Reliance Industries Ltd buys ITC’s menswear brand John Players

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March 26, 2019

Reliance Industries Ltd on Tuesday said that its unit Reliance Retail Ltd (RRL) has acquired consumer goods company ITC Ltd’s menswear brand John Players.

The acquisition would strengthen RRL’s readymade garments and accessories portfolio in the fashion and lifestyle retail space, Reliance told Reuters in an email.

ITC sold the brand John Players and related trademarks and intellectual property to Reliance Retail as part of its restructuring plan, an ITC spokesperson said.

The two companies, however, did not disclose the financial details of the deal.

The Economic Times earlier reported that Reliance bought the John Players brand and distribution rights through 750 stores, in addition to 65 exclusive franchise outlets, for an estimated 1.50 billion rupees ($21.79 million).

Earlier this month, sources told Reuters that Reliance planned to grow the number of low-cost Reliance Trends fashion stores across India to 2,500 from 557 over the next five years and integrate them with its online business.

Reliance plans to diversify into e-commerce and expand in fashion as the conglomerate’s billionaire owner Mukesh Ambani aims to grab a dominant share of Indian consumer spending in a struggle with rivals, particularly Amazon.com Inc and Walmart Inc’s Flipkart.

Jet Airways’ domestic pilots write to SBI, seek salary dues

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March 26, 2019

Jet Airways’ domestic pilots body, the National Aviators Guild (NAG), on March 26 sought a meeting with State Bank chairman Rajnish Kumar over pending salaries, a day after the lenders took over the carrier founded by Naresh Goyal a quarter of a century ago.

The guild had last week announced that its over 1,100 -odd members would stop flying from April 1 of their salaries dues were not cleared and a clarity on the revival roadmap was not provided by March 31.

After lots of dilly-dallying, founder chairman Naresh Goyal and his board-member wife Anita, had on March 25 decided to step down and also pare their stake to 25.5 per cent from 50.1 per cent. The changes also saw its foreign partner Etihad halving its stake to 12 per cent and ceding a board position.

Under the new deal, banks, mostly led by state-run lenders, have would infuse Rs 1,500 crore of emergency liquidity to the airline and convert total debt of over 9,700 crore (including the fresh capital infusion) into equity worth 50.1 percent at a price of Re 1.

The guild members have come together and stood behind the airline when it was passing through its worst period, he claimed adding, “despite the severe financial difficulties and uncertainties over our future that we have been facing over the past few months, we have not wavered.”

Sood also assured the new management of its continued support in reviving the once top airline.

Fire in a furniture shop in Southeast Delhi kills 2 minors

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March 26, 2019

Two minors died in a fire which broke out in a furniture shop at Shaheen Bagh’s Abu Fazal Enclave in southeast Delhi, police said on Tuesday.

A six-year-old boy and seven-year-old girl died in the blaze, police said.

“It is a four-storey building. The family used to reside on the ground floor while the furniture store was functioning from the basement,” a senior police official said.

The Delhi Fire Service received a call about the blaze at around 1.30 PM. The fire was brought under control.

CBI status report has “Very very serious” revelations: SC on Saradha Chit Fund scam

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March 26, 2019

The Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi on Tuesday termed as “very very serious” the revelations made by CBI in its fresh status report relating to the recent interrogation of the then Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam case.

The bench also said it cannot “close its eyes” if some “very very serious facts” are disclosed to it and directed CBI to file an application seeking appropriate relief against Kumar, who had earlier headed the state SIT on the chit fund scam.

The bench, which also comprised Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna, granted 10 days to the probe agency for filing the application.

Kumar and others can respond to the plea seven days thereafter.

Supreme Court said that as the CBI’s status report was filed in a sealed cover, it cannot pass any order at the moment without hearing the other side.

The apex court was hearing the CBI’ contempt application against various senior officials of the West Bengal government including state’s DGP and then Kolkata police chief on the ground of non-cooperation in its probe and alleged destruction of evidence.

Rajendra Gavit joins Sena, gets ticket from Palghar

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March 26, 2019

Last year, tribal leader Rajendra Gavit crossed over to the BJP from the Congress and won the Palghar Lok Sabha seat in a bypoll, and on Tuesday he joined its ally Shiv Sena which nominated him from the same constituency.

As part of the pre-poll alliance between the BJP and the Sena, the Palghar seat adjoining Mumbai has fallen in the latter’s kitty.

However, apparently unable to find a strong candidate in its ranks, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party has now got the BJP MP to fight the April 29 polls at its official candidate from the seat reserved for Scheduled Tribes.

The Palghar Lok Sabha seat fell vacant last year following the death of sitting BJP MP Chintaman Wanga. In the bypoll, the BJP and the Sena, though allies in Maharashtra and at the Centre, fought against each other.

The BJP had fielded Gavit, while the Sena gave ticket to Chintaman Wanga’s son Sriniwas Wanga, who lost.

“In the seat-sharing pact, the Sena has received the Palghar seat. During the previous bypoll, I had publicly announced that I want Sriniwas Wanga to go to Parliament and I am firm on my commitment,” Sena president Uddhav Thackeray told reporters after Gavit’s induction in the party.

Thackeray said in the past few months, Wanga has taken a stock of the Palghar constituency and is of the view that he should first work there as a member of the Legislative Assembly and later as an MP.

“I have given my word to him to send him to Parliament. However, since he wants to work as an MLA first, I will send him to the state legislature,” he said.

Thackeray said Gavit has worked in the constituency in the past 8-9 months and therefore, instead of giving the ticket to somebody else, he found it appropriate to induct him into the Sena and field him from Palghar.

He said the Sena will field Narendra Patil, a labour leader, from the Satara Lok Sabha seat in western Maharashtra.

With this, the Sena has declared the names of candidates for all the 23 Lok Sabha seats that it is contesting in Maharashtra.

Opposition NCP took a dig at Thackeray over the candidature of Gavit.

“By snatching Sriniwas Wanga from the BJP and making him fight the Palghar bypoll (last year) and now denying him a ticket shows how Sena president Uddhav Thackeray takes care of children of other politicians,” NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said.

IDBI Bank Officers’ Association to go on hunger strike

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March 26, 2019

IDBI Bank on Tuesday said that its all-India Officers’ Association will observe a one-day nationwide hunger strike on March 30, over various demands.

“The Bank is in receipt of notice of one-day nationwide hunger strike on March 30, 2019 from All India IDBI Officers’ Association (AIIDBIOA) addressed to MD & CEO, IDBI Bank in support of their various demands,” IDBI Bank said in a stock exchange filing.

The Officers’ Association has been protesting over RBI categorising IDBI Bank as a private sector lender with effect from January 21, 2019, pursuant to LIC acquiring 51 per cent controlling stake in the bank.

For December quarter of this fiscal, IDBI Bank reported widening of loss to Rs 4,185.48 crore as bad loans surged.

The bank’s gross non-performing assets (NPAs) shot up to 29.67 per cent of gross advances as at December 31, 2018, against 24.72 per cent in the year-ago period.

Tagore Biopic “Thinking of Him” focuses on his untouched life

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March 26, 2019

Argentinean film Director and producer Pablo Cesar and Indian Co-producer Suraj Kumar’s feature film “Thinking of Him” was released in Argentina in the month of August 2018 and in India, it is going to be released in the month of September 2019. In incoming days, this will also be released in Bangla, French, and Spanish with English subtitles.

Even before the release in India, this film has been successful in recording its presence in various international film festivals. The film was selected for the spiritual film category at the 17th International Dhaka Film Festival, which was held from January 10-18, 2018. In the year 2017, the film was selected for the closing ceremony of the film festival in India’s 48th International Film Festival, which was held in Goa. Apart from this, the film was also selected in the competition section for Best Dress in 58th Asian Film Festival, Taiwan, 2018 and Latin American Film Festival 2018. Honourable President of India Ram Nath Kovind has also mentioned about the film “Thinking of Him” in his address. This happened when Argentina’s President Mauricio Macri met the Honourable President of India on February 18, 2019. Argentina’s President Macri had come to India for attending the 70th year of the establishment of formal diplomatic relations between India and Argentina.

Interestingly, Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore is still a source of inspiration for many including filmmakers. A few films have already been made on the love affair of Rabindranath Tagore. By the help of films “Chiroshakha He” (2007) and “Kadambari” (2015), filmmakers have discovered Tagore’s relationship with his sister-in-law, Kadambari Devi. “Thinking of Him” also explores Tagore’s relationship with Argentinean writer, editor, and activist Victoria Ocampo.

In this film, Victor Banerjee played the role of Ravindra nath Tagore and Argentinean actress Eleonora Wexler played the role of Victoria Ocampo. Cesar initially wanted to cast Naseeruddin Shah as Tagore and even considered approaching Amitabh Bachchan.

Raima Sen is in the role of Kamli, a student of Visva-Bharati and Felix, a theater and film actor Hector Bordoni from Argentina played the role of a teacher of Visva-Bharati. Kamli is his student. Earlier, Felix taught jail inmates in Argentina. He has some psychological problems. Kamli helps him during his stay at the Santi Niketan from getting rid of stress. In this period, a relationship develops between them. Perhaps for this reason, departing from Santi Niketan, Felix gets emotional. Thus, two love stories run simultaneously in the film — the first between Rabindranath Tagore and Victoria Ocampo and the other between Felix and Kamli. However, the main story of the film revolved around Rabindranath Tagore and Victoria Ocampo.

“Thinking of Him” has been shot in India and Argentina. In India, it has been shot in Shanti Niketan and a place called Jorosanko in north Kolkata, while in San Aguero in Argentina, which is located 35 kilometers from Buenos Aires. This is the place where Rabindranath Tagore met Victoria Ocampo in 1924. When Victoria finds out that Tagore is in the city for a short time, he immediately takes time to meet Tagore’s secretary. However, due to Tagore’s tiredness, a short meeting could be made. Later, Victoria arranges to stay arrangement for Tagore at her cousin’s house which was situated on the bank of the river.

Rabindranath Tagore had a tremendous influence on the life of Victoria. Victoria was first impressed by Tagore by reading the French translation of Gitanjali. Later, Victoria also read the other works of Tagore, thereby her fascination for him increased tremendously. Tagore was also influenced by Victoria. It is said that only after coming in contact with Victoria, Tagore started painting. With the efforts of Victoria, Tagore’s painting exhibition was organised in Paris in 1930. Tagore and Victoria met twice, but the relationship between the two remained from 1924 to 1941. In the last 10 years of Tagore’s life, there was no meeting between the two. Nevertheless, they were connected to each other. After Tagore’s death, Victoria writes a line “Thinking of Him” in his letter addressed to his son Rathindra nath. The title of the movie has been taken from the same line as described in the letter. After Victoria’s death in 1979, her house was converted into “Rabindranath Tagore Memorial”.

Tagore was originally a poet, writer, painter, singer, musician, social reformer, thinker, and philosopher. Therefore, in addition to the pleasant relations between Tagore and Victoria, Tagore’s views and concerns in the context of education, rural reconstruction, humanity etc. has also been included in the film to understand Tagore’s life and his attitude towards society. In nutshell, “Thinking of Him” is a synopsis of two stories of innocent romance intertwines over time.

By Satish Singh

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of AFTERNOON VOICE and AFTERNOON VOICE does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.

Indo-Pak to remain tensed till elections in India: Pak PM Khan

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March 26, 2019

After tensions between India and Pakistan escalated post the February 14 attack by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed in Pulwama, Prime Minister Imran Khan has said Indo-Pak relations would remain tense till the general elections in India are over.

Amid mounting outrage, the Indian Air Force carried out a counter-terror operation, hitting what it said was a JeM training camp in Balakot, deep inside Pakistan on February 26. The next day, Pakistan Air Force retaliated and downed a MiG-21 in an aerial combat and captured an Indian pilot, who was handed over to India later.

Khan said that shadows of war were still hovering over Pakistan and India as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration could go for “another misadventure” before the general elections.

“The danger is not over. The situation will remain tense till forthcoming general elections in India. We are already prepared to avert any aggression from India,” Dawn quoted Khan as saying.

Khan also claimed that he cancelled his scheduled meeting with the Taliban in Islamabad due to “concerns” expressed by the Afghan government.

The Taliban last month said that its representatives would visit Islamabad to meet Prime Minister Khan on February 18.

Media reports later suggested that the Taliban called off the meeting as most of the members of their negotiating team could not travel to Pakistan due to sanctions imposed on them by the US and the United Nations.

PM insulted veterans like Advani, Joshi: Kejriwal reminds Hindu culture

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March 26, 2019

Noted that the attitude of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is against the Hindu culture which teaches people to respect their elders, Aam Aadmi Party chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said that PM Modi has insulted the veteran leaders like LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi by not letting them contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

In a series of tweets, he pointed out, “The way Modi is insulting L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, it is completely against the Hindu culture. Hindu culture teaches people to respect their elders and not insult them.

People are talking about why Modi is insulting Joshi and Sushma (External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj).”

Former BJP president and Lok Sabha MP Murli Manohar Joshi has been asked by his party to not contest the upcoming general elections, a development in line with its decision to not field many of its veterans, including its founding member and longest serving chief L K Advani, in the polls.

“Those elders who build the home have been thrown out. When he cannot support his elders then who can he support,” Kejriwal said in another tweet.

Honoured to work under PM Modi’s leadership: Jaya Prada

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March 26, 2019

Two weeks before the crucial Lok Sabha polls, veteran actor and former MP Jaya Prada on Tuesday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and she has been pitted against Samajwadi Party’s Azam Khan on the Rampur constituency in Uttar Pradesh. Jaya Prada had represented Rampur twice in the Lok Sabha — in 2004 and 2009 — as a member of the Samajwadi Party.

After being inducted into the party by BJP general secretary Bhupender Yadav and the party’s media head and Rajya Sabha MP Anil Baluni, the actor turned politician called it an “important moment” and said, “I am a part of national party and I’m in a party, where the leader leads on issues of national security”.

“Whether it is films or politics, I have always worked with everything I have,” Jaya Prada said.

Jaya Prada had made her political debut in 1994 with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) but later quit due to differences with party chief Chandrababu Naidu.

The actress then joined the Samajwadi Party (SP) but was expelled on account of alleged anti-party activities in 2010.