Tag: Hollywood

BETWEEN THE LINES

About: a ‘write-down’ comedy on the news of the world. Who watches stand-up comedy?

The United Kingdom is beginning to see more Prime Minister(PM) changes than the infamous English weather. Is there an umbrella for this one? The UK is fast kangaroo-leaping into Australian style politics, where it is awfully hard to remember who the Prime Minister is-or was-with slick changes that’s peculiar only to Australia. Ask the duck-billed Platypus on what’s going on. Football Field player changing -with the name-board number always remaining No. 10-has been put to shame.

British PM Keith Starmer after over two years of wretched, mangled governance decided to quit-another one bites the dust in British Politics. He lost the ball of support of his Labour Party Members of Parliament (MP) and informed team Manager, King Charles that he is resigning-cannot clearly see the goal-post, any longer. Now, the Labour Party will labour to elect a new leader and therefore PM. His likely successor is Andy Burnham-calls himself more British than English-who recently screeched into Parliament in a By-Election and was officially sworn in as Makerfield’s new MP in the House of Commons. The 56-year-old made the right noises about leading the Labour Party and an orderly transition to becoming Prime Minister. There is some history here, when Andy Burnham tells that the ‘turning point’ in his political life came in 2009, when he was booed at a football ground in the north-west of England. Now, it’s three cheers!

The joke doing the rounds is that Airbnb is sponsoring No 10. Downing as perfect for short stays. I am garnishing that: cats and dogs are allowed, at no extra charges

Meanwhile, in a gilded hall at Versailles, Paris, United States President Donald Trump signed a 14-point Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU)with Iran, to halt the ongoing war. Israel never noticed, and not known to playing world-class football, went on with business as usual, trying to kick the militant Hezbollah out of the field. They, who are sprawled all over Lebanon. The Strait of Hormuz opened, closed, opened, closed, open, closed…leaving people in a tizzy and heading to the bar to open a bottle of Hormuz whiskey instead, and drink the Arabian spirits. I wonder, why should Iran bother about Lebanon when it has its own hair to keep and cover safely? Any why does the MOU not include any provisions requiring Iran to stop massaging the butts of the Hezbollah, Hamas, or the Houthis? Unalloyed support-call it bad refereeing? Show the Red Card.

India’s National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) exam finally got off the air on 21 June 2026-after a mid-flight scare, the previous time. And India’s Prime Minister, who had just landed from the air, smiling like a Cheshire cat, stayed off the road, parking himself in the Airport, until the Exam started. What an idea, Sirji-helping heavily stressed students reach the exam centres without a sweat. Strange are the ways of India, with the Army, Airforce, among others, called-in to protect the exam question papers. If there is still a leak, the Navy might have to sail-in to plug, provide reinforcement and do further straight shipping.

Moving on to other things, in India, everyday 1200 to 1220 people die in accidents and there is no prize for guessing the killer cause: road accidents. It’s hard to swallow, but the fact is, the price of life in India in ZERO. Remember, India invented the zero, and we cannot help ourselves living up to it- and dying for it. What, with 1.4 billion people in bumper-to-bumper life. There is a story about the high density in the West Bengal’s capital of Kolkatta such that even dogs cannot wag their tail in the usual sideways swagger; instead they are finding space vertically-up and down. Dogs too are learning. Anybody making a movie called, Planet of the Dogs?

Then there is this particular species of Homo Sapiens, which thrives on driving a BMW, an Audi, or a Mercedes-Benz on the pavements meant for the walkers and putting people on them to sleep, forever. Never knew population control can happen this way. The Gates of Heaven are always open.

The Devil is definitely lurking in the details: in the pot-holes, on the great highways and the speed-breaker infested streets; in wedding dowry; in building collapses, in construction sites, in bridge failures; in the railways, trains going berserk, and especially unmanned crossings; in high-rise building fires; animal(street dogs included)-bites; death by suicide, rape, murder…it’s an endless, ever expanding list. Once, a Google Map route took a driver to the end of an unfinished bridge, and there was no looking back.

On 22 June 2026, 15 people, mostly students, were charred to death after a fire broke out in a 3-storey building in the heart of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. A day earlier, 8 died in an Ammonia Gas leak in a Food Export company in Tiruvallur, Tamil Nadu. Exporting death?

Joining the blood stream, The International Labour Organization says, every year more than 8.4 Lakh people die globally from health conditions linked to the workplace. It is a dangerous world we live in. We do not need Aliens from Space to conquer us: we are our own best beasts.

I recall a cousin of mine, now permanently living in the United States and making frequent strips to India saying, “Once you step out of your house, there is no guarantee that you will return home alive”. I reckon every day is an adventure! If Christopher Columbus was living in India, he would not have been able to cross the street alive, leave alone sailing through an open sewer. Oh, Santa Maria!

Nothing beats gossip about the Film World-Hollywood, Bollywood, Kollywood, Tollywood-in India and abroad. A top headline is, Actresses getting pregnant, and showing-off that glamorous well-rounded, shining baby bump. Recently, Actress Samantha Ruth Prabhu who was married to a popular Telugu actor and separated, tried again, married Raj Nidimoru-a Producer, Filmmaker Businessman, Writer- and now the home-production has been successfully rolled out. She is in the family way. Sure business works wonders and bumping into the right person definitely produces results. However, we are yet to see that magnificent bump, though the media went crazy over a tiny one, they thought they spied, when the wind was doing the only job it knows-blowing. These guys are unbelievable, in spotting curves and angles you and I just are stone and wind blind to. Hope, a full one appears soon-and the expectations are indeed Space High. Maternity leave is around the corner.

In another part of the world, across the oceans, working hard to keep Samantha company is Hollywood Actress Anne Hathaway-the Princess who kept a Diary. She is married to Actor Producer, and Jewel designer Adam Shulman and the couple probably heard Elon Musk’s clarion call to launch more babies-the American population is seriously declining-and two, they already have, not being enough, went back to production, and a third jewel is on the way. More entries in the Diary?

That’s already two bumps- that I know- to look-up to, all happening in June 2026. And this being football season, it’s raining goals everywhere! Move over Messi & Co.

The FIFA World Cup is kicking about in the United States of America, and it is a fabulous Discovery of America, and of football. Discovery Channel and the National Geographic have lost their footing. There is magic everywhere, on the American streets and on the football grounds. Probably the Greatest of All Time (GOAT), Argentinian footballer Lionel Messi, scored a hattrick, and then in another game scored two more to become the highest goal-scorer in World Cup history. It’s time they make the goal-posts smaller?

I am riveted to watching football and chasing all the clever goals- especially those going between the legs. And between the lines, I have an eye on that speed-breaker, baby-bump. I’m sure there’s much more to come. The dice is heavily loaded.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2023-28

About: the world this week 9 July to 15 July 2023. A Defence Alliance summit; politics in the Netherlands; a disease outbreak in Peru; floods all over the World; poll violence in India; onwards to the Moon; Hollywood strikes; Badminton and Tennis stories; and a transgender beauty.

Everywhere

NATO Summit

This week, leaders from the 31 countries in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) military alliance met in Lithuania’s Vilnius, on a two-day event. They discussed the war in Ukraine, defence spending, and Sweden and Ukraine’s membership. At least one of those is making progress. Sweden is now on its way to joining NATO, after finally gaining Turkey’s support. As for Ukraine, NATO’s Secretary General said that the NATO will extend an official invitation once the ongoing war with Russia is over with an accelerated process. And in the meantime Ukraine will be supported with arms, ammunition, and kind, to keep up their spirits.

Turkey’s argument for keeping Sweden out of NATO was that it is harbouring Kurdish separatists whom Turkey has designated as terrorists. Sweden has toughened its stance against the PKK (the Kurdish militant group) and lifted restrictions on arms sales to Turkey.

Go Dutch

Netherlands is heading to the polls in November 2023 following a collapse of the current four-party coalition Government headed by Prime Minister (PM) Mark Rutte of the VVD – People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy. The other coalition parties are, Democrats 66, Christian Democratic Appeal, and Christian Union.

The coalition parties disagreed over asylum policies and were split in crisis talks chaired by the PM, late last week. The PM had been trying to limit the flow of asylum seekers, following a row last year about overcrowded migration centres, which were opposed by other coalition partners. Asylum applications in the Netherlands jumped by over a third last year to more than 47,000, and about 70,000 applications are expected in 2023. PM Rutte tried to force through a plan, which included a cap on the number of relatives of war refugees allowed into the Netherlands at just 200 people per month. A compromise proposal, known as the ‘emergency brake’, which would only trigger the restrictions in the event of an excessively high influx of migrants, was not enough to save the government. The four parties could not reach an agreement on migration, and therefore decided to end the Government.

Mark Rutte at age 56, is the country’s longest serving Prime Minister. He has been in office since 2010 – heading different coalitions. The current government, which took office in January 2022, is his fourth coalition.

The Farmer-Citizen Movement, which became the biggest party in the upper house of parliament after a shock election win in March this year, said they will not serve in any future government led by Mark Rutte. Wait until November!

Gulliain-Barre Syndrome

Peru has declared a national emergency after an unusual outbreak of rising cases of Gulliain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), a rare autoimmune disorder triggered by an acute bacterial or viral infection. The serious, but rare neurological disorder affects the nerves and causes weakness in the muscles, and even paralysis. Symptoms include back pain, numbness or tingling sensation in feet and arms, loss of reflexes and breathing difficulties.

Four people have died and over 180 cases have been reported. Peru had a similar outbreak in 2019. And now the country is struggling with the worst dengue outbreak in its recorded history, this year.

What does GBS do to the human body?

In a person with GSB, the immune system starts attacking healthy cells instead of sick cells. The Myelin sheaths (a layer that wraps around the nerve cells/neurons) of the peripheral nerves are attacked and prevents neves from sending certain information, such as touch sensations, to the spinal cord and brain. This causes a feeling of numbness. In addition the brain and spinal cord can no longer transmit signals back to the body, leading to muscle weakness.

Causes are unknown but it normally sets in after an infection. Two in every three people with GBS had diarrhoea or a respiratory illness several weeks before developing GBS symptoms. There is no specific cure but symptoms can be treated and the disease managed. On the positive side, it is not contagious and cannot spread from one person to another.

Floods

Floods in North India watered the states of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, and Delhi – an outcome of the Monsoon’s torrential rains.

The summer Monsoon brings South Asia 70-80% of its annual rainfall, as well as death and destruction due to flooding and landslides.

In the northern state of Himachal Pradesh, flash floods over the last weekend brought down a bridge and swept away several hutments. Many districts in the State received a month’s normal rainfall in a single day.

Streets across the northern states, including in Punjab, Delhi, and Uttarakhand, were flooded. In some areas, rescue personnel used rubber rafts to rescue people stranded inside their homes.

Roads in several parts of New Delhi were submerged in knee-deep water as it was inundated with 153mm of rain, the highest in a single day in July in 40 years. The River Yamuna has crossed the danger mark of 206 metres in Delhi, prompting the relocation of people residing in flood-prone areas to safer locations.

Delhi, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh have received 112%, 100% and 70% more rainfall than average so far in the current monsoon season that started on 1st June.

Floods are flooding the news not only in India but in the United States where deadly floods stumped the north-east, while heatwaves set to boil much of the southern and western United States, kicking off a week of dangerous weather as warnings about the climate crisis intensify.

Flash floods overwhelmed New York’s Hudson Valley. And flood warnings were still in place in parts of nearby Vermont this week, as the state capital Montpelier’s downtown was under water and officials fear a local dam could fail for the first time since it was built, threatening further inundation.

Japan too joined the flood-bath. Three people were killed and three others are missing in flooding in southwest Japan caused by the region’s ‘heaviest’ rain ever. Rivers overflowed and hillsides collapsed as record amounts of rain were dumped on parts of Kyushu island. The national weather agency logged 402.5mm falling in Kurume this Monday, the highest ever recorded in the city. Roads and power-lines were cut, and thousands were ordered to evacuate as further downpours were expected. The Japanese Meteorological Agency, said the rains were perhaps ‘the heaviest ever experienced’ in the region.

Poll Violence

A democracy places at its cornerstone a simple mechanism for people to choose who will govern the country or their immediate locality and deliver on improving the quality of their lives: voting. Periodically, people vote for candidates of political parties in free and fair elections – ensured by the ruling Government- which is almost always followed by a peaceful transition of power, at least in India.

In perhaps one of the worst poll-related violence seen in recent times more than 25 people were killed during the civic body elections in India’s State of West Bengal. The mayhem, intimidation and ransacking that have accompanied the Panchayat Polls in the State last fly in the face of fundamental principles of democracy and underline a stark reality: the fairness of the election is under a cloud.

Several districts reported booth capturing, damaged ballot boxes, and attacks on presiding officers. This violence is not an aberration in West Bengal: It is entrenched in the state’s political culture, with parties in government — the Trinamool Congress (TMC) now, and the Communist Part of India (CPM) and Congress before it — wielding it to control the street, and thereby monopolise state power.

This time, in village after village, the ruling party systematically used bombs, barricades and cadres to ensure that opposition candidates and supporters were unable to move about on polling day. Where they have the clout to do so, some opposition parties have acted in a similar manner. As a result of the violence in the run-up to filing nominations last month, the High Court had ordered that central forces be deployed in the state. But the onus of ensuring a safe election is not on the uniformed personnel alone-the political class in the state, especially the ruling party and State Election Commission, bears a lion’s share of that responsibility. From the 1960s until the 1990s, tactics such as booth capturing and intimidation of voters and polling officials defined electoral politics in many states, including Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Most of India has rejected that form of politics and moved on. However, West Bengal still lives with it.

India heads to the Moon

India aims to put its man on the Moon in the future. And in the run-up it’s testing out end-to-end capability in safe landing and ‘moon-roaming’.

Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-up on Chandrayaan-2 which got to the moon and its Lander swooned just above the surface of the Moon and crash-landed when the Moon was expecting a soft kiss on its rugged cheeks. ISRO is now wiser and hopes to keep the Lander ‘in check’ and from ‘falling too quick’ to the charms of the Moon.

India launched Chandrayaan-3 it’s unmanned spacecraft to the Moon with a flawless lift-off from base Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, this friday afternoon using the time-tested launch vehicle LVM3.

Chandrayaan-3 consists of a Propulsion Module (PM), a Lander Module – Vikram, and a Rover – Pragyan. The PM will carry Vikram, with Pragyan safely ensconced inside, on an orbit around the Earth; and then gradually take it into a lunar transfer trajectory after which it will inject Vikram into the lunar orbit at about 100km from the Moon’s surface. After orbiting around the Moon and getting closer, Vikram will be de-boosted to land with the Propulsion Module separating and saying good bye. Vikram will then softly touch-down on the Lunar South Pole region – previously unexplored – and after giving the Moon a few winks, will open its doors for Praygan to roll out and roam the Moon.

The Moon Landing is scheduled on 23 August 2023. If successful, India will be the fourth nation to land on the Moon after the United States, Russia, and China.

Hollywood Strikes

Hollywood’s Actors and Writers are on a strike. And this is the first time two Unions – Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and the Writers Guild of America (WGA)- are doing this together. The last time was in 1960 when future United States President Ronald Reagan led the strike.

Actors Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie, Johnny Depp are card-holding members of the SAG-AFTRA and are lending their fire-power and magic.

The strike follows a row over pay and the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) with film studios and streaming services and failing to reach an agreement on how to go about it. The Unions are worrying about contracts keeping up with inflation, residual payments in the streaming era and safeguards against the use of AI mimicking their work on film and television shows.

Sports

This week, India’s Lakshya Sen, ranked 19th in the World, won the men’s single title at the Badminton World Federation (BWF)’s 58th Canadian Open 2023. He defeated China’s Li Shi Feng, the reigning All England Champion, in straight games, 21-18 and 22-20.

This remarkable victory marks Sen’s second BWF World Tour Title. His previous triumph was at the India Open, in January 2022.

Sen displayed amazing talent and ability to excel under pressure outclassing his opponent. The match was filled with extraordinary rallies, characterized by fast-paced exchanges at the net. Sen saved four game points in the second game before clinching the championship point with a decisive smash.

The Wimbledon Tennis Tournament is rallying to a close in London and in the Women’s Singles Finals it’s Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur versus Czechoslovakia’s Marketa Vondrousova. Both reached the finals coming through enthralling semi-finals at the All England Club, and are seeking their maiden Grand Slam title having previously fallen short in major finals.

Meanwhile in the Men’s Singles, Serbia’s Novak Djokovic beat Italian Jannik Sinner to enter the finals. Djokovic will face either Carlos Alcaraz or Daniil Medvedev, in Sunday’s final where he is bidding to tie Roger Federer’s record by lifting an eighth Wimbledon crown.

Please Yourself

Rikkie Valerie Kolle has made history as the first transgender woman to win the Miss Netherlands Title. It’s the first time in the Dutch pageant’s 94-year history that a transgender woman has been crowned winner.

It means the 22 year old will be the second openly transgender competitor to take part in Miss Universe in December this year. Rikkie says she dreamed of winning pageants like this as a child. “The journey started as a super insecure little boy,” she said. “And now I’m standing here as a strong and empowering and confident woman. I’m really proud of that”.

More gripping stories will be launched in the weeks ahead. Roam the world with World Inthavaaram.