The Iranian government has said that it will not rest until the assassins of Qasem Soleimani, the former commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), were brought to justice.
“The US violated international law and the UN Charter in clear violation of Iraq’s sovereignty,” Xinhua news agency quoted the Iranian Foreign Ministry as saying on Friday.
“Iran will not give up until the authorities bring this action to justice,” it added.
On January 3, 2020, Soleimani, along with an Iraqi militia commander, were killed near the Baghdad International Airport in an American airstrike.
On Friday, Brigadier General Esmail Qa’ani, the incumbent Commander of the Quds Force, described Soleimani as a “hero of the Islamic nations” who defeated the hegemonic powers through his resistance, according to official IRNA news agency.
Qa’ani said that the Quds Force will support any act seeking to punish the culprits of the assassination of Soleimani.
He also said that “the US has failed to influence the objectives of the resistance front” by assassinating Soleimani.
The path of IRGC Quds Force and the resistance front will not change with the US “acts of mischief”, he was quoted as saying by Press TV on Friday.
Also, Iranian Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Raisi said on Friday that the “the perpetrators of the assassination won’t be safe anywhere in the world”, according to Press TV.
“Operations till 23 Jan will be restricted to 15 flights per week each for carriers of the two countries to & from Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru & Hyderabad only. @DGCAIndia will issue the details shortly.”
Several countries including India had suspended flight services to the UK in the wake of the new mutant Covid-19 strain.
The fast-spreading Omicron variant is “nothing more than a seasonal cold virus” and there is little we can do to stop this virus from infecting people, claims a US-based doctor…reports Asian Lite News
Afshine Emrani, MD, who holds a Fellowship in the American College of Cardiology (FACC) from the US, said that people who are vaccinated have a much lower chance of dying or getting hospitalised. But there is little it can be done to stop this virus from infecting over 80 per cent of the population, he said.
“Masks, vaccine card mandates will make no difference,” Emrani said in a tweet.
“Vaccinated people still get infected and pass the virus to others,” he added.
He also mentioned that soon the US will have two million positive cases a day for weeks, after which the numbers will drop dramatically.
“The biggest threat in my opinion remains in over-reaction and over-reach by government agencies, causing panic, providing misinformation, leading to closures that hurt those most vulnerable among us,” Emrani said.
Meanwhile, a team of experts in Singapore has warned that the Omicron variant is likely to soon replace the Delta strain globally, as countries after countries have reported a record surge in Covid cases.
The warning comes as the World Health Organisation (WHO) has cautioned that the more transmissible Omicron together with the currently circulating Delta variants might lead to “a tsunami of cases,” putting immense pressure on national health systems.
In India, the Omicron infection tally has climbed to 961, of which 320 patients have been discharged from hospitals.
A Covid-19 tracker, developed by the UK’s University of Cambridge, has predicted that India may soon see an intense but short-lived virus wave “within days”, even as the highly transmissible Omicron variant of Covid is spreading like wildfire in the country.
India was elected for the eighth time to the Council polling 184 votes of the 192 votes cast for the non-permanent seat to represent Asia…reports Arul Louis
India became a non-permanent member of the Security Council on Friday taking a seat at the UN’s highest decision-making body at a time of changing reality even as it presses ahead with its quest for a permanent seat.
As a member, India will be able to push its agenda of promoting the ethos of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” — the world is one family — while being the leading voice on combating terrorism, and also confronting China’s attempts to bring up Kashmir.
During the crucial phase of the world emerging from the trauma and chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic to face change realities, New Delhi can help shape the new order.
With T.S. Tirumurti as the permanent representative, India will formally take its seat on Monday morning when the Council meets for its first meeting of the year in a closed session presided over by Tunisia’s Permanent Representative Tarek Ladeb, the president for the month of January.
India’s flag will go up in front of the Council chamber at a televised ceremony at noon local time (10.30 p.m. in India) proclaiming its membership.
India was elected for the eighth time to the Council polling 184 votes of the 192 votes cast for the non-permanent seat to represent Asia.
T.S. Tirumurti, India’s Permanent Representative at UN
Indonesia retired at the end of 2020, leaving India to succeed it on the Council. Vietnam is the other Asian country holding a non-permanent seat on the 15-member Council.
As historically the biggest contributor of troops to UN peace-keeping, India will have an input into determining how the operations are mandated. India has complained that the process driven by the permanent members does not adequately consult with the troop-contributors or take their experiences into account.
India has warned about the Council’s mission-creep a” taking on issues like climate change for which it does not have a mandate under the UN Charter. Now, India can voice its reservations in the Council.
During the past two years, China has tried to bring up the Kashmir issue in the Council as a favour to its client Pakistan. Because of the opposition of the other members, Beijing has not been able to hold an open session and has had to settle for informal consultations without any statement or record.
If Beijing tries again to bring up Kashmir, India will be able to directly deal with the attempts and should informal sessions be held, it can answer right there.
A view of the United Nations Security Council in November 2012 with India’s then-Permanent Representative Hardeep Puri at the centre when India was last a non-permanent member of the Council. (Photo: UN/IANS)
Being on the Council will mean taking positions and setting out its stand almost daily on global issues, sometimes in real-time.
The Indian mission has been reinforced with at least four more diplomats to take care of the increased workload.
The hot spots confronting the Council right now are Yemen, Syria, North Korea, Ethiopia, Iran, Myanmar, Afghanistan and the Central African Republic. When it was out of the Council, India did not have to take a stand, for example, on issues like the Ethiopian crisis or expound it to the world, but it will now have to react.
There are also confrontations involving permanent members a” Russia with Ukraine, and China with India and several Indo-Pacific countries.
At the Council, India will find its emerging foreign policy outlook of assertive independence with primacy to its perceived interests tested as its diplomacy is stretched while balancing its strategic interests amid competing pulls.
For instance in Yemen, where there has been a fresh round of violence this week, India will have to deal with the seepage of Middle Eastern rivalries into the conflict with Saudi Arabia as a key player of interest to India.
In Syria, there is the line up of Russia versus the western nations and that is the case also with Moscow’s dispute with Kyiv.
The degree of polarisation at the Council is likely to lessen on one front with the change in the United States presidency and India will not face the same degree on pressures on issues like Iran and Venezuela.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan with Chinese Preisident Xi Jinping
The distinctive division in the Council is between the western countries and Russia, with China being on the side of Russia most of the time, although often not as assertively.
While India has drifted closer to Western European positions on some issues like Israel, on others like Syria, it is closer to Russia’s.
And on the Rohingya refugee crisis, New Delhi’s stance is closer to Beijing’s, rather than the West’s.
India first served on the Council in 1950 and 16 years elapsed before its next turn in 1967. Since then, it has been been on the Council six more times with increasing frequency, the last one in 2011.
Actor Nagarjuna, with ‘Bangarraju’ and Mahesh Babu’s ‘Sarkaaru Vaari Paata’ are among the other major releases expected in 2022…writes Narendra Puppala.
If the year that ended is any indication, Covid lockdowns and restrictions notwithstanding, the Telugu film industry is here to stay.
Imagine, no less than 182 Telugu movies had either theatrical or OTT releases in 2021! This despite a Covid pandemic that is yet to be understood or tamed effectively.
And with a string of big-ticket flicks in various stages of completion, and due for release in 2022, Tollywood certainly seems on course for further consolidation. 2022 is set to see several releases and quite a few of the established stars back on the silver screen after a short hiatus.
Megastar Chiranjeevi’s ‘Acharya’ is among the most awaited Telugu movies this year. Coming after his last release ‘Saira Narasimha Reddy’ in 2019, there’s a lot of buzz around ‘Acharya’ which also has Chiranjeevi’s son Ram Charan giving him company on screen. In 2022, the megastar will also be busy with two more productions in the form of ‘Godfather’ and ‘Bhola Shankar’.
This year will also see a slew of cinematic offerings from the Chiranjeevi clan. This includes Pawan Kalyan’s ‘Bheemla Nayak’ which appears to be a stylised remake of Malayalam hit ‘Ayyappanum Koshiyum’. The movie also stars Rana of ‘Baahubali’ fame. And then, there are Chiranjeevi nephew Varun Tej’s ‘Ghani’ and ‘F3’ waiting in the wings, for release this year.
Not to forget, the sequel to ‘Pushpa: The Rise’ will go on the floors from March. The hit movie released in December stars Chiranjeevi’s nephew Allu Arjun.
Actor Nagarjuna, with ‘Bangarraju’ and Mahesh Babu’s ‘Sarkaaru Vaari Paata’ are among the other major releases expected in 2022.
2022 will also see ‘Baahubali’ fame Prabhas’ return to the theatres with ‘Radhe Shyam’. The movie is also set for simultaneous release in multilingual versions. And then, the original Telugu version of ‘Kabir Singh’, actor Vijay Devarakonda is expected to set the silver screen on fire with his mixed martial arts movie ‘Liger’. This movie is also being released in several languages.
What has come as good news for the film industry is the eagerness with which movies were lapped up by audiences in 2021. Despite doomsday predictions and restrictions on theatre screenings, Telugu movie releases in the past year have bolstered industry confidence.
‘Pushpa’ director Sukumar says, “It’s heartening to see people returning to theatres. Movie watching is a communal experience. If not, movie theatres should have disappeared in a country like the US. But see people queuing up to see ‘Spiderman’ in theatres!”
In what seems to be a new trend, Tollywood has started actively looking beyond its traditional areas of influence. Although south Indian movies have made a favourable impact on Hindi-speaking audiences down the decades, they were never able to convert into box-office magic. In a way, it was S.S. Rajamouli’s ‘Baahubali’ series that set the stage for presenting Telugu movies to a pan-Indian audience.
Tasting blood, Rajamouli went in with all guns blazing to create his next big screen project ‘RRR’. Apart from lead billboarding with Jr NTR and Ram Charan, Rajamouli roped in Ajay Devgan and Alia Bhatt for the movie. The movie has created a buzz across the country.
Capitalising upon the new-born fascination among audiences for Telugu films and stars, Tollywood producers are also looking at these markets with new eyes. They are no longer content with settling down for revenues generated by selling their movies’ dubbing rights. The focus is now on straight releases in a whole set of languages.
The stupendous success of Allu Arjun-starrer ‘Pushpa: The Rise’ released in five languages – Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam, and Hindi – has underscored the potential for Tollywood releases in non-Telugu markets.
Meanwhile, ‘RRR’ was set to release on January 7, but with Covid rearing its ugly head once again in the form of the Omicron variant, the makers of ‘RRR’ have decided to put off the release for now.
But in a sign of the good times ahead, names like Ram Charan, Jr NTR, Allu Arjun, and Vijay Devarakonda, are no longer unknown beyond the borders of the two Telugu states. In fact, Bollywood seems eager to rub shoulders with their filmy cousins from south of the Vindhyas.
In the face of adversity, the Tollywood industry certainly seems to have hit upon the key to revive itself and build up its fortunes.
