Bamboo is a renewable material that when microwaved becomes stronger by weight than steel or concrete – which could make it ideal for constructing buildings, cars and planes

The eight-year-old's name floats about in your head like a fly - not so long ago, buzzing around insouciantly - fallen into a cup of tea gone stale and cold. A child, who would have perhaps stared at you with demurred confusion were you to read the chargesheet for her abduction, rape, and murder to her. "Myean beyni! Emuk matlab kya chu may wann te (My sister! Tell me what does that mean)," she would have asked in Kashmiri. The case sparked widespread national outrage, and social media was taken by storm. However, amid much of the hammering that has taken place after the Kathua rape, a relatively quieter means of dissent surfaced in the form of art on Instagram. Meet its makers.

Orijit Sen,
A veteran artist based in Delhi
"I had been hearing things but I was busy with deadlines so I wasn't aware of all the details until I took a break. When I read about the case and the chargesheet, it made me sick, but then I saw her photograph and it left a deep impact. It haunted me. I added the horse because I read that she had been abducted when she was out herding horses.

It was like her guardian spirit. The wildflowers in her hand signify flowers she may have collected and the meadows around, because I read that playing in the meadows was her favourite thing to do. The shadows on her face are to obscure her identity and in all, I was just trying to capture the vulnerability and innocence of a child her age. I think to me, the image portrays a child of the meadow, returned," he explains.

Abhilash Menon,
visual artist and illustrator from Mumbai
"When the agony gets too much, the voice inside me takes over. The hands of a criminal are always eager to touch flesh, with insane brutality. Such criminals don't shy away from wearing the mask of cast, creed, colour, religion or politics - as depicted by the five fingers in the image - but when the masks come off, they are all the same.

The five fingers here are in the shape of the male genitalia, establishing the mindset of such criminals - decadent and unbeknownst to human values and pain. Irrespective of their background, they should be delivered the harshest common punishment, so that others abhor an act such as this. Punish these delinquents and bring peace to the soul of that little girl."

Sourabh Basu,
Student and Kolkata-based graphic designer
"My illustration focuses on the multiple thoughts running through her head in the moments before her death. She might have cried, struggled in pain, the pitch of her voice might have been unbearable. She might have cried out for her mother, hence the text 'Ma'.

But it also depicts that she was in a temple, a goddesse's shrine, which to most of us is also an abode of the mother. In those last minutes, she must have been filled with hatred toward the world and its cruelty."

Satish Acharya,
Well-known Kundapur-based cartoonist
"I couldn't believe that people could be so cruel to an eight-year-old. Her thoughts started haunting me. I was saddened to see that some people were shamelessly defending the rapists. I did a series of three cartoons. The first one was about how the little girl is receiving so much love from us, but what she deserves more is justice.

The next two panels are about how nothing has changed since the brutal Delhi gang rape. In spite of a revised law named after the victim, rapes continue to be used as a tool to scare and hurt women, to settle political scores, to impose age-old gender biases and caste hierarchy. What was also worrying was how divided the country was unlike in the case of Nirbhaya which was protested in one voice."

Saira Khan,
Toronto-based Health Studies and Psychology student
"This artwork is not only dedicated to the eight-year-old, but to every child who has been a victim of rape and physical and psychological harm. The news of the Kathua rape reminded me of Zainab, a six-year-old Pakistani girl who was raped and murdered in January.

The illustration is that of a faceless and nameless girl and the hashtag #Justicefor, has been left incomplete to depict that in a society where rape and violence against women is ingrained, one name can soon be replaced with another. The shards represent brutality and crimes against women and children. The use of red paint is to depict the urgency of the message," she explains.

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According to provisional polling estimate release on Monday evening, the city scored about 54 percent, three percent more than its 2014 feet. The figures are expected to be revised after the final data crunching on Tuesday. In 2014, Mumbai had registered a turnout of 51.6 percent, which was an improvement from a low of 41.4 percent in the 2009 General elections.

Of the city's six segments of varied demography, South Mumbai couldn't match up with its previous mark while Mumbai North Central, Mumbai North, Mumbai North West, Mumbai North East, and Mumbai South Central performed better. Mumbai North, where actor Urmila Matondkar (Congress) fought against BJP's sitting MP Gopal Shetty, recorded the highest turnout (59.32 percent) in the city with a major spike of 6.25 percent.

Also Read: Elections 2019: No guidance at booths, claim furious citizens

A fierce contest in North Central Mumbai between MP Poonam Mahajan (BJP) and former MP Priya Dutt (Congress) saw a jump of 4.17 percent. Mumbai Congress president Milind Deora and Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant's South Mumbai polled at a percentage similar to that of 2014. However, former Mumbai Congress president Sanjay Nirupam, who was worried about the possibility of a higher turnout, shouldn't be much upset as his North West fight with Sena's sitting MP Gajanan Kirtikar raised the bar by a 4.14 percent.

BJP's eleventh-hour candidate from North East, Manoj Kotak, who replaced sitting MP Kirit Somaiyya, claimed a 4.61 percent increase in polling that would possibly benefit Kotak against NCP's sole candidate in the city and ex-MP Sanjay Dina Patil.

Mumbai South Central which had former MP Eknath Gaikwad pitted against incumbent Rahul Shewale crossed the 2014 figure by 2.26 percent. The average voter turnout in the city's six Lok Sabha elections was 41.40 percent (2009), 47.30 percent (2004), 45 percent (1999), 50.40 percent (1998), 45.10 percent (1996) and 41.60 percent (1991). 

Also Read: Elections 2019: Polling booth moved, names missing, faulty EVMs

Election 2019: Prominent personalities, other Mumbaikars come out to caste vote!

State does better

After the fourth phase of polling, the state's polling average was 60.68 percent, said Chief Electoral Officer Ashwani Kumar. According to CEO, today's average polling in the 17 constituencies, including Mumbai's six, was 57 percent — much less than that recorded in the first (63.46 percent), second (62.88 percent) and third phase (62.36 percent). Gadchiroli (71.98 percent) registered the highest voter turnout in the state while Kalyan that went to polls on Monday had the lowest turnout of 44.27 percent, said Kumar.

Monday marked the last phase of polling in Maharashtra which has 48 Lok Sabha constituencies, second highest after Uttar Pradesh. The outcome of the state will have a bearing on the formation of the government at the Centre, as both the BJP-Sena and Congress-NCP are banking heavily for the electoral gains here. In 2014, the BJP-Sena and their other allies had won a record 42 seats in the state while the Congress was reduced to a mere two seats and NCP managed just four.

Also Read: Elections 2019 in Mumbai: Physically challenged, elderly, get little help at polling stations

60.68
State's voting percentage across four phases

48
Total no. of constituencies across Maharashtra

Salman Khan, SRK, Ranveer Singh, Kangana, Bachchans step out for voting

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An offence was registered against a 19-year-old man for allegedly kidnapping and raping a girl from Mokhada village in Maharashtra's Palghar district, police said on Friday. The Palghar police on Thursday registered a case against the accused under sections 376 (rape), 363 (kidnapping) and other provisions of the Indian Penal Code, while no arrest has been made so far, public relations officer Hemant Katkar said.

The accused, who was reportedly in love with the 18- year-old victim, allegedly kidnapped her on April 18 and raped her in captivity for two days, he said.

The victim subsequently escaped and lodged a complaint on Wednesday, following which a case was registered, the official said, adding the further investigations were underway.

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WWE former superstar and Diva Nikki Bella recently made a shocking revelation that she was raped twice during her teenage years in her new memoir - Incomparable - co-written with her twin sister Brie Bella.

Nikki Bella went on to share the gruesome details of her rape and how she felt ashamed of it at the time. Nikki Bella has since learned to let go of the horrifying incident as well as empower other women.

Nikki Bella stated that she was raped at age 15 by a fellow high school student who she then 'thought was a friend.' A year later at age 16, Nikki Bella was raped again after she was drugged by a college-going student.

In the book, Nikki Bella wrote, "There is the horrible offence in the moment, and then the shame and blame that follow and feel almost worse than the original pain. When something like this happens to you, you understand the blame-the-victim mentality, how easy it is to feel shame rather than anger, how easy it is to feel like you could have stopped it yourself."

Nikki Bella spoke with People magazine in an interview and said, "When that happened to me, I immediately just felt so ashamed and blamed myself, and that's what made me want to keep it such a secret. And keeping that a secret and blaming myself, I started to lose my confidence. I started to disrespect myself. And then the relationships I got into at a young age, I let other people disrespect me and felt like, that's okay, this is what I deserved."

Nikki Bella went on to admit, "I was like that for a really long time. I would go to therapy on and off. Looking at it now I'm like, 'Oh Nicole, I wish you just would've let go at a young age. So much would have changed for you.' And I think that's what made me really want to tell these stories finally."

Now, Nikki Bella aims to help other women who have faced similar situations by sharing the truth with all. She plans to help other younger women who look up to her, by suggesting that they do not hold on to it long.

Nikki Bella took to Instagram to announce the arrival of her memoir Incomparable and shared a video.

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

Happy Pub Day Bella Army! Our memoir, Incomparable is officially out!! So happy, scared, nervous and excited! Putting info in our IG stories and twitter about our virtual book signing later today, early this morning we were already #51 on @amazon (Amazon is working on some of your delays! The team has been up early talking with them!) This has been a dream for Brie and I, and we hope you enjoy this book as much as we do. It’s not just a memoir, it’s an inspirational, motivational, and empowerment book. We want to help you all become the heroes of your own stories like we have become in our own. We all can be survivors! We hope this book helps you with what you are going through. ❤️ Love you all!! And thank you all SO MUCH for the constant love and support! We couldn’t do this without all of you!!!

A post shared by Nikki Bella (@thenikkibella) onMay 5, 2020 at 10:02am PDT

Nikki Bella and her twin sister Brie Bella both wrestled for WWE and retired in March 2019. The Bella twins are famous for the television show Total Divas and the spin-off which starred them - Total Bellas.

Nikki Bella was involved in a relationship with 16-time WWE champion John Cena since 2012. Nikki Bella and John Cena were engaged in 2017 but called off their wedding a year later. Nikki Bella is now engaged to her Dancing with the Stars partner Artem Chigvintsev. In January 2020, Nikki Bella and her sister Brie Bella announced that they were both expecting a child respectively.

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A 16-year-old girl was allegedly raped by her cousin in Uttar Pradesh's Chitrkoot district, police said on Wednesday. The incident took place under the Markundi police station area Tuesday afternoon when the girl was returning home after handing over lunch to her father who was working in agricultural field, a police officer said.

The victim's father filed a complaint with police, following which an FIR was lodged against the 22-year-old accused Tuesday evening, he said. The girl has been sent for medical examination, the officer said.

The accused is absconding and efforts are on to nab him, he said.

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Shamli (Uttar Pradesh): A 23-year-old married woman was allegedly raped by a ration dealer who promised her free ration as per government orders.

According to reports, the woman had approached the local shopkeeper for her quota of government ration when her savings dried up but he refused to give her ration. The woman's husband is stuck in Punjab, so she went to get free ration from the ration dealer. After waiting for several hours, she was asked to go away.

"On Tuesday evening, the accused, Vinod, came to my house and instead of giving me the ration, he raped me," the woman told the police.

Superintendent of police (SP) of Shamli, Vineet Jaiswal, said, "On the basis of complaint filed by the victim, police have booked Vinod under section 376 of IPC for the rape. He has been arrested and sent to jail."

The victim's landlord, meanwhile, said, "For the last three weeks, we were giving her the food as her husband was away and she had no money left. But, a few days ago, we expressed helplessness due our own condition," the landlord.

The woman's husband, a manual laborer, went to Punjab to collect his wages of the work he did a few months ago but he got stranded there after the announcement of countrywide lockdown.

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Nafamostat mesylate, a tryptase inhibitor, can treat severe dengue disease, according to the team of researchers from Duke-NUS Medical School. The

Imports - Wine Of Fresh Grapes, Incl Fortified Wines in Mexico decreased to 16696 USD THO in March from 17528 USD THO in February of 2020. Imports - Wine Of Fresh Grapes, Incl Fortified Win in Mexico averaged 20910.68 USD THO from 2014 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 37883 USD THO in August of 2018 and a record low of 8138 USD THO in February of 2015. This page includes a chart with historical data for Mexico Imports of Wine of Fresh Grapes, Incl Fortified W.

From the origin of the "grapevine" itself, through Motown and Marvin Gaye to The Slits' punk reinvention, Hilary Kirby charts the evolution of a classic. Credits: Motown Record Company, Motown Records, Island Def Jam Records.  

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Chinese ecommerce giant to help expand 50-floor Axa Tower

Just because she's expecting, doesn't mean she plans on slowing down for New York's biggest week in fashion. Ashley Graham was spotted beaming as she held hands with her husband.

Cox posted to Instagram in June with news of her and Draper's breakup: 'After much soul searching and tears from both of us, we have decided it's time for us to go our separate ways.'

Nicki Minaj's brother Jelani Maraj was sentenced to 25 years-to-life in a New York court Monday, following his 2017 conviction for raping an 11-year-old child while her mother was at work.

The Anaconda hitmaker, 37, found herself caught in an exchange with the rapper, 32, after he liked a photo that made reference to her new husband Kenneth Petty.

A soldier cleared of rape has been ordered to pay his alleged victim £100,000 in damages following a landmark civil case. Sean Diamond failed to defend the claim in June at Edinburgh High Court.

Core Drilling Specialist Limited (CDS Ltd) have been branded 'misogynistic' after displaying the offensive picture onto the side of a generator in Edinburgh city centre.

Former Recording Academy boss Neil Portnow has issued a vehement denial of a rape allegation made by the recently ousted CEO Deborah Dugan, calling it 'false and outrageous'.

Salmond, 65, was flanked by police officers as he entered Glasgow's High Court this morning.

Joseph Hail raped the woman after finding her in Glasgow's Kelvingrove Park. Hail was also convicted of sexually assaulting two girls, aged 16 and 19

Trevor Allan Dale, 60, was sentenced to a minimum of five years and eight months behind bars in the NSW District Court on Friday for raping ex-soap actor Bryan Wiseman in 1980.

Radamel Falcao bagged the winner on his Galatasaray debut against Kasimpasa on Friday night. The 33-year-old scored the only goal of the game as the Turkish champions won 1-0.

The migrant from Senegal was arrested on Sunday for allegedly raping the 48-year-old after she left work at a Naples hospital at around 3pm. It happened at the Corso Arnaldo Lucci Metropark bus stop.

Phillip Blackwell has been accused of a series of sex offences which reportedly took place in Nuneaton and Birmingham and involved five alleged victims.

Muhammad Zikri Ibrahim, 29, denied committing intentional insult at a Kuala Lumpur court. He allegedly claimed local indigenous villagers from the Orang Asli tribe raped Nora, 15.

Andrew Brooks Handley, 24, was arrested at the Walmart in Plantation, Florida on Saturday morning after trying to rape the woman in a store aisle.

The 33-year-old Portuguese footballer was seen leaving celeb-favoured eatery Cesar in Paris with partner Georgina Rodriguez, mother of his youngest child, on Sunday night.

Sophie Pointon (pictured), 22, told police officers that she had been sexually assaulted in the back of the cab she had been picked up in after a night out in Leeds city centre.

EXCLUSIVE: David Haigh, former Managing Director of Leeds United, spent 22 months in jail in Dubai after being accused of falsifying invoices and channelling funds to a secret bank account.

The men are among 29 people arrested as part of a child sex abuse probe known as Operation Tendersea. They are accused of rape and sex abuse of girls in Huddersfield over 7 years

Figures released by police show complaints of rape almost trebled in the first year and have remained significantly higher than before after fear of arrest in Holbeck, Leeds, was removed.

Miguel Federico Ajqui-Ajtzalam was picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Monday after originally being arrested in New York last Thursday. NYPD released him despite ICE detainer.

Geraldine Rodriguez (pictured), better known as twerk instructor 'Geri Hoops', claims she was flying out of Luis Munoz Marin International Airport when the incident took place last month.

Natalie Bassingthwaighte appears to have sustained a nasty injury while in self-isolation with her family.

Andrew Ziminski has devoted himself to preserving Britain's greatest structures. The stonemason of 30 years, examines wonders including Stonehenge in a new book.

Trevor Whybrow was drinking beer and spirits with his 68-year-old friend at a birthday party in Mooroopna, 181 kilometres north of Melbourne, on May 27 2018.

A burglar terrorised two women in a Melbourne home in the 1980s, putting a shotgun to their heads as they enjoyed a catch up over coffee.

Spanish Big Brother has come under fire after it emerged one of the show's contestants,Carlota Prado was shown footage of her alleged sexual assault in the diary room in 2017.

The legacy of U.S. civil rights hero Martin Luther King Jr could be facing a 'painful reckoning' after a biographer unearthed tapes detailing the scale of his affairs and sexual exploits.

The Mayor of London has rejected the application for the tower, that would have included a viewing platform with rotating pods, restaurant and a sky bar.