In a latest development to the Unitech home buyers cheating case, a court here on Monday granted three months' interim bail to Unitech Managing Directors Sanjay Chandra and Ajay Chandra.

Sanjay Chandra and Ajay Chandra were arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi Police on 31 March for allegedly cheating home buyers.

The two are accused of duping buyers who had booked flats in Unitech’s Greater Noida residential project.

Home buyers alleged that Unitech did not complete the project on time and did not refund their money along with interest.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull on Monday travelled by a Delhi Metro train and visited Akshardham temple here.

"A special ride with a special guest. PM @narendramodi and PM @TurnbullMalcolm travel to Akshardham temple in #delhimetro," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted.

The two leaders boarded the train at Mandi House station to visit the temple in east Delhi.

India and Australia signed six agreements on Monday following bilateral talks headed by Modi and Turnbull.

Earlier, in the day the visiting dignitary was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The Australian Prime Minister arrived here on Sunday on a four-day state visit to India.

This is Turnbull's first bilateral visit to India since he assumed office in September 2015.

His predecessor Tony Abbott had visited India in September 2014 and this was followed by Prime Minister Modi's visit to Australia in November that year.

The tenth edition of the Indian Premier League has started in flying colours and is in full swing after hosting seven high-spark matches.

Like every past season, this year’s IPL also introduced some of the local talent that outclassed high-bid overseas players. However, some of the overseas players have managed to keep their dignity intact.

Above all, the captains of every team leading their respective teams in high spirits is commendable.

From table-toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad to tail-enders Gujarat Lions, each team’s skipper is a sheer delight to watch so far this season.

David Warner

Australian explosive batsman has started the defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad’s journey in a photo-finish fashion. Leading by example, he propelled them to the top of the league table.

Although in the season-opening match against Royal Challengers Bangalore, Warner couldn’t impress much with the willow and lost his wicket for just 14 runs, he returned stronger in the next match.

Facing Gujarat Lions on Sunday, Warner hit a match-winning knock of 76 runs (not out) to drive them to the victory. He smashed four sixes and six fours in his illustrious innings in Hyderabad.

Gautam Gambhir

Captain of two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders – Gautam Gambhir has also played courageous cricket so far.

The 35-year-old batsman scored 19 and 76 runs (not out) against Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Lions respectively.

Gambhir put a record-highest partnership stand of 184 runs with orange cap-holder Chris Lynn (93*) to power KKR to a thumping win against Lions.

Glenn Maxwell

Kings XI Punjab has played just one match so far and their skipper Glenn Maxwell has excelled to maximum on his captaincy debut.

Firstly winning the toss and later charge up to win the match, Maxwell scored unbeaten 44 runs as KXIP thrashed Rising Pune Supergiant by six wickets.

Steve Smith

Australian skipper Steve Smith, who took the baton from last season RPS skipper MS Dhoni, started the season with adequate confidence.

Riding on Smith’s unbeaten 84-run knock, Pune defeated Mumbai Indians by seven wickets in the first Maharashtra derby of the IPL 2017.

Although RPS failed to save the second match that they lost to KXIP by six wickets, skipper Smith contributed 26 runs amid high-dominating bowling attack.

Zaheer Khan and Suresh Raina

Although the teams Delhi Daredevils and Gujarat Lions have not yet registered a single victory in the ongoing edition, their respective captains Zaheer Khan and Suresh Raina showed great character while leading them.

Delhi skipper Zaheer claimed two big wickets in the shape of Kedar Jadhav (69) and Stuart Binny (16) in their maiden match against RCB.

On the other hand, Raina scored impressive 68-runs knock (not out) in Gujarat’s first match that went into vain as they lost to KKR by ten wickets.

In the second match against Sunrisers, Raina lost his wicket cheaply for five runs.

Rohit Sharma and Shane Watson

Amid ideal skippers, Rohit Sharma and Shane Watson were two who failed miserably to impress the fans of Mumbai Indians and RCB respectively.

In last two matches, Mumbai skipper Rohit was dismissed for three and two runs respectively.

Mumbai lost their first match to Pune, though won their second against KKR in a thriller on Sunday.

Conversely, RCB fans are asking their star campaigner Virat Kohli to return to the side.

Although Watson led RCB to a 15-run victory over Delhi Daredevils, his individual performance hasn’t been up to the mark so far.

Click here for more stories related to IPL 2017

In a bid to help drug addict jail inmates, Punjab jail department has proposed setting up of de-addiction centres
in all jails of the state.

In its proposal sent to the health department last week, the jail department  has advised the health department to set up fully equipped and staffed de-addiction centres in all the district and Central Jails of Punjab, in view of large number of addicts of different jails of Punjab.

At present there are 7749 (4024 convicts and 3725 under trials) prisoners arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

 About 50 per cent of those are addicts and jail administration has taken the initiative to treat those for de-addiction while in Jail.

"Normally drug addicts are treated by the jail doctors. But if there is a proper de-addiction centre in each jail with a psychiatrist and counsellor, it will certainly help in tackling the problem," the additional director general of police (ADGP),  prisons, Rohit Choudhary told The Statesman.

A senior jail department official said in all there are about 22,000 prisoners in district and Punjab jails, of which about eight thousand are estimated to be drug addicts.

"These drug-addict prisoners are behind bars under NDPS Act for selling drugs. Many of them take to smuggling drugs just to meet the expenses for their addiction. So if such prisoners get proper treatment, they can be free from drug-addiction," said an official.

He said the health department is setting up de-addiction centres in each of 22 districts, if such a centres are set up in jails it will provide good opportunity to treat drug addicts in jails as they stay there are longer duration than normal patients in de-addiction centres outside.

Ever since the sensational jail break in Nabha high security jail, the prisons department have been carrying various reforms in various jails.

As part of it, for the first time in a special drive was also launched by the jail department, more than 500 prisoners have been shifted to the prisons near their homes and more than 300 prisoners from other states are being sent to their States.

Russia and Iran have issued a direct warning to US President Donald Trump, saying his missile strike on a Syrian airbase crossed "red lines" and they would respond to any new aggression and increase support for their ally.

A joint command centre consisting of the forces of Russia, Iran and other allies supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in a statement on Sunday, described the April 7 attack on Shayrat airfield in Syria's Homs province as "a dangerous act of aggression".

The US targeted the airbase last week with nearly 60 Tomahawk missiles, killing six Syrian soldiers and nine civilians, including four children, and destroying nine warplanes, according to Syria's official news agency SANA.

However, the US government said the attack on the airbase was in retaliation for the April 4 strikes by the Syrian air force on the town of Khan Sheikhoun. At least 80 people were killed in the attack, according to reports.

The statement by the group, published on media outlet Ilam al Harbi (War Media) said: "What America waged in an aggression on Syria is a crossing of red lines. From now on we will respond with force to any aggressor or any breach of red lines from whoever it is and America knows our ability to respond well."

It added that the allies of the Syrian government will increase their support to the Syrian army following the US missile strike and called the US military presence in northern Syria as "illegal" and referred to the forces as an "occupation".

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, meanwhile, said the Russians "have played now for some time the role of providing cover for Bashar Assad's behaviour".

"Russia's failures to rid Syria of weapons stockpiles has led to the killing of more children and innocents," he told CBS News.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian leader Hassan Rouhani said American military intervention in Syria was a "violation of international law" in telephone talks, said the Kremlin on Sunday.

Rouhani also called for an investigation of the suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria last week, and he warned that the US strikes in response risked escalating extremism in the region.

Syria's Foreign Ministry condemned the US strike as "a flagrant aggression" against the country and said Washington's real objective was to "weaken the strength of the Syrian army in confronting terrorist groups."
 

It is very common for shops, especially the local kiranas, to extend credit or issue IOU slips to their customers. This has a dual benefit ~ getting over the problem of change and ensuring the customer returns to the shop. However, a colleague came across a rickshaw puller in Rohini, who employed the same concept for his passengers. Generally operating around Rohini Metro station, the rickshaw puller never refuses any passenger. But when they profer a higher denomination note, he takes it but, instead of the balance amount, gives an IOU slip, with the balance amount as well as his phone number written on it. Since most of the passengers are regular ones, they accept the slips without any protest. And the next day, usually the passengers find him parked around the Metro station. If not, they call him up and wait until he drops his passengers and comes back to fetch them. One can term this a simple trick, but the smart rickshaw puller not only retains his customers but also manages to earn more.

Proficient in Rabindrasangeet, singer Iman Chakraborty is busy celebrating as she won a national award for singing the female version of Tumi jaake bhalobasho.

The singer started learning music at a very young age and her love for music can be seen in her Facebook profile where she has written “I’m nothing but a musician”.

Followed by over 40,000 fans on social media, Iman won the National Film Award for Best female playback singer this year.

Along with Chakraborty’s award, four more awards were bagged by the Bengali cinema.

After the award ceremony, it was clear that in 64th National Film Awards the regional cinema outshone Bollywood.

Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Tulu and Konkani bagged a total of 18 awards, while movies from Assam, Bengal, Maharashtra and Manipur also won in different categories.

Afghanistan has dismissed as "baseless" Pakistani claims that India played a "destructive role" in Kabul.

According to Afghan Defence Ministry spokesman General Dawlat Waziri, New Delhi had no military presence in Afghanistan, The News International reported.

Waziri on Sunday said Islamabad felt India was fuelling anti-Pakistan feelings with its presence in Afghanistan.

He said India was only providing training and study opportunities to the Afghan Army.

The remarks followed Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif's charge that the strained relations between Islamabad and Kabul were due to the Indian influence in Afghanistan.

India has played a major role in the reconstruction of Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban regime and has invested over $2 billion in various reconstruction and infrastructure projects.

Leading India players Saurav Ghosal and Joshna Chinappa have been seeded second in the men's and women's singles at the Asian Individual Squash Championship to be held here from April 26 to 30.

According to the seedings and draw released here on Monday, the top billing in both the men's and women's section has gone to Hong Kong players, Max Lee and Annie Au, respectively.

In the 64-player men's draw, Ghosal is the second seed in the lower half and has a first round bye as do Vikram Malhotra (seed 10), Mahesh Mangaonkar (11), Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (15) and Velavan Senthilkumar.

Aditya Jagtap plays Japanese Ryunosuke Tsukue in the opener.

In the women's singles, where it is a draw of 32, Chinappa and fourth-seeded Dipika Pallikal start with a bye.

As for the others, all unseeded, Akanksha Salunkhe faces the 16th seed Satomi Watanabe of Japan, Sunayna Kuruvilla takes on Korean Choe Yura, Sachika Ingale plays Aifa Azman from Malaysia while Lakshya R plays Zoe Foo also from Malaysia.

In the 2015 edition held in Kuwait, Leo Au of Hong Hong had won the men's title and Nicol David of Malaysia the women's title. While Leo comes in as fifth seed in Chennai, nine-times winner Nicol is not participating this time.

Other seedings: Men: 3. Mohd Nafizwan Adnan (Malaysia); 4. Yip Tsz Fung (Hong Kong); 5. Leo Au (Hong Kong); 6. Abdulla Al-Tamimi (Qatar).

Women: 3. Joey Chan (Hong Kong); 4. Dipika Pallikal Karthik (India); 5. Liu Tsz Ling (Hong Kong); 6. Tong Tsz Wing (Hong Kong).

Amid lower opening of European markets and mixed trade in Asian bourses, domestic benchmark indices closed Monday’s trading session in the negative zone. Profit booking amid recent gains also pushed markets to close in the negative zone.

The Sensex at the BSE closed 130 points or 0.44 per cent down at 29,576 while the NSE Nifty ended 17 points or 0.18 per cent lower at 9,181.

However, broader markets registered gains. BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices jumped around 0.6 per cent each.

Among the BSE sectoral indices, IT index closed with the biggest dip, down 1.6 per cent. Teck (down 1.1 per cent), Realty (down 0.7 per cent) and Bankex (down 0.4 per cent) indices were other notable losers. Metal and Oil & Gas indices jumped around 0.9 per cent each.

On Friday, the BSE Sensex had closed 221 points or 0.74 per cent down at 29,707, on Friday, while the NSE Nifty ended 64 points or 0.69 per cent lower at 9,198.

Top gainers in the Sensex-30 pack: Tata Motors (up 1.5 per cent), Axis Bank (up 1.4 per cent), Coal India (up 1.2 per cent), Adani Ports (up 1.1 per cent) and Tata Steel (up 0.5 per cent).

Top losers in the Sensex-30 pack: Infosys (down 2.9 per cent), Asian Paints (down 1.9 per cent), Reliance Industries (down 1.7 per cent), Wipro (down 1.6 per cent) and HDFC (down 1.2 per cent).

The Rupee closed 28 paise down at 64.56 against the US Dollar.

An oxygen-free chamber for storage and preservation of mummies – a flagship project ongoing at the Telangana State Museum that houses an over 2,000-year-old Egyptian specimen mummy – could be up and running in a few weeks, an expert said on Monday.

"It's one of the seven mummies in India. To preserve the mummy, you basically need a special case that's got no oxygen. They have just got the chamber and the whole thing could be up and running in a couple of weeks. Before that a little bit of conservation work was done," internationally-acclaimed conservation scientist Vinod Daniel, who is an adviser to the project, told IANS here.

The India-born Daniel is the Chairman of AusHeritage, Australia's International Cultural Heritage Network, and Vice Chairman of the International Council of Museums – Committee for Conservation, was speaking on the sidelines of the two-day 'Preventive Conservation' workshop at the Indian Museum here in collaboration with the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

"That is supposed to be a flagship project. The technology is simple and it just needs to be put in place. What works there could work for any other mummy," he said referring to the other mummies in India, including one at the Indian Museum itself.

As for interventions for the project, Daniel advised against replacing anything.

"Whatever is there put it together without replacing anything. For the scaffold that is falling apart, the best thing is to clean it and put up some kind of wire mesh to hold it together," he said.

On the Indian landscape, Daniel said the country needs 20 times more of conservation programmes.

"India needs probably 20 times more than they have right now. There is only one conservation programme in India which can produce 15 graduates and that is in a state of flux. A country this big needs 20 conservation programmes to make a difference," he said.

He also advocated setting-up one flagship museum in each state because that would benefit other smaller museums.

"You have enough scientific equipment that you need to analyse. Building the skill set is the core need," he added.

Union Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave's absence in the Rajya Sabha on Monday to reply to a member's question made Chairman Hamid Ansari call it a "very unusual situation".

During the Question Hour, as Chairman Ansari called out for answer to question number 392 raised by member Mahendra Singh Mahra on air and noise pollution in Delhi, he found Dave was not present.

Even Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi was not present.

Dubbing it "most unusual situation", Ansari said it is the responsibility of the minister concerned to be present in the house when a question relating to their ministry is taken up.

"This is an extraordinary situation. I am sure the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs (Ananth Kumar) will look into this and respond," he said.

Meanwhile, Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar, who was to reply to the question on Dave's behalf, rushed to the upper house and apologised for coming late. He said he got late as he was introducing a bill in the Lok Sabha.

"Prakash ji, your question was called. You were not present. A most unusual situation has arisen. I have not witnessed it for 10 years and probably earlier also," Ansari said.

As opposition members, including Communist Party of India – Marxist leader Sitaram Yechury tried to speak, Ansari said the point has been made "loud and clear" by all sections of the house. He then proceeded with the Question Hour.
 

Director Zack Snyder has shared a photo of Henry Cavill wearing a replica of Christopher Reeve's Superman costume.

The photo, which sees Cavill during his audition to play Superman in Man of Steel, is later captured and shared by fans via Twitter.

“First test with Henry…I knew right away he was my Superman,” Snyder wrote in the caption.

Cavill will reprise his role as Superman in upcoming Justice League and Man of Steel 2.

Justice League will also feature Ben Affleck as Batman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Ezra Miller as The Flash, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor and Willem Dafoe as Nuidis Vulko.

The superhero team-up movie is scheduled to be released in US theatres on November 17.

After Vin Diesel, actor Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson has opened up about the feud rumours between them, and said people have different fundamental philosophies.

It was reported in August last year that Diesel and Johnson had a fight during the shooting of The Fate of the Furious.

However, last week Diesel refuted the rumours and said that the two are friends. And now Johnson has addressed the rumour for the first time.

"Just like, in life, you have different philosophies and people have different fundamental philosophies on how you do things," Johnson told etonline.com.

"And again, the most important thing is just the movie. So I'm happy that we're here in New York City, I'm happy the fans love it," he added.

"The Fate of the Furious" is set to release on April 14. 

With a gradual improvement in the situation in trouble-torn Bhadrak town in Odisha, the administration on Monday relaxed curfew for six hours even as social media platforms remained blocked.

The curfew was relaxed initially from 8 a.m. to 12 noon and later till 2 p.m. to allow people to procure essential commodities, said Bhadrak District Collector Gyana Ranjan Das.

He said all educational institutions, banks and government offices would be opened from Tuesday.

Director General of Police K.B. Singh said the city is gradually moving towards normalcy.

"The situation is fully under control and normalcy restored in the town. Several shops and business establishments were open after the curfew was relaxed," said Singh.

So far, eight cases have been registered and around 80 people arrested in connection with the violence that took place in the town last week, he said.

The DGP said 38 platoons of police along with two companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Rapid Action Force (RAF) have been deployed in and around the city to maintain law and order.

Meanwhile, the Crime Branch has begun investigation into the obscene remarks posted about Hindu Gods on social media, which led to violence in the district headquarters town last week.

"The cyber team of Odisha Crime Branch is in Bhadrak to investigate the spread of rumours in social media. A seven-member team shall probe all aspects related to circulation of rumours and objectionable materials in social media," Crime Branch Special DG B.K. Sharma tweeted.

The cyber police cell is seeking information from people to track the miscreants spreading hate messages on social media. Strict action would be taken against them, Sharma said.

Israel closed its Taba border crossing to Egypt on Monday following a warning by its anti-terrorism office of an 'imminent' militant attack there.

The closure comes hours before the start of the Passover holiday, when Sinai is a popular destination for many Israelis.

Soon after the announcement, sirens wailed in parts of southern Israel alerting residents to a rocket attack. The military said a rocket fired from Sinai exploded in an open field, causing no injuries.

Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz said in a statement on Monday there was intel regarding a potential “terror attack” against tourists in the Sinai peninsula. The crossing remains open for those wanting to return from Egypt.

The border closure comes a day after militants in Egypt bombed two churches, killing dozens of Christian worshippers during Palm on Sunday ceremonies. In the wake of those attacks, Israel's anti-terrorism office called on all Israeli tourists in Sinai to return home immediately and asked Israelis planning trips to the Sinai to cancel.

The Israeli government statement says that intelligence information shows “increased activity by Islamic State militants” in Sinai. It adds that with the Islamic State group losing ground in Iraq and Syria, there is renewed “motivation to carry out terror attacks in different arenas at this time.”

Southern Sinai, with its pristine beaches and Red Sea coral reefs, has traditionally been a popular Israeli tourist destination, especially for secular Israelis during the Passover holiday that starts today evening.

But tourism there has declined since 2013, when the Egyptian military overthrew an elected Islamist president and an Islamic insurgency based in northern Sinai intensified.

Israel issues travel recommendations from time to time based on intelligence reports. Today's travel warning was rare in its urgency.

Israel signed a peace treaty with neighboring Egypt in 1979.

Actor Alec Baldwin was back as Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live and mocked the President's policy on economy, health care and Syria strikes.
In a skit, Baldwin's Trump couldn't wait to find out what his supporters thought about his actions in Syria.
The voters, however, expressed concerns closer to home like losing their jobs, healthcare and houses.
“As president, I promise, I'll do everything I can do to make sure you people work in coal for the rest of your lives,” Baldwin quipped.
In another sketch, Baldwin pulled a double duty as POTUS and Fox News anchor, Bill O'Reilly.
“I actually see a lot of myself in you, Bill. A hunch, just a loose hunch,” Baldwin's Trump said, slyly referring to the FOX News anchor's sexual harassment scandal.
“SNL” also took on the controversial Pepsi ad starring Kendall Jenner from the director's point of view.
Beck Bennett played the director and writer of the commercial which was slammed for appropriating the resistance.