Mobasher Jawed Akbar is an Indian journalist and politician, who served as the Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs until 17 October 2018. Akbar is a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha, and was inducted into the Union Council of Ministers by PM Narendra Modi on 5 July 2016. He is also a veteran Indian journalist and author of several books. He was a Member of Parliament between 1989 and 1991, and returned to public life in March 2014 when he joined the BJP and was appointed national spokesperson during the 2014 general elections that brought the party back to office with a simple majority under the leadership of Narendra Modi. In July 2015 he was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Jharkhand. During his long career in journalism, he launched, as editor, India's first weekly political news periodicals, including India Today, Headlines Today, The Telegraph, The Asian Age and Deccan Chronicle, among others.
Nirmal Verma was a Hindi writer, novelist, activist and translator. He is credited as being one of the pioneers of the Nai Kahani literary movement of Hindi literature, wherein his first collection of stories, Parinde (Birds) is considered its first signature.
Jimmy Sheirgill, also credited as Jimmy Shergill, is an Indian actor and producer who primarily works in Hindi and Punjabi films. Sheirgill is a recipient of several accolades including one Producers Guild Film Award and one PTC Punjabi Film Award with one Filmfare Award nomination.
Mannu Bhandari was an Indian author, screenplay writer, teacher, and playwright. Primarily known for her two Hindi novels, Aap Ka Bunty and Mahabhoj (Feast), Bhandari also wrote over 150 short stories, several other novels, screenplays for television and film, and adaptations for theater. She was a pioneer of the Nayi Kahani movement in Hindi literature, which focused on the aspirations of the emerging Indian middle class, and her own work is notable for its depiction of the inner lives of middle class working and educated women. Her work tackles themes of family, relationships, gender equality, and caste discrimination in India.
Sahib Singh Verma was an Indian politician and the former senior vice-president of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He served as Chief Minister of Delhi (1996–1998) and was member of 13th Lok Sabha, Parliament of India (1999–2004). He served as the Union Labour Minister of India.
Kehta Hai Dil is an Indian soap opera that aired on Star Plus channel from 2 July 2002 to 29 March 2005, and is produced by UTV Software Communications. The story is based on the life of a girl named Karishma and portrays the dramatic events that occur in her life, which affect her entire family - who lives in the small, idyllic town of Anand Nagar. The series was initially based on the American CBS series Picket Fences. However soon the story was entirely deviated from Picket Fences.
Uday Prakash is a Hindi poet, scholar, journalist, translator and short story writer from India. He has worked as administrator, editor, researcher, and TV director. He writes for major dailies and periodicals as a freelancer. He has also received several awards for his collection of short stories and poems. With Mohan Das he received Sahitya Academi Awards in 2011. He is the first author to return his Sahitya Akademi award on September 3, 2015 against the killing of M. M. Kalburgi that initiated a storm of national protests by writers, artists,scholars and intellectuals.
Dalveer Bhandari an Indian jurist. He is currently one of the judges of the International Court of Justice. He is a former judge of the Supreme Court of India and former chief justice of the Bombay High Court, he was also a judge of the Delhi High Court.
Bade Achhe Lagte Hain is a Hindi Indian soap opera that aired on Sony Entertainment Television from 30 May 2011 to 10 July 2014. Based on the Gujarati play Patrani by Imtiaz Patel, the soap opera was created and produced by Ekta Kapoor under the banner of Balaji Telefilms. The title of the show, along with the title-track, was derived from a song composed by R.D. Burman, from the soundtrack of the 1976 Bollywood film Balika Badhu. Ekta Kapoor had got the name, Bade Achhe Lagte Hain, registered about six years before the soap opera premiered.
The 2012 Delhi gang rape and murder, commonly known as the Nirbhaya case, involved a rape and fatal assault that occurred on 16 December 2012 in Munirka, a neighbourhood in South Delhi. The incident took place when Jyoti Singh, a 22-year-old physiotherapy intern, was beaten, gang-raped, and tortured in a private bus in which she was travelling with her male friend, Avnindra Pratap Pandey. There were six others in the bus, including the driver, all of whom raped the woman and beat her friend. She was rushed to Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi for treatment and transferred to Singapore eleven days after the assault, where she succumbed to her injuries two days later. The incident generated widespread national and international coverage and was widely condemned, both in India and abroad. Subsequently, public protests against the state and central governments for failing to provide adequate security for women took place in New Delhi, where thousands of protesters clashed with security forces. Similar protests took place in major cities throughout the country. Since Indian law does not allow the press to publish a rape victim's name, the victim was widely known as Nirbhaya, meaning "fearless", and her struggle and death became a symbol of women's resistance to rape around the world.
Rohan Gandotra is an Indian television actor who debuted with Everest and then appeared in shows like Qubool Hai, Kaala Teeka, Naagin 2, Dil Se Dil Tak, Silsila Badalte Rishton Ka and 1962: The War in the Hills
Jasleen Kaur Royal is an Indian singer, songwriter and composer who sings in Punjabi, Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati as well as in English. She has received many awards and nominations including a Filmfare Award. In 2022, she became the first female music director in history to win the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director for the film Shershaah (2021) and shared the award with the four other composers who were involved in the film.
Abhishek Verma is an Indian archer. At the 2014 Asian Games at Incheon, South Korea, he won the gold medal in the men's compound archery team event along with Rajat Chauhan and Sandeep Kumar, and the silver medal in the men's individual compound event. On 15 August 2015, he won a gold medal in the compound men's individual section at the Archery World Cup Stage 3 in Wroclaw, Poland. On 25 October 2015, he won the silver medal in the compound men's individual section at the Archery World Cup Final in Mexico city.
Nistula Hebbar is an Indian journalist and author, currently working as the political editor at The Hindu. She previously worked for The Times of India, The Economic Times, and The Financial Express in New Delhi.
Veere Di Wedding is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language female buddy comedy film directed by Shashanka Ghosh and produced by Rhea Kapoor, Ekta Kapoor and Nikhil Dwivedi. Loosely based on the 2015 film The Wedding Ringer, the film stars Kareena Kapoor Khan, Sonam K Ahuja, Swara Bhaskar and Shikha Talsania in lead roles as four friends attending a wedding, with Sumeet Vyas, Vishwas Kini, Neena Gupta and others in supporting roles.
Fukrey Returns is a 2017 Indian Hindi-language comedy film directed by Mrighdeep Singh Lamba and produced by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani. It is a sequel to the 2013 fiim Fukrey. The film stars Pulkit Samrat, Manjot Singh, Ali Fazal, Varun Sharma, Priya Anand, Vishakha Singh, Pankaj Tripathi, Rajiv Gupta and Richa Chadda. Fukrey Returns was released on 8 December 2017.
Malvika Iyer is an Indian national, a bilateral amputee from an accidental blast while picking up a diffused grenade, a social worker, and a National Awardee. She is an international motivational speaker and a disability rights activist, advocating for building an inclusive society. She is also a model for accessible fashion. Iyer obtained her Doctorate in Social Work from Madras School of Social Work in 2017. Her doctoral thesis is on the stigmatization of people with disabilities.
The Big Bull is a 2021 Indian Hindi-language crime drama film directed and written by Kookie Gulati, based on stockbroker Harshad Mehta who was involved in financial crimes over a period of 10 years during 1980–1990. The film stars Abhishek Bachchan, Ileana D'Cruz and Nikita Dutta. It entered production in September 2019, and was digitally released on 8 April 2021 on Disney+ Hotstar. The film received mixed reviews, praising Bachchan's performance, but criticized in comparison to the much acclaimed Scam 1992, which was also based on Mehta's life.
Lokesh Verma is an Indian tattoo artist. He is best known for pioneering soundwave tattoos in India. He is one of the founders of Heartwork Tattoo Festival, India’s only international tattoo festival.
Tuhin Amar Sinha is an Indian author of political thrillers, romance novels and non-fiction works. Since 2016, he has been a spokesperson for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
