Fadnavis calls for constructive criticism: Writers’ rebellion

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October 30, 2015

Taking a dim view of the increasing number of artistes and writers returning their awards citing a “climate of intolerance” in the country, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday urged those leading this revolt to help the government with “constructive criticism.”

“It is very sad that artistes are returning their awards. We respect them (as a government) a lot. They have started returning their awards after the Dadri incident, which I believe was very unfortunate and should not have taken place,” Fadnavis said while speaking at ‘IBN Lokmat’ Conclave.

“Artistes should understand that this incident happened in Uttar Pradesh which is not ruled by (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi ji. Law and order is a matter of state subject. The artistes are saying there is no tolerance left in the country now… I request them to do constructive criticism and show the government the way,” he said.

Fadnavis said the society can never change if artistes merely return their awards.

“When there were (such) incidents in Congress or Communist ruled governments, artistes never spoke of returning their awards but are doing so when it is Modi’s rule. If artistes keep returning their awards, nobody will be able to save this country,” the CM said stopping short of outrightly defending the Central government.

Several writers, historians, scientists and filmmakers across the country are returning their decorations in the wake of episodes like Dadri lynching and murders of rationalists like MM Kalburgi and Narendra Dabholkar.

Shiv Sena MP justifies ‘abusing’, says ‘saved Tehsildar from mob justice’

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Afternoon Voice

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October 30, 2015

Shiv Sena’s Aurangabad MP Chandrakant Khaire who roughed up and abused a civic official on Thursday for demolishing a temple, in a bizarre justification said that if he had not hurled those abuses at the moment, the angry mob would have killed the official for sure.

“The angry mob was about to kill the official who had holed up in his car after what he had done, I saved him. But so what if I abused him? We won’t stand back and watch while our temples get demolished. We are here to defend the Hindus,” said Khaire.

Training his guns on the police, Khaire further said that it was conspiracy by them against the Hindu temples in the state.

“The police commissioners and collectors are all together in this. It’s a conspiracy against our temples. How can the police even have the guts to destroy our temples when we are still in power? They just wanted to show that they can demolish temples in front of us,” Khaire added.

Earlier, civic official Ramesh Mundlod who based on high court orders, led a demolition drive including that of illegal temples in a suburb of Aurangabad, was later abused and roughed up publically by Khaire.

With the crowd growing around the official’s car, Khaire launched into an angry tirade, calling him ‘Aurangzeb’s progeny’ and asked him why he was not demolishing ‘Muslim buildings’ instead while showering a litany of abuses.

Shiv Sena threatens to pull out, BJP calls it ‘nautanki’

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Afternoon Voice

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October 30, 2015

BJP-Shiv Sena ties on Friday hit a new low with Uddhav Thackeray threatening to pull out of NDA if BJP “continues with its arrogance” even as one of his party ministers in Maharashtra government offered to quit, but it was dismissed as “drama” by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Sena Minister Eknath Shinde, who holds Public Undertaking portfolio, made the offer to resign at a civic poll rally in Kalyan after the Sena chief lashed out at Fadnavis.

Thackeray warned that if the “BJP continues its arrogance” Sena will not hesitate to pull out of the alliance.

As soon as Thackeray finished his speech, Shinde rushed to his leader who was present on the stage saying that he was quitting as he could no longer suffer the “humiliation” being meted out to Sena cadres by BJP which was “misusing” official machinery.

Thackeray, however, rejected the offer saying he would not allow Shinde alone to leave the ministry and if necessary the party will take a collective decision.

Reacting to Shinde’s open offer to quit his cabinet, Fadnavis, who was also campaigning for his party in a nearby area, dubbed it as “drama”.

“We have seen on television a cabinet minister making allegations and offering resignation. This is nautanki (drama),” Fadnavis said.

The BJP-Sena slanging match has become shriller after the two parties decided to contest separately the polls to Kalyan Dombivili Municipal Corporation, going to vote on November 1.

Taking a cue from his leader, Shinde made an emotional speech saying he could no longer tolerate the humiliation being heaped upon Sena workers and he was submitting his resignation.

He then walked upto Thackery and submitted his resignation and urged him to accept it. Shinde said he rose from the party ranks and cannot tolerate his Sena cadres suffer.

“I agree with the views of Shinde and would like to warn the chief minister that enough is enough and we are losing our patience on the misuse of government machinery at every stage. They (BJP) clearly see their defeat and hence make use of all kinds of methods to crush us,” Thackeray said.

“Let there be a fight over principles and on the basis of the work done but this kind of misuse of power will not be tolerated at any cost,” he said.

Thackeray then said he will not accept the resignation of Shinde alone.

He asked the Sena workers to be alert in the next two days till the civic polls end.

JD(U), Congress approach EC, demand ban on Amit Shah’s entry in Bihar

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Afternoon Voice

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October 30, 2015

Upping the ante against Amit Shah after his “fireworks in Pakistan” remark, JD(U) and Congress on Friday approached the Election Commission demanding that the BJP chief be barred from entering Bihar for “inciting communal tension” till the election process ends.

Taking strong objection to BJP’s poll advertisements in the state, they accused the party of using “lies and false propaganda” to vitiate the atmosphere and demanded that an FIR be registered against Shah as well Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his quota remarks.

Slamming Shah’s yesterday remarks that if BJP loses in Bihar, there will be fireworks in Pakistan, JD(U) general secretary KC Tyagi said, “Shah’s remarks are inflammatory.

“A case should be registered against him and he should be debarred from entering Bihar till the poll process is over. He is a habitual conspirator. He was earlier also debarred from entering Gujarat by the court.”

A delegation of Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala, spokesperson Ajoy Kumar and JD(U) general secretary KC Tyagi met Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi and submitted a memorandum, accusing the BJP of “vitiating” the electoral process by “promoting communal tension” through its advertisements.

It sought action including “complete withdrawal” of these ads and “prosecution” of the perpetrators.

Submitting a list of advertisements issued by the BJP in Bihar including one which accuses Nitish Kumar-led of “snatching the plate of dalits” and accuses it of trying to carve five per cent reservation for a particular community from the quota for SC/ST/OBC, the delegation demanded quick action from the poll watchdog.

The parties complained to the EC on this matter on a day when Prime Minister Narendra raised the pitch on this issue addressing a rally in Lalu Prasad’s home turf Gopalganj and citing a speech of Nitish Kumar in Parliament allegedly favouring sub quota for Muslims.

Tyagi also said that the Election Commission should register a case against Modi for the repeated reference of his belonging to Extremely Backward Castes (EBC) in the same manner as the Election Commission had lodged a case against RJD chief Lalu Prasad for his forward versus back election remark earlier.

They also cited two more ads. While one alleges that Lashkar-e-Toiba and ISI terrorists are “thriving in Bihar due to negligence” of JD-U leaders, the other talks of Bihar government’s role in “delayed” arrest of Yasin Bhatkal from Nepal border.

The delegation alleged that it is a “shameless” attempt by the BJP at spreading “false propaganda” and “creating communal tension”.

The Nitish Kumar-led alliance claimed that one of the ads say that RJD, JD(U) and Congress leaders are “giving sanctuary” to terrorists to appease a particular community for votes.

The name of the particular community becomes clear when seen in context to previous day’s ad, which spoke about Muslim community appeasement by RJD-JD(U) and Congress by ‘robbing the plate of dalits’, the delegation alleged.

On the ad regarding Bhatkal arrest issue, the delegation said that it questions whether the ‘delay’ was to make a particular community feel the “government’s benevolence”.

“The connection between letting Bhatkar escape and a community is done to connect Bhatkal with the Muslim community,” they alleged.

Ultra Left singer held for sedition against TN CM Jayalalithaa

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Afternoon Voice

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October 30, 2015

A 54-year-old propagandist singer of an ultra Left outfit and an anti-liquor campaigner was arrested in Tiruchirappalli on Friday for alleged sedition and uploading defamatory content against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.

‘Comrade’ Kovan, Tiruchirappalli district functionary of art and literary outfit Makkal Kalai Ilakkiya Kazhagam, was arrested under various sections of the IPC early this morning from his residence, police said.

Soon after the arrest, he was brought to Chennai.

“He uploaded electronic content like videos, lyrics which were seditious, provoked people against the State, these were highly defamatory of the government, and Chief Minister Jayalalithaa,” a top police official said.

“Such content had highly seditious, slanderous direct references including images, and lyrics, to the government and Chief Minister Jayalalithaa,” he added.

“We are in the process of blocking such seditious and defamatory videos,” another senior official said, adding the lyrics including ‘Moodu Tasmacai Moodu’ (‘Shut down TASMAC’, retail chain of liqour stores run by the government) were illegal.

“Such content had (some) slanderous references to DMK chief Karunanidhi too (over liqour vending by State).”

“Process to produce him in the court is on, anytime, he will be produced in the Egmore Magistrate court,” the official said.

The alleged defamatory content in the form of videos were uploaded in some Tamil websites and these also went viral in messaging mediums like WhatsApp.

‘Santa Banta’ jokes under Supreme Court scanner

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Afternoon Voice

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October 30, 2015

The “Santa Banta” jokes on Friday came under the lens of the Supreme Court which agreed to hear a PIL seeking direction to ban websites displaying cracks on Sardars and projecting them in poor light. “This (Sikh) community is known for great sense of humour and they also enjoy such jokes. You must have gone through the jokes of Khushwant Singh…

“This is only an amusement. Why do you want it to be stopped?…Prepare your case well. We will hear you” a bench comprising Justices TS Thakur and V Gopala Gowda said. The apex court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) by a woman lawyer Harvinder Chowdhary who said that there are more than 5,000 websites which display jokes on sardars projecting the members of the community in poor light.

Chowdhury has sought direction to Telecom Ministry to to filter websites which target the Sikh community as it is violative of sections 153A and 153B of the Indian Penal Code. “All the jokes relating to Sikh community should be stopped. My children are humiliated and feel embarrassed and they don’t want to suffix Singh and Kaur after their name,” Chowdhury said.

Referring to a recent comment by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during campaign for Bihar assembly polls that all Biharis are intelligent people, the lawyer said that it reflected as if other communities were not intelligent. To this the bench said, “Don’t worry, when he will go to Punjab he will say Sikhs are intelligent.”

“A writ of mandamus be issued to the respondent to ban websites 5,000 which spread jokes on Sardars/Sikhs projecting them as unintelligent, stupid, idiot, foolish, naive, inept not well versed with English…on the ground that it violates fundamental right to life and to live with dignity guaranteed under article 21 of the Constitution,” the plea said.

Government proposes to cap fare at Rs. 2,500; seeks to make air travel affordable

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Afternoon Voice

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October 30, 2015

Unveiling the much-awaited draft civil aviation policy, the government on Friday proposed tax incentives for airlines, maintenance and repair works of aircrafts besides mooting 2 per cent levy on all air tickets to fund regional connectivity scheme.

In a significant move, the Civil Aviation Ministry has pitched for over 50 per cent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in domestic carriers in case the open skies policy is implemented.

Under open skies policy, overseas airlines can operate unlimited number of flights into and out of India.

At present FDI limit is 49 per cent.

Presenting the revised draft national aviation policy here, Civil Aviation Secretary R N Choubey said the ministry has proposed 2 per cent levy on all domestic and international tickets for regional connectivity scheme.

“The government expects about Rs. 1,500 crore annually from charging 2 percent levy” Choubey added.

The policy has mooted various measures to boost regional connectivity including setting up of no-frills airports and providing viability gap funding for airlines.

Another proposal is to cap fare at Rs. 2,500 for one-hour flight under regional connectivity scheme.

To make MRO (Maintenance Repair, Overhaul) cheaper, the government has proposed to exempt such activities from service tax net and not levy any VAT.

However, the government has decided to seek more comments from stakeholders before taking a final call on 5/20 norms — whereby local airlines can fly overseas only when they have five years operational experience and at least a fleet of 20 aircraft.

The policy has now mooted three options — abolish the norm completely, continue with it or link overseas flying rights with domestic flying credits.

The draft policy would be put up for comments from stakeholders for three weeks.

To ensure increased regional connectivity, the policy has also proposed various concessions such as state governments providing free land and lowering the Valued Added Tax (VAT) on ATF to 1 per cent or less.

Selena Gomez starring, producing Netflix Series ‘13 Reasons Why’

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Afternoon Voice

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October 30, 2015

Famed TV actress and singer Selena Gomez has a brand new project that involves not just acting but producing as well. She will be starring in a new Netflix series called “13 Reasons Why,” an adaptation of the best-selling novel of the same title.

Variety confirmed that Gomez will both be a producer and star for the upcoming Netflix series which is in the final stages of negotiations to finally put the series in the works and start filming. The publication further reported that the series was first eyed to be a Universal Pictures film, however, Gomez, including her mother Mandy Teefey and producer Kristel Laiblin, brought the book to Anonymous Content for the TV adaptation.

It has been reported that both Anonymous Content and Paramount TV will be producing the series and will also have Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Brian Yorkey as the series’ writer. “13 Reasons Why” is written by Jay Asher in 2007. It is about a high school student named Clay finding out a box full of cassette tapes from his former classmate and crush Hannah.

Each tape apparently contains one reason why Hannah decided to commit suicide including the 12 peers that played a role in her death. This will be the first project that Gomez will be taking on after her reported health condition of having Lupus and undergoing chemotherapy to treat the disease.

Sandra Bullock is the best part of this wobbly farce

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Afternoon Voice

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October 30, 2015

Sandra Bullock, one of my favorite actresses, is very much worth watching — even in a somewhat wobbly and very cynical political farce like “Our Brand Is Crisis.’’ She’s in top form.

Bullock plays the fictionalized “Calamity’’ Jane Bodine in David Gordon Green’s very loose adaptation of a documentary about battling American political consultants who shaped the 2002 Bolivian presidential election.

Both consultants were men in real life, but one of the roles in this long-in-development project (originally intended for producer George Clooney) was rewritten to Bullock’s strengths as a comedian (including slapstick skills we haven’t seen in some time) and dramatic actress.

Bullock’s Jane goes to town as a ruthless consultant who is recruited out of retirement by a couple of other desperate consultants (Anthony Mackie and Ann Dowd) four years after a tragic incident led to substance-abuse problems and a breakdown.

They convince Jane — renowned for jump-starting the campaigns of losers — to lend her expertise to an arrogant and charmless former Bolivian president who even looks like a bad guy (Joaquim de Almeida, often cast in American films as a drug lord) and is languishing in fifth place in the presidential polls.

Once she gets over altitude sickness and her revulsion for the ex-president, Jane’s proposes an American-style campaign that offers the candidate up as the only solution to a manufactured “crisis” in Bolivia — arguing that voters will fall back on the familiar candidate rather than a more hopeful newcomer when they are afraid.

She also masterminds lots of dirty tricks aimed at the charismatic front-runner, including smearing him as a Nazi sympathizer.

Our heroine is energized by her longtime rivalry with the other candidate’s American consultant, whose ruthless tactics in an earlier election she suspects may have led to her breakdown.

Katy Perry becomes first female artist with 2 diamond singles

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Afternoon Voice

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October 30, 2015

Pop star Katy Perry has been announced as the first female artist with two RIAA Digital Diamond Awards thanks to her massive hits “Fireworks” and “Dark Horse”.

The two songs appear on Perry’s “Teenage Dream” and “Prism” albums respectively. Both tracks officially went diamond after each of them surpassed the 10 million mark in the US, reported Ace Showbiz.

Perry is currently close to scoring more diamond-selling singles with some of her other biggest hits.

Her “ET” and “Roar” are now certified 8x platinum while “California Gurls” and “Teenage Dream” are following behind with 7x platinum each.

The news comes shortly before Perry releases “The Prismatic World Tour Live”. The concert film was shot during her “Prism” tour which was recently wrapped up after more than 150 shows.