Bar-Bala-Ban and Bombay

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January 17, 2019

The Supreme Court had earlier struck down a state government imposed a ban on the dance bars as it violated bar dancers’ right to earn a livelihood. However, the state government was determined to not let the dance bars stage a comeback. So, they drafted some rules which can put bars in an awkward situation. The draft rules restrict the number of dancers on the floor and also prescribe a minimum distance between the performers and the audience, meaning customers can’t dance on the floor. Further, smoking would not be allowed inside the dance bars, nor would flashing of currency notes be permitted. The state government draft specified that every dance bar must have CCTV cameras with the feed beamed live to the nearest police station. Since dance bars were always a guilty pleasure, the rules were unlikely to attract any customers with cops watching the proceedings all the time. Striking down all these old rules, now the SC says that alcohol is allowed and no CCTV in the Maharashtra dance bars will be required. While the court set aside the condition to install CCTV cameras in the bars on the grounds of privacy, it prohibited showering of currency notes on the dancers, which is likely to be impossible to follow. The bench also quashed the provision mandating that dance bars in the state should be located at least one km away from the religious places and educational institutes.

While the ban on Mumbai bars was at peace for some years, suburban areas were clean. Crime ratio had gone down and the glamour and glitz city was limited to pubs, parties, and movies. On the other hand, those who survived on bar dancing, got into prostitution or sex slavery. More than a few hundred young women were migrated from Kolkata to Mumbai. After the Maharashtra government shut down Mumbai’s dance bars in the garb of curbing ‘immoral activities’, they all were sent back to their native. Some went to the foreign lands. The pimps and flesh traders flourished exploiting these women. Mumbai is already cursed with many illicit activities. All the former agents, those who switched to better jobs, will return to their original profession and will be busy gathering bar dancers. After the dance bars will reopen with fewer rules to follow, they’ll all be accommodated eventually. Relocation means occupying flats in Mira Road and Navi Mumbai like areas, where low-income middle-class families reside. Return of Bar dancers may lead to the hike in the property prices. Estate agents will prefer to allot houses to these dancers for more money. The common public may suffer. But looking at a larger picture, even these Bar professionals too are from the middle-class community, who need to survive.

Any law or ban made on a purely moral basis should be struck down. After all, morality is relative and should not be enforced. Moreover, banning these activities will lead to only further exploitation of the said women, as they would be pushed into illegal work options. What is really needed is enforcement of law and order, which ensures that the women work in a secure environment. Legislature, Executive and judiciary are the three important structures of the government. I understand the judiciary’s stand, but why are they not equally prompt over other corruption and crime issues? If the logic is accepted, then the government of India should start dance bars all over India and give loans for these businesses to attract FDI.

If the Supreme Court’s verdict of opening closed dance bars and having easy rules is applauded, the SC should now legalise prostitution. There is no wrong working as a bar girl and making wealth and living lavishly. Bar girls have their way to sex trading, many men were cheated and looted by these girls. We have seen many criminal cases in the past. The question here arises, is this the only way we can liberate poor women? Somewhere we are mixing the issues – while women need the right to work, safety and dignity at the workplace, dance bars surely don’t fall in that category. Bars are fronts for destructive men. Moreover, many of them run on investments by the cops themselves supported by the sleaze money that flows through the system. The dancing women may be making gold jewellery but quite a few men, who become addicted to these dancing beauties, have pauperised themselves and their families.

The need of the hour is to evolve a code of conduct for running the dance bars so that anti-social elements do not find the hideout for illegal activities with the connivance of the bar owners and staff. As long as the dignity of women is not violated, there is no harm in pursuing the dancing profession in bars. But the harsh fact is that, no such profession is blessed with dignity. Both the woman who wants to earn quick money and the man who wants to live the so-called happy lusty moments, are aware that this is not the dignified place. We talk morals and liberty when it comes to other woman and benefit to a man himself, but he will keep a tight eye on his own female family member if she wishes to peruse dancing in Bar as a profession.

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

No Bar on the Bar-dance

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Afternoon Voice

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January 17, 2019

Supreme Court allows dance and liquor to go together

Erasing stringent rules and striking down the laws imposed by the state, the top court on Thursday said that rave and alcohol could go jointly and permitted the bars to function from 6 pm to 11.30 pm. The court also cancelled a provision mandating that dance bars in the state should be 1 km away from religious places and educational institutions saying that it is not reasonable in Mumbai and that the legislature must take a decision on this. The Supreme Court further stated that the Performers at the dance bars can be paid tips but cannot be showered with cash. The court also cancelled the rule of a partition between the barrooms and dance floor.

The Maharashtra government on August 15, 2005, had banned all the dance bars in Mumbai to “prevent immoral activities, trafficking of women and to ensure the safety of women in general” that led to the shutting down of around 700 dance bars across Mumbai and Maharashtra. The ban also pushed nearly many bar girls out of jobs, reportedly forcing many into prostitution to earn their living.

Later, in 2006, the order of the Maharashtra government was challenged in the Bombay HC stating the ban is a violation of the constitutional right to equality and the right to practice any profession respectively and the apex court overturned the order. However, the government in 2014 amended Section 33A of the Maharashtra Police Act and imposed a total ban on the dance bars. ‘The dance bars were obscene and acted as a pick up point for vulnerable girls,’ the government argued.

Maharashtra’s Minister of State for Home Deepak Kesarkar spoke to AV and stated, “Whatever the judiciary decides, the government makes sure to implement it. Many of our requests are accepted by the Supreme Court and the prohibition of showering of currency is a favourable decision as argued by the government. People used to spend their entire income in the dance bars and that led to their family suffering, it was a big concern for us. Human trafficking is a different issue and someone willing to be a part of this profession (bar dancer) is different. The Police department has always been keeping a watch on the human trafficking cases and in case if a crime takes place, immediate action will be taken.”

The Dance Bar Regulation Bill, that was unanimously passed by the Maharashtra Assembly in 2014, among other things, prohibited serving liquor in performance areas and mandates that the premises must shut by 11:30 pm. It also imposes heavy penalties on the dance bar owners and the customers for not following these rules.

When Afternoon Voice contacted Social worker Varsha Kale, who is been fighting for the Bar girls’ rights, she told, “This verdict will pour life in many ladies in this profession and they will not be trapped in the sex trade.” After the Supreme Court order, Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis stated, “The government still favours the ban on the dance bars, however, we also respect the Supreme Court order.” “If the rules are approved, then every dance bar in the city will have to follow the given protocol and timings,” Fadnavis added.

Ashok Torde, who is not only a tailor and designer of the bar dancers’ outfits but also a fan of dances, called the Supreme Court intervention a good step to stop the deliberate attempt of the state government to prevent the dance bars getting reopened. “By doing this, the police was making its arrangement of extra income while they were allowed to watch it live in their police stations monitoring through CCTV. Moreover, the Police used to harass and blackmail the visitors. Now there is a big relief.”

Pramodanna Shetty, a Mumbai resident, expressed, “It is the Police who make a lot of money from the dance bars and they come and go whenever they feel free; as they used to get live telecast through surveillance cameras, they would have stayed away from entering physically into the bars. We have no problem but the government should assure and ensure that these police personnel will not stalk bar staff owners or the dancers for their own pleasure and interest.”

On the condition of anonymity a police personnel said, “Whether the live telecast is given in the police station or not, each department and station remains well-updated and informed about the bar activities by their informers. Moreover, many police personnel are avid visitors of the bars and are addicted to bar dance.”

Vijay Salgaonkar

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

HC refuses to quash FIR in rape case

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January 17, 2019

In an unusual case, the Bombay High Court on Thursday refused to quash an FIR for rape even though the ‘victim’ stated she had a consensual relationship with the accused.

The accused, currently 19 years old, is in judicial custody. He had moved the court seeking to quash the First Information Report.

A bench of justices BP Dharmadhikari and Revati Mohite-Dere, however, noted that the accused was not yet of legally marriageable age.

The FIR can be quashed only after the accused turns 21, the judges said, posting the matter for final hearing.

The accused’s lawyer pointed out that the woman, in her statement to the magistrate, had said that their relationship was consensual and hence there was no offence made out even prima facie.

To which the bench said, “We still can not quash the FIR. We can keep the matter pending, post it for final hearing and hear the arguments on merit then.”

In the meantime, the accused can approach the trial court for bail, the bench said.

The accused, in his petition filed through advocate Shankar Katkar, claimed he and the victim, both 19 years old and residents of Raigad district, were in love.

In December 2018, when they had gone out, a colleague of the woman spotted them and informed her mother.

Before the woman returned home, her mother had registered a case of kidnapping against the accused. The woman’s parents later got the police to add the charge of rape under Section 376 of the IPC to the FIR, the petition claimed.

Subsequently, the two families met and agreed to end the case as the couple wished to marry.

The woman, through her lawyers Manisha Deokar and Prashant Hagare, told the bench that the relationship was consensual.

However, the boy’s age posed a problem after the state’s counsel F R Shaikh pointed out that for a man the legal age of marriage is 21.

His lawyer told the bench that he was also ready to submit an undertaking that he would marry the girl.

The high court said that such undertaking did not have any significance. “What will we do with the undertaking now when this marriage will not be deemed legal since he hasn’t reached the legally permissible age yet?” the bench said.

Chief Minister’s Relief Fund Dispenses Rs 50 Crores for Draught Relief

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Web Team

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January 17, 2019

In the past 45 months since declaration of draught in the state in 2015, the government of Maharashtra has disbursed Rs 50 crores from the accumulated funds for draught relief of Rs 87 crores as informed to RTI activist Anil Galgali by the Chief Minister’s Secretariat. As of now Rs 37 crores are lying unused.

Maharashtra is currently reeling with widespread draught, and since declaration as draught affected in 2015, Galgali has sought the details of funds received and spent to the Chief Minister’s Secretariat.

Milind Kabadi, Assistant Accountant at the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund provided the details of past 45 months to Anil According to the information provided, in the 2015-16 financial year that the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund received Rs 32, 21,30, 331 whereas Rs 60,00,000 were disbursed. In 2016-17, Rs 28,53,003,74 were received and the state disbursed Rs 30,50,00,000. In the 2017-18 FY Rs 25,61,36, 826 were received and Rs 7,91,00,000 were disbursed.

From April 1, 2018, to December 2018, Rs 1,15,72,530 were received and Rs 11, 45,52,000 were disbursed by the state. Since declaration of draught Rs 87,51,42,761 were deposited into the Chief Minister’s fund towards assistance for draught affected, from which Rs 50, 50, 52,000 were disbursed. As of now Rs 37,90,761 are balance.

Chief Minister’s Secretariat failed to provide details of recipients of the amount disbursed instead informed that the funds are disbursed to district collectors as per the requisitions received from time to time. As per Galgali, large sums funds are required for eradication of draught and funds need to be sourced from various corners but equally important is for the Chief Minister’s Secretariat to upload the details of disbursements of funds for draught relief to district collectors on a website as stated in his letter to the Chief Minister.

Maha’s cyber security and AMBIS technology bag award

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Web Team

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January 17, 2019

The automated biometric identification system of Maharashtra Police and its cyber security project have bagged an award in the smart policing initiative category.

The award was given at a national conference on digital innovation and cyber security organised by the Haryana government in Gurugram on Wednesday, a release said.

Maharashtra Police’s Special Inspector General Brijesh Singh and a team from the cyber security cell accepted the award on behalf of the state.

The Maharashtra government had earlier introduced the Automated Multi-modal Biometric Identification System (AMBIS) as part of its plans to modernise the state police department and improve crime detection.

With the use of this system, the data of all criminals can be accumulated at one place and makes it easier to control cyber crimes.

Over 6.5 lakh fingerprints are being digitally stored using the AMBIS Technology to give momentum to cyber probe.

The prints of palms, retinal scan and other biometric information are also gathered by this technology, the release added.

Canadian woman molested at 5-star hotel in Mumbai

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Web Team

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January 17, 2019

A 35-year-old Canadian woman was allegedly molested by an employee of a city-based five-star hotel during her stay there, a police official said on Thursday.

Sumit Rao (32), a staff member of the hotel located in Juhu area, has been arrested in connection with the alleged incident that took place on January 5, he said.

The woman, a Candian national who works for an event management firm and often visits India, in her complaint alleged that while she was staying at the hotel, the man came to her room and molested her on the pretext of taking a selfie with her, the official said.

According to police, the woman brought the matter to the hotel management’s notice and then lodged a complaint at the Santacruz police station on Monday.

The accused was arrested on Tuesday and booked under Indian Penal Code Sections 354 (assault or criminal force on woman with an intent to outrage her modesty) and 354 (d) (stalking), he said.

A probe was underway into the case, he added.

‘Indo-US trade below its potential’

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Web Team

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January 17, 2019

Amid bilateral trade tensions, USIBC President Nisha Biswal said on Thursday that the trade between India and the US is much below than its potential, and both the sides should ease restrictions and put in an “overarching” framework.

Biswal, a former Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, is leading a delegation of the US-India Business Council (USIBC) at the Vibrant Gujarat Summit (VGS) which will begin on Friday. The US, which was a partner country for two earlier editions of the biennial investor summit, refused to be a partner this year, citing pending bilateral trade disputes.

The biggest challenge to US-India trade relations is that we have not done the hard work of creating an overarching framework for trade, Biswal, who was born and brought up in Dahod in Gujarat, told PTI in an interview.

We do not have a trade agreement, we do not have an investment treaty, we do not even have a mini agreement, she said, adding that every time the two countries negotiate, it is highly transactional and there is no real incentive to compromise.

India announced retaliatory tariffs on 29 US products six months ago after US President Donald Trump imposed heavy tariffs on imported steel and aluminium items. However, despite the announcement, India is the only major country which has been postponing the implementation of retaliatory tariffs.

What, I think, the two governments have sought to do in the last few months is to take a small basket of issues that have been irritants and tried to resolve those so that it could become a kind of mini-agreement. The issues included tariffs on steel and aluminium from Indian side and from the US side it was tariffs on ICT and the policy of price control on medical devices. Both sides wanted more market access for some of their products, Biswal said.

Unfortunately they have not been able to get a conclusion on that thing. Our hope was that the two governments will sit together and decide this issue. The two countries should rather create a much more ambitious framework of trade, she said, adding that we should be best trading partners. While US-India trade continues to grow, it is no where near to the potential of what it should be. And that really requires both sides to take significant steps to ease restrictions or access to flow of investments and flow of trade in both directions. Around 500 US companies have significant business relations with India, against 6,000 to 7,000 US companies doing serious business with China.

Asked if the US decided not to be a partner for the VGS due to trade disputes, she said that, I can’t speak for the US government, but I can say that there have been some disappointments that these issues have not been resolved.

US Consul General in Mumbai Edgard Kagan, when asked about his country’s refusal to be one of the partner countries, had said that the Indian government needed to resolve the outstanding trade issues first.

Biswal, however, asserted that the US government and industry continue to prioritise India as very important trade and economic partner. The bilateral trade was USD 20 billion in 1980s, which grew to USD 100 billion in 2014-15, and now the target is to take it to USD 500 billion.

The USIBC has prepared a report, ‘India at 75’, with KPMG which will be released on Friday. The report outlines that the areas where the two countries can cooperate to take trade ties to the next level.

New balls, different spin: Roger and Rafa exchange shots

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Web Team

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January 17, 2019

The Australian Open’s new balls this year are dividing opinion at Melbourne Park, with even the two greatest men’s Grand Slam winners of all-time failing to see eye-to-eye.

Roger Federer, winner of 20 Slams, says the new Japanese-made Dunlop balls behave differently in cooler night conditions and do not allow players to “out-spin” rivals.

But Rafael Nadal, the 17-time major winner renowned for his huge top-spin groundstrokes, countered: “I can’t say it’s a bad ball.” Australian John Millman reckoned “they’re a bit heavy” after losing on Wednesday night while his big-mouth countryman Bernard Tomic pulled no punches, saying they were “dead” and “really shit” before he lost in the first round.

Tournament director Craig Tiley has defended the change from Wilson balls, claiming earlier in the week he had heard only “positive feedback”.

He might have to change his mind after defending champion Federer offered a different opinion on Wednesday.

“Well, they definitely play a touch different to the ones we’ve had the last couple years,” said the Swiss master, who is going for a third consecutive title and record seventh in all at Melbourne Park.

“At night the spin is not taking off tremendously,” he added, noting that the semi-finals and final are played at night.

“It’s hard to out-spin guys here. I just feel like it’s really important to have fast enough courts for night session conditions. If you keep it slow, slow, at night the ball doesn’t move.”

Nadal, who is bidding to become the first man in the Open era to win each Grand Slam on two or more occasions, acknowledged the ball was different but reckons it is “fair for everyone”.

“The ball is big. With colder conditions, especially during the night, the ball is bigger,” said the Spaniard, who won his lone Australian Open title in 2009.

“Yes, the ball is going a little bit more slow, no? Not the high bounces that sometimes we used to have here. But the ball is what there is. it is fair enough, a good quality ball. I can’t complain.”

Federer was characteristically diplomatic with his criticism.

India can lead in 5G deployment but investments in fibre infrastructure key: TRAI Chief

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Web Team

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January 17, 2019

(COMPANIES)

India can be a frontrunner in deployment of 5G but a lot will hinge on bolstering investments in fibre infrastructure, which is currently inadequate and trailing countries like China, TRAI Chairman R S Sharma said on Thursday.

Sharma noted that there has been consolidation in the Indian telecom market leading to an optimal situation of one public sector and three private sector players, and added that the sector will see stability.

“In 5G space, we can leapfrog inadequacies which we have in physical world, all of which can be overcome with use of information and communication technologies…There is a serious concern that while people are talking of 5G as a slogan but it won’t happen unless we put a lot of investment in fibre. Without fibre, 5G will not happen,” Sharma said.

He was speaking at the India Digital Summit organised by Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI).

India has only 22 per cent of mobile towers connected on fibre, while 78 per cent are without fibre, on wireless. China on the other hand, has 80 per cent connectivity through fibre and the rest through wireless, Sharma pointed out.

“The optical fibre cable laid today till date is equal to optical fibre cable laid in China in one single year,” Sharma said adding fixed infrastructure will be critical for attaining a reliable and sustainable growth. Policies need to focus on promoting investments in infrastructure, he said.

“The National Digital Communications Policy (NDCP) contains those set of policies and statements and we need to operationalise those to ensure investment,” Sharma said.

The new telecom policy — NDCP — aims to attract $100 billion investment and create four million jobs in the sector by 2022. It seeks to provide universal broadband connectivity at 50 Mbps to every citizen by 2022, and also talks of enhancing the contribution of digital communications sector to 8 per cent of India’s GDP, from the about 6 per cent now.

The TRAI chief further said that there would be a need to unbundle service and infrastructure layers at some point, and fibre sharing could be one of the options in infrastructure sharing.

“We think end-of-end service provisioning will not happen in 5G,” Sharma said.

He further said, the connectivity problems in the country need to be solved with urgency, and regulations should not be “constrained” by the fact that only a certain set of service providers should provide a particular service.

“No one should have the monopoly of providing services to people of this country, and we should solve this problem by whatever means and instruments we can deploy,” he said.

Sharma said that he believes that three private and one public sector player is in sync with other major markets.

“My sense is that the sector is going to acquire stability and looking at examples around the world the number of players…is a good number…and I don’t see it going down further,” he said.

Govt curtails Rakesh Asthana’s tenure in CBI with immediate effect

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January 17, 2019

The tenure of CBI’s Special Director Rakesh Asthana, who was sent on forced leave by the government, has been curtailed with immediate effect, according to an official order issued Thursday.

The tenures of three more officers – Joint Director Arun Kumar Sharma, Deputy Inspector General Manish Kumar Sinha and Superintendent of Police Jayant J Naiknavare — have also been curtailed, it said.

The development comes days after Alok Verma was shunted out of the post of CBI director and appointed Director General of Fire Services, Civil Defence and Home Guards.

Verma had refused to take up the new post, saying he had already superannuated from the police service.