Jaipur, September 26 (IANS) : The Zero Teenage Pregnancy (ZTP) campaign, launched at the start of this year, aiming at highlighting the issue in Rajasthan, has created a buzz around the sensitive and important issue of early marriages and pregnancies. In all these months, the campaign has garnered the attention of policy makers, office bearers, academicians and the community. Greater awareness around the issues encouraged important stakeholders to make a strong commitment towards en

New Delhi, September 25 (ANI): Bilkis Bano, the 82-year-old who earned the moniker "Dadi of Shaheen Bagh" during the long protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act in the national capital has now been named among the 100-most influential global personalities by Time magazine. "I am very happy that I was honoured in this manner. Although I did not expect this," said the grandmother after the recognition. Along with Bilkis, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Ayus

Mumbai, September 25 (IANS): Actress Raveen Tandon on Friday said celebrities are soft targets in the ongoing drugs-related investigation. The actress feels the war against drugs should be across the country, and not just be restricted to probing film industries. Raveena expressed her opinion on her verified Twitter account, retweeting a post she had shared earlier this week, which reads: "Twas high time for clean up to happen. Very welcome! Will help our young/future generatio

New Delhi, September 25 (IANSlife): We are going through a difficult, unique and a challenging time because of the Covid-19 pandemic. It has changed our lives remarkably, has affected practically every person, every individual, every professional, every industry. Affected governments across the globe and their functioning in ways more than we could have ever imagined. Until an effective vaccine is created, Covid is here to stay and the sooner we accept it and change or adapt the way

Mumbai, September 24 (IANS): Actress Shweta Tripathi Sharma believes it is essential to discuss mental health as the unlock process continues all over India. "A detailed conversation around mental health must ensue during the unlock phase. Considering people are stepping out to work amidst the fear of Covid-19, it's important to conduct systematic counselling and therapy sessions to put them at ease," she said. "Over and above, lockdown experiences are differen

New Delhi, September 23 (IANS): Hollywood star John Cusack says he got closer to knowing and understanding India during his pursuit to understand the world in a better way. The actor has been vocal about the events, or turmoils, happening in India, and addressed them through social media. When IANS asked about his understanding of India, Cusack said: "I've been there a few times and I have a great friendship with (author) Arundhati Roy." "(We have done) some

Mumbai, September 22 (IANS): As the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) intensifies its probe into the alleged Bollywood-drug nexus post Sushant Singh Rajput's demise, actress Raveena Tandon seems impressed with the move. On Tuesday, Raveena took to Twitter and demanded punishment for the guilty. "High time for clean up to happen.Very welcome! Will help our young/future generations. Start from here, surely, proceed to all sectors. Uproot it from its core. Punish the Guilty, u

LONDON, September 22 (Reuters) - Lawyers for Meghan, the wife of Britain's Prince Harry, said on Monday a claim by a tabloid paper she is suing for invasion of privacy that the royal couple cooperated with a recent book about them was "manifestly false". Meghan, officially titled the Duchess of Sussex, is suing publisher Associated Newspapers over articles the Mail on Sunday printed last year that included parts of a handwritten letter she sent to her estranged father,

New Delhi, September 21 (IANSlife): The New Education Policy (NEP) has infused a new wave of optimism with the vision of strengthening the education system, branching out into varied dimensions of skill-based learning to empower the Indian youth with the new age dynamism. The policy has arrived at the most appropriate time, when India is all geared up to redefine itself as "Atmanirbhar Bharat". The newly envisaged framework aims to provide a holistic development for the le

New Delhi, September 20 (IANS): Bollywood celebrities are asked for their opinions on just about everything these days, National Award-winning actor Manoj Bajpayee notes. How is it possible to give a satisfactory answer on something he is not related to or well-versed about, he wonders. "If you say we are only actors, on Twitter you troll us by saying that (since) we are actors you want our opinions on things that we are not so good about. Yes, we are only actors and to talk ab

New Delhi, September 19 (IANSlife): For a celebrity, it's not uncommon to receive fan calls and messages, which can be quick to spam. Indian actress Samantha Akkineni says that over the years, she has stopped speaking over phone due to unwanted calls, and even her friends and family have to message her. "Im not comfortable with picking up calls because every second or third call is somebody I dont know, who has my number, who shouldnt," she told IANSlife. "Ev

New Delhi, September 18 (IANS): Grammy-nominated sitarist, composer and producer Anoushka Shankar feels it is important to call out inappropriate behaviour, and says there is a need to amplify the voices of women at all levels of the music industry. Recently, Anoushka used social media to call out abusive and sexually inappropriate comments that she received during a live session. "In this instance I suppose I dealt with it by calling it out and refusing to accept it. I thin

New Delhi, September 17 (IANSlife): Bengaluru-based bestselling author Preeti Shenoy, who has to her credit books like 'Life Is What You Make It' and 'The Secret Wish List', says that the ongoing pandemic is a time for many for introspection and self-reflection and "simply coming to terms with the shock of what has happened". Sharing about her life in lockdown, the 48-year-old writer told IANSlife, "In the initial two-three months, I didn't work on

Srinagar, September 15 (IANS): The chirp of the Cicada bug, the grain laden golden yellow rice fields, the dance of the rainbow trout in the crystal-clear waters of the Lidder and the Sindh mountain streams, the nip in the morning and evening air -- all these are standout signals that Kashmir's season of plenty, the autumn is here. Look at the countryside, farmers are busy harvesting the Paddy crop. Luckily for them, the migrant labourers, those had left the Valley with the outb

Lucknow, September 15 (IANS): With children spending more time on computers and mobile phones for online classes and gaming, cases of eye sight problems are on the rise. Children and teens between the ages of 6 and 18 years have been found to be suffering from convergence efficiency, computer vision syndrome, reflective errors and other eye sight problems. According to rough estimates, nearly 40 per cent children have complained of various eye and vision related problems in recen

New Delhi, September 14 (IANSlife): Music director, composer and singer-songwriter Samira Koppikar feels that creativity is beyond gender. "Patriarchy does exist in various industries. Yes, I have had strange experiences like when my vocals for a feature film song were dropped last minute as a male music composer duo got to know that I'm not just a singer but also a composer," Samira told IANSlife. "But I've also had other male composer colleagues who not only

New Delhi, September 14 (IANSlife): Actor and environmentalist Dia Mirza feels we need to rethink the way we treat our women and female characters in films.Talking to IANSlife, she pointed out that while direct objectification in lyrics and item songs may be diminishing, we still have a long way to go. "This is not a recent phenomenon at all. The 80's, 90's and early 2000's are marked by a language in cinema that is sexist, misogynistic and objectifies women. If any

New Delhi, September 13 (IANS): Actress Raveena Tandon looks forward to her upcoming role in the Kannada biggie, K.G.F Chapter 2, with as much enthusiasm as she looks back at her career of 29 years, saying everyday in her life is a new lesson. "It's been a long and a great journey, for sure. It has taught me a lot. I remember I was so young when I started. It was not easy but I didn't quit and always worked hard to make a respectable place for myself. There's so muc

New Delhi, September 12 (IANSlife): A campaign named #ProtectIndiasEngine aims to urge India's bikers, more specifically the youth to pledge support to mechanic upskilling programmes during these unprecedented times of the continuing COVID pandemic. The initiative endorsed by Bollywood actor Ayushmann Khurrana is energised and fuelled by one of India's largest leading engine oil brand for two-wheelers, Castrol Active, in collaboration with Network18 and Mindshare. It is aime

London, September 11 (IANS): Contrary to expectations, hospital cleaners are at the higher risk of getting the Covid-19 infection, compared to intensive care unit (ICU) clinicians, say researchers. The study, published in the journal Thorax, revealed that infection risk was highest among cleaners, acute and general medicine clinicians, and those of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds. The researchers suggest that the type of personal protective equipment (PPE) wor