Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who will be seen playing role of a contract killer in his upcoming Babumoshai Bandukbaaz, thinks murderers can be romantic at heart also.

When asked if he will be seen romancing in the film, the Gangs of Wasseypur 2 star said: "Why not? Contract killers can also be romantic."

Nawazuddin was speaking at the poster shoot of Babumoshai Bandukbaaz on Monday.

"Romance can be done in many ways. Every person has their own way to express romanticism," he added later.

"My role is of contract killer 'Babumoshai'. He is different so his expression of love is different too. In Gangs of Wasseypur 2, my role was of a shy person who asked for permission to hold his girlfriend's hand. Here 'Babumoshai' is fearless. He romances on the basis of the gun," he told the reporters here.

The action thriller film directed by Kushan Nandy features Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Bidita Bag, Tahir Raj Bhasin, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Roopa Ganguly, Tota Roy Chowdhury and Biswajit Chakraborty.

Nawazuddin was also asked about his thoughts on nepotism in Bollywood, he said, "I don't think nepotism exists in Bollywood otherwise I could not have been in this position today. Good work and talent may take the time to get recognised but always earns respect."

The warming climate could make us shorter over time, suggests new research that found that mammals in the past had responded to extreme global warming events by shrinking in size.

While this mammalian dwarfism has previously been linked to the largest of the warming events, the new research has found that this evolutionary process can happen in smaller such events as well.

The findings could help shape an understanding of underlying effects of current human-caused climate change.

"We know that during the largest of these hyperthermals, known as the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, or PETM, temperatures rose an estimated nine to 14 degrees Fahrenheit and some mammals shrank by 30 percent over time, so we wanted to see if this pattern repeated during other warming events," said lead author of the study Abigail D'Ambrosia, a doctoral student at University of New Hampshire.

"The hope is that it would help us learn more about the possible effects of today's global warming," D'Ambrosia said.

In the study, published in the journal Science Advances, researchers collected teeth and jaw fragments in the fossil-rich Bighorn Basin region of Wyoming in the US.

Their focus was on several early mammals including Arenahippus, an early horse the size of a small dog, and Diacodexis, a rabbit-sized predecessor to hoofed mammals.

Using the size of the molar teeth as a proxy for body size, the researchers found a statistically significant decrease in the body size of these mammals during a second, smaller, hyperthermal, called the ETM2.

Arenahippus decreased by about 14 per cent in size, and the Diacodexis by about 15 per cent.

"We found evidence of mammalian dwarfism during this second hyperthermal. However, it was less extreme than during the PETM," D'Ambrosia said.

The researchers believe that the body change could have been an evolutionary response to create a more efficient way to reduce body heat.

A smaller body size would allow the animals to cool down faster. Nutrient availability and quality in plants may have also played a role.

Previous research shows that both the warming events considered in this study coincided with increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and that could have limited nutrient quality in plants, which may have contributed to the smaller mammal body size.

The carbon dioxide released during both hyperthermals has a similar footprint to today's fossil fuels, the study said.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath arrived here on Tuesday to meet President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a source has confirmed.

Adityanath — who became the new chief minister after his Bharatiya Janata Party won the assembly polls with a huge mandate — will meet Modi to discuss development issues in the state.

"The new UP CM will also meet BJP chief Amit Shah to discuss the distribution of portfolios among the ministers," said the source.

Singer Nicole Scherzinger says she is a "pussycat" when it comes to love, but a lion in every other space in life.

Scherzinger, best known for as band member of The Pussycat Dolls, also called herself a "fool for love". 

"I'm a lion in most aspects of my life, except for in love. I'm just like a little pussycat," mirror.co.uk quoted Scherzinger as saying. 

She added: "I'm a hopeless romantic. A fool for love. I'm not gonna be like, 'Yeah, LOVE ME!' I'm not that girl."

Scherzinger has had her fill of heartbreak, most notably from a seven-year on-off relationship with racing driver Lewis Hamilton that ended in 2015. For the past year, she has been dating tennis player Grigor Dimitrov, 25, and while she is happy to confirm it's going well, she's tight-lipped on specifics.

"Am I in love right now? I'm afraid I don't like to talk about my personal life. But I'm happy."

Singers Selena Gomez and The Weeknd enjoyed a romantic date at Ripley's Aquarium here.

Gomez and The Weeknd, who started dating each other earlier this year, documented their date via social media on Sunday.

The Weeknd posted a series of videos and photographs of their day out on Instagram, reports usmagazine.com.

In one clip, Gomez can be seen sitting on the floor and looking up at jellyfish as they swim in a huge tank, while The Weeknd also posted a photograph of himself watching the jellyfish swim by.

Some of their fans also took to the image-sharing site to talk about their favourite stars.

"Just saw The Weeknd and Selena Gomez downtown," one fan wrote.

Another user shared a video of the stars leaving the aquatic venue.

Automatic toilet paper dispensers using face scanners are put on trial at a public toilet in Beijing with the aim of reducing paper usage, a media report said on Monday.

The toilet is located at the Temple of Heaven Park, one of most popular tourism sites in Beijing, the People's Daily said in a report.

The park has provided free paper in its public toilets for 10 years but has reported seriously excessive use.

Six face scanning paper dispensers have been installed.

To receive paper, you have to stand in the facial detection area and be scanned for a few seconds. The machine dispenses paper of a certain length but to get more, users have to wait to use the scanner again. 

Personnel have been stationed to show people how to use the new system, however, it still takes about half a minute for each person to receive paper, way longer than using a normal dispenser.

The machines will be trialed for about two weeks before going into official service depending on how they perform, the daily said in the report.

Paper use at the Temple of Heaven had already been decrease in the last two years despite growing numbers of tourists over the same period.

However, it is claimed, some people still lack paper use manners. 

According to a toilet cleaner at the Temple of Heaven, some people take much more paper than needed and sometimes even take a whole roll away with them. Sometimes paper is used up in only 20 minutes.

The manager of the Temple of Heaven Park told the People's Daily that the paper has been overused mainly by residents who live around the neighbourhood instead of tourists; some people intentionally take paper here because it is free of charge.

Democratic senators during a congressional hearing launched their campaign against Judge Neil Gorsuch, President Donald Trump's nominee for the vacant Supreme Court seat.

Gorsuch, 49, appeared on Monday for the first time before the Senate Judiciary Committee to ask senators to vote for him and allow him to take a lifelong seat on the high court replacing conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in February 2016, Efe news reported.

Gorsuch stressed "the importance of an independent judiciary" in his opening statement to the committee.

"Under our Constitution, it is for this body, the people's representatives, to make new laws. For the executive to ensure those laws are faithfully enforced. And for neutral and independent judges to apply the law in the people's disputes," he said.

During his 13-minute remarks, the Judge – who serves on the Denver-based 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals – made no reference to Trump's attacks on other judges but directed some of his remarks at the rest of the country's judiciary and thanked the nation's judges for their work.

Democratic senators have asked Gorsuch to publicly take a position on Trump's attacks on the judges who have blocked his executive order temporarily prohibiting US entry to refugees and nationals of six Muslim-majority nations.

Specifically, one of the Democrats' objectives in these hearings is to evaluate Gorsuch's willingness to oppose Trump, given that the Supreme Court potentially will have the last word on measures that the president is proclaiming by decree, including the immigrant and refugee travel ban.

In addition, during the hearing, Democratic lawmakers criticised Gorsuch for the rulings he has issued in favour of large companies.

Meanwhile, Democrats portrayed Gorsuch as a coldhearted magistrate who interprets the law literally, while Republicans praised his legal preparation and expressed support for some of his rulings, including the one he issued in 2013 against former President Barack Obama's healthcare reform.

To gain confirmation, once moving through the Judiciary Committee, Gorsuch will need 60 votes in the full Senate, a barrier that could be difficult for him to overcome since Republicans only hold 52 seats and would need the support of at least eight Democrats.

That support could be difficult to muster because Democrats are still angered over the Republicans' decision not to consider Obama's nomination of Judge Merrick Garland for the high court seat, a move that was ignored by the Republican lawmakers using the argument that it made no sense to approve such a nominee in an election year.

Given these difficulties, Trump has asked Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to resort to the so-called "nuclear option," a rule approved in the past by Democrats to enable them to approve bills or nominations by a simple majority of 51 votes instead of a super-majority of 60.

The committee will meet again at 9.30 am, on Tuesday and is scheduled to hold hearings until Thursday, after which the full Senate vote on Gorsuch's nomination could come in early April.

World Bank's probe body CAO has raised concerns over IFC's insufficient action to address environmental norms violation by Tata Power arm Coastal Gujarat Power Ltd (CGPL).

World Bank investment arm IFC is an investor in CGPL.

The CAO, in its second monitoring report in relation to audit of CGPL following complaint by fishing communities, said there was a need for rapid, participatory and remedial approach to assess and address project impacts raised by the complainants.

The office of the Compliance Advisor/Ombudsman (CAO) is an independent body reporting to World Bank which reviews complaints from communities affected by development projects undertaken by World Bank lending arms IFC and MIGA.

In July 2012, CAO had concluded a compliance appraisal and found that a number of issues raised, including pollution of water and air around the plant, that merited further enquiry for remedial measures to be taken up.

"CAO remains concerned that the actions reported by IFC are not sufficient to address the findings of the audit," said the World Bank's probe body in its latest report.

"In particular, CAO considers that there is an outstanding need for a rapid, participatory and expressly remedial approach to assessing and addressing project impacts raised by the complainants," it added.

CAO said IFC did not ensure that the marine impact of the project was assessed taking into account "the differing values attached to biodiversity by specific stakeholders".

"CAO notes that IFC has acknowledged in its supervision that CGPL has an ongoing breach of regional standards set by the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) in relation to levels of nitrogen oxides emitted from its stacks."

Besides, IFC failed to ensure that CGPL correctly applied the World Bank Group Thermal Power Guidelines (1998) on an airshed that should have been classified as degraded, it added.

On air quality around the plant, CAO said PM10 levels are consistently above national standards in several locations around the plant.

IFC is expected to work with its client to ensure that PM10 levels are brought within the national standards, or to demonstrate that CGPL;s activities are not a significant contributor to ambient PM10, for example through composition analysis, CAO added.

In response to queries, IFC said that as part of ongoing project supervision it has taken up the matter with CGPL as per CAO's action plan.

The action plan includes undertaking a set of third party studies, several of which have already been completed and the rest are underway.

"Based on the findings of these, where required, the company will, in consultation with key stakeholders, implement measures to ensure that its operations remain compliant with the IFC Performance Standards," IFC stated.

When contacted, Tata Power said that the CAO report reflected the observations on the internal processes of IFC.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said after talks with US President Donald Trump that the new US administration appears more focused on the fight against terrorism than its predecessor.

Abadi met Trump at the White House on the 14th anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq and two days before a major Washington ministerial meeting on the way ahead in the war against the Islamic State group.

Afterward, Abadi said he expected US assistance to the Iraqi forces fighting to drive Islamic State fighters from the northern city of Mosul to "accelerate" under Trump more quickly than would have happened under Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama.

"I think this administration wants to be more engaged in fighting terrorism. I sense a difference in terms of being head-to-head with terrorism," Abadi told an audience at the United States Institute for Peace.

Earlier, Trump said the operation against the Islamic State group in Mosul was "moving along" and he questioned whether the United States under Obama should have pulled US combat troops out of the country.

"We should never, ever have left," he said. Previously Trump had supported the 2009 withdrawal, and he ran for office last year arguing that the United States should never have invaded Iraq in the first place.

"We will figure something out. I mean we have to get rid of ISIS," he added, using an alternate acronym for the IS group. "We're going to get rid of ISIS."

The Iraqi authorities launched an offensive in October to retake Mosul from the IS group with the support of US-led coalition air strikes.

Government forces retook the eastern part of Mosul in January before setting their sights on the more densely populated west of the city, the last major urban center the IS group holds in Iraq.

Trump shied away from any substantive discussion in public, but the presence of his top economic aide at a meeting in the cabinet office indicated that energy and economic ties were also on the agenda.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson — a former ExxonMobil executive — made a rare public appearance at the White House.

Former US Vice President Joe Biden will join Democrat leaders at on Wednesday in a rally to save Obamacare, a day before House Republicans vote to dismantle the health law, a media report said.

Biden will join House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and other House Democrats on the front steps of the Capitol at 10 am, making one of his first major appearances since leaving office in January, according to a press advisory obtained by Politico news.

The event, which also will feature Americans who have benefited from the law, is being billed as a celebration marking the seventh anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, which was signed into law March 23, 2010.

House Republican leaders have scheduled a vote on their Obamacare repeal bill for Thursday.

Republican leaders and top White House officials have been working the phones since the weekend to round up Republican votes for the bill but passage is still not guaranteed. Accounting for current House vacancies, 216 votes are needed to pass the bill.

Pelosi on Sunday slammed the Republican plan, which she has taken to calling "TrumpCare", as well as the White House budget.

"What Republicans have put forth is a terrible bill – 24 million people kicked off of health insurance which the Speaker calls ‘an act of mercy'," she told CBS News.

Recognising the exemplary contribution towards the promotion of understanding, enhancing goodwill and friendship between India and their country on various international fora, the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) gave away the "Distinguished Alumni Award 2016" here on Monday.

Organised at the JawaharLal Nehru Bhawan, the event was attended by Minister of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh who gave away the awards to the five winners – Galina Rousseva of Bulgaria, I. Ketut Widnya of Indonesia, Laura G. Yerekesheva of Kazakhstan, Soe Win of Myanmar and Sarita Boodhoo of Mauritius.

"India and Indonesia have cultural collaboration that goes over centuries. Sagas like Ramayana and Mahabharata are authentic proof of Indian influence in Indonesia," I. Ketut Widnya, Director General of Hindu Community Guidance, Ministry of Religious Affairs in Indonesia told IANS.

"The Indian culture, especially spirituality and Yoga are extremely popular across the world. The culture of India is unique and this should be more highlighted," Galina Sokolova, Professor, Sofia College in Bulgaria mentioned.

"Mauritius and India shares deep cultural ties. And I think that both the governments should review the existing cultural schemes and improve the cultural connection," Sarita Boodhoo, Chairperson, Bhojpuri Speaking Union, Ministry of Arts and Culture commented.

"The Distinguished Alumni Award was instituted to recognise foreign students who have studied in various Indian universities under the ICCR sponsored or supported scholarship schemes. We are happy to give away the awards to those whose contribution helped to develop inter cultural terms," said Amarendra Khatua, Director General, ICCR.

ICCR also announced two prominent initiatives a" creating database of alumni and instituting a Distinguished Alumni Award, to be undertaken this year during the event.

Software giant IBM on Monday launched a new cognitive assistant that leverages the capabilities of IBM Watson to help IT professionals effectively manage and protect networks of smartphones, tablets, laptops, internet of things (IoT) devices and other endpoints.

The 'MaaS360 Advisor' will use machine learning to analyse devices on the network and recommend policies, patches and customised practices to better manage and protect them.
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"Through MaaS360 with Watson, we're not only able to streamline and sharpen the data so administrators can stay ahead of the curve, but also transform the way they interact with their environment," said Jim Brennan, Director of Strategy and Offering Management, IBM Security.

MaaS360 UEM (Unified Endpoint Management) supports multiple platforms, including iOS, Android, Windows and macOS/OS X. 

Telugu film director Pavan Sadineni's new venture PillA will be launched on Vuclip's video-on-demand service Viu on March 29.

The show for entertaining Telugu speaking digital audience, is co-produced by Viu and Tamada Media and presented by Annapurna Studios.

Pavan has directed Telugu hits such as Prema Ishq Kadal and Savitri. He shot to fame with his short films such as Interview, Love Formula 31 and Bewars.

He shared a poster and teaser of PillA on his Facebook page.

Dhanya Balakrishna, who plays supporting character roles in Tamil and Telugu films, has played the lead in PillA.

It is a 'dramedy' in which Dhanya plays a typical girl-next-door who goes out to party, gets drunk and realises she has become pregnant. The 10-episode show will see her trying her best to trace back the events of the drunken night.

PillA is for the digital audience of today. It is an urban entertainer that deals with an interesting subject of pre-marital pregnancy. I am excited about the subject and at the same time excited about debuting on Viu as it is like a homecoming for me to get back to digital," said Pavan.

The show will have well-known actors from the Telugu film industry making guest appearances.

Except for Kargil, night temperatures did not drop below the freezing point anywhere in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday as light rain and snow was forecast.

The rain in the plains and snow in the higher reaches was expected till Wednesday, an official of the MET department told IANS.

"The night's lowest temperature did not drop below the freezing point due to nightlong cloud cover," the official added.

The minimum temperatures recorded in Srinagar city was 3.3 degrees Celsius, in Pahalgam 2.4 and zero degree in Gulmarg.

Leh and Kargil towns of Ladakh region recorded 1.5 and minus 7.6 degrees Celsius as minimum temperatures respectively.

In Jammu the night's lowest temperature was 18.2, while in Katra it was 14.7, in Batote 10.2, in Bannihal 8.0 and in Bhaderwah 6.2 degrees Celsius.

Chinese smartphone maker nubia on Monday launched Z11 MINI S smartphone designed for photo enthusiasts. The device features NeoVision 6.0, a DSLR-like photography system.

Priced at Rs.16,999, nubia Z11 MINI S will be available on Amazon starting from March 21, 4 pm onwards. 

"Z11 MINI S will lead the way in camera phones. We have been meticulous in building this device and it is tailored to meet the modern user's requirements," said Dheeraj Kukreja, Marketing Director, nubia India, in a statement. 

The Z11 MINI S features a 23MP rear camera sensor coupled with SONY IMX318 Exmor RS sensor and a ƒ2.0 aperture. 

The 13MP front camera is coupled with SONY IMX258 CMOS, 5 piece lens, ƒ2.0 aperture and a 80-degree wide angle with skin-retouching feature. 

The 5.2-inch full-HD display device is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 MSM8953 octa-core processor paired up with 4GB of RAM and has 64GB internal memory, expandable up to 200GB. 

For the second consecutive day on Tuesday medical services in 17 government hospitals in Maharashtra, including four in Mumbai, were hit when over 3,000 resident doctors continued their mass Casual Leave protest against growing incidents of attacks by patients' relatives.

In the absence of any concrete measures by the government pertaining to their security, the resident doctors continued the mass Casual Leave for the second day, Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) Swapnil Meshram said.

A public interest writ petition was filed on Monday in Bombay High Court against the doctors' agitation by a social activist which is expected to be heard later Tuesday.

There have been at least five attacks on resident doctors in one week, including two in the past 48 hours, said Indian Medical Association (Youth) state President Sagar Mundada.

On Monday, MARD office-bearers met Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar and the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) announced some tough measures to curb violence against medicos, including limiting the number of relatives who will be permitted to accompany patients.

Henceforth, only two relatives of any patient shall be permitted with special passes and those found without the valid passes shall be prosecuted, said Additional Municipal Commissioner IA Kundan.

The decision was taken at a high-level comprising civic officials, representatives of civic hospitals and BMC chief security officer Ramesh Pawar on Monday evening.

While assuring that it was the duty of the civic body to ensure security, Mahadeshwar appealed to the 4,000-plus medicos on casual leave (on Monday) to resume duties or BMC would consider initiating disciplinary action.

The BMC will seek additional armed forces, numbering around 500, from the Maharashtra State Security Force which will be deployed in various Mumbai hospitals, and entry points of each hospital would be designated for different types of patients.

MARD President Yashowardhan Kabra said the sudden spate of attacks on medicos have left them shattered and "it was difficult to work under such life-threatening conditions".

In Mumbai, the government hospitals hit are KEM, Sion LTMG, Nair and Sir JJ Group where a large number of resident doctors work.

Several thousands of patients were deprived of medicare though senior doctors and others handled serious or emergency cases, but an estimated 400 scheduled surgeries had to be postponed on Monday.

Cricketer Virat Kohli shared a romantic Valentine's Day message with a photograph of Anushka Sharma, and then, on International Women's Day, he tagged her in a social media post. But the actress has always chosen to stay mum about their bond. She says she values privacy.

"I value privacy, so I will always hope that people let me be when it comes to my personal space," Anushka told in an e-mail interview, when asked if she finds it stifling being constantly under scrutiny, and how she handles it.

Having said that, Anushka feels blessed to get the love and affection of her fans.

"Scrutiny might not be easy, but it's a minor aspect of a much more gratifying experience in the long run," she added.

In the recent past, Bollywood celebrities have spoken out more openly about their personal issues — be it about relationships or dealing with depression.

"I think it's a personal decision that each celebrity takes individually," said the actress.

The 28-year-old star has been part of the industry for almost nine years and has worked in films like Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, Band Baaja Baaraat, Jab Tak Hai Jaan, PK, NH10, Dil Dhadakne Do, Sultan and Ae Dil Hai Mushkil.

During this period, she has also landed plum endorsement deals, the latest of which is her appointment as ambassador for the eyewear brand Polaroid. And she is also a film producer.

Talking about her journey, she said: "What I have realised so far is that one should just let one's work do all the talking. I stayed focused on choosing to work in roles that made a difference to a film, and in films that entertained and engaged viewers."

Giving the roles and scripts priority has paid off for her.

"I have worked with filmmakers who matter today and have won audience approval with my commercial successes. So, hard work above all else is the mantra to success. That's perhaps my biggest learning," Anushka added. 

Be it as the vivacious Taani from Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, fun-loving Shruti from Band Baaja Baaraat or the strong-headed Meera from her maiden production NH10, Anushka has always shared equal ground with male actors.

Is that a conscious decision?

"I wanted to become an actor, to be part of films that will remain with an audience much after they have left the theatre, films that you remember with fondness. So, my decision to take up roles that have something to say and make a difference to how a film shapes up, emerges from that."

Anushka says she took her chances by focusing on strong, empowered and easy-to-relate-to roles.

"Since audiences today remember the characters that I have played, and the roles that I have done, it indicates that I chose the right direction. I hope to continue to be part of films where what I play matters," she said.

Anushka's next film is Phillauri under her home banner Clean Slate Films, and she features in it as a friendly ghost. Besides her, the film also stars Diljit Dosanjh, Suraj Sharma and Mehreen Pirzada and is slated to release on March 24.

"It's a funny and entertaining role with an element of intrigue also in play," Anushka said of the family entertainer.

Then there is filmmaker Imtiaz Ali's upcoming film with superstar Shah Rukh Khan.

"At this stage, I can't say anything about Imtiaz Ali's film other than the fact that it's been absolutely fantastic collaborating with them. The film is visually and emotionally rich and engaging," she said.