Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Kudos to both Leander Paes and Sania Mirza!' that was published in Newsband

Kudos to both Leander Paes and Sania Mirza!

The tennis duo of Leander Paes and Sania Mirza won the U.S. Open mixed doubles and doubles crowns, their 17th and fifth Major titles respectively, in the company of former singles World No. 1 Martina Hingis. It would be remiss not to celebrate the success stories of Paes and Mirza.

The 28-year-old Mirza is the first Indian woman to win a WTA tournament, the first to be ranked inside the top-30, the first to win a Grand Slam of any kind, and the first to reach the top of world rankings. The last of these came in April this year when she became the No. 1-ranked doubles player, a position she still holds. These are the things racquet-wielding young women in India dream of.

The 42-year-old Paes has been giving longevity a whole new meaning. His competitive zeal and persistence even when the mind and the body no longer always act in sync have fetched him three Major mixed doubles titles this year.

One must not forget that in this great play of resurgence by the Indians. Martina Hingis has been the common link. She has been taking care of the tennis while Leander was keeping the energy going. The Swiss connection for India goes beyond stashing away wealth in a safe haven. The contribution of their partner Ms Hingis for the magnificient performance of Indians was a big one. She definitely added immense value to their game for achieving such a grand success.

India is struggling to produce top-100 singles players. As for mixed doubles, it rarely exists outside the Grand Slams.  Tennis is viewed as a rich man's sport. There is plenty of talent in this huge country. Leander and Sania can start a tennis academy and train talented players from all backgrounds. The nation will be grateful to them if they can produce good tennis players who will win medals in the Olympics.

Sania and Leander Paes are both great. They have broken various myths. Their continuous hard work and determination give inspiration to all Indians. They watch dreams, they set goals to achieve their dreams, they achieve their goals, they never accept defeat, they follow their coaches, they follow their passion and the result is in front of us

This "Double Honour" for India, in the US Open Tennis Mixed Doubles and Women's doubles, in both the "other" partner being the same Martina Hingis (a former topmost woman tennis star), is a superb sports achievement, par excellence. In a population of 1,300 million, the 42 year old Leander Paes and 28 year old Sania have shown that hard work, concentration, determination and perseverance would ultimately pay.

Congratulations to both achievers. The entire nation is proud of them. It is hoped that many youngsters look at these two as role models.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Can women be equal to men?' that was published in Newsband

Can women be equal to men?

Delhi High Court ruled that the Indian Navy must grant permanent commission to women as well, as the Army and the Air Force had to do following a 2010 order by a different bench of the same court. Following the latest ruling, women who qualify for permanent commission will be able to work until the age of 54, as their male counterparts do. Grant of permanent commission would allow women to rise in rank along with the men, and gain pay parity.

It's a good idea to move on and provide our women equal opportunity to serve our country with more command. But the junior officers from rural areas would not be willing to accept a woman as a leader in frontline situations since that society is not yet willing to accept women in combat roles. That’s the reason why the proportion of women in India’s armed forces and the police forces is low in terms of global comparative figures,

Gender equality "in all aspects" is always appreciable as long as it is taken literally. But many women do not seem to be getting enough support in coping with the dual tasks of handling work and family life. All those who create this tremendous hue and cry for gender equality based on the awaited equal benefits should also be ready to face any hard situation without any preferential treatment. Nowadays it has become an inseparable part of fashion to speak in favour of gender equality be it viable or not in a particular set of services. Women in civil service object and oppose transfer to other cities or towns more on ground of gender related problems. So can the women in army perform their duty with the same intrepidity, zeal and discipline as their male counterparts without raising a war cry of "gender discrimination" or "sexual harassment"?

Some women’s argument is that if our country needs caste based reservations for almost 70 years to lift out the oppressed section of the society, so do our country needs favorable discrimination in case of women who are the most oppressed section of the society. Women have been discriminated since time immemorial, even before the time when caste based discrimination started.

Women in the West can be seen as driving heavy vehicles and in combat roles in the defence services. But we as a society have to come out of our mindset and pre-conceived notions.

The argument in favour of ending discrimination is quite in order. But the ground reality too has to be considered. To have women in combat situations in difficult terrains has its practical constraints which cannot be overlooked. We have example of women IPS officers. Most state governments are reluctant to put them in fields. So while pleading the case for women in armed forces one must properly evaluate all pros and cons relevant to the matter.

Anyway, after a long battle women have succeeded in achieving gender parity in the national 'battle-ground', kudos for their valour! They have proved that they can be at the forefront in defending nation at all levels and at all times equally with their male counterparts. Hopefully, more and more women would join armed forces and defend our country internally and externally in the times of necessity.

Video: Online Hero Dinesh Kamath and Bollywood Film Heroines

Dinesh Kamath’s column ‘New movies released in Navi Mumbai’ (Meeruthiya Gangsters, Katti Batti, Everest, Pawn Sacrifice, DUNNO Y2 and Black Mass) that was published in Newsband

New movies released in Navi Mumbai

By Dinesh Kamath

Meeruthiya Gangsters

Meeruthiya Gangster is an Indian Crime - Comedy film directed and produced by Zeishan Quadri. The film score is composed by Vivek Kar and Siddhant Mishra.

 Meeruthiya Gangsters is inspired by the high number of extortion cases in the city of Meerut. The film is based from the perspective of six youths who turn kidnappers.

Katti Batti

Katti Batti is an Indian romantic comedy film directed by Nikhil Advani and produced by Siddharth Roy Kapur under the banner of UTV Motion Pictures. The film stars Kangana Ranaut and Imran Khan in the lead roles.

Katti Batti is an anti-love story starring Imran Khan as Madhav Kabra (Maddy) & Kangana Ranaut as Payal. Maddy is an architect who is in love with Payal because of her attitude towards life. The story revolves around Maddy & Payal’s live-in relationship for 5 years and until a sudden turn of events when Payal leaves Maddy mid-way.

The film has Kangana Ranaut as Payal and Imran Khan as Madhav "Maddy" Kabra

The soundtrack of Katti Batti is composed by Shankar Ehsaan Loy & lyrics are penned by Kumaar. The film has songs like "Sarfira" sung by Siddharth Mahadevan, Neeti Mohan and Qaran Mehta, "Sau Aasoon" by Shankar Mahadevan and Rasika Shekhar, "Lip To Lip" by Nikhil D'Souza and Ritu Pathak, "Ove Janiya" by Mohan Kannan, "Jaago Mohan Pyaare" by Siddharth Basrur, Digvijay Singh Pariyar, Raman Mahadevan & Rasika Shekhar and "Ove Jaaniye (Reprise)"  by Sayani Palit.

Everest

Everest is a 2015 New Zealand-American 3D biographical disaster drama and adventure thriller film directed by Baltasar Kormákur and written by William Nicholson and Simon Beaufoy. The film stars Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Robin Wright, Michael Kelly, Sam Worthington, Keira Knightley, Emily Watson, and Jake Gyllenhaal.

The film is based on the real events of the 1996 Mount Everest disaster, and focuses on the survival attempts of two expedition groups, one led by Scott Fischer (Gyllenhaal) and the other by Rob Hall (Clarke). It is a story about Mount Everest disaster which led to the deaths of several climbers.

Pawn Sacrifice

Pawn Sacrifice is an American biographical thriller film directed by Edward Zwick and written by Steven Knight. The film stars Tobey Maguire as Bobby Fischer, Liev Schreiber as Boris Spassky, and Lily Rabe as Joan Fischer.

In this true story set during the rise of the Cold War, American chess professional Bobby Fischer (Tobey Maguire) finds himself caught between two superpowers when he challenges the Soviet Union and its greatest player, Boris Spassky (Liev Schreiber) for the World Championship.

Dunno Y2

Dunno Y2... Life Is A Moment is a 2014 romantic drama film, directed by Tonje Gjevjon and Sanjay Sharma, starring Zeenat Aman, Sadia Khan, Kapil Sharma, Edith Roth Gjevjon, Meera, and Yuvraj Parashar. It is a sequel of the 2010 award-winning film Dunno Y... Na Jaane Kyon. This is the first Indian Norwegian collaboration film and has Indian actors in a lead romantic role along with international cast. It was jointly directed by Tonje Ggjevjon and Indian Director Sanjay Sharma. The movie was written by Kapil Sharma, Tonje Gjevjon, Mona Klubben & Mona Krager.

The film explores romantic and intimate relationship between two men of different nationalities, Indian and Pakistani.

The film's music is composed by Nikhil Kamath. Singers on the soundtrack include Bollywood legends Salma Agha and Lata Mangeshkar, who performed the song "Jeena kya hai, jaana maine, jabse tumko jaana."

Black Mass

Black Mass is a 2015 American crime film directed by Scott Cooper and written by Mark Mallouk and Jez Butterworth, based on the 2001 book Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob by Dick Lehr and Gerard O'Neill. The film stars Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Kevin Bacon, Jesse Plemons, Peter Sarsgaard, Rory Cochrane, Adam Scott, Dakota Johnson, and Corey Stoll.

The film follows the criminal career of infamous Irish-American mobster Whitey Bulger (Depp). The film depicts the true story of Whitey Bulger, a prominent leader of organized crime in South Boston. Whitey is the brother of Massachusetts State Senator William "Billy" Bulger. Following a string of violent acts, he becomes an FBI informant for 30 years in order to take down a Mafia family invading his turf. The film focuses on the period of the late 1970s and early 1980s, as Whitey was solidifying his position as leader of the Irish-American Winter Hill Gang.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Transfer of Maria makes people smell a rat' that was published in Newsband

Transfer of Maria makes people smell a rat

The transfer of Rakesh Maria from the post of Mumbai’s Commissioner of Police raises serious questions. It came at a time when the 1981-batch IPS officer was steering the investigation in the Sheena Bora murder case. He was probing into some crucial financial dealings. Just at that time Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis signed his transfer order.

Maria was due for a cadre promotion on September 30 following the retirement of two senior officers. That promotion was advanced by 22 days, while he was effectively shunted out from the murder investigation. This was another case where the political class was seeking to exert control over police officers. This unnecessary immediate transfer is clearly indicating the influence of criminals over the Maharashtra Government. Investigation was at its best but once again the politicians scrapped the dexterous authority and proved that their vested interest came above justice.

The media had sensitised the murder case and the nation took interest in it. At a time when this murder case has been so much highlighted, a step taken by the chief minister of Maharashtra will surely make the people smell a rat. The Government was not unknown about the number of eyes focused on the issue. Without having any ill intention and secret motives no political party will take such a risk. If political motivation is the backbone of this transfer cum promotion, then there could be serious repercussions to this which may unfold in time to come. Maria was approaching towards conclusion and midway he was shifted to other department. This is another step by politicians to create trust deficit between people and governance system. It shows that acts/ rules and laws are not made for public but for whims and fancies of politicians.

The transfer of the person in charge states that government is not in favor of unveiling truth of this case due to the high profile of the victim. This for time and again indicates that justice and punishment is biased and based on money and power the victim has. It's unfortunate that removing the main person in charge of the case will divert the attention and the victim will slip away using her power and money. When will this change?

The instant transfer of Rakesh Maria was influenced by top leaders/ministers of Bharatiya Janata Party. Fadnavis just implemented the orders of his higher ups. But, what prompted such a directive from the top BJP leaders is not clear. In fact, it is a reasonable speculation that Peter Mukherjee and Indrani Mukherjee were contributors to BJP's election fund. It is also suspected that the Mukherjees have a lot of black money stashed in foreign banks. Maria was almost at a crucial stage of investigation in the black money trail of Mukherjees, which would have ultimately led to the hawala link of BJP. Smelling the rat, BJP leaders immediately pressurised Maharashtra CM to transfer Maria under the guise of an advanced promotion and an insignificant posting to divest him of Sheena Bora murder case investigation. Maria is deliberately shunted out and the act of Maharashtra Government is deplorable and such actions will demoralise sincere and honest police officers.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Rahul Gandhi gets a vote of no-confidence' that was published in Newsband

Rahul Gandhi gets a vote of no-confidence

Nobody is surprised by the extension of Sonia Gandhi’s tenure as Congress president by a year. But the vote of confidence in Ms. Gandhi by the Congress Working Committee was a vote of no-confidence in Rahul Gandhi. No matter what Ms. Gandhi thinks, the party is not ready to let her hand over the reins to her son. The party’s highest decision-making body thought he needed protection from the impact of electoral losses. Clearly, senior Congress leaders thought he could not be of much help, and actually could do a lot of harm to the party’s prospects in these States. The Old Guard in the Congress remains sceptical of his capability to lead from the front, and his acceptability among prospective allies of the party.

When India became a free nation in 1947, Mahatma Gandhi did not honour the democratic decision but imposed Nehru on the party though not a single authorised elector supported Nehru for Congress President. The history of foisting a favoured person as Congress President is repeating itself with Sonia Gandhi wanting to impose her son on the party as its President. So what started as an aberration in the 1940s is coming to be institutionalised. It is that party's prerogative and others don't have any say in it.

How long they will protect Mr Gandhi? According to present Congress, its leader must be from the Gandhi dynasty, so today or tomorrow he has to be crowned. He has been in the politics for more than a decade, but till today he has not accepted a single responsibility except some herogiris like tearing of ordinance, eating in poor's home etc. Mr. Gandhi keeps a coterie of a younger generation of leaders like his father and uncle did in the past. But there can be no power without responsibility.

Congress in its current form has lost its relevance. Either it has to go back to pre-Nehru era or it should gracefully concede space to AAP and move to the sidelines like the British Liberals. The Congress party with its sticky scams is in a very bad shape. It is immaterial whether the mother continues as the President or hands over the post to her son and probably anoints her daughter as the Vice President.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Ban to give boost to vote bank?' that was published in Newsband

Ban to give boost to vote bank?

Can one person’s religious freedom interfere with another’s food preferences? The ban has been imposed in some States on the sale of meat during the Jain community’s annual fasting period of Paryushan. The Bharatiya Janata Party came under attack from the Shiv Sena, its own ally in Maharashtra, over the decision. The Bombay High Court termed the move “regressive” and “absurd” in a cosmopolitan city like Mumbai.

By ordering a ban on meat for an extended period, has the BJP governments revealed a fundamentalist streak? The critics of BJP government call them intolerant. Now what is wrong if all political parties and self proclaimed religious leader give stress on meat ban as there is a community which refers to Cow as a holy animal? "Tolerance" is always expected from the Non-Vegetarians. Why do those Jain Housing societies, who refuse to allow anyone who is not a vegetarian buy a flat in their midst, learn some "tolerance"? And does that practice have any constitutional validity?

From the smallest lies to the most heinous of crimes, there are many things in life which all of us carefully side-step, as if walking in a mine-field. It is left to the choice of the individual whether he needs to try out any of these vices, without any of it being totally banned as such. So, why is it not possible to view the practice of religion, beliefs, food-habits, etc of others, in a similar way?

Religious and food preferences are unique to every individual. Logically they should not interfere and there needs to be respect for the other. By imposing a ban during Jain fasting period, it is going to either get the BJP a boost in the Hindu vote bank or may have a totally adverse effect. But politicians never give up trying to segregate society on the basis of caste or religion, for their own good.

It is not whether it impacts sellers or not. It's more about whether it is politically and morally correct to do so and then how will it impact various stakeholders? Another point is that one's religion doesn't impose its beliefs forcefully on others and it is true for every religion. And Jain community is not to be blamed at all. It is the government to be blamed. Such irresponsible behavior which might create social tension and rob away harmony in which we live is totally pedantic approach.