Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan will be honoured at the 24th Annual Crystal Awards — as part of the World Economic Forum’s 48th Annual Meeting here later this month — for his leadership in championing children’s and women’s rights in India.

Actor-director Cate Blanchett and singer Elton John are the other awardees this year, according to the official website of the World Economic Forum.

“Each of them in their own way has taken action to uphold human dignity,” read the statement.

Shah Rukh is being feted as he is a founder of the non-profit Meer Foundation, which provides support to female victims of acid attacks and major burn injuries through medical treatment, legal aid, vocational training, rehabilitation and livelihood support.

Thank u for this honour. I consider my work with these heroic & beautiful women a great privilege as it imparts dignity & purpose to my life. I hope to spread awareness of the unparalleled heroism of these ladies & reach out to others in order to carry this work to its conclusion https://t.co/i6cEU6go6V

— Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) January 11, 2018

He has also been responsible for the creation of specialized children’s hospital wards and has supported childcare centres with free boarding for children undergoing cancer treatment.

Expressing gratitude for being chosen for the honour, Shah Rukh tweeted on Thursday: “Thank you for this honour. I consider my work with these heroic and beautiful women a great privilege as it imparts dignity and purpose to my life. I hope to spread awareness of the unparalleled heroism of these ladies and reach out to others in order to carry this work to its conclusion.”

The 24th Annual Crystal Awards celebrate the achievements of outstanding artistes who have shown exemplary commitment to improving the state of the world.

The awards ceremony will take place on January 22, at the launch of the annual meeting.

This year’s World Economic Forum will have the first Indian Prime Minister participating since 1997, with Narendra Modi slated to address the plenary session of the prestigious global business meet.

The lower committee of Uttarakhand Madrassa Education Board (UMEB) has given its nod to a proposal seeking inclusion of Sanskrit and Computer Science as optional subjects in madrassas all over the state from the next academic session.

At present, madrassas in the state offer Maths, Science, Ayush and Social Science as optional subjects.

A six-member lower committee of the board yesterday cleared the proposal for inclusion of Sanskrit and Computer Science as optional subjects, UMEB Deputy Registrar Akhlaq Ahmad told PTI.

The proposal will now be moved to the upper committee of the board for its approval, he said.

The approval to include Sanskrit in the syllabus comes days after the Madrassa Welfare Society of Uttarakhand approached the state government to include Sanskrit as one of the subjects in the syllabus.

Legendary cricketer and India’s Uner-19 coach Rahul Dravid, who turned 45 today on January 11, shared a special message for the cricket fans across the globe and urged the Indian fans to come out in the support of his trainees.

The video was shared on micro-blogging site Twitter by International Cricket Council (ICC).

“The under-19 team is very keen to show you their talent. We know you will be watching us. We know you will be supporting the boys all the way”, Dravid said in 13-second video.

“Ahead of the start of the #U19CWC, Rahul Dravid has a message for those supporting India at the @cricketworldcup”, ICC had captioned the video on Twitter.

Ahead of the start of the #U19CWC, Rahul Dravid has a message for those supporting India at the @cricketworldcup. pic.x.com/MXPaGSFiVp

— ICC (@ICC) January 11, 2018

The Men-In-Blue will kick start their World Cup campaign from January 14 against Australia.

Earlier, a video was shared by the BCCI TV in which Rahul Dravid could be seen with cake smeared all over his face that was the handiwork of U-19 skipper Prithvi Shaw and his boys.

Dravid, along with cricket greats Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, was part of the trio who possibly constituted the best middle-order in the business during their time.

Film: Downsizing

Director: Alexander Payne

Cast: Matt Damon, Kristen Wiig, Christoph Waltz, Hong Chau, Udo Keir, Rolf Lassgard, Ingrjerd Egeberg, Rune Temte, Margareta Pettersson, Soren Pilmark, Joaquim De Almeida, Jason Sudeikis, James Van Der Beek, Neil Patrick Harris, Laura Dern, Niec Niecy Nash, Margo Martindale

Rating: ***1/2

Downsizing is a strikingly intelligent concept film.

A romance and self-realisation tale wrapped in a sci-fi film that makes you aware of environmental issues is what definitely makes it unique fare. It is a social satire wrapped in a sci-fi movie that does not, for a second, look and feel like one.

Nevertheless, the film achieves a strange harmony from its assorted thematic ingredients and certainly produces unexpected and compelling surges of emotion at odd moments.

Dealing with the long-term viability of humanity’s existence on this planet, the scientists at Edwardsen Institute in Norway hit upon a perfect process of shrinking human beings to the height of 5 inches. According to them, these shrunken people need much fewer resources and would thus be able to save our planet’s resources.

Fifteen years after the invention which is an irreversible process, physiotherapist Paul Safranek (Matt Damon) and his wife Audrey, a struggling American couple unhappy with their financial status, during an alumni meet, get inspired by their classmates Dave and Carol Johnson, who have “downsized”.

Believing that their lives would be enhanced if they were to shrink themselves and be transferred to the new world call Leisureland, Paul and Audrey decide to take the plunge.

Of course, complications ensue, including marital strife and Paul’s discovery that all is not quite what is seems in his new environment.

Disappointed and dejected in Liesureland, Paul leads a staid life. So when Dusan (Christoph Waltz), his upstairs neighbour — an opportunist who, along with his friend Kondrad (Udo Kier) makes money by importing miniaturized versions of Cigars and other such luxury items — invites him to a house party, he reluctantly accepts the invitation.

After the party, Paul by chance meets a Vietnamese political activist named Ngoc Lan Tran (Hong Chau). Seeing her walk with a faulty prosthetic foot, he befriends her. He then gets fascinated with her struggle. How she then changes his entire life and worldview, forms the crux of the tale.

Despite its meandering pace and unassuming plot, the film at no specific point goes off the rails. The initial first hour definitely drags. Once the narrative picks up momentum in the second half, there is no looking back. You don’t expect the film to take a dramatic turn but it really will have you thinking hard about the world we live in.

The third act, though predictable and incredibly ambitious, is eye-opening and lands the film where it strives to be.

On many accounts, this is an impressive film. Among them is the astounding performance by Hong Chau. She comes in at the halfway mark and just takes over completely, single-handedly elevating the film with her tragic, comic, caustic and lovable character Ngoc.

At no point do you laugh at her status, ethnicity or broken English. Yet you laugh because she is a force of nature that blows away the pretensions of others — which she does with her straight yet unexpected nature and honest, cut-the-chase communication.

Matt Damon as the dull lead who goes on a journey of discovery is serviceable and the fault lies not with his performance. The problem is with the writing. Paul remains a bore from the beginning to the end.

Christoph Waltz does justice as the flamboyant Dusan. He is intriguing, but with a half-baked character, he is lost in the narrative.

From a technical standpoint, the film is almost flawless. The production and sound designs, costumes, visual effects, cinematography and editing are all immaculate.

Overall, Downsizing is a complex masterpiece which is convincing but not unfamiliar.

Singer Ricky Martin has married his partner Jwan Yosef but a formal celebration is yet to take place.

“I’m a husband, but we’re doing a heavy party in a couple of months, I’ll let you know,” Martin told E! News. Martin, 46, added: “We exchanged vows … and we’ve signed all the papers we needed to sign, prenups and everything. It feels amazing! I can’t introduce him as my fiance. I can’t. He’s my husband. He’s my man.”

The couple plans to have a huge party. Martin said guests can expect to enjoy for three days. “The typical three-day party, the dinner, the rehearsal, the party and the recovery. “The pair began dating in 2016 and in November later that year Martin announced on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show”.

Logan Paul’s vlog on ‘suicide forest’ took the audience by storm. The video was released last month by the Youtuber, which faced a lot of backlashes. Though he was defended by a lot of his fans, still the act was frowned upon. The Youtube star would never have imagined that one of his regular vlogs will put him in so much trouble.  He visited the restricted suicide forest in Japan and filmed a dead man. Eventually, he had to apologize on Youtube for the video. The apology did not work as viewers were in no mood to forgive him for disrespecting someone in such a manner.

Earlier, Youtube promised that he will have to face consequences for the video and finally they have punished Logan Paul. As Youtube is owned by Google, they have removed him from the Google preferred and he will not be featured in the original series of Youtube ‘Foursome.’ Youtube confessed that though it took longer to take the step, they have been listening to everyone and may even renew the policies of the company.

It’s taken us a long time to respond, but we’ve been listening to everything you’ve been saying. We know that the actions of one creator can affect the entire community, so we’ll have more to share soon on steps we’re taking to ensure a video like this is never circulated again.

— YouTube (@YouTube) January 9, 2018

Logan Paul took Twitter to make an apology about the video and defended himself by saying that it was all to increase awareness of suicide. Later, he released a video on Youtube and apologized to the viewers where he confessed that he was at fault. However, Youtube chose to take strict actions to discipline vloggers like Logan Paul.

Dear Internet, pic.x.com/42OCDBhiWg

— Logan Paul (@LoganPaul) January 2, 2018

So sorry. pic.x.com/JkYXzYsrLX

— Logan Paul (@LoganPaul) January 2, 2018

Actor-singer and filmmaker Farhan Akhtar and director-composer Vishal Bhardwaj will headline the Delhi edition of Gaana Bollywood Music Project.

The multi-genre Bollywood music festival is set to take off for the second time at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Grounds on January 27 and January 28 with a line-up featuring some of the biggest names in Bollywood music across genres.

Farhan will be seen performing with his rock band Farhan Live, and Bhardwaj will also take the stage, read a statement.

Amitabh Bhattacharya will perform for the first time, while playback singer Shalmali Kholgade will sing some of her favourite Bollywood songs. The Suryansh Project, also known as The King of Unplugged, Paras Maan and Prithvi Gandharv, apart from Ashish Chhabra, Milind Gaba-Mellow D, Zephyr and Simar Kaur and Zublee Baruah ft. Gaurav Dutta and Goldie Sohel, will also perform.

The Delhi audience will enjoy various flavours of music like sufi, hip-hop, qawwali, Punjabi, folk, pop, commercial, electronic and unplugged.

“In India, people may forget a film, but if a song becomes popular, they always remember it. Music is food for my soul. Gaana Bollywood Music Project in Delhi is going to be an amazing experience,” said Bhardwaj.

Farhan added: “I am looking forward to perform for my fans in our capital. Playing in Delhi is special as the audience always gives us a lot of love. To connect with them through my music is very exciting and this time it’s happening at the Gaana Bollywood Music Project along with other performers. Fun times await.”

Cricket Australia (CA) on Thursday recalled veteran batsman Cameron White for the five-match One-day International (ODI) series against England, starting here on Sunday.

White hasn’t played ODI cricket for almost three years but has earned a late call-up, replacing injured Queenslander Chris Lynn, who pulled out with a calf strain.

The selectors, led by Trevor Hohns, also decided to rest paceman Josh Hazlewood from the opening ODI while fellow pacer Pat Cummins will skip the second game as Australia look to manage the workload of their fast bowlers ahead of the Test tour of South Africa.

Hazlewood’s absence from Sunday’s match means one or both of Andrew Tye and Jhye Richardson will make their ODI debut at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Hazlewood will re-join the squad for the second game in Brisbane, which Cummins will miss.

Having played all five Tests in the 4-0 Ashes triumph over England, Hazlewood and Cummins are the first to be given a break, with left-armer Mitchell Starc set to sit out later in the series.

Meanwhile, the 34-year-old White said he was surprised to be back in the squad after several years despite strong performances domestically.

“I was very surprised this morning when Trevor Hohns rang me. Obviously I’m really looking forward to the opportunity and getting in amongst it,” White was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.

“In the back of my mind I probably never gave up all hope. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do… get back and have another go at it.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity and it’s up to me to make the most of it.”

Commenting on his selection, Hohns said: “He’s in very good form as his figures demonstrate, he’s playing very well.”

“He’s one of the leading run-scorers in the Big Bash League (BBL), he’s experienced, he’s a very smart cricketer and he’s a good fielder.

“He ticks all the boxes for what we need at this stage,” he added.

After the opener at the MCG, the Kangaroos will play the second ODI in Brisbane on January 19, followed by the third game in Sydney on January 21. The final two games will be played at Adelaide (January 26) and Perth (January 28).

The ODI rubber between Australia and England will be followed by a T20I tri-series also involving New Zealand.

Australia ODI squad: Steve Smith (Captain), David Warner (VC), Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Cameron White, Adam Zampa.

Shares of IT major Infosys rose by over 2 per cent on Thursday ahead of its earnings announcement on Friday.

The stock gained 2.28 per cent to end at Rs 1,075.60 on BSE. During the day, it rose by 3 per cent to Rs 1,083.30 — its 52-week high.

On NSE, shares of the company went up by 2.23 per cent to close at Rs 1,075.80.

The stock was the biggest gainer among the bluechips on both the key indices Sensex and Nifty during the day.

In terms of equity volume, 13.15 lakh shares of the company were traded on BSE and over 83 lakh shares changed hands on NSE during the day.

ALSO READ: Parekh joins Infosys as new CEO on Tuesday

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Celebrated filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, who counts himself as a social commentator and attempts to capture the complex reality of the Indian society in his films, says he wants thought-provoking films to help the audience start a conversation on issues.

His forthcoming sports film Mukkabaaz deals with the struggle of a boxer and with social issues like caste system, youth politics and the power play of people.

Known for his socio-political dramas like Black Friday, Ugly and Gangs Of Wasseypur, what made him make a film on boxing?

“I intend to start a dialogue through my films. I am a social commentator as a filmmaker and (believe in) capturing the complexity of the society as it is. The idea is that after watching the film Mukkabaaz, if people start talking about the affected area of a sportsman’s life and who is responsible for that, I will be happy,” Kashyap said.

“The fact is, in our country, people join sports to get a government job and once they get that, they do not want to do that and rather want to play the sport. As a result, neither do they become a good officer, nor a sportsman. Ultimately, the result shows on our achievement of medals in international tournaments,” he explained.

Kashyap, who is keen on exploring the old storytelling tradition that infuses music and poetry, believes in adding entertainment value to any serious topic.

“This is the first time that I have thought about the story as in ‘How would Rajkumar Hirani do it’ because as a filmmaker, he understands the pulse of a common man very well. He took on the education system in ‘3 Idiots’, religion in PK and a subject like Mahatma Gandhi in Munna Bhai.

“Raju proved the fact that if you can add a value of entertainment, you can reach out to the largest audience with the most serious subject of the country. I think I have tried everything in this one — whether adding humour, use of music and poetry… I have tried them all,” added Kashyap.

He believes in the existing fine line between a lyricist and a poet, and so, has used poetry penned by Hussain Haidry for “Mukkabaaz”.

Being vocal on issues pertaining to the entertainment business, the filmmaker said that he prefers to stay as an independent individual. However, he hopes better times prevail for the industry.

“I think the larger issue in the business of cinema is different. Things like censorship, forced rule of the interval by exhibitors, difficult distribution of a film in different states are some of them. I think we are living in a country where people want everything free, without responsibility. And they are certainly not ready to pay for entertainment.”

Mukkabaaz is releasing on Friday.

After losing the opening Test match of three-match series between India and South Africa in Newlands Cape Town by 72 runs, Virat Kohli’s boys will aim to level (1-1) the score they face Faf du Plessis’ side in the second Test starting at Super Sport Park, Centurion from  January 13.

Sharing his excitement for the second Test, Virat Kohli took it to micro-blogging site Twitter and wrote, “Touchdown Joburg, what a City! Gearing up for the next one and very excited about it.”

Indian squad had collapsed in both innings of the first Test match while chasing the mediocre target of 286 and 209, respectively.

Touchdown Joburg, what a City!👌🏼
Gearing up for the next one and very excited about it. pic.x.com/3TffUrRfWC

— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) January 10, 2018

India were high on confidence about becoming the first to win a Test series in South Africa when they landed in the rainbow nation on 28 December. But the way Proteas pacers rattled India’s batting line-up in both innings (209 and 135) of the first Test, the team need to plan a good strategy if they wish to win the remaining matches.

India Test Squad: Virat Kohli(c), Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Parthiv Patel, Jasprit Bumrah.

South Africa Squad – 2nd Test: Faf du Plessis(c), Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock, Theunis de Bruyn, AB de Villiers, Dean Elgar, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Andile Phehlukwayo, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada, Duanne Olivier, Lungisani Ngidi

Justice (retired) Shiv Narayan Dhingra will be heading the Special Investigation Team (SIT) that will re-investigate the 186 cases related to 1984 anti-Sikh riots, officials said on Thursday.

Retired IAS officer Rajdeep Singh and IPS officer Avishek Dullar will be other two members of the three-member SIT that will file its interim report within two months, reports said. The court will further hear the matter on March 19.

The development comes a day after a Supreme Court (SC) bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra ordered a re-probe into 186 of the 241 cases that were closed by the SIT and decided to set up a new three-member committee, headed by a retired High Court judge to re-examine the cases.

In February 2015, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs constituted a three-member special investigation team (SIT) to reinvestigate criminal cases filed in Delhi in relation to the 1984 Sikh massacre.

Over two years and three term extensions later, the SIT finally stated in 2017 that it had closed 241 cases and filed charges in just 12 cases.

In August, the Supreme Court set up a panel comprising two former judges to examine the SIT’s decisions to close cases.

Justice SN Dhingra of the Delhi High Court retired in 2011 after putting in about four years in the higher judiciary.

In his more than two-decade-long career in the judicial service, he delivered several important judgments, including in the Parliament attack and the Nitish Katara murder cases.

He headed the Justice Dhingra Commission constituted in May 2015  to probe alleged irregularities in grant of licence(s) by the Department of Town and Country Planning to some companies, including those of Robert Vadra, in Sector 83 of Gurugram for developing commercial colonies.

Union Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh on Thursday said a cabinet note will be moved next week for putting up the Steel Research and Technology Mission of India (SRTMI) to boost research and development in the sector.

“Research and development (R&D) and innovations are the weak links. We have decided to put up the Steel Research and Technology Mission of India (SRTMI) and director has already been appointed. An amount of Rs 200 crore has been placed at its disposal. We are moving a cabinet note next week,” he said here at a session organised by Bharat Chamber of Commerce.

He also said exports of 1.5 percent of total production would not be enough and exports of steel should improve to 6-7 per cent of total production in the next few years.

The Centre had unveiled the New Steel Policy, 2017 which aspired to achieve 300MT of steel-making capacity by 2030. This would translate into the additional investment of Rs 10 lakh Crore by 2030-31.

The Policy seeks to increase consumption of steel and major segments are infrastructure, automobiles and housing. New Steel Policy seeks to increase per capita steel consumption to the level of 160 kilos by 2030 from the existing level of around 60 kilos.

Film: “Downsizing”

Director: Alexander Payne

Cast: Matt Damon, Hong Chau and Christopher Waltz

Rating: **

It is heartbreaking to see so much earnestness being squandered away in inertia. “Downsizing” is a well-meaning jibe at global devastation done in a tone so steeped in righteous indignation, I thought I was watching an evangelical propaganda film with angels and fairies flapping their invisible wings into the fuzzy camera lenses.

Director Alexander Payne, no stranger to tall tales about short-term beneficiaries messing up with their game plans, here goes for the whole mood of ecological regret with a heartbreaking earnestness. As a piece of propaganda on how we can save civilization, “Downsizing” has an in-eradicable cuteness at its heart which is borderline annoying.

The plot is constantly cloying, as our protagonist Paul (Matt Damon, looking so detached from the goings-on, he could be the most reluctant inaction hero in the history of cinema) decides to go for a ‘downsizing’ procedure that would reduce him and his wife (Kristen Wiig) to 20 times smaller than their normal size.

The benefits of downsizing are explained in what could easily have been devilish digs at governmental control of our destiny (we all know what that feels like). But no. Director Alexander Payne, so inured in enchanting ambiguities in his 2005 film “Sideways”, means every word his characters utter. They are good people caught in a catastrophic situation.

We get that.

This is a work filled wth invisible conffetti dropping from heaven in every frame. The only time it gets close to being remotely mischievous is when Damon’s wife chickens out of the downsizing procedure at the last minute leaving him fuming and desolate in a la-la land where 5-inch human beings live in 5-star luxury.

The etherized environment halts only when a Vietnamese downsized refugee played by Hong Chau, with the most grating singsong South Asian accent ever heard in cinema, joins hands with Damon to help, nurse and feed the poor. Hong Chau orders Damon around as if she was taking revenge on all the wrongs that Harvey Weinstein had done to all the women in the entertainment business.

All through this dreadfully self-righteous film, I felt there was a catch somewhere. Maybe I was missing the point? But then with a jolt of awakening, I realized the whole point of the shrinking exercize is to spotlight man-made catastrophes as weighed against cinema’s ability to alchemize and assuage the pain of everyday existence.

“Downsizing” tries to elevate the process of shrinking human beings by imbuing a moral edification to the process of shrinking humans physically. Sorry, I saw no joy in becoming smaller to save humanity. How about saving us from having to watch such joyless excursions into la la land?

Actress Jessica Alba wrote a loving tribute to her husband Cash Warren on his birthday.

The actress, 36, shared a series of 10 photos on Instagram in a gallery dedicated to her husband, who turned 39. The photos chronicled their 14 years together from the time they started dating to the birth of their third child, newborn son Hayes Alba Warren.

My babe @cash_warren #happybirthday -2004 we fell in love on a movie set and spent the last 14 years creating a beautiful life together. 2018 we are falling in love w our 3rd baby. You are the calm and voice of reason, always keeping things in perspective and seeing the beauty and light in every circumstance. I love you more than words could explain and I’m so proud to be your partner in life.

A post shared by Jessica Alba (@jessicaalba) on Jan 10, 2018 at 5:41pm PST

“My babe Cash Warren Happy birthday. 2004 we fell in love on a movie set and spent the last 14 years creating a beautiful life together. 2018 we are falling in love with our third baby,” she wrote in the caption.

“You are the calm and voice of reason, always keeping things in perspective and seeing the beauty and light in every circumstance. I love you more than words could explain and I’m so proud to be your partner in life,” added Alba.

The couple married in 2008 and share three children together, including daughters Haven Garner, 6, and Honor Marie, 9.

Alba and Warren welcomed their third child and first son on December 31.