Hollywood actor Will Smith on Tuesday took to Instagram to apologise to comedian Chris Rock for slapping him during the Oscars ceremony after he cracked a joke on his wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
He said that violence in all form is poisonous and destructive and that his behaviour at the Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable. “Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally,” he said.
Rock had mocked Jada’s health condition, alopecia where the patient slowly loses hair. Smith didn’t take it too well and walked up on stage and slapped Rock.
However, Smith has now publicly apologised to him. “Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness,” he said.
He also apologised to the Academy and viewers and others associated. “I am a work in progress,” he said.
A Delhi Court on Monday night granted bail to Aumkareshwar Thakur, the creator of the Sulli Deals app saying that a ‘prolonged incarceration would be detrimental to his overall well-being’. The court also granted bail to 21-year-old Neeraj Bishnoi who is alleged to be the creator of the Bulli Bai App on GitHub.
Delhi Court grants bail to Aumkareshwar Thakur, accused of creating the #SulliDeals app on #Github.
“Accused is a first time offender and a young person as such prolonged incarceration would be detrimental to his overall well being,” says Court. pic.twitter.com/5paa5Ec5sH
Granting bail to Thakur, the court mentioned that the accused is a first-time offender and a young person and that the prolonged incarceration would be detrimental to his overall well-being. “The necessity for continued incarceration is not made out in the backdrop of filing of charge-sheet. Accused has roots in the social community and he is not a flight risk. The trial would take considerable time to save as such no fruitful purpose would be served by keeping him detained any further”, it added.
According to the reports, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Pankaj Sharma of Patiala House Court also said that the accused is not in a position to influence FSL results or replies. “Merely because replies from different intermediaries and FSL is awaited, same is not sufficient reason to deny bail to the accused as accused is not position to influence FSL result or replies”, the order read.
Court says “Merely because replies from different intermediaries and FSL is awaited, same is not sufficient reason to deny bail to the accused as accused is not position to influence FSL result or replies.”#DelhiCourt#SulliDeals
In January this year, the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) of Delhi Police Special Cell had arrested Thakur, days after the cops had nabbed Vishal Jha, Shweta Singh, Mayank Rawat, and Neeraj Bishnoi from Bengaluru, Uttarakhand, and Assam respectively in the Bulli Bai app case.
Thakur was nabbed based on the inputs given by the creator of the Bulli Bai app, Niraj Bishnoi. During interrogation, he had then informed that he had developed the Sulli Deals app on GitHub in July last year, where pictures of Muslim women were put up for ‘virtual auction.’ The creator of the Sulli Deals app is a BCA student. He had revealed the involvement of several people in the case.
The Special Cell’s IFSO Unit had been probing the case and had filed a charge sheet against him earlier this month before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Pankaj Sharma. The charge sheet had been filed against him under sections 153 A, 153 B, 345 A (3), of the IPC along with sections 66 and 67 of the IT Act.
On Sunday (March 27), former professional cricketer Parthiv Patel was targeted and abused by fans of Virat Kohli on social media after he revealed an 8-year-old conversation between him and the former Indian captain.
While speaking to Cricbuzz, Patel informed that Kohli did not think of Jasprit Bumrah as a highly-skilled bowler during the 2014 IPL Season. He remarked, “In 2014, when I was at RCB, I told Kohli there’s this bowler named Bumrah. Have a look at him.”
Parthiv Patel, who had seen Bumrah evolve as the captain of the Gujarat Ranji Trophy Team, had pitched his name to Kohli. According to him, the Indian skipper who was leading the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) then had said, “Chhor na yaar. Ye Bumrah-Vumrah kya karenge? (Leave it. What will such players do?)”
After his revelation of an 8-year-old dressing room conversation, fans of Virat Kohli started hurling abuses at the former cricketer for portraying the ex-Indian skipper in a poor light. They accused Parthiv Patel of driving a wedge between Kohli and Bumrah and divulging private conversations on social media for ‘cheap attention.’
One Twitter user (@EightyTwoNotOut) wrote, “Parthiv patel chut*iya hai. Idk at what extent this is true. One thing you can’t leak dressing room things-Bumrah wasn’t successful at that time…Kohli knew who is Burmah because he got Kohli’s wicket in 2013 itself. So his statements not adding up! Shame attention Ke liye kuch bhi (anything to gain attention).”
Screengrab of the tweet
Another Kohli fan labelled Patel a ‘douchebag’ and tweeted, “Revealing private conversation you once have with a teammate to public. God knows if he even telling the truth, even if it’s true selling your integrity for some attention. What a jealous bit*h.”
Screengrab of the tweet
Another fan of Virat Kohli went on to dub the former wicketkeeper as an ‘as*hole.’
Screengrab of the tweet
One Twitter user referred to Patel as a ‘midget (liliput)’ and slammed him for supposedly ruining the best innings of former Indian captain MS Dhoni.
Screengrab of the tweet
One Twitter user wrote, “Neem ka patta kadwa hai Parthiv Patel bhad*a hai… Ya accha lag raha.“
Screengrab of the tweet
Another Kohli fan dubbed Patel as a ‘gan*u’ and claimed that he was the worst retention in RCB for several years.
Screengrab of the tweet
Parthiv Patel responds to the social media trolling
After being abused by Kohli fans, Parthiv Patel responded by reiterating that truth is bitter. ‘Neem leaves and truth are both bitter,’ he rebuked the toxic trolls on social media.
Screengrab of the tweet by Parthiv Patel
As per his Cricbuzz profile, Parthiv Patel played 25 tests and 39 ODIs for India and went on to score 934 and 736 runs respectively. He made his debut in 2002 and dawned the Indian jersey for the last time in 2018. In December 2020, he had announced his retirement from all formats of the game.
On March 28, a photograph of Raghav Chadha, Aam Aadmi Party’s Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab, started making rounds on social media platforms in which he had extensive makeup, including bright lipstick on his face. The photograph went viral quickly, and several raised questions if the image was real or photoshopped.
Source: Twitter
The background of the photograph had the banner of Lakme Fashion Week that had happened recently. Evidently, Raghav also walked on the ramp as a showstopper for designer Pawan Sachdeva, and the dress that was in the viral photograph was similar to what he had carried during the ramp walk.
Usually, when such pictures of people who identify themselves as male sporting lipstick appear on social media, many people immediately assume it would be YouTuber Abhisar Sharma. An edited image of Sharma had once gone viral on social media where he appeared to have put on lipstick and eye makeup.
Edited image of YouTuber Abhisar Sharma
However, the recent viral image of man with red lips was not of YouTuber Sharma. On digging up further, we found a tweet by AAP social media team member Aarti in which she had shared the original photograph. Hence, it was proven that the viral image was indeed of Raghav Chadha but it was edited.
Fake (left – Source: Twitter) vs Real (Right – Source: aartic02/Twitter)
Notably, all models have to put up some makeup before going for a shoot or a ramp walk to ensure no flaws are visible in the photographs or to match the costume or theme of the show. But as can be seen, while Chadha may have had some makeup as a model, he did not have such heavy makeup.
However, even if it were not an edited image, it is normal for male models to apply makeup. In fact, it is now also deemed normal for biological males to apply makeup even otherwise. Some ‘rights activists’ also say that ‘penis owners’ who identify themselves as women and ‘menstruators’ who identify themselves as males can and should apply makeup, wear sarees and dress up whichever way they deem fit.
Members of the Sufi Islamic Board held a press conference Saturday, March 26 at the Chennai Press Club to condemn the radical Islamist organisation Popular Front of India (PFI) for serving them with a defamation notice on March 17.
PFI has served a defamation notice to Sufi Islamic Board after the Tamil Nadu Police, on the request of the Sufi Islamic Board, revoked permission for the radical Islamist organization Popular Front of India to organize a march at multiple locations across the state on March 4.
Speaking at the press conference, the National President of Sufi Islamic Board Mansoor Khan along with Shaukat Ali, Noor Mohammad, Imtiyaz Shareef and other members of the Board announced that they will not stop until PFI is banned in India because they are radicalising the youth of India.
Mocking PFI for sending a defamation notice to the Sufi Islamic Board, Mansoor Khan said “an organisation which has 1300 cases against it says to me that we are defaming them. What fame does The Popular Front of India carry when charge sheets have been produced against it, many cases have been proven against them. They say that they are being defamed.”
Mansoor Khan added that his organisation is in the process of replying to PFI’s legal notice. “We will not stop unless there is a complete ban on such organisations like The Popular Front of India, its allies and other organisations mentioned in our press note.”
Notably, the Sufi Islamic Board was responding to a defamation notice sent to them by radical Islamist outfit PFI on March 17.
The copy of the defamation notice sent by PFI to the Sufi Islamic Board
The copy of the defamation notice sent by PFI to the Sufi Islamic Board
The copy of the defamation notice sent by PFI to the Sufi Islamic Board
The copy of the defamation notice sent by PFI to the Sufi Islamic Board
The copy of the defamation notice sent by PFI to the Sufi Islamic Board
In the defamation notice, the Islamist organization PFI had referred to an article published by The Hindu on March 9, 2022. The Hindu article was titled “Permission denied for PFI’s unity march in five districts, DGP tells HC”. It had mentioned a petition filed by Y Shaukat All Mohammad, the Advisor of the Sufi Islamic Board, wherein he had sought Madras High Court to direct the DGP to restrain the PFI cadre from taking out the march on the ground that it might disturb communal peace and harmony.
The report published by The Hindu on March 9, 2022
The report by The Hindu quoted Mohamed, an advisor to the Sufi Islamic Board as accusing PFI of having links with Turkish jihadist charity group Insan Hak ve Hurriyetleri ve Insani Yardum Vakfi, popularly known as IHH.
He claimed that EM Abdul Rahiman and P. Koya, two key leaders of PFI, were privately hosted in Istanbul in 2018 by IHH, whose Turkish name stands for the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedom and Humanitarian Relief. The petitioner claimed it was an al-Qaeda-linked Turkish charity.
The litigant also claimed that PFI was found to be involved in the 2011 Mumbai bombings, the 2012 Pune blasts and the 2013 Hyderabad Dilsukhnagar attack. He said the organisation shared its ideology with the Muslim Brotherhood, an international terror organisation banned in Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia and so on.
The PFI, taking offence at the remarks, had sent a defamation notice to the Sufi Islamic Board on March 17.
Application of Sufi Islamic Board seeking revocation of permission granted to PFI for organising unity march
It may be noted that in its letter to the DGP Tamil Nadu on March 2, 202, seeking revocation of permission granted to PFI for organising unity march, the Sufi Islamic Board had outlined PFI’s involvement in anti-national and terror-related operations. The letter specifically said that the PFI is involved in a gold smuggling network in Kerala, marriage for conversion in Karnataka and Kerala, anti-CAA riots in Delhi, committing “sedition,” hijab protest, and stirring communal violence in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.
It further asserted that the NIA is now investigating over 100 PFI members in various instances throughout India, while the ED is investigating the group for allegedly supporting the 2020 Delhi riots as well as rallies against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
Furthermore, in asking for the termination of the permits, it noted that in April 2021, the Central Government assured the Supreme Court that it was “in the process” of banning the PFI, but that is yet to materialize, and the PFI is also operating as a proxy of the banned organization SIMI.
Congress leader Hardik Patel has ‘liked’ offensive tweets directed towards a woman, actress Niilam Paanchal. On Monday, Paanchal had posted a tweet without tagging anyone about someone that the said person would likely even fail kindergarten exams even without appearing for them. She then tweeted about a video being clicked in the hotel room.
ભાઈ તું તો બાલમંદિરમાં પણ વગર પરિક્ષા એ નાપાસ થાત … એટલે તું તો રેહવા જ દેજે…હોટેલ માં તારો કોઈ video બનાવી ના લે તું ખાલી એનું ધ્યાન રાખને ભઈલા ?
While Paanchal had not tagged anyone, Hardik Patel’s supporters descended upon her timeline and started abusing her. One Hill Patel, General Secretary of Gujarat Congress social media department, told her to stay like an artist and added ‘we all know whose videos are made’.
E bhai kalakthi ni pehla manas chhe ane Tu mane sheno dhamki aape che.. koi video hoy Toh padi de bahar
To that, Patel questioned Paanchal how much she charges for making videos.
Ahead of 2017 Gujarat Assembly elections, Congress leader Hardik Patel was allegedly caught in compromising position after an alleged sex video had gone viral.
Back then, Hardik Patel had claimed the sex CD was doctored and that he is not impotent.
However, after his aide tweeted derogatory tweets towards Paanchal, Hardik Patel was found ‘liking’ those abusive tweets directed towards her.
Tweets liked by Hardik Patel
Earlier in the day, while targeting Gujarat government, Patel had tweeted that now only kindergarten papers are left to be leaked. Congress in Gujarat had alleged paper leak in Van Rakshak recruitment exam. However, the incident at Unava based exam centre was of cheating/copying and not paper leak. State Education Minister Jitu Vaghani had clarified that the paper was not leaked and asked Congress to pass on any information they have on paper leak to the authorities.
Propaganda website AltNews made a false claim that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal did not downplay atrocities against Kashmiri Hindus in his despicable speech on the floor of Delhi Assembly last week. In an attempt to whitewash Kejriwal denying the genocide of Kashmiri Hindus depicted in the film The Kashmir Files, AltNews has repeated its record of whitewashing Islamic terrorism.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal sparked a controversy last week when he called ‘The Kashmir Files’ a jhoothi film on the floor of the Delhi assembly. Even though the debate was on Delhi’s budget presented by Manish Sisodia, Arvind Kejriwal took his time to attack the film. His attack on the film expectedly brought strong reactions from Kashmiri Hindus who were displaced after the genocide they suffered in the valley. Kejriwal and his party were roundly criticized for laughing at the pain suffered by Kashmiri Hindus during their genocide and subsequent exodus from the Kashmir valley.
But to cover the mistakes committed by the Delhi CM who calls himself a sweet terrorist, AltNews committed another mistake. Altnews claimed that Kejriwal was not downplaying atrocities against Kashmiri Hindus, but he was rather criticizing members and leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Propagandist and co-founder of AltNews Mohammed Zubair tweeted, “Amit Malviya and Kapil Mishra misrepresented Delhi CM Kejriwal’s assembly address where he criticized BJP members for promoting ‘The Kashmir Files’. They falsely claimed Kejriwal denied atrocities faced by Kashmiri Pandits.”
Amit Malviya and Kapil Mishra misrepresented Delhi CM Kejriwal’s assembly address where he criticised BJP members for promoting ‘The Kashmir Files’. They falsely claimed Kejriwal denied atrocities faced by Kashmiri Pandits. #AltNewsFactCheck | @ArchitMetahttps://t.co/YBOPGTfgyO
In sharp contrast to this claim, Kejriwal had called The Kashmir Files a ‘jhoothi film’ meaning a film that depicts lies. Denying the genocide endured by the Kashmiri Pandits, Kejriwal took a swipe at the BJP and advised them to not promote a ”jhoothi” film. “We will grant you honor. We will give you respect. We will take you along in nation-building. We won’t ask you to put up the posters of a jhoothi film. At least stop promoting this movie. It does not behoove you. You came to do something good in politics, not for promoting films and posters,” said Kejriwal while sporting a wide grin.
The same clip was shared by Aam Aadmi Party official Twitter handle. Other AAP MLAs sitting next to Kejriwal can be seen roaring with laughter.
The Kashmir Files is a film based on the genocide of Kashmiri Hindus by Islamic terrorists in Kashmir in 1990 and their subsequent exodus. Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri has directed this film. The film was released on 11th March 2022. Many states have declared the film to be tax-free. Mocking the decisions of various state governments of making The Kashmir Files tax-exempted in their respective states, CM Arvind Kejriwal had stated, “They are saying to make the movie The Kashmir Files tax-free, better upload it on YouTube and the whole movie will become free.”
American portal, with its history of racist attitude towards India, The New York Times, today published a report claiming that the two-day nationwide strike which involved public and private sector workers disrupted services across the country.
NYTimes report
Ten central trade unions have given a two-day nationwide bandh call and were supposedly joined by other independent federations and associations. However, if one has grown up in India, one knows how Bharat bandh calls are of little impact unless some protestors decide to go wild and uproot railway tracks or such things, as it quite frequently happens. However, even then, except for the additional cost to the exchequer, very rarely such bandhs have been effective.
Which was quite the case today as despite the strike, most Indians went on about their lives like any other day. So, when Indian netizens saw NYTimes hyping up the strike like it brought the nation to a standstill, they were quite amused.
Why no one inform me about the strike? I could have taken the day off. ?
Many were upset that they were unaware of the strike and hence missed out on taking the day off. (OpIndia boss Rahul Roushan has asked the team to do an overtime to defy the strike, which means, this reporter is on her 15th work hour.)
Even otherwise calm people also got triggered. Perhaps the actor Sumeet Raghvan who played the role of Sahil Sarabhai in Sarabhai vs Sarabhai, also had the usual ‘middle class’ moment when he read the exaggerated news of ‘Bharat bandh’. ‘Bharat bandh nahin, Monisha, nationwide strike kaho, Bharat bandh is so Sanghi…’
The above figure of 2.5 trillion does not include illegal immigrants living in India on fake Aadhaar cards. Even this is something ‘Godi media’ won’t tell you.
If you are working today then send this NY times post to your manager. It is supposed to be a strike holiday. https://t.co/152hwWjyXB
Looks like many are upset at not being able to avail a leave on a Monday.
Except for Kerala (where state unions started strike last night itself – LOL), the strike had very little impact on lives of people otherwise. It was business as usual. But then, NYTimes seems to be living in a parallel universe.
Former Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Majeed Memon has put out a series of tweets praising Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Majeed Memon’s party, NCP, is a part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra and is an ideological opponent of the BJP.
If Narendra Modi wins people’s mandare and is also shown as world’s most popular leader, there must be some qualities in him or good work he may have done which the opposition leaders are unable to find.
In his tweet, Memon said, “If Narendra Modi wins people’s mandate and is also shown as world’s most popular leader, there must be some qualities in him or good work he may have done which the opposition leaders are unable to find.”
Memon argued for giving Narendra Modi his due at a time when opposition leaders in India leave no opportunity to criticize every policy move by the ruling NDA government..
On Monday, however, the NCP leader tried to manipulate his stance after his tweet extolling PM Modi went viral in the media. While talking to news agency ANI, he initially covered up saying, “We’re pointing out that despite violating the constitution, creating hatred among people & dividing society, how does he win.”
Memon asked that the opposition should stop talking about hacking of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), since there is no argument for EVMs getting rigged that hold water.
We’re pointing out that despite violating constitution, creating hatred among people & dividing society, how does he win. Initially, Oppn was saying that there is manipulation in EVM, so he is winning. But now that ground does not survive: NCP’s Majeed Memon his tweet on PM Modi pic.twitter.com/5ku8dFWFTu
He stated that despite all efforts put in by opposition parties in 2019, they were unable to remove the BJP from power. Heaping further praise on the PM, Memon said, “I appreciate that he has a good oratory power. He works for 20 hrs every day. These are extraordinary qualities of Narendra Modi which I must appreciate besides criticizing him.”
Making a case for opposition to introspect, Memon said, “the Opposition needs to do some research, some introspection as to what are the things which are making Narendra Modi acceptable not only to India but even outside.”
What I said is that the Opposition needs to do some research, some introspection as to what are the things which are making Narendra Modi acceptable not only to India but even outside: NCP leader Majeed Memon
Majid Memon’s comments have come days after visible signs of widening cracks in the three-party alliance in Maharashtra. Shiv Sena MP Shrirang Barne openly stated that NCP is the biggest beneficiary in the Maha Vikas Aghadi of Maharashtra.
The state government in Maharashtra is also on the backfoot after the enforcement directorate (ED) attached properties worth Rs 6 crore belonging to Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackrey’s brother-in-law Shrirang Patankar.
In the past few hours, Hollywood actor Will Smith slapping comedian Chris Rock over a joke about the former’s wife at the Oscars became the talk of the town pretty much across the world. People around the world discussed the incident and talked about various such events from the past. In India though, Smith’s slap reminded people of an incident that took place in 2011 with actor and producer Kamaal R Khan or KRK, who is known for his mercurial outbursts and a habit of keeping himself in the limelight through courting controversies and posting unflattering tweets.
KRK, who rose to fame with the reality TV show Bigg Boss Season 3(2009), had in 2011 participated in the Zee Golden Awards, where he resorted to violence after being awarded the ‘Golden Balti Award’. The Awards night was hosted by comedians Ali Asgar and Suresh Menon, who during a comedy gig decided to pull KRK’s leg. Asgar and Menon announced that the year’s Lifetime Achievement Balti (Bucket) Award went to none other than KRK. A ‘Gold’ plated memento of a bucket was gifted to KRK by the hosts, in what happened to be a scripted comedy sequence in the awards show.
Appalled by the action, KRK refused to hold the ‘gold bucket’ offered by the hosts and instead launched a tirade against the hosts. In an offensive tone, KRK retorted, “Both of you jokers have showcased your worth (Aukaat). Jokers worth Rupees 2 will remain jokers forever. I have no connection with the TV industry, give it to somebody else who deserves it.” While KRK was in no mood to take it sportingly, Ali Asgar asserted that his magnanimity in sacrificing the award is why he deserves the balti award.
KRK who got agitated by the move grabbed the award and smashed it to the ground. He got up from his seat and left the function grudgingly. KRK’s self-centred appearance and the drama he created added much to Zee TV’s performance ratings on Television. It was then that late actor Sushant Singh Rajput, who was then a popular face on TV with Pavitra Rishta, accepted the same award from Ali Asgar and Suresh Menon.
Bollywood functions are often laced with celebrity tantrums which are often covered up with star-studded performances by the gaze of the camera. However, some one-to-one celebrity feuds including those of Ashutosh Gowariker and Sajid Khan, Salman Khan and singer Mithoon have made live award shows numbingly awkward. It was for the Academy Awards to make similar news when actor Will Smith slapped Comic Chris Rock after the latter made a joke about the health condition of Will Smith’s wife.
