UNITED STATES, June 9, 2018 (MSN): U.S. television studio ABC has apologized to Indian fans of its crime drama ”Quantico” after an episode featuring Indian ”nationalists” trying to frame Pakistan in a terrorist plot sparked online outrage against Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra, who plays a lead role in the show. ”The episode has stirred a lot of emotion, much of which is unfairly aimed at Priyanka Chopra, who didn’t create the show, nor does she write or direct it,” said Walt Disney-owned ABC in its statement.
After the recent Quantico episode, Chopra has faced online attacks at home, and even some calls to boycott her work and the brands that she endorses. Others called on the government to black out the scene where Chopra, who stars as an FBI agent in the series, holds up sacred Hindu prayer beads as evidence that the plotter in the episode, planning to detonate a nuclear bomb in New York, was an Indian nationalist. ”The show has featured antagonists of many different ethnicities and backgrounds, but in this case we inadvertently and regrettably stepped into a complex political issue. It was certainly not our intention to offend anyone,” ABC said in a statement on Friday.
LUCKNOW, INDIA, June 6, 2018 (Times of India): The UP government on Tuesday extended the status of sacred pilgrimage sites to five towns of Mathura district, thereby restricting the sale and consumption of alcohol in these places. The decision was taken at a meeting of the state cabinet which also okayed a modern Ram Katha Centre and art gallery in Faizabad, next to Ayodhya and memorial academy in remembrance of 15th century poet-saint Kabir at Maghar, place of nirvana, in Sant Kabir Nagar district. Baldev, Gokul, Govardhan, Nandgaon and Radha Kund were added to the existing list of spiritual towns with no alcohol strictures in Mathura. In October 2017, Barsana and Vrindavan were announced as the sacred pilgrimage sites. Sources in the government said that sale of meat and eggs may also be included in the list of prohibited items considering the strong religious beliefs of these sites. Priests in Mathura were overjoyed with the move.
You shine, all living things emerge. You disappear, they go to rest. Recognizing our innocence, O golden-haired Sun, arise; let each day be better than the last. Rig Veda (X, 37, 9)
