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A daunting
task It’s
time for quick action |
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Construction
halt
Eurozone’s
Achilles’ heel
King
Bruce and our matric result
Hail the
Bollywood formula Fairy
tale with a twist Chills
& Thrills
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It’s time for quick action
Thursday’s economic data pointing to just 5.3 per cent GDP growth in the last quarter of 2011-12 came as a shock. Analysts have started recalling the pre-reform 1991 crisis, though things are not as bad as then, given the reasonable level of foreign exchange reserves and still 6 per cent or higher growth rate. Europe’s debt crisis, the anaemic US recovery, China’s slowdown and Asian currencies falling against the dollar have, no doubt, vitiated the global economic environment. But India’s troubles have multiplied as the ruling and opposition parties squabble over scandals and hold up reforms and governance. The RBI hiked interest rates 13 times, raising the cost of capital and hurting growth, but inflation has not come down. This is because the government has ignored agriculture, which does not produce enough to meet the growing demand for food items. Despite a normal monsoon, food prices often stay high. UPA-II’s non-performance is behind most problems. Instead of trying to unearth black money, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has produced a White Paper. Despite a change of minister, environment clearances have not come through, delaying and raising costs of projects countrywide. Allegations of favouritism have slowed coal mining, crippling thermal plants and power supply. High interest rates have hit housing and infrastructure projects, which employ maximum labour. Bills on land acquisition, goods and services tax, insurance, pension, banking and FDI in retail have not been passed. Retroactive tax law changes in the budget annoyed foreign investors, who were already rattled by slowing growth, rating downgrades and high fiscal and current deficits. As they headed for the exit, the rupee took a beating. Instead of accepting responsibility for its failings and taking corrective action, UPA leaders blame coalition politics, disruptive Opposition and the European crisis for the mess all round. The UPA has two options: muddle along and lose the 2014 election or start governing and have some chance of re-election since opposition parties too are in disarray. Why does the UPA leadership, which could steer the ship to safety when financial turmoil rocked much of the world in 2008, seem so helpless now?
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Construction halt
Sand
in and around Chandigarh is being delivered at construction sites at Rs 20 per cubic foot, varying according to quality and location. Stone aggregate, or gravel, is similarly exorbitant. The reason is that most of it is illegally procured. Mining is completely banned in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and the Aravali areas of Rajasthan. The first impact has been taken by construction contractors, many of who have quit their contracts. But the developers — commercial as well as private individuals constructing homes — would not give up that easy. They have huge amounts invested in land, and are thus ready to pay any price. And that is what acts as the biggest incentive for mining — legal or illegal. The result is massive illegal mining in Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand, which are now serving the demand. The Supreme Court ban on mining first in the Aravali hills that came 10 years ago was the result of massive environmental degradation. The fallout, however, has been that illegal mining has come up in neighbouring states, where huge mafia interests have developed, which, given the untaxed gains, can influence the entire government machinery, if not the judiciary. There are certain ‘mining villages’ in Rajasthan where anyone inimical to the activity would face a threat to life. The killing of a police officer in Madhya Pradesh was just an example of how desperate the mafia can get. Locals don’t complain, as they get employment from the activity. If mining is allowed, they ruin the ecology of the area. When it is banned — and if the ban is implemented — construction comes to a stop. Neither is acceptable. That brings us to the now-existential concept of sustainable development, in this case sustainable mining. That would require the government to first reasonably estimate the requirement of construction materials. Then identify areas that may be mined with relatively less environmental impact to auction for mining. The key thereafter lies in ensuring that only auctioned areas are exploited. If we fail in that, the court pendulum will obviously swing to the other extreme.
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Harmony makes small things grow, lack of it makes great things decay. — Sallust
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Eurozone’s Achilles’ heel Suspicion
and gloom prevail all over Europe as it begins to dawn on the members of the world’s second largest economy, namely the eurozone, that crucial issues such as unemployment, education and health care have put people’s lives at grave risk. This is not to say that the elite leadership of Europe has not been aware of these serious problems confronting it, as it faces an agitating and demanding European public. Public opinion is always demanding and knows what it wants. And when no efforts are made by the leadership to convince the public, any amount of structural change will not help end the continent-wide recession. A road-map for European survival is difficult, though the elections in Greece in a couple of weeks will give us a clearer prognosis. Going to the polls for a second time in two months on June 17 has become necessary as the parliamentary election on May 6 left no possibility of a workable coalition to form a strong enough government that would be in a position to support or oppose austerity conditions attached to a 130-billion-euro rescue package. The world watches breathlessly as to which political party would emerge on top: New Democracy, the leftist Syriza or the Socialists. This second round of elections is viewed as a de facto referendum on the country's future inside the eurozone. However, the outcome is still tantalisingly unsure. Leaders across the globe remain overwhelmed by deep-seated fears that a political stalemate in Greece would lead to its departure from the monetary union leaving behind a kind of unknown financial instability. The crisis in Greece and the looming fear of the eurozone contagion which threatens the future of Europe’s 17-country single currency bloc is the biggest to engulf the European Union. The Occupation Movement accompanied by recent demonstrations in Athens and Berlin at the untamed course taken by globalisation as well as the inherently unhelpful imperatives of austerity indicate general disenchantment with the European constitution and the future of an integrated Europe. It is estimated that the gross public debt in Greece will be 160 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) by 2013. With no collateral in the Greek banks, Athens might impose a new currency. As Martin Wolf argues in the Financial Times, “This would spell chaos. Unpaid police officers and soldiers are unlikely to keep order. Looting and rioting could occur. A coup or civil war would be conceivable. Any new currency would depreciate and inflation would soar… A flight to safety, to Germany or beyond the eurozone, could accelerate.” Foreign banks hold over $90 billion in Greek debt, and these colossal losses could push banks in Europe and abroad beyond the brink. The impoverished economies will automatically see their borrowing costs escalate since, apparently, banks will be hesitant to invest in risky economies. This will further hasten the economic slump leading to a downward spiral of bailouts and bankruptcy. The fallout of the Greek elections remains uncertain. Though 80 per cent Greeks are in favour of staying with the euro and taking full advantage of the single currency, unfortunately their incapacity to elect a leadership that has the acumen to implement the euro policies is compelling the creditors to wish for its exit. Anti-austerity measures of job cuts and depletion of funding of many social programmes have not been regarded as the solution, especially owing to the alienation of the voters from the leaders who have attacked basic living standards. Moreover, the G8 group - which a meeting recently at Camp David - though seemingly in a playful mood, as it watches the finals between Chelsea and Bayern Munich, is obviously jittery at the dark scenario emerging in Greece. On the face of it, they have together resolved to save the EU from disintegrating, a gloomy prospect not only for the members but for the developing world too as has been visible in the weakening of various national currencies in the recent past and the rise of interest rates. The US has already loaned more than $100 billion to the economically weak members of the EU along with $275.8 billion to banks in Germany and France. If there is a European Union meltdown, the US along with the rich EU nations would receive a blow in its solar plexus. It is in the interest of the US economy that the EU stays afloat, and if it sinks, the US loses millions in trade with the EU. There is a strategic silence among the Democrats and the Republicans on the introduction of austerity measures which they expediently plan to be implemented after the elections. The public is against job cuts, and unemployment is rising fast. The spending on education and health care will be hit drastically. This would provoke an anti-government public outcry which can conveniently wait till the outcome of the elections in the US. People around the world would be well advised to closely watch the economic and political upheaval in Greece, and subsequently in the rest of Europe, to grasp the economic schemes of the rich nations that blatantly favour the corporate sector. According to Shamus Cooke, a trade unionist and writer for Workers Action, “working people in the US need to learn to speak Greek, and adopt an increasingly popular slogan that rejects austerity measures: Tax the Rich! In other words, make the rich pay for the crisis they created. In practice this means that, instead of massive job reductions, cuts to education and health care, taxes on the wealthy and corporations should be raised; the banks should be put under public control rather than being bailed out with public money; the public sector should be fully funded and expanded rather than privatised and slashed. Austerity is when the wealthy attempt to push the effects of their recession onto the backs of working people, who need only to collectively push back and force the 1 per cent to pay instead.” The public in Europe seems least prepared to accept the policies of their political leaders who now seem to be endeavouring to shore up confidence in European integration. The Socialist victory in the Presidential elections in France has put the French right and left at the crossroads, ready to debate and forge new alliances and unafraid of any change. But the dangers of xenophobic and petty corporatism do seem to sap the vigour of a revolutionary future that is possible if intellectual vitality is tapped and not allowed to be wasted on pseudo-left-wing visions. But overall, as was evident in the economic crisis of 2008-9, the capitalists very cleverly and strategically take advantage of enlarging profits, consolidating the hegemony of capitalism that ensures the widening of inequalities between capital and the working class, and the creation of huge reserves of labour to multiply their profits. The Greek scenario is a harbinger of future financial excesses that might lead to another Great Recession. Business-school rhetoric is no solution to the daylight robbery implicit in the various agendas of globalisation. The ever-rising inequality between the college-educated professionals and working-class citizens around the world has struck fear deep in the hearts of the common people. The debacle clearly has occurred not only because of the mistrust of the bureaucratic elites who live under the illusion that they know what is best for their countrymen, but also because of economic stagnation. Europe has lagged economically for the last 25 years since Maastricht. To effectively handle the serious situation, the people of Europe must begin to have faith in a united euro. On the other hand, the choice before the creditor nations is to ensure an economically stronger eurozone or else prepare for persistent economic crises that would engulf the world
spasmodically.
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King Bruce and our matric result I
feel
envious of youngsters whose photos appear on the pages of leading newspapers with their higher grades or marks in various examinations. Newspaper lensmen and TV crew members direct their parents to hug or kiss them or to fill their mouth with laddoos in the same way as they do in marriage photo sessions with different poses. Their schools take genuine pride in their achievements. Next day, the coaching centres boast of their quality tuition along with testimonials and stamp-size snaps of students with their marks in brackets — as high as 99.9 per cent — in full page, paid news items or advertisements. The principals of their respective schools, too, share the cake in publicity campaign and start making ‘jugad’ for grabbing awards on Teachers Day or Independence Day. Today children’s score touches 99 per cent in literature and other art subjects which sounds bizarre. The son of one of my friends flopped in the second class in a government-run school. He approached a private school where even the weakest students who got admission secured marks not less than 80 per cent. The management boasted of quality education in an airconditioned environment. The parents did mouth-to-mouth publicity of the school telling everybody that the particular school could improve the scoring the capacity of even the most ‘nalayak ward’. The school became popular and attracted children from other schools. Later the gentleman realised that the school never awarded less than 80 per cent marks to even the weakest student in any test and the parents felt being on top of the world with the result card. During the 60’s, in the erstwhile Pepsu State that spread from Patiala to Simla Hills, our result of the middle standard came by post after a week. Our headmaster and his team scanned the entire gazette and discovered after full one day that I had topped the state with 61 per cent marks. That was all a meritorious student could score to be a topper. Our headmaster patted me on my back and sent the message of my being first to our shop, “Lala Ji! Aapka ladka first aya hai.” Babu Ji accepted the wishes without showing any excitement and got busy with customers. Some nearby shopkeepers who overheard the peon demanding sweets congratulated him. There was only one newspaper, The Tribune, in our region then which would publish only matriculation results. The roll numbers of successful candidates were composed manually. The missing numbers meant failed ones. The paper used to publish at the end: ‘Though every care has been taken in publishing the result, The Tribune does not owe any responsibility for any error or omission.’ There was great excitement when our matric result was to be out. We gathered at the bus stand at 10 a.m. to receive the first copy of the newspaper. We got it but it was in pieces within seconds. My fast friend whose nickname was Motoo, jumped with joy as it was his fifth attempt. We named him ‘Try Try Again, King Bruce’. He brought a big ‘thaal’ of fresh laddoos and distributed these at the newspaper shop itself. But when the actual result came to the school, it reflected that he was not successful as this was his fifth attempt. He got success in his seventh attempt like King
Bruce.
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CINEMA: NEW Releases RATINGS: «««««Excellent I ««««Very Good I «««Good I ««Average I «PoorHail the Bollywood formula Nonika Singh
Movie: Rowdy Rathore Rowdy Rathore, as the name promises is boisterous, over the top and strictly follows the dictum “don’t ask intelligent questions and you will get no stupid answers.” So don’t clutter your mind with how a lovely well-heeled girl falls for a smart Alec, small time thief. Or, how the hero continues to fight a one-man-battle with goons even after the conscience of his fellow police officers has long been stirred. Conjectures are meant to be cinematic ploys to take the narrative forward. If you don’t believe cinema is the art of impossible you have no business to be watching Hindi films, at least the kinds that fall in the Rowdy Rathore genre. So sit back, relax, and enjoy. Enjoy… now this is a moot question….is the film entertaining enough? Well, it begins on a breakneck speed and before you can shout ‘Who is Vikram Rathore’, the man whose body goes missing from his grave, it takes you straight to his look-alike and his swindling ways. Enter the comely heroine and what follows is the usual song and dance routine with many a merry moments in tow. Akshay Kumar’s comic timing as Shiva is perfect and without a doubt the film belongs to him. Sonakshi Sinha looks lovely. Possessing the right combination of innocence and chutzpah, she matches Akshay frame to frame whenever she gets to share the screen space with him. Till the intermission the film allows you little time to think. Thinking anyway is barred in the film. Post interval as it recounts the saga of Vikram Rathore the pace slackens a bit to find its speed again to chug onto the expected track. Overall it doesn’t offer you anything you haven’t seen before. Yet at the same time, director Prabhu Deva scores in telling a familiar tale yet keeping you engaged. Only if he had rationed the action scenes (the army of villains seems to be endless hydra-headed monsters who just don’t finish) the film would have been more palatable. Nevertheless it makes into the watchable grade for sure. High octane songs, equally high on dancing steps with dance guru Prabhu Deva himself making his presence felt, music is in no way a speed breaker in this action comedy flick. By the way, among the million dollar questions (why and how) that might swarm your mind, this remake of superhit Telugu film Vikramarkudu does answer one. What does chint ta ta chita mean? Answer we won’t reveal, after all there should be some suspense in an otherwise ‘no prizes for guessing’ film?
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Fairy tale with a twist Movie: Snow White and the Huntsman We all know of the amazing beauty (red lips, raven black hair and white skin) of Snow White (Kirsten Stewart) and she lives up to the Brothers Grimm persona but Queen Ravenna (Charlize Theron) is distinctly different. One who could claw into the chest of an opponent to get at his heart! Real physical and her stabbing to death the king on his wedding night is a case in point. When the mirror tells her that Snow White is not only fairest of them all but will also succeed her to the throne, she is in a tizzy and locks her up in the tower. But Snow White manages to escape into the dark forest, closely pursued by Reveena’s brother and her soldiers. Then Eric, the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) is ordered by the queen to get her heart, but the hard-drinking Huntsman is won over by the princess. Not to be left out are the citizens who miss their old king because the queen has emptied the coffers and they are facing hard times. In the forest she comes upon the seven dwarves, almost halfway into the film, but they surely make their presences felt. There’s also a cute song as Snow White dances with one of them. That the queen has the lives of a cat is not surprising. Nor is the fact that she even wears her crown in her bath. Snow White, in the meanwhile, is taking martial arts lessons from the Huntsman while her childhood friend Prince William (Sam Claflin) suddenly turns up. Will there be a love triangle? Guess there’s too much happening. Meanwhile, branches turn into snakes, pebbles into insects, birds spawn elves and monsters come out of thin air. But the FX (special effects) are fleeting, guess they did not employ a full-time exponent as is the trend now in Hollywood. The salient feature of the film is the old Hollywood formula and the two women are sure to confront each other. Kristen Stewart does an excellent job changing from a greenhorn to a seasoned fighter but Charlize Theron is clearly miscast as the villain though she does her best. Chris Hemsworth too makes his presence felt but if the fare had been reduced by 20 minutes it would have made it so much better.
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Chills & Thrills Movie: Cabin in the Woods Dana (Kirsten Connolly), Curt (Chris Hemsworth), Jules (Anna Hutchinson), Marty (Fran Kranz) and Holden (Jesse Williams) are the five who are on this trip to this cabin but they little know that they are part of an experiment and on camera, being betted on, a live TV show, shades of The Hunger Games. Two seasoned techies of a sophisticated industrial facility Richard (Richard Jenkins) and Steve (Bradley Whitford) are getting ready for an unknown operation taking place in different parts of the world. It doesn’t take long for the youngsters to get romantic as well as adventurous but they soon get a feeling that they are under a scanner. Then, out of the blue, weird figures keep attacking them. They come upon a diary of a family that lived in the cabin and this gives it another dimension. Suspicion is sprinkled like mustard and the screenplay by Drew Goddard and Jess Whedon is rife with possibilities. But director Goddard imbues the film with sudden twists and turns. Some scenes are near comic but it is in the latter half that Goddard is at his best. The horror is sustained and one sees severed hands, heads rolling and blood spattered freely. May be the Censors dozed through some of the scenes and just one notices the absence of any major stars Sigourney Weaver (as the director) makes a token entry in the closing stages. Kirsten Connolly is very convincing in the lead role ably supported by Fran Kramz as the smart one and of the techies it is veteran Richard Jenkins who steals the show. Chris Hemsworth, who did well in Snow White Anna Hutchinson and Jesse Williams are merely academic in this horror thriller which could also raise a few eyebrows.
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Movies on
TV Saturday june 2 filmy
8:30PM A student of classical music and his teacher's daughter fall in love. However, the young woman's family arrange for her marriage to another man. The new groom surprises everyone with his actions in handling the situation. Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam is a 1999 Bollywood film directed by Sanjay
Leela Bhansali. filmy 9:00AM Hanuman, 12:30PM Ab Tak Chappan, 4:00PM Darna Zaroori Hai, 8:30PM Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam ZEE CINEMA 7:15AM Trimurti, 10:50AM Viewers Choice, 2:15PM Andhaa Kanoon, 5:50PM Krantiveer, 9:00PM Laadla hbo 6:00AM Mean Girls, 9:00AM Shrek Forever After, 11:00AM Hop, 1:05PM Small Soldiers, 3:25PM Jonah Hex, 5:05PM Torque, 6:55PM Mean Girls, 9:00PM Rush Hour, 11:05PM Blade star gold 6:15AM Dil Hai Tumhaara, 10:20AM Bajrang: The He Man, 1:40PM Hero No. 1, 3:55PM Kurukshetra, 6:30PM Hukumat Ki Jung, 9:00PM jigar kaleja star movies 7:26AM The Medallion, 9:17AM The Front Row with Anupama Chopra, 9:47AM The Transporter, 11:43AM 50 First Dates, 1:49PM Predator, 3:59PM The A-Team, 6:19PM True Lies, 9:00PM Fantastic Four, 11:05PM The Twins Effect Sunday june 3 ZEE CINEMA 7:15AM Police Police, 11:05AM Apna Sapna Money Money, 2:15PM Dhol, 5:35PM Phir Hera Pheri, 9:00PM Hum Aapke Hain Kaun...! star gold 9:45AM Bal Ganesh, 12:00PM Dhadkan, 2:55PM Main Balwan, 5:20PM Krrish, 9:00PM Singham hbo 6:00AM The Weather Man, 9:00AM Kindergarten Cop, 11:20AM The Making of : Sex and the City 2, 11:35AM Torque, 1:25PM Rush Hour, 3:30PM Robin Hood, 6:30PM Blade, 9:00PM Blade II, 11:30PM Poseidon filmy 9:00AM Rangeela, 12:30PM Sandwich, 4:00PM Tamacha, 8:00PM The Burning Train star movies 7:20AM Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, 8:41AM The Twins Effect, 10:57AM Unstoppable, 12:59PM Lake Placid, 2:45PM Lake Placid 3, 4:42PM Fantastic Four, 6:48PM Zookeeper, 9:00PM Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, 10:54PM The Huadu Chronicles: Blade of the Rose Blade II
hbo 9:00PM Blade II is a 2002 American vampire superhero action film based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Blade. It is the sequel of the first film and the second part of the Blade film series. It was written by David S. Goyer, who also wrote the previous film. Guillermo del Toro took over the director’s duties, and Wesley Snipes returned as the lead character and producer.
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Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam