Australian fast bowler Ben Hilfenhaus will replace JP Duminy in Delhi Daredevils ahead of their first match of the IPL 2017 against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Saturday.

Hilfenhaus has played 27 Tests, 25 ODIs and seven T20Is for Australia and has represented Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians in previous editions of the IPL.

In the hosts' side, Vishnu Vinod will join RCB in place of wicket-keeper batsman KL Rahul, who was ruled out of the tournament due to a shoulder injury. 

The 23-year-old Vinod has had a good run in the limited-overs formats in domestic cricket as he scored 338 runs from 11 T20 matches.
 
In the other encounter, Indian pacer Ishant Sharma will join the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) when they face Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) on Saturday.

Sharma will replace Murali Vijay, who was ruled out due to a wrist and shoulder injury.

The 28-year-old speedster, who represented RPS in last season, has taken 58 wickets from 70 matches of the cash-rich league.

In Pune, Tamil Nadu batsman Washington Sundar has carved his space, replacing injured all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin. 

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Hundreds of Maruti and other factory workers demonstrated at a protest march and public hearing on the recent conviction of their colleagues by a trial court in Gurugram in the widely-known Maruti case. Workers, students and intellectuals present at the meeting termed the conviction of Maruti workers “extremely unjust and unfair".

On 10 March, a trial court in Gurugram had convicted 31 Maruti workers of the 148 who were under trial. Thirteen of them were convicted for murder and 18 for causing serious injuries to management officers. Another 117 who had already spent four years in jail were acquitted.

Talking to The Statesman, Sunny from automobile industry contract workers union said, “The evidence presented in the court against convicted Maruti workers was weak in nature. The witnesses could not identify any of the convicted workers but despite this they were given punishment. This judgment makes a mockery of the belief that the judicial system is equal for all. What we are seeing today is that no management official is ever punished for exploiting the rights of workers in broad daylight and mocking at the existing labour laws, but workers are given life sentences for crimes that they never committed."

Simran, a leader of Bigul Mazdoor Dasta, said the judgement is clearly in favour of the capitalist class in the country. He said, "this comes at a time when people like Aseemanand are set free despite enormous evidence against them and despite Aseemanand himself confessing that he was involved in terror activities. It is the age of ironies.”

Pointing to loopholes in the judgement, she said, “It is shocking that all those convicted for murder are in the leading bodies of unions. The clash took place on 18 July 2012 at around 7:20 pm, police was deployed outside the factory at around 11 a m but it was not allowed to enter the premises as long as the situation went out of control. In the First Information Report it is mentioned that almost 400 to 500 people entered the Human Resource premises equipped with sticks and rods but none of the witnesses testified to it. “

The protest meeting and public hearing was attended by industry contract workers union, Naujawan Bharat Sabha, Omax workers , Honda workers among other organisations.

In preparation for the assembly polls in Gujarat, the BJP state leadership is scheduled to take part in a three-day brainstorming session later this month to work out the party’s strategy for the ensuing polls to the 182-member assembly.

The meeting is likely to be held at Somnath. Party president Amit Shah, hailing from Gujarat, is expected to take part in the deliberations.

The BJP's polls preparations are underway amid speculation about the polls being advanced. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Janta Dal United (JD-U) recently announced their pre-poll alliance. Attempts are also underway to cobble together an Opposition alliance against the BJP. The NCP-JD (U) alliance has invited the Congress party to join hands with it.

The NCP which has pockets of support in central Gujarat and Saurashtra and JD(U) in central Gujarat are preparing to take on the ruling party. Not to be left behind, the BJP has embarked on an organisational revamping exercise. On Wednesday it constituted the state parliamentary board and other committees including the campaign committee ahead of the assembly polls.

At the Somnath state executive meeting which is likely to begin on 21 April the newly formed parliamentary board comprising 14 members, including state unit head Jitubhai Vaghani, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel and other top party’s state executive leaders are expected to exchange ideas with Amit Shah and work out the election gameplan for Gujarat.

A two-year-old girl was crushed under a speeding car while playing outside her residence in west Delhi, police said on Friday.

The accused, Mukesh, who was a resident of a nearby Hari Enclave colony, had been arrested for rash and negligent driving, police said.

The incident took place on Thursday evening when the minor girl, identified as Kajol was playing in Aman Vihar area.

Mukesh was driving his Santro car involved in the crime. Although the minor was admitted to the near-by Sanjay Gandhi Hospital, she succumbed to her injuries, a senior police officer said.

Mukesh was arrested from the spot, police said.

Kajol's father Munish works as a street vendor and is a native of Uttar Pradesh.

The opening pair of Gautam Gambhir (76*) and Chris Lynn (93*) led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to a thumping 10-wicket victory over Gujarat Lions in the third match of the IPL 2017 at the SCA Stadium, Rajkot on Friday.

Gambhir and Lynn gave KKR a blazing start as they single-handedly put a 184-run partnership stand to chase the target.

Gambhir struck 12 boundaries and concluded his 48-ball knock at an impressive strike rate of 158.33.

However, it was Australian batsman Lynn who intensified the action, smashing eight sixes and six boundaries.

Concluding at unbeaten 93 with a glorious strike rate of 226.82, the 26-year-old was just seven runs short of his maiden IPL century 

With this, Kolkata have avenged their past two defeats that they suffered to Gujarat in the last season of the IPL.

The spectators at Rajkot witnessed a battle of skippers on Friday as before the KKR captain's heroics, Suresh Raina shone for the Gujarat side. He scored an exemplary knock of 68 runs (not out) to lift GL to a competitive total of 183 runs for the loss of four wickets.

Raina's knock was measured as it came off 51 balls and well-decorated by seven boundaries.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik supported the GL captain and scored causative 47 runs off 25 balls.

With a remarkable strike rate of 188, Karthik lifted the home crowd off their feet, slamming two sixes and four boundaries.

For the fourth-wicket, Raina and Karthik put an 87-run partnership stand that laid a strong foundation for the last year table-toppers.

Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav led the bowling attack for KKR as he claimed two big wickets in shape of Brendon McCullum (35) and Aaron Finch (15).

Pacer Trent Boult took the scalp of Karthik, while spinner Piyush Chawla dismissed GL opener Jason Roy (14) to join the bowling assault.

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With anticipated supply side issues in Sri Lanka and Kenya, tea realisations in the current year are expected to remain buoyant following higher demand for tea, ratings agency ICRA said on Friday.

"Initial weather forecasts indicate lower rainfall in Kenya during the first quarter of 2017, which is likely to impact production from the region. Since Kenya is the largest exporter of black tea, its production levels have a significant bearing on the availability of tea in the global market," company's Vice President and Sector Head (Corporate Sector Ratings) Kaushik Das said.

He also said that Sri Lankan production, which is primarily of the orthodox kind, is likely to continue to remain under pressure, leading to increased export demand for Indian orthodox tea.

"Such supply-side issues are likely to have a favourable impact on both international and domestic tea realisations," Das said.

However, buying patterns across tea segments, which had witnessed a considerable change in 2016, will remain a key determinant of the overall price trajectory in the current year as well, the research note said.

During 2016, the aggregate tea production across India, Kenya and Sri Lanka increased by around 3.5 per cent, primarily due to a surplus in the Kenyan crop.

Indian production during the last calendar year was also up by around 2.5 per cent. The Sri Lankan crop, on the other hand, witnessed a steep decline of around 11 per cent.

Das said an increased proportion of lower quality CTC tea purchases in 2016 led to a rise in prices for lower segment CTC teas, which, in turn, supported overall CTC realisations.

Despite the buoyancy in prices, continuing cost pressures with the increase in wage rates are likely to keep the margins and debt coverage indicators of bulk tea producers under check.

Over the last two years, the cost of tea production saw an increase on account of increased labour costs.

Former Rajya Sabha member and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National Vice-President Avinash Rai Khanna on Friday said the state governments should decide whether to ban cow slaughter.

"It depends upon the state to decide whether to ban cow slaughter," he told journalists here in Meghalaya if the BJP-led NDA government plans to impose beef ban in the northeastern states of the country.

However, he said the sentiments of the public at large will be taken into consideration on whether to ban cow slaughter.

On the cow vigilantism in the Hindu-heartland, the BJP leader said, it was the duty of the state government to maintain law and order.

"If there is a violation of the law (ban on cow slaughter), then action must be taken as per the law of the land. But nobody has any right to take law into his hand," he said.

On the amendment to the Citizenship Act which gives Bangladeshi Hindus Indian citizenship, Khanna said: "There is a procedure and it will be followed. If anyone comes under that provision they will get citizenship."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday condemned the terror attack in Stockholm, saying "India stood firmly with the people of Sweden in this hour of grief".

"We condemn the attack in Stockholm. My thoughts are with the families of the deceased and prayers with those injured," Modi wrote on his Twitter account.

"India stands firmly with the people of Sweden in this hour of grief," he added.

A truck on Friday rammed into a store in the centre of the Swedish capital Stockholm.

Police and witnesses said three persons died and many others were injured.

Director of 'Pink' Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury on Friday credited megastar Amitabh Bachchan for the wide reach and spread of the film among the people.

"The film spread so far and wide, and reached so many people, because of Amitabh Bachchan," Roy Chowdhury said after "Pink" was adjudged "the best film on other social issues" in the National Film Awards announced earlier during the day.

Bachchan essayed the role of a retired lawyer in the movie that created a flutter with its content that challenged rigid social concepts and underscored sensitively the rights and dignity of women.

Praising the entire team, he said "Pink" was made with of love and belief.

Chowdhury recalled that he had originally wanted to do the film in Bengali but producer Shoojit Sircar and Ronnie Lahiri suggested it be made in Hindi.

"Shoojit and Ronnie suggested the film be made in Hindi as the subject is very wide and must reach the maximum number of people. So thanks to them, we made the film with lot of love and belief. The credit goes to the entire team," he said.

"The people accepted the film very well. Now we have got the award. It is a great feeling," he added.

Skipper Suresh Raina struck an exemplary knock of 68 runs (not out) to lift Gujarat Lions (GL) to a competitive total of 183 runs for the loss of four wickets against Kolkata Knight Riders at the SCA Stadium, Saurashtra on Friday.

Raina's knock was measured as it came off 51 balls and well-decorated by seven boundaries.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik supported the GL captain and scored causative 47 runs off 25 balls.

With a remarkable strike rate of 188, Karthik lifted the home crowd off their feet, slamming two sixes and four boundaries.

For the fourth-wicket, Raina and Karthik put an 87-run partnership stand that laid a strong foundation for the last year table-toppers.

Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav led the bowling attack for KKR as he claimed two big wickets in shape of Brendon McCullum (35) and Aaron Finch (15).

Pacer Trent Boult took the scalp of Karthik, while spinner Piyush Chawla dismissed GL opener Jason Roy (14) to join the bowling assault.

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The Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) on Friday told the Supreme Court that only BS-VI emission standards compliant vehicles should be allowed to be sold from April 1, 2020.

The EPCA also told the bench of Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice Deepak Gupta that a tax be imposed to disincentivise the sale of all diesel vehicles.

The apex court-appointed Environment Pollution (Prevention & Control) Authority has called it equalisation tax.

The EPCA said this to the court which is hearing a batch of petitions seeking to control air pollution in the National Capital Region (NCR).

The court gave the Centre and the Society of Indian Automobile Manufactures (SIAM) three weeks' time to respond to the EPCA recommendations as it fixed next hearing on May 1.

The Centre had earlier told the court that it would skip the BS-V emission norms and move directly to BS-VI from 2020. At present only the BS-IV compliant fuel is available across the country.

Besides, the court gave the government three more weeks to decide on stopping the use of petcoke and furnace oil in the National Capital Region.

The recommendation by the EPCA to move to BS-VI emission norm vehicles comes on the heels of the apex court's order banning the sale of non-BS IV emission standards compliant vehicles across the country from April 1 this year.

 Every 20th Indian is in the grip of depression, said Union Minister of Health J.P. Nadda on Friday and assured more NIMHANS (National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences)-like institutes would be set up in the country.

Speaking at an event here to mark the World Health Day, Nadda also assured greater government focus on civil society organisations engaged in mental healthcare.

The Health Minister said that proper implementation of the Mental Health Policy would be ensured.

"Focus should be on pluralism, cross references and sharing of various practices covering geriatric, palliative and rehabilitative care. As part of its renewed strategy for mental healthcare services, the government is strengthening Public Health Centres (PHCs) and Community Health Centres (CHCs).

"Extensive training is being provided to ASHAs (Accredited Social Health Activists) and ANMs (Auxiliary Nurse Midwives) at PHCs and CHCs, so that they can become the transformers, translators and change-makers within the community," said Nadda.

The World Health Day, which falls on April 7, had Depression as its theme this year.

Highlighting the most progressive features of the Mental Health Bill, Nadda said: "Decriminalisation of suicide is another significant facet of the Mental Health Bill, which will ensure proper management of severe stress as a precursor for suicide attempts."

Globally, 322 million people were estimated to be suffering from depression in 2015, equivalent to 4.3 per cent of the world's population. Depression is ranked by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the single-largest contributor to global morbidity and the estimated number of people living with depression increased by 18.4 per cent between 2005 and 2015.

The situation in India is more grave with over 20 million Indians suffering from depression.

Henk Bekedam, the WHO Representative to India, said that depression being the single-largest cause of morbidity globally, it is a public health priority and health concern for us.

"While the government legislates, creates an enabling environment and makes professional services available, the onus is on each one of us to reach out, be it a friend, a colleague, a neighbour or family and make a difference, even save a life. It is equally important for patients to seek help when depressed," said Bekedam.

According to WHO, globally nearly 800,000 people die every year, accounting for close to 1.5 per cent of all deaths, bringing it to the top 20 leading causes of death.

It is estimated that in 2012, India had over 258,000 suicides, with the age group of 15-29 years being the most affected.

In this context, Bekedam highlighted some recent developments that bode well for India in the area of mental health, including the mental health policy.

"The National Health Policy 2017 prioritises mental health services as a component of addressing non-communicable disease and decriminalises attempt to suicide and has a rights-based approach," said Bekedam.

At the function, Nadda also launched the Report Book on the Centre for Well Being at NIMHANS.

Engineering major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) on Friday said it has appointed S.N. Subrahmanyan as the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of the company.

Subrahmanyan would take over as L&T CEO and MD from July 1. He is currently the Deputy Managing Director and President of the company.

"It is an onerous responsibility to manage and grow such a huge and highly diversified engineering, project, manufacturing and services conglomerate. Further, stepping into the shoes of a visionary and industry doyen like A.M. Naik is not easy," Subrahmanyan said.

A.M. Naik is the engineering conglomerate's current executive chairman.

L&T is an Indian multinational engaged in technology, engineering, construction, manufacturing and financial services with over $16 billion in revenue and operates in over 30 countries worldwide.

The national capital is expected to see three more days of respite from the excessive heat till April 10, the weather officials said on Friday.

The heatwave in the neighbouring states last week left Delhi sweltering in intense heat. However, two days of rainfall and cloudy sky brought some relief to the people. 

On Friday, the national capital saw the maximum temperature at 35.6 degrees Celsius — the season's normal, while the minimum temperature was recorded at 22.3 degrees Celsius, three notches above the season's average. 

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the private weather forecaster Skymet, the minimum and maximum temperature are set to dip till Monday (April 10).

However, from April 11 onwards, the mercury is expected to rise again to sizzle the national capital at 40 degrees Celsius.

"At present, winds coming to Delhi are from north, where hills saw another round of snow… due to this, both maximum and minimum temperatures are expected to drop," Mahesh Palawat, Skymet Director, told IANS.

However, from April 11, the direction of the wind is set to change and instead of cool northern winds, Delhi will see dry and hot winds from south-west, Palawat said.

"Temperature is set to rise from April 11 and may reach 39 or 40 degrees by April 12," Palawat said.

Another round of Western Disturbance may bring rains to the Himalayan region on April 15 or 16 but unlike recent rains in the capital, the next weather formation would not effect Delhi, said weather analysts.

Western Disturbance is a storm system originating in the Mediterranean Sea and Caspian Sea region under whose influence rain and snowfall are caused in the northwestern areas of the Indian subcontinent.

According to the IMD, the maximum temperature on Saturday would hover around 35 degrees Celsius. On Sunday, the maximum temperature would be around 33 degrees and on Monday, around 34 degrees Celsius.

Delhi Police on Friday were in the dark about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's plan to visit the airport to receive Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and he travelled with no route restrictions in place. Police said all security concerns were adequately addressed after they learnt about his airport visit.

The Prime Minister's airport drive, without keeping the police in the loop, was apparently intentioned at not hindering normal traffic movement on the city roads or to cause inconvenience to people, a headache during VVIP movements. 

Delhi Police Public Relation Officer (PRO) Madhur Verma told IANS: "After we learnt about Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelling from his 7, Lok Kalyan Marg official residence to Delhi's Palam Air Force station in normal traffic and with no route restrictions in place, all security concern were adequately addressed."

Verma said "We were not informed about the VVIP movement in advance."

The police is responsible for the security of VVIP movement in the national capital.

"Generally, we are informed about any VVIP movement in advance, and accordingly route restrictions are put in place for security purpose," Special Commissioner of Police Dependra Pathak told IANS.

Heavy security is deployed on the possible routes to be taken by convoys of the Prime Minister and other VVIPs.

The by-road surface distance route from the Prime Minister's house to Palam Air Force station is about 13 km and passes via Teen Murti Marg, Shantipath and Satya Marg.

Due to increasing threat from terrorists, two routes with two cavalcades simultaneously are earmarked for his road travel, said sources.

The decision on which route the Prime Minister's cavalcade takes is finalised at the last moment.

"Traffic is stopped on both routes. One route is taken by the Prime Minister and on the second a dummy cavalcade travels. His security is handled by the Special Protection Group from close range," a source said. 

The number of vehicles, including jammers, bullet proof cars, ambulances, is not revealed.

VVIP movements usually cause huge traffic snarls, putting commoners to hardships.

But on Friday, it was not the case as Modi's cavalcade moved normally without stopping traffic on the roads.

At the airport, the Prime Minister welcomed Hasina, who is on four-day visit to India from Friday, with a bouquet as she alighted from the aircraft.

Taking suo motu cognizance of the lynching of a Muslim man by cow vigilantes in Alwar district of Rajasthan last week, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Friday issued notice to the Rajasthan government demanding a detailed action report.

"The Commission has issued a notice to the Chief Secretary, Rajasthan calling for a detailed report in the matter along with action taken against the culprits," NHRC said in a statement.

Calling the incident a serious case of human rights violation, NHRC said: "Self-proclaimed volunteers creating an atmosphere of fear in society by taking law in their hands are required to be dealt with strictly as per law."

"The state has a responsibility to remain vigilant to prevent such activities," it added. 

The commission also issued a notice to the Union Home Secretary, calling for a response on what steps have been taken or proposed to be taken by the Centre to deal with such incidents in the country. 

The response is expected within four weeks. 

The commission observed that this incident is not the first of its kind and in a similar incident, four Dalit boys, possessing beef, were severely beaten up in the Gir Somnath district of Gujarat in July, 2016. 

The lynching incident occurred on Saturday when a group of self-styled cow vigilantes attacked dairy farmer Pehlu Khan in Behror area of Alwar.

Khan, hailing from Haryana, died on Monday night in hospital.

He was travelling in a truck with two cows and two calves when the attackers accused him of illegally smuggling cows for slaughter. However, his family said he had bought the animals for his small dairy business.

A court here on Friday fixed April 10 to consider a CBI chargesheet against Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and others in a disproportionate assets case.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed the chargesheet last week in the court of Special Judge Virender Kumar Goyal.

The matter was fixed for April 10 as scrutiny of documents could not be completed on Friday.

Besides Virbhadra Singh, his wife Pratibha Singh, Life Insurance Corporation agent Anand Chauhan, his associate Chunni Lal, Joginder Singh Ghalta, Prem Raj, Lawan Kumar Roach, Vakamullah Chandrashekhara and Ram Prakash Bhatia have been chargesheeted in the case.

The CBI had booked the accused on the charge of abetment to crime and forgery under the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The CBI had registered the case on September 23, 2016, after a preliminary inquiry found that Virbhadra Singh, during his term as Union Steel Minister from 2009 to 2012, allegedly accumulated assets worth Rs 6.03 crore, which were disproportionate to his known sources of income.

The Himachal Chief Minister had on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court against a Delhi High Court order that rejected his plea to quash the FIR in the case.

Virbhadra Singh, a veteran Congress leader, has challenged the March 31 Delhi High Court order that also vacated a Himachal Pradesh High Court order of October 1, 2015, restraining the CBI from arresting, interrogating or filing a chargesheet in the case without court permission.