Aamir Khan's Secret Superstar is set to lock horns with Rajinikanth-Akshay Kumar starrer 2.0 this Diwali.

Hindi movie critic and business analyst, Taran Adarsh, shared the news by tweeting, "#BreakingNews: Aamir Khan Productions' #SecretSuperstar will now release in Diwali 2017.

Zee Studios presents. Directed by Advait Chandan." 

Aamir was earlier supposed to release the film, which is made under his production, with Sanjay Dutt's comeback movie Bhoomi on August 4.

However, Dutt later released a statement, saying, "Aamir is a dear friend and I wouldn't want my comeback film to be pitted against his. In this industry, we should all make an effort to help each other." 

The final decision on the release date of Dutt's film has not yet been announced.

Secret Superstar also features Dangal actress Zaira Wasim in the lead with Aamir in an extended cameo.

The previously annonuced release date of Secret Superstar was also one week prior to the release of Shah Rukh Khan's next with Imtiaz Ali and Akshay's Toilet-Ek Prem Katha.

It will be the second biggest box office clash after Shah Rukh Khan's Raees and Hrithik Roshan's Kaabil this year.

If you are a smoker, chances are that your children may be exposed to significant levels of nicotine on their hands just by coming into contact with items or surfaces contaminated with tobacco smoke residues, researchers have found.

The findings showed that the children's hands hold high levels of nicotine even when parents are not smoking around them and sheds new light on dangers of third-hand smoke.

"Parents may think that not smoking around their child is enough, but this is not the case. These findings emphasise that the only safe way to protect children from smoke exposure is to quit smoking and ban smoking at home," said Melinda Mahabee-Gittens from the Cincinnati Children's Hospital in the US.

Previous studies have shown persistent residue from second-hand smoke accumulates in dust, on home surfaces, on the clothes worn by smokers and on different household objects like toys, etc.

For the study, published in the BMJ journal Tobacco Control, the team involved 25 children.

Researchers found that the presence of significant nicotine on the hands of children was associated with equally significant levels of the harmful tobacco metabolite cotinine in their saliva.

Exposure to these contaminants causes health problems such as respiratory and ear infections, more frequent and severe asthma attacks, and other ailments in infants and children, according to the US Centers for Disease Control. 

Attempts to commit suicide by a mentally ill person will not be punishable under a new law that has got assent from President Pranab Mukherjee.

The law also prohibits use of electro-convulsive therapy, referred to as shock therapy, without the use of muscle relaxants and anaesthesia on a patient suffering from mental illness.

Besides this, such patients cannot be chained in any manner as per the Mental Health Care Act, 2017 that got nod from the President on April 7.

The law aims to provide mental healthcare and services to persons with mental illness and to protect their rights.

“Notwithstanding anything contained in section 309 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) any person who attempts to commit suicide shall be presumed, unless proved otherwise, to have severe stress and shall not be tried and punished under the said Code,” it reads.

The IPC section lays down punishment, simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year (with or without fine), for whoever attempts to commit suicide.

The appropriate government (the Centre or state) shall have a duty to provide care, treatment and rehabilitation to a person, having severe stress and who attempted to commit suicide, to reduce the risk of recurrence of attempt to commit suicide, the Act says.

The new law bars use of electro-convulsive therapy without the use of muscle relaxants and anaesthesia; electro- convulsive therapy for minors, and sterilisation of men or women, when such sterilisation is intended as a treatment for mental illness.

It also says that the person with mental illness shall not be “chained in any manner or form whatsoever”.
The law provides provision for medical insurance for the treatment of mental illness.

“Every insurer shall make provision for medical insurance for treatment of mental illness on the same basis as is available for treatment of physical illness,” the Act says.

The new law, which repeals the Mental Health Act, 1987, has been enacted to align and harmonise existing laws with a United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol. India has signed and ratified the Convention.

Psychiatrists have welcomed most of the provisions of the new law.

“The new mental healthcare act decriminalises attempt to suicide by a mentally ill person besides prohibiting doctors from using shock therapy. This is a welcome step and will go a long way in providing medical healthcare to people with mental illnesses,” said Satyakant Trivedi, Consultant Psychiatrist.

The UIDAI has blacklisted or suspended around 1,000 operators while FIRs have been filed against 20 individuals in the last three months for malpractices such as charging for Aadhaar enrolment.

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has also slapped a penalty of Rs 10,000 each on these erring operators besides removing them from its system.

"We have received certain complaints…we have a zero tolerance policy on overcharging. We have identified about 1,000 such operators since December 2016…in the last three months, these operators have been removed from our system and we are also imposing a penalty of Rs 10,000 each on them," UIDAI CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey told PTI.

Removal of these operators from the system implies they would not be able to conduct enrolment for Aadhaar from anywhere in the country.

UIDAI is the nodal body responsible for rolling out Aadhaar, the 12-digit unique identification number that identifies residents based on biometrics.

The authority swung into action after it received certain complaints about some of these operators charging money for enrolments — a service that is free of charge.

Some other instances relate to overcharging for updation of Aadhaar details, for which UIDAI has prescribed a rate of Rs 25, while some pertained to operators departing from the set procedures.

"We got certain complaints where people were being inconvenienced and sometimes they were being asked for money…So we have appealed that they (operators) should stick to the prescribed rates," he said.

In more severe cases, FIRs have been filed.

"We have filed FIRs against 20 persons," Pandey said, hoping that the action by the UIDAI would be a deterrent for others trying to overcharge or not following proper processes.

The suspension period varies from 6 months to 10 years depending on the severity of the offence, he added.

So far, he pointed out, action has been taken against 34,000 operators since the beginning of the Aadhaar program.

The Aadhaar ecosystem has four lakh certified operators and at any point of time about 40,000 such people enrol residents across the country.

As per the latest update, more than 113 crore Aadhaar IDs have been generated in the country and Aadhaar authentications have crossed the 500 crore mark, while 100 crore e-KYCs have been done on the platform.

The shoot of Anees Bazmee's Mubarakan has been wrapped up in London, with veteran actor Anil Kapoor bidding goodbye to the team on an emotional note.

Anil shared a photograph on Twitter on Saturday and captioned it: "It's a wrap! Saying goodbye to the Mubarakan family and this gorgeous city is like saying goodbye to family and home."

The movie, slated to release on July 28, also features Anil's nephew Arjun Kapoor.

Mubarakan had a 50-day shoot schedule in London, and some happy memories of the shoot found their way on social media courtesy the cast and crew.

The entire team even had a pre-wrap party.

The film will feature Arjun in a double role as Charan Singh and Karan Singh, while Anil essays his uncle Kartar Singh.

Apart from them, the film also stars Athiya Shetty and Ileana D'Cruz. 

Athiya will be seen in the role of a simple Punjabi girl in the movie, produced by Sony Pictures Networks Productions with Ashwin Varde and Murad Khetani's Cine 1 Studios.

Two policemen were killed in a gunfight with Maoists in Jharkhand's Simdega district on Sunday morning, the state police said.

According to the police, Bano police station in-charge Vidyapati Singh and constable Tarun Burali were killed in the gunfight with the Maoists.

The police were patrolling when the Maoists began firing on them, officials said.

Maoists are active in 18 of the 24 districts in Jharkhand.

Voting for the bypolls to the prestigious Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency of Kashmir began Sunday amid tight security, with nine candidates including National Conference President Farooq Abdullah in the fray.

More than 1,500 polling stations have been set up for nearly 12.61 lakh electorate. Polling began at 7 am and will end at 5 in the evening.

All the polling stations have been declared as either sensitive or hyper-sensitive keeping in mind threats from various militant outfits and separatist groups, including the Hurriyat Conference.

The seat fell vacant following resignation of PDP leader Tariq Hameed Karra, both from the Lower House of Parliament and his party, in protest against the “atrocities” on people during the agitation in the summer last year in the wake of killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in an encounter with security forces on July 8.

Abdullah, who is the candidate of his party and the Congress jointly, will take on the ruling PDP's candidate Nazir Ahmad Khan in a virtual direct contest.

Abdullah tasted his first electoral defeat in his over 35-year-long political career when he lost to Karra in 2014 general elections. Karra, who has since joined the Congress, is now supporting the National Conference president in the bypolls.

Khan, on the other hand, joined the PDP after quitting the Congress in February and was announced the candidate by the ruling party for the bypolls.

Voter turnout in Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency in 2014 polls was 26 per cent, slightly better than 25.55 per cent recorded in 2009 elections.

Actor Randeep Hooda, who is seen as the host of TV show MTV Big F Season 2, feels surprised that even in the 21st century there are families who restrict their daughters from living their dreams.

An upcoming episode of MTV Big F Season 2 will tell a fictional story of a young and aspiring Hijabi singer named Ayesha (played by Shernawaz Jijina) and her love for music. Her brother, being the man of the house, doesn't allow her to take her hobby seriously. 

Ayesha's love for her brother and mother restrains her from being rebellious and standing up for what she loves the most. However, she makes an attempt and does what she wants.

Talking about it, Randeep said in a statement: "It surprises me that even in the 21st century there are families who suppress the passions of their daughters. It is high time society stops treating women as pets that need to be disciplined or caged.

"It's funny how we keep talking about equality for all genders all the time and force our own daughters to give up on their dreams. Women have the right to do whatever they want. Let them be free-spirited, let them soar high and live their dreams. It's about time we changed."

Shernawaz considers herself "lucky" to portray this role on TV.

"Women and their desires are still suppressed in our country and it's about time we should do something about it. Ayesha's story is a source of inspiration for many girls out there who know they have it in them and just need a little push," Shernawaz said.

The show delves into the psyche of Indian women to explore their hidden desires in order to give them the confidence to break free of societal taboos and claim their desires and their bodies. 

The episode of MTV Big F Season 2 featuring Ayesha's journey will be aired on Sunday.

North Korea on Sunday condemned the US bombing in Syria as an "absolutely unacceptable aggression" against a sovereign state and said this justifies Pyongyang's further military development.

"The US missile strike against Syria is a clear and unforgivable aggression against a sovereign state and we strongly condemn it," EFE news cited a North Korean Foreign Ministry statement as saying.

The statement said that North Korea, which regards Syria as an ally, was not surprised that this US military attack was a "warning to us" and that it was another example that "we have to defend ourselves against imperialist aggressions".

"The reality is that our decision to strengthen our military power to respond to attacks of force is the right choice," the statement said.

The US on April 6 night unleashed 59 Tomahawk missiles at the Shairat airbase in Syria in retaliation for the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Bashar al-Assad regime that left dozens of civilians dead.

The cruise missile attack, which took place when Trump was dining with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Florida, was not only a warning for Syria but also for China to pressure North Korea to end its provocation, a White House source told The Washington Post on Saturday.

The by-election to Dhemaji legislative constituency in Assam began this morning where a straight contest is on between BJP's Ranoj Pegu and Congress' Babul Sonowal.

The by-poll was necessitated to the constituency following the election of earlier BJP MLA Pradan Baruah as MP from Lakhimpur Lok Sabha seat after Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal left his parliamentary seat.

“The polling has begun at 7 AM. Everything is going smoothly as of now and we hope that maximum number of people will take part in this exercise,” Dhemaji LAC Returning Officer Roshni Aparanji Korati told PTI.

The counting will take place on April 13, said Korati, who is also the Deputy Commissioner of Dhemaji district.

A total of five candidates are trying their fortune in this poll with the main contest likely to take place between BJP's Ranoj Pegu and Congress' Babul Sonowal.

The other three candidates are CPI(M)'s Jadu Hazarika, SUCI(C)'s Hem Kanta Miri and Independent Rajkumar Doley.

The constituency has a total of 2,19,751 voters, of which 1,12,510 are male and 1,07,241 are females.

The elections are being held at 273 booths and authorities have earmarked 20 as very sensitive polling stations, while 141 are sensitive.

She earned the epithet of Bollywood's "jubilee girl" with her string of hits in the Hindi film industry's golden era. But living that stardom in today's paparazzi-driven times is something the enigmatic Asha Parekh doesn't fancy at all.

In an interview with over phone from her seven-storey high penthouse in Mumbai, the 74-year-old spoke about her autobiography Asha Parekh: The Hit Girl, her friends, on being single, her take on film censorship, on lobbying for a government honour, and on the life of film stars today.

"I feel it was a nice time when I was part of the golden era. I wouldn't like to be there today because there's too much of media, paparazzi, stress and too much of too many things. Today, there's so much that the stars go through."

The hectic life that stars face, and the rush to self-promotion that they compete for, is something she doesn't find attractive. "They have to do promotions, they have to do so many things. It's too much on them. I wouldn't have been able to handle stardom in today's times," said the veteran actress, talking about times when "self-publicity was not as rampant".

Having featured in as many as 20 silver and golden jubilee hits in the 1960s and 1970s, the actress had become the blue-eyed-girl for filmmakers and for the audience with her emotive eyes, effortless acting and graceful dancing.

She worked as a child actress, before making her big Bollywood foray with the 1959 Shammi Kapoor starrer Dil Deke Dekho", helmed by Nasir Hussain who later cast her in multiple films including Teesri Manzil, Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai, Phir Wohi Dil Laaya Hoon and Caravan.

During her prime, Asha worked with directors like Shakti Samanta, Raj Khosla, Vijay Anand and leading actors like Dharmendra, Joy Mukherjee, Jeetendra, Sunil Dutt, Rajesh Khanna and Shammi, but chose to bow out from the screen in the mid-1990s. Was it a premature decision?

"It's just that I was getting mother's roles, bhabhi's roles, which I was not interested in doing. I gave it up. Where are the roles for ladies of our age? Where do they have movies which are based on them? Men have been lucky. Mr Amitabh Bachchan has been very lucky. He gets many author-backed roles to perform, so it's good," said Asha, who even directed the TV series Kora Kagaz and more.

Does she wish to wield the megaphone again?

"Hahaha… Let's see, I am not very keen to do anything now. I am feeling very lazy, so I want to laze around and be on my own," said the septuagenarian, agreeing that considering she started young in the film industry, she deserves to rest.

She dismissed with a laugh when asked about Union Minister Nitin Gadkari's remark that she lobbied for the Padma Bhushan, and climbed 12 floors to meet him.

"How could it be? When I can't climb seven floors to my house, how can I climb 12 floors with a bad back? It's impossible," Asha said.

Why would he claim so then?

"I don't know… You should ask Nitin Gadkari," she remarked in a jiffy.

Interestingly, Asha Parekh has not been all about glamour.

She took on significant roles behind the scenes of the male-dominated film industry. She was the first woman to be appointed chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) from 1998-2001, a stint as President of CINTAA (Cine and TV Artists Association) and she continues to work for the welfare of film industry workers.

Asha, in fact, had attracted a backlash for censor body's decisions regarding Zakhm and Elizabeth — and was sometimes even referred to as "dictator" and "Hitler". The hullabaloo over film censorship continues to date. What's her opinion now?

"I feel the censor board should be there, and even if people make a hue and cry about it, I feel censorship is very necessary. We need censorship because we may not be talking about films with big star casts… But what about the B and C grade films which come? They are horrible and they have to be censored. That nobody discusses about," said the actress, who strongly feels censorship on what to watch must begin at home.

While she believes guidelines must be revised to suit the current times, she doesn't think the censor body must be "too moderate because then filmmakers take too much liberty".

Asha keeps herself busy with work related to her hospital, her dance academy and the Film Industry Welfare Trust. She doesn't dance any more, but enjoys watching dancers perform.

In her free time, she catches up with her school friends and friends from the industry — like Helen and Waheeda Rehman — who she says have always been there for her, even at the time when she was dealing with depression.

Asha never got married. Doesn't she miss companionship at this stage of her life?

"Companionship is always there, darling. Your friends are always there and you don't miss out on anything else."

Asha Parekh: The Hit Girl is an autobiography written with film critic and filmmaker Khalid Mohamed, and published by Om Books International. It will be launched by superstar Salman Khan in Mumbai on April 10.
 

A man has filed a complaint with Delhi Police against actor Arjun Rampal for allegedly assaulting him at a five star hotel in New Delhi.

The complainant, Shobhit, claimed that the incident happened at around 3.30 AM on Sunday when Rampal was being clicked by a photographer and the actor allegedly grabbed his camera and threw it, hitting him.

According to Delhi Police, the incident happened last night when the actor was playing as a DJ at the nightclub in Hotel Shangri-la.

"He threw a camera flashlight in the crowd hoping that someone will catch it. But it hit a man named Shobhit, aged between 25-30, in his head. He didn't sustain any grievous injuries but in the medical examination that was carried out, it has been found that it is a lacerated wound, a senior police officer told PTI.

"He has given a complaint but we are legally examining it.

As of now, no FIR has been registered against the actor." 

Some protesters were injured when security forces on Sunday fired at demonstrating mobs at three places in central Budgam district of the Kashmir Valley.

The protesters damaged EVMs and prevented voters from exercising franchise in Srinagar-Budgam parliamentary seat bypoll.

Mobs torched a bus and damaged EVMs at some polling stations in Badgam, police said.

"Security forces fired at anti-poll mobs resulting in injuries to some protesters," a police official said here.

Voting in the bypoll was low during the first three hours after polling started at 7 a.m.

Till 10 a.m., 4,403 votes were polled in Ganderbal district, 4,283 were polled in Srinagar district while 7,177 were polled in Budgam district.

At least 2,61,397 voters are eligible to cast vote in the Srinagar/Budgam seat where 1,559 polling stations have been set up.

Voting is underway at the Rajouri Garden constituency to choose its new MLA in the sole by-election in the national capital on Sunday.

According to the election office, voting began at 8 AM and will continue till 6 PM in the area which has around 1.6 lakh electors.

The seat fell vacant early this year after AAP's Jarnail Singh quit as MLA to contest Punjab Assembly poll against SAD patron Parkash Singh Badal.

Along with EVMs, the reliability of which has been questioned by the AAP, voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPATs) are being used at all the 166 polling stations of the west Delhi constituency.

For the BJP and the Congress, success in the bye-election is crucial for their continuing relevance in the city's politics while it will be a test for the AAP's popularity.

The AAP has come up with a new face – Harjeet Singh – for the election while the Congress has fielded Meenakshi Chandela, who belongs to a politically influential family of the area.

The BJP-SAD combine has fielded veteran Manjinder Singh Sirsa who had won the seat in 2013.

Music mogul Simon Cowell and TV host Sharon Osbourne have backed The X Factor judge Mel B after the singer filed for divorce from estranged husband and producer Stephen Belafonte three weeks ago.

Cowell gushed about how "incredible" Mel B was during the time of her messy split while she made claims of domestic abuse against Belafonte, reports dailymail.co.uk.

"Yes, she's under pressure, but I think she's in a good place," Cowell told The Sun newspaper.

Cowell revealed that he and Mel B "talked a lot" about her returning to work.

"It really made me think about her as a person, what she's achieved as a working mum and how she's managed to balance everything," Cowell said.

Meanwhile, Osbourne opened up about how three years ago Mel B missed a day of filming for "The X Factor" finale after she was hospitalised. 

"In the situation that she's been in for 10 years, it's not just physical, it's mental abuse too," Osbourne said on "The Talk" show.

"Three years ago, in the final two days of

, she didn't make the first day and she was in the hospital. And it was reported in all the papers that said 'allegedly' she's been beaten by her husband. 

"And she came back for the final day and she had a black eye and bruising everywhere, but she made the final," Osbourne added.
 

The customs department has unearthed a new modus operandi of sending demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes abroad by courier in a bid to get them converted later.

After these high denomination notes were taken out of circulation by the government in November last, Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) were given a longer window till June 30 to get them exchanged, whereas citizens who were in the country at that time were allowed to deposit the old notes till December 30, 2016.

Customs officials have registered a few cases, where demonetised banknotes were sent abroad by courier, and seized over Rs 1 lakh in such notes, a senior official said today.

People were found trying to send the old notes abroad by falsely declaring them as articles such as books, he said.

“The aim could be to take help of their relatives or friends abroad to get the old notes exchanged with the new ones,” the official said.

In two cases, couriers were booked from Punjab for Australia and the content inside them were declared as book.

The customs official, who are keeping an eye on outbound parcels at foreign post office here, found them having demonetised notes.

Similar consignments were booked for Korea and the United Arab Emirates containing the defunct notes. “In all, over Rs 1 lakh in old currency notes were seized from these couriers,” he said.

Such cases have also been registered at foreign post offices located across the country, the official said.

After scrapping Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes on November 8, the government had permitted people to deposit them in banks up to December 30, 2016.

The RBI has allowed Indian citizens, who were abroad during November-December 2016, to exchange the scrapped notes up to March 31 and NRIs up to June 30.

This facility is available at RBI offices in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Nagpur only.

NRIs coming to India are required to come through Red Channel disclosing to the Customs authorities at the airport the amount of the demonetised notes and secure a certificate to be tendered at the RBI at the time of exchange.

A roughly 650-metre near-Earth asteroid discovered nearly three years ago will fly safely past Earth on April 19, NASA has said.

The space rock is set to go past Earth at a distance of about 1.8 million km or about 4.6 times the distance from Earth to the moon.

Although there is no possibility for the asteroid to collide with our planet, the upcoming approach will be "very close" for an asteroid of this size.

The asteroid, known as 2014 JO25, was discovered in May 2014 by astronomers at the Catalina Sky Survey near Tucson, Arizona — a project of NASA's NEO (near-Earth object) Observations Programme in collaboration with the University of Arizona. 

The surface of the asteroid is about twice as reflective as that of the moon, according to the scientists.

The asteroid will approach Earth from the direction of the Sun and will become visible in the night sky after April 19. 

It is predicted to brighten to about magnitude 11, when it could be visible in small optical telescopes for one or two nights before it fades as the distance from Earth rapidly increases.

"Small asteroids pass within this distance of Earth several times each week but this upcoming close approach is the closest by any known asteroid of this size, or larger, since asteroid Toutatis, a five-kilometre asteroid, which approached within about four lunar distances in September 2004," NASA said in a statement on Friday. 

The encounter on April 19 is the closest this asteroid has come to Earth for at least the last 400 years and will be its closest approach for at least the next 500 years.

The next known encounter of an asteroid of comparable size will occur in 2027 when the 800-meter-wide asteroid 1999 AN10 will fly by at one lunar distance, about 380,000 km.

The April 19 encounter provides an outstanding opportunity to study this asteroid and astronomers plan to observe it with telescopes around the world to learn as much about it as possible.

Also on April 19, the comet PanSTARRS (C/2015 ER61) will make its closest approach to Earth, at a very safe distance of 175 million km, NASA said.