Looking forward to the shift in life with my first film as lead

by Argus News

New Delhi, Aug 21: Actor Aparshakti Khurana is all set to play the lead role in the upcoming film "Helmet". He is excited about the satirical comedy movie, which is being tagged as India's first film on condoms.

"Helmet" tells the tale of people who hesitate or are shy to buy condoms from stores because of what society might perceive about them.

Talking about his first film in the lead role, in an exclusive conversation with IANS, Aparshakti shared his excitement.

He said: "'Helmet' presents a social taboo driven through a subtle social message peppered with humour. It required me to further explore my creative impulses as an actor. I'm really looking forward to the shift in life with this being my first film as the lead."

Aparshakti, who is the younger brother actor Ayushmann Khurrana, has been part of successful films like "Dangal", "Badrinath Ki Dulhania", "Stree", "Luka Chuppi", "Pati Patni Aur Who", among many others.

He said that the process of shooting the film was challenging yet enjoyable for him.

"The fact that this film is made on a taboo subject made it look even more challenging yet exciting to me."

The 33-year-old actor stars opposite Pranutan Bahl. The film also features Abhishek Banerjee and Ashish Verma in pivotal roles in the film.

"Nothing like being a part of a film that has the potential of breaking a taboo while entertaining people. That's a genre that I personally enjoy thoroughly and I hope the people do too. Fingers crossed," he said.

"Helmet" is produced by Dino Morea and directed by debutant Satram Ramani.

Talking about the process of getting into the character, he elaborated: "When scriptwriters write a character, they have a certain vision about them - nitty-gritty such as the body language, the colloquial language and more.

"When I am doing a film, my only objective is to get as close as possible to the scriptwriter's vision of that character, irrespective of (whether) the character is a lead or not."

"Helmet" releases on September 3 on ZEE5.
(IANS)

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Vishnu Deo Sai Named New Chhattisgarh CM

by Pabitra Mohan Senapaty

Raipur, Dec 10: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has named Vishnu Deo Sai as the new Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, where the party wrested power from the Congress in the recently concluded Assembly polls by bagging 54 of the total 90 seats.

Sai (59) had earlier served as Union Minister of State for Steel, Mines, Labour and Employment during the first tenure of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Central government.

The decision to name Sai for the chief ministerial post was taken at the BJP legislature party meeting here, sources said on Sunday.

The meeting was held in the presence of three observers appointed by the central BJP leadership.

The BJP central leadership has appointed Union Ministers Arjun Munda, Sarbananda Sonowal, and party general secretary Dushyant Kumar Gautam as observers for Chhattisgarh.

The meeting was attended by 54 newly elected MLAs, including former Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh.

Speculations suggested that the party might give another CM term to the veteran BJP.

However, this time, the BJP has appointed a fresh face for the CM post.

Sai was earlier appointed as the chief of the BJP's Chhattisgarh unit in 2020, two years after the party faced a rout in the Assembly polls.

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He was replaced by Arun Sao in August 2022, around a year before the recently concluded Chhattisgarh polls.

(IANS)

HIV Drug May Help Prevent Covid-19 Variants: Study

by Manisha Das

San Francisco, Dec 10: Researchers have said that an HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) drug could stop many coronavirus diseases, including the SARS-CoV-2 variants when given to infected cells at the right concentration.

The researchers have previously shown that a booster drug called -- "cobicistat", which is normally used to reinforce the effect of anti-HIV drugs, could have antiviral properties against a SARS-CoV-2 variant circulating in Europe in early 2020.

In the study, published in the journal Antiviral Research, the researchers investigated whether the anti-SARS-CoV-2 properties of cobicistat were maintained against the key variants of concern (VOCs) of SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses, including Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV).

With a death rate of over 30 per cent, MERS-CoV circulates throughout the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia without a vaccine or specific treatment.

The researchers also compared cobicistat's effects to those of ritonavir, a structurally similar molecule that is also one of the components of Paxlovid, the current gold standard for antiviral treatment of SARS-CoV-2.

Using automated image analysis for screening and parallel comparison of the anti-coronavirus effects of cobicistat and ritonavir, the researchers discovered that cobicistat and ritonavir both act against all eight VOCs of SARS-CoV-2 tested as well as other human coronaviruses, including MERS-CoV.

"Our study shows that the CYP3A inhibitors ritonavir and, to a higher extent, cobicistat can be repurposed as broadly effective anti-coronavirus agents at concentrations potentially achievable in vivo by adjusting currently approved dosing regimens," the researchers said.

The findings suggested that cobicistat is more effective than ritonavir. Both drugs demonstrated anti-coronavirus activity in vitro at well-tolerated doses that were higher than those currently used for anti-HIV drug booster activity and in Paxlovid.

Cobicistat and ritonavir both inhibited coronavirus replication when used at these higher doses, both alone and in combination with other drugs.

(IANS)

Dhiraj Sahu I-T Raids: Cash Counting Continues On 5th Day

by Manisha Das

Bhubaneswar, Dec 10: The counting of cash seized from a distillery unit, allegedly linked to Congress MP Dhiraj Prasad Sahu located at Sudpada in Odisha's Balangir district continued on the fifth day even as several counting machines broke down due to the heavy workload, said sources on Sunday.

Some mechanics were reportedly present at the bank to immediately repair the counting machines.

Officials of SBI informed the media persons that counting of notes has ended in Sambalpur and Titilagarh branches. The official sources said that Rs 11 crore has been seized from Titilagarh while the amount seized in Sambalpur stood at Rs 37.50 crore.

Sources claimed that around 60 staffers and several machines have been engaged at the SBI branch at Balangir for the counting of the cash brought to the branch in 176 bags.

The officials reportedly finished counting cash stashed in 102 bags amounting to around Rs 140 crore till Saturday night.

Meanwhile, unconfirmed sources claimed that the counting of cash kept in another 40 odd bags has been completed till Sunday afternoon increasing the seizure amount to around Rs 180 crore. The counting is expected to be finished by Sunday evening.

On the other hand, a team of Income Tax officials from Hyderabad has reached Balangir to assist in the investigation.

Notably, the Income Tax officials launched simultaneous raids at different places related to Boudh Distillery Private Limited, an Odisha-based distillery firm, and other liquor businessmen linked to the firm in Balangir, Sambalpur, Sundargarh, Bhubaneswar in Odisha, Kolkata in West Bengal and Bokaro in Jharkhand on Wednesday.

The sleuths stumbled upon huge cash stashed in two almirahs at the Sudpada distillery unit in Bolangir district. The officials later took the cash in 156 bags to a nearby branch of State Bank of India (SBI) for counting. Sources stated that the cash recovered from the distillery firm was estimated to be over Rs 200 crore.