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First looks of Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt from ‘Rocky Aur Rani…’ unveiled on Karan Johar’s birthday

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ANI
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First looks of Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt from 'Rocky Aur Rani...' unveiled on Karan Johar's birthday 2

Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt are ”the newest couple in the Dharma cinematic universe” in the first look of director Karan Johar’s ”Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani”, announced Dharma Productions on Thursday.

The posters of Singh and Bhatt, who previously co-starred in 2019’s ”Gully Boy”, were revealed on the occasion of Johar’s 51st birthday. The family drama will hit the screens on July 2, 2023.

”Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani”, which marks Johar’s return to direction after 2016’s ”Ae Dil Hai Mushkil”, will be released in the 25th anniversary year of the filmmaker in the industry. He made his directorial debut in 1998 with ”Kuch Kuch Hota Hai”, starring Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol and Rani Mukerji.

Johar’s family banner Dharma Productions shared the first glimpses of Singh as Rocky and Bhatt as Rani on its official Twitter page.

”Meet the newest couple in the Dharma cinematic universe – Rocky & Rani! Inn dono ki prem kahaani hai adhuri without their family! STAY TUNED & MEET THEIR PARIVAAR! #RGqeFptmYSt36osm5rdsZwJP8FaNrdG9b6, a film by Karan Johar in his 25th anniversary year…” the production house said in the tweet.

”Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani” also stars veteran actors Dharmendra, Jaya Bachchan and Shabana Azmi in key roles.

The production house described Singh’s Rocky, dressed in jazzy and colourful outfits, as a character who is ”rocking in every avatar”.

”Yaaron ka yaar, rocking in every avatar, aur iss ‘prem kahaani’ ka dildaar – meet Rocky!” read the caption.

Bhatt’s Rani is the ‘queen’ draped in vibrant saris. ”Dilon ko dhadkaane aa rahi hai woh – the ‘Rani’ (queen) of this ‘prem kahaani’!” the banner said about her character description.

Later in the day, Dharma Productions also shared the posters of the film’s two families — Randhawas and Chatterjees.

”Do alag parivaar, ek bada dhamaka! Meet the Randhawas & the Chatterjees,” the banner said in the tweet.

Penned by Ishita Moitra, Shashank Khaitan and Sumit Roy, ”Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani” is scheduled to hit the screens on July 28.

With Nadal absent, McEnroe tips ‘electric’ Alcaraz for French Open success

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ANI
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With Nadal absent, McEnroe tips 'electric' Alcaraz for French Open success 4

Rafa Nadal’s absence from the French Open due to injury has blown the men’s draw wide open with Carlos Alcaraz the “slight favourite” over Novak Djokovic, former Grand Slam champion John McEnroe has said. Nadal has not played since his hip injury at the Australian Open and the 14-times winner at Roland Garros said it could be months before he returns to action as he prepares to end his career in 2024.

“Honestly it was just so one-sided the way Rafa was able to dominate that all you can talk about is Rafa,” McEnroe told Eurosport. “Novak has as many Grand Slams (22), but you don’t put him in the same breath there (at Roland Garros) as Rafa. He set a bar so high that it’s impossible to imagine anyone even get close to it.

“So, from that standpoint alone, it’s much more open … The ideal would have been, if Rafa was still playing at a very high level and someone was good enough to beat him when he’s playing great. That’s what people really wanted to see.” McEnroe said Djokovic has a great chance to win a calendar slam this year but the 64-year-old said youngsters like world number one Alcaraz and Holger Rune can make the step up.

“I would say Alcaraz would be the slight favourite to win this,” McEnroe said. “Alcaraz has a lot of pressure now because he’s just such an unbelievable breath of fresh air. He’s so electric, the way he plays, he’s got such a great personality that people want him to win.

“But then you got to back it up. He’s 20-years-old, but he just seems like such a great ambassador for our sport that you’re sort of pulling for him.”

Acquirer of Silicon Valley Bank announces layoffs at the failed institution; no impact on team based in India

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ANI
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Acquirer of Silicon Valley Bank announces layoffs at the failed institution; no impact on team based in India 6

The bank that acquired the remnants of Silicon Valley Bank after it failed amid a March bank run announced layoffs Wednesday. First Citizens Bank of Raleigh, North Carolina, said it was cutting about 500 jobs, or about 3% of its workforce.

CEO Frank Holding said the move would only affect “select” corporate Silicon Valley Bank positions, adding that neither employees in customer-facing jobs, nor members of a team based in India, would be impacted.

Silicon Valley Bank was caught unprepared when the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates earlier this year, a move that reduced the value of its reserves of Treasury bonds. It was walloped again when the tech clientele it had courted rushed to withdraw their funds. The bank served mostly technology workers and venture capital-backed companies, including some of the industry’s best-known brands.

It was the nation’s 16th-largest bank, and at the time its rout represented the second biggest bank failure in U.S. history. Aftershocks from its failure rattled the financial system, leading to the failure of Signature Bank and First Republic Bank, and putting several other banks under financial strain.

Reliance Retail, Jio likely to claim lion’s share of India’s e-commerce marketplace in long term: Berstein

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ANI
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Image: Reuters

Reliance Retail and Jio are best-positioned players in the largest and fastest-growing e-commerce market in the long term, according to brokerage Berstein. In a report ‘The Long View: India eCommerce – A 150 bn dollar market. Three players. One Disruptive Playbook’, the brokerage said that Reliance Retail and Jio have several advantages including “home field advantage”.

“We believe Reliance Retail/Jio is the best positioned player in the largest and fastest growing E-Commerce market. The advantages of its retail network, its mobile network, its digital ecosystem and its ‘home field advantage’ in a famously complex regulatory and operating environment mean in the Long Term, it will likely claim the lion’s share of the US$150 Bn+ eCommerce marketplace,” the report said. The Indian e-commerce market is the largest opportunity in the Indian internet ecosystem. It is expected to reach USD 133 billion by 2025 from USD 24 billion 2018, a 5x market, with 30 per cent CAGR, the report said.

According to Berstein, this is a USD 100 billion incremental opportunity with only three scaled players in the market, namely Walmart, Reliance Jio and Amazon. Berstein also said the winner in the Indian e-commerce market will be the one with the most-compelling integrated value proposition, in terms of offline, online and as well as prime. Reliance Jio has the most disruptive playbook, using an integrated approach to consumers – USD 18 billion gross merchandise GMV value (Reliance Retail), 355 million consumers (Reliance Jio) and compelling prime apps (JioTV, MyJio, JioSaavn and Jio Prime), the report said.

In the current e-commerce market, this is led by the Big 2 — Flipkart and Amazon — which make up to 60 per cent market share, the Berstein report stated. “Both platforms provide the widest selection in core categories and fast and reliable delivery. Flipkart was the first mover in e-commerce in India. Flipkart’s GMV was at USD 15 billion in FY20 and USD 23 billion gross merchandise value (GMV) which includes Myntra in FY21. Reliance Retail during the recent fourth quarter (Q4FY230) results provided its digital mix (proxy for e-commerce) at USD 5.7 billion. Meesho is currently at USD 5-billion gross merchandise value (GMV).”

The report compares the three giants in terms of focus on multiple services with large technology acceptance model (TAM), fashion becoming the largest category in e-commerce, Get Fit and Get deep, strong partnership network and government’s regulation on foreign direct investment (FDI). Along the lines of focusing on “multiple services with large TAM”, the brokerage said it expects Jio to become “the core platform for India’s digital economy”. As more consumers and small business move online, Berstein said it sees an expansion of India’s digital technology acceptance model (TAM) which it expected would reach a trillion dollars by 2025.

Berstein mentioned the launch of JioMart in the context of e-commerce. While discussing competition of these e-commerce giants, the report said fashion has become the largest category in e-commerce. It said fashion became the largest category with 25 per cent gross merchandise value (GMV) share and grew over 40 per cent in 2022 while the mobile category grew 7 per cent in 2022. India added over 40 million online shoppers in CY22 with 16 million added from Fashion. Reliance is the strongest positioned in fashion with Ajio and Reliance Trends with a 20 per cent market share.

The report also mentioned Jio’s partnership with Facebook to build a communication platform for customers/small businesses through WhatsApp Business. The brokerage viewed this capability as Jio’s strength in the digital economy and a core component of India’s digital ecosystem. According to the report, now the key focus for the e-commerce giants is to Get Fit and Get deep (expanding deeper into Tier2/3 markets). “Reliance is the only profitable business at 6-7 per cent EBITDA while both Amazon and Flipkart are negative EBITDA. Reliance Retail is deep in Tier II/III markets with over 70 per cent stores in those markets.”

In terms of a strong partnership network, Reliance has built a deep digital ecosystem across e-commerce, entertainment and financial services which positions it well with end customers, the report said, adding that Reliance has access to 500 million subscribers to cross-sell/up-sell these digital services. The report also mentioned FDI regulations disallow non-Indian e-commerce firms from running the 1P model in India or owning a more than 25 per cent equity stake in a seller on its platform. There are draft policies discouraging exclusive seller partnerships or deep discounting and mandating local storage of customer data.

It said categories like Grocery (Fresh) have traditionally used a 1P or inventory-led model. The inventory control and management of supply chain logistics are essential to maintain the customer experience. Grocery is a large category in retail with more than 70 per cent of the market share. Reliance has 20 per cent of revenues coming from grocery, the report said. 1P refers to a first-party relationship with a retailer such as Amazon or Flipkart. With this selling model, the seller act as a wholesale supplier for the retailer, which will then sell sellers’ products to their end-customers and take care of every aspect of fulfilment.

Cong’s decision to expel me shows party is in ‘wrong hands’ in Maha, says ex-MLA Ashish Deshmukh

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PTI
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Cong's decision to expel me shows party is in 'wrong hands' in Maha, says ex-MLA Ashish Deshmukh 9

Former Maharashtra MLA Ashish Deshmukh on Thursday criticised the Congress for expelling him, and said the action showed that the party’s state unit was in the hands of wrong people.

The state Congress recently expelled Deshmukh from the party for six years over his public statements against the party leadership. The order of expulsion was issued to Deshmukh by senior Congress leader and former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, chairperson of the state Congress disciplinary committee, through a letter dated May 22.

The letter said the committee discussed Deshmukh’s reply submitted on April 9 to a show-cause notice issued to him over his statement that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi should apologise to the Other Backward Class (OBC) community over his ”Modi surname” remarks. Deshmukh is a former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Katol in Nagpur, who later joined the Congress.

In a statement, Deshmukh said, ”The decision to expel me from the party is completely wrong. This action shows that the leadership of the Maharashtra Congress is in the hands of wrong people.” ”If one statement of Rahulji Gandhi insults the entire OBC community and because of that member of this community are hurt, then for the sake of Congress party, Rahulji should apologise to the OBCs who form 54 per cent of India’s total population, and end the matter here,” he said.

”The Congress leaders expelled me from the party for raising my voice for the welfare of OBCs. They issued a show-cause notice to me and I gave a detailed reply to it. The media gave a wide publicity to my reply as there was truth in it. But Congress leaders in Maharashtra did not find my reply satisfactory and that is the only reason they cited for my expulsion,” he added.

It can also be inferred that the decision to expel me from the party was already taken and the notice was given later, Deshmukh said. In the 2019 Assembly elections, Deshmukh, was the Congress nominee against senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and now Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis from Nagpur South West seat. Deshmukh was defeated by Fadnavis.

Last month, Ashish Deshmukh termed as ”unfortunate” the show-cause notice issued to him and claimed it was part of a ”larger conspiracy” since he had been questioning the style of functioning of the party leaders.

Imran Khan’s close aide Asad Umar resigns as PTI’s Secretary General

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PTI
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Imran Khan's close aide Asad Umar resigns as PTI's Secretary General 11

Ousted Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan’s suffered another jolt as the head of his economic team and one of his close aides Asad Umar resigned from all party positions, amid the government’s crackdown on the opposition over the May 9 violence.

Umar, who was Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party’s Secretary General, announced stepping down from all party positions shortly after he was released from Adiala Jail on Wednesday.

”Not possible for me to lead the party under these circumstances. I am resigning as Secretary General and core committee member of PTI,” he said at a press conference.

Umar said he was not resigning from the party offices “under pressure”.

He, however, clarified that he has not left PTI but only resigned from the party positions.

Umar said that the most dangerous thing that happened on May 9 was that military installations were attacked.

”I think Imran Khan himself has best explained the army’s status in Pakistan. He said that we would have seen a similar fate as Syria’s if it was not for a strong army like ours. Khan sb said that my country needs my army more than me,” he was quoted as saying by the Express Tribune newspaper.

His resignation came after former information minister Fawad Chaudhry on Wednesday resigned from the PTI.

Chaudhry’s quitting had followed former minister for human rights Shireen Mazari’s resignation. Mazari condemned the actions of the former prime minister’s supporters who attacked and torched sensitive defence installations across Pakistan on May 9.

On May 9, violent protests erupted after paramilitary Rangers arrested Khan from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) premises.

His party workers vandalised a dozen military installations, including the Lahore Corps Commander’s House, the Mianwali airbase and the ISI building in Faisalabad in response to Khan’s arrest.

The Army headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi was also stormed by the mob for the first time.

Police put the death toll in violent clashes to 10 while Khan’s party claims 40 of its workers lost their lives in the firing by security personnel.

Thousands of Khan’s supporters were arrested following the violence that the powerful Army described as a “dark day” in the history of the country.

Several top PTI leaders, including Umar, Chaudary and Mazari, were arrested in the wake of the unrest.

”I feel like there should be a transparent investigation against those involved in these incidents. But thousands of PTI workers and supporters were arrested, a lot of them are innocent… it is also important that they are released as soon as possible,” Umar said.

The former finance minister said that the army does not comprise just a few generals whose names are heard on TV, but thousands of soldiers who sacrifice their lives for the safety of the nation.

While Khan sees the exodus of top leaders as “forced divorces” at “gunpoint”, political experts suggest that it is an attempt to factionalise the PTI, the report said.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Sunday that those involved in attacks on military installations would be tried in the military courts while those charged with attacks on civilian targets would be prosecuted under civilian laws.

Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said on Wednesday the government was mulling a possible ban on Khan’s PTI party following the attacks by his supporters on military installations after the former prime minister’s arrest.

Khan was ousted from power in April last year after losing a no-confidence vote in his leadership, which he alleged was part of a US-led conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China and Afghanistan.

President’s absence at Parliament building inauguration will amount to ‘devaluing ethos of Republic’: Sibal

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ANI
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President's absence at Parliament building inauguration will amount to 'devaluing ethos of Republic': Sibal 13

Amid the raging row over the inauguration of the new Parliament building, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Thursday said the absence of the president in the ceremonial event would amount to ”devaluing the ethos of our Republic”.

Sibal’s attack on the government comes a day after as many as 20 opposition parties announced their decision to boycott the inauguration of the new Parliament building by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In a tweet, Sibal said, ”Inauguration of the new Parliament building. Parliament symbolises our Republic. The President is the head of the Republic. The absence of the President in this ceremonial event amounts to devaluing the ethos of our Republic. Does the government care!” Sibal, who was a union minister during UPA 1 and 2, had quit the Congress in May last year and was elected to the Rajya Sabha as an Independent member with the Samajwadi Party’s support. Sibal recently floated a non-electoral platform ‘Insaaf’ aimed at fighting injustice.

Nineteen Opposition parties, including the Congress, Left, TMC, SP and AAP, came together to jointly announce the boycott, saying they find no value in a new building when the ”soul of democracy has been sucked out”. Separately, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said if Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla does not inaugurate the new Parliament building, his party would not attend.

After the Opposition boycott call, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance had also launched a sharp counterattack, calling the opposition stand a ”blatant affront to democratic ethos and constitutional values of our great nation”.

The 19 Opposition parties in their joint statement said Prime Minister Modi’s decision to inaugurate the new Parliament building by himself, ”completely sidelining President Droupadi Murmu, is not only a grave insult but a direct assault on our democracy which demands a commensurate response”. Modi will inaugurate the new Parliament building on May 28 following an invitation by the Lok Sabha Speaker.

Maharashtra Congress expels former MLA Ashish Deshmukh for anti-party comments

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PTI
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Maharashtra Congress expels former MLA Ashish Deshmukh for anti-party comments 15

The Maharashtra Congress has expelled former MLA Ashish Deshmukh from the party for six years over his public statements against the party leadership. The order of expulsion was issued to Deshmukh by senior Congress leader and former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, chairperson of the state Congress disciplinary committee, through a letter dated May 22.

The letter said the committee discussed Deshmukh’s reply submitted on April 9 to a show cause notice issued to him. ”We found the reply regarding your public utterances against the party unsatisfactory. You are expelled from the primary membership of the party for six years with immediate effect,” the letter said.

Deshmukh had said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi should apologise to the Other Backward Class (OBC) community over his “Modi surname” remarks. He had also accused state Congress president Nana Patole of being hand-in-glove with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

Deshmukh is a former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Katol in Nagpur who later joined the Congress. He was the Congress nominee against BJP leader and now Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis from Nagpur South West seat in the 2019 Assembly polls. He is the son of former state Congress chief Ranjit Deshmukh.

Last month, Ashish Deshmukh termed as “unfortunate” the show-cause notice issued to him and claimed it was part of a “larger conspiracy” since he had been questioning the style of functioning of the party leaders.

After Sushant Singh Rajput’s death, Aditya Rajput’s death in drug overdose controversy

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Afternoon Voice
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After Sushant Singh Rajput's death, Aditya Rajput's death in drug overdose controversy 17

The 36-year-old actor died on Monday after he fell in the bathroom of his Oshiwara flat. Aditya Rajput was out of work, and he was going through depression. The sources in the industry said he was addicted to drugs, and the actor succumbed to the overdose.

His mother, Usha Rajput, had been getting calls and messages from people asking her about the reality of the drug overuse that a section of the media had also claimed as the cause of death. However, the post-mortem report is inconclusive about this aspect, police officers said.

Aditya’s late father was a lawyer in the Delhi High Court, while his mother was an employee with the Delhi government administration. “By making such unverified claims, they are maligning the name of my son and my family. This is a cruel thing to do,” she said.

Recalling her last conversation with Aditya, she said, “On Monday afternoon, I noticed that my entire chat history with my son had been deleted. Not being so technologically savvy, I called him around 2.15 pm to ask what might have happened. He told me there was some problem with WhatsApp and he would text me again. However, he didn’t say anything about being unwell.”

The last WhatsApp message that Aditya sent her after this conversation was “mumma,” followed by a red heart emoji, she said. Later (around 2.25 pm), he sent her a voice note, saying there was an issue with WhatsApp but she could reach him on the app. She said and added that her last message, “Okay beta”, which she sent him around 3.15 pm, was never read by her son.

Around 4 pm on Monday, she said she received a call from one of Aditya’s close friends informing her about his demise. “I panicked and was shaking; I had to call a neighbor to pack my bags and help me book a ticket to Mumbai.”

On Tuesday afternoon, Aditya’s body was handed over to the family after the post-mortem was conducted. His mortal remains were later cremated at the Oshiwara crematorium. Upset over conspiracy theories floating on social media, especially the ones that point to a possible drug overdose, the mother of late actor Aditya Singh Rajput has appealed to people not to malign the name of her son and her family.

But still, the reason for his death is not sure. Aditya was getting some small-time projects on social media sites, but there was nothing major in his kitty. Sushant Singh Rajput and Aditya Singh Rajput both had similar kinds of issues in life, but Sushant’s death was politicized and Aditya’s death remained mystifying.

UP court acquits Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan in 2019 hate speech case

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ANI
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UP court acquits Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan in 2019 hate speech case 19

In a relief to Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan, an MP-MLA sessions court on Wednesday overturned the three-year sentence awarded to him by a lower court in a 2019 hate speech case.

An MP-MLA magistrate court had on October 27, 2022 sentenced Khan, the then SP MLA from the Rampur Sadar seat, in the case. Following this, Khan was disqualified as an MLA.

A government counsel in the case said the special court accepted the appeal filed against Khan’s sentence.

Khan’s counsel Vinod Sharma said, ”We have been acquitted in the hate speech case. We are happy that we have got justice.” ”Our contention that we had been framed in the case has been upheld by the court, and the judgement is in our favour,” Sharma added.

After Khan’s membership to the assembly was disqualified, a by-election was held in the Rampur Sadar seat. BJP candidate Akash Saxena defeated the SP’s Asim Raja, a close aide of Khan, in the polls.

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