Sharmila Tagore pitches for gender equality

Veteran actress Sharmila Tagore has called for gender equality and said parents should realize that a girl is in no way inferior than a boy.

A girl child should be treated with equal importance, the celebrated Bollywood actress of the 70s said at the concluding day of the 11th Global Doctors' Summit in Kolkata.

"Parents should be told that if they invest in the education and upbringing of a girl child, she will also make contributions for the family and society," Tagore said at a separate session on gender issue at the doctors' meet.

Nothing will change unless people change their mindset, the 'Amar Prem' actress said, seeking involvement of Anganwadi workers and social activists in the promotional activities for gender equality.

"We have to look at the root cause. Just depending on government initiatives won't do, we must make efforts to change our attitude at the domestic level," she said.

Asked if she had faced gender discrimination, Tagore said, "I was brought up in a Bengali family.

We were three girls and never made to feel any lesser than men."

 However, when she had made her debut in 'Apur Sansar' by Satyajit Ray in 1959, there were protests by the school and she had to finally leave the institution, the 73-year-old actress said.

"But my parents had never objected to my joining films. Also, no doors got closed for me when I got married (to Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi) in 1969. I did not face any barriers then," she said.

Bangladesh batsman Sabbir faces penalty for assaulting fan during national league match

The disciplinary committee of Bangladesh Cricket Board has recommended cancelling the deal with Sabbir Rahman for assaulting a fan during a national league match.

“He is not going to remain a contracted cricketer,” BCB President Nazmul Hassan said while briefing the media in Dhaka on Monday after getting the panel’s report.

The panel made its report after a hearing following the match referee’s report. 

Nazmul said it also recommended suspending him for six months in domestic games and fining him Tk 2 million.

The BCB held the hearing after allegations surfaced that the right-hand batsman beat up a cricket fan during a National Cricket League match in Rajshahi’s Shaheed Quamaruzzaman Stadium on Dec 21.

The middle-order batsman has been included in the initial squad for the upcoming tri-nation series.

There is no ban on him to play international cricket.

“It’s not that the decisions are final. The disciplinary panel has recommended these measures,” Nazmul said.

"But,” he added, “there are fewer possibilities of reducing these (recommended punishment). Rather these may be extended.”

Punishment for indiscipline is nothing new for Sabbir, one of the Icon Players of Bangladesh Premier League.

In the BPL 2016, he was fined 30 percent of his tournament fee of Tk 4 million. He was also fined 15 percent of match fee for misconduct with an umpire.    

In the 2017 edition of the league, he was fined 30 percent of match fee for a similar offence. 

Nazmul said this was the ‘last chance for Sabbir to correct himself’.

We are considering an indefinite ban on him if he does this again,” he said.

In international cricket, Sabbir was punished last year in two series.

In the first ODI of the Afghanistan series, he was fined 30 percent of his match fee and received two demerit points for misconduct with umpire.

He had to pay 20 percent of his match fee for indiscipline in the second ODI against England.

Oindrila again busy with acting

After a long time break, late Bulbul Ahmed’s daughter Oindrila again became engage with acting. From childhood she has been stepping forward according to her father’s way. She started her acting career through father's interest. So, despite having a long time break she again became busy with acting. 
She has already finished shooting of two plays under Mabrur Rashid Bannah and Rubel Hasan’s direction. Ziaul Faruk Apurba was her co-actor in these two plays. 
This time Oindrila has started shooting of another new play under Dipu Hazra’s direction. Title of the play is Fake Love, which shooting has been started from December 30. In this play, after 10 years break popular actor Shajal is acting with her. They last paired up in play Oikhaney Jeonako Tumi. 
While sharing her feelings to work with Shajal after 10 years Oindrila told this correspondent, “I am really enjoying working with Shajal as earlier we had experience to work together. So, we have better understanding. For the first time I am acting under Dipu Hazra’s direction who gives freedom to his actors. It is very organized unit. I am very much optimistic about this play.”
Oindrila informed that this play will be aired in any satellite channel on Valentine’s Day. Meanwhile, on December 29, Oindrila received Shanko Telefilm Award in the field of acting. She is very much delighted to get this award. 

IN CONVERSATION WITH SADIKA PARVIN POPY

On the very first day of the New Year, National Film Award winning popular actress Sadika Parvin Popy has come up with good news to share with her fans and well-wishers. The actress is going to work in a new film titled ‘Sahosi Juddha’ at the beginning of the year.

DhakaLive’ Nazir Hossain has revealed more about Popy’s new film and recent works through an interview. Excerpts follow:

Tell us about your new film.

Popy: My new film’s title is ‘Sahosi Juddha’, which will be directed by Sadek Siddiqui. Both my character and story of the film are wonderful. It will be my first work with filmmaker Sadek Siddiqui.   

What is your role in the film?

Popy: I will play the role of a customs officer here. I am going to portray a character like this for the first time in my career.

Are you taking any additional preparation for your role?

Popy: Yes, I am taking necessary preparation to act in the role of a customs officer. To me, this is a challenging role and I am trying to know about the profession in detail. I think I have to enact the role of a customs officer with proper understanding of this profession.

Who will play opposite you in the film? When will the shooting commence?

Popy: My co-artiste has yet to be finalized, but it will be confirmed by this week. The shooting for the film is expected to commence from January 20.  

Any other recent films of you awaiting release right this moment?

Popy: Four of my recent films are awaiting release right now; these are ‘Shortcut-a Borolok’, ‘Jibon Jantrana’ and ‘Dui Bhaiyer Juddho’.

How will spend your first day of the New Year?

Popy:  My family is the first priority to me over all other things. So, I want to spend the first day of the year with my family members in a special manner.

'2017 was good for me, mixed for team'

Tamim Iqbal has matured over the past 10 years since making his international debut in 2007, and 2017 proved to be a crucial year for the left-hander when it came to his contributions to the Tigers.

The highest run-getter for Bangladesh in all the three formats scored 1,286 runs in 2017 and hit two hundreds and nine fifties. He also finished as Bangladesh's highest run-scorer in ODIs, smashing 646 runs in 11 innings at an average of 64.60. Of his two ODI hundreds, the 128-run knock against England in the ICC Champions Trophy was his best.

Tamim, who had been suffering from an allergic reaction after a hair treatment, joined the ongoing training camp in Mirpur yesterday. The southpaw said he was satisfied by his performance in 2017.

"2017 has been good for me, especially in ODIs. And I will try to stretch this form for as long as possible. I will try to continue with the same mentality and dedication in the coming series in the coming years," Tamim told reporters at the BCB Academy ground in Mirpur yesterday.

However Tamim said there was a lot of room to improve as a team over the coming year, but overall he stressed the positive achievements of the Bangladesh team.

"We did have a few achievements last year [2017] but we could have done better. We drew the series in Sri Lanka which we could have won. There were a few small mistakes and also a few good results as well such as beating New Zealand in the Champions Trophy along with the wins against Ireland and New Zealand in the tri-series. We had a good series in Sri Lanka and overall it was positive and I hope that we can play better cricket compared to this year in the coming year," he added.

Bangladesh have never won a tri-series before so the Tigers will be hoping for a small slice of history in the new year, which they begin with a tri-nation series comprising of Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe aside from the hosts.

Tamim believed it would be a great opportunity to clinch the series as they know the strengths and weaknesses of their opponents very well.

However, their opponents will also know them well as they both have former Bangladesh coaches in their ranks.

Chandika Hathurusingha left the Bangladesh job after the South Africa series and  has taken over at Sri Lanka, while Zimbabwe will be backed by Heath Streak's experience from his time as the Tigers' bowling coach. That will certainly add a bit more spice to an already exciting series.

"If we think about this then it's a big factor as they worked with Bangladesh for three-four years but if we don't think then it's not going to be a big issue. At the end of the day you can give the game plan but if you are not able to execute that on the field then there is no benefit. If we are able to execute our own plan then we will definitely get the result," Tamim concluded.

James Bond could be a woman: Producer

The makers of James Bond movies are open to having a black actor or a woman play the famous fictional spy.

Producer Barbara Broccoli says she wouldn’t hesitate breaking from the tradition that has seen Bond being played by white, middle-aged men. She is open to having a black or woman as the next iconic spy once actor Daniel Craig walks away, reports dailymail.co.uk.

“These films tend to reflect the times, so we always try to push the envelope a little bit.

Anything is possible. Right now it’s Daniel Craig, and I’m very happy with Daniel Craig, but who knows what the future will bring,” Broccoli said.

Craig is nearing the end of his tenure in the 007 role.

Ever since the 49-year-old British actor said he ruled out returning to the franchise following the last Bond film “Spectre”, before he agreed to reprise the role once again in “Bond 25”, speculation over his successor has been rife.

It was also rumoured that actor Idris Elba might wear Bond’s shoes.

However, the actor cleared the air: “It feels like I’m campaigning, and I’m not. At first it was harmless - oh, I know, wouldn’t it be great? - and now it’s started off racial debates.”

He said that he is “probably the most famous Bond actor in the world, and I’ve not even played the role. Enough is enough. I can’t talk about it anymore”.

WhatsApp messaging service returns after global outage

WhatsApp, a popular messaging service owned by Facebook Inc, suffered a global outage for about an hour on Sunday before the problem was fixed.

“WhatsApp users around the world experienced a brief outage today that has now been resolved”, a WhatsApp spokeswoman said in an emailed statement. The cause of the outage, about an hour long, was not immediately known.

In India, its biggest market with about 200 million of its billion-plus users, the app was down just a few minutes past midnight into the new year.

Users in other countries also complained of outages on social media.