“Fast and Furious” star Jordana Brewster has been cast opposite Jeffrey Dean Morgan in the screen adaptation of horror novel “Shrine”.
According to Deadline, the details of Brewster’s characters are unknown.
The film, to be written and directed by Evan Spiliotopoulos, is Morgan’s return to the horror genre.
The actor, who has featured in popular horror series “The Walking Dead” and “Supernatural”, will play the lead role in the project, produced by Screen Gems.
“Shrine” focuses on a disgraced journalist who discovers a series of seemingly divine miracles in a small New England town and uses them to resurrect his career, but the ‘miracles’ may have a much darker source.
From Spider-Man to Black Panther to the X-Men and the Fantastic Four, Lee collaborated with other authors and illustrators to put his imagination on the page.
These superheroes would be followed by Iron Man, Thor and Doctor Strange — all three have churned out many money-spinning film franchises.
He has appeared in cameo roles in nearly every Marvel movie — with a final posthumous cameo in summer blockbuster “Avengers: Endgame”.
John Legend has been named the Sexiest Man Alive by a magazine and the Grammy winner says he is under “pressure” as he succeeds actor Idris Elba.
The 40-year-old musician was chosen the most desirable man for 2019 by People Magazine.
Legend said he is “excited” and a “little scared” about receiving the title.
“I was excited, but I was a little scared at the same time because it’s a lot of pressure. Everyone’s going to be picking me apart to see if I’m sexy enough to hold this title. I’m following Idris Elba, which is not fair and is not nice to me!” he told the magazine.
Legend also took to Twitter to share the news with his old photograph and tagged Elba in the post.
“1995 John would be very perplexed to be following 2018 @IdrisElba as #SexiestManAlive. Hell, 2019 John is about as equally perplexed but thank you @People for finding me sexy. I’ll take it,” the “All of Me” hitmaker wrote.
Elba retweeted his best wishes to Legend and quipped Dwayne Johnson still believes he has the title.
“My G Congratulations brother! You deserve it. DO NOT TELL @TheRock. He still thinks he’s got the title, I didn’t have the heart to tell him when I took it,” he wrote of his “Hobbs & Shaw” co-star who won the title in 2016.
Legend earned his first Emmy at the Creative Arts Awards for his turn as the star and executive producer of NBC’s “Jesus Christ Superstar Live”.
He is one of the few talents to have an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony each. He currently features as a coach on “The Voice”.
As a tribute to Late Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and his love for the children, his birthday is celebrated all over India as Children’s day. Most schools have cultural programmes for the day, with the students managing it all. All over the country, various cultural, social, and even corporates and institutions conduct competition for children. Children’s Day is an occasion for children to engage in fun and frolic. Schools celebrate this day by organising cultural programmes. Teachers of the school perform songs and dances for their students. Therefore, Children’s Day is special. It is a day set aside to remember Nehru’s and his love for children.
Chacha Nehru as the children fondly referred to him, was fond of both children and roses. In fact he often compared the two, saying that children were like the buds in a garden. They should be carefully and lovingly nurtured, as they were the future of the nation and the citizens of tomorrow. He felt that children are the real strength of a country and the very foundation of society. Nehru was the beloved of all the children who gave him the endearing name of Chacha Nehru. Children’s Day is celebrated every year to let the people specially parents aware about the importance of celebrating this day.
Children’s day, in Hindi known as “Bal Diwas“, in India falls on November 14th every year and for good reason. Bal Diwas in India is celebrated every year to increase the awareness of people towards the rights, care and education of children. Children are the key of success and development of the country as they would lead their country in different and new technological way. They are adorable and shine same like the precious pearls. Children are the God gifts to their parents by the Almighty. They are innocent, admirable, pure and loved by everyone.
The day long events carried on this day include:-
Children are given gifts and chocolates.
Variety of competitions like fancy dress, debates, speech related to the freedom fighters, country, story-telling and quizzes.
Cultural and social programs like singing, dancing and entertaining with other musical instruments.
Special programme for Orphan children by distributing the clothes, toys, musical instruments, stationery, books, and etc.
Organising some programs related to the freedom fighters.
Organising game activities including puzzle, sweet and sugar treasure hunt and etc.
Underprivileged children get a taste of musical programs by famous musicians and speech on health, care and progress.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
If today our electoral system stands one among the best and a model to be followed the credit definitely goes to late T N Seshan a pioneer who confidently put things right on the electoral picture. The daring IAS officer marked a niche of his own in the hearts of the citizens. Whenever an election is held – be it assembly or parliament – the face that appear in the mind of the generation of the 1990s and after is that of T N Seshan. The reforms set by the greatest of Election commissioner the country has ever seen are many – introducing voters ID, election code of conduct, restrictions on election expenditure, restrictions of sale of liquor during election time, restrictions on using the name of religion and caste during campaigning, prohibition of religious institutions canvassing for candidates, restrictions of usage of fund during campaigning and many other strict laws in a way and to a maximum paved way for neat and clean election. If today Election Commission and the chiefs at the helm have a voice of their own it’s because of this great person who was an epitome of honesty, integrity and transparency.
M Pradyu
Abandon JNU and establish new University
Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi has gained notoriety for regular and frequent anti-national and anti-social activities from time to time resulting in severe law and order problems. It is surprising how even teachers with political motives of a particular ideology get appointed at this institute set up and run at high public-cost as compared to other universities in the country.
It was totally unjustified to continue providing costly hostel-facilities to JNU students at nominal rather negligible fees of just Rs 10 per month which after decades has now been raised to only Rs 300 per month on twin-sharing basis. Agitating students unnecessarily confused public by mentioning Rs 1700 per month now imposed as service-charge for so many facilities as per actual cost as if JNU authorities imposed some type of service-tax.
Best is to abandon JNU in its existing form and instead utilise huge premises and available resources for setting up an altogether new institute for higher studies under a new name after say great educationist former President of India Dr Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan who also happened to be first Vice President of India ensuring that anti-national and anti-social elements may not be able to be recruited as teachers or admitted as students.
Madhu Agrawal
Avoid stubble burning
The Punjab Chief Minister has suggested an incentive of Rs 100 per quintal of stubble to farmers, hoping it would encourage them to shun stubble burning. If this is implemented, it will be disastrous for national economy. Rather, the Chief Minister should have suggested alternatives for stubble disposal. The agriculture department can play an important role in getting rid of this social evil. Farmers, too, should be sensitive to the health of their fellow beings. Public representatives can play a positive role in this hour of emergency by motivating farmers not to burn stubble.
Md Arif
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the decision of the then Karnataka speaker K R Ramesh Kumar to disqualify 17 rebel Congress-JD(S) MLAs under the anti-defection law and said that they can contest the upcoming by-elections in the state.
“We are upholding the order of the Speaker,” said Justice Ramana while reading out the judgment. The top court said that resignation does not take away the power of disqualification by the speaker.
“Since we are deciding disqualification, resignation is not needed to be gone into. As such there is no doubt that disqualification has nothing to do with resignation,” the court said.
The rebel legislators were disqualified by the then speaker K R Ramesh Kumar in July under the anti-defection law after they tendered their resignation.
They were also barred from contesting polls for the duration of the current assembly, which is slated to end in 2023.
The move had led to fall of the Congress-JD(S) coalition government, paving way for BJP to stake claim to form a new government in the state.
The disgruntled MLAs then moved the apex court challenging their disqualification. They sought quashing of the order passed by the speaker and prohibition imposed on them to contest elections. The matter was reserved by the court on October 25.
The elections for 15 out of 17 seats are slated to be held on December 5. They were earlier scheduled to be conducted on October 21 but were deferred by the Election Commission (EC) as the petitions of disqualified MLAs were pending in the top court.
The poll body had withheld the elections for two seats — Maski and Rajarajeshwari — as the petitions against these Assembly constituencies are pending in the Karnataka High Court.
After their disqualification, the strength of the 224-member Assembly had come down to 207. This had brought down the majority mark to 104. The BJP, which helms the government in the state, has 106 MLAs in the Assembly.
With the by-poll elections, the majority mark will climb to 222 and the BJP will have to win a minimum of six out of fifteen seats to keep its majority.
President’s rule was imposed in Maharashtra on Tuesday after President Ram Nath Kovind approved Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari‘s recommendation for it. Governor’s decision is being criticised by opposition parties. Koshyari had given time to the NCP till 8.30 pm today to prove that it has the numbers after the Shiv Sena on Monday failed to get letters of support from the political rivals before the deadline set by the Governor who rejected its plea for three more days to do so. The recommendation follows uncertainty over government formation in the state for 20 days after election results on October 24. After the BJP and the Shiv Sena failed to show enough numbers to form a government, Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari invited the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Chief Sharad Pawar to take a shot. The NCP was to give an answer by 8.30 pm on Tuesday, which is why the recommendation of President’s rule surprised many. The Shiv Sena went to Supreme Court on Tuesday after reports that Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s cabinet has recommended President’s rule for Maharashtra.
Hours before the Union Cabinet recommended President’s rule in Maharashtra, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar blamed their ally Congress for the “delay” in deciding on whether to support the Shiv Sena in a non-BJP government in Maharashtra, his uncle Sharad Pawar too is upset with the Congress. The Congress held off on sending its leaders to Mumbai this morning, asking Sharad Pawar to come to Delhi instead and speak to its chief Sonia Gandhi. But the NCP chief declined, citing a meeting with his party MLAs, and the two then spoke on the phone.
Ahead of its meeting with Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari last evening, the Shiv Sena did not have letter of support from the Congress. The NCP, which had agreed to support the Sena, was left holding on to its letter of support.
Ajit Pawar the NCP leader told Afternoon Voice, “It is very unfortunate that the Congress could not decide on its support to Shiv Sena, the delay has led to President’s rule. Our party NCP waited for letter from Congress yesterday. But we did not receive the letter by the evening. It was not right for us to give the letter. Whatever be the decision, there should be stability.”
“From morning 10 am till 7:30 pm on Monday, our leaders including Sharad Pawar, Praful Patel were waiting for their letter. Shiv Sena had to submit the letter till 7:30 pm. If Congress was not sending its letter of support, how could we give ours,” Ajit Pawar disclosed. The NCP held meetings on Tuesday too.
Whereas Congress said Sharad Pawar also asked for more time and discussions on power-sharing with the Sena, pointing to Sonia Gandhi that his party was “just two seats behind” the Sena.
Congress leader Sushilkumar Shinde said “Congress was not late, rather we have been vigilant since beginning. We had asked NCP if they have sent a letter to Governor. Things will have to be done simultaneously; they are our partner. Whatever decision is taken, it’ll be done together but we were not given proper idea.”
The Governor last evening asked the NCP, which finished third in last month’s Maharashtra polls, to form the government after the BJP and the Sena failed to stake claim to power.
Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe said, “The Governor is working under the pressure of BJP. According to the Supreme Court verdict the governor should try each and every possible way to form the government. And after going on all the available options if it is not possible then only they can recommend Article 356 of the constitution.”
The NCP has made it clear it will not take any decision without its ally Congress, as a Shiv Sena-led government cannot be stable without its support. The NCP has 54 MLAs in the 288-member assembly while the Congress has 44. After a day of discussions, the Congress said in a statement that it would hold further consultations with the NCP. The BJP, which emerged as the largest party in Maharashtra with 105 seats, declined to form the government after a breakdown of ties with the Shiv Sena over its demand for rotational chief ministership. The Shiv Sena, which has 56 MLAs, believes it can form a stable government with support from the NCP and Congress but at eleventh hour they were betrayed by both.
NCP leader and advocate Majeed Memon said, “It appears to be very unreasonable on the part of the honourable governor to have withdrawn the time given to us till 8: 30 pm. Although in the morning at 11 am the Raj Bhavan had sought extension for 48 hours. Far from granting the extension of 9 hours were cut down from the given time. “
He further added, “At 11 am it seems that an 18-page report recommending the President’s rule has been sent to the centre and the centre hastily approved the governor’s recommendation at 3 pm. This is kind of injustice to the party for which invitation was extended.”
Maharashtra is presenting a perfect example for political imbroglio. The confusion and dithering are reflecting a political quagmire. Who will rule Maharashtra was a million-dollar question? Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari finally recommended the President’s rule in the state as uncertainty over government formation prevails, the single-largest party and the second largest Shiv Sena have failed to stake a claim to form a government in Maharashtra. Meanwhile, Shiv Sena and Congress were planning to approach the Supreme Court in case, the President’s rule was imposed in Maharashtra. The Shiv Sena’s attempts at cobbling an anti-BJP alliance hit a wall with the Congress, after a day of discussions, stating that it needed to hold more discussions with Sharad Pawar. Congress president Sonia Gandhi sent her top party leaders to Mumbai for discussions on government formation after speaking to Sharad Pawar on the phone. However, Sonia Gandhi is uncomfortable with the idea of having a truck with the Shiv Sena. The Congress both the state and the national leadership is also of the view that any talks for government formation with the Shiv Sena can happen only after Uddhav Thackeray’s party declares complete dissociation with the BJP. This is where the Shiv Sena finds it most scratchy but they had to obey the condition by asking their leader to resign from Modi cabinet. This is also evident from the Shiv Sena’s reported outreach to the RSS for a possible truce with the BJP. Some reports said that the Shiv Sena specifically wanted Union minister Nitin Gadkari to oversee the power-sharing negotiation with the BJP, but none of them came for intervention.
Assembly polls results were announced on October 24. NDA alliance of BJP and Shiv Sena which emerged victorious failed to form the government due to differences over power-sharing. Later, BJP, which emerged as the single-largest party in Maharashtra assembly polls with 105 seats declined to stake the claim. Shiv Sena which bagged 56 seats in the 288-member Assembly expressed its willingness to form the government. However, they failed to do in the stipulated time and did not get additional time from Governor to submit letters of support from the NCP and Congress. The NCP with 54 MLAs has currently a discussion with its alliance partner Congress to support Shiv Sena and to cross halfway mark of 145. But NCP and Congress failed to prove numbers, and Governor was not in mood to give time to any of these parties. Finally, he took on to twitter and opted for Presidential rule in state.
In India, President’s rule is the suspension of state government and imposition of direct central government rule in a state. Under Article 356 of the Constitution of India, in the event that a state government is unable to function according to constitutional provisions, the Central government can take direct control of the state machinery. Subsequently, executive authority is exercised through the centrally appointed governor, who has the authority to appoint other administrators to assist them. The administrators are usually nonpartisan retired civil servants. When a state government is functioning correctly, it is run by an elected Council of Ministers responsible to the state’s legislative assembly (Vidhan Sabha). The council is led by the chief minister, who is the de facto chief executive of the state; the Governor is only a de jure constitutional head. However, during President’s rule, the Council of Ministers is dissolved, vacating the office of Chief Minister. Furthermore, the Vidhan Sabha is either prorogued or dissolved, necessitating a new election. Though the purpose of this Article is to give more powers to central government to preserve the unity and integrity of the nation, it has often been misused by the ruling parties at the centre, who used it as a pretext to dissolve state governments ruled by political opponents. Thus, it is seen by many as a threat to the federal state system. Since the adoption of the Indian Constitution in 1950, the central government has used this Article several times to dissolve elected state governments by imposing President’s rule. Article 356 has always been the focal point of a wider debate of the federal structure of government in Indian polity. Anyways, Governor need to be unbiased by giving required or similar time to each party to prove its stand.
Sena was pretending to be tough. NCP was sitting on the fence. Congress has declared it will sit in the opposition. Sena+NCP do not have majority. BJP+Sena has majority. BJP+NCP has equal number as BJP+Sena. Sena wanted to form government with NCP and outside support from Congress. Uddhav Thackeray and Sanjay Raut tried their best to fall on the laps of Sonia Gandhi and Sharad Pawar, but nothing worked for them. However, big or mighty the elephant is, at times, even a small insect can be an eyesore to it. But as long as it avails the option of exercising restraint and patience. When pushed to the edge, then you will see the elephant’s nascent nature. BJP did not give in to the Shiv Sena’s demand for power tactics, as their demands were not affordable to BJP and also exudes temerity and that too with a major party or the incumbent govt, which has won almost double the number of seats. It looks Shiv Sena has strayed too much from the expected behaviour and a reversal is not so easy. Surprisingly, in such crucial scenario Amit Shah played behind the curtains, Raj Thackeray was dead silent and no one from central government even remotely tried to mitigate. Finally, the President’s rule was imposed and polls might be held later, BJP can romp home without much hiccups or the others three may reached expected majority, what ever had to happen will happen with the time. In nutshell, Shiv Sena succeeded in keeping Devendra out of power, and BJP too made sure that no one forms government in state.
(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)
A parliamentary panel has urged the government to upgrade the infrastructure for cancer treatment and make it affordable by enlarging the network of a leading healthcare institute, as it expressed concern over nearly two-thirds of the patients dying in the country.
The parliamentary standing committee on science and technology, environment, forest and climate change submitted its report on “an expanded role for the department of atomic energy in cancer treatment in India through an enlarged network of the Tata Memorial Centre (TMC) in Mumbai”.
The report was submitted by the panel members, including chairman Jairam Ramesh, to Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on Monday, the upper house secretariat said in a statement.
The panel has recommended to set up a hub and spoke model under the Tata Memorial Centre, which is the leader in cancer treatment and is supported by the Department of Atomic Energy.
“It (committee) recommended wider adoption of ‘Hub and Spoke’ model proposed by Tata Memorial Centre (TMC) across the country,” the statement said. “TMC has proposed that common and less complex cancer care facilities should be provided close to patients’ homes (spoke) to create minimum disruption in their lives and that of their families.”
As per the report, the treatment of uncommon cancers and those with complex treatment protocols can be provided by the expert centres of excellence (hubs).
Expressing concern over 68 per cent of cancer patients dying in the country, the committee has strongly urged the government to expand and upgrade cancer-treatment infrastructure for affordable and quality care by enlarging the network of the Tata Memorial Centre, the panel said in the report.
It also suggests setting up of a high-level steering committee, which will be headed by the minister of state for atomic energy. It will also include chief secretaries of all the states and administrators of Union territories, as well as director of the TMC as members to work out modalities for rolling out of hub and spoke model in a time-bound manner.
After presenting the report to Naidu, Ramesh explained that the parliamentary committee took up the cancer care issue since the Department of Atomic Energy is in the jurisdiction of the committee, besides the environmental aspect of incidence of cancer, the secretariat said.
Naidu complimented the committee for submitting the report and said he would ask the ministers concerned to have the recommendations of the committee examined for necessary action.
The Indian National Congress also deserves praise for respecting the verdict of the Supreme Court in the Ayodhya case and also for appealing to all the parties concerned and to all communities to abide by the secular values and spirit of fraternity enshrined in our Constitution and to maintain peace and harmony. This is the historic day for India – the largest secular democracy in the world that saw the end of a dispute spanning several centuries which had pitted the Hindu and Muslim communities against each other in the courts. History books clearly establish that there was a temple and it is the unshakeable faith of believers that this is the birthplace of Ram which itself is the greatest evidence. It is nice that at last the temple justice has resolved the decades old case amicably.
The verdict is good news for all, ultimately a controversial dispute ended peacefully. We both the Muslims and Hindus should obey the court verdict. The judgement of the Honorable Supreme Court is on equitable principles and acceptable one by all. The honest act of the judiciary on a sensitive issue pending since decades on silly pretexts deserves all praise and shows the backbone of Indian judicial systems. The verdict has awarded the land at the heart of the clash to a Hindu litigant over Muslim objections and represents a major victory of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Credit goes to Ramchandra Paramhans, engineered by Ashok Singhal and charioted by L K Advani the Ram Janmabhoomi movement which catapulted the BJP to the national limelight in the 1990s. Ayodhya and Advani gets justifiably equal space as he took lead on the Ram chariot that traversed the entire country. Ashok Singhal was also a part who came to the forefront of the movement in 1984 when he was VHP joint general secretary who organised the first “dharam sansad” and mobilised saints in support of the Ram temple issue.
Welcoming the Supreme Court verdict on the Ayodhya title dispute case, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has rightly said that the judgement should not be seen as anybody’s victory or loss. The government had always did its best to persuade Vishwa Hindu Parishad to postpone the Shilanyas or the foundation stone lying ceremony till the court delivered its judgement. Alternatively it was suggested that the leaders of Babri Masjid Committee and VHP sit together to work out a compromise formula. Various ways suggested but to no avail. The Shilanyas was duly performed at a distance from the disputed territory with a clear and a firm declaration that Shri Ram Temple when constructed would cover the disputed territory and structure also. What we need is to give due respect to the law and the temple should come up where it is given permission to setup as it affects the belief of close to a billion people. PM Modi has praised 130 crore Indians for maintaining calm during the verdict and has expected that this very spirit of unity and togetherness power the development trajectory of our nation and every Indian be empowered. Let us hope that the verdict brings more peace and harmony to the country and strengthen the social fabric.
“Fast and Furious” star Jordana Brewster has been cast opposite Jeffrey Dean Morgan in the screen adaptation of horror novel “Shrine”.
John Legend has been named the Sexiest Man Alive by a magazine and the Grammy winner says he is under “pressure” as he succeeds actor Idris Elba.
As a tribute to Late Prime Minister 
T N Seshan: A great reformer
The 
A parliamentary panel has urged the government to upgrade the infrastructure for cancer treatment and make it affordable by enlarging the network of a leading healthcare institute, as it expressed concern over nearly two-thirds of the patients dying in the country.
The