Our non-Bolly film faves of the year

Dark and often dazzling, this Thiagarajan Kumararaja film about sexual fantasies and the darker side of the human mind trained an unsentimental and non-judgemental lens on its characters, extracting winning acts from a strong ensemble comprising the likes of Fahadh Faasil, Samantha Akkineni and Ramya Krishnan. Its dark tone punctuated by lively colours and an unmistakable chutzpah, Super Deluxe may be brazenly excessive but is undeniably entertaining. Kumbalangi NightsMalayalam (stream it on Amazon Prime Video)The story of four brothers who share a love-hate relationship with each other but are drawn closer when they join forces to help one of them win over his love, Kumbalangi Nights brought in a crowd-pleasing mix of heartwarming moments and visually appealing frames. Not bound by any formula, this Fahadh Faasil film - that also starred Shane Nigam and Soubin Shahir among others - addressed a number of contemporary socio-political issues and also worked as a moving essay on human relationships, loss and redemption. It turned toxic masculinity on its head, giving us real and flawed people, with the house peopled by these characters emerging as the strongest leitmotif of this Madhu C. Narayanan directorial debut. VirusMalayalam (stream it on Amazon Prime Video)Director Aashiq Abu set his wholly fictionalised and largely intriguing tale against the 2018 outbreak of the Nipah virus in Kerala, coming up with a well-crafted multi-starrer. Clinical and yet compelling enough to suck in the viewer from the get-go, Virus scored for its tense and taut screenplay, playing out as a mix of a suspense drama and an investigative thriller. The performances at its heart - led by Parvathy, Tovino Thomas and Revathy - powered the film that had long legs at the box office. AamisAssameseWildly original and genre defying, this Assamese film helmed by Bhaskar Hazarika turned out to be a compelling watch, riding on its central theme of the repercussions of unbridled lust. It's meat that drove the narrative of Aamis, with the film turning out to be many things in one - food movie, unconventional romance, addiction drama and psychological horror, and yet its win lay in the fact that it couldn't be easily slotted. Benefiting from the casting of debutants as its main leads and powered by an unpredictable template, Aamis deserved a watch. And then some more. JallikattuMalayalam (stream it on Amazon Prime Video)That Angamaly Diaries man Lijo Jose Pellissery is one of the most exciting voices in Indian cinema was once again reinforced by this spectacularly frenzied tale that followed the aftermath of the escape of a bull from a slaughterhouse in a hilly remote village. Working as much as a thriller as it did as a social commentary, Jallikattu was searingly honest, cutting close to the bone, with the characters and situations staying on with the viewer. The film was a courageous blend of theme, image and sound and took the audience on a whirlwind ride as it ripped apart the ugly side of unhinged masculinity. DailyhuntDisclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by Dailyhunt. Publisher: The Telegraphhttps://www.sbnation.com/users/guenshesehs

Protests at UP Bhavan, Jama Masjid, many detained

Exactly a week back, the site of protests at nearby Delhi Gate had turned violent after few protesters resorted to pelting stones at the police standing behind the barricades. To contain them, the police had trained water cannons at them followed by a lathicharge in which several protesters were badly injured.Flag marches were conducted in some areas of the northeast district in the national capital and heavy police force was deployed in parts of the city ahead of Friday prayers and protests calls by some organisations against the amended citizenship act, police said. The police organised flag marches in northeast Delhi's Seelampur, Jafrabad, Welcome and Mustafabad areas, they said.Adequate police forces from adjoining districts and 15 companies of paramilitary forces were deployed in the northeast district to maintain law and order. Delhi police is also using drones to keep a vigil on the situation, they said.Heavy police deployment was also witnessed in Jamia Nagar, Jama Masjid and Chanakyapuri areas, the police said. "We have been conducting flag marches in the northeast district along with the members of Aman Committee to ensure that law and order remains in control in the area. We have also been appealing to the people to help police maintain peace," deputy commissioner of police (northeast) Ved Prakash Surya said.As prohibitory orders under section 144 of the CrPC have been in place in the district since a month after protests turned violent, police have urged people to not participate in any demonstrations that could turn violent. Delhi police have also put up a banner asking people to refrain from staging demonstrations outside UP Bhavan as prohibitory orders are in place.On Thursday, as many as 213 people were detained from outside UP Bhavan for protesting against the alleged police atrocities in the state during protests against the act, police added.The protests were staged without police permission following which those detained were taken to Mandir Marg police station and Connaught Place police station.Another group has also called for a protest march from Dargarh Shahe Mardan, near Jor Bagh to Prime Minister's house for "unconditional release" of Bhim Army chief Chandrashekar Azad and withdrawal of the amended citizenship act, National Register of Citizens and National Population Registry. DailyhuntDisclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by Dailyhunt. Publisher: The Telegraphhttps://www.edocr.com/user/guessyleague

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'BFI did not tell Nikhat to skip Nationals'

I didn't play the Nationals and that's why I am right now the fourth-choice boxer for the trials in 51kg,' she added 'Whatever Nikhat said about BFI not giving her a chance to choose between the League and the Nationals is incorrect. I was at the meeting that happened in early November— this year — at the Indira Gandhi Stadium, New Delhi. An option of competing at either the Nationals or the League was presented to Nikhat too like other boxers from Sacheti or rather the BFI. Nobody from the Federation forced her to compete at the League, it was purely her choice,' an amused Santiago Nieva, High Performance Director of BFI, said in an exclusive interview to this newspaper from Sweden. 'In a meeting comprising Sacheti, Nikhat, myself and a couple others, right before the men's national camp, we told Nikhat it's completely her choice when it came to picking the event. In fact, Nikhat even asked for our opinion before she could decide between the Nationals and the League,' Santiago recollected. 'In the end, she chose the League over the Nationals. For her to cry foul is not correct as she chose the League over the Nationals. Maybe she said those things as she was not able to find the right words to express her opinion at that point of time,' Argentina-born Swede added. Nikhat said she is disappointed because the BFI had assured her the spot if she fared well against Mary Kom on December 17, 2019. Adding, 'I was looking forward to the bout with Mary Kom but unfortunately it's not happening today (Dec.17). 'In the meeting, we also assured Nikhat that her chances to compete at the Olympic trails will not depend on her performances at the League. She has performed well at the international level, is consistently improving as a boxer and that she will be given a fair shot at the trials. Even now if you see the rankings for the trails, Mary Kom is first, Nikhat second, Jyoti who won gold at the Nationals is third and Ritu, who settled for silver, is fourth. The seeding for the trails has been done purely on merit unlike her claims of being a fourth-choice in the 51kg. There is no favouritism,' the High Performance Director asserted. However, when this newspaper tried to reach Sacheti for his response on the controversy, he refused to comment. Off the 18 men's boxers who made the cut for the Olympic trials in various weight categories, 11 were not a part of the Nationals. And off the 12 boxers from the Olympic weight categories, who competed in the Nationals, only seven made the cut while five were left out due to various medial concerns. Clearing the air, Santiago said, 'Jayesh Desai got knocked out by Naveen Boora in the men's 69kg final. Jayesh has to undergo certain medical treatments before he can step back into a ring. While Rohit Tokas, who moved up from 64kg to 75kg category early this year, has injured his knee pretty badly. He has to undergo a knee surgery. Meanwhile, Arshdeep Singh, who lost to Sachin Kumar in the 81kg title bout, left the national camp within two weeks due to an injury. Sumit Sangwan on the other hand won gold in the 91kg category in the Nationals but decided to move down a weight category and has been named in the 81kg category. But Sumit will only be able to compete, if the National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) clears him off the doping charge. Brijesh Yadav and Satish Kumar have been included in the trails cause of their performances at the World Championships and their progress in the national camp.' The women's trials will be held on December 27 and 28 at the Indira Gandhi Stadium, New Delhi, while the men's trials will be organised in Bellary, on December 29 and 30. DailyhuntDisclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by Dailyhunt. Publisher: Deccan Chroniclehttp://raptorx3.uchicago.edu/bbs/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=1111&extra=

Paul Pogba hailed as 'best midfielder in the world' by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

Big, big plus and it might be that we do get him in from the start.' Pogba, who had only played twice since the end of August due to an ankle injury, was introduced on Sunday with United already trailing by two goals and went close to scoring during a late attacking flurry from the visitors. 'He can play anywhere, he can play the whole midfield,' said Solskjaer. 'He's a box-to-box midfielder. He can drop deep, get it, play long passes. He can get it higher up and combine like he did today.' 'That's the beauty of having Paul, because he is the best all-round midfielder in the world,' added the United boss, who has said the 26-year-old will not be leaving in the January transfer window despite links with Real Madrid. Solskjaer said he was looking for a reaction from his players against Newcastle after United again failed to turn dominance of possession into a positive result at Watford. 'One of the good things about the team this year, we have reacted after bad results,' he said. 'We haven't kept the consistency as we would have liked the other way but we've never gone on a big (bad) run like we did towards the end of last season so there will be a reaction, definitely.' United are struggling in eighth place in the Premier League, seven points behind fourth-placed Chelsea despite recent morale-boosting wins against Tottenham and Manchester City. Solskjaer admitted progress had been slower than expected but said he was focused on developing a team that could dominate and break sides down. 'It's taken Liverpool a few years to get to that stage and we need to keep on building because that's what we want to get to,' he said. 'Yes, we're good at counter-attacking. Yes, we've got pace and fast players. We should always keep that because that's in our tradition. Now we need to be better at breaking lower blocks.' DailyhuntDisclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by Dailyhunt. Publisher: Hindustan Timeshttp://wiznotes.com/UserProfile/tabid/84/userId/331237/Default.aspx

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Bianca Andreescu named Canada's athlete of the year

'I can't wait for what 2020 will bring and am always proud to represent Canada at the highest level.' Andreescu was a unanimous choice for the award, which is selected by a poll of 30 sports journalists. Other nominees for the honour included Brooke Henderson (golf), Jordan Binnington (ice hockey), Andre De Grasse (athletics) and Mike Soroka (baseball). Previous winners of the award include ice hockey legends Wayne Gretzky, Sidney Crosby and Bobby Orr, 1996 Olympic 100m gold medallist Donovan Bailey and former Formula One world champion Jacques Villeneuve. DailyhuntDisclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by Dailyhunt. Publisher: Hindustan Timeshttp://raptorx3.uchicago.edu/bbs/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=1037&extra=

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The newsmakers of 2019

WTF of the year: SaahoAll eyes were on Bahubali man Prabhas in this big-budget film that ticked all the potential blockbuster boxes. But lazy writing, shoddy special effects and a largely incoherent Prabhas translated into a three-hour headache in the theatres. What got our goat? An (unintentionally) laugh-out-loud sequence that had Prabhas's Saaho/Ashok facing off against a cobra, an ostrich and a black panther... in the middle of a Mumbai slum! Music album of the year: Gully Boy"The voice of the streets" was brought to the mainstream, with Gully Boy bringing the desi underground scene to the forefront. A host of artistes - most prominently Divine and Naezy on whose lives the Zoya Akhtar film was loosely based - collaborated for its music, with leading man Ranveer Singh often chipping in with his voice. Dissent to desire, angst to attitude, the Gully Boy album was a blast, giving us gems like Azadi, Apna time aayega, Mere gully mein and Doori. Action man of the year: Vidyut JammwalTiger Shroff and Hrithik Roshan's power-packed moves may have propelled War to blockbuster status, but it was Vidyut Jammwal who quietly came up with two action-oriented money-spinners this year. While Junglee had the man playing saviour to a horde of animals, Commando 3, despite its corny plot and premise, brought in the crowds on the strength of Vidyut's action - karate to Kalaripayattu to some good ol' dishoom dishoom! Polariser of the year: Kabir SinghAnyone who had watched Arjun Reddy, the original Telugu film starring Vijay Deverakonda, knew what they were in for when they walked in for Kabir Singh. The film was quickly called out for its misogyny and toxic masculinity, with director Sandeep Reddy Vanga's problematic and deeply patriarchal take on millennial relationships being severely criticised. But an uninhibited central act from Shahid Kapoor, some compelling moods and moments and hummable songs ensured that viewers flocked in droves (mostly to gauge for themselves what the fuss and furore was all about) to theatres, making Kabir Singh a Rs 300-crore-plus blockbuster. Even today, voices on both sides of the misogyny debate rage on. Boo-boo of the year: KalankLavish sets to a seemingly epic story, Kalank had everything going for it. Add to that its as-big-as-it-gets cast. But save for one crackling scene between Sanjay Dutt and Madhuri Dixit and a few foot-tapping Pritam numbers, Kalank was a huge disappointment, with even the ever-dependable Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan coming up short. This was one big spectacle with zero soul. Tearjerker of the year: The Sky is PinkA gut-wrenching film that you were compelled to watch with a perpetual lump in your throat, The Sky is Pink - Shonali Bose's film about life and death and also about everything that comes between life and death - made you empty out your box of tissues. The film spoke about loss and collective healing and touched upon both helpless vulnerability and a quiet innate strength that we need to dig deep within ourselves. Priyanka Chopra, back from a break, was the pivot around which The Sky is Pink revolved, giving us a film that ripped your heart into shreds and then pieced it together. Cameo of the year: Mohit Raina in UriTV's Mr. Popular made a seamless transition from screen small to big with his role of a courageous armyman who sacrifices his life for the country in the blockbuster Uri. Mohit Raina - who shot into the spotlight with his turn as Lord Shiva in the mythological series Devon Ke Dev... Mahadev - had limited screen time, but made quite an impression, owning the few scenes he was in. "People are saying to me, 'We wanted more of you... we were looking out for you'"... is what Mohit told t2 about his Karan Kashyap after the film's release. DailyhuntDisclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by Dailyhunt. Publisher: The Telegraphhttps://www.magcloud.com/user/potygfebswao

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Pakistan Govt to disclose its view on verdict

Campus trouble: What is behind the Panjab University's decline? 'We can wish for all kinds of things for the university, but the reality remains that its condition is steadily deteriorating in the last few years,' added Brar. One of the oldest institutes of higher education in the region, Panjab University was first established in Lahore in 1882, before it shifted to Chandigarh post-Partition in 1956 where it was designed by Pierre Jeanneret under the guidance of Le Corbusier, the famed pioneer of modern architecture. Due to the historic significance of its architecture, many buildings in the university such as the Student Centre, Gandhi Bhawan and the Fine Arts department are valued as heritage structures. However, the structures now stand faded and corroded, silent witnesses to the steadily diminishing glory of the varsity. Slipping Down the Ranks The varsity, which ranked at the first place in Times list of top universities of India up till 2014, slipped to the 20th position in 2019. A university that once boasted of highly successful alumni making a mark the world over, now finds it increasingly hard to increase student enrollment. In its revised budget for the year 2019-2020, the University's Board of Finance cut down its budget by Rs 13 crore, as the projected annual income of the varsity had slipped due to lower enrollment of students. At the last meeting of the Senate, a governing body of the varsity akin to the lower house of Parliament, members of the body proposed a plan to increase enrollment of students by devising more courses. However, other members conceded that increasing enrollment by introducing more courses is an unachievable dream, when the university can barely afford to hire more staff or build more infrastructure to cater to new courses. Far from increasing the faculty strength, most departments of PU are running at a strength less than half of the sanctioned strength of faculty members. When asked why the University does not hire more faculty to cater to the needs of its student population, Dean University Instruction (DUI), Shankarji Jha nonchalantly proclaimed that when 'there has been no hiring of staff in some departments since the 1990s, how can we even look towards hiring more?'. There are departments such as archaeology where the staff strength is as low as two against the sanctioned number of nine. Financial Crunch Perhaps the biggest challenge faced by the University is the shortage of funds and manpower. Though the staff crunch is often attributed to an order by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, which allegedly does not allow for fresh recruitment of faculty, the poor infrastructure, falling quality of education and lack of resources points to a deeper malaise — chronic lack of funding. The university, which currently falls under the bracket of a state university, receives most of its funds from the Central Government. According to a concept note prepared by a few PU professors, arguing for a central status in order to relieve the burden of funding, 92 percent of the budget deficit of the University is given by the Central government. 'Then why can't we make a serious case for attaining central status? What is stopping us?' asked Gurmeet Singh, Chairperson of the Hindi Department, at a Senate meeting held on December 14. However, stakeholders allege that looking towards any source of public funding is no longer a feasible option. Brar, the professor emeritus from the Political Science Department, suggested that the university look towards American universities' models of funding, where money is sourced from a public-private partnership. However, the idea of looking towards private sources, raises questions about affordability. 'We cannot let the burden of funding fall on our students. Our university works according to the tenets of a socialist country, we should aim to provide more scholarships and financial aid to all students who need it, rather than place the burden of funding on them,' says Chamman Lal, Senator and recently elected Dean of the Faculty of Languages. Deteriorating Facilities Far from providing more scholarships to its students, the University has failed to deliver basic facilities to a fee paying student on campus. To begin with, getting hostel rooms on the campus is an unending struggle for many, who often wait for a year or longer. There are 11 hostels for boys and eight for girls, which can in all accommodate a few thousand students out of a total of over 16000 students enrolled in PU. The rest stay outside as paying guests. Furthermore, many students allege hostel rooms lie vacant but are reserved for guests who pay more for the accommodation than regular students. Others say the rooms are often occupied by alumni even years after they have graduated. 'There are so many political types who have been staying here and they have jobs and everything, but no one dares to evict them,' says a helper at one of the boys hostel. Though the university has come up with an online portal to introduce transparency in allotment, the portal can only be used by students to register their names, after which students have to go through the same grueling process that they had to when the portal did not exist. Safety and Welfare Women hostellers have relentlessly reported on how unsafe they feel inside the campus to no avail, especially in the late evening or at night. There have been series of protests by women students who have asked for a safe passage between the hostels and the library, since many have faced instances of molestation, but to no avail. A woman student, who was stalked for a whole week by a gang of boys, has now stopped going to the library altogether. In response to these incidents, authorities such as the Chief Security Officer and the Dean Student Welfare ask women students to be more careful and move in groups, stating that nothing can be done to check the actions of 'outsiders' who roam the campus at night. One such 'outsider' made news early December, by molesting a journalist who was out for a morning walk at the Botanical Garden in the university. Another young student was molested at the garden last year, which led to an investigation by the Committee Against Sexual harassment (CASH). The committee submitted its findings and suggestions but no action was taken. 'Now another such incident has occurred in the same garden, and the authorities are as lax about it as ever,' groused Ameer Sultana, convener or the CASH committee. A PU Professor, who wishes to remain anonymous, succinctly sums up the state of affairs at the varsity: 'There is just too much red tape and bureaucracy here, so change is hard to come by any time soon. We are stuck in the same old administrative roles, forming committees and asking for permissions, but no real work gets done!' Schooling for success The growing number of centrally introduced interventions are robbing teachers of the time they need to shower on students From the decision to end the non-retention policy of students up till Class 8, to the launch of a booklet on the Phoenix application, the Chandigarh administration took a number of steps to reform the school education. According to the non-retention policy, students up till Class 8 were not failed by examiners, no matter how dismal their performance. Former Education Secretary BL Sharma, decided to do away with this policy to compel both students and teachers to work towards better grades. 'This is not the way to inculcate the values of hard work and discipline in students, this will stump their academic growth,' BL Sharma had opined in an earlier interview with Newsline. Sharma also made news for conceptualizing and implementing the Phoenix application, which he introduced in schools to regulate the academic performance of every student enrolled in government schools. In the app, teachers across schools have to input information on every student's performance in accordance with prescribed learning outcomes on a monthly basis. After evaluating the performance, students are sorted into different performance grades, and those who perform poorly are given extra attention and tutoring to improve their performance. 'My goal is to make sure that each and every student from government schools performs as well if not better than their counterparts in private schools,' said Sharma, before he retired from his post as Education Secretary. Preparing for PISA Improving the performance of government school students is extremely crucial in the light of the upcoming Programme for International Students Assessment or PISA test, in which Class 8 students from Chandigarh will represent India. Preparations for the test, which will be conducted in 2021, have already began in full throttle, as the exam does not test the student's knowledge based on rote learning, but evaluates the analytical skills, knowledge application and problem solving skills. 'We give them an hour long extra class to prepare them for the test. We also make them practice problem solving with real life applications; a lot of work has been done to make sure they are well prepared,' says Ravinder Kaur, a government school principal in the city. The pressure to perform well in PISA is further compounded by the fact that India's performance was exceptionally dismal during the last time its students participated in the PISA examination. The country ranked 72nd amongst 73 participating countries, beating only students from Kyrgyzstan. It was also observed that Indian students performed quite poorly in solving mathematical problems. To amend this lapse in mathematical skills, the UT administration announced that additional chapters will be added to the mathematic syllabus of Class 6, 7 and 8. However, the Central Government's decision to introduce the option of Basic Math level examination in Class 10 board examination could dilute this effort. In Chandigarh, more than 80 percent students in government schools have opted for the basic level of math examination, instead of the usual standard- level examination. Strengthening Public Education The efforts to fortify government school education began to bear fruit this year as was evidenced by the steep jump in the aggregate pass percentage of students from 48.51 percent in 2018 to 75.27 percent in 2019. Still, most students who have the economic means or harbour the dreams for a bright future for their children scampered around the city to admit their children in private schools. The Director of School Education, Rupinderjit Singh Brar, attributed this phenomenon to an irrational belief in Indian parents that 'if one pays more for something, it is automatically supposed to be something worth paying for'. With the central government introducing a slew of programmes such as Khelo India, Constitution day, shiksha pe charcha, Swacch Bharat et al, Sukhraj Kaur, a nodal officer, says her hands are full. Exciting as the events sound, for most teachers, these only translate into more administrative work, and days spent laboriously consolidating and processing data. 'Sometimes we have too much administrative work to look into the academic progress of our students, which, at the end of the day is the most important function of a school,' rued a schoolteacher, while requesting anonymity. 'If we could just focus on their education, instead of all this other meaningless activity, maybe our students will fare better,' she signed off. DailyhuntDisclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by Dailyhunt. Publisher: The Indian Expresshttp://raptorx3.uchicago.edu/bbs/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=1085&extra=

https://visual.ly/users/jeffmattyhardayhappy2/portfolio She said that far-reaching reforms were being carried out in the press information department, and a new advertisement policy was being introduced to ensure transparency. ... DailyhuntDisclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by Dailyhunt. Publisher: Deccan Chroniclehttps://www.bagtheweb.com/u/rebensonim/profile