Bollywood actor Swara Bhasker is all set to move to her newly renovated house on Thursday.
The actor took to her Instagram handle and shared pictures from the “Griha Pravesh” ceremony. In the pictures, Swara can be seen sitting for the Hindu housewarming rituals, wearing a pink-and-blue saree with tikka smeared on her forehead.
“The Gods have approved,” and “Feeling pious,” she captioned the posts along with the hashtags — “grihapravesh”, “newoldhouse” and “NewBeginnings”.
On the work front, Swara was last seen in the short film ‘Sheer Qorma’ which also stars Shabana Azmi and Divya Dutta.
‘Sheer Qorma’ is based on an LGBTQ+ theme and it narrates the story of love and acceptance, revolving around its leads. The movie is a love story set at the epicentre of a judgmental society that forms preconceived notions about sexuality and relationships and goes to scrutinise love based on gender.
The short film recently won the Equality in Cinema award at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM).
Swara is currently shooting for the film ‘Jahaan Chaar Yaar’ along with ‘Veere Di Wedding’ co-star Shikha Talsania. Directed by Kamal Pandey, ‘Jahaan Chaar Yaar’ also features Meher Vij and Pooja Chopra. (ANI)
Dr Trinetra Haldar Gummaraju, Karnataka’s first transwoman doctor, rues lack of a trans-inclusive and gender affirmative healthcare in India, which reflects in vaccination drive too
When I was ten years old, my parents took me to a psychiatrist hoping for answers as why my behaviour was gender non-conforming. Instead of being accurately counselled, we were told that I lacked a masculine influence in my life, and that my mother was performing roles that were stereotypically masculine (such as going to work, living a financially independent life and not performing house chores). And that was confusing my sense of gender. The advice was outdated, misogynistic and queerphobic. I stepped out of the clinic thinking I was “crazy”.
In my MBBS years, I found little mention of the healthcare that trans-people require in either my syllabus or in training. The group did find mention in the context of sexual perversions, psychiatric disorders and high-risk groups for HIV/AIDS – all of which are misleading, inaccurate and obsolete perspectives. It is almost as if the medical fraternity doesn’t see trans-people as deserving of access to healthcare.
Transgender people are one of the most marginalised sections of society, an invisible minority. A recent study conducted for the NHRC (National Human Rights Commission) showed that only about 2 per cent of all trans-persons surveyed lived with their natal family; the majority faced social and familial rejection and; 23% were forced into sex work, a profession with exposure to HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.
Dr Haldar says Indian healthcare is queerphobic and outdated both in curriculum and training
Given the pandemic, the risk of exposure to SARS-CoV-2 for Trans sex workers has been enormous. The pandemic added to financial and health-related burdens. Yet, hospitals across the country remain trans-exclusionary, right from the lack of sensitisation and training of medical and para-medical staff, to the lack of infrastructure such as inclusive wards and restrooms. Vaccine outreach has been particularly difficult for this reason.
Any form of healthcare right from the most basic healthcare, such as a sore throat, to specialised healthcare like endocrinology or urology remain blatantly inaccessible and unaffordable. Indian healthcare has a long way to go in creating safe, accessible, affordable healthcare models across the country for queer and trans-persons.
I always found surgery a very noble and artistic pursuit, one that required finesse, dedication and compassion. Upon witnessing surgery in high school thanks to family friends who were doctors, I was drawn to medicine, and knew I had to pursue it as a career.
The change needs to occur at several levels. First, the medical councils at national and state level need to remove all pathological models of transgender identity from the syllabi. This means that transgender identity must not be seen as an abnormality, but as a variation, which needs support and not correction. This is the model adopted by the World Health Organisation and the American Psychiatric Association. This information and sensitivity thereof must be conveyed to medical and para medical students and staff at an early stage of their careers.
Next, hospitals and colleges must allot wards and washrooms to trans-persons, and train supportive staff in handling trans-patients with sensitivity. All forms of conversion therapy to “correct” LGBTQIA+ persons must be outlawed and made punishable as recently directed by the Madras High Court.
Research and training in gender-affirming healthcare must be encouraged at all levels. Hospitals across the world have created training programs that India may draw inspiration from, and recalibrate learning for its doctors and staff.
Most important, a cultural shift is necessary in making society in general safe for trans-people – starting from conversation at the dinner table, inclusive sex education at schools, representation in the media and all professions, especially in healthcare. “Nothing about us, without us” is a slogan often used in disability activism, and the very same applies to transgender persons in our fight for equality.
India is all set to participate in Naval Exercise Malabar 21 with Quad countries starting today.
Indian Navy (IN) is participating in the sea phase of Exercise Malabar 2021 from 26 – 29 August 2021 along with the US Navy (USN), Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF) and the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), read Ministry of Defence press release. Malabar series of maritime exercises commenced in 1992 as an IN-USN Exercise. In 2015, JMSDF joined Malabar as a permanent member. The 2020 edition witnessed the participation of the Royal Australian Navy. This year marks the 25th edition of Ex Malabar, being hosted by USN in the Western Pacific.
Malabar-21 would witness complex exercises including anti-surface, anti-air and anti-submarine warfare drills, and other manoeuvres and tactical exercises. The exercise will provide an opportunity for participating navies to derive benefit from each other’s expertise and experiences, the release added.
The Indian Navy’s participation includes INS Shivalik and INS Kadmatt and P8I patrol aircraft led by Rear Admiral Tarun Sobti, VSM, Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet.
The US Navy will be represented by USS Barry, USNS Rappahannock, USNS Big Horn and P8A patrol aircraft.
The Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force will be represented by JS Kaga, Murasame and Shiranui, in addition to a submarine and P1 patrol aircraft.
The Royal Australian Navy will be represented by HMAS Warramunga, added the release.
The IN ships sailed from Guam where they participated in Operational Turn Around from August 21-24, 2021. During this phase, the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command Vice Adm AB Singh, AVSM, VSM exchanged views with counterparts in the US Navy.
The conduct of the exercise while observing health protocols during the COVID-19 global pandemic is a testimony to the synergy between the participating navies and our shared vision for a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region, said the release. (ANI)
The all-party meeting, called by the Centre to discuss the current situation in Afghanistan, began on Thursday.
Leaders of several political parties are attending the meeting, which comes at a time when India is evacuating its citizens from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and LoP in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge are in attendance.
PM Narendra Modi had asked the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to brief floor leaders of all political parties on the recent developments in Afghanistan.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will brief the floor leaders of all the political parties.
Opposition parties had also asked the government to issue a statement on the Afghanistan crisis.
Afghanistan plunged into crisis after the Taliban entered the presidential palace in the Afghan capital on August 15 and declared its victory over the government after months of violence across the country
India, on August 17, had also announced that it would issue an emergency e-visa to Afghan nationals who want to come to the country in view of the prevailing situation in Afghanistan after the Taliban captured power there.
India has evacuated 626 people including 228 Indian citizens from Afghanistan till Tuesday.
On August 17, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) and instructed all concerned officials to undertake all necessary measures to ensure the safe evacuation of Indian nationals from Afghanistan in the coming days. (ANI)
Noting that the security situation in Afghanistan remains ‘volatile’, the United Kingdom has advised its citizens to not visit Kabul airport and move away to a “safe location and await further advice”.
In a statement on late Wednesday, the UK foreign office said travelling by road in Afghanistan is currently extremely dangerous, Sputnik reported. “The security situation in Afghanistan remains volatile. There is an ongoing and high threat of terrorist attacks. Do not travel to Kabul Hamid Karzai International Airport. If you are in the area of the airport, move away to a safe location and await further advice,” the Foreign Office said in a statement on late Wednesday.
“Commercial flights are not currently operating. If you can leave Afghanistan safely by other means, you should do so immediately,” the Foreign Office concluded.
The new advisory comes as the Taliban has said they have blocked the road to the Kabul airport and will not allow anyone except foreign citizens to pass.
This also comes as the foreign troops’ withdrawal deadline is approaching. US President Joe Biden recently made it clear that the US is sticking to the 31 August deadline for withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Earlier, several countries have urged the US to extend its deadline for troops drawdown as several foreign citizens and vulnerable Afghans are still stuck in the war-ravaged country.
The UK Ministry of Defence said that more than 11,000 people had been evacuated from Afghanistan by London.
“Latest numbers from Operation PITTING: – 11, 474 people have been evacuated by the UK since 13 August; – 6946 of those people are Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy claimants,” the ministry wrote on its Twitter page on late Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the US state department on Wednesday sent out an alert advising its citizens to avoid travelling to the Kabul airport.
“Because of security threats outside the gates of Kabul airport, we are advising U.S. citizens to avoid travelling to the airport and to avoid airport gates at this time unless you receive individual instructions from a U.S. government representative to do so,” a security alert from the US Embassy in Kabul said on Wednesday.
“U.S. citizens who are at the Abbey Gate, East Gate, or North Gate now should leave immediately.” (ANI)
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday targeted the opposition over its criticism of the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP), saying it should have done its homework before questioning the Centre.
Sitharaman accused the opposition of misleading people.
“Congress was the one to monetize Mumbai-Pune corridor and New Delhi railway station. We are not selling anything. The opposition is misleading people by spreading something which is not true. Opposition should have done their homework before questioning the Centre,” Sitharaman told reporters here.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had on Tuesday slammed the government over National Monetisation Pipeline, saying that “it is designed to create monopolies”. He had also alleged that the BJP was selling “the crown jewels of this country”. The CPI-M had also slammed the government over NMP, saying it “details the loot of national assets and infrastructure”.
The Finance Minister said she has requested the public sector banks to have interaction with export promotion agencies at various regional levels as well as with chambers of commerce and industry so that “requirements of exporters can be timely well-addressed.”
She said the nature of banking is also changing.
“We see even from industry inputs that people are able to raise finances even outside of the banking system,” she said, adding that industries have recognised that they have avenues outside of the banks.
The minister said banks have also raised revenues from the markets.
Nirmala Sitharaman said the Finance Ministry has asked banks to identify sunrise sectors and extend their services to understand them.” Banks should also look into the FinTech sector, as it requires assistance,” she stated.
The Minister also expressed concern over credit development in eastern states like Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal and said it can be made better.
“CASA (Current Account Saving Account) deposits are piling up in the eastern states. Banks should give facility of greater credit expansion in that region. So the credit flow for business development in that region can be better promoted,” Sitharaman said.
She said the government was paying interest for oil bonds issued during the UPA rule and its hands were tied.
“When the economy was doing well in the years 2006, 2007, and 2008 before the global crisis came, the government of that time was issuing oil bonds. We are paying back those bonds now and due to which our hands are tied,” she said.
Terming it “trickery” by the UPA government, Sitharaman said if the economy was doing good at the time as claimed by the then government, “why did they issue oil bonds which they didn’t even have to show in their budgets.”
“If that government had released a white paper before leaving, all trickery would have come to the fore,” she said. (ANI)
Anti-Taliban fighters from Afghanistan’s Panjshir province have vowed to fight the outfit, saying “We are going to rub their faces in the ground,” local media reported.
“We are going to rub their faces in the ground,” one fighter declared from a vantage point on the Panjshir heights, citing previous triumphs over the Taliban. To this other soldiers raised their hands and chanted, “Allah O Akbar”, Afghanistan’s Khaama Press said on Wednesday.
For a long time, fighters in Panjshir have prevented the capture of the region from foreign forces by firing a heavy machine gun into a deep valley from the top of the rocky mountain.
These fighters are from the National Resistance Front (NRF), the remaining strongest force after the siege of Kabul by the Taliban.
The valley lies in the Hindu Kush mountains, approximately 90 miles north of Kabul. The Taliban have been unable to take this major holdout of resistance after steamrolling across pro-government troops in a matter of months.
In an attempt to prevent a Taliban attack on their bastion, NRF has put up machine gun nests, mortars, and monitoring stations protected with sandbags, Afghanistan’s Khaama Press said.
NRF fighters patrol the region with US-made Humvees and pick up trucks with machine weapons mounted on the back – many of them are dressed in military fatigues.
The Taliban forces are reportedly facing a challenge from local resistance forces in the Panjshir valley led by Ahmad Massoud, son of renowned anti-Taliban figure Ahmad Shah Massoud.
Earlier, a former Russian emergency official told Sputnik in an interview that resistance fighters in the Panjshir Valley in northern Afghanistan stand a chance of defending this strategic location against the Taliban.
“It does provide a solid foothold. You can send humanitarian aid there and give (the resistance) some medical support. It can naturally serve as a strong point that ex-government forces could defend,” Yuri Brazhnikov, who led Russian humanitarian efforts in Afghanistan from 2001-2002, said. (ANI)
Union Minister Narayan Rane on Wednesday asserted that he is not afraid of anyone, and thanked BJP leaders for standing behind him after his arrest for alleged “derogatory remarks” against Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
Addressing media after getting bail from the local court in Mahad of Raigarh district, Rane said he will resume his Jan Ashirwad Yatra from Friday. “I am not afraid of you (Shiv Sena). My party leaders have stood behind me and I want to thank them all. The Jan Ashirwad Yatra will resume from the day after tomorrow,” said Rane.
The Union Minister added that he would not “allow” the West Bengal-like environment to be created in Maharashtra.
Attacking Shiv Sena for its complaint against him, Rane reminded the party to “not forget” that he had a “big role in spreading Shiv Sena and making it big”.
“The verdict in all cases (by Shiv Sena) filed against me in Bombay High Court has come in my favour. This is an indication that the country is run by laws,” said the Union Minister.
Speaking about his “slap” remark against Maharashtra Chief Minister, Rane further asserted that he has “not said anything wrong”. “But, if Devendra Fadvanis says it is wrong, then I will accept it, as he is our ‘margdarshak’ (guide),” Rane said.
Rane also slammed Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. “There were many incidents in the past where Maharashtra Chief Minister has given controversial statements against the BJP leaders like MLC Prasad Lad, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and even against Amit Shah. The language used by Chief Minister was not in right but nothing happens to him,” Rane said.
Rane, who was arrested on Tuesday evening was granted bail a few hours later by the local court in Mahad of Raigarh district earlier today.
The Union Minister was arrested in Ratnagiri district after several FIRs were registered against him at many places including Nashik and Pune, based on the complaints filed by Shiv Sena leaders for his remarks against Thackeray.
Rane on Monday accused Thackeray of ignorance about the year of India’s independence at an event and said “I would have given (him) a tight slap.” (ANI)
Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria on Wednesday termed India’s victory in the 1971 war with Pakistan as a “landmark event” in global history.
Speaking at a seminar at Centre for Airpower Studies titled ’50 years of Indo-Pak war: Victory in the air’, the IAF chief said, “The victory in 1971 war was a landmark event in global history. On the signing of the instrument of surrender on December 16, 1971, in Dhaka, East Pakistan ceased to exist and Bangladesh was born.” “The largest military surrender after the second World War shattered the prestige of Pakistan military and left 93,000 Pakistani prisoners in captivity,” he said.
Bhadauria further said that Pakistan lost a third of its Army, half its Navy and a quarter of its Air Force thereby bringing an end to atrocities the Pakistan Army had unleashed through its ‘Operation Searchlight’ on the predominantly Bengali population of East Pakistan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had lit the ‘Swarnim Vijay Mashaal’ at the National War Memorial on last year’s Vijay Diwas on December 16, 2020, to mark the year-long 50th-anniversary celebration of the 1971 India-Pakistan war. Vijay Diwas is celebrated every year on December 16 to mark India’s triumph in liberating Bangladesh from Pakistan in 1971.
In one of the fastest and shortest campaigns of military history, a new nation was born as a result of the swift campaign undertaken by the Indian Army. After facing defeat in the 1971 war, the then Army Chief of Pakistan General Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi, along with his 93,000 troops surrendered. (ANI)
India had anticipated the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, everything that’s happening now was anticipated only the timelines have changed, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat said on Wednesday.
Speaking at an Observer Research Foundation event on “The India-US Partnership: Securing the 21st Century” in New Delhi, the CDS said: “Everything that has happened was something that had been anticipated, only the timelines have changed. From the Indian perspective, we were anticipating the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.” “Timeline has surprised us because were anticipating this happening maybe a couple of months down the line. But it’s pretty much the same – same Taliban that was there 20 years ago,” he added.
Speaking further, General Rawat said: “News reports and news from ex-pats who have come from there are all telling us the kind of activities that Taliban is into. All that has happened is that the partners have now changed. It’s the same Taliban with different partners.”
Expressing New Delhi’s concern over Afghanistan, General Rawat said that India was concerned about how terrorist activity from Afghanistan could overflow to India and so to that extent New Delhi contingency planning had been ongoing and the country is prepared for that.
“As far as Afghanistan is concerned, we’ll make sure that any activity likely to flow out of Afghanistan & find its way into India will be dealt with in the manner in which we’re dealing with terrorism in our country,” he said.
“I think, if any kind of support can be forthcoming from the coordination, in at least identifying the terrorists & getting some intelligence input to fight this global war on terrorism, I think that would be welcome,” he added.
When asked about the Afghanistan situation, US Admiral John C Aquilino, who was also present at the event, said, “The US is committed to getting its citizens out and its partners from Afghanistan. There has been close coordination between India and the central command to ensure our citizens are safe and extracted. The US will continue to operate in the pacific to ensure that all nations continue to share prosperity and security.” (ANI)
We use cookies to give you the best online experience. By agreeing you accept the use of cookies in accordance with our cookie policy.
When you visit any web site, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. Control your personal Cookie Services here.
These cookies are essential in order to enable you to move around the website and use its features. Without these cookies basic services cannot be provided.
Cookie generated by applications based on the PHP language. This is a general purpose identifier used to maintain user session variables. It is normally a random generated number, how it is used can be specific to the site, but a good example is maintaining a logged-in status for a user between pages.
In order to use this website we use the following technically required cookies
wordpress_test_cookie
wordpress_logged_in_
wordpress_sec
These cookies allow the website to remember choices you make (such as your user name, language or the region you are in) and provide enhanced, more personal features. These cookies can also be used to remember changes you have made to text size, fonts and other parts of web pages that you can customize. They may also be used to provide services you have asked for such as watching a video or commenting on a blog. The information these cookies collect may be anonymized and they cannot track your browsing activity on other websites.
Cookie associated with sites using CloudFlare, used to speed up page load times. According to CloudFlare it is used to override any security restrictions based on the IP address the visitor is coming from. It does not contain any user identification information.
Cookie associated with sites using CloudFlare, used to identify trusted web traffic.
__cfruid
These cookies collect information about how visitors use a website, for instance which pages visitors go to most often, and if they get error messages from web pages. These cookies don’t collect information that identifies a visitor. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. It is only used to improve how a website works.
This cookie name is associated with Google Universal Analytics - which is a significant update to Google's more commonly used analytics service. This cookie is used to distinguish unique users by assigning a randomly generated number as a client identifier. It is included in each page request in a site and used to calculate visitor, session and campaign data for the sites analytics reports. By default it is set to expire after 2 years, although this is customisable by website owners.
This cookie name is associated with Google Universal Analytics, according to documentation it is used to throttle the request rate - limiting the collection of data on high traffic sites. It expires after 10 minutes.
This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to store information of how visitors use a website and helps in creating an analytics report of how the website is doing. The data collected including the number visitors, the source where they have come from, and the pages visited in an anonymous form.
These cookies are used by Youtube, Google, Twitter, and Facebook to deliver adverts that are relevant to you and your interests. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advertisement as well as help measure the effectiveness of the advertising campaign.
This cookie is usually associated with the ShareThis social sharing widget placed in a site to enable sharing of content across various social networks. It counts clicks and shares of a page.
