Latest news with #Villages
Hans India
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
Collector aims to build Golden Villages
Anantapur: Collector Dr. Vinod Kumar V emphasized the vision of transforming villages into 'Swarna Gramalalu' (Golden Villages) as part of the broader 'Swarna Andhra Pradesh' initiative. On Thursday, he conducted an extensive visit to M. Bandamidapalli village in Raptadu Mandal, where he reviewed several developmental and welfare activities. The Collector personally distributed pensions under the NTR Bharosa scheme by visiting the beneficiaries' homes. He interacted with the recipients to understand their needs and assured government support where required. Later, he inspected desilting works under the MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) at the local tank near Lalasahibpalli. Demonstrating leadership by example, the Collector picked up a shovel and participated in the work himself. 'Every eligible individual holding a job card should participate in summer employment works, which earn Rs. 300 per day,' he urged. He called on workers to spread the message among others in their neighborhoods as well. Following this, Dr. Vinod Kumar inaugurated a farm pond at the orchard of farmer Sadik Vali and later opened cattle shed constructed by farmer B. Govindu, built with an estimated cost of Rs. 2.3 lakhs. He directed officials to ensure the farmer receives perennial fodder to sustain livestock. He also inspected a drinking trough for animals on the outskirts of the village. Villagers appealed for a tar road from Bandamidapalli to Lalasahibpalli, construction of an overhead water tank, and resolution of other local issues. The Collector assured road sanction and problem resolution. Finally, he inspected the Solid Waste Processing Centre (SWPC) in the village, reviewing its operations. Officials who accompanied the collector included: Assistant Collector Sachin Rahar, DWMA PD Saleem Basha, DPO Nagarjuna Naidu, Zilla Parishad CEO Ramachandra Reddy, District Employment Officer Kalyani, DLDO Lalitha Bai, Tahsildar Vijayakumari, MPDO Vijayalakshmi, DLPD Vijay Kumar, Sarpanch Padmavati, and various departmental officials.
The Guardian
11-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘Too original for just one medium': Agnès Varda's Paris photographs go on show
The French cinéaste Agnès Varda, who died in 2019 at the age of 90, had many lives. Initially a photographer, she broke through as a film-maker with Cléo from 5 to 7 in 1962, and then reinvented herself in her late 70s with art installations that toured the world's most prestigious contemporary exhibition spaces, from the Venice Biennale to the Los Angeles Museum. Her last film documentaries such as the autobiographical Les plages d'Agnès (2008) and Visages, Villages (2017) reaped awards worldwide. The elf-looking gamine with her eternal short bob and soft melodious voice showed through her life a formidable determination, imposing herself in a man's world. Today, Varda is a French monument. So much so that her work is now exhibited for the first time in one of Paris's most iconic and historic museums, the Musée Carnavalet, dedicated to the history of the French capital. Agnès Varda's Paris, Here and There, which has just opened, focuses on her first profession, that of 'artisan photographer'. This small but perfectly formed exhibition displays for the first time Varda's early photography work and invites the viewer into her Parisian home, a temple to art and friendship. For Varda, photography and Paris were intimately linked. Perhaps because she never left the impasse at 86 Rue Daguerre near Montparnasse, where she lived for almost 70 years. Made of two derelict shops joined by a courtyard alley, Varda transformed this islet of a place into a studio, a playground and a home where clients, family, friends, fellow artists and lovers would constantly cross paths. On first visiting the place in 1951, her father asked if she really wanted to live and work in this ramshackle barn with only a squat toilet in the courtyard. She answered, 'I'll make it work somehow.' And she did. Her Greek father and French mother had fled the German invasion in June 1940 and settled with their five children in the seaside resort of Sète in Languedoc. After Germany occupied the whole of France in late 1942, the family moved to Paris. No more southern light and warmth: 'Paris was cold and sad. Germans were everywhere', she recalled. However, as Paris was liberated in August 1944, a new spirit, one of freedom and unadulterated joy, galvanised the whole country and especially its youth. The 16-year-old Varda enrolled at the Louvre art school and chose to become a photographer. She also legally changed her first name in an act of emancipation: born Arlette, she chose to be known as Agnès. Officially registered with the photographers' guild at the age of 18, she first lived in Montmartre with her lover, the sculptor Valentine Schlegel, who became one of her first models. The two young women then moved to 86 Rue Daguerre in the 14th arrondissement, after Agnès's father agreed to help her buy these strange, interconnected boutiques in ruin. Through Valentine, Varda met the maverick theatre director Jean Vilar. This encounter propelled Varda into the world of avant garde theatre and films. Vilar, who was Valentine's brother-in-law, was France's star theatre director whose productions of classics such as Corneille's Le Cid with heartthrob Gérard Philippe in the title-role attracted the crowds. Vilar believed in popular theatre and, thanks to a deliberate policy of affordable tickets, brought the magic of classics to a working-class public. Served by the most talented young actors from the Paris drama school known as Le Conservatoire, Vilar believed that the working class deserved the best; it was a perfect French case of elitism for all, and it worked. Varda became Vilar's official photographer, taking portraits of all the actors, and documenting rehearsals and the life of the theatre company, in Paris and on tour. Alongside her professional work, Varda developed her own style, inspired by surrealism. In one of her personal works, she superimposed two negatives, one of the Seine River, another of the sculpted profile of a man, thus creating a strange and unsettling composition called The Drowned Man. She would cultivate this eerily otherness all her life. In her 'studio-courtyard' as she called it, she started receiving many young actors looking for a new kind of professional portrait, in natural light, far from the old studio effects of light and shadows, sophisticated poses and makeup. This thirst for spontaneity, naturalness and improvisation permeated all arts in the 1950s. In photography, her colleague Sabine Weiss, but also Willy Ronis and Robert Doisneau, made their mark for their ability to catch life and people in movement. Varda, although not a member of a photographers' agency like Magnum, shared the same passion for people and freedom. Unlike photo-reporters who went on assignments anywhere in the world, Varda mostly photographed Parisians or visiting artists. In 1954, she dragged Federico Fellini, in Paris to promote his film La Strada, to a demolition site near her, and took pictures of him, half-hidden in trenches of stone debris. He didn't seem to mind. 'He was calm, smiling and patient,' she recalled. She also had the American artist and sculptor Alexander Calder crossing the street opposite her studio all afternoon carrying his huge mobiles while laughing. News magazines started commissioning her work. She managed to impose both her stories and her vision, for instance when she followed a girl she had dressed as an angel through the streets of Paris, catching people's reactions, half-surprised, half suspicious. She used Paris as decor, and sometimes as a character. At the time, the city was dark, its buildings covered with centuries-old grime and soot, and its people, for a large part, of modest origin. In 1957, Varda chose to document the life of Rue Mouffetard in the 5th arrondissement, one of Paris's oldest streets, snaking down from the Panthéon. Its inhabitants were mostly poor or destitute, living at the fringes of society. Varda shot closeups of their faces, their eyes telling dramatic if not simply sad stories. Her photography inevitably led her to cinema which, in the mid-1950s, stood at a crossroads. Her first long feature film, La Pointe Courte, was filmed in Sète in the summer of 1954, on a shoestring budget, thanks to the generosity of friends such as Alain Resnais, who edited the film for her and Vilar's actors Philippe Noiret and Sylvia Monfort, who worked for free. Four years before the official birth of the French New Wave, La Pointe Courte announced the changes to come, although very few credited her for it. When her new partner, the film director Jacques Demy, moved in with her at 86 Rue Daguerre in 1959, movies and photography became the two most important things in her life, alongside her daughter Rosalie, born in 1958. Varda was always too original and too curious about life to choose just one medium in which to express herself. Her notebooks, letters, news reports, extracts of her films and home videos, and her photography demonstrate her irresistible enthusiasm for all things eccentric and wondrous. As she said it herself: 'I enjoy going here and there. I enjoy saying one thing and its opposite. I feel less trapped that way, because I do not choose just one version of life.' Le Paris d'Agnès Varda is at Musée Carnavalet, Paris, until 24 August
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Yahoo
Indiana lawmakers promote Child Abuse Prevention Month
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month and today lawmakers and child abuse advocates gathered at the Statehouse in Indianapolis to raise awareness. The event was hosted in conjunction with the Villages of Indiana. The Villages are the state's largest licensed and accredited nonprofit agency dedicated to family and child services. At today's event, organizers and lawmakers, including Governor Mike Braun, talked about the importance of keeping young Hoosiers safe. Two arrested on child abuse, neglect charges in Knox County 'Child Abuse Prevention Month is a reminder that it is on all of us to know the signs of child abuse and to speak up for the victims that can't speak up for themselves,' said Gov. Braun. 'We shouldn't have to talk about it but the fact that a crowd this large is here to punctuate that, that means we got work to do.' According to the Indiana Youth Institute's most recent stats in 2023, more than 7,500 young Hoosiers were removed from their homes due to abuse and neglect. Officials said that's a 26% increase from 2022. To report abuse or neglect, call the Indiana Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline at 800-800-5556. Fort Wayne woman faces 5 felony counts, accused of leaving children bruised with belt Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Miami Herald
02-03-2025
- Sport
- Miami Herald
Calvary Christian boys' hoops comes full circle with dramatic state championship victory
Calvary Christian's boys' basketball team came full circle. A year ago, the Eagles were left on the court feeling the pain of a season-ending loss to rival North Broward Prep in the regional finals with three-tenths of a second left on the clock. On Saturday night in Lakeland, it was Calvary Christian's turn to flip the script. Junior guard Kenneth Francis Jr.'s fall away jumper with 2.5 seconds remaining ended up being the game-winner, which secured the Eagles a thrilling 66-64 victory over The Villages in the Class 3A state championship game at the RP Funding Center. After a timeout, Villages guard Adyn Corbin's desperation heave from halfcourt at the buzzer was an airball and Calvary Christian players and coaches ran onto the court to celebrate a moment of redemption a year in the making. 'Hats off to Villages, they were awesome,' Calvary Christian coach Cilk McSweeney said. 'Every zone trap we did that's worked against every team we faced, they broke it and made shot after shot. We just had to find a way. This was one of the toughest games we had to dig out a win for sure. It's all about perseverance and being resilient and keep fighting.' As Calvary Christian celebrates its triumph, it also hopes to receive an invitation to the Chipotle Nationals April 3-5 in Fishers, Indiana and an opportunity to compete for a national championship. The Eagles (22-1), who are ranked No. 3 nationally by MaxPreps, won their third state title since 2021 and made it back to the top after a two-year gap. Calvary Christian made the choice to go independent for the 2022-23 season and a play a completely national schedule, but struggled to a 7-15 record. Last season, it appeared the Eagles were primed to win another state title, but suffered the aforementioned heartbreaker. Calvary Christian used '0.3' as its motivation this season. It led the Eagles all the way to Lakeland on Saturday where they found themselves in another dicey situation, which also could have ended in heartbreak. Tied at 64 with 16.1 seconds left, senior guard, Cincinnati signee and McDonald's All-American Shon Abaev held the ball behind the 3-point line as he looked for the final shot. He drove to the basket and put up a solid attempt that barely rimmed out. But Francis Jr. surged in and grabbed the rebound and quickly turned and fired his shot as he fell away from the basket. 'I just knew I had to attack the rim just in case (Abaev) missed it,' Francis Jr. said. 'We've been in this spot many times before so I knew I had to do it. It was a very intense game and I love these types of games.' And so Calvary Christian players and coaches relished the other side of the spectrum of emotions after a dramatic roller coaster game, which was tied 11 times and had 19 lead changes and neither team able to stretch a lead over seven points. 'It's amazing because we played in a lot of close games against a lot of tough teams (this season),' Abaev said. 'We stayed calm the whole time and had a little outburst, but we believed in ourselves, we stuck to the game plan and came out on top.' Ironically, Francis Jr. picked up his teammates in the game's most important moment after a quiet night on the scoresheet. After scoring 25 points in the Eagles' semifinal win over Cardinal Gibbons, he finished with six points and five rebounds. Abaev recorded a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Junior guard Colin Paul came close to a double-double with 16 points and nine rebounds. But one of the most clutch performances that helped Calvary keep pace with The Villages (26-6) throughout the game and eventually prevail came from sophomore guard Cayden Daughtry, who shot 7 for 12 from the field, 2 for 5 from 3-point range and 7 for 7 from the free throw line and finished with a game-high 23 points. 'We played some of the top teams in the nation, but this game was definitely one of the hardest,' Daughtry said. 'They played their hearts out and we had to bring out all our effort to win this one.' Twice, the Buffalo threatened to build a big lead when they got ahead by five in the third quarter. Each time, Calvary Christian responded. A trying moment in the game came when junior Sam Hallas was ejected after drawing a technical foul with 6:16 left in the third quarter. Aaron Britt Jr., who had 14 points for The Villages, proceeded to hit both free throws and moments later, Jared Thompson scored to push the Buffalo's lead to 39-34. Abaev answered at the other end with a layup and a free throw after drawing a foul. The Villages extended the lead back to five and Daughtry answered with five consecutive points to tie the game at 42. 'We should have won it last year,' Daughtry said. 'The fact that we came back after all that adversity, got to where we wanted to be and won it.'
