Month: July 2022

The new Maharashtra government, which came to power after Shiv Sena MLA Eknath Shinde’s 10-day rebellion brought the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, will face the floor test on Monday, the second day of the special session of the state Legislative Assembly.

Earlier on Sunday evening, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde along with his faction of Shiv Sena MLAs held a meeting with Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, BJP MLAs, and other party leaders at a hotel in Mumbai to chalk out a strategy for the floor test.

“The Shiv Sena-BJP alliance government is set to face a majority test on Monday, the second day of the special session of the legislature. What exactly will be the strategy of the government was discussed in the meeting held in the presence of all the MLAs today,” sources said.

Eknath Shinde, who has been claiming the support of 40 rebel Shiv Sena legislators said that he expects the government to be successful in the floor test to be held tomorrow like the Speaker’s election held today, sources added.

Fadnavis claimed that the Shinde government will prove its majority with 166 votes.

“The youngest speaker candidate won the speaker election with 164 votes today as 2 MLAs couldn’t come due to health issues. We would prove our majority with 166 votes in the vote of confidence,” he said.

At present, the BJP has 106 MLAs in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly and Shinde is leading 39 rebel Shiv Sena legislators and some Independents. After the death of a Shiv Sena MLA recently, the current strength of the Assembly is reduced to 287, thus the majority mark is 144.

Shinde-led camp and the BJP scored a big win on Sunday as BJP’s Rahul Narwekar was elected as the Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly defeating Shiv Sena candidate Rajan Salvi.

Interestingly, amid the ongoing battle between two Shiv Sena factions led by Eknath Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray, both sides issued separate whips to the party MLAs to vote in favour of their respective candidates during the speaker’s election on Sunday and later accused each other of violating them.

Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant, who is in the Uddhav Thackeray camp, said that 39 party MLAs did not obey their whip adding that they have sought their disqualification from the state Assembly.

“39 of our MLAs did not obey our whip, and didn’t follow party order, so we have sought their disqualification from new Assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar. Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has chosen Ajay Choudhari as the leader of the group,” Sawant said.

However, Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar has taken on record the letter sent by Bharat Gogawale, who is Chief Whip of the Eknath Shinde-led faction. Gogawale said that 16 MLAs Shiv Sena violated the whip.

Narwekar received a total of 164 votes in support and 107 went to the Shiv Sena candidate’s account. During the Speaker elections, 12 members were absent and 3 legislators abstained from the voting.

In the latest development, the Uddhav Thackeray faction of Sena has also started the legal process to disqualify 16 MLAs, including Shinde. Newly appointed Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar said in the House today that he has received a letter from Bharatshet Gogawale, a whip of the Shinde faction of Shiv Sena that “16 MLAs have violated their whip and he has sought action”. I have noted this, Narwekar said.

Shinde, in his first address on the floor of the Maharashtra Assembly as a Chief Minister on Sunday, said that the decision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to let him lead the government despite having more members than his side has “opened the eyes of many”.

He also said that after the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in the state, a “BJP-Shiv Sena government” has taken charge which is based on the beliefs of the party founder Balasaheb Thackeray.

Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray termed Monday’s floor test as a “morality test” for MLAs. (ANI)

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who made several moves to resolve the long-pending issues of the Northeastern states, on Sunday said that the BJP has found a “permanent address” in the region.

He also said that the region will have no more problems in the coming times and that all its issues will be solved by 2024.
The Home Minister made the remarks while speaking at the BJP national executive meeting during his address on the political resolution.

Notably, in a major step in March, the Centre had removed AFPSA from 15 police station areas in seven districts of Nagaland, 15 police station areas in six districts of Manipur and 23 districts entirely and one district partially in Assam.

Assam and Meghalaya governments, in March this year, signed a historic agreement here in the national capital to resolve their 50-year-old pending border dispute. The agreement was signed between Assam and Meghalaya two months after a draft resolution was submitted by the chief ministers of the two states to Amit Shah on January 31 for examination and consideration by the MHA.

Speaking on the speech of Shah, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma briefed the media and said, “It has been a journey for us in the north-east and the Home Minister told us that he was delighted that we now have a permanent address in the Northeast and that we are going nowhere.”

When asked what Amit Shah said about the reason that the Citizenship Amendment Act has not been implemented, the Assam CM said that the objection by the Opposition to the reforms brought in by the government has led to the delay, however, the government is committed to implementing the CAA.

“You know that the Opposition has been objecting to a number of things on a number of reforms by the Modi government including the CAA. There has been a delay but we are committed to implementing CAA and the rules will be formed,” Sarma said.

Detailing how the BJP plans to solve the problems of the Northeast region, Sarma said, “Amit Shah spoke about how the journey of the BJP has been in the north-east and development post-arrival of the Modi government in 2014… We also discussed how the AFSPA has been removed from the northeast region in about 60 per cent of the areas… He also said that by 2024, there will be no more fault lines in the north-east and all the issues will be solved.”

Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday moved the political resolution on behalf of the BJP during the party’s national executive meeting and slammed Opposition parties for targeting the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 riots case.

Shah threw light on the recent verdict of the Supreme Court giving a clean chit to then Gujarat Chief Minister in the 2002 Gujarat riots case where the petitioner was Zakia Jafri, widow of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, challenging the clean chit given by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to Narendra Modi.

The Supreme Court on June 24 dismissed the plea filed by Zakia Jafri, widow of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, challenging the clean chit given by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to then Chief Minister Narendra Modi and several others in the 2002 Gujarat riots.

A bench headed by Justices AM Khanwilkar said that it finds the appeal as “devoid of merit”. (ANI)

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said that the BJP and the CPI(M) are employing the tools of anger, violence, hatred, and distraction to divide society while emphasizing the need to stay united.

The Wayanad MP wrote a post on his social media account after his three-day visit to his Lok Sabha constituency Wayanad concluded today.
He said that Congress will fight governments of both parties tooth and nail to ensure their anti-people policies, like the buffer zone issue, do not succeed.

“The BJP at the Centre and the CPI(M) in Kerala are employing the tools of anger, violence, hatred, and distraction to divide our society in order to further their vested agendas. We have to stand united against these attacks,” he wrote on Facebook.

“We will fight these governments tooth and nail to ensure their anti-people policies, like the buffer zone issue, do not succeed,” he added.

The Congress leader also expressed gratitude to Wayanad for their support to Congress.

“Thank You, Wayanad for the immense love and support you have always showered upon me. I had wonderful interactions with the people of my constituency and was blessed to have received the love and adoration of the young and the elderly alike,” he said.

In the post, he also mentioned that the three-day visit had given him the opportunity to strengthen his connection with the people of Wayanad.

“This 3-day visit gave me another opportunity to strengthen the connection with my people, understand their needs, their dreams, and their aspirations. I shall continue to fight for the rights of the people of Wayanad. The Congress party will design approaches and policies to turn people’s dreams into reality,” he stated.

“The taste of the warm Pakkavada, Chammanthi and the refreshing Kutam Kulukki Sarbath I had at the SS Cool house in Koliyadi is still lingering in my mouth. Hope to return soon to savor these delicacies again,” he furth added.

Rahul Gandhi on Saturday took a jibe at Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and accused his party CPI-M to have “connections with the BJP” due to which the CM never comes under the BJP-led Central government’s line of attack.

Speaking about his interaction with the Enforcement Directorate, the Wayanad MP said that he views the ED interrogation as a medal.

“When I was interrogated for 5 days, I wondered why they interrogated for 5 days and not for 10 days…I view my 5 days of interrogation as a medal. I hope they’ll do it again,” he said while attacking the CPI-M government in Kerala on Saturday.

Rahul Gandhi arrived at his constituency Wayanad a week after activists of the Students Federation of India (SFI), the student wing of the ruling CPI(M), vandalized his office in Kalpetta on June 24. The Congress had alleged that the Wayanad MP’s office was vandalized with the knowledge of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. (ANI)

Swapna Suresh, the prime accused in the Kerala gold smuggling case on Sunday said that she has been receiving threat calls for taking the names of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his wife, and his daughter in the case pertaining to the seizure of 30 kilograms of 24-carat gold worth Rs 14.82 crores by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs at Thiruvananthapuram Airport on 5 July 2020.

“I don’t know how long will I live. Threatening calls are being received since yesterday (Saturday). The callers also revealed their names and address…Their demand is to stop mentioning the names of the Chief Minister, his wife, daughter, and former minister KT Jaleel,” Suresh said.
Stating the aftermath of not agreeing to the demand of the threateners, she said, “I have been receiving strong warnings since yesterday that I will be 100 per cent eliminated from this world.”

She alleged one Maradu Aneesh is threatening her and said that she has found many criminal cases in his name. “He is a dignified personality with a negative side. That is like a very strong warning to me. I don’t know if it’s killing me for the way I’m going now, or for tomorrow. I don’t know the way they are going to murder me,” she added.

She also accused the Crime Branch of charging a conspiracy to lodge case against her at the time of interrogation by the Enforcement Directorate.

“The agenda behind this is to avoid or prevent any further clarification of what the ED is questioning. A conspiracy case is being charged against me by the Crime Branch at the time of interrogation by a national agency (ED). I will co-operate with it…Interrogation is being continued. The crime branch is giving me a regular summons to disturb it,” she said.

“Neither Crime Branch nor others are allowed to cooperate with ED. I don’t know how far will this go. Me, my son, my mother, and my family can be killed at any time. I don’t know if I will be arrested and tortured by the crime branch or die in some other way because I am very sick, but as long as I am alive, I will cooperate with the ED, and confront it with maximum evidence and clarity,” she added.

“I sent a complaint to the Director-General of Police (DGP) yesterday along with the recordings and the screenshots, as it is clear in the conversation that ‘for whom’ were they calling and threatening me. I don’t want to blame the system though but it is headed by the Chief Minister. I don’t know how much help will I get. But people should know,” she added further.

She also alleged that the Police, special branch, and locals were scaring the owner of her house. “If you want to kill, kill at once. A person named Naufal called me. He said that he was calling as per the instructions of KT Jaleel,” she said.

Notably, the Crime Branch asked her to appear before the probe officials at the Kochi Police club on July 5.

Thiruvananthapuram cantonment police have registered a case against Swapna on Jaleel’s complaint on June 8 this year seeking a probe into the charges made by Swapna Suresh against him in the Gold Smuggling Case and alleged that she conspired and made defaming statements against him.

The police registered the case under Section 153 (wantonly giving provocation with an intent to cause riot) and Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) against her.

She skipped the interrogation earlier this week when the Crime Branch issued a notice by citing the reason for ED questioning in the gold smuggling case.

The prime accused in the gold smuggling case Swapna Suresh on Wednesday said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had told lies in the Assembly on Tuesday and urged him to release CCTV visuals of Cliff House and Secretariat in view of the probe in the case. (ANI)

‘Dum Laga Ke Haisha’ actor Bhumi Pednekar set the temperatures soaring with her latest pictures she shared on social media, looking like a diva.

“Birthday Month,” captioned Bhumi on Instagram, adding a crab emoji indicating that July marks her birthday and she belongs to the Cancer zodiac sign.
In the first picture, the actor looked quite dreamy, donning an orange-textured bikini top, knotted down the waist, as Bhumi struck an appealing pose with eyes closed and hands behind her head. She had worn a multi-coloured satin shrug on top of her swimsuit which had wave-like patterns.

Bhumi acted coy in the second picture, seemingly hiding her face with both hands, smiling broadly. She kept her hair in a bun, however, she braided a small lock of hair which looked quite unique.

In the third picture, Bhumi surely stole the hearts of her fans with a piercing look, as she posed in front of the camera, placing both her hands behind her neck. Her no-makeup makeup look, with a shiny nude lipstick shade, enhanced her looks further.

As soon as Bhumi shared the pictures, actor Huma Quereshi commented, “Copy cat”.

“My lobster,” wrote Bhumi’s sister Samiksha Pednekar.

Meanwhile, Bhumi, who was last seen in ‘Badhai Do’ alongside Rajkummar Rao now has another exciting project for her fans. She recently shared a video from Jodhpur where she mentioned that the shooting for her next film ‘Afwaah’ has begun. In the film, Bhumi will be seen playing the lead character alongside Nawazuddin Siddiqui.

‘Afwaah’ is a thriller and is being directed by celebrated director Sudhir Mishra. Produced by Bhushan Kumar’s T-Series and filmmaker Anubhav Sinha’s Benaras Mediaworks, the film is a film based on a novel story rooted in the heartland of India.

The actor would also star in Ajay Bahl’s ‘The Lady Killer’, a suspense drama, which revolves around a small town playboy who falls in love with a self-destructive beauty as they embark on a whirlwind romance. The film also stars Arjun Kapoor in the lead role.

Apart from ‘The Lady Killer’, on the film front, Bhumi has ‘Govinda Mera Naam’, ‘Raksha Bandhan’, ‘Bheed’, and ‘Bhakshak’ on her list as well. (ANI)

Delhi reported 648 new COVID-19 cases and five deaths in the last 24 hours, as per the Delhi government’s health bulletin on Sunday.

The active cases stand in the city at 3,268 with a daily positivity rate of 4.29 per cent.
As many as 785 COVID patients recovered in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries from the disease since the beginning of the pandemic to 19,07,474.

The bulletin said that 3,91,15,967 tests for coronavirus have been conducted so far and 15,103 persons were tested against the disease in the last 24 hours.

Five patients succumbed to the virus, with this the death toll in the capital at 26,271.

Delhi administered 28,631 doses of COVID vaccines in the last 24 hours out of which 1,895 beneficiaries got their first dose while 4,756 people received their second dose of the vaccine.

The bulletin said 21,980 beneficiaries were vaccinated with precautionary doses in the last 24 hours, taking the total beneficiaries to 16,58,783.

Meanwhile, India reported 16,103 new COVID cases in the last 24 hours with a daily case positivity rate of 4.27 per cent, as per the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Sunday.

With this, the active caseload in the country crossed the 1 lakh mark as it stands at 1,11,711.

According to the Ministry, 13,929 COVID patients recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours taking the total number of recoveries in the country to 4,28,65,519. The recovery rate currently is 98.54 per cent.

As many as 31 patients succumbed to the virus in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 5,25,199. (ANI)

A minor kid was killed and another was injured in a shooting in Houston when two suspects opened fire at a moving vehicle for unknown reasons, officials said.

According to CNN, Houston Police Assistant Chief, Chandra Hatcher said that the 5-year-old was pronounced dead, and the 8-year-old is expected to make a full recovery.
She said that witnesses of the incident informed the police that a car was driving westbound on Rushcreek Drive and another vehicle was travelling north on Northborough Drive.

The vehicle travelling westbound on Rushcreek might have had two suspects in it who “started discharging a firearm … or potentially multiple firearms,” Hatcher said.

The other car travelling northbound on Northborough had a woman and two children in it, Hatcher said. As soon as the woman realized the children were shot, she immediately took them to a hospital, she added.

Hatcher said that the police received a call about a shooting in the 13300 block of Northborough Drive on Sunday at around 1 am (local time), CNN reported.

The officers did not see anything when they arrived at the incident spot. Later, police received reports of injured children who arrived at a hospital about 15 minutes later they realized a crime occurred, Hatcher said.

As the reason for the shooting remains unclear, Houston police are asking for the public’s help in finding whoever opened fire on a car overnight.

“We are looking for surveillance footage,” Hatcher said and encouraged anyone who knows more about the incident to come forward.

“Please continue to pray for the family of the deceased child and the injured 8-year-old,” she added.

As of late Saturday, there had been 302 mass shootings across the US this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

With increasing incidents of gun violence in the United States, President Joe Biden had said that the US needs to ban assault weapons for the sake of protecting children and families or raise the age to purchase them from 18 to 21.

On June 22, a group of US lawmakers reached a much-awaited deal on a bipartisan gun safety bill after recent mass shooting incidents in Uvalde, Buffalo and Texas, that struck a nerve in the country.

The new bill aims to take firearms away from dangerous people and provide billions of dollars in new mental health funding.

The bill does not ban assault-style rifles or significantly expand background-check requirements for gun purchases, but it gives states more resources to take guns away from dangerous individuals.

In the recent incidents, two people were killed and four others including three officers were injured in a shooting in Haltom City of Texas on Saturday. Police said that one woman was found dead inside the home and a man was found fatally shot in the home’s driveway. An elderly woman who called 911 was shot but expected to survive.

On May 24, a mass shooting incident took place at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas in which several people including 19 children were killed. This was the deadliest attack since the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, where 17 people were killed, according to CNN.

On June 20, a teenager was shot dead and three others including a police officer were injured in a shooting in the area of 14th and U Street Northwest in Washington, DC.

On June 1, at least four people were killed in a shooting incident at a hospital campus in Oklahoma’s Tulsa city, CNN reported citing police. The shootout incidents in the US have been increasing. (ANI)

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde along with his faction of Shiv Sena MLAs is holding a meeting with Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, BJP MLAs, and other party leaders at a hotel in Mumbai to chalk out a strategy for the floor test to be conducted on Monday.

BJP candidate Rahul Narwekar was elected as the Speaker of the House with 164 votes in support and 107 against him on the first day of the special two-day session of the Legislative Assembly beginning Sunday.
Days after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Devendra Fadnavis announced rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde the next chief minister of Maharashtra, fresh rifts have surfaced within Shiv Sena.

The Maharashtra Legislative Assembly today witnessed a row over whip between the two factions of Shiv Sena on the Speaker’s election. Earlier, both Shiv Sena and the Eknath Shinde-led faction had issued different whips directing the MLAs to vote for their respective nominees.

Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar has taken on record the letter sent by Bharat Gogawale, who is Chief Whip of the Eknath Shinde-led faction.

The letter mentioned the violation of the whip by 16 MLAs of Shiv Sena. Earlier, Gogawale had issued a whip for the election of the Speaker of the State Legislative Assembly.

Now Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has to get ready for a long fight with rebel MLA Eknath Shinde to keep control of the Sena, its election symbol and even party offices, including the iconic Shiv Sena Bhavan. The battle between the two factions is likely to reach the Election Commission of India soon.

The Shinde faction, which has the strength of 39 MLAs, issued a letter on Thursday calling all Sena MLAs at the hotel in Goa, where the group is staying since Wednesday. Thackeray has 16 MLAs with him, including his son Aaditya.

In the latest development, the Uddhav Thackeray faction of Sena has also started the legal process to disqualify 16 MLAs, including Shinde.

Newly appointed Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar said in the House today that he has received a letter from Bharatshet Gogawale (whip of the Shinde faction of Shiv Sena) that “16 MLAs have violated their whip and he has sought action. I have noted this.”

“Some defied Shiv Sena whip while voting in Speaker election. A complaint has been filed with the presiding officer. They could possibly be disqualified as a result. The matter of suspension of few members is still pending in Supreme Court,” Shiv Sena chief whip (of Uddhav faction) Sunil Prabhu said to reporters today.

On objection raised by Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray’s Faction), Deputy Speaker Narhari Sitaram Zirwal said that he has received a letter from them and based on their request, he ordered to note down all votes of Shiv Sena rebels separately.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear the plea of Shiv Sena chief whip Sunil Prabhu seeking suspension from the Assembly of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and 15 rebel MLAs against whom disqualification pleas are pending, saying it was “fully conscious” of the issue on July 11.

A Vacation Bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and J.B. Pardiwala was urged by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Mr. Prabhu, that the interim plea needed an urgent hearing due to the pendency of disqualification proceedings against 16 lawmakers, including the Chief Minister.

The new Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government emerged successful in the state legislative assembly on Sunday as its contender Rahul Narvekar won the Speaker election by a comfortable margin. Narvekar, the candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shinde-led rebel Shiv Sena group defeated Rajan Salvi — fielded jointly by the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress as the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).

Eknath Shinde, while making his first address on the Floor of the Maharashtra Assembly as a Chief Minister on Sunday, said that the decision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to let him lead the government despite having more members than his side has “opened the eyes of many”. He also said that after the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in the state, a “BJP-Shiv Sena government” has taken charge which is based on the beliefs of the party founder Balasaheb Thackeray.(ANI)

Small banks in China are running into trouble as they are accused of crimes, bad loans and excessive risk, due to the failure of Xi Jinping’s zero Covid policy.

Peter, a depositor, who had put his life savings of about USD 6 million into accounts at three small banks in China’s Henan province, said that he hasn’t been able to access them since April, CNN reported.

“I’m close to having a nervous breakdown. I can’t sleep,” CNN Business quoting Peter reported.

Apart from Peter, thousands of depositors have been fighting to recover their savings from at least six banks in rural provinces in central China.

Last year, China Bohai Bank, a national joint-stock commercial bank, has been accused of secretly using a client’s USD 438 million in deposits as collateral.

The accusations came from ‘Jiangxi Jemincare Group Co’ enterprise, which informed that its deposits in Bohai Bank were secretly used as collateral by the bank for a petrochemical company in Nanjing, a local media had reported.

According to media reports, four banks in Henan suspended cash withdrawals in April this year.

Local banks in China are only permitted to obtain deposits from their home customer base, but authorities said that “third-party platforms” were used to acquire funds from depositors outside the region.

The national banking regulator has accused a major shareholder of the four banks of illegally attracting money from savers.

“Henan New Fortune Group, a shareholder of the four village banks, has illegally absorbed the public’s funds through internal and external collusion, the use of third-party platforms, and fund brokers,” the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission told state-run Xinhua News Agency in May.

Runs on small Chinese banks have become more frequent in recent years and some have been accused of financial improprieties or corruption, CNN reported.

Experts raised concern as the bigger financial problem could be looming, caused by fallout from a real estate crash and soaring bad debts related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

At least 400,000 banking customers across China were unable to access their savings, according to an estimate in April by Sanlian Lifeweek, a state-owned magazine cited by CNN. (ANI)

Telugu star Sai Pallavi is all set to treat her fans with another entertaining movie. on Sunday announced the release date of her much-awaited movie ‘Gargi’.

Taking to Instagram, the ‘Virata Parvam’ star shared a new poster of her upcoming film and captioned it, “#Gargi will be Yours from the 15th of July!”

Recently on the occasion of her birthday, actor Sai Pallavi treated fans by announcing her new film ‘Gargi’.

Taking to Twitter, she wrote, “I waited months to talk about this film, And finally!!! my birthday is when the stubborn team decided to give in and release this. Presenting to you, GARGI , @prgautham83’s brainchild.”iller”.

Meanwhile, Sai Pallavi was in news for her statements on the 1990s exodus of Kashmiri Pandits which went viral and flared into a controversy.

She also posted a brief video, in which she presented her clarification over her statements. Sai Pallavi’s comments drew mixed reactions on social media.

The film is written and directed by Gautham Ramachandran of Ritchie fame. ‘Gargi’ is touted as an intense drama about a woman who is fighting for justice. (ANI)