Even Hanks, Watson can’t rescue the film

He authorises a hidden camera-driven digital programme named ‘SeeChange’ to usher in a surveillance society, with disquieting possibilities.

Based on the 2013 novel of the same name by the literary wunderkind Dave Eggers, The Circle starts exceptionally well but quickly unravels.

Director James Ponsoldt (The Spectacular Now) fails to sustain the atmosphere of creepiness he starts out with.

There’s a strong supporting cast, featuring John Boyega as a disillusioned co-worker, Karen Gillan as the helpful college friend, and the late Bill Paxton in the last role of his career, as the terminally ill parent. Despite the roster of talent both in front of and behind the camera, though, The Circle is uninspiring.

According to a senior official, some corporations intensified their efforts to take advantage of the government’s grant before it was too late.

Last month, the government ordered an audit of the skill program Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) after HT questioned its claim of having trained about two million youth under the scheme.

HT’s investigation of the Udaan scheme reveals issues as well. Students reported problems with some of the training and staffing institutes. “The general practice that a majority of companies follow is that they bring the candidates, give them accommodation and then leave them on their own. Training is just for the sake of it,” says Muzamil Ahmad, one candidate who never received a job offer.

Udaan has been forced to rely on trainers more than big employers, resulting in, among other things, a paucity of jobs. The training company Prolific Systems and Technologies Private Limited, for instance, was given a target of 3500 candidates, ended up training only 920, and connected only 410 to job offers.

Another trainer, Vision India Services Private Limited, was responsible for 1,750 candidates, only 30% of whom got jobs. For this, Vision received ~21.28 crore. Himanshu Kaushik, one of Vision’s directors, blamed the company’s low success rate on its inability to update its server.

HT met more than 50 students in National Capital Region (NCR) who alleged that companies’ middlemen bring students from the Valley to various training institutes outside of the state to appropriate government grants.

“Some students have become institutes’ agent and they get commission for bringing student to training centers,” revealed one of the students enrolled under Udaan scheme. He said commission amount ranged from ~2,000 to ~5,000.

“Those resorting to violence cannot be treated like average citizens. Terrorism and militancy, and those who have taken to violence, will be treated differently,” the minister said in Srinagar on Thursday. Speaking about a TV sting operation that purportedly showed Hurriyat leaders talking about receiving money from Saeed and other Pakistani individuals, the minister said it has merely put on public domain “what was already known to informed sources”.

Kashmir has seen widespread violence since July last year when the killing of a militant commander, Burhan Wani, sparked months-long street protests that left nearly hundred people dead. The PE also names Hurriyat provincial president Naeem Khan, Tehreek-e-Hurriyat leader Gazi Javed Baba and Farooq Ahmed Dar alias Bitta Karate of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, NIA officials said.

Separately, India’s financial crime probe agency, the Enforcement Directorate, has called a meeting within a couple of days to discuss if a criminal case could be made out against the separatists for their alleged involvement in money laundering and hawala transactions, an illegal system of transferring money across borders. “We suspect the money was distributed in the valley for various violent activities like stone pelting and torching of schools and government buildings,” said a senior NIA official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The NIA on Thursday collected the memory devices and cameras used in the sting operation to verify the contents. They will be subjected to forensic tests, the official added. The PE said money is transferred from Pakistan to agents in Old Delhi’s Ballimaran and Chandni Chowk areas before it is taken to the valley.

The UN’s highest court rejected Pakistan’s argument that it had no jurisdiction in Jadhav’s case as it involved national security issues and accepted India’s contention about the urgency of the matter.

The ICJ notes that Pakistan had given no assurance Jadhav would not be executed before the court gives its final decision.

A statement issued by Pakistan’s attorney general in response to the ICJ’s order said the status of Jadhav’s case had not changed “in any manner”. It added that Pakistan is determined to take the case to its “logical end” and that Jadhav “has ample time to petition for clemency”. Shaiq Usmani, a retired judge of Pakistan’s Supreme Court, told the media that Jadhav’s case will go on in Pakistan until the ICJ gives it final decision. “But (Jadhav) cannot be executed until the stay order is there,” Usmani said.

Mathew added that his men were moving village to village shouting on loud speakers to dispel fears of child lifters.

The first incident occurred in Rajnagar block’s Sobhapur village where four Muslim youth, all cattle traders, were cornered and lynched by villagers. When police reached to rescue the traders, the villagers attacked and damaged the police van before fleeing.

Police recovered three bodies from the spot while the fourth body was found on Friday from the woods near the village. Suspecting a communal angle to the murders, angry relatives refused to bury the bodies till the killers were arrested and the government paid ~25 lakh each to the dependents. “The four men lynched were cattle traders, who often frequented Sobhapur where their relatives live. Hence, they cannot be called strangers. There is certainly a different cause for the murder, which police should probe,” said JMM leader Babar Khan.

Later, barely 20 kilometres from Sobhapur in Nagadih village, a mob of tribal people lynched three young men, two of them brothers, and thrashed their grandmother.

Eye witnesses said the attack was unprovoked and the victims were not given any chance to defend themselves.

The training includes a Filipino martial arts technique, knowing how to use everyday articles such as pens, belts, shoelaces and keys tactically to take on attackers.

“We also put them in a jungle with very little food so that they can learn how to survive in such a situation,” the official said, explaining the 11-month process held in centres in Hyderabad and Chennai. “These women have been given training in special martial art Pekiti-Tirsia Kali as this will allow them to capture attackers alive. Surviving suspects can be interrogated for further leads,” the official added.

The 160 metro stations currently in operation are guarded by 5,000 CISF personnel, of which 800 are women. The force has proposed to have about 3,500 more personnel for the phase-III network, and over 1,000 of them will be women.

“About one third of our total strength will be women. Women safety is our priority and well trained women commandoes will ensure that the metro system is secured,” CISF director general OP Singh said.

CISF will deploy 251 personnel on the Heritage Line’s five stations expected to open by the month end. The CISF squad is a mix of regular guards and those specially trained as commandos.

The commandos are mainly deployed at sensitive stations such as Rajeev Chowk, Patel Chowk, Lok Kalyan Marg, Nehru Place, Anand Vihar, Sarai Kale Khan and Mandi House. But they also patrol other stations, and the trains.