Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Colleges exlusively for women?) that was published in Newsband

Colleges exclusively for women?
The University Grants Commission's 12th Plan document proposes a whopping 20 universities and 800 colleges be built and set aside exclusively for women. Why do we need these exclusive colleges for women? Will such a move enable women's education to take a giant leap? Will it motivate greater numbers of women to enroll in colleges and universities? Can women achieve excellence by going to exclusively women's education institution? Many people's answer to all these questions is 'No'. According to them to work out such a segregationist agenda in the 21st century is not appropriate. This is like imitating a fundamentalist state like Saudi Arabia which is devoted to single-sex colleges and universities. India is too advanced a nation to imitate a backward country like Saudi Arabia.
What is UGC worried about? Does it feel that in mixed colleges there exist issues like harassment of women or lack of gender sensitivity? In that case there are better ways of tackling these problems. Ensure safe campus environments, better security, training in gender sensitivity, sufficient toilets for women, etc. Educational institutions and workplaces should not be gender-segregated. Segregation will certainly not bridge the gender gap. It will prevent young people from learning to deal with the opposite gender. This is a very conservative policy.
It is surprising to see some people calling this UGC proposal a bold move. They say that it will bring about greater equity in higher education and will increase higher education opportunities for women. They cite the example of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan which has ensured greater gender parity in school education. But what about higher education? The number of women continuing with higher education is still very low. Most of the women prefer to pursue arts, science and commerce. Very few of them prefer to take up careers in law, medicine, engineering and management although these are the fields which can provide greater employment opportunities.
According to those people who support UGC's new policy, the emergence of women universities and colleges in states like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan and West Bengal will encourage more and more women in these regions to pursue higher education and thus come on par with men.
However, even if UGC comes up with exclusive colleges for women, it will be left to the women to decide whether they want to enroll themselves in co-educational or exclusive institution. Modern women will surely opt for the former.

Dinesh Kamath's column on 'Movie and TV World' (Movie: Agneepath) that was published in Newsband

Dinesh Kamath, as Editor of Newsband, brings out his 100th issue of daily newspaper Newsband

(Topmost picture) Editor of Newsband Dinesh Kamath
(Second Picture) Volume 5, Issue 127, of daily newspaper Newsband. This is the first issue of the newspaper that Dinesh Kamath brought out as an Editor.
(Last picture below) Volume 5, Issue 226, of daily newspaper Newsband. This is the 100th issue of the newspaper that Dinesh Kamath brought out as an Editor.

Hi,
30 September 2011 was a great day for me because on that day, as an Editor, I had brought out the first issue of daily newspaper Newsband. 28 January 2012 is also a great day for me because on this day, as an Editor, I brought out the 100th issue of daily newspaper Newsband. Thus I've succeeded in bringing out 100 issues of newspaper Newsband till now. I owe this success to publisher of Newsband Kailash Gindodia and my entire staff members who gave me excellent cooperation. I hope to continue performing in similar manner even in the future.
For your information, as an Acting Editor and later Editor, I brought out more than 300 issues of daily newspaper Newsband. I'm not boasting. I'm just stating the facts and figures supported by evidences. I owe my success to my beloved readers who care to read my works. I thank them from the depth of my heart. Bye!

Dinesh Kamath's column on Movie and TV World that was published in Newsband

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (How to decrease crime rate in city) that was published in Newsband

How to decrease crime rate in city
Crime rate in Navi Mumbai continues to increase. It is not that the Navi Mumbai policemen are doing a bad job. In fact, they are doing an excellent job. One can't blame them if more and more crimes are committed in the city in spite of the best efforts put in by these policemen. The crime rate increases because the population of the city is always rising. More and more people pour in from outside and settle in Navi Mumbai. Among these people who migrate to Navi Mumbai, all are not law-abiding ones. These immigrants include criminals too and they find Navi Mumbai a place which provides great opportunities for illegal elements. What the police department should do is keep a watch on the new immigrants who pour into Navi Mumbai practically every day. The policemen should be able to identify the criminals among them and should take them to task before they can commit any crime.
Navi Mumbai police are doing their best to prevent crime in the city. They have provided facilities like fix point nakabandi at prime junctions, constructed police shelters, employed beat marshals, started a control room mobile service, got the speed boats to patrol along the city's coast to prevent terror attack, started helplines for traffic violations, grievances of senior citizens, children and women, formed citizen facility centre for other police services, started a cyber crime cell and cyber training centre to facilitate the citizens to lodge complaints pertaining to cyber crimes, installed CCTV cameras at vital locations to keep a hawk eye on criminal activities, installed GIS and GPS system at the control room to enable the police to speedily detect crime and so on. What more can one expect from Navi Mumbai police authorities who have done the best of the limited resources and manpower that they got in hand?
Now it is the turn of State Government as well as Central Government to further strengthen the security system in Navi Mumbai. People of Navi Mumbai should stop criticizing the city policemen for the rise in crime rate since these policemen are doing whatever is possible within their limitations. Instead of blaming policemen, the Navi Mumbai public should pressurize the government into providing adequate facilities to our policemen so that they are able to eliminate totally or minimize considerably the number of crimes that takes place in the city. The public should also personally cooperate with the policemen and help them control the criminal activities in the city. When the government, policemen and law-abiding public join hands to drive away crime from the city, the criminals will be forced to think thousand times before committing any crime. Only then will the crime rate in the city decrease.

Dinesh Kamath compares Sonny Corleone with Michael Corleone; says that in the movie Godfather, Michael was a much tougher character than Sonny

The first picture is of Dinesh Kamath, Editor of Newsband, the writer of this piece.

The second picture is of Al Pacino as Michael Corleone in movie 'Godfather'.

The third picture is of James Caan as Sonny Corleone in movie 'Godfather'.

The last picture is of Marlon Brand as Vito Corleone in movie 'Godfather'.

Hi,

Today I'll talk about Michael Corleone and Sonny Corleone. I strongly feel that in the movie 'Godfather', Michael Corleone was a much tougher character than this elder brother Sonny Corleone who initially appeared to be much stronger than all his brothers.

Michael was not interested in family business and he had chosen to serve the country by joining the marines. Michael was an educated man and hence could think sanely. Sonny felt that Michael was betraying the family by not choosing to join the family business and he called him 'Stupid' for placing country above the family. But their father Vito Corleone had more faith in Michael's abilities and he never approved of Sonny's hot-tempered nature and his tendency to make hasty decisions. Vito turned out to be right when Sonny is badly gunned down by the enemies and then Michael changes his decision and enters into the family business and he proves to be the most successful Godfather. He manages to do what neither Vito nor Sonny could have done.

Michael would never use his fist. Sonny was very good at physical fight. He would get involved in physical brawls time and again. Michael could talk and reason out coolly and this Sonny could never do. All the families who were the rivals of Corleone family dreaded Sonny because of his powerful military brains and mass-killing abilities and they had thought that once Sonny ended, the Corleone family would cease to become the top mafia family in New York. But Michael proved them wrong after he took over the Godfather's position from Vito Corleone, who retired due to old age, and after Sonny was brutally gunned downed by the rival families. Michael coolly and one by one wipes off all the enemies of his family and sees to it that his family remains the topmost family till his natural death at a very old age. Thus Michael managed to prove that he was a much more powerful military brain than Sonny or even his father Vito Corleone. Bye!

Dinesh Kamath's comparison between Sonny Corleone and Michael Corleone; the same above subject, the text of which was lost but later recovered

Today I'll talk to you about Michael Corleone and Sonny Corleone who were most important characters of the movie Godfather. The two are supposed to be brothers. But both were opposite of each other.

I strongly feel that Michael was a much more powerful character than Sonny Corleone. That's the reason why Michael turns out to be a survivor while Sonny loses his life when his enemies brutally gun him down. Sonny's weak point was his temper while Michael's strong point was his absolute coolness. Sonny could never become a God-father although he did get the opportunity to play Acting God father twice. Michael becomes the God father after his father Vito Corleone decides to retire and his brother Sonny dies in an ambush.

Michael never wanted to join the family business and he had preferred to serve his country by joining the Marines. This attitude of Michael had provoked Sonny to a great extent and he called him 'Stupid'. Sonny had underestimated Michael's power when he was alive. But their father Vito had more confidence in Michael than in Sonny. Vito turned out to be right since Michael went on to become the most successful God father who kept his family on top position in New York for a long, long time.

The fact is even the powerful families who were rivals of Corleone family dreaded Sonny a lot because Sonny was a powerful character with terrific temper and a fantastic military brain. He had the ability to terrorize the other families when the situation demanded. So these rival families wanted to see the end of him since they thought that after his exit the Corleone family could never dominate over other families. These rival families do succeed in finishing Sonny brutally but they were shocked when Michael took over Corleone's family business and he proved to be much more dangerous than Sonny. The other families were taken by surprise since they too, like Sonny, had underestimated Michael's abilities. Michael was able to avenge all those enemies who had hurt the Corleone family and he kept his family leading over all the other rival families till his natural death at a very old age.

Michael never used his fist. Sonny was superb in fist fight. Michael could talk and reason coolly which Sonny could never do. Michael proved to be a man who had much more powerful military brain than Sonny. Michael would never make any move in a hurry the way Sonny would do. These are the reasons why Michael turned out to be a much tougher character than Sonny although at the early stages Michael's abilities were totally underestimated by all while everybody were overawed by Sonny's way of functioning. But ultimately all were shocked by the cool way in which Michael took care of his mighty empire after Sonny falls a prey to his own rashness and hot-temper.

Thus Michael Corleone turns out to be the ultimate winner after initially it was wrongly felt that it would be Sonny who would win finally.

From Dinesh Kamath's stock of photographs

Dinesh Kamath, current Editor of Newsband, with Dr Kanak Tiwari, professor of Dr Pillai College, Rasayani, former sub-editor of Newsband and current columnist of Newsband, during the second anniversary function of Newsband held at Vishnudas Bhave Auditorium at Vashi. Dinesh Kamath was the Sr. Sub-Editor of Newsband at that time.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (When will Palm Beach Road become a safe place?) that was published in Newsband

When will Palm Beach Road become a safe place?
It is become a habit with the authorities of Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) to make promises and then forget about them. NMMC was supposed to take all the measures to prevent accidents on Palm Beach Rad. It had promised to complete the works by the end of this month. It did start the work but the work is progressing at snail pace. It is clear that NMMC will fail to complete the work by the end of this month and thus fail to keep its promise. The traffic police department can do nothing but just wait patiently for NMMC to finish the work after taking its own sweet time.
The human tragedies that occur on this road is no longer mere statistics as both grieving families and enraged corporators cutting across party lines have given a mouthful to civic authorities for the inadequate measures. The civic body is increasingly being faulted for the gross delay in rising up to the occasion and following the measures submitted by the traffic department.
The traffic police had planned several measures relating to road safety on the last day of last year. These measures included putting up barricades at two or three points on the high-speed corridor where along with overspeeding, use of mobile phones while driving, drunk driving and use of helmets could be checked. Traffic police of Navi Mumbai did have brilliant ideas in the matter of road safety. But question was whether NMMC had the funds to implement these ideas? The estimated cost for the sundry works was pegged around Rs 50 lakh. Now this fund could be sanctioned by NMMC commissioner alone. The best thing is NMMC commissioner did approve the proposal and promised to see to it that the work would be tendered. He promised that once the tendering process was finished, the actual work would get completed in a month's time. But the work is not showing signs of getting completed before the deadline set by the municipal commissioner.
Now Palm Beach Road was a road which had reputation of being a road which is well engineered. It was given the title 'Queens Necklace'. But the recent spate of accidents that took place on this road has tarnished the reputation of Palm Beach Road. The engineering of the road had nothing to do with the accidents and deaths. But it was over speeding along with drunken and careless driving that was causing these road accidents.
What this road requires is not just the installation of street props. What it also needs is the deployment of enough traffic policemen at all the critical points along the road. Installation of enough street props accompanied by deployment of enough policemen and introduction of strict laws that will instill fear into careless drivers can do the trick as far as Palm Beach Road is concerned.

Dinesh Kamath's columns on Movie and TV World that were published in Newsband

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Respect everyone's democratic rights) that was published in Newsband

Respect everyone's democratic rightsIn a democratic set up, freedom of expression is absolutely necessary. Indian political establishment claims to be secular. But many a times our politicians don't behave as if they are secular. These politicians can tend to be communal. If they were secular they wouldn't have created controversy over Salman Rushdie's participation in the Jaipur literary festival. They wouldn't have let M F Husain to breathe his last in exile. They wouldn't have bundled Taslima Nasreen out of the state. By displaying such intolerance the Indian government has created an illiberal atmosphere in the country. Our politicians tend to create communal tensions unnecessarily to make political gains for themselves.
The politicians of UP have given a call to prevent Rushdie from attending the Jaipur festival because of a book he wrote a quarter of a century ago. These politicians have built a controversy around this issue. They have their eye on UP elections next month and hence they indulge in such gimmicks. The thing is Rushdie's previous visits to India had gone off peacefully. Then why raise hue and cry this time? This is perversion of secularism.
Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot too behaved irresponsibly. His job is actually to uphold law and order and not to create tense atmosphere. He acted irresponsibly by publicly airing his apprehensions about a possible law and order breakdown in case Rushdie attended the festival. His government leaned on the organizers of the festival to persuade Rushdie to call off his visit. Now, this is really disgusting.
Gehlot coolly ignores the more pressing issues of governance in his state and instead tries hard to make an issue of non-issue just to extract political capital on assembly-election eve. This is not the first time that political parties have raised the law and order bogey to make political gains. They have indulged in such kind of act in the past too. The cases of M F Husain and Taslima Nasreen are examples.
These acts of intolerance are not acceptable in a democratic set up like the one we have in our country. By touching upon this Salman Rushdie issue, Congress has made another attempt to create communal tensions even where there has been none. This is not a democratic way of behaving. This is not the way a genuinely secular person would have behaved.
It's high time political parties came out to strongly defend secularism and freedom of expression. This is the only way in which a democratic atmosphere like the one existing in America can be created in our country too. We need to care for the democratic rights of every individual. Only then can our country become advanced. Not before that.

Dinesh Kamath's column on Movie and TV World that was published in Newsband

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Public power) that was published in Newsband

Public power
The people of Sanpadagaon gave a demonstration of the might of public power. They proved that anything can be achieved if all the people become united and fight against the authorities. The question is not whether they were right or wrong in revolting against a government organization like the City and Industrial Development of Maharashtra (CIDCO). The thing that one should appreciate is their method proved to be a big success.
CIDCO had planned a demolition drive in Sanpadagaon. But scores of villagers gathered near sector-5 subway against the planning agency's action. The result was no demolition took place. Earlier, Sanpadagaon locals had barged into the CIDCO premises after a few of them got demolition notices from the planning agency.
These residents are of the opinion that they have been living at that place since 1970s. They question as to how CIDCO can demolish their residences when the government is in the process of regularizing structures before 2007? These residents are living under fear that the houses they have constructed by using their hard earned money will be destroyed by CIDCO. They don't trust CIDCO simply because it has fooled even the poor farmers by offering them peanuts in return of their land. The same land is being sold for lakhs today. This shows how CIDCO is badly treating the project affected persons (PAPs).
The villagers of Sanpada are also of the opinion that since Sanpada village comes under the jurisdiction of Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) and the civic body issues OC (Occupancy Certificate) and CC (Commencement Certificate) to concerned property owners, how can CIDCO interfere in the matter of illegal constructions and carry out a demolition drive?
The thing is CIDCO claims that they are conducting survey in various nodes to regularize the houses built illegally by PAPs. But CIDCO's CUC (Controller of Unauthorised Construction) team is demolishing such houses. That's strange. The question is are there two parties within CIDCO one which supports demolitions the other which opposes them?
One can't blame the CIDCO officials who carry out the demolition drives. They feel pressurized from two sides. First, their higher authorities order them to carry out the demolition drive. On the other hand, these officials are pressurized by local political activists in the area where they have to carry out the demolition drive and they are compelled to cancel the demolition drives.
Well, that's CIDCO's problem. But now Sanpadagaon residents should think about how exactly they will handle a situation in which CUC team might attempt to carry out the demolition drive with the help of heavy police bandobast. Will these villagers defy the police team too?

Dinesh Kamath's column on Movie and TV World that was published in Newsband

Dinesh Kamath's column on 'Movie and TV World' (Movie: Coriolanus) that was published in Newsband

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Excellent job by traffic department of Navi Mumbai) that was published in Newsband

Excellent job by traffic police department of Navi Mumbai
Maharashtra Road Safety Campaign 2012 that ends on January 15 was in accordance with the United Nations Decade of Road Safety 2011-2020 and focused on information networking to secure our lives. The objective was to increase people's participation in policing activities.
In Navi Mumbai, a large number of students were roped in to drive home the message. 'Ride Fast, Be The Past' was the slogan adopted by deputy RTO of Navi Mumbai and this did succeed in touching the chord. The stress was put on understanding of traffic rules and inculcating traffic sense amongst youngsters before they learn to drive any vehicle. The traffic police department rightly roped in the students for this campaign because they are the ones who indulge in rash driving most of the time. They are the ones who tend to break traffic rules. They are young bloods and hence are adventurous. They drive rashly or perform various kinds of stunts while driving just for fun or to impress the opposite sex. They little realize that by doing so they are putting not only their own lives but also the lives of pedestrians and other vehicle drivers in danger. Not only the traffic department, but also parents and teachers should teach these youngsters the hazards of over-speeding, breaking traffic signals and driving recklessly. Inculcating safe driving practices among these students is a must. Once this is done, the number of fatal accidents in the city will come down considerably.
The traffic police department of Navi Mumbai did a great job by arranging poster writing, slogan writing, photography, short film and skit competition, the theme of which was 'Anything and everything on road safety'. Big banners promoting the campaign were placed in college campuses along with posters. The campaign emphasized on road safety for bikers, especially the youth, since one-third of accidents involved two-wheel riders. Vehicles met with accidents were displayed to people. The citizens of Navi Mumbai were informed, educated and communicated with through SMSes, booklets and personal interactions.
In fact, Navi Mumbai's traffic police department should be lauded for playing a stellar role in decreasing the number of accidents cases in 2011 by taking extra precautionary measures and increasing vigilance in the city and organizing many awareness drives. They took measures like installing railings and high mast lights at sensitive places. This resulted in number of fatal accidents coming down considerably.
It's true that to prevent accidents totally the traffic police has to play an important role. But that's not enough. Even the cooperation of general public is absolutely necessary. People should make it a point to follow traffic rules, be careful while crossing roads and not indulge in rash driving. If people also cooperate, it will drive away more than half the headache of traffic police department.

Dinesh Kamath's column on Movie and TV World that was published in Newsband

Dinesh Kamath, Editor of Newsband, with Dr Kanak Tiwari

(From Right to Left) Dinesh Kamath, Editor of Newsband, with Dr Kanak Tiwari, Former Sub-Editor of Newsband and current columnist of Newsband, Professor of Pillai College, Rasayani, and an important member of Film Writers' Association. She recently was invited to an International Conference held at Dubai where she read out her thesis paper.

From Dinesh Kamath's stock of photographs

Dr Kanak Tiwari, Former Sub-Editor of Newsband and current columnist of Newsband, Professor of Pillai College, Rasayani, and an important member of Film Writers' Association. She recently was invited to an International Conference held at Dubai where she read out her thesis paper.

Dinesh Kamath, Editor of Newsband, with his staff

(From Left to Right) Prakash Koshy, Sub-Editor of Newsband, Dinesh Kamath, Editor of Newsband, Abhitash Singh, Former Reporter of Newsband and Current Reporter of Afternoon, and Jaspal Singh Naol, Reporter of Newsband.

Dinesh Kamath, Editor of Newsband, with his staff

(From Left to Right) Prakash Koshy, Sub-Editor of Newsband, Dinesh Kamath, Editor of Newsband and Abhitash Singh, Former Reporter of Newsband and Current Reporter of newspaper Afternoon.

Dinesh Kamath, Editor of Newsband, with his staff

(From Left to Right) Chandrashekhar Hendve, Reporter of Newsband, Prakash Koshy, Sub-Editor of Newsband, Dinesh Kamath, Editor of Newsband, Amit Kumar Srivastav, Reporter of Newsband, and Jaspal Singh Naol, Reporter of Newsband

Dinesh Kamath, Editor of Newsband, with his staff

(From Left to Right) Chandrashekhar Hendve, Reporter of Newsband, Prakash Koshy, Sub-Editor of Newsband, Dinesh Kamath, Editor of Newsband, Anil Sharma, Peon of Newsband (standing) and Amit Kumar Srivastav, Reporter of Newsband (sitting)

Dinesh Kamath, Editor of Newsband, with his staff

To the left is Prakash Koshy, Sub-Editor of Newsband, and to the right is Dinesh Kamath, Editor of Newsband

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Shelters for the homeless a great idea) that was published in Newsband

Shelters for the homeless a great idea
There are many homeless people living in Navi Mumbai. These people live on footpaths or pavements. They have little problems during daytime. But at night they face severe problems especially during rainy season and winter times. During winters, the cold is unbearable. The plight of these people becomes very pathetic. These people at least need night shelters.
Even the Supreme Court has realized the need of these people and has given direction to the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) to provide night shelters to them. The NMMC then asked City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) to allot plots so that it could construct night shelters and accommodate maximum, if not all, homeless people in these shelters.
This is indeed a great idea. But this idea requires quick implementation since delay in making this idea a reality will only cause untold miseries to those people who reside in the open.
If CIDCO allots the land, the NMMC will construct shelters with two separate sections for women and men. Under-aged boys below 14 will be allowed to stay in the women's section. As per rules, the NMMC has to supply these people with coats, mats, bedsheets, pillows and lockers.
There are already a few shelters being run by NGOs and kind charity organizations in the city. But there is a limit to which they can accommodate these homeless people. As per rules, a night shelter has to be constructed for every lakh population in a given city. Now Navi Mumbai has a population of around 12 lakhs and hence there is a need of 12 night shelters here.
It is strange that the NMMC has yet to construct the first night shelter. The NMMC needed the Supreme Court to direct it to construct such shelters. The question is why couldn't the NMMC authorities get this idea on their own? Why did they need to be told by the court? It was all the time very obvious that Navi Mumbai was badly in need of night shelters since there were so many homeless people residing on the footpaths and falling prey to diseases and accidents. Major cities like Mumbai, New Delhi and Chennai have been providing night shelters since independence. Then why Navi Mumbai is badly lagging behind in this matter? Why couldn't the NMMC take cue from these major cities and construct night shelters which were badly needed here. The NMMC woke up only when Supreme Court issued the orders.
The NMMC has big ideas like providing education to those needy children who occupy the shelter. The NMMC is working out a roadmap to develop night shelters close to railway stations, bus stands, hospitals and pilgrimage centers. But CIDCO too will have to cooperate and make lands available near such spots and that too urgently.
It is true that the NMMC has got this idea of constructing night shelters very late. But it is better late than never.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (NMMC should tackle Fortis issue at once) that was published in Newsband

NMMC should tackle Fortis issue at once
Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) had made an agreement with Hiranandani Hospital for providing 10% reservation at its super specialty facility after NMMC had offered its space in Vashi to run the private hospital. It was decided that patients referred from corporation's First Reference Unit (FRU) to Hiranandani would be provided medicines at concessional rates. The civic body had entered into an agreement with the hospital on the basis of terms and conditions that were agreed upon by the general body and standing committee. It was clearly decided that there would be 10% quota for NMMC patients at Vashi Hospital.
But Hiranandani later sold the hospital to Fortis, which has been alleged of defying norms of the agreement by denying benefits of the pact to civic patients. Also the patients referred to the hospital by the civic body do not get treatment as they should get. Now why is the hospital charging people referred by the civic hospitals? Why are these patients not given proper treatment? The hospital authorities say that they do provide free services to the patients but they charge for the consumables. The question is why should patients be made to pay for consumables too? Isn't this a breach in the terms of the contract?
Firstly, NMMC had leased out the land to Hiranandani hospital at rates lower than the market rate. The property department had worked out the rate at Rs 5.33 per sq feet and it was given at Rs 4.25 per square feet. How could NMMC do that? Who gave the department the authority to sell the land to the hospital at lower rate? Again, how could NMMC permit transfer of shares from Hiranandani to Fortis Hospital? How could its department encroach upon the powers of general body and the standing committee by granting transfer of shares? NMMC should form an enquiry committee to go into the roots of these scams and next take proper actions against those members of property department who played this mischief.
Now that Hiranandani has sold the hospital to Fortis, that doesn't mean that the contract NMMC had made with Hiranandani doesn't apply to Fortis. So what if NMMC had entered into an agreement with Hiranandani and not Fortis? Now that Fortis is the new owner of the hospital it is bound by the contract too and it has to obey the terms and conditions entered into while signing the contract. Fortis compulsorily has to provide free-of-cost treatment to the patients referred by the civic hospitals. If it fails to do this, NMMC should not hesitate to take necessary actions against Fortis for violating the terms and conditions of the contract. NMMC should tackle this issue at the earliest so that the poor patients don't have to suffer.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (NMMC should hurry up) that was published in Newsband

NMMC should hurry up

The works of constructing Bonkode flyover and a skywalk near it have not yet been completed. Why? These works were supposed to get completed before the new year commenced. But both flyover and skywalk are yet to be completed.
Traffic congestion is a regular feature at Bonkode. Traffic congestion is also a regular happening on Thane-Belapur road. These places badly and urgently require both flyover and skywalk. Yet NMMC is taking its own sweet time to complete the two projects.The main sufferers due to this delay are the residents of Bonkode. They have to cross the Thane-Belapur road to reach Khairane Industrial area, which is on the other side. In the process, they have to risk their life. Most of the accidents take place at this spot. NMMC had rightly decided to construct a skywalk across Thane-Belapur road to discourage pedestrians from crossing the road. Construction of skywalk can definitely prevent accidents. But the question is why is NMMC not realizing that skywalk is absolutely urgently needed here? Why don't they give this project the top priority? Why don't they leave aside all the other minor projects and pay total attention to this particular project? Had they done all these things, the skywalk would have been completed by now and many accidents could have been averted.
Even the work of constructing flyover at this region is not completed. The traffic congestion continues to take place on Thane-Belapur road. Yet NMMC is taking its own sweet time to complete this project. They are aware of the fact that both flyover and skywalk are urgent needs of the people of this region. But yet they go about with their work at a snail pace.
It is true that NMMC should be lauded for coming up with a noble idea of constructing the flyover and skywalk. But time is also important. It's not enough to just come up with a project. The work on the project should be completed in time also.
NMMC's idea of having lifts with a capacity for eight persons on either side of the skywalk is a great one. They have also made provisions for physically challenged persons who can use a ramp provided near the lifts. There is no doubt about the fact that NMMC deserves to be highly praised and greatly appreciated for coming up with such a magnificent project. But that doesn't give them the license to go about with the project at their own leisurely pace. They should realize the urgency and finish the work at the earliest. Sooner they finish these projects, more accidental deaths in this area they will have averted and more lives of the pedestrians they will have saved.
The thing is NMMC should consider the human angle behind the necessity to complete these projects at the earliest. So NMMC should be kind enough to hurry up with this matter and provide relief to those people who will benefit considerably from these projects.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Hawkers, residents and CIDCO) that was published in Newsband

Hawkers, residents and CIDCO
There are some residential areas in Navi Mumbai which are become hawkers' paradise. Here you will find roadside vendors at every nook and corner. These hawkers prove to be a pest for the residents. The residents do complain to the authorities who in turn just fail to take any action against these hawkers.
It is true that Navi Mumbai is the most well planned city. 'City and Industrial Development Corporation' (CIDCO) developed it. But just developing an ideal city is not enough. The city has to be maintained properly. This CIDCO has failed to do. It could not prevent some regions in the city from turning into hawkers' paradise. Here you find vendors and hawkers occupying almost all the footpaths. In such places, old people particularly find it difficult to walk on the road as the vehicles move fast and there is hardly any space with cars and two-wheelers parked on the road. It is the pedestrians particularly who feel harassed because of this illegal occupation since not even a single inch on footpath is left for people to walk. There is everyone on footpath from vegetable vendors, chicken and mutton sellers and fish sellers, and also those who sell clothes perfumes and stationery.
The chicken and mutton shops are operating in open and they stand on the nerves of many residents who are just fed up of them. These residents find such type of hawkers a total nuisance. These sellers of non-vegetarian stuffs simply throw away the waste all around and this attracts stray dogs. This leads to health hazards. Also there is danger of pedestrians getting bitten by these dogs.
CIDCO is aware of this mess created by chicken, meat and fish shops but till now it has not been able to provide relief to the residents. Why can't CIDCO construct a proper market place where all these illegal hawkers can be shifted for them to sell their stuffs and thus make them vacate the footpaths for the pedestrians to move freely? Inability of CIDCO to tackle these hawkers is encouraging these hawkers. CIDCO's inaction has instilled confidence in them and they continue pursuing their trades illegally at wrong places.
People of these areas should also cooperate. They should also organize themselves and firmly decide not to purchase anything from these hawkers. These hawkers then automatically will go away. They will no more rule the streets.
Many of these hawkers are those people whose lands were taken away by CIDCO at a throwaway price when the city was planned. CIDCO promised to give them alternative land but failed to keep the promise. Now these people are forced to earn their daily bread by selling their goods on footpaths. So here again CIDCO is to be blamed.
Now it is the duty of CIDCO to come up with a solution to this problem and thus do justice to both residents and hawkers. When will CIDCO do it?

Dinesh Kamath's columns on 'Movie and TV World' (Bipasha Basu) that were published in Newsband

Dinesh Kamath's sample of his play 'Genuine Love'

A small sample of the play I wrote:

Genuine Love

By Dinesh Kamath

(Amit’s home; Amit and Bina are together)

Amit: Bina, how much do you love me?

Bina: A lot, Amit.

Amit: I too love you that much.

Bina: We have been knowing and loving each other for five years.

Amit: Yes, Remember the first time when I met you?

Bina: Yes, very clearly. You saw me with Celina in college canteen and then we kept on staring at each other. In fact, it was mutual attraction at first sight. Celina introduced me to you and then our love affair began. Do you know that Celina actually had a crush for you? She always tells me that I stole you from her. Do you agree?

Amit: Celina was only my friend. But you wont believe that she loved me so much that one day she asked me to get married to her.

Bina: Is that true? Then didn’t you agree to marry her?

Amit: No! Because I loved you more than her.

Bina: Suppose you had not met me. Would you marry her?

Amit: Yes, Definitely. But I don’t find any other girl more attractive than you.

Bina: You are joking.

Amit: No, I’m serious!

Bina: Celina is a daughter of a rich businessman. Celina is a rich girl. So am I. I am a daughter of a prominent and rich Industrialist. Do you know there was one handsome boy called Raj who was madly in love with me. But I rejected him because he was a poor fellow. His dad was an ordinary clerk in a private office.

Amit: Bina, do you love me because I am rich?

Bina: I love you because you are handsome, nice and also rich. You are the son of a prominent barrister of this city. That’s what I like about you.

Amit: How about getting married?

Bina: (Excited) I was going to ask you just that.

Amit: I think we should both seek permissions from our respective parents before deciding to marry.

Bina: (Confidently) That’s no problem! My parents will surely agree to let me marry you. What about your parents, Amit?

Amit: My parents too won't have any objection.

Bina: Oh, Amit. I’ll go and talk to my parents about the marriage just now.

(The two kiss each other. Bina leaves)

(Celina makes an entry)

Amit: Hi, Celina!

Celina: Hi, Amit!

Amit: So Celina, what made you come here?

Celina: Do you mean to say that I shouldn’t have come here?

Amit: Celina, I didn’t mean that. You are always welcome here.

Celina: Amit, I should never have introduced you to Bina. It’s because of her that I lost you. I know that if you had not met Bina, I would become your life-partner.

Amit: That’s your bad luck, Celina. But I’m greatly thankful and grateful to you for having introduced me to such a beautiful and modern girl like Bina.

Celina: You mean that I am not beautiful and modern?

Amit: You too look good, Celina. You are modern too. But I prefer Bina to you.

Celina: Amit, I’m the daughter of a top businessman of this city Malhotra. I’m as rich as Bina. Then why did you prefer Bina to me?

Amit: Celina, that’s a very difficult question to answer. It is just that my heart says that I love Bina more than you and I obey my heart.

Celina: Amit, Bina had rejected one boy called Raj only because he had no money. You better believe me. Bina has fallen for your riches and not you.

Amit: Come on, Celina. There is a limit to being jealous. This is your jealousy speaking.

Celina: No Amit, I know Bina since a very long time. You have blindly fallen in love with her. I hope that one day you will recognize her and on that day, you will wish that you had made me and not her your life-partner. You mark my words!

Amit: Celina, that day will never come because I know that Bina is not that type of girl. She loves me and not my money.

Celina: Let’s see! Bye!

Amit: Bye!

(Celina leaves)

(Enter Sudhir Verma and Meena Verma, parents of Amit)

Sudhir: Hello, my son! I have a good news for you.

(If you want to read the entire play, approach Dinesh Kamath)

Dinesh Kamath, Editor of Newsband, manages to bring out the daily newspaper 'Newsband' regularly and continuously for one year

Hi,

Former Editor of Newsband K R Bhat had stopped attending office since the first week of January 2011. It was I, who was the Sub-Editor at that time, who then took over from Bhat and played the role of Acting Editor. On 30 September 2011, I became the Editor of Newsband officially. As an Acting Editor and later as an Editor, I've been able to bring out the daily newspaper regularly and continuously for one year. I feel this is a kind of achievement and I could achieve this feat only because of the excellent cooperation extended to me by my staff who included sub-editor Prakash Koshi, Reporters Amit Kumar Srivastav, Chandrashekhar Hendve, Umesh Parida, Pratibha Yadav, Indira Thakur, Vikram Gaikwad, Jaspal Singh Naol and Shilpa Suryavanshi, Photo-journalist Ashok Dhamija and DTP Operators Ajimon, Manoj Gole and Shanoj. The credits should also go to Marketing manager Divakar Gore and marketing executives Vijay Kamble and Rampreet Roy. I thank the peons, particularly Ram, Radhe and Namdev, for extending to me their helping hands whenever I needed. Anant Hadawale of Administration staff is another man who played useful role in helping me achieve this feat. There are some others too who contributed to my success. I thank my entire staff for making it possible for me to achieve this feat. I'm looking forward to obtaining similar cooperation from them even in the future. I feel grateful to even former Editor of Newsband K R Bhat for giving me the big break as journalist in weekly 'In New Bombay', which is now daily 'Newsband', and also for teaching me a lot of useful things relating to newspaper trade. I also thank Publisher Kailash Gindodia and 'In-charge of Newsband' Aakash Gindodia for giving me an opportunity to display my talent as a newspaper man. Lastly, I thank the most important people and they are my readers. I thank them because it is because of them that I could achieve this feat. If it was not for their appreciation and constructive criticism I could not have been the person I am today. I always say that my beloved fans made me who I am today and that's an absolute fact! I hope that they'll continue loving me and my works even in the future. I too, on my part, will continue to inform and entertain them through my works.  I also thank my family comprising of my mother, wife and daughter and also my late brother and his wife and daughter for all the cooperation and encouragement they gave me, I owe my success as a journalist to them too. Thanks a lot! Bye!

More photographs of Dinesh Kamath, Editor of Newsband, clicked by Amit Kumar Srivastav, Reporter of Newsband, on 6 January 2012