Formula One fans across the globe rejoiced a treat on Sunday as the opening Grand Prix of the year, Australian GP started on an exciting note at the Albert Park, Melbourne.

Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel clinched the crown, outclassing Mercedes’ duo Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, who finished second and third respectively.

For those who missed the action today, here are some highlights from the Australian Grand Prix 2017.

Ferrari re-emergence

German driver Sebastian Vettel, who has won four F1 championships so far, shone for the Italian motorsport giants Ferrari after a long time. He gave them a sigh of relief after a drought of 18 months.

The 29-year-old driver last won the Singapore Grand Prix with Ferrari in September 2015.

The unexpected victory gave Ferrari’s fans a hope that the team, which struggled in past, is now equipped to face up to Mercedes' dominance.

Force India off to a promising start

Force India started the F1 championship on a positive note as their drivers Mexico’s Sergio Perez and France's Esteban Ocon secured a double points finish.

Starting from 11th position on the grid, Perez finished seventh, while Econ secured 10th place on his Force India debut.

Econ, 20, enjoyed the 57-lap race to the fullest as he surpassed the two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso to finish tenth.

In all, Force India earned seven points from the Australian GP, just one point less than Williams.

Home favourite fails to impress

The home crowd that came to cheer Daniel Ricciardo in Melbourne had to return home disappointed as the 29-year-old witnessed a horror day on Sunday.

Ricciardo conceived a grid penalty and started the race two laps behind from the pit lane. And to make matters worse, he suffered an engine failure that halted him midway on the race.

It was the second heartbreak for the local hero as earlier in 2014, Ricciardo finished second but was disqualified for a technical hiccup.

Alonso continues to falter

Spanish driver Fernando Alonso, who won two consecutive F1 championships in 2005 and 2006, was forced to abandon three laps from the finish line due to a mechanical problem.

The 35-year-old started 10th in the season-opener, though was surpassed by Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg before eventually pulling into retirement.

F1 pundits have said well before the start of the championship that the McLaren-Honda's engine is going to hamper Alonso's aspirations, and their predictions seem to be ringing true, for the moment at least.

Four women on Sunday kicked off a 24,000-km road trip to London in an effort to promote literacy.

The four – Meenakshi Arvind of Coimbatore,her 20-year-old daughter Vrinda, Priya Rajpal from Mumbai and Mookambika Rathinam of Pollachi would cover 24 countries in 70 days to commemorate 70 years of Indian independence and also to create awareness on Rotary India's Literacy Mission.

Vrinda was a last minute replacement for the 'XPD 24-70' mission as one woman Rukmani Sekhar backed out due to illness.

The team will pass through Imphal, Myanmar, China, Uzbekistan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Austria and France and reach London on June 5, where they will be received at the Indian High Commission.

The women are using a modified Tata Hexa, with security features and a facility to store additional fuel.

State Municipal Administration Minister S P Velumani flagged off the mission.

Singers like Stevie Wonder, Lady Gaga and Ryan Adams performed at the 70th birthday celebrations of Grammy winning singer Elton John, who says a person is only as old as one feels within.

The iconic singer's lengthy career was honoured throughout the evening by host Rob Lowe, with top singers, including Roseanne Cash, on Saturday night, reports people.com.

The guest list included celebrities like Neil Patrick Harris, Ryan Phillippe, Jon Hamm, Heidi Klum and Katy Perry.

The gala, which also paid tribute to John's 50-year writing partnership with Bernie Taupin, benefited both the Elton John AIDS Foundation and the Hammer Museum at University od California – Los Angeles.

"Some people don't like birthdays, they don't like celebrating, they don't want to know about them, and I've always enjoyed my birthday," John said.

"Seventy sounds so archaic, doesn't it? When I was growing up, 70 sounded like the end of the world. But things have changed — you're only as old as you feel inside," he added.

Ahead of the gala, John shared photographs from his family's private birthday celebrations at their home, where he was joined by his young sons Elijah and Zachary.

In one Instagram image, the three can be seen gathered around a chocolate cake. The singer also shared several photographs of the birthday cards he had received for his birthday.

Actress Richa Chadha is tight-lipped about the buzz that she will soon turn novelist and that she has bagged a role in an American mini-series. She says she prefers to share details on projects when everything is in place.

According to reports, Richa has been roped in to play a lawyer in an eight-episode American series, a courtroom drama set against the 1970s racism-related unrest in Chicago.

Asked about it, Richa told on a visit here earlier this week: "The mini-series is something I can't talk about. I don't know how the news got out. I don't want to talk about anything until everything is complete."

What about the news that she is to work on penning a book?

"I want to, but honestly I don't have the time right now," Richa said.

She says she has never thought she has a "writer's instinct", but added: "I used to have a blog which I used to write regularly. And I enjoy writing. Let's see."

Richa's next big screen project is Fukrey Returns, which will see her reprise the character Bholi Punjaban from the 2013 film Fukrey.

Actor Hrithik Roshan is thinking of writing a book on his life, but says he doesnt have a flair for writing.

Be it Karan Johar's much talked-about biography An Unsuitable Boy, Yasser Usman's Rekha: The Untold Story or actor Rishi Kapoor's autobiography Khullam Khulla, celebrities are telling their Bollywood stories in an uncensored style. Even superstar Shah Rukh Khan is working on his autobiography.

Hrithik, who has seen several ups and downs in personal and professional life, admits that the thought of coming out with a book has crossed his mind. 

"I have thought of it, but I am not a writer. I am still thinking of it," Hrithik told.

The Kaabil star also confessed that he doesn't harbour any dream of sitting on a director's chair, unlike his father Rakesh Roshan.

He said: "Being a director requires internal calling. I don't have that calling. People might say that I am very involved, I have ideas but having an idea about something, tweaking something or adding something is different from creating from scratch. I don't think I have that."

After the success of Kaabil, Hrithik has not signed any other film project yet. 

 Over 100 Indian fishermen were allegedly apprehended and around 18 of their boats seized by Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) off Jakhau coast in Gujarat's Kutch district, a fishermen association official said on Sunday.

"We have learnt that more than 100 fishermen who were on board around 18 fishing boats were apprehended by PMSA near the international maritime boundary line off Jakhau coast yesterday," National Fishworkers' Forum (NFF) secretary Manish Lodhari said.

"The fishermen who escaped have informed us about this," he said.

The NFF is trying to establish contact with the Pakistani agencies to get the exact number of those abducted by PMSA, he said.

The PMSA had earlier this month also apprehended 115 fishermen and seized 19 boats.

"In March so far, the PMSA has separately held over 225 fishermen along with nearly three dozen boats," Lodhari said.

The development comes after the Indian Coast Guard captured nine Pakistani nationals along with a fishing boat off Jakhau coast in Kutch on March 24.

Last month, the BSF had apprehended four abandoned Pakistani fishing boats near Sir Creek in Kutch district during an extensive search operation in the area.

The Uttar Pradesh government is mulling to link the Haj application process with the Aadhaar number of the applicant to ensure “greater transparency” in selection of pilgrims.

Officials believe that this would help in identifying those who had undertaken the pilgrimage more than once.

Minister of State for Minority Affairs in UP government Mohsin Raza, told PTI, “We are planning to link the process of filing of the Haj application with the Aadhaar number of the applicant, so as to check whether the applicant had undertaken Haj earlier or not. This would ensure greater transparency.”

This would help the government identify the genuine applicants.

“The process is about to start, and soon some concrete mechanism would be put in place,” he asserted.

Asked whether the process of filing of Haj application would also be linked to Income Tax Returns, Raza said there was no such proposal.

“We will bring transparency and honesty to the system under our government. It should not be like I allow only my family and relatives to avail the benefits,” the minister said.

The UP minister emphasised that the state government would ensure 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikaas'.

UP BJP leader Mazhar Abbas, said, “If linking Aadhaar with the Haj application process could ensure transparency, then it must be incorporate into the current system.”

On March 25, Raza had made an appeal to the “rich Muslims” of Uttar Pradesh to consider giving up Haj subsidy, so that the poor and deserving could get an opportunity to perform Haj.

”The poor must get subsidy for Haj pilgrimage, and not the affluent ones. I appeal to the rich Muslims to give up their Haj subsidy, so that the poor and deserving may get an opportunity,” Raza had said.

The Centre provides subsidy to Muslim pilgrims for Haj. Every state has its Haj quota.

”UP's Haj quota has been increased by 8,000 and today it stands at 29,000,” Raza said, and added that the UP government would ensure that the deserving persons, who don't have the means to go, get help to perform the Haj.

“If a person is a multi-millionaire he should not seek subsidy. He should rather give up the subsidy, so that another genuine pilgrim gets a chance,” he had said.

Singer Ed Sheeran forgot the lyrics of his own song during a live performance here.

The 26-year-old singer missed his lines while singing his new track What do I know from his latest album Divide on Friday.

The singer, whose album has topped the US Billboard charts for the second week, laughed off his mistake on stage and bravely carried on with the song.

Fans still took to Twitter to praise the Shape of you hitmaker's performance.

"I think I just fell in love with Ed Sheeran a little more after that," a user wrote. 

Another user posted: "Ed Sheeran missing his own song lyrics on, laughing and carrying on." Another one added, "Ed Sheeran just f***** his lyrics up! Happens to the best of them. Comic relief." 

Switching off lights and electrical appliances during the Earth Hour initiative this year, Delhi saved around 290 MW of power, the capital's distribution companies (discoms) announced on Sunday.

The global Earth Hour initiative aimed at energy conservation was observed between 8.30 p.m. and 9.30 p.m. on Saturday.

"This is more than last year when Delhi had saved around 230 MW," a spokesperson of power major BSES said here.

The discom said its twin arms BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd (BRPL) and BSES Yamuna Power Ltd (BYPL), which cater to large parts of Delhi, saved around 113 MW and 95 MW of electricity, respectively, making for a total of 208 MW saving in BSES areas.

BRPL and BYPL had also switched off all non-essential lights at their over 400 offices, spread across an area of around 950 sq km, during the appointed hour.

With its 40 lakh consumers, BSES areas in the capital last year had saved around 207 MW during this annual event. 

Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd saved 82 MW of power during Earth Hour 2017, the company said in a statement. It had managed to save around 55 MW during the event last year.

Tata Power, which distributes in North and North-West Delhi, said it "also organised several candlelight marches during the Earth Hour in association with consumers and residents' welfare associations in its distribution area," towards sensitising on energy conservation.

Earth Hour is an annual international event created by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) that urges households and businesses across the world to turn off their non-essential lights and electrical appliances for one hour at the appointed time to raise awareness on the need to take action on climate change.

On Saturday, Delhiites joined over a billion people in Mumbai, Los Angeles, London, Hong Kong, Sydney, Rome, Manila, Singapore, Dubai and in over 7,000 cities across the six continents across the globe to observe the Earth Hour. 

Saudi Arabia has permitted a Chinese firm to set up a factory to manufacture hunter-killer aerial drones for the first time in the Middle East, in a boost to China's drone manufacturing industry.

Saudi Arabia's key science and technology organisation has confirmed that one of the deals sealed during Saudi King Salman's visit to China this month was an agreement to set up the first factory for Chinese hunter-killer aerial drones in the Middle East.

IHS Jane's Defence Weekly reported on Thursday that the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) had signed a partnership agreement on March 16 with China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), which makes China's CH-4 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), a model with similar capabilities to the American Air Force's MQ-1 Predator.

China and Saudi Arabia signed USD 65 billion worth of deals in energy, culture, education and technology during the king's visit in the middle of this month.

A Chinese military website and military experts said Saudi Technology Development and Investment Company (TAQNIA) had signed a protocol with China's Aerospace Long-March International Trade (ALIT) for the drone production line at the biennial International Defence Exhibition and Conference (IDEX) in Abu Dhabi in February, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported today.

TAQNIA is a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, while ALIT is a Chinese export-import company that specialises in aerospace technologies.

Earlier this month, China's Chengdu Aircraft Design and Research Institute said its latest combat drone, which made its maiden test, is comparable to the United States MQ-9 Reaper and may turn out to be a “biggest export deal” for the country.

A yellow prototype of the Wing Loong II conducted a 31-minute test flight from an unidentified airport in north western China last week, the Institute told the state media.

India has become the third largest aviation market in terms of domestic passenger traffic, beating Japan, an industry report has said.

India's domestic air passenger traffic stood at 100 million in 2016 and was behind only the US (719 million) and China (436 million), Sydney-based aviation think-tank Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) said in its latest report.

India acquired the third spot globally by unseating Japan, which flew 97 million domestic passengers in 2016, CAPA said.

Domestic air traffic has shown a consistent growth of 20 -25 per cent throughout 2015 and 2016, peaking in January this year at 25.13 per cent.

However, the domestic travel demand rose 16 per cent in February this year, ending the long streak of over 20 per cent.

According to CAPA, India which enjoyed the fourth position in terms of overall air passenger traffic (both domestic and international) along with the UK, has also inched closer to becoming the third largest one by March next year.

“India will become the third largest market 2-3 years ahead of what was projected. This is because the growth has been much higher,” Kapil Kaul, head of CAPA India, said.

Japan, which flew 141 million passengers in 2016, was ahead of India whose total air passenger traffic was 131 million in the previous year, as per CAPA.

United States with 815 million passengers in 2016 enjoyed the top position, followed by China with 490 million, according to the report.

“While we will reach the third spot for both domestic and international air travel ahead of the projected period, we will remain at that position for a very long time because it will not be easy to surpass China and the US,” Kaul said.

Aiming to further consolidate its hold among the backward classes, the BJP-led NDA government is all set to accord the newly-approved constitutional body for them the powers of civil courts.

Following BJP's resounding victory in the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls in which the backward classes played a decisive role, the party-led NDA government approved last week the setting up of National Commission for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (NCSEBC).

Fulfilling the long-pending demand for a constitutional body for the OBCs, the Union Cabinet under chairpersonship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved last week the setting up of the NCSEBC and decided to repeal the law under which the existing National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) was set up.

The NCBC is a statutory body for the backward classes under the Social Justice Ministry. It will be replaced by the NCSEBC.

The Bill to provide the constitutional status to the new body will be introduced in Parliament.

Unlike NCBC, the proposed NCSEBC can look into the cases of grievances by backward classes. And if needed, the new body can summon the accused and award punishment as it will have powers equivalent of a civil court, said sources.

The newly-approved commission will have more teeth compared to the present body and the castes which will be included by this new body in the central list of the OBCs can not be removed as it will have the constitutional mandate, the sources said.

The NCBC's duties included receiving representations from the persons belonging to the backward classes on various issues like discrimination faced by them, non-implementation of reservation rules by authorities etc.

It was, however, not empowered to look into the grievances of the people of Other Backward Classes, whereas the National Commission for Scheduled Castes was the competent authority to look into all the grievances, rights and safeguards relating to scheduled castes.

The new Commission will comprise a chairperson, a vice-chairperson and three other members.

Interestingly, the government's move comes at a time when the Jats are demanding OBC status for the community.

Filmmaker Aparna Sen says the posters of Satyajit Ray's films are perfect examples of how a movie's art work can communicate the theme.

“Think about Manik da's (as the maestro is fondly called by his admirers) Devi'. There is no third eye between the two brows. There is nothing in between two eyes,” Sen told after the poster launch of her upcoming English film Sonata.

“And it is remembered even after so many years,” says the actress, who starred in Ray's films like Teen Kanya, Aranyer Din Ratri, Pikoo and Jana Aranya.

Echoing Sen, friend director Goutam Ghosh says each of Ray's posters – be it Aryaner Din Ratri, Devi or Pratidwandi – can be the perfect example about how poster can be integral to a film.

Talking about her film, Sen says the title sketch of “Sonata” also retained the reference of a musical note which went well with the concept of the film.

“A musical piece is called sonata and hence we have kept references of a musical note in the title sketch of the poster. Since the film dwells on the sonata of life of three women.”

Asked if she was the brain behind the poster sketch, Sen says, “That will be an exaggeration. The poster has been conceived by my art team. I had just made a suggestion about inserting the image of a musical note while designing the title.”

She says every director briefs the poster designer about the concept.

“I also did the same. Nothing more. But I think such briefing about the poster and title is very important as a poster has high recall value and help in weaning people to the theatres.

Ghosh says, “Aparna's Sonata publicity design is very innovative. In fact this (poster designing) has become an art in our films and the benchmark had been set by Manikda (Satyajit Ray) years back. And what he did is unbelievable!”

“Sonata”, starring Sen, Shabana Azmi and Lillete Dubey is inspired by playwright Mahesh Elkunchwar's production of the same name.

Private charter firms Deccan Charter and Air Odisha together are learnt to have bagged around 50 regional air routes to propel the government's ambitious regional connectivity scheme, UDAN.

The process of selection of the routes and the operators is nearly complete and the government is likely to make an announcement on this issue in the next few days, sources close to the development told PTI here.

Air India's subsidiary Alliance Air, regional carrier TrueJet's holding company Turbo Megha Airways and budget airline SpiceJet are among other operators which have won the bids for the UDAN flights, the sources said.

While the first RCS (Regional Connectivity Scheme) flight is likely to be operated by Alliance Air to Bhatinda from the Indira Gandhi International Airport here soon, full-scale operations are expected to commence from May, they said.

In all, as many as 70 routes have been allocated to five operators for 43 airports, the sources said.

The scheme, known as UDAN (Ude Desh Ke Aam Naagrik), seeks to connect unserved and under-served airports and make flying more affordable. Ticket price is capped at Rs 2,500 for one-hour flights.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is the implementing agency for the scheme. It had received 43 initial proposals from 11 bidders for 43 airports which would offer RCS flights.

Of these, 31 are unserved airports and rest under-served.

According to the sources, Air Odisha is likely to fly on at least 25 routes under the scheme, while Deccan Charter, owned by G R Gopinaath, the founder of low-cost airlines in India, has bagged flights for not less than 21 routes.

While Alliance Air and SpiceJet will operate RCS flights on at least five routes each, Turbo Megha would fly on at least six routes, they said.

At some airports, there would be two operators who will be flying on different routes, the sources added.

Union HRD minister Prakash Javadekar has said education institutes need to focus on research in order to be a part of India's growth story.

"India needs expertise in all sectors to manage the economy. We need to realise that in order to be part of growth story of India, education institute need to focus on research," he said on Sunday.

Addressing the students of a private management institute here at their convocation through video conference, Javadekar said, "As the economy grows, we need good leaders and better managers from our educational institute. Management institutes will provide able training to the students manage the economy of India".

He also spoke to the students about problems faced by the Indian economy at present and various employment generating and skill-building projects undertaken by the Centre.

UGC chairperson, Ved Prakash, who was the guest of honour at the convocation, said, "Institutes of learning are the most enduring organisations in the world and they taken the society to the next stage of development." 

Sanjay Dhande, the chairman of the Management Development Institute (MDI), also addressed the students at the programme.

Actor Idris Elba says diversity has become a "corny" and overused word.

Elba believes that people have got tired of hearing the term being used in relation to the entertainment industry in Britain and the US.

"It's become a bit of a corny word. People are just like, 'Oh, stop talking about it'," Elba.

Elba said he was unimpressed when politician Oona King called him to do a "boring" speech at the Houses of Parliament last year.

"Oona certainly pulled me by the scruff of the neck and was like, 'Get up there and say it!' She pushed me to go even further and, you know, Oona is one of the most powerful people I know, and very persuasive. Very persuasive," he said.

The total workforce of the country's largest lender — State Bank of India (SBI) — will see a reduction over the next two years, after the merger with six entities, owing to attrition, reduced hiring and digitisation, a top official said.

"Manpower will go down with the period of time. Around 10 per cent reduction in two years may be a possibility," Rajnish Kumar, SBI Managing Director, told IANS in an interview.

The public lender currently has around 207,000 workforce and the merger of six entities — SBBJ (State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur), SBM (State Bank of Mysore), SBT (State Bank of Travancore), SBP (State Bank of Patiala) and SBH (State Bank of Hyderabad), Bharatiya Mahila Bank — from April 1 will add approximately 70,000 employees.

"Post-merger we will be at 2,77,000 people in SBI. This may come down to 2,60,000 by March 2019. So it may be less than 10 per cent. Let us first merge and see the impact of the key process changes," Kumar said.

He said there would be some actual reduction in headcount along with re-assignment of the roles, but lay-offs are not an option.

"We have offered voluntary retirement scheme (VRS), there would be natural attritions and every year we may not replace head by head (replacement recruitment). Manpower will also reduce as a result of digital initiatives. There will be a combined effect," he added.

Ruling out layoffs, he said the question does not arise.

"Two years down the line, these efficiencies will start showing. Reduction in manpower will depend on efficiency of the merger and branch networks. Lot of duplication happening will be removed and we will have more feet on the street (customer outreach programmes)," Kumar told IANS.

Hiring in SBI may not be halted, but will reduce by 50 per cent in a year, he said. In 2016-17, SBI hired 19,000 people.

"It will come down from the previous average of hiring. It could be reduced by 50 per cent. We will return to usual 5,000-6,000 recruitment every year," he said.

"We cannot stop new hiring because it creates a lot of gap in the middle management down the line. But full replacement may not be required. If 13,000 people retire in a year, we may recruit 7,000-8,000 in a year," he added.

Kumar said the bank will continue with its policy of branch expansion, and the associate bank branches will be merged.

"There is a policy of branch expansion, we are governed by that. We keep on opening new branches depending on the business potential, that will not stop. We are working on the plan as to how many branches we will open in next two years," he said.

SBI MD said there would be ample benefits from the merger in terms of cost-efficiency and rationalisation.

"Treasury integration, risk management optimisation will happen. It will result in efficiency gains for the bank. Continuously supporting them with capital will not be required. Initially, the costs may go up, but in the next two years… the rationalisation efficiencies will surface," he said.