MANILA — The head of a Philippine news website that has locked horns with President Rodrigo Duterte was freed on bail on Thursday, a day after her widely condemned arrest on libel charges that critics say is a government effort to bully journalists.

Maria Ressa, the award-winning head of news platform Rappler, was served a warrant live on television at her office on Wednesday for what media watchdogs said were trumped-up charges aimed at intimidating those who challenge Duterte’s rule.

“For me it’s about two things - abuse of power and weaponisation of the law,” Ressa said.

“You have to express outrage and do it now. Press freedom is not just about journalists, is not just about us, it’s not just about me, it’s not just about Rappler. Press freedom is the foundation of every single right of every Filipino to the truth,” she told reporters after posting bail.

Ressa is accused of cyber libel over a 2012 Rappler article, which was updated in 2014, that linked a Filipino businessman to murder, human trafficking and drug smuggling. Rappler cited information contained in a 2002 intelligence report but did not say which agency compiled it.

The businessman’s lawyer says the information was wrong and that the article was defamatory and that he wants to clear his name.

Duterte has made no secret of his annoyance at Rappler and has sparred frequently with its reporters, who are known for scrutinising his policies and his appointments and for questioning the accuracy of his sweeping, often bellicose statements.

Criticism Discouraged

Rappler’s reporting has accused his administration of creating a social media “ecosystem” designed to defend Duterte, threaten and discredit his opponents, and discourage Filipinos from criticising him for fear of being attacked by online trolls. The government denies the accusations.

Duterte once suggested Rappler was American-owned and could therefore be linked to the US Central Intelligence Agency. He called Rappler a “fake news outlet” and banned a reporter from covering his events.

Rappler, founded in 2010, is no stranger to legal challenges and faces ongoing cases over tax evasion and alleged ownership violations. It denies wrongdoing and says it will not be cowed into self-censorship.

This was the first time Ressa was arrested, although she said her release marked the sixth time she had been charged and granted bail.

Duterte’s spokesman, Salvador Panelo, said the libel case had nothing to do with the government and that Duterte had no interest in punishing journalists.

“That’s absolutely unrelated. The president has been criticised and he does not bother,” he told DZMM radio.

Ressa spent the night in a room at the National Bureau of Investigation headquarters in the capital, Manila, and was unable to post bail because the court was closed.

Her brief detention was criticised by journalists and activists at home and abroad. Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said it was an “outrageous” arrest that “must be condemned by all democratic nations”.

London-based Amnesty International said Duterte’s administration was using the law to “relentlessly intimidate and harass journalists”. Dabet Panelo of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines said it would backfire and called for protests on Friday.

Eight CRPF jawans have been killed in an IED blast in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama on Thursday, PTI reported. Officials say the Jaish-e-Mohammed has claimed responsibility for the incident.

The blast ripped through the bus the jawans were travelling in. The blast was reportedly followed by gunshots. 

Several people were injured in the IED blast, which reduced the bus to a mangled heap of iron.

The vehicle was blown up on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in Awantipora area of the district, a police official said.

The incident comes a day after 12 students were injured in an explosion at a private school in Narbal village of Kakapora area in the same district. Twelve students of class 10 were injured in the blast that rocked the school when they were taking winter tuition.

(With PTI inputs)

NEW DELHI — The BJP Thursday accused Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of “declaring war on the Supreme Court” and said it is considering filing contempt of court proceedings against him.

After Kejriwal slammed the apex court’s split verdict on the contentious issue of division of powers between the Delhi government and the Centre over control of services as “against the constitution and democracy and an injustice to people of Delhi”, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said his remarks were “the biggest attack on the apex court in political history”.

The judgement is a “big defeat” for Kejriwal, he asserted and demanded an apology from him for criticising the order.

While delivering the verdict, a two-judge bench comprising Justices AK Sikri and Ashok Bhushan, however, agreed upon matters pertaining to the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB), setting up of commissions of inquiry and land revenue matters among other issues.

BJP spokesperson and Supreme Court lawyer Nalin Kohli said the verdict makes it clear the Kejriwal government was trying to “usurp” the Centre’s power as it has turned down its plea seeking control over the ACB and posting of senior officials.

Both powers remain with the Lt Governor, he said.

Addressing a press conference after the verdict, Kejriwal said, “The judgment is against the constitution and democracy. We will seek legal remedies.”

Patra said Kejriwal’s language was “appalling”, and also targeted opposition parties, saying while they claim to be working together to “save democracy and institutions”, they have maintained silence on the AAP leader’s broadside against the court.

“Where are Rahul Gandhi and Mamata Banerjee who speak daily of saving democracy and institutions, as this is the biggest attack on the Supreme Court in our political history. Kejriwal has declared war on our highest court,” the BJP leader said, adding his party is considering moving a contempt of court plea against him in the court.

Kejriwal, who is the AAP national convener, has joined opposition parties in their campaign against the BJP.

Patra also took strong exception to Kejriwal’s claim, against the backdrop of the judgment, that people hold the key, and accused him of instigating AAP cadre to attack the court for upholding the constitution.

The Delhi chief minister has been an “anarchist” and attacked institutions like the Election Commission and the Army in the past. He has now not spared the SC either, the BJP spokesperson said.

Kohli termed Kejriwal’s comments “strange”, saying the constitution cannot be twisted based on the number of seats a party gets in elections.

Taking a jibe at him, the BJP leader said, “There are millions who have not passed class XII but respect the constitution, understand constitutional morality and constitutional statesmanship. On the other hand, some people may have studied in IIT but are unwilling to respect the constitution.”

Kejriwal had Wednesday said people made a “class XII-pass” the prime minister of the country but they should not repeat the “mistake” in 2019.

Everybody farts. We know this to be true, and yet we’re mortified when a toot accidentally slips out in front of another human, be it a friend, a relative or a perfect stranger. And especially if it’s a romantic partner. 

In relationships, there are two schools of thought when it comes to passing gas. Some couples are pretty chill about letting one slip out (hey, it happens!), while others are adamant that all farting must happen in the bathroom, preferably with the water running to muffle any sounds. But regardless of where you and your boo stand on the issue, the first time you toot in front of each other can be awkward. You never quite know how the other person is going to react. 

Chicago-based illustrator Bianca Xunise captured the simultaneous horror and humor of the first fart milestone in the comic below:

In her own life, the artist has a healthy perspective on farting.

“All bodies do embarrassing things, but it’s completely normal,” she told HuffPost. “What we may consider to be gross are just normal functions of everyday life. Especially as someone who has to fight against what is or isn’t ‘feminine,’ farts are normal, and are funny!”

Xunise said she and her boyfriend began passing gas in front of each other “within days of knowing each other.” 

“I’ve always been friends with most of the guys I’ve dated first, so they got to know all my smelly habits before we even kissed!” she said. 

The policy in her relationship? Let ’em rip. 

Creatrs is a collective of Tumblr’s most talented artists. HuffPost has partnered with Tumblr — which is also owned by Verizon Media, HuffPost’s parent company — to create this original illustrated series.

SRINAGAR — At least 18 CRPF personnel were killed in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Thursday when a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the bus they were travelling in, officials said.

The terror group has claimed responsibility for the incident, they said.

Police identified the terrorist as Adil Ahmad from Kakapora in Pulwama. He joined the Jaish-Mohammed in 2018, they said.

The casualties are likely to go up.

Several people were injured in the terror attack, which reduced the bus to a mangled heap of iron. 

The vehicle was blown up on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in Awantipora area of the district, a police official said.

Jennifer Lopez shared a “spiritual moment” with Michelle Obama, Lady Gaga, Jada Pinkett Smith and Alicia Keys shortly before their surprise appearance at Sunday’s Grammys.

The singer told late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel on Wednesday how the five women “kinda joined hands” and began thanking God “for these blessings and to be here and to help us shine light and to create unity and goodness.”

“We were feeling each other, power, and hoping we could create a really special moment for everybody,” added Lopez, who defended herself from criticism over her role in a Motown tribute at the ceremony.

Check out the clip here:

CBDT Chairman Sushil Chandra was on Thursday appointed as an Election Commissioner, the Law Ministry said. 

Here’s what you need to know about Chandra

— Chandra, an IIT graduate, is a 1980 batch officer of the Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax cadre).

 — According to The Economic Times, his term as chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) will end in May 2019. He got two extensions after being appointed on 1 November, 2016.

The decision to extend his term last year, according to PTI, was taken in order to provide continuity as the CBDT was the forefront of combating black money.  

— Chandra is said to have played a key role in Centre’s demonetisation exercise. An IRS officer told The Print that Chandra has been at the forefront of government’s attempts to unearth black money. 

The officer told The Print, “He was both member (investigation) and CBDT chairman at the time of demonetisation, so he played a key role during the income tax raids that followed the exercise.”

— Chandra’s brother-in-law Arvind Goel was being probed last month for allegedly buying and selling about 200 acres of land parcels in Moradabad through suspected black money in a series of transactions between 2004 and 2017, The Economic Times had reported.

— With Chandra’s appointment, the Election Commission now has Sunil Arora as the Chief Election Commissioner and Ashok Lavasa and Chandra as fellow commissioners.

(With PTI inputs)

Chris Evans doesn’t want outlets to post photos of him having a bad hair day on his face.

The “Avengers” star seemed quite perturbed when he stumbled upon a story by Entertainment Tonight Canada on Twitter Tuesday that featured this fan-stasche-tic photo of him sporting some interesting facial hair.

In fact, he was so annoyed by the site’s decision to choose this particular image that he decided to hilariously take his frustrations out on the entire nation of Canada.

“This is clearly an act of aggression. There are literally hundreds of photos to choose from. What did I ever do to you, Canada?” said Captain America.

And of course, many on Twitter had a few jokes of their own.

In ET Canada’s defense, the photos of a mustached Evans are the most recent photos of him on Getty, which was what probably led to this unappealing one being used by the outlet. ET Canada fessed up to as much on Twitter.

Evans, 37, grew the mustache early last year for a role in the Broadway play “Lobby Hero.” He alluded to Seth Meyers at the time that he was not a fan of the look, saying that it made him resemble either a cop or a porn star.

“I know it’s just a mustache but it changes my whole face,” Evans told the host on his late night talk show.

The actor did admit that the upper lip hair did have one perk, though — anonymity ― along with an accompanying downside.

“I can look people dead in their eyes,” he said. “Not only do they not recognize me, you get some strange [looks] … you get like mustache profiled.”

Well, on behalf of America, we love you mustached or not, Chris.

At least 40 CRPF personnel were killed in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Thursday when a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the bus they were travelling in, ANI reported. According to Indian Express, the attack is one of the worst in the state in 20 years.

More than 2,500 Central Reserve Police Force personnel, many of them returning from leave to rejoin duty in the Valley, were travelling in the convoy of 78 vehicles when they were ambushed on the Srinagar-Jammu highway at Latoomode in Awantipora.

Police said the terrorist driving the suicide vehicle was Adil Ahmad from Kakapora in Pulwama who joined the JeM in 2018.

The terror group has claimed responsibility for the attack that took place about 30 km from Srinagar, they said.

Over 20 people were injured in the terror attack, which reduced the bus to a mangled heap of iron. Several other buses were damaged in the attack.

“It was a large convoy and about 2,500 personnel were travelling in multiple vehicles. Some shots were also fired at the convoy,” CRPF DG RR Bhatnagar told PTI.

Forensic and bomb analysis teams are on the spot.

CRPF Inspector General (Operations) in the Kashmir Valley Zulfiqar Hasan described it as a “vehicle-bound attack” and said Jammu and Kashmir Police has taken up the investigation.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh also took stock of the situation and spoke to Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik. He is likely to visit the state on Friday.

Malik has directed immediate enhancement of surveillance and review of the security management of all important installations and establishments in the state.

He has also said such terror attacks will not deter the resolve of our security forces and people.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the attack “despicable” and said that the “sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not go in vain”. 

Politicians across party lines condemned the attack with Union minister Arun Jaitley saying that terrorists will be given “unforgettable lesson”.

Political leaders condemn attack

BJP president Amit Shah termed the terror attack as an “act of cowardice” and asserted that security forces will defeat those involved in terrorist activities. 

Congress president Rahul Gandhi also condoled the killing of CRPF personnel and said it had left him “deeply disturbed”. He tweeted: 

Congress general secretary for Uttar Pradesh East Priyanka Gandhi Vadra cancelled her scheduled press conference and said that in the wake of the attack, “I don’t think it’s appropriate to talk politics right now”.

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti condemned the killing of the CRPF personnel. 

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also mourned the death of the CRPF personnel. “Saddened that 13 CRPF jawans became martyrs today in Pulwama. We salute our brave jawans and extend our solidarity and condolences to their families. Our prayers for those injured. We wish them a speedy recovery”, she said.

(With PTI inputs)

 A 12-member team of the National Investigation Agency will on Friday visit the site of the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama where at least 40 CRPF personnel were killed, sources told ANI on Thursday.

The Jammu and Kashmir Police said a case has been registered and officers were investigating the circumstances that led to the blast.

Experts of the anti-terror commando force National Security Guard (NSG) and investigators of the NIA are being sent to join the probe, officials said.

The decision was taken in view of the high number of casualties in the worst terror strike in the state since the Uri attack in 2016.

An NIA team with forensic experts is being sent to Srinagar to assist Jammu and Kashmir Police in forensic evaluation of the scene of crime, a home ministry official said.

Explosive specialists of the Black Cat commando force NSG will also join in the investigation into the attack, another official said.

At least 40 CRPF personnel were killed in Pulwama district when a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into their bus.

(With PTI inputs)

Applause Entertainment, a production company owned by the Birla group, has abruptly scrapped the production of a show which was set against the backdrop of Hindutva in India, including how the seeds of communalism were sown during BJP leader LK Advani’s Rath Yatra in 1990. 

According to people familiar with the development, the show was called Saffron Skies and the crew shot for nearly 10 days in Mumbai before the top brass at the company decided to call it off midway

A source involved with the production told HuffPost India that the company was worried about possible backlash, given the political nature of the show.

Director Sanjay Upadhyay, who wrote and developed the script, confirmed the development.

“Yes, the show isn’t happening anymore. They simply told me there were creative differences without being specific about it. It came as a surprise,” he told HuffPost India.

Applause Entertainment, which earlier produced movies such as Black (2005), had been dormant for around 10 years before Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla hired Sameer Nair in 2017 to revive the firm and produce content for streaming services such as Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and Hotstar.  

Its streaming debut is likely to be India Strikes—10 Days, a show on the contentious ‘surgical strikes’ carried out by the Indian Army along the LoC in 2016. 

Nair, CEO of Applause Entertainment, denied that the company was worried about the reaction to the show. The show, he told HuffPost India, was put on the back-burner because the company wasn’t pleased with the execution.

“There weren’t any external factors,” he said. “We wanted it to look a certain way, in terms of scale and production, but that vibe wasn’t coming through. It’s an outstanding script and we hope we do get back to it at some point.”

When asked why the company couldn’t recruit a different technical team to produce the show in a manner acceptable to them, Nair said they were occupied with other shows, including the one on surgical strikes.

Indian filmmakers have often faced opposition when they have tried to handle ‘sensitive’ subjects that offend people’s sentiments, not a particularly difficult task in India. The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), known as the censor board, often gives a tough time to filmmakers by demanding arbitrary cuts for reasons ranging from the length of a kiss to the utterance of the word ‘lesbian’, and non-state actors encouraged by the government’s inaction don’t think twice before threatening violence. 

For Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Padmaavat’, which had raised the ire of Rajput group Karni Sena, the CBFC had set up a panel of historians and academicians to establish whether the movie was distorting history or not. 

While the rise of streaming services had enabled Indian viewers to watch uncensored content, encouraging some filmmakers to experiment, worryingly, companies including Netflix and Hotstar are planning to ‘self-regulate’ their content in a bid to keep the government out of their business.

Filmmaker Ekta Kapoor also said in 2017 that she would practice “self-censorship” and would not make “any movie on a mythical Hindu character”.

The threat of censorship extends off screen as well. Just last week, veteran actor-director Amol Palekar was repeatedly interrupted by government officials for criticising a recent move by the culture ministry. 

While it is not new for activists and artists to be impeded in their work (the most famous example being India’s Emergency), the impunity with which right-wing forces try to shut down critical voices has increased since the BJP came to power in 2014. 

The cost of polarisation

In Saffron Skies, Upadhyay had cast actors such as Sudhanshu Pandey, Barun Sobti and Rajesh Khera, who were told days into the shoot that the show wasn’t happening anymore.

“The show was about four individuals and how their lives get affected due to polarisation,” the director said, adding that the four main characters weren’t politicians.

When asked if the show traced the rise of Hindutva and whether it referenced Advani’s infamous Rath Yatra, the director didn’t deny it, saying, “That’s when it all began.”

He added, “It’s like people suddenly discovered their religion. It became a dominant feature. My show was essentially about the human cost of polarisation. One needs to study that.”

The director, who worked on the script for several years, isn’t sure if he will be able to take the story to another production house or a streaming company since he signed the rights over to Applause Entertainment. “I will have to figure it out but right now it isn’t happening. I can’t tell you how hurtful it is.”

President Donald Trump is expected to both sign a spending bill and declare a national emergency to secure funding for his long-promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, the White House announced Thursday.

The move would attempt to bypass congressional approval to spend billions of dollars on the border wall, which he originally vowed Mexico would pay to build.

“President Trump will sign the government funding bill, and as he has stated before, he will also take other executive action ― including a national emergency ― to ensure we stop the national security and humanitarian crisis at the border,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) privately cautioned Trump earlier this month to avoid declaring a national emergency over wall funding, warning the decision could spark backlash from members of his own party, The Washington Post reported.

Congress could pass a resolution against the declaration, McConnell reportedly warned the president earlier this month. Congressional disapproval would force Trump to consider his first-ever veto.

Several Republicans have spoken out against Trump’s threats in recent weeks to declare a national emergency. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said last month that doing so would be “a terrible idea” and could set a bad precedent.

McConnell announced Trump’s intentions to declare a national emergency ahead of a congressional vote on a bill that would fund the government for the remainder of the fiscal year and avoid another partial shutdown.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Theresa May has suffered a fresh humiliation over Brexit after her eurosceptic MPs helped Labour to inflict a new parliamentary defeat on the government.

Just 43 days from the UK’s planned exit from the EU, the Prime Minister saw her authority yet again undermined by her own party as the Commons voted by 303 to 258 against her deal.

Just 243 Tories backed May, with nearly a quarter of her MPs deciding to pull their support. Five Tories voted against and 67 abstained.

May had hoped to show Brussels she had a “stable” majority for her recent diplomatic push to revise her plans, but Conservative backbenchers registered their protest as they sought to keep open the option of a no-deal exit.

The defeat was a further embarrassment for No.10, after ministers including international trade secretary Liam Fox had warned Brexiteers that they risked derailing May’s latest bid to get a better deal.

After another dramatic day at Westminster, senior Tory ‘Remainer’ MPs also said they now feared the PM was heading for a no-deal Brexit, by accident or by design.

Seconds after the defeat, Jeremy Corbyn declared that May “cannot keep on just running down the clock and hoping that something will turn up that will save her day and save her face”.

May was absent from the chamber, but a No.10 spokesman said Corbyn was “in effect making no-deal more likely”. Downing Street admitted “there was a concern from some Conservative colleagues about taking no deal off the table at this stage”.

Meanwhile, fury with the Brexiteers spilled over when Tory business minister Richard Harrington told The House magazine that they were guilty of “treachery” and defence minister Tobias Ellwood accused them of being “a party within a party”.

May had won a lifeline a fortnight ago, when the Commons finally agreed a plan to allow her to explore ways to amend the Northern Ireland ‘backstop’, a controversial part of her deal that could keep the UK tied indefinitely to EU trade rules.

But members of the backbench European Research Group (ERG) were furious that the PM’s motion for the Valentine’s Day vote included a tacit commitment to avoid no-deal.

ERG chairman Jacob Rees-Mogg had said that his group would not be voting against the government, but had decided to instead abstain, in effect ensuring a major victory by Labour and other opposition parties.

Earlier, Fox had warned: “Our European partners will be watching our debate and listening today to see if they get the impression that if they were to make those concessions, Parliament would definitely deliver on that.”

Former Cabinet minister Sir Oliver Letwin said he had come to the conclusion that “when the chips are down”, May would prefer to “head for the exit door without a deal...that is a terrifying fact”.

His words echoed those of several sources who told HuffPost UK this week that the PM’s fallback plan was to back a no-deal outcome, in order to preserve her party unity and her legacy as the leader who delivered Brexit.

Fellow Tory Anna Soubry also seized Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay’s claim in the Commons that no-deal was indeed the default position of the government if no agreement could be found by March 29, claiming his words “chilled me to the bone”.

And veteran Conservative Ken Clarke warned May that the ERG group was the Tories’ equivalent of ‘Momentum’, “a kind of breakaway party” made up of “ardent right-wingers”.

Hilary Benn, the chair of the Brexit select committee, added that May’s attempt to bounce MPs into a very late vote on the plan carried a real risk of a no-deal exit.

“We are careering towards the cliff, she’s at the wheel, and the Cabinet are sitting in the back seat. And at some point they are going to have to decide to lean over and take the steering wheel off her. Because if that doesn’t happen then a no-deal Brexit might come to pass.”

Soubry pulled her own amendment demanding secret Whitehall assessments of the impact of no-deal, after minister Chris Heaton-Harris agreed she could discuss in private new plans to publish the material within seven days.

Earlier Commons leader Andrea Leadsom tried to make a joke of the Valentine’s Day context for the big vote.

“It’s Valentine’s Day so I thought a little poem might be in order - Labour is red, Tories are blue, our future is bright, with a good deal in sight, for the UK and our friends in the EU.”

Her Labour shadow Valerie Vaz said she did not find it “very funny” that the Tories were failing to sort their own chaos of Brexit.

Labour’s David Lammy said: ”“This is a Valentine’s Day massacre for the government and a damning indictment of the Prime Minister’s Brexit plan.

“As well as enjoying another humiliating defeat, the government has been forced into publishing its no-deal advice. Now we wait to see what these papers contain.”

This is a breaking news story and will be updated. Follow HuffPost UK on Twitter here, and on Facebook here.

Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik said the Pulwama attack was partly the result of intelligence failure and some negligence, reports said. 

At least 40 CRPF personnel were killed on Thursday when a  terrorist rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the bus they were travelling in. The Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group claimed responsibility for the attack.

The governor told The Indian Express there had been no intelligence inputs that among the militants being tracked by security forces there was a Jaish militant training to be a “suicide bomber”.

“The fact that we did not know that there was a fidayeen among them is also part of the intelligence failure. I can admit that. This man (identified as Adil Ahmad Dar) was very much on our list of suspects. But due to the pressure they were under, no one was giving them shelter in their homes. So he must have escaped to the jungles or the hills and got lost. We knew about him but could not trace him. This was just a chance thing and he was the rare one who got away. The rest have been getting killed,” he said.

However, Malik told NDTV that the administration had received inputs on a possible attack.

“There was no intelligence failure because we had received inputs (of a possible attack). But there was surely some kind of negligence. If the terrorists could bring such a big vehicle without being checked, it had to be because of failure on our part,” he told NDTV.

On Thursday, soon after the attack, Malik directed immediate enhancement of surveillance and review of the security management of all important installations and establishments in the state.

“Such acts of terror will not deter the resolve of our security forces and the spirit of the people. We will finish these inimical forces to their last. The forces responsible for insurgency in the state are desperate and frustrated. They just want to prove their presence,” Malik said.

The governor urged all commanders of security forces to enhance surveillance on every front and directed the district and divisional civil and police administration to immediately review the security of all important installations and establishments, an official spokesman said.

Malik expressed sympathy to the families of the soldiers who lost their lives and prayed for the speedy recovery of all the injured persons.

(With inputs from PTI)

Pakistan on Thursday said the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district is “a matter of grave concern” even as it strongly rejected the Indian media and government’s allegations of the country’s link to the strike “without” probe.

India has blamed its neighbour for the attack and asked it to stop supporting terrorists operating from its soil.

In one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir’s three decades of militancy, a suicide bomber from the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a CRPF bus in Pulwama district on Thursday, killing at least 40 personnel and leaving many critically wounded.

Attack in Pulwama in Kashmir is “a matter of grave concern”, the Pakistan Foreign Office said in a statement.

Asserting that Pakistan has “always condemned acts of violence” anywhere in the world, it said, “We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian media and government that seek to link the attack to Pakistan without investigations.”

In a tweet, FO spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said, “We have always condemned heightened acts of violence in Valley.”

Meanwhile, the Indian government said it condemned in the strongest possible terms the cowardly terrorist attack on India’s brave security forces in Pulwama.

“We are equally resolved to fight against the menace of terrorism. We demand that Pakistan stop supporting terrorists and terror groups operating from their territory, and dismantle the infrastructure operated by terrorist outfits to launch attacks in other countries,” the statement said.

India also strongly reiterated its appeal to all members of the international community to support the proposal to list terrorists, including JeM chief Masood Azhar, as a designated terrorist under the 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council, and to ban terrorist organisations operating from territories controlled by Pakistan.

This heinous and despicable act has been perpetrated by Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Pakistan-based terrorist organisation proscribed by the UN and other countries, it said.

This terror group is led by the international terrorist Masood Azhar, who has been given full freedom by the Pakistani government to operate and expand his terror infrastructure in territories under Pakistan’s control and to carry out attacks in India and elsewhere with impunity, the MEA said.

World leaders condemn attack 

Countries from across the globe also condemned the terror attack in Pulwama, with global leaders like the US, Russia and France asserting that they stand with India in combating the menace of terrorism.

US Ambassador to India Kenneth Juster tweeted:

Russia, while condemning the terror attack, stressed the need to combat such “inhuman acts” with decisive and collective response without any double standards. 

French Ambassador to India Alexandre Ziegler said France most firmly condemns the heinous attack perpetrated in Jammu and Kashmir.

“France has always been and always will be by India’s side in the fight against terrorism in all its forms,” he said.

Germany strongly condemned the heinous terrorist attack, saying stands by its strategic partner India.

Australia, Turkey, Canada and Czech Republic also condemned the horrific terror attack.

India’s neighbours Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Maldives also expressed solidarity and vowed to combat the menace of terrorism jointly.

“I strongly condemn the deadly terrorist attack in Kashmir today killing at least 40 people. We send our thoughts and prayers to those affected. The Maldives will continue to work with India and the international community to combat terrorism in our region and the world at large,” Maldivian President Ibrahim Solih said.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in a message through the country’s High Commission in New Delhi said her country remains steadfast in its commitment against terrorism of all forms and manifestations and maintains a zero tolerance policy against any kind of terrorist activities.

“Deeply saddened by the news of the horrific terrorist attack in Kashmir. Bhutan strongly condemns terrorist attack of any nature. Our prayers are with the grieved family and we are following the situation closely,” Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering said.

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena expressed sadness over the dastardly terror attack, saying the world must condemn such brutal terrorist attacks and take effective action to prevent such incidents in future.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres also “strongly” condemned the terror attack, calling for those behind the attack to be brought to justice.

Amazon has announced it will no longer build a headquarters in New York.

“After much thought and deliberation, we’ve decided not to move forward with our plans to build a headquarters for Amazon in Long Island City, Queens,” Amazon said in a statement Thursday.

The change would have brought 25,000 jobs to the Queens area, but the company would have received $1.7 billion in incentives from the state and another $1.3 billion from the city, including a taxpayer-funded helicopter pad, just for moving in. That didn’t sit well with local lawmakers and residents of Queens who said the change would negatively impact the neighborhood. 

If you’re planning to watch the Oscars from the confines of your couch on Feb. 24, a warning: Things will look a bit different this year. Thanks to a contentious decision by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ administration, civilian viewers will get a truncated version of the ceremony, a move that’s left factions of Hollywood seething.

The seeds of change were first announced in August 2018, part of an effort to juice the Oscars’ dwindling TV  ratings. The Academy’s Board of Governors said it would cap the usually four-hour-plus event at three hours ― its shortest since 1973. Leaders were reportedly facing pressure from ABC, the network that owns the Oscar broadcast through 2028 and wields more contractual creative jurisdiction than ever before. To cut back, the board opted to relegate several award presentations to commercial breaks. 

With less than two weeks until this month’s broadcast, the Academy hadn’t yet confirmed which categories were on the chopping block. When asked to clarify the new design, a publicist for the organisation referred me to a press release from August. “To honour all 24 award categories, six to eight categories will be presented live ... during commercial breaks,” the statement read. “The winning moments will then be edited and aired later in the broadcast. Selected categories will be rotated each year. The Academy will collaborate with the show producer(s) to select these categories.”

The only certainty: famous folks nominated for starry acting accolades need not worry. The move would inevitably sideline the short-film field and so-called technical awards celebrating lesser-known craftspeople responsible for things like sets, visual effects, editing, sound, makeup, costumes and music. Those of us who want to follow along with those awards in real time would have to do so online.

The Academy finally provided definitive information Monday afternoon. In an email sent to the 9,000-member body, president John Bailey announced that four categories will be affected, presumably hoping to soften the blow by halving the aforementioned tally. This year’s broadcast will sacrifice Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Live Action Short Film and Best Makeup and Hairstyling. They were chosen because their elected board representatives volunteered to be guinea pigs, Bailey said ― never mind that the editing and cinematography contests help to predict the Best Picture winner, or that Bailey is a cinematographer himself.

Despite the Academy chief’s delicate delivery, the news hit industry veterans like a typhoon ― so much so that the Board of Governors felt compelled to send a second email Wednesday stating that “no award category at the 91st Oscars ceremony will be presented in a manner that depicts the achievements of its nominees and winners as less than any others.” 

But even if their speeches air later in the night, certain honourees are still at a disadvantage. 

“They’re squeezing the one thing that you watch the show for,” director Steven Soderbergh told me, “which is to see somebody’s fucking dream come true.”

Indeed, under the updated format, four non-celebrity winners will wind up delivering heartfelt speeches to seat fillers while their peers dash to the restroom. Lost to those not at Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre or watching online will be moments like Rachel Shenton using sign language during her Best Live Action Short Film acceptance, or “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert” costumer Lizzy Gardiner marching to the stage in a dress made out of expired American Express Gold cards, or Rachel Morrison (“Mudbound,” “Black Panther”) becoming the first woman to hear her name included among the Best Cinematography lineup.

“It gives dreamers something to dream about,” cinematographer-turned-director Reed Morano said.

Conveniently, none of the liquidated categories honor movies released by Disney, ABC’s parent company, such as “Black Panther,” “Mary Poppins Returns” and “Avengers: Infinity War.”

Amid an awards season drowning in controversies, including the short-lived proposal to introduce a “popular film” Oscar category and onetime host Kevin Hart’s refusal to offer a satisfying apology for his homophobic comedy material, the effects of ABC’s three-hour mandate have been a footnote ― until now. Like Soderbergh and Morano, many of the industry’s key players are disheartened to see technical and short-film citations assume second-class status.

“I just have one line to say for that, and I want to be a little rude,” Christian Berger told me last week. As the man who shoots Michael Haneke’s movies and earned a cinematography nomination for 2009′s “The White Ribbon,” he speaks with authority: “All those assholes forgot that film started with images.” 

Oscar-winning directors Guillermo del Toro (“The Shape of Water,” “Pan’s Labyrinth”) and Alfonso Cuarón (“Roma,” “Gravity”) expressed their disappointment on Twitter, noting that the categories relegated to the commercial breaks are fundamental to the medium ― a sentiment that Morano (“The Handmaid’s Tale”) and three-time cinematography champion Emmanuel Lubezki (“The Revenant”) paralleled in Instagram posts.  

“If I may: I would not presume to suggest what categories to cut during the Oscars show but ― Cinematography and Editing are at the very heart of our craft,” del Toro wrote. “They are not inherited from a theatrical tradition or a literary tradition: they are cinema itself.”

Jason Reitman, Russell Crowe, Seth Rogen, Patty Jenkins, Zooey Deschanel, William Friedkin and Edgar Wright joined the chorus, echoing “Love & Basketball” director Gina Price-Bythewood, who spoke out last month, long before most people were paying attention to the format change.

“Everyone’s talking about it” now, Morano told me over the phone Tuesday.

The reason the decision stings is manifold. It’s more than just a bunch of Hollywood insiders wanting to tout their accomplishments on television, though of course that applies, too. In many ways, the change evokes broader industry dynamics, in which beautiful multimillionaires become figureheads for projects that often require hundreds of employees with complex skill sets, some of whom are paid union-standardized day rates. 

“It’s a little bit of a classist system between the stars and everybody else, and I think the more we can do to erase that distinction, the better for everybody,” production designer Judy Becker said.

Becker was nominated in 2014 for “American Hustle.” Her other credits include “Brokeback Mountain,” “We Need to Talk About Kevin,” “Carol” and three TV series created by Ryan Murphy. In her eyes, cutting categories from the broadcast impedes the broader dialogue about Hollywood’s hiring practices.

Aside from a few key exceptions, like Frances McDormand pushing inclusion riders during her Best Actress speech last year, public discourse about the need for greater diversity in film centers on performers and directors ― the people likeliest to reap high-profile rewards and enviable paychecks. But with the exception of costume and makeup prizes, below-the-line accolades most often go to white men. Without showcasing those positions in full on the broadcast, “you get an even more skewed idea of the industry,” Becker said.

According to Mark Mangini, a sound designer with five nominations to his name, including a win for “Mad Max: Fury Road,” the decision to scrub technical awards from the broadcast further obscures a facet of moviemaking that’s more crucial than ever.

Budgets for blockbusters budgets have soared in recent years, with expensive superhero tentpoles dominating the marketplace and “Black Panther” landing the genre’s first Best Picture nomination. Visually and sonically, movies are louder than ever before, but the awards that recognize those achievements risk being quieted. 

Nixing those presentations may shorten the show’s running time, but Mangini, who said the move is “reviled” among his peers, doesn’t believe it will help attract more viewers. He’s got a point. Network TV ratings are suffering across the board. In the streaming age, a problem like this is hardly unique to the Oscars, which remain the most-watched non-sports program despite record-low viewership in 2018. 

“We’re burying our heads in the sand if we think taking a few awards off the show is going to change the ratings,” Mangini said. 

Nearly everyone I spoke to sympathized with the Academy’s need to assuage ABC executives’ worries; they also agreed that this isn’t the way to do it. 

“It cheapens the whole brand, I think,” four-time Best Production Design nominee Bo Welch (“The Color Purple,” “The Birdcage”) said. “I think people who tune in to [the Oscars] are people who are into films [and] entertainment, and they want to know who shot that beautiful movie or who did the costumes. I don’t think the audience is that stupid, but we do live in celebrity-obsessed times. It’s a conundrum because it is a business.”

Jeff Cronenweth, a previous Best Cinematography nominee for “The Social Network” and “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” said the Oscar changes have prompted “frustration and disappointment” within the entertainment world.

It’s easy to see why: The Oscars’ ongoing crises add to a long-gestating sense that moviegoing in America has lost some of its luster, dulled by interminable franchises, shifting business models and divided attention spans. Instead of seeing itself as a tastemaker capable of spotlighting foreign fare and independent gems that deserve commercial clout, the Academy is appealing to the lowest common denominator.

Soderbergh, a Best Director winner who often shoots and edits his movies under pseudonyms, said the ostensible disarray surrounding this year’s Oscars is symptomatic of an oversized governing board. With 54 members ― three from each of 17 branches, as well as another three governors-at-large ― the panel has too many disparate voices to reach cohesive outcomes that unify the Academy, Soderbergh argued.

“This is why they can’t solve anything,” he said. “It’s become a cell that needs to divide to survive.”

How to solve the issues is another matter.

Soderbergh, for instance, proposed a fix that contradicts what many others would hope for. He wants to produce a separate event that honors only the craftspeople, much like the Emmys’ Creative Arts Awards. It would be opulent, fun and available to stream somewhere, he said.

That solution might seem to further bastardize these awards, but his sentiment isn’t unmatched. Some, like Mangini, suggested moving the Oscars, in their entirety, to a streaming service like Netflix ― an outcome that could be inevitable given live television’s ongoing crossroads. That way, overnight metrics aren’t as significant and the proceedings need not appeal to advertisers paying as much as $3 million for a 30-second spot.

But a non-network broadcast would have a different tenor, as winners would be revealed online before some of us at home have even hit the “play” button. Furthermore, ABC would have to renegotiate the contract it established with the Academy in 2016 ― which isn’t out of the question, especially since Disney’s new streaming platform is set to launch this September.

For now, the Academy’s officers will need solutions that appease the network, lukewarm viewers and industry stakeholders ― a triangulation that isn’t easy to satisfy. Becker and Morano encouraged the Academy to gussy up less-glamorous awards with montages, sketches or miniature tutorials about what a production designer’s or sound mixer’s job entails ― something to get people invested in the nitty-gritty of how their favorite films come together.

Mangini suggested winners challenge themselves to deliver unconventional speeches that do more than tick off the same rosters of thank-yous over and over. “That is absolutely the world’s worst television,” he conceded, “especially at this time, in this world, in this country, when you have an opportunity to say something meaningful or inspirational ― something that could reach a young filmmaker wondering if this is the [career] for them.” 

Welch echoed Margini’s thoughts, also pointing out that some below-the-line nominees are stationed in the rear of the theater, “miles away from the stage,” requiring precious seconds to schlep to the podium. Perhaps a better seating arrangement would help alleviate lag time. 

Others, like Cronenweth, worry that political speeches contribute to the ceremony’s diminishing ratings, alienating those who wish to separate reality and cinema. But activism is an age-old tradition among presenters and winners alike, from Marlon Brando protesting Hollywood’s portrayal of Native Americans in 1973 and Vanessa Redgrave pledging “to fight anti-Semitism and fascism” in 1978 to Susan Sarandon calling attention to HIV in 1993 and Patricia Arquette advocating for equal pay in 2015. Will nixing a segment of the broadcast really restore faith in anyone convinced Hollywood is too outspoken?

Cronenweth wisely suggested moving the Oscars to earlier in the year, and his wish will soon be granted. The Academy has already named Feb. 8 as the date for 2020′s ceremony, the earliest it’s been in decades. Airing the Oscars in late February or March ― not to mention April, when it was often held in the 1960s and ’70s ― turns awards season into at least a six-month slog, as campaigning begins around Labor Day with the Telluride, Venice and Toronto film festivals. Come Oscar night, after months of precursors and politicking, there’s palpable fatigue haunting the movies being feted. 

Whatever happens, the Academy ― an organization that claims a reported $1 billion in assets ― can count on impassioned responses from its most loyal spectators on Feb. 24 and beyond. The one thing we know for sure: the Oscars, a 91-year-old institution bound to undergo at least some change as public taste shifts, won’t look or feel the same this year. 

“It’s an experiment, quite honestly,” Welch said. “If it does not work ― if they run out of time and, for instance, don’t show the cinematography award and Alfonso Cuarón wins it for ‘Roma,’ there’ll be a revolt, and they’ll have to fix it in some other way.” 

There are many stereotypes surrounding depression, from being unable to get out of bed to crying at all hours of the day. But those living with the condition will tell you that the illness comes in many forms, and often looks far different than what we’ve learned over the years from movies and the media.

Because of these misconceptions, people who haven’t had a personal tryst with depression often don’t fully know the ins and outs of the disorder. For instance, depression is not something that you can “snap out of.” You can recover from it and manage it, yet it still can easily come back. And it’s entirely possible to be depressed but also experience joy in the company of friends.

Curious what other things people frequently get wrong about living with depression? Experts and people who live with the condition break them down below:

You can be depressed and not appear sad.

“It’s a misconception that depression is all about constant sadness. Yes, persistent sadness is a symptom, but it’s just one of a range of emotions, or lack thereof, that someone living with depression can feel,” said Helena Plater-Zyberk, co-founder of Supportiv, an anonymous peer support network for people with struggles like depression. She added that many would be surprised to know that people with depression are also to experience an array of emotions, including joy.

Mike Veny, an author and keynote speaker who often speaks about his own depression, agreed. “People get confused when they learn that someone who is confident and smiling all the time struggles with depression,” he said. He added that just because a person appears positive and upbeat, doesn’t mean that they aren’t struggling to hold it together inside. 

You can’t flip a switch to flip to feel better.

“The biggest misconception about being depressed is that you can just ‘snap out of it,’” said Samantha Waranch, a publicist in Los Angeles who lives with the condition, noting that it’s frustrating when people imply that being depressed is “all in your head” and can be warded off by “thinking happy thoughts, being around people or hitting the gym.”

“While things like exercising can help, I think people who have never experienced depression don’t understand that it is an illness, a chemical imbalance that is beyond your control,” she added.

Depression isn’t merely triggered by stressful situations.

“People think depression is because of a trigger or that something bad had to have happened to be depressed,” said Katie Leikam, owner of True You Southeast, who has dealt with depression herself. “Yes, depression can come from things like grief, but sometimes you just wake up one morning depressed and you cannot point to a solid reason.”

Dr. Melissa Pereau, medical director and psychiatrist at the Loma Linda University Behavioral Medicine Center, said that depression can be a highly genetic disease involving chemical neurotransmitters in the brain. Depressive episodes that last weeks or months can also often occur without any cause.

“Asking a person who is living with depression, ‘Why are you depressed?’ is sometimes just as frustrating to them as saying, ‘You should try to be more positive,’” Pereau said.

Isolation isn’t always best.

Dr. Don Mordecai, the national leader for mental health and wellness at Kaiser Permanente, noted that checking in on a loved one who is suffering can go a long way in showing that you care.

“You can say things like, ‘I’m here for you. What can I do to support you?’ or ‘Depression is a real health issue that can be treated. Have you talked to your doctor about this?’” he said, adding that in having these conversations, you may be surprised to learn how much the people that you care about appreciate the opportunity to share how they are really feeling. 

It looks different for everyone.

“Depression looks different in people,” said Tameka Brewington, a psychotherapist and owner of Real Talk Counseling. “For instance, some people will want to sleep all the time, while others are not getting enough sleep. Some people will isolate and withdraw while others will engage in a hostile or aggressive manner.”

Since depression manifests itself in different ways, Brewington said it’s important to know that each and every person suffering from the mental illness will have different needs.

Medication takes time to work.

Medications can certainly help to ease the symptoms of depression, but they won’t instantly make everything better. It takes time. “Chronic diseases require chronic treatment,” said Dr. Michael Genovese, a clinical psychiatrist and chief medical officer of Acadia Healthcare.

Even when the medication does help, it’s important to continue on with your prescribed dosages until your doctor gives you the green light to back off. “I’ve seen many patients over the years that will start taking their prescribed antidepressants, and as a result of the medication, they will feel better. This can lead to patients abruptly stopping their medication, which is a mistake,” Genovese added.

He advised patients to work with their physicians on a long-term plan. “Evaluate your options after you have committed significant time to your treatment plan,” he said.

It’s easy to overlook.

In addition to sadness, depression can also manifest itself in physical ways. For instance, people with depression may suffer from sleep and appetite disturbance, low energy, lethargy, difficulty concentrating, poor memory or low libido.

“Often these symptoms are misattributed to other illnesses and people suffer from undiagnosed and therefore untreated depression for years,” said Zainab Delawalla, a licensed clinical psychologist in Atlanta.

Not being properly diagnosed can be frustrating and people who live with the condition may end up bouncing from doctor to doctor before finally getting the proper help they need. 

Having depression doesn’t make you weak.

The idea that only “strong” people don’t have a mental health condition is one of the biggest misconceptions about mental illness, said Kelan Kline, who runs the lifestyle blog The Savvy Couple with his wife and lives with depression.

“I consider myself a very strong person ― super happy-go-lucky all the time,” he said, noting that “depression can hit anyone at any time, no matter how strong you are.” 

L’Tomay Douglas, a life coach and founder of Brand Me Beautiful Inc., added that people are misinformed when they think that people living with depression are lazy.

“As a person diagnosed with clinical depression since 2003, I often had people saying things to me like, ‘Your problem is you need to get up off the couch and do something,’” Douglas said. “What they didn’t know was I was living, I was still breathing despite the darkness that tried to suffocate me and tell me to end it all.”

Medication is not the only treatment option.

Sydney Williams, who writes about her experiences of recovering from sexual assault on her website, Hiking My Feelings, said there’s more to managing depression than taking medication. 

“Not everyone wants to take medications to manage their disease and some folks don’t have access to medications,” said Williams, who stressed the importance of exploring a variety of treatment options. This can include talk therapy, lifestyle changes (for Williams, that meant hiking) and more.

There is no time frame for depression.

“Depression is not a now/later or here/gone thing,” said Lynn R. Zakeri, a licensed clinical social worker based in Illinois. In fact, she added that “people often say that because they experienced it, they feel much more at risk of returning to that and even feel it is a faster route right back down to the bottom since it is now a familiar route.”

Leikam added that clinical depression lasts for at least two weeks at the time, but “you can go through periods where you are fine and then it can come back through circumstances or coming off of medication.”

“Living With” is a guide to navigating conditions that affect your mind and body. Each month, HuffPost Life will tackle very real issues people live with by offering different stories, advice and chances to connect with others who understand what it’s like. In February, we’re covering depression. Got an experience you’d like to share? Email wellness@huffpost.com.

AHMEDABAD —Almost 17 years after the Godhra train burning incident, the Gujarat government on Thursday announced compensation of Rs five lakh each for the families of 52 victims.

In an official release, the state government said the decision has been taken as per the Gujarat High Court order of 2017. The compensation will be paid from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.

The Godhra train burning incident had led to one of the worst riots in the country in which around over 1,000 people, mostly of minority community, were killed in Gujarat in 2002.

Since seven out of the 59 victims remained unidentified till date, a cumulative compensation of Rs 260 lakh would be paid to the kin of the remaining 52 victims, the release said.

The high court had directed the state government as well as Railways to pay compensation to the kin of those killed in the tragedy, it said.

Both the government and the Railways were asked to separately pay Rs 5 lakh to the victims’ family members. This way each of the family member would get Rs 10 lakh.

As per the release, 59 persons lost their lives when the S-6 coach of Sabarmati Express was torched at Godhra Railway Station on February 27, 2002.

Do you remember the viral song from Oru Adaar Lovewhere Priya Prakash Varrier and Roshan Abdul Rahoof make eyes at each other in slow motion? Now, imagine nearly two and half hours of that. That is this film.

Roshan and Priya meet on her first day at school. He bullies her. She is saved by a senior, who happens to be a person living with dwarfism. In the next few minutes, we meet a motley group of high-school students. There is the fat boy who never gets love. There is a silly joker who is attracted to the teacher (Of course, they also make a shallow reference to Premam and ‘Malar miss’). There is an evil senior who makes weird sounds with his mouth while saying his name. One strange chemistry teacher, a naive principal and a kind sub-inspector.
The primary job of the women in this film’s script — whether they are students or teachers — is to get gawked at by men.

Oru Adaar Love is the story of young boys trying to “correct” or “set up” the girls around them. How this happens should have made the screenplay of the film — but it doesn’t. The film only gives us a series of slo-mo shots where the lovers make puppy-eyes at each other. Every single character is a caricature, most of them written for that one awful joke or the one plot-twist we could have lived without.

Priya Prakash Varrier, who literally took the meme world by a storm with her viral wink, gets to play an absurd character and the film’s narrative around her is symptomatic of how problematic the makers’ understanding of women, agency and even teenage romance is. In the first half of the film, she is all sweet, coy and flirtatious — quite literally the girl we imagined she’d be from the viral clip. However, in the second half, she breaks up and her character transforms into a girl consumed with jealousy. The stark change in the film’s gaze is palpable. It’s as if as long as she seemed happy being chased by the boy, it was all great. As soon as she starts demanding attention from him and grows a semblance of a personality, the film portrays her as a jealous, vile girl. The film goes to the extent of justifying the boy slapping her in a scene.

A film about romance in school, you’d think, would have the potential to explore modern-day relationships and its complexities. After all, kissing, sex and porn are spoken about with such casual irreverence, this film could have been an intelligent take on what it means to be in love for teenagers today.

But, no. Oru Adaar Love falls back on the tropes and ideas that are too old for 2019. It seems to take the worst of all school/college romance films and combines them to make it worse. Porn mistakenly sent to the school WhatsApp group, principal getting lectured on how to be empathetic with teenagers from a sub-inspector, girl leaving class complaining of stomach ache to escape punishment, two friends acting like they’re in love to make the ex-girlfriend jealous — scene after scene the film serves mothballed plot ‘twists’ with remarkable perseverance.

It also dismisses consent, trivialises sexual violence and incredulously asserts that when a woman says no, she’s just seeking more attention!

If the romance is bad, the comedy is unbearable. A girl mistakenly walks into the men’s toilet to find the peon emerging in his underwear, farting, carrying a bucket. In the physics class the day after Roshan sends porn to the school Whatsapp group, there are several double entendres. The fat boy is the butt of jokes quite regularly. So are women. In fact, a student asks his teacher, “namma rendu perum sendhu kuzhi-la chedi nadalaama?” (Shall we together plant this in the hole) and then wonders if she got his true meaning.

This isn’t even the worst of it.

The worst part of Oru Adaar Love is the ending. I don’t want to give it away, but the utterly bizarre and tragic turn the film takes – which is entirely out-of-line with the rest of the film’s tone – and the voyeuristic way in which it’s shot, you’d better celebrate Valentine’s weekend by giving this film a miss.