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Towards cash transfers
Get off the high |
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Healthy minds
Dealing with a moth-eaten state
Tact and tactics
CINEMA: NEW Releases
Taken for a ride!
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Towards cash transfers
The
government spends heavily to subsidise food, petroleum products and fertilisers. To cut leakages and pay the subsidy to the deserving, it is moving towards direct cash transfers. On Thursday the Union Cabinet cleared a plan to track the movement of fertilisers from the manufacturer to the retailer through a mobile-based monitoring system. The urea price has been raised by Rs 50 a tonne and the amount will be paid to the retailers sending fertiliser records to the monitoring system through mobile messages. A company will get the fertiliser subsidy on the production of receipts from the retailers. In the second phase the subsidy will be paid direct to the farmer. For this every farmer will need to have a bank account, a kisan credit card, a unique identity (UID) number or get enrolled in the National Population Register. The first project will start in a month and the second will begin as a pilot project in 10 districts by the year-end. All this is being done on the recommendation of a task force headed by Nandan Nilekani, who handles the Aadhaar project. The idea is to limit the subsidy to the needy. It is estimated that 30 per cent of the subsidised fertilisers, mostly urea, are put to non-agricultural use. A large part of the subsidy meant for the poor is cornered by the rich and well-connected. A McKinsey report has estimated that electronic payments will save the exchequer 10 per cent of the total subsidy burden, which amounts to about Rs 3 trillion. The government’s oil subsidy bill has shot up due to a rise in global oil prices and the depreciation of the rupee. Its fertiliser subsidy last year amounted to Rs 67,198 crore. In the 2012-13 budget the then Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, promised to cut it by 10 per cent. This may not be immediately possible but the government is moving towards that direction. The UPA’s ambitious food subsidy Bill is pending in Parliament and it is expected to be passed close to the general election. This will put an additional Rs 30,000 crore burden on the exchequer.
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Get off the high
Congress
general secretary Rahul Gandhi, who came to Punjab on a political mission, also tried to strike a chord with the youth while in Chandigarh. Taking up their issues, he, in the typical politicians’ loose manner, said seven in 10 youth of Punjab were into drugs. The Punjab government duly took umbrage at being accused of not taking care of the state’s youth, and questioned where Rahul had got his figures. Punjab is right, there is no authentic and extensive survey done to establish the exact figures for drug addiction in the state, though the 70 per cent figure is often mentioned. But Rahul, too, is right; the state government has to take charge, human resource development is entirely the state’s business. The massive Rs 500-crore haul of heroin at Amritsar last week is an indicator of the level and extent of the drug trade that spreads out from the state to the rest of the country. The smugglers would have tried their modus operandi earlier with smaller quantities before becoming so confident as to risk such a huge consignment. This is an issue to be handled by both Central and state agencies. But the mass of drug addicts in the hinterland do not start on sophisticated drugs like heroin. They start with poppy husk, which is freely available, or take to cough syrups — intoxicants that can easily be denied to the youth using the state’s police and health resources. The large number of chemist shops in rural areas and near educational institutions should be a giveaway. The scale plainly suggests homilies, whether on Rahul’s part or the government’s, won’t do. This is a problem that is the result of things slipping on multiple fronts — economy, education, policing, social fabric and, not to miss, youth leadership. Attempts on any one department’s part would never be successful, seeing which no department even makes a sincere bid. The state government has to take this up in “mission mode”, just as Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal has done for attracting investment. Youth are the best investment, whether for economy or politics, and Punjab has some of the finest specimens, just don’t let them go waste.
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Healthy minds
In
a country where mentally ill patients are treated almost like pariahs, the new Mental Healthcare Bill to update the 25-year-old existing law could go a long way in according dignity to the mentally ill. The Health Ministry’s approval of the new law with hallmark provisions like the Advance Directive which grants people the right to choose nominees who would make choices on their behalf in the case of mental illness, could be an answer to the long-felt need. Other proposed provisions which bar sterilisation, chaining and tonsure are undeniably patient-friendly. However, the fact that the Bill allows physical restraint as well as electro-convulsive therapy, commonly known as electric shock, in certain cases and does not address the question of full legal capacity implies that not all aspects of the mentally ill have been covered. Since a significant part, nearly 7 per cent, of India’s population suffers from some or the other mental disorder, issues concerning mental health have to be tackled with the urgency they deserve. In the light of the WHO’s projection that by 2020 depression will be one of the major causes of disability and the observation that Indians are among the world’s most depressed, alarm bells should have been ringing by now. The link between depression and suicides is another cause for worry. Mental health is a significant measure of one’s well-being and no country can progress if millions remain mentally afflicted. While the new law must satisfy the misgivings of disability activists, it must keep in the mind the UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities, including mental illnesses, since India is a signatory to the convention. Besides, constraints of the Indian health reality like the woeful shortage of psychiatrists too needs to be factored in while devising new mental health programmes. Indeed, the draft Bill proposes to make discrimination against the mentally ill a criminal offence. However, to truly ensure that mental illness is not treated as a stigma, community and family support is a must. That mental illness is nothing more than a disease is a message that needs to be driven home at all levels.
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He who has health, has hope; and he who has hope, has everything. — Thomas Carlyle
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Dealing with a moth-eaten state
A
hyphenated word has hung like a shroud over Pakistan ever since its founding father, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, vocalised what Great Britain produced in its hasty retreat from empire: a moth-eaten state. In 1947, a British barrister, new to the subcontinent, drew artificial lines on a map that carved up Punjab, Bengal and Kashmir, producing a hopelessly divided independent state of Pakistan. Pakistan remains a moth-eaten country; only now, the spaces beyond the writ of the state are home to extremist groups. They can be found in Pakistan’s heartland as well as on its periphery. Pakistan’s military and intelligence services nurtured them with the expectation of gaining leverage against India and within Afghanistan. Now, these quasi-independent fiefdoms fill the spaces vacated by poor governance, economic stagnation, corruption, flimsy social services and a deteriorating education system. Among these groups, the Lashkar-e-Toiba has focused primarily on Indian targets — so far. The Afghan Taliban fire primarily at US and NATO forces — so far. Currently, the biggest threat to Pakistan’s military and intelligence services is the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, an umbrella group of tribal fighters mobilised after President Pervez Musharraf ordered commando units to seize control of the “Red Mosque” in Islamabad, whose clerics were openly defying the state. A 10-day siege resulted in approximately 100 deaths, prompting a war of vengeance. The TTP’s home base is in the tribal lands of Waziristan, but its reach extends all over Pakistan. Whenever Pakistan’s military forces turn up the heat, the TTP reacts by carrying out mass-casualty acts of violence in urban areas. Prosecutions and judicial findings are hard to come by in Pakistan, but the TTP may have been behind the December, 2007, assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Rawalpindi, the September 2008 truck bombing of Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, and the failed New York City Times Square bombing in May 2010. The TTP has also been implicated in brazen suicide missions directed at Pakistani military installations. Three are of particular note: the October 2009 attack on Army headquarters in Rawalpindi, the May 2010 Mehran Navy base attack in Karachi, soon after the Osama bin Laden raid, and the August 2012 Kamra air force base attack in Punjab. Local security forces, reinforced by commando units, repulsed these attacks. Additional strikes have been directed at soft targets, such as buses outside defence production compounds and military facilities. Regional ISI offices
have also been hit. More attacks are likely, especially if Pakistan’s armed forces ratchet up their operations against the TTP in North Waziristan. Those who demand that the Pakistan Army confront without further delay the LeT, the Afghan Taliban as well as the TTP might bear this in mind. The process of reclaiming Pakistan’s moth-eaten spaces will be painfully slow, and the results will be uncertain. Even if Pakistan’s military carry out intensified campaigns, they are unlikely to succeed if governance and economics remain hamstrung. Pakistan’s plight has been magnified by misconceived regional ambitions, especially efforts to place India on the back-foot in Kashmir and to limit Indian inroads into Afghanistan. Rawalpindi’s calculation that every addition to Indian strength would make Pakistan weaker has become true — less by Indian design than by Pakistani missteps. To become whole again, Pakistan requires many remedies, one of which is normal relations with its neighbours. Movement in this direction, however, is likely to spark new explosions. There is no quick or easy way out of this vicious circle. Every explosion that originates in Pakistan’s moth-eaten parts works at cross-purposes with Pakistan’s interests — regardless of where it occurs and who is victimised. Because of prior links to the perpetrators by Pakistan’s intelligence services, complicity is assumed whenever attacks occur in India or Afghanistan — even when this conclusion is unjustified. With each mass-casualty attack, Pakistan’s standing and its economy are further damaged. Pakistan loses without a single shot being fired in retaliation. If these realisations take hold, Pakistan and India will eventually have fewer explosions to deal with. The only way out of this morass is to keep moving forward. Pakistan cannot repair its economy, international standing and sovereignty until its military and intelligence services change their posture toward India and Afghanistan. Intelligence cooperation is one way to help repair ties, but this requires trust where it is most lacking. And even if progress can be made, it won’t stop the explosions, at least in the near term. Direct cross-border trade between Pakistan and India also won’t prevent explosions, but it could be a harbinger of Rawalpindi’s revised security calculus. Is this a tactical or a strategic move? Time will tell. In the meantime, New Delhi has a choice to make: whether to reciprocate Pakistan’s trade initiatives haltingly, or in full measure.n The writer is the co-founder of the
Stimson Centre in Washington.
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Tact and tactics These days tactful officers are in great demand. They are supposed to be far more efficient than the straight-forward ones, and cause the least amount of bother for their seniors. They usually sort out problems and handle the situation with fair means or foul, without aggravation, and not bothering the seniors to come to the spot and handle complicated stuff. Quite often, this tactfulness may involve turning a blind eye to brazen defiance and flouting of the law. The apprehension is that picking up a confrontation may lead to a more serious law and order problem; so why bother, let bygones be bygones and live and let live. In this context, I had a recent experience with the story commencing in Varanasi. As we waited for our train at Varanasi platform, it happened to be the hottest day of the summer. But, thankfully, Amritsar-Howrah Mail was almost on time, and our coupe was really chilled, providing instant relief. To me, a train journey has always been a fascinating experience. At times, when one is looking out of a fast moving train, he may not be watching the objects, but his train of thoughts may be racing much faster and farther and sometimes recollecting old memories. This is what precisely happened on this occasion also as I tried to recount the history associated with Amristsar-Howrah Mail to my wife. Amrtisar-Howrah Mail was one of the most important trains of the British Raj, and used to connect Lahore and areas beyond Calcutta. After Independence, the terminus shifted from Lahore to Amrisar, the rest remaining unchanged. Tagore’s Kabuliwallah would have perhaps come on this train to Calcutta had it been running at that time. Netaji, while under house arrest, escaped in disguise from Calcutta to board this very train at Gomoh, to finally reach Kabul, and then continue into Russia. As our journey from Varanasi coincided with the last rites of ‘Mukhiyaji’ of Aarah, I had taken the precaution of checking before boarding, and had been assured of normalcy. Smug with the satisfaction that there was adequate police escort with the train, my memory took me back to an incident from this very area. It was December, 1973, while traveling from Port Blair to Delhi, I had boarded the chair car in the Delux-Express from Howrah. Towards the evening, we reached Patna, and as the train was coming to a halt a horde of young boys, may be 40/50 of them, barged into our AC chair car. Apparently, they had come from a neighbouring town to Patna to watch “Bobby” and were full of ‘her’ description and songs. They had filled up every inch of the aisle and even pushed and squeezed the bona fide passengers to make room in front of the chairs. Those were the days of rampant chain-pulling on trains, and now one understood why and how it happened. But just then, a policeman came in, yelled at the crowd, banged his cane on the floor, and caused an unbelievable commotion and a stampede. The entire crowd of hooligans vanished in a couple of minutes leaving the compartment littered with chappals of all kinds. As a young officer, I had watched all the action from sidelines and felt happy that each one in our compartment was all praise for the lone policeman. Forty years later, as we were to get off at a very unearthly hour of 2 am, we had an early dinner and were preparing to retire. Around 8 pm, the train reached Aarah and all hell broke loose. Instinctively, I bolted the coupe from inside and switched off the lights. Outside, in the narrow aisle of the AC bogie, there was a crowd of hooligans hurling abuse, shouting slogans and creating general mayhem. Our door was continuously banged on and I was mentally prepared to pull the chain, had the bolt loosened even a wee bit. There was noise of shattering glass and vandalism on the doors of other cabins. This must have lasted about 40-45 minutes till the train reached Patna and suddently all was quiet. As the door was slid open, the sight was as of a battlefield. Curtains in the corridor had been torn, and some removed, the curtain rods had been unhinged and used to damage glass and other fixtures. Water bottles had all been removed, the linen store on the way to toilet, where the railway employees were seated, had been vandalised. The attendant complained of removal of sheets, pillows and blankets. And while all this had happened, I found the same compartment had four men in uniform, quietly sprawled in their seats, with rifles between the legs as if nothing had happened at all. And as the train moved on towards Jasidih, I was left comparing the two situations, focused around Patna, but separated by about 40 years. I was wondering whether the armed escort in our compartment were simply negligent or were being tactful. And whether the overall deterioration, so visible in public behaviour these days, had come about due to the cumulative effect of years of
tactfulness.
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CINEMA: NEW Releases
Few
scenes into the horror movie and you have knots building up in your stomach. But soon the fear factor gives way to a strange queasiness, not of the body but of mind that soon becomes a numbing, sinking feeling. Those who have watched the Urmila Matondkar-starrer prequel Bhoot that was eerily well directed, the sequel with no similarity with the 2003 film though, is a dampener in more ways than one. For most parts Varma does nothing but builds up the horror quotient. Quite justified, for after all, it is a horror flick. But then here one keeps sitting in anticipation of something truly scary to happen. Sure a few scenes do give you goose bumps but by and large the camera
continues to pan up and down the staircase. Creaking doors, horror sounds and the trademark Varma frames dark and desolate, complete the horrorscape. But before you know and more pertinently before nothing happens, the intermission is announced. Post interval there is some action and some gruesome killings too. Yet, once again the film goes nowhere and ends on a truly dissatisfactory note. Of course, for the most part of the movie the ghost’s presence is only alluded to through moving furniture, slipping sheets and an eerie looking doll and much more. While in Bhoot, Varma had commendably built the fleeting appearance of the ghost into a riveting narrative, here he fails to do the same. His attempt to show the presence of the ghost through its absence becomes drearily repetitive. If Varma thought he was treading new ground by showing the invincibility of the ghost and by not providing us any backgrounder on the ghost’s motives, he couldn’t be more wrong. Sans poetic justice the film just does not connect. And pray what the three dimension effects were truly for? Complete waste of money (ours as well as producers). Except for highlighting a few inanimate objects, it does precious little and the 3D effect turns out to be far from astounding. Performances by the entire cast, including Manisha Koirala, as the distraught mother and the lovely little girl Alayana Sharma is apt but nothing can save the movie from falling into a morass of ludicrousness. As one walks out of the theatre wishing for the Ram Gopal Varma of Company, Satya, Rangeela and of course Bhoot to return one can’t help but simultaneously wish the bhoot hadn’t returned. Stay away unless all shades of horror make your day.
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Killer instinct The year is 2074, the place the United States. Time travel though outlawed is used by criminal organisations to send those who they want killed into the past where they are killed by ‘loopers’ assassins who are paid by silver bars strapped to their targets. Joe (Joseph Gordon Levit), a looper, eliminates his older self (Bruce Willis) and is sent back in time to 2044. Out there, there is a Rainmaker, a mastermind, who has taken over organised crime, is closing all the loops. The Rainmaker can be any of three children, one of which is five-year-old Cid (Pierce Gagnon), the cute son of Sara (Emily Blunt), both of whom are tele-kinetic whose stare is lethal when they want to attack or protect themselves. So, here is a story with immense possibilities but it also needs a good plot. It has a very promising actor in the lead role, Joseph Gordon Levi. For starters, the establishing shots dwell a tad too much on the loopers mode of elimination. But it later gathers pace, especially when we come across Sara, a single mother in the vast open country with a shotgun to protect her. That she later gets involved with young Joe is the highpoint of the film. Bruce Willis is at best adequate though he looks a bit bored. But Emily Blunt is excellent and the change in psyche is convincingly achieved. A refreshing futuristic drama Looper with a superb ending. Don’t miss it.
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Taken for a ride! Why would an acknowledged actor like Liam Neeson be involved in such a senseless and predictable film like Taken 2, a tale of revenge which picks up from the parent film after Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) is supposed to have killed Turk Murad Krasnigui’s sons who are buried in Tropoje. Actually the plot is very predictable. Bryan is on the run because Murad has let loose a bunch of hooligans to nab him. But in a typical style they are made to look dumb. Director Olivier Megaton has a field day with this action-packed drama. Cinematographer Romain Lacourbas excels with the chases but credibility is thrown to the winds. Bryan is another one-man army and the decibel level is too high for comfort. As for some of the tracking methods they have to be taken with cart-loads of salt. As for the ending it is a damp squib and scarcely in keeping with the psyche of the characters. Liam Neeson looks happy as he hams his way but Maggie Grace is not only pretty but also gives evidence of her talent in some emotional scenes. Fanke Jenssen begins well but then just fades away in an avoidable thriller.
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Few Aiyyaa moments Here
is some good news for all tall, dark, even darker men who smell good, or different. Now, this ‘different’ better be good because this is how Rani Mukherjee likes it! Aiyyaa the slightly comical, slightly loud, slightly confusing, slightly dreamy movie that is being seen as a comeback for the husky voiced beauty hits the theatres with aiyoo yeh kya ho raha hai feeling. Aiyyaa is a simple story revolving around Rani Mukherjee and her aiyyaa moments. A middle class girl, who daydreams, ends with a job in a library and then gets emotionally entangled. There comes a point when she asks aloud, Yeh mere saath kya ho raha hai? We wish we had the answers. With an okay storyline pepped up with a good dose of high and low volume laughter, Aiyyaa opens to small and big characters, all crazy and quirky. Thrown lavishly are the songs, but the one that we come back with is Dreamum Wakeuppam. Aga bai, there are a lot fun moments to the film too. Subodh Bhave as Madhav, Nirmiti Sawant as Rani’s mother provides for best ‘added’ funny moments.
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Saturday octoBER 13 Transporter 3 ZEE CINEMA 7:20AM Aatma, 1:40PM Hum Aapke Hain Kaun...!, 5:50PM Kasam Hindustan Ki, 9:00PM Vivah STAR GOLD 10AM The Power of Narsimha, 8:45AM Bade Ghar Ki Beti ,11:20AM Krrish, 3:15PM Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge?,,5:55PM Ayan Vidhwansak The Destroyer, 9:00PM Housefull 2 SET MAX 8:05AM Simha: The Tiger, 11:00AM Pratighat: A Revenge, 1:55PM Joru Ka Ghulam, 5:30PM Mujhse Dosti Karoge, 9:00PM Main Hoon Wanted, 11:55PM Ek Ajnabee STAR MOVIES 7:45AM Hellboy, 10:11AM The Front Row with Anupama Chopra, 10:41AM Unstoppable, 12:47PM Transporter 2 , 2:22PM Undisputed III: Redemption, 4:26PM The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, 6:51PM Resident Evil: AfterLife, 9:00PM X-Men: First Class, 11:33PM The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe HBO 7:30AM The Core, 10:23AM Rango, 12:43PM The Mask, 2:58PM Transporter 3, 7:09PM Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, 9:30PM Thor UTV ACTION 8:30AM Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame 11:45AM My Boss Bajrangbali 2:15PM Body Of Lies 5:30PM Tiger: One Man Army 8:45PM Jaal: The Trap 11:00PM Basha: The Boss ZEE ACTION 10:30AM Saathi1:30PM Bal Bramhachari5:30PM Sher-E-Hindustan8:30PM Keemat Roti Ki Sunday octoBER 14 Ishaqzaade ZEE CINEMA 7:30AM Awara Paagal Deewana 11:00AM Dhol 2:35PM Aar Paar: Judgement Day 5:35PM Phir Hera Pheri STAR GOLD 6:00AM Nigahen 8:55AM Vaah! Life Ho Toh Aisi! 11:45AM Dil Hai Tumhaara 3:35PM Barood: Man on A Mission 6:05PM Bodyguard 9:00PM Ragada 11:50PM Ragada STAR MOVIES 7:56AM Undisputed III: Redemption 10:01AM The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe 12:45PM Eragon 2:29PM Commando 4:28PM Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer 6:26PM X-Men: First Class 9:00PM X-Men Origins: Wolverine 11:18PM Piranha 3-D SET MAX 9:50AM Singh is Kinng 1:00PM Ishaqzaade 4:05PM 3 Idiots 7:03PM Kung Fu Hustle 9:00PM Ishaqzaade HBO 8:00AM The Making of : Speedy Singhs 10:45AM Thor 1:20PM Green Lantern 3:55PM Transporter 3 6:02PM Source Code 7:49PM Rush Hour 3 9:30PM Sucker Punch ZEE ACTION 7:00AM Mahaanta10:30AM Mission Azaad1:30PM Elaan5:30PM Purana Mandir 8:30PM Ghatak: The Destroyer |
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Precisely for there is no storyline so to say except that a happy family of four (later accompanied by a fifth member) and of course the obsequious servant finds life turned upside down the moment it enters this sprawling bungalow. The in-house ghost strikes a friendship with the cute little daughter of the family and rest is a mish- mash of n-number of horror films you might have seen before. 
When
The scene then shifts from Turkey to Paris where Bryan, a sort of terminator, visits his ex-wife Lenore (Fanke Janssen) who is having trouble with her second marriage. To make matters worse his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) is secretly seeing her boy-friend. Not surprisingly Mills is thrown together with his family.
Aiyyaa leaves you confused from the beginning. Rani Mukherjee, the Marathi mugli Meenakshi Deshpande, who is loud, cheerful, day dreamer and ready to get married at the whiff of a man, is good to watch. So, you laugh, expecting more laughter. But then the director suddenly decides to give your funny bone some rest. Enter Malayalam star Prithviraj Sukumaran, Surya, the hero of the film. No he doesn’t fight, neither does he run around the trees… he is happy in his tall, dark and handsome avatar and seemingly okay with the few dialogues he has in the movie.
Ishaqzaade is a 2012 romantic drama written and directed by Habib Faisal. The film stars debutant Arjun Kapoor and Parineeti Chopra. The story unfurls in a small town called Almore in UP. Ishaqzaade depicts the love story of two defiant, rebellious individuals: a passionate love story ignited by extreme dislikes. The Chauhans and the Qureshis are two political families, whose rivalry and shared hatred for one another goes back generations.