Hyderabad: Twentyfour HIV positive people were arrested at Hotel Novotel in Hitec City and taken to Narsingi police station as they raised slogans and took out a flash protest against the harmful provisions in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Trade Agreement, especially against Access to affordable medicines here on Monday.

Forum against FTAs and RCEP, Farmers organisations and other civil society organisations under the banner `People’s Resistance Forum against RCEP’ condemned the arrests. Earlier in the morning, Peoples forum took out a rally from Peoples Plaza on Necklace road to I-max circle and back with about 500 people from 26 different organisations from across India.

“The HIV positive people were not even given food and many of them were on medication. We don’t know when they will release us,’’ said Shankar, of DNP+, Delhi.

“People’s right to dissent cannot be curbed and these negotiations should be conducted in transparent manner and not in secrecy. It is the responsibility of the Indian government to make healthcare affordable to common people and not to trade away by way of FTAs for big corporate and MNCs to make profits on by hiking medicines,’’ said Shalini Bhutani of Forum against FTAs and RCEP.

Wearing white T-shirts embossed with HIV POSITIVE in bold red, the flash protest by about 25 HIV positive people from different states led by Loon Gangte of Delhi Network of People Living with HIV (DNP+) and Koushalya of Positive Women’s Network (PWN), a network of women living with HIV with its headquarters in Chennai, shocked the negotiators and police equally as the protestors crossed two main gates and arrived at the Hotel entrance at about 12.30 pm in two vans.

They immediately pulled out placards and banners and raised a huge arrow mark towards the hotel which said: “RCEP: Secret Negotiations Happening Here’’. The placards read `don’t trade our lives,’  `Provide access to affordable medicines,’ `don’t increase prices of generic medicines’ etc. They shouted Japan,.. shame, shame; Korea…shame, shame, India: Zindabad, `FTAs kill domestic production of medicines,’ `Remove harmful clauses from aar..cep.’ (RCEP) and started walking from the portico to the car park.

Within five minutes, police and private security guards of the hotel, came in numbers and stopped them from walking further. A police van was brought in and they were forced into the van but not before a woman constable manhandled three of the women and was seen forcing them and pushing them. Then the HIV positive people displayed placards from the police van and shouted slogans in Hindi from the van door before they were taken to Narsingi police station. A couple of TV cameramen were stuck at Madhapur police station when they came to know that they were actually taken elsewhere.

Gangte, added that protecting access to medicines in India and beyond is very crucial. India supplies cheap but quality generic medicines to over 60 countries around the world and is known as the Pharmacy of the world and it is a tragedy that we are all arrested at Hyderabad which the Bowl of bulk generic drugs in India.’’ Gangte spoke from the police station.

“Millions of people around the world are counting on India to protect them against harmful provision in the RCEP Trade Agreement and it is the responsibility of the government of India to provide affordable healthcare to common people and not trade their lives with Multi National companies for profits by getting into these trade agreements,’’ he lamented.

“People living with HIV who survive on generic HIV drugs have seen time and again how access to medicines is undermined when trade agreements include provisions that limit access to medicines. We are asking the countries involved to drop four key provisions in the trade agreement that will increase market monopolies for pharmaceutical corporation and block access to affordable lifesaving generic medicines for HIV, TB, Malaria, Cancer and many other diseases,’’ cautioned Kaushalya, who is living with HIV for more than a decade and is a highly-respected HIV positive leader who has fought with the government that led to free ART in India in 2004. She is arrested with four others from Chennai and TN.

The RCEP negotiations between 700 members from 16 countries started today at Hotel Novotel, near Hitec City here.

Bengaluru Poetry Festival (BPF), the city’s first festival dedicated to poetry, is back! This was announced at press meet held on the 24th of July 2017 at Church Street Social.

Over 4000 poetry lovers attended the two-day festival last year, making it the surprise hit of 2016 — and we only plan on winning more of your love this year. We have put together a melodious schedule once more and hope to see each one of you back again. All the usuals will be here, along with some highly unusuals: poets across all languages, word palettes from all over the world and exclusive performances in verse and song. Poets new and old, lyricists, singers, performers, musicians… prepare yourself for all rhyme and reason.

The 2nd edition of Bengaluru Poetry Festival is scheduled to be held on the 5th and 6th of August 2017 at The Leela Palace. The festival has once again attracted a number of internationally recognized poets and artistes who have confirmed their participation and the stage is set for another weekend of incredible poetry performances for literary connoisseurs of Bangalore.

The inaugural edition of the BPF held on the 6th and 7th August 2016 at the Leela Palace saw performances, readings, discussions and debates by Javed Akhtar, Piyush Mishra, Prathibha Nandakumar, Arundhathi Subramaniam, Kutti Revathi, Varun Gandhi, Teejan Bai and many others.

Subodh and Lakshmi, the founders of Atta Galatta – the Bookstore and Events Space, realized that while poetry as a form of self-expression was gaining immense popularity, and Indian poets and poetry were increasingly being recognized the world over, there were limited opportunities available for poets within the existing literary festival platforms.

So they, along with a core team of poets and poetry lovers, conceptualized BPF as a celebration of all things poetry. The festival aims to provide a space for verse to be engaged with — by poets, readers, performers and the audience — across forms, formats and languages. The festival will include poetry performances, talks on poetry and opportunities to learn through workshops and interactive sessions.

Festival Team
Shinie Antony – Festival Director
Shinie Antony has written short story collections The Orphanage for Words, Barefoot and Pregnant and novels When Mira Went Forth and Multiplied and A Kingdom for his Love. She has compiled the anthology Why We Don’t Talk. Co-founder of the Bangalore Literature Festival, she won the Commonwealth Short Story Asia region prize in 2003 for her story A Dog’s Death. Her novel, The Girl Who Couldn’t Love, will be out later this year.

Amruta Dongray:
Armed with a Master’s degree in Sociology from the Bombay University, Amruta Dongray worked in the tourism industry for eight years. She considers herself an ‘accidental poet’. She started writing poetry in 2010. Her first book PASTPRESENT saw its release in 2013. Her second book is due for release this year.

Maitreyee Bhattacharjee Chowdhury
Maitreyee Bhattacharjee Chowdhury is a poet and writer with two books to her credit – Where Even the Present is Ancient: Benaras (poetry) and Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen: Bengali Cinema’s First Couple (nonfiction), the latter shortlisted for the Crossword Award, nonfiction category in 2013. She is also the fiction and poetry editor of The Bengaluru Review, a literary magazine from Bengaluru.

Prashant Sankaran
Prashant Sankaran stepped off the hectic corporate treadmill after 25 years on it to mentor small entrepreneurs and serve on the advisory boards of a few not-for-profit and for-profit organisations. He also dabbles in photography, performing arts and filmmaking. He is currently working on his first book. He blogs at: Shoonyata.

Shikha Saklani Malaviya
Shikha Saklani Malaviya is a poet and writer, born in the U.K. and raised in Minnesota and India. The author of Geography of Tongues, she is also the co-founder of The (Great) Indian Poetry Collective, a literary press. She calls both the San Francisco Bay area and Bengaluru home

Sourav Roy
Hindi Poet. Author of three books. Editor of Karnakavita, an anthology of Hindi poets based in Bengaluru, published by Atta Galatta. Translator of American historian Howard Zinn’s plays into Hindi, currently under publication. Researching Asian poetry and translating selected poets to Hindi. Editor at YourStory. Hindi Editor at Indiaree, a Kolkata-based multilingual literary magazine. Political columnist for the London-based NRI magazine, which dedicates itself to the vast majority of Indians living abroad.

Vikram Sridhar
Performance storyteller and theatre practitioner Vikram Sridhar believes in storytelling as a strong medium for conservation, which is highly relevant in the modern context. He combines his work and interest in theatre and conservation in his storytelling. He is the co-founder of Tahatto, a Bengaluru-based theatre entity and Around The Story Tree is his initiative to connect the modern-day listener to the environment around through the power of stories through arts.

Subodh Sankar and Lakshmi Subodh
Subodh and Lakshmi are co-founders of Atta Galatta, a Bengaluru-based bookstore with a focus on Indian, vernacular writing and is a venue for literary, art and cultural events.

Since its inception four years ago, the bookstore has hosted over 1200 events, including book launches, poetry readings, theatre performances, art shows, screenings, storytelling sessions and workshops.

The bookstore has partnered with festivals such as the Bangalore Literature Festival and the Lekhana Writers Festival as the official bookstore.

Atta Galatta has partnered with the Bangalore Literature Festival to present The Atta Galatta-Bangalore Literature Festival Book Prize in three categories – Fiction English, Non-Fiction English and Literary Achievement in Kannada. The annual prize carries a cash component of Rs. 2 lakhs and a specially commissioned trophy.

Venue: The Leela Palace, Old Airport Road, Bangalore
Dates: August 5th and 6th, 2017
For info contact: Palgun: 9632510126
For registrations visit: www.bengalurupoetryfestival.org
Entry is free to the festival

Media Contact: Sridevi Rao 9844167547/9448701953

Bengaluru: Bangaluru Metro Rail Corporation is facing heat on the usage use of Hindi signboards in the metro train service.

Pro-Kannada activists gearing up for a large-scale protest against the alleged imposition of Hindi have urged the government to come up with a clear-cut policy, without which confusion over the language issue will continue to disturb law and order.

BMRC officials say they are caught in a bind and cannot remove Hindi from signages without written instructions from the government.

The BMRC officials say that they are in a helpless situation when the Pro-Kannada activists rage against them on this. They are asking the State Government to make up its mind and be clear in their decision before the situation gets out of hand.

Activists of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV), which is spearheading the anti-Hindi campaign, had recently blackened signboards at Metro stations and staged a demonstration in front of the BMRC office.

(Agencies)

Mumbai: Legendary actress Madhubala is the latest celebrity to join others at Madame Tussauds which is scheduled to open in Delhi later year.

The actress’ wax figure will be styled based on her iconic character Anarkali from the classic film ‘Mughal-E- Azam’.

Madhubala, one of the leading actresses from Hindi cinema’s golden era, appeared in classics like ‘Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi’, ‘Mr. & Mrs. ’55’, ‘Kala Paani’, and ‘Howrah Bridge’. During her brief lifetime, she became one of the highly regarded personalities in the industry.

“We are glad to have the figure of Madhubala at Madame Tussauds Delhi. She continues to rule the hearts of billions of fans in the nation. We are sure that her magnetic beauty will attract her fans to click a selfie and relive a special moment with her and be transported back to the golden era of cinema,” said Anshul Jain, general manager and director, Merlin Entertainments India.

Madhubala’s beauty was recognized globally when she was featured in one of the popular American Magazine’s – in 1952. To honour her, a commemorative postage stamp featuring Madhubala was issued in 2008.

“This would be the first figure from the classical world of Indian cinema to be displayed at the attraction. The figure will be styled from her most admired ‘Anarkali’ character from the movie Mughal-E-Azam. Guests to the attraction will be able to interact with the figure in the Bollywood zone which will bring to life the classic age of Indian cinema in a fun and interactive way,” read a press release from Madame Tussauds Delhi.

Madame Tussauds Delhi is an attraction known for the incredibly detailed portrayal of the fascinating world of glamour, sports, history, politics and history under one roof, through planned themed and interactive areas, by the skillful and innovative interpretation of renowned celebrities through wax figures. The visitors will be encouraged to interact with the life-like figures of the celebrities, which marks the uniqueness of the wax attraction.

(Agencies)

Mumbai: At least seven persons were killed and many more trapped when a four-storey dilapidated residential building collapsed here on Tuesday morning, an official said.

Another 12 injured persons have been rescued from the rubble and efforts were on to extricate the others from under the debris of Sai Darshan building at Ghatkopar which crashed with a roar around 10.30 a.m.

Fourteen fire engines, rescue vans and ambulances besides teams of the state disaster management force were at the site, the BMC Disaster Control official said.

A fire brigade officer said 30-40 persons were still feared trapped and rescue operations were going on. This was this monsoon’s first major house crash.

The injured were rushed to hospitals. Unconfirmed reports put the deaths at 12.

Around 12 families lived in the building which also housed a private hospital on the ground floor. The building figured on the BMC’s list of “dangerous buildings”.

(IANS)

New Delhi: Ram Nath Kovind was today sworn in as India’s 14th president, the first BJP leader and the second Dalit in the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Kovind was administered the oath of office to “preserve, protect and defend the constitution and law” by Chief Justice of India J S Kehar in an impressive ceremony in the Central Hall of Parliament.

The 71-year-old took oath in Hindi to thunderous applause and thumping of desks by the gathering, including Vice President Hamid Ansari, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, outgoing President Pranab Mukherjee and former president Pratibha Patil.

Former prime ministers Manmohan Singh and H D Devegowda, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar, former deputy prime minister L K Advani as well as Union ministers and foreign dignitaries were also present on the occasion.

After he took oath, Kovind was given a 21-gun salute to mark the assumption of office of the highest constitutional post in the country.

Once the oath taking was over, Kovind and Mukherjee exchanged seats on the dais after which the new president delivered his maiden speech as president.

Kovind was elected with 65 per cent of votes defeating Meira Kumar to occupy the top post.

The 71-year-old leader born in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, had also earned the support of the JD(U), which broke ranks with the “mahagathbandhan” because of his non-confrontational approach as governor of the state.

A commerce graduate, Kovind studied law at the Kanpur University, practised in the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court. He was also the central government’s standing counsel in the apex court from 1980-93.

Kovind, who headed Dalit Morcha from 1998 to 2002, also led the All-India Koli Samaj.

Elected to the Rajya Sabha in April 1994 from Uttar Pradesh, he served two consecutive terms till March 2006.

Outgoing Mukherjee bows out of public life after a five- decade political career.

(Agencies)