I used to consume beef, says actor Kamal Haasan

October 7, 2015

Chennai, Oct 7: Actor Kamal Haasan on Wednesday admitted to having beef and said he does not do it anymore. "I was consuming beef before but not now. It is up to an individual to eat it or not," he said at the audio launch of his next film Thoongavanam.

kamalHaasan's remarks came in the middle of a bitter national debate over consuming beef, rumours over which resulted in the public lynching of 52-year-old Mohammed Akhlaq last week by a mob in Uttar Pradesh's Dadri area, barely 30 km from New Delhi.

Since the killing, a number of India's artists and writers have come out in support of the freedom to eat. Earlier this week, actor and filmmaker Farhan Akhtar posted the following message on his Facebook page:

"It's been almost a week now since a man (husband and father) in Dadri, U.P was brutally murdered. He was dragged out of his house and in full view of his family, beaten to death by a mob. His son is in critical condition, doctors still struggling to keep him alive. His wife and daughter will probably never recover from this incident. Reason: He was rumored to have stored and/or eaten beef. Let me repeat that. He was RUMORED to have stored and/or eaten beef."

"The point of this post is that another thing will be routine. The silence of the peace loving citizen. But this is NOT the time to remain silent. What has happened once can surely happen again and unless we, the people, do not unite in demanding immediate action, this is going to turn into a circus with all the usual suspects having a go at each other, trying to score PR points. There are serious implications if justice is not swift and exact," Akhtar posted.

On Tuesday, authors Nayantara Sahgal and Ashok Vajpeyi returned their Sahitya Akademi awards, attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his silence on the Dadri incident.

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News Network
June 30,2020

Mumbai, Jun 30: Actor Aamir Khan on Tuesday issued a statement and confirmed that some of his staff members have tested positive for COVID-19, while the rest of his family members have tested negative.

Khan also announced that he was taking his mother for a COVID-19 test and urged his fans to pray for her test to come out as negative.

The '3 Idiots' star put out the statement on Instagram and said, "This is to inform you that some of my staff have tested positive. They were immediately quarantined, and BMC officials were very prompt and efficient in taking them to a medical facility."

Thanking the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for their precautionary steps, he added, "I would like to thank the BMC for taking such good care of them, and for fumigating and sterilising the entire society."

Informing about the health of his family members, the 'Thugs of Hindostan' actor added, "The rest of us have all been tested and found negative," and informed that, "Right now I am taking my mother to get her tested. She is the last person in the loop. Please pray that she is negative."

Thanking the BMC, and hospital authorities for their swift prompt, he added, "I would, once again, like to thank the BMC for the prompt, professional and caring manner in which they helped us. And a big thank you to Kokilaben Hospital and the doctors, nurses and staff there. They were very caring and professional with the testing process."

Aamir also urged his fans to be safe amid the coronavirus outbreak.

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News Network
July 22,2020

Mumbai, Jul 22: Actor Sonu Sood on Wednesday launched an app to offer support to workers in finding right job opportunities in various sectors across the country.

Sood, who catapulted to the national spotlight for his work in helping migrants reach their homes amid the Covid-19 pandemic, has come out with a free of cost online platform called 'Pravasi Rojgar', which will provide all the necessary information and right linkages to find jobs.

The 47-year-old actor said while arranging travel for the migrants, their conversations would often revolve around how they were looking for the right work opportunity amid the pandemic.

"Lot of thinking, planning and preparation have gone into designing this initiative over the last few months, in order to ensure that it is holistic and builds on the work already being done in the country.

"Extensive consultations have been held with top organisations that're involved at the grassroots level in skilling and placing the youth below the poverty line, NGOs, philanthropic organisations, government functionaries, strategy consultants, technology start ups and above all the returned migrants whom I have helped," Sood said in a statement.

The initiative will be supported by community outreach in the villages to find the right employment opportunities for migrant workers in different parts of the country.

According to the release, the online platform has over 500 reputed companies related to construction, apparel, healthcare, engineering, BPOs, security, automobile, e-commerce and logistics sectors, offering job opportunities.

'Pravasi Rojgar' will also be offering specific job training programmes like spoken English.

A 24x7 helpline have been set up in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Ahmedabad and Thiruvananthapuram. 

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Agencies
August 9,2020

Mumbai, Aug 9:The questioning of Rhea Chakraborty's brother Showik by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), in connection with the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, continued till around 6:30 am on Sunday, according to sources in the ED.

It is noteworthy that Showik Chakraborty had reached the ED office at around 12 pm on Saturday afternoon, following which the questioning by the investigative agency's officials went on for about 18 hours.

Tomorrow on August 10, Rhea, alongwith her father, Indrajit Chakraborty, are to be questioned by the ED officials.

Showik is named in the First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Rhea was earlier questioned by the ED at its office in Mumbai in connection with the case. The agency also questioned Showik and Shruti Modi, former business manager of Rajput.

According to sources in the investigation agency, the officials have got hold of electronic evidence in connection with the case and they are also searching for phone records of conversations between Rhea and her father and brother.

The ED had already questioned Rhea once on Saturday, following which she was called back on Monday.

Meanwhile, CBI has collected documents related to the actor's death from Bihar Police. The ED has also asked the late actor's friend, Siddharth Pithani, to appear before the agency on August 8.

The agency had on July 31 registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) in the case after FIR was filed by KK Singh, the late actor's father, against Rhea in Bihar on July 28.
The ED earlier interrogated Samuel Miranda, an associate of Rhea over the latter's properties, sources said.

The investigating agency has registered a case against six accused including Rhea in connection with Rajput's death.

Rajput was found dead at his Mumbai residence on June 14.

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