Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'NJAC to benefit the politicians?' that was published in Newsband

NJAC to benefit the politicians?

Indian Parliament has come up with a law setting up the National Judicial Appointments Commission. Our Parliament has amended the procedure by which members of the superior judiciary are appointed in India. Thus it has broad-based the appointment of judges in the Supreme Court and the various High Courts with participation from the judiciary and the executive and from among eminent persons to ensure greater transparency, accountability and objectivity in the process.

Giving the power to amend these regulations to a panel that will itself keep changing from time to time instead of being cast in law may undermine judicial independence, as the norms could be tweaked for reasons of expediency. And it hardly needs to be emphasised that the independence of the judiciary is part of the basic structure of the Constitution.

We can't expect miracles at the top unless the society as a whole values honesty and integrity. Unfortunately in India there is little reward for honesty and integrity. We love those who play tricks with words and some how get to power and continue to entertain us. There is no value for quality in life or behaviour. We look at the position occupied and not the person. Not even 1% of the politicians qualify as honest. Businesses, politicians and bureaucrats form an impregnable club that has replaced colonialists in dominating the society. Business culture has moved into medicine, legal profession and the core values are eroded. There is a need for massive change to take place in the attitude of the society as a whole.

The NJAC by the NDA is merely a continuation of the abject surrender and genuflection of politicians to great wealth. The loss of judicial independence is only a harbinger of the woes that are sure to follow.

Among the three pillars of our democracy only the judiciary, particularly the high courts and Supreme court, have retained some credibility with people’s faith in Legislature and Executive being totally eroded by the misdeeds, corruption, nepotism etc. Now with the enactment of NJAC with some roles being assigned to politicians we have to be ever alert that politicians do not interfere with the process.

The possibility of misusing judicial appointment procedure to further their own interests by the corrupted and ill-motivated politicians is what seems to be the major issue here. The checks and balances devised by the forefathers of our constitution among the three arms of our democratic system, should not, at any cost, turn into undue interference and encroachment upon the powers/functions of the other. We hope the new system works in tandem with moral and legal ethics of this country without compromising with the independence of judiciary and the respect it commands.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'US and West are more reliable than Russia and China' that was published in Newsband

US and West are more reliable than Russia and China

India and United States are the two countries bound by virtue of being ‘the world’s largest democracy and the world’s oldest democracy’. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to visit the White House in September. He will be holding talks with President Barack Obama.

India is the world’s largest importer of arms, and also among the biggest buyers of U.S. material. New Delhi has bought U.S. defence equipment worth nearly $10 billion and has been pushing for transfer of technology to manufacture those weapons here. The best way to transform defence ties would be to move from simply buying and selling to co-production, co-development, and freer exchange of technology. Can Modi get the U.S. to take its military partnership with India to a higher level?

The United States has identified India as a pivotal player in the world affairs ahead. The prime consideration that prompts US to establish close defense based relation is that US wants to check the growing ties between India and China and utilize the ever growing weapon market in India. Knowing very well that India is surrounded by perennial enemies, the U.S has been providing arms and ammunition to India.

But if you consider the love-hate relationship of US with India and Pakistan, the US, for strategic reasons, shows more love and less hate towards Pakistan. Here India will have to make great effort to come in the good books of US. The US has been having an unwavering strategic relationship with our neighbour, Pakistan, for decades now in spite of the repeated back stabs it has received from the ally.

It's important to note that India will play a crucial role in the "LOOK EAST POLICY" of the US, since it's facing a tough challenge from the Chinese in all sectors. So it will be important from the India's perspective to bargain in all sorts of thing keeping ourselves in upper-hand. We can dictate the terms on various background such as in technology transfer in defense sector, greater role in U.N. security council etc.

India holds an important position in USA's geo politics. For USA, Indian support is must to maintain its strong position in Asia and to counter the burgeoning power of China and Russia. Strong Indo-US ties are favourable to both the nations.

Some lovers of Russia feel that friendship between India and US cannot be eternal and hence India should rely more on Russia. Have these pro-Russians forgotten the backstabbing by the USSR during the China-India war of 1962? Were the Russian warplanes reliable then?

The thing is both India and US, and so also other Western countries, are not only democratic but they are nations which pursue some religion or the other. Hence both tend to practice morality. On the other hand, Russia and China are communist, capitalistic and autocratic countries. Hence India has more things in common with America and the West and they are more reliable than Russia and China. 

Dinesh Kamath’s column ‘New movies that’ll get released in Navi Mumbai’ (Mardaani, Mad About Dance, Life is Beautiful, The Expendables 3 and Katiyabaaz) that was published in Newsband

New movies that’ll get released in Navi Mumbai

By Dinesh Kamath

Mardaani

Mardaani (English: Masculine) is a 2014 Hindi crime drama film directed by Pradeep Sarkar and produced by Aditya Chopra. The film features Rani Mukerji in the lead role, with Jisshu Sengupta and Tahir Bhasin appearing in supporting roles. The film tells the story of a female cop whose interest in the case of a kidnapped teenage girl leads her to uncover secrets of human trafficking by the India mafia.

Shivani Shivaji Roy (Rani Mukerji) is a senior inspector crime branch, in Mumbai. She lives with her husband Dr. Bikram Roy (Jisshu Sengupta) and her little niece Meera which she is very protective of. Clever at picking up hidden clues and fearless in confronting hardened criminals with wild chase, Shivani takes on a case that changes her life. A teenage girl, Pyari, who is like a daughter to her, is kidnapped by the trafficking mafia and the mafia kingpin smuggled the girl outside the city. The mafia kingpin Walt calls Shivani and wants to know what she wants, so she will stop chasing them. Shivani asks the mafia kingpin/Walt (Tahir Bhasin) to let Pyari free, but he won't let her free, because Pyari has seen too much. Shivani Shivaji Roy doesn't know the name of mafia kingpin and she challenges him that she is going to catch him in 30 days and what follows is a cat and mouse game between a young, ruthless mafia kingpin and police.

The film has Rani Mukerji as Shivani Shivaji Roy, Jisshu Sengupta as Dr. Bikram Roy, Tahir Bhasin as Walt, Priyanka Sharma as Pyari, Akhilesh Verma as Police and Vikrant Koul as Inspector Mathur.

Mad About Dance

Mad About Dance is a 2014 Indian dance film. The film is directed by Saahil Prem. The film stars Saahil Prem and Amrit Maghera in the lead roles. Saahil Prem debuted as an actor alongside Sunny Leone in the 2014 film Ragini MMS 2, and is now making his debut as a director with Mad About Dance.

Essentially a dance film, it focuses on the youth, their dreams, anxieties, disappointments and hopes for their future. The film is based in the quaint and beautiful university town of Sheffield and brings to light the stories of Asian students who leave their home and country and go to study abroad…Their struggles, their heartbreaks, their trials and triumphs…

Mad About Dance is basically a movie of three Asian boys, who leave their home and country and go to study abroad. The movie goes on to depict their struggles, their heartbreaks, their trials and triumphs. Life changing experiences coupled with new responsibilities help push our 'boys' into the journey of manhood.

The film has songs like Ishq De Bukhar, Party is Going Mad, Kahan Hai Khuda, Punjabi Mundeya, Kahan Hai Khuda (Dubstep) and Kahan Hai Khuda (Remix).

Life is Beautiful

Life Is Beautiful movie is a romantic and comedy movie. The director & producer of this movie is Manoj Amarnani. The star cast of Life Is Beautiful consists of Manoj Amarnani, Anokhi Dalvi, Nancy Brunetta, Parth Naik and Raj Zutshi. The shooting of this movie is done in Canada, Toronto and India.

The story writers of Life Is Beautiful are Manoj Amarnani and Sanjay Sankla. The music of Life Is Beautiful is directed by John Hunt and the music company is Biscool Music for this movie. The Banner to Life Is Beautiful is given by M.A.A Productions.

The movie has an interesting story. Raj is an ambitious guy living with his friend Prem. Prem is sick of Raj for occupying his little space of living. Raj and Prem lives in Toronto. Raj ha some goal to attain that says acquisition of Canadian citizenship for a better and bright future. Raj’s first trail for applying for Canadian residency was rejected. Raj comes up with an idea that makes him to marry with a girl Pia having Canadian citizenship. Pia just hates Raj and hates to live with him but she has to live with Raj now.

Raj and Pia living together confronts annoying and amazing situations. Out of their fights and stubborn they find themselves laughing together, having memorable moments and a feel of having soft corner for each other. Eventually they become friends and start enjoying company of each other. The rosy days comes to a halt when Linda comes in the life of Raj. Linda’s entry in the life of Raj happens to be a complete disgust creating too much fuss and woes. Now Raj has to meet the new challenging circumstances.

The Expendables 3

The Expendables 3 (also marketed as The Expendables III) is a 2014 American ensemble action film directed by Patrick Hughes, and written by Creighton Rothenberger, Katrin Benedikt, and Sylvester Stallone. It is a sequel to the 2012 action film The Expendables 2, and the third film in The Expendables film series. The film features returning cast members Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Terry Crews, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Antonio Banderas, Wesley Snipes, Kelsey Grammer, Kellan Lutz, Ronda Rousey, Glen Powell, Victor Ortiz, Robert Davi, Mel Gibson and Harrison Ford all join the cast.

The story follows the mercenary group known as "The Expendables" as they come into conflict with ruthless arms dealer Conrad Stonebanks (Gibson), the Expendables' co-founder, who is determined to destroy the team. We see an action-packed beginning as a motley group of Expendables headed by Barney (Stallone) and Lee Christmas (Statham) go about retrieving former colleague Doc Death (Wesley Snipes) from a prison. 

The scene involves a chopper, a train that eventually blows up and some very startled prison guards. The scene then shifts to Somalia where Expendables are supposed to take out an arms dealer. The scene goes wrong and the dealer turns out to be an Expendable-gone-rogue Conrad Stonebanks (Mel Gibson). To take out Stonebanks, Barney is instructed by his CIA pointsperson (Ford) to retire his old team and get in some fresh blood. With the four young Expendables in tow, Barney heads to Bucharest. In between fighting, these young whippersnappers also kid Barney about his methods (So your plan is to just slam down a door and start spraying bullets?) Instead of capturing Stonebanks and delivering him at The Hague where he can be tried for his crimes, Barney barely escapes with his life and the young ones are captured. Now everyone (old and new) has to come together to fight off an entire army in a country whose name ends with 'istan'.

Katiyabaaz

Deepti Kakkar and Fahad Mustafa's documentary Katiyabaaz is an unusual film for a number of reasons. It's a documentary about a rough-and-ready India but despite the grimness of the reality, there's a crackling joie de vivre in the people who star in the film. Katiyabaaz is also a beautiful looking film, which is a rare feat amongst Indian documentaries. Perhaps most importantly, this documentary about the terrible power situation in the industrial centre of Kanpur unfolds with all the drama and charm of a feature film. So perhaps it's fitting that Kakkar and Mustafa's crew was suspected to be the crew of Dabangg while they were shooting in Kanpur. At the heart of the film is a contest between bureaucrat Ritu Maheshwari who is trying to fix the electric supply and Loha Singh, who sets up illegal electricity connections because the state supply is so erratic.

Dinesh Kamath's news 'Modak making workshop at Inorbit Mall, Vashi' that was published in Newsband

Modak making workshop at Inorbit Mall, Vashi

By Dinesh Kamath

(Above) Inorbit Mall, Vashi

Inorbit mall, Vashi organises a special modak making workshop on this weekend, the 23rd and 24th Aug, for its patrons.

This Ganesh Chaturthi, learn to make delicious modak, from the experts, to offer to the lord. Inorbit Vashi invites you to a special modak making workshop on 23 and 24 Aug.

Ganesh chaturthi being round the corner, the first thing which comes to our mind is modaks and nothing other than hand made modaks would please you and your guests. To help you make delicious modaks, Inorbit Vashi is coming up with a two day workshop over the weekend, i.e., 23 and 24 August. Patrons who shop for Rs. 1000 or above, can get a chance to register for the workshop free of cost.

You wouldn’t want to compromise on the taste of ready made modaks. So come to Inorbit Vashi and learn to make mouth watering modaks.

Date: 23 and 24 August

Time: 2pm – 7pm

Venue: Inorbit Malls, Vashi 

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Our PM showed his guts to speak out the truth' that was published in Newsband

Our PM showed his guts to speak out the truth

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi dared to declare in Pakistan itself that Pakistanis had lost the ability to fight a conventional war, but continued to engage in the proxy war of terrorism. What he said was right considering the fact that the ISI had unleashed militant groups against India. His critics say that making deliberately provocative statements is not a good way to kick off. But we had even Pakistan President Nawaz Sharif admitting that his country did not have good ties with India and that it was time to work towards achieving that.

Because Sharif is a honest man and speaks the truth Pakistan military does not love him and distrusts him particularly because he wants good relations with India. The Pak military feels that Sharif is bending over backwards to please New Delhi. But don’t forget that Sharif was the same man who when he was espousing friendship and warmth with former Indian PM Vajpayee, he and his army were planning Kargil. In Pakistan, the Prime Minister of that country will go to any extent to please the army in order not to be another ‘Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’ who was hanged by military man Zia ul Haq for defying the military. You can’t shift the PM from its Army in Pakistan and so stop giving its polity the benefit of doubt as Politicians and Army are one over there.

Modi has merely stated the facts as they are. It is a well known fact that Pakistan is excellent in double standards and that there are multiple power centres in that beleaguered country. India should not be too bothered about offending a problematic neighbour that always keeps its fists clenched towards us.

India has always been taking the initiative of confidence building with Pakistan because India is bigger and stronger. India tried to keep engaged the Pakistan political and military leadership about coexistence and mutual respect with ultimate aim of mutual peace and economic prosperity as our primary goals. When engaging with the Pakistan political leadership, it always included both the one in the government and those in the opposition. But it is Pakistan which failed to offer adequate cooperation.

Normalization cannot be expected when one side is doing its best to break rules of diplomacy and ground level attacks all the time. Do you expect PM to stand with a bouquet all the time till Pak's army and political wings unite and wage another war against India?

Our PM was thinking about men at the borders constantly facing attack from the Pakistani side while making that statement and warned Pakistan that it will not be tolerated. Why media has problem with that? It looks like media wants Manmohan Singh back.

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

Alka Yagnik is Dinesh Kamath’s most favourite Bollywood Singer

Alka Yagnik is Dinesh Kamath’s most favourite Bollywood Singer

Why Alka Yagnik is my most favourite Bollywood singer? That’s because she can sing excellently varieties of songs to suit varieties of moods. For example, her song ‘Saare Sapne kahi kho gaye, Hie, Hum kyase kya ho gaye’ soothed me during the most crisis period of my life. The lyrics of the song were written by Javed Akhtar. Another song of Alka that appealed to me was ‘Tum aaye to aaya mujhe yaad, galli mein aaj chand nikla’. Still another unforgettable song of Alka is ‘Panchi, nadiyan, pawan ke jhoken, kohi sarhad na inhe roke’. These are just three out of many memorable songs that Alka crooned. If I try to speak about all her songs, I’ll have to write a book on her.

Another thing about Alka is that she is not only a great singer but also one with a stunning look. Keep crooning your way to more and more glory, Alka!