Deepika Padukone and her sister Anisha Padukone were seen having a conversation, clicking pictures with host Neha Dhupia on TV show Vogue BFF.

Deepika shared a heartwarming message on Instagram, “BFF’s with my little BFF!️I Love You my little one!️ #AnishaPadukone Thank You @vogueindia& @nehadhupia for a super fun time!”

BFF’s with my little BFF!❤️I Love You my little one!❤️ #AnishaPadukone Thank You @vogueindia & @nehadhupia for a super fun time!😘😘😘

A post shared by Deepika Padukone (@deepikapadukone) on Jan 8, 2018 at 11:28pm PST

The sisters looked quite happy as they got candid with the host. Deepika stole the show with a catwalk and hilarious expressions.

#DeepikaPadukone #NehaDupia and #Anishapadukone having fun on the sets of #vogueebff #Bollywood #Nishsays

A post shared by NishSays (@nishsays) on Jan 9, 2018 at 1:31am PST

Deepika looked gorgeous in  Rosetta Getty one-shouldered blue-and-white checked dress with silver heels while her golfer sister was in denim with white sneakers.

Deepika kept her accessory game to a bare minimum she opted for textured hoops.

Neha Dhupia interviewed the Padukone sisters, in ripped jeans and Gucci tee paired with red heels.

Can’t wait for this episode ❤ @deepikapadukone with her BFF & little sister @anisha.padukone at #VogueBFFs show yesterday 💕 @nehadhupia #deepikapadukone #deepikafanclub

A post shared by Deepika Padukone FC (@deepikaafanclub) on Jan 9, 2018 at 1:48am PST

The sisters shared a warm bond, as they laughed and giggled on the sets.

India’s direct tax collection between April and December in the current fiscal at Rs 6.56 lakh crore was 18.2 per cent higher than for the corresponding period last year, according to an official announcement on Tuesday.

A Finance Ministry statement said the collections till December represent 67 per cent of the total budget estimates for direct taxes for fiscal 2017-18.

“Provisional figures of direct tax collections up to December 2017 show that net collections are at Rs 6.56 lakh crore, which is 18.2 per cent higher than the net collections for the corresponding period of last year,” the Ministry tweeted.

“Net direct tax collections represent 67 per cent of total budget estimates of direct taxes for FY 2017-18 (Rs 9.8 lakh crore),” the release said here.

According to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), gross collections before adjusting for refunds have increased by 12.6 per cent to Rs 7.68 lakh crore during April-December 2017. Refunds amounting to Rs 1.12 lakh crore have been issued during this period.

A total of Rs 3.18 lakh crore has been received as advance tax till December, reflecting a growth of 12.7 per cent on this count over the corresponding period of last year, the statement said.

“The growth in corporate income tax advance tax is 10.9 per cent and that in personal income tax advance tax is 21.6 per cent,” it added.

Amidst simmering anger over the Mumbai pub blaze of December 29, celebrated former top cop Julio F. Ribeiro on Tuesday filed a PIL in the Bombay High Court seeking an enquiry commission into the incident which claimed 14 lives.

Ribeiro, 88, is the former police commissioner of Mumbai who later deputed as the Director General of Police in Punjab and Gujarat followed by a stint as India’s Ambassador to Romania.

In his PIL, the retired IPS officer has sought the constitution of a judicial enquiry commission into the Kamala Mills Compound fire which broke out in The Mojo’s Bistro and spread to 1Above and other adjoining rooftop establishments, trapping 14 to their death and injuring 55 others.

“I have also sought a compulsory fire audit of all pubs, restaurants, hotels and eateries all over the city to avoid recurrence of similar tragedies,” Ribeiro told IANS after filing the PIL through his lawyer Sujay Kantawala.

Elaborating, he said a Special Investigation Team must be set up headed by a responsible top-ranking police officer and probe the corrupt BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials, identify and take stringent action against them.

“After the pub fire, the BMC demolished over 500 illegal structures, which means they are aware of all the illegalities. We have also provided documentary proof of such violations by many eateries, which is alarming,” Ribeiro told IANS.

He accused the BMC officials of taking bribes and permitting hotels and restaurants to come up flouting all safety and security norms but now they should be “dealt with sternly”.

The PIL is expected to come up for admission and hearing soon, he said.

Soon after the Kamala Mills Compound blaze, the BMC initiated its single biggest demolition drive targeting illegal constructions in more than 600 eateries in the city.

A Mumbai Fire Brigade probe found that the blaze started in The Mojo’s Bistro due to burning embers from illegal hookahs being served to patron, and spread to other premises.

The Mumbai Police later arrested three persons, including two managers of 1Above pub, Kevin Bawa and Lisbon Lopez, and have announced a reward for the three absconding owner-partners of the pub (1Above).

On January 6, the police arrested Yug K. Pathak, the co-owner of The Mojo’s Bistro and son of former DGP-level retired IPS officer K.K. Pathak.

All have been booked under the stringent IPC law pertaining to culpable homicide not amounting to murder, among other charges.

A 19-year-old tutor has been arrested after an eight-year-old boy who took tuition from him was found murdered on the outskirts of Bhopal, police said on Tuesday.

Bharat’s body was found in a sack by passers-by on Monday evening. According to police, he had been strangled to death.

Police arrested tutor Bittu, 19, on suspicion of murdering the minor, Bhopal Deputy Inspector General of Police Santosh Singh told IANS.

When Bharat, a student of Christ Memorial School, did not return home after school on Monday, his six-year-old sister Kanak, who studies in the same school, told her parents that her brother was seen with “Bittu uncle”.

The murdered boy’s mother told reporters that Bittu had threatened to harm her son if she did not “go to him” (Bittu).

In a CCTV footage, a man resembling Bittu is seen carrying a sack on his motorcycle, police said.

Search engine giant Google on Tuesday paid homage to Indian-American Nobel Prize-winning biochemist Har Gobind Khorana through a colourful doodle on his 96th birth anniversary.

Known for his comprehensive work on DNA and for constructing first synthetic gene, Khorana, along with two other scientists, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1968 for research on nucleotides and genes.

Born in 1922 in Raipur, now in Pakistan, Khorana, from an early age, was passionate about science which grew stronger with time as scholarships propelled the budding scientist through his scholastic journey.

Helped by the award of a Government of India Fellowship, Khorana moved to England in 1945 where he studied for a PhD degree at the University of Liverpool.

The scientist’s interest in proteins and nucleic acids took root while his stay in Cambridge from 1950 till 1952.

After moving to Vancouver in 1952, he started his research on DNA under Gordon M Shrum of University of British Columbia.

It was through his research at universities in England, Switzerland, Canada, and finally at the University of Wisconsin that he and two fellow researchers received the coveted Nobel Prize in 1968.

“Together, they discovered that the order of nucleotides in our DNA determines which amino acids are built. These amino acids form proteins, which carry out essential cell functions,” Google said in a post.

After this achievement, fewer than five years later, he made a second breakthrough by constructing the first synthetic gene.

He received a host of awards during his lifetime, including the National Medal of Science and Padma Vibhushan.

The doodle, which celebrates Khorana’s pioneering work in understanding the human DNA, was drawn by Bangalore-based illustrator Rohan Dahotre.

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday accused the Mehbooba Mufti-led collation government of “failure on all fronts”.

Abdullah said the “open criticism of the coalition government by the Governor was proof of its failure on all fronts”.

The National Conference leader was referring to Governor N.N. Vohra’s statement during a commemoration function here on Monday in honour of late Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed.

Vohra had said the “state faces many problems, some of our own doing and some of others’ contributions”. He urged the Jammu and Kashmir government to perk up its performance.

Abdullah said the Governor’s statement was an “indictment” against the PDP-BJP collation government, proving its failure on all fronts.

He said the situation in the state had drastically deteriorated since the PDP-BJP government assumed power. He said the government’s promise of development was nowhere to be seen.

Facing Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City is a daunting prospect for most Premier League teams, but according to Bristol City boss Lee Johnson, the Robbins are ready for the the challenge.

“There’s no doubt we’re an extreme underdog against Manchester City, so it’s very similar to when that Kilmarnock side beat Celtic in the cup final,” Johnson told BCFC TV in an interview.

Bristol, who play in the third tier of English football, have collected the scalps of Stoke, Crystal Palace and most notably, Manchester United, back-to-back to reach the last-four of the EFL Cup.

Must read: Juan Mata feels Manchester United’s warm weather camp will boost morale

And Johnson showered his players with praise as he stated, “The boys are in credit in this competition. We just have to give it our all. It can be done”.

The irrepressible Sky Blues are unbeaten in domestic competitions this season and many have pegged them as the greatest side of the Premier League early despite them not having won any silverware yet.

“This tie is obviously played over 180 minutes, so it will only be half-time after Tuesday evening.

We need to do our best to ensure we stay in the tie coming back to Ashton Gate.”

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“The players have been exceptional so far, Johnson continued as he added, “The effort they’ve demonstrated to beat four Premier League teams en route has been phenomenal.

“Now they find themselves in the semi-finals of a major cup competition and facing the best team in the country right now.The concentration levels it will take to ensure we don’t get infiltrated in our back-line will be huge.

“In saying that, I do believe in the qualities in our squad and the challenge is to make sure we play our game.

“We definitely did that against Manchester United in the last round, so that’s a box ticked. Now we have to do it against a side that is used to having up to 85% possession in games,” added the 36-year-old manager.

Also read: Complete FA Cup 4th round draw revealed

The first of the two-legged semi-final takes place on January 9 at the Etihad Stadium (19.45 PM GMT/01.15 AM IST) while the return leg at the Ashton Gate is scheduled for January 23.

In the other semi-final, Arsenal take on arch-rivals Chelsea in the first leg at Stamford Bridge with the return leg at the Emirates Stadium set to take place on January 24.

Experienced all-rounder Angelo Mathews has been re-appointed as the limited-overs captain of the national team, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) announced on Tuesday.

The upcoming tri-nation One Day International tournament in Bangladesh will be Mathews first assignment as the skipper.

“Sri Lanka Cricket’s National Selection Panel has appointed Angelo Mathews as the White-Ball Captain of the National team on a long term basis,” SLC said in a statement.

“In the meantime, Dinesh Chandimal will continue to be the Captain of the Test Team,” it added.

Rookie pacer Shehan Madushanka was also included in the 16-member squad, which is announced on Tuesay.

Squad: Angelo Mathews (captain), Upul Tharanga, Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal, Kusal Perera, Thisara Perera, Asela Gunaratne, Niroshan Dickwella, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Dushmantha Chameera, Shehan Madushanka, Akila Dananjaya, Lakshan Sandakan, Wanindu Hasaranga.

A female flight attendant of Jet Airways has been arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) for allegedly trying to smuggle out $4,80,200 out of the country, according to an official statement.

The accused was intercepted by DRI officials when she was on a flight to Hong Kong on Monday, it said.

The DRI officials found $ 4,80,200 (approximately Rs 3.21 crore) wrapped in foil in her possession, the statement said.

On investigation, it was found that she was working with an agent, named Amit Malhotra, a resident of Vivek Vihar area here, a senior DRI official said.

He said that Amit Malhotra was following a modus operandi of using crew members for smuggling of forex.

“Malhotra would collect money from some bullion dealers in Delhi and send it via some air hostess to select foreign destinations. The money was being used for purchasing gold abroad. The gold would then be sent to India illegally,” the official said.

Malhotra had befriended the Jet Airways crew six months ago during a flight to India, he said.

The DRI suspected the role of some other crew members of Jet Airways in smuggling out forex, the official said.

“Malhotra has been illegally smuggling forex for the past over one year. There are some other crew members involved in the case. We are also trying to find out the details of bullion dealers involved in this syndicate,” he said.

Both Malhotra and the Jet Airways crew member have been arrested, the official said.

A special MCOCA court here has rejected the plea of fugitive don Dawood Ibrahim’s brother Iqbal Kaskar, arrested in an extortion case, to allow him to have homemade food in jail due to his various ailments.

Special Judge (MCOCA) A S Bhaisare observed that Kaskar’s doctor has not prescribed any special diet to him, therefore, his application was liable to be rejected.

He said Kaskar, presently lodged in the Thane District Central Jail, had not made any special ground to grant his application.

“One cannot act as per his own wish and choice or desire,” the judge said in a recent order.

Kaskar, in his application, had requested the court to allow him to have the facility of homemade food in judicial custody on the ground that he was suffering from diabetes, blood pressure and giddiness, and undergoing treatment.

He said he was required to have home cooked food to maintain better health.

Kaskar also argued that previously, when he was in custody in a case at the Central Prison in Mumbai from 2003 to 2007, he was provided with the facility (of home food) and that he never misused the liberty granted to him.

The prosecution opposed his application saying there were all facilities of food and medicines in the jail premises.

The Crime Branch of the Thane Police had arrested Kaskar along with others on September 18 last year for allegedly threatening a city-based builder in the name of Dawood Ibrahim and extorting money as well as four flats.

A case was filed under IPC sections 384 (punishment for extortion), 386 (extortion by putting a person in fear of death or grievous hurt) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) at the Kasarvadavali police station.

He was also booked under the stringent anti-organised crime law MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act).

Kaskar, who was deported from the United Arab Emirates in 2003, is said to be operating his brother’s real estate business in Mumbai.

The Coal India board on Tuesday approved a non-coking coal price hike for both power and non-power consumers.

The price increase is expected to push the miner’s revenue up by Rs 1,956 crore for the remaining period of the current fiscal.

The price revision is effective from Tuesday and the projected incremental annual revenue would be Rs 6,421 crore.

“The board has approved the revision of non-coking coal prices with effect from January 9. This will be applicable to all the subsidiaries of Coal India including NEC for regulated and non-regulated sectors,” the miner said in a late-night filing on Monday.

“Due to this revision, Coal India will earn approximately an incremental revenue of Rs 1,956 crore for the balance period of the current fiscal (2017-18) and the projected annual incremental revenue would be Rs 6,421 crore,” an official said.

Reacting to the price revision, Coal Consumers’ Association of India’s Secretary General Subhasri Chaudhuri told IANS: “Coal consumers have no alternative but to bear the brunt of the price hike.

“Of late, Coal India’s subsidiaries have increased peripheral charges like surface transport charges (for transporting coal from pitheads to siding) in the zero-three kms slab. The miner had also introduced evacuation facility charges at Rs 50 per tonne from December. However, in the latest revision, the miner reduced prices for some grades of coal.”

According to sources, the price hike across various coal grades range between 22 per cent on the higher side to 3 per cent on the lower side. In some grades of coal, the prices were revised downward.

Following the price revision, Coal India’s shares traded at 5.78 per cent higher at BSE at 11.24 a.m., while the Sensex was up 0.29 per cent at 34,453.10 points.

In the last month, the miner had introduced evacuation facility charges at Rs 50 per tonne for despatch of coal except despatch through rapid loading arrangement and as a result, the company was expected to generate approximately an additional revenue of Rs 2,500 crore for the full year and approximately Rs 800 crore for rest of the current fiscal.

In January 2017, the miner’s subsidiary Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) increased coking coal prices by about 20 per cent and its another subsidiary Central Coalfields too had hiked its prices.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday took to Twitter to remember Indian-American Nobel Prize-winning biochemist Har Gobind Khorana on his 96th birth anniversary.

Remembering Nobel laureate scientist Har Gobind Khorana on his birth anniversary

— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) January 9, 2018

Known for his comprehensive work on DNA and for constructing first synthetic gene, Khorana, along with two other scientists, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1968 for research on nucleotides and genes.

Born in 1922 in Raipur, now in Pakistan, Khorana, from an early age, was passionate about science which grew stronger with time as scholarships propelled the budding scientist through his scholastic journey.

Helped by the award of a Government of India Fellowship, Khorana moved to England in 1945 where he studied for a PhD degree at the University of Liverpool.

The scientist’s interest in proteins and nucleic acids took root while his stay in Cambridge from 1950 till 1952.

After moving to Vancouver in 1952, he started his research on DNA under Gordon M Shrum of University of British Columbia.

It was through his research at universities in England, Switzerland, Canada, and finally at the University of Wisconsin that he and two fellow researchers received the coveted Nobel Prize in 1968.

“Together, they discovered that the order of nucleotides in our DNA determines which amino acids are built. These amino acids form proteins, which carry out essential cell functions,” Google said in a post.

After this achievement, fewer than five years later, he made a second breakthrough by constructing the first synthetic gene.

He received a host of awards during his lifetime, including the National Medal of Science and Padma Vibhushan.

Meanwhile, search engine giant Google on Tuesday paid homage to Har Gobind Khorana through a colourful doodle. The doodle, which celebrates Khorana’s pioneering work in understanding the human DNA, was drawn by Bangalore-based illustrator Rohan Dahotre.

(With agency inputs)

A unique library movement is sweeping across Odisha with district officers in Ganjam donating books to schools, bringing smiles on the faces of students.

District Collector Prem Chandra Chaudhary had earlier asked people to gift books to schools instead of giving bouquets and diaries on the New Year, District Eductation Officer (DEO) Sanatan Panda said.

Chaudhary had donated 120 books in Odia, English and Hindi to an upper primary school at Puti Gopalpur last week.

Similarly, block develpment officers of Purushottampur and Sheragada gave away books to two primary schools at Tarinipalli and Sheragada respectively, Panda said.

Several other officers have also expressed willingness to donate books to nearby government-run schools.

The children were all smiles browsing through the pictorial books donated by the collector to the Puti Gopalpur school, he said.

“We hope the initiative will strengthen the ongoing library movement that started about two years ago in the district,” the DEO said.

Media mogul Oprah Winfrey is reportedly “actively thinking” about running for US President.

Two of her close friends, who requested anonymity, spoke out in the wake of Winfrey’s extraordinary speech at the 75th Golden Globe Awards here on Sunday night, which spurred chatter about a 2020 run.

Some of Winfrey’s confidants have been privately urging her to run, the sources said.

One of the sources said these conversations date back several months. The person emphasised that Winfrey has not made up her mind about it.

A representative for Winfrey has not responded to requests for comment.

The Democratic race for president won’t officially begin until after the 2018 midterms, but many potential candidates are already jostling for position and making trips to Iowa.

“President Winfrey” was the talk of the entertainment world after Winfrey accepted the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes.

Winfrey, who became the first black woman to receive the Cecil B. DeMille award, called for a world free of sexual abusers where nobody ever has to say ‘Me too’ again, saying “A new day is on the horizon.”

Best known as the host of her multi-award-winning talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show, which ended in 2011, Winfrey is also the founder of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa.

She is also known for her film projects like Selma, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks — which will premiere in India on Star Movies Select HD on Saturday, The Princess and the Frog and Bee Movie.

Police have granted permission for a public gathering to be addressed by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at Sindkhed Raja in Maharashtra’s Buldhana district on January 12, an AAP leader said on Tuesday.

The Buldhana police had last week denied permission for Kejriwal’s rally, citing “difficulty in crowd management”.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) spokesperson Preeti Sharma Menon said on Tuesday that the district police yesterday granted the permission for the event.

In a tweet in Marathi, Kejriwal said, “On the occasion of Rajmata Jijau Jayanti on January 12, I am coming to Sindkhed Raja to have a dialogue with the people of Maharashtra.”

The Delhi chief minister, who is also the AAP national convener, will address the public at Sindkhed Raja on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Rajmata Jijabai, sometimes referred to as Jijau, the mother of 17th century Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

A function to mark her birth anniversary is held every year at Sindkhed Raja.

The event is organised every year on January 11 and 12 and lakhs of people throng to Sindkhed Raja for a ‘darshan’ of Jijau.

Four to five lakh people are expected at Sindkhed Raja this year, a police officer in Buldhana earlier said.

Expressing displeasure over the delay in grant of permission for the rally, Menon said, “When we applied for permission in mid-December, our plea was rejected. Then we had to speak to the DG (law and order) and even I met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to get it (permission).

“Though the chief minister was quite helpful and he spoke to Buldhana’s SP, even then it took three days to get the permission in writing,” she said.

She said Kejriwal would arrive in Aurangabad on January 11 evening and the next day, he would head to the Jijamata Palace in Buldhana where he would seek her blessings and later address the rally.