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Archives for April 2018

Wrestler Vinesh wins CWG gold

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Gold Coast (Australia), April 14 (IANS) India’s Vinesh Phogat won gold in the women’s 50 kilogram wrestling competition at the 21st Commonwealth Games (CWG) here on Saturday.

She ended at the top of the standings at the end of the Nordic (round robin) format.

Vinesh defeated Miesinnei Genesis of Nigeria, Rupinder Kaur of Australia and Canada’s Jessica MacDonald.

Sakshi Malik took the bronze medal in the women’s 62kg category.

She defeated Cameroon’s Berthe Emillene in her first match before losing to Michelle Fazzari of Canada.

Another loss to Aminat Adeniyi of Nigeria ended her chances of winning the gold medal.

A hard earned 6-5 win over New Zealand’s Tayla Ford saw her finish with the bronze

Hindi Film Review : October

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October Is An Offbeat & A Sensitive Movie

Banner: Rising Sun Films

Producer: Ronnie Lahiri & Sheel Kumar

Director: Shoojit Sircar

Star Cast: Varun Dhawan, Banita Sandhu, Gitanjali Rao, Sahil Vedoliyaa, Prashant Singh, Prateek Kapur, Ashish Ghosh

Music: Shantanu Moitra

Almost every other film made in Bollywood is a love story or has some element of romance. Hence, it is a genre that has been extremely beaten to death. Making a film on love that is novel & unconventional can be quite a difficult task and even a calculated risk, since the audiences might not accept something that they are not habituated too. Yet, Shoojit Sircar has taken the risk with October, which promises to be a “Jara Hatke” love story. Moreover, Varun Dhawan, who has not had a flop film in his career and known for his massy films, features in this film in the lead role.

The scripted scenario of Shoojit Sircar directed movie October reveals that it is the story of an unconventional bond shared by 2 people in an extraordinary circumstance. Danish Walia aka Dan (Varun Dhawan) works in a 5 star hotel in Delhi. But he is arrogant to the core and often argues with his seniors. Shiuli (Banita Sandhu) also works there and both are friends but aren’t that close.

On the eve of New Year, the hotel staffers decide to have their own little party at the rooftop of the hotel, situated on the 3rd floor. Shiuli attempts to sit on the parapet and she slips & falls down on the ground. She is immediately hospitalized and slips into a coma. Shiuli’s colleagues including Dan, pays her a visit and in a few days, they move on.

But Dan is unable to do so and a few weeks later, he learns from his colleague that Shiuli’s last sentence before slipping was ‘Where is Dan?’. As soon as Dan comes to know about this information, he gets even more obsessed. He regularly starts paying Shiuli a visit at the hospital and even gets introduced to her mother, Professor Vidya Nair (Gitanjali Rao) and her siblings. Shiuli’s uncle meanwhile makes it clear to Vidya that there’s not much hope when it comes to improvement in Shiuli’s health and that she should pull the plug. But Dan motivates Vidya not to do so.

Shoojit Sircar’s direction too is a bit shaky. It’s surprising to see such a film made by a prolific director having abrupt cuts, sudden fade out etc. A few sequences might be difficult for viewers to comprehend. For instance, the scene where Dan informs Shiuli where he was on that fateful night. The slow pace moreover tests the viewer’s patience. Thankfully, in the 2nd half, when the film becomes a bit simple, the film has lovely scenes. But overall, a very miniscule section of audience is going to give the film thumbs up!

Juhi Chaturvedi’s story rests on a wafer thin plot and is too arthouse. Her screenplay is not quite engaging as well as it moves at a slow pace. The movie is devoid of love story & romance however there are moments which indicate that it is a love story.

One has certain expectations from her since she’s written some very interesting films like Vicky Donor (2012), Madras Café (2013) & Piku (2015), all also directed by Shoojit Sircar. But her work in October is a far cry from her previous films. Also one gets a déjà vu of the character of Anand bhai in Munnabhai MBBS (2003) and the recent much loved Hollywood film The Big Sick. But again, October is nowhere close to both these movies. Even with the screenplay, she struggles. Juhi Chaturvedi’s dialogues however are quite interesting.

The opening sequence of October is beautiful. The opening credits are surprising as Banita Sandhu is mentioned followed by Geetanjali Rao and only then Varun Dhawan’s name appears on the screen! The workings of a 5 star hotel are very nicely depicted and Dan’s entry is quite simple but gives an idea about his bizarre traits.

The sequence where Shiuli falls from the rooftop is presented in a very matter – of – fact way, sans any drama. In a way, it adds a lot to the impact. But sadly from here on, there’s hardly any movement in the story. Even in the 2nd half, not much happens but few moments are nice & touching. The climax is very emotional but these are too little and appear too late in the day.

Shoojit Sircar manages to extract some fine performances. Varun Dhawan is the soul of October and is the glue who keeps the film tied together. He gets to play a very different character that is positive but also has certain annoying habits. But Varun ensures that in the long run, Dan doesn’t turn out to be an irritating person. The audience hoots for him as he struggles to heal Shiuli and this aspect would surely be loved by the viewers. Debutante Banita Sandhu makes a very promising debut and gets to play a very difficult character. One might argue that she doesn’t have much to do. But even in the scenes where she’s merely lying on the bed, the expressions that she gives are praiseworthy. Gitanjali Rao gives a very nuanced & credible performance. She brings out the trauma faced by a mother and the only earning member of the family who’s suddenly faced with the biggest challenge of her life. Sahil Vedoliyaa (Manjeet) is decent while Prateek Kapur’s (Asthana) performance works big time due to his impeccable dialogue delivery. Ashish Ghosh (Dr. Ghosh) is endearing. The actors playing Manjeet’s girlfriend, Dan’s mother, Shiuli’s siblings, Shiuli’s uncle and the nurse also do a fine job.

October surprisingly is a songless film with only “Manwaa” played in the end credits. October Theme also is featured and has a nice, emotional feel to it. Same goes for Shantanu Moitra’s background score.

Avik Mukhopadhyay’s cinematography is excellent and captures the empty Delhi streets, the ICU, the cold Delhi weather, the flowers lying on the ground & the beauty of Manali perfectly. Mansi Dhruv Mehta’s production design is 1st rate. Veera Kapur’s costumes are real but at the same time appealing.
Chandrashekhar Prajapati’s editing is good but a bit rough at places.

Tail Piece: On the whole, October is an offbeat & a sensitive film which rests on a wafer thin plot and also suffers from a slow pace. The movie is sure to win critical acclaim for Varun Dhawan’s outstanding performance but has hardly anything for the masses.
At the Box – Office turnstiles, the movie will appeal to a niche section of the multiplex going audiences.

Why is Bashar al-Assad still in power?

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The Syrian leader has survived seven years of conflict that has devastated much of the country he presides over.

Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad has survived seven years of a devastating war and intense international pressure to step aside.

While Saturday’s US-led air strikes on Syrian government facilities will be a blow to his attempts to unify Syria under his rule, there’s been little suggestion that they are aimed at ending his presidency.

After rapid rebel gains in the early years of the uprising against his authoritarian rule, the possibility that he would join a growing list of deposed Arab rulers was real.
But today, it’s the rebels on the back foot, having lost key strongholds inside the Syrian capital, Damascus, and in the northern city of Aleppo.

Even senior diplomats from states opposed to his government, such as the British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson, have said Assad can continue running for Syria’s top office.

Here, Al Jazeera looks at some of the reasons why he has lasted so long:

1. Foreign backing
In the summer of 2012, it was the rebels who had the momentum. A bomb blast in central Damascus had killed senior Syrian officials including the country’s defence minister and Assad’s brother-in-law, Assef Shawkat.

The rebels thought victory was near.

“The Syrian army had all but collapsed,” the Free Syrian Army Commander, Bashar al-Zoubi, told Al Jazeera.

It was at around this time that Iran stepped up its intervention in the country, providing training, experienced commanders, and foot soldiers in the form of Shia militias.

Iranian media outlets put the number of fighters Tehran has provided to the Syrian government in the tens of thousands.

The Iranian-trained National Defence Forces militia had a peak strength of 90,000 fighters and is widely credited with turning the tide of the war.

For Iran, Assad is a crucial ally and pivotal to protecting its interests in the region.

But while Iran’s contribution has come largely in the form of boots on the ground, it is the Russians who have provided Assad with arguably his biggest boost.

Starting in September 2015, Moscow began air strikes against Syrian rebel targets.

Their aerial campaign helped force Syrian rebels to abandon their strongholds in Aleppo, as well as in Eastern Ghouta.

2. Rebel divisions
Assad has benefited from divisions within the rebel ranks, as the loosely aligned Free Syrian Army broke up into rival factions, and harder line groups took up the anti-government cause.

Opposition groups initially welcomed the support of the fledgling Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group (ISIL, also known as ISIS), but soon found themselves fighting it, drawing resources and fighters away from the campaign against Assad.

ISIL won out against the rebels in key cities, such as Raqqa, and forced the opposition from vast tracts of the country.

While rebel groups did regain some territory from ISIL, former rebel territory was recaptured from the group by Kurdish fighters and the government forces.

ISIL was not the only thorn in the rebels’ side, today there are dozens of rebel factions who are divided over regional affiliation, ethnic identity, political stance, and religious affiliation.

3. International stance
While Western countries and regional powers, such as Turkey and Saudi Arabia, have been vocal in their opposition to Assad, none have taken decisive action to remove the Syrian leader.

Despite rebel appeals, the US has avoided the kind of military intervention that it launched in Libya, which helped rebels there bring down long-time ruler Muammar Gaddafi.

While arms have come through to rebel groups, opposition leaders say they are insufficient to counter the threat of the Syrian government’s air power.

The US decision not to supply weapons capable of doing so is influenced by fears that they could fall into the hands of groups like ISIL and, then later, be used against Western interests.

As the war has dragged on, an increasing number of officials in the West have deprioritised the importance of removing Assad.

In March 2017, the US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley said that getting rid of Assad was no longer the main focus of US policy.

Two months earlier, the British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson said Assad could stay as part of a peace deal.

4. Internal support
Despite widespread opposition to his rule, Assad continues to maintain significant levels of support within Syria.

Such support extends beyond his own Alawite community, and also includes members of the Sunni community who have benefited financially during his rule and have little interest in changing the status quo.

ALjazeera

CSK look to continue winning run against Kings XI Punjab

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Chennai Super Kings will look to continue their winning streak when they lock horns with Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League (IPL) here tomorrow.

It will be the third game for both teams.

After opening their campaign with a stunning win over Mumbai Indians in the tournament opener, Chennai Super Kings pulled off yet another thrilling chase to beat Kolkata Knight Riders.

The likes of Dwayne Bravo and Sam Billings are in red-hot form for the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led team.

CSK have enough depth in their batting line-up with the likes of Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Faf du Plessis, Shane Watson, Kedar Jadhav, Ambati Rayudu, Billings and Bravo.

The spin trio of Harbhajan Singh, Jadeja and Imran Tahir can be a potent force as they are complemented by Deepak Chahar, Watson and Shardul Thakur.

On the other hand, Kings XI Punjab are coming into the match after yesterday’s loss against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

The KXIP started the season on a resounding note, beating Delhi Daredevils by six wickets.

Local player KL Rahul, who fashioned the victory with the fastest-ever fifty in IPL, justified why the franchise spent Rs 11 crore for him.

Rahul smashed a 30-ball 47 against RCB and had Punjab not lost wickets in quick succession, they could have notched up a bigger total than the 155 they managed while batting first.

A cause of concern for KXIP is the form of their top batsman Yuvraj Singh, who has made 12 and 4 in the two games while in the bowling department, Mohit Sharma looked off colour against RCB.

Ashwin has been in good form with his bowling and has contributed with the bat as well.

Playing his maiden innings as a captain, Ashwin has also been marshalling his men nicely.

In the batting department, there are high expectations from Aaron Finch, who was unavailable for the opening match, but failed with the bat against RCB.

Punjab’s bowlers are doing a fine job with 17-year-old spinner Mujeeb-ur-Rahman surprising the batsmen with his unconventional deliveries. He was even rewarded with the prize wicket of RCB skipper Virat Kohli.

Apart from Ashwin, Mohit Sharma, Mujeeb, Axar Patel and Andrew Tye add depth to Punjab’s bowling attack.

Teams (from):

Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni (capt), Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Faf du Plessis, Harbhajan Singh, Dwayne Bravo, Shane Watson, Kedar Jadhav, Ambati Rayudu, Deepak Chahar, KM Asif, Kanishk Seth, Lungi Ngidi, Dhruv Shorey, Murali Vijay, Sam Billings, Mark Wood, Kshitiz Sharma, Monu Kumar, Chaitanya Bishnoi, Imran Tahir, Karn Sharma, Shardul Thakur, N Jagadeesan

Kings XI Punjab: KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Aaron Finch, Yuvraj Singh, Karun Nair, David Miller, Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin (captain), AJ Tye, Mohit Sharma, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Chris Gayle.

People express anger differently, I do it with gaalis: Kapil Sharma

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Do yourself a favour. Don’t make the mistake of writing off Kapil Sharma, although the entertainer who brought so much cheer into our lives has nothing to smile about at this point of time.

But then tough times, as we all know, don’t last. Tough human beings — and good ones — do. Hang me for saying this, but I truly believe Kapil is a good human being. Simple, straightforward, he always tells it like it is. The deep connect with the masses is not a put-on. With him, what you see is what you get. You won’t find him mincing words.

No one cares to see the pain that Kapil is going through. They only see the rude, obnoxious and abusive tweets he had sent out to a journalist last week. If only they would see the provocation behind these unsavoury outbursts of truancy, they would understand him better. No, it is not arrogance. It’s just the opposite. Kapil is an extremely vulnerable man who was unequipped to handle the superstardom that hit him, and Indian television, like a meteor. We didn’t see it coming. Neither did he.

Now that he has achieved stupendous success, he doesn’t know how to handle it. I’ve known him before he became a big star and he has never been anything less than warm and affectionate and seemingly vulnerable — sharing with me his inner-most fears and insecurities.

When I spoke to him after the Friday fireworks that eroded his reputation even more, he was not the least apologetic. On the contrary, he told me things related to the incident that further exposed the hollowness of this whole sham and shindig that we call showbiz.

In a world of make-believe where there are no real friendships, Kapil looks for genuinely unaffected and caring people. When he doesn’t find them, he recoils and hits out at those who use his superstardom for gains.

While it would be unethical of me to reveal the shocking details that emerged from Kapil’s heartfelt outpouring on Friday night, I can say this much without breaching his trust: Kapil is very much hurt by the betrayals that he has gone through in the past few years.

“How would you respond if you went through the same things? Wouldn’t you be angry? We all have our way of expressing anger. I do it with gaalis,” Kapil told me.

Kapil’s is a sordid saga of backstabbing and treachery. But it’s not an unusual one in our entertainment industry where opportunists get a free run. But Kapil doesn’t know how to cope with it.

Let me not mention the names of his colleages on Comedy Nights who turned his life into a nightmare. They know very well the “naatak” that they are carrying on in the press to make themselves look like martyrs and paint Kapil as an arrogant, self-destructive entertainer who allowed his talent to be smothered by his insecurities.

This reputation is ill-earned. The tales of Kapil’s drinking and ill health — though not untrue — are highly exaggerated and planted in the media by some of his colleagues who wanted to become bigger than him.

A post-script: Kapil has promised to marry the very devoted, very intelligent and sorted Ginny — the mysterious girlfriend about whom no one knows, and to whom, Kapil says, he is “already married in his mind”. Making it official would be just the kind of formality that is abhorred by the informal, unassuming and unpretentious boy-man from Amritsar.

The man who brought abundant laughter into our lives, I am sure, would continue to do so.

See you, Kapil, after the break.

(IANS)

Kathua rape: One charged for offensive post against victim

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Kerala Police on Saturday said they have registered a case against a person for offensive social media posts against the eight-year-old Kathua rape and murder victim.

The former Kotak Mahindra Bank employee, Vishnu Nandakumar, was sacked on Wednesday for posting the comments, a Panangad police station officer.

In his post in Malayalam, Nandakumar had justified the killing of the young victim. He stated that it was good that she was killed otherwise she would have turned into a future human bomb and grown up to be a terrorist.

It caused a huge outcry with many writing to the bank against Nandakumar. The bank on Friday pointed out that his services were terminated on Wednesday due to poor performance. It also condemned its former employee’s social media post.

“Since he has been charged under a non-bailable offence, he will be arrested. The probe has begun probe and appropriate actions will follow,” said the officer on condition of anonymity.

The minor girl from the Bakerwal community was kidnapped on January 10; taken to a temple in Rasana village in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district.

Her attackers, which included temple official and policemen, drugged and gang raped her over days before finally killing her and dumping her body in forest nearby seven days later.

The girl was attacked to scare away the nomadic Muslim community out of the village.

(IANS)

Modi launches Ayushman Bharat Yojana

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday inaugurated the first Health and Wellness Centre to mark the launch of Ayushman Bharat Yojana here.

The insurance scheme was approved by the Union Cabinet on March 21 with budgetary support of Rs 10,500 crore.

Under Ayushman Bharat, the government aims to set up 1.5 lakh wellness centres by 2022 that will leverage on comprehensive primary health care for preventive, promotive and curative care.

Modi also inaugurated the Van Dhan Yojana, which aims at empowering tribal communities, besides dedicating the Bhanupratappur-Gudum railway line to the nation by flagging off a train between Dalli Rajhara and Bhanupratappur.

(IANS)

KJ George best minister, Haris best MLA according BPAC

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The Bangalore Political Action Committee (B Pac), a group of eminent citizens, on Friday released its ratings for 27 MLAs, including five ministers, with KJ George ranking as best minister, and N A Haris the best MLA.
B Pac vice-president T V Mohandas Pai said: “This is not a value-based judgment, but an academic study based on data available for the eight parameters we have chosen.”

The parameters B Pac had chosen for the ranking are attendance in assembly, starred questions, unstarred questions, percentage of MLALAD fund utilization, perception survey, educational qualification, criminal record and social media.

Of the 27 MLAs (Anekal has been excluded), nine scored more than 75%, 10 scored between 50% and 75% and eight scored less than 50%.
On the issue of Haris’ son being in jail for assaulting a man, Pai said: “People will remember the incident and take a call while voting.” B Pac CEO Revathi Ashok said this certainly is no certificate of integrity or quality of work undertaken.

Mary Kom, Gaurav Solanki claim gold : CWG

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The legend of M C Mary Kom (48kg) grew larger as she became the first Indian woman boxer to claim a Commonwealth Games gold, joined by Gaurav Solanki (52kg) in the top-finishers’ group after the first set of finals here today.

Settling for silver medals were Amit Panghal (49kg) and Manish Kaushik (60kg) after losing closely-contested bouts here.

The star of the day was without a shred of doubt Mary Kom — a 35-year-old five-time world champion and Olympic bronze-medallist.

She was competing in her debut Commonwealth Games, also perhaps her last, and made it a memorable one with yet another dominating performance to claim an unanimous verdict of 5-0 over Northern Ireland’s Kristina O’Hara in the final.

“I am so glad to have made history again, it is a special feeling to win something that is a milestone medal. I am just so glad,” a beaming Mary Kom said after the victory.

“This medal and each one of my medals is special to me because I have worked equally hard for them. And I will continue to do so till the time my body is fit,” she added.

The 22-year-old O’Hara, who works as a carer at a nursing home when she is not trading punches in the ring, lacked the finesse to counter the experienced Indian and failed to take advantage of her longer reach.

Mary Kom struck her at will, her right hooks being especially telling. By the second round, Mary Kom seemed to be thoroughly enjoying herself in the ring against her timid rival.

In the men’s competition, Solanki provided the golden touch, pulling it off 4-1 over Northern Ireland’s Brendan Irvine. The Indian lost the third round but did just enough in the first two to walk away with a gold medal on debut at the Games.

“Today I’m dedicating my medal to my mum, but I want to represent India at the (Tokyo) 2020 Olympics and to be there when they raise the Indian flag,” the 22-year-old said looking ahead.

However, luck was not on side of either Amit or Manish, both of whom went down in split verdicts.

Amit, who was chasing his third successive international gold, was beaten by England’s European silver-medallist Galal Yafai.

“I am disappointed with the result. I thought it was 50-50 bout,” Amit said after his loss.

Manish, on the other hand, lost 2-3 to local favourite Harry Garside, again on a split decision. Both the boxers gave their all in the bouts but could not get the judges’ nod

BJP is well placed in Krishnaraja urban constituency in Mysuru district

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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has not got much to worry about in Krishnaraja constituency in this district, which has large Dalit presence. The recent Supreme Court judgement on the Act, protecting them, has not turned many Dalit voters against the party.

The BJP had not done well in the previous polls. But a comparision should not be made because the political situation was completely different then.

Two major factions in the party including the one led by powerful Lingayat leader and former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa had said good bye to the BJP and put up their own candidates.

Yeddy had formed a new party after separation, Karnataka Janata Party (KJP), which had secured ten per cent of valid votes polled. Now this party has been merged with the BJP and he is fighting elections unitedly with it.

His party had polled 16,000 votes. Even if half of them go in favour of the BJP this time, which is highly likely, the party candidate can reach the new Assembly.

The Congress had won this seat had got only 5,600 votes more than his nearest rival. With support from Yeddyurappa and the other group, which had also separated before the previous polls and has now rejoined the BJP, the party is well placed.

Though the list is yet to be made public, none other than Ramadassa is likely to be fielded from this constituency which has nearly 2.5 lakh voters. Ramadassa is well known in the area as he was a minister in the BJP government in 2008.

“He remained a minister till 2013 and during that period he had launched a number of welfare schemes in the area. Many people have not forgotten them”, claimed Dilip, a close confidante.

The other favourable factor is that Brahmin voters constitute 60 per cent of the total and most of them may vote in support of the BJP. The second position is held by Dalits. Most of them, too, are unlikely to support the Congress.

Another factor which may go against the Congress is that Srinivas Prasad who belongs to the Dalit community and who was with the Congress has shifted to the BJP. Before switching over to the Congress he was with the JDS which has many pockets of influence.

The party, however, does not enjoy the same kind of support in other two urban constituencies in Mysuru district — Chamraja and Narsimharaja.

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