Madras High Court orders winding up of SpiceJet over outstanding dues

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December 7, 2021

The Madras High Court has ordered the winding up of private carrier SpiceJet Limited and directed the official Liquidator attached to the High Court to take over its assets, in a plea filed by a Swiss company over unpaid dues.

The court was allowing a company petition from Credit Suisse AG, a stock corporation registered under the laws of Switzerland, which prayed for winding up of the Indian firm under the provisions of the Companies Act, 1956 and appoint the Official Liquidator of the High Court as the Liquidator with all powers under Section 448 of the Companies Act to take charge of SpiceJet’s assets, properties, stock in trade and books of accounts.

The ”respondent company (SpiceJet) has miserably failed to satisfy the three-pronged test suggested by the Supreme Court in Mathusudan Govardhandas & Co. v. Madhu Woollen Industries (P) Ltd., and hence had rendered itself liable to be wound up for its inability to pay its debts under Section 433 (e) of the Companies Act 1956,” Justice R Subramanian said in his order on Monday and directed the private carrier be wound up and the official liquidator take over its assets.

According to the petitioner, SpiceJet had availed of the services of SR Technics, Switzerland, for maintenance, repair and overhauling of aircraft engines, modules, components, assemblies and parts, which are mandatory for its operations. An agreement for the performance of such services for a period of 10 years was entered into between SpiceJet and SR Technics on November 24. 2011.

The terms of payments were also agreed upon. On August 24, 2012, a supplemental agreement was also entered into to change certain terms of the agreement. The amendments included an extension of time for payment of money due under various invoices and also a deferred payment scheme. Since there was a general increase in the cost, the 2012 supplemental agreement included adjustment of flight hour rates and provisions for escalation was also made.

Upon provision of the services under the agreement, SR Technics had raised invoices and SpiceJet had issued seven bills of exchange for the monies due under the invoices. It also acknowledged the debts from time to time by issuing certificates of acceptance in relation to the bills of exchange which would imply the respondent had not disputed the correctness of the claim made in the invoices. The petitioner, namely Credit Suisse AG, entered into a financing agreement in September 2012 with SR Technics and under a transaction agreement, the latter assigned all its present and future rights to receive payments under the agreement to the petitioner company.

The assignment included the Bills of exchange issued by SpiceJet pursuant to the 2011 agreement and the 2012 supplementary agreement. In view of the assignments made by SR Technics, the petitioner is entitled to receive payments of the monies due under the seven invoices from Spicejet, the petitioner company claimed. The petitioner has been making repeated requests to the airline to make payments under various invoices. Since it did not honour its commitment under the agreements with SR Technics and that SpiceJet is not in a position to meet its financial obligations, the petitioner issued a statutory notice. As there was no response, it preferred the present company petition before the High Court to wind up SpiceJet.

SpiceJet contended the alleged debts are not legally enforceable and as such there cannot be a winding-up order under Section 433 of the Companies Act. The petitioner is not a creditor of SpiceJet and in the absence of any contractual relationship of a debtor and creditor, a winding-up proceeding will not lie. The agreements between SpiceJet and SR Technics do not authorise assignment to the present petitioner. SR Technics had also issued a notice under Section 434 of the Companies Act in January 2015 and did not pursue the winding up, it argued and claimed that there was no liability to pay the very debt.

Rejecting the contentions, the judge said that a reading of certain Clauses in the agreement would show the parties to the contract are bound to fulfil all obligations which occurred prior to the termination and it will not prevent either party from claiming against breach of any obligations under the agreement including recovery of excess payments made by SpiceJet to SR Technics. The above clause would make it very clear that while it was open to SpiceJet to terminate the contract for the reason that SR Technics did not have a valid authorisation, the termination by itself would not relieve SpiceJet of the obligations that arose under the contract prior to such termination becoming effective. Admittedly, SpiceJet had not chosen to terminate the contract. It had continued to avail the services.

“Therefore, in my opinion, it cannot now turn around and say, there is a violation of the provisions of the Aircraft Act or the C.A.R. Rules made thereunder and therefore the liability ceased. I thus find that the respondent Company has miserably failed to satisfy the three-pronged test suggested by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Mathusudan Govardhandas & Co. v. Madhu Woollen Industries (P) Ltd., supra, and hence had rendered itself liable to be wound up for its inability to pay its debts under Section 433 (e) of the Companies Act 1956. I am therefore of the opinion that this Company Petition should be allowed and the respondent Company directed to be wound up. The Official Liquidator is directed to take over the assets of the respondent Company,” the judge said.

No one above the law, Myanmar junta minister says of Suu Kyi verdict

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Afternoon Voice

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December 7, 2021

san suu kyi, suu kyi, myanmar, junta, junta minister — Image: AFP

A senior Myanmar junta official said on Tuesday the imprisonment of Aung San Suu Kyi showed that no one was above the law and the army chief had commuted her sentence on “grounds of humanity”. Information minister Maung Maung Ohn also told a virtual briefing that Myanmar’s judicial system was impartial and Monday’s sentencing of the Nobel laureate and former leader was according to the law.

Suu Kyi, 76, was sentenced to four years in prison for incitement and breaching coronavirus regulations but the military junta leaders reduced it to a two-year term of detention in her current location. “There is no one above the law,” Maung Maung Ohn said, adding that Myanmar’s judicial system “has no partiality”.

He was speaking at a rare media briefing during which he and the junta’s investment minister said the situation in the country was stabilising. Myanmar has been in crisis since the military seized power in a Feb.1 coup, arresting Suu Kyi and most of her government.

Security forces seeking to crush opposition have since killed more than 1,200 people, according to the monitoring group the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, and armed rebellions have sprung up across the country. On Sunday, security forces in a truck rammed into a flash mob protest in the commercial capital of Yangon, killing at least five people, the news website Myanmar Now reported.

Maung Maung Ohn said the protest was the result of pressure from anti-coup groups “so that young people get emotional” but that crowd management by authorities “is sometimes handled unintentionally”. “Such kind of protests should be prevented according to the law,” he said.

Nagaland civilian deaths – The 21 Para Special Forces of Army “blankly opened fire” resulting in the killing

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Afternoon Voice

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December 6, 2021

Thirteen villagers and a soldier were killed at an Indo-Myanmar border district in Nagaland on Saturday as a counter-insurgency operation went horribly off-script. On Sunday, a civilian was killed in firing by the Assam Rifles when an angry mob stormed into their camp in Mon town and set a part of their camp on fire.

The Nagaland police have taken a suo moto FIR against 21 Para special forces of the Indian Army in connection with a counter-insurgency operation that led to the deaths of 14 innocent villagers. An Army jawan also lost his life when the situation quickly deteriorated out of control. The police have said that the special Army unit didn’t inform police nor did they take any police guide for the counter-insurgency operation in the Mon district that borders Myanmar.

Dr Bhalchandra Mungekar, Former MP said, “I most strongly condemn the brutal and cold-blooded murder of 13 civilians in Nagaland making a blunder of treating them as Naxalites. The home minister, Mr Amit Shah must immediately sack the concerned officers.”

Sushmita Dev, West Bengal MP, TMC said, “What has happened in Nagaland is extremely worrying, the central forces have killed civilians. Firstly, it is a total intelligence failure. Secondly, after the incident, the local people are trying to say that they tried to cover up the whole thing. These are legitimate citizens of Nagaland, legitimate hamlets of Nagaland. This incident has disturbed the entire peace of Nagaland. In 1997, there was a peace accord signed, and there was a ceasefire. The local people of Nagaland are questioning this incident, they’re questioning the entire application of AFSPA, and the recent increase in the power of the BSF is also questioned.”

“Today when the army or the central forces do an operation, local police does not know. So how do you protect citizens? This is going to put AFSPA under question. This is going to put the entire policy of the BJP government in question,” she further added.

When asked about AFSPA, Dev said, “AFSPA is a very sensitive issue. It is external security vs internal security. So, it is very simple if such incidents happen, then AFSPA will be questioned. I knew this would happen, and I believe that HM Amit Shah should review the situation.”

Merentoshi Jamir, spokesperson of Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP), “The Para Commandos accidentally shot and killed 13 civilians on the fourth of December. And we have had an unfortunate loss of lives yesterday. This is something very unprecedented, especially from the unit like the para commandos making the mistake of killing unarmed civilians. The situation right now is calm. But I can’t say it is fully alright. Because there is a lot of tension around. We don’t know in the next few days what will happen. We are just observing as of now.”

When asked about AFSPA, he added “It should be repealed. Today we are talking about a breakthrough in the Indo Naga political talks, where the government of India has also said that it is coming to a conclusion. In such a scenario, when we’ve had peace for so many years. it is not necessary that we the AFSPA in Nagaland. When we declare it as a disturbed state when everything is so peaceful, it is not fair. And it causes only tension amongst the people. And especially when the Naga talks are moving so peacefully. It will be a good gesture for the government of India to say that show that, we are truly trying to solve the issue and therefore we are repealing, revoking the AFSPA from Nagaland. Because that is what we want. AFSPA may be very good at certain times. But it is not good for the people. Because it gives Army the power to take the law into their hands. This is not how a democracy works.”

Adding further he said, “We hope for the support of the people of India, to be with us. We are going through a very difficult period when so many youngsters have lost their lives unnecessarily. In today’s world, this type of violence is not welcomed. And that too from people who are there to protect and serve people.”

The truck had eight people on board — six of them were killed on the spot; two others died on the way to the hospital. It is believed that all those on the truck were local coal miners. Sources said no arms or ammunition were recovered from the truck. Soon after, hundreds of villagers — armed with stones and machetes — attacked the army team, sources said. The army team opened fire in self-defence, in which at least five 5 villagers were killed and several others were injured, sources said.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday told in the parliament that the Centre regrets the death of 14 civilians in a counter-insurgency operation of the army in Nagaland on Saturday that went horribly wrong. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) would inquiry into the incident and give its report in one month, he said.

“The situation is tense but under control,” Shah said in a statement on the incident, speaking over opposition slogan-shouting.

“The Government of India sincerely regrets this unfortunate incident in Nagaland and expresses its deepest condolences to the families of those who have lost their lives,” he said.

FIR by the state police

The FIR reads as “It is to be noted that at the time of the incident there was no police guide nor security forces did make requisition to the police station to provide police guide for their operation. Hence it is obvious that the intention of security forces is to murder and injure civilians, “At around 1530 hours, coal mine labourers of Oting village were returning to their native village Oting from Tiru in a vehicle Bolero pick up. On reaching at Longkhao between Upper Tiru and Oting village, security forces blankly opened fire at the vehicle without any provocation resulting in the killing of many Oting villagers and seriously injuring many others (sic),” the FIR added.

The Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) has called a morning 6 am to 12-noon total bandh across the state today. While a dawn to dusk bandh has been called by Eastern Nagaland Peoples’ Organisation (ENPO). The Army, in a statement yesterday, had expressed deep regrets over the “unfortunate loss of lives” in a security operation that went awry, adding that the matter will be investigated at the “highest level”.

A public gathering of more than five people at a time has been banned in the Mon district, and movement of all vehicles of non-essential nature, including commercial vehicles, has been prohibited under section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPc).

SC allows police to carry on probe against ex-Mumbai top cop Param Bir; retrains it from filing charge sheet

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Afternoon Voice

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December 6, 2021

The Supreme Court on Monday allowed Mumbai Police to carry on the investigation against former police commissioner Param Bir Singh but restrained it from filing charge sheets on the FIRs against him over the allegations of misconduct and corruption.

A bench comprising Justices S K Kaul and M M Sundresh also directed the CBI to file its response on the issue of whether the probe should be handed over to it.

The top court said it was only concerned with the “likelihood of bias”.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the CBI, said the FIRs should also be entrusted to the central probe agency and he will file an affidavit regarding the same.

Senior advocate Darius Kambatta, appearing for Maharashtra, stated that Singh’s petition was a service dispute against departmental enquiries, which should be contested before the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT).

The bench then said, “What are your allegations regarding his service etc, that is for you to take. But this is one of the very unfortunate messages.”

“The only concern that we should have is, whether in regards to other matter whether the CBI should consider the same or not,” it said.

Senior advocate Puneet Bali, appearing for Singh, told the apex court that the Maharashtra government was acting with ”mala fide” against the former police commissioner.

“After your lordships’ order, I (Singh) have joined the investigation. All non-bailable warrants and proclamations against me have been cancelled.

“Then they file a charge sheet in one of the FIRs. That is a complaint filed by a person against whom I took action. Then they suspended me. The state of Maharashtra is trying to scuttle your lordship’s orders,” Bali said.

The top court noted the submissions and allowed the Mumbai police to carry on the investigation and restrained it from filing the charge sheet.

The top court also extended the interim protection granted to Singh till January 1, 2022, when it will hear the matter next.

The state police had earlier told the apex court that Singh cannot be considered as a “whistleblower” under the law as he chose to speak out against alleged corruption involving former home minister Anil Deshmukh only after his transfer.

The top court had granted a major relief to Singh on November 22 by directing the Maharashtra Police not to arrest him in criminal cases lodged against him and had wondered if he was being hounded for filing cases against police officers and extortionists, “what could happen to a common man”.

Seeking dismissal of Singh’s plea for a CBI probe into the entire matter and against any coercive action by the state, the Maharashtra government has filed a reply affidavit in the apex court and said that the ongoing probe in criminal cases against the former top cop not be interfered with.

Prior to this, the Bombay high court had dismissed Singh’s petition seeking to quash inquiries initiated against him by the Maharashtra government and said he can approach the Central Administrative Tribunal.

The high court had held that it was a service matter and rejected his claim that the government’s action was a consequence of his allegations of corruption against then Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh.

After Singh was shunted out as Mumbai police commissioner in March 2021 in the aftermath of the ‘Antilia bomb scare case’, in a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, he levelled corruption allegations against Deshmukh.

In his petition, Singh had also alleged that DGP Pande told him that the inquiries were the fall-out of his allegations against Deshmukh, an NCP leader.

Singh was transferred to the Home Guard after Mumbai police officer Sachin Waze was arrested in the case of an SUV with explosives found near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s house, ‘Antilia’, and the subsequent suspicious death of businessman Mansukh Hiran.

Maitreya Dadashreeji – Man who is renovating the Presence by giving love to the world

By

Vaidehi Taman

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December 6, 2021

A few days back I met my friend Makarand Deshpande, a famous film actor of India in an award event, and there he handover a book. Let me confess, I was really not very keen to read that book as I thought this must be one of those books written by some spiritual leader to influence gullible bhakts. These days, spirituality has become commercial and every Babaji has his set of followers who promote their merchandisers and books. It’s like word-of-mouth publicity. They all claim to be reforming the world with their spiritual powers and abilities but in fact, the Babaji becomes a big celebrity one day and the disciples remain his advertising tools.

I should not be blamed for this notion of mine, it’s they who have blotted the spirituality in the name of some of the other foundations. Some of them even have fancy dress codes, some have political inclinations and others have their propaganda machinery. Being a journalist, I get many such encounters and that is the reason believing such clans is a tough task for me. Well! Let me come back to my point, there are good people and bad people in every profession and life path. What we need is openness to locate that exception.

The journalist in me started doing R&D, which surprised me with his simplicity. From the past three days, I must have seen hundreds of videos, his interviews and read whatever was available on open source. Above all, I spoke to many people who are connected to him to understand his motives. A medical doctor, adopted a path to bring a difference in the people where hate-mongering is common. Love and hate are basic human tendencies. To imbibe someone with utmost compassion for fellow humans is a great task.

What I witnessed is that Maitreya Dadashreeji is a very positive, forgiving person, the concept of loving others is his sole motive. The majority of the time, people don’t say hateful things because they are cruel, judgemental, antisocial. Instead, common feelings and psychological needs bring out the worst behaviours in some individuals and prompt them to say negative statements about another person. What one needs is a guide to hold them and keep them grounded to their positive beliefs and Dadashreeji doing it each moment. Thus, the Maitri mission began with the transformation, the crossing of borders, the union of mankind and the unification of nations. In 2013, MaitriBodh Parivaar was founded with great belief in human values.

I am sure we all are acquainted with Mahavatar Babaji, a timeless creation, who has been on this planet Earth for the past 5000 years. His physical body looks like that of a young boy of around 25 years. He wears a piece of cloth wrapped around the waist coming to just above the knees. However, His mystical physical manifestation occurs in various attires not limited to the dhoti. He dwells high up in the Himalayan range away from any human habitat. There are 3-4 disciples with Him who learn and work for a higher cause. It is said that he is aware of all the events occurring in the world. The Divine energy has been exuding through each and every pore of his Divine body for thousands of years. He has never represented any cult, religion or specific spiritual technique but only ‘The Truth’.

After this mystical encounter with Mahavatar Babaji, Maitreya Dadashreeji spent the following few years in His journey within, experiencing all the states of transformation and exploring His advent to realize the true purpose of his existence. Maitreya Dadashreeji is a global benevolent, enriching human awareness, removing boundaries, bonding humanity and uniting nations together is motivative. He has guided many individuals by awakening the Love within them. He is working to establish “One World, One Family” which is Vasudeva Kodambakkam.

With his humble approach, loving smile and dressed in all white, Maitreya Dadashreeji appears very modest to me. His influential appearance connects you with yourself and then with him. When I was chanting Omkar with him, it was truly an awakening journey deep into my inner self. I reached a complete cessation and calmness. He was not physically present with me but his virtual presence gave me that absolute love and peace. Sometimes we need that pause in life to fill the deeper energies within us to deal with outer challenges with a humble approach. It’s like recharging yourself. In his interviews, he explained that one’s soul, mindfulness and the highest of spiritual states are to be personally experienced and not to be read about, nor imagined through the words of others. Through His experience, He has redefined how we rediscover the path to the Divine within ourselves, guiding seekers to stop at nothing but the Highest.

I am still exploring him, and the more I discover him I have understood myself. My efforts will never end, I will work on my path and my inner conscience. But I am here to witness that transformation I needed for a long time. Yes! Let me conclude by stating, all the spiritual machinery might have their agendas but if someone has aimed to establish “One World, One Family” let us be a part of it and make this earth worth living for fellow humans.

Afternoon Voice condemns the attack on senior journalist Girish Kuber

By

Vaidehi Taman

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December 6, 2021

Over the controversial writing of his recent book, Sambhaji Brigade members threw black ink on senior journalist Girish Kuber. We believe that physical conflict must not be a part of any civilized battle of ideas which must find expression through persuasion, reasoned arguments, and decent debate. Afternoon Voice strongly condemns this attack.

However, an unequivocal condemnation of the unruly act must not deter one from steadfastly taking an issue with the book’s content and intent. We note that there is a reasonable critique of the interpretation and presentation of the history of Maharashtra offered by Mr Kuber. The book has been called out for its glaring errors of commission and omissions. It arguably treads the slippery slope of writing an exclusionary and distorted version of history, which ultimately proves counterproductive to nurture a society conducive to democratic and reasoned debate.

Acknowledgement that the historical figure of Sambhaji Maharaj has been subjected to distorted perceptions to extend a particular cultural agenda is not antithetical to a firm opposition to the means adopted to counter such distortions.

There is always something to be grateful for

By

Vaidehi Taman

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December 5, 2021

Did you wake up this morning? That’s a gift, something you were never guaranteed and many others were denied last night. When you woke up, did your eyes work? That’s something to be grateful for. If you are sighted, did you see a ceiling rather than the bottom of a bridge because you got to sleep inside last night rather than being homeless? Another reason to be grateful, the place where you live electricity, water, food everything in abundance.

More blessings are given to you, blessings that many people didn’t get to enjoy. The bottom line is that we are guaranteed nothing and owed less in life, so everything we have is a gift. We have no birthright for anything, so everything has been given to us. There is also an interesting dynamic involved in life. It’s easy to be grateful when life smiles upon us and we’re being showered by sanctions. There is another side of an unnatural lifestyle, self-styled, self-obsessed, self-boasted and self-centred.

You will find many biggies flaunting photographs of their so-called achievements and accomplishments but they will never tag or acknowledge the person behind that award or appreciation, vaguely they will somehow write that person’s name but shy away from tagging them. People like me really wonder, what must be making these celebrities so inferior or superior at the cost of something?

Do we humans have a tendency to be thankless? Maybe because people tend to take everything for granted? Maybe people don’t realize that they are blessed with so many things, for example, the people who are born perfect with no defects as compared to people who are born with disabilities, the people who have parents to look after them as compared to the orphans, the people who got good education as compared to the people who couldn’t even manage one proper meal a day. If all of us realize that we need to be grateful for all the things we have in our life which we are so privileged to have then maybe we will be grateful to the people who have been there for us to allow some special moments?

Human nature says they love their desires more than anyone who fulfils the desire. So, the people who are ungrateful only want their desires to be fulfilled. They don’t care about how it is being fulfilled. So, they don’t have any special thankfulness for the special moments they were part of. And it’s better if you don’t expect gratitude because you did what you wanted to do without any demand from them, you just wanted to acknowledge the best they have. So don’t crave ingratitude because this is where you stand different. Being a giver and receiver, both have different mindsets, different perceptions and different attitudes, nevertheless a different stand.

These are the people who will go out of their way to make a big show of gratitude over something someone has done for them, if that person is a politician or bigger celebrity but underneath the surface, they are anything but grateful. Their display of gratitude is contrived and insincere. One should do their good deed and go on their own way. If you get thanked, great! If not, well, you did something nice for someone and there’s a reward in the knowledge.

In the process, you get to know the people, their meanness, mindsets and their openness, acceptance for you. Such moments teach you many things, even the receiver can be of a mindset that their presence and time are what made your event successful and for that, you should be thankful but they should not? Many celebrities and dignitaries miss that audacity to credit, it’s their intellectual bankruptcy. I don’t think there’s anything worse than a pretender. I believe it is the most insidiously foul character trait a person can possess. Being grateful for what you have is an incredibly powerful feeling that can be strengthened by sharing and crediting. It helps build, preserve and maintain healthy relations. This is not only limited to the present, but you have the potential to have a positive outlook on your past memories and future outlook.

Debit and Credit card cloning is on rise

By

Afternoon Voice

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December 5, 2021

On November 27, 22, in a span of three hours customers of a nationalised bank who had their accounts in the (West) branch were duped of a total of Rs 2.24 lakh by a fraudster who withdrew money from the ATM without them sharing any details. Two days later one more person, a senior administrative officer with BEST training school, was duped Rs 2.7 lakh in 29 fraudulent withdrawals between November 11 and November 22 but realised it later.

The police said all the fraudulent withdrawals were made between 7.30 pm and 10.30 pm. Cops suspect that the fraudster, using a skimming device attached to the ATM machine, captured the card details, made clones of the cards and withdrew the money. After the fraudulent transactions, the victim received a few text messages from the bank which went unnoticed as it was delayed due to a network issue. Similarly, another victim Mahadev Thavi (62), a carpenter, lost Rs 6,600. The victims are worried about their money.

In spite of this, the Bank has not received any complaints from either the customers or the branches. Even the police have not approached the bank for CCTV footage or customers’ account details. Bank said, “If such fraud has happened using the cloned card, it is unclear how the fraudster got hold of the pin. There have been similar cases in the past.”

In February 2018, at least 50 people have cheated of Rs 9.11 lakh in the case of card cloning. The police suspected the involvement of an inter-state gang who fitted skimming devices and cameras in an ATM of a private bank on Charni Road (West). In June 2013, cyber thieves stole bank data of several Mumbaikars by skimming an ATM at the state police headquarters. The ATM belonged to a private bank, which has the salary accounts of police personnel. The bank credited the stolen amounts back to the accounts.

Guv Koshyari launched ‘The Democracy’ news portal by Dr Vaidehi Taman

By

Vaidehi Taman

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December 4, 2021

Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari launched the logo and website of ‘The Democracy’ news and video portal at Raj Bhavan, Mumbai on Friday (3 Dec). Editor of the Afternoon Voice and The Democracy Dr Vaidehi Taman hosted the event.

While speaking at the event Dr Vaidehi said, “This initiative is to bring journalism back where it belongs, the entire news portal is about citizen journalism. It is a platform for the people to raise their voices.”

Few personalities who worked voluntarily to increase the value and strengthen democracy were honoured by the Honourable Governor of Maharashtra at Raj Bhavan.

The Governor presented the Pillars of Democracy Awards to former MP and Former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Mumbai Dr Bhalchandra Mungekar, former Minister Dr Deepak Sawant, theatre personality Bharat Dabholkar and Makarand Deshpande, Transgender activist Laxmi Narayan Tripathi, RTI activist Vivek Velankar, retired bureaucrat Mahesh Zagade, Social Worker Chitra Wagh, Animal Rights activist Sunish Kunju, and others.

Clean comedy vs Stand-up comedy

By

Vaidehi Taman

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December 1, 2021

We all must have seen thousands of comedy shows and series on television. Satire and sarcasm are tools through which one can criticise institutions, government authorities or entities in a funny way. TV shows like ‘Flop Show’ by Jaspal Bhatti that started in 1989 used the same tools to criticise those then in power. The new age stand-up comics take inspiration from all the senior artists like Bhatti.

At this point, it is important to make it clear that it is unnecessary to do clean content if you are a stand-up comic, in my view. As a stand-up comic, your job should only be making the audience laugh and think. Nothing matters after that.

From the Jaspal Bhatti show to the Kapil Sharma comedy show, Sarabhai vs Sarabhai – each episode is funny with the best jokes and acting, Bhabhi Ji Ghar Par Hain, Tarak Mehta Ka Oolta Chasmah. These comedy shows are for pure laughter. You can sit with your entire family and watch them. The great Indian laughter challenge has brought the stand-up comedy culture to India. The show was based on a format where stand-up comedians perform and entertain judges and the studio audience with their comedy skills.

In the first season, Sunil Pal was the winner, Ahsaan Qureshi was runner up and Raju Srivastava was the second runner up. The next season was won by Kapil Sharma and the first runner up was Chandan Prabhakar. This show has given us many other talented comedians like Siraj Khan, Sudesh Lehari, Rajiv Thakur, Bharti Singh, Navin Prabhakar, Jassi Kochar, Khayaali, Dipoo Srivastava, Ahsaan Qureshi. These people appeared in various comedy shows and entertained us for years.

One fine day AIB (All India Bakchod) was started in 2015 by a bunch of comedians, and from this moment comedy turned into a travesty. In a way, these shows were almost soft porn, the language, slang and discussion about women’s bodies and men’s organs. And many thought this was freedom of expression and they started enjoying this show. It ended after the epic AIB roast but what it did begin, in the process, is the reintroduction of satire and sarcasm in its raw state without any censorship.

It should be the conscience of the audience that should decide whether to laugh or not to laugh at a dirty joke. This will inspire the comic to make changes in his content. Before blaming the artist for doing his job we should ask ourselves if we can take a joke as a joke or not. And what should be the joke in a real sense. There are also regional standup comedians who are quite popular in their niche audience. These are akin to different ‘gharanas’ of comedy like Gujarati, Bengali or Chennai- and Bengaluru-based comics.

Some great Bengali comedians like Sourav Ghosh, Anirban Dasgupta, Dipangshu Acharya. Language is just a medium that does not restrict anyone and there have been many regional activists whose voices were heard in the Parliament. But it’s still a long way to go for the Indian stand-up comedy scene. In the recent past, you will see many stand-up performers in studios with an audience of 50 to 100. These artists make fun of each and everything having no filter on their language and expressions. Most of them use outrageous and obnoxious language. Some even make fun of religious beliefs.

In recent times comedian Munawar Faruqui has been hitting the headlines. Faruqui is a young and upcoming, moderately successful Indian comedian. He has been banned by the police and administration of Madhya Pradesh on grave charges of hate crime. This comedian has a history of making jokes about Hindu gods. Ironically we never heard a joke about the Prophet of Allah. He compared the making of Ram Mandir with the making of Bombs.

Here lies the problem. How do we decide what is more offensive when there are different groups of people getting offended? For some, drawing a cartoon is the ultimate level of getting offended and for some, it can be using some slang for God and for some even mentioning names would be offending.

Has democracy and appeasement of the minorities been of any use for the majority? Spitting filth against Hinduism in the name of freedom of speech is not secularism. Do crack jokes but crack jokes on the Prophet also and if you do not have the guts to crack jokes on the Prophet then do not crack jokes on Hindu gods also.

He is a Muslim; he knew that dragging Hindus in his acts will reiterate to the masses is not a good way which finally happened. I am a Hindu but I never mock any Gods, I am sure I can do a good comedy or be a good writer without putting down any God or religion.

Munawar is not only a comedian but he is an activist for a case that has been solved by the Supreme court, which means he has political inclinations which is fine as everyone in India has a right to have an opinion. But that does not permit you to provoke religious sentiments. In the recent past, he was frequently arrested and his shows were banned. Some think-tank believes that the arrest is to create anger in Congressmen against BJP. This is election time and Munawar like jokers became tools in political hands.