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Mumbai, April 18 (IANS) The actors of 'Aangan Aapno Kaa'-- Waseem Mushtaq and Yash Pandit share a common interest in music, and in between the shoots, the duo jam on 80s and 90s Bollywood songs.

The show is a story of the Sharma family led by Jaidev Sharma (Mahesh Thakur) and his three daughters - Deepika (Neetha Shetty), Tanvi (Aditi Rathore), and the youngest daughter, Pallavi (Ayushi Khurana).

While onscreen, the three daughters are taking charge and navigating their intense challenges, it is their reel husbands who have taken the responsibility of creating a lively atmosphere on the sets.

Tanvi's husband Rakesh (Yash) and Deepika's husband Varun (Waseem) are music lovers. While Waseem had auditioned for 'Indian Idol', Yash comes from a family of popular singers. His younger sisters Shraddha and Shweta are Bollywood playback singers.

In between the shoots and break time, Yash takes out the guitar, and they jam on the 80s and 90s Bollywood songs - a genre that both absolutely love. Cheering with them are their co-actors Samar Vermani, Ayushi, Neetha, Aditi, Kashish Duggal and Sonali Naik, among others.

Talking about the same, Waseem said: "Music has been my passion since my school days, and I've carried it with me through every stage of life. From college band days to making cover songs over the years, it's always been a part of me."

"On film sets, it's incredible to see my co-actors like Yash and others share that love for singing. We often find ourselves jamming together, turning those hectic shooting schedules into moments of relaxation and joy. Our connection goes beyond being co-actors; Yash is like family to me," he shared.

Waseem added: "We share not only music but also indulge in shayari and ghazals together. There are times when I even tell my father, with whom I used to sing ghazals, that I won't sing them with anyone other than Yash."

Yash shared: "Both Waseem and I have a passion for singing, so it's natural for us to break into songs together. Our co-actors like Neetha, Kashish, Ayushi, Ankit, and everyone from Aangan Aapno Kaa often join us to listen to our impromptu jam sessions."

"It's all about masti and fun during our shoot breaks - a perfect way to unwind amidst the hustle and bustle of filming," he added.

'Aangan Aapno Kaa' airs on Sony SAB.

--IANS

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Itanagar, April 18 (IANS) Stage is set for simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and assembly in Arunachal Pradesh on Friday as the Election Commission has made elaborate security arrangements in the frontier state.

Officials on Thursday said that voting for the two Lok Sabha seats -- Arunachal West and Arunachal East -- along with 50 assembly constituencies will be held on Friday under a tight security cover.

Of the total 60 assembly constituencies in the state, elections will be held in 50 seats as BJP candidates including Chief Minister Pema Khandu (Mukto seat) and Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein (Chowkham seat), have won unopposed in 10 seats.

Election officials said that the first batch of over 40 election officials accompanied by security personnel along with election-related materials including Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), were airlifted by an MI-172 chopper to four remote polling stations in Arunachal Pradesh’s Kra Daadi district on April 15 to conduct voting on Friday.

However, the majority of the polling and security personnel left for their destinations on Wednesday and Thursday.

In all, 11,130 polling officials have been deployed to conduct the elections while 6,874 Electronic Voting Machines will be used for the polls.

On the advice of the Election Commission, the Union Home Ministry has provided 80 companies (7500 personnel) of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) while thousands of state security force personnel have been deployed to maintain the law and order situation.

A total of 8.92,694 voters, including 4,54,256 women, will decide the fate of 133 candidates contesting for the 50 assembly seats, and 14 candidates vying for the two Lok Sabha seats.

Of the 133 candidates, 50 have been fielded by the ruling BJP, 19 by the opposition Congress, 14 by the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar), 20 by the National People’s Party (NPP), 11 by the People’s Party of Arunachal and the remaining by the other local parties and Independents.

Though 14 candidates are contesting in the two Lok Sabha seats, the main contest is expected to be between Union minister Kiren Rijiju and state Congress President and former chief minister Nabam Tuki for the Arunachal West seat. In the Arunachal East seat, the main fight would be between the BJP’s sitting MP Tapir Gao and the Congress’ Bosiram Siram, a former minister and state Congress Vice-President.

The NPP led by Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma put up 20 candidates in the Arunachal Pradesh assembly elections, and announced its support to the BJP Lok Sabha candidates in the state -- Kiren Rijiju and Tapir Gao.

Rijiju is seeking re-election for a fourth term.

In the Arunachal West Parliamentary seat, eight candidates are in the fray while six aspirants are vying for the Arunachal East Parliamentary seat.

The over-a-month-long hectic campaigning for the simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly elections in the northeastern state ended on Wednesday afternoon.

BJP President Jagat Prakash Nadda and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, NPP supremo and Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma campaigned for their respective parties in Arunachal Pradesh.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi were scheduled to visit Arunachal Pradesh to campaign for the party candidates but they did not turn up.

Though the BJP has a solid base in the state and is ahead of the other parties in the electoral battle, two major issues -- the anti-incumbency factor and Christian organisations’ open support to the Congress candidates -- caused concern among the saffron party leaders.

The counting of votes for the Assembly elections will be taken up on June 2, while the results of the Lok Sabha elections will be announced on June 4.

--IANS

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Mumbai, April 18 (IANS) Two-wheeler major Bajaj Auto on Thursday reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 2,011 crore for the fourth quarter of 2023-24, up from Rs 1,704.74 crore during the same period of the previous year.

The bike maker posted a revenue of Rs 11,554.95 crore in the January-March quarter, up from Rs 9,192.73 crore during the same period last year.

The company’s board approved a dividend of Rs 80 per share of face value of Rs 10 each on equity shares for the financial year ended March 31, 2024, according to its stock exchange filing.

The shares of Bajaj Auto rose 1.61 per cent to Rs 9,062 on the BSE on Thursday before the fourth quarter results were announced.

--IANS

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New Delhi, April 18 (IANS) Two-wheeler manufacturer Suzuki Motorcycle India on Thursday said that it has reached the landmark of producing 80 lakh units in the country.

The company achieved this production landmark in the 19th year of its operation with the last one million units added in just one year.

It started its operations in the country in February 2006.

It achieved its first 40 lakh production milestone within 13 years and manufactured the next 40 lakh units in less than six years.

"I would like to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of our workmen, engineers, and teams whose continuous efforts contributed to realising this achievement," Kenichi Umeda, MD, Suzuki Motorcycle India said in a statement.

"As we continue our journey, our focus remains on providing products that satisfy our customers both in India and in countries where we export our products," he added.

Suzuki Motorcycle India currently manufactures a diverse range of scooters and motorcycles for Indian as well as international markets.

The company offers scooters ranging from 125cc (Access 125, Avenis, Burgman Street & Burgman Street SX) to motorcycles ranging from 150cc and 250cc (Gixxer & Gixxer SF, Gixxer 250 & Gixxer 250 SF and V-Strom SX) as well as big bikes such as recently launched V-Strom 800 DE, Katana & Hayabusa.

--IANS

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Kottayam (Kerala), April 18 (IANS) Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday told his predecessor and the country’s longest-serving Defence Minister A.K. Antony that he can understand the predicament of the latter.

Singh said this while addressing an election rally for the BJP candidate and son of Antony, Anil Antony, at Kanjirapally which comes under the Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha constituency, where Anil is fighting a poll battle against three-time sitting Congress MP Anto Antony and veteran CPI-M former finance minister Thomas Isaac.

“ All I have to tell Antony is even if he might not vote for him, he should bless him as a father. I was surprised by what Antony said, maybe he said like that due to the pressure from the Congress party,” said Singh.

Antony after almost six months broke his silence early this month when he said Anil should and will lose at Pathanamthitta and it was wrong for the children of Congress leaders to join the BJP.

“I have the highest regard for Antony and I see him as my elder brother. As Minister, Antony was a clean person, while other Congress leaders are not like that,” added Singh.

“ Anil has a bright future in the BJP,” said Singh and took a dig at Rahul Gandhi when he said the country’s Chandrayan Mission was a success, while the ‘Rahulyan’ mission, even after two decades, has not reached anywhere.

--IANS

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Bengaluru, April 18 (IANS) IT software giant Infosys on Thursday declared a 30 per cent jump in net profit to Rs 7,969 crore for the January-March quarter of 2023-24, up from Rs 6,128 crore in the same quarter of the previous year.

The company reported a revenue of Rs 37,923 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 31, according to a stock exchange filing.

Infosys also declared a final dividend of Rs 20 per equity share and a one-time dividend of Rs 8 per share.

India’s second-largest IT services company also announced the acquisition of In-Tech Holding GmbH, an engineering, research and development services provider.

Infosys share price went up 0.34 per cent on Thursday to settle at Rs 1,419.25, ahead of the fourth quarter results.

--IANS

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New Delhi, April 18 (IANS) Enterprise software major Salesforce on Thursday rolled out 'Slack AI', which uses a company's conversational data to help users work faster and smarter -- to all paid customers with expanded language support.

Slack AI is now available in English, Spanish, and Japanese, with additional language support coming soon. It is priced at $10 per user per month for Slack Pro and Business+ plans, according to the company.

"From large enterprises to small businesses, customers use Slack AI to prioritise exactly what they need to know, when they need to know it," the company said.

Slack AI now also includes a new 'recap' feature that delivers a daily morning digest containing summaries of channels a user wants to follow but can't always make immediate time for.

In other features, it includes a 'search answers' feature that delivers personalised, intelligent responses to conversational questions and a 'conversation summaries' feature that generates highlights from accessible channels and threads.

In addition, the company said that the in-development Slack AI's search and summarisation capabilities will tap into new data sources, including files, Slack apps, canvases, and clips -- in order to enhance the breadth and depth of context that Slack AI can access.

--IANS

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New Delhi, April 18 (IANS) Former SAI coach Ajit Singh on Thursday said that Anshu Malik (57kg) has a chance to qualify for the Paris Olympics in women's category, whereas, Vinesh Phogat (50kg) will "struggle" at the Asian Wrestling Olympic Qualifiers in Kyrgyzstan’s Bishkek, starting from April 19 to 21.

Vinesh usually competes in the women’s 53kg but has dropped down to the 50kg category since Antim Phangal has already secured a quota in the category.

Speaking to IANS, Ajit Singh said in the men's category, Aman Sehrawat (57kg) and Deepak Punia (86kg) are strong contenders. However, he has no hope from the Greco-Roman wrestlers at the tournament.

“I have no hope from Greco-Roman, to be honest. In the women's category, Anshu can make it to the podium. While in men’s, Aman and Deepak Punia, I feel, can get quotas for India. Vinesh Phogat, I don’t think so, she will struggle,” said Ajit.

There will be a total of 36 Paris 2024 quotas on offer in 18 weight divisions in Bishkek. India has fielded seventeen wrestlers.

This qualifier will be the penultimate opportunity for Indian grapplers to secure a quota for the Summer Games. The World Qualification Tournament in Turkey, scheduled in May, will be the final wrestling qualifiers.

Indian squad:

Men’s Greco-Roman: Sumit (60kg), Ashu (67kg), Vikas (77kg), Sunil (87kg), Nitesh (97kg), Naveen (130kg)

Women’s freestyle: Vinesh Phogat (50kg), Anshu Malik (57kg), Mansi (62kg), Nisha (68kg), Reetika Hooda (76kg)

Men’s freestyle: Aman Sehrawat (57kg), Sujeet (65kg), Jaideep (74kg), Deepak Punia (86kg), Deepak (97kg), Sumit (125kg)

Where to watch: Live streaming on the United World Wrestling’s (UWW) official website (10:00 AM onwards).

--IANS

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New Delhi, April 18 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) alleged in a Delhi court on Thursday that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is deliberately eating mangoes and other high-carb food in Tihar Jail to raise his blood sugar level to build a case for bail.

Arguing the matter before Special Judge Rakesh Syal of the Rouse Avenue Court, special counsel Zoheb Hossain appearing for the ED said on the one hand CM Kejriwal is claiming high sugar levels, and at the same time he is eating mangoes, sweets, etc. in jail.

The Delhi Chief Minister is in judicial custody till April 23 for his alleged involvement in the excise policy case.

The ED has alleged that CM Kejriwal is consciously consuming items like tea with sugar, banana, sweets (1/2 pieces), poori, aloo sabji, etc. on a regular basis, despite being a Type 2 diabetes patient, “knowing very well that consumption of such items results in an increase in sugar levels”.

The agency also said that this is being done to create a medical emergency “to obtain sympathetic treatment from the court on medical grounds".

“Further, the jail authorities on Wednesday asked AIIMS to prescribe a diet chart for the Chief Minister after considering his sugar records and the fact that he is a Type 2 diabetes patient with chronic constipation and cough (chronic bronchitis), who is under regular treatment,” the ED counsel said.

However, advocate Vivek Jain, appearing for CM Kejriwal, opposed the federal agency’s submission saying the ED counsel is playing by the gallery and making statements for the media.

After a brief hearing, the court sought a medical report from Tihar Jail authorities on the CM’s diet and listed the matter for hearing on Friday.

While the ED’s allegations were made in court on Thursday, the issue has been doing the rounds on social media since Wednesday.

According to a post on X, one of the netizen's sources in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) revealed that CM Kejriwal is taking high-sugar food deliberately to increase his sugar level so that he can use it as a reason to get bail.

“He is not only forcing the jail authorities to give him sugar-laden high glycemic index drinks and food early in the morning, but his family is also sending him sugar and carb-laden food so that his blood sugar rises,” the post read.

CM Kejriwal’s lawyers had gone at length detailing his health conditions earlier, saying he was diabetic when he was sent to judicial custody.

Kejriwal's counsel had informed the court that his blood sugar level dropped to 46 and argued that in such circumstances, he should be allowed to consult his doctor three times a week via video conferencing.

However, special public prosecutor (ED) Simon Benjamin had contended that jail facilities are equipped to conduct medical examinations, suggesting that CM Kejriwal could be examined there, expressing his intent to file a reply on the application.

Meanwhile, another user posted: “Every day Kejru asks for high sugar food like juice, banana etc. and he gets high carb food! The plan is to show high sugar and get out of jail. This has been told by your top sources. Whether this is true will be known in a few days!”

Last week, alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar claimed in a press statement that Kejriwal is fooling the people with news of losing weight and falling sick.

“Everyone should know that he is luxuriously enjoying his salads and palak paneer,” claimed Chandrashekhar, who is also behind bars in a money laundering case.

--IANS

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Thiruvananthapuram, April 18 (IANS) Top Congress leaders and star campaigners, now in Kerala, on Thursday, wanted to know why Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is being treated softly by the BJP government.

This was asked by Rahul Gandhi while speaking at an election rally in Kannur, as well as by Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar while campaigning in Wayanad.

“I am 24x7 attacking BJP and Vijayan is 24x7 attacking me and I don’t know why. Two Chief Ministers are now in jail and I know that if anyone attacks BJP, they attack back using ED, CBI and other agencies. But no one knows why BJP is not sending CBI and ED to question the Kerala CM,” said Gandhi.

At Wayanad, Shivakumar asked the same question: why the BJP government is not taking action against Kerala CM.

Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, campaigning in the state capital also had the same thing to ask when he told a rally that BJP and CPI-M are hand in glove and that’s why the Kerala CM is allowed a free run.

Kerala goes to the polls on April 26 to elect 20 new Lok Sabha members to the Parliament.

--IANS

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