Chandigarh, February 1
After an unconvincing start last year, Chandigarh film festival finally took wings this evening. To see it in flight were towering figures of Indian cinema - from the realistic Shyam Benegal, who was stepping on the Punjabi soil after three decades to the very talented M. S. Sathyu, whose all-time great “Garam Hawa” still rankles in social memory. Hema Malini added her bit, with a presentation of “Durga”, her best ballet.

As representatives of Indian cinema’s golden age, Benegal and Sathyu clearly emerged the toasts of today’s gathering at PGI’s Bhargava auditorium, venue for the inaugural. The occasion was interesting as it attracted the best from the field of films. While Benegal was the chief guest, with his period film “Junoon” opening the four-day festival, Nafisa Ali, Benegal’s find, was another star on the list.

Ever-fresh, she walked in late and headed straight to make the opening remarks. “It’s a pleasure to be here. It’s truly a beautiful place, so is this occasion. Film festival is indeed a special occasion to interact and grow. But while we do that, let’s spare a thought for the children of farmers who commit suicides, for the millions of missing girls of India.

It’s beautiful to be a woman. Let’s save our daughters,” said Nafisa, head of Children’s Film Society of India, which has lent four films for the festival. Also in the package is a heady mix of foreign and Indian films; many will be shown for the first time, like Kamal Nathani’s “The Hope” and Anand Patwardhan’s “War and Peace”.

Benegal’s own “Zubeida” “Bose, the Forgotten Hero” and “Bhumika” will grace the festival, courtesy National Film Development Corporation. For the city, Benegal’s selection is a privilege, as the filmmaker himself admitted, “35 mm print of “Junoon” could not be arranged due to its prohibitive cost. I am glad the DVD is as good.”

Earlier, the filmmaker cautioned Chandigarh Administration before going ahead with its film city project. “Film cities grow organically. They can’t be created. You need to give incentives to filmmakers if you want them to shoot here, you must have skills available in every single discipline of film making. Even now, Punjabi film recordings are being done in Mumbai,” said Benegal in his address; he favoured the promotion of film societies instead.

Sathyu for his part argued for a theme for the event. “I had suggested we have films on the theme of religion and cinema. That would have lent a character to the event. I hope this would be possible by next year,” he said, reflecting on how such festivals have helped refine sensibilities. Like Benegal had earlier pointed out, “Cinema is not about entertainment alone. It’s about things that lie beyond entertainment”.

That’s not to say the guests were not encouraged by turnout on day one, but they thought that goings could have been smoother. Organisational capacities of hosts were found lacking, with the event starting late and no seats being reserved for special guests.

As bureaucrats occupied seats in the front row, local artists had to vacate their own when Benegal, Sathyu and Nafisa arrived. When Benegal came, Rani Balbir, a local theatre person, vacated her seat. Thankfully, the guests soon moved to the stage. Representing UT administration on the stage was Pradip Mehra, adviser to UT administrator, who projected Chandigarh as the next film tourism destination. Incidentally, UT administrator S.F. Rodrigues, who was to first represent the hosts, could not come for some reason.

But that didn’t seal the revelry in any way. Adding to the importance of the day were big names of film industry. Pleasure it was to see many eminent artists sitting silently through the evening to respect the spirit of the event. Among them was Kamal Nathani, the producer who gave us adorable films like “Chashme Badoor” and “Khatta Meetha”.

New Delhi, February 1
Clearly threatened by the BSP’s potential to damage its electoral prospects in the upcoming Assembly elections in the Hindi heartland, the Congress is making serious efforts to hijack Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati’s Dalit agenda.

It first took the lead in highlighting the plight of the suffering farmers in the drought-hit Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh, which has the highest population of SCs. It then went on to launch a “Hisaab mango abhiyan” in which the Congress has demanded that BSP chief Mayawati enumerate the measures taken by her government for the welfare of Dalits.

Today, the Congress went a step further in its ongoing campaign to dent the BSP’s stranglehold over Dalits. It was quick to endorse her proposal that reservations be extended to Dalit Muslims and Christians.

“This has been the consistent stand of the Congress,” AICC general secretary and in charge of Uttar Pradesh affairs Digivijay Singh said here today. Calling for a political consensus on this issue, Singh also agreed that necessary steps should be taken to raise the limit for reservation beyond the stipulated 50 per cent.

Making a strong case for the Dalit Muslims and Christians, Singh pointed out that it was unfair to keep them out as Hindu Dalits, who convert to Sikhism and Buddhism, were extended reservation.

As part of its strategy to keep up the pressure on Mayawati, Nehru-Gandhi scion Rahul Gandhi will visit Allahabad by March-end after his successful trip to Bundelkhand where he succeeded in highlighting the plight of the drought-hit farmers and putting the Uttar Pradesh government in the dock for neglecting the region.

The Congress has taken a conscious decision to distance itself from the BSP after it realised that the Dalit outfit is working to expand its base beyond Uttar Pradesh. The grand old party has already suffered at the hands of the BSP in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh and it has reasons to worry that Mayawati’s party has the potential to erode its Dalit support base in the poll-bound states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.

Lucknow, February 1
The latest move in the oneupmanship game between the ruling BSP and the Congress in wooing the Dalits is Chief Minister Mayawati’s request for a constitutional amendment for granting SC status to Dalits who convert to Islam and Christianity.

In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Mayawati has asked the Central government to bring in a constitutional amendment to set aside a Supreme Court order limiting reservation to 50 per cent.

She has asked for reservation for SC converts in jobs without affecting the existing reservation for the SCs.

In the letter, she has asked the Prime Minister to put the amendment in the Ninth Schedule so that it cannot be challenged as violative of any of the fundamental rights contained in the Constitution.

As a matter of fact, the Ballia Lok Sabha byelection results earlier this month in which the BSP Brahmin candidate lost to the SP’s Rajput candidate, son of former Prime Minister Chandrashekhar, seems to be a watershed for Mayawati’s brand of politics.

As Dalits having reportedly stayed away from polling is believed to be the reason behind the BSP defeat, Mayawati is taking no chances to keep her core constituency intact.

Lucknow, February 1
A book on the history of district Sultanpur, praising the role of Gandhi-Nehru family, has irked Chief Minister Mayawati so much that she has suspended four officers, including two senior IAS officers, on the grounds of violation of service rules.

This new low in the rapidly deteriorating Congress-BSP relations came when the state government decided to suspend divisional commissioner, Faizabad, Venketeshwar Lu, Sultanpur DM Sanjay Kumar, former chief development officer of Sultanpur Ishtdeo Prasad Rai and assistant director of information Pramod Kumar Singh for reportedly “sponsoring” a book “Sultanpur - Kal aur Aaj”.

Written by Dr Shrikant Srivastava, a regional publicity officer of the Central government, the book carries a foreword by the commissioner in which he has described the book as a “major work”, states a government press note.

Calling the book inspired by the ideology of one particular political party, the government says it tries to show that the present government has done nothing for the area. The officers also invited the wrath of the government for appreciating the author’s efforts in documenting the history of the area.

The book describes late Rajiv Gandhi, twice MP from Amethi, a part of the district, as a “legend”. It refers to the setting up of the Indira Gandhi Eye Hospital and the Indian Institute of Information Technology as efforts of the Nehru-Gandhi family for the development of the area.

Bahujan Samaj Party MLA from Sultanpur O.P. Singh first took up the issue of the biased history of the district appearing in the book, which was released in October, 2007. The MLA, in a letter to the DM, criticised the book for presenting a one-sided view of the history of the district. He also brought the matter to the notice of Cabinet secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh.

Taking cognisance of the complaint, Chief Minister Mayawati suspended all four officers.

Responding to the state government’s move, UPCC president Rita Bahuguna Joshi said it revealed the “mean mentality” of the government. “How can one write the history of the area without mentioning the role of the Nehru-Gandhi family”, she wondered.

Rita also criticised Mayawati for her “double standards”. Mayawati finds nothing wrong in employing IAS officers for organising BSP political rallies and celebrating her birthday, she pointed out.

New Delhi, February 1
The Internet users in the country can heave a sigh of relief as majority of the Internet services, which were disrupted following a major international cable breakdown, have been restored.

“Almost all Internet links in the country have been restored. The Internet Service Providers have shifted their traffic to other alternate route,” Internet Service Providers Association of India president Rajesh Chharia told PTI.

About 25 per cent of the links, which were down earlier in the day, had been restored, he said. Internet services were disrupted on Wednesday night due to damage to two international undersea cables of Egypt coast.

About 50-60 per cent of the capacity was affected due to rupture in the cables, which connect India to Western Europe, due to anchoring of ships near Alexandria.

However, it would take 10-12 days to repair the damaged cables and shift the traffic back to them.

He said big BPO firms and companies were not affected as they had their back-up plan but the fault might had affected small BPOs which operate only through a single route.

International long distance and Internet traffic to Europe and the US got affected due to the breakdown.

The Department of Telecom had yesterday reviewed the situation with senior officials and service providers, and said the link would be restored by ILD operators in 10 days.

Meanwhile, service provider VSNL, in a statement, said it had restored most of its Internet links within 24 hours of the cable breakdown.

VSNL, Reliance and Bharti Airtel were in constant touch with Telecom Egypt to ensure speedy repair of the two submarine cables SEMEWE-4 Cable (SMW-4) and FLAG Cable. The circuits working on these cables are being shifted by the three firms to other cables such as SMW-3 cable and pacific route cables to restore the telecommunication links. — PTI

Mumbai, February 1
Russi Karanjia, veteran journalist and former editor of Blitz, one of earliest tabloids published in the country, died today in Mumbai. He was 96.

During its heyday, Blitz was known for sensational breaking news that targeted the high and mighty. Karanjia, who was with The Times of India during the 1940s, quit the newspaper before the end of the Second World War and started his tabloid. Named Blitz after the sustained bombing by Hitler on Britain’s cities during the war, the tabloid usually led with stories broke by Karanjia himself.

Many of his scoops consisted of interviews with prominent world leaders from the East Bloc countries when the Cold War was at its peak. His links with prominent Left leaders like Nasser, Fidel Castro and leaders of the former USSR had led to allegations that Karanjia’s Blitz was funded by the KGB.

In the 1980s, Karanjia experimented with The Daily, then called India’s first tabloid. With a bulldog for a mascot, The Daily was the precursor of the city-centric newspapers that dominate the media scene in India’s major cities.

Complete with a Page 3 diary that chronicled the lives of the rich and famous and glamorous women clad in skimpy clothing, The Daily quickly gathered a following in Mumbai.

Among other things, The Daily was known for its April Fool pranks. For one such prank, Karanjia and his team managed to get the then Governor of Maharashtra to pose for a picture swearing in actor Amitabh Bachchan as Chief Minister of Maharashtra.

But The Daily could not withstand competition from the more established newspapers and Karanjia was forced to sell it off. The newspaper was quietly buried some years ago.

Karanjia’s Blitz plodded along and after the dismantling of the USSR, the veteran editor took a rightward turn and turned the Blitz into a mouthpiece for Hindutva. The experiment misfired badly and as age took its toll on his health, Karanjia was forced to sell out Blitz as well in the late 1990s.

Hyderabad, February 1
A Hyderabadi girl, who was allegedly ditched by Pakistan cricket captain Shoaib Malik, is preparing to wage a legal battle seeking justice.

Contesting Malik's claim that he did not marry Ayesha, her father Mohammad Siddiqui said he had proof to establish that the nikah’ took place on June 3, 2002, and 35 guests had attended it.

"My daughter is devastated by the development. We will move court and will also approach international court of justice if necessary. I want justice for my daughter," a distraught Siddiqui told the media here.

He was responding to Pakistani cricketer's statement in Karachi that he did not marry Ayesha though he had a long-standing relationship with her.

"No ‘nikah’ took place and in the end our families could not reach an understanding on various issues. So, we dropped the marriage plans," Malik was quoted by the Pakistani media as having said.

Chennai, February 1
Ugly scenes were witnessed at the Tamil Nadu Assembly here today as members of the treasury benches and Opposition rushed menacingly towards each other following a verbal duel between AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalithaa and some ministers leading to adjournment of the House.

Trouble started when Jayalalithaa made one of her rare appearances in the Assembly as she remained away ever since the DMK came to power in 2006 and made some caustic remarks about finance minister K. Anbazhagan and law minister Durai Murugan.

She was speaking on the Governor’s address to the Assembly on the concluding day of the session. Jayalithaa’s remarks led to angry protests by treasury bench members and they rushed to the well of the House and clashed over the issue with AIADMK members leading to a bedlam.

As the legislators shouted at each other and gesticulated, speaker R. Avudaiyappan adjourned the House, which rarely happens in Tamil Nadu.

When the House convened again, Jayalalithaa in her usual style accused Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi of misleading the Assembly with untrue information and this led to another bout of shouting.

She demanded the resignation of the DMK government saying, “It has lost the moral right to govern the state” and led her partymen to stage a walkout in protest after finishing her speech of 45 minutes.

In her speech Jayalalithaa said the Governor’s address was like a curtain raiser to the policies and programmes of a government and “had no vision in it”.

“The speeches were like lullaby. But someone has to come out with the truth.” Jayalalithaa alleged that the state was fast becoming a haven of anti-socials and a base of the LTTE.