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An OPEC blessing Death of a cricketer |
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Modi edges India towards the US
‘Pass’ in multiple combinations
Raising a broken finger
Well worth a satire
Too little spice
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An OPEC blessing Oil
prices are set to fall further as OPEC (Organisation of Oil Producing Countries) has decided not to cut production despite a supply glut. For the time being OPEC has abandoned its role as a price fixer and allowed market forces to decide it. Smaller members of the cartel wanted oil production curtailed to stem the slide in prices, but Saudi Arabia overruled them. The decision taken at the OPEC meeting in Vienna has far-reaching consequences for much of the world. It is a challenge to the US shale drillers, who have pushed output to the highest level in three decades, thus contributing to the glut. Sluggish demand in the Western world has also dampened prices. The falling oil prices have created problems for Europe, which is struggling to counter the deflationary effect on prices in a bid to push and sustain economic recovery. For countries like India, which depend heavily on imported oil, the latest OPEC decision comes as a blessing from the Middle East. Since India's economy runs on oil and its prices have a cascading effect on commodity prices, it is a major relief for ordinary people as well as the cash-strapped government. According to one estimate, the government stands to gain Rs 4,000 crore with every dollar decrease in oil prices, now at a four-year low. Government revenues may fall since taxes on oil are levied ad valorem, but it will be more than compensated as its fuel subsidy will also shrink. The state governments, however, should resist the temptation to hike the VAT on diesel and petrol since cheaper commodity prices and the lower cost of transportation will benefit agriculture and industry. Higher agricultural and industrial production will bring in greater revenue for the government apart from benefiting the producers. Lower inflation will help the RBI cut interest rates, which will spur demand and boost growth pick-up. The previous UPA regime paid a heavy price for high inflation, caused largely by a relentless rise in international crude rates; the Modi government has benefited without doing anything on the price front.
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Death of a cricketer The
death of Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes, three days before his 26th birthday, has brutally cut short the career of a promising young man. An untimely death in cricket - or any sport - shocks more than other untimely deaths. This is so because such a death seems impossible: Cricketers are, after all, supremely fit, athletic young men in the prime of their life, playing the game for recreation and as a profession. In cricket, any ball could cost you your wicket - but your life? No one who's picked up a bat or a ball to play has ever thought that death is a possibility on the field. Such a death defies belief, logic. Isn't the modern equipment enough to protect the batsman completely? Isn't the field of play immune to death? The answer, it seems, is 'no'. When a small, very hard ball is hurled at a batsman at a very high speed, it's possible that the batsman will sometimes get hit. This is part of the sport - fast bowlers are known to say to the batsmen things such as this: "Are you going to get out or am I going to have to come round the wicket and kill you?" This would be said mostly in fun - the bowler likes to hit the batsman, to intimidate him and test his skill, but not to seriously hurt him. The death of Hughes has sparked a debate on the protective equipment, and bouncers bowled by the bowlers. But the fact is that, as revealed by the Australian doctors, the injury suffered by Hughes, after being hit by a bouncer at the back of his neck, was "incredibly rare". They said that "there are only about 100 cases ever reported" of this condition in medical history. Cricket hasn't suddenly become more dangerous. But even a single death is one too much - protective gear must improve to prevent even a 'freakish' injury. In our own country, thousands of sportspersons - not just cricketers - play tournaments without a doctor or even an ambulance available at the ground. This must change.
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Thought for the Day
The only normal people are the ones you don't know very well.
— Alfred Adler
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ONE of the industries for which there are better chances of revival in India now is the indigo cultivation. It would be wise and sensible if all the needful facilities were given to this industry during the present crisis when German dyes have ceased to be imported. A Calcutta correspondent writes to say that the outlook this year for those who have indigo to sell is quite good but there is not much to sell. Nor is there any prospect of large production in future unless the Government gives the assurance of sufficient protection against German competition. It is further said that the present values are fully six times what they were last year and some old planters have gone to London to see if they cannot contrive to capture the trade and interest the Government in the welfare of the indigo industry in India.
Distress due to war
YESTERDAY we noticed the statement made by the Madras Government in reply to a question in the Council that they were watching the condition of the industrial population and that relief measures would be undertaken whenever they were found necessary. It would have been more satisfactory if the Government had also stated how many trades were affected and to what extent. It is not clear whether handloom weavers and groundnut growers are the only sufferers in South India. Reports were current both in Bombay and Calcutta of unemployment and Calcutta papers are still writing of distress among jute growers. The lot of cotton growers has not yet been improved in any province and the Delhi Conference still continues. Above all the suffering occasioned by high prices has been very acute; and the poor wage earners' lot has been growing worse every day.
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Modi edges India towards the US Prime
Minister Narendra Modi's diplomatic coup in inviting President Barack Obama, and securing his assent, to be the chief guest at next year's Republic Day parade has obscured the deeper meaning of the move. In essence, the ceremonial occasion has been used by him to take a leaf out of Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping's book in wooing the United States for his country's dramatic economic development. Mr Modi has come to the conclusion that he needs President Obama's support and that of a largely sympathetic Capitol Hill to push his economic reform agenda by securing American investment and technology. And he is willing to move towards Washington in geopolitical terms to achieve his goals. In parallel, while Deng did not sacrifice the traditional dictatorial form of government since the Communists came to power under Mao, Mr Modi believes he can tap American technology and investment while retaining the parameters of the Sangh Parivar's ideology of maintaining a mixture of myths with his brand of Hindu nationalism. India crossed a hurdle in forging a deal that was in danger of endangering a happy outcome in the World Trade Organisation. But there are a number of problems, some of long standing, between India and the United States. It is ironical that former President George W. Bush, who did much to bring India into the world's legitimate nuclear powers from its pariah status, was deprived of its benefits. A further paradox is that the Bharatiya Janata Party was the cheer leader in imposing steep penalties on nuclear suppliers for civilian nuclear plants in a parliamentary resolution. It is now Mr Modi's task to untangle this puzzle to encourage American nuclear suppliers to bid for plants. It is well recognised that Prime Minister Modi's first six months in office have been disappointing in his inability to launch big bang economic reform measures. He has thus far preferred a more deliberate pace. Washington is more understanding of his problems than other investors. But he has to make things happen in a time span of up to two years before his reputation for decisive governance takes a hit. After President Obama's recent agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping to diminish polluting substances - their carbon footprints - in a given framework, there will be increasing pressure on India to make a pledge to reduce its pollution by a target date. The traditional Indian argument that it needs more time to take people out of poverty does not wash. Although far behind the US and China in the carbon dioxide they emit, India is the third largest emitter of polluting substances in the world. In the larger geopolitical context, the objectives of India and the US converge in many areas, particularly in Asia and the Far East. It is significant that Mr Modi's outreach to two of America's major allies in the region, Japan and Australia, disregard the earlier shibboleths of keeping a certain distance from US military allies. The Prime Minister has no inhibitions in seeking military cooperation with them or in hiding the close ties with the main US ally in the Middle East, Israel. India's defence cooperation with the United States, in terms of arms purchases and technology, has already accelerated. But securing access to high technology is very much a work in progress. Experts suggest that it will take at least two years for US policymakers to shed their inhibitions on parting with state-of-art technology. While the Prime Minister has made significant moves in the field of foreign policy, his cupboard is somewhat bare in domestic affairs. He would have helped matters in passing legislation in Parliament if he had had the courtesy of giving the shattered Congress Party the official position of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, rather than going by the rulebook as interpreted by the BJP. A jarring note in the six months of the Modi Government is his meanderings as a doughty fighter for his party's cause in state assembly elections. His street-fighter instincts sit ill with the demeanour of a sitting Prime Minister. Here, the BJP's interests in capturing as many states as possible have taken precedence over national interest. Mr Modi must thank the decade-long UPA-led government for some of the good it has done, despite its poor record in other respects. It gave India nuclear legitimacy in the world and two of the significant measures the Prime Minister is now seeking to promote, which his party had also previously opposed, are the higher rate of permissible foreign investment in insurance and in enacting a goods and services tax regime which would give an instant boost to the country's GDP. The advantage Mr Modi has is that outside his fads and belief in myths he has been nurtured in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh such as the prevalence of plastic surgery and space travel in ancient India, he is very much in tune with American ways. His partiality for US public relations outfits and methods is well documented. And he is in sympathy with American freewheeling methods of making money. As he has himself put it, money-making is very much in the Gujarati blood. We have come a long way from the early days of non-alignment. For one thing, we live in a starkly different world in the 21st century. For another, the economic reforms initiated by the then Congress government in 1991 out of compulsion were bound to take the country in another direction, more in keeping with a technology-savvy contracting world. It is for Mr Modi to grasp the opportunity to take India to a fast-moving economy and work towards a prosperous India.
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‘Pass’ in multiple combinations One
of my favourite language stories recalls an annual award convocation. The announcement that 900 students had enrolled in various undergraduate courses was greeted with spontaneous applause. The next sentence, “873 students have passed away” left every one flummoxed, even though disasters such as floods, release of dam water and buses falling off mountainsides are regular news features. The announcer’s tone and his body language allowed everyone to decode that 873 students had, in fact, graduated , not died! The clapping resumed and the programme continued. Of course as a bystander you could be ‘passing by’ in the sense of being in the vicinity. A ‘bus-pass’ is a significant document enabling passengers to undertake regular travel over a period of time without the daily bother of purchasing tickets. ‘Pass’ in this usage actually becomes a noun and bus passes like all other tickets which allow one to travel should be kept carefully. Railway and airline employees are entitled to travel passes. ‘Passports’ allow citizens passage to international destinations. ‘Password’ (noun), now used extensively in the cyber sphere, allows us access to the net and to our very own e-address. However, the expression ‘making a pass’ at someone implies a objectionable sexual advance, verbal or non-verbal, except in the case of consenting adults and qualifies as lewd behaviour, which it is always better to refrain from. A person can ‘pass on’ a good turn, goods and materials, or sometimes even germs. Everything that is passed on reaches its destination. This is usually a non-monetary gesture. However, when we say some one has ‘passed on’, and there is no object clause attached to the sentence, it means that the person indicated thereby has left this world for another. 'Passed away' has the same meaning. ‘Bypass' indicates the nodal road on the highway that allows us to exit from one city to another, saving on distance, time and fuel. Bypass surgery allows the patient to ignore an ailing heart and use alternate arteries for survival. Healthy hearts avoid bypass surgery by “passing up” opportunities for feasting on rich fatty foods. In everyday conversation ‘pass’ has become shorthand for giving something a ‘miss’. ‘Passover’ is a noun referring to the Jewish festival commemorating freedom from bondage. Yet, being ‘passed over’ (overlooked) for a promotion can generate dejection or resentment. If someone ‘passes out’ it indicates loss of consciousness either due to exhaustion or anaesthesia. This is an uncomfortable option, very different from ‘passing out’ of school or being part of a ‘passing-out parade’. That particular year student performance in exams 'surpassed' all expectations. Had they been described as graduating students, such an expression would have been a more appropriate summing up of this significant rite of passage.
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Raising a broken finger if
noble intentions alone made a film, Ungli would get five on five. Alas, since the business of movie-making involves a whole lot of factors other than the well-intended message, Ungli becomes a classic case of ‘when you point a finger in one direction, four fingers point back at you’. Indeed, there is much that is wrong with the film, whose heart might be in the right place, but much else goes haywire. In fact, its social message too doesn’t transform into a hard-hitting indictment of the system and mostly remains banal, touching most issues at the very surface level. Actually, it bites into more concerns than necessary, as four members of the Ungli gang, including a girl, Maaya (Kangana Ranaut) lock horns or rather decide to finger the system. A respectable bunch by the day, holding jobs like many an aam aadmi of this nation, by night they turn into self-styled vigilantes. And in their inimitable way, they try to mend the system riddled with corruption. So, they abduct corrupt officers, make their videos and in times of 24X7 television news, airing their messages and the misdeeds of the corrupt is no big deal. Clearly, they soon have a fan-following and clearly, they have the police gunning for them. As things stand, at best they hold your attention, but never ever in a vice-like grip. Rather, the film goes limp far too often and at more than one juncture, which is rather surprising for such a short film, clocking less than two hours. Besides, for a tale of self-styled vigilantes, it singularly lacks energy and adrenaline rush. So, what could have been short and sweet, simple and engaging, becomes tepid and rather simplistic. All in all, this finger may not be outright annoying or infuriating, but nor does it come together to pack a punch. At best, it sticks out like a sore thumb, a little different, especially since it comes from Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions, but not outstandingly so, which means it could be a one-time watch, provided you don’t expect too much.
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Well worth a satire chandraprakash
Dwivedi distinguished himself with his two maiden efforts, Chanakya on TV and Pinjar on the big screen. So, expectations from his second feature film were certainly high. Zed Plus is a highly engaging attempt at socio-political satire with humour-laden benefits all along the route. The script has its sublime moments. Unfortunately, the plotting is not altogether believable. Set in contemporary India, Fatehpur, a small town in Rajasthan famous for its Peepal wale Peer ki Dargah, where prayers are answered and wishes are granted if the one asking has a pure heart. There is neighbourhood conflict between two friends Aslam (Adil Hussain), a puncture repair-wala, and Habib (Mukesh Tiwari), an aspiring poet, both married and yet seeking illicit liaisons with Sayeeda (Ekavalli Khanna), a pretty widow. Aslam scores and that leaves him open to Habib’s acts of jealousy. Amidst this internecine chaos enters the Prime Minister, seeking panacea for all his political problems. He is down on a visit to the famous Dargah with his principal secretary (KK Raina) in tow. Aslam is the Khadim at the holy shrine on the day of the PM’s visit, so he gets a chance to ask for a favour from the PM and what he gets instead is Zed Plus security, round-the-clock, which, though it provides him and his family with better respect and improved lifestyle, also curbs his freedom to sneak out in the middle of the night to engage with his illicit lover. Frustrated by the many hindrances, he becomes prey to a rival party’s shenanigans. As things start heating up politically, Abdul realises there’s much more worthwhile in the simple life that he was once bent on escaping. |
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Too little spice
the
Penguins of Madagascar get a whole new film for their adventures; driven by the villainous Octopus, Dr Octavious Brine aka Dave (John Malkovich), who wants to avenge his humiliation by eliminating the cuties who stole the show from right under his aquarium in the many zoos he got relegated to. Skipper (Tom McGrath), Kowalski (Chris Miller), Rico (John Dimaggio) and Private (Christopher Knights) have to therefore team-up with a clandestine animal force called North Wind to thwart Dave’s nefarious plans. |
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Saturday November 29 ZEE CINEMA 10:14AM Aa Ab Laut Chalen 1:38PM Aparichit: The Stranger 4:58PM Ghulam-E-Musthafa 8:00PM Raja Natwarlal & PICTURES 7:38AM Love U... Mr. Kalakaar! 10:27AM Bol Radha Bol 4:38PM Keemat: They Are Back 8:00PM Chennai V/s China CINEMA TV 12:00PM Malamaal Weekly 4:45PM Ragini MMS 8:55PM Mangal Pandey: The Rising FILMY 9:00AM Main Aisa Hi Hoon 12:30PM Awaargi 5:00PM Teesri Aankh 8:30PM Chori Chori Chupke Chupke HBO HITS 6:35PM 21 & Over 8:00PM Wedding Crashers 10:00PM Profugos (2) 11:00PM Star Trek Into Darkness MOVIES NOW 2:30PM The Transporter 4:25PM Lady Kung Fu 9:00PM The Legend of Hercules 10:50PM Wrath of the Titans MOVIES OK 11:15AM Housefull 2 5:00PM Ghatak 8:00PM Ready 11:00PM Kalyug STAR GOLD 9:50AM Om Shanti Om 1:20PM Bodyguard 4:00PM Sivaji: The Boss 9:00PM Wanted ZEE STUDIO 9:00AM How to Train Your Dragon 10:50AM Race to Witch Mountain 8:55PM The Avengers 11:50PM Dance Flick
Sunday November 30 ZEE STUDIO 8:20AM The Tuxedo 10:25AM The Ring Two 12:45PM Paranormal Activity 3 2:35PM The Avengers 9:00PM Mission Impossible ZEE CINEMA 10:50AM Hum Saath Saath Hain 2:21PM Laadla 5:57PM Raja Natwarlal 9:00PM Big Brother & PICTURES 2:08PM Agneepath 5:28PM Humko Tumse Pyaar Hai 8:13PM Phata Poster Nikhla Hero 11:13PM Andaz Apna Apna CINEMA TV 7:30AM Hanuman 12:00PM Aakrosh 4:45PM Murder 8:55PM Bhai: The Lion FILMY 9:00AM Hanuman 12:30PM Tejasvini 5:00PM Sandwich 8:30PM One 2 Ka 4 HBO HITS 3:50PM Star Trek Into Darkness 6:00PM Strike Back (Season 3) 6:45PM Strike Back (Season 3) 7:30PM Hollywood on Set 8:00PM Legendary 11:55PM Battle Los Angeles MOVIES OK 2:40PM Nafrat Ki Jung 4:50PM Gumnaam 8:00PM Singham Returns 10:55PM Ghayal STAR GOLD 10:40AM Jajantaram Mamantaram 1:05PM The Hero: Love Story of a Spy 3:45PM Humshakals 9:00PM Son of Sardaar
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Deng realised that notwithstanding his official Communist creed, the only country that could make a Chinese economic transformation possible was America. While guarding his ideological legacy, he was prepared to wear cowboy hats in his assiduous efforts to please his hosts during his US visit.
The verb ‘pass’ is used in multiple combinations. It initiates movement most of the time from place to place or person to person as in "Please pass me that book,” or “Could you pass this message on?” It is also used on the football field, where sometimes an incorrect pass is all that the other team requires to win. “Pass” on the sportsfield indicates a transfer of object from person A to B, usually a ball. Expressions such as ‘passed down’, ‘allowing a pass' or ‘blocking a pass’ are used by sports commentators describing the action for television/radio audiences. 
Enter Emraan Hashmi, otherwise a disinterested police officer, but with a spark which only honest ACP Kale (Sanjay Dutt), who also happens to be his dead father’s friend, can see. As he is put on the job to uncover Ungli gang, he begins by mimicking their acts. What happens hereafter is not difficult to predict. Much of the story, except for the intriguing twist in the tale in the climax, is on expected lines. That is not to say the film doesn’t have its moments. Apart from some interesting episodes and few sparkling dialogues, all of its actors are in fine form. No melodrama, no over-the-top acts, performances are bang-on, understated and dare one say, even nuanced. Right from Randeep Hooda, the leader of the gang who otherwise works as a journalist, to Emraan Hashmi to Sanjay Dutt — all are in place. And that’s the real pity, for together they could have been, rather ought to have been, a force to reckon with. 
The pacing is even and the plotting quite remunerative in terms of laughs. There’s plenty of wry, diabolic humour to be had here. It’s only when the proceedings get far-fetched that you start to lose interest midway. But, Dwivedi is quick to make the impossible look somewhat plausible and with strong support from this excellent bunch of ensemble actors, he is able to make even the most ridiculous sequences look somewhat convincing. Kulbhushan Kharbanda, who plays a South-Indian PM who has a penchant for speaking in English, sets up an interesting contrast against the largely Hindi-speaking characters he comes in contact with during his trip to Fatehpur. The politics is played out pretty energetically, but the friends-turned-foes-turned-friends’ gambit towards the endplay sticks out a little, because there’s very little development towards that goal. The use of Kashmir as the metaphor that galvanises aggression and appeasement between two foes and references to Pakistan, play on a dual level in the complex and intelligently engineered narrative. The two-hour, twenty-minute runtime does make the engagement a little bit exhausting, but the superior performances, the smart scripting and the canny dialogues make it all fruitful and worthy.
This is a family friendly effort with a lot of bumbling and tumbling around from those adorable penguins accompanied by zany, excitement-inducing pacing, inspired sight-gags and pliable verbal volleys that poke fun at Hollywood marquee names without so much as an apology. After a point, the excitement begins to pall and what appeared sweet and engaging just a few minutes ago tends to appear a little tedious as well as exhausting. Not because of any technical flaws per se, but because there’s just too much sweetness infused into this enterprise and the spice quotient is dismally low. 
Raja Natwarlal is a Bollywood crime thriller film directed by Kunal Deshmukh and produced by Siddharth Roy Kapur under UTV Motion Pictures. The film features Emraan Hashmi in the title role, alongside Humaima Malick, Paresh Rawal and Kay Kay Menon.
Marvel’s The Avengers is an American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.