The electronic voting machines are "fully tamper-proof, as ever", the Election Commission said on Thursday dismissing claims of BSP chief Mayawati and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who had questioned their reliability.

In a strongly-worded statement, the Commission said "baseless, speculative and wild allegations are being made which deserve to be rejected".

The poll panel said it did not receive specific complaints or concrete material from political parties and candidates about alleged tampering of EVMs during recently held election process.

It said the BSP's representation on EVM tampering was without any specific allegation and it had rejected the claim of the party.

"Such concerns about alleged tamperability of ECI-EVM have been raised earlier also since their introduction including before high court and the Supreme Court.

"These allegations have been dismissed. ECI unequivocally reiterates that given effective technical and administrative safeguards, EVMs are not tamperable and integrity of electoral process is preserved," it said.

The EC's rebuttal came a day after Mayawati said she will move court against the alleged tampering of EVMs. Kejriwal too had alleged that EVMs may have been tampered with in Punjab, adding "it is about the credibility of the Election Commission and the faith of people in the electoral system. We have strong prima facie evidence of foul play." 

The Commission today said that so far, no one has been able to actually demonstrate that EVMs used by the Election Commission can be tampered with or manipulated.

It said "what has been demonstrated or claimed to have been demonstrated is on a privately assembled look-alike of ECI-EVMs and not the actual ECI-EVMs." 

Electronics Corporation of India Ltd and Bharat Electronics Ltd are the two PSUs which manufacture the EVMs for EC. .

Expressing concern over cross- border shelling along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, NC president Farooq Abdullah on Thursday appealed to India and Pakistan to take steps to ensure peace on the borders.

"We appeal to the leadership of India and Pakistan to take concrete steps for peace along the borders as the people living there are facing record-breaking hardships and are forced to migrate for their safety," Abdullah, who is contesting the upcoming by-polls from Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency, said in a statement here.

The former J&K chief minister also appealed to the people of both countries, civil society and media to press their respective governments and political leadership to start a dialogue to resolve all outstanding issues.

"There is no alternative to the talks. The people and the leadership of both the countries are fully aware that peace holds the key for prosperity and development in the region," he said, adding, "enmity and bitter relations is not beneficial to any of the two countries and only causes more harm than any good".

"We appeal to the political and military leadership of both the countries to act with patience and not allow minor things to trigger a war," he said adding the two countries have fought four wars in the past but none benefited from these and instead the wars took away precious lives and caused massive destruction.

Pakistani troops have resorted to heavy firing and mortar shelling in Poonch sector which led to suspension of cross-LoC travel between Poonch-Rawalakote this week.

Meanwhile, Abdullah congratulated Amarinder Singh for taking oath as the 26th Chief Minister of Punjab and expressed hope that he will live up to the expectations of the people who have given him the mandate and reposed faith in him.

"I am confident that Singh will emerge as a successful chief minister of Punjab and will work for the development of all sections of the society. He will take the state to new heights," Abdullah said.

The much awaited Rajkummar Rao starrer Trapped is all set to hit the big screen. Rao’s promising acting skills and intriguing story line makes the trailer gripping, and leaves the viewer asking for more. While mystery is expected to be the main element of the movie, equally mysterious is the resemblance of the story plot of Vikramaditya Motwane’s Trapped and Kamasutra 3D’s director Rupesh Paul’s The Trap.

The film Trapped is about a man who is trapped in his own apartment and has to live inside it without food, water, electricity etc. The struggle to survive is what makes the film gripping.

The Trap features a girl who finds herself locked inside a dingy place and is unable to figure out how she ended up there. A horrific struggle along with thrill and mystery, The Trap has a promising trailer and is equally gripping as that of Rao’s.

This feature film stars Shravni Sahay who debuted in Nagesh Kukunoor's Maaya, Ye hai Aashiqui for UTV Bindaas and Mashaal for DD National. It also has Chirag Jani in the lead role along with Shravni. He played negative lead in the Puri Jagannath latest Telugu movie Rouge and in hindi movie Yahan Ameena Bikti Hai. He also played a major role in Surya's Anjan.

This uncanny resemblance of story plot leaves us wondering if it is a coincidence or not? Although Motwane has inculcated intricate details with Rajkummar’s acting skills taking it a step higher than the Rupesh’s The Trap, as the trailer lacks details but gives out the essence of being trapped in an effective manner.

The interesting fact is that the trailer of The Trap was launched four months ago but Trapped's was released just a month ago. So, is the resemblance between the two pure coincidence or just a slightly 'deliberate' act?

Rupesh’s flick being low budget will be launched on Vimeo on Demand on March 16 whereas big-budgeted Trapped will hit the big screen on March 17. Mysterious much?

All eyes were on Navjot Singh Sidhu at the swear-in-ceremony of Congress government as he was speculated to get the deputy chief minister's (Dy CM) post. But instead of the deputy CM's post, the cricketer-turned-politician was sworn-in as a Cabinet minister.

While Sidhu, who appeared to have accepted the Congress high command's decision for giving him only the Cabinet berth, declined to comment if he was denied the Deputy CM's post.

His wife and former BJP legislator Navjot Kaur, however, said that they had never asked for the same. The Sidhu couple quit the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) to join the Congress ahead of Assembly elections and was elected to the assembly from Amritsar (east) constituency which was represented by Kaur in the previous Assembly.

"I am not aware if there was a suggestion to give him (Sidhu) deputy chief minister's post. From the very beginning, we have made it clear that both of us joined the Congress without any condition," she said.

Sidhu, who had left the BJP last year apparently to join the Aam Aadmi Party but decided against it after the AAP leadership refused to name him as a party's CM candidate.

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal later claimed that Sidhu wanted to be the CM candidate, but was offered Deputy CM post by the party.

Sidhu, however, claims that AAP only wanted to use him as star campaigner and offered minister's berth to his wife while he wanted to play a big role in transforming Punjab from the misrule of the Parkash Singh Badal government.

When asked if the Cabinet berth was the 'big-role' that Sidhu intended to play in Punjab as he has been claiming after joining the Congress, Kaur said being a Cabinet minister was a big role in it.

Dismissing the suggestion that Sidhu was not given Deputy CM's post as the Congress didn't want to create two power centers (CM and Deputy CM) in the government, Kaur said her husband didn't believe in the brand of politics.

"Sidhu doesn't believe in becoming a power center. This is why he suffered in the past (read while in BJP) because he doesn't believe in groupism. That's why had bad experience in the past," she said.

On asked what could be his husband's priority, Kaur said of industries in Punjab was a big issue.

Uttar Pradesh BJP chief Keshav Prasad Maurya has been admitted to Ram Manohar Lohiya (RML) hospital on Thursday after complaining of chest pain and low blood pressure.

Maurya is kept in ICU and is to remain under observation for the day, according to the reports.

Maurya is the front-runner for the chief ministerial post in Uttar Pradesh where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won a landslide victory of 325 out of 403 Assembly seats in the state. 

The party’s top leaders met at the parliamentary board on Thursday to decide on the state CM post. However, the decision to announce the name of the candidate was postponed for the next week.

A federal district court judge in Hawaii has issued a temporary restraining order against President Donald Trumps new travel ban, hours before it was due to take effect. The move was slammed by the President as "unprecedented judicial overreach".

In a 43-page ruling on Wednesday, US District Court Judge Derrick Watson concluded that the new executive order failed to pass legal muster at this stage and the state had established "a strong likelihood of success" on their claims of religious discrimination, CNN reported on Thursday.

Watson wrote that any "reasonable, objective observer" would view even the new order as "issued with a purpose to disfavour a particular religion, in spite of its stated, religiously neutral purpose."

He lambasted the government, in particular, for asserting that because the ban did not apply to all Muslims in the world, it could not be construed as discriminating against Muslims, reported the Washington Post.

Trump decried the ruling during a rally Wednesday night in Nashville, introducing his statement as "the bad, the sad news."

"The order he blocked was a watered-down version of the first one," Trump said, as the crowd booed the news.

"This is, in the opinion of many, an unprecedented judicial overreach," he added, before pledging to take the issue to the Supreme Court if necessary.

"We're going to fight this terrible ruling. We're going to take this as far as we need to, right up to the Supreme Court. We're going to win and we're going to keep our citizens safe," the President said at the rally.

Trump's new entry ban had suspended the US refugee programme for 120 days and halted for 90 days the issuance of new visas to people from six Muslim-majority countries: Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Libya and Syria.

Unlike the previous executive order, the new one removed Iraq from the list of banned countries, exempted those with green cards and visas and removed a provision that arguably prioritises certain religious minorities.

The new ban was announced earlier this month and was set to take effect Thursday. 

"The illogic of the government's contentions is palpable. The notion that one can demonstrate animus towards any group of people only by targeting all of them at once is fundamentally flawed," Watson wrote in his ruling.

"Equally flawed is the notion that the executive order cannot be found to have targeted Islam because it applies to all individuals in the six referenced countries," Watson added. 

"It is undisputed, using the primary source upon which the Government itself relies, that these six countries have overwhelmingly Muslim populations that range from 90.7% to 99.8%."

The Justice Department said it will defend the new travel ban.

Watson was one of three federal judges to hear arguments Wednesday about the ban, though he was the first to issue an opinion. Federal judges in Washington state and Maryland said they would issue opinions soon.

Captain Steve Smith and all-rounder Glenn Maxwell led the charge of Australian innings on the first day of the third Test on Thursday as they were 299/4 at stumps at the JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi.

Putting a well-built unbeaten partnership of 159 runs for the fifth-wicket, Smith (117*) and Maxwell (82*) were cruising at the helm.

Smith’s 244-ball knock helped his complete his 5,000 Test runs, scoring his 19th Test century. 

Maxwell, who last played a Test match in 2014 in UAE, shone to the maximum on his fourth Test appearance, scoring his Test-best knock on Thursday. 

However, all his Tests have been in Asia (3 in India, 1 in UAE), this one in Ranchi would definitely feature in Maxwell’s best cricketing memories.

Earlier in the day, Australia started with a hitch as besides opener Matt Renshaw, who scored causative 44 runs, two of the prominent Aussies in the line-up – David Warner (19) and Shaun Marsh (2) lost their wickets cheaply.

For India, paceman Umesh Yadav led the bowling assault, claiming two big wickets. 

Spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja dismissed March and Warner to support the Indian spearhead. 
 

A second executive order by US President Donald Trump on immigration has prompted foreign students and researchers, including those from India, to look elsewhere for educational, training and job opportunities, according to a report.

In January, Trump's initial executive order took effect barring people from seven predominantly Muslim countries — Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen — from entering the US for 90 days. However, a federal judge issued a stay on that executive order. 

But on March 6, Trump signed a second executive order, where Iraq was excluded from the list. 

However, this revised executive order was again halted, on Wednesday, by a federal judge in Hawaii citing that the order was meant to discriminate against Muslims, the washingtonpost.com reported.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration, in addition, ordered suspension of expedited processing of H-1B visas for up to six months.

As a result, students from the listed countries, as well as those from India, are seriously considering leaving the US for their education and career, to countries that have a more welcoming immigration policy, said the report published in the Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN) — the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society.

"I'm questioning staying in America, and I have already started looking through documents for Canada. I will go to a country where I have to worry less about my life," Saghi Saghazadeh, an Iranian post-doctoral student at Harvard Medical School was quoted as saying to C&EN. 

Professors have said they are worried about the executive order and its impact on US competitiveness in science and engineering, as "science and engineering graduate school programmes across the US rely heavily on an international pool of students", said Linda Wang, Senior Editor at C&EN.

According to a survey by the National Science Foundation, 45 per cent of full-time graduate students in science and engineering were on a temporary visa in 2015.

Islam and Muslims are no longer welcome in Europe. If that message wasn’t already clear to most people it has been set in to law on Thirsday by EU judges.

The decision by the European Court of Justice to allow employers to ban staff from wearing the headscarf seems certain to only further marginalise and push Muslim women out of public life.

What with France’s ban on the niqab in 2010, and countries such as Germany wanting to follow suit, the trend of enshrining Islamophobia into law is becoming increasingly common. Proponents of such policies deceptively tell the public these decisions will emancipate Muslim women from the proposed shackles of Islam. Yet, what these laws represent is a discriminatory form of social engineering to try and enforce Muslim women to adopt a secular identity.

Such discriminatory and openly xenophobic policies contradict Europe’s inherent belief that it is a bastion of freedom in an otherwise barbaric and intolerant world. The hypocrisy is galling to say the least – the very European leaders that pit themselves against supposedly misogynistic and regressive societies in the Muslim world have no qualms in applying discriminatory and gendered Islamophobia towards Muslim women in their own countries.

They conveniently ignore the impact that such legislation is having on the lives of ordinary Muslim women. An inquiry by the Women and Equalities Committee found that Muslim women were three times less likely to be employed. The report highlighted the role of “unconscious bias” in discrimination against women that wear the hijab or have Muslim sounding names.

A similar report by the European Network Against Racism, which covered eight countries ranging from France to The Netherlands, suggests that the such discrimination in the workplace and it’s negative impact on Muslim women is widespread across Europe.

Economic marginalisation is of course not the only obstacle that women must face due to decisions like the one made on Thursday. There are much more dire consequences for the average woman on the streets of London or Paris.

With reports of a woman in hijab being dragged along the streets of London and another woman attacked and bitten for wearing hijab in Vienna, what kind of message does this sends out to those people that find a piece of cloth offensive enough to attack a woman for it?

Alarmingly, the decision the EU judges made is strikingly like the anti-Jewish legislation that was passed in Germany prior to the Second World War. The Nuremberg laws specifically targeted a social group by restricting them on an economic level.

Jews were banned from professions such as midwifery and law, and state contracts were cancelled with Jewish owned businesses. That is not dissimilar to telling a woman that she is not welcome at a workplace if she decides to identify as a member of a given faith.

There will be those that hail today's decision as a victory for Europe’s long held secular ideals. However, history tells us that such excuses are always used to justify much more sinister trajectories. This new ban is a worrying indication of Europe’s hostility towards its Muslims citizens.

Let us not forget that it was in times of similar social and economic upheaval that Europe’s Jews became the scapegoats for all of society’s ills. It’s increasingly becoming apparent that history might be repeating itself as Muslim women become the new victims of Europe’s identity crises ensuing from its social and economic woes.

Japanese author Mariko Shinju believes the world can learn to live in peace from the Indian way of "living together happily" despite cultural and lingual diversity.

"India has diverse languages and cultures. And I think the world could learn something from Indians as they live together happily despite differences," Shinju, who was here for a book reading event of her 'Mottainai Grandma' series, said on Thursday.

Shinju said she was inspired to write a book on 'Mottainai', a Japanese term about living in harmony with the environment, for her 4-year-old son.

The author said that although the closest translation of the word 'mottainai' is 'do not waste!' it is not the only meaning of the word.

"'Mottainai' does not just mean 'don't waste' but it has many meanings like respect, gratitude, love and compassion towards other people, environment and other living creatures.

"Since my son couldn't understand the long explanation, I decided to draw pictures to represent the meanings in a better way," Shinju said.

Three of the author's books in the 'Mottainai Grandma' series are being translated in Hindi by the National Book Trust.

Shinju believes the books will help Indian kids to "understand the value of their environment".

"This time, I hope Indian children to understand the meaning of 'mottainai'. I hope the concept of Mottainai will help them to understand, respect and become like their environment." 

She also said that Indians also have their "own mottainai-type ideology", which gives them wisdom to "live in harmony" with their environment.

Recalling a conversation with Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize awardee Wangari Maathai, Shinju said that Maathai believed the "world could be a better place" if everybody understood the concept of 'mottainai'.

"Maathai once told me that 'mottainai' has universal meaning and it could help people to get together with respect for each other. The world of 'mottainai' is the world of peace," Shinju said.

The event, held in cooperation with the Embassy of Japan, was part of several events under '2017 the year of Japan-India Friendly Exchanges'.

Shinju said she was curious about "Indian lifestyle" and hoped to explore the country more in her latest trip.

Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj has sought a report from the Indian High Commissioner in Pakistan about an Indian woman from Hyderabad stranded in the neighbouring country and being harassed by her husband.

The minister tweeted on Thursday that she has sought a report from High Commissioner Gautam Bambawale. Her tweet came after Amjadullah Khan Khalid of Majlis Bachao Tehreek (MBT), a political party here, drew her attention to the plight of the woman.

He appealed to Sushma Swaraj to help 44-year-old Mohammadi Begum return to India.

Her father Mohammed Akbar, a cycle mechanic, had also sent an email to Sushma Swaraj in January seeking her help in bringing back his daughter.

Akbar, a resident of Bandlaguda here, said his daughter telephoned him that she was being harassed by her 60-year-old Pakistani husband in Lahore.

He alleged that Muhammad Younis, who concealed his actual nationality and claimed to be from Oman, married her in 1996.

The 'nikah' was performed over telephone through some agent and Begum joined Younis, a mechanic, in Muscat. After 12 years of marriage, Begum got a shock when Younis, who had lost his job, disclosed that he was a Pakistani.

The couple has three sons and two daughters. One of the sons was born in Pakistan.

Begum had visited Hyderabad in 2012. Her father said this was her only visit to India in 21 years.

Akbar said she had been making phone calls to him and pleading with him to do something to save her from the life of torture that she had been forced to live.

Younis was also not allowing her to renew her Indian passport, which expired in 2016.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala on Thursday said that party president Sonia Gandhi is travelling abroad for a health check-up. Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi would be joining her at the undisclosed location.

"Congress President Sonia Gandhi is traveling abroad for a health check-up," Surjewala said in a series of tweets. "Rahul Gandhi would travel there on Thursday to be with her and accompany the Congress president on the return journey," he added.

Because of health reasons and regular check-ups, the Congress president could not campaign in the Assembly elections 2017 in five states, including Uttar Pradesh and she also gave the counting of votes held on March 11 a miss.

However, there is no information where Gandhi has gone for the check-up but speculations are rife that she might have flown to the US where she had earlier undergone treatment for an undisclosed ailment.

The Madhya Pradesh Police has suspended 15 officials for inappropriate behaviour after their drunken Holi revelry inside a police station here went viral on the social media.

Superintendent of Police Ashish said that he ordered the suspensions late on Wednesday night.

The suspended officials include two assistant sub-inspectors and 13 constables who were seen dancing and drinking inside the Purani Chhawani Police Station here.

The video showed some of the officials in their uniforms, while the rest were in plainclothes.

The state police celebrated Holi on Tuesday, a day after the festival as on Monday they were on duty to ensure that there were no law and order problems during the celebrations.

The video went viral on Wednesday.

Actress Emma Watson is taking legal action after private photographs of the star were allegedly stolen and leaked online.

"Photos from a clothes fitting Emma had with a stylist a couple of years ago have been stolen. They are not nude photographs. Lawyers have been instructed and we are not commenting further," theguardian.com quoted her publicist as saying said. 

Reports suggest that the photographs have been shared on "dark web" — an encrypted network not easily accessible by the average user.

The "Harry Potter" star is the latest actor to be the focus of a leaked photograph scandal and confirmation of legal involvement follows the recent nine-month sentence handed to Edward Majerczyk, the man who hacked the phone of Jennifer Lawrence, among others.

Watson has previously been threatened with the leak of nude photographs as retaliation for her speech about gender equality as a UN ambassador for women.

On the work front, the actress will be seen in "Beauty And The Beast", which will release in India on Friday. Directed by Bill Condon, the film also stars Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, Stanley Tucci, Kevin Kline and Ewan McGregor.

The film is a live-action remake of Disney's 1991 film of the same name, itself an adaptation of Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont's fairy tale.

The United Naga Council (UNC) has on Thursday rejected the appeal of the newly appointed Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh to end the economic blockade in the state.

During the election campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had vowed to end the blockade within 48 hours if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is voted to power in the state.

The UNC, however, said that the blockade would continue until the government held talks with it over its demands.

"The government has not invited us for talks on the issue. The economic blockade shall continue," a UNC leader said.

Singh chaired a meeting of ministers and ruling coalition MLAs to take stock of the situation arising out of the economic blockade imposed in the landlocked state since November 1, 2016 against the creation of seven new districts in October, 2016.

The UNC blockade had led to major shortages in the state, particularly in Imphal.

However, around 900 trucks carrying supplies are allowed to reach Manipur in a week. But residents say much of what they carry almost immediately reaches the black market.

The new CM Singh will face a floor test to prove his majority in the 60-member assembly on March 23.

A coalition ministry led by the BJP was sworn in on Wednesday. Two BJP MLAs, including Biren Singh, four of the National People's Party and one each of the LJP, Congress and the Naga People's Party took oath. 

"My priority is to lift the blockade which has caused hardships to the people," Singh said.

(With inputs from Agencies)

New Zealand bounced back to take two South African wickets as the visitors ended the opening day of the second cricket Test at 24/2 in response to the host's first innings score of 268 at the Basin Reserve here on Thursday.

At stumps, night watchman Kasigo Rabada was unbeaten on eight while former skipper Hashim Amla was still to open his account.

Earlier, a maiden Test century by Henry Nicholls (118) helped New Zealand recover from a precarious 21/3 as the hosts went on to make 268 after being put into bat. 

Nicholls, who went into the Test with his position under scrutiny, answered his critics with an innings of substance which came off 161 balls and was laced with 15 boundaries. 

In one over from Rabada, Nicholls hit three fours, the second taking him past his previous best of 98 and to his century, and the next took his excellent partnership with wicketkeeper-batsman B.J. Watling (34) to 103. 

His dismissal triggered a brief collapse in which three wickets fell for five runs but Tim Southee and Jeetan Patel then threw their bats around for a run-a-ball 44-run stand to lift New Zealand further.

In the morning session, South Africa pacer Morne Morkel dismissed Tom Latham for eight to start with, and Rabada sent back Kane Williamson (2) and Neil Broom, the debutant for nought, quickly thereafter to bring Nicholls to the middle. 

Keshav Maharaj removed Jeet Raval (36) and Jimmy Neesham (15) either side of the lunch break before Watling joined Nicholls to add 116 before Jean Paul Duminy bowled Nicholls. 

Duminy added the wickets of Colin de Grandhomme for four and Watling for 34 in the space of 11 balls and finished the innings when he trapped Neil Wagner in front for figures of 4/47. 

Morkel ended Southee's brief cameo of 27 off 30 deliveries while Patel was left not out 17.

In reply, Southee and de Grandhomme built on Nicholls's effort by sending back visiting openers Stephen Cook (3) and Dean Elgar (9) respectively by the sixth over of South Africa's first essay.

Brief Scores: New Zealand first innings 268 (Henry Nicholls 118, Jeet Raval 36, B.J. Watling 34, Jean Paul Duminy 4/47, Keshav Maharaj 2/47) vs South Africa first innings 24/2 (Dean Elgar 9, Kasigo Rabada 8 not out, Tim Southee 1/18, Colin de Grandhomme 1/2).

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow, who "consciously uncoupled" from Coldplay frontman Chris Martin in 2014, is reportedly planning to marry her current beau Brad Falchuk soon.

According to a source, Paltrow "plans on marrying" her boyfriend, reports usmagazine.com. "They speak about marriage all the time and know it'll happen," the source said, and added that Falchuk will propose her "soon". 

Paltrow has two children — 12-year-old Apple and 10-year-old Moses — from her marriage to Martin. They were together for a decade.

The source said Paltrow has got her children's approval to make Falchuk a part of the family. "Her kids love him and think he's the best," the source said.