I'm both Hindu and Muslim: Salman Khan tells Jodhpur court

April 30, 2015

Jodhpur, Apr 30: Bollywood star Salman Khan was nonplussed when a judge in Jodhpur asked him on Wednesday about his caste but he quickly gathered his wits and replied that he was both “Hindu and Muslim”.

Salman Khan

Khan also told chief judicial magistrate Anupama Bijlani that he had been framed in a case registered against him under the Arms Act over the shooting of some endangered animals in 1998.

The actor appeared in the court to record his statement in the case. As part of the process, Khan was required to answer questions about his father’s name, profession and caste.

The court witnessed an interesting exchange when the judge asked Khan to state his caste. Khan was confused by the judge’s question and someone in the court suggested he should say he was a Muslim.

The actor then said he was both Hindu and Muslim. “My father is Muslim and my mother is Hindu,” Khan said, speaking in Hindi.

Later, the judge read out the statement of four prosecution witnesses and asked Khan for his statement.

Khan told the judge he was innocent and had been framed by officials of the forest department. His counsel sought more time from the court to present witnesses in Khan’s defence.

The court fixed May 4 as the date for the next hearing.

During the last hearing on April 17, the judge had directed Khan to appear in person.=

Khan arrived in court at around 10 am as a large crowd thronged the premises to get a glimpse of the star. His bodyguards entered the courtroom but were pushed out by policemen.

The case under the Arms Act pertains to an arms licence for two weapons, a revolver and a .32 rifle, that Khan was carrying during the shooting of the film “Hum Saath Saath Hain” in 1998.

The prosecution contended that Khan’s arm licence expired on September 22, 1998 and he had not renewed it.

Khan and some other members of the cast of the film were accused of shooting three Chinkaras and a Black Buck at Kankani, near Jodhpur, on October 1, 1998.

The prosecution contended that Khan used the two weapons to shoot the animals, a charge denied by the actor.

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News Network
April 8,2020

Washington, Apr 8: Choosing stethoscope over the crown, Miss England 2019, Bhasha Mukherjee, has returned to work as a doctor as the world battles with coronavirus pandemic.

According to CNN, she was a junior doctor with a specialisation in respiratory medicine, before being crowned as Miss England in August last year. The beauty queen, who has her roots in India's Kolkata city, had taken a career break from the medical field.

She had paused her medical career for some humanitarian work that she was offered by several charities and was on a tour to different countries including India.

"I was invited to Africa, to Turkey, then to India, Pakistan and several other Asian countries to be an ambassador for various charity work," CNN quoted her as saying.

She had been in India at the beginning of March for four weeks. During her stay as an ambassador of the Coventry Mercia Lions Club, the 24-year-old had visited several schools and had donated stationery and other items to the needy.

Mukherjee then returned back UK as the situation worsened there with the coronavirus spreading at a fast rate. She then contacted the hospital and asked them that she wanted to rejoin.

According to CNN, the Miss England beauty pageant winner said that she felt wrong to be wearing the crown while people around the world were dying from the virus.

"When you are doing all this humanitarian work abroad, you're still expected to put the crown on, get ready... look pretty. I wanted to come back home. I wanted to come and go straight to work," CNN quoted her as saying.

"I felt a sense of this is what I'd got this degree for and what better time to be part of this particular sector than now. It was incredible the way the whole world was celebrating all key workers, and I wanted to be one of those, and I knew I could help," she added.

As the beauty queen has a recent travel history, she is currently in self-isolation and will return to work once her quarantine period is over.
She was crowned as Miss England 2019 in August last year.

According to World Health Organisation, 13,53,361people have been affected by coronavirus and over 80,000 people have lost their lives to it.

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Agencies
January 5,2020

Los Angeles: Kevin Feige may have confirmed that the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) will be getting its first transgender superhero but the Marvel Studios has said there is no definite timeline for that.

During a Q&A at the New York Film Academy, a fan had asked Feige about whether the studio plans to introduce LGBTQ characters into the MCU, "specifically the trans characters".

To this, the Marvel Studios president had replied, "Yes, absolutely, yes... And very soon. In a movie that we're shooting right now."

But sources in the company clarified to Variety that Feige only confirmed the first part of the comments that a trans character will appear in the MCU in future but he did not give a time period.

Though Feige did not reveal the name of the project that will introduce a LGBTQ character, fans speculate that he may have been referring to "The Eternals".

The film, which will feature an ensemble cast of Richard Madden, Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Kit Harington and others, is set to unveil a gay superhero in the MCU.

Marvel Studios has been making efforts to incorporate more diversity in its films after the success of "Black Panther", which featured a virtually all-black cast, and its first woman-fronted superhero movie "Captain Marvel".

"Avengers: Endgame", which became the highest grossing movie of all-time, had featured the MCU's first gay character, a cameo by director Joe Russo.

In 2020, the studio has two releases -- Scarlett Johansson-starrer "Black Widow" and "The Eternals" -- which have been helmed by women directors.

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News Network
May 8,2020

London, May 8: Actor Florence Pugh says the most terrifying aspect of starring in the upcoming superhero film "Black Widow" was doing the Russian accent.

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe's stand-alone film, the Oscar-nominated actor plays Yelena Belova, a sister-figure to Scarlett Johansson's Natasha Romanoff/ the titular Black Widow who was trained in the Red Room.

"I was scared because my Russian accent was going to be out there and I didn't know what it sounded like.

"I'm also playing a character who no-one's seen before but they've read about her. I didn't know whether people were going to hate me!" Pugh told ELLE UK for its June issue.

The 24-year-old actor also said the idea of joining the MCU itself was quite "daunting".

"When you think of Marvel, it's big and daunting. Especially being a relatively small actor to look at it and go, 'Oh! I'm going to be a part of this', that's a big decision," she said.

"Black Widow", which was scheduled to hit the theatres on May 1, will now release on November 6 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Directed by Cate Shortland, the film also stars David Harbour and Rachel Weisz.

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