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Case filed against ‘Kedarnath’ in UP court

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A case has been filed in a local court at Jaunpur district of Uttar Pradesh against the Bollywood flick “Kedarnath”, which is set against the backdrop of the 2013 flash floods.

The film which depicts the love story of a Muslim porter and a Hindu girl on a pilgrimage to Kedarnath sees the debut of Sara Ali Khan, daughter of actress Amrita Singh and Saif Ali Khan.

In his petition filed before the court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM-II), Dhananjay Mishra on Monday, the petitioner Siddhartha Singh, has named the main lead Sushant Singh Rajput, Sara Ali Khan and director Abhishek Kapoor.

The petitioner, also a lawyer, has been represented by two lawyers Ravindra Vikram Singh and Himanshu Srivastava in the case who have pleaded before the court that a love story has been shown in the film at the time of the natural calamity of 2013 which killed thousands.

The petitioner has objected to the film, his lawyers pointed out, due to a variety of reasons including its passionate love scenes and alleged promotion of love jihad, obscene dance sequences in the backdrop of a major disaster, scars of which are still afresh in the minds of the victims and their families.

The court has fixed January 17 as the next date of hearing.

IANS

Former LF minister Abdus Sattar joins Congress

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 Former West Bengal minister Abdus Sattar, who severed his long association with the CPI-M last year, on Monday joined the Congress, calling it the only party capable of challenging the communal policies of the BJP.

Sattar, who served as Minister of State for Minorities Development during the Left Front regime, was welcomed into the Congress by state party chief Somen Mitra and in-charge of Bengal Gaurav Gogoi.

“I decided to join the Congress after I became convinced it is the only party that can stand up to the communal onslaught launched by the BJP across the country,” Sattar told mediapersons at the state Congress headquarters Bidhan Bhavan.

Sattar had not renewed his membership of the Communist Party of India-Marxist in 2017. Since then, he had not been associated with any party.

IANS

Hockey WC: England ease past NZ 2-0, to meet Argentina in quarters

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 England outclassed New Zealand 2-0 in the first crossover match of the Men’s Hockey World Cup here at the Kalinga Stadium on Monday.

England, who will now take on Olympic champions Argentina in the first quarterfinal on Wednesday, scored their first goal in the 25th minute as Will Calnan got on the scoresheet with a field strike.

Luke Taylor converted a penalty corner in the 44th minute to help England score a comfortable win.

The English were the better team against Black Sticks in the opening two quarters, carving out more goal scoring opportunities than their ninth-ranked opponents.

In the opening exchanges, England could have taken the lead in the fifth minute from a penalty corner but failed to.

After a barren first quarter, England drew first blood in the 25th minute when Calnan deflected in a high ball from skipper Phil Roper from the left flank.

Two minutes later, a Liam Ansell strike from close range went inches wide.

New Zealand came close to reducing the margin in the 49th minute but Stephen Jenness’ shot from inside the box was parried away by England goalie Pinner.

In the final minute of the match, New Zealand secured another penalty corner but Pinner made a smart save to keep a clean slate and keep intact England’s record of never finishing below eighth in the World Cup.

In the other game, France reached their first quarters by edging past stubborn China 1-0. They will take on Australia in the last-eight stage on Wednesday.

Timothee Clement sounded the board in the 36th minute.

Viktor Lockwood raced to the baseline with a daunting run down the left flank and cut back to Maximilien Branicki in the centre.

Branicki then unleashed a fierce reverse stick at the far post which was deflected by Clement into the net.

IANS

If not stopped, BJP will destroy India: Rahul

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 Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Monday said that one more institution has fallen with the resignation of RBI Governor Urjit Patel and if not stopped, the BJP would “destroy India itself”.

In a tweet, he alleged that the ruling party has destroyed every temple of modern India.

“With the RBI Governor’s resignation, one more independent institution has fallen. The BJP has demolished every temple of modern India and if not stopped, will surely destroy India itself,” Gandhi said.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Urjit Patel resigned on Monday with immediate effect, citing “personal reasons”, setting off a major crisis in India’s politico-economic sphere, even as his various predecessors hinted that the move is rooted in the recent controversy involving the government and the central bank.

RS adjourned for the day after mourning Vajpayee’s death

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RS adjourned for the day after mourning Vajpayee's death
The Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day on Tuesday after mourning the death of former Prime Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party stalwart Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

“Vajpayee ji was one of the doyens of the country’s political leadership who influenced the course of events after Independence. During his long stint in public life, Vajpayee ji epitomized the politics of grace,” Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu said in an obituary reference as the house assembled.

He added that Vajpayee, who died on August 16 at the age of 93, was a parliamentarian par excellence who never hesitated to rise above politics whenever warranted in larger interest of the country and was respected across the political spectrum despite his strong ideological views.

The house also mourned the death of former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, former Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar, former Rajya Sabha members R.K. Dorendra Singh, Kuldip Nayar, Karma Topden, Nandamuri Harikrishna, Darshan Singh Yadav, Ratnakar Pandey, Satya Prakash Malaviya, Ram Deo Bhandary, Malti Sharma, N.D. Tiwari, P.K. Maheshwari, and Baishnab Parida.

In an emotional obituary reference to Ananth Kumar, Naidu said he has lost a personal friend.

The house also mourned the death of people in natural calamities — Titli cyclone which hit Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, and cyclone Gaja which hit Tamil Nadu.

The house was adjourned after observing a two-minute silence in memory of the deceased.

IANS

Extradite Mallya to India, says London court

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 Beleaguered industrialist Vijay Mallya must be extradited from the United Kingdom to India to stand trial on charges of committing huge bank frauds, a London court ruled on Monday, saying there was no evidence that the prosecution was politically motivated.

“The criticism made of the possible effect of the considerable media attention which would attend a prosecution of Mallya is not significant enough for this court to find he would not have a fair trial,” Westminster Magistrates’ Court Chief Magistrate Judge Emma Arbuthnot said.

“There is insufficient evidence for this court to find that he will not be tried by a competent and fair court,” the court said.

The judge also noted that any suggestion that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) courts in India were too “pliable” when it came to CBI cases “is not borne out by reliable evidence”.

Arbuthnot, a senior district judge, said she accepted the Indian government’s contention that because Mallya had such a high profile, his trial would be under great scrutiny.

“I find that Mallya will be able to raise with the court any overly prejudicial publicity… It will not be a trial by politicians. Courts are used to dealing with high profile cases which are accompanied by often ill-advised political commentary.

“I do not accept that the courts in India are there to do what the politicians tell them to do. As I have already said, the court will be under great scrutiny. I do not find any international consensus which would enable me to find that the judges in India are corrupt.”

Referring to defence argument that there was abuse of legal process, the London judge said: “There is no evidence that the prosecution is politically motivated… I find no grounds for finding an abuse of process.”

The judge said she was sending Mallya’s case to the Home Secretary of State for a decision to be taken on whether to order his extradition.

The court ruling came six days after British national and middleman in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal, Christian Michael, was extradited to India after his arrest in Dubai.

Mallya fled India in March 2016 but he has repeatedly denied fleeing the country and said he was ready to pay back the money he owed to Indian banks.

Earlier, before appearing in the court, Mallya told reporters: “Whatever the judgement, my legal team will review the judgement if required and take appropriate steps thereafter.”

He said he offered to repay the public sector banks and employees what he owed.

“But that has nothing to do with this extradition decision, this is a completely separate matter.”

Asked whether his offer of repaying the banks were genuine, he said: “There is nothing genuine or ingenuine. The offer has been made before a court of law, nobody disrespects the court of law by making bogus offers.”

He also said that his assets have been attached by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on their own admission, so they cannot be bogus assets.

“Today, those very same assets are before the court. The ED and the banks are fighting over the same assets. Same assets have a value that is more than enough to pay everybody and that is exactly what I am focusing on,” he said.

Welcoming the London court decision, the CBI officials in New Delhi hoped to bring Mallya back to India soon and said that the agency was always strong on facts and legally it was confident while pursuing the extradition process.

Proceedings are on in the Mumbai Special Court against Mallya under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act.

Kingfisher began defaulting on loans in 2009-10.

Late in 2017, India filed extradition proceedings against Mallya which he has contested. He is currently on bail in London.

On June 22, the ED had moved the Special PMLA Court to declare Mallya a “fugitive economic offender” and confiscate all his properties, estimated at more than Rs 12,000 crore, making it the first such case of its kind under the new FEOA (Fugitive Economic Offender Act) law.

 

IANS

Riding on Telangana pride, TRS heading for landslide victory

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Riding on Telangana pride, TRS heading for landslide victoryRiding on Telangana pride and its welfare schemes, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi on Tuesday appeared heading towards a landslide victory in Assembly elections.
Beating all expectations of pre-poll surveys and exit polls, the TRS appeared set to win 90 seats in the 119-member Assembly.

The gamble for early polls appeared to have paid rich dividends for the regional party in the first full-fledged elections in India’s youngest state.

The TRS took early leads in a majority of the constituencies for which trends were available as officials counted the hundreds of thousands of votes.

The ruling party candidates were ahead of their rivals in 90 constituencies while the other major contender for power, the Congress-led People’s Front, was leading in just 18 places.

TRS chief and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao was leading in Gajwel constituency while his son K. T. Rama Rao and nephew Harish Rao were ahead of their rivals in Sircilla and Siddipet constituencies.

People seem to have dismissed the alliance between the Congress and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) as the four-party People’s Front was heading for a drubbing.

Many top leaders of Congress were trailing. The TDP was ahead in just two segments while Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) and Communist Party of India (CPI) were not leading in any of the constituencies they contested.

The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) was leading in five segments and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in three.

KCR’s daughter K. Kavitha said there was never doubt that the party would retain power with a huge majority.

Kavitha, a member of the Lok Sabha, said there was no anti-incumbency as the TRS government had done well on all fronts during the last four-and-a-half years.

As many as 73.20 per cent of 2.80 crore electorate voted in the elections held in all 119 constituencies on Friday.

The TRS won 63 seats in 2014 while Congress had finished with 21.

KCR dissolved the Assembly in September, eight months before its term was to end.

Initially focussing on welfare and development schemes, KCR made Telangana pride a key issue when the TDP joined hands with the Congress.

Portraying TDP President and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu as an enemy of Telangana’s interests, the TRS chief had urged people not to allow outsiders to decide their future.

IANS

BJP backs Karnataka farmers’ stir on their demands

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 Main opposition BJP on Monday supported Karnataka farmers’ agitation here for meeting their demands by the state government and provide them relief from the fallout of drought in 17 districts across the state.

“We joined hundreds of farmers at the protest rally near the state legislature building (Suvarna Soudha) in support of their demands, including loan waiver, fair price for sugarcane growers and relief aid for them and their families in drought-hit districts,” tweeted BJP’s state unit president B.S. Yeddyurappa.

The massive protest demonstration amid tight security in the state’s northwest city coincided with the opening of the 10-day winter session of the state legislature here, about 500km northwest of Bengaluru.

“Though the JD-S-Congress coalition government announced in July that it would waive farm loans, thousands of farmers are yet to be freed from the debt burden even five months after the decision” said BJP leader and lawmaker R. Ashok on the occasion.

The BJP, which won 104 seats in the May 12 assembly elections, also taunted state Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy for assuring the sugarcane growers of compelling the mill owners in setting their arrears and getting fair and remunerative price (Rs 2,750 per quintal or 100kg) as fixed by the central government but betraying them.

“The sugarcane farmers were told on November 21 that their demands would be met by December 4 and hence should call off their agitation. They suspended the agitation in the hope of getting their demands met. Even a week after, no demand was met yet,” Yeddyurappa lamented.

The BJP also slammed the government for not providing relief aid to the farmers and the rural people in the 17 districts across the state, reeling under drought though the central government had sanctioned funds.

“We condemn the anti-farmer policies of this fledgling government which is yet to settle down and perform to deliver even six months after coming to power through a post-poll alliance to keep the BJP out of power,” said Yeddyruappa in the tweet.

Though the legislature assembly and council began the session, the proceedings were adjourned for the day after the members paid tributes to the three leaders who died last month in Bengaluru as a mark of respect to them./Eom/370 words.

IANS

Twitter CEO slammed for promoting Myanmar, ignoring Rohingya

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Jack Dorsey encouraged his 4 million followers to visit Myanmar even though military is accused of ‘ethnic cleansing’.

Dorsey visited Myanmar for a 10-day meditation retreat and tourism

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has been criticised for encouraging his 4.12 million followers to visit Myanmar, without mentioning the widespread allegations of ethnic cleansing of the country’s majority-Muslim Rohingya ethnic group.

In a lengthy thread on Twitter, Dorsey, 42, described in detail his experience on a silent meditation retreat in Pyin Oo Lwin, a town in northern Myanmar, before encouraging his followers to visit the South Asian country.

“Myanmar is an absolutely beautiful country. The people are full of joy and the food is amazing,” he said in the post on Saturday evening.

There was no mention of the plight of the Rohingya in the more than 700-word thread.

More than 730,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar’s Rakhine State in 2017, according to the United Nations, following a sweeping army crackdown in response to Rohingya attacks on security forces.

Rohingya refugees in neighbouring Bangladesh say Myanmar soldiers and Buddhist civilians killed families, burned many villages and carried out gang rape. UN-mandated investigators have accused Myanmar’s army of “genocidal intent”.

Myanmar has denied the allegations, saying its forces engaged in a counterinsurgency operation against “terrorists”.

Dorsey’s comments provoked a backlash with Twitter users accusing the Silicon Valley boss of being tone-deaf to the plight of the Rohingya and spawning the hashtag #JackIgnoresGenocide.

“I’m no expert on meditation, but is it supposed to make you so self-obsessed that you forget to mention you’re in a country where the military has committed mass killings and mass rape, forcing hundreds of thousands to flee in one of today’s biggest humanitarian disasters?” Andrew Stroehlein, the European media director of Human Rights Watch, responded on Twitter.

International lawyer Suchitra Vijayan also weighed in comparing the “silence” Dorsey sought from his meditation to his tight-lipped approach to the plight of the Rohingya.

Matthew Smith, CEO of Southeast Asia-based human rights NGO Fortify Rights, told Al Jazeera that Dorsey had “at best” miscalculated the reaction his post would provoke.

“It’s important that powerful people know and understand the landscape of abuse in Myanmar and speak openly and publicly about it. Genocide is everyone’s problem, and while we don’t expect everyone to speak about it publicly at every turn, atrocity crimes are the elephant in the room with regard to social media here,” Smith said.

“Mr Dorsey’s failure to mention the Rohingya or the Kachin, the Shan, and other [ethnic groups in Myanmar] was a political miscalculation at best. The pope made the same mistake. It’s not a good look”.

Social media in Myanmar

It was the second time Dorsey kicked up a social media storm within a month. In November, a picture of him with a placard saying “smash Brahminical patriarchy”, referring to the “highest” Hindu caste, went viral.

Twitter later apologised for the photo, which was taken during a trip to India and posted by a journalist Dorsey met during his visit.

 

Twitter CEO trolled for ‘smash Brahminical patriarchy’ placard

Dorsey has not responded publicly to the criticism over his visit to Myanmar, but an individual with knowledge of the trip stressed to Al Jazeera it was a holiday and Dorsey did not hold business meetings while in the country.

Social media companies have drawn criticism for allegedly allowing hate speech to spread at the peak of the military crackdown in Myanmar.

In August 2017, hundreds of new Twitter accounts sprang up in Myanmar, many of which appeared to be attempts to counter sympathetic portrayals of the Rohingya by the Western news media and human rights activists.

They portrayed the ethnic minority as illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh, or “Bengalis”. Rohingya regard themselves as native to Rakhine but the government has denied most of them citizenship.

In November, Facebook admitted it had not done enough to prevent the social network from being used to incite violence, following a report it commissioned on its presence in Myanmar.

Aljazeera

I don’t feel any pressure, but have responsibility towards acting: Ranveer Singh

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New Delhi Hopes are high from newly-married Ranveer Singh, who is set to woo quintessential Bollywood fans with “Simmba” later this month. After eight years of entertaining audiences, the actor says he does not feel any pressure to deliver his best as he sees it as a responsibility towards what he loves doing — acting.

Ranveer has a filmography boasting of titles like like “Band Baaja Baaraat”, “Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl”, “Lootera”, “Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela”, “Bajirao Mastani”, “Dil Dhadakne Do” and “Padmaavat”.

Asked if he feels pressure with so many hopes riding on him, Ranveer told IANS in an e-mail interaction from Mumbai: “I have been fortunate enough to experience both highs and lows. (I have been) Lucky and blessed that there have been more highs than lows, but I’m glad that the lows were there because they taught me a lot.”

The actor, who faced failure with films like “Befikre” and “Kill Dil”, says it taught him that filmmaking is a collaborative process.

“According to me, whether it’s my most successful film or least successful film — I know in my heart of hearts that I tried my best, I performed with all honesty and never gave less than a 100 per cent. If a film did not work, that is not in my hands. From my point of view, my perspective, I gave it everything.

“For a film to become a hit or a flop, there are many variables and many factors. That said, I don’t get pressurised. I see it as a responsibility to what I love doing,” he said.

Ranveer, who tied the knot with his long-time lady love Deepika Padukone in November, says he feels responsible when filmmakers come to him for collaborations.

“When filmmakers collaborate with me, I only assume that they expect me to bring something to the table creatively and I like that. I appreciate that the finest filmmakers look upon me as a collaborator. It’s something to be proud of and so I feel responsible,” said Ranveer, who has worked under the direction of Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Zoya Akhtar, Aditya Chopra and Vikramaditya Motwane.

As a performer, Ranveer said his effort is always to make people associated with him proud.

“I want to make my fans, family, my team everybody who is directly or indirectly connected to me, my life, my career — proud. So, I feel responsible in that way. So yes, I don’t feel pressurised, but I definitely do feel responsible,” he added.

Ranveer, who has been feted with the “entertainer of the year” award by a magazine, has a bag full of films coming up. His next his “Simmba”, where he is playing a flamboyant police officer. Then there’s “Gully Boy”, “’83” and a period drama “Takht”.

The actor’s last Bollywood outing was Bhansali’s “Padmaavat”, in which he essayed the role of Alauddin Khilji. Ranveer upped his own game with his powerful acting and eccentric mannerisms in the film, and captivated cine-goers with his stand-out performance, which set the bar higher for Bollywood villains.

Would he like to play an anti-hero again?

“Khilji’s part was mentally and emotionally taxing for me. I don’t think I’m keen on going into the dark space again anytime soon. That said, I want to keep doing different things. I will explore new characters that have a fresh set of layers to play. I never say never, but probably not anytime soon,” he said.

Ranveer was in fact advised by many people to not play Khilji.

“The rationale behind that was pretty convincing. They rationalised saying how audiences are very emotional, they even draw lines between actors and stars. If they love a character, they will shower the love on who played the character and if they hate the character, that hate will come upon the actor.”

But the 33-year-old star saw it differently.

“I trusted the audience, I trusted their maturity and the fact that they have evolved over time that they can see the performance for what it is. I felt that if I do this part well, they will appreciate me as an actor. I’m glad I trusted the audience and my trust in them paid off. It was a huge risk, but I’m never one to play it safe. So I’m glad I took the risk,” he said.

(IANS)

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