Friday, November 30, 2012

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (An autocratic act in a democratic country) that was published in Newsband

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An autocratic act in a democratic country
Maharashtra police had arrested two young women for exercising their constitutional right to free speech and expression on Facebook. This is an autocratic act in a democratic country. Should the policemen who arrested the two youngsters be penalized for wrongful arrest, illegal restraint and confinement? Did they really trample constitutional freedom of these young women? The police had found the Facebook comment by one of the women on the Mumbai shutdown following Bal Thackeray’s death, and its endorsement by her friend, objectionable. Can the police resort to making arbitrary arrests and cloaking their censorial actions using a combination of Indian Penal Code sections? After all, what can be illegal about expressing an opinion about so public an event as the complete shutdown of the country’s financial capital?
The rise of community websites as networks is hope for the average citizen but it is obviously discomfiting many in authority. The medium has the power to name, shame and embarrass the high and mighty. But should people who use the medium legally be arrested. Brazen misuse of the power to arrest continues, because there is no significant penal outcome. There are clear Supreme Court guidelines on making an arrest, which have been blatantly violated in the case of the ‘Facebook women’ and many others before them. An arrest cannot be made simply because it is legal; the police officer must be able to justify the act.
The primary culprit in this whole issue is the Section 66A of IT Act which gives policemen such a free hand in handling citizens for freely expressing their views about the political clan in India.
The Maharashtra government should take cognizance of the matter and deal with it strongly to convince the people that they stand by them at such an event of arbitrary confinement of one of them.
Websites like Facebook, Blog, Twitter etc. empower people to bring forth their feelings about any event. And, if they are not allowed to do even that then why is India called a democratic country?
It is the unconstitutional IT Act that is blamed for this recent persecution of free speech in India. How such an act could be passed in parliament without informing the public? It is now time to organize, demonstrate, challenge the law in the courts or do whatever that needs to be done to pressurize the government to amend the IT Act.

Dinesh Kamath's another column on film 'Talash - The Truth Lies Within' that was published in Newsband









Today I’ll pass on to you more information about the film Talash – The Truth Lies Within.
What drew Rani Mukherjee to the role in this film Talash. This is a genre, which she is doing for the first time. It is basically a thriller and a suspense drama. She had never worked on a film like that. What really intrigued her was the fact that in spite of being a suspense drama and a thriller it had a very, very emotional side to the story. It had a lot of heart and soul and that really touched Rani. There is a lot of human connect in the movie and Rani actually got connected on the first level when she had to decide whether she wanted to be part of this film.
Rani found working with the director Reema Kagti a wonderful experience. She found that Reema Kagti was one of the really, really cool directors she had worked with. Reema Kagti is completely in command of the craft and in command of the situation. She’s truly like the captain of the ship because she exactly knows what she wants from her actors and characters. That is indeed a great quality.
Aamir Khan over the years has become a bigger star with each passing day. Rani had witnessed him when she joined the industry and she is witnessing him even now and the only thing that’s changed is that he’s a much closer friend of Rani. He’s a much bigger star than when Rani met him. He was a huge star then and he’s a bigger star now so nothing much has changed. His level of focus and dedication is just the same or even probably more.
The music of the film Talash is incredible. They have a soul and a depth. The song Jee Le Zara is very hopeful song. It’s a song for people who’ve suddenly lost hope in their lives. It just brings the feeling to people that they should live a little and see things change around them. It’s a very, very nice song.
Aamir and Kareena Kapoor are doing a thriller for the first time. That’s really pretty interesting. The film is basically a suspense drama bordering the line of a thriller but it is a very, very emotional film.
Now I’ll pass on to you more information about the music of Talash. The music is given by Ram Sampath. Lyrics are by Javed Akhtar. Singers are Ram Sampath, Vishal Dadlani, Sona Mohapatra, Suman Sridhar and Ravindra Upadhyay.
First up is the song Muskaanein jhooti hain. Suman Sridhar uses her husky voice effectively in this silky smooth number.
Certain portions of Jeele zara will probably be running through the film as part of the background score and should prove to be effective. Vishal Dadlani sings about the growing distance between two lovers in this song as Javed Akhtar writes Phir dil se dil ke pul kyun toote hain. Vishal instills enough passion into the track to keep you hooked.
The next song Jeeya lage na is virtually a jam session between Sona Mohapatra and Ravindra Upadhyay. This is a great attempt to bring new sounds into mainstream Bollywood music. The lyrics are very simple. The combination of Sona and Ravindra’s voices and the merging of various sounds makes Jeeya lage na unique.
Lakh duniya kahe starts with a good music and Ram Sampath’s soft voice. It’s a straightforward composition with easy lines. The music lifts the track a notch higher.
Hona kya hai is a groovy number packed with beats.
Talaash’s soundtrack is slick, groovy and situational, and will work best in the context of the film.
Thus this crime thriller stars not one, not two, but three superstars in the leading roles, which adds to the film’s appeal. They are, as I told you earlier, Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Rani Mukerji. Hopefully this film will be another great entertainer.
Be sure to see Rani Mukherjee, along with Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor when Talaash hits theaters on November 30.

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Dinesh Kamath, Editor of Newsband, presents photographs of film star Katrina Kaif who had recently visited CBD-Belapur in Navi Mumbai to inaugurate a restaurant over there





From (Top to Bottom) Photograph (1): Film star Katrina Kaif cutting the ribbon while inaugurating the restaurant at CBD-Belapur in Navi Mumbai.
Photograph (2): Katrina interacting with the locals
Photograph (3): Katrina addressing the press
Photograph (4): Katrina giving her autograph to her fan

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Video: Dinesh Kamath speaks in Hindi and English about Amitabh Bachchan and his super dialogues


Video: Dinesh Kamath delivers a comic Hindi speech (Premi Aur Premika Ka Kissa)


Dinesh Kamath's column on film (Talaash: The Answer Lies Within) that was published in Newsband





Talaash: The Answer Lies Within is an upcoming Indian suspense drama film directed by Reema Kagti. The project is jointly produced by Excel Entertainment and Aamir Khan Productions, and stars Aamir Khan, Rani Mukerji and Kareena Kapoor in pivotal roles. The soundtrack is scored by Ram Sampath along with lyrics by Javed Akhtar. Principal photography for the film occurred during March–November 2011 taking place primarily in Mumbai, Pondicherry and London. Talaash is scheduled to release on November 30, 2012. Talaash has got U/A certificate.
The film has an interesting plot. Seeing reflections of Mumbai under the red light, Talaash is a tale of love lost, fatal attraction, and above all, the quest to solve a perfect crime. Suspense at its core, Talaash explores Mumbai’s underbelly like never before. Inspector Surjan Singh Shekhawat (Aamir Khan) who receives a phone call early in the morning, informing him about death and an accident and how everything starts to unfold from there. The case turns into a life altering chase for Inspector Shekhawat when he is forced to reel under the repercussions of a broken marriage with his wife, Roshni, (Rani Mukherji) and come face to face with his suppressed grief. Being on his investigational quest and fighting it out with personal struggle, Inspector Shekhawat meets a sex worker Rosie (Kareena Kapoor) who further adds shades of mystery to the puzzle. What looks like a simple car accident investigation turns into a haunting mystery as further investigations show many anomalies linked to the victim`s death.
The film has Aamir Khan as Inspector Surjan Singh Shekhawat, Rani Mukerji as Roshni, Kareena Kapoor as Rosie, Raj Kumar Yadav as Devrath Kulkarni, Shernaz Patel, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Sonam Kapoor as Rekha.
The principal photography for the film started in March 2011 with Khan and Mukerji in Mumbai. For a scene involving Khan and Kapoor, it was reported that both the actors would shoot in a red-light district. However, Kagti dismissed it and explained that it wouldn't be safe to do so. The scene was later shot at the Leopold Cafe on Colaba Causeway. The film's second phase continued with the entire cast in Pondicherry and was completed by the end of August. The final phase was expected to commence the following month in Khopoli with an underwater shot. Due to visibility problems, it was cancelled and later filmed at an undisclosed water studio in London. The filming was completed by November 2011 after some of the remaining shots were executed at the Bandstand Promenade.
The soundtrack of Talaash features music composed by Ram Sampath with lyrics penned by Javed Akhtar. It consists of six tracks.
The film has songs like Muskaanein Jhooti Hai sung by Suman Sridhar, Jee Le Zaraa by Vishal Dadlani, Jiya Lage Na by Sona Mohapatra, Ravindra Upadhyay, Hona Hai Kya by Ram Sampath, Laakh Duniya Kahe by Ram Sampath and Jee Le Zaraa (Remix) by Vishal Dadlani.
Talaash's first teaser trailer debuted in theatres to a positive response. Aamir Khan promoted the film on the crime detective series C.I.D.
After winning over audiences with his fun-loving and enduring character Rancho in 2009 film 3 idiots, actor Aamir Khan is set to take his fans on a thrilling trip with his next film Talaash, which is ready to hit screens Friday.
Directed by Reema Kagti, the film promises a lot of suspense, drama and thrill. It is among the list of much-awaited Hindi movies of the year, and comes two weeks after two big-ticket Bollywood releases - Shah Rukh Khan's Jab Tak Hai Jaan and Ajay Devgn's Son Of Sardaar.
Co-produced by Aamir, Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani, Talaash has been given U/A certificate by the censor board. Made at a budget of Rs.40 crore, the movie is co-written by Kagti and Zoya Akhtar. The film also features actors Raj Kumar Yadav, Shernaz Patel and Nawazuddin Siddiqui.
Aamir, who is playing a police officer after Sarfarosh, flaunts a moustached look in Talaash. Rani plays a simple Indian wife and is clad in saris, while Kareena has gone glamorous in short dresses and heavy make-up.
Remember Aamir Khan's shower scene in Ghajini, which turned out to be a turning point in the film? A similar shot will feature in the actor-filmmaker's new film Talaash too. The shower scene in Talaash will also play a pivotal part in the movie. It will see Aamir, who plays Inspector Shekhawat, get to the root of the problem that he fights against. The scene in question was shot in a flat that belongs to hairstylist Avan Contractor's mother. It was a one-take shot. Considering the success of Ghajini, there could be a possibility that the actor feels the shower scene is his lucky charm.
Aamir Khan was a part of two episodes of TV crime thriller C.I.D. He was on the Sony TV show to promote his movie Talaash, which as I told you earlier, is a suspense thriller, releasing Nov 30.
Rani Mukherjee chose to act in Talaash since the movie had a lot of heart and soul and that really touched her. Rani Mukherjee, the Queen of Bollywood, has given Hindi cinema fans many performances that make their favorite lists of all time. Mukherjee always presents new characters and stretches herself as an actress giving outstanding performances in each new film. She once again tackles a new genre in Reema Kagti’s Talaash. According to the actress, Talaash is a style of film not seen in Indian films before.
So do watch the film Talash – The Answer Lies Within when it gets released on 30 November 2012. You’ll like it!

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Prevent suicides) that was published in Newsband


Prevent suicides
Suicide should not be an answer to problems like mental distress or any severe illnesses. This is a modern world and there exists cure for all kinds of illnesses – even the most severe one.
One feels bad when bright young students resort to the extreme step. Today, educational institutions are increasingly marked by competitive pressures and financial and other demands that put a burden which some students are just not able to bear. The Government should deploy a Task Force to look into cases of suicide in educational institutions. There should be a dedicated system of counseling involving faculty members, students, parents and mental health professionals to cater to the needs of students; Right environment should be created for students with psychological needs. There should be a better awareness and sensitivity towards issues of social justice including gender, class and caste. This exercise needs to be scaled up to cover the entire spectrum of educational institutions in the country in order to address the underlying issues in a more meaningful and egalitarian manner.
A survey indicated that suicides have become the second leading cause of death among young adults in India. In India, suicides have become more common among educated and young adults.
An all-out effort should be launched to reach out to youths in distress, enabling close cooperation and collaboration between counseling services and the health services. India should find ways to address its shortage of mental health professionals. Counseling processes should assist students who have social, academic, linguistic, financial, physical and other difficulties.
When students who are not qualified sufficiently or have not scored high enough marks are admitted to institutions such as IIT (where majority of the students are very brilliant) they are unable to match the performance of their colleagues. They then feel depressed and attempt suicides. It is therefore necessary that only students with adequate merit who can successfully clear the courses in IITs be admitted in the first instance. It is much worse to admit students with inadequate capability since that leads to loss of life itself. Hence present reservation system for students needs to be revisited.
In India, much emphasis is being laid on suicide committed by farmers as compared to suicide committed by students. While in rural areas, farmer suicide is the major cause of death, in urban areas suicide committed by the students is the second major cause of death among youths. Thus, both these causes need proper attention of the Government.
First locate a student who is distressed. Next there should be regular counseling camps where such students could themselves go out and may discuss their problem relating to social, academic, financial or physical difficulties. This may prevent some of the students from committing suicide.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Dinesh Kamath's column 'Inside Navi Mumbai' (2) that was published in Newsband

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Inside Navi Mumbai
By Dinesh Kamath
Mechanized sweeping – a good idea! But what about those rendered jobless due to it?
Mechanized sweeping has been introduced in Navi Mumbai in a big way. It is decided that total 49 kilometer long road in the city will undergo mechanized sweeping.
The roads which will undergo mechanized sweeping in Zone 1 are Palm Beach Road – 11 km, Amra Marg – 2.54 km, Vashi Plaza to Arenja Corner – 2.60 km, Shivaji Chowk to Arenja Corner – 0.45 km, APMC road – 8.50 km, Sanpada Junction to Annapurna Road – 0.75 km and MAFCO road – 2.75 km. In Zone 2, Thane Belpur road – 14 km, Y Junction to Mhape bridge – 2.85 km, Airoli T junction to Mulund bridge – 1.15 km and Diva Circle to MSEB – 2.45 km will undergo mechanized sweeping.
Introduction of mechanized sweeping will make many human cleaners jobless. Has Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation decided the alternative jobs for these sweepers who are bound to find themselves without a job owing to introduction of technological cleaning system?
These roads where mechanized sweeping has been introduced will have one sanitary inspector and three sub inspectors to supervise the cleaning work. What will happen to rest of the cleaning staff who will be jobless?
When washing machines came into the markets, many maid servants became jobless. Human beings washing clothes became a thing of past. Clothes were now washed by the machines. The machines even helped in drying the clothes instantly. While the housewives heaved sigh of relief after the introduction of washing machines, the maid-servants were grumbling over the fact that machines had replaced them. This is just like the situation when tongas run by horses got replaced by auto rickshaws and buses.
In the newspaper world too, introduction of computers led to printing presses and newspaper offices cutting down their staff to size since computers could do the jobs which many human beings would normally do.
Introduction of every new machine makes a big chunk of human beings lose their jobs. What happens to these people who are adversely affected by the introduction of machines? Some manage to learn and pursue some new trades while others have to go through untold miseries. The government should make it a point to see that whenever it introduces new machinery, the cases of the workers who are badly affected by this introduction should be considered and they should be made to be absorbed in some other industries where they can prove to be useful.   

Why consumer has to bear the cost when water meter is stolen?
Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation has done installation of automatic meter reader (AMR) water meters at many places under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme. That’s great! But who will guard these water meters? Has NMMC taken care to prevent these water meters from getting tampered with or stolen by miscreants? During the last few days so many water meters have been stolen. The worst thing is when the meter is stolen, the person to whom the meter belongs has to bear the cost of replacing it. Strange! NMMC doesn’t consider itself responsible if the meter is stolen. This is ridiculous!  
In the past when such water meters were not there, the NMMC used to adopt average water billing system for the consumers. Such system had also created controversy. A consumer who used least water had to pay more just because some other consumer happened to use water in abundance. This would lead to protests and fights.
Thus it is proved that may it be water meters or billing system, each system has its advantages and drawbacks. No system is perfect.

Herbal education is necessary for everyone
A popular organization of Navi Mumbai, Marathi Sahitya, Sanskriti and Kala Kendra, had organized a seminar on ‘Importance of Herbal Plants’ at Vashi. Now this is an absolutely noble job that this organization is doing. People do need to be well informed about the herbal plants.
This seminar brought many city residents face to face with experts who are doing research on food and its connection with herbal plants. The outcome of their research is fantastic. Their research revealed that there are many indoor and outdoor plants which have Ayurvedic values. These plants have the powers to cure many diseases and ailments. In fact, if these plants are included in our daily food, many diseases and ailments can be prevented.
This is an ancient style of keeping diseases and ailments away. In the past, people were heavily dependent on herbal plants to remain fit. But the advent of new medicines in the market have led to modern man forgetting the past food culture and becoming heavily dependent on strong allopathic medicines to remain fit. But this man little knew that although such medicines have terrific curing abilities they leave behind side effects which gives birth to new medical problem.
In this seminar which was held at Vashi, the researchers who have made detailed study of herbal plants guided those who had attended this event in the matter of how to keep themselves absolutely fit by in-taking food mixed with herbal plants. Herbal plants can cure ailments like diabetes, high or low blood pressure, loose motion, blood impurity etc and at the same time they don’t leave behind side effects like the modern allopathic medicines do. These researchers spoke about medicinal values of some of the items we use in our daily life like carrots, onions etc.
Such seminars should be organized all over the city of Navi Mumbai so that every Navi Mumbaikar realizes the importance of herbal plants, how they are safer than strong allopathic medicines and their powerful curing and preventive abilities.

Monday, November 26, 2012

Dinesh Kamath's column 'Inside Navi Mumbai' (1) that was published in Newsband




Inside Navi Mumbai
By Dinesh Kamath
Is Ulwe the right place to invest in?
Ulwe is hot realty investment destination. This place is located 4 km from Nerul in Navi Mumbai. It will be a hot residential property investment destination in the next five years.
A survey indicates that by 2017, the property price appreciation will be 145% in Ulwe. There are the several reasons for Ulwe to top the realty investment destination list. The proposed railway connectivity from Ulwe to Seawood, the new airport, Trans Harbour Sea Link and the availability of the parcel of land will help hike rates making Ulwe another Vashi in the next five years.
Though not a single building has been built or approved, plots in Ulwe are being sold for Rs 3,500 to Rs 4, 000/sqft. Once the system is put in place, the rates will jump leaving behind all the so-called residential investment destinations, such as Panvel and Kharghar in Navi Mumbai.
The above information are given by the researchers. But some local real estate agents and buyers urged realty agencies to stop fooling gullible buyers by their biased survey reports.
Now whom should we believe? Should we take the words of researchers seriously or should the local real estate agents be believed? Are these researchers scaring the buyers so that they buy the property in Ulwe at once? The fear that rates of plots might rise in the coming days can make many buyers purchase the land in Ulwe immediately. This could be what the researchers want. May be these researchers are hired by a group of real estate agents who want new ways of attracting customers towards Ulwe. There are people outside Navi Mumbai who are speculating whether Panvel, Kharghar or Ulwe would be the right place to invest at. These researchers could be playing a trick to divert the attentions of these people away from Panvel and Kharghar and attract them towards Ulwe.
But if these researchers are speaking the truth then undoubtedly Ulwe is the best place to invest for any property buyer.

Will farmers accept government’s offer?
Picture of CIDCO
In order to break the deadlock between the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) and farmers, whose land will be acquired for the development of the Navi Mumbai International Airport, the state government has decided to offer them almost 22.5% developed land against the conventional norm of 12.5%.
Earlier the leaders who were representing these farmers were demanding either 50% developed land or Rs 20 crore per acre plus government jobs for the farmers’ relatives. They had next placed a final demand of 33% developed land.
The government is now prepared to offer to these farmers the earlier 12.5% and an additional 10% developed land or current market rate of the land/ready reckoner rate, whichever is higher.
These offers do appear to be practical and lucrative. But will the farmers accept the offer? If the farmers accept the offer will there be a danger of these farmers getting added to the already existing project affected persons (PAPs). Will the government honestly part with the developed land or will they keep the farmers waiting like the PAPs are doing now? The farmers should learn from the experiences of project affected persons who are at present awaiting justice and so they should take the next step with utmost care. The plight of the project affected persons has taught many a lesson that one should be very careful while making any deal with the state government or CIDCO. One should not straight away agree with government’s offer but first and foremost ensure that government keeps its words. So this is a very delicate situation for the farmers who are asked to part with their lands for development of the airport and hence they should take the next step with utmost caution.    
 
Prevent cases of dacoity rather than solve them
Four unidentified men robbed a jewellery store at Kamothe, Navi Mumbai and fled with Rs 50,000 cash. The armed men assaulted the store's employee with the butt of a gun. One of them threatened two traffic police constables with a firearm after the stolen Toyota Innova in which they were travelling was stopped during a nakabandi in Rabale. Later the accused fled in different directions. The police were on the look out for the SUV that was used by the robbers in Kamothe. When the four saw the policemen at Rabale, they quickly got off the vehicle and fled after threateningly showing the pistol to the traffic cops. The Innova car was reportedly stolen and was affixed with a fake number plate by the robbers to carry out the crime. The suspects hail from south India and are in their early 30s. The stolen SUV belongs to a Juhu resident and the accused had installed fake number plates. The probe is still going on.
Jewellery shops in Navi Mumbai are under constant threat of being targeted by dacoits. This is not the first time that looters have entered a jewellery shop and fled with valuables. What surprises many is the fact that neither the owners of the jewellery shops nor the city police are learning from their bitter experiences. Many jewellery shop owners have indeed become clever enough to install CCTV cameras and microphones in their shops. But is that enough? Do the looters care about the fact that they are captured by the cameras? They coolly come with the weapons, threaten the shop owner and run away with the loot. Now weapons can only be tackled by weapons. So these shop owners should recruit armed security guards who will be in a position to negotiate successfully the armed dacoits. Even policemen should focus on jewellery shops particularly during the time of patrolling. In fact, more policemen should be posted in the vicinities of jewellery shops since these are places towards which the dacoits are most attracted. Only such drastic measures can scare the miscreants who are intending to loot the jewellery shops. 

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Ban death penalty?) that was published in Newsband


Ban death penalty?
Here are the views of those who oppose death penalty:
Executing a killer is not a justice; it is an act of vengeance. Death Penalty is considered as a barbaric act and is abolished in 110 countries in the world. According to International Law, the death penalty is inhuman and a criminal act. The Civilized Society will never accept the brutal punishment of the Death Penalty and other forms of Capital Punishment.
The international community have a wide consensus over reformative justice rather than retributive justice. The purpose is to re-integrate the offender to the society. While the feeling of revengefulness is understandable at the individual level, it is not a noble emotion that can be given social sanction. Even for an individual, getting over the feeling of revengefulness contributes to spiritual upliftment.
Capital punishment is not justified and the entire World, including India, need to abolish. If A murdered B, C cannot be empowered for “Planned Cold-Blood Murder of A through Capital Punishment. If the human being cannot give life, he/she has no Right to take away Life.”
One should agree with the broad philosophical justification for abolition of capital punishment and should debate the issue without any pre-conceived notions.
In order to be human beings, death penalty should be got rid of. Solitary confinement can replace death penalty. Death penalty only depicts a barbaric form of punishment which only uncivilized societies follow. We ought not to allow future generations look back and say that our ancestors used to eliminate individuals to stop prevent crime which is the crudest form of punishment that could be meted out.
Taking away the life of a person in the name of punishment is uncalled for. Stringent punishment should be awarded to such voyeurs of terrorism by giving them life to realize their crimes. It’s time that all nations in the world abolished corporal punishment and showed the path of peace and harmony without indulging into bloody vengeance themselves.
Let us do away with this appalling and barbaric system of punishment, irrespective of the cause, the nature, or the enormity of the crime. Our judicial system is capable of better behavior than a mass murderer. The subjectivity and the "animal spirits" associated with the death penalty are truly scary. Let there be no unnatural death.
Terrorists are not born; they are created by soul-crushing poverty, the injustices that they witness, and the world's inability to provide a liveable life for a majority of the people. May good sense prevail. As much as terrorist's acts are inexcusable, so is the hangman's noose, which probably conceals more than it reveals. It is easy to hang one person rather than ask: Why is it that young people put their lives on the line? Under what conditions does death, or killing others, become preferable over life itself?
For all our claims of being the land of Buddha and Gandhi - the land of ahimsa - it is a shame that we practice capital punishment. What one cannot give, one cannot take.

Video: Dinesh Kamath sings medley of Shammi Kapoor's hit songs from behind the window grills


Friday, November 23, 2012

Dinesh Kamath's column (Facts about Navi Mumbai and comments) that was published in Newsband




Facts about Navi Mumbai and comments
By Dinesh Kamath

Fact:
Picture of CIDCO
A government proposal to allot a plot in Navi Mumbai to the Videocon group is likely to be withdrawn. The City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), the nodal agency of the city, is all set to send details of the stalled project to the state government. Former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar has said the plot would not be allotted as Videocon had failed to start its project despite the passage of several years.
Comment:
Videocon is the same company to whom the state government had approved to allot 100 hectares of land in 2008 and that too for just Rs 300 crore. This had given birth to a controversy. Videocon did have a noble idea. They wanted the plot to set up a film transistor liquid crystal display plant. This would provide direct and indirect employment to 10,000 people. But that didn’t mean that state government could pass on to Videocon the plot that is worth Rs 3,500 crore for just Rs 300 crore. The then revenue minister Narayan Rane had even threatened to resign and rightly so. The plot should not be allotted to the Videocon not only because it has failed to start its project but also because city should not suffer a loss.

Fact:
Galata Chemicals announced the grand opening of its newest Technical Center in Navi Mumbai, India.
Comment:
This is indeed a great thing to happen. This will bring about technological development in Navi Mumbai. This center will come up with innovative solutions. The Technical Center offers a full range of analytical and testing capabilities in support of product and application development efforts as well as marketing and technical service for the area customers. The Technical Center is focused on providing high quality, reliable and innovative products. The company will recruit talented scientists and this will provide employment to technical brains. The opening of this Technical Center is indeed one of the best things to happen.

Fact:
Kakrapar Atomic Power Station of Nuclear Power Corporation in Tapi, Gujarat, Lanco Infratech in Korba, Chhattisgarh and Nobel Synthetics, Navi Mumbai, have bagged safety awards for 2011. The awards, instituted by the National Safety Council of India, are given to organisations in the manufacturing, construction and MSME sector.
Comment:
It is a thing of pride that Nobel Synthetics, Navi Mumbai has bagged the prestigious safety award for 2011. It received the award in the medium and small sector. NSCI, an autonomous organisation set up by the Labour Ministry in the field of occupational safety and health, has been awarding organisations since 1998. Nobel Synthetics of Navi Mumbai deserves a lot of praise for having caught the attention of Labour Ministry and was chosen for this prestigious award.

Fact:
Picture of Ganesh Naik
Thane guardian minister Ganesh Naik has directed the local administration to recruit the sons of Mathadi labourers in the work force.
Comment:
Ganesh Naik, the strongest man of Navi Mumbai, is right in wanting the sons of Mathadi labourers to be recruited. He wants the sons of those Mathadi labourers who have resigned to get jobs.
Naik, as everybody knows, belongs to Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Now the Mathadi workers load and unload goods and work in various godowns as well as project sites. They are spread across Maharashtra and have a strong union which supports the NCP. That’s another reason why Naik has gone out of the way to support the Mathadi workers. He even went to the extent of directing CIDCO to identify land to construct homes for the labourers. He also directed officials to follow up with the railways to provide basic sanitation facilities at railyards.

Fact:
German drugs and chemicals group Merck KGaA plans to make its Indian chemicals units in Navi Mumbai a global competence centre to cater to markets in select product segments, apart from being a customer training and application development location.
Merck has currently seven such competence centres located in Germany, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Brazil, China and the US. The Indian unit will be its eighth and will be part of the global network of Merck’s production and application training centres.
By being a global competence centre, the Navi Mumbai facility will also provide consumer training to its local and foreign clients, apart from being an international sourcing base for performance chemicals such as effect pigments and cosmetics.
Comment:
It is a thing of pride that a company of high standard like Merck has chosen Navi Mumbai to make its Indian chemicals units here a global competence centre. Both the government at the Center and State and also local government bodies should extend all the cooperation to Merck in achieving their ambition. The substantial amount of investments in terms of infrastructure, technology and people should be provided to Merck without hesitation since their intentions are absolutely noble and clean.
Also it is a globally competitive project which primarily caters to industries such as paint, packaging and printing, brand protection including anti-counterfeit solutions, and cosmetics. Merck has about 40% market share in India in this segment. There is a big local market for performance chemicals including pigments, plastics and printing material, cosmetics and others.
That is the reason why Merck looks at India, especially Navi Mumbai, as a very important market globally.
Expanding its clientele base both among the large corporations and small and medium enterprises at a faster pace is high on the company’s agenda. Setting up a global network centre here to provide both product-related services as well as application and development consultancy will help achieving this goal faster.
Thus it is obvious that India and Merck and most importantly, Navi Mumbai, will stand to benefit if the plan materializes.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Kasab was rightly hanged) that was published in Newsband


Kasab was rightly hanged
Kasab has been the face of evil for millions of Indians. He took part in a monstrous plot against the people of India and Mumbai, killed innocent people with abandon, and showed no remorse for his actions. Hence he was rightly executed, although late.
Some call this an act of vengeance since Kasab was neither the architect of 26/11 nor its strategic mastermind; the men who indoctrinated and controlled him remain safe in Pakistan. It is true that Kasab was not the mastermind but by hanging him to death an example had to be set to those elements who intend to become terrorist in the future.
 In the United States, with its highly-functional criminal justice system, new forensic techniques have shown dozens of innocent men were executed. But in this case, Kasab’s guilt was proven well beyond even unreasonable doubt. The absence of the death penalty in, say, France and the United Kingdom has not made these two nations softer in their ability to combat terror than the U.S. So why should India have been soft towards Kasab?
The question is not why Kasab was hanged? The question is why did it take four years to hang him?
The set of miscreants who attacked Taj Mahal Hotel on 26/11 knew well enough that surviving the mission would be a thing impossible. They were prepared to embrace death post completion of their heinous task. Hence Kasab had to die.
Of course, hanging a killer will not bring back life to the killed, but it will set an example to those terrorists who intend to indulge in mass killing. As much as the man who hanged, the masterminds that orchestrated the crime, must equally pay. If Kasab was not hanged it would be injustice to those innocent whose lives were cut short.
If Kasab was pardoned he would not have changed. Yes, we have to abolish capital punishment. But in the case of Kasab, he deserved it. Death penalty should be abolished in many cases. However, the law as it now stands allows the death penalty in rare cases as in the Kasab case.
If the laws of the country dictate that Kasab has to be executed, so be it; Death penalty for a murderer is not a quid pro quo. It is meant to be only a reminder to prospective murderers about what awaits them after their dastardly acts.

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Dinesh Kamath's column (Facts about Navi Mumbai and comments) that was published in Newsband

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Facts about Navi Mumbai and comments
By Dinesh Kamath
Fact:
CM Prithviraj Chavan said, “The government is developing two international airports - at Chakan and Navi Mumbai. Both projects were delayed due to land-related issues. The Navi Mumbai airport requires some additional land.
We are working on airport projects and are confident to push ahead both projects in the coming days. We are keen on setting up airports in every district to promote industry and better communication."
Comment:
There is no end to excuses that are being made for delaying the International Airport project in Navi Mumbai. CM promises to push ahead the project in the coming days. What exactly does he mean by ‘coming days’? Will it take few more days or months or years? CM should specify the time that he requires to make this project a reality.

Fact:
The bodies of two of the three young men who were found dead near the tracks in Navi Mumbai on Thursday were allegedly switched and given to the wrong families. The families of the two men protested at the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation hospital in Vashi and then took away the bodies of their own sons. The hospital and the railway police authorities have, however, washed their hands of the incident. The hospital blames the police for this mistake while the police holds the hospital responsible.
Comment:
How could this mistake happen? Ridiculous! The hospital authorities, the police and the families of the dead persons are all responsible for this. In the first place, the hospital authorities and the police should have taken care to see that they are handing the right body to the right family. Both the families are also to be blamed since they should have checked whether the body was of their relative before accepting it. The strange thing is that both the families realized that mistake had happened only when they were about to cremate the bodies. Instead of passing the bucks, all the three should admit that they were all at fault.  

Fact:
Even before the construction of the Nhava-Sewri sea link has begun, the state has fixed the toll amounts that people will have to pay if they use the 22-km bridge that will bring Mumbai and Navi Mumbai closer by half an hour. Those driving in a car will have to pay Rs 235 as a one-way toll on the Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link for the first three years. "The toll will increase by 5% every three years and the amount will be charged for 30 years," a source in the state administration said. It is expected to take five years to build the sea link and the work is likely to begin next year.
Comment:
This is like parents planning the future of the child before it is born. The construction of the sea link has not begun and it is already decided that people who will use the bridge will have to pay the toll amounts. Even the exact amount that the users of the bridge will have to pay is decided. This is ridiculous! How can the authorities decide as to how much toll these users will have to pay after five years or still later. The value of money will have risen after five years. It is not right on part of the authorities to decide now the toll amount that will have to be paid five years later. They should count the fruits after the tree is grown fully. But here the fruits are being counted even before planting the tree.   

Fact:
A day of mourning over Bal Thackeray’s demise for lakhs of people became a day of earning for some opportunistic vendors across the city, who took advantage of the shutdown to make a quick-buck from consumers desperate for goods or services.
With all prepaid booths at airport and railway terminals closed and few taxis and autos plying, several cabbies tried fleecing commuters by demanding exorbitant fares far exceeding the norm.
A commuter was asked by a taxi driver to pay Rs. 3,000-4,000 to go from the domestic terminal at Santacruz to Seawoods in Navi Mumbai. Similarly, cabbies at railway terminals also quoted higher fares. The regular fare to Vashi from Lokmanya Tilak Terminus is Rs. 300 to Rs. 350, but they were demanding Rs. 1,200 to Rs. 1,500. Vegetable vendors kept their businesses running on Sunday also upped their rates.
Milk buyers were charged Rs. 54 a litre, whereas it usually is Rs. 32. Even eggs cost Rs. 2 extra per egg.
Comment:
The entire state was mourning the death of a person who when alive opposed such practices. These people who were charging high prices must have felt relieved that there was nobody now to question them and hence went about raising the prices without any fear of being penalized. It is obvious that Shiv Sainiks were in the state of mourning the death of their beloved leader and hence couldn’t prevent these wrong practices. But where were the policemen? Is it a rule that policemen should overlook such happenings and only the political activists should do the job of taking actions against such people who cause inconvenience to public in general? If that is so, then it is a strange rule!