Month: December 2016

Aishwarya Dhanush’s next a biopic on Paralympian Thangavelu

Filmmaker Aishwarya Dhanush Rajinikanth's next Tamil directorial will be a biopic on Indian Paralympic high jumper Mariyappan Thangavelu, and it was announced on Sunday to coincide with the New Year. Titled "Mariyappan", the film will throw the spotlight on the life of the 21-year-old high jumper from Salem district in Tamil Nadu. In 2016 Summer...

December 31, 2016

Christmas Cheer

December 31, 2016

No solution in sight to two-month-old Manipur blockade

A solution to the two-month-old crippling Naga indefinite economic blockade of Manipur is nowhere in sight with Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh and the United Naga Council (UNC) not budging from their respective stands, officials said. The UNC had imposed the indefinite blockade on November 1 in protest against the government's plan to create two new...

December 31, 2016

Only Anna, MGR and Jayalalithaa will be projected: Sasikala

The ruling AIADMK's newly elected General Secretary VK Sasikala on Saturday said the party would not project any individual other than late party founder MG Ramachandran, late CN Annadurai and the late J Jayalalithaa. Sasikala formally took charge as the party's General Secretary after she was elected unanimously on December 29 at the AIADMK's general council meeting. A...

December 31, 2016

New Army, IAF chiefs take over

New Army chief General Bipin Rawat and Air Force chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa on Saturday took over as the chiefs of the two services, with outgoing General Dalbir Singh and Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha handing over charge. A Guard of Honour was conducted for General Singh on the lawns of South Block before...

December 31, 2016

Buxar jailbreak: 5 prisoners escape

Five convicts, including four serving life imprisonment, escaped from the Buxar Central Jail late last night by scaling the prison wall. District Magistrate Raman Kumar said today that the jailbreak took place between 12 midnight and 3 AM. Iron road, pipe and 'dhoti' have been found at the spot from where the prisoners scaled the wall,...

December 31, 2016

An inescapable future

After my last article (A Cashless Future, 23 November) in these columns, many readers had reacted with an understandable sense of outrage. While some thought that it would be insane to talk of a cashless country where more than half the population still defecate in the open and about a quarter of the population are...

December 30, 2016

Fitting tribute

Very few of us know that Sitara Devi had a very close connection with Bengal. She was born and brought up in Kolkata was very fluent in Bengali. At a tender age she got the chance to perform in front of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore in Shantiniketan. After watching her perform Tagore offered her some gifts...

December 30, 2016

Exuding unbridled refinement

The SaMaPa (Sopori Academy of Music And Performing Arts, New Delhi) is one of the premier organisations of India that is also recognised globally in the field of music and culture. SaMaPa, under the motivating guidance of its chairman Pandit Bhajan Sopori, is not just an academy but a cultural movement and it is acclaimed as...

December 30, 2016

Tight security in place for New Year’s eve in Delhi

With pubs, restaurants and bars anticipating a crowded New Year's eve, Delhi Police is putting final touches to the security arrangements to avert any untoward incident tomorrow. More than 2,000 security personnel, including from ITBP, CRPF, RAF, will be deployed at Connaught Place that will witness a huge crowd of revelers on Saturday evening, a...

December 30, 2016

Rupee jumps 16 paise against Dollar at 67.94

The Rupee added 16 paise at 67.94 against the Dollar on Friday — its last session for this year — as exporters and banks intensified selling of the US currency amid a higher opening in the stock market. Forex dealers said weakness of the dollar against other currencies too influenced the Rupee uptrend. On Thursday,...

December 30, 2016

Rihanna feels ‘sick’ about Drake’s new love

Singer Rihanna reportedly felt "sick" when she saw rapper-singer Drake's Instagram picture with singer Jennifer Lopez. The 28-year-old was dating the chart-topping rap star earlier this year, and is said to be unhappy about her former boyfriend dating Lopez, reports hollywoodlife.com "That picture of them together, all hugged up, made Rihanna sick. To the point...

December 30, 2016

Demonetisation will transform Indian economy: RBI governor

On the eve of the deadline for citizens to deposit demonetised currency in banks, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Urjit Patel said that demonetisation will have a transformative effect on the economy going forward, despite some short-term disruptions and "public hardship". "The withdrawal of specified bank notes will impart far reaching changes going forward....

December 29, 2016

Looking back

It will be appropriate to recall some of the important events that took place in the North-east in the year that is bowing out this week. There was quiet satisfaction and rejoicing in Assam following the installation of the first-ever BJP government headed by Sarbananda Sonowal. The election threw a surprise in the defeat of All...

December 29, 2016

No exit from Rajiv Chowk Metro on Dec 31 evening

Commuters will not be allowed to exit the Rajiv Chowk Station after 9pm on December 31, while entry will be confined to two gates, the Delhi Metro said on Thursday. This decision has been taken to keep the revellers away and to maintain peace in the New Delhi district area on the New Year's Eve, said...

December 29, 2016

Twinkle pens tribute to father Rajesh Khanna on birth anniversary

 On her late father and superstar Rajesh Khanna's 74th birth anniversary, actress-writer Twinkle Khanna penned an emotional tribute, recounting how she is a reflection of him. Twinkle posted a black and white image, featuring her and her father, on Twitter on Thursday. "I see you, in my reflection off the back of a gleaming spoon,...

December 29, 2016

Centre charts roadmap to complete 99 irrigation projects

The Union government on Thursday charted out a roadmap for the early completion of 99 irrigation projects under the Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP) and Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY), an official release here said. Of the 99 projects, the maximum 26 are in Maharashtra, eight in Andhra Pradesh and one in Gujarat. Of...

December 29, 2016