Gujarat Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani on Friday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak up on violence against Dalits and called the Maharashtra government’s move to file a case against him on charges of making a provocative speech “childish”.

Addressing the media here, the MLA said he had neither visited the Koregaon-Bhima event site, where violence on January 1 left one person dead, nor made any inflammatory or provocative speech.

“If Dalits want to fight against exploitation, they will have to take to the streets. (But) how can the common man dare to speak up if an MLA from Dalit society is targeted?

“In cases of violence against Dalits, there has been no action. Modiji should clear his stand. Why is he maintaining silence?”

Police on Thursday filed an FIR against Mevani on charges of making provocative speeches that allegedly triggered caste tension between Dalits and Marathas.

He said the Maharashtra government’s decision to file cases against him may anger Dalits, leading to more violence. He made an appeal to the Dalits to maintain peace.

Mevani said he would hold a rally in Delhi on January 9.

Two Hindu grain traders were shot dead by robbers in Sindh province of Pakistan on Friday.

The victims were brothers and identified as Dileep Kumar and Chandra Maheshwari. The incident took place when they opened their shop in the grain market in Tharparkar district, the Express Tribune reported.

According to the police, the robbers came on a bike and tried to snatch the money from the brothers. When they resisted, the robbers shot them dead.

“Thar is the only peaceful place in Pakistan where no theft and dacoit incident take place. This is first such incident,” the daily quoted a resident as saying.

Traders shut their business in the Hindu-dominated areas in the district in protest. People blocked all main roads and staged sit-ins, the daily said.

A young couple who had secretly married but feared their families won’t accept the relationship committed suicide here on Friday, police said.

The body of Ojas Tiwari, 22, was found on the terrace of Surajdeep complex while Kajal Pandey, 20, was found in a pool of blood in the ground floor parking lot after jumping from a five-storey building.

Senior Superintendent of Police Deepak Kumar said Pandey’s uncle had lodged a complaint with police on Thursday midnight accusing Tiwari of eloping with Kajal.

Both were students and lived in the same locality in the old city area of Maqboolganj.

Police believe they had married secretly at a city court some time back but feared that their families would not accept the relationship.

A police officer told IANS that prima facie it appeared that the couple was in a death pact and there were no sign of any struggle or resistance.

A mobile phone without a SIM card was recovered from the crime scene

The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh is in the eye of the storm, yet again, after walls of the Haj House in state capital Lucknow were painted saffron.

Used as a transit place by Muslims on their way to pilgrimage in Mecca, the green-and-white exterior wall of the Haj House have been coated saffron as opposition parties and Muslim clerics slam the Yogi government, accusing it of hurting religious sentiments

However, Mohsin Raza, the minority affairs minister played down the controversy.

“There is no need for controversy in such things, saffron is an energetic and bright looking colour, the building looks beautiful,” Raza said.

“Opposition has no big issues against us so they raise inconsequential things,” he added.

After assuming office, Yogi Adityanath had got the chief minister’s office — Lal Bahadur Shastri Bhawan – in Lucknow painted saffron.

The painting of the Haj House comes in the wake of CM Yogi directing the madarsas in the state to cut down on the number of holidays on Muslim festivals and remain shut on Hindu festivals too.

Reigning King’s Cup holders FC Barcelona took a small step towards the defence of their title when they drew 1-1 away to Celta Vigo in the first leg of their last 16 round tie.

Barca coach Ernesto Valverde will have been pleased by the performance of B-team striker Jose Arnaiz, who scored the team’s goal in the 15th minute of the game on Thursday, reports Xinhua.

Pione Sisto equalised for Celta before half-time, but Barca could have won the game had Sergio Busquets’ long range shot not rebounded off the Celta crossbar.

Valverde, who rested Leo Messi, Luis Suarez and Andres Iniesta, will nevertheless be content with the return of Ousmane Dembele who sustained a calf injury three months ago, but came on as a 72nd minute substitute.

Gareth Bale scored a penalty as Real Madrid won 3-0 away to second division side Numancia, who ended the game with 10 men after defender Pape Diamanka was sent off for a bad challenge on Nacho Fernandez with half an hour remaining in the game.

Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane gave time to players such as Marcos Llorente, Theo Hernandez and Dani Ceballos, but it wasn’t until Isco scored a second penalty in the last minute of the game that the result was secure and Borja Mayoral’s injury-time header assured the return leg will be little more than a formality.

A coach has been booked on charges of rape and also under the POSCO Act for allegedly attempting to rape two minor women athletes.

Superintendent of Police (city) Rohit Sajwan on Friday said, a case under the POCSO Act and for committing rape has been registered against the absconding coach Sahibe Alam.

According to police, a woman athlete alleged that Alam had molested her and attempted to rape her during a tournament in Meeraganj. When the athlete resisted, the coach started harassing her.

Another woman athlete also complained that during the monsoon marathon held in Nainital last month, Alam first showed porn films and then tried to rape her.

After returning from Nainital, the athlete narrated her plight to family members.

After this family members of both athletes lodged a complaint against the coach, and on the orders of SSP Bareilly Jogendra Kumar, a case under the POCSO Act and for committing rape was registered against the coach, police said.

The Indian Premier League player retention event 2018 was full of surprises. Virat Kohli became the most expansive player of the franchise and former Indian skipper MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina reunited with the yellow jersey. Amid all the surprising and shocking retentions, Mumbai Indians (MI) was seen as the team with most balanced retention players.

MI retained its skipper Rohit Sharma along with Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah. Earlier there were speculation doing round on the internet that MI might retain Krunal Pandya, but at the end, it decided to retain Jasprit instead of Krunal.

Meanwhile, just after the announcement, ‘Hit Man of Indian cricket’ Rohit Sharma took it to micro-blogging site Twitter to share his excitement and wrote, “Excited to be part of this wonderful franchise again. This team is what it is today because of its wonderful fans, people who work hard behind the scenes and its passionate owners. Along with @Jaspritbumrah93 and @hardikpandya7 I look forward to the season ahead @mipaltan.”

Excited to be part of this wonderful franchise again. This team is what it is today because of its wonderful fans, people who work hard behind the scenes and it’s passionate owners. Along with @Jaspritbumrah93 and @hardikpandya7 I look forward to the season ahead @mipaltan 😊

— Rohit Sharma (@ImRo45) January 4, 2018

Hardik Pandya, who rose to fame after his inning in the Champions Trophy finale against Pakistani in 2017, also shared his thought on Twitter and wrote, “Mumbai Indians is where I began my successful journey in cricket. I am privileged to continue being a part of the MI family. #CricketMeriJaan @mipaltan,” the 24-year-old tweeted.

Mumbai Indians is where I began my successful journey in cricket. I am privileged to continue being a part of the MI family. #CricketMeriJaan @mipaltan pic.x.com/hYlmnC9u2w

— hardik pandya (@hardikpandya7) January 4, 2018

The best is yet to come. Looking forward to represent this colour once again with utmost happiness! #ForeverBlue #CricketMeriJaan #MumbaiIndians. @mipaltan pic.x.com/Lv8ddPxQ5v

— Jasprit bumrah (@Jaspritbumrah93) January 4, 2018

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday remembered the 10th and the last guru of Sikh community, Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji, on his 351st birthday anniversary.

Banerjee wrote on Twitter; “Heartiest greetings on the 351st birthday of Sri Guru Gobind Singh ji”.

Heartiest greetings on the 351st birthday of Sri Guru Gobind Singh ji pic.x.com/CET30uXG7p

— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) January 5, 2018

Guru Gobind Singh was the tenth guru of the Sikh community. He was the founder of the Sikh warrior community called Khalsa in 1699 and introduced the Five Ks— the five principle of life, the articles of faith the Sikhs wear all the times.

The saint-soldier was born in Patna on 22 December 22, 1666, and was the only son of the ninth guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur and Mata Gujri. In 2018, Guru Gobind Singh Jayanti falls on January 5.

He became the tenth Sikh guru at the age of nine. His birth anniversary is marked as Guru Gobind Singh Jayanti.

Controversy behind Parkash Utsav

In 2017, Akal Takht had announced that Guru Gobind Singh’s birth anniversary would be celebrated as per the Bikrami calendar on December 25, rejecting SGPC’s proposal to follow Nanakshahi calendar in celebrating “Parkash Utsav”.

Earlier, in a executive body meeting, SGPC president Kirpal Singh Badungar had suggested to Akal Takht to celebrate Gurpurb on January 5 instead of December 25 as it coincided with the shaheedi saptah (martyrdom week).

The shaheedi saptah was celebrated from December 22 (the martyrdom day of Guru’s elder sons Ajit Singh and Jhujhar Singh) to December 27 (the martyrdom day of the Guru’s younger sons Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh).

The Shree Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena on Friday demanded a ban on “Padmavati” after slamming Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani and censor board chief Prasoon Joshi for allowing its release with a U/A certificate.

“I want to ask the central government what benefits will they get by supporting this movie? All the Hindu parties from whom we learnt about Hinduism are quiet on this film,” Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi, President of Karni Sena, told the media here.

“The central government is mum on this film as Viacom18 Motion Pictures, which is a foreign company, made it during the time of demonetisation. During a time when we were not able to get Rs 4,000, how come (Sanjay Leela) Bhansali managed to get 160 to 180 crore rupees.”

“Bhansali has even got a certification from Britain through (David) Headley, who is currently in jail. Do I want to know why Bhansali has not been jailed? Why is he not being quizzed about (his) anti-national (activities)?”

The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) last week announced its decision to grant the certification to the controversial Bhansali directorial — subject to five modifications including a title change.

The decision was arrived at following a meeting in the presence of Joshi and a special panel comprising Arvind Singh from Udaipur, historian Chandramani Singh and Professor K.K. Singh of Jaipur University.

However, Gogamedi said: “After watching ‘Padmavati’, Arvind Singh and K.K. Singh said this film will ignite protests. Despite that, Prasoon Joshi has given the green light to the movie.

“If CBFC wanted to take a decision on their own, why they did they invite people from our community? We will soon protest against this movie and will burn effigies of Smriti Irani and Prasoon Joshi.”

Joshi has said the special panel was only for an advisory purpose.

“Padmavati” was earlier slated for release on December 1 but it got caught up in a major row after leaders of the Rajput community claimed the film insulted their history. The makers are yet to make any announcement about the film.

The film features Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh.

Filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani’s much-awaited biopic of Sanjay Dutt will now release on 29th June.

Director Rajkumar Hirani will be directing the no holds barred, Ranbir Kapoor starrer Dutt biopic after the blockbuster hit PK that not only won hearts but broke major records in 2014.

The controversial life of Superstar Sanjay Dutt will be brought to screen by Rajkumar Hirani in the no hold barred story of the film.

The Ranbir Kapoor starrer has been the talk of the town ever since the film was announced owing to multiple reasons.

The audience has been always intrigued to witness a Rajkumar Hirani directorial, being the biopic of the prominent actor Sanjay Dutt has added to the excitement.

The cherry on the top is the portrayal by Ranbir Kapoor who has time and again proved his acting prowess in multiple films.

Rajkumar Hirani is particularly known for his entertaining yet intriguing storylines, it will be interesting to know how the filmmaker presents the controversial life of Sanjay Dutt on screen.

The Sanjay Dutt biopic has been the matter of discussions as the audience holds keen interest to witness the film, the initial looks of Ranbir Kapoor striking uncanny resemblance has got everyone all the more excited.

Starring an ensemble cast of Ranbir Kapoor, Manisha Koirala, Paresh Rawal, Anushka Sharma, Dia Mirza and Sonam Kapoor amongst others, the film is undoubtedly one of the most awaited flicks of the year.

Presented by Fox Star, the untitled Dutt biopic is directed by Rajkumar Hirani, produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Rajkumar Hirani and is slated to release on 29th June 2018.

Thousands of people were left stranded across Tamil Nadu as government buses went off the roads on Friday morning following an indefinite strike called by more than 40 trade unions, officials said.

The strike was called after the unions and Transport Minister M.R. Vijayabaskar failed to reach a settlement despite several rounds of talks over pending salaries and settlement of benefits to retired staff.

Members of trade unions affiliated to the ruling AIADMK, however, operated some bus services.

A senior official from the Transport department said private buses were also engaged to fulfil the passenger demand. He said the authorities had decided to engage private bus drivers and conductors to operate government buses.

Although the strike began in most places on Friday, the crew deserted their posts on Thursday night in places like Trichy, Madurai, Dindigul, Tirunveveli and Ramanathapuram.

Authorities have beefed up the security in Chennai and deployed more than 20,000 police personnel around bus depots. The police have said they will take stringent action against those disrupting operational bus services.

Virat Kohli on Thursday became the only player to be retained by an IPL – Royal Challengers Bangalore -franchise for an amount higher than that set by the IPL (INR 15 crore) for the first player retained, while Kolkata Knight Riders dumped their long standing captain Gautam Ghambir.

MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja have returned to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) while Steven Smith is back with Rajasthan Royals(RR).

CSK and RR are back in the IPL after serving two-year ban.

Eight teams have retained only 18 players-three each by CSK, Delhi Daredevils, RCB and Mumbai Indians. Sunrisers Hyderabad, KKR (two each) Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals (one each).

In a press release, Royal Challengers Bangalore said, “For the 11th season of IPL, we are pleased to retain Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Sarfaraz Khan.

Virat has been a part of Royal Challengers Bangalore since the inception of the league and is the team’s captain – on and off the field.

“We believe that together Virat, AB de Villers and Sarfaraz embody the ‘play bold and fearless’ outlook that is inherent in RCB, and we are excited to retain them for IPL 2018.”

Kohli will receive Rs 17 crore by RCB for the 2018 season. Young batsman Sarfaraz Khan was the only uncapped player to be retained at the player-retention event in Mumbai on January 4.

After, the 10^th edition year of the tournament in 2017, the existing squads were disbanded, apart from the players retained by the teams.

The 2018 edition of the IPL will see most of the participating teams having a new look if one goes by the retention list.

The list was released on Thursday, the last day for the submission on the names to the IPL

The following players were retained by the teams.

Chennai Super Kings

MS Dhoni (Rs 15 crore), Suresh Raina (Rs 11 crore), Ravindra Jadeja (Rs 7 crore)

Delhi Daredevils

Rishabh Pant (Rs 8 crore), Chris Morris (Rs  7.1 crore), Shreyas Iyer (RS  7 crore)

Kings XI Punjab

Axar Patel (6.75 crore)

Kolkata Knight Riders

Sunil Narine (Rs 8.5 crore), Andre Russell (Rs 7 crore)

Mumbai Indians

Rohit Sharma (Rs 15 crore), Hardik Pandya (Rs  11 crore), Jasprit Bumrah (Rs  7 crore)

Rajasthan Royals

Steven Smith (Rs 12 crore)

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Virat Kohli (Rs 17 crore), AB de Villiers (Rs 11 crore), Sarfaraz Khan (Rs 1.75 crore)

Sunrisers Hyderabad

David Warner (Rs 12 crore), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (INR 8.5 crore)

The IPL set the salary cap to form a squad for 2018 at INR 80 crore (approx. $12.4 million). A franchise is allowed to pick up to five of their existing players through a combination of retention ahead of the auction and the right-to-match card during the auction.

A team can retain up to three players ahead of the auction and use a maximum of three right-to-match cards during the auction.

If a franchise retains the maximum of three players before the auction, it will lose from the salary cap INR 15 crore for the first player, INR 11 crore for the second, and INR 7 crore for the third.

If only two players are retained, then the first will cost the franchise INR 12.5 crore from the salary cap, and the second INR 8.5 crore. If only one player is retained, then he will cost the franchise INR 12.5 crore from the salary cap.

The IPL has also imposed a salary cap of INR 3 crore for uncapped players retained before the auction.

Each franchise can retain a maximum of three capped India players, two overseas players and two uncapped Indian players.

Chinese technology company Lenovo on Thursday refreshed its “ThinkPad” laptop line-up with “ThinkPad X”, “ThinkPad T” and “ThinkPad L” series ahead of the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, starting from January 7.

The new laptops are thinner and lighter, featuring 8th-generation Intel Core processors, the company said in a statement. The devices come with a broader support of facial recognition for Windows Hello and “ThinkShutter” physical webcam cover for camera security.

The new “ThinkPad L” series sports Lenovo’s “Yoga” design and 13-inch displays. The new devices come with USB type-C power adapters and mechanical side-docking option for ubiquitous compatibility and key-lock security.

Lenovo “ThinkPad X380 Yoga” has been “Mil-Spec” tested for durability and has “Rapid Charge” technology that delivers 80 per cent charge in 60 minutes, the company claimed.

The Lenovo “ThinkPad X280” offers up to 16.6 hours while “X380 Yoga” offers up to 13.6 hours of battery life. The price of “ThinkPad X280” starts at $999 while “X380 Yoga” at $1,459. The “ThinkPad L380 Yoga” will start at $549 while “L380” will be available at $449.

The “ThinkPad T580” features infrared (IR) camera, fingerprint reader and “ThinkShutter” camera privacy. The “Weighing 2.9 pounds, this is one of the lightest business laptops in its category,” the company said.

Coming to “ThinkPad T480”, it is available at $989 while price of “T480s” starts at $1,269 and T580 at $1,079. The “ThinkPad L480” will start at $779 and “L580” at $7692.

Lenovo has introduced new security features like the IR camera, fingerprint reader and ThinkShutter Camera in ThinkPad T lineup. The company claims that the ThinkPad T480s is one of the lightest business laptops in its category.

Lenovo “ThinkPad L580” sports a 13-inch form factor and optional multi-touch displays with new discrete AMD graphics. This device will be available from February.

The company also announced Lenovo Tablet 10 which is powered by Intel Celeron N-Series processor.

(Written with inputs from IANS)

The latest release of the Tamil horror-comedy film, Balloon, has sparked a controversy between the producers and the lead actor Jai as reported by a source.

The producers of the film, Nandakumar and Arun Balaji have appealed to the Producers Council to register a complaint and are slamming the lead actor with allegations depicting his unprofessional behavior during shoots that not only delayed the release of the film for over a year but also made them suffer a loss of over 1.5 Crore.

Even the director of Balloon, Sinish Sreedharan, took to twitter to express his disappointment for the entire film controversy due to the unprofessional behavior of ‘some’ people.

#BalloonHit..But im not Happy pic.x.com/Q0S2HAMICP

— SinisH (@sinish_s) January 2, 2018

As of now there is no statement from Jai’s side, but even after all this, the producer Badri Kasthuri from Jai’s next film Jarugandi took to twitter to show some support for the actor.

Dear @Actor_Jai congrats for the success of Ballon. Reading the speculations in ballon I find it very weird and I haven’t seen any delay or unprofessional approach in the journey of making #Jarugandi Things will fall in place. My best wish to you

— Badri Kasturi (@badri_kasturi) January 5, 2018

Deepika Padukone, the 32-year-old Bollywood actress, is without a doubt brilliant in her craft. She played the graceful yet brave ‘Mastani’, the independent ‘Piku‘ or the studious ‘Naina,’ and many more versatile roles and did justice to the characters. Deepika broadened her horizon and went on to accept an action movie, XxX: Return of Xander cage in Hollywood. The dimpled beauty made the Bollywood industry and India proud. However, what makes us take pride the most is how fierce as a woman she is. Here are the few instances which prove that she is the one who speaks her mind.

Fighting depression

Deepika was vocal and vulnerable in public when she spoke about the phase when she fought depression. The actress was brave enough to share it with the media and audience which made her an inspiration for all the others fighting with the same problem. She stood up and spoke about what is always hushed.

The ‘cleavage’ controversy

Deepika spoke against the article written by a leading newspaper that totally focused on the actress cleavage show. Thrashing the newspaper for such disrespectful act, she was unapologetic about everything she said. She voiced her opinion on twitter and taught everyone that objectifying any woman is wrong.

The not-so-secret ex

The beautiful smile on the actress’ face may seem deceptive seeing how much she has been through in her career. Deepika was not at all shy to open up about the failed relationship she experienced. In fact, she handled it with grace and dignity. You go girl.

Padmavati row

How can we forget the most recent controversy that her upcoming movie is tangled in. The film portrays Rani Padmavati who performed johar to save herself from Allauddin Khilji. The Karni Sena and Rajput community stood against the release of the movie. But the actress stood her grounds even after getting death threats. Valiant, isn’t she?

Father’s letter

She read in an award function the letter written by her father when she began her journey as an actor. The actress is not at all scared of portraying her emotional side in front of anybody and fans love her for that. She shared the letter with everyone without being pretentious.

On her birthday, we hope she keeps her spirit up and continues inspiring people. And, stay the beautiful, brave and bold woman she is.