Happy people have accepted me as solo hero: Nawazuddin

By

-

September 3, 2015

Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui is happy that the audience has finally accepted him as a solo hero with the success of his latest film “Manjhi: The Mountain Man”.

The film was based on the life of Dashrath Manjhi, a poor labourer in Gehlaur village (Bihar), who carved a path through a mountain with only a hammer and chisel in his wife’s memory.

Though the film leaked online just days before the release, Nawaz said people still turned up to watch it in theatres.

“It feels really nice to get a central character in a film. But in our industry, there is a belief that your solo lead films should register well at the box-office. The film leaked and CDs were sold and still the movie made good enough money at the box-office.

“It was also declared tax-free in 5-6 states. So, we benefitted a lot. It is a very nice feeling that people are accepting me as a solo hero,” the actor said.

Nawazuddin’s upcoming projects include superstar Shah Rukh Khan-starrer “Raees” and debutant Shlok Sharma’s teacher-student love story “Haramkhor” opposite “Masaan” actress Shweta Tripathi.

“Raees” will see the actor sharing screen space with Shah Rukh for the first time. Nawazuddin, who has earlier worked with both Aamir and Salman Khan, is all praise for the “Chennai Express” star.

“First schedule is complete. I shot with Shah Rukh and I had an amazing experience working with him. I really enjoyed shooting with him.”

When asked to comment on the reports that he is playing Pakistani actress Mahira Khan’s husband in the film and his character has grey shades, Nawazuddin said, “I haven’t heard of any such thing. I play a cop in the film. I can’t divulge much about the movie.”

Katrina Kaif denies doing any film with Jackie Chan

By

Afternoon Voice

-

September 3, 2015

Bollywood diva Katrina Kaif, who is currently basking in the success of ‘Phantom’ has left many of her fans stumped.

While few weeks back Katrina was rumoured to be doing an international film with none other than Jackie Chan, we now hear that the 32-year-old actor has refused the offer.

Kat refuted such speculations about her signing the film and said there is no truth behind it.

Well, that has crushed the hopes of many who were eagerly looking forward to Kat-Jackie’s masala-loaded action flick ‘Kung Fu Yoga’.

This film is the same Indo-Chinese collaboration that Aamir Khan was supposed to star in. But due to date schedules, he will no longer be a part of it.

Mumbai not affected by bandh

By

Afternoon Voice

-

September 2, 2015

Suburban train services, autorickshaws and BEST buses were operating in the city as usual.

Even though Mumbai remained unaffected by the bandh called by the central trade unions its impact was felt across the country. Normal life was thrown out of the gear in states like West Bengal, Tripura, Kerala and Karnataka due to the bandh. The unions were protesting against the proposed amendments in labour laws and privatisation of PSUs. On the other hand, suburban train services, autorickshaws and BEST buses were operating in Mumbai as usual.

Trade union leaders claimed that around 15 crore formal sector workers are on strike in support of their 12-point charter of demands. BJP-backed BMS and NFITU however stayed away from the strike. The unions decided to go ahead with strike as their talks with a ministerial panel headed by finance minister Arun Jaitley last month did not make any headway on their 12-point charter of demands.

Commuters had a harrowing time in Delhi as a large number of autos and taxis remained off the roads as part of the one-day strike.

People were seen waiting for hours for auto rickshaws in several parts of the city, even as public services like metro and Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses witnessed surge in number of passengers. Office-goers and students were especially hit hard by the strike during morning hours.

Hansraj Bhat a reader from Borivali said, “The strike by lakhs of the bank and insurance companies’ employees on September 2, seems to be well engineered by the domestic, ‘Indian Hand’ to washout Narendra Modi’s good image all across the globe and to discourage all future foreign investments.”

“Though lakhs of employees might have joined this unwanted strike, it was totally against the common man’s interest, which has resulted into the loss worth crores of rupees just in a day. Thus, it is also the anti-economy strike. And in future it may cost our nation gigantic losses of foreign investments and also loss of job opportunities to crores of the Indian youth. The selfish people incited by the political parties with vested interests can never have foresight” he added.

Anandambal Subbu, a reader said, “One-day strike called by 10 central unions should be seen as the last gasp of an irrelevant left-wing ideology. The unions backing the strike are clearly driven by political considerations rather than workers’ interests. Despite reduction in diesel and petrol prices there is having no cascading effect in price hikes of essential commodities such as vegetables and fruits. So the salaried class people and lower income group suffer the most. It is time for the Government to do a turn around and go through the problem faced by the people.”

C.K Ramanathan, another reader said, “Even though the bandh evoked less response it is time for PM to look into people’s problem on priority basis. The problem with unionism in India is that it has not kept up with the changes in the economy. The old world of the shop floor is shrinking, as most economies depend on knowledge and skills to derive competitive advantage. Growth is driven by services, not agriculture and manufacturing. Today, not only companies, but countries also compete.”

Sarvesh Deshmukh a Mira Road resident said, “I and my family members wanted to hire a taxi to travel to Lokmanya Tilak Terminus. But taxi drivers informed us that they are going on strike to support trade unions. Therefore, we had to hire private taxis for reaching our destination and had to shell out Rs 1000 for reaching the destination.”

Vivek Bhalerao, a Kandivali resident said, “I had to drop my daughter to school as school bus driver and attendant went on strike. Therefore, I reached my office late. Why don’t these people think about the national interests?”

CPI(M) and Trinamool Congress workers clashed during the general strike called by trade unions. Nearly 200 persons were arrested from different parts of the state.

Police sources said CPI(M) and TMC workers clashed at Baharampore and a few other places in Murshidabad district although details were yet to be received.

Six CPI(M) workers were detained in this connection, police said.

Public transport was partially affected in Punjab, Haryana and UT Chandigarh as workers’ union joined the one-day nationwide strike.

Bank customers faced inconvenience as employees of public sector banks excluding SBI were also on strike. Public transport at several places in Haryana was affected as employees of Haryana Roadways also went on strike.

In Kerala, public and private bus services, taxis and autorickshaws were off the roads. Only a few private cars and two wheelers were seen on the roads. Shops, hotels and even small tea stalls were closed in the state.

Industry body Assocham estimated $3.7 billion in economic losses from the strike, singling out the country’s ports where exports were stranded on the docks.

Has Parliament changed its address?

By

Vaidehi Taman

-

September 2, 2015

Looking at the controversies and growing anger against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Bihar elections ahead, RSS has decided to analyse the progress record of its political wing.

The party’s dependence on the parent’s organization has always been present. In fact, at least 60 per cent of the BJP cadre is proud of their Sangh background. The percentage is even higher in the Hindi hinterland and states like Maharashtra. BJP has derived efficient leaders from the organisation or its front organisations. The group acts as a “mentor and a fatherly figure” to the BJP. RSS wields the power to decide the President of the BJP, about 30-40 RSS delegates are placed at different levels within the BJP. It’s an exercise that takes place every few years. That’s exactly how BJP got its phenomenal leaders such as Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani.

It’s an open secret that RSS workers had put their whole strength during the campaigning for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. BJP’s PM candidate Narendra Modi was also a choice made by the RSS. Acting as the parent organisation to BJP, it had gone full throttle to ensure Modi’s victory. Although RSS had tried to maintain a “discreet distance” from the BJP, it didn’t think twice before showing solidarity with BJP in public and getting involved during the poll campaigns.

It can’t be said, whether BJP will ever come out of the shadow of the RSS, but sure, the party might not be able to “shake off this dependence.”
Ahead of the RSS coordination meet, BJP president Amit Shah met several union ministers and party officials to discuss coordination between the party and the government on popularising government’s pet schemes.

Though there was no official word from the party, sources said the BJP is worried that the work of the National Democratic Alliance government is not being properly communicated among the public and despite efforts the government is still getting negative publicity. According to sources, the issue was discussed in the meeting. Top Union Ministers and leaders of the BJP will attend the crucial three-day coordination meet of the RSS and its affiliates; Modi too will participate in the meet.

Issues like spreading of the organisation, census figures, One Rank One Pension (OROP) demand by the ex-servicemen and the recent agitation of Patidars in Gujarat are expected to come up for discussion. Ninety three main functionaries of the RSS and its 15 affiliates are expected to “exchange notes” over relevant issues during the meeting. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS will review the Narendra Modi government’s performance in the last 15 months.

The latest religious census, which indicated a decline in the Hindu population below the 80-crore mark and a marginal increase in Muslim population, is expected to be discussed, as will the One Rank One Pension demand of ex-servicemen that the government has been grappling with. The RSS has said such reviews are done routinely, mainly to ensure better coordination between its affiliates, the BJP and the government. RSS has brought the feedback of thousands of its members to the meeting and sees the need for a “course correction” ahead of crucial assembly elections in Bihar to be held within a month or two. Affiliates like the Swadeshi Jagran Manch are against genetically modified crops, Foreign Direct Investment, strategic sale of government assets to raise money and opening Indian banks to foreign companies – all key to the Modi government’s long-term economic agenda.

The Swadeshi Jagran Manch had also joined protests against the controversial changes the government had planned in the law to acquire land. The Sangh apprehends that the government has earned an anti-farmer tag by pushing the land bill, which it has now buried. Other Sangh affiliates like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad are pushing for a bigger say in education and syllabus.

There are many such issues that is denting BJP’s image these days, and because of these issues somewhere Modi’s popularity has also declined. If the issues, those that went aggressive against the saffron party will not be addressed in time then it will be proved that people have voted for the party for a change. Let’s see how Bihar election and RSS’s new strategy changes the fate of BJP in present crises.

Finally, Indrani Mukerjea admits to role in Sheena Bora murder: Police

By

Afternoon Voice

-

September 2, 2015

After staying mum for nearly a week, Indrani Mukerjea, the former media tycoon has finally admitted to have played a role in the murder of her daughter Sheena Bora.

Mumbai Police sources close to the investigation into the Sheena Bora murder case, Indrani has finally confessed his role in the crime.

Till recently, Indrani, who broke down after briefly meeting her other daughter Vidhie at Bandra court on Monday, had been maintaining that Sheena was very much alive and staying in the US.

“There are a few discrepancies in her story and we are now piecing together the jigsaw of the roles of each of the three accused,” an officer said.

The development comes soon after she was produced along with her two accomplices – ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna and former driver Shyamvar Rai – before the metropolitan magistrate for extension of police custody.

Indrani, who also met her lawyers and Vidhie, is believed to have learnt that her co-accused have already confessed to their part in the crime.

However, she categorically denied that she intended to kill Mikhail.

She also did not reveal any motive for killing Sheena. “While she has admitted to the crime she has not given us any particular motive behind the murder. She is in our custody for three more days and we hope to learn everything by then,” the officer added.

The Mumbai Police on Wednesday grilled her husband Peter Mukerjea and also brought Indrani face-to-face with him to extract more information.

Last week Peter’s preliminary statement was recorded and police are yet to record his detailed statement, which police said will help them join the dots of the crime.

A Mumbai Police team is also in Kolkata to bring Siddharth Das to Mumbai for a DNA test to establish the identity of the remains recovered from Raigad was of Sheena Bora.

Das, believed to be Indrani’s first husband, had claimed that he was Indrani’s live-in partner and fathered both Sheena and Mikhail.

ED attaches assets of Chamankar Enterprises

By

Afternoon Voice

-

September 2, 2015

Three months after the Enforcement Directorate registered two cases of money laundering against NCP leader and former Maharashtra PWD minister Chhagan Bhujbal, the Central agency attached assets worth Rs. 17.35 crore of Chamankar Enterprises, the firm he allegedly favoured.

The contract of construction of new Maharashtra Sadan in Delhi was awarded to Chamankar Enterprises when Bhujbal was the minister. Reportedly the contracts were awarded without following the rules and in return the firms and trusts controlled by Bhujbal family received kickbacks.

“We have attached fixed deposits and properties of Chamankar Enterprises worth Rs 17.35 crore,” said an ED official, adding that this was the first attachment of assets in the case in which Krishna, Pranita and Prassanna Chamankar have been named in the initial complaint report.

Nobody has been arrested yet, they said.

Earlier the agency had registered two ‘Enforcement Case Information Reports’ under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act against Bhujbal for alleged illegal transactions to the tune of Rs 900 crore.

The first case pertains to the Maharashtra Sadan scam and Kalina land allotment case, while the second is related to a housing project in Navi Mumbai.

High Court unhappy with delay in rationalist Narendra Dabholkar’s murder probe

By

Afternoon Voice

-

September 2, 2015

With no breakthrough yet in the murder of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar two years ago, the Bombay High Court on Wednesday expressed concern over the delay in the probe, noting close monitoring of investigation was required.

A division bench of Justices R V More and R G Ketkar directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to file a status report in a week on the probe done by it so far. “This is a serious issue. Close monitoring is required now,” the court said.

The activist was shot dead in Pune in August 2013 by two motorcycle-borne youths. The case was handed over to the CBI in 2014 after Dabholkar’s family petitioned the High Court claiming lackadaisical investigation by the state police.

The court was informed by advocate Abhay Nevagi, who appeared for the Dabholkar family, that on the second death anniversary of the rationalist this year, the state government appointed seven officers to assist CBI. But there was a lack of coordination between the officers and the CBI as they were working from different locations like Nagpur and Yavatmal.

The court termed it as ‘unfortunate’ and asked the government to state in a week why officers were not appointed from Pune itself.

Slain CPI leader Govind Pansare’s kin seeks SIT probe into murder

By

Afternoon Voice

-

September 2, 2015

The Bombay High Court asked Maharashtra government on Wednesday to file its response within a week to a petition seeking constitution of a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the killing of noted activist and Communist Party of India leader Govind Pansare.

Hearing a petition filed by Pansare’s family, Justices Ranjit More and Rajesh Ketkar directed the state government to file a reply by September 9. The petition contended that the Maharashtra Police had failed to make any progress in the investigations into the murder of the CPI leader. It demanded a SIT probe while rejecting the demand for a CBI probe.

Pansare’s daughter Smita and his daughter-in-law Megha filed the petition recently which came up for hearing on Wednesday for the first time. Earlier, they filed an intervention application seeking the same relief in the PIL of activist Ketan Tirodkar who had sought a CBI probe into the killing. The family rejected the demand for a CBI probe into the murder as they feared Pansare’s murder case would meet the same outcome as those of killing of RTI activist Satish Shetty and rationalist Narendra Dabholkar.

In Shetty and Dabholkar cases, the probe have not achieved any result, the petition said. The Pansare family demanded in the petition that the government should hold the Director-General of Police responsible for the “failure” of investigations despite formation of more than 20 teams to track down the assailants who shot Pansare outside his home in Kolhapur district on February 16.

“As Pansare was vocal against the entrenchment of the right-wing ideology, we are extremely worried that the investigations may have suffered an ideological taint. Hence, we urge the formation of an SIT to be monitored by the High Court,” said his kin in the petition.

So far, the probe by teams has not yielded much, apart from vaguely probable sketches of the assassins and the recovery of a couple of motorbikes from Kolhapur city which were suspected to have been used in the murder, the petition added. Pansare was gunned down outside his home in Sagar Mala locality of Kolhapur city on February 16 and succumbed to his injuries five days later in Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital.

Prohibition of sale of tribal land mustn’t be diluted: Leaders

By

Afternoon Voice

-

September 2, 2015

A 50-member delegation of tribal leaders, led by former NCP minister and the working president of Akhil Bhartiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad Madhukar-Rao Pichad, met Maharashtra governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao today and demanded that the tribal lands be protected at all costs.

The delegation also demanded that no new castes/ communities be included in the scheduled tribes and allowed to eat into the reservations for the tribal communities.

Former Congress ministers and tribal leaders Shivajirao Moghe, Padmakar Valvi and former deputy speaker of Assembly Vasant Purke (NCP) were also part of the delegation.

Talking to reporters later, they said the farm lands of tribals are protected (against transfer or sale to non-tribals) for long in Maharashtra. The Centre enacted a Constitutional amendment on similar lines and many other states followed the suit.

However, the present BJP-led state government was planning to bring a new policy which would make sale of tribal lands to others easier, they alleged.

“We strongly oppose this. The Constitutional provisions and various rulings of the Supreme Court have directed the Centre and the state governments to safeguard the lands of tribals,” Pichad said.

There are pockets of native tribal communities in Mumbai, Thane and surrounding areas where the land prices are high.

Pichad alleged that “there appears to be a conspiracy hatched by builders, money-lenders, corporates and land mafia to usurp the tribal lands.”

Shiv Sena lawmaker to help farmers’ families

By

Afternoon Voice

-

September 2, 2015

Shiv Sena lawmaker Pratap Sarnaik said he will assist actor Nana Patekar in providing financial help to families of farmers who have committed suicide.

“Nana Patekar has undertaken a key programme to assist families of farmers who have committed suicide. To support him, I will donate Rs. 15,000 to their (farmer’s) families with Patekar’s help,” Mr. Sarnaik, MLA from Ovala-Majiwada constituency in Thane said.

“I have spoken to Patekar in this regard. The exact number of families whom I will render assistance will be known shortly,” he added.

On August 10, Patekar and Marathi actor Makrand Anaspure provided financial assistance of Rs. 15,000 each to the families of 62 farmers from Vidarbha region, who had allegedly committed suicide.

Meanwhile, Mr. Sarnaik also took a dig at NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad, who has decided to cancel his annual ‘Dahi-Handi’ event, saying, “I expect him to donate around Rs. 5 to 6 crore (to farmers), which he otherwise spends on the festival.”

Earlier in August, Mr. Awhad had cancelled his ‘Sangharsh’ ‘Dahi-Handi’ event in Thane in view of the drought situation in Maharashtra and new ‘restrictions’ brought up by state government on celebration of the festival.