It is "extremely important" for India to increase and accelerate its investment in children and education as the country has a "very high" child stunting rate, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said on Friday.

Lauding Narendra Modi for demonetisation and Swachh Bharat mission, Jim said the Prime Minister needs to accelerate things quickly in educational outcomes so that India as it marches on its fast pace growth can compete in the "economy of future".

"I think it is extremely important for India to increase and accelerate its investment in children and education," Kim told reporters at a news conference at the start of the annual Spring Meeting of International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

"There are so many great things that Prime Minister Modi is already doing. But it is very difficult to see how with such high child stunting rate the economy evolves, become much more digitally demanding that those children would be able to compete, Kim, 57, said.

"India has a very high 38 per cent childhood stunting rate, and has much better nutritional status than many countries that have a lower childhood stunting rate and a big part of it is sanitation," he said.

The Swachh Bharat mission is a programme that we support is around sanitation, which is very important, he said.

"We are so impressed by so many things that are happening. For example the digital money, the way that the demonetisation programme was very difficult, yet moving the system and providing finance to the poor people has gone digital has saved billions and billions of dollars, he said.

"We think that his approach to the goods and services taxes, so many things that he has done is great. My advice would be in addition to spread things that India Prime Minister Modi has a very strong commitment to this but I would say that he needs to accelerate quickly things like educational outcomes that India can compete in the economy of future, Kim said in response to a question

On a roll after registering their fifth win on the trot, Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma said Thursday's 8-wicket win against Kings XI Punjab, will give the team the kind of momentum they needed heading into the business end of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017.

"So hopefully we can continue our winning streak. The good thing we've done is focussing on one particular opposition and we are going to do that again," he said.

Chasing a mammoth 199, Mumbai rode on destructive half centuries from Englishman Jos Buttler and young Nitish Rana to thrash the hosts by eight wickets with more than four overs to spare at the Holkar Cricket Stadium here.

"Incredible game to be part of. Something which reminded me of 2014, when we chased 190 against Rajasthan Royals in 14 overs," Rohit said after the match.

"To be able to chase this target in 15.3 overs is fantastic. The way Jos and Parthiv batted at the start was magnificent. That's the kind of firepower we have. Parthiv is coming off a great domestic season and he's taken that confidence into IPL. That's the kind of start we required chasing 199."

Rohit also praised South African star Hashim Amla, who fired his maiden T20 hundred (104 not out of 60 balls) to set the tone for Kings XI Punjab's mammoth 198/4 in the first innings.

"Amla played one of the finest knocks we would ever see but we finished up really well. When we came back to the change room the talk was that the ground is small and we have the batters to do it. That was pretty evident in the first six overs," he said.

Rohit, however brushed aside any concerns with the bowlers, who were taken to the cleaners by Punjab skipper Glenn Maxwell and Amla in the later part of the innings.

"Not really it's something which we have to look into. They are proven match winners and they have done it for years, even in international cricket it's a lot of pressure, it's always challenging. It's just about backing them and the management does that," he said.

"They will come good. It's just the first half of the tournament, the second half becomes crucial, the table keeps changing so you have to be on the money, you can't lose momentum," he added.

Englishman Buttler, who struck form with a 37-ball 77, said the wicket was perfect for his kind of stroke play and more satisfying as he was desperate to get back among the runs.

"Found really good touch in the tournament, been desperate to kick on, nice to put in a contribution. Striking the ball well, it's a small ground and a fantastic wicket," said Buttler, who was adjudged the man-of-the-match.

"Luckily we won the toss, you'd think 200 was a really good score. I think today, chasing that kind of total was great for me because I could go from ball one without thinking. I've put a lot of pressure on myself, trying too hard to score the runs. Today, when you're chasing a big score, you can relax and play your shots. Keep a still base and do the rest," he added.

Classes in colleges across Kashmir remained suspended for the fourth day on Friday and authorities discontinued teaching work in higher secondary institutions for a day as a precautionary measure in the wake of students' protest against alleged highhandedness of security forces.

The teaching work in all colleges across the Kashmir Valley remained suspended for the fourth day on the trot following orders of Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Baseer Khan, officials said.

The administration had on Monday issued orders for the closure of Kashmir University, all colleges and higher secondary schools on Tuesday after students protested the alleged highhandedness of security forces against students of Degree College, Pulwama, last week.

The suspension of classes in the colleges was later extended by another day.

On Wednesday, Khan issued directions to suspend teaching work in all colleges of Kashmir division for two more days till today, even as classes had resumed in Kashmir University and higher secondary schools that day.

He issued a fresh order yesterday, directing suspension of teaching work in all higher secondary institutions of the division in the wake of fresh protests.

Students of many of these institutions across the Valley had held protests on Monday. While scores of students were injured in security forces' action against students at Pulwama on the weekend, Monday's clashes also left several injured.

Senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia has welcomed the Centre's decision to do away with the red beacon lights on vehicles.

"It is a good decision and I welcome it. In fact when I was the Union Minister (from 2007-2014), I never used red beacon on my vehicle. I am against it," Scindia told PTI here yesterday.

"I believe that as a people's servant, our place should remain in their (people's) hearts but this red beacon has created a distance between the people and the leaders.

Therefore, it is better to do away with it (red beacons)," he said.

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday decided that the beacon lights will be removed from all vehicles, except the emergency vehicles like ambulances and fire brigade, from May 1.

The vehicles with beacon lights, which are seen as a symbol of VIP culture, "have no place in a democratic country," the government said.

On the Ater Assembly segment getting embroiled in an EVM row and Congress's demand for a return to the paper ballot for all elections, Scindia said, "We raised the issue to ensure that no scope of any question mark should remain in a democratic electoral process." 

"I cannot comment on other states but as far as Ater is concerned, the Election Commission took all possible measures to ensure free and fair elections," he said.

The row began with the trial of an EVM at Ater, when some reports suggested that voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machine dispensed only BJP slips, no matter which button on it was pressed. However, MP's Chief Electoral Officer denied this.

VVPAT is a machine which dispenses a slip with the symbol of the party for which a person has voted for. The slip drops in a box but the voter cannot take it home.

Following the controversy, the Congress and other opposition parties had demanded scrapping of the use of EVMs for elections.

"The system that EC followed in Ater bypoll should be replicated in all elections for conducting polls in a free and fair manner. The immediate steps taken by the EC were very effective and I thanked the poll body for it," Scindia said.

The Congress won the Ater Assembly seat bypoll held earlier this month.

Obesity leads to 13 types of cancer, including that of pancreas and esophagus, as fat cells affect the processes that regulate the growth of cancer cells in the human body, says a study.

Due to excess fat in the body, fat cells produce hormones and proteins, according to the study conducted by the United Kingdom's Imperial College.

Besides being released into the bloodstream, these are also circulated around the body and this is why they increase the risk of several different types of cancer.

Fat cells are also said to affect processes that regulate cancer cells' growth.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), around 1.9 billion adults worldwide are overweight or obese, and with obesity linked to some 13 types of cancer, the problem of extra weight poses a serious threat to their lives. 

Among the 13 types of cancer, which are believed to have strong connection with weight gain, are oesophageal (food pipe), pancreatic, liver, stomach, colon and rectum, gallbladder, lung, kidney and gynaecological cancer. Among women, breast, ovary or uterus cancer could occur.

"The most common types include breast and colon, while the most difficult to treat include pancreatic, oesophageal and gallbladder cancer," said the study.

Commenting on the study, Deep Goel, Director of Bariatric and Gastrointestinal Oncology Surgery at the BLK Super Speciality Hospital, said that obese had a greater risk of developing and also dying from several types of cancer.

"Let's say, if there's one normal-weight patient suffering from pancreatic cancer and another obese patient suffering from the same cancer of same stage, chances of an obese patient's death are more over normal-weight patient," said Goyal. 

Stating that insulin is a very important part of how the body uses energy from food, Goyal said: "When people are obese, the level of insulin increases in the body which may help cancer cells to develop. Moreover, fat accumulated in the body changes the levels of sex hormones — oestrogen and testosterone, which again increases the risk of cancer."

Drug price regulator NPPA on Thursday warned coronary stent manufacturing firms of strict action if they are found giving freebies on sale of the medical device.

Instances have come to the notice of NPPA that few companies dealing with coronary stents have come up with freebies by announcing schemes such as buy ten and get three free, the national drug price regulator said in a notification.

It was also found that few companies sell the lower priced stent at higher cost leading to over 8 per cent trade margins, it added.

"Such cases are being examined and strict action will be taken as per law," the national drug price regulator said.

This move is part of the government's measure to ensure availability of affordable cardiac stents in the country.

Earlier, this month the NPPA started issuing recovery and pre-prosecution notices to hospitals for non-compliance with its guidelines on stents pricing.

The regulator also directed hospitals to follow all instructions issued so far by it with regard to pricing of coronary stents.

Between February 14 to March 15 this year, the NPPA has found violations in 40 health institutions.

All manufactures/importers/marketers of coronary stents and all hospitals are once again directed to follow all instructions of NPPA which have been issued so far, with regard to the price fixation of coronary stents, NPPA said.

"Non compliance of these instructions shall be taken up for prosecution under relevant provisions of Essential Commodities Act," it added.

In February, the NPPA had brought stents under price control and capped ceiling price of coronary stents at Rs.7,260 for bare metal variety and Rs.29,600 for drug-eluting ones.

The corresponding average MRPs before the price control stood at Rs.45,100 and Rs.1.21 lakh, respectively.

Last month, the drug price regulator increased price of stents by around 2 per cent after taking into account wholesale price index.

Japanese two-wheeler major Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) plans to invest Rs.1,600 crore in 2017-18 for expanding capacity and developing new products, the company has announced.

"The Indian market is going to change when the auto industry will migrate to BS-VI," HMSI's new President and Chief Executive Minoru Kato told reporters here on Thursday.

"The future is challenging but exciting. We are investing in an additional assembly line at our plant in Karnataka and by July 2017 our total capacity will go up to 6.4 million units a year. In 2017-18 our total investment will be Rs.1,600 crore," he said.

HMSI, which sold five million units in 2016-17 — the most by a Honda subsidiary worldwide — has set a target to sell six million units this year.

Till the last fiscal, the company had made a cumulative investment of Rs.7,800 crore and set up factories at four locations in the country — Manesar (Haryana), Tapukara (Rajasthan), Narsapura (Karnataka) and Vithalapur (Gujarat).

Kato also said Honda plans to make India an export hub after BS-VI migration.

"After 2020, after the application of BS-VI, our products in India will be ready to export everywhere. That will make India an export hub. We expect India also to be the next export hub," he said.

The company plans to introduce four new models this year — two scooters and two motorcycles. HMSI also started the trial assembly of its biggest 1,000 cc superbike the Africa Twin in India, it announced

Japanese carmaker Nissan India on Thursday cut prices of its mid-sized sedan Sunny in India by up to Rs.1.99 lakh after better localisation reduced cost of production.

The car will now be offered at a very attractive starting price of Rs.6.99 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) and new price range is effective across India, a statement said. 

"The car is our flagship sedan make at our Oragadam plant in Chennai. Local production of this car enabled significantly lower costs and this helped serve our customers faster with quality products. We are passing on these benefits to our customers," carmaker's Managing Director Arun Malhotra said.

Veteran actor Anil Kapoor unveiled his statue at the world famous wax museum Madame Tussauds here.

On Thursday, Anil tweeted a photograph of himself along with his wax sculpture. He captioned it: "I just had to pose! It's so cool. I love it. Madame Tussauds Singapore. This is just an amazing and humbling experience! Thank you!"

Anil also thanked the museum for making his statue "look so good".

On the work front, Anil will next be seen in Mubarakan alongside his nephew Arjun Kapoor and actresses Athiya Shetty and Ileana D'Cruz.

The film, directed by Anees Bazmee, is slated to hit the screens on July 28. 

It has been shot in London and is produced by Sony Pictures Networks Productions and Cine1 Studios.

Anil and Arjun both play Sikhs in Mubarakan, and this is the first time that the uncle-nephew pair are acting together on the big screen.

The Gurjar community in Rajasthan is set to launch a major agitation against the state government for failing to implement 5 per cent Special Backward Class (SBC) quota in educational institutes and government jobs for the community.

Gurjar leaders have called for a public meeting at Sikandra on Saturday, nearly 70 kilometers from the state capital Jaipur and the venue has witnessed bloodshed during previous reservation agitations.

"Gurjar's have been duped time and again by the government, now it's only agitation path left for us and that we have successfully displayed in past. The meeting in Sikandra will mark beginning of new agitation," Gurjar leader Himmat Singh told The Statesman after talks between government and agitation committee representative failed on Thursday.

 The state government  had agreed to demands of Gurjar agitation committee after the last agitation and placed Gurjar's and other semi nomadic tribes in special backward class (SBC) category. A provision of 5 per cent exclusive reservation was also made for SBC in admission at educational institutes and recruitment in government jobs.

However, a high court order stayed the process as the total reservation in the state exceeded the cap of 50 per cent quota. A petition of Gurjar representative in this regard got discarded at Supreme Court earlier this week. 

On Thursday again state government assured the agitation leaders that they will get the bill through on lines of Tamil Nadu which has 69 per cent reservation. The Gurjar leaders were unimpressed. 

Previous agitations have held the entire eastern Rajasthan hostage for several weeks. The Gurjar leaders have said that they will not shy away from a bigger agitation this time.

The IMF has praised the “rebalancing” taking place in China's economy, saying there are “good numbers” coming out from the Asian economic giant as a result of its recent stimulus.

“As far as China is concerned, there are clearly good numbers coming out that are certainly a result of some stimulus, some encouragement from the Chinese authorities,” IMF chief Christine Lagarde said at a news conference held at the beginning of the annual Spring Meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

“We are also quite pleased to see the rebalancing that is taking place in China, from being heavily geared towards investment to being geared more towards consumption, from being…more into services, and less so in manufacturing,” she said.

“We are seeing, of course, the rebound of export activity for obvious reasons, because demand addressed to China is picking up. All of that is good and supportive, Lagarde said.

The 61-year-old said the IMF has some very specific recommendations to China in relation to credit growth, in particular, and to the reining in of the housing sector, which, despite efforts already undertaken, is continuing to grow.

Senior journalist and columnist, Nora Chopra passed away on Thursday following a period of illness. She was actively engaged in her work till her premature demise. Chopra was widely respected for being a passionate, spirited and combative journalist. 

President Pranab Mukherjee condoled Nora's death, saying the nation has lost a veteran journalist who was inspiration to many. In a message to her son Rahil, President Mukherjee said, "I am sad to learn about the passing away of your mother Nora Chopra whom I have known for long years. A senior journalist and columnist, Chopra was widely admired and respected for her journalistic skills. She had a long and distinguished career….In her death, the nation has lost a veteran journalist who inspired many others."

Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu also expressed his condolence over Nora's demise, stating that he had known her for the last two decades. 

Congress president Sonia Gandhi described her as a "remarkable  journalist", conveying her "solidarity" and "condolences" to Chpra's family and friends.

Actor James Norton hinted that he would be interested in becoming the next James Bond, saying it's lovely to be part of the whole conversation.

The War And Peace star also admitted that he was a 'great fan' of Daniel Craig, saying he 'selfishly' hopes that he does another two or three Bond films, reports dailymail.co.uk.

When questioned about the Bond rumours on "This Morning" show, Norton said: 'It's lovely to be part of the whole conversation."

He added: "I'm a great fan of Daniel Craig. Selfishly I hope he does two or three more movies."

Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao was re-elected unanimously as the President of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) at the party's annual plenary that began at Kompally on the outskirts of Hyderabad on Friday.

TRS electoral returning officer Nayini Narasimha Reddy, who is also the Home Minister, announced Rao's election for the eighth consecutive time, minutes before the beginning of the plenary.

His announcement was greeted with drum beats and distribution of sweets by the party leaders.

Narasimha Reddy said Rao's was the only nomination received for the party chief's post. Party leaders filed 12 sets of nomination papers all on behalf of Rao.

KCR, as Rao popularly known, has been holding the post since floating the party in 2001 to revive the movement for separate statehood to Telangana.

Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh in 2014. TRS won the elections held the same year and formed the first government in the newly created state.
 

The Congress on Friday expelled Barkha Singh from the party, a day after she resigned from all party posts raising questions over the leadership of Vice President Rahul Gandhi and Delhi unit chief Ajay Maken.

The action was taken by state unit's Disciplinary Committee headed by former Minister Narendra Nath. The committee found Singh undertaking anti-party activities.

"Disciplinary Committee of the DPCC in its meeting has unanimously decided to expel Barkha Singh for period of six years from the party for undertaking anti-party activities just before the MCD elections," a party statement said.

Singh, a former chief of the Delhi Commission for Women, was removed from her post as chief of Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee's women's wing.

Earlier, resigning from the post Singh lashed out at senior party leaders.

"Congress party under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi and Ajay Maken has only used the issue of empowerment of women and women security to gather votes. The issue means nothing to them," she said.

"In an organisation where I myself am unsafe, how will I empower other women in that organisation? That is why I hereby resign from the post of President of Delhi Mahila Congress."
 

Rohan Bopanna and his partner Pablo Cuevas knocked out fifth seeds Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram after a three-set battle to progress to the quarterfinals of the ATP Monte Carlo Masters event here.

The unseeded Indo-Uruguay pair pipped the Protea-American combination 6-7(6) 6-4 10-6 in the pre-quarterfinals.

They next face top seeded team of Henri Kontinen from Finland and Australia's John Peers, who ensured the exit of Novak Djokovic and Victor Troicki with a 6-3 6-4 win.

The Monte Carlo Masters is fifth tournament Bopanna is playing with Cuevas and this is their best performance together after joining forces at the beginning of the season.

Bopanna won the season-opening ATP 250 Chennai Open with compatriot Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and reached final of ATP 500 Dubai Championships with Polish partner Marcin Matkowski.