Country's largest lender SBI on Friday said it aims to reach 5.2 lakh Acceptance Touch Points and collectively do Rs.1 lakh crore transaction in 2017-18 to take forward government's digital agenda.

The State Bank of India (SBI) said in a statement that it has implemented various initiatives as part of Digital India and Digi Dhan Mela campaign launched by the government. These, include adoption of 110 villages to develop digital eco system, and targeting deployment of 25,000 terminals at 12,500 villages under a NABARD scheme.

“In FY 2017-18, the bank's ambition is to reach 5.2 lakh Acceptance Touch Points which include 4 lakh Digital PoS (Bharat QR and Aadhaar Pay) and collectively will receive Rs.1 lakh crore of transaction value,” SBI said.

The bank's Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya said that with the Digital India initiative pursued collectively by the government, banks and technology companies, “India is transforming into a digitally empowered society and SBI is playing a pivotal role in the process of digitalisation”.

Rajnish Kumar, MD of SBI said that UPI and Aadhaar pay are two very innovative platforms which will lead to efficiency in costs and provide convenience to customers.

The bank further said that it will continue the digital drive to bring in more innovative products and services for customer convenience.

Online SBI, the bank's web banking platform, is the fifth most visited financial site globally.

Reality TV personality Kim Kardashian is banning rapper and husband Kanye West from attending the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

The Keeping Up with the Kardashians star is still worried about her husband's condition following his mental breakdown back in December 2016. 

According to a source, Kim wants West to "stay away" from the party scene, reports aceshowbiz.com.

"She's pleading with him to stay away from Coachella. She fears for her husband's health and well-being, so she's been encouraging him to avoid the wild music festival. Kim knows Kanye is still sensitive and fragile after his rough year," a source told Hollywood Life magazine.

"Kim feels her hubby would have a hard time not jumping on stage for a surprise performance if he goes to the event. She doesn't think he is strong enough for so much excitement and action," the source added.

Demonetised currency notes worth Rs.30 crore were seized from a former corporator's house in the city's western suburb, police said on Friday.

"We found the illegal cash in the house of ex-corporator Nagaraj, 54, during a search conducted on a court warrant in a criminal case and seized the banned notes in Rs.500 and Rs.1,000 denomination," Hennur Police Station Inspector N Srinivas said.

Nagaraj was not present when the police knocked at his house around 5.00 am, as he allegedly fled on learning about the search team.

Police also faced resistance from Nagaraj's family in entering the house and had to break open the main door with the help of a blacksmith for the search operation.

"As the search operation is continuing, further details will be given later," said Srinivas.

Nagaraj is alleged to have been involved in converting black money into white by exchanging the old currency notes since they were banned on November 8.

He was elected as an Independent corporator of the Bangalore Municipal Corporation in 2002 from the Prakashnagar civic ward in the city's west.

He also contested the 2013 state assembly elections from the Gandhinagar segment in the city centre as a candidate of the Badavara Sharmikara Raitara Congress (BSR-Congress) but lost to ruling Congress nominee and former minister Gundu Rao.

The ex-corporator is alleged to have recently kidnapped a city businessman for ransom and is also facing criminal charges of laundering unaccounted money.

Former Brazil striker Fred scored four second-half goals as Atletico Mineiro defeated Bolivian football club Sport Boys Warnes 5-2 in their Copa Libertadores group match on Thursday.

Robinho, the former Real Madrid, Manchester City and AC Milan winger, opened the scoring in the fifth minute at the Independencia Stadium but goals from Carlos Tenorio and Alexis Messidoro put the visitors ahead, reports Xinhua news agency.

Fred equalised by sticking out his boot to divert a Rafael Carioca shot and he scored again by latching onto an Elias cross to give the hosts the lead.

The former Selecao No. 9 secured his hat-trick with a header and then bagged his fourth with a deft lob from outside the box.

In Buenos Aires, Sebastian Driussi netted a brace as Argentina's River Plate beat Peru's Melgar 4-2 at the Monumental stadium.

Emanuel Herrera scored twice for the visitors while Ignacio Fernandez and Lucas Martinez were also on the scoresheet for River Plate.

In Medellin, defending champions Atletico Nacional of Colombia suffered a 2-0 home defeat to Brazil's Botafogo, with Camilo and Guilherme scoring for the visitors.

In Thursday's only other match, Ayrton Preciado struck late to hand Ecuador's Emelec a 1-0 victory over Independiente Medellin of Colombia.

Launching its own "war against drugs", the Captain Amarinder Singh government has directed for free treatment of drug addicts at state-run de-addiction centers.

The police has also been directed against registering cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act against "drug users".

In a communication sent to all civil surgeons, the health department has directed for ensuring free treatment for drug addicts opting for treatment at all 32 government de-addiction and rehabilitation centers in Punjab.

When contacted, the Health and Family Welfare Minister Brahm Mahindra confirmed he had asked officials to issue the above directives.

"But I am not sure if these directions have been issued," he told The Statesman. However, highly placed sources told The Statesman that the directive for free treatment of drug addicts and no police action against drug users have been already been issued.

Currently, while indoor patients are charged Rs.200 per day during their stay at de-addiction centers.

This includes charges for their food and medicines during the detoxification course which may extend up to three weeks. After this if an addict is charged Rs.50 per day during the rehabilitation process which may extend up to two months.

"Many of the drug addicts come from poor and middle class families, so they are hesitant to take the treatment as they can't afford it. But now as the treatment for them is free, we expect more and more patients to come forward for treatment," said a senior health department official pleading anonymity.

On average, 50 to 150 patients report for treatment at out patients departments (OPD) of government de-addiction centers. But only seven to eight of them opt for the treatment by giving consent for treatment at the in patients department (IPD).

The police authorities have also been directed against registering cases against drug users. Both the above moves by Captain Amarinder Singh government are in line with the ruling Congress' election manifesto for just concluded Assembly elections.

In its manifesto, the Congress had said that of the about 45,000 cases registered under the NDPS Act, 90 per cent pertain to drug users rather than the drug peddlers or traffickers. The party manifesto had also said anyone who registers himself at district de-addiction centers, will be treated with compassion free of cost.

The previous Parkash Singh Badal government had in May 2014 launched a war on drugs in the state and nearly 29,000 were arrested during the crackdown on drug peddlers till December 2015. But most of these "drug peddlers" were reportedly drug addicts who were arrested with small quantities of drug which they were carrying for self consumption.

Hollywood star Orlando Bloom and Nina Dobrev are reportedly dating after they were spotted getting cozy at a movie premiere.

Dobrev, 28, and 40-year-old Bloom attended the premiere of The Promise in Los Angeles, reported Ace Showbiz.

The duo stepped out in style at the event that took place at TCL Chinese Theatre.

They were joined by the movie cast members that included Christian Bale, Angela Sarafyan and Charlotte Le Bon when hitting the red carpet.

The rumoured new couple was pictured leaving the event and taking a sweet walk together.

Bloom and Dobrev's dating rumours comes just days after the British actor addressed his break-up from singer Katy Perry.

With the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) suffering humiliating defeat in the Assembly by-election held for Rajouri Garden constituency in Delhi, the chorus for making party's Punjab unit 'independent' is set to grow louder.

Post the AAP loss in Punjab Assembly elections, many party leaders have already spoken against the interference of Delhi leadership in affairs of the state unit.

Leaders favor more powers for the state leadership in Punjab which is the only state besides Delhi where the party has tasted electoral success by winning four seats in Lok Sabha and 20 seats in just concluded Assembly polls.

"Local leadership should be given more say in the affairs of the party in Punjab. Punjab unit should be free to take its decisions. The Central leadership and political affairs committee (PAC) will remain the final authority, but we should be given more rights to take our decisions," AAP Punjab convener Gurpreet Singh Waraich told The Statesman.

He said the issue has already been conveyed to the party leadership in Delhi and the PAC would take the final decision in the matter after municipal elections in Delhi.

Waraich said the party needs to re-work the organizational structure so that it can be understood by the party volunteers. "In our organisation, we have state convener, circle in-charges and zonal in-charges. But instead of such designations, we should go for more traditional designations like state president, district president or block in charge so that volunteers have a clarity on the role of each and every office bearer, " he added.

re-work the state unit, AAP will evaluate the contribution of state leaders during the Assembly polls. During AAP's post-poll review meeting recently in Jalandhar, state leaders criticised the complete control of Delhi-based leaders over campaigning in Punjab and lack of trust in local leaders which gave rival parties a chance to tag AAP leaders as "outsiders".

They blamed the observers sent from Delhi for running the poll campaign according to their own whims which became the main reason party's shocking loss. Party's strategy to project its CM face was also blamed as a reason for the poll loss.

Sunil Grover, known and loved as Doctor Mashoor Gulati, has announced his brand new project with Bollywood’s Baby Doll Sunny Leone.

Since the Kapil-Sunil controversy, Grover’s fans have been waiting for him to make a comeback on TV.

It was a happy moment for all the Sunny and Sunil fans on Thursday as they got a surprise while they watched the battle between Kolkata Knight Riders and  Kings XI Punjab on the TV screen.

The tenth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) turned out to be a gift for fans of Sunil and Sunny as they could hear the funny banters of the duo. Both were in the commentary box for an app-based commentary of the IPL match.

During the commentary, Sunil Grover introduced himself as he said “Hi guys. This is Sunil here! I’m celebrating Baisakhi with Baby Doll main sone di and I’m on KKR’s side today.”

The Lahore High Court Bar Association said on Friday that it will take action against any lawyer who extends services to Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, who has been sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court.

“The LHBA has unanimously decided to cancel the membership of any lawyer who offers his services to Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav,” Lahore High Court Bar Association Secretary-General Amer Saeed Raan said after a meeting of the bar today.

He said the bar has asked the government not to bow to any foreign pressure in the case of Jadhav.

“India has declared Jadhav its son and is putting pressure on the Pakistani government for his release. We demand that the Indian spy who is involved in playing with lives of Pakistanis should not be spared and the government (should) ensure his hanging,” he said.

Earlier, Pakistan's top military commanders under army chief Gen Qamar Bajwa made it clear that “no compromise” shall be made on such “anti-state acts”.

The death sentence to Jadhav, 46, was confirmed by army chief Gen Bajwa after the Field General Court Martial found him guilty of “espionage and sabotage activities” in Pakistan.

India had acknowledged that Jadhav had served with the navy but denied that he has any connection with the government.

Indian men's singles shuttler B. Sai Praneeth advanced to the semi-finals, while the mixed doubles pair of B. Sumeeth Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa lost in the quarter-finals of the $350,000 Singapore Open Superseries here on Friday.

Praneeth fought hard to get the better of Thai eighth seed Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk 15-21, 21-14, 21-19 in an hour and 11 minutes at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Sumeeth-Ashwini couldn't mount a challenge against the Chinese third seeded pair of Lu Kai and Huang Yaqiong, who took only 27 minutes to win 21-11, 21-8.

Later in the day, P.V. Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth will be in action.

Artificial intelligence-powered machines can be reflections of humans and can acquire cultural biases, a new study has found.

Researchers from Princeton University and University of Bath have found that common machine learning programmes, when trained with ordinary human language available online, can acquire cultural biases embedded in the patterns of wording.

These biases range from the morally neutral to the objectionable views-preference for birds over animals to views on race and gender.

"We have a situation where these artificial intelligence systems may be perpetuating historical patterns of bias that we might find socially unacceptable and which we might be trying to move away from," said Arvind Narayanan, Assistant Professor at Princeton University.

Researchers believe that it is important to identify and address these biases in machines as humans increasingly turn to computers for processing the natural language humans use to communicate.

In their findings, the researchers found that the machine learning programme associated female names more with familial words, like "parents" and "wedding" than male names, while it associated male names with career attributes, like "professional" and "salary". 

"Of course, results such as these are often just objective reflections of the true, unequal distributions of occupation types with respect to gender-like how 77 per cent of computer programmers are male," the study published in the journal Science noted.

The findings point out that machine learning methods are not 'objective' or 'unbiased' just because they rely on mathematics and algorithms.

"Rather, as long as they are trained using data from society and as long as society exhibits biases, these methods will likely reproduce these biases," said Hanna Wallach, a researcher at Microsoft Research New York City.

Actress Upasana Singh, who played a pivotal role in The Kapil Sharma Sharma, is back again. This time, her role is entirely different from her previous one.

"Yes, I am back on the show. I am currently shooting for the show. I have already shot an episode and looking forward to it," said the actress in an interview to a leading daily.

Upasna added that she won't play the character she used to play.

"I am not playing Bua this time. It is a different character and it will be a continuous role. I am doing a couple of other projects as well like Nach Baliye 8 and Judwaa 2 so, when I will be busy working on them, I won't be seen here. Paresh Ganatra will play my husband. I am really happy to be back and having a great time with the team." the actress was quoted as saying.

Pakistan on Friday said that alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav was sentenced according to the country's law and he has 40 days to file an appeal in the apex court.

Top foreign policy chief Sartaj Aziz also warned India to stop issuing "rhetorical statements" against Islamabad over the issue.

"He was sentenced as per the law of the land.. He (Jadhav) was involved in subversive activities in Pakistan, and was holding two passports, for which India has no answer."

Aziz slammed India's claim that Jadhav, a former naval officer, was captured in Iran. Aziz in fact claimed that Jadhav is a serving Indian naval officer.

"It's all rhetoric that he was captured in Iran. He has the right to file a review in the Supreme Court and also file a mercy petition to the Army Chief and the President in 40 days." 

Aziz also said that Indian statements on the issue could lead to diplomatic tensions. "We should respect each others' sovereignty."

India has said if Pakistan goes ahead with the hanging of Jadhav, it would amount to premeditated murder.

Italian football is set to witness its latest instalment of the Milan Derby when Internazionale host AC in the Serie A on Saturday at the San Siro.

The Milan clubs are unique not just for their storied history, but also for the fact that they share the iconic San Siro Stadium. While the clubs may be a far cry from the days when they dominated Europe and Italy, Saturday’s clash is sure to witness some fireworks. With the Nerazzurri set to lock horns with the Rossonerri yet again, thestatesman.com has made a combined XI (4-3-3 formation) ahead of the derby.

Goalkeeper: Gianluigi Donnarumma
Samir Handanovic (Inter) has long been of the Serie A top custodians and it would take a truly special player to deny him a place in a Inter-Milan XI. Unfortunately for him, Gianluigi Donnarumma is a one-in-a-generation talent. The 19-year-old continues to grow from strength to strength and gets the nod ahead of the Slovenian veteran.

Left Back: Mattia de Sciglio
Among the most vibrant fullbacks in the Serie A at present, Milan’s 24-year-old full-back continues to impress. Sciglio just about edges the experienced Cristian Ansaldi. While Ansaldi is a versatile player, Sciglio’s overall qualities make him the better left-back.

Centre Back: Alessio Romagnoli
Another talent that plays for the Red and Black half of Milan, Romagnoli has established himself as a starter under Vincenzo Montella for the past two seasons. Big things are expected from the 22-year-old and his classy play-from-the-back style is a pleasure to watch in contrast to Inter man Gary Medel’s charged-up approach. The Chilean is a decent defender but it is safe to say Romagnoli has surpassed him not just vertically, but also in all aspects.

Centre Back: Miranda
The Brazilian central defender may be getting on in years, but he has been the epitome of consistency in the Serie A this season. Always calm, rarely does he put a wrong foot and is the perfect foil for his fiery defensive partner, Gary Medel. Milan’s alternative in this position, Gabriel Paletta, has not been too impressive lately. He already has three red cards this season, which makes Miranda an obvious choice.

Right Back: Danilo D'Ambrosio
With Ignaznio Abate suffering an eye injury, the right-back slot is won hands down by Inter’s Danilo D’Ambrosio. While he may not be able to match the Milan man for pace (few can), D’Ambrosio is extremely consistent. Abate’s replacement, young Davide Calabria, has done a decent job, but has played too few games to be considered worthy of challenging D’Ambrosio. 

Left Midfield: Roberto Gagliardini
Gagliardini was impressive in the first half of the season for Atlanta before switching to Inter in January 2017 and hence gets the nod despite having made just 10 appearances for the Blue and Black. Currently racing against time to get fit for Saturday, the 23-year-old has all the qualities a central midfielder requires and while he is naturally right-footed, he would have no problems playing on the left in this three-man midfield. 

Centre Midfield: Ever Banega
The Argentine's excellent technique and ball-winning abilities make him an ideal candidate to be the central figure in this midfield. His teammate, Geoffrey Kondogbia, is a fine talent but is still not as consistent as the 28-year-old Banega. As a bonus, he knows how to take a set-piece and would be the man to keep this team ticking with his excellent distribution. 

Right Midfield: Juraj Kucka
A no-nonsense midfielder with an excellent work-rate, Kucka quietly gets the job done without any fuss. The Slovenian isn't just about breaking up opponents’ attacks. He, however, is truly an all-round player, capable of pitching in with the odd goal as well. Inter’s contender for this position, Marcelo Brozovic, hasn't had a consistent run of starts in their starting XI to really push him for a spot here. 

Left Forward: Ivan Perisic
While not a prolific goalscorer by any stretch of the imagination, Perisic’s tireless running coupled with his speed on the counter make him an obvious choice. The young Gerard Deulofeu only just made the switch from Everton to Milan in January and as a result, cannot be picked over the Croatian. 

Centre Forward: Mauro Icardi
The easiest selection for this XI by far, Inter’s captain is among the top forwards in Europe at the moment. He may be a controversial figure. But his goalscoring exploits coupled with his raw talent make him a must-have. Milan’s central striker, Carlos Bacca, has done a fine job of leading the line but is no patch on the Argentine. Count on him to score a decisive goal in a crunch match, such is his burgeoning reputation.

Right Forward: Suso 
A close battle for the final spot, which sees the young Suso edge Inter’s experienced candidate Antonio Candreva. Suso has the stats to back it up (seven goals and and eight assists to Candreva’s five goals and eight assists) and his raw speed combined with his guile make him a difficult player to beat.

Final Score: Inter 6, Milan 5

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath here on Friday paid glowing tributes to Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar and said his government will work for the welfare of everyone in the state.

"My government is for the 22 crore people of Uttar Pradesh. We will work for everyone. My government will work for ushering in social, political and economic equality for every section of society," Yogi said paying tributes to Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution, on his 126th birth anniversary.

The chief minister said Ambedkar always strove for bringing the marginalised, oppressed and the deprived into the national mainstream and the new Bharatiya Janata Party government was also committed to doing this.

At another function on digital payments, Yogi Adityanath said that in prompting people to do so, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had only taken the ideology of Ambedkar forward.

"Babasaheb championed the cause of removing large denomination currency notes," he said and pointed out that it was necessary to weed out graft from the system.

Senior Congress leaders and legislators on Friday asked the Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan to clarify his stand on the issue of Khalistan.

“It is important and in the interest of the good and friendly relationship between India and Canada that Sajjan clarify his stand on this sensitive issue,” they demanded.

The Congress leaders also referred to the Canadian High Commission’s statement on the matter, saying it had tried to hide more than clarifying anything.

“It is surprising that the High Commission has preferred to remain quiet on the specific issue that is of serious concern and consequences for the peace loving Punjabis,” they said, adding instead of clarifying the issue, the High Commission has tried to cover it up and put up a vague defence.

The Congress legislators advised the Akali and Aam Aadmi Party leaders not to try to be more loyal than the king by coming to Sajjan’s defence when he had himself preferred not to deny his association with Khalistan sympathizers and supporters.

In a joint statement senior Congress leaders and legislators including Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Sukh Sarkaria and Navtej Cheema reiterated that the Canadian defence minister and some of his ministerial and MP colleagues there had known affiliation with anti-India forces.

“Moreover none of them have denied these charges, while leaders like Sukhbir Badal, Sukhpal Khaira and HS Phoolka have gone overboard in defending them for the reasons best known to them”, the Congress leaders pointed out, while questioning the intent and interest of the local leaders defending the Canadian lawmakers.

“Or is it because you go there with a begging bowl to collect funds”, they asked Khaira and Phoolka in particular.

The Congress legislators asserted that the Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh had only reiterated a fact, which Sajjan had not denied himself.

“There is no question of insulting a Punjabi or a Sikh in stating a fact about political leanings and inclinations of a particular leader just because he happens to be a Punjabi or a Sikh?” they added.

The leaders strongly supported the CM’s stand in refusing to meet Sajjan.

“We need to draw a clear line as Punjab cannot afford to play with fire which people like Sajjan are stoking and fanning in Canada that has dangerous potential to engulf Punjab and push it back into the dark days,” they said, adding, “this will also send a strong message across to everyone that there cannot be any compromise on safeguarding peace and harmony in Punjab”.

Artificial intelligence-powered machines can be reflections of humans and can acquire cultural biases, a new study has found.

Researchers from Princeton University and University of Bath have found that common machine learning programmes, when trained with ordinary human language available online, can acquire cultural biases embedded in the patterns of wording.

These biases range from the morally neutral to the objectionable views — preference for birds over animals to views on race and gender.

"We have a situation where these artificial intelligence systems may be perpetuating historical patterns of bias that we might find socially unacceptable and which we might be trying to move away from," said Arvind Narayanan, Assistant Professor at Princeton University.

Researchers believe that it is important to identify and address these biases in machines as humans increasingly turn to computers for processing the natural language humans use to communicate.

In their findings, the researchers found that the machine learning programme associated female names more with familial words, like "parents" and "wedding" than male names, while it associated male names with career attributes, like "professional" and "salary". 

"Of course, results such as these are often just objective reflections of the true, unequal distributions of occupation types with respect to gender — like how 77 per cent of computer programmers are male," the study published in the journal Science noted.

The findings point out that machine learning methods are not 'objective' or 'unbiased' just because they rely on mathematics and algorithms.

"Rather, as long as they are trained using data from society and as long as society exhibits biases, these methods will likely reproduce these biases," said Hanna Wallach, a researcher at Microsoft Research New York City.