The Haryana government has approved a Rs.115 crore new scheme known as “Accreditation of Government Polytechnics in the state under the Swarn Jyanti Scheme” for accreditation of all the 23 existing government polytechnics functioning from their own campuses. The scheme will be implemented in a phased manner in four years from 2016-17 to 2019-20.

While stating this on Friday, Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma said that the accreditation of the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) is necessitated to ensure the quality, so that the output from the polytechnic system is effectively and immediately placed in the industry or market.

At present, there are 28 government polytechnics functioning in the state, out of which, five are being run with guest classes.

At present, none of the government polytechnic is having NBA or National Assessment and Accreditation Council's (NAAC) Accreditation. He said that while a sum of Rs.5 crore would be spent in 2016-17, Rs.40 crore each would be spent in 2017-18 and 2018-19 and Rs.30 crore in 2019-20.

Labour and Employment Minister Bandaru Dattatreya on Thursday said 18 model career centres will be set up in the Northeastern states under the National Career Service Project.

Addressing the Regional Labour Conference of Northeastern region in Guwahati, the minister highlighted various labour reforms taken by the government to ensure job security and social security of workers. He said Shram Suvida Portal has brought "more transparency and accountability" with better enforcement of labour laws.

Dattatreya also said the ministry has undertaken efforts to open bank accounts for workers to ensure cashless transactions of wages.

“To ensure cashless transaction of wages to workers, particularly those in the informal sector, the Labour and Employment Ministry has taken huge efforts for opening bank accounts. Already 25.68 crore Jan dhan accounts are existing and the workers left out are being covered under this effort,” Dattatreya said.

The minister also maintained that cooperative federalism is the key to achieve rapid development in India.

“Strong states are the foundation of a strong India. The progress of a country depends on the progress of the states as state governments along with the central governments are co-partners in moving forward the agenda of economic development” Dattatreya added.

Dattatreya also assured to upgrade the existing 50 bedded Beltola Hospital in Assam to 150 bedded hospital.

Shaving off initial gains amid lower opening of European markets and profit booking, domestic bourses closed last trading session of the week in the negative zone. The Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) ended 119 points down at 26,759, on Friday, and the Nifty at the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed 30 points lower at 8,244.

In the broader markets, BSE Midcap index slipped 0.3 per cent while Smallcap index declined 0.4 per cent.

Among the BSE sectoral indices, Bankex index jumped the most, up 0.9 per cent, while IT index became the top loser, down 2.5 per cent.

On Thursday, the Sensex had closed 245 points higher at 26,878 and the Nifty had ended 83 points up at 8,274.

Top gainers in the Sensex-30 pack: ONGC (up 1.2 per cent), Asian Paints (up 1.2 per cent), Dr Reddy’s Labs (up 1 per cent), HDFC Bank (up 0.8 per cent) and HDFC (up 0.7 per cent).

Top losers in the Sensex-30 pack: TCS (down 2.1 per cent), Infosys (down 2.1 per cent), Wipro (down 2 per cent), ITC (down 1.5 per cent), and Power Grid (down 1.1 per cent).

Meanwhile, the Rupee was trading two paise down at 67.98 against the US Dollar.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor along with other party leaders were on Friday detained by the Kerala Police for protesting against demonetisation outside the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) office. The leaders were released later.

"We were sitting on a peaceful dharna outside RBI office but we were arrested by police and were later released," Tharoor said.

The Congress party in Kerala has been protesting against the Union government's note ban and Tharoor had earlier said that the entire exercise was implemented badly and in an "astonishingly incompetent manner".

Did Om Puri have a premonition about his death when he spoke about it to IANS just a fortnight ago? In retrospect, it would seem so, because he talked about "leaving the world" and that his legacy would be "visible" once he departed.

His comments on leaving the world have become a reality too soon.

In one of his last interviews, which took place at a hotel here on December 23, 2016, Om Puri told IANS: "My contribution as an actor will be visible once I leave this world and the young generation, especially film students will watch my films."

The 66 year-old actor died of a heart attack at his residence here early morning on Friday.

Today, as he leaves a void in the world of cinema with his untimely demise, the film fraternity is looking back at his vast contribution to showbiz. Theatre, television, Indian and British films, Hollywood and Pakistani cinema — he did it all and left a lasting impression. His legacy, celebrities said, will live on.

A lover of alternate cinema with socially relevant themes at its core, Om Puri said: "For me, the real hard-hitting cinema was between 1980s and 1990s where Shyam Benegal, Govind Nihalani, Basu Chatterjee, Mrinal Sen and Gulzar made some remarkable films."

He worked in multiple projects with Nihalani and Benegal — films like "Aakrosh", "Ardh Satya" and "Tamas" which catapulted him into the realm of great actors. Both the directors were overcome by emotions when IANS contacted them after news of Om Puri's death broke. In shaky voices, both said it was too early to talk.

Just days earlier, he was happily interacting with young scribes to promote his upcoming political satire "Rambhajan Zindabad". Casually dressed in a pair of baggy jeans and a black shirt, he was, as was his style, devoid of any airs about his stardom — a position not defined by fanatical, frenzied fans, but by the sheer following of his nuanced performances and undying passion for art.

He was — as the biography by his former wife Nandita Puri — rightly says, an "Unlikely Hero".

The veteran actor, a recipient of Padma Shri, started his journey as an actor with a Marathi film "Ghashiram Kotwal" in 1972. If he featured in some intense dramas, he also balanced out his filmography with movies like "Mirch Masala", "Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro", "Chachi 420", "Hera Pheri", "Malamaal Weekly" and more.

"There are two kinds of cinema — one is just for entertainment, the other touches your heart. Both have their own purpose," Om Puri had told IANS.

When he was chairman of the National Film Development Corporation, Om Puri was focussed on encouraging meaningful films. The National School of Drama alumnus was also president of Cine and TV Artistes Association.

More recently, he featured in Bollywood films like "Ghayal Once Again" and "Mirzya", as well as in Pakistani film "Actor In Law". He even used his distinct baritone for the voice of black panther Bagheera in the Hindi dubbed version of Hollywood film "The Jungle Book". 

Age did not slow him down. He was busy dabbling in multiple projects like "Viceroy's House", "Tubelight" and "Manto".

The two-time National Film Award winner was bestowed the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award, in 1990.

His international career took off as early as 1982 when he featured in a small role in Oscar-winning film "Gandhi". It also set the stage for him to explore more on foreign shores — his British films were "My Son the Fanatic", "East Is East" and "The Parole Officer", and his Hollywood movies included "City of Joy", "Wolf", "The Ghost and the Darkness" and "The Hundred-Foot Journey".

In 2004, he was made an honorary officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to the British film industry.

While he had a glorious journey in the film world, his personal life went through turbulence. In 2013, his wife had filed a case against him, alleging domestic violence. They separated, leaving him with only visitation rights to their son, Ishaan.

He was frank and blunt about his views — and just last year, he faced the brunt of it when a police complaint was filed against him for his comments that were found to be insulting to Indian soldiers. In 2015, he spoke on the issue of cow slaughter in India. In 2012, he had landed in a bit of a soup after he called Naxals "fighters not terrorists".

But Om Puri remained fearless till the end — in his works and his words.

The Narendra Modi government might again take "out of the box" against Pakistan if it continues to indulge in proxy war against India, BJP President Amit Shah told the party office bearers at a meeting on Friday.

Ahead of the party's national executive meeting, Shah addressed Bharatiya Janata Party national office-bearers at the national capital here. The Indian Army's "surgical strikes" against terrorist launching pads in Pakistan-held Kashmir and the Centre's move to demonetise Rs.1,000 and Rs.500 notes dominated his address. 

"Shah during the meet hailed the September 29 military action against terrorists and said India might again take 'out of box' action if Pakistan persists with its policy of exporting terrorists to India," a party source said. 

Among the other issues discussed at the meeting was the attacks on party activists and offices in West Bengal after the Central Bureau of Investigation arrested Trinamool Congress MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay in a chit fund scam. 

The national executive meeting, to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah later in the day, assumes significance against the backdrop of the assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa scheduled for between the February 4 and March 8.

Among the host of party leaders present at the meeting were General secretaries Ram Lal and Kailash Vijayvargiya and Delhi unit chief Manoj Tiwari.

At the executive meeting, the party is expected to make demonetisation as the major plank for chalking out its strategy for the polls to the five state assemblies.

While Shah will deliver the inaugural address at the national executive, Modi is slated to give the valedictory speech at the two-day meeting. Senior party leaders, union ministers and Chief Ministers of the BJP-ruled states are to participate.

Delhi AAP MLA Jarnail Singh said on Friday that he had resigned from the Delhi assembly to contest against Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.

"I sent my resignation to Speaker Ram Niwas Goel on Thursday," Singh, a former journalist said.

The Aam Aadmi Party has fielded Jarnail Singh from Lambi in Punjab to take on five-time Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.

Punjab goes to the polls on February 4.

Jarnail Singh has been actively campaigning for the AAP for many months.

He was elected to the Delhi assembly in February 2015 from Rajouri Garden.

An hour-long nap after lunch may help older adults to preserve their memories, improve their ability to think clearly as well as to make decisions, a study has found.

Sleep plays a key role in helping older adults maintain their healthy mental function, necessary for people as they age, the researchers said.

In the study, led by Junxin Li from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, the team examined nearly 3,000 Chinese adults aged 65 and older to learn whether taking an afternoon nap had any effect on their mental health.

The researchers found that nearly 60 per cent of the people took an afternoon nap after lunch.

Their nap time was between about 30 minutes to more than 90 minutes, with most people taking naps lasting about 63 minutes.

The results showed that people who took an hour-long nap after lunch had better health condition compared to people who did not take a nap – neither shorter nor longer.

Conversely, those who took no naps at all had four-to-six times more decrease in their mental ability.

In addition, people who did not take a nap at all, and those who took shorter or longer naps, experienced about the same decline in their mental abilities that a five-year increase in age would be expected to cause, Li stated.

The study was published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

The Supreme Court on Friday closed a contempt proceedings against one of its former judge Justice Markandey Katju after receiving an unconditional apology from him.

"In view of the apology tendered, we accept and close the proceeding," stated the bench of Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Uday Umesh Lalit.

Seventy-year-old Katju had said in his apology: "I offer my unconditional apology for publishing the above captioned writings and have deleted the same from my blog entries on Facebook. I express my respect for the judicial appointment process and for the judiciary as an institution of governance.”

The apology was read out in the courtroom by senior counsel Rajeev Dhavan, who was appearing for him.

Katju, however, added that he was prepared to read it in the open court if he was called upon to do so.

The trailer of one of the most anticipated movies of 2017 – 'Rangoon' – is out and as expected, it reveals an intriguing side of the film.

Set in the backdrop of World War II, Vishal Bhardwaj’s Rangoon features three stellar actors, Shahid Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan and Kangana Ranaut, who will share screen space for the first time.

While viewers cannot help talking about Shahid’s performance in ‘Haider’, Kangana in ‘Queen’ and Saif Ali Khan in ‘Omkara’, the interest level has been piqued 10 folds with the coming together of these splendid actors.

The 30-second trailer presents Kangana as a theatre artiste, who is sent to Burma by Saif Ali Khan, the anglicised filmmaker, there she meets the army man Shahid Kapoor. Kangana is projected as a seductress, who is romantically involved with both the male actors, hence leading to a love triangle.

Of late, love-triangle has been the most sought after theme of Bollywood filmmakers but the harsh backdrop and the raw storyline is what sets 'Rangoon' apart from the archetypal Bollywood stories. 

Being a Vishal Bhardwaj film, 'Rangoon' bears the brunt of high expectation. But with the kind of performances shown in the trailer, the expectations are most likely to be met.

'Rangoon' is all set to hit the theatres on February 24. 

Humans likely established permanent settlements on the high-altitude Tibetan plateau at least 7,400 years ago, much before the advent of agriculture 5,200 years ago, says a study.

The findings are based on an extensive analysis of human handprints and footprints found in 1998 in fossilised hot spring mud near the village of Chusang on Tibet's central plateau, at an elevation of 14,000 feet above sea level.

Analysis of the archaeological site indicated that the prints were made by people at least 7,400 years ago, and possibly as early as 13,000 years ago.

The findings, published in the journal Science, challenge the previously held view that permanent human occupation of the Tibetan Plateau began no earlier than development of an agricultural economy between 5,200-3,600 years ago.

"Although an agropastoral lifeway may have enabled substantial population growth after 5,000 years, it by no means was required for the early, likely permanent, occupation of the high central valleys of the Tibetan Plateau," the researchers wrote.

The research sheds new light on human colonisation of high-elevation environments, said one of the researchers, Randy Haas from University of Wyoming in the US.

For example, researchers have been puzzled by the striking differences in how Tibetans and Andean highlanders adapted physiologically to the rigors of life at high elevations.

"High-elevation environments were some of the last places in the world that humans colonised, and so they offer something of a natural laboratory for studying human adaptation," Haas said.

Actor Leonardo DiCaprio has been confirmed to be a presenter at the Golden Globe Awards.

The 42-year-old has joined the list of stars who will be handing out the prizes at the ceremony, which is taking place in Beverly Hills, California, on Sunday.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced DiCaprio and Kristen Wiig's participation, via Twitter.

A post on the official Golden Globes Twitter account read: "We can confirm that Leonardo DiCaprio and Kristen Wiig will be presenters at the 74th Golden Globes on Januray 8."

DiCaprio and Wiig join previously announced presenters Viola Davis, Sylvester Stallone, Priyanka Chopra, Jon Hamm, Chris Hemsworth, Brie Larson, Sofia Vergara, Zoe Saldana, Mandy Moore, Gal Gadot, Carl Weathers, Drew Barrymore, Matt Damon, Laura Dern, Goldie Hawn, Nicole Kidman, Diego Luna, Sienna Miller, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Timothy Olyphant, Chris Pine, Eddie Redmayne, Amy Schumer, Justin Theroux, Milo Ventimiglia and Reese Witherspoon.

The Golden Globes will be presented by Jimmy Kimmell. Stallone's daughters, Sophia, 20, Sistine, 18, and Scarlet, 14, have already been announced to be sharing the title of Miss Golden Globe.

US President-elect Donald Trump's transition team has decided not to let American ambassadors who are political appointees of President Barack Obama stay on for a grace period beyond Inauguration Day, a source has confirmed.

The decision has left some of the diplomats, who represent the US in countries such as Britain, Saudi Arabia and Japan, scrambling to figure out new living arrangements, visa rules and what options they have for their children's schooling. 

It also could mean some top US embassies are left without an ambassador for months as Trump finds his footing, the source said on Thursday.

In typical presidential transitions, politically appointed ambassadors have at times been allowed to stay on the job for weeks or months after the new President has taken office, Politico reported.

Following tradition, President Obama has directed all political appointees in his Democratic administration to submit their resignations effective on Inauguration Day, January 20, making room for Trump's appointees.

When asked about ambassadors requesting extensions, the Trump transition team informed the State Department that it was not making any exceptions, an official told Politico. 

The department began sending cables at least as early as December 21, 2016, to individual ambassadors telling them that they would have to quit their posts on time.

During his two terms, Obama named hundreds of people to the posts, roughly 30 per cent of whom are political appointees, which generally require Senate confirmation. That figure is roughly in line with other Presidents in recent decades.

In the absence of the ambassadors who now must leave by January 20, the affected US embassies will likely be run by the highest-ranking career employee until Trump nominates someone new and that person is confirmed by the Senate. 

The process could take months.

Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday said that India will help out sailors stuck in merchant ships at Ajman in United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Reacting to media reports, Swaraj in a tweet said, "I have seen the news report. We will resolve this."

One of the sailors, Anoop Pathak, sent an SOS message from his handle, which read: "@SushmaSwaraj our ship has holes and too much water coming in! Please help us we want to go back home!"

According to media reports, 41 Indian sailors are stranded in four abandoned merchant ships at Ajman anchorage in UAE. The owner of the vessels had seized the passports of the sailors and is reportedly untraceable.

As per reports, the sailors have not been paid for more than a year.

English road signs are set to debut this year in Japan to make navigation easier for foreigners.

The National Police Agency said some of the new signs introduced from July 2017 will be written in both Japanese and English, public broadcaster NHK reported.

The stop sign will bear the word "STOP" and the slow-down sign will come with the word "SLOW".

The number of accidents involving foreign drivers with international licenses has risen in recent years.

Last year, the agency found that about 20 per cent of the foreign drivers it surveyed did not recognise the Japanese stop sign and nearly 30 per cent could not understand the slow-down sign.

There are 1.7 million stop signs and 1,000 slow-down signs across the country.

According to the agency, the move is also part of the preparations for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.

An executive at the South Korean unit of Volkswagen was sentenced to a year and a half in prison on Friday over charges of fabricating reports that came to light following the German carmaker's emissions scandal.

The Seoul Central District Court found the executive, identified only by his surname Yoon, guilty of a string of charges, including forging documents and breaking the country's Clean Air Conservation Act, Yonhap News Agency reported. 

Yoon is the local unit's executive in charge of the vehicle certification process.

Prosecutors indicted him in July 2016 over suspicions he played a major role in doctoring reports on the vehicles' emissions results, noise level and fuel efficiency to get approval from the local authorities.

The court, however, acquitted Yoon of fabricating reports on fuel efficiency, citing a lack of evidence.

Under local law, all imported cars should first receive approval of their emissions results and noise levels from the National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER).

"This crime has destroyed the trust in the global brand," the court said, pointing out the social and economic damage incurred by his crime.

Two-time Grammy-winning singer Ed Sheeran released two singles — "Shape of you" and "Castle on the hill" — on Friday.

The songs mark his first new music in nearly two years, reports people.com.

"Hello 2017! I've been working hard on the new material and I hope you can be as excited about it as I am," Sheeran said in a statement. 

"I really wanted to show two different sides to my music that I'm equally as passionate about and I just knew I wanted to roll with two songs at the same time. I'm absolutely buzzing to be back."

"Shape of you" is co-produced by Sheeran, and co-written by Steve Mac and Johnny McDaid.

"Castle on the hill", written and produced by Sheeran and Benny Blanco, pays homage to his English hometown of Framlingham, Suffolk.

His most recent album "x" was released in June 2014.