Saturday, 26 October 2019
I get written off every day: John Abraham
'When I started my career, a lot of people had said that I am too hairy and that I look too small; I look like a small boy, but that has become my advantage. These things do happen, but one should just keep working hard and prove their worth. Sometimes, when you work hard, people appreciate it and sometimes they don't. But you should just keep on working harder. We all are work in progress,' says the Ram Lakhan actor. Directed by Anees Bazmee, the movie also stars Arshad Warsi, Saurabh Shukla, Pulkit Samrat, Ileana D'Cruz, Kriti Kharbanda, and Urvashi Rautela. At a time when the landscape of Bollywood comedies are often flooded with sex-comedies, Pagalpanti is a deliberate attempt by Anees to re-introduce clean comedies. 'I don't write double-meaning dialogues in my films. At the same time, I don't have issues with those who use them in their films. I feel if you have a brain, a flair for writing, and willingness to work harder, then you do not need such shortcuts. I do keep in my mind what kids would like to watch and what they would not,' says the director. ... DailyhuntDisclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by Dailyhunt. Publisher: Deccan Chroniclehttps://www.mobypicture.com/user/kaanewilloms
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/ii6f8d2
City bus service claims 1 crore ridership in a year
Official data also shows that the passenger count rose threefold between March and September of this year. From a cumulative ridership of 26,23,746 passengers in March, the number rose to 51,902,945 in June, climbing further to touch 1,01,36,512 on September 28. 'It took us only 14 weeks to jump from 50 lakh passengers in June 2019 to reach this impressive figure of one crore,' GMCBL public communication officer Vanita Akhaury said. The uptick coincides with the introduction of new, better performing routes and several online and offline outreach programmes, which, officials said, played a big role in boosting ridership. 'We have amped up efforts on social media platforms, set up outreach booths at important locations and conducted awareness drives (about routes) with various RWAs,' Akhaury added. During this period, the bus service also added at least 20 new vehicles to its fleet, in addition to starting at least eight new routes and revising two older routes that were performing poorly. Interestingly, some of the service's better performing routes—IFFCO Chowk-Manesar (Route 134 B), Gurugram bus stand-Dundahera (Route 215 B) and Huda City Centre to Bhondsi (Route 111 B)—were all launched after March 2019. 'The routes were launched after studying past performance and paying attention to commuter feedback, which is why they (the routes) are performing better,' Akhaury said. Experts agreed that the trend is a positive one, and that the service's route rationalisation seems to have paid off. 'The numbers indicate an average passenger count of about 50,000 people per day. This is on par with other fledgling bus services in cities such as Bhubaneshwar and Indore. Hopefully, the Gurugaman passenger numbers will encourage the government to invest more in the city bus service,' city-based transportation expert Sarika Panda Bhatt said. Bhatt, however, added that there is no way for experts to independently corroborate this data. 'What we have are just selective numbers. To truly gauge Gurugaman's performance, the data needs to be provided in open, raw format like the DMRC does, so that the authenticity of the numbers can be investigated,' she said. Despite this improved performance, the GMCBL is still lagging behind on its declared objectives, which were to launch 200 CNG-operated, low-floor buses by March 2019, with the addition of another 300 in the following year. Officials had also committed to launching 25 routes by March 2020, but only 13 routes have been launched so far. GMCBL officials refused to comment, saying they were not authorised to discuss future plans. DailyhuntDisclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by Dailyhunt. Publisher: Hindustan Timeshttp://danmooredesigns.com/UserProfile/tabid/61/userId/484830/Default.aspx
I saw poverty as a child. Now, I want to fight it
This, however, became a reality when I turned 38. In my 40s, I took up #LivingMyPromise, committing myself to donating half my wealth to a charitable cause while I am alive or in my will. My tryst with the social sector, however, began when I was 30. I started volunteering with a non-profit in Gurgaon (now, Gurugram) as a weekend pursuit. About six months into it, I started to find more meaning in it than my day job, and was asked to chair that non-profit. At the time, I was heading the Mobile Business, Japan and Asia-Pacific, Google, and was being encouraged to consider roles based in the United States or Japan. But I had no such aspirations. I quit Google, moved to Bangalore, and joined InMobi. In 2015, I quit InMobi and started a non-profit: The/Nudge Foundation. My aim was to work on the alleviation of poverty. After spending a considerable amount of time interacting with people living in slums, I identified unemployment and underemployment as big social challenges. The/Nudge Foundation provides skills training courses to the poor, unemployed youth, with another aim to nudge and nurture top talent to solve India's most important problems. GiveIndia happened to me by sheer chance. Venkat Krishnan, the founder of GiveIndia, and I were together at an event in Seattle in early 2017, and I discussed my desire to raise large-scale capital for non-profit and social work through a tech platform. On realising that our vision and goals aligned quite well, I decided to come on board as 'Founder 2.0', board member and CEO. Our model of bridging the gap between donors and verified non-profits, and creating a community of every day giving brought me one step closer to my ultimate goal of poverty alleviation. In early 2019, Venkat asked me if I would take up #LivingMyPromise, and I didn't think twice to say yes. Coming to this decision and following through with it wouldn't have been a reality without the support of my family. My wife has been a strong source of support through it all, despite our family being a single-income one. My daughter is invested in the social sector herself. As a family, we are a work-in-progress towards our design of living within our basic needs and serving our society. DailyhuntDisclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by Dailyhunt. Publisher: Hindustan Timeshttp://holocaustmusic.org/UserProfile/tabid/57/userId/779002/Default.aspx
Plan your next vacation to Uttarakhand's picturesque hill town, Nainital
Here one can see brightly coloured sails of yachts lined up on the calm waters of the lake. Holiday makers thronging the Mall, await their turn for boat rides. Needless to say boating is one of the favourite activities in Nainital, along with trekking in the densely forested mountains that surround the town. Mythology counts this hill station, named after the pear-shaped Naini Lake, among the 64 Shakti Peeths - religious sites where body parts of Hindu Goddess Parvati are believed to have fallen in her incarnation as Sati. It is said that Naini Lake was the spot where Sati's eyes ('Nain' in Sanskrit) fell as her husband Lord Shiva carried her dismembered corpse around the earth. History attributes the discovery of Nainital to P. Barron, a British sugar trader from Shahjahananpur, in 1839. He was so taken with the lake and its lovely forested surroundings that he soon returned with a sailing boat and decided to build a house naming it 'Pilgrim's Cottage'. The cottage, which is almost 180 years old, is still in existence. The process of settlement begun by Barron led to the building of colonial villas, cottages being added to what was a secluded mountain resort. View this post on Instagram #MonsoonInUttarakhand Nathuakhan, you can enjoy the nature walk or meditate in beautiful gardens. The serenity of the surroundings is blessed with picturesque forests, lush green valleys, and hilly terrains. #Uttarakhand #UttarakhandTourism #SimplyHeaven A post shared by Uttarakhand Tourism (@uttarakhand_tourismofficial) on Aug 27, 2019 at 11:04pm PDT
Erected in 1844, the Church of 'St. John in the Wilderness' is one of Nainital's earliest buildings and is possibly the finest church in any Indian hill station. The church was named by the Bishop of Calcutta, who was visiting the town then. The town was very much a wilderness then. As more and more buildings came up, it became a lively summer retreat for British soldiers and officials. It soon became an important administrative town and was declared the summer capital of what was then known as United Provinces. In the later years, Nainital became the summer residence of the Governor of the United Provinces. The older parts of Nainital continue to retain historical memories - colonial vestiges that include sprawling bungalows, public schools, churches and the Christian cemetery. Disaster hit the town in 1880, when a landslide killed a large number of people and destroyed all the buildings including the temple of the town's patron deity, Nanda Devi. While the Church of 'St. John in the Wilderness' contains a brass memorial to the victims of these landslide, who were buried in its graveyard, on the area, where the Nanda Devi temple earlier stood, a large area known as 'The Flats' was created for a new temple. The new Nanda Devi Temple was built on the site as planned and continues to draw pilgrims on festivals. To prevent further disasters, storm water drains were constructed and strict building laws were ordered. Located in the vicinity of several other lesser known hill stations, Nainital has the advantage of being connected with motorable roads all through the year. Surrounded with forests of oak, pine and deodar, it offers peaceful wooded lanes for those who prefer to walk as well as plenty of choices for trekking and serious mountaineering. The latter half of the 19th century saw the founding of a number of European schools in Nainital. By 1906, there were over a dozen of these schools that were solely meant for British children. There were separate schools for boys and girls. The Diocesan Boys School and Girls School were under the guidance of the Church of England and was renamed as Sherwood College. Another school, Philander Smith's College (for boys) was governed by an American and is now Birla Vidya Mandir. St Joseph's College remains a Roman Catholic institution, while the Wellesley School is an American institution. The first signs of change came early in the 20th century, when Indians also began arriving in Nainital, which had so far remained an exclusive English preserve. While Indian officers and professionals began arriving as part of the annual migration of the state government of United Provinces to Nainital every summer, the big change came when British civil servants started receiving subsidies for their annual holidays in England. This was when their summer visits to hill stations came to a halt, leaving the area to Indians. (This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed. ) function getAndroidVersion(ua) {ua = (ua || navigator.userAgent).toLowerCase(); var match = ua.match(/android\\s([0-9\\.]*)/);return match ? match[1] : false;}; var versions='4.2.2'; var versionArray=versions.split(',');var currentAndroidVersion=getAndroidVersion();if(versionArray.indexOf(currentAndroidVersion)!=-1){var blocks = document.getElementsByTagName('blockquote'); for(var i = 0; i < blocks.length; i++){blocks[i].innerHTML = '';}}DailyhuntDisclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by Dailyhunt. Publisher: Hindustan Timeshttp://krachelart.com/UserProfile/tabid/43/userId/222700/Default.aspx
Streaming Guide: Vishal Bhardwaj movies
Vishal Bhardwaj treated the kids in his story as real characters and not a device to introduce cute moments. Shabana Azmi aced her role of a witch and Shweta Basu Prasad was brilliant as a pair of twin sisters - the cute one with a lisp, Munni, and the hell-raising bully, Chunni. She grabbed the National Award for Best Child Artist for the film. One of the characters was called Mughal-E-Azam and by the end, the film commented on the widespread superstition and blind faith in witchcraft in Indian villages. After watching Makdee, you might find yourself randomly singing, 'O papad waale, panga na le'. Streaming on: Hotstar Cast: Irrfan Khan, Tabu, Pankaj Kapur, Om Puri, Naseerudin Shah, Piyush Mishra Maqbool hit the big screen on January 30, 2004. Based on Macbeth, the first of Bhardwaj's acclaimed films, it featured Naseeruddin Shah and Om Puri as greedy cops. Tabu's Nimmi as the lonely mistress of don Abbaji (Pankaj Kapur) who seduces Maqbool (Irrfan Khan) into a web of murder, lust for power and greed, came as a revelation to the cine lovers. Irrfan Khan, as usual, displayed his expertise with his craft of acting. The film is counted among the best films of the Indian cinema. Streaming on: Netflix Cast: Pankaj Kapur, Shreya Sharma The Blue Umbrella starring Pankaj Kapur and Shreya Sharma was based on Ruskin Bond's novel of the same name. The film was awarded the National Film Award for Best Children's Film in 2007. The critics lauded the film for the simplicity of its plot, music by Bhardwaj and Pankaj Kapur's impeccable performance as Nandu, the shopkeeper. It is touted as a family entertainer which you can enjoy during your family time on a lazy weekend. Streaming on: YouTube, ZEE5 Cast: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, Vivek Oberoi, Bipasha Basu Another book-to-screen adaptation, Omkara found its narrative in William Shakespeare's Othello, a tale of friendship, jealousy and betrayal. Apart from an engaging story, the film boasts of some spectacular performances by Saif Ali Khan, Ajay Devgn, Konkona Sensharma and Vivek Oberoi. Bipasha Basu's dance on 'Beedi' became one of the highlights of the film and music by Bharadwaj played a character in the movie. You can't miss this one from Vishal Bharadwaj's filmography. Streaming Guide Gulzar Anurag Kashyap Hrithik Roshan Priyanka Chopra Imtiaz Ali Streaming on: Netflix Cast: Priyanka Chopra, Shahid Kapoor Kaminey is a story of a rivalry between twin brothers, played by Shahid Kapoor, who suffer from a distinctive speech impediment. One of them lisps and other stutters. Priyanka Chopra essays the role of Sweety, a Maharashtrian girl, who is the love interest of one of the twins. The music of Kaminey became a rage and for the longest time after the film's release, people attempted to replace 's' with an 'f' in their speech. Streaming on: Netflix Cast: Priyanka Chopra, Neil Nitin Mukesh, John Abraham, Irrfan Khan After The Blue Umbrella, Vishal Bhardwaj adapted another Ruskin Bond story. His 2011 release was based on Bond's short story 'Susanna's Seven Husbands' in which a woman's string of spouses die suspiciously. Indian Express' film critic Shubhra Gupta, in her review of 7 Khoon Maaf, wrote, 'Saat Khoon Maaf lives up to its premise for most of the film, before it pulls up short, well ahead of a satisfactory conclusion.' Streaming on: Netflix Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Tabu, Shraddha Kapoor, Kay Kay Menon Not just one, there are several reasons to watch this film from Vishal Bhardwaj's brand of cinema. From its lead actors, Tabu and Shahid Kapoor to its screenplay and direction, everything proved Haider as one of the finest films of Bhardwaj. An adaptation of William Shakespeare's Hamlet, Haider was set in Kashmir of 1995. It was a story of a young boy Haider who returns from his university in Aligarh to look for his disappeared father Dr Hilaal Meer (Narendra Jha) after being accused of harbouring a militant. The film grabbed five National Awards, Best Screenplay, Best Music Direction, Best Male Playback Singer, Best Choreography and Best Costume Design. Streaming on: Netflix Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Kangana Ranaut, Shahid Kapoor Rangoon, set in the pre-independence era, has a love triangle between its lead characters, played by Kangana Ranaut, Saif Ali Khan and Shahid Kapoor, at the centre of its narrative. According to the critics, one of the two good things about the film was Kangana's performance as Julia, which held stark resemblance to 1930s stunt actor Nadia. The other was Vishal Bhardwaj's attention to detail in creating the 1940s India on the 70mm screen. Streaming on: Amazon Prime Video Cast: Sanya Malhotra, Sunil Grover, Radhika Madan, Vijay Raaz Adapted from Charan Singh Pathik's short story Do Behenein, Pataakha is the story of two sisters, Chutki (Sanya Malhotra) and Badki (Radhika Madan) who are always at war with each other. Both of them run away from their homes to marry men of their choice but destiny brings them together yet again. It turns out that the men they had married are brothers. Bhardwaj's mastery of sticking to the theme and setting of his film throughout comes through the pitch-perfect dialogues. In her review, film critic Shubhra Gupta had written, 'Vishal Bhardwaj's Pataakha, based on Charan Singh Pathik's short story Do Behnein, has managed to pull off a rousing parable. Bharadwaj, who has also written the film, doesn't waste a second in centre-staging the two sisters Badki Champa (Madan) and Chutki Genda (Malhotra) and their animosity. This is a wonderful ensemble cast.' DailyhuntDisclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by Dailyhunt. Publisher: The Indian Expresshttp://krachelart.com/UserProfile/tabid/43/userId/225750/Default.aspx
US cleared to slap $7.5 billion in tariffs on EU over Airbus case
tock markets around the world, which were already down on concerns for the world economy, added to their losses on the news.The US had prepared for Wednesday's ruling and already drawn up lists of the dozens of goods it would put tariffs on. They include EU cheeses, olives, and whiskey, as well as planes, helicopters and aircraft parts in the case _ though the decision is likely to require fine-tuning of that list if the Trump administration agrees to go for the tariffs.The tariffs can take effect no earlier than mid-October because a key WTO panel needs to formally sign off on them first. But they will likely have an impact on agricultural and other sectors of the European economy, at a time when other tariff battles have dented global trade growth.Wednesday's award follows a WTO ruling in May 2018 that the EU had illegally helped Airbus with subsidies.However, it does not end the long-running trans-Atlantic dispute over aircraft: WTO arbitrators are expected to rule next year about how much the EU can impose in tariffs following a separate decision that went against Boeing.The EU's top trade official said the bloc would prefer to reach a settlement with the United States to avoid a tariff war _ but it will respond if US President Donald Trump imposes new duties on EU products.EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said a tariff war "would only inflict damage on businesses and citizens on both sides of the Atlantic, and harm global trade and the broader aviation industry at a sensitive time.""If the US decides to impose WTO authorized countermeasures, it will be pushing the EU into a situation where we will have no other option than to do the same," she said.Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, who was meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Rome on Wednesday, vowed to "defend our businesses." Italian wine and cheeses could face an impact from US tariffs.The award is the largest among about two dozen at the WTO since it was created nearly 25 years ago.Unlike Trump's unilateral tariffs on billions of dollars-worth of steel, aluminum and other goods from China, the EU and elsewhere, the retaliatory tariffs authorized in the Airbus case have the stamp of approval from the WTO, an organization that he has repeatedly criticized.German Chancellor Angela Merkel acknowledged "we have lost a matter under WTO law.""This means it's not some sort of arbitrary question but a verdict according to international law that now weighs on Airbus, one must sadly say," she told reporters in Berlin. "We have to see how the Americans will react now."The WTO in May 2018 found that EU "launch aid" for Airbus had resulted in lost sales for Boeing in the twin-aisle and very-large-aircraft markets. The ruling centered on Airbus' 350XWB _ a rival of Boeing's 787 _ and the double-decker A380, which tops the Boeing 747 as the world's largest commercial passenger plane.The case itself dates to 2004, a testament to the plodding and thorough rhythm of the Geneva-based trade body.Rod Hunter, a partner at the law firm Baker McKenzie and a former White House economic official, saw three possible outcomes: The EU can end the offending subsidies to Airbus, decide to absorb the tariffs or try to reach a negotiated settlement with the Trump administration.Given Trump's enthusiasm for tariffs, Hunter said, it's unclear what the president and his trade negotiator, Robert Lighthizer, really want: "Does he want to set up a negotiation to get a resolution or is it just tariffs for tariffs' sake?''The $7.5 billion represents a fraction of EU exports to the United States, which last year came to $688 billion.But the specter of more tariffs comes at a sensitive time. Trump's aggressive use of tariffs _ especially against China _ has shaken financial markets, hobbled global trade and hurt manufacturers paralyzed with uncertainty about where to buy supplies, locate factories and sell their products. On Tuesday, a private index of US manufacturing output dropped to the lowest level since the recession year 2009."The market effect could be larger than just the impact on the European exports and their US customers,'' Hunter said.Gary Hufbauer, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and a former US trade official, cast doubt on prospects for a EU-US trade deal that will ease tensions and ward off tit-for-tat tariffs, at least before the 2020 US presidential election. "Election years are bad for trade deals,'' Hufbauer said.The WTO is already examining a dozen cases involving US tariffs and countermeasures brought by its trading partners over the administration's steel and aluminum tariffs. Trump has insisted the move is needed to protect US national security interests, but the Europeans claim it is simply protectionism and breaks global trade rules.The EU has introduced "rebalancing" tariffs on about 2.8 billion euros ($3 billion) of US steel, agricultural and other products. Trump has also threatened to slap duties on European automakers. DailyhuntDisclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by Dailyhunt. Publisher: The Telegraphhttp://langleygymnastics.ca/ActivityFeed/MyProfile/tabid/61/UserId/959395/Default.aspx
Kartarpur milestone
Against this background, the Kartarpur Corridor agreement is the only positive development. It came to fruition because both sides showed the good sense to delink it from the rest of the relationship. Of course, in so doing, both were driven by their own self-interests. With so many important Sikh shrines on its side, Pakistan believes it can forge a special relationship with the Sikh community and has done so pro-actively. India, on the other hand, cannot afford to be seen as lagging behind on this, given Punjab's complex post-Partition political history. The agreement is a boon to the Sikh community in India, who now have the opportunity, starting with the 550th birth year of Guru Nanak, to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, directly through a road from Dera Baba Nanak in Punjab to the shrine. It heals one of the wounds of Partition for the Sikh community. Much has been made over the US$20 fee that Pakistan will levy per pilgrim. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh went to the extent of calling this a jazia tax, invoking spectres of the medieval oppression of Sikhs by Mughals. This is playing to the gallery. The Indian claim that such charges are not in keeping with the religious-cultural ethos of the country is not even accurate. Big Indian temples charge worshippers for 'special darshans' or 'quick darshans', and pilgrims pay these fees without complaint. China levies charges on pilgrims visiting Lake Mansarovar and India has never objected, even when the fee was hiked a few years ago. Sensibly, India has dropped the demand that Pakistan not levy this charge. The amount is protected by the agreement, and any hike will have to be re-negotiated by the two governments. In some ways, the Kartarpur agreement is comparable to the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, which was negotiated and signed by the two countries despite the bad blood over Kashmir, though the World Bank played mediator. That, too, was a standalone agreement of its time, and has withstood the repeated shocks it has been subjected to by the bilateral ups and downs. Hopefully, the Kartarpur Agreement will remain as enduring as the IWT. It may be unrealistic to hope at this moment that this agreement will pave the way for a wider constructive engagement between the two countries, but what it shows is that the two sides are not entirely without the capability to do this. DailyhuntDisclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by Dailyhunt. Publisher: The Indian Expresshttp://wiznotes.com/UserProfile/tabid/84/userId/292725/Default.aspx
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