Month: February 2021

Actor Vaani Kapoor who has three releases lined up for this year, on Tuesday said that she wishes to work in more films that celebrate women, their lives and decisions.

“As a woman, I want to do more films that celebrate women, their lives, and decisions. I have been fortunate that in my short career span, I have got films like Shudh Desi Romance, Befikre, and WAR that have highlighted some brilliant aspects of being a woman,” she said.

“They showed how women are free-spirited, ambitious, resilient, and strong. I have always wanted to do films that celebrate women as a symbol of independence, do films that bridge the gender perception about what a woman can or can’t do,” she added.

She went on to state how she feels lucky to be a part of a generation that is forward-thinking and wants to see films on women.

“Luckily, today, we are part of a generation that’s extremely forward-thinking and they want to see films where a woman is not treated as a flower vase,” she said.

“I am thankful to be working in an era where people want to see more from a woman than just look stunningly gorgeous on screen,” she added.

Vaani Kapoor is set to have a super exciting year with three back to back releases ‘Shamshera,’ ‘Bell Bottom,’ and ‘Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui.’ (ANI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden during a phone conversation on Monday agreed to continue close cooperation to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific region, including support for freedom of navigation, and a stronger regional architecture through the Quad.

During the phone call, Biden underscored his desire to defend democratic institutions around the world and noted that a shared commitment to democratic values is key for the US-India ties.

“The leaders (PM Modi and President Biden) also agreed to continue close cooperation to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific, including support for freedom of navigation, territorial integrity and a stronger regional architecture through the Quad,” the White House said in a press statement.

“The President underscored his desire to defend democratic institutions and norms around the world and noted that a shared commitment to democratic values is the bedrock for the U.S.-India relationship,” the statement added.

This comes as members of the Quad framework- the US, India, Japan and Australia – are working to arrange the first meeting of their leaders amid China’s growing clout in the region, reported the Japan Times.

The move comes as the Biden administration appears eager to build on the renewed attention to the grouping of the four major Indo-Pacific democracies, with national security adviser Jake Sullivan calling it “a foundation upon which to build substantial American policy in the Indo-Pacific”, reported the daily quoting a source.

According to the source, the US has already proposed to other countries the idea of holding an online meeting of the Quad leaders.

During the envisioned meeting, the Quad members are expected to discuss cooperation for the realisation of a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” amid concerns over China’s maritime assertiveness in the region. It is speculated that China may react with displeasure to the meeting.

The Japan Times reported that for the first time under the Quad framework, the foreign ministers of the four countries met in New York in 2019. The four countries held another meeting last year in Tokyo during the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the October meeting, then-US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has reprimanded the dragon (China) for using its economic power to increase its hegemony over the neighbouring countries in South Asia.

Pompeo brought to the forum a denunciation of China’s “exploitation, corruption, and coercion” of neighbouring countries. He said, “This is for the soul of the world. This is about whether this will be a world that operates in this sense that we’re on a rules-based international order system or one that’s dominated by a coercive totalitarian regime like the one in China.”

The Quad initiative is expected to put an end to the economic coercion tactics of China and cooperation with Japan and other allies will checkmate Chinese development assistance and its hegemony in the region. (ANI)

Delhi Police has on Tuesday arrested actor-turned-activist Deep Sidhu for his alleged involvement in 26 January violence in the national capital.

“Deep Sidhu, an accused in 26th January violence case arrested,” Delhi Police Special Cell said on Tuesday.

The investigation into the Republic Day violence is being conducted at three levels – local police, Special Cell and Crime Branch.The names of Punjabi actor Deep Sidhu and gangster Lakka Sadana were included in the FIR registered in connection with the violence at Red Fort in Delhi on January 26, Delhi Police said earlier while adding that Sidhu was involved in the incident.”On January 26 some people hoisted the flag at Red Fort. Some of them have been identified out of which Deep Sidhu is the prime accused,” said Praveer Ranjan, Special Commissioner of Police (CP), Crime.

On Republic Day, protestors did not follow the prearranged route and broke barricades to enter Delhi, clashed with police and vandalised property in several parts of the national capital during the farmers’ tractor rally. They also entered the Red Fort and unfurled their flags from its ramparts.

Farmers have been protesting at the different borders of the national capital since November 26 against the three newly enacted farm laws: Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. (ANI)

American singer and songwriter Britney Spears received support from fellow musicians Miley Cyrus and Kacey Musgraves after the recently released FX documentary exposed the hardships, she’s faced from tabloids amid her conservatorship battle.

According to E! News, some of the biggest women in music are banding together to stand behind Britney after FX released the latest episode of its docuseries ‘The New York Times Presents’, with the new episode ‘Framing Britney Spears’, recounting the pop star’s life in the spotlight and her ongoing conservatorship battle with her father Jamie Spears.

Kacey Musgraves took to her Twitter handle and wrote it’s “plaguing” her that “nobody knows if @britneyspears is truly okay.”

The six-time Grammy winner continued, “Really hoping that if she isn’t, she can formally vocalize it in some way and that she knows all of us on the outside really give a s–t about her well-being.”

Miley Cyrus, during her Super Bowl performance, also gave Britney a shoutout when singing “Party in the U.S.A.” After singing the lyrics, “That’s when the DJ dropped my favourite tune/ And a Britney song was on,” she said at the end of the verse, “Hey, we love Britney.”

As per E! News, the eye-opening documentary has motivated many A-listers to voice their public support of the ‘Gimme More’ singer and throw their weight behind the global #FreeBritney movement to end her conservatorship of more than 10 years. (ANI)

India and Afghanistan on Tuesday signed an agreement to build the Shahtoot Dam in Kabul to provide drinking water facility in the Afghan capital.

In a virtual summit, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Afghan counterpart Mohammed Haneef Atmar signed the MoU in the presence of Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

While signing the agreement, President Ghani thanked India and PM Modi for the gift of water through the signing of an agreement on Shahtoot dam.

Speaking at the virtual summit, Ghani said, “With Shahtoot reservoir, we will be able to implement our vision of restoring natural beauty that captivated the imagination of Babur. I thank India and Prime Minister Modi for offering this gift of water, in addition to the gift of vaccines.”

“This is the moment for regional consensus and international consensus. For a guarantee of a stable and prosperous Afghanistan. We must ask the world and all stakeholders to respect the rules of sovereignty and international relations. Stop giving sanctuaries and stop interfering in the affairs of their neighbours,” he said.

The Afghan President lauded India for giving attention to Afghanistan and giving a “gift of life to Kabul and the people of Afghanistan symbolise the value of decency, democracy, humanity, mutual interest, mutual respect, mutual trust and our interdependent world”.

The Shahtoot dam is to be constructed on the Kabul river basin, one of the five river basins of Afghanistan. Along with the Shahtoot dam, India has pledged to rebuild Afghanistan committing to USD 80 million worth of projects. Around 150 projects have been announced by India in the conflict-ridden country.

Shahtoot dam will provide clean drinking water to two million citizens of Kabul and will also be used for irrigation.

During the summit, Ashraf Ghani also thanked Prime Minister Modi for the 5,00,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine given by India.

“Your decision to provide us with 5,00,000 doses of the vaccine at this critical time when Indians themselves are looking for every single vaccine could not be a greater gift… These will be administered to our frontline health workers and our heroic security forces and vulnerable people. We cherish this act of exceptional generosity,” he said.

Expressing concerns over the rising violence in Afghanistan, PM Modi termed targeting of the civilians, journalists and workers by the terrorists a “cowardice act” and asserted that both India and Afghanistan want to see the region free of terrorism.

“A sovereign and united Afghanistan is essential to South Asia’s prosperity, connectivity, and stability. Peace is the central desire of Afghan people,” said Ghani. (ANI)

China on Monday blamed India for creating “disputes and frictions” and alleged that this is the “root cause of the tensions at the China-India border”.

Responding to a query about Union Minister of State for State Transport and Highways VK Singh’s remarks that India has transgressed more times than China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said there is a need to follow agreements and uphold peace and stability in the border region.

“This is an unwitting confession by the Indian side. For a long time, the Indian side has conducted frequent acts of trespass in the border area in an attempt to encroach on China’s territory and constantly created disputes and frictions, which is the root cause of the tensions at the China-India border. We urge the Indian side to follow through on the consensus, agreements and treaties it reached with China, and uphold peace and stability in the border region with concrete actions,” he said.

Singh had told the media in Madurai that the border with China has never been demarcated.

He said China had transgressed many times over the years with its own perception of the LAC and has been attempting to expand its area by taking advantage of its perception.

“Let me assure you, if China has transgressed 10 times, we must have done it at least 50 times,” he had said.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava had said last week that India and China have had “candid and in-depth exchange of views” on the disengagement along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh and the next round of senior commander’s meeting will be held soon.

He had said India’s objective is to ensure complete disengagement from all friction areas along LAC.

“Both sides had a candid and in-depth exchange of views on disengagement along the LAC in the western sector of China-India border areas. We have agreed to hold next round of senior commander’s meeting at an early date,” Srivastava had said.

India and China are in a standoff in eastern Ladakh along the LAC, following aggressive actions by the Chinese army. The two sides have held nine rounds of commander-level talks. Twenty Indian soldiers had laid down their lives and an unspecified number of Chinese soldiers were killed during a clash in the Galwan Valley in June last year. (ANI)

By Sahil Pandey

India is the fastest country in the world to vaccinate 6 million people in 24 days, said Union Health Ministry on Monday while comparing its figures with that of the United States of America and the United Kingdom.

“In the last 24 days, India is the fastest country to reach 6 million vaccinations in the world. USA took 26 days to reach while the UK took 46 days to reach 6 million vaccinations,” Additional Secretary of Union Health Ministry Manohar Agnani said in the press conference.

Stating the latest numbers, he said, “As of February 8, 2021, at 6 pm, the total vaccination is 60,35,660, out of which healthcare workers who have been vaccinated are 54,12,270. So far, 6,23,390 frontline workers have been vaccinated since February 2. Today vaccination sessions were organised in 35 states and Union Territories and 2,23,298 people have been vaccinated till 6 pm.”

The vaccination drive was launched on January 16. Health Care Workers (HCW) coverage of more than 65 per cent in 11 States and Union Territories which is lead by Bihar. While Delhi leads states which has done less than 40 percent vaccination of HCW.

The Additional Secretary said no case of serious or severe AEFI (Adverse event following immunization) or death is attributable to vaccination till date.

“Total 29 persons have been hospitalised so far. This comprises 0.0005 per cent of the total vaccinations. Of the 29 cases of hospitalization, 19 were discharged after treatment, while nine persons died. In the last 24 hours, one person who is suffering from B/L Facial Palsy has been hospitalized at Kerala Institute of Medical Sciences, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, and is stable,” read the release by the Union Health Ministry.

“Total 23 deaths have been recorded till date. These comprise 0.0004% of the total vaccinations. Of the 23, nine persons died in the hospital while 14 deaths are recorded outside the hospital. In the last 24 hours, one death has been reported of a 29-year-old female, a resident of Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh. None of these deaths have been causally linked with COVID-19 vaccination. No case of serious/severe AEFI/Death is attributable to vaccination, till date,” it said.

As many as 11,831 new COVID-19 cases and 11,904 recoveries were reported in India in the last 24 hours, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed on Monday.

With this, the total number of cases now stands at 1,08,38,194, including 1,48,609 active cases and 1,05,34,505 recoveries.

So far, 1,55,080 lives have been claimed by the virus in the country including 84 in the last 24 hours. (ANI)

The Geological Survey of India (GSI) is planning to constitute a team of experts for the assessment of glacier burst in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli using physical mapping and satellite images.

Addressing a press conference, Ranjeet Rath, Director General (DG), GSI said that it is too early to predict the cause of the unfortunate incident as there are natural factors that trigger such a situation.

“One of our officers is already in Dehradun. We are also planning to constitute a team of experts who will visit the site and undertake a physical recce and use the data that is available through satellite images. We will do an assessment,” he said.

He also said that it is too early to predict the cause of the unfortunate incident as there are natural factors that could have triggered such a situation.

“Post this devastation, we will again constitute a committee as it is too early to predict regarding the cause of incident. Prima facie, it is glacial calving at the highest altitude in Rishiganga and Dhauliganga area and upper reaches of that,” Rath said.

“Since the outburst has happened in the upper Himalayan region which has a very fragile ecosystem and continuously rising terrain, which is also being affected by glacial ecology. Hence, we can only tell the definite reason once the report is made,” he added.

The GSI DG said more measures will be taken in the future for the construction of dams, roads, and other infrastructure in the area.

“We learn from such events and will take more measures for the construction of dams, roads, and other infrastructure. We will map such areas in terms of landslides and habitation,” Rath said.

A glacier burst in the Tapovan-Reni area of Chamoli District of Uttarakhand on Sunday led to massive flooding in Dhauliganga and Alaknanda rivers and damaged houses and the nearby Rishiganga power project.

Around 203 people are missing and 11 dead bodies have been recovered as of now, according to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat.

Indian Air Force (IAF) has sent a second wave of Mi-17 and Chinook helicopters from Dehradun for Joshimath with the rescue and relief teams on board.

Meanwhile, Tapovan Hydro-Electric Power Dam, also known as Rishi Ganga Project was completely washed off following a glacier burst in the Chamoli district, stated the IAF’s initial report as Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) deployed at Joshimath has undertaken recce of affected areas. (ANI)

The India-US joint training exercise ‘Yudh Abhyas’ commenced on Monday at Mahajan Field Firing Ranges in Rajasthan.

According to an official statement, the opening ceremony was held today at Mahajan Field Firing Range that saw the unfurling of the national flags of both countries amidst playing of the national anthems.

“The exercise will enrich both the contingents from each other’s rich experience in counter-insurgency operations. Besides counter-insurgency operations, exchange of experiences in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief will also be a part of the exercise,” said Lt Col Amitabh Sharma, PRO, Defence, Rajasthan.

Brigadier Mukesh Bhanwala, Commander 170 Infantry Brigade, welcomed the US contingent. He also stressed the importance of the free exchange of ideas, concepts, best practices between the troops and the necessity to learn from each other’s operational experiences as well to enhance situational awareness.

He also impressed upon both the contingents to achieve optimum cohesion and inter operability to achieve the military objectives of the exercise.

“A number of aerial platforms including newly inducted indigenous Advance Light Helicopter WSI ‘RUDRA’, MI – 17, Chinooks, Stryker Vehicles of US Army and BMP-II Mechanised Infantry Combat Vehicles of Indian Army, will be utilised in the exercise,” said PRO Defence, Rajasthan said.

According to the statement, the exercise will enrich both the contingents from each other’s rich experience in counter-insurgency operations.

“Besides counter-insurgency operations, exchange of experiences in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief will also be a part of the exercise,” it said.

On February 6, the US Army contingent comprising of a Brigade Headquarters and a Battalion group of 2nd Battalion the 3rd Infantry Regiment of 1-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team comprising of 270 persons landed at Suratgarh.

The 14 days schedule is focused upon joint training on Counter Insurgency environment under United Nations mandate, Defence PRO said. (ANI)