Babies whose mothers had signs of active genital herpes infection during early pregnancy may be twice at risk for developing autism spectrum disorder (ASD) later, say researchers.

Genital herpes is a highly contagious virus and lifelong infection that usually spread through sex.

The research showed an association between maternal anti-herpes simplex virus-2 (HSV-2) antibodies and risk for autism in children. 

"We believe the mother's immune response to HSV-2 could be disrupting foetal central nervous system development, raising risk for autism," said lead author Milada Mahic, research scientist at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York City.

The risk of autism was found to be the result of primary or reactivation of infection in mothers with inflammation in close proximity to the womb, the researchers suggested. 

"Evidence suggests a role for both genetic and environmental factors. Our work suggests that inflammation and immune activation may contribute to risk. Herpes simplex virus-2 could be one of any number of infectious agents involved," added W. Ian Lipkin, Director at Columbia University.

For the study, appearing in the journal mSphere, the team examined blood samples from 412 mothers of children diagnosed with autism and 463 mothers of children without autism. 

Samples were taken at two time points — at around week 18 of pregnancy and at birth — and analysed for levels of antibodies five pathogens: Toxoplasma gondii, rubella virus, cytomegalovirus and herpes simplex viruses type 1 and 2 — known as ToRCH agents, exposure to which can lead to miscarriage and birth defects. 

The risk was found with high levels of antibodies to HSV-2, not any of the other agents and was only evident in blood samples taken at a time point reflecting exposure during early pregnancy when the foetal nervous system undergoes rapid development, not at birth. 

Buoyed by falling solar tariffs, Niti Aayog on Thursday said India needs energy efficiency by maximising supply of renewable energy sources to help realise the goal of sustainable development for affordable and clean power access.

"We need energy efficiency by maximising supply of renewable energy sources to realise the goal of #SDG 7 on affordable and clean energy access," Aayog said in a series of tweets.

"We're at a time when prices of renewable energy sources like solar are falling rapidly. This will soon spread to different energy sources," it added.

Sustainable Development Goals 7 aims to ensure universal access to affordable electricity by 2030 by investing in clean energy sources such as solar, wind and thermal.

The government's think-tank further noted that like with solar, India needs to ensure large, consistent, competitive procurement for affordability of efficient, low-cost energy sources.

Observing that India's national goals and priorities have subsumed all the sustainable development goals, Aayog said, "All 17 #SDGs – ending poverty, creating jobs, improving health and education, clean energy, etc – have been key to India's development planning." 

Britain's exit from the European Union is likely to positively impact the economic bloc's long-drawn negotiations over a free trade agreement with India, according to a leaked document drawn up by the members of the EU parliament.

The document drawn up by Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) in the EU's influential trade committee points to British Prime Minister Theresa May's stringent visa policy towards Indian professionals as a major stumbling block to the FTA, which has been in the works since 1997.

India's high import tariffs on Scotch whisky from Scotland is seen as another hurdle, which would also no longer be a factor post-Brexit, The Guardian reported.

"Scotland has a major interest in an FTA with India: India has the world's largest market for whisky, which is highly protected by prohibitive tariffs. Lowering tariffs for Scottish whisky could present an important market opportunity," the MEPs note.

"In case the UK (including Scotland) would leave the EU, this could possibly facilitate FTA negotiations [for the EU] as tariffs on wines and spirits constitute an obstacle. This as well as financial services, would then become a bit less of an offensive interest of the EU," they add.

The European parliamentarians also suggest that despite the much-hyped India-UK ties, Britain is likely to struggle to clinch a new trade deal.

"Given the important Indian diaspora living in the UK and the common past, the UK tends to attach particular importance to its economic relations to India, however, trading ties are more important with other EU member states," say the MEPs.

They point out that as a trading partner of India, Germany is the top EU country (ranked 6th), whereby the UK figures only rank 18 between Kuwait and Iran as a trading partner for India.

While the UK makes up 3.4 per cent of India's overall exports, it accounts only for less than 2 per cent of India's exports.

In addition, currently the UK has by far the largest trade deficit in goods with India of any EU member states accounting for 2,611 million euros, while Belgium and Germany have a large trade surplus with India.

The document adds that the visas India has been seeking for its skilled workers is a "political problem" for the UK if it wants a deal: "India has a major interest in mode IV access for its service suppliers to the UK, which would also prove politically difficult (as most of the Indian service providers would certainly like to enter the UK for delivering temporary services)." 

The MEPs' document, leaked to the newspaper, does however see a threat to the EU's other trade talks in Britain's withdrawal. In particular, there are concerns that the negotiations with Australia and New Zealand due to start in mid-2017 could be scuppered.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday made it clear that no water from Punjab will be allowed to flow to Haryana.

Senior AAP leader and MP Bhagwant Mann, in a statement here, said the AAP, which he said is expected to form government in Punjab, would not allow any water to flow to Haryana because Punjab has no extra water.

"The AAP is firm on its stand and would take all legal and political steps which would be required to resolve the river waters issue," Mann said.

Cautioning the people of Punjab and Haryana against the "dangerous designs of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) who are blowing the issue of Satluj Yamuna Link (SYL) canal out of proportion to create law and order problem for political motives", Mann said the INLD call for digging of the SYL canal was politically motivated.

Mann questioned the INLD why they kept quiet on SYL canal issue for 10 years when the SAD was ruling Punjab.

"The SAD is going out of power and the INLD suddenly decided to dig the SYL canal. The move is to create problems for the next government in Punjab," Mann pointed out.

The INLD led a march on Thursday to the Punjab border to start the digging work of the SYL canal.

Mann said the SAD and the Congress were mainly responsible for selling Punjab river waters to Haryana. He said Parkash Singh Badal who was Chief Minister in 1978 had allowed his Haryana counterpart Devi Lal to conduct survey for the SYL Canal.

Assembly elections in Punjab were held on February 4 for 117 seats. The counting of votes will take place on March 11.

David Bowie was posthumously awarded two of the biggest prizes at the 37th Brit Awards – British Album of the Year and British Male Solo Artist for his mournful swansong, 'Blackstar'. 

The singing great, who died of cancer in January 2016, beat 1975, Michael Kiwanuka, Kano and Skepta to win British Album of the Year award at the ceremony, which is UK's biggest music awards show.

Noel Gallagher announced the winner and presented the award to David's son, director Duncan Jones.

"I lost my dad last year but I also became a dad. And I was trying to work out what I would want my son to know about his grandad. He's always been there supporting people who think they are a little bit strange or different so this award is for all the kooks and all those who make the kooks. Thanks BRITs," Duncan said.

David won the British Male Solo Artist award, beating Craig David, Skepta, Kano and Michael Kiwanuka and Michael C Hall accepted the gong on his behalf from presenter Zane Lowe.

Speaking about the icon, Michael – who starred in 'Bowie's "Lazarus" musical – quipped that he wouldn't have attended the BRITs even if he was alive.

"If David Bowie could be here tonight, he probably wouldn't be here tonight. But I am here tonight on behalf of his family to accept this testament to a man beholden to nothing but his own imagination," he said.

One Direction won the British Video award, and Liam Payne accepted on behalf of the group, who are currently on hiatus.

"This is amazing, thank you so much. We cannot believe we are still winning things like this. We are taking some time out to do our solo stuff but One Direction is who we are and who we always will be. This one is for you," Payne said.

Meanwhile, Little Mix dedicated their British Single of the Year award at the BRITs to their exes.

The girlband – comprised of Perrie Edwards, Jesy Nelson, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jade Thirlwall – won for "Shout Out To My Ex" and thanked their own past loves in their acceptance speech.

Jade said, "Thank you so much. We honestly didn't think we were gonna get it, we were just sat there chinwagging. We'd like to thank our label Sony, Syco, Simon (Cowell), our amazing A&R, our management, and us girls, because if it wasn't for our friendship, we wouldn't still be going.

"And lastly cheers to our exes for helping us to do an amazing song, this one's for you lads." .

The government will investigate reports of an SBI ATM in South Delhi dispensing fake Rs.2,000 notes and will take all possible steps to control generation of counterfeit currency, a senior minister said on Thursday.

Minister of State for Finance Santosh Gangwar said the government is not perturbed by the stray incident of fake 2,000 rupee notes bearing 'Children Bank of India' being dispensed from a State Bank of India ATM in South Delhi's Sangam Vihar.

"The government will investigate the matter. Fake currency should not come out of ATM. If there are reports in newspapers, then it will be investigated," he told reporters here.

Yesterday, SBI, the nation's largest lender, had stated that "the possibility of fake notes from the bank's ATMs is very remote" and it "suspects involvement of some miscreants with mischievous intent".

"The government is taking measures to control fake currency generation. Some people are trying to create problem in the country. We will be able to say (who they are) only after investigation," Gangwar said.

He said SBI's claim of fake currency being introduced during transportation of bank notes by third parties will be investigated.

The government, the minister said, is not worried by the stray incident, but will investigate the matter fully.

SBI has said it has in place "a very robust system for monitoring the quality of notes" at all its currency chests.

"All notes received by the bank and to be dispensed by the bank, either through its ATMs or its branches, are processed through the latest state-of-the-art Note Sorting Machines," SBI had said in a statement on .

"These machines are equipped with the templates of all legal tender in the country and any note not conforming to the security features is separated as 'suspect note' for further manual scrutiny. Thus, no fake note is likely to be dispensed through the bank's ATMs at any time."

SBI is examining the notes in all other ATMs handled by the same custodians of the bank and replenished by the same cash replenishment agency.

Despite having won the toss, Australia’s decision to bat first backfired as the Indian bowlers restricted them for 256/9 on the Day 1 of the first Test at the MCA Stadium, Pune on Thursday. 

The Indian pace attack, spearheaded by Umesh Yadav dominated the Kangaroos through the day. Yadav claimed four big wickets while the Indian spinners too popped up at key intervals to break threatening partnerships.

Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin claimed two wickets each, while Jayant Yadav dismissed Shaun Marsh (16) in the middle-order to join the carnival.

Australian opener Renshaw was the highest scorer for the visitors (68 runs off 156 balls) and he hit 10 fours and a six during his steady innings.

Renshaw also became the youngest batsman (20 years, 332 days) to score a fifty-plus knock in India. Teh feat was earlier held by 22-year-old Rick Darling of Australia.

Other than Renshaw, the Australian top-order largely disappointed and was unable to build on their starts to fashion a big innings.

David Warner (38) was the first victim, who lost his wicket early in the 28th over, while captain Steve Smith (27) too lost his wicket cheaply.

Yadav appeared in great shape since the start and concluded his day with second best figures in Test (4/32). His earlier best was (5/93), also against Australia back in 2012 in Perth. 

Tailenders Mitchell Starc (57*) and Josh Hazlewood (1*) remained at the crease at stumps at the edn of Day 1.

Scoring five fours and three sixes, Starc, who came to bat at number eight, steadied the Australian innings as he added 51 runs with Hazlewood for the 10th-wicket partneship.

Sevilla FC manager Jorge Sampaoli has lamented the fact that his team conceded a goal during their Champions League last-16 tie against Leicester City despite dominating for most of the game.

Sevilla won 2-1 at the Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium here on Wednesday night thanks to goals from Pablo Sarabia and Joaquín Correa in either half.

But with the hosts leading 2-0, Leicester striker Jamie Vardy struck in the 73rd minute to ensure that the reigning English Premier League (EPL) champions will go into the second leg at home with an away goal to their name.

Sampaoli rued after the game that Sevilla deserved to win by a better margin given their performance.

"We were far superior in the development of the game, with 10 clear scoring chances. They did very little but succeeded in the end. I think we deserved a bit more," Sampaoli was quoted as saying by the Independent.

Praising his players for their performance, Sampaoli asserted that Sevilla are determined to win the second leg which is scheduled to be held on March 15.

"We had all sorts of chances but hit the post and crossbar. Our opponents only had a few chances, but now we have to go to Leicester for the win," the 56-year-old Argentine said.

"We wanted to confuse our opponents a bit by getting our forwards to change positions. "Still, it was possible to create many chances against a team that sat very deep. That's not easy," he added.

"For us to win in the Champions League is very important, but the bad thing is that we left our lead so slight after huge superiority."

Navy's frigate INS Betwa, which had slipped off her dock blocks in Naval Dockyard on December 5, was restored to an upright position late on Wednesday night.

"The ship was floated and made upright in the dock and will be moved to another drydock for further repairs," a Defence spokesperson said here on Thursday.

The ship was undergoing a long refit at the time of the incident and will now complete her refit, as per original time-lines, prior rejoining Fleet operations, he said.

Two crew members were killed in the incident which had occurred during undocking evolution and it was suspected that the dock-block mechanism had failed. The mast of the ship has hit the ground on the left side.

The ship was undergoing refit and the incident had happened as it was undocking in the cruiser graving dock of the dockyard.

INS Betwa is a 4000 tonne frigate of the Brahmaputra class built by Garden Reach Ship Builders of Kolkata and entered service in July 2004.

The revenue surplus of Bihar has increased from Rs.4,820 crore in 2011-12 to Rs.12,507 crore in 2015-16, the highest so far, according to a latest report of Economic Survey which was tabled in the state assembly on Thursday. The month-long budget session of the Bihar Assembly began Thursday.

As per the report, the revenue surplus has allowed the state government to increase its capital spending by more than Rs.5,800 crore during the year.

“This has also allowed the state government to limit its Gross Fiscal Deficit to only 2.9 percent of the new estimate of the GSDP well within FRBMA limits,” the report claimed.

The reports also states that the revenue receipts of the state increased by Rs.17,706 crore of which Rs.16,659 crore came from increase in tax revenue alone. During the five year period from 2011-12 to 2015-16, the own tax revenue of the state government grew from Rs.12,612 crore to Rs.25,449 crore, implying a high annual growth rate of 19 percent.

It further states that of the total capital outlay of Rs.23,966 crore in 2015-16, Rs.17,609 crore (73 percent) was spent on economic services, Rs.2,740 crore (11 percent) on social services and rest Rs.3,617 crore (15 percent) on general services.

The report stated that the total development expenditure of the state government including capital outlay stood at Rs.78,077 crore in 2015-15 which is about 70 percent of the total expenditure as compared to 68 percent in 2014-15.

“The government is committed to maintain a high growth rate in in development expenditure, both in revenue and capital account,” the report stated.

Report further stated that the development of the infrastructure sector has been a priority area for the state government and it has enhanced public investment in roads and bridges. It said the investment in roads has increased nearly three folds from Rs.2,696 crore in 2007-08 to Rs.7,696 crore in 2016-17, indicating an annual growth rate of more than 10 percent. In 2015-16, the expenditure on roads constituted 16.4 percent of the expenditure of the state government on economic sectors, 7.7 percent of development expenditure and 1.5 percent of the GSDP of the state.

As per the report, the number of registered motor vehicles in Bihar has been increasing rapidly at an annual rate of 15.4 percent during the past five years. It said there has been significant improvement in power availability as well adding the poverty ratio in Bihar was reduced by 20.7 percentage points between 2004-05 to 2011-12.

“It is heartening to note that the reduction in poverty ratio in rural areas of Bihar was higher than the urban areas,” the report revealed.

Chief Justice of India Justice JS Khehar has written to the Finance Ministry to provide details of major tax cases pending with the Supreme Court, so that the decision in one case could have a cascading effect in disposing of several others.

Listing out initiatives taken by the apex court in reducing the pendency of cases, he said "so far initiatives that we have taken, we have tried to collect data even from the Finance Ministry relating to cases where, on tax issues, where there could be a cascading effect.

"So I wrote to the Secretary of the department asking him whether he can point out the cases where there is a cascading effect so that we decide one and lot of other cases of different levels can be disposed off." 

Justice Khehar was speaking last night at a book release function at Rashtrapati Bhavan, which was attended by President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The CJI also said he had asked the finance ministry to find out whether there were certain cases which could have major financial impact so that, "rather than the matter pending in the courts, it will decide whether the government needs that money and gets it immediately, or doesn't get it. One way or the other." 

In a polite snub to Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Justice Khehar said the judiciary was the body which passed orders and was functioning within its "boundaries".

"There is a difference of perception between the Union Law Minister and Union Finance Minister (Arun Jaitley). I don't blame either. The reason is that I do not know what to say — Are you on the wrong side, or are we on the wrong side? 

"Probably you are on the wrong side because it's us passing the order and that is the unfortunate part and sometimes it is not a pleasant experience to have an order set aside or altered or changed or modified. But for that, we assure you that we will keep within our boundary," he said.

Earlier, Prasad had said that all institutions of democracy — Executive, Legislative and Judiciary — should function within their limits.

"While upholding the majesty of our courts and independence of judiciary as integral to India's governance, which cannot be tinkered by any which ways, we also need to acknowledge that legislation must be left to those who are elected by the people to make such legislations and governance must be left to those elected to govern by the people of India," the Law Minister said at the function.

He said independence of judiciary is the basic structure undoubtedly, but "separation of power is also a basic structure".

Tightening its scrutiny of cash deposits post note ban, the tax department is closely looking at any business entity showing sudden spurt in cash sales in November and December in a bid to detect possible tax evasion.

In every case of abnormal increase in cash sale, the tax department will match the sales and inventory data claimed by any company, enterprise or trading establishment with those of prior months to find out if blackmoney was being camouflaged as business sales, a senior government official said.

On the taxman's radar are traders and business establishments that have shown sudden rise in cash sales or inventory purchase immediately after November 8 when the government unveiled its decision to demonetise old 500 and 1,000 rupee notes.

"There are instances of business entities depositing higher taxes (VAT and excise duty) after claiming a rise in sales or inventories being cleared," the official said, adding that the government had allowed use of the junked currency to pay statutory dues in the immediate aftermath of demonetisation.

The tax department will verify if the cash transactions shown are in line with the normal business during the given period of a year.

For this, taxmen will look into monthly sales summary with break-up of cash and credit sales as well as historic bank statements to identify cases of back-dating of cash or fictitious sales.

"The idea is to catch anyone using the garb of a business entity to convert unaccounted cash (blackmoney) to white using the 50-day period provided to deposit holding of old currency in bank accounts," the official said.

Any growth in cash sales during November 9 to December 30, 2016, or any abnormal jump in percentage of cash sales to unidentifiable persons compared to the earlier history is also going to attract I-T glare.

Transfer from bank accounts after the cash is deposited to any entity not related to the business will also be closely examined, he said, adding that cash donations will also be looked into.

Non-availability of stock or attempts to inflate stock by introducing fictitious purchases will also be part of the investigation.

The official said that like individuals, any company, partnership or proprietorship can also avail of the tax amnesty scheme — the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY).

They can disclose unaccounted cash, pay up 50 per cent tax, deposit another quarter in a zero-interest bearing 4-year deposit and claim amnesty.

The tax department, however, will ascertain if the tax is actually being deposited and evidence of the deposit being made before closing the verification, he added.

Actor Shahid Kapoor and Wardha Nadiadwala held a special preview of Rangoon, which is all set to make its way to the theatres, for the B-Towners.

There have been multiple screenings organised by the Rangoon team as the film is in its week of release. 

Warda was accompanied by husband & the film producer Sajid Nadiadwala. Shahid came along with wife Mira Kapoor, Kangana Ranaut, and director Vishal Bhardwaj, they all engaged in the cake cutting which had the impression of Rangoon poster. 

Besides, other B'town celebs present were, Jacqueline Fernandez, Shahid Kapoor's brother Ishaan, Suniel Shetty with wife, Kriti Sanon, Sushant Singh Rajput, Sonakshi Sinha, Bosco-Caesar, Sudheer Babu, Mukesh Chhabra, Rohit Dhawan, Ameesha Patel, Ahmed Khan, Hakim Aalim, Ashutosh Gowariker, Ken Ghosh, Ajit Andhare.

Although Saif Ali Khan and his wife Kareena Kapoor were conspicuous by their absence, Team Rangoon had quite a gala evening.

Rangoon, a Casablanca-like love story set against the backdrop of the Second World War, features feisty Julia aka Kangana, Rusi aka Saif Ali Khan and the soldier Nawab aka Shahid Kapoor in pivotal roles.

Actor Shahid Kapoor and Wardha Nadiadwala held a special preview of Rangoon, which is all set to make its way to the theatres, for the B-Towners.

There have been multiple screenings organised by the Rangoon team as the film is in its week of release. 

Warda was accompanied by husband & the film producer Sajid Nadiadwala. Shahid came along with wife Mira Kapoor, Kangana Ranaut, and director Vishal Bhardwaj, they all engaged in the cake cutting which had the impression of Rangoon poster. 

Besides, other B'town celebs present were, Jacqueline Fernandez, Shahid Kapoor's brother Ishaan, Suniel Shetty with wife, Kriti Sanon, Sushant Singh Rajput, Sonakshi Sinha, Bosco-Caesar, Sudheer Babu, Mukesh Chhabra, Rohit Dhawan, Ameesha Patel, Ahmed Khan, Hakim Aalim, Ashutosh Gowariker, Ken Ghosh, Ajit Andhare.

Although Saif Ali Khan and his wife Kareena Kapoor were conspicuous by their absence, Team Rangoon had quite a gala evening.

Rangoon, a Casablanca-like love story set against the backdrop of the Second World War, features feisty Julia aka Kangana, Rusi aka Saif Ali Khan and the soldier Nawab aka Shahid Kapoor in pivotal roles.

Two drugs that are used to treat asthma and allergies may offer a way to prevent a form of pneumonia that can kill up to 40 per cent of people who contract it, researchers have found.

Influenza pneumonia results when a flu infection spreads to alveolar air sacs deep within the lungs. Normally, a flu infection does not progress that far into the lower respiratory tract, but when it does, the results can be deadly. 

"If infection is severe enough, and the immune response is potent enough, you get injury to these cells and are no longer able to get sufficient oxygen exchange. As a result of the infection of the cells, you can develop lethal pneumonia and die," said Thomas J. Braciale, researcher from University of Virginia in the US. 

The findings showed that early administration of the two asthma drugs — Accolate and Singulair — could prevent the infection of the alveolar cells deep in the lower respiratory tract. 

Once influenza spreads deep into the lungs, the body's own immune response can prove harmful, resulting in severe damage to the alveolar air sacs, the researchers said. 

The alveolar epithelial cells are typically protected from influenza infection by immune cells called alveolar macrophages. 

In some instances, however, the flu virus can prevent the macrophages from carrying out their protective function, allowing the epithelial cells to become vulnerable to infection. 

"It's not as though they lack alveolar macrophages, it's just that their alveolar macrophages don't work right when they get exposed to the flu," Braciale said. 

"And those are the types of patients, who potentially would eventually go to the intensive care unit, that we think could be treated early in infection with Accolate or Singulair to prevent infection of these epithelial cells and prevent lethal infection," he added.

Two drugs that are used to treat asthma and allergies may offer a way to prevent a form of pneumonia that can kill up to 40 per cent of people who contract it, researchers have found.

Influenza pneumonia results when a flu infection spreads to alveolar air sacs deep within the lungs. Normally, a flu infection does not progress that far into the lower respiratory tract, but when it does, the results can be deadly. 

"If infection is severe enough, and the immune response is potent enough, you get injury to these cells and are no longer able to get sufficient oxygen exchange. As a result of the infection of the cells, you can develop lethal pneumonia and die," said Thomas J. Braciale, researcher from University of Virginia in the US. 

The findings showed that early administration of the two asthma drugs — Accolate and Singulair — could prevent the infection of the alveolar cells deep in the lower respiratory tract. 

Once influenza spreads deep into the lungs, the body's own immune response can prove harmful, resulting in severe damage to the alveolar air sacs, the researchers said. 

The alveolar epithelial cells are typically protected from influenza infection by immune cells called alveolar macrophages. 

In some instances, however, the flu virus can prevent the macrophages from carrying out their protective function, allowing the epithelial cells to become vulnerable to infection. 

"It's not as though they lack alveolar macrophages, it's just that their alveolar macrophages don't work right when they get exposed to the flu," Braciale said. 

"And those are the types of patients, who potentially would eventually go to the intensive care unit, that we think could be treated early in infection with Accolate or Singulair to prevent infection of these epithelial cells and prevent lethal infection," he added.

Vani Kapoor carded an even par round on the final day to win the fourth leg of the Hero Womens Professional Golf Tour at the Tollygunge Club here on Thursday.

Vani claimed her first title of the season with a margin of four strokes. Amandeep Drall finished second with a total score of 217. 

Delhi's Vani had an indifferent start, dropping a shot on the very first hole. She went on to card a birdie on the seventh hole with a double bogey on the eighth in her front nine. 

Sensing victory on her way in, she played with much more control and carded a bogey free round with birdies on the 10th and 16th holes. 

Panchkula's Amandeep had a shaky start, carding bogeys on the first and fifth holes, but birdies on the eighth and ninth helped her to neutralise the damage on her way out. 

Her lone birdie in the back nine came on the 15th hole, while she dropped shots on the 10th, 11th, 13th, 17th and 18th to finish the round with a score of four over 74.

Saaniya Sharma and Sharmila Nicollet were tied third with identical scores of 218 after the third round. 

Chandigarh's Saaniya carded a birdie less front nine, with a double bogey on the seventh hole. On the return she carded a birdie on the 10th hole, while dropping shots on the 12th and 18th. Sharmila's card on the day included a lone birdie on the 10th hole, with bogeys on the first, ninth, 12th and 18th. She also carded a double bogey on the 11th hole.

Jaipur's Afshan Fatima carded birdies on the sixth, 14th and 15th holes, while dropping shots on the third, fifth, 10th and 12th. 

She carded a double bogey on the 18th hole to finish the round in fifth position with a total score of 221. 

She was followed by Kolkata's Smriti Mehra in sixth position with a score of 222. Neha Tripathi finished seventh with a total score of 223, followed by Gaurika Bishnoi and Mehar Atwal in tied eighth with identical scores of 225.