Kamal Haasan says never intended to hurt Hindus; announces 'whistle-blower' app

Agencies
November 7, 2017

Chennai, Nov 7: Facing flak over his comments on right wing extremism, veteran actor Kamal Haasan today said he never intended to hurt Hindus and opposed violence in the name of any religion. 

Addressing a press conference here coinciding with his 63rd birthday, amid expectations of a big announcement by him on his long hinted political entry, the actor said he was already there. 

"I am already here," (that he was in politics) and was holding discussions with various experts on the matter, he said replying to a question. 

Referring to his write up in a Tamil weekly last week, the actor said violence in the name of any religion was not proper, adding it was not his "appeal" against violence but "apprehension." 

"I don't start with the intention of hurting Hindus," he said adding he never used the word 'terrorism'. 

Haasan said he was not bothered about how many Hindus were present in that hall or even in the country but was concerned about those back at home. 

"I will be reduced to tears if they (family) deny me the weapon called love," he said. 

Haasan recently courted controversy when he hit out at what he called Hindu extremism last week, claiming that right-wing groups have taken to violence because their earlier "strategy" has stopped working. 

A complaint has been filed against the actor in a court in Uttar Pradesh for allegedly hurting religious sentiments of Hindus by his remarks. 

"Earlier such Hindu right-wingers, without indulging in violence against those belonging to other religions, made the latter indulge in violence through their arguments and counter-arguments," he said in the controversial remarks. 

However, since "this old conspiracy" had begun to fail, the groups were indulging in violence, he said. 

"Extremism is in no way a (mark of) success or growth for those who call themselves Hindus," he said in the writeup. 

Amidst a strong buzz of his possible political entry, the veteran actor announced the launch of a 'digital platform' which he said could act as a 'whistle-blower'. 

At the packed press conference, he said people can share complaints and their grievances on the app for possible redressal. 

Haasan said he will undertake a state-wide tour of Tamil Nadu. 

"#KH", an app, will serve as a 'digital platform' and a 'whistleblower,' the veteran star said adding it was under testing and he could give a complete picture on it by January. 

The actor had been critical of the AIADMK government on corruption, drawing the ire of several ministers in recent past.

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News Network
July 18,2020

Mumbai, Jul 18: Actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and daughter Aaradhya Bachchan on Friday were shifted to a city hospital, almost a week after they were tested positive for COVID-19. Aishwarya, 46 and eight-year-old Aaradhya were diagnosed with coronavirus on Sunday, a day after the actor’s father-in-law, megastar Amitabh Bachchan, and husband Abhishek Bachchan tested positive for the COVID-19.

The mother-daughter duo was self-quarantining at home till now.

“Both Aishwarya and Aaradhya were admitted to Nanavati hospital today. They are fine,” hospital source said.

Aishwarya needed medical attention, another insider said.

Amitabh, 77, and Abhishek, 44, both are already in the isolation ward of Nanavati hospital.

Since his diagnosis, Amitabh has been regularly updating his admires about his health on social media.

“In happy times, in times of illness, you our near and dear, our well wishers, our fans have ever given us unstinting love , affection care and prayer .. we express our bountiful gracious gratitude to you all .. in these circumstances hospital protocol, restrictive,” the screen icon tweeted on Friday evening.

According to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), coronavirus cases in Mumbai rose to 98,979 with 1,228 new patients being reported on Friday.

Death toll due to the pandemic rose to 5,582 with 62 new fatalities being recorded.

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News Network
March 12,2020

Chennai, Mar 12: Superstar Rajinikanth on Thursday clarified that he never aspired to become the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and said his plans for politics include different heads for his prospective party and a possible government headed by it.

In his first official press conference since December 31, 2017, when he announced to take the political plunge, the veteran star also said he planned to appoint as CM, an educated youth who was compassionate and had self-respect.

With a two-leadership system for party and the government, the former would act as an "opposition" to highlight issues and would not even hesitate to "remove", apparently the head of the government, if it fails to perform, he said.

His prospective party would focus on including a substantial amount of youngsters in the age group of below 45 years while the rest would comprise retired judges and IAS and IPS officials among others.

"I myself would reach out to them and invite them," to join him, the 69-year-old actor said.

Contrary to expectations, he however, did not make a concrete statement on floating his party but called for an "uprising" by youth, after which he would make his formal political entry.

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News Network
January 27,2020

Los Angeles, Jan 27: Lil Nas X, Lady Gaga, Beyonce and... Michelle Obama?

Yep.

The former first lady can now add Grammy winner to her resume, after snagging the award on music's biggest night for Best Spoken Word Album, for the audiobook of her memoir Becoming.

Her win on Sunday gives the Obama household its third Grammy: former president Barack Obama has already snagged two Grammys in the same category for his books.

She faced an eccentric group of rivals that included Michael Diamond and Adam Horovitz of the Beastie Boys for Beastie Boys Book and John Waters, the director-performer known for his transgressive cult films, for Mr. Know-It-All.

 Released in late 2018, Becoming saw the former first lady slam U.S. president Donald Trump for questioning her husband's citizenship and promoting the notion that he was born abroad.

"The whole [birther] thing was crazy and mean-spirited, of course, its underlying bigotry and xenophobia hardly concealed," Obama wrote.

America's first black first lady also dug into her personal life in her book, expounding on issues including a miscarriage, using in-vitro fertilization to conceive her daughters and marriage counseling.

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