“I’m a pansexual faerie,” Delevingne told Variety during an exclusive one-on-one interview at Comic-Con adding that there are other queer characters in the show.
“All faeries generally are,” she said. “They don’t see gender. It’s all about who they are and their hearts. A lot of the things that weren’t written in the script, we made them so. Obviously, I didn’t say, ‘I want to be a pansexual faerie,’ but it made sense that all faeries kind of just love who they love.”
‘Carnival Row’ is set in a neo-Victorian fantasy world where immigrant creatures resettle in human land after their homeland is invaded by man.
“It’s really talking about immigration and refugees and classism and sexism, racism and elitism,” Delevingne said.
The actress’s co-star in the series Orlando Bloom spoke to Variety on Friday before the ‘Carnival Row’ panel at Comic-Con. “It’s so current and topical,” he said.
“It sort of addresses a lot of what we are experiencing today but with the added component of a fantasy period sort of feeling. We can explore these issues that are going on in the world today with a kind of empathy and objective quality that doesn’t feel like it’s banging you over the head,” Bloom added.
Carnival Row premieres on Amazon Prime Video on August 30.
‘The Lion King‘ director Jon Favreau recently opened up about remaking the 1994 classic and also talked about working with singer Beyonce during an interview for ‘The Big Ticket‘ podcast’s two-episode ‘Lion King‘ special.
The idea of remaking ‘The Lion King’ struck Favreau while he was making the 2016 live-action adaptation of ‘The Jungle Book‘.
“I knew that with the tools that we had and what the technology had to offer and the team that had done such a great job on ‘Jungle Book’ that there was an opportunity here to show the naturalism of that world,” Favreau said during the an interview.
“I understood how to make animals act and talk through animation. I understood how to direct animation too because there were some sequences in ‘Jungle Book’ that didn’t have Mowgli in them. Those scenes were completely CG. I was comfortable directing the animators,” he informed.
‘The Lion King’ stars Donald Glover, Beyonce, Billy Eichner, Seth Rogen, Chwitel Ejiofor and Keegan-Michael Key. The film released on July 19 is headed for a whopping USD180+ million opening weekend.
As some critics hit the movie for being too much similar to the original movie, Favreau defended his decision not to introduce much change to the 1994 film.
“Everybody’s got their own formula. I’m not saying this is the way you do it, but it’s the way I’ve done it,” he said. “You don’t want to reinvent it completely. You want people to see it and be able to say, ‘I saw ‘The Lion King’.”
For Favreau, Beyonce’s ballad ‘Spirit’ is a stand-out among original elements.
“Everybody was just blown away. She played it and then I think what I said was, ‘Do you mind playing that again?'” Favreau recalled.
“And we played it again and because [was] I just digging this because she’s here? I’m here with Beyonce as she’s playing this song for me. Is that affecting my read? Am I being objective enough? And it was like, no, these lyrics are good. This works.
The hawkers menace in Mumbai and its suburbs is getting from bad to worse. Majority of these hawkers sitting on the roadside do not even have a license to sell their products. The concerned authorities should take a stern action against them as they are a nuisances to the public.
Jubel D’Cruz
Congress has lost a hardworking leader
It was stunning to hear that Sheila Dikshit the longest-serving chief minister of Delhi passed away. She was unparalleled personality and great daughter of the country specially for the Congress who worked for the development of Delhi in her tenure.
There is no room for doubt that she will be remembered forever because of her copybook services for the upliftment of Delhi and Congress party.
I would like to extend my deepest condolences with all the well wishes and heartfelt sympathies to her family members and Congress.
Mohd Azim
Temporary reprieve for Kulbhushan Jadhav
Pakistan is a terrorist nation and they have scant respect for laws in their land even if diktats come from the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The ICJ has asked Pakistan to review death sentence on Jadhav which they feel is a victory for them as Kulbhushan remains in their possession and mere review doesn’t guarantee his safety and release. A nation where ‘adalats’ are even bad than ‘anadi courts’, it just seems a temporary relief for Kulbhushan Jadhav and India will have to explore other options for his release.
Sportsman Imran Khan as PM does give some hope as his good office did release Abhinandan a few months back. Prime Minister Narendra Modi should speak directly with his counterpart and can even ask cricketers like Gavaskar or Kapil Dev who are on good terms with Imran Khan to pressurize the Pakistan PM to release Jadhav. It would also be a good opportunity for Imran Khan to begin peace talks with India with this gesture as freeing Jadhav would certainly create good will.
S.N. Kabra
No Bill-No Payment drive
The Hon’ble Ministry of Railways are now adopting smart ways to ease passenger burden and avoid confusion while buying food on trains and at railway premises. Social media platforms are now abuzz with extensive awareness campaign on the recently introduced ‘No Bill- No Payment’ drive under its catering policy. Through such effective campaigns passengers are now made aware of their consumer rights to demand bills for food purchased at railway stations and on board trains.
Further Indian Railways should now strive to find an innovative way to sell food on train and thus help passengers get away with the nuisance of cash shortage and unnecessary tips menace especially on premium trains. A possible study to understand the system of consumer food purchase mechanism as followed across other railway networks globally may perhaps be a value addition to the Hon’ble Ministry and may help to enhance the quality of food served on trains in India.
Also better innovation through smart card based food purchase system and enhancing the existing rail food app based booking features to be user friendly is essential to be looked into by the Railways. Nevertheless quality of food served and excellent and hygienic method of food packing system thus forms an important aspect otherwise to the passengers who pay to buy food.
Varun Dambal
Start one-time toll tax on purchase of new vehicles
It refers to Union Ministry of Road Transport considering idea of reducing number of cash-lanes at toll-plazas to encourage digital-mode of payment to pay toll-tax. But it will create problems for casual users of highways. Multiple number of toll-plazas at expressways and highways cause unnecessary hindrance in otherwise smooth fast traffic. Many unauthorised toll-plazas have also been set up in connivance with local politicians and police for unauthorizedly looting unaware public.
Best step is to replace toll-system by charging one-time toll-tax on purchase of new vehicles like system exists for charging one-time road-tax on purchase of new vehicles. All concerned including vehicle-users and transport-authorities welcomed system of one-time payment of road-tax avoiding cumbersome procedure of paying and collecting road-tax.
Amount collected through one-time toll-tax on purchase of new vehicles can then be utilised for developing and maintaining highways without necessitating toll-plazas as big hurdles causing queues at toll-plazas. One-time toll-tax can be fixed according to ex-showroom price of new vehicles so that people having costly cars may have to contribute more than those purchasing economy cars. People paying extra clubbed with cost of new vehicle will never mind because of facility of toll-free movement in future.
Madhu Agrawal
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
In the past many senior cops resigned from the services and joined politics, hardly anyone is successful in their second career but this trend is not new. Former Mumbai police commissioner Satyapal Singh is now holding ministry in BJP, he too resigned from services in 2014 to join politics. One more Senior Police Inspector in his age of 60s resigns from services and opts for politics and retirement plan. In the ’80s, the cops from the famous “Batch of ’83” cracked the underworld. He ruled the headlines in media and many movies too were made on him. Pradeep Sharma has offered his resignation from the Maharashtra Police and is likely to join politics. He has more than 113 encounters to his name.
This was an era when criminals actually peed in their pants at the sight of khaki uniform. The gangs were eliminated and encountered; Pradeep Sharma was one of the prominent names.
The encounter specialist those days aligned with politicians and senior police officers for their vested interests. Some of the encounter specialists amassed disproportionate assets, while others parked their ill-gotten wealth in philanthropist activities. Pradeep Sharma was recently inducted back in service after few years of suspension. He was suspended for his alleged involvement in fake encounter case of Lakhan Bhaiya. Sharma and 13 other policemen were arrested in the case and later suspended in 2008. In 2013, Pradeep Sharma came back after his acquittal. The then Congress-NCP government was reluctant to induct Sharma back in service, but he was finally taken back after he threatened to join politics. Pradeep Sharma was also known for his network in the underworld. He joined police service in 1983. In the ’90s, he was part of the Mumbai crime branch team, which was given a free hand to end underworld activities from Mumbai. Sharma had also arrested Dawood’s brother Iqbal Kaskar and busted an extortion racket.
Sharma, who was to retire in May 2020, submitted his resignation on July 4 to the director general of police, it is yet to be accepted. In 2014 too, Sharma had tried to secure a party ticket for the assembly polls but failed. Sharma hails from a village in Dhulia. After graduation, he gave the MPSC exams to join the force as a sub-inspector. Sharma, along with his 1983 batchmates Vijay Salaskar, Praful Bhosle, Ravindra Angre, Arun Borude, Aslam Momin and Raju Pillai, formed a formidable team that was responsible for “cleaning up the city of organised crime”. Former DGP Arvind Inamdar trained them. His career has seen several ups and downs. Sharma’s first posting was as sub-inspector at Mahim police station in 1984. He shot dead gangsters Vinod Matkar, Parvez Siddiqu, Rafiq Dabbawala and Sadik Kalia. Sharma also made it to the cover of Time magazine when his team gunned down three suspected LeT terrorists in Goregaon. The gangs were almost decimated by the encounter specialists. The scorecard led with the names of big hits like gangsters Sada Pawle, Amar Naik and others. Arun Gawli, the only gangster from Mumbai who had not escaped India, was so terrified that he decided to join politics.
The Dawood gang actually stopped recruitment of hitmen. Abu Salem went globetrotting and abandoned the perpetration of reckless killings in Mumbai. Ashwin Naik took refuge in an obscure hideout in New Delhi. The encounter specialists became power centres of their own and began calling the shots. Eventually the race for getting the maximum head count created animus within the group, each one accusing other of favoring a particular gang. But that is another story.
These officials known as encounter specialists killed more than 300 gangsters in the late 90s. Bollywood made many movies based on the life of these encounter cops. In later years, however, most of these cops got embroiled in controversies.
Pradeep Sharma was inducted back to service after been arrested for his alleged involvement in the Lakhan Bhaiya fake encounter along with 13 other policemen. Sharma remained suspended till 2013. The then Congress-NCP government was however reluctant to induct Sharma back into the service but later changed their decision after he threatened to the government to join politics. During his tenure in the Thane Police, he arrested Dawood Ibrahim’s brother Iqbal Kaskar and burst ‘D’ Company’s extortion racket.
On August 31, 2008 the Maharashtra government dismissed Pradeep Sharma for involvement and contacts with criminals. Police obtained telephonic interceptions of Sharma’s conversations with criminals and about criminal activities while the Intelligence Bureau provided intelligence implicating Sharma in the activities of the Dawood Ibrahim gang. However, Sharma is amongst several officers of the encounter squad facing official inquiries. Sharma professed his innocence, described his dismissal as wrongful and accused the Chhota Rajan gang of framing him. Police and media sources speculate that the Chhota Rajan may target Sharma and hence he has been granted police protection round-the-clock; although dismissed officers are not entitled to police protection. Several media sources have nicknamed him “Bombay’s Dirty Harry.”
Pradeep Sharma’s family was originally from Agra of Uttar Pradesh before moving to the state of Maharashtra. His father was a professor of English in a degree college in the town of Dhule. Pradeep Sharma was born in the Brahmin family and completed his education from primary to MSc in Dhule, Maharashtra. He joined the State Police Service in 1983 as a sub-inspector. He was first posted to the Mahim police station in Mumbai and was moved to the special branch in Juhu, Mumbai. Rising through the ranks, he went on to head the police stations in other suburbs of Mumbai, and became a senior Inspector in the crime intelligence unit of the Mumbai police. His career spanned 25 years, during which he earned fame for the successful “encounter killings” of as many as 312 criminals, including notorious crime bosses and terrorists belonging to the Lashkar-e-Taiba. He was one of the most famous officers of the Mumbai Encounter Squad. But then his career took a downward turn when he was entangled in the custodial death of terror suspect Khawaja Yunus in 2003.
In 2016 he was reinstated in the force. After joining as head of Thane crime branch anti-extortion cell, Sharma arrested Dawood’s brother Iqbal Kaskar and busted a major extortion racket. With polls round the corner, he decided to quit…He has met senior leaders of a party. Sharma is likely to contest the upcoming assembly elections on a Shiv Sena or BJP ticket.
(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)
Encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma has tendered his resignation from Maharashtra police. He is likely to contest assembly elections from BJP or Shiv Sena seat from either Andheri or Nalasopara. Sharma has forwarded his resignation to senior police officer. During his reign as encounter specialist Sharma has conducted more than 113 encounters in his name. He has also arrested Dawood Ibrahim’s brother Iqbal Kaskar.
Senior Advocate Sushan Kunjuraman said, “Pradeep Sharma has taken a right step to quit police force and join politics. Mumbai police department is totally corrupt. Senior police officer suppresses their subordinates. Hence, they quit police force. Mumbai police have failed to support officers who were involved in encounter activities. This is the reason many honest officers have quit the police force.”
“Honest police officers don’t get a free hand to discharge their duties. Competent officer’s feathers are being cut. Very few encounter specialists are remaining in the police department. Pradeep Sharma has realised that the seniors are not allowing him to flourish. He was suffocating and therefore, he quit the police force,” he added.
Pradeep Sharma had joined the Police department in 1983. He was posted at Thane crime branch. Currently, he is a senior police inspector in the tribunal squad of Thane Crime Investigation Department. He has resigned on July 4 and cited personal reason for his resignation. He has served the Mumbai’s crime branch as well as special branch for a large period of time. For the last two years, he has been working as head of the Thane tribunal team. His retirement was due next year. Since assembly polls are approaching Sharma had taken a decision to quit before his actual tenure.
Advocate Manisha Rote, Mahila Pradesh Congress General Secretary said, “People must do social work before joining politics. A candidate must be aware about social issues. Anyone is entering politics without knowing about social issues. They don’t understand about the incidents happening in society and needs of the people. Earlier, Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru used to connect with people at grassroot level. Today, politics has changed and it has become Hi-fi. Ethics is missing from politics. Injustice is happening against women and Muslims.”
Pradeep Sharma shares good relationship with many senior leaders of BJP including Shiv Sena. In Vasai and Nalasopara constituency Sharma is likely to contest polls against MLA Hitendra Thakur. Sharma has been participating in many social activities through PS Foundation since last few days. He also has been known for carrying out encounter of three terrorists of Laskhar-e-Taiba, Sadiq Kalya, Vinod Matkar, Suhas Makdwala and Rafiq Dubha.
BJP Rajya Sabha MP Amar Sable said, “Every Indian citizen has the right to vote in election and to contest election. If Pradeep Sharma has tendered resignation to join politics then it is his right.”
Sharma was recently reinstated in service after few years of suspension. The senior inspector was suspended for his alleged involvement in fake encounter case of alleged gangster Lakhan Bhaiya. Sharma and 13 other policemen were arrested in the case and later suspended in 2008.
In 2013, Pradeep Sharma came back after his acquittal. The then Congress-NCP government was reluctant to induct Sharma back in service, but he was finally taken back after he threatened to join politics. Pradeep Sharma was also known for his network in the underworld.
In the ’90s, he was part of the Mumbai crime branch team which was given a free hand to end underworld activities from Mumbai. These officials known as encounter specialists killed more than 300 gangsters in the late 90s. Bollywood made many movies based on the life of these encounter cops. In later years, however, most of these cops got embroiled in controversies.
At present, public sector banks are facing shortage of capital. Therefore, in order to improve the health of the public sector banks, a proposal to give 70,000 crore as recapitalization has been done in the budget. During the financial year 2018-19, Modi Government provided public sector banks to the tune of Rs.1.6 lakh crore as recapitalization, which till now has the maximum assistance given to public sector banks. This initiative of the government has helped 5 public sector banks to come out of the “Prompt Corrective Action” (PCA) framework. It is worth mentioning that since the financial year 2016, debt of Rs.17 lakh crore has been converted into Non Performed Assets (NPA). If seen, public sector banks have taken this step to clean their balance sheet. However, most of the banks in the country have provisioned more than 75 percent, due to which provision coverage of banks has reached the highest level of 7 years.
Recovery is accelerating from IBC’s provisions
Strictness in the banking sector and the implementation of various measures has accelerated recovery of NPAs. The amount of NPA has decreased by Rs.1 lakh crore. In the last four years, the banks have recovered Rs.4 lakh crore, thereby providing relief to the distressed banking sector. The speed at which banks are recovering with the help of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), it seems that the financial health of the banks will be even better in the coming months.
Initiatives to curb corruption
In order to curb corruption, a provision in the budget has made that no person will deposit cash in another person’s account. With the proposed provision, the account holders will be able to manage cash in their accounts and avoid unnecessary unsolicited troubles.
Merger of banks is beneficial
It is proposed to merge banks to make the banking sector more powerful. In the future, only 8 big government banks will be in the country. This will help banks get out of the PCA framework. Banks are inserted into the PCA framework only when the Reserve Bank of India believes that adequate capital is not available to bank to meet the risk and income from borrowed money is not receiving. Banks are therefore inserted in the PCA Framework, so that immediate steps can be taken to improve their financial health.
For inserting the name of banks in PCA framework, the Reserve Bank analyze the performance of certain fixed parameters such as cash reserve ratio (CRR), net NPA and receipt from assets etc. By the end of June 2019, there were 5 public sector banks in the PCA framework. After coming into PCA framework, banks are unable to lend to customers. Since the main source of income of the banks is to disburse the loan, therefore, the banks’ income is severely affected by a ban on this. For this reason, Punjab National Bank and Union Bank of India have suffered losses in the June quarter.
The goal of making an economy of 5 trillion dollars
In the budget speech, the Finance Minister said that India could achieve the goal of making an economy of 5 trillion dollars. For this, the infrastructure needs to be strengthened and the GDP rate should be maintained at 8% level. According to the speed at which the Indian economy is moving forward, the Indian economy in the current financial year could be worth 3 trillion dollars. According to the finance minister, the size of the Indian economy was 5 years ago, $ 1,850 billion, which has now increased to $ 2,700 billion. In the budget speech, the Finance Minister said that in order to achieve this, the government will have to resort to measures like enhancing private investment, increasing savings and consumption, generate employment, fiscal management etc.
In the economic survey presented on July 4, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that India’s GDP growth could be increased in 2019. According to the finance minister, India can become the fifth largest economy in the world by leaving behind the UK in the current financial year, despite the decline in foreign direct investment across the world during the last three years, FDI in India in 2018-19, has increased 6 percent which is more than $ 64 billion in amount. Recently, there has been an increase in direct tax. It has increased from Rs.6.8 lakh crore to Rs.11.37 lakh crore.
Conclusion:
It can be said that the Modi government is making serious efforts to improve the banking sector’s health. The government knows that the Indian economy cannot be made to 5 trillion dollars without reforming the banking sector. Providing capital to public sector banks, accelerating recovery under IBC, integration of banks, improvement in credit distribution, increase demand for various products, increase in employment generation etc. will improve the health of the banks. It is believed that by the help of these initiatives, the government will move forward towards making the Indian economy 5 trillion dollars.
By Satish Singh
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of AFTERNOON VOICE and AFTERNOON VOICE does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)
The Mahagathbandhan (or Grand Alliance), or MGB, or simply the Gathbandhan (Alliance), was an anti-Congress, anti-BJP, Indian political alliance formed in the run-up to the 2019 general election under the leadership of two former Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party and Mayawati of the Bahujan Samaj Party, along with Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya Lok Dal and several other political parties, contesting in different states of India. The main aim of the opposition was to dethrone NDA and most importantly BJP.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his policies and all his developmental projects were on target of the Mahagathbandhan. A day did not go without blaming the Prime Minister and all the leaders were showering abuses on the law maker and the opposition leaders were trying to make hey when the abuses were part and parcel of our political system. Over 56 abuses were showered on PM Modi and all thought that these abuses will fetch votes from the public. But the abuses did not attract vote bank and the voters turned towards the BJP and Modi in the end. The calculations of the Congress and the Gathbandhan went awry and in some constituencies the opposition ran for cover to get the deposit. NOTA did not come in the way to prevent BJPs surge as in Karnataka and to a certain extent in MP. The tables were turned and voices of Kejriwal, Mayawati, and Mamata all became silent in the wake BJPs victory march.
Mahagathbandhan opposed BJP’s Narendra Modi in the 2019 general elections. Accordingly, the Mahagathbandhan attempted to compete in the 2019 election using caste vote bank arithmetic. The Mahagathbandhan alliance was projected as a “bulwark against a second term for BJP”, but found little support among the voters and was virtually swept away. Mayawati blamed the general elections defeat of the alliance on the weakness within the Samajwadi party, its failure to consolidate the backward caste votes. Mayawati ended the alliance. The Samajwadi Party confirmed the undoing of the Mahagathbandhan.
Delhi Chief Minister was raising his voice more as he was sharing the capital with the Prime Minister. The mere tag of Chowkidar went a long way in promoting the ideology of the Prime Minister. Stepping up the “MainBhiChowkidar” campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has added “Chowkidar” to his Twitter handle name. Mr. Modi had only on March 16 tweeted that everyone who was “fighting corruption, dirt, social evils” and all those “working hard for the progress of India is a Chowkidar and it became a trump card slogan in the end. Kejriwal is trying to pitch himself as a national opponent against Modi. This is the reason why he has chanted ‘Modi-Modi’ since 2013 even more than the ‘Modi-Bhakts‘. He was simply working on the principle that if you say a lie a 100 times, it becomes a truth. And since Modi does not reply to him at all, this adds more to his frustration. Rahul did make Rafael cry but to no avail. The performance of the Congress under him performed slightly better and he quit as Congress President to save his name from the disastrous defeat. Now he is not uttering any word against PM and the parliament is also functioning normally.
Mamata Banerjee was at her vocal best in criticising the Prime Minister but she become very soft when she realised her antics were only futile attempt and PM is really powerful. Mamata Banerjee, who had surprised everyone by accepting the invitation to PM Modi’s oath-taking ceremony, has backed out a day before irked by BJP’s allegations of political violence in West Bengal. The oath-taking ceremony is an august occasion to celebrate democracy, not one that should be devalued by any political party she felt but backed out at the eleventh hour quoting some lame excuses. Hence, her voice was softened and that of Chandra Babu Naidu, who was raising his high pitch voice against EVM functioning and became a silent man like Kejriwal. The taste of power in certain pockets made all these leaders power hungry but they were made to eat humble pie in the end. In all the opposition has become submissive and the Gathbandhan has collapsed without recognition.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
Is BMC alone responsible for building collapses in the city?
BMC and the government alone cannot be held responsible for building collapses in the city. Citizens too have to be careful and alert when they buy properties in illegal structures that are in depleted state. They are risking their own lives by staying in depleted buildings just to save money by buying such properties because they are cheap. You cannot clap with a single hand and both the government and citizens are equally responsible for illegal structures in the city as they are in place because there are demand for such buildings.
A stitch in time saves nine and old buildings should be regularly repaired to prevent such mishaps. Corruption rules roost and BMC too should take action against their people who allow such contraction by accepting bribes. Cluster development in Mumbai is the need of the hour and rules for redevelopment should be relaxed for very old depleted buildings that need urgent attention!
S.N. Kabra
Who’stobeblamedfortheDongritragedy?
It is very sad that an old dangerous building at Mohammed Ali Road in Dongri area, had to come crumbling down on July 17, with so many people losing their lives and their property. It was a MHADA building and the MHADA owners are putting the blame on the BMC. The BMC in turn is putting the blame on someone else. Nobody is willing to take the blame on themselves. All they need is our votes. Lives lost cannot be brought back again. All we can do is pray for the dead. May their souls rest in peace.
JubelD’Cruz
Criminal tag continues for Kulbhushan
A first question arises about the coverage of this event by the Indian media is that how many articles have been published on this imprisonment since 2017. During the election campaign, how many times has the name of Kulbhushan Jadhav been pronounced by the political parties? These issues are important because in other countries when a citizen is imprisoned by another country for a particular reason – including for reasons related to espionage – there is constant pressure from the media – and also from civil society- so that we do not forget this national. But in India things are very different, but how can it be otherwise in a country where we quickly forget the past warring heroes and the sports champions who shined in world competitions. The discretion of the authorities on this case- discretion that can be justified – however, raises questions among the readers and certainly the citizens of the country. Let’s hope that the verdict meets the expectations of all concerned.
Nickhil Mani
Dwindling auto-sales
Declining auto-sales by 12-per cent in quarter-one of present fiscal-year 2019-20 is a matter of study when not only sale of cars but also commercial vehicles, three-wheelers and two-wheelers has declined significantly. Considering ever-increasing number of cars in urban areas causing problem of parking and road-space, reducing sale of cars is welcome. But at the same time, sale of alternate mode of travel including passenger-buses, two-wheelers and three-wheelers reflect adversely on economic aspects of the country.
It is time that capping on number of auto-rickshaws in cities like Delhi may be removed to make these available in such plenty (like e-rickshaws) that auto-rickshaw drivers may not afford to deny going to desired destination or over-charging, a usual feature in Delhi which necessitates having cars by middle-income families.
However sale of big cars occupying more road-space should be discouraged by doubling all government-levies including GST by imposing equivalent cess on cars with ex-factory price of say rupees 10 lakhs. Car-loans should not be allowed on such costlier cars. Since charity begins at home, all government-purchase of cars including by public-sector undertakings PSUs should be only from economy-range of cars.
Subhash Chandra Agrawal
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has been detained near UP’s Mirzapur on Friday on her way to Sonbhadra, where Section 144 has been imposed. She was going to Sonbhadra to meet the families of those killed in firing over a land dispute.
According to reports, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra sat on the road during a dharna with her supporters and was soon taken into preventive custody. Refusing to back down, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra told reporters, “We won’t be cowed down. We were only going peacefully to meet the victims’ families. I don’t know where they are taking me. We are ready to go anywhere.”
It is remarkable that ten persons were killed and over 24 injured in clashes over a land dispute in Sonbhadra district on Wednesday. The incident took place when a dispute arose over a piece of land between the Gujjar and Gond communities. Police have so far arrested 24 people in connection with the case for the mass murder and is conducting raids to nab all the accused. The village head Yagdutt, his brother and others were charged under the SC/ST Act on the plea of a local named Lallu Singh.
The Karnataka Assembly grappled with High Voltage drama on Thursday as Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy moved the confidence motion on the floor of the House. In an unprecedented move, Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar adjourned the assembly till Friday. Main opposition party the BJP threatened not to live the assembly and staged sit-in in the House.
Prior to this, amid hot debate the House was adjourned for half an hour and the Speaker met the Advocate General to seek legal opinion on whether to defer trust vote. The Congress asked the Speaker not to hold a trust vote till the Supreme Court made clear whether the party could issue a whip. On the other hand, the BJP accused the Congress of being power greedy and trying to defer trust vote. A delegation of senior BJP leaders also met Governor Vajubhai Vala at Raj Bhavan and requested him to direct Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar to hold a floor test immediately. Meanwhile, Governor told Speaker to consider holding the vote of confidence by the end of the day.
Bharathi Shetty, President of Karnataka Mahila Morcha, told Afternoon Voice, “Governor Vajubhai Vala has asked Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar to conduct voting on the confidence motion by 11.59 pm on Thursday. But it seems that they may defy his instructions. We are watching and if it not happens accordingly, we will be forced to knock the doors of the Supreme Court.”
It is worth mentioning that the Congress-JD(S) coalition government was on shaky ground after 15 Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) resigned. Of the 15 MLAs 12 are from the Congress and three are from the JD(S). While 12 rebel MLAs have reiterated that they would not return to the Congress, the party got a respite from legislator Ramalinga Reddy who said that he would vote in the favour of Congress-JD(S) government.
NCP MP and Advocate Majeed Memon said, “Now the confidence motion cannot be postponed. The Supreme Court has ordered clearly in this regard. The court has given free hand to all MLAs. They may take part in voting or abstain from it. The debate on the confidence motion may be prolonged but the floor test is compulsory.”
BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa said that the trust vote should be taken up without any delay as CM himself admitted he did not have the desired numbers to remain in power. So, there is no need for prolonged discussion on the issue. Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar allowed for a whip to be applied on all MLAs in the Assembly. He said, “This house holds the Supreme Court in the highest esteem. At the same time, let me make it extremely clear to the CLP leader that this office is not restraining you from doing or exercising any of authorities. I have no role to play in that.”
Congress leader and former CM Siddaramaiah said, “If we go ahead with the confidence motion and if the whip is applicable and they (rebel MLAs) don’t come to the house because of the SC order, it will be a big loss to the coalition government.” Siddaramaiah further said, “Till we get clarification on the Supreme Court’s previous order, it is not appropriate to take a floor test in this session which is against the Constitution.”
It is notable that the floor test came a day after the Supreme Court ordered the15 rebel Congress-JD(S) MLAs cannot be forced to participate in trust vote. The decision of the court was like the death knell for the Kumaraswamy government. As the 15 MLAs stayed away from the Assembly, the ruling coalition’s tally dropped to 102 and the coalition government reduced to a minority. Total 20 MLAs were not present in the Assembly. These included 15 rebel MLAs, two Independents, two Congress MLAs and the lone BSP MLA. The strength of the House, thus, became 204. Therefore, new majority mark was 103. The BJP has 105 MLAs. All BJP MLAs were present in the Assembly. Before the crisis began, the ruling combine had 117 MLAs — Congress 78, JD(S) 37, BSP 1, and nominated 1, besides the speaker. There are 225 MLAs in Karnataka Assembly, including the nominated MLA.
After moving the confidence motion, CM launched a bitter attack on the rebel Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) MLAs and the BJP for the political crisis in the state. He said, “I know the circumstances under which I have to face this trust vote. I have said earlier as well that power is not permanent.” During discussion, Congress minister Krishna Byre Gowda raised a Point of Order and said that the confidence motion, if put to vote before the Speaker’s decision on the resignation of the rebel MLAs would be incomplete. In such a scenario, the decision of this House would be questionable. However, BJP MLA JC Madhuswamy said that it was not a Point of Order. BJP MLA and former minister Suresh Kumar said that it was a pre-planned Point of Order aimed at distracting the House. BJP senior leader Jagadeesh Shettar also called it diversion from the main agenda and asked Speaker to disallow it. Water Resources Minister D K Shivakumar accused the BJP of abducting Congress MLA Shrimant Patil. But the Speaker said, “Matter of Shrimant Patil has been put forth and documents related to his travel were submitted to me. But, I cannot order for an enquiry into the issue.”
It is remarkable that the Congress-JD(S) alliance, which was hastily cobbled together in May last year to prevent the BJP from coming to power in the state it has governed, has been roiled by periodic dissent and open squabbling between the partners. The Congress-JD(S) managed to win just two of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka in the recent general elections. The BJP won 25 seats in the general elections.
Absent MLAs
Byrathi Basavaraj, Munirathna, ST Somashekar, Ramesh Jarkiholi, Roshan Baig, Srimanth Patil, Anand Singh, B Nagendra, R Shankar, K Gopalaiah, Narayana Gowda, MTB Nagaraj, BC Patil, H Vishwanath, Mahesh Kumthahalli, Prathap Gouda Patil, Dr Sudhakar, Shivaram Hebbar, N Mahesh and Nagesh.
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