Rajkumar Hirani denies the charges of sexual assault

Renowned Bollywood director Rajkumar Hirani has been named in the #MeToo allegation row. However, the director has claimed the allegations against him are baseless and he did not assaulted the colleague, who claims that Hirani tried sexual advances for as long as a period of six months.

Hirani is one of the most respected member of the industry and so far the most high-profile personality to be named with the #MeToo movement.

An anonymous woman, who allegedly worked with Rajkumar in his last picture Sanju as an assistant has said that he sexually assaulted her.

The allegations came out when first published in Huff Post India on January 13th.

As per the complainant, Hirani assaulted her first on 9th April at his home and then a number of time during the post-production work of film Sanju. The assault period lasted till September 2018. Rajkumar Hirani’s lawyer has just released a statement, in which, they denied the allegations. The statement reads as below:
"I was completely shocked when these allegations were brought to my notice about two months ago. I had suggested immediately that it is essential to take this matter to any committee or legal body. The complainant has chosen to go to the media instead. I want to very strongly state that this is a false, malicious and mischievous story being spread with the sole intention of destroying my reputation,".

In the Huff post published report, they quoted a mail dated November 2018 which reads, "My mind, body and heart were grossly violated that night and for the next 6 months." The accuser was referring to the April 9th assault.

Hirani is one of the best directors in Bollywood known for his great films such as Munna Bhai MBBS & 3 Idiots.

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PM Modi & Trump discussed the US trade deficit & Afghanistan issue: White House

In a statement, the White House said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the U.S. President Trump had a telephonic call on Monday, wherein, they discussed about lowering the US trade deficit with India and on increasing their cooperation in Afghanistan.

The official White House statement read, "The leaders agreed to strengthen the US-India strategic partnership in 2019 and exchanged perspectives on how to reduce the US trade deficit with India, expand security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific, and increase cooperation in Afghanistan,"
Recently, the US Administration raised the tariffs on import of steel and aluminum from India, recently. This was one of the major step taken by the administration, under the Trump’s drive to reduce the U.S. deficit and promote manufacturing jobs in the U.S.

While India threatened the U.S. for a strong retaliation, it also added that the country won’t take any action until the end of this month.

Prime Minister Modi and President Trump also discussed about the two countries cooperating at the Afghanistan issue. As per the records, a U.S. official recently declared that President Trump is planning to withdraw a major segment of the U.S. troops in Afghanistan. The news suggest that out of 14000 U.S. Troops, Trump will recall 5000. 

The reduced presence of U.S. Military in Afghanistan means that there would be minimization of the mission of training Afghan forces and waging an air campaign against the Taliban and other militant groups. 

On the other hand, Trump seems to be in trouble with his border wall project. Recently, Trump gave a statement wherein he said that the ex-Presidents of America wanted to install the border wall. However, 4 ex-presidents have already declined the statement, claiming it is not true.
"This should have been done by all of the presidents that preceded me," Trump said. "And they all know it. Some of them have told me that we should have done it."

Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter have said that the statement is false.
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1 crore fine and jail term for staff of a company insists on Aadhaar as the only ID Proof

Banks and telephone companies that insist on Aadhaar Card as an identity proof for getting a new mobile connection or opening an account, while discarding any other proof such as ration card, passport, will now be liable for a penalty of 1 crore Indian National Rupee along with jail to the staff members which may range from 3 to 10 years.

These are the penalties for the violations that have been proposed as a part of the amendments cleared by the Union Cabinet on Monday. These amendments also extend an option to the Aadhaar card holders to use the unique ID as a means to complete their KYC formalities. As per the inside sources, all the amendments made to the Indian Telegraph Act and PMLA are done keeping the latest order of the Supreme Court in mind pertaining to Aadhaar. As per the latest orders, an Aadhaar ID is only compulsory for welfare services involving public funds.

The amendments further demand that the entities the authentication performing companies should comply with all the privacy standards and keep the laws passed by the Parliament in mind. For any exception, it should be mandatory to the move be in the “state interest” as prescribed by the Centre.

“Aadhaar is a platform that promotes good governance. The amendments protect security and privacy. They set out rules for consent in case of minor and opt-out option at age 18. There are strict punishments for any attempt to tamper with core biometrics,” a source told news agency.

Although the entire Aadhaar data is kept preserved and there aren’t chances for any breach, in case an authentication agency tried to breach, it will be charged Rs. 50 lakh of penalty and a jail term extending to 10 years.

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I love watching wedding pictures on Instagram, says Katrina Kaif

What started with the celeb wedding of Anushka Sharma & Virat Kohli last year, was continued to perfection by other celeb weddings in the Tinsel town. Year 2018 saw some great celebs wedding including Sonam Kapoor, Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh and Priyanka Chopra & Nick Jonas. It was Katrina Kaif who took a deep discussion with a leading newspaper and told that she was the last person to leave these wedding reception parties.

She said that she is obsessed with wedding pictures and love tracking them on the Instagram. She told the reporters, Luckily on Instagram you have a feed right, so it comes automatically. With our schedules, it's hard to always do that and I think it's important for my mind to not constantly go somewhere else. It's important for me to be where I am working right now. But often always I got to see it. Also, my team's with me, so they'll show me, "Oh, look look, yeh abhi aaya", be it wedding or sangeet. So, they'll come and show me, because I think everyone loves to see a moment and wedding is one of those special moments which come in your life and it's a big deal, you know. And it looks beautful, you feel a little sentimental at those moments. 

They've all had such beautiful weddings. I feel very happy for all of them. They are all my colleagues from Anushka's wedding to Sonam's wedding which was....very beautiful. And Deepika and Ranveer's wedding now and Priyanka and Nick's... so there has been four big weddings in almost less than a year right? Wow, it's quite amazing actually if you see (laughs). But, they all look beautiful and I feel happy for all of them. 

Completely mesmerized by the picture on the social media platforms, she further added:

You do feel a little sentimental. I think as human beings we all want to feel loved and we all want to be loved and a wedding is always a reminder of romanticism and that wonderful feeling that you have when you are in love.   

India will participate in Champions Trophy, confirms BCCI

BCCI released latest national news confirming that India would participate in the Chanmpions trophy. The BCCI was retaliating the decision of ICC to dissolve the ‘Big three’ and thus lower the participation and revenue sharing of India with the Board.

The final playing team would be declared on Monday that will represent India in England for Champion’s Trophy.

BCCI made the decision after the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) met them to discuss the issue and advised to stay prudent while taking general body meeting decisions.

After the special general meeting in Delhi, BCCI released an official statement on Monday stating, “The BCCI SGM unanimously decided that the Indian cricket team will participate in the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy. The All-India Senior Selection Meeting will be held tomorrow, May 8, in New Delhi to pick the team,”

The statement quotes the decision to be a “unanimous” one. However, the former BCCI & ICC Chief, N Srinivasan, who was a part of the meeting through a video call, has quoted a more hawkish line on the International board.

It is learned that Srinivasan has suggested that India must send a written notice to ICC stating that India would revoke the 2014 Members Partnership Agreement and will also pull out of all the cricket events organized by the Board during 2015-2023. This would be in case ICC does not resume the profit sharing model. 

In an interview with a leading news daily, Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) president Abhay Apte said, “Mr. Srinivasan said that we should send the notice. But then, Shuklaji (Rajeev Shukla) spoke, I spoke and we said that we want to protect national interests. But at the same time, we should talk to them (ICC) and see what best can be achieved for India, not only from the new financial model but the new governance model as well, which is equally important”.

“We said we have many other tournaments till 2023 and rather than taking a drastic step at the moment, we should talk to them. It (this opinion) gathered momentum… I think in the end, even Mr. Srinivasan said, ‘I will go with the sentiment of the house’,” said Apte.

Meanwhile, acting secretary to CoA and BCCI, Amitabh Choudhary is negotiating with the ICC to find a solution on the middle grounds.

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