Hardliners, who see cinemas as a threat to cultural and religious identity, were instrumental in shutting them down in the 1980s.“Cinema is like the soul of Saudi society,” said Faisal Alharbi, director of National Dialogue, one of three short 24v work lights films screened to an audience packed into the capital’s King Fahd Cultural Centre.Wadjda, by Saudi female director Haifaa al-Mansour, made history in 2013 after it became Saudi Arabia’s first Academy Award entry.Reviving cinemas would represent a paradigm shift in the kingdom, which is promoting entertainment as part of a sweeping reforms plan dubbed “Vision 2030”, despite opposition from conservatives.The rare movie night this week in Riyadh was a precursor to an expected formal lifting of the kingdom’s ban on cinemas, long vilified as vulgar and sinful by religious hardliners.This year, the country is again vying for an Oscar with the film “Barakah Meets Barakah”, the kingdom’s first romantic comedy which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival.Once the ban ends, medical student Sultan expects cinemas with all the trappings of the modern movie experience, including vending machines churning out popcorn and cotton candy.Saudi Arabia’s highest-ranking cleric warned in January of the “depravity” of cinemas, saying they would corrupt morals.Saudi films have been making waves abroad, using the Internet to circumvent distribution channels and sometimes the stern gaze of state censors.The film depicts the dream of a 10-year-old girl to get a bicycle just like the boys in her conservative neighbourhood.A ban on cinemas does not make sense in the age of YouTube, filmmakers say.A food truck hawking grilled burgers was parked outside and the audience was offered servings of Arabic coffee in thimble-sized plastic cups.Following a decree allowing women to drive, authorities have hinted cinemas would soon be permitted as part of ambitious reforms for a post-oil era that could shake up the austere kingdom’s cultural scene..Riyadh: The lights go out, the projector whirls and entertainment-starved Saudis sink into plush seats to soak up an experience they have been denied for decades — a trip to the cinema.But authorities appear to be shrugging off the threat, with some comparing Saudi Arabia’s reform drive to a fast-moving bus — either people get on board or risk being left behind.The cavernous hall was segregated by gender at the free screening — the latest in a series of shows since July.

When asked if his actions were against the spirit of the SCs ban, Bagga denied it and said he was opposed to "selective ban", pointing at an IIT report which said firecrackers contributed only 0..In its October 9 order, the apex court had said its last months order, temporarily lifting the stay and permitting sale of firecrackers, would be made effective only from November 1, 12 days after the festival of lights. This time I got donations above Rs 1.3 per cent of total pollution..A led license light few days ago, Bagga had said he would distribute firecrackers to children living in slums in the Hari Nagar Assembly constituency.New Delhi: Delhi BJP spokesperson Tejinder Singh Bagga on Tuesday distributed firecrackers to children of an ashram and said he was not violating the Supreme Courts order banning the sale of firecrackers in Delhi-NCR this Diwali. After all Diwali is a festival children wait for the entire year to burst crackersand enjoy," Bagga said.According to the court, its ban order for this year during Diwali was an experiment to examine its effect on the pollution level in the region."There are some restrictions imposed on Dahi Handi festival."I will distribute crackers among children living in Subhash Nagar and Khajan Basti tomorrow."We have an e-wallet account where we receive contributions for purchasing firecrackers.5 lakh.," he said, attributing theoverwhelming contributions to the "public anger" on the "selective ban".It, however, said Diwali would not be "cracker-free" in Delhi-NCR as people would burst firecrackers which they had purchased before the ban order..He also asked if those who filed public interest litigation (PIL) for a ban on firecrackers during Diwali would be doing so during New Year celebrations. This is a case of selective ban," he said, adding that the firecrackers were bought from outside Delhi. We are expected to celebrate waterless Holi, cracker-less Diwali, and there are attempts to ban loudspeakers at Dandiya nights during Navratri.

“The victim told us that after the death of her husband, her son Babu Ram and his wife Sudesh Devi started misbehaving with her and forced her to sign the property papers, which she refused. They used to allegedly lock the victim inside the bathroom for hours. A senior police official said that it has lodged a case under Maintenance square led trailer lights and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizen Act. They then kept her in a room in Fatehpur Beri where she was forced to live in miserable conditions,” the police said. I suffered injuries in my hand,” the victim told the cops. After being victimised for several months, the widow finally decided to approach the cops and lodged a complaint with the police. When they failed in their attempts, they took me to an isolated spot in a van and beat me.New Delhi: A 75-year-old widow has requested the Delhi police to help her get back her house from her son and daughter-in-law who allegedly threw her out after thrashing her.. “We are helping the victim and probing the matter,” the police added. She told the cops that she did not have any money for her treatment.“At night they used to switch off all the lights to scare me. The incident was  reported from South Delhi’s Vasant Knuj. The victim has also requested the police to get her admitted at a hospital for the treatment of the injuries that she suffered after being beaten by her son. The victim said that her trauma did not end there for her son and daughter-in-law started threatening her of dire consequences.The police also said that it has also added Sections 365 (kidnapping), 342 (confining a person), and 323 (voluntary causing hurt) of IPC in the FIR.

Following the incident, residents decided to group together to have a neighbourhood patrolling team to take care of led side marker lights for trucks the temple security on a rotation basis. The gang had to leave behind one motorcycle and escaped on the other one. The bike was handed over to the police. They had come on two bikes.    “It looks like the popularity of the idol had also attracted criminals to the temple and two weeks back a gang on bikes tried to break open the gates of the temple and the villagers had to chase them away.The theft happened at Swayambulingeswara temple in Illaloor located on Thiruporur-Guduvancherry road.30 am on Saturday to switch off the lights, he found the emerald lingam stolen, the police said. Since then, more and more people started visiting the temple to have darshan of the maragatha Lingam.The one-and-half-foot tall emerald lingam was removed from the base using a chemical solution, police noted, after visiting the temple. But because of heavy rains and power cut, the team decided to call off patrolling at around 11 pm.. When Mohan reached the temple around 5. According to the police, the idol was the main deity till 10 years ago. A decade back during Kumbhabhishekam new stone deity was installed and this emerald Siva lingam was kept on the side along with other parivaramoorthigal.Chennai: A Sivalingam made of maragatham (emerald), valued over Rs 2 crore from the 400-year-old temple in Thiruporur was stolen by unidentified men on Friday night in the darkness of the new moon clubbed with heavy rains and power cut.However a year ago, a wandering devotee recognised the importance of the Lingam and told the temple authorities that it was a very valuable idol. On Friday night it was Mohan’s turn to lead the team. The investigators found that the particular bike had a fake registration number,” the police noted.