17 Year Old Jharkh And Girl To Speak On Child Marriage In New York

17 Year Old Jharkh And Girl To Speak On Child Marriage In New York

RANCHI: A 17-year-old girl from Jharkhand has been chosen for a programme in New York where she will deliver a speech on child marriage.

Tabbu Afroz who is the daughter of a cycle mechanic based in Ranch district is the only participant from India to be named by the international NGO Breakthrough for the event for her efforts in her hometown to stop child marriages.

Deputy director of early marriage project of Breakthrough in Jharkhand, Chandra Nath Mishra said, "Tabbu is the only girl from India who has been selected to address the programme in New York. She has been selected after the initiative she took for preventing child marriages and making people in her town aware about the evils of child marriage."

When Tabbu was 15, her elder sister who was then 17 was made to quit school to get married. Tabbu had heard about child marriage being an offence in various programmes organized by NGOs in her school and convinced her parents and other family members to stop her sister's marriage.

In a previous meeting with TOI, Tabbu had said that when she started voicing protests against child marriage, her parents and family abused her and did not listen to her at all. She had said, "I had to take help of my teachers who contacted some NGOs and finally we succeeded in saving my sister from child marriage."

Since then Tabbu has been going around spreading the message against child marriage and making people of her locality realize why it is important for girls to study and choose a career.

Tabbu has recently taken admission in a Ranchi college while her elder sister who was to be married away is now 19, and pursuing a course in computers.

Tabbu's father, Mohammad Ramzan is very happy with the success of his daughter and is thankful to her for making him stop the marriage of his elder daughter.

He said, "We belong to a very poor family and our community does not have the trend of allowing girls for higher education. Instead, they are married off at a very young age. However, now that my daughters are studying, I feel really proud as I know that they are going to get good jobs and will have a better life." Source

Vijay Tendulkar’s Kamla Made Into A Serial

Vijay Tendulkar’s Kamla Made Into A Serial

One of Vijay Tendulkar's much acclaimed plays, 'Kamla', which was made into a film in 1985, is all set to hit the small screen in the form of a serial.

While the film had Deepti Naval playing Kamla's character with Shabana Azmi and Marc Zuber in important roles, the serial will introduce theatre artist Ashwini Kasar in the titular role while TV actors Akshar Kothari and Deepti Ketkar will play the other two characters.

Moving away from typical daily soaps that are ruling the roost on TV presently, the serial will highlight issues faced by women. Tendulkar's 'Kamla' was inspired by a real life incident where a journalist bids for a girl, in order to expose the flesh trade prevalent in a village. "The play is just an inspiration and the serial will raise many questions that plague women today," said Ajay Mayekar, director of the play. While the play focused on Kamla's plight and the journalist's mission of exposing the flesh trade, the serial will focus more on the life of journalist Devashish's wife Sharayu. "We have picked up from where the play ended and presented the story through Sharayu's point of view. Despite having the opportunity to make a career for herself, she sacrificed everything to support her husband.

'Kamla' will also be about Sharayu's inner conflicts and problems that arise when Devashish decides to marry Kamla on his lawyer's advice," informed VikasMayekar, writer of the play. Speaking about her role,Deepti said, "For me, this is a role of a lifetime and I think every woman will relate to Sharayu's journey." Source

Biopics Caught between banal Bollywood fantasy

Biopics: Caught between the banal and Bollywood fantasy

CHENNAI: The family of Raja Ravi Varma has objected to how the icon painter has been portrayed in the film 'Rang Rasiya' (literal meaning: 'colourful playboy'). The trailer seems to show Varma, instead of being enthralled by divine inspiration, as a voyeuristic womanizer.

'Rang Rasiya' may only be the latest in a series of biopics that have tried to fit that genre in a Bollywood mould — in which artistic licence extends to include maudlin melodrama and even the song-and-dance routine. 'Milkha Singh' and 'Mary Kom' used typical Bollywood gimmicks bordering on absurdity with an eye on the box office. Yet, both the films retained the services of the real-life Milkha Singh and Mary Kom as consultants and so there were no protests regarding the authenticity of the movie.

But in the case of 'Rang Rasiya', Indira Devi Kunjamma, the granddaughter of Varma, has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi against the film and sent a legal notice to director Ketan Mehta. "The book is a work of fiction and the filmmakers should clearly state it's a dramatized version of a Marathi novel and, therefore, based on a fictional, imaginary story," says C M Prasad, 57, great-grandson of Varma.

The film's problems indicate the difficulty Indian cinema has with the biopic genre, experts say. While the Bollywood fantasy mould is not a great fit for a biopic, the other danger is sanitization that pushes the film to the banal and the boring.

Film-maker Gnana Rajasekaran — who made the Tamil biopic 'Bharathi' about poet Subramaniya Bharathi, as well as two others on political leader Periyar and most recently about maths genius Srinivasa Ramanujan — says he does not believe in trading fact for fiction when making a film on a real-life person. "The farthest I've strayed in terms of 'invention' is perhaps to show the character of the person," says Rajasekaran, who now heads the government of Kerala's KR Narayanan National Institute of Visual Science and Art in Kottayam. "For instance, if the written biography states the person is timid, I make a scene to exhibit that personality trait."

But critics had panned Rajasekaran's 'Periyar', wondering how a film about one of the most interesting personalities of Tamil Nadu could have bored the audience in its attempt to be comprehensive and factual. Rajasekaran couldn't avoid being hagiographic about Periyar who defied convention in all its forms — from attending a nudist camp in his youth and rubbishing idols of Hindu gods to marrying a much younger woman in his ripe old age.

"Remember that biopics are anyway always about heroes and so most of them are hagiographic. There's no way anyone will make a critical biopic in cinema," says film-maker K Hariharan.

Rajasekaran says: "I never make up things about real-life people just to entertain the public because I feel the authenticity of the biopic is lost."  Source

Shiv Sena Join Government After Trust Vote Devendra Fadnavis

Shiv Sena Can Join Government Only After Trust Vote: Devendra Fadnavis

MUMBAI: BJP has turned the tables on Matoshree on Wednesday, making it clear that Shiv Sena can join the new government only after it backs the trust vote on November 12, which is the new regime's top priority now. NCP's statement last week that it will vote in favour of BJP, and not abstain from the trust vote, has apparently emboldened BJP to dictate terms to Sena.

Just a day earlier, Matoshree had issued an ultimatum to BJP on the issue, demanding that Sena ministers must be sworn in before the trust vote is moved in the state assembly. It meant a share in power was a pre-condition for the Sena's support.

However, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has virtually thrown the Sena ultimatum out of the window. Talking to mediapersons after the state cabinet meeting in Mantralaya, Fadnavis said cabinet expansion will take place only after his government proves its majority on the floor of the assembly. He added that the Sena ministers to be inducted in his team would be decided in New Delhi.

The government will have to win a trust vote at the special three-day session of the Maharashtra legislative assembly starting November 10. BJP wanted Sena to make up its mind on extending support by Saturday.

Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis along with his Cabinet ministers pays tribute to late Balasaheb Thackeray at Shivtirth in Mumbai. (PTI Photo)

Fadnavis's move has left the Sena with hardly any choice now: it will have to either opt for the opposition benches in the assembly, or quietly fall in line, say observers. Sena will decide its next move on at a meeting of party legislators on Sunday, it is learned. Uddhav Thackeray will spell out his party's position on the support issue and announce the name of the legislature party chief, sources said.

The Sena has for over a week been haggling with the BJP for more than 10 portfolios in the state cabinet, including the deputy chief ministership. While the BJP had summarily rejected the demand for the deputy chief minister's post, it had hemmed and hawed over the other demands, even as back channel negotiations were under way between the two former allies.

A section in the state BJP has apprehensions about seeking NCP support, considering that the latter was in Fadnavis's cross-hairs for a full five years, when he was the opposition leader, over corruption and financial scandals in the irrigation department. In his poll speeches in Maharashtra, Prime Minister Narendra Modi too had lashed out at NCP on the corruption issue.


Urban development minister Venkaiah Naidu chats with Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray at the swearing-in ceremony of Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai. (PTI Photo)

BJP has chosen NCP over Sena in view of the latter's unpredictable ways of functioning, said a key state BJP functionary on Wednesday. "We think that handling Sena as a post-poll partner would be a risky proposition vis-a-vis NCP. Matoshree has this habit of making new demands. Worse, it could even pull the rug from under the government's feet," he said.

With 63 MLAs, Sena is the largest party after BJP in the state assembly. If it decides to sit in the opposition, the party's legislature party leader would become the leader of the opposition.

Talk of Central berths for Sena

Reports that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to expand his ministerial team fuelled speculation on Wednesday that the PM may offer one Union cabinet portfolio and one minister of state berth to the Shiv Sena. However, a senior Sena functionary said there has been no official communication from the PMO on this. "We are not sure if the PM would induct two of our MPs in his ministry at this critical juncture," he said.

The names of several senior MPs were doing the rounds in Sena circles, including those of Sanjay Raut, Bhavna Gawli, Chandrakant Khaire, Anandrao Adsul and Anil Desai. BJP is likely to induct MP Hansraj Ahir and RPI chief Ramdas Athavale in the Union cabinet. Source

Dollar’s Ride Is About To End

Dollar’s Ride Is About To End

Under the stewardship of Shinzo Abe, the nation of Japan has become a global leader in debt, currency devaluation and inflation. Unfortunately for the Japanese, Abenomics is also leading Japan into a hyper inflationary depression, as the first of his three arrows has shot right through the yen and put a gaping hole in the wallets of every Japanese citizen.

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) has placed all its chips on the bet that inflation will cure all the nation’s economic problems. Making deflation public enemy number one is rather convenient when your country's public debt to GDP is the highest in the world. In order to end deflation, the central bank has purchased 70% of all newly-issued Japanese Government Bonds. All this money printing is intended to get prices rising, and it has been very successful. Japan's consumer prices rose 3.1 percent in August from a year earlier. Prices for fuel, light and water rose 6.4 percent on the year. But as real wages continue to fall, the bull’s eye appears to be directed on destroying the Japanese middle class.

In the nonsensical world of Abenomics--where inflation is viewed to be the progenitor of growth--the 3.1% CPI reading is deemed to be insufficient. This is because the core rate of 1.1 percent was far shy of the 2% read they are aiming for. So, as expected, there are calls coming from the lobotomized economic experts in Japan for yet more money printing from the BOJ.

Japan’s “experiment” with Abenomics would be much more interesting if we didn’t already know how it all ends. This so called experiment of massive debt monetization has already been tried in countries such as Weimar Germany and, more recently, in Zimbabwe; with disastrous results. The misguided policy of using inflation to create growth is predictably causing asset bubbles in JGBs and stocks. The BOJ is tirelessly printing money to monetize nearly all of the Japanese government’s enormous debt load and also to buy stocks. This has ballooned its equity portfolio alone to be an estimated 7 trillion yen ($63.6 billion). However, all this has done nothing to boost real GDP, balance trade or boost real wages. In fact, Industrial production shrank 1.5 percent month-on-month in August and spending among Japanese households fell a steeper-than-expected 4.7 percent. Source

Railways Tender Tailor-Made Favour Private Player

Railways Tender ‘Tailor-Made’ To Favour Private Player

In June 2013, railways invited tenders from

 private players for the additional

 500 GS coaches at an expected cost of

 around Rs 250 crore.

NEW DELHI: In what appears to be another scam in the railways, officials inflated the requirement of coaches for 2013-14 and then came out with "tailor-made" criteria to favour a particular private company. 

Documents with TOI suggest that officials in the Railway Board justified the requirement of 500 GS (general second-class) coaches to be procured from public sector unit BEML and 'other sources' under the coach production programme for 2013-14.

This was in addition to the demand of 1,150-1,200 coaches being met by railway undertakings such as the Integral Coach Factory and Rail Coach Factory (Kapurthala and Rae Bareli) for the same year.

In June 2013, railways invited tenders from private players for the additional 500 GS coaches at an expected cost of around Rs 250 crore. The tender process is still to be finalized.

The order raised eyebrows in railways as procurement was being sought from private parties that had never manufactured GS coaches even as the manufacturing capacity of departmental units — ICF and RCF — was still to be exhausted.

A senior railways official told TOI that many posts and positions in newly set up Rai Bareli coach factory were not made operational on the plea that there weren't enough production orders.

TOI has found that the tender conditions were tailor-made to suit a Kolkata-based private company and specifications were inserted to cut out competition.

The shortlisted company has never produced or supplied GS coaches. Yet it was chosen because the tender document broadened the criteria to include manufacturing experience of other coaches. The tender state, "Bulk orders will be done from established manufacturers...who have successfully executed order of main line passenger coaches/EMU/MEMU/DEMU and should have been in operation for at least two years with satisfactory performance."

Once the precedent was set, railways again decided to procure 169 coaches from 'other sources' for the current year (2014-15).

A BSP MP has written to railway minister Sadananda Gowda, alleging a scam in the tender process. He said that the quantity of the purchase order, around 500 coaches, was inflated, and that a West Bengal-based company was being favoured.  Source

India Russia Iron Out Wrinkles Before Putin’s India Visit

India, Russia Iron Out Wrinkles Before Putin’s India Visit Next Month

Russian President Vladimir Putin. (AP Photo)

NEW DELHI: Ahead of the Modi-Putin summit meet next month, India and Russia Wednesday took note of important outstanding issues requiring immediate attention and recommended early resolution of such issues "amicably in tune with the spirit of traditional friendship and mutual trust between the two countries''.

The 20th meeting of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC) was co-chaired here by foreign minister Sushma Swaraj and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin.

One of the "key'' decisions taken during the meeting was to work on a proposal for establishment of a Smart City in India by Russian company AFK Sistema.

"The commission reviewed the progress on a broad spectrum of bilateral issues including trade, economic, scientific, technological and cultural cooperation and suggested actions for realizing the full potential of this important relationship,'' the government said in a statement.

Rogozin later called on Modi who told him that he was looking forward to his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin next month. Modi said India attached high importance to the special and privileged strategic ties with Russia.

He said Putin's visit would provide an opportunity to take forward bilateral relations to a new level.

"Social media has been increasingly used (in India) to instigate communal riots," the home minister said while calling upon Interpol to apply its 100 years of experience in tracking fugitives to study and track online activity aimed at indoctrination and recruitment of young internet users into jihad.

Home minister called upon Interpol to help tracking online activities aimed at indoctrination and recruitment of young internet users into jihad.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to reshuffle his ministry by Monday amid strong possibility of Goa CM Manohar Parrikar joining the Union Cabinet. Source

Is Mayawati’s Flirtations With Brahmans Over

Is Mayawati’s Flirtations With Brahmans Over?

Mayawati on Wednesday gave Rajya Sabha tickets to two dalits, Bir Singh and Raja Ram,

 ignoring the claims of party’s two brahmans MPs Brijesh Pathak and Akhilesh Das.

LUCKNOW: BSP chief Mayawati's bonhomie with brahmans seems over. She has decided to return to her core constituents, dalits, after the continuous slide in BSP's electoral fortunes since the 2012 assembly elections.

Mayawati on Wednesday gave Rajya Sabha tickets to two dalits, Bir Singh and Raja Ram, ignoring the claims of party's two brahmans MPs Brijesh Pathak and Akhilesh Das. A miffed Das quit party, while Pathak, usually present during Mayawati's news conferences, was noticeably missing. The party's Brahmin face, Satish Chandra Mishra, kept impassively silent as she announced candidates' names.

Mayawati's rainbow coalition of dalits and brahmans was said to be the reason why she won a virtual landslide in 2007. Thereafter, the formula has failed to yield results and now even the dalits appear to be drifting away from her to the BJP.

Despite setback in 2012 assembly elections, Mayawati gave tickets to 37 brahmans in 2014 Lok Sabha elections but all of them lost as dalits voted in large numbers for the BJP. The party's poor show continued in UP bypolls and the assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana.

Brahmans are 12% of UP's population and hold sway on 30 Lok Sabha and 90 assembly seats. Until the Mandal and Mandir movements, the community voted mainly for the Congress. brahmans, who have traditionally been on the side of the party in office, went with BSP in 2007 when it gave tickets to 81 brahmans, of whom 37 won. This equation has changed now. SP and BSP perceive a shift in Brahmin loyalty towards the BJP. So the two parties are beginning to ignore brahmans and reverting to their core constituents. Source

Akhilesh Das Offered Rs 100 Crore For Rajya Sabha Ticket Mayawati

Akhilesh Das Offered Rs 100 Crore For Rajya Sabha Ticket: Mayawati

Mayawati alleged that former Union 

minister Akhilesh Das had offered her Rs 100 crore

 for renominating him to the Rajya Sabha.

LUCKNOW: BSP chief Mayawati on Wednesday alleged former Union minister Akhilesh Das, who quit the party a day earlier, had offered her Rs 100 crore for renominating him to the Rajya Sabha. Das's term in the Upper House ends on November 25.

Addressing the media at the party headquarters in Lucknow, Mayawati said the BSP would field Raja Ram and Bir Singh, both SC candidates, for the forthcoming Rajya Sabha elections. "I would not have offered a ticket to Das even if he offered Rs 200 crore," she said. "He even failed to mobilize the support of members of his Vaishya community. I've decided to provide tickets to Dalits only."

About the party's decision to deny tickets to OBCs, Muslims and upper castes, Mayawati said it was taken to prevent others from feeling neglected.

Das countered Mayawati's allegations. The former BSP national general secretary said he had not offered any money and it was the BSP leadership that extorted money from candidates contesting assembly and parliamentary elections.




"It's the BSP culture to force MPs, MLAs and office-bearers to cough up funds for the party," Das told the media soon after Mayawati's press conference. "It is not true that I had quit the Congress and requested for a BSP membership. In fact, it was Mayawati who had pursued me to join the BSP. She had even dictated my resignation letter." Source

Virat Kohli's Birthday 5 Things Anushka Sharma Gift Him

Virat Kohli's Birthday: 5 Things That Anushka Sharma Should Gift Him

Virat Kohli, the poster boy of Indian cricket team known for his strike as well as style, celebrates his 26th birthday today. The dashing cricketer, who is in Ahmedabad for the third ODI against Sri Lanka, will be joined by his rumoured girlfriend Anushka Sharma on his birthday. Quoting a source, a mid-day report confirms that the pretty actress is likely to be on her rumoured beau's side for his birthday celebrations. On the occasion of his birthday, we wish him a very happy birthday and list five things that Anushka can gift him on his birthday today. Source