Politics
Nagpur-based director Anurag Bhusari makes film on Nitin Gadkari

After Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi, Bal Thackeray and Manmohan Singh, Nitin Gadkari too jumped in the ?biopic bandwagon? after Nagpur-based director Anurag Bhusari recently uploaded a trailer of his film titled Gadkari? on social media.
Anurag said that his film on the Union Minister isn’t any sort of propaganda but just a compilation of facts. Anurag told PTI, Lately, there have been a number of biopics (on politicians) where people said they were like propaganda. But what I can assure the audience is that I have only shown the facts. I have not tried to show ‘look how Nitin Gadkari is a good person’ but I have shown his struggles. I have shown the facts and everything which has happened with him.

Anurag, with a crew of around 20 people, started working on the film in September 2018 and finished the shoot within a span of two months. Anurag said that the film was shot completely in Nagpur and to avoid any sort of interference, he decided to raise money though crowd funding.
Also read: After Manmohan Singh, Thackeray, Modi, now a biopic on Rahul Gandhi
Anurag said that it would have been easier for him to have a single producer on board; especially considering the person the film revolves around. Still, he opted for crowd funding avoid any sort of political influence vis-à-vis the script and there would also be a greater scope of implementing creative liberty.
Anurag said that he didn’t take any permission from Gadkari before making the film. However, he said that he interacted with the Union Minsiters wife Kanchan and his childhood friend for the film.
Slated for a YouTube release before March 5, 2019, Gadkari features Rahul Chopda in the lead.
Watch the trailer below:
COVID-19
Thane Municipal Corporation adds 25 beds as COVID cases rise
Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) added 25 additional beds in Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital Kalwa apart from arranging a special ward dedicated to COVID-19 patients. The total number of active patients in the city stood at 252 while five succumbed to the virus. Meanwhile, TMC Commissioner Abhijit Bangar said a ‘death audit’ of patients who died of COVID would be conducted. The TMC has ensured it has additional stock of oxygen concentrators, testing kits, medicines, to name a few. Bangar told HT, “Due to the increasing number of Covid patients, it is necessary for everyone to be alert.”
He added, The number of Covid tests should be increased to stay one step ahead of the disease. As a result, the number of patients is likely to increase due to increased testing. However, as per the ‘test, isolate, treat’ protocol for Covid, it becomes necessary to isolate and treat more and more patients. The testing centres will not remain closed even for a single day. At the same time, more arrangements for testing will be made immediately in public places, markets, railway stations, malls.”
India recorded 3,095 new COVID cases and five deaths in last 24 hours.
Also read: Nagpur records 22 COVID cases in 24 hours
Politics
After Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification, his namesake who contested from Wayanad disqualified

Rahul Gandhi
An independent candidate for Lok Sabha elections named Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from contesting polls for failing to lodge account of election expenses. Gandhi, who’s name figures as ‘Rahul Gandhi K E S/o Valsamma’ in an Election Commission list of persons, had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as an Independent and had received 2196 votes from the Wayanad seat in Kerala – a constituency from where ex-Congress MP Rahul Rajiv Gandhi had won with over seven lakh votes.
However, since it is mandatory for all contestants to submit their account of election expenses among other mandatory requirements under EC rules and the Representation of the People Act.
Rahul Gandhi K E S/o Valsamma stood disqualified to contest polls from September 13, 2021 till September 13, 2024. According to Section 10A, the Election Commission can disqualify a contestant for a period of three years from the date of the order if he/she has failed to lodge an account of election expenses within the time and in the manner required by law and has no good reason or justification for the failure.
Also read: ‘CBI under UPA govt. pressurised me to frame Modi,’ recalls Amit Shah
Nagpur News
Nagpur records 22 COVID cases in 24 hours
A total of 22 patients tested positive for COVID-19 in Nagpur in past 24 hours on Thursday. Almost 242 people were tested in the city, out of which 15 belonged to urban area while and 6 were from the rural areas, and one from outside Nagpur district.
At present, there are 72 active patients in the city. Three new cases of the new XBB.1.16 variant of COVID-19 were detected that took the total tally to five in the district.
India recorded 3,095 new COVID cases and five deaths in last 24 hours.
Also read: CELESTIAL! Unique alignment of Moon and 5 planets