Month: July 2022

The United States on Friday allowed a halted oil tanker transporting fuel products from Russia to unload its cargo in a Louisiana port after finding no evidence of sanctions violations, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

The Daytona tanker, owned by a Greek company, was allowed to unload in New Orleans after US authorities concluded that no breach of sanctions on Russia occurred, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter and a Coast Guard official.
The ship was detained for inspection by US Customs and Border Protection last week after arriving in the US following a trip to the Taman peninsula on the Black Sea, where there is a terminal for both Russian and Kazakh oil products.

The company was able to establish that the cargo aboard the ship originated in Kazakhstan and were not subject to any US sanctions on Russian energy, a spokesperson for the company reportedly said. (ANI/Sputnik)

Actor Mandira Bedi organised Akhand Paath and langar on her husband Raj Kaushal’s first death anniversary.

Taking to Instagram, Mandira dropped a few pictures from the langar.
In the images, Mandira is seen sitting on the floor with daughter Tara and son Vir as they all have food arranged by them at the gurudwara.

“#AkhandPaath ka #Bhog and #Langar .. in Raj’s name.. This morning with the kids and staff at the #Gurudwara #DhanGurunanak #satnamshriwaheguru,” Mandira captioned the pictures.

Mandira’s post has garnered several heartfelt comments from netizens.

“Lots of love to all of you,” a social media user commented.

“love and light to you and your fam!!! Your strength is inspiring,” another one wrote.

Raj Kaushal, who had directed films like ‘Pyaar Mein Kabhi Kabhi’ and ‘Shaadi Ke Laddoo’, died on June 30, 2021, after suffering a heart attack.

Mandira also held a prayer session at home in Raj’s memory.

Sharing a glimpse from the prayer session, Madira posted, “2 days of prayer. And so much love for you, Raj..The skies cried today for you. As did we. And wherever you may be.. may you be in peace and surrounded by love,”

Raj and Mandira welcomed Vir in 2011 and adopted 4-year-old Tara in 2020. (ANI)

Bollywood actor Kartik Aaryan dons a sporty look, as he enjoys a game of football with his friends amid heavy rainfall in Mumbai.

The ‘Love Aaj Kal’ actor took to his Instagram and shared a reel video in which he can be seen enjoying the sport in heavy rains.
“Rain and Football..Two of my Fav things Together” the ‘Luka Chuppi’ actor captioned the video. https://www.instagram.com/p/Cfdf6RAD8Tb/embed

The video includes clippings of the actor playing on the ground, ending with a special glimpse of the actor’s dog Katroi, who seems excited when she sees Kartik. He donned a black sporty outfit and completed his look with neon-green football boots.

Fans flooded the comment section with fire emoticons and showered love on the actor.

“Ur ultra bolt speeeddddd” a user commented on the video.

Another user wrote, “And we love to see you enjoying your favourite things !”.

The ‘Pyar Ka Punchnama’ actor usually gets snapped by the paparazzi enjoying the sport when he is not promoting or shooting for any of his films.

Meanwhile, on the work front, the ‘Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety’ is currently enjoying the grand success of his recently released film ‘Bhool Bhulaiayaa 2’ which collected over Rs 230 crores worldwide and marks one of his biggest successes.

Producer, Bhushan Kumar, also gifted Kartik, India’s first McLaren GT worth Rs 4.7 crore post ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2’ success.

He will be next seen in Ekta Kapoor’s production ‘Freddy’ with Alaya F and in ‘Shehzada’ with Kriti Sanon, which is slated to release on November 4, 2022. (ANI)

For every 90’s kid, Milind Soman has been their idea of a ‘macho man’! Milind, who is currently 56 years old, charmed everyone when he appeared in Alisha Chinai’s song ‘Made In India’. Girls went gaga over him and openly declared him as their crush!

Now, 25 years later, Milind is back in a music video, and going by the looks of it, he still knows his moves and shakes. He still oozes enough charm to make women go pink in the cheeks and weak in the knees!
The 56-year-old has made his comeback in a party track titled ‘Shringaar’. The song has been recorded by Akasa Sing and Aastha Gill. Written by Vayu, the dance song also features Raftaar.

Milind shared a glimpse of the song on his Instagram, check it out: https://www.instagram.com/p/CfeUmTGJwEJ/embed

While Milind doesn’t look a day older than how he looked when he appeared in the 1995 music video, fans are thanking the makers for making them relive the 90s nostalgia!

A fan took to the comment section and wrote, “Fire is again back with milind….”

Another fan wrote, “Bagging most handsome hunk of industry….”

Milind Soman is known to inspire many through his workout videos and photos on Instagram. And now with the launch of the music video, fans are happy to see their favourite indie music model back on screen! (ANI)

A constable was injured in a low-intensity blast reported in the civil court of Patna on Friday.

The incident occurred after the police brought the gunpowder, recovered from Patna university’s hostel. The gunpowder was brought to the court premises to seek permission for further probe.

“ASI Kadam Kuwan Madan Singh’s right hand was injured. However, no other injuries were reported,” said Senior Superintendent of Police Patna, Manavjit Singh Dhillon.

“A few days ago, gunpowder was recovered in Patel hostel, Patna University. We took it to court for seeking permission for further probe. The blast happened as soon as it was kept on-premises. A police official sustained injuries and is out of danger now,” said Sabi ul Haq, Incharge, Pirbahore Police Station. (ANI)

‘Student of the Year 2’ actor Ananya Panday shimmered in her latest monochromatic picture, looking gorgeous.

“Caught in between moments,” captioned Ananya on Instagram, giving the credits of the picture to Indian fashion stylist, Anaita Shroff Adajania.

The black-and-white picture revealed Ananya wearing what seemed to be a monokini, as she looked herself in the mirror. Ananya had kept her wavy hair loose while the mirror reflected a number of items kept on the table, including a phone, and a bottle.

Soon after the 23-year-old shared the picture, her comment section was flooded with love and appreciation from friends, family, and fans.

Ananya’s mother, Bhavana Panday commented on her post with three heart emojis.

“Available for shoots,” wrote Anaita.

Ananya stepped into the Bollywood industry with her debut film ‘Student of the Year 2’ opposite Tiger Shroff and Tara Sutaria.

Meanwhile, on the film front, Ananya was last seen in Shakun Batra’s ‘Gehraiyaan’ released on the OTT platform, Amazon Prime alongside Deepika Padukone, and Siddhant Chaturvedi. She will now be stepping into the Telegu film industry with her latest film ‘Liger’, opposite actor Vijay Deverakonda.

‘Liger’ is helmed by Puri Jagannadh and is slated to hit the theatres on August 25 this year.

Apart from ‘Liger’, the daughter of Chunky Panday will also feature in Arjun Varain Singh’s ‘ Kho Gaye Hum Kahan’. The film stars Siddhant Chaturvedi and Adarsh Gourava and is written by Singh, along with Zoya Akhtar, and Reema Kagti. It follows the story of three friends. (ANI)

Twelve African countries have so far reported 1,782 cases of monkeypox cases, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) disclosed.

Out of the 1,782 cases of monkeypox cases that have been reported in Africa, some 1,678 of them are suspected cases while 104 are confirmed cases, Ahmed Ogwell, acting director of Africa CDC, said during a weekly briefing on Thursday.
He said the cases have been reported both in endemic and non-endemic countries to monkeypox, highlighting that Benin, Morocco and South Africa are the non-endemic African Union (AU) members reporting confirmed cases of the disease.

“Unfortunately, 73 deaths have been reported in the continent as a result of the monkeypox outbreak, bringing the case fatality rate of the disease to 4.1 per cent,” said the acting director.

He said the Africa CDC is offering training to 20 health experts drawn from different parts of the continent in Nigeria to help them build the capacity of making a laboratory diagnosis for monkeypox in their respective countries.

“The training is very important because it enhances the capacity of our member states to confirm suspected cases,” Ogwell said, indicating that clinical laboratory confirmation for the disease has been slow across the continent.

He said the Africa CDC’s Institute for Pathogen Genomics is also working on sequencing samples of monkeypox so that it will be able to identify and document any variant that could occur in any AU member.

“We will continue to sequence samples of monkeypox just as we did for COVID-19 to ensure that we understand and know the kind of pathogen that we are dealing with in the continent,” he added.

Ethiopia, Guinea, Liberia, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Sudan and Uganda — all countries with no previous incidence — have also reported suspected cases, the WHO said in a recent report. (ANI/Xinhua)

Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty Kundra captured a rainbow sky as she shared a picture with her mother on social media from the streets of London.

Taking to Instagram, the ‘Hungama 2’ actor posted a picture of her mother wearing a printed blue salwar suit and a jacket knotted on her waist. However, it was the background that Shilpa did not want her viewers to ‘miss’. A beautiful rainbow was spotted in the sky.
“Don’t miss the rainbow” captioned Shilpa on her Instagram story.

As for the second picture, Shilpa stood next to her mother as they posed for the camera. She donned a white-coloured, round neck cardigan and sported a pair of hoop earrings. She kept her hair loose while the mother-daughter duo had an all-smile face. The beautiful backdrop of a rainbow-laden sky was spotted behind them as well.

Shilpa is currently on a trip to London with her family including husband Raj Kundra, sister Shamita Shetty, mother Sunanda Shetty, and kids Samisha and Viaan. The 47-year-old has been giving glimpses of the serene destination by posting photos and videos on Instagram.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Shilpa was last seen in the action-comedy flick ‘Nikamma’. Helmed by Sabbir Khan, ‘Nikamma’ showed Shilpa playing the role of a superhero – Agni. Although the film couldn’t perform well in theatres, Shilpa has an interesting mix of projects awaiting release in her kitty.

Shilpa will be next seen in Rohit Shetty’s ‘Indian Police Force’. The web series co-starring Sidharth Malhotra will mark the OTT debut for both of them. Shilpa will also be seen in the upcoming film Sukhee’, which is being helmed by Sonal Joshi, who has earlier served as an assistant director on films like ‘Dhoom 3’ and ‘Jab Harry Met Sejal’ among others. The shooting of the film was wrapped up earlier this month. (ANI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held a telephonic conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin and reiterated India’s long-standing position in favour of dialogue and diplomacy amid the ongoing situation in Ukraine.

“In the context of the ongoing situation in Ukraine, the Prime Minister reiterated India’s long-standing position in favour of dialogue and diplomacy,” read the release by the Prime Minister’s Office.

The two leaders reviewed the implementation of the decisions taken during President Putin’s visit to India in December 2021. They also exchanged ideas on how bilateral trade in agricultural goods, fertilizers and pharma products could be encouraged further.

The leaders further discussed global issues, including the state of the international energy and food markets. The leaders agreed to maintain regular consultations on global and bilateral issues.

Since the war started on February 24 in Ukraine, PM Modi has been appealing to both Russia and Ukraine for peace and an end to hostilities.

Earlier, the Prime Minister intervened and had spoken with Russian President Putin and suggested that a direct conversation between the presidents of Russia and Ukraine may greatly assist the ongoing peace efforts to deal with the ongoing conflict.

PM Modi had also spoken with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and expressed his deep anguish about the loss of life and property due to the ongoing conflict.

These talks also come after the G7 nations criticized Russia for its war on Ukraine. Prime Minister Modi, however, made India’s position clear on the Ukraine conflict at the G7 summit as well. The Prime Minister reiterated that there must be an immediate end to the hostilities and a resolution should be reached by choosing the path of dialogue and diplomacy.

At the G7 outreach summit, PM Modi had also spoken with the world leaders on the knockdown effect of the conflict in Eastern Europe on the food security crisis, especially in vulnerable countries.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar earlier this month hit back at the unfair criticism of Indian oil purchase from Russia amid the Ukraine war that has created a knock-off effect on the world economy.

While defending India’s oil imports from Russia, Jaishankar stressed that it is important to understand how the Ukraine conflict is impacting the developing countries. He also questioned why only India was being questioned while Europe continues to import gas from Russia amid the Ukraine war.

Responding to a question on whether India’s oil import from Russia is not funding the ongoing Ukraine war, Jaishankar said, “Look I don’t want to sound argumentative. If India funding Russia oil is funding the war… Tell me then buying Russian gas is not funding the war? It’s only Indian money and Russian oil coming to India funding the war and not Russia’s gas coming to Europe not funding? Let’s be a little even-handed.”

At the GLOBSEC 2022 Bratislava Forum in Slovakia, Jaishankar said, the packages of sanctions imposed by the European Union are imposed keeping in mind the interest of certain European nations.

“…if you can be considerate to yourself, you can be considerate to other people. If a Europe says, if we have to manage it in a way impact on the economy is not traumatic, that freedom should exist for other people as well,” he said. (ANI)