BJP Leader Wants Police Protection For Kangana Ranaut

Haryana Minister Anil Vij has come out in support of actress Kangana Ranaut and stated that she should be given police protection after the Bollywood diva accused Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut of allegedly threatening her to not come to Mumbai.

Speaking to ANI, the Minister said that the actress should be allowed to make revelations freely on whatever she wants to do.

“Kangana Ranaut should be given police protection. She should be allowed to make revelations freely,” the Minister said on Saturday when asked on Ranaut’s allegations that she was being stopped from making revelations on the use of drugs in Bollywood.

The Minister also slammed Raut for allegedly threatening Ranaut not to come to Mumbai after the latter slammed the city police.

“Mumbai is not anybody’s inheritance. Anybody can go there. Actions must be taken against people allegedly threatening her. You cannot stop anybody from speaking the truth. The candle brigades hit the road on every issue. Why are they quiet on this? Why aren’t they returning their medals in support of Ranaut, who is being stopped from telling truths?,” Vij asked.

Earlier on Thursday, the actress took to Twitter claiming, “Sanjay Raut, Shiv Sena leader has given me an open threat and asked me not to come back to Mumbai. After Aazadi graffitis in Mumbai streets and now open threats, why Mumbai is feeling like Pakistan occupied Kashmir?”

“After a major star has been killed I spoke about drug and movie mafia racket, I don’t trust Mumbai Police because they ignored SSR’s complaints. He told everyone they will kill him yet he was killed. If I feel unsafe, does that mean I hate the industry and Mumbai?” she said in another tweet.

Hitting back at Ranaut, Raut accused her of lying and said, “Mumbai gave a lot to Kangana and she is now working to discredit the name of Mumbai and Mumbai Police all over the world.”

Actor Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead at his Mumbai residence on June 14. (ANI)

Rhea Chakraborty Is Ready For Arrest, Says Her Lawyer

Amid the ongoing investigation into the Sushant Singh Rajput death case, actor Rhea Chakraborty’s lawyer Satish Maneshinde on Sunday said that she is ready for arrest as it is a witch-hunt.

“Rhea Chakraborty is ready for arrest as this is a witch-hunt. If loving someone is a crime she will face the consequences of her love. Being innocent, she has not approached any court for an anticipatory bail in all the cases foisted by Bihar Police with CBI, ED, and NCB,” Maneshinde said in a statement.

Chakraborty was summoned by Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Sunday morning to join the investigation of the Sushant Singh Rajput death case.

On August 19, the Supreme Court had asked the CBI to investigate the case related to the actor’s death, while holding that the FIR registered in Patna was legitimate. The agency has registered an FIR against Chakraborty and others in connection with the actor’s death after the Centre accepted the Bihar government’s recommendation to transfer the probe in the matter from Patna.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had on July 31 registered an Enforcement Case Information Report in the late actor’s death case after a First Information Report (FIR) was filed by Rajput’s father KK Singh against Rhea Chakraborty in Bihar on July 28.

Rajput was found dead at his Mumbai residence on June 14. (ANI)

Rajnath to Meet Siachen Troops

Rajnath To China: Work For Total Disengagement At LAC

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told his Chinese counterpart General Wei Fenghe that attempts by Chinese troops to unilaterally alter the status quo along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) were in violation of the bilateral agreements and Beijing should work with New Delhi for complete disengagement from all friction areas including Pangong Tso.

Rajnath made these remarks during their meeting in Moscow yesterday, which lasted for two hours and 20 minutes.

According to an official statement, the two ministers had frank and in-depth discussions about the developments in the India-China border areas as well as on India-China relations. During the meeting, the Defence Minister categorically conveyed India’s position on the developments along the LAC, including in the Galwan valley in the Western sector of the India-China Border Areas in the last few months.

“The Defence Minister emphasised that the actions of the Chinese troops, including amassing of large number of troops, their aggressive behaviour and attempts to unilaterally alter the status quo were in violation of the bilateral agreements,” the statement said.

He stated clearly that while the Indian troops had always taken a very responsible approach towards border management, but at the same time there should also be “no doubt about our determination to protect India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”.

“The Defence Minister advised that it was important therefore that Chinese side should work with the Indian side for complete disengagement at the earliest from all friction areas including Pangong Lake as well as de-escalation in border areas in accordance with the bilateral agreements and protocols,” the statement said.

Both sides, according to Rajnath, should take guidance from the consensus of the leaders that maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the India-China border areas was essential for the further development of bilateral relations, and the two countries should not allow differences to become disputes.

He conveyed that the two sides should continue their discussions, including through diplomatic and military channels, to ensure complete disengagement and de-escalation and full restoration of peace and tranquillity along the LAC at the earliest, the statement added.

India recently outflanked China by taking control of strategic height near Pangong lake’s southern bank. It thwarted an attempt by the Chinese army to transgress into Indian areas near the southern bank of Pangong Tso near Chushul in Ladakh.

India and China are engaged in a standoff since April-May over the transgressions by the Chinese Army in multiple areas including Finger area, Galwan valley, Hot springs and Kongrung Nala. The situation worsened after 20 Indian soldiers were killed in violent clashes with Chinese troops in Galwan valley in June.

The talks between the two sides have been going on for the last three months including five Lieutenant general-level talks but have failed to yield any results, so far. (ANI)

India Covid Count May Cross 65 Lakh In Sept: Chidambaram

Former union minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday predicted that the coronavirus cases in India may touch the 65-lakh mark by the end of September and hit out at the BJP-led central government alleging that the country has not been able to reap the benefit of the lockdown strategy.

“I had predicted that total number of infections will reach 55 lakh by September 30. I am wrong. India will reach that number by September 20 By end September, the number may touch 65 lakh,” Chidambaram tweeted.

“The only country that is not reaping the benefit of the lockdown strategy appears to be India. PM Modi who promised that we will defeat coronavirus in 21 days must explain why India failed when other countries seem to have succeeded,” he said in another tweet.

India registered the highest single-day jump of 86,432 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, taking the national caseload past the 40-lakh mark, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Saturday.

With 1,089 more deaths in the last 24 hours, the cumulative toll reached 69,561.

The total case tally stands at 40,23,179 including 8,46,395 active cases, 31,07,223 cured/discharged/migrated. (ANI)

PM Remembers Dr Radhakrishnan On Teacher’s Day

On the occasion of Teachers’ Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday paid tribute to former President Dr Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan on his birth anniversary and offered gratitude to the teachers across the country.

Hailing the teachers as “heroes”, the Prime Minister lauded them for their contributions towards shaping minds and building the nation.

“We remain grateful to the hardworking teachers for their contributions towards shaping minds and building our nation. On Teachers Day, we express gratitude to our teachers for their remarkable efforts. We pay tributes to Dr. S. Radhakrishnan on his Jayanti. #OurTeachersOurHeroes,” PM Modi tweeted.

He also tweeted a short clip from his last ‘Mann Ki Baat’ radio programme where he had introduced an idea of teachers teaching students about the lesser-known aspects of India’s freedom struggle.

“Who better than our knowledgeable teachers to deepen our connect with our nation’s glorious history. During the recent #MannKiBaat, I had shared an idea of teachers teaching students about lesser known aspects of our great freedom struggle. #OurTeachersOurHeroes,” the Prime Minister tweeted.

Teachers’ Day is celebrated across the country in the memory of former President Dr S Radhakrishnan, a philosopher-author and India’s second President who was born on September 5, 1888. His contributions to the field of education are exemplary.

In 1962, the tradition to celebrate Teachers’ Day began to honour Radhakrishnan and all teachers. (ANI)

Shilpa Shetty Remembers Her ‘Fav Physics Teacher’

On Teacher’s Day, actor Shilpa Shetty Kundra on Saturday extended gratitude to all her educators with a special mention for her “favourite Physics teacher.”

The ‘Dhadkan’ actor took to Instagram to share a picture with her school teacher “Radha Miss,” and penned down a note dedicated to all the teachers working hard for their students even during the coronavirus crisis.

“How does one thank a person who has helped shape their life? Words truly can never do justice to express gratitude for the role teachers play in our lives,” she wrote.

“But, I will still want to take this opportunity and thank all my gurus, luckily have a photo with her when I visited my school recently, and she was still there,” she added.

The 45-year-old actor then went on to heap praises on her former Physics teacher for her “positive energy.”

“My favourite Physics teacher (didn’t like the subject so much) Radha Miss, always had this joie de vivre, positive energy and a huge smile when she entered the class… Nothing has changed. Maybe, I learnt to smile like that from her. She never held back her happiness, ” she wrote.

Bollywood’s fitness queen also highlighted how teachers are not backing down even during the pandemic and are continuing with virtual lessons to help their students.

“In this lockdown especially seeing my son do virtual school and the patience we got to have with them, I’ve realised the value of teachers even more. They deserve all the appreciation and love we can possibly give them. Reach out to a teacher, wish them, and make them feel special today,” she wrote.

“Happy Teacher’s Day to every teacher out there, who is working on shaping minds for a better future every day. Thank you HappyTeachersDay #Teachers #guru #gratitude #happiness #love,” she added.

Teachers’ Day is celebrated across the country in the memory of former President Dr S Radhakrishnan, a philosopher-author and India’s second President who was born on September 5, 1888. His contributions to the field of education are exemplary.

In 1962, the tradition to celebrate Teachers’ Day began to honour Radhakrishnan and all teachers. (ANI)

Def Min Rajnath Meets Chinese Counterpart In Moscow

Amid the ongoing border tension between India and China, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh met his Chinese counterpart in Moscow, Russia on Friday.

“Raksha Mantri Shri @rajnathsingh meeting the Chinese Defence Minister, General Fenghe in Moscow,” Office of Defence Minister said in a tweet.

According to sources, China requested for the meet yesterday.

India has urged China to sincerely engage with it to restore peace and tranquillity in border areas through complete disengagement and de-escalation.

Speaking at the weekly briefing on Thursday, MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said that the way ahead is negotiations both through diplomatic and military channels.

The situation with China has been tense and India is continuously engaging with them at the military and diplomatic level, Army Chief General MM Naravane said earlier today, who visited Ladakh to review the situation.

“Situation has been little tensed for the last two to three months. We have been continuously engaging with China both at the military and diplomatic level. These engagements are ongoing and will continue in the future as well. We are very sure that through this medium of talks, whatever differences we have, will be resolved and we will ensure that status quo is not changed and we are able to safeguard our interests,” Naravane told ANI in an exclusive interview.

India recently outflanked China by taking control of strategic height near Pangong lake’s southern bank. It thwarted an attempt by the Chinese army to transgress into Indian areas near the southern bank of Pangong Tso near Chushul in Ladakh.

At least two rounds of Brigade-Commander level talks have taken place ever since China tried to unilaterally change the status quo. Singh is on a three-day visit to Russia to attend the combined meeting of Defence Ministers of SCO.

India and China are engaged in a standoff since April-May over the transgressions by the Chinese Army in multiple areas including Finger area, Galwan valley, Hot springs and Kongrung Nala.

The situation worsened after 20 Indian soldiers were killed in violent clashes with Chinese troops in Galwan valley in June.

The talks between the two sides have been going on for the last three months including five Lieutenant General-level talks but have failed to yield any results, so far. (ANI)

One Hundred Years Of Satyajit Ray

The quiet but deep observation, understanding and love of the human race, which are characteristic of all his films, have impressed me greatly. …I feel that he is a giant of the movie industry. Not to have seen the cinema of Ray means existing in the world without seeing the sun or the moon.… It is the kind of cinema which flows with the serenity and nobility of a big river. People are born, live out their lives, and then accept their deaths…
–Akira Kurosawa

The lockdown, the quarantine, the pandemic, or the disease, distress, deaths and dying might have pushed the celebration of Satyajit Ray and his work back of the stage, but this is exactly the time when the life and times, craft and cinema of this versatile genius should be remembered – with both, a tinge of spoofy, dark and subtle humour, as much as the brilliance and enlightenment of a chronicle foretold, celebrating the lucid excellence of a story-teller.

Indeed, Ray never really was too bothered with abstract art or symbolism or surrealism or Dadaism of art cinema as an allegedly higher echelon of cinema or film-making. He was too intelligent and too rooted a creative modernist, deeply trained in rural, folk and oral traditions, so as to get trapped in this ism or that. He was deeply committed to social and political realism, but he never professed himself to be a Marxist or belonging to the progressive school of thought, which gave so many greats to Indian cinema, literature, lyrics and music. Like the finest in his craft, such as Charlie Chaplin or Alfred Hitchcock, or the finest of European filmmakers, he was beyond any fixated and limited framework or ideology.

The cinematic language of his film, every moment and every slice of it, its sound, cinematography, lyrics, music, theatre, acting, story, screen-play and plot, revolved around the simplicity and lucidity of a story-teller, in visual and imagery, not as an experimental parallel cinema filmmaker pushing the viewer to the edge of difficult and dense intellectual challenges. His conversations and his writings, indeed, are reflective of this simplicity of the paradigm, where not a moment or a dialogue or image or sound or music is ever wasted.

Of course, his father Sukumar Ray, whose book of nonsense rhyme is legendary and still remains a bestseller at bookshops in Kolkata, was a great influence on Ray. However, his choice of writers, as much as stories and plots, and the manner they unfold in his cinema, seems so inevitable to the eye of his camera. Writers with epical fountain pens like Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay, or Munshi Premchand; the great creators of the Apu trilogy, Shatranj ke Khilari and Sadgati.

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Even death comes with great shock or deep heart-wrenching sorrow as a fleeting moment, a river in motion, it does not ever become melodramatic, or theatrical, forcing you to mourn or cry or die of angst. Witness the slow and quick movement of the arthi on the shoulders of four men of the old woman in the family in Pather Panchali, as if the camera is only too sad and affected by the tragedy, that the moment can just be held back for a fleeting passing movement. Or the heartbreaking death of the protagonist in Benaras, his wife stuck by lightening, holding her emotions like a straw in a turbulent ocean, even as the birds just scream and flutter their wings in this unadulterated moment of shocking tragedy and sorrow.

The finality of death is nothing but the intimacy of life and its celebrations, as Durga dances and enjoys and gets drenched in the rain in Pather Panchali, only to catch a cold and fever, and die thereby, surrounded by the green, the foliage and the abject poverty of the house. Or the young boy, discarded by the father who himself is grief-stricken after the death of his beautiful and young wife whom he loved with such intensity, hesitating, rethinking, drawn to his father but not so sure if he will find reciprocation or enduring love, even while the river flows quietly in the backdrop like the journey of life within two shores. He is not sure when the father, his introspection over, his eyes dark and full of sorrow at his own denial of his son, calls him: come, come.

So the child runs and the father picks him up on his shoulder, and a new journey begins, along with the river, a journey of love, hope and beauty. A new relationship between the child who is the father of man and the father, who has yet again become a child, as they walk along the river, to a new destination of bonding.

It is this deep celebration of life and its changing contours, the kaleidoscope of multiple moments, the unpredictability of the next corner, the total avoidance of inevitability and fixities, the open-ended, open-hearted, open-to-sky courtyards of open minds, which marks the non-dogmatic rainbows of his cinema.

Often straightforward like American movies some of which he liked a lot, or subtle and nuanced like the best of European cinema, his body of work is illustrative of the vast variety with which he experimented the truthful telling of the visual and audio medium. Be it serious cinema with highly talented actors, or actors moulded according to the script and the directorial mind, even big box office actors like Uttam Kumar, Saumitra Chatterjee, Madhabi Mukherji or Utpal Dutt in Bengali cinema, or Sharmila Tagore, as a mega star, or great and truly talented and seasoned actors like Shabana Azmi, Sanjeev Kumar and Saeed Jaffrey, became integral to the story that is the Ray trademark of natural brilliance.

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Even his films made for children, which are also adult films, or the detective fiction as much as detective cinema, as represented by tall Feluda, are full of classical meanings and learning lessons. Feluda smoking Charminar in his long red kurta, and his assistant Topse, the young boy, along with the pulp fiction writer Jatayu, became household characters in Bengal as they solved one mystery after another, with a lot of sprinkling of science, encyclopedic knowledge, current affairs, and lessons on geography and history, as in Shonar Kella, which also put into perspective the problems of para psychology, quite a fad during the 1980s.

Indeed, his Mahanagar with great actress Madhabi Mukherjee from a typically low middle class struggling Bengali family, is a celebration of early feminism, the woman becoming an icon of independence, autonomy and empowerment.

The greatness of Ray of course remains in his vast repertoire of artistic brilliance. He is an illustrator, writer, author of stories for children, science fiction specialist, painter, poster-maker, block printer, copy writer, screenplay and script writer, cinematographer and camera man, sound editor, lyricist, musician and editor, and of course, a director par excellence. His film posters are classics, like that of Devi with Sharmila Tagore as the lead actress. Indeed, he would draw every frame of his movies into sketches and art drawings and paintings, before shooting them, observing and documenting every little and tiny detail with meticulous insight. This was fun, but this was real hard work too.

For Ray, life was too short for his insatiable and infinite body of work. There was really too much to do, but so little time. The river too has to finally meet the sea and the ocean.

Rights Activist Urges OIC To Convene Session On Uyghurs

A political activist from Mirpur Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) has appealed to OIC to convene a special session to discuss human rights situation in Xinjiang.

“Appeal to OIC to convene a special session to discuss human rights situation in Chinese occupied East Turkistan also know as Xinjiang,” Amjad Ayub Mirza said in a tweet.

In a video which he attached with his tweet, citing a media report, he said that at the moment, the incarceration camps have doubled in China in last one year and more than one million people are incarcerated in these camps.

“It is like a prison camp. They are being subjugated to severe mental torture. They are forced to eat pork, forced to drink alcohol, they are told to renounce Islam and they are forced to communist songs for hours and hours each day and this is a stark violation of human rights,” he said.

“I think the time has come when the UN must pay attention to these issues. Several deaths have also been reported due to torture. I appeal to OIC to hold a special session and condemn the Chinese atrocities in Xinjiang,” he added.

China has been criticised for cracking down on Uyghurs by sending them to mass detention camps, interfering in their religious activities and sending members of the community to undergo some form of forceful re-education or indoctrination. (ANI)

UN Experts: Pakistan Must End Enforced Disappearances

UN human rights experts today called on the Pakistani authorities to end the secret detention of human rights defender Idris Khattak, who has not been heard from in more than nine months.

“We condemn in the strongest possible terms the enforced disappearance of Khattak by Pakistan,” the experts said. “The mere acknowledgement that he is in custody does not absolve Pakistan of its human rights obligations. Pakistani authorities must produce him and guarantee him a fair trial.”

The experts are seriously concerned for his life as he has not had contact with the outside world since he was taken into custody by Pakistani Military Intelligence on 13 November 2019.

“The concealment of Khattak’s fate and whereabouts to this day constitutes a continued offence of enforced disappearance,” the experts said.

Khattak is a former consultant for Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch and has worked on a number of reports on disappearances in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas. He was abducted and disappeared for seven months before the Government acknowledged custody of him. His case is emblematic of the many enforced disappearances occurring in the country.

“We are concerned that Khattak’s human rights are being violated,” the experts said. He has not been allowed to speak to his lawyer, family and he allegedly has not been given a medical examination by an external independent doctor.

He reportedly is facing charges under the Official Secrets Act and Army Act as a civilian. Use of the Official Secrets Act is yet another means of silencing dissent from human rights defenders including those working on minority issues in Pakistan, the experts said.

“The flagrant abuse of authority and lack of cooperation by the Military Intelligence to produce Khattak before the Peshawar High Court during the habeas corpus petition is a violation of their obligations under international human rights law,” said the experts.

The High Court dismissed his case, saying it did not have jurisdiction, and the Joint Investigations Tribunal constituted to probe into cases of enforced disappearances, closed the Khattak case reportedly because he was no longer considered a missing person.

The experts are concerned that the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances disposed of the case prematurely without an adequate investigation or recommendation to the respective authorities for criminal responsibility or ordering compensation.

“We urge authorities to conduct an independent and thorough investigation into the institutional and criminal responsibilities for Khattak’s disappearance and arbitrary detention with a view to end impunity,” they said. “The victim and the family also have a right to redress, rehabilitation and compensation.”

The experts will continue to engage with the authorities and closely monitor the situation. (ANI)