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Friday,
October
10, 2003,
Chandigarh, India  
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Film fest opens with “Pinjar”
Army chief promises stern action in |
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| 4 die of dengue New Delhi/Mumbai, October 9 Delhi is witnessing a major outbreak of dengue this season, with 618 cases, including two deaths, while in Mumbai two persons have died of dengue fever and 160 persons are undergoing treatment for the same in various hospitals.
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Film fest opens with “Pinjar”
New Delhi, October 9 Heart-throb Kareena Kapoor, dressed in a resplendent, peach salwar-kameez, played the “arti” girl as Mr Advani performed the lamp-lighting ceremony at the Siri Fort Auditorium in the presence of Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of State for External Affairs Vinod Khanna, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, film stars Urmila Matondkar, Manoj Bajpai, Amol Palekar and other prominent film directors and producers from India and abroad. The one-hour inauguration ceremony was followed by the screening of Dr Chandraprakash Dwivedi’s “Pinjar” based on Amrita Pritam’s novel. The cast and the crew of the film were introduced to the audience. It was an upgradation of sorts for the festival to be opened by the Deputy Prime Minister of India, but as Mr Prasad pointed out, Mr Advani was there less in his official capacity and more as a film lover. About that there is no doubt, considering that he always finds time to watch umpteen films, despite various pressing occupations and has even worked as a film critic. Guest of honour Kamala Hasan utilised Mr Advani’s presence to plead for freeing the film waters from loan sharks and also to expedite the task of making available easy and legal finances so that the status of industry given to films could become meaningful. He also requested the audience to lend a helping hand by not patronising pirated cassettes or CDs of films so that the film industry could lead a healthy life. Mr Advani offered to do all that the government could but cautioned that policing alone could not tackle the problem and people’s cooperation was imperative. Mercifully, all speeches were refreshingly short. Mrs Dikshit set the trend by confining herself to a graceful adieu to the Goa-bound festival and hoped that it would continue to bring the country together, wherever it is held. Mr Prasad invited more film-makers to premiere their films at the festival and promised to make the IFFI a symbol of Brand India. Mr Advani recalled that he had taken part in the first film festival to take place in Delhi in 1961. Praising the role played by cinema in popularising Hindi, he said India had the potential to become the world leader in the fields of information technology and cinema. The hall was packed but there was hardly any crowd outside to see the film stars — perhaps because of the extremely tight security at the venue due to the presence of Mr Advani and other ministers. Many light moments were provided by Advani and Mr Kamala Hasan through their informal speeches befitting the occasion. Mr Prasad did so unintentionally when he referred to Kareena as Karisma Kapoor. What will be a film festival without faux pas? When Mr Advani came down from the dais after delivering his speech, he was ushered to the exit gate instead of his seat. This prompted many others like Mrs Dixit, Kareena Kapoor and Kamala Hasan to get up to go, but the Deputy Prime Minister was hurriedly brought back to his front-row seat by senior officials. Only after that could the international jury for the Asian competition section be introduced to the audience and Mr Santosh Singh Jain, Senior Vice-President, Film Federation of India, could read out his vote of thanks.  |
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Army chief promises stern action in rape case New Delhi, October 9 As the Chief of Army Staff, General N.C. Vij, today promised stern action against the four accused persons, reports here said that the President had been fully briefed about the incident by his Military Secretary, Maj-Gen K.S. Dogra. The President was not only informed about the incident but what action had been initiated on behalf of the Army against the four accused. The incident has evoked a sharp response from Rashtrapati Bhavan as all the four were on duty when they committed the crime against the Jesus and Mary College girl who had gone to the Buddha Jayanti Park with her friend. The men waylaid the couple in the park and forced the girl to come with them before raping her at a secluded spot on the ridge. Sources in the Army said besides the President being briefed on the incident, General Vij also had a meeting with Defence Minister George Fernandes. Apparently the Army chief was told to take strict action against the four armymen. Incidentally, the Army will not be able to take any action against the accused till the time they are convicted in court as this remains a peace station. However, the Army will be treating the four as Absent Without Leave (AWL) where they can be dismissed from service also. Meanwhile, talking to reporters on the sidelines of an NCC function here the Army chief said that Army action would have been severe if the crime had been committed in an Army area. “Then we could have invoked the Army Act. But in the present circumstances as the area of the crime is a civilian area, we have to await the legal process to get under way,” he said. General Vij’s strong feelings were shared by Minister of State for Defence Chaman Lal Gupta and the Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Madhvendra Singh, who were also present at the function. |
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4 die of dengue New Delhi/Mumbai, October 9 Chief Medical Officer of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi Dr K.N. Tiwari said about 455 cases of dengue had been reported in Delhi till now while 163 patients of dengue had come from outside. The disease had also claimed two lives with one patient coming from outside. Twentysix dengue patients, including a doctor, had been admitted at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, he said. According to health officials in Mumbai, one death has been reported in suburban Mumbai and a teenaged boy has been the other victim of dengue.
— OC, UNI |
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