The Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education (HPBoSE) on Tuesday declared the Class XII examination with an overall pass percentage of 72.89 per cent. The pass percentage has declined by 5.73 per cent compared with results last year.

While boys have dominated the science merit list 2017, girls have outshone them in the arts and commerce stream.

Secretary with the Board, Vishal Sharma said a total of 1,02,075 students appeared in the examinations of which 73,948 passed, while 15,886 candidates got compartment. 

Sharma said the HPBoSE is the first Board in the country to declare Class XII result in a record time of 25 days. 

The examinations were conducted from March 3 to 29 in 1,846 centers across the state. 

The HPBoSE 2017 was forced to reschedule the exams of Physics and Computer Science after the question papers were stolen from a center in Kinnaur district. 

In the science stream, Ritik Kandoria of CRC Government School Rehan in Kangra district topped the science stream by scoring 98.4 per cent. Nikhil Kumar of Gurukul Public School Hamirpur (97.8 per cent). In arts stream, Neha of Government School Drang grabbed the top spot scoring 95.20 per cent, while Bushra of Government School Nahan (95 per cent) finished second. 

Falguni Aggarwal of Career Academy School Nahan topped the commerce stream with 96.8 per cent, Priya Saini of DAV School Una on second position with 95.8 per cent.

Actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan, who has done two of his best films Swathi Muthayam and Sagar Sangamam with K. Vishwanath, says that the film industry won't produce another talent like the Dada Saheb Phalke award winner.

"In the future people might think that I am exaggerating out of nostalgia. So I put it on record ….It is going to be very difficult for the film industry to produce another talent like Mr. K. Vishwanath. 

"But try, we must. As it is the burden of that duty endowed upon us by masters like K. Viswanath. Bravo sir. The film Industry not only applauds but owns your laurels and you as theirs," he said.

Kamal was on the committee to select the filmmaker for the honour and he says he was delighted to be part of the honour. 

"It is only when one becomes a part of a committee selecting the recipient of such an honour like Dada Saheb award that you realise how abundantly rich in talent our Indian film industry is.

"We had many deserving names but four out of the five members in the committee unanimously came up with theirA number one choice as K. Vishwanath. The fourth also had Mr K. Vishwanath in her list but not as first choice," he said.

Kamal also feels that Viswanath was a natural choice for the honour. 

"In my view the choice was unanimous. The committee felt humbled. The proof of Mr. K.V's achievement was overwhelming. I am proud to be part of that committee which selected K.V. and also very proud to be part of the fraternity that has given us such a brilliant filmmaker. There isn't enough governmental or private honours in the country to honour the deserving of the Industry," he said.
 

In the wake of former India pacer Zaheer Khan announcing his engagement with Bollywood actress Sagarika Ghatge, social media was flooded with heart warming wishes from the fans of the star couple as well as luminaries from the cricket fraternity.

However, the episode brought back memories of the recent Snapchat-Snapdeal fiasco when confused users boycotted the e-commerce website, as they mixed up the names of both the companies.

Similarly, instead of tagging the 'Chak De! India' actress on Twitter, people started wishing journalist Sagarika Ghose, who is a mother of two.

Indian cricket coach Anil Kumble was the first to commit the blunder when he tweeted: “Congratulations, @ImZaheer and @sagarikaghose! Wishing you the very best.”

Although Kumble deleted the tweet as soon as he realised his mistake, Twitterati had already noticed the blunder with many of them taking screenshots of the tweet.

Even Delhi Daredevils, the IPL franchise which the 38-year-old bowler leads, made the same mistake as they tweeted: “Heartiest Congratulations to our #Dilliboy @ImZaheer & @sagarikaghose wishing this beautiful couple a spectacular life ahead.”

“Almost everybody has congratulated Sagarika Ghose for leaving Rajdeep but not many are realising the life threats for Zaheer khan,” an anonymous Twitter user Ankit Jain tweeted.

Earlier in the day, Zaheer had posted on Twitter: "Never laugh at your wife's choices. You are one of them. Partners for life!!! #engaged,” Zaheer wrote on his Twitter handle, while posing with his fiancée in a picture.

BJP president Amit Shah on Monday had lunch at the house of a tribal in Darjeeling district.

Shah sat on the floor of Raju Mahali's house at Dakkhin Katiajote village in Naxalbari area and had rice, moong dal, 'potol' fry, squash curry, salad and 'papad', served on a banana leaf.

BJP West Bengal unit president Dilip Ghosh accompanied Shah.

The BJP president is on a three-day tour of West Bengal.

A CBI court here on Tuesday sentenced underworld don Rajendra Sadashiv Nikhalje alias Chhota Rajan to seven years in jail for holding a fake passport.

It is the first case in which Rajan, who is facing nearly 85 cases, was found guilty.

Besides Chhota Rajan, others convicted by Central Bureau of Investigation Special Judge Virender Kumar Goyal are former passport officials Jayashree Dattatray Rahate, Deepak Natvarlal Shah and Lalitha Lakshmanan.

The investment information and credit rating agency, ICRA, in its report informed that new wind power capacity addition, in the 12-18 month, would depend on bidding route and the subsequent PPA signing by the state-owned distribution utilities or Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI).

The execution of the 1,000 MW wind power capacity awarded under New and Renewable Energy Ministry (MNRE) scheme in February 2017 would also support the capacity addition to some extent in FY 2018-2019, said ICRA report.

“The capacity addition in wind energy was much better than our expectations due to a bunching up of commissioning in March 2017. This was due to the removal of the generation-based incentive (GBI) benefit and reduction in accelerated depreciation (AD) benefit with effect from April 1, 2017,” said Sabyasachi Majumdar, Senior Vice President & Group Head, ICRA Ratings.

Recently, the government issued draft guidelines for competitive bidding for wind power projects. As per industry sources, the distribution utilities in states like Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Gujarat are evaluating the competitive bidding mechanism for awarding wind power projects in the near term.

Actor Saqib Saleem says he doesn't want to restrict himself and would like to explore other genres.

"The idea is not to get slotted because it is very easy to slot someone. If a person does similar roles in two films the audience would start saying that 'he does this only'. I don't want to restrict myself," Saqib said.

Saqib, who was last seen onscreen in Dishoom, says he just wants to go on the basis of content that is being offered to him.

"And if that is something that is exciting enough I'll do it. Whether it is action, comedy or romance I enjoy all genres…"he said.

The 29-year-old actor says he enjoys working on light hearted films. 

"There is no specific genre as such but yes I really enjoy doing films that are light hearted and funny rather than doing something mundane because it does take slight toll on you," he said. 

Saqib says he will stick to content, stories and characters in which he believes in. 

Saqib will soon be seen along with his actress sister Huma in Dobaraa, a remake of Hollywood movie Oculus — a supernatural psychological horror film which was directed by Mike Flanagan.
 

England have called up fit-again Mark Wood for the forthcoming Champions Trophy campaign, but his fellow pace bowler Steven Finn has been left out of the 15-man squad.

Wood has returned to fitness after being sidelined for several months following a third ankle operation.

The Durham seamer has done enough in the opening weeks of the season to persuade the England selectors he is ready for the tournament, which will be held in England and Wales in June.

England regard the eight-team event as a chance to land a first global 50-over trophy and Wood is a potentially key performer.

The 27-year-old last played for England in September and, although injury problems have restricted him to a modest 11 one-day caps since debuting in 2015, his pace and hostility mark him out as a compelling choice.

There are no real surprises in the squad, which will also take on South Africa in a three-match series before the Champions Trophy, but Finn might have hoped to oust one of Jake Ball or David Willey from the party.

The Middlesex man played all three matches in England's last 50-over series, against the West Indies but Willey offers variation as a left-armer and with Ball arguably a more consistent like-for-like option, there is no place for the paceman.

Instead, he is named in a modified 14-man squad to face Ireland in two one-day internationals in early May.

Liam Plunkett has yet to play this season due to a calf injury but he is closing in on a return and, with the International Cricket Council permitting changes up to May 24, he has been given the nod.

England's season will begin with the games against Ireland at Bristol and Lord's on May 5 and May 7, with Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes all excused as they continue their Indian Premier League adventure.

Captain Eoin Morgan, wicketkeeper-batsman Sam Billings and opener Jason Roy will report back from India for those games, with Finn and Northamptonshire batsman Ben Duckett selected as cover.

England squad for Champions Trophy and South Africa series: Eoin Morgan (Middlesex, capt), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Jake Ball (Nottinghamshire), Sam Billings (Kent), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire), Liam Plunkett (Yorkshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Ben Stokes (Durham), David Willey (Yorkshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), Mark Wood (Durham)     England squad for Ireland series: Eoin Morgan (Middlesex, capt), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Jake Ball (Nottinghamshire), Sam Billings (Kent), Ben Duckett (Northamptonshire), Steven Finn (Middlesex), Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire), Liam Plunkett (Yorkshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), David Willey (Yorkshire), Mark Wood (Durham).

Ed Sheeran’s latest album Divide has surpassed a million sales in the United Kingdom. And, he has been at the number one spot with single Shape of You for 13 weeks now. But, buzz is that the singer will quit music forever after he wraps up the Divide music tour.

Reports claimed that Sheeran wanted to take a back seat or could even quit music forever.

 “Ed has pretty much achieved everything there is to achieve in music. He absolutely loves what he does and is riding the wave of his success at the moment, but at the same time he wants a more normal life,” sources said.

However, Sheeran was flooded with tweets from fans and followers to which he responded with one tweet. “Das Bollocks,” he wrote.

Earlier in the weeks, the singer had expressed that becoming a dad would stop him from touring.

Actor Ben Affleck says he does not want to push his children into acting right now.
The 44-year-old actor says he would not want his kids to experience the "downside" of fame before they attain a suitable age, reported People magazine.

"I think it's a hard thing. I love being an actor, I got into it as a child and I wouldn't change that. But I also
wouldn't want to take my kids and push them out there before they were 18.
"If they are 18 and they want to make those choices and do that kind of thing, that's fine. But being a child actor, I just know too much of the downside of what that can be like," Affleck says.
The "Accountant" star has three children Violet, 11, Seraphina, eight, and Samuel, five, with estranged wife Jennifer Garner.
 

Actor-filmmaker Farhan Akhtar and celebrity hairstylist Adhuna Bhabani, who were married for 16 years, are now divorced.

Farhan, who officially announced their separation last year on social media, filed for divorce in October 2016 at the Bandra Family Court and waited for six months for the court order, said a source.

On Monday, they arrived at the court and their marriage ended legally with the ‘mutual' divorce granted by the court.

The former couple has two daughters Shakya and Akira.

Adhuna has got their custody and Farhan will have full access to them.

They got married in 2000 after dating for two years. 

Stepping up its attack on V K Sasikala, the AIADMK faction led by O Panneerselvam on Tuesday demanded that her portraits be removed from the party headquarters here.

"The portraits of Sasikala should be immediately removed from the party headquarters to uphold its sanctity," said E Madusudanan, the 'Presidium Chairman' of the faction in a statement.

The senior leader's demand came a day after his camp sought removal of Sasikala, her nephew and deputy T T V Dhinakaran and their family members from the AIADMK prior to merger talks with the other faction led by Chief Minister K Palaniswami.

The Panneerselvam camp had on Monday once again raised its demand for a CBI probe into the death of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday visited the family members of CRPF jawan KK Das, who was killed in the Chhattisgarh Maoist attack and said that the state government would give Rs.5 lakh to the family of the slain jawan, who hails from her home state.

"Of the 26 CRPF jawans killed in the attack, 3 hailed from West Bengal. Two were from Cooch Behar and another was from Nadia district," the West Bengal CM said.

"West Bengal government has decided to give Rs. 5 lakh to the families of the three slain jawans and will also provide jobs to them," she added.

KK Das was 27 years of age and was recently married.

Hundreds of Maoists on Monday massacred at least 26 CRPF personnel in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district in the bloodiest attack in the state since 2013.

Singer Mel B's estranged husband Stephen Belafonte has been granted monitored visitation with his daughter Madison.

Earlier this month, the producer filed for joint custody of the former couple's five-year-old daughter, Madison, as well as visitation rights with his step daughter, 10-year-old Angel, who is Mel B's child with actor Eddie Murphy. 

According to eonline.com, in court on Monday, the judge made a tentative ruling granting Belafonte visitation rights with respect to Madison. He was given eight hours of monitored visitation per week, which will be split into two four-hour visits. 

Both parties will have to choose and agree upon the dates and times of the monitored visits. 

"We are very grateful. We are happy," Belafonte's attorney Grace Jamra told eonline.com after the court ruling. 

"We hope this is the first in a long line of getting back more visitation." 

Mel B's attorney added: "If visitation were to be granted today, and it was granted, as long as it was in such a fashion that it ensured the safety of the minor child. That's the most important thing to Mel." 

As far as visitation with Angel, though the judge said he will consider a request for visitation in the future, eonline.com says that right now the request has been denied without prejudice.

The judge argued that the courtroom does not "have the jurisdiction to grant visitation with the punitive step child". This ruling means the judge will not allow any amendments to the No Contact Clause, and therefore, Belafonte is still unable to communicate with Angel via phone, Skype, text and so on.

Mel B's attorneys Susan Wiesner and Larry Bakman tried arguing Belafonte should not have any visitation with either child based upon a new argument.

For the first time in the hearing, they alleged he was involved in the filming of pornography in the family house as well as other locations around Los Angeles. They also claimed there is evidence of pornography found on multiple computers the producer owns to which the children have access. Thus, they argued that Madison should not even be allowed to have monitored visits.

However, the judge said he did not believe the argument, without evidence, warranted total denial of visitation and continued in granting Belafonte monitored visitation with Madison.
 

The government on Tuesday said it has resolved 99 per cent of the complaints it had received through Twitter Sewa, since it was launched last August.

"As per data released by BSNL, as on April 15, 2017, it has received a total number of 27,988 complaints and has resolved 27,965 grievances with a resolution rate of 99.91 per cent," a statement issued by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology said here.

Similarly, India Post has handled 27,000 tweets and resolved them promptly, the statement said.

The service was launched by Communications Minister Manoj Sinha last year.

In case of telecom, consumer complaints relate mainly to telephone bills, broadband connectivity, faulty connections, shifting of landline phones and Wi-Fi hotspots, while in the case of postal services complaints are mainly in the nature of slow delivery of their articles containing PAN Cards, roll numbers, parcels, money orders and medicines.

The Shiv Sena on Tuesday said that the RSS headquarters has become the "second seat of power" in the country and it does not deem anybody fit for the president's post except Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led party, which has had strained ties with ally BJP, had earlier also suggested that Bhagwat be made the next President of India. However, Bhagwat had dismissed such suggestions and asserted that even if his name is proposed, he "will not accept it".

The Sena said that the ambitions of some strong contenders for the president's post may have got derailed post the apex court order in Babri case and wondered if some "new calculations" were made when senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi called on Bhagwat last week.

Notably, top BJP leaders L K Advani, Joshi and Uma Bharti will be tried for criminal conspiracy in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case as the Supreme Court last week allowed a CBI plea for restoring the charge against them.

The Sena, in an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana', today said, "Advani and Joshi are BJP veterans.

Their contribution in the formation and rise of the party is immense." 

"Though they may not have much work in the party after a new generation of BJP leaders have taken over but there are attempts being made to gauge if they have any importance left in the upcoming presidential polls," the editorial said.

Referring to the meeting between Joshi and Bhagwat, it said anything can happen if the RSS chief wishes it.

"Thus, did the meet between the two mean that Joshi was making some new calculations with Bhagwat? Anything can happen if the RSS chief wishes so. The RSS headquarters has become the second seat of power in the country today," the Sena said.

The party also said that as of now it does not deem anybody fit for the president's post except Bhagwat.

The apex court had last week clubbed the trial in the Babri Masjid demolition case pending against the leaders and 'karsevaks' and ordered day-to-day trial with the proceedings to be completed in two years.

Actors Rishi Kapoor and Nandita Das want diseases like malaria to end in India as it is responsible for taking a number of lives especially in rural India.

"Thousands of pregnant women lose their lives to malaria in rural India. India must do more to save these precious lives and end malaria," Nandita tweeted on Tuesday.

While Rishi posted: "A preventable and curable disease such as malaria claims thousands of lives each year. India must unite to end malaria by 2030".