The police on Monday registered cases against security forces in Kashmir who used a civilian as a human shield to allegedly guard against stone pelters and in another incident gunned down a youth in the Batamaloo area of Srinagar.

A First Information Report (FIR) was registered at the Beerwah Police station days after a video of the incident of April 9 went viral, drawing widespread condemnation and anger.

A police official said the FIR was filed under sections 342, 149, 506 and 367 of the Ranbir Penal Code against unidentified Army personnel. The investigation has been handed over to an officer of a Deputy Superintendent's rank, he said.

In the video that emerged on April 14, Farooq Ahmad Dar, a resident of Khansahib, Budgam, is seen strapped to the front of a moving Army jeep.

A soldier can be heard in the video, saying, "This will be the fate of people who throw stones." 

The police also registered a murder case against unnamed personnel of the Border Security Force in connection with the death of the youth, Sajad Hussain Shaikh. Shaikh was killed after being hit by a bullet in the head, an official said.

Investigations into the killing have begun, he said.

The Shiv Sena on Monday asked the BJP whether it needs its allies, while cautioning the party against losing sight of issues across the country during its march to rule from Panchayat to Parliament.

"While it is good and encouraging to think of the party's rule in every state, the BJP should clarify its policy towards 33 constituents of the NDA for which dinner was hosted (by Prime Minister Narendra Modi) recently.

"Parties like Sena, Akali Dal and TDP are standing strong in their respective states. There should be clarity on whether our friendship is needed (by the BJP)," the Sena said in an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana'.

It said the BJP may continue moving towards the fulfilment of its mission of ruling from Panchayat to Parliament.

"But those who speak against them should not be termed as anti-nationals or else whatever is left of democracy will also be lost.

"Every political party has the right to expand itself but in a country as vast as India, the party in power is also responsible to give strength to the Opposition parties and to ensure that parliamentary democracy continues," it said.

"A golden era for the BJP may have arrived but in Jammu and Kashmir, violence continues unabated. Pakistan has tightened the noose around Kulbhushan Jadhav, farmers in states like Maharashtra have become ready for mass suicide, inflation has not decreased and employment rate has not increased. The Golden era for the country has not started yet," the Sena said.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led party said it believed that the golden age can never be for any single party but should be for the entire country.

"Only power and political wins cannot be termed as the ladder towards the golden era," the Sena said.

In the inaugural address at the BJP's two-day national executive in Bhubaneswar on April 15, BJP president Amit Shah had said, "The BJP is yet to reach its peak. Its golden era will arrive when it rules from panchayat to assemblies across the country and Parliament.

Indian Railways will supply modern locomotives and train sets worth Rs.680 crore to Sri Lanka, in the largest export order for the public transporter.

Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES), a railways PSU, has secured its largest export order from Sri Lanka Railways for the supply of 10 broad gauge diesel locomotives and six DMU (diesel multiple units) train sets.

DMU train sets do not require separate locomotive as the engines are incorporated into one or more of its coaches.

All locomotives and train sets would be equipped with state-of-the-art technology and manufactured in Varanasi and Chennai, said a senior Railway Ministry official.

The contract will be funded under the Indian Line of Credit to Sri Lanka announced in 2011, and supplies will be made over the next two years, the official said.

RITES, which also serves as the export arm of the railways, is at present executing a contract for the supply of 18 locomotives to Myanmar Railways.

It had earlier exported 20 DMU train sets, three locomotives to Sri Lanka, besides providing expertise for setting up railway maintenance facilities and training of the island nation's railway officials during the period 2008-12.

Supplies of locomotives from Diesel Locomotive Works (DLW) in Varanasi would be completed in 2017-18.

RITES has also actively pursued exports of locomotives and passenger coaches to Bangladesh Railway. It has exported 120 LHB coaches from its Kapurthala factory.

It has been the endeavour of RITES to facilitate rail infrastructure development in the South Asian countries, particularly in Bangladesh, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.

In order to foster regional cooperation with these countries, the government has been extending various lines of credit for funding railway projects for export of Indian Railways-manufactured locomotives and rolling stock.

State-run power equipment maker BHEL on Monday said it has commissioned two units of 270 mega watt (MW) thermal power project in Maharashtra.

“Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) has successfully commissioned two units of 270 MW at RattanIndia Nasik Power Ltd's 5×270 MW thermal power project, located at Sinnar in Nasik district of Maharashtra,” the company said in a BSE filing.

It further said: “With the commissioning of these units, BHEL has commissioned eight sets for RattanIndia in Maharashtra-3 sets at Nasik and 5 sets at Amravati. In addition, two more 270 MW units are presently in advanced stages of completion at Nasik”.

Shares of BHEL were trading 0.09 per cent lower at Rs.173.25 on BSE.

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak believes that Apple, Google and Facebook will be bigger in 2075 and dominate the world.

"Apple will be around a long time, like IBM (which was founded in 1911)," USA Today quoted Wozniak as saying on Sunday.

"Look at Apple's cash ($246.1 billion, as of the end of its last fiscal quarter). It can invest in anything. It would be ridiculous to not expect them to be around (in 2075). The same goes for Google and Facebook," he added.

Wozniak was speaking ahead of the Silicon Valley Comic Con (SVCC), which is themed as "The Future of Humanity: Where Will We Be in 2075?"

The three-day conference, which Wozniak helped create last year, would explore the intersection of pop culture and technology. SVCC is expected to draw 75,000 to 100,000 from April 21-23 in San Jose.

Wozniak has always dominated the list of people who make accurate predictions. In 1982, he said portable laptops would emerge and he has strong opinions on how we would live in 58 years.

He made some other predictions on what type of planet we can expect in 2075.

He said that deserts could be ideal locations for cities of the future, designed and built from scratch.

There, housing problems will not exist and people will shuttle among domed structures. Special wearable suits will allow people to venture outside, he noted.

Wozniak added that within all cities, AI would be ubiquitous. Consumers will interact with smart walls and other surfaces to shop, communicate and be entertained. 

"Medical devices will enable self-diagnosis and doctor-free prescriptions. The question will be ethical, on whether we can eliminate the need for physicians," he said.

The technology entrepreneur is also convinced that a colony will exist on the Red Planet. He envisions Earth zoned for residential use and Mars for heavy industry.

He said that their is no chance that people on Earth would be able to communicate with extraterrestrials.

"There is a 'random chance' that Earthlings will communicate with another race. It's worth trying but I don't have high hopes," he said.

Steve Wozniak co-founded Apple with Steve Jobs in 1976 and developed the 1976 Apple I computer. 

He primarily designed the 1977 Apple II, while Jobs oversaw the development of its unusual case and Rod Holt developed the unique power supply.

AIADMK (Amma) Deputy General Secretary TTV Dinakaran, booked by Delhi Police for allegedly trying to bribe an Election Commission official, vowed on Monday to fight the case legally and alleged that efforts were being made to “destroy our organisation politically”.

The crime branch of Delhi Police booked Dinakaran for allegedly trying to bribe an Election Commission official to get the 'two leaves' poll symbol in the by-election to the R K Nagar Assembly seat.

He was booked following the arrest of Sukesh Chandrasekhar, a middleman, from a five-star hotel in Delhi yesterday.

The leader of the VK Sasikala faction of the ruling party also claimed he did not know Sukesh Chandrasekhar, a middleman arrested by the Delhi police in this matter.

“I will answer if I get summons. I will face it legally. How does a broker or somebody say the money was from TTV Dinakaran? I don't know anybody by that name nor have I come across any such name in my life,” he told reporters here.

He claimed efforts were on to “destroy our organisation politically,” but said he was not aware who was doing so.

“Such information is being spread to destroy our organisation politically. It is basically wrong to say that Sukesh has spoken to me. I don't know any such person. I don't know what is the plan and who is doing it,” Dinakaran, on his way to meet his aunt and jailed party chief Sasikala at Bengaluru, said.

He also denied the bribery charges, saying “I didn't bribe anybody.”

The Election Commission had frozen AIADMK's 'two leaves' symbol after the two factions led by Sasikala and former chief minister O Panneerselvam staked claim to it.

The bypoll to the R K Nagar Assembly constituency in Tamil Nadu was scheduled for April 12, but the EC cancelled it, saying the electoral process had been “seriously vitiated” by parties through use of money power.

Dinakaran was the candidate of the Sasikala faction.

The seat fell vacant after the death of then chief minister J Jayalalithaa on December 5.

Việt Nam imported nearly 4,800 Indian cars in the first quarter of this year, increasing more than threefold compared with the same period last year, according to the Vietnam Customs.

The average costs, insurance and freight (CIF) price were reported at nearly $3,800 each, which does not include taxes and fees, the report said.

This price is seen as very cheap as the average prices from other countries such as Thailand, Indonesia and South Korea is about $17,000 – $18,000 each.

Bùi Xuân Trường, a leader of Anycar Vietnam Company, said many Vietnamese customers like Indian cars because of their eye-catching designs, diversification of models, and prices which are much cheaper than other cars in the same segment.

“Almost all customers, who have between VNĐ300 million and VNĐ400 million, will choose Indian cars, in addition to the customer psychology of using imported cars,” Trường said to plo.vn, an online news web of the HCM City’s Judicial Department.

Sharing the opinion about the reason for the popularity of cheap Indian cars, auto expert Phạm Xuân Mai said the automakers cut down a number of parts and components.

“For example, a small sedan imported from India has fewer air bags and several other components, leading to the fact that its convenience and safeness are not as high as others from ASEAN countries,” said Mai.

Cars imported from India, especially those in the small-size segment, are equipped with rudimentary safety facilities. Almost all have only one air bag for the driver, while cars imported from other countries have more air bags or are equipped with the safe electronic brake systems.

Suspiciously cheap

Nguyễn Nghĩa, a resident in HCM City’s Thủ Đức District owning an Indian car, said the weak points of Indian car were low safety, uncomfortable seats and weak soundproofing.

“In particularly, the tyre is so small that it does not grip the road well and its fuel savings are bad. However, one needs more time to make an accurate evaluation of the quality,” Nghĩa said.

Insiders predicted that after a period of attracting Vietnamese customers with cheap prices, Indian cars will slowly lose their market share because they will not be able to compete with imported cars from other countries on the quality aspect. With their current quality, Indian cars will likely go the way of Chinese automobiles whose popularity waned a short while after entering the Vietnamese market.

Tata Nano is an example. The car is priced at about $2,500 in India. If it is exported to Việt Nam, its price will increase after taxes and fees to roughly VNĐ100 million. However, the car has only one rear view mirror, no air conditioner and uncomfortable seats.

With cars such as Tata Nano which are made in India, Mai said its fate could be similar to that of Chinese cars because of their low safety. As for other global trademarks, which were manufactured and assembled in India such as Suzuki, Hyundai and Honda, they could still perform well in the Vietnamese market.

Trường said Vietnamese customers still preferred to use modern, good quality and comfortable cars which were high on the safety quotient.

“Furthermore, the prices of a number of cars imported from ASEAN will go down as of 2018 when the import tax becomes zero per cent. This will put pressure on cheap Indian cars. If Indian automakers do not improve the quality to meet the Vietnamese customers’ demand, there will be no market share for them in Việt Nam,” Trường said.

Phạm Nguyên, a representative of an automobile import company, told plo.vn that the complete built-up units imported from India were “suspiciously cheap”.

He said Indian cars were suffering from an import tax of 70 per cent of the car value, more than double that of cars imported from ASEAN countries, but its import price is nearly half that of those from ASEAN.

The local auto importers also reported that a number of Indian cars in Việt Nam, which were tested for safety under the European New Car Assessment Programme, had worrying results with regard to air bags and anti-skid braking systems.

They said Việt Nam needed to issue standards or apply EU auto quality standards to control and prevent the import of low-quality cars to Việt Nam.

(Việt Nam News)

Clashes between group of protesting students and security forces broke out here on Monday resulting in heavy lobbing of tear gas shels by the forces.

A group of students from the S.P. College blocked the Maulana Azad road in Srinagar to protest against the army's action on students in Pulwama on Saturday in which more than two dozen students got injured.

The army had entered in to the Degree College Pulwama where students resisted and pelted stones over their vehicles. 

The students of the S.P. College also resorted to stone throwing on security forces and the armed police in which the Station House Officer (SHO) of the Kothibagh police station got injured.

The forces then used tear gas smoke shells and batons to disperse the students who kept on regrouping to engage the security forces in pitched clashes.

The local market around the Residency Road area was immediately shut after the situation got grim.

Actress Sonali Bendre, who made her television debut with the India's Got Talent show, says the small screen is seeing tremendous growth.

The 42-year-old actress also judged India's Best Dramebaaz on small screen and later made her debut in the fictional space with Ajeeb Daastaan Hai Ye.    

Asked how has the growth of small screen been over the years, Sonali told over an e-mail interaction: "By leaps and bounds and the TRP's are testimony to that." 

The Dil Hi Dil Mein actress feels that talent shows are a great platform of launching new talents in showbiz. 

"The talent television space is in fact a big contributor to launching new finds and talents, which otherwise the country would have never discovered," she added.

Sonali, who was last seen making a special appearance in the 2013 film Once Upon A Time in Mumbai Dobaara!, has recently started a book club on social media. 

The actress, who is married to filmmaker Goldie Behl and has a son named Ranveer, has also launched a parenting book titled The Modern Gurukul: My Experiments with Parenting book.
 

South Korea's presidential campaign for the May 9 elections, following the removal of former President Park Geun-hye, started on Monday with opposition Democratic Party's Moon Jae-in leading the polls.

In total, 15 politicians have officially registered as candidates for the presidency and will participate in this 22-day election campaign, which will conclude on May 8, Efe news reported.

Moon, a candidate from the Democratic Party, which currently has the most seats in the South Korean parliament, is the favourite to become the new head of state, following Park's dismissal on March 10.

Park was remanded on March 31 for her ties to a massive corruption scandal, while the Prosecutor's Office is expected to file charges against her later on Monday.

As a result, the campaign will focus almost exclusively on the fight against corruption as well as on the limitation of the power of "Chaebol" (South Korean large business conglomerates), most of which are involved in the corruption scandal.

Among the other main candidates are Ahn Cheol-soo, from the centre-to-left Popular Party; Hong Joon-pyo, from the conservative Korea Freedom Party (Park's party), and Yoo Seong-min, from the conservative Bareun Party, a faction that split from Korea Freedom Party in the wake of Park's corruption scandal.

Many analysts see these elections as a clear race between two contenders, Moon and Ahn, who, between them, garner some 80 per cent of voting intentions, according to the latest polls.

Moon, who was defeated by Park in the 2012 presidential elections, has led the polls from the start, although last week his lead over Ahn has reduced to only three percentage points, according to some estimates.

Brazil's Federal Police has charged 63 persons for taking part in a corruption scheme that sold expired or adulterated meat, a media report said on Monday.

The scandal led at least 25 countries to temporarily suspend imports of Brazilian meat, Xinhua news agency reported.

Among the charges are falsifying medical records and certificates, tampering with food products, conspiracy and corruption.

In March, the police launched a wide-ranging investigation, dubbed "Operation Weak Flesh", against illegal practices at meatpacking plants.

The operation dismantled groups that allegedly bribed inspectors to overlook altered expiry dates, water-injected meat as well as other unsanitary practices.

A total of 21 meatpacking plants were involved in the scheme, including multinationals BRF and JBS, two of the world's largest meat producers and exporters.

Brazil is the world's largest exporter of beef and poultry, and the fourth largest exporter of pork.

The scandal is estimated to cost Brazil's export market some $1.5 billion in lost annual revenue.
 

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte won the 2017 TIME 100 poll after consistently leading the survey, the magazine said.

The poll had asked readers who should be included on this year's TIME 100 – an annual list of the world's most influential people, a report published in the magazine said.

Duterte received five per cent of the total "yes" votes in the poll, which closed Sunday night. 

Since taking office in June, Duterte has waged an aggressive war on drugs that has killed more than 8,000 people in the Phillippines, according to media reports. 

The controversial anti-drug campaign has faced growing opposition from human rights groups and some political leaders, including Philippine Vice President Leni Robredo.

Closely following Duterte in the TIME 100 poll were Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Pope Francis, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg – all of whom received three per cent of the total "yes" votes.

US' Bernie Sanders won the reader poll in 2016 while Russian President Vladimir Putin took the lead in 2015.

The official TIME 100 list, which is selected by TIME's editors, will be announced on April 20.

The Delhi government requested the Supreme Court on Monday to set up a five-judge Constitution bench at the earliest to decide its pleas challenging the Delhi High Court verdict that the Lieutenant Governor is the administrative head of the national capital territory.

A bench comprising Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justices D Y Chandrachud and S K Kaul told senior advocate Gopal Subramaniam, appearing for the Delhi government, that it may consider setting up of the bench soon, “possibly” after the summer vacation.

Subramaniam mentioned the matter before the bench and said that the appeals have been referred to the CJI for setting up of a larger bench to deal with various constitutional issues.

The apex court had on February 15 referred to a Constitution bench a batch of pleas filed by the AAP government against the high court verdict, which had held that Delhi is not a state and that the Lieutenant Governor (LG) is its administrative head.

The top court had said that important questions of law and the Constitution are involved in the matter and it should be adjudicated upon by a Constitution Bench.

However, it did not frame questions to be deliberated upon by the Constitution bench in the matter and had asked the Centre and the Delhi government to argue their case before the larger bench.

The Delhi government had on February 2 told the court that it has exclusive executive powers in relation to matters falling within the purview of the Legislative Assembly and neither the Centre nor the President or the LG can encroach upon these.

Chelsea defender Gary Cahill admitted his side were below par in their 2-0 loss to Manchester United on Sunday, according to a statement on the club website (www.chelseafc.com)

“We expected them to start fast and we had to try and control that, and we never did,” Cahill said.

“We didn’t click. It’s disappointing. We tried to work hard in the second half, tried to push and create, but we were below the standards we’ve set. We weren’t at the races and it makes us a bit angry. Let’s hope it’s an off day and it doesn’t cost us too much.”

Cahill did point out that United’s first goal should not have stood following a handball by Ander Herrera. He also explained what was going through his mind when he helped Jesse Lingard to his feet moments before Herrera netted the second goal.

“I was nervous, 50/50, as to whether it was a penalty or not. It came across and I grabbed hold of him. It was instinct to try and pick him up. In hindsight it probably looks silly now, but I had the instinct that the sooner I got him up on his feet the sooner it stops the referee thinking otherwise. It was irrelevant for the goal.”

Still upbeat despite seeing their lead at the top of the Premier League table to just four points, the 31-year-old wants his side to shift their focus on Saturday’s meeting with Tottenham at Wembley.

“We have to react in the right way,” he stressed. “We have to dust ourselves off and prepare for a huge semi-final, and then we go again with some important home games coming up.”

“There’s only six games left, and we are still in a good position. We need to realise it’s not over, we need to realise there are points to play for, and we have to dig in. No-one is going to give us this league, we have to work for it like we have done for the majority of this season.”

“We reacted after Palace, we bounced back with two wins so it’s a similar thing. We have to go again. We are still in a great position," added Cahill.

Scientists at IIT Kharagpur are developing resources and tools to help computers provide a better online experience to an user to read Bengali texts and find answers to his queries in the same language.

Prof Sudeshna Sarkar, head of the department of Computer Science and Engineering at IIT-KGP said, currently the institute is working with Google to develop a Bengali treebank which is an important resource to understand the grammatical structure of Bengali texts as well as their meaning.

Sarkar gave examples about how their final product would work.

“If you wish to know about flood related reports in West Bengal that have appeared in various Bengali newspapers over the past 10 years, the computer can prepare a report for you with dates and locations of the events as well as the steps taken by the government,” she said.

Likewise if an end user wants to know what several Bengali authors since the time of Rabindranath Tagore had said about Kolkata in their works, the computer can give the answer, she said.

“We are trying to create tools and resources for understanding Bengali by the computer. Such tools will enable a far better online experience for a Bengali language user and give him better access to the information available in Bengali texts,” Prof Sarkar said.

The researchers at the Computer Science and Engineering department are developing resources and tools for Bengali, which will facilitate word level as well as sentence level grammatical analysis of Bengali texts.

“The research will enable better understanding of Bengali language so that the computer can retrieve answers to your questions,” she said.

“We had been involved in a project called Sandhan partnering with several institutions to develop a cross-language Indian search engine. Typing a query in Bengali, the system will also let you access relevant documents in other languages such as Hindi and English,” she said.

The 'Sandhan' system also handles Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Odia and Assamese.

Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari left for India on Monday on her first foreign visit, during which she will hold talks with the top Indian leadership to strengthen bilateral ties.

She left for New Delhi in a special Nepal Airlines flight from the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu. The TIA had on Sunday announced a 35-minute flight restriction from 10:30am to 11:05am local time for security reasons.

Nepal government has announced a public holiday on Monday to mark her visit. As per custom, public holidays are announced in Nepal whenever the head of the state embarks on an official foreign visit.

April 22, when she returns home, will also be a public holiday in Nepal.

She is visiting India at the invitation of President Pranab Mukherjee and will stay at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.

It will be Bhandari's first official visit abroad after assuming the office in October 2015. A high-level delegation comprising several ministers and MPs is accompanying her.

In the past six months, there have been several high- level visits between Nepal and India. Nepal Prime Minister 'Prachanda' visited India twice – in September and October – and President Mukherjee visited Kathmandu in November.

Bhandari, 55, was scheduled to visit India in May last year, but the trip was cancelled after the then Cabinet did not endorse her visit programme, citing lack of preparations on the part of the government.

In India, she will hold talks with President Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, exploring ways to expand cooperation between the two neighbours whose ties were strained over the agitation by the Madhesi community last year.

Vice President Hamid Ansari, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will also call on the Nepal president.

The bilateral ties between the two countries faced turbulence last year due to the Madhesi agitation and the subsequent blockade of border trading points which halted the supply of essential goods to landlocked Nepal from India.

Madhesis, mostly of Indian-origin, had been demanding that the new Constitution be amended to include their concerns about adequate political representation and redrawing of federal boundaries.

MEA's Joint Secretary (North) Sudhakar Dalela said in New Delhi yesterday that Bhandari's visit will reflect the priority that India attaches to strengthen the “age-old and unique partnership with Nepal, shared cultural and historical linkages, and strong people-to-people relationship.”

Tomorrow, she will attend a business event organised by industry chambers CII, FICCI and ASSOCHAM. She is also scheduled to visit Gujarat and Odisha and pay obeisance at temples of Dwarka, Somnath and Puri.