Five Nepalese students, who were stranded in heavy snowfall while they were on their way to Malana in Kullu district, were on Thursday rescued by the Police but two of them died on their way to hospital.

Superintendent of Police, Kullu, Padam Chand said that they have received a call from one of the students on Wednesday evening that they are stuck in heavy snowfall while they were on their way to Malana from Rasol.

“A team was rushed to the spot to rescue the students on Wednesday evening and the team managed to locate them on Thursday afternoon. They were rushed to hospital where two of them were declared brought dead,” he said.

While the condition of three students is said to be stable and the Police officials have informed their parents about the mishap.

Police officials said the Nepalese students, who were pursuing a Chartered Accountant course from an institute in Delhi, came to Kullu four days ago. After their visit to Manikaran, they decided to trek to Malana village, but they got stuck in heavy snowfall.

The students then decided to take shelter under a tree till the weather clears but as the snowfall continued, one of them called the Police and asked for help. 

“The students decided to stay warm by burning clothes and bags they were carrying. But by the time, police located them, the condition of two of them had deteriorated and they died on the way to hospital,” Police officials said. 

The Congress criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday for not speaking out against the self-styled cow vigilantes who were beating and killing people on the pretext of cow protection.

"You save cow, but humans should also be saved," Congress senior leader and former minister Kapil Sibal said in a press conference here.

He said that Modi does not even speak about such incidents.

"Our Prime Minister does not speak (on these issues), whereas his ministers were saying that it didn't even happen," he said, referring to the Alwar incident in which a man succumbed to his injuries after being beaten by gau rakshaks last week.

Minorities Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi denied that the incident even took place.

"We must ask overselves whom should the government protect," he said.

The Congress leader listed other similar incidents in the past three years said this must be stopped.

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

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

In another incident in 2015, Akhlaq, a resident of Bisara village near Dadri in Uttar Pradesh, was lynched by a Hindu mob on September 28 for allegedly possessing and eating beef.
 

Senior state BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi on Friday demanded sacking of Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad's two sons from the Bihar Cabinet for the alleged soil scam.

"It is no more mere allegations. I have solid documentary evidences against Lalu and his two sons — Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav and Health and Forest Minister Tej Pratap Yadav. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar should sack both Tejaswi and Tej Pratap on moral grounds," the BJP leader told the media here.

Modi, a former Deputy Chief Minister, claimed Lalu was given the prime land in 2005 by a businessman in lieu of help as the Railway Minister. Initially, the land was in the name of RJD Rajya Sabha member Prem Chand Gupta and his family but was later transferred in the names of Lalu and his sons, he added.

The senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader earlier said that Tej Pratap is behind the allocation of a contract of Rs 90 lakh for earth-filling work at the Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park to a company without following the tender process. The company was also to construct a pathway and beautify the park. The earth was excavated from the land, where a mall is now coming up.

Modi said Lalu should also explain to the people how a mall was coming up on the park's land in Patna. 

Lalu and his sons have denied Modi's allegations about the soil scam.

Television actress Farnaz Shetty suffered burns on the set of the show Waaris. She says she is recovering and her wounds are healing.

Farnaz essays the role of Manu in the &TV show. Her character is a girl who is raised as a boy under adverse circumstances. She ended up burning her hands while shooting for an important sequence.

"We were shooting for an important high point where Manu's real identity is revealed. As per the track, I had to use my pagdi (turban) to extinguish the fire but while performing for the scene, I accidentally burnt my hands," Farnaz said in a statement. 

She says her skin peeled off and she had to go to the hospital. 

"I'm recovering and the wounds are healing, but I have to be very careful as they can't rub against my clothes or any object," added the actress.

The accident took place when the lead pair of the show Farnaz and Neil Motwani were shooting for a major fire sequence where the character Manu's real identity is finally revealed to Rajveer (Neil).

In the dramatic sequence, Manu saves Rajveer's mom who is stuck in a hut which catches fire, using her 'pagdi' to douse the flames.

With Barcelona breathing down their necks in the La Liga title race, leaders Real Madrid know nothing less than a win will suffice when derby rivals Atletico Madrid come visiting at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday.

While 10-points may separate them in the league table, a mere eight kilometres is the distance from the Vicente Calderon to the Santiago Bernabeu, a fact which will be lost on neither side as they seek to gain bragging rights.

The hosts are the favourites for Saturday’s derby game, but as has been proven in the past, Atletico should be written off at your own peril.

Real Madrid
Los Blancos are on a six-game winning streak, eking out result after result despite talisman Cristiano Ronaldo not enjoying the finest of seasons. The fact that he has still managed to score 19 goals in the league alone just proves that even while diminished, the Portuguese is a lethal forward.

Giving him company will be the fit-again Gareth Bale, who has been inconsistent since his return from injury in February and needs to give the world a timely reminder of his ability with a display worthy of his price-tag against the Rojiblancos.

Madrid’s problem area isn’t their attack, as they almost always manage to outscore their opponents, rather it is their leaky defence. With Raphael Varane almost always injured, Pepe and Sergio Ramos at the heart of the defence with the error-prone Keylor Navas do not exactly inspire confidence.
Apart from Varane, Real have no injury concerns and as an extra bit of good news, they were able to rest most of their stars in the midweek win over Leganes, which means Ronaldo and co will be fresh and ready for Ateltico’s visit.

Atletico Madrid
As has been the norm in many Madrid derbies since Diego Simeone took over, the Rojiblancos will defend deep and look to hit their rivals on the counter.

Key to their attack will be Antoine Griezmann and while the Frenchman is a superb player, he cannot do it all on his own. Atletico’s Spanish brigade (Koke and Saul Niguez) need to deliver a performance that belies their reputation if the visitors are to stand a chance of gaining anything from the match. Both the midfielders are fine players but the time for them to regularly churn out performances is here and their displays will be key.

Yannick Carrasco is another player who has improved a lot this season, the Belgian establishing himself as a regular in recent months. But if really wants to be taken seriously for his national squad ahead of next year’s World Cup, he will have to up his game on Saturday.

Atletico have a steely defence but it is the inability to score at times, which holds them back from pushing La Liga’s top two (Real and Barcelona) all the way over the course of an entire season.

They have a few injury concerns, with Kevin Gameiro, Nicolas Gaitan and Sime Vrsaljko all racing against time to get fit for Saturday’s clash at the Bernabeu.

Super Stat: From 2003 to 2012, Real were unbeaten against their rivals, a stretch that spanned 11 games before Atletico finally broke the hoodoo in the 2013 Copa del Rey final!

Rohit Vaid, whose maiden directorial venture Mahayoddha Rama won the Best Animation Film honour at the 64th National Film Awards, says its an "unbelievable" moment for him.

The winners of the 64th National Film Awards were announced here on Friday.

"When something like this happens, you are only confused and thankful. It starts with confusion, then thanking everyone, and later on, you retrospect all the things that went into making of the film. It really is unbelievable," Vaid told.

Vaid said the film was supposed to be released in 2009, but "there was some problem with Pixion — which was doing bits of the production" for the movie.

"Our logic was to tell Ramayana in a different way with a bit of creative liberty. We used Ravana as the 20th century villain. We have told the story with a lot of VFX (visual effects) and action. The idea was to retell the story to today's youth," he said.

Mahayoddha Rama, which released in November last year, featured voices of actors like Gulshan Grover, Kunal Kapoor and Mukesh Rishi among others.

"We are delighted that our efforts have got such a prestigious recognition. I am truly humbled and this recognition stands testament for all the hard work put in by the team. I would like to thank the jury for this honour," said Abhimanyu Singh, CEO, Contiloe Pictures Pvt Ltd, which backed the film.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said that Rs.141.13 crore worth of new Rs.500 and Rs.2,000 notes have been seized by government agencies.

The Enforcement Directorate, Central Bureau of Investigation, Income Tax department and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence have seized Rs.141.13 crore of new currency notes, Jaitley said in the Lok Sabha in reply to a question.

He said that all new Indian currency notes of Rs.2,000 and Rs.500 denominations seized by the Enforcement Directorate are deposited in the State Bank of India or any nationalised bank so that they can come back in circulation.

"The Income Tax department deposits the cash seized during its search and seizure actions in the public deposit accounts maintained with nationalised banks at the earliest," he added.

All the government agencies including ED, CBI, I-T department and DRI have pan-India presence with requisite officials posted in headquarter, various zonal and regional units to conduct actions against black money hoarders, Jaitley said.

Badrinath Ki Dulhania stars Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan have a tip to share for budding talent — success and failure should not be taken too seriously.

The actors visited the Whistling Woods International School here on Thursday along with director Shashank Khaitan to interact with film students.

Asked about her opinion about formal training in acting and filmmaking, Alia told here: "I think more than the need of formal training, it is about what a creative individual wants. When I was interacting with students, I realised how hungry they are to know about filmmaking. I think that is very important."

Seconding her, Varun said: "If you are talented, you have to keep practicing your craft to develop your skill. Having said that, theoretical knowledge surely helps. Before I became an actor, I attended acting workshop and classes, I worked as assistant and such experiences worked for me."

Considering the fact that they keep facing professional pressure, when asked if they would like to give any tips to deal with such stress, Alia said: "I do not think I can give any suggestion.

"I believe every artiste has his or her own journey. But generally, I would like to say that never take success to your head and failure to your heart."

Adding to that, Varun said: "I totally agree with her. Like these days, I am focusing on my upcoming film Judwaa 2. The success of Badrinath Ki Dulhania is fine, but I am not in the air.

"I am thankful to everyone who keep giving me chance to do something that I am doing – acting. Success and failure is just a part of it."

Turkey welcomed the US air strike on a Syrian airbase today as a “positive” move and urged the international community to maintain its stance against the “barbarism” of President Bashar al-Assad.

“We welcome this as positive but… we believe that the Assad regime must be punished completely in the international arena,” Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus told Turkey's Fox TV in an interview, quoted by state-run news agency Anadolu.

“The international community must maintain its stance clearly against this barbarism,” said Kurtulmus, who is also government spokesman.

He described the strikes against the base as “significant” and “meaningful” after civilians had been targeted and there were victims “presumably” of chemical weapons.

“The Assad regime's barbarism must be stopped at once,” Kurtulmus said, saying the peace process should hasten a “fair” and “lasting” peace for the people.

“I hope that this United States operation will contribute to securing peace.”

Turkey has repeatedly called for Assad to go while Russia and Iran remain the president's most important allies in the more than six-year war.

US President Donald Trump ordered a military strike on the base in retaliation for what he said was a “very barbaric attack” after dozens were killed early on Tuesday in Khan Sheikhun in Idlib, northwestern Syria.

The Turkish health ministry on Thursday said initial analysis suggested victims were exposed to the deadly nerve agent sarin.

Bollywood films continued to rule the roost with 49-year-old Akshay Kumar being adjudged  best actor for his portrayal of a patriotic naval officer in Rustom, while other Bollywood films like Pink, Neerja and Dangal bagged awards in key categories at the 64th National Film Awards 2016 announced on Friday. Marathi movie Kasaav about depression was declared the best feature film.

"Thank you is a very small word right now but I don't know how else to express how I am feeling right now… Rustom was a very special role to play. Being able to wear the uniform of Indian Navy itself is a huge honour, even if it's just for a role," Akshay said in a video message to his fans.

The actor said Sonam Kapoor, who received a special mention for her role in Neerja, was shooting with him and it was a double celebration for them on the sets of Padman.

Neerja, based on the 1986 hijacking of an airline in which flight attendant Neerja Bhanot was killed by terrorists directed by Ram Madhvani, was named the best Hindi film.

Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Pink, a female-centric court room drama, won the award for best film on social issues.

The jury, headed by Akshay's frequent collaborator, filmmaker Priyadarshan, named Surabhi CM as the best actress for her role in Malayalam film Minnaminungu-The Firefly.

Dhanak was named the best children's film.

Marathi cinema was a big winner at the awards with Kasaav winning the top award.  Besides Kasaav, Rajesh Mapuskar won the best director award for his film Ventilator. The movie has been produced by actress Priyanka Chopra and her mother Madhu.

The best adapted screenplay went to Dashakriya, which was also chosen as the best Marathi film, while its actor Manoj Joshi was named as the best supporting actor. Kashmiri actress Zaira Wasim won the best supporting actress award for her performance as a young Geeta Phogat in the Aamir Khan-led wrestling drama Dangal. Ajay Devgn's Shivaay won the best special effects.

Nargis Dutt award for best feature film award on national integration went to Assamese film Dikchow Banat Palaax, while the best popular film providing wholesome entertainment went to Telugu film Sathmanam Bhavathi.

The Special Jury Award in the Feature category was given to Mohanlal for his mastery in dealing with characters of various shades with unparallel acting brilliance.

Jharkhand was given Special Mention Award for their Film Policy which provided growth opportunities to the local filmmaking talent from within the State.

The  Awards were announced  by the chairpersons of the juries on Feature Films, Non-Feature Films, Best Writing on Cinema and Most Film Friendly State Award.

The Feature Film Central panel was headed by Priyadarshan, an eminent filmmaker. The chairperson for Non–Feature Film Jury was  Raju Mishra while the chairperson for Writing Jury was Bhawana Somaaya.

The Most Film Friendly State award which was introduced as a new category was given to Uttar Pradesh for implementing a unique film policy. The awards will be presented by the President on 3 May.

China on Friday urged for "restraint" and to prevent deterioration of the situation after the US fired cruise missiles on a Syrian air base.

The US air strike led to deaths of nine civilians and six soldiers besides causing huge damage, at the Shairat airbase in Homs province.

The air strikes took place as President Donald Trump was meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Florida.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying said China hoped that "relevant parties stay calm, exercise restraint and avoid doing anything that might raise tensions".

Beijing supported the UN in launching an independent and comprehensive probe on the issues in order to come to a conclusion, Xinhua news agency quoted the spokesman as saying.

President Donald Trump said the strikes were a response to Tuesday's chemical weapons attack in Idlib province that killed dozens of civilians.

Washington accused Damascus of the toxic gas attack but the Bashar al Assad government has termed it a "lie".

Hua said China opposed the use of chemical weapons by any country, organisation or person for whatever purposes, and Beijing's position will remain consistent.

Beijing, an ally of Russia, called "on all relevant parties to resolutely stick to promoting a political settlement and not abandon efforts to find a political settlement".

China has routinely sided with Russia in blocking action by the UN Security Council on Syria, and Beijing's special 

The Delhi Police on Friday were taken aback when they learnt from the media that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had gone to the airport to receive Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, without keeping them in the loop.

Joint Commissioner of Police Dependra Pathak said that senior officers learnt through the media about Prime Minister Modi travelling from his Lok Kalyan Marg official residence to Delhi's Palam Air Force station in normal traffic and with no route restrictions in place.

The Delhi Police is responsible for the security of VVIP movements 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. But, we were not informed about Prime Minister's visit to the airport today (Friday)," Pathak said.

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.

Both the leaders are expected to ink over 20 agreements ranging from ICT to defence cooperation during the visit.

India on Friday took strong exception to the passage of a Private Member’s Motion in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario that called the 1984 anti-Sikh riots ‘’genocide’’, adding that it had conveyed its views on the issue to the political leadership of Canada.

‘’We reject this misguided motion which is based on a limited understanding of India, its Constitution, society, ethos, rule of law and the judicial process,’’ MEA spokesperson Gopal Baglay said when his reaction was sought on the passage of the motion.   

New Delhi, it is learnt, is quite unhappy since the motion was moved by a Member of the Provincial Parliament (MPP) belonging to the ruling Liberal Party of Ontario, which had moved a similar motion last summer. The Ontario Assembly, thus, became the first legislature in Canada to carry a motion that described the 1984 anti-Sikh riots as “genocide”.

The motion was moved by Harinder Malhi, the MPP from the riding (as constituencies are called in Canada) of Brampton-Springdale, near Toronto.

After a debate, the motion was carried with 34 MPPs (the equivalent of MLAs) voting in favour and just five against. Those present at the vote numbered just about a third of the assembly’s total strength of 107.

Syria is consulting with its allies on a response to the US missile strike that targeted a Syrian air base, Information Minister Ramez Turjman said on Friday.

The minister said the Syrian leadership was consulting with Russia and Iran on the response to the "American aggression," reports Xinhua news agency.

The US launched a missile attack on the Shayrat Air Base in the central province of Homs in retaliation to the alleged chemical attack on a rebel-held town in the northwestern province of Idlib.
 

The Maharashtra government on Friday told the legislative assembly here that it would initiate a debate on the necessity of an anti-conversion law in the state.

Minister of State for Home, Deepak Kesarkar said, at present cases of forced conversion are dealt under IPC Sections 295 to 298 dealing with offences relating to religion.

“We dont have a separate law to deal with conversion. The cases of conversion are negligible in the state. Last year, only one case was reported,” Kesarkar said.

Kesarkar was responding to supplementaries by Atul Bhatkalkar and Yogesh Sagar (both BJP) on whether the state would consider enacting a law to prevent religious conversions.

He said the state doesn't have a conversion law. “But, we would initiate a debate on whether such a law is necessary.”

The issue was raised by Anil Bonde (BJP) through a calling attention notice about reports of Christian evangelists trying conversion of tribals in Warud taluka of Amravati district.

He said they were using photographs of Rashtrasant Tukdoji Maharaj and Gram Geetacharya Tukaramdada to induce people to convert to Christianity.

“They are distributing pamphlets of thoughts of Tukdoji Maharaj and Tukaramdada saying that they were views of Jesus Christ and Bible,” he charged.

Bonde also charged that the Christian groups were circulating Christian prayer books in the name of Gurudev Seva Mandal and Satyashodhak Samaj. He also said these groups were spreading hatred about Hindu deities and criticising idol worship.

He demanded action against such groups for trying to woo poor people into Christianity by propagating thoughts of Hindu saints as that of Jesus Christ.

Kesarkar said Bonde had given a complaint in this regard to Amravati District Collector on March 26. The complaint has been forwarded to Superintendent of Police, Amravati and Warud Police is investigating the matter.

If the case is found true, proper action would be taken, he said.

When members sought filing of FIR in the case immediately, Kesarkar said he has given the police 15 days time to probe the case.

On the occasion of 'World Health Day' on Friday Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Brahm Mohindra declared war against vector borne diseases while instructing health officials to tackle the problems on priority.

He also asked the department to launch a massive awareness drive through various mediums to educate the people so that these diseases do not start developing.

He stressed upon to conducting awareness campaigns on the radio, mass media, bulk SMS, cinemas, hand out, pamphlets to make people aware.

“There should be no laxity given in dealing with the outbreak of these diseases. All the concerned departments should focus on prevention and awareness about these diseases,” Mohindra said.

Chairing the meeting of the state task force (STF) on Friday for the vector borne diseases, Mohindra further said that he would personally take up the matter with the local bodies minister for ensuring smooth operations especially in the cities.

"The local bodies should also stress on the spraying in collaboration with the health department before the season starts," he said.

He asked the Education Department to generate awareness among the general public through the school children by way of quiz competitions, lectures during the morning assemblies and giving the children a questionnaire regarding these diseases.

"Even the school children of classes IX and X should be having special curriculum for these vector borne diseases," he added.

He also instructed the transport department to arrange for proper covers where ever the stores of condemned tyres are there in Punjab because these are the main places of the breeding of Aedes mosquito, which is responsible for the dengue fever.

"These waste tyres should be immediately discarded and proper spray should be done to prevent the growth of the vector," he added.

He further instructed department of rural development and panchayats to use the Gambusia fish in the ponds, spraying and sanitising in the rural areas, and reporting by the medical officers in the rural areas.

He further said that in case of malaria, most cases are from the rural areas rather than urban while dengue is reported more in urban.

"There are 26 sentinel surveillance hospitals in the state providing, free diagnostic facility for dengue and chikunguniya where tests for these diseases are also done free. Supportive treatment for dengue is also given free in all the district level and sub-division level hospitals," he added.

The fans of the epic fantasy have been anticipating much from the soon to be released Baahubali 2: The Conclusion.

The sequel of massive hit of 2015’s Baahubali: The Beginning, directed by the same director SS Rajamouli, is expected to do big business on silver screen.

The promotion of the second part of the movie has gained huge attention, as all the events related to the movie are filled with melodrama and controversy.

The much talked about trailer in Telugu of the second movie was leaked on March 16 and went viral on internet. Following the incident, filmmakers were forced to release the trailer in all languages earlier than the scheduled release.

The trailer had broken all previous records. It is the only Hindi film trailer that received fifty million views in a day.

Prominent filmmaker Karan Johar, who is the co-distributor of the movie, hailed the trailer, calling it “truly the biggest trailer ever.”

The speculator visual treat, perfect drama with twisted climax made Baahubali: The Beginning one of major blockbuster hits in 2015. And also set the paradigm for new fantasy movies as it is known for masterpiece visual effects.

Despite the clash with Salman Khan’s starrer Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Baahubali did manage to do hefty business on blockbuster in 2015.

The first movie created cult status, especially on internet, as there is a pertinent question all over the spaces ‘'why did Kattappa kill Baahubali?'’

The answerable plot and bolder visual effects make Baahubali 2 more promising film than the earlier one. It will be the first Indian movie to be released in 4K High Definition format without clashing with any big blockbuster. It is scheduled for release on April 13.