Ben Affleck to play Batman in "Man of Steel" sequel

Ben Affleck will don Batman's cape and cowl.

Warner Bros. announced Thursday that the 41-year-old actor-director will star as a new incarnation of the Dark Knight in a film bringing Batman and Superman together.

The studio said Affleck will star opposite 30-year-old Henry Cavill, who will reprise his role as Superman from "Man of Steel." The movie will also feature "Man of Steel" stars Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Laurence Fishburne as Perry White and Diane Lane as Martha Kent.

The big-screen DC Comics superhero mash-up was first revealed by director Zack Snyder at last month's Comic-Con International in San Diego.

Snyder, who will direct the sequel written by "Man of Steel" screenwriter David S. Goyer, said in a statement that Affleck will provide an "interesting counter-balance" to Cavill's Clark Kent.

"(Affleck) has the acting chops to create a layered portrayal of a man who is older and wiser than Clark Kent and bears the scars of a seasoned crime fighter, but retain the charm that the world sees in billionaire Bruce Wayne," said Snyder. "I can't wait to work with him."

Production on the as-yet-untitled film is expected to begin in 2014 for release July 17, 2015.

It won't be Affleck's first time in superhero garb. He played a blind Marvel crime fighter in 2003's "Daredevil" and portrayed 1950s Superman actor George Reeves in 2006's "Hollywoodland."

Affleck's "Argo," which he starred in and directed, won the Academy Award for best picture earlier this year.

Christian Bale most recently played Batman in director Christopher Nolan's "Dark Knight" trilogy.

Raksha Bandhan History

Raksha Bandhan in History

The traditional Hindu festival 'Raksha Bandhan' (knot of protection) was came into origin about 6000 years back when Aryans created first civilization - The Indus Valley Civilization. With many languages and cultures, the traditional method to Rakhi festival celebration differs from place to place across India. Following are some historical evidences of Raksha Bandhan celebration from the Indian history. 

Rani Karnawati and Emperor Humayun
The story of Rani Karnavati and Emperor Humayun is the most significant evidence in the history. During the medieval era, Rajputs were fighting Muslim invasions. Rakhi at that time meant a spiritual binding and protection of sisters was foremost. When Rani Karnawati the widowed queen of the king of Chittor realised that she could in no way defend the invasion of the Sultan of Gujarat, Bahadur Shah, she sent a rakhi to Emperor Humayun. The Emperor touched by the gesture started off with his troops without wasting any time.

Alexander The Great and King Puru
The oldest reference to the festival of rakhi goes back to 300 B.C. at the time when Alexander invaded India. It is said that the great conqueror, King Alexander of Macedonia was shaken by the fury of the Indian king Puru in his first attempt. Upset by this, Alexander's wife, who had heard of the Rakhi festival, approached King Puru. King Puru accepted her as his sister and when the opportunity came during the war, he refrained from Alexander.

Lord Krishna and Draupathi
In order to protect the good people, Lord Krishna killed the evil King Shishupal. Krishna was hurt during the war and left with bleeding finger. Seeing this, Draupathi had torn a strip of cloth from her sari and tied around his wrist to stop the bleeding. Lord Krishna, realizing her affections and concern about him, declared himself bounded by her sisterly love. He promised her to repay this debt whenever she need in future. Many years later, when the pandavas lost Draupathi in the game of dice and Kauravas were removing her saari, Krishna helped her divinely elongating the saari so that they could not remove it.

King Bali and Goddess Lakshmi
The demon king Mahabali was a great devotee of lord Vishnu. Because of his immense devotion, Vishnu has taken the task of protecting bali's Kingdom leaving his normal place in Vikundam. Goddess lakshmi - the wife of lord Vishnu - has became sad because of this as she wanted lord Vishnu along with her. So she went to Bali and discussed as a Brahmin woman and taken refuge in his palace. On Shravana purnima, she tied Rakhi on King Bali's wrist. Goddess Lakshmi revealed who she is and why she is there. The king was touched by Her and Lord Vishnu's good will and affection towards him and his family, Bali requested Lord Vishnu to accompany her to vaikuntam. Due to this festival is also called Baleva as Bali Raja's devotion to the Lord vishnu. It is said that since that day it has become a tradition to invite sisters on sravan pournima to tie sacred thread of Rakhi or Raksha bandan. 

Trending topics in India

INS Vikrant, India's first indigenous aircraft carrier, unlikely to be battle-ready before 2020 Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/ins-vikrant-indigenous-aircraft-carrier-launched-seven-years-navy/1/299256.html

A slew of big-ticket projects, such as the aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, the launch of which was announced with much fanfare on Monday, will not see the light of day anytime soon. Not in the lifetime of this government and not even after the next government demits office.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/ins-vikrant-indigenous-aircraft-carrier-launched-seven-years-navy/1/299256.html

Take the case of the INS Vikrant, launched by Defence Minister A.K. Antony's wife, Elizabeth, on Monday. While the official spin is that the launch brackets India with a handful of nations capable of building a modern aircraft carrier, it will be at least another seven years before the INS Vikrant can be actively deployed by the Navy. The launch is, however, indicative of progress and the carrier remains the Indian Navy's great hope.

Experts who have worked on the project said that though 75 per cent of the ship's structure has been completed, a fair amount of work remains before it can be handed over to the Navy some time in 2018. The Navy will then take at least two years to make the aviation facility on the carrier fully active after a series of sea trials, said an officer involved with the project, claiming it would be safe to estimate a 2020 date for the full deployment of the aircraft carrier.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/ins-vikrant-indigenous-aircraft-carrier-launched-seven-years-navy/1/299256.html

Though Monday's event was termed a launch, it actually meant that the ship was taken out of the dry dock after the completion of its basic structure, which includes the ski-jump deck from where aircraft would take off. It will be moved to a deeper dock for integration of various systems and installation of 2,700 km of cabling.

The launch itself was delayed by a year and a half; it was earlier scheduled for December 2011. The ship moving out of dry dock also marks the end of the first phase of its construction, programme for which the Cabinet Committee on Security had committed around Rs.3,261 crore.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/ins-vikrant-indigenous-aircraft-carrier-launched-seven-years-navy/1/299256.html

The indigenous ship - to be powered by General Electric gas turbine engines and its design inputs provided by Fincantieri of Italy - was named after India's first aircraft carrier, the INS Vikrant which was originally the HMS Hercules of Britain's Royal Navy. Vikrant had taken active part in the 1971 Indo-Pak War.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/ins-vikrant-indigenous-aircraft-carrier-launched-seven-years-navy/1/299256.html

At 37,500 tonne, Vikrant, when fully operational will be around four hectares of Indian territory floating in the sea. That makes it the biggest ship to be constructed in the country. But when compared to other aircraft carriers it would be in the category that contains the fourth biggest. The US Navy operates nuclear-powered super carriers with displacements of over 1,00,000 tonnes. The French, British and Russians are building carriers in the 60,000-tonne category. India's own INS Vikramaditya, which is being retrofitted in Russia, is a 44,000-tonne ship.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/ins-vikrant-indigenous-aircraft-carrier-launched-seven-years-navy/1/299256.html
China's maiden aircraft carrier, Varyag, is around 55,000 tons. Last week the nuclear reactor that will propel home-made submarine Arihant in Visakhapatnam went critical, but delays have dogged the development of the ballistic missile-capable Arihant, which will form the third leg of India's nuclear triad, and the launch of Vikrant, which will fulfill the Navy's blue-water aspirations.
While politicians may be adding to their record of cutting ribbons, delays in big projects are costing the armed forces. The IAF would have phased out its MiG-21 fighters by now if the LCA had been delivered in time. If INS Vikramaditya had been inducted, the Navy would have been operating two aircraft carrier

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/ins-vikrant-indigenous-aircraft-carrier-launched-seven-years-navy/1/299256.html