Lawsuit filed against Paa

Patna, Dec 5: A lawsuit has been filed in a court here charging Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan with violating the disabilities act through his latest film Paa in which he plays a 13-year-old boy suffering from progeria, which accelerates the ageing process. Big B has been accused of poking fun at people with disabilities. The case has been filed by Patna High Court lawyer Shruti Singh in the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate under The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995. It has also been filed against Paa director R Balkrishna. “I filed a case in the court demanding a probe into whether Paa violated the act or not,” Singh said on Saturday. “My stand is simple: If it violated the disability act, the authorities should act against the producer and actors of the film for making a joke of disabled people,” she added. She said the court will hear the case next week. According to Singh, the act is guided by the philosophy of empowering people with disabilities and their associates. (IANS)

Expanding civil nuclear cooperation tops PM’s Russian agenda

New Delhi, Dec 5: Close on the heels of his visit to Washington, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh heads for Moscow on Sunday on a three-day trip with expansion of civil nuclear cooperation and an extended defence pact topping the agenda.

The agreement, expected to be inked during the annual summit talks between Manmohan Singh and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday, will ensure continuation of Moscow’s support for the ongoing civil nuclear programme in India and will ensure any unforeseen disruption of fuel supply and technology from Russia for nuclear power projects in India.