Lokesh Bhatta’s role in ‘Badall Pe Paon Hai’ calls for ‘deep emotional commitment’

Mumbai, June 28 2024-

Actor Lokesh Bhatta, who stars in the new show ‘Badall Pe Paon Hai’ shared insights into his role, saying the character is complex, layered, and demands a deep emotional and psychological commitment.

Lokesh plays the role of Gourav in the show and calls it a challenging yet rewarding experience.

Speaking about the show, he said: “It has been one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of my career. This character is complex, and layered and demands a deep emotional and psychological commitment. Gourav has his own element, and he is funny as well. So, jab jab Gourav aayega, he’s going to make people laugh.”

To prepare for the role, he first understood the backstory of the character, conducted research, employed method acting techniques, and engaged in physical training.

“It was important for me to understand specific aspects of the character or story to portray Gourav authentically,” he said.

He further said: “The show brilliantly blends elements of drama and mystery. It is about big dreams and how they reflect our innermost desires and aspirations.”

And he is happy to be shooting in Chandigarh since he was born in Punjab. “I love coming here. If I get the chance to shoot here, it’s the cherry on the cake,” said Lokesh.

Adding about the producers Sargun Mehta and Ravi Dubey, Lokesh added: “Working with them has been an incredible experience, marked by collaboration, respect, and mutual support. They have created a nurturing and dynamic environment on set. I have worked with them on ‘Udaariyaan’ as well. They are outstanding and like-minded.”

Produced by Dreamiyata Entertainment Private Limited, the show features Amandeep Sidhu in the lead. It also stars Bhaweeka Chaudhary as Lavanya, and Aakkash Ahuja as Rajat.

‘Badall Pe Paon Hai’ airs on Sony SAB. (Agency)

Discuss NEET issue, says Rahul Gandhi to Centre

New Delhi, June 28 2024-

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi said on Friday that the NEET exam issue should be discussed in Parliament and urged the government to hold a “good and respectful discussion”.

While talking to the media at the Parliament premises, he said, “Yesterday, all the floor leaders of the opposition met, and it was unanimously decided that today, the NEET issue will be discussed. I would like to say to all the Indian students that this is your issue.”

“We all, the INDIA bloc, think that your concerns are most important because you are the future of the country. This is why we all want the NEET issue to be discussed in the Parliament House before the discussion on the President’s Address,” Gandhi said.

“I request the Prime Minister that this is the issue of the youth of the country and hence, it should be discussed properly and respectfully. Youth is worried about what will happen, so the message should go from Parliament that the government and the opposition are together discussing this issue.” said the Congress leader.

The NTA conducted the NEET-UG 2024 on May 5 with around 24 lakh candidates taking part in it. The results were announced on June 4. But were followed by allegations of question paper leaks and other irregularities.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is investigating the alleged irregularities and has formed special teams to probe the case. (Agency)

Gurmeet Choudhary is in hot pursuit of cross-border enemy in ‘Commander Karan Saxena’ trailer

Mumbai, June 28 2024-

The trailer of the upcoming streaming series ‘Commander Karan Saxena’, starring Gurmeet Choudhary in the lead, was unveiled on Friday. The trailer establishes the titular character as a fierce patriot who would go to any lengths to save India.

The trailer shows Gurmeet’s character in a hot pursuit of a cross-border enemy played by Iqbal Khan. It features several thrilling moments, high-speed chase sequences and action with bare upper-body shots of Gurmeet in action.

The show follows the story of a fearless RAW agent, played by Gurmeet, as he dives into a high-stakes political mystery to save the nation.

Talking about the series, Gurmeet Choudhary said: “‘Commander Karan Saxena’ is incredibly special to me. I deeply admire all the officers who wholeheartedly serve our nation. Portraying a character inspired by these heroes is a tremendous honour for me. Karan, my character embodies dedication, hard work, and courage, the qualities I’ve always aspired to embody myself and bringing him to life on screen has only strengthened these traits within me. He is someone I have always wanted to be.”

The series is directed by Jatin Wagle and produced by Keylight Productions.

Iqbal Khan, who plays ISI Chief Nasir said: “This is one of the most menacing yet charming characters I’ve played. Nasir is bold, aggressive, and is driven by whole-hearted passion and unwavering faith. Through Nasir, I’ve had the opportunity to explore character traits completely different from who I am in real life, it was a challenging experience. Jatin, my director, ensured that my character is both real and larger-than-life and it’s a tough task which he did absolute justice to. I hope the viewers can see all the hard work we’ve put in and enjoy the series. It’s sure to stimulate the minds of the audience.”

The series is set to drop on July 8 on Disney+ Hotstar. (Agency)

Why giving smartphones to calm down kids’ tantrums may not be healthy

New Delhi, June 28 2024-

Are you one of those parents who calm down their tantrum-throwing children with a digital device? Beware, it may hamper their ability to self-regulate their emotions later in adulthood, finds a study on Friday.

In recent years, parents often use tablets or smartphones to divert their child’s attention when the child is upset.

A team of researchers in Hungary and Canada found that the approach known as parental digital emotion regulation leads to the inability of children to effectively regulate their emotions later in life.

“Here we show that if parents regularly offer a digital device to their child to calm them or to stop a tantrum, the child won’t learn to regulate their emotions,” said Veronika Konok, a researcher at Eotvos Lorand University in Hungary.

“This leads to more severe emotion-regulation problems, specifically, anger management problems, later in life,” she added.

For the study, published in Frontiers in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the team included more than 300 parents of children aged between two- and five years old who were followed up for a year.

The findings showed that when parents used digital emotion regulation more often, children showed poorer anger and frustration management skills a year later.

“Tantrums cannot be cured by digital devices,” Konok pointed out. “Children have to learn how to manage their negative emotions for themselves. They need the help of their parents during this learning process, not the help of a digital device.”

At the same time, the researchers said parents should “not avoid situations that could be frustrating to the child”, but coach the children to “recognise their emotions, and teach them to handle them”.

The researchers also suggested “training and counselling methods for parents”. (Agency)

Land scam case: Jharkhand HC grants bail to ex-CM Hemant Soren

Ranchi, June 28 2024-

The Jharkhand High Court on Friday granted bail to former Chief Minister Hemant Soren in the land scam case.

On June 13, Justice Rongon Mukhopadhyay reserved the decision on Soren’s bail plea.

Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on January 31 in connection with money laundering linked to the land scam. He was lodged at Birsa Munda Central Jail in Ranchi since then.

During the hearing, Soren’s counsel, Kapil Sibal and Meenakshi Arora, argued that the land in question was “bhuinhari”, under the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act, and could not be sold or transferred to anyone.

They also claimed that Soren had no connection with the land and that the ED had no evidence to prove his involvement in the scam.

On the other hand, Assistant Solicitor General SV Raju, representing the ED, argued that there was sufficient evidence to prove that Soren had illegally occupied 8.86 acres of land in Bariatu and had plans to build a banquet hall on it.

Assistant Solicitor General Raju also alleged that Soren had misused his position to influence the investigation and might try to disrupt it further if granted bail.

The court, however, accepted Soren’s bail plea, providing relief to the former CM after over five months in judicial custody. (Agency)

India is now world’s 3rd largest domestic aviation market, next to US & China

New Delhi, June 28 2024-

India has now become the world’s third-largest domestic aviation market after the U.S. and China, as airlines such as IndiGo and Air India have expanded their fleet size to cater to the surge in air passengers, according to data compiled by aviation analytics firm OAG.

The data show India’s domestic airline capacity doubled in the last 10 years from 7.9 million seats in April 2014 to 15.5 million in April 2024 to surpass Brazil and Indonesia and move up from the 5th position.

India has replaced Brazil, which now stands at the fourth place with 9.7 million airline seats followed by Indonesia in fifth rank with 9.2 million.

India has also posted the highest annual average capacity growth rate of 6.9 per cent over the last decade among the top five countries, followed by China at 6.3 per cent and the US at 2.4 per cent.

IndiGo and Air India, which together have more than 1,000 planes on order, account for 9 of 10 domestic seats in the country.

According to OAG, India’s transition to low-cost carriers (LCCs) has been the sharpest among the top five.

In April 2024, LCCs accounted for 78.4 per cent of Indian domestic capacity, followed by Indonesia at 68.4 per cent, Brazil at 62.4 per cent, the US at 36.7 per cent, and China at 13.2 per cent. (Agency)

Sunny Leone’s ‘Quotation Gang’ trailer out, Actress thanks makers for believing in her

June 28, 2024 (Yes Punjab News)

‘Quotation Gang’ trailer is out, and it is way beyond what you’d expect from a Sunny Leone film. The trailer showcases heart-pounding action scenes, suspenseful moments, and a raw performance by Leone that promises to keep viewers on the edge of their seats.

Fans of Sunny Leone are in for a treat as she breaks away from her usual glamorous roles to deliver a performance that promises to be impactful and intense.

What’s impressive is Sunny’s transformation. Recently, during the press conference of the film in Chennai, the actress spoke about how everything from her eyebrow to her skin tone underwent major transformation to suit her part.

During the trailer launch event, Sunny Leone opened up about the film, and stated, “There are many directors and many people who come to me daily or many times a week, and they say ‘This role is going to change your image’.

When I hear this, it’s great, I’m so happy because they believe in their film, their story. But it’s very rare that someone actually does change my image and change who I am. Thank you for creating this character for me and believing in me. So, thank you so much for that.”

She added, “Thank you for sitting on the floor with me in my house and going through every single word in the script that I had. It was amazing.

The artistry in this film, the shots in this film, it’s gorgeous. What you created is absolutely beautiful, and everyone has worked so hard, so thank you so much.

I am a small part of your enormous grand film. We’re expecting everyone to put the word out and make sure that everybody comes out and sees this film.”

With a strong supporting cast and a storyline filled with twists and turns, Quotation Gang is shaping up to be a must-watch thriller of the year. Going by the glimpse, it looks like Sunny is set to take the audience on a rollercoaster ride that will keep them hooked from start to finish.

‘Quotation Gang’ delves into the world of crime with Leone’s character at the centre of the chaos. The actress will be seen essaying the role of an assassin who is a key member of a ruthless gang, which specialises in contract killings.

While Sunny is all set to showcase a dark yet calculative side in ‘Quotation Gang’, her knack for picking up out-of-the-box characters is a true-blue proof of her versatility and her sensibility to make careful choices in films.

Beyond ‘Quotation Gang’, Sunny Leone is awaiting the release of ‘Kennedy’, which marks her collaboration with Anurag Kashyap.

She has an untitled Malayalam film in production and a film with Himmesh Reshammiya and Prabhudeva. Currently, she is hosting ‘Splitsvilla X5’ and is set to judge ‘Glam Fame’ on OTT.

‘I’m doing comedy in Badtameez Gill, a genre I haven’t explored much!: Vaani Kapoor

June 28, 2024 (Yes Punjab News)

Gorgeous Bollywood actress Vaani Kapoor is starring in and as Badtameez Gill in a dramedy that should touch people’s hearts. She is now headed to the UK for the second schedule of the film.

Vaani says, “Our next schedule is in the UK, and I’m looking forward to an exciting filming experience. ‘Badtameez Gill’ presents me in a new avatar, which I’m really happy about.

This project is significant for me and it means a lot that producers trust my acting abilities and are willing to support films with me in a leading role. I’m committed to giving it my best and showcasing my range as an artist.”

Vaani is also exploring comedy with Badtameez Gill. She says, “I’m also exploring a genre that I haven’t had the chance to dive into that much, which is both fun and challenging for me as an actor.

Comedy, especially family-friendly comedies that everyone can enjoy together, is a genre I love. I’m thoroughly enjoying shooting for Badtameez Gill.”

Use These 5 Tips To Avail Lower Personal Loan Interest Rates

The interest rates offered on your personal loans comprise a major chunk of your borrowing costs.

The interest rates set by the banks and Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) can vary widely for the same applicant as the lenders consider their cost of funds, net interest margins, etc. and their loan applicants’ credit risk assessment while setting the interest rates.

Here I list 5 tips to increase the chances of availing personal loans at lower interest rates:

Maintain Higher Credit Scores

Banks and NBFCs usually sanction the personal loan applications of those having credit scores of 750 and above. Lenders are also more likely to offer preferential personal loan interest rates to such applicants. Lenders may reject loan applications of those having lower credit scores or grant personal loan approval at higher interest rates.

In case of financial/medical exigencies, you may need to apply for a personal loan at short notice. Therefore, you should build or maintain higher credit scores to increase your loan eligibility.

To improve your credit scores, you should fetch your credit report at periodic intervals. Doing so will grant you sufficient time to initiate corrective measures for improving your credit scores.

Loan applicants should also review their credit reports to identify any error or incorrect information in their credit reports or fraudulent credit activities done in their names.

They should communicate any such issues to both the lender and the respective credit bureau for correction. Rectified credit reports can increase your credit scores, which in turn will improve your chances of getting personal loan approval.

Avoid applying for personal loans with multiple lenders within short time durations

Banks and NBFCs fetch the credit reports of their personal loan applicants from the credit bureaus to ascertain their creditworthiness. Such lender-initiated requests for fetching credit reports are considered as hard inquiries.

Credit bureaus reduce your credit score by a few points for every such hard inquiry. Therefore, multiple inquiries within short durations can sharply reduce your credit scores, which in turn will decrease your chances of availing personal loan at lower interest rates.

Instead, prospective borrowers can visit online financial marketplaces to check and compare the personal loan schemes offered by multiple lenders before they apply for a personal loan online. Credit bureaus consider any such credit report request as a soft inquiry, which does not affect your credit scores negatively.

Check with your existing lender(s)

Some banks and NBFCs offer personal loans to their existing customers at preferential interest rates. Many lenders offer pre-approved personal loans only to their select existing customers who have good credit profiles.

Therefore, prospective personal loan borrowers should first check with their existing lenders with whom they have a deposit or lending relationship.

They can then use the personal loan offers of their lenders as a benchmark to compare the personal loan offers available from other lenders before making the loan application.

Compare the Personal Loan Interest Rates offered by Multiple Lenders

The interest rates offered on personal loans usually depend on the credit risk evaluation process and credit pricing process followed by the lenders. Therefore, the personal loan rates offered to the same individual may differ across lenders.

Thus, prospective applicants should compare personal loan offers of multiple lenders before applying for a loan.

Loan applicants can also visit online financial marketplaces and/or visit various instant personal loan app to compare the personal loan offers from multiple lenders on the basis of their interest rates, tenure, loan amount, disbursal time, fees and charges, etc. Doing so can help those applicants select the best possible personal loan offer.

Avoid Frequent Job Changes

Lenders consider their loan applicants’ employment stability while assessing their personal loan applications. As frequent job changes reflect both career and income instability, it ends up increasing the lenders’ credit risk.

Therefore, lenders usually reject personal loan applications of those switching their jobs frequently or approve their loans at higher interest rates.

Some lenders also require their salaried personal loan applicants to be employed for at least 6 months to 1-year in their current organisation. Therefore, prospective personal loan applicants should avoid switching jobs to increase their chances of personal loan approval.

Hina Khan diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer; says ‘my treatment has already begun’

Mumbai, June 28 2024-

Actress Hina Khan on Friday announced that she has been diagnosed with stage three breast cancer, saying she is strong, determined, and fully committed to overcoming this disease.

Taking to social media, Hina shared a post which read: “Hello Everyone, To address the recent rumour, I want to share some important news with all the Hinaholics and everyone who loves and cares for me. I have been diagnosed with Stage Three Breast Cancer. Despite this challenging diagnosis, I want to reassure everyone that I am doing well. I am strong, determined, and fully committed to overcoming this disease. My treatment has already begun, and I am ready to do everything necessary to emerge from this even stronger.”

“I kindly ask for your respect and privacy during this time. I deeply appreciate your love, strength, and blessings. Your personal experiences, anecdotes, and supportive suggestions would mean the world to me as I navigate this journey. I, along with my family and loved ones, remain focused, determined, and positive. With the grace of the Almighty, we believe I will overcome this challenge and be completely healthy. Please send your prayers, blessings, and love. Love, Hina,” the note ended.

Actor Jay Bhanushali commented: “Get well soon Hina”. A fan wrote: “Stay strong, everything will be normal”.

A user said: “u r strong daddy girl”. One fan said: “Loads of prayers and strength to you”.

Hina is best known for her role as Akshara in one of the longest-running family drama ‘Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai’. Alongside Hina, the show formerly starred Karan Mehra, Shivangi Joshi, Mohsin Khan, Pranali Rathod and Harshad Chopda.

It currently features Samridhii Shukla and Rohit Purohit as fourth-generation leads.

The 36-year-old actress has also participated in reality shows like ‘Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi 8’, ‘Bigg Boss 11’, and ‘Bigg Boss 14’. She has been a part of shows like ‘Kasautii Zindagii Kay’ in which she essayed the role of Komolika, and ‘Naagin 5’.

Hina also recently made her Punjabi film debut with ‘Shinda Shinda No Papa’, alongside Gippy Grewal. (Agency)