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Not returning awards as they mean nothing to me: Naseeruddin Shah

By
Afternoon Voice
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Naseeruddin-ShahTaking a dig at the BJP, veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah says their statements on moderate protesters show their tolerance level.

The 66-year-old actor, however, will not be returning his National Awards to protest against the growing intolerance in the country.

“The statements given by BJP against the moderate statement shows their tolerance level. I won’t give away my awards because they mean nothing to me,” Shah said, adding that he was not willing to comment further on the issue.

Last month, the actor was trolled on Twitter for his comments during the book launch of former Pakistani foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri.

At that time, Shah said he does “not need to justify anything and prove my patriotism to anybody.”

Broadway Style Musical on Kathak

By
Afternoon Voice
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West End in London and Broadway in USA are two creative places where every dancer wants to be. To achieve ones ultimate dream a dancer goes through training in not just dance but even music, singing and acting for years and then a chance for audition is given to a dancer.

India for a very long time never had a mega budgeted show like what we see in USA or UK. But few years back Kingdom of Dreams opened in Gurgaon near Delhi bringing a never seen before musicals, be it ‘Zangoora’ which became an instant hit with the people or ‘Jhumroo’ which too got lots of accordance, both the gigantic musicals had Bollywood dance as their essence. But now Kingdom of Dreams is coming up with another new different kind of a musical. This one of its kind musical is called ‘Abhimanyu’ and no it is not Bollywood based musical show instead this show is a superb mix between Indian Classical and folk dances along with international forms.

‘Abhimanyu’ is the brain child of Kathak Maestro Pandit Sandeep Mahavir who recently received the prestigious Bismilla Khan Award Yuva by Sangeet Natak Akadami in the field of Kathak. It took Pt. Mahavir seven years to plan this entire show along with its storyline and enchanting music and another one year to get it on floor. This show is a path breaking musical that will showcase Indian dances especially classical dances in a Broadway style musical, something that is never been done before to promote Indian classical and folk dances.

Sandeep Mahavir and me go back a long way when we judged dance reality show Rum Jhum and Let’s Dance on Doordarshan together a few years back. When Mahavir ji was auditioning for ‘Abhimanyu’ he had requested me to help him select dancers for the show. We had thousands of dancers coming in to showcase their talent. That is when I spoke to him about ‘Abhimanyu’ and what he told me was something I can never forget, he said ‘When I would go to USA for my Kathak concerts I would take out time and see almost all the musicals playing on Broadway, sitting there in the audience I would wonder why can’t we Indian do this and as a Kathak dancer I always wanted to see Kathak on Broadway.’ His long cherished dream came about when he met Viraf Sarkari of Wizcraft who decided to partner him on this project along with Monty Shah and present it at Kingdom of Dreams.

Abhimanyu is the heart warming tale of the journey of an Indian classical dancer who is taken to United States of America by an international Broadway dancer. This grand spectacle on stage presents Abhimanyu’s dreams, ambitions, struggles, failures and final redemption. Set to original score of Deepak Pandit and Sandeep Mahavir and with songs sung by legendary singers like Shankar Mahadevan, Daler Mehendi, Padmashree Udit Narayan, Javed Ali, Anvesha Dutta and Dinesh Mahavir. This new show at kingdom of dreams is set to enthral and captivate with its superb dances, colourful drama and scintillating specials effects.

The musical has total of 140 dancers and is made in a budget of 10 cr. This kind of money going into an Indian classical and folk dance based show is completely unheard of but Sandeep Mahavir and his team has shown that it is not just Bollywood dance shows that can have big budgets but even the traditional dances of India can get the same platform if the thought and idea is brilliant. Pt Mahavir plays the title role of Abhimanyu and has two main female leads Mugdha Mane who is a trained Indian classical dancer and Emma Yearsely from United Kingdom who is trained in international dance forms. Kathak is the main essence of the musical Abhimanyu but it has lots of Indian folk dances like Chau, Lavni, Ghoomar and Legium too. Then there is Hip Hop, Contemporary, Krumping, B Boying and loads of lifts and tricks from the international dance side. The entire classical and folk dance choreography is done by Pt. Sandeep Mahavir and the international forms are set by Arvind Thankur.

‘Abhimanyu’ indeed has created history long before it is premiered, not only because of its mega budgets but also because the classical and folk dances of India will be for the first time seen on a Broadway style musical. Through this article today I would like to wish all the very best to the entire team of 230 people of ‘Abhimanyu’ who have worked day in and day out to make this happen. The premier show of Abhimanyu is on the 18th of November at Kingdom of Dreams, so if you want to see how Indian classical and folk dances along with international dance forms can mesmerise you then this musical is something that one cannot afford to miss at all.

Artscape By Sandip Soparrkar

Dal @ Rs 100 per kg. No one knows where?

By
Suraj Chandran
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The common man who is already grappling with rising inflation won’t get any relief as he has to shell out more money for buying an essential commodity like tur dal.

DaalThe Fadnavis government had announced that tur dal will be available at Rs 100 at retail shops but lentils continue to sell at Rs 180 to Rs 200 per kg in the city. The common man who is already grappling with rising inflation won’t get any relief as he has to shell out more money for buying an essential commodity like tur dal. Tur Dal prices have risen significantly since last two months but the government has failed to control price rise. Thus it’s a bleak Diwali for Mumbaikars who are finding it difficult to make both ends meet. Earlier the Shiv Sena had submitted a letter to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis questioning him about his assurance of controlling pulses prices.

NCP spokesman Nawab Malik said, “The government is misleading the common man by making announcement that tur dal prices will stabilise. How will prices come down when the government is hand in glove with the hoarders? Strict action must be taken against hoarders to control price rise.”

Amar Seth, a Kandivali resident said, “When I heard that tur dal will be available at Rs 100 per kg I was very pleased. However, after visiting the shop I learnt that pulses prices are yet to fall. Even though the government had taken action against hoarders and seized lumpsum stocks but the common man doesn’t derive any benefit out of it.”

Rahul Deshmukh, a Borivali resident said, “The government only gives false assurance to people that pulses prices will dip but it doesn’t happen. There is lack of proper mechanism to arrest the price rise.”

Leader of Opposition in the state assembly, Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, announced that he will send Tur dal boxes as Diwali gift to all Maharashtra ministers. Vikhe-Patil, who held the agriculture portfolio during the Congress-NCP regime, said,“Tur Dal prices have not fallen and it is still selling at Rs 180 per kg. The government is only making announcements to sell tur dal at Rs 100 per kg to please the common man but they have failed to implement it. We had also asked the government to offer the seized dal to fair price outlets for providing some relief to the people. However, the government has instead diverted the same stock to traders.”

“When prices of vegetables were high during our regime, I ordered to open outlets across the city. The state government does not have to make any investment. We ordered APMC and vegetable suppliers to regulate prices. It worked” he added.

Mumbai NCP President, Sachin Ahir said he himself will present a one kg packet of all pulses to Fadnavis and all the cabinet members on Friday. “I will deliver these packets at the official residence of the CM and all the cabinet members in Mumbai.”

Vikhe-Patil said Shiv Sena has control over the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and instead of waiting for the state government, the party should itself take measures to provide relief to the common man, by opening its treasury.

The state government has seized 46,397 metric tonnes of tur dal through 2,492 raids conducted across the state in the last two weeks. Maharashtra, which accounts for almost 35 per cent of pulses cultivation in the country, has faced major shortfall due to drought and hailstorm.

Will Chhabra’s death bring CM Vasundhara’s arrogance down?

By
Vaidehi Taman
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The death of former MLA Gurusharan Chhabra, who was on fast unto death demanding complete prohibition of liquor and strengthening of Lokpal, triggered a blame game between BJP and Congress whose leaders held each other responsible for the Gandhian leader’s demise. Political parties and media are using the death for their own benefits. Where were they when he was on hunger strike? Why they were not present there when he was aggressively fighting for these issues. How many party leaders visited him and offered their support while he was on the strike? I bet no one. Shame on you leaders for this type of blame game for cheap publicity. MLA Chhabra, the 65-year-old anti-liquor crusader, was on fast since October 2. He had been admitted to SMS hospital and was in coma for the last couple of days. Chhabra’s life could have been saved if CM Vasundhara Raje had intervened to get the agitation called off. He was protesting against sale and consumption of liquor and was demanding strengthening of Lokayukta in Rajasthan. Chhabra had revived his fast after Rajasthan government failed to implement its commitments made to him in an agreement in May. He sacrificed his life for public service. If only someone from the government had reached out to him he could have been saved. This is very unfortunate and will be remembered as a case in Rajasthan’s history when a man had to sacrifice his life for the sake of public interest instead of personal interest.

Anyway, BJP never cared for people and their sentiments. Vasundhara is known for her arrogance and unapproachable attitude. Raje-led BJP government “solely responsible” for Chhabra’s death, the state government and its CM ignored Chhabra and his demands which ultimately led to his demise. It is very unfortunate that a Gandhian leader died due to anshan (hunger strike). The Rajasthan government had promised to look into his demand but no step was initiated.

Chhabra was a Janata Dal MLA from 1977 to 1980. He later joined the BJP, but quit active politics in 1992. Now after his demise, Vasundhara Raje is silent on the issue. A great loss to the state of Rajasthan. The CM is very high headed, she is enjoying the majority offered to her by people to form the government and does not think about anything else happening in the state. He made a nominal demand of bringing the CM office under the Lokayukta. However, she cannot do that because she herself and her ministers are corrupt.

Meanwhile, after the death of Gurusharan Chhabra, Rajasthan Health Minister Rajendra Rathore said that a complete ban on liquor in the state is “not practical.” The ban would give rise to liquor mafia. In 1981, the state had to roll back prohibition as it led to the emergence of mafia. Rathore said that it is also “a matter of Rs. 6,000 crore revenue to the state. However, he forgets that the biggest prostitution racket is run in Rajasthan after West Bengal. Young girls are pushed into prostitution here and men of the family are addicted to liquor consumption.

In 2014-15, the Rajasthan excise department reported revenue of Rs. 5,585.76 crore. Over the last three financial years, the department registered an increase in revenue of 21.32 per cent, 24.92 per cent and 12.13 per cent (2014-15), respectively. In 2013-14, the per capita revenue earned from excise in the state was Rs. 726.22 (calculated with 2011 census) and per capita annual consumption of country liquor was 2.40 bulk litres, per capita annual consumption of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) was 1.38 bulk litres and per capita annual consumption of beer was 2.34 bulk litres. Rathore said that the state and Chhabra had reached an agreement last year, claiming that over 90 per cent of the demands to “control liquor” had been accepted by the state. “The demand for a strong Lokayukta was pending but for that too, the committee, constituted to compare the Rajasthan Lokayukta with 11 states where it is much more powerful, is expected to submit its report in a fortnight. Meanwhile, Chhabra’s son Gaurav Chhabra said his family would follow in his footsteps and sit on hunger strike in front of the Chief Minister residence if the government does not follow up on its promises made to him. “They lack a strong will to implement a ban. Vasundhara Raje contested Assembly elections on the Gujarat model, where liquor is banned, and now they feel banning liquor here will lead to creation of mafia ignoring that the most of the heinous crimes, such as rape of children are increasing in the state.

Most points it mentioned were either implemented during the previous rule of the Congress government or are followed as per directions of courts. Government maintained that it has issued the circular for transferring half the salary of government employees, who are addicted to alcohol, to their wives’ accounts. This circular, however, was issued during the Congress government rule in 2013. Though, the BJP government to its credit simplified it by reducing consensus of two-third to 50 per cent in voting. Putting warning signs on liquor bottles, which government claim was initiated by them was already in practice. “Gurusharan Chhabra wanted the implementation of Rajan committee report, which was presented in 2013. Some of the provisions were implemented earlier while remaining was implemented as per agreement with Chhabra. However, this has not stopped the state government from taking credit for the work which was already done earlier. As per the existing excise rules, the vigilance at borders is mandatory to stop the transfer of liquor from one state to another. The state government even included this point in the list of 90 per cent promises fulfilled by it.

Microsoft working on password-free world

By
Afternoon Voice
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CEOWith growing concerns over security of emails and mobile phones, technology giant Microsoft on Thursday said it is working on ways to rid tech users of their worries over passwords.

“One of the biggest security issues is passwords. One of the things that we are working on is a world where passwords are not going to be the ones that you know can get hacked but you really have other biometrics that really help us secure our computing interfaces,” Microsoft Corporation chief executive Satya Nadella said here.

He was delivering keynote address at ‘Future Unleashed: Accelerating India’, Microsoft’s largest ever customer conference here, celebrating 25 years of the Richmond-based company’s in the country.

Hyderabad-born Nadella said the company has a sense of purpose that is about empowering every person and every organisation on the planet to achieve more.

“We had a mission of putting a personal computer PC on every desk in every home, but in retrospect that was a goal… Our mission was to empower every individual and organisation. That’s really what I look at as we go forward,” said Nadella, who has completed 25 years at Microsoft.

Nadella, who runs an average of 5 km a day — even today despite 16 hours of jetlag — and reads 10 books on weekends, said that with changing world and technologies, the company has more ambitions to reinvent productivity and business processes.

“Our first ambition is about reinvention of productivity and business process. We want to make sure that work no longer is a place you go to. Work is about making things happen and getting things done wherever you are,” he noted, adding that the purpose of Microsoft is to to build an intelligent cloud.

He unveiled the new cloud start-up initiative to empower the smart cities.

Nadella also spoke about the tools which he uses daily to make decision, to have discussion across his team and harness the information inside the company.

Talking about one of his personal phones, an iPhone, he said, “this is not my phone, but it is an iPhone. I like to somehow refer to this as iPhone Pro because it has got all the Microsoft software on it…There is Word, Excel, Power Point.”

He also added that he uses his own phone – a high-end Lumia.

Nadella suggested that all leaders should use digital tools to augment judgement, ingenuity and productivity.

Microsoft will bring the latest Surface Pro 4 here in January, which will be available for Rs 75,000 and above, he said. “We are not stopping at building a phone that can run apps. We are keen on creating a full PC experience from the phone. Windows Continuum is a great feature in a market like this.”

On the fast growing e-commerce space in India, Nadella said: “It is mind-blowing to see how e-commerce is progressing in this country.. Am not bothered about their valuations but am more interested in the quality of their ideas, which is pretty good.”

He went on to add that “one thing we are excited about is what app developers can do. One such developer, StaffPad, has changed the way music is composed. AR Rahman is a big user of StaffPad.”

There is going to be more computing in our lives in next 10 years, Nadella said, adding that “computing will be everywhere, what will be key is our mobility of our human experience through all this computing. That is where the cloud is important”.

Maharashtra government hands over cases against Chhota Rajan to CBI

By
Afternoon Voice
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LIttle-RajanAhead of his return, Maharashtra government on Thursday handed over all the cases against underworld don Chhota Rajan to CBI.

Additional Chief Secretary KP Bakshi told reporters at a hurriedly-called press conference that all the cases against 55-year old Rajan, who has been deported from Indonesia, are being transferred to CBI because of its expertise in “handling transnational crimes”.

Though there was no official word on it, sources said the underworld don who had fled the country 27 years ago had struck a deal with central security agencies under which all cases against him would be taken out of Maharashtra Police and that he would be lodged outside the state.

Mumbai Police has nearly 70 cases registered against Rajan, including 20 of murder, four cases under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, one under Prevention of Terrorism Act and over 20 cases under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act.

Delhi Police has six cases registered against Rajan, who was a close aide of fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim at one point but split before the 1993 Mumbai blasts were conspired.

In 2000, there was an attempt on Rajan’s life when Dawood’s men tracked him down to a hotel in Bangkok but he managed a dramatic escape by jumping from the first floor of the hotel.

Rajan is expected to land in India early tomorrow, 27 years after he had fled the country in the face of numerous cases of murder, extortion and drug smuggling against him. His deportation was deferred as the international airport in Bali was shut down due to spewing of volcanic ash from a nearby mountain.

After the authorities declared the airport open, the Indian team comprising CBI, Delhi and Mumbai police officials began the process of deportation of Rajan, who had fled India in 1988 for Dubai.

Sources privy to the developments said the underworld don, who was arrested on October 25 after the Australian police tipped off the Bali police about his presence in the island, was to undergo mandatory health check up before he would emplane a special aircraft for Delhi.

India was keen that the deportation takes place at the earliest and had put in a request to Indonesian authorities immediately after his arrest, the sources said.

Rajan, whose real name is Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje, is wanted in over 75 crimes ranging from murder, extortion to smuggling and drug trafficking.

Maharashtra crime conviction rate goes up to 42pc in BJP regime: Devendra Fadnavis

By
Afternoon Voice
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DevendraMaharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday said the rate of conviction in crimes in the state was improved to 42 per cent from previous 8 per cent after his government came to power in 2014.

“On the account of various measures taken by government, the rate of conviction of crimes which was just 8 per cent before this government took over has now gone up to 42 per cent. We should also make further efforts to improve the conviction rate further. At this conviction rate (42 per cent), Maharashtra stands fifth in country,” Fadnavis said.

The CM was speaking at a function organised by the Konkan range of police to return the stolen property like jewellery and other articles to the tune of Rs 2.60 crore, to citizens.

Fadnavis also launched a mobile app “FIR” (First Immediate Response) crated for catering to the elderly persons and women in distress.

In another event, he inaugurated the sophisticated traffic control room of the Thane traffic police where entire traffic of the city will be monitored digitally.

District Guardian Minister and Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde did not attend the function against the backdrop of ongoing friction between his party and the BJP in view of the bitterly-contested election to the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC).

Builder’s suicide: HC expedites hearing

By
Afternoon Voice
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The Bombay High Court today advanced the hearing of anticipatory bail petitions of four corporators from the neighbouring Thane in connection with the builder Suraj Parmar suicide case upon the prosecution’s request.

The High Court had on November 3 granted interim protection from arrest to Vikrant Chavan (Congress), Najib Mulla, Hanumant Jagdale (both NCP) and Sudhakar Chavan (independent) and posted the hearing of their pre-arrest bail pleas to December 2.

Parmar, a leading builder, shot himself on October 7. His suicide note alleged that a nexus of corporators and officials was harassing him for bribes.

Thane police registered a case of abetment of suicide under the IPC and `criminal misconduct’ under the Prevention of Corruption Act as the suicide note allegedly named these four corporators.

Public prosecutor Raja Thakare today mentioned the matter before a vacation bench headed by Justice Ravi Deshpande and sought hearing at the earliest saying it was a sensitive case and the four corporators were facing some serious allegations.

The charges of corruption have to be investigated expeditiously and their custodial interrogation was required, the prosecutor said.

The court accepted his contention and advanced the hearing to November 23.

Earlier, the Thane sessions court had rejected the anticipatory bail pleas of these four corporators.

HC upholds life sentence to man for killing pregnant wife

By
Afternoon Voice
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Observing that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, the Bombay High Court has upheld the life imprisonment given to a man for killing his pregnant wife at Charkop in suburban Kandivali in 2007.

Dismissing an appeal filed by the convict, a bench noted, “on going through the record, we are of the opinion that the appellant has committed the murder of his wife Sonali. Thus, we find no merit in the appeal.”

Rahul Mandal was convicted by a Mumbai sessions court on December 16, 2010 for killing his wife Sonali at their home in Kandivali. The incident occurred on October 23, 2007.

According to prosecution, Rahul suspected his wife’s character and had a quarrel with her on the ill-fated day. In a fit of rage, he assaulted her with a belt, roller pin and knife.

Unable to bear the pain, the victim shouted for help and her cries were heard by neighbours Praveen and Chhaya, the prosecution witnesses who came out of their house to render assistance. Four-month pregnant Sonali died due to the alleged assault by her husband.

Rahul summoned a doctor to his house. However, noticing injuries on her person and blood oozing out of the body, the doctor became suspicious and informed police who arrested the husband of the deceased.

According to post mortem report, 17 injuries were found on Sonali’s body. Out of them, 8 were contusions on the face, chest, knee and legs. In addition, three contused lacerated wounds were found on the skull. Two incised wounds were found on the chin and one on the arm. Besides nail marks and abrasions were also found on the body.

In the opinion of the doctor, the probable cause of death was due to strangulation associated with multiple contusions all over the body including the head (unnatural).

Police filed a charge sheet in the court and Rahul was booked for the murder charge. He denied the charges and faced trial. However, he was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Being aggrieved, he filed an appeal in High Court which upheld the punishment awarded to him by a lower court.

Naval officers on mock-drill mistaken as terrorists, held

By
Afternoon Voice
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Six Navy officers, participating in a mock-drill, were mistaken for armed terrorists by the locals, leading to their brief detention by the police.

They were released after the Western Naval Command in Mumbai confirmed their identities, said the Daman SP Eish Singhal.

Some residents of Nani Daman area alerted the police about suspicious movements of six persons in military uniform yesterday, thinking they could be terrorists.

“We have launched a manhunt. We also found a CCTV footage showing these uniformed men,” said Singhal.

Police found a boat on the coast near Kadaiya. “We then found five persons, who were not in uniform, standing by a mini-truck. They told us that they had come here to take the delivery of some material which weighs 200 kg,” said Sighal.

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