Narendra Modi and the BJP are gearing up for a glittering swearing-in ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Thursday, with a star-studded list of invitees.

However, a few key leaders have decided to not take part in the event.

Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee

The West Bengal chief minister had initially planned on attending the ceremony but changed her mind on Wednesday, citing “untrue” claims made by the BJP that 54 of its workers were killed in political violence in the state. Instead, Banerjee will take part in a sit-in demonstration organised by the Trinamool Congress outside the Naihati municipality to protest against the violence on party workers after the Lok Sabha poll results.

Naihati municipality is located in the Barrackpore area of North 24 Parganas district, which has witnessed violent clashes between TMC and BJP workers since the results of the Lok Sabha polls were announced on May 23.

The BJP won 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal, only four less than the TMC’s 22. The remaining two seats were bagged by the Congress, while the Left Front drew a blank.

Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel

Baghel said he had “prior commitment” and had sought time to meet Modi later. Baghel will be attending events and meetings in Bastar.

Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik

Patnaik on Wednesday extended good wishes to Modi and his ministers but said he would not make it to the ceremony.

“The newly elected members of the 16th Vidhan Sabha will take oath tomorrow, As a leader of the house, Chief minister Naveen Patnaik has to remain present during the occasion. Thus, he is unable to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister and his council of ministers tomorrow,” a statement read.

Patnaik took oath as the chief minister of Odisha for the fifth consecutive terms on Wednesday.

Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan 

Vijayan is also reportedly skipping the ceremony, but has not said why.

In a message to Modi on the day of election results, Vijayan said meaningful cooperation from the Centre was expected in the best interests of the state and country, a statement from the Chief Minister’s Officer said.

Mizoram CM Zoramthanga

Zoramthanga, who is also the president of the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF), will not be present at the oath-taking ceremony due to “tight official engagements”, Lalhmansanga, personal secretary to the chief minister, said.

“State Information and Public Relations Minister Lalruatkima, newly elected MP C Lalrosanga and former two-time Lok Sabha member Vanlalzawma would attend the ceremony on behalf of the chief minister,” Lalhmansanga said.

The MNF is a constituent of the BJP-led North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) and the NDA.

(With PTI inputs)

The U.S. has been hit by 500 tornadoes in the past 30 days, according to the U.S. Storm Prediction Center. The spate of extreme storms, described as extraordinary by the center’s meteorologists, has left a trail of death and destruction across swathes of the United States — from New Mexico to New York.

Bill Bunting, the center’s chief of forecast operations, told Bloomberg on Wednesday that only four other 30-day periods in the official record — in 2003, 2004, 2008 and 2011 — saw an excess of 500 tornado reports.

“Whether or not we can say it was unprecedented, we will figure out later, but it certainly has been unusual,” Bunting said. “It is unusual to have this kind of streak going.”

Patrick Marsh, another meteorologist at the center, noted that the most recent 500-number is still a preliminary figure and represented the number of tornadoes that have been observed by eyewitnesses over the past 30 days. The record will take months to confirm, Bloomberg said.

Wednesday marked the 14th consecutive day in which tornado sirens sounded in several states.

There have been at least seven storm-related fatalities in the past week alone, according to The New York Times. Dozens of injuries and widespread property damage have also been reported as heavy rains, powerful winds and hail have battered towns and cities, threatening the lives and safety of tens of millions of Americans.

The Associated Press reported Wednesday that at least 130 people had sustained injuries in Indiana and Ohio following powerful storms there.

Kathleen Wood Howe, a 62-year-old grandmother who’s lived in Ohio for more than 23 years, told Time that the storm that ravaged the town of Kettering, outside Dayton, on Monday was the worst she’d ever experienced. 

“It was a horrible night,” she said.

Fortunately, meteorologists say a respite from the devastating storm streak may be around the corner.

Weather conditions are expected to improve Thursday and into the weekend, The Times reported. Flooding, however, remains a major risk in some states.

Scroll down to see some of the storms that have ravaged the country this past week ― and some of the damage they’ve caused.  

Have you noticed how there’s always new content to watch on the internet that really speaks to you? How it almost feels tailor-made for your consumption? What about news articles which convince you that the political party of your choice is doing fantastic work while the others are train-wrecks? This phenomenon of hyper-personalization of entertainment and politics is driven to a very large extent by a class of Artificial Intelligence algorithms known as recommendation systems.

The algorithm

Like the name suggests, recommendation systems have a single objective — to make a few specific and personalized recommendations out of a large number of choices to keep individuals glued to their devices. The algorithms simultaneously find items that are similar to each other, and individuals who are similar to each other. This information is then used to recommend new items to each individual. So for example, you might get a recommendation because it has similar characteristics to something you already like — or because someone else, who largely enjoys the same things you do, liked this new thing.

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A concrete example from everyday life: a streaming platform (like Netflix) contains viewing data of different users on different films. Consider two users on the platform, 'Reshma' and 'Shruti'. The data shows that they tend to watch a lot of the same films, particularly films with a strong female lead. The data also shows that Reshma has watched a film in this category which Shruti hasn’t, “Raazi”. A  data-driven recommendation for Shruti is ready: watch “Raazi”.

The algorithm is essentially coded common sense, it behaves like a virtual friend who says to Shruti, “Reshma and you are so similar, she loved this movie and I’m sure you will too”. What makes recommendation systems particularly effective is that instead of a single common friend, they use data from millions of users who are similar to each other. Today these algorithms are used on almost all digital platforms from product recommendations on Amazon, content recommendations on Netflix and YouTube to social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

The attention economy

It’s easy to see why these algorithms have taken over. As entertainment moves online and the choice of content becomes seemingly infinite, companies vie with each other for every millisecond of our attention. The best algorithms lead to the most personalized content and the highest user engagement. All of this translates to higher advertisement revenues for the company. This seems like a win-win situation! Better content for users and more money for the platforms. But scratch below the surface and you’ll find some dark side effects of this attention economy.

The most immediate danger of constant engagement with entertainment on our devices is psychological. What digital media companies strive for is closer to addiction than engagement. Psychologists now even have a term for this form of addiction among Facebook users: Facebook Addiction Disorder or FAD (a rather apt acronym). Like other addictions, digital media addiction is characterised by dependency, withdrawal symptoms and reclusive behaviour.  

The other danger is political. Economists classify some industries as natural monopolies. These industries typically require sophisticated network infrastructure and also have economies of scale, both of which restrict competition. While traditional examples like railways, water supply and electricity are limited by geographical constraints, the digital era brings with it a new set of global natural monopolies like Facebook, Netflix and YouTube. The steady influx of more engaged users onto these platforms makes their algorithms ever more efficient, giving these companies unprecedented power over vast populations. These companies can potentially push favourable content on behalf of political lobbies, sell user data to political organizations or become susceptible to politically motivated hacking.    

Polarized politics and fake news

Which brings us to the buzzword in global politics: polarization. Many commentators have spoken about the perils of polarization in electoral democracy, while others have eloquently defended it. However most have overlooked the critical role of algorithms in this process. Just like in entertainment, the internet has provided a voice to an ever-growing number of political publications, websites and blogs. This sudden excess of political content is shared on social media via recommendation systems.

But there’s a catch. Recommendation algorithms are likely to engage liberals using opinion pieces that demonize conservative governments. Conservatives in turn are likely to be bombarded with articles extolling the virtues of the very same governments. Personalized recommendations thus lead to the strengthening of individual political biases, an effect known to psychologists as confirmation bias. And since more engaged users lead to higher advertising revenues for social media platforms, they have little incentive to prevent such polarization. This leads to the creation of political echo chambers where more extreme views hold sway, while the space for centrists shrinks.

News is another casualty of algorithms-driven social media. Algorithms do not care about whether a purported news article is verifiably true. All that matters is that it keeps users engaged. A drab news article on climate change may receive less traction than a sensational piece by climate change deniers. In general, more sensational pieces are more likely to be recommended frequently, creating an ecosystem where fake news thrives. And once you’ve watched (for example), a conspiracy theory video on YouTube, expect to see them take over your feed because the algorithm thinks this is what you’re interested in.

Regaining control

Recommendation systems are the new reality and efforts are already underway to contain their side effects. Some devices now come with in-built daily usage limits for users to self-regulate their dependence. Computer scientists are tweaking algorithms so that they can provide personalization without polarization. Policy makers are grappling with the nuanced question of regulating internet content to prevent the spread of fake news.

The fact that these algorithms reward engaging content means that experts and academics have to radically change how their work is communicated to the public. For too long expert writing has been dry, inaccessible and tedious. To remain relevant in the algorithmic age, experts will need to invest in creative ways to grab public attention. If this does transpire, it will be an unlikely gain from the attention economy. If not, then we can be sure that the era of experts will hurtle to a screeching halt.

Political analysts will have to account for the immense power of technology combined with big money. Along with traditional ground reporting, each victory or loss has to be contextualized within the framework of online content, political advertisements and social media reach. And political parties that keep step with this new reality will dominate electoral democracies globally.

For the average person, just being consciously aware that algorithms steer our digital consumption is an effective way to regain some control. Each time we find ourselves too hooked to an app, we should know the algorithm is trying to get us addicted. Each time we find our political opinions go unchallenged, we need to check how the other side thinks. We’ve heard that ignorance is bliss and that knowledge is power. In the age of personalized algorithms, wisdom is knowing that we’re each vastly ignorant in our very own special way. No matter how hard our devices try to convince us otherwise.

Tamil Twitter had a party of its own on Wednesday as #Pray_for_Neasamani and #Nesamani took over the internet, and everyone not clued in was left wondering what was going on.

The NewsMinute has a great explainer on the iconic nature of Neasamani, a character played by actor-comedian Vadivelu in the 2001 film Friends.

The Tamil film starred Vijay, Suriya and Devayani and was the remake of a Malayalam film of the same name.

The film featured a scene in which Vadivelu’s Neasamani, a contractor, is injured after his clumsy assistant drops a hammer on his head.

TNM’s report says the #Pray_for_Neasamani trend began in response to a post by Civil Engineering Learners, a Pakistan-based meme page. 

One user added an example to his answer and it all just took on new life from there. 

People responded to this with jokes, memes and faux prayers, and #Pray_for_Neasamani took a life of its own on all social media platforms.

There were running jokes about the progress of Nesamani’s treatment at the hospital.

On Thursday, the outpouring of tweets and memes remained strong. Nesamani was trending worldwide and was the second highest trend on Indian Twitter.

People began to point out how #Nesamani was trending higher than tweets on Narendra Modi’s swearing-in, particularly gratifying for a state that would trend #GoBackModi every time the Prime Minister visited their state.

People added ‘Contractor’ to their Twitter handles, not unlike a certain ‘Chowkidar’ campaign. 

“In Tamil Nadu, people take a lot of pride in their culture - in standing apart and being different. This is also an assertion of identity. The rest of India doesn’t understand us - we walk our own path,” Sowmya Rajendran of The New Minute told BBC. 

Actor Vadivelu told The NewsMinute he had no idea the character had gone viral on the internet and had not seen the phenomenon online.

“What? It has become famous across the world? Oh god. It has gone to America and everywhere? Thank you,” he said.

He was, however, very amused by it and wanted to see the memes.

You can watch the clip from the film below:

And don’t forget to pray for #Nesamani. 

Living with anxiety often means it’s present wherever you go ― including between the sheets.

“Anxiety and sex are not happy bedfellows,” said Jassy Cassella Timberlake, a Massachusetts-based licensed marriage and family therapist and board-certified sex therapist, aptly summing up a complex issue.

Whether it’s anxiety/stress itself or the medication you use to treat it, the issue can have wide-ranging effects on a person’s sex life. While no two people will experience mental health conditions in exactly the same way, you should be aware of some general truths about anxiety and sex.

Below, experts share what you might expect, plus some strategies to cope:

How anxiety might impact your sex drive

The most ubiquitous effect of anxiety on your sex life is a lowered libido, or desire to have sex, according to Abby Altman, a New York-based psychiatrist. Higher levels of cortisol are associated with anxiety and stress emotions, and high cortisol can suppress sex hormones that impact desire.

Having sex when you’re feeling anxious is also basically like asking your mind to multitask, which is hard to do.

“It’s almost as though you have two competing interests for the same neurological system,” Altman said. “You have the anxiety, which uses the pathway of the autonomic nervous system, and you also have the sexual activity, which employs the very same system.”

So it’s not surprising why that doesn’t exactly put you in the mood.

But it’s worth noting that not everyone will experience a decreased libido. “There are some who may use sex as an anxiety reliever, or who will masturbate compulsively, for instance,” Altman added.

Data also supports that some people may have an increased sex drive when they’re feeling anxious. All this to say: there’s really no “normal” way to react to stressors.

How anxiety might alter intimacy

Anxiety can also impact the sex you do have. For one, anxiety can delay or impede your ability to orgasm, and make it harder to maintain an erection, Altman said.

Additionally, some of the physical symptoms of anxiety can throw a wrench in your plans. Those symptoms include tensed or clenched muscles, rapid breathing and lightheadedness — all of which can be pretty distracting if they’re coming from a feeling of panic and dread and not, say, an orgasm.

Cassella Timberlake added that the distraction that anxiety can bring into the bedroom certainly doesn’t help you stay connected to your partner in the moment.

“People take that anxiety personally. They think it’s got something to do with them when their partner’s libido has dropped,” she said. “Anxiety can be picked up by the partner, and then they just bat that ball back and forth between them.”

Then, of course, there’s anxiety about sex, which can complicate things even further. Whether there’s a history of sexual trauma, performance anxiety or fallout from a shame-based upbringing, Cassella Timberlake said that issues surrounding intimacy can greatly impact the sex you have.

For example, some people may experience vaginismus, where the vaginal muscles will clench so tightly during penetration that intercourse becomes incredibly painful. In many cases, the root of vaginismus is anxiety about sex that was brought about by past trauma or shame-based education surrounding sex, according to experts.

How medication can affect your sex life

In an unfortunate Catch-22, the very same medications that treat anxiety can also lower your sex drive. Altman said that doctors will often prescribe SSRIs ― selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors ― to treat anxiety. However, too much serotonin can decrease your libido and make it harder to orgasm.

What you can do to achieve better, more satisfying sex with anxiety

All of this doesn’t mean you’re relegated to a subpar sex life.

If it’s anxiety medication that’s causing you concern, Altman advised talking to your doctor. Your dose could be adjusted or you could switch to a different medication, although it’s worth noting a different drug might bring about other equally undesirable side effects.

Your doctor might try adding an antidepressant medication like Wellbutrin to your existing regimen, as it’s been shown to mitigate some of the negative sexual side effects of other medications, Altman said. If your anxiety is severe enough to be impacting your daily life, it’s understandable that doctors will prioritize that and the medicine that helps you instead of sex, Altman said. That being said, don’t let it deter you from advocating for yourself. A satisfying sex life is also important for your mental health, she added.

If your anxiety is unrelated to medication, you also have strategies to get more out of your intimate life. Talking to a sex therapist could be a great place to start, especially if you think that past trauma could be at play.

“One of the things that’s beneficial about having a sex therapist is that we’re trained to gently help people develop more comfort talking about sex,” Cassella Timberlake said.

A sex therapist can help you work through concerns and facilitate communication with your partner if anxiety has caused a breakdown in your intimacy. However, therapy is often expensive and inaccessible. You could try a more affordable option, like text therapy, group therapy or finding someone who can provide sliding scale session rates based on your income.

Additionally, Cassella Timberlake recommended trying stress-relieving techniques like meditation or mindfulness exercises. Given the many physical ways in which anxiety manifests, it can be useful to really focus on where you feel that anxiety in your body, she noted. Does it make you take shallow breaths? Tense up your muscles? If you can better understand the ways you experience anxiety, you can work on developing specific coping skills for your particular body. If you’re new to meditation, you might start with one of these apps.

Even a little self-exploration on your own might also help. While it might be difficult at first to manage your anxiety with a partner, figuring out what turns you on (and finishing in the process) can help ease your stress and know what to communicate to someone else when the time comes.

While it’s true anxiety and sex might not be “happy bedfellows,” exploring your options for treatment can make your bed cozier for you and whatever else you’re bringing along for the ride.

“Living With” is a guide to navigating conditions that affect your mind and body. Each month, HuffPost Life will tackle very real issues people live with by offering different stories, advice and ways to connect with others who understand what it’s like. In May, we’re covering anxiety in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month. Got an experience you’d like to share? Email wellness@huffpost.com.

This blog is an extract from No One Is Too Small To Make A Difference, a collection of speeches by climate activist Greta Thunberg, published by Penguin on Thursday 30 May

Our house is on fire.

I am here to say, our house is on fire.

According to the IPCC, we are less than twelve years away from not being able to undo our mistakes.

In that time, unprecedented changes in all aspects of society need to have taken place –  including a reduction of our CO2 emissions by at least 50%.

And please note that those numbers do not include the aspect of equity, which is absolutely necessary to make the Paris Agreement work on a global scale.

Nor does it include tipping points or feedback loops like the extremely powerful methane gas released from the thawing Arctic permafrost.

At places like Davos, people like to tell success stories. But their financial success has come with an unthinkable price- tag. And on climate change, we have to acknowledge that we have failed.

All political movements in their present form have done so.

And the media has failed to create broad public awareness.

But Homo sapiens have not yet failed. Yes, we are failing, but there is still time to turn everything around. We can still fix this. We still have everything in our own hands.

But unless we recognize the overall failures of our current systems we most probably don’t stand a chance.

We are facing a disaster of unspoken sufferings for enormous amounts of people. And now is not the time for speaking politely or focusing on what we can or cannot say. Now is the time to speak clearly.

Solving the climate crisis is the greatest and most complex challenge that Homo sapiens have ever faced. The main solution, however, is so simple that even a small child can understand it.

We have to stop our emissions of greenhouse gases.

And either we do that or we don’t.

You say that nothing in life is black or white. But that is a lie. A very dangerous lie.

Either we prevent a 1.5°C of warming or we don’t.

Either we avoid setting off that irreversible chain reaction beyond human control – or we don’t.

Either we choose to go on as a civilisation or we don’t. That is as black or white as it gets.

There are no grey areas when it comes to survival.

Now we all have a choice.

We can create transformational action that will safeguard the living conditions for future generations.

Or we can continue with our business as usual and fail.

That is up to you and me.

Some say that we should not engage in activism.

Instead we should leave everything to our politicians and just vote for a change instead. But what do we do when there is no political will? What do we do when the politics needed are nowhere in sight?

Here in Davos – just like everywhere else –  everyone is talking about money. It seems that money and growth are our only main concerns.

And since the climate crisis is a crisis that never once has been treated as a crisis, people are simply not aware of the full consequences from our everyday life. People are not aware that there is such a thing as a carbon budget and just how incredibly small that remaining carbon budget is. And that needs to change today.

No other current challenge can match the importance of establishing a wide, public awareness and understanding of our rapidly disappearing carbon budget, that should and must become our new global currency and the very heart of our future and present economics.

We are now at a time in history where everyone with any insight of the climate crisis that threatens our civilisation and the entire biosphere must speak out.

In clear language.

No matter how uncomfortable and unprofitable that may be.

We must change almost everything in our current societies.

The bigger your carbon footprint  –  the bigger your moral duty.

The bigger your platform  –  the bigger your responsibility.

Adults keep saying: “We owe it to the young people to give them hope.”

But I don’t want your hope.

I don’t want you to be hopeful.

I want you to panic.

I want you to feel the fear I feel every day.

And then I want you to act.

I want you to act as you would in a crisis.

I want you to act as if our house is on fire.

Because it is.

No One Is Too Small To Make A Difference, by Greta Thunberg, is published by Penguin and available now

If you’d never ride with a one-star driver, don’t expect to ride as a one-star passenger.

Uber says it will start deactivating riders with a history of low ratings, just as it does for drivers. The change will affect passengers in the U.S. and Canada, where riders will also have to opt in to the ride-hailing app’s community guidelines or lose access to the service.

“Respect is a two-way street, and so is accountability,” Uber executive Kate Parker said in a blog announcing the change. “Drivers have long been expected to meet a minimum rating threshold which can vary city to city. While we expect only a small number of riders to ultimately be impacted by ratings-based deactivations, it’s the right thing to do.”

While drivers rated 4.6 or lower are at risk for deactivation, according to 2014 documents leaked to Business Insider, Uber declined to share what a rider’s absolute minimum rating could be before they’re given the boot.

A spokesman told HuffPost the North American threshold will vary from city to city, based on that city’s average ratings.

And it won’t be an abrupt process, either. Riders at risk of deactivation will receive warnings first, along with common-sense tips to clean up their acts. Those tips include: Don’t leave trash in your driver’s car, be more polite, and stop asking your driver to break the speed limit.

Uber implemented a similar quality control process in Brazil in 2018, followed by Australia and New Zealand. Riders in those countries were banned from the app for six months if they had a rating of 4 or lower.

CHANDIGARH — The arrest of 57-year-old Mohammad Sanaullah, a Guwahati-based retired Subedar who served for over 30 years in the Indian army, made headlines as his case became a reminder of the bizarre process underway in Assam to root out so-called outsiders.

Sanaullah had been appointed Sub Inspector in a border police unit just a month ago, after due verification by the Assam police. On Wednesday, he was arrested under the Foreigners Act, 1946 and sent to a detention centre for foreigners or illegal migrants.

As per the Foreigner’s Tribunal order dated 23 May, Sanaullah failed to prove that he is an Indian citizen by birth and hence declared a ‘foreigner’. He has been categorised as someone who belonged to Bangladesh and entered Assam illegally after March 24, 1971— the cut-off date for citizenship as per the Assam Accord of 1985.

Sanaullah’s family, on the other hand, has accused the Tribunal of forcing him to sign blank papers to record his date of joining the army and later comparing it with the voter’s list of 1989, where his name was wrongly listed as Marjyo Ullah. Even though Sanaullah got this corrected immediately afterwards, the Tribunal refused to accept the recent voter list  as an evidence.  

The Tribunal identified him as a labourer who originally hails from Kashipur village in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

According to Sanaullah’s family, the police took his statement on two different occasions but the service records produced by Sanaullah show he was on duty in Manipur during both those both times as part of Operation HIFAZAT.

While pronouncing the order, a Tribunal member asked why Sanaullah’s name was not recorded in the 1986 voters list as he was 20 years old then.

“As per the statement given to the Tribunal, Sanaullah mentioned his date of joining the Indian army as 1987 but the clerical staff recording it in shorthand mentioned it as 1978. Sanaullah was asked to sign a blank paper so that the statement can be typed later. Though we informed the Tribunal about the typing error, it refused to acknowledge the error committed by its clerical staff,” said Azmal Haque, Sanaullah’s cousin, who also retired as a subedar.

Later, while pronouncing the order, the Tribunal observed that since Sanaullah was born in 1978, he could not have joined the armed forces in 1987 as he would have been only 11 years by then.

“If I consider 1967 as the correct  date of joining then why his name was not enrolled in the voters list of 1986 as already by then he has attained the age of 20 years,” asked Pompa Chakravarthy, Member of the Tribunal.

The Tribunal also raised objection to the property mutated in his name by his father Mohammad Ali in 1977, as it could not have been done in the name of a 10-year-old child.

Among other objections, the Tribunal also questioned the age of Sanaullah’s sister Daliman Nessa.

“The question is if the father had expired in 1973, i.e 46 years ago, how come the younger sister is 40 years ago? ,” asked the Tribunal.

It also asked why only Sanaullah had been on the voter’s list of 2005 and 2010 and not any other member of his family.

Even though Abu Bakkar Siddique,  the present Assistant Headmaster of  a government aided school in Champapura High School appeared in support of Sanaullah and stated that he personally knew him, the Tribunal refused to accept his claim as he did not recognise Sanaullah’s father and did not produce his identity card.

Family cries foul, says fake witnesses planted

Azmal Haque told HuffPost India that the Tribunal’s decision was based on fake witnesses whom the family has been unable to trace till date.

“We are searching for Amjad Ali who claimed to be a resident of our village and said he did not recognise Sanaullah. There is no one by the name Amjad Ali residing in our village. Another witness Shahbuddin said he did not appear (before the tribunal) and give a statement against my brother,” said Haque.

The statement submitted by the police to the Tribunal says that during their investigation Sanaullah claimed he hailed from Kashipur village in Bangladesh and entered Indian territory with his father Mohammad Ali.

Haque also claimed that over 500 retired and serving personnel of the armed forces were presently facing trials under the Foreigners’ Act by various tribunals across Assam. There are many soldiers among the over 40 lakh people excluded from the NRC list released on 30 July 2018.

 The Assam Accord of 1985

The  Assam Accord was signed with the Rajiv Gandhi government by student leaders and representatives of civil society bodies and a few political parties hailing from the majority Assamese community to end the six-year-long anti-foreigner agitation in the state.

The Boko Tribunal, which has the jurisdiction of Sanaullah’s native village Kalahikash, is one of the 100 tribunals functioning in Assam, set up under the Foreigner’ Act, 1946 to sieve through cases in which the state has questioned the citizenship of lakhs of residents.

Will  Sanaullah be sent to Bangladesh? 

On May 10,  Supreme Court of India  passed an order  to allow the conditional release of  people declared foreigners and held in Assam’s detention centres for over three years . 

First, each detainee will have to provide surely of Rs 1 lakh each from two Indian citizens which will be forfeited if the detainee goes missing.

Secondly,  they have to provide a permanent address which can be found after their release.  Third, they will have to provide their biometric details and report every week to a police station specified by the foreigners’ tribunals – quasi-judicial bodies set up to decide on questions of citizenship in Assam.

lastly, they have to update their new address as and when required  to the relevant police station.

Warning: This article contains spoilers for the final episode of Game Of Thrones.

Game Of Thrones fans have unearthed a clip of actor Conleth Hill reacting to the news of his character’s death, in which he appears to be visibly annoyed.

Conleth is best known for his role as Lord Varys in all eight series of Game Of Thrones, a character who was burned to death by one of Daenerys’ dragons in one of the show’s final episodes.

During a table read prior to the show’s last series being filmed, Conleth discovered his character’s fate, and because the whole thing was caught on camera, fans are able to see how he reacted.

And let’s just say… it was not well.

Yes, the clip shows an irritated Conleth closing his script and casting it aside, all while seated next to Emilia Clarke, who plays Daenerys, the character responsible for Varys’ demise.

Conleth has previously admitted he wasn’t totally thrilled about his character’s fate, telling Entertainment Weekly: “I took it very personally. I took it as a person, not as an actor or an artist.

“I understood the reactions of previous actors who had been in the same position a lot more than I did at the time. You can’t help feeling that you failed in some way, that you haven’t lived up to some expectation that you didn’t know about.

“The only thing that consoles you is people who worked a lot harder than you are in the same boat. So that helps. I don’t think anybody who hasn’t been through it can identify with it. They think, ‘What’s all the fuss about? You’re all finishing anyway.’ But you take it personally, you can’t help it.”

He added: “In retrospect, [I thought the death scene was] great. At the time, nothing could console me. I kept thinking: ‘What did I do wrong?’.

“There wasn’t any pre-warning. All these famous stories about [actors on Game Of Thrones] being taken out for a meal or being phoned at the very least [to notify them that their character was being killed off]. This was just reading cold hard copy.” 

This led to a fundraiser being organised in aid of Emilia Clarke’s charity, intended as a demonstration to the cast that they aren’t the ones fans have an issue with.

If you’re feeling all nostalgic and gushy about Narendra Modi and want to read about his rise in politics and wipe a tear or two of joy, do not head to the Delhi BJP website. Because you will find this. 

THAT definitely doesn’t look like ‘the common man’ as claimed in the article accompanying it. While the magic of good steak can be compelling — especially if your palate is ‘anti-national’ with a flair for ‘sickular’  — we are pretty sure those ideas wouldn’t be aired on the Bharatiya Janata Party’s official website. 

In a section titled ‘beef items’, the BJP website offers recipes of ‘beef dry fry’ . and ‘beef curry’, among others. Each dropdown option leads to a page with an elaborate recipe for the said items and a picture which is rather distressing to look at if you’re suffering from a stomach flu or a bad bout of non-secularism. 

The enterprising beef lovers have hacked the website even as PM Modi and his new cabinet are being sworn in.

This is not the first time hackers have targeted the BJP. In March, the main party website was hacked and the content replaced with a GIF featuring Modi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The main page of the website also had a video of muppets singing ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, a song by band Queen.

It took weeks for the website to be restored.

This time, the BJP’s tech team seems to have acted faster. If you try to visit the Delhi site now, you’ll be led to the main website.

Over the last five years, one minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet who had become popular on social media was Sushma Swaraj. The Minister of External Affairs, she had become popular for her quick responses on Twitter to people in need. She was also the one to give curt and funny replies to those who messed with her. 

While she did not contest the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, people had perhaps hoped she would be elected to the Rajya Sabha and would be part of the cabinet. However, it became clear during the ceremony that Swaraj would not be a part of the cabinet either. 

Her name began to trend on Twitter with users expressing sadness over the fact that she would not be a minister anymore. Clearly Indian Twitter had grown fond of her over the last five years. 

Here’s what people said. 

Some even begged and pleaded for her to come back

There were some broken heart and sad emojis

Others praised her for her work 

There was outright disappointment.

Swaraj did not contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections reportedly due to ill health. She had gotten a kidney transplant in 2016. “Although my party has the right to decide my candidature, due to health reasons, I have decided that I will not contest the next Lok Sabha elections,” Swaraj had said.

Note to celebrities who want to keep their future nuptials private: don’t invite a certain DJ who loves Instagram a little too much. 

Joe Jonas revealed on the UK radio show “Capital Breakfast with Roman Kemp” Wednesday that his secret Las Vegas wedding to “Game of Thrones” star Sophie Turner was “ruined” because their friend, Diplo, decided to livestream it. 

“Yeah, he did ruin it,” Joe joked during the interview with his brothers, Kevin and Nick. “I love Diplo, but he loves his ’gram more than a 13-year-old. He posts every five seconds. He literally, like, livestreamed with dog-face filters.”

Jonas said that he and Turner weren’t mad and laughed off Diplo’s Instagram antics. 

“We just laughed. We loved it. We thought it was ridiculous, and I just love that he was walking into the chapel and he was like, ‘going to hit this wedding real quick,’” he added. 

Turner also spoke about Diplo’s wedding antics during a recent stop by “The Graham Norton Show” last week, saying that they “didn’t choose him to be our wedding photographer. 

“He just kind of decided to livestream it,” she said. ”[What happens in Vegas] doesn’t stay in Vegas.”

Neither, apparently, do family secrets, as the couple’s sister-in-law Priyanka Chopra recently revealed the two have a second wedding coming up soon. 

“And they’re going to have this amazing, beautiful [second] wedding obviously. Was I not supposed to say that?” the actress said during an interview with Access, right after the two’s Las Vegas ceremony. 

Will someone please keep a lid on it? 

Michelle Obama needs no help with how to get, how to get to “Sesame Street.”

The former first lady has appeared on and collaborated with the famed educational children’s television show on numerous occasions in recent years.

She was honored Wednesday for her work with the Joan Ganz Cooney Award — named after the program’s creator — at the Sesame Workshop’s 50th Anniversary Benefit Gala in New York City.

Obama shared a sweet Instagram tribute to the show in response.

“There is something unexplainable that happens there, some unique alchemy that bubbles up that you just can’t find anywhere else,” she wrote. “There’s nothing in the world that so beautifully marriesboundless aspiration with simple goodness, nothing that strips away the daily madness and distraction, nothing that is so pure and hopeful—and absolutely essential to our future.”

“Sesame Street,” produced by the nonprofit organization Sesame Workshop, often seeks to tackle difficult or taboo issues. Episodes in recent years have included a character who is in foster care and another who is homeless. The show has also helped to explain the concept of blended families to children.

In a statement released ahead of the event, Sesame Workshop’s President of Global Impact and Philanthropy Sherrie Westin said Obama was being recognized “for all that she has done to help improve the lives of children.”

“From fighting childhood obesity, to supporting military families, to empowering girls the world over, Mrs. Obama is a tireless champion of children and families,” Westin said.

Obama famously joined Elmo in 2009 to send a message about healthy eating as they planted a vegetable garden:

They also recorded this PSA:

In 2011, then-second lady Jill Biden accompanied Obama in sending a message about support for service members:

And Elmo and Rosita joined Obama at the White House in 2014 to announce her “Let’s Move!” initiative.

There have been multiple other collaborations between Obama and the show. Other famous faces, including model Chrissy Teigen and her husband, singer-songwriter John Legend, also attended Wednesday’s shindig.

Check out more photographs below:

North Korea has reportedly executed the country’s special envoy to the United States over February’s failed summit between Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump, South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported Friday.

Kim Hyok Chol, the chief negotiator who led the working-level negotiations with the U.S., was executed in March alongside several other officials in punishment for the outcome of the event, the newspaper reported. Trump and Kim met in Hanoi, Vietnam, for their second official summit to discuss Pyongyang’s nuclear program, but the talks abruptly collapsed after the pair failed to come to a deal. Tensions with the North have only increased in recent months after a period of relative calm.

“Kim Hyok Chol was investigated and executed at Mirim Airport with four foreign ministry officials in March,” an unnamed North Korean officials told the Chosun Ilbo, according to a translation from Reuters.

Another official, Kim Yong Chol, who worked with Vice President Mike Pence in the lead-up to the Hanoi summit, has also been punished, reportedly with forced labor and “ideological education,” according to the South Korean paper.

Some experts on North Korea expressed hesitation over the reports, noting that Pyongyang’s reclusive nature makes it hard to pin down who may or may not have been punished by the Kim regime. Several senior officials have been reported to be executed or disappeared only to reappear in public several months later.

Relations with North Korea have declined since the summit in Hanoi, although Trump has continued to tout his relationship with Kim, praising the leader earlier this month as a “very smart man.” Trump also denied that Pyongyang had fired any ballistic missiles in violation of United Nations resolutions, even though his own national security adviser, John Bolton, said last weekend there was “no doubt” North Korea had done just that.

“My people think it could have been a violation,” Trump said earlier this week during a state visit to Japan. “I view it differently.”

The North has grown openly antagonistic toward several Trump officials who have urged the president to take a harder line against Kim, including Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. In April, the North’s state-run news agency quoted several senior officials who said they would no longer speak with Pompeo and preferred that he be replaced with someone more “mature.”

Much like Kylie Jenner’s controversial walnut face scrub, the internet can be harsh. 

So when the billionaire makeup mogul decided to expand her cosmetics empire and launch her Kylie Skin collection earlier this month, the reaction was decidedly mixed about her first foray into skincare. 

And though almost every product has sold out within days, some people still need convincing after a video of Jenner washing her face went viral in all the wrong ways. 

The reality TV star has been promoting the brand by sharing videos of herself using the products, like her foaming face wash, which she swears is her secret to clear skin. 

In a video posted on Wednesday, Jenner pumps an ample amount of the product onto her hands, but only spends approximately six seconds applying the face wash before rinsing it off ― an amount of time many fans thought seemed too short.

While there is no hard-and-fast rule about the recommended duration for washing your face, many dermatologists suggest spending at least 20 to 30 seconds on your routine, while others swear by the 60-second rule to allow the ingredients in a cleanser to penetrate the skin. 

Dermatologist Dr. Forum Patel told HuffPost that it’s hard to judge Jenner’s routine one way or the other based on a short video.

“Nobody, should be basing their own skin care routine on what they see on an Instagram post,” he said in an email. “The truth of the matter is, we all have different skin, different requirements, and different regimens. You should be washing your face as long as it takes to get your makeup off.”

He added, “Kylie Jenner might have used makeup removers and face wipes before filming that video and maybe she really only needed 6 seconds to get her face clean... and that’s ok! Also, keep in mind, if you wash and scrub for too long, you might actually be doing more damage by exfoliating more than you need and drying out your skin!”

But cleansing time wasn’t Jenner’s only possible faux pax in the video. Fans also noticed the white towel she used to dry her face appears to have some serious makeup residue left behind, suggesting that the face wash is not as effective as she might claim. 

Of course, the internet dragged Jenner for the blunder right quick, poking fun at her routine and raising some good points about just how much she knows about skincare. 

“Imagine buying face wash from someone who doesn’t even know how to wash their face properly,” one Twitter user wrote. 

The 21-year-old has yet to respond to the backlash, but a new batch of products will hit the market next month for those of you who haven’t ― as Jenner might say ― started “realizing stuff.” 

SRINAGAR — An encounter broke out between militants and security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Shopian district on Friday, police said.

Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in Dragad Sugan area of south Kashmir following a tip-off about the presence of militants, a police official said. 

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As the forces carried out searches, militants fired upon them, leading to the encounter, the official said.

He said the exchange of fire was going on between the two sides.

Further details were awaited, the official added.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Harvard University graduates on Thursday to “tear down walls of ignorance and narrow-mindedness,” in what appeared to be a rebuke of President Donald Trump’s policies and rhetoric.

During her commencement address at the university, Merkel warned against nationalist and isolationist sentiments that are adopted by Trump and right-wing groups in Europe. She also encouraged graduates to act on climate change and said to never “describe lies as truth and truth as lies,” a statement that resulted in a standing ovation.

Speaking primarily in German, the chancellor criticized “walls” throughout her address, noting that her own life was significantly affected by the Berlin Wall that divided Germany while part of the country was still under communist rule. Merkel grew up in Soviet-ruled East Germany and said she saw how the wall separated her from democracy every day as a college student.

She also talked about how walls exist “in people’s minds.”

“Walls of narrow-mindedness and ignorance, they exist between family members, as well as between groups within the society,” she said.

But the chancellor stressed that “walls can collapse” and that the challenges of the world can be resolved if people come together.

“Dictatorships can disappear,” she said. “We can halt global warming. We can eradicate starvation. We can eliminate diseases. We can give people, especially girls, access to education. We can fight the causes of displacement and forced migration. We can do all of that.”

While Merkel did not mention Trump by name, the president has repeatedly called for building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border to stop the influx of migrants and has told asylum-seekers to turn back. Trump has so far failed to secure funding for the wall and has faced multiple legal challenges in his attempts to get it built.

In her speech, Merkel also warned against “protectionism and trade conflicts,” which she said “jeopardize free international trade and thus the very foundations of our prosperity.”

Trump’s trade policies and isolationism have created growing tension between the U.S. and Europe, which have historically had a close relationship. The president has also increased trade conflicts with China and Mexico.

“Nothing can be taken for granted. Our individual liberties are not givens. Democracy is not something we can take for granted. Neither is peace, and neither is prosperity,” Merkel said. “But if we break down the walls that hem us in, if we step out into the open and have the courage to embrace new beginnings, everything is possible.” 

The Trump administration has said it is not going back on its decision to terminate India’s designation as a beneficiary developing nation under the key GSP trade programme, terming the suspension a “done deal”.

The Generalized System of Preference (GSP) is the largest and oldest US trade preference programme and is designed to promote economic development by allowing duty-free entry for thousands of products from designated beneficiary countries.

On 4 March, President Donald Trump announced that the US intended to terminate India’s designation as a beneficiary developing country under the GSP programme.

The 60-day notice period ended on 3 May. A formal notification is now expected anytime.

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The Trump administration has prioritised working with the Government of India to ensure that US companies have a level playing field, a senior State Department official told reporters on Thursday, hours after Narendra Modi was sworn in as Prime Minister for a second time following his spectacular electoral victory in the general elections.

“The persistent market access issues, which we were engaged with our Indian counterparts over the last year, led us to announce in March that we would be suspending or withdrawing India’s benefits under the generalised system of Preferences Program,” said the official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

“That suspension is a done deal. Now the task is how do we look ahead; how do we work under the second Modi Administration, to identify a path forward?” the official said, reflecting the Trump administration’s decision that the GSP termination is final.

Under the GSP programme, nearly 2,000 products including auto components and textile materials can enter the US duty-free if the beneficiary developing countries meet the eligibility criteria established by Congress.

India was the largest beneficiary of the program in 2017 with USD 5.7 billion in imports to the US given duty-free status and Turkey the fifth largest with USD 1.7 billion in covered imports, according to a Congressional Research Service report issued in January.

“We believe there’s enormous potential to grow our trade relationship and to help stimulate the jobs that Prime Minister Modi is committed to bringing to an overwhelmingly young Indian population.

“We believe that if India is prepared to address policies including data localisation and ecommerce measures, that served to stifle international investment from top tier companies, that we can continue to make significant progress moving forward,” the official said.

Noting that President Trump has already made the announcement regarding his decision to terminate the designation of India as a beneficiary nation under GSP, the official said there was a 60-day notification to Congress.

The official said that does not rule out in the future, being able to achieve the reforms and the market access that the US needs under this programme to restore benefits.

“But I think we need to be looking forward at how do we relaunch an ambitious set of discussions between our trade teams in order to address these outstanding irritants,” the official said, asserting that there is every reason to believe that the GSP suspension will move forward.

Responding to questions, the official reiterated that India needed to address some of its major concerns in particular those related to market access and data localisation.

“Data localisation is a phenomenon that’s been taking place globally where we’ve seen increasing digital protectionism. While we recognise that there are legitimate security and privacy and law enforcement issues related to data protection, we’re looking at nearly eight per cent of India’s GDP, about USD 160 billion is associated with IT firms who depend upon the free flow of data,” the official said.

So, the US does not want to see market access barriers to American firms in India when the Indian companies currently enjoy largely unfettered access to the US markets, the official said.

These issues as well as that surrounding ecommerce will certainly be a topic of conversation with the Indians, the official said.

The senior State Department official said there has been significant growth in the bilateral trade relationship as well as a narrowing of the trade deficit.

The bilateral trade is now at about USD 142 billion. US exports last year increased 28 per cent. The trade deficits for goods and services stands at about USD 24 billion, which is about 11.9 per cent reduction.

“We have also seen strategic Indian investments in aviation, defense, oil and gas. In the the last year, India has imported more than USD 3.3 billion worth of US crude and is contracted to import USD 2 billion worth of liquefied natural gas annually which obviously brings tangible benefits to both our economies and our people,” the official said.

At the same time, the official asserted that the tension remained between the two countries.

“India remains one of the least open major economies in the world. The Trump administration is committed to ensuring free and fair and reciprocal trade. And we’ve prioritised working with the government of India to ensure that US companies have a level playing field,” the official said.

NEW DELHI — The second Narendra Modi-led government has the maximum representation of 10 faces from the politically crucial Uttar Pradesh, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi who represents Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency, followed by seven from Maharashtra and six from Bihar.

The Modi government also has three ministers each from Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and Karnataka followed by two each from West Bengal, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh.

The voters had given the BJP a clean sweep in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Haryana.

The states of West Bengal and Odisha gave massive gains to the Bharatiya Janata Party as it won 303 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha in the national election.

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West Bengal, where Assembly polls are due in 2021, gave the saffron party 18 MPs. However, it is being represented by only two ministers― Babul Supriyo and Debasree Chaudhuri.

Odisha, where the BJP won eight seats, is being represented by Dharmendra Pradhan and Pratap Chandra Sarangi. Pradhan has been elected to the upper house from Bihar.

The new Council of Ministers has representation from almost all the states, except Andhra Pradesh and the north-eastern states of Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Sikkim and Tripura.

Besides Modi, the ministers representing Uttar Pradesh are Rajnath Singh, Smriti Irani, Mahendra Nath Pandey, Sanjeev Balyan, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, V K Singh, Santosh Gangwar, Hardeep Singh Puri and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. The BJP won 62 seats in the state while its ally bagged two.

Ministers from Maharashtra include Nitin Gadkari, Prakash Javadekar, Piyush Goyal, Arvind Sawant, Danve Patil, Ramdas Athawale and Shamrao Dhotre while those from Bihar Bihar include Ram Vilas Paswan, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Giriraj Singh, R K Singh, Ashwini Kumar Choubey and Nityanand Rai, while those.

Uttar Pradesh sends the maximum of 80 MPs to the Lok Sabha, Maharashtra and Bihar send 48 and 40 MPs respectively.

Modi gave representation to members from Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand as the states will be going to polls later this year.

Jharkhand is being represented by Arjun Munda while Naqvi, who is a Rajya Sabha member from the state, hails from Uttar Pradesh.

Despite the BJP bagging all seven parliamentary seats in Delhi, only Harsh Vardhan― the winning MP from Chandni Chowk― could find place in the Modi 2.0 cabinet.

Also inducted into the cabinet were Nirmala Sitharaman, a Rajya Sabha MP from Karnataka who hails from Tamil Nadu and with V Muraleedharan, who represents Kerala in the Council of ministers but has been elected to the upper house from Maharashtra.

NEW DEHLI — Sushma Swaraj,JP Nadda, Suresh Prabhu, Maneka Gandhi, Rajyavardhan Rathore and Mahesh Sharma are among the notable omissions in the BJP-led NDA’s second innings.

Despite winning their seats, eight-time MP Maneka Gandhi, six-time MP Radhamohan Singh, Sharma, Jayant Sinha, Anupriya Patel, Jual Oram, Ram Kripal Yadav and Rathore lost their ministerial berths.

Another key BJP leader, Nadda, who did not make it to the Cabinet this time was the health minister in the first Modi dispensation.

He could be the next Bharatiya Janata Party president as incumbent Amit Shah has joined the government.

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Swaraj had opted out of fighting the polls due to health reasons while Arun Jaitley, who held the finance portfolio, too decided not to be a part of the new Union cabinet as he has been unwell and needed time for his medical treatment.

Others who decided not to contest were Suresh Prabhu, who held the civil aviation portfolio, Uma Bharati, the minister of drinking water and sanitation and Birender Singh, who was minister of steel - all of whom lost their ministerial berths.

Manoj Sinha, the minister of state for railways, Alphons Kannanthanam, the minister of tourism with independent charge, and Hansraj Ahir, the minister of state for home, were among those who not only tasted defeat in the elections but also lost their ministerial berths.

Former bureaucrat and minister of state for urban affairs (independent charge) Hardeep Singh Puri, however, retained his berth despite losing his seat.

Vijay Sampla, who was the minister of state, social justice and empowerment, was denied a ticket by the BJP from the Hoshiarpur (SC) Lok Sabha seat in Punjab.

Expressing his displeasure, Sampla had termed the saffron party’s decision as “cow slaughter”.

Known for his controversial statements, Anantkumar Hegde, who held the skill development portfolio, too has been dropped.

Other prominent faces who have failed to find a place in the council of ministers this time include Shiv Sena leader Anant Geete, senior Delhi BJP leader Vijay Goel, Pon Radhakrishnan, S S Ahluwalia and Ramesh Chandappa Jigajinagi, a Dalit leader from Karnataka.

While Radhakrishnan had lost from Kanyakumari parliamentary constituency, Ahluwalia had bagged the Durgapur Lok Sabha seat.

Assam leader Rajen Gohain, Lok Sabha MP from Tikamgarh in Madhya Pradesh Virendra Kumar and Rajathan leaders― C R Chaudhary and P P Chaudhary were dropped as well.