Censor Board chief Pahlaj Nihalani faces a revolt by members

NEW DELHI: Dissent against Censor Board chief Pahlaj Nihalani appears to be gathering strength with some members planning to make a formal representation to PM Narendra Modi and I&B minister Arun Jaitley. Members of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) have expressed concern at Nihalani's unilateral decision making style and cavalier attitude.

Board members said that cuss words were still being arbitrarily snipped from films (despite the Board's opposition) and decisions being made on films without taking the Board in to confidence."There are a few of us who feel that the chairperson has been working on his own accord without listening to anyone on the Board. This is unfair. We are planning to approach the PM and the I&B minister on the issue,'' the member said.

Nihalani however denied that the cuss list had been re-circulated. "I am doing my job according to the rules and the allegations made are completely baseless and false. The members who are complaining actually don't want to work,'' he said.

Nihalani has faced social media derision after the Board ruled kissing scenes of Daniel Craig with Monica Bellucci and Lea Seydoux in the new James Bond release Spectre as too extensive and had them trimmed by half.

Former I&B secretary and Board member Raghu Menon in a recent letter to fellow members said that he was 'disturbed' at being treated in a 'cavalier and offhand fashion' by CBFC chairman and CEO and the utter insensitivity and disregard of the I&B ministry. Announcing that he would not attend any more Board meetings Menon said, "I have closely observed and have been involved in the working of the CBFC for the last 20 years in various capacities when it was headed by luminaries like Shakti Samanta, Vijay Anand, Asha Parekh, Sharmila Tagore, Leela Samson etc, but never have I seen it sink to such levels of total disregard for the Board Members. It would be better to disband the Board if it is found to be so irrelevant.''

Nihalini however said that Menon's term was over earlier this month so there was no question of him attending any meetings.

Producer Ashoke Pandit had on Wednesday tweeted that Nihalini should not act as an official spokesperson for the party and questioned if the censor chief had used his influence to screen a video praising PM Modi appending it to a recent Salman Khan starrer in theatres.

According to sources another member—actor and former BJP contestant from Assam--George Baker felt that Menon's email was disturbing. "The entire board should be taken into confidence and a meeting should be held to either approve or ratify what should be done. Arbitrarily taking decisions without taking the board into confidence should not reflect on the board and any adverse repercussions should not be placed on the shoulders of the board.''

Former St Xavier's college professor and Board member Nandini Sardesai said that she had been informed that Nihalani had circulated the cuss list with instructions to regional officers asking them to implement it while film writer Mihir Bhuta suggested that representations should be made to the PM and I&B minister, sources said.

From Times of India

Where is Lokpal? Opposition Asks Kejriwal on Twitter and in Assembly

New Delhi:  Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal faced some sharp criticism on Wednesday over his government's failure to pass the Jan Lokpal bill despite the Aam Admi Party's brute majority in the assembly. The same question was raised by the BJP inside the assembly, and outside by the Congress.

#KejriwalWhereIsLokpal shot up to become a top trend on twitter, hours before the Delhi assembly session began this afternoon.

As #KejriwalWhereIsLokpal trended for long hours on Twitter, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's political rivals also demanded to know why his government has failed to pass the Jan Lokpal bill despite his party's majority.

The Jan Lokpal bill, which provides for a strong anti-corruption ombudsman, was one of the main election planks of Mr Kejriwal's party for the February assembly elections. But it is not among the six bills listed for passage in the current session of the assembly, though the AAP government has said it will be brought in this session, which ends next week.

Ajay Maken, Delhi Congress chief noted on Twitter,
Outside the Delhi assembly Mr Maken, whose party did not win a single seat in the February elections swept by AAP, led a demonstration to protest against "AAP government's failure" to bring the Jan Lokpal Bill.

In the House, the opposition, made up of three BJP lawmakers, said, "Jiske liye sarkar chhodi, wahi bill nahi aaya hai (the bill for which Mr Kejriwal resigned from government, hasn't come)", in a reference to Mr Kejriwal's first stint that began in December 2013 and lasted 49 days.

But it was on Twitter, a platform Mr Kejriwal uses regularly, that he drew the most scathing criticism.

Soon the BJP's supporters joined in.

TrustBJP that counts Prime Minister Narendra Modi among its followers tweeted,
 
So did, the BJP president's fans
   

Story First Published: November 18, 2015 16:45 IST

BJP: Mani Shankar Aiyar, Salman Khurshid behaving as ISIS propagandists

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday labelled Congress leaders Mani Shankar Aiyar and Salman Khurshid as propagandists for the ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) following their very public criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"While the world is getting together against terrorism, the Prime Minister's words and agenda to fight terrorism have been accepted the world over. It is in this context the G20 summit has happened. 130 people have been killed in Paris on an open assault to civilization and it seems that these people (Congress) are behaving and conducting themselves as propagandists for ISIS and Taliban," BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi told media here.

"When it comes to condemnation atleast Azam Khan's statement was condemned by Samajwadi Party(SP) and they disassociated with it completely, but Congress party has chose to not do so in this context against Salman Khurshid and Mani Shankar Aiyar," she added.

Mani Shankar Aiyar who went to Pakistan before the Bihar assembly polls courted a controversy by saying that Islamabad should help India in defeating Prime Minister Modi and ensure that the Congress is back at the Centre.

Khurshid also during his visit to Islamabad said: "India has not responded to Pakistan's overtures for peace in South Asia the way it should have. If you look back at the first face-to-face between our PMs, your PM took a brave, farsighted decision. What we said and did made things uncomfortable for Pakistan after the visit of Nawaz Sharif at Modi's swearing-in ceremony."

Congress Faces Political Storm as Rahul Gandhi Visits Cyclone-Hit Areas

New Delhi: It almost seemed ironical. As Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi was taking stock of the areas hit by Cyclone Hudhud in Andhra Pradesh's Visakhapatnam on Sunday, a political storm hit the party.

The BJP moved a step closer towards their political goal of a 'Congress-mukt bharat' by ending the party's rule in Maharashtra and Haryana.

In the past couple of years, the Congress has lost crucial states like Rajasthan, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh and the newly-created Telangana. The latest round of results forced Congress' top leadership to reach out to their supporters.  

Mr Gandhi, in a statement, said, "I congratulate the BJP on their success. I thank our supporters for having stood by us and party workers for their commitment to the party. The Congress Party will work hard on the ground to once again earn the confidence of the people."

Congress President Sonia Gandhi too promised to play a vigilant role, after the party was voted out of power. But the numbers don't add up for the party to be even an effective Opposition.  

In Maharashtra, the party struggled for the third place, getting just one seat more than its former ally Nationalist Congress Party or NCP. 

In Haryana, the Congress witnessed a repeat of the rout the party had earlier faced in states like Rajasthan, Delhi and Andhra Pradesh, that has led to a constant questioning of Mr Gandhi's leadership. 

But the party seemed prepared with its answers. Spokespersons claimed that these elections had more to do with anti-incumbency than with leadership.  

"Different leaders have different styles of leadership and every leader finds his big moment; I am sure we will come back. When the BJP had two MPs, we didn't say 'BJP-mukt' India. Similarly, we will not be wiped out," said Rajeev Gowda, a former professor of IIM Bangalore who is now a spokesperson for the Congress.

Shobha Ojha, another spokesperson, pointed out, "In 1998, we were ruling only in three states, but by 2003-04, we had governments in 11 states." 

The Congress' worst performance in the Lok Sabha elections, in May this year, forced the top leadership to talk about revamping the grand old party. Five months later, changes are yet to happen and time seems to be running out.

Story First Published: October 19, 2014 23:44 IST    

Banned: Property Tycoon KP Singh, Who Built India's First 'Smart' City

New Delhi: It was, by his own account, a chance encounter with Rajiv Gandhi, who later became Prime Minister, that turned former soldier Kushal Pal Singh into the man who built a city from nothing and made billions in the process.

Mr Singh was toppled from his spot as India's richest property developer this week, when his company DLF Ltd was hit with an unprecedented three-year ban from capital markets, accused by the regulator of failing to disclose key information at the time of its record-breaking 2007 market listing.

Investors wiped more than Rs. 7000 crore off the indebted company's market value after the decision.

Called a visionary developer, Mr Singh has been among the most influential names in the country of recent decades as the man who built "boom city" Gurgaon and fostered the outsourcing industry - with a little help, he says, from ex-General Electric boss Jack Welch.

To its cheerleaders, Gurgaon, the city he imagined and built 15 miles outside national capital Delhi, is a prototype of where young, upwardly mobile Indians want to live and work. The outsourcing boom has made the city India's third-richest.

"It is India's first smart city," said Rajeev Talwar, executive director at DLF. "Its infrastructure may be creaking ... but there is a new part which supports a new kind of life."

To its detractors, though, Gurgaon is the epitome of the fervid real estate speculation and dysfunctional urban sprawl that threaten India's cities as population booms. Water and power are unreliable, social problems abound and private contractors have had to step in where the police have failed.

Its population ballooned by about three-quarters to 1.5 million people in a decade.

After a decade in power the Congress, led by Sonia Gandhi, was ousted in this year's general election by Narendra Modi's BJP. Exit polls show that Haryana, which includes Gurgaon, too is set to throw out the Congress in a state election held this week. Results are due Sunday.

Mr Singh has been seen as close to the Gandhi family for years. In his autobiography, he describes how in 1980 he accidentally met Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi's husband and the country's prime minister from 1984 to 1989, when the latter was travelling to Gurgaon and had stopped for water to cool his car's radiator.

Mr Singh, whose family property firm had been pushed out of the capital by strict development laws, says he shared his plan for the dry and desolate Gurgaon region, and his fate was sealed.

In the next few years, Mr Singh - who is even at 82 a sharp dresser with military bearing - acquired 3,500 acres of land in Gurgaon, some of it still undeveloped.

"A salute to the old man to have at that time thought of putting together the entire site and not be tempted to gain by selling parcels of land to other developers," said Anuj Puri, chairman and country head of Jones Lang LaSalle, a property consultancy that advises DLF.

In 2007, DLF listed in what was then India's largest IPO. The atmosphere at DLF, one employee recalled, was "electric".

Opposition party members and anti-corruption activists have accused DLF of improper land deals with Robert Vadra, the son in law of Sonia Gandhi.

The timing of market regulator Sebi's order this week, two days before the Haryana polls, has strengthened the view that DLF's close ties with the Congress could work against it. DLF and its supporters say they will seek to work with all governments, regardless of political shades.

But even detractors say it is not the end of the road for Mr Singh or DLF. "It is not the end of the road for them. These companies don't disappear," said Prashant Bhushan, a veteran lawyer who has long campaigned against DLF.

Copyright: Thomson Reuters 2014

Brothers, Both Soldiers, Died at Siachen. 21 Years Later, a Body Found.

New Delhi: The frozen body of a soldier who went missing 21 years ago at the Siachen glacier has been found last Sunday by a group of soldiers patrolling the world's highest battleground - Siachen Glacier. 

Havildar TV Patil, who belonged to Maharashtra, had fallen into a crevasse in February 1993. He was 30. Because of the sub-zero temperatures, his body had not decomposed, said sources, and he was identified by a letter from his family and a medical certificate found in his pocket.

His brother, also a soldier with the Maratha Light Infantry, died in an avalanche in 1987 while posted to the glacier. His body remains unfound.

Sources told NDTV that Havildar Patil, whose body has been found, was trying to collect air-dropped supplies when he moved away from the prescribed path and fell into a crevasse. As others tried to pull him out, his snow gloves slipped off, and he plunged several feet.

In August, the frozen body of Havildar Gaya Prasad from Maharastra had been found at the Siachen Glacier; in 1996, he had fallen into a crevasse there.  

At more than 18,000 feet (5,700 meters) Siachen sees temperatures that can drop as low as minus 60 degrees Celsius.

Universal account number to facilitate provident fund portability

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched a universal account number (UAN) for provident fund subscribers that will enable you to link your PF account to this number. This will, thereafter, allow easier portability as well as ease of transfer directly to your bank accounts in the months ahead.

An EPFO officer explained that the retirement savings body has already generated over 4.2 crore UANs and employers have been asked to provide the Aadhaar numbers, bank account numbers and permanent account numbers of employees. These will be then seeded into the 12-digit UAN.

While employers are currently going a little slow on the job currently, subscribers can also log on to the EPFO website and punch their current PF account number to get the UAN. They can then submit the required numbers to their employer who have upload them with their digital signatures. For employees of smaller establishments and those not using the online option, there is also a facility to submit the papers at PF offices across the country.

When someone switches jobs, the new PF account number will be tagged to the UAN.

Going forward, the official said, for withdrawals or loans, subscribers will have to fill up a form and can provide their fingerprint to a biometric reader and the amount will be transferred into the bank account within an hour, ending what used to a wait that often lasted months.

"This whole process may take six months or a year but the goal is to make life simpler for subscribers," the officer said, adding that employers will be nudged to speed up the seeding process.

BJP's 'Brand Modi' Strategy to Pay Big in Maharashtra, Haryana, Show Exit Polls

New Delhi: Banking on Brand Narendra Modi is likely to pay rich dividend for the BJP, the NDTV's poll of polls - which aggregates the results of four polls in Maharashtra and three in Haryana - shows.

The party, which dumped allies in Congress-ruled Maharashtra and Haryana to contest elections on its own, is set to be the single-largest party in both states. 

In Haryana, it looks good to win 48 of the 90 seats, a comfortable majority. And in Maharashtra - which saw a four-cornered contest after two major alliances split over seat sharing - the BJP is set to win 125 of the 288 seats, miles ahead of the number 2 party. Ironically, that is the Shiv Sena, the BJP's ally till last month, set to win 70 seats. 

Together, all things equal, they would have had a towering majority. Now, the BJP is likely to fall 20 seats short of a majority - the half-way mark in Maharashtra is 144. 

Its political options would include a reconciliation with the Shiv Sena or then joining hands with the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party or NCP, which is set to get 35 seats. 

In the run-up to the elections, both the BJP and the NCP emphatically denied any such possibility and Prime Minister Modi sharply attacked the NCP, which ruled Maharashtra for the last 15 years as a partner of the Congress. 

Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Narvnirman Sena or MNS is not in the reckoning - it will have to settle for fewer seats than before.

The Congress' dream run in both states is ending. It is likely to be reduced to an insignificant 42 seats in Maharashtra. In Haryana, it could have to settle for an equally ignominious 12 seats, with Om Prakash Chautala's INLD (Indian National Lok Dal) coming in second to the BJP with 25 seats.

The BJP went for broke in these elections, building its pitch around Mr Modi and his message of development. In neither state did it project a chief ministerial candidate and said it was confident that what it calls the "Modi wave" from the national elections earlier this year endures.

The PM averaged three rallies a day in a blitz of 27 public appearances in Maharashtra and 12 in Haryana.

Story First Published: October 15, 2014 20:25 IST    

Nod to prosecute Baba-baiter seer

New Delhi: The Supreme Court said the Sankaracharya of Dwarka can be prosecuted for his alleged remarks that the Sai Baba of Shirdi should not be worshipped as he was neither a god nor an incarnation of divinity.

The Sankaracharya of Dwarka

“The moment he incites violence, he commits an offence. Prosecute him,” the court said but refused to pass any directive in what was “not a matter for judicial intervention”.

The three-judge bench declined to entertain a petition by the Maharashtra-based Saidham Charitable Trust, which had sought a directive asking the Union government to tell all states to ensure protection of Sai Baba idols and action against the pontiff.

The trust, represented by senior counsel A. Sundaram, had said the Dwarka seer’s remarks had a devastating effect as idols had been removed from temples in several states and dumped in gutters or immersed in local ponds and rivers.

Justices T.S. Thakur, A.K. Goel and R. Banumathi said if the trust was really aggrieved, it could approach criminal courts in places where the alleged vandalism had taken place and seek Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati’s prosecution.

“Hinduism is a way of life. Go and file a suit. Ordinary law will apply. Nothing prevents a trust from preventing… miscreants from taking away… idols. Law and order is a state subject,” the bench told the counsel.

“This is not a matter for judicial intervention,” it added. “If you want to pursue a remedy, you can always go to a criminal court.”

The trust’s counsel persisted with the plea, saying the reported incidents of vandalism had taken place at 10-15 places and it wouldn’t be possible to lodge complaints everywhere.

The court wasn’t convinced. “Just as you say you believe in idol worship, someone else will say I don’t believe in idol worship. It is not for this court to interfere in such matters. Go and file a suit. Ordinary law will help you,” the bench said.

The trust subsequently withdrew its plea.

Earlier in June, the Sankaracharya had reportedly said Hindus should not worship the Sai Baba of Shirdi, revered by millions, as he was a human being and not a god.

The petition filed by the trust complained that the Sankaracharya’s comments had created widespread anxiety and anger among followers of the Sai Baba. Although a criminal complaint was lodged with Indore police, the pontiff, it said, had repeated his assertion to the media.

The petition said the Union government had done nothing to restrain the Sankaraharya and his followers from persisting with instigating people against the Sai Baba despite a representation to the Prime Minister’s Office.

IRCTC finally releases a ticketing app for your Android device

New Delhi: The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation, better known as IRCTC, has at long last launched its official app for Google's mobile platform, Android. The app can now be downloaded from Google Play India, requires about 12MB of free space, and will work on devices running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean or above.

 The new IRCTC Connect app for Android will allow users to do pretty much everything that they can do on the website – booking tickets, checking reservation status, train schedules, train routes and more. Users can even login to their IRCTC accounts to search, book and cancel train tickets, and even receive upcoming journey alerts.

IRCTC launched its official ticket booking app for Blackberry's BBOS 10 in August this year, while the version for Windows Phones and PCs was released last year. While it's odd that the Indian railways chose to bring their service to less popular platforms first, there has been a beta version of the IRCTC app for Android for some time now.

In any case, Android users will now be able to book Indian railway tickets right from the smartphone app, eliminating the requirement to access the IRCTC website. The app boasts of being an easy and quick way of booking tickets, checking reservation status and canceling them, but for a first hand experience you can download the app from here.