Mediapersons performing duties during the Jat agitation at sensitive places in Haryana will be provided body protectors and helmets for safety during any situation of violence. This was announced by Haryana Director General of Police (DGP) K P Singh in Fatehabad on Monday.

The DGP enquired about the well being of police personnel and mediapersons injured in the violence near Dhani Gopal Chowk on Sunday.

Singh also announced that the entire expenditure of treatment of the injured mediapersons would be borne by the district administration and they would also be  given financial assistance of Rs.5,000 each. They would be honoured at the state-level Independence Day celebrations on August 15 next.
  
While interacting with the injured mediapersons at Civil Hospital, Fatehabad, he said that the mediapersons would also be compensated by the district administration for the loss suffered by them due to damage caused to their cameras and mobile phones and also for the cash snatched by the rioters.

Stating that at times both the police and the media have to work in difficult circumstances, the DGP said that he was appreciative of the manner in which the media persons and the police personnel faced the rioters yesterday. Had the police not acted wisely, many precious lives  could be lost. He was all praise for those  police officers and personnel, especially the women who were injured in this incident and said that they would also be honoured for the courage shown by them.

The DGP said that the rioters who were involved in making a fatal attack on police and mediapersons were being identified. The video footage of the incident is available to the police and the faces of anti-social elements are clearly visible.

He said that police had inputs that the anti-social elements, armed with weapons from some villages of Hisar district, adjacent to Fatehabad border, would reach the ‘dharna’ at Dhani Gopal Chowk and would try to disturb the situation.

On the basis of this input, the police tried to stop them from reaching the spot by putting barricades and told them to visit the ‘dharna’ site without weapons and stones. But they did not listen to it and attacked the police.
 

Sri Lankan beauty Jacqueline Fernandez will be taking Grammy Award winner and global pop sensation Justin Bieber to a tour around Mumbai during his scheduled trip to India in May. She plans to "give him a taste of all things desi" as his tour guide.

Bieber will be performing at the DY Patil Stadium here on May 10 as part of his Purpose World Tour.

Jacqueline intends to take Bieber to the Gateway Of India, Iskon Temple, Colaba Causeway and also on auto ride through the streets of Bandra apart from a tour of Film City.

"I am a huge fan of Bieber and I already have quite a few things I've thought of that would make his visit multi-dimensional. While he's in India I'd love to take him around and give him a taste of all things desi and be his tour guide," Jacqueline said in a statement.

The actress also plans to curate a special menu comprising of Maharashtrian, South Indian and Gujarati delicacies at her newly-launched restaurant. The "A Flying Jatt" actress also wants to take him to meet underprivileged children at Dharavi slum area.

Arjun Jain, Director, White Fox India — the sole promoters of the tour, said: "We are working towards finalising the itinerary and we hope to give Bieber a multi-dimensional perspective about India and make it a memorable event indeed."

The 22-year-old Canadian singer-songwriter is expected to perform hits like "Where are you now", "Boyfriend", "Love yourself", "Company", "As long as you love me", "What do you mean?", "Baby" and "Purpose".

Bieber's latest jaunt is in support of his fourth album "Purpose", wherein he has experimented with more exploratory electronic sounds

The Congress on Monday demanded a discussion in the Rajya Sabha on the conduct of Goa Governor Mridula Sinha in relation to the invitation to the BJP to form the government in the state.

Governor Sinha invited the Bharatiya Janata Party to form the post-poll government in the state despite the Congress emerging as the single-largest party in the assembly, Congress members said.

Raising the matter in the upper house, Congress senior leader Digvijay Singh said that the matter should be discussed as he had already submitted substantive motion on it.

"As suggested, I have submitted substantive motion (on it)," he told Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien.

Kurien then told him that the matter was being "examined" by the Chairman and he would be informed about it.

To this, Singh said: "This is well taken. I understand. But the urgency (of the matter) is lost".

"We request you to kindly look into it. The role of Governor is totally unjustified and has gone against the Constitution and democracy," said the Congress leader, who as the Congress General Secretary was in charge of the party affairs in Goa.

Singh said that it has been a practice that in case of fractured mandate, the single-largest party is called to form the government.

"It's a murder of democracy," he added.

To this, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad reacted sharply and urged the Chair to get the term "murder of democracy" expunged from the record of the Rajya Sabha proceedings.

The Congress was supported by Janata Dal-United and the Communist Party of India-Marxist on the issue.

Speaking on the issue, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said that it should be taken up for discussion after lunch.

Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said that since the matter was with the Chairman, it should be left to him to decide about it.

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Monday confirmed two more international friendlies for the Indian team to be played in June and October.

In addition to the international friendly against Cambodia scheduled for March 22, the Indians will be playing two more matches as part of their preparations for the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers.

While a tie against Lebanon has been confirmed for June 7, the match against Palestine will be played on October 2.

The venue for both the matches hasn't been finalised as yet.

"The AIFF is leaving no stone unturned to provide the best of preparation for the national team. I hope the two matches would serve as an ideal build-up for future matches in the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers," AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das said in a statement.

"The best way to test your growth is to play against stronger teams. Both Lebanon and Palestine are very strong teams and the matches would help the team immensely as we move forward," India coach Stephen Constantine stated.

India's first match in the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers is slated against Myanmar on March 28 in Yangon.

Unhappy with the functioning of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) has started expanding its base with an aim to contesting the 2019 state assembly elections independently.

Addressing party workers here, AJSU President Sudesh Mahto said: "The present BJP-led government is working against the welfare of the people. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised that tribal lands will be safe."

"Every party expands its base," he added.

The party, during its three-day annual convention here which ended on Sunday, passed 29 resolutions including banning of liquor across Jharkhand.

The AJSU first voiced its opinion against the BJP government led by Chief Minister Raghubar Das after the Domicile Policy was announced last April. It stipulates that those who have lived in Jharkhand since the last 30 years would be considered local residents of the state. 

However, the party's stand became clearer after the state government brought an ordinance last July to amend two land acts — Chotanapur Tenancy Act and Santhal Pargana Act.

The AJSU, in response, started their agitation including a post card campaign. 

Around five lakh post cards, signed by the people opposing the Domicile Policy and amendment in the two land acts, were posted to the Chief Minister's official residence. 

The AJSU has gradually expanded after its initial formation in 2000. In 2000, the party had only two seats which increased to five in 2009 and six in 2014.
 

The Bahujan Samaj Party will move court against the alleged tampering of EVMs during the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in the next two-three days, its chief Mayawati on Monday said.

She charged that "the BJP won elections by rigging electronic voting machines".

"We will approach court over the issue in the next two-three days," the BSP supremo told reporters in the Parliament premises.

Earlier, the Election Commission (EC) had rejected Mayawati's claim that EVMs were rigged and said her demand for a repoll using ballot papers was legally untenable.

The BSP, which had 80 MLAs in the outgoing UP Assembly, managed to win just 19 seats in the 403-member House.

Driven by the Modi wave, the BJP, along with its ally, had stormed to power in UP after 14 years, securing 325 seats, while the SP had won 47 seats and its ally the Congress seven seats.

The Samajwadi Party and the Congress had also supported Mayawati's allegations.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal too had claimed that EVMs were tampered with in Punjab to keep the Aam Aadmi Party out of power.

Mira Rajput must have been completely oblivious about the controversies that would follow her even days after she made some unnerving remarks about being a stay at home mother, at an event.

Mira got married to actor Shahid Kapoor in July 2015 and was blessed with a baby girl, Misha Kapoor in 2016. Ever since they got married, they have been in the news. Sometimes it’s their cute PDA on Instagram that grabs the headlines while sometimes it is their colour coordinated attires that become the talk of the time. But things seem to have taken a U-turn for the star-wife as this time she is all over social media for all the wrong reasons.

At an event on the International Women’s Day earlier this month, Mira was invited to share her insight on strong women, talked at length about her daughter Misha and also gave her piece of mind on the working mothers. She said, “I wouldn’t want to spend one hour a day with my child and rush off to work, why did I have her? She is not a puppy; I want to be there for her as a mother.”

While the ‘puppy’ statement must have been a slip-of-tongue for Mira, the social media went on a slamming spree as they felt her comments were hurtful for the working mothers who not only strive hard to excel in their careers but also make great mothers.

 Among many who were criticising Mira for making an insensitive comment, one of them was her classmate from Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University.  The classmate took to Facebook to share how she felt about her comments and revealed an unknown side of Mira Rajput in her Facebook post.

Here’s what her classmate had to say to Mira:

Dear Mira,

Having watched your interview, I feel extremely enraged today. I’ve spent three years in the same college and batch as you. I can say today with confidence that your idea of feminism is extremely flawed. Seeing you walk around with your posse in college, belittling women who were not skinny enough or did not subscribe to your fashion ‘standards’ makes me wonder what you ever did to have a moral high ground over anyone at any point. Your narrow world view is astounding, to say the least. And not to forget, how your statement about working mothers takes us years back in reaching actual empowerment of which you seem to know nothing.

With lots of aggression,

An informed feminist

Mira Rajput graduated in English Literature from one of Delhi’s pioneer colleges Lady Sri Ram College for women in 2015.

Earlier, hubby Shahid Kapoor came out in defense of his dearest wife and said that she didn’t mean to hurt anyone and it wasn’t a direct comment. She was representing the lesser known group of women, who need to be represented. We wonder what Shahid has got to say to Mira’s classmate!

The opposition BJP disrupted proceedings in the Bihar assembly on Monday demanding the arrest of ruling Janata Dal-United's suspended legislator Mewalal Choudhary for alleged irregularities in the appointment of staff members in the Bihar Agriculture University.

Choudhary has been accused of "gross irregularities" in the appointment of 162 staff members when he was Vice Chancellor of the Bihar Agriculture University (BAU) in Bhagalpur.

Soon after the day's assembly session began, angry Bharatiya Janata Party legislators raised the issue during Question Hour shouting slogans. 

Choudhary has not been arrested despite evidence against him, BJP legislator Arun Kumar Sinha said.

Opposition leader Prem Kumar also demanded the JD-U MLA's arrest, who is the main accused in the irregular appointment of assistant professors and junior scientists.

Kumar said: "It clearly exposes the intention of the Nitish Kumar-led government."

Earlier the JD-U had suspended Choudhary for six years from the Tarapur assembly seat after his name surfaced in the BAU staff appointment scam at Sabour in 2012.

The police is set to issue a red corner notice against Choudhary.

Last week, the district court in Bhagalpur rejected his anticipatory bail petition.

Choudhary was Vice Chancellor of the BAU till 2015 before he contested the assembly polls from Tarapur in Munger district.

According to police officials, a probe panel formed by the university found that many appointments during his tenure were made by ignoring the candidates' performance in written test and academic records.

Those selected were given high marks by the screening committee in interview and PowerPoint presentation (PPT), sources said, adding that even PhD degree-holders and NET-qualified candidates were ignored.
 

North Korea on Monday denounced the "anti-terror war" by the US as an excuse to intervene in the sovereignty of other countries.

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the "anti-terrorism war" of the US is "state-sponsored terrorism and a new version of war of aggression against the anti-US countries for realising the imperialists' ambition for world domination".

"The US has wantonly infringed upon the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other countries while escalating the 'anti-terrorism war' worldwide," said the news agency.

It further said "the strategy and purpose of the US 'war on terrorism' was to train terrorists and steadily spread terrorism on one hand and perpetrate military intervention in sovereign states under the signboard of combating terrorism on the other", Xinhua news agency reported.

"The US forces, which were deployed mainly in Europe during the Cold War era, are being reorganised, centring around Asia in the new century," KCNA said.

China on Monday warned India to respect its "core concerns" to avoid disruption to bilateral ties after New Delhi invited the Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama to an international Buddhist seminar in Bihar "in total disregard" to Beijing's strong opposition.

"In recent days the Indian side, in total disregard of China's stern representation and strong opposition, insisted on inviting the 14th Dalai Lama to attend the international conference on Buddhism held by the Indian government," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told reporters here today.

"China is strongly dissatisfied and firmly opposed to it," she said.

"We urge the Indian side to clearly see the anti-China splittist nature of the Dalai group and honour its commitment on Tibet and related questions, respect China's core concerns and avoid China-India relations from being further disrupted and undermined," she said.

The Dalai Lama inaugurated an international seminar on Buddhism on March 17 in Rajgir in Bihar's Nalanda district, about 100 km from the capital Patna.

Buddhist monks and scholars from various countries participated in the seminar 'Buddhism in 21st Century'.

Earlier this month, China had objected to India permitting the Dalai Lama to visit Arunachal Pradesh which it regards as Southern Tibet.

China is strongly opposed to the Dalai Lama visiting disputed areas, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said.

"China's position on eastern section of China-India border dispute is consistent and clear. The Dalai clique has long been engaging in anti-China separatist activities and its record on the border question is not that good," he had said.

PTI KJV ZH AKJ

US President Donald Trump will host Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi at the White House on Monday.

As he left Iraq for the US on Sunday, Abadi said Iraqi forces were close to ridding the country of the Islamic State (IS) and that he would talk to the US administration about the final steps needed, CNN reported.

"We are in the last chapter, the final stages to eliminate IS militarily in Iraq," he said in a video statement.

Abadi said he hoped the US and other allies would continue to offer economic assistance to Iraq, which he said faced a financial crisis as a result of the war against the militant group.

Trump last week announced a $54 billion increase in US defence spending.

If approved by the Congress, over $3 billion of the additional money would be allocated to the fight against the IS, including $2 billion for a flexible fund that would allow the Pentagon to decide how to utilise resources in support of the new counter-IS strategy.

Iraq was removed from the revised version of Trump's travel ban order, following intensive lobbying from Baghdad at the highest levels, a senior US official told CNN. 

The pressure from the Iraq officials included a phone call between Trump and Abadi on February 10 and an in-person conversation between Abadi and Vice President Mike Pence in Munich, Germany, on February 18.

A video of actor Ranbir Kapoor and Pakistani actress Mahira Khan is going viral on social media and one wonders what they are up to!

Ranbir and Mahira met each other at the Global Teacher Prize Event, and if the videos are to be believed, the duo is seen having a gala time.

Mahira can be seen having a fan girl moment with the Barfi actor.  In the video,  Mahira stands with closed hands in front of Ranbir and he looked on quite seriously. This has only left fans wondering, were they imitating someone or were they enacting a scene?  Only they can tell!

Ranbir, who looked dapper in his black suit, was seen flaunting his look from Sanjay Dutt's biopic, in which he plays the character of Dutt. Mahira was at her gorgeous best in a maroon designer ensemble.

The duo looked great together and it only left us wanting to see them together on screen. But due to the ban on Pakistani artistes seeing Mahira Khan on Indian screens is a distant dream for the cine lovers. Till then, you can dream on and enjoy the videos that features them!
 

An unusual situation emerged in the Rajya Sabha during the Question Hour on Monday when three union ministers to whom queries had been put were absent, prompting Chairman Hamid Ansari to express anguish and drawing taunts from the opposition.

A few minutes before the Question Hour was to end, Union Minister Sanjeev Balyan answered questions relating to the Water Resources ministry and Chairman M Hamid Ansari moved to the next question.

The questioner had sought to know from Ministry of Shipping whether the government was launching a Yamuna Water Taxi Project.

However, neither the member who had asked the question, nor the minister who was to answer it were present, provoking Ansari to remark that this was an "extraordinary situation".

As Ansari took up the next question relating to the Environment Ministry, there was again no one from the ruling side to answer it.

"This is the shape of the things to come," came a remark from the opposition benches as Congress leader Jairam Ramesh complained that there was not even a single Cabinet minister present in the House. Only ministers of state Nirmala Sitharaman, Ram Kirpal Yadav and Balyan were seen present.

Ansari then moved to the next question relating to the Ministry of Power, but this too could not be taken up as the concerned minister was not present to answer it.

"This is not a happy state of affairs," the Rajya Sabha chairman said expressing his annoyance. "This is an example of 'maximum ministers, minimum governance'," said an opposition member take a jibe at the government.

Yadav however tabled the answer to the next question and was ready to answer the supplementaries, but by this time the Question Hour had ended.
 

She has delivered powerful performances in shows like Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii and Bade Achhe Lagte Hain, and after bagging the role of Aamir Khan's wife in Dangal, many believed it could mark her shift from the small to the big screen.

"Why should I," Sakshi told when asked if she has plans to quit TV for Bollywood. She says she is in no mood to quit TV after investing 16 years of her life in the medium.

"I have given 16 years of my life to TV. I have really worked hard to be where I am, so why should I just give it up? In fact, I would love to experiment with more and more mediums. It's not about TV, films or web — you know an artiste tries to do as many possible mediums as he or she can," the actress said in a confident tone.

Born and brought up in Alwar, Rajasthan, Sakshi grew up with two siblings — a brother and a sister — and pursued her graduation from Lady Shri Ram College here. She earned fame for her character Parvati Agarwal of the popular Balaji telefilms TV series Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki and later as Priya Ram Kapoor on Bade Achhe Lagte Hain.

In Dangal, the actress played Daya Kaur, wife of Mahavir Phogat, essayed by Aamir. The film did roaring business at the box office, but Sakshi always kept a low profile.

She says she's just like that.

"I kept a low profile earlier also, and nothing has changed after Dangal. The way I am and the way my life is, it has been same for a number of years and I don't think it's ever going to change because it has to do with the kind of person I am. I am grateful that I got an opportunity to do lovely work, and beyond that, I am the person that I am," said the 44-year-old.

The actress is currently busy with her web series, which also stars her Bade Achhe Lagte Hain co-actor Ram Kapoor. It will get launched on April 15.

"I have always done one thing at a time, so right now I am working with that," said Sakshi.

She was in the capital to walk for designer Anju Modi at the Amazon India Fashion Week (AIFW) Autumn/Winter 2017 and looked super confident on the runway in an ivory ensemble.

Is she a fashion conscious person in real life?

"Not at all. I don't give too much thought to what I wear. Fashion for me means comfort. It's your personality that really enhances your appearance. Having said that, clothes play a very important role in your personality. I have a very traditional face and I have a fascination for saris," said the actress.

She also feels that it's very liberating to be comfortable in your own skin.

"If I am going for a film, I will go in a T-shirt and a pair of jeans. Hair, make-up and clothes can enhance the way you look, but it is very essential to be comfortable from inside out," said Sakshi.

Indian tweaker Ravindra Jadeja, who claimed two big wickets late on Day 4 to give India a strong start, continued his dominance on the fifth day of the third Test against Australia on Monday.

On the fifth and final day of the Test, Jadeja dismissed Australian captain Steve Smith for 21 runs, third time in the ongoing series.

Smith had scored a spectacular 178-run knock (not out) in the first innings. 

However in the second innings, he misjudged Jadeja’s delivery pitching middle and leg stump.

So far in the series, Smith has batted for six innings against Jadeja and scored 105 runs off 320 balls he faced. 
 

RSS did not interfere in the selection of Yogi Adityanath as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, M Venkaiah Naidu, who was BJP's central observer for election of the state legislature party leader, said on Monday.

Amid criticism over BJP going for Hindutva hardliner Yogi Adityanath as the Uttar Pradesh chief minister, Naidu said it was the legislators who decided on the leader and that is the system in the party. He asked the Opposition to be "graceful in defeat", accept the mandate of the people and give a "fair opportunity" to the new chief minister.

"It is the legislators under the Parliamentary party board that decide the leader. That is the system in the BJP.

RSS never interferes or suggests any names (for the chief minister's post)," Naidu said.

The Union minister also maintained that after discussions with the elected MLAs, he had conveyed their views to BJP national president Amit Shah.

"Then, I had a meeting of the legislators. In that meeting, Yogi Adityanath's name was proposed by Suresh Khanna and nine others seconded it.

"All the legislators stood up and unanimously agreed to the name. So this is the decision of the MLAs of Uttar Pradesh which was approved by the central party," Naidu said.

His remarks come in the backdrop of allegations levelled by opposition parties such as BSP that BJP's wants to contest the 2019 polls not on the issue of development, but by "polarising the voters".

"That is why they have made an RSS man the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh," BSP supremo Mayawati said yesterday.

Adityanath took charge as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh yesterday after BJP's landslide victory in the state polls.

Naidu, who is a former BJP president, said that the chief minister has already declared that he would work with all sections of the society without any discrimination.

Taking a dig at the Opposition, he said they are not able to digest the massive mandate given to the BJP. "I appeal to them to be graceful in defeat and respect the mandate of the people and wait to see the performance."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that if Uttar Pradesh develops, then India develops and the focus is on "saab ka saath saab ka vikas", the Minister said.

"Adityanath knows the spirit of the Prime Minister's statement. Yogi Adityanath is above caste but, unfortunately, some people are attributing caste to him," Naidu said.

"So it is very unfair on the part of anybody including our political rivals to criticise him without giving a fair opportunity to the newly elected chief minister," Naidu said.

Stressing that Adityanath would "prove critics wrong", Naidu said the poll result is a "good sign" that politics is becoming inclusive.

"After seeing what happened in the state elections, I feel caste and religion based politics will become a matter of the past…. Now people want development, inclusive development," he said.

On his first day in office, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday directed all his ministers to declare their income sources and assets – movable and immovable, to his secretary and to the party within 15 days deadline.

A day after swearing in as the new UP CM, Adityanath said curbing corruption will be his government's main agenda.

The government would fulfill all the promises made in the Lok Kalyan Sankalp Patra, the BJP’s election manifesto, Adityanath said.

The Hindutva hardliner also said his government will work for all sections of the society without any discrimination regarding religion, caste and creed.

“This government will be dedicated to public welfare, and will work equally for all sections of society without any discrimination. The government and administration will be made sensitive and answerable,” Adityanath said.

Earlier in the day, Adityanath met with the state police chief, expressing concern over the killing of BSP leader Mohammad Shami who was shot dead by some assailants on bike in Allahabad on Sunday night.

The 44-year-old priest-politician was on Sunday sworn in as new UP Chief Minister at Kanshiram Smriti Upvan in Lucknow in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah.