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Archives for August 2018

Shutdown against Bihar shelter home rape hit rail, road traffic

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A shutdown called by the Left parties in Bihar on Thursday against the rape of 34 minor girls at a shelter home in Muzaffarpur district has hit the rail and road traffic, police said.

The state-wide shutdown is backed by opposition parties including the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) (RJD), Congress, Hindustani Swam Morcha, Samajwadi Party and Lokrantrik Janata Dal.

Left party workers and supporters blocked railway tracks thereby affecting over a dozen trains since early Thursday morning.

According to reports reaching here, trains were stopped in Darbhanga, Madhubani, Jahanabad, Gaya, Muzaffarpur, Patna and Bhojpur districts.

Protesters have also blocked several roads in Siwan, Bhojpur, Nawada, Patna, Arwal, Jagabad districts.

The case came to light earlier this year when the Bihar Social Welfare Department filed an FIR based on a social audit of the shelter home conducted by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai.

The CBI on Sunday took over case following a recommendation by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Shortage of over 9,000 officers in Indian Armed Forces

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The Indian Army, the Navy and Air Force are facing a shortage of more than 9,000 officers, the government said on Wednesday.

The Indian Army alone is short of 7,298 officers, Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

He said the Army has an authorised strength of 49,933 officers but as on January 1, 2018 it had only 42,635.

The Indian Army is considered the second largest army in the world with 1.4 million officers and others, according to the World Atlas 2018 report.

The Indian Navy has a sanctioned strength of 11,352 officers but has only 9,746 – a shortage of 1,606, according to data as on July 1, 2018.

Similarly, the Air Force’s authorised strength of officers is 12,584 but it has only 12,392 and is short of 192.

The minister said recruitment in the Armed Forces was a continuous process and the government was taking a number of measures to reduce the shortages.

“These include sustained image projection, participation in career fairs and exhibitions and publicity campaign to create awareness among the youth on the advantages of taking up a challenging and satisfying career.”

The government, he said, had as well taken various steps to make Armed Forces’ jobs attractive including improvement in promotion prospects.

“To attract youth including the rural youth to join the Armed Forces various steps are taken such as giving wide publicity to recruitment in the Armed Forces through advertisement in print and audio-visual media.

“Recruitment of Personnel Below Officers Ranks (PBORs) in the Army is carried out through open rally system being conducted regularly throughout the country. Efforts are made to cover the entire country including remote and tribal areas.”

In the Navy, the minister said, regular recruitment drives are also undertaken for recruitment of sailors.

Recruitment of Airmen in the Air Force is done on all India basis through scheduled selection tests as recruitment rallies are also conducted in different parts of the country including tribal areas.

Court allows Tharoor to go abroad

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A Delhi Court allowed Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, accused of abetment to suicide of his wife Sunanda Pushkar, to visit foreign countries.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal at the Patiala House Courts granted the permission to Tharoor, asking him to furnish a fixed deposit receipt (FDR) of Rs two lakh which would be refunded after his return.

Tharoor’s counsel and senior advocate Vikash Pahwa had moved the application seeking permission for eight visits to five different countries including the US, Canada and Germany, till December.

The court has directed Tharoor to provide the tavel details to the investigating officer. It also asked the accused not to tamper with the evidence or influence the witnesses in the case.

On June 5, the court took cognizance of the charge sheet filed by the police.

Pushkar, 51, died under mysterious circumstances in a hotel room in south Delhi on January 17, 2014, days after she alleged that Tharoor was having an affair with a Pakistani journalist.

On May 14, police charge-sheeted Tharoor under sections 306 and 498A of the Indian Penal Code, pertaining to abetment to suicide and cruelty to wife, which entails a jail term of up to 10 years.

Why stop foreign journalists from reporting from Kashmir, asks Omar

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Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday wondered if the situation in Jammu and Kashmir had deteriorated so badly that the government was afraid of allowing foreign correspondents to report freely from the state.

Annie Gowen, the India bureau chief of Washington Post, tweeted on Tuesday that she was in Kashmir for a friend’s wedding.

But she said she was not reporting because the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Home Affairs had not granted the special permit now required for foreign correspondents. She said she applied for it on June 22. “Unacceptable delay.”

The National Conference leader took exception to the denial of permission to Gowen.

“Has the situation in Kashmir deteriorated to such an extent that we are now afraid to let foreign correspondents report freely from Kashmir? Another crowning achievement of BJP’s Kashmir policy ably assisted by its partner in crime the PDP.”

In the early 1990s too, foreign journalists had to seek permission from the Home Ministry to report from Jammu and Kashmir.

Zimbabwe’s ZANU-PF wins majority in parliament: Electoral body

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Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU-PF party has won the most seats in parliament, official results showed on Wednesday, as the vote count continued in the presidential race.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) results showed President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s ZANU-PF cruising to a big majority after picking up 109 seats in a 210-seat parliament.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) alliance managed to win only 41 seats with results for 58 seats still to be announced, the election body said on Wednesday.

ZANU-PF would need to win 30 more seats to have a two-thirds majority that would allow it to change the constitution at will.

Nick Mangwana, ZANU-PF spokesman, said the party was happy with the results.

“We are very happy with the results. So far, it shows that the people of Zimbabwe have entrusted ZANU-PF to lead them and we will do our best to meet the people’s wishes in the constituencies that elected us,” Mangwana told Al Jazeera.
The opposition alliance said the vote was rigged in favour of the party that has been in power since the southern African country gained independence in 1980.

‘Cooked figures’
“The results are a gimmick to try and prepare Zimbabwe for a rigged election. If President Chamisa wins this election then the people of Zimbabwe will have their government,” Nkululeko Sibanda, MDC alliance spokesman, told Al Jazeera.

At the opposition party headquarters, the mood was tense as hundreds of supporters gathered outside – their anger directed at what they said was foul play by ZANU-PF.

Police trucks parked outside the opposition headquarters.
“The results are not a true reflection of the people who voted on the polling day. These are cooked figures they are not the real figures,” Samson Chikazhe, told Al Jazeera, anger palpable in his voice.

“I am not happy because at the polling station where I voted most of the people were voting for MDC alliance but if you see the results of the constituency it does not reflect the will of the people. We are not going to accept defeat,” Chikazhe, 28, added.

Standing a few feet away from Chikazhe, Eveson Matambanadzo said the results were unacceptable.

“The results we have are cooked if you compare the people who voted on the ground to the results that are there it doesn’t tally,” Matambanadzo told Al Jazeera.

As the crowd swell, the police brought reinforcement with one police truck and several water cannon trucks kept a watchful eye but did not interfere.

Many of the protesters tried to get into the National Results Centre in the capital city.

Outside the ruling party headquarters, there was no sign of supporters or heavy presence of security service.

Meanwhile, ZANU-PF denied the opposition accusation of manipulating the vote.

Hundreds have gathered in the streets of Harare to protest the results.
“There was no rigging and the opposition will come to realise this once emotions settle down. This was a free expression of the people’s will,” Mangwana, the ZANU-PF spokesman, said.

Pedzisai Ruhanya, a Harare-based political analyst with Zimbabwe Democracy Institute, said the results released so far could be a reflection of the will of the people but were not perfect.

“It seems the results so far could indicate the will of the people, especially the rural population, to be ruled by ZANU-PF,” Ruhanya told Al Jazeera.

“But there are serious issues with the conduct of the election by ZEC and these need to be sorted out if this election is meant to ensure a smooth democratic transition for Zimbabwe or else there will be distrust and discontent among the urban people,” Ruhanya said.

Monday’s vote was Zimbabwe’s first election since long-term President Robert Mugabe was pushed out of office last year.

Rural votes
After the announcement, it will be crucial to see if the opposition parties will accept the results.

There have been threats of protests and the opposition parties have said they will release their own set of results.

Earlier in the day, opposition leader Nelson Chamisa tweeted that he had “won”.

The results are a gimmick to try and prepare Zimbabwe for a rigged election.

The opposition leader said on Tuesday that he was “winning resoundingly” – a claim denied by the Electoral Commission.

A presidential runoff will be held on September 8 if a candidate does not secure more than 50 percent of the vote, but it will probably take a couple of days before the results of the presidential election have come in.

More than five million Zimbabweans registered to take part in the poll. The Electoral Commission said 1.3 percent of registered voters could not cast their vote because they presented the wrong documents at polling stations.

Previous elections in Zimbabwe have been marred by intimidation and threats, but campaigning this time has been relatively peaceful.

Elections observers from the European Union and the United States have also been allowed to monitor the vote for the first time since 2002.

Twenty-three candidates, 19 men and four women, contested for the presidency – all first-time contenders.

Yeddyurappa attacks and to know Gowda’s contribution for country as PM

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BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa today sought to know what contribution H D Deve Gowda had made as the country’s Prime Minister.

Yeddyurappa made the remarks while addressing Lingayat seers who staged a demonstration at Belagavi against alleged injustice meted out to North Karnataka. The seers demanded an overall development of North Karnataka but did not support bifurcation of the state.

“Former prime minister H D Deve Gowda has asked what contribution (former chief ministers) Nijalingappa, S R Bommai and Veerendra Patil have made for North Karnataka. While giving such statements, he should think of what he had contributed as the prime minister of India. We should avoid making accusations and counter-accusations,” Yeddyurappa said.

A large number of Lingayat seers, including Shivalingeshwara Swamiji of Nidasoshi Math, Chandrashekhar Shivacharya Swamiji of Hukkeri and Naganur Rudrakshi Math pontiff Siddharam Swamiji, took part in the protest.

Yeddyurappa, however, did not support dividing Karnataka and said whatever shortcomings were there could be set right. He blamed chief minister H D Kumaraswamy for giving room to the demand for statehood for North Karnataka.

“I have already told him (Kumaraswamy) that you are the chief minister of 224 assembly constituencies and not of a limited number of districts,” the BJP state chief said.

He said the government should release more funds to the region understanding the grievances of the people of North Karnataka. Yeddyurappa said the chief minister should have come to meet the seers, apologized for his statements and rectify the “injustice meted out to North Karnataka.”

Meanwhile, Congress MLA from Yamakanmardi, Satish Jarkiholi, too backed the agitation and demanded that the government address the region’s grievances.

Congress stalwart Kagodu Thimmappa announces political retirement

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Veteran Congress leader, political stalwart Kagodu Thimmappa, announced his retirement from active politics in order to spend more time with family on Tuesday.

The 85-year-old leader made it clear that he does not plan to contest elections stating that he was content with the work he has done so far and would involve himself in social work henceforth.

Thimmappa’s political debut began with the Socialist party. In 1980 he joined the Congress party was a member of both Fifth Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council and later served as Minister for Food and Forest in Sri Gundu Rao Ministry and then became the Minister of Public Works during the same year. He held the Social Welfare portfolio in SM Krishna government and the Revenue portfolio in the Siddaramaiah government. He had also served as the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.

He was elected to the Assembly five times from Sagar constituency in Shivamogga district. He, however, lost in the 2018 Assembly election against BJP candidate Hartal Halappa by a margin of more than 8,000 votes

Bengaluru and 13 other global cities to clean toxic air

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The ‘Silicon Valley fo India’, Bengaluru on Tuesday joined 13 other cities, including London, to clean up the toxic air and check pollution in urban areas around the world.

Hosting the first meeting of the C40 Air Quality Network regarding the threat of toxic air pollution, Bengaluru brought experts and policymakers from 13 other cities from the world over to find solutions.

“Formed when London Mayor Sadiq Khan visited India in December last year, the network-enabled leaders to share information and work together to develop plans for how each city will clean up its toxic air,” an official statement said.

The C40 Cities is an organization of 96 global cities to fight climate change and work towards a sustainable future. Co-chaired by Khan and Bengaluru Mayor Sampath Raj, the C40 Air Quality Network, a body of 20 global cities formed in December last year which aims to develop solutions for air pollution.

A total of 13 cities were part of the meeting: Berlin, Chennai, Dar-es-Salaam, Delhi, Johannesburg, Kolkata, London, Los Angeles, Portland, Quito, Salvador, Tel Aviv and Warsaw.

“The discussions and knowledge sharing on how other cities have dealt with air quality challenges are beneficial,” Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy said on the occasion.

As part of the C40 Air Quality Network, the participant cities signed the ‘clean bus’ and ‘fossil fuel-free streets’ declarations, thereby relying on low-emission vehicles that run on electric power instead of traditional fuels like petrol and diesel, that contribute to high emissions.

Even as Bengaluru is implementing projects promoting the use of electric vehicles and plans to have an all-electric bus fleet in the city by 2030, Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara said the government is committed to implementing an air quality management plan for the capital who also holds the portfolio of Bengaluru Development Minister.

An estimated seven million people die prematurely each year due to air pollution, according to the World Health Organisation.

Rajya Sabha adjourned over Amit Shah’s speech

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The Rajya Sabha was on Wednesday adjourned till 12 noon minutes after it met for the day over BJP chief Amit Shah’s remarks made in the House on Tuesday regarding the Assam NRC.

As soon as the House met, Congress members stood up to register their protest against Shah’s remarks.

Senior Congress leader Anand Sharma asked Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu to expunge Shah’s comments wherein he said “you did not have the courage, but we have it to implement the NRC”.

Naidu said that he would look into it and would expunge any remarks that were found uncalled for.

He then said that since Shah could not complete his speech on Tuesday, he should be given a chance to resume his speech on the National Register of Citizens (NRC) of Assam.

The opposition members objected to it. Amid the noise, Naidu adjourned the House till 12 noon.

I take higher cut in film profits, says Aamir

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Superstar Aamir Khan says he takes a higher cut in films’ profits because he risks his time on projects. But he does so only after the cost of each film is recovered in every aspect.

The actor-producer gave out the information on the inaugural day of the fifth Indian Screenwriters Conference here on Wednesday.

During an interactive session on the topic ‘Writers VS Producers: Can they never be allies?’, Aamir was asked: “There is a worrying trend that now the star has started taking about 80 per cent of the film, not profit but actually as his fees. Even though he is letting his fees go, it ultimately comes to the actor taking away 80 per cent. In 20 per cent how are we going to make a successful film?”

The actor replied: “My first rupee comes to me when the film’s cost is recovered in every aspect, after the producer’s and everybody else’s money is recovered. That’s the model I work with, and certainly, I take a higher cut in the percentage because I am risking my time on that, and I think producers are happy with that too.”

Explaining the model, he shared: “The model that I work on is that, say a film costs Rs 100 crore to make. It consists of everything – cast, crew, production cost, post-production cost and everything comes in that. I don’t take any money in that. I take nothing.

“So, when the film releases, I get zero money. And as it starts earning money, that money goes into P and A (Promotions and Advertising), which is over and above Rs 100 crore. Say P and A is Rs 25 crore, it then goes into recovering that.

“Once P and A is recovered, the producer has recovered his money, and everybody has got their fees…then I go into the percentage of profits. This way, there is no way that the producer can lose any money. And if for some reason, the film has not recovered the money, that it didn’t do well, then I don’t get any money,” he said.

Being part of some of the iconic films like “Dangal”, “PK”, “3 Idiots” and “Lagaan”, Aamir believes that the script plays an important role in the success of a film.

“I think the script is the foundation (of a film) and I make sure that once I love the story and the film is in the making, people who are investing money should not be in loss. I don’t allow the producer to shoulder the responsibility alone,” he said.

He believes that sharing the responsibility of making the film commercially successful also secures his career and builds trust with the producers and financiers of films.

“I think this is the best business model for film and our business because in most of my films, if producer is not losing money, it is but obvious that he will sign me for the next film. That is why I always ensure that if I am signed in a film, there is no loss,” he said.

Citing the example of the 2001 film “Lagaan”, Aamir said: “Since that film was one of the expensive films of that time and was breaking a lot of rules of mainstream Indian cinema and that is why I felt the importance of taking the responsibility.

“That apart, I know when I come on board, producers and financiers do not question me on the subject I chose for a film because they trust me, they have faith in me. That is why I want to ensure the profit.”

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