For first time in the national capital, the Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology- Delhi will start a new M.Tech programme with specialisation in Artificial Intelligence from the academic year starting in July 2018.

“The programme will be research-oriented and focus on foundations and advances in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning,” Mayank Vatsa, head of Infosys Centre for Artificial Intelligence at IIIT-Delhi, told PTI.

Vatsa said it would be a first for Delhi.

The programme will prepare graduates to undertake industry careers involving innovation and problem solving using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) technologies.

The course will be spread over four semesters and the intake would be 20 students.

“After the course, the students will be able to recognise and analyse problems related to AI applications, apply pattern recognition, machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques to solve real-world problems,” Vatsa said.

IIIT-Delhi was created by the Delhi government through an Act – IIIT Delhi Act, 2007 – with the chancellor of the institute being the Lt. Governor of Delhi.

A youth was killed and two others injured when their car hit a tree here early Saturday, police said it was yet another case of drunken driving.

The accident occurred on Road Number 78 in the posh Jubliee Hills area.

There were four youth in the car that was being driven at a very high speed. The driver lost control of the vehicle. It jumped over the median and hit the tree on the other side of the road, a police officer said.

Vishwajeet, 33, who sustained critical injuries, later succumbed at a hospital.

Two others, Vivek Raj and Chenna Keshavulu, who sustained minor injuries were also shifted to hospital. Another youth Prithvi Raj, who escaped unhurt, was arrested. He was being questioned by the police.

According to the police, the youth consumed liquor in Manikonda and from there, came to Filmnagar, where they had snacks. The accident occurred when they were returning to Vivek’s home.

This was the latest in a series of drunken driving accidents in the city.

A female student of Hyderabad Central University was killed and her two friends were injured when their car overturned near Outer Ring Road on the city outskirts on January 9.

They were on a long drive after celebrating birthday of Jatin Powar, who was driving the vehicle allegedly in an inebriated condition.

A woman was killed and two others were injured when a speeding car hit their scooty in Jubliee Hills on January 6. The man driving the car was drunk.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today conducted searches at multiple premises linked to Karti Chidambaram, the son of Congress leader P Chidambaram, in connection with its money laundering probe in the Aircel- Maxis case.

Official sources said the raids are being conducted in Delhi and Chennai since early morning.

The central probe agency, on December 1 last year, had conducted similar searches on the premises of a relative of Karti and others in this case.

The ED case pertains to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval granted in 2006 by the then finance minister P Chidambaram.

The agency had said it is investigating the circumstances of the said FIPB approval granted by the then finance minister (P Chidambaram)”.

The ED also alleged that Karti has “disposed” of a property in Gurgaon, which he had allegedly rented out to a multinational company “to whom foreign direct investment (FDI) approval had been granted in 2013”.

It charged that Karti had “also closed certain bank accounts and attempted to close other bank accounts in order to frustrate the process of attachment” under the PMLA.

The agency said FIPB approval in the Aircel-Maxis FDI case was granted in March, 2006 by the then FM even though he was competent to accord approval on project proposals only up to Rs 600 crore and beyond that it required the approval of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).

“In the instant case, the approval for FDI of 800 million USD (over Rs 3,500 crore) was sought. Hence, CCEA was competent to grant approval.

“However, approval was not obtained from CCEA,” it alleged.

A lawyer for US President Donald Trump arranged to fork over $130,000 in hush money to a former porn star a month before the 2016 election over an alleged affair, a new report has said. Popularly known as “Stormy Daniels” had a “hookup” with Trump the married future President in 2006, the New York Post said.

Michael Cohen, an attorney for the Trump Organisation, set up the payment to the woman – whose real name is Stephanie Clifford – in a negotiated nondisclosure agreement, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday. Clifford alleged that the “hookup” took place in July 2006 – a year after Trump married his third wife and present First lady Melania Trump.

Clifford said they met at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe. The White House minimised the salacious revelation – one of many alleged incidents of inappropriate behaviour with women the President has faced and denied, the NYP report said. “These are old, recycled reports, which were published and strongly denied prior to the election,” a White House official told the WSJ.

The official would not answer questions about the reported deal with Clifford – who performed in about 150 porn films, including “Dirty Deeds”, “Nymphos” and “Good Will Humping”, a XXX-rated spoof of the flick “Good Will Hunting”.

Game of Thrones actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, global brand ambassador of the male grooming brand L’oreal Paris Men Expert, says his idea of a perfect film actor is a mix-up of performances of Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, Robert Duvall and Gene Hackman from the 1970s.

Nikolaj, known for essaying Jaime Lannister in the popular TV series Game of Thrones, was asked about who is his greatest movie hero.

“One of my all-time favourite films is Once Upon A Time in America. The main character Noodles in neither hero nor anti-hero, he made a big impression on me. So take every DeNiro, Pacino, Duvall and Gene Hackman movie from the 70s, mix them up and you have the perfect film actor,” he said in an interview as shared by the L’Oreal Paris Men Expert brand team.

The Danish actor, 47, also spoke about the secret to improving with age.

“Don’t worry. Be who you are. Life is change. Embrace that. And don’t let a number define you. Keep winding people up, make everyone laugh. And for skin, there’s the vast range of products,” he quipped, adding that heis proud to endorse a brand that engages in initiatives that are committed to make things change.

In terms of change, he also commented on how climate change is impacting his favourite place in the world.

“Greenland, where my wife’s from, is one of the most magical places on earth. It’s been eye-opening seeing the impact climate change is having there,” he said.

Actor Akshay Oberoi feels he has had a “long and hard” journey in Bollywood, but is glad that he is creating his own path without any ‘star image’ attached to his work.

“It has been a long struggle and it has been a hard journey. I am glad that I am surviving till date. I think the reason for that is that finally people have realised to separate actors from the film they do,” Akshay said.

Akshay has worked in movies like Isi Life Mein, Piku, Laal Rang and Kaalakaandi, which released on Friday.

“When I was starting out, I was very keen to impress the media, the industry’s directors and producers and letting them know that I am a good actor and I can act… That was my priority. I was not thinking so much about whether the film will work or not. It was more about, ‘Is it a challenging part so that I can display my talent?”

“I think Kaalakaandi is the first character that I have played on-screen that is similar to me in terms of his upbringing, exposure and his journey.”

Akshay is glad that he has been “able to do these kinds of work away from limelight”.

“There are some trappings of being a star. Stars have images. I have just been working as an actor. I have been able to do all sort of all kind of things and that is the reason why the journey has been interesting for me.”

Akshay is in a happy zone as an actor.

“I am super happy with the way things have gone. I am a working actor and I think that to be one, is a very difficult thing. The hardest part of acting is to get a job.

“So I am super thrilled that I am here and doing interesting work. That is one thing I am super proud of and the subjects that have come across and caught my eye…I am raising my own path and not doing something that somebody has tried to do before.”

The actor says he is glad he got a chance to be a part of Kaalakaandi.

Directed by debutant Akshat Verma, who wrote “Delhi Belly”, Kaalakaandi is the story of six characters from different worlds — urban, ambitious Mumbai and its dark, neglected underbelly.

It stars Saif Ali Khan, Deepak Dobriyal, Vijay Raaz, Kunal Roy Kapoor, Sobhita Dhulipala, Isha Talwar, Shivam Patil, Amyra Dastur and Neil Bhoopalam.

“The experience of shooting the film was super fun… And working with Saif was an absolute dream experience. Acting is like tennis. If your opponent is good, then you will also be better.”

Choreographer-actor Salman Yusuff Khan says he is enjoying the entire process of choreographing the acts for Bigg Boss 11 finale.

Bigg Boss is a huge platform and I am enjoying the entire process of choreographing the act for Season 11 finale. I have worked really hard in the ideation part and, with the help of all the contestants in the house, we are surely going to entertain the audience,” Salman said in a statement.

“I have followed the entire season to incorporate the mannerism of each contestant and their characteristics and equation with each other. It’s a great feeling that people are looking forward to it,” he added.

Hosted by Bollywood superstar Salman Khan, the show Bigg Boss 11 is aired on Colors TV. The top four include Hina Khan, Vikas Gupta, Puneesh Sharma and Shilpa Shinde. The finale will air on Sunday.

Evicted contestants like Arshi Khan, Hiten Tejwani, Luv Tyagi and Priyank Sharma will be coming back to perform in the finale episode.

Rajeev Khandelwal made a switch to movies when he was at the peak of his television career and now when the actor is making debut on digital platform he is equally confident about his decision.

The actor, who became a star with Ekta Kapoor’s Kahiin To Hoga, is now making his web series debut with the producer’s ALTBalaji project Haq Se.

“When I was doing television, people said don’t do daily soaps, and then when I did films they were like don’t do ‘Aamir’ kind of films. With this web series people might again say something.

“My interpretation of myself is best and it has nothing to do with their (people) interpretation of me. I do my own thing,” Khandelwal said.

The actor said digital space has great scope for actors willing to experiment as audiences are now open to explore various mediums of entertainment.

“Digital is the future, maybe tomorrow more new medium will come in. There is an audience for all kinds of medium.”

Khandelwal was on two-year break

and the actor said that he was busy exploring other aspects of life.

“There are many other things in life which I want to give equal importance to. I do a lot of travelling, like road trips, cycling, etc. I don’t want to work round-the-clock. I want my career to be in a certain way and that is my way of looking at it,” he said.

Haq Se, an adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s classic drama Little Women, also features Surveen Chawla, Parul Gulati, Simone Singh, Aanchal Sharma and Nikeesha Rangwal.

Set in the backdrop of Kashmir, it tells the story of four sisters and how their geographical situation and rising fundamentalism in the region affect their dreams.

Khandelwal has not read the book but has heard good things about it. He said the team has re-worked on the story to give it a more of an Indian feel.

“I am playing a doctor and I have been told my character was not there in the book. The series essentially belongs to these four girls. My character has its own story, life is very complicated for him in his own head, he is fighting his own demons and battle.”

The series will be available on the ALTBalaji app.

Five wrestlers and a driver were killed in a major road accident in Sangli district of Maharahstra early on Saturday, police said.

The accident took place around 1 a.m. when an SUV carrying the grapplers rammed headlong into an oncoming tractor carrying sugarcane.

Five others, including wrestlers, were injured in the accident and they were admitted in hospitals.

The wrestlers belonged to the institute, Kranti Kushti Sankul. “It is very sad and shocking, for us,” said Sharad Lad, the institution’s secretary.

They were all returning after a wrestling contest in Satara. More details were awaited.

It was a misty Saturday morning here with the minimum temperature recorded at 5.5 degrees Celsius, two notches below the season’s average, the weather office said.

The Met Office has predicted a clear day ahead. “The morning was misty with shallow fog. The day will mainly be clear,” an India Meteorological Department (IMD) official said.

The maximum temperature is likely to hover around 23 degrees Celsius. Visibility stood at 700 metres and the humidity was recorded at 100 per cent at 8.30 a.m.

The Railways cancelled 13 trains while 41 trains were delayed and four rescheduled due to fog in several parts of northern India.

The maximum temperature on Friday settled at 23.7 degrees Celsius, four notches above the season’s average while the minimum temperature was recorded at 8 degrees Celsius, one notch above season’s average.

From his films to his relationships in Bollywood, Karan Johar opened up about a lot of things through his memoir “An Unsuitable Boy”. The filmmaker says talking about all the things “opened up” his soul “even more”.

The memoir, which Karan co-wrote with Poonam Saxena, created waves with its chapters describing his fallout with actress Kajol and for candid talks about his sexual orientation.

Karan will also share his life story through his show Calling Karan on Ishq 104.8 FM, read a statement.

“Sometimes, opening about the minor or major details takes you back in time. Every time she (Poonam) made me describe my old bedroom, house, people and the relationships, I went back and analysed and spoke about so much that I probably I had kind of blushed over,” Karan said.

“Things that I didn’t want to address and look back at but I knew I wanted to because that’s the whole idea of writing a memoir. I think I spoke about all those things and it kind of opened my soul up even more. Sometimes, talking helps, just conversing helps and that’s what I realised when I spoke to Poonam,” he added.

The organisation representing African countries has demanded that US President Donald Trump apologise after he reportedly called nations on the continent “shitholes”.

The group’s mission in Washington DC on friday expressed its “shock, dismay and outrage” and said the Trump administration misunderstood Africans, the BBC reported.

The US leader made the alleged remark in a Thursday meeting on immigration.

The African Union said the “remarks dishonour the celebrated American creed and respect for diversity and human dignity”.

It added: “While expressing our shock, dismay and outrage, the African Union strongly believes that there is a huge misunderstanding of the African continent and its people by the current Administration.

“There is a serious need for dialogue between the US Administration and the African countries.”

Trump reportedly lashed out at immigrants in a foul-mouthed Oval Office outburst, media reports said on Friday.

“Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” Trump told lawmakers on Thursday, according to the Washington Post.

The remark was reportedly in reference to people from Haiti, El Salvador and African countries, the BBC said. Trump told lawmakers the US should instead be taking in migrants from countries like Norway.

The White House did not deny the comment on Thursday. Trump, however, on Friday, denied using the language reported. Though a backlash to his remarks from all quarters was swift.

Two Republicans, who were at the White House meeting, however, backed Trump’s claim though Democratic Senator Dick Durbin said Trump called African countries “shitholes” several times and used “racist” language.

On Friday, Trump tweeted that the language he used at the private meeting with lawmakers to discuss immigration legislation had been “tough”, the BBC said.

But he added that the words attributed to him were “not the language used”.

The pan-African grouping represents 55 member states throughout the continent. It succeeded the Organisation of African Unity – which originated in the decolonisation struggles of the early 1960s – in 2002.

Zequinha scored a late winner as ATK defeated NorthEast United 1-0 in an Indian Super League (ISL) clash at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium here on Friday.

Zequinha came up with an excellent strike from outside the hosts’ penalty box after latching onto a rebound in the 73rd minute.

Zequinha was the star of the show. He had been threatening for a while before the ball graciously fell to him after a period of pressure from ATK.

The Portuguese hammered in a volley into the far corner, his connection too sweet to not find the back of the net.

The win saw ATK climb two rungs to the sixth spot in the 10-team points table. They now have a dozen points from nine matches.

NorthEast remain second from bottom with seven points from nine engagements.

If the first half was a slow affair, the second one started with a bang.

Danilo Lopes made easy work of Jordi Montel before taking a stinging shot from outside the box. Debjit Majumder was equal to the task though, making a breath-taking fingertip save to deny the hosts.

Montel made his presence felt at the other end though, when his header was a whisker wide. He then released Zequinha on the left to cross for Robin Singh but Sambinha was in the way to stop the Indian striker from scoring.

Lopes wasn’t done making Montel look like a bad defender. He was at the end of a Nirmal Chhetri long ball and Montel allowed the attacker to run in behind. His first time effort was as audacious as it was close to going in the back of the net.

Zequinha and Lopes were ruling the second half. As the game went into end-to-end mode, the former cut in, like he so often does, and forced a fine save from NorthEast goalkeeper T.P. Rehenesh.

It was becoming inexplicable how the match was still goalless when Zequinha struck to break the deadlock.

The opening exchanges saw a well-drilled NorthEast keep possession even though it was meaningless, attempting to draw out ATK rather than take the attacking initiative.

It was only after Malemngamba Meitei started showing his ability to run with the ball and deliver that NorthEast grew in confidence going forward.

First, he produced a fine run before being halted, and was at it again with a good delivery which ATK had to be alert to clear.

Debjit Majumder’s howler almost cost ATK when the goalkeeper needlessly came out for a ball which Tom Thorpe was seeing off, got into a mess with his teammate, before Thorpe cleared the ball away.

ATK broke forward in the 24th minute through Zequinha’s neat run and shot which sailed just over the crossbar.

Meitei then threatened again for NorthEast and this time his delivery found Sambinha, whose header was woefully directed wide.

Then, within the space of seven chaotic minutes for NorthEast, ATK produced two lovely chances. Jayesh Rane’s shot was blocked after an exquisite through ball from Ryan Taylor and then at the stroke of half time, Zequinha blasted it over again when he had the time and space to pick his spot.

However, he would eventually deliver to put ATK out of their misery.

The mission of the European Union in Ramallah and Jerusalem on Friday expressed its concern after the recent arrests of Palestinian minors by Israeli authorities and the death of a teenager shot by Israeli forces.

In a statement, the mission said the EU was troubled about the circumstances of the recent arrests of Palestinian minors Ahed Tamimi and Fawzi Muhammad al-Juneidi, Efe reported.

The statement also expressed deep concern regarding, “the fatal shooting by Israeli security forces of another Palestinian minor, 17-year old Musaab al-Tamimi, during protests in the occupied West Bank on 3 January.”

The case of Ahed, 16, who has been detained for almost four weeks, has taken on an international dimension after a video surfaced which showed her slapping two Israeli soldiers at the door of her house in Nabi Saleh, north of Ramallah.

A photograph of al-Juneidi, about the same age as Ahed, that showed him blindfolded, beaten and escorted by a score of soldiers during his arrest in Hebron on the charge of throwing stones, also has gone viral.

“The European Union and EU Missions in Jerusalem and Ramallah recall the importance of respecting and protecting the rights of the child, including and in particular during arrest, detention and judicial procedures,” said the note.

On Thursday, two 16-year-old Palestinian children died in clashes with Israeli forces in Gaza and the West Bank.

Authorities imposed restrictions in parts of the city here on Saturday to prevent separatist-called protests against civilian killings during gunfights between security forces and militants.

Prohibitory orders were imposed in Rainawari, Khanyar, Nowhatta, M.R.Gunj and Safakadal in old Srinagar and Maisuma and Kralkhud in uptown areas by the Srinagar District Magistrate.

“Essential services, government employees, bank staff, students appearing for examinations and the invigilation staff for such exams are exempted from the restrictions,” the police said.

The Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) — a separatist conglomerate headed by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Yasin Malik called for valley-wide shutdown and protests.

Authorities placed Umer Farooq under house arrest in his Nigeen residence on the outskirts, while Geelani continued to remain under house arrest in his uptown Hyderpora residence.

Heavy deployments of police and paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have been made to maintain law and order at sensitive places in the city.

Educational institutions, including universities, colleges and schools are closed in the Kashmir Valley due to winter vacations.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) on Friday said that it has taken action against members in the Satyam case, however, it has “no powers” to take action against CA firms.

ICAI’s statement comes days after market regulator Sebi barred Price Waterhouse Network of firms from auditing listed companies for two years.

“While the ICAI may not like to specifically comment on the order passed by SEBI, we would like to add that under the present provisions of the Chartered Accountants Act 1949, there are no powers presently vested with ICAI for taking action against CA firms,” ICAI said in a statement.

According to ICAI, it “was the first to be off the blocks when the Satyam matter broke out in January 2009” and had initiated disciplinary cases against six members concerned in the case.

“…Despite several legal hurdles and other impediments like the respondents were in judicial custody, ICAI had proceeded with its disciplinary process in terms of the CA Act and the rules framed there under,” the statement said.

ICAI pointed out that it had awarded the maximum penalty of “removal from membership permanently and imposition of monetary penalty on members of ICAI involved in the matter”.

“ICAI was the body which concluded its disciplinary enquiry at the earliest amongst domestic or international agencies or bodies within 3 years by the year 2012 and disposed off the matter by award of punishment by the year 2013…,” the statement said.

“Therefore, the present punishment awarded by SEBI is only a reiteration of the verdict passed by the Disciplinary Committee of ICAI except that while the ICAI had punished the concerned members, however the SEBI has imposed this punishment on the audit firm concerned.”

On late Wednesday, Sebi barred Price Waterhouse network of firms from auditing listed companies for two years. However, the order will not impact audits conducted by concerned firms for 2017-18.

On its part, Price Waterhouse Network of firms in India said: “We are disappointed with the findings of the SEBI investigations and the adjudication order. The SEBI order relates to a fraud that took place nearly a decade ago in which we played no part and had no knowledge of.”

“As we have said since 2009, there has been no intentional wrong doing by PW firms in the unprecedented management perpetrated fraud at Satyam, nor have we seen any material evidence to the contrary. We believe that the order is also not in line with the directions of the Hon’ble Bombay High Court order of 2010 and so we are confident of getting a stay.”

Defence, agriculture and water management may be among the major sectors of cooperation between India and Israel, but during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to India next week, innovation will top the agenda, Israeli Ambassador to India Daniel Carmon said on Friday.

Speaking at a media briefing here ahead of the prime ministerial visit, Carmon said cooperation in agriculture and water were the highlights of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel in July last year and the emphasis on this would continue.

“But I would say the most important element of what we want to put together on the joint table is innovation,” he said.

“Innovation that would, you know, touch any of the areas in which we cooperate. Innovation could be in the field of defence, innovation could be in the field of agriculture, innovation could be in the field of IT, of R&D.”

The Ambassador described innovation as a “cross-cutting issue” and said this would be reflected in the discussions between Prime Ministers Modi and Netanyahu.

Carmon referred to the two Prime Ministers’ scheduled visit to the iCreate Innovation Centre for Entrepreneurship and Technology on the outskirts of Ahmedabad and said that the centre “has a big clement of Israeli ecosystem in innovation”.

He said people from iCreate have been visiting Israel for training and attending seminars and “touched the Israeli way of looking at how to manage innovation”.

Ahead of the Prime Ministers’ visit, Carmon said there would be a meeting between the entrepreneurs from “start-up nation Israel” and people from the Start-up India initiative.

Regarding other aspects of Netanyahu’s six-day visit starting Sunday, Carmon said that apart from the summit level meeting on Jan 15, the second India-Israel CEOs Forum will be held as also a series of other meetings between both sides in New Delhi and Mumbai.

The visiting dignitary will be accompanied by a delegation of 130 Israeli business leaders.

Asked about the status of the India-Israel free trade agreement (FTA), Carmon said that the “FTA is definitely on our agenda”.

“Quite a few rounds of discussions on the FTA have been held,” he said. “I can tell you now that the next round of discussions will be held in February in Jerusalem.”

Netanyahu is also scheduled to visit a Centre of Excellence in Agriculture at Vardad, Gujarat, that has been set up with Israeli assistance.

Carmon said that by the end of this month “we will have 22 centres of excellence up and running across India”.

These centres of excellence set up with Israeli technology and knowhow cover areas like vegetables, citrus fruits, dates, mangoes, flowers, beekeeping, he said, adding that “we are now starting work on a dairy farm in Haryana”.

Netanyahu will also be accompanied by Moshe Holtzberg, whose parents, Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, were killed in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

Moshe, who was only two years old then, will visit Chabad House, where his parents were killed.

Netanyahu’s is the first prime ministerial visit from Israel to India since the visit of then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2003.