|
|
|
|
|
Judicial overreach, again
Foreign direct interest
|
|
|
Show empathy
Circle of LoC violence
Murder of another kind
Not electrifying enough
Yesteryear once more
|
Judicial overreach, again A committee appointed by the Supreme Court has suggested nationalisation of fair price shops run by private parties for the distribution of subsidised food items. The suggestion can be faulted on many grounds. First, the committee, headed by Justice D.P. Wadhwa, has proposed judicial encroachment on executive territory.
Let the government decide how best to provide subsidised food to the poor. Judges’ expertise on legal matters does not extend automatically to how best to feed the poor. Secondly, if fair price shops are “epicentres of corruption” where shop owners, transporters, corrupt officials and politicians join hands to cheat the public, then what is the guarantee that government-run shops would not become the same? Even the suggestion that fair price shops should be run by state corporations, panchayati raj institutions, cooperative societies and women self-help groups is impractical as they may not have the required expertise, interest or commitment to take up what is a fairly tedious job. Corruption and other flaws in the existing public distribution system are well known. These have been debated endlessly. Madhya Pradesh has demonstrated how the existing PDS can be made to work effectively. But other states are reluctant to reform the PDS. Thirdly, in the post-reforms era, the government’s role has changed. It is no longer the government’s business to run hotels or shops. Private sector participation is increasing in many areas, government agencies are increasingly outsourcing work and the state is on the retreat. The committee does not seem to have taken into account the Centre’s latest efforts to roll out the direct benefits transfer scheme under which scholarships, pensions and subsidies would be paid into the bank accounts of beneficiaries to be identified electronically under the Aadhar scheme. The committee’s concerns over the diversion of foodgrains to unintended beneficiaries may be largely addressed once the scheme is extended to cover the fuel, fertilizer and food subsidies. It is a bold initiative which, once initial hiccups are taken care of and the poor get an access to banking services, would cut waste, red tape and corruption.
|
|
Foreign direct interest
The single most important reason for the respect that an NRI evokes back home is the money he fetches. And the huge expatriate population has kept up that role through the global slowdown. From $54 billion in 2009-10 to $66 billion in 2011-12, the remittances sent home by NRIs have withstood not only the economy but also beaten the foreign direct investment in the country.
And the best part is these remittances are from individual and mostly small-time earners abroad, not business investors. Keeping this in mind, the Union and state governments concerned would do well to pay attention to the issues raised at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas meetings held recently in Kochi. Poor assistance provided to NRIs at Indian counsellor offices abroad is a major concern. Also, as pointed out at the Parvasi Punjabi Sammelan in Punjab earlier, property issues are a major worry in the state. Addressing these on priority would ensure the diaspora is not dejected enough to sever ties with their homeland. The need is mutual. As noted at Kochi, Kerala sends the most people to the Gulf, where the employment is largely of skilled labour. Tamil Nadu is known for the high-skill human resource it has been supplying the West. Punjab, on the other hand, sends out mostly unskilled labour. This is an aspect the state needs to address. Identify the skills required in targeted countries and set up institutes and courses accordingly. A survey released recently by the economic adviser to the Punjab Government shows Nawanshahr district has the highest per capita income in the state. It is believed credit for that goes to NRI remittances in the district as well as the rest of the Doaba region. This is just a demonstration of what this source of money can do for the economy. It accounts for nearly one-third of Kerala’s GDP. One disturbing aspect, however, is most of the money is ploughed into real estate, pushing up prices without a commensurate increase in the production of goods in the state. It would be a matter of policy formulation to see this money is employed for more productive purposes.
|
|
|
Show empathy
To begin with, all welfare organisations and societies should learn to be a little sensitive towards the beneficiaries of their welfare plans. For, sometimes, acts carried out in the name of welfare end up doing more harm than the help they are intended to, if not carried out with compassion.
The way the two- day sporting event organised by the Haryana Society for the Welfare of Hearing and Speech Handicapped went by at Sirsa, it showed complete lack of empathy on the part of the organisers. First, seeing the weather, the event could have been postponed. Two, knowing the track record of VIP behaviour, why was the local MP invited to inaugurate the event? In biting cold, children were made to wait in the open for over three hours for this VIP to arrive, causing about 10 of the differently-abled children to faint. This expression of insensitivity towards children is not new to our culture. In the prevailing work culture of callousness that treats any work as a punishment, it is quite predictable that the so- called leaders take even differently-abled children for granted as their subservient subjects. This bizarre show of inconsiderateness towards children often makes news, yet the organisers of such events fail to learn their lessons. They think they are obliged to invite politicians, who control the grants. And the politicians remain cold to the inconvenience of the people. In August last year, over 50 students of Government Girls Senior School, Bhuna, from backward classes were made to stand in the sun for several hours for collecting their scholarship. A few of them fainted due to the indifferent attitude of the officials of Punjab National Bank. The callousness inherent in our system to treat people who do not wield power without the essential dignity has become a norm. Despite the directives by the education departments of Chandigarh, Karnataka and Orissa, that children should not be made to wait for VIPs, either for educational or non-educational events, few seem to have taken note of it.
|
|
|
Nature is a mutable cloud which is always and never the same —Ralph Waldo Emerson
|
Circle of LoC violence The recent inhuman and provocative killing of two Indian soldiers in the Mendhar sector of J&K by Pakistani soldiers has brought back the circle of violence across the LoC. The ceasefire that had come into force on November 28, 2003, was already on the ventilator, with numerous violations in 2012 and more than 10 in the last one month alone.
Despite these acts of aggression, the Indian community continues to give peace a chance. We had the Pakistani cricket team visiting India after five years. There were TV programmes like ‘Sur Kshetra and Foodistan’ and a host of other cross-border people-to-people contacts. The issues that merit analysis are the reasons for the recent act of aggression by the Pakistan Army defying the Geneva Convention and its propensity to keep the LoC burning. Does India need to continue with its big brotherly act and forgive Pakistan for its transgressions? J&K is an integral part of India which Pakistan’s establishment and the military in particular have refused to recognise. J&K is a valued weapon with the Pakistan Army that it has used time and again to keep its position cemented or impose military rule since the very creation of Pakistan. Of late, terrorism in J&K has been on the decline. The assembly elections held in 2008 witnessed a 17% rise in the voter turnout despite the boycott call by terrorist organisations and the Hurriyat. The period from 2008 onwards also witnessed an unprecedented tourist flow to the valley that seems to have set alarm bells in Pakistan’s military establishment. Should J&K become peaceful, the most potent weapon of Pakistan’s military with which it has been able to maintain a vice-like grip on its people would be lost. The first covert attempt came in the form of street violence of 2010 in Srinagar and the surrounding areas, unleashed through the Pakistan-backed Hurriyat. Lack of people’s support to this meaningless act led to its early demise. This forced Pakistan and the Hurriyat to look for an alternative option. With the people in J&K clearly displaying their yearning for peace, stepping up of infiltration from across the border was a foregone conclusion. Effective infiltration stood little chance till the ongoing ceasefire and the border fence remained in place. It was easier for Pakistan to breach the former that was already on the ventilator. Osama bin Laden’s killing by the US Army’s SEALs in Abbottabad in 2011, under the very nose of Pakistan’s military establishment, had a direct impact on its currency. The situation became worse with the jihadis in Pakistan attacking the Army, the very organisation that was responsible for raising these terrorist organisations and giving them teeth. The last straw that broke the camel’s back was the killing of pro-Pakistan Taliban leader Maulvi Nazir in a US drone attack which further devalued the Pakistan Army’s stocks. It forced the Pakistan’s military leadership to escalate violence in J&K to woo the jihadis back on board. They do not expect India to retaliate strongly which has time and again proved to be a soft state. Every soldier has a family and most of us want peace but at the same time no army worth its salt would like to sit back without retaliation when its soldiers are decapitated by the adversary. India and Pakistan having nuclear weapons is a reality and Pakistan has committed this act fully aware of this fact. This is an indirect blackmail to which India and its soldiers cannot be taken hostage. There is adequate space available in the conventional zone to respond to Pakistan’s dastardly act. The Indian Army has the will and the ability to send a loud and clear message with the concurrence of the democratically elected government. It would be of interest to recall that the ceasefire of 2003 had actually come into effect when the Indian Army had made the life of Pakistani troops difficult on the LoC. We need to give it back to them in their own coin. Let them not live in cuckoo land! The peace initiative could also continue simultaneously, despite the dichotomy in the Indian establishment wherein some feel that a lot is already invested in this arena and the others are of the opinion that nothing is going to come out of it till Pakistan accepts the reality of J&K being an integral part of India. The Indian economy is strong and vibrant whereas the economy of Pakistan is a shambles. We need to seriously re-consider the requirement of offering an olive branch to Pakistan and its people. Do Bollywood and its kind need to woo artists from Pakistan when our soldiers are decapitated? What is the purpose of cultural exchanges and sports fixtures when the basic norms of civilized society are not respected by the establishment from across the border? There is a crying need to put an end to this till we see a positive turnaround. The rise of the hardliners and jihadis in Pakistan, and the simmering discontent in Balochistan, the Northern Areas and Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa (earlier called the North-West Frontier Province) have resulted in an unprecedented attack on Pakistan’s military establishment. It is indicative of the fact that Pakistan is imploding from within. Many of the strategic thinkers have been of the opinion that a strong Pakistan is good for India. Clearly the time has come to review this philosophy and redefine the contours of Indo-Pak relations. India should leave Pakistan to its fate. The need of the hour is to send a clear-cut message that we are peace-loving people, capable of defending ourselves. India does not need Pakistan economically or culturally till it mends its ways and behaves like a good
neighbour. |
|||||
Murder of another kind
Last week, I was witness to a murder. I had gone to watch a play — a play about unrequited love, simply told by the reading of letters written over a span of 40 years by the two protagonists.
It was a privilege to watch two exceptionally talented actors enacting such a brilliant idea on the stage. As the two well-known actors came on the stage, the audience fished out their mobile phone cameras in earnest and started clicking frantically, to which the lead actor politely told them that they would get ample opportunity to click pictures after the show and requested them to switch off their sets. The play demanded a pin-drop silence as it was a mere reading of letters between the two characters and even heavy breathing would be heard in this scenario, the presenter cautioned us beforehand. The play started off well in complete silence, but not for long. As the male character was solemnly professing his love for his beloved, a peppy bhangra number emanated from a mobile set nearby. It belonged to the woman sitting next to me. Instead of quickly switching it off, she tried to shove her handbag under her seat as if the ring would somehow get drowned somewhere under the seat. But the stubborn set kept ringing away in an ascending tone. As many frowned faces turned towards her direction, she switched it off rather reluctantly. This phenomenon continued throughout the 90 minutes of the show in some or the other part of the auditorium. Then, there was a child bawling intermittently in some section of the audience and fiddling with a snacks packet, probably provided by his mother to keep him quiet. Forget the child, a bunch of youngsters sitting right behind me seemed struggling with a toffee wrapper and stopped only when I gave them a hard look. To add to that, there was a young man who had probably missed his lunch and had come straight from office. He went chomping somewhere behind my back. And finally, even as the final denouement neared, people started crowding the doorway which they knew was locked as was announced in the beginning itself. Undeterred, the two professional actors finished their job on the stage but not before concluding sarcastically that those who dutifully switched off their mobiles probably belonged to some another country, maybe Sri Lanka, and wondered what happened to all those "important" phone calls 20 years ago when there were no cell phones. Thus, a murder was enacted of a play, not by the actors but by the audience —a murder of a different
kind.
|
|||||
Not electrifying enough Wacky
title, wackier treatment with a pink buffalo thrown in for good measure and a socially and politically relevant theme! So what do you get in this crazy caper directed by maverick filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj? Honestly a narrative that is not mad enough and not scathing enough either. Undisputedly, here is a film that's different, doesn't toe the beaten track and throws open a Pandora's Box of issues, most significantly that of land acquisition affecting lakhs and lakhs of farmers in the country. Only this one is set in Haryana in a village Mandola named after Mandola (Pankaj Kapur). He, by the way, is a feudal lord who dreams of becoming an industrialist by the day and turns a socialist in the night when he is dead drunk. Between the sober Mandola, who wants his daughter Bijlee to marry the chief minister's (Shabana Azmi) son (Aarya Babbar) in order to seal the clinching deal, to the inebriated one who has a different dream, lies the crux of the storyline. However, in the execution of a meaningful plot sailing on the wings of absurdity, the film is not always able to do the prefect tightrope balance between fun and seriousness. For a political satire actually despite a whole lot of merriment and some interesting digs, it turns the sombre note far too often. Of course, unlike Bhardwaj's dark slice of cinema, Matru Ki… while delving into a topical issue has a feel good factor, a la good old Bollywood formula. Sure enough Bhardwaj's penchant for Shakespeare does comes across not only in the creation of Pankaj's dual shade character but also more visibly when Bijlee is seen browsing thorough Macbeth. Yet despite the layers that the director and the writers try to weave into the plot, the film is not quite as multilayered as it could have been. Yet it is watchable fare for more reasons than one. Pankaj Kapur is one of those reasons. In fact, the tongue twister name Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola is not without a premise. The film does belong to Mandola. On the way it finds support from gifted actor Shabana Azmi who is consummate in the role of the wily politician driven by avarice. Imran Khan and Anushka Sharma are more than apt but the surprise package is Aarya Babbar. In the part of a spoilt moron son of the chief minister he puts up a decent performance. Vishal Bhardwaj’s music, including the hummable Oh Boy Charlie, is a winner too. The director in him may not have pulled off an outright winning combination, yet has enough flashes of thinking man's cinema to take you through. For where else but in a Bhardwaj film will you find a soliloquy saying as much as a single pithy dialogue?
|
|
Yesteryear once more So, it's back to those gangster days when the underworld was the king and the law was either incompetent or bought over or both and names like Al Capone ruled the roost in many cities. Gangster Squad deals with Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) who was the boss of Los Angeles. "LA belongs to Mickey Cohen," he was known to boast. What's more, he got away with that claim. The cops were in tow and so were the judges and hence LA had reached a point of no return. That's when the Gangster Squad was formed to deal with this super crisis. It is the 1940s when Chevrolets, Buicks and Studebakers rode the streets and the old-world charm was enhanced by timely music by Steve Jablonsky who really goes to town with the end number. Based on Paul Lieberman's seven-part Los Angeles Times series Tales from the Gangster Squad, it is a blow-by-blow account how these daring men go about their seemingly impossible task. Cohen thinks he is invincible but when his girl friend Gracy (Emma Stone) switches loyalties to Jerry, it is somewhat symbolic. Director Ruben Fleischer has a vast canvas but keeps the action moving on more than one front to sustain interest. But he also takes liberties, call it licence. In those dark bygone days there was no bugging as seen in the film. Then, some of the music too is almost Rock and Roll-ish which came later. Also, the violence is excessive and could have been avoided. The Censor seems to have turned a Nelson's eye to it. Cinematographer Dion Beebe is fluid as he captures the essence of those times and of course there is an ensemble cast as Ryan Gosling steals the show with an impeccable performance. Josh Brolin, reminding one of an earlier day James Garner, is rightly restrained and cameos by Emma Stone as the 'asli' gangster moll and Nick Nolte, scarcely recognizable as the police chief, further embellish the action. Sean Penn tries too hard as the villain and overacts but he is also miscast, not having enough body for the part. But these glitches apart, Gangster Squad is well worth watching. |
|
movies on tv
Saturday January 12 set max 5:50PM The Dirty Picture is a 2011 Indian biographical drama inspired by the life of Silk Smitha, a South Indian actress noted for her bold roles. The film was directed by Milan Luthria and co-produced by Shobha Kapoor and Ekta Kapoor. Vidya Balan, Emraan Hashmi, Naseeruddin Shah and Tusshar Kapoor played lead roles in the film. The film was a commercial success, with Balan receiving the highest accolades for her performance. ZEE CINEMA 10:10AM Viewers Choice 1:50PM Phool Bane Angarey 5:20PM Prem Rog 9:00PM Phir Hera Pheri STAR GOLD 6:00AM Chalo Ishq Ladaaye 8:50AM Barood: Man on A Mission 11:15AM Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2:40PM Jaan ZEE STUDIO 8:00AM Steal 9:50AM The Color of Money 12:30PM Guthy Renker 1:00PM Flubber 2:40PM Sweet Home Alabama 5:15PM The Mummy Returns 8:10PM The Longest Yard 10:30PM The Sorcerer's Apprentice SET MAX 8:00AM Naksha: Unlock the Mystery 10:55AM Aabra Ka Daabra 2:25PM Mujhse Dosti Karoge 5:50PM The Dirty Picture 9:00PM Rowdy Rathore STAR MOVIES 7:56AM You Don't Mess with the Zohan 10:11AM The Front Row with Anupama Chopra 10:41AM Tremors 12:55PM Unstoppable 2:36PM Hollow Man 4:56PM Bean 6:59PM The Darkest Hour 9:00PM Immortals 11:28PM Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade HBO 7:45AM Balls of Fury 9:35AM Scooby-Doo! Camp Scare 11:00AM Kindergarten Cop 1:15PM The Hangover Part II 3:05PM Exit Wounds 4:55PM Mr. Bean's Holiday 6:40PM Bridesmaids 9:00PM Johnny English Reborn 11:25PM Push Ssunday
January 13 set max 1:00PM & 9:00pm Raaz 3 is a Bollywood horror thriller film directed by Vikram Bhatt, and produced by Mahesh Bhatt and Mukesh Bhatt. The movie features Bipasha Basu, Emraan Hashmi and Esha Gupta as main characters. The story revolves around Shanaya (Bipasha Basu), an actress at the height of her success. It all ends for her when a younger actress, Sanjana (Esha Gupta) makes her film debut. Sanjana comes into spotlight and begins to snatch away her awards. ZEE CINEMA 7:20AM Purani Haveli 2:00PM Bulandi 9:00PM Mera Badla STAR GOLD 9:35AM Bal Ganesh 12:00PM Beta 3:35PM Suhaag 6:30PM Coolie No. 1 9:00PM Mar Mitenge SET MAX 7:00AM Main Hoon Vinashak 9:10AM Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai 1:00PM Raaz 3: The Third Dimension 4:00PM Main Hoon Wanted 9:00PM Raaz 3: The Third Dimension STAR MOVIES 7:47AM Bean 9:53AM Taken 11:59AM Immortals 1:58PM Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 4:35PM Armour of God II 6:53PM First Blood 9:00PM You Pick The Flick 11:38PM Fantastic Four HBO 8:05AM Bridesmaids 10:30AM Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole 12:30PM Around the World In 80 Days 2:50PM Mr. Bean's Holiday 4:35PM Lemony Snicket's a Series of Unfortunate Events 6:40PM Ocean's Thirteen 9:00PM Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 11:40PM Waterworld MOVIE OK 9:30AM Bhoot And Friends 12:05PM Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya 3:25PM Na Tum Jaano Na Hum 7:00PM Surya 9:00PM Tees Maar Khan
|
||
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Sure, there is madness and also a certain degree of method in the madness. The opening sequence is not only hilarious but builds up a fine social contrast with a limousine standing next to the fields housing a shack serving as a liquor vend. Many scenes involving Mandola and Matru (Imran Khan) who is Mandola’s driver-cum-buddy, especially the one in which they try to push the well add to the comic tone. 
"It is war," they said. So they discarded their police badges and took the law in their hands. Sgt John O'Mara (Josh Brolin) was asked to pick up his team and it included handsome Casanova Sgt. Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling), detective Rocky Washington (Anthony Mackie) and a Mexican communications expert.
The Dirty Picture
Raaz 3