Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Congress playing the secularism card once again' that was published in Newsband

Congress playing the secularism card once again

The Congress is preparing for crucial State and general elections by playing the secularism card and battling against Hindutva. It is trying to pursue a more vigorous brand of anti-Hindutva. People have lost faith in the secular credentials of the party. The Congress bats for a few communities, especially minorities.

Former President Pranab Mukherjee had described RSS founder K.B. Hedgewar as “a great son of Mother India”. Mukherjee was a part of the government that banned RSS in 1975 and then again in 1992. What was evil about RSS then has become virtuous now.

The party’s inability to craft a well-considered strategy to counter the rise of the Hindutva forces ideologically while accommodating the Other Backward Classes saw the party’s electoral footprint shrinking. More recently, during last year’s Gujarat elections, Mr. Gandhi visited a string of Hindu temples, even referring to himself as a “Shiv bhakt”, and permitted a party spokesperson to describe him as a “Janeudhari Brahmin”, sending out a confused signal to Dalits, OBCs and Muslims.

Today, the Congress believes it can take on the BJP electorally through a carefully crafted coalition in 2019. But will that be enough to preserve India’s social fabric?

The word Secularism has lost its force and relevance in India. It is a catch word for political party to get votes. How long Coñgress will use it to attack BJP? A Nation may be religious and yet follow Secularism. Better to talk less of secularism for India's image as it portrays hypocrisy as actual acts,

What kept Bhartiya Janta Party fighting even in its days of great struggle was its consistency in ideology and action. BJP continuously fed on Hindutva even when Congress and other regional parties thrived on its pseudo secularist agendas. BJP’s adament majority approach coupled with RSS cohersion, helped it in building rampart organisation that now appears invincible.

Secularism as a vote catching devise has gone well beyond its expiry date. Still left-liberal-Cong media seems to be desperately holding on to it. Congress version of secularism tows the line at best as "pseudo-secularism" based on which the appeasement policies of their successive governments have flourished upon. And the worst comprehension of the word secularism today is stooped so low that whatever a Muslim says, does or intend, is secular principle and the same done by the Hindu will be dubbed as ant-secular. This is nothing but pseudo-secularism of appeasement, to catch the vote-bank. Unfortunate. Congress will fail if it depends on its Secularism Card. The young generation of India are not fools.

Those in the Indian National Congress - have been deliberately confusing the idea of secularism. Their real aim is to capture power and stay in power; not establish a truly secular democracy. The majority of Indians now feel that all their problems are due to the Muslim and Christian invaders and that a truly Hindu state would lead them to recapture their past glory.

The politicians only exploit the prejudices of the public. A truly secular democracy in India is a pipe dream. As long as Congress swings around Sonia and Rahul and their sycophants it will never win. Coalition formula will never last long. The secularism for Congress is different than what is there in Constitution. Congress has soft corner for Muslim terrorists given recent statements by Soz and Ghulam Nabi Azad but not a word of sympathy for Kashmiri Hindus who were massacred and driven out of valley by the very Islamic Jehadis. Congress is Anti-Hindu, following instructions from their dynast and corrupt family, working against Hindus and trying to destroy its culture through their policies.

The Congress has a long history of ideological confusion regarding secularism. The Congress ideological dilemma regarding secularism has been a legacy which resurfaces again and again, particularly during elections. It remained to be seen how its present leadership is going to solve such a dilemma.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Save the Rupee' that was published in Newsband

Save the Rupee

The rupee is in trouble. On Thursday, the currency weakened past 69 intraday against the U.S. dollar, an all-time low. The rupee has lost almost 8% in value since January 1. Rupee has become the worst-performing currency in Asia.

The rise in international crude oil prices is one of the reasons behind the rupee’s decline. There could be more trouble for the rupee as the demand for dollars could turn out to be overwhelming. The dollar index is up about 7.5% since February. The rise in global trade tensions amidst the ongoing trade war could be another factor. The most important reason behind the fall in the rupee is the tightening of U.S. monetary policy.

Investors attracted by higher yields in the United States have been pulling their capital out of India at an increasing pace over the last few months. The fact that the American central bank expects to raise interest rates further this year suggests that more pain could be in store. The government, as well as the Reserve Bank of India, which recently raised domestic interest rates in response to rising external economic risks, may need to think how to avoid a crisis.

Some of the European currencies too are going down against the dollar in view of the rising drawing of dollars for purchase of oil at the prevailing international rates. As long as Indian democracy and rule of law prevail there could be no risk for either Indian economy or for Indian rupee.

Currently, the rise of Dollar is once again proving to be an hurdle to Indian economy. 'Dollar is making us dance' making the economists busy searching for solutions. In a way, it is better to let the rupee find its own level unless there is drastic erosion. For too long we have been propping up the rupee. RBI needs to be only vigilant that trade does not get too affected.

The two negative factors for the sliding rupee are namely capital flight from India on the Fed rate being attractive to the overseas investors and the hiking oil prices causing the purchase of dollars on payment. Nevertheless the CAD slowly increases and the FDI has little response on make India call. Trump’s trade war also have its impact on Indian currency.

Five years ago, Dr Rajan had his baptism by fire when he moved to the RBI. He put together a scheme which brought $ 20 billion in NRI deposits. High oil prices and rising interest rates in the US will remain a challenge for the rupee. The other constraint is exports, which remain in a rut at about $ 300 billion. Without structural reforms, the 20% weakening of the rupee in the last four years has not helped them grow. For the moment, the best course of action would be for the government to give the RBI and the MPC a free hand, allow them to raise rates to defend the rupee. Its weakening is also fuelling inflation.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Second-youngest person to be GM in Chess is an Indian' that was published in Newsband

Second-youngest person to be GM in Chess is an Indian

Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa (born 10 August 2005), is an Indian chess prodigy. He is the second-youngest person ever to achieve the title of grandmaster, behind Sergey Karjakin.

Praggnanandhaa is a chess player from Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Praggnanandhaa won the World Youth Chess Championship Under-8 boys title in 2013, and the Under-10 boys title in 2015. His elder sister, R. Vaishali, is a two-time youth chess champion.

In 2016, Praggnanandhaa became the youngest International Master in history, at the age of 10 years, 10 months, and 19 days. He achieved his first grandmaster norm at the FIDE World Junior Chess Championship (under 20) in November 2017 when finishing 4th with 8.0 points. He bagged his second norm at the Heraklion Fischer Memorial GM Norm tournament in Greece on 17th April 2018. On 23 June 2018 he achieved his third and final GM norm at the Gredine Open in Urtijëi by defeating GM Luca Moroni in the eighth round to become, at the age of 12 years, 10 months and 13 days, the second youngest person ever to achieve the status of grandmaster (Sergey Karjakin achieved the title at the age of 12 years and 7 months).

R. Praggnanandhaa will now have to demonstrate his staying power. Praggnanandhaa has emulated compatriot Parimarjan Negi, who became the second-youngest GM on the all-time list in 2006. Praggu, as he is affectionately called, is already a legend in the chess world. Even at a younger age, he would sit for hours with the chess pieces and solve puzzles faster than other children. At such a tender age, he has the chess world fascinated. Praggnanandhaa’s never-say-die attitude stands out. His finds the right moves in quick time. He is regarded as the most promising Indian chess talent after Negi.

He is a protégé of Grandmaster R.B. Ramesh, undoubtedly the best trainer in the country. Apart from quality inputs from Ramesh, what has also helped Praggnanandhaa’s career is the advantage of having his 17-year-old sister R. Vaishali, a Woman International Master with two Woman Grandmaster norms, as his playing partner. But the future is challenging.

Though age is clearly on Praggnanandhaa’s side, he will require the work ethic and dedication of a Viswanathan Anand, who became a Grandmaster at 18 and outlasted his peers from the teen years and went on to become a legend. He should continue to play like Vishwanathan Anand and others. Winning and losing is part of the game. He should play undeterred by the results. He should be provided with adequate facilities. In life it is not what you achieve, it is what you strive to achieve that matters. Hope Praggnanandhaa’s efforts are duly rewarded.

Kudos to the young grand master for winning global reputation and his trainer. He will prove his calibre in future and there is no doubt that chess master Anand will find his heir in chess.

Dinesh Kamath’s column ‘New movies released in Navi Mumbai’ (Sanju, Escape Plan 2 and Uncle Drew) that was published in Newsband

New movies released in Navi Mumbai

By Dinesh Kamath

Sanju

Sanju is a 2018 Indian biographical film directed by Rajkumar Hirani and written by Hirani and Abhijat Joshi. It was jointly produced by Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra under the banners Rajkumar Hirani Films and Vinod Chopra Films respectively. The film stars Ranbir Kapoor as Indian actor Sanjay Dutt, in various stages of his life. Sanju has Manisha Koirala, Paresh Rawal, Dia Mirza, Sonam Kapoor, Vicky Kaushal, Jim Sarbh and Anushka Sharma play pivotal roles.

In a conversation with Hirani, Dutt shared anecdotes from his life, which the former found intriguing and prompted him to make a film based on Dutt's life. It was titled Sanju after the nickname Dutt's mother Nargis used to call him.

The film follows Sanjay Dutt (Ranbir Kapoor) in different stages of his life. Sanju is a biopic of the controversial life of actor Sanjay Dutt: his film career, jail sentence and personal life. What makes Dutt’s story compelling is his struggle with drug addiction, failed marriages and imprisonment. The movie takes you to a journey of laughter, tears, joy, melody and human relations.

The film has Ranbir Kapoor as Sanjay "Sanju" Dutt, Paresh Rawal as Sunil Dutt, Sanju's father, Manisha Koirala as Nargis, Sanju's mother, Dia Mirza as Manyata Dutt, Sanju's wife, Sonam Kapoor, Vicky Kaushal, Anushka Sharma as a biographer, Karishma Tanna as Madhuri Dixit, Jim Sarbh as Salman Khan, Tabu in a cameo appearance as herself, Boman Irani in a special appearance as himself, Sayaji Shinde as Don, Mahesh Manjrekar as himself, Arshad Warsi as himself (cameo), Sanjay Dutt as himself (end credits) and Aditi Gautam as Priya Dutt, Sanju's sister.

The film's soundtrack features songs composed by A. R. Rahman, Rohan-Rohan and Vikram Montrose while lyrics are written by Shekhar Astitwa, Puneet Sharma, Rohan Gokhale. The film score is composed by Sanjay Wandrekar and Atul Raninga. The film has songs like "Main Badhiya Tu Bhi Badhiya" sung by Sonu Nigam and Sunidhi Chauhan, "Kar Har Maidaan Fateh" by Sukhwinder Singh and Shreya Ghoshal and "Ruby Ruby" by Shashwat Singh and Poorvi Koutish.

Escape Plan 2

Escape Plan 2: Hades is an action film directed by Steven C. Miller. It is the sequel to the 2013 film Escape Plan and features Sylvester Stallone and Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson reprising their roles from the first film, with Dave Bautista, Huang Xiaoming, Jaime King, Jesse Metcalfe, Titus Welliver, and Wes Chatham joining the cast.

Ray Breslin and his elite team of security specialists are trained in the art of breaking people out of the world's most impenetrable prisons. When one of Ray's trusted operatives, Shu Ren, is kidnapped and disappears inside Hades, the most elaborate prison ever built, Ray assembles a team to assist in the rescue. To put it in other words, Ray Breslin (Sylvester Stallone), one of the world's foremost authorities on structural security, agrees to take on one last job: breaking out of an ultra-secret, high-tech facility called The Tomb. Deceived and wrongly imprisoned, Ray must recruit fellow inmate Emil Rottmayer (Arnold Schwarzenegger) to help devise a daring, nearly impossible plan to escape from the most protected and fortified prison ever built.

The film has Sylvester Stallone as Ray Breslin, Dave Bautista as Trent DeRosa, Huang Xiaoming as Shu Ren, Jaime King as Abigail Ross, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson as Hush, Jesse Metcalfe as Luke Walken, Wes Chatham as Jaspar Kimbral and Titus Welliver as Gregor Faust (“The Zookeeper”).

Uncle Drew

Uncle Drew is an American sports comedy film directed by Charles Stone III and written by Jay Longino. It stars Kyrie Irving as the title character from his Pepsi Max advertisements that started in 2012, along with former NBA players Shaquille O'Neal, Chris Webber, Reggie Miller, and Nate Robinson and former WNBA player Lisa Leslie. Lil Rel Howery, Tiffany Haddish, Erica Ash, J. B. Smoove, Mike Epps, and Nick Kroll also star.

After draining his life savings to enter a team in the Rucker Classic street ball tournament in Harlem, Dax (LilRel Howery) is dealt a series of unfortunate setbacks, including losing his team to his longtime rival (Nick Kroll). Desperate to win the tournament and the cash prize, Dax stumbles upon the man, the myth, the legend Uncle Drew (Kyrie Irving) and convinces him to return to the court one more time. The two men embark on a road trip to round up Drew's old basketball squad (Shaquille O'Neal, Chris Webber, Reggie Miller, Nate Robinson, and Lisa Leslie) and prove that a group of septuagenarians can still win the big one.

The film has Kyrie Irving as Uncle Drew, a streetball legend, Lil Rel Howery as Dax, a streetball team manager, Ashton Tyler as Young Dax, Shaquille O'Neal as Big Fella, Uncle Drew's former teammate who now runs a martial-arts dojo, Chris Webber as Preacher, Uncle Drew's former teammate who is now a church minister, Reggie Miller as Lights, Uncle Drew's former teammate who presently seems to be legally blind, Nate Robinson as Boots, Uncle Drew's former teammate who now lives in a retirement home, Lisa Leslie as Betty Lou, Preacher's wife, Erica Ash as Maya, JB Smoove as Angelo, Mike Epps as Louis, Tiffany Haddish as Jess, Nick Kroll as Mookie, Dax's longtime rival and Aaron Gordon as Casper, a streetball player Mookie steals from Dax. Making cameo appearances as themselves are Sal Masekela, John Calipari, Jon Hammond, Scoop Jackson, Pee Wee Kirkland, Earl Monroe, Chris Mullin, Bill Walton, George Gervin, Steve Nash, David Robinson, Jerry West, Dikembe Mutombo and NeNe Leakes.

Photograph of Dinesh Kamath, Editor of Newsband, clicked by Sub-Editor Meena R Prashant on 27 June, Location is Newsband Office at Vashi

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Fraud or Business Failure?' that was published in Newsband

Fraud or Business Failure?

Businessman Vijay Mallya is now fighting India’s extradition case in the courts in Britain, two years after arriving there. He claims that the case against him is “politically motivated” and allegations are “blatantly false”. Mallya highlighted his attempt to sell ₹13,900 crore of assets to repay creditors, including the banks. He had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley expressing his pain at being accused of looting public money and fleeing the nation.

Mallya insisted the approval process for the loans had been “appropriate” while their restructuring under a master debt cast agreement in 2010 had happened with the RBI’s permission. The failure of Kingfisher Airlines had been due to circumstances beyond its control, and he had attempted to hold settlement discussions with the bank’s top management. His conduct obviously does not amount to ‘willful default’.

He claims that the non-payment of salaries did not go unnoticed by him, pointing to a 2014 application to the Supreme Court to pay part of the salaries of KFA employees.

His barrister Clare Montgomery has said that the whole case has been politicised by the BJP, Congress, and Shiv Sena and they all treat it as an opportunity to make political capital on the assumption there was fraud. Is it a case of fraud or business failure? Everyone wants the answer to this question.  

The news report about Vijay Mallya terms charges politically motivated seems to be justified considering that this gentleman is unlike Nirav Modi and his uncle Choksi who have swindled the Punjab National Bank of several crores but now refuse to come back. Whereas in the case of Vijay Mallya, he did not get a reply to his letters addressed to the Finance Minister as well as to the Prime Minister which was rather disappointing. According to him, he is definitely having a good intention to pay back all the money to various banks that he owes but is being prevented to get sale of his 13 crore assets which is hindering his moves. He is right in saying that he is being made as a poster boy. So the concerned authorities and the Government should consider his case genuinely.

It appears that Vijay Mallya was honest and PM/FM in collusion with investigating, tax and bank authorities have made him to be dishonest. This case needs to be solved step by step. Legally it is simple: Did Mallya give or imply personal guarantees? Financially it is simple: Does he have or can he raise Rs. 9,000 crores? Also did he commit fraud by bribing the bank officials? Finally did the Bank officials cheat their own bank? Prime Minister Narendra Modi should let this case come to a conclusion quickly.  

Mallya confesses to having the property worth Rs 13900 cr and that he is willing to pay the loan of Rs 9000 cr. Then why is Government of India making Mallya’s life difficult? Is it personal or business?

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'There is need for substitutes for plastic' that was published in Newsband

There is need for substitutes for plastic

Maharashtra’s ban on several consumer articles made of plastic is an extreme measure. Mumbai is trying to adapt quickly. During the World Environment Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged to do away with all single-use plastics by 2022. This goal is not yet backed by an action plan

Worldwide, the problem has got out of hand. This lackadaisical approach is at odds with its ambitious goals. The Centre and the States should deal correctly with plastic waste management. To address the global concern plastic that is being dumped in the oceans should be segregated at source. The Urban Development Secretary in each State should come up with a monthly report on how much plastic waste is collected, including details of the types and the disposal methods.

Retailers must be required to switch to paper bags. Potentially, carry bag production using cloth can create more jobs than machines using plastic pellets. Plastics became popular because they are inexpensive, can be easily produced and offer great convenience. Their wild popularity has turned them into a scourge. Consumers will be ready to make the switch, but they need good alternatives.

Plastic usage cannot be stopped unless availability of alternate material is made cheaper accessible to the common public. This involves curbing of production of plastic disposal bags and increasing production of eco-friendly disposal bags and planning of waste disposals in cities and towns. Even if it is a difficult task to eradicate plastic material use, the hazards and suffering caused to animals and plants in the environment has to be considered, and thus put in all efforts to segregate waste into non-plastic and plastic, and incinerate the plastic waste.

Enforce segregation at source. If this is done waste management would be much easier. Though easier said than done it is certainly not impossible. The concerned authorities need to create awareness about segregation and follow it up with penalty if not followed, to ensure enforcement.

A good start may be a great leap forward by the Maharashtra government in banning plastic substances. We have to create more awareness among the public through different media regarding this plastic menace. All the states in India and local bodies should emulate this spirit. Instead of plastic bags, encourage jute bags which are eco friendly and also generate employment, income source for jute industry. Scientific research has to be done for alternative eco friendly package and recycling of plastic.

Plastic products are a grave threat to our environment and Maharashtra government has done well to ban specified plastic articles, though the ban may cost it some much needed revenue and throw some people out of employment. All states of India should follow the example of Maharashtra and take decisive measures to deal with this threat to environment. Viable alternatives to banned plastic products would come up in due course of time.

Use of plastic has almost enveloped every form of human activity. Abusive use must be checked and eradicated while exploring ways and means of putting the waste material for alternative use. Ways and means should be found to ensure their destruction which in the current stage appears to be another written off item. Parallel to the direct attack on the plastic waste every endeavour should be made for introducing alternatives equally good or better as substitutes. However convenient and economical it may be at the user stage the after use effect is the matter that matters now. Those who dump the plastic appear to have decisive influence over the decision makers over and above the consumers who are neither organised nor alert enough to realise the crowding in of the waste material that may displace them from where they are.

Plastic waste disposal indeed is a herculean task every day since there is humongous quantum of waste. Recycling of plastic waste and replacing plastic packaging materials must be a gradual process since the ban will take off such industries producing such packaging plastic products and will render lakhs of workers jobless. Awareness programmes must be conducted and cloth bags must be used by business. The elephant must walk and there should be no death of ants.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'There is need to tackle undernourishment' that was published in Newsband

There is need to tackle undernourishment

As per the UN’s State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report for 2017, there is need to tackle undernourishment. People facing hunger and poor nutrition have always been high. Deprivation is even greater among people who live in regions affected by conflict and the extreme effects of climate change. The impact of the economic downturn, many violent conflicts, fall in commodity export revenues, and failure of agriculture owing to drought and floods are all making food scarce and expensive for many.

All the countries are trying to meet the Sustainable Development Goal on ending hunger and achieving food security and improved nutrition. India’s efforts at improving access to food and good nutrition are led by the National Food Security Act. There are special nutritional schemes for women and children operated through the States. Yet there are people who suffer from undernourishment, going by the UN’s assessment. All this shows that the Centre and State governments are woefully short on the commitment to end undernourishment.

Planning welfare policies is crucial for tackling problem of undernourishment. The effective use of PDS would drastically improve in tackling food problem. Through this scheme, poor in rural areas can be given nutritious and healthy food. It is basically a question of priorities. National aggrandizement abroad, and domestic political calculus (driven by cronyism and communalism) leave no room for issues like primary health and nutrition.

Even though there is food security act to assure minimum food and government incessantly trying to put off undernourishment countrywide, the problem still have its existence in a worrying proportion. Another major lacuna is that people like junk food more and shun with healthy food like egg, vegetables, milk in the needed quantity which causes not only anemic but also deadly diseases like cancer. Hence both the government and the people ought to be active in eliminating undernourishment with healthy food and health concern.

The Ernakulam district panchayat has launched a programme to identify nutritional deficiency in children based on scientific evidence and adopt corrective measures based on it. This has been done with the help of the software “Jathak”. The programme was formulated after the officials of the Integrated Child Development Service noticed serious weight loss among children who were born with normal weight while examining the growth chart during their visits to anganawadis. Use of ayurvedic, homoeopathic and naturopathic treatment techniques among some children in anganwadis over three months has helped in improving the health of around 300 children, aged between 0 and five years. This result has prompted them to propose extension of this facility for all children in the district. Students from four private ayurveda, naturopathy and homoeopathy colleges of the district were involved in this exercise

It is clear that India has a lot to do to tackle nutrition challenges — 26 million children suffer from wasting (a low weight-for-height ratio), more than in any other country. Yet, the country has the second highest number of obese children in the world — 15.3 million in China and 14.4 million in India. While tackling undernutrition through assurance of adequate nutrition (usually interpreted as dietary calories), we need to ensure that it is also about appropriate nutrition (the right balance of nutrients). Our policy response has to move from “food security” to “nutrition security”.

India must step up its efforts to fight overweight and obesity just as it has been doing with wasting and stunting.

Dinesh Kamath's news 'Shraddha Kapoor to play Saina Nehwal'

Shraddha Kapoor to play Saina Nehwal

Director Amole Gupte had announced his biopic on Saina Nehwal with Shraddha Kapoor playing the young national badminton champion. The actress had even started prepping for her role by taking badminton classes. Saina Nehwal (born 17 March 1990) is an Indian professional badminton singles player.Nehwal won gold at 2018 Commonwealth Games in women's singles after defeating P. V. Sindhu after which she became the first Indian to win 2 singles gold in commonwealth games. Nehwal, the former world no. 1 has won over twenty three international titles, which include ten Superseries titles. Although she reached the world's 2nd in the 2009, it was only in 2015 that she was able to attain the world no. 1 ranking, thereby becoming the only female player from India and overall the second Indian player – after Prakash Padukone – to achieve this feat. She has represented India three times in the Olympics, winning bronze medal in her second appearance.

Dinesh Kamath liked the movie ‘Godfather – The Legend Continues’

Godfather – The Legend Continues

Godfather – The Legend Continues is a Pakistani Urdu film directed by Hriday Shetty released across theaters in Pakistan on October 14, 2007. This film has a cast including both Pakistani and Indian actors. It showed Vinod Khanna for the first time on the Pakistani cinema screen. It was distributed nationwide by the Pakistani private channel ARY Digital. The film may have drawn inspiration from Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather. It was successful film upon its release in Pakistan.

A thriller focusing on the rise of a group of influential and powerful gangsters. Ali is a shepherd who has shouldered responsibility of fending for his family, including his parents Farid and Faatima, and his younger sister Nahid. One fateful day he ends up saving Abdullah Khan's (the underworld gangster) life. As a result, Abdullah's rival, Khalid eliminates Ali's family brutally. A repentant Abdullah adopts Ali and Nahid. Abdullah's wife, Salima Begum, welcomes Ali and Nahid whole-heartedly. But these youngsters are resented by Shaakir, Abdullah's son, who feels that Ali is getting more attention and love than him. Meanwhile, Ali soon realises that power is everything in this world and so joins Abdullah in his business. Under the love and care of Abdullah he grows to be a heroic but feared force. He may be ruthless in his dealings but always has great compassion. As Ali becomes the new face of Abdullah Khan's vast empire and a champion of the needy, Shaakir becomes more resentful. When Abdullah announces Ali as his heir, Shaakir becomes furious. The conflict between father and son results in Abdullah's death. As the shattered family comes to terms with their loss, an angry Ali warns Shaakir to leave the country. What follows next is a gripping and fast-paced thriller of emotions - love, honesty, loyalty, betrayal - with twists and turns until the final scenes.

The cast consists of Vinod Khanna, Meera, Mikaal Zulfiqar as Abdullah, Arbaaz Khan as Shakir Khan, Ajab Gul, Shafqat Cheema, Aslam Bhatti, Hrishitaa Bhatt, Maria Khan, Atiqa Odho, Preeti Jhangiani, Kim Sharma, Mehmood Akhtar, Amrita Arora as Guest and Nafisa Ali

Dinesh Kamath about movie ‘Ocean’s 8’

Ocean’s 8

Ocean's 8 (stylized onscreen as Ocean's Eight) is a 2018 American heist comedy film directed by Gary Ross and written by Ross and Olivia Milch. The film is a spin-off from Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's trilogy and features an ensemble cast, including Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Rihanna, Helena Bonham Carter, and Awkwafina. The film follows a group of women, led by Debbie Ocean, the estranged sister of Danny Ocean, who plan a highly sophisticated heist of the Met Gala in New York City.

The tide has turned and it’s a whole new “Ocean’s” when eight women led by Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock) attempt an impossible heist at New York City's annual Met Gala. Sandra Bullock stars as Debbie Ocean, the sister of Danny Ocean (played in the previous films by George Clooney). She’s spent the last few years in prison, plotting an elaborate robbery that will require seven - yes, seven - highly skilled thieves to pull off correctly. She reunites with her old partner, Lou (Blanchett), and assembles a small army of jewelry experts, fashion designers, sleight of hand artists, computer hackers and single-mom highway robbers to infiltrate the exclusive publicity event and manipulate the egotistical superstar Daphne Kluger (Hathaway) into being their unwitting stooge. Like the other Ocean’s movies, Ocean’s 8 is stylish and appealing. No one’s life is in serious danger, and just before the heist begins, Debbie even goes out of her way to tell the rest of the team that prison isn’t nearly as bad as advertised.

The film has Sandra Bullock as Debbie Ocean, a professional thief and Danny Ocean's sister. She returns to her life of crime because it's "what she's good at" and to enact revenge on her ex-boyfriend Claude, who is the reason she went to jail. Cate Blanchett as Lou, Debbie’s partner in crime. Anne Hathaway as Daphne Kluger, an air-headed celebrity and the target of the heist. Mindy Kaling as Amita, a jewelry maker who is eager to move away from her domineering mother. Sarah Paulson as Tammy, a suburban mom and profiteer. She is reluctant to rejoin Debbie and Lou, but is swayed by the amount of money she will make. Awkwafina as Constance, a loudmouthed street hustler and pickpocket. Rihanna as Nine Ball, a technical genius whose real name is Leslie. Helena Bonham Carter as Rose Weil, a ditzy, disgraced fashion designer who is deeply in debt to the IRS. Richard Armitage as Claude Becker, an art dealer and Debbie’s ex-boyfriend who got her sent to prison. James Corden as John Frazier, the insurance fraud investigator who looks into the theft. He has a history with the Oceans, as he caught Debbie's father twice and Danny once. Additionally, Dakota Fanning appears as Penelope Stern, a celebrity who Kluger is jealous of, and Nathanya Alexander appears as Veronica, Nine Ball's younger sister. Elliott Gould and Shaobo Qin reprise their roles from the previous films as Reuben Tishkoff and "The Amazing" Yen, respectively. Matt Damon and Carl Reiner were also set to reprise their respective characters Linus Caldwell and Saul Bloom, but their scenes were cut. Marlo Thomas, Dana Ivey, Mary Louise Wilson and Elizabeth Ashley appear as elderly actresses who help the crew shift their stolen gems. Celebrities who cameo as themselves in the film include Anna Wintour, Zayn Malik, Katie Holmes, Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Kim Kardashian, Adriana Lima, Kylie Jenner, Alexander Wang, Nina Cuso, Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid, Lily Aldridge, Olivia Munn, Zac Posen, Hailey Baldwin, Derek Blasberg, Heidi Klum, and Lauren Santo Domingo.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'TN Govt disrespects Freedom of Press' that was published in Newsband

TN Govt disrespects Freedom of Press

The Tamil Nadu government’s attitude towards news media as far as the Puthiya Thalaimurai case is concerned is deplorable. It is a direct attack on press freedom. The Tamil Nadu government slapped a case against the Tamil news channel because of certain remarks made by a couple of the TV channel’s guests on current affairs. FIRs were filed against the two guests who said nothing that was inflammatory as well as the reporter and management of Puthiya Thalaimurai and that too before the roundtable discussion was aired.

It was obvious that the Tamil Nadu government was acting in a vindictive way. Earlier, the State government-owned distribution network, the Arasu Cable TV Corporation, the news channel was removed in some places from the Tamil cluster of channels.

The State government is using its domination of the distribution space to bring news coverage by TV channels in line. A couple of other news channels were disrupted as well. TN state administration stands discredited for violation of human rights. The bid to gag media which air dissenting views is undesirable.

The state government should not be in the cable TV business at all. It is bound to use this power and reach to promote the political interests of the party in power. One has observed since the time of Rajiv Gandhi that governments turn the screws on the media when they are floundering, are beginning to lose the plot. So the harsh response of the TN government in this case tells its own tale.

Is there no activity in the whole country that does not lend itself partisan political viewing? It is high time that the discerning educated public thinks of liberating at least some key activities from the proselytising influence of contaminated cauldron called over politicisation. Even some activities like who should be selected as candidates to contest appears to be more a political expediency question than a law and order question. The list can be extended ad nauseum.

The largest living democracy survives in spite of all these worm troubles. For a healthy democracy it has be people all the way but not the politicisation reverberating the voice of the vested interests through the political party machinery fed and fattened by the powerful lobbies and not the real citizenry.

Tamil Nadu Governments has been notorious for coming down heavily on News Media and Journalists, from the early periods of MGR and even before. Yet, one should observe that Tamil New media have always attempted to project many things "openly" and "boldly". This crass behavior of the Govt would also pass, adding still greater strength to the Media and investigative Journalism

We are governed by persons not even remotely connected with freedom struggle. Rt Hkn Sastri, while accepting the key to London had in his famous Guildhall Speech said the freedom is one that more you enjoy it, more will it grow. Now we are restricting freedom to a deplorable low.

Dinesh Kamath's news 'Senior Actor Pradip Velankar wins Life Time Achievement Award' that was published in Newsband

Senior Actor Pradip Velankar wins Life Time Achievement Award

At a function held at Vishnudas Bhave Auditorium at Vashi

By Dinesh Kamath

NAVI MUMBAI: Since last 47 years actor Pradip Velankar has been excelling in the fields of movies, TV serials, dramas etc just by virtue of his terrific acting talents. He was conferred upon Life Time Achievement Award by Ashokpushp Sanshta on 22 June 2018 in the event, Ashokpushp Award Ceremony, held at Vishnudas Bhave Auditorium at Vashi, Navi Mumbai.

This year the Life Time Achievement Award went to senior actor Pradip Velankar, Sangitratna Award to musician Pravin Kuvar, Vinodratna Award to Abhijit Chavan, Vidharbha ICON Award to Vashim district’s Nilesh Somani for social work and journalism, Kalaratna Award to actor Kiran Mane, Policedal Sevaratna Award to Senior police inspector Satish Gaikwad, Udhyogshri (industry) Award to Subhash Pawar and Shikshan (education) Sevaratna Award to Dr Anil Chingale.

Present during this occasion were famous sulekhankar Achyut Palav, Marathi Sahitya Mandal president Subhash Kulkarni, director Raju Parsekar, producer Shridhar Chari, Amol Kagane, actress Pritam Kagane, actor Rohit Sawant, Anjali Sharma, Dr Sanjiv Kumar, Chef Gauri Gujar and other important persons.  

The organizer of this event Umesh Choudhary said “Since last eight years Ashokpushp Prakashan Sanstha have been giving every year awards to those who excel in the fields of entertainment, social work, politics, industries, journalism etc. These awards are token of appreciation to them for their excellent services in the field they belong to.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'There can be no winner in the global trade war' that was published in Newsband

There can be no winner in the global trade war

Major economies continue to impose tariffs on each other. India is the latest to join the tit-for-tat battle. The first shot in the spiraling trade war was fired by the U.S. in March by US President Trump. U.S. tariffs will now affect Chinese goods. The European Union also joined the trade war this month.

While the India-U.S. tariff tiff could escalate, the amounts being discussed right now are minuscule compared to those under threat in the unfolding U.S.-China situation or even the spat between the U.S. and the EU. For long, global financial markets largely ignored risks of an all-out trade war among major economies, but things are changing quickly.

The fact is that all sides engaged in a trade war eventually lose. The longer it goes on, the greater the cost as growth slows down under the increasing burden of taxes. The only gainers in a trade war will be special interest groups, such as the U.S. steel industry, which also happens to be a major vote bank for Trump. Trump’s rejection of the G-7 communique that endorsed a “rules-based trading system” for the world suggests there may be no offer of truce from his side any time soon.

But one can’t blame US always. When India imposes 100% tariff on American motorcycles it is not global trade war, but when America imposes 10% tariff on Indian steel it suddenly becomes a global trade war. Same with China and America, Japan and America etc. Is it right logic?

Contradictions of capitalism are out in open through the trade wars.  The mutual animosity of nations may lead to mutual destruction and economic collapse besides political rumbling. It is also bad from consumers’ point of view. This tariff war is going to affect the common people of the whole world. It should be an eye opener for the protagonists of globalisation. Is US harbouring hegemonistic dreams?

The trade war started by President Trump is expanding rapidly and endangering the world economy by hitting at the tenets of free trade. China, EU, Canada are retaliating in equal measures and now India has also increased the tariffs on a number of imported goods to offset the US tariffs directed at India. The trade wars would result in reduction in global production and cause unemployment and also aggravate the balance of trade problems. The consumers would be worse off as they will have to pay more. Some US manufacturers may gain but a large part of US population stands to lose from these regressive measures.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Hats off to PM Modi for making Yoga international' that was published in Newsband

Hats off to PM Modi for making Yoga international

Prime Minister Narendra Modi says that the way to lead a contented life is yoga. June 21 is being observed as International Yoga Day every year, after the United Nations accepted India's proposal in 2014. This year, the national event was held at Dehradun’s Forest Research Institute with the participation of PM.

Events were organised across the country, including Rajpath, where as many as 15,000 people took part in a mass yoga session headed by Union Minister Harsh Vardhan. Rajasthan created a world record bringing over a lakh of people together at a yoga session to mark the International Day of Yoga. Highly praiseworthy! Yoga has been introduced in a mammoth scale. Genuinely, needs such representation to reach the masses. Undoubtedly, the laudable efforts of PM Modi. Now, yoga is being practiced by everyone - not exclusively done by the elite and the rich!

Yoga is very relaxing and soul-stirring, most importantly wards-off many ailments. In recent times, Baba Ramdev has played a key role in bringing about the Yoga to the masses.

India has practiced Yoga from ancient time. This is a good move to spread the ancient Indian culture to the all of India and then the World where Yoga is already very popular. Best contribution of Modi to the world is spreading Yoga and making it popular among health conscious people. Kudos to him for this achievement. There are so many enthusiasts from every part of the world. Yoga was in vogue even earlier but the credit to make it an international event belongs to our Prime Minister. At a time when we in India are suffering from severe lack of self confidence and pride in our own legacy, for someone to take it as a major issue and enthuse people to adopt it as a daily routine is commendable. As Modi had once said, doing yoga daily is an investment in a scheme for our own health.

It is an understatement to say that this will curtail considerable investment in health schemes. The advantages are immense if the practice is started early in life. This requires instruction at the school level. No one need shy away as it being religious. Patanjali's aphorisms on yoga has no connection with any religion. It is a most systematic and scientific approach to physical, mental and spiritual health in a gradation of 8 stages. This holistic approach as it is meant to be leads to complete human development.

People practicing yoga in countries having a half-decent civic infrastructure will be benefiting more than us, the original inventors.  Yoga does not belong to any religion. It is a way of maintaining health and purifying the mind. We should be grateful that it was in India that this began. Now it is accepted by the world community as a whole. It would have been good if the opposition also joined in encouraging yoga. But now, we should only pray that they at least they will continue this tradition.

Some people find Walking as more beneficial to humans than yoga, which has nasty side effects. A pleasant stroll regularly rather than overkill oneself with the much over-rated yoga is preferred by some.