Khiladi Kumar shoots bike stunts on the streets of Bangkok for ‘Sooryavanshi’

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June 6, 2019

The actor has been currently shooting for Sooryavanshi in Bangkok which holds a special place in his heart since he has worked there for many years before he started his acting career.

Akshay Kumar says, “I always have a lot of fun doing my own stunts. Rohit is anyway a class apart when it comes to action in his films. And doing these bike stunts on the streets of Bangkok was extra special. Many years back I would ride a bike in Bangkok to deliver food. Now I am doing the same all over again, to earn my food. (Laughs)”

Reliance Entertainment presents Rohit Shetty Picturez in association with Dharma Productions & Cape of Good Films, Sooryavanshi is directed by Rohit Shetty.

RBI abolishes charges on NEFT, RTGS transactions

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Web Team

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June 6, 2019

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced that it has abolished charges on NEFT and RTGS transaction. The apex bank has taken this step to promote digital transactions. Instructions to banks will be issued in a week. As per RBI report 20.34 crore transactions were done through NEFT and 1.14 crore transactions were carried out through RTGS mode.

An amount of more than 2 lakh can be transferred through Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS). The amount is credited instantly to the beneficiary’s account. National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT) is used for fund transfers up to 2 lakh.

Country’s largest bank SBI charges between Re 1 and Rs 5 for transactions through NEFT and between Rs 5 and Rs 50 for RTGS route.

In its statement on developmental and regulatory policies after the Monetary Policy Committee’s meeting, the RBI said it levies minimum charges on banks for transactions routed through RTGS and NEFT system for other fund transfers.

Banks, in turn, levy charges on their customers.

In order to provide an impetus to digital funds movement, it has been decided to do away with the charges levied by the RBI for transactions processed in the RTGS and NEFT systems, it said.

“Banks will be required, in turn, to pass these benefits to their customers. Instructions to banks in this regard will be issued within a week,” the central bank said.

Good news for buyers; home and car loans will be cheaper

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Web Team

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June 6, 2019

The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday announced the second bi-monthly monetary policy. The RBI reduced Repo rate by 25 bps to 5.75 per cent for third time in a row. Therefore, home and car loans will be cheaper.

The central bank also lowered the economic growth forecast for the current fiscal to from 7.2 per cent to 7 per cent. The RBI took this step because of slowdown in domestic activities and escalation in global trade war. Prior to this, the growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for 2019-20 was projected at 7.2 per cent.

According to data for January-March quarter of 2018-19, domestic investment activity has weakened and overall demand has been weighed down partly by slowing exports. Weak global demand due to escalation in trade wars may further impact India’s exports and investment activity.

Talking about the RBI policy, Khushru Jijina, MD, Piramal Capital and Housing Finance, said, “The downward revision of growth projection by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) from 7.2 per cent to 7 per cent in 2019-20 calls for the implementation of additional rapid policy interventions by both RBI as well as the Government. The unanimous decision by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to cut the repo rate by another 25 bps is a step in the right direction.”

He further added, “NBFCs are instrumental in providing credit to MSMEs and real estate sectors, that are significant to India’s GDP. MSMEs contribute 31 per cent of the GDP, 40 per cent of exports and hires 25 per cent of the labour force while real estate contributes more than 5 per cent to GDP and hires 17 per cent of the labour force directly or indirectly.

The credit crunch in the NBFC sector has witnessed a corresponding decline in manufacturing and construction activities in the last two quarters of 2018-19. We anticipate more decisive and pro-active policy measures to address the current liquidity crisis, that will enable NBFCs to restore lending activities, especially to these critical sectors.”

Highlights of monetary policy:

Repo rate reduced by 25 bps to 5.75 per cent for third time in a row
Reverse repo rate now stands at 5.50 per cent, marginal standing facility (MSF) rate 6 per cent
RBI changes policy stance to accommodative from neutral
Cuts GDP growth forecast to 7 per cent from 7.2 per cent for FY20
Raises retail inflation forecast for April-September to 3-3.1 per cent and 3.4-3.7 per cent in October-March
Projects upward bias in food inflation in near term due to rising prices of food items
Forecast risks to inflation trajectory from monsoon uncertainties, unseasonal spike in vegetable prices, crude oil prices, financial market volatility and fiscal scenario
Waives RTGS and NEFT charges to promote digital transactions
Sets up a panel to review ATM charges, fees levied by banks
To issue draft guidelines for ‘on tap’ licensing of small finance banks by Aug
Flags sharp slowdown in investments, moderation in private consumption growth as concern
All six MPC members voted in favour of 0.25 per cent policy rate cut
Average daily surplus liquidity in the system at Rs 66,000 crore in early June
Foreign Exchange Reserves stood at USD 421.9 billion on May 31, 2019
Next monetary policy statement on August 7

Letters to the Editor: 06 June, 2019

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Web Team

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June 6, 2019

Eid-ul-Fitr celebrated with religious fervour

Eid-ul-Fitr, marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan was celebrated with great joy and religious fervour all across the country on June 5th. In Mumbai alone, over five lakhs Muslims came out early morning dressed in their finery to offer their special Eid congregational prayers as thanksgiving at the 800-plus mosques in the city.
After the solemn prayers, people belonging to the Islamic community joyfully greeted each other with hugs of ‘Eid Mubarak’ in mosques, homes and public places. The festival marked the culmination of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan during which Muslims observe a stringent dawn-to-dusk fast in which even water is not even permitted to drink.
After offering the Eid ‘namaaz’ (prayers), it was time for the celebrations with family, friends, neighbours and community people, savouring and serving each other the festival special dish of ‘sheer-korma’, a sweet preparation of milk, vermicelli and dry fruits. The community was not alone as they were joined in large numbers by Hindus, Christians, Jains and even Parsis to meet, greet and celebrate with their Muslim brethren.

-Jubel D’Cruz

Crater Mumbai blues

It is indeed a traumatic experience for road users in Mumbai city. Even the highways are having craters and potholes and that hamper the traffic. Traffic snarls are seen on focal points and the Sion-Panvel highway suffered the most. Motorists were caught unaware in the traffic jam. Instead of completing the repair work during night hours and that too in a phased manner, the work is carried during day time causing chaos. If the condition of the bridges is so bad, the plain roads in the city was full of craters and potholes. Potholes pose problem for two wheelers, while four wheelers are troubled with craters. With water filled in all the potholes, maneuvering the vehicles is a herculean task for the drivers. It is now or never situation and a wake-up call for BMC.

-C.K. Ramani

(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)

It’s our responsibility to save the environment

By

Vinod Dixit

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June 6, 2019

Mahatma Gandhi said “What we are doing to the forests of the world is but a mirror reflection of what we are doing to ourselves and to one another”. World Environment Day was celebrated on 5^th June in order to raise the global awareness about the importance of the healthy and green environment in the human lives, to solve the environmental issues by implementing some positive environmental actions as well as to make aware common public worldwide that everyone is responsible for saving his environment and even government organizations are working for it. It is rightly said that “Environmental concern is now firmly embedded in public life: in education, medicine and law; in journalism, literature and art”.

Environment commonly refers to the surroundings in which all living and non-living things reside and establish a sense of attraction with one another. Since the beginning of time, environment has helped us in establishing a relationship with the flora and fauna, and has ultimately determined our formation and survival. It has given us various gifts, for e.g. water, sunlight, air, creatures and fossil fuels which have made our planet worth living. Don’t we think that despite various gifts that we have been provided by nature to make our life seemingly easy and this planet worth living, such as air, sunlight, water, animals and minerals, we have for our own selfish gains overtly exploited them?

Trees are precious gifts given by God. Directly and indirectly all living beings depend on trees for life. Tree cutting is prohibited in Hindu dharma shastras. Trees are mercilessly cut for widening roads, making furniture and even for construction. But no one seems to understand is that this will lead to the destruction of earth. Now, for every tree that is brought down, three saplings should be planted on the roadsides in the city. It is observed that the main problem in planting saplings to replace the trees that are cut is lack of space but when land is acquired for a project, why it is not taken into account. One of these symbols of prosperity, as it were, is the number of massive trees flanking the roads, providing much needed shade. Development of a new road, formation of a bypass, or widening of an existing road results in rapid development on the stretch, right from the edge of the road.

During the last few decades, water, air and land have been contaminated for achieving short term gains at the cost of long term ecological losses to the environment. We need to help the environment because we live on earth, and this is the only place we can live on right now. If we treat it like the city dump it becomes dirty and unlivable. If we treat it well, the earth stays a clean place, perfect for living, for ourselves and our children. We use air for breathing, water for drinking and other daily chores. Even the food we eat is derived from plants and animals including vegetables, milk, eggs, etc. In consideration of these requirements, protection of these resources has become very important today.

Pondering over the pages of history, it can be observed that our ancestors were more concerned about saving our environment, than we are today. Knowingly or unknowingly we contribute towards pollution on daily basis. No doubt, our government has formulated various schemes and established laws in favour of saving both nature and wildlife but still as an individual it is our duty to protect the environment for our future generations, as we are the people consuming its benefits. The need of the hour is to prevent the misuse of resources and instead use them judiciously as Mother Earth cannot sustain with this rapid utilization of resources. Let us encourage people to make their nearby surroundings safe and clean to enjoy safer, cleaner and more prosperous future.

What we need is to conserve both the renewable and non-renewable resources, provided by nature if we really need to save mother Earth.

(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)

Modi 2.0: Amit Shah is number 2; Rajnath Singh is missing from key cabinet committee

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Web Team

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June 6, 2019

Union Home Minister Amit Shah is number 2 in the Modi 2.0 government. It appeared that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is losing his importance in the second term of PM Narendra Modi. The Modi government has announced eight key cabinet committees. Amit Shah occupies place in all cabinet committees. On the other hand, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is in only two cabinet committees. He is missing from the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, which decided on policy.

According to reports, PM Modi is in six of them and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is in seven panels. Railways and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal is placed in five committees. Nirmala Sitharaman as Defence Minister was part of the previous government’s political affairs committee.

It is remarkable that the minister, who is number two in the government, is sworn in right after the Prime Minister. He presides over the cabinet and the political affairs committee in the absence of the Prime Minister. Rajnath Singh took oath after PM Modi but he is missing from the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs. Therefore, the number 2 position of Rajnath Singh is doubtful.

Tug of war over Hindi

By

Suraj Chandran

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June 5, 2019

After receiving a severe backlash from southern states, the Centre finally dropped the controversial clause in the new education policy to impose Hindi in non-Hindi speaking states. Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (DMK) and other regional parties in Tamil Nadu had raised objections against the three language formula and said that it was a move to thrust Hindi among the residents of the state. DMK chief MK Stalin had termed the move as ‘throwing stones at beehive’ and party leader T Shiva had stated that the government was playing with fire with such a decision.

Even Congress leader T. Siddaramaiah had stated that the centre was imposing Hindi in non-Hindi speaking states. He posted on Twitter, “Ours is a land that exhibits unity in diversity. Peaceful co-existence is the need to establish harmony and any force shall work against the laws of society. For us, Kannada is an identity & learning any other language should be by Choice & not by imposition.”

When Afternoon Voice spoke to Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe, he said, “Any language is a part of the culture. Language doesn’t come out all of a sudden from anywhere. English has become a part of our culture and then it becomes a language. So, if you want to inculcate a language then you should do it slowly, softly without touching cultural values.”

“The moment BJP got a majority in Hindi belt, they thought that if they implement Hindi in the south then they can make political inroads in the region. This might be the reason south Indian people opposed them. Three language formula existed since 1965 but it was not enforced on anyone. So, we should wait for the proper time to implement it,” he added.

In the draft of National Education Policy (NEP), the panel had proposed to make Hindi as a mandatory third language to be taught in schools.

Students, who wish to change one of the three languages they are studying, may do so in Grade 6, so long as the study of three languages by students in the Hindi-speaking states would continue to include Hindi and English and one of the modern Indian languages from other parts of India, while the study of languages by students in the non-Hindi-speaking states would include the regional language, Hindi and English.

Social activist Kumar Saptarshi said, “The equality can be maintained if Hindi speaking states learn one language from south India. As per three language formula, Hindi speaking people should learn Hindi, English, and one south Indian language. On the other hand, south Indians should learn English, regional language and Hindi. Hindi speaking states are well versed with Hindi. Thus, they have to learn only two languages. English should be made compulsory.”

After the massive uproar of the compulsory teaching of Hindi as the third language, the panel made changes in the draft of NEP. The new draft now mentions that the students, who wish to change one or more of the three languages they are studying, may do so in Grade 6 or Grade 7, so long as they are able to still demonstrate proficiency in three languages (one language at the literature level) in their modular Board Examinations sometime during secondary school.

BJP spokesperson Madhu Chavan said, “The Hindi language should be implemented across the country. The Congress government under Nehru’s reign had taken initiative to make Hindi as the national language of India. However, he withdrew the plan after southern states protested against it. He should have strictly enforced Hindi at that time. To bind the nation together a single language is necessary to be made national language. Either it can be Sanskrit or Hindi but not English.”

This is not the first instance when southern states have raised objections against mandatory imposition of Hindi in non-Hindi speaking states. In the year 1965 massive protests were witnessed in Tamil Nadu against the centre’s proposal to make Hindi as India’s official language. Tamil Nadu has always resisted the compulsory imposition of Hindi.

Social activist Medha Patkar said, “Hindi should be made national language. However, it should not be imposed on anyone. At the same time, regional language should also be promoted. In Tamil Nadu, advocates want to use Tamil as a language for communication. A multi-language formula should be followed. When people learn the advantage of learning that language, then they will definitely learn it. National language should bind the nation together instead of dividing it. It is necessary to start translation facilities everywhere.”

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said the solution to the three language formula is not by abandoning the proposal but through its proper implementation. Tharoor made these remarks in the aftermath of massive protests witnessed in Tamil Nadu pertaining to the proposal in draft National Education Policy promoting Hindi as a mandatory third language in schools across the country.

“The solution is not to abandon the three languages formula but to implement it in a better manner. Most of us in South India learn Hindi as a second language but nobody in the north is learning Malayalam or Tamil,” Tharoor spoke to reporters.

Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy stated that one language should not be imposed on others in the name of three language formula. BJP’s ally PMK too alleged that the proposal of three language formula was the imposition of Hindi in non-Hindi speaking states and called for its withdrawal.

Hindi is the official language of the central government for communication and administrative purpose along with English.

As per the constitution of India, Hindi is one of the two languages that can be used in the parliament, other being English. It can also be used in legislative assemblies along with official languages of the respective states & English. It has a role in the judiciary as well, wherein Hindi is one of the languages that can be used for all the official purposes in the Supreme Court as well as the High Courts for official communication with the central government along with English. It can also be designated as an official language by respective states.

India does not have a National Language

By

Vaidehi Taman

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June 5, 2019

A Bill that seeks to make Hindi a mandatory third language to be taught in schools across India fetched a lot of controversies. HD Kumaraswamy and others took to social media to criticise the imposition of Hindi in schools under the draft National Education Policy (NEP) 2019. He along with many others came out in open to state that they will not allow Hindi to be made compulsory in schools.

In 1965, Tamil Nadu faced violent protests when the center proposed to make Hindi India’s only official language. After strong resistance from the southern Indian states, especially Tamil Nadu, the Indian government revised a controversial draft bill that proposed to make Hindi a mandatory third language to be taught in schools across India. The draft bill released on May 31 by the Human Resources Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank was one of the recommendations for a new national education policy that intended to have a three-language formula in schools, a departure from the existing two-language set-up. There was a huge political outcry in Tamil Nadu within hours of the release of the draft bill with most of the political parties, including the ruling All India Anna Dramuk Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), a regional ally of New Delhi’s ruling party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), strongly objecting to changing the existing two-language formula.

As per Article 343 of the Constitution of India, India’s official languages shall be Standard Hindi (the dialect known as Khadiboli) written in the Devanagari script and English. These are the official languages of the Union of India, i.e. at the Central Government level. However, each state is allowed to have its own official language based on its own linguistic demographics. So, we end up having a total of 22 official languages today (excluding English). However, India does not have a national language. There is a difference between a national language and an official language. While a national language would have a patriotic and nationalistic identity, an official language is one which is designated for communication at the official level. The history behind having two official languages and no national language is very specific. When we became independent, no particular language was designated as the national language, because people who spoke Dravidian Languages were more comfortable in English than they were with the most spoken language in India, i.e. Hindi. A period of 15 years, in fact, was designated for the Indian government to make efforts to make Hindi the lingua franca all over India so that English could be dropped from the official language position when that happened. English was, after all, a foreign language.

However, the 15 years didn’t yield any efforts from the government to make Hindi the lingua franca. South India was still comfortable with either English or their mother tongue. There was an agitation in Tamil Nadu at the completion of the 15 years — since the 15 years hadn’t yielded any lingua franca (and no language except English seemed to have any prospects of soon becoming the lingua franca); it was only fair that English be made the main official language. When violence erupted in Tamil Nadu, Lal Bahadur Shastri, then the Prime Minister, called an emergency Parliament session. The ideal task was to have an originally-Indian language (unlike English) which could be given the combined status of 1) a national language, 2) the only official language, and 3) the lingua franca. Obviously, Hindi could be the only choice based on demographics, but it could not be the national language until it was also the lingua franca. Shastri announced this decision: “English shall continue as an additional official language of India as long as the non-Hindi speakers want.” Unlike the 15-year deadline set earlier, there was no deadline this time. So, even today, we do not have any national language or an ONLY official language for the Union. As per the Constitution of India, there is no National Language of India. After independence, the Constitution makers had a problem of selecting a national language which can unite a country because there were more than 1,600 languages spoken in different parts of the country. At that time Hindi was an option as Hindi was being spoken by 40 per cent of Indians at that time. However, what about non-Hindi speaking states and other documents and books which were inherited by the Britishers which were written in English during the British Raj? So, at that time, it was decided that along with Hindi, English will also be an official language. However, English will be the official language only for the next 15 years i.e. till 1965 (Article 343).

Hindi is one of the North Indian Regional Languages and one of the Official languages of the Indian Union. It’s just a regional language and the entire South and East of India have no relevance to this language by any means. It is a mash-up of Portuguese, Turkish, Arabic, Sanskrit, and Persian, it doesn’t have its own unique origin or much of history. It also cannibalised many distinct related languages from one umbrella as its “Dialects” which is the most unfortunate thing! Garhwali, Kumaoni, Braj, Bundeli, Awadhi, Kannauji, Khariboli, Maithili, Marwari, Magahi, Bhojpuri, Rajasthani, and Chhattisgarhi are the major victims. In the near future, who knows, they’d even call prestigious languages like Marathi and Bengali to be the different dialects of Hindi!

(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)

Nourish your virtues to contribute to establish ‘Hindu Nation’: Sanatan Sanstha

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Web Team

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June 5, 2019

‘In days to come, the mission to unite Hindus will have to be carried out on a large scale. While doing so, priority has to be given to unite like-minded patriots and devout Hindus because only these Hindus will be contributing actually in establishing the ‘Hindu Nation’. Most of the times devout Hindus work by getting emotional. Such work does turn out to be effective. It may adversely affect the mission for Dharma by creating obstacles. Therefore, this mission needs to be carried out thoughtfully, with responsibility and on the base of spiritual practice. Therefore, to contribute in establishing the ‘Hindu Nation’, nourish your virtues and develop skills and become effective ‘Hindu Nation organiser’, appealed Sadguru Nandkumar Jadhav, Dharmaprasarak of Sanatan Sanstha. He was speaking on 5th June at the inaugural ceremony of the 4-day long ‘Hindu Nation Organisers’ Training & Convention’ (Hindu Rashtra Sangathak Prashikshan Evam Adhiveshan) under the aegis of 8th All India Hindu Convention for the ‘Hindu Nation’ at Vidyadhiraj Sabhagruha of Shri Ramnath Temple, on the topic ‘Direction for the mission of Hindu Nation organisers’. The Convention is being attended by 236 devout Hindus.

On this occasion, Ramesh Shinde, National Spokesperson, Hindu Janajagruti Samiti said, “The religious fanatics could not win Assam despite fighting for 800 years. On the contrary, these religious fanatics gained control over more than half of Assam by using ‘secular’ system created after Independence. Today, they are trying to create ‘Grand Bangladesh’. The ‘Hindu Nation’ is the most ancient concept in vogue since the era of Vedas. However, after 1947, efforts were made to erase the concept of ‘Nation’ from the minds of Indians by hatching a conspiracy. In the secular system, the ancient history of the nation is being negated. Because of the secular system, the majority Hindus are being given the status of secondary citizens. The Minority Affairs Ministry exists for the minorities in the country, and it has a separate budget. On the contrary, there is neither Ministry nor the budget for the majority Hindus. Therefore, the ‘Hindu Nation’ is a must for respectful living of the majority Hindus”.

The Convention began with blowing of a conch. After lighting the auspicious lamp, the priests in Sanatan Purohit Pathshala recited Ved-mantras. The source of inspiration for Hindu Janajagruti Samiti Paratpar Guru (Dr.) Athavale’s message to the Convention was read by Sadguru Nandkumar Jadhav. The proceeding of the programme was conducted by Sumit Sagwekar of Hindu Janajagruti Samiti. On the occasion, guidance was given on the annual review of Hindu Rashtra-Jagruti Sabhas, output, the narration of experiences had while attempts carried by devout Hindus and other subjects.

Vidyut Jammwal throws Iftaar party on sets of Commando 3

By

Web Team

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June 5, 2019

Vidyut Jammwal, who’s currently wrapping up Vipul Shah’s Commando 3, had a surprise for the film’s team the other day. He hosted an Iftaar party for the crew on the set.

Since many unit members were observing Ramadan fast and it was a night schedule, Vidyut thought of making it special for them by having an Iftaari on sets. The entire crew was very happy and excited with Vidyut’s gesture.

Vipul Amrutlal Shah’s, Commando 3 is directed by Aditya Datt. The film stars Vidyut Jammwal along with Adah Sharma, Angira Dhar and Gulshan Devaiah.

Commando 3 is presented by Reliance Entertainment & Motion Picture Capital in association with Sun Shine Pictures and Vipul Amrutlal Shah Production.