Month: July 2021

Holding the newborn Jeh in her hands, Bollywood actor Sara Ali Khan, on Wednesday, extended Eid wishes to her fans and followers by sharing a priceless family picture on social media.

Taking to her Instagram handle, Sara shared a family picture that features her posing for the camera, with her father Saif Ali Khan, and brothers Ibrahim, Taimur, and Jeh.
In the picture, the ‘Simmba’ star can be seen clad in an exquisite pink patterned white suit as she holds Kareena Kapoor Khan and Saif’s newborn son Jeh in her lap. To conceal Jeh’s face in the picture, Sara edited the snap by putting a silent face emoticon on his face.

Along with the picture, she wrote, “Eid Mubarak. May Allah grant everyone peace, prosperity, and positivity. Inshallah hoping for better times for us all #staysafe #gratitude”.

The post on the photo-sharing platform garnered more than four lakh likes within a few minutes of being posted.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Sara will be seen sharing screen space with Akshay Kumar and Dhanush in Aanand L Rai’s ‘Atrangi Re’. (ANI)

Former Haryana Chief Minister and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) supremo OP Chautala on Tuesday said that “Central farm laws should be withdrawn”.

The comments of the former Haryana Cm came during his visit to Delhi’s Ghazipur border where farmers have been protesting against the Centre’s three farm laws.

Speaking to ANI, Chautala said, “These laws should be withdrawn. India is an agriculture-based country. Agriculture is the backbone of the Indian economy. This agitation is not only of farmers and labourers but for the entire nation.”

“We will fight for farmer’s rights,” he added.

Since November 26 last year, farmers have been protesting on the different borders of the national capital, 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.

Chautala was recently released from prison after serving a 10-year jail term in the teachers’ recruitment scam which took place in the state during his tenure as the state’s chief minister.

The jail term was awarded by a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in the national capital. (ANI)

By Ashoke Raj

Opposition parties have decided to raise the issue of Pegasus snooping in both the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, said an opposition MP on Tuesday after the issue came to light on Sunday, leaving behind issues of price hikes, farm laws, the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccination.

The opposition parties met on Tuesday before the commencement of the House. They had decided to take up price hikes of fuel, farms law, COVID-19 and vaccinations issues in both houses but focus has shifted to Pegasus snooping issues.
Congress and other opposition parties demanded an independent investigation into the Pegasus espionage issue and demanded a Joint Parliament Committee (JPC).

The Congress Parliamentary Party has also called a meeting with its MPs on the issues of their agenda of both the houses. Congress party agreed to discuss COVID in Rajya Sabha, but the party’s consensus is yet to decide whether to attend the briefing on COVID by the Prime Minister at 6 pm today.

The development comes after the names of over 40 Indian journalists appeared on the leaked list of potential targets for surveillance by an unidentified agency using Pegasus spyware, according to a report published in The Wire on Sunday.

According to the report, the journalists who were targeted work for some news organisations in the country including Hindustan Times, The Hindu, India Today, Indian Express and Network18. Many of them cover matters related to Defence, Home Ministry, Election Commission and Kashmir among others.

While addressing the press conference on Monday, Congress leader and LoP in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge alleged, “The Prime Minister and Home Minister are involved in snooping on Opposition leaders including Rahul Gandhi, journalists, and even Union ministers. Before a probe, Amit Shah Sahab should resign and an inquiry should be conducted against Modi Sahab. If you have faith in democracy and work according to the constitution, then you are fit to be on that post.”

Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Monday said there is ‘no substance’ in the media report regarding the use of Pegasus on WhatsApp, adding that the report was an attempt to malign Indian democracy and its well-established institutions. (ANI)

The Union Health Ministry of Tuesday informed that the fourth round of the National Sero Survey has been conducted and the overall seroprevalence in the country is at 67.6 per cent.

While addressing the press conference, ICMR Director-General Dr Balram Bhargava said, “The fourth round of national serosurvey was conducted in 70 districts in June-July and included children between 6-17 years of age.”
“Overall seroprevalence is 67.6 per cent in the entire population. In people of 6-9 years age group, it was 57.2 per cent; in 10-17 years, it was 61.6 per cent; in 18-44 years, it was 66.7 per cent; in 45-60 years, it was 77.6 per cent,” said Dr Balram Bhargava.

Asked whether there is any difference between seroprevalence between males and females or in rural and urban areas, Bhargava said, “There was no difference in seroprevalence in males and females and rural and urban areas. In unvaccinated, the seroprevalence was 62.3 per cent and with one dose of vaccine, it was 81 per cent. In those who received both doses, it was 89.8 per cent.”

Bhargava informed that the Health Ministry studied 7,252 healthcare workers and 10 per cent had not taken the vaccine, the overall seroprevalence in them was 85.2 per cent. “In conclusion, 2/3rd of general population, that is, above the age of 6 years had SARS-CoV-2 infection,” said Dr Bhargava.

Further speaking on Fourth National Serosurvey for COVID-19, Bhargava said, “More importantly, a third of the population did not have antibodies, that is, 40 crore of the population of the country is still vulnerable.”

Implications of the fourth serosurvey clearly show that there is a ray of hope but there is no room for complacency, said Bhargava and added that “We must maintain COVID appropriate behaviour and community engagement. National level serosurvey is not a substitute of state/district level serosurvey.”

On February 4, 2021, Dr Balram Bhargava had informed about the third national sero-survey that was conducted before vaccination started, in the period between December 17, 2020 to January 8, 2021. At that time, overall seroprevalence was 21.5 per cent of the population, which includes 31.7 per cent of urban slums, 26.2 per cent of urban non-slum and 19.1 per cent of rural areas.

Meanwhile, with 30,093 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, India reported the lowest daily positive cases in the last 125 days. With an increased recovery rate of 97.37 per cent, India witnessed 45,254 recoveries from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, taking the recovery tally to 3,03,53,710, Union Health Ministry informed on Tuesday. With the new cases reported in the last 24 hours, as many as 3,11,74,322 cases have been reported in the country so far. (ANI)

The firm of businessman and actor Shilpa Shetty’s husband Raj Kundra had a tie-up with a London-based company that was involved in streaming pornographic content through a mobile app, Mumbai police said on Tuesday.

Addressing a press conference today, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), Milind Bharambe said that the police has not yet been able to any find any active role of Shilpa Shetty.

“Crime Branch Mumbai this February registered a case related to pornographic films. New actors were promised roles in web series and short stories and they were asked to do bold and nude scenes in auditions. Female actors opposed this and approached the Crime Branch based on which a case was registered. During the investigation, nine accused were arrested. Some people forcefully get such films produced. A man named Umesh Kamat who was looking after the India operations for the company of business of Raj Kundra was arrested,” he said.

“We have not been able to any find any active role (of Shilpa Shetty) yet. We are investigating. We will appeal to the victims to come forward and contact the Crime Branch Mumbai and we’ll take appropriate action,” Bharambe added.

The Joint Commissioner of Police said that all the pornographic content was being uploaded on a mobile application named “Hotshots”, which was owned by the London-based company.

“During a detailed investigation, Raj Kundra’s company located in Viaan had a tie-up with a London-based company Kenrin that owns mobile application Hotshots. All nude content created in Mumbai was published on Hotshots, which was operated from Mumbai. After complaints, this app was takedown by Google Play Store and iPhone,” Bharambe said.

“After court permission, we searched the offices of Raj Kundra and found a few clips as well. That’s why Raj Kundra and his IT head were arrested,”

At least 11 people including Raj Kundra have been arrested in the case for alleged involvement in a case relating to the production of pornography. (ANI)

Lakshadweep administration on Tuesday informed the Kerala High Court that filmmaker Aisha Sultana had deleted her mobile chats after the registration of the sedition case and alleged that she is not cooperating with the probe.

The administration submitted this to the Court through the Senior Central Government Standing Counsel S Manu while hearing a plea of Aisha Sultana seeking to quash the FIR on the sedition case registered against her by the Kavaratti Police for her ‘bio-weapon’ remarks.

Lakshadweep Administration said, “She has not been properly cooperating with the investigation and refused to provide documents demanded by the police. On the other hand, she raised several baseless allegations against police after the filing of the case and indulged in a malicious campaign against the police through media.”

“Apparently, her aim is to dissuade the police from conducting a proper investigation by unleashing false propaganda. The investigation in the case is only a preliminary stage. Quashing of FIR in the exercise of the powers under Section 482 CrPC is justified only in exceptional circumstances and no such special circumstances exist in the case on hand,” it said.

She has alleged that the Central government used the COVID pandemic as a bio-weapon against the people of the Union Territory of Lakshadweep. She also compared it with the allegation that China has used the COVID virus as a bio-weapon against other countries which obviously suggests that the Government of India has acted similarly against the people of Lakshadweep.

It can be prima facie considered as an attempt to excite disaffection among the people towards the Government of India. The statement made by her has a tendency to create disorder or disturbance of public peace by resort to violence. It also prima facie amounts to an assertion prejudicial to national integration. Hence, the crime has been registered for the offences under Sections 124 A and 153B.

The accused has acted with deliberation to cause disaffection and disorder and has consciously intended to bring into contempt the government established by law. The conduct of the accused is outside Explanations 2 and 3 to Section 124A IPC. It is submitted that there is an intent to create alienation and bring about estrangement so as to fuel discontent and unrest which is an act squarely covered by Section 124A.

She later made some clarifications and justifications probably as an afterthought to get rid of the penal consequences. Such actions will not absolve the criminal liability for the offence already completed. There is also no requirement of any imminent violence to sustain a charge under section 124 A as canvassed by the petitioner.”

The administration also made remarks in its submission against Media One Channel, which is a Malayalam news channel where Aisha Sultana made this ‘bio-weapon’ remark.

It reads, “The Media One channel management is also not properly cooperating with the investigation and any information sought by the police through statutory notices have not been furnished by the channel.”

The case is likely to be considered by the Court again on July 22. (ANI)

Kriti Sanon, who is gearing up for the release of her next outing ‘Mimi’, for which she had to put on weight for her role of a surrogate mother, recently revealed how she could not shoot for any other project for some months due to this.

Talking about setting aside a chunk of some months for the shoot of ‘Mimi’, Kriti said, “I had to put on 15 kgs in 2 months for Mimi which I could start losing only once I had completed the film.”

She added, “It made more sense to not take up any other project during the shoot and even till a few months after since I needed to lose the weight before starting any other project. I did let go of a lot of award show performances too in that period because dancing makes me lose weight very fast.”

Kriti will be carrying this content-driven film on her own shoulders as she is all set to deliver probably one of her best performances so far playing a different, mature role of a mother for the first time.

The upcoming film also features Pankaj Tripathi, Manoj Pahwa, Sai Tamhankar and Supriya Pathak. ‘Mimi’ will narrate a quirky tale of a feisty and carefree girl (Kriti) who becomes a surrogate mom to make money.

Directed by Laxman Utekar, ‘Mimi’ is scheduled to release on July 30 on Jio Cinema and Netflix.

Laxman Utekar has also written the movie’s story and screenplay along with Rohan Shankar, who has penned the dialogues as well.

‘Mimi’ is a remake of Samroudhhi Porey’s National Award-winning Marathi film ‘Mala Aai Vhhaychy!’ (2011). It is produced by Jio Studios and Dinesh Vijan’s Maddock Films.

Apart from ‘Mimi’, the actor has an impressive lineup of films including ‘Adipurush’, ‘Bachchan Pandey’, ‘Bhediya’, ‘Ganapath’, ‘Hum Do Hamaare Do’ along with another unannounced project. (ANI)

After nine Chinese nationals were killed last week near Pakistan’s Das hydroelectric dam, the Pakistan government had initially said that the bus in which they were travelling had suffered a “mechanical failure” and it was a gas leak but officials eventually admitted that the incident was a terror attack after Beijing decided to send its own investigators.

Following this, China postponed the work on USD 65 billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor, a network of roads and infrastructure projects. This is said to be Beijing’s biggest ever investment project overseas and an important part of China’s Border Road Initiative, author Kunwar Khuldune Shahid reported in The Spectator.

While no terrorist group has taken the responsibility for this attack but the blast happened during the time when multiple terrorist groups are targeting Beijing’s presence in Pakistan,

The CPEC project, which was started in 2015, connects Balochistan with China’s Xinjiang but Baloch separatists have targeted Chinese projects in the province. The region was designated an independent state in the months before the partition but ended up being consumed by Pakistan.

Meanwhile, from the last few years, China’s dominance in Pakistan has been swiftly increasing with militias like the Balochistan Liberation Army launching multiple terror attacks aimed at Chinese industry.

But the majority of these high-profile attacks have come from the Pakistani Taliban. In April, the group launched a car bomb at the province’s most luxurious hotel where the Chinese ambassador was staying, Kunwar Khuldune Shahid reported.

Even the Uighur refugees living in Pakistan have reportedly been abducted and handed over to the Chinese authorities. This shows that Pakistan is now under the complete influence of Beijing.

But there’s one front where Pakistan is not falling in China’s line i.e; Pak’s failure to completely eradicating jihadist groups in the country.

The problem with Islamabad is that the country’s foreign policy is directed towards promoting the Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan. Pakistan is continuing a decades-old plan for South Asia, Kashmir and Kabul in particular, with the belief that an Islamised region would align with Pakistan’s interests, says Shahid.

But after these persistent attacks on Chinese nationals, now Pakistan has to convince Beijing that it can protect Chinese infrastructure and citizens from the terrorist groups when it has failed to protect its own. (ANI)

Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone, who has always been vocal about her struggle with mental health issues, is all set to launch ‘Care Package’, the world’s audio-first festival that ‘cares’, to talk about self-care and mental health.

This first-of-its-kind festival will take place today from 7 pm to 8:30 pm IST on the popular social networking app, Clubhouse.

Deepika took to her Instagram account to make the announcement about the initiative. She wrote, “I’m super excited to launch ‘Care Package’ – An Audio-First Festival that Cares.”

“This package, curated by me, is a box full of conversations and performances from thought leaders around the world that prioritise ‘Care’. Join me Today, 20th July, from 7PM-8.30PM IST on Clubhouse! Link in Bio,” she added.

The ‘Care Package’ will be a box full of conversations and performances curated by Deepika from leaders around the world that prioritise ‘Care’.

With meaningful conversations to look forward to, ‘Care Package’ boasts of a lineup that includes conversationalists like Jay Shetty, Radhi Devlukia, The Artidote, Head of International, Clubhouse – Aarthi Ramamurthy, Sriram Krishnan, Paul Davison, Raghava KK, along with a heartwarming performance by Prateek Kuhad to end with.

The festival will revolve around three themes that the speakers will be discussing with the audience.

The first one will be ‘My Relationship with Self-care,’ with speakers being Deepika Padukone herself along with Aarthi Ramamurthy, Raghava KK and Sriram Krishnan. The second will be ‘Breathe, By The Artidote,’ by Jovva Ferreyera, while the last one will be ‘Love and Care – How is it different’ by Deepika Padukone, Jay Shetty, Radhi Devlukia, Sriram Krishnan and Aarthi Ramamurthy.

Deepika has spearheaded discourse around mental health, self-care, overall wellbeing, and has successfully connected with the audience on the topics that are less spoken about, with her impactful campaigns and steps towards breaking the stigma around mental health.

The actor on July 14 had also launched a new initiative to provide assistance to frontline workers in overcoming mental health issues amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ‘Piku’ star had said that through the initiative — Frontline Assist — the sale proceeds from the Deepika Padukone Closet will go to NGO Sangath’s dedicated COVID-19 well-being centre.

“Frontline workers have been the backbone of our country as we weather this pandemic. Having had a lived experience with mental illness, I understand the importance of emotional wellbeing, and as a mental health foundation, we are grateful to be able to contribute to the mental health of our country’s frontline workers with ‘Frontline Assist’,” Deepika wrote in an earlier post on Instagram.

Meanwhile, on the film front, Deepika will be seen next in Shakun Batra’s yet-to-be-titled film.

The actor also has an impressive line-up of projects in the pipeline including ’83’, ‘Baiju Bawra’, ‘Fighter’, ‘Sanki’, ‘Pathan’, and the Indian adaptation of Nancy Meyers’s 2015 hit Hollywood film ‘The Intern’, which will feature megastar Amitabh Bachchan too. (ANI)

Opposition parties including Congress, Trinamool Congress (TMC), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) held a meeting at Parliament and decided to raise the issue of Pegasus in both the Houses.

Although, Opposition parties are likely to meet again at 2 pm to take a decision over attending the briefing of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on COVID today.
Reacting on the Pegasus issue, Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, “Have you ever heard of the usage of the intelligence system (Pegasus) by Congress and spying of this kind? This is a strategy of making new India.”

Congress party on Monday demanded an independent probe into the alleged illegal surveillance of journalists using Pegasus spyware and sought the resignation of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

While addressing the press conference on Monday, Congress leader and LoP in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge alleged, “The Prime Minister and Home Minister are involved in snooping on Opposition leaders including Rahul Gandhi, journalists, and even Union ministers. Before a probe, Amit Shah Sahab should resign and an inquiry should be conducted against Modi Sahab. If you have faith in democracy and work according to the constitution, then you are fit to be on that post.”

However, Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Monday said there is ‘no substance’ in the media report regarding the use of Pegasus on WhatsApp, adding that the report was an attempt to malign Indian democracy and its well-established institutions. (ANI)