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VHP Passes Resolution Pushing Modi Govt For Grand Ram Mandir In Ayodhya

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HARIDWAR— The VHP Thursday passed a resolution in Haridwar asking the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre to pave the way for the construction of a grand Ram mandir in Ayodhya in accordance with the aspirations of crores of devotees.

The resolution also stated that the judiciary should not turn away from its responsibility regarding the case which is pending before the Supreme Court for long despite being a matter of national importance.

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Saints and seers of the country call upon the government to remove all the hurdles in the path of the construction of a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya as per the aspirations of crores of devotees, it said.

“The case has not just been hanging fire in the apex court since 2011 but has also not been among its priorities,” the resolution passed by Acharya Avichal Das at a meeting chaired by Paramananda Ji Maharaj stated.

“Sixty years after the case was first filed in 1950, a verdict came from the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court in 2010 but Hindus could not get justice,” VHP vice president Champat Rai claimed in his speech.

The resolution also said the Shri Ram Janmabhumi Nyas will construct the temple in Ayodhya.

Passed by the Margadarshak Mandal of the VHP, the saints and seers attending the meet also urged the Chief Justice of India to conclude the hearing in the case and resolve the issue at the earliest.


Kerala Says Parched Tamil Nadu Rejected Offer Of 20 Lakh Litres Of Drinking Water

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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM/CHENNAI — The Kerala government Thursday said it expressed willingness to provide 20 lakh litres drinking water to Tamil Nadu, which is facing a water crisis, but the latter has declined it as there was “no need for the help at present.”

However, Tamil Nadu government denied it has turned down the offer and said Chief Minister K Palaniswami will discuss it at a review meeting being held Friday and announce “an appropriate decision” even as DMK chief M K Stalin urged it to work with Kerala to help the people.

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Earlier, a release issued by the Kerala Chief Minister’s Office in Thiruvananthapuram said: “Since the major water bodies of Chennai has been facing acute water shortage, the Kerala government decided to extend an helping hand.”

Though chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s office contacted the Tamil Nadu CMO on the offer, the neighbouring state informed that “at present there is no need for the help, it said.

Kerala was prepared to transport 20 lakh litres of drinking water from Thiruvananthapuram to Chennai through train, the release added.

Tamil Nadu Municipal Administration minister S P Velumani said Kerala Chief Minister’s secretary conveyed the offer to his counterpart who thanked the neighbouring state for its gesture.

“The information that Tamil Nadu chief minister has refused the water offered by Kerala CM is not true,” he said in a release in Chennai Thursday night.

Velumani said Kerala government had made a one time offer of providing 2 million litres of water but Chennai’s daily requirement itself was 525 million litres a day.

“Tamil Nadu government officials have opined that it will be helpful if Kerala could send 2 MLD (million litres a day) daily ,” the release said.

Stalin thanked Vijayan for his “timely offer.”

“I wholeheartedly thank chief minister of Kerala @vijayanpinarayi for his timely offer to provide water to Tamil Nadu,” he said in a tweet.

“Urge government of Tamil Nadu to work with Govt of Kerala to help citizens of our state tide over this unprecedented water crisis, ” he added.

Several parts of Tamil Nadu, particularly the state capital and its suburbs, have been reeling under water scarcity following depletion of ground water level and poor storage in many lakes that cater to the needs of the city.

Earlier, speaking to reporters in Coimbatore, Velumani said deficiencies in some ground water conservation projects were identified at various places, including Chennai, and were being attended to.

He said Tamil Nadu was facing the worst-ever drought.

Rains were expected in a few days, he said.

As far as Chennai was concerned, he said there was depletion of ground water as the city had experienced a dry spell of 190 days with no rains.

Water was being supplied through lorries and borewells are being dug wherever the water problem prevails, he added.

The Tamil Nadu government has said it was largely dependent on ground water to meet requirements till the onset of north east monsoon in October.

Chief Minister K Palaniswami has said drought and deficient monsoon had resulted in depletion of groundwater levels, but claimed the issue was not as big as was being made out, especially in the media.

Trump Reportedly Orders Military To Attack Iran Before Strikes Suddenly Called Off

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President Donald Trump authorized U.S. military strikes against Iran on Thursday, but officials abruptly pulled back from carrying them out just hours later, The New York Times reported.

U.S. military assets, including planes and ships, were in position during the early stages of the strike, ready to target several Iranian assets, the Times, citing senior administration officials, said. But those plans were called off before any missiles were fired. ABC News later corroborated the reports.

The newspaper noted that it’s unclear if the scaling back of the plans reflected a change in opinion by the president or if there was a shift in strategy that necessitated they be delayed. It’s also unclear if they will go forward in the future.

HuffPost has reached out to the White House for comment.

Any initial approval of military action by Trump would reflect a significant uptick in tensions between Washington and Tehran. U.S. intelligence officials had reportedly been engaged in a heated debate over how to respond to a series of aggressive measures that have led to sky-high tensions between the two countries.

On Thursday, Iran shot down an unmanned American spy drone that was flying over the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranian government said the aircraft had flown into the country’s airspace, although President Donald Trump said the drone was “clearly” in international waters.

“We have it all documented,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “It’s documented scientifically, not just words.”

The president later said Iran had made “a very big mistake” in shooting down the drone. 

Any direct military action would dramatically heighten the conflict with Iran and its president, Hassan Rouhani. Last week, U.S. officials linked attacks on two oil tankers to Iran, saying the country was moving to consolidate control over a strategic shipping lane in the Persian Gulf (other nations have demanded more concrete evidence to support those claims). And earlier this week, Iran said it would soon have more stockpiles of low-enriched uranium than are allowed in a 2015 deal meant to curb the country’s nuclear program.

The pressure centers on Trump’s decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal, a hard-fought pact celebrated by many world leaders, including American allies, last year. The president had long derided the deal, declaring it “defective at its core” and “insane.”

The U.S. has since imposed many crippling sanctions against Iran.

The Times report is sure to increase political tensions in Congress, where a bipartisan coalition is building to demand that the White House seek congressional approval before taking military action.

“This is a dangerous situation,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday, according to The New York Times. “We are dealing with a country that is a bad actor in the region. We have no illusions about Iran in terms of their ballistic missile transfers, about who they support in the region and the rest.”

New Triple Talaq Bill Tabled In Lok Sabha Amid Uproar

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The fresh bill triple talaq bill was tabled in the the Lok Sabha by LawMinister Ravi Shankar Prasad amid massive uproar by the Opposition. However Prasad, while proposing the bill said that this was about the rights and protection of women. 

Prasad said, “People have chosen us to make laws. It is our work to make laws. Law is to give justice to the victims of Triple Talaq.”

He also said, “Rights of Muslim women will be protected. It is about justice and empowerment of women.”

New Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla was seen asking Congress MPs to sit in their seats and let Prasad speak as they protested. 

The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019 will replace an ordinance issued in February by the previous BJP-led NDA government.

With the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha last month, the previous bill had lapsed as it was pending in the Rajya Sabha. 

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The Bill, which proposes to make the practice of instant triple talaq (talaq-e-biddat) a penal offence, had faced objections from the opposition parties which claimed that jail term for a man for divorcing his wife was legally untenable.

The new bill is a copy of the ordinance in force.

Bills that are introduced in the Rajya Sabha and are pending there do not lapse with the dissolution of the Lok Sabha. However, bills passed by the Lok Sabha and pending in the Rajya Sabha lapse with the dissolution of the lower house.

The government had promulgated the ordinance on triple talaq twice ― in September 2018 and in February 2019 ― as the contentious bill remained pending in the Rajya Sabha, though it was passed by the Lok Sabha.

Under the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Ordinance, 2019, divorcing through instant triple talaq is illegal, void and will attract a jail term of three years for the husband.

Seeking to allay fears that the proposed law could be misused, the government has included certain safeguards in it such as adding a provision for bail for the accused during trial.

These amendments were cleared by the Cabinet on August 29, 2018.

While the ordinance makes it a “non-bailable” offence, an accused can approach a magistrate even before trial to seek bail.

In a non-bailable offence, bail cannot be granted by police at the police station itself. A provision was added to allow the magistrate to grant bail “after hearing the wife”, the government had said.

In the first session of the 17th Lok Sabha, the new government plans to convert 10 ordinances, including the one to ban the practice of instant triple talaq, into law.

The ordinances were issued in February-March this year by the previous government as these could not be converted into Acts of Parliament in the last session of the 16th Lok Sabha.

Since the Narendra Modi government returned to power in the recently held elections, it has decided to give a fresh push to these proposed laws in the newly-constituted Lok Sabha.

These ordinances will have to be converted into laws within 45 days of the beginning of the session, else they will lapse.

(With PTI inputs)

Meghan Markle And Prince Harry Split From Their Joint Charity With Prince William, Kate Middleton

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Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are officially breaking things off with the charity they oversaw with Prince William and Kate Middleton.  

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are parting ways with the Royal Foundation, Kensington Palace announced on Thursday. The charitable organization is an umbrella for Fab Four’s joint interests, which include the mental health charity Heads Together and Harry’s Invictus Games. 

“Later this year The Royal Foundation will become the principal charitable and philanthropic vehicle for The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge,” Kensington Palace said in a statement, adding that Harry and Meghan will start their own foundation. 

The statement added that ” both couples will continue to work together on projects in the future,” including Heads Together. 

“These changes are designed to best complement the work and responsibilities of Their Royal Highnesses as they prepare for their future roles, and to better align their charitable activity with their new household,” the palace said, adding that the two couples are “incredibly proud” of their joint work. 

The Fab Four are parting ways from the charity they formed to support their joint interests, Kensington Palace announced Thursday.

Harry and Meghan’s decision to split from The Royal Foundation is a further sign of distance between the two couples.

In March, it was officially announced that the royals of Sussex and Cambridge were splitting households, with Harry and Meghan forming a household with Buckingham Palace, while Will and Kate stayed with Kensington Palace. 

“This long-planned move will ensure that permanent support arrangements for The Duke and Duchess’s work are in place as they start their family and move to their official residence at Frogmore Cottage,” Buckingham Palace said in April.

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44 Dead, 34 Injured As Bus falls Into Drain In Himachal Pradesh's Kullu

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SHIMLA — At least 44 people were killed and 34 others injured when an overloaded bus fell into a deep drain in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh on Thursday, officials said.

The private bus fell into the over 300-metre-deep nullah near the Dhoth Morh in Banjar tehsil of the district, Kullu Superintendent of Police Shalini Agnihotri said, adding the vehicle was en route Gada Gushaini.

Prima facie, it seems that overloading and negligent driving may have caused the accident, Banjar Patwari Sheetal Kumar said.

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Additional SP of Kullu Rajkumar Chandel said the toll in the accident has touched 44, and added that the injured were undergoing treatment at the Banjar Civil Hospital and the Kullu district hospital. Most of the victims were residents of various areas in Kullu district.

Some of the severely injured passengers have been shifted to PGI Chandigarh, he said.

Himachal Pradesh Governor Acharya Devvrat and Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur expressed grief over the tragic accident. In their condolence messages, they prayed for peace to the departed souls and strength to the bereaved family members, an official spokesperson said.

The chief minister has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident, the official said, adding that Thakur also asked the administration to provide best possible medicare to the injured passengers. 

Meanwhile, state Transport Minister Govind Singh Thakur left for Kullu from Shimla after learning about the accident.

The Kullu district administration announced an immediate relief of Rs 50,000 to the kin of each of the deceased and the injured.

Talking to PTI, Piyush Tewari, founder of SaveLIFE Foundation said, “It’s a shame that mass-casualty bus crashes have become a norm in India, especially in hilly states like Himachal Pradesh.”

“The state government must immediately order a summary audit of all roads, and engineers and contractors responsible for missing basic installations like crash barriers must be booked for causing countless deaths and injuries,” he said.

No Plans To Cap H-1B Work Visa Programme, Says US State Department

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WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has no plans to cap H-1B work visas for nations that force foreign companies to store data locally, the State Department said on Thursday.

Reuters reported on Wednesday that the United States had told India it was considering restricting the H-1B visa programmes for countries with the data storage requirement. The H-1B programme issues US visas to skilled foreign workers. 

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“The Trump Administration has no plans to place caps on H-1B work visas for nations that force foreign companies to store data locally,” a State Department spokeswoman said in a statement in response to the Reuters article.

While an administration’s “Buy American Hire American” executive order calls for a broad review of US worker visa programmes, including the H-1B program, it was not targeted at a specific country, the spokeswoman said.

It is “completely separate from our ongoing discussions with India about the importance of ensuring the free flow of data across borders,” the spokeswoman added.

Earlier on Thursday, India said it was in talks with the United States on H-1B visas, but foreign ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar told a news conference: “We have not heard anything officially from the US government” on capping such permits for Indians.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is scheduled to visit New Delhi next week for talks that will include areas of disagreement between the two countries over trade.

Two senior Indian officials told Reuters on Wednesday they had been briefed last week on a U.S. plan to cap the number of H-1B visas given annually to Indians at between 10% and 15% of the total number issued.

There is no country-specific limit on the 85,000 H-1B work visas the United States issues every year, and an estimated 70% of them go to Indians.

Toy Story: 16 Hidden Details You Probably Never Spotted In The Original Film Trilogy

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The original Toy Story trilogy is holds a special place in the hearts of millions of people across the globe, many of who will have no doubt seen each film countless times. 

However, even 24 years on from the release of the first instalment, people are still picking up on things they’d never noticed before. 

These hidden details, which often have a second meaning or reference something else, are called easter eggs – and there’s set to be a whole lot more of them in the upcoming fourth film too. 

Speaking to Digital Spy, producer Mark Nielsen confirmed there will be an easter egg from every Pixar film ever made in it. 

Hinting at where to find them, he added: “That antique store is a wealth of it, so we hope it’s rewarding to all the people that love Easter eggs.”

So to practise hunting them before you see Toy Story 4, here’s 16 of the best hidden nuggets from the first three films... 

1. The closing shot of Toy Story 3 is the same as the opening shot from the first film, bringing the franchise full circle... That was until Toy Story 4 was announced.

2. In Toy Story 2, the film opens with a shot of the stars where a constellation of a lamp can be seen in the top right of the screen. This is a reference to the lamp in the Pixar logo. 

3. When the gang meet the kids from daycare in Toy Story 3, one of them is wearing a number 95 Lightning McQueen T-shirt – a reference to the character from other Pixar film, Cars. 

4. The tools that Sid uses to mutilate the toys in the first film come from Binford. This is a reference to Tim Allen’s (aka the voice of Woody) show Home Improvement. Binford are the sponsor of the show-within-the-show, Tool Time. 

5. The bin man in Toy Story 3 is none other than Andy’s evil neighbour Sid from the first film. 

6. In Andy’s bedroom in the first film, there is a Mickey on the clock on his wall. Hidden Mickeys are a common easter egg in many Disney films. 

7. Similarly, most Pixar films also have a trademark Luxo Ball hidden in them, with each of the three Toy Story films being no exception. In the first film, it played an instrumental role in Buzz getting knocked out of the window when he bounced off it. 

8. In the bookcase in Andy’s room in the first film, there is a shelf of books that are all screenplays and animated shorts by director John Lasseter. One of the books is called Tin Toy, which was the name of the original treatment Toy Story was based on.

9. The carpet from The Shining is recreated in Sid’s house, and can be seen when Woody goes to rescue Buzz. It was used to denote the fact Sid was evil. 

10. There’s many other references to The Shining throughout the three films, with the number 237 regularly appearing – this is the number of the room in the classic Jack Nicholson movie.

11. Mrs Potato Head can be seen reading A Bug’s Life (yep, another Pixar film) book in Toy Story 2. 

12. The map in Andy’s bedroom in Toy Story 3 has pins dotted all over it, which apparently correspond to the hometowns of a number of the production team. 

13. When Buzz’s back unit is exposed in Toy Story 3, we see his batteries are made by Buy N Large, as seen by the B&N logo. This is the same company who made WALL-E in the Pixar film of the same name. 

14. In Toy Story 2, Rex is seen chasing a car through its wing mirror – a reference to a similar scene in Jurassic Park. 

15. When Zurg is ready to kill Buzz in Toy Story 3, he powers his blaster up to 11 – a reference to the film This Is Spinal Tap.

16. The train in the opening scene of the third film carries the number 95 – the year the first film was released. 


Ranveer Singh Gets Legal Notice From WWE Wrestler Brock Lesnar's Advocate Paul Heyman

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Ranveer Singh before ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 match between Pakistan and India. 

MUMBAI — Actor Ranveer Singh has been served with a legal notice over his usage of a war-cry made popular by WWE star Brock Lesnar, the wrestler’s advocate Paul Heyman has claimed.

The actor, who attended the cricket World Cup match between India and Pakistan in Manchester on Sunday, had given the catch-phrase, “Eat, Sleep, Conquer, Repeat”, a spin while captioning his photo with cricketer Hardik Pandya.

“Eat. Sleep. Dominate. Repeat. The name is Hardik. Hardik Pandya. @hardikpandya7 ma boi #unstoppable,” Ranveer had tweeted. 

Responding to the post, Heyman threatened to sue him for copyright infringement. 

In another tweet, Heyman tagged a report that referred to him as Lesnar’s manager and clarified that he is the advocate for the wrestler.

“I didn’t warn. I served noticed. And while I applaud for their coverage of #YourHumbleAdvocate and @BrockLesnar, I must stress that I am not a manager (what an outdated, antiquated term). I am an #Advocate. And I’m the best #Advocate in history,” he wrote.

Ranveer, who is currently preparing for the shoot of Kabir Khan’s 83, is yet to comment on the matter.

Heyman had previously taken issues with the official Twitter handle of the Cricket World Cup for using the catch-phrase in a tweet praising Indian wicketkeeper MS Dhoni.

“My most (in)sincere compliments to @cricketworldcup for promoting the amazing @msdhoni by paraphrasing my mantra for @WWE #UniversalChampion @BrockLesnar #EatSleepConquerRepeat. Our royalties may be paid in cash, check, stock or cryptocurrency,” he had posted on Twitter.

Congress Bloodletting Continues As Nation Awaits A Real Opposition

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A file image of Rahul Gandhi and P Chidambaram. 

NEW DELHI—Almost a month after the Lok Sabha election results, the Congress still hasn’t figured out exactly what led to its spectacularly disappointing performance. While party leaders expend energy trying to convince Rahul Gandhi to stay on as president, its Data Analytics department and head Praveen Chakravarty have received a large share of the blame.

Now, conversations with key party functionaries suggest that the blame game within the party is slowly shifting from the data analytics team to the core committee which ran the campaign. The reasons cited are many: mistranslation of important words in the party manifesto, handling of the campaign by people unfamiliar with Hindi, disagreements over the official campaign slogan and tensions between key functionaries.

Speaking anonymously with HuffPost India, party functionaries who were given specific tasks during the election campaign—and thus have direct knowledge of the workings of specific aspects about it—shared multiple instances of friction between senior leaders, apart from mentioning some key mistakes committed during the Lok Sabha election 2019.   

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Taken together, the instances cited by the party functionaries and their candid reflections about the campaign show that the Congress party fought the election as a divided house with most of its key leaders failing to deliver good results. That it continues to be riven by disagreements weeks after losing the election so badly is a reflection of how the top leadership of India’s main opposition party is yet to come to grips with the loss.

Multiple stories have pointed out the Congress’s over dependence on the numbers arrived at by its data department may have had a big impact (read here, here and here). But that wasn’t the only reason.

One party functionary who was closely involved in the campaign in a specific role told HuffPost India that the responsibility lies with the core committee.

“This is because the core committee is the central nervous system of a campaign. It coordinates and executes every aspect—publicity, strategies, rallies, media and social media management, surveys & data analytics, leveraging party frontals for specific tasks etc.”

This Delhi-based functionary said that, though the Congress President is officially the chairperson of the core committee, he also serves as the face of the party. And because he is “busy” being the voice of the party, the core committee’s task effectively falls on the next in command. Therefore, in this particular person’s reckoning, senior leader Jairam Ramesh, who as the convener of the core committee was the “next in command”, and his colleagues in the committee, including leaders such as AK Antony and P Chidambaram, are accountable for the defeat.

Point 3 of the original English manifesto used the word 'sedition' while the incorrectly translated Hindi version reads 'deshdroh' (treason) instead of 'rajdroh' (sedition).

Manifesto

One of the most talked about aspects of the Congress’ election campaign was the party’s manifesto. Its emphasis on liberal ideas despite a hypernationalist campaign led by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party was widely noted.

However, the manifesto also attracted substantial controversy for promising to amend the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act. Prime Minister Narendra Modi latched on to it and, in at least one of his public rallies in Uttar Pradesh, claimed that the Congress wanted to protect terrorists and act against the armed forces.

Another party functionary with first-hand knowledge of the manifesto drafting process told this reporter that Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Gowda, who was mandated to lead the drafting process, strongly disagreed with Jairam Ramesh and Chidambaram on including the promise to amend the AFSPA and scrap sedition law. It was the latter’s idea to include the two promises in the manifesto, the party functionary said.  

“Gowda’s point was that these issues are so easy to twist. There is already an example of the JNU slogans controversy where claims have been made based on doctored videos. Thus, in a context where the BJP is running its campaign on the plank of national security, by including these promises, Congress shouldn’t make it easier for them to twist what we are promising, though he agreed with the promises per se. But he was overruled by Jairam Ramesh and P Chidambaram as well,” the party functionary cited above said.

The friction between Gowda and Ramesh at the time was serious enough for the former to claim in an official complaint that the latter had “taken over” the manifesto-making process.

HuffPost India reached out to both for comment. Jairam Ramesh had not responded to an email questionnaire at the time of writing. In his response, Gowda asserted there were no differences between him and Jairam Ramesh, and that he did not make any official complaint. On the contrary, he claimed, he had good relations with both Jairam Ramesh and P Chidambaram. “I have always received guidance from both of them,” he said.

But it wasn’t just disagreements between leaders that marked the manifesto-making process of the Congress party. There were serious errors in translations prepared by an in-house team that proved to be embarrassing. The party first prepared an English manifesto which was subsequently translated in multiple regional languages.

The party functionary mentioned earlier cited an instance of a translation error. When the promise to scrap the sedition law was written in the Hindi version, the translators used a word often mistakenly used by the right-wing for sedition—“deshdroh” (treason)—instead of the word used in law—“rajdroh” (sedition). The differences matter because there are different connotations for both words. This was just one among many errors and corrections which had to be made after printed copies of the manifesto arrived.

Hurried decision about slogans

According to another party functionary who saw this process first-hand, the main slogans of the Congress for the election campaign— Ab hoga nyay” and “Hum Nibhayenge”—were finalised without testing how they worked on the ground.   

In meetings held for discussing these slogans, chairperson of the Congress party’s social media department Divya Spandana apparently raised concerns.

“They started working on the slogans late. Divya, and a few others who attended these meetings, raised concerns and asked if these slogans were tested on the field as well as among focused groups before being finalised. It appears Nikhil Alva and Sam Pitroda had already made the decision to use these slogans,” the party functionary said. Divya Spandana could not be reached for comment.

Further, this person claimed that neither Alva nor Pitroda were fully fluent in Hindi, a disadvantage when it came to taking the party’s message to people in Hindi-speaking states, which form the bulk of the seats and voters in India.

Incidentally, Pitroda had caused a controversy during the campaign when he saidhua to hua” (what has happened has happened) in response to a reporter’s question about the 1984 riots.   

While the “Ab Hoga Nyay” (There will now be justice) slogan played on the Hindi acronym of the minimum income guarantee scheme that attracted some attention during the poll, it appears to have not resonated as widely as expected by the Congress leadership. In fact, the BJP sought to hijack the slogan and make it about the controversial terror-accused MP from Bhopal Pragya Thakur. The party functionary quoted above claimed the slogans were thought of hurriedly because the publicity campaign led by former cabinet minister and Rajya Sabha MP Anand Sharma had been delayed. When reached for comment, Sharma vehemently denied this. He claimed that this inference was based on a two-month old “mischievous”  WhatsApp message that had been circulated in Delhi’s political and journalistic circles. In the former Commerce minister’s reckoning, the Congress campaign started on time, even before the BJP started its own election campaign.  

HuffPost India has seen the contents of this WhatsApp message but is not reproducing the claims as they could not be independently verified. However, it is true that Congress functionaries are unhappy with the work of the publicity committee during the election. For instance, an MP with a specific role in one of the election-related committees set up by Rahul Gandhi, told this reporter, “I was upset that publicity was not up to the mark. People in charge of publicity need to introspect.”

Social Media Campaign

A party functionary who played an important role in the social media campaign said there was friction between Jairam Ramesh and Divya Spandana. This friction, a section of party functionaries believe, was one among the multiple causes why the Congress party’s campaign was not effective enough even on social media. This is significant given that the ruling BJP had extensively used social media for propaganda purposes and was effective in popularising narratives of its choosing.

According to this party functionary, campaigns were “imposed” on Divya Spandana’s unit and this caused friction. This person cited an example to make their point. Jairam Ramesh and his team asked the social media team to run a video campaign titled Bhakt-Charitra. Though it was supposed to be a campaign against hate speech, misogyny and other things associated with elements in the ruling party, the counter spin given by the BJP to the campaign probably diluted any possible impact, party functionaries believe.

“This was not thought out politically and gave the BJP handle to claim that we are mocking Hindu sentiments,” the party functionary quoted above said. At the time of writing, Jairam Ramesh had not responded to an email which had a question concerning the Bhakt-Charitra campaign as well.

To be sure, a section of voices within the party applauded the role played by Jairam Ramesh during the election campaign as well. For instance, Ruchi Gupta, in charge of the Congress’ students’ wing NSUI, said, the senior leader had only been helpful to her during the election campaign.

However, what is noteworthy here is that, voices within the party are getting vocal about problems in the election campaign beyond the Data Analytics department. In doing so, they are not defending the Data analytics department, but instead, pointing to other factors which appear to have been ignored in the current focus on the failure of one group and, more importantly, the question of who will lead the party without a proper reckoning about what it did wrong in one of the most crucial general elections for Indian democracy.

Stranger Things 3 Final Trailer Brings 80s Fashion And High Drama

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The final trailer for Stranger Things 3 has been released, ahead of the new series’ debut next month.

But while the Stranger Things fashion has never been so zany and quintessentially 80s, the new clip teases what looks to be the show’s darkest season ever.

Stranger Things' teen cast

“You let us in,” an ominous voice explains at the beginning of the trailer. “And now… you are going to have to let us stay.”

At the end of the second series of Stranger Things, we saw Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) close the “gate” between our world and the dimension referred to as the Upside Down, though as she and her friends realise in this clip, it may be that they’ve sealed a monster in along with them. 

We have no idea what's happening in this scene but we can't wait to find out

The action shows the cast we know and love, as well as newcomer Maya Hawke, gearing up for battle with rifles, axes and - proving the show hasn’t lost its sense of humour - slingshots. The mysterious voice then adds: “We are going to end you, we are going to end your friends, then we’re going to end everyone.” 

In the new trailer, it’s also suggested that the shadow monster who took over Will in Stranger Things 2 is now looking for a new host, hinting it could be school bully (and Max’s brother) Billy Hargrove.

Billy lurks in the shadows in the Stranger Things 3 trailer

By the time Stranger Things 3 begins streaming, it will have been almost two years since fans were last treated to new episodes of the hit sci-fi show, with the most recent run debuting in October 2017.

The new episodes will debut on Netflix on July 4, with the show’s first two seasons both currently available to stream.

Kabir Singh Review: How Did This Toxic Shahid Kapoor Film Get Made In 2019?

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My biggest takeaway from watching Shahid Kapoor’sKabir Singh is simple: In real life, if you run into someone like this man, please convince the first auto driver who’ll stop (lie down on the road if you have to) to take you far, far away. Because five minutes with Singh would be the equivalent of being stuck in the comments thread of a woman who has tweeted ‘equal rights’. The only way you’d survive is if you scooped your brain out or frantically typed #NotAllMen. Kind of the same thing really.

Simply put, Kabir Singh, the Hindi remake of Telugu superhit Arjun Reddy, starring Vijay Deverakonda, is obnoxious. The film looks at emotional abuse, physical violence, alcoholism and self-harm through a fatuous romantic lens.

Here’s a question to the film’s makers: If you were made to chew a chappal, would it taste like tandoori chicken if an Arijit Singh song played in the background? 

If the answer is ‘no’, then they should know that even if Arijit Singh shouts ‘bekhayali’, ‘pyaar’, ‘dil’, ‘dard’, ‘extreme dard’ and ‘blocked-on-Facebook level dard’ in the background, hitting a woman remains an act of violence, not a show of love.

Like Arjun Reddy in the Telugu film, Kabir Singh is an entitled medical student in Delhi with serious anger issues and disrespect for people. But somehow, the people around him still seem to like him, either because Delhi’s summers have fried their brains or Shahid Kapur’s abs are a great pacifier. Singh is on the verge of getting suspended from college for getting into a brawl during a football match when he spots Preeti. Now, Preeti (played by Kiara Advani) is the human version of a wind chime — beautiful, easily swayed, and occasionally making pleasant cooing sounds. Basically, the kind of woman every misogynist would want if they had a magic lamp or something.

Preeti doesn’t speak, she barely raises her face to look up at people, she doesn’t speak. Did I mention she doesn’t speak? Honestly, paani puri sellers take more time to decide if they should give you a sukha puri than it takes Singh to decide that Preeti is ‘his’. Convenient choice, since by then it has been established that Singh would curse, shout at or punch anything that shows a tendency towards human characteristics like speaking, arguing etc. Considering Singh is the college’s resident girl rakshak, people are terrified of Preeti as well.

 

 The ‘romance’ in Kabir Singh, starts with the man coercing the woman into doing things — insisting he teach her instead of the professors, employing a bunch of people to make sure no one puts colour on her on Holi before he does, deciding who sits beside her in the class, choosing which bench she sits on.

As Singh goes around being a class A jerk, the background music is romantic and sappy. A few days after Singh spots Preeti, and literally one conversation later, he kisses her in public like she isn’t a woman with agency but a bread pakoda. And at one point in the film, in case our womenly brains couldn’t get that Singh is basically treating Preeti as his property, he spells it out: ‘Tu Kabir Singh ki bandi hai (you are Kabir Singh’s girl)’.

As this absurd ‘love story’ continues, Singh mansplains to a former class topper that MBBS is an important course, tells her that ‘fat girls’ always make for good friends for pretty girls, and generally convinces most women watching the film that it would be better to adopt a monkey and spend the rest of their lives with it instead of a man.

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When their epic romance hits a roadblock after Preeti’s father refuses to let him marry her. Singh falls into a violent, self-destructive spiral and goes around drinking and shouting and howling at everything that moves. And people still like him. It’s like they are suffering from a strange case of ‘acche abs aane wale hain’.

It’s not impossible to understand why Arjun Reddy was remade by Bollywood. Usually, paying elaborate song-and-dance odes to the great tradition of men fighting over parking spots have worked wonderfully well when the latter were replaced with women. So there.

Rihanna Went Day Drinking With Seth Meyers And It Got Very, Very Messy

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Note to self, don’t go day drinking with Seth Meyers.

Rihanna became the latest famous face to learn this lesson in a comedy segment that aired on Thursday’s broadcast of “Late Night.”

The duo downed drinks inspired by RiRi’s song titles (including a disgusting-looking rum concoction named “Under My Rumbrella”), played a game in which the pop star had to guess where she’d worn certain outfits and then delivered bartender-style advice to each other (which got a little X-rated).

Oh, and there was some questionable dancing.

Check out the clip above.

Bihar Encephalitis Could Have Been Prevented Say Doctors. Here's How

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Nand Lal Mandhji, holds a letter about the Ayushman Bharat Medical Scheme, known as 'Modicare' as he sits outside his home with his family in Marwan village in Bihar.

MUZAFFARPUR, India — Five-year-old Soni Khatun was playing in the midday sun last week when she began to vomit and lose feeling in her hands. Her mother, a poor labourer living in Bihar, borrowed money to take her to hospital.

Five hours later, Soni was dead, one of more than 100 children to die this month from Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES), or ‘brain fever’, in the state’s Muzaffarpur district.

“I still see her in my dreams,” said Sahana Khatun, Soni’s mother. “I can’t accept she is gone.”

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The deaths were preventable, doctors say, if poor families had access to good food, clean water and better medical care in Muzaffarpur district, 80 km (50 miles) from the state capital Patna.

The epidemic has sparked a debate over growing inequality in India and focused attention on a free healthcare scheme for the poor — known as “Modicare” after Prime Minister Narendra Modi — eight months after it was launched.

The precise causes of AES, which killed more than 350 in Bihar in 2014, are not known, though a majority of medical professionals say it is linked to a ferocious heat-wave that has gripped Bihar for the last month.

Some studies have blamed toxins in litchis, a fruit grown in abundance in orchards around Muzaffarpur, though many families told Reuters their children had not eaten them in recent weeks.

The victims come from poor families who often suffer from malnutrition and dehydration, doctors in Muzaffarpur said.

If caught quickly, AES patients can often recover with simple rehydration treatment, doctors said, but delayed care can lead to convulsions and eventual death.

“It is a preventable disease,” said Dr Chaitanya Kumar at the district’s Kejriwal Maternity Hospital, one of two treating young AES patients. “Glucose and providing meals to some of the poorest districts — these are not expensive things.”

Overstretched hospitals

India has world-class hospitals in major cities like New Delhi and Mumbai, but rural facilities like those in Muzaffarpur are overstretched, doctors say.

The 600-bed Sri Krishna Medical College Hospital in Muzaffarpur has more than 900 patients, a third of them children with AES. Ninety-three AES patients have died at the facility since the outbreak began.

Stray goats roam over rubbish and rubble on the hospital grounds. The building has frequent power cuts and the stench of urine lingers in the hallways. 

I can’t do anything. It is the social conditions that have to change

The hospital evicted a group of sick inmates from a ward to accommodate the surge in AES patients, but at times there are still two or three children assigned to one bed.

“It is incredibly difficult to be a doctor in a place like this,” said Ravikant Singh, a volunteer doctor from Mumbai who was giving rehydration solutions to patients at the hospital.

Other doctors said they felt powerless.

“I can’t do anything. It is the social conditions that have to change,” said Rajkumar Goenka, secretary of the trust that operates Kejriwal hospital. “The government – state and national – has to do something,” he added.

Rural Poverty 

Nearly half of all children in Muzaffarpur are underweight, and a similar number are stunted, or too short for their age, according to government data.

In Marwan, a village of thatched huts where many residents belong to one of the lowest rungs in India’s caste system, some children have swollen stomachs – a common sign of malnutrition.

Residents interviewed by Reuters said they were unaware of Ayushman Bharat, the programme known as ‘Modicare’ launched in 2018 to give India’s poorest free access to private healthcare.

No one comes here. Not politicians, health workers, no one

Nand Lal Mandhji, 61, whose four-year-old granddaughter died from AES, said the family was given a flyer about the scheme during a hospital visit in May. The family is illiterate and the programme was not explained to them, he said.

“They gave us something but we didn’t understand what it meant,” he said, clutching the flyer with Modi’s image.

Eight families in Marwan with sick relatives said they had never heard of Modicare, and did not receive warnings from authorities about the dangers of AES.

“No one comes here. Not politicians, health workers, no one,” said Sahana Khatun, Soni’s mother.

HD Deve Gowda Says 'There Will Be Mid-Term Polls', Then Clarifies

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In a sign of growing tensions in the ruling alliance in Karnataka, former prime minister and JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda on Friday said there was “no doubt there would be mid-term polls”.

“There is no doubt that there will be mid-term polls. They (Congress) had said they will give support to us for five years. I am watching all the developments and their behaviour. Our people are intelligent enough. We need not have to teach them,” he said, according to PTI.

He later clarified that he was referring to the local body election and not the state election, Hindustan Times reported.

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“I said it for local body election and not assembly election. I’m here to build my party. As HD Kumaraswamy had mentioned, the government will continue for the next four years.” he was quoted as saying by NDTV.

As Gowda’s remarks had raised alarm bells within the coalition, Kumaraswamy went into a damage control mode and said his government was safe.

He asserted that his father has been misunderstood.

“What he has said is that be prepared for the urban local body election. Deve Gowda has not said that the assembly election will take place. He has given a clarification also. There is no question of mid-term polls. The government will continue for the next four years,” he said.

He also said the government would focus on rectifying the mistakes.

The BJP had crushed the Congress and JD(S) in the Lok Sabha elections, winning 25 of the 28 seats and leaving only one seat each to the two alliance partners. The BJP-backed independent candidate had won the Mandya seat.

Gowda, who was defeated from the Tumkur Lok Sabha constituency, also spoke about how he has been blamed for it.

“We had got eight seats in the seat-sharing arrangement with the Congress. I told Rahul Gandhi that if you think you do not want a particular seat then give us the one you had lost. Did I ask for Tumkur? No. Siddaramaiah had told me. He said he did it for Mysuru (to win Mysuru seat). They have openly said that I am responsible for the defeat in Tumkur and Mysuru. Leave it now,” he said, according to PTI. 

(With PTI inputs)


The 35 Things Young Women Find Most Offensive About Life In 2019

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Being cyberflashed, or sent sexual images you haven’t asked for, has topped the list of things young women in Britain find most offensive about modern life. 

More than a third (37%) of women aged 23 to 38 said receiving unsolicited explicit pictures is more offensive than being charged VAT on sanitary products or being mansplained to, according to the poll of 2,000 females.

Reporting by HuffPost UK has found women feel “violated, scared and uncomfortable” when sent these images in public spaces such as public transport, restaurants and bars. 

[Read More: ‘I had no idea cyberflashing happened so often’: victims on realising they weren’t alone]

The nationwide study, by polling firm Ginger Research, asked women what they found most offensive when going about their daily lives. Coming in second place was paying VAT on sanitary products, followed by the notion that women are bad drivers.

Being asked if it’s your time of the month, not being paid as much as male colleagues, being chatted up on LinkedIn and being told to “cheer up” or “calm down” also featured highly on the ranking. 

As many as 60% of the women polled claimed they regularly feel angry and frustrated about being treated differently in day-to-day situations, purely because of their sex.

Almost a quarter feel regularly patronised by members of the opposite sex. 

Other issues included: men talking to your breasts rather than face, airbrushed images of women in the media, being wolf-whistled at, being told your biological clock is ticking, and being asked if you plan to get pregnant. 

Other things that made the list, include:

  • People assuming you’re not the main breadwinner - 17%

  • Being bought household appliances for your birthday - 15%

  • Being asked if your breasts are real - 15%

  • The view that you should not have long hair over 50 - 15%

  • Being told you have childbearing hips - 15%

  • Being described as a housewife - 15%

  • Being left with the wives of your partner’s friends at dinner - 12%

  • Waiters assuming the healthy meal or salad is for you - 11%

  • Anti-aging adverts - 11%

  • The waiter assuming your male companion is picking up the bill - 11%

  • The assumption that you’ll change your name after getting married - 9%

  • The assumption that you look after the family calendar - 9%

Sophie Turner Shows Off Secret Hidden Talent On James Corden’s London Bus Tour

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James Corden’s celebrity bus tour of London was a real ride.

The host of “The Late Late Show” gave the stars of “X-Men: Dark Phoenix” a guided tour around the English capital as part of his weeklong return to his home country.

Sophie Turner, Jessica Chastain, Michael Fassbender, Alexandra Shipp, Tye Sheridan, Evan Peters and James McAvoy were all treated to some (fake) facts, ice cream and beer.

They also played games of “Never Have I Ever” and “Hidden Talents,” in which “Game of Thrones” actor Turner revealed she’s actually very, very flexible. 

 Check out the full clip here:

BJP Delegation To Visit Bengal's Bhatpara After 2 People Die In Clash

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KOLKATA — A three-member BJP central delegation led by former union minister SS Ahluwalia will visit trouble-torn Bhatpara in West Bengal on Saturday, where two persons were killed and several others injured in clashes between two groups suspected to be affiliated to the TMC and the BJP, party sources said Friday.

“Our party leadership has named three-member delegation led by our MP from Bengal S S Ahluwalia that will visit Bhatpara tomorrow. He will be accompanied by MP Satyapal Singh and BD Ram. Other state leaders will also accompany them,” BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargia told PTI. 

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According to BJP sources, the delegation will submit report to party president and union home minister Amit Shah.

Raising fingers at the state police, the BJP central leadership accused them of acting as “TMC cadres” and demanded CBI inquiry into the Bhatpara firing incident on Thursday.

The authorities have imposed Section 144 of the CrPC in and around the area following the violence.

The ruling Trinamool Congress and the BJP blamed each other for the clash, which is seen as an attempt to establish dominance in Bhatpara, which comes under the Barrackpore Lok Sabhaconstituency.

“Mamata Banerjee and her party goons along with police have turned Bengal into killing fields just because the BJP won 18 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

“The kind of terror they have let loose in Bengal is unprecedented. They are trying to wipe out BJP cadres and voters from the Bhatpara area. But this will not yield any result,” Vijayvargia, BJP in-charge of Bengal, said.

BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha said, the saffron party would seek a CBI inquiry into the incident to bring out the truth.

“It has been decided by our party that we would seek CBI inquiry into the incident to bring out the truth. The police is claiming they have not opened fire.

“The TMC is claiming they are not involved in the incident. The locals are saying it was the police which opened fire and killed innocent civilians. So in order to bring out the truth, a CBI inquiry is needed,” BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha told PTI.

On asked about allegations whether outsiders led by the BJP had engineered the ruckus, Sinha termed it as “baseless”, and said only a CBI inquiry can unravel the truth.

Reacting to the BJP’s demand for a CBI inquiry, senior TMC leader and minister Jyotipriyo Mullick said, the BJP wants to “tamper evidence” about its involvement in the Bhatpara incident.

“Since the declaration of Lok Sabha polls results, the BJP has been attacking minorities and Bengali families in the area,” Mullick said.

The BJP has called for a state-wide protest and demonstration against the killings.

The North 24 Paraganas unit of the party has called for a gherao of Barrackpore police commissionerate while the state leaders will conduct a protest march in the city.

Director General of Police Virendra had said after visiting the spot on Thursday, “The cause of the deaths is under investigation.”

A TMC citadel for long, Bhatpara has been witnessing frequent post-poll violence between the rival parties.

The fight has intensified ever since Lok Sabha member from Barrackpore, Arjun Singh, crossed over to the BJP from the TMC.

In the byelections to the Bhatpara assembly seat that were held along with the Lok Sabha elections, his son Pawan Singh had defeated TMC candidate and former state minister Madan Mitra.

These Yoga Day Enthusiasts Loved It So Much They Tried Stealing The Govt's Mats

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Yoga is not only good for the body, but is also supposed to calm the mind. But if a video from an event at Rohtak to mark International Yoga Day from Rohtak is anything to go by, the participants found no chill from the session. 

All hell broke loose after the event, led by Home Minister Amit Shah and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, ended. The participants decided that they wanted the yoga mats that were provided to them at the event, and hence decided to, erm, just steal them in broad daylight. 

The video of the bizarre incident shows participants pushing each other and playing tug-of-war with the yoga mats as people wearing Haryana police t-shirts walk around like there is absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. At one point, three people wrestle for one yoga mat.

In the background, an announcer can be heard speaking to the participants, accompanied by soothing music. 

While Shah had said during the event that yoga kept the body and mind healthy and India should show the world how to lead a healthy life, the rogue yoga participants did not leave much to show off, really. 

The video made one wonder why people would so desperately want these particular mats. Were they extra comfy? What made them go from Anulom Vilom to ‘My Precioussss’?

Moral of the story — maybe we need an International Day of Abiding by Rules before we preach anything to the world? Until then, let’s meditate about the events from today.

Lauren Tom, Who Played Julie In Friends, Recalls 'Venom' She Received From Show's Fans

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Former Friends star Lauren Tom has revealed she was given a rather tough ride by the show’s die-hard fans during her time playing Julie.

In series two, Lauren began Ross Geller’s love interest, who served as one of the first roadblocks in Ross and Rachel getting together.

Lauren as seen in the second series of Friends

Despite recalling that her character was the “nicest person on the planet” to The Today Show, Lauren said that she wasn’t exactly well-received by the studio audience that turned up to watch the episode being filmed live.

I wasn’t prepared for the amount of venom I was about to receive in a live audience where they actually booed my character,” she admitted. “Of course, I was trying very hard not to get my feelings hurt. So I had to get used to that.

“But I did understand intellectually that, you know, the audience was meant to be rooting for Rachel. Even I was rooting for Rachel, on some level, ’cos I was a fan of the show.”

Lauren pictured earlier this year

However, Lauren isn’t the only Friends guest star who had a difficult time of things.

During an interview last year, Hollywood legend Kathleen Turner recalled the “unwelcoming” atmosphere on set when she played Chandler’s dad, Charles Bing, which she put down to the “cliquey” cast.

Alexandra Holden, who played Ross’ student-turned-girlfriend Elizabeth, also admitted an uncomfortable note she was given before landing the part, after being encouraged by producers to ‘come in looking as hot as possible’.”

Although it’s been off the air for 15 years, Friends has garnered a whole new legion of fans in recent times, after finding a new home on Netflix.

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