All posts tagged: disasters

‘Department of disasters’: Rahul Gandhi ups ante against Centre over NEET paper leak, CBSE’s OSM evaluation

‘Department of disasters’: Rahul Gandhi ups ante against Centre over NEET paper leak, CBSE’s OSM evaluation

Published by Parlour News

Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi called the ministry of education a “department of disasters” and attacked the BJP-led Central government over the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)’s use of the on-screen marking (OSM) system and the drop in Class 12 pass percentage compared to last year, as well as the board’s new mandate requiring Class 9 and 10 students to study three languages. Rahul Gandhi’s remarks come amid mounting backlash against the NTA and the education ministry over the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak. (ANI/PTI) His remarks come amid mounting backlash against the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the education ministry over the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak, an exam for which nearly 23 lakh candidates had registered. Meanwhile, controversies have broken out around the CBSE for two reasons. One, for using the on-screen marking system to evaluate Class 12 board examination results, which resulted in a huge drop in the overall pass percentage this year to 85.2%, the lowest level seen in …

‘How can there be a bigger prank?’: Farah Khan roasts Akshay Kumar over their biggest box office disasters | Television News

‘How can there be a bigger prank?’: Farah Khan roasts Akshay Kumar over their biggest box office disasters | Television News

Published by Parlour News

5 min readMumbaiUpdated: Apr 26, 2026 03:16 PM IST This Monday will mark the finale of Wheel of Fortune, hosted by Akshay Kumar. After a run of 65 episodes, the reality game show is finally coming to a conclusion, and will be replaced by another reality game show, Tum Ho Naa – Ghar Ki Superstar, hosted by actor Rajeev Khandelwal, starting from Tuesday, April 28, at 9 pm on Sony Entertainment Television. In the season finale of Wheel of Fortune, which will air on Monday, April 27, at 9 pm on the channel, Akshay will be seen hosting and spinning the wheel one last time with his former collaborators — Farah Khan, Bhumi Pednekar, and Jacqueline Fernandez. In promos released by Sony Entertainment Television on X, Akshay is seen having a good time with Farah in the finale. In the first promo, Farah, who has gained newfound popularity with her YouTube show, is seen gifting a cooker to Akshay. “I’ve got you the one thing that you love eating the most,” she said, only to …

This is not a drill: Climate, tech, grief and the changing world of first-responders

This is not a drill: Climate, tech, grief and the changing world of first-responders

Published by Parlour News

A mountain of rubble hiding flattened homes. (Photos: Shutterstock; HT Imaging: Puneet Kumar) A roaring inferno sweeping through a forest. Wailing sirens mingling with cries for help. And people, armed and ready, rushing into the flames. This could be the wildfires of California, 2024. The tsunami-hit city of Alexandria in 4th century CE Egypt. Or the cities of Mandalay and Sagaing last year, after the 7.7-magnitude earthquake in Myanmar. Across history, catastrophe has been one of humanity’s constants. As the earth heaved and storms swept through settlements, humans learnt to rely on people who charge towards the chaos when everyone else is running the other way; dig through debris; row into a flooded and silent city, carrying supplies and medicines and looking for signs of life. For centuries, a certain kind of person has signed up for this role. Now, the world of these first-responders is changing. As storms, heatwaves, wildfires, floods and cold snaps intensify and become more frequent, new technology is emerging to help them on the ground: slinky robots that can slither …

Paris Hilton launches recovery fund for women business owners after disasters

Paris Hilton launches recovery fund for women business owners after disasters

Published by Parlour News

The pop culture star, advocate and entrepreneur Paris Hilton launched an initiative Monday to support female small-business owners impacted by disasters, a nationwide expansion of her philanthropic support for women entrepreneurs after the 2025 Los Angeles fires. Paris Hilton launches recovery fund for women business owners after disasters Hilton is donating $350,000 to kick-start the Back in Business Recovery Fund, with a goal to raise at least $1 million by the end of March. “Women-owned businesses are really the heart of so many of these communities,” Hilton told The Associated Press. “I want to be able to lift up and support them, shine a light on them and really make a difference in their lives.” The new initiative will be a partnership between Hilton’s social impact organization 11:11 Media Impact and GoFundMe.org, which is the philanthropic arm of the fundraising platform GoFundMe and will contribute $100,000 to the fund’s launch. Hilton and those organizations deployed over $1 million in cash grants to 50 women-owned small businesses after the LA fires, which destroyed her own Malibu …

Team India to be offered mixed-soil pitch for final against New Zealand, to avoid past World Cup disasters from Ahmedabad

Team India to be offered mixed-soil pitch for final against New Zealand, to avoid past World Cup disasters from Ahmedabad

Published by Webster

3 min readAhmedabadUpdated: Mar 6, 2026 10:33 PM IST Taking a cue from its past two setbacks where the Indian team lost two big-ticket games in a World Cup at Ahmedabad, the Indian team will be offered a mixed-soil pitch at the Narendra Modi Stadium for their ICC T20 World Cup final game against New Zealand. The Indian Express understands that this particular track is a mixed soil pitch but with more of red soil in it, than black. Higher percentage of red soil helps the ball come easy onto the bat in both innings, and also offers good bounce. It will be the same pitch where South Africa played Canada in their league game and scored 213 for 5 while Canada ended up their innings on 156/8. The reason for choosing this wicket which has a higher red soil content than black, is India’s past history of losing two important games. India lost to Australia in the 50 overs 2023 World Cup final on a pitch that was played on black soil, which tends …

India ranks ninth globally among countries most impacted by climate disasters

India ranks ninth globally among countries most impacted by climate disasters

Published by Webster

India ranks ninth globally among countries most impacted by climate disasters over the past three decades, with nearly 430 extreme weather events killing more than 80,000 people, according to a new report. The Climate Risk Index (CRI) 2026 released by the environment think tank Germanwatch at COP30 in Belem, Brazil, on Tuesday said climate disasters affected 1.3 billion people and caused economic losses worth almost USD 170 billion from 1995 to 2024. The report said the country`s losses stemmed largely from repeated floods, cyclones, droughts and heat waves that have intensified with global warming. Events such as the 1998 Gujarat cyclone, the 1999 Odisha super cyclone, the 2013 Uttarakhand floods and recent deadly heat waves are among those that contributed to India`s high ranking on the index, it said. The report said India`s situation represents a “continuous threat” rather than isolated disasters, as recurring weather extremes have steadily eroded development gains and undermined livelihoods. It said that India`s vast population and high exposure to monsoon variability make it particularly vulnerable, with extreme events often affecting …

Earns Only 5% Of Sanjay Dutt’s Last Disaster’s Lifetime Collection!

Earns Only 5% Of Sanjay Dutt’s Last Disaster’s Lifetime Collection!

Published by Parlour News

The Bhootnii Box Office Day 2: Earning Significantly Low! (Photo Credit – Instagram) Sanjay Dutt and Mouni Roy’s horror-comedy The Bhootnii has been earning very low numbers at the box office, and in two days, it has not been able to reach even the 5 crore mark. In 48 hours, the film stands at a total collection of 2.22 crore net in India. Sanjay Dutt’s Last Theatrical Release! Sanjay Dutt’s last theatrical release at the box office was Shamshera, which also starred Ranbir Kapoor. The film was a disaster at the box office, earning only 42 crore in its lifetime! The Bhootnii Box Office Day 2 On the second day, Friday, May 2, The Bhootnii earned 1.03 crore at the box office, which was a minimal drop from the box office, which brought 1.19 crore on the opening day. Only 5% Of Shamshera! Sanjay Dutt‘s horror comedy has earned only 5% of the total lifetime collection of his last Hindi disaster, Shamshera’s 42 crore. In two days, the period drama earned 20.75 crore at the …

Maharashtra launches emergency operation centre for effective use of tech during disasters | Mumbai News

Maharashtra launches emergency operation centre for effective use of tech during disasters | Mumbai News

Published by Parlour News

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday inaugurated the state-of-the-art State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) which aims to use new technology effectively for disaster management. “Due to climate change, the nature, intensity and frequency of disasters are changing. Therefore, it is necessary to emphasise on ‘mitigation’ and immediate response after incidents. It is important to have a strong ‘command and communication system’ for disaster management, and this center will be useful for taking decisions quickly and providing quick response,” said Fadnavis. The new SEOC includes bezel-free video wall, high capacity audio visual conferencing, data servers, high-speed computers, satellite phone, ham radios, LED video walls  and wireless sets, which can be used for timely response and coordination among all the systems during a disaster. Story continues below this ad Ground-based Electro-Optical Deep Space Surveillance (Geo-DSS) is also implementing a “change detection” process based on AI and machine learning. This process is based on satellite imagery and will make it easier to understand the situation at the disaster site in near real time, assess the damage and …

Tigmanshu Dhulia Reveals Why Sanam Teri Kasam Worked & New Films Are Box Office Disasters, “Jab Tak Hindustan Mein Sanima,” Write Netizens!

Tigmanshu Dhulia Reveals Why Sanam Teri Kasam Worked & New Films Are Box Office Disasters, “Jab Tak Hindustan Mein Sanima,” Write Netizens!

Published by Webster

After Aamir Khan Blames OTT, Tigmanshu Dhulia Reveals New Films Are Box Office Disasters! (Photo Credit – Wikipedia/Prime Video/Instagram) Recently, Aamir Khan, in an interaction with the media, blamed OTT platforms for the failure of films at the box office. Now, filmmaker Tigmanshu Dhulia has discussed another reason for the failure of Hindi films and the success of South Indian films at the box office! In an interview, the filmmaker blamed one basic reason for audiences not turning in the theaters to watch the film – the ever-high ticket prices in the multiplexes. Pointing out how this is a real-estate business model, Dhulia discussed the difference in ticket rates between the North and South. Discussing the issue in a podcast ANI, Tigmanshu Dhulia said, “Aapko ticket thodi bech rahe hain picture ka, aapko parking ka ticket bech rahe hain, popcorn bech rahe hain, samosa bech rahe hain, kya kya tacos bech rahe hain, saath mein ticket bhi bech rahe hain. Aapko bus bade se TV pe picture dikha rahe hain, samosa bhi mehenga khila rahe …

Robinhood Box Office: Nithiin and Sreeleela starrer emerges one of the biggest disasters in North America; Deets Inside

Robinhood Box Office: Nithiin and Sreeleela starrer emerges one of the biggest disasters in North America; Deets Inside

Published by Parlour News

Even for mid-range films, Telugu cinema has consistently had a significant presence in North America and frequently achieves spectacular box office results. Even smaller films like Court: State vs. A Nobody surpassed the desired $1 million mark, while big-budget blockbusters like Baahubali made over $20 million in the region. But Nithiin’s latest outing, Robinhood, has turned out to be a major disappointment, both critically and commercially, especially in the overseas arena. Released on March 28 during the Ugadi-Eid weekend, Robinhood had all the ingredients of a festival winner: a bankable lead pair, Nithiin and Sreeleela, a slick action-comedy setup, and the promotional blitz to back it. What happens when a smart-talking con artist crosses paths with the country’s most corrupt drug lord? Venky Kudumula attempts to explore this in his latest directorial venture, bankrolled by Mythri Movie Makers. The premise had the potential for a fun-filled entertainer, but the execution fell flat. What was meant to be a witty, humorous ride turns into a dull affair, thanks to weak writing and lacklustre performances that fail to …