Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'When will NMIA become operational?' that was published in Newsband

When will NMIA become operational?

The Navi Mumbai International Airport is unlikely to be ready for operations before 2022, according to Alexandre de Juniac, director general and CEO of International Air Transport Association (IATA). But early this year, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had set a deadline of 2019 for the completion of the airport, which was then revised to 2020. Now who is right?

After over a decade of dillydallying the state government woke up to the fact that the lone Sahar-based airport is saturated beyond capacity. Since Mumbai is one of the key cities, it would be detrimental to not solve the airport issue.

One thing is certain. NMIA will become a reality. Hence Cidco will float global tenders for three prime plots reserved for five star hotels as part of the much-awaited Navi Mumbai airport-led growth for the expanding city. Cidco looks at raking in at least Rs 200 crore from the land deal. It takes nearly three to four years for a five-star hotel to be constructed and commissioned. The airport's development and that of the new hotels would thus be simultaneous.

At the end of second week of April 2017, the meeting of the 2019 deadline for the first take off from the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) appeared uncertain as ground work for the Rs16,000 crore mega green field project had come to a "standstill''. The crucial stage II forest clearance from the MoEF was still eluding the town planning body.

However, just a few days later, the Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) granted the crucial stage II forest clearance for the Navi Mumbai international airport (NMIA), paving the way all the work on the ground such as cutting and levelling of Ulwe hill, changing the course of the river and rehabilitation of projected-affected people (PAPs). The government once again appeared determined to make the first flight from the airport to take off by 2019-end. The MoEF had laid down around 35 conditions to comply with. Cidco has complied with most of them in the contract conditions.

Cidco is all set to start the Ulwe hill blasting work to pave way for the proposed Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA). The hill cutting and blasting operations will also involve diversion of Ulwe River's course. It will take about one week to prepare for the blasts. The hill will be brought down to 8m from its present highest point of around 90-92m. Cidco will level the hill down to 5.5m and the remaining 2.5m will later be filled up by the strategic partner, GVK-led MIAL group. According to a rough estimate, 3.5 crore cubic metre of rock debris will be obtained after the blasting operations are done.

Thus it is clear that the work on NMIA has begun with all seriousness. 

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Treat animals kindly' that was published in Newsband

Treat animals kindly

Cruelty meted out to animals and birds while transporting them from one place to another for slaughter is a horrible sight. This is not allowed under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. It is about time that the municipal bodies got tough against such illegal acts. There is no formal slaughterhouse within the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation jurisdiction, which is why the illegal chicken and goat killings are taking place in a haphazard and unscientific manner.

Meanwhile, there is already a global movement towards vegetarianism and vegan lifestyle as more and more people are shunning meat.

Kanpur Municipal Corporation (KMC) had recently sealed two slaughter houses. At that time, one of the workers of this slaughter house said that government should first provide employment to people like him who are dependent on these slaughter houses and then shut them down. He said that the sealing of the slaughter houses by the state government will render several of them jobless.

The Uttar Pradesh government had also cracked down only against illegal slaughter houses. At that time, Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that what is being done in Uttar Pradesh is on illegal slaughter houses and that they didn’t want anything illegal. The Minister also said there was drop of 8.87 per cent in buffalo meat export in 2015-16 in comparison to 2014-15 which was due to various factors, one of them being China not giving access to its markets to various Indian goods, including buffalo meat.

A few days back, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also directed police officials to prepare an action plan for closure of slaughter houses across the state. He also ordered a blanket ban on smuggling of cows and said zero tolerance would be exercised in this regard. The BJP manifesto had said that all the illegal slaughter houses would be closed and there would be a blanket ban on all the mechanised slaughter houses.

Due to cow smuggling, dairy-based industries have failed to flourish and there has been a fall in cattle count. Should this be enough justification for slaughter houses to be closed down?

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'All eyes on the Presidential election' that was published in Newsband

All eyes on the Presidential election

The Presidential election will be held on July 17. The Bharatiya Janata Party, with its regular allies and new-found friends, should be able to see any non-controversial candidate through. Unless the ruling party scares away all its supporting parties by projecting a polarising candidate, the opposition cannot expect to put up anything but a token fight.

Ideally, the Congress would like to wait for the BJP to announce its candidate before revealing its own. The BJP might have in mind some eminent people not directly involved in politics in order to appeal to a broader political spectrum. What is certain is that there will be no consensus candidate. In the current political milieu the BJP would be well advised to project a non-controversial and eminently recognizable person as the Presidential candidate.

Now, will the good sense prevail upon the political parties so that the president can become the real watch dog of Indian democracy? Will they amend the constitution to the effect of reverting the power of the president? It is surprising that Mrs Indira Gandhi clipped the    wings of the President by the amendment of the constitution but no party, however strong critic of Mrs Gandhi, talked about reconsidering the position. Actually, if any damage is inflicted upon the Indian democracy no party takes any initiative to restore that. No party wants to rectify the root cause of the problem, may be, for the fear of losing the scope of fishing in troubled waters.

The President of our country is a mere constitutional head with no executive power. His role gets prominent only in cases when any party fails to get the magic figure during Lok Sabha elections. Otherwise he is bound by constitutional obligations to go by the cabinet decisions. Under such circumstances whether the presidential candidate is a distinguished scholar or an eminent constitutional expert does not matter. The presidential election turns out to be the battle of ego between the parties in power and in opposition. Every political party wants his trusted man to hold the lofty post for the smooth political journey without any hitch. If the President returns a bill for reconsideration the ego of the parties get hurt although it is well known that the President is bound to sign the bill.

The political parties should build a consensus that they will not waste time, energy and money at least for the purpose of election for a post which has been reduced to a mere titular head. Why the BJP should opt for a 'consensus' candidate since it can make one President of their choice. Was there such a demand to Congress party to put a consensus candidate? Never. They used to select their own man (or woman) and imposed upon the candidate for other parties to support. Then why a change from Hindu side now?

It is unfortunate that as of now, there seems to be no person who can emerge as consensus candidate for all parties and perform presidential duties impartially. Let us face it square: the post of Indian President is almost a farce - in that while he/she is defined as the "be all and end all" of the Constitution and of all things under the Parliament/Judiciary and Executive, the President in practice is a mere "rubber stamp" of the Cabinet, with no practical power to take individual (Constitutionally provided) action. Do we really need a Costly Office of the embellishment called President?

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Garbage related problem in Navi Mumbai' that was published in Newsband

Garbage related problem in Navi Mumbai

The heaps of garbage continue to be strewn across the city of Navi Mumbai. Unhygienic conditions are created due to garbage accumulation. Cidco have begun searching for open plots and abandoned and isolated areas in various nodes where disposal can be done for the time being. The dumping yard has been designed to accommodate over 300 metric tonnes of civic waste generated from 7-8 lakh population comprising four nodes like Kharghar, Kamothe, Kalamboli and New Panvel.

The worst thing is the residents have started littering garbage on roads to keep their society complex clean. Both the residents and the authorities should cooperate with one another in such matters only after which the issues can get resolved.

Residents of Kamothe, Kharghar, New Panvel and Kalamboli are facing garbage problems even after Cidco hired a new contractor. Garbage accumulation is attributed to the absence of proper waste management system in place with the change of agencies from time to time. Residents are irked over the lax attitude of Cidco's solid waste management wing and hope that a civic body like NMMC and PCMC will provide better civic amenities on the health front.

Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation has come up with a brilliant idea to dispose off garbage speedily. After achieving nearly 75% segregation of solid waste into wet (biodegradable) and dry (recyclable) categories in all its eight wards, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC ) is set to introduce a third category, namely electronic waste(e-waste) segregation.

They have been constantly telling people to segregate waste at the source level. Societies who did not do so were first given a warning, following which garbage was not picked up as punishment, and further, a fine was imposed.

To facilitate segregation, the municipality had provided waste bins in two colours: green for wet waste and blue for dry waste. We will have to wait and see whether this method will help solve garbage related problems. 

Dinesh Kamath’s column ‘New movies released in Navi Mumbai’ (Bachche Kachche Sachche, Behen Hogi Teri, Raabta, Wishing Tree, Love U Family and The Mummy) that was published in Newsband

New movies released in Navi Mumbai

Bachche Kachche Sachche

Bachche Kachche Sachche is a drama comedy film directed by Ravi Sadasiv.

Not every child dreams of becoming an astronaut or a doctor, some dream of something impossible - the end of school, and holidays forever! Bachche Kachche Sachche brings to you a rib-tickling but serious story that brings the children's amusing dream to life.

The film has Ektaa Singh, Ashish Vidyarthi, Mukesh Tiwari, Manoj Babani, Chirag Bolakani, Lokashit Patnaik, Aryan Kataria, Nikunj Pondaya, Tara Sharma, Ganesh, Durvesh S Parab and Anna Hazare in Special Appearance.

Behen Hogi Teri

Behen Hogi Teri (English: She Must Be Your Sister) is a 2017 Indian Bollywood romantic comedy film starring Rajkummar Rao and Shruti Haasan.

Gattu (Rajkummar Rao) has a problem, he loves Binny (Shruti Haasan) who lives in their neighborhood. But everyone says that the girls of the neighborhood should be treated as own sister or mother. So no one considers Gattu as a potential groom for Binny, rather gives him tasks which are usually done by a brother for his sister. Binny is also very mischievous, she is not committing to Gattu entirely. Now we have to watch how Gattu convinces both Binny and the neighborhood.

The film has Rajkummar Rao as Gattu, Shruti Haasan as Binny, Gautam Gulati as Rahul, Gulshan Grover, Ranjeet, Kamlesh Gill, Darshan Jariwala, Ninad Kamat, Mrunal Jain, Herry Tangri (Actor) and Reena Aggarwal As Ritu.

The songs featured in the film are composed by Rishi Rich, Kaushik-Akash-Guddu (K A G) for Jam8, Jaidev Kumar and Yo Yo Honey Singh. The movie has songs like "Tera Hoke Rahoon" sung by Arijit Singh, Shubhanshu Kesharwani, "Jaanu" by Raftaar, Juggy D, Shivi, "Teri Yaadon Mein"         by Yasser Desai, Shubhanshu Kesharwani, Pawni Pandey, Yash Narvekar, "Jai Maa"    by Sahil Solanki, Jyotica Tangri, Parry G, "Tenu Na Bol Pawaan" by Yash Narvekar, Jyotica Tangri, "Tenu Na Bol Pawaan (Reprise)"       by Asees Kaur and "Teri Yaadon Mein (Reprise)" by Yash Narvekar, Pawni Pandey.

Raabta

Raabta (English: Connection) is an Indian romantic thriller film directed and produced by Dinesh Vijan co-produced by Homi Adajania and Bhushan Kumar. Stars: Sushant Singh Rajput, Kriti Sanon and Jim Sarbh are in the lead roles. Deepika Padukone will be seen doing a cameo in the title song of the film while Rajkummar Rao will also make a cameo appearance in the film.

The movie is a romantic love story based on dreams and destiny. Sushant Singh Rajput and Kriti Sanon will be playing the protagonists whose love spans over two different eras.

The film has Sushant Singh Rajput as Shivay (Shiv), Kriti Sanon as Saira, Varun Sharma, Nidhi Subbaiah, Satendra Bagasi as Dhruv, Navdeep Tomar Gujjar, Rahul Kohli as Kabir, Jim Sarbh as Zakir (Zak) Merchant, Karan Singh Chhabra, Irrfan as the narrator, Rajkumar Rao in a special appearance and Deepika Padukone in a special appearance in Raabta Title Song.

The music of the film has been composed by Pritam, JAM8, Meet Bros and Saurav Roy. The lyrics have been penned by Amitabh Bhattacharya, Irshad Kamil and Kumaar. The film has songs like "Ik Vaari Aa", "Raabta (Title Song)", "Sadda Move", "Lambiyaan Si Judaiyaan", "Main Tera Boyfriend", "Darasal" and "Ik Vaari Aa (Jubin Version)".

Wishing Tree

Wishing Tree is a film directed by Manika Sharma, Writer: Manika Sharma, Stars: Varsha Agnihotri, Shabana Azmi, Jayati Bhatia.

Produced by Raajaysh Chetwal (Rhombus Films), 'The Wishing Tree' is a magical, inspirational and an extremely entertaining story of five children in a hill-station somewhere in India, who come together to save their 'wishing tree' from being cut by vested interests. The film is extremely lively, endearing and engrossing so that the underlying message to protect trees and environment is seamlessly driven home.

The Wishing Tree, a 6000 year old witness to life on earth, stands dormant and silent, unable to fulfill its destiny. For over a thousand years, no-one has come even close, let alone to make a wish! When 12 year old overweight Nikita's life begins to turn out of control, she escapes into the forest to meet a mystic gypsy woman, who speaks to her about burning forests and choked rivers - as she intensely peers into a large burnt book, the pages reveal the burning forests, as the pages burn at same time as the forests do, smoke emanates and warns of the natural disasters to come... Nikita's life is mystically enjoined with four others - witty Dhanua, a village runaway, who works at the local eatery. Dyslexic Sean, who must come to terms with his separating parents. Eleven year old Fatima, whose obsession with Bollywood is driving her father insane and Guriqbal who must steal and store away stuff for a time when his parents turn really poor. On the most hurtful day of Nikita's life, the mystic woman tells her the story of the 'The Wishing Trees that beckon those who can have faith in their powers. As the 'The Wishing Tree' returns to life, infused with the faith of the children, the test of friendship is yet to come.

Love U Family

Love U Family is an Indian family-drama film, presented by Bharat Shah written and directed by Sachindra Sharma and produced by Vipul Diwani and D S Bhatia under the banner of Khushi Motion pictures. The film stars Salman Yusuff Khan, Aksha Pardasany and Kashyap in lead roles while Shakti Kapoor and National Award winning actor Manoj Joshi will also be seen in the film.

In this movie, Salman is yet again all set to steal hearts with his unparalleled dancing skills while Aksha and Kashyap too show some great dance moves. The film will be a treat for the youth as well as the family audience.

The film has Salman Yusuff Khan as Raj, Aksha Pardasany as Khushi, Kashyap as Avi, Manoj Joshi as Dhiren Devani and Shakti Kapoor as Lovely Singh.

The Mummy

The Mummy is a 2017 American film directed by Alex Kurtzman and written by David Koepp, Christopher McQuarrie, and Dylan Kussman, with a story by Kurtzman, Jon Spaihts and Jenny Lumet. It is a reboot of The Mummy franchise and the first installment in the Dark Universe film series. The film stars Tom Cruise, Sofia Boutella, Annabelle Wallis, Jake Johnson, Courtney B. Vance, Marwan Kenzari and Russell Crowe.

Thought safely entombed in a crypt deep beneath the unforgiving desert, an ancient queen (Sofia Boutella) whose destiny was unjustly taken from her is awakened in our current day, bringing with her malevolence grown over millennia and terrors that defy human comprehension.

The film has Tom Cruise as Nick Morton, Sofia Boutella as Princess Ahmanet / The Mummy. She is loosely based on Egyptian goddess Amunet. Annabelle Wallis as Jenny Halsey, Jake Johnson as Sergeant Chris Vail, Courtney B. Vance as Colonel Greenway, Marwan Kenzari as Malik, Russell Crowe as Dr. Henry Jekyll, Javier Botet as Set, Selva Rasalingam as King Menehptre, Dylan Smith as Lorenzo Montanari, Rez Kempton as Foreman and Chasty Ballesteros as Kira Lee.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'India’s heaviest rocket launched' that was published in Newsband

India’s heaviest rocket launched

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has done the successful developmental flight of the country’s heaviest Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, the GSLV Mark-III. It can reach the geostationary orbit about 36,000 km from Earth. It almost doubles India’s current launch capacity.

It can now be said without hesitation that India belongs to the elite club of countries that have mastered cryogenic technology. The launch provides invaluable data on aerodynamic behaviour of the vehicle.

The Mark-III will be operational with the success of one more developmental flight, which is set to take place within a year. This will make India self-reliant in launching heavier satellites, bringing down costs substantially. It is likely that other countries will soon turn to ISRO for the launch of heavier satellites at a lower cost.

Compared with the two-member crew capacity of the GSLV, the Mk-III can carry three astronauts and have more space to carry out experiments.

Indian space science is scaling new heights and its recent achievement is commendable. The mission’s success will enable India to launch four-tonne satellites on its own rocket instead of paying huge amounts of money to foreign space agencies to execute the operation.

ISRO’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk III rocket lifted off from the space launch centre in Sriharikota on June 5. The rocket, weighing 640 tonnes and standing 43.43 metres tall, blasted off from the second launch pad at India’s rocket port at Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, around 105 km from Chennai. ISRO’s focus is to achieve 12 launches per year. The launch was the culmination of work done over decades. IRSO has given birth to a ‘Bahubali’ today describing the launch of the GSLV Mk III. They have made a Make in India launch vehicle. PM Modi said that the mission took India closer to the next generation launch vehicle and satellite capability.

The rocket’s main and bigger cryogenic engine has been developed by space scientists indigenously. It will help India get a greater share of the multi-billion dollar global space market and reduce dependency on international launching vehicles. The rocket will carry a 3,136-kg GSAT-19 communications satellite – the heaviest to be lifted by an Indian rocket till date – to an altitude of around 179km above the Earth after just over 16 minutes into the flight

India is one of the world leaders in rocket technology. This is because with years of dedicated research we've developed the ability to launch satellites with utmost reliability, and at the cheapest possible price. A successful launch of this rocket is yet another major step towards being self-reliant in the country’s space programme.

ISRO has asked the Centre for Rs. 12,500 crore for its mission to put humans in space.  It is true that there are so many pressing problems in rural areas and funds are required there too. But Space Science can help in many ways of Development. Apart from research ISRO is making money for the country so further technical advances will open more possibilities of country's development, revenue. Anyway other countries also getting benefited through ISRO by its success rate and low cost technology.

It is true that there is over spending on our space programme and neglecting of other issues like poverty, farmers water shortage etc. But we are generating/producing a new set of scientific populations. The next generation will take the country further in technology and other development. On top of that, we can make revenue by doing proxy launchers for others. We cannot shut/confine the brain of the current youth. We have the brain and we should make full use of it now.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Women in military' that was published in Newsband

Women in military

Indian Army is to open doors to women in combat roles, according to General Bipin Rawat. Very few countries including Germany, Australia, Canada, the US, Britain, Denmark, Finland, France, Norway, Sweden and Israel have allowed women in combat roles. Currently women are allowed in a number of select areas including in medical, legal, educational, signals and engineering wings of the Army but combat roles are kept off limit for them due to operational concerns and logistical issues. The Army Chief said he was ready to recruit women as jawans and the matter is being taken up with the government.

Creating history, the Indian Air Force, last year, had inducted three women as fighter pilots. A decision on having women as fighter pilots will be taken after evaluating performance of the three women. The Indian Navy is currently deliberating on a policy on having women onboard the ships.

Speaking from the global angle, for over 3,000 years in a large number of cultures and nations, women have played many roles in the military, from ancient warrior women, to the women currently serving in conflicts, although the vast majority of all combatants in every culture have been men.

Even though women serving in the military has often been diverse, a very small number of women in history have fought alongside men. In the American Civil War, there were a few women who cross-dressed as men in order to fight. Fighting on the battlefront in disguise was not the only way women involved themselves in war. Some also served as nurses and aides.

Despite various, though limited, roles in the armies of past societies, the role of women in the military, particularly in combat, is controversial and it is only recently that women have begun to be given a more prominent role in contemporary armed forces. As increasing numbers of countries begin to expand the role of women in their militaries, the debate continues.

More recently, from the beginning of the 1970s, most Western armies have begun to admit women to serve active duty in all of military branches. In 9 countries women are conscripted into military.

The only nation to deploy female combat troops in substantial numbers was Russia. From the outset, female recruits either joined up in disguise or were tacitly accepted by their units. The most prominent were a contingent of front-line light cavalry in a Cossack regiment commanded by a female colonel. Others included the famous Maria Bochkareva, who was decorated three times and promoted to senior NCO rank, while the New York Times reported that a group of twelve schoolgirls from Moscow had joined up together disguised as young men. In 1917, the Provisional Government raised a number of "Women's Battalions", with Bochkareva given an officer's commission to command the first unit. They fought well, but failed to provide the propaganda value expected of them and were disbanded before the end of the year. In the later Russian Civil War, the Bolsheviks employed some women infantry, while female soldiers are also recorded in the White Guard.

In the 1918 Finnish Civil War, more than 2,000 women fought in the Women's Red Guards.

In World War II, all the main nations used women in uniform. The great majority performed nursing, clerical or support roles. Over 500,000 had combat roles in anti-aircraft units in Britain and Germany, and front-line units in Soviet Union.