Watch TDP wantedly blames our government: YCP Sri Devi
Telangana inks pact with Google for ‘Digital Telangana’
Hyderabad: Continuing to build on its vision of ‘Digital Telangana’, Google India and the Telangana Government on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to improve and get more local language content online using Google’s digital publishing tool, Navlekha.
The effort has already rolled out several initiatives aimed towards bridging the digital divide, mentoring local startups and enabling small and medium businesses to gain from the internet.
As part of the MoU, Google will work with the state government to help digitise the government’s content in Telugu to make it easier for the common man to get access to all the information and services on government sites in their local languages.
Besides, Google will also collaborate with the government to support its digital literacy vision and aid in the overall digitization agenda of the state.
“Google has been a trusted partner for Telangana who have already set up their office in Hyderabad and are in the process of setting-up their 2nd largest campus in Hyderabad. We have identified that availability of content in native language over the internet is essential for all citizens of Telangana to use internet actively,” said Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary ITE&C and Industries Department, Telangana government.
“We look forward to collaborating with Google to meet the vision of the internet for all which is part of Digital Telangana, increasing native language content available over the internet and improve the usability of Google Maps in villages and rural regions as well,” he added.
Google will also be involved in providing technical mentorship and advisory support to various government departments for successful implementation of multiple digital projects.
“Improving access to government’s vast pool of information online in local languages can significantly contribute to developing an inclusive web experience for all the citizens,” said Chetan Krishnaswamy, Director, Public Policy, Google India and South Asia.
I convey a lot with my eyes: Prabhas
Telugu actor Prabhas became a global star after the blockbuster success of the “Baahubali” films, is back with his new film “Saaho”, which promises to be an extravagant action thriller and is rumoured to be made at a budget of Rs 350 crore.
Going by the trailer of his new film, Prabhas is back to playing the larger-than-life hero in “Saaho”, after the “Baahubali” series. The actor says he is comfortable portraying such an image.
“I am quite confident doing action and giving silent expressions as well as close-up shots. I go easy with the swagger and convey a lot with my eyes. I am not that confident with my dialogue delivery and am constantly working on that,” Prabhas revealed to IANS, on how he goes about creating the alpha male image for the screen.
Considering his last release, “Baahubali 2: The Conclusion” ended up one of the highest-grossing Indian films ever, Prabhas concedes he was careful about what to do next. Initially, he has toyed with the idea of signing a small and easy film, to have some stress-free time.
“I was looking for a different script after ‘Baahubali’ and I wanted to do something small. If we look at the magnitude of ‘Baahubali’, honestly speaking, it is not possible for an actor to deliver every film at such a level. It is too much of a pressure and the risk was huge. We shot for the two ‘Baahubali’ films over five years. It was exhausting, though the final product was grand. So, initially I wanted to do something easy-breezy,” he said.
However, when the script of ‘Saaho’ came up, the actor could not resist. He also mentioned that the budget of his new film eventually increased to create all the grandeur.
“we started planning the film with a budget of 150 crore rupees. Then slowly we developed the script and especially the action sequences, and that made us expand the budget to 350 crore rupees. We cannot deliver a bad quality of ‘VFX’ we are looking for excellence.”
The film ‘Saaho’ directed by Sujeeth, featuring Jackie Shroff, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Mahesh Manjerekar, Murli Sharma, Chunkey Pandey among others.
“Saaho” has been simultaneously shot in Telugu and Hindi, and Prabhas says he had to constantly adapt to the two versions, particularly when it came to dialogue delivery.
“There are differences I had to keep in mind as an actor. For example, in a south Indian language, say in Telugu, the emotion inherent in a sentence normally comes at in the end of the line, while in Hindi you express the emotion with every word. The flow of the language is different and my expression had to be in sync with the words. It is a technical thing but I had to get it right,” he pointed out.
Language, Prabhas says, was a challenge. “I born in Tamil Nadu, so I am familiar with the Tamil language but Hindi was a first-time experience for me. This was the first time I was shooting a film in Hindi, so I consciously put extra effort. It is upto the audience to decide now, though our whole unit fely my Hindi is good,” he said.
Starting his career in 2003 with the Telugu film “Eeswar”, Prabhas has done several films in Telugu but recognition came only after the “Baahubali” series.
What does he look for in a script now? “For me, the story has to be engaging and the treatment of the story has to be designed to entertain the audience. It is not star power (that I look at). Rather, I look at my character in the film as secondary because the script is what we are contributing to. In ‘Baahubali’, too, the global appreciation happened because of the way (directior) Rajamouli garu treated the story with grandeur. It was a story of our superhero, an Indian story,” said Prabhas.
‘Saaho’ is one of the most technically-advanced films ever produced in India. The film has been shot with IMAX cameras and has the look and feel of a Hollywood film. Does that snatch away an element of Indianness from the film?
“What we saw in (the action sequences) ‘Baahubali’ was a combination of action and dance choreography, and that is why there was a different kind of grace in those scenes. ‘Saaho’ is a regular film, with some stylish and slick action choreography. We are not trying to compete with Hollywood because they are much advanced than us, but it is true that we are capable of delivering something at par with international standard. We have the talent but in Indian films, we haven’t tried this level of action and VFX. So, for the mass audience in India, we are giving something that is new and technologically advanced. For the rest, it is upto the audience to decide. As for me, as the release date approaches, my stress level is going higher!” he smiled.
“Saaho”, directed by Sujeeth, also stars Shraddha Kapoor, Jackie Shroff and Neil Nitin Mukhesh in key roles. The film releases on August 30.
Bigg Boss 3: Jr. Samantha In Danger, Baba On Fire
There have been no surprises in terms of eliminations from Bigg Boss season 3 and this week isn’t going to be any different.
Ashu Reddy one of the Social Media stars popularly known as Jr. Samantha is in danger of getting evicted from the house this week.
Ashu has been one of the weakest contestants of this season and she couldn’t up her game at any point.
This is the first time she is into nominations, but apparently she wouldn’t get another chance unless someone from the nominated group does terrible mistake in the next couple of episodes.
Ashu is trailing behind in all the unofficial polls while Baba Bhaskar is leading the pack with more than 40% of votes in his favor.
The choreographer is clearly the crowd favorite at the moment. Singer Rahul Sipligunj who used to be on the brink of elimination before has suddenly become one of the favorites to win the title.
Srimukhi, Varun Sandesh and his wife Vithika have successfully avoided early eliminations, but they will need to come up with different strategies to pull down Baba Bhaskar.
Netizens troll Actress over wearing sari worth Rs 600
Actress Kangana Ranaut’s love for saris is well known. Recently, she made a public appearance wearing a plain cotton sari that cost Rs 600 only.
Kangana’s sister Rangoli Chandel, who is quite active on social media, took to Twitter and uploaded the photograph of Kangana in the particular sari, and described it in detail.
“On her way to Jaipur today Kangana is wearing Rs 600 sari she picked from Kolkata, she was shocked to know one can get such good organic cotton in this amount and it is heart breaking to see how hard our people work and how little they earn. Please support our own before international brands take away this also from them. Indian weavers,” tweeted Rangoli.However, Rangoli’s tweet did not go down well with many social media users. More than the sari, many pointed at Kangana’s luxury handbag and trenchcoat in the photograph.
“Why Prada bag with Rs 600 saree. Absolutely hypocritical,” read a comment.Another user slammed Kangana, calling her sister “fake”.”Holding a Prada bag worth Rs 2-3 lacs, wearing Sunglasses and heels worth Rs 1-2 lacs and your propaganda priceless. Fake hone ki bhi limit hoti hai,” the Twitter user said.
#ChiddiBhagModiAaya goes viral, Tweeple in splits
New Delhi: As the Enforcement Directorate (ED) issued a lookout circular for former Union Minister P. Chidambaram in the INX Media case after he apparently went missing, Twittrati on Wednesday went berserk over the development, creating funny hashtags like #ChiddiBhagModiAaya and ##BhagodaChiddu.
Shocked at his disappearance after the Delhi High Court defined him as the “key conspirator” in the INX media case, Tweeple began posting all kinds of memes, images, GIFs and posts on Chidambaram.
“Chandrayaan enters Moon’s orbit and Chidambaram disappeared from Earth’s orbit,” posted one user.
“Sorry sir in Tihar no Zomato service,” another user tweeted after posting Chidambaram’s earlier tweet where he had said: “I have not ordered food so far. But I think I will do so now from Zomato”.
A Supreme Court bench headed by Justice N.V. Ramana on Wednesday refused to grant interim relief from arrest to Chidambaram and referred his matter to Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi for urgent hearing on his anticipatory bail plea. However, Gogoi refused to hear the case on the day.
“Next upcoming movie: Bhaag Chiddu Bhaag,” posted one user.
“Even #PChidambaram was running so fast that mistakenly he beat Usain Bolt,” said one Twitter user.
“2010: When #PChidambaram was Home Minister and Amit Shah was jailed. 2019: When Amit Shah is Home Minister and #PChidambaram will be jailed,” another user tweeted.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the ED are probing how his son Karti Chidambaram managed to get clearance from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) in 2007 when his father was the Finance Minister.
“I am liking it to core…. Apana Time Aaaaa gaya,” said one user.
“C for Congress, C for Chidambaram and C for Corruption…. what a Coincidence…,” posted another.
Sye Raa actor joins Mega nephew’s debut film
Tamil superstar Vijay Sethupathi has joined the shooting his second Telugu film which marks the debut of Megastar Chiranjeevi’s nephew Panja Vaisshanv Tej.
A special and big set is assembled in Sarathi Studios in Hyderabad under the supervision of art director Ramakrishna and along with Vijay Sethupathi, hero Vaisshnav and actor Rajeev Kanakala are taking part in the shooting. So far forty percent of the shoot has been wrapped up.
We hear from the sources that Vijay Sethupathi’s role is very powerful one but details are not disclosed. With this film newbie Kriti Shetty is getting introduced as female lead.
Associate of director Sukumar, Buchi Babu Sana is also debuting as director with this film which is being bankrolled by Sukumar Writings and Mythri Movie Makers banners.
It’s a Devi Sri Prasad musical.
Lokesh Come Out Of Twitter
Andhra Pradesh irrigation minister Anil Kumar Yadav has been very vocal against the opposition TDP in the recent times. Over the floods, he countered every claim made by TDP leaders and tried to defend YSRCP government. On Wednesday, Anil visited Nellore district and speaking to the media, he came down heavily with satirical comments on TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh.
“I have seen the latest tweet of the TDP’s Twitter bird and AP Pappu Maharaj. After a decade, all the dams in the state have full capacity water. Instead of passing comments on Twitter, Lokesh should have visited villages that were hit by floods. Neither he did visit the villages nor held a press meet. He is happily resting in Hyderabad,” said Anil.
The irrigation minister then advised Lokesh to quit Twitter instead of making self goals. “He only accepted that he doesn’t know Telugu much as he studied in Stanford university. So I suggest him to leave Twitter and be in public. Then there will be chances of winning the next elections,” added Anil Kumar Yadav further.
Nara Lokesh certainly needs to rethink his social media strategy. He should come up with accurate criticism on YSRCP government to have an upper hand.
James Bond 25th Film Title Is Here
James Bond is one of those fiction characters that has fans all over the world while no other country actually loves the spies of other countries. This spy, who is fascinating the world from many decades, has now reached a landmark number, as the 25th film of the franchisee is coming up.
Directed by Beasts of No Nation and True Detective movie director Cary Fukunaga, the latest 007 film featuring Daniel Craig as the most charming spy is titled “No Time To Die”. Many of the Bond films have something to do with life and death as earlier there are films like You Live Only Twice, Live And Let Die, Tomorrow Never Dies, Die Another Day.
Guess what, Daniel Craz, the machismo Bond ever, is going to quite after starring in this movie of 007 series. After debuting as 007 with Casino Royale, he featured in Quantum Of Solace, Skyfall and Spectre.
No Time to Die will be hitting cinemas in April 2020.
Amaravati is ‘not safe capital’ – AP Minister Botsa
AP Municipal Administration Minister Botsa Satyanarayana’s sensational comments on AP capital city Amaravati and possible change of the capital owing to the floods has courted a major controversy and invited a severe flak from Opposition party. Botsa stated that flood-prone Amaravati is “not safe capital”. He said it would incur a lot of additional cost on the government to avoid floods to Amaravati i.e to build dams or canals or to pump up the water through lifting.
Botsa said most of the areas in capital region has a flood threat and the expenditure on Amaravati would be high compared to other regions. He said “all matters” will be discussed in the state cabinet soon. He said the government will soon announce its policy on the same hinting at a possible change of capital region. Botsa’s comments got a severe reaction from TDP leaders and BJP leaders.
Ex-Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has come down heavily on Botsa for making comments on Amaravati. Calling it as “man-made” flood, Chandrababu alleged that ruling YCP is conspiring against Amaravati and trying to change the capital citing flood threat. Naidu said Amaravati capital can be constructed at very low cost as the land has been pooled from farmers with no cost. He said 8000 acres out of 33,000 acres is surplus land in capital region. After allocating land to infrastructure development, the government can monetize the remaining 8000 acres and use that revenue for the construction of the world-class capital city.
“Polavaram has been stopped. Amaravati has been stopped. Projects have been stopped. No works are going on in the state. The government even stooped low to submerge the crops of farmers. It is a major conspiracy,” lamented Chandrababu late in the evening of Tuesday. Chandrababu asked the people of the state to understand such conspiracies of YCP and said TDP will keep on fighting such misdeeds of YCP government. Earlier in the day, Chandrababu has inspected the flood-affected villages and met the farmers. While farmers were all tears with the loss incurred due to flood, Chandrababu said he would standby them and ensure justice is done.
Meanwhile, former Irrigation Minister Devineni Uma has lashed out at the present government calling it as “Daddamma Prabhutvam”. Uma said it is an artificial flood created by the state government. Uma said the sacrifices of farmers in capital region who sacrificed 33,000 acres of land to Capital Region under Land Pooling can’t be taken for granted.
Alleging it as a major conspiracy to shift AP capital, Uma alleged that suit-boot Jagan Reddy has given instructions from the US and Municipal Minister Botsa is acting as per Jagan’s instructions. Uma warned the government that Telugu people won’t forgive such politics on the capital. Uma further questioned, “Can’t AP deserve a capital city? If Tamil Nadu has Chennai, Karnataka has Bengaluru and Telangana has Hyderabad, can’t AP have Amaravati?”
BJP leader Lanka Dinakar slammed minister Botsa’s comments and said Union Government has already disbursed Rs 1500 Crore for the construction of AP capital. He said PM Modi himself had attended the inauguration of Amaravati. Dinakar said YCP government is creating a lot of confusion with respect to various projects in the state. Raising suspicion, Dinakar said whether Botsa’s comments were just “passing comments” or the “policy decision” as per CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s thinking. Looks like, Botsa’s comments have created a huge debate among political leaders and common people as the “Shift of Capital” has came out of the blue.
‘Inauspicious Name ‘Nizam’abad should be renamed’
BJP MP Dharmapuri Aravind said people of Nizamabad want their district name to be relabeled and the demand for it is growing. Claiming that the name Nizamabad was ‘inauspicious’, BJP MP D Arvind said the Telangana city, represented by him in the Lok Sabha, should be renamed “Indur”, as it was known earlier.
“The word ‘Induru’ has close association with India and Hindu. So Nizamabad should go for renaming and people’s demand should be fulfilled,” said Aravind. Well, this rakes up for a new debate and we have to see how rest of the leaders within the district react. Most importantly the ruling party in the state should express their opinion on Aravind’s comments.
However, Nizamabad has better issues to deal with. If we go by Aravind’s statements during the elections, he promised to establish Turmeric Board within five days after he getting elected as MP with central government’s consent. But Aravind failed to keep this promise till date and very recently farmers staged a protest against Aravind in Nizamabad too.
This also gives rife that BJP doesn’t want to utter the word Nizam who was the King of Hyderabad state.
AP Capital Shift: Centre Responds
Minister Botsa’s comments on possible ‘Shift’ of AP Capital Amaravati has ignited a big political debate. Leaders cutting across political parties and cutting across regions are expressing their concerns over the possible change of AP capital. While TDP has come down heavily on Botsa’s comments, several BJP leaders in AP too found fault with the approach of AP government-led by YCP. Since CM Jagan Mohan Reddy is in US as part of his personal trip, naturally, speculations are rife about the change of AP capital.
However, the Opposition from AP BJP leaders has hinted that the Centre would intervene. As already the Centre and Jagan are at loggerheads over the re-negotiation of PPAs and reverse tendering on Polavaram National Irrigation Project, now the hot topic of new Capital City to AP would also irk the Union Government which had already sanctioned its share of money for the development of Amaravati.
Amidst this, Union Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs Kishan Reddy has responded on the matter. When asked about the topic of new capital to AP, Kishan Reddy made it very clear that the Centre would not interfere in the state’s matter. He stated that he don’t want to comment on it further. Kishan Reddy has also asked the Telangana state government to implement Ayushman Bharat in Telangana in the wake of reports of stopping of Arogya Sri scheme. “If Arogya Sri is better scheme, why are the Dharnas taking place?” questioned Kishan Reddy.
Kishan Reddy also countered KTR for his comments on BJP national working president JP Nadda. He said it is not good practice to make such comments. He opined that it shows the head-strong attitude of KTR. “If KTR doesn’t know Nadda, how did KTR meet Nadda earlier? If BJP doesn’t exist in Telangana, how Kavitha lost in Nizamabad?” When asked about whether BJP would contest in the coming Municipal elections, Kishan Reddy said that Municipal Elections are not BJP’s target. He said BJP wants to come into power in Telangana state in 2023.
HC reserves Navayuga Exit- Blow To YCP Govt?
The Andhra Pradesh High Court has reserved its verdict on Navayuga getting terminated from Polavaram project contract. On August 14th, the chief engineer of the Hydal project issued pre-closure notices to Navayuga and three days later invited fresh tenders. On this Navayuga approached the High Court and came for hearing on Tuesday.
The advocate on behalf of Navayuga said, the company has the contract till November 20, 2021 and till it should be allowed to continue with the construction of the project. Also Navayuga’s lawyer said, it is the responsibility of AP Genco to allot land for the construction of power project and till date it did not gather land and inevitably it got delayed. Navayuga also requested the court revoke the pre-close notice and also the reverse tendering method which the YSRCP government initiated.
Meanwhile the advocate on behalf of the government said there is no progress in the construction of the project and is not appropriate on Navayuga to delay the project throwing the blame on AP Genco. After hearing the arguments, the court has reserved its verdict.
Where Will Be Prabhas On Saaho Release Day?
There is just nine days for the release of Saaho in theatres and Prabhas is busy touring the whole of India to promote the movie. So where is he gonna watch the First Day First Show of the film officially on August 30th, though he might have watched the movie umpteen times already?
Currently, Prabhas is promoting the Hindi version of the movie extensively in Mumbai, visiting various TV show sets and others. On the 22nd morning, he will be flying to Trivandrum to meet and greet Malayalam media and fans. And the next two consecutive days he will be promoting Saaho in Chennai and Bangalore respectively. Then on 24th and 25th, he might promote the movie in Hyderabad, before flying to Dubai.
As Dubai based Phars Films acquired Saaho by paying huge and releasing the film through Yash Raj Films, they want Prabhas for a day of promotions. After wrapping promotions in UAE, the Baahubali star is likely to head to London to promote the film there as well.
Some reports are indicating that Prabhas will be in London on August 30th, but not in India as per his current promotion schedule. Let’s see what happens.
Not Me, He’s The Only Megastar In India: Chiranjeevi
Megastar Chiranjeevi and Sye Raa team were in Mumbai earlier today to launch the film’s teasers in five languages. Chiru and team also interacted with the Bollywood media.
When a journalist asked Chiru about his experience while working with Bollywood Megastar Amitabh Bachchan, Chiru said that for him, it’s not him but there is one and only Megastar in India and that is Amitabh Bachchan.
“Amit ji played my mentor in Sye Raa and he is my mentor in real life too. My director Surender Reddy suggested Amit ji’s name for my guru’s role. I called Amit ji and requested him to consider the role and take a week’s time to decide. To my surprise, Amit ji immediately said that he will do the role. It was a memorable experience working with Amit ji,” Chiru said.
In Sye Raa, Amitabh plays Gosayi Venkanna, the guru who inspired Uyyalawada Narasimhareddy to revolt against the British. Amitabh’s saint-like avatar with a thick, long beard went viral when the first look pictures were released last year.
Prabhas! Only Hindi TV Shows, No Telugu TV Shows?
Usually big Telugu stars never attend any of our TV shows to promote their films. Excepting giving interviews, we have never seen the likes of Mahesh, Charan, NTR, Allu Arjun and Prabhas turning up on Suma’s gameshows, Jabardasth, Dhee or other reality shows. That’s quite a bad move we have to say.
In Bollywood circles, all top stars like Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Shahrukh, Hrithik Roshan and Ranvir Singh appear on TV shows like Nach Baliye, Super Singer, Comedy Nights wtih Kapil Sharma and Bigg Boss as well to promote their films. One wonders why Tollywood doesn’t learn from them in implementing, but not that Prabhas is seen shooting for ‘Nach Baliye’, Telugu fans are asking him to take part in Telugu TV shows as well.
Other day both Prabhas and his heroine Shraddha Kapoor appeared on Nach Baliye sets to shoot for the latest episode where they will be promoting Saaho. While Prabhas is looking dapper, Shraddha is adorable as they posed for pics with judge Raveena Tandon. Naturally, this brings us to the question, if Prabhas will appear on Dhee dance program that entertains Telugu folks.
Cut to second level heroes, they all turn up on Telugu TV shows to promote their movies because they know the value of promotions.
