In a major development to the 2007 Ajmer Dargah blast case, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) special court on Wednesday sentenced Devendra Gupta and Bhavesh Patel, the two accused in the case, to life imprisonment.

A NIA court had on March 8 acquitted Swami Aseemanand and had convicted Devendra Gupta, Bhavesh Gupta and Sunil Joshi (dead). Senior Rashtriya Swaymsevak Sangh (RSS) member Indresh Kumar had also been acquitted.

The conviction was made under Sections 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy), 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of IPC, 3 / 4 of Explosive Substances Act and Sections 16 and 18 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

The case was handed over to ATS Rajasthan and was later transferred to the NIA, which re-registered the case at the NIA police station in New Delhi on April 6, 2011.

There were as many as 149 witnesses in the case and 451 documents were examined, and the NIA filed three supplementary chargesheets in the case.

The incident took place on October 11, 2007 during the month of Ramazan and targeted the Khwaja Chishti shrine, killing three pilgrims and injuring 15.

Pakistan's new ODI and T20 captain Sarfaraz Ahmad avoided speaking on the PSL spot-fixing scandal, which has rocked the cricket community, but admitted that the country's cricket was going through tough times.

Terming the coming series in the West Indies as a big challenge for Pakistan cricket, the wicketkeeper-batsman told the media on the eve of the team's departure for the Caribbean that the first target was to win the three match ODI series and qualify directly for the next World Cup.

"I don't want to comment on the PSL issue but yes we are going through tough times and we need to do well in the coming series to boost our people," he said.

He conceded that like in 2010 Pakistan cricket team would again have to do a lot to overcome the recent scandal, which has led to the suspension of five players.

During the tour of England in 2010, three players – then captain Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamir – were found involved in spot-fixing and banned for five-years.

Sarfaraz had earlier said that Pakistan would miss the services of opener Sharjeel Khan in the West Indies as he was suspended in connection with the spot-fixing scandal.

Head coach Mickey Arthur said while the PSL scandal and the involvement of his players was disappointing, one had to move on.

"Look what happened with Sharjeel and Khalid it is past now and although it is very disappointing one has to move ahead. Players need to take more responsibility, especially after this incident," Arthur said.

He said he had no doubt in his mind that any player found involved in fixing didn't have a place in cricket.

"I feel upset and sad when I look at the bright future ahead of Sharjeel as he had made his place in all three formats and he was getting fitter. But greed is always bad in sports and it is hurting cricket," he added.

US President Donald Trump will attend a NATO leaders' summit scheduled for May, the White House said.

"The President looks forward to meeting with his NATO counterparts to reaffirm our strong commitment to NATO, and to discuss issues critical to the alliance, especially allied responsibility-sharing and NATO's role in the fight against terrorism," the White House said in a statement on Tuesday.

It added that, in addition to meeting the leaders, Trump will host NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the White House next month.

The April meeting with Stoltenberg has been arranged to prepare for a May 25 summit in Brussels on the "new security environment, including the alliance's role in the fight against terrorism, and the importance of increased defence spending and fairer burden-sharing", CNN reported on Wednesday.

The announcement of Trump's attendance comes on the heels of a decision by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to skip a NATO foreign ministers' meeting, and instead host Chinese President Xi Jingping later this month, before visiting Russia in April. 

The State Department has suggested "alternative dates" to NATO for the meeting, said the report.

Tillerson's decision not to attend the NATO ministerial meeting in Brussels has led to consternation amongst the US' European allies.

"Seeing the Chinese, then going to Russia and avoiding NATO in the middle — it's weird," said one NATO diplomat. 

"It shows that they don't care about NATO. They are not multilateral."

State Department acting spokesman Mark Toner said that the meeting's dates didn't fit in Tillerson's schedule and a NATO official confirmed that the group was still negotiating with the State Department to schedule the meeting. 

Toner said the agency is "certainly appreciative of the effort to accommodate Secretary Tillerson".

Apple blossom season is here and tourists visiting the Queen of Hills can now have a feel of apple orchards with special packages for longer stay in the state on anvil.

Tourists, both national and international, visits Shimla but they stay in the capital city for just two-three days and then return, officials say. Hence, the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) is planning to offer travel packages to tourists to visit the apple orchards surrounding the hill capital during apple blossom season from 15-30 April this year. But with this package, the Tourism Development Corporation is aiming to extend their stay and also to give them feel of horticulture economy of HP.

HPTDC Vice Chairman Harish Janartha said that the Corporation is planning to link apple economy with tourism activities in the state.

“Himachal endows immense natural wealth right from its delicacies to sprawling orchards and high hills, salubrious climate and offers number of adventure sports activities besides religious tourism to the visitors,” he said.

But now, the HPTDC is planning to exploit the vast tourism potential and offer special packages for giving a feel of the natural environment of orchards.

“A blooming apple orchard is always a soothing sight and it would freshen up the mood of tourists who visit the state to relieve stress during their sojourn in HP,” Janarthan said.

He said it would provide them knowledge about farming of apples and other fruit crops and give a chance to them to even pluck apples.

Under the package, the tourists would be facilitated two days tour of famous apple belt areas in Shimla district as Kotgarh, Theog, Kotkhai, Narkanda and Fagu. The tourists would cover a distance of 160 kms during these trips to apple orchards and they can book these packages online.

“If the visitors want to stay at apple orchards or want to indulge in camping at these sites, the Tourism Development Corporation would provide them with staying facilities,” Janartha said.

He said that the tourists can even put up in the Home Stays in the woods, if they want to. "We will provide the information on this."

It is worthwhile to mention that Congress government in HP, around a decade back, had planned to link educational tours of children from across the country with apple orchards and hydro power projects. It however, hung fire for general red-tape.

HP’s apple economy is worth Rs 3,500 Crore and the crop is largely produced in the districts of Shimla, Kullu, Kinnaur, Mandi, Chamba and Sirmaur.

Apple is the most important cash crop of state as it constitutes 49 percent (around 1.25 lakh hectare area) of the total area under fruit crops and about 85 percent of the total fruit production.

Himachal Pradesh produces around 40 percent of the total production in country while Kashmir valley contributes around 50 percent of the total apple production.

Nieteen Opposition MLAs from the Congress and the NCP were suspended on Wednesday from the Maharashtra Assembly for nine months for creating ruckus during the Budget presentation in the House last week.

The suspension of nine Congress and 10 NCP members till December 31 came after a resolution to this effect was moved by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Girish Bapat and it was adopted by the assembly.

The Opposition members had disrupted the Budget presentation by Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar in the assembly on March 18 demanding farm loan waiver.

Bapat said the Opposition MLAs had conducted themselves in a "disgraceful and unconstitutional manner".

He said everybody had the right to express themselves but setting the state budget copy on fire outside the House had never happened.

The members were being suspended for displaying banners, playing cymbals, shouting slogans and disrespecting the Speaker's directions, he added.

The MLAs suspended are Amar Kale, Vijay Waddetiwar, Harshwardhan Sakpal, Abdul Sattar, D P Sawant, Sangram Thopte, Amit Zanak, Kunal Patil, Jaikumar Gore (all from Congress) besides Bhaskar Jadhav, Jitendra Awhad, Madhusudan Kendre, Sangram Jagtap, Avdhut Tatkare, Deepak Chavan, Datta Bharne, Narhari Jirval, Vaibhav Pichad and Rahul Jagtap from the NCP.

Leader of Opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil said the government can suspend all the Opposition MLAs but they will continue to raise farmers' issues.

In a major development to the Maharashtra resident doctors' strike, the Bombay High Court, which was expected to hear the matter on junior doctors' mass leave on Wednesday, will most likely hear it on Thursday.

Reports suggested that because of unavailability of the CJ's bench, the hearing has been postponed to another day.

The court on Tuesday had asked the protesting doctors to resume their duties immediately and said it will hear the matter on junior doctors' mass leave on Wednesday.

The court also had added that continued protests might result in contempt of court as the doctors' association had in 2016 given an undertaking that it would not go on strike.

For the third consecutive day on Wednesday, over 3,000 resident doctors continued their mass casual leave protest against growing incidents of attacks by patients' relatives on them.

Medical services in 17 government hospitals in Maharashtra, including four in Mumbai, were severely affected because of the strike.

Thousands of patients have been deprived of medical care in the wake of the protest across the state.

Indians rate customer care service as the top factor while choosing a business and are willing to reward outstanding service by spending more as well as spreading a positive word, says a survey.

According to the findings of the American Express 2017 Global Customer Service Barometer released today, a great service experience can have a positive impact on brands.

Businesses in India should not just focus on providing a good value for money product, but also an equally excellent customer service experience to attract and retain customers.

The survey noted around 84 per cent of Indian consumers say the quality of customer service is very important when they are deciding to become or remain a customer.

Moreover, 86 per cent of Indians are also willing to spend more for a company providing excellent customer service experience; much ahead of United States (70 per cent), UK (59 per cent), Singapore (72 per cent) and Japan (33 per cent).

In addition, Indian customers talk much more about their positive experience, than any other country.

"Companies across the country pay a lot of emphasis on product value proposition but it is time for them to give an equal or more importance to customer service for a real competitive advantage.

Putting customers' needs first to deliver great service experience is not just the right thing to do, it also makes great business sense," said Pradeep Kapur, Senior Vice President, American Express Global Servicing Network Japan and Asia Pacific.

Besides, Indians are way ahead of their market counterparts when it comes to sharing their good customer service experience on social media.

Not only have they used social media for sharing their feedback, 64 per cent of Indians have also used social channel for availing customer care services, yet again the highest compared to Mexico, United States, Hong Kong and Japan.

On the other hand, 63 per cent of Indians chose not to complete a business transaction or make a purchase because of poor customer service; second highest amongst markets.

"Customer care is a real competitive differentiator.

Because of the growing importance of word of mouth about consumers' interactions with companies, creating an excellent service experience can be a game changer," Kapur said.

The American Express 2017 Global Customer Service Barometer survey has been conducted across nine countries – India, United States, Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, Italy, Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday extended his greeting to people on the occasion of Bihar Day.

"On the occasion of Bihar day, I offer my heartiest greetings to the people of Bihar," the prime minister said in a tweet.

Bihar Diwas or Bihar Day is celebrated every year on March 22, marking the formation of the state of Bihar.

The state was carved out from West Bengal in 1912 and declared a separate state by the then colonial British government.

Jammu and Kashmir DGP SP Vaid has said that the people of the state should introspect on the prevailing situation in the Kashmir Valley, which was once inhabited by Sufi saints.

"Kashmir is a place which was inhabited by Sufi saints for centuries. I would like everybody to introspect where we have brought this heaven on earth to. Have we made it a hell?" 

"Kashmiri youths are for peace and for living a life of peace. No one likes violence and everyone wants to live a peaceful life," he told reporters here yesterday.

"Wahhabi element wants to change this," he said.

Replying to a question about the security arrangements for bypolls to the two Lok Sabha constituencies in Kashmir Valley, he said that police will do its job and ensure free and fair polling.

On the surfacing of posters warning people to stay away from polling, Vaid said, "We have identified some of the miscreants and cases have also been registered against them.

I am sure that people will defy the threat calls and participate in the polling process." 

"As far as security is concerned, whether it is the Line of Control or the International Border, the Army, the BSF and police are working jointly," he said.

Two and three wheeler major TVS Motor Company Ltd's agreement to make high powered motorcycles for Germany's BMW has come to fruition with the Indian company starting to ship out BMW branded 310cc bikes, said a senior company official.

He also said TVS Motor Company would invest around Rs.350 crore next fiscal towards expansion of capacity, launch one new model each of scooter and motorcycle are some of the targets for 2017-18.

In 2013, TVS Motor and BMW signed an agreement to jointly develop motorcycles in the 250-500cc range to be sold through their respective distribution network.

The 310cc motorcycle and its engine were developed jointly with the German automobile giant BMW on a common platform/architecture.

Not revealing any numbers about the number of units made or shipped out for BMW President and CEO K.N. Radhakrishnan said it is up to the German auto major to talk about the numbers.

Speaking to a group of journalists who visited the company's Hosur plant on Tuesday, Radhakrishnan said TVS Motor is yet to decide on the distribution model-separate network or sold through existing dealership – for its own 310cc bike Akula that would be launched next fiscal.

Radhakrishnan said the company has budgeted a capital expenditure of around Rs 350 crore next fiscal towards capacity expansion and other aspects.

"The investment will be funded out of internal accrual," he said.

According to him, the company has started rolling out BS-IV emission norms compliant vehicles.

Radhakrishnan said the company will close the fiscal 2016-17 with a market share of around 14 per cent as the sales scooters and motorcycles picking up.

He said the company's current market share in scooters is around 17 per cent (Q3 2016-17), motorcycles eight per cent (Q3 2016-17).

He said the company's revenue from spare parts sales is around 10 per cent.

Queried about the three wheeler market, Radhakrishnan said sales has dipped owing to various market factors, saying nearly 65 per cent of the three wheeler produced are exported where the market has gone down.

On the company's Indonesian venture, Radhakrishnan said the business is expected to breakeven next fiscal with losses halved this year to $3 million from around $6 million.

Writer and former actress Twinkle Khanna, who has turned producer with Pad Man, says she is proud of being associated with a movie that brings the spotlight on a "shamed" subject like menstruation.

The shoot of the film — inspired by Arunachalam Muruganantham who found a way to make cheap, affordable sanitary napkins for women in his village — got underway last week in Indore.

Talking about it, Twinkle said at an event here on Tuesday: "It (shoot) is going very well. Mr Muruganantham was also there. It's a wonderful project. It will bring awareness about something which has so far been cloaked and shamed, and I am very happy to be a part of the film."

The movie features Twinkle's husband and actor Akshay Kumar in the lead role, with Radhika Apte featuring as his wife. It is being directed by R. Balakrishnan, better known as R. Balki.

Twinkle spoke on the sidelines of L'Oreal Professional's launch of French Browns, the colour trend of 2017.

 Lewis Hamilton will look to put his stamp on the new Formula One season at this week's Australian Grand Prix, as he seeks to regain the world title following the shock retirement of reigning champion Nico Rosberg.

Ten years after his F1 debut at Albert Park, Hamilton arrives at the downtown circuit as the leading light of a sport now under new management and featuring wider and faster cars.

Hamilton, 32, was beaten to last year's title by Mercedes team-mate Rosberg, who quit the sport five days later citing the intense pressures of competing.

This year, Hamilton will be face renewed competition from Ferrari and Red Bull, who are expected to close the gap on dominant Mercedes, as well his new team-mate Valtteri Bottas of Finland.

Hamilton is revelling in the new generation of quicker cars, which coincides with American group Liberty Media's takeover and the exit of long-time ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone.

"I'm finding the car is much more physical to drive than in the past," said Hamilton, who is seeking his fourth world title after victories in 2008, 2014 and 2015.

"It's so much faster in the corners. The force you feel on your body and on your neck is much higher. I've got bruises and bumps where I've never really had them before." 

An overhaul of technical regulations has ushered in wider cars with broader tyres, which are expected to be noisier and provide faster racing, but also put greater physical demands on the drivers.

"Having spoken to the drivers, these machines are violent — just like Formula One cars should be," said Mercedes chief Toto Wolff.

"The target with these new regulations was to make this generation of F1 cars the quickest in the history of the sport.

"And looking at the results from testing, we're well on the way to achieving that. It's something that's never been done before and that's a radical change." 

Final exams are over. Let the kids enjoy the luxury of a leisurely childhood without any stress for few days. This is the perfect time for them after a long hectic schedule of lessons and exams. Let your child lead the free days under your supervision and guidance. It will encourage them to maintain an active life.

Here are few suggestions for you to guide them. Leave the rest to them. You can give your children few memories to cherish in a smart way.

A colourful healthy breakfast with your child's favorite flavours is a good start for the day. Let them pick from the variety of dishes that they can contribute to make in a healthy and fun way.

Kids love activity-based things to do. You may encourage them to design some fun games like salt art, wonder dough, etc. and keep them away from modern gadgets.

It's summer time and kids love ice-creams. Involve them in making fruit ice-creams at home.

Give them a chance to write and dress up a story. Let them act out their own imagination.

You may arrange a free style dance party with fun games. Invite their friends and include their favourite dance numbers and music.

Get them involved in recording sounds of nature and make them listen to it in a dark room.

Give them a chance of photography and connect them with fun full of creativity.

Encourage them to explore and develop new hobbies.

For them, it’s time to watch films, catch up with neighbourhood friends, play cricket, badminton, cards and indulge in desired hobbies. Let them do whatever they want to do. Just keep a check.

Yes, you have endless resources and more ideas than you can ever implement to rejuvenate your kids after exams. Start thinking and looking for them, re-energise them for the new academic session.

Don’t try to fit your desires of computer class, maths tutorials, foreign language programmes or gym in their leisure time. Let them go for spontaneous and simple fun of their own choice into their post exam time for few days. It would help them grow naturally and as relaxed individuals.

Final exams are over. Let the kids enjoy the luxury of a leisurely childhood without any stress for few days. This is the perfect time for them after a long hectic schedule of lessons and exams. Let your child lead the free days under your supervision and guidance. It will encourage them to maintain an active life.

Here are few suggestions for you to guide them. Leave the rest to them. You can give your children few memories to cherish in a smart way.

A colourful healthy breakfast with your child's favorite flavours is a good start for the day. Let them pick from the variety of dishes that they can contribute to make in a healthy and fun way.

Kids love activity-based things to do. You may encourage them to design some fun games like salt art, wonder dough, etc. and keep them away from modern gadgets.

It's summer time and kids love ice-creams. Involve them in making fruit ice-creams at home.

Give them a chance to write and dress up a story. Let them act out their own imagination.

You may arrange a free style dance party with fun games. Invite their friends and include their favourite dance numbers and music.

Get them involved in recording sounds of nature and make them listen to it in a dark room.

Give them a chance of photography and connect them with fun full of creativity.

Encourage them to explore and develop new hobbies.

For them, it’s time to watch films, catch up with neighbourhood friends, play cricket, badminton, cards and indulge in desired hobbies. Let them do whatever they want to do. Just keep a check.

Yes, you have endless resources and more ideas than you can ever implement to rejuvenate your kids after exams. Start thinking and looking for them, re-energise them for the new academic session.

Don’t try to fit your desires of computer class, maths tutorials, foreign language programmes or gym in their leisure time. Let them go for spontaneous and simple fun of their own choice into their post exam time for few days. It would help them grow naturally and as relaxed individuals.

Three Indian scientific journals have featured, for the first time since their inception, special issues authored exclusively by women scientists to trigger a debate on lower representation of women in science.

Centred on International Day of Women and Girls in Science (February 11) and International Women's Day on March 8, an all-female authorship is the focus in Current Science journal (forthcoming issue) and the March issue of Resonance (published by the Indian Academy of Sciences) and Physics News (Indian Physics Association publication).

Researchers Prajval Shastri and Sudeshna Mazumdar-Leighton, guest editors of the Resonance issue write in the editorial that "such a 'special' issue should not have been necessary".

Expanding on the gender gap in sciences and other arenas, they note: "Science faculty in Indian universities, (i.e., trained science PhDs) have about 45 per cent women."

"Yet, this fraction is not matched in elite research institutions, in institutional leadership, in awards and honours, and also, it turns out, in the authorship of Resonance, which is under 16 per cent even over the last three years."

The Resonance edition is oriented towards the physical sciences as the field "has a very large gender gap", say the guest editors.

Resonance showcases Lise Meitner, an "extraordinary physicist who discovered nuclear fission and the world has never been the same since. Sadly for Meitner, like for many scientists of her time and after who happened to be women, acknowledgement was far from proportional to their contributions to humanity."

Shastri also guest-edited Physics News, along with Bindu Bambah and Vandana Nanal.

Current Science (launched in 1932) features articles by young Indian women scientists and also includes a short paragraph about them to highlight their career graph.

"Even though the recent successes of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have brought the achievements of its women scientists to the forefront, other than Tessy Thomas, the others remain unknown. This special section is a small attempt towards redressing this situation, by focusing on the work of young women scientists," write guest editors Sulabha Kulkarni and Neelima Gupte in the preface.

"We therefore hope that this attempt to showcase good scientific work by young women scientists, will not only be encouraging to women researchers, but will also be seen as a good initiative to encourage and bring to the force the work of women scientists," they say.

Three Indian scientific journals have featured, for the first time since their inception, special issues authored exclusively by women scientists to trigger a debate on lower representation of women in science.

Centred on International Day of Women and Girls in Science (February 11) and International Women's Day on March 8, an all-female authorship is the focus in Current Science journal (forthcoming issue) and the March issue of Resonance (published by the Indian Academy of Sciences) and Physics News (Indian Physics Association publication).

Researchers Prajval Shastri and Sudeshna Mazumdar-Leighton, guest editors of the Resonance issue write in the editorial that "such a 'special' issue should not have been necessary".

Expanding on the gender gap in sciences and other arenas, they note: "Science faculty in Indian universities, (i.e., trained science PhDs) have about 45 per cent women."

"Yet, this fraction is not matched in elite research institutions, in institutional leadership, in awards and honours, and also, it turns out, in the authorship of Resonance, which is under 16 per cent even over the last three years."

The Resonance edition is oriented towards the physical sciences as the field "has a very large gender gap", say the guest editors.

Resonance showcases Lise Meitner, an "extraordinary physicist who discovered nuclear fission and the world has never been the same since. Sadly for Meitner, like for many scientists of her time and after who happened to be women, acknowledgement was far from proportional to their contributions to humanity."

Shastri also guest-edited Physics News, along with Bindu Bambah and Vandana Nanal.

Current Science (launched in 1932) features articles by young Indian women scientists and also includes a short paragraph about them to highlight their career graph.

"Even though the recent successes of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have brought the achievements of its women scientists to the forefront, other than Tessy Thomas, the others remain unknown. This special section is a small attempt towards redressing this situation, by focusing on the work of young women scientists," write guest editors Sulabha Kulkarni and Neelima Gupte in the preface.

"We therefore hope that this attempt to showcase good scientific work by young women scientists, will not only be encouraging to women researchers, but will also be seen as a good initiative to encourage and bring to the force the work of women scientists," they say.

Bollywood actress Disha Patani on Tuesday discarded the news of replacing Sara Ali Khan in Student of the Year 2.

"I am also reading this news. It is weird to read the news that says sometimes Sara sometimes me. I don't know what's going on," she said at the launch of her own app on Tuesday.

Asked if she has been approached for the film, the MS Dhoni actress said: No comments.

Reports were doing round that, director Punit Malhotra is keen to cast Disha Patani opposite Tiger Shroff in the second instalment of 2012 blockbuster. Punit is very impressed with Disha as they had recently shot for a commercial together.

The young actress who is set to accelerate her popularity further by connecting with her fans by launching her new mobile app said: "She will be super-friendly and expressive on the platform but not going to break the fine line between being personal and professional."

She also spoke about trolls on social media, "We have freedom of speech and anybody's idea can't be a fact. If I am writing down something and it is my idea, my imagination. It won't be fact. I don't take others' views seriously because that isn't a fact. I do respect everyone's view but I am not affected."

"When I see anyone on social media write nasty things I block them immediately," she added later.

Disha was seen in her last release MS Dhoni: The Untold Story and Kung Fu Yoga with Jackie Chan.