Michigan-based automaker company Ford is recalling 52,000 trucks because of a manufacturing error causing the vehicle to roll even when they are parked.

In an official statement published on their website on April 1, the company advised the users to use hand brakes when they put the car in park mode. 

The company said it was unaware of any accidents or injuries associated with this issue.

"Affected vehicles include certain 2017 Ford F-250 gasoline-powered 6.2-litre vehicles built at Kentucky Assembly Plant October 9, 2015 to March 30, 2017," the company noted.

According to a report in the BBC, it is the Ford's third recall in a week.

"On March 29, Ford recalled 211,000 vehicles in North America over potentially faulty side door latches and 360,000 vehicles in North America and Europe that present a fire risk in the engine compartment," the report stated.

The Sri Lankan navy on Sunday said it has arrested six Indians for allegedly smuggling 13.5 kg drugs into the country.

The Sri Lankan ship on patrol detected a suspicious movement at IMBL (International Maritime Boundary Line) from Indian waters to Sri Lankan territorial waters in the wee hours, the Sri Lankan navy said in a statement.

"The suspected boat movement was continuously monitored by the patrolling ship," the navy said.

The drug parcels believed to contain heroin were taken to the Kankesanthurai harbour.

The six Indians will be handed over to the Kankesanthurai Police for further investigation, it said.

Sri Lankan Navy regularly arrests drug traffickers approaching to the northern waters of Sri Lanka, the statement added.

UN green panel chief Erik Solheim has lauded India's efforts in embarking on a path to an "inclusive green economy", saying that moving towards a low-carbon future would serve its own interests well.

"What we can see in India is a country beginning to embark on a path to an inclusive green economy because it makes perfect political and economic sense," Solheim told IANS in an email interaction from Arkhangelsk in Russia, where he is attending an international conference on development of the Arctic.

Praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director said the country has the potential to unlock huge development and growth with a shift to renewables.

But India, he said, is facing multiple challenges.

"There is a need to lift hundreds of millions out of poverty, address long-term energy security and cut urban air pollution. It simply cannot afford to conduct business as usual, because the arguments for this shift are so compelling."

For Solheim, innovations in expanding solar energy in places like Tamil Nadu and Kerala send a very strong message that resonates across the country.

"We're seeing huge private sector uptake. India revolutionised the information technology sector and I see no reason why it shouldn't do the same for renewable energy."

Advocating renewable sources, Solheim said these "are the future" and fossil fuels are the past.

"Innovations in how we harness wind and solar power and energy storage is also accelerating and pushing down prices. These sectors have established themselves as providers of greater energy security with more jobs, better quality jobs and better paid jobs."

He said no country or company could afford to ignore this trend.

"When it comes to embracing a low-carbon future and building a green economy, the train has already left the station. More importantly, countries like India and China are embarking on this journey not because they wish to please others, but because they are ultimately serving their own interests," he noted.

"That means ensuring their citizens can breathe clean air. It means building resilient economies and ensuring long-term inclusive wealth," he said.

For Solheim, who has spent a lifetime fighting for the environment, renewables are a major economic opportunity and not an obligation.

"In that respect I am convinced there is sufficient momentum and a strong incentive to stay on this path," he added.

Bollywood thespian Dilip Kumar is "well" and at home, his wife Saira Banu said on Sunday, clarifying buzz that the 94-year-old actor's health is not up to the mark.

A post from Dilip Kumar's official Twitter handle read: "Message from Saira Banu: By the grace of God, Dilip Sahab is at home and doing well. God has been very kind."

She added that the love of his family, friends and fans keeps him going.

"Sahab believes that to be surrounded by family and friends who love him unconditionally is therapy by itself. He is blessed with the prayers and love of his millions of fans, admirers, friends and well wishers. Dilip sahab himself will be back on Twitter soon, Insha'Allah," the post read further.

Last seen on the big screen in Qila in 1998, the actor was honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1994 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2015.

He is known for films like Devdas, Mughal-e-Azam and Karma.

India’s legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar recalled the memories of India’s 2011 World Cup victory on this day, calling it a ‘dream-come true moment’.  

“Like I always say, chase your dreams because dreams do come true, and this was one of those moments in my life when it happened,” Tendulkar tweeted on Sunday.

On this day seven years ago, captain MS Dhoni (91*) struck an exciting six to claim the glittery trophy after an interval of 28 years. 

India defeated Sri Lanka by six wickets in the 50-over World Cup final event.

The monetary policy outcome of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), movement of the Indian rupee and inflow of funds are expected to set the trend for the Indian equity markets during the trade week starting April 3.

Besides, the release of major global data, such as the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting in March, coupled with domestic macro-data — Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for March 2017 — will also influence the movement of the key Indian indices.

Market observers opined that the major domestic event in the upcoming week is the RBI's monetary policy meeting scheduled on April 6.

"The market would closely watch any development by the RBI in its monetary policy meeting which is scheduled on April 5-6. The RBI is likely to keep key interest rates unchanged. Actually, the RBI has shifted to a neutral stance from accommodative in February and this may prompt the central bank to hold rates," said D.K. Aggarwal, Chairman and Managing Director, SMC Investments and Advisors.

"On the back of ample liquidity with local and foreign institutional investors (FIIs), it is expected that domestic market would continue to move higher."

In terms of investments, provisional figures from the stock exchanges showed that FIIs purchased stocks worth Rs.7,226.29 crore during the week, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought scrips worth Rs.4,245.98 crore.

Figures from the National Securities Depository (NSDL) disclosed that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought equities worth Rs.9,058.41 crore, or $1.39 billion, during March 27-31.

"Important cues that the investors will closely follow in the near term would be global markets' sentiments and quarterly results, while price movement of the Indian rupee against the USD (US Dollar) will be the crucial factor for market sentiments next week," Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls, told IANS.

However, Desai expected the equity markets to trade with volatile sentiments due to profit-booking at higher levels in the coming sessions.

On March 31 last week, the Indian rupee strengthened by 56 paise to 64.85 against a US dollar.

According to Vijay Singhania, founder and Director of brokerage firm Trade Smart Online, the rupee posted one of its best gains last week.

"The rupee climbed 0.1 per cent to close at 64.85 per dollar in Mumbai last week on Friday, taking its gain to 2.8 per cent in March 2017. The three-month advance is the biggest for any quarter since the period ended September 2012," said Singhania.

"Markit Economics will announce the India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) data for March 2017 on Monday. It will also unveil the result of a monthly survey on the performance of India's services sector in March on Thursday."

The Nikkei Manufacturing PMI in India rose to 50.7 in February of 2017 from 50.4 in January 2017.

"On the global front, the (US) FOMC March meeting minutes will be released on March 29. The Federal Reserve raised the target range for its federal funds by 25 basis points from 0.75 per cent to 1 per cent during its March 2017 meeting," he added.

On technical levels, Deepak Jasani, Head – Retail Research, HDFC Securities, explained: "Technically, with the markets resuming the uptrend after the weakness seen last week, traders will need to watch if the Nifty can now hold above the intermediate supports of 9,024 for the uptrend to continue."

During the week ended March 31, continuous inflow of funds and a strong rupee pulled the Indian equity markets from lower levels to close with marginal gains.

Investors' sentiments were buoyed on the passage of the Goods and Services Tax Bill 2017 — a major tax reform in the country — and healthy roll-overs seen on the expiry of March 2017 series contracts in the futures and options (F&O) segment to April 2017 series.

The barometer 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE rose by 199.10 points or 0.68 per cent to close at 29,620.50 points, while the NSE Nifty closed at 9,173.75 points — up 65.75 points or 0.72 per cent.
 

A "mentally unstable" shrine custodian in Pakistan's Sargodha city killed 20 disciples, including women, with machetes and batons in a bloodbath inside the shrine, police said on Sunday.

According to Sargodha Deputy Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chatta, custodian Abdul Waheed of the Ali Ahmed Gujjar shrine, told police his disciples would have poisoned him had he not killed them on Saturday night.

Waheed was arrested along with five of his associates who mercilessly killed the people after drugging them and stripping them, a police official said.

The deceased, four women and 16 men, hail from different areas of Punjab, Geo TV reported.

An injured woman, one of the survivors, managed to flee from the site and reported the incident to police.

The 50-year-old Waheed had phoned the victims, telling them to come to the shrine. 

Waheed claimed the devotees had poisoned his spiritual leader Ali Muhammad to death two years ago, Geo News quoted a senior police official as saying.

"The suspect appears to be paranoid and psychotic, or it could be related to rivalry for control of the shrine," he said.

Six of the deceased belonged to the same family. 

One of the victims included the son of Waheed's spiritual leader.

"Asif Pir Ali was the son of Muhammad Gujjar [the spiritial leader]," said a family member of the deceased.

Asif was working with the Islamabad police and was in Sargodha on leave.

Earlier the official said Waheed has claimed that his victims underwent 'spiritual cleansing' after being tortured.

The custodian worked for the Election Commission in Sargodha. According to the Election Commission of Pakistan, Waheed retired from service a year ago.

One of the locals told Geo News that Waheed used to go to the shrine and beat people after which he took their clothes off and burnt them.

Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif has asked for a report into the incident within 24 hours.

The makers of actor Vijay's next Tamil outing have clarified that the film is not titled Moondru Mugam as that they are yet to finalise the name.

"The rumours about the title are baseless. The film is not titled 'Moondru Mugam'. We still haven't finalised the title," a source from the film's unit told.

Directed by Atlee, the film features Vijay in triple roles.

Also starring Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kajal Aggarwal, Nithya Menen and S.J. Suryah, the film's shooting is next headed to Rajasthan.

This is the second time in a row, after last year's "Theri", that Vijay and Atlee have joined hands.

A fire broke out on Sunday in a building near Dubai's iconic skyscaper, the Burj Khalifa, officials said.

The Dubai Media Office identified the building as The Address Residence Fountain Views — a three 60-storey tower complex that was expected to be completed by April 2018, Gulf News reported. 

The Dubai Civil Defence and Dubai Police said they rescued three workers who were trapped in the blaze that broke out around 5.30 a.m. 

By 8.37 a.m., the Media Office confirmed that the fire was brought under control as teams of Dubai's Civil Defence were in the midst of a cooling operation to prevent the fire from spreading to nearby areas.

Black smoke from the building could be seen from miles away, with Dubai residents posting up videos, photos and sending out tweets of the incident. 

There were no reports of any casualties or injuries.

Stepping up its hunt for black money stashed abroad, India has approached Switzerland for banking details of at least ten persons and entities suspected to have kept untaxed money in Swiss banks.

These include two listed textile companies, while others are associated with an art curator and his carpet export business.

Switzerland's tax department issued notices to them last week to reply within 30 days to appeal the decision about providing 'administrative assistance' in information requests from India.

Under its local rules, Switzerland provides a final chance to the concerned persons and entities before sharing the information about suspected cases of tax crimes with any foreign jurisdiction. These notices are made public through gazette notifications if they are not reachable directly by the concerned banks or the tax department.

At least ten such notices concerning individuals and companies with Indian links were issued last week — which could be the highest for a country within a week.

The notices name two listed textile firms — Neo Corporation International and SEL Manufacturing Company Ltd.

There are also some companies incorporated in tax havens like Panama and British Virgin Islands. Most of the companies and individuals are associated with a carpet export business and an art curator with operations across several countries.

These are Abdul Rashid Mir, Amir Mir, Sabeha Mir, Mujeeb Mir and Tabassum Mir. The companies named in these notices include Cottage Industries Exposition, Modale SA and Progress Ventures Group.

Some of these names had figured in the leaked Panama Papers too, but several of them including the two listed firms have denied any wrongdoing.

Earlier, the notices were issued by Switzerland's Federal Tax Administration (FTA) asking some of them to designate a representative to exercise their "right to be heard" before the assistance is extended to India.

India has been seeking "administrative assistance", including access to bank account details of the persons and the companies suspected to have stashed undisclosed funds in banks in Switzerland, after furnishing some evidence to justify the suspicion.

As per the local law, Switzerland gives an opportunity to the entity concerned to challenge the sharing of information, before providing the assistance to the requesting nation.

The Swiss notices mention the names of individuals, their nationality and dates of birth. In case of companies, their names and the countries of incorporation are mentioned.

India has shot off 'administrative assistance' requests to Switzerland in several cases in recent months seeking details of Indians suspected to have misused Swiss banks' famed high-secrecy walls to evade taxes.

The individuals and companies about whom India has earlier sought information include some listed companies, former CEO of a real estate major, wife of a Delhi-based former bureaucrat, a Dubai-based Indian origin investment banker, a high-profile fugitive along with his wife and an UAE-based holding company, as also some Gujarati businessmen settled abroad and presumably in trading business.

Many of these are suspected to have maintained accounts in Swiss banks through offshore entities, including in Panama and British Virgin Islands.

These requests for 'administrative assistance', which typically involves exchange of information on submission of proof by the requesting country about the account holder's wrongdoing, have been documented by Swiss authorities in their Federal Gazette as per local laws to give the concerned person or entity a last chance to appeal against sharing of data.

While India and Switzerland last year signed a new pact for automatic exchange of information about account details from next year, so far the requests have been made under their existing bilateral tax treaty.

In the past also, names of some Indian nationals figured in Switzerland's Federal Gazette notifications after the Swiss authorities were approached by India for information about those people with regard to the pending tax-related probes against them.

After following the due process prescribed under Swiss law, the information has been shared by Switzerland with India in some cases, pursuant to which the Indian authorities — including the tax department and Enforcement Directorate — have proceeded with their prosecution and other actions.

However, the pace of seeking such details seems to have quickened, going by the sudden spurt in the number of Indian names figuring in such notifications.

For long, Switzerland has been known for strict secrecy clauses about details of foreigners having accounts in Swiss banks. However, under growing global pressure, Switzerland has begun sharing information in cases where other countries have been able to present some evidence of suspected illegalities.

Unhappy over being dropped from Andhra Pradesh cabinet, senior TDP leader B Gopalakrishna Reddy resigned from the state assembly on Sunday.

Gopalakrishna Reddy sent his resignation letter to Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.

He was one of the five ministers dropped by Naidu. Eleven new ministers including the Chief Minister's son Nara Lokesh were inducted into the Cabinet.

According to TDP sources, Naidu dropped Gopalakrishna Reddy, who was holding the forest portfolio, to accommodate Amarnath Reddy, a member of opposition YSR Congress party who had crossed over to the TDP.

Gopalakrishna Reddy is a friend of Naidu and had earlier served as a minister in his Cabinet in the undivided Andhra Pradesh. They both hail from Chittoor district.

Gopalakrishna Reddy was also injured with Naidu when Maoists targeted the Chief Minister with landmine blast in 2003 near Tirupati.

South Korea's presidential race is set to begin this week after all parties nominate their final candidates, officials announced on Sunday.

The nominations scheduled for this week are those of the largest Democratic Party and the minor People's Party, the two liberal parties that have arguably drawn the most interest in the wake of the ouster of President Park Geun-hye, Yonhap News Agency reported.

The other two main parties — the former ruling Liberty Korea Party and the splinter conservative Bareun Party — chose their nominees last week.

On April 3, the Democratic Party is scheduled to name its presidential candidate amid expectations its former leader Moon Jae-in will clinch the nomination and win the election on May 9 too.

Moon has recently led in all presidential surveys with approval ratings in the 30 per cent range.

The People's Party, which was created by defectors from the Democratic Party, is set to announce its nominee on Tuesday, as Ahn Cheol-soo emerges as a possibly formidable opponent to Moon.

If Ahn wins the nomination, he will likely face off against Moon in a match reminiscent of the 2012 presidential election. In that race, Ahn competed with Moon for liberal votes but later dropped out in support of Moon.

Should no contender secure a majority of the vote, the Democratic Party will hold a runoff on Saturday and the People's Party will do the same on April 6.

The election comes seven months earlier than scheduled after Park was dismissed over a corruption scandal.

The official 22-day campaign period will begin April 17.

Ladies, take note! A chemical commonly found in hard plastics, currency bills and paper receipts, may increase the aggressiveness of breast cancer, a new study has found.

Bisphenol S (BPS) used in the plastic industry, shows the potential for increasing the aggressiveness of breast cancer through its behaviour as an endocrine-disrupting chemical, researchers said.

Researchers from Oakland University in the US studied the effects of BPS on estrogen receptor-alpha and the BRCA1 gene.

Most breast cancers are estrogen receptor positive, and, according to the US National Cancer Institute, 55 to 65 per cent of women who inherit a harmful mutation in the BRCA1 gene will develop breast cancer.

Using two commercially available breast cancer cell lines obtained from women with estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancer, the research team exposed the cancer cells to varying strengths of BPS or to an inactive substance as a control.

We also treated the breast cancer cells with estradiol (estrogen) and found that BPS acted like estrogen in multiplying breast cancer cells, said Sumi Dinda of Oakland University.

Compared with the control, BPS heightened the protein expression in estrogen receptor and BRCA1 after 24 hours, as did estrogen, Dinda said,  After a six-day treatment with BPS, the breast cancer cells in both cell lines reportedly increased in number by 12 per cent at the lowest dose (four micromolars) and by 60 per cent at eight micromolars, he added.

Filmmaker Karan Johar says April will witness the biggest movie event ever as the two parts in the Baahubali" franchise will release within a span of two weeks. He also said Baahubali: The Conclusion is going to be "bigger" and "grander".

Ahead of the release of Baahubali: The Conclusion on April 28, the first part is being re-released in select theatres on April 7.

"When a movie continues to be topical for two years, you know people love every bit of it! Both, exhibitors and film lovers, have approached us to make Baahubali' a binge-watching experience," Karan, who will be distributing the Hindi version of the film, said in a statement.

"Hence, we are re-releasing the first part on April 7 with a special offer that takes care of tickets for both parts. We're excited. April will witness the biggest movie event ever," he said.

The franchise has a huge fan following owing to its larger-than-life content and fans are eagerly looking forward to watch Prabhas and the entire cast go a notch higher than its predecessor in giving the audience a splendid cinematic experience.

Produced by Arka Entertainment, directed by S.S. Rajamouli, the film stars Prabhas in the title role in addition to Rana Daggubati, Tamannaah Bhatia, Anushka Shetty, Sathyaraj and Ramya Krishnan in pivotal roles.

The Election Commission is set to buy next generation EVMs that become "inoperable" the moment attempts are made to tinker with it, a move which comes amid claims by some parties that the machines were tampered with during the recent assembly polls.

The 'M3'-type electronic voting machines (EVMs) are also equipped with a self-diagnostic system for authentication of genuineness of the machines.

These will come with a public key interface-based mutual authentication system.

Only a "genuine" EVM — manufactured either by atomic energy PSU ECIL or defence PSU BEL — "communicates" with other EVMs in the field.

Any EVM manufactured by other companies would not be able to communicate with other machines, thus exposing it.

Around Rs 1,940 crore (excluding freight and taxes) will be required to procure the new machines which are likely to be introduced by 2018, a year before when the next Lok Sabha elections are due, the Law Ministry has said, quoting details made available by the Election Commission to be given to Parliament.

The Election Commission has decided to replace 9,30,430 EVMs purchased before 2006 as the older machines are nearing their 15-year life cycle, he said.

On December 7 last, the Union Cabinet had approved a fresh tranche of Rs 1,009 crore for the Election Commission to buy new EVMs so that it can phase out the ageing ones before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The Cabinet had also authorised the Election Commission to vary the quantity to be ordered on BEL and ECIL based on their production capacity and past performance.

On July 20 last, a similar Election Commission proposal to buy nearly 14 lakh new EVMs — the first tranche — at a cost of Rs 9,200 crore during 2016-17 was approved by the Union Cabinet.

In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on Friday, the Law Ministry had said that EC has not purchased a single new machine in the last three fiscals.

Minister of State for Law P P Chaudhary had said that the poll panel has informed the government that it had not procured any electronic voting machine during 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17.

Former captain Ian Chappell has called for drastic reduction in "on-field chatter" and a limited use of DRS in Test matches after a gripping but tense India-Australia series.

Chappell described the constant on-field chatter during India's 2-1 Test series win over Australia as one of the "unsightly" aspects of the contest and said these "inane comments" should not be a part of the game.

"…the incessant on-field chatter has to be drastically reduced. It should drive batsmen mad, but if it doesn't, it's the equivalent of a fingernail on a chalkboard for the television viewer," Chappell wrote in his column for 'ESPNcricinfo'.

The series was mired in controversies with one altercation following another. It all started when Australian captain Steve Smith was caught taking dressing room help in taking a DRS call and Kohli stopped short of calling him a cheat.

Kohli was also attacked by the rival players and Australian media, which likened him to US President Donald Trump. Cricket Australia also jumped into the controversy when its CEO James Sutherland said Kohli perhaps does not know how to spell the word sorry.

The fireworks continued till the final Test in Dharamsala, in which Ravindra Jadeja and Matthew Wade were involved in a verbal duel and Smith was heard using a cuss word against Murali Vijay for claiming a catch that was deemed not clean.

Chappell also called for limited use of DRS for overturning only howlers and ensuring that the decisions of umpires are correct. He specifically made it clear that DRS should not include reviews to determine if a fielder has caught the ball.

"It should also be under the sole control of umpires.

The adjudication process should not turn a captain into a Money or the Box contestant, with onlookers shouting advice from the sidelines," he said.

"The DRS should not include reviews to determine if a fielder has caught the ball. M Vijay caught Josh Hazlewood in Dharamsala. Any fair-minded slip fielder will confirm it was a legitimate catch; a fielder does not catch the ball with his fingers pointing straight towards the ground…It's just that the foreshortening effect of the cameras made it appear otherwise on one replay," said Chappell who played in 75 Tests between 1964 and 1980.

He said those "annoyances" apart, it was a fabulous series, showing Test cricket in wonderful light.

"…It emphasised why this version of the game needs to be nurtured, albeit with some tweaking," he said.

Chappell did not make any comments about the leadership styles of Kohli and Smith, who were in the eye of storm throughout the series but praised Ajinkya Rahane's captaincy during the Dharamsala Test. Rahane had stood-in for Kohli who had sustained a shoulder injury during the Ranchi Test.

"Good, imaginative captaincy is crucial to the success of Test cricket," said Chappell.

The pitches provided for the series were criticised by former Australian players but Chappell offered a more balanced opinion.

"The moral? Provide pitches that give bowlers some assistance and there's every chance the Test will live up to its name," he said.

Vaibhav (name changed) sits on the sofa, walks to the door and flops back to the couch. The drill continues as he mumbles to himself.

The mannerisms of Vaibhav (35), who is autistic, are often identified as those of a mentally challenged person and the awareness about the disorder remains limited to (mis)representations in films, experts say.

As we observe the ninth World Autism Awareness Day on Sunday, the "awareness about autism is nowhere close to what it needs to be". It was only last year that autism was officially recognised as a disability in India.

"There is improvement in awareness but that is only because earlier we were at zero and now we have made some improvement. But even today we see people misunderstanding and believing in myths related to autism," says Indrani from Action for Autism (AFA), an open door school for autistic children.

Autism can perhaps be best associated with Dustin Hoffman's portrayal of an autistic individual called Raymond in the famous 1988 film 'Rain Man', but Dr Praveen Gupta of Neurology Fortis advises against confusing cinematic representations of the disorder with real life cases.

More than often, a learning disability is considered as a quintessential autistic identifier, thanks to popular Bollywood films.

"Several films have displayed learning disability and that is where the popular public perception stems from.

"In fact, autism is a disease of social integration and how the mind interacts with the environment. It impacts a child's speech, intelligence and other faculties," says Dr Gupta.

In medical terms, autism is a complex life long developmental disability that typically appears during the first three years of life, and early symptoms include repeating the same activity for a long period of time and loss of early acquired language among others.

But, what aggravates the condition, Dr Gupta says, is the time lost in diagnosis.

"Lay people do not recognize signs so clearly. Also, for sometime, parents are in denial and believe that the problem with their child will improve with time.

"So, a lot of time is lost in seeking appropriate attention. Also, individuals professionally qualified to treat autism are smaller in numbers," he says. .