Budget empowers all sections of society: PM

By

-

February 1, 2019

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the interim budget touches all sections of the society and includes everyone, asserting that it is a merely a “trailer” of what will guide India towards prosperity after the Lok Sabha polls.

In his remarks after the interim budget was presented in Parliament, Modi said it empowers people and referred to a host of budgetary announcements and schemes to drive home his point.

More than 12 crore farmers, three crore middle-class families and 30-40 crore workers employed in the unorganised sector will benefit from the budget, he said, adding that poverty has been falling at a record rate due to the efforts of his government.

This budget will boost the efforts of 130 crore citizens in realising the goal of a new India, Modi said.

Citizenship Bill: Students’ bodies condemn President’s remarks

By

Web Team

-

February 1, 2019

Three major students’ bodies of Manipur have strongly condemned President Ram Nath Kovind’s remark that the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 would help victims who suffered persecution to seek refuge in India.

The President’s remarks have caused widespread condemnation, particularly among the students’ bodies, who have been camping in New Delhi to prevent the passing of the controversial Bill by the Rajya Sabha.

All Manipur Students Union (AMSU), Manipur Students Federation (MSF) and Democratic Students Alliance of Manipur (DESAM) on Friday maintained they will intensify their agitation if the Bill is passed.

The controversial Bill, passed in the Lok Sabha on January 8, seeks to provide Indian citizenship to non-Muslims from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan after six years of residence in India instead of 12 years, which is the norm currently, even if they do not possess any document.

Manjit Sarangthem, president of AMSU, said the students’ bodies have submitted a memorandum to the prime minister and added that the President’s remarks were an indication of his support to the Bill which is against the wishes of the people of the North East region.

Chief Minister N Biren Singh has also submitted a memorandum to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on the issue recently.

Singh has been seeking insertion of a clause to protect the indigenous population of the region in general and Manipur in particular.

Yesterday, Deputy Chief Minister Y Joykumar Singh said that his party — National People’s Party (NPP) — will withdraw its support to the BJP-led government if the Bill is passed in the Rajya Sabha.

Joykumar’s response came after a large number of women gathered at his Naoremthong residence in Imphal West district protesting against the Bill.

He further said that NPP president Conrad Sangma was seeking an appointment with the President and Prime Minister to oppose the passing of the Bill.

The NPP, which won 4 seats in the last election, had extended support to the BJP-led coalition government in the state.

Shah targeted Congress’ farm loan waiver, says govt’s Kisan Samman Nidhi more lasting solution

By

Web Team

-

February 1, 2019

Aiming a thinly-veiled jibe at the Congress over their farm-loan waivers, BJP president Amit Shah on Friday said that the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi is a more long-term solution for farmers’ plights and will play a big role in doubling their income.

“This move will prove to be very helpful for doubling farmer’s income because it will also help those farmers who do not take loans. Bank loans are waived off just once, and it only helps those who take loans,” said Shah while addressing the media here after Union Finance Minister Piyush Goyal presented the budget in the Lok Sabha on Friday.

“There are crores of farmers who do not take loans, around 50 per cent, this scheme will help them as well. It will help them every year. I believe, this will support farmers for a long time,” he added.

The BJP president said that the budget will boost development in the country and has met the expectations of all farmers, labourers and middle class.

While saying that welfare of cows is highlighted in the country’s Constitution, Shah hailed the formation of the Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog.

He further said that the budget includes the biggest provision for the Defence sector since the country’s Independence.

He said that the Prime Minister has exceeded the expectations of the middle-class by doubling the slab of non-taxable income to Rs 5 lakh and Rs 6.5 lakh for those who invest in provident funds and prescribed equities.

Over three crore middle-class taxpayers will be exempted with this measure.

5 years of incompetence, arrogance destroyed lives of our farmers: Rahul Gandhi

By

Web Team

-

February 1, 2019

Leading the Opposition’s attack against the interim budget 2019-20, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday blamed Narendra Modi government for destroying the lives of the farmers by providing a direct minimum income for farmers stating that giving them Rs 17 a day is an insult.

“Dear NaMo, 5 years of your incompetence and arrogance has destroyed the lives of our farmers. Giving them Rs. 17 a day is an insult to everything they stand and work for” Congress President said in his tweet.

Earlier, in his interim budget presentation, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal announced a new scheme “Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN)” to extend direct income support at the rate of Rs 6,000 per year to farmer families, with cultivable land up to two hectares.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister of Punjab, Captain Amarinder Singh called it an election-centric budget aimed at misleading people with false promises, which were not backed by numbers.

Ostensibly populist, the budget is a typical budget of a government on its last legs, with nothing except fake promises for the people of India, said Captain Amarinder, who rejected the budget as all fluff and no action.

Celine Dion film a fictional homage and not a biopic

By

Web Team

-

February 1, 2019

It turns out that the Celine Dion Film ‘The Power of Love’ will be more of a fictional homage and not a biopic, revealed French studio Gaumont.

The film will draw heavily from the details of the singer’s life and use many of her hit songs, reported an online portal.

The film is directed by and stars Valerie Lemercier. She plays Aline, a young woman who grows up in a large Canadian family. Sheis discovered as a major talent in her teens, becomes a global sensation and experiences the tragedy of losing her husband, just as happened to Dion.

The film’s promotional material amalgamates Lemercier’s character with Dion, inviting viewers to “discover the incredible story of Celine Dion through the tender, funny gaze of Valerie Lemercier, who pays her a vibrant homage.”

However, the names of the characters and some details of Dion’s life have been changed.

The film is budgeted at USD 23 million and is being produced by Edouard Weil at Rectangle Productions, in association with Laurent Zeitoun and Caramel Films.

It turns out that the Celine Dion Film ‘The Power of Love’ will be more of a fictional homage and not a biopic, revealed French studio Gaumont.

The film will draw heavily from the details of the singer’s life and use many of her hit songs, reported an online portal.

The film is directed by and stars Valerie Lemercier. She plays Aline, a young woman who grows up in a large Canadian family. Sheis discovered as a major talent in her teens, becomes a global sensation and experiences the tragedy of losing her husband, just as happened to Dion.

The film’s promotional material amalgamates Lemercier’s character with Dion, inviting viewers to “discover the incredible story of Celine Dion through the tender, funny gaze of Valerie Lemercier, who pays her a vibrant homage.”

However, the names of the characters and some details of Dion’s life have been changed.

The film is budgeted at USD 23 million and is being produced by Edouard Weil at Rectangle Productions, in association with Laurent Zeitoun and Caramel Films.

Demi Moore laments portrayal of older women as ‘evil, bitter villains’ in films

By

Web Team

-

February 1, 2019

Actor Demi Moore wonders why female actors are typecast as “evil, bitter villains” in Hollywood after they attain a certain age.

The 56-year-old actor currently stars in horror comedy “Corporate Animals” where she plays an egoistical CEO of an MNC.

In an interview with an Indian online portal, Moore, who ruled the 90s with her films like “A Few Good Men”, “Disclosure”, “Ghost” and “Indecent Proposal”, stressed that older women can play romantic leads in movies.

“I do want to be careful not to play into a cliche, which is that all older women are evil, bitter villains, which is one of the next kind of things that needs to be overcome. We want romance too! We want all those things!” she said.

Moore said she is very “picky” about the projects she chooses these days.

“I think I’m pretty picky. And now after working with all of these guys, it’s gonna be really tough, because this was so good. Truly, it was one of the best experiences of my whole career,” she added.

“Corporate Animals”, directed by Patrick Brice, also features Ed Helms, Jessica Williams and Karan Soni.

Steven Yeun, Sandra Oh, Mark Hamill to voice star in Amazon’s animated series ‘Invincible’

By

Web Team

-

February 1, 2019

Amazon Prime Video’s new animated series “Invincible” has landed an impressive voice cast of Steven Yeun, Sandra Oh, Mark Hamill and others.

The eight-episode series is based on the comic book series of the same name from writer Robert Kirkman, artists Cory Walker and Ryan Ottley.

The three actors will be joined by “Deadpool 2” star Zazie Beetz and Oscar winner JK Simmons in the voice cast.

Seth Rogen, Walton Goggins, Jason Mantzoukas, Mae Whitman, and Gillian Jacobs are also part of the cast, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The story centres around a teenage boy, Mark Grayson (Yeun), who has to grapple with his dad (Simmons) being the most powerful superhero in the world, and who starts coming into his own powers and learns some not-so-super truths about his father.

The series will be produced by Kirkman’s Skybound, with Simon Racioppa serving as as the showrunner.

Kirkman, Racioppa, David Alpert and Catherine Winder will be executive producers on the project while Justin and Chris Copeland will serve as supervising directors.

The series will premiere in 2020 on Amazon Prime Video.

Marisa Tomei and Julianne Moore are related to each other

By

Web Team

-

February 1, 2019

“My Cousin Vinny” star Marisa Tomei has found her real-life cousin in actor Julianne Moore.

During a recent appearance on the TV show “Finding Your Roots”, Tomei, who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for the 1992 comedy film, found out that she and Moore are genetic cousins.

It was revealed on the genealogy show that Tomei, 54, shares an “identical stretch of DNA along her X-chromosome” with 58-year-old Moore.

Tomei shared a clip from the show on Instagram.

“You know we went to school together? Jules! Oh, I can’t wait to tell her,” a visibly stunned Tomei says after learning of her connection to Moore.

In the caption, the actor said the revelation was an “incredible gift”

“Eternally grateful for this generation and generations to come…. and the big surprise discovering my friend is my REAL cousin! Hey cuz @juliannemoore!!!!” she added.

Moore was equally excited by the revelation.

“I KNEW WE WERE ALIKE! @marisatomei is my COUSIN!! OMG I’m so excited,” she wrote on the Instagram while sharing Tomei’s clip.

Tomei and Moore both attended Boston University. The two starred together in the 2011 romantic comedy “Crazy, Stupid, Love”.

Security tightened up in Kashmir for Modi’s visit

By

Web Team

-

February 1, 2019

Security has been beefed up across Kashmir ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit on February 3. Police and paramilitary personnel have been deployed in strength around the Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre, the venue for Modi’s engagements in the valley, a senior police official said.

He said that the entire area around the venue is being sanitised and security personnel have been deployed to ensure that militants are not able to carry out any subversive activities. Besides area domination, the focus is on intelligence gathering to ensure a smooth and incident-free visit of the prime minister. Mobile checkpoints have been set up at dozens of places within the city and at all entry points of the summer capital of the state.

Modi is scheduled to visit all three regions of the state. During his day-long visit, he will inaugurate or lay foundation stones for several development projects. However, separatists have called for a complete shutdown to protest Modi’s visit.

Former MLA Sheikh Abdul Rasheed has said that his Awami Ittehad Party will show black flags to Modi to protest against what he termed as the Centre’s “loot” of Jammu and Kashmir’s natural resources.

The phenomenal stardom of Khans will never come again: Rajkummar Rao

By

Web Team

-

February 1, 2019

Rajkummar Rao may have emerged as a major box office draw at the box office but the actor does not believe that he is anywhere near to the super stardom that the three Khans have in Bollywood. There is a great churning in Bollywood with content driven films outperforming and outclassing those headlined the likes of Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Aamir Khan. However, Rajkummar, who is the considered one of the faces of this new breed of cinema, says that it would not be right to compare his stardom with that of the Khans.

“I don’t think we can compare superstars and actors like me. The kind of films Aamir sir, Shah Rukh sir and Salman sir have done are amazing. You can’t say they are not good just because one of their films did not work. They are superstars for some reason and we all love them. I am myself a fan of Khans. We should not compare. We are very new and we have a long way to prove ourselves. I don’t think the kind of superstardom that these superstars have seen will ever come back again,” Rajkummar told reporter.

The actor believes that the mass hysteria and mania around their superstardom is something that all actors yearn for but it just cannot be replicated. “I want all our films to do well at the box office. But the craze that they have seen is something I don’t think is going to comeback. It is very tough. People love these actors, the way people react, shout, hug, cry… The phenomenon is huge.”

The 34-year-old actor, whose filmography includes gems like “Newton”, “Trapped”, “Bareilly Ki Barfi” and “Stree”, among others, rules himself out of the contention of being the next big Bollywood superstar. “I am very happy doing what I am doing and if it takes me there, good. But let me tell you I am happy in this space,” said the actor who had five releases in 2018 but it was Amar Kaushik’s “Stree” that did the wonders for Rajkummar at the box office. He also starred in critically-acclaimed films “Omerta” and “Love Sonia”.

The actor further added that the audience loved these stories more than anything else. Today people are more concerned about the content that they are seeing. I always try to offer new things. Since my debut film ‘Love Sex Aur Dhokha’, I am trying to experiment and push boundaries as an actor. I am happy people are accepting that. It is a feeling of validation as these are the kind of films I was doing earlier and today they are doing great numbers.

Despite his recent success, the actor still reads all his scripts. He says yes to a project only if he feels the story is good. “I do get a lot of scripts, I don’t want to give a number, I can’t brag. I get all kinds of scripts from weird to some really interesting ones as well. I have a number of films to choose from. I read all my scripts and I don’t let other people decide. I believe an actor should invest their time in reading scripts carefully and understanding it. Also, there are filmmakers with whom I wanted to work and now I am getting the opportunity to do so,” he said.

Up next for the actor is “Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga”, where he reunites with Anil Kapoor and co-stars Sonam Kapoor. About the film, Rajkummar says, “More than the role, the story was unique, so I did the film. It talks about things that are relevant in our society. I liked the role as well. It is the story that I look at first and then comes my role.

The film offers yet another take on LGBTQ issues, something which Rajkummar previously dealt with in Hansal Mehta’s “Aligarh”. He believes that while “Aligarh” was a biopic on Aligarh Muslim University professor Ramachandra Siras, “Ek Ladki..” is a commercial project and an entertaining film.

“This film (‘Ek Ladki..’) is more about acceptance. This is a family film, relationship drama; it is about friendship, love. I believe there has to be equality; you can’t judge someone based on sexual preference. It is their life and who they want as their partners, it is a normal thing,” he adds.

He has interesting blend of films up for release this year – “Mental Hai Kya” with Kangana Ranaut and “Made in China”. He has also signed a film with Anurag Basu and Hansal Mehta.