By Niloufer Khan | Mumbai
Just after the success part of Chennai Express, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan expressed his wish to work with the 100-crore director again. Now it seems like the SRK’s wish is about to come true. Rohit Shetty is planning a sequel to Chennai Express.
If sources are to be believed, the sequel will be called Punjab Express and will start in mid 2014. Though the leading lady is yet to be finalized, sources say if all goes fine Deepika Padukone might be the first choice again.
By Yamuna Singh | Patna
In what has come as a shocker from Bihar, a man was ordered by the local Panchayat to marry off his daughter to a man who allegedly raped her. The panchayat also ordered to pay a lakh of rupees in cash and a motorcycle in dowry to the accused.
The incident came to light when the 16-year-old girl and her father brought it to the notice of Katihar Superintendent of Police Asghar Imam on Thursday. The diktat was issued by the panchayat in Katihar district of eastern Bihar a week ago.
By Niloufer Khan | Mumbai
EXCLUSIVE One of the most talked about inmates of Bigg Boss, Tanisha Mukherjee has been a mystery throughout the seventh season. It was widely reported that Tanisha’s growing closeness to Armaan Kohli in the Bigg Boss house had not gone down well with the Devgns and the Mukherjees.
Tanisha cried her heart out in front of her only friend (Armaan Kohli) when in one of the recent episodes, parents and relatives of the other contestants made a surprise visit on the show, but no one showed up from Tanisha and Armaan’s family.
By Kajol Singh | INN Live
EXCLUSIVE While sharing Hyderabad as the capital of bifurcated Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the two states would also have a common governor who will be responsible for the matters relating to law and order in the southern city, the Group of Ministers (GoM) on the statehood issue has decided.
INN Live got exclusive details of the modalities being finalised by the GoM on Andhra Pradesh bifurcation. It suggests that Hyderabad will be the common capital of two states for 10 years as they will also share the Governor.
By M H Ahssan | INN Live
The storm in the 'T' cup which brought dark clouds over Telangana in the past couple of days following intense speculation that the Group of Ministers (GoM) working out the modalities of the bifurcation were seriously considering a Rayala-Telangana proposal, has finally fizzed out.
The Union Cabinet finally approved the creation of Telangana with 10 districts and Hyderabad as joint capital for the two successor states for a period not exceeding 10 years, with the Governor given control over law and order in the capital.
This solution is just what the doctor prescribed for Telangana. Undoubtedly and expectedly, the decision is bound to create some disturbance in Seemandhra, and indications of this manifested on Friday, with the two regions observing a shutdown in protest against the decision.
By Vinod Jose | Mumbai
In the past two years, there have been a number of examples of our institutions and politicians overworking the press. The union information and broadcasting minister officially advised journalists on how to cover the prime minister. The minister for telecom constituted a body to curtail press freedoms on the internet.
The BJP’s prime ministerial candidate warned journalists to blindly toe a chauvinistic line. A Silchar court in the north-east and a Pune court in the west issued ex-parte injunction orders forcing media companies to remove journalistic content from websites. A Karnataka court tried a woman journalist under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act for exposing police corruption. A Tamil Nadu court barred the publication of a reported biography of a chief minister, since it displeased her. And a Delhi court blocked the release of a movie that “contains sex and vulgarity” that hurt religious sentiments.
By M H Ahssan | INN Live
The Indian media is like pliable dough. It can be kneaded, punched, stretched and rolled in all directions. If overworked, it turns rubbery, dense and inert. And if the hands that knead it are dirty, it becomes impossible to separate the grime from the good. External pressures and internal pollutants jointly compromise the loaf.
“In 1791, American legislators had written, in their historic first amendment, ‘Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.’ Our first amendment said exactly the opposite: nothing in the future shall ‘prevent the State from making any law’ that takes away the freedom of press,” Caravan Executive Editor Vinod Jose in a brilliant, must-read essay mapping the ‘habits of mind’ that have crippled the Indian media.
By M H Ahssan | INN Live
The counter agitation for a united Andhra Pradesh pushes the state to the brink of anarchy. In the past couple of months, a previously unheard of movement has been gathering force in Andhra Pradesh. Telangana agitators rejoiced after the UPA government’s announcement that the region would be carved out of Andhra Pradesh as the 29th state of India. Soon, a largely apolitical counter movement for Samaikyandhra — a United AP — started gaining currency, in which employees of the government and private sectors started protesting the formation of a separate state.
