‘Never Forget Tibet: The Dalai Lama’s Untold Story’ Releases On His birthday

by Shambhu Datta Mishra

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

The documentary, directed by Jean-Paul Mertinez, explores details of the Nobel Peace Laureate’s incredible escape into exile for the first time on film in his own words, with the Indian political officer who led him to safety -- late Havildar Mander Singh

Dharamsala, July 6: As a mark of reverence on the 89th birthday of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, an icon of ahinsa (non-violence) and karuna (compassion), Saturday, ‘Never Forget Tibet: The Dalai Lama’s Untold Story’ was released worldwide.

Featuring the Tibetan community in exile and those with historic ties to Tibet, the film explores the Dalai Lama’s compassion for a world seemingly in crisis today and seeks to find out what can be learnt from his inspirational life story, Tibetan culture and its ancient spirituality.

Inspired by the book ‘An Officer and His Holiness’ by Rani Singh, the film is narrated by British acting legend Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey, Paddington) and features music from Grammy-nominated artist Anoushka Shankar.

The film is produced by Compassionate Films and the Executive Producers are Templeheart Films, Lyndon Baldock, Gavin Patterson and Rani Singh.

The worldwide digital release has been made possible with the collaboration of The Italian Buddhist Union, Rome, Italy.

The feature-length documentary will be available on world’s leading streaming platforms, including Apple TV+, Amazon and Google Play.

In 1959, the occupying Chinese troops suppressed the Tibetan national uprising in Lhasa and forced the 14th Dalai Lama and over 80,000 Tibetans into exile in India and neighbouring countries.

On reaching India after a three-week-long and treacherous journey, the Dalai Lama first took up residence for about a year in Mussoorie in Uttarakhand.

On March 10, 1960, just before moving to Dharamsala, which also serves as the headquarters of the exiled Tibetan establishment, the Dalai Lama said: “For those of us in exile, I said that our priority must be resettlement and the continuity of our cultural traditions. We, Tibetans, would eventually prevail in regaining freedom for Tibet.”

Currently, the government-in-exile is based in Dharamsala, a town in Himalayan foothills where a community of Tibetans lives in exile with the Dalai Lama, hoping to sustain their struggle to secure complete autonomy in their Chinese-ruled homeland, Tibet.

(IANS)

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Alia Bhatt Shows Up At Alan Walker's Bengaluru Concert: ‘Surprise Surprise’

by Utkalika Mohanty

Mumbai, Oct 5: Bollywood star Actor Alia Bhatt, who is awaiting the release of her upcoming movie ‘Jigra’, surprised the audience with her appearance at the Grammy award-winning DJ Alan Walker's show in Bengaluru.

Videos and pictures of Alia greeting the crowd have gone viral on social media. One of the clips shows Alia arriving on stage amid cheers from the crowd. She said, "Namaskara (Hello) Bengaluru. Surprise, surprise”.

She was dressed in a blue off-shoulder bodycon dress and heels. Alan opted for a grey hoodie and black pants. He also wore a mask on his face.

While the actress smiled and waved at the audience, the song ‘Chal Kudiye’ from ‘Jigra’ played in the background. In a photo, Alia was seen posing with Alan as they held each other.

Alia’s appearance at Alan’s show comes during the times when international artistes are finding a steady footing in India. In January, the British rock band Coldplay is set to perform in Mumbai, and has generated significant buzz around the same.

Meanwhile, Alia will be next seen in ‘Jigra’ which is directed by Vasan Bala of ‘Monica, O My Darling’ fame. The film also stars Vedang Raina, who portrays the role of Alia's brother in the film. Alia essays the role of Satya, a devoted sister who will go to the edge of the world for her brother. She is determined to rescue her brother, Ankur, played by Vedang.

The trailer of the film was released a few days ago, and by the looks of it, ‘Jigra’ seems to be inspired from the Russell Crowe-starrer ‘The Next Three Days’ which itself was inspired from the French film ‘Pour elle’ by Fred Cavaye. While in ‘The Next Three Days’ Russell Crowe takes extreme measures to break his wife out of prison after she is wrongfully convicted for the murder of her boss, in ‘Jigra’ the lead characters are of a brother and a sister.

Produced under the banner of Dharma Productions and presented by Viacom18 Studios and Eternal Sunshine Productions, ‘Jigra is set to debut in theatres on October 11.

--IANS

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Women's T2O WC: India Look To Bounce Back After NZ Defeat, Says Jemimah Rodrigues

by Shambhu Datta Mishra

Dubai, Oct 5: Indian women's cricket team faced a crucial test of character as they aim to recover from a significant loss to New Zealand in the T20 World Cup.

Jemimah Rodrigues stressed the importance of resilience as the team seeks to reignite their campaign following a disappointing 58-run defeat in Dubai Friday.

In a tightly contested Group A, dubbed the 'group of death,' India's semifinal prospects hang in the balance after New Zealand outplayed them.

Australia, defending champions and title favorites, begin their journey Saturday against Sri Lanka, while Pakistan shocked Sri Lanka in their opening match in Sharjah.

South Africa also laid down a marker in Group B by defeating West Indies by 10 wickets, sitting at the top with Bangladesh.

India, bowled out for just 102 in pursuit of 161, saw no player surpass captain Harmanpreet Kaur's score of 15. Only five Indian batters reached double figures, including Rodrigues with 13. For New Zealand, seamers Rosemary Mair and Lea Tahuhu wreaked havoc, taking 4 for 19 and 3 for 15, respectively.

Rodrigues acknowledged the disappointing performance but urged her team to move forward, knowing every game from here is a must-win.

"Today would be the game we would like to forget, because this is a World Cup," Rodrigues said. "We need to keep moving on and keep picking ourselves up. We can't stay stuck at this game. We need to pick ourselves up, and I think that will show the character of this team.

"We know every game from here is so crucial for us. We know that, but at the same time, we're going to go one game at a time and just make sure we stick to our process and do our job well. If we can do that, I think we play our best cricket, I think we can win matches."

New Zealand's aggressive approach laid the foundation for their victory, with an opening 67-run partnership between Suzie Bates and Georgia Plimmer, followed by captain Sophie Devine's unbeaten 57 off 36 balls. It was a much-needed comeback for New Zealand, who had a difficult 2023, struggling against top teams like Australia and South Africa.

Rodrigues admitted New Zealand's powerplay attack wasn't unexpected but regretted missed chances. "They came out with a lot of intent," she said. "We did create opportunities, but unfortunately we didn't make the most of them. Then the way we came back after the start was … I mean, not many positives in this game, but still, going forward, we need to have the right approach because the tournament is not over. We need to take some positives from this game and a lot of learnings from this game."

While temperatures in Dubai have been challenging, Rodrigues downplayed the conditions as a factor, emphasising that the team is well-prepared and familiar with such heat, given their experience in India.

A controversial moment in the 14th over involving New Zealand’s Amelia Kerr briefly unsettled India.

"It's not the easiest of conditions, it's really hot here in Dubai, but I think we've got enough time to get used to the conditions so we don't give an excuse, like it's too hot or whatever it is. We just need to do our job and win the match for the team. So when it comes to conditions, I think we are very used to the conditions. It's got better from the first day we've come here. So I think we are very prepared for this and all of us stay in India, so we are very familiar to such conditions."

After a miscommunication during a run-out attempt, the ball was declared dead, sparking heated discussions between Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur and the umpires. Despite this, Kerr was dismissed two balls later, and Rodrigues praised her team’s ability to move past the situation. "We accepted the umpire's decision and moved on. We got her out soon after, so it worked for us."

(IANS)

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Two Terrorists Killed, Army Foils Infiltration Bid In J&K’s Kupwara

by Utkalika Mohanty

Srinagar, Oct 5: Two terrorists were killed on Saturday as the alert troops of the army foiled an infiltration bid at the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu & Kashmir’s Kupwara district.

Officials said that two unidentified terrorists were killed by the army in the Gugaldhar area of Kupwara district when an infiltration bid from across the LoC was foiled by them.

Srinagar headquartered 15 Corps of the army posted on its X: “Two terrorists have been eliminated by the security forces in the ongoing Operation GUGALDHAR. War-like stores have been recovered. Search of the area is underway and Operation is in progress.”

Anti-terrorism and anti-infiltration operations in the hinterland and along the LoC were increased to ensure the smooth conduct of the legislative Assembly elections in J&K.

Lt General Rajiv Ghai, GOC of 15 Corps told reporters two days back that in order to sustain the prevailing peace in Kashmir Valley, there can be no reduction in anti-terrorism and anti-infiltration related deployed of the security forces.

Two army soldiers, a Havaldar and a Naik were injured on Friday in a landmine explosion when they were on patrol duty along the LoC in Kupwara.

It must be mentioned that terrorists, believed to be hardcore foreign mercenaries, have carried out hit-and-run attacks against the army, local police and civilians in the hilly districts of Doda, Kathua, Rajouri, Poonch and Reasi of Jammu division during the last three to four months.

After carrying out ambushes against the army and others in the hilly areas, the terrorists would escape into the densely foliaged and forested areas in the vicinity.

To thwart the tactics of the terrorists, over 4,000 soldiers drawn from the elite Para Commandos and those trained in mountain warfare were deployed in the mountain tops and densely forested areas of the Jammu division. After this revised strategy by the security forces, terrorist attacks in these districts have drastically come down.

With their ubiquitous presence in these areas, the security forces have been able to establish contact (engage terrorists in gunfights) in these areas.