Stocks traded in a flat, narrow band on Friday, in line with their overseas peers, as traders and investors remained fence sitters on the last trading day of the week. Thick selling action, however, was concentrated on the software sector, which plunged to a 2-week low following a negative development in its main market, the United States.

The Nifty quoted 5 points lower at 8,268, unable as it was to hold on to morning gains as sustained selling in index heavyweight software stocks pushed markets lower. Media reports said two US Congressmen have moved a Bill that may make it difficult for software exporters to procure H1-B visas, necessary to send developers to the US, which consumes a majority of India's $150 billion in software exports.

Meanwhile, here are the most important events of the trading day:

* Yes Bank, ONGC, IndusInd Bank, Bharti Infratel and Bank of Baroda gain 1.5-2.8 per cent; and are among 32 shares advancing on the Nifty.

* HCL Technologies replaces Tech Mahindra as the top loser on the Nifty. Others to slip were TCS, Infosys and Wipro. These five stocks lost between 1.8-3.6 per cent and were among 18 shares trading lower on the Nifty .

* Infosys, India's second largest software exporter, was the top traded stock by value, down 2.3 per cent to its lowest level since December 8th, a 1-month low. Wockhardt Pharma, Yes Bank, TCS and HDFC were the other counters were substantial trading was witnessed.

* JSW Energy was the top gainer in the list of most active shares by volumes.

* Broader market indices traded flat, with low volumes. 

* Sectoral indices showed a mixed trend with a stroke of red on FMCG, Media and Realty benchmarks while the four bank indices, auto, metals and pharma benchmarks were painted with a shade of green.

* Overall, 868 stocks fell versus 708 that rose in the wider market, signalling that bears had an upper hand on the last trading day of the week.

Is 'quit smoking' one of your New Year resolutions? If yes, are you struggling to do so? Well, it may seem difficult. The first few days may be tough. But, never underestimate your willpower to quit cigarette smoking. You can. Many have done it. If you have done so, hats off to you! Now that you are stepping ahead to regain your health, you need to flush out all the harmful nicotine and other toxins amassed in your system through long years of smoking.

Here are a few simple things to do to get rid of toxins from the body the easy way.

Have a diet rich in vitamin A, B, C, E and K. Your food should contain fibre and folic acid. These nutrients help detoxification. They boost the immune system that provides the vital base to combat aftereffects of quitting process. Carrots, orange, kiwi, broccoli, green leafy vegetables and whole grains are best for quicker recovery.

Fruit juice: Drink fresh orange juice, cranberry juice and carrot juice in between meals preferably.

Water: Drink at least 8-12 glasses of water every day to cleanse your body from nicotine and other toxic substances in cigarette. Keep yourself well hydrated to improve your kidney functioning. The sound functioning of kidneys help flush out toxins adeptly from your body.

Green tea: Green tea is a powerful antioxidant that prevents health problems, including cancer. These ills are the cause of long years of cigarette smoking. Drink at least three cups of green tea daily to purify your body. Lemon and peppermint tea also contribute in detoxification process.

Ginger water: Use fresh ginger water to clear your lungs and body. Ginger makes our body sweat more. When you sweat, a good amount of toxins are released from the body.

Garlic: Garlic contains a chemical compound called allicin. It helps in cleansing lungs and body from harmful nicotine and other toxins.

Exercise: Exercise regularly to release toxins through sweating. It will help eliminate nicotine that has piled up in our body. Exercise also escalate body’s metabolism rate and keeps the immune system fit and fine.

Smoking a single cigarette robs eight minutes of your life. Value these precious minutes which will never come again. The toxins in cigarette kill you steadily every time you smoke. There is no better day than today to quit this deadly poison. Embrace detoxification to keep your body healthy and energized enough to face the symptoms after giving up smoking.

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up,” the century-best artist Pablo Picasso had once said.

Picking the pulse from right where Picasso left, Raghuvansham School of Modern Art is working hard since over a decade to retain every child’s art in its purest form.

To nurture the promote young fine art talent in India, the Delhi-based modern art institute held a week-long art exhibition – PRADARSHINI 2016-17, from December 30, 2016 to January 5, 2017, at the All India Fine Arts & Crafts Society (AIFACS) here.

“PRADARSHINI is a platform for everyone, where they can exhibit their work. It’s an effort to give artists a feel of what is the future of fine arts and how they can exhibit, and what horizons they can scale if go professionally with it,” Raghuvir Shah, director of the Raghuvansham School of Modern Art, told thestatesman.com.

As many as 72 students, from pre-primary class to college going students and house wives, participated at the event to showcase their world of imaginations and thoughts on canvas with alluring paintings of subjects like Buddha, Krishna and landscapes.

Besides the painting exhibition that demonstrated a stronger future of art in India, the modern art institue organised various online competitions, for which artists were honoured with awards as well. Icing on the cake, AIFACS presented each artist with a participation certificate.

Raghuvir believes such awards boosts the morale of an artist and when an artist gets honoured at such a tender age, the awards becomes larger than life.

“The govt has approved the ECA (Extra Curricular Activities) quota recently, so the students will get a benefit of this certificate in their career as well. They may add this certificate in their portfolios. It's a national level gallery, so these awards here will definitely give a flight to their career and motivate them to better with their art,” he added.

Unlike the story of the institution, the story of artists weren’t much in a straight line. Their age and temperament varied and so did their stories.

“I am coming here, since the age of five or six. Initially, I had no interest in art but then I started doing pottery in my school. I really liked it, did better and then I came here to explore my hands with the colours,” Manav Gupta, Class XI, GD Goenka Public School, said.

Manav’s painting, an aghori (saint) smoking, didn’t appear like a child play as it depicted an intense idea over a black and white canvas with bright colours on the forehead of the subject. 

Talking about the inspiration behind the painting, Manav added: “I am a teenage boy so when I saw such figures around me, I was very much attracted, so I decided to paint this. You see the forehead is the centre point of the painting, so I kept it vivid to make it stand out of the entire canvas.”

Despite having a fair hand with the brushes, Manav somewhere fears to continue painting as a profession. “I want to do MBA and might join my family business, or else, my first preference would be to become a jewellery designer. So that, I can pursue my passion with a secure future.”

However, Manav has a strong family support as they want him to pursue his passion in fine arts. The boy’s father, Shashank Gupta uttered the word “proud” when asked how does he feels to see the creations of his child.

“Every time I have a look at his work, he amazes me with his talent. He has a calm composure but make me convinced with his work that he can do better with every passing day. I see a lot of potential in him with fine arts. I would love to see him as an artist in future.”

Just like Shashank, another proud father, Balgovind Aggarwal, whose two daughters — Vaishnavi Aggarwal, Class II and Vaibhavi Aggarwal, Pre-primary — won second and first prize in their respective age-group categories, stood strongly in support of his children interest.

“We feel proud to see their alluring work at such a young age. Things that we couldn’t do, they are doing so beautifully. They have our full support,” Balgovind said.

Both the girls used to draw and scribble on home walls, but then the institute brought the art alive on paper, the mother of these girls, Meenu Aggarwal said, who seemed to be filled with the joys of spring.

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan has condoled the death of veteran actor Om Puri and said he will miss the actor as well as his hearty laughter.

Fondly remembering the times he spent with Puri during the shoot of "Don 2" in Berlin, Shah Rukh tweeted, "Gods garden must be beautiful, he always takes the best". Will miss your laughter over the shared brandy in Berlin. Will miss you lots Omji. RIP."

Besides "Don 2", SRK and Puri also co-starred in films like "Billu", "Don", "Hey Ram" and "Maya Memsab".
Puri passed away at his residence here this morning after a massive heart attack. He was 66.

BSP on Friday announced its second list of candidates for 100 more Assembly seats, thereby declaring nominees for 200 of the 403 seats, with Muslims getting the lion's share with a total of 58 aspirants in the two lists.

While BSP's first list of 100 candidates released on Thursday contained names of 36 Muslim candidates, Friday's list has names of 22 aspirants from the community that accounts for nearly 20 per cent of the state's electorate.

The party has already shortlisted names of candidates for all the 403 seats, BSP supremo Mayawati had told a press conference earlier.

Giving caste-wise details of the shortlisted candidates, she had said 87 tickets will be given to Dalits, 97 to Muslims and 106 to OBCs.

Of the 113 tickets earmarked for upper castes, Brahmins will get 66, Kshatriyas 36, and Kayasthas, Vaishyas and Punjabi 11, she had said.

The BSP chief had said she had finalised the names of candidates long ago and there will be no change in it.

Alleging that minorities were facing bias under the Modi government, Mayawati had cautioned Muslims that voting for Samajwadi Party or Congress will only help BJP and sought their support "to stop" the saffron party.

Muslims should not waste their vote as there is infighting in Samajwadi Party, and Congress lacks a voter base in Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati had said.

She had advised them to be extra cautious in the coming Assembly elections and not waste their vote on the Samajwadi Party which had split in two camps. Muslims are considered the traditional votebank of the ruling Samajwadi Party.

"The Samajwadi Party has been divided into two. Muslims have to be very careful. They should not divide their votes," she had said.

Divided Muslim votes translate to gains for BJP, while a consolidation will change the poll arithmetic as minorities play a crucial role in at least 125 of 403 constituencies.

The 44th World Book Fair, slated to begin here on Saturday will focus on women authors and writings on women.

The fair, to be held from January 5 to 15 at Pragati Maidan, will exhibit the rich tradition of women writings and their fight for emancipation under the theme ‘Manushi'.

This year's edition also marks the 60th year of the National Book Trust (NBT).

The NBT will have a special exhibit, showcasing its journey in promoting books, including book fairs being organised by the Trust across India, participation of the NBT in international book fairs, publishing programme among others.

Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar will inaugurate the theme pavilion on January 10.

The 10-day fair will have noted Odia Author and Jnanpith Awardee Dr Pratibha Ray and H E Tomasz Kozlowski, ambassador of the EU delegation to India as its guest of honor and special guest respectively.

The Bombay High Court on Friday turned down activist Anna Hazare’s plea seeking a probe against former Union Minister Sharad Pawar and his nephew Ajit Pawar in an alleged sugar cooperative factories scam.

Turning down the plea, the bench headed by Justice Abhay Oka asked Hazare to first file a police complaint against the former Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and the former Maharashtra Irrigation Minister Ajit Pawar and approach higher authorities, if necessary.

Hazare had moved the Bombay High Court on January 3 asking for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into what he called a Rs.25,000 crore scam.

The activist filed two civil PILs and one criminal PIL, claiming that the scam had pulled Maharashtra back by 50 years and has put the state under financial debts to the tune of hundreds of crores of rupees.

The PILs allege that fraud had been committed in governance by first burdening sugar cooperative factories with debts and thereafter selling these sick units at a throwaway price, causing a loss of Rs.25,000 crore to the government, cooperative sector and members of public.

With inputs from agencies

People who live near high-traffic roadways may face a higher risk of developing dementia than those who live farther away, warns a new study which suggests that air pollution from vehicles may be a factor in the development of the neurological disorder.

Researchers, including those from Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) in Canada, found that people who lived within 50 metres of high-traffic roads had a seven per cent higher likelihood of developing dementia compared to those who lived more than 300 meters away from busy roads.

They examined records of more than 6.5 million Ontario residents aged 20-85 to investigate the correlation between living close to major roads and dementia, Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis.

Scientists identified 243,611 cases of dementia, 31,577 cases of Parkinson's disease, and 9,247 cases of multiple sclerosis in Ontario between 2001 and 2012.

In addition, they mapped individuals' proximity to major roadways using the postal code of their residence.

The findings, published in the The Lancet journal, indicate that living close to major roads increased the risk of developing dementia, but not Parkinson's disease or multiple sclerosis, two other major neurological disorders.

"Little is known in current research about how to reduce the risk of dementia. Our findings show the closer you live to roads with heavy day-to-day traffic, the greater the risk of developing dementia," said Hong Chen, scientist at Public Health Ontario (PHO).

"With our widespread exposure to traffic and the greater tendency for people to live in cities these days, this has serious public health implications," said Chen.

The study also found that the increase in the risk of developing dementia went down to four per cent if people lived 50-100 metres from major traffic, and to two per cent if they lived within 101-200 metres.

At over 200 metres, there was no elevated risk of dementia.

"Our study is the first in Canada to suggest that pollutants from heavy, day-to-day traffic are linked to dementia," said Ray Copes from PHO.

"We know from previous research that air pollutants can get into the blood stream and lead to inflammation, which is linked with cardiovascular disease and possibly other conditions such as diabetes," said Copes.

"This study suggests air pollutants that can get into the brain via the blood stream can lead to neurological problems," Copes added.

As urban centres become more densely populated and more congested with vehicles on major roads, Copes suggests the findings of this paper could be used to help inform municipal land use decisions as well as building design to take into account air pollution factors and the impact on residents.

India and Kazakhstan on Friday signed an agreement to amend the two-decade old bilateral tax treaty under which information exchanged between the two can be shared with other law enforcement agencies.

The protocol to amend the existing Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC) between the two countries provides internationally-accepted standards for effective exchange of information on tax matters, an official statement said.

"The information received from Kazakhstan for tax purposes can be shared with other law enforcement agencies with authorisation of the competent authority of Kazakhstan and vice versa," it added.

The initial DTAC between India and Kazakhstan was signed on December 9, 1996, for avoidance of double taxation and prevention of evasion with respect to taxes on income.

The revised tax treaty will provide for a Limitation of Benefits clause to prevent misuse of DTAC. It would help allow application of domestic law and measures against tax avoidance or evasion.

The protocol inserts specific provisions to facilitate easing of economic double taxation in transfer pricing cases.

"This is a taxpayer-friendly measure and is in line with India's commitment under the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Action Plan to meet the minimum standard of providing Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP) access in transfer pricing cases," the statement read.

The protocol also includes service PE (permanent establishment) provisions with a threshold and also provides that the profits to be attributed to PE will be determined on the basis of apportionment of total profits of the enterprise.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a chargesheet against Pakistani national and suspected Lashkar-e- Taiba (LeT) member Bahadur Ali alias Saifullah, accused of attempting to attack security forces in Jammu and Kashmir. 

The chargesheet accuses Ali of planning to carry out terror activities against India at the behest of the LeT.

Ali, at present is in the custody of the NIA after his arrest on July 25, 2016 from Kupwara, Jammu and Kashmir.

According to the NIA, Ali had thrice attempted to throw grenades on the army and police in Handwara area of Kupwara district but failed every time.

With inputs from agencies

Celebrities like Meryl Streep, Gwyneth Paltrow and Meg Ryan joined stars for the private memorial service of actress Carrie Fisher.

Friends and family of Fisher, who died at age 60 on December 27 after a heart attack, gathered here on Thursday for an intimate memorial at her Beverly Hills home, reports people.com.

On Friday, a funeral service for Fisher's mother and actress Debbie Reynolds, who died at age 84, a day after her daughter, will take place at Forest Lawn Memorial Park here. She will be buried with some of her daughter's ashes.

For Fisher's memorial, her daughter Billie Lourd, 24, chose to have it at her mother's home, where Fisher famously and frequently entertained. 

"Billie wanted the people her mother loved to gather in that living room one last time," a family friend said.

Family members in attendance included Fisher's brother Todd, her half-sisters Joely Fisher and Tricia Leigh Fisher and Lourd's father Bryan Lourd. Fisher's beloved dog Gary Fisher was also there.

The 125 guests included Fisher's close friends Streep, Tracey Ullman, author Bruce Wagner, comedian Stephen Fry and security expert Gavin de Becker. 

Penny Marshall, Richard Dreyfuss, Buck Henry, Candice Bergen and George Lucas were also seen.

At the memorial, Streep performed Fisher's favourite song, "Happy days are here again." 

British Prime Minister Theresa May will visit Donald Trump this spring, following his inauguration as US president, Downing Street has announced.

May's joint chiefs of staff Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill travelled to the US last month to meet Trump's team.

"This was part of a process leading towards the PM's first visit with President-elect Trump," a Downing Street spokesman told on Thursday.

"During the second phone call with President-elect Trump, the prime minister suggested it would be a good idea for key staff from both teams to meet. President-elect Trump agreed this would be useful."

May had previously spoken to Trump following his election in November, during which he invited her to visit "as soon as possible".

The prime minister's office said the visit was secured following her aides' meeting Trump's team.

"We are pleased to have been able to make that happen and the prime minister looks forward to visiting the new president in the spring," the spokesman said.

The British government would not confirm a date for the visit, which Sky News reported as scheduled for February.

Trump is due to be sworn in as US president on January 20.

British Prime Minister Theresa May will visit Donald Trump this spring, following his inauguration as US president, Downing Street has announced.

May's joint chiefs of staff Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill travelled to the US last month to meet Trump's team.

"This was part of a process leading towards the PM's first visit with President-elect Trump," a Downing Street spokesman told on Thursday.

"During the second phone call with President-elect Trump, the prime minister suggested it would be a good idea for key staff from both teams to meet. President-elect Trump agreed this would be useful."

May had previously spoken to Trump following his election in November, during which he invited her to visit "as soon as possible".

The prime minister's office said the visit was secured following her aides' meeting Trump's team.

"We are pleased to have been able to make that happen and the prime minister looks forward to visiting the new president in the spring," the spokesman said.

The British government would not confirm a date for the visit, which Sky News reported as scheduled for February.

Trump is due to be sworn in as US president on January 20.

After ousting him as Chairman, Tata Sons has called a shareholders' meeting on February 6 to remove Cyrus Mistry as director of the holding company of the $103-billion Tata Group.

Tata Sons had abruptly removed Mistry as its Chairman on October 24 and sought his ouster from operating companies like Tata Motors and TCS. Mistry subsequently resigned from the board of six companies, but dragged Tata Sons and his interim successor Ratan Tata to the National Company Law Tribunal.

After the board meeting of October 24, 2016, Tata Sons had resolved that Mistry shall, notwithstanding his ceasing to be the Chairman, continue as a director of the company.

"Subsequent to his replacement, Mistry has made certain unsubstantiated allegations, which cast aspersions not only on Tata Sons Limited and its board of directors, but also on the Tata group as a whole. Internal communications, including confidential, were made public. Mistry's conduct has caused enormous harm to the Tata group and its stakeholders, including employees and shareholders," Tata Sons said in a note for extraordinary general meeting (EGM).

The ousted chairman's conduct, it said, "resulted in significant erosion of the market value of the Tata group companies, which has consequently resulted in harm to Tata Sons Limited and indirectly losses to its shareholders".

The notice said continuation of Mistry as a Director of Tata Sons is "untenable" and therefore, he should be removed.

The resolution, which has been moved for his removal, said: "The board of Tata Sons Ltd is of the view that the integrity of the board proceedings is being jeopardised by Mistry's continuation as a Director and the confidentiality of the board decisions and proceedings cannot be ensured as the documents presented to the board have been leaked and made public in a distorted and untruthful manner".

In an apparent last minute attempt to end the internal war in the Samajwadi Party, party leader Shivpal Yadav on Friday met Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.

Earlier, Shivpal Yadav and Rajya Sabha member Amar Singh, the two men Akhilesh Yadav is bitterly opposed to, were closeted with party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav at the latter's residence.

Shivpal Yadav then drove to the residence of the Chief Minister, who has revolted against his father Mulayam Singh and virtually wrested control of the state's ruling party. 

What transpired between Shivpal Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav is not known.

Party sources said Amar Singh has offered to quit all party posts in a bid to salvage some lost respect for Mulayam Singh. 

So far Mulayam Singh has overruled all demands to axe Amar Singh.

Rajya Sabha member Ram Gopal Yadav, who has emerged as the mentor of Akhilesh Yadav, has ruled out any reconciliation between the two factions in the Samajwadi Party.

Ram Gopal Yadav is set to meet the Election Commission on Friday to give proof that Akhilesh Yadav enjoys majority support in the party and so deserved the party symbol, the cycle.

A nematode pest from pinewood is threatening to infest a forest on the Japanese island of Yakushima, a world heritage site and home to an endangered pine species.

The pest has affected an area four times larger than normal, said local authorities who will have to take measures to protect the affected site included in the Unesco list since 1993, reported the Japanese daily Asahi.

The plant pest began spreading in summer and is visible in a wooded area bordering Mount Mocchomudake, a habitat of intense greenery, which is now acquiring a shade of dead trees, the authorities said on Friday.

Nematodes, microscopic worms, are transported by wood-eating beetles, through which the pests can spread like an infectious disease, said the Yakushima government.

It feared that the parasite will damage 1,000 specimens of the Pinus amamiana, Efe news reported.

Pinus amamiana, similar to the Chinese Armand pine species, grows wild only in the islands of Yakushima and Tanegashima.

Island authorities plan to destroy some 200 cubic metres of dead pine wood to eradicate the pest and fell down trees in forests near the western area of the island where the forest is located.

On New Year's Eve, 14 billion messages were exchanged through WhatsApp in India, 32 per cent of which were in some form of media, the instant messaging app said on Friday.

The number of messages shared on the platform on New Year's Eve is even higher than the last record set during Diwali when eight billion messages were sent in one day, WhatsApp said.

A total of 3.1 billion images, 700 million GIFs and 610 million videos were sent on WhatsApp on the occasion.

WhatsApp has more than 160 million monthly active users in India.