Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Aditya Nath Yogi on Saturday assured that the anti-Romeo squads will not trouble couples who move around together with consent.

"I have received many complaints from the mothers, daughters and sisters in the state of harassment towards them. We have assured them that we were are committed to their safety and security," said Aditya Nath at a rally here.

"I have given instructions the to the administration that strict action should be taken in such situations," he added.

The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister also said: "We have made the anti-romeo squads in Uttar Pradesh active. But the girls and boys who are walking on the roads together with consent should not be troubled."

"We have to make the streets safe for the women so that they can walk even at midnight. We have to ensure that they feel safe on the streets," he added.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Aditya Nath Yogi on Saturday assured that the anti-Romeo squads will not trouble couples who move around together with consent.

"I have received many complaints from the mothers, daughters and sisters in the state of harassment towards them. We have assured them that we were are committed to their safety and security," said Aditya Nath at a rally here.

"I have given instructions the to the administration that strict action should be taken in such situations," he added.

The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister also said: "We have made the anti-romeo squads in Uttar Pradesh active. But the girls and boys who are walking on the roads together with consent should not be troubled."

"We have to make the streets safe for the women so that they can walk even at midnight. We have to ensure that they feel safe on the streets," he added.

India and Bangladesh will continue their joint efforts to realise aspirations of people of both countries, President Pranab Mukherjee said on Saturday.

"It is a matter of satisfaction that the close relations between India and Bangladesh have substantially expanded in recent years. We have succeeded in enhancing and intensifying our cooperation in areas of our shared interest.

"I am confident that our joint efforts will contribute to the realisation of the aspirations of our respective peoples," Mukherjee said in a message to his Bangladesh counterpart Md Abdul Hamid on the eve of the country's national day.

He also extended greetings and felicitations to the government and people of Bangladesh.

India and Bangladesh will continue their joint efforts to realise aspirations of people of both countries, President Pranab Mukherjee said on Saturday.

"It is a matter of satisfaction that the close relations between India and Bangladesh have substantially expanded in recent years. We have succeeded in enhancing and intensifying our cooperation in areas of our shared interest.

"I am confident that our joint efforts will contribute to the realisation of the aspirations of our respective peoples," Mukherjee said in a message to his Bangladesh counterpart Md Abdul Hamid on the eve of the country's national day.

He also extended greetings and felicitations to the government and people of Bangladesh.

Ten Central Trade Unions, including INTUC, AITUC, CITU and Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS) on Saturday expressed concern over life sentence to 13 workers and five years’ jail to four others in the 2012 Maruti agitation violence case and asked all trade unions in the country irrespective of affiliations to organise demonstrations on 5 April as a mark of solidarity with the Maruti workers.

The unions have demanded “unconditional release of the Maruti workers and reinstatement of victimised workers,” a joint statement issued by them said.

Ten Central Trade Unions, including INTUC, AITUC, CITU and Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS) on Saturday expressed concern over life sentence to 13 workers and five years’ jail to four others in the 2012 Maruti agitation violence case and asked all trade unions in the country irrespective of affiliations to organise demonstrations on 5 April as a mark of solidarity with the Maruti workers.

The unions have demanded “unconditional release of the Maruti workers and reinstatement of victimised workers,” a joint statement issued by them said.

Indian Railways aims to save Rs 41,000 crore (over $6 billion) on electricity expenses by switching over to solar energy over the next 10 years, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu announced on Saturday.

He said the Ministry of Railways had prepared 'Mission 41K' to save electricity consumption charges by betting big on solar energy.

He was speaking after formally inaugurating various railway infrastructure projects at the Hi-Tech City railway station here.

The minister said efforts were also on to mop-up Rs 17,000 crore through non-fare revenue modes. "We will not only cut the costs but will generate additional revenue," he said.

He recalled that after taking over as railway minister, he had laid out a plan that energy should come down by 15 per cent.

Claiming that about Rs 4,000 crore was saved on electricity consumption charges so far, he said the target of saving Rs 41,000 crore would be met by generating 1,000 Megawatt of solar power in the next five years

"In addition, we have already started production of 26 MW in wind energy. We are also working on converting waste to energy and commissioned two such projects," Prabhu said.

The minister said 500 MW will be produced by installing solar panels on rooftops of railway buildings and another 500 MW through land based. "Traction power and non-traction power both will benefit from solar power and as well as reducing cost of energy," he added.

The Ministry is drawing up plans for investment to the tune of Rs 8.5 lakh crore. He claimed there was no financial problem for railways and that it had completely bankable projects.

He said the Ministry was focussing on completion of existing projects. He called up on state government to have joint ventures with Railways to implement more projects.

Indian Railways aims to save Rs 41,000 crore (over $6 billion) on electricity expenses by switching over to solar energy over the next 10 years, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu announced on Saturday.

He said the Ministry of Railways had prepared 'Mission 41K' to save electricity consumption charges by betting big on solar energy.

He was speaking after formally inaugurating various railway infrastructure projects at the Hi-Tech City railway station here.

The minister said efforts were also on to mop-up Rs 17,000 crore through non-fare revenue modes. "We will not only cut the costs but will generate additional revenue," he said.

He recalled that after taking over as railway minister, he had laid out a plan that energy should come down by 15 per cent.

Claiming that about Rs 4,000 crore was saved on electricity consumption charges so far, he said the target of saving Rs 41,000 crore would be met by generating 1,000 Megawatt of solar power in the next five years

"In addition, we have already started production of 26 MW in wind energy. We are also working on converting waste to energy and commissioned two such projects," Prabhu said.

The minister said 500 MW will be produced by installing solar panels on rooftops of railway buildings and another 500 MW through land based. "Traction power and non-traction power both will benefit from solar power and as well as reducing cost of energy," he added.

The Ministry is drawing up plans for investment to the tune of Rs 8.5 lakh crore. He claimed there was no financial problem for railways and that it had completely bankable projects.

He said the Ministry was focussing on completion of existing projects. He called up on state government to have joint ventures with Railways to implement more projects.

Poorna Malavath, whose heroic tale of being the youngest girl in the world to scale Mount Everest has been told via Rahul Bose's directorial Poorna, says the movie moved her to tears.

A special screening of the film was organised for the reel and real life Poornas and their families, along with Poorna's mentor and guide, Praveen Kumar, and his family. 

The real life Poorna said in a statement: "Seeing the movie, I really broke down and I think it's just superb, fantastic, mind blowing and unbelievable… I remembered my journey."

She also had a special message to give to everyone: "First, hard work is important and everyone must use the opportunity given to them. Girls can do anything. Actually I wanted to prove this that girls can do anything."

Poorna's parents were also emotional upon watching the film, and her mentor said: "We always believed that the gap between the richest and the poorest is just an opportunity. I have no words to describe the gratitude I have for Rahul and his team, because expedition is one thing, but making it known to the entire world is something else."

Aditi Inamdar, who plays Poorna in the film, was happy with what has translated on screen.

Rahul said he is gearing up to have a theatrical release for the film across the country in about 24 cities.

"But about two months after that, we are going to go digital. We're not restricting it to a few theatres overseas like most films. We're opening this to anyone and everyone on the planet who has the possibility of a digital connection. 

"Once that finishes, I have personally assured many people that I am happy to give you pen drives and DVDs, spread this film into the smallest villages across the country with my permission," he said.

The film is slated to release on March 31.

Debutant left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav's four wickets helped India skittle out Australia for 300 in their first innings on the opening day of the fourth and final cricket Test here on Saturday.

Electing to bat after winning the toss here, skipper Steven Smith (111) and opener David Warner (56) set the tone for a massive Australian total, before chinaman Kuldeep triggered a batting collapse to bring India back into the game, with figures of 4/68.

Pacer Umesh Yadav complimented the rookie spinner well to pick 2/69 while seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin took a wicket apiece.

India batted for an over and are still to open their scoring with both the openers Lokesh Rahul and Murali Vijay intact at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Stadium.

With the series locked at one-all, India suffered a big blow when captain and batting mainstay Virat Kohli was ruled out of the match due to a right shoulder injury he suffered in the third Test in Ranchi.

India didn't replace Kohli with a batsman but decided to field an extra bowler, in the form of Kuldeep.

Stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane lost the toss and Australia decided to bat first. The tourists endured a big blow early in their innings when opening batsman Matt Renshaw (1) was bowled by Umesh in the second over of the day.

Smith joined hands with Warner and the experienced duo helped Australia not only recover from the early blow but also put their team in command with a 134-run stand for the second wicket.

Smith, who has been in superb form in this series, handled the Indian bowlers with ease, registering his third century of the series and 20th in his Test career. The right-hander hit 14 boundaries during the 173 deliveries he faced.

Smith's smooth batting helped Warner overcome his early struggles and adopt his trademark aggressive style. He hammered eight boundaries apart from a six over the mid-off fence off the bowling of off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.

The partnership was broken by Kuldeep, who removed Warner shortly after lunch with the Aussie southpaw staying back on a fuller delivery that extracted bounce off the wicket taking the edge of the bat with skipper Ajinkya Rahane pouching it.

The Uttar Pradesh spinner surprised one and all with his craft on debut. Kuldeep made the most of the bounce off the pitch and turned the ball sharply with his variations leaving the batsmen flummoxed more often than not.

The last Test's saviours Shaun Marsh (4)and Peter Handscomb (8) did not last long, leaving the visitors at 168/4. 

Marsh could not cope with Umesh's short delivery with the ball kissing his gloves through to wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha. Right-hander Handscomb went for the drive to what looked like a fuller delivery but the drift did the trick with the Aussie caught having too much gap between bat and pad and the ball beating his inside edge and knocking the bails off.

Kuldeep, whose best first class figures are 6/79, was bowling beautifully and barring Smith none of his teammates seemed to be picking him.

Glenn Maxwell was next to go as the in-form batsman failed to pick the wrong one after Kuldeep bowled with a scrambled seam with the ball crashing onto his stumps.

The biggest wicket though came towards the end of the second session. Smith, who until that point looked to be playing against a different bowling attack than his colleagues who huffed and puffed, played for the turn but the ball took the edge of his bat and Ajinkya Rahane pulled off another sharp catch at first slip, as Australia reeled at 208/6.

After the tea session, Mathew Wade (57) and Pat Cummins (21) showed some fight but Kuldeep removed the latter with a catch off his own bowling.

Wade waged a lone battle at one end, while Steve O' Keefe (8) ran himself out. Wade registered his fourth fifty in Test cricket before being bowled by left-arm spinner Jadeja as his team lost its ninth wicket for 298.

Bhuvneshwar chipped in with a wicket after Nathan Lyon (13 offered a catch to Cheteshwar Pujara to end the Australian innings at 300, as Josh Hazlewood remained not out for two.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Aditya Nath Yogi on Saturday in his first speech after taking up the reins of the state announced his government will provide Rs 1 lakh aid to Kailash Mansarovar pilgrims.

"Those who want to go on a pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar would be given Rs 1 lakh aid by our government," the Chief Minister said during a rally here.

"We would also establish a Kailash Mansarovar Bhavan either in Lucknow, Ghaziabad or Noida," he added.

Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat on Friday said it wants to fight the next war with Indian technologies.

"We want to fight the next war with technology on our side and not like the past," General Rawat said at the release of the 'Compendium of Problem Statements, Volume II' here.

The compendium has been prepared by the Army Design Bureau (ADB) after detailed interaction with all stakeholders, including soldiers deployed in the field. 

Pointing out the drawbacks in trial equipment, he asked the industry and academia to focus on the fact that the Army will fight wars in varied terrain and weather conditions, a Defence Ministry release said.

He asked the industry and academia to come up with robust, rugged, miniaturised yet technologically compatible solutions.

The 28 new problem statements, part of Volume II, will allow industry and academia to understand the needs of the Army and come up with indigenous solutions for military requirements.

The first volume, with 50 problem statements, was released on December 5 last year.

The ADB, inaugurated last August, has been formed in a bid to meet the Army's longstanding need to create and modernise weapons indigenously. 

It facilitate the weapons and technology building efforts between the Defence Research and Development Organisation, industry and the Army.

Researchers have found a way to make the normally brittle material of glass bend and flex, adding a new level of flexibility to the microscopic world of medical devices.

The research opens up the ability to create a new family of lab-on-a-chip devices based on flexing glass.

"If you keep the movements to the nanoscale, glass can still snap back into shape," said lead researcher Aaron Hawkins, Professor at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, US.

"We've created glass membranes that can move up and down and bend," Hawkins added.

Glass has some great perks. It is stiff and solid and not a material upon which things react, it's easy to clean, and it is not toxic, according to lead study author John Stout from Brigham Young University.

"Glass is clean for sensitive types of samples, like blood samples," Stout said. 

"Working with this glass device will allow us to look at particles of any size and at any given range. It will also allow us to analyse the particles in the sample without modifying them," Stout added.

While current lab-on-a-chip membrane devices effectively function on the microscale, the new research, published in the journal Applied Physics Letters, will allow equally effective work at the nanoscale. 

Chemists and biologists could use the nanoscale devices to move, trap and analyse very small biological particles like proteins, viruses and DNA.

The researchers believe their device could also mean performing successful tests using much smaller quantities of a substance. 

Instead of needing several ounces to run a blood test, the glass membrane device created by the researchers would only require a drop or two of blood.

Women diagnosed and treated for cancer during their childbearing years are more at risk of having a premature delivery, babies with low birth weights or cesarean section delivery, a study has found.

"We found that women were more likely to deliver pre-term if they've been treated for cancer overall, with greater risks for women who had chemotherapy," said Hazel B. Nichols, Assistant Professor in the University of North Carolina, US. 

Children who do not spend as long in-utero environment are likely to have a higher incidence of breathing problems or infections. 

Further, the study found that risk of pre-term birth for breast cancer survivors was nearly two times, a 60 per cent higher risk of pre-term birth in women with Hodgkin lymphoma, an increased risk of approximately two times in women with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and a risk that was nearly three times higher for women with gynaecologic cancers.

In addition, the risk of pre-term birth and low birth weight was highest for women diagnosed with cancer while pregnant and those who had chemotherapy. 

For young women facing a new cancer diagnosis, fertility preservation can be an important consideration in treatment planning, the researchers said, in the paper published in the journal JAMA Oncology. 

"This is something for women and their providers to be aware of when a woman is reviewing her prenatal care, or talking about her medical history with her provider," Nichols said.

"We know that cancer treatment can have an impact on fertility and it's only after puberty that some of the options exist to either freeze eggs or freeze embryos, or take other steps to protect fertility. So this is a time period when it's important to counsel women on what their reproductive risks are for cancer therapy, or what they can expect in the future," she added.

At least 16 civilians were killed and 50 injured in airstrikes on a Syrian town on the outskirts of the country's capital, according to a war monitoring group.

The United Kingdom-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the aerial bombings took place in the town of Hamoryah, located 12 km to the east of Damascus.

According to the Observatory, the attack came as part of the increased bombings carried out by Syrian regime forces against the eastern Ghouta region over the last few days.

The SOHR said the number of dead could rise since many of the injured were in a serious condition and several people were still missing, reported Efe news.

It added that the number of children and women among the victims remained unknown.

On his wife Sunita's birthday on Saturday, veteran actor Anil Kapoor said he finds his peace, thrill and sanity in her.

"In you, I find my peace, my thrill, my bliss and my sanity… Happy Birthday Sunita! And thank you for… Well… You! Sunita Kapoor," Anil tweeted on Saturday. 

Anil married Sunita Bhavnani Kapoor, a costume designer, in 1984. The two share three children Sonam, Rhea and Harshvardhan. 

Sonam quoted Maya Angelou, and posted on Instagram: "Happy Birthday Mom!! Thank you for being our inspiration, our strength and all that is beautiful in our lives… Love you."

Harshvardhan took to Instagram, where he shared a photograph of himself along with his mother and shared a message for her.

"She held me then and she holds me still… In her heart and arms! Happy birthday to my mother who is stunningly good looking, intelligent, witty and so much more. Much love from the only child you passed those genes and traits onto. Happy Birthday Mom… Sunita Kapoor," he captioned the image.

Two senators have written letters to the Trump administration to push for the sale of F-16 fighter jets to India as well as to approve a drone sale to the country, a media report said.

Senators John Cornyn and Mark Warner sent letters this week to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defence Secretary James Mattis, urging them to sign off on the F-16 production line in India and approve the export of the Guardian Remotely Piloted Aircraft, a non-lethal maritime surveillance platform, the Hill online reported on Friday.

The pair — co-chairs of the Senate India Caucus — said that both sales would bolster the US-India military relationship. 

India has been looking to buy new fighter aircraft since 2007 and in October relaunched a competition with the F-16 and the Saab Gripen (multi-role fighter aircraft) as the two contenders, said the report.

US aerospace company Lockheed Martin has since pledged to open a production line in India for the F-16s, but the plan was yet to be approved by the new administration. 

Both senators urged Mattis and Tillerson "to weigh in forcefully with the White House on the strategic significance of the deal", arguing the F-16 production line solely relies on international buys, with the last aircraft made for the US in 1999.

"Keeping the F-16 in production will help sustain a fleet of over 1,000 aircraft currently in the Air Force and help preserve thousands of American jobs. It will help maintain 800 high value design and engineering jobs in the US, and extend the only scalable single engine 4th generation fighter aircraft as a significant security cooperation tool for the US," wrote Cornyn and Warner.

The two senators also pushed for the sale of the Guardian aircraft to India in a separate letter. 

India requested the Guardian in June, a request that has been pending with the US government since, reported the newspaper.

"The Guardian is exclusively manufactured in the US, and a potential sale to India is estimated to be valued at over $2 billion across the life of the programme," the second letter stated.