It’s the holiday season and Bollywood celebrities are in the mood for celebration. Seems like rumoured lovebirds Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor are too, welcoming the first day of 2019 with open arms as the two were spotted spending some quality family time together.
The ‘Raazi’ actor ringed in the New Year with Ranbir’s family and Neetu Kapoor shared a beautiful family photo on her Instagram account, writing, “Happy 2019 no resolutions only wishes this year !!! Less pollution traffic!! Hope in future cancer is only a zodiac sign !!! No hatred less poverty loads of love togetherness happiness n most imp. Good health.”
The snap shared by Neetu features her with Ranbir, Alia, husband Rishi Kapoor, daughter Riddhima Kapoor Sahni, son-in-law Bharat Sahni and Samara Sahni.
Riddhima too took to her Instagram account to share a series of videos and photos with her family. She posted a sweet snap which features her with her daddy dearest. The two can be seen posing with a quirky New Year prop.
Riddhima shared another fun picture posing quirkily for the camera with her husband Bharat, Alia, Ranbir and Neetu.
She shared another picture with her late grandmother Krishna Raj Kapoor with a sweet caption which read, “Miss you so much today ! Love you always.”
Hollywood star Emily Blunt will be receiving the Creative Impact in Acting Award at Palm Springs Film Festival on January 4.
According a media report, the award celebrates Blunt’s year in film between her supporting role in “A Quiet Place” and her starring role in Disney’s “Mary Poppins Returns”.
The actor has received SAG nominations for both roles and a Golden Globe nomination for “Mary Poppins Returns”.
Previous recipients of this award have included Daniel Kaluuya, Charlize Theron, Mark Wahlberg, and Steve Carell.
Variety will also honour Ryan Coogler with the creative impact in directing award.
The Palm Springs International Film Festival will be held January 3-14.
After a self-motivating social media spree about how he feels stronger than ever surrounded by positive energy, Kanye West is at it again with Drake. And this time he wants an apology.
The feud between Kanye and Drake has been hogging the headlines for quite a while now. While it had cooled down for some time, Kanye’s recent social media rant is proof that it is anything but over.
According to a leading magazine, the ‘I Love It’ rapper on Monday, in a series of deleted tweets, asked Drake to publically apologise to him.
“I’ve never mentioned or touched on anything related to his family when it came to Drake. He followed my wife on Instagram he mentioned Pusha’s fiance in a song. Whose bright idea was it to tell Drake to follow my wife on Instagram?” he began.
“He (Drake) dodged me for months when I extended olive branches to talk and then called to threaten me,” the rapper wrote, all the while maintaining that he has nothing but love for Drake. “I love everyone even Drake. That’s my whole thing,” he wrote.
West concluded the tweets by demanding a “public apology” from Drake for following his wife Kim Kardashian on Instagram in September when the tensions between the two rappers were at an all-time high.
Shortly after voicing his grievances about Drake, the ‘Lift Yourself’ singer, speaking hot both himself and his wife wrote, “We truly wish this man the best and pray that he will find the same happiness that we have.”
Drake no longer follows Kim on Instagram but he does follow her mother Kris Jenner.
The latest feud between the two rappers took shape earlier this month when West accused Drake of threatening his family and targeting the people suffering from mental illness and contacting his mother-in-law Jenner behind his back.
It’s indeed a happy new year for singer Ricky Martin and his husband and painter-visual artist Jwan Yosef as the two welcomed a baby girl into their lives.
The 47-year-old singer took to his Instagram account to mark the New Year’s Eve with the happy announcement of welcoming their daughter and named her Lucia Martin-Yosef.
“We are beyond happy to announce that we have become parents to a beautiful and healthy baby girl, Lucia Martin-Yosef. It has been a special time for us and we cant wait to see where this stellar baby will take us. Both her beautiful brothers and me and Jwan have fallen in love with Lucia,” he wrote alongside a photo of the little one, which featured her wearing a rose-coloured onesie and holding one of her fathers’ hands.
Martin is already the proud parent to 9-year-old twin sons Matteo and Valentino, whom he is raising with Yosef.
“My kids ask me about having two daddies and I tell them we are a part of a modern family. This is a beautiful sense of freedom,” Martin told Out magazine.
Lucia’s birth announcement comes almost a year after Martin announced the special news of secretly tying the knot with Yosef.
“I’m a husband, but we’re doing a heavy party in a couple of months. We exchanged vows, and we’ve swear [sic] everything, and we’ve signed all the papers that we needed to sign, prenups and everything . It feels amazing! I can’t introduce him as my fiance. I can’t. He’s my husband. He’s my man,” the star told a online portal in January.
Martin and Yosef met on Instagram. The two began dating in 2016, and the singer revealed on ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’ in November 2016 that he had popped the big question.
January 1st was a special day for people as this day was the beginning of the New Year and people welcomed the new year in their own way. People start the preparations for the New Year celebration many days in advance. As we all know that the New Year of different nations begins on different days but celebrating the New Year on January 1 also contributes significantly to the unity of all religions. From the night of December 31, gathering in different groups at different places, people start celebrating New Year and at midnight, greet each other with New Year wishes and greetings. New Year is a time when many people around the world make promises; however, many of the promises made by people are rarely completed.
Jubel D’Cruz
Accidental Prime Minister
It refers to the film trailer release of The Accidental-Prime-Minister on December 28, 2018. The film based on the book by Sanjay Baru, media-advisor to the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that has caused waves of embarrassment in Congress party for obvious reasons, confusing everyone in the party whether to demand ban on the film or not. Any such demand to ban would have been considered an attack on freedom of expression.
Damage control exercise of Congress President by giving special honour of symbolic cake cutting to Manmohan Singh on the occasion of Foundation Day of oldest political party with Congress President seen helping him, and confusing talks by the party cadre for the demand to ban of the film bounced back giving extra publicity to the film which is said to have projected Manmohan Singh having acted on directions of the then Congress President during his tenure as Prime Minister. Ignoring the film would have been beneficial for Congress.
It is noteworthy that famous Hindi film ‘Aandhi’ was banned in Congress regime because of the common knowledge that the film was based on the life of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Madhu Agrawal
Instant divorce should be criminalised for all communities
The issue of abandonment of the wife is at the heart of the argument against instant divorce. The government wants to criminalise this act but only for Muslim men. Abandonment is not criminally punishable for members of other communities. Why? A Hindu, a Christian or a male member of any other community could practically lock his wife out of their residence or shift to a different house and live in an ‘ adulterous’ relationship, and still escape the criminal process. The words the men may use to announce their sudden dislike for their wives are not even a matter for the law. It is totally discrimination regarding Muslim men from the government. I think the government should ponder about every abandoned woman of every community not only Muslim women. I sincerely hope that the apex court will strike down the draconian law. India’s social fabric can only sustain so much damage.
Mohd Umar
Plastic menace continues
Coastal sites off Mumbai are clogged and have formed a menace for the fishing industry. We come across fish with plastic in their stomachs which is a sorry state of affairs. Eighty-four-thousand kilos of plastic bags accounted for the bulk of garbage, which in turn clog the drainage system and sea, thus making life most miserable for the fishing fraternity. The civic bodies have failed to achieve a fair result in banning plastic bags and the menace continues. Even BMC drive against plastic bags loses steam due to various reasons, which includes administrative exigencies. Of late, the plastic menace had taken the country by storm. So, plastic-free zones have been created. But the response is not encouraging and the public turn to plastic bags despite caution from the State and Central Governments. By banning plastic bags, we must try our best to combat the plastic menace. It is the utmost duty of the residents of Navi Mumbai to maintain the city neat and clean. Firstly, the use of plastic needs to be avoided totally. That is the root cause for blockage of coastal blocks and ecosystem and that causes contamination of sea water disrupting fishing activities.
Abhisheck Ramaswamy
All savings-schemes, RBI bonds and LIC pension-plans should be available at branches of PSBs
The then Finance Secretary Dr. Hansmukh Adia vide a demo-official letter dated February 7, 2018, transferred suggestions about making available all government savings-schemes including all those available in post-offices, RBI-bonds bearing 7.75 per cent annual interest and LIC pension-plans including Jeevan Akshay and Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojna in all branches of public sector banks to Rajiv Kumar, the then Secretary of Department of Financial Services. These detailed submissions also suggesting linking of every branch of all public-sector banks to nearing units of LIC of India, were also posted on February 2,2018, at various portals vide registration-numbers PMOPG-E-2018-0048627, PRSEC-E-2018-01856, DEABD-E-2018-01715, DEAID-E-2018-00278, DPOST-E-2018-01854, DORVU-E-2018-00185.
Deputy Director (Budget) Vijay Kumar at Department of Economic Affairs in a reply dated February 16, 2018, to submissions dated January 2, 2018, registered at pgportal.gov.in vide registration-number DEABD-2018-0187 gave a list of 23 institutions including some of private and public-sector banks where investments could be made in RBI-bonds. He on telephone number 23093569 confirmed that all saving-schemes presently available in post-offices were available in all public-sector banks. But bank branches are not aware of any such facility as confirmed telephonically by Deputy Director (Budget). However, he did not confirm in writing about facility being available in all bank-branches despite telephonic assurance.
Concerned government departments and public sector institutions should co-ordinate to implement these suggestions in the interest of all concerned by abolishing private commission-agents, and instead motivate bank managers through incentives to popularise these schemes. Even private-sector banks can be authorised to accept deposits under these schemes by offering some nominal commission.
Subhash Chandra Agrawal
Public discipline is necessary
As the bells tolled this December 31st midnight, people danced in joy and responsibly displayed fireworks, heralding the advent of 2019, I wish AV’s readers and well-wishers, a very vibrant and progressive new year with greater wealth and wellness.
Good health, good heart and exquisite beauty should be cherished by everyone and we should exhort our young boys and girls to be strong, skilled, well-mannered and happy faced indicative of obedience and discipline. Without public discipline, no nation can really progress and we take a pledge to be disciplined and chivalrous.
Mahendra Singh
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
The start of the new year is the time of the year when everyone wants to treasure the jubilant spirit of the moment. Our country is a land of diversity. The long history of India has exposed it to many cultural and political transformations and as a result, the country is now a proud conglomeration of diverse traditions.
Earlier, there were many cultures which decided the New Year’s Day by considering the moon and the sun cycles. It was only when the Julian calendar came into existence when January 1 became a worldwide New Year celebration day.
It is said that New Year’s Day was celebrated in 45 B.C. for the first time. At that time, it was more of calendar adjustment than a celebration. Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator decided to reform failing the Roman calendar which was introduced in 7th century B.C. It was based on the lunar cycle; it used to fall out of phase frequently with the seasons and had to be corrected. Sosigenes, an Alexandrian astronomer advised using solar cycles like Egyptians. The year was adjusted by adding 67 Days to 45 B.C. making January 1, as first of year 46 B.C. instead of March. He also decided to add one more day to February every four years to keep the calendar on track.
The whole world solemnised the New Year’s Day with great enthusiasm and energy. This day has a special contingency for people. People from various walks of life welcome new year in their own hearty ways. The beginning of the New Year 2019 is a celebration representing new opportunities, a chance to start over and to learn from the last year and to make plans for next year.
Everyone has right to express themselves and feel comfortable in the way they want to eat, drink or act. What we need is to adjust ourselves with time too. So, along with fun and party, we should understand the real meaning of ‘New Year’ and we should try to act on it.
We, the human beings are good and bad bundled together. When a child is born in the world, the heart is pure and it takes in whatever it observes while growing. When we get matured, we shape ourselves into a good person. This can be done by washing away unwanted thoughts/habits from us and cultivating new and positive habits and disciplines as a part of life. Such a change can happen with a well-determined resolution. Every year, we can make our mind ready to accept good things that are difficult though and leave off the bad ones that are hard to leave though.
Every new year gives a little hope to everyone that, this year somehow is going to be better than the previous one. Let us cherish the New Year 2019 and say goodbye to the going year .
Mumbai police have registered at least 455 cases of drunk driving in the early hours of the New Year Day on January 1, an official said on Tuesday.
As per a report compiled by the traffic police till 6 AM, at least 455 drivers were found driving drunk.
Action like imposition of fine and compounding of driving licenses has been taken against them, the official said.
A large number of police personnel manned various parts of the megapolis to ensure smooth conduct of celebrations to ring in 2019, and to prevent rash driving.
Till December 31 midnight, police had caught 1,533 drivers, and 76 of them were found positive in a breath analyser test, the official said.
“During the early hours of the New Year day, at least 455 drivers were found positive in the drunk driving test,” he said, adding that further action will be taken against them as per orders of court.
According to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the number of taxpayers earning more than Rs 1 crore has increased 68 per cent in the Financial Year (FY) 2017-18 to 1,40,000, which was 89,000 in the FY 2013-14. The number of taxpayers has increased by 80 per cent in this period. In FY 2013-14, 3.79 cr persons filed income tax returns, which increased to 6.85 cr. in the FY 2017-18. According to CBDT Chairman Mr. Sushil Chandra, direct tax and GDP ratio during the FY 2017-18 has been 5.98 per cent, which is the best in the last 10 years.
The share of the Centre in Goods and Services Tax (GST) will help in achieving the fiscal deficit target in the current financial year. The 50 per cent of the amount can be transferred to the cumulative fund of the centre for any year during 5 years if the amount of GST collection is not utilised in the State. This law is a tool for meeting deficit amount of GST collection. There is a hope for an increase of more than Rs 300 billion in direct tax collection. By the third week of October, the direct tax collection has increased 15.7 per cent on year-on-year basis to Rs 4,890 billion, which is more than 42 per cent of the direct tax collection target of the year. The government is expected to get Rs 800 billion from disinvestment, as there is a hope for some mergers and strategic sales before March 2019 which includes Air India’s ground handling unit and PFC’s disinvestment.
In the second quarter of the current financial year, the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate was 7.1 per cent, which is the lowest level of three quarters. The GDP growth rate in the first quarter was at a high level of four years at 8.2 per cent. Nonetheless, despite the GDP growth rate being reduced in the second quarter, India remains the fastest growing economy. China’s growth rate is 6.5 per cent in this period. The GDP growth during the first half of the current financial year was 7.4 per cent, which is more than 5.8 per cent of the same period of last year.
The growth rate of the manufacturing sector was 7.8 per cent in the second quarter, which was 8.7 per cent in the first quarter. Mr. Devendra Pant, Economist, India Ratings and Research, says that during the September quarter, the construction activities remains slow, but after passing of the month of October, its pace increases. Due to low growth in GDP, the pace of growth in agriculture, manufacturing, the service sector is sluggish. The reason for sluggishness in the agricultural sector is mainly bad response of monsoon, farmers not getting the capital in the times of need etc. Banks are avoiding distributing agriculture loan having a problem of mounting Non-performing Asset (NPA). In recent months, the amount of NPA in the agriculture sector has increased significantly. At present, the bank is facing capital problem, credit risk, fraud, mounting NPA etc. Despite this, the result of the second quarter of the current financial year for its public sector banks was mixed. Some public sector banks have come in profit in the second quarter, whereas some are still in loss. State Bank of India earned a profit of Rs 945 cr in the second quarter, Canara Bank has been successful in earning a profit of Rs 300 cr in the second quarter. However, the bank recovered 1,700 cr during this period, but most of the money was used for the provision in connection of NPA.
The Central Government has made a number of improvements to encourage investment in the country and also make ways for “Ease of Doing Business”. Last year, in the ranking of “Ease of Doing Business”, India had recorded a record number of 30 points to get a 100th place. In 2019, India wanted to get the 50th place in the global ranking of “Ease of Doing Business”, but it could get the 77th position among 190 countries.
Due to economic reforms, the World Bank termed India as the economy to make significant improvements for the third consecutive year. Due to the corrective steps taken by the government, India could reach the 77th place from 142th place within four years. According to this report, India has been the fifth best-performing country in the world in terms of improvement in the business environment.
The World Bank has placed India at 10th place among the most reforming economies in this matter. In order to assess the improvement in the business environment, the ten criterias that the World Bank has put in, India has improved in six norms. These norms include an introduction of business, construction permit, obtaining electricity facility, getting loans in an easy way, paying taxes, cross-border trade, implementing contracts in reality on easier terms and dealing with the bankruptcy process. If India’s ranking improves, global rating agencies can give a better rating, which will boost investors’ confidence in India and the business environment in the country will also be in a better position.
The number of people making income-tax deposits in the country is increasing. At the same time, there has been a huge increase in the income tax deposit, but tax evasion is still being done on a large scale in the country, including those who are well-educated people. Reduction in unnecessary expenses, increase in direct taxes, disinvestment etc. can help the government succeed in keeping the fiscal deficit in line with the target. The reasons for which GDP growth rates have decreased in the second quarter may be called temporary. The weakening of the monsoon, rupee depreciation, the rise in the price of crude oil, the uncertain environment in the country etc. should be considered as a temporary reason.
The speed of recovery in the banking sector is on the rise. The merger of some banks will strengthen the position of weaker banks. The government is going to provide relief to the weaker banks. By the end of the FY 2019, there is a possibility of the increase in the number of profitable Public Sector Banks. In order to facilitate the business, the Modi Government is working with the World Bank to maximise the reforms. Next year, India has the potential to reach the top 50 countries category.
By looking at the ongoing reforms in the economic sector, the NITI Aayog has set a target in strategic documents of achieving 8 per cent growth rate in each year till 2022-23. The Aayog wants the Indian economy to be made 4 trillion US $. The government will also try to get 9 per cent growth rate instead of 8 per cent. On the basis of economic reforms made in the last 4 years, the estimation of the NITI Aayog cannot be said exaggerated. It is worth mentioning that the NITI Aayog has presented a strategic document to realise the dream of “New India”. Accordingly, the investment will be increased from the existing 29 per cent of GDP to 36 per cent by 2022-23.
To achieve this, the government will invest in infrastructure sectors like health, education, irrigation, electricity, road construction etc.
In this context, the government has also targeted to increase the export of goods and services from the current $478 billion to $800 billion. There is a proposal to emphasise on the agriculture sector, to make farming an entrepreneurship, to formulate a code of labour laws and promote the allied activities and Small & Medium Enterprises (SME) for inclusive development of the country.
–Satish Singh
(The author of the article is the Chief Manager in State Bank of India’s Economic Research Department.)
Thousands of people, mainly Dalits, Tuesday flocked the ‘Jay Stambh’ memorial in Maharashtra’s Pune district to pay tributes on the 201st anniversary of the Koregaon Bhima battle amidst heavy police presence.
One person was killed and several others were injured in caste clashes that broke out on January 1 last year on the occasion of the anniversary of the 1818 battle, which has attained legendary stature in Dalit history.
At least 5,000 police personnel, 1200 Home Guard jawans, 12 companies of the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) and 2,000 Dalit volunteers are deployed in and around Perne village where people are paying tributes at the war memorial, police said.
The ‘jay stambh’ was erected by the British as a memorial for soldiers killed in the Koregaon Bhima battle on January 1, 1818.
Besides large-scale police deployment, 500 CCTV cameras, 11 drone cameras and 40 video cameras are monitoring the area, a senior police officer said this morning.
Police check posts have been set up along the border of Pune district.
“Internet services in and around Perne village have been suspended,” special Inspector General of Police Vishwas Nangre-Patil said.
In the Dalit narrative, the 1818 battle is the victory over casteism as the British Army comprising a large contingent of Dalit Mahar soldiers had defeated the forces of Peshwas–the Brahmin custodians of the Maratha kingdom.
Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh leader Prakash Ambedkar, the grandson of Dalit icon B R Ambedkar, was among the first politicians to offer his tribute at the Jay Stambh this morning.
After laying a wreath at the memorial, Ambedkar hoped the commemoration event will pass off peacefully.
“Unlike last year, local people of surrounding villages have extended all help during the commemoration. Locals are lending a helping hand. I hope peaceful completion. However, the police should not act in haste,” he told reporters.
Ambedkar said the number of visitors is likely to swell this year.
“The reason behind the surge is because the likes of retired SC judge P B Sawant, retired HC judge B G Kolse Patil and some students (Kabir Kala Manch) took the history of the Koregaon Bhima battle to rural Maharashtra,” he said.
Unfortunately, the same students who “bridged the gap between the Marathas and the OBCs using the Elgaar Parishad platform were labelled as Naxals by the government, he said.
“These students took real history of Koregon Bhima to the masses, but the government labelled them Naxals,” he said, adding the government should find real perpetrators of last year’s violence and bring them to justice.
Police are probing the alleged Maoist links in the January 1 violence, which they suspect was triggered by provocative speeches made at the Elgar Parishad conclave in Pune on December 31, 2017.
In the wake of the clashes, police had booked Hindutva leaders Milind Ekbote and Sambhaji Bhide on charges of inciting violence.
Pakistan Tuesday shared with India a list of 537 Indian prisoners lodged in Pakistani jails as per the provisions of a bilateral agreement.
They include 54 civilians and 483 fishermen, the Foreign Office (FO) said in a statement here.
“The Government of Pakistan today (Tuesday) handed over a list of 537 Indian prisoners (54 civilians and 483 fishermen) in Pakistan to the High Commission of India in Islamabad,” it said.
The step was taken under the Consular Access Agreement of May 21, 2008 between Pakistan and India, the FO said.
According to the agreement, both countries are required to exchange lists of prisoners in each other’s custody twice a year, on January 1 and and July 1.
India will also share the list of Pakistani prisoners lodged in Indian jails with the High Commission of Pakistan in New Delhi, the FO said.
The two countries have adhered to the practice of exchanging the list of prisoners despite recurring tensions.
It is one of the enduring Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) agreed upon when the two sides were trying to disentangle the complex relationship with the help of the composite dialogue process.
Fishermen from Pakistan and India are frequently detained for illegally fishing in each other’s territorial waters since the Arabian Sea does not have a clearly defined marine border and the wooden boats lack the technology to avoid being drifting away.
It’s the holiday season and Bollywood celebrities are in the mood for celebration. Seems like rumoured lovebirds Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor are too, welcoming the first day of 2019 with open arms as the two were spotted spending some quality family time together.
According to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the number of taxpayers earning more than Rs 1 crore has increased 68 per cent in the Financial Year (FY) 2017-18 to 1,40,000, which was 89,000 in the FY 2013-14. The number of taxpayers has increased by 80 per cent in this period. In FY 2013-14, 3.79 cr persons filed income tax returns, which increased to 6.85 cr. in the FY 2017-18. According to CBDT Chairman Mr. Sushil Chandra, direct tax and GDP ratio during the FY 2017-18 has been 5.98 per cent, which is the best in the last 10 years.
