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7.22 am : Ahead of the resumption of talks, farmer unions on Tuesday wrote to the government saying the discussion can only be on a four-point agenda including modalities of repealing the laws and providing a legal guarantee on minimum support price, reports The Indian Express . “In its letter to us, the government acknowledged our agenda, but did not specifically mention repealing the laws,” said Surjit Singh Phool of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Krantikari). “Their letter lacks clarity, but we believe that their act of asking us for the agenda was a welcome step. Now, we expect something new from them, something that is in the direction of finding the best way to repeal the laws.” 7.18 am : The leaders of farmer unions will meet central ministers on Wednesday to hold the sixth round of negotiations over the new agricultural legislations. Ahead of the talks, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Railways Minister Piyush Goyal, who are among those representing the Centre in...

It is said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi works tirelessly round the clock. A section of the media can barely rest too, thanks to a new feature of Modi’s public image: his snow-white, lush and seemingly ever-lengthening beard. Modi’s beard has been one of the most striking features of 2020. Drawings made before the coronavirus pandemic and the ensuing national lockdown in March have had to be discarded over the past few months to more accurately reflect the leader’s latest sage-like image. “The white beard that has begun to flow during the lockdown gives his carriage a sage-like appearance,” journalist Saba Naqvi noted in an essay for Scroll.in . “…Modi’s greatest talent lies in understanding the audience. His image calibration has therefore been a work in progress for two decades. Increasingly, these days the images that Modi chooses to present the world touch subliminal buttons – saffron, sage, penance, service and so on.” How have cartoonists responded to this latest element...

Keshav Sitaram Thackeray, the father of Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray, was among the prominent figures in the Samyukta Maharashtra movement in the 195 0 s that pushed for the formation of the state of Maharashtra. But he had already emerged as an influential public figure three decades before, especially after he started a periodical called Prabodhan (Awakening) in 1921. This year marks the centenary year of this magazine, which played a crucial role in shaping the world of non-Brahmin Marathi writing between the two world wars. In the 19th-century, public discouse in Marathi was dominated by Brahmins. Early in the next century, the emergence of Thackeray and a few other non-Brahmin voices helped reshape the idea of the “public” in the region. In his publication Prabodhan , Keshav “Prabodhankar” Thackeray’s presented a version of Hindutva based on an intense aversion for the socio-cultural dominance of Brahmins. He played a key role in expanding to semi-urban and rural areas of Ma...

Indian Air Force (IAF) on Wednesday will conclude the online application process for Air Force Common Admission Test (AFCAT) 01/2021 for flying branch and ground duty (technical and non-technical). Interested candidates can apply for the same on the official website afcat.cdac.in or careerindianairforce.cdac.in. The exam is scheduled to take place on February 20 and 21 in two shifts, respectively. “Indian Air Force invites Indian citizens (Men and Women) to be part of this elite force as Group A Gazetted Officers in Flying and Ground Duty (Technical and Non-Technical) branches. Online AFCAT examination will be conducted on 20 Feb 21 and 21 Feb 21,” the official notification released by IAF earlier this month read. Eligibility criteria: Age: For Flying Branch, the age limit set for applicants is 20 to 24 years as on January 1, 2022. For Ground Duty Branch, the age limit for applicants is 20 to 26 years as on January 1, 2022. Educational qualification: For Flying Branch, candid...

West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education has released the Uccha Madhyamik exam schedule for Class 12 students on its official website wbchse.nic.in. The exams will be conducted from June 15 to July 2 with strict adherence to Coronavirus protocols. The exam will be conducted from 10 am to 1.15 pm. A few of the subjects will be held for two hours. All practical exams will be held from March 10 to 31. Uccha Madhyamik 2021 schedule DATE DAY SUBJECT JUNE 15 TUESDAY BENGALI (A), ENGLISH (A), HINDI (A), NEPALI (A), URDU, SANTHALI, ODIA, TELUGU, GUJARATI, PUNJABI JUNE 17 THURSDAY ENGLISH (B), BENGALI (B), HINDI (B), NEPALI (B), ALTERNATIVE ENGLISH JUNE 18 FRIDAY HEALTHCARE, AUTOMOBILE, ORGANISED RETAILING, SECURITY, IT AND ITES - VOCATIONAL SUBJECTS JUNE 19 SATURDAY BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE, BUSINESS STUDIES, POLITICAL SCIENCE JUNE 21 MONDAY MATHEMATICS, PSYCHOLOGY, ANTHROPOLOGY, AGRONOMY, HISTORY JUNE 22 TUESDAY COMPUTER... Read more from Scro...

Chennaiyin FC coach Csaba Laszlo faces a unique quandary as he prepares his team to take on ATK Mohun Bagan in the Indian Super League at the GMC Stadium, in Bambolim, Goa on Tuesday. On one hand, goals are coming from everywhere – Chennaiyin have already had six different individual goalscorers this term. On the other, the people tasked with scoring them – the strikers – aren’t finding the net often enough. Against ATKMB, who are yet to concede from open play this season, the likes of Jakub Sylvestr will have to do a lot better if Chennaiyin are to walk away from the match with something. Laszlo is happy with how goals are coming from different sources and stressed that it was no accident. “We have not just one goalscorer. We have (scorers from different places), from the left, right or the middle. This is also more or less down to our strategy,” he said. But he also recognized the need for his team to be less wasteful up front. Lallianzuala Chhangte failed to hit the target from...

Caution: spoilers ahead. “I have always been a serious actor, but I never tried to project that I am an intellectual actor – I just had fun and enjoyed myself,” said Anil Kapoor, who turned 64 on December 24, the same day his new film AK vs AK was released on Netflix. Kapoor was supposed to work in Kashyap’s movie Allwyn Kalicharan in the early 2000s – one of the flash points for the staged confrontation in AK vs AK. Kashyap’s character kidnaps Anil Kapoor’s daughter Sonam Kapoor Ahuja and tells the actor to locate her within ten hours. Kapoor’s search is filmed by Kashyap’s assistant Yogita (Yogita Bihani). Motwane had previously directed Anil Kapoor’s son, Harshvardhan Kapoor, in the ambitious but unsuccessful Bhavesh Joshi: Superhero . Harshvardhan Kapoor cheerfully appears in Motwane’s film in a hilarious sequence, as do Anil Kapoor’s brother, the producer Boney Kapoor, and Sonam Kapoor Ahuja. Kashyap’s buddy Nawazuddin Siddiqui has a voice cameo. Behind the film’s wacky p...