A 34-year-old woman and her daughter were found killed in a gruesome way at their house in Mahim of central Mumbai on Thursday morning, the police said.
Tahsin Illias Hussain Sayyad and her two-and-a-half years old daughter Fatima were found with their throats slit inside their flat on the 10th floor of Diamond Apartment.
The killing came to light when some neighbours noticed smoke coming out from an exhaust fan in the flat and alerted Tahsin’s husband Illias Hussain who works as a Jari (embroidery) worker in Wadala area, the police said.
Illias rushed home, and as the latch of the main door was locked from inside, broke the door with the help of others to find his wife and daughter lying in a pool of blood.
Police are questioning several people and probe was on, said Subhash Suryavanshi, senior police inspector of Shahu Nagar police station.
Social activist Anna Hazare’s hunger strike on Friday entered the third day with his doctor stating that the 81-year-old’s blood pressure and blood sugar levels had “significantly” increased.
Anna Hazare has been on a hunger strike since Wednesday in Ralegan Siddhi village in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar, demanding the appointment of anti-corruption watchdogs at the Centre and in Maharashtra.
Dr. Dhananjay Pote told news agencies, “There has been a significant increase in blood pressure and blood sugar when I examined Anna Hazare in the morning on Friday.”
Anna Hazare has also been demanding the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission recommendations on ways to address agrarian distress, besides some electoral reforms.
Local residents, who have come out in large numbers in support of Anna Hazare, accused the state and Central governments of ignoring his demands. Many people also protested in front of Ram Shinde’s office, Ahmednagar’s guardian minister, who is also a close aide of Anna Hazare.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday welcomed the “pro-poor, pro-farmer and pro-common man” interim Union Budget 2019-20, which the Opposition denounced as a mere “gimmick” ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
The Congress dubbed the budget as the BJP’s “jumlebaz (filled with gimmicks) manifesto” for the polls, while the NCP termed it a “lollipop”.
Attacking the government for not announcing farm loan waiver, the opposition parties alleged that since it had not offered anything to the people in its previous budgets, it has now made populist announcements to assuage prevailing dissent among the public.
Reaching out to a large electorate ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the government Friday announced a cash dole for small farmers, a mega pension scheme for the unorganised sector and doubled the threshold tax exemption limit to Rs 5 lakh.
Finance Minister Piyush Goyal said Rs 6,000 per year cash support will be given to small and marginal farmers. He also announced a new scheme to provide unorganised workers with up to Rs 15,000 monthly income an assured pension of Rs 3,000 per month after 60 years of age.
“A Pro-worker, pro-poor, pro-farmer, pro-villager & truly pro-common man budget ! Thank you Hon PM @narendramodi ji & Union Minister @PiyushGoyal ji for series of historic decisions in your continuous efforts for better living to the last person of the society! #BudgetForNewIndia,” Fadnavis tweeted.
The leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil claimed that the announcements the government had made in its previous five budgets were yet to become a reality.
“The ruling party has realised that people won’t vote for it as they have been disenchanted. Hence, the populist announcements (are meant) to allay the dissent among the people ahead of the polls and avoid its imminent defeat,” the Congress leader said in a statement, terming the budget as “meaningless”.
He accused the government of proffering cash dole of Rs 6,000 per year per farmer to hide its failure in “doubling the income of farmers as claimed”.
“The farmers would have benefited had the government announced farm loan waiver in entirety,” he said.
NCP national spokesperson Nawab Malik echoed a similar view.
“FM @PiyushGoyal started his #Budget2019 speech with the report card of the government and handed lollipops to #MiddleClass and #Farmers with an eye on forthcoming #LokSabhaElections2019. Farmers were demanding #LoanWaiver and double income but all they got was a lollipop,” Malik tweeted.
He questioned why there were no provisions meant for the landless farmers.
“Tax relief provided at the end of 5-year term? All this because they are staring at defeat in #LokSabhaElections2019. Overall a #Lolipop #Budget,” he said on the micro-blogging site.
The leader of Opposition in the State Legislative Council Dhananjay Munde termed the budget as a “poll gimmick”.
“The government has failed miserably in washing its sins committed in the past four years. This is the ‘last’ budget of the Modi government,” Munde said.
Maharashtra NCP chief Jayant Patil dubbed the budget as “mere eyewash and disappointing” and one that offers nothing to the youth and women.
“The government could have increased the income tax ceiling to Rs 8 lakh, but it kept it to Rs 5 lakh,” Patil observed, adding that the fiscal plan gave “no relief” to the commoners.
Content-rich films are taking precedence over star-studded outings in Indian cinema as increasing number of audiences have started lapping up fresh ideas, filmmaker Shekhar Kapur has said.
Kapur, who was in city on Thursday to promote Kaushik Ganguly’s ‘Nagar Kirtan’, said people are bored of films that are high on star cast, but low on substance.
‘Nagar Kirtan’ has fetched four National Awards last year – Special Jury, Best Actor, Best Costume and Best Makeup Artist.
“There is need for disruption in the trends People get bored with the star system (star- studded films) as they look all the same after a point of time.
“In fact, content-driven films are doing well these days as audiences are looking for fresh ideas,” Kapur, who headed the ‘feature film’ jury for 65th National Film Awards, told an agency.
Asked if language could be a barrier for regional films in establishing a connect with the audiences, he replied in the negative.
“You have subtitles in a film it can also be dubbed,” he said.
The veteran director, who had received critical acclaim for historical biopics on Queen Elizabeth, also said that “commercial success of films cannot be predicted, but films should be made with a heart”.
“There is expectation and hope with each and every piece of creative work, but you can’t design its success,” he asserted.
The Padma Shri awardee, however, pitched for promotional events before a film’s release to ensure its maximum reach.
‘Nagar Kirtan’, starring Riddhi Sen and Ritwick Chakraborty, tells the story of a woman trapped in the body of a man. It is set for release on February 15.
Ekta Kapoor has welcomed home a newborn baby boy via surrogacy. The baby boy, who was born on January 27 has been named Ravie Kapoor after Ekta’s father’s name.
A couple of years back, Ekta Kapoor’s brother, Tusshar Kapoor too became a father via surrogacy.
An ecstatic Ekta Kapoor shared, “By God’s grace, I have seen many successes in my life, but nothing beats the feeling of this beautiful soul being added in my world.”
She further added, “I cannot even begin to express how happy my baby’s birth has made me. Everything in life doesn’t go the way you want it to but there are always solutions to those hiccups. I found mine and today I feel immensely blessed to become a parent. It is an emotional moment for me and my family and I can’t wait to begin this new journey of being a mother.
Director: Shelly Chopra Dhar
Starring: Sonam K. Ahuja, Anil Kapoor, Rajkummar Rao, Juhi Chawla, Abhishek Duhan, Akshay Oberoi, Regina Cassandra, Madhu Malathi, Brijendra Kala
***1/2
Debutant director Shelly Chopra Dhar’s “Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga” is an interesting romance tale with a social message, where love blossoms at a wedding and culminates on the stage of a theatrical performance.
The story pivots around Sweety (Sonam K. Ahuja) the daughter of prominent business man and garment manufacturer Balbir Chaudhry (Anil Kapoor). In fact he is described as, “The Mukesh Ambani of Moga, Punjab”.
At a wedding, Kuhu (Regina Cassandra) one of the girls attending the wedding briefly introduces her brother Raza (Akshay Oberoi) to Sweety. She tells her that Raza is settled in London and interested in her.
Next we learn that Sweety travels to Delhi with the intention of making enquiries about further studies in London. Here, by happenstance, she bumps into Sahil Mirza (Rajkummar Rao) a writer-director, during his play rehearsals, where she criticises his work by telling him, “True love ke raaste mein kuch na kuch syappa hona chaiye nahin to woh feel nahin aati”.
And while Sweety is giving her ‘gyan’ to Sahil, her angry brother Balbir (Abhishek Duhan) barges into the theatre and Sweety flees from there with Sahil in tow.
Smitten by her and realising something is amiss with Sweety, Sahil follows her to Moga accompanied by Chattro (Juhi Chawla) a caterer and aspiring actress who doubles up as his assistant. What follows is the revelation of a cute love story that never found its acceptance on Indian screens earlier.
The film has all the trappings of a Bollywood entertainer and the romance is sensitively handled. While the love story is different and may seem outrageous to some, there is something cute and endearing about the narrative (screenplay) that keeps you hooked and ultimately, love the film.
Every character is well-defined and etched, the actors do complete justice to their roles. Rajkummar Rao steals the show with his passionate rendering of Sahil. Equally impressive is Abhishek Duhan as Balbir.
Anil Kapoor with his indigenous style, is charming and a delight to watch. He is effortless in bringing out the father-daughter relationship to the fore and at the same time, brings up enough chuckles when he shows his interest in Chattro.
Juhi Chawla as Chattro appears contrived. She delivers a stereotypical performance, emulating Upasna Singh the original diva of Punjabi films and she comes out as fake.
Sonam K. Ahuja though sincere, appears pretentious. She hams in most of her scenes and more so especially in the one before the interval. She is not a bad actress, but her performance definitely shows that she has not put her heart and soul into the character she plays.
Regina Cassandra as Kuhu and Akshay Oberoi are both cute and likeable, but are limited due to their short on-screen presence.
The rest of the supporting cast are fabulous, especially Madhu Malti as Sweety’s grandmother, Brijendra Kala and Seema Pahwa, as the Chaudhry’s house helps.
Alka Kaushal and Kanwaljeet Singh as Sahil’s parents, though appearing only through phone cuts, are convincing.
Overall, this is not the usual, run-of-the mill love story. It is a progressive one and definitely the forerunner of myriad blossoming love stories to come.
Spain pulled up a remarkable comeback to hold India, which fumbled on a good opportunity to take control, to a 2-2 draw in the deciding encounter here at Murcia on Thursday.
India won the third match 5-2, while Spain had registered a narrow 3-2 win in the opening match. With the second match ending in a draw, both the teams have levelled the series 1-1.
India got off to a rollicking start as they caught the Spanish defence on the wrong foot. An infringement by a Spanish defender saw India being awarded a penalty stroke only minutes into the first quarter.
Though India missed scoring from this opportunity, Deep Grace Ekka made up for the missed chance with a well-converted penalty corner awarded in the 8th minute.
India’s 1-0 lead doubled in the second quarter when their forward line worked in tandem to penetrate into the striking circle with striker Navneet Kaur scoring a beautiful field goal off Rani’s assistance in the 26th minute. At the second hooter, India had registered a comfortable 2-0 lead.
After the 10-minute halftime break, hosts Spain made a resolute comeback as they vied to overcome the initial setback. The Indian defence was put to the test when Lucia Jimenez scored a field goal in the 35th minute.
Pressure to defend their 2-1 lead saw India give away a penalty corner in the 39th minute. Clara Ycart was impeccable in her attempt to score as Spain levelled the score to 2-2.
The final quarter saw India up their ante in attack but a strong Spanish defence denied any opportunities inside the circle resulting in a draw.
International Cricket Council CEO and former South Africa cricketer David Richardson on Thursday announced that the 13th edition of Men’s Cricket World Cup will be played in India in 2023.
Speaking at an event, Richardson said: “There is so much to look forward to. We have two T20 events (Women and Men) in Australia in 2020, followed by the first Test Championship final. Then we have Women’s World Cup in New Zealand in 2021, Under 19 World Cup. And of course then we have two events in India – the next T20 World Cup at the end of 2021 and the Men’s World Cup itself in 2023.”
In forthcoming ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 scheduled in England and Wales, ten best teams in the world will fight in a very competitive tournament.
When asked about his preferred team, the former South Africa wicket-keeper batsman said, “India are playing really well and England have probably got their best one-day team that they could have for many years. There is no expectation on South Africa this time to do anything. So, they will just do something and then showcase at the end. We are really looking forward to the event.”
The much-awaited ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 is scheduled from May 30 to July 14.
Back in 1999, 16-year-old schoolgirl Mithali Raj was simply happy wearing the India colours for the first time and not much changed even after two decades as the coveted milestone of 200 ODIs “is just a number” for the 36-year-old legend.
Mithali made her ODI debut against England in Milton Keynes in January 1999 and on Friday became the first woman to complete in 200 matches in the 50-over format. Not to forget, she is the top run-getter in the world with 6622 runs.
“200 is just a number for me but it feels nice to come so far,” the unassuming India’s ODI captain said after completing a maiden 2-1 series win on New Zealand soil.
“I have seen different stages of (transformation) in women’s cricket across the globe since I made by debut way back in 1999 under IWCC (International Women’s Cricket Council). Coming under ICC, we could see the difference. I am just happy to represent the country for so long,” Mithali said.
For Mithali, it is a surreal feeling that she could continue for so long at the top level.
“When I started, I didn’t think that I will come so far. Initially, my aim was to only wear the India colours, be one of the core members of the team but never did I think that I will continue to play for so long,” said Mithali as one could gauge the sense of satisfaction in her voice.
Mithali has had her share of ups and downs including the very recent public difference of opinion with COA member Diana Edulji, whom she alleged was trying to finish her career along with former coach Ramesh Powar.
According to Mithali, her only endeavour has been to suit her game as per team’s needs.
The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Centre why it has not appointed a regular CBI director and said it was “averse” to the appointment of interim chief for the agency for a long period. A bench comprising justices Arun Mishra and Naveen Sinha said the post of CBI director was sensitive and the government should have appointed a regular director by now.
Attorney General K K Venugopal told the court that a high-powered committee, headed by the prime minister, will hold a meeting to select a new CBI director. He also told the court that the Centre had taken the approval of the high-powered committee before appointing IPS officer M Nageswara Rao as the interim CBI director.
Taking account of the attorney general’s submissions that the committee will hold a meeting on Friday, the apex court posted the matter for hearing on February 6. The bench was hearing a petition of NGO Common Cause challenging the appointment of Rao as interim CBI Director., During the hearing, the bench said the process of appointing a CBI director should have been over by now as it was known that the earlier CBI chief was going to retire in January.
The court also told the attorney general that the new CBI director who would be appointed must “trace the movements of files” during the period when former CBI chief Alok Kumar Verma was reinstated to the post for two days. The attorney general placed before the bench in a sealed cover the minutes of the meeting of the high-powered committee held earlier. The last meeting of the committee took place on January 24 but it remained “inconclusive”.
