India News
Dance pioneer Astad Deboo dies at 73, Twitter flush with tributes
Deboo is noted for creating a modern dance vocabulary that was uniquely Indian. His innovative style of Indian dance may have raised some eyebrows in the 1970s and 80s, but later in the 1990s saw people embrace this new idiom.
Dance pioneer Astad Deboo, renowned for Kathak as well as Kathakali, died on Thursday at the age of 73. His family announced on social media that Deboo died in the early hours of December 10 at his residence in Mumbai after a brief illness. The announcement said, the loss to the family, friends, fraternity of dancers, both classical and modern, Indian and international, is inestimable. May he rest in peace and will miss him.
Padma Alva, a longtime friend of Deboo and a former PTI journalist, said his funeral was a private affair due to the COVID-19 restrictions held at Worli in Soth Mumbai. It was a private funeral because of Covid-19 restrictions.
Deboo is noted for creating a modern dance vocabulary that was uniquely Indian. His innovative style of Indian dance may have raised some eyebrows in the 1970s and 80s, but later in the 1990s saw people embrace this new idiom.
Deboo, who was born on July 13, 1947, in the town of Navsari in Gujarat, began to train in Kathak under Prahlad Das in Kolkata from a young age and later trained in Kathakali under E.K. Pannicker, who described his style as contemporary in vocabulary and traditional in restraint. Spanning almost half a century in dance, Deboo had performed in over 70 countries, including solo, group and collaborative choreography with artistes, at home and abroad.
Known for his charitable endeavours, Deboo worked with deaf children, both in India and abroad for two decades. In 2002, he founded the Astad Deboo Dance Foundation which provided creative training to marginalised sections, including the differently-abled.
Deboo also forayed into other art disciplines, like films, choreographing for directors such as Mani Ratnam, Vishal Bhardwaj and legendary painter M.F. Husain’s Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities.
Actor Anupam Kher took to Twitter to pay tributes to the dance icon and wrote Deboo”s art would be missed. He wrote the world of modern dance has lost a pioneer and India has lost a cultural treasure. Filmmaker Nandita Das also tweeted that a lot of dance was still left in him. Describing Deboo as a powerhouse of talent, music composer Ehsaan Noorani tweeted that the dancer was a man who pushed the dimensions of dance. Casting director Tess Joseph said Deboo was not only a generous person but a visionary and stunning dancer.
2024 Lok Sabha Elections
Election Commission advises Bengal Governor to not visit Cooch Behar on voting day
The Election Commission advised the Bengal Governor to call off his proposed visit to Cooch Behar on April 19.
West Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose has been warned by the Election Commission of India (ECI) not to visit Cooch Behar on April 18 and 19, since the first phase of the Lok Sabha polls will begin with a silence period on Wednesday evening.
According to those familiar with the situation in the EC, the poll body informed the governor’s office that no local program could be planned for the governor on April 19 due to the Model Code of Conduct and the election day.
The poll body added that if they had to provide local security cover for this unexpected proposed visit without a imminently known requirement, the tour would be a diversion because the district administration and police force will be completely occupied with election management on April 18 and 19.
As a result, under Section 126 of the Representation of People Act, campaigning is prohibited in Cooch Behar starting at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.
In order to ensure a free and fair election process, the poll board has asked all district election officers and district police chiefs to make sure that all prominent individuals, campaigners, and political workers who are not local voters leave the polling area once the silence period begins.
The seven phases of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections will take place between April to June. Polls will be conducted in seven phases: the first on April 19 and the seventh on June 1. On June 4, the results will be announced.
India News
Lamborghini Gallardo worth nearly Rs 1 crore set on fire over business dispute
A video circulating on social media shows the luxury car Lamborghini Gallardo being burned and reduced to ashes. The police officials said a complaint has been registered by Neeraj, a car reseller who had bought the luxury car from its original owner.
A person who deals in the sale and purchase of old luxury cars and a few others has allegedly burnt an old but expensive model of Lamborghini Gallardo on a road in Hyderabad over a dispute with its owner on Monday. The police said the owner of the Lamborghini Gallardo, Neeraj wanted to sell off the vehicle, estimated to be worth up to Rs 1 crore, and had informed some of his friends to look for a buyer.
The police added that the main accused Ahmed had called a friend of Neeraj and asked him to bring the car. The said friend of Neeraj was known to the Ahmed. When the luxury car was brought to Mamidipalli Road which is situated on the city outskirts Ahmed along with a few others, burnt the luxury car using petrol and claimed that Neeraj owed him money.
A video circulating on social media shows the luxury car Lamborghini Gallardo being burned and reduced to ashes. The police officials said a complaint has been registered by Neeraj, a car reseller who had bought the luxury car from its original owner. By the time fire department vehicles arrived at the scene it was too late as the luxury car was engulfed in flames and badly damaged. A video of the burning Lamborghini Gallardo has been circulating on social media.
The incident is a proof to the lengths to which disputes can rise. An expert spoke about the car that got burnt and said it was the Gallardo Spyder. He pointed out that it is a substantially older gen model which can only be found in the resale market. The expert further added the car has a powerful 5-litre NA V10 engine that made 513 horse power and 510 Nm of peak torque.
2024 Lok Sabha Elections
2024 Lok Sabha elections: TMC releases manifesto, Mamata Banerjee vows to scrap CAA, stop NRC
The Trinamool Congress has today released its manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections
West Bengal CM Mamta Banarjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) today released its manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. In its manifesto, the TMC pledged to repeal the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), stop the development of a National Register of citizens and the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), and stop its implementation nationwide.
The manifesto was unveiled by Trinamool MP Derek O’Brien, West Bengal Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya, and Amit Mitra, who is the Special Advisor to the Chief Minister. However, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee was not present at the event.
As Derek O’Brien unveiled the manifesto, he said, this is what they will do when the TMC, as part of INDIA bloc, forms government.
The Citizenship Amendment Act has long been opposed by the Trinamool Congress. Five years after it was approved by Parliament, the central government finally put the CAA into effect last month.
The party led by Mamata Banerjee has also expressed resistance to the National Register of Citizens proposal, claiming that West Bengal will never adopt it.
The manifesto titled Didi’s 10 sapaths, alludes to 10 oaths made by Mamata Banerjee, popularly known as Didi.
The Mamata Banerjee-led party additionally pledges to raise the daily allowance under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act to Rs 400 per day in addition to the UCC and CAA. Everyone has also been offered pucca houses by the party.
A monthly pension of Rs 1,000 for people over 60, free home delivery of 5 kg of ration for every ration card user, 10 free LPG cylinders annually for families below the poverty line, and universal healthcare coverage worth Rs 10 lakh are among the other significant commitments made.
Additionally, the Trinamool Congress has pledged to establish a price stabilization fund in order to control the cost of gasoline and LPG.
The party has assured the youth that every student will receive a monthly stipend up until the age of 25. A student credit card of Rs. 10 lakh will be awarded to those who choose to continue their education.
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