Kyunki is a side project: Smriti Irani says she is a full-time politician
According to Irani, the series has previously addressed themes such as marital rape, adult literacy, and euthanasia - topics which mainstream cinema often shied away from at the time. "The show spoke about marital rape 25 years ago.The show spoke about euthanasia 25 years ago. Those were issues that were not even touched by mainstream cinema, and we did it commercially in a television slot which was meant for family viewing," she noted, pointing out that these were groundbreaking narratives for television.She called the show progressive and said it discussed issues like pay parity, stating, "One's talent and not gender decided how much one will get paid. Ektaa [Kapoor] was given 10:30 slot, which was a dead slot, and we created prime time." The show, which initially aired in a late-night slot, gained popularity and eventually became a prime-time favourite.Irani's stint in the 'Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi' reboot has created a significant buzz already. While not much about the show's story is revealed yet, it is set to premiere on Star Plus at 10:30 pm on July 29. It will also simultaneously run on Disney+Hotstar.- EndsMust Watch
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NDTV
an hour ago
- NDTV
Trained, Bond Signed, Nurses Wait For Jobs For Over 7 Years In Madhya Pradesh
Bhopal: They were trained to treat patients. But today, the students of Indore's government MGM College are nursing wounds of betrayal -- inflicted not by disease, but by a system that abandoned them midway. These are young women who once carried stethoscopes now carry placards and infants, sitting on footpaths outside government offices. What began as a journey of service has now become a prolonged protest against silence. This is not just a demonstration. It is the scream of broken promises echoing across Madhya Pradesh. Nursing graduates from the 2018 batch were promised government jobs. In return, they signed a bond: Serve wherever the state sends you, and if you refuse, pay a fine of Rs 2 lakh. Seven years later, only nine of 130 have received placements. The rest -- 121 young professionals -- are stuck. The bond hasn't been withdrawn. The jobs haven't come. The silence has become suffocating. Sunita Patel, one of the students, arrives every day at the protest site carrying her eight-month-old son. Her degree is now reduced to a burden. "I was married on the promise that I'd soon have a government job," she said, tears welling up. "Now my husband questions me, my in-laws call the degree fake. Every morning, I bring my baby 30 kilometres from Pithampur, just to sit here and wait for a miracle." In a cramped 10x10 rented room in Indore, Sakshi Gupta keeps formula notes pasted on her walls -- a fading symbol of hope. "We studied in government hostels. Now we're paying rent, electricity, food bills from our families' pockets," she said. "We are not sitting idle. We have done everything they asked -- completed training, signed the bond, waited. Now we just want an answer. When will our job come? Will it ever come?" For Aastha, a student from Sagar who now lives alone in Indore, the room she rents isn't just where she sleeps. It is her kitchen, her study, her world. Her father is no more. Her mother is surviving on little, and her younger brother carries the weight of her dreams in his school bag. "I cook my food and swallow my disappointment with it," she said. "We were not asking for charity. We want what we were promised -- a dignified job in return for our service," she said. These stories are not isolated. They are symptoms of a wider disease -- one that afflicts the healthcare system of Madhya Pradesh. Ironically, while trained nurses sit unemployed, the state faces a dire shortage of medical staff -- be it nursing or doctors. The World Health Organisation recommends one doctor per 1,000 people but Madhya Pradesh lags far behind with one doctor per 1,460 people. Nurses are short in supply, doctors even more so. Yet, students like Sunita, Sakshi, and Aastha remain on the streets, not in hospitals. NDTV had previously exposed the large-scale irregularities in nursing education in what was labelled the "nursing scam". Between 2020 and 2025, not a single nursing graduate passed out from Madhya Pradesh, according to opposition claims in the Assembly. This in a state where the Ayushman Bharat scheme alone is pushing thousands of patients to seek treatment outside state borders. In 2018, just 399 patients were referred to hospitals in other states. By 2024, the number had skyrocketed to 35,327. Over Rs 1,085 crore has been spent on out-of-state treatments -- an amount that could have been invested in training, staffing, and retaining local health workers. These students are qualified. They are ready. But instead of serving in hospitals, they are serving notices to a system that has stopped listening. "We are making every possible effort to fill the vacancies. Where there are no sanctioned posts, it is difficult, but wherever there are, we will ensure recruitment," said Health Minister Rajendra Shukla. But the ground reality tells a different story a story of delay, denial, and lost dignity.
Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Indian Express
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2: Hiten Tejwani aka Karan Virani teases about ‘kuch alag' in Shanti Niketan in new BTS promo. Watch
Ekta Kapoor's Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2 is set to air in just a few days. The daily soap marks a return 25 years after the original, with Smriti Irani reprising her iconic role as Tulsi Virani. Ahead of the premiere, the makers have released a new behind-the-scenes video aimed at sparking curiosity about the plot. Without revealing much, the promo poses several questions that connect to the first season, tapping into nostalgia for longtime fans. In the teaser, Hiten Tejwani aka Karan Virani says, 'Iss baar Shanti Niketan mein bahut kuch alag hona wala hai.' His on-screen and real life wife Gauri Pradhan aka Nandini Virani adds, 'There used to be our favourite dining table spot in the first part, let's see if it is still there or not.' 'Just like last season, iss season mein bhi Tulsi ke paudhe ki ehmiyat bahut zyada hai (Tulsi plant will have a lot of importance in the new season as well),' shares Shagun Sharma, who has joined the OG members. After building anticipation, the cast urges viewers to tune in on July 29 to uncover all the answers. A post shared by StarPlus (@starplus) Meanwhile, Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2 is being compared to Rupali Ganguly's hit television show Anupamaa on social media. Reacting to the same, Hiten Tejwani told Telly Masal, 'Ab hum aa rahe hain, humein aane toh dijiye. Fir baad mein aap log hi decide karenge kon kya hai. Hum kaun hote hain kuch bolne waale. Jo cheez achhi hai, achhi hai, joh achhi nahi hai, aap maalik ho, aapko pata hai, sabko pata hai.' ALSO READ | Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi cast didn't own houses or cars before the show; Smriti Irani recalls how it transformed lives He added, 'Fans hain, sab woh hi decide karte hain, unhein joh cheez pasand aati hai woh yun pasand aati hai, nahi aati woh turant bata dete hain. Aaj kal ki audience clear hai ye mamle mein. Hum log kisi ko neecha dikhaane ya kuch niche karne uske liye nahi aa rahe hain. Ek nostalgia hai. I am sure makers bhi chahte the Ektaa ma'am bhi ki kuch laaye aur aaj ke time ki baate kar paaye.' Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2 will air from July 29, 2025 at 10:30 pm on Star Plus. It will stream on Jio Hotstar.
NDTV
4 hours ago
- NDTV
ML Khattar, Asked To Pick Between Veep And BJP Chief, Said This
New Delhi: What would Housing and Urban Affairs Minister ML Khattar rather become - Vice President or boss of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party? The answer - neither, a diplomatic response. Mr Khattar, a BJP veteran, told NDTV Thursday evening, "I don't pick. Whatever responsibilities are given... I work accordingly", and offered an anecdote from his past to underline the point. The former Haryana Chief Minister Khattar remembered his first assignment - as a pracharak, or full-time worker, for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the BJP's ideological mentor. "The first job I got was in Faridabad... this was in 1980. In 1981 the district pracharak came to meet me. After two days of meetings he asked me to drop him off at the bus stand," he began, segueing into reminiscing about how cheap bus travel was four decades ago. "As he was leaving he kept a foot on the steps of the bus... stopped and turned around and told me, 'I forgot... you have been transferred to Rohtak'. I said 'okay'." "What was there for me to think? I didn't ask 'why Rohtak'. Whenever I am given a responsibility I take it up... no job is big or small. If I am not this (Veep) or that (BJP boss), there will be enough work. I will find something else," he said at a real estate summit organised by NDTV. Both posts - Veep and BJP President - will have new incumbents before the year is out, although the former will be filled much before that deadline after Jagdeep Dhankhar's shock resignation. Jagdeep Dhankhar Drops Exit Bomb Mr Dhankhar stepped down late Tuesday citing ill health. However, sources soon told NDTV the Rajya Sabha Chair had displeased the BJP by accepting the opposition's motion to impeach Allahabad High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma - then a judge with the Delhi High Court - over burnt piles of Rs 500 notes found at his home. This was despite Mr Dhankhar having been told the government had its own motion locked and ready to fire, in the Lok Sabha, and did not take kindly to having its political rivals take credit. Pressed on the Veep's sudden resignation, Mr Khattar said, "... without trusting the government he took a proposal from the opposition. It was the government's strategy..." as he questioned the former Vice President's lack of discipline in this particular matter. Sources have told NDTV the centre is now in a huddle over how best to proceed with Justice Varma's impeachment, i.e., how best to regain the advantage from the opposition. The BJP's Own Presidential Problem Meanwhile, on the BJP boss front, the incumbent, Jagat Prakash Nadda is set to be replaced after he was inducted into the government - as the Union Health Minister - in June last year. Choosing the right candidate is a tough task. The BJP needs to get the correct caste combination, and juggle the north-south divide over the language row and delimitation, particularly with elections in Tamil Nadu and Kerala - two state it has zero traction in - next year. That could count against Mr Khattar. But the party is also under pressure to shore up its support base in Uttar Pradesh after the setback in last year's Lok Sabha election led to a loss of outright majority in Parliament. Mr Khattar, although not from UP, might be an acceptable option from this perspective. And what could also help his candidature is the party boss will need to be someone who understands the RSS' organisational values. The Punjab-born Haryana leader was stood down from his role as Haryana Chief Minister rather abruptly ahead of the Assembly election last year, as the party shuffled its cards to avoid anti-incumbency. He was then rewarded with a role in the federal government.
