Year: 2024

Okkadu is a film about Ajay, a young aspiring police officer and Kabaddi player, who goes to Kurnool for a match and crosses path with a local gangster forcing himself on a young girl in the middle of Kurnool. It isn’t just any place in Kurnool. It’s opposite the iconic Konda Reddy Buruju or Konda Reddy Fort.

The fort is named after its last ruler, who managed to escape through the secret tunnels known only to him and his family, after the nawabs had imprisoned him. The fort has that kind of legacy. It’s part-myth, part-history – melding to become ‘folk’. Just like Konda Reddy, another folk legend was being made on the screen.

The villain, played by Prakash Raj, is a tormentor of women and happy families in south India. In Telugu films, villains aren’t just bad guys, they are rakshasas. Called Obul Reddy, Prakash Raj’s villain in Okkadu, was perhaps based on the real-life gangster named Obul Reddy, in the neighbouring district of Anantapur, who was known for his atrocities against women. The people in Kurnool knew the dark context of what was being depicted on-screen.

At one point in the film, Prakash Raj’s Obul Reddy is in peak form opposite Konda Reddy Buruju, doing what he does to…

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Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Tuesday removed her nephew Akash Anand as the party’s national coordinator and her political successor “until he attains maturity”.

While she did not elaborate on what had led to her decision, this comes 10 days after Anand, along with other party leaders, was booked by Uttar Pradesh Police for allegedly promoting enmity after he used alleged unparliamentary language while criticising the Bharatiya Janata Party government at a rally.

“I had declared Akash Anand as the national coordinator and my successor, but in the larger interest of the party and the movement, he is being divested of both these important responsibilities until he attains full maturity,” Mayawati said in a social media post on Tuesday.

She added that Akash Anand’s father, Anand Kumar, will continue his responsibilities in the party.

“The BSP leadership is not going to shy away from making every sacrifice in the interest of the party and the movement and in taking forward the caravan of Babasaheb Dr Ambedkar,” she said.

At the election rally in Sitapur on April 28, Anand had described the BJP as a “government of traitors”.

“Where children go hungry, where women and girls face abuse, where the youth are jobless, and where people are exploited under the guise of free rations, there…

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The National Test Agency (NTA) has once again postponed the registration deadline for recruitment to various Non-Teaching posts at the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti. Eligible candidates can now apply for the vacancies at navodaya.gov.in or exams.nta.ac.in/NVS till May 14. Earlier, the application deadline was May 7.

The recruitment drive aims to fill up a total of 1377 non-teaching vacancies.

Vacancy Details

• Female Staff Nurse – 121 posts

• Assistant Section Officer – 5 posts

• Audit Assistant – 12 posts

• Junior Translation Officer – 4 posts

• Legal Assistant – 1 post

• Stenographer – 23 posts

• Computer Operator – 2 posts

• Catering Supervisor – 78 posts

• Junior Secretariat Assistant – 381 posts

• Electrician cum Plumber – 128 posts

• Lab Attendant – 161 posts

• Mess Helper – 442 posts

• Multi-Tasking Staff – 19 posts

Candidates can check the post-wise eligibility, pay scale, reservation/relaxations, selection process and other details in the official notification below:

Here’s the official notification.

Application Fee

Candidates applying to the post of Female Staff Nurse will be charged an application fee of Rs 1000 and processing fee of Rs 500 making the total amount Rs 1500. Candidates applying to all posts except Female Staff Nurse will be charged an application fee of Rs 500 and processing fee of Rs 500 making the total amount Rs 1000. SC/ST/PwBD candidates applying to any post will be charged only a processing fee of Rs 500. No application fee will be charged to SC/ST/PwBD candidates.

Steps to apply for NTA NVS recruitment 2024

1. Visit the official…

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That Satyajit Ray was empathetic to the Naxalite cause comes out clearly in the dream sequence in Pratidwandi in which Siddhartha sees his brother being gunned down by the firing squad. But he was never loud and therefore his handling of such issues was more subtle than garish.

I once had the opportunity to do a news story about the auteur. I was a trainee journalist at the Press Trust of India news agency in Calcutta when I got a call from Ray’s home that he wished to talk to a wire service newsman. Ray had returned home after a bypass surgery in Houston earlier that day. I rushed to his Bishop Lefroy Road house, one of the city’s most prominent landmarks; he was resting.

A close associate met me and a couple of other newsmen in the front room to release Ray’s statement, thanking everyone who had extended help during his treatment at Houston. “Will the news on PTI wire travel all over?” the man asked, explaining that the doctors at Houston and others who had taken care of the director, needed to know of his gratitude. “Of course,” I reassured him and left, disappointed that I could not have a glimpse of the…

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The Educational Testing Service (ETS) has announced that scores for the Test of English as Foreign Language or TOEFL will now be considered valid for all Australian visa purposes. As per the announcement, all TOEFL scores issued after May 5, 2024 will be accepted by 100% of Australian Universities.

TOEFL, the English Language Proficiency test, was put under review by the Australian Department of Home Affairs (DHA) in July, 2023. “The TOEFL iBT test is currently accepted by 100% of Australian universities. All scores/results issued between July 26, 2023 to May 4, 2024 continue to not be accepted by the department for visa purposes,” reads the ETS notification.

Here’s the official notification.

The Australian Department of Home Affairs doesn’t currently accept any English-language tests that are taken at home, including the TOEFL iBT Home Edition.

The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) stands as a cornerstone in assessing the English language proficiency of non-native speakers seeking admission to English-speaking universities.

Recognized by a staggering 12,500 institutions spanning over 160 countries, TOEFL holds universal acceptance in renowned academic destinations like the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Moreover, it boasts a remarkable 98% acceptance rate among universities in the United Kingdom.

…

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The forests of Uttarakhand are burning. According to the latest data released by the state government, Uttarakhand has witnessed more than 900 incidents of forest fires this year alone. These fires have burned more than 1,200 hectares of forests. According to this data, four people have died in the fires so far.

Over the last week, the state’s forest department, and the Indian Air Force and Army worked to douse almost 30 forest fires in the Nainital division alone. Other divisions have also seen forest fires this year – 157 hectares of forest burned in Pithoragarh, and 105 hectares in Tarai East.

In response to the raging forest fires at Pauri Garhwal sector in Uttrakhand, IAF provided the much needed relief by undertaking Bambi Bucket ops by its Mi17 V5 helicopters. Over 4500 litres of water was used to douse the fires in close coordination with Uttarakhand government.… pic.twitter.com/MILdLIXVc3

— Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) May 7, 2024

Initially, the forest department had arrested some locals on suspicion of intentionally starting fires. But Koko Rosé, a conservator of forests in the state, noted that after officials looked into the matter, they realised that these fires had been accidental. He explained that wheat in Uttarakhand is harvested in March, after which…

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The Delhi Capitals stayed in the hunt to qualify for the playoffs of the 2024 Indian Premier League with a 20-run win over the Rajasthan Royals in Delhi.

Having been put to bat first, Delhi posted 221/8 and ended up restricting the Royals to 201/8 in 20 overs. With the win, Delhi have moved to fifth on the points table with 12 points with the Royals second with 16 points.

Delhi got off to a perfect start with the in-form Jake Fraser-McGurk and Abhishek Porel punishing the Royals bowlers in the powerplay overs. Fraser-McGurk raced to another half-century in the IPL before being dismissed by R Ashwin for a 20-ball 50.

Porel took over the mantle of hitting and brought up his fifty. However, Porel’s dismissal for a 36-ball 65 halted the Capitals’ scoring.

Shai Hope, Axar Patel and Rishabh Pant had short stints in the middle as the Royals applied the squeeze. However, Tristan Stubbs’ 20-ball 41 at the death took the home side to 221, 10-15 runs more than Royals captain Sanju Samson would have liked.

The Royals lost opener Yashasvi Jaiswal on the second ball with Jos Buttler departing soon after. Samson played the role of the anchor to perfection as he scored his fifth half…

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As someone who started marathon running in mid-life, I know how many aches and pains (and doubts) you can have if you take on the challenge to start running at an older age. But as an orthopaedic surgeon who has replaced thousands of worn-out hips and knees throughout my career, I also know just how much exercise actually helps the joints.

Hobbling around my orthopaedic hospital after my first marathon actually led me to do research on runners. After conducting 1,000 MRI scans of the joints of mid-life exercisers (both runners and cyclists) and “couch potatoes”, I now better understand just how beneficial mid-life running is for the knees, hips and spine.

The findings were very surprising to me, particularly in the knee study. The high-resolution MRI scans found most of the 115 middle-aged participants had abnormalities in their knees before starting marathon training. Half of these abnormalities would typically have required keyhole surgery in the past.

But none of the knee abnormalities stopped them from finishing the marathon. And, in the MRI scans conducted after the marathon, they had no signs of deterioration in their joints. This totally changes how we can advise would-be runners who are found to have an abnormality on MRI scan of their…

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The Somaiya School in Mumbai on Tuesday terminated the services of its principal Parveen Shaikh after OpIndia, a Hindutva website accused of spreading misinformation and hate speech, targeted her for her purported political views.

Shaikh had been asked to resign by the school management on April 26. She told Scroll at the time that she had no intention to do so.

In a statement on Tuesday, the school management said: “It has come to our attention that the personal social media activities of Ms. Parveen Shaikh…have been starkly misaligned with the values we cherish.”

On April 24, OpIndia carried a story claiming to expose Shaikh’s “disturbing social media behaviour”. It accused her of being a “Hamas-sympathiser”, “anti-Hindu” and a supporter of “Islamist Umar Khalid” based on posts that she had “liked” from her Twitter account.

Since then, the publication and its editor have been regularly calling for Sheikh’s ouster online, suggesting that her political views are detrimental to the “thousands of unsuspecting children” in her care as an educator. This has triggered a battery of hate speech against Shaikh on Twitter.

“Given the gravity of these concerns, and after careful consideration, the management has discontinued Ms. Parveen Shaikh’s association with Somaiya Vidyavihar to ensure that our ethos of unity and inclusivity is not compromised,” the school management said.

Shaikh confirmed to…

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that the voters will have to choose between “vote jihad”, which he alleged that the Opposition Congress was promoting, and a “Ram Rajya”, or the utopian reign of the Hindu deity Ram.

In West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday alleged that the Model Code of Conduct has turned into the “Modi Code of Conduct” as the Election Commission does not take against the speeches made by the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders during election campaigns.

Here’s a look at today’s top developments:

1. Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a rally in Madhya Pradesh’s Khargone district on Tuesday said that India today stood at “an important turning point in history”, The Print reported. “You [voters] have to decide whether ‘vote jihad’ will continue in India or ‘Ram Rajya’ will,” he said. He also asked whether “vote jihad” could be accepted in a democracy. The prime minister was referring to Samajwadi Party leader Maria Alam’s remarks in April. Alam had allegedly asked Muslim voters at a rally to launch a “vote jihad” to remove the current government. The term “jihad” in Islam is meant to denote an effort or struggle. The Uttar Pradesh Police registered a case against Alam and Congress leader…

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Seven Indian under-22 boxers, including the 2024 Paris Olympics-bound boxer Preeti, won gold medals as the Indian contingent concluded their highly successful campaign with impressive 43 medals at the 2024 ASBC Asian U-22 & Youth Boxing Championships 2024 in Astana, Kazakhstan.

Indian boxers secured 12 gold, 14 silver and 17 bronze medals to finish with the second highest medal count only behind the hosts Kazakhstan, who bagged 48 medals.

Vishvanath Suresh began the day’s proceedings for India in the 48kg category and the reigning youth world champion didn’t waste much time and straightaway got into action with his sharp punches to outperform Kazakhstan’s Karap Yernar 5-0 to win the India’s first gold medal in the under-22 category.

The next in action was Nikhil (57kg), who defeated Sabyr Yerbolat of Kazakhstan with a referee stop the contest win in the third round.

Akash Gorkha (60kg) continued his dream run in the tournament to secure a 4-1 win over Kazakhstan’s Ruslan Kuzeubayev in what was India’s third gold medal in the men’s category.

In the women’s category, boxer Preeti (54kg) made a remarkable comeback after going down 0-5 in the first round to register a 3-0 win in the final against Kazakhstan’s Bazarova Elina.

Meanwhile, Poonam Poonia (57kg) and Prachi (63kg) defeated Kazakhstan’s Sakysh…

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The West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education (WBCHSE) will release the West Bengal HS Class 12 Result 2024 tomorrow, May 8, 2024. Students who appeared for the exam will be able to check their results on the official website wbresults.nic.in.

The WB Class 12 exam 2024 was conducted from February 16 to 29, 2024.

“The council will announce the WB 2024 HS result at 1 pm on May 8 through a press conference and the link to view and download the Class 12 West Bengal board exam results from the official website — wbchse.wb.gov.in will be made live at 3 pm. Meanwhile, the hardcopies of the mark sheets and pass certificates will be available from 55 distribution centres including the four regional offices of the Council from May 10,” reports Indian Express.

Meanwhile, the Class 10 Madhyamik results were released on May 2. An estimated 8 lakh students appeared for the examination. This year a pass percentage of 86.31% was recorded in the state.

Steps to download WB Class 12 results 2024

1. Visit the official website wbresults.nic.in

2. Once live, click on West Bengal Board of Secondary Education 2024 Higher Secondary results

3. Key in your roll number and date of birth

4. The WB Class 12 exam 2024 results will appear on screen

5. Download a copy and take a printout…

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that the National Democratic Alliance, led by his Bharatiya Janata Party, requires more than 400 seats in Parliament so that the Congress cannot put the “Babri lock” on the Ram temple in Ayodhya or reinstate Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.

Modi made the statement while addressing rallies in Madhya Pradesh’s Khargone and Dhar districts and Maharashtra.

“The Congress is spreading lies,” he said. “Don’t they know that from 2019 to 2024 the NDA [National Democratic Alliance] already had the support of around 400 seats? Modi needs 400 seats so the Congress cannot bring back Article 370 in Kashmir and create trouble. Modi needs 400 seats so the Congress cannot put the Babri lock on the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.”

The Ram temple in Ayodhya is built on the site of the Babri mosque, which was demolished by Hindutva extremists in December 1992 because they believed that it stood on the spot where the Hindu deity Ram was born. The incident had triggered communal riots across the country.

The Ram temple was inaugurated in a ceremony led by Modi on January 22.

Till 1949, only Muslims regularly offered prayers in the Babri mosque. However, in December that year, an idol of Ram Lalla – or infant…

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The Canadian government placed a cap on the number of study permits granted to international students earlier this year. The government stated that a rapid increase in the number of international students was putting added “pressure on housing, health care and other services.”

In addition, Immigration Minister Marc Miller criticised some private colleges for the increasing number of refugee claims from their international students, saying the trend was “alarming” and “totally unacceptable.”

Similarly, a recent article in the Globe and Mail stated refugee claims by international students increased by 646% from 2018 to 2023, and raised concerns about students exploiting Canada’s immigration system.

However, focusing on refugee claims, and not refugee claim approvals, obscures the context needed to understand such a complex issue. These comments and statistics are misleading and contribute to fueling xenophobia and anti-immigrant sentiment.

Given the central place of immigration in heated political debates in Canada, it’s crucial to unpack these claims and understand the implications of perpetuating unfounded criticism of Canada’s refugee and immigration system.

More displaced people

Amid the war in Ukraine, violence in Haiti and enduring humanitarian crises in Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia, Venezuela, Sudan and elsewhere, over 114 million people have been displaced worldwide. Accordingly, refugee claims have increased around the world from displaced people; many of whom face the risk of being forcibly returned home or sent to a third country.

The number of refugee…

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