Overtaking imports, India's steel exports jumped by 102.1 per cent in 2016-17 to 8.24 million tonnes (mt), as compared to 4.07 mt shipped out in the previous financial year (2015-16), according to a Steel Ministry's report.

"Export of total finished steel was up by 102.1 per cent in April-March 2016-17 at 8.24 mt over same period of last year. Export in March 2017 at 1.62 mt was up by 363 per cent over March 2016 and grew by 114 per cent over February 2017," said the report of Joint Plant Committee.

"Since domestic consumption is not picking up well, steel producers have been given thrust on exports. Such trend is expected in 2017-18 because of brown-field expansion of steel in India. Steel producers, including SAIL, have been drawing up big plans for exports," Institute for Steel Development and Growth's Director General Sushim Banerjee told IANS on Wednesday.

India has become a net exporter of steel in 2016-17 as imports fell gradually.

According to provisional data, imports of total finished steel stood at 7.42 mt in 2016-17, declining by 36.6 per cent from 11.71 mt of imports in 2015-16. Imports in the last month at 0.8 mt were down by 19.7 per cent over the corresponding month of previous fiscal, but up by 51.8 per cent over February 2017.

According to the report, India's consumption of total finished steel at 83.93 mt saw a growth of three per cent in 2016-17 as against 81.52 mt in 2015-16. 

Consumption in March only at 7.98 mt was up by 2.2 per cent over corresponding month last year but increased by 13.4 percent over February, 2017.

"Unless investments come in the infrastructure projects, domestic consumption will not rise sharply. In fact, steel intensity to GDP has come down," Banerjee said.

Production for sale of total finished steel at 101.27 mt registered a growth of 11.3 per cent during 2016-17, compared to 90.98 mt in the previous fiscal. In fact, crude steel production grew by 8.5 per cent in 2016-17.

Overall finished steel production for sale was at 9.75 mt in March, 2017, up by 17.4 per cent over year-ago month and grew by 14.6 per cent over February 2017, the report added.

British TV personality and glamour model Katie Price has defended herself over sharing the photographs of her nine-year-old daughter Princess over social media while mimicking her mother's famous poses.

Speaking on TV show Loose Women on Tuesday, the 38-year-old said her daughter was just having fun and it's wrong on the people's behalf who tagged Princess "sexy", reports dailymail.co.uk.

"At the end of the day, me and Pete did pictures of Princess since she was born," Price said.

"People say they're too sexy, if I said ‘Don't pose like that, it's too sexy', she wouldn't know what I meant, because she doesn't know what sexy is," she added.

Poking fun at the haters, Price said: "She's just learnt from the best. The people saying she looks sexy, they should think about themselves."
 

A senior police official 'slapped' a woman protester during a crackdown on an anti-liquor agitation in neighbouring Tirupur district with the act, caught on camera, coming in for strong condemnation.

The incident occurred last evening in Shamalpuram when a group of people, including women, blocked a road demanding closure of state-owned TASMAC liquor outlet in the locality.

As the protesters refused to disperse, Additional Deputy Superintendent of Police Pandiarajan slapped one of the women and pushed two others, asking them to move away from the road.

Protesting this, a section of the agitators allgedly pelted stones at the police, who resorted to lathicharge to disperse them.

Police said three persons were injured in the melee with one of them being hospitalised.

As the video showing the act went viral, various political parties, including DMK, condemned the 'police brutality'.

Shops in the locality remained shut on Wednesday in protest against the police action.

The assault of the woman was raised in the Madras High Court this morning by social activist Traffic Ramaswamy and PMK's legal wing member K Balu, who sought action against the police official.

Following a special mention on the matter, a bench comprising Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice M Sundar agreed to hear their petitions later in the day.

Two-time Indian Open champion golfer SSP Chawrasia on Tuesday said he is currently working on his short game ahead of the Panasonic Open in Japan starting April 20.

Interacting with media persons on the sidelines of the Calcutta Sports Journalists Club (CSJC) annual awards ceremony where he was conferred with the Sportsperson of the Year award, he said: "I am working on my short game now.

"That is the main area for us to score. Everyone can hit, but you feel the actual pressure during the short game. I am focused more on that and also on my overall game."

Chawrasia, for the record, won the Panasonic Open in 2014.

The best players from the Asian Tour will head to Japan for the four-day meet at the Chiba Country Club, Umesato course in Noda City, Chiba.

More than 30 Tour winners from over 15 countries including Chawrasia will tee off against a strong Japanese field that also features Hideto Tanihara and defending champion Yuta Ikeda from the Japan Golf Tour Organisation (JGTO).

Chawrasia will then take part in the 23rd Volvo China Open starting April 27.

"I'm getting ready. I've practised a lot for the last few days. I am working on my entire game. I am working with new coach Sandeep Varma (Delhi). I call him sometimes to travel with me. He has been there with me for sometime now.

"He was with me last two weeks before I won the Indian Open. He is not travelling with me to Japan or China or London. Sometimes when there is say alignment problem, I seek his help. Sometimes I send him videos of my shots. A third eye is always better," the 38-year old said.

Chawrasia also said that he will be taking part in a team event in London next month.

"It's a new event. It has been started this year. It will take place in London. It is called Golf success. I will be partnering Chikkarangappa S. This event is similar to the ISPS Handa World Cup of Golf one in Melbourne.

The format is similar to the World Cup. I will go for the event in first week of May," he said.

On Sergio Garcia's maiden Masters win recently, Chawrasia said he played many times with the Spaniard but could not follow the event.

"I have not seen the Masters. I have played with (Sergio) Garcia a lot of times. I played the final round in Rio with him."

In the first-ever live 4K video stream from space, NASA astronaut and Expedition 51 commander Peggy Whitson will take viewers more than 400 km off the Earth to the International Space Station on April 26.

The broadcast will take place at 1:30 p.m. EDT during a session at the 2017 National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show in Las Vegas.

"The US space agency is a pioneer in the application of advanced media — including 4K. By streaming real-time video that captures images four times the resolution of current HD technology, NASA is enhancing its ability to observe, uncover and adapt new knowledge of orbital and deep space," the National Association of Broadcasters said in a statement.

To experience the full effect online, devices capable of viewing 4K UHD content will be required, however, lower resolution streams of the live broadcast will be available on NASA Television, NASA's Facebook page and the agency's website, the US space agency said.

The conversation with Whitson will take place as part of a panel called "Reaching for the Stars: Connecting to the Future with NASA and Hollywood." 

The panel will explore how advanced imaging and cloud technologies are taking scientific research and filmmaking to the next level, and will be moderated by Carolyn Giardina, technology editor for the Hollywood Reporter.

The panel is co-produced by NAB Show, NASA, and Amazon Web Services (AWS), and will explore how advanced imaging and cloud technologies are taking scientific research and filmmaking to the next level. 

During this event , Whitson will speak with Sam Blackman, CEO of AWS Elemental.

Taiwan's legislature has explicitly banned the sale and consumption of dog and cat meat and increased the penalty for animal cruelty, underscoring growing awareness of animal welfare in one of Asia's most prosperous societies.

The legislature amended Taiwan's animal protection law to double the maximum penalty for deliberate harm to animals to two years in prison and a fine of 2 million Taiwan dollars ($65,000).

People who sell or eat dog or cat meat face a fine of up to 250,000 Taiwan dollars ($8,000) and their names and photos may be publicized. Drivers and motorcyclists who pull animals along on a leash also face a fine of up to 15,000 Taiwan dollars ($500), according to the amendments passed on Tuesday.

While consumption of dogs and cats was never widespread in Taiwan, the amendments point to increasing concern for the treatment of animals on the island, where many residents lavish money and attention on their pets amid a plunging birthrate. Two decades after Taiwan began grappling with the abandonment of pets and other problems, the island has some of the most comprehensive protections on the books anywhere in Asia.

President Tsai Ing-wen's team portrayed her as an animal lover during her election campaign, focusing on her two cats. She later adopted three dogs.

Actress Samantha Ruth Prabhu is not playing a visually impaired character in her upcoming yet-untitled Telugu project co-starring Ram Charan.

"Rumours doing the rounds that Samantha plays a blind character in Ram Charan's film is totally false and baseless," the film's spokesperson said.

Being directed by Sukumar, the film is said to be a period romantic drama set against village backdrop.

Ram currently sports thick beard for his role.

"He has undergone complete rural makeover for this project. Audiences are going to see a new Ram Charan, and they're going to love his look," a source said.

The shoot is currently underway in Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh.

Jagapathi Babu has been confirmed to play a pivotal role, most likely of the antagonist.

Devi Sri Prasad will compose the tunes, while Rathnavelu will crank the camera.

The 50 largest US companies, including Apple, Microsoft and Wal-Mart, are parking about $1.6 trillion in offshore tax havens to reduce their US tax burden, according to a study published on Wednesday.

Poverty-fighting organisation Oxfam America said the sum for 2015 was a USD 200 billion increase over the prior year. The report cites the companies' own data.

While not illegal, the companies “used a secretive network of 1,751 subsidiaries in tax havens to stash” their earnings outside the United States, Oxfam said in the report released ahead of next week's meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington.

“Tax avoidance has become standard business practice across the globe. Corporate tax dodgers cheat America out of approximately USD 135 billion in unpaid tax revenues every year,” Oxfam senior advisor Robbie Silverman said.
Apple is at the top of the ranking with more than USD 200 billion in offshore funds, followed closely by Pfizer laboratories (USD 193.6 billion) and Microsoft's IT group (USD 124 billion), the report said.

US law allows companies to keep profits from foreign operations offshore indefinitely, to avoid corporate taxes that are among the highest in the industrialized world.

While the corporate tax rate is nominally 35 per cent at the federal level, Oxfam said these 50 companies had an effective rate nearly 10 percentage points lower.

During his campaign, US President Donald Trump proposed cutting the rate to 15 per cent, and allowing companies to repatriate their cash reserves with a one-time tax of 10 per cent.

Oxfam criticized both proposals, saying the tax cut would help profitable companies and wealthy shareholders at the expense of important anti-poverty programs.

And the drastic reduction in corporate income tax will “feed into a destructive race to the bottom that has seen countries across the globe slashing corporate tax rates in recent years,” the report said.

Meanwhile, “repatriation holidays reward companies for keeping money offshore and avoiding their taxes” and “incentivizes companies to move their profits to tax havens in expectation that they will eventually benefit from a one-time tax cut.”

“President Trump promised to fix the rigged political and economic system yet his tax reforms will further enrich powerful corporates at the expense of ordinary people and small businesses,” Silverman said.
“The President and leaders in Congress must rethink their reforms and build a tax system that works for everyone and not just a fortunate few.”

Severe coral bleaching on Australia's Great Barrier Reef may result in a loss of some $750 million for the economy and tourism industry in the state of Queensland, a media report said on Wednesday.

A report released by Australian Climate Council, 'Climate Change: A Deadly Threat to Coral Reefs', looks at the economic impact of massive coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef in 2016 and 2017, the Efe news agency reported.

About 1,500 km, or two-thirds, of this coral system in northeastern Australia has already been extremely damaged.

The bleaching was caused by a rise in water temperatures due to climate change and was exacerbated by the effects of El Nino cycle in 2016.

The data in the report indicates that if severe bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef continues, this could result in the loss of more than one million visitors to the region annually, as well as 10,000 jobs.

The report notes that the worsening coral bleaching and the death of these organisms "potentially puts $1 trillion (about $750 billion) at risk globally".

It also highlights that the Great Barrier Reef, declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco, contributes about $5.24 billion annually to the Australian economy and supports the livelihoods of around 70,000 people.

"This isn't just an environmental issue. The Great Barrier Reef is one of Australia's greatest economic assets," Climate Council's ecologist Lesley Hughes said in a statement.

The council urged the government to reconsider its energy and climate policies to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Actress Raveena Tandon, whose upcoming film Maatr is facing many controversies due to an allegation on film's producer Anjum Rizvi, informed media that everything has been sorted and the film would release on April 21.

"The case has been settled and we have got the NOC. Now the movie shall release on April 21. The rumours of any more issues are fake and we have no more troubles in proceeding," said Raveena.

The actress was spotted at PVR Andheri on Tuesday morning with few other woman achievers for the promotion of an NGO called 'She's Ambassador Program' which focuses on girl's welfare development."

During the event, Raveena who has done a voice over for a short film by "She's ambassador Program" said, "I have been raised by my mother in such a way that I have a lot of compassion towards young people."

"At the age of 11, I had removed a kid from the mud. Such were the situation I went through. This is the reason I started indulging into NGO projects," she added.

Congress political leader Priya Dutt concluded the event said,"When I was in parliament, nobody took interest to talk about children and women. Today I want to say that just believe in whatever you do and you can be successful like these women in the panel today."
 

The 63rd (special) meeting of Brahmaputra Board was held here on to discuss the proposal to restructure the Board as proposed by the Union Ministry of Water Resources.

The proposals were for restructuring the Brahmaputra Board within the ambit of Brahmaputra Board Act, 1980 by revamping its technical and non-technical cadres, a government release said here.

The key elements of the proposal are creation of Regional Directorates of Brahmaputra Board in all eight North East states and North Bengal and to enlarge its footprint the Regional Directorates in Assam, North Bengal, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh to be headed by Deputy Chief Engineers, while those in Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Sikkim to be headed by Superintending Engineers, the release said.

At the meeting, it was also suggested to establish a permanent office complex with godown and skill development centre at Majuli island in Assam.

The representative of Assam government said the state government has decided that flood prevention and anti-erosion related works along the entire south bank of Majuli main island will be undertaken by the Brahmaputra Board, the release said.

Suggestions for having a separate Regional Directorate at Jalpaiguri in North Bengal, additional posts of Superintending Engineer at Silchar and Executive Engineer in Dhubri district in Assam, were accepted by the Board.

All nine states welcomed the suggestions to achieve the overall objective of restructuring of Brahmaputra Board and making it operationally, administratively and structurally robust, the release said.

Veteran actress and filmmaker Aparna Sen, who has made path-breaking films like 36 Chowringhee Lane and Mr and Mrs Iyer, is ready with her next project — Sonata, a psychological exploration of three unmarried women facing mid-life crises.

And despite the weighty subjects she chooses for her films, Sen says she never makes films to propagate social messages — the medium, for her, is not a preacher's pulpit.

"I make films about human beings that may have entertainment value or not, depending on the story. I don't believe in sending out conscious 'messages', as a film is not a preacher's pulpit," Sen said.

She, however, feels that "all human beings have their own politics — whether they are conscious of it or not".

"This politics is bound to be reflected in the work of a serious filmmaker. When I make a film, I try to tell a human story to the best of my ability. I do not set out either to preach messages or purely to entertain," added the veteran.

Sen's latest directorial venture, releasing on April 21, is adapted from the play Sonata by Mahesh Elkunchwar.

The film talks about the life of three unmarried women friends — Aruna Chaturvedi (professor), Dolon Sen (banker) and Subhadra Parekh (journalist) played by Sen, Shabana Azmi and Lillete Dubey, respectively — facing mid-life crises.

As a takeaway, the National Award winner hopes people connect with the "warmth and understanding between the friends" from the film.

Sen said Sonata appealed to her so much as a play that she decided to make it into a film.

"When I set out to film it, I followed the play more or less. I didn't need to draw from anywhere else. In any case, Indian society is not a homogenous entity. It is rich in its diversity," Sen said when asked if the film has taken reference from society.

"Hence, the two new characters that I introduced — a maid (Ramabai) and a transgender woman (Meera Rao) who is a friend of the protagonists — are both drawn from Indian society," she added.

Talking about working with Shabana again, Sen said: "Our journey together has been one of mutual trust and respect. Even though Sati, my first film with her, did not do well commercially, she never lost her faith in me as a director and worked with me again in my telefilm Picnic, and then again, many years later, in my feature film 15 Park Avenue, and now, Sonata.

"Now she says that she would like to work in every single film of mine. As for me, I respect her hugely as an actor that I can always depend on, and even more so as a socially conscious human being."

The mother of actress Konkona Sen Sharma is known for portraying women in strong roles in her films. Does she feel women have acquired better and more meaningful projection in Bollywood movies now?

"Not so much in mainstream cinema, where the heroes still dominate. But there have been quite a few films with women as protagonists lately, such as Pink or Gulaab Gang or Godmother or Neerja, which have been appreciated by the audience."

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan has recorded a two-minute prologue for a social campaign on 'Victim Shaming', urging families, authority figures and citizens to reflect upon the need to break the tolerance towards how victims of sexual assault are treated.

Amitabh has lent his voice to a public service awareness initiative by Star Plus, in which he questions culprits of character assassination with the question "Whose fault is it?". The campaign advocates that society needs to place the guilt rightfully with the perpetrators by putting them on trial instead of shaming the victims.

Talking about it, Big B said in a statement: "The idea that a woman loses her dignity if she is sexually assaulted is instilled strongly in our cultural mindset. The shame should be on the perpetrators instead of the victim. We need to foster a safe, secure and supportive environment where victims can seek refuge especially from those who they turn to for protection like authority figures, family and society.

"There is a strong need to step forward and talk about this through stories which can trigger this change in mindset of the people."

The campaign is an extension of the channel's new show Kya Qusoor Hai Amala Ka.

The 74-year-old earlier took to his blog to dwell on how it's a shame that one has to rely on various mediums and campaigns to raise awareness about such issues.

"Is it not a shame though, that what should come to us humans as a natural reaction to protect the female gender in our society, one and many ones, have to propagate the issue through various mediums and campaigns! A shame," wrote the lead actor of Pink, which has just won the National Award for Best Film on Social Issues.

In the wake of a lathicharge by police at Birbhum district on Hanuman Jayanti, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) leader Yogesh Varshney on Wednesday threatened West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee by announcing a reward of Rs.11 lakh for her head.

“When I saw the video [of the police action], I only had one thought…that if anyone gets me Mamata Banerjee’s head, I will give them 11 lakh.” Varshney said.

“Mamata Banerjee never allows Saraswati Puja celebrations, fairs during Ram Navami and Hanuman Jayanti processions. She organises Iftar parties and always supports Muslims,” he added.

Describing Mamata as a 'demon', he alleged that the police had brutally beaten up participants of the rally in Birbhum.

The BJP youth wing leader said the rally was taken out by devotees of Ram and not by any particular political party.

People carried a procession in Birbhum though police in the area had not granted permission to hold any rally on Hanuman Jayanti.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Wednesday lauded the "ambitious" reform agenda of the Modi government, especially on taxation that has made the duty regime more efficient.

"Prime Minister Modi has an ambitious reform agenda.

He has made taxes more efficient and deregulated the economy," Turnbull said at a dinner meeting with industry leaders here.

Praising the progress in IT and the knowledge sector, the visiting premier said India is doing an outstanding job in these areas. He specifically noted the large number smartphone users (around 400 million) in the country.

Earlier in the day, he visited the campus of TCS at suburban Andheri and requested India's largest software exporter to open an innovation lab in his country.

Turnbull flew into the financial capital after his engagements in New Delhi and drove straight to the TCS campus located near the airport.

The PM said the digital evolution is transforming the global economy in general and that of India in particular.

Smartphones are playing a big role in connecting people with global marketplaces, democratising knowledge and expanding people-to-people interactions.

"Technology is one of the most important developments in human history," he added.

Union Minister JP Nadda along with MPs from Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday met Transport minister Nitin Gadkari and reviewed the status of various approved highway projects in that state.

"Met Hon'ble Minister of RT&H, Shri @nitin_gadkari ji along with Hon'ble MPs of HP in Transport Bhawan today," Nadda tweeted.

"Status of NH proposal, CRF/ISC proposal approved / announced by Hon'ble Minister for HP reviewed in this meeting," he said in a tweeted.

Nadda said the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has given in principal approval to national highway projects worth around Rs.19,000 crore in Himachal Pradesh.

"@MORTHIndia has given 'in principal' approval for 59 NH in HP, which would involve Rs.19,400 crore (approx.) investment.

"NDA govt under the leadership of Hon PM Shri @NarendraModi ji is committed for the development of road infrastructure in Himachal Pradesh," he said in a series of tweets.