Dinesh Kamath's news 'Repair or replace the damaged NMMT buses, demand the transport union' that was published in Newsband

Repair or replace the damaged NMMT buses, demand the transport union

By Dinesh Kamath

NAVI MUMBAI: The poor condition of Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport buses have upset the employee union to such an extent that they are planning to go on agitation to demand for new buses.

The Municipal Transport Mazdoor Union (MTMU), Navi Mumbai, are leading the campaign to somehow get the NMMT authorities to meet their demand for new and proper buses. This according to the union will be in interest of drivers, conductors as well as commuters of the NMMT buses.

The condition of many NMMT buses are so pitiful that it is clear that travelling by such buses is a risky affair for all the occupants of such vehicles. The union has been trying its best to get the NMMT authorities to replace those buses which are in extremely bad condition by brand new vehicles before the monsoon starts. The union has told the authorities that those damaged buses which are reparable should be totally repaired at once since this is the question of commuters’ lives.  

The NMMT authorities are considering the demands of the union seriously and are showing signs of taking action in the direction of preventing harassments for commuters especially during the monsoon period. 

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Ban tobacco' that was published in Newsband

Ban tobacco

Over 27 per cent of tobacco consumers in India fall in the 15-24 year age bracket. The addition of new customers every year even as thousands of patrons die annually ensures that the tobacco companies’ customer base remains wide and tall. If the global tobacco-related mortality is about 5.5 million people annually, India’s burden alone is nearly one million. India is the second largest consumer of tobacco products in the world.

The Central government should simultaneously implement multiple strategies to prevent people, particularly children as young as 15 years, from getting addicted to nicotine and help the existing users to quit smoking and/or chewing tobacco. Is raising taxes really the most effective way of achieving it? It is indeed heartening that the new Union Health Minister supports higher taxes on cigarettes and tobacco products; But India follows a bizarre, producer-friendly excise duty structure for cigarettes, beedis and chewing tobacco that makes a mockery of taxation.

Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulations, 2011 dated 1st August 2011, prohibits the manufacture and sale of any food product containing tobacco and nicotine. Why these regulations are not being followed? Why the question of imposing higher taxes on the production of tobacco in any form is coming into the scenario, when the regulations actually aim a complete ban of tobacco?

Raising the taxes on tobacco products is not at all a remedy. People are ready to buy it at any cost. If the central and state governments are indeed serious about the issue of public health, they should come forward to ban the tobacco consumption completely despite the fact that it leads to revenue loss.

Why India can not be smoke free. What is that stops the government to set the timeline to help the workers of tobacco industries to find the alternative ways for their sustenance and to announce "smoke free India"? Why this drama of allowing the industries to produce cigarettes and warn the people not to smoke? It is like swinging the cradle and pinching the kid.

Dinesh Kamath’s column ‘New movies to get released in Navi Mumbai’ (Chal Bhaag, Fugly, Machhli Jal Ki Rani Hai, Dragon 2, Grace of Monaco, and 18.11A Code of Secrecy) that was published in Newsband

New movies to get released in Navi Mumbai

By Dinesh Kamath

Chal Bhaag

Chal Bhaag is a Bollywood drama film which is directed by Prakash Balwant Saini and produced by Alimoh Films and Mohammad Zaheer Mehdi. Deepak Dobriyal and Keeya Khanna are playing the main lead role in the film

The film is a story of three characters who end up in the jail due to their illegal offenses and other characters of the film are also involved in the Chor-Police game.

This rollercoaster ride of comedy and action has Deepak Dobriyal in the main lead and the Punjabi hottie Keeya Khanna marking her debut in the film. The film revolves around three men, Munna (Deepak Dobriyal), a self proclaimed goon, Bunty (Tarun Bajaj), a small time thief and Daler (Varun Mehra) an outcast. The film kickstarts with an MLA being murdered by three shooters, putting the police force under pressure. The incident coincides with the arresting of Munna, Bunty and Daler for their small time crimes.

The shooters belong to a dangerous don who has the police inspector under his thumb. He threatens the police inspector to let go off his men. The inspector, under the don's pressure, frees his men and replaces them with Munna, Bunty and Daler. The story takes a sharp turn and turns into a fake encounter plot. How Munna, Bunty and Daler get themselves out of this situation is what the movie all about.

Fugly

Fugly is a comedy drama Bollywood movie that is directed by Kabir Sadanand. The film features Jimmy Shergill, Mohit Marwah, Vijender Singh, and Kiara Advani. The movie is "a social thriller film with a message".

Fugly is a fast paced masala, thriller set in the lanes of Delhi. A story of 4 friends: Dev, Devi, Gaurav & Aditya who are just out of college and at the cusp of their lives... their dreams and expectations come to a crashing halt when one night they are faced with evil incarnate SHO Chautala aka Jimmy Sheirgill, an extremely fearless Police Officer. What unfolds from here is a series of events which will put to test their friendship and character... what follows is Politics , Parties, Chases and an in depth view of power brokering in the capital which exposes the well oiled nexus of the administration, trade fuelled by the common man. Life gets 'Fugly'

The film has Jimmy Shergill as Chautala, Mohit Marwah as Dev, Kiara Advani as Devi, Vijender Singh as Gaurav, Arfi Lamba as Aditya, Anshuman Jha as Cheeni and Akshay Kumar and Salman Khan in guest appearances.

The soundtrack is composed by Prashant Vadhyar, Yo Yo Honey Singh & Raftaar. All lyrics are written by Yo Yo Honey Singh, Raftaar, Arshia Nahid, Sumit Aroraa, Niren Bhatt and Rajveer Ahuja.

The film has songs like Fugly, Dhup Chik, Banjarey, Good In Bed, Dhuaan, G Pe Danda and Lovely Jind Wali.

Machhli Jal Ki Rani Hai

Machhli Jal Ki Rani Hai is a Bollywood film directed by Debaloy Dey. The film stars Bhanu Uday, Swara Bhaskar, Murli Sharma and Reema Debnath.

Ayesha and Uday Saxena are a happily married couple living in Mumbai. Uday, a mechanical engineer, works at a private company and they are living a perfect life with their four year old son Sunny.

One day, while coming back from a party, they are involved in a major road accident in which the other driver dies on Ayeshas' windshield, an incident that plays on her mind and depresses her.

When Uday's boss offers him the job of managing a Jabalpur factory, he accepts the opportunity to give Ayesha a change of atmosphere.

Uday becomes busy with his job and rearranging their life. Ayesha starts to feel the presence of someone in the house that no one else can. Her fears grow and she starts behaving in a bizarre manner.

The film has Bhanu Uday as Uday Saxena, Swara Bhaskar as Ayesha Saxena, Murli Sharma as Manohar Gupta, Reema Debnath as Urmi, Sakha Kalyani as Mangla, Deepraj Rana as Ugra Pratap Singh, Saurabh Dubey as Dr. Akhilesh Trivedi, Avinash Mukkanawar as Dr. Indraneel Mukharjee, Saandesh Nayak as Iliyaas Afsar, Abhinav Jain as Inspector and Binny Sharma (special song)

How To Train Your Dragon 2

How to Train Your Dragon 2 is a 2014 American 3D computer-animated comedy action fantasy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by 20th Century Fox, loosely based on the book series of the same name by Cressida Cowell. It is the sequel to the 2010 computer-animated film How to Train Your Dragon and the second in the trilogy. The film is written and directed by Dean DeBlois, and stars the voices of Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, T.J. Miller and Kristen Wiig with the addition of Kit Harington, Cate Blanchett and Djimon Hounsou.

The film takes place five years after the first film, featuring Hiccup and his friends as young adults. At the end of last film, all these Vikings who were previously somewhat landlocked are now on the backs of dragons so the entire Northern Hemisphere opens up to them. And with that Hiccup's curiosity increases, the map expands and inevitably they are going to come across new dragons, new cultures. Hiccup then discovers a larger conflict brewing between humans and dragons and he finds himself at the center of it.

Thus this sequel is another animated action-adventure fantasy set in the 18th century on the Viking-inhabited Norse Isle of Berk, where the villagers have always lived in fear of dragons and therefore valued highly the slaying of the fearsome flying, fire-breathing creatures. The film is set five years after the events of the first offering, when Hiccup the human and Toothless the dragon helped bring peace between the dragons and the Vikings.

Hiccup, now next in line to be the chief of Berk, and his friends have grown into what would come to be called young adults. Hiccup and Toothless, seemingly inseparable now, keep busy exploring new territories and discover an ice cave, home to hundreds of wild dragons and a couple of mysterious dragon riders. And Hiccup is reunited with his long-lost, presumed-dead mother, Valka, voiced by Cate Blanchett. But because a dragon hunter (voiced by Djimon Hounsou) has plans to build a dragon army in hopes of taking over the world, Hiccup and Toothless are dragged back into battle.

However, whereas the centerpiece of the original adventure was the touching friendship between Hiccup and Toothless, the followup delves a bit deeper into nuclear-family dynamics and stands alone.

Grace of Monaco

Grace of Monaco is a 2014 American-French biography film about the life of Grace Kelly, directed by Olivier Dahan. The film stars Nicole Kidman in the titular role. It also features a supporting cast of Frank Langella, Parker Posey, Derek Jacobi, Paz Vega, Roger Ashton-Griffiths, Milo Ventimiglia, and Tim Roth.

Grace of Monaco is focused on former Hollywood star Grace Kelly's crisis of marriage and identity, during a dispute between Monaco's Prince Rainier III and France's Charles de Gaulle in 1962.

The film depicts Princess Grace (played by a predictably stiff, pale and sometimes hysterical Nicole Kidman) in 1961. She married Prince Rainier III (Tim Roth) about six years earlier, but she is fragile and truly a fish out of water, despite living a life of luxury in a palace with a much vaunted history dating back more than 650 years, along the beautiful rocky coast of the Mediterranean. As an American movie star who cannot speak French, she is out of touch with the life of the average Monegasque, although her husband doesn’t seem to mingle all that much with the hoi polloi, either.

Grace is still uninformed about matters of protocol, knows little about the history of the principality and doesn’t understand the needs of the people around her, at fancy balls, inside the palace walls, or on the street. When Alfred Hitchcock arrives one day to hand her the script for a film he is planning to make, Marnie, she is thoroughly intrigued and even confesses to her husband that she misses being in front of the cameras.

She is trapped in a gilded cage and she is wallowing in misery with a husband who is neglecting her because he has to save his country from financial and possible existential ruin: The Treasury has all but run dry, and French President Charles de Gaulle is none too pleased with Rainier’s decision to create a tax haven, which is pulling capital and business out of France like a magnet. To underline the wickedness of De Gaulle (he is planning to invade the tiny principality), he speaks French, even while everyone in Monaco addresses each other in English.

Grace soon realizes she would have to choose between, on the one hand, being a princess and focusing all her attention on the principality that seemingly despises her American sensibility to speak her mind even if it offends some people, and on the other hand, her former life of role playing in Hollywood.

She chooses the one by using the other, as she decides to up her game and play the role of princess to the hilt. To do that, she has to learn to speak French — a feat she accomplishes in a world-record time of roughly four weeks — and also absorb the customs and detailed genealogy of the House of Grimaldi.

But whenever there is some crisis, she doesn’t grin and bear it. No, instead she weeps. By the time the film reaches its narrative climax in which Grace takes to the stage at a ball to speak at length about herself, and Rainier beams with pride because she is finally confident, all their troubles seem to have disappeared in the blink of an eye.

18.11 A Code of Secrecy

18.11 A Code of Secrecy is a thriller and action film and has actors Rehal Khan, Bridgette Irani, Gulshan Grover, Prem Chopra, Mukesh Tiwari, Asrani, Nipon Goswami and Sameer Ali Khan. Director of the film is Md. Mohibul Haque. The film’s Music Director is Jaan Nissar Lone and singers are Shaan, Kunal Ganjawala, Kamal Khan, Rani Hazarika, Jaan Nissar Lone, Shail Hada and Suzanne DMello. The lyricists are Tanveer Ghazi and Sahil Fathepuri.

The Film 18.11 A Code of Secrecy is based on Science & Technology and packed with Romance, Comedy, Action. Thrill and specially the suspense lies in the name title  - 18.11... which is revealed at the end.

Rehal Khan, the hero of the film is a Software Engineer in America. During his course he made a software which generates an alarm and sends a danger signal about Bomb/Explosive plan in every mobile phone within the radius area of 1k.m.He did not experiment the same in America.

The Union Home Minister - Mr. Digambaram sponsors his Bomb/Explosive Detect Project and ask him for experiment and accordingly Rehal Khan begins experiment by a mission named" MISSION 3 E". Rehal Khan operates this mission from a secret laboratory in deep forest. Rehal Khan maintains secrecy and keeps distance from his family members including his girlfriend.

His experiment becomes successful. He detected many bomb plan made by Captain Rack (Gulshan Grover), Chairman, World Super Power Organization i.e International Don. Captian Rack tries to purchase Rehal Khan and his Project but fails. He then traps Rehal Khan into Terrorist Activity and sends him to jail with the help of the corrupt police officer - Kuldeep Sharma (Mukesh Tiwari) and Habilder - Paholwan (Asrani).

Rehal Khan kills Kuldeep Sharma and other militants and criminals and arrests Captain Rack in Sri Lanka. The State Home Minister - Mr.Gogoi (Prem Chopra) moves the High Court and releases Rehal Khan from the jail and frees him from all false, bogus cases as per advise of Union Home Minister who also presented "Bharat Gaurav Award" to Rehal Khan for Bomb Detection and life saving software for patriotic manner in a Glorious Function.

Dinesh Kamath's news 'Inorbit Mall, Vashi hunts for the little master chef' that was published in Newsband

Inorbit Mall, Vashi hunts for the little master chef

By Dinesh Kamath

(Above) Picture of Inorbit Mall, Vashi

NAVI MUMBAI: Summer vacation may have come to an end but the fun is not over yet. Inorbit Malls, in association with Sbarro brings Litter master chef contest in the town. Let your little ones discover their creativity in cooking and enjoy the gratification of self made Pizzas.

Inorbit Mall, Vashi with Sbarro pizza outlet is organizing the pizza making workshops for kids between 4 to 14 years. The idea is to provide the joy and satisfaction of making their own pizza and help them learn from the experience.  Under the guidance of Pizza making experts, all the participants will be given real ingredients such as dough, mozzarella cheese, sauce, toppings and will be asked to create and bake their own Pizza. Kids can later have the lavish spread of self-made Pizzas. The mall will also hold the Pizza making competition between 26 to 28 June among kids taking the workshops.

Get your kids to indulge, innovate and recreate the magic and win the title of Master Chef at Inobit Mall.

Venue: Inorbit Mall, Vashi

Date: 13 & 14 June, 2014

Is Dinesh Kamath the Best Indian Journalist?

Is Dinesh Kamath the Best Indian Journalist?

It is being hotly debated whether Dinesh Kamath is the best Indian journalist. A survey has indicated that Shobha De, Barkha Dutt and Rajdeep Sardesai form the toughest competitors of Dinesh Kamath in the bid to occupy the position of Best Indian Journalist.

If you compare the works of Shobha De with those of Dinesh Kamath, you will find that almost all the works of Shobha De are of non-political nature whereas Dinesh Kamath has come up with many political works. Dinesh Kamath has written extensively on National political issues, besides having performed a world-record-breaking feat in film journalism. Dinesh Kamath has also made public some of his powerful political cartoons. Since political subjects carry more weight than non-political ones, a political writer is more qualified than non-political one to occupy the top position. So there Dinesh Kamath scores over Shobha De.

Now, Barkha Dutt is a political journalist. Hence she and Dinesh Kamath will have to fight it out for the top position. Rajdeep Sardesai also dwells on politics. But Rajdeep Sardesai loses to Dinesh Kamath when the score in google plus is taken into consideration. It is found that in google plus, Rajdeep Sardesai has not managed to touch the score of one million views whereas Dinesh Kamath has registered a score of seven and a half million views.

Now that leaves Dinesh Kamath and Barkha Dutt in the fray. The thing is both Rajdeep Sardesai and Barkha Dutt belong to Electronic medium while Dinesh Kamath belongs to Print medium. It is a common belief that Print medium has a greater impact than Electronic medium on the minds of the public. That gives Dinesh Kamath an edge over Barkha Dutt and hence Dinesh Kamath more deserves to be called the Best Indian Journalist.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Urban agenda should be implemented carefully' that was published in Newsband

Urban agenda should be implemented carefully

The new Bharatiya Janata Party government wants Indian cities to be ‘symbols of efficiency, speed and scale’. To achieve this, it plans to prioritise housing and public transport, build 100 new cities, use technology to improve urban services, and make development sustainable. The government has also ambitiously declared that everyone would own a house by 2020.

The new government should create opportunity for new housing and a system through which people can afford to have their own houses. Slums should get discouraged. Second: connect the city with high speed public transport system and high speed inter city train/tram system. Third: focus on Waste minimisation, recycling and move towards Zero Waste system. Fourth: give the real qualified professionals on Urban Systems to manage the city.

But care should be taken that environment is not adversely impacted at the cost of Industrialization. Green spaces are must to live healthily. Nothing should be done in hurry and in a restrictive manner. Creating 'new' cities is a great idea, but while doing so there is danger of more forests getting cut, more land getting barren which will badly hit the environment. The current government should develop plans for environment issues as well while simultaneously solving housing related problems.

Every year, world’s cities are evaluated and rated. India should study success models from other countries with comparable population densities and adapt carefully with essential modifications. Singapore is World’s super-model for efficiency, productivity, infrastructure and discipline. Porto Alegre city of Brazil is World’s super-model for equitable and sustainable development thru ward-wise decentralization; its governance process is world famous as Porto Alegre Innovation. It is now copied in over 40 countries including the US and China.

The new Modi-led BJP government's urban planning agenda brings in hope to make Indian cities world class in standard. The initiative to integrate new cities in the form of satellite towns or twin cities with the existing metros to ease of the urban pressure is brilliant and is already in development in some cities e.g.: Newtown near Kolkata. Integration can be best achieved by optimal and judicious combination of Surface Rail Transit, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and Metro Rail systems depending on the feasibility to develop into a fine grained efficient and cost-effective urban transport.

We are seeing that each and every metro city in the country is overpopulated and has turned into a virtual slum. Added to that the roads in these cities are so narrow that traffic in these cities has become a casualty leading to traffic snarls. Buildings are old and are ready to collapse any moment. One solution to all these could be that the civic authorities could permit demolition of all the old buildings in narrow roads allowing for wider roads and safer buildings. Banks could finance these new buildings and the government on its part can allow more FSI which would encourage building owners to demolish their old buildings.

One should also not forget Mahatma Gandhi’s words: India can be developed only by developing its villages. Villages should not be neglected, pushing people to suicide. So the real answer could be: develop villages, create job opportunities within villages and stop migration to cities.

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