Showing rare guts and courage, adventure lover Tilak Soni from Uttarkashi successfully crossed a narrow wooden pedestrian bridge- which was abandoned post 1962 Indo-China war.

He possibly became the first ever person to walk on the 105 Mts long bridge after over fifty year. The bridge is located in Bahairoghati and was used for cross border trade but after the war it was deserted for over half a decade. 

The 1962 war put a ban on the entry of civilians in the Nelong valley , as Indian army established their base there. Locals from Jaduhn and other villages of Nelong valley were moved out to be relocated in Dunda and its nearby places in Uttarkashi.

It is estimated that the pedestrian bridge, located on the Gartang Gulley, is over a century old and Pathans from Peshawar were used for the challenging assignment.  The work was daunting as the challenge was to cut  granite stone on a vertical wall to make the architectural marvel. Traders used to move on the bridge with mules and yaks. 

Tilak Soni says, “I did a recce of the bridge on 8 April and conducted a tour of top brass of Uttarkashi administration on 11 April. I moved slowly and cautiously. I found that the bridge is strong and required minor repair work. Some railings have got damaged and leaving a small portion, the bridge moves on solid rock base.”

Walking on an unused bridge possibly for over half a decade was not easy. Moving slowly and taking every step by taking every safety precaution, Tilak Soni have crossed the wooden bridge twice recently. Located an altitude of 10,000 Ft above sea level, a small mistake could have turned fatal as the bridge is on a vertical wall with no cover. Though wood railing prevails but you can’t depend on it.  About 400 Mts down flows the Jhanvi river. The technique adopted was to move as close as possible to the rock wall. 

This excursion is not weak hearted people and offers more excitement than sky walking. Soni conducted a tour of Uttarkashi District Magistrate Ashish Kumar and SDM (Bhatwari) Nikita Khandelwal and other staff recently. The area is part of the Gangotri National Park and even the forest department staff never showed any interest in using the pedestrian bridge. The forest staff did spotted some wild animals like beer and deer on the bridge, but never witnessed any human movement on it. No record of army using the narrow 4 feet wide and 105 Mts long bridge prevails. 

After remaining close for tourists for over half a decade, the Nelong valley was opened for tourists in 2016. To reach the pedestrian bridge a tourist will have to undertake a trek of 2 kms from Bahairoghati. 
 

Actor Anupam Kher has slammed “pseudo intellectuals” for staying silent on videos showing soldiers being mistreated in Kashmir, saying sometimes it becomes necessary for one to show nationalism.

Noting that a new trend has emerged that whoever speaks for the country is said to have inclinations to the RSS or the BJP, the 62-year-old actor said, “We don't flaunt the label of being a nationalist, we carry nationalism in our hearts. But I feel sometimes it becomes necessary to show your nationalism.”

He also criticised the human rights activists for “keeping mum” over the heckling of CRPF jawans who stood guard at a polling booth during the bypoll in Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency in Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir recently.

“Sadly, we look at jawans just like the men in uniform. We don't look at them as sons, husbands and fathers. Pseudo intellectuals remained quiet on the videos about how soldiers were mistreated recently.

“But when that video about a man being used as a human shield, all those people turned up like a bear and started talking about human rights. And why is nobody talking about that video where the army saved nine people from drowning,” he said.

He, however, stressed that there are many people in Kashmir who are in favour of development.
Asked about Congress leader Digvijaya Singh's remark that Kashmiris are being killed by both the Army and the terrorists, Kher dubbed it as “unreal” and “stupid”.

“I will not justify whatever he has said by commenting on it. But I'll just say this that some people try to make their presence felt by giving out such ridiculous statements.

“They know if they will speak about growth and development of the country which is going on, nobody will be interested in listening to them. So they have to say something that is so stupid according to me. Which is so unreal that I don't want to dignify their remarks by commenting on them,” Kher said.

He also fired salvo at Lieutenant General (retired) H S Panag for his tweet where he condemned the armed forces for using a common man for protection from stone-pelting, calling that the image “will forever haunt the Indian Army and the nation”.

Kher said, “It's sad that people are making such comments to get noticed.”

Asked if former J-K chief minister Omar Abdullah was right in calling for the inclusion of separatists to bring about peace in the troubled state, he said it was unfortunate that someone like him (Abdullah) has said something like this.

“I feel saddened and rattled by their loss, they are only trying these things to stay relevant in the politics of Kashmir… And separatists have no existence if they don't talk like separatists. I feel the government of India should take back all the facilities given to them and pack them off to a place of anonymity,” he said.

The veteran actor was in the national capital for the launch of Karina Arora's first book, “The Spirit of the River” at India Habitat Centre, which has been published by Hay House.

Despite weak Asian equity markets, domestic benchmark indices snapped two-session losing streak and traded with marginal gains in the late morning trade on Monday.

At 11.15 am, the Sensex was trading 17 points or 0.06 per cent higher at 29,479 while the Nifty50 was trading four points or 0.05 per cent up at 9,155.

Broader markets again outperformed the front liners. BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap indices gained 0.3 per cent and 0.4 per cent respectively.

Among BSE sectoral indices, Realty index became the lead gained with a jump of 3.2 per cent. Oil & Gas (up 0.9 per cent), Consumer Durables (up 0.7 per cent) and Capital Goods (up 0.2 per cent) indices were other notable gainers. Telecom and IT indices fell 0.7 per cent 0.4 per cent respectively.

On Thursday, the BSE Sensex had closed 182 points or 0.61 per cent down at 29,461 while the NSE Nifty had ended 53 points or 0.57 per cent lower at 9,151. Markets were shut on Friday due to Good Friday holiday.

Top gainers in the Sensex-30 pack: Gail (up 2.4 per cent), Dr Reddy’s Labs (up 2.2 per cent), Adani Ports (up 1.3 per cent), Power Grid (up 1.3 per cent) and HDFC (up 1 per cent).

Top losers in the Sensex-30 pack: Sun Pharma (down 2.2 per cent), Asian Paints (down 1.2 per cent), NTPC (down 1 per cent), TCS (down 0.9 per cent) and M&M (down 0.8 per cent).

The Rupee was trading four paisa higher at 64.46 against the US Dollar.

The new Sebi chief Ajay Tyagi has decided to follow an “all-inclusive path” by personally meeting stakeholders from across the spectrum as the capital markets regulator gears up to usher in key reforms in areas like IPOs, foreign investors, commodities, mutual funds and investor protection.

Ahead of his first board meeting as Sebi Chairman next week, Tyagi has already met several groups of market participants and industry leaders, including foreign portfolio investors, brokerages, investment bankers and mutual funds.

Tyagi, who took over as Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) last month, would be meeting more groups of representatives from various sectors including mutual fund CEOs in the coming days before the scheduled board meeting on April 26, where a number of reform measures are expected to be discussed, a senior official said.

The regulator will also look at steps to make the registration process easier for foreign investors, while some further steps could be considered to check any misuse of P- Notes or Participatory Notes.

Besides, a status update would be discussed in cases being looked into by the regulator where there could have been some misuse of the P-Note route, including by way of their issuance in the past to Indians or NRIs, which the rules now do not allow.

While Sebi already follows a participatory model in framing of its regulations, under which it puts draft of all proposed norms in public domain and decides final norms after taking into consideration inputs from all stakeholders, the new Chairman has decided to meet all concerned stakeholders directly to get “a first-hand understanding and follow an all-inclusive path to reforms”, the official added.

Tyagi's predecessor U K Sinha had also followed a similar practice of meeting industry representatives on a regular basis and framing necessary regulations after taking into account their feedback.

The key reforms likely to be discussed by the Sebi board include permitting institutional investors in commodity derivatives in a phased manner, introduction of options trading in this market and tightening of norms to check any diversion of IPO funds.

Besides, issues like possible steps to attract startups to get listed and widening distribution network for mutual funds including by allowing sale through e-commerce and e- wallet platforms would also be discussed, the official said, while adding that the board will also take stock of ongoing probes in cases like NSE co-location issue and the NSEL scam.

The Sebi board will also discuss ways to conclude enforcement action in long-pending matters, some of which involve large corporate houses, while a status report is likely to be presented on all high-profile cases including those that have come to light in recent months and those concerning corporate governance issues.

Also on the agenda would be compliance by listed PSUs to the requirement for minimum 25 per cent public shareholding and whether they need to be given some more time.

Besides, some companies are yet to appoint at least one woman director on their respective boards.

The Sebi board itself has now got a full-time woman member with eminent banker Madhabi Puri Buch having taken charge as a Whole Time Member.
According to sources, the regulator is also mulling whether there is need for expanding the board in view of the commodities market regulation coming under its fold.

A key agenda item for the board meeting would be making it mandatory for all companies to appoint a monitoring agency for usage of funds raised through IPOs or rights issue — a requirement currently limited to only public offers worth over Rs.500 crore.

Besides, non-banking financial institutions may get some relaxations for investing in the IPOs, while unified license for brokers and new regulations on mutual fund redemptions are also likely.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday urged all citizens to serve the nation with their hard work and said that India cannot be run by the government without the support of its people.

"Our nation was neither built, nor can it be run by governments, kings and politicians, but only by the service and hard work of its people," Modi said while addressing a public meeting here in Gujarat.

The prime minister also said that India always had a culture of service which started fading away after Independence.

"Since Independence, people wanted the government to do everything. But that has never been the nature of our nation," Modi said.

"Our nation has been built on the sentiment of our collective social responsibility," Modi added.

He also said that so many 'dharamshalas' (rest houses), wells, 'gaushalas' (cow sheds) and libraries were built across the nation not by the government but by the people.

"After Independence, the sentiment (of collective social responsibility) started to fade away. But now we are again moving in the direction to revive that sentiment and people again want to do something good for the nation and its people," Modi said.

During the public meeting, the Prime Minister dedicated a 550-bed Kiran Super-specialty Hospital to the nation built at a cost of Rs.400 crore.

Bastia's home game with Lyon in French Ligue 1 was abandoned at half time after supporters of the Corsican side twice invaded the pitch and attacked the visiting players.

A hardcore section of home fans at Bastia's Armand Cesari stadium targeted Lyon's players as they warmed up before the game, causing it to be delayed by more than 50 minutes, and then again as the two sides went in for the break with the score at 0-0.

"We must stop, we must stop, they hit the players," Lyon coach Bruno Genesio told club president Jean-Michel Aulas in the corridors of the stadium.

"We're not going to war."

Bottom-of-the-table Bastia are likely to have points deducted for the latest trouble involving their supporters.

Bastia were punished in February over racist abuse directed at Nice striker Mario Balotelli while the Nice team bus had its windows smashed.

"Following the new incident at the end of the first period, the LFP decided to definitively stop the game between Bastia and Lyon," the French professional football league (LFP) said in a statement.

In the first incident Lyon players fled to the dressing rooms and the 1500 GMT kick-off was consequently delayed as captains and officials from the two teams and league officials held talks over whether the game should go ahead.

Lyon's players had been finishing their pre-game warm-up when about 50 Bastia fans — many of them dressed in black — attacked them, an AFP reporter at the scene said.

The trouble — the second time in four days that Lyon have been caught up in football violence — saw former Manchester United winger Memphis Depay reportedly among the Lyon players confronted by Bastia fans in ugly scenes.

Stewards and security staff rushed to intervene and for a few minutes there was chaos and scuffles until the playing surface was cleared and the Lyon players took refuge behind a metal gate in the tunnel.

Lyon initially refused to leave the changing rooms again, but eventually did so to warm up for a second time and the game kicked off soon after with stewards lined up on the edge of the pitch.

However they were powerless to prevent more disturbances at the half-time whistle, triggered by a confrontation between a Bastia official and Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopes, who had to be restrained by security men and appeared to be the chief target of the Bastia mob.

Lyon's players huddled in the dressing room and later left the stadium in their team bus after riot police dispersed about 100 waiting Bastia fans massed at the gates by firing tear gas.

Lyon star striker Alexandre Lacazette, who was not playing, tweeted: "Pfffff shameful!"

The French league's disciplinary commission is certain to hit Bastia hard after it docked them one point — suspended — and ordered the club to close its East Stand for three games over the monkey chants by some of its fans at Balotelli.

Nathalie Boy de la Tour, president of the LFP, told AFP: "We regret that Bastia is giving a horrible image of our football, it hurts the image of professional football, which does not deserve this."

On Thursday fans streamed onto the pitch in Lyon's Europa League home clash with Besiktas and the start of the quarter- final first leg was delayed by 45 minutes as officials attempted to clear their Parc OL playing area of fans.

Home supporters poured onto the pitch as they attempted to protect themselves from firecrackers and other objects raining down from the stands above.

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

Dinakaran, a leader of the AIADMK faction led by his jailed aunt V K Sasikala, was booked following the arrest of Sukesh Chandrasekhar, a middleman, from a five-star hotel here on Sunday.

“It has been learnt that Sukesh had struck a deal for Rs.50 crore for helping the AIADMK faction keep the 'two leaves' symbol. Police have recovered Rs 1.30 crore from Sukesh and two cars — a BMW and a Mercedes — have also been seized,” said a senior police officer.

Sukesh is being interrogated to know about his profile and his connection with any EC official, he said.

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 faction led by its general secretary Sasikala, jailed in a disproportionate assets case, later opted for the 'hat' symbol.

The bypoll to the R K Nagar Assembly constituency in Tamil Nadu was scheduled for April 12, but the Election Commission 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 ofthe then chief minister J Jayalalithaa on December 5 and the bypoll is being viewed as a battle of prestige for the two factions of the AIADMK.

A delighted Sebastian Vettel moved clear at the top of the world championship on Sunday when he claimed a well-judged victory for Ferrari in the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The 29-year-old four-time champion came home seven seconds ahead of three-time champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes, who made a late charge for victory after collecting a five-seconds penalty for a pit-lane misdemeanour.

Hamilton's new Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas finished third, after starting from his maiden pole position, ahead of compatriot Kimi Raikkonen in the second Ferrari and fifth-placed Australian Daniel Ricciardo.

It was Vettel's third win in Bahrain and the 44th of his career, a landmark that left him satisfied with his and the team's work which proved that Ferrari, who employed an aggressive strategy, are back as championship contenders.

"It's been a really great day for me. The car was really amazing to drive and I could control the race in the end.

Lewis was a threat towards the end and, with the traffic, you never know," said Vettel, who also won the season-opener in Australia.

"But finally, it was a controlled race."

Vettel now leads the title race with 68 points ahead of Hamilton on 61.

Hamilton, who was penalised for a pit-lane incident by braking in front of Ricciardo when he slowed before stopping, congratulated Vettel and thanked Bottas, who moved over to let the Briton through in the closing laps.

"It was definitely costly — the pit lane incident," said Hamilton. "It was my fault. I apologise to the team for losing that time there…"

Bottas was downcast.

"It was a very tricky race for me, struggling for pace throughout, I had tyre pressure problems and then I was rear-limited. It was just over-steering everywhere."

Ricciardo's Red Bull team-mate 19-year-old Max Verstappen crashed out of the action after a brakes failure. Brazilian Felipe Massa finished sixth for Williams, a well-received Easter Sunday birthday gift for team boss Frank Williams who is 75, with Sergio Perez taking seventh for Force India.

Romain Grosjean battled through to take eighth for Haas ahead of Nico Hulkenberg of Renault and Esteban Ocon in the second Force India.

On a significantly cooler day, with a strong wind, the temperatures fell to 25 for the air and 30 degrees Celsius shortly before the race when Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne withdrew after yet another engine failure with his McLaren Honda, his third of the weekend and the team's fourth. There were two spectacular crashes.

Verstappen crashed out of the race on lap 12 with brake failure and as Vettel charged through the field, Mercedes were thrown a potential lifeline when Toro Rosso's Carlos Sainz and Canadian rookie Lance Stroll of Williams collided at Turn One.

A 20-year-old youth from Delhi drowned in Parbati River near Manikaran in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh on Saturday evening, around 230 km from here.

Additional Superintendent of Police, Kullu, Nishchint Singh Negi said the 20-year-old youth along with his two brothers was on trek to Kheerganga when the accident took place.

“The trio was sitting on a rock near Barshaini in Manikaran area of Kullu district and as Chetan Phullar dipped his foot in Parbati River, he slipped and was washed away in strong current of the river,” he said.

Police said a manhunt was launched after they received a information about the drowning of the youth, however, his body could not be traced as yet.

Chetan, a resident of Rohini area of Delhi was pursuing studies and he along with his brothers Deepak and Yogesh Joshi had came to Kullu few days back.

Railway Minister on April 16 flagged off two trains and laid the foundation of a railway facility, in different parts of the country, at Rail Sadan here through video conference.

Prabhu, who was in Odisha capital to attend the BJP's national executive meeting, flagged off the Life Line Express at Sindhudurg (Maharastra) and said it would be of great help for poor patients.

He also flagged off a train with Vistadome coach between Visakhaptnam and Araku, saying the new coach having features like glass roof, LED lights, rotable seats, GPS-based information system among others would of great enjoyment for tourists.

Prabhu also laid the foundation of a mechanised laundry under BOOT model at Visakhapatnam which, he said, would improve the quality of linen.

Six clusters of Haryana have been selected under phase-I of Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission (SPMRM) which aims to provides urban amenities in rural area.

These clusters include Kosli of Rewari, Badli of Jhajjar, Barara of Ambala, Samin of Fatehabad, Uchana Khurd of Jind and Balla of Karnal.

An official spokesperson said that the selected clusters from the state would be strengthened under the SPMRM by providing economic, social and infrastructure amenities.

An estimated Rs 100 crore would be the size of the plan to be extended through convergence with existing state and central schemes.

As per the official information, the first instalment of Rs nine crore per cluster has been released against Rs 30 crore of Critical Gap Funding.

The spokesperson further stated that Integrated Cluster Action Plan has been formulated after conducting a detailed study of areas through professional agencies. The plan for each cluster seeks to cover infrastructure development such as sanitation, 24×7 piped water supply, inter-village road connectivity, and community assets.

It also focuses on development of skills and health infrastructure, he added.

Under phase-II, two clusters namely Sewah of Panipat and Rampur Seori of Panchkula have been sanctioned, he added.

The SPMR Mission strives to strengthen rural areas by providing economic, social and infrastructure amenities, thus leading to sustainable and balanced regional development in the country.

The scheme was launched by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 21, 2016 from Chhattisgarh with an aim to create 300 rural growth clusters across the country.

In the first phase, 100 clusters will be taken up, thereafter more clusters will be identified based on the progress of the scheme.

Police have registered a case against unnamed army personnel in the incident of allegedly using a civilian as a human shield against stone-pelters during the polling in Beerwah area of the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency.

The FIR was registered at Beerwah police station yesterday, two days after a video showing a man being tied to an army jeep as a shield against stone-pelters during the April 9 bypoll to the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency surfaced, drawing widespread condemnation and anger.

A police officer said the FIR has been registered under sections 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) and 367 (kidnapping or abducting in order to subject person to grievous hurt) of the Ranbir Penal Code.

The investigation of the case has been handed over to an officer of the Deputy Superintendent rank, he said.

In the video that surfaced on April 14, Farooq Ahmad Dar from Khansahib in Budgam district is seen strapped to the front of a moving army jeep.

A soldier can be heard saying, “This will be the fate of people who throw stones.”

In a case of mistaken identity, many people downgraded and uninstalled the mobile application of e-commerce platform 'Snapdeal' instead of social networking app 'Snapchat' to mark their protest against certain unverified comments of Snapchat CEO about the Indian market.

The social media was abuzz with criticism against Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel after a report quoted one of the company's former employees as saying that the top executive told him that the “app is only for rich people” and that he (CEO) was not interested in expanding the business to “poor countries” like India and Spain.
Snapchat, on its part, has rubbished the allegations.

However, soon after the controversy erupted, #BoycottSnapchat became one of the top trending topics on Twitter with over 69,000 tweets. People began to uninstall the app and give it poor ratings and reviews on various app stores.
“Dear CEO of Snapchat…why don't you come to India and check out Indians' phones,” wrote a user in review of Snapchat's app. Many also went on to highlight that CEOs of top tech firms like Microsoft and Google are Indians.
Interestingly, a section of Internet users mistook Snapchat to be Snapdeal and uninstalled the e-commerce app of the latter. This came to light after netizens started posting pictures of the blunder on Twitter.

Meanwhile, Snapdeal co-founder and CEO Kunal Bahl tweeted, “Ppl asking us to make a statement that @snapdeal is not @snapchat was possibly the last thing I thought I would ever need to do”.

Many users also explained how the two apps were different.

“Time to balance the ratings…guys its Snapchat's CEO who said bad things. You are making Snapdeal pay that…please change your ratings,” wrote one of them.

The incident also brought out the creative side of many. A certain meme being circulated quipped “hum James Bond se Gutka bikwate Hai” (we make James Bond sell Gutka–a mix of tobacco, areca nut and other ingredients).

Snapdeal, which has been in news for a potential sell out to larger rival Flipkart, has faced a similar downgrade in 2015 when its then-brand ambassador Aamir Khan made a comment on growing 'intolerance in the country.

Stock prices on the mend, the Finance Ministry will nudge at least six public sector banks to hit markets to raise funds and ease the pressure on the exchequer of pumping in capital as per the Indradhanush plan.

“Time has come for banks to tap capital market and we think that at least half a dozen banks would take advantage of the opportunity and raise capital from the market during the current fiscal,” a senior finance ministry official told PTI.

“It is up to individual banks to decide when they want to raise capital and how much, but in our assessment, there are a few fit candidates for this, including State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda and Punjab National Bank,” the official said.
As per the scheme, public sector banks need to raise Rs.1.10 lakh crore from markets, including follow-on public offer, to meet Basel III requirements, which kick in from March 2019.

This will be over and above Rs.70,000 crore banks will get as capital support from the government. Of this, the government has already infused Rs.50,000 crore in the past two fiscals and the remaining will be pumped in by the end of 2018-19.

SBI has already taken board approval for raising up to Rs.15,000 crore through various means, including public offer and overseas issuance of shares, during the current fiscal.

The funds will be raised either through follow-on public issue, qualified institutional placement, rights issue, private placement, Global Depository Receipt, American Depository Receipt or a combination of these, SBI had said last month.

The fund-raising will be done at an opportune time or as may be approved by the government and the RBI, it added.
The BSE banking index has jumped to 24,700 from 21,600 in the past three months.

Meanwhile, the government will continue to support public lenders based on requirements as was announced by the finance minister in his Budget speech, the official said.

In the Budget 2017-18 speech on February 1, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced capital infusion of Rs.10,000 crore for the current fiscal.

“In line with the Indradhanush road map, I have provided Rs.10,000 crore for recapitalisation of banks in 2017-18. Additional allocation will be provided, as may be required, Jaitley had said.

Over 50 Indians, including gymnast Dipa Karmakar, Olympic medallist Sakshi Malik and actress Alia Bhatt, are among Forbes' list of super achievers from Asia under the age of 30 who are “pushing boundaries of innovation”.

The second Forbes '30 Under 30' Asia list 2017 features 300 impressive young entrepreneurs — 30 in 10 categories, including entertainment, finance and venture capital, retail, social entrepreneurs and enterprise technology, under the age of 30 years who are pushing the boundaries of innovation.

India has 53 achievers on the list, second only to China which has 76 honorees.

Leading the pack from India are Karmakar, 23, who became the first Indian female gymnast to ever compete in the Olympics during the last games held in Rio de Janeiro – and the first Indian gymnast to compete in 52 years.

“While she didn't win a medal, she ranked an impressive fourth on her first-ever Olympic outing, missing the bronze by a hair's breadth – 0.15 points,” Forbes said adding that she performed the Produnova vault in the finals – making her one of only five gymnasts to ever successfully do so. Fellow athlete Malik, 24, became the first Indian woman to win a medal in Rio in wrestling, where she bagged the bronze.

Forbes noted that Malik, who hails from a small Indian town Rohtak, faced a lot of local opposition to her desire to wrestle when she took up the sport at age 12.

Srikanth Bolla, 25, founder of Bollant Industries has been featured in the manufacturing and energy category. Bolla was born blind into a family of farmers in rural India and “went on to become the first international blind student at MIT”, where he studied business management. Post-MIT, Bolla chose to return to India where he set up Bollant Industries in Hyderabad, a company that employs and trains differently-abled individuals to manufacture eco-friendly and compostable packaging.

Bhatt, 24, has acted in over 20 high-grossing Bollywood movies, with at least six of them grossing well over $15 million worldwide in opening weeks.

The list also features Sharath Gayakwad, 25, India's first Paralympic swimmer, coach and Arjuna award winner who has won 96 medals.
“Swimming wasn't enough – he realised that the struggle to find swim apparel was still difficult in India – so he formed Gamatics, an aggregator between international brands and domestic retailers, for anyone to find swimwear in India,” Forbes said.

Trisha Shetty, 26, is the founder of SheSays, an Indian non-profit that empowers the country's women to act against sexual violence by providing education, legal, medical as well as psychological support.

So far, the organisation has engaged more than 60,000 young people through educational workshops and online, creating awareness and support to survivors who often reach out to share their personal stories and ask for help through SheSays' social media platforms.

On the list is Ankit Kawatra, 25, who founded Feeding India, which aims to solve the country's hunger problem by providing free meals through volunteers and donation centres.

It operates a smartphone app where restaurants and individuals can sign up to donate food, which are then collected and distributed to people in need.

The youngest Indians on the list are brothers Sanjay, 15, and Shravan Kumaran, 17, who founded GoDimensions, a mobile app developer five years ago. To date, they've built a total of seven apps for the App Store and three for Google Play, including goDonate, a platform for sharing excess food, clothes and furniture with those in need.

Their apps have clocked over 70,000 downloads in over 60 countries. They hold the distinction of being the youngest Mobile Application Programmers in India by Apple, Forbes said.

The list also features 29-year-old Kavin Bharti Mittal, founder of hike, an instant messaging service designed to rival WhatsApp, 29-year-old Vaishnavi Murali, founder of Eikowa Art, an India-based online art gallery curating works from many of the country's contemporary artists.

Indian-American author, screenwriter and filmmaker Kovid Gupta, 28, and Amanat Anand, 24, Shubham Issar, 23, and Yogita Agrawal, 23, co-founders of SoaPen, a teaching tool in the form of a wearable soap crayon, are also featured in the list.

Forbes said it was fascinating to see entrepreneurs who are using technology to empower their communities and overcome cultural barriers.

Actor Tusshar Kapoor, currently busy shooting for filmmaker Rohit Shettys Golmaal Again here, has been looking after his son Laksshya on the movie's set.

The single father welcomed Laksshya in June 2016 through IVF and surrogacy. 

He took to Twitter on Sunday to share two photographs in which he can be seen holding his son.

"Evenings in Hyderabad, first outdoor for Laksshya. Ramoji Film City. Golmaal Again," he captioned the image.

Directed by Shetty, the fourth instalment in the popular Golmaal franchise, also features Ajay Devgn, Arshad Warsi, Tabu, Parineeti Chopra and Shreyas Talpade.
 

The dead bodies of the two abducted students of Jamia Milia University of Delhi have been recovered by police from Ganga Canal on Saturday . Love angle is behind the double murder which was revealed after the arresting of  a tantrik who was involved in the crime . The main accused, an auto rickshaw driver  is however stated to be at large. 

"Raids are on for the arresting of the main accused Haider , an auto rickshaw driver who had killed  Babbar and Saddam of Village Jasaura of Mandali in Meerut while Ayub , the tantrik who was also involved in the crime has been arrested," SP City Alok Priyadarshi said. 

Deceased Babar and Saddam   were studying in Jamila Milia University of Delhi. The duo had come to the village to attend a family function on April 5th and returned to Delhi to join their classes on April 10th  but could never reach their destination. 

The abduction however was confirmed when the family members got a ransom call on the following day and they immediately approached the police . In their investigation the Police  got a clue while examining the call details as the last call was done to Ayub ,a teacher in a Madarsa in sector 63 of Noida. 

Police caught hold of  Ayub and interrogated him in this connection. After some Ayub broke down and revealed startling truth in the case. Ayub who is also a Tantrik was approached by Babar who was in love with a girl of his village and the later wanted Ayub to do some black magic so that the girl also develops same feeling for him. 

But Ayub was well aware of the fact that Haider ,  of  village Jasaura who is an auto rickshaw driver in Noida was also in love with her and consequently he informed Haider about the intentions of Babar. Offering him Rs 10 lakhs Haider asked the tantrik to call Babar at his Madarsa in Noida. When Badar reached there on April 10th with friend Saddam the duo caught hold of them and strangulated them to death. Haider than disposed the dead bodies near the banks of  the Ganga Canal near Dasna of district Ghaziabad .