Month: April 2022

Summers are here, and it’s the best time to experiment with hair looks. Well! Actor Kareena Kapoor Khan is all geared up to bring up some new trends in the town.

The 41-year-old actor never forgets to treat her fans with her engaging captions.

The ‘Jab We Met’ star in her latest picture can be seen “staring” while she wonders about changing her hair colour. She took to her Instagram page and questioned her fans for “Any suggestions?”

In the picture, Kareena is spotted donning a spring-pink dress with golden hoops while she was getting her hair done by her hairstylist. She captioned the post with a captivating question, “Staring at you but thinking about changing my hair colour Any suggestions? #TheDevotionOfSuspectX”

As soon as the post went live, it gathered a lot of responses from her fans and fellow celebrities.

In the comment section, actor Karishma Kapoor, sister of Kareena, wanted her to “Go for it”. A fan requested her to “Go blonde !!” while another one commented, “Try blue”.

The hashtag used in the social media post’s caption was a clear indication of Bebo’s upcoming project which will be based on the Japanese novel ‘The Devotion Of Suspect X’. This Sujoy Ghosh directorial project will mark Bebo’s OTT debut.

Apart from this, Kareena will also be next seen in ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’ alongside Aamir Khan. (ANI)

The regime change in Pakistan has brought the country into a collision course with the Afghan Taliban with Islamist terror groups using Afghanistan’s territory to launch attacks deep inside the country, a media report has said.

The Shahbaz Sharif administration in Pakistan, coming to power after voting out the Imran Khan government in the National Assembly, is in a mood to militarily retaliate against any terrorist group indulging in violent attacks on Pakistani territory using Afghan territory as a base, though it has not officially voiced such thoughts, Islam Khabar reported.

Kabul had received a strong message earlier in April in the form of a Pakistani military airstrike in the eastern Afghanistan provinces of Khost and Kunar which took close to 50 lives after Islamabad repeatedly urged Kabul to immediately act against militants launching attacks from Afghan soil, the report said.

“This is a cruelty and it is paving the way for enmity between Afghanistan and Pakistan,” Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid reportedly said, adding: “The Pakistani side should know that if a war starts it will not be in the interest of any side.”

Border tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan have been rising ever since the Taliban seized power last year, with Islamabad claiming militant groups are carrying out regular attacks from Afghan soil. The Taliban deny harbouring Pakistani militants but are also infuriated by a fence Islamabad is erecting along their 2,700-kilometre (1,600-mile) border.

The Pakistani military has not commented on the attacks, but the Foreign Ministry urged the Taliban in Kabul to take “stern actions” against armed fighters launching attacks against Pakistan from Afghan soil. “Terrorists are using Afghan soil with impunity to carry out activities inside Pakistan,” the statement, which was unusually harsh in its language, said. The reference is to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a terror group operating from inside Afghanistan.

The TTP wants its fighters to be allowed to return to Pakistan after the Afghan Taliban began pressurising them to leave their country. However, Pakistani security forces are now in no mood to allow them entry. That is why, tensions are rising between the two sides. So much so, the TTP announced in March that it will launch a fresh offensive against the Pakistani military from the first day of Ramadan, the report said.

Media reports in 2021 cited UN Security Council to say that more than 6,000 terrorists of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had joined their counterparts in Afghanistan. It was alleged that Pakistan has facilitated the travelling of Pakistani fighters into Afghanistan to assist the Taliban in their war against the Afghan national government as then Pakistan PM Imran Khan believed that the Afghan Taliban was fighting a holy war or “Jihad” against the enemies of Islam in Afghanistan, the report said.

After Khan’s exit, the real pushback against terrorists holed up in Afghanistan has begun. It is not clear how the new Prime Minister, Shahbaz Sharif, will react to the terror attacks, but the airstrike on Afghan territory sends a clear message. Till March this year, terrorists attacked targets in Pakistan 52 times with over 150 people killed. (ANI)

A 300-year-old Shiva temple was demolished using bulldozers in Sarai Mohalla, Alwar district.

A complaint has been registered at Rajgarh Police Station in connection with the matter.

I am sorry to say, it has become a fashion; issues are made in the name of temples now. We respect temples, we are more religious than people from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)… We don’t use religion for vote bank,” said Rajasthan Minister Mahesh Joshi.

“I have constituted a 5-member committee for the factual investigation of the Rajgarh (Alwar) temple case. This committee will go to the spot, prepare a factual report and submit the report to me,” said BJP Rajasthan president Dr Satish Poonia.

Sharing a video of the incident on Twitter, BJP leader Amit Malviya launched a blistering attack on Congress. He said, “Shedding tears on Karauli and Jahangirpuri and hurting the faith of Hindus — this is the secularism of Congress.”

In another tweet, Amit Malviya alleged, “On 18 April, without issuing any notice, the administration ran bulldozers over the pucca houses and shops of 85 Hindus in Rajgarh town of Rajasthan. (ANI)

Amid the visit of the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to India, the two countries signed a number of agreements including two government-to-government Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) on Nuclear Energy Partnership and Global Innovation Partnership.

The MoU on Cooperation on Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership was signed between India’s Department of Atomic Energy and the UK’s Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

“The two leaders (PM Modi and PM Johnson) reaffirmed their desire to strengthen India-UK civil nuclear cooperation and welcomed the UK’s renewed collaboration with Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership (GCNEP) for jointly promoting research and training on nuclear energy studies, radioactive applications, nuclear security, and safety,” a India-UK joint statement said.

Another MoU on Implementation of Global Innovation Partnership between India’s Ministry of External Affairs and UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office was also signed.

“Global innovation partnership is a novel development, cooperation initiative which India and the UK agreed to cofinance, up to USD 100 million to support the transfer and scale innovations to third countries that help deliver SDGs and climate-related goals and in the process make Indian innovations go global,” Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla informed in a press briefing.

“Other institutions to institution MoUs were also concluded in the margins of the visit, including the MoU on the establishment of a short term chair at Birmingham University, signed between the Indian Council of Cultural relations and Birmingham city university, and between the National Institute of Wind Energy and offshore renewable energy catapult,” Foreign Secretary added.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrived in India on Thursday on a two-day visit, which included a day of visits and engagements in Gujarat, followed by a ceremonial welcome in New Delhi earlier today, which was followed by bilateral talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (ANI)

With COVID cases rising in the national capital, the Delhi government on Friday issued new Standard Operating Procedure for schools.

According to the SoP issued by the Directorate of Education, the deployment of school staff, who would make sure no student or staff with COVID symptoms enter the school premises, has been made mandatory at the main gate. Thermal screening too has been made compulsory at the main gate.
Hand sanitization has also been made mandatory at school entrances, classrooms, labs and public places.

The SoP also suggests that parents should not send their children to school if any family member shows COVID symptoms, and the teachers should seek information about the family members of students and whether they have COVID symptoms while taking takes attendance.

The school administration has been asked to ensure the vaccination of the eligible students and staff members. The SoP also states that all school heads should ensure the facility of quarantine rooms in their institutions.

Notably, 965 new COVID cases were reported in Delhi yesterday and a day before that the number was 1,009. The active cases in the city have crossed the 3,000 mark.

Meanwhile, India’s COVID-19 cases continue to rise as the country reported 2,451 fresh COVID-19 cases (71 cases higher than yesterday) with 54 fatalities on Friday. (ANI)

Amid the surge in COVID-19 cases in the national capital, the Delhi government on Friday announced the re-imposition of a fine of Rs 500 on those found not wearing masks in public places with immediate effect.

However, the fine will not be applicable to persons travelling together in private four-wheeler vehicles.
The decision has been taken as the positivity rate of COVID-19 infection has been increasing in Delhi over the past fortnight.

The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) had in its meeting on Wednesday decided to make masks mandatory in public places.

“A fine of Rs 500 for not wearing of face mask/cover in all public places in Delhi will be imposed from immediate effect till further orders in compliance of Notification dated February 26, 2022. Further, the fine under this provision of the notification will not be applicable to persons travelling together in private four-wheeler vehicles,” the Health and Family Welfare Department’s order reads.

DDMA after examining all relevant facts related to the penal provisions for not adhering to COVID-19 protocols of wearing masks in public places decided to impose the fine with immediate effect.

This comes after the Delhi government on Friday released the Special Operating Procedure (SOPs) to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in schools.

According to the SoP issued by the Directorate of Education, the deployment of school staff, who would make sure no student or staff with COVID symptoms enter the school premises, has been made mandatory at the main gate. Thermal screening too has been made compulsory at the main gate.

Hand sanitization has also been made mandatory at school entrances, classrooms, labs and public places.

The SoP also suggests that parents should not send their children to school if any family member shows COVID symptoms, and the teachers should seek information about the family members of students and whether they have COVID symptoms while taking takes attendance.

Notably, 965 new COVID cases were reported in Delhi yesterday and a day before that the number was 1,009. The active cases in the city have crossed the 3,000 mark.

Nearly three weeks ago, when Delhi witnessed a dip in the daily infections, the DDMA had issued an order removing the fine for not wearing masks. However, it had advised people to continue using them in crowded places. (ANI)

Jharkhand High Court on Friday granted Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad bail in the Rs 139.35-crore illegal withdrawal from Doranda Treasury. The case is related to the fodder scam.

In February, a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Ranchi held RJD chief and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad guilty of fraudulent withdrawals from Doranda Treasury in connection with the fifth fodder scam.

“He has been granted bail on the uniform yardstick of half custody and health issues, he will be released soon. He will have to deposit Rs 1 lakh surety amount and Rs 10 lakh as fine,” said his lawyer Debarsi Mondal.

The Rs 950-crore fodder scam involved fraudulent withdrawals of public funds from government treasuries in various districts of undivided Bihar.

Lalu Prasad, who was sentenced to 14 years in prison and slapped with a total penalty of Rs 60 lakh, had already secured bail in four cases related to Dumka, Deoghar, and Chaibasa treasuries.

Now he also got bail in the fifth and final case. He will soon be released after furnishing some legal documentation. According to his lawyer, it may take one more week. (ANI)

Two pre-university college students from the Udupi area in the state, who had approached the Karnataka High Court challenging the ban on hijab, returned from the exam center as they were not allowed to write the exam wearing hijab.

The two girls, namely Alia and Resham, arrived in an auto-rickshaw at the exam centre wearing hijab. Visuals of the incident depicted that they insisted that they should be allowed to write the exam wearing hijab but the college authorities citing the High Court order denied them entry. Subsequently, the girls returned home.

Notably, this news comes in the backdrop of the hijab protests in Karnataka that took place in January-February this year when some students of Government Girls PU college in the Udupi district of the state alleged that they had been barred from attending classes. During the protests, some students claimed they were denied entry into the college for wearing hijab.

Stating that wearing the hijab is not an essential religious practice in Islam and freedom of religion under Article 25 of the Constitution is subject to reasonable restrictions, a full bench of the Karnataka High Court on March 16 dismissed a batch of petitions filed by Muslim girls studying in pre-university colleges in Udupi seeking the right to wear hijabs in classrooms.

The Court also upheld an order issued on February 5 by the state, which suggested that wearing hijabs can be restricted in government colleges where uniforms are prescribed — and ruled that “prescription of a school uniform” is a “reasonable restriction” that is “Constitutionally permissible”. (ANI)

With polling underway for the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) elections, 12 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 10.00 am in the morning, said the Assam Election Commission.

Voting for GMC began on Friday morning. It is being held for 57 out of 60 wards under GMC and a total of 197 candidates are in the fray.
In this election, a total of 757 polling stations have been set up out of which 80 polling stations will be conducted exclusively by women polling officials.

For the first time, EVMs will be used in GMC Election. In this election, a total of 7,97,807 voters will exercise their franchise out of which 3,97,128 numbers of voters are male, 4,00,658 numbers are female and 26 numbers voters belong to the third gender.

Voting started at 7.30 am and will conclude at 4.30 pm today.

The counting of votes will be held on April 24 at Maniram Dewan Trade Centre and the result will be declared the same day. (ANI)

Germany will allocate additional 37 million euros (over USD 40 million) for the reconstruction of Ukraine: to build housing and restore the power grid, German Economic Development Minister Svenja Schulze said.

“Ukraine urgently needs housing for internally displaced persons, it needs the undamaged power grid … My ministry has redistributed funds for these purposes as part of the emergency program,” Schulze told the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper.
Out of these funds, 22.5 million euros will be used to restore the power grid and 12.4 million euros to build housing. Two more million euros will be used to provide Ukraine with medical equipment.

The World Bank said that the Russian military operation resulted in infrastructure damage amounting to $60 billion. At the same time, Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the IMF that the Ukrainian economic losses had reached USD 550 billion. (ANI/Sputnik)