Megastar Amitabh Bachchan and actress Taapsee Pannu will watch Pink with President Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday.

The actors were invited to watch the film, which is directed by Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. 

"…Pranab Mukherjee, watches our film PINK tomorrow in Delhi, …and so there shall be travel .. just for a few hours," the 74-year-old cine star wrote in his blogpost on Friday.

Big B also added that the President "has always been most generous with his time and desire to accommodate the creative elements of cinema, and we cannot thank him enough for it".

Taapsee, who plays an integral part in the film also took to Twitter to share the news with her fans and followers.

"Guess who has movie and dinner plans with The Honourable President today?" she tweeted on Saturday morning.

Pink is a courtroom drama, which also features Kirti Kulhari, Angad Bedi, Andrea Tariang and Piyush Mishra.

The film was appreciated by both the public and the critics for its strong socially relevant message about the choices young women of today make and about respecting them.

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan and actress Taapsee Pannu will watch Pink with President Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday.

The actors were invited to watch the film, which is directed by Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. 

"…Pranab Mukherjee, watches our film PINK tomorrow in Delhi, …and so there shall be travel .. just for a few hours," the 74-year-old cine star wrote in his blogpost on Friday.

Big B also added that the President "has always been most generous with his time and desire to accommodate the creative elements of cinema, and we cannot thank him enough for it".

Taapsee, who plays an integral part in the film also took to Twitter to share the news with her fans and followers.

"Guess who has movie and dinner plans with The Honourable President today?" she tweeted on Saturday morning.

Pink is a courtroom drama, which also features Kirti Kulhari, Angad Bedi, Andrea Tariang and Piyush Mishra.

The film was appreciated by both the public and the critics for its strong socially relevant message about the choices young women of today make and about respecting them.

Construction labourers in Haryana can now look forward to getting food at subsidised rates- breakfast for Rs.5 and full-course meal for Rs.10 per person.

This decision was taken at a meeting of the Labour Department held to review plans of the Haryana Building and Other Construction Workers' Welfare Board to start canteens under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) to provide food at affordable prices.

They will be provided wholesome food right at their work place, mobile vans would be deployed to make food available to the poor at labour chowks.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who presided over the meeting, issued directions that final touches should be given to the scheme within a month. Similar schemes run in other states were discussed and reviewed at the meeting to arrive at the best possible option.

The CM said initially the scheme would be started for one year and non-governmental organisations and social organisations would also be involved in its implementation.

Construction labourers in Haryana can now look forward to getting food at subsidised rates- breakfast for Rs.5 and full-course meal for Rs.10 per person.

This decision was taken at a meeting of the Labour Department held to review plans of the Haryana Building and Other Construction Workers' Welfare Board to start canteens under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) to provide food at affordable prices.

They will be provided wholesome food right at their work place, mobile vans would be deployed to make food available to the poor at labour chowks.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who presided over the meeting, issued directions that final touches should be given to the scheme within a month. Similar schemes run in other states were discussed and reviewed at the meeting to arrive at the best possible option.

The CM said initially the scheme would be started for one year and non-governmental organisations and social organisations would also be involved in its implementation.

Australia were all out for 285 in their second innings at lunch on the third day of the first cricket Test against Australia here on Saturday.

India now need to score 441 in their second innings for an unlikely win.

Brief Scores:

Australia: 260 & 285 all out in 87 overs (Steven Smith 109; R Ashwin 4/119, Ravindra Jadeja 3/65).

India 1st Innings: 105.

"Our audience gets attached to strong women," says Nivedita Basu, a name associated with the popular K-series in Indian TV. After weaving magic on small screen for nine years, Nivedita chose a path leading to independent production. She founded her production house 'The House of Originals' in 2012 and produced the first show Meri Awaz Hi Pehchaan Hai, which had some of the big names of the tinsel town like Zarina Wahab, Amrita Rao as the leads, which did fairly well onscreen.

After a long sabbatical, Nivedita made a comeback on the small screen with her newly produced show Ek Vivah Aisi Bhi, which went on air on February 6. In an exclusive interview to thestatesman.com, the producer spoke about her new show, her sojourn in Balaji Telefilms and lots more.

"Ek Vivah Aisa Bhi is a show that portrays an extraordinary journey of Suman, who is a widow, and a single mother, who has a multi-faceted journey, that of a personal growth in terms of education, and that of starting afresh through a second marriage. Even in the 21st century, there’s a section of the society that thinks that a woman’s life is meaningless after she is widowed,” said Nivedita, who aims to break the stereotype that surrounds a widow in the Indian society, through her new TV series.

The show has some new as well as some popular faces of Indian TV as its star cast. Speaking about what sets her show apart from others, the producer said,"We've created a storyline which has an urban setup and is extremely non-preachy. Along with a tight script, our focus on characterisation is what sets us apart."

Unlike most people of her industry, Nivedita has an infectious sense of humour and is full of youthful enthusiasm, her joie de vivre is often reflected in all her social handles.

"I believe in working with young people. My entire team is filled with young, enthusiastic and passionate people who want to churn out good and quality content. My cast too is filled with people who share the same passion for television," said the passionate producer, who believes in shaping the young minds.

Having spent the most crucial years of her life in TV production, Nivedita looks back upon the journey as a complete learning experience. She played a pivotal role in Balaji and was a close aide to Ekta Kapoor. Despite the rumours of the two having a fallout,the duo share a great camaraderie.

"Ekta has always been a mentor for me, and will remain so. Whatever I know about television is because of how she has mentored me. Our bond is very strong, and we both know that when she needs me, I’ll be there and when I need her, she’ll be there," Nivedita said.

Nivedita has been instrumental in shaping some of the strong characters of Indian TV like Tulsi in Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi Prerna in Kasautii Zindagi Ki, Kalyani and Ketki from her first production Meri Aawaz Hi Pehchaan Hai, firmly believes that the Indian audience is inclined to strong women and therefore has put in a lot of effort to create a storyline that would depict women as a stronger sex in her second production Ek Vivah Aisi Bhi.

In spite of adding a creative touch to nearly 85 daily soaps, Nivedita has always had a special place for her first project Kasautti Zindagi Ki, which still tops her list. On being asked who she would like to cast in her next show, the optimistic producer replied, "For me, all my veteran actors are on my ‘To cast’ list. But if I had to choose, I’d hope that I get to cast Sakshi Tanwar or Shweta in my upcoming shows."

Taking the concept of individualism forward, Nivedita, who is already making her mark in the TV industry, has dreams of making it real big someday.

Several news outlets were blocked from attending an off-camera White House press briefing that other reporters were hand-picked to attend, resulting in outrage among media organisations.

CNN, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Politico, BuzzFeed, the BBC and the Guardian were excluded from the meeting, which was held on Friday in White House press secretary Sean Spicer's office. 

The meeting, which is known as a gaggle, was held in lieu of the daily televised "Question and Answer" session in the White House briefing room.

When reporters from these news organisations tried to enter Spicer's office, they were told they could not attend because they were not on the list of attendees.

In a brief statement defending the move, administration spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said the White House "had the pool there so everyone would be represented and get an update from us today".

The White House press pool usually includes representatives from one television outlet, one radio outlet and one print outlet, as well as reporters from a few wire services. In this case, four of the five major television networks — NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox News — were invited and attended the meeting, while only CNN was blocked.

And while The New York Times was kept out, conservative media organisations Breitbart News, The Washington Times and One America News Network were also allowed in.

"This is an unacceptable development by the Trump White House," CNN said in a statement. 

"Apparently this is how they retaliate when you report facts they don't like. We'll keep reporting regardless."

The New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet said: "Nothing like this has ever happened at the White House in our long history of covering multiple administrations of different parties. We strongly protest the exclusion of The New York Times and the other news organisations. Free media access to a transparent government is obviously of crucial national interest."

The White House press office had informed reporters earlier that the traditional, on-camera press briefing would be replaced by a gaggle in Spicer's office, reporters in attendance said. 

Asked during the gaggle whether CNN and The New York Times were blocked because the administration was unhappy with their reporting, Spicer responded: "We had it as pool, and then we expanded it, and we added some folks to come cover it. It was my decision to expand the pool."

Several news outlets spoke out against the White House's decision.

"The Wall Street Journal strongly objects to the White House's decision to bar certain media outlets from today's gaggle," a Journal spokesman said. 

"Had we known at the time, we would not have participated and we will not participate in such closed briefings in the future."

The White House move was called "appalling" by the Washington Post Executive Editor Marty Baron, who said the Trump administration is on "an undemocratic path".

Politico editor-in-chief John Harris said that "selectively excluding news organizations from White House briefings is misguided."

The White House Correspondents Association also protested the move.

Former US President Barack Obama drew a huge crowd and overwhelming cheers when he visited an office building here, media reports said.

New Yorkers who are supposed to be cool with any celebrity in their midst, had no chill Friday in Manhattan when the former President was spotted at downtown Starbucks, CBS News reported.

Obama, whose most recent headlines were about kitesurfing with Richard Branson, was spotted leaving 160 Fifth Avenue around noon, with a cup of coffee in his hand.

The reports said that the 44th President "caused quite a commotion". 

A video tweeted, showed a mass of people waving and cheering in blocked-off sections as he walked to his motorcade of at least three black cars.

In the clip, Obama was seen waving to the crowd in various directions before putting on sunglasses and entering a vehicle.

It was, however, not clear why he was in the city, The Hill magazine reported.

Obama has mostly kept a low profile since exiting the White House in January after two terms as president.

The former Democratic senator from Illinois first won the White House in 2008, becoming the first black president in American history.

Obama's job approval rating ultimately hovered around 57 per cent when he left office, according to the last RealClearPolitics polling average.

The Democrat was also placed 12th in C-SPAN's 2017 presidential historians survey last week, which was conducted among 91 historians and other executive branch experts.

Participants were told to give presidents a score of 1 to 10 on different "qualities of presidential leadership". 

Categories included economic management, vision/setting an agenda, relations with Congress and crisis leadership.

Obama topped other former Presidents like Bill Clinton, Andrew Jackson and John Adams.

President Donald Trump succeeded Obama following his January 20 inauguration, and the Republican has made repealing and replacing ObamaCare, the latter's signature domestic achievement, an early focus of his agenda.

Complying with its mission to curb hate speech and abusive language, Twitter is locking the accounts that swear at other people, especially at those who are prominent.

According to a report in Verge on Friday, a Twitter user Victoria Fierce used some harsh words for the US Vice President Mike Pence over the administration's rollback of transgender protections. Soon after her tweet, Fierce received a notification that Twitter had detected "potentially abusive activity" on her account.

Fierce was in temporary timeout and for the next 12 hours, only followers could see her tweets.

"It was just one tweet and certainly not the first time I've told an elected official to f**k off," Fierce was quoted as saying.

Twitter has been claiming that it "prohibits the promotion of hate content, sensitive topics, and violence globally".

According to Twitter, the account lockdown was in line with the changes designed to diminish the reach of abusive accounts. 

"Twitter's content filters do not currently distinguish between types of accounts. A single tweet will not trigger its filters, but a 'pattern' of abuse will," the report quoted Twitter spokesperson as saying.

"To their systems, a white supremacist calling for shooting a person of colour is just as bad as an angry Latinx renter telling their city's rent board to f**k off," Fierce added.

The micro-blogging site recently rolled an update that would collapse abusive or low-quality tweets as well as introduce a safer search feature where sensitive content is hidden.

The company also announced that users who are banned permanently cannot return to Twitter.

A major fire at a multi-storey luxury hotel in east China's Jiangxi Province on Saturday trapped an unknown number of people, authorities said.

The blaze on the second floor of HNA Platinum Mix Hotel in provincial capital Nanchang began this morning, fire fighters said.

More than 10 construction workers were engaged in a decoration project on the floor when the fire broke out, said a woman who escaped the fire.

A man who jumped from the second floor was injured and rushed to hospital.

The four-storey hotel is connected to a 24-storey apartment building, where people are also found trapped, state-run news agency Xinhua reported.

Nearly 10 fire trucks were working to put out the fire.

Former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit taking an U-turn on her earlier remark on party Vice President Rahul Gandhi has clarified that he has "the sensitivity of a mature leader".

Party veteran Dikshit in a newspaper interview on Thursday said Gandhi was "still not mature, his age does not allow him to be mature". 

Her comments were quickly lapped on by Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah, who ridiculed Gandhi saying "immature Rahul should be kept at home" instead of being sent to Uttar Pradesh.

With "Don't twist my words" hashtag, Dikshit on Friday took to twitter to clarify her comment. 

"Rahul has the sensitivity and concern of a mature leader. His words are those of a young, courageous and restless man," Dikshit said. 

Actor Kangana Ranaut says despite some of the top-notch scenes being edited from the film Rangoon, she is happy with the response it is getting.

"Those scenes were my top-notch performances and I was shattered when I came to know about the edit. I thought without those scenes my performance would be regarded as satisfactory and it won't be appreciated that much. Despite that, people loved it. I am very happy," Kangana said at a media interaction here on Friday.

"Some of my favourite scenes, which were important for the graph of my work were edited. I prepare my character's graph in a linear pattern so when I saw the film Vishal Ji explained why the editing was legitimate," the Queen" actor said.

On being asked about compliments from the industry, she said: "More than I expected. Many from industry have complimented and messaged me which is a very sweet gesture."

The period romantic drama, directed by Vishal Bharadwaj stars Shahid Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, besides Kangana in lead roles.
 

Thirteen crew members have gone missing while seven others have been rescued after a fishing boat sank off the Zhejiang coast in eastern China.

The local maritime authorities were informed about the sinking last morning and requested the Donghai Fleet of Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy to assist them in the rescue operations, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported today.

The steel-hull boat, 42.6 meters-long and 7.6 meters-wide, sank 130 sea miles to the east of Zhoushan City, Zhejiang Province.

Three naval frigates were sent to the shipwreck site.

Another naval vessel carrying a rescue helicopter later joined the rescue.

Forty-one nearby fishing boats were also mobilised, it said.

The search continued till late Friday night, the report said.

Crunchy Carrot Cabbage Sandwich! Yes, it's quite a tongue twister. You can try, try again! But cabbage and carrot together make a healthy, crunchy and yummy snack. Sandwich is a popular recipe all around the globe. Easy and quick to make, carry and eat, who doesn’t like it? You may have them at breakfast or make it an evening snack this weekend when you do not want to spend much time in kitchen. Yes, you can have a healthy snack that is delicious in a relaxing way by following this recipe of Crunchy Carrot Cabbage Sandwich.

Serves: 2; Preparation time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

Carrot 1 tbsp (grated)

Cabbage 1 tbsp (grated)

Mayonnaise 1 tbsp

Black pepper powder A pinch

Whole grain sandwich bread 4 slices

Tomato ketchup 1 tbsp

Method:

Grate carrot and cabbage.

Squeeze well their water content.

Add mayonnaise and black pepper powder in it.

Mix all the ingredients well in a bowl with a spoon.

Take the sandwich bread and cut the edges.

Spread a thin layer of the above spread on one side of the two slices.

Join them together keeping one on another in a way that the spread containing pieces face each other.

Cut in triangle shape from the centre.

Serve with tomato ketchup.

This sandwich makes a light, wonderful and hearty snack. Worth a try!

The PCB is awaiting a response from their Test captain Misbah-ul Haq to inform them about his future plans while another senior player Younis Khan has thrown his hat in the ring.

"The last time I met him (Misbah) in Dubai earlier this month he sought time to think over his future plans. Now whenever he gets in touch with us and if he wants to continue playing I will put the matter before my associates in the board," PCB Chairman, Shaharyar Khan said.

Misbah himself sounded uncertain on continuing as a player if he quits captaincy.

"I have decided that I will tour West Indies for the Test series but whether it will be as captain or player is up to the selectors and board. I think I can continue on the West Indies tour after that nothing is final as yet in my mind," Misbah had recently said in Dubai.

Younis, who is 39 years old and is the second oldest in the Pakistan team is also harbouring captaincy ambitions and is in no mood to quit after completing 10,000 Test runs.

"I will definitely consider the offer if it comes along," he stated.

Younis is just 23 runs shy from becoming the first Pakistani batsman to reach the magical figure of 10,000 runs and he is likely to achieve this landmark when he tours West Indies in March-April.

"I don t want to retire because I am enjoying my cricket and I still have lot of hunger for making runs. Even after making 10,000 runs, I want to carry on and do well for the team. I don t think retirement comes into play until a player is fit and in form," he said at a charity function.

Nearly 500 members of various outfits were arrested here on Friday when they attempted to stage a demonstration against Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to unveil a 112-foot Adiyogi face at the Isha Yoga centre.

Some black balloons were also released into the air by a section of the protesters as Modi was travelling to the venue near here by a helicopter, police said.

The protesters raised slogans against Modi for his alleged failure in protecting farmers' interests and for not taking action against the Isha Yoga for alleged encroachment of tribal land for construction of the face, police said.

During the protest held in front of a tehsildar office here, they also sought the Centre's intervene to prevent construction of check dams across river Bhavani by Kerala.

Arond 500 workers of outfits including Dravidar Kazhagam, Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam, TMC, MDMK, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, Revolutionary Youth Front, SDPI, and Federation of Tamil Nadu Farmers' Association, participated in the demonstration, police said adding all were arrested.

Police also arrested 17 workers of a fringe outfit when they attempted to stage a demonstration against Modi's visit near the airport.