Modi charismatic leader like Nehru, Rajiv: Rajinikanth

Agencies
May 29, 2019

Chennai, May 29: Tamil superstar Rajinikanth on Tuesday described Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a "charismatic" leader like Jawaharlal Nehru and Rajiv Gandhi and attributed the BJP's massive win in the Lok Sabha polls to his individual leadership.

He also said that Congress President Rahul Gandhi need not resign following the party's debacle in the Lok Sabha elections, saying he was a youngster and perhaps had not got the cooperation of senior party leaders.

Rajinikanth said he would be attending the swearing-in of Modi as Prime Minister on Thursday, following an invitation for him to participate in the event.

The veteran star likened Modi to tall leaders of India, including Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, A B Vajpayee, K Kamaraj, C N Annadurai, M G Ramachandran, M Karunanidhi and J Jayalalithaa.

"This Lok Sabha poll victory is a win for the individual leadership called Modi. It is the victory for a charismatic leader," he told reporters here.

"In Indian politics, whether at the national level or state, any party will reap wins only on the (popularity) of a leader. He is a charismatic leader," he said about Modi.

He noted that the country in the past had charismatic leaders like Nehru, Indira, Rajiv and Vajpayee. "After them (the country) has got Modi, a charismatic leader. If you see in Tamil Nadu, there were charismatic leaders like Kamaraj, Anna, Kalaignar, MGR, Jayalalithaa. Along those lines, this victory is achieved for the leadership of Modi," he said. However, the BJP lost out in southern states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu due to an "anti-Modi wave" though there was a pro-Modi wave in other parts of the country, he noted. "When there is a political wave, one cannot swim against it and will be swept away," he added. The reasons for such an anti-Modi wave in Tamil Nadu included the Sterlite issue in Tuticorin, methane extraction project in Cauvery delta and the "whirlwind campaign" of the opposition, Rajinikanth added. Asked if the issues surrounding NEET and GST had also contributed to the BJP's bad show, he said "definitely." On Congress chief Gandhi's offer to resign, the Tamil superstar said, "He should not resign."

"I won't say he lacks leadership qualities. The thing is it is very really difficult to handle the Congress party, it is an age-old party where senior-most people are there." "As a youngster, it is difficult to handle the senior-most people. Even I think, my observation is, the senior Congress leaders -- they had not cooperated well. They had not worked hard," he said.

There was no need for Gandhi to resign as an opposition party was as important as the ruling one in a democracy, the veteran star added.

"Now the ruling party (BJP) is very strong. I expect the opposition party should also be strong," he said. To a question, he said the Centre should immediately address the "water crisis" in Tamil Nadu and welcomed Union Minister Nitin Gadkari's statement that the Centre was keen on interlinking Godavari and Krishna rivers to provide water to the state.

Such a statement came from Gadkari despite the BJP's poor performance in the state, the top actor added.

Asked about the performance of Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM), led by his contemporary Kamal Haasan in the Lok Sabha polls, he appreciated the party for securing nearly three per cent votes within 14 months of coming into existence.

The actor parried questions on his floating a political party, saying "I have said that many times."

In December 2017, the veteran star had said he would indeed make the political plunge and contest from all 234 Assembly constituencies in the next Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu, which are due in 2021.

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News Network
March 12,2020

Los Angeles, Mar 12: Hollywood superstar Tom Hanks has revealed that he and wife Rita Wilson have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

The actor couple, currently in Australia to shoot for the pre-production of Baz Luhrmann's untitled Elvis Presley film, decided to get tested after they felt "a bit tired".

"Hey folks Rita and I are down here in Australia. We felt a bit tired, like we had colds, and some body aches. Rita had some chills that came and went. Slight fevers too. To play things right, as is needed in the world right now, we were tested for the coronavirus, and were found to be positive," Hanks said in a tweet.

The Academy-award-winning actor said the medical team had already taken over.

"The medical officials have protocols that must be followed. We Hanks will be tested, observed and isolated for as long as public health and safety requires," Hanks said.

"Not much more to it than one-day at a time approach, no? We will keep the world posted and updated. Take care of yourselves!" Hanks tweeted.

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News Network
April 3,2020

Washington, April 3: American actor Kristen discussed her experience being isolated with husband and their two kiddos.

According to Fox News, the 39-year-old actor discussed how she and Shepard are finding quarantine to be a little tough in a video chat to Entertainment Tonight.

Bell admitted: "We've gotten on each other's last nerve these last couple days. We're doing much better now because were laughing about it. But when we were not laughing about it for the first couple of days, that's the hard spot."

The 'Bad Mom' actor then shared her thoughts on why quarantining with loved ones can be so tough. She explained that she loves spending time with her husband and he loves spending time with her.

But what she thinks is different about this quarantine time is you have so much more time to think about the other persona and their actions and sort of replay what they said or attach a meaning to something that they did.
Bell added: "Nobody really needs time for that. That's useless."

The 'Frozen' actor also discussed having to make adjustments in regards to her kids, 7-year-old Lincoln, and 5-year-old Delta, and the schedule she tried to keep once the quarantine began.

She said that the biggest lesson she learnt, in the beginning, was that she wrote out the colour coded schedule, and noted about when will be their academic and academic time.

Kristen explained that by day five of schedule, she was making everybody miserable. About a week ago, she woke her kids up and encouraged her daughters to rip up the schedule, explaining that the kids "felt so good."

"I said the learning lesson here is that if you make a plan and it's not working, you pivot," said Bell.

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News Network
July 3,2020

Jul 3: China under President Xi Jinping has stepped up its "aggressive" foreign policy toward India and "resisted" efforts to clarify the Line of Actual Control that prevented a lasting peace from being realised, according to a report released by a US Congress appointed commission.

The armies of India and China have been locked in a bitter standoff at multiple locations in eastern Ladakh for the last seven weeks, and the tension escalated after 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a violent clash in the Galwan Valley on June 15.

“Under General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Xi Jinping, Beijing has stepped up its aggressive foreign policy toward New Delhi. Since 2013, China has engaged in five major altercations with India along the Line of Actual Control (LAC),” said a brief issued by US-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

"Beijing and New Delhi have signed a series of agreements and committed to confidence-building measures to stabilise their border, but China has resisted efforts to clarify the LAC, preventing a lasting peace from being realised,” said the report and was prepared at the request of the Commission to support its deliberations.

Authored by Will Green, a Policy Analyst on the Security and Foreign Affairs Team at the Commission, the report says that the Chinese government is particularly fearful of India’s growing relationship with the United States and its allies and partners.

“The latest border clash is part of a broader pattern in which Beijing seeks to warn New Delhi against aligning with Washington,” it said.

After Xi assumed power in 2012, there was a significant increase in clashes, despite the fact that he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi several times and Beijing and New Delhi have agreed to a series of confidence-building mechanisms designed to mitigate tensions.

Prior to 2013, the last major border clash was in 1987. The 1950s and 1960s were a particularly tense period, culminating in 1962 with a war that left thousands of soldiers dead on both sides, according to the records of China's People's Liberation Army, the report said.

“The 2020 skirmish is in line with Beijing’s increasingly assertive foreign policy. The clash came as Beijing was aggressively pressing its other expansive sovereignty claims in the Indo-Pacific region, such as over Taiwan and in the South and East China seas,” it said.

China is engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in both the South China Sea and the East China Sea. Beijing has built up and militarised many of the islands and reefs it controls in the region. Both areas are stated to be rich in minerals, oil and other natural resources and are vital to global trade.

China claims almost all of the South China Sea. Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have counter claims over the area.

Several weeks before the clash in the Galwan Valley, Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe called on Beijing to “use fighting to promote stability” as the country’s external security environment worsened, a potential indication of China’s intent to proactively initiate military tensions with its neighbours to project an image of strength, the report said.

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