Dinesh Kamath completes two years as Editor of Daily Newspaper 'Newsband'

Hi Friends, 

Today is 30th September 2013. It's an important date for me because today I've completed two years as Editor of Newsband. I owe this success of mine to our Publisher Kailash Gindodia who gave me all the freedom and encouragement I needed, my Staff Members who cooperated with me excellently, my Family members who stood by me throughout, my beloved Readers who cared to go through the newspaper and appreciate it in a big way and other well wishers of mine. I thank all the above people and I hope that they will support me even in the future. Thanks a lot! Bye! 

Dinesh Kamath considers Nitin Kamat (Natkhat Bee) as a better ‘Food Columnist’ than Behram Contractor (Busy Bee)

Nitin Kamat of Newsband is a better ‘Food Columnist’ than Behram Contractor (Busy Bee)

By Dinesh Kamath

(Above) Nitin Kamat (Pseudonym: Natkhat Bee)

(Above) Behram Contractor (Pseudonym: Busy Bee)

As all of you know, Behram Contractor (Busy Bee) used to be a Food Columnist and during his tenure as a journalist in Mid Day newspaper he had written plenty of columns based on ‘Food’. He had no match in this department. He used to write under the title ‘Eating Out’.

Behram Contractor (Busy Bee) was undoubtedly the best Food Columnist until Nitin Kamat also began to write Food Columns for daily newspaper of Navi Mumbai ‘Newsband’. Nitin Kamat has been writing every week ‘Food Column’ called ‘Saturday Round and Around’ for Newsband since last many months. I find Nitin Kamat so good a writer on ‘Food’ that I strongly believe that he has beaten Behram Contractor (Busy Bee) in the matter of writing Food Columns. Nitin Kamat is undoubtedly a better ‘Food Columnist’ than Behram Contractor (Busy Bee).

If all of you will just go through the Food Columns written by Nitin Kamat who writes under the pseudonym ‘Natkhat Bee” every Sunday in Daily Newspaper of Navi Mumbai ‘Newsband’ you’ll agree with me that he is a better Food Columnist than Behram Contractor (Busy Bee).

Dinesh Kamath's news item 'NMMC Football for Peace 2013' that was published in Newsband

NMMC Football for Peace 2013

By Dinesh Kamath

Mr. Sagar Naik, Mayor of Navi Mumbai, releasing the logo of the NMMC Football for Peace 2013 with Mr. Sutar and Dr. Jayakar Ellis

NAVI MUMBAI: For the first time in the history of Navi Mumbai, Shri Sagar Naik, Mayor of Navi Mumbai will kick off the soccer tournament “NMMC - FOOTBALL FOR PEACE 2013” which is being organized for the schools of Navi Mumbai at Yashwantrao Chavan grounds, Nerul Navi Mumbai.

The above event on 1st & 2nd October 2013 is organized by HEART FOUNDATION in association with NMMC and HEART TV (www.hearttvlive.com), which will be the Web Media Partner that will telecast live the entire tournament on the web. The tournament will be held in a 30 minute format and there will be a play off round followed by quarter final, semi final and finals. The Joshua Generation Football Club would be overseeing the tournament.

The Program would start of with the Inauguration Ceremony and the tournament on 1st & 2nd October followed by Musical Program for World Peace and Shri Sandeep Naik, MLA as consented to be the Chief Guest for the Prize Distribution Ceremony.

Mr. Sagar Naik, Mayor, said, “It is such a noble idea of having a football tournament for Peace during a time where the whole world is in turmoil. I am glad that Dr. Jayakar Ellis is organizing such programs for the children and youth of the City. I would like to see this sport being spread in every node of Navi Mumbai.”

“The meaning of HEART is: Helping to Educate, Associate, Rehabilitate & Teach. HEART Foundation (HF) has always made its goal and mission to celebrate the free gift of life given by God with children and youth of the city and from time to time we have brought in events for sports, music & laughter to join HEARTS together in unity through love joy & peace. Our greatest focus is to guide the youth in the right Direction, Inspire them, give them all Services required, Help them in their walk of life and finally make them Able citizens of India,” said Dr. Jayakar Ellis, founder, HEART Foundation and organizer of the tournament.

He added, “We hope to have an exhibition match between the NMMC Corporators and the Press.”

“We would have around 32 schools participating in this unique program and will enable us to show the Nation that Navi Mumbai is one of the few Cities which is serious in encouraging the children to GROW TOGETHER FOR A BETTER TOMORROW,” he concluded.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'ILO and domestic workers' that was published in Newsband

ILO and domestic workers

The International Labour Organization (ILO) legally recognises domestic work as economically productive activity. The ILO promotes the freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining between domestic workers and their employers, and the effective abolition of child labour in this sector.

More than 80 per cent of domestic workers are women and migrant groups. The Asia-Pacific region has the maximum prevalence of domestic labour, about 41 per cent. But it is the weakest in terms of legal protection.

In India, which has eight per cent of the world’s domestic workers, the demand for domestic workers is said to be on the increase given the changing profile of the Indian family, the ageing process and urbanisation.

 ILO convention will be an important step in improving the lot of the millions employed in this sector.

As many people in India are below poverty line, they are prepared to do what ever work they get and they don’t bother about what are the additional benefits they are getting since they are only worried about whether they will get food for that day or not.

In the developing and under developed countries, due to the state of poverty and huge competition for survival there is a supply exceeding demand scenario. Millions of children around the world, mainly girls, are in paid or unpaid domestic work in households other than their own. Of these children, around two thirds are estimated to be in unacceptable situations, either because they are below the legal minimum working age or are working under hazardous conditions or in circumstances that are tantamount to slavery. These children carry out tasks such as cleaning, ironing, cooking, gardening, collecting water, looking after other children and caring for the elderly. Many of them have no or insufficient access to education.

Children should not be working at an age below the general minimum age for employment. Domestic workers are at disproportionate risk of human rights violations by their employers, or the employer’s family members and friends. These may include withheld wages, forced confinement, excessively long working days, no time off, verbal, physical

and sexual abuse. Conditions can constitute forced labour or trafficking.

Domestic workers are entitled to minimum wage, limited working hours, weekly days off, written contracts and decent living conditions. They should be ensured effective protection against all forms of abuse, harassment and violence.

In 2011, in a landmark development, the ILO’s International Labour Conference adopted Convention No. 189 and Recommendation No. 201 concerning decent work for domestic workers. The adoption of these instruments is a historic step towards ensuring that all domestic workers enjoy the same fair terms of employment and decent working conditions as other workers and are equally entitled to respect of their rights and dignity. These standards contain specific provisions requiring ratifying States to protect children for example from child labour in domestic work, while ensuring that young workers who can legally work are provided with decent work conditions and do so without compromising their education.

Thus ILO is doing a magnificent job in the direction of providing justice to the domestic workers all over the world. 

Dinesh Kamath’s column on ‘New movie-releases in Navi Mumbai’ (Warning, Elysium, Prisoners, Kumari Gangubai Non-Matric, Prague, Gambit, Raqt – Ek Rishta, Super Model and Maazii) that was published in Newsband

New movie-releases in Navi Mumbai

By Dinesh Kamath

Warning

Warning is a 2013 Hindi Thriller 3D film directed by Gurmmeet Singh and produced by Anubhav Sinha and Jitendra Jain. The film features Santosh Barmola, Suzana Rodrigues and Manjari Fadnis as main characters. The other actors are Varun Sharma, Jitin Gulati, Sumit Suri, Madhurima Tuli and James (Nagar Baul).

The movie follows the story of a group of friends who meet for a reunion aboard a luxury yacht. It talks about seven friends, neck deep in water, oblivious of their geographical coordinates, unknown miles away from land with no way to get back on to the yacht. Old conflicts resound and new ones emerge while a new predator comes to kill. This one eats flesh.

Thus Warning is a 3D underwater film about seven friends stuck in a life- threatening crisis. The lucky ones will die first and the rest will go through the worst nightmares of their lives. It is a reunion of seven friends. It is a joy ride on a luxury yacht through the middle of a beautiful ocean. It is time to remember the good old times. It is time to catch up on the lost five years. It is time to come face to face with unrequited love. It is Sara’s first birthday. It is time for champagne. It is time for a swim. But it is also time for a disaster to strike.

Music Directors of this film are Meet Bros Anjan Ankit, Sharib Sabri and Toshi Sabri.

Elysium

Elysium is a 2013 American science fiction action-thriller film written, co-produced and directed by Neill Blomkamp and starring Matt Damon and Jodie Foster.

The film takes place on both a ravaged Earth and a luxurious space habitat called Elysium. It explores political and sociological themes such as immigration, overpopulation, transhumanism, health care, and class issues.

Elysium actually shares many of the main themes of class, xenophobia, greed and totalitarianism, but this time round it’s far more mainstream in it's conception. It is played out in a dystopian future, to say the world is a polluted mess is an understatement of colossal proportions, so naturally the rich have left it. The privileged have moved on to a space station called, you guessed it, Elysium. Naturally this station is nothing short of an utopia of living ease, many stunning gardens, people dressed in Armani for lunch and speak eloquent French while doing so. This all happens while those less fortunate below suffer a barbaric life of squalor.

Matt Damon plays Max the protagonist a blue-collar ex-criminal trying to walk the straight and narrow in the world below, fighting in vain against the totalitarian system. There are some comical times in how he talks to his mechanical superiors though. Then he gets a “Full dose” of radiation in an accident at his menial day job and thus has the required incentive to find a way to get up top for treatment. Those on the station above have a medical table device that will heal you from anything.

Prisoners

Prisoners is a 2013 American crime thriller film directed by Denis Villeneuve, from a screenplay written by Aaron Guzikowski, and executive produced by Mark Wahlberg. The film stars Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Terrence Howard, and Paul Dano.

The film stars Hugh Jackman as Keller Dover, a brawny survivalist who is also a gentle-voiced suburban dad. On a rainy Thanksgiving afternoon, Keller brings his wife (Maria Bello) and kids over to the home of neighborhood friends (Terrence Howard and Viola Davis). The two families eat, drink, and joke around, and nothing too remarkable happens — until everyone realizes that Keller’s little daughter, Anna (Erin Gerasimovich), has left the house and disappeared, along with the other family’s daughter, Joy (Kyla Drew Simmons). A search turns up nothing, but later that night, the police find a pale, mostly mute young creep (Paul Dano) in smudged aviator frames and oily long hair hanging around in his skeevy RV camper — the same vehicle that the girls were trying to crawl up the ladder of that afternoon. The cops arrest this damaged-looking sad sack, interrogate him, and find no evidence. So they let him go. But Keller, after an encounter with the suspect outside the police station, is convinced that he’s guilty. So he takes action. He kidnaps the creep, brings him to an abandoned apartment building, and beats him to a bloody pulp, over and over again. He threatens to kill the young man unless he confesses. But the suspect/victim says nothing.

If he is, in fact, innocent, then what Keller is doing is an unholy atrocity. But what if he’s guilty? Are Keller’s one-man torture-squad tactics justified then? And what if many people (along with the law) would declare that no, those tactics are still not justified? What should Keller do, given that every bone in his body is telling him that this is the only way he’ll ever see his daughter again? What if every bone in his body is right?

Kumari Gangubai Non-Matric

Viacom18 Motion Pictures in association with IRIS Productions and Vidyadhar Pathare present the latest upcoming Marathi Movie Kumari Gangubai Non-Matric starring Nirmiti Sawant. Other actors are Paddy Kamble, Nagesh Bhosale and Anand Ingle. Story, Screenplay, Dialogues, lyrics are by Rajesh Deshpande, Music by Shailendra Barve, Cinematography by Sanjay Jadhav, Choreography by Sujit Kumar and Rajesh Bidwe.

The film has Nirmiti Sawant as Gangubai and Paddy Kamble as Chu. It is a political Satire.

The famous comic duo of Gangubai and Chhu had the audience in splits and at the same time created awareness about social issues through television soap and a play. Now the audiences are in for a treat as they will get to watch the hilarious duo on the silver screen as well. The audience will get to see the jugalbandi between popular Marathi stars Nirmiti Sawant Vs Pandhariath Kamble and Nagesh Bhosale Vs Anand Ingale.

A decade ago the duo of Gangubai and Chhu had made their first appearance on the small screen. Gangubai solved the problems of common people in her own signature style and Chhu helped her out. Gangubai’s generous nature and her expertise in solving varied problems in the playful manner had made her quite popular among the audience. Now after gaining remarkable popularity in both the mediums the duo of Gangubai and Chu will make a grand entry on the silver screen. In the film, Gangubai will solve the social problems through politicians. To solve the problems of the common man Gangubai is going to stand for the elections. The film will depict many political and social issues and at the same time there will be hilarious situations by taking jibes on the system. The audience will get to see many such hilarious scenes in the film.

Prague

Prague is a 2013 Hindi romance film directed by Ashish R Shukla and produced by Rohit Khaitan. The film features Chandan Roy Sanyal, Elena Kazan, Arfi Lamba and Kumar Mayank as main characters.

The film has an interesting plot. It depicts a city with a history of heritage, myth and superstition, a passionate architect with strong but delusional ideas about love and life, a Czech gypsy girl searching for her identity and true love. Add to the drama of a mean friend you can’t do without and cannot trust either. The conflict of these complex characters is further heightened with illusions of someone who is there but at the same time not there - what you see is not true? or is the truth, what you not see? All of the above are thrown together in a very unique and unusual situation where you do not know what to believe and what to disbelieve.

Prague deals with the inner conflicts of Chandan, a passionate architect who comes to Prague for a project along with his friend Gulshan who he idolizes and wants to emulate but is also strangely scared of. In Prague Chandan meets a gypsy girl, Elena. This girl becomes the love of his life, his inspiration and also the pain of his soul because of his past from India refuses to leave him alone. Chandan’s experiences have made him mistrust his own shadow and his insecurities have made his life a living hell. His only ally in his darkest times is his friend Arfie but then…

Gambit

Gambit is a 2012 film directed by Michael Hoffman, starring Colin Firth, Cameron Diaz, Alan Rickman and Stanley Tucci. It is a remake of the 1966 film of the same name starring Shirley MacLaine and Michael Caine. This version is scripted by Joel and Ethan Coen.

The film has an interesting plot. British art curator Harry Deane decides to seek revenge on his abusive boss Lord Shabandar by conning him into buying a fake Monet ("Haystacks at Dusk"), but his plan requires the help of an unpredictable and eccentric Texas rodeo queen, PJ Puznowski.

The film has Colin Firth as Harry Deane, Cameron Diaz as PJ Puznowski, Alan Rickman as Lord Lionel Shabandar, Tom Courtenay as The Major, Stanley Tucci as Zaidenweber, Cloris Leachman as Grandma and Togo Igawa as Takagawa.

Let me be clearer. A British thief (Firth) discovers that no plan is infallible when he recruits a beautiful woman (Diaz) to help him steal a priceless statue from an impossibly wealthy widower (Alan Rickman). Despite the fact that his pretty accomplice bears an uncanny resemblance to his affluent target's late wife, things quickly spin out of control once the job gets under way.

Raqt – Ek Rishta

Raqt – Ek Rishta is a film which is produced by Ashish Mishra and Amit Mishra, directed by Adi Irani and Shiva Rindan with Music Director:  Dabboo Malik, story / writers: Ranjeev Verma, Adi Irani, Shiva Rindan and actors: Shweta Bhardwaj, Sheena Shahabadi, Gulshan Grover, Farida Jalal, Shakti Kapoor, Arjun Mahajan.

Revolving around Sonia (Sweta Bharadwaj) and Suhani (Sheena Shahabadi), the film is about the fatal obsession of an adopted daughter for her mother's affection. Sonia is a single mother who adopts her sister's daughter when her sister and brother-in-law died in an accident due to her carelessness.

Sonia, along with her maid Maria (Farida Jalal) pampers Suhani to not let her miss her parents. This has an opposite effect with Suhani developing an obsessive relationship with her. She will let nothing come between her and her mother. Unaware of her child's problem, Sonia became a career woman not much focusing on her personal life beyond Suhani. She became a successful heroine. One day, Suhani sees Sonia and a friend arguing. She kills him, and Sonia takes the blame and is jailed for seven years.

Sonia comes back and tries to make life easy for Suhani. She settles in a remote place, where psychiatrist Yuvaraj (Gulshan Grover) who likes Sonia discovers that Suhani has a major psychiatric problem. Suhani hates Yuvaraj's attention towards Sonia and feels she will be sent to a hostel, again away from her mother. And she sees Yuvaraj learning the truth about her from Maria.

Suhani kills Maria. Yuvaraj who loves Sonia wants to help her and Suhani and tries and make this look like a normal death. But can he really help her? Will Yuvraj be able to save himself and cure Suhani? Is there really a cure to this killer obsession?

Super Model

Super Model is a film directed by Navin Batra and produced by Ravi Ahlawat. The actors of the film are Veena Malik, Ashmit Patel, Jackie Shroff, Harsh Chhaya, Sana Oberoi, Vishakha Gupta, Archana Vadnerkar and Adi Irani. Music is by Dj Sheizwood. Editing is done by Jigar C. Bhuva. Super Model is a 2013 Indian romantic thriller.

Every girl harbors a secret desire to make it big in the glamorous world of showbiz and becoming a hot shot model is one of the obvious routes to fame and glory. However, many such aspirants tend to overlook the struggle, competition and politics associated with this challenging profession.

Super Model depicts the journey of aspiring models into the fashion industry. It is about the professional and personal struggle that middle class girls have to go through to finally achieve their moment of glory. The story revolves around five models who participate in a bikini calendar shoot contest in the Fiji Islands to fulfill their dream of becoming a super model. When they reach the islands, rival games start and all the models get trapped in a conspiracy which is set off by the murder of one of the contestants.

A wine baron (Harsh Chhaya) is scouting for Super Models to endorse and launch his new wine brand in the market. He recruits a photographer (Ashmit Patel) to organize a talent hunt in Fiji for the same. Amidst this backdrop, an upcoming model (Veena Malik) faces competition from other beauties for the endorsement deal until the contestants mysteriously start getting murdered one by one and the needle of blame seems to point towards her!

Maazii

Maazii is a suspense, thriller and action film directed by Jaideep Chopra and produced by Jaideep Chopra and Narendra Singh. Actors in the film are Sumeet Nijhawan, Mona Wasu, Manish Choudhary, Pankaj Tripathi, Mohd. Zeeshan Ayyub, Manav Kaushik, Mukesh Rishi, Zakir Hussain, Ashok Bhatia, Mohit Chouhan, Devender Chaudhary, Pooja Bisht and Saanvi Sharma. Story writers are Shirish Sharma and Sumeet Nijhawan. Background Music are by Faizan Hussain and Agnel Roman. Choreographer is Mansi Agarwal. Costume Designer is Kashmira Gaonkar. Singers are Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Mika, Rekha Bhardwaj, Shalmali Kholgade, Nikhil Paul George and Manjeera Ganguly. Lyricists are Swanand Kirkire and Arun Kumar. Editor is Rameshwar S Bhagat, Cinematography is by Surjodeep Ghosh and Action by R P Yadav.

It is an unconventional movie with a racy plot that is sure to keep the audience captivated till the end. Shot in the serene hills of Mussourie, the scenic valleys of Dehradun and the raw rustic terrain of Meerut. Like the locations, the characters, too, are diverse and each one is a strong pillar on whose shoulders' the movie rests.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'When will Indian middle class wake up?' that was published in Newsband

When will Indian middle class wake up?

Large sections of India’s political class live a life of ill-gotten wealth and undeserved privilege, whether they are in power or not. Recently, the Supreme Court did well to denounce the practice of appellate courts suspending the sentence of VIP convicts on grounds of their health. A person convicted in a case and sent to a prison is just a convict in the eyes of law irrespective of his clout in the society.

It is true that the law cannot deny a prisoner hospitalization if it is needed. The recommendation rests with an authorized doctor/panel of doctors. Such recommendations that are binding on the court cannot be condemned outright as deceitful. It is when corrupt doctor/panelists collude with the corrupt VIP that the law is hoodwinked; that every VIP gets the benefit, points to that sort of collusion between the said parties. It is a malady that cannot be remedied unless the character, conduct and morality of the participants of the deceit improve.

The system has been hijacked by these so called VVIPS. Ultimately it is a gross injustice to the citizens of the country who elect their representatives to serve them and not rule them. Despite enjoying unmatched power, perks, privileges and security no sustained pressure for results are raised on performance with this class of self-seekers. Moreover politics is emerging as a family fiefdom where crime and corruption go unchecked hand in glove. Unless younger dynamic leadership emerges with self before service as the policy the state of affairs is bound to continue unchecked.

Person who has been sentenced by the judicial system of country should

not be treated as VIP and shouldn’t be given VIP treatment. We are giving VIP treatment to many court convicts in our country. This situation will never improve till our respected judges of courts will take up this matter seriously. They should judge criminals on the basis their crime not on the basis of their so-called VIPness.

Equality remains only in the constitution and the statute books. In real life those who have power, position and money are the maharajas and those who do not have at least one of these will be a praja, who should obey the orders of the maharaja. Unfortunately, most of the prajas prefer to fall in line with the diktats of the powerful (forgetting that this is a democracy) and do not assert their rights. The bitter truth is that those who do not fall in line with the high command have to pay a price for it.

Indian democracy as one perceives is ‘to acquire power by any means so that public tax money can be spent at will, to gain booty in this process and to keep the nation poor and illiterate forever'. National interest is the least priority.

There is one set of laws for the rich and powerful and another for the rest of the population. This must be halted. There is a lot that needs to be done. And nothing will change until Indian middle class wake up to the calamity their children, grandchildren are facing, and come together to demand better governance, and build a better India for all.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Indians too are colour-conscious' that was published in Newsband

Indians too are colour-conscious

Nina Davuluri who is of Indian origin was crowned Miss America. The United States gave free vent to their prejudice on social media networks like Twitter. Some made offensive remarks about the colour of her skin.

But why blame the Americans only? Ms Davuluri could not have made it past the qualifying rounds of a beauty contest in India. The dark complexioned 24-year-old would not have stood a chance.

We should appreciate the judgement of the American jury to have given her the title, and hence full marks to America for that. Had she been in India, far from entering a beauty contest, it is more likely that Ms Davuluri would have grown up hearing mostly disparaging remarks about the colour of her skin. Here she would have become a person with low self-esteem and few friends. There was never a time when someone with Ms Davuluri’s skin tone won a beauty crown in India.

In the film industry, which also goes by the same beauty standard, the number of dark actors, female or male, can be counted on two hands with fingers to spare. The truth is that the Indian idea of beauty is not very different from the imagined ideal of ‘Ms America’ that those racist hate-tweeters in the U.S hold dear: white or nothing.

A black Indian is teased by being called "African" as a dismissive slur by other Indians who foolishly believe that dark is ugly. You can never imagine yourself waking up one day just to find a girl of black color and African descent to have won Miss India title. Many hypocritical Indians would feel betrayed pretending she doesn't represent India.

This obsession with color is deeply ingrained in our Indian blood. The whooping crores of business of cosmetic industry in our country speaks volumes about this. With all sanity of mind, let us appreciate Nina Davuluri for her talent and her sober reaction towards the racial viles. Let the triviality take the backstage in the interest of deserving talent and justful efforts.

Another thing is that if a beauty contest is the reason by which you judge the broadmindedness or multiculturalism of a society, clearly the basic definition of the concept comes under question. One also needs to give some thought to the reason why such contests are organized in the first place. If it is to present a woman as a role model for the masses, clearly we could have better ways to judge then selecting a girl in a fake setting by the so called fashion industry "leaders", who millions of teenage girls look up to.

Indians generally equate fairness to beauty and there is even a typical stereotyping of South Indians as dark skinned by those from the North. That makes one think of the proverb 'pot calling the kettle black'.

There is a case of an Indian man of dark complexion having travelled around the world. The strange thing is that he faced discrimination for skin colour only in India. We express outrage over another country's racist comments, conveniently forgetting our own deeply rooted obsession with skin color.

Dinesh Kamath's cartoons based on 'Alooramji' that was published in Newsband

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Passing a bill is not enough, implement it!' that was published in Newsband

Passing a bill is not enough, implement it!

Parliament has at last passed the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Bill. This time the focus is equally on rehabilitation of manual scavengers as on prohibition of the practice and punishment of the employers.

Manual scavenging will continue so long as there are men and women poor and helpless enough to take it up. Rehabilitation of those engaged in this dehumanising labour is necessary first and foremost,

At many places manual scavengers have to work in extremely unhygienic conditions that put their health at serious risk. Local and railway authorities have been employers of manual scavengers. In fact, the main violators of the law included government authorities.

The effort of the Government in passing the bill, in spite of considerable delay, is laudable. But merely passing the bill would not amount to any substantial results at the grass root level. Many factors, ranging from allocation of funds to enthusiasm of the administrators in implementing the intended benefits of the law play a vital role in the success of the cause of manual scavengers.

It is a serious crime wherein the proprietor indulges children and the needy into scavenging business. It has become a common trend for the poor and homeless since they don't find any work opportunities and ultimately are drawn into the waterloo of abuse and disregard.

The issue has to be met with immediate effect and this should include something pragmatic rather than passing amendments on paper at the parliament just to solicit votes for the upcoming election.

In real terms this law will have some meaning if only alternative technology is provided. Bringing laws just for the sake of satisfying Supreme Court is not right.  

Rehabilitation is the area that has not been sorted out. Only when a law is enacted and enforced there will be a solution. Even while passing Food Security Bill Sonia Gandhi did the same thing, putting cart before the horse - commitment before capability to deliver.

The question is why technological advancement can't replace this unhygienic practice? Today India is considered as an emerging power even in Space, then why government is not being able to stop such a thing like manual scavenging?

Those using protective gear and devices do not come under the definition of a “manual scavenger”. The current legislation sees protective gear and safety precautions for the workers as an alternative to mechanisation, because our government doesn't have infrastructural backing. In fact, employing people for Scavenging by providing Protective Gear is not wrong. But scavenging with naked hand is disgusting.

The government should show seriousness in addressing the issue in all its dimensions to completely eradicate the abominable practice.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'India badly needs a Brahmin as Ruler' that was published in Newsband

India badly needs a Brahmin as Ruler

A Brahmin is not because of his religion. A Brahmin is not because of the rites and rituals that he performs. A Brahmin is not because of the mantras he utters. A Brahmin is not because of the God he worships. A Brahmin is because of his most superior brain.

Brahmins are lucky to be born with superior brains. That is the reason why they are called Brahmins. Not all Brahmins are very brainy. There is a small number of people in the Brahmin community who are unlucky not to have inherited the superior brain. But they are few in number.

The same is the case with other castes in the sense that they consist of small number of people who are lucky to possess the kind of brain that Brahmins possess. But they are few in number.

India badly needs the service of the Brahmins at the highest level if our country has to match with most advanced countries of the world which are ruled by their best brains. Only a brainy Brahmin can help India survive in this competitive world of today. 

If any other person, other than Brahmin, is selected to occupy the top position in India, then there is a danger of our country getting destructively dominated over by other advanced countries which are ruled by their best brains.

It is only in India where wrong leadership and wrong laws have led to Brahmins being misunderstood by many non-Brahmins. In other countries, there never arose such a revolt against the best brains of those countries. Then how did such a thing happen in India? Was it the betrayal of the Brahmin by another Brahmin that led to this chaos and confusion? It could be that many non-Brahmins took undue advantage of this fact and created this kind of chaotic and confusing situation that prevails in our country.

But one thing is certain – India can survive in the world only if she is ruled by a Brahmin and none other than a Brahmin. That is an incontrovertible FACT! 

Dinesh Kamath’s column on ‘New movie-releases in Navi Mumbai’ (Investment, The Lunch Box (Dabba), 2 Guns, Phata Poster Nikhla Hero, Rush and The Family) that was published in Newsband

New movie-releases in Navi Mumbai

Investment

Investment (Marathi) is a 2013 Marathi realistic, socially relevant, hard-hitting film written and directed by Ratnakar Matkari and produced by Pratibha Matkari for Mahadwar Productions. The leading roles are played by Tushar Dalvi, Supriya Vinod, Sulbha Deshpande, Sanjay Mone, Sandeep Pathak, Bhagyashri Pane, Praharsh Naik, Soham Kolvankar and Milind Phatak who are prominent actors from the Indian Film Industry. The Director of Photography is Amol Gole, the sound design is handled by Shantanu Akerkar and Dinesh Uchil with Madhav Vijay providing the background score.

Investment tells us the story a typical ‘upwardly mobile’ couple, Aashish, an ambitious young man, about to change his job for joining an American firm and his wife, Prachi, who is encouraging and eager to move into a higher class of society. (This couple is indicative of the young people in urban areas thriving to achieve more, albeit at cost of social values). The couple has a twelve-year old son, Sohel, who is being brought up with much care and with a dream of raising a successful Politician of the Future, a field, which they believe, is promising due to its lucrative opportunities of growth, power and finance. Sohel is a rather spoilt and self-centered brat who believes and follows his father's motto of ‘always getting what he wants’. He sends a love note to his classmate Deepa Gangan who hails from a totally different social strata and her father informs Ashish and Prachi to keep their son at bay. Deepa is found missing and Sohel claims that he is unaware of her whereabouts. Deepa’s dead body is found by the police, the next day. From this point forward in the film the issues of morality of different characters comes to the fore with the resolution of the crime while testing and making a remark on the materialistic point of view with which today's generation is approaching moral values. The aftermath represents the slow but sure criminalization accompanied by the total lack of regret of the educated young middle-class, with subsequent disregard for moral values, and thus forms the terribly realistic and therefore shocking climax of the film.

The Lunch Box (Dabba)

The Lunch Box (Dabba) is a bollywood Hindi movie starring Irrfan Khan, Nimrat Kaur and Nawazuddin Siddiqui in their respective lead roles. The Lunch Box movie is directed by Ritesh Batra and produced by Anurag Kashyap, Guneet Monga and Arun Rangachari. The story of this drama genre movie is written by Ritesh Batra and the music is composed by Max Richter. The Lunch Box movie is jointly produced under the banners of ‘UTV Motion Pictures’, ‘Dharma Productions’, ‘DAR Motion Pictures’, ‘Sikhya Entertainment’, ‘NFDC’, ‘ROH Films’, ‘ASAP Films’, etc. The Sony Pictures Classics acquired the distribution rights of The Lunch Box movie in North America.

The Lunch Box (Dabba) is a very beautiful story of a relationship between a normal middle class accountant Irrfan Khan and a very young housewife Nimrat Kaur. The Lunch Box movie is based on a very unique love story of a two common people who never met before.

The Lunch Box movie was shown at the Cannes Film Festival where it was supported and appreciated by a large number of peoples plus this film won an award in one category also.

2 Guns

2 Guns (stylized as 2GUNS) is a 2013 American action comedy film directed by Icelandic director Baltasar Kormákur and starring Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg. The film is based on a graphic novel series of the same name.

2 Guns stars Denzel Washington as DEA Agent Bobby Trench and Mark Wahlberg as NCIS Agent Marcus Stigman, two undercover operatives who are unknowingly investigating each other.

Trench and Stigman are part of an elaborate scheme to heist $3 million from Mexican drug lord Papi Grecoa (Edward James Olmos), but end up with $43 million – inadvertently stealing stacks of cash belonging to a two-faced CIA bigwig (Bill Paxton) in cahoots with Papi Grecoa. The DEA and US Navy deny any knowledge of Trench and Stigman’s undercover activities and now the two fugitives are on the run, looking to strike a deal with the corrupt CIA in an effort to return the money and clear their name.

Phata Poster Nikhla Hero

Phata Poster Nikhla Hero (English: Poster Rips Open And Out Comes Hero) is a Bollywood action comedy film starring Shahid Kapoor and Ileana D'Cruz in lead roles. The film is produced by Ramesh Taurani of Tips Music Films and directed by Rajkumar Santoshi.

The film has Shahid Kapoor as Vishwas Rao, Ileana D'Cruz as Kajal, Darshan Jariwala, Saurabh Shukla, Sanjay Mishra, Padmini Kolhapure, Deepika Kamaiah and Nargis Fakhri (special appearance in an item song) and Salman Khan as himself in a special appearance

The film follows the story of Vishwas Rao, an aspiring actor mistaken as a super cop and lleana D'cruz as "Kajal" will be seen as his love interest.

Ileana D'cruz plays a self-proclaimed social worker in the movie. In one of the songs, Ileana is depicted as a Marathi mulgi in a kashti saree (a traditional Marathi style of saree). Padmini Kolhapure plays Shahid's mother in the film and she wants her son to be a police officer but her son wants to be an actor. It's a full fledged comedy film. In this film, Shahid has been shown as a big fan of film stars, particularly Salman, one of the most happening stars today.

Rush

Rush is a biographical action film directed by Ron Howard and written by Peter Morgan about the 1976 Formula One season and the rivalry between drivers James Hunt and Niki Lauda.

The film has an interesting plot. After a catastrophic crash at the 1976 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring that could have killed him, Formula One driver Niki Lauda (Daniel Brühl) returns to face his rival James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) in their pursuit of the 1976 World Championship at Fuji in Japan.

Formula One champion James Hunt smoked, drank and reportedly slept with 5,000 women. The legend has been printed. Rush, Ron Howard's gloriously fun biopic about the hotheaded rivalry between McLaren's English playboy and the austere, Ferrari-driving Austrian Niki Lauda, colours it in and has it enamelled.

The film narrates a rollicking tale of lunatics and dreamers. Of men aiming for excellence in an era when a death toll of two or three drivers per year was part of the sport.

Thus the film has Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl playing Hunt and Lauda, the oil-and-water opponents whose fierce competitiveness would come to a head in the extraordinary season of 1976. Hunt has a recklessness that can push him into pole position. Formulaic, disciplined Lauda is the more consistent driver and – despite Hunt's flashes of wit – the more interesting character. Brühl gives the young racer an aged sadness to go with the giant overbite that nature has planted on him. Lauda was alien to Hunt. It is the beginnings of a modern athlete. He didn't smoke or drink. He was careful with what he ate. He cared about the car and the race.

Hunt is shown as a carousing ladies man, but he's tough to love on his own. Morgan has him seducing nurses in A&E, lamping damned shabby journos at press conferences.

Thus Rush is shimmering with petrol fumes, drunk on lens flare, sunwashed and blanched, but it's a racing film that lets you forget the racing. There's plenty of glistening car parts, tons of 70s rock and so on. Rush offers a great human drama, two dangerously talented men pushing each other to risky victory. It is a real story honed down to aerodynamic sleekness. Rush is one of the fastest, most enjoyable rides you'll take this year.

The Family

The Family, also known as Malavita, is a 2013 English-language French crime comedy film co-written by Tonino Benacquista and directed by Luc Besson, starring Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Tommy Lee Jones. The film follows a mafia family under the witness protection program that want to change their lives. The film is based on the novel Malavita (Badfellas for 2010 English translation) by Tonino Benacquista.

De Niro plays an aging version of characters he created in Goodfellas and Casino. This time he is Giovanni Manzoni, an ex-Mafioso who decided to spill the beans on all his criminal connections. The FBI has put him and his family in a witness protection program and sent them to France. There they are ordered to lead a quiet life and not call attention to themselves. But they can’t quite leave their violent ways behind them. Giovanni, now known as Fred Blake, is not used to arguing politely with unaccommodating French plumbers and businessmen. The same is true of his wife Maggie (Michelle Pfeiffer), teenage daughter Belle (Dianna Agron) and son Warren (John D’Leo). This gang is like the Soprano family abroad, and the humor comes from their impatience at trying to behave like a meek brood of American tourists.

The best scene is the shopping expedition that ends with Maggie blowing up the store in response to the arrogance of the snooty French merchants. Belle and Warren prove to be just as deadly to their antagonists at the local lycee.

While the family is adjusting uneasily to their new digs in France, imprisoned gangsters back home are trying to locate the snitching family and wipe them out. So there’s a chase element added to the fish-out-of-water comedy.

The final gun battle between the family and their enemies is well executed; it seems to come from a different, far more conventional movie.

Dinesh Kamath, Editor of Newsband, offers prayers to Lord Ganpati's idol installed at Daily Newspaper Newsband office at Vashi

Dinesh Kamath, Editor of Newsband, is seen offering prayers to Lord Ganpati's idol installed at Daily Newspaper Newsband office at Vashi. The photograph was clicked by Ashok Dhamija, Photojournalist of Newsband. 

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Will India now choose the US or Russia as ally?' that was published in Newsband

Will India now choose the US or Russia as ally?

The once-upon-a-time ‘Big Two’, United States and Russia, have done a great job by reaching an agreement to do the inspection, removal and eventual destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons. With Syria having formally acceded to the Chemical Weapons Convention, the inspection will be supervised by the treaty’s watchdog, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, as well as the U.N.

This move to eliminate weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is bound to prevent further escalation of violence and also weapons inspection will necessitate a cease-fire agreement between the government and the rebels in many parts of the country, which can only help the case for political dialogue.

However, the power struggle between the U.S. and Russia on this issue will continue unabated. If Syria doesn’t keep its words, the West will not hesitate to go to war without domestic support and Moscow will insist on a tight draft that eschews the use of force against Assad’s regime.

Russia has sought to push the Syrian deal as a precursor to a “WMD-free Middle East”. This is the best decision taken by both countries. Credit should go to Russia as it showed its opposition against military strike and supported the idea of destroying the chemical weapons existing with Syria. Credit should also go to the US for coming up with the idea first.

But both countries should put still more pressure to allow investigation team to visit and inspect the weapon stocked sites to evaluate the safe process of how to destroy without harming nature. Also USA should not hesitate to strike if Syria fail to undergo investigation team inspection and disagree to destroy chemical weapons.

Diplomacy is showing promise of working. It will work because it is certainly the safest option towards protection of Israel, the ultimate goal of the West. Any punitive military strike by anyone in the concerned region cannot be for any good. What Syria, and for that matter, also Israel need is a political solution, at best via diplomacy.

This is only about the control of Chemical weapon which is in US interest. But US should also do something about mass killings by the Syrian military.  

Undoubtedly, a crisis which could have escalated into large scale destruction has been averted successfully. Instead of picking up winners and losers from this act, the world should concentrate on the future of Syria which is too far from any peaceful solution. The credit should go to the democracies of both Britain and the US where popular sentiments outweighed the governments' passion for establishing their "credibility" through punitive military strikes.

Since 1991, USA and Russia have been strong rivals. This is bound to create an embarrassing situation for India as to whom to support. An important decision needs to be arrived at while choosing between an old trusted friend or a power who is fit to be India’s brother.