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Movie Review: ‘Masaan’ is a very disturbing fare

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Masaan

Producer: Anuraag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane etc
Director: Neeraj Ghaywan
Star Cast: Richa Chadda, Vicky Kaushal, Sanjay Mishra, Shweta Tripathi, Pankaj Tripathji, Nikhil Sahni, Satyakam Anand & Vineet Kumar
Genre: Drama
Verdict: Good

Debutante director Neeraj Ghaywan’s Masaan has earned rave reviews in the global festival circuit, but will it suit the palate of the Indian audience is a bit doubtful. Yet the movie in itself is laudable and a critics delight.

Plot: The plotted scenario of Masaan is set in present day Banaras it follows 2 separate story that eventually converge. In the 1st story Devi and (Richa Chadda) and her fellow student, Piyush, check into a hotel room. They are interrupted when the police bursts in, accusing them of indulging in indecent behaviour. In the 2nd story Deepak (Vicky Kaushal), a young boy (also from Banaras) works in a funeral pyre. Deepak meets & falls in love with Shaalu (Shweta Tripathi).

Aces: Neeraj Ghaywan’s apt directorial treatment coupled with stellar performances from Richa Chadda as well as debutante actors like Vicky Kaushal, Shweta & Pankaj Tripathi and a special mention must be made of child actor Nikhil Saini.
Minuses: The grimness of the film leaves you drained of all emotions.

Last Word: Strictly recommended for lovers of art house cinema.

US air strike kills top Al Qaeda commander in Afghanistan

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Al Qaeda commander in Afghanistan

Baghdad: A US air strike in Afghanistan killed a senior Al Qaeda commander in charge of suicide bombing and two other militants, the Pentagon said Friday.

The attack, which occurred in Paktika province on July 11, killed Abu Khalil al-Sudani, a “high-ranking Al-Qaeda operational commander”, the Pentagon said in a statement released to reporters in Iraq who were travelling with US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter.

“Al-Sudani was one of three known violent extremists killed in the strike. The death of al-Sudani will further degrade Al Qaeda operations across the globe,” the statement said.

The Pentagon described Sudani as a senior shura member and head of Al Qaeda’s suicide and explosive operations, and said he was directly linked to plotting attacks against the United States.

“He also directed operations against Coalition, Afghan and Pakistani forces, and maintained a close association with Aymar al-Zawahiri, Al Qaeda’s leader,” the statement said.

In the statement, Carter said the killing of Sudani underscored the work done by General John Campbell, the commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan, and his troops “to take the fight to Al Qaeda”.

“We will continue to counter violent extremism in the region and the world,” Carter said

(AFP)

Bombay HC Extends Teesta Setalvad’s Interim Bail for 2 Weeks

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Teesta Setalvad

Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Friday granted protection from arrest for two weeks to activist Teesta Setalvad and her husband, hours after a lower court denied them anticipatory bail amid accusations that their NGO received funds from the United States-based Ford Foundation without government authorisation.

Setalvad, a long-time critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said she was being persecuted by the government for her campaign against the Gujarat riots of 2002 when the BJP leader was chief minister.

“I am shocked and aggrieved by the verdict as this is a petty offence. My sympathisers feel that this is an attempt (by the government) to intimidate and possibly eliminate us by the powers (sic),” she said after the sessions court rejected her bail application.

The couple’s lawyers approached the high court anticipating arrest for custodial interrogation sought by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The agency registered a case against Setalvad and her husband, Javed Anand, on July 8 and raided their home and offices a week later.

A bank account of the NGO, Sabrang Communications and Publishing Pvt Ltd located in Mumbai, was frozen on the instructions of the home ministry. Sources said documents recovered by the agency appeared to support its allegations.

The activist recently said she was cooperating with the CBI and her organisation’s arrangement with the Ford Foundation was permitted under law, while she panned the investigating agency for calling her a “national threat”.

Setalvad has also been accused by Gujarat police of using funds meant for victims of the Gujarat riots on purchasing wine and expensive mobile phones, apart from tampering with evidence.

(Agencies)

Pro Kabaddi: Telugu Titans beat Bengal Warriors

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telugu-titans-kabaddi

Kolkata: Telugu Titans came out on top of Bengal Warriors in a Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) encounter that had forutnes swinging like a pendulum at the Netaji Indoor Stadium here on Thursday.

Last two raid points from Rahul Chaudhuri and a tackle made all the difference as the visitors edged past the Kolkata-based franchise 32-30.

With the win, Titans remain second on the leader board, collecting three wins from as many games whereas Warriors are still fourth, managing only one win from three outings.

The Titans were off to a steady start as they pocketed three consecutive points, but the Warriors roared back into the contest with successful raids from skipper Dinesh Kumar.

Kumar was well supported by South Korean recruit Jang Kun Lee who tried being cheeky and was smart with his little toe flicks.

The Titans too had their moments in the first half as their allrounder Deepak Nivas Hudda – adjudged best defender of the match – later collected eight points for his team.

But it was Lee – declared best raider – again who gave the home side the advantage in the last few seconds of the first half as he collected three touch points from a raid.

At the breather, Warriors led 16-10.

The Titans were quick off the blocks again amassing four consecutive points. Warriors responded with Lee pocketing two more but the rivals kept on coming at them.

With the home side ahead 19-18, Warriors star raider Sunil Jaipal accounted for three off the rival players in a “super raid” collecting four precious points.

However, the Titans with their never say die attitude, rallied back, courtesy some superb defending and dashy raids from Prashant Rai K. and Hudda.

With Titans leading by a point, Lee once again came to the forefront with a few good points including a “super raid”.

But Chaudhuri settled the issueby dragging two defenders to the middle line.

(IANS)

Noam Chomsky: ‘The Real Question is…What Exactly Is The Threat of Iran?’

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Scholar and activist questions the need for a nuclear agreement when Iran has not violated the nonproliferation treaty

Noam Chomsky tells Al Jazeera that Iran did not deserve to be sanctioned to begin with. (Photo: Andrew Rusk/flickr/cc)

Noam Chomsky tells Al Jazeera that Iran did not deserve to be sanctioned to begin with. (Photo: Andrew Rusk/flickr/cc)

by Nadia Prupis, Common Dreams

As U.S. Congress considers signing the unprecedented nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers announced earlier this month, renowned scholar and activist Noam Chomsky on Wednesday asked a less-considered question: “Why is the deal being pursued?”

The deal constrains what is referred to as “the Iranian threat,” Chomsky said, “but what exactly is the threat?”

In an interview with Al Jazeera reporter Antonio Mora, Chomsky stated that Iran—which is a party to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), an agreement that seeks to achieve global disarmament—has “lived up to” the mandates of that accord, despite allegations it has violated some of them by failing to declare its enriched uranium program.

“I don’t think anyone ought to have nuclear weapons, including the United States, but that’s not the issue,” Chomsky said. “If Iran’s alleged noncompliance with the NPT is an issue—and I add alleged—that certainly doesn’t require sanctions or a treaty or any other actions.”

Chomsky, who has previously described the U.S. treatment of Iran as “torture,” said on Wednesday that the U.S. and Israel “freely use force and violence” throughout the Middle East—unlike Iran, which would only use nuclear power as a deterrent.

“Furthermore, the U.S. is quite open about [their use of force],” Chomsky continued.

Asked what the U.S. should do if a terrorist plot was developing in a remote area of the region, Chomsky noted that the question illustrates the egregious double-standards of American foreign policy. “We feel free to attack people anywhere and kill them who we claim might be planning to harm us in the future. If anyone else did that, we’d nuke them,” he said.

Watch the interview below:

Amanath Bank Case: Every penny of the depositors should be returned, says judge

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Amanath-Bank

Bengaluru: A single bench by Justice Nazir adjourned the Ama­nath Co-operative Bank trial on Thursday after the strong argument on the recovery of the depositors’ fund.

Bench also asked for meeting all the depositors before confirming on the conversion of the deposits to the share capital and recover the loss.

Every penny of the depositors should be returned, said the judge.

Rahmatullah Kotwal, Amanath Bank’s defense counsel, told Nasheman.in that 32 crores of the depositors’ money will be converted to share capital. He also said that if former Union Minister C.K. Jaffer Sharief, as part of his attempt to revive the loss-making bank, deposit Rs. 75 crore as share capital, then he will have the liberty to choose his own set of directors.

Earth 2.0: NASA finds planet that matches our own

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Space agency’s Kepler mission finds planet outside solar system that may have volcanoes, oceans and sunshine like Earth.

Kepler 452b's star is 1.5 billion years older and 10 percent brighter than our sun [Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle]

Kepler 452b’s star is 1.5 billion years older and 10 percent brighter than our sun [Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle]

by Al Jazeera

Astronomers hunting for another Earth have found the closest match yet, a potentially rocky planet circling its star at the same distance as the Earth orbits the Sun, NASA has said.

Named Kepler 452b, the planet is about 60 percent larger than Earth. It could have active volcanoes, oceans and sunshine like ours, twice as much gravity and a year that lasts 385 days, scientists said on Thursday.

“Today we are announcing the discovery of an exoplanet that, as far we can tell, is a pretty good close cousin to the Earth and our Sun,” said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

“This is about the closest so far, and I really emphasize the ‘so-far,'” he added, describing Kepler 452b as “the closest twin,” or “Earth 2.0.”

The planet was detected by the US space agency’s Kepler Space Telescope, which has been hunting for other worlds like ours since 2009.

This planet sits squarely in the Goldilocks zone – where life could exist because it is neither too hot nor too cold to support liquid water, the US space agency said.

“Today the Earth is a little less lonely,” said Jon Jenkins, Kepler data analysis lead scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California.

Kepler 452b’s star is 1.5 billion years older, four percent more massive and 10 percent brighter than our sun.

But at a distance of 1,400 light-years away, humankind has little hope of reaching this Earth-twin any time soon.

“You and I probably won’t be travelling to any of these planets without some unexpected breakthrough, but you know, our children’s’ children’s children may,” said Jeff Coughlin, Kepler research scientist at the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute in Mountain View, California.

The Kepler mission launched in 2009 to search for exoplanets, which are planets outside our solar system, particularly those about the size of Earth or smaller.

On Thursday, NASA released the latest catalog of exoplanet candidates, adding more than 500 new possible planets to the 4,175 already found by the space-based telescope.

The new list includes 12 candidates that are less than twice the diameter of Earth and which are orbiting in the habitable zones of their stars.

Of those 12 new candidates, Kepler 452b “is the first to be confirmed as a planet”, NASA said.

The Kepler mission has cost NASA about $600m, and the US space agency said in 2013 that two of its orientation wheels had lost function, leaving the space telescope beyond repair.

(AFP)

RK Pachauri removed as TERI chief

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rkpachauri

Bengaluru: Controversial TERI chief R K Pachauri, who is facing sexual harrassment charges, was today removed as the Director General of the green body.

Ajay Mathur, currently Director General of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) has been appointed as the new DG in a decision taken at the governing Council (GC) meeting of TERI here.

“The Governing Council (GC) of TERI at its meeting held in Bangalore took a decision to appoint Ajay Mathur as the Director General of TERI.

“Mathur will take up his new responsibilities as soon as he is in a position to do so, subsequent to being relieved from his current responsibilities by the Government of India after a brief period of transition,” an official TERI release said.

On February 13 this year, an FIR was registered against 74-year old Pachauri faces charges of sexual harassment levelled by a senior TERI employee. A Delhi court had granted anticipatory bail to Pachauri.

Earlier, on February 26, the court had restrained Pachauri from entering TERI office premises and contacting its officials. It had asked him not to leave the country and also granted him interim protection from arrest till March 27.

Pachauri was on Friday allowed by a Delhi court to enter his office premises except the head office and a branch in Gurgaon.

The TERI statement said that the GC also considered the question of any action that could be taken on the report of TERI’s Internal Complaints Committee on the issue of alleged sexual harassment.

“Action on this report has been stayed by the Court, which ruled ‘the operation of the report of the Internal Complaints Committee shall remain stayed.’

“This judgment of May 29, 2015 also stated ‘the principles of natural justice have not been followed at all by the said committee, contrary to rules.’ The GC of TERI respects all court proceedings and abides by its direction” the statement said.

The GC observed that the issue of succession to the current leadership of TERI was first discussed in detail by the GC meeting held in Mumbai in September, 2014.

Subsequently, a well-known search firm was entrusted with the task of carrying out a search of candidates for the position, which they performed pro bono and provided the GC with a slate of candidates short listed by them.

A further search was carried out involving all the members of the GC, who interacted individually with several eligible candidates and evaluated senior staff currently working at TERI as well as those who had extensive experience of working in this organization.

“The decision to appoint Ajay Mathur is, therefore, the culmination of an extensive search process and an intensive evaluation of candidates from across the globe,” the statement said.

The statement said that Pachauri has led and built TERI over the last 34 years from a concept to a major, financially autonomous, professionally dynamic organization on the global stage.

“All efforts will be made to aid and assist Ajay Mathur in a smooth and expeditious transition as the latter assumes responsibility as TERI’s new chief executive.

“The GC is certain that the 1200 persons working for TERI in different parts of the world would welcome this development and extend all their support towards a smooth transition and ensuring that this unique Indian organization with a global presence and universal reach attains greater heights in the future,” it said.

Noting that the interests of TERI and its talented staff are paramount, the statement said that the GC members also expressed deep confidence in their dedication and the leadership of the institute.

Mathur has worked in leadership positions in the World Bank in Washington DC, as Director, interim Secretariat, Green Climate Fund in Bonn and in the private sector in India.

He took over as DG of BEE, where he has initiated and directed innovative programs, the statement said.

(Agencies)

Visually-impaired woman denied flat in Delhi for being Muslim

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Reem Shamsudeen

New Delhi: Yet another incidence of discrimination, a 30-year-old visually-impaired woman from Kerala has alleged that she was denied a rented house in Delhi for being a Muslim.

Reem Shamsudeen, who is an assistant professor in a college affiliated to Delhi University, claimed that the owner denied her the rented house just because she was a Muslim.

“I had paid the advance amount to the owner. I was refused to move in the apartment just a few hours before I was about to,” she said.

“It’s really a shame for such discrimination to occur in a city like Delhi where thousands of people come in search of education and jobs,” Reem told Madhyamam Daily.

“The incident was shocking considering the cosmopolitan and metropolitan nature of Delhi,” she said.

In a short video uploaded on the YouTube she urged Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to look into the matter.

(Madhyamam)

SC bars head scarf, full sleeve shirt from CBSE medical exam

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cbse-dress

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday declined to interfere with the dress code prescribed by the CBSE for candidates appearing for the AIPMT exam on Saturday, barring them from wearing either a head scarf, full sleeve shirt or burqa.

The apex court bench headed by Chief Justice H.L. Dattu while rejecting the plea by Students Islamic Organisation of India, said: “If you appear in an examination without a scarf, your faith will not disappear.”

Describing the plea as “nothing but an ego”, the court said that candidates can wear the head scarf after the exam is over.

The court also observed that faith is something different from wearing a particular type of cloth.

(IANS)

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