The Centre has been supporting all state governments for conservation of identified lakes and wetlands in the country on cost sharing basis, Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday.

HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said the Environment Ministry has been supplementing efforts of the state governments under the scheme of National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Eco-systems (NPCA) for conservation of identified lakes and wetlands in the country on cost sharing basis between the central and state governments.

Speaking on behalf of Environment Minister Anil Dave, Javadekar said no proposal has been received for conservation of Vellayani lake in Kerala under the scheme NPCA.

The Kerala state bio-diversity board has informed that they submitted a concept note for conservation of Vellayani lake in Thiruvananthapuram as a biodiversity heritage site under the Biodiversity Act 2002.

"As per the Act, the concerned state governments have been empowered to notify in consultation with local bodies, areas of biodiversity importance in their states as biodiversity heritage site," he said during Question Hour.

Legendary manager Alex Ferguson is set to feature in the Old Trafford dugout one more time, Manchester United said.

The 75-year-old Scot, who managed United from 1986 till 2013, has been serving as a director and ambassador for the English giants since his retirement from coaching.He will be making his return for United midfielder Michael Carrick’s testimonial which is scheduled for June 4, 2017, according to the statement on the Manchester United website.

It will be a reunion of Ferguson’s 2008 Champions League and Premier League winning the United side, as the former teammates will line up against a Michael Carrick All-Star XI, which will be managed by former Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp.

While which players will play for the 2008 United side, there is a high probability that the retired duo of Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes, among others, will feature. Carrick’s All-Star XI already has a few big names confirmed, chiefly Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard.  

Carrick, who was signed by Ferguson in 2006 from Spurs, has enjoyed a glittering decade at the club and while he doesn't get much playing time under current incumbent Jose Mourinho, is held high by the 'Red Devils' faithful for his dependable displays from midfield. 

Five persons have died and several others admitted to hospital over the last three days after they consumed spurious liquor in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district, a police officer said on Tuesday.

Unofficial sources however, put the death toll at 11.

The incident occured at Gholabazar here, the officer said.

The manufacturer of the spurious liquor was also among the dead, Superintendent of Police, Baruipur Police District, Arijit Sinha said.

People were taken ill soon after consuming the hooch on Sunday night and rushed to various hospitals where the deaths occured, the police officer said.

England's new Test captain Joe Root and One Day counterpart Eoin Morgan must provide crowd pleasing cricket and bear a sunny disposition so as to attract new players to the game, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said Monday.

The ECB is taking steps to significantly boost the number of players at grassroots level — which has stagnated over the past five years — and the England cricket team is seen as a useful weapon in that regard.

Tom Harrison, chief executive of the ECB, said the England cricketers and their director of cricket former England skipper Andrew Strauss knew what was expected of them.

"Andrew Strauss and the England team are very clear that part of their responsibility is playing brave cricket — this commitment to playing an exciting formula of cricket every time they go on the park is linked to (the participation strategy).

"Joe Root and Eoin Morgan understand their responsibility to play exciting cricket for future generations to connect with and for fans to get behind."

Harrison, who has been in the post since January 2015 and installed Strauss at the expense of Paul Downton, said even if England were to lose if they went down fighting the reaction would be kinder.

"It's a very deliberate strategy," said Harrison.

"It doesn't work every time but we understand you're more likely to be forgiven for having a bad day if you've tried everything to win a game as opposed to trying not to lose it, which is a key difference.

"Ever since Andrew took the job as director of cricket he saw the link between successful England teams, and I mean successful by approach as much as results, was key."

Harrison, who played cricket for Derbyshire and Northamptonshire, said the days of England trying to grind out a one-off Test victory are over.

"People like the fact the team is taking calculated risks, at very competitive limits, but also with a smile on their faces," he said.

Actor Robert Downey Jr has been roped in to play the title role in upcoming film The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle, which is based on the classic character who can talk to animals.

The film will be directed by Stephen Gaghan, reports variety.com.

British author Hugh Lofting created Doctor Dolittle in the 1920s series of children's books, in which a Victorian-era physician opts to treat animals instead of humans because he is able to speak with them.

The character was portrayed by Rex Harrison in the 1967 musical Doctor Dolittle, which won Oscars for Best Original Song and Best Visual Effects. 

Eddie Murphy starred in the 1998 film Doctor Dolittle and the 2001 sequel.

The BJP on Tuesday hailed the Supreme Court's advice for an amicable settlement of the Ayodhya Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said that a solution through friendly negotiations was the best way to solve the long-pending dispute.

"This is a very good step by the apex court. Even the BJP has been encouraging solving the issue through negotiations. It is a very good step to solve the issue by sitting together and negotiating," said PP Chaudhary, Minister of State for Law and Justice and a senior BJP leader.

The apex court on Tuesday said that the amicable settlement of the Ayodhya dispute was a better course than insistence on judicial pronouncement.

However, another senior BJP leader, Subramanian Swamy, said that the Ramjanmabhoomi in Ayodhya should be used only for constructing the Ram temple.

"Masjid can be built anywhere, Namaz can be read anywhere… it can be read on the street. The Ram Janmabhoomi is for the Ram Mandir and it should be used for the Ram temple only," said Swamy.

Swamy is also a petitioner who has sought that the Supreme Court should constitute a bench to hear a batch of petitions challenging a 2010 Allahabad High Court order.

The 2010 order said that there should be a partition of the Ayodhya land between the parties to the dispute. 

However, the Wakf board ruled out the out-of-court settlement, stating that the case has been in the court for long.

"An amicable solution is impossible. This has to be dealt in the court itself. After all, it is long pending in the court," said Zafaryab Jilani, Convenor of the Babri Masjid Action Committee.

Indian trio of Zoravar Singh Sandhu, Kynan Chenai and Birendeep Sodhi could not make it through to the six-man final round and bowed out in qualification stage of International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Shotgun.

Zoravar came closest, shooting a score of 121 out of 125 to finish 8th. Zoravar had reached the finals of the New Delhi World Cup stage by shooting 118.

Olympian Kynan Chenai shot 120 to finish 16th while Birendeep Sodhi finished with a score of 112 securing a miserable 53rd position.

World No 5 Alberto Fernandez won gold having won bronze in the first World Cup stage held in New Delhi earlier this month.

He bettered that performance by beating Antonio Bailon 45-42 in the finals. Aaron Heading of Great Britain won the Bronze.

India's next competitors are 14-year old Shapath Bharadwaj and New Delhi World Cup silver medalist Ankur Mittal in the men's double trap.

The central government has swapped places of the head honchos of the Indian Bank and the IDBI Bank, the Indian Bank said on March 20.

In a regulatory filing, the Indian Bank informed the BSE that the central government in a notification on March 18, 2017, appointed Kishor Piraji Kharat, Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the IDBI Bank as the MD and CEO of the Indian Bank for the remaining period of his current tenure or until further orders, whichever is earlier.

Similarly, the central government appointed the present MD and CEO of the Indian Bank, Mahesh Kumar Jain, as the MD & CEO of the IDBI Bank.

Two days after being sworn in as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday reached Delhi and met President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister Arun Jaitley and BJP chief Amit Shah.

"The new UP CM will also meet BJP chief Amit Shah to discuss the distribution of portfolios among the ministers," a source was quoted as saying by a news agency.

Reports suggests that there is a tussle between Chief Minister Adityanath and his deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya over the important home portfolio. Both Adityanath and Maurya wanted the home department and have turned to Delhi for a solution.

There is also a scramble for the finance ministry with the other Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma, too, in the race for the position.

England and Leicester striker Jamie Vardy says his alleged role in getting Claudio Ranieri sacked after a terrible slump in form placed the champions in danger of relegation has earned him and his family death threats.

The 30-year-old, whose goals last season helped Leicester to win the title and the one time non-league player a place in the England team, added it was barely credible the only punishment the perpetrators of the threats on Twitter received was a slap on the wrist.

"I read one story that said it (the meeting between several senior players and the club owner over Ranieri) was straight after the Sevilla game (a 2-1 first leg last 16 Champions League defeat in Spain which saw the Italian sacked soon after).

"It said I was personally involved in a meeting when I was actually sat in anti-doping for three hours," said Vardy, who was speaking at the England training camp ahead of a friendly on Wednesday with Germany.

Vardy, whose vigour and form have returned since Craig Shakespeare replaced Ranieri, said getting at hiom he could just about handle but attakcing his family was another.

"Then of course the story is out there and people pick it up and jump on it and you're getting death threats about your family, kids, everything," he said.

"On social media, you name it — walking down the street. To be honest I get them every week. Football fans don't seem to like me. I just get on with it but when people are trying to cut your missus up while she's driving along, with the kids in the back of the car, it's not the best. It's happened plenty of times.

"It is terrifying. All that can happen is they get banned on Twitter. People get cut up but if there's no cameras you're screwed."

Bhaujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Tuesday alleged in the Rajya Sabha that Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were tampered with in the just concluded Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

"Representatives should be of people's choice and not that of EVMs," she said, raising the issue during Zero Hour.

"Democracy is being murdered," she said.

Members from the treasury benches opposed and shouted against her. Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said: "People's mandate should be honoured."

Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien tried to pacify her, saying that the matter on electoral reforms was scheduled for discussion on Wednesday and the issue can be then discussed.

Kurien also assured the Congress' Digvijay Singh that his demand for a discussion on the conduct of Goa Governor Mridula Sinha was "being examined seriously".

The Deputy Chairman said: "It is under serious consideration. You need not worry."

Digvijay Singh, who submitted a substantive motion on the issue, has been demanding a discussion for the past three days.

The Rupee weakened by eight paise to 65.44 against the US Dollar in early trade on Tuesday at the Interbank Foreign Exchange due to appreciation of the American currency overseas.

Dealers attributed the Rupee's fall to increased demand for the US currency from importers.

However, a higher opening in the domestic equity market capped the losses.

On Monday, the Rupee had closed at a fresh 16-month high of 65.36 against the greenback in the face of Dollar unwinding from exporters and banks.

Meanwhile, the benchmark Sensex recovered by 56.92 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 29,575.66 in early trade.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday expressed unhappiness over lack of quorum often causing delay in Parliament's functioning and asked BJP members to ensure their presence, saying he can call any of them any time.

He told them at a BJP Parliamentary Party meeting that attending Parliament is their basic responsibility and added wryly that he can do a lot of things but cannot be present in the Houses on their behalf.

Modi ticked off parliamentarians after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar spoke about incidents of lack of quorum in both the Houses, including yesterday, prompting the Prime Minister to say it should not be about requesting MPs to be present as it is their basic responsibility.

BJP members said he told them that it did not matter to him if they were in the Central Hall, a place to host joint sittings of Parliament where MPs often meet for informal conversation, as what is important is that they should be inside the Houses.

"I can call any of you any time," he told them, a member said, adding that Modi sounded unhappy over absenteeism.

Modi had in the past also asked members to ensure their presence but this is the first time he has spoken about in such detail and talked tough.

He recalled remarks of an RSS functionary that though the Hindutva organisation had spread far and wide, and its members had a lot of work to do but did not have time to attend shakha.

Likewise, MPs too seemed to have so much of work that they do not have time to attend Parliament, which should not be the case, he said.

As representatives of lakhs of people of their constituency, it is their job to attend the House proceedings, he said.

In his briefing, Kumar said Modi also laid out the "road map" for the party as it gears up to celebrate its foundation day on April 6 and Dalit icon Bhim Rao Ambedkar's birth anniversary on April 14.

 Actor Jake Gyllenhaal says he believes in aliens and thinks the extra-terrestrial beings could even be living among us.

The 36-year-old, who plays an astronaut in the upcoming space-based sci-fi horror film "Life" thinks there is a lot more in space that is still not explored.

"I believe there's so much yet to be explored," Gyllenhaal told nydailynews.com.

"I think absolutely, there is no doubt in my mind — whether or not they're friendly or already here — I think there's a lot left to explore," he added.

Directed by Daniel Espinosa, Life features a crew aboard the International Space Station, which has captured a sample from Mars, which backfires when the organism begins to grow stronger and smarter.

The film is slated to release in the US on Friday.

Actress Hilary Duff says the last five years of her life — since her son Luca Cruz Comrie was born — have been "the best and the hardest".

The 29-year-old took to Instagram to post a heartfelt message in celebration of his birthday on Monday, reports eonline.com.

While sharing a photograph of her son on the photo-sharing platform, Duff wrote: "Hey kid… The past five years have been the best, hardest, most blessed years of my life. I love you so much. The world is yours my love… I hope you take it Happy Birthday Luca Cruz."

Luca is Duff's only child with her former husband Mike Comrie.

In a battle against fake news, Facebook has started to roll out a new tool that fact-checks the stories a user shares.

According to a report in Telegraph on Monday, some users in the US saw a pop-up window appearing when they shared a story on their profile, reading "Disputed by multiple, independent fact-checkers."

Facebook has been severely criticised for promoting fake news and spreading misinformation. It was also accused of helping US President Donald Trump win the elections by allowing misinformation and fake stories on its platform.

"Before you share this content, you might want to know that the fact-checking sites, Snopes.com and Associated Press disputed its accuracy," the report noted.

However, the tool is not available to all Facebook users yet. The pop-window appeared on a story about "Irish slave trade" which the Facebook fact-checking team believes is a conspiracy theory.

To curb the fake news, Facebook has rolled out several tools to flag false stories. In December last year, social media giant announced to flag stories with the aim to provide more context to help people perceive the news in a proper way.

"We'll use the reports from our community, along with other signals, to send stories to these organisations," Facebook was quoted as saying.