Mumbai Dec 21 PTI Filmmaker Kabir Khans much-awaited cricket drama 83 headlined by actor Ranveer Singh has been declared tax free in Delhi the makers announced on TuesdayThe film chronicles Indias win under Kapil Devs captainship when the team defeated West Indies in the final to clinch their first-ever World Cup trophy in 1983Presented by Reliance Entertainment and Phantom Films 83 will arrive in cinema halls on December 24 in Hindi Tamil Telugu Kannada and MalayalamShibasish Sarkar Group CEO Reliance Entertainment took to Twitter and thanked Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal for the decision 83 declared tax free in Delhi Thank youArvindKejriwal ji msisodia ji for your support the tweet readThe film also stars actors Pankaj Tripathi Tahir Raj Bhasin Jiiva Saqib Saleem Jatin Sarna Chirag Patil Dinker Sharma Nishant Dahiya Harrdy Sandhu Sahil Khattar Ammy Virk Addinath Kothare Dhairya Karwa and R Badree Actor Deepika Padukone features in a special role in the film playing Romi Kapils wife PTI JUR RB RB

Mumbai Dec 21 PTI The Maharashtra government on Tuesday issued an order allowing holding of bullock cart races in the state Last week the Supreme Court had allowed the resumption of these races in Maharashtra prohibited since 2017 The Animal Husbandry department on Tuesday issued a Government Resolution order announcing that bullock cart races can be held henceforth The SC had said in the December 16 order that amended provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960 and the rules framed by the Maharashtra government which provided for bullock cart races would operate until the constitution bench passes a final order on the issue The SC ruling came on the state governments plea seeking lifting of the ban on these races as they are being allowed in other states like Tamil Nadu and Karnataka PTI ND KRK KRK

Mumbai Dec 21 PTI The Maharashtra government on Tuesday issued an order to disburse Rs 3192 crore to 6385 applicants whose kin succumbed to COVID-19 The order issued by the state department for disaster management said Rs 50000 cash will be transferred Over 1 lakh COVID-19 patients have died in Maharashtra since the pandemic began in March last year PTI ND BNM BNM BNM

Mumbai Dec 21 PTI Marking a key development in the construction of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plants Unit 6 the first concreting in the foundation slab of the reactor building has been launched said Rosatom the Russian firm involved in building the reactors on TuesdayKudankulam Unit 6 is the last of the six reactors of 1000 MW capacity each built in collaboration with RussiaOn December 20 2021 the main construction period of the Kudankulam NPP Unit 6was officially launched through the first concreting in the foundation slab of the reactor building Rosatom said in a statement on TuesdayIn June the first concrete had been laid at the power unit 5The third stage of the Kudankulam NPP relating to the main construction period will provide additional power capacity to ensure industrial and commercial development of businesses in the Tamil Nadu region and India as a whole the release saidIt will also promote more confidence in our friendly countries prospects to expand peaceful nuclear cooperation by using the most advanced projects of high-capacity nuclear power units of the Russian design said Andrey Lebedev ASE JSC Vice-President for Projects in India and Prospective ProjectsThe equipment required for the top-priority installation at Units 5 and 6 is being supplied now and the construction process is being supported by the working documentation Rosatom saidAfter the General Framework Agreement GFA for power units 3 and 4 construction was signed on April 10 2014 negotiations were started between India and Russia on the construction of Kudankulam NPP Units 5 and 6An agreement was reached for these units to be built in the same design as the units of the second stageOn June 1 2017 the Credit Protocol to the Intergovernmental Agreement of December 5 2008 and the GFA for Kudankulam NPP units 5 and 6 were signed the release said PTI PR KRK KRK

Mumbai Dec 21 PTI Maharashtra on Tuesday recorded 11 new infections of the Omicron variant of coronavirus which took the tally of such cases in the state to 65 the health department said hereAs reported by the National Institute of Virology 11 more patients have been found to be infected by Omicron it saidEight of the new cases came to light following screening at the Mumbai airport while one case each was found in Navi Mumbai Pimpri-Chinchwad and Osmanabad said the official release PTI PR KRK KRK

Mumbai Dec 21 PTI Streaming service Netflix on Tuesday announced that upcoming series Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein starring Shweta Tripathi and Tahir Raj Bhasin will release on January 14 2022 The psychological drama is set against the backdrop of crime and desire with themes of twisted love and power Netflix said in a statementCreated and directed by Sidharth Sengupta known for popular television shows including Balika Vadhu and Apharan the series boasts of an ensemble cast including Bhasin Tripathi Anchal Singh Saurabh Shukla Surya Sharma Brijendra Kala Arunoday Singh Anant Joshi Sunita Rajwar and Hetal Gada among othersBased in the fictional town of Onkara the story follows a romantic simpleton Vikrantwho becomes an object of desire for Purva who will go to any lengths to get himAs Purvas ruthless efforts to make him hers begin to destroy all that he holds dear the mild-mannered Vikrant finds a new side to him emerging In order to escape Purvas clutches and reclaim his life with his true love Shikha he goes down a dark path only to regret it later in this pulpy thriller the official logline readSengupta also serves as writer along with Anahata Menon and Varun Badola for the series which is produced by Edgestorm Ventures Pvt Ltd PTI KKP RB RB

Mumbai Dec 21 PTI The BJP will raise the Maharashtra governments failure in protecting the reservation for OBCs in local bodies in the winter session of the state legislature beginning Wednesday opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis said on Tuesday The BJP will also demand a CBI probe into alleged malpractices in the recruitment process for various departments of the state government he said Speaking to reporters here the Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly said the BJP will raise the messed up disbursement of crop insurance to calamity-hit farmers among other issues on the floor of the legislature It is the Maharashtra governments complete failure to collect the empirical data Such data would have supported the OBC reservation in local body polls That is why these elections are being held on Tuesday without the OBC reservation the former chief minister said The Supreme Court had last week directed the Maharashtra State Election Commission to notify 27 per cent of seats in the local bodies which were reserved for the OBCs as the general category so that the poll process can be taken forward In March this year the apex court had said that the reservation in favour of OBCs in local bodies in Maharashtra cannot exceed an aggregate of 50 per cent of the total seats reserved for Scheduled Castes Scheduled Tribes and OBCs taken together The Maharashtra government had informed the Supreme Court that it would need at least three months to gather empirical data to support its demand for the OBC quota in local governing bodies However it did not work Due to this local body polls are held without an OBC quota We will try to corner the state government on this issue Fadnavis said He said the MVA government has wasted almost two years but even after that it failed to protect the OBC reservation Fadnavis said the Opposition will reiterate its demand for a CBI inquiry into alleged exam scam in recruitment for various departments Links of these malpractices have now reached the Mantralaya I do not think the police will dare to touch someone so powerful who is involved in such malpractices hence we demand a CBI inquiry he added Pune Police have arrested Maharashtra State Council of Examinations MSCE commissioner Tukaram Supe and his predecessor Sukhadev Dere in connection with alleged malpractices in the 2018 Teachers Eligibility Test TET The alleged malpractices in the TET came to the light during the investigation into the bid to leak a paper of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority MHADA examination in which six people have already been arrested according to police Fadnavis said the BJP will also raise issues of the farmer victims of natural calamities not receiving sufficient financial assistance from the state government In many cases the Maharashtra government is sitting idle on funds given by the Union government instead of disbursing it to farmers Fadnavis alleged He said the suspension of 12 MLAs of BJP in the monsoon session of the state legislature amounted to tanashahi autocracy The 12 MLAs were suspended for an action that allegedly took place inside the cabin of the speaker Nobody was there to crosscheck what had happened It the alleged ruckus did not happen on the floor of the Legislative Assembly he claimed Fadnavis said 27 states had followed in the footsteps of the Union government in slashing the excise duty on petrol and diesel but Maharashtra MVA government says it didnt reduce VAT on petrol and diesel fearing a revenue loss But at the same time the state government has cut duties on foreign liquor by 50 per cent This reminds me of a slogan of cheap liquor and costly oil which was coined when Indira Gandhi was the prime minister he said PTI ND NSK NSK

Mumbai Dec 21 PTI Actor Kriti Sanon says she had a professionally fulfilling year where she signed the most number of films in her career and also saw a turn around in terms of the audience perception towards herSanon had two releases this year Mimi which featured her as a young woman who opts to be a surrogate mother and the comedy drama Hum Do Hamare Do co-starring Rajkummar Rao Paresh Rawal and Ratna Pathak ShahWith Mimi Sanon saw her career-best reviews with many lauding her for shouldering the Laxman Utekar-film with easeIn an interview with PTI the actor said her performance in the film which she described as her toughest project till date showcased her craft to the audience as well as several makers within the industryI felt the audience shift with the response which came my way A lot of people woke up to the actor side of me which is something every artiste desires Not just the audience even people in the industry when you talk to someone or walk into a meeting you feel that shift in perception I could sense that Sanon saidWhat the two film releases did for Sanon known to stars in films like Bareilly Ki Barfi and Luka Chuppi was build confidence among filmmakers to trust her more with heavy duty material the actor saidTheir confidence in you grows as an actor and as someone who can carry a film When the confidence of people in the industry increases they feel Oh a film like this is being loved people are watching it so we need to make more of these Today people are not afraid to make a female-led storyI am also more confident today I have learnt on the job to constantly keep thinking of what else can be done how differently can I perform a scene You also learn by seeing other performances collaborating with different filmmakers The actor said when Mimi skipped a theatrical release and premiered digitally she was sceptical if the film would get the desired receptionBut by Hum Do Hamare Do which released digitally three months after Mimi Sanon was convinced with the power and the reach of OTT platformsThe success felt different Mimi was my first OTT release I was initially a little sceptical thinking if I will get the validation I want as an actor will the film get that validationBut the kind of response that came my way and because it was an OTT release it just went onA theatrical release fizzles out in a few weeks but digitally a film grows for months with people watching it across the world I was overwhelmed with the response she addedThe 31-year-old actor said she started 2021 on a good note going from one set to the other immersing herself in films of varied genresSanon shot for films like the action comedy Bachchan Pandey multistarer mythological Adipurush monster comedy Bhediya actioner Ganapath and the forthcoming ShehzadaProfessionally 2021 started well I was shooting back to back During the pandemic I ended up signing the maximum number of films It has been a good year she added PTI JUR BK BK

Mumbai Dec 21 PTI The second season of the espionage action drama series Crackdown starring Saqib Saleem began production in Jaisalmer on TuesdayHelmed by filmmaker Apoorva Lakhia the Voot Select series follows the lives of a few intelligence agents working at the Research and Analysis Wing RAWThe first season saw Riyaz Pathan Saleem and his team thwarting the plans of a major with the ISISaleem who reprises his character for the second season said shooting for Crackdown has been one of the most enjoyable experiences of his careerNeedless to say I am super excited for the second season but also nervous because the pressure is immense The audience loved season one and we are trying our best to ensure that they feel the same about this season as well We have upped the action in season two and combined it with a thrilling storyline Im confident that the viewers will thoroughly enjoy the show the actor said in a statementThe first season of the Voot Select Original also featured Iqbal Khan Waluscha DeSouza Shriya Pilgaonkar Ankur Bhatia and Rajesh Tailang who will all be returning for season twoPilgaonkar said the new season is going to be more thrilling backed by an engaging narrativeIts good to be back in action mode Working with Apoorva Lakhia and this team is always a wonderful experience she saidLakhia said the team is mounting Crackdown season two on a grand scale with more action and thrillsI am also very excited to reunite with the cast and crew from season one and with the new additions like Freddy Daruwala Sonali Kulkarni and Rashmi Agdekar the second season is slated to be top-notch the director known for films like Shootout At Lokhandwala and Mission Istanbul PTI JUR RDS RDS

Mumbai Dec 21 PTI An inquiry commission conducting a probe into corruption allegations against former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh imposed a cost of Rs 50000 on him on Tuesday for seeking an adjournment into the matter As the matter came up for hearing a junior lawyer from Deshmukhs legal team sought the adjournment saying the senior counsel could not be present before the commission as he was busy with some other matter The commission as a last chance adjourned the matter till 1230 pm on Wednesday It also imposed a cost of Rs 50000 on the NCP leader and directed that it be deposited in the Chief Ministers COVID-19 Relief Fund The commission had earlier this month also imposed a cost of Rs 15000 on Deshmukh for seeking adjournment The Maharashtra government had formed the Justice K U Chandiwal Commission in March this year the conduct a probe into the corruption allegations levelled against Deshmukh by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh Dismissed police officer Sachin Waze is currently deposing before the single-member commission Singh who was transferred from the post of Mumbai police commissioner in March in the aftermath of a bomb scare near the residence of industrialist Mukesh Ambani had alleged that Deshmukh asked police officers to collect Rs 100 crore in a month from bars and restaurants in the city The Central Bureau of Investigation CBI and the Enforcement Directorate ED are also probing the allegations made against Deshmukh by Singh Deshmukh who resigned from the post of state home minister in April this year had been arrested by the ED in connection with a money laundering case He is currently in judicial custody PTI AVI GK GK