10:38 My Name Is RaGa: Rahul’s biopic to hit screens ahead of 2019 elections:
Weeks after the announcement of a biopic on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, another biopic on his political rival Rahul Gandhi has been planned. Titled ‘My Name Is RaGa, the film will trace the personal and political journey of Rahul Gandhi.
Rupesh Paul, whose filmography includes projects like Saint Dracula 3D and Kamasutra 3D, is directing the film.
Paul, who is returning to direction after four years, said, The movie has no intentions to glorify Rahul or to demystify him. Its the story of a coming back of a human being who had been ridiculously attacked. Anyone who has fearlessly confronted defeat and failure can relate to this story. In that sense, I dont want to call this a biopic, its a story of any man who becomes unstoppable after he wins over a catastrophic life.
The teaser of the film has already been released and it features many members of the Gandhi family. However, Paul is planning to shoot some new scenes to cover new developments. He said, We are planning to shoot at more interesting locations like Collin College in the US where he had to study with a fake name and also the school where he completing his schooling and also a brief portions in Italy where his grandparents lived.
Though the release date of the film hasnt been announced, its likely to hit the screens before the general elections of 2019.
10:09 History professor wins $500,000 Dan David Prize:
Sanjay Subrahmanyam, a professor of history whose scholarship focuses on the encounters between Asians, Europeans and indigenous and colonial Americans from 1400 through 1800, has been named a laureate of the Dan David Prize in recognition of his contributions to macro history.
The international Dan David Prize is awarded annually to figures who have made outstanding scientific, technological and humanistic accomplishments in fields representing the past, present and future of human achievement. Subrahmanyam is sharing the $1 million prize with Kenneth Pomeranz, a renowned historian who is a professor at the University of Chicago.
Subrahmanyam, son of India’s strategic thinkers, K Subrahmanyam and brother of former foreign secretary Dr S Jaishankar, has written 16 books and edited almost as many. Subrahmanyams work, steeped as it is in Western and non-Western historiography, conveys a fuller, more-rounded history than most other scholars have been able to provide.
09:49 Amol Palekar repeatedly interrupted during speech for criticising govt:
Veteran actor-director Amol Palekar was repeatedly interrupted during his speech by some members of the National Gallery of Modern Art in Mumbai on Friday evening. Palekar was speaking at the opening of an exhibition Inside The Empty Box in the memory of artist Prabhakar Barwe.
A video available on social media showed Palekar criticising the ministry of culture for reportedly scrapping the advisory committees at the gallerys Mumbai and Bengaluru centres.
Referring to these reports, Palekar said, Many of you may not know that this retrospective will be the last show decided by the advisory committee of local artists and not by some bureaucrat or an agent of the government with an agenda of either moral policing or proliferation of certain art commensurate with an ideological incline.
As of November 13, 2018, the artistes advisory committees at both regional centres Mumbai and Bangalore — have been abolished, is what I have learnt, he said.
He added that he was in the process of verifying the hearsay.
At this point, an NGMA member on the stage interrupted, saying that Palekar should talk about the event.
To which, Palekar responded, I am going to talk about the same. Are you you applying censorship to that? He then said that as per his information, after the abolition of local artists committee, decisions as to whose work should be exhibited would be taken from Delhi by the ministry of culture.
He was again interrupted by a woman, who said, This is not needed at the moment, sorry… The function is about Prabhakar Barwe, please stick to that.
However, Palekar refused to stop, and went on to mention that writer Nayantara Sahgal was invited to speak at the Marathi literary convention recently but at the last minute the invitation was withdrawn because what she was going to say was slightly critical of the situation around us.
Are we creating the same situation here? he asked.
08:57 Kumar to be grilled for second day on Sunday, Kunal Ghosh called:
The CBI will continue the questioning of Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar for the second day on Sunday and former TMC MP Kunal Ghosh will appear in person at the investigating agency’s office here for interrogation in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam, officials said Saturday.
Three senior CBI officers questioned Kumar for nearly nine hours on Saturday about his alleged role in the tampering of crucial evidence in the scam, the officials said.
There was no briefing by the Central Bureau of Investigation on the questioning which began at around 11 am at its highly secured office at Oakland here as per the directions of the Supreme Court.
Kumar’s counsel Biswajit Deb, who is also the TMC coordinator for Meghalaya, said Kumar is “cooperating and complying” with the CBI.
“He (Kumar) has come here on the orders of the Supreme Court. He has complied earlier and he is complying now as per the orders,” he told reporters outside the CBI office.
Kumar led the special investigation team formed by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to investigation the chit fund scam before the probe was handed over to the CBI by the apex court.
He will be present at the CBI office for the second day tomorrow, said Deb, who met Kumar along with two senior IPS officers from West Bengal — Javed Shamim and Murlidhar Sharma — thrice during the day for brief periods.
The agency may confront him with Kunal Ghosh who has also been called on Sunday, but a final call will be taken by the investigating officer present in Shillong, agency sources said.
The CBI is relying on a 91-page letter from Ghosh, who was expelled by TMC, to the Enforcement Directorate, detailing the role of Kumar in handling the ponzi scam probe after the main accused, Sudipta Sen and Debjani Mukherjee, both promoters of Saradha Group of companies, had fled to Kashmir, officials said in Kolkata.
— PTI
08:45 Anti-Modi posters emerge in Andhra ahead of PM’s rally:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to visit Andhra Pradesh for the first time after the Telugu Desam Party pulled out of the NDA last year. PM Modi is scheduled to visit Guntur, Tiruppur and Raichur today. Ahead of PM Modi’s visit, The TDP, Congress and Left parties have planned big protests and large posters of “No more Modi”and “Modi never again” have already come up across the state.
The BJP, in Andhra Pradesh, has asked its cadre to be present at the rallies and make the Prime Minister’s visit a success. The party lodged a complaint with police seeking action against those who put up the hoardings against the Prime Minister.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, one of PM Modi’s strongest critics, yesterday called on TDP workers to hold Gandhian protests during his visit to the state. “It is a dark day. PM Modi is coming to witness the injustice that was done to Andhra Pradesh by him. He is weakening the states and constitutional institutions. PMO’s intervention in Rafael is disrespect to the nation. We will do peaceful Gandhian protests with yellow and black shirts and balloons,” Naidu said yesterday.
Naidu is upset with the Narendra Modi government and accused PM Modi of not keeping his promise of giving special category status to the state.
“PM Modi is weakening the states and constitutional institutions,” said Chandrababu Naidu.
08:14 Britain’s Prince Philip, 97, gives up licence after car crash:
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II’s 97-year-old husband Prince Philip surrendered his driving licence after causing a car crash that outraged the media and stirred a debate about old age and driving.
Buckingham Palace said Philip, formally known as the Duke of Edinburgh, took the decision on his own after rolling over his Land Rover last month.
“After careful consideration the Duke of Edinburgh has taken the decision to voluntarily surrender his driving licence,” Buckingham Palace said in a brief statement.
Police in the eastern part of England where the accident happened outside a royal residence said they had passed Philip’s file to prosecutors to determine whether anyone should be charged.
“Norfolk Police can confirm that the 97-year-old driver of the Land Rover involved in the collision at Sandringham … voluntarily surrendered his licence to officers,” said a police statement.
“The investigation file for the collision has been passed to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for their consideration.”
A CPS spokesman said the service “will take this development into account” as it studies Philip’s case.
Few royal watchers seriously expect the duke to be punished by the police.
A witness told British media that Philip had emerged unharmed but “shocked and shaken” from the collision with the much smaller Kia hatchback.
Police said a nine-month-old baby in the back seat of Kia was uninjured. One woman in the vehicle broke her wrist and the other cut her knee.
The duke was forced to follow standard police procedure and take a breath test.
Police said the results “provided negative readings” for both drivers.
Philip came under days of media criticism for failing to quickly and publicly apologise for causing the crash.
Source: Rediff