India National Film Awards Committee to Now Accept Digital Films

New Delhi,  Aug 14 : National Film Awards committee will now accept digital films to consider for awards. Digital films can be submitted even if they have not been released with a celluloid print. This decision comes after a petition was filed by filmmakers from Manipur where cinema halls have been shut down due to militancy and filmmaking has gone totally digital.  An expert committee...

The Hollow Language of Women's Empowerment

By Nandita Sengupta Still many miles to go New Delhi, Aug 14 : India broke into a powerful song of equality 63 years ago. It was finally time to build a brand new state, men and women together. The worst times were ‘behind them’ and they’d be equal partners in the new India. Or so women thought. It didn’t take long for the song to be buried under the cacophony of patriarchy, caste and...

Security Impedes Northeast India-Bangladesh Trade

Guwahati, Aug 14 : Security issues are creating a bottleneck in trade between India's northeastern states and Bangladesh, believe business leaders and authorities in both countries. "Too (much confusion) in the border is a cause of revenue loss to both countries," said C.M Shafi Sami, a former Bangladeshi high commissioner to India. "Maybe the vast geography of India and negligence...

Famous WWII Kiss Unveiled in Times Square

To celebrate 65th anniversary of VJ-Day A 26ft statue depicting a famous New York Times Square kiss that celebrated the end of World War II has been unveiled to mark the 65th anniversary of the U.S. victory over Japan. The towering colour sculpture immortalises Alfred Eisenstaedt's black-and-white photograph of an unidentified sailor kissing nurse Edith Shain in 1945. The image captured an epic...

Northeast Under High Alert, Night Trains Cancelled

Agartala, Aug 13 : A high security alert was sounded Friday across the northeast ahead of the Independence Day, and authorities cancelled all night trains through Assam in view of militants' threats to blow up vital installations and railway tracks. 'A state of high alert was sounded across Assam with security forces deployed in strength following intelligence inputs of militants planning violent...

Picturesque Setting

Priyanshu Chatterjee and Simone Singh romance in the scenic beauty of Shillong. Mumbai: Gumshuda was the second film to be shot in the picturesque hills of Meghalaya Asoke Vishwanathan could not think of any place other than Meghalaya to set his film Gumshuda. The director, who has directed several Bengali films, says that the film is a thriller with several outdoor scenes hence the exotic location....

SNA Boost to Fight For Assam Borgeet's Classical Tag

Guwahati, Aug 13 : The Assam Chamber of Commerce (ACC) is fighting for the acceptance of Assamese Borgeet' as Indian classical music and has roped in the Sangeet Natak Akademi support to make this dream come true. The ACC is organising of a seven-day long Borgeet workshop in the city from August 22 to August 28 and holding a state-level Borgeet competition at Rabindra Bhawan on September 5 to...

Assam Protests 'Reckless' Construction of Dams in Arunachal

Guwahati, Aug 13 : Voicing its concern over the 'reckless' construction of mega dams in Arunachal Pradesh, the Assam government Thursday demanded that the inter-ministerial group studying the water resources of the region determine if such dams are safe in what is a highly seismic zone. 'A proper study must be conducted to find out whether the construction of such mega dams are safe in a region...