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

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Modi displays his marketing genius in Kuala Lumpur' that was published in Newsband

Modi displays his marketing genius in Kuala Lumpur

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Kuala Lumpur to attend the ASEAN-India summit was interesting. Modi pitched India as an investment destination to the East Asian countries. He rightly took credit for turning the Indian economy around since his government “took office 18 months ago”, and outlined his plans for economic reform. He also offered specific opportunities to ASEAN countries on investing in infrastructure in India, particularly in Metro Rail systems, housing, road, rail and waterways.

This typical Gujarati is trying to change things from the decadent time of the Congress allied ruling of India. His way of dealing brought lot of respect to Indians and the world looks at India very well now. His marketing strategy well served the purpose, now the delivery time. Congress and allied forces, hope, take a pragmatic and positive approach so that the nation makes its march past to the challenging world around.

The transformation that India needs requires trillions of dollars in investment and the involvement of masses of specialised personnel in varying disciplines. We can't do this transformation alone and will need help from whoever is willing to pitch in. The Prime Minister has understood this very clearly and his peripatetic wanderings around the globe are evidence of this. This is true also with our defence capabilities. Our external threats from Pakistan, backed by China, and indifference from the West, requires that we form alliances with nations facing similar threats. The PM's visit to Japan and Asean is proof that this threat has been visualised. More than the external threat, our adversaries hope that this country will implode due to its great diversity and unprincipled political debate. India is perceived very poorly by foreign media due to this. It looks as if we are our own worst enemies.

A country is not great only for its leaders but rather for its people. Modi's efforts to market India is praise worthy. It is a joint responsibility of current government, the opposition, state governments, private businesses and common people to work together in the delivery.

As swayam sevak Modi did visit every part of India he does understand the pain of rural India and only way to solve the problems of poor is to provide opportunities through investments in alternate sectors apart from agriculture which are heavily dependent on Climate. Last 20-30 years Indian politicians have always thought of dole outs and freebies as ways of alleviating poverty in this country. All it has done is only increase our woes and also create a huge mass of people with semi or no skill. Freebies have been tried for 20 years. Now give a chance to alternate economics at least for 10 years.

Dinesh Kamath’s column ‘New movies released in Navi Mumbai’ (Hate Story 3, Angry Indian Goddesses, In The Heart Of The Sea, Star Wars The Force Awakens, The Good Dinosaur and Legend) that was published in Newsband

New movies released in Navi Mumbai

By Dinesh Kamath

Hate Story 3

Hate Story 3 is a 2015 Indian thriller film directed by Vishal Pandya. Produced by T-Series, it stars Sharman Joshi, Zarine Khan, Daisy Shah, Karan Singh Grover, in lead roles, and Priyanshu Chatterjee in a pivotal role. Written by Vikram Bhatt and Madhuri Banerji, the film is a sequel to Pandya's 2014 thriller Hate Story 2.

The story of Hate Story 3 is about what happens when Love turns into hatred, hatred turns into betrayal. Hate Story 3 is a venomous thriller set in today's corporate world, filled with Loathe, Lies & Revenge. The story revolves around Aditya Singh (Sharman Joshi) & Siya Singh (Zareen Khan) who control the family business after the sad demise of Aditya's elder brother Vikram. An unknown businessman Saurav Singhania (Karan Singh) enters their lives. Saurav, who shows interest in merging with Aditya's company, makes an absurd offer ever. Stuck in this mess is Kavya (Daisy), Aditya's secretary, who falls in the love trap of Saurav, who uses her to destroy Aditya. What follows is Aditya and Siya's struggle to fight back and to uncover Saurav's real face behind the mask of a businessman. The erotic revenge thriller takes the audience through relationships, love, hatred and vengeance.

The film has Sharman Joshi as Aditya Deewan, Zarine Khan as Siya Deewan, Karan Singh Grover as Saurav Singhania, Daisy Shah as Kavya and Puja Gupta in a special song 'Neendein Khul Jaati Hain'

The music for Hate Story 3 is composed by Amaal Mallik, Meet Bros and Baman, while lyrics are written by Kumaar, Manoj Muntashir, Rashmi Virag and Shabbir Ahmed. The music rights for the film have been acquired by T-Series.

The film has songs like "Tumhe Apna Banane Ka", "Tu Isaq Mera", "Wajah Tum Ho", "Neendein Khul Jaati Hain", "Love To Hate You", "Tu Isaq Mera (Psycho-Love Mix)" and "Wajah Tum Ho (Zeeshan Version)".

Angry Indian Goddesses

Angry Indian Goddesses is a 2015 Hindi drama film, directed by Pan Nalin with Sandhya Mridul, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Sarah-Jane Dias, Anushka Manchanda, Amrit Maghera, Rajshri Deshpande and Pavleen Gujral playing lead roles with Adil Hussain. Being billed as India's first all-out female buddy film, it marks Nalin's debut in mainstream Hindi cinema.

Freida invites her all girls group of friends to Goa at her family home. They are all in for a surprise when she tells them all that she's getting married. The announcement sets off a chain of reactions, letting out hidden secrets.

Angry Indian Goddesses is India's first female buddy movie with a fresh, realistic portrait of women in India today. Frieda, a fashion-commercial photographer trying to find her own art, gathers her closest girlfriends from all over India to travel to Goa for a surprise announcement: she's getting married! Thus begins an impromptu bachelorette celebration that lasts for a full week. A riotous roller-coaster ride of girl bonding; friendships, break ups, make ups, fuck ups, passion, devastation, hesitation, terrorization and self realization. Amidst the fun and frenzy, heartbreak and heartache, passion and obsession, youth and innocence, secrets tumble out, tensions emerge, bonds are formed and emotions run high. Soon events will take a more serious turn, but for the moment these women are determined to seize the day.

The film has Sarah-Jane Dias as Frieda Da Silva, Tannishtha Chatterjee as Nargis Nasreen, Anushka Manchanda as 'Mad' Madhurita, Sandhya Mridul as 'Su' Suranjana, Amrit Maghera as 'Jo' Joanna, Arjun Mathur as Zain, Rajshri Deshpande as Lakshmi, Adil Hussain as Police Superintendent, Pavleen Gujral as 'Pammy' Pamela Jaswal, Jeffrey Goldberg as Chris, Vikram Kochhar as Agent and Anuj Choudhry as The Neighbour

In The Heart Of The Sea

In the Heart of the Sea is a 2015 biographical adventure film based on Nathaniel Philbrick's 2000 non-fiction book of the same name, about the sinking of the American whaling ship Essex in 1820, that inspired the tale of Moby-Dick. Directed by Ron Howard, the film stars Chris Hemsworth, Benjamin Walker, Cillian Murphy, Tom Holland, Ben Whishaw, and Brendan Gleeson.

In 1820, the whaling ship Essex is crewed by the Captain George Pollard, Jr., first officer Owen Chase, second officer Matthew Joy, and cabin boy Thomas Nickerson. During their voyage, the ship is sunk when it is rammed and split in half by a very large and enraged bull sperm whale, ultimately leaving its crew shipwrecked at sea for 90 days and more than a thousand miles from land. After the attack, the crew sails for South America and is forced to resort to cannibalism.

In the winter of 1820, the New England whaling ship Essex was assaulted by something no one could believe: a whale of mammoth size and will, and an almost human sense of vengeance. The real-life maritime disaster would inspire Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick. But that told only half the story. In the Heart of the Sea reveals the encounter’s harrowing aftermath, as the ship’s surviving crew is pushed to their limits and forced to do the unthinkable to stay alive. Braving storms, starvation, panic and despair, the men will call into question their deepest beliefs, from the value of their lives to the morality of their trade, as their captain searches for direction on the open sea and his first mate still seeks to bring the great whale down.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is an American epic space opera film directed, co-produced, and co-written by J. J. Abrams. The seventh installment in the main Star Wars film series, it stars Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong'o, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Max von Sydow. The story is set approximately 30 years after the events of Return of the Jedi (1983).

The Force Awakens is set approximately 30 years after the events of Return of the Jedi, where the Rebel Alliance and the Empire have become the Resistance and the First Order, respectively, and follows new leads Finn, Rey, and Poe Dameron alongside characters returning from previous Star Wars films. New worlds include Jakku, Takodana, D’Qar, and Hosnian Prime.

The Good Dinosaur

The Good Dinosaur is a 2015 American 3D computer-animated adventure comedy-drama film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The film stars Raymond Ochoa, Jack Bright, Sam Elliott, Anna Paquin, A. J. Buckley, Jeffrey Wright, Frances McDormand and Steve Zahn. Bob Peterson, who came up with the idea for the story, directed the film until August 2013. In October 2014, Peter Sohn was announced as the new director.

The Good Dinosaur asks the generations-old question: What if the asteroid that forever changed life on Earth missed the planet completely and giant dinosaurs never became extinct? The film is a humorous and exciting original story about Arlo, a lively Apatosaurus with a big heart. After a traumatic event unsettles Arlo’s family, he sets out on a remarkable journey, gaining an unlikely companion along the way – a human boy.

Legend

Legend is a 2015 British crime thriller film written and directed by Brian Helgeland. The film is based on the book The Profession of Violence: The Rise and Fall of the Kray Twins by John Pearson, which deals with the rise and fall of the Kray twins; the relationship that bound them together, and charts their gruesome career to their downfall and imprisonment for life in 1969.

This is the fifth feature film directed by Helgeland. Tom Hardy, Emily Browning and Christopher Eccleston star with Paul Bettany, Colin Morgan, David Thewlis, Tara Fitzgerald, and Taron Egerton featured in supporting roles.

The film focuses on the life of Reggie Kray as he seeks to control the psychotic tendencies of his twin, Ronald. Identical twin gangsters Ronald and Reginald Kray (Tom Hardy) terrorize London during the 1950s and 1960s. Writer-director Brian Helgeland centres his rise and fall story in the brother’s wildly differing personalities. Tom Hardy takes a dual role as Ronnie and Reggie Kray, the gangster twins who rose from boxing careers cut short by trouble with the law to become, briefly, almost-respectable businessmen. Their great impact came from ruling not just the East End, where protection rackets and extortion were practically a tradition, but in extending to the West End as well. As club- and casino-owners there, they rubbed shoulders with starlets and singers, politicians and peers, and made themselves into figures too big to ignore. The pair’s glamorous lifestyles and tendency to openly celebrate their gangster roots made them the toast of the more daring members of society. But, of course, it also made them targets: for other gangsters, like south London’s Eddie Richardson (Paul Bettany, harking back to Gangster No.1), and for the police, led by Detective Superintendant “Nipper” Read (a dressed-down Christopher Eccleston). Their fall, one way or another, was inevitable, but in Legend the slow collapse of their empire is laid largely at Ronnie’s feet initially, thanks to his psychopathic tendencies and erratic behaviour. The savvier Reggie can’t rein in his wayward younger brother without destroying him, in a symbiotic relationship that binds them together against the world.

The film has Tom Hardy as Ronald "Ronnie" Kray and Reginald "Reggie" Kray - twins who terrorised London during the 1950s and 1960s, Emily Browning as Frances Shea, the wife of Reggie Kray who met Kray at 16 and wed him aged 22 in 1965 and committed suicide in 1967, and narrates the film from beyond the grave, Christopher Eccleston as Leonard "Nipper" Read, a Detective Superintendent in charge of taking down the Krays, Taron Egerton as Edward "Mad Teddy" Smith, a psychopathic gay man rumoured to have had affairs with Ronnie, Paul Bettany as Charlie Richardson - Charlie and his brother Eddie were childhood friends of the Krays and the leaders of notorious south London gang (also known as the Torture Gang), which had a feud and war with the Krays' gang 'The Firm' during the 1960s, Colin Morgan as Frankie Shea, Reggie's driver at the Kray Firm, and older brother of Frances (unlike Reggie, who's the identical twin brother of Ronnie), described as a "young and very good-looking man.", David Thewlis as Leslie Payne, The Krays' business manager who considered himself a cultured man and he was sickened by the twins' violence, Chazz Palminteri as Angelo Bruno, the head of the Philadelphia crime family and friend and business associate to Ronnie and Reggie, Aneurin Barnard as David Bailey, a fashion photographer in the early 1960s, Paul Anderson as Albert Donoghue, the gofer of Ronnie and Reggie Kray, and Reggie's chief lieutenant, Kevin McNally as Harold Wilson and Alex Giannini as Antonio Caponigro

Dinesh Kamath's news 'World Nuclear Energy Day observed on 2 Dec at KBPC' that was published in Newsband

World Nuclear Energy Day observed on 2 Dec at KBPC

By Dinesh Kamath

NAVI MUMBAI: Navi Mumbai Science Foundation (NMSF) and Karmaveer Bhaurao Patil College (KBPC) in association with Indian Association for Radiation Protection and Maharashtra Academy of Sciences conducted the "World Nuclear Energy Day", on 2nd of December 2015, the anniversary of the first criticality of the first reactor constructed by Famous American Scientist Enrico Fermi.

In this event that took place in KBPC, the chief guest Padma Vibhushan Prof. R. Chidambaram displayed an impressive list of technology developed by DAE organization. Prof. Chidambaram emphasized the importance of research output its centres. He said that the true strength of a country comes from its knowledge based economy and stressed on the contribution of DAE in this direction.

Dr. Bhardwaj, Chairman AERB, talked about safety in operating nuclear reactors by comparing it with natural radioactivity. The use of radioactivity is seen in various fields from non-invasive scanning, medical treatment to sewage processing. He described the role of AERB in maintaining the use of radioactivity in safe regime.

In Panel discussion Dr. S. Kailas Rajaramanna Fellow of BARC chaired the panel discussion which discussed the fear arising due to myths around nuclear energy. Scientists from BARC, NPCIL and AERB were panel members.

NMSF Chairman Dr. Bhagwat said that events like this educate the young minds and encourage students to participate in debates regarding nuclear power with right information rather than fears and misinformation.

Dinesh Kamath's news 'Heart 2015 – Band competition postponed due to overwhelming response' that was published in Newsband

Heart 2015 – Band competition postponed due to overwhelming response

By Dinesh Kamath

Above Photo: Ellis Jayakar, founder of Heart

The Heart Foundation (Helping to Educate Associate Rehabilitate & Teach) which was to organise a War of Bands – Band Competition called Heart 2015 – Beats For All in aid of Prevention of Abuse of Children & Teens (PACT) has been postponed due to time constraints.

Talking to Dr. Ellis Jayakar, founder of Heart, he said "There has been overwhelming response of our band competition with over 50 bands registering and we felt that we need to give each a time to perform and two days are insufficient. Also we are not getting 3 days continuous booking due to various programs happening in the city so we have postponed it to 22-24 January 2016."

"We also plan to have various other programs like dance, mimicry etc not only for the youth but also the kids too" he added.

"Being a musician, I am overwhelmed by the response and it's the first time like this is happening" said Keyoor Karadkhedkar, who heads the music division of the foundation – BEATS

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

Dinesh Kamath's news 'Aamir, India is over-secular' that was published in Newsband

Aamir, India is over-secular

Aamir Khan joined forces with writers, actors and scientists and re-opened the debate on intolerance in the country by voicing his own concern and his wife’s anxiety and thoughts, perhaps fleeting, of relocating elsewhere. It was not long before that the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre had made him the brand ambassador of Swachh Bharat while continuing with him as the face of Incredible India. The Narendra Modi government had been gracious to the actor.

Bollywood, of which Khan is an integral part, has never traded on religious identities. Aamir Khan has the wealth, celebrity status and may be umpteen fans and friends. He should be thankful to India. India has allowed many Muslims to rise to the top. At least India doesn’t tell the world that it needs Hindu communalism the way Pakistan shamelessly admits that it needs Islamic communalism in order to survive as a 'nation'. Instead the Indian government and many Hindus go out of the way to practise secularism by being over generous to Muslims and unjust to their own fellow Hindus.

The job of the Opposition - especially Congress - is to catch any rag-tag event like "intolerance" which had happened several times during its 50 year regime and shout at the top of their voice. It is evident that all the 'intellectuals' who had complained are pro-Congress if not stooges whom Congress had patronised during its long innings in power. It is become a habit for influential sections in India to keep the heat on by raising intolerance as an issue. In this era of competitive journalism, sections of media see the issue as factual and engage in continuous discourses on the perceived atmosphere of intolerance, sacrificing neutrality. The silent observers are conscious of the fact that India as a nation is tolerant, accommodative and moving in the direction of growth with equity, and that the results will speak for themselves in due course.

Uproar over Aamir Khan’s comment is appropriate because a person who earns name and fame in this country and whom people of this country has made a superstar and still he sees intolerance in their love. If approaches of people in India was sectarian a Muslim would not be a superstar in Hindu majority nation. The free speech given by India to its people is nowhere in the world. That is why Aamir Khan could air his views so openly. Would any Hindu dare to speak out like this in Pakistan? Khan should make his comment carefully because masses follows such stardom. Did Aamir Khan or any Muslim care to condemn Pakistan when bomb was blasted on Indian soil or when bomb blast claimed the lives of several, including high profile, people from Taj Hotel? Is Aamir Khan looking at recent incidents through a religious prism?

Raising a question on plurality of India is unacceptable. In 2014, in US, a black 17 year old teenage boy was shot by a white policeman. Does that make US intolerant? In France, Muslims were prohibited from wearing hijab. Does that make France intolerant? The kind of communal incidents which happen in India happen everywhere in the world but does that mean Americans or others start questioning their countries? India is the most liberal country. Here we can say anything about anyone.