Home Human Interest Culture & Community News Features Interviews About me Contact

NEWS FEATURES

The Times of India •

No ‘Aadhaar’: Film runs into UIDAI roadblock

Filmmaker Suman Ghosh—who had to contend with the Central Board of Film Certification in 2017 before it freed the “cow” and four other words that were asked to be beeped out from his documentary on Nobel laureate Amartya Sen—has run into trouble again. This time it’s with his feature film ‘ Aadhaar ’, a Hindi comic drama. Only it’s not a tussle between Ghosh and the certifying body, but a “super censor” in the form of Unique Identification Authority of India that issues Aadhaar card.
The Times of India •

Goa police book Delhi woman for sexual assault on French woman

A woman from Delhi who identifies herself as a queer rights activist has been booked for “sexual assault” and “wrongful confinement” of a French woman — who also identifies herself as queer — in Goa last week. The French woman has alleged that on February 23 she was “drugged”, “groped” and “so-called shamanic rituals” were performed on her by the accused before she went on to sexually assault her by hand.
The Times Of India •

Eye in sky is police ally in fight against Covid-19

“Oh red-shirt-waley, jo cricket khel rahe ho! Ghar jao warna police aapke khilaaf karwaai shuru karegi,” a voice booms in the air above Dharavi. The boy in red looks up wide-eyed at a flying machine buzzing above his head, and scurries off. “Aur ghar jaake haath dhona mat bhul na!” the voice trails off. A synthesised boom bap beat-led voice courses through the sky a little later in the day, rapping. For over a month, Mumbai’s skies have been dotted with swarms of light and small, unmanned aerial vehicles popularly known as drones.
The Times Of India •

One lakh litres of craft beer in Maharashtra to go down the drain

Chaitanya Khanapure, a computer engineer, was having a decade-long run in Mumbai’s swelling realm of tech innovation but an idea for a switchover kept gnawing at him. When he quit everything to study and brew beer for a living two years ago, it was about concocting his own unique flavours of ale and the sweet spot that locally brewed craft beer had hit in 2018 — a far cry from 2009, when he was a student and tasted the first kick of hops, malt and wheat at Doolally, India’s first microbrewery in Pune.
The Times Of India •

Conservationists divided on Maharashtra plan to lease out forts

Apart from the ravages of time, weather and apathy, a critical challenge that the architectural legacy in the country is often faced with is resistance to change, even if that involves actual efforts to restore the remains of its past.That is what happened when Maharashtra decided to lease out 25 forts identified as Class-II category of lesser historical significance to private players for conversion into heritage hotels.
The Times Of India •

Neighbouring towers dump 18 truckloads of trash in Raj Bhavan

There is never a shortage of ways in which Indians toss out their trash anytime, anywhere. In a curious case of rampant trash disposal, a tranquil patch of the 47-acre Raj Bhavan complex on the southern tip of the Malabar Point—despite being sheltered by a cliff and enshrined by the sea—has become the target of an aerial barrage of trash, allegedly dropping out of posh highrises that fringe the bhavan’s Lower Gates and landing with a splat on the western side of the compound.
The Times Of India •

In diversity push, Academy to open 3rd office in Mumbai after London & NYC

In January 2016, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had responded to the #OscarsSoWhite outrage by announcing a diversity committee and a fixed goal: To widen its membership and double the number of women and people of colour by 2020. Now, almost three and a half years later, India finds itself in the middle of the revolution with the Oscar granting body trying to broaden its reach in a country that is home to the world’s largest film industry.
The Times Of India •

Kin get five years in prison for forcing girl into sexual 'rites'

One year ago, a 17-year-old girl from Mumbra had looked her father and grandmother in the eye as well as a shaman from Dombivli and his agent, before calling them out and narrating to the court the horror of being forced as a 15 year old to perform sexual 'rituals' by all four who were convinced that if she could satisfy a Jinn or spirit with perverse acts, the family would receive a shower of gold coins and hidden treasures.
The Times Of India •

Boy thrashed at Worli shelter, staff used to steal food, gifts

While the scale of horrors at shelter homes in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and a nationwide survey of over 2,000 such places are gradually lifting the lid on atrocities within care institutions, the brutal beating of a 13-year-old boy at a private shelter home in Worli last week reflects how the rot runs deep in the heart of Mumbai.Last Friday, Riyaz (name changed) was whipped by the caretaker of Anand Kendra, a home for orphaned and destitute boys, for being “too naughty”.
The Times Of India •

‘Pricey popcorn at the movies ensures ticket prices don’t pop’

“Why does popcorn cost so much at the movies?” The answer to this big looming question that has baffled cinema lovers for years and sparked many tempers (and even threats and lawsuits in more recent times) – it turns out is one that is fascinatingly economics-driven and suggests that there is method to the multiplex madness, after all.Multiplexes say they rely on concession stands to make their businesses sustainable. It keeps ticket prices lower, which opens up the plush plex experience to more price-sensitive people while the premium on frills translates into better profit from those willing to fork out extra for corn and cola.
The Times Of India •

Activists hopeful after SC calls female genital mutilation unacceptable

The Supreme Court 's stance on Monday rejecting an impleadment by the Dawoodi Bohra Women's Association For Religious Freedom (DBWRF) in support of female genital mutilation , also known as female circumcision, by stating that bodily integrity of a woman cannot be infringed without her consent has brought some relief to women from the Bohra Muslim community who have been rallying against the centuries-old practice over the past three years.
Load More