Speculation is growing over the return of Nitish Kumar as the chief minister of Bihar.
Reports claimed on Wednesday that a majority of JD(U) MLAs are in favour of Nitish replacing Jitan Ram Manjhi as the Bihar chief minister.
They want the change ahead of state elections due later this year so that Nitish could campaign for the party as CM instead of Manjhi, who has courted controversy on many occasions.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad is also believed to have voiced his opinion in favour of Nitish, ahead of the proposed Janata parivaar merger.
Reports say Nitish could meet party MLAs and senior leaders.
Nitish had last week denied speculation about Manjhi’s ouster.
“There is no substance in media speculation over Manjhi’s ouster… no discussion took place (with Janata Parivar leaders) during my visit to Delhi nor was it necessary,” Kumar had said.
Breaking his silence on former union minister Jayanthi Natarajan’s allegations, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said that he had asked her ex-colleague to save environment and adivasis.
Addressing an election gathering in Delhi, the Congress vice president said, “I have always fought for the underprivileged and I will continue to do so fearlessly.”
Rahul’s reaction came a week after Natarajan announced her resignation from the primary membership of the party and accused the Congress vice president of interfering in the Environment Ministry during her stint.
While quitting Natarajan stated that the grand old party was no longer the party that she had joined 30 years ago, and said, “It is an extremely painful, heart-rending day for me, because my family has been associated with the Congress since its inception. I am a fourth-generation Congress worker and have Congress blood running in my veins. It is an extremely anguished moment that it has come to this position when I have to re-think my association with the Congress Party.”
Because of what has happened in the recent past, the Congress is no longer the Congress which I joined with such great hopes and ideals. I had a 30-year long association with the Congress – I have served as the spokesperson of the party for ten-long years without a single blemish on my career. I maintain that I served the nation and the party with great dedication to the best of my ability. But today, the party and the values that I joined is no longer the party that I joined,” she added.
Giving the reasons why she was feeling overlooked by the Congress high command, Natarajan stated that despite all allegations, she was merely following the party line.
AAP chief Arvind Kerjiwal is correctly enrolled in the voters’ list for the upcoming Assembly polls in the national capital, the Election Commission told the Delhi High Court.
The poll body made the submission before the bench of Justice Vibhu Bakhru, which had on Monday sought its response on Congress leader Kiran Walia’s plea seeking removal of Kerjiwal’s name from the Delhi electoral rolls on the ground that he has illegally declared himself to be a resident of the national capital.
“Arvind Kejriwal’s name was correctly enrolled in the electoral rolls of Delhi. He is registered as a voter in New Delhi constituency from the address 87, Block K, BK Dutt Colony (Jor Bagh),” ECI told the bench.
The court, however, asked the poll panel to produce the documents related to the decision taken by it while rejecting the representation made by Walia to delete entry of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader’s name from the electoral roll.
The poll panel also told the court that it has checked the latest electoral roll for Delhi and found Kejriwal’s name in the voters’ list from B K Dutt Colony.
“Though he had briefly lived at Tilak Marg after taking over the post of Chief Minister last year, he had applied for a change of address just ahead of the polls, first to V P House on Rafi Marg and then to B K Dutt Colony,” the panel said, adding that “now they cannot make changes as it was to be done only before filing of the nomination”.
The court, earlier, had issued notice to EC on Walia’s plea, who is contesting the assembly election scheduled for February 7 from the New Delhi constituency, alleging that Kejriwal is not a resident of Delhi and had got his name entered in the electoral rolls by “manipulation, cheating and fraud”.
In a major setback to the Aam Aadmi Party ahead of the Delhi Assembly Elections, Major Dr Surendra Poonia on Tuesday quit AAP accusing the party of steering away from its original ethos and objectives.
In a letter addressed to AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, Vishisht Seva Medal awardee Poonia mentioned that AAP leader from Okhla, Amanatullah Khan, was supporting Zia-Ur-Rehman, an alleged Indian Mujahideen operative accused of blasts in Delhi and Ahmedabad.
He further claimed that he was sure that AAP gave ticket to Amanutullah despite knowing about his past record.
“As an Army man, I can’t support a person, ideology or party that is compromising with country’s security,” added Poonia, who fought Lok Sabha elections on AAP ticket from Sikar, Rajasthan.
Raking up the allegation of fraud funding levelled by NGO AVAM, Poonia asked how Kejriwal, as an income tax officer, did not know about this fraud.
Poonia concluded by saying that he could no more remain a part of the movement which is compromising with national security.
Ventriloquism is a performance art where the ventriloquist (sometimes called a puppeteer), projects his or her voice to an object to make it sound as if the object is speaking and not the performer. A ventriloquist does this by learning to manipulate the sounds of his or her speech and by learning to speak without moving his or her lips.
Ventriloquism is a mind trick, first and foremost. The ventriloquist uses a prop in the form of a dummy, using his or her voice and to maneuver the mouth of the dummy. Doing these tricks, the audience or the viewer believes that the sound comes from the dummy’s mouth, when actually it comes from the ventriloquist’s mouth.
Ramdas Padhye is the one and only professional Indian ventriloquist, puppeteer and puppet maker who have performed his widely acclaimed ventriloquial acts in India and abroad during the last 40 years. He inherited the art of ventriloquism from his dad, the Late Prof. Y. K. Padhye who was the pioneer Indian ventriloquist who used ventriloquial dolls in his acts since 1920. At the age of eight, Ramdas performed his first professional ventriloquism show with his father and thereafter made prolific use of vent and other puppets in stage performance, films, radio, television and advertisements. His puppet was even used in the Marathi film, ‘Zapatlela’ which was a hit in Maharashtra.
After his marriage to Aparna, he and his wife gave traditional Indian puppets and ventriloquial doll the technical edge by promoting them to international standards without losing their Indian identity and universal appeal. Ramdas Padhye has a son who is also into the show business and assists his dad and mom whenever they perform on stage. On May 27, 2012, Ramdas Padhye became the first person to represent India in the world puppetry festival in Chengdu, China. The week-long festival featured a total of 74 puppet theatres representing different countries.
Ventriloquism is an ancient art of projecting or ‘throwing’ the voice so that it appears to come from a source rather than the mouth of the speaker. Egyptian priests have used it to fool people into thinking that stone gods could speak. The Greeks and the Romans thought that it was the work of demons. They believed that the sounds came from the stomach. This belief persisted for many centuries. The word ‘ventriloquism’ comes from two Latin words, ‘ventri’, meaning ‘stomach’ and ‘loquis’, meaning ‘to speak’.
Today, we know that the stomach plays no role in ventriloquism. The performer throws his/her voice by using his/her tongue in a particular way and modifying the sounds by the use of the muscles of his/her throat and palate. Ventriloquism was first practiced around the 6th century B.C. Many historians have concluded that the act of ventriloquism originated as a means to communicate with the dead. By communicating with the stomach, it was believed that information could be passed from a human being to the dead from beyond the grave. Historically, necromancy (study of dark magic) was illegal in many places around the world and anyone found practicing ventriloquism was sentenced to death.
According to British journalist, Angela Mabe in her report: “Ventriloquism: A Dissociative Perspective”, ventriloquism made a comeback during the 16th century A.D. as a form of amusement in England, and by the 18th century, it was a form of entertainment in both Europe and North America. Although popular, many people have believed that ventriloquism was a supernatural gift rather than a talent. Today, it is a form of entertainment. As a budding ventriloquist, the first thing you need to learn is how to speak without moving your lips. It sounds hard, and it really is. The vowel sounds are the easy part, so let’s try that first.
1. Close your mouth.
2. Relax your jaw.
3. Now only very slightly part your lips, rest your bottom lip against your teeth just a bit to keep it steady.
4. Say the vowels – a, e, i, o, u. First, say them very slowly. Then a little fast, and then add accents of all kinds.
The rest comes with practice and it’s almost like learning to speak all over again. Just remember to relax your jaw, only very slightly part your lips, and the rest will come automatically.
India will have regular shipping services with Bangladesh via Chittagaong and Haldia. After the liberation of Bangladesh, our M.V. Vishwa Tilak was probably the first ship that loaded jute from Bangladesh ports of Chittagong and Chalna. Sailing to Chalna along beautiful Sunderbans was a sight to cherish. Actually, there used to be more ships at Chalna than at Chittagong, anchored in the river.
We used to go ashore ( it used to be muddy shore called Shantinagar with only the thatched roofs but beautiful and welcoming people selling coconut, pineapples etc; where you could sit and chit-chat with the local girls. We used to go ashore by “sampans”, the current in the river used to be very strong and unless you are very agile and alert, you could go overboard while negotiating the gangway.
After some years we used to go to Chittagong from Calcutta on Raj Line Ship M.V. Saleema. This was a ship with two hatches, a midship accommodation and aft accommodation for engineers and crew. The crew had Raj Line CDC mostly hailing from Andamans and accompanied by the owner Mr CM Jadwet.
The steward used to bring our tea balancing two cups in the plates over the plank on aft hatch, but not a single drop of tea spills out. Those days Bangladeshis were simple but now they have become very selfish and plenty of fraudulent cargo claims are being raised by them. Even thefts have increased drastically. Indian coastal security will have to remain vigilant because Bangladeshis may indulge in dubious trade rather than genuine transportation of goods and may use this channel for increased illegal immigration and other harmful practices such as bringing in counterfeit currency.
Coastal Shipping is operated profitably in dedicated low key manner. The government has reduced the prices of fuel which will provide big relief for consumers. We need to remain vigilant about Maldivians as it’s an Islamic country. Mariners from here arrive in Mumbai pleading that they hail from poor country and seek to obtain Indian COC claiming leniency. Later, they join reputed foreign companies and offer good competition to Indian officers. Their government has not awarded the contract for constructing airport to an Indian company. The government needs to probe about the agents employing Maldivians in Mumbai and keep a strict vigil on them for security reasons.
Yangon in Myanmar is a better and cheaper place with magnificent “pagodas”, if you don’t mind uncharted waters and port people coming with jerry cans asking for diesel, as you approach the berth. We bought our provisions from a lady stopping briefly on our way out. This is unthinkable at other places. Let’s hope a profitable trade is established between Myanmar and East Indian ports in the future. We used to bring pulses from Yangon to Mumbai Indira docks and logs to Kandla. Local agents are the major decision makers here and possess vast powers concerning the cargo and ship’s operation in port. The beautiful and hard working girls here apply “chandan” paste on their foreheads and faces.
Bollywood has always been fascinated with the underworld. Several films have been made in the tinsel town pertaining to the mafia. There is something about a gangster’s life that intrigues audience and filmmakers. People are always eager to know about the lives of gangsters their background and what prompted them to join underworld. Some of the films which are made on underworld include Agneepath, Company, Gangster, Satya, Don 2, Shootout at Lokhandwala, Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai, Shootout at Wadala. Films have been made on the lives of Dawood Ibrahim, Abu Salem, Chota Rajan, Manya Surve and many others.
The latest film to join this list includes Daddy which is based on the life of gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawli. Actor Arjun Rampal will be playing the lead role in the film. The film is directed by Gaurav Bavdankar and produced by Mandar Dalvi. Geeta Gawli daughter of Arun Gawli and corporator of BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation said that positive aspects of her father will be highlighted in the film and it will receive good response from the audience.
AV spoke to Geeta Gawli to know about her views pertaining to the content of the film she replied, “Yes the contents of the movie were discussed with us and we agree to it.”
When asked whether Arun Gawli’s image will be affected due to any negative aspects in the movie as he is being considered as messiah in the Dagdi chawl Geeta answered, “The real story of my father will be shown in a cinematic manner. The film’s content will not deviate from the facts.”
When asked whether she thinks that incidents shown in the film will have an impact on the cases filed against Arun Gawli, Geeta replied, “Daddy has been cleared of some charges and my father’s actual life will be shown with more emphasis on the positive aspects of his life. Let’s hope that the movie gets a positive response from the audience.”
“To portray Arun Gawli in the film, I will have to lose weight. I will definitely have to get that physicality,” said Arjun Rampal.
Elaborating on the preparations for the role in Daddy, Arjun said: “When you are bestowed with such a responsibility to portray such a role, you have to delve deeply into it. You have to understand that person, his personality and everything so that you are able to do justice to the character on the screen.”
“So, I will have to do a lot of homework for my character. I do have some information with me and I do read it,” he added.
The film had gone on floor last year when Arun Gawli who has been convicted for murder and imprisoned for life, came out of the prison for an annual medical check-up. Two maiden production houses, Pentagram film Pvt Ltd and Sunil Mane Entertainment Pvt Ltd have joined hands to make this biopic on Gawli’s life.
Director Gaurav Bavdankar, a UK-based film-maker whose work includes ad films, music videos and corporate videos, said, “A lot of hard work has gone into the project with three years of research on the biopic and “now we are finally commencing the project.”
Arjun Rampal he has been summoned by the Mumbai police for having met underworld gangster Arun Gawli. Reports further suggest that Rampal visited the gangster last month at JJ hospital where Gawli was brought for routine check-up and was in judicial custody at that time.
The 42-year-old actor apparently did not have the permission to meet Gawli and will be questioned for meeting him without taking prior approval by the authorities. The gangster is serving his sentence in jail for murdering corporator Kamlakar Jamsandekar in the year 2008.
I remember those days when I was a trainee reporter and met ‘Daddy’ Arun Gawli in his ‘den’ Dagdi Chawl at Byculla. It was only a stepping stone in journalism with the help of ambitious police officers who did not really have too many scruples about maintaining a sanctimonious way to the top of their careers. Among such officers were the encounter specialists who owed their long careers as sharp shooting cops, who selectively picked their targets. Befriending don-turned-politician Arun Gawli who entrusted to him the job of helping build his party were the Akhil Bhartiya Sena (ABS) along with his (Gawli‘s) trusted men Jitendra Dabholkar, Bhaskar Amdar, Vasant Gomne and Raju Philip. Ketan Tirodkar started decimating his benefactor by systematically setting up the latter’s men as targets for encounters. That period, the mid –nineties, were choc a bloc with encounters, the Gawli gang in particular losing a large number of men to the celebrated late Encounter Specialist Officer Vijay Salaskar‘s team. A large part of the repertoire of gangsters killed by Salaskar were significantly Gawli’s men, including his top aides Sada Pawle, Vijay Tandel and Dilip Kulkarni which reduced the strength of the Dagdi Chawl based Gangster. After Salaskar had systematically rid the scene off quite a few dreaded manes, the time was ripe for the entry of motivated journalists and it was around this time that Tirodkar had endeared himself to the Chhota Shakeel gang after his various ploys to get rid of Gawli men. He did not find himself alone there but had company in another sharp – shooting cop, Daya Nayak, who had gained fame till that time.
Gawli, who is also called ‘Bhai’, then launched his party, the Akhil Bharatiya Sena. In those days, his political party had challenged the original sons-of-the-soil party, the Shiv Sena, in Mumbai. He has managed a string of victories; his union, the Akhil Bharatiya Kamgar Sena, replaced the Bharatiya Kamgar Sena (the Shiv Sena union) in the Oberoi Hotels. Since the Shiv Sena came to power, they have done little. So many factories have closed down. The Sena government was hand in glove with the management as alleged, and that is why workers and the youth were fed up with their party and then they all supported Gawli’s party under the leadership of Jitendra Dhabholkar. Within a year of its existence, the ABS has registered nearly 350,000 members in Maharashtra, with another 50,000 in the union. And copying the Shiv Sena, who has set up 221 shakhas (branches) in Mumbai, the ABS too set up its own shakhas to solve local problems.
A sizeable number of Maharashtrians were reportedly fed up with the double standards adopted by the Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party after it formed the government. Those days, Gawli appeared as a messiah to them. At least 2,000 people visited his chawl-turned-fortress to complain about their problems, despite having to go through an elaborate security check. Those days, even many of the old-time Shiv Sena cadres were unhappy with Bal Thackeray and that’s why half of the ABS shakhapramukhs (branch heads) were former Shiv Sena members. Gawli’s party contested 40 seats in the first municipal election, but did not win a single seat, because ‘Daddy’ was in jail at that time. Also, they had very little time to register themselves. And most of the people then assumed that ABS is a part of the Sena.
Newspapers were filled with reports about attacks on Gawli’s party members. Gawli suspects the police, with the state government’s help, were trying to kill him. One of his close associates, Ramdas Ambolkar, head of the ABS Mumbai unit, was shot dead by unknown assailants at his home. Gawli was first arrested in 1986 for the murder of criminal Parasnath Pandey and Sashi Rasham, the kingpin of the Cobra Gang. After a fallout between Rama Naik and Dawood Ibrahim over a plot of land at Jogeshwari, in which Rama Naik got killed, Gawli become Dawood’s arch enemy. His brother, Bappa Gawli, was butchered by Dawood’s men. In the 1980s, he worked for Rama Naik’s gang and was soon entrusted the responsibility of providing protection to Dawood Ibrahim’s consignments. Soon, he gave up his job at Khatau mills and joined the Amar Naik gang. To avenge the killing, Gawli killed Dawood’s brother-in-law Ibrahim Parkar in the early 1990s. Though Dawood’s men plundered his house in the subsequent period, Gawli managed to escape each time. During the tenure of Commissioner Arvind Inamdar, the police discovered Gawli’s extraordinary knack to escape from the police net.
The policemen involved in the operation found Gawli, known as the Daddy of the underworld, inside the drawer of a bed in one of the single-room tenements at Dagdi Chawl, with a gun by his side. During his stay in jail, Gawli and his gang gained prominence. The killing of Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh More, Balasaheb Thackeray’s confidante Jayant Jadhav and minority commission chief and MLA Ziauddin Bukhari gave Gawli and his gang the required notoriety. Around 1997, with the soaring crime graph and police pressure, Gawli floated his own party the Akhil Bharatiya Sena. In 2004, Gawli contested the Assembly elections in Maharashtra and was elected from Dagdi Chawl as an MLA. The last straw in Gawli’s life as an MLA came after he contracted killers to murder Shiv Sena corporator Kamlakar Jamsandekar in 2007.
He entered the gangland in the eighties and was initially associated with underworld kingpin Dawood Ibrahim, but later split with him in the mid-nineties and formed his own gang extorting money from builders and businessmen. Before joining the D-company, he worked for the Rama Naik gang. While Dawood, Chhota Rajan, Chhota Shakeel, Abu Salem preferred to flee India and run its operations from other parts of the world, Gawli remained in India and often faced cases after cases. While Dawood and Shakeel operate from Pakistan, Rajan runs his empire from South East Asia and Salem was extradited from Portugal in 2005. Gawli, however, dreaded late Vijay Salaskar the most. Salaskar, an encounter-specialist, was martyred during the 26/11 terror attacks. Prior to 2008 – often in and out of jail – he used to run his “durbar” from the Dagdi Chawl. The building in which he stays is highly-secured and has all the facilities that people in skyrise buildings would envy.
Gawli was jailed for life for murder of Shiv Sena corporator Kamlakar Jamsandekar in March 2008. This is for the first time that Gawli has been convicted and sentenced – in any case. The murder of Jamsandekar was a case of contract killing and the Gawli-gang was paid Rs. 30 lakh for the murder. This came not only as a blow to Gawli gang, but also sends a strong message to the overseas-based dons like Dawood Ibrahim, Chhota Shakeel, Chhota Rajan and others. The message is – gangsters are no longer safe in Mumbai and cops would go all out to secure their conviction.
Iqbal Kaskar, brother of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, and his two associates have been booked on charges of extortion and assault following a complaint by an estate agent, police said.
An FIR was registered on Monday night at Byculla police station after a complaint by Salim Shaikh, an estate agent that Kaskar and his men had demanded Rs. three lakh after thrashing him on last Friday, police said.
The alleged incident occurred in a room at Damarwala building at Pakmodia Street in Bhendi Bazar area, police added.
The case was subsequently transferred to J J Marg police station as the place where the alleged extortion took place falls in its jurisdiction.
“Kaskar and two others were booked under IPC sections 385 (Putting person in fear of injury in order to commit extortion), 323 (Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention),” said Anil Madvi, senior inspector at J J Marg police station.
The 48-year-old victim, who is a resident of Byculla, first approached the local police station where the FIR was registered and then the matter was transferred to J J Marg police.
Kaskar had been deported to India from the United Arab Emirates in 2003. Dawood’s fifth sibling was wanted in a murder case and his alleged role in the controversial Sara Sahara case where a building came up illegally on government land but a court acquitted him in both the cases in 2007.
Vice President Hamid Ansari on Tuesday said that secularism implies that a state shall not have a religion of its own. His statement comes in the backdrop of an ongoing row between political parties over an advertisement issued by Information and Broadcasting Ministry which carried a picture of the Preamble to the Constitution as it appeared before the 42nd Amendment, without the words ‘secular’ and ‘socialist’.
“What do we understand by the word secularism? The ground reality is that we are a society, in which people of different faiths live side by side…The challenge is to accommodate (everybody)…In terms of a state, secularism means that a state shall not have a religion of its own,” Ansari said during an interaction with students of Wilson College in South Mumbai.
“The state shall not differentiate between citizens on the basis of religion. When it comes to dispensation by way of development programmes, scholarship, the state shall judge on an objective criteria, and not on grounds of religion, sex or creed,” he said.
Discrimination on the grounds of sex is an ailment the society suffers from, the Rajya Sabha Chairman said, adding that the issue needs to be addressed socially.
“Discrimination on grounds of sex is prohibited by law. But, as we all know, our society suffers from various ailments and one of them is discrimination on grounds of sex… This challenge has to be addressed socially and not necessarily legally. Legally we have done all that could be done. We have made laws, we have prescribed penalties for discrimination. But we find this is not producing the desired results,” he said.
It is the duty of every citizen to remain faithful to the spirit of the Constitution, Ansari said.
“The vision of the Constitution is laid down in its text. The task that each one of us as a citizen has to undertake and discharge is to remain true and faithful to the letter and spirit of the Constitution,” he said.
Replying to a query, Ansari, who was also served as Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University, said that students, as citizens of the country, should participate in public life without worrying about being right or wrong.
“Students are citizens and it is the duty of citizens to participate in public life. It is not a matter of choice. If you are a citizen, you should discharge your duties of being a citizen. There is nothing that does not affect a citizen. Everything that happens in society affects a citizen and you should therefore participate and take interest in public life as per your own views and perceptions. It is not important to be right always,” Ansari said.
Bollywood has always been fascinated with the underworld. Several films have been made in the tinsel town pertaining to the mafia. There is something about a gangster’s life that intrigues audience and filmmakers. People are always eager to know about the lives of gangsters their background and what prompted them to join underworld. Some of the films which are made on underworld include Agneepath, Company, Gangster, Satya, Don 2, Shootout at Lokhandwala, Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai, Shootout at Wadala. Films have been made on the lives of Dawood Ibrahim, Abu Salem, Chota Rajan, Manya Surve and many others. 
AV spoke to Geeta Gawli to know about her views pertaining to the content of the film she replied, “Yes the contents of the movie were discussed with us and we agree to it.” 
Iqbal Kaskar, brother of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, and his two associates have been booked on charges of extortion and assault following a complaint by an estate agent, police said.
Vice President Hamid Ansari on Tuesday said that secularism implies that a state shall not have a religion of its own. His statement comes in the backdrop of an ongoing row between political parties over an advertisement issued by Information and Broadcasting Ministry which carried a picture of the Preamble to the Constitution as it appeared before the 42nd Amendment, without the words ‘secular’ and ‘socialist’.