Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday said that he was unaware of any speculation about BJP leader Varun Gandhi joining his party.
The Congress chief’s remark comes two days after his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra formally entered politics on Wednesday ahead of the elections.
“I have not heard this speculation,” Gandhi said while responding to a query about Varun Gandhi joining Congress in a move to reunite the Gandh-Nehru family.
Varun Gandhi, cousin of Rahul Gandhi, is at present a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Lok Sabha member from Sultanpur in Uttar Pradesh.
His mother Maneka Gandhi is the Union Cabinet Minister for Women and Child Development in the Narendra Modi government at the Centre.
The patriotism of Indians starts bursting forth as Independence Day and Republic Day approaches even though there may be debates held throughout the year, on topics like ‘Whether to say Vande Mataram’, ‘Whether to stand up in respect when the national anthem is played’ etc. There is competition to exhibit patriotism by uploading own photos with the ‘tri-colour’ in hand or group-photos in dresses made with ‘tri-colour’; ‘tri-colour’ tattoos on faces etc. on social websites. There is so much craze of the three colours of our national flag that there is special demand in the market for sweets made in three colours or cakes in three-colours of our flag. One, therefore, starts thinking whether the national flag has become a show-piece considering its use for such ordinary purposes. National Flag is a symbol of our national identity and it is an unwritten duty of every Indian to maintain its due respect. National Flag teaches us values like sacrifice, revolution, peace and prosperity. We, however, trample these values when we misuse colours of National Flag out of our over-enthusiasm. The right place of National Flag is on flag-pole. That is the appropriate honour of the flag. Keeping our revolutionaries as ideals before us, who sacrificed their lives for this country and trying to walk on the path shown by them, will be true patriotism rather than showing off such patriotism on social websites.
Manisha Chandarana
January 26: More interest in holiday
Republic Day is on Saturday this year; followed with Sunday. People from city plan outing on getting such back to back holidays. There is, however, a difference between getting holidays for other reasons and for Republic Day though it is argued that how to make use of holidays is a personal matter. Even if it is right; the holiday of Republic Day is not for only enjoyment but it should be spent for the country. Can we not spend even one day for paying gratitude towards own country which we use for our education, jobs, business etc? Our soldiers are battling against the enemy on the boundaries of this country; therefore, such enjoyment is possible on holidays. Our soldiers, police have a huge and difficult challenge of maintaining tight security to see to it that no untoward incident takes place on August 15 and January 26. It is nevertheless, observed that citizens are as usual more interested in making plans for such holidays, in advance; as if, protection of this country is the responsibility of only our soldiers and to enjoy life at their cost is our responsibility. Moreover, having such discussions on holidays is most unfortunate. Our soldiers are facing a bombardment of firing, bombs etc. from the enemy which cannot be faced by ordinary citizens. They need to be told that at least for a day, they should devote for own country and do their duty. Soldiers come to our rescue even calamities like earthquake, deluge strike us but we run away to enjoy holidays. Can there be any comparison with soldiers ?
Sandeep Kate
Phenomenal run for Virat Kohli this year!
Kudos to Virat Kohli for not just winning the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy along with Test and ODI player of the year awards. It has been a phenomenal year for Captain Kohli who has literally been scoring runs and tons with ease. It was kids play for the jury to select a winner as there was no competition for Kohli this year who has emerged as an even bigger icon than the master blaster Sachin Tendulkar. It is truly amazing in the manner that he bats and resembles a Robot when it comes to perfection.
Virat Kohli has amassed so many runs and tons in his career at such a young age that Tendulkar’s records who dwarf against Kohli’s milestones whenever he retires. Fitness is the key to Virat Kohli’s success but I request him to select tournaments and give IPL a skip to prolong his international career. Virat Kohli is poor man’s Don Bradman in the manner he bats as Sir Garfield Sobers in attitude. Keep up the good work going Virat and wish you the very best in the coming times. Indians want you to win the coming ODI World Cup which is reasonable expectations after your great wins in Australia. Go for it and make India proud!
S.N.Kabra
Memorable Mumbai Marathon
Mumbai Marathon is a big occasion for the Media and the participants as they enjoyed the real essence of running for a noble cause. Tata Mumbai marathon 2019 spirits had gone very high this time. We saw all walks of life people participated in the Mumbai Marathon and there was no caste, creed or religion in the unique effort. Mumbai Marathon is a great initiative and it deserves a feather in the cap for the sponsors. It was totally Unity in Diversity on the street of Mumbai. Print Media played a pivotal role in making the Marathon a great success. The events include Marathon, Half-Marathon, Dream Run, Senior Citizen run and Wheelchair run in all. Tata marathon turned out to be a significant fund-raising platform. A large number of entries and the participants enjoyed every moment in the event revealed its success. Be it youth, doctors, businessmen, actors, senior citizens, handicapped and the mentally challenged played a part and everyone was out on the streets to celebrate life in the best way possible on a Sunday. Mumbai Marathon moment was memorable. The enthusiasm and high spirits displayed showed an encouraging marathon. Anyway it was not just a fad. The Mumbai Marathon brings the best out of the participants in a big way. It also showed the way of organising strength in an International event of this magnitude in the best way possible. Kudos to the organisers!
Jayanthi S. Maniam
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
India is celebrating its 70th Republic Day. First Republic Day of India was celebrated in 1950. India is a country having people of different cultures, societies, religions and languages who interplay with each other harmoniously. Republic Day is the symbol of true spirit for the independent India where military parades, exhibiting military equipment, salute to the National Flag by the Indian President and variety of events that take place on this day. Republic Day represents the true spirit of independent India. In his autobiography, Jawaharlal Nehru recalled how Independence Day came into existence on January 26, 1930, and it revealed to us, in a flash, the earnest and enthusiastic mood of the country. After the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919, there was huge public outrage against the British rule and looking at the public sentiments Mahatma Gandhi and the Congress committed themselves to Purna Swaraj. Mahatma Gandhi led nationwide Non-Cooperation Movement between 1920-1922 against 1919 Rowlett Act in which civil liberties of Indian citizens were hugely curtailed.
It was also the reason why January 26 was designated as Republic Day when the Constitution was finalised in 1950. The Constitution of India was drafted by Dr. BR Ambedkar which helped to replace the existing Government of India Act, 1935. The Constitution of India which was drafted by Dr. BR Ambedkar was actually passed on November 26, 1949. It is the supreme law of India. It gives us a framework of fundamental political principals, establishes structure, procedures, powers, and duties of the government institutions and sets out fundamental rights, directive principles and the duties of citizens. The constitution declares India a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic, assuring its citizens of justice, equality, and liberty, and endeavours to promote fraternity among them. It gives us Fundamental Rights and duties too. Right to Freedom, Equality, Freedom of Religion, Culture and education, constitution remedies are our six fundamental rights.
It was mainly Nehru’s idea to have an impressive parade on Republic Day every year to strengthen the nation’s unity in diversity, and demonstrate its military might, economic and social progress as well as it’s vast cultural heritage. An official draft by Mahatma Gandhi said: “The British government in India has not only deprived the Indian people of their freedom but has based itself on the exploitation of the masses and has ruined India economically, politically, culturally and spiritually. Therefore, India must sever the British connection and attain ‘purna swaraj’ or ‘complete independence’. ”
Mahatma Gandhi’s mission to wipe every tear from every eye still remains unfulfilled. We have to work harder to provide food security to our people and to make the agriculture sector resilient to the vagaries of nature. We have to provide better amenities and opportunities to our people in villages to ensure a decent quality of life. The fundamental rights and duties of the people of the Republic in India have been laid down in our constitution. Every citizen of India is equal in the eye of the law, and no one is to suffer because of religion, creed, caste, colour or race.
Youth today are brimming with hope and aspirations. They pursue their life goals, which they perceive will bring them fame, success and happiness, with single-minded devotion. They consider happiness as their existential objective, which of course is understandable.
The anniversary of India becoming a republic has come and gone. Fireworks, salutes to the tiranga, distribution of awards, parades, display of our military might and what not. But the real issue amid the festivities seems to have been lost somewhere.
Democracy has helped only our politicians. Many of them got an opportunity to become billionaires after a decade or so in politics. Our criminal justice system is all but ineffective in curbing corruption, which starts with the ballot box and ends in Swiss banks.
Let us make a great promise that we would live together in peace and happiness as the people of the same nation. It creates a feeling of patriotism among the people. It reminds us of the supreme sacrifices made by the great freedom fighters. Republic Day also realises us our responsibilities towards our country.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
The Supreme Court on Friday decided to examine the Centre’s decision to grant 10 percent reservation in jobs and education to poor candidates belonging to general category.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna issued notice to the central government on various petitions challenging the validity of the Constitution (103 Amendment) Act, 2019, which paved the way for grant of quota to poor belonging to general category.
“We are examining the matter and hence issuing notice returnable within four weeks,” the bench said.
The bench, however, did not stay the operation of the Centre’s decision granting quota to the poor in the general category.
In poll year, the Narendra Modi government had come out with the constitutional amendment bill giving quota benefits to the poor among general category candidates.
The petitions were filed by parties including organisations like Janhit Abhiyan and Youth For Equality challenging the Centre’s decision.
The petition, filed by Youth For Equality, has sought the quashing of the bill saying that the economic criterion cannot be the sole basis for reservation.
The plea has said the bill violates basic feature of the Constitution as reservation on economic grounds cannot be limited to the general categories and the 50 per cent ceiling limit cannot be breached.
A similar plea has been filed by businessman Tehseen Poonawalla seeking to quash the bill, saying that backwardness for the purpose of reservation cannot be defined by “economic status alone”.
The quota will be over and above the existing 50 per cent reservation to SCs, STs and Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha cleared the Bill on January 8 and 9 respectively and it has also been signed by President Ram Nath Kovind.
The CBI has registered a new case against former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and others over alleged irregularities in land allocation in Gurgaon in 2009 and carried out searches at 20 locations in Delhi-NCR on Friday, officials said.
A team of officials from the agency arrived early morning at his residence in Rohtak, Haryana, they said.
According to the officials, 20 locations in the Delhi-NCR region are part of the probe, they said.
The agency is tight-lipped about the details of the case as the search operation is underway.
The case is understood to be related to the alleged irregularities in land allotment in 2009, sources said.
It is alleged that there were glaring irregularities in acquisition of 1,417 acres land by the then Haryana government in Gurgaon in 2009, they said.
Humanity has always taken precedence over ideology for auteur Mrinal Sen, who did not deter to join the movement against Nandigram violence in 2007 despite his Left leanings. Sen was a rebel who believed in fighting for the cause of common people of and off the camera, veteran filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan has said during a session at Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet here on Thursday,
“For him (Sen), humanity was more important than his ideology. He had very high integrity. He joined a big procession in Kolkata in protest against the shootings in Nandigram despite his Leftwing ideology,” said the ‘Mukhamukham’ (Face to Face) director, credited for pioneering a new wave of cinema in the early 70s.
Appreciating Sen’s body of work, Gopalakrishnan said ‘Ek Din Pratidin’ (1979) by the auteur was among his all-time favourite films. That is one film where he says that everything without saying anything. It stands out in the Indian cinema as a great example of a filmmaker’s genius. Everyone who sees the film wonders what happens to the girl and where was she all night? As she quietly walks in the next day, neither she says anything, nor does any family member ask her. That is a remarkable.
Sen had won National Award for ‘Ek Din Pratidin’. To a question by the audience, Gopalakrishnan said that both Satyajit Ray and Sen have made films on Kolkata, but there was a difference in the way they approached the subject. However, asked about his approach to films, Gopalakrishnan said that “My subject is politics, but my films are not political. I only ask questions, never answer them. I am not sure about the answers, as an artist I keep searching.
Fourteen people were killed in alleged police firing in 2007, at the height of an anti-land acquisition agitation at Nandigram in Bengal’s West Midnapore district. The CPI(M)-led Left Front was at the helm of affairs in the state at that time.
In keeping with the theme of their forthcoming release “Gully Boy”, Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt performed live at the music launch of the film with rappers amid much fan fare on Thursday night.
The grand music launch of the film was held at the Richardson & Cruddas in Byculla. Besides the team of “Gully Boy” including director Zoya Akhtar and producer Farhan Akhtar, Shweta Bachchan Nanda too was in attendance at the music launch event.
Donning a green skirt and vibrant top, Alia apologised for starting the event late and cheered and hyped up the crowd. Then Ranveer arrived on the stage post 9 pm, wearing a silver jacket and neon green sweatshirt and tracks.
“It is a big day for Indian hip hop. The hip hop scene here is going to change from today. We are going to have a blast. Let me invite the ‘asli hip hop’ crew on stage,” Ranveer said.
The actor, who performed on the song “Apna Time Aayega”, was at his energetic best. There are 18 songs in the album of the film. Rapper Divine and Naezy from whose life the film is inspired, performed at the event along with their original Gully gang. The team of “Gully Boy” including Alia, Ranveer, Zoya joined all the rappers on stage for their last performance on the hit track “Apna Time Aayega”.
“Gully Boy” is the story of a rapper from the streets of Mumbai who dreams of making it big. In the film, Ranveer plays a budding street rapper from the slums of Mumbai while Alia, who has been cast opposite him essays the role of an aspiring medical student. It also stars Kalki Koechlin, Vijay Raaz in pivotal role and will release on February 14.
Renowned Hindi author and essayist Krishna Sobti died on Friday in Delhi, family sources said.
The author breathed her last in a Delhi hospital this morning, where she was admitted for the last two months. She was about to complete her 94 years in February, so an age factor was there no doubt. For the last one week she was in the ICU, Ashok Maheshwari, a friend and managing director of Rajkamal Prakashan said.
“She was 93, and even after being extremely sick, she was very much aware about her thoughts and about what was happening in the society,” Maheshwari added.
Born in 1925, Sobti was known for writing about issues of female identity and sexuality. She received prestigious awards like Sahitya Akademi, Jnanpith awards and was also offered Padma Bhushan, which she had declined.
Talking everyone onboard on a journey of imagination, Booker Prize winner Yann Martel recreated the story of his magnum opus “Life of Pi” sans the tiger, orang-utan or the hyena on a ferry that set sail on the Hoogly river here. Martel spoke of how he came up with the idea of his novel he published in 2001 and which fetched him the Booker Prize the next year, how he chose the characters and how he did research among other things. In the late 90s, Martel flew to India for research on another book.
I noticed in India that there was abundance of gods as well as animals. There is a link between the two and there are lots of instances of this in Hindu mythology. These two extremes – gods and animals – struck Martel. “While in Matheran (Maharashtra), I suddenly remembered that premise of a very confined space with a character and an animal. I found that to be a perfect metaphor for human conditions,” he said during a discussion as the ferry cruised along the Hoogly with the majestic Howrah Bridge as the backdrop on Thursday night. He further added that, It is the crossing of a life and living of a life. We are animals and always behave like animals – so that is the tiger. We also have human qualities and one of these qualities is our extraordinary capacity to imagine. One of the things we imagine is god. So Pi and his gods are one extreme of the human conditions and the tiger is the other – the animal condition. These are brought together in this lifeboat.
After the main idea was conceived, he then spent the next six months in India for research as the country is a “place of marvel and magic”. Another interesting fact that he shared during the discussion, organised as part of the ongoing Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet, was why Pi was stranded for 227 days. He said that “I wanted Pi to be at sea for a time. So I had to have some reason to choose a number. So after some thought, I chose a prime number 227. Prime numbers are indivisible and I wanted to tell a story which is indivisible. You can’t have one half of a story, another quarter of one and fabricate another story.” However, later, a reader pointed out to him that 22 divided by 7 is close approximation of Pi.
According to Martel, in “Life of Pi”, the life boat crossing the Pacific is the metaphor of the human condition he talks about. “The Life of Pi” is about what happened after the tragic sinking of a cargo ship, as a solitary lifeboat remains bobbing on the wild, blue Pacific Ocean. The only survivors from the wreck are a 16-year-old boy named Pi, a hyena, a zebra (with a broken leg), a female orang-utan and Richard Parker, a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger. The novel was later adapted into a movie by Ang Lee and won multiple Oscars.
A man who always claimed extraordinary things, the one who always spoke his mind without diplomacy or trying to be politically correct, he stuck to his Dharma and religion. He is one of the best personalities who is not ashamed of anything. His Leelas (acts) are absolutely amazing; his range of popularity is always at peak. No matter you like him or not, you can’t get away from him. Let it be the social media trolling or transformation as a silent disciple, one gets glued to his videos. It is very easy to make fun of such personalities who are not following the routine life and whose prerogatives are not monotones like any other spiritual Godman. Maybe, this is the reason he had to go through a lot of controversies. He is the favourite target of media and state management; but on the other hand, he is highly regarded by his gurukul (academic institution) students and his followers. They differ with general opinion about him because they have witnessed his declarations and they have reasons to believe him. People in the virtual world are the ones who have never seen him in person or never witnessed his capacities. I am one of them; I have not met him personally and had trolled him a lot on social media. He literally blocked me on Twitter; I commented on the Facebook making fun of him but when I got tired of doing so, I realised that there are people right in that comment section who are not only praising him but have high regards and they ignore all the trolls like me. The journalist in me got into the probe; during the process what I understood is that while trolling, I ignored the good things he is doing for the society, religion, and mankind. I chose to be a selective attacker like others. Without knowing a person, without seeing him in person, without knowing his abilities, and without understanding his path, I was judging him, which was uncalled for.
I remember, when he was accused of rape, a few years ago, and the media made big headlines; however, when he was released, no media bothered to publish the truth. I am no one to decide whether he was guilty or not, but the court can. If we believe in our judiciary, they must accept the fact that he is bailed out of all the charges made against him. The video went viral on social media, he received a lot of humiliation after that but his followers were his concrete supporters and they are growing day by day. Moreover, the court dismissed the case when the FBI forensic experts ruled the video fake. Later, the COO of now-defunct Sun TV admitted on trial that they aired the video knowing it was morphed. Actress Ranjitha (who was the part of fake sex CD) spilled the beans about ongoing media trials. But no mainstream media ever had the audacity to control the damage done to them. Nithyananda is the only man in the history to be arrested for a crime with no victim, no witness, and no evidence.
Again, I am no one to question the integrity and intelligence of the people who worship him as GOD. Some people hate him because the media has declared him self-styled Godman, despite the fact that he is traditionally raised Adishaiva initiated by multiple Sampradayas into Sannyas, whose slogan is, “I am not here to prove I am God, I am here to prove YOU are God.” Nithyananda gives so much clarity and honest experiences of Hinduism that those got converted to other religion are coming back to Dharma. Every human has the right to protect its religion and its essence. He is just calling them back to the fold that they gave up for various reasons. Go to his social media pages and see which population is an avid critic of his speeches. I am not dividing anyone by saying so, but unfortunately, the so-called liberals, leftists, and rationalists are playing a major role in misguiding the practicing of Hinduism. They are uprooting them for their own motives and agenda. In such a scenario, if spiritual leaders like Nithyananda take on them, he is attacked by all means. Let’s come back to his scientific claims; do we have any solid arguments to refute what he said? Can we prove him wrong, other than just making fun? Has anyone ever challenged him and proved him wrong and for that matter, we have examples like Sant Dnyaneshwar making the he-buffalo repeat Vedas and the other of bringing to life Sat-chit-Anand Baba. Let me tell you, those who reside permanently as volunteers in his ‘adheenam’, 90 per cent of them are educated with Master level degrees or higher. Who is scientifically challenged? Balaji Srinivasan of Silicon Valley fame, which innovated the medical diagnostic industry by inventing the machine that can accurately measure diseases at a fraction of the cost of what was being used before, uses his 4 degrees from Stanford and Harvard? Or maybe you’re talking about Anupama Deshpande, once among the inner circle of Microsoft sitting as the head of its marketing department or perhaps, Dr. Srilekha Kartik, the pediatrician in Bangalore?
Nithyananda is neither scientifically challenged nor followed by fools; He is an intellect and his devotee base is a who’s who of the intelligentsia, also including Rajiv Malhotra, bestselling author and the modern voice of Hindu India, Narendra Giriji Maharaj, the president of the Akhada Parishad, the oldest governing body of Hinduism, etc. Now don’t call them saffron bigots just because they are the followers of Swami Nithyananda. You follow him or not or believe him or not is your personal choice, but without having any substantial grounds, one should not haunt him with attacks and display your oddity. He is believed by his disciples to be an avatar – a reincarnated deity (named Mahasadashiva). He is the founder of Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam which is based out of India but has devotees on a broader international scale, with temples, gurukulas, and ashrams in many countries. Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam, a religious organisation founded by Nithyananda, regularly hosts cultural events related to Hinduism in the United States. They have also set two Guinness World Records, one in rope yoga and one in pole yoga (Mallakhamba). Swami Nithyananda’s organisation initiated spiritual powers in their disciples, including kundalini awakening and third-eye awakening. There are 400 extraordinary spiritual powers that can be expressed by humans and has claimed to initiate his disciples into 60 such powers. There are people who have witnessed these powers and believe him to the core. Let the legacy live!
(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday said that he was unaware of any speculation about BJP leader Varun Gandhi joining his party.
India is celebrating its 70th Republic Day. First Republic Day of India was celebrated in 1950. India is a country having people of different cultures, societies, religions and languages who interplay with each other harmoniously. Republic Day is the symbol of true spirit for the independent India where military parades, exhibiting military equipment, salute to the National Flag by the Indian President and variety of events that take place on this day. Republic Day represents the true spirit of independent India. In his autobiography, Jawaharlal Nehru recalled how Independence Day came into existence on January 26, 1930, and it revealed to us, in a flash, the earnest and enthusiastic mood of the country. After the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919, there was huge public outrage against the British rule and looking at the public sentiments Mahatma Gandhi and the Congress committed themselves to Purna Swaraj. Mahatma Gandhi led nationwide Non-Cooperation Movement between 1920-1922 against 1919 Rowlett Act in which civil liberties of Indian citizens were hugely curtailed.
Renowned Hindi author and essayist Krishna Sobti died on Friday in Delhi, family sources said.