Friday, March 31, 2017

Dinesh Kamath completes Five and a Half Years as Editor of English Daily Newspaper 'Newsband' on 31 March 2017

Hi Friends, 
I completed five and a half years as Editor of English Daily Newspaper 'Newsband' on 31 March 2017. I had acquired the post of Editor of Newsband on 30 September 2011. Today I've completed five and a half years. I thank all those people who made it possible for me to achieve this feat. Bye!

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Good move to improve air quality' that was published in Newsband

Good move to improve air quality
The Supreme Court has directed transport authorities to stop registering vehicles that do not meet Bharat Stage-IV emission standards from April 1. Short-term economic considerations cannot supersede public health concerns. Some automobile companies will now have to deal with unsold inventories of the obsolete models. The 2017 deadline for a nationwide shift to BS-IV is a good movie.  
The court’s order means that a little over eight lakh BS-III vehicles will have to be either upgraded or sold abroad. This is a small fraction of the 19 crore vehicles on Indian roads today. So can the court’s order have a significant impact on reducing air pollution?
According to research, 30% to 50% of total on-road emissions came from vehicles older than 10 years, or about 17% of the fleet. Now the manufacturers and the fuel companies must prepare for the next big deadline.
The Centre has to ensure that the objective of the Supreme Court’s order is met, and the ‘one fuel, one country’ goal for BS-IV is fulfilled. This is indeed a stringent action to protect clean and pollution - free environment. It remains to be seen whether governments of centre and states will comply or bow to the pressure of automobile corporates.
Anyway, it is a good stand by Apex Court on health of citizen, environment. Every industry and segment could be mandated for safety of environment; roads; driver; citizen. Our country could experience less accident with monitoring of speed; violation of speeding laws by erring driver(s) in urban and rural areas; proper planning of road for safety via a mechanism of CSR - socially responsible corporates.

Good and timely act of judiciary, against the laxity of companies, will produce better outcomes in future (in following other rules and regulation), if corporate sectors does not obey the rules. This will improve the credibility of our judiciary and executives should follow each and every deadlines and overcome their tardiness against environmental concern.

Dinesh Kamath's news 'Swachh Bharat campaign to install 500 public toilets at Panvel' that was published in Newsband

Swachh Bharat campaign to install 500 public toilets at Panvel
By Dinesh Kamath



NAVI MUMBAI: Panvel Municipal Corporation has roped in Rotary Club of Mumbai Royales and prominent real estate player Adhiraj Group to take further its Swachh Bharat campaign by constructing 500 public toilets in the suburban villages of Panvel.
As part of the initiative, the first 12 toilets were opened for public use by Panvel civic body chief Rajendra Nimbalkar at Dhamole village, in the presence of a host of dignitaries including Mr Gopal Mandhania, DG of the Rotary Club, Dist. 3141 and Adhiraj Group CEO Ajay Kapoor. Adhiraj Foundation, part of the prominent real estate group- Adhiraj Constructions Pvt. Ltd., has joined the initiative.
Meanwhile, stakeholders have put a deadline as May end, to finish the construction of 500 toilets in villages like Dhamole, Owe Peth, Owe Camp, Khutuk Bandhan, Farshipada, Taolja Panchanand, Belpada, Kopar and Hedarawadi where public sanitation facilities are missing.
 “Open defecation is extremely bad and harmful. The initiative is in line with our larger vision of adding substantial value to the society, by introducing basic facilities and improving infrastructure for the weak and lesser privileged sections of our society,” said Mr Gopal Mandhania.
“Stopping open defection is a vital element of making India a clean nation, the overarching message that our Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set forward through the ambitious Swachh Bharat campaign. We are happy to be join this campaign with our available might and capabilities,” said Mr Ajay Kapoor.
“Our target is to set up 500 public toilets in the villages where hygiene is a critical issue and basic facilities are missing and thus take forward the Swachh Bharat campaign,” he added.

Adhiraj Constructions was established in 1995 and has since gone on to deliver some of the most sought after real estate development projects across the city. Inspired by their motto, "Enriching Lives, Enhancing Lifestyles" the group has become synonymous with trendsetting projects across Navi Mumbai.

Thursday, March 30, 2017

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Indo-U.S. nuclear deal' that was published in Newsband

Indo-U.S. Nuclear Deal
The Indo-U.S. civil nuclear agreement has faced one obstacle after another. By June 2017, six reactors were to be built in Andhra Pradesh by Toshiba-owned Westinghouse and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. (NPCIL). But there could be a delay in this. The government and officials should re-examine the country’s engagement with nuclear energy for future needs. The cost of importing reactors, relative to those based on indigenous design, is one concern. Land acquisition issues remain, along with the need for large water reservoirs for the reactors. However, of all his achievements in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Dr. Singh will be remembered for the nuclear deal.
The promise of nuclear power has thus far outweighed all of these concerns, and India has reason to be proud of its technology and determination to look for non-fossil alternatives in its energy planning. However, with rapid progress in technology in other renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power, the collapse of oil prices and the expansion in gas projects as a viable and clean alternative, that promise has dimmed. These could also be more cost-effective for a developing country such as India.
Nuclear power is one of the good options available to India for green power. Modern techniques have reduced time frame for construction and operationalisation. UK is building one of the biggest atomic power reactor. India needs to go full stream ahead to indigenously manufacture new reactors especially fast breeders and export the same also
The book 'The Power of Promise' by M V Ramana has a detailed analysis of the potential economic and environmental harms of nuclear power/energy. The book says it is highly uneconomical and environmentally dangerous. That makes one wonder whether nuclear power should be shunned altogether.

Thus India should utilise the delay in Indo-US nuclear deal in positive way. It is the best time for analysis of balance sheet of nuclear deal.

Dinesh Kamath’s column ‘New movies released in Navi Mumbai’ (Naam Shabana, Poorna, Power Rangers, A Dog’s Purpose and Boss Baby) that was published in Newsband


New movies released in Navi Mumbai
By Dinesh Kamath
Naam Shabana

Naam Shabana (English: The name is Shabana) is a 2017 Indian action spy-thriller film directed by Shivam Nair and produced by Neeraj Pandey and Shital Bhatia under the Friday Filmworks banner. It is a spin-off from the 2015 film Baby with Taapsee Pannu reprising her role as Shabana. Other cast includes Akshay Kumar, Manoj Bajpayee, Anupam Kher and Prithviraj Sukumaran who play important supporting roles in the film.
Shabana is an angry young woman with special Kudo skills. She has a back-story, and a painful one at that. She is recruited by an “agency” that does service to the country and kills the enemies. But the reason Manoj Bajpayee gives will make you shudder, “Women are born spies!” When Pannu is sent all the way to foreign land to interrogate a woman, she meets Akshay Kumar’s character. Taapsee gets ample chance to put her martial arts training to use. It frankly is great fun to see a woman kick some serious butt and she manages to do it convincingly. However, for some reason, she is far more constricted in this film than she ever was. At one point, right after making mincemeat of criminals, she suddenly freezes and must be rescued by Akshay Kumar, who drags her confused self out of ground zero. The movie begins three years before the events of Baby, setting the plot around 2011. Indian secret service suffers humiliation when they are unable to catch a dreaded arms dealer, Mikhail, who kills two of their agents. The action moves to Mumbai, where we find Shabana (Taapsee Pannu), a Commerce student who is also a Kudo champion. She is being tracked by this secret agency for some time without her knowledge. One fateful night, during a late night ride with her boyfriend, a group of hooligans accost them and her boyfriend is killed in the process. When Shabana doesn’t find justice for the murder in law, she receives a call from Ranveer (Manoj Bajpayee), one of the senior officers in the secret service. He helps her take revenge on the main killer, while inducting her in his team. Once her vendetta saga is over, she is trained to become a secret agent, and then given her first official mission and that involves assisting Ajay Singh Rajput (Akshay Kumar) to eliminate Mikhail. The movie then proceeds towards the climax.
The film has Taapsee Pannu as Shabana Khan, Akshay Kumar as Ajay Singh Rajput, Prithviraj Sukumaran as Tony, Manoj Bajpayee, Anupam Kher as Om Prakash Shukla, Danny Denzongpa as Feroz Ali Khan, Madhurima Tuli as Anjali Singh Rajput, Denzil Smith, Murali Sharma as Mr. Gupta, Elli Avram as special appearance in a song and Taher Shabbir Mithaiwala.
The songs of the film are composed Rochak Kohli and Meet Bros. Lyrics are written by Manoj Muntashir and Kumaar. The music rights are acquired by T-Series. The film score is composed by Sanjoy Chowdhury. The film has songs like "Rozana", "Zinda", "Zubi Zubi" and "Baby Besharam".

Poorna

Poorna is an Indian film directed by Rahul Bose. This is Rahul's second film as a director. The film stars himself with Aditi Inamdar as Malavath Poorna, the youngest girl to climb Mount Everest.
A young tribal girl from Telangana overcomes modest beginnings to become the youngest girl in history to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Aditi Inamdar has essayed the role of this young mountaineer in this film, who climbed Mount Everest on 25 May 2014 and pitched a flag on the summit at 6 am. Interestingly, Inamdar too, hails from Telangana. The film was shot in Malavath's village in 11 days, and Inamdar was picked from among 109 other girls who auditioned for the role. Poorna has Rahul Bose narrating the story of Poorna Malavath, a 13-year-old girl from a tribal village in remote Telangana who became the youngest girl to scale Mount Everest in 2014. Bose plays the role of her mentor Praveen Kumar, a state government official who nurtures and encourages the girl to leave her home and worries behind as she prepares for the difficult expedition. In the process, the underlying story of Bose’s struggle to turn around the state government school system plays out.
The film has Aditi Inamdar as Poorna, Rahul Bose as Dr. R. S. Praveen Kumar, Heeba Shah as Meena Gupta, Dhritiman Chatterjee as Alexander, S. Mariya as Priya, Harsha Vardhan as the CM of Andhra Pradesh, Gyanendra Tripathi as Shekhar Babu, Manoj Kumar as Anand, Dr. Rayala Harischandra as Priya's father, Lakshmi Kola as Poorna's Mother and Arif Zakaria as Colonel Khan.
  
Power Rangers

Saban's Power Rangers (or simply Power Rangers) is a 2017 American superhero film based on the team of the same name, written by John Gatins and directed by Dean Israelite. It is the third film of the Power Rangers film franchise, and is a reboot that features the main characters of the original Power Rangers television series, portrayed by a new cast. The film stars Dacre Montgomery, Naomi Scott, RJ Cyler, Becky G, Ludi Lin, Bill Hader, Bryan Cranston and Elizabeth Banks. In the film, Zordon recruits five high school students to form a team that must stop an alien threat led by the witch Rita Repulsa. It is the first blockbuster film to feature LGBTQ and autistic superheroes.
Power Rangers follows five ordinary teens who must become something extraordinary when they learn that their small town of Angel Grove – and the world – is on the very foe being obliterated by an alien threat. Chosen by destiny, our heroes quickly discover they are the only ones who can save the planet. But to do so, they will have to overcome their real-life issues and before it’s too late, band together as the Power Rangers.
The film has Dacre Montgomery as Jason Scott / Red Ranger, the leader of the Power Rangers, Naomi Scott as Kimberly Hart / Pink Ranger, a Power Ranger and Jason's love interest, RJ Cyler as Billy Cranston / Blue Ranger, a Power Ranger who is autistic, Becky G as Trini Kwan / Yellow Ranger, a Power Ranger who is questioning her sexual orientation, Ludi Lin as Zack Taylor / Black Ranger, a Power Ranger who is bilingual, Bill Hader as the voice of Alpha 5, the robot assistant of Zordon, whose metallic body can transform for various purposes, Bryan Cranston as the voice and motion capture of Zordon, the mentor of the Power Rangers and original ancient Red Ranger. Zordon lived millions of years ago before his conscious becomes a part of the Morphing Grid upon his death, Elizabeth Banks as Rita Repulsa, an alien invader, and enemy of the Power Rangers. Repulsa is a 65-million-year-old former Green Ranger who has gone rogue. She formed the monster Goldar while attempting to steal the Zeo Crystal, an artifact that channels the Morphing Grid dimension and also gives the Power Rangers their powers. David Denman as Sam Scott, Jason's father. Caroline Cave as Beverly Scott, Jason's mother. Anjali Jay as Maddy Hart, Kimberly's mother. Patrick Sabongui as Trini's father. Erica Cerra as Trini's mother. Kayden Magnuson as Pearl Scott, Jason's sister. Sarah Grey as Amanda Clark. Emily Maddison as Rebecca. Jaime Callica as Officer Bebe. Matt Shively as Damo. Garry Chalk as Captain Bowen. Fred Tatasciore as the voice of Goldar, a gigantic winged monster made of gold. Fred Tatasciore also provides the vocal effects of the Putties who are depicted as stone golems that can be made from rocks, gold, concrete, and anything of the Earth element. Jason David Frank and Amy Jo Johnson, two of the stars of the original TV series, cameo as Angel Grove citizens.

A Dog’s Purpose

A Dog's Purpose is a 2017 American comedy-drama film directed by Lasse Hallström and written by W. Bruce Cameron, Cathryn Michon, Audrey Wells, Maya Forbes and Wally Wolodarsky, based on the 2010 novel of the same name by Cameron. The film stars Britt Robertson, KJ Apa, Juliet Rylance, John Ortiz, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Peggy Lipton, Dennis Quaid and Josh Gad. The film was subjected to scrutiny after a video from the set was leaked of a dog being forced into running water, then submerged and requiring human rescue. Resulting investigations concluded that the video images were authentic, but had been edited. The film is co-production between Amblin Entertainment, Reliance Entertainment, Walden Media, and Pariah Entertainment Group.
 Based on the beloved bestselling novel by W. Bruce Cameron, A Dog’s Purpose shares the soulful and surprising story of one devoted dog (voiced by Josh Gad) who finds the meaning of his own existence through the lives of the humans he teaches to laugh and love. The Genre of the film: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Comedy, Family.
The film has Josh Gad as the voice of Bailey, Ellie, Tino and Buddy. Dennis Quaid as Ethan Montgomery (adult). KJ Apa as teenage Ethan Montgomery. Bryce Gheisar as eight-year old Ethan Montgomery. Juliet Rylance as Elizabeth Montgomery, Ethan's mother. Peggy Lipton as Hannah (adult). Britt Robertson as young Hannah. John Ortiz as Carlos Ruiz. Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Maya. Pooch Hall as Al. Luke Kirby as Jim Montgomery, Ethan's father. Logan Miller as Todd

Boss Baby

The Boss Baby is a 2017 American 3D computer-animated comedy film, loosely based on the 2010 picture book of the same name written and illustrated by Marla Frazee. Produced by DreamWorks Animation, the film is directed by Tom McGrath and written by Michael McCullers. It stars the voices of Alec Baldwin, Miles Christopher Bakshi, Steve Buscemi, Jimmy Kimmel, Lisa Kudrow and Tobey Maguire. The plot follows a baby who is a secret agent in the secret war between babies and puppies.
 Meet a most unusual baby. He wears a suit, speaks with the voice and wit of Alec Baldwin, and stars in the animated comedy, DreamWorks’ The Boss Baby. The Boss Baby is a hilariously universal story about how a new baby's arrival impacts a family, told from the point of view of a delightfully unreliable narrator, a wildly imaginative 7 year old named Tim. [Dreamworks Animation]

The film has Alec Baldwin at the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con, Miles Christopher Bakshi as Tim Templeton, Boss Baby's 7-year-old brother, Tobey Maguire as an adult Tim, the narrator, Alec Baldwin as The Boss Baby Templeton, Steve Buscemi as Francis E. Francis, the CEO of Puppy Co., Jimmy Kimmel as Ted Templeton, Lisa Kudrow as Janice Templeton and Conrad Vernon as Eugene Francis.

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'India proves its mettle at home, but what about overseas?' that was published in Newsband

India proves its mettle at home, but what about overseas?
It was a remarkable slice of history as India defeated Australia by eight wickets to win the fourth and final Test and secure the series 2-1. It was a fine finish to a long home season of 13 Tests in which New Zealand, England, Bangladesh and Australia were all defeated. India won 10 Tests, drew two and lost just the one, the 333-run loss to Australia in the first Test at Pune. India, in its 500th Test, defeated New Zealand by 197 runs at Kanpur.
Sledging and the mud-slinging through sections of the media added a bitter side-show. But the cricket was riveting. India prevailed, and that is a tribute to the squad’s resilience and the ability to find diverse heroes at different times, be it Jayant Yadav, Karun Nair or Kuldeep Yadav. The No. 1 Test side has proved its mettle, albeit at home. There will be tougher battles overseas.
With a bunch of very capable fast bowlers and world class spinners India looks a complete side now. They exploited the local conditions to their favour and won 4 series at a stretch. All in All we witnessed an absorbing series and Indians should start performing well in foreign soil to prove their no. 1 status in test cricket.
The win against Australia is, without doubt, great achievement. But, Australia fight cannot be discounted, especially in alien conditions. If India shows the same grit and determination in alien conditions and pace- tracks of Australia and South Africa, it can be a true world champion.
The duel between India and Australia has assumed the epic proportions in the last two decades that were once reserved for Test series among Australia, England and the West Indies. The just concluded series is another fine example of the highest level of competition and cricketing skills between the two nations. The two teams have proved that they are best two teams in the world. It was a thoroughly enjoyable fare that made even those critical of the five-day format to remain glued to watching these matches, in spite of jarring sledging that has gotten into the DNA of the Aussies.
The Indians, meek for a long, long time, have learnt to give it back too; but, this must neither spill outside the playing ground nor be encouraged by the respective Boards. Some startling revelations were also witnessed. Indian batsmen can flounder against spin, a spinning track is no longer a recipe for Indian success, Indian pace bowlers can win matches and bowl hostile spells etc. are some of them. 

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Lok Sabha passes the Mental Healthcare Bill' that was published in Newsband

Lok Sabha passes the Mental Healthcare Bill
Lok Sabha has passed the Mental Healthcare Bill. The Bill empowers the individual with legal rights to demand treatment for mental illness from the State. It also decriminalises suicide and recognises caretakers. It curtails and punishes inhuman treatment or imprisonment of PMI.
During the debate on the Mental Healthcare Bill, AITC MP from Bardhaman-Durgapur, WB, Sanghamitra Mamtaz spoke at length about the Bill and said "Medical education is sadly lacking in psychological arm."
Another MP gave out a number of issues that the Bill needs to address or add.
 - Check up by psychiatists for each child at school level needs to be made compulsory and a mental health card to be maintained. This will help detect mental health status of children so timely medical help can be given.
- Parents of child and relatives need to be given training.
- Dementia must be included in Bill while framing rules.
- An authority of mental health must oversee treatment and follow guidelines. Said Authority must be accountable to the ministry.
- One mental hospital in each state should be identified by the govt and attached to AIIMS for counselling and control.
Badruddin Ajmal (AIUDF) said that number of mental healthcare nurses and physiotherapists are abysmally low. India spends 0.06% of budget in mental healthcare. Even Bangladesh spends more, he says. Idris Ali, Trinamool, says over 6 crore people in the nation are suffering from depression and mental anxiety. This is a spike of 5 per cent from last year. Konda Vishveshwara Reddy (TRS) says mental disorder and behavioural disroders should be codified to avoid misuse. Dr. Gavit (BJP) said that Paramedical staff has no designated council or body which regulates and governs them. There could be legal issues arising.
Salient features of the Bill are: (1) Suicide is decriminalised. (2) Electro-convulsive therapy will be conducted only under anaesthesia. (3) A person with mental-illness has right to lead the life with dignity. (4) Chaining, use of force, discrimination are considered illegal. (5) A person with mental illness can make an advance directive that states how he/she wants to be treated.
Heena Gavit said that there are only about 4000 psychiatrists in this country, and pointed out the paucity of human resource in the field.
Some people who suffer from mental health problems say that the attitude of the society & the doctors have been very cruel, be it in areas of housing, accomodation, travelling, relationships, employment, higher education, occupation therapy, economic issues, legal access, healthcare access, social support, adverse impact on family, long term stay in rehabilitation center, adverse impact on body, drug side effects, the experience has been frightening. These are the stressors cited. So the MHbill should address these problems. The mere right to select the mode of treatment does not sound practical since ignorance about psychiatry is widely prevalent in our society including psychiatrists / psychologists. This specialty is still lagging far behind other specialties. Its neural model & Rx are considered invalid & unscientific. So the public health service towards psychiatry is of utmost importance. The MH patients should not be stigmatized or victimized.

With regards to mental health bill, it’s not enough to have the right to be treated but after and while on treatment, how is he going to be treated by the law, the banking sector, the society as a whole and the job industry. If the patient has to live with dignity then he should get all the benefits that a physically disabled is getting and all those underprivileged are getting. This is important because mental health problem is a disability and those suffering from it constitute a minority. They are the last minority. You cannot expect them to compete with the mentally fit citizens and survive in our overpopulated country. They should be given reservations, computers and all other equipments free which other healthy people are getting for free. 

Saturday, March 25, 2017

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Can EVMs be tampered?' that was published in Newsband

Can EVMs be tampered?
There were allegations about EVMs or Electronic Voting Machines having been tampered during Assembly Elections. The Supreme Court sought a response from the Election Commission (EC) on a plea. CBI is yet to be told to probe into allegations of tampering of electronic voting machines (EVMs) during polls, including the recent five Assembly elections and Maharashtra civic polls.
The plea sought examination of the quality, software/malware and hacking effect in the EVMs from a reliable electronic lab/scientist and software expert and to file their report before the court for further action/prosecution.
Demand was made for foreign experts to conduct the tests. A demand was also made to register an FIR to investigate the alleged tampering of EVMs for vested interest by the political party.
When bank accounts are hacked and funds drawn, how the EVM's could be certified temper proof? There are so many electronic gadgets and components sold in the Indian markets which are found to have been duplicated. So how can EVM be termed fool proof at all?
Any malpractice is possible if our administration itself is corrupt. There are some people who have read the book on how EVM can be tampered with written by none other than BJP's own Subramanyan Swamy. But the government is trying to say that EVMs are impenetrable.
When there was no EVM, there were allegations about booth capturing. Now when there are EVMs, we hear allegations about these voting machines having been tampered. Is there really anybody who is doing this heinous crime against democracy of India? Is it possible to detect whether EVMs were tampered with? If it is possible then a thorough investigation should be conducted and this task should be assigned to honest investigators.

Whatever may be the outcome of the investigation, it is clear that digital world is here to stay in all spheres of life as it can be made corruption free to a great extent if not totally. But, at the same time, don’t forget that there was a case of a Belgian election result having been tampered by Neurons from outerspace in 2003. We need to have the complete schematic of the EVM, only after which it can be known whether it is tamper proof. 

Dinesh Kamath's news 'Tukaram Mundhe transferred at last, city residents greatly disappointed; N Ramaswamy named the new Municipal Commissioner' that was published in Newsband

Tukaram Mundhe transferred at last, city residents greatly disappointed
N Ramaswamy named the new Municipal Commissioner
By Dinesh Kamath

Above Tukaram Mundhe
NAVI MUMBAI: Another honest bureaucrat got penalized for his honesty. The former Navi Mumbai Municipal Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe was transferred by the Maharashtra government, thus bowing down to the strong opposition against him displayed by the political parties. This is the price he had to pay for sticking strictly to the written laws. The government has yet to make clear the next posting of Mundhe.
Majority of the Corporators in Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation had voted against Mundhe during the no-confidence motion against Mundhe. But Mundhe was favoured by both the state government and Chief Minister owing to his clean record.
Getting transferred is not something new for Mundhe who has so far faced transfer eight times during his career. This is his ninth one. He is the man who had managed to get through Indian Administrative Services examination in spite of belonging to an extremely backward region of Maharashtra.
Mundhe is the man who has to his record the feat of having taken action against 1916 illegal hawkers, 1808 hutments and 1010 political hoardings during his short tenure in NMM. He was also responsible for suspending ten officials for shirking their duties. He straightaway cancelled unnecessary multi-crore projects and diverted these funds for better purposes. He was severely criticized for the kind of demolitions he conducted in gaothan area. He had even gone to the extent of dismissing two Shiv Sena corporators whom he suspected to have been involved in illegal constructions.   
Although Mundhe was hated in the political circle, he was extremely loved by the city residents for whose welfare he would conduct event called ‘Walk With the Commissioner’. The city residents found him very friendly and cooperative and one who not only understood their problems but worked sincerely to solve those problems.
All these exploits of Mundhe led Corporators from the ruling NCP and Opposition Shiv Sena to join hands and pass the motion 105 to 6. They called him autocratic and impolite. Mayor of Navi Mumbai Sudhakar Sonawane was totally against Mundhe and he had even threatened to resign if Mundhe was not transferred. He even met both the CM and Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray.
But Mundhe’s clean record was a plus point in his favour. In spite of massive opposition in the political circle, the support that he got from city residents made the CM hesitate to take any kind of action against him after he had lost the confidence of the corporators very badly. But at last CM too had to give in to the wishes of the corporators and issue the transfer order of Mundhe.
Mundhe never showed any sign of fear even after no-confidence motion was passed against him. He was used to such opposition which he had faced in the past too in the regions where he was serving. He is the man who had not hesitated to take on even the sand and land mafias in the past place of works. His reputation as an honest man has still remained untarnished in spite of all kinds of allegations made against him by politicians.  
Thus Mundhe’s tenure in NMMC has lasted less than a year. N Ramaswami, inspector general of registration and controller of stamps, has been named the new commissioner. 

Video: Dinesh Kamath speaks about upcoming films of Salman Khan

Friday, March 24, 2017

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Trump-Moscow puzzle is becoming more intricate' that was published in Newsband

Trump-Moscow puzzle is becoming more intricate
Can Trump-Russia investigation spoil Trump’s image? Is there really any Trump-Russian link?
In the first open hearing into the alleged links between the campaign of Donald Trump and Russians, FBI Director James Comey and NSA Director Michael Rogers were grilled by the House of Representatives’ Intelligence Committee. Mr. Comey confirmed that the FBI was investigating Russia’s efforts to interfere in the presidential election. Mr. Comey revealed that evidence emerged that the Democratic National Committee had been hacked by Russia-related entities and emails handed over to WikiLeaks.
The Trump-Moscow puzzle is becoming more and more intricate with earlier this month WikiLeaks releasing a trove of confidential CIA documents, a series labelled “Vault 7”, which showed the Agency’s penetration of the security systems of household electronic devices.  
Mr. Trump’s own tweets where he accused former President Barack Obama of ordering wiretaps on Trump Tower created controversy but neither the FBI nor the Department of Justice had any information to support that allegation. White House claim that Mr. Obama had asked British intelligence to spy on Mr. Trump, was denied by the U.K..
Taking down Trump isn't possible with Muslim Ban alone. So, The Establishment is shooting with this far lethal weapon. They will keep the matter alive, bringing up new accusation on a daily basis against Trump, hoping that Trump will get so much frustrated that he will quit.

Russian connections with Trump have been analysed and commented upon many times. The whole controversy has become problematic for the US president to a large extent. Unless the whole matter is cleared, the problem might damage the US president’s credibility.

Video: Dinesh Kamath utters Al Pacino's dialogues from movie 'Scarface'

Video: Dinesh Kamath utters Amitabh Bachchan's dialogues from movie 'Agneepath'

Thursday, March 23, 2017

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'India’s low rank in Human Development Index' that was published in Newsband

India’s low rank in Human Development Index
India ranks 131 among 188 countries on the UNDP’s Human Development Index for 2015.  Few argue that the rise in incomes came with a more open economy but that has not improved the quality of life for many Indians but raised overall life expectancy at birth by more than 10 years from the 1990 level,
Progress has also been made in raising awareness about issues affecting women’s empowerment, such as public safety, acid attacks, discrimination in inheritance rights and lack of equal employment opportunity. Policy reforms have been instituted in some of these areas. The percentage of women in the workforce is the lowest in India among the BRICS countries, and the national record on the population that lives in severe multidimensional poverty is also the worst in the bloc.
Universalisation of education and healthcare could have pulled deprived sections out of the poverty trap. Public education of high standards should be made accessible to all. There should be higher budgetary outlay for health care.
Sustaining and improving the quality of life will depend on policies crafted. It isn't just that India has "slipped down" to a low HDI rank. Rather, our country has been driven down to the 131st place because of a strategic policy of large scale privatisation of the national economy. The result so far has been: the richest 1 per cent super patriots (that includes 16 billionaires) have claim to nearly 60 per cent of the country's wealth, whereas the bottom 50 per cent own just 2 per cent of this wealth (Global Risk Report-2017).
When voters prefer to vote in corrupt candidates and you have an equally corrupt bureaucracy, any real improvements in HDI are unlikley. Whether any significant progress in HDI is achievable, given the nature of India's politicians and voters alike is debatable. Rich are still becoming super rich and many politicians are becoming professionals in getting what they actually want. Growth comes only when tax is utilized not for giving freebies but to enable and encourage people to be independent.
India's low HDI indicates the major loopholes and the lacuna present in various programmes run by government. Any programme without accountability, efficiency in a time bound result will not yield good outcome. Low rank is reminder to government that there is strong need of combined effort of various concerned agency to work on war level to reach the real segment of society. Here, Information technology can play a crucial role in plugging the discrepancies, and channelising its various programme in right direction. Private player can play a big role, in capacity building, with better regulation and incentives from government.
With close to hundred billionaire in Forbes' list, India may be proud of 'individual records' but the social indicators are appalling. The lack of medical care, malnutrition and inadequate housing are still high. Hence, its human development is low and cause of concern.

Corruption is the main reason why the BRICS countries fare significantly poorer than their Western counterparts. Economic parameters have to be robust but they alone won't take a country forward. Crucial areas such as primary education and healthcare are still out of reach for most Indians. The power sector has huge problems. The list of problems is long. Our superpower dreams will never become a reality unless we tackle corruption head-on. 

Dinesh Kamath’s column ‘New movies released in Navi Mumbai’ (Anaarkali of Aarah, Phillauri, Life and Chips) that was published in Navi Mumbai

New movies released in Navi Mumbai
By Dinesh Kamath
Anaarkali of Aarah

Anarkali of Arah is the film produced by Priya and Sandiip Kapur and written and directed by Avinash Das.
Anarkali of Arrah is the story of an erotic singer played by Swara Bhaskar who hails from Arrah in Bihar and is popular for her songs that make you read between the lines. She is the star performer of her troupe and is confident of her success. She sings sings double meaning songs. One day, Anaarkali Of Aarah’s life takes an ugly turn when Anaarkali has a confrontation with a very powerful man who molested her. Instead of bowing down, she chooses to fight back. How she fights the misogynist beliefs of the society, forms the crux of the film.

Phillauri

Phillauri is a 2017 Indian Hindi romantic comedy film, directed by Anshai Lal and produced by Anushka Sharma and Karnesh Sharma under the banner of Fox Star Studios and Clean Slate Films. Director Navdeep Singh and writer Sudip Sharma are associated with the film as Creative Producers. The film will have Anushka Sharma, Diljit Dosanjh and Suraj Sharma in the lead roles.
A young man (Suraj Sharma) meets a friendly spirit (Anushka Sharma) after he reluctantly marries a tree to ward off any threats to his love life. By doing so he unknowingly unleashes the spirit of Shashi/Phillauri(a friendly ghost). Things becomes more complicated, once the ghost starts to follow him. The film is a unique story set in Phillaur Punjab. It has combination of both romance and comedy. The Residents of Phillaur town (in Jalandhar district of Punjab) are often termed as Phillauris will all the fun and fiesta. ‘Phillauri’ has got shades of drama, craziness and really interesting characters. It is romantic, fun and at the same time very intriguing. The story is set in Phillaur district of Punjab. Anushka Sharma turns into a Ghost in this new comedy production. Thus Phillauri is a Bollywood romantic comedy film.
The film has Anushka Sharma as Shashi, Diljit Dosanjh as Phillauri, Suraj Sharma as Kanan and Mehreen Pirzada as Anu.
The music of the film is composed by Shashwat Sachdev with Jasleen Royal as a guest composer while the lyrics have been penned by Anvita Dutt Guptan, Aditya Sharma, Neeraj Rajawat and Shellee. Sameer Uddin has composed the background score. The film has songs like "Dum Dum", "Whats Up", "Sahiba", "Naughty Billo", "Bajaake Tumba", "Din Shagna Da", "Dum Dum (Punjabi Version)" and "Dum Dum (Reprise) Diljit Dosanjh Version".

Life

Life is a 2017 American science fiction horror film directed by Daniel Espinosa, written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson and Ryan Reynolds. The film follows a six-member crew of the International Space Station that uncovers what initially seems to be the first evidence of life on Mars.
 A crew aboard the International Space Station performs a successful capture of a space probe returning from Mars with a sample inside. The crew is tasked with studying the sample, which may be the first proof of extraterrestrial life. However, the study eventually backfires as the organism displays incredible strength and gains intelligence, becoming extremely hostile and killing them all one by one. Trapped aboard the ISS with the rapidly-growing organism, the crew must find out how to kill it before it manages to escape and destroy Earth.
The film has Jake Gyllenhaal as Dr. David Jordan, Rebecca Ferguson as Dr. Miranda North, Ryan Reynolds as Rory "Roy" Adams, Hiroyuki Sanada as Sho Kendo, one of the members of the International Space Station crew, Ariyon Bakare as Hugh Derry, member of the crew of the International Space Station, Olga Dihovichnaya as Katerina Golovkin, member of the crew of the International Space Station, Alexander Nguyen as 1st Fisherman and Hiu Woong-Sin as 2nd Fisherman.

Chips

CHiPs is an American action comedy buddy cop film written and directed by Dax Shepard, based on the 1977-1983 television series of the same name created by Rick Rosner. The film stars Shepard as Officer Jon Baker and Michael Peña as Frank "Ponch" Poncherello. Other cast includes Vincent D'Onofrio, Adam Brody, Rosa Salazar, Vida Guerra, and Kristen Bell.
Two middle-aged California Highway Patrol motorcycle officers who are tasked with highway patrol soon find themselves in a situation like none other when a sadistic ex-cop and his theft hitmen are wreaking havoc throughout their city. Jon Baker (Dax Shepard) and Frank “Ponch” Poncherello (Michael Peña) have just joined the California Highway Patrol (CHP) in Los Angeles but for very different reasons. Baker is a beaten up pro motorbiker trying to put his life and marriage back together. Poncherello is a cocky undercover Federal agent investigating a multi-million dollar heist that may be an inside job—inside the CHP. The inexperienced rookie and hardened pro are teamed together, but clash more than click, so kickstarting a partnership is easier said than done. But with Baker’s bike skills combined with Ponch’s street savvy it might just work…if they don’t drive each other crazy along the way.

The film has Dax Shepard as Officer Jon Baker, Michael Peña as Officer Frank "Ponch" Poncherello, Vincent D'Onofrio as Ray Kurtz, a bloodthirsty former LAPD dirty cop turned heist group leader, Isiah Whitlock Jr. as Peterson, Ponch’s Boss, Wilmer Valderrama, Adam Brody as Clay Allen, an officer, Rosa Salazar as Ava Perez, Vida Guerra as Ann, Kristen Bell as Karen Baker, Jon's wife, Jessica McNamee as Lindsey Taylor, a tough young California Highway Patrol officer, Jane Kaczmarek as Jane Lindel, the police captain, Justin Chatwin as Raymond Reed Kurtz Jr., Ryan Hansen as Brian Grieves, Maya Rudolph as Sgt. Gail Hernandez, Ben Falcone as Bicycle Cop, Richard T. Jones as Parish, Adam Rodriguez as Shamus, David Koechner as Pat, Ed Begley Jr. as Wasp Driver and Mae Whitman as Beebee.

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Politicians should stop disrespecting Law' that was published in Newsband

Politicians should stop disrespecting Law
The Inter-State Water Disputes Tribunal (Amendment) Act was introduced with a view to expediting the resolution of river disputes. But the tribunals set up have failed to settle matters within a reasonable time-frame. The Cauvery and Ravi Beas Water Disputes Tribunals have been in existence for over 26 and 30 years. Tribunal awards are often based on flawed assumptions.
Besides improving data on water availability, it is also necessary to align demand for water with what rivers can bear. Groundwater, too, requires more regulatory attention. Overall, with rising population and greater urbanisation, water management assumes paramount importance. Any policy must prioritise the needs of people and animals, while ensuring that industrial water consumption is managed in a sustainable manner.
The Bill’s focus on creating a national agency for data on river flows is to be welcomed. But there are no substantive differences between the earlier law and the proposed one in terms of time taken to give award; co-opting assessors, reliable data collection, ruling being binding and so on. Only form is different. The earlier law of 1956 was amended in 2002.

Inter state water disputes resolving act may be amended looking into the need of the State, status of the State, type of the rivers concerned (rain fed or year through running of water ) – all these are to be analysed before giving any award. In practice the Water tribunals are paper tigers rather to prove implementation. The vicious politicians of the State concerned create violence by instigating people and disobeying even Supreme court orders. Cavery Tribunal is a fine example between the two states where Karnataka dictate terms beyond apex court awards. Even States disrespect court order and act for political mileu. So reshaping the tribunal laws will be a regular useless exercise and the governments are doing it for eye wash purpose. The State-Centre coordination and the smooth relation between the states concerned are the ways for getting better results out of Water Tribunal laws. Even though people of States are ready to cooperate, the self-centered politicians will spoil soup

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Why Congress lost?' that was published in Newsband

Why Congress lost?
Even with the largest number of seats in Manipur and Goa, Congress party has managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. After squabbling among themselves, the Congress held a secret ballot to choose a leader and then sent the name onto the high command to decide on it. Meanwhile, the BJP, displaying some deft footwork, cobbled together the numbers and staked claim to form the government, a ready candidate for chief minister in the form of Manohar Parrikar in place.
Similarly, in Manipur, despite the largest number of seats, the Congress party was not quick enough to bring smaller parties into its fold and make a legitimate claim to form the government. But given the delay, the BJP was able to show that it had numbers on its side. The Congress, which has gone to the courts, got the reply that if it had the numbers it should have shown this in time.
Once masters at outwitting opponents in the numbers game, today it seems like a rabbit caught in the headlights as a nimble BJP runs rings around it. Don’t forget that the BJP and all other political parties in India learnt the tricks of the trade from the grand old party.
Early bird catches the worm. In this world of instant communication, laggards like Congress party with an incompetent High command is bound to fail. Unless they change their way of working there will be no one except Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi & Dogvijay Singh left in the party for the next election.
The Congress must see this defeat in Uttar Pradesh and its political failures in other states as a signal that it must rethink its brand of politics. The Congress needs to reinvent itself drastically, now.
BJP will have to do something drastic in Tripura where this time also CPIM won. CPIM under its incompetent leadership have destroyed Tripura leaving 8 lakhs unemployed poor youths languishing day in and day out. Left have been a champion in hardcore nepotism and corruption. Lack of high end Industry, Unemployment and poor economic state of affairs can be few areas to be capitalized upfront. People of Tripura have had enough of sufferings. Time for a change now.

With a record (highest in India) 25.2% of unemployment Left ruled Tripura continues to bite dust of under-development and non-performance due to state's outdated policies of being anti development and industry without realizing that World and India's economy is driven by Business and technology. There need to be high end industry and jobs and setting up of required infrastructure on a war footing in Tripura.

Monday, March 20, 2017

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Unemployment causes social unrest' that was published in Newsband

Unemployment causes social unrest
The lack of adequate employment opportunities was the key reason behind the recent agitations of the Marathas in Maharashtra and the Patels in Gujarat. There is a link between such social unrest and high unemployment rates.  
India needs to create jobs or else there will be social unrest. India produces the least number of jobs per unit of growth. The growth of the country is measured by the quality of jobs, livelihood and jobs that are created.
According to the International Labour Organisation, the global unemployment rate is expected to rise modestly from 5.7 to 5.8% in 2017 representing an increase of 3.4 million in the number of jobless people. The number of unemployed persons globally in 2017 is forecast to stand at just over 201 million – with an additional rise of 2.7 million expected in 2018.
The lack of jobs is not just one challenge for India: Increasing automation will also take away many existing jobs.
The gap between numbers of jobs created and jobs required has widened despite strong GDP growth. Social security in the form of unemployment benefits could be one way of ensuring social stability. Also there should be heavy investment in education and skilling.
The government should try to make extensive employment generating programs over intensive. The example of IT industry and pharmaceutical sectors are examples. The government universities and colleges spend a lot in higher education unlike NIIT institutes which provide job oriented iT training to school and college kids. Naturally they provide more percentage employment when the amount of money spent is considered.
India´s skilled & unskilled workers lack tools for their professional jobs. By setting up shops which rent them will go a long way for improvement of quality, quantity of jobs done without reducing jobs. Also there should a higher level of standardization of products marketed that will help.
Cooperative bodies of young men should be encouraged by giving easy loans. This will at one stroke improve efficiency and remove bottlenecks.

Increasing automation will also take away many existing jobs but will create new type of jobs requiring new skills and we should work on skilling people.

Saturday, March 18, 2017

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Affordable, quality healthcare for all needed' that was published in Newsband

Affordable, quality healthcare for all needed
Can the National Health Policy 2017 ensure affordable, quality medical care to every citizen? India has a fifth of the world’s disease burden, a growing incidence of non-communicable diseases and poor financial arrangements to pay for care. More health professionals need to be deployed for primary care especially in rural areas. Availability of trained doctors and nurses would help meet the new infant mortality and maternal mortality goals.
It should also be mandatory for all health institutions to be accredited, and to publish the approved cost of treatments. To reduce high out-of-pocket spending, early deadlines should be set for public institutions to offer essential medicines and diagnostic tests free to everyone.
For last 60 years, money has been spent on building big institution in big cities. Once the doctors and other allied practitioners get trained, they work only in these big cities. This has increased the cost of health care facilities. Now the time is to strengthen our rural block level hospital so as to overcome the rising cost of affordable medical cost.
India's large population lives in village and a major part of their income is spent on medical treatment, which ultimately brings poverty. So the government must spend heavily on improving our rural healthcare infrastructure, including opening of Medical College at the block level. The time is for construction of good medical institutions at the village level.
Major problem is accessibility of doctors and hospitals, especially in rural areas where they are needed the most. The government should provide construction of hospitals with full equipment and suitable doctors in the remote areas so that the most needed persons in lower section of society get access to good medical facilities in their area.

India's attempt to counter poverty through subsidies, doles, and other such 'gift' systems have failed miserably in that ultimately only the institutions (whether State or Private) get all the benefits of moneys spent on those and the beneficiaries get either too little or nothing. Medical arrangements for the poor is one such thing. In a country where there are over 650,000 villages/ slums/ tribal settlements and large contingents of shifting population - with over 950 million people in these 'entrapments' - attempting to offer Health services to all of them would need not less than 5 million to 6 million trained Medical staff and another few million as support staff to do many other non-technical works. Merely spending huge money through withdrawals from the exchequer cannot be the answer. India needs to take Two Emergency steps: (1) Work toward alleviating poverty through offering sustainable Work and wages; (2) Set up Educational system that is in tune with India's basic needs