Amitabh Bachchan appointed WHO goodwill ambassador for Hepatitis

May 12, 2017

Mumbai, May 12: Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan has been appointed by the World Health Organization as its Goodwill Ambassador for Hepatitis in South-East Asia Region to boost awareness and intensify action to arrest the hepatitis epidemic.

amitabh“I am absolutely committed to the cause of hepatitis. As a person living with hepatitis B, I know the pain and sufferings that hepatitis causes. No one should ever suffer from viral hepatitis,” Bachchan said at an event here organized by World Health Organization.

Announcing Mr Bachchan’s association with WHO, Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director for WHO South-East Asia, said, “this historic association is expected to help strengthen WHO’s efforts in reducing the high numbers of premature deaths and illnesses from viral hepatitis which is not only causing hardships to individuals and families, but also impacting health and development across the region."

Though preventable, viral hepatitis kills 410,000 people in the region every year, mostly people in their productive years. Nearly 90 million people suffer from chronic liver disease that is driving rates of liver cancer and cirrhosis in the region, according to the latest WHO estimates released this year.

As WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Hepatitis in the region, Bachchan will lend his voice and support to public awareness programmes that aim to scale up preventive measures and advocate for early diagnosis and treatment of viral hepatitis to reduce the disease burden.

Among preventive measures, hepatitis B vaccination – a dose within 24 hours of birth followed by three doses in the first six months of life, as per the national immunization schedule of countries in the region, – provides protection and prevents mother-to-child transmission of the disease. Safe practices related to injections, blood transfusions and other procedures can prevent the spread of hepatitis B and C while clean water and hygienic food can reduce the risk of hepatitis A and E infection.

This is the first formal association between WHO and Bachchan, who served as UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Polio in India, and has been supporting and promoting various health related issues in the country such as childhood immunization programme, tuberculosis and ‘clean India’ campaign.

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Agencies
August 7,2020

Mumbai, Aug 7: Bhojpuri actress Anupama Pathak has died allegedly by suicide in Dahisar East, her Mumbai residence on August 2.

The police have recovered a suicide note.

Initially, an accidental death case was registered which was later converted into FIR under section 306 (abetment of suicide) of IPC against a person and a company, the police said.

Further investigation by Mumbai's Kashimira Police is underway.

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News Network
July 14,2020

New Delhi, Jul 14: Going down the memory lane, late Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput's close friend and actor Rhea Chakraborty recalled her memories with the departed actor as Rajput's untimely demise completed one month on Tuesday.

This marks the 'Jalebi' actor's first social media post dedicated to Rajput after his demise.

Chakraborty took to Instagram to post two pictures of herself with the 'Kai Po Che!' actor and complimented the post with a long emotional note.

She began the note by stating how she is "still struggling" to face her emotions and said that she will never come to terms with the actor's demise.

"Still struggling to face my emotions.. an irreparable numbness in my heart. You are the one who made me believe in love, the power of it," she wrote.

"You taught me how a simple mathematical equation can decipher the meaning of life and I promise you that I learnt from you every day. I will never come to terms with you not being here anymore," she added.

Terming Rajput as the "greatest physicist," the 'Mere Dad Ki Maruti' actor then recalled Rajput's passion for astrophysics.

"I know you're in a much more peaceful place now. The moon, the stars, the galaxies would've welcomed "the greatest physicist "with open arms," Chakraborty wrote.

Full of empathy and joy, you could lighten up a shooting star - now, you are one. I will wait for you my shooting star and make a wish to bring you back to me," she added.

Remembering the bond that she shared with him, Rhea wrote, "You were everything a beautiful person could be, the greatest wonder that the world has seen. My words are incapable of expressing the love we have and I guess you truly meant it when you said it is beyond both of us."

"You loved everything with an open heart, and now you've shown me that our love is indeed exponential," she added.

The 28-year-old actor ended the note by stating how she will love Rajput for a "lifetime."

"Be in peace Sushi. 30 days of losing you but a lifetime of loving you....Eternally connected. To infinity and beyond," she wrote.

Chakraborty and Rajput were close friends and were also set to share the screen space in the film 'Happy Anniversary.'

Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead in his Mumbai residence on June 14. The investigation in the case related to Rajput's demise is currently underway for which Chakraborty was also interrogated by Mumbai Police.

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News Network
June 6,2020

Indore, Jun 6: An FIR has been registered against television producer Ekta Kapoor and two others here in Madhya Pradesh on charges of spreading obscenity, hurting religious feelings, and improper use of national emblems in her web show 'Triple X season 2', police said on Saturday.

The FIR also mentions about a particular scene which allegedly portrays the Indian Army's uniform in a highly objectionable way, an officer said.

Besides Kapoor, the FIR names director of the web series Pankhudi Rodrigues and screenwriter Jessica Khurana, said Annapurna police station inspector Satish Kumar Dwivedi.

The complaint was lodged on Friday night by Valmik Sakaragaye and Neeraj Yagnik, both residents of Indore.

"Ekta Kapoor's OTT platform ALTBalaji streamed (erotic) web series 'Triple X season 2' which not only spread obscenity but also hurt religious feelings of a particular community," Dwivedi said quoting the complaint.

A scene in the web show portrayed the Indian Army's uniform in a highly objectionable manner and also disrespected the national emblems, he said.

Kapoor and others have been booked under sections 294 (obscene acts and songs) and 298 (Uttering, words, etc., with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person) of the Indian Penal Code, Information Technology (IT) Act, and the State Emblem of India (Prohibition of Improper Use) Act, 2005, Dwivedi said.

Mumbai-based Ekta Kapoor is the founder of ALTBalaji, which is owned by her production house, Balaji Telefilms.

Further investigation is underway, the police officer said.

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