Shefali, Jaideep to bring ‘emotions to life, passion to screen’ with ‘Hisaab’

Mumbai, July 1 2024-

Actors Shefali Shah, Jaideep Ahlawat and Abhishek Banerjee have started filming for ‘Hisaab’, directed by Vipul Amrutlal Shah.

The announcement was made on Instagram by the official handle of Sunshine Pictures Pvt Ltd. The production company shared a picture of the film’s clapboard kept next to a small temple on the sets.

“Today, we embark on the journey of bringing emotions to life and passion to the screen; the beginning of Hisaab, presented by Jio Studios in association with Sunshine Pictures!” the caption read.

Going by the tags used, the film also stars Srishti Shrivastava, Rohitashv Gour and Gopal Datt. Other details about the film and the plot are still under wraps.

Vipul Amrutlal Shah, who is the husband of actress Shefali Shah, started with his journey in the glitzy world of showbiz with the ‘Ek Mahal Ho Sapno Ka’, TV serial, which had over 1,000 episodes.

He made his film debut by directing the Gujarati movie ‘Dariya Chhoru’ and transitioned to Hindi movies with ‘Aankhen’ in 2002. The director then made movies such as ‘Waqt: The Race Against Time’, ‘Namastey London’, ‘Singh Is Kinng’ and ‘London Dreams’.

Shefali started her journey in Hindi cinema in 1995 with a small role in ‘Rangeela’. She was then seen in films such as ‘Satya’, ‘Mohabbatein’, ‘Waqt: The Race Against Time’, ‘Gandhi, My Father’, ‘Commando 2: The Black Money Trail’, ‘Jalsa’, ‘Darlings’ and ‘Three of Us’.

Talking about Jaideep, his latest work is ‘Maharaj’, which marked the debut of superstar Aamir Khan’s son Junaid and tells the story related to the Maharaj Libel Case in 1862. (Agency)

Justice was never fully served, says VP Dhankhar as MPs pay homage to Kanishka bombing victims

New Delhi, July 1, 2024
Terming it as one of the darkest days in the fight against terrorism, both Houses of Parliament observed a moment of silence on Monday in memory of the 329 victims of Air India 182 ‘Kanishka’ terrorist attack that took place on June 23, 1985.

“The incident is a grim reminder of why the world must adopt a zero-tolerance approach towards terrorism and violent extremism. Such acts can never be condoned or justified,” said Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.

In one of the worst acts of terrorism, the AI-182 plane was blown up mid-air off the coast of Ireland by Sikh terrorists not long after it took off from Montreal en route to India, killing all passengers and crew members — a majority of them being Canadian nationals of Indian origin.

“Regrettably, justice was never fully served…,” said Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar as the Upper House observed a moment of silence.

The Members of Parliament also expressed their condolence and deep sympathy to the victims of the Kuwait fire tragedy that took place on June 12, 2024.

The tragic incident claimed several precious lives and left many injured.

“Remembering the friends of India”, the MPs also paid homage to the leaders of Iran, Malawi and Tanzania who recently passed away.

The leaders include President Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister H. Amir-Abdollahian of Iran; Former President Ali Hassan Mwinyi of Tanzania; and Vice President Saulos Klaus Chilima of Malawi.

The House recalled their contributions in strengthening bilateral relations.(Agency)

From bodycon dress to shimmery pink gown, 5 ways Disha Patani raised the fashion quotient

Mumbai, July 1 2024-

Actress Disha Patani, who is currently making waves with her performance as Roxie in the movie ‘Kalki 2898 AD’, surely knows how to turn heads with her style, as she inspires fans with her fashion trends.

Here are the top five looks of the ‘M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story’ fame actress that you would want to add straight into your lookbooks.

Raising oomph in black

Disha ate and left no crumbs by donning a thigh-high-slit bodycon dress. The sleeveless outfit has a plunging neckline. She went all glam with the makeup — glossy red lips, and highlighted face. The look is rounded off by strappy heels.

In blush pink shimmer

Disha looks sweet as ever in a shimmery blush pink off-shoulder gown. While she radiates sheer elegance in the dress, the pattern and the body-fit look of the gown accentuate her curves. She has opted for a natural makeup look, with her long tresses left open, and styled in soft waves.

Dishing boss lady vibes

Disha personifies boss lady vibes in a white co-ord set. The outfit is a pair of an ivory white skirt topped with a matching bralette and a coat.

Staying classy in whites

The ‘Malang’ actress knows how to raise the temperature, and she has done just that as she has wrapped herself in a satin white body-hugging gown, which perfectly highlights Disha’s toned figure. The backless gown flaunts Disha’s curves, setting the internet on fire. The look is accessorised with a beautiful neckpiece.

Wine red is the new black

Disha looks all things chic and stylish in this red wine-coloured satin outfit. The whole dramatic backless look and the plunging neckline makes it the best pick, especially for date nights. She opted for a neutral makeup look and tied her hair in a dramatic bun.

Meanwhile, ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ stars Prabhas, Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan, Deepika Padukone, Brahmanandam, Shobhana, Saswata Chatterjee, Pasupathy and Malvika Nair in pivotal roles. It is directed by Nag Ashwin and produced by Vyjayanthi Movies.

Disha next has ‘Kanguva’ and ‘Welcome To The Jungle’. (Agency)

Mobile phone exports: India gains with PLI scheme as China & Vietnam falter

New Delhi, July 1, 2024
In a major boost to India’s production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, mobile phone exports from the country gained much ground in FY24 as manufacturing giants like China and Vietnam fell behind.

Railways, I&B and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw posted on X on Monday that “Bharat’s focus on manufacturing with ‘Make in India’ and PLI scheme is showing good results.”

As tech giants like Apple continue to shift iPhone manufacturing to India amid political stability and friendly government policies, India captured almost half of the lost market (40.5 per cent) from China and Vietnam in the last fiscal year.

Mobile phone exports from China went down from $136.3 billion in FY23 to $132.5 billion in FY24.

On the other hand, Vietnam saw a drop from $31.9 billion in FY23 to $26.27 billion in the last fiscal year, according to the latest industry data.

India, on the other hand, became a natural choice for mobile phone manufacturers owing to the PLI scheme.

Mobile phone exports from the country touched nearly $16 billion in FY24 from $11 billion in FY23.

Mobile phone production surged from Rs 18,900 crore in 2014-15 to an estimated Rs 4.10 lakh crore in FY24, registering an increase of 2,000 per cent, as per top electronics industry body India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA).

The overall electronic manufacturing in the country is expected to reach around $250 billion in the next five years.

At present, the electronic exports of the country stand at around $125 to $130 billion. More than 12 lakh new jobs have been created in the electronics manufacturing system in the country.

According to Prabhu Ram, Head, the Industry Intelligence Group at market intelligence firm CMR, expanding the PLI scheme to electronic components manufacturing is a strategic move to address a critical bottleneck in India’s domestic electronics ecosystem.

By incentivising local production, the policy will aim to boost domestic manufacturing capabilities and create a more resilient end-to-end electronics value chain.(Agency)

K’taka cop stabs wife to death in SP’s office premises

Hassan (Karnataka), July 1 2024-

In a shocking case, a police constable stabbed his wife to death on the premises of the SP’s office in Karnataka’s Hassan district on Monday and then fled the spot.

The police have launched a search for the accused cop. The deceased woman was identified as Mamatha, and the accused was Lokanath.

A preliminary investigation revealed that a family dispute triggered the incident.

The incident took place when Mamatha had come to the SP’s office to file a complaint against her husband.

Lokanath, enraged by this, ambushed and stabbed her in the chest, killing her in the presence of police personnel and the public.

Although she was immediately rushed to the hospital, Mamatha succumbed to her injuries later.

The accused police constable managed to escape from the scene. According to police, Lokanath and Mamatha have been married for 17 years and have two children. The couple had been fighting over a family dispute and had a bitter argument just four days ago. Lokanath was working at the office of the circle inspector in Shanthigrama. Hassan City police have registered a case and are investigating the matter. (Agency)

BJP has invited me back; I have not conveyed my decision: Sacked leader Eshwarappa

Shivamogga, (Karnataka) July 1, 2024
Sacked BJP leader, KS Eshwarappa stated on Monday that he has been invited to re-join the party, but claimed that he has not yet shared his decision on the matter.

When asked about his potential return to the BJP by reporters in Shivamogga, Eshwarappa said, “You’ll have to wait and see what happens.”

He also denied rumours that his son, KE Kanthesh, would contest from the Shiggaon Assembly seat in Haveri District, which was vacated by former CM Basavaraj Bommai after he was elected as the MP from Haveri Lok Sabha Seat.

Regarding the forthcoming civic polls in Shivamogga city and local body elections in Shivamogga District, Eshwarappa said that a decision would be made at an appropriate time.

“We are a group of people from the BJP, and we always prioritise the party’s interests. We will continue to do so,” he stated.

“When the elections take place, we will make a decision at that time,” he said.

The BJP had expelled Eshwarappa from the party for six years after he contested as an independent candidate against the BJP’s candidate, former CM BS Yediyurappa’s son BY Raghavendra in the recently-held General Elections.

Despite his efforts, Eshwarappa secured only 30,050 votes, while Raghavendra won the election with a margin of 2.43 lakh votes.

However, Eshwarappa still enjoys the support of some senior leaders in the party who are opposed to Yediyurappa and his son Vijayendra.(Agency)

SRI-Bangalore democratising Galaxy AI in India

New Delhi, July 1 2024-

As the development of Galaxy AI involved multiple R&D teams working across cultures and borders, Samsung R&D Institute India-Bangalore (SRI-B), the company’s largest R&D centre outside South Korea, collaborated with teams globally to develop artificial intelligence (AI) language models for Indian, British and Australian English as well as Thai, Vietnamese and Indonesian, the company said on Monday.

Recently, core engineers from other Samsung Research centres visited Bangalore where the SRI-B team helped ramp up the technology to bring Vietnamese, Thai and Indonesian to Galaxy AI.

“Every language has its challenges. But when you consider the end goal of bringing people to communicate in other languages, it’s worth every ounce of effort. We couldn’t wait to bring Hindi to Galaxy AI,” said Giridhar Jakki, Head of Language AI at SRI-B.

SRI-B developed the Hindi language for Galaxy AI. According to the company, developing the Hindi AI model “wasn’t simple”.

The team had to ensure over 20 regional dialects, tonal inflections, punctuation and colloquialisms were covered.

“Hindi has a complex phonetic structure that includes retroflex sounds — sounds made by curling the tongue back in the mouth — which are not present in many other languages,” said Jakki.

“To build the speech synthesis element of the AI solution, we carefully reviewed data with native linguists to understand all the unique sounds and created a special set of phenomes to support specific dialects of the language,” he added.

Moreover, the company mentioned that the collaborative efforts between Samsung and academic partners were instrumental in developing the AI language model.

The Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) helped secure almost a million lines of segmented and curated audio data on conversational speech, words and commands.

Galaxy AI now supports 16 languages, allowing more people to enhance their language capabilities. Users can now access on-device translation in features such as Live Translate, Interpreter, Note Assist, and Browsing Assist, even when offline. (Agency)

Euro 2024: Important for Ronaldo to help the team succeed, says Bruno ahead of Slovenia clash

Frankfurt, July 1 2024-

Portugal and Slovenia will be facing off at the Deutsche Bank Park on Monday as both sides will be hoping to progress to the Euro 2024 quarterfinals. The two teams previously met for a friendly in March which Slovenia won 2-0.

Ahead of the highly awaited game, Bruno Fernandes spoke about Cristiano Ronaldo’s importance in the side and how he always puts the team ahead of him.

“For Cristiano Ronaldo, the most important thing is for the team to succeed. For him (passing to Fernandes against Turkey) was the best decision at the moment but if he had taken a shot, we would have had the same result,” said Bruno Fernandes to reporters in the pre-game conference.

Slovenia has been in top notch form, they have only lost one game in the past year which constituted 15 games which was the loss against Denmark in the group stage of the tournament.

Portugal head coach Roberto Martinez spoke on the difficult opposition that lays ahead labeling the game as a ‘do or die’, situation.

“It’s do or die. It’s not easy to play at a Euros but we are prepared. Slovenia are very well organised and competitive and we need to be at our best. This tournament starts now. Portugal is fresh and we’re ready,” said Head Coach Martinez

“We want to win every single game so that means reaching the final and winning the final. No team wants to go home early, least of all Portugal because we are aware of our quality. We had a friendly when they beat us and this needs to put us on our toes. They had a great defence but we need to find solutions,” added Manchester United captain Fernandes. (Agency)

Our tech, R&D can help India’s green supply chain grow multifold: Australian envoy

New Delhi, July 1, 2024
The green energy sector in India has taken off well under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government and Australian companies, with their top-notch technologies and research and development (R&D) expertise, can seamlessly fit into the Indian green supply chain and help it grow at scale, Australia’s High Commissioner to India, Philip Green OAM, said on Monday.

Speaking to IANS on the sidelines of the ‘India Energy Storage Week (IESW) 2024’ event in the national capital, Philip Green said Australian firms are well aware of the Indian opportunity in the green energy sector and are taking big notice of the overall growth.

“The Indian economy is growing very fast, which means a huge demand for new energy, and a large amount will have to be found from renewable sources,” said the Australian envoy.

“We are the producers of some of the most important minerals and metals for the green energy supply chain. Particularly, Australia is one of the biggest producers of critical minerals on the planet,” he told IANS.

The High Commissioner to India also said there is a growing synergy between the two countries, especially in the area of green energy supply chain.

PM Modi has set a target to install 500 GW renewable energy capacity by 2030.

Abundant solar energy and local technology are aiding in achieving this target while reducing carbon emissions, according to the government.

Australia and India have joined forces to accelerate the production and deployment of renewable energy technologies that will create new economic opportunities, diversify global clean energy supply chains, and help reduce global emissions.

The focus is on scaling up the manufacturing and deployment of solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies, and clean hydrogen technologies, including electrolysers.

On May 24, 2023, India and Australia reiterated a shared ambition on green hydrogen with the exchange of the agreed terms of reference for the India-Australia Green Hydrogen Taskforce.(Agency)

Mohammad Rizwan to lead Vancouver Knights in GT20 Canada

New Delhi, July 1 2024-

Vancouver Knights have appointed Mohammad Rizwan as their captain for the GT20 Canada 2024, opting for his leadership over that of Babar Azam.

“The Vancouver Knights have chosen their captain for GT20 Season 4: Sir Mohammad Rizwan. With his exceptional batting skills and sharp wicketkeeping, he’s ready to lead us to victory. Get ready, Knights!” GT20 Canada franchise said in a statement.

While Rizwan has never captained Pakistan at the international level, he has led Multan Sultans in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). Babar, on the other hand, currently leads Pakistan’s national team and Peshawar Zalmi in the PSL.

The Knights’ squad includes four Pakistani cricketers: Rizwan, Babar Azam, veteran fast bowler Mohammad Amir, and middle-order batter Asif Ali. The team is also bolstered by international players like Dwaine Pretorius, Sandeep Lamichhane, Dipendra Singh Airee, Paul van Meekeren, and Ruben Trumpelmann.

The season four of the league is scheduled from July 25 to August 11 in the city of Brampton. (Agency)