Month: August 2020

FOREIGN MOVIE RECOMMENDATIONS – DAMNATION (HUNGARY) AND CLOSE UP (IRAN)

  1. Damnation (Karhozat) (1987)

Damnation (Karhozat) (1987) is directed by the great Hungarian auteur Bela Tarr. It is set in an unnamed town in which a man named Karrer is in love with the local bar singer, but she’s married. They have an affair for a while but then she leaves him. Karrer is offered a smuggling job by the bartender of the same bar but he gives it to the singer’s husband to get him out of the way. But things dont go as he expects and he faces a few hurdles.

The film has minimal dialogues and it is full of Bela Tarr’s signature style of long takes of mundane things. For example, there is a three minutes long take just of our lead staring out of his room’s window. The film is shot in black and white and has this sad and bleak atmosphere. The cinematography and framing are impeccable. The film deliberately moves at a snail’s pace. The shots are slow and winding. In this film, the camera’s movements are more important than the plot. The film delivers the plot visually. One of my favourite scenes was one in which our lead characters are fighting, and the crying baby’s noise in the parallel room acts as the background score. I dug the upbeat classical music throughout. It showed how the hopeless inhabitants of this town try to find joy by dancing and partying.

This film is more about the mood and the atmosphere. It’s a film about nothing but I was absorbed. I felt like I was there in this rainy and muddy shithole of a town where everything was dark and gloomy. Showing the mundane lives of these people reminded me of the films of Michaelangelo Antonioni. The topics that our characters talk about are full of philiosophy and subtext,   they are deep and powerful.

Damnation is a highly stylized film that is not for everyone. The film progresses at a snail’s pace. But I didnt mind it because I was hypnotised by what I saw. I loved how the plot of the movie is told visually and the way it shows this sad and dreary world. This film is more of a sensory experience that I had a blast with.

 

  1. Close Up ( 1990)
In Abbas Kiarostami’s Close up (1990) a guy named Sabzian impersonates director Mohsen Makhmalbaf and convinces a rich family that he will take them in his next movie. He runs this ruse for a while but eventually his truth comes out and he is taken in by the authorities. The film revolves around his trial.

 

Close Up is based on a true story and the people involved in the real story are playing themselves, this is so unique! The film is a reenactment of the real events. It is shot like a documentary so it comes under the category of docufiction.

 

The way Kiarostami has captured human emotions and motivations of the character, is really beautiful. The convict is shown in an empathetic light and you are made to understand his motivations. You even side with him and just hope that the judge grants him a lighter sentence. He loves the arts and cinema and he relates to the suffering that director Makhmalbaf shows in his films. So he wants to make a film about his suffering.

 

There is also commentary on the class divide in Iran – how impersonating this director made people treat Sabzian respectfully, and that made his life worth living.

 

I loved how the film portrays humanity and society in general, and takes us to the depth of human nature. It also talks about compassion and forgiveness.

 

Close Up is often considered to be the best film to come out of Iran. It is a film about a film buff like us. This movie is so uniquely made that I’ve never seen anything like this.

A French soap opera is about to unfold

The world’s richest woman just died. If you didn’t know this, please stop focusing on the tweets and turn your attention to more weighty matters of the world.
Liliane Bettencourt passed away four days ago at the age of 94. She was the heiress to the founder of L’Oréal, the world’s largest cosmetic company; the only child of Eugène Schueller who founded L’Oréal in 1907. She herself worked in the company from the age of 15 and rose to become its deputy Chairperson.
The future of L’Oréal is now in play. And therein lies a story that could give a beating to any soap opera on television.
In 1974, fearing that France would nationalise the company, Bettencourt did a deal with Nestle wherein she offloaded about half her holding in exchange for shares in Nestle. Since then Nestle and Bettencourt have had one of the longest tangos in business history. Nestle, a food company, with no presence at all in cosmetics, had a 30% stake in the world’s largest cosmetics company (now down to 23%). But in an agreement with Bettencourt, Nestle remained a sleeping partner and promised not to acquire any more shares or to bid for Bettencourt’s own shares as long as she was alive. Presumably Nestle had thought that she would not live so long. But they kept their word and until now have not interfered at all in the business just pocketing the dividends and biding their time. So much so that very few outside the business world probably even know that Nestle is a major shareholder in L’Oréal.
In the meantime Bettencourt’s life over the last decade has been another soap opera all by itself. Sometime in 2007, at the  ripe age of 84, she took a fancy to her photographer and started to bestow gifts to him worth over €1 billion. Her daughter filed a complaint with the police that her photographer was taking advantage of her weakened psychological stake to amass a personal fortune. She and her daughter had an extremely public spat with each accusing the other of having gone mad. The courts finally made Bettencourt’s grandson as her overseer and the fortune was vested with her daughter and her two grandsons. But everything was in a state of limbo as long as she was alive.
Cue the events in Nestle. Nestle , for long, has waited patiently to consummate what was really a delayed acquisition. Both the last two Chairmen of Nestle sit on the L’Oréal Board. They were probably waiting for the death of Bettencourt to acquire L’Oréal . But alas they now have an activist shareholder in Dan Loeb who has a fair stake in Nestle and is pushing it to do the opposite – sell the stake in L’Oréal and return the money to shareholders. So there is no saying what Nestle will ultimately do – acquire L’Oréal or divest !
There are other big fish circling. Given how cheap debt is , there are enough and more funds of various stripes, including probably the notorious 3G Capital and their close friend Warren Buffet, who are getting all excited. Also interested would be two giants in the cosmetics field – Unilever and Procter & Gamble, who have long eyed Nestle’s stake with envy and made noises about what a Foods company is doing with a stake in a Cosmetics company.
Complicating this will be nationalism, for after all L’Oréal is (very) French. Would Macron be willing to let a French institution fall into the hands of the ugly Americans ? If he interfered, the tweeter in chief would surely have something to say !!
And what will Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, Liliane’s daughter and the two grandchildren to whom the 30% stake in L’Oréal passes, do ?  Would they act in concert. Or would they go their own ways ? Would they buy ? Or sell ?
Every investment banker is drooling and shivering with anticipation. It is fair to assume that no first class seats are available on all flights to and from Paris, London, New York and Lausanne !
Watch this space. The knives will be out on 18th March when the six months period after Bettencourt’s death ends and  all agreements expire.    Bettencourt’s life was colourful to say the least – marrying a Nazi sympathiser, losing money with Bernie Madoff,  a strange affair with her photographer, being declared mentally incompetent, accused of giving cash stuffed envelopes to Nicolas Sarkozy,  having numerous Swiss bank accounts …… But even by those standards, what will follow in the fight for L’Oréal will be, to put it mildly, interesting.

    WHY THE GOVERNMENT WANTS YOU TO STOP WEARING N95 MASK

    In today’s World, face masks have become an important part of our lives. Even though they cause immense discomfort, it has become A safety necessity. This necessity has led to several types of face Masks being available in the market- You get cheap face masks being made of fabric, you get fancy ones with valves in it And you even get funny ones with Smiley images printed on them. , And recently, the indian health ministry has Issued a warning that highlights what you should and should not do with your mask and one of the Is to stop sailing face masks with respirator As they might not be COVID-19 safe As we thought they might be. Rajiv Garg, DGHS, In a letter to all the states and union territories, States, “It is to bring to knowledge that the use of Respirator N95 masks Are detrimental to the For preventing the spread of As it does not prevent the virus from escaping out of the mask.”
    “In view of the above I request you to instruct all concerned to follow the use of face/mouth cover and prevent inappropriate use of N95 masks”,he added.
    As highlighted by TOI, the problem with N95 mask is the valve that comes fitted with them. N95 masks are essentially a type of PPE that is designed for health care workers as well as for workers at the construction site. The mask is made of material that filters air which is coming in. Most of these masks are fitted with a valve at front that enables better ventilation so it doesn’t feel exhausting to breathe . However, most masks that are circulating in the market only have a one-way valve. Which means, while it does filter the air coming from the outside, it isn’t preventing your breath, from staying in. The valve is acting like an unfiltered outlet to spread outside. The safest, which has been suggested by health ministry is home made masks – washing it in boiling water with salt for five minutes and drying it properly before use.

    Robotics Process Automation

    According to Chris Huff, chief strategy officer at Kofax- “RPA is software that automates rules-based actions performed on a computer.” It is an advanced technology where the machine records a specific task done by human and then perform the same task whenever required without any human intervention.

    Every RPA system must include the three capabilities stated below:

    • Communicating with the other systems in either way screen scrapping or API integration.
    • Decision Making
    • Interface for bot programming.

    One of the most amazing things about this is that it doesn’t need any prior coding knowledge, in fact neither this requires the development of code, nor it does require direct access to the code or database of any application. So, do not have to worry if you don’t know how to code or if in case you don’t like to code much, you can still learn this.

    Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is the use of computer software ‘robots’ to perform routine, rule-based automated activities such as filling in the same information in various locations, downloading data, or copying and pasting.

    RPA operates by collecting knowledge from current IT systems. There are several ways RPA software can work with the applications. One choice is to connect to databases and corporate network resources in the backend. Another is via front end or laptop interfaces, which have several types.

    What is the safest way? It depends on the organization and the needs that the solution must tackle. With backend networking, automation can reach applications and resources under the power of a process automation server. This is most widely used for unattended automation, where the automated robots handle back-office functions such as reviewing insurance claims on a scale.

    Types of RPA: 

    • Attended Automation: This requires human intervention while performing any task assigned.
    • Unattended Automation: This tool doesn’t require any human intervention while performing any task they are designed to have decision-making capabilities.
    • Hybrid RPA: This has the combined capabilities of both attended and unattended Automation.

    Now, are RPA and any desktop application the same? And the answer is no, and the difference will be identified with their decision-making capability. Some general functions of RPA include

    • Opening different applications like emails, moving files, etc.
    • Integration with the existing tools.
    • Collecting data from different web portals.
    • Processing data which includes calculations, data extraction, etc.

    Tools for RPA:

    • Blue Prism
    • Uipath
    • Automation Anywhere
    • Pega
    • Contextor
    • Nice Items

    Ten years is a long time to forecast and RPA is a fairly young and developing market. Yet RPA has certainly proved it’s worth and will continue to expand rapidly. With these development tools, RPA deployment is becoming more of an area for creators of mobile robots, not just for casual business users. The RPA career is considered to be very successful. Emerging students should comfortably predict a substantial share of job opportunities in the country. Pay packages for specialists with skill sets in this area are often comparatively higher compared to other fields.

    Industries that use RPA:

    • BPO.
    • Finance & Banking.
    • Insurance.
    • Healthcare.
    • Telecom.
    • Manufacturing.
    • Public Sector.
    • Retail & CPG.

    Resources to learn RPA:

    • UiPath Academy. No learning cost its free for everyone, Complete UiPath RPA Developer Course.
    • Udemy. Complete UiPath RPA Developer Course.
    • Edureka!
    • IntelliPaat.
    • EpsilonAI Academy.

    Hope you guys enjoyed this. Happy learning!

    Flexible design course

    The session today got us a bit further with planning. I like the idea of a personal learning plan, and this will be a dynamic work in action and help people to focus on the areas they are interested in. The trick will be to ensure people are well supported as they are taken out of their comfort zones…even modelling new ways of teaching and learning can frighten people.

    we have plenty of actions and have made a start on the Blackboard shell. I am not that keen on putting dates on the buttons and using the what, how, why, when labels might throw a lot of people.
    An idea has come to me as I write this. I believe we need to pin them down to the type of plan they envisage right at the start of the course…it may only be the name of a course they teach in but it will ground them in something real. and I think we need to extend the initial discussion about flexible learning to include the plan…what they hope to end up with. smetimes for the holistic learners they need to see the big picture first – where they are heading.

    the personal learning plans will help them with the what, how and why they will get there. I would like to use a self-questioning matrix to help them plan, monitor and evaluate their activities – we can start them off with some sample questions which can be used in the f2f consultation about the plan, and then get them to start doing this sort of reflective process themselves as they go. some may prefer to use concept mapping to plan how they go about their activities

    Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry observes World Biofuel Day

    Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry today organised a webinar on the occasion of the World Biofuel day with the theme Biofuels towards Atmanirbhar Bharat.

    World Biofuel Day is observed every year on 10th August to create awareness about the importance of non-fossil fuels as an alternative to conventional fossil fuels.

    Speaking on the occasion, Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Tarun Kapoor said that there is large amount of agricultural residues available in the country and therefore the scope of producing Biofuels is immense.

    He said that there are three major areas of Biofuels- Ethanol, Bio-diesel and Biogas.

    He added, if these three sources are exploited, dependence on import of crude and also gas can be reduced to a very large extent.

    EPFO ensures hassle free service delivery through UMANG app during COVID-19 pandemic

    Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation, EPFO has ensured hassle free service delivery through UMANG app during COVID-19 pandemic.
     
    Labour and Employment Ministry said, presently a PF member can access 16 different services of EPFO on their mobile phone using the Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance, UMANG App.
     
    The Ministry said, on UMANG app a member can raise claim, track claim and know the status of claim raised.
     
    During the COVID-19 pandemic period from April to July, a total of over 11 lakh claims were filed online through UMANG App.
     
    This was a whooping 180 per cent increase compared to pre-Covid 19 period from December last year to March 2020, where only around four lakh claims were submitted through the app.
     
    To ensure safe and secure delivery of its services at the door steps on its 66 lakh pensioners, EPFO brought the facility of View Pensioner Passbook as well as updation of Jeevan Pramaan Patra on UMANG app.

    NEP 2020 is blend of tools enabling students to compete with global world: Union Education Minister

    Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has said that National Education Policy 2020 is a blend of tools enabling the students to compete with the global world, as well as to grasp the Bharat centric values, culture and languages.

    Participating in a webinar on Atma Nirbhar Madhya Pradesh – Health and Education’ in New Delhi today, Mr Pokhriyal said, the policy aims to revamp all aspects of India’s education system that were in place over three decades and bring it closer to the best global standards of education.

    The National Education Policy has maintained a balance between the traditions and the interdisciplinary approach. He said, the policy has a clear vision and defined objectives. Mr Pokhriyal said, the reforms proposed can only be implemented collaboratively by the Centre and the states.

    The Minister congratulated the Madhya Pradesh government for swiftly responding to the current COVID crisis by introducing a series of interventions across all sectors.

    During the current lockdown, the School Education Department of Madhya Pradesh has proactively taken upon the task of ensuring that children do not lose out on any opportunity to learn and to continue their academic progress by providing access to tech-enabled learning sources.

    Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar slams Rahul Gandhi for raising objections on draft EIA

    Hitting out at senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar has said that those raising objections to the draft environment impact assessment, EIA notification are the same people who took big decisions without consultations when they were in power.

    Speaking to  media on the sidelines of an event in New Delhi today, Mr Javadekar questioned their protest against the draft saying it is not final notification.

    The Minister said, it was kept for public consultation for an extended period of 150 days because of COVID-19.
    He said, Government has received thousands of suggestions which it welcomed and will consider them.

    He added that then Government will take a call and come out with final draft. Mr Javadekar said, some people jumping just on the draft is not fair practice.

    Gandhi yesterday had said that EIA 2020 draft is a disaster and it seeks to silence the voice of communities who will be directly impacted by the environmental degradation it unleashes.

    The Congress leader  also called for its withdrawal, saying it will lead to further environmental destruction.

    Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launches various initiatives of DPSUs & OFB through digital link

    Defence Minister Rajnath Singh today launched the initiatives of a number of modernisation and up-gradation of facilities as also new infrastructure creation by Defence Public Sector Undertakings, DPSUs and Ordnance Factory Board OFB through digital link in New Delhi.

    It was part of the of the Atmanirbhar Week celebration of the Ministry of Defence.

    Speaking on the occasion, Mr Singh recalled Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s clarion call for Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan and his 5-I formula of ‘Intent, Inclusion, Investment, Infrastructure and Innovation’ will put the economy on high growth trajectory.

    The Minister said, Government has made timely and thoughtful interventions during Covid-19 times like issuing negative list for import, increase in FDI limits, separate budget for domestic capital procurement and emphasis on indigenisation.

    He said, the ban on imports of 101 items by Defence Ministry is a big step towards an Atmanirbhar Bharat.

    This list of negative items contains not only small items but weapon systems of high and critical technology. He said, more such items will be added to this list shortly which will save crores of rupees in imports.

    The Defence Minister said, more steps will be taken towards, indigenisation, investment in defence infrastructure and expansion in defence manufacturing capability.

    He said, these steps will create big opportunities for the Indian defence industry. 

    Mr Singh said, in keeping with the vision of the Prime Minister, the Department of Defence Production, DPSUs and OFB have shown great enthusiasm and commitment in ushering in a truly Atmanirbhar Bharat.

    He said, Defence industry has always been the forerunner of cutting-edge technologies world across and hence self-reliance in Defence is a tall task which needs whole hearted involvement of all to be fruitful. 

    The Minister said, the defence industries have been the force behind the Armed Forces.

    Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik, Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar, Secretary Defence Production Raj Kumar and senior officials of OFB, DPSUs participated in the event through video conference links.

    Lebanon’s PM Hassan Diab resigns following public outrage over major blast in Beirut last week

    Lebanon’s Prime Minister Hassan Diab has resigned from his post in the wake of major blast in Beirut that has triggered public outrage. In a brief televised speech after three of his ministers resigned, Mr Diab said he is taking a step back so he can stand with the people and fight the battle for change alongside them.
     
    The Prime Minister’s resignation follows a weekend of anti-government protests after the August 4 explosion in Beirut’s port that decimated the facility and caused widespread destruction, killing more than 160 people and injured about six thousands. Diab’s government was formed in January this year after his predecessor, Saad Hariri, stepped down in October last year in response to the demonstrations. It took months of bickering among the leadership factions before they settled on Diab.
     
    President Michel Aoun has accepted the resignation of the  Diab government and asked it to stay on in a caretaker capacity until a new cabinet is formed.French President Emmanuel Macron hosted an international donors’ conference on Sunday. US President Donald Trump and 15 other heads of state were present, pledging nearly 300 million dollars in aid to Lebanon.

    BJP-led coalition government in Manipur wins trust vote

    In Manipur, N. Biren Singh-led government won the trust vote during one-day State Assembly session yesterday. The BJP led-coalition headed by Chief Minister Singh won the confidence vote by a margin of 12 votes in the house. Eight Opposition Congress MLAs skipped the session defying the party whip.
     
    The 60-member house has an effective strength of 53, including Speaker Y Khemchand. The Congress had submitted a notice of No Confidence Motion against the government on 28th of July. Days later, the State Government submitted a notice to the Speaker for a trust vote.

    PM Modi emphasizes on better coordination between all central & state agencies on permanent system for forecasting of floods

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi has emphasized on better coordination between all central and state agencies to have a permanent system for forecasting of floods and extensive use of innovative technologies for improving forecast and warning system.
    Mr Modi today held a meeting with Chief Ministers of Assam, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala through video conference to review their preparedness to deal with south-west monsoon and current flood situation in the country.

    He said, over the past few years, forecasting agencies like India Meteorological Department and Central Water Commission have been making concerted efforts to make better and more usable flood forecasts.

    They are trying to provide not only rainfall and river level forecast but also location specific forecast of inundation.

    Mr Modi said, there are pilot efforts underway to also use innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence to improve location specific forecast, for which States should provide necessary information to these agencies and  disseminate the warnings timely to local communities.

    The Prime Minister mentioned that investment should be increased in localised early warning system so that people in a particular area can be provided with timely warning in case of any threatening situation such as breach of river embankment, inundation level and lightning.

    Mr Modi also emphasized that in view of COVID situation, while undertaking rescue efforts, States must ensure that people follow all health precautions such as wearing of face mask, hand sanitization and maintain adequate physical distance.

    He said, relief materials must include provision for hand washing and sanitizing and face masks for the affected people. He added that special provisions should be made for elderly people, pregnant women and people with co-morbidity.

    The Prime Minister conveyed that States should ensure that all development and infrastructure projects must be built with resilience to withstand local disasters and to help in reducing consequential losses.

    Chief Ministers of Assam, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala and Home Minister of Karnataka gave on the flood situation, rescue efforts made in their States.

    They complimented the efforts of central agencies including NDRF teams in timely deployment and rescuing people. They also gave some suggestions for short-term and long-term measures for mitigating the effects of floods.

    The Prime Minister directed the Officers of concerned Ministries and organisations to take action on the suggestions given by the States and assured that the Centre will continue to provide its support to the States and Union Territories in order to strengthen their capabilities for dealing with various disasters.      

    The meeting was also attended by Defence Minister, Health Minister, Ministers of State in Home Affairs and senior officers of the concerned central Ministries and organizations.

    Govt taking measures on priority to provide connectivity in far flung, difficult, border areas: Ravi Shankar Prasad

    Communication Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said that Government of India has been taking measures on priority to provide connectivity in the far flung, difficult, border areas of strategic importance, so as to ensure better quality of life to the people as well as to those who are working in these areas. 
     
    Talking to reporters in New Delhi today, Mr Prasad spoke about various projects being implemented by the Department of Telecommunications to provide connectivity in remote and difficult areas. 
     
    He informed that a tender for 354 uncovered villages in the strategic, remote and border areas of the country has been finalised and is under implementation in 144 villages of the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh and remaining villages in the States of Bihar, Rajasthan, Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh and other priority areas of Gujarat. 
     
    These villages have been strategically choosen to cover border area connectivity on mobile. Mr Prasad said, after commissioning of these villages, there will be no uncovered villages in UTs of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh for mobile connectivity.
     
    He informed that Satellite based Digital Satellite Phone Terminal DSPTs are also being provided at 1347 sites for Army, BRO, BSF, CRPF, ITBP, SSB etc. Out of which 183 sites are already commissioned and remaining are in process.
     
    The Minister told that Department of Telecommunications is also working on providing mobile connectivity in villages of 24 aspirational districts of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and remaining 44 Aspirational Districts for 7,287 uncovered villages in Chhatisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh will also be covered for which government approval is under submission.

    PM Modi reiterates Govt’s commitment to speedy development of national security linked border areas & island states

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi today inaugurated the 2300 kilometre submarine optical fibre cable network between Chennai and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Mr Modi said this project is the Union government’s commitment for Ease of living.

    Saying this project will boost tourism in the Islands, Prime Minister expressed happiness over completion of the project before deadline. Mr Modi said this is Independence Day gift for the people of Andaman and Nicobar islands .

    The Prime Minister said not only the Andaman people will get a big  boost but also sea trade will rise exponentially. Mr Modi said, high speed net in Andaman and Nicobar islands is a big day as the people will get all the benefits of digital India.

    Saying connectivity is part of tourism growth, Prime minister emphasised the tourists who will travel to the Islands will also be benefitted by the digital initiative.

    The Prime Minister asserted that the Government is committed to the speedy development of national security linked border areas and island states.

    He said that the Indian Ocean has been the center of India’s trade and strategic prowess for thousands of years and that Andaman and Nicobar is an important centre for India’s Economic-Strategic Cooperation. He said all the Islands of India would be playing an important role under India’s new trade strategy for Indo-Pacific region.

    Mr Modi said under the Act-East policy, the role of Andaman and Nicobar in India’s strong relations with East Asian countries and other countries connected to the sea is very high and is going to increase.

    Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad was also present on the occasion.  

    This cable project is running 2313 kilometre under-sea between Chennai and Portblair at the cost of Rs. 1,224 Crore.  

     Seven islands of Andaman and Nicobar islands other than Portblair are connected namely Swaraj Dweep, Little Andaman, Car Nicobar, Kamorta, Great Nicobar, Long Island, and Rangat. This will boost digital services like tele-education, tele-health, e-governance services and toursim on the island.