Bollywood actor Taapsee Pannu wrapped up shooting for the multi-starrer ‘Mission Mangal’.
She took to Instagram to share a click of herself from the sets of the film to commemorate the end of shooting.
“End of another beautiful journey….. #MissionMangal comes to an end for ‘Kritika Aggarwal’ Every film comes n goes like a teacher of sorts, this one gave a true demo of what is the magic of team work…. with such wonderful actors together in one frame it was truly an experience to treasure and cherish. This August 15th will be the celebration of this super power called India Mission Director ‘Rakesh Dhawan’,” she wrote alongside the picture.
In the monochrome photo, Taapsee can be seen dressed in a saree with her hair tied in a braid. She can also be seen sporting a mangalsutra along with earrings.
‘Mission Mangal’ focuses on the story of a group of scientists at Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) who contributed to the Mars Orbiter Mission, which marked India’s first interplanetary expedition.
Apart from Taapsee, the movie also features Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha, Vidya Balan, Sharman Joshi, Kirti Kulhari and Nithya Menon.
The film is helmed by Jagan Shakti and co-produced by ‘PadMan’ director R Balki. It is slated to release on August 15, 2019.
Less than three months after recovering from a surgery, 45-year-old Anjali Saraogi retained her title in the IDBI Federal Life Insurance Kolkata Marathon with a career-best timing on Sunday. Seniormost runner in the women’s field, Anjali clocked 3 hour 16 minutes 54 seconds to win the race and better her last year’s timing of 3:30:53. Samiksha Rai (4:04:40) was second while Rashmi Somani (4:15:24) took the third place. Before this, Anjali also ran in Mumbai Marathon last month and finished second in the amateur category.
“I started training for Mumbai Marathon only in the last week of December. Because of the surgery (to remove breast lump) I could not train much. But I’m always passionate about running and the performance in Mumbai boosted my confidence,” Anjali, who runs a medical centre, said after the race.
Anjali was a member of the Indian team at the 100km World Ultra Running Championship in Croatia in September last year. “As I had experience in ultra running, I knew I could make it up without little training. But I want to go on improve my timing further,” Anjali, who is getting ready for her dream Boston Marathon in April, said.
Tlanding Wahlang (2:35:42) won the men’s full marathon, ahead of Surat Raj Subba (2:40:22) and Fulningstar Nonglang (2:41:58).
Indian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar, who is the brand ambassadorof the event, flagged off the race from Salt Lake Stadiumat 4.30am on a chilly morning. “Four years ago, we started off with 1500 athletes. Today I can proudly say that we have 15000 participation, an increase of 10 times. It’s a big move from what happened four years ago. It’s a shift in their thinking. Shift in your lifestyle. We want everyone to keep moving forward, and don’t be satisfied with what we have got. I congratulate all the people from Kolkata,” Tendulkar told media, terming the atmosphere incredible.
This edition also witnessed several inspirational runners in different categories. Shubhashis Ghosh, with a rare heart ailment, competed in the 10K run, along with the visually-impaired Mohammed Asif Iqbal. The half marathon category saw 86-year-old Bylahalli Janardaninspiring the participants.
“It’s incredible that I had the pleasure of meeting them yesterday. He (Asif) spoke to all of us last evening and his speech was inspirational. I thought it was extremely motivating,” Tendulkar hailed.
Results:
Full Marathon: Men’s: Tlanding Wahlang (2:35:42), Surat Raj Subba(2:40:22), Fulningstar Nonglang (2:41:58).
Women’s: Anjali Saraogi(3:16:54), Samiksha Rai (4:04:40), Rashmi Somani (4:15:24).
Three golden crowns, collectively weighing about 1.3 kg, were reported missing from Sri Govindaraja Swamy temple at Tirupati, its officials said on Sunday.
The crowns adorned the statues of deities Lord Venkateswara, Sri Lakshmi and Sri Padmavathi at an ancient shrine inside the temple complex. They were reported missing on Saturday night, a security official of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) told media.
Surveillance camera footage was being examined to track the culprits. The TTD has also filed a complaint with police who have started a probe, he said.
Police said they have registered a case but no arrest has been made so far.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday launched University of Ladakh, the first-ever varsity in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Jammu region has four universities besides an IIT and an IIMC, while the Kashmir Valley has three universities and a National Institute of Technology (NIT).
After the inauguration, Modi said that Lakhah now has first cluster university comprising degree colleges of Leh, Kargil, Nubra, Zanskar, Drass and Khaltsi. The university will have administrative offices in Leh and Kargil.
On December 15, the Jammu and Kashmir administration had approved the establishment of first university in the Ladakh region.
BJP workers on Sunday staged a protest outside the South Dinajpur district magistrate’s house over the denial of permission for the chopper of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to land here.
The UP chief minister along with state BJP president Dilip Ghosh is scheduled to address two “Ganatantra Bacaho Rallies” at Balurghat in South Dinajpur district and Raiganj in North Dinajpur district.
The rallies were scheduled to held at 1 PM and 3 PM respectively. Yogi Aditynath’s chopper was scheduled to land near the venue of the meeting at Balurghat.
“We are yet to get permission to land the chopper. So our party workers are staging a protest rally outside the DM’s residence demanding permission to land the chopper,” Ghosh told media.
According to state BJP sources, it has now been decided that the UP chief minister’s chopper will land at Raiganj BSF camp. He will then proceed from there to Balurghat by road to address the rallies. He will return to Raiganj to address the next rally.
Chris Pratt has promised the “Guardians of the Galaxy” fans that the third film in the franchise will surely see light of the day.
The future of the threequel took a hit after Disney sacked director James Gunn from “Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 3” last July when his old offensive tweets resurfaced on social media.
Gunn was in the middle of writing the script for the third film when he was fired from the job.
Pratt assured the fans that the movie will happen.
“I promise there’ll be a third movie, I don’t know exactly what that’s going to look like, but I know everyone on board is just eager to give the fans what they want and wrap up a trilogy in a meaningful way,” he said.
“We’re still circling the city of Jericho, I like to say,” he added.
The actor, who plays Peter Quill/ Star-Lord in the series, was speaking on the sidelines of the “Lego Movie 2” premiere.
The provisional budget presented by (acting) FM Piyush Goyal on February 1, 2019, can be termed as a “BBB”! I mean “BUDGET BEFORE BALLOT”!
As we do in the “fifth year of any ruling government”, we did expect a budget of reliefs and sans taxes and burdens, this time too, especially, when the mega general elections are due very soon.
However, all said and done, Modi government’s Budget this year is a “pro-poor, pro-rural, pro-farmer and pro-common man” one. With one stone, he has hit a four – taking care of all sections of the people in the nation.
It must be stressed that farmers certainly deserved a better lot always. In this respect, the provision for assured minimum income and other reliefs must be welcomed. Income support for farmers to be transferred directly – thereby eliminating several middlemen who in fact, literally loot the farmers of their rightful dues.
Pension scheme for labourers of organised sector and Rs 60K crore for Aayushman Bharat is also a positive measure, as the last five years witnessed good growth in the health care sector and over 50 crore people benefitted by the Aayushman Bharat medical scheme.
Defence allocation has also been increased. This time, it’s the highest ever defence budget. We hope all the needs of the jawans and the security forces and their families will be duly taken care of. Our soldiers deserve to be treated well; their families assured of good and stable financial support. Above all, our arms, ammunition, and artilleries need to be upgraded.
Infrastructure sector has also been doing very well over the last few years. Hence, the construction of rural roads tripled to enable our villages and rural areas to have good infrastructure amenities.
No budget is complete without talking about the “Middle class and the salaried people” who are, in fact, the honest taxpayers in India – even if they constitute say, around 3 per cent of the population. As per Piyush Goyal, the IT collections increased immensely. Hence, he has generously given full tax rebate up to Rs 5 lakhs annual income (after deductions), has increased the standard deduction by Rs 10,000, has exempted tax on the second self-occupied house, ceiling limit of TDS us/ 194A and 194I, appropriately increased. There are other relief measures too. Like, the FM has asked the GST Council for reducing the GST rates for home buyers and, gratuity income up to Rs 20 lakhs has been exempted.
As far as indirect taxes are concerned, corporate tax rates remain untouched. However, customs duty on 36 capital goods has been abolished.
Now my strong suggestions to the PM, FM, and the government:
It’s high time agricultural income is brought into the income tax net. Many politicians and others under the guise of being “agriculturists /farmers” have been evading Income Tax for decades even if they earn in crores! No FM has ever dared to bring the agri-income for Income tax. In fact today one can see many rich farmers leading a lavish style (most of the political leaders and so on…) and yet not paying the income tax as they say it’s “agricultural income”!!
The FM should catch hold of all those utter and core corrupt officials, bureaucrats, ministers too and attach all their wealth and assets. I am not talking about the huge money stashed away in Swiss banks. We have been hearing very many cases of ministers and bureaucrats and officials being involved in large scale scams and corrupt deals. They have amassed wealth and properties to the tune of hundreds of crores. Some former ministers have been found to be having many properties, farms, flats, lands, and so on. But nothing has happened so far to them, except that raids by IT, ED, CBI, are being conducted with no end results or the ‘scamsters’ getting punished!!
More importantly, as per the disclosure made by the FM(last year) that the number of bank loan defaulters has risen to an alarming extent, the government must take stern actions against this defaulters-come what may. It’s a known case that on the one hand some industrialists happily default loan repayments etc. and on the other hand lead a lavish style by owning luxury yachts, limousines and so on. These defaulters must not be spared at all. Bring back the culprits and lodge them all in jails.
The government must grab and attach all the properties of such corrupt people and defaulters and recover all the monies due.
Let the FM recover all those unaccounted wealth, assets and cash from the most corrupt people, he can certainly get huge revenue to wipe off the deficit in the budget. He even didn’t think of imposing and taxing the common man anymore. Maybe he can even do away with the Income tax on the salaries. Will the PM and the FM take some bold measures — it’s now or never — considering the general elections due just next year? However, it is established that “Achche Din” is indeed here for the common man and honest taxpayers and the poor people and farmers of India
Conclusively, the budget this day (Feb 1) was like a “sixer needed on the last ball of the match, to win – I mean hit a sixer to win massive votes of the people in the coming general elections!
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
“Shallow”, written by Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt, has been nominated in the best original song category of the Oscars.
Previously, the Academy had announced that “When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings” from “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” will be performed by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings at the awards ceremony.
It was also revealed that “The Place Where Lost Things Go” from “Mary Poppins Returns” will be performed by a “surprise special guest” during the telecast, while Jennifer Hudson will take the stage for the Diane Warren-penned “I’ll Fight” from documentary “RBG”.
The only nominee in Oscar’s Best Original Song category that has not yet been announced for a performance is Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “All the Stars” from Marvel’s “Black Panther”.
The 2019 Academy Awards will be held on February 24.
“Empire” star Jussie Smollett has opened up about the racist and homophobic attack on him in downtown Chicago.
Smollett was attacked on Tuesday morning when he leaving a restaurant in Chicago. Two men shouted racial and homophobic slurs towards him before they attacked him.
In a statement to Essence, the 35-year-old black and openly gay actor said he is “ok”.
“My body is strong but my soul is stronger. More importantly, I want to say thank you. The outpouring of love and support from my village has meant more than I will ever be able to truly put into words,” he added.
During the attack, the suspects punched him and poured an unknown chemical substance over him. One of them even wrapped a rope around the actor’s neck.
Smollett, who was hospitalised for his injuries, told the police that the attackers yelled pro-“Make America Great Again” (MAGA) comments during the attack.
In his statement, the actor disputed rumours circulating on social media that he has been less than cooperative with the police and has changed his story time and again.
“I am working with authorities and have been 100% factual and consistent on every level. Despite my frustrations and deep concern with certain inaccuracies and misrepresentations that have been spread, I still believe that justice will be served,” he said.
“As my family stated, these types of cowardly attacks are happening to my sisters, brothers and non-gender conforming siblings daily. I am not and should not be looked upon as an isolated incident. We will talk soon and I will address all details of this horrific incident, but I need a moment to process,” he concluded.
On “Empire”, Smollett plays musician Jamal Lyon, the gay son of Lucious (Terrence Howard) and Cookie (Taraji P Henson).
It seems like American actor Jessica Chastain is unhappy with baby clothing designs after she recently visited a store for her daughter.
The ‘Interstellar’ actor did not hold back on her views after the disappointing discovery and posted a few pictures and videos on her Instagram account.
The 41-year-old actor, who welcomed her first child with husband Gian Luca Passi de Preposulo in November, explained on her Instagram Stories that she went to a store to look for onesies for her daughter and was upset by the gender stereotypes evident in many of the designs.
In the girls’ section, Jessica revealed that she saw mostly pink outfits adorned with crowns, kittens and flowers. While, in the boys’ section, she saw clothes that encouraged boys to be more ambitious and fun.
She then shared a photo of the onesies she purchased from both sections. In one snap, Jessica showed pink onesies with ruffles. In another picture, she showed boy onesies that read, ‘Future Scientist’, ‘Future Inventor’ and ‘Future Astronaut’.
While Jessica likes to be very private when it comes to her baby girl, the ‘Molly’s Game’ star questioned her fans to consider whether these types of messages are harmful to young girls.
“So this is just something I guess to challenge ourselves, challenge me and say what have I grown accustomed to in our media, in our clothing, in our music,” Jessica said in the clip.
Jessica, who has been an avid supporter of women’s rights, went on to question, “Do these stereotypes actually push girls forward?”
