In what promises to be an event aimed at lending a platform to women, the focus of an upcoming summit here is on women at work, achievers, women in public life, parliamentarians, CEOs, entrepreneurs, artists and culturists.

"She Leads India," brought together by SheThePeople.TV and UN Women India aspires to uplift the dialogue on women achievers and the role of innovation and technology to lead to more meaningful and transformational outcomes for women.

With powerful and moving speakers from India and rest of the world, She Leads India will be an action packed summit.

"UN Women is delighted to support She Leads, a conference that brings together women at the forefront across spheres, who have consistently broken barriers to be change makers," said Nishtha Satyam, Head, Strategic Partnerships, Policy Impact (M&E) and Public Relations UN Women Office for India, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka.

The UN Women Multi-Country Office in India covers four countries including India, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka.

Some prominent speakers participating in the conference include: Aruna Sundararajan (Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology), Ramesh Abhishek (Secretary of Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion Ministry of Commerce and Industry), Deepa Malik (First Indian woman to win a medal in Paralympics Games) and Radhika Vaz (Well-known Comedian).

Scheduled to take place on March 30, the summit will be held at The Lalit Hotel here.

The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Union government to deposit more than 190 files in connection with the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.

The Centre had on February 21 filed a status report on the investigation conducted by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) into the 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases and had submitted it in the Supreme Court.

The report was submitted after the apex court had asked the Centre to file a comprehensive report on the status of the probe conducted by the SIT.

The Union Home Ministry had set up a three-member SIT in February this year to re-investigate the 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases mainly in Delhi and other states.

Potato farmers came out on the streets in Bulandshahr on Thursday and spilled the potatoes on the road, demanding adequate price of their produce from the government. After the bumper crop of potatoes, the farmers are forced to sell these at a fairly low price.

The bumper crop of potatoes in the region instead of bringing prosperity to the farmers have added to their woes. The cold storages are all full and the farmers are finding no way out but to sell them at a low price.

Perturbed by this situation farmers came out on the streets of Bulandshahr​ on Thursday and flooded the main crossing of the city with potatoes.BKU district president Bishan Singh Sirohi  also came out in support and spearheaded the protest. The angry farmers marched towards the DM office demanding his intervention against the attitude of the cold storage owners who are taking advantage of the situation

The farmers are forced to sell potatoes at a price of Rs 1 to 1.50 per kg which is not even covering their expenses  but they are at a huge loss, said Singh adding that where do they go when cold storage owners are also refusing to store produce of farmers. 

The farmers are  demanding to fix a minimum price to procure potatoes so that they  could get a reasonable price of their produce.

The farmers have grown potatoes on more than 10 thousand hectares of land in the District with a produce of 250-300 quintals per hectare.

Meanwhile taking cognisance in the matter. District Magistrate Aunjney Kumar Singh has asked the horticulture officer to submit a report on the methodology of cold storages and directed the district agriculture officer for proper monitoring of the procurement of potatoes in the district.

While the doctors across the country have been raising the issue of attacks on them, another such incident was reported in Bulandshahr. Here a private doctor was beaten up by enraged family members after the death of a female patient during operation on Thursday.

A case has  been lodged  by the family members of the deceased in Nagar Kotwali against the accused doctor, blaming him  for the death.

While the police has started investigation in the case, District Magistrate of Bulandshahr, Aunjney Kumar Singh, has ordered for a probe to  chief medical officer . "I have asked the police and the CMO to take appropriate action after investigating the case,  the DM said. 

Meanwhile, the video of the incident went viral on social media in which angry family members were seen beating doctors outside the hospital.

The incident occurred on Thursday evening after the death of  Jyoti (26)of Bhood area of the city during operation of stone in her addomen  in a private hospital. The family members blamed that her condition deteriorated immediately after the injection was given to her by the doctor . Later, she was declared dead which irked the   family members who are blaming the doctor  for her death .

 In a fit of rage the family members and relatives thrashed the doctor and a video of this incident was also uploaded on social media.

The incident of attack on a doctor took place when the doctors across the country have been raising their voices against attack on them and the Union health minister JP Nadda has also taken  ognisance on this issue. 

Air India (AI) and the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) on Friday have banned Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad from flying with ‘immediate effect’, day after he assaulted an AI staffer.

“Air India and FIA member airlines have decided to ban this Member of Parliament from flying on all our flights with immediate effect. We believe that exemplary action should be taken in such incidents to protect employee morale and public safety,” FIA Associate Director Ujjwal Dey said.

Gaikwad's return ticket from Delhi to Pune on Thursday was cancelled, according to reports.

The FIA, which has Jet Airways, SpiceJet, IndiGo and GoAir as it members, has taken the strong action in view of the incident.

Gaikwad, when asked about the brazen assault on the staffer that broke the victim’s spectacles, refused to owe any apology to the victim but challenged the Delhi Police to ‘arrest’ him.

"I will not apologise, he (Air India staff) must come to me and apologise. I dare the Delhi Police to arrest me," Gaiwad was quoted as saying to a news agency.

The AI staffer also accused the Shiv Sena MP of using 'bad words' and 'humiliating' him in front of his crew.

"R Gaikwad hit me, he used bad words and not only did he broke my spectacles but humiliated me in front of the whole crew," the victim said on Thursday.

According to reports, the tussle between the MP and the onboard staffer broke out due to seat issue. He was denied a business class seat.

"I had paid for a business class ticket. I have complained several times but no action has been taken. So, this time I lost my cool,” he added.

Air India (AI) and the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) on Friday have banned Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad from flying with ‘immediate effect’, day after he assaulted an AI staffer.

“Air India and FIA member airlines have decided to ban this Member of Parliament from flying on all our flights with immediate effect. We believe that exemplary action should be taken in such incidents to protect employee morale and public safety,” FIA Associate Director Ujjwal Dey said.

Gaikwad's return ticket from Delhi to Pune on Thursday was cancelled, according to reports.

The FIA, which has Jet Airways, SpiceJet, IndiGo and GoAir as it members, has taken the strong action in view of the incident.

Gaikwad, when asked about the brazen assault on the staffer that broke the victim’s spectacles, refused to owe any apology to the victim but challenged the Delhi Police to ‘arrest’ him.

"I will not apologise, he (Air India staff) must come to me and apologise. I dare the Delhi Police to arrest me," Gaiwad was quoted as saying to a news agency.

The AI staffer also accused the Shiv Sena MP of using 'bad words' and 'humiliating' him in front of his crew.

"R Gaikwad hit me, he used bad words and not only did he broke my spectacles but humiliated me in front of the whole crew," the victim said on Thursday.

According to reports, the tussle between the MP and the onboard staffer broke out due to seat issue. He was denied a business class seat.

"I had paid for a business class ticket. I have complained several times but no action has been taken. So, this time I lost my cool,” he added.

Samajwadi Party (SP) patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav’s younger son Prateek and daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav on Friday met Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow.

The meeting took place in the VVIP guest house, where Adityanath has been staying since he took oath as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh (UP).

The meeting, which lasted for 30 minutes, was a ‘courtesy call’, said SP leaders.

Aparna, who contested on an SP ticket from Lucknow Cantt, lost to Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Rita Bahuguna Joshi in the assembly elections.

The BJP won a massive 325 seats of the 403 assembly seats, the SP-Congress alliance managed to bag just 54 seats.

Last year, Aparna’s selfie with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a family function, went viral on social media. She also praised Modi’s work.

China registers around 900,000 new cases of tuberculosis every year and remains among the 30 countries with the highest incidence of the disease, despite a decline in cases since 2011, health authorities said here on Friday.

The National Health and Family Planning Commission said that by the end of 2016, 65 out of every 100,000 people were infected with tuberculosis, a figure that experts consider high despite having dropped by 14 per cent in the last six years, the China Daily reported Friday.

"China also plans to intensify research in the prevention and control of TB in the next few years," the commission said, adding that "a focus will be on research in preventive and curable vaccines for the disease."

Tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria. It usually affects the lungs but can occur anywhere in the body.

The country's western regions are the most affected by the disease, with Xinjiang, in the northwest, leading the list with 184.5 infected per 100,000 inhabitants in 2015.

China's First Lady Peng Liyuan visited a high school in Tianjin city on Thursday to raise awareness about the prevention of TB.

Peng, a World Health Organization (WHO) goodwill ambassador for tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, joined a class meeting about fighting the disease, and looked over an exhibition of students' work promoting prevention.

According to the WHO, 10.4 million people fell ill with TB in 2015 and 1.8 million died.

Eradicating TB by 2030 is one of the UN's sustainable development goals, an initiative that WHO supports under the umbrella of its End TB Strategy.
 

Despite extended monsoons and demonetisation, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has achieved the best track record in completing highway projects during the current financial year ending March, an analyst report said on Friday.

"Financial year (FY)17 highway completion will be the best ever. On the back of current pickup in execution, we expect NHAI to complete 2,800 km in FY17 (current highest is 2,844 km in FY13), a 41 per cent growth in completion for the full year…," US investment banking firm Jefferies said in a research note.

"Along with the Road Transport and Highways Ministry, FY17 overall sector completion is expected to be best ever at 8,000 km vs the current best of 6,061 km achieved in FY16. This implies a completion rate of 22 km per day, much better than 17 km per day achieved in FY16," it said.

The American analyst also said that while in the first nine months of the fiscal, the NHAI completion has grown at an impressive 25 per cent over the same period last year, revenue growth of eight major listed roads construction firms was 16 per cent year-on-year.

"Difference in growth and delay in revenue recognition is a function of greater participation from unlisted players and delays in appointed dates," the report said.
 

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday charged Jindal Steel's adviser Anand Goel and four others involved in the coal block allocation scam case.

Apart from Goel, Gurgaon-based Green Infra's vice president Siddharth Madra, Mumbai-based KE International's Chief Financial Officer Rajeev Aggarwal, Nihar Stocks Limited Director BSN Suryanarayan and Mumbai's Essar Power Limited Executive Vice Chairman Sushil Kumar Maroo were also chargesheeted by the CBI.

A special CBI court on April 30, 2016, charged Naveen Jindal with criminal conspiracy in a case of inappropriate allocation of the Amarkonda coal block in Jharkhand. The court had also framed similar charges against former Minister of State for Coal Dasari Narayan Rao and former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda and former Coal Secretary HC Gupta.

The CBI had alleged that Madhu Koda had favoured Jindal group firms — Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) and Gagan Sponge Iron Private Ltd (GSIPL) — while allocating coal blocks in Jharkhand. It filed a chargesheet against Jindal, Koda, Rao and Gupta in April 2015.

The others accused in the case include Jindal Realty Director Rajeev Jain, Gagan Sponge Directors Girish Kumar Juneja and RK Saraf and Sowbhagya Media's Managing Director K Ramakrishna.

(With inputs from agencies)

The house and office of former minister of previous Samajwadi Party government of the state Moolchand Chauhan in Bijnor  were raided by the Uttarakhand and UP police on Thursday in a case of abduction of Jila Panchayat President in 2013.

The police, however, was looking for Minister's son Amit Pratap Chauhan and had a non bailable warrant against him but could not arrest him.

Since the matter was high profile and related to a former minister the senior officers kept a mum and the raids were conducted secretively keeping the media at Bay.

Later  Ajay Kumar Sahni, SP Bijnor told that the Uttarakhand police had arrived in search of Amit Pratap  Chauhan with a non bailable warrant. He however refused to divulge any other information.

Late night on Thursday a team of Uttarakhand police raided the office and residence of Moolchand Chauhan in Naurangabad of Bijnor but could not meet neither the former minister nor his son and returned empty handed.

In fact the action has come in Connection of a case of abduction of Jila Panchayat President in 2013. Case of abduction was lodged  in Laxshman Jhula police station of Rishikesh in Uttarakhand on 16-17 January of 2013 against the than UP minister's son Amit, than MP Yashveer Singh, MLA Manoj Paras and some SP leaders.

The charges were that they had held captive Jila Panchayat Adhyaksh Nasreen Saifi ànd her husband Rafi Saini who had left the BSP and joined SP shortly after the party came in power in UP in 2012.

Since the matter was related to SP which was in power no action was taken in the past. The change in rule in both  UP and Uttarakhand has perhaps resulted in this action.

Adding fruits to your kid’s diet is a good step to make them healthier. You will be amazed at how much better they feel with daily intake of fruits. Although it is difficult to make the kids to eat fruits, by adding a little fun it becomes an easy job.

Making fruit ice-creams at home is a great way of engaging kids to have healthy food. Use organic fruits and freeze them in quite visually-appealing and colourful creamy manner.

Here are few delicious fruit ice-creams you can make at home .

Strawberry ice-cream: Wash two cups of strawberries and blend them in a food processor. Add one tin of condensed milk and one cup of whipped cream in it. Blend again till the mixture is smooth. Strain it to remove small seeds in the fruit. Transfer it in a freezer safe box and freeze overnight.

Watermelon ice-cream: Take two cups of watermelon cubes (deseeded) in a food processor and puree it. Add a tin of condensed milk and one cup of whipped cream. Blend till all the ingredients mix well together. Pour the mixture in a freezer safe box and freeze overnight.

Mango ice-cream: Take two cups of mango chunks and blend smooth. Mix a tin of condensed milk and a cup of whipped cream in it with the help of an electric blender. Transfer the mixture in a freezer safe box and freeze for five to six hours or until it sets.

Litchi ice-cream: Take two cups of peeled and deseeded litchis and make a paste in a high power blender. Add one tin of condensed milk and a cup full of whipped cream in it. Blend all the ingredients till mix well. Pour in a freezer safe box and freeze overnight.

Pineapple ice-cream: Put two cups of well peeled pineapple cubes in a high power blender. Blend till it becomes a paste. Add one tin of condensed milk and one cup of whipped cream and blend again till smooth. Transfer it into a freezer safe box and freeze it overnight.

Home-made natural fruit ice creams are ready to serve.

They are sinfuuly tempting and delicious. These ice-creams taste much better than the store bought ice-creams. While most kids would turn their noses up at the mention of fruits for snacks, you can make them palatable when they are disguised as ice-cream. You may add an assortment of fresh fruit slices as sweet natural toppings having healthy nutrition.

All five BJP members in the Telangana legislative assembly were on Friday suspended from the house for two days for disrupting the proceedings.

Speaker Madhusudhana Chary announced the suspension of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members, including their leader K. Laxman, as they trooped in the well of the house to protest the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government's move to increase the reservation for Muslims in the state.

Legislative Affairs Minister Harish Rao moved the resolution for the suspension of the BJP members for this week.

Wearing black scarves and raising slogans against the government, the BJP members demanded that the government drop the proposal to increase the quota for the Muslims.

The TRS government has announced that it will move a bill in the assembly during the ongoing Budget session to raise the quota for the Muslims in jobs and education from the current four per cent to 12 per cent.

Terming the move as "unconstitutional", the BJP has called for 'chalo assembly' (March to Assembly) on Friday. Security has been tightened on all roads leading to the assembly building to foil any march by the protestors.

Opposing the suspension of the BJP members, the main opposition Congress party staged a walkout from the assembly.

Opposition parties led by the Samajwadi Party on Friday forced a brief adjournment of proceedings in the Rajya Sabha alleging a move to disband the OBC Commission, a charge vehemently denied by the government.

SP members rushed into the Well of the House and shouted anti-government slogans, forcing Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien to adjourn the proceedings for 10 minutes.

Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Thawar Chand Gehlot said Prime Minister Narenda Modi has repeatedly said that the constitutional position of reservation of SCs, STs and OBCs will continue.

"Since the time of Jan Sangh, we have been a supporter of reservation to these communities and will continue to be a supporter," he said.

The Government, he said, has taken a decision to give constitutional status to the commission for other backward classes (OBC) and it will get the same rights as Commission for SC and STs.

Earlier when the House assembled, Ramgopal Yadav (SP) said the National Commission for Backward Classes, created in response to a Supreme Court ruling in 1992, has been disbanded instead of giving it the promised constitutional status.

This Commission is to be replaced by a National Commission for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (NSEBC) and part of a larger "conspiracy" to do away with reservation to dalits, Yadav alleged.

The new commission will examine and recommend requests for inclusion and exclusion in the list of other backward classes (OBCs).

Without naming the RSS, he alleged that the move was guided by the philosophy of the ruling party's "fountain head" that reservation should end. "Backward classes feel cheated."

He alleged that backward communities like Yadavs, Kurmis, Lodhas and Kushwaha, who have made some social progress, were being removed from the OBC list.

His assertion found support in rival BSP, as well as the Congress whose members too vehmently opposed move to disband the OBC Commission.

Rejecting the Minister's statement, Yadav said the OBC Commission has been disbanded and it is a conspiracy to end reservation.

Soon thereafter, his party colleagues rushed into the Well raising slogans against the government. They found support in the BSP and Congress too.

Shares of public sector banks rose by up to 4.5 per cent on Friday after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley promised a solution to the growing NPA problem within next few days.

The scrip of Bank of India rose by 4.5 per cent, Bank of Baroda surged 4.16 per cent, Union Bank of India (3.18 per cent), PNB (3 per cent) and SBI (2.49 per cent) on BSE.

Buying was also seen in private lenders, with ICICI Bank trading 3.03 per cent higher and AXIS Bank 0.83 per cent up.

Promising a solution to the growing NPA problem in the next few days, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on March 23 said the resolution being worked out with the RBI will put enough pressure on borrowers to settle dues.

He blamed the bad loans of public sector banks on just 30-50 companies, saying accounts of these will have to be fixed to solve the issue.

The gross NPAs of public sector banks have risen to Rs.6.06 lakh crore in December 2016, from Rs.5.02 lakh crore at the end of March 2016.

Budget carrier IndiGo on Friday said it will support any move which bars unruly passengers from flying, a day after Air India said it was mulling preparing a no-fly list for such people in the wake of a Shiv Sena MP assaulting its employee.

"We will support a no-fly list," IndiGo President and Whole Time Director Aditya Ghosh said.

At present, there is no such mechanism available with the Indian airlines.

Significantly, IndiGo, which is the largest domestic airline by market share, has reported a number of incidents involving unruly passengers on board its flight.

On Thursday Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad repeatedly hit a 60-year-old Air India officer with sandal in a brazen burst of fury over being unable to travel business class despite having insisted on boarding an all-economy flight.

The national carrier has filed two FIRs against the MP, while the Shiv Sena has sought an explanation from him.

"Air India is examining creation of no-fly list of unruly passenger on the lines of other carriers," a senior airline official had said post the assault incident, which had invited sharp reactions from various quarters.

Usage of mobile applications in India grew 43 per cent in 2016, with entertainment and finance categories witnessing highest traction, as per a study by Yahoo's Flurry Analytics.

"India's app usage grew 43 per cent year on year. The India app usage grew at 92 per cent during the same period last year (2015)," the 'State of the App Nation in India' study said.

Messaging and social apps remain one of the most engaged categories in Asia and India. Time spent on messaging and social apps grew by an impressive 52 per cent in India compared to 44 per cent globally.

Globally, app usage grew by only 11 per cent, it said.

"The decelerating rate of global growth could signal market maturity, saturation or simply the end of the app gold rush.

"Going back to India's six-month mobile trend delay, there's no better time for local developers to innovate, and lessen or possibly stop a local industry pause," Flurry Director Christopher Klotzbach said in a statement.

Flurry collected data from over 940,000 applications, across 2.1 billion global devices from across the world, and 58,000 apps across 147 million devices from India.

The top three app growth categories in India were music, media and entertainment followed by business and finance, and utilities and productivity apps.

"Music, media and entertainment applications saw the biggest usage increase at 188 per cent year-on-year (YoY), which can be attributed to rise of phablet devices and better Internet connectivity in India.

"Business and finance apps grew 176 per cent YoY, utilities and productivity apps grew 99 per cent YoY," the study said.

Phablets, or devices with screen size between 5-6.9 inch, is the most preferred mobile device with 61 per cent market share in India.

"The phablet is the fastest growing mobile device globally. In India, phablets have a market share of 61 per cent, outpacing growth in the US which has 48 per cent market share," the study said.

More than 12 mobile makers have a substantial footprint locally, with Samsung leading with 40 per cent market share, followed by brands like Micromax, Redmi and Lenovo, the study said.

Personalisation apps saw decline in India in line with global trends.

Peak usage of mobile application in India is seen around 9 pm.

"Indian users are generally slower to turn to their phones in the morning but quickly scale usage throughout the later morning hours," the study added.