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India’s ruling Hindu nationalists suffer blow in state elections

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Opposition Congress party’s impressive gains in regional polls put it back in the race for the 2019 general elections.

India's ruling Hindu nationalists suffer blow in state elections

India’s ruling party lost power in three key states on Tuesday, dealing Prime Minister Narendra Modi his biggest defeat since he took office in 2014 and boosting the opposition ahead of general elections next year.

The results in the northern states of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh could force the federal government run by Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to raise spending in the countryside, where more than two-thirds of India’s 1.3 billion people live.

Political analysts said the BJP’s defeat underscores rural dismay with the government and could help unite the opposition led by the Congress party.

Sanjay Jha, a spokesman of the Congress party, said that farmers’ distress, joblessness of the youth and rising inequalities in the society were the main agenda during the elections.

He told Al Jazeera that the attacks on the Dalits and the minorities under the BJP governments also made electorate turn away from the right-wing party.

Activists and opposition parties have accused the BJP of running a divisive campaign and allowing Hindu far-right groups to run amok on the issue of cow slaughter, which is a crime in most Indian states.

The Hindu nationalist party deployed Yogi Adityanath, known for his vitriolic anti-Muslims rhetoric, as the chief campaigner in the state elections. Adityanath, a monk-turned politician, was appointed the chief minister of India’s most populous and politically significant state of Uttar Pradesh in 2017.

There is a feeling among people that the promises made by the prime minister … have not been fulfilled : Rahul Gandhi

A legislator for the BJP said it had erred in focusing its campaign on partisan themes, such as the building of a Hindu temple in Ayodhya at a site disputed by Muslims, instead of offering jobs and growth.

“We forgot the issue of development that Modi took up in 2014,” said Sanjay Kakade.

Jha, the Congress spokesman, said: “The BJP has collapsed on the [issue of] governance… and just tried to polarise elections by playing communal politics.”OM

Prime Minister Modi late on Tuesday congratulated the Congress and other regional parties for their victories.

“Victory and defeat are an integral part of life. Today’s results will further our resolve to serve people and work even harder for the development of India.”

Congress comes back to power

The Congress party is all set to form governments in the states of Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan after getting majority while it emerged as the single largest party in Madhya Pradesh.

In Chhattisgarh, Congress won 68 of the 90 seats at stake, with the BJP managing to get only 15, according to data from the Election Commission of India. In Rajasthan, the Congress won 101 of the 199 seats contested, against 73 for the incumbent BJP.

In Madhya Pradesh, the most important of the five states that have held assembly elections in recent weeks, Congress emerged victorious on 114 seats, while the BJP managed to hold on to 108 out of 230 seats. Two regional parties have already extended support to the Congress party boosting its chances of forming a government after 15 years of the BJP rule.

The results came as a shot in the arm for Rahul Gandhi, president of the Congress party, who is trying to forge a broad alliance with regional groups and present Modi with his most serious challenge yet in a general election due by May.

Congress has ruled India for most of its post-independence era after 1947 but was decimated by Modi’s BJP in national polls in 2014. Since then, it had struggled to make inroads into even state polls.

Gandhi, the fourth generation scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, has sought to build a coalition of regional groups.

Hindutva ideology

On Tuesday, celebrations erupted outside the Congress party headquarters in New Delhi, with supporters dancing, setting off firecrackers and brandishing posters praising Gandhi.

“We are going to provide the states with a vision and a government they can be proud of,” Gandhi told reporters at a press conference in New Delhi.

“There is a feeling among people that the promises made by the prime minister … have not been fulfilled.”READ MORE

Rahul Gandhi: Rise of the Gandhi family scion

Analysts believe that the verdict is indicative that people are no more buying the Hindutva (Hindu nationalism) ideology.

“In the past five years, a vast section of people across caste, region and religion realised that they have got nothing. There are no jobs and development,” political analyst Sajjan Singh said.

Modi government’s decision to ban high denomination currency notes and botched implementation of a federal Goods and Services Tax (GST) last year, Singh said, was “a suicidal move”, which brought “unimagined difficulties upon rural and weaker sections”.

“The cash-based rural and informal sector economy which sustains a large part of the Indian society has been destroyed,” he told Al Jazeera.

Regional parties won in two smaller states that also voted – Telangana in the south and Mizoram in the northeast.

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) registered a thumping victory in Telangana state, while in Mizoram state, the Mizo National Front trounced the Congress party.

Congress won by a landslide in the central state of Chhattisgarh, which has been ruled by the BJP for three consecutive terms.

In the past five years, a vast section of people across caste, region and religion realised that they have got nothing. There are no jobs and development

POLITICAL ANALYST SAJJAN SINGH

Failing to deliver jobs

Maoist rebels have been running decades-long armed rebellion in the state against what they say is the exploitation of the mineral resources by the corporates.

Modi has been criticised for failing to deliver jobs for young people and better conditions for farmers – issues that opposition is likely to raise during the general elections less than six months away.

The BJP, however, said the state results would not affect its prospects in the general elections.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told media news agency that BJP leadership and cadres would “pause and analyse the results and take corrective steps” that may be required before the polls.

But Apoorvanand, who writes on human rights and politics, said “the election results will have a psychological impact on the voters” during the upcoming elections.

“It is a signal to many who believed that the BJP could not be defeated,” Apoorvanand, a professor at Delhi University, said.

“Modi’s image has been weakened. He looks frustrated and fallen. The message of these election results is that he is not infallible.”

Aljazeera

Bhupesh Baghel front runner for Chhattisgarh CM post

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RThe newly elected Congress MLAs in Chhattisgarh will meet here on Wednesday to decide on a the new Chief Minister, with informed sources indicating that state party chief Bhupesh Baghel was the front runner.

All India Congress Committee observer Mallikarjun Kharge will preside over the meeting with all newly elected MLAs, set for the evening, Baghel told IANS. “A decision regarding the Chief Minister will be taken there.” 

Among others to attend the meeting will be Congress in-charge for the state, P.L. Punia. 

The race for the Chief Minister’s post is primarily between Patan MLA Baghel, party veteran T.S. Singh Deo, who was the Leader of Opposition in the former Assembly, and the party’s lone Lok Sabha MP from the state, Tamradhwaj Sahu. 

Besides the three, former Union Minister Charan Das Mahant is also said to be in the reckoning. 

A former state Minister, Baghel is widely seen as the frontrunner for the top post. 

“Baghel led from the front working at the grassroots as well as coordinating with the central and state leaders. As state party president, he has worked very hard and is most likely to be chosen as the Chief Minister,” said a party source. 

Decimating the Raman Singh-led BJP, the Congress returned to power in the state after 15 years bagging 68 seats in the 90-member Assembly. 

Salvaging trust after Urjit Patel’s exit

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Disagreements between the government and the central bank are a common occurrence in any economy. It is an expected outcome, given their contrasting roles where one has to maintain the growth of the economy at a healthy pace while the other has to ensure price stability, which sometimes dampens growth prospects. However, this time it was different as weeks of animosity between North Block and Mint Street has culminated in the resignation of the RBI Governor, Urjit Patel.


To underscore the gravity of the situation, it should be pointed out that it is only the second instance in the history of independent India that an RBI governor had to resign. The previous case goes back to 1957 when the RBI Governor, Sir Benegal Rama Rau, resigned due to differences with the then Finance Minister, T.T. Krishnamachari (TTK). Rau had disliked the fact that TTK believed and publicly claimed that the RBI was a subordinate office of the Finance Ministry and treated it as such. He even openly hijacked the RBI’s monetary policy by announcing a stamp duty on bills. To Rau’s dismay, even Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru sided with his Finance Minister.

The case of Urjit Patel somewhat closely resembles that of Rau in the sense that his disagreements with the government also seemingly arose from its intrusion into the RBI’s working. Over the last few weeks, it had become evident that there were at least three things that the government wants the RBI to do differently.

The first issue arose after the collapse of IL&FS, which sparked fears that banks might become wary of lending to non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) leading to a liquidity squeeze within the sector that might put India’s credit market at risk. Most significantly, the MSME sector was feared to take the worst hit, which would have brought the economy to a standstill. In order to avoid such an outcome, the government wanted the RBI to open a special liquidity window for the NBFC sector and avoid the risk of a credit freeze. In turn, the RBI was of the view that a liquidity window should be the measure of last resort. The situation was not as exigent in its view.

The second contentious issue was the RBI’s handling of the bad loan issue. In response to the NPA crisis, the RBI put 12 banks – 11 in the public sector and one in the private sector – under its Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework under which these institutions face lending restrictions until their proportion of bad loans are substantially reduced. Since this regulation has dampened lending activity in the economy, the government has been pushing the RBI to ease its implementation, which the central bank has firmly resisted.

The third point of contention was the central bank’s reserves. The government breached its full-year fiscal deficit target at the end of October, which was meant to happen by the end of March 2019. Nevertheless, the government has still maintained its commitment to not breach the fiscal deficit target of 3.3 per cent this year. So, it is looking for avenues to gain additional revenues. The RBI, which has way more than the required reserves at over 26 per cent of the total assets compared with a global mean of 16 per cent, seems like a viable source to tap into. But the RBI has maintained that it needs a strong balance sheet to function effectively.

The long-simmering tussle over these issues was even punctuated by finance ministry signalling the invocation of the never-used Section 7 of the RBI Act, which allows the government to give directions to the RBI that it may “consider necessary in the public interest.” As far as public knowledge goes, the Section has not yet been invoked. 

It is not yet clear what specifically led to Patel’s resignation, but a combination of these factors surely has had a role to play. A former RBI governor painted the move as “a statement of protest”.

When the BJP government had come into power, it had established a lot of goodwill by infusing independence in the RBI’s functioning. The establishment of the monetary policy committee that was tasked with inflation targeting was the perfect model that ensured the operational independence of the central bank to attain its objectives. The mechanism gave India a state-of-the-art monetary policy framework that was sorely missing in the economy. It was one of the most important economic reforms of the BJP government that is now at risk of being dismantled. 

Patel’s resignation, irrespective of the reasons that caused it, puts a significant dent on the public trust in the autonomy of the functioning of the central bank; something which this government itself has tried hard to build.

Trust is a currency that holds the entire modern economic system together and significantly reduces transaction costs. It will be extremely costly for the economy in the long-run if that trust is weakened in any sense. So, the government should be wary of taking any actions that affect the public trust in the country’s institutions as short-terms gains of kickstarting lending activities or meeting the fiscal deficit targets cannot compensate for the repercussions that will emerge from the means adopted in achieving them. 

The way forward for the government should be to adopt a more collaborative approach with the RBI, instead of a combative one, to achieve the intended economic goals.

IANS

KCR to take oath as Telangana CM on Thursday

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H Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief K. Chandrashekhar Rao will take oath as the state’s Chief Minister for a second consecutive term on Thursday.

He will take oath at a ceremony to be held at 1.30 p.m. at Raj Bhavan. Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan will administer him the oath of office and secrecy, TRS sources said.

Some TRS legislators are also likely to take oath as Ministers along with KCR, as Rao is popularly known.

The newly-elected legislators of TRS will meet at the Telangana Bhavan, the TRS headquarters, later in the day to elect KCR as their leader.

TRS has bagged 88 seats in the 119-member Assembly in the elections held on December 7.

Ex-Jharkhand Minister arrested by CBI in DA case

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 Former Jharkhand Minister Enos Ekka was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday in connection with a Disproportionate Assets (DA) case.

CBI sources said that he was arrested here. Ekka had not appeared in the CBI court despite repeated summons.

Ekka was a minister in the Madhu Koda government from 2006 to 2008. 

A compliant was registered against him in the State Vigilance Department in 2009 for amassing assets exceeding his known sources of income. 

Later the case was transferred to the CBI at the directive of the Jharkhand High Court.

In 2013, the CBI filed a closure report saying the assets were of small amounts. However, the CBI court refused to accept that closure report and asked the probe agency to proceed in the case.

Sources in CBI said that Ekka had disclosed Rs 60,000 cash and a Maruti vehicle in his name in the 2005 election declaration. 

Between 2005 and 2009, Ekka purchased a flat worth Rs 8 crore in posh Vasant Vihar area in New Delhi. The payment for the flat was made by a private construction company, which was awarded the contract of stadiums of the 2011 national games in Ranchi. 

There were also allegations that the former minister purchased 100 acres of land in the name of his relatives.

Ekka had won the Assembly poll for the first time in 2005. He lost the 2014 Assembly elections. At present he is part of the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajantraik (JVM-P).

IANS

Shaktikanta Das takes over as RBI Governor

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 Former Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday assumed charge as RBI Governor after Urjit Patel abruptly resigned from the post amidst a tiff with the government on the central bank’s autonomy.

“Assumed charge as Governor, Reserve Bank of India. Thank you each and everyone for your good wishes,” the new incumbent said in a Tweet.

Das, who as Economic Affairs Secretary steered the monetary situation post-demonetisation, was appointed the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor on Tuesday.

His appointment came at a time when the government and the RBI are engaged in a tussle over several issues including transfer of the central bank’s reserves, over which Patel had reservations after the government hinted at forcing him using provisions of the RBI Act.

Das, a retired 1980-batch IAS officer from the Tamil Nadu cadre, was a member of the 15th Finance Commission of India and India’s Sherpa to G20. Having a master’s degree from St. Stephen’s College, he earlier served as Joint Secretary in the Expenditure Department of the Finance Ministry.

In a development that came as an embarrassment for the government, Patel resigned on Monday citing “personal reasons” even as his various predecessors hinted that the decision was rooted in the recent controversy involving the government and the central bank.

His resignation came against the backdrop of the tiff between the government and the central bank over the liquidity and credit crunch in the economy that provoked an extraordinary meeting of the RBI board on November 19. 

IANS

Chit fund case: NCLT orders winding up of Saradha Group’s 13 firms

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The National Company Law Tribunal’s (NCLT) city bench has ordered winding up of 13 defunct companies of the Saradha Group and directed the official liquidator to take possession of assets and properties of all these companies.

The group companies are Global Automobiles Ltd, Saradha Tours and Travels, Saradha Shopping Mall, Saradha Agro Development, Bengal Media, Saradha Housing, Rose Capital Ltd, Saradha Construction, Saradha Educational Enterprises, Saradha Garden Resort and Hotel, Saradha Landmark Cement, Saradha Exports and Bhasank Foods.

The group had mopped up money from over 17 lakh depositors through a ponzi scheme before it collapsed in 2013.

The Corporate Affairs Ministry had authorised the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) to file winding up petitions against these companies on behalf of the Centre.

The SFIO had accordingly filed winding up petitions before the tribunal against the group’s entities to initiate proceedings on the grounds that the affairs of the companies had been conducted in a fraudulent manner.

The companies had been formed for “fraudulent and unlawful purpose” and as such the directors of the respective companies had been guilty of “misfeasance or misconduct”.

“I have minutely gone through the report filed by the SFIO after thorough investigation of the affairs of the above companies. The report reveals that the affairs of all the companies were being conducted in fraudulent manner. 

“There is every reason for me to believe that the companies were formed for fraudulent and unlawful purpose. The promoters/directors of all the companies appeared to be guilty of offences of fraud, misfeasance and misconduct relating to affairs of the companies…

“Hence, I held that all the above companies are required to be wound up by this tribunal,” Justice Madan B. Gosavi said in his order.

According to the order, the agency, in its summary report, had produced before the tribunal details of the irregularities and contraventions of the provisions of the Companies Act being committed by the promoters and directors of all holding companies of the group.

After the investigation, the corporate frauds investigating agency had concluded that directors of the companies had cheated the public at large, violated provision of Companies Act, 1956, misappropriated Rs 2,542.62 crore, misappropriated funds of Rs 6.59 crore through illegal transfer of shares and prepared false financial statements, among others.

Justice Gosavi also said: “The official liquidator attached to the Calcutta High Court is appointed as the official liquidator for winding up of all the above companies with direction to take possession of the assets and properties of all the companies.”

Debjani Mitra was appointed as the official liquidator.

The tribunal has also restrained all the companies from disposing of their assets and properties.

IANS

Nostalgia

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Dilip Kumar

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{Yesterday  11th Dec, 2018 happened to be thespian Dilip Kumar’s 96th birthday and we at Nasheman humbly pay our tribute to the legendary actor}. Muhammad Yusuf Khan was born on 11th Dec, 1922, better known as Dilip Kumar, is an Indian film actor, producer, screenwriter & social activist, known for his work in Hindi Cinema. Popularly known as The Tragedy King & The First Khan, he has been credited with bringing realism to film acting since his 1st ever film Jwar Bhata which was released in the year 1944. Yes! Dilip Kumar debuted as an actor with the film Jwar Bhata released in the year 1944, produced by Bombay Talkies. In a career spanning over 6 decades, Dilip Kumar worked in over 65 films. Dilip Kumar is known for roles in films such as the romantic Andaz in the year 1949, the heartwarming Babul in the year 1950, the impassioned Deedar in the year 1951, the swashbuckling Aan in the year 1952, social drama Daag in the year 1952, the dramatic Devdas in the year 1955, the comical Azaad in the year 1955, Naya Daur in the year 1957, Yahudi in the year 1958,

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Madhumati in the year 1958, Kohinoor in the year 1960, the epic historical Mughal – E – Azam in the year 1960, the social dacoit drama drama Gunga Jamuna in the year 1961 & the comedy Ram Aur Shyam in the year 1967. In the year 1976, Dilip Kumar took a 5 year break from film performances & returned with a character role in the film Kranti in the year 1981 & thereby continued his career playing leading roles in films such as Shakti in the year 1982, Karma in the year 1986 & Saudagar in the year 1991. His last swan song film was Qila in the year 1998. Dilip Kumar has bagged innumerable Filmfare Awards trophy and is the 1st ever recipient of the Filmfare “Best Actor” Award in the year 1954. Critics have acclaimed him as one of the greatest actors in the history of Indian Cinema. Dilip Kumar had a long relationship with actress Madhubala but never married her. Dilip Kumar later on married actress Saira Bano, who is 22 years younger than him. Dilip Kumar & his wife Saira Bano currently live in Bandra, Mumbai. Dilip Kumar was born as Mohammad Yusuf Khan to Ayesha Begum & Lala Ghulam Sarwar Ali Khan in a Muslim Hindko speaking Awan family of 12 children on 11th Dec, 1922 at a home in the Qissa Khawani Bazaar area of Peshawar, British India (modern day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan).
Dilip Kumar’s father was a landlord & a fruit merchant who owned orchards in Peshawar & Deolali. Mohammad Yusuf Khan was schooled at Barnes School, Deolali, Nashik. Dilip Kumar grew up in the same religiously mixed neighborhood as Raj Kapoor, his childhood friend. In the year 1940, while still in his teens & after an altercation with his father, Mohammad Yusuf Khan left home for Poona (Pune, Maharashtra). With the help of a Parsi Café owner & an elderly Anglo-Indian couple, Dilip Kumar met a canteen contractor. Without letting on his family antecedents, he got the job on the merit of his knowledge of good written & spoken English. He set up a sandwich stall at the army club & when the contract ended, he headed home to Mumbai, having saved Rs. 5000. In the year 1942, anxious to start a venture to help his father with household finances, he met Dr. Masani at Churchgate Station, who asked him to accompany him to Bombay Talkies, in Malad, Mumbai. There he met actress Devika Rani, owner of Bombay Talkies, who asked him to sign up with the company on a salary of Rs. 1250 per month. There he met actor Ashok Kumar, who influenced his acting style by telling him to act “natural” acting. He also met Sashadhar Mukherjee, and both of these people became close to Dilip Kumar over the years. Initially Dilip Kumar helped out in the story writing & scripting department because of his proficiency in Urdu Language. Devika Rani requested him to change his name to Dilip Kumar, and later cast him in a lead role for Jwar Bhata in the year 1944, which marked his entry into the Hindi film industry. Dilip Kumar’s 1st ever film Jwar Bhata in the year 1944, went unnoticed. After a few more unsuccessful films, it was Jugnu in the year 1947, in which he starred alongside Noor Jehan that became his

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1st ever major hit at the box office turnstiles. His next major hits were the 1948 films Shaheed & Mela. He got his breakthrough role in the year 1949 with Mehboob Khan’s Andaz, in which he starred alongside Raj Kapoor & Nargis. Shabnam also released that year was another box office turnstiles hit. Dilip Kumar went on to have success in the 1950’s playing leading roles in several box office turnstile hits such as Jogan in the year 1950, Babul in the year 1950, Hulchul in the year  1951, Deedar  in the year 1951, Daag in the year 1952, Shikast in the year 1953, Amar in the year 1954, Uran Khatola in the year 1955, Insaniyat in the year 1955 in which he co-starred with Dev Anand, Devdas in the year 1955, Naya Daur in the year 1957, Yahudi in the year 1958, Madhumati in the year 1958 & Paigham in the year 1959. These films established his screen image as the “Tragedy King”.  Dilip Kumar had briefly suffered from depression due to portraying many tragic roles. He also played lighthearted roles in an attempt to shed his “tragedy king” image upon his psychiatrist’s suggestion such as in Mehboob Khan’s big budget 1952 swashbuckling & musical movie named Aan. This marked his 1st ever film to be shot in Technicolor and to have a wide release across Europe with a lavish premiere in London. He had further success with lighter roles as a thief in the comedy Azaad in the year 1955 & as a royal prince in the romantic musical Kohinoor in the year 1960.Dilip Kumar was the 1st ever actor to bag  the Filmfare “Best Actor” award for Daag and went on to win it a further 8 times. He formed popular on-screen pairings with many of the top actresses at the time including Madhubala, Vyjayanthimala, Nargis, Nimmi, Meena Kumari & Kamini Kaushal. 9 of his films in the 1950’s were ranked in the Top 30 highest grossing films of the decade. In the 1950’s, Dilip Kumar became the 1st ever actor to charge 1 Lakh (equivalent to₹75 lakh or US$100,000 in 2017) per film. In 1960, he portrayed Prince Salim in K. Asif’s big budget epic historical film Mughal – E – Azam, which was the highest grossing film in Indian film history for 11 years until it was surpassed by 1971 film Haathi Mere Saathi & later by the 1975 film Sholay. If adjusted for inflation, Mughal – E – Azam was the highest grossing Indian film through to the early 2010’s, equivalent to over 1000 crores in the year 2011. The film told the story of Prince Salim, who revolts against his father Akbar played by Prithviraj Kapoor & falls in love with a courtesan played by Madhubala. The film was mostly shot in black & white, with only some scenes in the latter half of the film shot in color. 44 years after its original release, it was fully colorized &  re-released in the year 2004. In 1961, Dilip Kumar produced & starred in Ganga Jamuna opposite his frequent leading lady Vyjayantimala & his brother Nasir Khan, this was the only film he produced. In the year 1962 British director David Lean offered him the role of “Sherif Ali” in his film Lawrebce Of Arabia in the year 1962, but Dilip Kumar declined to perform in the movie. The role eventually went to Omar Sharif, the Egyptian actor. Dilip Kumar comments in his much later released autobiography, “he thought Omar Sharif had played the role far better than he himself could have”.  Dilip Kumar‘s next film Leader in the year 1964 was a below average grosser at the box office turnstiles. He was the co-director alongside Abdul Rashid Kardar of his next release Dil Diya Dard Liya in the year 1966, but was uncredited as the director. In the year 1967, Dilip Kumar played a dual role of twins separated at birth in the hit film Ram Aur Shyam. In the year 1968, he starred alongside Manoj Kumar & Waheeda Rehman in Aadmi. That same year he starred in Sanghursh with Sanjeev Kumar. Dilip Kumar’s career slumped in the 1970’s with films like Dastaan in the year 1972 failing at the box office turnstiles. He starred alongside his real life wife Saira Bano in Gopi in the year 1970 which was a success. They were paired again in 1st ever & only Bengali language film Sagina Mahto in the year 1970. A Hindi remake of Sagina was made in the year 1974 with the same cast. He played triple roles as a father & his twin sons in Bairaag in the year 1976 which failed to do well at the box office turnstiles. Dilip Kumar personally regarded M. G. Ramachandran’s performance in Enga Veetu Pillai better than his role in Ram Aur Shyam. He regards his performance in Bairaag much higher than that of Ram Aur Shyam. Although his performance in Bairaag & Gopi were critically acclaimed, he lost many film offers to act in leading roles to actors Rajesh Khanna & Sanjeev Kumar, from the year 1968 to the year 1987. He then took a 5 year hiatus from films from the year 1976 to the year 1981. In the year 1981, Dilip Kumar returned to films as a character actor playing central roles in ensemble films. His comeback film was the star studded Kranti which was the biggest hit of the year. Appearing alongside an ensemble cast including Manoj Kumar, Shashi Kapoor, Hema Malini & Shatrughan Sinha, Dilip Kumar played the title role as a revolutionary fighting for India’s independence from British rule. He then successfully collaborated with director Subahash Ghai starting with Vidhaata in the year 1982, in which he starred alongside Sunjay Dutt, Sanjeev Kumar & Shammi Kapoor. Later that year he starred alongside Amiotabh Bachchan in Ramesh Sippy’s Shakti which was only a below average grosser at the box office turnstiles, but won him critical acclaim & his 8th &  final Filmfare Award for “Best Actor”. In the year 1984, he starred in Yash Chopra’s social crime drama Mashaal opposite Anil Kapoor which failed miserably at the box office turnstiles but his performance was critically acclaimed. He also appeared alongside Rishi Kapoor in Duniya in the year 1984 & Jeetendra in Dharam Adhikari in the year 1986. Dilip Kumar’s 2nd collaboration with Subhash Ghai came with the 1986 ensemble action film Karma, which marked the 1st ever film which paired him opposite fellow veteran actress Nutan. 3 decades earlier however, they were paired together in an incomplete & unreleased film titled Shikwa. He acted opposite Nutan again in the 1989 film Kanoon Apna Apna. In the year 1991, Dilip Kumar starred alongside fellow veteran actor Raaj Kumar in Saudgar, his 3rd & last film with director Subhash Ghai. This was his 2nd film with Raaj Kumar after 1959’s Paigham. Saudagar was Dilip Kumar’s last box office turnstiles success. In the year 1993, he won the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to the industry for 5 decades.In the year 1992, producer Sudhakar Bokade announced a film titled Kalinga which would officially mark Dilip Kumar’s directorial debut after he had allegedly previously ghost directed Ganga Jamuna in the year 1961 & Dil Diya Dard Liya in the year 1967. Dilip Kumar was also all set to star in the title role with the cast including Raj Babbar, Raj Kiran, Amitoj Mann & Meenakshi Sheshasdri. After being delayed for several years, Kalinga was eventually left incomplete & shelved. In the year 1998, Dilip Kumar made his last film appearance in the box office turnstile flop Qila, where he played dual roles as an evil landowner who is murdered & as his twin brother who tries to solve the mystery of his death. In the year 2001, Dilip Kumar was all set to appear in a film titled Asar – The Impact alongside Ajay Devgan, which was shelved. His classic films Mughal – E – Azam  & Naya Daur were fully colorized & re-released in cinemas in the year 2004 & 2008 respectively. An unreleased film he had shot & completed in the year 1990 titled Aag Ka Dariya was all set for a theatrical release in the year 2013 but has not been released till this date. Dilip Kumar was nominated as a member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament of India, by the Indian National Congress for the period of 2000 to 2006. Dilip Kumar launched his Twitter account & his 1st ever tweet was on his 89th birthday in the year 2011. Dilip Kumar had fallen in love with Madhubala during the shooting of Tarana. They remained in a relationship for 7 years until the Naya Daur court case happened in which Dilip Kumar stood by the Chopra’s who had given evidence against Madhubala & her father, thus ended his relationship with Madhubala. They never worked together after the release of Mughal – E – Azam in the 1960. Madhubala died from a heart disease in the year 1969. Dilip Kumar married actress Saira Bano in the year 1966, who was 22 years younger to him. He married a 2nd time in the 1981 to a Hyderabad socialite Asma Sahiba, but the marriage ended in Jan, 1983. Dilip Kumar does not have any children. He is fluent in Urdu, Hindi, Hindko (his 1st ever language), Bhojpuri, English, Bengali, Pashto  & Farsi. Dilip Kumar has been involved with a number of charitable & social initiatives. He planned & conceptualized the famous Jogger’s Park in Bandra, along with Sunil Dutt & Oliver Andrade. Dilip Kumar used his good offices to get the necessary clearances from the Maharashtra Government for the establishment of this public park. Dilip Kumar donated a significant portion of his MPLAD fund towards the construction & the improvement of the Bandstand Promenande & the gardens at Bandra Fort at Lands End in Bandra. Dilip Kumar has encouraged new talent in the Indian film industry. He believes that an actor does not necessarily have to bring any acting skill, rather a recognition that “acting is all about not acting. Some of the talent identified by him who later on became big stars of their own include: Mukri, Aruna Irani & Kader Khan. 

Dilip Kumar is widely considered as one of the greatest actors in the history of Hindi Cinema. He holds the Guinness World Record for winning the maximum number of awards by an Indian actor. He has received many awards throughout his career, including 8 Filmfare Awards for “Best Actor” &  1 Lifetime Achievement from Filmfare. Also for Special Recognition FilmFare Award for recognizing him as one of the 1st ever recipients to receive a Filmfare Award along with the nightingale of India Lata Mangeshkar & one of the greatest Hindi Music Directors Naushad Ali at the 50th Filmfare Award Ceremony & along with 19 nominations at Filmfare for best actor. He was honored with the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in the year 1993. Gunga Jamuna in the year 1961, which he wrote, produced & starred in, also received the National Film Award for 2nd “Best Feature Film in Hindi, the Paul Revere  Silver Bowl at the Boston International Film Festival the Special Honor Diploma from the Czechoslovak Academy of Arts in Prague & the Special Prize at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.Dilip Kumar was appointed Sheriff of Mumbai (an honorary position) in the year 1980, the Government of India honored Dilip Kumar with the Padma Bhushan in the year 1991, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in the year 1994 & the Padma Vibhushan in the year 2015. The Government of Andhjra Pradesh honored Dilip Kumar with NTR National Award in the year 1997. The Government of Pakistan conferred Dilip Kumar with Nishan [- E – Imtiaz , the highest civilian award in Pakistan, in the year 1998. The ruling political party of Shiv Sena in Maharashtra had objected to this award & questioned Dilip Kumar’s patriotism. However, in the year 1999 in consultation with the then Prime Minister of India Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Dilip Kumar retained the award. He was honored with CNN-IBN Lifetime Achievement Award in the year 2009. The Government of India honored Dilip Kumar with:2015 – India’s 2nd highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan, for his contributions towards Indian Cinam2000 – 2006: Elected to Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Indian Parliament.1994 – Dadasaheb Phalke Award 1991 – India’s 3rd highest civilian award, the Padma Bhushan, for his contributions towards Indian Cinema 1979 – 1982 – Appointed as the Sheriff of Bombay by the Governer of Maharashtra, India for the period1998 – The Government of Pakistan honored him with its highest civilian honor, the Nishane – E – Imtyiaz. Dilip Kumar: “The Substance & The Shadow” as narrated to Udayatara Nayar was published in the year 2014 by Hay House Publishers (India) Pvt. ltd. Films that garnered Dilip the most recognition or awards include: Jwar Bhata (1944),Jugnu (1947), Shaheed (1948), Shabnam (1949), Jogan (1950), Babul (1950),Andaz (1949), Deedar (1951), Aan (1952), Daag (1952), Devdas (1955), Azaad (1955),Naya Daur (1957), Yahudi (1958), Madhumati (1958), Paigham (1959), Kohinoor (1960),Mughal-E-Azam (1960), Ganga Jamuna (1961), Leader (1964), Dil Diya Dard Liya (1966),Ram Aur Shyam (1967), Sunghursh (1968), Gopi (1970), Dastaan (1972), Bairaag (1976),Kranti (1981), Vidhaata (1982), Shakti (1982), Mashaal (1984), Duniya (1984),Karma (1986), Saudagar (1991) & Qilla (1998).

Five notorious Sandalwood Smuggling Gang busted by Cops

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By : Pramesh S Jain
Notorious Sandalwood Smuggling Gang busted by Cubbon Park police,Five held.Bengaluru cops too good for sandalwood smugglers.Masterminds behind the sandalwood trees thefts finally in police net.
A sandalwood thief masterminds and their three associates was arrested after he was shot at by a cubbon park police inspector on late Monday, December 10 night.
The accused has been identified as,Lakshman,alias,Kuliya,32,resident of Tamilnadu,Ranganath,35,resident of R.T.Nagar,Ramaswamy,40,resident of Tamilnadu,Mujahiddin Ulla,and Imdadh Ulla,
Senior officer told media persons that,Masterminds behind the sandalwood theft nabbed by Cubbon park police after shootout.Mujahiddin Ulla and his brother imdadh Ulla are infamously known for their act of smuggling sandalwood trees. Infact they have been turned out headache for the police as they were targeting sandalwood trees on the premises of the complex where some MLAs are also lived and when that happened the police came on to their toes and decided to teach them a lesson.
Initially when cops investigated of thiefs stealing sandalwood realised that they were only implementors and nothing beyond that.That is when based on the information given by them.
The team decided to arrest Mujahiddin Ulla and Imdadh Ulla and as per plan the police even laid a trap for the two and got them into their hold but Mujahiddin Ulla had a plan of his own.As he was been taken to the station he escaped and ventured into Cubbon Park and even attacked
The sub-inspector Rahim and constable Krishnamurthy at in this point in time the sub inspector fired one round in the air and asked Mujahiddin to surrender but he did not pay heed infact he tried to attack our staff and for the protection and safety of staff Cubbon Park inspector Iyyan Reddy opened fire on his left  leg in self defense and he sustained injuries and was immediately rushed to Bowring Hospital for the treatment.
These two were living in a three storeyed building worth in Crores and these two brothers learnt the importance of the value of sandalwood from their father and decided to use the information to plund a money illegally and earn ethically they have professional wood cutters and entice them to chop a sandalwood trees everywhere including government premises by offering huge Sums.So they would attack sandalwood trees in government premises in the early morning between 4am to 5am and in a Spain of 15-20 minutes they would run away with the cut Logs and once the police got to know they would dial up the control room and plant new stories and divert them to other plates in this they have chopped of sandalwood trees in HSR Layout,Koramangala,Cubbon Park,Mahadevpura,and other places and they are wanted in more than 60 cases across city.The cops got to know about their notorious activities with the help of CCTV footages he added.
D.Devaraj,DCP Central,told media persons that,This gang of sandalwood thieves used to be active during nighttime.They used to target sandalwood trees on the premises of government land.They were deep into the act of thieving sandalwood trees.They have finally been caught as on 26th June there was a sandalwood theft reported in St.Marks road’s Bishop cotton school premises some miscreants have theft a sandalwood tree and a complaint was registered in Cubbon Park police Station and after analysing CCTV footage a special team was led by ACP,Manjunath under the supervision of Cubbon Park police inspector,B.Iyyan Reddy and his crime staff swung into action and based on technical inputs the team nabbed the three accused of the same gang identified as,Lakshman,Ranganath,and Ramaswamy the team nabbed them and conducted a enquiry and during the interrogation the accused confessed the crime and revealed they are just implementors and masterminds behind this are Mujahiddin Ulla and Imdadh Ulla and based on their statement the inspector and his team led a trap and rushed to chikkabalapur to arrest the accused and the team successfully detained them and during interrogation
he confessed to his crime and as the cops grilled him he spilled the beans and revealed that he and his brother used to commit this offence with their associates and based on his confession of crime the cops brought them to cubbon park station and in meanwhile as the cops reached to queen’s road the culprit pushed our constable Krishnamurthy from the running vehicle and ran away as our inspector was also in the same car he immediately picked our constable and rescued him and the inspector warned him while running and asked him to surrender but he did not heed to them and ventured in cubbon park immediately inspector asked for additional force to search the accused and the staff spread all over cubbon park and while arresting the accused he pushed our constable Krishnamurthy again and he fell down and the sub inspector again picked the constable and asked the accused to surrender and he even opened one round fire in the air and warned him to surrender but in fact he even attacked the sub-inspector Rahim he tried to kill him by strangling him to death and for the protection and safety of sub inspector.
Cubbon Park inspector B.Iyyan Reddy took his service revolver and in self defense he shot at his left leg and he fell down and as he sustained injuries. Our staff rushed to Bowring hospital and he is undergoing treatment. This accused is a notorious who is wanted more than 60 cases across city. He has been arrested successfully by the team and finally Bengaluru Police Commissioner,T.Suneel Kumar has appreciated Addl CP,West,B.K.Singh,DCP,Central,D.Devaraj, ACP,Cubbon Park,T.Manjunath,PI,B.Iyyan Reddy,PSIs,as,Rahim,Raghavendra,Suresh,G. Balaraju and their coolegue. Krishnamurthy,Somashekar,Raghavendra,Sachidananda,and Yogesh for the commendable and tremendous job done. From them cops arrested the masterminds as kingpin of the gang and with the permission from the commissioner. Commisioner said that he will announce a cash reward for the whole team.

Congress to form MP government as Shivraj Singh Chouhan resigns (Lead)

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Bhopal, Dec 12 (IANS) The path for the formation of a Congress government in Madhya Pradesh was cleared with Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan resigning from the post on Wednesday declaring that the BJP was not going to stake claim.

“As we have not got clear majority, we are not going to stake claim to form the government. And I am going to the Governor to resign as the Chief Minister,” Chouhan said here.

Meanwhile, reports have emerged that Governor Anandiben Patel has invited Congress leader Kamal Nath, who on Tuesday night wrote to her that his party has emerged as the single largest party in the state and has majority support in the 230-member Assembly, staking claim.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati, whose party won two seats in the state, announced to extend support to the Congress on Wednesday.

The Samajwadi Party (SP) which won one seat in the state also extended its support to the Congress. The announcement was made by SP chief Akhilesh Yadav.

“The Samajwadi Party extends its support to the Congress to form a government in Madhya Pradesh,” Yadav tweeted in Hindi on Wednesday.

According to the Election Commission, the final tally for the 230-seat Madhya Pradesh Assembly showed Congress with 114 seats, while the ruling BJP came close with 109 in a battle that went to the wire on Tuesday.

[IANS]

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