shared it with her Twitter followers.

She’s here. https://t.co/oVg6se6VeQ

— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) January 16, 2018

Kardashian and West married in May 2014 and already have two children, daughter North, 4 and son Saint, 2. The couple decided to use a surrogate after doctors warned of serious health risks if she becomes pregnant again.

#momofthree pic.x.com/EMDztAvEZH

— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) January 17, 2018

Two of the Kardashian’s sisters are also expecting babies. Khole Kardashian, 33, announced in December that she is six months pregnant with her boyfriend Tristan Thomas. While Kylie Jenner, 20, is expecting her first child soon.

Kim has spent a huge amount of a lavish nursery and baby goods. The TV star imported expensive toys and goods in the world from Italy, to decorate her new baby girl’s arrival nursery.

Kim has also stocked up with limited edition baby clothes.