Bollywood superstar Salman Khan, elated over the success of his latest release “Tiger Zinda Hai”, says for a film to become a blockbuster, it needs to entertain across the spectrum.

The high-octane actioner has so far collected Rs 311.88 since its Dec 22, 2017 release. It is the third Salman Khan film to hit Rs 300 crore after “Bajrangi Bhaijaan” and “Sultan”.

“A film needs to always entertain and it needs to entertain everyone to become a blockbuster,” Salman said in a statement.

“‘Tiger Zinda Hai’ is entertaining children, youngsters, adults and families. This is the perfect holiday film for everyone to go to the theatres. Because the film is universal and has a very strong emotional connect in Tiger and Zoya’s love story and in our message that humanity is above everything, it has become successful,” he added.

Salman says the story of “Tiger Zinda Hai”, which also stars Katrina Kaif, is the reason behind the “huge success of the film”.

He also credited the film’s success to the hard work of the cast and crew.

“The success of ‘Tiger Zinda Hai’ is the result of everyone’s hard work. Everyone who has worked on this film, has given his or her 200 per cent and that is why the film has connected to the audiences,” added the actor, who has especially loved how the movie’s dialogues elicited claps, and the action scenes by Katrina and him were received with whistles.

“Deadpool” director Tim Miller is reportedly developing an “X-Men” spin-off film, focusing on actress Kitty Pryde who plays Shadowcat.

The character was played by Ellen Page in “X-Men: The Last Stand” and “X-Men: Days of Future Past”.

Pryde is a mutant with the ability to “phase” or become intangible, which basically allows her (and anything she’s touching) to pass through solid objects, disrupt electromagnetic fields, and even levitate.

The spin-off film is in the works, though the project is not officially announced yet and is in early stage of development, reports aceshowbiz.com.

Meanwhile, 21st Century Fox studio is still actively developing several other previously-announced “X-Men” spin-offs which include “X-Force”, “Gambit (2019)” and a potential sequel to “The New Mutants”.

Miller, who departed “Deadpool 2” due to creative differences with its star Ryan Reynolds, has been tapped to direct “Neuromancer”, an adaptation of William Gibson’s 1984 sci-fi novel of the same name.

India will launch 31 satellites, including earth observation spacecraft Cartosat, on January 12 instead of its earlier tentative schedule on today (January 10), a space official said.

“The rocket launch to carry Cartosat and other satellites, including 28 from the US and five other countries, will take place on January 12 at 9.30 a.m.,” Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Public Relations Director Devi Prasad Karnik told IANS here.

“There is no delay in the schedule as the earlier stated launch date of January 10 was merely tentative,” stated Karnik.

The rocket launch would take place from ISRO’s spaceport located at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

The first space mission in 2018 on board the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C40) comes four months after a similar rocket failed to deliver the country’s eighth navigation satellite in the earth’s lower orbit on August 31.

The mission’s payload will also include one each nano and micro satellite from India, besides Cartosat-2.

As an observational satellite, Cartosat will beam high-quality images for cartographic, urban and rural applications, coastal land use and regulation and utility management like road network monitoring.

Violence erupted in the Sri Lankan parliament on Wednesday as Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe read a statement over a Treasury bond scam at the central bank.

Opposition legislators launched a protest in the middle of the House as Wickremesinghe read his statement, calling for the parliament speaker to divulge the details of the Treasury bond scam which had been probed by a special presidential commission, Xinhua news agency reported.

The situation soon turned violent when an object was hurled at the Prime Minister.

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya suspended sittings for 10 minutes to restore normalcy.

“I am told that never in history had there been a brawl in the Chamber like the one just now,” Deputy Minister of Policy Planning and Economic Development Harsha De Silva tweeted.

“Utter pandemonium in parliament. Apparently someone threw an object at the PM while he was speaking in the Chamber. Didn’t see who it was. Disgraceful.”

Even after the 10-minute suspension, a fist fight was reported between opposition and government legislators.

The Prime Minister was unhurt in the clashes. However, Kavinda Jayawardena of the ruling United National Party was taken to the parliament medical centre after he was injured in the brawl.

The Treasury is said to have lost (Sri Lankan) Rs 11,145 million (about $72 million) due to the bond scam and other malpractices which were allegedly committed during the watch of former central bank chief Arjuna Mahendran and some bank officials when the new government took office in 2015.

Mahendran was appointed the central bank chief in 2015 by Prime Minister Wickremesinghe before the bonds scam allegedly took place. He resigned a year later.

President Maithripala Sirisena appointed a three-member presidential commission to probe the bond scam in January 2017. The commission has handed over its report to the President last month.

West Bengal Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Subrata Mukherjee on Wednesday said Trinamool Congress will be benefitted if BJP bagged a share of opposition votes in the coming polls in the state.

If BJP gets a little chunk of the opposition vote it will amount to a further split in opposition vote share and Trinamool Congress will be the biggest beneficiary, Mukherjee told reporters on the sidelines of an event here.

“Earlier the Congress and CPI(M) were known to be opposition. If BJP takes a slice of that vote that will benefit us,” the senior TMC leader said to a question about the saffron party making inroads in Bengal.

“BJP is our Goddess Lakshmi if we take that factor into consideration,” he quipped.

By-election will be held in Uluberia Lok Sabha and Noapara assembly seats on January 29. Panchayat polls in the state are also due this year.

The Indian cricket team will travel to Ireland for a brief two T20 Internationals series as part of their preparation for the gruelling tour of England in July, the BCCI announced on Tuesday.

The Men-In-Blue will play the Irish side on June 27 and 28 in Dublin before travelling to England, where they will take on the hosts in a five-match Test rubber.

“The Indian Cricket Team will travel to Ireland to play two T20Is prior to their tour of England in July. The two T20Is will be held in Dublin on June 27 and June 29,” the BCCI announced in a statement.

India last toured Ireland in 2007 when they played an One-day International (ODI) at Belfast, which the visitors won by nine wickets (D/L method).

India have played Ireland just once in the T20I format when the two sides met in Nottingham during the 2009 ICC World T20.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday said denuclearisation of the peninsula remains a “basic and indispensable goal” after both Koreas held “historic” bilateral talks to alleviate tensions.

The denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula is the only way ahead towards peace, Moon said in his speech in Seoul.

This was, however, contradicted by the North’s delegation, which said that it had no intention of discussing the development of its nuclear program with Seoul.

Moon’s words came a day after both Koreas held their first meeting in two years, Efe news reported.

It resulted in an agreement to resume military talks and North Korean participation in the Winter Olympics to be held in February in the South Korean county of PyeongChang.

The South’s delegation stressed the need for denuclearisation to guarantee peace and security on the peninsula.

Moon on Wednesday denied that the way of open dialogue with Pyongyang goes against the strategy of pressurising Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear program.

“Now the dialogue with North Korea has begun, but because the North Korean nuclear issue has not been resolved, South Korea will continue to keep pace with the pressure and sanctions by the international community,” he said.

Moon also said that “once the South-North Korean relations are improved, they can help resolve the North Korean nuclear issue”.

He also denied that Seoul was planning to provisionally lift some of the sanctions that it approved against Pyongyang for its weapons programs in order to enable members of the regime – who were banned from entering the South – to participate in the PyeongChang Olympics.

“We have no plans to ease our unilateral sanctions against North Korea that are in place in addition to international sanctions for now,” Moon said.

He argued that the policy of pressurising and sanctions was aimed at bringing North Korea to the negotiating table.

Moon also conveyed the satisfaction expressed by the US administration of President Donald Trump at the resumption of talks between Seoul and Pyongyang.

He said that Tuesday’s historic talks may have been the result of the US-led policy of sanctions and pressure, in a nod of approval to the Trump administration’s tough strategy.

In a bid to get a billion people to use Virtual Reality (VR), Facebook-owned Oculus is set to launch its first standalone VR headset in China in partnership with Chinese handset maker Xiaomi.

“The new Oculus VR headset called Mi ‘VR Standalone’, is essentially the same headset as ‘Oculus Go’, a standalone headset that Oculus first unveiled in October,” Recode reported late Monday.

“Launching as a hardware partner with Xiaomi means Facebook can dip a toe into China without having to deal with censorship issues, or storing user data and information,” the report added.

The new VR headset was unveiled at a press conference alongside Qualcomm — another Oculus partner during the ongoing “Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2018” here.

However, the announcement did not mention key details such as when the headset will be available and the launch price. The headset will be built exclusively for China, using a Qualcomm chip and Oculus’ mobile software bundle for developers, according to CNET.

When Facebook announced the “Oculus Go” headset in October 2017, it said it would come out early this year and would cost $199 but it is not yet available to consumers.

Unlike its predecessor “Oculus Rift”, this VR headset will not require plugging into a smartphone or a personal computer to function, the social media giant had said.

Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday squarely blamed the media for unnecessarily raking up the Mhadei water dispute and beef shortage controversies.

The Chief Minister downplayed the water dispute controversy that was triggered following his letter to party colleague in Karnataka B.S. Yeddyurappa in which he offered to discuss sharing of drinking water on “humanitarian grounds”.

“Mhadei is neither my issue nor Goa’s issue… Mhadei issue has been created by you (media),” Parrikar said.

Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra are currently battling a dispute at a central Tribunal over the controversial Kalsa-Bhandura dam project across the waters of the Mhadei river, through which Karnataka aims to divert water from the Mhadei basin to the nearby basin on the Malaprabha river.

Mhadei also was known as the Mandovi river, is considered as a lifeline in the northern parts of the state. It originates in Karnataka and meets the Arabian Sea in Panaji.

The river runs 28.8 km in Karnataka and over 50 km in Goa.

Parrikar’s letter to Yeddyurappa, ahead of the Karnataka assembly polls triggered popular protests both in Goa as well as in the southern state.

The Chief Minister also accused the media of raking up another controversy over the shortage of beef in the state, that caused after beef traders went on strike for four days accusing cow vigilante groups and police officials of harassment.

The strike was called off on Tuesday after the state police were instructed to provide protection to slaughtered beef consignments imported from Karnataka.

“What issue was there? You have to ask that so-called animal welfare (activists). I have told police that they have to go by the law. The legal provisions say, that if there are documents, there is proper billing, you cannot stop anyone from importing,” Parrikar said.

“I do not see it as an issue as you see it. You have wrong eyes, coloured. My issue is law and order…” the Chief Minister added.

In a move to increase transparency and make inroads into China, the first data centre of the Cupertino-based tech giant Apple in the country will be put into operation on February 28, the company announced on Wednesday.

From then on, photos, documents and other personal information uploaded to iCloud accounts by Apple customers in China will be stored at a data base in southwest China’s Guizhou Province, Xinhua news agency reported.

The iPhone maker will start informing its Chinese iCloud users from Wednesday with data transferred and uploaded to the new data base automatically.

The move is aiming to increase transparency and offer Chinese customers a safer and more fluent experience of iCloud, the company was quoted as saying.

Apple announced the constructing of the new data base in Guizhou last July, with an investment of $1 billion. Other major technology companies, including Amazon and Microsoft, have also made similar deals to run data centres in China.

Apple gets most of its products manufactured in China and also sources its best electronics engineers from the there.

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the creation of an additional 25 senior ranks in the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) to enable an increase in supervisory staff at various levels.

“The Cabinet decision will enable the creation of 25 posts of various ranks ranging from Assistant Commandant to Additional Director General to increase supervisory staff in the CISF,” an official release issued after a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.

It said that restructuring of CISF cadre will result in an increase of Group ‘A’ posts from 1,252 to 1,277 due to two additional posts of Additional Director General, seven posts of Inspector General, eight posts of Deputy Inspector General and eight posts of Commandant.

“After the creation of these Group ‘A’ posts in the CISF, the supervisory efficiency and capacity building of the force will be enhanced,” it said.

The CISF came into existence in 1969 with a sanctioned strength of only three Battalions. The force provides security cover to over 336 industrial undertakings, including 59 airports, across the country.

To promote rail tourism in the country, the railways has asked its zonal arms and public sector undertakings to outsource their ticketing and catering works to IRCTC and concentrate on branding.

The instruction came days after a parliamentary committee in its report blamed the national transporter for not doing enough to promote rail tourism.

In a letter on January 3, Railway Board chairman Ashwani Lohani has asked all zonal railways to promote the brand of rail tourism on select routes.

He has asked them to identify tourist and luxury trains and brand them both on the interior and exterior.

Lohani has also asked rail PSUs such as Indian Railway Finance Corporation and Ircon International, and zonal railways to give the catering contracts for all events, seminars and programmes held outside rail premises to IRCTC, the railways’ catering and tourism arm.

Senior zonal railway officials have been told that the responsibility of managing such events should also be entrusted with Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC).

PSUs under the transport behemoth have also been asked to book air tickets for all its personnel from the IRCTC website, thus promoting the brand.

Soon after the parliamentary standing committee report was tabled, Lohani held a meeting with the travel and trade community where the issue of promotion of luxury trains was raised. In fact, the committee said that there was a lacuna in the branding of such trains.

Lohani has also addressed one of the major grouses of the travel community which said that the running schedules of such trains were not made clear. In order to cut down on delays, the board has now entrusted the Director, Coaching as the nodal officer for luxury trains.

The official can now be directly approached for approval on any scheduling issues, instead of the zonal railways.

Sources say that the board now wants to take on promoting rail tourism seriously and soon it will hold meeting with state tourism departments to take it forward.

Former health minister and five-time Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Sirmaur, Rajeev Bindal was on Wednesday unanimously elected as Speaker of Himachal Pradesh Assembly.

The Congress Party, which is in the Opposition, did not put up a candidate and backed Bindal for the coveted post.

After his election was announced by Protem Speaker Ramesh Dhawala, Bindal was escorted to the podium by leader of the House, Jai Ram Thakur and CLP leader, Mukesh Agnihotri.

“I will try to do justice to my duties as a Speaker. I know how much a person has to struggle to reach here. I will protect the rights of MLAs as per laid down rules. I will try to take everyone along,” Bindal said in the House.

Bindal, who turns 63 on 12 January, referred that the Himachal Pradesh Assembly has a changed look this time and many people, who played their role over the last two decades in the state, are not here now. “There is fresh blood and young leadership has come to fore,” he said. Quoting Vivekananda, he hoped that the new government will forge ahead not to look back and will keep patience.

He sought the support of senior and experienced members of the House in running the Assembly.

An Ayurvedic doctor and a strong organisation man, Bindal is a politician with a vision and administrative capacities.

Bindal, who was a member of Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh (RSS) in his college days, after obtaining his degree in 1978, went on to work with ‘Ho’ tribals in extremely backward tribal area of Jharkhand, where he ran a free-clinic, hostel and other services to bring the poorest of poor folks to the mainstream. Later, he started his practice in home town Solan in 1983.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister, Jai Ram Thakur, described Bindal as a hard working BJP man with roots in RSS. “We have spent 18 years together in Vidhan Sabha. I have seen that whatever the party has assigned him, no matter how small it may be, he does his duties with commitment and hard work,” said Thakur.

Thakur said Bindal has won two consecutive polls even outside his district, which reflects his strengths as a leader.

CLP leader, Mukesh Agnihotri congratulated Bindal on his unanimous election and said now he was not of any party, but custodian of the House. He appreciated Bindal as a member of the House, who would always do his homework before speaking anything.

Agnihotri said the BJP Legislature Party’s role, while in Opposition previously, was not positive and it did not allow the House to run many a times. “You have not set good tradition while you were in the opposition,” he said.

Agnihotri said he hoped the Speaker would look into the problems in MLA flats.

Bindal happens to be the second Speaker of HP Assembly from Sirmaur district.

Women have outnumbered men, making up for 50.4 per cent of the registered voters in the final electoral rolls of the state.

The voters’ list, published on Tuesday, has names of 18, 30, 104 voters, of which 9, 23,848 are women, the chief electoral officer (CEO) F R Kharkongor said.

The final list was released after looking into the claims and objections filed from different quarters of Meghalaya, where assembly elections are due in the first half of this year, he said.

Meghalaya, with a population of 3.2 million people, has a literacy rate of 74.4 %, according to the official records of the state government.

The tenure of the current assembly expires on March 6 and the Election Commission is making last-minute preparations before announcing the poll date, the CEO said.

During the course of electoral rolls revision, the names of 3, 27,595 voters, including 42,843 first-timers in the age group of 18 to 19 years, were added to the list.

A total of 8,276 names were deleted from the roll and 6,645 applications were rejected, Kharkongor said.

Unlike Tripura, no one in Meghalaya registered for the third gender option in the final rolls.

The number of polling stations has been increased from 2,485 in 2013 to 3,082 this year, an increase of about 24 per cent, he said.

Of the 60 assembly constituencies in the state, the Mawshynrut seat witnessed maximum inclusion with 2,123 new voters, the officer added.

Hrithik Roshan has time and again entertained us with his acting and incredible hits. He was also declared as the ‘Second Sexiest Asian Man of the Year 2016’. The actor is much adored for his toned physique, incredible acting and breathtaking dancing skills.

Today as the Bollywood style icon turns 44 today, let’s have a look at his Bollywood journey so far.

Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai (2000)

Hrithik Roshan’s debut film directed by his father Rakesh Roshan won many hearts and awards. He became an overnight sensation. Not only did he do justice to the double role, his dance moves took the film industry by storm. He became the only actor to win the Filmfare Award for Best Debut and the Filmfare Award for Best Actor for the same film.

Lakshaya (2004)

Lakshaya directed by Farhan Akhtar proved Hrithik’s versatility as an actor. His role as a carefree guy who transforms into a responsible army Lieutenant fighting for the country showcased his acting skills. He played the role of Lieutenant Karan Shergill to perfection and was complemented by Priety Zinta as the budding journalist. This is the actor’s one of the best performances and appreciated role till date.

Koi…Mil Gaya (2003)

Hrithik in this film played a role of a mentally disabled person. The acting was flawless. The sequel to the film, Krrish and Krrish 3 attracted the attention of the audience the same way Koi Mil Gaya did. Koi Mil Gaya was a science fiction that showcased social issues and was screened at the Jerusalem Film Festival and the NatFilm Festival in Denmark.

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011)

The comedy drama film, which was basically centered on the lives and the road trip of three friends, was directed by Zoya Akhtar. Hrithik played the role of a workaholic man who is obsessed with money and work. But the bachelor trip with his best friends changed his living style and life and at the end he also gets married to his love interest Katrina Kaif in the film.

Bang Bang (2014)

In the film fizzled at the box office. The film was high on action drama and once again Hrithik made people fall in the love with his charm. The action, the songs, chemistry with Katrina Kaif was the talk of the town.

Kaabil (2017)

It was a much appreciated film depicting the love story of two blind people. The emotion of both the actors, Hrithik and Yami, in the film seemed to be so real that it brought tears to the eyes of the audience. The acting was so natural that you can’t miss the movie!

The Indian Navy urgently requires minesweepers and hence there is an urgent need to re-appoint a new consultant for their aquisition, former Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said on Wednesday.

Parrikar, who is now the Goa Chief Minister, said the urgency came in the wake of a Rs 32,000 crore ($5 billion) Mine Counter Measure Vessels (MCMVs) project with a South Korean firm falling through.

“We need those minesweepers urgently. So the new consultancy selection has to be done very fast,” he told the media at the State Secretariat here.

Media reports earlier this week, quoting top officials of Goa Shipyard Limited, a Defence Ministry PSU, had said that the MCMV manufacturing contract had fallen through after negotiations with the Kangnam Corporation failed.

The contract was the biggest Defence Ministry initiative so far under the ‘Make in India’ initiative.

Parrikar said that only the South Korean consultant’s role had been cancelled but the order to manufacture MCMVs was still on.

“What has been cancelled is the consultant’s role. A particular consultant’s tender was not as per rules and regulations, so they are re-floating it. What is big in that,” he wondered.

“The exercise carried out by Goa Shipyard could not be completed because of certain terms and conditions set by the Korean company, which were beyond the scope of the tender.

“So what do you expect? There has to be retendering. So they have ordered retendering. Now, this has nothing to do with the order,” he maintained.

Parrikar said that a delay of six months to one year in a long-tenured contract was absorbable and therefore not a cause for concern.

“It can be minimal. These are projects for eight years, ten years. So they can absorb the delay. A six-month delay can be absorbed. In an 8-10 year contract or a 12-year contract, you can absorb one year (delay). Percentage-wise, it is not very big,” he said.

A 55-year old woman and her two daughters allegedly committed suicide in the district over suspected love failure involving one of the siblings, police said on Wednesday.

Seetha, a widow, and her daughters Sorna (26) and Padma (20) were found dead in their house at Sankupuram near Vasudevanallur this morning.

Police, who broke open the house door on a complaint from neighbours, said the trio appeared to have consumed poison.

Some empty bottles were found by their side.

As per initial investigation, the elder daughter sorna was in love with a youth. But his parents were making arrangement for his marriage with some other girl, they said.

Upset over this, the three women ended their lives. They left a suicide note, police said but declined to reveal its contents.

Further investigation was on.