Wednesday, 17 April 2019
Artists are the voice of the nation's conscience
Earlier, there were murmurs among defence veterans, a fraternity that the BJP seeks to use for electoral gain, about this very chicanery. In an unprecedented but dignified expression of anguish, over 150 former distinguished officers condemned the practice of political leaders taking credit for covert military operations. Artists, evidently disturbed by the goings-on, have been more forthright in their condemnation of the BJP. Much like the scientists who underlined a threat to the scientific temper, over 600 theatre performers spoke of the lingering threat to art forms and issued a strong statement, asking Indians to vote out Mr Modi's party because of its inability - refusal? - to honour the spirit of an inclusive Constitution.The BJP, of course, has reasons to be confident about, what it believes is, the ace up its sleeve - shrill nationalism. Jingoism seems to be the BJP's answer to the valid questions raised by the restive segments of the electorate. The outcome of the general election is a matter of conjecture. But it must be said that at least some conscientious citizens, concerned about the fate of India and its foundational idea, are doing their bit by speaking up against transgressions. Art and its practitioners have for long been perceived to be the voice of the nation's conscience. Even the mightiest of political parties can ignore it at their own peril. That explains the systematic assaults on dissenters and critics in the last five years. A decisive mandate, the kind that the BJP won in 2014, is seen as a barometer of popularity. Perhaps a more reliable measure of political adulation should be the endorsement of those with a heart. 1688255 1688150 DailyhuntDisclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by Dailyhunt. Publisher: The Telegraphhttp://www.magcloud.com/user/renaultregens
My mind works better as director: Sonam Kapoor
'I always know how a film is shaping and that's a blessing and a curse but my mind works better as a director. Eventually, I want to (direct) but I love acting. I did train as a director but I wanted to train as an actor as well. When I read a script, I have to stop myself from analysing it in a certain way,' says the 33-year-old actress. 'When I read a script, I do see where the story is going on the whole and it actually helps me in choosing my scripts. I think 98 per cent of the films that I have chosen since I actively started reading, that was since Raanjhanaa, have been successful,' she further adds. ... DailyhuntDisclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by Dailyhunt. Publisher: Deccan Chroniclehttps://foretagslan.home.blog/
Lacking a sense of leadership
She indicated to the community she would win the seat, with or without their votes; if she won without their votes, she would get to know through studying the voting pattern in their booth; and if they had not voted for her, but came to her to get work done, they should not expect much for she is not large hearted enough to do so for people who did not support her. First, while one could treat Ms Gandhi's claims of victory before the voting as bluster that all candidates typically engage in, she used this rhetoric of triumphalism to almost blackmail the Muslims in the gathering to vote for her. Voters are free agents and can choose who they wish to vote for, without fear. Two, the fact that this happened in a Muslim gathering is no coincidence. The BJP's politics of exclusion has meant that Muslims do not, largely, vote for the party; in this election in UP, the community is expected to widely support the Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party alliance. Ms Gandhi's statement is addressed to Muslims at large -- and almost amounts to political intimidation. And three, Ms Gandhi, despite being an experienced Member of Parliament, lacks a sense of what leadership means. Whether a constituent voted for her or not is irrelevant to her duties as a representative of that constituency. Her statements are out of line, and deserve the widest condemnation. DailyhuntDisclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by Dailyhunt. Publisher: Hindustan Timeshttps://www.vox.com/users/despacitoleen
Baarish trailer: Asha Negi and Sharman Joshi's simple love story looks promising
Eventually, these two different yet similar individuals fall in love and get married. This is how the trailer of AltBalaji's latest offering Baarish unfolds. Headlined by actors Sharman Joshi and Asha Negi, the web show is a story of a diamond merchant Anuj who gets married to salesgirl Gauravi. But like every love story, it is not all roses. They encounter hurdles in their relationship when Anuj's younger brother starts to question his decisions in life. Also, the trailer has a cliffhanger ending as Gauravi gets arrested by the police. Watch Baarish trailer starring Asha Negi and Sharman Joshi Now, if problems in their family life will affect their relationship with each other or will they stand by each other in every hurdle of life, will be known on April 25 when the show starts streaming on AltBalaji. The official description of the show reads, 'Baarish bohot saare emotions lekar aati hai. Kuch logon ke liye yeh bas ek season hota hai… Lekin for some people it's a feeling…ek emotion! For Anuj and Gauravi it was something that wrote their destiny!' Baarish, just like many other shows on AltBalaji, seems to be packed with some soulful tracks. Asha Negi and Sharman Joshi make for a good on-screen pair and the show, helmed by Nandita Mehra and Bhairavi Raichura, looks promising. Watch Baarish trailer starring Asha Negi and Sharman Joshi DailyhuntDisclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by Dailyhunt. Publisher: The Indian Expresshttps://vimeo.com/user97307233/about
Campaign-II ends on a high note
angaldoi Congress candidate Bhubaneswar Kalita held a 15km roadshow from Sipajhar to Dalgaon, accompanied by PCC president Ripun Bora and senior party leaders Debabrata Saikia, Bismita Gogoi, Joiinath Sarma and Basanta Das. BJP candidate Dilip Saikia and Sarma had held a roadshow in Mangaldoi town on Monday.Prime Minister Narendra Modi had campaigned for the BJP candidates in Silchar (Rajdeep Roy) and Mangaldoi while AICC president Rahul Gandhi and AICC general secretary in charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi campaigned for Silchar candidate Sushmita Dev.In Nagaon district, BJP candidate Rupak Sarma participated in a road show at the district headquarters while Congress candidate Pradyut Bordoloi addressed a poll rally at Dakhinpat. Former chief minister Tarun Gogoi addressed a gathering at Raha.Karimganj deputy commissioner-cum-district election officer Keerthi Jalli said polling parties left with poll materials for remote and inaccessible booths on Tuesday. There are 200 vulnerable and critical polling stations in Karimganj, guarded by the Central Armed Police Forces and state police. "We have deployed adequate companies of CAPF apart from Assam police personnel," Karimganj superintendent of police Mohneesh Mishra said.In Dima Hasao, under Autonomous District constituency, around 596 civil and police personnel moved to their assigned polling stations in the interior areas on Tuesday. Similar measures were being taken for the other seats.Rain and thunderstorm disrupted electioneering in certain areas of central Assam and the north bank under Nowgong, Mangaldoi and Autonomous District constituencies on Monday and Tuesday.In Manipur valley, the BJP held several rallies, including those by chief minister N. Biren Singh at Sagolbandh Moirang Leirak and Kwak Keithel in Imphal, on Tuesday. The party candidate for Manipur Inner is R.K. Ranjan. CPI candidate M. Nara led a bike rally from Singjamei to Lilong. Former chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh addressed a rally for Congress candidate O. Nabakishore at Heingang and Thoubal. Independent R.K. Somendro (Kaiku) also campaigned at several places.Eleven candidates, including four Independents, are in the fray for Inner Manipur.RepollThe Election Commission has ordered repolling at booth No. 165 in Dhemaji Town High School (East Wing) under Lakhimpur constituency from 7am till 5pm on April 18.Voting was halted at the polling station in the first phase on April 11 because of chaos triggered by an alleged misconduct by the presiding officer. The officer allegedly forgot to press the "clear" button after the mandatory mock polling that takes place before actual voting begins.Nearly 93 per cent voters cast their ballots during repolling at the Konarchar booth in Meghalaya's West Garo Hills on Monday, for both the Lok Sabha and the Selsella byelections, officials said. The repoll was necessitated due to a mix up of the EVMs for the Lok Sabha and Selsella byelection held on April 11, they said. Out of a total of 674 eligible voters under Konachar polling station, 665 cast their ballot for the Lok Sabha elections and 663 for the Assembly bypoll, election officials said, PTI adds.Additional reporting by Ngangbam Indrakanta Singh in Imphal and our correspondents in Mangaldoi and Hailakandi DailyhuntDisclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by Dailyhunt. Publisher: The Telegraphhttps://able2know.org/user/reetasignaas/
New way to create fast-charging lithium-ion batteries discovered
"The way to make batteries better is to improve the materials used for the electrodes," said Nikhil Koratkar, a professor at Rensselaer. "What we are trying to do is make lithium-ion technology even better in performance," Koratkar said in a statement. The team improved battery performance by substituting cobalt oxide with vanadium disulfide (VS2). "It gives you higher energy density, because it's light. And it gives you faster charging capability, because it's highly conductive. From those points of view, we were attracted to this material," said Koratkar. Excitement surrounding the potential of VS2 has been growing in recent years, but until now, Koratkar said, researchers had been challenged by its instability -- a characteristic that would lead to short battery life. The researchers not only established why that instability was happening, but also developed a way to combat it. The team determined that lithium insertion caused an asymmetry in the spacing between vanadium atoms, known as Peierls distortion, which was responsible for the breakup of the VS2 flakes. They discovered that covering the flakes with a nanolayered coating of titanium disulfide (TiS2) -- a material that does not Peierls distort -- would stabilize the VS2 flakes and improve their performance within the battery. "The TiS2 coating acts as a buffer layer. It holds the VS2 material together, providing mechanical support," said Koratkar. Once that problem was solved, the team found that the VS2-TiS2 electrodes could operate at a high specific capacity, or store a lot of charge per unit mass. Koratkar said that vanadium and sulphur's small size and weight allow them to deliver a high capacity and energy density. Their small size would also contribute to a compact battery. When charging was done more quickly, Koratkar said, the capacity didn't dip as significantly as it often does with other electrodes. The electrodes were able to maintain a reasonable capacity because, unlike cobalt oxide, the VS2-TiS2 material is electrically conductive. Koratkar sees multiple applications for this discovery in improving car batteries, power for portable electronics, and solar energy storage where high capacity is important, but increased charging speed would also be attractive. DailyhuntDisclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by Dailyhunt. Publisher: The New Indian Expresshttp://doodleordie.com/profile/zinnazepesan
Fire torches top of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris
he cause of the catastrophic blaze was not known, but French media quoted the Paris fire brigade as saying the fire is "potentially linked" to a 6 million-euro ($6.8 million) renovation project on the church's spire and its 250 tons of lead. Paris police said there were no reported deaths.Flames shot out of the roof behind the nave of the cathedral, among the most visited landmarks in the world. Sights of the flames stopped passers-by in their tracks along the Seine River that passes beneath the cathedral.French President Emmanuel Macron postponed a televised speech to the nation because of the stunning blaze and was going to the cathedral himself.French historian Camille Pascal told BFM broadcast channel the fire was destroying "invaluable heritage.""It's been 800 years that the Cathedral watches over Paris", Pascal said. "Happy and unfortunate events for centuries have been marked by the bells of Notre Dame."He recalled that Notre Dame bells sounded the death knell following the 2015 Paris attacks."We can be only horrified by what we see", Pascal said.Associated Press reporters at the scene saw massive plumes of yellow-brown smoke filling the air above the Cathedral and ash falling on the island that houses Notre Dame and marks the centre of Paris.Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo is in despair at the "terrible fire." Hidalgo said in a Twitter message that Paris firefighters are still trying to limit the fire and urged Paris citizens to respect the security perimeter that has been set around the cathedral.Hidalgo said Paris authorities are in touch with Paris diocese. DailyhuntDisclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by Dailyhunt. Publisher: The Telegraphhttps://anotepad.com/notes/ifwgq2
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