Mumbai, May 14 (IANS) With temperatures soaring, actress Taapsee Pannu stepped in to help the underprivileged by donating insulated water coolers to equip them for the summer season.

Taapsee took to Instagram, where she shared a motley of pictures from her humanitarian work. She could be seen walking through a narrow alleyway lined with makeshift homes dressed in a fluorescent green safety vest paired with dark green T-shirt, blue jeans, and white sneakers.In one image, she is carrying large insulated water coolers and even giving out some insulated bottles.For the caption, she wrote: “The next round With @hemkunt_foundation Helping them equip themselves for this summer this time it was to help them store some cool water for their families. Joy of helping people out of your comfort zone is real, try it.”The actress had earlier too donated fans and water coolers.Speaking about her involvement, the actress had shared, “We often take basic comforts like a fan or a cooler for granted, but for so many people, especially in this unbearable heat, even a small breeze can feel like a blessing.”“Being part of this initiative moved me deeply. It’s not just about giving—it’s about standing with people, understanding their pain, and doing what little we can to ease it.”Talking about acting, Taapsee has completed filming for her upcoming movie “Gandhari”.“Gandhari” promises a riveting storyline filled with relentless determination and intense personal stakes, set against the backdrop of gripping mystery and high-powered action. Audiences will see Taapsee Pannu as a fierce mom on a mission,” reads the plot description from streaming giant Netflix,reports variety.com.“Gandhari”, which also stars Ishwak Singh marks Kanika Dhillon and Taapsee’s sixth collaboration after back-to-back success with “Manmarziyaan”, “Haseen Dilruba”, “Phir Aayi Hasseen Dilruba” and many more.–IANSdc/

Rome, May 14 (IANS) Peyton Stearns made history at the Italian Open with her latest nail-biting victory over No. 16 seed Elina Svitolina in a thrilling quarterfinal match as she became the first player in the Open Era to win three consecutive WTA main-draw matches in third-set tiebreaks.After seeing a 6-2, 4-2 lead slip through her fingers, unseeded American Stearns rallied from a double-break down in the third set to outlast No. 16 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(4) in two hours and 38 minutes.In her last two rounds, Stearns toppled Grand Slam champions Madison Keys and Naomi Osaka in third-set tiebreaks, setting up her history-making streak. Her upset of World No.6 Keys was her career-best win by opponent ranking.She is the first player to make the semifinals at her Rome main-draw debut since Daria Savillein 2015, and the first American woman to do so since Venus Williams in 1998, WTA reports.Ranked World No. 42, Stearns is into the first WTA 1000 semifinal of her career, which guarantees her a new career-high ranking in Monday’s updated WTA Rankings. It will potentially also garner her a first-ever Grand Slam seeding at Roland Garros.Stearns will takes on top Italian Jasmine Paolini on Thursday. No. 6 seed Paolini advanced to her first Rome semifinal with a three-set win over No. 13 seed Diana Shnaider on Tuesday.Paolini is only the fifth Italian woman in the Open Era to reach the final four in Rome — and the first since doubles partner Sara Errani did it 11 years ago.“It was really tough match. I’m really happy that I get through. But was a roller coaster. Point by point, point after point, I found a way — I fought until the end. The crowd, of course, helped me. So I’m really happy with the win,” Paolini, who reached her third WTA 1000 semifinal, after Dubai 2024 and Miami 2025, told reporters.–IANSbc/

Quetta, May 14 (IANS) Pakistan’s Kashish Chaudhary has created history by becoming the first Hindu woman appointed as an Assistant Commissioner of Balochistan. Her remarkable achievement after successfully passing the highly competitive Balochistan Public Service Commission (BPSC) examination at a notably young age is celebrated as a powerful symbol of inclusion, diversity, and meritocracy in the province.She belongs to a remote town of Noshki in the district of Chagai in Balochistan.Recognising her accomplishment, Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti met Kashish along with her father, Girdhari Lal.During the meeting matters of women’s representation, minority community empowerment, and the overall development of Balochistan were discussed, local media reported.CM lauded her achievement and called her “a symbol of pride for not just Balochistan, but the entire nation.””Kashish has proven that the daughters of Balochistan are second to none. Her success sends a strong message that talent and perseverance can emerge from even the most remote corners of our province,” he said.In her remarks, Chaudhary emphasised her desire to advocate for youth, women, and marginalised communities as she expressed her commitment in serving the people of Balochistan.”I’m grateful to the Government of Balochistan for placing its trust in a young woman from a minority background. My journey is just beginning, and I intend to be a strong voice for those who are often unheard. I aim to become the voice of youth, women, and minority communities,” she stated.”Where you come from doesn’t define how far you can go. It’s your dedication and commitment that matter,” she said, calling on young girls across remote areas of Pakistan to pursue their dreams without any fear or hesitation.Despite the persistent problem of young Hindu girls being abducted and converted by Muslims, the Hindu community, with continuous struggle, tries to counter such menaces.Hindus make up the largest minority community in Pakistan. Official estimates indicate that 7.5 million Hindus are living in the country. However, the community claims that the number exceeds 9 million.Atrocities in Balochistan, however, affect both Hindus and Muslims equally. Numerous Baloch activists have accused the Pakistan government of implementing a “hard-state” approach in Balochistan, characterised by widespread enforced disappearances, custodial torture, and extrajudicial killings.Activists highlight that the ongoing campaign of fear and repression tries to silence dissent and punish families seeking justice.As the federal government continues with its brutality on the people in Balochistan, people from the province living across the world are currently fighting for their independence from Pakistan.–IANSint/scor/sd/

Thiruvananthapuram, May 14 (IANS) The men in khaki – Kerala Police officials, who are often seen as tough personalities, also have a passionate and creative aspect, which came to the fore with two top officials making a mark in the Malayalam film industry.

S.Sreejith- Additional Director General of Police, apart from his busy policing job, also finds time for his musical journey, which has now transcended a few borders.The other prominent cultural personality who has also made a mark apart from being an upright police official is 51-year-old Sunil G. Cherukadavu, holding the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police and presently in the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau. He is now an accomplished lyricist and has had success both in the film industry and otherwise.Speaking to IANS, Sreejith said that by now he has sung songs in Malayalam films, and a few films are yet to be released.”The problem is that there is very little time at my disposal to explore my passion- singing, as my job is primary, and hence, passion takes a back seat. But despite that, I try my best to do justice to my passion. I have a classical musical event next month, where I will join luminaries from the field,” said Sreejith, who is also known for his policing brain, which has come in handy in resolving many cases.Cherukadavu told IANS that right from his college days, he used to pen his thoughts. He shared that while working as a Circle Inspector in the state capital district many years back, a request came to write a song for a school.”It was my first one and I am hugely thankful to musician Parthasarathy Master who gave me the due support and confidence. Since then, I have had no reason to look back and by now have written over 200 pieces, mostly songs and poems,” said Cherukadavu.”By now, I have written lyrics for a few Malayalam films and was very happy that Sreejith Sir agreed to sing my song. A few films for which I have written the lyrics are due for release. Since my job requires a good amount of travel, I run my imagination wild and get the fodder for my lyrics during that time,” added Cherukadavu.Meanwhile, Sreejith, who, after a brief stint in a non-policing job, has returned to the Police Headquarters, said he has already moved the papers to ensure a Police orchestra team is set, as there are quite a few talented men in Khaki, whose talents have to be utilised.”The Himachal Pradesh Police has very pro-active programmes for taking the creative talents of its force, and I am confident that very soon, the Kerala Police also will nurture and promote in-house talents,” added Sreejith.–IANSsg/svn

The United States, long hailed as one of the world’s top travel destinations, is experiencing…

Mumbai, May 14 (IANS) Filmmaker Ashok Pandit, the President of the Indian Film and Television Directors’ Association, has urged the Indian film industry to boycott Turkey, accusing the country of endorsing Pakistan-sponsored terrorism.

His statement comes after Turkey and Azerbaijan issued statements in which both nations expressed support for Pakistan and criticized India’s airstrikes targeting terror camps. Speaking to IANS, Ashok stated, “It was quite disappointing to see countries like Turkey and Azerbaijan supporting Pakistan. India has always stood by Turkey, especially during difficult times. During the COVID crisis, we provided them with medicines, injections, and vaccines. India has consistently supported Turkey, so their alliance with Pakistan is both surprising and unfortunate. A boycott of Pakistan is being widely supported across the country, and I believe it’s crucial to break their economic backbone to send a strong message. Pakistan is a failed state, a fact the entire world acknowledges. By supporting Pakistan, nations are indirectly endorsing terrorism and violence.”The filmmaker also admitted that the Indian film industry has had close cultural and professional ties with Turkey. Many Indian stars, filmmakers, and producers have traveled there for film shoots and have publicly appreciated the country. Despite this, Ashok said there’s now a need to boycott Turkey—this is a shift from collaboration to confrontation. “But we have appealed to our colleagues in the industry to boycott Turkey. We want to show them, as a united industry and as a nation, that we do not take such support for Pakistan lightly.”“Every filmmaker in our country is a nationalist. There might be differences in opinion, but there is no producer, director, or actor who does not love this country. Whether it’s a commercial film, an independent project, or an artistic venture—when it comes to the nation, no one compromises. Our entertainment industry has always stood by the country. Numerous nationalistic films have paid tribute to our armed forces. Many filmmakers have created powerful war films that celebrate the bravery of our soldiers,” added Pandit.On May 8, Turkey and Azerbaijan released official statements voicing support for Pakistan. Turkey’s Foreign Ministry labeled the Operation Sindoor a “provocative act,” while Azerbaijan expressed condolences to the families allegedly impacted by the strikes. These remarks sparked a wave of backlash on Indian social media, with many users and celebrities like Rupali Ganguly expressing outrage and amplifying calls for a boycott of Turkey.–IANSps/

New Delhi, May 14 (IANS) Graphic chip giant Nvidia has announced a partnership to transform Saudi Arabia into a global powerhouse in AI, cloud and enterprise computing, digital twins and robotics.Humain, the new full AI value chain subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), announced a strategic partnership with Nvidia, the world leader in AI computing infrastructure, to drive the next wave of artificial intelligence development.The two companies will leverage Nvidia platforms and expertise to establish Saudi Arabia as a global leader in AI, GPU cloud computing and digital transformation to drive innovation and growth worldwide, they said in a statement.“AI, like electricity and internet, is essential infrastructure for every nation. Together with Humain, we are building AI infrastructure for the people and companies of Saudi Arabia to realise the bold vision of the Kingdom,” said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of Nvidia.Humain is making a major investment to build AI factories in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with a projected capacity of up to 500 megawatts powered by several hundred thousand of Nvidia’s most advanced GPUs over the next five years.The first phase of deployment will be an 18,000 Nvidia GB300 Grace Blackwell AI supercomputer with Nvidia InfiniBand networking.These hyperscale AI data centre will provide a secure foundational infrastructure for training and deploying sovereign AI models at scale, enabling industries across Saudi Arabia and worldwide to accelerate innovation and digital transformation, said the companies.“Our partnership with Nvidia is a bold step forward in realising the Kingdom’s ambitions to lead in AI and advanced digital infrastructure,” said Tareq Amin, CEO of Humain. “Together, we are building the capacity, capability and a new globally enabled community to shape a future powered by intelligent technology and empowered people,” he added.Humain will deploy the Nvidia Omniverse platform as a multi-tenant system to drive acceleration of the new era of physical AI and robotics through simulation, optimisation and operation of physical environments by new human-AI-led solutions.—IANSna/

Ottawa, May 14 (IANS) External Affairs Minister (EAM), S. Jaishankar extended best wishes to his Canadian counterpart, Anita Anand, on being sworn in as the Foreign Minister.”Congratulate Anita Anand on your appointment as Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs,” he posted on X.Indian-origin Canadian politician Anita Ananda has been sworn in as the country’s Foreign Minister after a major Cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Mark Carney, focussing on “mandate for change.”Taking to X, Anand posted, “I am honoured to be named Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs. I look forward to working with Prime Minister Mark Carney and our team to build a safer, fairer world and deliver for Canadians.”One of Anand’s missions will be to pilot the reset of the almost ruptured ties with India that Carney signalled, while managing the delicate relations with President Donald Trump’s America.Announcing the new Cabinet of 28 ministers, Carney instructed them to “bring new ideas, a clear focus and decisive actions to their work.”He also appointed Maninder Sidhu as the international trade minister, and two others of Indian descent as secretaries of state, the equivalent of ministers of state.Anand, who was the transport minister and had earlier held the Defence portfolio, said in January that she was leaving politics and returning to academia.However, Carney persuaded her to return to the Cabinet and take the foreign affairs portfolio after she was re-elected in last month’s election.Carney, who inherited former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Cabinet, now has a chance to put his mark after having led the Liberal Party to victory, beating the odds in last month’s election.He cut the number of ministers from 39 in Trudeau’s Cabinet to 28, and three politicians of Indian origin in the last Cabinet do not find a place now.Anand replaces Melanie Joly, who has been moved to the transport and internal trade ministry that she had held.Joly ratcheted up the tensions with India, expelling six Indian diplomats last year, alleging that they were “persons of interest” in the assassination of Khalistan leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.India has denied any involvement in the murky case where there were signs of gang warfare, and it expelled Canadian diplomats in retaliation.Carney, who has called relations with India “incredibly important,” said of the ties with India on the eve of the elections that “there is a path forward to address those with mutual respect and to build out.”The relations spiralled under Trudeau, who depended on the New Democratic Party led by Jagmeet Singh, an alleged Khalistan sympathiser, to stay in power.The new Cabinet has fewer Canadians of Indian descent.Harjit Singh Sajjan, who was a former Defence minister and held the Emergency preparedness portfolio in the last Cabinet, did not seek re-election to the House of Commons and left.Ruby Sahota, who was the minister of democratic institutions, has been downgraded to a secretary of state and put in charge of combating crime.Randeep Sarai is another of the ten secretaries of state and will deal with international development.From the last Cabinet, Arif Virani, who was the justice minister and attorney-general, and Kamal Khera, who held the diversity and inclusion of persons with disabilities portfolio, have been dropped by Carney.–IANSint/sd/rad

Chennai, May 14 (IANS) Actor Sasikumar, who is now basking in the success of his recently released film ‘Tourist Family’, has said that he will not increase his salary as that is bound to increase the budget of a film.
Speaking in the success meet of the film, directed by young Abishan Jeevinth, Sasikumar said that several journalists had asked him if he would be increasing his pay now that his film had emerged a superhit.”Definitely not. I will not increase my salary. It will continue to remain the same. I give you my assurance on this count. Why I am not increasing is because when I increase the salary, the budget of the film too will increase,” he said.”What is making me really happy is that I have got such a resounding victory after several years. You all know how much this film collected on its first day. How much did this film collect on its first day? Let’s talk the truth,” he said, urging actors and filmmakers to first tell actors the truth about how much their films collected.”Only when you tell them the truth will actors not hike their pay. This film collected Rs 2.5 crores on its first day. I have a film in my career, whose entire collections were only that much. I got to know about it. So, I I have a film that has only made Rs 2.5 crores and this film which has made several crores. Among all my films, ‘Kutti Puli’ and ‘Sundarapandian’ had the highest collections. This film’s collections have already exceeded what those two films made. Why I say all this is this victory is bound to give newcomers hope. It will give them the belief to never give up. If this film’s success gives at least five people that hope, I will be happy.”The film, which released simulatenously with two other big films — Suriya’s ‘Retro’ and Nani’s ‘Hit: The Third Case’, has still managed to emerge a phenomenal success making several times more the money that was invested in it.‘Tourist Family’, which hit screens on May 1, is a feel-good family entertainer that features Sasikumar and Simran in the lead. It also features Yogi Babu, Mithun Jayashankar, Kamalesh, M.S. Bhaskar, Ramesh Thilak, Bhagavathi Perumal (Bucks), Ilango Kumaravel, and Sreeja Ravi among others.Aravind Viswanathan is the cinematographer of the film, which has music by Shaan Rahman. The film’s editing is by Bharath Vikraman, and art direction is by Rajkamal.Produced by Million Dollar Studios and MRP Entertainment, the film is backed by producers Nasareth Baslian, Mahesh Raj Baslian, and Yuvaraj Ganesan.–IANSmkr/

In a major move towards transforming the way Indian citizens travel abroad, the Government of…