When did ‘Incredible India’ become ‘Intolerant India’?

By

-

November 25, 2015

Tolerance prevailed when the Kashmiri Pandits were chased out of their homes, when Sikhs were burnt dead in the streets of Delhi. Religious harmony existed when Churches were vandalised in 2010-14, and also when Dawood Ibrahim bombed Bombay. Someone got the meaning of tolerance wrong.

Aamir Khan is going overboard to open his mind on intolerance and rigs alarm bells for nothing. His comment on Kiran Rao’s suggestion to leave the country and settle overseas appear rather ridiculous. Having made so much money by acting in Hindi Films and in Indian Television channels, now Aamir is trying to open his mind.

This country has made him Aamir Khan and now he is trying to brush aside and showing his vested interest. If the nation has become intolerant for him let him take steps or preach through his television talks to suggest to millions of Indians about the ways to improve. Aamir Khan is trying to get cheap publicity and making allegations. It is not the time to preach but to make the country vibrant in all spheres with meaningful film making and useful tele talks. When did the Incredible India become Intolerant overnight? It is time for Aamir and Kiran to mince words before going to the press. It is indeed sorry state of affairs in India to ring alarm bells.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is facing criticism back home over the government’s failure to address the growing intolerance and went on to add that diversity is India’s strength and pride and underlined the importance of peaceful co-existence. India is full of diversity. Diversity is the speciality of India and we need not be bothered with the recent developments, which is purely because of the hype by media and the jealousy of the opposition after seeing the development and progress taken pace in the last 20 months or so. Every girl child in India can now go to school safe in the knowledge that her school has a toilet. Prime Minister brings hope among girl children and it is up to the people to go in lines with Government stricture rather than just poking their heads in all affairs disrupting the nation’s progress.

C.K. Subramaniam

Sushant Singh, Kriti Sanon pair up for Dinesh Vijan’s debut

By

Afternoon Voice

-

November 25, 2015

It’s time to welcome the newest on screen couple as Sushant Singh Rajput and Kriti Sanon will be soon seen in a directorial debut and if the stills from the flick are given a look, the duo is ready to set the screen on fire.

Earlier, it was being rumoured that Sushant and Kiriti won’t be pairing up, but the stills from the flick have brushed off the news.

However, a lot of romance can be seen in the pictures and the couple assures that they will definitely soar temperature with their chemistry.

The film, which is currently untitled, is apparently a hilarious tale of love, dreams and destiny.

Anil Kapoor: Directors trust Sonam as an actress

By

Afternoon Voice

-

November 25, 2015

Actress Sonam Kapoor’s movie resume may not have many hits, but it sure boasts of big filmmakers, and her father Anil Kapoor says the reason big names want to work with the actress is because they trust her.

Anil, 58, says his daughter has not done as much work as he did in his first eight years in Bollywood but the choices she has made in terms of films and directors have been excellent.

“So far she has made good choices. Sonam has hardly done enough films as compared to what I had done in eight years. But her choices have been big and good filmmakers. It shows how much people trust her as an actress,” said Anil.

“Be it Bhansali, Rakeysh, Barjatya or Ram Madhvani with whom she is working on Neerja Bhanot’s biopic, these directors will not cast her if they would not believe in her. They see a great future in her. Her acting abilities are such that they know she will be able to tell their stories. That’s the biggest compliment.”

Anil’s other daughter Rhea is a producer, who has made films like “Aisha” and “Khoobsurat”.

Anil’s son Harshvardhan Kapoor will soon make his debut in Mehra’s “Mirziya” and the “Dil Dhadakne Do” star says he never thought all his children would join the film industry and is always anxious about their career.

“I feel happy but I am anxious always as a father. I have mixed emotions. I never really imagined that it is going to happen. You can’t really predict the future of your children, can’t predict the success. They come with their own destiny. I think my children have come with their own destiny. Now it is up to them.”

Anil says he never pressurises his children or interferes in their career because for him the most important thing is to know whether they are happy.

Wasn’t ready for fame in 20s: Natalie Dormer

By

Afternoon Voice

-

November 25, 2015

“Game of Thrones” actress Natalie Dormer feels thankful she did not become famous in her 20s because she was not ready for it then.

The 33-year-old actress said she would have struggled to cope with the attention she’s currently receiving were she a few years younger.

“I’m really glad now that I didn’t pop earlier, because in my 20s, I wasn’t ready. To get your identity as a woman sorted before you’re questioned about it constantly, and asked in the public sphere to qualify who and what you are… I think most 33-year-old women would say, ‘I wouldn’t do my 20s again for love nor money’,” she said.

Jamie Foxx is secretly dating Katie Holmes

By

Afternoon Voice

-

November 25, 2015

Jamie Foxx and Katie Holmes are still secretly dating.

The couple have been rubbishing relationship rumours for two years, but it seems all that was just a ploy to distract people from the truth as they’ve been romancing since 2013.

A source reportedly said, “She is head over heels for him.

“But they don’t want to fuel any of the rumours so Jamie has been avoiding attending parties she’s been going to.

“Katie and Jamie have a fun and playful relationship and have gotten even closer in the past few months.”

And it’s no wonder Katie, 36, is keen to keep her relationship under wraps as she hasn’t had a public romance since her divorce from Tom Cruise in 2012 after six years of marriage.

But it seems Katie has no concerns when it comes to her daughter Suri, nine, whom she has with Tom, as the youngster has already given Jamie, 47, her seal of approval.

The insider added: “Suri gets along with him super well, too.”

Meanwhile, the ‘Django Unchained’ star has also been quiet on the dating scene for quite some time but admitted earlier this year that his daughters Corrine, 21, and Annalise, five – who he has from two previous relationships – are desperate for him to find the love of his life and finally settle down.

No place for burial

By

Afternoon Voice

-

November 24, 2015

Shia Muslims are demanding cemetery at various places in Mumbai but their demands remain unfulfilled.

At first glance, it looks like the perfect place for burying the deceased. But all is not well. The recent issue came into light when Hashmi Begum (Noori) (34) died of heart ailment on Monday at 4.00 pm but no land is available for her burial. Relatives were concerned about her last rituals and officials from the cemetery were worried due to lack of space.

There is a self made rule here that if you are a blood relative of the already buried then they exhumed them and buried the new one, but not less than three years. “Her mother had passed away in the year 2000 and after that in 2013 her maternal uncle was buried in the same place, so we can’t dig that grave,” said Shavez, husband of Hashmi Begum.

“If you want to bury in others grave then you have to seek permission of their relatives for this,” added Shavez.

There is rule that states that one can’t exhume the remains of the body till three years.

Shia Muslims follow different burial rituals and women are allowed to enter the cemetery whereas in other sects women are denied entry, so they have different qabrastan.

Shia Muslims are demanding cemetery at various places in Mumbai but their demands remain unfulfilled. In Mumbai, they have only one Qabrastan which is more than 100 years old.

They are demanding cemetery at Malad and Andheri in western suburbs and Govandi in eastern suburb.

A social group, Mumbai Shia Ashna Aashri Jama’at along with local leaders in Malad had also gone on hunger strike six months ago, but nothing relevant came out of it.

“We met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in this regard. He promised us to offer space for building cemetery at Malad,” said Fakhrul Hasan Rizvi, President of the Jama’at.

“Local MLA Aslam Shaikh also assured us that he will raise this issue in Assembly,” said Sohail A Rizvi (Bablu), General Secretary of the Jama’at.

“It’s a long pending demand. There is land for development of high rise buildings but government can’t allot a place where deceased persons can rest in peace,” said Congress leader and prominent Jama’at leader Anwar Hussain.

Rehmatabad Cemetery in Narialwadi area of Mazgaon houses thousands of graves. However, this cemetery too is facing space crunch issues. This means that a body buried today is likely to be dug up after three or four years to make space for someone else.

Rehmatabad is managed by the Iranian Shia Trust. The Trust is negotiating with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for allotment of additional space.

Shias from across Mumbai are buried here, and their families pay for maintenance. There are celebrity graves, including those of Bollywood actresses Meena Kumari and Purnima, and Shirin Mohammed Ali, the mother of director Mahesh Bhatt. In November 2011, Meena Kumari’s grave was restored after her stepdaughter intervened. The broken marble structure was repaired. This memorial, although it holds a famous body, is much like the other graves here, except it is taller.

Each grave has a shelf-life of three years, says Shirazi, except those of celebrities. Officials at the site say that even well-built marble memorials have to be broken down to make way for new ones. Old remains are covered with a fresh layer of earth to house the next set of graves. “I know it is not proper, but what do we do?” asks one official.

“Many tourists used to come to see Meena Kumari’s tomb,” says a worker. Nowadays she is forgotten, and her grave is visited hardly once a year.

An open letter to the CM

By

Vaidehi Taman

-

November 24, 2015

Shri Devendra Fadnavisji
Namaskar,

Since last 10 years, I am in the field of Journalism with graduate in Law and author. While working in the media, I always write about betterment of the people of this country. I believe in defending injustice with the innocent people.

I want to bring to your kind notice that some false incidents happening in the department which is directly comes under your purview. In June 2015, ACB, the wing under home department had filed FIR against Chhagan Bhujbal in Maharashtra Sadan and Central Library, Kalina Mumbai University land scam. It has investigated by the probing officer that Bhujbal had done some financial transactions with developers in above works. I don’t want to comment on the Bhujbal issue. However, by mistake the name of the concerned officials of PWD has also been incorporated in the FIR.

False FIR has been registered against PWD officials. While discharging their duties officers may commit some administrative ir¬regularities but it can’t be termed as a crime.

The junior officers in ACB collected the above subject related papers from various concerned offices and they have filed false FIR against PWD officials. Now, ACB is trying to frame false chargesheet on the basis of false FIR. However, they will require your approval.

I want to bring to your kind notice, one thing that the above two questioned projects have been approved by infrastructure committee of the cabinet of Government of Maharashtra.

As per my understanding, chief minister is the chairman of the committee and seven to eight min¬isters, chief secretary and seven to eight secretaries of concerned department are members of the committee. All these members discuss the proposals under the chairmanship of chief minister and then take the appropriate decision of approval or disapproval.

If ACB feels of some criminal Act of concerned while approving the proposal, then names of all concern official in mantralaya related to this proposal & names of all infrastructure committee members including then chief minister would have been included in the FIR. Only some specific PWD officials’ names have been incorpo¬rated in the FIR as injustice has been meted against them.

Fadnavisji, you too being a law graduate and you can also understand the legal provi-sions, if you have a prima facia look at the FIR then you will realise that the allegations against officers are illegal.

Prior to the approval to chargesheet against the PWD officials, it is necessary to examine the legal provisions supporting the charges against officials or it is necessary to examine the legality of charges through learned councils like Ram Jethmalani, Harish Salve or P. Chidambaram.

ACB officials have hurriedly, irresponsibly, without understanding the technical issues and departmental system procedure, purposefully and with prejudice mind booked PWD officials.

Government is the parent of all the citizens of this country and it can’t be biased and preju¬diced against anyone. It has to work within frame work of the Indian constitution.

I request you to refrain from approving charge sheet against PWD officials hastily. The responsible sitting technical secretary of PWD or any retired PWD secre¬tary can be assigned the responsibility of thorough scrutiny of charges against PWD officials with reference to system procedure of department and prevailing rules and regulations in this regard, so that innocent officers should not unnecessarily become the victims.

The officers named in the FIR Shri Gaikwad and Solanki belong to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe community respectively.

Article 46 of the Indian constitution mentions that it is the government’s responsibility to look carefully into the issues of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe members and also institution of false, malice and vexatious suit or legal proceedings against members of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe is crime under, atrocity act.

So it is my sincere request to you to look in to this issue personally and resolve it amicably. You are intelligent, dashing and impartial chief minister of this state. Therefore you must ensure that no single person in this state should suffer. There are number of High Court/Supreme Court rulings in similar kind of charges which have been proved false according to the court of law.

Indrani Mukerjea willed most of her properties to Vidhie, says CBI chargesheet

By

Afternoon Voice

-

November 24, 2015

Indrani Mukerjea, prime accused in the Sheena Bora murder case, had willed most of her property to Vidhie Khanna, her daughter from earlier marriage with Sanjeev Khanna, a co-accused in the case, the CBI chargesheet said.

The wills and some of the e-mails which are a part of the chargesheet stated that Indrani had bequeathed around 20 properties to Vidhie.

“The wills were drafted to the effect to ensure that Vidhie gets the properties when she turns major,” said the chargesheet, filed on November 19.

“Of couple of other things, I will be writing to Richard Harris and Pablo to add Vidhie’s name to Sneyd Park and Malambo (properties in UK) when she is 18,” wrote Indrani to her husband Peter, also a co-accused now, in one of the e-mails.

The e-mail also spoke about adding Vidhie’s name to properties in Delhi, Goa and 19 other properties.

The chargesheet said that Indrani, who had a soft corner for Vidhie, feared that the entire property might go to Sheena and Rahul if they were married.

“In this context, she planned a conspiracy with Khanna and her driver Shyam Rai to kill Sheena Bora,” the chargesheet added.

AIMIM dissolves Maharashtra district units

By

Afternoon Voice

-

November 24, 2015

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) President Asaduddin Owaisi has dissolved its district units in Maharashtra, barring Mumbai and Thane, with immediate effect to curb infighting, a party official said.

Hyderabad-based Owaisi appointed a nine-member core committee to tour all districts in Maharashtra and appoint new district committees in four months, besides expanding the party influence to non-Muslim pockets.

The development comes in the wake of defeat of party nominee Mazhar Maniyar in Kondhwa by-poll to Pune Municipal Corporation this month, said party spokesperson Imtiaz Jaleel, a legislator from Aurangabad.

“The AIMIM has been growing at a much faster rate than anticipated. We have also been notching spectacular victories in civic and assembly elections. The Pune setback has been taken seriously by the party high command, which dissolved the dozen-odd units in this state,” Jaleel said.

“The nine-member core committee will interview potential candidates, assess their strengths and weaknesses at district and taluka levels before making appointments. Each office-bearer will now hold party post(s) for one year,” Jaleel said.

Two AIMIM legislators – Jaleel and Waris Pathan from Mumbai – have excused themselves from the party task to concentrate on their legislative responsibilities.

The core committee comprises Syed Moin and Ibrahim Ali Abu (Nanded), Maulana Mehfuzoor Rehman, Pandit Borde and Gaffar Qadri (Aurangabad), Mohammed Saleem and Vilas Dongre (Nagpur), Mohammed Ali (Latur) and Anjum Inamdar (Pune).

AIMIM plans to contest Municipal Corporation elections slated for early 2017 in Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai and other major cities.

Asked whether the Maharashtra exercise would be repeated elsewhere, Jaleel replied in the negative, but said “this is a clear message to other state units to get their acts together.”

AIMIM secured two seats in Maharashtra assembly elections last year, came second in three seats and third in another eight seats, out of the 24 it contested. It cornered more than half a million votes.

Since it first entered the Nanded municipal council in 2012, AIMIM has made steady inroads at the grass-roots level and notched victories in several other civic bodies over the past few years, including Aurangabad and Solapur.

Three teachers held for raping minor in Mira Road

By

Afternoon Voice

-

November 24, 2015

In a shocking incident, a nine-year-old school girl from Mira Road was allegedly raped by three of her teachers repeatedly since 2014.

PSI S B Kadam on Tuesday said that the accused trio — Sanjay Patil (47), Nilesh Bhoir (47), and Jitendra Jadhav (23) — was arrested yesterday after the parents of the victim filed a police complaint.

According to the girl, the teachers took turns to sexually abuse her several times in empty classrooms.

Also, the minor was threatened as well as beaten to keep her mouth shut about the incident.

The criminal assault continued till last month after which the girl, fed up of the constant torture, opened up to her parents.

The trio have been charged under sections 376, 323, 504, and 506 rw 34 of the IPC and also sections 3 and 4 of the POCSO Act 2012, police added.