Ritesh Sidhwani on KGF vs Zero clash: It is not a clash or a fight

The Hindi version of KGF is being presented by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani under Excel Entertainment. Sidhwani was asked how well-prepared is the team to get enough screen space since Zero, the biggest film of the month, is releasing on the same day (December 21). "Two films have released on the same day many times. It is not a clash or a fight. For us to go on this date came purely from Vijay, Yash and the team. This date is very important in the south. We are releasing this film not only in Kannada but also other languages in south. We aren't going as big in north as Zero is. That's not the intention. So, it's not going to be a clash. In fact, there will be enough screens," Ritesh Sidhwani told mediapersons. Also present at the event were Farhan Akhtar, Yash and the film's female protagonist Srinidhi Shetty, who is making her screen debut with KGF. The film will be released in two parts - chapter 1 and 2. The date for KGF chapter 2 is not out yet. If one goes by the trailer, KGF looks like a visually compelling tale. Visual brilliance seems to be the forte of filmmakers from the south. When Akhtar was asked what stops Bollywood filmmakers from going big in the way a story is told, the actor-filmmaker said every industry has its own strengths and it's important to play on those strengths. "These (big) films excite people across the country because of the visual scale. Somebody like Sanjay Leela Bhansali makes epic visual films. So, we do have those filmmakers. "Every industry and culture has its own strengths and we should play to our strengths. I think that is what it is. You will learn as you go along and you will evolve. Similarly, American films which work here are these big, superhero films because it is easier for audience to understand," Farhan Akhtar said. Dailyhunthttps://www.openlearning.com/u/zinzerginger

Miraculous Araku

The trains have executive coaches and glass covered ceilings for better views. In monsoon, the roadway is more enchanting. The three-hour journey passes through luscious, deep dark forests, Prussian blue mountain ranges on both sides, and heavy dark clouds showering moody bursts. The road takes you through drifting aromas of black pepper, cinnamon, coffee plantations and pungent unknown ones, the smoky flavour of bamboo chicken on the way up, through gushing nameless streams overflowing the roads, cascading into seasonal waterfalls. The invisible population of Araku consists of nomad tribes that live in small clusters-a maximum of 150 people in a random one, nested amidst rugged terrains. Araku is also about ethnic art, and solo trekking. Once done with the tribal museum, coffee museum, shopping at the handicrafts store and the routine dhemsa dance performance at the guest house, walk out of the comfort zone. The Araku centre is a tiny area that can be covered in a couple of hours. Get past. Get into the fields, through the crops raising their heads gleefully, and you will be surprised at how miraculously the foreground changes. Roads around Araku are motorable up to four km radius. Then, there's only walking that takes you to places. The snaking paths that go up and down are inaccessible by outsiders but these are the ones you take to experience a new, dreamy world of simplicity. Go for a solo trek only if you want to get lost or have no hurry to return at a stipulated time. Obviously guides are not available here and GPS doesn't work. The paths would be tricky, but the journey would remain a pretty memory for a lifetime. fact file How to reach: Visakhapatnam Airport is 120 km from Araku. Best season to visit: August-November Dailyhunthttps://ask.fm/zikkergikkers

KCR demolishes opposition in Telangana, wins a landslide

Rao himself won by a margin of over 51,000 votes from his Gajwel seat, trouncing V Pratap Reddy of the Congress. Rao's son K T Rama Rao and nephew T Harish Rao, both ministers in his caretaker government, also won by impressive margins. The newly-elected lawmakers of the TRS are meeting here at 11.30 am on Wednesday to formally elect Rao as the leader of the legislature party. A TRS leader said the date for his swearing-in will be finalised at the meeting. The Praja Kutami (Peoples Front), a 4-party opposition alliance led by the Congress that included Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu's TDP, CPI and the newly formed Telangana Jana Samiti, cut a sorry figure together winning 21 seats. The Congress had just 19 seats in its kitty, two less that what it won in the last polls, while the TDP could win only two against its tally of 15 seats in 2014. The two other coalition partners failed to open their account. Analysis of Telangana , MP, Rajasthan and Mizoram outcomes Telangana was the only state among the five where results of assembly polls were declared Tuesday that the Congress had cobbled together a coalition amid the talk of formation of a broad-based alliance to take on the BJP-led NDA in the Lok Sabha polls next year. Buoyed by a string of electoral successes in assembly elections, the BJP ploughed a lonely furrow after the TDP walked out of the NDA a few months ago. However, the TRS juggernaut put paid to all hopes the saffron party might have had of making inroads into Rao's citadel. The BJP, which had won five seats in the last assembly polls in 2014 held in undivided Andhra Pradesh that it contested in alliance with the TDP, had to be content with just one seat out of the 118 where its candidates tried their luck. Its state chief and sitting MLA K Laxman finished a poor third in Musheerabad. Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi's party AIMIM, which Rao calls a "friendly party", won seven seats, equalling its performance in the 2014 polls. "We are going to play a very crucial role in national politics, we will show, we will give a new definition to the national political scenario," a triumphant Rao told a press conference. "Todays results. Telangana has shown the way to the whole nation. Today, Telangana stands (as) a non-Congress, non-BJP state," Rao, who has lobbied with leaders of other major regional parties, including TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, to pitch for a federal front against the two national parties, said. Dedicating his party's resounding victory to the people of Telangana, Rao said an action plan for development will be prepared to meet the aspirations of people. The emphatic victory of the TRS might well act as a springboard for the leader who harbours the ambition of playing a greater role in national politics. Though Telangana came into existence more than four years ago, TRS supremo brought alive the issue of Telangana pride by repeatedly targeting his former boss and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, accusing him of stalling the development of Telangana and calling him an outsider. His appeal to regional sentiments appeared to have helped the TRS keep the Congress, which made huge gains in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, under check in Telangana as it had aligned with the TDP, a party Rao accused of acting against his state's interests. Rao's populist schemes, including waiver of farm loans totalling over Rs 17,000 crore and implementation of Ryuthu Bandu, a farmers investment support scheme that gave tillers Rs 8,000 per annum per acre also seemed to have endeared him to the sizeable farming community. Despite his aggressive posturing during the Telangana movement, Rao ensured there was no persecution of those from Andhra Pradesh after its bifurcation, something that ostensibly helped him secure votes of many people from the neighbouring state. Rao's repeated criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "thwarting" the TRS governments efforts for raising quotas for Muslims and Scheduled Tribes in government jobs and state-run educational institutions during the campaign also apparently helped the party garner support of these sections. Following the opposition coalitions drubbing, Chandrababu Naidu said it respects the peoples verdict, but claimed the results of the assembly polls in five states showed people had become "antagonistic" to the BJP. The Congress cried foul, saying it suspected "manipulation" of the Electronic Voting Machines, and demanded that all votes be counted using the VVPAT (Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail) to ascertain the exact number of votes polled by each candidate. CPI general secretary Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy attributed distribution of "huge amounts of money and liquor" by the TRS for its victory. Dailyhunthttps://www.avitop.com/cs/members/kizaaakrizz.aspx

When is Chhath Puja in 2017?

Moreover, some devotees also perform a prostration march while heading to the river banks. The first day of the puja, which falls on October 24 this year, is Nahay Khay, followed by Lohanda and Kharna, Chhath Puja and Usha Arghya. On this day, a holy dip in water bodies, especially river Ganga, is taken by devotees and women observe fast and only eat a single meal. The following day, fasting without water is observed from sunrise to sunset and is broken once the food is offered to the sun. On the third day, which is considered the main day of the festival, a fast without water is observed and Arghya, which means offering to the lord, is made to the setting sun. Fasting then continues throughout the night. The 36 hours fast is broken on the fourth and final day of the festival and the offerings are made to the rising sun. Chhath Puja is also known as Pratihar, Dala Chhath, Chhathi and Surya Shashthi. Dailyhunthttps://able2know.org/user/kotlashaaa/

Serena, Nadal and Murray all confirmed for Australian Open

In the aftermath, Roger Federer said Williams 'went too far'. 'Serena Williams, currently ranked 16, will make her highly anticipated return to Melbourne for the first time since winning in 2017 when eight-weeks pregnant with baby Alexis Olympia,' said tournament organiser Craig Tiley. The evergreen Federer will be back to defend his title, along with long-time adversary Novak Djokovic. Caroline Wozniacki defends the women's crown. Organisers said the world's top 102 women and top 101 men have all confirmed they will be playing. The only top-100 absentee from the women's draw is 74th-ranked Agnieszka Radwanska of Polandwho recently announced her retirement. 'It's always special to see our defending champions -- Caroline had her first Grand Slam win here last year so will be keen to start 2019 on a high,' said Tiley. 'And of course Roger Federer has special memories of Melbourne, having won here six times, something only Novak (Djokovic) and Roy Emerson have done in the past. 'I've been in touch with Rafa and he's back to full fitness after cutting his season short after Paris and can't wait to arrive in Australia,' he added. Dailyhunthttp://doodleordie.com/profile/bizzareedass

Urban dreams soar high in Ranchi

he senior official said a team from IIT Bombay would complete the vetting process soon at a cost of Rs 17 lakh.According to a source in Juidco, its chairman and state urban development secretary Ajoy Kumar Singh has categorically asked the developer to complete the construction within the deadline."The consultant (I.K. Worldwide) and construction company Shapoorji Pallonji Group have been asked by the urban development secretary to submit the commercial viability report, the three-dimensional model of the civic tower and a detailed plan for the operation and maintenance of the facility by the end of this month," said the source associated with the Ranchi Smart City Project, of which urban civic tower is an integral part.The tower will have a basement parking spread over 25,997sqm and capable of accommodating over 470 cars. The total area of the tower will be nearly 45,469sqm.The urban tower will have CCTV cameras installed at all strategic points, audio-visual conference rooms in every floor, proper facility for board meetings, big seminar halls, café and restaurants. Commercial space will be available for shops, offices and other establishments.The tower will be surrounded by manicured lawns and trees."After its construction, international companies and big corporate groups can have their meetings and conferences in the tower itself instead of hosting it in hotels at the moment. The board meetings of corporate houses can also be held here. The idea is to develop the facility a business hub for the state and the region," a source associated with the Ranchi Smart City Project said. Dailyhunthttps://www.openlearning.com/u/zeevanjosvaa

Google's Neighbourly tackles 'super-local' queries

We are always looking for new ways to help people get the information they need about the world around them. What we have found through research is that for most people the information they need lies within a one-kilometre radius of their homes or workplaces. But getting that information is not easy. Super-local information doesn't exist on websites. In case a person joins a neighbourhood group on any other platform, he or she is usually greeted with good morning messages and things that may not be relevant. What's required is information that's local, trustworthy and comes from other people. We also found that it's becoming tougher to ask neighbours questions because people are on the move and they shift to new cities. We built Neighbourly for people to share trusted word-of-mouth information. What's the size of a neighbourhood on the app?In general, when you ask a question, it will go out to people in a one-kilometre radius. In small cities, it can go out further because there might be fewer people nearby. But, say, if you stay on the edge of Behala, your neighbourhood would be in front of you. That's where the radius varies. The radius can also be five kilometres; it all depends on where you are. The app initially launched in Mumbai in May and now it is being rolled out across India. What are some of the lessons you have learnt?After launching in beta, around a million-and-a-half people downloaded the app. And half a million among them joined the waitlist; they are from different parts of the country who wanted the app in their cities. What impressed us is the variety in the conversations that have been taking place. These are people who are new to the city as well as old-timers, across age groups and backgrounds. The questions are also timely in nature, like the ones about the rains and flooding in Mumbai earlier this year or about an LPG leak that took place outside a building. In Jaipur, students have been using the app to buy used books, find photocopying shops and seek course-related notes. On an average, questions are receiving six different answers, which is great. Also, half the questions are getting answered in less than an hour. Another interesting point is the use of local languages. The app supports eight languages and English, and the use of local languages is high. Around 20 per cent of the users also use voice to ask questions. One of our top 'neighbours', Aslam, who lives on Mira Road in Mumbai, answered around 140 questions in a short time just using voice. Google Maps (and Guides) also asks questions and some of these may overlap with the ones in Neighbourly. Will the apps share information or integrate in the future?Right now, it's all within Neighbourly. You have control over whatever you do in the app; you can even delete all the information you have supplied. Yes, there are some similarities with other apps within Google but our focus at the moment is on this one app. Will you roll out Neighbourly in other countries?All of Neighbourly has been developed in India; all of our research took place in India and the app is only available in India. We spent a lot of time understanding how people connect with their neighbourhoods, which look more and more broken and it's harder to gather information. That's a challenge that exists everywhere. I now live in Sydney. Having the ability to get information about my neighbourhood from my neighbours would be great. For the moment, our focus is on India. But we are open to taking what we've built in India and bringing that to other countries too. How many neighbourhoods can I join?You can choose three different neighbourhoods and easily switch between them. It's possible to delete and add neighbourhoods, but you must be close to the neighbourhood that you want to join.How many questions can I answer?There is no limit. As soon as you post a question, notifications are sent out to the people in your neighbourhood who can help answer that question.Can I post pictures to explain my answers?Not at the moment. Facebook has something called Recommendations.Yes, it does. But recommendations are only from people on your friend list. On Neighbourly, you can receive information from anybody in your neighbourhood, which means you will have reliable information.Are there in-app ads? None. Dailyhunthttp://www.penninetroutfarmandfishery.co.uk/UserProfile/tabid/61/userId/1751148/Default.aspx