As the market becomes more competitive amid aggressive 4G rollout and more people adopting digital payment methods, smartphones in India will represent 62 per cent of all mobile phones sales in 2018, market research firm Gartner predicted on Friday.

The rise of digital currency is bringing a new use case for smartphones, which, in turn, is set to trigger higher demands for smartphones. 

This opens the opportunity for service providers to launch mobile wallet solution or even vendors to launch their exclusive mobile payment solutions like Android Pay or Apple Pay to build an ecosystem, Gartner said.

"India represents the largest opportunity because it is the second-largest mobile phone market after China," said Anshul Gupta, Research Director, Gartner.

Ever rising competition from Chinese manufacturers has not only troubled top local brands such as Micromax, Intex, Lava and Karbonn mobile but also resulted in a decrease in smartphone market share for global leader Samsung in India. 

Leading global vendors Samsung and Apple have made exclusive plans to grow their shares in the market. 

Gionee, Huawei, Oppo, Xiaomi and Lenovo, etc. have committed big investments to exploit the growth opportunity, the report added. 

"With an exclusive focus on the market from the device manufacturers, we expect more customised smartphones to come to market and remain key to win in this highly competitive market," Gupta said.

Majuli, the world's largest inhabited river island, is famous for the many features unique to it — the Neo-Vaishnavite "Satras" (institutional centres) dating back to the 15th century, the colourful yet simple lifestyle and culture of the Mising tribe, the art of mask-making, and the even more ancient art of pottery practised by villagers.

It was a dilemma for a wandering tourist to decide what to see and what not to until Root Bridge, an advocacy group for ethical and responsible travels, recently launched a novel initiative called "Majuli on Cycle" to present to the visitors the soul of the river Island as it exists.

Designed as a cultural immersion initiative by Root Bridge, in association with the Assam Tourism Development Corporation (ATDC) and ESAF, the microfinance institution, Majuli on Cycle not only presented the soul of Majuli to a group of visitors this Rongali Bihu but also became the first such curated carbon-free story-telling tour ever conducted in the river island.

At least 25 people, including domestic and foreign tourists, took part in Majuli on Cycle — a day-long cycle ride to visit a Mising village to experience the life and culture of the tribe, an agriculture farm to see agricultural practices in one of the largest deltas in the world, to try their hands at the ancient art of mask-making at Chamaguri Satra and also to witness potters at Salmora village.

"This is a novel idea. The cycle ride was exotic. We enjoyed every minute. It's a great initiative and we were able to know the life of people of Majuli, its culture, art, history and about the heritage of the island in a single day," said Dominik, a tourist from Germany, who participated in the initiative conducted on the first day of Rongali Bihu (April 14).

This Root Bridge-introduced carbon-free storytelling tour in the island aims to set a benchmark for "Thoughtful Travel" in the world's largest river island.

"Unlike a regular tour, the organisers took us through offbeat roads and the bicycle was the mode of travel. Accompanied by the 'storytellers' of Root Bridge, we rode on the bicycle through paddy fields, crossed a rivulet and a river bed, witnessed and enjoyed the farming practices of the people in the island," said Stephinie, another tourist from Germany.

"We also witnessed the art of mask-making at Chamaguri Satra, which is one of the main attractions for tourists in the island, and saw locals in Salmora village making pottery without using a potter's wheel… It's interesting," Stephinie added. Some say Salmora pottery is much like Harappan pottery.

Majuli Superintendent of Police (SP) Vaibhav Nimbalkar flagged off the maiden Majuli on Cycle ride.

"Cycle is the best way to explore this beautiful river island. Root Bridge's initiative will help tourists experience Majuli in a better way. I wish more people explore the island using the carbon-free ride," said the SP while appreciating the Root Bridge initiative.

Root Bridge storytellers also took the tourists to a Mising village, so that they could participate in the ancient ritual of bathing the cattle on the first day of Rongali Bihu, which is called "Goru Bihu". "It's a wonderful feeling to experience the local culture in the company of locals," Stephinie added.

The tourists were then taken to an agriculture farm where they saw the agricultural practices followed by the locals. The tourists were welcomed in the village with a Mising Bihu dance and Dhol (a traditional drum-like musical instrument) performance by the villagers to give them a slice of Mising culture.

All the programmes were specially curated for the visitors to showcase the life and culture of the Mising community.

In the evening, the tourists were taken to the river bank to have the magnificent view of sunset over the mighty Brahmaputra river. As they? enjoyed the breathtaking sunset view, a musical "jugalbandi" (fusion) of Pepa, Gagana (traditional musical instruments played during Bihu songs), and Bihu song and dance was also performed by rural artistes.

"Root Bridge wants to create a benchmark for thoughtful travel in Majuli. Majuli has a character and a soul. This should be preserved. We are against mass tourism. We will introduce a curated storytelling cycle tour in Majuli on daily basis, which will help both travellers and host community," said Root Bridge founder Javed.

"We are so happy and overwhelmed by the government's positive gesture for our humble project," he added.

The organisation also awarded Root Bridge Annual Award 2017 to the veteran exponent of Dhol, Bogai Bora Ojah, for his contribution towards highlighting the culture of Majuli in particular and northeast India in general.

"The Root Bridge award is instituted to honour some of the unsung heroes of northeast India. This is the first year. In fact we felt honoured to honour Bogai Bora Ojah, who had been contributing immensely towards the culture of the island and northeast India as a whole, which has indirectly helped travel and tourism industry," Javed said.

The Annual award would be conferred upon one such unsung heroe of the region every year, Javen added.

(IANS)

India will pay "dearly" if it continues the "petty game" of playing the Dalai Lama card, Chinese media warned on Friday, dismissing as "absurd" New Delhi's reaction to Beijing renaming six places in Arunachal Pradesh.

Referring to allegations that it was "silly for China" not to have names for various counties and inventing them for six places in Arunachal Pradesh, an op-ed article in the state-run Global Times said "these comments are absurd .

"It is time for India to do some serious thinking over why China announced the standardised names in South Tibet at this time," the article titled 'India playing Dalai card worsens territorial spats with China' said.

The daily said "playing the Dalai Lama card" was never a wise choice for New Delhi.

"If India wants to continue this petty game, it will only end up in playing dearly for it," the daily said.

"South Tibet (Arunachal Pradesh) is historically part of China and name of the places there is part of the local ethnic culture. It is legitimate for the Chinese government to standardise the names of the places," it said.

China claims Arunachal Pradesh as 'South Tibet'.

China on April 19 announced that it has "standardised" official names for six places in the northeastern state and termed the provocative move as a "legitimate action".

The Chinese move came days after Beijing lodged strong protests with India over the Dalai Lama's visit to the frontier state.

India yesterday hit out at China for giving Chinese names to six areas of Arunachal Pradesh, saying assigning invented names to towns of the neighbour does not make illegal territorial claims legal.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Gopal Baglay also asserted that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India.

Chinese Foreign Ministry s spokesman Lu Kang said earlier that Chinese government is conducting the second nationwide survey on geographical names, "an important task to standardise the geographical names in the languages of ethnic minority groups." 

He also said more standardised names will be announced later.

"In the next step, we will also step up our study of those names in Tibetan ethnic languages and in the next step we will announce more standardisation of these names," he said.

Highlighting China's stand on the border dispute, the Global Times said, "China has been making efforts to solve the territorial disputes with India, but over the past decades, India has not only increased migration to the disputed area and boosted its military construction there, but it also named Arunachal Pradesh, China's South Tibet, as a formal state of India in 1987." 

"Putting the Dalai Lama into its toolbox against China is another trick played by New Delhi lately. New Delhi would be too ingenuous to believe that the region belongs to India simply because the Dalai Lama says so," it said.

"India seems to have become trapped in its stubbornness to measure its strength with China. But territorial disputes cannot be settled by comparing which side is stronger or which country has more leverage. Otherwise, there is no need for Beijing to sit down with New Delhi at the negotiating table," it said in an apparent reference to 19 rounds of India-China boundary talks.

The India-China border dispute covers the 3,488 km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC). While China claims Arunachal Pradesh as South Tibet, India asserts that the dispute covers Aksai Chin area which was occupied by China during the 1962 war.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday accused the BJP of trying to cover up its corruption in the three municipal corporations by projecting the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the civic polls, and asserted the strategy would not work.

Citing poor sanitation in the national capital which is leading to a rise in vector-borne diseases such as dengue, he said there is no hope from the BJP and that the only hope for the people of Delhi is his Aam Aadmi Party.

"The hope of the BJP is only Narendra Modi through which the party wants to cover up its corruption and the poor sanitation condition.

"How will Modi-ji improve the situation in MCD. Work in the MCD will not be undertaken by Narendra Modi, but local BJP leaders Vijendra Gupta and others," Kejriwal said in an interview.

He also accused the BJP of "completely destroying" the MCD during its 10-year rule.

The elections to all the 272 wards of the three civic bodies where the BJP, Congress and the AAP are locked in a triangular battle will be held on Sunday.

A 22-year-old woman on Friday allegedly committed suicide after jumping in front of a moving train at Ghitorni Metro station here.

Officials said the incident was reported at about 10:40 AM when a train going towards Samaypur Badli was entering the platform No-2 of the station.

The unidentified woman was killed on the spot after she allegedly jumped before the train, they said, adding police is investigating the case.
 

To promote religious tourism in Uttar Pradesh, the Yogi Adityanath government intends to link the places of tourist and pilgrim interest in the state with helicopter service.

This was conveyed by the chief minister during a presentation of Toursim Department when he asked the officials concerned to link major tourist centres including Lucknow, Mathura, Vrindavan, Ayodhya, Prayag (Allahabad), Vindhyachal, Naimisharanya, Chitrakoot, Kushinagar and Varanasi and other places of tourist importance with helicopter service, an official spokesman said here today.

The chief minister instructed during the presentation late last night that the civil aviation department should link these places with the help of public-private participation.

He instructed that the Agra-Lucknow-Varanasi and Lucknow- Allahabad-Gorakhpur sectors be included under the regional connectivity scheme of the central government for providing low cost air service.

Stressing on boosting health tourism with focus on yoga, he suggested preparing a work plan at the earliest for conducting programmes in Gorakhpur and Varanasi.

Instructing officials to make special efforts for boosting investment in tourism sector, he mooted a proposal of appointing 500 tourist police for providing better facilities and cooperation to tourists coming to the state.

Proposing organising an international literary festival of Hindi and Sanskrit in Varanasi, he said it could be used for showcasing Indian culture.

The chief minister suggested organising a road show and food festival in Mumbai in July, besides setting up a one-stop travel solutions portal in eight foreign languages and a detailed plan for developing the state as a medical and wellness tourism destination, the spokesman added.
 

Jivi Mobiles on Friday launched a new feature phone "Sumo T3000" with a powerful 3600 mAh battery that claims to keep the phone charged up to 50 days.

"The device ‘Sumo T3000' has a potent battery which will help the people keep them going when they work tirelessly with all their might," said Pankaj Anand, CEO, Jivi Mobiles, in a statement.

Priced at Rs.1,490, the device comes with 2.8-inch screen size. It also features camera with flash, auto call record, mobile tracker, torch light, GPRS and many more.

"We are extremely happy to introduce our new device to match the needs of people who are constantly supporting us in a big way," Anand added.

Brazil football great Ronaldinho has revealed he was "very close" to joining Manchester United instead of FC Barcelona.

Ronaldinho was pursued by the English Premier League club but eventually signed with the Spanish giants from Paris Saint-Germain for a reported fee of €30 million ($32.17 million), reports Xinhua news agency.

"When I was leaving PSG and before I came to Barcelona I had that chance [to join United] – and I was very close," Ronaldinho was quoted as saying by Gazeta Esportiva.

"United are a big club and any player would like to play for a big club, but I think I chose the correct league and the correct club.

"I have no regrets. I achieved my goals," Ronaldinho, a World Cup winner with Brazil in 2002, said.

"There are a lot of clubs where any player would like to play so it's difficult to pick just one. In every country there are two, three or four big teams and any player would love to be there.

"I had the chance to play for a lot of different teams in the Premier League, but I think all the choices I made were the right ones," he added.

Ronaldinho enjoyed the most successful years of his career at Barcelona, winning back-to-back FIFA world player of the year awards and a Champions League trophy before his 2008 move to Italian giants AC Milan.

Union Minister for Law and Justice and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday invited Punjab to be a part of the Digital India revolution of the Narendra Modi government, and suggested several ways for the state to raise the bar of development and generate employment for its youth.

The suggestions came during a meeting with Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, who paid a courtesy call on the Union Minister, according to an official spokesperson of the Punjab Government.

Prasad suggested to the chief minister that the Punjab government should pitch for the central government funded and aided projects in the field of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and electronic manufacturing to fast-track its growth.

The CM evinced keen interest to join the nation’s digital revolution to create an enabling environment for the state’s development and progress. He directed Chief Principal Secretary Suresh Kumar to guide the concerned departments to pitch for the central government projects for digitalisation and development of electronic manufacturing facilities in the state.

The possibility of setting up a BPO centre in Patiala, the constituency of the CM, was discussed and Captain Amarinder instructed Suresh Kumar to explore the same in right earnest. CM also responded with enthusiasm to the Union Minister’s suggestion for extending the Central government’s Dalit entrepreneurship project to the state as a step towards empowerment of the Dalits – a key manifesto promise of his government. The Central government’s Stand Up India Initiative is aimed at the creation of 2.5 lakh new entrepreneurs in the SC/ST and women categories.

Prasad was of the view that the programme could benefit the Dalit community in Punjab in a big way, while taking forward the Captain Amarinder government’s vision to build an inclusive society with empowered backward classes and SCs/STs. Captain Amarinder said the central government’s support in this regard would make a significant positive impact on the state’s development agenda. He agreed that digitisation held the key to Punjab’s progress, besides emerging as a vital tool in the generation of employment for the large number of unemployed youth in the state.

US authorities have prepared charges to seek the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, officials told CNN on Friday.

The Justice Department investigation of Assange and WikiLeaks dates to at least 2010, when the site first gained wide attention for posting thousands of files stolen by the former US Army intelligence analyst Bradley Manning now known as Chelsea Manning.

During former President Barack Obama's administration, Attorney General Eric Holder and officials at the Justice Department determined it would be difficult to bring charges against Assange because WikiLeaks was not alone in publishing documents stolen by Manning, reports CNN. 

The investigation continued, but any possible charges were put on hold, according to US officials involved in the process then.

Last week, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director Mike Pompeo called WikiLeaks a "non-state hostile intelligence service often abetted by state actors like Russia".

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said at a news conference on Thursday that Assange's arrest is a "priority", CNN reported.

"We are going to step up our effort and already are stepping up our efforts on all leaks," he said. 

According to Assange's lawyer Barry Pollack, there has been no communication between him and the Justice Department about any charges against the Australian whistleblower.

Pollack said WikiLeaks is just like any other news daily which routinely publish stories based on classified information. 

WikiLeaks, he says, publishes information that is in "the public's interest to know not just about the US but other governments around the world."

Assange, has been staying at the Ecuadorian embassy in London since 2012, reports the BBC.

He was granted asylum by Ecuador to prevent his extradition to Sweden on sexual assault charges.

In a major setback to the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government just two days ahead of the MCD polls, the Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed AAP's plea to use Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail-enabled Electronic Voting Machine.

The AAP on April 19 moved the Delhi High Court seeking the use of Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines along with the EVMs for the upcoming MCD polls.

The petition to use VVPAT EVMs in the MCD elections was filed by AAP candidate Mohammad Tahir Hussain.

The AAP and the Congress have been demanding that the Election Commission should conduct polls using paper ballots instead of EVMs.

The issue of EVM tampering came to light when BSP leader and former Uttar Pradesh CM Mayawati alleged that BJP received a massive mandate in the state because of fault in the machines.

Nepal has scaled down the size of its first-ever military exercise with China after facing strong opposition from India, state-run Chinese media claimed on Friday.

The 10-day joint military exercise, code-named 'Sagarmatha Friendship 2017', commenced in Nepal from April 16.

"It was said the two countries initially planned to hold a battalion-scale military exercises. However, facing a strong opposition from India, Nepal had to compress the size of the military exercise and change the venue to a military school," an article in the state-run Global Times said.

"For Nepal, the joint military exercise has a deeper significance. For starters, it shows that Nepal moves forward in its pursuit of a balanced diplomacy among major powers.

Since the 1990s, balanced diplomacy has become the basic principle of Nepal's foreign strategy, which is established based on Nepal's nationalism and anti-Indian sentiment," the article said.

Chinese official media has been expressing its frustration over the fall of pro-China Nepalese Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli who was replaced by Prachanda.

For China, the fall of the Oli regime was a big disappointment and a setback to its planned big push into Nepal through Tibet with rail and highway linkages to expand its influence in the landlocked country which was dependent on India for all its supplies, according to analysts.

Prachanda sought to improve ties with India much to the chagrin of Beijing.

"Nepal's dependence on India in political, economic, cultural and other aspects as well as India's ambition to make Nepal its sphere of influence has made most people in Nepal fear losing their national independence as Sikkim did," the article claimed.

"Holding joint military exercises with China can contribute to deterring ethnic separatism in Nepal," it said without elaborating.

China has expressed its backing for Nepal's new constitution which was strongly resisted by Madhesis over fears that it marginalised their political and constitutional rights.

"It is a normal development for China to hold a military exercise with Nepal as Nepal is China's friendly neighbour.

There are many countries which have held joint military exercises, including India, with China. South Asia is a terrorism-prone region. Now that China and Nepal have developed closer economic relations, Nepal hopes to join China's Belt and Road initiative, for which regional security and stability is a necessity," it said.

The joint military exercise shows that the "bilateral diplomatic relations have expanded from political, economic and cultural to the field of military defence. But for China, this is just one aspect of the overall national security outlook proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping".

"Nepal has taken a cautious attitude to avoid provoking India. The drill does not violate the Treaty of Peace and Friendship inked by Nepal and India in 1950," it said.

"Due to geographic, political, economic, historic, religious and cultural factors, India has wielded much bigger influence over Nepal than China. Nepal cannot cut its economic ties with India," it said.

India views small South Asian countries such as Nepal and Bhutan as its "sphere of influence and a strategic buffer zone against China".

"It sees their relations with China from a geopolitical standpoint and a Cold-War mentality," it said.

"Given the rise of nationalism in India, especially the prevalence of nationalistic sentiments among India's diplomatic circles, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken a tough China policy since assuming office. India is concerned about China's economic cooperation with South Asia and the region around the Indian Ocean and wants to push back China's influence," it claimed.

Over the past two years, "India has raised a couple of unreasonable requests toward and imposed pressure on China, dragging the Sino-Indian relations into a vicious cycle".

If New Delhi does not change its mentality, it will be "paranoid" about every cooperation between China and South Asian countries, it said.

"China has a clear-cut approach toward China-Nepal-India trilateral relations. It hopes Nepal can become a bridge between China and India. By pushing forward the China-Nepal- India economic corridor, it can boost development in all three countries. No matter how India views cooperation between China and Nepal, such cooperation will continue to expand, as it fits the interests of both peoples," it said.

Nepal's President Bidhya Devi Bhandari is in India on her first overseas tour. She arrived on a five-day trip to India on April 17.
 

Actress Zoe Saldana says her film career has helped her in dealing with the male energy in her personal life and knows how to handle being “outnumbered” by them.

The 38-year-old actress says her action films have kept her on toes and it has been a learning experience, reported ET Online.

“I'm used to it. I've done all these action movies that I'm usually outnumbered (in), you know?” Saldana joked at the premiere of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2.

The actress recently gave birth to her third son, Zen, in February and has two-year-old twins, Cy and Bowie, with husband Marco Perego.

Talking about her children, Saldana says, “Once they grow up and they become dudes, I'm gonna rub it in their face. I'm gonna be so girly, they're gonna be annoyed by their mom every single day.”

Learning various skills would now be fun for the students of New Delhi Municipal Council's 10 schools, as the Council is planning to impart 3D printing, robotics, graphic design, animation and others as part of the skill development course and co-curricular activity in a very innovative manner in specially-designed technologically advance laboratories.

Claiming to be the first of its kind initiative in any of the capital's government schools, started under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Kaushal Vikhash Yojna", the NDMC official said that kids will learn the coding of software and hardware in 'fun way". "The council is in the process of inviting tenders for the purpose," he said. "This will help in giving students extraordinary levels of motivation and opportunity to exercise their imagination as well as practice skills that will serve them in future in an exciting new way," said the official.

NDMC chairman Naresh Kumar had made the announcement in its budget speech, saying, "Skill development courses, like 3D Printing and Robotics, along with academics in collaboration with private sectors will be started for students of class IX and XII. NDMC's Best School Running Trophies (Gold, Silver and Bronze) will be given to the best school performing in all aspects, including academics, extracurricular activities, building maintenance and greenery." He had said that the councill will develop a World Class Skill Development Centre at Moti Bagh for running futuristic skill development courses such as 3D printing, automation and robotics.

According to Kumar, 333 classes from class I to V will be converted into Smart Classrooms in 2017-18 and will be provided with highend computers, interactive white boards, short-throw projectors and other hardware similar to 444 Smart Classrooms already completed. Work of upgrading libraries of these 10 schools into digital will be taken up so that anyone can access it online. To bring down the weight of the school bags as well as to provide the latest available education updates, each student will be given a TABLET.

Actor Ruslaan Mumtaz, who has been featuring in TV shows and films for almost a decade now, feels that people working in the entertainment industry dont judge women on the basis of their looks.

"People don't judge women within the industry, but I have friends, who have no connection with the film industry. They think that these women are very easy and they have a misconception about them," Ruslaan said in a statement.

"Whenever I meet anybody, whatever interactions I have with them, I try to change their perception about the industry. But it's not easy," he added.

Ruslaan will next be seen as a cricketer, named Tanmay, in the upcoming episode of MTV Big F Season 2 which will focus on the life of a cheerleader Jhanvi (Krissan Barretto) and the hardships she goes through in the male-dominated industry where she is considered easy and available. 

"Being an actor, I have interacted with so many actresses and have had close friends who are actresses. In fact my mother is also an actor, and these women might seem very glamorous in front of the camera. 

"There are shoots and photographs which are revealing, but I know the real them. We all work because that's our job, but that's not the real us," Ruslaan said.

"Even judging someone like a cheerleader because of dancing in skimpy clothes is a very wrong mentality and we need to change that. I think the youth of India is slowly rearing towards that. Slowly and steadily in a few years' time women will be able to wear and dress however they want, without being judged," he added.

The episode of MTV Big F Season 2 featuring Ruslaan will be aired on Sunday.

In order to put a check over incidences of 'theft' and other 'malpractices,' the Dr. B.R Ambedkar Central Library of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is planning to have 'technological intervention'.

The library will now use Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technique and 'Film Strip' to catch those who try to take books outside the library without getting it issued. For this, the books would be implanted with RFID chips which will beep if someone passed the security check with an unissued book. The chip would be 'deactivated' if the student gets the book issued.

"We will put RFID tag/chip on the active collections of books which are in regular use, or are in much demand among students and faculty. We will also put it over costly books. For books which are less issued, and for thesis and bound volumes we are planning to put a Film Strip," said Dr. Ramesh C. Gaur, University Librarian.

Film Strips are not as costly as RFID tags. JNU library is 24*7 with thousands of students accessing it at a time. However, there are several incidences of 'thefts' of books, reading materials, laptops, mouse and other devices causing a loss to both University and students. "We generally do not allow students to carry personal books into the library but after the introduction of RFID tag, we will allow entry to personal books also," said Dr. Gaur. Further, in order to enhance its security check, the central library is also planning to install 'advanced' Closed Circut Television (CCTV ) cameras with high resolution in its reading rooms and passages.

"We have already 1 or 2 CCTVs installed but they are not fully functional or operational and fail to cater to our requirement. We need CCTVs with recording and viewing facility and so we will implant adequate number of CCTVs in all the eight reading rooms of our library," said the Librarian. Also, the library is planning to have 'Occupational Sensor' lights as a part of its energy conservation effort. These specific lights will only glow at the position when it is occupied by someone while for rest of the time they will automatically remain switched off. Also, normal lights would now be replaced with LED lights.

Actress Sonal Sehgal, who is playing the female lead in Rahat Kazmis forthcoming film Mantostaan — based on the stories of celebrated writer Saadat Hasan Manto — says that most of the women characters in his oeuvre were very humane.

The actress who is playing Kalwant Kaur, from one of Manto's Thanda Gosht, is excited to be a part of Mantostaan, an amalgamation of four short stories- Khol Do, Thanda Ghosht, Aakhri Salute and Assignment.

Asked why such fascination, Sonal told : "I think all the women characters in his stories are emancipated. And that is interesting. Even in his short stories, in a small length… he managed to encapsulate various shades of emotions in every character. They are not black and white, they are humane with flaws and positivity."

Taking the example of the character of Kalwant Kaur, Sonal elaborated: "Though she was a mistress, she was a lady with integrity who did not tolerate infidelity. I think that is the beauty of the character where Manto did not judge her. In modern days, we are also celebrating flaws of an individual that Manto started doing back then. Perhaps that is why he is still relevant."

It is interesting to know how an author of the 1940s is popular not only in India and Pakistan, but also in the West.

She said: "Yes, it is true and in the beginning I was surprised. We have travelled a lot with this film at various festivals in London, San Francisco and other places where people showed their interest to know about the philosophy and ideology of Manto."

"Later we found out that there is a course in literature syllabus on Manto. No wonder, we have got so much positive response and Manto is so popular out there." 

As she is playing a strong character in Mantostaan, what are her thoughts on the modern women-centric Hindi films?

She said: "The subtle feminism is missing, which needs to be maintained. And for that, it does not have to be a so-called ‘women-oriented' film. Even in a regular story, a woman character can have her own mind. All we need is good writing that captures human emotions in a balanced manner."

She added: "We do not have to show over-the-top and loud characters to project feminism. That will be preachy and we don't have to show a woman like a doormat. Managing that subtlety is an art."

She started her career in television and gained popularity with shows like Saara Akaash and Hotel Kingston. 

Sonal then made her debut on the big screen with the National Film Award-winning director Nagesh Kukunoor's movie Aashayein opposite John Abraham in 2010. 

After a while, she stopped working in films frequently.

"I am a bit choosy about scripts and it becomes hard for me to act just for a good pay check. I know it is a business of entertainment, but at the end of the day… it is an art. Since acting is a very demanding art that takes a lot from you – emotional and physical strength, if I am not convinced, it will reflect on my performance," said Sonal.

Mantostaan is slated to release on May 5.