An unidentified person purportedly associated with fugitive gangster Suresh Pujari opened fire at a wine shop in Ulhasnagar township here after handing over an envelope to the staff in an extortion bid, police said on Friday.

According to Thane Police PRO Sukhada Narkar, the firing took place on Thursday at the wine shop of one Vijay Ranglani in Kansai section area. However nobody was hurt in the incident.

The assailant opened fire in the shop after handing over an envelope to one of the shop staff, asking him to give it to the owner. The bullet hit a wine rack and the accused fled on a motorbike parked outside the shop along with an unidentified rider, police said in a release quoting Vijay's complaint.

The envelope with a chit inside contained the name of Suresh Pujari and a contact number, police said.

Police said the firing was done with an intention to scare the shop owner and extort money.

An offence under sections 307 (attempt to murder), 387 rw 34 (putting person in fear of death or of grievous hurt, in order to commit extortion) of the IPC along with Sections 3, 25 of the Arms Act have been registered against the unidentified duo and the gangster.

No arrest has been made so far in connection with the incident, police added.

The Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) which has thrown its net far and wide and successfully roped in World Cup winning coach Dav Whatmore, has begun to look for high profile cricketers to join the state squad.

A Kerala cricket administrator who did not wish to be identified told IANS that one big name is cricketer Robin Uthappa.

"His mother is a Keralite, while his father hails from Coorg and he plays for the Karnataka Ranji team and he speaks Malayalam fluently. The Kerala team badly seeks an opener and he has been performing very well in the ongoing IPL. Things are being talked out and if things churn out well, Uthappa will be opening for Kerala this season," the official said.

Every state Ranji squad can include up to three players from outside the state and Kerala have the services of Iqbal Abdullah, Jalaj Saxena and Bhavin Thakkar.

Of the three, the KCA wish to retain only one and hence is scouting for two — of which Uthappa is one and another big name is also being talked about — but KCA officials at the moment do not wish to reveal who the prized catch is going to be.

Whatmore, who won the 1996 World Cup with Sri Lanka and has also coached Pakistan, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, was roped in by the KCA last month. 

Due to his busy schedule, the 63-year-old Australian has agreed to coach the Kerala senior squad for just six months.

Five persons were charred to death in a fire that broke out at a cracker godown Friday afternoon in Farrukh Nagar village in Sahibabad here.

Ten fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the flames.

The owner of the godown Pappu (55) and four workers Ashfaq (40), Rafeek (60), Sageer (40) and Qutubuddin (50) lost their lives in the fire that broke out at around 1 pm, said Station House Officer (SHO) Sudhir Tyagi.

Initial investigations have shown that all of them were inside the godown when the fire broke out probably due to a simmering piece of 'beedi' having being thrown by one of the workers.

The police are also probing whether crackers were stored in the godown after getting due permissions.

No FIR has been registered yet as the godown owner too had died in the incident, police said.

The bodies have been sent for post-mortem, SHO Tyagi said.

Deputy Inspector General (Meerut Zone) K S Emmanuel reached the spot to take stock of the situation.

2017 will be among the hottest years on record, say scientists who have developed a new method for predicting global mean temperature.

Researchers at Yale University in the US found that weak El Nino activity from 1998 until 2013, rather than a pause in long-term global warming, was the root cause for slower rates of increased surface temperature.
They also found that volcanic activity played only a minor role.

“From a practical perspective, our method, when combined with El Nino prediction, allows us to predict next-year global mean temperature,” said Alexey Fedorov, professor at Yale University.

“Accordingly, 2017 will remain among the hottest years of the observational record, perhaps just a notch colder than 2016 or 2015,” Fedorov said.

El Nino events contribute to year-to-year variations in global mean temperature by modulating the heat that is released from tropical oceans into the atmosphere, researchers said.

El Nino warms the atmosphere, while the cold phase of the phenomenon, La Nina, cools the atmosphere.
The new model closely mirrors global mean surface temperature (GMST) changes since 1880, including the so-called global warming hiatus and the more recent temperature rise.

“Our main conclusion is that global warming never went away, as one might imply from the term 'global warming hiatus,'” Fedorov said.

“The warming can be masked by inter-annual and decadal natural climate variability, but then it comes back with a vengeance,” said Fedorov.

Multiple strong El Nino events occurred in the 1980s and 1990s. This was followed by much weaker El Nino activity, which lasted until 2014.

“The recent rapid rise in global temperature mainly resulted from the prolonged 2014-2016 El Nino conditions in the tropics that reached an extreme magnitude in the winter of 2015,” said Shineng Hu, first author of the study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

“The corresponding heat release into the atmosphere, together with the ongoing background global warming trend, made 2014, 2015, and 2016 the three consecutive warmest years of the instrumental record so far,” Hu said.

A 300-km-long Chambal Expressway, connecting Madhya Pradesh with Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, will be constructed through the ravines of Chambal region, an official said here today.

The decision to construct the six-lane expressway was taken in a meeting held between Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Union Minister for Road Transport Nitin Gadkari in Delhi on Thursday, a Public Relations department official said here.

“After his meeting with the Union minister, the chief minister informed that a 300-km-long, six-lane Chambal expressway is proposed in Madhya Pradesh. The right-of-way (a type of easement granted or reserved over the land for transportation purposes) for this expressway will be 100 metre,” the official added.

He said 2500 hectares of land will be acquired for this project, out of which nearly 50 per cent of the land is owned by the state government.

“Chambal Expressway will be constructed from the greenfield alignment through the ravines and along the banks of Chambal river,” he added.

The expressway would start from the state highway (SH) no. 6 at Pali and will connect to Uttar Pradesh on the national highway 92 (Bhongaon-Gwalior), the official said.

The expressway will cross national highway 3 (Mumbai-Agra) before passing through various areas in Madhya Pradesh, he said.

“This expressway will benefit Bhind, Morena, Sheopur and Chambal areas of Madhya Pradesh. The expressway will connect Madhya Pradesh with Rajasthan at one end and to Uttar Pradesh on the other,” the official said without elaborating the exact location where the expressway will connect to Rajasthan.

He said the details about the cost of the project and other related aspects are not available immediately.

The official informed that the chief minister also discussed about the proposed 1265-km-long, six-lane Narmada Expressway during his meeting.

Narmada Expressway is a proposed eight-lane expressway in the state, which will connect the historic towns of Amarkantak in the eastern end of Madhya Pradesh and Alirajpur in the western end of Madhya Pradesh along side of Narmada river.

The official said the CM also expressed his concern about incomplete works of several national highways, passing through Madhya Pradesh.

“The Union minister has assured the chief minister that problems of incomplete works would be addressed. The CM also discussed about the problems hampering the construction of national highways including Rewa-Allahabad, Bhopal-Jabalpur, Satna-Bamitha, Indore-Edlabad and Rewa-Sidhi,” he added

Amid profit booking and mixed global markets, domestic benchmark indices closed last trading session of the week on a weak note. The BSE Sensex ended 111 points or 0.37 per cent down at 29,918 while the NSE Nifty closed 38 points or 0.41 per cent lower at 9,304.

However, broader markets posted gains. BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap indices surged 0.2 per cent and 0.6 per cent respectively.

Among the BSE sectoral indices, Metal index registered the biggest gain with a jump of 1.5 per cent while Realty index became the lead loser with a tumble of 1.8 per cent.

On Thursday, The BSE Sensex ended 104 points or 0.34 per cent down at 30,030 while the NSE Nifty closed 10 points or 0.10 per cent lower at 9,342.

Top gainers in the Sensex-30 pack: ONGC (up 3.8 per cent), SBI (up 2.7 per cent), Maruti Suzuki (up 2.4 per cent), Asian Paints (up 1.6 per cent) and ICICI Bank (up 1.6 per cent).

Top losers in the Sensex-30 pack: ITC (down 2.3 per cent), HDFC (down 1.9 per cent), HDFC Bank (down 1.6 per cent), TCS (down 1.3 per cent) and HUL (down 1.2 per cent).

Meanwhile, the Rupee was trading 14 paise down at 64.29 against the US Dollar.

Tata Motors has bagged an order of 3,192 units of its Safari Storme 4×4 for the prestigious Indian Armed Forces. Under the newly formed GS800 (General Service 800) category, the butch SUV will be supplied to the forces in phases. It will be replacing the age-old Maruti Gypsy in the 4×4 light-weight class.

Earlier, the Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) had floated an RFP (Request For Proposals) for the procurement of the vehicles adhering to its three-point criteria – hard roofs, air conditioning and minimum payload capacity of 800kgs. Ticking all the three boxes, the Tata Safari Storme emerged as the clear winner, but not before it was tested in extreme conditions for a period of 15 months.

Expectedly, the Safari Storme 4×4 version being sent to the security forces will be different from the stock one and will feature upgraded drivetrain and a modified suspension.

Earlier in July, 2015, the carmaker signed the contract for the Tata High Mobility Vehicle 6×6 in the 10-tonne category, replacing Tatra. The company has been supplying vehicles to the Indian Army and Paramilitary forces since 1958, and so far, has shipped 1,50,000 units.

Under its Defence Solutions, it offers a wide range of vehicles belonging to light, medium and heavy category including logistics, tactical, armoured and specialist low maintenance vehicles. Tata Motors has been exporting its rugged defence vehicles to the SAARC, ASEAN and African regions as well. It also supplies these machines to the UN for peacekeeping missions.

Source: CarDekho

The Jammu and Kashmir cabinet, presided by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Friday appointed Bharat Bhushan Vyas, an IAS officer of the 1986 batch, as the new Chief Secretary of the state.

Vyas replaces incumbent BR Sharma, who has been appointed as an advisor to the government.

Vyas was presently the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister. He has also served as Principal Secretary to two earlier Chief Ministers.

The cabinet also shifted over a dozen senior IAS and state administrative cadre officers.

(With inputs from agencies)

The Unicef on Wednesday ensured to work positively with India to end the immunity gaps in every corners of the country and help the children under-five living below poverty line to lead a healthy and carefree life ahead.

“The UNICEF is committed to working together with the Government of India and other development partners, to ensure that we close the immunity gaps in every state, in every district and in every community, so that all boys and girls are protected life-long  from measles, rubella, and other vaccine preventable diseases,” Louis-Georges Arsenault, UNICEF India Representative said.

The under-five mortality rate in India stands at 1.11 million deaths per year. Pneumonia accounted for 13 per cent deaths, while diarrhea contributed to approximately 10 per cent deaths under five-year olds due to lack of proper vaccination.

India is currently working with UNICEF to collectively help in addressing maternal and child health.

“The Government of India has demonstrated strong and effective leadership in mobilizing partners for collectively addressing maternal and child health," UNICEF said.

Around 10 million children in India miss out full vaccinations every year. Due to the prevalence of weak health systems, poverty and social inequalities in India, large number of children under five are not able to receive life saving vaccines.

“Overcrowding, poverty, poor hygiene and sanitation as well as inadequate nutrition and health care increase the risk of diseases such as pneumonia, diarrhea and measles in these communities; diseases that are easily preventable with vaccines,” Dr Robin Nandy, Chief of Immunization at UNICEF headquarters in New York, said.

Actress Priyanka Chopra has been juggling between Indian and American characters for a while now. The National Film Award winner says that whenever she gets emotional or angry, she becomes ‘desi and her 'desi' accent comes out.

The Fashion star has stepped into shoes of characters like Alex Parrish of the American series Quantico and Victoria Leeds of Hollywood film Baywatch. Does her personality get influenced by the on screen characters?

"I am doing this all the time. Imagine, I was shooting for Bajirao Mastani during the first season of ‘Quantico'. But I think it is the other way round. At times Alex gets affected by Priyanka, the personality," Priyanka told IANS in an interview. 

"There are some (long working) days when maybe… I am saying a dialogue (of Alex) in my way with an Indian accent. And then my dialect coach would come and remind me that I have to maintain Alex, an American girl. You know, whenever I get emotional or angry, I suddenly become ‘desi' and my desi accent comes out," she added. 

The Padma Shri awardee believes that no matter how much she travels across the globe, she will remain an Indian by heart who wants to create and explore the diversity of our culture.

And she is doing it. Marathi film "Ventilator", produced by her, won three National Films Awards this year. 

Apart from "Ventilator", she has shown interest in producing regional films in languages like Bengali, Punjabi and Bhojpuri.

Asked how she finds a script to invest in, Priyanka said: "I choose a script like an audience. But culturally, the process is quite interesting."

"I get a translated script. Language is no barrier. But there are certain differences in the society based on regional culture. And it is very interesting to understand that closely. 

"As a producer, I try to put a cultural light on the region while making a film," said the former Miss World, whose father served the Indian Army. 

During her early days, Priyanka, who was born in Jharkhand, not only travelled across India but also to international places like Massachusetts and New York in the US. 

Now that she is working in the American entertainment industry, did that childhood exposure help?

"Since I was living there at a very impressionable age, which was my teenage, I was well versed with the culture. As a kid, I was very musical. So, I used to listen to a lot of American music. I still do. But I was not exposed to their entertainment industry," she said.

Soon, she will be seen playing the antagonist – Victoria Leeds in the forthcoming Hollywood film "Baywatch", which also stars Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron. 

Asked about the universal appeal and how relatable the character is, she said: "We have not established where Victoria is from. So that is very ambiguous. There is a scene that unveils a little back story of the character where how she faced gender discrimination as a child and later became rich and powerful out of that angst."

So, is she from India?

"Well, such situations ‘also' happen in the Indian society, but the story does not say that she is an Indian. I am not giving away much about the character," she signed off.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that the winds of change were blowing towards the hills of Himachal Pradesh from Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

“Whenever, it rained or snowed in HP, we used to feel cold in Gujarat. But the times have changed. The winds are now blowing in Himachal from other states. Even Delhi’s fresh air is coming here,” Modi said, seeking support for the ‘honest effort’ that his government is making in the country.  

Addressing the ‘Parivartan’ rally of BJP on the historic Ridge after the launch of Udan at Jubbarhatti airport, the Prime Minister blew the poll bugle in HP with elections due by the year end. He indirectly hit out at chief minister, Virbhadra Singh and said, “Perhaps, there is one chief minister who has to spend more time with the lawyers. People here should resolve to bring the era of honesty in Himachal.”

Party men turned out for PM’s rally in large numbers from the state despite rain. Their enthusiasm was such that they kept sitting with umbrellas open on the wet chairs in the midst of intermittent rain.

The weather cleared as Modi arrived on the Ridge. Elated over the response, Modi was quick to give personal touch by going down the memory lane. “I used to sit in the Indian coffee house on the Mall in the evening when I was the party incharge for Himachal… I remember, when Atal Bihari Vajpayee addressed a rally here being PM then, I had spoken as a worker. I am speaking to you again from the same stage after so many years.”

“Mainey aapka namak khaya hai…(I am indebted to you) I am ready for any help and am committed to take HP to the mainstream. It’s up to you, how you take advantage of me,” he said.

In his 40 minute speech, Modi did not make any specific announcement for Himachal Pradesh, but said his government was always with the state.  

He advocated promotion of tourism in HP, which he said, involved more avenues for employment. He said the centre had focused on road networking and air connectivity in state for tourism promotion. “We are talking with companies making aerated drinks that they should at least put five per cent fresh fruit juice in them. The apple growers of Himachal can find a market for their produce this way also,” he said.

Eying HP as a constituency with large number of ex-servicemen, he claimed his government had implemented One Rank and One Pension. “The issue was being handled lightly all these years. The previous government kept Rs 500 crores for it. The amount actually came out to be Rs 15,000 crore and we have met the commitment,” he said.

Earlier, Union health minister, JP Nadda, leader of opposition, PK Dhumal and state BJP chief, Satpal Singh Satti talked about central projects for HP in Modi government.

Probe into Samajwadi Pension Yojna, the dream program of the Akhilesh government would start shortly in the district.

A team of officials has been constituted which would carry out a probe and than submit the report to the district magistrate who would forward it to the government for further action.

A team of 100 officials has been constituted which would probe the Samajwadi Pension Yojna. A plan is being chalked out to start the probe and in the next two days the teams would visit 12 blocks and  482 gram panchayats and investigate the genuinity of the pension that was awarded by the SP government.

The team members would visit the house of the beneficiaries and find out that whether the deserving have been getting the pension or not.

In 2014, the Akhilesh government had introduced Samajwadi pension under which poor women would get Rs.500 pension per month and the payments were being made on quarterly basis. This was the dream program of the SP government which was aimed to woo poor women. Bollywood star Vidhya Balan was made brand ambassador of this scheme.

Lakhs of women across the state have been benefiting this scheme and in Meerut alone 67,502 women were given the pension. But on coming to power in the second cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordered for the probe into the matter and directed all district magistrates to collect the data of all the beneficiaries after door-to-door survey. It was cleared by the chief minister that only after having complete details of the beneficiaries and satisfying with their genuinity they will continue getting the pension.

In his statement to media, DM Sameer Verma confirmed that the government has given orders of the probe in the Samajwadi Pension Yojna. For this, a team of officials has been constituted which will soon come into action. On completion of the probe, the report would be forwarded to the government, he said, adding that the only purpose is that the right person should get the benefits .

The probe teams have prepared a questionnaire and will fill on collecting information from each beneficiary. On completion of this survey a list would be prepared and a report submitted to the DM. 

Taking note of the frequent stone pelting instances in the Kashmir valley, the Supreme Court on Friday said it will ask the government to not use pellet guns on the protesters if there was no violence and students return to their classes.

Asking leaders of the J-K Bar Association to come forward with positive suggestions to diffuse the situation, Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar, Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said in such a situation they would ask the government not to use pellet guns. 

"If you suggest something within the framework of Constitution, we will assure you there will be a dialogue," the Chief Justice said. 

Giving time to the Bar Association to come up with suggestions, the court said: "You must first tell us what you will do. Then we will direct the government. If you keep throwing stones, how will it work?" 

Taking exception to the affidavit filed by the Bar Association, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi said they were even doubting the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India. 

(With inputs from agencies)

L'oreal Paris brand ambassadors Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor, Deepika Padukone will be joining their international counterparts Julianne Moore, Eva Longoria at the 70th Festival De Cannes, taking place in May.

L'Oréal Paris celebrates 20 years of partnering with the prestigious Film Festival as it's Official Makeup brand and for Cannes 2017, the brand's iconic ambassadors and many others will be seen joining in the festivities on the French Riviera in May this year.

They will showcase the transformational power of make-up and a kaleidoscope of styles.

Also this will be Deepika's first year representing L'Oréal Paris as an ambassador at Cannes.

Known as the red carpet expert, L'Oréal Paris has introduced many beauty trends at this glittering festival and this year for Cannes 2017, the brand plans to looks created with their exclusive collection of products – "The L'Oréal Paris Cannes Collection 2017".

"We're happy to announce that Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Deepika Padukone and Sonam Kapoor will be representing L'Oréal Paris and India at the Cannes Film Festival this year. This year is very special to us as L'Oréal Paris celebrates two decades of being the official makeup partner for Cannes.

"This year the brand is not only introducing an innovative and phenomenal collection of products but plans to bring Cannes closer to our consumers through the hottest new makeup and fashion trends, and also giving them a unique experience of #LifeatCannes," Raagjeet Garg, General Manager, L'Oréal Paris said in a statement.

The Cannes Film Festival is set to commence on May 17 and will conclude on May 28.

Honda has made the world premiere of the India-bound fifth-generation CR-V's hybrid version at the 2017 Auto Shanghai. The new CR-V made its global debut in America last October.

Honda has confirmed that the CR-V Hybrid will go on sale in China later this year. Though no affirmation from Honda has come as of now, it is reportedly a global model. Also, the Honda CR-V, for the first time, gets an electrified powertrain.

CR-V Hybrid looks identical to its regular version, except for the ‘Hybrid’ badge on the front fenders. Honda has not revealed its specs as of now, but confirms that it is powered by Honda’s Sport Hybrid i-MMD (Intelligent Multi-Mode Drive) two-motor hybrid system.

This powertrain made its debut with the ninth-generation Accord Hybrid facelift, which is also available in India. The petrol-electric powertrain (2.0-litre Atkinson cycle engine coupled with two electric motors) in the Accord puts out 215PS of max power and returns a certified fuel efficiency of 23.1kmpl.

Will It Be Offered In India?

Though we get the current Honda Accord Hybrid in the country, the CR-V Hybrid is unlikely to make its debut in the country. However, the regular CR-V is India bound, and it is expected to make its debut here at the 2018 Indian Auto Expo. It will be locally assembled in the country like the outgoing version.

On the other hand, has confirmed the launch of the X-Trail (a CR-V rival) hybrid in India. But it will be imported as CBU (completely build units) and is expected to be relatively pricey.

The Honda Accord also has the same story, being a CBU import from Thailand. If Honda ever decides to launch the CR-V Hybrid here, it will be no different than the rest two mentioned here. Also, there will be a huge price difference between the regular and the hybrid version – like what had happened between with the Civic and its hybrid version in India – unless it is locally manufactured like the Toyota Camry Hybrid.

Source: CarDekho

Four persons were arrested and one injured during a counter terrorism operation in London and Kent in England, the Metropolitan Police said on Friday.

Officers said the operation on Thursday night was not related to an arrest earlier in the day in Westminster when a man was detained on suspicion of terror offences after being caught carrying several knives in his bag, Efe news reported.

During the operation, a woman in her 20s was shot by police officers after they entered a house on Harlesden Road in Willesden, northwest London.

The woman – whose identity and nationality were not disclosed – was taken to hospital and remains in serious but stable condition, the police said.

Two men, aged 20 and 16, and a woman, 20, were arrested in Willesden, while a woman, 43, was arrested in Kent.

Scotland Yard said that all have been arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation and instigation of terrorist acts.

The man, 27, arrested near parliament on Thursday on suspicion of terror offences, remains detained "on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon and on suspicion of the commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism".

President Donald Trump has done more than many former US presidents in his first 100 days in the office, a top Indian-American White House official has said.

“I think we've had a bold and big first 100 days,” Raj Shah, who occupies the powerful position of Deputy Communications Director and Research Director at the White House said.

“On the national security front — the actions in Syria, some of the actions both at the UN and elsewhere, regarding Russia, North Korea — I think have shown some good deal of success,” he said ahead of Trump completing his first 100 days in his office tomorrow.

Shah, 32, is one of the few handful of Trump's aides who landed in the White House within hours of him being sworn in as the 45th President of the US.

“The President on legislation, on executive orders, has done more in terms of a numerical value than many previous presidents, any president since World War II. We're proud of that,” he said.

Shah said the Trump Administration has made tremendous amount of progress.

“The summit in Mar-a-Lago with Chinese President Xi Jinping was by all accounts very well put together, made a lot of progress on a host of issues. A little bit more recently, but we've seen a lot of action on trade now,” Shah said while referring to the series of executive orders that Trump.

“We started off early, withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, now we're taking the conversations regarding trade with Canada and some of the actions by the Commerce Department and the ITA involving soft wood lumbering ports, so the conversations with the president of Mexico and the prime minister of Canada involved with bilateral trade and NAFTA overall have yielded, I think, some good results,” he said.

Shah said the President made significant progress on NATO front too.

The President brings this up in all his bilateral discussions with NATO member states, which is NATO members paying their kind of agreed upon percentages of their GDP into defence, and building up their defenses so that way common defence is stronger, he said.

“We, again, achieved results on that front. I think on a whole host of areas, there's obviously tons to do and a lot more of an agenda to roll through, but I think we've had a tremendous amount of progress in the first 100 days,” Shah said.
He said a lot of Trump's “big agenda items” that he campaigned has seen significant progress.

“For example, he campaigned on tackling illegal immigration. We've seen a dramatic drop in border crossings on southwest border, and we've seen the beginning steps and this is a long process and involves appropriations and building, and other pieces, but the first steps in the border wall construction,” Shah said.

He said the Trump administration cracked down on sanctuary cities.

“The skinny budget blueprint had cuts in domestic spending, while increasing spending on the military and national security and interior security,” he said.

“We saw big achievements, on the economy. For example, the energy sector through a series of executive actions and orders. Some involved Keystone XL pipeline, Dakota Access pipeline. Some involved the regulatory burden that energy companies face,” Shah said.

The extreme protection rule that the Obama administration had passed, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations that they had implemented, lifting them off, creating new guidelines for exploration for oil gas on federal lands, he said.

He said the trade is a growing piece of the agenda, in which the US is going to enforce trade agreements, pursue its rights when other countries are not abiding by standards and norms that they should be on international trade, he said.

“On the legislative front (I) won't sugarcoat that we've had some setbacks on healthcare, but we do remain hopeful that we're going to see a significant amount of progress. If you look at it historically, President Obama had the stimulus that he signed in the first 100 days, but that was a bill that responded to an economic crisis that was being negotiated all before he even took office,” he noted.

“If you go back before that, President Bush did not sign his tax cuts until the summer of 2001, didn't sign No Child Left Behind until 2002. If you go back to president Clinton, NAFTA, other bills that he signed his first term not signed until certainly later in the process,” Shah said.

Shah said the Trump administration have a big agenda on healthcare, big agenda items with tax reform that was laid out, principles, at least, were laid out this week, both on the economy and healthcare and then infrastructure and other pieces that we want to look forward to.