Actor-Filmmaker Farhan Akhtar has cleared the air about his fight with actor Aditya Roy Kapur with a selfie of the duo, which Farhan posted on Twitter.

Few days back, there were strong rumours about Farhan and Aditya having a fallout because of Aditya’s ex and Farhan’s rumoured present girlfriend Shraddha Kapoor.

Farhan and Aditya looked happy in the picture and the filmmaker’s caption was an answer to everyone's curiosity.

 “And that, as they say, is that.. RIP rumours. #lastnight #chilltimes,”the tweet read.

The Rock-on actor separated from his wife Adhuna Akhtar after 16 years and has been rumoured to be dating Shraddha Kapoor. However, none of them have confirmed dating each other.
 

Jaya Bachchan turned a year older on Sunday, and Padma Bhushan awardee Shabana Azmi credits the Sholay actress' documentary Suman for joining the film industry.

Captioning an image of Jaya from the time of her younger days, Shabana tweeted on Sunday: "Salgirah mubarak (Happy birthday). Jaya Bachchan I joined films because of FTII film Suman in which you played the lead with such freshness."

The over 15-minute-long documentary Suman was made by the students of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in the 1970s.

Shabana and Jaya are alumni of FTII.

Jaya made her acting debut in 1963 with a Bengali film Mahanagar. She went on to feature in Hindi films like Guddi, Chupke Chupke and Bawarchi. 

Shabana entered the filmdom with ace director-screenwriter Shyam Benegal's Ankur, which also won her a National Film Award. 

Real Madrid extended their lead at the top of the Spanish football league standings despite being held to a 1-1 draw at home by city rivals Atletico Madrid.

Real dominated the Madrid derby on Saturday night but were denied victory by a late goal from Atletico striker Antoine Griezmann, reports Xinhua news agency.

Griezmann finished off a pass from Angel Correa to give Atletico a point they scarcely deserved in the 85th minute after a game in which Real Madrid had the majority of chances, but thanks to a series of fine saves from Atletico keeper, Jan Oblak, all they had to show was a headed goal from Pepe to reward their efforts, reports Xinhua news agency.

It looked as if the two dropped points would allow second place Barcelona to draw level with Real Madrid, but once again Luis Enrique's side badly fluffed their lines as they lost 2-0 away to Malaga, who are now just about safe from relegation.

The Barca coach brought Jeremy Mathieu, Denis Suarez and Andres Gomes into his side and was rewarded with a poor display in a game in which referee Gil Manzano also made countless important errors on both sides.

Former Barca striker Sandro Ramirez opened the scoring late in the 32nd minute and in the second half things went from bad to worse for Barca as Neymar was sent off for two yellow cards, before Jony sealed Malaga's win in the last minute of the ga0me.

Sevilla closed the gap on Atletico thanks to a 4-2 win at home to Deportivo la Coruna after a chaotic first half in the Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium.

Stefan Jovetic opened the scoring for Sevilla in the first minute, only for former Sevilla forward, Gail Kakuta to equalize the minutes later. Pablo Sarabia reestablished Sevilla's lead in the ninth minute, only for Kakuta to again level the scores in the 25th minute.

However, after Joaquin Correa again put Sevilla ahead just after the half hour there was no way back for the visitors, although they tried to find an equalizer until Wassim Ben Yedder sealed Sevilla's first win in six games.

Earlier in the day, Pablo Piatti's goal gave Espanyol a 1-0 win over Alaves, while Friday night saw Villarreal win 3-1 at home to Athletic Club Bilbao.

Individuals struggling to link their Permanent Account Number (PAN) with Aadhaar because of differently spelt names can now simply upload a scanned copy of PAN to get the work done.

Besides, the tax department is planning to introduce an option on the e-filing portal through which taxpayers can choose to link the Aadhaar without changing the name by opting for a One-Time Password (OTP), provided that the year of birth of the person matches in both documents.

With the linking of PAN with Aadhaar being made mandatory, individuals can log on to e-filing website of the income tax department or NSDL but the seeding cannot happen if the name is differently spelt in the two cards — like use of full name in PAN and initials in Aadhaar.

In such cases, government has allowed a simple uploading of a scanned copy of PAN on the Aadhaar website.

The tax department will start educating taxpayers from this week through media outreach on ways to link the PAN with Aadhaar, an official told PTI.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had through amendment to tax proposals in the Finance Bill of the Budget for 2017-18, had made Aadhaar mandatory for filing income tax returns and provided for linking of PAN with Aadhaar to curb tax evasion through use of multiple PAN cards.

The e-filing portal has already activated a functionality of linking PAN with Aadhaar. Over 1.08 crore assessees have already Aadhaar-linked PAN but the number is abysmally low as there are over 25 crore PAN card holders in the country, while Aadhaar has been issued to 111 crore people.

As per statistics with the tax department, only 6 crore people file income tax returns at present.

The official said that linking of PAN with Aadhaar should not be cumbersome for people whose registered mobile number with the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is active.

“In case the taxpayer is unable to link PAN with Aadhaar because of discrepancy in name, we are advising them to log in to the Aadhaar website, request for a name change and upload a scanned copy of PAN card as supported proof. This is the simplest way to update name in Aadhaar and only the registered mobile number has to be functional,” the official said.

This option will hold good for people who have given short forms of their name or in some cases there are some spelling errors in the name provided in Aadhaar card.

However, in certain cases, there are people who have got married and changed their surname and updated the same while getting Aadhaar number, but it does not get reflected in PAN documents.

In such and other name change cases, the tax department is planning to give the OTP option wherein the password would be sent to the Aadhaar-registered mobile number and the tax department, on its part, would match the year of birth of the taxpayer with the Aadhaar database.

“We are also contemplating that when taxpayers with name discrepancy logs into the e-filing website for linkage, we will send OTP to the Aadhaar registered mobile number. The taxpayer can link PAN using the OTP. While generating the OTP, we will just check if the year of birth of the taxpayer in PAN card matches with the year given in the Aadhaar document,” the official added.

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton delivered a commanding performance to win the Formula One World Championship's Chinese Grand Prix, after starting from pole position at the Shanghai International Circuit on Sunday.

The British driver drove an impeccable race to score his fifth win at the Chinese GP, as he secured F1's equivalent of the Grand Slam by registering the fastest race lap, qualifying in pole position and taking first place on Sunday, reports Efe.

"Today was very tough for us all. It was mostly dry at the start but a couple of wet corners," Hamilton said at a press conference following the race.

It was the 54th F1 victory for Hamilton, who beat German Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) into second place, and Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull), who took third place.

"A great job done by Vettel and this young dude Max. I'm so immensely proud of everyone in this team. We work so hard to make this possible," Hamilton added.

Vettel said: "The safety car came just as I was about to start to feel the dry tyres were a lot quicker but then I had a very exciting race. I was stuck in the train for a little while but then tried to chase down Lewis Hamilton. It was a good match. It was good fun."

Damp weather and low visibility had defined the weekend, causing the practice session to be canceled on Friday.

The treacherous conditions continued to wreak havoc in the early stages of the race at the Shanghai International Circuit, with two incidents in the opening laps bringing out the safety cars.

While Hamilton managed to steer clear of the early chaos, staying on intermediate tires, his German rival Vettel got caught after an early pit stop strategy failed to pan out when the second safety car came out following a crash by Antonio Giovinazzi (Sauber), bunching the pack together.

Vettel had emerged from the pit lanes behind traffic in fifth, and although he was able to reclaim second place after great moves on his former Red Bull teammate, Australian Daniel Ricciardo, and his current Ferrari teammate, Finnish Kimi Raikkonen, he never caused Hamilton any real concerns as the Briton maintained his gap throughout.

Sunday's result appears to confirm early predictions that these two former world champions will be locked in an intense duel for the championship this season after Vettel took the season's opening weekend ahead of Hamilton in Melbourne two weeks ago.

The race also confirms the prodigious talent of Red Bull's young driver Verstappen, who surged through the field from 17th at the start to finish on the podium in third in damp, slick conditions.

"It was a very challenging race but I really enjoyed it. I think I overtook nine cars in the opening lap so it was a very good race for me," Verstappen said.

Ricciardo took fourth place, followed by Raikkonen in fifth place and Bottas in sixth place.

Spaniard Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso) finished in seventh, while his compatriot Fernando Alonso failed to finish the race, continuing what has been a very difficult start to the season that has been dogged by troubles with his McLaren.

Kevin Magnussen (Haas) took eighth place, ahead of two Force India riders, Mexican Sergio Pérez and French Sebastian Ocon.

The third GP of the season, the Bahrain GP, will take place on Apr. 16 at the Sahkir circuit.

Within weeks of tax tribunal ITAT upholding levy of retrospective tax, the Income Tax Department has slapped a fresh demand note of Rs.10,247 crore on British explorer Cairn Energy Plc.

ITAT in its March 9 order held that Cairn Energy was liable to pay tax on the 2006 transfer of India assets to newly created Cairn India, prior to its listing. It, however, held that interest cannot be charged on it as the demand was raised using retrospective tax legislation.

The Income Tax Department had raised a tax demand of Rs.10,247 crore and another Rs.18,800 crore in interest for 10 years.

“Following the ruling of the ITAT, an amended tax demand, received on March 31, 2017, noted that late payment interest would now be charged from February 2016, i.e. from 30 days following the date of the original 2016 final assessment order,” Cairn said in a notice to shareholders.

Cairn said the decision of the ITAT is “potentially subject to appeal.”

The company had on January 24, 2014 received a draft assessment order for the alleged capital gains it made in 2006. The order restrained the company from selling the residual 9.8 per cent stake it holds in Cairn India.

Cairn Energy had in 2011 sold Cairn India to Vedanta.

“Then, on February 4, 2016… a final assessment order in respect of the Indian fiscal year ended March 31 2007, (was) issued by the Indian Income Tax Department (IITD) in the amount of Rs 10,247 crore plus interest back dated to 2007 totalling Rs.18,800 crore,” Cairn said.

The final assessment order did not include any penalties which may also be applied to the final assessment (potentially up to 300 per cent of any tax finally agreed).

“The final assessment order was appealed to the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Delhi which ruled on March 9, 2017 that tax in the amount of Rs.10,247 crore remained payable but that the company could not be required to pay interest,” it said.

This is because the tax demand was raised on the basis of a retrospective amendment done to the income tax act in 2012 and Cairn could not have anticipated that payment of tax would be required.

Stating that it strongly contests the final assessment order, Cairn said enforcement of any tax liability deemed due by the tax department will be limited to India assets, which had a value of about USD 750 million as of December 31, 2016.

These assets comprised principally Cairn's residual shareholding in Cairn India.

Cairn said it had on March 11, 2015 filed a Notice of Dispute under The UK-India Investment Treaty in order to protect its legal position and shareholder interests.

“The international arbitration proceedings formally commenced in January 2016 following the agreement between Cairn and the Government of India on the appointment of a panel of three international arbitrators under the terms of the Treaty,” it said.

“However, supported by detailed legal advice on the strength of the legal protections available to it under international law, Cairn strongly contests the actions of the IITD in these matters.

“In addition to the resolution of the tax dispute, Cairn also seeks full recompense for the loss of value resulting from the restriction on its Cairn India shares,” the notice added.

Children who weigh more are likely to benefit less from consuming 'good' fats in form of supplements, a new study has found.
Omega-3 consumption has been shown to lower blood pressure and increase good cholesterol or High-density lipoprotein (HDL) in children eight to 15 years old, researchers said.
Researchers from Ohio State University in the US compared fatty acid uptake after kids took a supplement to both overall body weight and body-mass index (BMI).
They looked at fatty-acid supplementation in about 64 children with mood disorders. The seven to 14-year-old children took either an omega-3 supplement or a placebo for 12 weeks.
Those who took the supplement received 2,000 milligrammes of omega-3 fatty acids in the form of four capsules daily.
Researchers found that the more a child weighed, the smaller the measurement was of two key omega-3 fatty acids in their bloodstream. The higher the BMI category, the lower the levels of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPS) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).
Omega-3 fatty acids are found naturally in foods including salmon, walnuts and soybeans. Parents looking to feed their children more of these foods should be mindful that as they gain weight they will need more of them to make a difference, said Lisa Christian of Ohio State University in the US.
“While this study just looked at fatty acid supplements, it's important to recognise that weight differences could factor into how children and adults respond to many types of medications,” Christian said.
“Weight, rather than age, may be more meaningful when determining recommended doses. The difference in size between a 7-year-old and a 10-year-old can be quite significant,” she said.
“We have a growing body of evidence that omega-3 fatty acids are beneficial for physical and mental health. This paper gives us more information about an important question about taking omega-3 supplements – how much is a good amount,” said Mary Fristad of Ohio State University.
Given fluctuations in BMI percentile measures as children grow, it would seem to make the most sense to base dosing on weight alone, Christian said.
 

Over 2,000 fresh accounts were opened in a Bareilly branch of State Bank of India post-demonetisation till December 31 to allegedly channelise black money in which at least Rs 8 crore were deposited in old notes, a CBI probe has found.

The CBI has now registered an FIR against unknown bank officials and unknown persons for criminal conspiracy, cheating and corruption.

Based on source information, the CBI had carried out a surprise check in the Civil Lines branch of State Bank of India in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly on January 2.

During the operation, the CBI detected that a huge amount of cash was deposited in the bank after November 8 last year, when the notes ban was announced, in newly-opened accounts and the dormant accounts which had been activated.

The CBI had found that 2,441 new accounts were opened by bank officials between November 8 and December 31.

Out of these accounts, 667 were savings accounts, 53 were current, 94 were Jan Dhan accounts, 50 PPF, 1,518 FD, 13 festival accounts, two senior citizen accounts and one government account.

The probe found that there were 794 instances at the bank when cash of over Rs 1 lakh and more was deposited. In certain cases huge cash deposits were also made but the sources refused to disclose the amount.

These accounts were opened by bank officials allegedly in connivance with private persons which enabled deposits of huge cash and currency conversion without keeping proper records.

“It is observed that 267 dormant accounts have been activated after declaration of demonetisation by the bank officials in connivance with private persons in order to facilitate the deposit of old currency notes,” the FIR said.

It said in order to cover up the alleged misdeeds of the officials, complete teller reports, details of receipt of old currency notes and its exchange with new currency notes was not maintained by them, though it was the responsibility of the concerned branch to maintain the teller reports.

The CBI alleged that vault register and other records maintained by cash department of the branch containing details of inward and outward movement of notes was made “casually” and a lot of alterations were made in a number of pages.

“By the acts of commission and omission, the bank officials in connivance with private persons have conspired to defeat the purpose of demonetisation and facilitated exchange of black money and deposit of bank accounts without maintaining proper records,” it alleged.

All cash payments of over Rs.2 lakh for paying loans and credit card bills during the 50-day period post demonetisation will have to be disclosed in the new one-page Income Tax return form.

The tax department a few days back notified new Income Tax Return (ITR) forms for filing of returns for the Assessment Year 2017-18 (financial year 2016-17).

Besides providing for declaring income, exemption claimed and tax paid, the forms have a new column providing for declaration for any deposit of over Rs.2 lakh in bank accounts made during November 9 and December 30, 2016 after the old 500 and 1,000 rupee notes were demonetised.

This column is also to be used for declaring cash payments in excess of Rs.2 lakh for repayment of any loan or settlement of credit card bills during this 50-day period, a senior official told PTI here.

"The column is an attempt to match the cash deposits made post demonetisation with the annual income," he said. While all credit cards are linked to permanent account number (PAN) of the holder, almost all loans by scheduled banks are also provided on furnishing of PAN. The tax department will collate the data it has of cash payments made in excess of Rs.2 lakh with the returns filed. "We want to see if the income profile matches with the cash payments made," he said.

The move comes amid concerns of unaccounted cash or black money being used to settle bills after credit cards were used to make heavy purchases. It could also be that black money could have been used to repay loans.

Post-demonetisation, the government had provided a 50-day window beginning November 9, 2016 to deposit the junked notes in bank accounts. For those with unaccounted cash, it gave them one last opportunity to come clean by depositing 50 per cent of it as tax and parking another 25 per cent in a zero- interest bearing deposit for four years.

The changes made in ITR are an attempt to catch tax evaders, the official said. Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia had last week told PTI that the new column of cash deposits made during November 9, 2016 and December 30, 2016 was a one-time feature in the ITR and would not be there in the ITR from next year onwards.

The ITR, he had said, would evolve or change every year depending on the need. While coming out with new ITRs, the CBDT had also rationalised them and cut down the number of forms to seven from earlier nine.

While all taxpayers will have to now mandatorily link Aadhaar with their PAN cards, ITR1 (Sahaj) form has been shortened from 7 page to 1 page to enable filing of returns by people with income up to Rs.50 lakh by July 31.

ITR2 is to be filed by individuals and HUFs who do not have income from business or profession and ITR3 is filed by individuals and HUFs having income from a proprietary business or profession.

Also ITR 2 and ITR 3 also have a Schedule AL which require assessees to declare their assets and liabilities at the end of the fiscal. ITR4 (Sugam) is filed by those individuals who have opted for income calculation under presumptive income from business and profession.

The Indian women's team stormed into the final of Hockey World League Round 2 after a 4-0 thrashing of Belarus in the semifinals here.

India now play Chile in the summit clash. Chile had beaten Uruguay 2-1 in the second semifinal.

With this semifinal victory, India won a berth to take part in the Women's Hockey World League Semi-Final to be held in June/July, which is a qualifier for the FIH Women's World Cup 2018.

India were dominant the side right from the start. Even though Belarus won two early penalty corners in the fourth and the ninth minutes, the Indian team's defence was impressive as they denied an early lead to their opponents.

India were quick to earn their first penalty corner in the 13th minute and it was Gurjit Kaur whose stunning goal gave India a 1-0 lead in the first quarter.

India took 2-0 lead in the 20th minute through skipper Rani when she successfully converted a penalty stroke.

Both teams traded penalty corners in the third quarter with India winning one in the 33rd minute but the strike was wide. Belarus, on the other hand, won a penalty corner in the 40th minute but Yuliya Mikheichyk's hard-struck drag flick was saved by India's goalkeeper Savita.

The Indian women played fast-paced hockey, breaching into the opposition striking circle quite often. Rani made a solo attempt and scored a brilliant field goal that took India's lead to 3-0 in the 40th minute.

Though Belarus were awarded a penalty corner in the 42nd minute, their attempt to score was denied yet again by Savita, who continued to be impressive at the Indian goal to ensure her side stayed on course to victory.

The final quarter saw Belarus making desperate attempts to come back into the game. They began the quarter with a penalty corner in the 49th minute but was promptly denied by Savita. It was Gurjit Kaur's splendid penalty stroke goal in the 58th minute that took India's score to 4-0 and sealed the match.

"We are very excited and happy about the win. We played as a strong unit with better defence and I am happy we did not miss penalty corner chances. Our aim was to enter the Final and we look forward to a good game against Chile," stated skipper Rani.

At least four persons were killed on Sunday when security forces opened fire to disperse protestors in central Kashmir's Budgam district where byelection for the Srinagar-Budgam parliamentary seat is being held.

Two protestors died in firing at Dalwan village in the Charar-e-Sharif assembly segment of Budgam, and one each died in Beerwah and Wathura areas of the district.

The security forces opened fire after a mob attacked the polling station at Dalwan village and reportedly damaged the EVMs and prevented voters from exercising their franchise.

"Security forces opened fire to protect the polling staff," a police official said.

A mob torched a bus and also damaged the EVMs at a polling station in Beerwah as also elsewhere in Budgam district, the police official said.

The voting turnout was a poor five per cent till noon after polling started at 7.00 a.m in Budgam, Srinagar and Ganderbal districts that fall within the parliamentary constiuency.

At least 261,397 voters are eligible to cast vote in the Srinagar-Budgam seat where 1,559 polling stations have been set up.

Nine candidates, including National Conference President Farooq Abdullah, are in the fray.

The by-poll from the Srinagar-Budgam parliamentary constituency is being held because the seat fell vacant after the then sitting member Tariq Karra resigned during the unrest of 2016.

Ramkumar Ramanathan and Prajnesh Gunneswaran produced contrasting results in their respective reverse singles matches but India completed a 4-1 win over Uzbekistan in their Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group I second round tie here on Sunday.

Ramanathan beat Sanjar Fayziev in straight sets in the first reverse singles to hand India a 4-0 lead in the tie.

Ramanathan won 6-3, 6-2 against his 22-year-old Uzbek opponent in a match which lasted for around an hour.

Later in the day, Temur Ismailov, however, defeated Prajnesh 7-5, 6-3 in around 70 minutes to clinch a consolation win for the visitors.

India have now qualified for the Davis World Group Play-off which they will play at home in September.

The Indians had already won the five-match tie when Rohan Bopanna and Sriram Balaji defeated Farrukh Dustov and Fayziev 6-2, 6-4, 6-1 in the doubles match on Saturday to hand them an unassailable 3-0 lead. 

Ramanathan and Prajnesh had won their respective singles matches to give India a 2-0 lead on the opening day of the tie on Friday.

Ramanathan had defeated Ismailov 6-2, 5-7, 6-2, 7-5 in the opening match of the tie before Prajnesh enjoyed an excellent Davis Cup debut with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Fayziev.

"We already had a 3-0 lead. It was good for me as I had no nerves today," Ramanathan said after his match.

"I played much better today, throwing a lot of first serves and playing the way I want to." 

Ramanathan enjoyed an excellent start to Sunday's contest against Fayziev when he broke the Uzbek's serve in the second game of the opening set.

Fayziev had conceded the first two points through unforced errors and then with an excellent return of serve Ramanathan earned three break points. 

Fayziev saved one break point with a big first serve followed by excellent placement before reducing the gap to 30-40 with a couple of excellent placements. 

The Indian, however, won the next point to earn the break and take a 2-0 lead in the first set. Ramanathan then held his serve at love to go 3-0 up.

Fayziev had a chance to earn a break of his own in the fifth game when he put pressure on Ramanathan's serve. But the Indian did well to utilise his powerful serves and some superb forehand returns to hold serve.

The issue went with the serve before Ramanathan went on to win the first set in 37 minutes.

Ramanathan enjoyed a strong start to the second set as well, breaking his opponent in the very first game. 

The next five games went with the serve before some excellent returns by Ramanathan and a few unforced errors by Fayziev earned the Indian his second break of the set. 

The Chennai lad then held serve with ease to wrap up the second set and the match.

In the second reverse singles, Temur used his superior experience to good effect against Davis Cup debutant Prajnesh.

The contest was marked by powerful serves and ground strokes with both players consistently serving at more 200 km per hour.

"I wanted my team to have a victory, even in one game," Temur said.

"The conditions here are difficult. It is hot. Back home, we were playing in 20 degrees (celcius) and it is 35 degrees here." he added.

The first six games of the opening set went with the serve before the Indian had a good chance to earn a service break when three double faults by Temur took the game to 40-40.

Prajnesh had managed to put the Uzbek out of position with some superb ground strokes, but then hit his return long to hand his opponent the advantage. He then hit the net to enable Temur to hold serve.

That was to prove costly for Prajnesh as Temur broke his service in the 12th game of the set.

The Chennai lad had only himself to blame as three consecutive unforced errors saw him struggling at 0-40. He saved one break point with a powerful smash but then powered his return into the stands to hand his opponent the game and the set.

An upbeat Temur continued the momentum and wrested the early advantage in the second set when he clinched a service break in the second game.

The Uzbek led 0-15 with an excellent down the line return before another superb return by the Uzbek forced Prajnesh to hit into the net. Prajnesh then conceeded an unforced error to hand a break point to his opponent.

Another wide return by Prajnesh gave the break to the Uzbek, who took a 2-0 lead in the second set.

Prajnesh almost broke Temur's serve a couple of games later. 

Temur had hit his return wide to give the Indian a whiff of a chance at 40-30. Prajnesh drew level at 40-40 with a superb placement that drew Temur wide before producing a powerful return to take the point.

Temur, however, came up with a nice acute angle volley to earn a point before Prajnesh hit the net to enable the Uzbek to hold serve.

That was the last bit of meaningful action that Prajnesh could conjure up as Temur went on to clinch the issue.

At least 21 persons were killed and 59 injured in an explosion at a Coptic Christian church in the Egyptian city of Tanta during a service to celebrate Palm Sunday, the Health Ministry said.

An explosive device was planted under the front seat of the St George Mar Girgis Church pews where it detonated in the main prayer hall, a security source said.

The toll was likely to increase as many of the injured were in critical condition, the Health Ministry said.

"Terrorism hits Egypt again, this time on Palm Sunday. Another obnoxious but failed attempt against all Egyptians," the Foreign Affairs Ministry tweeted.

Palm Sunday is one of the holiest days in the Christian calendar, marking the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem.

According to CNN, social media video showed crowds gathered outside the church shortly after the attack.

Eyewitnesses said the explosion destroyed a wall.

President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi said the military hospitals were receiving the wounded.

At least 26 ambulances were deployed at the church, about 120 km north of Cairo, Xinhua news agency quoted Magdy Awad, the head of Ambulance Authority, as saying.

The security forces intensified their presence around other churches, the country's Interior Ministry said.

No group or individual had yet claimed responsibility of the attack.

Coptic Christians make up to 10 per cent of Egypt's population. They have largely coexisted peacefully with the majority-Muslim public for centuries.

Since the toppling of Hosni Mubarak's regime in 2011, the Copts have been facing persecution and discrimination.

Dozens have been killed in sectarian clashes. In December 2016, an attack at a Coptic church in Cairo killed 25 people.

"Coptic churches and homes have been set on fire, members of the Coptic minority have been physically attacked, and their property has been looted," rights group Amnesty International reported in March.

Pope Francis is scheduled to visit Cairo this month, where he will meet various religious leaders, including the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church.

Actress Taapsee Pannu says she is looking forward to her forthcoming project Judwaa 2 and is not nervous about the film.

The comedy is a sequel to 1997 hit Judwaa which starred Salman in a double role. In the second installment, Varun Dhawan reprises the role of the superstar.

"It is one film about which I am least nervous in my career. It is a film I know I am going to have a great time filming, promoting and enjoying the result of it too. I am very relaxed for the film, from the start to the end.

"I don't know where that confidence comes from but I am super relaxed when it's about Judwaa 2. I know people are talking about it already, the music, the roles, and everything else. But there is no stress, no worry," Taapsee told PTI.

The movie marks the actress' second collaboration with director David Dhawan after her debut film Chashme Baddoor.

Taapsee's performance in her latest release Naam Shabana received a lot critical acclaim and the actress says it was very important for her to start Judwaa 2 with the satisfaction that her last film worked.

"I am moving on to Judwaa 2 so it was very important that my last film works. If I have a successful film, I know I'll begin Judwaa 2 with confidence. You can sense that confidence in you and it relieves you of a lot of pressure. I am so looking forward to shooting it," she says.

The CBI on Sunday registered cases against a Chandigarh-based company and three of its directors for cheating a bank in Punjab of over Rs.1,300 crore, officials said.

The Central Bureau of Investigation also registered cases against a Jabalpur-based company and four of its directors for siphoning off nearly Rs.44 crore from a Madhya Pradesh bank. 

The CBI booked Kudos Chemie Ltd, Chandigarh, and its directors Jitendra Singh, Kabir Sodhi and Gurmeet Sodhi under several offences including criminal conspiracy and cheating.

The case was registered following a complaint by the Punjab National Bank (PNB) that the directors along with several unknown persons siphoned off Rs.1,301 crore from the bank by availing credit facilities using false and fabricated documents.

The Jabalpur based Jagdamba AMW Automotive Ltd. and Pushpendra Singh, Yogendra Singh, Shailendra Singh, and Pratima Singh were booked for allegedly defrauding the Canara Bank of Rs.43.77 crore by availing credit facilities through forged documents.

Probing the matter, the CBI conducted searches in Chandigarh and Mohali in Punjab and Jabalpur and Reva in Madhya Pradesh.

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) won the toss and elected to field against Gujarat Lions (GL) in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here on Sunday.

Hyderabad will play unchanged with the squad that defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by 35 runs in the opening game of the league on Wednesday.

On the other hand, Gujarat, who lost their first game of the tournament on Friday in Rajkot, made two changes to the squad. 

Kerala pacer Basil Thampi and leggie Tejas Baroka replaced left-arm spinner Shadab Jakati and pacer Manpreet Gony.

Teams:
Gujarat Lions: Jason Roy, Brendon McCullum, Suresh Raina (captain), Aaron Finch, Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Dwayne Smith, Praveen Kumar, Tejas Baroka, Dhawal Kulkarni, Shivil Koushik, Basil Thampi.

Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Moises Henriques, Yuvraj Singh, Deepak Hooda, Naman Ojha (wicket-keeper), Ben Cutting, Bipul Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan, Ashish Nehra.

Sufi singing duo Nooran Sisters — Jyoti and Sultana — are scheduled to perform live here for the first time.

After belting out songs for films like Sultan, Dangal and Singh Is Bliing, the Patakha guddi singers will entertain music lovers with Punjabi and sufi numbers at Rabindra Natya Mandir, in Prabhadevi, on Tuesday. 

The Baisakhi gala has been organised by Punjab Association. 

"We are very excited to be performing in Mumbai live for the first time on such an auspicious day. Mumbai has been special to us and we hope we can do more work in Bollywood," Jyoti and Sultana said in a joint statement. 

As part of the event, the sisters will also felicitate veteran actors Dilip Kumar and Saira Banu.