Observing that the world needs a new engine of growth, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said India is poised to contribute as the new engine of global growth and asserted that a larger Indian economy has "multiple benefits" for the world.

"This is the time when the world needs new engine of growth. It would be nice if the new engines are democratic engines," PM Modi said in his address to the American business community at the annual gala of the US India Business Council (USIBC).

"Today, India is poised to contribute as a new engine of global growth. A larger Indian economy has multiple benefits for the world," the Prime Minister said as he listed out the achievements of his government in economic reforms and liberalisation of policies.

As a result, India has now emerged as the one of the fastest growing economies of the world and urged the American businesses to come and invest in India, set up efficient manufacturing units.

"India is much more than a market," he said, adding that it is a "reliable partner", as he listed out the key features of a resurgent Indian economy that is geared to become "driver of global economy".

The Prime Minister said that a larger Indian economy has multiple benefits for the world.

The Prime Minister said as India marches ahead on the path of development, it needs to learn from the America experience, in particular its entrepreneurship, technological advancement and products which ranges from drugs to drones.

"Indeed, to me America is not just has a great past, but it is a country with an exciting future," the Prime Minister said.

PM Modi exuded confidence that Indo-US partnership would benefit both the countries. He said his government has taken decisive steps to curb corruption.

"We would continue to have disciplined and prudent Macro-economic policies," he told the US corporate leadership.

"We would continue to improve the investment climate and ease of doing business," the Prime Minister said, adding his government wants to make India a destination which not only welcomes businesses but also it is easier to do business.

PM Modi urged developed countries to open their market. "We see this as a win-win situation," he said.

Pakistan seems to have failed to seal the US $700 million deal for the purchase of eight F-16 fighter jets from the US following a row between the two countries over their financing, a media report said on Saturday.

The Pakistani government was required to provide the Letter of Acceptance for purchase of the jets by May 24, but Dawn News reported that the document was not issued leading to expiry of the offer.

"Pakistan decided not to fully fund the case with national funds, so the terms of sale have now expired," a diplomatic source was quoted as saying by the daily.

However, Pakistan's Ambassador to US Jalil Abbas Jilani, told the daily that "a dead-end has not been reached as yet".

Initially, the US $700 million deal for eight F-16C/D Block-52 multi-role fighters, was to be partially financed through the US Foreign Military Financing (FMF) programme but the Congress disallowed subsidising the sale.

The subsidising was disallowed over concern that Pakistan had not done enough to end the dreaded Haqqani network's terror sanctuaries on its soil as well as fears over Islamabad's nuclear programme.

Pakistan, which expected to get the fighters at the subsidised rate of USD 270 million, was subsequently asked by the US administration to make the full payment for the eight aircraft from its national resources.

This was not acceptable to Pakistani authorities, who remained adamant that the offer must come without any preconditions.The aircraft were required by Pakistan Air Force (PAF) for counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations, the report said.

The jets would have come with "all-weather, non-daylight environments and self-defence/area suppression capability".

It was unclear why Pakistan missed the opportunity despite pressing requirement for the jets, although it had originally desired to acquire 18 F-16s, the daily said.

Some quarters believe that providing the Letter of Acceptance would have kept the window open for re-negotiating the financing arrangement at a later stage, it said.

Pakistan Prime Minister's Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said last month that Pakistan could look to buy the aircraft from some other country if the deal did not go ahead.

He also said earlier this month that Pakistan's ties with the US had witnessed a "downward slide" amid the row over the Congress' decision to block the sale of the jets.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had said last week that Pakistan will explore other options to meet its defence needs if the deal for F-16s did not materialise with the US.

Gujarat Lions batsman Aaron Finch said he and his teammates could only stand and appreciate the match-winning knock of David Warner, who single-handedly crushed their hopes and took Sunrisers Hyderabad to the Indian Premier League (IPL) summit clash with his majestic 93 in Qualifier 2 on Friday night.

In the Qualifier 1 also, Lions were inches away from the final but for a gritty knock from AB de Villiers.

After scoring 162 for seven , Lions had Hyderabad at 84 for five and then 117 for six but skipper Warner carried his bat and saw his side through to the final where his team will face the Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore.

"Tonight, I think that we had a very competitive total, it was around par. 170 would have been nice as it turns out, but two (De Villiers and Warner) of the best players in the world have both got big scores against us in the last two games. Sometimes you just have to take your hat off and appreciate how good cricketers the two are. And say well played," Finch said at the post match press conference.

The Australian was effusive in praise of his compatriot.

"It was an amazing knock, wasn't it? The way that he controlled the innings and went right through and got them home was outstanding. We have been at the receiving end of a couple of great knocks in this tournament, and it is just that one batter in every couple of games seems to get us," Finch said.

"AB (De Villiers) in the last game and Davey (Warner) tonight. We can hold our head up very high. We played some really great cricket throughout this tournament but unfortunately we just couldn't get the world-class players out when it counted right at the end there."

Asked which Indian player impressed him the most in the entire Lions campaign in their debut season, Finch named spinner Shivil Kaushik.

"I think we have seen an unusual spinner in this tournament in Shivil. He has been outstanding for us. Anyone who can bowl with an unusual action like that and who can spin the ball both ways is a huge asset, and he has been outstanding," Finch said.

The attacking batsman also mentioned Kaushik's impact spell in last night's match, where he gave away only four runs in two overs and eventually 22 in four. His tight bowling in the middle overs put pressure on Hyderabad batsmen, keeping his side in the hunt.

"It was beautiful the way that he bowled tonight. Under pressure in a big game, to come back into the team after a few games out just shows a real lot of character and someone who hasn't had cricket given to him easily. He has had to work very hard for what he has achieved. He was great all season and I think he can play a big part going forward," he said.

Thousands of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) students swayed between anxiety, curiosity and nervousness hours before their Class 10 board examinations results were declared on Saturday.

Students can check their results on the board’s result website http://cbseresults.nic.in/

Also Read | CBSE Class 10 results: Here’s how to calculate percentage from CGPA

This year, 14,99,122 students, including 8,92,685 boys and 6,06,437 girls, from 15,309 schools registered for the examination. The pass percentage of Class 10 students was 97.32 last year.

Students who opted for board-based scheme appeared for the examination between March 1 and March 28. Those who opted for school-based examination took the papers from March 10 onwards.

Some were confident of doing well in the exam, some sounded apprehensive and some are already studying for competitive exams.


Allahabad

According to Yashika Gupta, a student of Allahabad’s Maharishi Patanjali Vidya Mandir (MPVM), it was 99% excitement and 1% nervousness as she had done well in the examinations and was expecting nothing less than a 10 Cumulative Grade Points Average (CGPA).

“The delay in declaration of results in adding up to the excitement and nervousness with each passing hour,” she said.

Yashika’s classmates Manya and Amartya Yadav said the delay in the announcement has made them all the more nervous.

“Earlier the results were expected on May 24 which shifted to May 27 and now it is expected to be declared on May 28. The delay is adding up to the tension,” Amartya said.

Like other examinees, Shivansh Tripathi of Ganga Gurukulam School is also experiencing bouts of nervousness and excitement.

“We are keeping our fingers crossed. It’s not about clearing the exams for us, it’s about how well we fare as compared to our friends and expectations,” he said.

Lucknow

Nearly 12,000 students registered for the Class 10 examination and of these at least 750 took the board examination and rest appeared in home examination, a board official said in Lucknow.

Anxiety was palpable in the voice of Rashmi Modiyani, a student of St Anjani’s Public School in Lucknow, who appeared for home centre and is targeting a CGPA of 10.

“I had a very planned approach from the beginning of Class 9 and had given my best for all activities as well as assessments,” she said.

Rashmi’s mother took her to seek the blessings of Lord Hanuman for an impressive result.

Akash Maurya lost his father a few years back and his maternal grandfather, who was paying for his education, also died last year. Despite the emotional trauma, he braved all odds to appear for the exams.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today asserted that a mood of hope pervaded the country replacing hopelessness that prevailed under the UPA rule as he pitched his government as one dedicated to the poor and farmers which prevented the "loot" of public money.

Addressing the first of his four public rallies here in Uttar Pradesh, which will have assembly polls next year, to mark the second anniversary of his government, Modi reached out to the electorate, calling himself a "UP wala" who cared for the farmers.

Asserting that India was growing at the fastest rate, Modi said only two years ago many thought the country had "sunk".

"They would say India has sunk and things cannot change. There was a mood of hopelessness while there is hope and enthusiasm today. Earlier there was a mood of unease, now it is about moving forward," he said.

He also attacked the previous Congress-led government over corruption, while flagging his government's "honest" credentials.
"Look at the newspapers and TV channels two years ago. Corruption in high places was the norm. I am now in the government and I am shocked how past governments have looted the country.

"Are governments installed to loot? I am here to end that culture. I want to ask you have you heard of any news about our government looting even a rupee? Have even our critics managed to accuse us of corruption? Two years ago no one had the courage to come to the people and ask them for an opinion, he said.

The Prime Minister repeatedly spoke of his "pro-poor" and "pro-farmer" schemes throughout his half-an-hour speech and took swipes at the previous Congress-led government by raising the issue of corruption and speaking of BJP s taint free governance.

He said his government had taken a series of measures to help clear the dues of sugarcane farmers, a politically important constituency in the region, while other governments were not concerned about them.

Recalling that in his address after he was elected the leader of the BJP-led NDA following the Lok Sabha win he had promised his government would be dedicated to the poor, Modi said every decison he had taken ever since was in that direction.

"If you look at my work of two years, you will see one decision after the other was taken to empower the poor to fight poverty, to strengthen the poor against poverty so that they could defeat it. No poor man wants to bequeath poverty to his children. I have always tried to work for the common man," he said.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa today nominated four party leaders, including a former minister, for the June 11 Rajya Sabha elections.

Ms Jayalalithaa announced the candidature of R Vaithilingam, housing minister in the previous AIADMK Cabinet, former Rajya Sabha member A Navaneethakrishnan, advocate A Vijayakumar and SR Balasubramanian for the biennial elections.

Mr Vaithilingam had lost the May 16 Assembly elections from Orathanadu while Mr Balasubramanian had joined the party recently after walking out of GK Vasan-led Tamil Maanila Congress protesting against its decision to align with the DMDK-PWF combine for the polls.
The tenure of six Rajya Sabha members from Tamil Nadu will end on June 29.

AIADMK's Navaneethakrishnan, AW Rabi Bernard and PH Paul Manoj Pandian and DMK's KP Ramalingam and S Thangavelu and former Union minister and Congress leader Sudarsana Natchiappan are those who will be retiring next month.

Out of the six members, Navaneethakrishnan was elected in 2014 and others in 2010. He filled the vacancy caused by the disqualification of DMK's TM Selvaganapathi.

India will have its indigenously-built supercomputer next year in the month of August, as confirmed by the officials of Minister of Science and Technology. The building of supercomputer is a part of the government’s Rs. 4,500 crore programme, approved in March last year.

The project is supervised by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing that built India’s first supercomputer ‘Param’. It is aimed at taking India to the elite league of nations who have made similar advancements in the field of technology.

The supercomputing mission started by the Government of India is aimed at building 80 supercomputers in the next seven years. Some of the supercomputers will be imported, and the rest will be built indigenously.
“The first supercomputer will come up by August 2017”, stated Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, Ministry of Science and Technology. “We are working on how to control heat”, he added. The secretary also explained that the cost of power to run this supercomputer alone will be Rs. 1,000 crore and will be kept in different institutes across the country. These supercomputers offer various features like weather forecast, climate modelling, discoveries of drugs and many others, Ashutosh added.

Currently, countries like US, China, Japan and the European Union hold a significant share of the top supercomputing machines in the world.

With the indigenously-built supercomputer, Prime Minister’s vision of “Make in India” is taking shape as different sectors of science and technology are coming forward to contribute to this mission, and projecting India as their new incubation hub.

The new Supercomputer is an endeavor by the Indian Government as a part of five years long project, aimed to proliferate the momentum of research and application.

The wait for students, who appeared for the Maharashtra state education board examinations, has finally come to an end. Results of the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) exams will be declared online on Wednesday, while that of the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) is likely to be declared on May 31.

The HSC exam results will be announced online at 1pm and mark sheets will be distributed in junior colleges on June 3.

“We are announcing the results earlier than usual so that students failing in exams can apply for the supplementary exams in July,” said Gangadhar Mhamane, chairperson, Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE).

More than 13 lakh students from across the state, including 3.2 lakh from Mumbai division, took the HSC exams, which were conducted between February and March this year. More than 17 lakh students had appeared for the SSC exams in the state and 3.7 lakh in the division.

During the exam, question papers of the HSC book keeping and accountancy paper held on March 4, was leaked on social media, nearly 30 minutes before the paper was distributed to the examinees. But the board refused to conduct a re-exam claiming the paper did not reach a large number of students.

Science students are anxious about their performance in physics as they found the paper tough to crack. Several students had rung up the board helpline after the paper, inquiring about the minimum marks required to clear it. The paper was based on the new syllabus introduced a couple of years ago. Students found the paper lengthy and difficult. Close to 85,546 students had appeared for the paper from the Mumbai division, which includes Thane, Raigad and Palghar.

Special students were also given more concessions during the exams this year. For the first time this year, the board had allowed special students to avail of adult writers, if they were unable to find younger ones. This provision was introduced after autistic students’ kin moved the Bombay high court, as younger writers were unable to communicate with the students

Dhawal Kulkarni’s sensational opening burst of fast bowling rocked Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to their very core but somebody had obviously forgotten to inform AB de Villiers that Gujarat Lions (GL) were in control of the game.

RCB had lost five wickets in five overs (5.3 overs to be precise) and had literally gone belly-up, but the unflappable ABD soaked up the pressure, carved up the attack and turned the tables magnificently to power his team into the final of the IPL with a four-wicket win.

Earlier, the light drizzle at the innings change-over had sent RCB into a tizzy as they chased of a modest target of 159. “The skipper Virat Kohli was a bundle of energy at the break telling us how to overcome that and plan the chase. I told him ‘look Virat, you’re the thinker. Me, I’d just play it as it comes,” revealed ABD at the media briefing after the match.

And how marvellously it came to him on a night when RCB had been literally brought to their knees. The home team were reeling at 29 for 5 and later 68 for 6 but, as GL’s Dwayne Smith summed up after the match, the visitors being in control was an illusion and “not while De Villiers was still at the wicket.”

In a team flush with match-winners, what made ABD special, particularly in a match like this, was the ability to suss the situation and, more importantly, to be able to play accordingly.
“I felt when we were bowling that 160 would be a difficult score to chase on this pitch. It was a peculiar one with the ball not really coming on to the bat,” he said.

One such delivery accounted for the wicket of RCB’s prolific run-machine Kohli. The batsman, conscious of impending rains which had already hit a few parts of the city and hence wary of the Duckworth- Lewis Rain rule which would kick in after the completion of five overs, did not attempt to play himself in as he customarily does. He went after a widish delivery but succeeded in only dragging the ball onto his stumps. GL were ecstatic with the dismissal while the capacity crowd was stunned into silence. RCB’s hero who had amassed a mind-boggling 913 runs this season had been dismissed for a second-ball duck. They simply could not comprehend that.

In Kulkarni’s next over Gayle was similarly dismissed, this time while playing a wild heave off the front foot. The consistent KL Rahul was prised out first ball by a peach of a delivery and with Shane Watson (1) and Sachin Baby (0) too sent packing, the wheels had literally come off RCB’s run chase.

Or so we thought. All the while, and even when Stuart Binny (21, 15b, 2x4, 1x6) took the lead in a crucial 39-run sixth wicket partnership, ABD was biding his time and sizing up the pitch and bowlers.

“As soon as Iqbal Abdullah came into bat and played out an over I realised that he was up to the task. Sometimes you get that feeling. The way his eyes lit up and the manner in which he shaped up, I knew I did not have to tell him anything. In fact he was counselling me. It was obvious that he had been in such tough situations before,” said ABD singing praises of RCB’s unexpected man of the hour who had shared that match-winning unbroken seventh-wicket stand of 91 runs in 8.4 overs.

The South African master batsmen had kept RCB in the fight with the odd boundary even as he ran his singles and twos with gusto. The tiny left-handed Abdullah too had wasted no time in squeezing the ball into the gaps and giving the strike back to ABD.

At the end of the 14th over with RCB at 96 for six and requiring to score at 11 runs per over, ABD said Kohli had sent word not to leave it to the end and that he feared it could rain any moment. This was just the trigger for the master blaster. The crowd simply went berserk and the bowlers withered as he went hammer and tongs at the attack as only he can. Lofted drives, pull shots off the front and back foot, reverse sweeps -- this was vintage ABD stamping his authority on the opposition in no uncertain terms. Abdullah too chipped in with a flurry of boundaries as RCB raced home in style.

Temperatures in Rajasthan broke past records last Friday. The highest temperature in Barmer on Saturday, when the camel remained outside in the heat with its legs tied, was about 43 degrees celsius.

According to a report in The Times of India, the owner, Urjaram, had forgotten to untie his camel during the day, and suddenly remembered while he was entertaining guests at home. When he went out to untie the camel, it attacked him, picking him up by the neck and throwing him in the ground. A villager told TOI that the camel chewed the owner's body and severed his head in the process.

An air ambulance carrying seven people on board crash-landed in a field in Kair village, Najafgarh near Delhi on Tuesday.

According to reports, the Alchemist Airlines Air Ambulance had taken off from Patna and was on its to Delhi when it crashed at around 2:45 pm.
News18 reported that the crash took place minutes before the plane would have landed at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport, which is situated six nautical miles from the crash site.

Both the engines for the Alchemist Airways' C-90 Beechking aircraft failed one after the other, which forced the pilot to make an emergency landing in a field, reported NDTV.

Among the seven people on board, five were reported to have been injured and were being rushed to the hospital.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling party declared victory on Thursday in the northeastern state of Assam, an election boost that will help his right-wing nationalist government rebuild some momentum after poll losses last year.

Grabbing power in Assam, one of five states electing new assemblies, would be a first for the Bharatiya Janata Party in India's volatile northeast, a sign its political influence is expanding beyond its traditional northern and western belt.

The BJP led in the races for 81 of the 126 seats in Assam where clear trends had been set, unofficial tallies compiled by television broadcasters showed.

The opposition Congress Party, which has ruled the state assembly since 2001, trailed with 26 seats.

Modi called the Assam victory an "exceptional win" on Twitter and congratulated his party leaders.

Elsewhere, tallies by television channels showed popular regional parties heading for victory in the southern states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu and the eastern state of West Bengal, where the BJP has a small presence and was not expected to win.

Modi called the chief ministers of West Bengal and Tamil Nadu to congratulate them, he said on Twitter.

"The BJP had nothing to lose in these elections, only something to gain," said Manoj Joshi, a political analyst at the Observer Research Foundation. "And they have gained. It shows the momentum is still with them."

Counting of votes from the five states began at 0230 GMT and complete results are expected later on Thursday.

POLARISING CAMPAIGN

The BJP waged a polarising campaign in Assam, an underdeveloped state rife with ethnic and religious tension, and vowed to disenfranchise millions of Bangladeshi Muslim immigrants, to curry favour among discontented Hindus.

Modi took a less prominent role in elections this year after a bad loss in a November poll in the eastern state of Bihar that turned into a referendum on his personal leadership. His party also lost in the capital New Delhi early last year.

"The people of Assam have accepted our winning combination. This is going to be a great victory," BJP chief ministerial candidate Sarbananda Sonowal told Indian television, as supporters gathered in the state capital, Guwahati.

Victory in Assam, while symbolic, will have little impact on Modi's ability to control the upper house of parliament, where his party lacks a majority and the opposition has stymied key economic reforms.

But the prospect of Congress weakened further by the state vote will raise his party's hopes for its bitter foe to be less resistant to the legislation.

Unofficial counts showed a Congress-led coalition was headed for defeat at the hands of leftist parties in Kerala.

(Additional reporting by Biswajyoti Das in GUWAHATI and Sujoy Dhar in KOLKATA; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani and Clarence Fernandez)

The latest cancer data, released on Wednesday, shows that Aizawl in Mizoram has the highest incidence of cancer in men, while Papumpare in Arunachal Pradesh accounted for maximum cases in women. While north-eastern States have traditionally reported high incidence of cancer compared to the rest of the country, the latest data reveals that the cancer burden in the north-east is among the highest in the world.

Tobacco problem

“The enormity of the tobacco problem in the north-east is reflected in the cancer registry. North-eastern States now have among the highest cancer burned in the world. In the case of stomach cancer, Chennai had the highest incidence before we set up a registry in Aizawl. Now, we have data showing Aizawl to have 10 times the incidence of Chennai,” said Dr G.K. Rath, chief of the National Cancer Institute.

In terms of sites, lung cancer is the leading cause among men while breast cancer is the leading cause among women. The total estimated burden of cancer for 2016 is 14.5 lakh new cases, going up to 17.3 lakh cases by 2020. The number of deaths due to cancer for 2016 is estimated to be around 7.36 lakh, going up to 8.8 lakh by 2020.

The data was released by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), collected by its Population-Based Cancer Registry (PBCR) programme.

“This data is important to help us plan and prioritise health care services for patients. The north-eastern States have a peculiar burden of cancer and we need to address it with a State-specific intervention,” said Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, Director-General, ICMR.

Among men, the top five sites of cancer were lung — which accounted for 10 per cent of the cases; stomach with 7.6 per cent cases; prostate with 7 per cent cases and oesophagus with 6 per cent cases and brain with 5 per cent cases. For women, breast had 27.5 per cent cases; cervix uteri with 12.3 per cent cases; ovary with 5.3 per cent cases; thyroid with 4 per cent cases and mouth with 3.9 per cent cases.

Lung cancer in women

The radical increase in colon cancer for men and cervix uteri for women was noticed. “There is no significant increase in breast and lung cancer but we see a sharp increase in lung cancer among women, clearly a result of more women taking up smoking,” added Dr. Rath.

 4002 Runs for Virat Kohli in his IPL career. In his innings of 113 against Kings XI Punjab, he became the first batsman to complete 4000 runs in the IPL, going past Suresh Raina's tally of 3985. Before the start of the season, Kohli was fourth on the list.

4 Centuries for Kohli in this IPL - most by a player in a single T20 tournament. Michael Klinger had scored three centuries in the Natwest Blast T20 in 2015. Only one batsman has scored more centuries than Kohli in all IPLs - five by Chris Gayle. Incidentally, Kohli had not scored any centuries in his first 180 T20 innings before making four centuries in nine innings.

14.06 Royal Challengers' run rate in this match - 211 runs from 15 overs - the highest for a team's innings of six or more overs in IPL. Their run rate when they scored 263, the highest total in T20s, against Pune Warriors was 13.15. On Thursday, they did not score more than six runs in any of the first three overs. But they scored at least 10 runs in each of the last 12 overs of the innings; 18 or more runs in eight of those.

11 Scores of 75 or more for Kohli in T20s this year - most by a batsman in a calendar year. Gayle had 10 such scores in two years - 2011 and 2015. Kohli has converted 11 of his 16 50-plus scores into scores of 75 or more this year in just 25 innings.
2042 Runs scored by Kohli in T20s at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. He became the first batsman to aggregate 2000 or more runs at a single venue in T20s.

47 Balls in which Kohli got to his hundred, which is his fastest among his four centuries. His first century came off 63 balls against Gujarat Lions, second in 56 balls against Rising Pune Supergiants and third in 53 balls against Lions.

13.36 Run rate of the 147-run opening stand between Gayle and Kohli - second-highest in a century stand for first wicket in IPL. Brendon McCullum and Dwayne Smith had scored 109 runs at 14.86 for Chennai Super Kings against Mumbai Indians at Wankhede Stadium in IPL 2015. Gayle and Kohli also completed 2500 runs as a pair in T20s. They also have the most century stands - eight.

4 Opening partnerships of 50 or more runs for Royal Challengers in their last six matches, including this match. In their first seven matches, they did not have even one such stand.

226 Kohli's strike rate in this innings of 113 off 50 balls, his highest in a T20 innings of 20 or more balls. This is the first time he has had a strike rate of more than 200 in a T20 innings batting 20 or more balls.

Counting of votes in the high-stakes Assembly elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry begins this morning at 8 am and the first trends are expected to be available after an hour — at about 9 am. By 12 noon, a clear picture could well emerge of who the winners are.

According to various exit polls shown on TV channels on May 16, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Kerala appeared to have voted for change giving BJP its first government in the northeastern state dislodging Congress which may also lose Kerala. DMK has been tipped to regain power trouncing AIADMK in Tamil Nadu.

Follow our live blog on the election results below to get the latest updates and analysis of what is 2016’s biggest election date.

7.20 am: In Tamil Nadu, supporters have already started arriving outside CM Jaya’s house at Poes Garden. Will she be able to retain the southern state? Follow our Tamil Nadu live here.

7.00 am: An hour to go before counting of votes begin. We’re tracking developments as they happen.

How Jaya and Karunanidhi campaigned in the Assembly polls in TN (Click here to read)

Only West Bengal seems to have bucked the trend in exit polls by re-electing Trinamool Congress led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who managed to hold on to power by defeating the Left-Congress alliance convincingly for a second consecutive term.

The Congress could take solace from its projected victory in the tiny Union Territory of Puducherry where it is likely to get power in alliance with the DMK.

In West Bengal assembly polls it’s do or die for all parties (Click here to read)

The counting of votes will decide the fate of approximately 8,300 candidates including chief minister Tarun Gogoi in Assam and CM contender BJP’s Sarbananda Sonowal and Himanta Biswas, chief minister Jayalalithaa and Karunandhi in Tamil Nadu, chief minister Oommen Chandy, CPI(M) leaders V S Achutanandan and Pinarayi Vijayan in Kerala, chief minister Mamata Banerjee and CPI(M) Suryakanta Mishra in West Bengal and chief Minister M Rangaswamy in Puducherry.

In Kerala, it’s high-stake battle for scandal-hit Oommen Chandy (Click here to read)

According to Election Commission guidelines, half-an-hour after the postal ballots are counted, the process of counting votes from the EVMs begins.

The ‘ballot unit’ is switched on in the presence of senior poll officials and counting agents of candidates and the result command keyed in to get results per machine.

Where a paper trail audit or ‘voter-verified paper audit trail’ (VVPAT) has been used, the counting agent can call for a count of the paper slips in the drop box attached to the voting machine, but a final count is taken by the returning officer.

N Rangasamy, longest-serving Puducherry CM, battles strong anti-incumbency (Click here to read)

Once the results are declared, the names of the winning candidates will find mention in the gazette. The gazette notification will initiate the process to form the next legislative assemblies in the states.

The findings revealed that nocturnal sleep duration full moon compared to new moon reported an average decrease of five minutes.
To establish if lunar phases somehow do affect humans, an international group of researchers studied children to see if their sleeping patterns changed or if there were any differences in their daily activities.
 To establish if lunar phases somehow do affect humans, an international group of researchers studied children to see if their sleeping patterns changed or if there were any differences in their daily activities.

While the full moon cannot turn people into werewolves, some people do accuse it of causing a bad night’s sleep or creating physical and mental alterations. But is there any science behind these myths?

To establish if lunar phases somehow do affect humans, an international group of researchers studied children to see if their sleeping patterns changed or if there were any differences in their daily activities. The results were published in Frontiers in Pediatrics.

“We considered that performing this research on children would be particularly more relevant because they are more amenable to behaviour changes than adults and their sleep needs are greater than adults,” said Dr Jean-Philippe Chaput, from the Eastern Ontario Research Institute.

The study was completed on a total of 5,812 children from five continents. The children came from a wide range of economic and sociocultural levels, and variables such as age, sex, highest parental education, day of measurement, body mass index score, nocturnal sleep duration, level of physical activity and total sedentary time were considered.

The findings obtained in the study revealed that in general, nocturnal sleep duration around full moon compared to new moon reported an average decrease of five minutes (or a one per cent variant). No other activity behaviours were substantially modified.

“Our study provides compelling evidence that the moon does not seem to influence people’s behaviour. The only significant finding was the one per cent sleep alteration in full moon, and this is largely explained by our large sample size that maximises statistical power,” said Chaput.

 The clinical implication of sleeping five minutes less during full moon does not represent a considerable threat to health. “Overall, I think we should not be worried about the full moon. Our behaviours are largely influenced by many other factors like genes, education, income and psychosocial aspects rather than by gravitational forces,” he added.

Rocky Yadav, the son of a JDU leader who allegedly shot dead a teenager for overtaking his SUV in Bihar's Gaya on Saturday, has been arrested, police said.

Confirming the arrest, Gaya's Senior Superintendent of Police Garima Mallick said, " We have been carrying out regular raids and based on our interrogation of various people we have made the arrest. I cannot give you more details right now."

The arrest happened a day after Rocky's mother Manorama Devi, member of leglislative council, was  interrogated. Sources said Rocky was picked up from a factory located on the road to Bodh Gaya, in which Bindi Yadav, Rocky's father, has business interests.

Aditya Sachdeva, 19, was driving home with friends in his Maruti Swift when he overtook the politician's son Range Rover.


Rocky Yadav, 30, son of a JD(U) leader allegedly shot dead the teenager.
His friends claim that Rocky then fired a warning shot from the SUV, forcing Mr Sachdeva to stop, after which he was beaten up and then shot at. He died on the spot.

"I would like to fold my hands and ask Nitish Kumar to please get this boy justice," Mr Sachdeva's cousin Rishi Sachdeva appealed to the Bihar Chief Minister .


The Range Rover belonging to JD(U) leader Manorama Devi's family and the Swift in which the teenager who was killed was travelling.
Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister, has rebuked the media and political opponents for what he describes as "focusing not on what but who". That clumsy comment rankles, though the Chief Minister has stressed that the suspect's bodyguard has been arrested along with his father for helping organize his escape.

His mother, Manorama Devi had told NDTV,  "We don't know where he is, he will surrender. We didn't play a role in his escape."

The Chief Minister has denied that this is the latest in a snaking line of crimes that expose the "jungle raj" or return of lawlessness to Bihar, as alleged by the main opposition party, the BJP

Here are some important reports from the biggest newspapers of India.

1. BSF troops seize fake currency, 900 cattle on Indo-Bangla border
Here are some important reports from the biggest newspapers of India.

Troops of the Border Security Force (BSF) deployed along the India-Bangladesh border under the Guwahati sector on Saturday night seized fake Indian currency notes worth Rs 1.5 lakhs, but not before a mob on the international boundary in Dhubri district attacked them and freed the main culprit, reported the Indian Express daily.

While a joint operation team of the BSF and Assam Police was carrying out an operation based on specific intelligence inputs in a house in Jordanga village under Mankachar police station in Dhubri district located close to the international boundary, the villagers comprising women and children too encircled the troops, assaulted them and would have killed them, had more reinforcements not reached the spot on time.

2. MCD bypolls: BJP releases names of candidates

The BJP Sunday announced its list of 13 candidates who will contest for the post of councillors in the MCD bypolls in May.
The BJP gave tickets to three of its former MLAs and family members of a few party workers, reported the Indian Express daily.

The three former MLAs are Mahendra Nagpal, who will contest from Wazirabad ward, Krishan Gehlot, who will contest from Nawada, and Jitender Singh Shunty who will contest from Jhilmil.

3. Under RTE: Government definition of 'orphans' unclear, puts them at disadvantage

Three years after the Right to Education (RTE) Act came into force, an NGO approached the Delhi High Court with a plea to include the city's orphans under "disadvantaged categories" for admission under the RTE. The HC allowed orphans to be added to the category, reported the Indian Express daily.

When the Directorate of Education (DoE) announced guidelines for nursery admission for the 2013-14 academic year, for the first time, it stated that "orphans" be included "within the meaning of children belonging to disadvantaged groups".

4. Private schools need Delhi government's nod to fire teachers, rules SC

A driver who was sacked by a private school in 2003 has secured a judgment from the Supreme Court forbidding recognised schools in Delhi from dismissing any employee, including teachers, without "prior approval" of the director of education.

In its judgment on April 13, SC upheld a provision in the Delhi School Education Act 1973 that requires all recognised schools to obtain the government's approval before sacking an employee. The section -8(2) of the DSEA 1973 -had been struck down by the Delhi high court in July 2005, reported the Times of India daily.

5. Government mulls sops to attract doctors to rural postings

A severe shortage of doctors in rural areas has forced the health ministry to dust off an earlier proposal to post MBBS students in the hinterland. However, this time, it may not make a rural stint mandatory.

Instead, the plan is to incentivise students and doctors by making their access to postgraduate courses easier or by offering them better pay .

"The ministry has deliberated on the plan and it has in principle approval from the health minister. A formal proposal with details of incentives has to be drawn up before we take it to the next level in the government for approval," a senior official told the Times of India daily.

Dipa Karmakar on Sunday created history by becoming the first ever Indian gymnast to qualify for the Olympic Games.

Karmakar produced a strong show, finishing ninth in the first of the four subdivisions of the women's artistic category, at the Final Qualifier and Olympic Test Event in Rio de Janeiro.

She garnered a total score of 52.698 points. Her final rankings will be known only after completion of the event with competition in three other subdivisions going on currently.

Her first vault, the much difficult Produnova, gave Karmakar 15.066 points, the highest among the 14 competitors. But a poor show in the uneven bars took her points down as she collected 11.700, the second worse among the 14 participants.

The Tripura girl secured 13.366 and 12.566 points in the beam and floor exercises.

Gymnastic officials said that her Rio Games berth is more or less assured after the strong show.
"Dipa is 100 per cent assured of an Olympic berth with this 52.698 score. There are three subdivisions to go but she has already beaten gymnasts from three countries. So she has qualified," international referee Deepak Kagra told PTI.

"This Test event has participants from 33 countries and since her score is above the participants of at least three countries, she will finish in the top 30 country-wise. That is enough for her to qualify for Rio Olympics," he added.

The 22-year-old could not clinch an Olympic berth in the World Championships in November last as she finished outside the podium, in fifth place.

She was earlier put as second reserve for the ongoing Olympic Test event in Rio but was informed last month that she had sneaked into the shortlist of participants.

Karmakar had created history by becoming the first woman gymnast to win a medal -- a bronze -- in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014. He then became the first Indian woman gymnast to feature in the finals of World Championships in November last.

Quinton de Kock anchored the Delhi Daredevils' chase of RCB's 191 with an innings full of flair and strokeplay.

We felt the Royal Challengers Bangalore were 20-odd runs short of what they would have needed on this wicket and the momentum they maintained for the most part of their innings. In the end, the Delhi batting line-up was not tested much, partly due to RCB's underperformance at the death and due to Quinton de Kock's scintillating shotmaking.

Watson was a breath of fresh air, featuring in every department: bat, ball and in the field. On which note, do yourself a favour and watch this Christlike miracle one more time:

But that moment of brilliance wasn't enough to thwart the Daredevils, who bowled some excellent overs at the death of RCB's innings (courtesy Chris Morris and Mohammad Shami), then maintained scoring momemtum really well despite the early wicket (courtesy Wiese-Watson), and then... de Kock happened.

Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli says this loss is tough to swallow. Underscores how important it is for bowlers to believe they can get a wicket every ball, and that batsmen can sense hesitation on the bowler's part. An interesting insight every time Kohli speaks.

Delhi Daredevils captain Zaheer Khan says his bad over helped him realise that his bowlers must bowl back of length. Hm, great example of self-effacing captaincy. He gives credit to Shami and Morris, but also questions the wisdom of having removed Gayle from the middle with such haste.

Man of the Match Quinton de Kock says it was a good wicket where looking to hit good cricket shots and running the twos got them through. Most of these were done by him, just saying.

DD 192/3 after 19.1 overs (JP Duminy 7 off 5 | K Nayar 54 off 42 || win by 7 wickets)

Some comedy there at the very end with just the one to get. JP Duminy plays it back to the bowler Chahal, who flicks it back to the non-striker's stumps, misses, and the batsmen run the overthrow.

DD 191/3 after 19 overs (JP Duminy 6 off 4 | K Nayar 54 off 42 || need 1 from 6 balls)

De Kock (108 from 51) can't, sadly, stay to bring it home for his team after all the work. Watson has him caught behind off a riser. Duminy comes in and takes up from where his Saffer teammate left off, drilling a short wide one through the Covers for four. A leg bye and a two later, the over ends and DD are left with just 1 to get.

DD 183/2 after 18 overs (de Kock 108 off 50 | K Nayar 53 off 41 || need 9 from 12 balls)

De Kock, de Kock, de Kock! Centurion off 48 balls. Yet again with a sliced square-cut. Applause is sadly very limited for the away batsman despite a genuinely great innings. The crowd goes even quieter when he thick-edges a Wiese slower one through Third-man for four. And then a scorcher that scrapes the floor the whole time through the Covers.

DD 171/2 after 17 overs (de Kock 99 off 47 | K Nayar 51 off 38 || need 21 from 18 balls)

Nayar does get to his milestone first. A classy straight loft for six takes him closer, and he completes the formality with a single. Didn't think he was getting any runs, Nayar. Slowly and silently built his score. Meanwhile, de Kock reaches 99 with a four off the final ball of Harshal's over.

DD 158/2 after 16 overs (de Kock 94 off 45 | K Nayar 43 off 44 || need 34 from 24 balls)

Nayar nudges a four past the keeper to take the partnership past 100 runs. De Kock slashes the same bowler through Extra Cover for four to move into the 90s. Nayar closing in on his fifty. Who will get to their milestone first? Meanwhile, Daredevils looking comfortable to get this total, by all conservative estimates.

DD 146/2 after 15 overs (de Kock 88 off 42 | K Nayar 37 off 31 || need 46 from 30 balls)

Watson comes back in for his third over. Decidedly bowling into the body of the right-hander, towards middle and leg. Still gets struck on the up by the left-hander de Kock down the ground for four.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Rising Pune Supergiants would look to get their IPL campaign back on track after losing to Gujarat Lions. They have a brilliant opportunity at hand as they face a demoralised Kings XI Punjab, who are yet to win a game. Get live cricket score and updates of Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) vs Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS) here. (LIVE SCORECARD | POINTS TABLE | FIXTURES | NEWS | LIVE STREAMING | PLAY FANTASY CRICKET)

16:18 hrs IST: Now du Plessis joins in! FOUR!!!! These have decided to target Patel! 14 off the 4th over!

16:17 hrs IST: And Pietersen gets into the act immediately! Consecutive boundaries off Axar Patel.

16:16 hrs IST: Kevin Pietersen and Faf du Plessis at the crease. If these 2 can go on, RPS can get a big score here.

16:15 hrs IST:RPS 13/1! Three runs and a wicket from the third over!

16:12 hrs IST: Rahane played it early, inside edge and leg stump knocked out!

16:10 hrs IST:Bowled!!!! Rahane trying to be aggressive, plays on and is bowled by Sandeep Sharma!

16:09 hrs IST: Another boundary from Rahane in the second over, RPS 10 for no loss.

16:04 hrs IST: Five dot balls and one boundary. Sums up the first over!

16:02 hrs IST:FOUR!!!!! off the fourth ball of the match! Rahane off the mark!

15:59 hrs IST: Faf du Plessis and Ajinkya out to bat for RPS while Sandeep Sharma to open the proceedings for the Punjab team!

15:55 hrs IST: Meanwhile, Gujarat Lions all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja will tie the knot today. Watch his sword skills here.

15:53 hrs IST: The PCA Stadium is filling up. Lot of IPL enthusiasts can be seen entering the stadium, braving the heat!

15:45 hrs IST: Kings XI desperately need a win today. Even though it is only the start of the tournament, a third consecutive loss will put them way behind everyone in the league. They will find it really tough to enter the knockouts then.

15:44 hrs IST: And we see MS Dhoni warm-up with Kevin Pietersen!

15:41 hrs IST: RPS on the other hand have made as many as three changes! Mitchell Marsh, Rudra Pratap Singh and Rajat Bhatia have been replaced by Irfan Pathan, Ankit Sharma and Thisara Perera!

15:40 hrs IST: Kings XI have made only one change. Abbot comes in to replace Mitchell Johnson.

15:39 hrs IST: And here are the playing XI of both the teams:

Kings XI Punjab: Murali Vijay, Manan Vohra, Shaun Marsh, David Miller, Glenn Maxwell, Axar Patel, Wriddhiman Saha, Mohit Sharma, Kyle Abbott, Pardeep Sahu, Sandeep Sharma

Rising Pune Supergiants: Faf du Plessis, Ajinkya Rahane, Kevin Pietersen, Steven Smith, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Thisara Perera, Irfan Pathan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Ankit Sharma, Murugan Ashwin

15:36 hrs IST: Kings XI are looking to break their losing streak. They have so far lost both their matches. On the other hand, RPS have won and lost one each.

15:35 hrs IST: This is the 10th match of the ninth edition of IPL!

15:34 hrs IST: Here we see the home team warming up ahead of the important clash.

As you all must be aware, Rahul Raj Singh, late Balika Vadhu actress Pratyusha Banerjee‘s boyfriend, was getting treated for depression at Shree Sai Hospital and it seems his condition was pretty grim. According to a daily, he threatened to jump off the building after Police interrogated him.

The daily reported that Rahul was taken to Bangur Nagar Police station for questioning on Friday morning. He returned to the hospital after two hours of interrogation. Later, he went to the bathroom and locked himself up in the first floor of the hospital. When he didn’t emerge out of it for long, relatives panicked and the doctor was called. When the relatives urged him to come out, he bellowed that he will jump off the building. Doctors then calmed him down, post which he came out of the bathroom.

Rahul went through a psychiatric evaluation on Saturday evening, post which he was discharged. But doctors have asked him to continue his meds and counselling, the daily reports. Pratyusha’s father had earlier approached the Medical Association against the hospital for shielding Rahul. He smells a conspiracy there. He had sent a letter to the association saying all that and also added that the hospital apparently is known for harbouring criminals. Such allegations were dismissed by Dr. Surinder Goel from Shree Sai Hospital. The daily quoted him saying, “Where is the question of conspiracy? My work is done the moment he is alright. If he is a criminal, he should be given the heaviest punishment.”

Australian all-rounder Shane Watson is mighty impressed with young Indian batsman Sarfaraz Khan, who he says is an incredible batsman with amazing control over his shots.

Sarfaraz smashed 35 runs off just 10 balls, hitting five fours and two sixes, to propel Royal Challengers Bangalore to a 200-plus total against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Tuesday.

"He is an incredible young man and there is no doubt that he has worked extremely hard to get all kinds of shots right. The control over shots he has... Never seen before for a young talent like him. It shows he has practised hell of a lot, and we saw him this [against SRH]," he told reporters at the post-match press conference.

Watson also said it is a pleasure to watch AB de Villiers bat. The South African batsman hammered Hyderabad bowlers around the park with a whirlwind knock of 82, that was laced with seven fours and six shots over the ropes.

"What I saw tonight is as good as batting I have ever seen. He didn't look like taking risk at all in his entire innings. One shot he played off the backfoot for a six is an incredible shot to play, and he does it with so much of ease is really a pleasure to watch. He executes his shots incredibly well," he said.

Replying to a query, Watson said there is no need for changing batting order of Chris Gale, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers, as it gives a momentum to the team.

"This I saw happening in the previous season when I was playing as a rival for Rajasthan Royals. So, why should one change the order when the top three are delivering. You need to take early wickets, otherwise you are in deep trouble, and that's what exactly happened tonight," he said.

Watson did not read much into Chris Gayle's failure at the top.

"It is not going to be everyone's day. Chris got out early, but we had depth in batting with likes of Kedar Jadhav, Sarfaraz, AB and Kohli in our side," he said.

Watson also said that the way Kohli and De Villiers batted together in their magnificent 157-run partnership he felt he wouldn't get to bat.

Watson eventually turned out to bat and contributed in his team's cause with a 19-run cameo that had three sixes.

"More than anything else playing before your home crowd is a very nice feeling. We did not get to play that many matches in Jaipur - my previous home ground," he said.

Asked about his improving relations with Gayle, Watson said it is amazing that a couple of commercials provided an opportunity for both to know each other better.

"Relations with Gayle has been very good so far. We had couple of commercials as well which gave us a chance to know each other better after few run-ins in the past. Don't know how it works when I am playing alongside him in one team. This is the beauty of cricket," he said.

Watson said he was happy to claim David Warner's wicket because he has the potential to turn the match on its head with his power hitting.

Actor Amitabh Bachchan, whose name figured in the Panama Paper leaks as allegedly having links with offshore entities in two tax havens, on Tuesday denied any connection with those companies, saying his name may have been “misused”.

He also claimed that even the news report had not suggested any wrongdoing on his part.

The Indian Express carried a report on Monday based on leaked documents of a Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca which is said to feature links of over 500 Indians to firms and accounts in offshore tax havens.

Referring to the report, Bachchan, 73, said, “I do not know any of the companies referred to by Indian Express - Sea Bulk Shipping Company Ltd, Lady Shipping Ltd, Treasure Shipping Ltd, and Tramp Shipping Ltd. I have never been a director of any of the above stated companies. It is possible that my name has been misused.

“I have paid all my taxes including on monies spent by me overseas. Monies that I have remitted overseas have been in compliance with law, including remittances through Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS), after paying Indian taxes. In any event the news report in Indian Express does not even suggest any illegality on my part,” his statement read.

The names of his daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai, her parents and brother also figured in the leaked documents as being directors in a firm in the British Virgin Islands.

The newspaper quoted her media adviser Archana Sadanand, who raised questions about the International Consortium of Investigating Journalists and said all the information the paper had was totally untrue and false.

 Sunanda Pushkar, died of poisoning, a report by an All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) panel confirmed on Friday.

BJP member Subramanian Swamy on Saturday claimed that the FBI found the presence of heart arrest injectable poison Lidocaine in the body of Sunanda Pushkar, wife of former Union minister and Congress leader Shashi Tharoor. He questioned Delhi Police Chief BS Bassi that why he was silent about the matter and did not reveal it to the media.

    Police Commissioner is not telling the media that the FBI found the presence of heart arrest injectable poison lidocaine in Sunanda body.
    — Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) January 16, 2016

Sunanda Pushkar, died of poisoning, a report by an All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) panel confirmed on Friday.
The 43-page report, submitted to the Delhi police, also upheld the findings of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)'s forensics report.

In February 2015, the viscera samples were sent to the FBI lab in Washington DC to determine the kind of poison that killed her, following contrary reports from the AIIMS and the Delhi police. They differed over whether she was poisoned or died from an antidepressant overdose.

Delhi police chief BS Bassi told the press that the cause of death was "unnatural". "The current investigation of the final viscera report submitted to the Delhi police states that Sunanda Pushkar did not die a natural death. That is for certain. It was an unnatural death," Bassi said.

Pushkar was found dead inside her suite at a five-star hotel here in January 2014, a day after she was involved in a spat with Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar on Twitter over the latter's alleged affair with Tharoor.

The Forensics and Toxicology department at AIIMS, the country's premier medical facility, said that the cause of death was poisoning, and that there were more than one chemical that had been identified. However, the names of the chemicals were not revealed.

Sources said that the AIIMS report noted that the medical board had given poisoning as the cause of death in the column of opinion after the examination of Puskhar's body on January 18, 2014.

The FBI was sent samples of the stomach, spleen, liver, kidney and urine. Sources said that their analysis endorsed the cause of death, saying that the same poison was present in all of them. It endorsed the AIIMS post-mortem report.

The government on Friday constituted a committee headed by film-maker Shyam Benegal to look into the revamp of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).

The committee, which will submit its report in two months, also includes film-maker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Piyush Pandey and film critic Bhawana Somaaya. National Film Development Council managing director Nina Lath Gupta and joint secretary (films) Sanjay Murthy will also be part of the committee.

The government said in a statement that the panel has been formed “in sync with the vision” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The recommendations of the committee are expected to provide a holistic framework and enable those tasked with the work of certification of films to discharge their responsibilities keeping in view this framework, the statement said.
“During their deliberations, the committee will be expected to take note of the best practices in various parts of the world, especially where the film industry is given sufficient and adequate space for creative and aesthetic expression,” the statement said.

The committee will recommend broad guidelines, procedures under the provisions of the Cinematograph Act, and rules for the benefit of the chairperson and other members of the screening committee. The staffing pattern of the CBFC will also be looked into in an effort to recommend a framework which would provide efficient, transparent user-friendly services, the statement added.

The announcement on Friday came within days of information and broadcasting (I&B) minister Arun Jaitley saying that the “time has come” to have a re-look at the functioning of the CBFC as he would like the Censor Board to be “controversy- free”.

Film-makers have complained of arbitrary objections and cuts sought by the Censor Board in the recent past, including criticism for cuts in the latest James Bond movie Spectre for screening in India. A list of banned “cuss” words, circulated by CBFC chief Pahlaj Nihalani had also become a subject of controversy.