The superstar’s decision to donate his office comes just a couple of days after he made huge contributions to the government to aid the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan (File Photo | PTI)
Mumbai :
Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan and his wife Gauri have offered their four-storied personal office space to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), to be utilized as a quarantine facility for women, children and the elderly. This comes at a time when the nation along with the rest of the world is battling the deadly COVID 19 pandemic.
Thanking the Bollywood superstar and his wife for their act of generosity, BMC shared on social media: “#StrongerTogether We thank @iamsrk & @gaurikhan for offering their 4-storey personal office space to help expand our Quarantine capacity equipped with essentials for quarantined children, women & elderly. Indeed a thoughtful & timely gesture! #AnythingForMumbai #NaToCorona.”
We thank @iamsrk & @gaurikhan for offering their 4-storey personal office space to help expand our Quarantine capacity equipped with essentials for quarantined children, women & elderly.
With 10.5K TESTs, #FlattenTheCurve is the mantra adopted by @mybmc since 3-Feb!
4K #HomeTests so that you #StayHomeStaySafe
Thanks to @mybmc Docs & Pvt Labs in Mumbai, we’re grateful to contribute to India’s efforts at testing 43K#ProudToProtect#AnythingForMumbai#NaToCoronahttps://twitter.com/mybmc/status/1246130737620779010 …
The superstar’s decision to donate his office comes just a couple of days after he made huge contributions to the government to aid the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic.
SRK, through his IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), has committed to contribute to the PM-Cares Fund. Through his film production banner, Red Chillies Entertainment, he will give to the Maharashtra CM’s Relief Fund.
The superstar has also pledged Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for healthcare providers and workers in Maharashtra and West Bengal.
SRK’s Meer Foundation along with the foundation Ek Saath will provide daily food requirements to over 5500 families for at least a month in Mumbai. Meer Foundation is also collaborating with Roti Foundation to provide meals to underprivileged people and daily wage laborers.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Good News / by IANS / April 04th, 2020
IT major Wipro Ltd, Wipro Enterprises Ltd and Azim Premji Foundation, have together committed Rs 1,125 crore towards tackling the unprecedented health and humanitarian crisis arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“These resources will help enable the dedicated medical and service fraternity in the frontline of the battle against the pandemic and in mitigating its wide-ranging human impact, particularly on the most disadvantaged of our society,” the companies said in a statement.
Of the Rs 1,125 crore, Wipro Ltd’s commitment is Rs 100 crore, Wipro Enterprises Ltd’s Rs 25 crore, and that of the Azim Premji Foundation is Rs 1,000 crore. These sums are in addition to the annual CSR activities of Wipro, and the usual philanthropic spends of the Azim Premji Foundation, the statement added.
Integrated action will be taken for a comprehensive on-the-ground response in specific geographies, it said.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Business> Business News / by DHMS, Bengaluru / April 02nd, 2020
A mosquito net-maker and an auto driver have been using their savings to feed the homeless and beggars every night.
Hyderabad :
A day after Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao announced the state-wide lockdown and curfew from 7 pm to 6 am, the streets were uncharacteristically empty post nightfall.
While most of the residents stayed at home figuring out ways to procure essentials to sustain till the lockdown period, a group of youngsters from Sanath Nagar went around the city, braving the curfew and the police, to distribute food to the homeless and labourers at night.
Mohammed Qadeer, a mosquito net-maker, and his friend Mohammed Ghazi, an auto-rickshaw driver, have been using their savings from the day of lockdown to feed around 100-150 homeless and beggars every day at night. What they’re doing is of significance: though there are many people distributing food during the day, there is hardly anyone doing it at night due to the curfew.
The Express chanced upon the youngsters a few days ago at around 9 pm and accompanied them while they distributed food packets to the needy. While Qadeer rode a motorcycle alone, two others were on another bike holding a large crate filled with food packets – comprising dal and rice.
They moved slowly looking out for homeless or beggars sleeping on the pavements. When they approached one such person who was sleeping in front of a restaurant at Somajiguda, there was a look of disbelief on his face when he realised that he was being given food.
They were stopped by a bike-borne traffic police, who enquired what they were doing out at night. After Qadeer and others explained to the police of their service, they were let go. “This has happened every day till now. We are always stopped by the police, but they let us go when we tell them why we are out,” he said on Wednesday.
They have now started distributing food in different areas like Lakdi ka Pul. “We are not affiliated to any NGO and we do not have any external funding,” Qadeer told Express. The Sanath Nagar resident makes food at his house, with his family helping him in the cooking process.
“We take utmost care when it comes to hygiene and ensure cleanliness while cooking food,” he said. However, as of on Wednesday, Qadeer said they have been facing financial issues and that they may not be able to distribute food for two days.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Good News / by Ahik Sur / Express News Service / April 02nd, 2020
Interviewed when he was approximately 80, the musician was refreshingly honest about his career
via Youtube.com
The guru-shishya or master-disciple format of transmitting knowledge to students of Hindustani music is not restricted solely to the musical. It imparts extra-musical concepts and conventions that also form an integral part of the Hindustani music milieu.
One of the many extra-musical aspects that a student imbibes is a respect for the tradition. It is incumbent on the student to exercise humility, not just in the presence of seniors, but to approach musical knowledge and the tradition that continues to pass down this knowledge through successive generations with humility too.
Having said that, it is also true that performers seldom publicly accept their limitations, particularly when they have reached the zenith of their careers. It is certainly not expected from a performer of the eminence of Ahmed Jan Thirakwa (c.1880s-1976), one of the greatest tabla players of all time. But his candour in the interview conducted by vocalist Madhuri Mattoo for the Urdu service of the All India Radio is overwhelming.
In answer to a question at approximately 5.40” whether he ever faced a moment of failure in a concert, he readily answers in the affirmative. Mattoo ventures to attribute this singular failure to ill-health, but Thirakwa honestly lays the blame on his “ghuroor: or pride and vanity at the time. For those who believe that the performers on stage are in direct communication with the Almighty and that they personify humility, Thirakwa’s answer comes as a revelation. It illustrates that even the most accomplished of musicians have foibles and are therefore as human as anyone else. It also proves that while honesty is difficult to come by, it can perhaps be seen among those like Thirakwa, who are confident of their work and are not insecure about their position in the musician fraternity.
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Interview of Ustad Ahmedjaan Thirakwa – Madhuri Mattoo
source: htttp://youtube.com
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Recorded when he was 80 or thereabouts, Thirakwa describes his early training, at first in vocal music and then in tabla. Without a moment’s hesitation, he sings a vocal bandish or composition that displays the intense musicality he was seeped in right from his childhood. Similarly, he describes his training in Mumbai and his concerts across the country, including his employment at the court of the Nawab of Rampur.
Thirakwa admits that he had never performed overseas, despite having been requested to do so by Jawaharlal Nehru, when was prime minister. In a manner that is amazingly disarming, he says he did not comply with the request as he was not comfortable with air travel. Madhuri Mattoo tries convincing him to undertake such travel in future, as audiences overseas were keen to hear him. Thirakwa responds that he has flown from Calcutta to Guwahati and is now aware of what air travel entails. But his self-respect is evident when he states that he will travel overseas only if he is invited, as he has never requested anyone for performance opportunities and would never do so in future as well.
The interview moves on to illustrations of compositions from various schools of tabla playing. The audio clip ends with a solo recital by the maestro.
source: http://www.scroll.in / Scroll.in / Home> Sonic Saturday / by Aneesh Pradhan / February 13th, 2016
The editor-cinematographer has a popular Instagram page ‘cuts.zzz’ dedicated to such mash-up videos
Perhaps one of the most forwarded videos on social media during this lockdown has been US President Donald Trump ‘singing’ Mappilapattu. In this video, which has got 4.25 lakh views on Instagram page, ‘cuts.zzz‘, the president is depicted singing a traditional folk song of the Muslim community in Kerala, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, First Lady Melanie Trump, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, and thousands of people cheering him on.
The “mash-up video” features the filmi version of the popular Mappila song, ‘Aminathathede Ponnumolaanu’, from the Malayalam movie Honey Bee 2.5, sung by actor-director Lal. The mastermind behind the video is editor-cinematographer-director Ajmal Sabu. With accolades coming in from the world over for his editing skills in creating the impression that Trump himself is singing those lines, the 24-year-old is on a high. The viral video has so far got over eight lakh views on Facebook as well.
“I didn’t expect such a reach for the video. I am getting messages from across India and even abroad,” says Ajmal over phone from his home at Changanassery in Kottayam district. He adds, “My professional commitments have been stalled due to the lockdown. So, instead of wasting time I thought of doing something interesting. I came across this song in a video my friend had sent me. I was hearing that version of the song for the first time and felt that I should put it to use somewhere. As the ‘Namaste Trump’ event at Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, was a much-discussed event, I thought of giving it a try. And it clicked!” says the 24-year-old.
Mass appeal
Ajmal started his Instagram page for mash-up videos two years ago and most of them have gone viral. There are over 50 videos on the page, with another popular one being American wrestler and WWE superstar Big Show and WWE’s chief branding officer Stephanie McMahon supposedly saying the dialogues of Nakulan (Suresh Gopi) and Ganga (Sobhana) from an iconic scene in the Malayalam movie, Manichitrathazhu.
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Fact file
An alumnus of Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics in Pune, from where he learnt animation, VFX and post production, Ajmal started out as a cinematographer with a Marathi film, Dhap. He was an assistant director in the Malayalam films Kappirithuruthu and Love Action Drama. He has also been a spot editor and is much sought-after in Malayalam film industry for making promo cuts, teasers and trailers of movies. He has directed short films and has done cinematography and editing in music videos, short films, documentaries and ad films.
He is all set to turn independent as an editor and cinematographer with a Malayalam film. “If the lockdown wasn’t there, the shoot would have begun on April 10. It is a good project and I still can’t believe that I am doing it,” he says.
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The first mash-up video he created was of the Joker-Batman scene from The Dark Knight with dialogues from Maheshinte Prathikaram, picturised on Soubin Shahir and Alencier. Among other videos that fetched lakhs of likes are those of Bruno Mars dancing to the tune of ‘Margazhiye malligaye’ from Megham, Rihanna’s video with the track of Popy umbrella ad, scene from Guardians of Galaxy with dialogues from Aniyathipravu and Modi’s speech at a rally with lottery announcement.
Ajmal says that there is no short cut to creating these videos. “It takes several hours to mix and match the scenes. I spent seven to eight hours on the Trump video alone. If you are taking a song or dance number, matching rhythm and steps are not that difficult. But the toughest part is lip sync. It is possible to experiment with all videos. However, you have to keep on trying to get the perfect match,” he says, adding, “At the same time you shouldn’t compromise on humour.”
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Entertainment> Movies / by Athira M / Thiruvananthapuram – April 01st, 2020
Afreen, far left, in meeting with CM Hemant Soren regarding CAA, NRC, NPR
Ranchi:
Jharkhand had been witnessing a wave of protests against CAA- NRC-NPR since December last year leading the State assembly to eventually pass a resolution against NPR-NRC on March 23, 2020. Kadru, Ranchi’s Shaheen Bagh was the major a sit-in protest site for women, running for two months until the latest shutdown for Coronavirus pandemic.
The sit-in registered massive student and women protestors, most of them young and old Muslim women on the forefront taking the movement ahead. Among them is Afreen Azad Khan, 30-year-old protester from Purani Ranchi who has been the most active on ground for creating awareness and mobilization of the masses. Afreen, along with her team had also met CM Hemant Soren urging him to stop the process NPR in Jharkhand.
TwoCircles.net reporter Nazish Hussain spoke to Afreen on the challenges, opportunities and experiences on the ground against CAA-NRC. Here are the excerpts:
CAA got passed in the Lok Sabha on 9 December, 2019, triggering protests across the country. What was your initial reaction and how did you follow the developments as the protests intensified?
I was getting news of NRC process being carried out in Assam. It didn’t hit hard until we saw names of distinguished government personnel and military officials out of the NRC list. It was then that I started following it closely, reading more about CAA. The whole exercise seemed to me as Anti-Constitution and Anti-Indian. It would affect not just Muslims but also Dalits and Adivasis, who are huge in number in my State. At this point there were many protests taking place across country and I felt the need to finally start learning about it and educating the same to people in Ranchi.
When and how did you decide to join the protest against CAA and took it to streets, campaigning against it?
Particularly after the police violence on students of Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University I was very much affected. Many things have happened before this, like Gujarat riots, but this time I felt the jolts when I saw young, unarmed students being attacked inside a university. I decided then that I must do something against it, whatever was in my capacity.
How did your family respond to your decision of joining the protest and later leading them?
I have three sisters, a younger brother and my mother. I received full support from my family since day one as they got actively engaged at the protest site at Kadru Bagh readily. My mother and sisters would daily go to the sit-in and sometimes when they couldn’t, they never stopped me from going anywhere to these protests. There were times I reached home very late at night due to ground work but I had full family support and it never became an issue. My family let me do things form a free mind.
Being a Muslim woman activist, tell us about your experience of mobilizing and interacting with the community? What has been the biggest challenge you had to overcome?
The biggest challenge was to engage with women for their active participation. They were mostly fear-stricken and only knew that something against Muslims was happening. It took us a while to get them to fully understand the larger implication of the situation. We had to educate them about the broader perspective and motivate them to reach out to other communities for a dialogue on CAA-NRC.
Afreen Azad Khan
Since many women, who are mostly housewives came out and continuously took part in the protests, how did it affect the traditional family dynamics? Tell us about the role male members played to support the participation of women.
Interestingly, there has been huge support from the male members of the families. Personally I have felt that usually mobility and safety are two of the important issues involving women protestors but thankfully it was the men this time taking that responsibility by cooperation and understanding. It would not have been possible to women to out in large numbers for a sit-in protest if they did not have support of the male members in their families.
It is no surprise that CAA-NRC would impact other communities including indigenous people of Jharkhand largely. Did you try to reach out to the indigenous communities of Jharkhand? If so, what response did you receive from them?
We went to remote localities and tried reaching out to them but the initial response was not good. Many were not interested to even listen to us. Few people dismissed saying these are mere rumors and nothing will happen. But we kept on our efforts and slowly we started getting responses from Adivasis and Sikh communities as well. Many Adivasi activists came to our support and they mobilized their communities. And to our success in one of the dharnas, near Raj Bhawan there was a mixed crowd. Many Adivasi women joined in along with Muslim women. In Jharkhand, if any community that came out in large numbers against Anti-CAA after Muslims, it was the Adivasi community.
You met CM Hemant Soren regarding CAA, NRC, NPR and he has now passed the resolution against it – which had been one of your demands. So, do you think your protest has been successful?
It was definitely great news for us and we all had a sigh of relief. We had been waiting for this since long seeing other states pass resolution against it. We formed a group and arranged a meeting with the CM with a list of appeals and finally met Hemant Soren on February 27, 2020. He was very responsive when we presented our case against CAA-NRC-NPR and finally we saw that the Jharkhand government considered our voices and passed the resolution against NPR -NRC.
What will be the future course of action now, would you continue with your Ant-CAA protests against the centre?
As of now everyone is more concerned of the Corona virus pandemic. So there are no more protests sites. I don’t know how long will it take for this virus threat to end completely. So we are not thinking of the protests now. But people are vigilant.
Do you think the momentum of the protest has been broken by the pandemic and it will be difficult to gather people again for a sit-in protest against Centre?
Women here at Kadru Bagh were not ready to clear the protest site, as Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh protest was still going on. It was hard to convince them but after we reasoned with them, they agreed. Things may have gone quiet for now, but if the Centre starts any exercise on NPR-NRC people will start protesting as well.
