Actor Shay Mitchell kicked off the New Year with opening up about the highs and lows from her last year.
The 31-year-old actor reflected back on her many positive memories from 2018 including some beautiful trips, quality time with friends and more. But at the same time, the actor penned an emotional note admitting that the past year also came with some hardships, revealing for the first time that she suffered a miscarriage.
Sharing a photo of an ultrasound with a broken heart emoji, the actor then posted a lengthy message in the next slide about how social media can be misleading as to what people are really going through.
“We all have to deal with various struggles and challenges in life. And sometimes it’s easier to only showcase the good times on social media, which is what leads many people to criticise it for its lack of authenticity,” she wrote.
“Having so many people follow me on Instagram and read my posts is both incredibly humbling and hugely uplifting. The support and affection that so many of you show me lifts me up during even my darkest days, one of which happened last year after I miscarried and lost the child of my hopes and dreams,” Mitchell added.
“In the spirit of the new year, I think that we need to remember that we are all on this journey together – in good times and bad – and to remind ourselves that we seldom really know or understand the struggles and hardships that other people are going through. So, for 2019, let’s all try to be a little more compassionate, empathetic, patient and thoughtful with each other,” Mitchell continued.
Like many people having kickass New Year’s Eves, American comedian Tiffany Haddish’s had a New Year night that she’d probably want to forget.
The 39-year-old comedian was criticised strongly after her New Year’s show flopped so bad that the audience and attendees reportedly walked out of it.
After taking the stage at the James L. Knight Center in Miami, it eventually became clear that Emmy award winner was having a tough night.
“This is weird for me. Now, this is going to be on TMZ or whatever,” the comedian acknowledged. “Every day ain’t the best day, but we do what we do. It is what it is,” she said, according to a video published by the leading online portal.
The 39-year-old took to her Twitter handle recently to confirm reports that her final show of 2018 was a flop in which she reportedly forgot some of her jokes as audience members walked out and she drank onstage.
Tweeting a link to a story about it from The Root, Haddish wrote, “Yes this happened. I wish it was better Miami. I prayed on it and I have a strong feeling this will never happen again.”
The story states that Haddish forgot some of her jokes and understood that the ones she could remember were not connecting with the crowd.
According to TMZ, she ultimately opened a bottle of Ciroc and started drinking with the audience.
Yesterday, Haddish posted a video on her Instagram account in which she opened up about the disappointing night and admitted that she was up until 7 am partying the night before the show.
“Went to bed at 7,” she told fans in an Instagram video. “Ciroc is still in my system,” she said in the video. “I prayed on it and I have a strong feeling this will never happen again,” she concluded.
Some fellow celebrities including musician Ahmir Khalib Thompson, known as Questlove, publicly comforted the star.
“Failure is a part of growth and lessons get learned. The crowd will speak on this night forever so they had an experience, and you are the wiser. Not end of world. You’ll shine more in 2019,” he tweeted to Haddish.
NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft has beamed back the first images of the distant worldlet Ultima Thule, after a historic flyby on the New Year’s Day, revealing a bowling pin-shaped cosmic sentinel that possibly holds the key to understanding the origins of the solar system.
The event, which marks the most distant and possibly the oldest object ever visited by a space probe, ushered in the era of exploration from the enigmatic Kuiper Belt, NASA said in a statement.
“Congratulations to NASA’s New Horizons team, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory and the Southwest Research Institute for making history yet again,” said Jim Bridenstine, NASA Administrator.
In addition to being the first to explore Pluto, today New Horizons flew by the most distant object ever visited by a spacecraft and became the first to directly explore an object that holds remnants from the birth of our solar system,” said Bridenstine.
“This is what leadership in space exploration is all about,” he said.
Signals confirming the spacecraft is healthy and had filled its digital recorders with science data on Ultima Thule reached the mission operations centre at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) about 10 hours after New Horizons’ closest approach to the object.
NASA released a composite of two images taken by New Horizons’ high-resolution Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI), which provides the best indication of Ultima Thule’s size and shape so far.
“New Horizons performed as planned today, conducting the farthest exploration of any world in history — 4 billion miles from the Sun,” said Principal Investigator Alan Stern, of the Southwest Research Institute in the US.
Images taken during the spacecraft’s approach — which brought New Horizons to within just 3,500 kilometres of Ultima — revealed that the Kuiper Belt object may have a shape similar to a bowling pin, spinning end over end, with dimensions of approximately 32 by 16 kilometers.
Another possibility is Ultima could be two objects orbiting each other, researchers said.
South Kashmir again witnessed violence and firing on December 15 during an army operation against terrorists. In the operation, three terrorists were killed. The unfortunate part of the encounter was the death of 7 civilians not because the armed forces fired at them indiscriminately but firing was resorted to in self-defence as the civilians attacked the armed forces protesting and defending the terrorists. There was a hue and cry over the death of a young man in the firing because the victim was an MBA graduate. Bullets don’t recognise qualified or illiterate persons in mob violence.
It is a matter of sorrow indeed that many civilians lost their lives during an encounter with terrorists. Knowing that when the encounter is in progress there is firing from the terrorists and the armed forces during the operation, then why civilians should come out in defence of the outlaws. Law treats a person aiding and abetting crime or trying to defend terrorists at equal footing that is applicable to persons waging war against the nation. Yet, the separatists are engaged in abetting and encouraging people of the valley to indulge in a violent attack on the armed forces during the anti-terrorist operation.
The National Conference leaders Farooque Abdullah and his son Omar Abdullah have been talking of initiating confidence-building measures in the valley to win the trust of the people. The Abdullahas also advocate talking to all stakeholders including Hurriyat and Pakistan but they seldom speak of the state of the economy in Jammu & Kashmir which lies in the shambles.
The PDP leader and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti has gone a step further by saying that ‘separatism’ or for that matter militancy in the valley “ek soch hai” (It is an idea). “It can’t be killed by a bullet. It has to be killed by an idea.”
Here, I may suggest some ideas to the leaders of the valley that they should propagate as vigorously as they propagate the idea of autonomy and azadi.
Contrary to general perception tourism, though a major contributor to the economy of the state is not the main source of livelihood for the majority of the people of Jammu & Kashmir. Agriculture remains the main source of livelihood and employment. More than 70 per cent of the population is dependent on agriculture. Yet, a vast tract land remains uncultivated. Over the years the successive governments have brought more and more land under cultivation but the state is still not self-sufficient in producing enough grains to feed its population. Food grains are brought to the state in huge quantity from other parts of the country. Economic backwardness, lack of proper education and poverty continue to grip large section of the population. The per capita income is much lower than the national average.
If you look at nature’s gift to Jammu & Kashmir it is rich in forest and mineral. The climate is suitable for running the industry of chemical and woollen textile. The handicraft is another sector where the state can do a lot for its people. But regrettably the entire energy and attention of the government be it an elected government or government under Governor’s rule are wasted in combating militancy, agitations and bandhs in the valley, courtesy the political leadership of the state.
Apple and saffron are crops that sustain a large section of the population who grow it. Saffron is cultivated in Karewas of Kashmir valley and in Bhadarwah of Jammu region. It is a cash crop and profitable too. Saffron has medicinal properties as well as has culinary value. One can imagine the importance of saffron for its medicinal use when recorded history says that saffron was used as medicine even in 500 years B.C. (Before Christ). In India, it is sold at an average price of Rs 3000 for just 100 grams that is Rs 30,000/ kilogram. According to one estimate, the saffron sector provides more than 5 per cent of employment to the people of the state.
Unemployment is one issue that affects the youths of the state who resort to agitation by joining the ranks of separatist elements in the valley. The problem of employment can be solved only when a new industry comes up in the state. For any industrial growth power, communication, law and order are necessary. The power situation is bad. Transmission and distribution network is so poor that even if the state gets the required power demand from the Central grid, it can’t distribute it to the far-flung regions of the state. Road communication is very poor. Railway tracks can’t be laid throughout the state due to its topography.
Why not the leaders of the National Conference, the PDP and the Congress who harp on autonomy and violation of human rights join hands to spread the message of peace through economic growth?
(The writer is a Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha)
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of AFTERNOON VOICE and AFTERNOON VOICE does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.
Researchers have discovered a key mechanism in the brain that may underlie our ability to rapidly focus attention.
Our brains are continuously bombarded with information from the senses, yet our level of vigilance to such input varies, allowing us to selectively focus on one conversation and not another.
Stephen Williams, lead researcher of the study, “If we want to give our full concentration, something happens in the brain to enable us to focus and filter out distractions. There must be a mechanism that signals the thing we want to focus on.”
Research has shown that the electrical activity of the neocortex of the brain changes when we focus our attention. Neurons stop signalling in sync with one another and start firing out of sync.
This is helpful, says Williams, because it allows individual neurons to respond to sensory information in different ways. Thus, you can focus on a car speeding down the road or on what a friend is saying in a crowded room.
It’s known that the cholinergic system in the brain plays an important role in triggering this desynchronisation.
The cholinergic system consists of clusters of special neurons that synthesise and release a signalling molecule called acetylcholine, he explains, and these clusters make far-reaching connections throughout the brain.
Not only does this cholinergic system act as a master switch, but mounting evidence suggests it also enables the brain to identify which sensory input is the most salient – i.e. worthy of attention – at any given moment and then shine a spotlight on that input.
“The cholinergic system broadcasts to the brain, ‘this thing is really important to be vigilant to’,” said Williams.
He adds that the cholinergic system has been proposed to have a far-reaching impact on our cognitive abilities.
“Destruction of the cholinergic system in animals profoundly degrades cognition, and the formation of memory,” he says.
“Importantly, in humans, progressive degeneration of the cholinergic system occurs in devastating diseases that blunt cognition and memory, such as Alzheimer’s disease.”
I liked the way Modi spoke with clarity about Ram Mandir nirman. He should review his Cabinet and remove persons like Uma Bharti, Kalraj Mishra, Giriraj Singh and replace them with experts in various fields. This is important to gain public confidence.
He must develop small towns and medium and small-scale industries. Certain items of mass consumption must be made there and their purchase by governmental agencies must be ensured. Don’t concentrate on Amethi and Varanasi only, go south too. No pension should be allotted to more than two times MPs. Bring out a law that no one qualifies for MP or IAS till he or she undergoes two years of well-structured national service. Modi needs to improve his countenance and stop blaming others. If he rectifies his method of working, as above, he can win 2019.
Why would you criticise Lutyens’ Delhi when you yourself ran to Madame Tussauds? You have also worn designer clothes and accessories.
“Yeh rona dhona band kariye aur LB Shashtriji ki tarah kaam kariye!”
(Stop lamenting and start working with the efficiency of former PM Laal Bahadur Shastri!)
Mahendra Singh
Mrinal Sen’s death marks an end of Bengali Cinema!
Indian cineworld has lost a legendary persona in the death of Mrinal Sen who died at the ripe old age of 95 years. A distinguished and creative film maker by all yardsticks, Mrinal Sen was West Bengal’s ‘heart’ as he was the ‘Don’ of regional cinema apart from being a noble soul. He won many accolades in his career but winning the Dadasaheb Phalke Award was his greatest achievement.
The void left by his death would be difficult to fill and he would be remembered as long as films are made in our country. The towering personality was an institution in himself as far as film making is concerned. RIP Mrinal Sen. May His Soul Rest In Peace!
SN Kabra
Pray for a happy year!
We know we have challenges in the year ahead. But our faith bids us hope. All our faith, however different they may be on some point, concurs in pointing to the overarching reality of compassion and love as the central principle of our teachings.
And all our faith speaks also of hope for the future that is grounded in thanksgivings for the past. So as we cherish the New Year, we sincerely hope and pray for a year that is filled with peace, harmony and good will among all people and for an end to violence and war and to the fear that provokes them.
I hope that this year brings success, joy, and happiness to every one of us.
Jubel D’Cruz
BJP should act fast
Two decisions taken by the BJP-led government over the past four–and-a-half years has been transformative: the GST act and IBC. The initial hiccups in the implementation of GST could disappear in 2019, with streamlining producers. It seems the government will probably fix a single tax rate for all goods and services to win the national elections. Now it has begun to remit farmer’s loans, decrease the fuel’s price, as well as investigate crimes in UP, etc. I think BJP should fulfill all promises within one or two months rapidly, because its boat is capsising in stormy circumstances.
Najmul Qasmi
Make calendar year as financial year
Expert committee chaired by the known economist LK Jha which was set up by Union Government to suggest new financial year, had suggested the systematic calendar year of January-December to replace current system of April-March financial year due to multiple advantageous, and also to be in tune with most other countries of the world. But as usual, recommendations of LK Jha’s committee set up at high cost were dumped by the then political rulers without being implemented. It is time that both the financial and the working year for the complete country may be unified as the systematic calendar year to replace present financial year of April-March which is the continuation of a British legacy even after seven long decades of the country having achieved independence.
Madhu Agrawal
Central government accepting Allahabad renaming
It refers to the Central government giving nod to UP government’s decision to rename Allahabad as Prayagraj. But system should be for auto-change of names institutions including like high courts, university, railway stations and others after name change is affected. Names of Bombay High Court and Madras High Court still remain the same despite renaming of respective cities as Mumbai and Chennai decades back.
There has been gradual change in names or spellings of cities with the process still incomplete despite more than seven decades of independence. The distorted spellings of ‘Jullender’ and ‘Simla’ by the British rulers as Jalandhar and Shimla has been rectified. But spellings of cities like Delhi and Bareilly as per actual pronunciation are yet to be modified. Delhi is distorted version of ‘Dehli’ meaning entrance in Hindi. Many other countries like Bangladesh and China have already respelled names of their capitals as per actual pronunciation. Likewise, renaming of other cities and states should be in one go to remove confusion. Even Pakistan acknowledges Lahore being named after Luv, son of Lord Ram because of Luv having established Lahore. Lucknow can be renamed as Lakshmanpur if the city had been established by Lakshman, younger brother of Lord Rama. There are too many Rampurs and Bilaspurs in India which require renaming to avoid confusion. New names can be after heroic characters of Ramayan and Mahabharat.
Only old-timers know that since the western part of pre-independent undivided Bengal came to India, the state was named as West Bengal, and East Bengal turned into East Pakistan, now Bangladesh. Prefix ‘West’ should be removed from the name of the state in the new name.
Union Government should also adopt single name ‘Bharat’ for the country abolishing British given name as India, in tune with unanimous resolution once passed by UP state-assembly. It is senseless to have two names for a country. Sri Lanka and Myanmar have already done away with such British legacy when these countries are no more known as Ceylon and Burma.
Subhash Chandra Agrawal
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
The government has no plans to extend Assam’s National Register of Citizens to other parts of the country, Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday.
Replying to a written question, Union Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir said the NRC of 1951 in Assam is being updated under the provisions of the Citizenship Act, 1955, and the applications for preparation of NRC in Assam were invited in May-August, 2015.
“The exercise to update NRC 1951 is being conducted under the special provisions in respect of state of Assam under the Citizenship Rules, 2003. At present, there is no proposal to extend the National Register of Citizens (NRC) to states other than Assam,” he said.
Ahir said that after necessary scrutiny and verification, the complete draft NRC was published on July 30 last year.
When the draft NRC was published, names of 40 lakh residents of Assam were excluded from it, creating a huge political controversy.
The minister said the claims and objections on the draft NRC were invited till December 31 and after the disposal of claims and objections, the NRC is to be finalised as per the time lines approved by the Supreme Court.
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) Wednesday said that Hindus cannot wait “till eternity” for the court’s decision on Ram Temple and asserted that the only way forward is to enact a legislation for its construction.
The VHP’s comment came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggested that any decision on an ordinance on Ram temple can happen only after the completion of the judicial process but stressed the government was ready to make all efforts to fulfil its responsibility.
The VHP, considering the overall situation, continues to be of the firm view that the Hindu society cannot be expected to wait till eternity for a court decision, VHP international working president Alok Kumar told reporters.
“The only appropriate way forward is to enact a legislation clearing the way for the construction of a grand Ram Temple at the Ram Janmabhoomi now,” he added.
Modi’s comments on Tuesday had come amidst heightened demands by Hindutava organisations, including the RSS, for an ordinance for an early construction of the temple in Ayodhya.
Dance is a celebration of emotions, and do not miss a chance to celebrate each day. For becoming a good dancer, the dancer has to stay fit and stay healthy that the performance of the performer will be up to the mark. The striking examples are Hema Malini and Vyjayanthimala, both had dominated Bollywood and hail from South India. Keep dancing to keep yourself fit all the time and make your presence felt on the stage as an able and efficient dancer. Dancing has become part and parcel of in the Indian Cinema. The lady actors all came through a dancing background. Jayalalithaa was a leading actress in South Indian films from 1961 to 1980 and she was considered both prolific and versatile, performing in different roles and essaying a wide variety of characters. She was also known for her dancing skills and at one time was referred to as the ‘Queen of Tamil Cinema.
The Sangeet Natak Akademi currently confers classical status on eight Indian classical dance styles: Bharatanatyam (Tamil Nadu), Kathak (North India), Kathakali (Kerala), Kuchipudi (Andhra Pradesh), Odissi (Odisha), Manipuri (Manipur), Mohiniyattam (Kerala), and Sattriya (Assam). Bharatanatyam, is a major genre of Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu. Traditionally, Bharatanatyam has been a solo dance that was performed exclusively by women, and it expressed the feelings in action in a dance form. Group dances are now developed to depict the story of Radha-Krishna and other historical and mythological saga in the dance script.
Bharatnatyam is a distinctive traditional form of Indian classical dance originating from the culturally rich state of Tamil Nadu. On the other hand, Kuchipudi is a traditional Indian classical dance form originating in the South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Bharatnatyam is a unique dance form that stands for the diverse reconstructions of the ancient art of Cathir which were revived in the 19th and 20th century. Odissi, also referred to as Orissi in older literature, is a major ancient Indian classical dance that originated in the Hindu temples of Odisha – an eastern coastal state of India.
Kuchipudi is one of the eight major Indian classical dances. It is originated in a village named Kuchipudi in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Yamini ‘Poornatilaka’ Krishnamurthy, better known as Yamini Krishnamurthy is a renowned Kuchipudi and Bharatnatyam dancer. Both Mohiniyattam and Kathakali assumed greater importance in Kerala. Yakshajana is a theatre form that is most common along the coast as well as in the Malenadur region of Karnataka. The art form of dance is taken to other countries.
The performers have also started to incorporate modern materials in the get-ups so as to lighten the weight of the traditional costumes. Modern fabrics are worn instead of traditional material and thermocol is used in place of wood when making ornaments.
(This is the first part of the Diary, the latter part will continue tomorrow.)
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
The UN has expressed regret at the loss of lives and injuries sustained by candidates and voters in the recently-concluded general elections in Bangladesh and called on all sides to “exercise restraint” and “ensure a peaceful post-electoral environment,” where people can maintain their right to assembly and expression.
The United Nations (UN) said that it was also aware of reports of irregularities in the polls.
“The United Nations is aware of violent incidents and reports of irregularities in the Bangladesh general elections. We regret the loss of life and injuries sustained by candidates and voters during the electoral campaign and on election day,” the UN Spokesperson’s office said in a statement Monday.
The UN said that violence and attacks on people and property are not acceptable.
“We encourage the parties to address electoral complaints in a peaceful manner and through legal means,” the UN urged, adding that “violence and attacks on people and property are not acceptable,” the statement said.
The world body also welcomed the participation of the opposition in elections for the first time in 10 years.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League and its allies won the general elections on Sunday, bagging 288 of the total 299 seats which went to the polls.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of the jailed ex-premier Khalida Zia won five seats in the 300-member Parliament.
The election was marred by violence, in which 17 people died. The opposition BNP rejected the poll outcome as “farcical” and rigged and demanded a fresh election, amid allegations of intimidation.
The Election Commission (EC) ruled out holding fresh polls.
The opposition Jatiya Oikya Front – National Unity Front (NUF) – comprising the BNP and some smaller parties, criticised the EC and accused its chief of being biased.
Actor Shay Mitchell kicked off the New Year with opening up about the highs and lows from her last year.
Like many people having kickass New Year’s Eves, American comedian Tiffany Haddish’s had a New Year night that she’d probably want to forget.
South Kashmir again witnessed violence and firing on December 15 during an army operation against terrorists. In the operation, three terrorists were killed. The unfortunate part of the encounter was the death of 7 civilians not because the armed forces fired at them indiscriminately but firing was resorted to in self-defence as the civilians attacked the armed forces protesting and defending the terrorists. There was a hue and cry over the death of a young man in the firing because the victim was an MBA graduate. Bullets don’t recognise qualified or illiterate persons in mob violence.
The government has no plans to extend Assam’s National Register of Citizens to other parts of the country, Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday.
The UN has expressed regret at the loss of lives and injuries sustained by candidates and voters in the recently-concluded general elections in Bangladesh and called on all sides to “exercise restraint” and “ensure a peaceful post-electoral environment,” where people can maintain their right to assembly and expression.