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Underworld period dramas outlived political efficacy

By
Vaidehi Taman
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underworld, dons, dawood ibrahim, dawood, chhota rajan, rajan, bal thackeray, thackeray, bjp, modi, narendra modi, 1993 bomb blast, 1993 mumbai blast
Underworld period dramas outlived political efficacy 2

In 2013, during the election campaign, Narendra Modi announced if he wins the elections, he would bring Underworld criminal Don Dawood Ibrahim to India to be tried for the 1993 blasts in Mumbai. Dawood stands convicted in India for 1993 blasts, together with several Mumbai abettors. Several pro-Modi analysts, including former diplomats, are showing interest in targeting Pakistan-based clerics and other extremists allegedly involved in terror activities in India.

Chhota Rajan, a sworn rival of Dawood, stated that some years ago he had sent a hit squad, including Farid Tanasha and DK Rao, to Karachi to eliminate Dawood. Almost after the seven years of Modi rule, he never tried to bring back Dawood. Rather ahead of the Mumbai civic election this year, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) used the arrest of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) minister Nawab Malik to invoke memories of the deadly 1993 Mumbai blasts and slammed the Shiv Sena for indirectly supporting the masterminds of the blast. Now Chhota Rajan is in Indian jails and he can happily help PM Modi to trace Dawood.

It is believed that Chhota Rajan assisted intelligence agencies in getting a low down on the activities of the D-Company and its members by using his vast knowledge of the criminal and its operations from his involvement. To reinforce his reputation as a patriotic gangster, Chhota Rajan threatened to kill those accused of engineering the 1993 Mumbai bombings. Saleem ‘Kurla’ in April 1998 followed by Mohammad Jindran in June 1998 and they shot Majeed Khan on 1 March 1999 dead.

The Shiv Sena, which ruled Maharashtra in a coalition with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from 1994 to 1999, was speculated to have sympathized with Chhota Rajan. They reported that selective police action against the Ibrahim crime syndicate during the Shiv Sena administration and its subsequent decline through encounter killings helped strengthen Chhota Rajan’s position in the underworld. The Shiv Sena laid bare its affection for Chhota Rajan in an editorial in the Saamana newspaper, its mouthpiece, edited by Bal Thackeray. The editorial heaved a sigh of relief, attributing Chhota Rajan’s survival to “good fortune” resulting from divine grace.

In 2016, Rajnath Singh made a similar statement. He said they will nab Dawood soon and be brought back to India on any condition. This annual statement-making on Dawood continued for the third year when Rajnath Singh on February 4, 2017, said that nabbing fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, who is supposed to be hiding in Pakistan, was just a matter of time. While the government was making repeated statements of bringing back Dawood, in September news agencies reported that Dawood’s wife had visited Mumbai in 2016.

The Police said, quoting the fugitive gangster’s brother Iqbal Kaskar, that Mehjabin Shaikh had visited Mumbai to meet her father in 2016. BJP was in power in Maharashtra. Kaskar was nabbed by the Mumbai police and held in an extortion case. After meeting her father Salim Kashmiri and other family members who live in Mumbai, Mehjabin Shaikh quietly left the country with nobody knowing anything. While the Modi government was boastful about its commitment to bring back Dawood to India, they failed to trace his wife.

Nobody knows whether Dawood is alive or dead. Recently, a Pakistani reporter reported that Dawood and his wife tested positively for COVID. Since Modi came to power, he visited Pakistan frequently, but never negotiated with Dawood. Narendra Modi blatantly failed on his promises of bringing back Dawood but his party leaders created unrest in state politics linking the state leaders with Dawood.

Dawood’s brother Iqbal Kaskar had given several addresses used by Dawood in the country. If later Ram Jethmalani had to be believed, Dawood wanted to return to India and was negotiating a settlement with the BJP-led government at the centre. Maharashtra Nav Nirman Sena supremo Raj Thackeray made the sensational claim. He said Dawood Ibrahim is now very sick and crippled. He is very keen to return to India and breathe his last in his motherland.

Pakistan consistently denies that they hold the global terrorist up there. But bringing him back is nearly impossible because Dawood is under protecting Pakistan’s ISI. If this is to be believed a direct attack by Indian intelligence on ISI stronghold will force them to show their power on Indian soil. This will be done to ascertain their masses of ISI’s efficacy. This will start a vicious circle which the Indian governments try to prevent at any cost. Moreover, India lacks political willpower. That’s the reason we still cannot nab Dawood. We keep on blaming RAW and IB for this but never realize that these government agencies are helpless, due to the political leadership. Not everyone can be like Indira Gandhi or Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Back in 2005 IB chief made a plan with some senior IB officials to assassinate Dawood Ibrahim during his daughter’s marriage in Dubai. A professional shooter and a member of the Chhota Rajan team,” Vicky Malhotra” was contacted. Somehow Dawood came to know this whole plot; Vicky was on the wanted list of Mumbai police. Mumbai police got information about Vicky’s stay in Delhi. Mumbai police arrested him from Delhi and it washed this whole covert plan out, just before execution. This golden opportunity slipped from the agency’s hand to assassinate Dawood just because of a lack of coordination between intelligence and security forces.

I’ve come this far because I never got lost in trappings of fame, says Kirti Kulhari

By
PTI
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kirti kulhari, kirti, actress, pink actress, Nayeka
I've come this far because I never got lost in trappings of fame, says Kirti Kulhari 4

Her love for acting and incredible stories has helped her sustain in the entertainment industry for over a decade, believes actor Kirti Kulhari. Kulhari made her debut in 2010 with the comedy ”Khichdi: The Movie” but had a breakthrough a year later with Bejoy Nambiar’s crime-thriller ”Shaitaan”.

The actor then went on to garner widespread acclaim with her National Award-winning drama ”Pink”, which translated into big-budget ensembles like ”Uri: The Surgical Strike’‘ and ”Mission Mangal’‘.

She also ventured into the digital space with the International Emmy Award-nominated Prime Video hit series ”Four More Shots Please!” in 2019.

”The reason why I am still here after a decade is that I truly love acting. I love being a part of incredible stories. If acting was just another thing, I would not have done it, it is not a job for me. It has helped me grow as a person with every character I have chosen. It has changed my perspective, broken my conditioning, and made me question things around me,” Kulhari told PTI in an interview.

The actor said her journey in films has not only been ”fulfilling” but also incredibly enriching.

”I don’t think I ever sat down and had a conscious discussion about consent before ‘Pink’ despite being aware of it. No one talked about it. Same with a show like ‘Four More Shots’, which is packaged as a fun, comedy series but talks about so many important things.

”Just doing the kind of roles I do has given me a voice, turned me into someone who is becoming more courageous and bolder in terms of expressing what I feel. I can’t separate acting from my life anymore. It is so beautifully intertwined,” she added.

Kulhari, born and brought up in Mumbai, said she didn’t grow up dreaming to be an actor. No one in her family was connected to art and appearing in films was ”not even an option”, she added.

But at the age of 17, Kulhari got a call from the Films Division of India for a woman-oriented film. It was a Sushant Misra movie, which never saw light of the day. Kulhari took that offer ”just to see how it goes”, she said.

According to the 36-year-old actor, the process of being in front of the camera changed her completely.

”It opened my eyes to a world I had not known before. The film got made but it never came out. I wanted to give acting a proper try after that as it felt right, there was a calling from within. I finished my post-graduation and asked my parents to give me two years to pursue acting in 2007,” she added.

The actor began with TV commercials and quickly became a known face in the ad world. But Kulhari didn’t want to get complacent, so she enrolled herself in an acting workshop by ”Paatal Lok” actor Neeraj Kabi, she said. She followed it up with more workshops with the theatre group Yatri Theatre and filmmaker-playwright Om Katare.

”I knew I wanted to act in films, so for two years, I just learnt the craft. I was serious about acting. The purity of intentions that I had with me when I started out is what has brought me this far. I have never messed with that core. ”I haven’t got lost in the idea of fame or its trapping, to do something for the sake of it. I was always only focused on bettering my skills as an actor, which is how I have come so far,” she added.

In 2016, Kulhari found her biggest success in ”Pink”, which also featured Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu and Andrea Tariang.

”I became an overnight actor. Everyone took notice of me. It felt like all the hard work that I had done silently over the years had paid off,” she added.

”Pink” gave Kulhari the confidence to headline films, as she signed projects like the Madhur Bhandarkar-directed ”Indu Sarkar” and Irrfan Khan-starrer ”Blackmail”. But both the films didn’t do well at the box office.

”I experienced a lull after these films didn’t do as well as they were expected to. I had to figure where I was heading. Then ‘Four More Shots‘ came my way. I had apprehension, but I was open. That changed the game for me,” she added.

The series, which chronicles the stories of four women, gave Kulhari a wide reach.

”The show changed things for me. It also released around ‘Uri‘ and ‘Mission Mangal‘, so my credibility as an actor just kept growing,” she added.

The actor has since featured in three series, Netflix’s ”Bard of Blood’‘, and Hotstar Specials ”Criminal Justice: Behind Closed Doors” and ”Human”.

”I owe a lot to OTT for giving me my due, giving me a chance to showcase what I can do as an actor,” she added.

Kulhari will be next seen in the dark comedy thriller movie ”Nayeka”, which marks her debut as a producer.

John Stahl the ‘Game of Thrones’ actor passes away

By
ANI
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john stahl, game of thrones, john, passes away
Image: HBO

Veteran actor John Stahl, best known for playing Rickard Karstark in ‘Game of Thrones’, has passed away. According to Deadline, Stahl breathed his last on March 2. He was 68. A cause of death is yet to be disclosed.

The news of Stahl’s demise was confirmed by his agent Amanda Fitzalan Howard via statement, in which she described the late star as “an actor of remarkable skill and a stalwart of Scottish theatre”. She added: “He died on the (Scottish) Isle of Lewis on March 2 2022 and is survived by his wife, Jane Paton.”

Stahl had also featured in the long-running Scottish soap opera Take the High Road. He appeared in the show from 1982 until the end of its run in 2003.

Mastercard, Visa suspend operations in Russia after the Ukraine invasion

By
PTI
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mastercard, visa, suspended, ukraine, invasion, russian invasion
Image: Getty

Mastercard and Visa are suspending their operations in Russia, the companies said Saturday (local time), in the latest blow to the country’s financial system after its invasion of Ukraine.

Mastercard said cards issued by Russian banks will no longer be supported by its network and any Mastercard issued outside the country will not work at Russian stores or ATMs.

“We don’t take this decision lightly,” Mastercard said in a statement, adding that it made the move after discussions with customers, partners and governments.

Visa said it’s working with clients and partners in Russia to cease all Visa transactions over the coming days. ”We are compelled to act following Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, and the unacceptable events that we have witnessed,” Visa Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Al Kelly said in a statement.

The twin suspensions were announced within 16 minutes of each other, and they followed a private video call earlier in the day between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine and US lawmakers.

Earlier in the week, Visa and Mastercard had announced more limited moves to block financial institutions from the networks that serve as arteries for the payments system.

The moves by Mastercard and Visa could make real differences to their bottom lines. Russia accounted for 4 per cent of all of Visa’s net revenue in its last fiscal year, including money made from domestic and cross-border activities. Ukraine accounted for about 1 per cent, Visa said in a filing with U.S. securities regulators this week.

Ind vs Pak: Indian Women’s team crush Pakistan by 107 runs, begin World Cup on a high note

By
PTI
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india vs pakistan, ind vs pak, pakistan, world cup, icc women's world cup, women's team, mithali raj, indian cricket
Ind vs Pak: Indian Women’s team crush Pakistan by 107 runs, begin World Cup on a high note 8

The Indian team thrashed arch-rivals Pakistan by 107 runs to begin their campaign in the ICC Women’s World Cup on a rousing note on Sunday, the much-anticipated face-off ending in a no contest.

Opting to bat after the coin landed in India’s favour, in-form opener Smriti Mandhana, Sneh Rana and Pooja Vastrakar struck useful half-centuries to help their team recover from an early wobble and post 244 for seven at the Bay Oval.

Chasing a tricky target of 245, the Pakistan team fell way short of the mark and was all out for 137 in 43 overs, losing its 11th straight game against neighbours India in the 50-over format.

Left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad did the star turn with the ball, returning with excellent figures of 4/31 after her full quota of 10 overs. Seasoned pacer Jhulan Goswami bowled very well to finish the game with impressive figures of 2/29, while there were also two wickets for Rana (2/27), capping off her fine all-round show.

To start with, however, the Indians found themselves under pressure after opener Shafali Verma was dismissed for a duck in the third over.

A 92-run stand between Mandhana (52 off 75 balls) and Deepti Sharma (40 off 57) helped steady the ship.

However, Pakistan came back strongly by claiming a flurry of wickets, including the scalps of skipper Mithali Raj (9) and her deputy Haramanpreet Kaur (5).

It wasn’t a good outing for Raj with the willow but, by turning out in the India jersey on Sunday, the veteran 39-year-old became only the third cricketer after Sachin Tendulkar and Javed Miandad to appear in six World Cups and the first woman to achieve the feat.

Raj, though, would take her cheap dismissal in her stride as her team achieved the result it sought.

After the early dismissal of Shafali, the duo of Mandhana and Deepti got together to first steady the innings and then build a foundation for Rana and Vastrakar to take their team closer to 250.

Rana (53 not out) and Vastrakar (67) shared a crucial 122-run partnership — the highest for the seventh wicket in ICC Women’s World Cups — to help boost the India total. From the Pakistan point of view, the stand between Rana and Vastrakar hit them hard as they were hoping to restrict India after reducing them to 116 for four at one point.

Mandhana and Deepti were dismissed within a few overs of each other. Deepti missed a sweep and was bowled by Nashra Sundhu for 40, and Mandhana followed suit 13 balls later, giving a return catch to Anam Amin.

The rest of the batters failed to build on the foundation laid by Mandhana and Deepti as the likes of Raj, Kaur and Richa Ghosh fell in quick succession to leave their team in a spot of bother.

Pakistan had their tails up at that stage of the game but, batting in the lower order, Rana and Vastrakar had other ideas and displayed immense grit to pull India out of trouble.

For Pakistan, spinners Nida Dar (2/45) and Nashra Sandhu (2/36) snared two wickets each.

In reply, Pakistan were precariously placed at 78 for five at the halfway point in their innings, 167 runs away from a win.

India were rewarded for some tight bowling early on, limiting Pakistan to just 26 for no loss at the end of the powerplay. The pressure got to the openers as Javeria Khan departed in the 11th over, trying to take the aerial route.

After that, the Indian spinners continued to keep a lid on the scoring, with Deepti and Rana taking the important wickets of Pakistan skipper Bismah Maroof and Omaima Sohail respectively.

Goswami then got into the act, dismissing the settled Sidra Ameen, who was caught behind. Jhulan struck again in her next over to remove Dar for 4 as Pakistan stared at a big defeat.

It was pleasing to see Jhulan, even after so many years, running in hard and giving everything for her team. This is Pakistan’s 15th defeat while chasing in the Women’s World Cup games.

16 gas distribution stations in six oblasts shut-in Ukraine, says Report

By
ANI
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gas distribution, ukraine, russia, ukraine conflict, gas, gas pipeline
Image: EPA

Ukraine’s gas transmission system operator has shut down 16 distribution stations in six of Ukraine’s oblasts (administrative regions) due to Russia’s ongoing military operations in the country, state-run media reported citing the operator. The oblasts include Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, Donetsk and Luhansk, the state-run media reported.

“Ukraine’s gas transmission system operator has had to shut down 16 gas distribution stations in six of Ukraine’s oblasts – Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, Donetsk and Luhansk, as a result of Russia’s full-scale invasion, the operator announced on Telegram on March 5,” The Kyiv Independent tweeted.

Meanwhile, the third round of talks between Russia and Ukraine may take place on March 7, according to Sputnik News Agency.

Citing Ukrainian news outlet Strana.ua, the Russian agency said on Telegram that the date was suggested by Kyiv, and Moscow was yet to respond. On March 4, Russia and Ukraine agreed to organize humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians in the second round of talks in Belarus.

Xi Jinping politicised Beijing Winter Olympics to increase his sphere of influence, says report

By
ANI
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xi jinping, chinese pm, china president, beijing
Xi Jinping politicised Beijing Winter Olympics to increase his sphere of influence, says report 11

While China blames the western countries for politicising the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, a Canada-based think-tank in its report has stated that the games were sought to be exploited for political purposes by the host. After a set of US-led Western countries observed a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, China had accused the West of politicising the games.

However, the event was politicised by China itself to extend its political influence, reported a Canada-based think-tank, International Forum for Rights and Security (IFFRAS). Notably, the US along with Western countries such as the UK, Canada and Australia observed a diplomatic boycott of the games, citing human rights abuses perpetrated against minorities in China.

However, diplomatic representatives from 70 countries prominently from Central Asia, Africa, Asia, Gulf, Latin America and Eastern Europe attended the opening ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics held in China and 30 of these were the Heads of the States or Royal families, the think tank reported.

The Chinese side used the opportunity to its advantage as it organized several bilateral meetings between President Xi Jinping and the Royals or Heads of States, aimed at enhancing Beijing’s political clout, providing space to anti-West countries, promoting ‘Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)’, pushing China’s politico-economic agenda and develop strategic relationships. The agenda of these meetings, followed by joint statements and signing bilateral agreements, was the cooperation and coordination in the development of the BRI, added the think-tank in the report.

According to some analysts, the meetings were important for Xi Jinping to increase his sphere of influence and stifle internal dissent cropping as a result of differences between Xi and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the think tank reported. The crackdown on big business houses and challenges emerging out of intra-party dissatisfaction and economic disparity among the Chinese people have raised concerns regarding Xi’s leadership. The reported internal dissent in China prompted Xi to use the Beijing Olympics to carry forward his agenda of increasing his sphere of influence, added the report.

By focusing on his neighbourhood, including Russia and South America, Xi has made his intent clear to challenge the US-led West in changing the existing world order, said the think-tank.

PM Modi and Governor unveil Shivaji Maharaj statue in Pune municipal corporation premises

By
PTI
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pm modi, modi, shivaji maharaj, shivaji maharaj statue, chhatrapati shivaji, modi
PM Modi and Governor unveil Shivaji Maharaj statue in Pune municipal corporation premises 13

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday unveiled a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in the premises of Pune Municipal Corporation. The statue is made up of 1,850 kg of gunmetal and is about 9.5-feet tall.

Pune Mayor Murlidhar Mohol greeted Modi on his arrival at the municipal corporation headquarters here and offered him specially crafted headgear. The PM also paid floral tributes to the statue of social reformer Mahatma Jyotiba Phule at the civic headquarters.

Earlier, Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, state cabinet minister and senior Shiv Sena leader Subhash Desai, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Devendra Fadnavis and BJP state president Chandrakant Patil welcomed Modi after he landed at the Lohegaon International Airport.

The prime minister will also inaugurate the Pune metro rail’s two priority stretches of 12 km, out of the total 32.2 km project in the city. The foundation stone of the metro project was also laid by Modi on Dec 24, 2016.

The entire metro project is being built at the cost of more than Rs 11,400 crore.

BMC extends the deadline to submit letters & complaints at all civic offices

By
Web Team
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bmc, civic body, mumbai bmc, bmc building, anil galgali, galgali
BMC extends the deadline to submit letters & complaints at all civic offices 15

The time for accepting any letters, complaints, and statements by Mumbai’s civic body has been extended till 5 pm from the earlier time of 4.30 pm in all its departments.

RTI activist Anil Galgali had requested an extension of time from BMC Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal. It was also mentioned in his letter, that the time for receiving letters should be extended by the corporation’s headquarter and other establishments.

In a letter addressed to Commissioner, Galgali also urged that BMC offices should conduct office work from Monday to Friday.

“The trouble and frustration, the citizens usually face will be saved if the time for accepting the letter is prolonged till 6 pm,” said Galgali.

Sandhya Vhatkar, Chief Staff Officer, General Administration Department and BMC informed Anil Galgali that All department heads/assistant commissioners have been instructed to accept letters, complaints, statements etc. from the citizens in the inward and outward sub-division of the administrative office of BMC till 5 pm.

Instructions have been given to all the Heads of Departments / Assistant Commissioners to put up such panels on the front of the office so that they can be seen clearly by the citizens.

Aviation veteran Sanjiv Kapoor to head Jet Airways 2.0 as CEO

By
PTI
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Aviation veteran Sanjiv Kapoor to head Jet Airways 2.0 as CEO 17

Grounded carrier Jet Airways on Friday announced the appointment of Sanjiv Kapoor as the chief executive officer (CEO).

His appointment to the post comes days after the airline brought in former Sri Lankan Airlines CEO Vipula Gunatileka as the chief financial officer.

Kapoor, who is currently the president of Oberoi Hotels and Resorts, has been associated with budget carriers SpiceJet and GoAir as well as with full-service carrier Vistara in various capacities in the past.

He will join Jet Airways on April 4, the airline said.

Jet Airways, which has not flown since April 17, 2019, is in the process of re-launching operations under its new promoters Jalan-Kalrock Consortium.

”Sanjiv (Kapoor) is a seasoned aviation professional who has the right blend and demeanor to stitch a team together.

”I always believe in investing in human capital and by having Sanjiv as the CEO and Vipula as the CFO, I am certain Jet Airways will reclaim its lost glory and surpass everyone’s expectation,” said Murari Lal Jalan, lead partner of the Jalan-Kalrock Consortium and proposed non-executive chairman of Jet Airways. Kapoor will be able to lead Jet Airways and make it become the most preferred full-service carrier of India, Jalan added.

Kapoor said, ”I am looking forward to getting back to aviation. Even though Jet Airways has been out of operation for three years, it still has a large fan base of loyal customers who miss it every day and can’t wait for it to take to the skies again.” He added he looks forward to leading the charge in rebuilding Jet Airways into the most preferred customer-oriented airline once again, a people-focused airline for the digital age.

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