Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'India is learning a lot from US' that was published in Newsband

India is learning a lot from US

American President Barack Obama is optimistic about his country’s bilateral engagement with India. He admits that there is indeed steady economic and strategic convergence that has occurred between Washington and New Delhi.

He has dealt with two Indian Prime Ministers, first Manmohan Singh and now Narendra Modi, and hence he understands best Indo-US relations as it stands today.

It is clear that India and US are expanding trade and investment, regional and multilateral cooperation, counterterrorism coordination, military joint exercises, and most recently, policies to fight climate change.  What needs to be tackled are terrorist attacks in India, the paralysed civil nuclear agreement, and economic brawls.

What also concerns India is the U.S. administration having leverage over Pakistan in the form of $13 billion in military aid. So long as America does not stop military aid on such a large scale, Pakistan's defense leadership will not stop its covert and overt attacks on India through ISI and other terrorist gangs. India should call spade a spade and tell US to stop double talk but act on Pakistan.

Other issues that concern India are breaking out over intellectual property rights protection and compulsory licences in India, over visa restrictions in the U.S. and a host of trade disputes.

There is no denying the fact that Indo-US bilateral relationship has to reach its full potential. US is a Superpower with worldly interests and global responsibilities. Dealing with US gives India a chance to understand better geo-political realities and deepen and widen international relationships and friendships.

Just as US initiated dialogue with Modi even before Parliamentary elections, India should keep her eyes and ears wide open and initiate steps without antagonizing any party but gain advantage over the next prospective US President.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'France is India’s good friend' that was published in Newsband

France is India’s good friend

France President François Hollande wrapped up his three-day visit to India. France was India’s first strategic partner. Also France and India have close ties on counterterrorism. These have been given a boost by the agreement on intelligence-sharing and cooperation on investigations and judicial processes. Also France was the first to re-start nuclear talks with India, and among the first to push nuclear trade with India. France began to supply India aircraft (‘Toofani’, or Dassault Ouragan fighters) as early as in 1953, and has been a consistent supplier since. And over the years, the French space agency CNES and the Indian Space Research Organisation have collaborated closely.

The smartness of India lies in maintaining friendly relations with every possible supreme powers of the world. By collaborating and working closely with the developed nations India can soon become a epitome of prosperity, peace and progress. India has been depending on Russia of military supply, US for defense partnership, China for trade and France for strategic partnership.

More than a thousand French companies operate in India. A good number of Indian students study in France. Lot of Indian institutions have student exchange programs with the French universities.

France is very different from all other 'Western' nations in that its slogan of 'liberty, equality & fraternity' is reflected quite well in its bilateral relationships as well, especially with India. It has never taken extreme positions or used shrill tones in its dealings with India. On the other hand, it has truly been an equal & genuine partner. The development of the Viking engine for the French agency (though it was a European effort), in which India contributed men and material, also led to the successful Vikas engine for our PSLV & GSLV projects. In launch services too, ISRO and Ariane have had a long, fruitful and beneficial collaboration. That India felt confident to send Indian Navy's strategic GSAT-7 (Rukmini) satellite atop Ariane shows the level of trust between the two countries. Satellites such as Megha-Tropiques & SARAL speak further about the close cooperation. In the political front too, France has consistently supported India's membership in UNSC, NSG, WA, AG, MTCR etc.

Francois Hollande and Narendra Modi will enter into agreements on developing Pondicherry and Nagpur as smart cities with Indo-French cooperation and exchange of expertise in various fields. Hollande’s visit and all the signed agreements will further strengthen the already close relationship between France and India. But one should not forget that France has enormous economic problems and a high unemployment rate and hence France needs India as much as India needs France to work together and create harmony and peace for their people.

India wishes from France more than just strategic partnership. We wish for better trading partnership. Modi’s expected visit to Brussels for the EU summit in the next few weeks could clear the path for greater bilateral ties with France.

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Dinesh Kamath's Editorial '2016 will be a tough test for Amit Shah' that was published in Newsband

2016 will be a tough test for Amit Shah

Amit Shah is re-elected as president of the Bharatiya Janata Party for a full three-year term. He is well known as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s closest political aide, one who crafted the campaign in Uttar Pradesh to contribute 71 of the State’s total 80 seats and ensure the BJP’s success in getting a clear majority in the Lok Sabha. His image did suffer after the BJP’s reverses in the Delhi and Bihar Assembly elections. But still in Modi’s BJP, Shah is arguably the only claimant to the top post.

Shah’s power draws from his proximity to Modi. Modi plays the development-oriented patriarch and Shah brings up the majoritarian Hindutva mobilisation and agenda. Both Modi and Amit Shah have reached their present levels by the sweat of their brows, and their present status was not handed over to them on a platter due to any family legacy.

The perfect fit of Modi-Shah partnership was able to harvest record amount in the form of donations in 2014-15 - over twice the combined total declared by five other parties. Now that the Defence sector is being increasingly opened up for private players, the same Modi-Shah combine would expect India Inc to pour in much greater "donations" to the Hindutva election coffers. And, of course, our patriotic "Indian-made foreign investors" from Mauritius, Cayman Islands etc would also have to chip in -- to build up this grand Hindu Rashtra!

Amit Shah as unopposed elected President of BJP is clearly indicating that he has stronghold with the Party. His dynamism, dedication and sincere efforts has proved to be of immense use for PM Modi and his Council of Ministers of BJP-NDA government. Now the responsibilities of Amit Shah has been enlarged at State and Centre level to clear BJP position from past controversies - Growing Intolerance, Dadri lynch and Dalit death and selection of Film Institute Pune and others - which may be pointed out by politicians of opposition parties. It is expected that Amit Shah will try to handle these types of activities with positivism and make road for progress and development of Country with the support and cooperation of peoples belonging to various communities, races and castes of India.

Thus the year 2016 has begun on a positive note for Amit Shah through his election as Party President with an assured term of 3 years. In the process, Shah gets the prestigious responsibility of improving the party’s facade and set it ready for the next parliamentary elections. 2016 will also be an acid test for Shah when seven states will go for assembly elections. Fortunes of BJP and Shah have close links to the outcome in these seven states. Modi has already set the tone in Assam and it is for Shah to carve out a plan that will consolidate the party to a position wherefrom through comfort, command and strength, the party is able to exert what it wants and not like J & K where on a razor edge it is unable to wield influence over the regional party or Delhi and Bihar where the party faced a rout and eviction from scene. Shah knows his onions and respecting his experience and good history of the recent past, we wish him good luck.

Dinesh Kamath’s column ‘New movies released in Navi Mumbai’ (Saala Khadoos, Mastizaade, Asterix: The Mansions of The Gods and The Boy) that was published in Newsband

New movies released in Navi Mumbai

Saala Khadoos

Irudhi Suttru (English: Final Round), titled Saala Khadoos (English: The Snob) in Hindi, is an upcoming Indian Tamil-Hindi sports drama film written and directed by Sudha Kongara. Simultaneously shot in Tamil and Hindi, the film features R. Madhavan in the leading role as a boxing coach, with newcomer Ritika Singh as an aspiring boxer. Both versions are produced by S. Sashikanth for Y NOT Studios and UTV Motion Pictures, while C. V. Kumar's Thirukumaran Entertainment co-produces the Tamil version and Madhavan's Tricolour Films with Rajkumar Hirani present the Hindi version respectively. Featuring music composed by Santhosh Narayanan, the film has cinematography by Sivakumar Vijayan and editing by Sathish Suriya.

The film has an interesting story. Adi Tomar had a dream to win the boxing gold for India. Instead, he languished in a nightmare for a decade after his gloves were spiked during a match by his own coach, blinding him in the arena and handing the match to his undeserving opponent. Shattered by his loss, Adi turned to a life of cynical self-destruction. Loyal friends somehow bring him back to boxing as the coach of the low-rated Indian women's boxing team. Adi continues to dream - this time for a fiery young woman. Adi spots in her a champion. So begins a partnership between a man who loves his sport and a girl who loves her freedom. It is the beginning of a beautiful friendship and a journey towards an impossible dream. In fact, Adi Tomar is wronged by his own coach which leaves him as a disgruntled ex-boxer drowning himself in self pity and destruction. That’s when he sees a champion in a young woman as a boxer who loves her freedom. He decides to train her and along the way unearths a lot about himself and life.

The film has R. Madhavan as Prabhu Selvaraj (Tamil) / Adi Tomar (Hindi), Ritika Singh as Madhi, Mumtaz Sorcar as Lux, Nassar, Radha Ravi, Zakir Hussain, Kaali Venkat, Baljinder Kaur and Sanjana Mohan.

The music for Saala Khadoos is composed by Santhosh Narayanan while Swanand Kirkire has written the lyrics for the film. The film has     songs like "Saala Khadoos" sung by Vishal Dadlani, "Dil Ye Ladaku" by Monali Thakur,

"Jagaa Khunnas" by Vishal Dadlani and Vijaynarain, "Dhuaan Hai Dhuaan Zindagi" by Kalyani Nair and "Jhalli Patakha" by Sunidhi Chauhan.

Mastizaade

Mastizaade is a Bollywood sex comedy film, directed by Milap Zaveri and produced by Pritish Nandy and Rangita Nandy. The film stars Sunny Leone in a dual role alongside Tushar Kapoor and Vir Das in lead roles with Shaad Randhawa, Suresh Menon, and Vivek Vaswani in supporting roles while Ritesh Deshmukh will appear in a cameo.

The film has Sunny Leone as Lily Lele/Laila Lele, Tusshar Kapoor as Sunny Kele, Vir Das as Aditya Chothia, Suresh Menon, Shaad Randhawa as Deshpremee Singh, Asrani, Sushmita Mukherjee, Vivek Vaswani, Gizele Thakral as Titli Boobna, Vandita Shrivastava, Kurush Deboo, Souvik Ghosh, Ritesh Deshmukh (cameo) and Milap Zaveri (cameo).

The music for Mastizaade is composed by Meet Bros Anjjan, Amaal Mallik, and Anand Raj Anand. Sanjoy Chowdhury composed the background score for the film. The lyrics were written by Kumaar, Anand Raj Anand and Manoj Muntashir. The music rights have been acquired by T-Series. The movie has songs like "Rom Rom Romantic", "Hor Nach", "Dekhega Raja Trailer", "Mastizaade" and "Kamina Hai Dil".

The film has an interesting story. The film stars Sunny Leone in a dual role alongside Tushar Kapoor and Vir Das in lead roles with Shaad Randhawa, Suresh Menon and Vivek Vaswani in supporting roles while Ritesh Deshmukh appears in a cameo. This film is a sex comedy. Two goofy guys fall in love with two identical women who look alike but have very different personalities. The film has sexual innuendos, doltish jokes and too much of nakedness. It has dialogues like 'Sikka hila toh phir' and 'Tum bhi mera doodh pii sakte ho' which is not for those under 18. Thus the film has Sanjay Menon essaying the character of a gay (like always) with lead characters playing the roles of two sex addicts 'Sunnny Kele' and 'Aditya Chotia' and two sex bombs 'Lily Lele' and 'Laila Lele'.

Asterix: The Mansions of The Gods

Asterix: The Land of the Gods (French: Astérix - Le Domaine des Dieux), also titled Asterix and Obelix: Mansion of the Gods, is a 2014 French-Belgian 3D computer animated adventure family comedy film directed and written by Alexandre Astier. It is based on the comic book Asterix: The Mansions of the Gods, which was the seventeenth book in the comic book series Asterix by Goscinny and Uderzo. The film features the voices of Roger Carel, Guillaume Briat, Lionnel Astier, Serge Papagalli and Florence Foresti. The film sticks to the book's plot very closely however expands it. It was the first Asterix film animated in 3D.

The film has an interesting plot where In order to wipe out the Gaulish village by any means necessary, Caesar plans to absorb the villagers into Roman culture by having an estate built next to the village to start a new Roman colony.

The Boy

The Boy (previously known as The Inhabitant) is a 2016 American horror film directed by William Brent Bell and written by Stacey Menear. The film stars Lauren Cohan and Rupert Evans.

The film has an interesting story. A young American named Greta (Lauren Cohan) takes a job as a nanny for an 8-year-old boy in a remote English village. To her surprise, Greta learns that the child of her new employers is a life-size doll. They care for the doll as if it was human, which helps the couple to cope with the death of their own son 20 years earlier. When Greta violates a list of strict rules, a series of disturbing and inexplicable events bring her worst fears to life, leading her to believe that the doll is alive.

Dinesh Kamath's news 'Mathru Milan Vikas Kendra celebrates Republic Day at Seawoods in unique way' that was published in Newsband

Mathru Milan Vikas Kendra celebrates Republic Day at Seawoods in unique way

By Dinesh Kamath

NAVI MUMBAI: The celebrations on Republic Day 2016 was unique at MMVK at Seawoods; a pre-conceived idea of Fr. Deepak, the Director of MMVK, to contribute to Navi Mumbai in a special way by tuning to the nation’s mission; the Swach Bharat Abhyan. Fr. Abbot Rocky D’Souza, the Parish Priest of Our Lady of Visitation Church, Nerul brought the vision to reality by mobilizing the parishioners through announcement in the church and registration of the participants to the program.

The Chief Guest Shri. Ashok Gawade and other four local Corporators viz.  Shri. Vinod Mhatre, Shri. Ganesh Mhatre, Shri Vishal Rajan Dolas and Sri Amit Madvai were invited on stage and were presented with floral bouquets by Fr. Deepak. The presence of big number of volunteers made the program a mega success. Volunteers were provided with a sumptuous lunch thereafter. 

Dinesh Kamath's news 'NMMC to come up with Food Festival in Feb' that was published in Newsband

NMMC to come up with Food Festival in Feb

By Dinesh Kamath

Above: Navi Mumbai Mayor Shri Sudhakar Sonawane

Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) is organizing a food festival to promote cultural ties and healthy eating habits among kids and adults. The Food Festival at Navi Mumbai is the first ever initiative by Navi Mumbai Mayor, Shri. Sudhakar Sambhaji Sonvane to promote healthy eating habits among the citizens. The forthcoming Food Festival is to be held in the month of February.

“With lifestyle disorders percolating deep in our society, the lifestyle has changed and has raised an alarming concern about obesity and diabetes among kids. This initiative invites vigilant citizens to reckon eating habit disorder and save our children, our future,” says Navi Mumbai Mayor Shri. Sudhakar Sambhaji Sonvane.

The festival will feature and exhibit more than 100 foods, craft stands, live performances by musicians and dancers. Among the food stalls, first time ever the festival will showcase – Organic Food and workshops, the festival will exhibit and conduct workshops to promote and teach some healthy cooking and eating habits among the citizens.

“The Navi Mumbai Food Festival 2016 is a platform to unite different cultures at the Food Festival and promote young entrepreneurs and home makers-bakers. Along with the initiative to encourage healthy eating habits, the NMFF 2016 initiates cultural ties,” adds Nehal Thakkar, Founder, Madea Creative House, the official event partner for Navi Mumbai Food Festival.

Dinesh Kamath's cartoons on 'Alooramji' that were published in Newsband

Video: Dinesh Kamath - The Ex-Indian Customs Officer

Dinesh Kamath -The Ex-Indian Customs Officer

Dinesh Kamath gets good Public Response

Video:Dinesh Kamath speaks about 3 best films of Amitabh Bachchan

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Suggestions of Lodha Committee should be implemented' that was published in Newsband

Suggestions of Lodha Committee should be implemented

Ever since the betting scandal hit the Indian Premier League in 2013 the committee headed by former Chief Justice of India R.M. Lodha was formed to tackle those individuals in the Board of Control for Cricket in India who treat the various regional units as their personal fiefdom. After studying the situation, the committee favoured a thorough overhaul of cricket administration in the country.

The committee found that businessmen and politicians were running the cash-rich body with lack of transparency and accountability. The report said that there was need to improve its public image and impart much-needed credibility. The report also suggests the radical idea of legalising betting in cricket with the condition that players, managers, officials or anyone associated with cricket are not allowed to participate in betting.

The committee also made the suggestion that the BCCI be brought under the ambit of the Right to Information Act. A restructured cricket board will surely be in the game’s interest. To save Cricket from the clutches of thugs and looters the R M Lodha committee's recommendations must be implemented immediately or else the game will die a slow and painful death.

Reforms in any aspect are not just supposed to be built, they need to be complied with strictly and when it comes to cricket there should not be any margin of error; for Cricket is the most respected sports, what an Indian citizen conceives. The rules and principles should be equally followed by all and in all forms of the sport, be it the International matches, domestic matches or the leagues.

There should be a proper governance over the allegations upon cricketers which have been increasing drastically since recent past. Cricket is an exciting sport; we should not amalgamate it with political disorders to make it a large dispute.

The decision to legalize betting is highly applauded. With the underworld and a handful of international websites, getting a major share of profits from the betting industry, it is time to regularize the system and ensure that it falls under the purview of BCCI and local authorities.

Justice Lodha is pragmatic and his views on betting on cricket make welcome reading. Man's gambling instincts cannot be curbed by legislation alone. Prohibition failed miserably. Betting on games and sports should not be made illegal, but strict enforcement of fixing should be done. In developed countries, neither there is prohibition, nor betting on games made illegal and they face no problem.  

The suggestion of sweeping reforms in cricket board is welcome. Not only cricket, other sports boards are also plagued by misappropriations of funds and foul plays. This suggestion should be extended to other fields as more and more money is entering the sports arena due to introduction of tournaments in almost every popular sport and system of auction of sportspersons.

Politicians unconnected with active sports are heading sports' bodies. This has become a routine. So such salutary reform as suggested by Lodha committee should be carried out, not only in cricket, but all sports bodies. 

Dinesh Kamath's news 'A Mega event at Panvel on 31 Jan' that was published in Newsband

A Mega event at Panvel on 31 Jan

By Dinesh Kamath (As shared by Veena Adige)

At Harigram, Panvel, on 31 January, there will be an interesting mega event where 300 children of Ram Krishnaa Academy will give an hour and a half programme of song and dances. They are a talented lot and will show the world that ‘Hum kisise kum nahin.’

These children are all from six villages around the school and can match any urban child. Expressions, the school magazine will be released on the occasion. The programme is preceded by breakfast at Annapurna Hall (Shanti Kunj-Old Age Home) and followed by lunch from 1.30 p.m. Vidhyadhiraj Charitable Trust (VCT) runs the school and has a hospital, Shanti Kunj and a sweet temple of Ram Vithoba.

Dinesh Kamath's news 'Colourful Sewadal Rally during the 49th Annual Nirankari Sant Samagam at Kharghar' that was published in Newsband

Colourful Sewadal Rally during the 49th Annual Nirankari Sant Samagam at Kharghar

By Dinesh Kamath

NAVI MUMBAI: “Let’s break the walls from the minds of the people and bring man closer to man.” This was observed here late last evening by Nirankari Baba Hardev Singh Ji Maharaj while addressing the first day’s open session of the 49th Annual Nirankari Sant Samagam of Maharashtra in the vast CIDCO Ground in Kharghar. The 3-day Samagam is being attended by lakhs of devotees of the Sant Nirankari Mission from all over Maharashtra and various other parts of the country and abroad.

Baba Ji said that every speaker at the Samagam talked about the world without walls and bridging humanity peacefully. The Samagam is, in fact, presenting a beautiful example as here people are together in spite of their diversities of religion, caste and culture. They live in the light of divine knowledge and seek to spread the same in the world. This is indeed what the world needs today.  Hence he exhorted everybody to take this message, this light further and further.

Today, the Samagam began with the colourful Sewadal Rally in which thousands of Nirankari Sewadal volunteers – men, women and children participated. Besides some items of P.T. Parade and games, they presented an impressive cultural programme based on the Mission’s message of love, unity, breaking walls and building bridges. The Sewadal Band remained a highlight by itself.

Blessing the rally, Nirankari Baba Hardev Singh Ji Maharaj said that while elsewhere any service to community is guided by selfishness, the volunteers of the Sewadal here offer their services selflessly and become an example for others. And this is the most important aspect of Sewa, he said.

On his arrival Baba Ji stood in an open vehicle and inspected the Sewadal rally and blessed the participants.  He also unfirled the flag of peace.

Speaking on the occasion Shri V.D.Nagpal, General Secretary of the Sant Nirankari Mandal and Member Incharge, Sewadal from Delhi said that the Mission today is teaching the lesson of love and respect and Sewadal is also following the same. He sought blessings from His Holiness so that every member of the Sewadal is able to serve the Mission with the same spirit. 

Dinesh Kamath - The First Online Superstar????