Anupam Kher is the new FTII chairman, replaces Gajendra Chauhan

Geneva, Jun 24: The global cumulative count of confirmed coronavirus cases is approaching nine million, with 133,326 cases recorded over the past day, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said in its daily situation report on Tuesday.

Over the past 24 hours, 3,847 people died from COVID-19 worldwide, taking the cumulative death toll to 469,587 fatalities, according to the report.

The global case total has now reached 8,993,659.

The Americas still account for the majority of cases and deaths -- 4.4 million and 224,207, respectively.

The United States remains the country with the highest count of cases and fatalities -- 2.3 million and 119,761, respectively.

New Delhi, May 15: In an attempt to constructively use leisure time during the lockdown, actor Bhumi Pednekar has started learning Kathak from her mother, Sumitra Pednekar, who is a trained dancer of this discipline.

Elaborating on her keenness to enhance her knowledge on the dance form, the actor explained about her routine followed for the dance practice and how much she is enjoying it.

"I wanted to learn kathak for a long time as my mother is a trained Kathak dancer! So, for about an hour in the evening this what I and my mom do. She is quite enjoying it and I'm loving learning it from her!" the 30-year-old actor said.

The growing fear of coronavirus has halted many entertainment shootings and productions. The 'Pati Patni Aur Who' actor referring to the current situation opened about the uncertainties of going back to shootings.

"It has put a big question mark on when will we get back to work and how things are going to be. There's a lot of uncertainty. Of course, our dates and schedules have gone haywire and we can't plan anything," she added.

However, the 'Bala' actor is finding a silver lining among the gloom as she says that the time has given her an opportunity to get back to what she used to love as a child - the habit of reading.

"I was a voracious reader but since entering Bollywood I haven't got a chance to read something at a stretch," she said.

"But now, I have got all the time and I'm making full use of the time at hand. I have been watching TED talks and have been reading a lot about climate change because that is something, I am severely passionate about. This time has been very educational for me," she added.

On the professional front, Pednekar will be soon seen as a leading lady in the Akshay Kumar's 'Durgavati' and award-winning director Alankrita Srivastava's 'Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitaare'.

Ahmedabad, Jan 12: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday unveiled over 5.5 lakh postcards written by Ahmedabad residents to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, thanking him for the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

The postcards were stacked on the dais as Shah addressed a gathering of BJP workers who formed letters `C A A’ in front of him.

The state BJP claimed that the party’s “largest awareness campaign” in support of the CAA had found a place in Limca Book of Records and World Record of India.

“It is not just words but a letter of thanks written from the heart. Our public outreach programme is a reply to the lies being spread against the CAA,” Shah said addressing BJP workers from his former Assembly constituency Naranpura.

The BJP had promised to enact the CAA in its manifesto, he said, asking why the Congress did not oppose it then.

Targeting Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Shah said, “Congress has a government in Rajasthan. The Congress party in that state had promised that Hindus and Sikhs from Pakistan would be given citizenship.

“Why do you oppose it when we fulfill the promise made by you?” the Union home minister asked.

“In 2006 and 2009, Ashok Gehlot wrote a letter for the same. We covered Hindus, Sikhs, Parsis, Christians, all of them under the Act, you had only mentioned Hindus and Sikhs,” Shah claimed.

Saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, by bringing in the CAA, granted “human rights to lakhs of people”, he asked why opposition was against it.

He challenged “Rahul Baba” (Congress leader Rahul Gandhi), Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal to show if any provision of the CAA took away the citizenship of Indian Muslims.

“There is no such provision. Lakhs and crores of people have come to India from Pakistan, Bangladesh to save their religion, their self-respect, to save themselves. Where else will they go?” he asked.

“From the first prime minister of the country Jawaharlal Nehru to the first home minister, first president of the country, and Mahatma Gandhi himself had said that whoever comes to India from Pakistan will be granted citizenship. Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains coming from Pakistan have nowhere else to go,” he said.