In a major reversal to Pakistan backed Taliban, the Afghan forces in Helmand and Kandahar province managed to eliminate over 150 Pakistan terrorists operating in Afghanistan according to information released by the Afghan interior affairs ministry Sunday (November 15).
In a press conference, the interior affairs ministry’s spokesman Tariq Arian said, “At least 55 Taliban commanders have been killed in Helmand and Kandahar provinces in Afghan forces operations in response to their attacks and 152 Pakistani fighters were killed in Helmand,”.
Taliban which is in midst of peace negotiation with the democratically elected Afghan government had launched a series of attacks on the Afghan security forces in the last few months.
Also, a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) report states that around 6,500 Pakistan terrorists are operating in Afghanistan most of them belonging to the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
A report published by the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team concerning ISIS, al-Qaida and associated jihadist entities stated that the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a “large terrorist group present in Afghanistan”, has claimed responsibility for various high-profile attacks in Pakistan and has facilitated others by Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and Lahskhar-e-Islam, the report said.
With the rise of ISIS in Afganistan, many former TTP terrorists have joined Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant – Khorasan (ISIL-K).
A woman who threw jewelry worth ₹3 lakh in the trash while cleaning the house for Deebavali recovered it after putting up a struggle.
Rekha Selukar hails from Pimple Saudagar in Pune, Maharashtra. She had cleaned her house ahead of Deebavali. She also threw away an old handbag that had been lying around for a long time while throwing out all the old things in the house. A few hours after the incident, she realized that jewellery worth ₹3 lakh, including a silver clasp and a mangalsutra, which she had kept in the bag for a long time had also been thrown away along with the bag.
She immediately contacted Sanjay Kutte, a local social worker. She then informed the health department. Rekha’s family then went to the garbage dump upon the instructions of the social worker. It was only when the staff went to inspect the vehicle carrying the garbage that it came to light that all the garbage had been taken to the warehouse.
According to the information given by the health officer, they deduced that the jewellery should be in the warehouse. The handbag with all the jewellery was found intact. Rekha’s family expressed their gratitude to the health department.
Prime Minister Modi unveiled the ‘Statue of Peace’ in Rajasthan on Monday marking the 151st birth anniversary of the Jain monk Acharya Shree Vijay Vallabh Surishwar Ji Maharaj. The statue, 151 inches tall and made of ‘astadhatu‘ (eight metals) has been installed at the Vijay Vallabh Sadhana Kendra in Rajasthan’s Pali.
Acharya Shree Vijay Vallabh Surishwar Ji Maharaj lived between 1870 and 1954, leading a very austere life, spreading the message of Mahavira and working for the welfare of the poor and downtrodden during his time.
PM Modi paid tribute to Jainacharya and the spiritual leaders present on the occasion. Mentioning two ‘Vallabhs’, Sardar Vallabhai Patel and the Jainacharya Shree Vijay Vallabh Surishwer Ji Maharaj, the Prime Minister said that he feels blessed by the fact that after dedicating the world’s tallest statue of Sardar Patel – ‘Statue of Unity’, he is getting the opportunity to unveil the ‘Statue of Peace’ of Jainacharya Shri Vijay Vallabh.
“I am fortunate that the country gave me the opportunity to inaugurate the world’s highest ‘Statue of Unity’ by Sardar Vallabhai Patel. And today I am getting the privilege of unveiling the ‘Statue of Peace’ of Jainacharya Vijay Vallabh ji. India has been an example of humanity, the path of peace, non-violence and fraternity for the whole world. The world looks forward to India,” he added.
A Japanese store has introduced a robot called Robovie, to ensure that customers follow social distancing norms and other COVID19 guidelines like contact-less interactions.
Robovie, developed by the Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International in Kyoto, has been running a trial run which began last week at the club shop of Cerezo Osaka, a professional football team, and will run until the end of the month. The developers of this robot have pre-programmed it with a lot of information about the layout of the shop as well as visual and motion sensors which can detect the movement of customers. It is said to detect those who are not wearing and will play a pre-recorded message politely instructing them to wear it.
The robot is now being put to test and its presence across the country will be scaled up by end of November.
The country is preparing to battle the third wave of Wuhan virus infections. The country has confirmed 119,420 cases and 1,908 deaths since the start of the pandemic, according to public broadcaster NHK. The northernmost main island of Hokkaido, a popular tourist destination, has reported more than 200 cases for four days in a row, including a cluster of more than a dozen on the nearby island of Rishiri that local people are blaming on visitors and tourists.
Two persons were injured on Monday morning when a cinema hall owner in Pazhani opened fire at person over a land dispute.
Ilangovan hails from Akkaraipatti village near Palani in Dindigul district. He owns 12 cents of vacant space on Upper Street in Palani. Natarajan, a businessman owning a cinema hall lives near this place.
Natarajan and Ilangovan had been engaged in a land dispute for quite some time. When the case went for a hearing in the court, the verdict was issued in favour of Ilangovan. In this context, Natarajan had argued that Ilangovan should not have entered his land when he went to erect a fence around his property. Upon seeing this, Ilangovan’s cousins Palanisamy and Subramanian got into an argument with Natarajan.
Natarajan had then become enraged and took a hidden pistol and fired at them. Subramanian was shot in the abdomen and Palanichamy in the waist. Ilangovan took the injured to the Palani Government Hospital and informed the police. The police led by Palani DSP Siva rushed to the spot and arrested Natarajan. It was revealed that the handgun in Natarajan’s possession belonged to him and that the gun was licensed.
Following this, Subramanian has been admitted to Madurai Government Hospital for further treatment. Subramanian, who was admitted in a life-threatening condition, is currently undergoing surgery to remove the bullet from his body. Doctors said they would be able to provide complete information about his condition only after the operation. Palani Nagar police have registered a case against Natarajan who was sent to judicial remand after producing him in Nilakkottai court.
There was a time when Tamil cinema churned out great devotional content that took Hindu mythology and stories to the masses. It was instrumental in putting a face to our favourite gods. Even today, it is hard for any Tamil person to not place Sivaji Ganesan’s face for Lord Sivan. Gone are those days when we had movies like Thiruvilayadal, Saraswathi Sabadham, Kandhan Karunai, Thiruvarutchelvar, etc.
With Mookuthi Amman receicing lukewarm response from the audience, we revisit how Amman movies (or devotional movies as a whole) created a niche for themselves and how they were celebrated back in those days. We also take a look at a few of the best and notable movies in this category/genre.
We do not know how an Amman movie would be received by today’s generation, but we doubt they would never watch them with the same bhaya bhakthi (fear) with which we had watched them in our childhood. It instilled an unexplained fear in us every time Amman (1995) movie was aired on television and how insanely terrorizing was the word Janda by an even more terrorizing anti-God villain. It probably is still scary for a few even now.
We have always wondered and been amazed by the creativity of these Amman movies and how they structure them with some fun moments along with the usual Amman moments. One such movie was the Annai Kaalikambal (2003) where we had the ever stylish Baasha (the elephant) who was a theevira Rajini fan. There is a cute scene involving Baasha trying out the Rajini cigarette action with a cooking log (creatively funny). Also, this was that movie that made a fashion out of an elephant wearing a shirt and a pant, and coolers, and there was even a whole song dedicated to Baasha.
There is this one other movie that was even more creatively cuter, Little John (2001). The movie had a foreign actor (Bentley Mitchum) playing the protagonist, helped by Swamiji (played by AnupamKher). What surprised us all was that the concept of the little John being the only person to climb down the snake’s pit to fetch the nose ring of the Goddess and put it back in its place so that she would regain her power back just before the peak solar eclipse.
We all talk about transformation sequences these days in movies, but how feared we were during the Amman transformation sequences, which had some terrific CGI works. The best one was the Amman movie climax sequence where Soundarya’s blood splashes on the pottu of the Goddess, and that leads it to transform the idol into the Goddess herself. And, who could ever forget that raja thandavam of Ramya Krishnan as the Goddess, an insanely terrific performance that was.
This may all seem to be very weird and funny premises and setups today with movies moving towards “Hollywood” style, but remember, there was a point in our lives where we believed that actresses Ramya Krishnan, Roja and Meena were the real Goddesses, and how Rami Reddy – the Janda guy – was indeed a master of Black Magic. And, we also truly believed that Solar and Lunar eclipses capsulate the power of Amman and how the anti-God people would exploit such times to release their worst demons to wreck havoc. In a funnier sense, these movies created a sense of fear during Eclipses that even our parents and grandparents were not able to create in us.
If we look beyond the Amman movies, there were a lot of devotional movies as well that were heavily received by the audience those days. To name a few, we had the most famous movie Bhaktha Prahaladha (1967). This was probably the most successful movie ever made, and it is a favourite for a lot of people even now, with memorable performances of Prahaladha and Lord Narasimha characters.
There is Sri Raghavendrar (1995), which happened to be the 100th film of Rajinikanth, was celebrated widely for the calmness displayed by the actor for his character, and for the tense moments of Appanacharya (played brilliantly by Delhi Ganesh) rushing to catch a glimpse of his Guru before the mahasamadhi.
And then there is another very famous Nagarjuna movie, Annamayya (1995). It was said that out of utter devotion, people did not even wear footwear to theatres to watch the movie. Such was the effect the movie had on people, and it was claimed to be like a temple inside the movie theatres.
On the financial front, these films were a huge success during its times. It created a huge market and there were even seasons marked for release (say Aadi, Navaratri, etc). People received them with both hands together, worshipping the Gods on screen. If my memory serves right, for the Amman movie, originally made as Ammoru in Telugu, people prayed and some even showed harathi to the Goddess inside the theatre during that final transformation sequence.
We sometimes wonder how such movies would be received in these modern times, not a re-release, but a fresh movie altogether. It is hard to imagine, but it is indeed possible to present such movies to the current set of “impatient” audience. With a different format of storytelling and latest filmmaking techniques, we could actually give such movies a chance of revamping themselves. Film makers can sketch Amman, Sivan or Murugan as modern day superheroes out to save the world from today’s problems of climate change, biowars, nuclear war, etc.
Though Mookuthi Amman resorts to unwarranted virtue signalling, let us hope that it sets of a series of mythological/devotional movies so that the present generation too can experience the bhaya bhakthi moments with a dash of modern ideas and concepts.
The Nayanthara starrer Mookutthi Amman was released on Deebavali (November 14) on Disney-Hotstar OTT platform. The film had garnered some expectations following the release of its trailer which had scenes and dialogues targeting the Abrahmic religions. The trailer also had dialogues like “Naan nonbu kanji kudipen, punidha appathai pusipen, aanal oru podhum Aadi madham ootrum koozhai kudikave maaten” (I will drink the Ramzan porridge, relish the bread [offered at Christian communions] but will never drink the porridge prepared during Aadi month [for Hindu Goddess Amman]), an apparent dig at the brand of secularism practiced by the DK, DMK and VCK parties.
Just a day before its release, a sneak peek from the movie was released in social media by RJ Balaji. The scene showed the ‘jeba koottam’ (prayer meeting) shenanigans of Christian missionaries where Mano Bala playing a pastor indulges in ‘healing’ through CDs.
However, this scene did not find its place in the movie.
The film crew had deleted that scene from the movie the night before its release. Insiders aware of the issue note that Christian organizations had taken objections to the said scene and had approached an ‘actor cum dynast politician’ to remove the scene from the movie. The ‘actor cum dynast politician’ is later said to have contacted the directors of the film RJ Balaji and NJ Saravanan, actress Nayanthara and producer of the film Ishari K. Ganesh and threatened them to remove the scene from the movie.
Following this, the film crew had taken off the scene from the movie while the sneak peak mocking the Christian missionaries is still available on RJ Balaji’s timeline.
மூக்குத்தி அம்மனின் தரிசனம் நாளை காலை முதல் @DisneyplusHSVIP யில்..!!! ❤️❤️❤️ Here’s an exclusive sneak peek 2 from #MookuthiAmman !!! 🎁🎁🎁
Film Distributor, producer and actor JSK Gopi said “Many people are venting their anger against RJ Balaji for removing the scene from the film. As for me, I appreciate the courage of RJ Balaji who has filmed such a scene and left it as a teaser knowing that it would not make it to the final film”.
முக்குத்தி அம்மன் படத்தில் இந்த காட்சி நீக்கப்பட்டு விட்டதால் நிறைய பேர் RJபாலாஜி யை திட்டி வருகிறார்கள்.
என்னை பொறுத்தவரை இப்படி ஒரு காட்சியை படமாக்கி படத்தில் வராது என்று தெரிந்தும் அதை டீசராக விட்ட RJ பாலாஜியின் துணிச்சலை பாராட்டுகிறேன். pic.twitter.com/1tFXBqKx85
A 22 year old woman has filed a petition in the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court alleging that a man named Darwin is threatening her to live with him based on a fake marriage certificate issued by the District Registrar and Sub-Registrar of Thoohthukudi by taking the help of a Christian priest named Franklin.
The woman had come to know of Darwin when she was in class 12. She is now studying engineering at a private college in Coimbatore. She stated in her petition that Darwin is threatening her to live with him by using a marriage certificate that stated that she and Darwin were married. Through an RTI filed it was revealed that Darwin had got a marriage certificate issued by registering at the Keezhur Sub-Registrar office using fake documents stating that he had got married to the woman on August 8, 2017 at the Lourduammal Church in Thoothukudi.
Darwin had taken the help of a Christian priest named Franklin to get the fake documents ready. Upon inquiry in the Church it was found that no such marriage had taken place on the said date.
The woman has also stated in her petition that she was not even in town on that day as she had gone to Coimbatore give her exams, for which her online admit card stands as proof.
Darwin is said to be harassing her from January of this year using the fake marriage certificate he had got.
She has asked the High Court to issue directions to cancel the marriage certificate given and take action against the accused.
The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has directed the Thoothukudi District Registrar, Sub-Registrar of Keezhur, Darwin and the Christian priest Franklin to respond to the issue by November 30.
In the recently concluded Bihar Assembly elections, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) which was in coalition with the Congress party contested in 142 constituencies and won in 75. However the Congress, which contested in 70 constituencies, won only 19 seats. The RJD has been unable to form the government as the Congress has not won even 25% of the seats it contested.
With this inglorious performance put up by Congress in the Bihar Assembly polls and in the by-elections held in various parts of the country, it has got its alliance partner in Tamil Nadu worrying. The DMK leadership is now fearing that it might have to carry a dead weight and a similar situation like that of Bihar could turn up in the 2021 assembly elections in Tamil Nadu if the Congress ends up bargaining more seats.
In the 2016 assembly elections, the DMK contested 173 and won in 89, capturing more than 50% of the seats. The Congress party which contested in 41 constituencies and won just 8 seats managing a poor strike rate. Back then, it was said that the main reason for the defeat of the Congress was the factionalism that existed between the leaders.
Talks have been going around in Congress circles that they plan to get 40 seats for the forthcoming assembly elections. But after looking at the results of Bihar elections, DMK’s political strategist from Bihar, Prashant Kishor and his I-PAC team is said to have asked the DMK to put only 20 seats on the table as offer to the Congress. A few party insiders are of the opinion that the DMK will not hesitate to severe alliance if the Congress demands more seats.
This is has apparently upset the Congress party in Tamil Nadu.
As Hindus across the world celebrate Deebavali today, world leaders including UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and even Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan have sent their pleasantries for Deebavali.
But then we have leaders from our own native land belonging to a party that subscribes to the ideals of so called ‘rationalism’ who haven’t even for courtesy sake have sent their wishes for Deebavali.
While one may or may not believe in the ancient epics and history associated with these festivals, it is expected that those who enter public life atleast respect public sentiments and wish them for the festival that is celebrated with great pomp and show.
However, the DMK which views the Hindu people as its lifelong enemy is reluctant to even utter a word wishing them on their festival but leaves no chance to spew hatred against the Hindus.
Their ‘rationalism’ baffles everybody because it is only targeted at the Hindus. The DMK and all its leaders never hesitate to extend Ramzan wishes and shy away from participating in iftar. They will be sending wishes next month for Christmas. They will not extend Deebavali greetings but come election season, they will come begging for votes knocking on the doors of Hindus.
Many must have become tired of this rant about the DMK not wishing for Hindu festivals. But if DMK has the audacity to treat Hindus as second class citizens and yet get away with it, one should should not shy away from calling out its attack on Hindus. If the DMK has not got tired of plundering the people of Tamil Nadu and earning wealth that will suffice generations of different families of Karunanidhi, so should no Hindu get tired of calling out the party for their anti-Hindu tirade.
It is not that Hindus are longing for a wish from MK Stalin. No Hindu is going to have the auspicious oil bath after hearing Stalin’s golden words. No self-respecting Hindu (not the Hindus present in DMK) gives a rat’s foot about his wishes.
But it is because the DMK claims itself to be a party comprising of 90% Hindus that this needs to be told again and again so that if at least an ounce of self-respect is left amongst the Hindus present in DMK, they can realize how they and their community are being taken for a ride.
If not to the larger Hindu community, the DMK leaders at least for the sake of the 90% Hindus present in the party could extend their wishes. But, that would be too much to expect from a party that spews only venom against the Hindus.
A time will come for all this when the silent majority will shun the party and make it kneel down.
DMK wants Hindu votes but won’t wish for Deebavali?
As Hindus across the world celebrate Deebavali today, world leaders including UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and even Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan have sent their pleasantries for Deebavali.
But then we have leaders from our own native land belonging to a party that subscribes to the ideals of so called ‘rationalism’ who haven’t even for courtesy sake have sent their wishes for Deebavali.
While one may or may not believe in the ancient epics and history associated with these festivals, it is expected that those who enter public life atleast respect public sentiments and wish them for the festival that is celebrated with great pomp and show.
However, the DMK which views the Hindu people as its lifelong enemy is reluctant to even utter a word wishing them on their festival but leaves no chance to spew hatred against the Hindus.
Their ‘rationalism’ baffles everybody because it is only targeted at the Hindus. The DMK and all its leaders never hesitate to extend Ramzan wishes and shy away from participating in iftar. They will be sending wishes next month for Christmas. They will not extend Deebavali greetings but come election season, they will come begging for votes knocking on the doors of Hindus.
Many must have become tired of this rant about the DMK not wishing for Hindu festivals. But if DMK has the audacity to treat Hindus as second class citizens and yet get away with it, one should should not shy away from calling out its attack on Hindus. If the DMK has not got tired of plundering the people of Tamil Nadu and earning wealth that will suffice generations of different families of Karunanidhi, so should no Hindu get tired of calling out the party for their anti-Hindu tirade.
It is not that Hindus are longing for a wish from MK Stalin. No Hindu is going to have the auspicious oil bath after hearing Stalin’s golden words. No self-respecting Hindu (not the Hindus present in DMK) gives a rat’s foot about his wishes.
But it is because the DMK claims itself to be a party comprising of 90% Hindus that this needs to be told again and again so that if at least an ounce of self-respect is left amongst the Hindus present in DMK, they can realize how they and their community are being taken for a ride.
If not to the larger Hindu community, the DMK leaders at least for the sake of the 90% Hindus present in the party could extend their wishes. But, that would be too much to expect from a party that spews only venom against the Hindus.
A time will come for all this when the silent majority will shun the party and make it kneel down.