Emilia Clarke confirmed her relationship with filmmaker Charlie McDowell with a unique post on her Instagram page.
The “Game of Thrones” star shared a cryptic photograph on her 32nd birthday on Tuesday which showed two shadows on sand with the figure kissing the other on the cheek.
“Well that was a birthday I won’t be forgetting in a while,” Clarke captioned the post.
McDowell, 35, also posted the same picture a while later.
He captioned the photo: “Happy birthday, E.”
McDowell’s parents are British actor Malcolm McDowell and American actor Mary Steenburgen. He is best known for directing 2014 sci-fi thriller “The One I Love”.
The imposition of a partial ban on bursting firecrackers during festivals, especially Diwali, by the Supreme Court is a welcome move. Now, the crackers can be burst only between 8 pm to 10 pm. The restriction may not help much in reducing air pollution but will make people think about the environment. It has become routine to celebrate any occasion, be it a wedding or cricket match victory, by bursting crackers indiscriminately. The apex court’s move would help discourage such environment-unfriendly practices.
– Divyesh Chovatiya
2) Strife in the CBI
At a time when the economic offences, corruption and other types of financial and banking crimes are touching their culmination in the country, it is a shame that the most trustworthy agencies appointed to save the country from such evils are themselves facing charges of serious grafts. Perhaps it is the first time in free India that the Central Bureau of Investigation, the country’s premier investigation agency, has had to probe its own leadership. Such allegations against agency are serious and have an impact on the credibility of the nation. A swift action is essential as much and the agency must be kept independent rather it should not be used for politicians as a necessity to protect their self-interest.
– Mohd Usmani
3) Welcome SC verdict on illegal mining
It refers to welcome the Supreme Court order of October 23, 2018, wherein the Rajasthan government was ordered to shut down illegal mining-units in the state within 48 hours when 38 of 128 hillocks in the state disappeared due to mining adding to a rise in pollution levels in parts of north India including the national capital turning down plea loss of Rs 5,000 crore coming annually as royalty through mining operations in the state.
However, the bench should have avoided reference to Hanuman during the hearing “Humans seem to be flying away with hills just like Hanuman” which was not taken in a good sense by a section of media and individuals.
– Subhash Chandra Agrawal
4) The thinking moment for PM
It is said that “a word is enough to the wise.” The people of AP and Orissa are facing the kind of difficulties and problems nowadays that most of the people know. The cyclone Titli has devastated districts Srikakulam and Vizianagaram and has left huge damage to properties, agriculture and horticulture crops, houses and infrastructure resulting in deep distress and misery to the people of these districts. The state government has made a tentative estimation of the damage in all sectors, including agriculture, horticulture, electricity, and irrigation. It has stated roughly Rs 2,800 crore to be the estimated worth of the damages incurred. According to reports, Andhra Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday has written to the PM and sought Rs 1,200 crore from the Centre as an immediate relief to take up relief operations in the cyclone-devastated areas of Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts. The Naidu’s plea to release Rs 1,200 crore shouldn’t be needed, but the PM should earlier pay attention himself that where he has to spend money and where are the needy people because the best leader is the one who takes care of everyone and fulfills their requirements without any plea. I hope that it will be insured by the PM that the needy people’s requirements will be filled with accepting Naidu’s plea.
– Syed Salman
5) Blame is on organisers
This is a heart-wrenching incident that Dussehra celebration turned tragic when a speeding train mowed down hundreds of people who were watching Ravana’s effigy going up in flames. 61 people died and more than 72 people were injured. Meanwhile, it is consoling that Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has announced to give Rs 5 lakh to the kin of each deceased and free treatment to the injured in government and private hospitals. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh have also promised all possible assistance. Hope they will make good. I think the local administration is solely responsible for this tragic incident as they should not give permission for the celebration near a track. The organisers are also to be blamed for the incident. Why have they arranged a program so close to the Railway tracks? Why did not they provide a barrier along the track? My deepest condolences and sympathies for the deceased!
– QB Malik
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
The 29-year-old Indian skipper Virat Kohli deserves Kudos for becoming the fastest to complete 10,000 ODI runs during the second ODI of the five-match series against West Indies. This reveals the fact that the way Kohli looks after himself and the way he works on his game is really unbelievable.
India’s commendable fight back was a tremendous confidence-booster for a side. Overall, Kohli is now the 13th cricketer and only the fifth Indian to go past the 10,000-run barrier. It now seems that his enormous and almost insatiable appetite for runs seems to be a never-ending process. In this era, he has symbolized India’s cricketing ambitions after the retirements of some of the greatest Cricketers. There are a very few players whose mere presence on the crease instills a lot of confidence, both in the dressing room as well as amongst the supporters in the stand. It is said that challenges are a part and parcel of sport, and the best overcome it. Kohli did that in the past with some seemingly insurmountable odds in sight. He is a big match player. With his consistent performance, he produced many memorable moments in cricket and helped India to win many matches. Kohli has been consistent over the years and his aggressive nature is great for the game. The kind of cricket that he plays in past few years has time and again proved the mantle and has reinstalled the confidence among the supporters and cricket fans. He has earned plaudits from all quarters for his swashbuckling batting and now the fans and the critics are seeing him as the next Sachin Tendulkar. He understands how he is supposed to bat in different wickets to score runs. His biggest plus point is that he takes everything as a challenge and wants to contribute in each and every game. His every knock was applauded from every quarter of the cricket world. Every time he walks into bat he carries the hopes of a billion surrounded people who look to him as the sole hope in a nation rounded by gloom, and despair.
Ricky Ponting has in his book At Close of Play has rightly written that “He has got presence and is one of that new breed of Indian players who are supremely confident and he has the game to back it up… I think in two or three years his name will be up there as one of the best in Test match cricket.” Most of the cricketers today do not know how to stand in longer format after the arrival of T20, but Kohli suits any format of the game. He has the capacity to bat for a long time and it’s the hunger to perform, his willingness to take up the challenge that sets him apart. Invariably, the pressure comes on Kohli, though he has relished the task of delivering each time he is required to step up. There are batsmen, good and great but Kohli is beyond them all. Kohli is a true modern superstar; a young man who has touched dizzying peaks and is hungry for more in the years ahead. The time has come when a collective effort is needed from Team India with batsmen and bowlers needing to fire in tandem in future. There are many who say Sachin Tendulkar was the symbol of a growing India, waiting to take on the world. Kohli symbolises a generation that is confident of its position on the global platform. Kohli has always shown his determination, hard work, and the thirst and there is no doubt that he called the next Master Blaster.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
YSR Congress leader Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy was Thursday injured when he was attacked by a man with a knife at the airport at Vishakhapatnam, official sources said.
Reddy, the leader of the opposition in the Andhra Pradesh assembly, received a minor injury on his shoulder and is doing fine, they said.
The assaulter has been identified as Janipalli Srinivasa Rao (30), a resident of Taniyalapalli village near Amalapuram in East Godavari district. He has been working as a chef in Fusion Foods Restaurant at the airport for the past one year.
Seven persons were arrested for allegedly stealing petrol from tankers and 14,000 litres of fuel were seized from them, police said on Thursday.
Acting on a tip-off, special task force of the Meerut police nabbed the seven accused Wednesday from the Delhi-Pauri national highway near Sikhera under Miranpur police station area, Circle Officer (STF) Brijesh Singh said.
They were siphoning off the petrol from the oil tanker in connivance with the tanker driver, he said.
The seven accused were identified as Dushyant Kumar, Sonu, Gaurav, Yogesh, Gopal, Nikku and Shahnawaz.
The telecom sector continues to be highly-taxed just like tobacco industry, and the issue of high levy needs to be resolved, Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Mittal said on Thursday.
Speaking at the inaugural session of India Mobile Congress 2018, Mittal said the National Digital Communications Policy (NDCP), like the previous telecom policy, clearly acknowledges that revenue maximisation is not the objective.
“There is also one overarching objective of previous policy and also enshrined in NDCP that revenue maximisation is not the objective…Then why operators and Department of Telecom are under litigation for revenue maximisation,” Mittal said.
The industry, he noted, is being taxed “like tobacco industries” and emphasised that the issue needs to be resolved.
The Maharashtra government Thursday moved the Supreme Court challenging the Bombay High Court order by which the extension of time granted to state police to conclude probe in the Koregaon Bhima violence case was set aside.
The Bombay High Court Wednesday had quashed the lower court’s decision by which the Maharahstra Police was granted more time to conclude the investigation and file the chargesheet in the violence case in which several rights activist had been made accused.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi considered the submissions of lawyer Nishant Katneshwar, appearing for the Maharashtra government that the appeal needed to be heard on an urgent basis.
The lawyer said if the high court order is not stayed then accused in the violence case would become entitled for grant of statutory bail for want of non-filing of chargesheet within the stipulated period.
The bench, which also comprises Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph, said the appeal of the Maharashtra government would be heard on October 26.
Earlier, the apex court had refused to interfere with the arrest of five rights activists by the Maharashtra Police in connection with the Koregaon-Bhima violence case and declined to appoint a SIT for probe into their arrest.
The Maharashtra Police had arrested five activists — Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Sudha Bharadwaj and Gautam Navlakha — in connection with an FIR lodged following a conclave — ‘Elgaar Parishad’ — held last year that had later triggered violence at Koregaon-Bhima village in the state.
A big-hitter on the field and a hit DJ off it, West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo on Wednesday announced retired from international cricket to prolong his career as a professional player available for Twenty20 franchise events all over the world.
The 35-year-old Bravo, who is not a part of the team which is currently engaged in a series in India, played 40 Tests, 164 ODIs and 66 T20Is since making his debut back in 2004.
His last appearance for the West Indies was more than two years ago. Outside cricket, he also found fame for his hit track ‘Champions’ that became the West Indies’ anthem during their triumphant 2016 T20 World Cup campaign in India.
“Today I want to confirm to the cricket world that I have officially retired from international cricket in all formats of the game…I will continue my professional career as a cricketer and entertainer living as a true champion,” Bravo, who has competed for Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians in the IPL, said in a statement.
“After 14 years when I made my debut for the West Indies, I still remember that moment I received the maroon cap before walking onto the Lords Cricket Ground against England in July 2004. The enthusiasm and passion I felt then, I have kept with me throughout my career,” he added.
The Trinidadian said his decision was also based on a desire to vacate the field for younger talent in the national team.
“However, I must accept that for me to preserve my longevity as a professional cricketer, I must do as others before have done, leave the international arena for the next generation of players,” he said.
In his 40-Test career, which began in 2010, Bravo scored 2200 runs, including three hundreds and 13 fifties. He also picked up 86 wickets in the format.
His 164 ODI appearances yielded 2968 runs and 199 wickets for him, while his T20 International record constituted 1142 runs and 52 wickets.
Known to be a powerful-hitter and agile fielder, Bravo is considered an impact player in the T20 format. His last ODI appearance came back in 2014 against India in Dharamsala.
During that dramatic tour, the West Indies team flew home midway through the series owing to a pay dispute with the Board. Bravo was the captain of the ODI side at that time.
He was subsequently dropped from the West Indies’ 2015 ODI World Cup squad but came back the next year and played a pivotal role in the team’s T20 World Cup triumph, especially his death bowling.
“I thank the countless persons who were instrumental to my success, particularly my family and QPCC where I developed my skills at an early age,” Bravo said.
“I thank the many loyal fans who continue to support my journey and who recognize my efforts on and off the field.
“I am extremely fortunate to have a career that has taken me across the globe into the most prestigious dressing rooms sharing experiences with all the recent legends of this glorious game,” he added.
Exiled political activists from Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) gathered outside the European Parliament here to protest against Pakistan-sponsored atrocities and plundering of resources in the region.
The activists raised slogans against Islamabad blaming it for the construction of the Neelum-Jhelum Hydro Power Project and Diamer Bhasha Dam that has not only severely affected the flora and fauna of the region, but have left the common people reeling under abject poverty.
“We are here in Brussels in front of the European Parliament demonstrating against the plundering of the natural resources of Kashmiri people (in Pakistan). We are here to protest against the state brutality and for the people who are suffering because of the policies of the Pakistani government. We are actually protesting against their policies, their nefarious designs,” said Shaukat Ali Kashmiri, Chairman of the United Kashmir People’s National Party (UKPNP).
Another UKPNP activist, named Jamil Maqsood, said, “The fundamental purpose of this demonstration was to highlight the human rights violations in the Pakistan administered Kashmir and occupied Gilgit-Baltistan because Pakistan is constructing Neelum Jhelum hydropower project and Diamer Bhasha dam in Gilgit Baltistan and in both these areas, people have been asked to leave their properties and leave their land without paying them any alternative land and without paying them any compensation”.
He added, “In Muzaffarabad, they (Pakistani government) have diverted Neelum river which is at the brink of extinction. It is completely destroyed and approximately hundreds of thousands of people in Neelum, Muzaffarabad and other lower riparian areas are deprived of the basic necessity of water.”
Activists from Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Mohajirs also joined the protest to raise the issue of human rights violations as Islamabad has employed similar repressive patterns in their provinces.
Pakistan has been according to a second-class citizen treatment to the people of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and Sindh. This diabolic pattern of suppressing its own people has witnessed a significant escalation since the advent of the multi-billion dollar China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
President Ramnath Kovind is learnt to have dismissed a plea to disqualify 27 ruling Aam Admi Party MLAs of Delhi for allegedly holding office of profit by being appointed as chairpersons of Rogi Kalyan Samitis attached to various city hospitals.
The President signed the order dismissing the plea based on an opinion given by the Election Commission (EC) in July, a senior poll panel functionary said on Thursday.
The EC had found no merit in the plea.
Such pleas are sent to the President who forwards it to the EC. The EC then gives its opinion based on which the President has to issue orders.
According to an order issued by the Delhi government’s health and family welfare department on April 26, the Rogi Kalyan Samitis’ (Patient Welfare Committees) are advisory in nature which will assist health facilities, develop and customise strategies among others.
It stated that each Assembly Rogi Kalyan Samiti’ will be provided Rs 3 lakh per annum as grand-in aid.
