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Tag: India

  • Man watches ‘Bigg Boss’ as doctors perform brain surgery on him

    Man watches ‘Bigg Boss’ as doctors perform brain surgery on him

    An Indian man from Andhra Pradesh reportedly watched reality TV show Big Boss to stay awake during a brain surgery. Doctors at a private hospital in the state’s Guntur district conducted the rare and critical open-brain surgery, in which the patient had to be kept awake.

    According to reports, as the doctors performed the surgery on the 33-year-old patient named Vara Prasad, he watched Bigg Boss and the 2009 Hollywood sci-fi movie Avatar.

    While three surgeons removed a recurrent glioma (a type of tumor), the man enjoyed the show followed by the Hollywood sci-fi movie Avatar on a laptop.

    While further details of the surgery are not specified, pictures of the operation were shared on social media channels, with many users wondering how this was possible.

    However, in a similar incident, in January, Dagmar Turner, a professional violinist played her violin while undergoing a critical brain procedure.

  • Netflix in trouble for kissing scenes in temple in ‘A Suitable Boy’

    Netflix in trouble for kissing scenes in temple in ‘A Suitable Boy’

    An Indian state on Sunday asked police to investigate Netflix series A Suitable Boy after a member of the country’s ruling party objected to scenes in the series, in which a Hindu girl kisses a Muslim boy against the backdrop of a Hindu temple.

    The series, based on an English novel by one of India’s leading writers Vikram Seth, follows a young girl’s quest for a husband in the backdrop of newly independent India (1951). It is directed by celebrated Indian filmmaker Mira Nair.

    “It has extremely objectionable scenes that have hurt the feelings of a particular religion,” Narottam Mishra, the interior minister of the central state of Madhya Pradesh, said on Twitter.

    “I’ve directed police officers to get this controversial content tested” to determine “what legal action can be taken against the producer-director of the film for hurting religious sentiments”.

    He later said: “For objectionable scenes in the web series A Suitable Boy, an FIR has been lodged against Monika Shergill (Vice President Content, Netflix India) and Ambika Khurana (Director, Public Policy at Netflix) associated with the management under Section 295 A (willfully hurting religious sentiments) in the Civil Lines Police Station of Reeva.”

    Gaurav Tiwari, a leader of the youth wing of India’s ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which also governs Madhya Pradesh, has filed a separate complaint against Netflix and warned of street protests by Hindus if the series is not taken off the platform. He also accused the show and streaming platform of promoting ‘love jihad’ – a term radical Hindu groups use to accuse Muslim men of converting Hindu women by marriage.

    A Netflix India spokesman declined comment on the police complaint.

    It is pertinent to mention here that the six-part series was officially commissioned by BBC Studios and produced on a budget of £16 million making it one of the most expensive BBC series ever made. Netflix is the exclusive distributor of the series for all global territories, except continental North America and China. It released on the streaming platform on October 23, 2020.

    Social media commentators say the scope for creative freedom is narrowing in India, especially when it involves any depiction of Hindu-Muslim relations.

    Many Indians took to Twitter demanding a boycott of Netflix, which sees India as one of its most promising growth markets, but where its shows have faced legal challenges.

    Last month, a unit of India’s Tata conglomerate withdrew a jewellery advertisement featuring a Hindu-Muslim family celebrating a baby shower, following threats to one of its stores and wide criticism on social media.

    Earlier this month, the Indian government announced rules to regulate content on video streaming platforms including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Walt Disney’s Hotstar.

  • PM claims to have intelligence on Nawaz’s ‘treason’

    PM claims to have intelligence on Nawaz’s ‘treason’

    Prime Minister Imran Khan has claimed to have intelligence on Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supreme leader Nawaz Sharif, alleging that former ambassador to the United States (US) Hussain Haqqani was “running Nawaz’s communication strategy”.

    Speaking to a private media outlet on Thursday, the premier was referring to the former PM’s recent speeches in public meetings of his party and the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) during which he had accused the army establishment of orchestrating his ouster.

    Nawaz had gone on to name the Army and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chiefs and said that there was “a state above the state”.

    Reacting to his political rival’s statements, Imran on Thursday accused Nawaz of trying to create rifts within the armed forces by encouraging army personnel to “rebel against” the military leadership.

    “When they say that the [military leadership] is bad and the rest of the army is good; is army a democratic party that would move a no-confidence motion? You [Nawaz] are telling the army to launch a coup, to rebel [against the leadership]. Can there be a bigger [form of] treason?”

    When asked if the government would take up a treason case against Nawaz, the premier did not give a clear answer and said, “Treason cases are hard to prove.”

    He said that he had information on Nawaz’s activities but added that “court cases cannot be filed on agencies’ reports”.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    “A person who is sitting outside in a Mayfair luxury flat bought with stolen money is telling the army [personnel] to rebel. He is also trying to drive a wedge in the judiciary by taking the name of one judge saying he is good while another, who was a chief justice and gave the Panama judgement against him, was a bad judge.”

    “Imran Khan is a Bollywood villain but Nawaz is a democrat. The person who grew up in Ziaul Haq’s lap is a democrat today, while Imran Khan who started his party from scratch, who mobilised people to come to power is an army puppet!”

    “Nawaz Sharif suits India, not Imran Khan.”

  • After Pakistan issues new map, Nawab of Junagarh says princely state will soon become its part

    Months after Islamabad issued a new political map that also included occupied Kashmir among other erstwhile princely states currently under Indian rule, Nawab of Junagarh Muhammad Jahangir Khanji has said that the city in the Indian state of Gujarat “will soon become a part of Pakistan”.

    Addressing a news conference in Islamabad, Nawab Khanji urged the United Nations (UN) to play its role in the liberation of Junagarh from Indian occupation. He also appealed to Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan to become its ambassador as he did in the case of Kashmir to highlight the issue of liberation from New Delhi’s illegal rule at all international forums.

    The Nawab said a secretariat of Junagarh should be established in Islamabad to bring the princely state closer to Pakistan and told the participants that November 9 was observed as a black day as on this day in 1947 India occupied the territory of Junagarh.

    “The occupation was against the international law and norms,” he said, adding that a living nation should remember its history and act accordingly.

    Junagarh, he said, had a territory of 4,000 square miles and a 100-mile coastline along the Arabian Sea with many ports. Among the 562 princely states in the sub-continent, Junagarh was the sixth richest and a welfare state which provided free education to its citizens and took responsibility to provide healthcare facilities to all of them, Dawn quoted him as saying.

    He recalled that in October 1947, during his visit to Pakistan his grandfather Nawab Mahabat Khan signed an agreement of accession to Pakistan. During the visit, his grandfather held a meeting with Quaide Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and decided to accede the state to Pakistan.

    The treaty of accession was ratified by the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan.

    In the absence of his grandfather, India landed its troops and occupied the territory of Junagarh on November 9, 1947, he said.

    The Nawab said that after the creation of India and Pakistan, the sovereign rulers of the states were given the right of choice to stay independent or accede to India or Pakistan.

    He said that Pakistan took the case of occupation of Junagarh to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

    He vowed to continue struggle for the liberation of Junagarh.

    “I will not rest and will not stay quiet till I have achieved my goal of the liberation of Junagarh,” he said.

    The Nawab said that Junagarh was part of Pakistan and it would remain so.

    He said that Hindu and Muslim communities in Junagarh still expressed their loyalties to the Nawab of Junagarh. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi should know that Junagarh would be part of Pakistan, he said.

    He said it was a dream of the Quaid-i-Azam and his grandfather that Junagarh should be part of Pakistan.

    In reply to a question, he said 2.5 million people belonging to Junagarh lived in Pakistan.

    He said his grandfather never claimed any property or benefits in Pakistan.

  • Girl climbs atop advertisement board to protest against arranged marriage

    An Indian girl frorm Madhya Pradesh climbed atop an advertisement board, demanding to marry a boy against her mother’s wishes.

    The pictures shared on social media, showed her sitting atop the advertisement board and speaking on the phone.

    Later, crowds began to gather below her to see her actions.

    According to local media reports, the police also reached the spot and tried to convince the girl to come down. However, she refused.

    The police personnel then contacted the boy she wanted to marry. Pardesipura Sub-Inspector (SI) Ashok Patidar said the girl decided to come down after the boy insisted that she come down.

    The girl had climbed the advertisement board after her mother forced her to marry a boy of the family’s choice.

  • Police arrest murderer of eight-year-old child via ‘spelling mistake’

    Police arrest murderer of eight-year-old child via ‘spelling mistake’

    Indian police identified an alleged murderer, who kidnapped and murdered his eight-year-old distant cousin, through a spelling test.

    According to details, the 22-year-old accused identified as Ram Pratap Singh, allegedly kidnapped the eight-year-old boy, from his grandmother’s house. He then used a stolen phone to send a ransom note to the family demanding Rs 200,000 for the release of the child.

    In the message, he wrote: “Do lakh rupay Seeta-Pur lekar pahuchiye. Pulish ko nahi batana nahi to haatya kar denge (Reach Sitapur with Rs 2 lakh. Don’t inform the police or your son will be killed).”

    The family approached police after more than a week and registered a missing complaint after which an investigation was initiated.

    “We swiftly formed teams to trace the kidnapped boy and called back on the same number but it was switched off. The cyber-surveillance cell was roped in and we detained the subscriber, who seemed illiterate and unable to write an SMS,” the local police said.

    The investigators detained 10 suspects, including the accused, from the area on the basis of clues gathered through the area’s CCTV footage and tip-offs.

    All of them were asked by the cops to write a sentence: “Main police main bharti hona chahta hoon. Main Hardoi se Sitapur daud kar ja sakta hoon (I want a police job. I can run from Hardoi to Sitapur).”

    Singh, who made spelling mistakes in his ransom note once again repeated them by writing ‘pulish’ for police and ‘Seeta-pur’ for Sitapur, resulting in his arrest.

  • Indian town sends garbage as ‘return gifts’ to those littering irresponsibly on streets

    Indian town sends garbage as ‘return gifts’ to those littering irresponsibly on streets

    Swapnil Dinakar Pundkar, the municipal commissioner of Kakinada city, India has come up with a unique way of teaching the residents who irresponsibly dump garbage on the streets.

    He sends ‘return gifts’ of domestic waste to residents who throw the garbage on the road instead of handing it over to garbage collectors.

    Swapnil asks his staff members to collect garbage that has been thrown on the roads. He then gets them to ‘home deliver’ it to people to teach them a lesson about properly dumping waste as it is one of the biggest factors that lead to urban flooding. 

    The municipal commissioner had to adopt this method to change the residents’ habits and to create an awareness about responsible waste management.

    In fact sometimes, he also goes door-to-door to conduct inspections in homes where citizens reportedly refuse to ‘cooperate.’

    People on social media have been praising Swapnil for his unique approach to teach social responsibility to the residents.

  • IN PICTURES: India celebrates Kamala Harris’ win

    Kamala Harris has made history as the first female, first black, and first Asian-American US vice-president-elect, and Indians are overjoyed.

    According to reports, people at Kamala’s ancestral village in southern India, celebrated her victory by bursting crackers, distributing sweets, and offering prayers of gratitude. People hailed her achievement as historic and a “proud moment” for the country.

    Some Indians also celebrated by laying rangoli designs in front of their houses.

    After the victory, Kamala’s sister Maya Harris, said that their mother, Shyamala Gopalan, “would have been beyond proud today.”

    Harris also paid tribute to her mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, an Indian immigrant, in her victory speech.

    Harris’ uncle, academic Balachandran Gopalan, said his late sister would have been proud of her daughter and that the family would converge in Washington from across the United States and from India, Canada and Mexico to witness her historic inauguration.

    “Her mother would have been very happy. She would have asked Kamala to continue what she’s doing,” the 79-year-old academic told AFP as a huge media contingent crowded outside his home.

    “Can you think of any other country where a first-generation immigrant would go to the highest office… It’s a lot of firsts. And at a major time in US history. And that she’s there as VP means a lot.”

    Gopalan added that he had further hopes for his trailblazing niece – including a presidential run.

    Kamala Harris was born on October 20 in 1964, in California. Her late mother Shyamala Gopalan migrated to the US from Tamil Nadu at the age of 19 to study at the University of California, while her father, Donald J Harris, moved to the US from Jamaica.

    Harris has often spoken about how her Indian grandfather, who was among millions of people who joined India’s independence movement, has shaped her values and helped inspire her ideals of justice.

    Meanwhile, several Bollywood celebrities including Sonam Kapoor and Kangana Ranaut also expressed their joy over Harris’ win.

  • Pakistan & India to go to war over Basmati rice rights

    Pakistan is all geared up to thwart India’s attempt to obtain branding rights for Basmati rice, The News reported.

    Advisor to PM on Commerce Abdul Razza Dawood said on Friday that the government had prepared a detailed response in the matter and would submit it before the European Union (EU) Commission on December 10. 

    He hoped the Indian’s claim on Basmati rice would be rejected in totality. “The decision is expected within a one-year period,” he added.

    We are in possession of many documents which we will present as documentary proof to the EU Commission to prove Basmati rice is our brand, the advisor told The News. 

    Dawood said India’s stance on Basmati rice was impossible to prove since Pakistan possessed every proof to foil their attempt. “The first statement will be submitted on December 19, the application will be submitted in the second round.”

    “I met with the attorney general yesterday to ensure we hire a good law firm to present our Basmati case before the EU commission.”

    Basmati is a variety of long, slender-grained aromatic rice that is traditionally grown in Pakistan and India. As of 2018-19, India accounted for 65% of the international trade in basmati rice, while Pakistan accounted for the remaining 35%.

    Many countries use domestically grown basmati rice crops; however, basmati is geographically exclusive to certain districts of Pakistan and India.

  • Pakistan reacts to Indian claims of taking Kartarpur Gurdwara’s management away from Sikh body

    Pakistan reacts to Indian claims of taking Kartarpur Gurdwara’s management away from Sikh body

    Pakistan has firmly rejected the “baseless and fallacious” claims made by the Indian government against the Kartarpur Corridor, and the same have also been rejected by the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (PSGPC).

    In a statement, Foreign Office (FO) Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri has said that the malicious propaganda by the Indian government is simply an attempt to malign the peace corridor initiative.

    “The malicious propaganda by the Indian government is simply an attempt to malign the peace corridor initiative by casting mischievous aspersions against the interests of the Sikh community and to detract attention from the reprehensible violation of human rights of minorities in India,” he said.

    The FO said that it was no more than an Indian attempt to cast damaging accusations against the interests of the Sikh community and to detract attention from India’s own reprehensible human rights violations of minorities in India.

    Chaudri added that the PSGPC is responsible for carrying out rituals in Gurdwara Sahiban, including Kartarpur, as per Sikh Rehat Maryada.

    “Any insinuations regarding ‘transferring’ the affairs of Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib from the PSGPC to the Project Management Unit (PMU) are not only contrary to the facts but are also aimed at creating religious disharmony by the Hindutva-driven government in India,” the FO spokesperson said.

    “The PMU, under the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB), has simply been created to facilitate the committee in this regard,” he added.

    Chaudhri said that the Sikh community from all over the world remains greatly appreciative of the efforts made by Pakistan to complete the Kartarpur Corridor project in record time and for the excellent arrangements made to facilitate the pilgrims.

    “India would be well advised to take steps to protect its minorities and their places of worship, rather than feigning misleading and sham concerns for the rights of minorities elsewhere,” he said.

    INDIAN CLAIMS:

    India had on Thursday “highly condemned” Pakistan’s then alleged decision to transfer the management of the Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara from PSGPC to a separate trust, saying the move ran against the religious sentiments of the Sikh community.

    The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had said India received representations from the Sikh community expressing grave concern over the decision to transfer the management and maintenance of the gurudwara from the PSGPC to the administrative control of the ETPB.

    KARTARPUR SAHIB:

    Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara is located in Pakistan’s Narowal district across Ravi, about four kilometres from the Dera Baba Nanak shrine.

    In November last year, the two countries threw open a corridor linking Dera Baba Sahib in Gurdaspur in India with Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan, in a historic people-to-people initiative.

    The move was lauded by members of the Sikh community from all across the globe.