New Delhi, July 5 (IANS) The message of the importance of peaceful coexistence of humans and nature will reverberate at Ojas Art Gallery here, as artist Abhishek Singh will paint live on a mural-sized canvas an artwork called "Vrikshadootam".
With the central theme depicting the "stories of the environment and the absolute need to protect, nurture and preserve the same", the artwork will be painted live from July 8 to July 15 at the gallery by the New York-based storyteller and graphic novelist.
The paintings will be on display from July 15 to 20.
Seeking to build an interactive narrative through his art, Singh has earlier painted "Shiva in Varanasi" -- a public art project on the ghats of Varanasi. The paintings were displayed on boats in the Ganga for people to experience and observe.
The current project touches upon the issue of environment.
"I wanted Abhishek to create an artwork that talks about the importance of the environment and the necessity and urgency to preserve the same employing his unique storytelling style combined with mythology and ecological issues," Anubhav Nath, Director of Ojas Art gallery, said in a statement.
Singh's artworks have been exhibited at Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Asia Society Texas Center, Houston, and Middlebury College Museum of Art, Vermont. His most recent live drawing was for the Frenec Hopp Museum of Asian Arts, Budapest, in May.
--IANS<br>sj/vd/him/
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By Sanjeev PalNew Delhi, July 5 (IANS) Investigators in the mysterious deaths by hanging of 11 in Delhi's Burari neighbourhood are convinced that it was a case of mass suicide in a ritual practice by the family suffering from a shared psychological disorder, a police officer said on Thursday.
<br>The officer said the final closure report will be prepared after getting the viscera and detailed autopsy of the 11 bodies. But little is expected to emerge out of these reports.
"The Crime Branch has sent its case report to Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik who is all set to close the case and submit the final closure to the Home Ministry," the officer told IANS.
This comes five days after 11 bodies -- seven females and four males -- were recovered from a two-storey house on July 1. Ten of them were hanging with their hands tied, mouths gagged and eyes covered with cloth pieces.
The eldest in the Bhatia family -- which was mainly into grocery and plywood businesses -- was found lying dead. An autopsy report concluded that Narayani Devi, 77, had also died of partial hanging.
Crime Branch chief Joint Commissioner Alok Kumar told IANS that CCTV footage from the premises opposite the Bhatia house helped investigators to concluded that it was a case of mass suicide.
"The video footage showed the family bought goods five stools and bandage from shops close to their home and used them in the ritual These goods were found from the spot where all 11 bodies hung," Kumar said.
He said the handwritten notes apparently written by Lalit Bhatia and his niece Priyanka detailing the ritual practice were being treated as suicide notes.
These notes were recovered from the house and the ritual was performed almost as mentioned in those entries, he said.
Kumar said no occultist or a godman has been found involved in the chilling deaths that shocked the city.
"No evidences were found of any animosity with the family," the Crime Branch chief said. "The case is almost clear. It is a suicide pact by all family member."<br> <br>Kumar said investigators have concluded that Lalit, 45, who ran the plywood store, used to dictate how the rituals were to be undertaken and Priyanka, 33, would note it down in a register.
Lalit and other family members believed that Lalit was taking instructions from his father Gopaldas, who died 10 years ago.<br> <br>"As per the register entries, Lalit was possessed by the spirit of his deceased father. This is a kind of mental disorder. We also took help of psychological experts. They also concluded that it is a case of shared psychological disorder which turned a ritual practice into a mass suicide," the police officer said.<br> <br>The investigators have also concluded that Lalit and his wife Tina tied the hands and legs of other family members before all of the them hung themselves from an iron grill on a ceiling of a corridor to perform a ritual prayer on the night of June 30.
They believed they won't die and Gopaldas would come to meet them and bestow them with salvation.
The family had even cooked white grams for the next morning breakfast which was kept in a bowl and curd was also refrigerated.
Priyanka, who was all set to get married to a Noida-based software engineer in December, had even kept her dress ready to go to office the next morning.
The family, according to police, was deeply ritualist and superstitious.
Lalit had met with an accident four years ago and had lost his voice after a plywood sheet fell on his head. However, he regained his speech one day, believing that it was his dead father who helped him in a dream.
Priyanka, according to police, was finding it difficult to get a match. But she was made to worship a Banyan tree after which she got engaged to the Noida man.
Like his late father Gopaldass, who was in the Indian Army, Lalit gave all family members training in discipline, code of conduct, rehearsals of dos and don'ts during ritual practices.
As per an entry in one of the registers seized from the house, he also instructed family members to stand upright like soldiers after morning prayers for increasing mental strength.
--IANS<br>sp/sar/vm
New Delhi, July 5 (IANS) Union Minister Vijay Goel on Thursday led a march from the Red Fort to Fatehpuri Masjid here to highlight the AAP government's alleged apathy in saving the heritage in the national capital.Old Delhi's iconic Chandni Chowk market place and adjoining heritage buildings would soon become unrecognisable because of the city government's apathy, Goel said.
"In coming days, it will become hard to recognise Chandni Chowk as the area has become a victim of underdevelopment," said Goel, who has represented Chandni Chowk for two terms in the Lok Sabha in the past.
Goel also attacked the BJP-ruled Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) for allegedly allowing illegal constructions in the Chandini Chowk area.
The Minister of State for Statistics and Programme Implementation said that the famous structures of historical significance had been allowed to turn into "commercial complexes or residential buildings".
Accompanied by around 50 Bharatiya Janata Party workers, who shouted slogans of "Save Heritage-Save Chandni Chowk", Goel criticised the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government for "not allowing development in our area".
"Instead of providing good governance in Delhi, they only know how to protest."
--IANS<br>sm/sar/tsb/vm
New Delhi, July 5 (IANS) Strong growth in network expansion led to double-digit growth in India's domestic air passenger traffic for the 45th consecutive month in May, even as the rise in demand came down in the last few months, a global airline association said on Thursday.According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), India's domestic air passenger volume measured in revenue passenger kilometres (RPK) was the highest among major aviation markets like Australia, Brazil, China, Japan, Russia and the US.
As per data, India's domestic RPK in the month under review rose by 16.6 per cent in May compared to the corresponding month of the previous year.
However, on a sequential basis the growth had come down from April's rise of 25.7 per cent.
"India's domestic traffic rose 16.6 per cent year-over-year, which was down from 25.7 per cent in April. Passenger volumes in India have fallen back in seasonally-adjusted terms in recent months alongside some mixed signals on the economic front," IATA said in its global passenger traffic results for May 2018.
"Notwithstanding this, May was India's 45th consecutive month of double-digit annual RPK growth. Demand continues to be supported by strong growth in the number of airport connections within the country: some 22 per cent more airport-pairs are scheduled to operate in 2018 compared to last year."
India's domestic passenger traffic growth was followed by that of China at 11.9 per cent and Russian Federation at 8.6 per cent.
In terms of capacity, India's domestic available seat kilometres (ASK) -- which measures available passenger capacity -- climbed higher by 18 per cent in May, followed by that of China's 12.5 per cent growth and Russian Federation at 7.5 per cent.
--IANS<br>rv/him/vm
New Delhi, July 5 (IANS) The government said on Thursday said that 883 Kailash Mansarovar Yatra pilgrims were evacuated from Simikot region in Nepal in the last three days and over 500 were still awaiting rescue flights.External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar told reporters that the Indian Embassy in Nepal has undertaken a massive exercise to evacuate pilgrims both from Hilsa and Simikot and "if the weather holds we will be able to get them out in the near future".
In the last three days, 883 stranded pilgrims have been evacuated from Simikot to Nepalgunj and Surkhet.
"At least 675 pilgrims were evacuated from Hilsa to Simikot. Fifty-three civilian flights were operated to get the pilgrims out and 142 chopper sorties were carried out," Kumar said.
"The situtation is fast returning to normal. We have around 50 pilgrims in Surkhet and 516 in Simikot. Evacuation efforts are ongoing."
He added that there was no crisis situation and pilgrims were stranded because weather had packed up.
"If you see the advisory we have put up on our website, specially for pilgrims taking the Nepal route, there is always a chance that when you are passing some of these points the weather could pack up. It just happened that civilian aircraft could not operate because of adverse weather conditions."
Kumar said that the MEA organises Kailash Mansarovar Yatra through two routes -- Lipulekh and Nathula.
"This is a yatra conducted by private tour operators. We are working through the private tour operators. They are the ones who will make arrangements for their coming back to India. As we speak, there are also pilgrims who are going up. So it is not something which has stopped," he said.
The official said that the effort was ongoing to bring the stranded people to places with better facilities. Indian pilgrims returning from Kailash Mansarovar through Nepal have been caught in a bad weather since Saturday.
According to reports, altitude sickness has become a major concern for pilgrims. Eight people had died of the same earlier this year. Twenty Mansarovar pilgrims died in 2017.
Kailash Mansarovar is situated 5,950 metres above the sea level. It takes three days to complete the 52 km Mansarovar circuit.
--IANS <br>ps/soni/vm
By Troy RibeiroFilm: "Sicario: Day of the Soldado"; Director: Stefano Sollima; Cast: Benicio del Toro, Josh Brolin, Isabela Moner, Jeffrey Donovan, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Matthew Modine, Catherine Keener, Elijah Rodriguez and David Castaneda; Rating: **
<br>After a brief introduction about human trafficking and the drug cartel menace at the US-Mexico border, the film opens with two self-immolations. Both acts are visceral and chilling, indicating scant regard for life. This lays the foundation of the narrative of this film, "Sicario - Day of the Soldado", directed by Stefano Sollima.
Several scenes, with the CIA operative Matt Graver (Brolin) and the DEA, follow to establish the US endeavour to eradicate the threat or menace. When a top secret mission goes awry, Graver is put on the dock by the Secretary of Defense (Matthew Modine), forcing him to provoke a war between the cartels.
Why? Because that will help stop the transportation of drugs, illegal immigrants and terrorists across the Mexican border.
Graver does so by hiring attorney-turned-gangster hunter Alejandro Gillick (Benecio del Toro) and a few other mercenaries to stage the kidnapping of Isabel Reyes (Isabela Moner, a cartel boss' teen daughter. This sets off a sequence of events that almost immediately spirals out of control.
The premise of the tale seems forced with a convoluted plot. After the clear cut, good-guy versus bad-guy dynamics of the opening act, matters become vague and fluid in the film's mid-section when Miguel (Elijah Rodriguez), a 14-year-old US citizen helps a low-end trafficker get people across the border as a warm-up for becoming more deeply involved with a Mexican Cartel.
There is no doubt that the multiple strands twist together to give us a complex tale.
Oscillating between action and emotional drama, by the end, the film feels more like a by-product of the original than a sequel, because the story stands on its own, albeit a by-the-numbers Mexican cartel drama brimming with guns, gore and guys.
While this film does not touch the right chord, it definitely makes way for a third edition.
On the performance front, Emily Blunt who was in the first edition is conspicuous by her absence.
Returning as leading men, del Toro and Brolin do their best to make the film watchable.
Their scenes together are some of the highlights of the film. While Elijah as Miguel gives an intriguing performance as the blank faced adolescent, the teenager Isabela Moner clearly steals the show with her naturally dynamic and endearing performance.
She balances Alejandro's emotionally laden back-story, with the right amount of dramatics. And her scenes with him, likening to a father-daughter relationship, are intense and relatable.
Cinematographer Darius Wolski's frames, captured from various angles and lens are commendable. His visuals are aptly complimented with composer Hildur Gudnadottir's eclectic background score.
Overall, despite being interesting and unpredictable, the film lacks the grit and ingenuity of its original - Sicario, which in Spanish means a hitman. This one definitely misses the mark.
--IANS<br>troy/nn/vm
Mumbai, July 5 (IANS) Tepid investor sentiments in the Asian markets on the back of trade war concerns subdued the key Indian equity indices on Thursday.In the Asian markets, concerns prevailed, as Friday, June 6 is the deadline set by the US to impose tarrifs on Chinese goods worth $34 billion.
Further, a depreciating Indian rupee also weakened the investor sentiments in the domestic market.
Index-wise, the broader Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed at 10,749.75 points, lower by 20.15 points or 0.19 per cent from its previous close of 10,769.90 points.
The barometer 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex), which opened at 35,703.17 points, closed at 35,574.55 points, down by 70.85 points or 0.20 per cent from its previous session's close of 35,645.40 points.
Sensex touched a high of 35,748.26 points and a low of 35,517.79 points during the intra-day trade. The BSE market breadth was bearish with 1,607 declines and 1,077 advances.
"The weakness came on the back of weak Asian markets as a looming deadline for imposition of US tariffs on Chinese products seemed to worry investors across Asia," Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities.
BNP Paribas Mutual Fund, Senior Fund Manager for Equities, Abhijeet Dey said July 6, 2018 is the deadline set by the US for imposition 25 per cent tariff on $34 billion worth of Chinese goods on more than 800 product categories.
"If implemented, China is likely to retaliate with duties of the same value on US products," he added.
Globally, the major Asian markets closed on a negative note while the European indices like FTSE 100, CAC 40 and DAX traded in the green, Jasani told IANS.
On the currency front, the rupee ended at 68.95 per dollar, 21 paise weaker than its previous close of 68.74 per greenback.
Investment-wise, provisional data with exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors sold scrip worth Rs 159.37 crore while the domestic institutional investors sold stocks worth Rs 296.97 crore.
Sector-wise, the S&P BSE FMCG index gained the most, by 115.86 points, followed by the banking index which ended 42.12 points higher and the auto index was up 36.51 points.
On the other hand, the S&P BSE consumer durables index plunged 561.63 points, the IT index fell 225.90 points and the metal index ended lower by 179.72 points from its previous close.
The major gainers on the Sensex were Yes Bank, up 3.96 per cent at Rs 348.80; ITC, up 2.97 per cent at Rs 272.30; Asian Paints, up 2.35 per cent at Rs 1,321.85; Coal India, up 2.27 per cent at Rs 270.15; and Bajaj Auto, up 1.77 per cent at Rs 2,969.80 per share.
The top losers were Infosys, down 4.47 per cent at Rs 1,284.50; Vedanta, down 3.09 per cent at Rs 221.10; Tata Steel, down 2.71 per cent at Rs 553.50; Tata Motors (DVR), down 2.66 per cent at Rs 153.40; and Reliance Industries, down 2.53 per cent at Rs 965 per share.
--IANS<br>rrb/qd/vm
Panaji, July 5 (IANS) Ministers and MLAs stepping out into the fields and indulging in farming activities, thanks to a Facebook challenge which went viral, will inspire agricultural land holders to take up farming activity once again in Goa, Union Minister of State for AYUSH Shripad Naik said on Thursday.Naik at a press conference held at the BJP state headquarters in Panaji, also expressed support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government's decision on Wednesday to increase the minimum support price (MSP) for kharif crops.
"It is a good thing that ministers are stepping out in the fields. Farmers will get inspired by this", Naik said, as a Facebook farming challenge has gone viral in the coastal state, with ministers as well as MLAs posing for the camera while ploughing, planting paddy saplings, and indulging in other farm activities.
"Everyone should step out in the field, not just ministers. Our health has deteriorated because we do not step into our farms. Body toxins are released through the sweat but now we do not indulge in such work. You go back 25 years in time, you will not see the diseases we face today. People would regularly work, even hospital OPDs were not overcrowded," Naik said.
Praising the Central government for raising the MSP on 14 kharif crops by an average of 50 per cent, Naik who is a former Union Minister of State for Agriculture said: "The Prime Minister in the last election had promised to double the earnings of farmers by 2022. The increase in MSP is a step in that direction. Therefore the farmers in the country are happy. In the last four years, several decisions have been taken for the welfare of farmers."
--IANS<br>maya/mag/vm
Making pickles an excellent employment opportunity: Union Minister
"I advised the wife of one of my friends to make pickles, she made it a profession and now within two years, her company has a turnover of Rs 2 crore," he told reporters here.
In response to another question, the Minister of State for Agriculture termed the weather and the market as the two biggest enemies of farmers.
He also ruled out any cut in prices of diesel, which farmers use to operate pumps for irrigation.
--IANS<br>hindi-vd/him/