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Essential HuffPost
Anant Ambani, the youngest son of Nita and Mukesh Ambani, lost 108 kilos in 18 months, spurring the internet into awed messages of admiration and respect. Anant's obesity, which was reportedly medicine-induced, was overcome as he walked 21 kilo metres each day, did yoga, weight training, functional training and high-intensity cardio exercises to reach his weight goal. He also stuck to a zero-sugar, low-carb diet.
A restaurant and bar in Hauz Khas Village, Delhi got into trouble for its 'sexist' signboard. The restaurant named Imperfecto had a chalkboard sign earlier this week that said “We don’t serve women. You must bring your own.” Facing the backlash that torrented towards the restaurant owners, they sort-of apologised saying they were just reposting something they saw on the internet, as an attempt towards 'light humour'.
Malayalam singer Pushpavathy Poypadathu has recorded a new song that revolves around JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar's 'Azadi' slogans. The singer, who released the song on YouTube three days ago, used imagery from the recent JNU protests and ended it with the communist salute 'Lal Salaam'.
Bollywood actor Shahid Kapoor's wife Mira Rajput is rumoured to be pregnant. Again. This time, the news spread because of a photo posted by designer Masaba Gupta with Rajput, with the caption, "Two M's and a Bum #sayheytobey - little M (sic)." Reportedly, a 'close friend' of the couple also confirmed to that Rajput was in the family way. "She is in her second trimester, halfway through her pregnancy," the friend said.
Main News
Noted cricketer Harsha Bhogle, who has been the 'voice' of the Indian Premiere League (IPL) since its inception in 2008, was informed about the termination of his IPL contract a week ago. Reportedly, the decision was taken by the BCCI, and Bhogle still hasn't been informed about it officially.
112 were killed and over 400 were injured on Sunday as a fireworks display at a Kerala temple went horribly wrong. There were around 15,000 people at the temple grounds and surroundings at the time of the conflagaration, and temple authorities were prima facie guilty of violating the district administration's order against holding a fireworks show. It also violated the Supreme Court's directive that fireworks must not be used beyond 10pm.
After a lull of nearly seven months, the ceasefire on the Line of Control was violated again today with Pakistan army resorting to mortar shelling and firing in Poonch (J&K) sector, a development that comes amid a fresh chill in relations between the two countries.
Off The Front Page
American production company XYZ Productions LLC and Indonesian film company, PT Merantau, which own the international action franchise — The Raid: Redemption and The Raid 2 — along with Sikhya Entertainment, an Indian film production house which owns the official Hindi remake rights of both the films have served a legal notice to Nadiadwala & Sons and UTV Disney regarding their upcoming film Baaghi. The striking resemblances were pointed out by the social media as soon as the trailer for the Tiger Shroff, Shraddha Kapoor-starrer was released.
While most people follow one religion or another — be in Hinduism, Islam or Christianity, this new 'religion' tops them all. Called as Dinkoism, this is a 'religion' founded by a group of Indian atheists in 2008. While their idol may look an awful lot like a muscled mouse, the 'religion' is clearly a vehicle for parodying the excesses of organised religion. But while some followers of other religions don't see the joke, social media is helping Dinkoism gain new converts every day.
Two teenagers who jumped off a bridge in Mumbai on Saturday, were reportedly thrashed by a bunch of goons as they were smoking with two girls. Reportedly the goons took away the boys' phones and threatened to haul them to the police. Since the boys had faced their parents' wrath before for smoking, they chose to jump into the creek rather than face them. While one of them died, the other was rescued by a fisherman, after being stuck in a marsh for about an hour.
Opinion
Alcohol and elections seem to be the two great signifiers of Indian politics as they both mark its deep sense of hypocrisy, populism, cynicism and realism, writes Shiv Vishvanathan in The Hindu. Banning alcohol consumption also increases corruption... In fact, prohibition becomes like a stylised governmental play which eventually borders on slapstick. Yet, what is interesting is that no one looks at the relationship between a breakdown of social norms and values, and alcoholism. Prohibition seems to be a pious, quick-fix solution which quickly comes apart, and then waits for someone to put it back together before the next election, he says.
Substantial number of interest subvention scheme loans are diverted to non-agricultural uses. Government must switch to an income-support subsidy regime, write Ashok Gulati and Prerna Terway in The Indian Express. "It is better to use an income policy and directly transfer money to farmers’ accounts linked to Aadhaar for all input subsidies like fertilisers, seeds, farm machinery and agri credit, and give them freedom to choose the right mix of inputs at market prices. We need to change the policy instrument — from price policy (subsidising inputs) to income policy (direct transfer to farmers’ accounts). This will help reduce efficiency losses in the system," they say.
Sisodia wants to bring state-run schools on a par with private schools in the national capital, so that parents prioritise government schools for their children. This is a laudable aim, says an editorial in The Times of India. "But India’s tragedy is that schools are forgotten even as politics fixates obsessively on caste and community. If Indian politicians turn their attention to school education at all it is mostly to harangue or inconvenience private schools, to which most parents prefer to send their children," it says.
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