The official trailer of the latest addition to the Monsterverse, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, is out now. Directed by Adam Wingard, who returns to the franchise after Godzilla vs. Kong, the film features Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry and others.

The trailer for Godzilla x Kong introduces a new threat amidst the rise of a new empire. We then get a closer look at Godzilla with glorious upgrades as the kaiju charges alongside King Kong. It’s a team-up, alright!

Check out the trailer here:

The New Empire marks the next film in the Godzilla franchise, joining 37 previous titles. Meanwhile, it is reportedly the latest out of 13 films featuring King Kong.

The official synopsis reads, “The epic battle continues!  Legendary Pictures’ cinematic Monsterverse follows up the explosive showdown of “Godzilla vs. Kong” with an all-new adventure that pits the almighty Kong and the fearsome Godzilla against a colossal undiscovered threat hidden within our world, challenging their very existence—and our own. “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” delves further into the histories of these Titans and their origins, as well as the mysteries of Skull Island and beyond, while uncovering the mythic battle that helped forge these extraordinary beings and tied them to humankind forever.” 

Godzilla x Kong also features Kaylee Hottle, Alex Ferns, Fala Chen and others in pivotal roles. The film will release in cinemas on April 12, 2024.

As the BJP swept the Madhya Pradesh election, the result flying in the face of exit poll predictions, the spotlight is on the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government’s welfare schemes such as ‘Ladli Behna’ that helped BJP tap into women votes and swung the polls in its favour.

The ‘Ladli Behna’ scheme, aimed at making women financially independent, is being considered a masterstroke by the four-time chief minister that helped BJP seal the victory in the heartland state.

The Scheme

The Mukhya Mantri Ladli Behna Scheme was launched by Chief Minister Chouhan in March this year. Under the scheme, women in the 23-60 years age group receive Rs 1,000 every month in their bank accounts. This amount, the BJP has promised, will go up to Rs 3,000 gradually. The objective is to make women self-reliant and also empower them to address their health and nutrition requirements by providing them financial support.

Who’s Eligible, Who’s Not

Married women residents of Madhya Pradesh in the 23-60 years age group are eligible to avail the scheme’s benefit. This includes widows, divorced and abandoned women, according to the scheme’s website.

Women from families with an annual income more than Rs 2.5 lakh are not eligible for the scheme’s benefits. Women who are income tax payers or whose family members are government employees are also ineligible. Unmarried women cannot avail of the scheme either. Women whose family members are elected public representatives cannot avail the benefits. If a woman is already receiving an amount less than Rs 1,000 under any other scheme, the difference will be paid to her under the ‘Ladli Behna’ scheme. The scheme also stands out because the monthly instalments would only get deposited in her account and not that of her husband or any other relative.

The Implementation

The 40-member team involved in implementing the scheme pulled off a Herculean task by registering 1.25 crore women under the scheme and crediting the assistance monthly in 99 per cent of the accounts, all within just 100 days. This was achieved through hundreds of camps set up for the registration. There would be long queues, but the process would take just minutes, even in rural areas.

Abhijit Agarwal, Managing Director of MP State Electronics Development Corporation Limited, said the backbone of the scheme’s implementation was the Aadhaar database. At the camps, the women’s bank accounts would be linked to their phone numbers and Aadhaar. “Once the KYC process was completed, the data would come to us. This would also reduce the chance of human error,” said the IAS officer.

The Team

Madhya Pradesh has over 23,000 panchayats and over 7,000 wards. The team of 40 members completed registration of over a crore women within three months. Members of the team said that on some days, data of more than 50,000 women was being uploaded on the registration app.

Rahul Gurjar, an engineer part of the team, said they would work 16-20 hours a day. “Ever since this project started, we worked tirelessly. We skipped every festival. We tried to work even if we were sick,” said Shivani, another engineer on the team.

The Politics

When the Congress announced a monthly assistance of Rs 1,500 in the run-up to the Assembly polls, the ruling BJP tweaked the ‘Ladli Behna’ policy and hiked the monthly amount to Rs 1,250. Chief Minister Chouhan also said this amount would be increased gradually and go up to Rs 3,000 a month.

“The Mukhya Mantra Ladli Behna Yojana has started with Rs 1,000, but it won’t stop there. Your brother will keep increasing it,” Mr Chouhan then said. Congress’s Kamal Nath had then said this was a desperate attempt by the ruling party to save its “sinking ship” and stressed that it won’t work, but the Chief Minister was confident. Even a day after the election, Mr Chouhan said the scheme was removing all thorns from the BJP’s way to victory.

Why ‘Ladli Behna’ Worked?

The scheme’s launch could be a political move in a poll year. But it is important to understand why it’s crucial in a state and Madhya Pradesh and why it could potentially swing women votes. According to National Health and Family Survey data, 23 per cent of women in the 15-49 years age group have a body mass index lower than normal. Nearly 55 per cent of women in this age group are anaemic.

Only about 40 per cent of women in the state own house/land individually or jointly. Only 38.5 women in the state have a mobile phone of their own. The number of women in the state’s workforce, both in urban and rural areas, are also dismal. Against this backdrop, a scheme that puts money in their hands can potentially help them better care of themselves. ‘Ladli Behna’ also ensured that the amount did not go to a male relative – a system that has often been misused. The scheme worked for women and, as the results showed, for the BJP too.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will not attend the next INDIA alliance coordination meeting on Wednesday. Ms Banerjee, who said the Congress lost the recent state elections due to a lack of seat-sharing arrangements with other INDIA members, has a pre-scheduled programme in north Bengal on that day.

“I am not aware about this (the meeting) and I have some programs scheduled for north Bengal, if I had information about this then I would not have gone to north Bengal,” she said.

Her party Trinamool Congress may also skip the meeting, sources said.

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge yesterday called for the next meeting of the opposition bloc even as it was handed big defeats by the BJP in three states. The meeting is being held after a gap of three months since the last one in Mumbai on August 31 and September 1.

The meeting is expected to chalk out plans for next year’s Lok Sabha election.

The BJP swept Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, handing a shattering defeat to the Congress to tighten its stranglehold in the Hindi heartland.

The only proverbial silver lining for the Congress was Telangana where it ousted the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in the state assembly elections – billed by many as a semi-final before next year’s general elections.

The Congress, which put the Opposition alliance in a state of limbo as it focused on the state elections, received flak from the INDIA bloc allies who blamed the party’s decision not to fight the elections together.

The Bengal Chief Minister, earlier in the day, said the Congress decision to fight the polls on its  led to a “division of votes”.

“Congress has won Telangana. They would have won Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. Some votes were cut by INDIA parties. This is the truth. We had said suggested a seat-sharing arrangement. They lost because of division of votes,” Ms Banerjee said in an address to the West Bengal Assembly.

Trinamool Congress National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee said, “The attempt to bring everyone together should gain momentum. It should be reflected in the actions and not in their words.”

“Ultimately, everybody is fighting unitedly against the autocratic BJP. Not much time is left and hence, we should utilise the time which is left. Ignoring the self-interests, we need to work for the interests of the people. Keeping aside the political ego, people who are strong and competent in their regions should be given the chance to fight. This will benefit the people,” he added.

Yesterday, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah taunted the Congress for belatedly remembering the INDIA alliance: “On December 6, the Congress chief has invited some INDIA alliance leaders for lunch. They recalled the INDIA alliance after three months. Let’s see”.

The Congress, a day after the drubbing, said it would introspect what happened in the two states it held – Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh – and Madhya Pradesh.

Mr Kharge, according to the sources, said, “Mistakes have taken place and we will make course corrections”. “Over confidence in some states and refusal to adhere to proper candidates and campaign cost us in the last few days of the elections,” he added.

Several opposition leaders, however, asserted that the results will not impact the INDIA bloc, stressing the bloc needs to work harder for the Lok Sabha polls.

“Victories and losses happen. We should learn from the defeat, as well as from those who have won. India has to be one, it is for everyone, and we need to strengthen the country,” National Conference (NC) leader Farooq Abdullah said.

“INDIA has to get back where we started,” said Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav. “We started on the point that we have to support the parties in the regions they are strong in. The 2024 polls will be historic. There will be change.”