According to official sources, Justice Gogoi wrote a letter to the Ministry of Law and Justice recommending Justice Bobde to be the next chief justice.
Justice Gogoi, who was sworn in as the 46th Chief Justice of India on October 3, 2018, will demit the office on November 17.
Official sources said the chief justice has gone by the convention to recommend the name of the next senior judge after him as his successor.
Justice S A Bobde was born on April 24, 1956 in Nagpur. His grandfather was a lawyer. His father Arvind Bobde was advocate-general of Maharashtra in 1980 and 1985. Justice Bobde’s elder brother late Vinod Arvind Bobde was a senior Supreme Court lawyer and a constitutional expert.
He completed his graduation at SFS College, Nagpur and studied Law at Nagpur University in 1978. Justice S A Bobde enrolled as an advocate on September 13, 1978 and practised at the Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court. Later on, he shifted to Mumbai.
Justice Bobde was appointed as an additional judge of Bombay High Court on March 29, 2000. He joined as Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court on October 16, 2012. Justice S A Bobde was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court of India on April 12, 2013.
Addressing a rally at Kharghar in Navi Mumbai Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is BJP’s star campaigner appealed to voters to give Devendra Fadnavis a second chance, he predicted Fadnavis would be the next CM. He expressed full confidence that the BJP and the Shiv Sena would form the next government and predicted, the ruling parties may win more than 250 seats. Endorsing Fadnavis, Modi said that Devendra had played a vital role in the state’s growth. Devendra fairly performed and he ruled for five years inspite of many attacks from opposition. He has implemented the Jalyukta Shivar scheme (rural micro irrigation) that has transformed the water situation in the countryside. I have spoken to quite a few people who vouch for its success. He has also stood his own amongst the Maratha giants and seems to have become popular as can be seen from the election victories he has delivered across the board.
A final aspect that is very interesting – recall the BJP CMs of the last generation i.e. Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Raman Singh, Vasundhara Raje to some extent and of course Modi. All these folks were their own people – won and ruled based on own ability and performance especially when the Centre was against them most of the time. Since Modi’s arrival at Centre and Shah’s election machinery, the new generation BJP CMs have had it easy as someone else wins elections for them and they keep relying on Modi-Shah. DF is an exception, he has carved out own space, campaigns himself without calling Centre and has shown results.
The BJP-Shiv Sena alliance is confident of retaining power in Maharashtra after the October 21 assembly elections. Though the Sena has repeatedly stressed in recent days that the next chief minister should be a Sainik, Devendra Fadnavis is best placed to get the job for the second time if the alliance wins – unless Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah decide to make him a minister at the Centre. Devendra Fadnavis (DF) has been the most low key but very effective Chief Minister of the state of Maharashtra in the last thirty years. And I am excluding those who warmed the seat for short or long duration based on someone’s grace rather than own merit.
He headed a minority government supported by a sulking and abusive party which was the dominant partner till recently in the state of Maharashtra and which took time to come to terms with the new normal. Whatever be the provocation, we did not find DF loose with words. He kept his cool, issued very measured statements and always kept the doors open for discussions and reconciliation. He kept the opposition, the two Congresses, divided right in the middle and they could never come together to pose a challenge to him and BJP.
He managed the internal discontent, normal for any party, extremely well. Bar one incidence, no other could go out of hand. In these days of quick anti-incumbency setting in, he worked effectively with the party president, central leadership and RSS to spread his party in the hitherto unknown areas for the party. In the municipal and gram panchayat elections, his party did not rely on the central leadership and yet displayed a very impressive performance. From just another party, BJP rose to be the most dominant party across the state. The other three lost to BJP in strongholds as well as other areas. The long-term spread, which the party will achieve in the years to come, will be fantastic. It also closed doors on the four corner contests of Maharashtra. The icing on the cake was the Lok Sabha elections where NDA decimated the Congress and severely truncated NCP.
After decades of declining economic power, the state has arrested the fall and turned around. Maharashtra is again the investment destination that it was for the four and a half decades after independence. The SME/MSME sectors are humming again and turnaround is round the corner. Infrastructure is the area that received the maximum push. In 2015 Maharashtra stood for unfinished roads, poorly maintained roads (Even the road to Ajanta Ellora was in a poor state), no efforts to enhance public transport, no care for neo-urbanisation and its challenges and badly clogged approaches to airports and sea ports.
The world is different now. Unfinished roads have been/are getting completed. Road maintenance has improved though not sufficiently. Public transport has received the maximum fillip. Nagpur, Pune and Mumbai Metros are already realities and the extent of work underway is mind-boggling. The public transport underway will solve the problems of the city for decades to come. One or two tough years we shall live with. In a city like Pune the metro connectivity will ensure that people will move out of the city to new urban centres. Clearance for airport, most notably the “always hanging fire Mumbai International Airport” and de-clogging of roads to seaports will again serve the state for a very long time.
The best parts about the infrastructure development are the excellent coordination between state and the central governments and the lack of corruption – which had reached institutionalised proportions under UPA.
In the year 2015, the agriculture in the state was moribund and irrigation projects mired in major corruption scandals. Water resource management was nowhere to be seen. Drinking water crisis loomed. The hegemony of APMCs has been now destroyed. These bodies were the tools in the hands of the mighty and powerful to squeeze the farmers and loot the consumers. And there was a complete monopoly so far as APMC was concerned. Changing the law and cutting these outdated and highly corrupt organisation to size ensured that the producers and the consumers could connect directly. This also broke the back of efforts to create artificial scarcity for onions, pulses etc. This helped not only the farmers but also the consumers across the country.
(This is the first part of the edit and remaining portion will continue tomorrow)
(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)
With few days remaining for Maharashtra assembly polls, political parties are leaving no stone unturned to woo voters. Every party is trying its best to put up an impressive performance in the election. Union Home Minister Amit Shah expressed confidence that Shiv Sena and BJP will get majority. Shah also added that BJP could get enough seats to form government on its own. Shah said that even Shiv Sena has an alliance with BJP but Chief Minister will be elected from BJP. He stated that Devendra Fadnavis and his team will take a decision pertaining to electing Deputy Chief Minister. Amit Shah is ensuring that all the votes which would have gone to MNS will be diverted towards Shiv Sena. MNS already is involved in anti-BJP campaigning and in such a scenario there was a possibility of some votes going towards MNS. He is trying to ensure that people vote for Shiv Sena.
When our correspondent Nikhil Sagare spoke to BJP worker Avdhut Wagh he said, “We are trying to divert all votes towards our party. Congress and NCP should not secure any votes and BJP should get all votes. Our motto is Congress free India. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will be once again elected for second term. Fadnavis has said that if Shiv Sena is eyeing Deputy Chief Ministerial post then they should speak to BJP. Everything will be clear when results will come on 24th October.”
He said, “Party workers always put pressure on the alliance and party always thinks about its expansion. There is nothing wrong in this. BJP and Sena had contested the Lok Sabha polls together and had emerged victorious. We are contesting the assembly election together and will definitely win. Devendra Fadnavis will once again become the Chief Minister after assembly polls. He is the first chief minister of the state in nearly 50 years to complete a full five year tenure”
Congress spokesperson Hemlata Patil said, “No party will say that they will not win election. During election time every party says it. However people have different ideas.”
Amit Shah also predicted that National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will get two-thirds majority in the forthcoming assembly polls. Shah said that BJP will improve its performance as compared to previous assembly polls where it had won 122 seats and was 22 seats short of the halfway mark. The Sena which traditionally have been the big brother in the alliance could bag only 63 seats leading to shift in the balance of power between allies. Initially Sena refused to support BJP but later on both parties joined hands to form the government with BJP getting the chief minister’s post.
Responding to a question on whether BJP will consider having Shiv Sainik as deputy chief minister. Shah said, “This is an issue that Devendra Fadnavis and his team will take a call on. They along with BJP’s parliamentary board will exchange opinions on the subject. All options are open right now.”
BJP is fighting on 164 seats in the upcoming state polls. When asked if the party would win enough seats to form the government on its own the Home Minister said, “Yes we can go that far. It is not impossible.”
On the other hand, Shiv Sena is eyeing the Deputy Chief ministerial post but BJP has remained non-committal on the issue. Polling for the 288 Assembly seats in Maharashtra will be held on October 21 and counting of votes will take place on October 24.
Electronic waste (also known as e-waste) is discarded electrical or electronic devices. Improper disposal and processing of this waste can lead to adverse human and environmental damages. There are now more mobile phones than the number of people around the world. With our tendency to just throw away products and continually purchase new ones, this creates a global e-waste problem.
Under the Environmental Protection Act 1986, the E-waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011 were enacted and became effective from 1st May, 2012. Thereafter, the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016 were enacted in super session of the 2011 Rules and came into effect from 1st October, 2016.
Every year the number is growing exponentially. According to ASSOCHAM, an industrial body in India the, Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of electronic waste is 30%. With changing consumer behaviour and rapid economic growth, ASSOCHAM estimates that India will generate 5.2 million tonnes of e-waste by 2020.
In total, it’s estimated that almost 50 million tons of e-waste will be generated in 2018. China led the way, with 7.2 million tons per annum, while the USA (6.3), Japan (2.1), India (2.0) and Germany (1.9) trail behind. Maharashtra ranks highest among the states followed by Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Delhi and Karnataka in the amount of e-waste generated. Mumbai, the business capital of the country, produces the most e-waste at 96,000 metric tonnes (MT) every year.
However, as per the estimates of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, illegal import of e-waste in the country stands at about 50,000 tonnes annually. Then there is the Customs Tariff Act that says new computers can be imported in India for free, but it does not mention anything on used computers. Up to 90 per cent of the world’s electronic waste is illegally dumped in India. India has become the dumping ground for our e-waste, everything from computers, phones, televisions and white goods are illegally being exported to India.
India refuses to be the dumping ground for the world’s plastic waste. The Indian government has announced a complete ban on the import of solid plastic scrap into the country, as it deals with its own plastic crisis. India has banned imports of waste plastic a year after China, the world’s biggest importer of scrap plastic implemented a similar ban on western imports. The move is to reportedly close the gap between waste generation and recycling capacity. India generates 26,000 tons of plastic waste every day.
The common practice for household refuse disposal in rural areas is to dump solid wastes openly in backyard gardens or in an open space. Such indiscriminate disposal is an environmental hazard and can threaten human health and safety. Solid waste that is improperly disposed of can result in a number of problems. It can create a breeding ground for pathogenic microorganisms and vectors of disease, and cause a public nuisance due to unsightliness and bad smell. It can cause contamination of surrounding soil, groundwater and surface water, and it can also create fire hazards, physical hazards and have poisoning effects (from pesticides and insecticides). However, these problems can be avoided by using appropriate management techniques.
For all waste management issues, your role should be to engage community members and families in awareness of the solid waste problems in their area and try to change their behaviour. In doing so, it should be possible to have a clean, attractive and sustainable environment. Proper management of e-waste will help your community prevent communicable diseases and safeguard the environment in a sustainable manner.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
Intelligence Bureau’s report indicated about misuse of Indian NGO’s for any anti-national agenda by foreign-contributors where it was revealed that India’s GDP has been adversely affected to big extent of 2-3 percent through such foreign-funding to NGOs. Many NGOs are said to have been funded for cultural evasion in India. Foreign-funded NGOs spend in rupees and receive funds in dollars by sending these foreign-contributors exaggerated photos and videos of events dramatised to get huge foreign-funding. Many NGOs are tools to divert foreign-funds of individuals.
Siphoning of government-funds for NGOs run by influential ones in political and bureaucratic circles in name of their family-members should be prevented by stopping any kind of direct or indirect funding of NGOs at public-expense including from funds at discretion of Parliamentarians and state-legislators. These NGOs pay lucrative salaries and perks to its officers who are either relation to power-filled politicians and bureaucrats, or of persons running these NGOs. Buildings built on land allotted on concessional rates to NGOs should become government-property because of large-scale funding already done to these NGOs by the government. According to a study-report, India has an NGO for every 400 citizens, where these institutions are mainly used as some business-shops by those ‘owning’ these! Any provision of tax-exemption for ‘donations’ made to NGOs should be abolished. However in the meanwhile all NGOs should be under purview of ‘Right-To-Information’ (RTI) Act and also of Lokpal.
Madhu Agrawal
Reserve Bank of India should issue gold and silver coins
Several private companies both Indian and foreign are making huge profits by marketing gold and silver coins by selling these at exorbitant prices with photos of celebrities (like Sachin Tendulkar) and Hindu gods and goddesses (like Lord Ganesha) embossed on these coins. Reserve bank of India (RBI) and Union Finance Ministry should take immediate steps to stop sale of such profit-making coins in gold or silver. Gold and silver coins issued in British regime are available in plenty as duplicates because of their popularity as auspicious and gift items even though fabrication of fake gold and silver coins is crime.
Union government should take steps to counter the menace. RBI can issue official 24-carat gold in Rs 25000 denominations with weight of 5 gms. in tamperproof numbered plastic-packing to avoid fake coins. Face value of coins can be increased with rise in gold-price. Likewise pure silver coins of 10 gms can be issued in denomination of Rs 1000.
Only RBI should be authorised to issue round-shaped gold and silver coins (commemorative ones) to be easily available through all RBI offices, select branches of public-sector banks and post-offices. System will be net revenue earning for Union government because suggested plastic-packed coins will never come in actual circulation.
Subhash Chandra Agrawal
Parks are our oxygen chambers
All cities and towns have small or big parks. Public parks serve not only as a place to relax but also to remind people about the importance of flora and fauna and the need to protect the environment. Though most of our cities and towns have parks how many of these are well maintained? Well the less said the better. Let us not forget that these parks -big or small are in fact the lungs of a city. Not only do these cute little lush green spots serve as a relaxation hub for the elderly and the young but are spots that provide fresh air in a polluted urban atmosphere. A study into the parks of our cities will give us a shocking revelation in how much the authorities concerned give importance to the parks. Most of the parks turn out into wasteland and dumping yards due to lack of maintenance, negligence and sheer ignorance by the local bodies.
Some of the parks sadly are put in the hit list as corporations and municipal bodies plan to convert them into shopping malls and other concrete monsters. The parks in most of the cities, once aplenty with lush green trees, flowers, play areas for kids today have become public urinal spots and at night haunted by pimps and drug pushers. If local municipal authority is unable to maintain then let them hand over these spots to companies and organisations who are ready to take up the maintenance of these parks. The residents, young and old, also have to take part in the maintenance of parks. Let us not forget that these green treasures are the bridge connecting us to mother nature and serving as oxygen chambers in an otherwise highly polluted environment.
M Pradyu
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
Former Shiv Sena MLA Harshvardhan Jadhav’s residence in Aurangabad district was vandalised by unidentified persons in the early hours of Thursday after he allegedly made demeaning remarks against Uddhav Thackeray at an election rally, police said.
A car and window panes of Jadhav‘s home were damaged in the attack that took place around 1.30 am, a police official said.
His wife and two sons were present inside the house at the time of the incident.
Jadhav, who is contesting the October 21 state polls as an Independent from Kannad in Aurangabad, at a rally here on Wednesday allegedly made some objectionable comments against Thackeray over the induction former Congress minister Abdul Sattar into the Sena, the police official said. Sattar is the Shiv Sena’s nominee from Sillod Assembly constituency in the district.
After a purported video of Jadhav’s comments went viral on social media, some angry Shiv Sena workers went to CIDCO police station on Wednesday evening and demanded registration of a case against him.
Around 1.30 am on Thursday, some unidentified persons attacked his residence with stones, damaging a car and window panes, the official said, quoting the complaint filed by the Jadhav’s wife.
“The people who attacked our house were shouting slogans like ‘Jai Bhawani, Jai Shivaji‘,” the complainant, Sanjana Jadhav, told reporters on Thursday.
Security has been stepped up at Jadhav’s residence and police personnel have also been deployed at his another house in the district, the police official said.
Jadhav last year resigned from the Sena after being miffed with the party leadership over the issue of reservations for the Marathas, Dhangars and Muslims. He later floated his own outfit – Shiv Swarajya Bahujan Paksh.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena’s district president and MLC Ambadas Danve told news agencies that the party workers were angry with Jadhav over his “disgraceful” remarks against Thackeray. “We will teach him a lesson, but after the elections,” he said.
“We are unaware of who attacked his residence. We will not take any action against him right now as he might get sympathy of voters. Hence, we will wait for the polls to conclude,” Danve said.
As Maharashtra is going to polls on October 21, the 2019 Global Hunger Index published on the eve of World Food Day is a big blow for the ruling BJP. In Global Hunger Index, India is placed at 102nd position out of 117 countries. It is even 8-spot behind Pakistan which is placed at 94th position. India is ranked below Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh. China is at 25th place in this list. It is shameful situation for a fast growing economy like India which is eyeing to be five trillion dollar economy. Global Hunger Index indicates that India fails in feeding its population and there is serious level hunger in the country.
As per Global Hunger Index in 2015, India was ranked at 93rd place. In 2017, it was placed at 100th position. Now in 2019, India is ranked at 102nd position. Thus, during the tenure of PM Narendra Modi, India slipped in ranking. It means that serious level hunger increased in the country during this period. On the other hand, countries like Pakistan and Nepal have improved their condition during the same period.
When our correspondent Nikhil Sagare spoke to Congress spokesperson Dr Raju Waghmare he said, “The BJP-Shiv Sena government doesn’t care about poor, Adivasi, Dalits. Their policies are anti-poor. If India ranks below Pakistan and Bangladesh in Global Hunger Index then it doesn’t augur well for the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah talks about development but nation has not made any progress.”
“In the year 2014-15 if India’s rank was in 90’s and now the nation has slipped to 102 then BJP-Sena must do some self-introspection. We will raise this issue while campaigning for election,” he added.
Global Hunger Index has given a shot in the arm for the opposition in poll-bound Maharashtra. The NCP and Congress will raise this issue to attack Devendra Fadnavis government. Marathwada and other regions of the state have been facing drought for last couple of years. Farmers are still committing suicide. People are forced to migrate in search of livelihood. In this scenario, Global Hunger Index assumes significance.
Shiv Sena leader and deputy chairperson Maharashtra legislative council Neelam Gorhe said, “The Global Hunger Index is entire India’s Average Hunger Index. In Maharashtra tribals are lagging behind in development. These figures must be looked at analytically for changing the policies. Since last 2 to 3 years due to global warming drought and heavy rains have occurred. It’s an alarming situation. This is not a political issue and is related with humanity.”
In Melghat of the state, malnutrition claimed lives of thousands of children in past. The situation is not better even today. Similarly, Latur region of the state also depicts very sad picture of development. Vidarbha is known as the suicide zone of farmers. Gadchiroli like areas are far away from the race of development. So, malnutrition and hunger prevail in these areas of Maharashtra. Condition of children and women of these areas is very pitiable. This puts a big question mark on the claim that Maharashtra is one of the most developed state of India.
BJP spokesperson Madhav Bhandari said, “Who has released this index. Who is raking up this issue ahead of election? If India is lagging behind Pakistan and Bangladesh then it is false survey. A probe must be held to ascertain who has released this survey.”
It is remarkable that India is suffering from economic slowdown. But Modi government is continuously denying any crisis. Recently, World Bank and the Reserve Bank of India cut the GDP growth rate to 6 per cent for financial year 2019-20 on account of economic slowdown in the country. Therefore, Global Hunger Index can be an eye opener for the government. This situation jeopardises the people’s health and children’s growth and development.
NCP MLC Vidya Chavan said, “Women & Child Welfare Minister Pankaja Munde has failed to deliver. Nowadays no commodity is available on ration. Earlier kerosene was available through ration. Children used to get nutritious meal at schools but now corruption has increased. The government spends lumpsum money on advertisements.”
Global Hunger Index is prepared on the basis of four factors undernourishment, child mortality, child wasting (low weight for height) and child stunting (low height for age). For last fifteen years, Global Hunger Index has been published by Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide.
As per report, India has been ranked much below to China (25th), Nepal (73rd), Myanmar (69th), Sri Lanka (66th) and Bangladesh (88th). India is placed at the lowest position among south Asian countries. The condition of only 15 countries in the world is worse than India, which are African countries. Forty-three countries, including India have serious level of hunger.
One more kid from Mumbai slums reached Hollywood and became blue eyed boy by stealing the red-carpet at Oscar awards. He has become the most popular child star of the awards season. Though he could barely speak English, Sunny’s bubbly, charismatic presence more than made up the communication shortcomings, with the cooperation of the entire film crew. Sunny was selected from around 2,000 talented children in a hunt in schools all over India, culminating in the final auditions held in Mumbai and Pune some one-and-half year ago. Sunny Pawar reclined in the limelight at the 89th Academy Awards ceremony where he won accolades from the audience having some of the world’s greatest actors after re-enacting a scene from The Lion King with host Jimmy Kimmel.
Sunny is cast in the role of a young Saroo Brierley, who was stranded in a train which catapulted him hundreds of kms away from home to busy Kolkata. There, he lived on the footpaths, before a young Australian couple adopts him. The elder version of Saroo was played by Dev Patel in the film. Dev Patel who became famous after working in popular film called “Slumdog Millionaire”.
Sunny is class 3 student of the “Air India Model School” where he is good in studies. His father former government office sweeper, and mother Vasu a home-maker and stay in a slum in Kalina in the western suburbs of Mumbai, near the airport. Despite his meek background, Sunny and his father went pin to polls for his auditions in Hollywood movie. One after another Sunny got two Hollywood movies but he has so far got no offer for Bollywood movies. This exactly happened with Rubiana Ali and Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, both 9 years old, starred in an Oscar-winning motion picture Slumdog Millionaire. Their lives made the gossip columns and headlines in our country — and overseas.
Azhar was reportedly slapped by his father when the boy after having begging fatigue after returning back from the Academy Awards in Hollywood, refused to give an interview his father had apparently promised. Meanwhile, Rubiana was supposedly in the middle of a custody tug-of-war between her biological mother and the stepmother who raised her. These children overnight became famous by grabbing every headline and being in lime light but now no one knows where they are or what they are doing. The various political parties promised to look after those two Slumdog children — including the movie’s director, Danny Boyle — might benefit from the experience of the Salaam Baalak Trust, which was formed to look after the kids who were part of another Western-financed movie made in India.
Set up by the producers of Salaam Bombay, the trust looked after the welfare of 27 slum children who were part of Mira Nair‘s film about Mumbai street kids, which was nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar 20 years ago. With several thousand dollars raised at the film’s premiere, the trust provided the children with an education and a safe place to live, as well as medical treatment and counselling. But despite the best efforts of the trust, most of the children took to petty crime.
Hansa Vithal, the only girl in the Salaam Bombay group, has married and now lives in Bhayandar, a western suburb of Mumbai. Meanwhile, Shafiq Syed, the lead child actor of the movie, led a roustabout life for years before ending up as an auto-rickshaw driver in Bangalore. He roamed the streets of Mumbai, knocked on the doors of producers for nearly eight months, but luck did not smile. In 1993, he returned to Bangalore and began life anew. Now he has three children who are studying. He is also writing a screenplay and hopes it will get made into a film someday.
When a slum child becomes famous and earns money, all sorts of challenges encounter them. With whatever they earned managing life ahead becomes challenge because all of sudden many unknown relatives start claiming the funds. There are very few NGO’s who try to ensure that resources and efforts are spent on education.
There are many NGO’s like Salaam Baalak, Kids with Cameras, set up to look after the eight children of prostitutes featured in the 2004 documentary Born into Brothels, fared much better with its wards. The children were taught to take photographs and sell them. The kids have earned over $100,000, which goes directly to fund their education. Two of the children have gone on to study in the U.S. Still, the kids have to make the choice themselves to better their lives. Some of them have great difficulty doing so. One of the girls has apparently fallen back into the darkness the film was trying to save her from. Local police say she was once rescued from the Sonagachi red-light district, the focus of the documentary, and housed in a juvenile-welfare home until February 2006. But soon after she was released, she returned to the trade.
Slumdog director Boyle and the film’s producer, Christian Colson, have said that resources will be made available to pay for Rubiana’s and Azhar’s education until they turn 18. A “substantial lump sum” as well as housing will also be given to the children when they complete their studies. The producers have also arranged for a rickshaw to take the children to a non-profit English-language school, Asheema, for the next eight years, just to make sure they attend. Already there are signs of new affluence in the kids’ slum dwellings.
According to India’s most recent census, the country has 115 million kids out of school. Many millions of them, it can be inferred, make their lives in the teeming and desperate streets. And they have no film protectors to help them. The horror has no end for them. But the children, who are picked by these Hollywood filmmakers, should be given good future and counselling to lead a better life. Hope Sunny Pawar makes better future and sustain with all odds when light, camera and sounds are off.
(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)
India started with 36 such centres where women can get all the help in one place, and it has now increased them to more than 300 centres. In order to help women in rural areas deal with domestic violence, various centres have also set where women can get police action, psychosocial help, medical care and legal assistance.
For rural women, new initiatives are particularly urgent in matters of agricultural production, cottage and small-scale industry, credit, marketing, energy, technology, potable water supply, sanitation, primary health care, education and training.
Additionally, rural women have to face difficulties in engaging in income-generating activities because of their general lack of modern education and training and their hard and time-consuming responsibilities in the above- mentioned tasks of food processing (e.g. pounding and other processing of grain). And the fetching of fuel and water, often requiring many hours of work a day.
In respect of agricultural production, women’s work must be treated as the important part of the farm family’s work that it is an extension and other services should be designed to meet women’s as well as men’s needs.
The majority of rural women in developing countries are also in great, sometimes desperate, need of improved water supply and sanitation facilities. Gandhiji’s vision is that women must play an equal and important role in national development. However, the movement for raising the socio-economic status of women had involved generally the middle-class educated women in major urban centres while the great mass of rural women are yet to enjoy the rights and privileges as enshrined in the Constitution. Women exploitation is a serious problem and the question is that why an exploited woman lives in society, cannot have any right to get justice even after introducing various laws in favour of Indian women. In our day to day life, we have seen and heard various news regarding gang rape, minor rape, kidnapping and then murder of girls. There are so many several issues of women exploitation in India. In India, when a woman is sexually harassed or exploited by someone and wants to get justice in favour of her then she is pressurised by her parents and society to not go for the help of police.
Without the active participation in rural development of women, no strategy is going to succeed within the foreseeable future. A key challenge today is how to strengthen women’s capacities to identify technological needs, and to create and adapt technologies in light of social needs and resource constraints.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
Reserve Bank of India issuing statements like your money is safe with the Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) bank is ridiculous. It is like the monkey who took away my banana, ate it, and then says, “Your banana is safe in my stomach”.
JubelD’Cruz
Patriotic films impart important message to viewers
Actor Chiranjeevi’s Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy has become a mega block buster and is about to break records at the box office in India and abroad. The historic period movie based on the life of Telugu freedom fighter has been raking in the moolah right from the day the film was released. Splendid histrionics by actors Chiranjeevi, Amitabh Bachchan, Vijay Sethupathi, Nayantara, Tamanna and a list of other actors plus mind blowing cinematography, excellent camera work, heart touching dialogues, beautiful narration and above all potions of patriotism and secularism wonderfully injected make the film a must see.
Films with subjects like patriotism and nationalism based on true stories if infused with good story line, screenplay, direction and blending it with hi-tech cinematic effects and carefully written scripts can make for interesting viewing .J P Dutta’s Border, Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s 1942 a love story, Mani Ratnam’s Roja, Chetan Anand’s Haqeeqat, Anil Sharma’s Gadar Ek Prem Katha and recently Uri – The Surgical Strike are films that had patriotism as the subject and did wonders at the box office . These patriotic films besides providing immense entertainment serve as a guide for the younger generation to invite the essence of our freedom struggle, our love for the mother land, lessons to be learnt about our great martyrs and soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the mother land.
M Pradyu
Confusing system of naming high courts
Indian cities Bombay, Madras, Allahabad have since been renamed as Mumbai, Chennai and Prayagraj respectively long time back. But high courts located in these cities are still officially named after old names of these cities. System should be that names of high courts may get auto-changed with change in names of cities.
It is significant that except for some high courts, all other high courts are named after states of their jurisdiction. An RTI response had revealed that while all the high courts constituted after independence were named after respective main states of jurisdiction, high courts constituted by British regime in pre-independence era continue to be named as per British legacy on basis of cities of their existence even after 70 long years of independence.
Union government should end the British legacy by naming all high courts after names of cities. Proposed legislation should incorporate feature that names of high courts may be automatically changed with change in name of states or cities without needing any separate legislation.
Madhu Agrawal
Kudos to Abhijit Banerjee
Abhijit Banerjee has been awarded the Economics Nobel Prize along with his wife Esther Duflo for their research on how to alleviate poverty. He is also tenth person of Indian origin or citizenship to win a Nobel Prize. The research conducted by the 2019 Economic Sciences Laureates has considerably improved our ability to fight global poverty. In just two decades, their new experiment-based approach has transformed development economics, which is now a flourishing field of research.
Nikhil Akhilesh Krishnan
Ganguly’s new job as BCCI president
The recent unanimous nomination of Sourav Ganguly as BCCI President ahead of its AGM on October 23 is welcome. The appointment of Sourav Ganguly comes at a crucial time when the Indian team needs support of strong administrator and Sourav Ganguly does fit the bill accordingly. As an experienced player and a successful captain who has amassed huge victories for India is known for his leadership and now with BCCI Top post- he will definitely deliver when viewed the game from a player’s perspective.
BCCI should now take more interest in grooming First Class cricketers as the same have not got their due of late. The need to adhere to Committee of Administrators, the Lodha Committee and Hon’ble
Supreme Court recommendations should also be prominent objective of the newly appointed BCCI President. Further with the intense competition and talent arising from many corners of the country, BCCI’s premier coaching academy- the NCA should be given priority to train the young talent and give the best to the team.
Sourav Ganguly now has a tough task ahead of him- as he needs to take the confidence of all the stakeholders like players, coaches, selection panel, IPL tournament and its franchises, state level bodies, administrators, broadcasters, Women’s Cricket, committee system and spectators to lead from the front. Issues related to dope testing and WADA affiliation, match fixing allegations, conflict of interest, co-ordiantion with CoA, adhereing to Lodha Panel recommendations and Hon’ble Supreme Court recommendations are some of the key matters to be resolved and that which needs an immediate attention from the BCCI’s newly appointed President.
Varun Dambal
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
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