India on Friday asserted that Pakistan must effectively address the core issue of terrorism emanating from its soil rather than harping on the Jammu and Kashmir issue.

Terrorism from Pakistan was not only affecting India but other countries in the region as well, MEA spokesperson Gopal Baglay noted at his press briefing here when his attention was drawn to confusing signals being sent by Islamabad which was pitching for the resumption of bilateral dialogue and at the same time raising the J-K issue at every forum.

Asked if Prime Minister Narendra Modi had written to his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on Thursday on the occasion of ‘Pakistan Day’, the spokesperson said this was a normal practice being followed by the Indian leadership in the case of every Head of State and Government on such occasions and there was nothing new about it.  He said while he was not aware of the exact details of the letter, the PM must have written that India would like to build a relationship with Pakistan in an environment free of violence and terrorism.

On the just concluded talks between India and Pakistan over the Indus Water Treaty (IWT), the spokesperson pointed out that the Permanent Indus Commission (PIC) was mandated to meet once every financial year. ‘’So long as we are a party to the treaty, it is incumbent on us to fulfill that treaty.”’ He said the Indian delegation had returned to India and New Delhi was in the process of assessing its deliberations on various technical matters.

On reports from Islamabad that India and Pakistan would hold the next meeting of IWT in Washington under the auspices of the World Bank, he said he would not like to speculate on any ‘hypothetical contingencies’ until the outcome of the talks held in Pakistan earlier this week had been assessed.

Baba Ramdev is paying special emphasis on training women Yoga instructors-cum-promoter. The move is aimed at making the traditional Indian physical, mental, and spiritual practice reach every home through the involvement of women force.

The first part of the four-day Yoga workshop for Patanjali‘s women wing concluded recently and the second of the series will kick off in Haridwar from Saturday. Such specialised women Yoga camps have now become an annual feature at Ramdev Ashram now.  

The first Yoga workshop  attracted over 2,000 women participants from different parts of India. It was hosted from 20 to 23 March in Haridwar with women involved with Patanjali Yogpeeth in Maharashtra, Goa, Rajasthan, Orissa, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, etc taking part. 

Baba Ramdev said, “We aim at making a strong and disease free India. Women, committed to popularize Yoga,  can play a crucial role in this.”

According to Patanjali Yogpeeth those who attended the workshop recently and who will participate in the coming camp will go to their area and conduct a door-to-door campaign making an appeal to public to practice Yoga. The move is to connect each family with Yoga by involving the women volunteers of the Yogpeeth.

Though the Baba Ramdev Ashram conducts Yoga camps- but they are open for both men and women. The Patanjali launched this course couple of years back and now has become popular among women volunteers. The camp provides the participants a chance to learn Yoga from Baba Ramdev and his close aide Acharya Balkrishna.

Patanjali Yogpeeth’s general secretary Acharya Balkrishna said, "I will make an appeal to women to practice Yoga and motive others to do so. Conduct Yoga classes in villages, colonies and other localities.”

The Baba Ramdev Ashram is making every effort to expand Yoga at family level. The special initiative to train women Yoga instructors-cum-promoter is one such move towards this direction.

Even over one-and-half-year after the Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the International Airport at Chandigarh, the same has failed to get its name as Punjab and Haryana have failed to reach a consensus using Chandigarh or Mohali in
airport's address.

While now the two states — who are partners in the airport project — have agreed on naming the airport as Shaheed-E-Aazam Bhagat Singh International Airport, the matter remains unresolved over the location to be shown — Mohali or Chandigarh — in the official address.

While Punjab, which has given land for the international airport on its side adjoining the domestic airport — wants that Mohali should be part of the  name as it's located in Mohali (bordering Chandigarh), Haryana sees it as an attempt to take credit for the airport  which is part of Chandigarh.

The contention arises between the two states on the issue as as the airport runway is located in the Union territory of Chandigarh, however the new international terminal is located on the south side of the runway in the village of Jhiurheri in Mohali (SAS Nagar) of
Punjab.

According to a senior Punjab official the runway located in Mohali, that is why Mohali should be there as its location while Haryana counterparts says that the airport belongs to the Chandigarh and it should be the official address of the International Airport.

Haryana Principal Secretary, Civil Aviation, Mahavir Singh told The Statesman that the state government has given its nod for naming the airport after Saheed Bhagat Singh but it is not in favour of putting Mohali as official position.

Though, both of the states have continued to maintain that right to take final decision in this regard is reserved with the Centre,
however a senior official from the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation told The Statesman that the states need to reach an agreement of the issue of the city.

"Why should the Centre take anybody's side, the states reach a consensus and tell us which of the cities they want, we will do the
same," he added. Ruckus was witnessed in Rabha Sabha on Thursday when the CPI-M alleged that the Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had preferred the name of the said airport after RSS ideologue Mangal Sen instead of Bhagat Singh.  However, the Haryana government refuted the CPI-M claims saying that earlier also it had expressed its willingness over naming the airport after Saheed Bhagat Singh.

Haryana Finance Minister Captain Abhimanyu said that it would be a matter of pride for the state if the Chandigarh airport is named after the martyr. The civil air terminal at Chandigarh airport was inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi on September 11 last 2015. Initially, both of the states had agreed to it being named after Bhagat Singh, controversy errupted when Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar desired to name the airport after Mangal Sen. however, later on the Haryana government clarified that is had no objection to the airport being named after Shaheed Bhagat Singh.

With sex ratio in Haryana touching the mark of 938 girls per 1,000 boys in February, chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar has congratulated teams of all districts for their commendable performance in this regard.

This was conveyed by the additional principal secretary to CM, Rakesh Gupta while interacting with officers of all districts through video conferencing at Kurukshetra on Friday.

He directed the officers of Health Department to monitor the situation and make coordinated efforts to achieve further improvement in the sex ratio. He also directed the Protection Officers of Integrated Child Development Services to carry out extensive promotion and publicity activities under the ‘Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao’ programme.

Gupta further stated that all possible efforts would have to be made to achieve the vision of the CM to provide 24-hour power supply in the state in the next two years.He directed the officers of power utilities to ensure round-the-clock power supply in the state at the earliest.

Superintending engineer of Ambala has been directed to make efforts to provide 24-hour power supply in the district by August 15 and after that efforts would be made to extend the service in all districts.

Besides, the officers have been directed to ensure that there were no B-Grade or C-Grade feeders and all feeders should be upgraded to A-Grade at the earliest.

Gupta said that all districts of the state would have to be made Open Defecation Free (ODF). About 16 districts in rural areas have already been included in the category, but efforts in this direction need to be made in urban areas.

So far the urban areas of districts Ambala and Kurukshetra have become ODF and soon Fatehabad would also become ODF. He directed Deputy Commissioners and other officers of all districts to make efforts to achieve this goal, he added.

He also reviewed the functioning of ‘Suvidha Kendras’ functioning under e-Disha Kendras and directed all Sub Divisional Officers that people should get facilities through e-Disha Kendras and that corruption would not be tolerated at these Kendras.

Under fire after a poor outing in the Champions League, English football giants Arsenel head coach Arsene Wenger has received the backing of midfielder Alex Iwobi, who said the Frenchman deserves more respect from the fans.

"They need to have a bit more respect, in my opinion," Iwobi told the Daily Mail after representing Nigeria in their draw with Senegal in a friendly on Thursday.

"I mean, he's been at the club for 20 years, he's achieved a lot, obviously they're a bit impatient with the results and where they want to finish."

"We also want to finish there, we want to win the league like anyone else, I can guarantee we are trying our hardest. Whatever happens we are the players, we affect the result. We don't really look at the banners or what fans are screaming, we focus on trying to do our jobs on the pitch," he added.

Wenger has been receiving a lot of flak after a spate of poor results recently both in the English Premier League and the Champions League where they were humbled 2-10 by German Bundesliga heavyweights Bayern Munich.

Angry fans staged protest marches before the Gunners' home ties, asking for the French manager resignation.

Iwobi, however, felt that the supporters were impatient. "Honestly, I'm waiting as much as you guys are. I don't know exactly what's going on. But me, personally, I'd like him to stay."

"No matter who is in the job, or who gets the role, we're always going to fight for the manager, every player always gives 100 percent, no matter what, we'll just play."

"He always backs our players and he is a great man. He's been great to me as well, I'll always back him, no matter what. For what he's done for me, I'd like to say thank you, for bringing me into such a world class team, and I'm playing almost regularly," he added in his support for Wenger.

The Supreme Court on Friday directed Uttar Pradesh and Haryana governments to provide "adequate security" to the witnesses in the alleged child rape case against godman Asaram Bapu.

"State of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana will provide full protection to the witnesses by providing adequate security to them," ordered the bench of Justice AK Sikri and Justice Ashok Bhushan.

"You must have scheme for the protection of witnesses. It is high time," it observed.

The court order came as counsel Utsav Bains appearing for the witnesses told the bench that Uttar Pradesh was doing nothing for their protection.

Petitioner Mahender Chawla and others have moved the top court for the framing of national witness protection guidelines, and an SIT probe into the murder of a witness.

Chawla is a witness residing in Haryana, while the other three witnesses – journalist Narender Yadav, Naresh Gupta and Karamvir Singh – live in Uttar Pradesh, Bains said.

Asaram, lodged in the Jodhpur Central Jail, is facing a trial under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) for allegedly sexually assaulting a minor girl. 

The 72-year-old spiritual leader was arrested on September 2, 2013 after the 16-year-old girl lodged a police complaint on August 20, 2013, accusing him of sexually assaulting her at his ashram in Jodhpur. He is jail since then.

Following a stern warning by the Bombay High Court on Friday, doctors in government and private hospitals across Maharashtra agreed to withdraw their agitation amid revelations that at least 135 patients died in Mumbai in the past five days.

As per the court orders, the doctors are expected to resume normal duties by 8 am on Saturday in all government hospitals in the state.

Taking a serious view of flouting of its orders on Thursday, the High Court today served an ultimatum to the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) to either join duties or face termination proceedings.

Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice G.S. Kulkarni observed that "the doctors are taking undue advantage of us and our sympathy".

"If you (doctors) keep stretching the matter like this, then public will come and hit you. You are creating such an atmosphere," the bench said.

They made it clear if this attitude of the doctors continued, then the hospital managements were free to take action against them, including termination of services.

"We think we made a mistake yesterday by showing them sympathy and appreciating their work," the bench noted.

The BrihanMumbai Mumbai Corp (BMC) told the court that in the past five days of doctors' agitation, 135 patients lost their lives in Mumbai's government hospitals, including 53 in KEM, 48 in Sion LTMG and 34 in Nair due to non-availability of emergency services.

Following a strict deadline of 3 p.m. set by the court, the MARD filed an affidavit stating that it had failed to convince its members to withdraw their mass leave agitation and MARD had no objections if the government takes action against the doctors.

Shortly afterwards, the 40,000-strong Indian Medical Association (IMA) of Maharashtra also announced withdrawal of the agitation by its doctors in private hospitals and general practitioners.

Earlier, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis made a fervent appeal to the medicos to resume work and reprimanded them for forgetting their (Hippocratic) oath to serve the sick and needy.

The United Kingdom has conveyed to India that it had verified New Delhi’s request for the extradition of liquor baron Vijay Mallya and sent it to Westminster Magistrates’ court for a district judge to consider issuing an arrest warrant against the fugitive from the Indian law.

"The UK Home Office, London vide its note verbale dated February 21, 2017 has conveyed (to us) that the request has been certified by the Secretary of State,’’ MEA spokesperson Gopal Baglay told reporters at a press briefing.

On 8 February, India had handed over a formal request for the industrialist's extradition to the British High Commission here, saying it had a legitimate case against him for the financial irregularities committed by him.

Mallya fled to Britain last year after being pursued in courts by banks seeking to recover about Rs 9,000 crore owed by his Kingfisher Airline. Despite multiple injunctions, he has failed to appear before investigators at the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

In January, a CBI court had issued a non-bailable warrant against Mallya in the Rs 720-crore IDBI Bank loan default case.

The Trump administration is making it tougher for millions of visitors to enter the US by demanding new security checks before giving visas to tourists, business travellers and relatives of American residents.

Diplomatic cables sent last week from Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson to all American embassies instructed consular officials to broadly increase scrutiny. It was the first evidence of the "extreme vetting" Trump promised during the presidential campaign, the New York Times reported on Thursday.

The new rules do not apply to citizens of 38 countries, including most of Europe and longstanding allies like Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea, who can be speedily admitted into the US under the visa waiver programme. 

That programme does not cover citizens from any country in the Middle East or Africa.

Even stricter security checks for people from six predominantly Muslim nations — Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen — remain on hold because federal courts have temporarily blocked Trump's travel ban.

Embassy officials must now scrutinise a broader pool of visa applicants to determine if they pose security risks to the US, according to four cables sent between March 10 and March 17, said the report.

That extra scrutiny will include asking applicants detailed questions about their background and making mandatory checks of social media history if a person has ever been in territory controlled by the Islamic State.

Trump has spoken regularly of his concern about the threat of "radical Islamic terrorism" from immigrants. But it is unclear who, exactly, will be targeted for the extra scrutiny since Tillerson's cables leave that decision up to security officers at each embassy.

Consular officials and immigration advocates said the administration's moves will increase the likelihood of denial for those seeking to come to America, and will further slow down a bureaucratic approval process that can already take months or even years for those flagged for extra investigation. 

In 2016, the US issued more than 10 million visas.

There are legitimate reasons someone might be targeted, such as due to an evidence of a connection to terrorism or crime. But advocates also said they worry about people being profiled for extra scrutiny because of their name or nationality.

"Consular officers should not hesitate to refuse any case presenting security concerns," Tillerson wrote in the cables.

"All visa decisions are national security decisions," he added.

The President's first attempt to put tougher screening in place was the executive order aimed at temporarily blocking refugees and people whom Trump called "bad dudes" from predominantly Muslim countries. 

Courts blocked the first version of the President's order after a chaotic rollout just days into his term. A second order was blocked this month.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Vice President Rahul Gandhi have returned from the United States where Sonia Gandhi had gone for health check-up, the party said on Friday.

"Congress President and Vice President have returned to India. Thanks to all the countrymen and Congress people for their good wishes," party's spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said in a tweet.

The Congress President had travelled to the US on March 8 for a health check-up, while son Rahul joined her last week. 

Now that Rahul has returned, the Congress brass will brainstorm over the results of assembly elections in the five states, which proved to be a mixed bag for the party, some party leaders indicated.

But the Congress failed to form governments in Goa and Manipur despite emerging as the single-largest party in both states. 

Some party functionaries have also been calling for Rahul's elevation as the party President. 

The Taliban group on Friday denied reports that its representatives visited Islamabad to discuss the prospect of holding peace talks with Kabul.

"We strongly reject (the media reports) because none of our leaders has travelled to Islamabad, nor has met any official there," the Voice of America quoted Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid as saying.

His statement came a day after the media reported that Islamabad hosted seven Taliban leaders here to press the insurgents to return to peace talks with the Afghan government.

The Taliban have long refused to hold direct talks with the Afghan government, calling it a "puppet" of the US, the VOI reported.

Pakistan in July 2015 brokered and hosted a meeting between Taliban and Afghan officials, but the revelation that the group's supreme leader Mullah Omar had been dead for two years disrupted the peace process.

According to a senior Pakistani government official, they were unaware of any such "visit or talks".

"Pakistan is trying to distance itself from hosting Afghan peace talks and would instead prefer they are held in a country acceptable to all the parties," the official maintained.

Relations between Islamabad and Kabul have deteriorated in recent years because of Taliban-led attacks in Afghanistan, for which the Afghan government has blamed insurgent sanctuaries in Pakistan.

Speaking in Washington earlier this week, Afghan Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani insisted Kabul has kept the doors for peace negotiations open to Taliban, but accused Islamabad of hindering efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict.

"Pakistan's reluctance to end its support for terrorism underpins the continuation of violence in Afghanistan and the region… A paradigm shift in Pakistan is needed if any progress is to be made in peace efforts with the Taliban," Rabbani said.

Russia has recently stepped in to try to promote Afghan peace and reconciliation efforts through a multinational dialogue.

Moscow plans to host another round of the discussions next month with officials from Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Iran and China to further the process.

Mujahid did not outright deny reports that his group may attend a Moscow meeting, if invited.

"When an invitation is extended to us, only then we can consider it and comment on it," he said.

The US was also among the invitees, along with several Central Asian nations, but Washington reportedly turned down the invitation to the April 14 conference.
 

Bangladesh police on Friday cordoned off a building in the country's Sylhet city, suspecting presence of militants.

According to a police official, law enforcers had surrounded the five-storied building since Thursday.

Several gunshots and explosions were heard from the spot. Law enforcers retaliated after a grenade was hurled towards them from the house, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to police, the militants rented a flat in the building three months ago.

The raid came days after four militants were killed when the law enforcers stormed a militant hideout in Sitakunda on the outskirts of Chittagong.

Since the Holy Artisan Bakery attack here, law enforcers have gone tough against Neo-JMB (an offshoot of the banned militant outfit Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh) which is blamed for the July 1 last year attack.

At least 20 hostages, mostly foreigners, were killed in the attack.

Actress Deepika Padukone, who made her debut in Hollywood with xXx: Return of Xander Cage this year, says working in the West is an extension of her creativity and talent, adding that she will never forget her roots.

"I am very well aware of my home and my roots, so that's never going to change. I look at it (working in Hollywood) as an extension of my creativity and the ability to work in a different environment with different people," Deepika said in a statement. 

She added: "But I think that the people in the film industry come together to tell amazing stories to touch and influence lives through the work that we do and that was one such opportunity for me."

The actress talked about her career when she was honoured with the Entertainment Leader of the Year Award at the 12th edition of CNBC-TV18 India Business Leader Awards, held on Thursday night here. 

When asked to pick between superstar Shah Rukh Khan and Hollywood action icon Vin Diesel, Deepika said: "Both."

The actress, who made her foray into Bollywood in 2007 with Om Shanti Om, went on to say that Shah Rukh gave her the platform in Bollywood, and on the other hand she started her career in Hollywood with Diesel.

The star shared that her finances are managed by her father Prakash Padukone, also a celebrated badminton player. 

She said that he takes care of the investments while her focus is only her work.

Deepika will next be seen in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmavati, which also features Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor. 

The online registrations at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Research and Education (PGIMER) Chandigarh are apparently finding few takers due to ignorance.

Nearly every year around 25 lakh people enlist themselves at the PGIMER for getting treatment at the New Outpatient Office (OPD), Advanced eye center OPD, Advanced Pediatrics Centre, Advanced Cardiovascular Centre, Dental Centre and De-Addiction Centre.

But ever since the launch of the online-registration two years back, only two lakh patients have registered for the OPD even as on average over seven thousand patients come for the OPD on a daily basis from northern states including Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttrakhand. On Thursday, the number of patients attended in the OPD was 10,917. The majority of these patients stand in the long queues, sometimes many for hours, to get the registration done even as online-registration helps the job done in a few minutes.

A senior PGIMER official said online registration was not even close to 10 per cent of the total registration despite the fact that it saves patients or their relatives from standing in long queues for the registration.

For the on-line registration, a patient is required to go to the PGIMER website, fill his personal details and name of the OPD department he intends to take treatment. After this, a patient is given an online-registration number using which he or she can go to the on-line registration counter and get his registration slip within no time.

“We are constantly telling the people to get themselves registered online for the OPD. But they fail to attempt it as they are not technological friendly,” said Dr Ritesh Aggarwal, Department of Pulmonary Medicine, who is head of the hospital computerisation project.

“By enlisting on the web, one can spare time as they need not remain in long lines, but rather then they need to sit tight for the specialist. In this way, individuals who are enrolling on the web are not getting need over others. We are trying to come up with various advertising strategies which is help in creating awareness among people,” he added.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Friday said his country is not seeking to militarise the South China Sea and its presence in the area is only to maintain freedom of navigation.

"China never has any intention to engage in militarisation in the South China Sea," the visiting premier said at a press conference following a meeting in Canberra with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

"Chinese islands and reefs are primarily for civilian purposes. If there is a certain amount of defence equipment or facilities, it is for maintaining the freedom of navigation and overflight," he added.

China has built numerous military facilities on islets in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost in its entirety but whose sovereignty has been disputed by five other countries, leading to an escalation of multilateral tensions in the region, Efe news reported.

Li noted that China is the leading global exporter and its economy depends on free transit in this maritime area, through which around $5 billion worth of goods pass every year, and which contains rich fishing, gas and oil resources.

He stressed that it is the responsibility of all countries in the region to maintain peace in the South China Sea, which is disputed by Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan and the Philippines, with the US having also increased its presence.

Li said China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are negotiating a code of conduct, an initiative that was praised by Turnbull.

The Australian leader also urged "all parties to refrain from taking any actions which would add to tensions, including actions of militarisation of disputed features".

Australia and the US have been concerned by the growing Chinese presence in the disputed seas, but Turnbull rejected as "incorrect" the view that Australia must take sides between Beijing and Washington.

China is Australia's biggest trading partner, with bilateral trade amounting to $150 billion.

At the press conference, Turnbull announced a series of new agreements to increase trade between the two countries, including China's decision to increase access to its market of frozen meat products.

The bilateral free trade agreement that came into force in 2015 had reduced tariffs on Australian beef products, but refrigerated meat did not have the same access to the Chinese market.

Li will continue his Australia visit to Sydney before leaving on Sunday for New Zealand.

In order to provide some relief to the debt-laden Air India, the country's largest public sector bank, State Bank of India (SBI) and its other consortium lenders are considering the request of the airline's chief to cut the interest rate on its borrowings. Ashwani Lohani, chairman and managing director of Air India, in a letter to SBI requested the lender to link the interest rate to marginal cost of fund-based lending rate (MCLR) from the existing base rate. "The reduction of interest rate to 8.5 per cent from 10.05 per cent will provide the much needed relief. The alignment of interest rates would accrue a savings in interest of around Rs.200 crore annually on the total loan base of around Rs.15,000 crores," it said. 

 The government is making all attempts to turn around the airline's fortunes. Officials in the finance ministry also said it has also sought support from the government in terms of sovereign guarantee to convert its long-term working capital of Rs.10,500 crore into non-convertible debentures (NCDs) with 10-15 year duration.

As part of the airline's revival plans, it is trying to monetise its assets. Officials said, "A list of 38 properties has been forwarded to NBCC. Out of the 38, NBCC has identified 21 properties whose valuations are completed and Air India may sell directly. However, the e-auction process will start after getting the fresh valuation done." The official added that a second list of 28 properties have been forwarded to NBCC for their scrutiny and advice on monetisation. 

Four years since its revival plan was put in place, the airline has significantly narrowed its losses and improved its operational parameters. It's EBIDTA (earnings before interest deduction and tax amortisation) stands positive at Rs.2,413.29 crore in 2015-16 as against the negative EBIDTA of Rs.2236.95 crore in 2011-12. In order to resuscitate it, the government cleared a Rs 30,231 crore bailout package. 

 The airline has claimed to have made an operating profit of Rs.105 crore in FY16 though it has been disputed by government auditor CAG, which in its latest report said the airline actually incurred an operating loss of Rs.321.4 crore during this fiscal.

Buoyed by the double digit-growth in the domestic market, the airline is planning to scale up its fleet size. It has decided to induct 104 aircraft by 2020.

Actress Hamsa Nandini, most known for her appearances in item songs, has landed a cameo in the upcoming yet-untitled Telugu outing starring Jr NTR, a source said.

"Hamsa will be seen playing a supporting character. Although it will be a cameo, the role has some weightage. She has already started shooting in Hyderabad and is thrilled to be sharing screen space with NTR for the first time," a source from the film's unit told.

Being directed by Bobby, the film features NTR in a triple role for the first time.

Produced by NTR's brother Kalyanram, the rest of the cast is being finalised.

The project is NTR's 27th film.