Home Blog Page 502

Author JK Rowling talks about her absence from the “Harry Potter” reunion

By
ANI
-
JK Rowling
Image: Reuters

British author JK Rowling has addressed her absence from the ‘Harry Potter’ reunion special, stating that it was her choice not to appear in the show that aired on January 1.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, in an interview on Saturday as part of Graham Norton’s ‘Radio Show Podcast’, which airs on Virgin Radio UK, the ‘Harry Potter’ author clarified her absence beyond archival footage in ‘Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts’.

In a clip from the podcast, Rowling noted that despite speculation, she was asked to participate in the reunion and that “no one said don’t come.” She said, “Yeah, I was asked to be on that and I decided I didn’t want to do it. Thought it was about the films more than the books, you know, quite rightly. I mean, that was what the anniversary was about.”

After it was confirmed that Rowling would not appear for the reunion as part of the retrospective marking the ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’ release, her absence was speculated by many to be due to the controversy around her comments about transgender people.

Those comments have been condemned by a number of LGBTQ+ rights groups, including GLAAD, the Human Rights Coalition and The Trevor Project. Though the star author had not previously commented on her absence, sources told Entertainment Weekly that her team believed the author’s archived comments which were shown in the reunion “were adequate” and also denied that Rowling’s comments about the trans community played a part in her decision not to appear.

Several of the Harry Potter stars like Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson have opposed Rowling’s views and made public statements against them.

Other actors, like Ralph Fiennes and Robbie Coltrane, have come out with statements supporting Rowling.

As per The Hollywood Reporter, Rowling also talked about her relationship with the movie franchise’s “young cast,” including those who have “spoken out about you.” She said, “I have. Yes, I do. I mean, some more than others, but that was always the case. You know some I knew better than others.”

Activist appeals to Ganesh mandals in Maha to help eradicate discriminatory widowhood practices

By
PTI
-
Ganesh Chaturti, Ganpati, Mumbai, Activist,
Image: ANI

The upcoming Ganpati festival should create mass awareness about eradicating from society the “evil practices” related to widowhood, a social activist spearheading the campaign in Maharashtra said on Sunday.

Pramod Zinjade, who has been demanding a law for providing respect and protection to widows, said Ganesh mandals should organise events and put up banners to create such awareness during the 10-day Ganpati festival beginning on August 31.

Zinjade said he has circulated his appeal to a WhatsApp group of sarpanchs (village heads), appealing that they circulate the request to all Ganesh mandals in their villages.

The activist has been campaigning against practices like wiping ‘sindoor’ (vermillion) from a woman’s forehead after her husband’s death, breaking her bangles, removing her toe rings and preventing her from participating in social and religious functions.

Notably, Herwad in Maharashtra’s Kolhapur district May this year became the first village in the country to pass a resolution banning the discriminatory rituals against widows, and several gram sabhas have followed suit since then.

The state government had on May 17 asked all villages to follow the Herwad model.

Actor Dwayne Johnson was smashed with peanut butter by her daughter shared by him in a video

By
ANI
-
Dwayne Johnson
Image: PTI

Hollywood actor Dwayne Johnson, on Sunday shared a cute and fun video with his daughter. Taking to Instagram, the ‘Jumanji’ actor shared the video which he captioned, “Only a daddy fool like me, keeps falling for the same old “daddy close your eyes” trick EVERY SINGLE TIME.

Peanut butter and shaving cream palm smash to the face. Some fools never learn (I’ll stay this fool for as long as my babies smile and laugh this big;).”

https://www.instagram.com/reel/ChyHbYkpzAa/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=

In the video, Dwayne could be seen standing with his eyes closed, and his daughter smashes his face with peanut butter and shaving cream mixture. Soon after the ‘San Andreas’ actor shared the post, fans flooded the comment section with red heart emoticons and funny reactions. “You’re a good dude, Rock!” a fan commented. Another fan wrote, “Everything about you is good, to your core. I admire the human you are.” Dwayne is the father of three daughters, Simone Alexandra, Jasmine and Tiana Gia Johnson.

Actor and Businessman Dwayne Johnson enjoy a massive fan following on social media, with over 327 million followers on Instagram, he is one of the most followed celebrities in the world. Meanwhile, on the work front, the ‘Fast 6′ actor will be next seen in DC Comics’ dark superhero film ‘Black Adam’ which is slated to release on October 21, 2022.

Union Minister Piyush Goyal reviews progress of Government e-Marketplace

By
ANI
-
PIYUSH GOYAL
Image: PTI

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal, reviewed the progress of the Government e-Marketplace (GeM).

Among many other things, various functionalities of GeM, as well as timeliness in procurement and delivery were reviewed in detail.

It was noted that more than 95 per cent of all the physical order deliveries since April 2022 happened on time, in cases where online fulfilment and payment were done via GeM.

While consistent improvement was observed in the on-time delivery across all transaction types (Direct Purchase, L1, Bids / Reverse auctions) via GeM, the Minister shared specific suggestions to revise thresholds and add features to further accelerate delivery timelines as well as provide more flexibility to government buyers to choose products as per their delivery needs.

Goyal suggested bringing in end-to-end online fulfilment and payment for all transactions by buyers on GeM and to improve monitoring of delivery against timelines.

The Minister also emphasized the need to bring all public procurement on the complete online and transparent portal viz GeM for achieving economies of scale and bringing about Social Inclusiveness by promoting Micro and Small Enterprises.

GeM’s initiatives for tight monitoring and anomaly detection in procurement, including the use of AI-ML to detect and report potential collusion and fraud, were reviewed.

Goyal suggested strong legal and punitive actions against buyers and suppliers against such activities.

In addition to detecting anomalies, GeM also plans to use AI-ML to make proactive feature simplifications and product suggestions to buyers to ensure informed decision-making and savings in public spending.

Significant technical upgrades have been planned by GeM to enable cutting-edge use cases and improve user experience on the platform.

Several other initiatives by GeM, including MSME inclusion and the Har Ghar Tiranga campaign, were appreciated by the Minister.

Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana has completed its eighth years

By
ANI
-
pmjdy
Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana

Prime Minister Narendra Modi government’s flagship financial inclusion program Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana has completed its eighth year and a lot of intended goals were achieved in this period.

The program was announced by Prime Minister Modi in his first Independence Day address in 2014. While launching the program in the later part of August 2014, the PM had described the occasion as a festival to celebrate the liberation of the poor from a vicious cycle.

The objective of “Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY)” was to ensure access to various financial services like availability of basic savings bank accounts, access to need-based credit, remittances facility, insurance and pension to the unbanked weaker sections and low-income groups through effective usage of technology.

The initiative was important as it provided an avenue for the poor for bringing their savings into the formal financial system, an avenue to remit money to their families in villages besides taking them out of the clutches of the usurious money lenders.

In addition, the beneficiaries get a RuPay Debit card with having inbuilt accident insurance cover of r 1 lakh. The plan also envisages channeling all Government benefits (from Centre / State / Local Body) to the beneficiary’s accounts and pushing the Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) scheme of the Union Government, the PMJDY website said.

“The underlying pillars of PMJDY, namely, Banking the Unbanked, Securing the Unsecured and Funding the Unfunded has made it possible to adopt multi-stakeholders collaborative approach while leveraging technology for serving the unserved and underserved areas as well,” Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on the occasion 8th anniversary of the flagship initiative.

The Finance Minister further stated that “The JAM pipeline created through account holders’ consent-based linking of bank accounts with Aadhar and mobile numbers of the account holders, which is one of the important pillars of financial inclusion ecosystem, has enabled instant direct benefit transfer under various government welfare schemes to the eligible beneficiaries. The advantage of the architecture created under the financial inclusion ecosystem came in handy during the Covid-19 pandemic when it facilitated direct income support to farmers under PM-KISAN and transfer of ex-gratia payment to women PMJDY account holders under PMGKP in a seamless and time-bound manner.”

Financial Inclusion, Sitharaman said, needs policy-led intervention based on an architecture linked to suitable financial products, information and communication technologies and data infrastructure.

As on August 10, 2022, the number of total PMJDY accounts was 46.25 crore, of which 55.59 per cent (25.71 crore) were women and 66.79 per cent (30.89 crore) in rural and semi-urban areas.

During the first year of the scheme itself, 17.90 crore PMJDY accounts were opened. There has been a continuous increase in the number of accounts under PMJDY. PMJDY accounts have grown threefold. In August 2022, out of a total of 46.25 crore PMJDY accounts, 37.57 crores (81.2 per cent) are operative.

As per extant RBI guidelines, a PMJDY account is treated as inoperative if there are no customer-induced transactions in the account for over a period of two years. Only 8.2 per cent of PMJDY accounts are zero balance accounts.

Total deposit balances under PMJDY accounts stand at Rs 173,954 crore. Deposits have increased about 7.60 times with an increase in accounts 2.58 times. The average deposit per account is Rs 3,761.

Average deposit per account has increased by over 2.9 times. An increase in the average deposit is another indication of increased usage of accounts and inculcation of saving habits among account holders.

About 5.4 crore PMJDY accountholders receive direct benefit transfer (DBT) from the government under various schemes, informed the government. Endeavour to ensure coverage of PMJDY account holders under micro insurance schemes.

Eligible PMJDY accountholders will be sought to be covered under PMJJBY and PMSBY. Banks have already been communicated about the same. Promotion of digital payments including RuPay debit card usage amongst PMJDY accountholders through the creation of acceptance infrastructure across India.

Improving access of PMJDY account holders to Micro-credit and micro-investment such as flexi-recurring deposits etc.

Ex-bank employee held for Rs 4 crore cashback fraud in Mumbai

By
PTI
-
arrested
Image: Agencies/ Representative

A 41-year-old former employee of a nationalised bank here has been arrested for allegedly cheating the institution to the tune of Rs 4 crore by way of cashback for credit card holders, police said on Sunday.

The police recently apprehended Nitin Khare based on an FIR registered against him by the bank in May, an official from Saki Naka police said.

Khare was a contractual employee and handled the data of bank customers’ shopping and cashback, he said.

The accused diverted cashback earned on 83 credit cards and duped the bank to the tune of Rs 4 crore, the official said.

During the probe, the police found that the fraud was committed between January and August 2021. But the matter came to light after some customers complained to the bank about cashback in their credit card accounts despite not having shopped during that time.

A friend of the accused from Nashik had allegedly provided him credit cards of different people and he had passed on the fraudulent cashback benefits to credit card accounts of his friends who were also from Nashik, the official said.

A case under sections 420 (cheating) and 419 (punishment for cheating by personation) has been registered in this regard and more arrests are likely in the case, he added.

Actress Sonam Kapoor shared an ‘Art piece’ on social media to announce birth of their baby boy

By
ANI
-
Sonam Kapoor
Image: PTI

New mommy in B-town Sonam Kappor dropped an art piece that she and her husband Anand Ahuja got made to announce the birth of their baby boy. Taking to her Instagram handle, the ‘Mausam’ actor treated her fans with a new picture.

Alongside the art piece, Sonam wrote a long note explaining the idea and meaning behind it.

She wrote, For this momentous occasion in our life @anandahuja and I wanted @rithikamerchant to create a special art piece to announce the birth of our baby boy. And we couldn’t be more ecstatic with it. In this Art piece, Rithika refers to the universal concepts of a union between the Sky Father and the gentle, attentive and watchful Earth Mother, represented here by the Eagle and the Deer respectively.” She added, “Eagles or hawks are associated with fatherhood and otherworldly creation (the overarching concept of the Dyeus Pita/Sky Father). Deer are associated with motherhood. They are gentle, attentive and watchful creatures. They are always on guard and can move, adapt, and survive even in the most challenging conditions.”

The 37-year-old continued, “Ever since the early Neolithic, when the earth was much colder and reindeer more widespread, the female reindeer was venerated by northern people. She was the “life-giving mother”, the leader of the herds upon which they depended for survival, and they followed the reindeer migrations for milk, food, clothing and shelter. She was a revered spiritual figure associated with fertility, motherhood, regeneration and the rebirth of the sun.”

Twin towers constructed as per building plan approved by Noida Authority: Supertech on demolition

By
ANI
-
Twin Tower
Image: ANI

As the twin towers in Noida were reduced to rubble on Sunday, Supertech maintained that the building plans of the project including the two towers were “approved by the Noida Authority in 2009, which was strictly in accordance with the then prevailing Building Bye-laws announced by the State Government”.

The real-estate developer said that while it respects the order by the top court, no deviation from the building plan was made and the building was constructed after making full payment to the Authority.

“The building plans of the Project including the two towers were approved by the Noida Authority in 2009 which was strictly in accordance with the then prevailing Building Bye-laws announced by the State Government. No deviation from the Building Plan was made and the Building was constructed after making full payment to the Authority. However, the Hon’ble Supreme Court has not found the construction satisfactory on technical grounds and accordingly issued orders to demolish the two towers. We respect the orders of the Apex Court and are committed to implementing the same,” the statement issued by the developer said. It further said that the work of demolition has been awarded to a “world-renowned agency”.

The Supreme Court had, in its order reaffirmed the order of the Allahabad High Court which stated that Supertech has to demolish the towers at its own expense.

“We have awarded the work of demolition to a world-renowned agency, Edifice Engineering who have expertise in carrying out safe demolition of high-rise buildings,” it said. However, Supertech assured the home buyers that the order of the Supreme Court will not affect any other ongoing project and that all other projects will continue. “And we are committed to complete construction and delivering the flats to the allottees as per the scheduled time,” it said.

In 2011, the Residents Welfare Association filed a petition in the Allahabad High Court. It was alleged that the UP Apartment Owners Act, 2010 was breached during the construction of the towers.

The homeowners claimed that the two towers had less than 16 metres of distance between them which was in violation of the law. The original space designated for the garden in the original plan was allegedly used to erect the twin towers.

In 2012, the Authority approved the new plan proposed in 2009, ahead of the commencement of the hearing in the Allahabad High Court. In April 2014, the Allahabad High Court delivered the judgment in favour of the RWA while also passing an order to demolish the twin towers.

It asked Supertech to demolish the towers at its own expense and also refund the money of the homebuyers along with 14 per cent interest. In May 2014, the Noida Authority and Supertech moved to the Supreme Court stating that the construction of the twin towers was according to the regulations. In August 2021, however, the Supreme Court affirmed the order of the Allahabad High Court and ordered to demolish the towers while also stating that the construction had been made in violation of the regulations.

Meanwhile, the Supertech twin towers came crashing down within a span of nearly nine seconds after the use of 3,700 kg explosives on Sunday, thus ending a nine-year-long legal battle.

The towers, Apex (32 floors) and Ceyane (29 floors), which are taller than the Qutub Minar in the national capital, were 100 metres tall and were brought down with explosives weighing at least 3,700 kg, in the biggest ever planned tower demolition bid. Soon after the explosion that took place at the press of a button, the towers came crashing down, generating a cloud of massive dust and thus polluting the atmosphere around.

However, the Environment Department of the Uttar Pradesh government has installed six Special dust machines at the demolition site to monitor pollution levels. “Pollution levels will be recorded before, during and after the explosion. The amount of PM 10 and PM 2.5 will be checked through this machine. Its report will come in the next 24 hours,” said a technician, Umesh.

Bruno Fernandes goal to give Man Utd 1-0 win against Southampton

By
ANI
-
bruno fernandes
Image: Tweeter @B_Fernandes8

Bruno Fernandes fine volley in the second half proved to be the point of difference between hosts Southampton and Manchester United in visitors’ 1-0 win at St Mary’s Park on Saturday.

This is Manchester United manager Erik Ten Hag’s first away win. After a brutal 4-0 demolition at the hands of Brentford two weeks back, United brought their season back on track with an impressive win over arch-rival Liverpool at home.

Heading into this match, the side was looking forward to building on that win and momentum from it. The first 20 minutes had very even gameplay before Southampton goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu made a brilliant to deny Anthony Elanga the first goal.

Further before the second half, the hosts did some solid defending to keep away Bruno and Christian Eriksen away from the net, and the lead. Ten Hag’s side controlled the possession of the ball largely but Southampton continued to look dangerous.

Defender Armel Bella-Kotchap could have broken the deadlock in 30 minutes, but failed. Then United goalie David de Gea made a brilliant save to thwart an attempt by Che Adams just minutes later.

 As the first half ended, the scoreline read 0-0. Four minutes after the break, United could have scored but Scott McTominay’s effort was saved by Buzunu at the near post.

Finally, in the 55th minute of the match, Fernandes applied a brilliant finish to a cross by Diogo Dalot and gave his side the lead.

Southampton had their share of chances throughout the match, but great defending from United and some solid saves from de Gea kept the hosts out of the match.

With this win, United has ended their run of seven straight away defeats in Premier League and has extended their unbeaten run against Southampton in their backyard to 15 games across all competitions.

“I saw a team on the pitch, good organisation, fight for each other, and I think there were also some excellent moments from playing football,” Ten Hag said afterwards.

“There is a lot of room for improvement, that’s quite clear, but for me that is normal.”

After the match, United manager Erik was quoted as saying by agencies, “I think we did a lot better [than] against Brentford. I saw a team on the pitch, good organisation, fight for each other, and I think there were also some excellent moments from playing football.”

“We scored finally in the best part of Man United after half-time. I think that 10-15 minutes was really good. We played a really good possession game and scored a wonderful goal. There is a lot of room for improvement, that’s quite clear, but for me, that is normal.”

“Communication is always tough, that is one. The second is cooperation with the team, which is new. A new way of play, so a lot of new facts, and that will not go 100 per cent from the start. But we have to get results, we have to win games, and that is what we went through. And we did today, so I am really happy with that,” he concluded.

Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl also said, “I think the performance was very good. I [did not] have one player in the team where I could say I was not happy about his performance, and that shows you after the game that you did a good job with the quality we have, with the weapons we have to stress them.”

“We had a lot of chances created today and did not give them a lot, so from this part, I think we matched them. In the end, maybe we had the better chances but did not score.”

“I am not scared with this team. I see how quick the guys are learning and how quick we are adapting to this quality. We can be proud of what I have seen today,” he concluded.

With this win, United are now at the seventh position on the table with six points and two wins in four games. They will make a trip to Leicester on Thursday.

Southampton, on the other hand, are in 14th position with four points and just one win in four games. They will host Chelsea on Tuesday.

Hrithik Roshan was seen touching feet of his fan on a video ” Fans calls him humble”

By
ANI
-
Hrithik Roshan
Image: Screengrab / Twitter

One of the most loved celebrities, Hrithik Roshan continues to rule the hearts of millions with his charm, down-to-earth nature, and great screen presence.

The actor enthralled the netizens with his cute gesture with a fan in the viral video. A video of the ‘Krrish’ actor that has surfaced over social media in which during an event a fan touched the actor’s feet on stage instantly the Krrish actor touched the fan’s feet in return and also gave him a hug.

Hrithik could be seen wearing a neon-green t-shirt that he teamed up with white joggers and also wrapped up neon coloured around its waist.

He opted for a pair of white sports shoes, black shades and a white cap. Hrithik’s fan club shared the video of the event on Twitter

After the video got viral, netizens completely impressed by his humble gesture, chimed into the comment section. One of the users wrote, “Humble person, Hrithik Roshan touching his fan feet”.

The teaser from the film makes for a wholesome tease into the world of Vikram Vedha.

The teaser is packed with whistle-worthy dialogues, large-scale action sequences and high-on emotional drama backed with very catchy background music. Overall, the teaser promises ‘Vikram Vedha’ to be a complete entertainment package. ‘Vikram Vedha’ is an official Hindi remake of a Tamil film with the same title, which starred R Madhavan and Vijay Sethupathi in the lead roles.

The story of ‘Vikram Vedha’ is full of twists and turns, as a tough cop Vikram (Saif Ali Khan) sets out to track and chase a dreaded gangster Vedha (Hrithik Roshan).

What unfolds is a cat-and-mouse chase, where Vedha – a master storyteller helps Vikram peel back layers through a series of stories leading to thought-provoking moral ambiguities Soon after the makers unveiled the much-awaited teaser, excitement among the fans could be seen for the film.

1...501502503...5,577Page 502 of 5,577