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Tenure
turbulence Politics
over Telengana |
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War
divides, trade unites
On
asking the right questions
CINEMA:
NEW Releases Agonisingly
real A boring
Gothic fantasy
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Politics over Telengana Andhra Pradesh
Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy moved a resolution in the state assembly on Thursday against the Telengana Bill and got it passed by voice vote in violation of the Congress commitment to create the new state. This could well be part of the party's strategy to help the Chief Minister retain the goodwill of the people in coastal and southern Andhra Pradesh, together known as Seemandhra, while the party's Central leadership goes ahead with the move to set up Telengana as a separate state ahead of the Lok Sabha and assembly elections. Otherwise, why has the party ruled out any action against the defiant Chief Minister and his MLAs who have voted against the Bill? The President of India had sent the Bill to the Andhra Speaker to ascertain the views of the state legislators. The people of Seemandhra and Telengana have expressed their respective views through their legislators on the issue but these are not binding on the Centre. Under the Constitution the Centre's writ runs in the creation of a state. For instance, the Centre had set up the hill state of Uttarakhand by including the plains of Haridwar, disregarding the UP assembly resolution in this connection. Though the Congress would like to accelerate the process of establishing the controversial new state ahead of the elections, a problem could arise if the BJP insists on treating it as a Constitution amendment Bill, which would require the support of two-thirds members to get it through Parliament. For continuing the benefit of preferential treatment to the people of Telengana, Article 371D of the Constitution will require an amendment. Just like the Congress, the BJP and its ally, Telugu Desam, too are trying to please the people of Telengana as well as Seemandhra. It will be hard for the BJP to take a clear stand either way. The Congress game plan is to make good in Telengana its possible electoral loss in the rest of Andhra Pradesh, which has 42 Lok Sabha seats.
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We may achieve climate, but weather is thrust upon
us.
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CHANDIGARH: WHITE-COLLAR employees of banks and insurance companies in the Capital held a torchlight procession here this evening.The procession started from Sector 17 and after passing through the main streets of various other sectors it terminated at the Central Park, in Sector 22, where a meeting was held. The rally adopted a resolution urging the Government to abolish additional surcharge on personal income of up to Rs. 9,000 a year, removal of defects in the compilation of price index and link dearness allowance with the cost of living index. The resolution also demanded immediate nationalisation of banks and general insurance. It said the widest public support for this had now developed into a national demand. AMBALA: The local workers of the banking and insurance industries observed the Demands Day here this evening. Carrying placards and shouting slogans pertaining to their demands, the workers paraded the main streets of the town.
USA Urges USSR To Stop Making N-Weapons
GENEVA, January 31 (AP): THE United States called on Russia today to join in a treaty banning any increase or improvement of nuclear striking power as a first step to halting the arms race. The U.S. disarmament negotiator, Mr. William Foster, explained to the 17-Nation Disarmament Conference some of the American thinking of the "verified freeze" of delivery systems proposed by President Johnson on January 21. It was the first of the five proposals made by Mr. Johnson to be explained in some details.
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War divides, trade unites
The
recent meeting of the Commerce Minister of Pakistan with his Indian counterpart on the margin of the 5th SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) Business Leaders Conclave in New Delhi decided that Non-Discriminatory Market Access (NDMA) and normal trade relations between India and Pakistan would be implemented by the end of February 2014. Both countries agreed to open the Wagah-Attari Land Customs Station operational on all seven days of each week, and liberalisation of the business visa regime. Further, on January 22, 2014, Pakistan approved the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a deal to buy electricity from India for which an inter-connection will be built between Amritsar and Lahore. Earlier, India offered to export electricity to the tune of 500 MW to Pakistan. In fact, the important milestone for their mutual trade took place on March 20, 2012, when Pakistan switched over from this Positive List of 1,963 items to the Negative List of 1,209 items that cannot be imported from India. Thus, more than 7,500 items became importable from India. All steps by the two countries are expected to accelerate the process of their mutual trade relations as there are tremendous gains due to their geographical proximity and contiguity of territories, which can help in saving the transportation and transhipment costs. Though enormous trade potential between India and Pakistan exists, still they realised less than 8 per cent of the potential. Nearly 70 per cent of what Pakistan consumes is from imports, but its imports from India are very less. During 2012, the official trade between India and Pakistan could have increased from US$ 2.1 billion to US$ 29.8 billion (14.2 times), provided both had removed certain irritants in the way of trade. Pakistan's tariff on import from India was as high as 100 per cent on black tea, 70 per cent on cardamoms, 31.9 per cent on woven fabrics, and 30 per cent on tomatoes, chickpeas and cumin seeds. India's tariff was as high as 42.8 per cent on cotton fabrics, 30 per cent on sesamum seeds, and 24 per cent on dates. The Wagah border is very important for exploiting the trade potential between India and Pakistan. During 2012-13, 34 per cent of the total bilateral trade was via this land route. Both countries resumed the truck movement at the Attari/Wagah border on October 1, 2007. With the inauguration of the Integrated Check Post (ICP) on April 13, 2012, the number of trucks crossing the Attari/Wagah border increased from 51 in 2009-10 to 207 per day in 2012-13. The items imported included cement, chemicals, gypsum, dry dates, dry fruits, float glass, marble stone and sand. The items that were exported to Pakistan were potatoes, tomatoes, onions, cotton, meat, ginger, garlic, green chillies, soyabeans, newsprint, polypropylene, carbon dioxide in liquid form, etc. Unfortunately, Pakistan has a Positive List that allows only 137 items for import through the land route of the Attari-Wagah border from India. But the potential is huge from Punjab and North India. These 137 items include livestock, meat, vegetables, raw jute, cotton yarn, pineapple, black pepper, raw cane & beet sugar, oil cake, cement & clinker, pure terephthalic acid, polyethylene, polypropylene, newsprint, paddy harvesters and dryers. The actual potential will be exploited when Pakistan expands its import list, which could open a gateway of opportunity for Indian Punjab. It will open a new era for the industrial development of Indian Punjab. The industries like hosiery, textiles, carpets, blankets, shawls, engineering units, tractors, auto parts, metal and alloy, bicycles, foundries, sports, steel, etc. will flourish. The new Guru Gobind Singh Refinery in Bathinda could also export petroleum products to Pakistan through the land route. In fact, India and Pakistan were highly dependent on each other for trade during the time of partition on August 14, 1947. Right from partition, Kashmir has been a bone of contention between the two countries even after four wars of 1947-48, 1965, 1971 and 1999. As such, both India and Pakistan resorted to deliberate measures to minimise their trade dependence on each other, and were forced to import many items from the world market at much higher prices. In 1948-49, India's share in Pakistan's global imports was 50.6 per cent, which went down to 4.6 per cent in 2012-13. Pakistan's share in India's global imports was 1.1 per cent in 1951-52, which went down to 0.1 per cent in 2012-13. There was an embargo on bilateral trade during 1965-74. SAARC, established on December 8, 1985, has played an important role in boosting the trade ties between India and Pakistan. It led to the establishment of SAFTA (South Asian Free Trade Area) on 1st July. The base rate tariff for sensitive lists will be reduced to 0-5% by 1st Jan 2015 under SAFTA Phase II. Though the average annual trade between them was US$ 492 million only during 1975-2012, but in the post-SAFTA period (2006-12), it increased to US$ 2,016 million. Both India and Pakistan should resolve their political problem on Kashmir and exploit their vast mutual trade potential on the pattern of the Indo-China model. Since war divides and trade unites, the time has come to gain from each other. The opening of more land routes between them will give a big boost to trade and bring down freight cost. Therefore, trade traffic can be encouraged through the Hussainiwala, Khem Karan, Fazilka, Amruka, and Karachi routes in Punjab, and other land routes in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Kashmir. Earlier, all these trade routes were operational. With the grant of MFN/NDMA status to India, Pakistan can legalise the unofficial importable goods through third countries, which are worth more than $10 billion per annum. It will increase the customs' revenue of Pakistan. The promotion of trade relations, joint-ventures, joint marketing, joint study groups on trade and other issues, strengthening of SAARC, joint patrolling of the LoC, frequent meetings of civil and political bureaucrats and political leaders, people-to-people contact, a liberal visa regime, etc., could be some formidable steps towards confidence-building exercises between India and Pakistan. The writer is the Professor-cum-Programme Coordinator (South & Central Asia), CRRID, Chandigarh
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On asking the right questions Quality questions create a quality life. Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers. 1. The Sharmas hadn't moved the court until then, isn't it? The learner is meddling with four basic rules of question tags. If the declarative is a negative, as indicated by "hadn't", the tag should be an affirmative and if the declarative is an affirmative, the tag should be a negative. Also, in the tag, the subject of the declarative should reappear as a pronoun along with the helping verb, maintaining the same tense form. So the question should read as "The Sharmas hadn't moved the court until then, had they?" 2. Join the staff for the anniversary lunch, OK? In informal English, even where English is spoken as the mother tongue, some speakers use tags like "yes/ no/ OK/ right", etc. but as a rule these tags are less acceptable. Here, the speaker resorts to using "OK", uncertain of the subject not indicated. In an imperative sentence, the subject "you" is not spoken but just implied. Therefore, the speaker can use "you" in the tag with "won't", as the sentence is an invitation, a request. On the other hand, "can, can't, will, would" are used for orders. So the tag "won't you" would be fine in place of "OK". 3. We will withdraw the mass casual leave applications, won't we? Here, though the speaker always knew they would be withdrawing the applications, he actually wants to convey that it is a new piece of information and that he has just found out about it. Therefore, the tag should be replaced with "will we". The question should read as "We will withdraw the mass casual leave applications, will we?" At such times, the declarative and the tag question can both be in the affirmative. 4. There is a dancing fountains show out here, right? Once again, the learner is unsure of the subject to be used in the tag and takes the fixed expression "right" to be a safe bet. While "there" can be used in the tag, "this, that, these" and "those" cannot be. They are substituted by "it" and "they". So the tag to be used is "isn't there". Question tags express the speaker's attitude indicating confidence, politeness, irony and doubt. While certainty can be conveyed with the tone dropping, doubt can be expressed with the tone going up. Each language follows its own conventions in forming questions and investing them with meaning. It is good to follow them, as far as possible because significant displacement or replacement of words and tones can cause confusion. *Director, Regional Institute of English, Chandigarh
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CINEMA: NEW Releases Jasmine Singh Devika Bhagat, the woman who had co-written Manorama Six Feet Under, also starring Abhay Deol, has written and directed One By Two as well. This is, however, the only common thread, for there is nothing deep, wonderful and amazing here. One By Two, with its terribly slow pace, leads to nowhere - it starts and it ends, without you realising. Devika Bhagat, for once, didn't do her homework right! The movie is a jigsaw of subtle themes or let's just say philosophies of life. Dance, dealing with boredom, chasing your dreams, letting go of your love…One By Two is a heady mix that wouldn't hit you, even if you gulp it down in one go! The dialogues are slow and the screenplay even slower. To put it straight, Abhay Deol and Preeti Desai-starrer One By Two is a boring show. There is no creative intelligence in directing Abhay Deol; he is a good actor, the intelligence lies in 'using' him. Devika Bhagat hasn't done that. The first half of the film is slow and on top of that, you don't get to see the real-life couple Abhay and Preeti together on reel! Yes, other than two or three shots, both the lead actors of the film don't cross each other's path. Both are in their own world, dealing with their own 'shit' (read the heavy-duty dialogue in the film - 'when life throws shit at you, throw it back') and then someone calls it a romcom. For heaven's sake, romcom means romance and comedy - both greatly missing in One By Two. Abhay Deol, touted as one of the decent actors in Bollywood, is clearly wasted. The handsome Deol probably had too much to take care of — a real-life sweetheart, finding meaning in life and also the expenses (don't forget he is the producer of the film as well). Only when Abhay breaks into a song in his boxers, you find that really good. Preeti Desai carries her looks well, she dances well and she tries to act as well! While we say this, One By Two starts to pick up precisely 15 minutes after the interval. The director kind of realises that she needs to give a final shape to the movie. In all the hustle-bustle towards the end, you see Rati Agnihotri, Lillette Dubey, Darshan Jariwala and Jayant Kripalani doing their bit in the best way they can. Lillette Dubey and Rati Agnihotri sure play the oh-so-sweet mothers. You will also notice the old-time VJ Yudhister (UD) and some great dance moves. Overall, One By Two manages to pakaoe you till the fag end, finely cutting you into two's and three's!
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Agonisingly real It’s a rare first hand account of a 19th century memoir written by Solomon Northup (who is the central character in the film), a free black man from upstate New York, who got kidnapped on a lure and was subsequently sold off, under a false name, Platt, for slave labour in Louisiana. British director Steve McQueen, born of West-Indian parents, ensures that the audience feels the pain of his characters. Every whiplash leaves a raw, bloody and excruciatingly painful blow on your subconscious mind. Of course it’s not all torture and pain. McQueen sweeps his camera around the countryside capturing pastoral beauty replete with stunningly picturesque cloudy skies, old gnarled tress, cotton fields, Spanish moss and majestic homes. But the people inhabiting those homes and owning those lands are not as beautiful. They are the ones who inflict hurtful wounds on those enslaved. The story begins from 1841 when Solomon Northup (British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor), a violin player living free in New York with his wife and children, gets tricked into a circus job in Washington DC, and then winds up as human chattel in the Deep South. Chiwetel Ejiofor is absolutely mesmerising as the enforced slave who stays alive on a thin thread of hope that he will eventually be re-united with his family. It’s a sublime performance that is certainly worthy of an Oscar. In fact, the film is littered with stunning performances—Lupita Nyong'o gives the tortured, raped and perennially abused slave-girl Patsey, Paul Giamatti lends gruffness to his slave trader persona, Benedict Cummerbatch as Northup’s first master brings out the contradictions in his persona, Paul Dano is nasty and conniving as plantation overseer, John Tibeats and Michael Fassbender make Edwin Epps look vile yet driven by psychological turmoil. Hans Zimmer’s masterful musical strokes ebb and flow as required giving the plot the right touch. Production designer Adam Stockhausen, costume designer Patricia Norris and cinematographer Sean Bobbitt make the engagement visually authentic and the experience completely heart-felt. This is a somber, hurtful, almost poetic film that delivers the horrors of bondage with true grit!
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A boring Gothic fantasy The intro, with narration from the monster Frankenstein (Aaron Eckhart) showcases him as all tormented, he takes a life for a life, he's alienated and doesn't trust anybody. The script from Director Stuart Beattie and Underworld scribe Kevin Grevioux has silly, unwittingly funny dialogues and fight-to-the-ashes CGI-aided battles that appear a little too far-fetched and clearly unimaginative. The film has crusty looking, dark, architecturally enhanced cinematography but the performances are so dismally unaffecting that the characters remain mere card-board cut-outs even onscreen. The severity and lack of humour makes the entire experience boring and un-enchanting!
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TV movies Saturday DECEMBER 7 ZEE CINEMA 11:38 AM Kyon Ki... It's Fate MOVIES NOW 11:00 AM Behind Enemy Lines MOVIES OK 11:45 AM Hello Brother ZEE CLASSIC 11:59 AM Bagawat STAR GOLD 11:35 AM Ghar Ho To Aisa ZEE ACTION 10:30 AM Don Ka Muqabla SONY PIX 7:26 AM StreetDance 3D Sunday December 8 I Hate Luv Storys is a romantic comedy film starring Sonam Kapoor and Imran Khan in the lead roles. The film is written and directed by Punit Malhotra and produced under Karan Johar's Dharma Productions and Ronnie Screwvala's UTV Motion Pictures. ZEE CINEMA 11:29 AM Toofan MOVIES OK 12:10 PM Jolly LLB ZEE ACTION 7:00 AM Khatarnaak STAR GOLD 9:25 AM I Hate Luv Storys ZEE CLASSIC 8:48 AM Woh 7 Din HBO 9:45 AM Romeo Must Die
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Shelley’s creation has survived countless large and small screen incarnations but none so pitifully woebegone as in this film, despite the fact that Aaron Eckhart lends credence and ripped muscle to the legend. The battle is drawn out among vampires, werewolves, demons and gargoyles and Frankenstein appears to flit around like a pawn. 
Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a American science fiction film directed by Rupert Wyatt and starring James Franco, Freida Pinto, and Andy Serkis. Written by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, it is 20th Century Fox's reboot of the Planet of the Apes series, intended to act as an origin story for a new series of films. Its premise is similar to the fourth film in the original series, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972), but it is not a direct remake of that film.