Archive For The “General” Category
Hyderabad, Oct 25 : The United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and Hyderabad-based Biological E Limited on Monday signed a (Dollar) 50 million financing agreement to expand Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing capabilities in India.
DFC Chief Operating Officer David Marchick and Biological E.
Limited Managing Director Mahima Datla signed the agreement which will support capacity for production of more than one billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines by the end of 2022 for India and for developing countries around the world.
The funding was announced at the Quad Leaders Summit in March 2021 and it works in support of the commitment set out by the US President Joe Biden and his counterparts in Quad, which comprises Australia, India, Japan and the US.
The agreement will help bolster near-term Covid-19 response efforts and will also benefit long-term global health in India and throughout the Indo-Pacific region, the officials said.
DFC's investment in Biological E.
Limited is part of the agency's Global Health and Prosperity Initiative, which is focused on supporting the global response to the Covid-19 pandemic and strengthening health resilience in developing countries.
DFC, through the initiative, is working to catalyze (Dollar) 5 billion in projects that bolster health systems, support infrastructure development, and expand access to clean water, sanitation, and nutrition.
DFC and Biological E.
have also collaborated with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness (CEPI), which provided early research and technical support for the company's Covid vaccine efforts.
David Marchick said the financing arrangement was a part of President Biden's overall strategy to end the pandemic in 2022.
"Scaling Biological E's new facility, which is already producing vaccines, will help close the vaccine gap and save lives in developing countries," he said.
The FDC COO said the financing arrangement was one step in the direction to enhance global vaccine production capacity from 5 billion doses to 15-16 billion doses in the next one year.
The DFC is financing three companies -- two in Africa and one (Biological E in India).
They will together produce over 2 billion doses between now and next year, he said.
He pointed out that the US was donating 1.1 billion doses to the developing world and it has already delivered 200 million doses to over 100 countries.
Mahima Datla assured DFC of successful implementation of the agreement and rolling out of a billion doses very soon.
"We are currently in the process of building enhanced manufacturing capacity to augment Covid vaccine availability in the entire Asia-Pacific region and indeed the world," she said.
She pointed out that Biological E was working on development of two Covid vaccines in partnership with Baylor College of MedicineAand Jhonson (and) Jhonson.
Ministry of External Affairs Joint Secretary Vani Rao said this was a testimony to India's vaccine industry which made a name for itself globally by developing high quality vaccines which are also cost effective.
She recalled that the first Quad leaders' summit decided to set up a working group for collaborative effort in ramping up production of vaccines and their procurement and distribution in the Indo-Pacific region.
She said Japan will help the countries procure the vaccines while Australia will provide logistics ensuring last mile delivery.
Telangana's Principal Secretary for information technology and industries Jayesh Ranjan said that Hyderabad stands very tall in life sciences vertical.
He pointed out that biotech companies here are producing 6 million vaccine doses every year, contributing to one third of the world's vaccine production.
The official said Hyderabad is also an important location for the pharma industry.
Forty per cent of the country's pharma production and 50 per cent of exports happen from Hyderabad.
The size of Telangana's life sciences industry is close to (Dollar) 50 billion and the State government has set an ambitious target of doubling the size to (Dollar) 100 billion by 2030 and in the process adding 400,000 new jobs.
US Charge d'Affaires Patricia Lacina, US Consul General Joel Reifman, Japanese Consul General Taga Masayuki, and Australian Consul General Sarah Kirlew attended the event.
--IANS
ms/dpb.
Source: IANS
DFC Chief Operating Officer David Marchick and Biological E.
Limited Managing Director Mahima Datla signed the agreement which will support capacity for production of more than one billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines by the end of 2022 for India and for developing countries around the world.
The funding was announced at the Quad Leaders Summit in March 2021 and it works in support of the commitment set out by the US President Joe Biden and his counterparts in Quad, which comprises Australia, India, Japan and the US.
The agreement will help bolster near-term Covid-19 response efforts and will also benefit long-term global health in India and throughout the Indo-Pacific region, the officials said.
DFC's investment in Biological E.
Limited is part of the agency's Global Health and Prosperity Initiative, which is focused on supporting the global response to the Covid-19 pandemic and strengthening health resilience in developing countries.
DFC, through the initiative, is working to catalyze (Dollar) 5 billion in projects that bolster health systems, support infrastructure development, and expand access to clean water, sanitation, and nutrition.
DFC and Biological E.
have also collaborated with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness (CEPI), which provided early research and technical support for the company's Covid vaccine efforts.
David Marchick said the financing arrangement was a part of President Biden's overall strategy to end the pandemic in 2022.
"Scaling Biological E's new facility, which is already producing vaccines, will help close the vaccine gap and save lives in developing countries," he said.
The FDC COO said the financing arrangement was one step in the direction to enhance global vaccine production capacity from 5 billion doses to 15-16 billion doses in the next one year.
The DFC is financing three companies -- two in Africa and one (Biological E in India).
They will together produce over 2 billion doses between now and next year, he said.
He pointed out that the US was donating 1.1 billion doses to the developing world and it has already delivered 200 million doses to over 100 countries.
Mahima Datla assured DFC of successful implementation of the agreement and rolling out of a billion doses very soon.
"We are currently in the process of building enhanced manufacturing capacity to augment Covid vaccine availability in the entire Asia-Pacific region and indeed the world," she said.
She pointed out that Biological E was working on development of two Covid vaccines in partnership with Baylor College of MedicineAand Jhonson (and) Jhonson.
Ministry of External Affairs Joint Secretary Vani Rao said this was a testimony to India's vaccine industry which made a name for itself globally by developing high quality vaccines which are also cost effective.
She recalled that the first Quad leaders' summit decided to set up a working group for collaborative effort in ramping up production of vaccines and their procurement and distribution in the Indo-Pacific region.
She said Japan will help the countries procure the vaccines while Australia will provide logistics ensuring last mile delivery.
Telangana's Principal Secretary for information technology and industries Jayesh Ranjan said that Hyderabad stands very tall in life sciences vertical.
He pointed out that biotech companies here are producing 6 million vaccine doses every year, contributing to one third of the world's vaccine production.
The official said Hyderabad is also an important location for the pharma industry.
Forty per cent of the country's pharma production and 50 per cent of exports happen from Hyderabad.
The size of Telangana's life sciences industry is close to (Dollar) 50 billion and the State government has set an ambitious target of doubling the size to (Dollar) 100 billion by 2030 and in the process adding 400,000 new jobs.
US Charge d'Affaires Patricia Lacina, US Consul General Joel Reifman, Japanese Consul General Taga Masayuki, and Australian Consul General Sarah Kirlew attended the event.
--IANS
ms/dpb.
Source: IANS
Mumbai, Oct 25 : Anita Desai, one of India's best-known authors, has been conferred with the Tata Literature Live! Lifetime Achievement Award for 2021.
Desai's authorship has spanned more than 50 years, with memorable works such as 'Fire On The Mountain', 'Cry The Peacock', 'A Village By The Sea', 'The Clear Light Of Day', 'Baumgartner's Bombay', and 'In Custody', which was made into a Merchant Ivory film starring Shashi Kapoor, Shabana Azmi, and Amrish Puri.
Desai's blend of lyrical style, ease with different cultures, and a clear-eyed examination and confrontation of realistic truths about society and relationships, made for a unique reading experience that fast led her to occupy a leading place among her peers.
She has received several awards and honours in the course of her long-spanning literary career, including the Padma Bhushan, Sahitya Akademi Award and later Fellowship, and the Benson Medal of the Royal Society of Literature.
Thrice featured on the Booker Prize shortlist, she taught for many years at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where she is now an Emerita Professor.
On receiving news of the award, Desai said: "An award given for a lifetime's work is a great honour and I am deeply grateful to Tata Literature Live! for conferring it on me.
I was convinced that I and my work belong to a distant past and my presence here is the presence of a ghost.
To find one's books are still read and remembered in such a changed world fills me with both amazement and gratitude."
Director of the Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai Litfest, Amy Fernandes said: "Anita Desai's well-thumbed books line the bookshelves of lakhs of homes in India where novels in English are read.
They are testaments to the pioneering works of an author who took Indian writing in English to new heights, earning international recognition as well.
Their universal themes, delicate prose, and deep insight ensure her novels are always relevant and topical, gently leading the reader to new avenues of thought.
It is a privilege and honour for us to acknowledge her marvelous contribution to literature in this way."
--IANS
sukant/ksk/.
Source: IANS
Desai's authorship has spanned more than 50 years, with memorable works such as 'Fire On The Mountain', 'Cry The Peacock', 'A Village By The Sea', 'The Clear Light Of Day', 'Baumgartner's Bombay', and 'In Custody', which was made into a Merchant Ivory film starring Shashi Kapoor, Shabana Azmi, and Amrish Puri.
Desai's blend of lyrical style, ease with different cultures, and a clear-eyed examination and confrontation of realistic truths about society and relationships, made for a unique reading experience that fast led her to occupy a leading place among her peers.
She has received several awards and honours in the course of her long-spanning literary career, including the Padma Bhushan, Sahitya Akademi Award and later Fellowship, and the Benson Medal of the Royal Society of Literature.
Thrice featured on the Booker Prize shortlist, she taught for many years at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where she is now an Emerita Professor.
On receiving news of the award, Desai said: "An award given for a lifetime's work is a great honour and I am deeply grateful to Tata Literature Live! for conferring it on me.
I was convinced that I and my work belong to a distant past and my presence here is the presence of a ghost.
To find one's books are still read and remembered in such a changed world fills me with both amazement and gratitude."
Director of the Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai Litfest, Amy Fernandes said: "Anita Desai's well-thumbed books line the bookshelves of lakhs of homes in India where novels in English are read.
They are testaments to the pioneering works of an author who took Indian writing in English to new heights, earning international recognition as well.
Their universal themes, delicate prose, and deep insight ensure her novels are always relevant and topical, gently leading the reader to new avenues of thought.
It is a privilege and honour for us to acknowledge her marvelous contribution to literature in this way."
--IANS
sukant/ksk/.
Source: IANS
Sultanpur, Oct 25 (IANS/ 101Reporters) Shankar Ram and Manisha Singh, a married couple from Jarai Kalan village, were delighted at the birth of their baby boy on September 5 this year.
Since there weren't any adequate medical facilities in their village or those nearby, the couple had stayed in their grandmother's place in Maya Bazar, Faizabad, until the delivery.
The baby was born at a private hospital there, and after being discharged, the family returned to the village.
However, their happiness was short-lived when the baby suddenly developed a fever within a few hours of their return.
The new parents ran from one hospital to another seeking treatment, but their frantic efforts ended in tragedy as their barely two-day-old infant died in the district hospital in Faizabad, about 50 kilometres away from their village.
"The roads are so bad that it takes almost two and a half hours to reach there from the village," said Ram.
A harrowing ordeal
"We first called the doctor at the hospital where our baby was born.
He suggested that we consult a child specialist. Where could we find one when we don't even have a proper healthcare facility in the village?" questioned Ram.
Recalling the ordeal, he said: "I hired a Bolero car and visited the Haliyapur Primary Health Centre (PHC) first.
They don't have any (good) facilities. We then went to the private hospital where my baby was born. But it was late in the night, so they turned us away due to the unavailability of doctors. We then rushed to Faizabad district hospital. There, after an hour and a half, my child was declared dead. The reason for his death is not yet clear, but we have lost our first and only child."
The Haliyapur PHC is about 3.5 km from the village.
Ram believes that his child could have been saved had there been a functional health facility in the village.
"A healthcare sub-centre is available in the village, but it has been in severe disrepair for years.
Doctors do not work here because of the dilapidated building. I could have saved my child if the healthcare centre had been equipped with the necessary facilities. It was just a high temperature which could have been treated by immediate medical attention," said Ram, grieving the loss of his child.
A sub-health centre or sub-centre provides an interface with the community at the grass-root level, providing all the primary healthcare services for a maximum of 5,000 people.
Staffed with at least one auxiliary nurse midwife (ANM) or health worker, the sub-centres are meant to have maternal and child healthcare services and trained nurses for delivery and childcare.
More tales of misery
Ram and his wife are not the only couple to have lost their newborn child due to the unavailability of medical facilities in the village.
Raja Singh, who looks after all the responsibilities of the village pradhan, said that the sub-centre has been non-functional for more than 15 years now.
"The village has lost about 150 newborn children, including babies who died in-utero due to the healthcare centre being defunct," Singh informed 101Reporters.
Phul Kali (55), from the neighbouring village Pure Basu (which falls under the Jarai Kalan gram panchayat), lost her daughter's unborn child two years ago because of the absence of a medical centre in the village.
Before they could reach any hospital, she went into labour, and the baby's head slipped out, resulting in a stillbirth.
"The nearest hospital we have is Haliyapur PHC.
But to get there, we need a vehicle because there is no public transport facility in the village. We survive on irregular wages doing manual labour. How can we afford any vehicle? Ambulances have no fixed time to arrive. If they are far away, they take a lot of time. We somehow managed a vehicle for my daughter, but when we were on the way to the PHC, we lost the baby," Phul told 101Reporters.
She claimed they had to spend lakhs on treatment after the baby died in her daughter's womb.
Phul decried the state of affairs, saying, "If the healthcare centre in the village were working, I would be playing with my grandchild now.
This medical centre needs to be opened as soon as possible, or else we poor people will continue losing children."
Another couple from the village, Anand and Pooja Tiwari, also lost their newborn baby girl on June 3 this year.
"We were happy to see that our baby was healthy. We were able to pay the bill of Rs 12,000; We opted for a private hospital because we wanted our baby healthy and alive," said Tiwari, who works as a driver and earns around Rs 6,000 a month.
However, their baby developed respiratory problems.
"In just half an hour, we lost our child. We did not have time to see doctors as the hospitals are far away," said Tiwari. "We would have got immediate medical attention if the village had any healthcare facility. The absence of healthcare centres has been causing us huge problems for years," he added, saying that he tried to seek the local ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) worker's help for his child, but to no avail.
"We have been requesting pradhans for years, but they say that there is no budget to repair the sub-centre.
Nobody sees or understands our plight," said Jogi Ram, a resident.
Picture of official apathy
The sub-centre in the village is so derelict that its doors and windows are broken and the walls could fall at any time.
"Because of the building condition, the doctors posted here don't visit the hospital at all," said Raja Singh.
He further said that five villages come under the Jarai Kalan gram panchayat and are under five kilometres from the health centre.
"About 10,000 to 12,000 villagers would benefit from the sub-centre.
It should be repaired and functional as soon as possible," added Raja Singh.
Rekha Maurya, the ANM posted at the sub-centre, confirmed that it cannot function without proper renovation.
"The building is so run-down that we can't risk our lives sitting there. Despite the pathetic condition of the building, the government has not provided any facility here," said Rekha.
She added, "I have been requesting officials for months, but they have only given us promises that it will be restored and open for villagers soon."
With just one sub-centre to cater to five villages' medical needs and emergencies, it has become imperative for concerned authorities to prioritise the complete renovation and installation of a fully functional health centre.
However, the government continues to pass the buck at the cost of more infant fatalities.
The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Sultanpur said that he has already sent estimates for restoration work of the sub-centre on May 25, 2021, to the government.
"We have 12-15 sub-centres across the district that are in bad condition amongst 115 centres. I have sent the estimates to the state government for repair works for all dilapidated centres, but I am yet to hear any response on it," the CMO told 101Reporters.
(The author is a Mumbai-based freelance journalist and a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters)
--IANS
bilal/ksk/.
Source: IANS
Since there weren't any adequate medical facilities in their village or those nearby, the couple had stayed in their grandmother's place in Maya Bazar, Faizabad, until the delivery.
The baby was born at a private hospital there, and after being discharged, the family returned to the village.
However, their happiness was short-lived when the baby suddenly developed a fever within a few hours of their return.
The new parents ran from one hospital to another seeking treatment, but their frantic efforts ended in tragedy as their barely two-day-old infant died in the district hospital in Faizabad, about 50 kilometres away from their village.
"The roads are so bad that it takes almost two and a half hours to reach there from the village," said Ram.
A harrowing ordeal
"We first called the doctor at the hospital where our baby was born.
He suggested that we consult a child specialist. Where could we find one when we don't even have a proper healthcare facility in the village?" questioned Ram.
Recalling the ordeal, he said: "I hired a Bolero car and visited the Haliyapur Primary Health Centre (PHC) first.
They don't have any (good) facilities. We then went to the private hospital where my baby was born. But it was late in the night, so they turned us away due to the unavailability of doctors. We then rushed to Faizabad district hospital. There, after an hour and a half, my child was declared dead. The reason for his death is not yet clear, but we have lost our first and only child."
The Haliyapur PHC is about 3.5 km from the village.
Ram believes that his child could have been saved had there been a functional health facility in the village.
"A healthcare sub-centre is available in the village, but it has been in severe disrepair for years.
Doctors do not work here because of the dilapidated building. I could have saved my child if the healthcare centre had been equipped with the necessary facilities. It was just a high temperature which could have been treated by immediate medical attention," said Ram, grieving the loss of his child.
A sub-health centre or sub-centre provides an interface with the community at the grass-root level, providing all the primary healthcare services for a maximum of 5,000 people.
Staffed with at least one auxiliary nurse midwife (ANM) or health worker, the sub-centres are meant to have maternal and child healthcare services and trained nurses for delivery and childcare.
More tales of misery
Ram and his wife are not the only couple to have lost their newborn child due to the unavailability of medical facilities in the village.
Raja Singh, who looks after all the responsibilities of the village pradhan, said that the sub-centre has been non-functional for more than 15 years now.
"The village has lost about 150 newborn children, including babies who died in-utero due to the healthcare centre being defunct," Singh informed 101Reporters.
Phul Kali (55), from the neighbouring village Pure Basu (which falls under the Jarai Kalan gram panchayat), lost her daughter's unborn child two years ago because of the absence of a medical centre in the village.
Before they could reach any hospital, she went into labour, and the baby's head slipped out, resulting in a stillbirth.
"The nearest hospital we have is Haliyapur PHC.
But to get there, we need a vehicle because there is no public transport facility in the village. We survive on irregular wages doing manual labour. How can we afford any vehicle? Ambulances have no fixed time to arrive. If they are far away, they take a lot of time. We somehow managed a vehicle for my daughter, but when we were on the way to the PHC, we lost the baby," Phul told 101Reporters.
She claimed they had to spend lakhs on treatment after the baby died in her daughter's womb.
Phul decried the state of affairs, saying, "If the healthcare centre in the village were working, I would be playing with my grandchild now.
This medical centre needs to be opened as soon as possible, or else we poor people will continue losing children."
Another couple from the village, Anand and Pooja Tiwari, also lost their newborn baby girl on June 3 this year.
"We were happy to see that our baby was healthy. We were able to pay the bill of Rs 12,000; We opted for a private hospital because we wanted our baby healthy and alive," said Tiwari, who works as a driver and earns around Rs 6,000 a month.
However, their baby developed respiratory problems.
"In just half an hour, we lost our child. We did not have time to see doctors as the hospitals are far away," said Tiwari. "We would have got immediate medical attention if the village had any healthcare facility. The absence of healthcare centres has been causing us huge problems for years," he added, saying that he tried to seek the local ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) worker's help for his child, but to no avail.
"We have been requesting pradhans for years, but they say that there is no budget to repair the sub-centre.
Nobody sees or understands our plight," said Jogi Ram, a resident.
Picture of official apathy
The sub-centre in the village is so derelict that its doors and windows are broken and the walls could fall at any time.
"Because of the building condition, the doctors posted here don't visit the hospital at all," said Raja Singh.
He further said that five villages come under the Jarai Kalan gram panchayat and are under five kilometres from the health centre.
"About 10,000 to 12,000 villagers would benefit from the sub-centre.
It should be repaired and functional as soon as possible," added Raja Singh.
Rekha Maurya, the ANM posted at the sub-centre, confirmed that it cannot function without proper renovation.
"The building is so run-down that we can't risk our lives sitting there. Despite the pathetic condition of the building, the government has not provided any facility here," said Rekha.
She added, "I have been requesting officials for months, but they have only given us promises that it will be restored and open for villagers soon."
With just one sub-centre to cater to five villages' medical needs and emergencies, it has become imperative for concerned authorities to prioritise the complete renovation and installation of a fully functional health centre.
However, the government continues to pass the buck at the cost of more infant fatalities.
The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Sultanpur said that he has already sent estimates for restoration work of the sub-centre on May 25, 2021, to the government.
"We have 12-15 sub-centres across the district that are in bad condition amongst 115 centres. I have sent the estimates to the state government for repair works for all dilapidated centres, but I am yet to hear any response on it," the CMO told 101Reporters.
(The author is a Mumbai-based freelance journalist and a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters)
--IANS
bilal/ksk/.
Source: IANS
New Delhi, Oct 25 : They hail from diverse backgrounds. Mumbai-based Hanif Zaveri is an author, journalist, actor and playwright. New Delhi-based Sumant Batra is one of India's leading insolvency lawyers, rated amongst the top 100 globally -- and a film buff.
The meeting of their minds has resulted in "An Actor's Actor" (Penguin/Ebury Press), the first authorised and authoritative biography of the personal and professional life of Sanjeev Kumar, an actor who remains a role model even 35-years after his death.
Born Harihar Jethalal Jariwala in Surat on July 9, 1938, the book takes off from his family's traditional 'zariwala' business, his struggles in the Hindi film industry where he underwent a "celluloid metamorphosis and was known to the worlds as Sanjeev Kumar", his romantic involvement with some of Hindi cinema's biggest names, his lifelong battle with loneliness and his glittering achievements on screen that won him several accolades, including two National Awards for "Dastak" and "Koshish".
"Sanjeev Kumar was in a league of his own, one of cinema's most prolific stars, one of its finest actors.
All he cared about was the integrity of his performance and the intensity of his role. The body of work that Sanjeev Kumar left behind remains a treat to watch," Batra told IANS in an interview.
"Even over thirty years after his death he remains among the most mimicked actors of all time.
His style informs the works of many actors who came after him. Indeed, he remains the gold standard when it comes to the art and craft of acting. He remains an actor's actor in the truest sense of the phrase. Sanjeev Kumar was a complete actor," Batra added.
And what an oeuvre he has left behind!
Sanjeev Kumar could light up the screen in underpants, paunch showing, in one of Hindi cinema's most lovable song sequences, "Thande thande paani se nahana chahiye" ("Pati Patni Aur Woh", 1977).
Entirely unselfconscious of his image as a star, he would often be cast as the father figure to a number of his contemporaries, most famously Sharmila Tagore in "Mausam" (1975) and Amitabh Bachchan in "Trishul" (1978), or as the elderly Thakur in "Sholay" (1975) -- not forgetting the indolent Mirza Sajid Ali in "Shatranj ke Khiladi" (1977), the only Hindi film directed by Satyajit Ray -- and yet leave an indelible mark with his presence and his acting prowess.
After starting out in B-films in the 1960s, he caught the eye in "Sungharsh" (1967), where the manner in which he held his own against Dilip Kumar is now the stuff of Hindi film folklore.
Equally adept at comedy ("Angoor" and "Manchali", for example) and dramatic serious roles ("Anubhav" and "Koshish"), he was truly an actor's actor.
Through all this, he remained down to earth.
"Sanjeev Kumar was shy and an introvert.
He had no greed for publicity. In his entire film career, he never kept a personal public relations officer, which most of his contemporaries appointed.
His sartorial sense was also in keeping with his down-to-earth lifestyle. No costly, fashionable suits for him. He was a simple person who was most comfortable in a kurta pyjama or in a silk kurta and lungi with simple slippers.
Whenever in stress, he smoked but never discussed his feelings with anyone," Zaveri said during the interview.
Zaveri also revealed a lesser-known facet of Sanjeev Kumar's personality, quoting from a previous interview with the actor.
"I wanted to be like other actors who played romantic roles and sang songs, running around trees.
But working on stage changed my concept and helped me a lot, and I found myself improving. I learnt that an actor has to justify the given character. I got confidence after working on stage.
"Whenever I watch an English movie, I always think what I can do to make it better.
I always watch films from the actor's point of view, trying to find something new in the role. Sometimes I practise particular characters in front of the mirror to improve myself. I advise newcomers to do stage," Sanjeev Kumar had said during the interview.
Considerable research has gone into the book, which is based mainly on information resulting from extensive interviews held with the family members of Sanjeev Kumar, his co-actors, filmmakers and other artists.
As a freelance film journalist, Zaveri had also interviewed Sanjeev Kumar a few times.
"Of course, we had to carefully corroborate and verify the information provided by the interviewees from other sources as Sanjeev Kumar had passed away over three decades ago when the interviews were conducted.
Memories had faded and people were at times unsure. We had to undertake extensive research to ascertain the veracity of the facts and where possible, other information.
The researchers at (Batra's) Indian Cinema Heritage Foundation worked hard to dig out as much material as they could from the Foundation's archive," Zaveri explained.
Given their diverse backgrounds, how did Zaveri and Batra come together to collaborate on the biography?
"Hanif Bhai had just finished extensive rounds of interviews with the family members of Sanjeev Kumar and other persons associated with the late actor when we were introduced by a common friend.
As the founder of the Indian Cinema Heritage Foundation, which is documenting the history of Indian cinema, I have deep interest in cinema.
I am also a die-hard fan of Sanjeev Kumar," Batra said.
"I therefore, enthusiastically volunteered to write the book. We sat together over many following months to decide the structure of the book and its narration. I am based in Delhi and Hanif Bhai is in Mumbai. I met him whenever I travelled to Mumbai for my professional work, which was in fact, quite frequently.
Hanif Bhai had gathered extensive notes from the interviews. Selecting relevant information was the most time-consuming task.
"Then started the actual writing of the book, stitching pieces of information together to tell the story of his personal and professional journey.
Unfortunately, the completion of the book got delayed due to the two lockdowns. But for this disruption, the book would have been out last year," Batra elaborated.
What next? What's their next project?
"We're both discussing another book together. It is a bit early to reveal any details," Zaveri said.
"I am working on a historical fiction which should come out next year if all goes as per plan," Batra said.
With a foreword by Shatrughan Sinha, "An Actor's Actor" is truly a succinct introduction to the life and films of a star who tragically left this world at the young age of 47 on November 6, 1985 but who continues to live through his unforgettable and remarkable contribution to Hindi cinema.
(Vishnu Makhijani can be reached at vishnu.makhijani@ians.in)
--IANS
vm/dpb.
Source: IANS
The meeting of their minds has resulted in "An Actor's Actor" (Penguin/Ebury Press), the first authorised and authoritative biography of the personal and professional life of Sanjeev Kumar, an actor who remains a role model even 35-years after his death.
Born Harihar Jethalal Jariwala in Surat on July 9, 1938, the book takes off from his family's traditional 'zariwala' business, his struggles in the Hindi film industry where he underwent a "celluloid metamorphosis and was known to the worlds as Sanjeev Kumar", his romantic involvement with some of Hindi cinema's biggest names, his lifelong battle with loneliness and his glittering achievements on screen that won him several accolades, including two National Awards for "Dastak" and "Koshish".
"Sanjeev Kumar was in a league of his own, one of cinema's most prolific stars, one of its finest actors.
All he cared about was the integrity of his performance and the intensity of his role. The body of work that Sanjeev Kumar left behind remains a treat to watch," Batra told IANS in an interview.
"Even over thirty years after his death he remains among the most mimicked actors of all time.
His style informs the works of many actors who came after him. Indeed, he remains the gold standard when it comes to the art and craft of acting. He remains an actor's actor in the truest sense of the phrase. Sanjeev Kumar was a complete actor," Batra added.
And what an oeuvre he has left behind!
Sanjeev Kumar could light up the screen in underpants, paunch showing, in one of Hindi cinema's most lovable song sequences, "Thande thande paani se nahana chahiye" ("Pati Patni Aur Woh", 1977).
Entirely unselfconscious of his image as a star, he would often be cast as the father figure to a number of his contemporaries, most famously Sharmila Tagore in "Mausam" (1975) and Amitabh Bachchan in "Trishul" (1978), or as the elderly Thakur in "Sholay" (1975) -- not forgetting the indolent Mirza Sajid Ali in "Shatranj ke Khiladi" (1977), the only Hindi film directed by Satyajit Ray -- and yet leave an indelible mark with his presence and his acting prowess.
After starting out in B-films in the 1960s, he caught the eye in "Sungharsh" (1967), where the manner in which he held his own against Dilip Kumar is now the stuff of Hindi film folklore.
Equally adept at comedy ("Angoor" and "Manchali", for example) and dramatic serious roles ("Anubhav" and "Koshish"), he was truly an actor's actor.
Through all this, he remained down to earth.
"Sanjeev Kumar was shy and an introvert.
He had no greed for publicity. In his entire film career, he never kept a personal public relations officer, which most of his contemporaries appointed.
His sartorial sense was also in keeping with his down-to-earth lifestyle. No costly, fashionable suits for him. He was a simple person who was most comfortable in a kurta pyjama or in a silk kurta and lungi with simple slippers.
Whenever in stress, he smoked but never discussed his feelings with anyone," Zaveri said during the interview.
Zaveri also revealed a lesser-known facet of Sanjeev Kumar's personality, quoting from a previous interview with the actor.
"I wanted to be like other actors who played romantic roles and sang songs, running around trees.
But working on stage changed my concept and helped me a lot, and I found myself improving. I learnt that an actor has to justify the given character. I got confidence after working on stage.
"Whenever I watch an English movie, I always think what I can do to make it better.
I always watch films from the actor's point of view, trying to find something new in the role. Sometimes I practise particular characters in front of the mirror to improve myself. I advise newcomers to do stage," Sanjeev Kumar had said during the interview.
Considerable research has gone into the book, which is based mainly on information resulting from extensive interviews held with the family members of Sanjeev Kumar, his co-actors, filmmakers and other artists.
As a freelance film journalist, Zaveri had also interviewed Sanjeev Kumar a few times.
"Of course, we had to carefully corroborate and verify the information provided by the interviewees from other sources as Sanjeev Kumar had passed away over three decades ago when the interviews were conducted.
Memories had faded and people were at times unsure. We had to undertake extensive research to ascertain the veracity of the facts and where possible, other information.
The researchers at (Batra's) Indian Cinema Heritage Foundation worked hard to dig out as much material as they could from the Foundation's archive," Zaveri explained.
Given their diverse backgrounds, how did Zaveri and Batra come together to collaborate on the biography?
"Hanif Bhai had just finished extensive rounds of interviews with the family members of Sanjeev Kumar and other persons associated with the late actor when we were introduced by a common friend.
As the founder of the Indian Cinema Heritage Foundation, which is documenting the history of Indian cinema, I have deep interest in cinema.
I am also a die-hard fan of Sanjeev Kumar," Batra said.
"I therefore, enthusiastically volunteered to write the book. We sat together over many following months to decide the structure of the book and its narration. I am based in Delhi and Hanif Bhai is in Mumbai. I met him whenever I travelled to Mumbai for my professional work, which was in fact, quite frequently.
Hanif Bhai had gathered extensive notes from the interviews. Selecting relevant information was the most time-consuming task.
"Then started the actual writing of the book, stitching pieces of information together to tell the story of his personal and professional journey.
Unfortunately, the completion of the book got delayed due to the two lockdowns. But for this disruption, the book would have been out last year," Batra elaborated.
What next? What's their next project?
"We're both discussing another book together. It is a bit early to reveal any details," Zaveri said.
"I am working on a historical fiction which should come out next year if all goes as per plan," Batra said.
With a foreword by Shatrughan Sinha, "An Actor's Actor" is truly a succinct introduction to the life and films of a star who tragically left this world at the young age of 47 on November 6, 1985 but who continues to live through his unforgettable and remarkable contribution to Hindi cinema.
(Vishnu Makhijani can be reached at vishnu.makhijani@ians.in)
--IANS
vm/dpb.
Source: IANS
Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 25 : A day before the Kerala Police Crime Branch is to submit its report to the High Court on the progress of the probe into the fake antique dealer case, the statements of its former chief Loknath Behra and serving police officials -- Additional Director General of police Manoj Abraham and IG of Police G.
Lekshmana -- were taken.
Eyebrows were raised soon after the arrest of 54-year-old Monson Mavunkal by the Crime Branch police from his home cum museum last month after victims approached Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan with their complaints that they were swindled of Rs 10 crore by this master 'fraud', who managed to even take the top Kerala Police officials for a ride.
Behra retired from service in June this year.
The pictures of Behra and Abraham visiting the 'museum' of Mavunkal became viral in social media and these pictures were taken a few years back.
Following widespread flak that the Kerala Police received from even the High Court, which expressed doubts if the ongoing probe by the police would be of any use and the opposition attacking the Pinarayi Vijayan government, the probe team decided to leave nothing to chance.
Top Crime branch officials took the statement from Behra, Abraham and Lekshmana and will be filed in the court when it comes up for hearing on Tuesday.
Mavunkal is alleged to have sponsored a high profile Kerala Police run Cyber conference a few years ago, when Behra was at the helm of the State Police.
Mavunkal, took all his high profile guests into his fold by showcasing antiques in his collection which he claimed included the "staff of Moses" and "two of the 30 silver coins that were taken by Judas to cheat Jesus Christ".
Police said that he had showcased these "rare" items -- a throne said to be used by Tipu Sultan, as well as a huge collection of old Qurans, Bibles (Old Testament and New Testament), and old handwritten copies of Bhagavad Gita.
Mavunkal used to bring several VIPs to his palatial residence, a part of which was converted into museum to house his 'precious' antiques.
Mavunkal is presently in judicial custody.
--IANS
sg/dpb.
Source: IANS
Lekshmana -- were taken.
Eyebrows were raised soon after the arrest of 54-year-old Monson Mavunkal by the Crime Branch police from his home cum museum last month after victims approached Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan with their complaints that they were swindled of Rs 10 crore by this master 'fraud', who managed to even take the top Kerala Police officials for a ride.
Behra retired from service in June this year.
The pictures of Behra and Abraham visiting the 'museum' of Mavunkal became viral in social media and these pictures were taken a few years back.
Following widespread flak that the Kerala Police received from even the High Court, which expressed doubts if the ongoing probe by the police would be of any use and the opposition attacking the Pinarayi Vijayan government, the probe team decided to leave nothing to chance.
Top Crime branch officials took the statement from Behra, Abraham and Lekshmana and will be filed in the court when it comes up for hearing on Tuesday.
Mavunkal is alleged to have sponsored a high profile Kerala Police run Cyber conference a few years ago, when Behra was at the helm of the State Police.
Mavunkal, took all his high profile guests into his fold by showcasing antiques in his collection which he claimed included the "staff of Moses" and "two of the 30 silver coins that were taken by Judas to cheat Jesus Christ".
Police said that he had showcased these "rare" items -- a throne said to be used by Tipu Sultan, as well as a huge collection of old Qurans, Bibles (Old Testament and New Testament), and old handwritten copies of Bhagavad Gita.
Mavunkal used to bring several VIPs to his palatial residence, a part of which was converted into museum to house his 'precious' antiques.
Mavunkal is presently in judicial custody.
--IANS
sg/dpb.
Source: IANS
New Delhi, Oct 24 : Delhi's largest Muslim cemetery went out of space during the second wave surge. All cemeteries more or less were running out of space as the death toll was mounting every day. The pandemic saw rush at the cemeteries, but, the fact is that with a growing Muslim population in the national capital, the land for graveyards has not increased.
The shrinking graveyard spaces is forcing Muslims to go for multiple or ash burial.
As per the reports, there are 704 Muslim graveyards in the various parts of the national capital territory.
Of these only 131 graveyards are functional at present. Out of these 131 graveyards, 16 are not in use because of litigation over ownership of the graveyard land, bad landscape leading to water logging or other problems.
Among the 11 districts of the city, South Delhi has the highest number of graveyards (33), followed by North West Delhi (19), North Delhi (17), South West Delhi (11), North East Delhi (10), West Delhi and East Delhi (9 each), South East Delhi (eight), Central Delhi (six), Shahdara (five), and New Delhi (four) in descending order.
The growth of the Muslim population has not been complemented with the numbers and space of the graveyards in the city.
Former chairman of the Delhi Waqf Board Mateen Ahmed told IANS that the capital city faces acute shortage of land for Muslim graveyards.
He said, "We don't have optimum numbers of graveyard in comparision with the Muslim population.
Especially in the North East area and Okhla, which are Muslims dominated areas, but there are no cemeteries in that locality." He added, "Delhi Development Authority should provide us the lands for cemeteries in proportion with the Muslim population."
On being asked about the graveyards' condition pre-Covid era, he said that the pathetic situation prevailed even then, adding that, most of the Delhi Waqf Board's graveyards are mainly situated where Muslims have negligible population as they migrated from there after Independence and now Hindus have settled down there.
Resultantly, the Muslim dominated areas have no graveyards in the city. They have to travel miles away to perform the last rituals. He added that the Delhi Waqf Board has nothing to do much, but only DDA can take decision in this regard to provide land for the Muslims cemeteries.
Advocate Masroor Ul Hasan Siddqui, Member Managing Committee, Jadid Qabristan Ahle Islam, dismisses the minority commission report published in 2018, which predicted that Delhi will face acute land crisis to bury bodies in graveyards in next some years.
He said that after all Covid dead bodies of the city were buried in Delhi Gate Cemetry, we still have around 20 acres of land here for last rites which is enough for the next 10 to 15 years.
Contrary to popular perception, he said that all occupied lands are being reused as our religion permits to level up the graveyards after three years.
In many cases, we use the same graves for multiple bodies of the same family after certain years, said Hasan Siddqui.
The Delhi Minorities Commission report on Christian cemeteries says that the commission found only 13 operational cemeteries out of which one -- Lothian Cemetery at Kashmiri Gate -- closed and was declared as a protected monument.
Of the total cemeteries, only five are open to all Christians in the city, whereas five of them are open only for family graves or doubling.
Also, two of these cemeteries -- one in Okhla and the other one in Mehrauli -- are open only for pastor families and members of the Church of North India respectively, the study says.
The Delhi Cemetery Committee Secretary Eugine Ratnam told IANS that the committee has written many times to the Urban Development ministry to allot the land for graveyards.
The committee has five cemeteries under its ownership in Delhi and all are closed due to the paucity of the land from several years.
In the absence of land, he said, people have to go all the way to Burari, Dwarka and NOIDA for last rites.
Eugine said that we have now started ash and multiple burials for the bodies because of the land crisis.
In the ash burial, the body is being cremated and a handful of ashes is buried in the grave. Many times, the same grave is used for the family members in many cemeteries as multiple burials, he added.
The Christians travel long distances in the city to perform the last rites of their loved ones.
(Avinash Prabhakar can be reached at Avinash.p@ians.in)
--IANS
avr/msk/dpb.
Source: IANS
The shrinking graveyard spaces is forcing Muslims to go for multiple or ash burial.
As per the reports, there are 704 Muslim graveyards in the various parts of the national capital territory.
Of these only 131 graveyards are functional at present. Out of these 131 graveyards, 16 are not in use because of litigation over ownership of the graveyard land, bad landscape leading to water logging or other problems.
Among the 11 districts of the city, South Delhi has the highest number of graveyards (33), followed by North West Delhi (19), North Delhi (17), South West Delhi (11), North East Delhi (10), West Delhi and East Delhi (9 each), South East Delhi (eight), Central Delhi (six), Shahdara (five), and New Delhi (four) in descending order.
The growth of the Muslim population has not been complemented with the numbers and space of the graveyards in the city.
Former chairman of the Delhi Waqf Board Mateen Ahmed told IANS that the capital city faces acute shortage of land for Muslim graveyards.
He said, "We don't have optimum numbers of graveyard in comparision with the Muslim population.
Especially in the North East area and Okhla, which are Muslims dominated areas, but there are no cemeteries in that locality." He added, "Delhi Development Authority should provide us the lands for cemeteries in proportion with the Muslim population."
On being asked about the graveyards' condition pre-Covid era, he said that the pathetic situation prevailed even then, adding that, most of the Delhi Waqf Board's graveyards are mainly situated where Muslims have negligible population as they migrated from there after Independence and now Hindus have settled down there.
Resultantly, the Muslim dominated areas have no graveyards in the city. They have to travel miles away to perform the last rituals. He added that the Delhi Waqf Board has nothing to do much, but only DDA can take decision in this regard to provide land for the Muslims cemeteries.
Advocate Masroor Ul Hasan Siddqui, Member Managing Committee, Jadid Qabristan Ahle Islam, dismisses the minority commission report published in 2018, which predicted that Delhi will face acute land crisis to bury bodies in graveyards in next some years.
He said that after all Covid dead bodies of the city were buried in Delhi Gate Cemetry, we still have around 20 acres of land here for last rites which is enough for the next 10 to 15 years.
Contrary to popular perception, he said that all occupied lands are being reused as our religion permits to level up the graveyards after three years.
In many cases, we use the same graves for multiple bodies of the same family after certain years, said Hasan Siddqui.
The Delhi Minorities Commission report on Christian cemeteries says that the commission found only 13 operational cemeteries out of which one -- Lothian Cemetery at Kashmiri Gate -- closed and was declared as a protected monument.
Of the total cemeteries, only five are open to all Christians in the city, whereas five of them are open only for family graves or doubling.
Also, two of these cemeteries -- one in Okhla and the other one in Mehrauli -- are open only for pastor families and members of the Church of North India respectively, the study says.
The Delhi Cemetery Committee Secretary Eugine Ratnam told IANS that the committee has written many times to the Urban Development ministry to allot the land for graveyards.
The committee has five cemeteries under its ownership in Delhi and all are closed due to the paucity of the land from several years.
In the absence of land, he said, people have to go all the way to Burari, Dwarka and NOIDA for last rites.
Eugine said that we have now started ash and multiple burials for the bodies because of the land crisis.
In the ash burial, the body is being cremated and a handful of ashes is buried in the grave. Many times, the same grave is used for the family members in many cemeteries as multiple burials, he added.
The Christians travel long distances in the city to perform the last rites of their loved ones.
(Avinash Prabhakar can be reached at Avinash.p@ians.in)
--IANS
avr/msk/dpb.
Source: IANS
Chennai, Oct 24 : Agnishwar Jayaprakash, the 31-year-old Managing Director of the Chennai-based Garuda Aerospace, a Drones-As-A-Service (DaaS) startup, is on cloud nine after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"Well-informed about drone usage, Modi wants drones to connect the remote areas of the country.
Apart from delivery of medicines and others to people living in remote places, he also said drones could also deliver postal packages to them," Jayaprakash told IANS.
"I was astonished over how hands-on he was on drones.
He was keen on knowing the industry's reaction to the recent policy initiatives. I said India will become the drone capital of the world soon. The Prime Minister also said the services offered by drones should be affordable," he added.
Like e-commerce, fintech, online food delivery sectors, the revised policies will drive the Indian drone industry, he said.
Jayaprakash, who had created quite a splash in the international swimming pools to win medals for India, also told Modi about Garuda Aerospace's drone activities in Varanasi, the Lok Sabha constituency from which the Prime Minister was elected.
Jayaprakash met Modi on October 22 after clearing the Covid-19 test the previous day.
"I shared a brief on Garuda's ongoing projects in NHAI, NTPC, Survey of India, SAIL (and) Drone Delivery of medicines, vegetables in Varanasi Smart City and ISRO to which the Prime Minister had insisted that Urban Air Mobility in geographically isolated areas and food delivery using drones are areas we need to work on to benefit the citizens," said Jayaprakash.
Garuda Aerospace was incidentally in the news recently for getting SpaceX Founder and Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk to notice their New Solar Panel Cleaning Surya Drone and subsequently raised (Dollar) 1 million in Pre-Series A Funding from a UK-based fund.
According to Jayaprakash, Garuda Aerospace has about 300 drones and about 500 pilots and has a valuation of about Rs.400 crore.
The company that offers drone-based services like spraying of pesticides/disinfectants, industrial mapping and others has an order book position of about Rs 23 crore.
"We plan to expand our manufacturing capacity with the fresh funds.
Presently, we can make about 25 drones per day. Apart from offering drone-based services, we also sell drones. Farmers in South India, Haryana and Punjab are buying our agriculture drones," Jayaprakash said.
--IANS
vj/svn/ksk/.
Source: IANS
"Well-informed about drone usage, Modi wants drones to connect the remote areas of the country.
Apart from delivery of medicines and others to people living in remote places, he also said drones could also deliver postal packages to them," Jayaprakash told IANS.
"I was astonished over how hands-on he was on drones.
He was keen on knowing the industry's reaction to the recent policy initiatives. I said India will become the drone capital of the world soon. The Prime Minister also said the services offered by drones should be affordable," he added.
Like e-commerce, fintech, online food delivery sectors, the revised policies will drive the Indian drone industry, he said.
Jayaprakash, who had created quite a splash in the international swimming pools to win medals for India, also told Modi about Garuda Aerospace's drone activities in Varanasi, the Lok Sabha constituency from which the Prime Minister was elected.
Jayaprakash met Modi on October 22 after clearing the Covid-19 test the previous day.
"I shared a brief on Garuda's ongoing projects in NHAI, NTPC, Survey of India, SAIL (and) Drone Delivery of medicines, vegetables in Varanasi Smart City and ISRO to which the Prime Minister had insisted that Urban Air Mobility in geographically isolated areas and food delivery using drones are areas we need to work on to benefit the citizens," said Jayaprakash.
Garuda Aerospace was incidentally in the news recently for getting SpaceX Founder and Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk to notice their New Solar Panel Cleaning Surya Drone and subsequently raised (Dollar) 1 million in Pre-Series A Funding from a UK-based fund.
According to Jayaprakash, Garuda Aerospace has about 300 drones and about 500 pilots and has a valuation of about Rs.400 crore.
The company that offers drone-based services like spraying of pesticides/disinfectants, industrial mapping and others has an order book position of about Rs 23 crore.
"We plan to expand our manufacturing capacity with the fresh funds.
Presently, we can make about 25 drones per day. Apart from offering drone-based services, we also sell drones. Farmers in South India, Haryana and Punjab are buying our agriculture drones," Jayaprakash said.
--IANS
vj/svn/ksk/.
Source: IANS
Imphal, Oct 24 : Manipur police officer Brinda Thounaojam, who had earlier come into the limelight for her crusade against drugs and numerous other crimes, has decided to contest the state Assembly polls.
She said that she is joining politics to "rectify the flawed system, which creates militancy, numerous social evils and deprived people specially the women".
Brinda, who is an Additional Superintendent of Police (Headquarters) submitted her resignation to the government earlier this month which has not been accepted yet.
She said that she has closely watched the administration and society and found that so many imperfect policies of the government, a defective system and a wrong and immoral mindset were causing many problems including extremism in Manipuri society.
"There is huge political interference from influential quarters..honest and sincere officials cannot work freely and as per the prevailing law and norms."
"That is why I have decided to fight the elections and become a lawmaker to make an endeavour to enact realistic and perfect laws in the assembly for the betterment of Manipur and its deprived people," the 42-year-old told IANS.
A mother of four children, Brinda said that bad governance destroys society in numerous ways and that is why appropriate laws are required to reform society and for the betterment of the people, specially the proper empowerment of women.
According to political pundits, even though women have been in the forefront in most societal aspects for decades in the erstwhile princely state of Manipur, but in governance women are not given a proportionate share.
For many years, female voters have outnumbered men but political parties are fielding very few women candidates in every election.
According to the latest electoral rolls, Manipur has a total of 19,58,087 eligible voters, of which 10,06,581 are women compared to 9,51,409 men, outnumbering them by 55,172.
There are 97 transgender voters.
"Until princely state Manipur joined the Indian Union in 1949, the condition and position of women in the state was more or less good, but after that their condition gradually deteriorated.
The women's economic deprivation caused diverse problems in Manipuri society."
"Adequate numbers of capable women must come into politics and in governance to improve the situation for the future generations," said Brinda, whose husband Raj Kumar Chinglen is a software engineer in a private firm.
Daughter-in-law of former Chairman of the outlawed United National Liberation Front, Raj Kumar Meghen, the ex police officer with a law background said that she would contest from the Yaiskul assembly constituency.
A former "most wanted militant leader", Meghen is the great grandson of former Manipur king Tikendrajit Singh, who led the Manipur Army in the Anglo-Manipur War of 1891.
Brinda said that she was always looked at with suspicion in the police department since she is the daughter-in-law of Meghen, who is now out of jail and leading a normal life.
"Might be due to my relationship with my father-in-law, I was not given an appointment in the Manipur Police service despite having been selected in the Manipur State Public Service Commission examination," she said.
In January 2013, she filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court seeking redress and the court directed Brinda to approach the Gauhati High Court, however, it directed the Manipur government to appoint her since she had already been selected.
Brinda joined the Mahila Battalion (an all-women battalion) in April 2013.
"Few national and local parties were keen to support me but I would take the decision as per the wishes of the people of my constituency, Yaiskul," she pointed out.
The 60-member Manipur assembly elections are likely to be held in February-March next year.
Brinda Thounaojam was in the limelight when she arrested Loukhoshei Zou, the chairman of the Autonomous District Council of Chandel district and six others, with a huge quantity of drugs worth Rs 27 crore in June 2018.
Manipur Chief Minister N.Biren Singh, who had declared a war against drugs, awarded her a commendation certificate for the arrest.
However, Zou was subsequently released on bail by the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act court in Manipur after it was "proved" that the seized drugs belonged to two other youths.
Criticising the "concerned authority" for granting bail to Zou, Brinda subsequently returned the commendation certificate reportedly informing the government that since "Zou claimed that he was innocent and the court granted him bail she did not deserve the commendation certificate".
The issue had triggered a huge controversy in Manipur politics and the administration.
(Sujit Chakraborty can be contacted at sujit.c@ians.in)
--IANS
sc/bg.
Source: IANS
She said that she is joining politics to "rectify the flawed system, which creates militancy, numerous social evils and deprived people specially the women".
Brinda, who is an Additional Superintendent of Police (Headquarters) submitted her resignation to the government earlier this month which has not been accepted yet.
She said that she has closely watched the administration and society and found that so many imperfect policies of the government, a defective system and a wrong and immoral mindset were causing many problems including extremism in Manipuri society.
"There is huge political interference from influential quarters..honest and sincere officials cannot work freely and as per the prevailing law and norms."
"That is why I have decided to fight the elections and become a lawmaker to make an endeavour to enact realistic and perfect laws in the assembly for the betterment of Manipur and its deprived people," the 42-year-old told IANS.
A mother of four children, Brinda said that bad governance destroys society in numerous ways and that is why appropriate laws are required to reform society and for the betterment of the people, specially the proper empowerment of women.
According to political pundits, even though women have been in the forefront in most societal aspects for decades in the erstwhile princely state of Manipur, but in governance women are not given a proportionate share.
For many years, female voters have outnumbered men but political parties are fielding very few women candidates in every election.
According to the latest electoral rolls, Manipur has a total of 19,58,087 eligible voters, of which 10,06,581 are women compared to 9,51,409 men, outnumbering them by 55,172.
There are 97 transgender voters.
"Until princely state Manipur joined the Indian Union in 1949, the condition and position of women in the state was more or less good, but after that their condition gradually deteriorated.
The women's economic deprivation caused diverse problems in Manipuri society."
"Adequate numbers of capable women must come into politics and in governance to improve the situation for the future generations," said Brinda, whose husband Raj Kumar Chinglen is a software engineer in a private firm.
Daughter-in-law of former Chairman of the outlawed United National Liberation Front, Raj Kumar Meghen, the ex police officer with a law background said that she would contest from the Yaiskul assembly constituency.
A former "most wanted militant leader", Meghen is the great grandson of former Manipur king Tikendrajit Singh, who led the Manipur Army in the Anglo-Manipur War of 1891.
Brinda said that she was always looked at with suspicion in the police department since she is the daughter-in-law of Meghen, who is now out of jail and leading a normal life.
"Might be due to my relationship with my father-in-law, I was not given an appointment in the Manipur Police service despite having been selected in the Manipur State Public Service Commission examination," she said.
In January 2013, she filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court seeking redress and the court directed Brinda to approach the Gauhati High Court, however, it directed the Manipur government to appoint her since she had already been selected.
Brinda joined the Mahila Battalion (an all-women battalion) in April 2013.
"Few national and local parties were keen to support me but I would take the decision as per the wishes of the people of my constituency, Yaiskul," she pointed out.
The 60-member Manipur assembly elections are likely to be held in February-March next year.
Brinda Thounaojam was in the limelight when she arrested Loukhoshei Zou, the chairman of the Autonomous District Council of Chandel district and six others, with a huge quantity of drugs worth Rs 27 crore in June 2018.
Manipur Chief Minister N.Biren Singh, who had declared a war against drugs, awarded her a commendation certificate for the arrest.
However, Zou was subsequently released on bail by the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act court in Manipur after it was "proved" that the seized drugs belonged to two other youths.
Criticising the "concerned authority" for granting bail to Zou, Brinda subsequently returned the commendation certificate reportedly informing the government that since "Zou claimed that he was innocent and the court granted him bail she did not deserve the commendation certificate".
The issue had triggered a huge controversy in Manipur politics and the administration.
(Sujit Chakraborty can be contacted at sujit.c@ians.in)
--IANS
sc/bg.
Source: IANS
Bagalkot, (Karnataka) Oct 23 : Pejawar Seer Vishwaprasanna Theertha Swamiji on Saturday stated that Hindus do not have a mob and violent mentality unlike people of other religions.
The government should act before the situation gets out of hand, he added.
The seer made the statement in the backdrop of violence against Hindus in Bangladesh and Kashmir in recent times.
He said that incidents of violence will take place in the world even if a single word is uttered against certain religions but Hindus do not have that violent mindset.
It is not correct to subject Hindus to further harassment thinking that they do nothing and keep quiet, he noted.
If the government doesn't want its people to take the law into their hands, they should control the situation.
The government should ensure the safety of all in society and not just people of one religion. People of all religions should live in peace, he said.
The government is there to ensure this. In case the government does not act in this regard there will be communal clashes and violence. Once it breaks out, then it won't be possible to stop it, he warned.
Communal issues are discussed at the time of elections and gradually they fade out. Politicians issue statements to get votes from particular castes. But these statements will affect the harmony in the society. This should not happen, he stated.
He expressed his happiness that granite stones from Doddaballapur region in Karnataka will be laid at the foundation of Sri Ram Mandir at Ayodhya on which the temple will be built.
"It is a matter of pride and honour for the people of Karnataka," he said.
--IANS
mka/bg.
Source: IANS
The government should act before the situation gets out of hand, he added.
The seer made the statement in the backdrop of violence against Hindus in Bangladesh and Kashmir in recent times.
He said that incidents of violence will take place in the world even if a single word is uttered against certain religions but Hindus do not have that violent mindset.
It is not correct to subject Hindus to further harassment thinking that they do nothing and keep quiet, he noted.
If the government doesn't want its people to take the law into their hands, they should control the situation.
The government should ensure the safety of all in society and not just people of one religion. People of all religions should live in peace, he said.
The government is there to ensure this. In case the government does not act in this regard there will be communal clashes and violence. Once it breaks out, then it won't be possible to stop it, he warned.
Communal issues are discussed at the time of elections and gradually they fade out. Politicians issue statements to get votes from particular castes. But these statements will affect the harmony in the society. This should not happen, he stated.
He expressed his happiness that granite stones from Doddaballapur region in Karnataka will be laid at the foundation of Sri Ram Mandir at Ayodhya on which the temple will be built.
"It is a matter of pride and honour for the people of Karnataka," he said.
--IANS
mka/bg.
Source: IANS
New Delhi, Oct 23: Once again, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has failed to blacklist Pakistan.
FATF, the global body working to combat financing of terrorism and money laundering let Pakistan off the hook, despite Islamabad's repeated failure to adequately investigate and prosecute senior leaders and commanders of UN-designated terrorist groups.
Nevertheless, Pakistan remains grey-listed -a dubious position that it has maintained for more than three years in a row.
The main reason for Pakistan's embarrassing status is its inability to tackle the money laundering and terror financing that FATF had earlier flagged.
FATF President Marcus Pleyer asserted that of the 27 action points agreed under the June 2018 plan, Pakistan has implemented 26 but has not addressed the most crucial point - the investigation of senior leaders and commanders of UN designated terrorist groups.
FATF also expressed concern about the current evolving money laundering and terrorist financing risk environment in Afghanistan.
"We affirm recent UNSC resolutions on situation Afghanistan. We demand that country not be used to plan or finance terrorist acts," Pleyer said.
Interestingly, the latest US Congressional report on terrorism "Terrorist and Other Militant Groups in Pakistan", underlines that at least 12 groups designated as "foreign terrorist organizations" by the US are based in Pakistan including five that are India-centric.
As per the US administration, Islamabad continues to remain a base of operations for numerous non-state militant groups, many with global reach.
In the last meeting of the FATF, Pakistan was given time until October to act against 8 terror groups - the Afghan Taliban, Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), Haqqani Network, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation, al-Qaeda and Islamic State.
"Some of these entities and their leaders are now part of the interim Afghan government.
That makes it impossible for Pakistan to move against them," says Shahbaz Rana, a Pakistani journalist.
Interestingly, few hours before of the FATF press conference on Thursday, the Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and ISI chief Faiz Hameed were meeting Taliban ministers including Sirajuddin Haqqani, the interior minister of Afghanistan and chief of UN designated terror outfit Haqqani Network.
He has a bounty of (Dollar) 10 million on his head. Experts believe that Pakistan has not given recognition to the new government in Afghanistan yet fearing possible action from FATF.
The Pakistanis backed the Taliban diplomatically even financially, not to mention militarily.
FATF too expressed concern about the current evolving money laundering and terrorist financing risk environment in Afghanistan.
"We affirm recent UNSC resolutions on situation Afghanistan. We demand that country not be used to plan or finance terrorist acts," Pleyer said.
And Pakistan has to act by the next session of the Global watchdog scheduled to be held in February next year.
Earlier China, Turkey and Malaysia have been helping Pakistan to prevent its blacklisting but now Turkey finds itself in the greylist of the FATF.
(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)
--indianarrative.
Source: IANS
FATF, the global body working to combat financing of terrorism and money laundering let Pakistan off the hook, despite Islamabad's repeated failure to adequately investigate and prosecute senior leaders and commanders of UN-designated terrorist groups.
Nevertheless, Pakistan remains grey-listed -a dubious position that it has maintained for more than three years in a row.
The main reason for Pakistan's embarrassing status is its inability to tackle the money laundering and terror financing that FATF had earlier flagged.
FATF President Marcus Pleyer asserted that of the 27 action points agreed under the June 2018 plan, Pakistan has implemented 26 but has not addressed the most crucial point - the investigation of senior leaders and commanders of UN designated terrorist groups.
FATF also expressed concern about the current evolving money laundering and terrorist financing risk environment in Afghanistan.
"We affirm recent UNSC resolutions on situation Afghanistan. We demand that country not be used to plan or finance terrorist acts," Pleyer said.
Interestingly, the latest US Congressional report on terrorism "Terrorist and Other Militant Groups in Pakistan", underlines that at least 12 groups designated as "foreign terrorist organizations" by the US are based in Pakistan including five that are India-centric.
As per the US administration, Islamabad continues to remain a base of operations for numerous non-state militant groups, many with global reach.
In the last meeting of the FATF, Pakistan was given time until October to act against 8 terror groups - the Afghan Taliban, Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), Haqqani Network, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation, al-Qaeda and Islamic State.
"Some of these entities and their leaders are now part of the interim Afghan government.
That makes it impossible for Pakistan to move against them," says Shahbaz Rana, a Pakistani journalist.
Interestingly, few hours before of the FATF press conference on Thursday, the Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and ISI chief Faiz Hameed were meeting Taliban ministers including Sirajuddin Haqqani, the interior minister of Afghanistan and chief of UN designated terror outfit Haqqani Network.
He has a bounty of (Dollar) 10 million on his head. Experts believe that Pakistan has not given recognition to the new government in Afghanistan yet fearing possible action from FATF.
The Pakistanis backed the Taliban diplomatically even financially, not to mention militarily.
FATF too expressed concern about the current evolving money laundering and terrorist financing risk environment in Afghanistan.
"We affirm recent UNSC resolutions on situation Afghanistan. We demand that country not be used to plan or finance terrorist acts," Pleyer said.
And Pakistan has to act by the next session of the Global watchdog scheduled to be held in February next year.
Earlier China, Turkey and Malaysia have been helping Pakistan to prevent its blacklisting but now Turkey finds itself in the greylist of the FATF.
(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)
--indianarrative.
Source: IANS