Pakistani artists should be temporarily banned: Union Minister
New Delhi: Union Minister Babul Supriyo on Wednesday called for a temporary ban on Pakistani artists for working in the Hindi film industry.
Supriyo, a singer-turned-politician, had said Rahat Fateh Ali Khan's voice in the song "Ishtehar" from "Welcome To New York" must be removed and dubbed by someone else as he was not able to comprehend the need or desire to cross the border for entertainment content at a time when tensions on the India-Pakistan border had escalated.
When asked, why the issue was not raised when singer Atif Aslam crooned a number for "Tiger Zinda Hai?", Supriyo replied in a press conference: "'Dil Diyan Gallan' is nice song. There is another nice song sung by Atif in 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan'... My morals as an artist or sensibilities, I agree that artistes have no boundary.
Supriyo said that he spoke as an Indian first and that a stand needs to be made on temporarily banning Pakistani artistes in Bollywood.
But will it be a permanent stand?
"I can't say if it will be a permanent or a temporary stand. It depends on people... I can't say... I don't know what the time limit or frame is," replied Supriyo.
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7 held for running fake call centre in South Kolkata
Kolkata (PTI): Seven people were arrested from the Parnashree area in the southern part of the city for allegedly running a fake call centre, a police officer said on Saturday.
Acting on a tip-off, police raided a house on Netaji Subhas Road on Friday night and found the fake call centre operating from the ground floor, he said.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the accused had set up a bogus company using forged documents and posed as employees of an antivirus firm to call citizens in the US, the officer said.
"The callers would gain the trust of victims and then use remote access to take control of their phones or other digital devices. The accused allegedly siphoned off large sums of money, running into millions of dollars, from victims' accounts," he said.
Five laptops, two WiFi routers, six mobile phones and four headsets were seized from the accused, he said, adding that the seven are being questioned to ascertain the full extent of the racket and to identify others involved.
