The rupee gained 13 paise to trade at fresh 21-month high of 63.98 against the Dollar in early trade on Thursday at the Interbank Foreign Exchange amid sustained selling of the greenback by exporters and banks.

Forex dealers said that apart from weakness in the Dollar against other currencies overseas, robust foreign fund inflows supported the Rupee but weakness in domestic equities in early trade capped the gains.

On April 26, in line with a spectacular rally in equities, the Rupee had surged by 15 paise to close at a near 21-month high of 64.11, energised by positive global cues.

This was the highest closing for the rupee since August 2015.

Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex fell hy 32.44 points, or 0.11 per cent, to quote at 30,100.91 in early trade on Thursday.

Twitter's decision to block the British police and intelligence agencies from accessing data to identify terrorist plots has evoked criticism from the government.

To ensure that its data is not used for surveillance, the micro-blogging site blocked the access to key streams of information on April 25 that is used by police and M15 to identify potential threats. 

"We are protesting this decision. We are in talks with Twitter on getting access to this data," The Telegraph quoted a spokesman for British Prime Minister Theresa May, as saying. 

The spokesman also called for other social media companies to be a part of government's fight against terrorism.

According to reports, government had paid a third-party company for a service that tracked terms related to potential terror attacks — before this was blocked by Twitter cutting off access to its API.

This is not, however, for the first time that Twitter has taken a tough stance against a government's surveillance plan using social media data. 

In December 2016, the social media site blocked US law enforcement agencies from accessing real-time data through a deal with Dataminr. This decision by Twitter has come after a tremendous pressure from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

"We prohibit developers using the Public APIs and Gnip data products from allowing law enforcement – or any other entity – to use Twitter data for surveillance purposes. Period," Twitter had said in a blog post then.

Discussions are currently ongoing between the British government and Twitter to resolve the issue. It is believed that the data being requested would be anonymised.
 

Feminist drama Lipstick Under My Burkha is cleared for a theatrical release in India after the country's Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT), decided that the film can be issued an adult certificate, equivalent to an NC-17 rating.

At a press conference on Wednesday, producer of the film Prakash Jha was asked to comment on their victory. "I am very happy for the film, after our battle with censorship, Lipstick Under My Burkha cleared with A certificate and will be released soon," Jha said.

"I really laughed when I heard the CBFC (Central Board of Film Certification) decision and the way they had interpreted the whole film. It was ridiculous to interpret a story like that. Our society and all other societies have stereotyped women's existence. Women should look, think, behave, dream or do anything in a particular way which is entirely male oriented. They (women) will be part of our life but the way we (men) want them to be. Women cannot think, dream or talk about their career or satisfaction," the Rajneeti helmer said.

"Our film was a simple story of four women in a very normal, funny conversation talking about their dreams, aspirations, bodies, sexuality, career and then what happened? A male gazing mind oriented CBFC gets scared about how a women can talk about themselves and think. But I was confident that if its presented properly and a set of people look at it with a rational point of view, it will be understood. And that's what happened," he added.

"FCAT order talks about the relevance and importance of the film. Nothing has been asked from the film to be deleted except 10 seconds here or there. Otherwise its a completely reverse decision of CBFC observation and one is happy and confident that you can talk or speak and make such films."

When asked how much hope he had that their film will be released in India, Jha said, "I am never dependent on hopes. I always depend on beliefs. I believed that we will succeed and we did. Next week, we'll announce the release date."

The film's director Alankrita Shrivastava said: "We submitted the same film to both the certification bodies. We did exactly what they wanted. In fact, we just reduced some sexually intimate scenes by few seconds."

"CBFC never asked for any cuts, they just refused to certify the film. But we are happy that we got so much of support for our film from women of India," she added.

European Union (EU)-funded International Urban Cooperation programme (IUC) was officially launched in India on April 26.

According to a statement from the EU, IUC will consolidate city-to-city pairing cooperation among Indian and EU cities which will work together to develop Local Action Plans in urban sustainable development including addressing the challenges emerging from the climate change.

Speaking at the launch, Ambassador of the EU to India, Tomasz Kozlowski said: "The EU is already partnering with India on concrete initiatives on the ground related to offshore wind development, solar parks and solar roof-tops, energy efficiency and smart grids."

"The EU together with the 28 European Member States are committed to be a credible long term partner for India to work on a clean energy future, to implement climate commitments, and to support India's urban transformation," he added.

With the launch of the programme India and European cities can apply to the programme and the selected cities will be paired to work together on development plans.

The European Investment Bank has provided loans and credit lines for more than Euro 1.5 billion to support energy and climate related projects in India. 

The programme will provide technical and operational support to Indian cities for adaptations needed to mitigate the impact of climate change. 

The programme is a part of the global IUC programme which is currently operating in South East Asia, Japan, North America and Latin America, will run in India until November 2019.

IUC will coordinate with government initiatives such as the AMRUT Mission as well as the 100 Smart Cities Mission.

The programme operates in the framework of the Paris Agreement for Climate Action, and the UN Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development Goals. 

NASA's Dawn spacecraft encountered a glitch while preparing for its scheduled observation of Ceres on April 29 from an "opposition" position, directly between the dwarf planet's mysterious Occator Crater and the sun.

The malfunction will not significantly impact Dawn's rest of the extended mission, NASA said in a statement on Wednesday.

One of Dawn's two remaining reaction wheels stopped functioning on April 23. By electrically changing the speed at which these gyroscope-like devices spin, Dawn controls its orientation in the zero-gravity, frictionless conditions of space.

The team discovered the situation during a scheduled communications session on April 24, diagnosed the problem, and returned the spacecraft to its standard flight configuration, still with hydrazine control, on April 25. 

The failure occurred after Dawn completed its five-hour segment of ion thrusting on April 22 to adjust its orbit, but before the shorter manoeuvre scheduled for April 23-24. The orbit will still allow Dawn to perform its opposition measurements. 

The spacecraft is outfitted with four reaction wheels. It experienced failures of one of the wheels in 2010, a year before it entered orbit around Vesta, and another in 2012, as it was completing its exploration of that fascinating world. 

When a third reaction wheel stopped working this week, the spacecraft correctly responded by entering one of its safe modes and assigning control of its orientation to its hydrazine thrusters. 

The reaction wheel's malfunctioning will not significantly impact the rest of the extended mission at Ceres, according to NASA.

Dawn, launched in 2007, completed its prime mission in June 2016, and is now in an extended mission. It has been studying Ceres for more than two years, and before that, the spacecraft orbited giant asteroid Vesta, sending back valuable data and images.

The Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) has apprehended 23 Indian fishermen and seized their four boats off the Gujarat coast, according to an official of the National Fishworkers' Forum.

The fishermen had sailed from Porbandar a few days ago and were apprehended by the PMSA near the International Maritime Border Line (IMBL), Forum secretary Manish Lodhari told PTI.

"We have learnt that at least 23 fishermen on four boats were apprehended by the PMSA near Jakhau and they were being taken to Karachi," Lodhari said.

Porbandar-based National Fishworkers' Forum (NFF) is the only national federation of small and traditional fish workers unions in India.

On April 9, four PMSA commandos had drowned while two others were saved by Indian fishermen after a boat of the Pakistani agency capsized near the IMBL while allegedly trying to capture around 40 fishermen on seven boats in Indian waters.

The PMSA had later released the captured fishermen.

In an effort to contain growing unrest in the Valley, Jammu and Kashmir Police on Thursday morning arrested Asiya Andrabi, founder of the Dukhtaran-e-Millat, an Islamist separatist organisation, under the Public Safety Act.

She is alleged to be the main separatist leader inciting women in the valley to pelt stones at security forces and disrupt normal life.

Earlier in 2015, the Jammu and Kashmir Police had arrested Andrabi from her residence in Soura in connection with two cases registered against her.

Andrabi was also arrested under Public Safety Act in October last year for instigating violence in the Valley.

(With inputs from agencies)

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered for better public facilities including approach roads, toilets, rest houses, places to sit and drinking water, an official said on Thursday.

Adityanath stressed on restarting the traditional and world famous Ram Leela that was enacted in Ayodhya for several decades but was abruptly ended some years back.

Similarly, Bhajan Sandhya program at Chitrakoot and Raas Leela at Mathura should also be run in the best possible manner, the Chief Minister said at a meeting late on Wednesday evening. 

He has also asked officials of the Religious Affairs Department to ensure that approach roads to all Hindu religious places be constructed along with boundary walls to ensure their safety.

Setting a deadline of June 2018 for completion of the Rs 14.77 crore Bhajan Sandhya venue in Ayodhya, Yogi said it should be ensured that such places were well maintained and construction was done according to the best quality standards.

He also asked the time line of June 2018 to be met for the Rs 13.75 crore Bhajan Sandhya and Parikrama venue at Chitrakoot.

The monk-turned-politician, aside from showing interest in the above mentioned projects, has also called for construction of four-lane roads, public utility facilities like toilets, rest houses, places to sit and drinking water at major religious tourist spots in the state. 

Adityanath also called for restoration and beautification of ponds at these religious sites and immediate development of public facilities at the Brij Chaurasi Kosi Parikrama route.

Instructions have also been issued, an official told IANS, to start e-pooja and e-donation facilities at the famous Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi, the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

Orders have also been issued for launching of a portal for online applications for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra and the Sindhu pilgrimage undertaken by the Sindhi community.
 

Reality TV star Kylie Jenner was spotted with her rumoured love interest and rapper Travis Scott for the first time at an NBA game following her split from rapper Tyga.

Kylie and Scott were photographed at an NBA game here on Tuesday where they were caught getting cosy with each other, reports dailymail.co.uk. 

The pair sat courtside during Game Five of the Western Conference Quarterfinals game of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Toyota Center.

Kylie, 19, donned a rust-coloured T-shirt with loose-fitting ripped jeans and black trainers. 

Scott, 24, was seen wearing a plaid shirt with trousers, teamed with blue Nike trainers.

Kylie supported Scott at the sporting event, where he performed before play-off. 

"During his performance, Kylie was hiding in the Rockets' courtside club anxiously waiting for him to come back to her. Once he got back, they definitely looked like a couple, cuddled up next to each other among her friends," a source said.

President Donald Trump has told the leaders of Mexico and Canada that that he would not immediately move to terminate the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta), the White House said.

This came on Wednesday just hours after administration officials said Trump was likely to sign an order pulling the US out of the deal, the New York Times reported.

The White House described the evening phone calls with President Enrique Pena Nieto of Mexico and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada as "pleasant and productive".

Trump told both that he would quickly start the process of renegotiating Nafta – not abandon it, as he promised during the 2016 presidential campaign, 

"It is my privilege to bring Nafta up-to-date through renegotiation," Trump said in a statement issued by the White House at 10.33 p.m. 

"I believe that the end result will make all three countries stronger and better."

The announcement that came in a read-out appeared to be an example of Trump's deal-making in real time, the New York Times report said. 

It followed a day in which officials signalled that he was laying the groundwork to pull out of Nafta – a move intended to increase pressure on Congress to authorise new negotiations, and on Canada and Mexico to accede to American demands.

The relations between Russia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are at their lowest level since the end of the Cold War, but Moscow is ready to repair them, a military official said.

"We are open to the resumption of a full-scale dialogue and interaction with NATO. The main thing is that this process should take place on an equal, trusting and constructive basis," Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov said at the Sixth Moscow Conference on International Security, here on Wednesday.

He said NATO accuses Russia of being the main source of military threats, while the alliance itself is increasing the scale of military activities in countries near Russia, Xinhua news agency reported.

NATO's eastward expansion and deployment of a missile defense system in Europe break the balance of power in the region and increase the risk of military incidents, Gerasimov said.

To make it worse, the European countries are furnishing Kiev with military assistance, provoking it to continue armed confrontation in southeastern Ukraine, the Russian General said.

"The trust between Russia and the West is catastrophically decreasing as a result," Gerasimov said.

In his view, the lack of close cooperation between Russia and the West on anti-terrorism creates favorable conditions for the Islamic State.

A new and mutually beneficial system for European security can be formed only through joint efforts with the participation of all European states, Gerasimov said.
 

A Delhi Police team probing the Election Commission bribery case will on Thursday travel to Tamil Nadu with arrested AIADMK (Amma) leader TTV Dinakaran and his aide to gather details about “illegal channels” used for transferring money from Chennai to Delhi.

The Crime Branch team will leave for Chennai along with Dinakaran and Mallikarjuna. The police had secured warrants from a city court to search the Chennai residents of Dinakaran and Mallikarjuna as part of its probe.

Police will also be confronting Dinakaran and Mallikarjuna along with the arrested middleman, Sukesh Chandrasekar, to get the details of the money trail and the phone conversations between them.

In Chennai, police will try to recover the mobile phones through which Dinakaran used to communicate with Chandrasekar.

Dinakaran was arrested on Tuesday night following four days of questioning for allegedly attempting to bribe an unidentified Election Commission official to get the undivided AIADMK's 'two leaves' election symbol for his faction.

Police had earlier said Chandrasekar had struck a deal for Rs 50 crore to help the AIADMK faction keep the 'two leaves' symbol. He had Rs 1.30 crore in cash in his possession when he was arrested from a five-star hotel in Delhi on April 16.

Dinakaran was arrested for allegedly arranging the amount from undisclosed sources and getting it transferred from Chennai to Delhi through illegal channels, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Madhur Verma.

Mallikarjuna was arrested for allegedly helping Dhinakaran transfer this money from Chennai to Delhi, he said.

The police are verifying whether Chandrasekar had approached any Election Commission official for getting a favourable verdict for Dinakaran's faction.

The AIADMK (Amma) leader had come under the scanner of the police following Chandrasekar's arrest.

Dinakaran, who was appointed deputy general secretary by AIADMK chief V K Sasikala, has been isolated in his party amid moves to merge rival factions led by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E K Palaniswami and his predecessor O Panneerselvam.

A powerful section of the ruling AIADMK (Amma) recently revolted against the Sasikala-Dinakaran leadership. The development came after Panneerselvam, who is leading the rival faction, demanded the ouster of Sasikala and Dinakaran as a condition for merger talks.

An unarmed intercontinental ballistic missile was launched during an operational test from an air base in the state of California, amid growing tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

The Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile equipped with a single test re-entry vehicle was launched at 12.03 a.m. (local time) on Wednesday by a combined team of US Air Force Global Strike Command Airmen. By all accounts the launch was a success, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to US Air Force, the ICBM's re-entry vehicle, which contained a telemetry package used for operational testing, travelled to the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, approximately 4,200 miles away from the launch site.

The ICBM test launch program demonstrates the operational credibility of the Minuteman III and ensures the US's ability to maintain a strong, credible nuclear deterrent as a key element of national security and the security of allies and partners.

The Minuteman III is one of three legs of the US nuclear triad, which is also comprised of strategic bombers such as the B-52 Stratofortress and B-2 Spirit, as well as submarine launched ballistic missions, provided by Navy submarines.

Though US Air Force Global Strike Command routinely conducts ICBM test launches from Vandenberg, the latest is still a great concern amid heightened tensions between the United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Vandenberg will be one of two bases in the US to conduct a large-scale test in May.
 

An e-petition demanding that Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar facilitate the entry of Ola and Uber cab services in Goa, one of the top tourism destinations in the country, has gone viral.

Tired of Goa's taxi mafia, an NRI of Goan origin Mahesh Sardesai has started the petition which has been signed by 3,839 supporters in a matter of a few hours.

The Canada-based techie in his petition has petitioned Parrikar, to allow Ola and Uber services in Goa to boost the coastal state's tourism economy, which Sardesai says is being choked by high-priced taxi services, scruffy taxi drivers, boost employment and ease traffic congestion.

"Tourism is the backbone of Goa's economy and tourists across the world and India are used to services like Ola and Uber, it's time to allow them to operate in Goa. Goan taxi drivers never use the taxi meters required by law and charge exorbitant rates for their services," Sardesai said in his petition uploaded on change.org. 

A section of of Goa's 7,000 odd tourist taxis and the drivers who man them, have often been accused of over-charging, intimidating and operating in an unregulated environment.

Several attempts by the state government to install and implement a fare-meter system have failed, even as members of taxi lobby have also attacked tour coach buses ferrying foreign tourists, accusing tour operators of depriving them of business.

Some years back, a flare-up between a Russian travel operator and a local taxi owner resulted in the murder of the latter, sparking hostilities between locals and Russian tourists, who account for a large chunk of the half million foreign tourists who visit the state every year.

Ola taxi services were introduced in Goa in 2014, but were soon stopped by the state transport department following protests by local taxi operators.

Sardesai now wants Parrikar and elected representatives not to succumb to pressure from the taxi operator lobby this time round.

"We request that our elected representatives provide improved alternative which encourages innovation and competition instead of our broken taxi system and not to give in to the voice of taxi thugs looting tourists and Goans," the petition states.

The petition has found support from denizens of Goa as well as NRIs, tourists and even from the student community in Goa.

"I am a student of BITS (Birla Institute of Technology and Science) Goa. We end up paying unreasonable prices even while travelling short distances. And because they have a monopoly we are left with no option. Competition will only benefit the common citizen," says Khyati Jain.

"Time to end the private taxi monopoly plaguing Goa! It's just ridiculous that the goverment is still putting up with this system in Goa and leaving people with no choice at all," says Delano Furtado, a Mumbai-based lawyer.

Goa is a major beach tourism destination in the country and attracts over four million tourists every year.

Two days after visuals of Kashmiri school girls pelting stone on the army went viral, the Jammu and Kashmir Police on Thursday arrested separatist leader Asiya Andrabi under the Public Safety Act.

Accused of inciting women in the valley to attack security forces, Andrabi was arrested early morning from her residence, sources said.

She is alleged to be responsible for many protests against the police and army which involved stone-pelting and disruption of normal life.

(With inputs from agencies)

US President Donald Trump's administration unveiled the principles of the long-awaited tax reform plan that will significantly cut income taxes for Americans and corporates, media reports said.

"The plan would reduce the number of personal income tax brackets to three from seven, and it would cut the top individual income tax rate to 35 per cent from 39.6 per cent," Xinhua news agency quoted Director of the White House National Economic Council (NEC) Gary Cohn as saying on Wednesday.

At the same time, the plan would cut the corporate income tax rate to 15 per cent from 35 per cent, and it would also impose a one-time tax on overseas profits of US companies, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said.

That "will bring back trillions of dollars that are offshore to be invested here in the United States, to purchase capital and to create jobs," he said.

The plan would also eliminate all tax deductions for individuals except from mortgage interests and charitable tax deductions, according to Mnuchin.

"We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to do something really big," Cohn said, noting President Donald Trump has made tax reform a priority and the Republican-controlled Congress also wants to get it done.

However, it's still unclear whether the plan, what US officials called the "biggest tax cut" in history, would be revenue-neutral or would significantly increase fiscal deficits.

Mnuchin has repeatedly argued that the administration would count on the compounding effect of strong economic growth over the next decade to finance the tax cuts.

"This will pay for itself with growth and with reduction of different deductions and closing loopholes," he said.

However, many economists are skeptical about that argument, as the US economic growth will average about only 1.9 per cent over the next ten years, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

The details of a complete tax proposal probably won't be ready until June, According to Mick Mulvaney, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget.

Despite weak Asian equity markets, domestic benchmark indices held previous gains and traded flat in the early morning on Thursday. At 9.45 am, the Sensex was trading 15 points or 0.05 per cent down at 30,118 while the Nifty50 was trading two points or 0.02 per cent lower at 9,350.

However, broader markets registered gains, BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap indices rose 0.2 per cent and 0.2 per cent respectively.

Among the BSE sectoral indices, Consumer Durables index registered the biggest gain with a jump of 1 per cent while Telecom index became the top loser with a dip of 0.4 per cent.

On Wednesday the benchmark indices had closed at record highs. The BSE Sensex had ended 190 points or 0.63 per cent up at 30,135 while the NSE Nifty had closed 45 points or 0.49 per cent higher at 9,352.

Top gainers in the Sensex-30 pack: Tata Motors (up 1.5 per cent), Cipla (up 1.1 per cent), Hero Motocorp (up 1.1 per cent), Infosys (up 0.9 per cent) and Adani Ports (up 0.7 per cent).

Top losers in the Sensex-30 pack: Axis Bank (down 1.6 per cent), Lupin (down 1.2 per cent), ICICI Bank (down 1 per cent), Bharti Airtel (down 0.7 per cent) and Asian Paints (down 0.7 per cent).

Meanwhile, the Rupee was trading three paise higher at 63.99 against the US Dollar.