Megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who was supposed to launch book Yesterday's Film For Tomorrow by film archivist P.K. Nair here on Thursday, couldn't turn up as he is suffering from high fever.

However at the book launch by the Film Heritage Foundation, the country's only non-government film archive, the other invited celebrities such as Naseeruddin Shah, Shyam Benegal and Vidhu Vinod Chopra were present and did the honours.

The Big B, who is also the foundation's brand ambassador, however sent a letter of apology to the organisers which the foundation's founder Shivendra Singh Dungarpur shared with the media.

The letter read: "I have suddenly and quite unexpectedly developed a high fever .. I regret profusely that I shall be unable to attend your event this evening .. a shame really because I was looking forward to it ..

"As a country we have shied away from the luxury of documentation.. leave alone its restoration and preservation – for films at least ..!!

"What you and your foundation have initiated is indeed a most selfless, but very important and necessary element, so assiduously worked upon by Mr Nair ..

"I send my best wishes on the launch of your book on him and do stand by my commitment to be of service to this noble cause.

"Your idea of constructing an Institute, the design for which I have greatly appreciated, is most laudable and one that I hope shall receive patronage not just from the film fraternity but indeed from the City of Mumbai – the Film Capital of the Nation .."

In an earlier statement about the book, Amitabh said: "Yesterday's Films For Tomorrow' is a commendable initiative of Film Heritage Foundation. They are the custodians of the P.K. Nair archive and by publishing this book they have made this valuable material available to the public. I am very happy to have been invited to release this unique book on cinema written by a person who devoted his life selflessly to saving our film history."
 

The US has struck an airbase in Syria's central region and caused losses, a military source said on Friday.

The Thursday night attack targeted the Shairat military base in the central Homs province, the source told Xinhua news agency.

The state TV called the attack an "American aggression".

The US launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the airbase from which the aircraft that carried out the chemical strikes earlier this week took off, CNN said.

The extent of losses remained unknown, the source said, adding that the army's general command is awaiting reports from Homs.

The strike marked the US response to the chemical attack on rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib province, reports said.

Washington has accused the Syrian Army of being behind the toxic attack that killed over 70 including many children, an allegation totally denied by Damascus.

Opening up about life after the death of both his first wife and daughter, Hollywood star Pierce Brosnan says he still believes in looking for positive things in life.

Brosnan's wife of 11 years Cassandra Harris died in 1991 due to ovarian cancer at the age of 43, and then he lost his daughter Charlotte to the same disease in 2013 when she was 42. 

"I don't look at the cup as half full, believe me. The dark, melancholy Irish black dog sits beside me from time to time," Brosnan told esquire.com. 

At present, he is married to Keely Shaye Smith since 2001. The Remember Me star is father to four sons – Chris, 44, Sean, 33, from his first marriage as well as Dylan, 20, and Paris, 16, with Keely.

Income Tax Department officials on Friday raided Tamil Nadu Health Minister C Vijayabaskar's residence here and premises of his associates, official said.

Raids were also underway at actor Sarathkumar's house, the senior IT official said on condition of anonymity.

The raids were being conducted in at least 20 places here and 11 other places in the rest of Tamil Nadu, the official added.

He said: "Trigger for raids at Vijayabaskar's residence is the money distributed to voters in RK Nagar constituency where bypoll is slated on April 12.

The officer said the Minister was on IT radar for the past one year in connection with his quarry business.

The Indian cultural centre here in Egypt, serving as a window for India for the past 25 years to reach out to Egyptians, plans to add new activities like yoga to woo more people.

Established in 1992 as part of the Cultural Exchange Programme (CEP), the Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture (MACIC) has been spreading different aspects of the Indian culture.

“The Centre is here primarily to educate and make people aware of the Indian culture,” Ann Haokip, the director of MACIC said.

“There is a mainstream idea of what Indian culture is, but we want to let people know that there is not just one idea. There are many aspects of what Indian culture is. So, for example, I would say that Indian music or dance is not just Bollywood there is much more beyond that. So, in that sense we want to promote different arts from India. India is very rich in arts,” said Haokip, who took over as the director of the Centre in mid-December 2016, after Rakesh Kawra.

Not only presenting yoga, dance, Hindi and Urdu language classes, the Centre also present seminars, exhibitions and movie screenings and discussions during the month.

“We try to have our events really accessible to public. So we go to venues and places that people can come to usually for free,” Haokip said.
The Centre has recently included new activities like the seminars in the MACIC roundtable in which experts and professionals are invited to discuss various topics.

A cinema club was also opened in the Center last year, where Indian movies are screened and discussions follow.

“We are also going to have new events like the Yoga Championship and photo competition related to yoga because the International Day of Yoga is coming up on June 21. This will be the third year that we are celebrating this special day,” she added.

Currently, the Centre is hosting some of the activities of the India by the Nile, the largest cultural festival in Egypt which runs until April 27.
“During the festival we host seminars and exhibitions. We will    also hold the Taghor festival from May 8-12. The events, organised by the Maulana Azad Centre, will be held in Cairo and Alexandria,” she said.

“We have got many invitations from different schools and universities to take part in an Indian Day or international festivals where we go there and participate by offering them an India booth and some dance and music,” the director said.

MACIC, located in Cairo, is the only Indian cultural Center in the region. It was named after Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the founder of Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and the scholar-statesman who had close links with the Arab world.

The 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix will be the final race the country holds, ending an association of 19 years between the South Asian nation and the world’s premier motorsport, according to a statement made on www.f1.com. 

The decision was taken jointly by Formula 1 and Sepang International Circuit (SIC).

Malaysia joined the F1 calendar in 1999, and both Formula 1 and SIC say they are determined to make this year’s event in October a fitting finale for the ground-breaking circuit.

“It’s always sad to say goodbye to a member of the Formula 1 family,” commented Sean Bratches, Managing Director, Commercial Operations, Formula 1. “Over nearly two decades, the Malaysian Formula 1 fans have proven themselves to be some of the sport’s most passionate supporters.

“We will have 21 exciting events to look forward to in the 2018 calendar, with the additions of the French and German races. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the Sepang International Circuit for their hospitality and professionalism over the years, and their ongoing commitment to motorsport.”

During its time on the Formula 1 calendar, not only has Malaysia built a loyal F1 fan base, it has also become a major force in motor racing and successfully established itself as a global tourist destination.

Issues were said to have come up over the hefty fee race organisers have to pay to F1 for hosting the race, which raises their costs a little too much and as a result, it is difficult to turn over a substantial profit.

Monaco (Monte Carlo) is the only venue in F1 which does not pay a fee to F1 for hosting a race.
 

Actress Kate Hudson finds media mogul Oprah Winfrey inspiring when it comes to body positivity.

During an interview with vogue.com, she was asked who stands out to her as an inspiration in terms of body positivity?

The actress said: "I'm going to give the really obvious answer to that, which to me is Oprah. I just think she is forever, that woman. You want to do the healthy thing, but you know what? Women fluctuate."

"We give birth to children and carry them and breastfeed them, some of us. We are busy and we're trying to work. Women's bodies are very different than male bodies; the way that we store fat is different, and the way that we lose fat is different. We're always trying to keep up-and then some of us give up, which is what we don't want to do," added the mother of two.

NASA's Hubble space telescope has captured Jupiter in all of its up-close glory, offering spectacular views of its colourful, roiling atmosphere and the legendary Great Red Spot.

On April 3, 2017, as Jupiter made its nearest approach to Earth in a year, Hubble captured the dazzling image of the solar system's largest planet when it was comparatively close to Earth, at a distance of 668 million km.

The giant planet is now at "opposition", positioned directly opposite the Sun from the Earth. This means that the Sun, Earth and Jupiter line up, with Earth sitting between the Sun and the gas giant. 

Opposition also marks Jupiter's closest point to us, and the planet appears brighter in the night sky than at any other time in the year, NASA said in a statement on Thursday.

This positioning allowed a team led by Amy Simon of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre in Greenbelt, Maryland to observe Jupiter using Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3. 

Hubble photographed exquisite details in Jupiter's atmosphere, as small as about 129 km across.

With its immense and powerful storms and hundreds of smaller vortices, the atmosphere of Jupiter is divided into several distinct, colourful bands, parallel to the equator. 

Jupiter is best known for the Great Red Spot, a long-lived storm roughly the diameter of Earth. 

However, the Great Red Spot is slowly shrinking — a trend seen since the late 1800s. The reason for this phenomenon is still unknown. 

Hubble, a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency), will continue to observe Jupiter in hopes of solving this mysterious riddle, the US space agency said.

Three of the five soldiers hit by an avalanche in Batalik sector in Jammu and Kashmir were found dead on Friday, the Indian Army said.

The avalanche swamped an army post on Thursday in Ladakh region, burying five soldiers.

Two soldiers were rescued immediately.

The Udhampur-headquartered Northern Command of the Army said the body of a third soldier was recovered on Friday. Earlier, two soldiers succumbed to their injuries.

The army said all soldiers hit by another avalanche in Kaksar sector in Ladakh had been safely rescued while damages to stores and equipment were being assessed.

Fresh heavy snowfall in Ladakh region has triggered multiple avalanches, especially in the areas close to the Line of Control (LoC).

Trai Chairman RS Sharma on Friday said the telecom regulator has advised Reliance Jio to stop 'complimentary' service offer as it was not in accordance with the regulatory framework.

“We examined it and found that it was not in accordance with regulatory framework, so we advised them to stop it,” Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) Chairman RS sharma said.

The regulator yesterday asked Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio to withdraw the three-month 'complimentary' offer of unlimited data usage and free calls on payment of a minimum Rs.303.

The order came days after Jio announced that it has clocked 72 million paid users and is extending its one-time Rs.99 payment membership programme Prime for 15 more days till April 15.

Reliance Jio said it accepts Trai's decision and is in the process of “fully complying” with the regulator's advice.

Trai had previously found nothing wrong with its extended promotional offers of free data and voice that had helped Jio clock 100 million customers. Of these at least 72 million opted for paid services.

Actors Hugh Jackman and Michelle Williams, who are currently busy shooting for The Greatest Showman, were spotted kissing each other on the upcoming films set here.

Jackman and Williams were photographed kissing each other on Wednesday, reports dailymail.co.uk.

Dressed in traditional 1940s clothing, the pair looked nice together.

Jackman, 48, donned a grey three-piece suit and top hat, while Williams, 36, was elegant in a fur coat fastened with a delicate pearl brooch at the neck.

The Greatest Showman is Jackman's first musical since Les Miserables in 2012, and he has said that it has been his dream project since 2009.

The story of the film follows the life of P.T. Barnum, a circus impresario, with songs and music from Justin Paul and Benj Pasek, who wrote the score for the Oscar-winning film La La Land.
 

The Air India Cabin Crew Association has said Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad must not be allowed to fly until he tenders an "unconditional apology" for beating up a 60-year-old staffer, and asserted that he poses a risk to flight safety.

In a letter to the AI Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Lohani, the association has said that a decision by either the Ministry of Civil Aviation or Parliament to lift the ban will affect the morale of the employees.

"Unless he tenders an unconditional apology to AI employees, and undertakes in writing to abide by the Chicago and Tokyo Conventions & Rules of the Air and follow all cabin safety and public behaviour norms, we must not let him on board," says the letter.

On Friday, Gaikwad, in a letter to Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapthi Raju, had conveyed his "regrets" over the "unfortunate incident", but stopped short of tendering an apology to either the national carrier or to the staffer concerned.

"Ravindra Gaikwad is and will continue to be a risk to flight safety and flight operations and to Cabin Crew safety on board, and hence Government must think long and hard about letting him back on," the letter added.

The association said it would be a "crying shame" if he is let off "without even a rap on the knuckles".

"For either the ministry or the Parliament to allow such a person to get away without even a rap on the knuckles or even forcing an apology to all Air- Indians and indeed all Indians, would be a crying shame.

"It would also crush the morale of all employees and indeed all fair minded Indians. We do not wish to be flying such a person," the association wrote in the letter.

In another development to the Alwar lynching incident, the Supreme Court on Friday issued notice Centre and other six states and sought response within three weeks.

A top court bench issued notice to Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Jharkhand, UP and sought a detailed report on a petition seeking ban on cow vigilante groups.

According to reports, Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday told the Lok Sabha that the Centre would ensure that justice prevails in the lynching case in Rajasthan's Alwar.

"The state government has taken cognisance of the matter. FIR has been registered and some arrests have been made in the case. Centre would try that justice would prevail," Singh said.

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday condemned the killing of a Muslim man in Alwar and said the government should take strict action against those responsible for the brutal and senseless attack.

"When government abdicates responsibility and allows lynch mobs to rule, tragedies of immense proportion follow. Shocking breakdown of law and order in Alwar," he said.

Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad accused the Bharatiya Janata Party government of ignorance, saying that the entire world knows about these attacks except them.

Madhusudan Mistry of the Congress raised the matter during Zero Hour and said that the self-styled 'gau rakshaks' were harassing and killing people in the name cow protection.

Pehlu Khan, a 50-year-old man, died on Monday in Alwar, Rajasthan, after being brutally beaten up by a group of self-proclaimed 'gau rakshaks'. Khan was a part of a group of men that was transporting cows in a highway in Rajasthan's Alwar on Saturday.

Actor-producer Aamir Khan has decided against releasing his Bollywood blockbuster Dangal in Pakistan after the censor board there demanded that two scenes involving the Indian flag and anthem be cut.

Mobashir Hasan, Pakistan's Central Board of Film Censors (CBFC) head, told IANS over social media: "Yes, the board unanimously decided to skip two scenes."

Asked why the Indian flag and anthem needed to be cut, Hasan said: "The decision is the collective wisdom of the board."

He added that it was now up to the local distributor — Geo Films — to release it or not.

Subsequently, Aamir has decided not to release the movie in Pakistan, saying the demanded cuts were crucial to the spirit of the film, his spokesperson told .

Dangal is a movie inspired by the real-life story of wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat, who trains his daughters to become wrestling champions.

The movie was loved by Indian audiences, which was proved by its whopping Rs 385 crore-plus collection in the country.

The news comes just over two months after Pakistani film exhibitors and cinema owners lifted a self-imposed ban on the screening of Indian films in the wake of heightened tensions with India over the September 2016 terror attack in Uri that left 19 Indian soldiers dead.

Sebi has said that insider trading regulations would be applicable on all "connected persons" and not just on persons designated by the board of a company.

The clarifications have been given as part of an informal guidance sought by brokerage firm Prabhudas Lilladher regarding certain aspects of Prohibition of Insider Trading (PIT) regulations.

Employees and connected persons are designated on the basis of functional role and not only on seniority, the regulator said.

"The code of conduct applies to all connected persons and not only to designated persons. It may further be stated that designated persons are specified by the Board of Directors in consultation with the compliance officer," Sebi said in the five-page interpretive letter.

The letter, issued in December last, was made public today by the watchdog.

According to Sebi, any person, irrespective of being listed or unlisted, may be covered by the definition of 'connected persons' if that person has a connection with the company that may put him in possession of Unpublished Price Sensitive Information (UPSI).

Noting that this position is based on the information furnished, Sebi said, "different facts or conditions might lead to a different result".

"This letter does not express a decision of the board on the question referred," the regulator added.

India and Bangladesh have expanded the scope of engagement to an unprecedented scale and are more than just neighbours, Power Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday.

Goyal said this while addressing senior editors and journalists from Bangladesh.

Accoding to statement, a team of senior editors and journalists from Bangladesh called on Goyal here today.

The members were apprised about the series of reforms taken up by the government to bring about transparency and accountability in the power sector and to achieve the mission of Affordable, Quality, 24×7 Power for All, it said.

The interaction was organised by the Ministry of External Affairs as a familiarisation initiative for the team learning about the turnaround that has come about in India s Power sector.

A presentation was given to the visiting journalists on the transparency initiatives taken by the government like introduction of mobile apps and web portals in the power sector and the change brought about by the transparency and accountability in the governance of the sector.

Addressing the journalists, Goyal said that India and Bangladesh have expanded the scope of engagement to an unprecedented scale, which has built a great level of mutual trust between the two nations.

The Minister noted that both countries have a lot to learn from each other and cooperate on a number of issues of regional and global importance.

Goyal commended the neighbouring nation on its achievements like the Grameen Bank, revolution in the textile sector, on which India looks up to Bangladesh.

Goyal also expressed confidence of receiving greater cooperation from Bangladesh in areas like developing intra-regional power and transport corridors, maintaining peace and security in the South Asian region by putting up an united front against regional and global terrorism, among others.

This would enrich and strengthen the engagement between the two countries in the areas of mutual and shared interests, he added.

Talking about the future prospects of engagements between the two nations, Goyal expressed willingness in supporting Bangladesh on the Renewable Energy sector and Energy Efficiency initiatives, in which India has achieved huge success.

The scale at which the renewable energy sector has expanded, would surely help Bangladesh learn from India s experiences and help in transition towards clean energy in the future, the Minister added.

The Rupee weakened by 13 paise to 64.65 against the US Dollar in early trade on Friday at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market due to appreciation of the American currency overseas.

Besides, a lower opening in the domestic equity market also weighed on the Rupee, dealers said.

The Rupee had closed on Thursday at a near 20-month high of 64.52, firming up by 35 paise against the US Dollar on massive unwinding of the American currency by exporters amid buoyant growth outlook by the Reserve Bank.

Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex fell 164.32 points or 0.54 per cent to 29,763.02 in opening trade on Friday.