President Obama hosts final musical event at White House

October 22, 2016

Washington, Oct 22: US President Barack Obama has hosted his final musical event at the White House, saying he felt a "bit of bittersweetness" at the culmination of one of his and First Lady Michelle Obama's "favorite" traditions.obama1

Obama and his wife Michelle began the annual event eight years ago to celebrate music that has helped shape the US.

"While much of the music that you will hear this evening - gospel, R&B, rap - is rooted in the African-American experience. It's not just black music. This is an essential part of the American experience, it's a mirror to who we are, and a reminder of who we can be," Obama, 55, said.

"That's what American music is all about. And generations from now, I hope it's the story that the White House will continue to tell," he said at BET's "Love and Happiness: A Musical Experience" last night.

Recalling past performances by legendary musicians, Obama said it was no secret that he and Michelle loved music and tried to share their passion with the rest of the country.

"So this has been one of our favorite traditions, and it's with a little bit of bittersweetness that this is our final musical evening as president and first lady," Obama said.

"Ever since 1801, when the US Marine Band played the first reception hosted by John and Abigail Adams, live performances have always been a part of life at the White House. We've had Bob Dylan and we've had Jennifer Hudson. Gloria Estefan and Los Lobos. Aretha, Patti, Smokey. I've had Paul McCartney singing 'Michelle' to Michelle and Stevie singing 'Happy Birthday'," he said.

Terming as "amazing" the Marine Band, Obama, whose second term as the US President ends in January next year, said he would miss the military band.

"By the way, another perk that I will really miss is our amazing Marine Band. Not only can they play anything - and I mean anything. I've seen them play with Yo-Yo Ma and then jam with B B King. But they're also active duty. So they are not just astounding musicians, but they're also protecting this country," Obama said.

"Michelle and I just love them. We cannot thank them enough for their outstanding work. Anyway, you might walk around the White House and see the fancy chandeliers and the paintings of George and Martha, and you may think that the musical performances before we got here were a little stuffy," he said.

It is true they weren't quite like our musical events. But the truth is that throughout history, the White House has celebrated the new and the innovative - it's even been a little edgy once in a while, he added.

Obama said president Chester A Arthur was ahead of his time in inviting the all-black Fisk Jubilee Singers and their performance moved him to tears.

Teddy Roosevelt welcomed Scott Joplin, because his daughter wanted to hear "that new jazz". And then guests of the Kennedys apparently did the twist in the East Room - which may not sound like a big deal to you, but that was sort of the twerking of their time and was "bold", he said.

"There will also be no twerking tonight. At least not by me," Obama said.

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News Network
June 22,2020

New Delhi, Jun 22: Musician Madonna, who is a mother of six, wished herself on the occasion of Father's Day on Sunday by posting adorable pictures with her kids.

Along with pictures, the 'Crazy For You' singer penned down a beautiful caption, wishing herself and every parent a 'Happy Father's Day' for nurturing and guiding their children in the best way possible.

"Happy Fathers Day to Me and to every parent out there doing their best to Nurture, Guide, Inspire, and Teach! #Lola #Rocco #David #Mercyjames #Estere #Stella," the 61-year-old singer wrote in the caption.

Madonna is the biological mother to two of her six children and has adopted the rest four.

She had adopted her first child Davida Banda back in 2006 and then she adopted a boy in 2009. The last addition to her family were the twins she adopted from Malawi.

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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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News Network
January 13,2020

Mumbai, Jan 13: On the ongoing protests against new Citizenship Law, Bollywood actor Zeeshan Ayub said that everyone has been exposed and the common man has understood everything and the right-wing people cannot make a fool out of them by giving vague statements.

Talking to ANI, Zeeshan said, "Law is supposed to give the citizenship but the way in which the criteria have been changed is the trouble here."

Disagreeing to the continuous statements put forward by the BJP government that CAA is not a hindrance to the citizenship, the actor further said, Things are clear now, people have now understood the facts, the people and the intention behind are now exposed,.. they can't make a fool out of common people any more."

Zeeshan said it actually the other way round, those people are the ones who are misleading the general public by fluctuating their own statements. "Home minister said something, the next day something else is being said in the Ram leela..people are getting confused., the 'Ranjahanna' actor added.

He further said, "Earlier it was Hindu-Muslim propaganda, but that didn't work, so now you are making it a case between two political parties.. basically you are changing your own statements." When asked about his take on the ongoing JNU Violence, the actor said the members of the alleged political party itself have come out and explained their part in the case and yet no action has been taken.

The actor finally said that people should develop a sense of humanity.

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