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Movie Review: Ricki And The Flash will emotionally enrich your weekend

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ricki and the flash

Producers: Mason Novick & Marc Platt
Director: Jonathan Demme
Star Cast: Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, Mamie Gummer, Audra McDonald, Sebastian Stan & Rick Springfield
Genre: Comedy Drama
Verdict: VERY GOOD

Robert Jonathan Demme is an American filmmaker, producer & screenwriter. Demme rose to prominence with his films like ‘Melvin’, ‘Howard’, ‘Swing Shift’, ‘Something Wild’, ‘Married To The Mob’, ‘The Silence Of The Lambs’, ‘Philadelphia’, ‘Rachel Getting Married’ et al.

Plot: Meryl Streep goes electric and takes on a whole new gig as a hard rocking singer / guitarist. She stars as Ricki, a guitar heroine who gave up everything for her dream of rock & roll stardom, but is now returning home to make things right with her family. She stars opposite her real life daughter Mamie Gummer, who plays her fictional daughter; Rick Springfield, takes on the role of a Flash member in love with Ricki & Kevin Kline, portrays Ricki’s long suffering ex – husband.

Aces: It’s a Meryl Streep film all the way. And it’s a delight to watch her magical performance even at this age & stage.

Minuses: The comic elements are seriously missing. The audiences may feel more of an emotional connect rather than being amused.

Last Word: An emotional trip down your nearest theatre will emotionally enrich your weekend.

Movie Review: The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is a refreshing entertainment that is worth watching

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man-from-uncle

Producer: John Davis, Steve Clark – Hall, Lionel Wigram & Guy Ritchie
Director: Guy Ritchie
Star Cast: Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer, Alicia Vikander, Elizabeth Debicki, Jarred Harris, Luca Calvani & Hugh Grant.
Genre: Mystery & Suspense
Verdict: Good

Guy Stuart Ritchie is a filmmaker known for his crime films like Lock Stock And Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, Swept Revolver, RocknRolla, Sherlock Holmes and its sequel Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows and now in his latest offering The Man From U.N.C.L.E. He seems to have traversed the same mysterious path.

Plot: Guy Ritchie’s The Man from U.N.C.L.E is a fresh take on the hugely popular 1960s television series. Set against the backdrop of the early 1960s, at the height of the Cold War, The Man from U.N.C.L.E centers on CIA agent Napolean Solo (Henry Cavill) & KGB agent Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer). Forced to put aside longstanding hostilities, the 2 team up on a joint mission to stop a mysterious international criminal organization, which is hell bent on destabilizing the fragile balance of power through the proliferation of nuclear weapons & technology.

Aces: Guy RItchie’s in your face directorial style, that apart the cool & funny chemistry exhibited by Henry Cavill as Napolean Solo & Armie Hammer as Illya Kuryakin.

Minuses: If only it could have been more stylish & more entertaining like its TV series of the same name from which it has been adapted.

Last Word: This refreshing fare is worth watching at least once.

Rushab Shah adjudged the ‘Best Athlete Jr. Men U-20’ at the Karnataka State Junior and Senior Championship 2015

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Rushab Shah

Rushab Shah

Bengaluru: In a recently concluded Karnataka State Junior and Senior Championship 2015 held at Sree Kanteerva Stadium, Bangalore from 20th to 22nd August 2015 which was organised by Karnataka Athletics Association, Rushab Shah, son of Sanjeev Shah was adjudged the “Best Athlete Jr. Men U-20”.

He was placed as below:

1st in 100m Boys U-20
2nd in 100m Boys U-20

The state of the right to life in India

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The right to life of at least 130,407 persons or 1,086 persons per month violated in India during 2004-2005 and 2013-2014

chittoor-killing

New Delhi: Releasing the report, The State of the Right to Life in India, the first ever study on the subject, Asian Centre for Human Rights today stated, “The right to life is perhaps the most violated right in India. In the last 10 years from 2004-2005 to 2013-2014, as per official records the right to life of at least 130,407 persons or 1,086 persons per month were violated either by the State agencies or caused by the failure of the State agencies to fulfill their responsibilities to prevent violations by the non-State actors. The majority of the victims are women (80,947) followed by victims of custodial deaths (16,465), encounter deaths (10,900), deaths in police firing (2,527), deaths of 10,219 civilians in militancy/Naxal related violence, deaths in caste related violence (8,138) and deaths in communal violence (1,211).

From 2004-2005 to 2013-2014, this report counts 16,465 cases of custodial death (with 1,389 deaths in police custody, 15,076 deaths in judicial custody and 23 cases of death in the custody of the army and the central paramilitary forces); 10,900 deaths in “encounters” (1,654 deaths involving police and 9,246 deaths involving the armed forces and para-military forces, of which 4,005 in Jammu and Kashmir, 3,650 in the North East and 1,591 in the Naxal affected areas); and 2,527 deaths in police firing.

The State’s failure to safeguard the right to life of individual citizens, particularly those belonging to vulnerable groups, during the same period also resulted in the death of 80,947 women (79,404 dowry killings and 1,543 killings of those suspected of witchcraft); 10,219 civilians in militancy/Naxal related violence; 8,138 (1,646 Scheduled Tribes and 6,492 Scheduled Castes) in identity-related violence; and 1,211 persons in communal violence.

The report states that though the Supreme Court of India has gradually expanded elements of the right to life, it has not been immune from its role to diminish the right to life. The report criticized the Supreme Court for arbitrary imposition of death penalty and stated that the Guidelines to deal with encounter killings which among others barred mandatory registration of FIRs in encounter deaths issued by the Supreme Court on 23 September 2014 in the case of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties & Anr v. State of Maharashtra & Ors are fallacious. The guidelines limited the powers of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) both on reporting of encounter killings by the police and in awarding compensation and has direct bearing on pending case of A.P. Police Officers Association v. A. P .Civil Liberties Committee & Ors [SLP(C) NO. 5933/2009].

The fallacious nature of the Supreme Court judgement in the PUCL case stands exposed from the direction of the Andhra Pradesh High Court on 16 April 2015 to register FIR against the members of the Special Task Force for murder of 20 labourers dubbed as smugglers in a forest in Chittoor district on 7 April 2015.

The report stated that impunity is the root cause for violations of the right to life. In the highly unusual situation that an independent and timely investigation is secured and a chargesheet filed against State security force personnel, prosecution is virtually impossible to pursue since Section 6 of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) stipulate that prior permission must be sought from the government. There are well-known cases in which prosecution has stopped for want of permission from the government to prosecute the accused.

“Unless impunity is addressed, the violations of the right to life cannot be effectively reduced” – stated Mr Suhas Chakma, Director of Asian Centre for Human Rights.

Usain Bolt wins fourth straight 200 metres title at World Championships

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Usain Bolt

Beijing: Jamaica’s Usain Bolt ran the fastest time of the year in 19.55 seconds to win a record fourth straight world 200 metres title and sweep the individual sprints at a major global championships for a fifth time on Thursday.

Five days after beating Justin Gatlin to win the 100 metres, the 29-year-old Olympic champion and world record holder again proved too strong for in-form American, who finished second in 19.74.

Anasco Jobodwana took bronze in 19.87 for South Africa ahead of Panama’s Alonso Edward, who was awarded the same time but lost out on a medal by two 1,000ths of a second. Jobodwana’s time was 19.861 and Edward 19.863.

The victory gave Bolt a record-extending 10th world championship gold medal and he could yet win an 11th as part of Jamaica’s 4×100 metre relay team on Saturday. Bolt, who had only run one race at the distance coming into the championships after an injury disrupted season, once again produced the goods when it really mattered.

The 29-year-old got out of the blocks quicker than Gatlin on his inside and was already in front at the bend, where the American picked up speed and looked like he might threaten the champion.

Puffing his cheeks out and swinging his arms high, though, Bolt pounded down the home straight to victory, thumping his chest with his fist as he crossed the line. Bolt and Gatlin had only faced each other once before in a 200 metres race, at the 2005 world championships in Helsinki where the American claimed his first world title in the event and teenager Bolt finished last.

That was the year before Gatlin, having just matched the world record, tested positive for a banned substance for a second time and was suspended for four years.

Gatlin, 33, had gone unbeaten since 2013 in both sprints coming to Beijing and his was the world leading time that Bolt bettered to take the title. “Usain Bolt’s a legend, man,” said Britain’s Zharnel Hughes, who finished fifth in a personal best time of 20.02 at his first major championships.

“Even myself, I even doubted him a bit. But Bolt is phenonmenal. He knows what to do when it comes to major championships. All credit to him.” Turkey’s Ramil Guliyevs (20.11) was sixth ahead of Femi Ogunode of Qatar (20.27) with Bolt’s compatriot Nickel Ashmeade bringing up the rear in 20.33.

(Reuters)

Wipro launches ‘Wipro earthian’: A one of its kind Sustainability Education Program

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wipro-earthian

Bengaluru: Wipro Limited, a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company, announced the launch of the fifth edition of ‘Wipro earthian’, a nationwide sustainability education program for schools and colleges.

This program provides an interconnected understanding of different disciplines in education related to ecological and social sustainability. It aims at long term education and learning that will help educators, students and educational institutions make more informed choices about their lives and society.

Over the last five years, Wipro reached out to more than 100,000 students from over 50,000 institutions across the country for this program. The program has consistently elicited encouraging responses from institutions and students as evidenced by the thousands of project submissions over the years. Each year, 10 schools and 10 colleges are shortlisted for the awards.

In the 2014 edition, Wipro reached out to around 10,000 students and received close to 600 submissions. The winning institutions were welcomed into the Wipro earthian community and awarded a trophy and cash prizes.

Wipro’s earthian provides a broad platform for interaction, followed by a more intense and continuing engagement program (CEP) for the winning teams. The program includes activities aimed at building skills, appreciating new attitudes and values to help shape a sustainable future. Wipro’s objective with CEP is to engage with these teams over a long period of time and help integrate sustainability education in a holistic way.

Some of the leading institutes in the country like Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IIT-D), National Institute of Technology, Trichy (NIT-Trichy), Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB), Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIMK), Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai (ICT Mumbai) have been regularly participating in this program. “The first part of solving a problem is to identify that there is a problem. What I really like about earthian is that it is trying to recognise that there is a problem,” said Sushant Bangru, student from IISc, Bangalore, one of the winning teams of Wipro earthian 2014.

Anurag Behar, Chief Sustainability Officer, Wipro Limited said, “This is a special year for Wipro earthian as we reflect on our five year journey. It has been an enriching experience where all of us, institutions, faculty and students have learnt together. Our vision and hope is to make Wipro earthian a unique platform that fosters understanding of how sustainability in education can be a powerful influence on our thoughts and actions.”

As an extension to the main Wipro earthian 2015 program, the company also introduced a new program, ‘Wipro earthian Foundations’ to introduce students in the age group of 9-13 years to the culture of sustainability. As part of this program, these students were invited to write and share stories about their experiences with nature. The two best stories in English and Hindi will be published with a foreword by noted author Ruskin Bond and actor Aamir Khan, respectively.

For more details on the program and for registration please visit: http://www.wipro.org/earthian/

NASA: World ‘locked into’ at least 3 feet of sea level rise

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Current satellite data reveals that glaciers ‘might not be as stable as we once thought’

Photo: NASA/Saskia Madlener

Photo: NASA/Saskia Madlener

by Andrea Germanos, Common Dreams

New research underway indicates that at least three feet of global sea level rise is near certain, NASA scientists warned Wednesday.

That’s the higher range of the 1 to 3 feet level of rise the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) gave in its 2013 assessment.

Sea levels have already risen 3 inches on average since 1992, with some areas experiencing as much as a 9-inch rise.

“Given what we know now about how the ocean expands as it warms and how ice sheets and glaciers are adding water to the seas, it’s pretty certain we are locked into at least 3 feet of sea level rise, and probably more,” said Steve Nerem of the University of Colorado, Boulder, and lead of NASA’s interdisciplinary Sea Level Change Team. “But we don’t know whether it will happen within a century or somewhat longer.”

The Greenland ice sheet has contributed more greatly to sea level rise, losing an average of 303 gigatons of ice a year over the past decade, while the Antarctic ice sheet has lost an average of 118 gigatons a year. But scientists at NASA and the University of California, Irvine warned last year that glaciers in the West Antarctic “have passed the point of no return.”

Glaciologist Eric Rignot of the UC-Irvine and NASA’s JPL, and lead author of the West Antarctic study, stated Wednesday that East Antarctica’s ice sheet remains a wildcard.

“The prevailing view among specialists has been that East Antarctica is stable, but we don’t really know,” Rignot stated. “Some of the signs we see in the satellite data right now are red flags that these glaciers might not be as stable as we once thought.”

Exactly how much rise will happen and when is uncertain, they say. “We’ve seen from the paleoclimate record that sea level rise of as much as 10 feet in a century or two is possible, if the ice sheets fall apart rapidly,” said Tom Wagner, the cryosphere program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “We’re seeing evidence that the ice sheets are waking up, but we need to understand them better before we can say we’re in a new era of rapid ice loss.”

Saudi troops enter northern Yemen after Houthi clashes

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Saudi commanders insist incursion into northern Yemen is temporary, as troops take up positions overlooking Jizan.

yemen-airstrike

by Al Jazeera

Saudi Arabian troops have crossed into northern Yemen for the first time since the conflict with Houthi rebels began in March.

Footage published on Wednesday showed soldiers taking positions in a mountainous area overlooking the southern Saudi province of Jizan.

Houthi shelling and rocket attacks on the border have killed dozens of Saudi soldiers, including a general on Sunday.

Saudi commanders insist the incursions are temporary.

A Saudi-led coalition has launched air strikes at rebel positions in Yemen but the the Houthis and their allies, soldiers loyal to the former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, insist they are still a capable fighting force.

The Houthis have posted video online of what they say are rebel commandos storming a Saudi border post.

The video shows the fighters capturing the building after heavy fighting and blowing up military vehicles, only to withdraw when Saudi fighter jets launched an air raid in the area.

In July, Popular Resistance fighters fighting on the side of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s forces expelled the Houthis and their allies from the southern port city of Aden, whose capture by the rebels sparked the aerial campaign by the Arab coalition.

More than 4,300 people have been killed in the conflict in Yemen, according to the UN, almost half of those civilians.

At least 50 people have died in Houthi attacks on positions inside Saudi Arabia.

Man kills self after deadly attack on US journalists

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President Obama mourns loss of Alison Parker and Adam Ward, who were shot dead by Vester Lee Flanagan while live on air.

Parker, left, was conducting an interview about tourism on Bridgewater Plaza in Franklin County before her and Ward were killed [WDBJ7]

Parker, left, was conducting an interview about tourism on Bridgewater Plaza in Franklin County before her and Ward were killed [WDBJ7]

by Al Jazeera

A man who shot dead a reporter and a cameraman for WDBJ7, a local CBS affiliate, live on air in the US state of Virginia has died of a self-inflicted wound in hospital.

Franklin County sheriff, Bill Overton, told a news conference on Wednesday that the suspect had died at Inova Fairfax hospital in northern Virginia.

Overton offered no motive for the shootings and said the investigation would be lengthy.

After leaving the scene, former WDBJ7 employee Vester Lee Flanagan, also known as Bryce Williams, crashed his car on the I-66 highway in Faquier County.

He was located by police and found to be suffering from a gunshot wound. Flanagan, 41, later died in hospital.

Earlier on Wednesday, live on air, shots could be heard in footage taken by WDBJ7 cameraman Adam Ward, 27, before he dropped to the ground.

Alison Parker, 24, who also died, was conducting an interview about tourism on Bridgewater Plaza in Franklin County before at least eight shots rang out. The woman being interviewed was also wounded in the attack.

‘I filmed the shooting’

US President Barack Obama told ABC 6 that it breaks his heart to hear “every time you read or hear about these kinds of incidents”.

“What we know is that the number of people who die from the gun related incidents around this country dwarfs any deaths that happen through terrorism,” Obama said.

Hours after the shooting, someone claiming to be Flanagan posted video online of the shooting that appeared to be from the shooter’s vantage point.

The videos were posted to a Twitter account and on Facebook by a man identifying himself as Bryce Williams, which was Flanagan’s on-air name.

The videos were removed shortly afterwards. One video clearly showed a handgun as the person filming approached Parker.

The person purporting to be Flanagan also posted “I filmed the shooting see Facebook,” as well as saying one of the victims had “made racist comments”.

Flanagan had sued another station where he worked in Florida, alleging he had been discriminated against because he was black.

ABC News reported on its website that it had received a 23-page fax from someone claiming to be Bryce Williams some time between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

The network turned the fax over to authorities, it said, without giving details on its contents.

Indrani Mukherjea’s son fears he is the ‘next target’

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mikhail-bora

Guwahati: The son of Indrani Mukherjea, main accused in the Sheena Bora murder case, today said he feared for his life and could be the “next target” even as investigators were working to unravel the complexities in the case.

“I fear I’ll be the next target and, if the police summon me to Mumbai, I want my friends to accompany me as the Mukherjeas are very high-profile and anything can happen to me,” Mikhail Bora told reporters outside his grandparents’ house here.

He said the police had not contacted him so far, but if they did, he would cooperate with them in every possible way.

“The police have not contacted me so far but if they come to our house here, I’ll cooperate with them in every possible way to bring out the truth about my sister’s murder,” Bora said even as he hinted that a property angle may also be there in the case.

“If the police come today, I will give evidence to them right away… because she was my elder sister and I want justice for her,” he further said.

As investigators dug deeper into the murder case, a complex web of lies and relationships unravelled and it emerged that the deceased was Indrani’s daughter and not sister, as maintained earlier by her.

Intriguing claims also came to light that Indrani, 43, had introduced her daughter and son — from an earlier marriage to one Siddharth Das — as her sister and brother. After a missing complaint was lodged, Indrani claimed that Sheena had gone to the US for higher studies.

Mikhail also maintained that his mother had wanted him to give her his PAN card and bank details the last time she had come to Guwahati, but he had flatly refused to do so.
He said that he had tried to contact Sheena through his Facebook account but there was no reply. He had also found her mobile phone switched off.

“I asked my mother (Indrani) again and again (about Sheena) every time she called me. She said she (Sheena) was fine and that she was in the US,” Mikhail said.

He, meanwhile, said it would be difficult for him to go to Mumbai to help with the probe into his sister’s murder.

“It will not be possible for me to go to Mumbai for the investigation as I have to take care of my maternal grandparents who are both in their eighties and suffering from dementia,” he said.

He, however, said he could make the journey only if the police or government assured that they would take care of his grandparents, who he said were yet to be told about Sheena’s murder.

Indrani had left Sheena and Mikhail with her parents UK Bora and Durga Rani at their residence here before leaving for Kolkata, where she married Sanjiv Khanna, who has also been arrested for his alleged involvement in the case.

Mikhail had yesterday alleged that he knew the exact reason behind the murder, but would wait till Indrani made a confession to the police before saying anything.

If his mother did not confess, then he would do whatever was necessary, he had said.

(Agencies)

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