Serena muscles past top seed Halep into Open quarters

By

-

January 21, 2019

Serena Williams subdued a stubborn fightback from world number one Simona Halep to take her quest for a record-equalling 24th major into the Australian Open quarter-finals on Monday.

The 37-year-old American beat the Romanian top seed 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 in an epic three-setter to line up a last eight clash with Czech eighth seed Karolina Pliskova.

It was Williams’ first match against a world number one since returning after having a baby in September 2017 and the American showed why many already regard her as the greatest of all time.

She unleashed an early onslaught and Halep was in danger crumbling before the French Open champion regrouped for a stirring comeback.

“It was an intense match and there were some incredible points,” Williams said.

“She’s the number one player in the world and there’s a reason why… (but) I’m such a fighter, I just never give up.”

Williams won her 23rd Grand Slam Down Under two years ago while two months pregnant and is the bookies’ favourite to claim an eighth Australian title, despite being seeded 16th.

Halep did better early in the second set, and when the American did break her in the third game she immediately broke back.

The turning point came in the sixth game of the third set when Halep clawed three break points but Williams held and took a decisive break in the fifth.

Aaron Sorkin calls on Democrats to be ‘the non-stupid party’

By

Web Team

-

January 21, 2019

Oscar winner Aaron Sorkin urged young Democrats elected to Congress to take up the opportunity of making the party “the non stupid” one.

The screenwriter-director said the onus was on the new “crop” to take charge of the situation and help point the difference between the two parties.

“They need to stop acting like young people. I think there’s a great opportunity here for Democrats to be the non-stupid party, to point out the difference,” Sorkin told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria.

The “Molly’s Game” helmer also underscored the issues the Democratic Party must focus on.

“It’s not just about transgender bathrooms, that’s a Republican talking point. They’re trying to distract you.

“We haven’t forgotten the economic anxiety of the working class, but we’re going to be smart about this. We’re not going to be mean about it,” he said.

Two more rappers accuse Ariana Grande of plagiarising their content

By

Web Team

-

January 21, 2019

American Singer Ariana Grande’s latest single ‘7 Rings’ has once again landed her in trouble, as two more rappers have accused her of copying their content.

Shortly after the singer dropped ‘7 Rings’ earlier this month, rapper Princess Nokia accused Grande of stealing lyrics and flow from her.

Following Princess Nokia’s accusations, two more rappers namely, Soulja Boy and 2 Chainz, have explicitly called out the ‘thank u, next’ singer for allegedly stealing their work for the track.

Alleging that Grande stole from his song titled ‘Pretty Boy Swag,’ Soulja Boy replied to a tweet in which the former Nickelodeon star thanked her friends who featured in the ‘7 Rings’ music video and wrote, “Give me my credit. Period.”

“Lol stop stealing my swag. Word,” he added.

He later followed up with “You’re a thief.”

Meanwhile, MC 2 Chainz, an Atlanta-based rapper, pointed out the similarity between the ‘7 Rings’ and his ‘Door Swangin’ music video in terms of the setup where the songs were shot. Both the videos featured hot pink trap houses.

Using the reference of Big Draco aka Soulja Boy, a rapper who accused Drake of stealing his musical style, MC 2 Chainz posted a clip of Grande’s ‘7 Rings’ on his Instagram page and wrote “Tryna figure out if I should Big Draco Ariana Grande. You all tell me in the comments. #bigdracovibesall2019,”

Grande reportedly expects that her new track ‘7 Rings’, which is slated for release on Friday, will become an anthem for women empowerment.

The lyrics of ‘7 Rings’ also feature references to her breakups just like ‘Thank U, Next’.

Kareena Kapoor Khan may contest from Bhopal LS seat

By

Web Team

-

January 21, 2019

A local Congress corporator has requested party chief Rahul Gandhi to field noted Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor Khan from the Bhopal constituency in Madhya Pradesh in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls.

In a letter written to Gandhi on Sunday, corporator Yogendra Singh Chauhan claimed that the actress would be the most suitable candidate to defeat the BJP in Bhopal seat, held by the saffron party since long.

Kareena Kapoor Khan is the wife of Bollywood actorSaif Ali Khan, who is the son of former Indian cricketer late Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, scion of the erstwhile Bhopal state. Pataudi had in 1991 unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha poll from Bhopal, a BJP bastion, on Congress’ ticket.

Taking a swipe at Chauhan, MP BJP spokesman Rajnish Agrawal dubbed the corporator’s move as entertaining and further added that we are too strong in the Bhopal Lok Sabha seat as our MPs have worked for its all round development.

Asked what will be their strategy if the actress was fielded from the seat, Agrawal said that it was not proper for him to comment on such a hypothetical question. The demand has proved the fact that the Congress has no leader to take on the BJP in Bhopal.

Meanwhile, Chauhan, who is considered close to state Public Relations Minister P C Sharma, claimed that some more Congress councillors were going to request Gandhi to field the actress from Bhopal seat.

ASI kills wife then shoots self over domestic dispute

By

Web Team

-

January 21, 2019

A 43-year-old assistant sub-inspector of police allegedly shot dead his wife before killing himself with his service revolver over a domestic dispute here on Monday, police said.

The deceased were identified as Gurdeep Singh and his wife Surender Kaur, 38, police said. The couple, along with their children, was living in village Nasrauli. The children had gone to school when the incident occurred, Superintendent of Police Astha Modi said.

Gurdeep, an assistant sub-inspector, first shot dead his wife and then immediately killed himself with his service revolver, the SP said.

The ASI was posted in Panchkula police line and had come to his native village this Monday. Police also said that the exact cause behind the incident could not be ascertained so far but it could be due to a domestic dispute.

The SP said no suicide note was recovered from the spot and investigation was on.

Anna Hazare to go on indefinite hunger strike for Lokpal

By

Web Team

-

January 21, 2019

At a press conference on Monday, announcing indefinite hunger strike from January 30 over his unmet demands for farmers and implementation of the anti-corruption law, social activist Anna Hazare said that the Rafale scam would not have happened if the Lokpal was there in place. I have plenty of papers on Rafale and I will hold a separate press conference after studying it for two days. One thing I do not understand is how a company formed a month ago before the deal was made partner in it. The veteran anti-graft leader slammed the Centre for not implementing the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 despite an order of the Supreme Court, saying that he felt the country was in danger of slipping towards autocracy.

This will be his third hunger strike over the demand of Lokpal in the last eight years. He sat on an indefinite hunger strike at the Ramleela ground here for the first time in April 2011 leading civil society members and groups. He will start his hunger strike at his village Ralegan Siddhi on January 30 and will continue it till the government meets his demands.

In the past the government said in writing that they will implement Lokpal law and provide pensions and 1.5 times of minimum support price to the farmers but did nothing. Now I will not have any more false assurances and continue the hunger strike till there is life in my body, he said.

In March last year, Hazare along with his supporters held a week-long hunger strike at the Ramleela ground, demanding implementation of the Lokpal law. Not implementing order of a constitutional body moves the country from democracy to autocracy. This government is on the same course. What kind of a government is this which does not obey the Supreme Court order? Is it a government, or some bania ki dukan (provisional store), said the anti-graft campaigner. Hazare also charged the government of failing to meet his demands for pensions, adequate price of crops and loan waivers to the farmers.

This government is not concerned about the farmers. It is concerned only for industrialists whose loans running in lakhs of crores of rupees have been waived. He claimed agrarian distress due to falling prices has forced farmers to throw their produce like vegetables and milk on the roads. Organisations of farmers in 15 states, including Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan and Maharashtra, have assured to join the hunger strike and more are expected to do so in the coming days, say a core committee member of the Mahapanchayat, Shiv Kumar Kakka.

Hazare asked his followers not to crowd Ralegan Siddhi, where he will be on fast unto death, and hold the hunger strike at their respective places. Rashtriya Kisan Mahapanchayat that has extended support to Hazare, said farmer outfits across the country will join the hunger strike.

Honoured to meet PM Modi: Anil Kapoor

By

Web Team

-

January 21, 2019

Anil Kapoor – 62-year-old actor, who met the prime minister, recently said that he has been trying to meet him since he was Gujarat chief minister. It was wonderful meeting him. I had wanted to meet him since he was the chief minister of Gujarat but it never happened. But there are certain meetings which are destined. So, I was fortunate and had the privilege and honour to meet him. It was very inspirational. I have never seen someone working so hard.

When asked if he would like to see Modi as the PM again, Anil said, “That’s for all of us to decide, we will see. This is not a political platform. He was speaking at the trailer launch of “Total Dhamaal”. Directed by Indra Kumar, the film features Ajay Devgn, Madhuri Dixit Nene, Arshad Warsi, Riteish Deshmukh, Johnny Lever, Boman Irani, and Sanjay Mishra among others.

“Total Dhamaal” reunites Madhuri and Anil after “Pukaar” which released in 2000. Madhuri said that the actor has not changed in all these years. I don’t think Anil can ever change. He will always be the same. He is one of a kind. It’s always a pleasure working with him. I’m working with Ajay also after a long time. It was wonderful working with everyone.

While the previous two installments featured Sanjay Dutt, the actor won’t be seen in “Total Dhamaal”. When asked about his absence from the film, Kumar said that It would have been a lot more fun if Sanjay Dutt had been there but his dates were not available. It left both of us unhappy.

“Total Dhamaal” is scheduled to release on February 22.

WhatsApp to limit message forwarding to stop spreading of fake news

By

Web Team

-

January 21, 2019

WhatsApp will now globally limit message ‘forwards’ to five chats at a time, a practice it had introduced in India in July last year to crack down the spread of rumours and fake news through its platform. In an update to its blog on Monday, WhatsApp said that the move will help keep WhatsApp focused on private messaging with close contacts.WhatsApp carefully evaluated this test and listened to user feedback over a six-month period. The forward limit significantly reduced forwarded messages around the world.

It added that starting today, all users on the latest versions of WhatsApp can now forward to only five chats at once. The messaging platform which counts India, Brazil and Indonesia among its major markets said that it will continue to listen to user feedback on their experience and over time look for new ways of addressing viral content. During the test period, the company saw a 25 per cent reduction of forwarded messages being shared on WhatsApp.We believe that this is a reasonable number to reach close friends, while helping prevent abuse.

In India, the Facebook-owned company had faced flak from the government after a series of mob-lynching incidents triggered by rumours circulating on WhatsApp, claimed lives.Under pressure to stop rumours and fake news, WhatsApp had last year, restricted forwarding messages to five chats at once as well as removed the quick forward button for media messages in India – a market that has over 200 million WhatsApp users.

In fact, the Indian government through proposed changes in IT rules is seeking to make social media platforms more accountable by mandating them to introduce tools that can identify and disable “unlawful content”.One of the amendments being mulled in the IT intermediary rules meant for online and social media platforms will require them to enable tracing out of such originators of information as needed by government agencies that are legally authorised.

WhatsApp, as part of its efforts, had also brought out full-page advertisements as well as television and radio campaigns offering tips to users on how to spot misinformation.However, the company has so far, resisted the government’s demand for identifying message originators, arguing that such a move would undermine the end to end encryption and the private nature of the platform, creating potential for serious misuse.

The move to globally limit message ‘forwards’ to five chats at a time comes at a time when governments and regulators across the world are looking at effective ways to curb the spread of fake messages through digital platforms.

“Police Academy” actor Steve Guttenberg gets married

By

Web Team

-

January 21, 2019

“Police Academy” actor Steve Guttenberg has tied the knot with CBS-TV’s “Living Large” reporter Emily Smith.

The couple got married in a small, intimate ceremony in Malibu, California, on Saturday, reported People magazine.

Guttenberg and Smith first met on a blind date in 2014 after WCBS-TV’s Scott Rapoport played matchmaker and though it took two months for them to fix a meeting, they instantly hit it off.

A year later, the pair moved in together and in December 2016, Smith revealed in a Facebook post that she had got engaged to the 60-year-old star.

Guttenberg was previously married to model Denise Bixler.

Nitish Kumar to implement upper caste quotas in Bihar

By

Web Team

-

January 21, 2019

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday announced that his government will implement quotas for the economically-backward among the unreserved category after getting a legal opinion about the appropriate modalities. He further said that the legal opinion was being sought as to whether the new quotas, which have been introduced through a recent constitutional amendment and are in addition to the existing reservations, could be brought about in the state through an executive order or an Act passed in the legislature.

The JD(U) national president also said that we are bound by the Supreme Court judgement which has placed a cap of 50 per cent on the quotas for the socially and educationally backward, but added that he supported the demand for raising the limit to make reservations proportionate to the population of the respective caste groups. But the opposition parties which are raising the demand have no idea on how to go about it. In my view, there should be a fresh census wherein the respective populations of social segments like SCs, STs and OBCs is taken into account. Based on its report, the nation can move towards ensuring proportional representation for the various castes.

He further added that he was in favour of treating the extremely backward classes among the OBCs as a separate category at the national-level. In Bihar we have done that. I understand that a committee has been set up at the Centre for similar classification of backward classes nationally.