Dear Naresh - There’s a new petition taking off on Change.org, and we think you might be interested in signing it:

Shri Prithviraj Chavan: Prevent Laxmi from going back to her previous owners By Wildlife SOS SLC, Utah Sign the Petition Laxmi was rescued in July of 2013 from a life of cruelty and neglect. She was sent to live at the Elephant Conservation and Care Center where she has made signficant improvements with her rehabiliation and her health.  Now her owners are trying to get her back. This needs to be prevented. Please request that the Honorable Chief Minister of Maharashtra takes action against the previous owners and ensures that Laxmi stays where she is and is not sent back to live a life in chains with her previous owner.

Sign the Petition

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Third Front govt will be formed after the LS polls: Mulayam

17042014

Asserting that neither BJP nor Congress would come to power, Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav on Wednesday claimed that a Third Front government would be formed at the Centre after the Lok Sabha elections.

“Neither BJP nor Congress would come to power. Since only Third Front would be formed at the Centre, the more seat Samajwadi Party would win, the more it would have a say,” Yadav said while addressing an election meeting in Mathura on Wednesday.  Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and son Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday had also claimed that a Third Front will form a stable government with Congress’ support after the elections.  “The way in which election trend appears, BJP will not be able to reach the magic figure and form government. Congress will emerge weakest after elections…The parties associated with Third Front will get maximum number of seats and will form the next government”, Akhilesh said.  The SP leader also demanded withdrawal of Election Commission’s ban on Azam Khan.  Mulayam assured the farmers that like free irrigation facilities they would also get free power facilities after one year. The farmers would get compensation if their crop is ruined owing to natural calamity.  “Nobody would be allowed to die owing to lack of money…Government has made arrangement for free treatment of diseases like cancer, kidney trouble etc”, he said.  Taking a jib at BJP, Mulayam said that the party’s claim of coming to power was an absolute lie.  “Modi would never become a Prime Minister as a cunning person in his party would not allow him to fulfill his ambition”, he said.  After elections, artisans of different trades would be called to Lucknow. The problem related to their trade would be asked and then solution would be found.

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Modi projection as PM is like a gas balloon to burst: Mamata

17042014

The projection by certain quarters that Narendra Modi will become the prime minister is like a gas balloon which will burst when the gas leaks, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee said in stepped-up her attack against BJP’s prime ministerial nominee. Banerjee claimed at a rally in Kumarganj on Wednesday that crores were being spent by interested quarters on predicting who would become the prime minister.  “Have you seen a gas balloon? A gas balloon is made by pumping gas into a balloon. It remains inflated for sometime. As soon as the gas goes down inside the balloon, it collapses,” Banerjee said without naming Modi.  “They have on their own decided that he will become the prime minister, it will not happen,” Banerjee said about opinion polls about Modi’s prospects.  She claimed attempts to give Modi a stature larger than what he is actually would fall flat on its face.  “A certain section of the media is getting paid to carry on the propaganda. Don’t believe what they are saying,” the West Bengal Chief Minister said.  “Without Trinamool Congress, no government can be formed in Delhi. TMC will ensure a non-communal government in Delhi,” she said calling upon the voters to give the maximum number of seats to her party to ensure that it becomes a pivotal force in government formation after the elections.  “The Left Front is trying to fish in troubled waters. It is trying to get BJP to cut votes,” she claimed alleging “CPI(M) is giving money to BJP here to hold meetings and rallies.  “CPI(M), RSP and Forward Bloc are thinking that the more BJP cuts votes, the better will be their prospects,” she said.  Taking on Congress, she claimed it has no ideals or philosophy. She also claimed Congress has a tacit understanding with BJP and pointed at “how they came together on the issue of division of Andhra Pradesh.”  “Congress and BJP together can sell the country,” she charged and claimed the two parties along with CPI(M) had come together to destroy everything when they were trying to rebuild Bengal.  “Trinamool Congress is fighting alone against these forces and will continue to do so,” Banerjee said.  (DD-16.4)

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Smriti Irani, Rudy file nominations

17042014

BJP candidate in Amethi Smriti Irani, party leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Congress’ Amita Singh were among the prominent candidates who filed nominations for the penultimate phase of Lok Sabha election covering 64 seats in seven states. 38-year-old Irani filed three sets of nomination papers before district magistrate Jagatraj Tewari in Amethi, where she is pitted against Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi.  Amita Singh filed her papers in Sultanpur, where she is contesting against BJP’s Varun Gandhi.  The two were among 49 candidates who filed nominations on Wednesday in Uttar Pradesh, where 15 seats will go to polls on 7th May.  A total of 117 candidates have filed nomination papers for this phase. The last date of filing nomination is 19th April.  The scrutiny will take place on 21st April and withdrawal of nomination will be allowed till 23rd April.  Rajiv Pratap Rudy filed nomination from Saran parliamentary seat in Bihar.  National Conference MP Sharief-ud-din Shariq entered the fray from Baramulla Lok Sabha seat in north Kashmir.  Accompanied by Union Minister and party president Farooq Abdullah and JKPCC head Saif-ud-din Soz, Shariq submitted his papers to the Returning Officer.  BJP’s Anurag Thakur and Mohan Lal Brakta of Congress were among six candidates who filed nomination for Lok Sabha polls in Himchal Pradesh.  Thakur, BJP’s youth wing chief and a sitting MP, filed nomination from Hamirpur while Mohan Lal Brakata of Congress and Subhash Chander of Aam Adami party (AAP) filed nominations from Shimla (Reserve) Parliamentary constituency.  Lal Hussain filed his nomination papers as Bahujan Samajwadi Party candidate from Kangra Parliamentary constituency.  12 candidates have so far filed nominations four seats in the state.  In Andhra Pradesh, YSR Congress candidate ChalamalasettiSunil and four independents filed their nominations for the Kakinada Lok Sabha seat in East Godavari.  Former minister K Pardhasaradhi filed his nomination as YSR Congress nomionee for Machilipatnam seat and Kesineni Srinivas for Vijayawada seat as a TDP candidate.  Union Minister Panabaka Lakshmi filed her nomination from the Bapatla Lok Sabha (SC reserved) seat. (DD-16.4)

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17042014

‘Ship of Theseus’ named best film at National film awards

Updated on : 16-04-2014 08:50 PM

Anand Gandhi’s debut film ‘Ship of Theseus’ was named the best feature film while Milkha Singh’s biopic ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’ was declared the best popular film providing wholesome entertainment at the 61st National Film Awards.

The best actor award was shared by ‘Shahid’ actor Rajkumar Rao and Suraj Venjaramoodu for Malayalam film ‘Perariyathavar’ while Hansal Mehta was named the best director for ‘Shahid’, again a biopic on slain lawyer-activist Shahid Azmi.  Geetanjali Thapa was named the best actress for Hindi film ‘Liar’s Dice’.  Saurabh Shukla was declared the best supporting actor for court-room drama ‘Jolly LLB’ which was also named the best Hindi film. The best supporting actress award is shared by Amruta Subhas and Aida El-Kashef for Astu (Marathi) and ‘Ship of Theseus’ (English-Hindi). Indira Gandhi Award for best debut film will go to Marathi director Nagraj Manjule for his critically acclaimed ‘Fandry’.  Nargis Dutt Award for best feature film on National Integration will be given to Balu Mahendra directed Tamil film ‘Thalaimuraigal’.  An 11-member jury, headed by noted directed Saeed Akhtar Mirza announced the awards today. The National Film Awards along with Dada Saheb Phalke honour, which will go to lyricist-director Gulzar this year, are likely to be given by President Pranab Mukherjee on May 3. Nargis Dutt Award for best feature film on National Integration will be given to Balu Mahendra directed Tamil film ‘Thalaimuraigal’.  Marathi film ‘Tuhya Dharma Koncha’ was declared the best film on social issues.  Hindi film ‘Kaphal’ was named the best children’s film whereas Fandry’s Somnath Avghade and Tamil film ‘Thanga Meengal’s Sadhana shared the best child artist award.  Bengali film ‘Jaatishwar’ won the best male playback singer award for the song ‘E Tumi Kemon Tumi’ by Rupankar while in the female category Bela Shende won for the song ‘Khura Kura’ from Marathi film ‘Tuhya Dharma Koncha’. Interestingly, both the original and adapted screenplay awards went to Kannada films. P Sheshadri won the award for his original screenplay in ‘December I’ while Panchakshari won the award for adapting ‘Prakruti’.  The best dialogue award will go to Sumitra Bhave for Marathi film ‘Astu’. In the language category, ‘Ajeyo’ was named the best Asamese film, ‘Bakita Byaktigato’ (Bengali), ‘December 1′ (Kannada), ‘Baga Beach’ (Konkani), ‘North 24 Kaadham’ (Malayalam), ‘Aajcha Diwas Majha’ (Marathi), ‘Thanga Meengal’ (Tamil) and ‘Na Bangaaru Talli’ (Telugu) were other winners.  ‘Yellow’ (Marathi) and ‘Na Bangaaru Talli’ were given special mention by the jury. The other language winners were: ‘The Coffin Maker’ (English), ‘RI’ (Khasi), ‘The Crossing Bridges’ (Sherdukpen).  ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’ choreographer Ganesh Acharya won in the best choreography category. In the best audiography category John Abraham-produced political thriller ‘Madras Cafe’ won the award for location Sound Recordist and Sound design while Malayalam film ‘Swapaanam’ won for re-recordist of the final mixed track.  Best editing went V J Sabu Joseph for the Tamil sports drama ‘Vallinam’ while best production design was won by ‘Miss Lovely’.  In the best music direction category ‘Jaatishwar’ won for the song while Tamil film ‘Na Bangaaru Talli’ was named in the best background score. ‘Jal’ won for special effects. The film ‘Jaatishwar’ also won in the make-up and costume design cagtegories. The jury selected the winners in the best feature film category out of 310 films, an official said. The award for the best book on cinema was given to Cinema Ga Cinema (Telugu) authored by veteran film journalist Nandagopal while the Alaka Sahani (English) was chosen as the Best Film critic for her articles.  In the Non-Feature film category, ‘Rangbhoomi’ (Hindi) was chosen as the Best Film while ‘Kanyaka’ (Malayalam) directed by Christo Tomy was named as the ‘Best Film debut by a director.  In this segment, ‘The Last Adieu’ (English) was named in the Best Biographical/Historical Reconstruction section while the award for Best Arts/Cultural film was shared by ‘The Lost Behrupiya’ (Hindi) and ‘O Friend, This Waiting!’ (English, Telugu).  ‘The Pad Piper’ (English) was named the best Science and Technology film while the award for best promotional film was shared by ‘Chasing The Rainbow’ (English) and ‘Kush’(Hindi).  ‘Foresting Life’ (Hindi, Assamese) was named the best environment film while ‘Gulabi Gang’ (Hindi, Bundelkhandi) was chosen as the best film on social issues as well as for best editing.  The jury of the National Film Awards also presented their report to I&B secretary Bimal Julka.  “It was a long exercise and the eminent members of the jury have done a commendable job. They have also made some suggestions related to certain aspects like pre selection of films which we will be kept in mind for the future,” Julka said after the meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday.  Other non feature films which were chosen for the awards include ‘Yugadrashta’ (Assamese) for Best Music Direction, ‘The Quantum Indians’ (English) Best Educational Film, Katiyabaaz (Hindi, Urdu, English) Best Investigative film and ‘Heyro Party’ (Bengali) named best film on family values.  In the non feature film category ‘Mandrake! Mandrake!’ (Hindi) won the award in the best short fiction film and best cinematograhy categories while ‘Chidiya Udh’ won for best direction and audiography.  For Best Narration/ voice over ‘Kankee O Saapo’ (Odia) has been chosen while the special jury award would be shared by ‘Ananthamurthy Not A Biography… But A Hypothesis’ (English) and ‘Tamaash’ (Kashmiri).  Among the special mentions named by the jury were ‘Accsex’ (English, Hindi), ‘Candles In The Wind’ (Punjabi, Hindi), ‘Dharmam’ (Tamil) and ‘At the Cross Roads: Nondon Bagchi Life and Living’ (English, Bengali).