Mammootty on Mohanlal’s Barroz: ‘I’m sure his experience has helped the film’

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

Almost two years after attending the pooja function of Mohanlal’s directorial debut Barroz, Malayalam megastar Mammootty was one of the first to wish the superstar the best, ahead of the release of the 3D children’s fantasy.Mammootty, who is also acting with Mohanlal in Mahesh Narayanan’s big-budget film, couldn’t attend the preview show of Barroz that was held in Chennai on December 23 but made sure that he shared his excitement about the project ahead of its Christmas release through his social media post.Mohanlal and Mammootty (Credits: Anand S Lal)Mammootty’s wishes Mohanlal the best for his directorial debutThe Rorschach star in his post, wrote, “Barroz is the first directorial of Mohanlal, who has amazed and entertained us through his magical acting talent for so long. I am confident that the experience he has gained would have helped in the film. Wishing my dearest Lal all the success. Prayers and love, your Mammootty.”Barroz has Mohanlal essaying the role of a 300-year-old treasure guardian, who protects the treasure of Vasco Da Gama till the arrival of its rightful heir. While Mohanlal essays the titular character, the film’s protagonist is a teenage girl named Isabella.
In an earlier interview with us, Santosh Sivan, its cinematographer, said Barroz is based on a Portuguese folktale and has a lot of characters from Spain and Portugal, and has dialogues in those languages as well.Mohanlal, in a recent interview, also explained that the film is about “longing and integrity”. The actor has used Fado songs in the film to convey the century-long wait and commitment of Barroz to his master.Barroz official posterMohanlal’s Barroz to clash with Unni Mukundan’s MarcoThe superstar had also said that the film is aimed primarily at children and features several animated sequences, one of which also has him as an octopus. “The ocean and water play important characters in the film,” said the actor, adding that it also has an animated character called Voodoo that will appeal to the children.

UPSC Combined Geo-Scientist Main result 2024 out; here’s direct link

Science and Health

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Sajjad Hussain/Reuters

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has released the Combined Geo-Scientist Main Exam 2024 results. Eligible candidates can download their results from the official website upsc.gov.in.A total of 69 candidates have been shortlisted for the appointment to Geologist, Hydrogeologist, Geophysics/Geophysicist, and Chemists/Chemical posts. The personality test was conducted from December 9 to 12, 2024. The Preliminary and Main exams were held on February 18, and June 22 and 23, respectively.Steps to download Combined Geo-Scientist Main result 2024Visit the official website upsc.gov.inOn the homepage, click on the Combined Geo-Scientist Main result 2024 linkThe result will appear on the screenCheck and download the resultTake a printout for future referenceDirect link to Combined Geo-Scientist Main result 2024.For more details, candidates are advised to visit the official website here.

Washington Examiner: Georgian Dream is no friend of Trump or America – rather than laughing it up in anticipation of Trump’s arrival, Ivanishvili should be nervous about facing sanctions

Technology

Georgian Dream is arrogantly betting, however, that Trump will ignore their brutality and corruption. The party wants him to ignore its theft of state resources, its betrayal of the Georgian constitution, and its attacks on innocent men and women, – reads an article published by Washington Examiner.

Substance prevention organization reaching kids through comic books

Arts & Culture, Books

EAST ALABAMA, Ala. (WBRC) – An agency in East Alabama is trying to reach the youth through comic books. Maiya Selase with the Agency for Substance Abuse Prevention says this comic book challenge is about curbing gun violence while increasing literacy.“We don’t wanna sit back and let things happen. We always want to be the change agents in the community,” said Maiya.That change comes in the way of reaching out to the youth through showing them a better way to handle conflict issues by reading instead of using violence.“What we’re doing in this comic book is showing teens and some adults that you can use conflict resolution, you can handle your stress, you can manage your anger without picking up a gun,” said Maiya.She says once you read the book, you’ll write a 200 word report about what you read, record a 20 second video and submit it, with a chance to win a PlayStation 5. “We try to come up with the most creative and inventive way to reach them. We’re in the school’s, we’re in the Boys & Girls Clubs, we’re in our community centers, we’re in the local detention centers and we really listen,” said Maiya.With kids dying due to gun violence, Maiya says being able to meet them where they are in life and tapping into their interest is key to acquiring their attention.“From listening, from brainstorming, we really thought that this comic book would be the best way to meet them,” said Maiya.The deadline for those book reports are due January 9. Please visit the Agency for Substance Abuse Prevention for more information.Get news alerts in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store or subscribe to our email newsletter here.Copyright 2024 WBRC. All rights reserved.

‘Overlooked’ middle children often most cooperative, scientists find

Science and Health

Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreMiddle children are more likely to be honest, humble, and agreeable compared to other adult siblings in a family, according to a new study.The study found that middle children tend to score higher than their siblings on traits linked to cooperation, such as agreeableness and honesty-humility. The study, conducted by Michael Ashton and Kibeom Lee, psychology professors at Brock University in Ontario and the University of Calgary in Alberta, respectively, also discovered that people with more siblings generally exhibited higher levels of these cooperative traits.They also found that birth order does have a small effect on cooperative personality traits, with middle and youngest children scoring slightly higher than firstborns. Ashton and Lee also noted that people from larger families, with more siblings, were more likely to develop a cooperative personality.Researchers have long sought to understand if there was a link between birth order and personality. For instance, Austrian psychologist Alfred Adler claimed that firstborns are responsible, the youngest are continuously pampered, and middle children often feel overlooked, developing certain traits in response.However, previous research has only found some evidence that firstborns average slightly higher than later-borns in intellect-related traits.Even these studies largely have not included comparisons between only children and individuals raised with siblings, researchers say.Most earlier research called for further evidence of much larger effects in larger data samples. Example of 5 key personality types shown with smoking variation as example

Feeling Empty? Here’s What Science Says About Apathy

Science and Health

You wake up one morning, and everything that once meant something now feels meaningless. It’s not laziness or procrastination – it’s deeper than that. You might find yourself wondering why you can’t seem to muster the energy to care about work, relationships, or even your well-being. This overwhelming indifference has a name: apathy. While it can be quite distressing, it’s essential to know that such a state is not forever. Knowing what causes this and how to address the issue will allow you to start reclaiming your purpose and joy. Read More: Apathy and its Impact on Modern Life

Understanding Apathy Apathy is an emotional, mental, and sometimes state of physical detachment. It’s more than “feeling blah” for one or two days; rather, it is a prolonged lack of interest in something that had once brought excitement or even fulfilment. Unlike boredom, apathy implies the presence of a need for stimulation; otherwise, it would just not exist. Apathy, however, tends to be more like an emptiness where desire previously lived. It can go into any aspect – from pursuing your goals, engaging in your relationships, or even taking care of yourself. What is Causing Apathy? Apathy does not pop out of nowhere, as there are usually much deeper causes. Here are some of the most common causes of apathy: 1. Burnout It is very easy to feel overwhelmed and drained when you are constantly juggling responsibilities. When chronic stress exhausts an individual physically, emotionally, and mentally, it can be termed burnout. For example, the stress of studying for finals with part-time work leaves a college student so exhausted that they finds little interest in either his or her academic success or personal hobbies (Maslach et al., 2001). 

Books to take refuge in over Christmas

Arts & Culture, Books

Arts Week with Judy Murphy
It’s the time of year for escaping to a quiet corner with a good book and there has been no shortage on that front from Galway authors or with Galway themes this year, fact and fiction.
Several have landed in the past few weeks and if you feel the need to detach yourself entirely from the frenetic festive activities, then look no further than A Tract for Our Times: A Retrospective on Joe Lee’s Ireland 1912-1986, from UCD Press. This collection of essays assesses Professor Lee’s outstanding book, Ireland 1912-1985, which he wrote because “I wanted to explain my country to myself”, as he told the Irish Times in 1991.
Its contributors include Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Galway, Professor Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh. The first chapter, meanwhile, by Marion R Casey, is ‘A Portrait of the Historian as a Young Boy’ and it offers an insight into the childhood of one of this country’s finest historians.
Joe Lee was born in Kerry in 1942 and spent his early years in Castlegregory on the Dingle Peninsula, where his father was a Garda. But his parents were from Galway – his mother Cáit from Oughterard and his father Thomas from Galway City – and a notice in the Connacht Tribune from October 11, 1940, announced the wedding, in Oughterard Church, of 23-year-old Katie (Cáit) Burke to Garda Thomas Lee, aged 35, who was at the time, based in An Cheathrú Rua.
The Lees came from Bohermore and this book’s opening essay explores Joe’s parents’ backgrounds. He hadn’t done that in his own 1989 book, something that makes sense when Marion Casey points out, “their stories reveal a stratum of Ireland that was largely undocumented by historians when their son published his magnum opus in 1989”.
She interviewed Joe Lee for a fascinating story in which he recounted how his grandmother, Anne, whom he described as ‘the daughter of a strong farmer’, married his grandfather, Martin, a landless labourer, in 1910, something that would have been usual at the time.
Marion Casey sets this in context and also writes about his childhood holidays in Galway before his father, Thomas, was posted to Ballinasloe, where Joe finished his primary education and received his confirmation, taking the name Gregory in honour of his Kerry roots.
When Ireland 1912-1985, was published by Cambridge University Press in 1989, it was an instant success, appealing to readers from all walks of life as it provoked discussions on Irish identity, politics and society.
It was reprinted more than dozen times and resulted in Joe Lee appearing on a Late Late Show panel in 1990, alongside fellow professors, UCG’s Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh and Terence Brown of TCD,  for a discussion that resulted in strong viewer feedback.
Those were different times and there was some criticism that women were under-represented in this magnum opus, but all of this is given context in A Tract for Our Times, with essays from 12 leading historians. It also examines the book’s relevance to contemporary Ireland and current approaches to teaching and writing history.
Pictured: Renowned historian, Joe Lee. The opening essay in this collection explores the social history of his Galway parents as well as his own childhood.

School board already approved updated policy on reviewing library books’ content

Arts & Culture, Books

Despite new school board attorney Dail Cantrell speaking at length during December’s board meeting about developing procedures for evaluating whether to ban books or not, following recent state legislation, it was never brought up during the meeting that the school board had already developed such procedures, earlier this year.”The librarian shall be responsible for library collection development, reads the policy. “He/she shall post the list of library materials online. Library materials shall be reviewed to ensure the content aligns with state law. Prior to the purchase of new materials, librarians shall review the age and maturity level along with the reading level of the selected items for suitability. A list of new materials shall be reviewed by the librarian.”