Dinesh Kamath completes Six Years as Editor of Daily Newspaper 'Newsband'

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Rating employers is a tricky affair' that was published in Newsband

Rating employers is a tricky affair

Many of you love your organisation, at least on the days of salary, bonus, promotions and other self-gain days. To love an organisation, you need to experience the sense of feeling valued, job satisfaction, equal opportunities to grow etc. The discussions around dream employers who have authentic leadership, transparent culture, going beyond shareholder needs, allowing employees to express themselves, not having silly rules and having meaningful work are still relevant.

Would showcasing the highest productivity in the industry mean the place was a grind? The day-to-day experience at work, culture, growth prospects, value-adding supervision and authentic leadership are a must, besides attracting talent.

The parameters to discover the dream employer mostly revolve around tangible benefits and financial gains. Many organisations that make the dream employers grade are commercially successful providing superior customer experience with some cutting-edge products.

Most difficult part of work is handling employees, whose policy is 'work-to rule'. One employer has reserved an unfurnished room for such employees. After punching the entry card, they have to remain in that room until end of duty hours. Rest of this story is left to the imagination of the reader.

As regards 'career growth opportunities', one employee who joined at the lowest ladder, rose to become its C.E./ M.D. During the send-off party, at the time of his retirement, he stated this: when joining, I lied to myself that the company belonged to me.

Employees of one progressive employer have formed a Welfare Society (registered as Co-operative Society), which gives a solid sum on the untimely death of any employees to the dependents of the departed one. The employer has given it interest-free, non-refundable loan. Every employee (top to bottom) contributes to it from their monthly salary. The aggregate amount is invested in FD with a co-operative bank: interest income is tax-free in the hands of the society. If any death occurs, then dependents of the employee are given an appropriate amount, from the accumulated interest income of the society.

As regards financial support for university education, a cautious employer would reimburse all expenses which are incurred exclusively for the purpose of education, only after being declared successful, securing 60 per cent marks, or more, in the qualifying examination.

Someone has rightly said that rating employers is a very tricky affair. All the employees need not have the same view about the organisation or the employer they are working for. 

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'India has tremendous economic potential' that was published in Newsband

India has tremendous economic potential

India's rising per capita income has made it qualify as a middle income country. According to World Trade Organisation rules, India is made ineligible to provide direct export subsidies.

India is regarded as an emergent economy, rather than a “developing” one. India still has pockets of underprivileged, as it indeed does, for which it needs to sustain its subsidies. As for exports, the commerce and industries minister should push for a new regime of support to exports — one that is based on improving ease of doing business. Exporters are already struggling, coping with feeble markets and GST.

Indian economy can grow at 9-10%. The Indian economy has tremendous potential and there is no reason why it shouldn’t be growing at 9-10 per cent, according to former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan. We really don’t need any experts, domestic or foreign, to tell us what to do. We have tremendous capability amongst our people. The lacunae or the weakness has always been implementation. We talk, we talk, we talk but we don’t do. There are periods when we have done. And those are the periods of tremendous achievement and tremendous growth. That is what we need to do.

The possibilities in the economy are tremendous as the country has fantastic entrepreneurs, entrepreneurial communities that can be harnessed, and capability to put large satellites, rockets into space. We have the capability. The question is why isn’t everyone of us rising to our potential.

There has to be a sense that the country can take the economy to the next level. Focus on the economics and make sure we reach the middle income in the next 10-12 years.”

Dinesh Kamath’s column ‘New movies released in Navi Mumbai’ (Judwaa 2, Rukh, Ram Ratan, Gypsy Moon, CRD, American Made and Spyder) that was published in Newsband

New movies released in Navi Mumbai

By Dinesh Kamath

Judwaa 2

Judwaa 2 is an Indian Hindi-language action-comedy film written and directed by David Dhawan. The film stars Varun Dhawan playing twins Raja and Prem opposite Jacqueline Fernandez and Taapsee Pannu. The film is produced by Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment. The film is a reboot of Judwaa.

Prem and Raja are twin brothers who are seperated at birth but are uniquely connected to each other via their reflexes. They reunite as adults and set out to take down the underground smuggling world. Superstar Varun Dhawan, who is known for his comic timing, is set to entertain audiences through this rib-tickling comedy that promises to be an all-out family entertainer. Setting the temperatures soaring are two of the hottest actresses - Jacqueline Fernandes and Taapsee Pannu, in a never-seen-before avatar. The plotline of the film being directed by the master of comedies, David Dhawan, promises Double The Fun, Double The Entertainment. The laugh riot is set in Mumbai and in London and the twins create confusion in both these worlds only to save the day in the end.

The film has Varun Dhawan as Raja / Prem, Jacqueline Fernandez as Alishka Sheikh, Taapsee Pannu as Samaara, Anupam Kher as Alishka's father, Upasana Singh, Rajpal Yadav, Pavan Malhotra as Officer, Ali Asgar as Doctor, Vivan Bhatena as Tiger The Villain, Vikas Verma and Salman Khan in a cameo appearance.

Sajid-Wajid, Anu Malik and Meet Bros has provided music for the film. Malik has recomposed two of the songs from Judwaa, those being "Oonchi Hai Building" and "Tan Tana Tan Tan Tan Tara". The film has songs like "Chalti Hai Kya 9 Se 12", "Suno Ganpati Bappa Morya", "Oonchi Hai Building 2.0"   and "Aa To Sahi".

Rukh

Rukh (English:Attitude) is an Indian drama film directed by debutant Atanu Mukherjee. The film stars Manoj Bajpayee, Smita Tambe, Kumud Mishra and Adarsh Gourav in the lead.

Away from home in a boarding school, 18-year-old Dhruv is ignorant about the ongoing crisis in his family. His life takes an unexpected turn as he gets the news of his father’s death in a car accident. As he copes with the tragedy, hidden truths begin to unravel. Even as his mother Nandini struggles to shield him, Dhruv starts looking for answers. Was his father's death an accident or a premeditated murder? The search leads to a series of unexpected revelations, as he discovers the shades of his father’s personality he had never seen before.

The film has Manoj Bajpayee, Adarsh Gourav, Smita Tambe and Kumud Mishra.

Ram Ratan

Ramratan is an Indian Bollywood romantic comedy film, written by Praful Parekh and directed by Govind Sakariya and produced by Sanjay Patel, Ashwin Patel and Bharat Dodiya, under the banner of Sab Star Movies. Rishi Bhutani and Daisy Shah will be seen playing lead roles in the film.

The film is a romance with a pinch of comedy and thrill. The film is shot at beautiful locales of Panvel. The film has comic scenes, suspense thrilling sequence and songs etc.

The film has Rishi Bhutani, Daisy Shah, Mahesh Thakur, Sudha Chandran, Rajpal Yadav, Sumit Vats, Rituu Sachdev, Angela Krislinzki, Arvie Gupta, Angel Thakur, Roshni Rajput, Satish Kaushik and Prashant Rajput.

Gypsy Moon

The movie Gypsy Moon is directed by Tony Gibson and stars Tony Gibson, Alexis Arnold, Lauren Lox and others

A man, (Captain - Tony Gibson) with a brutal past that is linked to a gypsy queen (Lauren lox), unexpectedly finds himself battered, stranded, and on the run from that which drives fear into the hearts of the most brave. As a series of unfortunate events has a little girl (Child - Alexis Arnold) along for the journey, The Captain and her are left to the elements and on the move from that which dwells in the dark only mystical barriers can keep temporarily safe. In a realm where nothing is what it seems, under a 500 year new moon, a truth is revealed.

CRD

CRD is a 2016 drama-romance Indian film by National Award Winning Director Kranti Kanade written with Yuva Sahitya Akademi Award Winning Dramatist Dharmakirti Sumant. Set in the world of College Theatre, it probes fascism and fierce competition in arts.

A Young Dramatist rebels against his fascist Tutor to form his troop of misfits - aiming to win a prestigious theatre competition and trying to find the hardest thing of all: his voice. Inspired by real life event 'Purushottam' Theatre Competition in Pune, India. Set in the world of College Theatre, CRD probes facism and fierce competition in the field of arts.

The film has Mrinmayee Godbole as Persis, Vinay Sharma as Mayank, Introducing Saurabh Saraswat as Chetan, Introducing Abhay Mahajan as Netra, Introducing Isha Keskar as Dipti and Geetika Tyagi as Veena.

American Made

American Made (previously known as Mena) is a 2017 American biographical crime film directed by Doug Liman, written by Gary Spinelli and starring Tom Cruise. The plot focuses on Barry Seal, a former TWA pilot who became a drug smuggler for the Medellín Cartel in the 1980s. In order to avoid jail time, Seal approached United States government officials and served as an informant for the DEA.

In the late 1970s, Barry Seal is a pilot for commercial airline TWA. A CIA agent, Monty Schafer, contacts him and asks him to fly clandestine reconnaissance missions for the CIA over South America using a small plane with cameras installed. Seal accepts. Later in the 1970s, Schafer asks Seal to start acting as a courier between the CIA and General Noriega in Panama. During a mission, the Medellin Cartel picks Seal up and asks him to fly cocaine on his return flights to the USA. Seal accepts and starts flying the cartel’s cocaine to Louisiana. The CIA turns a blind eye to the drug smuggling, but the DEA tracks Seal down. Schafer warns Seal, who moves to a remote town in Arkansas called Mena. Later, Schafer asks Seal to run guns to the Contras. Seal soon realizes that the Contras are not serious, so he starts delivering the guns to the cartel. The CIA set up a Contra training base in Mena and Seal flies the Contras in, but most of them disappear as soon as they arrive. Eventually, the CIA shut the program down and abandon Seal to the FBI, DEA and other law enforcement. Seal escapes prosecution by making a deal with the White House, which wants evidence the Sandinistas are drug traffickers. They ask Seal to get photos that tie the Medelin Cartel to the Sandinistas. Seal manages to get the pictures and the White House releases them as propaganda against the Sandinistas. The cartel now want Seal dead. Also, as Seal is in the pictures himself, he’s arrested. Seal is convicted, and given community service which means he has to report to the same Salvation Army hostel each night. Eventually, assassins shoot and kill him. The CIA then seize all the evidence to avoid being implicated in drug smuggling.

The film has Tom Cruise as Barry Seal, Sarah Wright as Lucy Seal, Domhnall Gleeson as Monty Schafer, Jayma Mays as Dana Sibota, Jesse Plemons as Sheriff Downing, Lola Kirke as Judy Downing, Lara Grice as Female Reporter, Frank Licari as ATF Special Agent Franks, Jed Rees as Louis Finkle, Caleb Landry Jones as JB and Connor Trinneer as George W. Bush.

Spyder

Spyder is a 2017 bilingual Indian spy thriller film written and directed by AR Murugadoss. Produced in Telugu and Tamil languages, the film features Mahesh Babu and Rakul Preet Singh in the lead roles. Harris Jayaraj is the music director and Santosh Sivan is the cinematographer for the film. The film has English subtitles.

The movie has an interesting plot. Intelligence officer Shiva must use his skills and intellect to take down a psychotic terrorist wrecking havoc in Hyderabad.

The film has Mahesh Babu as Shiva, S. J. Surya as Bhairavudu (Telugu) / Sudalai (Tamil), Rakul Preet Singh as Charlie (Telugu) / Shalini (Tamil), Bharath, RJ Balaji, Jayaprakash, Priyadarshi Pullikonda and Shaji Chen. 

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial '‘Merit’ and not ‘dynasty’ is the key word' that was published in Newsband

‘Merit’ and not ‘dynasty’ is the key word

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi remarks that India runs on dynastic politics. Dynastic politics has advanced the interests of few at the cost of merit and wider political representation like Samajwadi Party and RJD. The grand old Congress with its Gandhi family is also an obvious example. Even in the lower rungs of Bharatiya Janata Party, the dynasty formula is at play with several MPs and MLAs hailing from political families.

Dynasties create problems like the over-centralisation of power, lack of internal democracy in political parties and consequently paucity of talent, initiative and good ideas. Good leadership must also include delegation of power to able people. BJP should take its anti-dynastic position to its logical culmination and dismantle centralisation of power within its own fold.

The major problem faced by Indian politics is centralization of power with religion and caste becoming guiding factor. The Centralized leadership is also with BJP like Congress and other parties. All these parties are working on Caste, Dalit and OBC candidates for ensuring victory in elections along with bahubalis and business houses for free flow of money and muscle power for elections.

The true leader takes people along with him and derives power from them. Confining himself with close associates and considering the social engineering principal can give them power for some times but for countries’ progress they have to open up personal channel of communication rather than media based communication. With media based communication, leadership can do wonders.

India is on the way to become hub of lots of academic intelligence. It is merely a matter of time. So society will be dominated by these talented academicians, they revolutionize the Indian politics and only those who have merit to qualify for public representative’s post would be sent by public. But Congress intends to use dynasty card which currently has no buyers.

In dynasties vested interest of family overtakes merit and creates sycophants. Sonia takes pride in uttering statement like ‘bahu of Indira’ rather than displaying her talents and abilities. Rahul is the best example of dynasty’s inept leadership with no knowledge about what benefits the poor. Hence Merit and not dynasty should decide who should be the ruler. 

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Angela Merkel wins again' that was published in Newsband

Angela Merkel wins again

Angela Merkel is Europe’s most powerful leader. Her centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party is leading. Angela Merkel is set to remain Germany’s chancellor, for a fourth consecutive term although her party captured a lower percentage of votes than in 2013.

Germany is a stable democracy. It is deeply committed to the European project. Its politics have not been upended by populist forces as has been the case in the US and the UK with Donald Trump and Brexit. Mrs Merkel has come out the winner, albeit somewhat weakened. After so many years in office, she can only be aware that the question of what, and who, comes after her will inevitably become more pressing.

The European Union can heave a sigh of relief that Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union has emerged as the single largest party in German elections. But the task of cobbling together an alliance remains. Merkel has had a steadying influence on the EU. Merkel can rightfully stake claim as the preeminent Western leader of our times – given that the US and UK appear to have turned their backs on globalisation and no longer seem to care for a rules-based international liberal order.

But Germans will have to be careful of the rise of far-right tendencies characterised by nationalism and anti-immigrant sentiment on home soil. The two main parties are Christian Democrats (CDU) and Social Democrats (SPD). SPD has decided it will not be part of another CDU-led government. This will complicate Merkel’s task of finding new alliance partners. The question asked is whether the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) will emerge as the primary opposition party?

In French President Emmanuel Macron, Germany has an able ally since both want to strengthen EU economies considerably. But Russian President Vladimir Putin and nationalists like France’s Marine Le Pen – even perhaps US President Donald Trump – would like to see them fail.

Merkel personifies steadiness, continuity and cooperation. Merkel faces challenges at home.  She will have to come up with a credible coalition government. Germany is the natural leader of Europe. Her re-election as Chancellor comes with huge challenges domestically and globally.

Thus Angela Merkel has returned for a fourth consecutive term as Chancellor, although with a much-reduced mandate. With her natural instinct for caution and pragmatism, she is one person who can turn the page on the country’s Nazi past. Germans have never had it so good in terms of economic well-being and political stability.

It is difficult to state the reasons why there has been a steady decline in support for the two major mainstream forces and conversely, the gains for the AfD who captured more votes than before.  

Anyway, Merkel, who has defied the recent record of Europe’s politicians even in terms of sheer longevity in office, would look to consolidating her legacy.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Government attracted towards private players' that was published in Newsband

Government attracted towards private players

The Union government is giving operations of railway lines to private players for enhancing competition. It’s an exciting proposition. It will also improve customer satisfaction. Suresh Prabhu resigned following a string of derailments. The new Railway Minister Piyush Goyal is studying various models for attracting more private players. He is willing to spend unlimited funds on safety. Clearing the backlog for track renewal would be his focus, and a zero accident rate would be an aspiration.

The government is engaging with other countries to “rapidly scale up” the bullet train project. It is trying to attract private companies for modernising railway stations.

In July 2015, the Union Cabinet had approved redeveloping 400 railway stations. It invited open bids from private sector developers through the Swiss Challenge model. The Railway Ministry has so far invited bids for 23 stations that had seen lukewarm response from the private sector

The Railways will move from diesel to electric locomotives. It intends to electrify the entire railway network. Electricity is a domestic and self-sufficient resource whereas we have to import diesel. After Mr. Goyal took charge, the Railways decided to shelve plans to set up a diesel locomotive plant in Marhowrah district of Bihar.

But there are some critics who say that Government had handed over to National Highway to Toll gate operators for long lease, Airport Maintenance was given to private players and similarly, Railway lines are also handed over to private player on long lease so that they can mint money at the cost of common man. Customer stands to lose if fares go up as it had happened around the world.  

It is noticed that big business is one group which is benefiting from Modi rule. Privatisation of railways is another example

A suggestion has been made to let all house rooftops in the country have solar panels by 100% investment by GoI. Solar panels and electric engines must be indigenous. If all motor vehicles have to be electric then Atomic power is the only solution as it may produce huge electricity without much pollution.

Newer and newer experiments have become a new norm for the ruling party. It seems they are very much obsessed with changes. One tends to think that they are more concerned about the so-called private players. They need to care for the common people. This government wants to give everything to corporates. "For Profit" corporates will not make things easier for common people and would surely ruin everything for poor people.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Need of marketing reforms' that was published in Newsband

Need of marketing reforms

Constant changes in prices of onions and other vegetables causes problems to consumers. There is an urgent need for marketing reforms.

Raids on top onion traders in the Nashik-Lasalgaon belt had brought down wholesale prices by about 30 per cent. It proved that there do exist vested interests in agriculture marketing too.

The demand-supply problem in the market should be solved. Consumers are often faced with nasty surprises. New markets, e-NAM and contractual arrangements such as direct selling have obviously not taken off. In some states the APMC infrastructure has withered away.

India is estimated to need 42,000 mandis against the present 7,700, with each linked to an e-NAM platform. This will ensure fair price discovery for consumers and producers.

The Centre must be clear about what it must — and must not — do. It should not enforce export curbs on onion and create a supply glut. It should create more mandis in partnership with private players and also create value chains to ensure supply-demand stability.

Funds set aside for the Price Stabilisation Fund need to be increased. Horticulture output growth over the last decade has outpaced that of food grains but in the absence of a marketing backbone, growing vegetables and fruit is turning out into a high-stakes game. E-NAM should be promoted by state government. Protection of the interest of farmers as well as consumers is essential. Avoid monopoly in horticulture sector and quality products needs to be secured.

The government should re boost E-Nam. State government must take the initiative to secure farmers interest as well as consumers. The vicious role played by the middlemen in arresting the supply of key vegetables like onion, potato, tomato etc. and releasing them when the prices are rocket raising should be stopped. Governments so far miserably met a fiasco in creating s national market for agricultural products. E-NAM markets are only in paper. Integrating the agri markets countrywide and enhancing supply at the needed regions are the ways. Big mandi owners must be specially tracked to prevent hoarding of key horticulture products. Facilitating timely imports with dynamic import policies will manage crisis. The government must severely punish hoarders and confiscate their trading license.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Our economy badly needs a boost' that was published in Newsband

Our economy badly needs a boost

The Centre needs to improve the economy considerably and keep inflationary risks well under control. The current fiscal year growth is expected to be around 7 per cent. The slowdown is a result of the shock caused by demonetisation. Growth is expected to be impacted by the implementation of GST.  

Both demonetisation and the GST implementation were disruptive moves. The Government needs to relieve the pain caused by them. Businesses continue to remain slow. Inflationary pressures are returning. Petroleum product prices too are also affecting the price index. Exports have not been doing too well. Bank credit growth to industry has also been poor.

Consumer and investor sentiments will improve if the Government effects some feel-good policies like lowering taxes on petroleum products addressing the problems of farmers

It is clear that the government is in the 2019 mode (which it always was) and therefore economics be damned. In spite of good monsoon and nearing festive season the demand is not coming up both in urban and rural areas .Even markets with niches like automobiles moves slow thanks to the neck breaking demonetisation effect which suppressed both supply and demand side and GST currently reduced business doing optimism though it creates tax hurdle free national market. Oil prices are slowly rising and current account deficit is also on hike. Snail paced job creation and severe blow to IT sector jobs are on card. Export is not promising when there is a dearth of working capital caused by delay in refund of tax input credit. Instead of thinking about the bullet train luxury let us concentrate on agriculture and industries with ease of doing business.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Ban tobacco' that was published in Newsband

Ban tobacco

Over 27 per cent of tobacco consumers in India fall in the 15-24 year age bracket. The addition of new customers every year even as thousands of patrons die annually ensures that the tobacco companies’ customer base remains wide and tall. If the global tobacco-related mortality is about 5.5 million people annually, India’s burden alone is nearly one million. India is the second largest consumer of tobacco products in the world.

The Central government should simultaneously implement multiple strategies to prevent people, particularly children as young as 15 years, from getting addicted to nicotine and help the existing users to quit smoking and/or chewing tobacco. Is raising taxes really the most effective way of achieving it? It is indeed heartening that the new Union Health Minister supports higher taxes on cigarettes and tobacco products; But India follows a bizarre, producer-friendly excise duty structure for cigarettes, beedis and chewing tobacco that makes a mockery of taxation.

Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulations, 2011 dated 1st August 2011, prohibits the manufacture and sale of any food product containing tobacco and nicotine. Why these regulations are not being followed? Why the question of imposing higher taxes on the production of tobacco in any form is coming into the scenario, when the regulations actually aim a complete ban of tobacco?

Raising the taxes on tobacco products is not at all a remedy. People are ready to buy it at any cost. If the central and state governments are indeed serious about the issue of public health, they should come forward to ban the tobacco consumption completely despite the fact that it leads to revenue loss.

Why India cannot be smoke free. What is that stops the government to set the timeline to help the workers of tobacco industries to find the alternative ways for their sustenance and to announce "smoke free India"? Why this drama of allowing the industries to produce cigarettes and warn the people not to smoke? It is like swinging the cradle and pinching the kid.

Dinesh Kamath’s column "New movies released in Navi Mumbai' (Bhoomi, Haseena Parkar, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, Newton and The Final Exit’) that was published in Newsband

New movies released in Navi Mumbai

By Dinesh Kamath

Bhoomi

Bhoomi is an Indian action thriller film directed and co-produced by Omung Kumar. It stars Sanjay Dutt, Aditi Rao Hydari, and Sidhant Gupta.

The movie is a revenge drama that centers on the relationship between a father and daughter. It is a revenge-thriller. The movie is all about a father (Sanjay Dutt), who is seeking revenge from who ruined the life of his daughter. It is an emotional, revenge and sensivitve drama. that explores the relationship between a father and daughter. It is a story of a father (Sanjay Dutt) and his daughter (Aditi Rao Hydari) who have been torn apart by fate. Like any father, Sanjay chooses the best man for his daughter and dreams of seeing her tying the knot but then something terrible happens which takes away all the happiness of this small yet happy family. The unfortunate incident is that Sarad Kelkar is the one who presumably sexually assaults Bhoomi aka Aditi in the film. What follows is Sanjay Dutt seeking revenge from those who ruined the life of his daughter. He is ready to fight against all the odds and even challenges the society which raises fingers on his daughter’s character. Will he be able to seek revenge?

The film has Sanjay Dutt as Arun/ Baba, Aditi Rao Hydari as Bhoomi, Sharad Kelkar as Dhauli, Sidhant Gupta as Neeraj, Shekhar Suman and Sunny Leone as Item number "Trippy Trippy".

The music of the film is composed Sachin-Jigar while the lyrics have been penned by Priya Saraiya, Vayu, Anvita Dutt, Badshah and Utkarsh Naithani and the background score is given by Ismail Darbar. The film has songs like "Trippy Trippy", "Lag Ja Gale", "Kho Diya", "Will You Marry Me", "Daag" and "Jai Mata Di".

Haseena Parkar

Haseena Parkar is an Indian biographical crime film directed by Apoorva Lakhia and produced by Nahid Khan. The film was initially named "Haseena: Queen Of Mumbai". The film is based on Dawood Ibrahim's sister Haseena Parkar. The film marks Shraddha Kapoor's first female protagonist venture as she is essaying the title role. Kapoor's real brother, Siddhanth Kapoor portrays the role of Dawood Ibrahim, and Ankur Bhatia plays the role of Haseena's husband.

Haseena Parkar is an Indian biographical crime film based on the life of Haseena Parkar. Haseena was the sister of terrorist Dawood Ibrahim and handled the operations of his crime syndicate in Mumbai. She died of a cardiac arrest in July 2014. This is the story of the slightly-less-notorious sister of a notorious gangster. Shraddha Kapoor takes some real life inspiration and turns deadly don Dawood's sister Haseena Parker. Shraddha had to undergo physical transformation for this role and the actress had gained oodles of weight for the same. Daughter of a havaldar in Mumbai Police, sister of fugitive gangster and mafia queen Haseena Parkar, once ruled the underworld of the city. The movie takes Mumbai in flashback mode. Her story is surely an interesting one filled with dark secrets of the underworld. Terrorist Dawood Ibrahim’s sister Haseena was popularly known as ‘Aapa’- a name that makes shiver Mumbai’s Nagpada area. From a young girl to a mother of four to the Godmother of Nagpada area across four decades is a story in itself. How her siblings left Mumbai after the 1993 bomb blasts and how she took over their legacy in crime world is worth watching. Haseena Parkar had risen to the crime world after her husband Ismail Parkar was shot dead by Arun Gawli’s gang in 1991. However, Dawood’s men took revenge by killing his murderers in the famous J.J. Hospital shootout. It is widely regarded as one of the most sensational cases in Mumbai’s gangland history. Soon after this incident, Haseena shifted to her new den, the Gordon Hall Apartments in Nagpada from where she led the crime syndicate. Known to be involved in almost every business in the area, she got her cut in every shady transaction that she fancied. In return, the godmother took care of her flock. Haseena used to be contacted by builders to help them get “permission” from slum dwellers to redevelop their plot under SRA schemes. Parkar also negotiated overseas rights of Bollywood films, especially films to be released in Central Russia and the Gulf countries. She was also involved in Hawala rackets to send money from Middle East to India and vice versa. Haseena Parkar was born in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra to a Marathi Muslim family. Her father Ibrahim Kaskar was a head constable in the Mumbai Police Department and her mother Amina Bi, was a housewife. Her brother Dawood Ibrahim rose to fame by running the crime syndicate D-Company in Mumbai in the 80s. Her brother was the reason their family received the limelight. Third of 12 siblings, Dawood took over the reins of Mumbai and changed the city forever. His antiques finally led him to flee the country and becoming the third most wanted criminal in the world. Haseena was the seventh sibling. She followed Dawood’s footsteps of crime and illegal trades. She had 88 cases to her name but appeared in court only once. On July 6, 2014, she died after suffering a heart attack, at the age of 55.

The film has Shraddha Kapoor as Haseena Parkar, Siddhanth Kapoor as Dawood Ibrahim, Sunil Upadhyay as Sabir, Ankur Bhatia as Ibrahim Parkar, Rajesh Tailang as Shyam Keswani and Priyanka Sethia.

The music of the film is composed by Sachin–Jigar while the lyrics have been penned by Priya Saraiya, Vayu and Kirthi Shetty. The film has songs like "Tere Bina" (romantic version), "Bantai", "Piya Aa" and "Tere Bina" (sad version).

Kingsman: The Golden Circle

Kingsman: The Golden Circle is a 2017 action spy comedy film co-produced and directed by Matthew Vaughn and written by Vaughn and Jane Goldman. It is a sequel to Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014), which is based on the comic book series Kingsman, created by Dave Gibbons and Mark Millar. The film features Colin Firth, Taron Egerton, Mark Strong, Edward Holcroft and Sophie Cookson reprising their roles from the first film, with Julianne Moore, Halle Berry, Pedro Pascal, Elton John, Channing Tatum and Jeff Bridges joining the cast. The plot follows the Kingsman needs to team up with their American counterparts, the Statesman, after the world is held hostage by a new threat.

Kingsman: The Secret Service introduced the world to Kingsman - an independent, international intelligence agency operating at the highest level of discretion, whose ultimate goal is to keep the world safe. In "Kingsman: The Golden Circle," our heroes face a new challenge. When their headquarters are destroyed and the world is held hostage, their journey leads them to the discovery of an allied spy organization in the US called Statesman, dating back to the day they were both founded. In a new adventure that tests their agents' strength and wits to the limit, these two elite secret organizations band together to defeat a ruthless common enemy, in order to save the world, something that's becoming a bit of a habit for Eggsy.

The film has Taron Egerton as Eggsy Unwin / Galahad, a Kingsman secret agent and the protagonist of the series. Colin Firth as Harry Hart, Eggsy’s eyepatch-wearing former mentor and a former "Galahad", who was presumed dead after the events of the first film, in which he was shot in the head. Julianne Moore as Poppy Adams, a notorious criminal mastermind and global entrepreneur associated with "The Golden Circle", a secret New World Order organization. Mark Strong as Merlin, Eggsy's trainer, tech support, and occasional field agent for the Kingsman. Halle Berry as Ginger Ale, Statesman's tech support. Pedro Pascal as Jack Daniels / Whiskey, a Statesman secret agent. Channing Tatum as Tequila, a Statesman secret agent. Jeff Bridges as Champagne "Champ", the head of Statesman. Elton John as a fictionalized version of himself. Bruce Greenwood as President of the United States. Emily Watson as Chief of Staff Fox. Edward Holcroft as Charlie, a former Kingsman trainee and Eggsy's rival who becomes one of Poppy's henchmen. Hanna Alström as Princess Tilde, Eggsy's girlfriend. Sophie Cookson as Roxanne "Roxy" Morton / Lancelot, a Kingsman secret agent and Eggsy's best friend. Michael Gambon as Arthur, a high-ranking Kingsman official. Poppy Delevingne as Clara Von Gluckfberg, Charlie's ex-girlfriend. Samantha Womack as Michelle Unwin, Eggsy's mother. Matt Letscher as a Statesman agent. Tom Benedict Knight as Angel. Björn Granath as the King of Sweden. This was Granath's final performance before his death on 5 February 2017.

Newton

Newton is a 2017 Indian Hindi-language black comedy film directed by Amit V Masurkar. Produced by Drishyam Films, the film is Masurkar’s second feature after his debut film, the slacker comedy independent film Sulemani Keeda in 2013.

Newton Kumar, a rookie government clerk is sent on election duty to a naxal-controlled town in the conflict-ridden jungles of Chhattisgarh, India. Faced with the apathy of security forces and the looming fear of guerrilla attacks by communist rebels, he tries his best to conduct free and fair voting despite the odds stacked against him. Every five years in India comes a day when the populace votes in a new polity, but the process is almost never straight-forward or simple: ‘Newton’ could also, just as easily, have been called A Day In The Life Of The World’s Largest, Most Complex Democracy. Or, The Great Indian Electoral Circus. The film takes us down the tangled jungles of Chattisgarh, over-run by Naxals and security details and other inimical forces, intersected on that fine day by an upright, uptight election officer Newton (Rao), and his companions – school-teacher Malko (Patil) and seasoned polling veteran Loknath (Yadav), who understands just how important a deck of playing cards is to the process. Thus Nutan Kumar aka Newton (Rao) is a small cog in the giant wheel of nation-keeping, whose dedication to the job is both funny in the truest way, and exemplary. And one of the funniest bits is the completely inadvertent connection between a loaded gun, and the smooth passage of that crucial democratic rites-of-passage: voting. Thus Newton is a touching, personal and very human film about the strength of one very resolute rookie election clerk to uphold the democratic process in a rebel-threatened area.

The film has Rajkummar Rao as Newton Kumar, Pankaj Tripathi as Aatma Singh, Anjali Patil as Malko, Raghubir Yadav as Loknath, Sanjay Mishra (Special Appearance) and Hardik Meriya.

The Final Exit

The Final Exit is an Indian Hindi supernatural horror film. It is directed by Dhwanil Mehta and produced by Vishal Rana & Mrunal Jhaveri. It stars Kunaal Roy Kapur, Archana Shastry, Elena Kazan, Reyhna Malhotra and Scarlett Wilson.

It is the story of a guy who begins to hallucinate and is seeing things which are not for real. Things get worst when he tries to shoot those things through his camera. Vidyut, a successful fashion photographer seems to have it as we see his daily routine of shooting, drinking, smoking, drugs and sex and each day seem to be a mirror of the other day and the only thing that changes is the woman in them. Whilst, he lives a life of merry, he is most fascinated by the recurring dreams that he has about shooting the most beautiful woman he has ever seen. One day, he wakes up to a mysterious email, which has the pictures of the woman he sees along with a map of her whereabouts. He follows the path on the map to find the woman and begins his journey in a car. What happens next forms the crux.

The film has Kunaal Roy Kapur, Archana Shastry, Elena Kazan, Reyhna Malhotra, Scarlett Wilson, Ananya Sengupta and Divya Agarwal.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Learn from mistakes' that was published in Newsband

Learn from mistakes

Everyone makes mistakes. But an ideal person is one who learns from his mistakes or rectifies the mistakes. Many a time mistakes prove to be blessing in disguise. Many people managed to reach the peak of their careers only due to some mistake or the other they had committed and rectified or learnt from while pursuing their profession.

Children are prone to make many mistakes while learning to read, write or paint. But we don't give it a second thought because we know that through their mistakes they will learn and eventually master what they're trying to do. Adults should learn from such children. They should not be so hard on themselves. They should forgive themselves when they make mistakes and look forward to gaining from those mistakes.

If we wouldn't make mistakes we would never learn anything, and we wouldn't grow any smarter nor wiser. Mistakes can hurt, but if we don't learn from the mistake we've made, the pain we've suffered from it has been for nothing. There are some people who make the same mistake over and over again until the consequences hurt so much that they finally learn from it. It's the very reason why mistakes hurt, so that we do learn from them and don't make them repeatedly.

To learn from a mistake, we first have to own it, and this is where many people fail, because they often blame someone else for their mistake.

The problem with blaming other people for our mistake is that we will still suffer the pain and consequences of our mistake, but won't learn from it, and so we'll keep making the same mistake again.

Every human being errs. But human being is one entity who possesses the power of learning from mistakes. Hence you should transform the mistake into blessings. Once you've chosen a mistake to magically transform into blessings, look for the things to be grateful for. Ask yourself: What did I learn from the mistake? What are the good things that came out of the mistake?

This is how you make the best of your mistakes. So learn from every mistake that you commit.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Cruelties in schools' that was published in Newsband

Cruelties in schools

Physical abuse of school students is a big issue. We have to ensure the safety and security of children on campuses. This is the responsibility of both the teaching and non-teaching community.

The Union Women and Child Development Ministry banned corporal punishment in 2010, following the tragic death of a ward who was subjected to humiliation by the principal of a reputed Kolkata boys’ school. Spanking, caning and such-like physical and verbal abuses injure and insult victims. Such acts largely go unnoticed and unchecked.

There are many who feel that these are effective means to discipline wards. Publicising the guidelines among teachers, parents and children may influence positive behaviour. Training programmes ought to equip teachers with humane, practical and effective skills to deal with children within and outside classrooms.

Is it poor remuneration in many private schools and adverse conditions of service that provoke some teachers into abusing the students? Main reason behind the physical and emotional torture of students in schools by their teachers is the reason that teachers who are responsible for educating them are not doing their job by choice and will but they are doing it because of other influences like for money, family pressure etc. Because of their own unsatisfied life they become brutal and frustrated and their anger gives these inhuman results. These teachers do not care to channelize the students’ energies into constructive and meaningful avenues.

With universal free and compulsory education a legal right now such abuses in campuses should stop. If a teacher can't teach or isn't happy with the job then he or she should go for a job that he or she likes most rather than taking his or her frustration out on the young ones.

The one who needs training is not a child. It’s a teacher actually. Children are like raw materials - we can shape them the way we want provided the one who is shaping them for the future knows his/her responsibility. Many teachers today lack patience, understanding, empathy and even say knowledge. Apart from textbook qualification there must be a training of all teachers before joining to ensure their behavioral and understanding skills.

Most of the schools in India are run by corporate/rich people. They give less salaries to the teaching staff. Teachers are not trained in most of the cases. They often punish students. Parents committees are to be formed to check lapses. Further school going children are overburdened with school bags. This is causing health problems. Central board of higher education has formed guidelines to reduce back pack load. Children who carry school bags weighing more than 10% of their body weight have been found to have poorer lung function. HRD ministry may please make note of this and take the necessary actions in this direction.

The Right to Education Act did not change the scenario in the country where neglect and abuse of the students is a common phenomenon. Finding a good and effortless source of income, most of the leaders have launched their educational institutions and suck money without imparting education.

Now it is a need of the hour to eradicate the practice of lethargy in providing infrastructure and other facilities to the students, else the coming generation will not forgive the education mafias.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Provide relief to Homeless Indians' that was published in Newsband

Provide relief to Homeless Indians

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set a target for the nation – every Indian must have a house by 2022. On September 13, the Supreme Court took the Centre and states to task, saying that there should be an audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General of the money disbursed by the Centre to the states for a scheme under the National Urban Livelihoods Mission

Homelessness in India has been a problem for centuries; causing the average family to have an average of five generations being homeless. Homeless people can either be described as living on the streets, in prison, in an institution, or sleeping in other places not meant to be adequate nighttime residences.

According to the 2011 Census, there were 1.77 million homeless people in India, or 0.15% of the country's total population. There is a shortage of 18.78 million houses in the country. Total number of houses has increased from 52.06 million to 78.48 million (as per 2011 census). However, India still ranks as the 124th wealthiest country in the world as of 2003. More than 90 million people in India make less than $1 USD per day, thus setting them below the global poverty threshold. The ability of the Government of India to tackle urban homelessness and poverty may be affected in the future by both external and internal factors. The number of people living in slums in India has more than doubled in the past two decades and now exceeds the entire population of Britain, the Indian Government has announced. Prior to the release of Slumdog Millionaire in 2008, Mumbai was a slum tourist destination for slumming where homeless people and slum dwellers alike could be openly viewed by tourists.

Some of the problems leading to homelessness include: disability (either mentally, physically, or both), lack of affordable housing (considering that a basic apartment in India costs approximately $177 USD per month), unemployment (either seasonal or through economic hardships), and changes in industry.

Jobs involving heavy industry and manufacturing (that require only a high school level of education) are being replaced by service industry jobs (which may or may not require a high level of education). Since university is less affordable for the average Indian than it is for the average North American or European citizen due to their lower per capita income level, more people in India are becoming unemployable for the jobs of the 21st century. The average per capita income for a citizen of India is barely more than $1,200 USD; compared to $54,510 USD in Canada and more than $64,800 USD in Switzerland.

Homeless children under the age of 18 are subject to child abuse, forced labor (often involving picking up rags and sifting through garbage for recyclable materials), illness, and drug addiction while being stripped of their right to education and recreation. According to UNICEF, violence against children in India include neglect, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and exploitation as the rate of child abuse increased to nearly 8000 child abuses in 2007. Indian government study in 2007 stated that two out of every three children in India were physically abused and that 50% of the nearly 12,000 studied children testified one or more forms of sexual abuse. The increase of child abuse in India is reasoned to be the increase of freed criminals. Other studies include that 7,200 children, including infants, are raped every year in India, and the government refuses to comment on these serial child abuses that continues in India. Many child activists believe that many other cases go unreported. Many street children run away from their families after they were being abused physically and mentally. When they run away from their families, hoping that they will have a better life, these children face more abuses than before including child labor and prostitution. A common problem that these street children as young as 6 years face, is physical labor in which they sift through garbage seeking money to buy their food. These children do 20% of India's GDP work, garbage picking, luggage carrying and selling newspapers and flowers.

An increasing number of migrants looking for employment and better living standards are quickly joining India's homeless population. Although non-governmental organisations are helping to relieve the homelessness crisis in India, these organisation are not enough to solve the entire problem. Attempts at gentrifying India's problematic neighbourhoods is also bringing homelessness levels up. Laws passed by the Municipal Corporation of Mumbai during the 1970s and the 1980s were held by the Indian Courts to be violations of people's right to life in addition to their right to a decent livelihood. A landmark case in 1986, however, would result in the favour of the homeless masses of India.

About 78 million people in India live in slums and tenements. 17% of the world's slum dwellers reside in India – making 170 million people "almost homeless." The number of nouveau riche in India are not enough to supplant the number of homeless people despite India's rapidly expanding economy. Up to 7% of homeless people in the major city of New Delhi are women. More than three million men and women are homeless in India's capital city; the same population in Canada would make up approximately 30 electoral districts.

It is estimated that more than 400,000 street children in India exist. Mainly because of family conflict, they come to live on the streets and take on the full responsibilities of caring for themselves, including working to provide for and protecting themselves. Though street children do sometimes band together for greater security, they are often exploited by employers and the police.

Dinesh Kamath's news 'Doctors perform Endovascular Thrombectomy to save an elderly woman at Hiranandani Hospital Vashi - A Fortis Network Hospital' that was published in Newsband

Doctors perform Endovascular Thrombectomy to save an elderly woman at Hiranandani Hospital Vashi - A Fortis Network Hospital

~The senior suffered an Acute stroke at the time of Chemotherapy; Doctors at the hospital performed emergency life-saving surgery~

By Dinesh Kamath

Picture of Hiranandani Hospital Vashi

NAVI MUMBAI: A 72 yr old woman while undergoing Oral Chemotherapy for Lung Cancer, suddenly developed severe weakness on the right side of her body and face which also affected her speech. She was doing reasonably well before the incident. She was brought to the Emergency Department of Hiranandani Hospital, Vashi- A Fortis Network Hospital where she was attended to by the Stroke Team headed by Dr Pawan Ojha, Consultant Neurologist and Stroke Specialist.

The patient was rushed for an MRI of the Brain which revealed complete blockage of the main blood vessel i.e. the Left Internal Carotid Artery causing significant brain infarcts(strokes) and damage due to lack of blood supply. In such a situation, the patient is usually treated within 4.5 hours of stroke onset using a clot buster medicine names Actilyse, administered by an intravenous route. Doctors were not able to administer this medicine as she had tendency to bleeding which was caused due to a very low platelet count. It was decided to remove the clot using a technique named ‘Endovascular Thrombectomy’. The procedure is routinely performed in the Cath Lab of this hospital for patients with acute stroke caused due to blocked Brain arteries. This procedure needs to be performed within a 6-8hrs of the onset of stroke, earlier the procedure, better the chances of a good outcome.

The procedure was done by a team of Neuro-Intervention Specialists and multiple bits of clots were removed immediately, restoring blood supply to the affected brain areas. The patient responded well to procedure and after a few hours was able to move her right limbs, however continued having some difficulty in speaking and swallowing food due to residual brain damage. After conducting a repeat MRI Brain angiogram, the scans showed complete resolution and small residual area of brain damage. If the procedure hadn’t been conducted, there was a high possibility of damage to the entire left side of the brain resulting into severe swelling and higher risk of death due to complications.

A similar clot was found in the right leg artery which caused the patient intolerable pain and blackish discoloration of the right foot. With the help of Dr Brajesh Kumar Kunwar, Interventional Cardiologist at the hospital, the clot was extracted in the Cath Lab, using a similar procedure. The patient had a difficult time coping with severe bodily weakness as her platelets were extremely low and she had difficulty in breathing due to underlying Pneumonia. She underwent physiotherapy and was initially fed using a nasogastric tube. A magnetic stimulation device was used which took care of residual spasticity and fastened recovery.

Speaking about the procedure Dr Pawan Ojha Consultant Neurologist & Stroke Specialist, said “The patient has responded well to the procedure and the overall treatment, her health is now improving. Her feeding tube has been removed. She is able to use her limbs fully, is able to talk, walk and eat by herself and is currently visiting the hospital for follow-ups. There are practically no residual symptoms of stroke”.