Vikram Bhatt confesses of drugs party in Bollywood, but not of attending them

 

Bollywood filmmaker Vikram Bhatt in an interview said that he has been told that drugs are served in trays in high-profile Bollywood parties but he has never experienced the same himself. He commented after actress Kangana Ranaut said that over 99% of Bollywood is corrupted with drugs.

While several people refuted Kangana for making a fool of the Bollywood industry, there are a few who came in her support or at least matched their tone with her. As per Kangana, drugs flow like water in most Bollywood parties as well as on the film sets. The entire drug controversy stirred after Rhea Chakraborty was investigated about drug abuse in the case of Sushant Singh Rajput’s death. She was arrested after being charged with drug procurement for Sushant.

Vikram during an interview said, “I have never been to a party where drugs have been taken by anyone. I have been too big parties. Somebody once told me that in some parties, different kinds of drugs are offered in trays. The guests then pick up the drug of their choice. However, I have never seen any such thing in the parties I’ve been to.”

Vikram’s daughter, Krishna also came forward that she too had heard about such parties but have never been a part of it. However, Krishna also said that it is unfairto target Bollywood for drug consumption as many other industries also must be indulged in such behavior.

“Now you tell me that it is possible that the consumption of drugs in the entire country is only in the film industry. Everyone knows that this is not possible. There are rich and high profile people who are not a part of the film industry. But people are trying to get a hold of only Bollywood celebrities who are in the limelight,” Vikram said. “I am not saying that there is no usage of drugs in the film industry. If this is happening in the whole world then must be going on in the film industry too. It seems childish to say and believe that drugs are exclusive to Bollywood. Is the Narcotics Control Bureau created just for the film industry?”

For more Bollywood news and updates, subscribe to our newsletter.

Congress announces 7 panels for assembly poll preparations in Uttar Pradesh

 

The assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh are two years away but the Congress party has already started preparing for the big turf. The party has announced seven committees for the polls in the state. This exercise primarily was meant to send a message that the party is working dedicatedly and very seriously about the key state of the country and is ready to face the electoral challenge present there.

While many names were announced as the leaders, a few prominent names including former Union minister Jitin Prasada, ex-UP Congress chief Raj Babbar and AICC Jharkhand in-charge R P N Singh, were excluded from the committees.

The Congress party is trying its level best to make a comeback in the politically significant state but is not making much of progress lately.

The last elections in the state in the year 2017 resulted pathetic for the party as despite its alliance with the Samajwadi Party, the party was able to bag only seven seats. This happened even after Rahul Gandhi did an extensive campaigning for the state himself. However, he too lost from the Nehru-Gandhi bastion of Amethi.

As per the Congress leaders, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra who took charge as the general secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh months ahead of the Lok Sabha election, is planning to put their best foot forward in the upcoming elections in 2020. As per the reports, the party has already started holding meetings for preparing g the manifesto and the first meeting in this context was held in January in Kanpur.

There are several other panels created which will be responsible for outreach, membership, programmer implementation, training and cadre development, panchayat polls, and media and communication.

For more political news India, subscribe to our newsletter.

It is not Government’s duty to run airports and airlines; says Puri

 

The Civil Aviation Minister on Sunday said that the Government should not open airlinesas of now. He also added that he hopes that India will be able to privatize Air India during 2020.

The remark came amid the controversy in Kerala wherein the Kerala Government has shown its disagreement on the decision of the Union Cabinet to lease out the Thiruvananthapuram airport to Adani Enterprises under the public-private partnership (PPP) model for a period of 50 years. The decision was announced on August 19.

Puri was attending a virtual meeting on the Namo App, when he became vocal about the issue. He said, “I can tell you from my heart the government should not be running airports and the government should not be running airlines.” It is to be noted that The Centre-run Airports Authority of India (AAI) currently owns and manages over 100 airports including the one in Thiruvananthapuram.

Puri also talked about the privatization of Air India and said, “As a going concern, one that is attractive to potential bidders, we should privatize it (Air India). And I am hopeful that we will be able to complete that privatization process during this year.”

The Government started the process of privatization of Air India in January 27. Recently the government has to extend the deadline of bidding for the company till October 31 considering that the economy is severely hit by the COVID-19 outbreak. “If the government runs an airport or an airline, then they have to follow the government rules like L1 and L2, and that is not how commercial entities can run,” Puri said.

However, the Thiruvananthapuram airport issue has remained a core topic of discussion during the meeting. Earlier Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding the issue. “In view of the unilateral decision taken by the Government of India without giving credence to the cogent arguments put forward by the State government, it will be difficult for us to offer cooperation to the implementation of the decision, which is against the wishes of the people of the State,” he said in the letter.

For more latest news India, subscribe to our newsletter.