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Thursday, January 30, 2025

Week after praising TN, Governor Ravi now says women not safe in Chennai

Week after praising TN, Governor Ravi now says women not safe in Chennai Addressing the inaugural session of the annual All India Women's Conference a

https://www.dtnext.in/news/tamilnadu/tn-guv-ravi-expresses-concern-over-womens-safety-in-chennai-contradicting-earlier-praise-821062

Guv says Chennai seen as unsafe for women, calls for better safety

TNN | Jan 30, 2025, 03.59 AM IST

Chennai: Governor R N Ravi said female students, who won gold medals in Tamil Nadu state universities, felt that Chennai was not safe for women, and that steps should be taken to make cities, including tier-2 and tier-3 cities, safer for them.

Addressing the 93rd annual All India Women’s Conference in Chennai on Wednesday, governor said the term ‘women’s empowerment’ sounded condescending and did not resonate with him. He said women’s empowerment was being talked about for ages, since pre-Independence and after Independence.

“We held conferences, made rules and regulations, but they eventually proved to be ineffective and insignificant because we did not address the fundamentals of the issue,” the governor said.

He said as chancellor of state universities, he found that education was not the problem and girl students outnumbered boys even in the gold medal category. But when he interacted with girls, who won gold medals and discussed their aspirations, they told him with tears in their eyes that their parents did not think Chennai was safe for them.

“Although there are more gold medallists among female students, we still don’t find their representation adequate because educated women face major challenges,” the governor said. To bridge this gap, creche and playschool facilities should be institutionalised, and awareness should be created to make men share responsibilities, he said. Even when it came to children with autism or the elderly, it was the women who took care of them. So, women’s organisations should come up with solutions to these problems and create awareness, he said.

Airtel brings recharge plan for SMS and calls, you will get 365 days validity

ByShyamu Maurya

January 28, 2025

Airtel brings recharge plan for SMS and calls, you will get 365 days validity

Airtel has launched two new prepaid plans for users who use only voice calls and SMS services. Following TRAI’s instructions, telecom companies were asked to introduce plans that are specifically designed keeping in mind keypad phone users

Smartphone deals

Airtel has launched two new prepaid plans for users who only use voice calls and SMS services. Following TRAI’s instructions, telecom companies were asked to introduce plans that are specifically designed keeping in mind keypad phone users. The price of these new plans is Rs 1,849 and Rs 469. The special thing is that no data benefits are being given in these.

Rs 1,849 prepaid plan

Validity: 365 days

Benefits:

Unlimited calling

3,600 SMS

Free Hello Tunes subscription

Access to Airtel Xstream

Smartphone deals

Apollo 24/7 Circle membership for three months

This plan is perfect for those looking for long validity. It can be purchased from the Airtel app, offline stores and third-party platforms.

Rs 469 prepaid plan

Validity: 84 days

Benefits:

Unlimited calling

100 SMS per day

Free Hello Tunes subscription

Three months of Apollo 24/7 Circle membership

This plan is a cheaper alternative to the Rs 1,849 plan, but there is no data benefit in it.

Reliance Jio’s voice-only plan

Like Airtel, Reliance Jio has also introduced special plans for voice and SMS. Jio’s Rs 458 plan comes with a validity of 84 days. It includes unlimited calling and 1,000 SMS.

Why are these plans special?

These plans are great for those users who only use calling and SMS. Especially those using keypad phones will get a lot of relief from these plans. Both Airtel and Jio have launched these plans keeping in mind the users of this segment.

Smartphone deals

Parasakthi: Another Ugly War Cooking?

By Manaswini K Updated 20:15 January 29, 2025

In the Tamil industry, title disputes between two stars are nothing new, but when the same title is needed for two films, it inevitably stirs up heated debates. This is exactly what’s happening now, as the title Parashakthi is causing a battle between two big projects. Sivakarthikeyan’s upcoming pan-India periodic drama with Sudha Kongara was recently confirmed with the title Parasakthi.

On the same day, another film titled Parashakthi, starring Vijay Antony and directed by Shakti Tirumagan, also made waves with its official announcement and poster release. This created confusion as both films now share the same title.

Adding fuel to the fire, Vijay Antony’s film had registered the Parashakthi title with the South Indian Film Chamber on July 22, 2024, and this fact has been posted on social media which means Sivakarthikeyan’s film might have to go for a different title. A few associations have voiced concerns, citing that Parashakthi is a classic 1952 film that holds a historical significance in Tamil cinema. They demand that the title should not be reused, although no legal actions have been initiated yet.

Currently, it seems that Vijay Antony’s film is on track for an early summer 2024 release. The issue now revolves around the potential confusion among audiences if Sivakarthikeyan’s movie retains the same title. The industry is eagerly awaiting to see if the two stars will reach a compromise, or if one of them will relent.

Parashakthi is considered a cult title in Tamil cinema, much like Sholay in Hindi and Maya Bazaar in Telugu, and it holds a special place in the hearts of fans. This situation raises questions about the use of such iconic titles for commercial films with mixed reactions among Tamil film audiences. While similar disputes have occurred in Telugu cinema over classic names like Missamma, Shankarabharanam, and Adivi Ramudu, they have not resulted in major confrontations. The big question remains: Will Sivakarthikeyan’s project keep the title, or will they change it? And if both stars remain adamant, will this dispute end up in court? Only time will tell.

Read more at: https://www.m9.news/tamil-movie-news/sivakarthikeyans-parasakthi-vs-vijay-antonys-parashakthi-another-ugly-war-cooking/

WhatsApp no longer supports old versions of iOS: what you need to know.

JournalistSvyatenko Tamara

yesterday, 11:28210

Updated iOS versions are not supported by WhatsApp

WhatsApp for iPhone no longer supports old versions of iOS. In the new beta version of the app for iOS (version 25.2.10.72) via TestFlight, users must have iOS 15.1 or a newer version of the operating system. It was noted that support for old versions of iOS will be discontinued on May 5, 2025.

This means that users of the standard WhatsApp and WhatsApp Business versions who do not update their devices will no longer be able to send messages or make calls. To check your iOS version, you need to go to your smartphone settings and view device information.

If the iOS version is 15.1 or higher, everything will work without issues. However, if the version is lower, you need to update iOS or consider buying a new iPhone.

The restrictions will affect owners of iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 5s, and older models with iOS 14 and below.

With ₹1000-crore loss and 223 flops, 2024 spelled one of the worst years for Tamil cinema

ByLatha Srinivasan

Jan 29, 2025 02:53 PM IST

Tamil cinema faced a disappointing 2024, with producers losing ₹1000 crore despite spending ₹3000 crore on 241 films.

Though Tamil cinema celebrated the success of several movies in 2024 like Amaran, Maharaja and Garudan, the year was, in fact, one of the most disappointing ones for the Tamil film industry. According to reports, nearly ₹3000 crore was spent by Tamil film producers in 2024 on making films but producers and distributors eventually ended up incurring an overall loss of around ₹1000 crore. Of the 241 films released last year, only about 18 films were successful at the box office meaning that 223 failed. Now, Kollywood is hoping that 2025 will be a better year and some are looking to recalibrate content while others are focusing on budgets. But what led to this humungous loss for producers in 2024? Was it the content, quality of films and/or audience fatigue that made the year a challenging one for filmmakers? ire Song: Suriya in a still from Kanguva. The film failed to impress at the box office.

Dominos fall

One of the major factors attributed to the ₹1000 crore loss by producers is the fact that numerous big budget films - with stars like Suriya, Kamala Haasan and Rajiniaknth no less - unexpectedly sank at the box office. Take Suriya’s much-hyped pan-Indian flick Kanguva for instance. Reportedly made on a budget of ₹350 crore, the film was extensively promoted across India with the producer KE Gnanavel Raja confident that the movie would post at least ₹1000 crore at the box office on release. Unfortunately, it bit the dust and Kanguva managed just to make just a shocking ₹106 crore. Director Shankar’s Indian 2 was said to have been made on a budget of ₹250 crore but it collected only around ₹150 crore at the box office. The audience rejected these films, as well as other big films like Rajinikanth’s Vettaiyan, sending Kollywood into a tizzy.