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Modi’s
honeymoon Embarrassing
for India |
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Towards
decentralised governance
Clear
articulation of consonant clusters
CINEMA:
NEW Releases Stated
simply — spectacular
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Embarrassing for India The
negotiations to have a memorandum of understanding with India on women's issues by the Obama Administration are well meaning. Since the ‘horrifying’ incident of gang rape and murder of two girls in UP, the law makers in the US expressed deep concern over the growing episodes of violence against women in India. How much can India learn from the ‘shared experiences’ of the US law makers in the context of the cultural chasm that is vast, deep and wide between the two countries only time will tell. Incidentally, the Badaun crime could have been prevented by a solution as simple as building a toilet close to home. A senior police official in Bihar claimed in 2013 that more than 400 rapes in the state would have been avoided if only victims had toilets at home. Whereas the government promises aid to build toilets in the rural areas, 60 per cent of Indian women walk for miles, risking molestation and rape at dusk and dawn, day after day, when they go out to defecate. Because only darkness gives them cover, and a degree of privacy, but in some ways it makes them more vulnerable too. As was the case with the Badaun girls, only that night their mother did not accompany them. Added to it is the cultural sanction of rape due to the caste hierarchy. The victim's father admitted that had the girls not been killed they would not have reported the case. In a Dalit girl's life, rape continues to be an unavoidable episode. India is already a signatory to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and in the recent past laws have been amended to empower women. The deeply-embedded gender discrimination needs increased funding for gender sensitisation programmes — from the school level to the training of law-enforcing personnel. The focus of education should be to dismantle patriarchal practices, which would require men to have a shift in mindset. Will the US administration help?
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To live is like to love - all reason is against it, and all healthy instinct for it. — Samuel Butler
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Employment of police women
THE Pioneer has in a leading article supported the employment of women in the police service in which Manchester has taken the lead. It is at present only a temporary arrangement in connection with white slave movement. But it is pointed out that the United States, Canada, Germany, Holland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Austria and Russia have all tried police women and found them useful and satisfactory. The paper points out that certain duties in the police service are much better done by women than men — in the sympathetic and intelligent application of laws. Man often enforces law in a offensive manner. As well educated women have been employed in the service, the writer says they bring more scientific spirit and a closer attention to the psychology of crime. If the admission of women is really so beneficial, then their admission to other departments could hardly be opposed. Then why oppose the demand for votes by women? Exemption under the Arms Act
ORDERS have been issued whereby the Kirpan (a small dagger) forming part of traditional Sikh costume is exempted from the operation of the Arms Act. The news will be heard with great and heartfelt gratification by the Sikh community throughout the country. Council electorates in Burma
HIS Honour the Lieutenant Governor of Burma has refused to sanction the proposal by which Armenian, Jewish and Parsi communities were to form a separate electorate apart from Europeans, Americans and Anglo-Indians. The former communities strongly objected and His Honour did not believe the change was desired by a majority.
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Towards decentralised governance
Some
neo-liberals have argued that Central Government schemes are wasteful and more autonomy should be given to the states for state-level schemes. It has also been suggested that the Planning Commission as such be abolished. To give greater autonomy to the states is a good suggestion. But these neo-liberal economists, while rightly critical of the role of the Planning Commission, need to be reminded that the alternative is not a market economy but carrying out the mandate of the 73rd and 74th Constitution Amendments. Article 280 of the Constitution authorises the President of India to constitute a Finance Commission whose duty is to make recommendations regarding the distribution of the net proceeds of taxes and grants out of the Consolidated Fund of India between the Union and the states. Since the Finance Commissions are appointed for a certain period, there was left no other mechanism to sort out differences between the Centre and states over their rights in case of a conflict. This task is being performed at present by the Planning Commission of India. The question being raised is under what legal authority is the Planning Commission assuming these powers. Legally and constitutionally, there seems to be none. A critique of the Planning Commission by Mr. Ravi Kiran Jain, vice-president of the Peoples Union for Civil Liberties, points out that within seven weeks of the adoption of the Constitution the government set up the Planning Commission of India by a resolution. The resolution specifically refers to the Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles of State Policy. It was specifically mentioned in the government resolution that its “success will depend on the extent to which it enlists the association and cooperation of the people at all levels” (emphasis supplied). In spite of this warning the Planning Commission, which was supposed to make plans in association with people at all levels, developed a top unitary approach resulting in Mr. K. Santhanam, a member of the Constituent Assembly, commenting that the Planning Commission’s undefined position and wide terms of reference had led it to becoming the economic Cabinet, not merely for the Union but also for the states. This cabalism of planning at the Central level might have had some plausibility in the initial period, but soon perversion in centralised planning started creeping in. Now when the states are ruled by different political parties, resentment and perversions are growing. This reality has been expressed strongly by a 14th Finance Commission member, Mr Gounda Rao, who said “Centralised planning is a negation of federalism - nor does it make any sense for approving the plans of the States”. In reality after the 73rd and 74th Amendments to the Constitution of India (1993) which inserted articles 243A to 243ZG, continuance of the Planning Commission has become untenable, if not illegal. These provisions mandate the legislatures of the states to endow panchayats with powers to the preparation of plans for economic development and social justice and also to provide power to impose taxes by the panchayat. A similar provision for the municipalities is provided in part IXA of the Constitution of India in Article 243 to 243ZG. Article 243 D mandates the constitution of a District Planning Committee to consolidate the plans between those prepared by the panchayats and municipalities in the district and to prepare a draft development plan for the district as a whole (emphasis supplied). Article 243(I) provides for the constitution of the State Finance Commission within one year of commencement the Act of 1992 and thereafter on the expiry of every fifth year to make recommendations on the principles which should govern the distribution of the net proceeds of taxes and tolls between the state and the panchayats. A brief look at the 73rd and 74th Constitution Amendments shows the directive for a functioning four-pillar State (or “Chaukhoata Raj” as enunciated by Dr. Lohia decades ago). Along with the 11th and 12th Schedule the amendments mandate the state to devolve powers and responsibilities upon the panchayats and municipalities concerning, among others, rural housing, drinking water, markets, secondary education and planning for economic and social development, roads, bridges, urban planning and town planning. Unfortunately, these commands of the 73rd and 74th Amendments are being ignored viciously. The result is that though the provisions in the Constitution require the functioning of a decentralised democracy, the trickery by the political parties not to relax their stranglehold has resulted in denying real power to the people to manage their own affairs at the panchayat and municipal levels. To meet this challenge of deprivation of political power to the masses there is need for a strong political action and a mass education programme. But the pessimistic part is that in the parliamentary elections of 2014, except the Socialist Party (India), no other party even raised the question of a four-pillar state as envisaged by the 73rd and 74th Amendments of the Constitution. Considering that the states at present are treated as supplicants standing with begging bowls before the Planning Commission, it is in the interest of the non-BJP governments in particular to demand the implementation of the 73rd and 74th Amendments which will entitle them to the revenues from the Consolidated Fund of India. But for this to succeed the states also must shed their quasi-imperial attitude and share power and revenue with the municipalities and panchayats as is mandated by Article 243 ZD. As such states have a constitutional mandate and power which cannot be interfered by the dictates of the Central Planning Commission which does not enjoy even a statuary standing. In the present set-up where the Central Government is threatening to concentrate all powers in its own hands and is out to build corporate-centric big industrial ventures, the Opposition-ruled states have a ready-made shield to preserve their resources by honestly implementing the 73rd and 74th Constitution Amendments empowering the panchayats and municipalities. — The writer is a former Chief Justice, High Court of Delhi
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Clear articulation of consonant clusters
The poet’s affinity with sounds and syllables echoes in the lines above. Every word in English is made of one or more syllables and each syllable must have a vowel sound as its nucleus. The syllable may or may not have consonants. The word "men" has one syllable, formed with the vowel sound <e> and consonant sounds <m> and <n>. On the other hand, "propensity" has four, <pro-pen-si-ty> - "y" gives the vowel sound <i>. The four vowels <o, e, i, i> are the four nucleuses. The consonants <pr> make a consonant cluster, as there is no vowel between them. Since languages differ in the way they form consonant clusters, some learners of English face difficulties pronouncing them, as illustrated below: 1. The "is-chool" (school) reopens soon. The word "school" has six letters but only four sounds: <s k u: l> - <:> shows length of sound. The first two consonants <sk> together form a consonant cluster, which certain speakers of Hindi find difficult to produce and place an <i> before <s>, splitting the cluster <sk>. They end up with two syllables <is-ku:l> instead of one syllable <sku:l>, which makes it easy for them to articulate the word. But it distorts the rhythm of English. 2 "Sup-ring" (spring) is far away. ("u" as in under) Some speakers of Punjabi have a more complex problem here because the word "spring" has a cluster of three consonants, <spr>. Insertion of a vowel between <sp> makes it easy to produce the word as <sup-ring>, splitting one syllable <spring> into two. Due to this, these speakers run the risk of not being understood. The pronunciation of the word can be corrected by practising it in parts: <in> <rin> <ring> <pring> <spring>. 3. Minti "as-kud" (asked) Babli for the address. ("u" as in under) The word "asked" has a consonant cluster of three sounds at its end: <skt> with "d" heard as "t" and "e" turned silent. The vowel <a:> is the nucleus and <a:skt> is articulated as a single syllable word. Some speakers break the syllable into two syllables: <a:s-kud>. Besides being careful with <a:skt>, they must also be attentive to words like "raked" <kt> and "repulsed" <lst>. 4. The thought of dining in the poolside restaurant "temps" (tempts) me. Some speakers may reduce the length of the long consonant cluster <mpts> by dropping <t>. Such elisions may not be permissible. Similarly, dropping of <th> in "birthday" is also unacceptable. But not all consonants occurring in proximity form consonant clusters. In "slumber" <sl> is a consonant cluster, not <mb>, as <m> goes to the first syllable and <b> to the second: <slum-ber>. Faulty articulation of consonant clusters affects the shape of the syllables and distorts the rhythm of the language. Clear articulation of consonant clusters can aid easy comprehension of speech by others.
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CINEMA: NEW Releases  Patchy shades of grey Nonika Singh Actually much of the film's climactic moments are revealed in the first half itself, the most significant just a few minutes into the film. Despite that the film has some thrilling moments, all thanks to some fine acting by Riteish Deshmukh, who turns a villain with glee and aplomb. So much so you are left to wonder whether he is the hero or the villain of this love story. Of course, the tagline reminds you, 'every love story has a villain.' All we know for sure is har Hindi film mein ek villain zaroor hota hai. Only, here, the handsome hero Guru (Sidharth Malhotra), too, comes in a shade of grey. He is actually a gangster with no mercy, until he bumps into pure and pristine, even if a little bonkers Aisha (Shraddha Kapoor). She is bubbly, a Miss-Two-Goody-Shoes, who arranges marriages of elderly singles and cracks jokes without provocation in her bid to make the world a better place. She decides to redeem the good ‘bad’ guy and save his life. Expectedly they fall in love. We move to the second aspect of the genre of the film being touted as a romantic thriller. Well, if you are a diehard romantic, again sorry to break your heart, the movie isn't a love story 'love story' as Mohit Suri's last outing Aashiqui 2 was. Certainly you get your share of some liltingly romantic songs like Banjara and Teri Galiyan already ruling the charts for a while. Alas, the romance in the film, despite some gossamer sequences, which shows heroine capturing butterflies, hero fulfilling every wish of hers, both snorkeling, is not quite soul-stirring or even heart-warming. Since you know where their love is headed you are more interested in what happens next, an endeavour in which Suri succeeds somewhat in the first half. He builds a fine tempo too. But as he reveals most cards by the intermission there is not much he can do thereafter. It seems as if he had the real script only till then and made the second half as he went along. You so want to knock him on the head and remind him to get the wheels of storytelling on track. For what could have been an enthralling clash between the hero and villain turns predictable and flaccid. After some action sequences and unnecessary sparring, the narrative chugs towards the expected finale. The humane twist in the end is also far from surprising. Of course, the film may pass muster if you are handsome dude Siddarth Malhotra's fan (though it is likely to make you Deshmukh's). And, if you can completely erase the promise of promos from your memory you may go along with the inconsistent and patchy flow. Otherwise you will find it failing on more than one count. Logic is not the only casualty here, absence of strong storyline is what does the film in despite credible performances by the lead actors. At best, one time watch more so since for Bollywood aficionados options are limited this week.
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Stated simply — spectacular The movie takes place a couple of years after the end of 2011's Transformers: Dark of the Moon, with some changes incorporated; despite the alien-shape-shifting robots having saved the world, the US government is now against all robots because they wrecked Chicago in the process. Kelsey Grammer is the CIA powerhouse ensuring the purge. Stanley Tucci's evil factory reaps benefits from the vanquished-through spare parts research. At the start of the film, there's a fairly brutal scene showing Ratchet, one of the autobots, being torn to pieces by a team of black ops soldiers led by Savoy (Titus Welliver) and assisted by the mysterious Lockdown (voiced by Mark Ryan), a Transformer who seems to be unlike any Transformer we've met so far in the series. Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) is of course in hiding as a mutilated truck in a rundown theatre garage where Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg) tinkers around trying to think up a new invention. Nicola Peltz is the hottie who takes on the Megan Fox role. She plays Tessa, waffling teen daughter of Cade's. And she has a beau (Jack Reynor), a race car driver her doting, conservative dad knows nothing about. This forms the basis for a convoluted spell of thrilling awe, inducing action, seamless transitions and pulverizing mutilations. The assorted body count is immense. Texas, Chicago, Beijing and Hongkong form a colourful backdrop for the mind-blowing effects Spiel has orchestrated as part of an annihilation of evil. Most of it is on crowded streets, peaking high-rises, ferries, trains, bridges and every conceivable peopled spaces—thus adding worth to the thrills. At heart it's a computer game but in effect it's a war to the end of all wars; starting off as a fight for dominion, it escalates into intra-terrestrial combat and ends on a note of optimism. Ehren Kruger's script manages to structure the action well. Bay's sharply edged narration does the rest. The experience is both visually and aurally spectacular! Visual effects are top-notch, the 3D machinations are highly effective and the kinetically blurred action renders the pace as breathless. In effect, this one is quite simply fulfilling.
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TV movies Dhoom: 3 is an action thriller, written and directed by Vijay Krishna Acharya and produced by Aditya Chopra. The third instalment of the Dhoom series, it features Aamir Khan as the antagonist paired opposite Katrina
Kaif.
ZEE CINEMA 8:14AM Bichhoo ZEE STUDIO 7:30AM Cinderella Man ZEE ACTION 7:00AM Mayor Saab ZEE CLASSIC 7:15AM Pardesi STAR MOVIES 8:30AM The Front Row with Anupama Chopra STAR MOVIES HD 8:50AM Ice Age: Continental Drift 16 December is a propaganda action spy thriller film by director Mani Shankar, based on a plot to destroy the capital city of India, New Delhi with a nuclear bomb on 16 December 2001.
ZEE CINEMA 7:52AM 16 December ZEE ACTION 10:30AM Insaaf Kaun Karega ZEE CLASSIC 10:58AM Do Jasoos ZEE STUDIO 9:10AM Hamlet 2 STAR MOVIES 9:00AM The Sessions STAR MOVIES HD 9:15AM The Sessions INDIA TALKIES 9:30AM Gola Barood
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