Movie sequels are all too often horribly musty affairs. Tanu Weds Manu Returns isn't one.

Notwithstanding the stray false notes that the film strikes, especially in the run-up to the climax, it is a bright and breezy romp that draws sustenance from its droll dialogues, outstanding cast of actors and all-round jollity.

The film hits the ground running, cruises along like a song until its final moments, where it comes close to losing its way just a tad.

But one leaves the auditorium with a smile on the face, having witnessed the misadventures of an array of flawed but loveably high-spirited characters who thrive on confusion.

Yes, it's frothy, but this is fluff that is rooted in recognisable and relatable settings.

In Himanshu Sharma's busy screenplay, little nuances of culture and language - which obviously vary wildly from the bylanes of Kanpur to the precincts of Delhi University to the rustic ambience of Haryana - are underscored with love, care and precision.

Tanu Weds Manu Returns revolves around an unintentionally dangerous London- meets-Jhajjar liaison.

So ominous threats are made by some quarters, but nobody whips out a gun or goes for the kill or hurls ugly invectives.
This is infinitely more velvety than the much-hyped mess that we were subjected to last week.

Tanu Weds Manu Returns, which takes off exactly from where its 2011 predecessor left, exudes an air of welcome freshness. For the most part, the film eschews excess.

The stage for the comic rigmarole is set by a preliminary sequence staged in an ante-room of a British mental asylum where Tanu and Manu, now wedded for four desultory years, have a go at each other like a pair of Kilkenny cats.

Their marriage is on the rocks and the love that brought them together against all odds has evaporated.

Launching a broadside at Manu, Tanu accuses him of being devoid of any spark. I am not a lighter, he retorts.

Manu, on his part, complains to the psychiatric counsellor that Tanu suffers from bipolar disorder and has hormonal issues. She is too moody and demanding, he asserts.

The unseemly fracas ends in an insane-with-rage Manu being dragged away by the asylum attendants and placed under observation.

Tanu calls Pappi (Deepak Dobriyal) to head to London and rescue his friend while she flies back to Kanpur.

Kangana Ranaut, in a magnificently effective double role, powers the comic drama forward with an effortless act that requires her to embody two diametrically divergent faces of Eve in small-town India.

Tanu Weds Manu Returns vindicates the general belief that Kangana is currently in a zone where she can do no wrong.

On one hand she is the bubbly and recklessly rebellious Kanpur girl Tanuja Trivedi alias Tanu who walks out on her "boring" London doctor-hubby Manu Sharma (R Madhavan) on a whim and returns to her hometown.

On the other she embodies the no-nonsense persona of Kusum Sangwan alias Datto, the feisty sports quota Delhi University student from Jhajjar who is a carbon copy of Tanu but for her buck teeth, pixie bob and unalloyed Haryanvi diction.

The first visit of All India Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi to Telangana has come as a major confidence booster for the state Congress. The huge response has buoyed the party leaders and cadre, especially it was the first major event organized by the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee after the state bifurcation.

The Congress has not conducted any major event after its debacle in the general election except some rallies against shifting of TB and Chest hospital in the city and power crisis.

There had been a feeling among the Congress leaders that there was a lull in party activity for the past 11 months and that the cadre needed a fresh dose of enthusiasm. Rahul Gandhi's visit to Adilabad appeared to have done the trick.
The party members had started making arrangements for Rahul's visit two weeks ago, erecting banners and flexies all along the national highway up to Nirmal and peppering the town with party tri-colour flags and cut-outs of Rahul. Same was the scene along the padayatra route.

Congress workers and locals waited till well past Thursday midnight in front of the hotel in Nirmal town, where Rahul Gandhi was staying, to try and catch a glimpse of the leader. The police faced a tough time in clearing the gathering in view of the security requirements.

"The party should conduct such big programmes to take up people's problems and issues at least once in three months. The workers were inactive in the past 11 months and these programmes would definitely boost their morale and confidence," Ramesh Nagul, a farmer from Nirmal said.

Actress Shruti Haasan has reportedly been roped in for the third installment of the 'Singam' franchise. The film, which will be helmed by Hari Gopalakrishnan, also features Suriya and Anushka Shetty in the lead roles.

"Shruti is most likely to play the second lead. While she agreed to be part of the project, the paperwork is still pending. She's expected to sign on the dotted line soon," a source from the film's unit told IANS.

Director Hari had planned to include Shruti in 'Singam 3' after he was impressed with her work in their last Tamil outing
Shruti Haasan bags role in 'Singam 3'

"The film is expected to go on the floors in September. Anirudh Ravichander will be composing tunes, while comedian Soori has been cast in an important role," the source said.

Suriya, who is currently busy with Tamil thriller '24', will join the sets from September onwards

Armored vehicles lined this battered city’s main thoroughfares and thousands of law enforcement officers and National Guard troops worked to maintain order and enforce a citywide curfew Tuesday night, amid scattered reports of unrest after a day of largely peaceful protests.

As the curfew went into effect at 10 p.m., hundreds of people remained in the streets near the intersection of Pennsylvania and West North Avenues in blighted West Baltimore, where a CVS drugstore had been looted and burned during Monday night’s riots. There were some reports of arrests, and police fired pepper-spray balls to disperse crowds, who had earlier stood their ground despite entreaties from religious leaders and community activists.

Shortly before midnight, Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts declared the curfew a success.

Earlier Tuesday night, nearly 1,000 people gathered at the Empowerment Temple A.M.E. Church, where about 500 religious leaders of different faiths called for healing. Members of the audience spoke about a litany of problems plaguing the city and called for better policing, policies to create jobs, and better schools.
But out in the streets, there were intermittent clashes with police, as some threw bottles at a line of officers behind riot shields.

The tense mood Tuesday night was a stark contrast to the almost upbeat feeling earlier in the day, as hundreds of people of all ages and races — many of them toting brooms and trash bags — worked to clear the neighborhood of rocks and debris.

In the late afternoon, peaceful demonstrators marched through the streets, chanting, “All night, all day, we’re gonna fight for Freddie Gray!” — a reference to the 25-year-old black man whose death, from a spinal cord injury sustained in police custody, set off rioting on Monday night.

“It’s sad, this don’t make no sense,” said Clarence Cobb, 48, one of many neighborhood residents who, describing themselves as brokenhearted, came out to survey the wreckage and clean up. “It comes to a point where you just got to take pride in your own neighborhood. This makes us look real bad as a city.”

Defying international condemnation and rejecting 11th-hour pleas for clemency, the Indonesian government executed eight drug convicts after midnight on Wednesday, including seven foreigners.

But the execution of a ninth convict, scheduled to happen at the same time, was unexpectedly postponed at nearly the last minute, according to the Indonesian attorney general’s office.

The executed prisoners, from Australia, Brazil and Nigeria, along with one Indonesian, were shot by police firing squads about 12:25 a.m. local time at a site outside the gates of Pasir Putih prison on the island of Nusa Kambangan off the southern coast of Java, according to the attorney general’s office.

The authorities granted the stay of execution to Mary Jane Veloso, 30, a Philippine citizen, after the Philippine government requested her assistance in a human trafficking case involving a woman who surrendered to the Philippine police on Tuesday.
Continue reading the main story
    The family of Mary Jane Veloso, who is among a group of prisoners facing execution, on its way to visit her on Saturday.
    Despite Protests, Indonesia Moves Forward to Execute Drug ConvictsAPRIL 25, 2015
    Andrew Chan and, behind, Myuran Sukumaran, in 2006, were said to have been flown to an island where people are executed.
    Countries Questioning Indonesia’s Push to Execute Drug OffendersMARCH 3, 2015
    World Briefing: Indonesia: 6 Executed for Drug OffensesJAN. 18, 2015

“An alleged perpetrator of human trafficking gave herself up, and Mary Jane’s testimony is needed,” Tony Spontana, a spokesman for the Indonesian attorney general, wrote in a text message shortly after the executions were carried out. “Eight people were executed, but not Mary Jane,” he wrote.

While his ongoing legal woes have not come to an end yet, Bollywood star Salman Khan seems to have landed in trouble again.

Now, Ravindra Dwivedi, a member of Brashtachaar Nirmoolan Samiti has lodged a complaint against Salman for assaulting him and snatching away his important documents, reports The Indian Express.

According to the complainant, the incident took place in November last year, when he was aboard a Mumbai-Delhi flight. Salman got into a fight with him, abused him and ordered his bodyguards to take away all the important documents which he possessed.
Following the complaint, Magistrate AD Lokhande has directed the airport police to investigate the matter and lodge an FIR against Salman if he is guilty.

If the allegations are proved to be true, Salman will be booked under IPC section 323 for causing hurt, IPC section 504 for insult with intention to provoke breach of peace, IPC section 506 for criminal intimidation and IPC section 392 for robbery.

If you are suffering from impotence or erectile dysfunction, reaching out for Viagra and other related drugs may help you increase the levels of your sexual activity, but not satisfaction, suggests a new research.

Moreover, people suffering from erectile dysfunction have higher odds of suffering from high blood pressure and diabetes.

Viagra and other related drugs, clinically known as oral phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors (PDE5i), cannot address these associated concerns, the researchers pointed out, suggesting that restoring erectile dysfunction (ED) pharmacologically is not a 'cure-all'.
"It is important that health professionals act on this and offer a more rounded approach to managing ED," said lead author of the study David Lee from the University of Manchester in Britain.

This should include a well-informed patient with realistic expectations, support from his partner, and an improved assessment of any psychological or relationship issues that may exacerbate sexual concerns and dissatisfaction, Lee pointed out.

The researchers studied the responses of more than 2,600 English men aged 50-87 years.
Older men who had recently used PDE5i drugs reported higher levels of sexual activity and function than men without ED, but were more likely to be concerned and/or dissatisfied with their sex lives.

AAP dissident leader Prashant Bhushan on Tuesday rubbished criticism by former AAP spokesperson Atishi Marlena that he backed out of the reconciliatory talks with Arvind Kejriwal camp on his father Shanti Bhushan's insistence, saying the negotiations collapsed due to "trust deficit".

In a letter to a section of AAP leaders, Marlena, a Rhodes scholar who was close to the rebel camp, suggested that both sides were nearing truce but the talks broke down at the final phase as the senior Bhushan said "no" to any reconciliation with Kejriwal.

"It is not correct to say that negotiations broke down because of my father Shanti Bhushan. The talks failed as there was trust deficit," Bhushan said when asked about Marlena's letter.
Prashant Bhushan rejects Atishi Marlena's claim that Shanti opposed truce

Bhushan said Atishi was not aware about the details of the deliberations with the Kejriwal emissaries as she was not present during the negotiations.
#aap #prashant bhushan #arvind kejriwal #shanti bhushan aap rift
Marlena, who was removed as AAP Spokesperson along with several others including Yogendra Yadav, said that Bhushan backed out because of his father's red flag and not on the grounds of any principle.

The reconciliatory talks between the rebels and Kejriwal camp had broken down on March 26, two days before the national council meeting which had expelled Bhushan and Yadav from the party's National Executive.

Both Bhushan and Yadav have been maintaining that Kejriwal was determined to remove them from the National Executive and the talks were being continued to project a positive of image of himself to the volunteers.

Bhushan said Atishi was not aware about the details of the deliberations with the Kejriwal emissaries as she was not present during the negotiations.

The noted lawyer said he and Yadav have already sent their responses to Marlena on the issue.

In the letter, Marlena complimented AAP leader Sanjay Singh for trying to build a consensus between the two warring factions.

Bhushan and Yadav have convened a meeting of the volunteers and their supporters on April 14 to chalk out their future course of action.

Star batsman and Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli was seen savouring the moves as his girlfriend, Bollywood beauty Anushka Sharma, set the floor afire with her performance at the glitzy opening ceremony of the Indian Premier League on Tuesday.

TV cameras kept zooming at Kohli as Anushka gyrated to the tunes of her popular movie songs at the Salt Lake Stadium. Seemingly embarrassed at first, the cricket icon was later seen smiling and watching the actress.

The hot and happening couple was on Monday spotted at the Kolkata airport together during their arrival for the IPL opener.

Reflecting the grandeur and exuberance of Indian festivities, the glitzy and technologically stunning opening of the eighth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL-8) began here on Tuesday at the Salt Lake stadium amid a replay of magical moments of the previous editions of the league. Fireworks explode at the Salt Lake Stadium during the Pepsi IPL 2015 opening night in Kolkata on Tuesday.PTI
The stadium erupted in celebrations even though thundershowers led to an hour-and-a-half delay. The rain clearly failed to dampen the spirits of the nearly 15,000 patiently waiting cricket fans.

As the audience waited for the star performers -- Hrithik Roshan, Anushka Sharma and Shahid Kapoor -- to fire up the show, captains of the seven of the eight teams took the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) Spirit of Cricket pledge by signing a bat.

Bollywood Actor Hritik Roshan performs during the Pepsi IPL 2015 opening night event at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on Tuesday. PTI PhotoSunrisers Hyderabad captain David Warner was not present, and his teammate Shikhar Dhawan stepped in to sign the bat on behalf of the Australian.

Farhan Akhtar rooting for Mumbai Indians

Lauding the Indian Premier League (IPL) for its high entertainment quotient, actor-director Farhan Akhtar on Tuesday said he will be rooting for Mumbai Indians and was excited to see cricketer Yuvraj Singh play.

 Describing RJD chief Lalu Prasad's announcement in favour of the merger of Janata Parivar splinter parties as "a solid and effective" step towards the process, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said a formal announcement will be made "much before the end of this month." "All the constituent parties have made up their mind for the merger and the announcement will be made at a formal meeting to be convened by Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav soon," Kumar told reporters while coming out of the Assembly.

Describing RJD chief Lalu Prasad's announcement in favour of the merger of Janata Parivar splinter parties as "a solid and effective" step towards the process, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said a formal announcement will be made "much before the end of this month." "All the constituent parties have made up their mind for the merger and the announcement will be made at a formal meeting to be convened by Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav soon," Kumar told reporters while coming out of the Assembly.
Asked if the announcement would be made within this (April) month, Kumar said, "Very soon a formal meeting will be called where the announcement will be made." Kumar, a prime mover of the merger process of the splinter parties into Janata Parivar, said he met Mulayam Singh Yadav who was authorised to oversee the unification process, and also JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav in this regard in Delhi before coming here in the today.

Asked when the formal meeting was expected, Kumar said the SP chief was authorised to call the meeting and so he would not speak about the date.

"But, keeping in view the availability of leaders, the meeting will be called soon," he said. Asked about the decision of JD(U) on the merger, Kumar said the party has expressed willingness in its favour much earlier.

The Badminton Association of India (BAI) on Tuesday announced a cash award of five lakh rupees each to World number two Saina Nehwal and Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap for their impressive performances at the international stage.

Both Saina and Kashyap had won the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold in Lucknow in January and Saina also became the first Indian woman to reach the All England Open Super Series Premier finals earlier this month.
“It has been my policy to reward players who are performing exceptionally well on the international circuit with handsome financial gains as the players are making the country proud with their title triumphs," BAI president Akhilesh Das Gupta said.

"Both Saina and Kashyap had won the gold medal in the Syed Modi GP Gold event. Saina has even reached number two ranking in the world.”

Sushant Singh Rajput is ready to jump into the character of Sherlock Holmes. He would don the role of a detective in his upcoming ‘Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!’ The actor is playing the lead in this thriller that would hit the screens on 3rd April. The film is directed by Dibakar Banerjee and it is a Yash Raj Film production. The filmmakers have released a video showing Sunshant Singh Rajput’s transformation from an ordinary guy to the dynamic detective Byomkesh Bakshy. The video features a song sequence paired with a series of clips from the film.

What makes YRF’s video utmost interesting is how the filmmakers have shown the concept. It starts with the actor in casual western clothes and looks nowhere close to a detective. The music that begins sets Sushant on his feet with energetic moves. But impressive dance moves is not all that has been shown. The actor’s steps are combined with all the power packed action that he indulges in, as seen in the movie. He gets more into the character of the detective as the song progresses. And slowly, we see the hip hop style Sushant transform into the dhoti clad Bengali detective. By the end of the song, detective Byomkesh Bakshy is all ready for the audience.
The film has been adapted from ‘Byomkesh Bakshy’ that is a Bengali fiction written by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. The Bengali writer in turn, has been inspired by the famous English fiction ‘Sherlock Holmes’ by Arthur Conan Doyle.

Another lead role in the film is Swastika Mukherjee, would be seen as a spy and a dancer called Anguri Devi. Her character is based on Mata Hari – the well known Frisian exotic dancer. Anand Tiwari plays Ajit Bandyopadhyay – a close friend of Byomkesh Bakshy.
It has been reported that Rani Mukherjee is the one that the filmmakers had earlier approached for the female lead. But the actress refused as the female lead was required to do some bold scenes. Yet another prominent personality to be considered was Aamir Khan. He was asked to be a villain, but he too refused as he had ‘Dhoom 3’ in hand where he played a villain. Director Dibakar Banerjee wanted to make the film so that Indian get their own detective. And he has worked hard on this, as Sushant says- “A lot has to be done for the film like the look of the 1940s’ hairstyle,

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and AAP leader Yogendra Yadav on Tuesday appeared before a Delhi court in connection with a defamation case, after they faced a flak from the judge for not appearing.

Earlier in the day, Kejriwal, Sisodia and Yadav were directed by a court here to appear before it later in the day in connection with a criminal defamation complaint, saying there was no ground for exemption from their appearance.

Metropolitan Magistrate Mayuri Singh took strong view of absence of Kejriwal, Sisodia and Yogendra Yadav, and said they "have no respect for the law".

The court fixed May 2, for pronouncing order on framing of charges against Kejriwal, Sisodia and Yadav in the case.

The case was put up before magistrate Singh as Metropolitan Magistrate Muneesh Garg, before whom the matter was going on, was on leave today.

During the hearing, the court had said the exemption application displayed no reason for the absence of the accused.

"There is nothing to reflect why accused (Kejriwal, Sisodia and Yadav) have not appeared. Accused have no respect for law. Considering no one has appeared for accused, I am keeping the matter pending at 2 PM. Call at 2 PM," the magistrate said.
The court noted that a clerk appeared on behalf of the accused and his advocates and moved the exemption plea.

The complainant, advocate Surender Kumar Sharma, opposed the plea saying the lawyers are on strike and not the litigants and it would not be in the interest of justice if any adjournment is given in the case as the case had earlier been adjourned three times due to absence of the accused.

Sharma had alleged that in 2013 he was approached by volunteers of AAP who had asked him to contest the Delhi Assembly elections on a party ticket, saying Kejriwal was pleased with his social services.

He filled up the application form to contest the polls after being told by Sisodia and Yadav that AAP's Political Affairs Committee of the party had decided to give him the ticket. However, it was later denied to him.

On October 14, 2013, the complainant claimed, articles in leading newspapers carried "defamatory, unlawful and derogatory words used by the accused persons" which have lowered his reputation in the Bar and the society.

The summons were issued on the complaint under sections 499, 500 (defamation) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC, with the court saying there was prima facie material to summon the accused.

Optics, symbolism and body language are crucially important in diplomacy. If one goes by that, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made a powerful statement in Sri Lanka already.

He came here with folded hands, and then stretched out his arms with an open mind. In bitter contrast, the last time an Indian Prime Minister visited Colombo – Rajiv Gandhi on 30 July, 1987 – he was famously hit by a soldier’s rifle butt when he was inspecting a guard of honour.

If Rajiv Gandhi had not been alert and ducked, he may have died on the spot. Wijemuni Vijitha Rohana de Silva’s rifle butt hit Rajiv on the shoulder, not on the head where it was meant to land. Wijemuni instantaneously became a popular figure, so much so that after his release from prison he even contested a general election under a ticket for the Sihala Urumaya party in 2000, but lost. Less than two years ago, he admitted in an on-record interview that he intended to kill the Indian premier. Read the full interview here.
Modi with President Maithripala Sirisena: PTI

Modi with President Maithripala Sirisena: PTI
Wijemuni’s action was meant to be an act of revenge against Rajiv Gandhi’s fateful decision of sending the Indian Peacekeeping Force (IPKF) to Sri Lanka.

This was the time when India-Sri Lanka relations were at their nadir and anti-India rabid Tamil parties were born and got strengthened in Tamil Nadu and Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by the LTTE in Tamil Nadu on 21 May, 1991.

This contrasting tale of two Indian Prime Ministers in Sri Lanka conveys a lot. To drive the point further home, PM Modi visited the IPKF memorial here and paid homage to IPKF soldiers. This ritual will definitely become a must-do for all future Indian Prime Ministers who visit Sri Lanka.

The significance of his visit is not lost on Modi himself.

Sample his words in his media statement after his talks with Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena: "I am conscious of the significance of this visit. It is the first standalone bilateral visit to Sri Lanka by an Indian Prime Minister since 1987. Last month, President Sirisena honoured us by making India his first foreign visit as a President. I am glad to be here so soon. This is how it should be between neighbours. We should meet regularly. It helps us understand each other better; find solutions to mutual concerns; and, move our relationship forward. That is what we achieved in my meetings with President Sirisena today."

Apple Watch will replace your car keys and its battery will last the whole day, Apple’s Chief Executive Tim Cook told the Telegraph in an interview. The watch is designed to replace car keys and the clumsy, large fobs that are now used in many vehicles, Cook told the newspaper.

Its battery will last the whole day, and will not take as long to charge as an iPhone, the report quoted Cook as saying. Apple Watch will also work as a credit card through Apple Pay, Cook told the paper, but did not mention how user verification will work with the watch.

The rollout of the watch might pose a challenge for Apple’s stores, which may involve “tweaking the experience in the store,” the Telegraph said, citing Cook’s conversation with the staff at Apple’s Covent Garden store in London.

Last March, Apple unveiled CarPlay, which lets drivers access contacts on their iPhones, make calls or listen to voicemails without taking their hands off the steering wheel. Earlier this month, Reuters reported that the iPhone maker is looking at making a self-driving electric car, and is talking to experts at carmakers and automotive suppliers.
In the interview, Cook said that the Apple Watch will operate a special rewards system, track the user’s activity and “be correct to 50 milliseconds”.

Apple was not immediately available for comment.

The company has scheduled a special event on March 9, where it is expected to showcase Apple Watch, which will be launched in April. While announcing Apple’s record-breaking earnings, CEO Tim Cook had revealed a rough launch date of April 2015 for the device.

The smartwatch was announced last year in September, but the company didn’t reveal much about its availability, except that it would come in ‘early Spring’. Later, Apple retail chief, Angela Ahrendts,was more specific and revealed the Watch would come only after the Chinese New Year. She had also disclosed how Apple had started planning marketing strategies and all retail employees would be trained to help customers try out the new watch and its features.

The Apple Watch sports a squarish design instead of a circular one popularised by Motorola’s Moto 360. The Watch is crafted from custom alloys of polished or space black stainless steel (Apple Watch), space gray or silver anodized aluminum (Apple Watch Sport) and 18-karat rose or yellow gold (Apple Watch Edition).

An Egyptian court has reportedly declared Palestinian group Hamas as a terrorist organisation after accusing it of supporting an insurgency in northern Sinai.

Judge Mohamed el-Sayed said in his verdict that the group was undoubtedly involved in acts of sabotage, assassinations and the killing of innocent civilians and members of the armed forces and police in Egypt, reported the BBC.
The court ruling will effectively ban Hamas inside Egypt. It comes a month after another court listed the armed wing of Hamas as a terrorist group.

Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, is an offshoot of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, which was itself designated as a terror outfit in 2013.

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood President Mohammed Morsi was overthrown by military last year.

The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved judgement in an anticipatory bail plea for human rights activist Teesta Setalvad and her husband, Javed Anand.

 Setalvad had appealed a Gujarat high court order that denied her anticipatory bail on 12 February. Setalvad and Anand have been accused of embezzling funds collected through donations for the construction of a memorial for the 2002 Gujarat riot victims at Gulbarg Society.

As a temporary relief, however, the apex court directed that no arrests would be made in relation to the investigation into the alleged embezzlement of funds through Setalvad’s two trusts—the Centre for Peace and Justice and Sabrang Trust.

 A bench of justices Dipak Misra and A.K. Goel heard arguments from the Gujarat government and Setalvad for nearly two hours. Judge Misra questioned the need for custodial interrogation in a case where there were allegations of embezzlement and possible irregularity in the accounts of the trusts.
Lawyer Mahesh Jethmalani, for the Gujarat state, who was also the special public prosecutor before the high court, said that they were asking for custodial interrogation because there had been “rank non-cooperation” and “tampering with witnesses” by Setalvad and Anand. He added that trust money, collected for the beneficiaries, here the riot victims, had been used for personal credit card payments.

While refraining from making any observations to that extent, the court orally said that while some cases required custodial interrogation, this perhaps was not one of them.

 Lawyer Kapil Sibal, for Setalvad, agreed to furnish documents required by the Gujarat police in furtherance of the investigation. He also said that 11,000 pages of documents had been given to the high court, including cash vouchers.

At least 47 people have died due to swine flu in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh this year, health officials said here Thursday.

While Punjab has reported 82 confirmed cases and another nearly 100 suspected cases, 120 cases have been reported in Haryana.

In Punjab 26 people have died in recent days, while in Haryana 18 people have died. Three people have died in Chandigarh due to the H1N1 virus.
Health officials in both states said that monitoring of people suspected to have symptoms of swine flu was being done and confirmed cases were being treated in isolation wards of hospitals. They said that adequate stocks of medicines were available and people were being made aware about the spread of the disease.

"While some people are going in for preventive vaccination, a number of people were getting themselves tested for the disease," said Gagan Arora, a general practitioner.

The Delhi High Court on Friday enhanced the life imprisonment terms of Vikas Yadav and Vishal Yadav, convicted of the 2002 murder of Nitish Katara, to 25 years without remission but rejected a plea for them to be given the death sentence.

A special bench of Justices Gita Mittal and J R Midha gave both men five more years in prison for destroying evidence. It also imposed a penalty of Rs 50 lakh each on Vikas, the son of Uttar Pradesh politician D P Yadav, and his cousin Vishal for the murder.

The court also increased the jail term of another convict in the case, Sukhdev Pehelwan, to 25 years. The judges said all the men will have to undergo rigorous imprisonment without any remission except for the additional five years.

The bench turned down a plea by Katara's mother Neelam and Delhi Police seeking the death sentence for the three men.

Neelam, who was in court when the judges announced their verdict, expressed disappointment at the rejection of her plea for the death penalty but said she was happy with the prison sentences of the trio being enhanced.

"I will appeal against the order in the Supreme Court," she said. Neelam said she did not require the compensation awarded by the court as she believed no monetary value could be put on the life of her son.

The judges, in their judgement running to more than 700 pages, said the time spent by Vikas in hospital (from October 10, 2011 to November 4, 2011) should not be counted as part of his prison term.

They asked the central and Delhi governments to conduct an inquiry into the visits to hospital by Vikas and Vishal after they were sent to jail.
Vikas, Vishal and Pehelwan are serving life terms for abducting and killing Katara, a business executive and son of a railway officer, in February 2002. They killed him as Vikas was opposed to Katara's relationship with his sister Bharti because they belonged to different castes.

Katara had fallen in love with Bharti while they were both studying at the Institute of Management Technology in Ghaziabad.

The High Court had been hearing arguments on the punishment given to the three men since April last year. The convicts had sought leniency and exemption from the death sentence on the grounds that they could reform. They had also claimed their actions were not so brutal or gruesome that they deserved capital punishment.

Neelam Katara and Delhi Police had demanded death for the trio, saying their offence was "the rarest of the rare".

The High Court had in April 2014 upheld sentences awarded to the three men by a lower court and described Katara's murder as an "honour killing" stemming from a "deeply-entrenched belief" in the caste system.