On the 88th birth anniversary of Rajkumar, search engine Google has paid tribute to the noted Kannada actor with a special doodle.

The image shows Rajkumar on the big screen in a movie theatre with the audience watching him.

The actor, whose real name was Singanalluru Puttaswamayya Muthuraju, joined the Kannada film industry at the age of eight, and got his first break as a lead in the 1954 film “Bedara Kannappa”.

He went on to work in over 220 films – “Shabdavedhi” (2000) being his last big screen outing.

In his film career, Rajkumar received eleven Karnataka State Film Awards, ten South Filmfare Awards, two National Film Awards and a National Film Award for Best Playback Singer for song “Naadamaya”.

He received the NTR National Award in 2002. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Mysore and is a recipient of the Padma Bhushan and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award.

He died on April 12, 2006 at the age of 76.

The authorities on Monday ordered opening of universities, colleges and higher secondary schools in Jammu and Kashmir after a week's closure.

An official statement issued in summer capital Srinagar by the provincial administration said all universities, colleges and higher secondary (Class 12 level) schools will open for academic activities in the Valley today (Monday).

These educational institutions had remained closed for over a week following widespread protests by students after security forces entered a college in south Kashmir's Pulwama town on April 12.

Over 50 students had been injured in clashes on April 12 in Pulwama after students protested setting up a temporary check post outside the college by the security forces.

Security forces had attracted criticism after video clippings went viral on social networking sites showing students being beaten inside the college premises by the security forces.

A freight train connecting Russia with China has arrived in an inland city bringing goods from Moscow to the former revolutionary heartland of the Communist Party, a media report said.

The train connecting Russia with Jiangxi province arrived on Sunday, Xinhua news agency reported. The train was expected to bring resources from Europe and boost local development.

The journey started from Kansk, where buses first transported 38 containers more than 260 km to Bazaiha, followed by a train journey of more than 7,000 km, before reaching Ganzhou in eastern China.

Ganzhou, an inland area with a complex landscape, was important in early revolutionary activities due to its remote mountain ranges.

However, its wartime geographical advantages became a stumbling block in development.

The government tried to push regional development in the past few decades, but Ganzhou won no major projects or key investment due to its geography, resulting in slow, sometimes nonexistent, industrial growth.

Many people in Ganzhou are still living in poverty.

Singer-actress Lady Gaga dubbed the late Princess Diana 'just another dead blonde' among lyrics about eating disorders and suicide in a track.

Gaga was heard to make a slur about Princess Diana in her 2013 track Princess dieqa, reports dailymail.co.uk. 

This comes just days after she hit headlines for communicating with Prince William via FaceTime to discuss the Heads Together campaign to raise awareness about mental health. 

The track, which courted controversy when unveiled at an Australian gig four years ago, also references The People's Princess' well-documented eating disorder and tragic 1997 death in a car crash while surrounded by paparazzi in Paris.

Gaga was seen last week communicating with the eldest of Diana's sons as she chatted from her Los Angeles kitchen to talk about the #Oktosay film series. 

The singer praised William's brother Harry for his well-publicised confessions that he "struggled to cope" and neared a breakdown after their mother's death, in a reveal which Gaga described as "beautiful".

Upon the controversy-laden reveal of Princess die four years ago, Gaga lashed out at her critics by insisting her intentions were pure as she stated: "The People's Princess was mine and my mum's hero when I was growing up."

Dailymail.co.uk has contacted a representative for Gaga for comment. 

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has warned Russia that its interventions in Ukraine are an obstacle to improving relations between the two nations, a media report said.

Urging both Russia and pro-separatists in the Ukraine to immediately respect the ceasefire, Tillerson made the remarks in a phone call with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Sunday, Efe news reported. 

During their conversation, Tillerson also talked about the results of his visit to Moscow earlier in April.

According to a statement by US Department of State spokesperson Mark Toner, both leaders talked about the trip and the message that Tillerson sent to the Russian government earlier.

The statement said that although the US was interested in improving relations with Russia, but President Vladimir Putin's government's actions in the east of Ukraine remained an obstacle.

Tillerson also assured the US government's firm commitment to supporting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine.

He said that sanctions against Moscow would "remain in place until Russia returns control of the Crimean peninsula to Ukraine and fully implements its commitments in the Minsk agreements."

The agreements signed in Belarus capital Minsk in February 2015, aimed to put an end to the armed conflict between the Ukrainian government and the pro-Russian separatists and to support the country's territorial integrity.

The Minsk agreement initiated a settlement process which despite making considerable progress, has failed to end the hostilities, as there were still violations of the ceasefire in the area.

Tillerson's remarks on sanctions against Russia were a change in the stance of the US government regarding the conflict, as President Donald Trump suggested in January that he would end the sanctions against Moscow for its interference in Ukraine, an idea that France and Germany opposed.

During the phone call, Poroshenko also conveyed his condolences to the US government for the recent passing away of an American observer for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's monitoring team (OSCE).

The OSCE observer lost his life on Sunday in a landmine explosion in the separatist province of Luhansk in eastern Ukraine.

Both Tillerson and Poroshenko agreed that this tragic incident highlights the need for all parties, especially those led by pro-Russian separatists, to immediately comply with the Minsk agreements.

The US State Department also extended its condolences to the family and friends of the victim and condemned the incident in another statement.

"This death underscores the increasingly dangerous conditions under which these courageous monitors work, including access restrictions, threats and harassment," the statement said. 

"The US urges Russia to use its influence with the separatists to allow the OSCE to conduct a full, transparent and timely investigation," the US Department of State statement said.

Poroshenko and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have already demanded an investigation to clarify the death of the observer.
 

With tensions escalating between the US and North Korea, the Pentagon has called for Pyongyang to avoid destabilising the situation further, officials said.

"We call on (North Korea) to refrain from provocative, destabilising actions and rhetoric, and to make the strategic choice to fulfil its international obligations and commitments and return to serious talks," CNN quoted Pentagon spokesman Gary Ross as saying on Sunday. 

"North Korea's unlawful weapons programmes represent a clear, grave threat to US national security."

The statement came just hours after a North Korean daily said Pyongyang was ready to take out a US aircraft carrier conducting drills with Japanese destroyers near the Philippines.

Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North Korean government's Central Committee, said in an editorial the country is ready to illustrate its "military force" by sinking the "nuclear-powered aircraft carrier with a single strike".

The newspaper claimed Pyongyang has weaponry that "can reach continental US and Asia Pacific region" and the "absolute weapon", a hydrogen bomb.

On April 19, the US said that it was sending the USS Carl Vinson towards North Korea and that the strike group that it leads would reach there by late April, reports CNN.

The State Department on Sunday said that it remains committed to directly addressing the North Korean nuclear threat.

"Provocations from North Korea have grown far too common and far too dangerous to ignore," a department spokesperson said.

"Together with the international community, we will hold the Kim Jong-un regime accountable for its dangerous and reckless actions and serious human rights abuses through a robust international campaign to cut North Korea off from the rest of the world through diplomatic, security, and economic measures," CNN quoted the official as saying

Plans for a George Michael tribute ­concert are in crisis as the late singer's family are yet to give a go ahead.

Former That's Life host Dame Esther Rantzen, one of Michael's charity friends, is organising the event and is set for a meeting with them soon.

But sources say there is only a 50/50 chance the concert will go ahead, reports mirror.co.uk.

One source said: "The most important thing about organising this is that the family approve of everything. Esther and the organisers didn't want to jump the gun and start making arrangements before they had spoken with them.

"At the moment there is a big possibility it won't happen because the family aren't on board. The meeting will either make or break plans."

His remaining family include his father Kyriacos Panayiotou, 80, and sisters Melanie and Yioda. 

The star was buried last month at North London's Highgate ceremony next to his mother Lesley Angold, who died in 1997. 

Melanie, 55, organised the emotional hour-long funeral which included tributes from Michael's Wham! co-star Andrew Ridgeley, 54, and Spandau Ballet's Martin Kemp, 55 whose wife Shirlie, 54, sang with Wham!

The late singer's representative said: "We have been approached but nothing's been decided." 
 

Pro-European Emmanuel Macron is set to face far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in France's presidential run-off, results showed on Monday, making him clear favourite to emerge as the country's youngest leader in its history.

Macron topped yesterday's first round with 23.9 per cent of votes, slightly ahead of National Front (FN) leader Le Pen with 21.4 per cent, according to near-final results from the interior ministry.

They will contest the run-off on May 7.

“For months and again today I've heard the doubts, the anger and the fears of the French people. Their desire for change too,” 39-year-old Macron told thousands of cheering supporters in Paris.

He pledged to unite “patriots” behind his agenda to renew French politics and modernise the country against Le Pen and “the threat of nationalists”.

The euro rose sharply against the dollar as fears of France pulling out of the single currency and European Union receded following the breakthrough of Macron, former economy minister under outgoing Socialist President Francois Hollande.

An ex-investment banker whose marriage to his former school teacher has fascinated France, Macron said the results were a clear rejection of traditional parties.

Neither candidate from the mainstream Republicans and Socialists made it through to the second round for the first time in six decades, in a stunning shakeup of national politics.

“The challenge is to break completely with the system which has been unable to find solutions to the problems of our country for more than 30 years,” Macron said, already eyeing crucial parliamentary elections in June.

The outcome capped an extraordinary campaign in a deeply divided and demoralised France, which has been hit by a series of terror attacks since 2015 and remains stuck with low economic growth.

Le Pen hailed a “historic vote” in front of her supporters, adding: “The first stage has been passed.”

Macron, who had never before stood for election and only started his grassroots centrist movement 12 months ago, will go into the run-off as the clear frontrunner.

New polls released Sunday evening showed pro-business Macron easily beating Le Pen, who has hardened her anti-immigration and anti-Europe rhetoric over the last week.

The French vote was being closely watched as a bell- wether for populist sentiment following the election of Donald Trump as US President and Britain's vote to leave the EU.

Throughout the campaign, Macron insisted France was “contrarian” — ready to elect a pro-globalisation liberal at a time when rightwing nationalists are making gains around the world.

“It's a victory for openness, social-mindedness,” Macron supporter Marie-Helene Visconti, a 60-year-old artist, told AFP at his election party where the EU flag was waved alongside the French tricolour.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has raised the issue of tightening of the H-1B visa regime with his US counterpart Steven Mnuchin during their first meeting and highlighted the contribution of Indian companies and professionals to the American economy.

This was the second time Jaitley raised the H-1B visa issue with the American side during his visit here to attend the annual Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. He had also raised the issue with US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross earlier.

During their meeting on April 23, Jaitley and Mnuchin discussed a wide range of bilateral issues, in addition to the international cooperation against terror financing.

Jaitley highlighted the notable progress made in the Indo-US relations over the last few years and India's ambitious reform agenda which was creating new opportunities towards a deeper economic engagement between the two countries, a Finance Ministry statement said.

"Critical economic issues like Indo-US investment initiative, infrastructure collaboration and NIIF (National Investment and Infrastructure Fund), collaboration with the US for Smart Cities Development were deliberated upon during the meeting," it said.

Jaitley raised the issue of H-1B visas for skilled professionals from India and highlighted the contribution which Indian companies and professionals are making to the US economy, the statement said.

President Donald Trump last week signed an executive order for tightening the rules of the H-1B visa programme to stop its "abuse" and ensure that the visas are given to the "most-skilled or highest paid" petitioners, a decision that would impact India's $150 billion IT industry.

The Indian IT industry expressed serious concerns over this as these visas were mainly used by domestic IT professionals for short-term work in America.

The H-1B is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in specialised fields. Indian technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year for their US operations.

The US market accounts for about 60 per cent of the revenue of the Indian IT industry.

Reforming the H-1B visa system was one of the major election promises of Trump. As per several US reports, a majority of the H-1B visas every year are grabbed by Indian IT professionals.

India accounts for the highest pool of qualified IT professionals, whose services go a long way in making American companies globally competitive.

Last month, NASSCOM president R Chandrashekhar had said that the Indian IT industry actually contributes immensely to the US economy in terms of jobs that are created in America, both directly and indirectly.

"Close to half a million jobs have been supported in the US as of 2015. The number of jobs have also been growing at 10 per cent per year as against a two per cent growth in the rest of the job market," he had said.

Issues related to terror funding were also discussed during Jaitley's meeting with the US Treasury Secretary, who appreciated India's role, including the Indo-US cooperation in Financial Action Task Force.

Jaitley also held bilateral meetings with the finance ministers of Sweden, France and Bangladesh. The discussions covered a wide spectrum of bilateral collaboration to strengthen the cross-country relationships.

He also held a bilateral meeting with World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim among others.

Meanwhile, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das held bilateral meetings with New Development Bank (NDB) President KV Kamath and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) President Gilbert F Houngbo separately.

Various policy issues regarding NDB and IFAD were discussed during the meeting.

Jaitley, currently on a US trip, is accompanied by RBI Governor Urjit Patel, Das and Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian among other officials.

Partition remains a searing reality in the history of India and Pakistan. Against this backdrop, Srijit Mukherji has sought to bring to Hindi filmgoers what he had for Bengali viewers two years ago.

"The subject is very hard-hitting. Partition as an event demands that kind of treatment. While reading stories of partition and its impact on human lives by Saadat Hasan Manto and Ismat Chughtai, I used to get angry and hurt. I wanted to show that in-your-face anger through Begum Jaan in these films," Mukherji said.

He did through Begum Jaan what he had earlier done through Rajkahini — tell the tale of a strong-willed woman trying to preserve a way of life in her brothel, which was being overwhelmed by fast-moving events of a nation in turmoil.

The movie's protagonist and its dominating figure not only has a hard grip on what goes inside, she also commands a hold among the who's who of the society, many of whom are customers of the brothel. Her house is seen as a safe haven of sorts for many destitute women who were abused at some point. But it's a tough safe haven — the madam keeps a tight leash on her girls.

In Bengali, the movie portrayed the problems that the Radcliffe Line had created for Begum Jaan's brothel as the border demarcating India and East Pakistan went through her bordello, dividing it into two halves. In the Hindi version, one part of Begum's house falls in India and the other in West Pakistan.

Cyril Radcliffe was a British lawyer who got the job of dividing a seething cauldron of a nation into its Muslim- and Hindu-majority areas. Where a fine scalpel was needed for a delicate operation, he was given an axe, and where years were needed to separate millions, he was given five weeks. The death of a million people ensued.

Begum Jaan and her girls become livid when they learn about the Radcliffe Line from the officers-in-charge of the Border Commission. She threatens to do a "partition" of their bodies — and thereby hangs a tale of misery, violence and women empowerment, in an era where two nations were taking birth through a trial by fire.

Unlike the Bengali version, where apart from Begum Jaan all the other 10 girls' roles were played by established actresses, the Hindi version has many unknown faces.

"I didn't want pretty faces. I wanted faces that will carry stories." Mukherji along with the film's casting director Mukesh Chhabra spent two months searching for such faces.

Mukherji had tried to make the movie as close as he could to reality. Begum Jaan begins with a scene uncannily similar to the infamous Nirbhaya rape that took place in Delhi. The only difference here was the girl and her boyfriend are saved by an elderly woman who starts undressing herself in front of the goons, which eventually made them flee the spot.

Although the Bengali movie received great critical and commercial success, the Hindi version was not as successful. "People from northern part of the country really enjoyed it. But pan-India it didn't do well," Mukherji said talking about the response.

"The main reason is that I think the theme was dark and disturbing. There was very little entertainment. There was no so-called relief after watching the movie. There was no pop-corn entertainment," he added.

He also felt the movie was "too melodramatic" for the urban audience. "The trauma of partition didn't affect the entire country equally," Mukherji said.

Mukherji's Begum Jaan comes after several years of hiatus in a trend which was common in the past — of making Bengali movies in Hindi. The trend was strengthened by famous directors like Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Shakti Samanta.

"I went to Mumbai for subtitling of Rajkahini when Mahesh Bhatt and Mukesh Bhatt gave me the idea to remake it into a Bollywood film. Then I started working towards it," the director said. The low budget (Rs 19 crore) movie, though, has broken even. "I am satisfied with the debut of my Hindi movie," he said.

Mukherji, a celebrated national award winning director, says he is mulling the remake of two of his Bengali movies — "Hemlock Society" and "Chotushkone" — into Hindi films. "It is a healthy trend. It will give Bengali cinema a national stage," he said. 

He is also planning a full-fledged Bollywood movie but declined to give details.

Mukherji, a student of economics from the Presidency College and Jawaharlal Nehru University, started his career as an economist. In 2010, he made his debut with a Bengali movie Autograph.

Asked about this career shift, he said: "The story-telling bug was always there inside me. I was also doing theatre." The loss to the dreary art — economics — would be counted as a major gain for the exciting world of cinema.

Social-liberal Emmanuel Macron will face far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in a run-off for the French presidency on May 7, according to election officials.

With 90 per cent of the ballots counted from Sunday's first round, Macron has garnered 23.5 per cent of the vote, while Le Pen has 22.08 per cent, Efe news reported.

In third place is conservative Francois Fillon with 19.75 per cent just ahead of leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon with 19.45 per cent.

In fifth place, far behind the four most popular candidates, is socialist Benoit Hamon, with 6.2 per cent of the votes, followed by Gaullist Nicolas Dupont-Aignan with about 5 per cent, just over the threshold needed for a candidate to have his campaign costs reimbursed by the national government.

Macron, 39, a former Economy Minister, is vying to become France's youngest-ever president, while Le Pen, 48, the leader of National Front is intent on becoming the first woman to lead France.

Although his opponents tried to paint him as the heir of unpopular French President Francois Hollande, it appears that Macron – with his fresh image and proposal to "unblock" antiquated elements of French society – has struck a positive chord among voters.

Macron pulled his support from retirees, working people and independents, garnering about 25 percent of each group's votes, according to the Ipsos polling firm.

He also managed to garner 24 per cent of college graduates as well as the support of 32 per cent of voters in households earning more than 3,000 euros (about $3,300) per month.

Le Pen, meanwhile, lost the lead she had enjoyed among the youngest voters, who inclined toward Melenchon drawing the votes of 30 per cent of citizens aged 18-24.

She received her support from people who have trouble making it to the end of the month on their salaries (43 per cent), those who feel that the next generation will have a lower living standard (25 per cent) and those with the lowest incomes (32 per cent), among others.

Fillon obtained 45 per cent of the votes from electors over 70 years of age and the votes of 36 percent of French retirees, according to Ipsos.

Meanwhile, on Sunday night, Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve called upon his countrymen to vote against Le Pen in the runoff.

Cazeneuve said that "the presence of a candidate of the extreme right … obligates us to unite all supporters of the Republic against her."

Turnout nationally appeared to be similar to the last election in 2012, at about 80 per cent, reports the BBC. 

Almost 47 million people were eligible to vote.

Nearly 60,000 police and soldiers were deployed across the country to secure polling, with France still reeling from the shooting of a policeman on the Champs Elysees.
 

Actress Blake Lively says she would die for her daughters James and Ines, whom she has with husband and fellow movie star Ryan Reynolds.

Lively described her urgency to "do anything to protect" her children as she spoke at Variety's Power Of Women event here on Friday, reports dailymail.co.uk.

The actress told the star-studded audience: "I would do anything to protect them. I would literally die for them without a moment's thought."

She addressed the mothers in the room and said: "I mean if you think of what you would do for your child, I don't think there's anything you wouldn't ask yourself." 

The former Gossip Girl star was giving an emotional speech about the dangers of child pornography at the event. 

She is determined to help eliminate the crime and has partnered with the Child Rescue Coalition, an organisation which uses technology to track down people who share or download explicit images of children.

Three months after leaving the White House, former US President Barack Obama will deliver his first public remarks of his post-presidency on Monday, a media report has said.

Obama is slated to speak with young leaders in his adopted hometown of Chicago, CNN reported. 

The event at the University of Chicago was billed by his office as a "conversation on community organising and civic engagement" and a part of Obama's goal to "encourage and support the next generation of leaders".

The former President wanted to have an event where he could speak directly to young people, a source close to Obama told CNN. 

Three hundred students from universities around the Chicago area were invited to attend the event.

Obama would take the stage with six students, and while they would ask questions of one another, they were not expected to take questions from the audience, the source told CNN.

The 44th President's public appearance would also come just days ahead of the 100-day mark for President Donald Trump. 

A spokesperson did not say whether Obama planned to address specific current events, but the highly anticipated gathering would provide an opportunity for him to weigh in publicly on his successor's first months in office.

A source also said Obama did not intend to confront Trump on policy, CNN reported.

One issue that was clearly on the former President's mind was the ongoing Republican efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare, his landmark health care law. 

He defended the Affordable Care Act on its seventh anniversary in March, saying in a statement: "Health care is not a privilege for a few, but a right for everybody."

On Sunday, Obama spoke at a roundtable discussion with young men from the Chicago Create Real Economic Destiny program, which aims to provide job skills and positive connections to at-risk youth. 

He made that appearance at the invitation of the program's founder, Arne Duncan, who was Education Secretary under Obama, CNN reported.

"President Obama listened to the young men's stories and shared some of the challenges that he faced growing up," Obama spokesman Kevin Lewis said. 

"He expressed that he was optimistic about their potential to positively contribute to their communities and support their families because of the services provided in the program."

For the most part, Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama have stayed clear of the public spotlight since leaving the White House. 

The former President has been spotted playing golf and vacationing on a private island in the Caribbean, but his schedule has been kept tightly under wraps.

The Obamas were penning memoirs, landing a deal with Penguin Random House that could yield them tens of millions of dollars. 

The couple plans to live in Washington until their younger daughter, Sasha, graduates high school in 2019.

Obama was also slated to appear with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin in late May and was due to accept an award in Boston prior to that. 

North Korea said that the US is sending nuclear carrier taskforces to waters off the Korean Peninsula around April 25, the 85th anniversary of the founding of the Army.

The official Minju Joson on Sunday, published by the Supreme People's Assembly of North Korea, quoted unspecified military sources as saying that the US plans to "hurl several nuclear carrier taskforces, including Carl Vinson and Nimitz, into the operational theatre of the Korean Peninsula around April 25".

The North Korean army will hit back "whether they are on the peninsula, at military aggression bases in the Pacific or in the US mainland across the ocean" if provoked, Xinhua news agency quoted the newspaper as saying.

"If our Juche weapons with potentials unimaginable by the US open fire, they will destroy the US forces and their stooges to the last man so that there would not be left even a single man who will sign the surrender document," it added.

Juche means the "self-reliance thoughts" created by the North Korean founder Kim Il Sung, which serves as the basis for all domestic, military and foreign policies of the country.

US President Donald Trump said recently Washington was sending an "armada" to the Korean Peninsula to check attempts by North Korea to conduct more nuclear and missile tests.

Speculations are high on whether Pyongyang could conduct another nuclear or missile test around April 25. 

TV host Jimmy Fallon, known for Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, says he doesnt fret over competition with other TV chat shows.

"There's (David) Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel. I mean, you have a lot of options. I can't worry about that stuff," Fallon said in a statement 

He added: "I just got to kind of keep doing the best stuff we can possibly do, keep our heads down, and then, when we come up for air, you see all the fun stuff you did, and you go, ‘That was a pretty good body of work'." 

Asked how he differentiates his show from Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Fallon said: "We are in New York…Last names."

Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon is aired in India on Comedy Central. 
 

Indian mangoes will be imported to Australia for the first time after protocols were revised to allow the Asian-grown fruit into the local economy, a media report said.

The fruit would be allowed into Australia as long as they were treated with irradiation before leaving India, Xinhua news agency reported.

This meant that Australians would be able to enjoy the fruit long after the local season ended.

The Australian Mango Industry Association's Robert Gray said Indian mangoes would be imported when the native season was over, ensuring a constant supply for those who enjoy the golden fruit.

Kay Bee Exports Chief Executive Kaushal Khakhar – who will be sending his mangoes to Australia – said shipments would be made up of two varieties – Alphonso and Kesar.

"Alphonso is slightly tricky but handled well, it is one of the best varieties in India," he told Fresh Fruit Portal.

"Kesar is the best commercial variety because it has a good price, good flavour, and it handles very well." 

He added that if the Indian-sourced fruit passed all standard testings, the deal would be beneficial for the Australians.

The global trade was welcome provided the protocol was safe and did not bring in any pests or diseases into the country, Gray told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Monday.

Gray also said on those lines "we're supportive of other countries having access into our market".

The US had previously imported Indian mangoes with no problems, Gray said, adding, however, he could not predict the kind of volume that Australia should expect from March until July – during the Indian mango season.

"While India is a huge mango-growing country, their export business is a bit like ours," he said.

"They will be targeting affluent markets, markets where they can place small quantities of very high-value product."

"India is currently trying to ship 200 to 300 tonnes of mangoes to the US a year, and it would be those sorts of volumes I would expect (in Australia)," Gray added.
 

We have come a long way in accepting gay people, or transgenders. Yet, the sight of one attracts a lot of unwanted attention, a colleague contended. On her way to the office the other day, she noticed a young girl on the Dwarka Sector 21 Metro Station. Wearing a beautiful dress, the girl was walking up and down the area demarcated for the ladies compartment, earphones from her mobile phone plugged in. As she swung in obvious enjoyment of some music, people could not resist staring at her. The train arrived and in the commotion to board the train, our colleague lost sight of her.

Once inside, her attention was again drawn to the same girl, who was now swinging and dancing from one end of the compartment to the other. Our colleague also sensed an awkwardness and discomfort among the crowd watching her, which she put down to the manner in which the young girl was walking, jumping and speaking loudly. Our friend was, however, in for a shock when the girl passed by her and she saw her face. The "girl", she noticed, was really a young lad, who had cross-dressed.

While our colleague could understand her co-passengers' discomfort she realised there was a feeling of unacceptability. However, the lad appeared to be quite nonchalant. He seemed to have more confidence and self-acceptance than most other people around him. It's not easy to be different, realised our colleague, who was at first shocked, but gradually accepted the gay person's presence. This incident made her realise the double standards of the society we live in. The LGBT community is today accepted around the world. We are ready to protest for their rights and like, comment and share memes, petitions and posters on social media, but hardly does one realise the hypocrisy that exists in one's mindset.

On the one hand, a lot of people yearn for India to be like some of the western nations, where one is free to exercise and express one's emotions and sexuality. On the other hand, one cannot really accept the reality of the existence of such beautiful people, whose only "fault" is that they have different choices.