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FTII struggles due to backlog of batches, student protests, limited infrastructurePremium Story
The Indian Express | 1 week ago | |
The Indian Express
1 week ago | |

At Pune’s prestigious Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), students from the 2020 batch went on a hunger strike on March 15. They were protesting against the institute’s directions to one of their batchmates: repeat the semester “on account of failure to meet attendance and credit completion requirements”.Twelve days later, on May 26, the hunger strike was called off after five students were hospitalised. However, 42 others continue to boycott classes in protest. The batchmate repeating the semester as a supernumerary student with the next batch, they said, would mean that he would not be allowed to participate in any major group assignments. Since each student in a group has a fixed role to play in the practical exercises, he will have nothing to show for when he graduates, they added. An Academic Council meeting on the students’ demand — to allow him to continue with the current batch — is scheduled for Tuesday.The protest is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to issues plaguing FTII. In 2015, the students went on a 139-day strike against the appointment of TV actor Gajendra Chauhan as its chairperson. The protest attracted national attention, causing the government much embarrassment. At that time, there were five batches (2008 to 2013) of the film wing on campus instead of three. FTII had received flak then due to students overstaying on campus: some batches have taken as long as seven years to finish their three-year diploma. The administration had blamed the lockdown for the overcrowding.FTII Registrar Sayyid Rabeehashmi told The Indian Express, “The single reason for parallel batches on campus at present is the lockdown. FTII, along with Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute, took the decision to have parallel batches on campus instead of announcing zero years in the larger interest of aspiring storytellers.”However, the students alleged that lack of resources — studios, equipment and teaching staff — were to blame for the presence of parallel batches on campus.Trouble with revised syllabusIn June 2016, FTII implemented its revised syllabus and introduced the choice-based credit system (CBCS) system. The institute had earlier revised the syllabus in 2000. However, the 2000 revision led to delays in completion of courses on time. Following demands to fix these delays, the syllabus was revised once again and the changes were implemented in 2016.The administration had claimed that the latest revised syllabus would help students finish their courses on time and prevent a backlog of parallel batches on campus, which was putting extra pressure on its resources. The CBCS, it felt, would provide students greater freedom of choice, while allowing the administration to stick to the stipulated course durations of three years (two years for screenplay and screen acting diplomas).Nearly six years later, the administration is still grappling with the same problem. There are four batches of film wings on campus. A fifth one, the 2017 batch, is technically yet to finish the course since the results have not been announced, apart from two TV course batches. The admission process for another batch, 2022, is almost complete. The film wing admits 11 students each in seven courses, namely direction and screenplay writing, cinematography, editing, sound recording and sound design, art direction and production design, screen acting, and screen writing. The television wing has four one-year courses, namely direction, electronic cinematography, video editing and sound recording, and television engineering, each admitting 11 students annually.However, students from the batches of 2016 and 2017 have alleged the syllabus revision plan was implemented in a hurry in 2016.“We felt the revised syllabus wasn’t well thought out. For the 2016 batch, the administration kept making changes to the syllabus on the go. Exercises were dropped arbitrarily…. They also dropped the faculty feedback exercise, as envisaged in the original syllabus, after getting spooked due to the poor ratings that some of them were getting. This had led to protests from 2016 and 2017 batches,” said a student from the latter batch.Following protests and adverse feedback from department heads, FTII formed a committee to review the syllabus in December 2019. The outcome of this committee remains unknown. However, the Registrar said the revised syllabus had been working well. “The 2016 batch completed the course on time, but the 2017 batch completed the course in March 2023 due to the lockdown,” he said.Many vacancies, few studiosFaculty vacancies are another big issue affecting FTII. In almost all seven departments of the film wing and four departments of the TV wing, 60 to 80 per cent permanent positions — including heads of four film wings — have been lying vacant.To make up for these shortages, the institute has been increasingly relying on contractual faculty. However, delays in dispersing of salaries — at times till the last week of the month — have caused unhappiness among the contractual staff, some of whom are hired for short durations like two-three months.A few months ago, FTII finally commenced the process to fill these vacancies: dean (television), five vacancies for professors (HoDs), eight associate professors, six assistant professors and 81 vacancies in Classes B and C posts.“The recruitment process is on currently,” said the Registrar.Students have also pointed to the lack of infrastructure at FTII. The institute has just two production studios. This means that only two projects can be done at a time though there are five batches on campus at present. Since 2010, the administration has been talking about constructing two new studios on its land, off Paud Road, but the plans are yet to materialise.A student from the 2017 batch, which finished its final exercise just recently and is waiting for the results, said the lack of resources was primarily responsible for the delays affecting his and the subsequent batches.“Insufficient studios, lack of planning by the administration, understaffed departments and issues related to the syllabus have all caused this backlog. The administration may blame the lockdown but that isn’t the primary reason. The backlog will continue until these issues are resolved,” said the student.However, Rabeehashmi dismissed the allegation. “The statement that the lack of resources is a reason for the backlog is false and baseless. As such, the facilities at the institute are for three batches of film wing and one batch of TV wing. Therefore, the institute has already provisioned for addressing additional requirements to meet the academic exigencies,” the Registrar said, adding that the construction of the proposed studios will commence soon.Interim director, no chairpersonWhile protests by students have returned to FTII, it stick does not have a full-time director. Since the last director, Bhupendra Kainthola, was transferred after a six-year tenure — which included multiple extensions — in December 2021, he hasn’t been replaced yet. Professor Sandip Shahare has been filling in for the director since then.The institute’s governing council, its highest decision-making body, also remains headless. The tenure of director Shekhar Kapur, who was appointed chairperson of the governing council in September 2020, ended on March 3, but the government is yet to reconstitute the FTII Society.“The current protest at the institute is because of a decision taken by the Academic Council. In absence of the FTII Society, the AC has representatives from the administration and ex-officio members, apart from two student representatives. There are no FTII alumni or other members representing creative fields. That’s making the issue difficult to deal with,” said a former office-bearer of FTIISA.

FTII struggles due to backlog of batches, student protests, limited infrastructurePremium Story
A rooftop killing, writing on the wall and a revenge attack that left six dead in MP villagePremium Story
The Indian Express | 1 month ago | |
The Indian Express
1 month ago | |

The house of the Tomars is a ghostly ruin. Ransacked and stripped bare since the entire family left for Ahmedabad a decade ago, cobwebs snake up the walls of the two-room haveli and wild growth fill the courtyard. On the walls of one of the rooms on the top floor is a scribble, possibly a portent of the coming storm: “Ranjit ki maut nishchit hai (Ranjit’s death is assured).”A rooftop shooting in 2013 in this haveli in Lepa, a village in Madhya Pradesh’s Morena district, would set in motion a chain of events that ended in six members of the Tomar family being shot dead on Friday, allegedly by their neighbours who were avenging the killings of two of their own a decade ago, police said.Those killed on Friday have been identified as Gajender Singh Tomar, the 60-year-old patriarch of the family, his sons Satyaprakash and Sanju, and daughters-in-law Keshkumari, Babli and Madhu Kumari. Nine of the Tomars, including Gajender’s son Virender, were injured in the attack.Nine people — all members of their neighbour Dhir Singh’s family — have been named in the case. While two of them, Dhir Singh and his relative Rajo Devi, are under arrest, the others are absconding.According to the Morena police, a dispute over dumping agricultural waste at a ground meant for a school had led to Gajender’s son Virender and a distant relative Ranjit allegedly gunning down two men from Dhir Singh’s family.Sources said that as the dispute escalated that day, the Tomars had fired from their rooftop at the two from Dhir Singh’s family who stood below — a decade later, it would be the exact spot, in front of the haveli, where six of the Tomar family would be killed on Friday.According to the FIR, the Tomars, including several children, had boarded a tempo with their belongings and reached Lepa village at 9.30 am. Waiting for them were the accused persons — Dhir Singh, his sons Monu and Ramu carrying wooden sticks; Bhupendra and Ajit, armed with Mouser rifles; Rajjo Devi holding a fistful of cartridges; Sonu and Shamu holding country made pistols; and Surajbhan with an axe.Lepa village is part of Chambal division, a region once infamous for its guns and dacoits. With a population of about 1,700, it’s barely 3 km from Bhidausa village, home to Paan Singh Tomar, the national-champion-turned-dacoit whose life was captured in an award-winning Bollywood film.“My father, grandfather and uncles know how to fire a weapon just like everyone else in my village. We did not come with weapons, we just wanted to return home. If we had rifles, things would be different,” says Ranjana, 17, Gajender’s granddaughter. On Friday, as the attackers dispatched bullets from their Mouser rifles, killing Ranjana’s mother Keshkumari as she tried to shield her husband, the 17-year-old had pulled out her phone to record the attack. Ranjana’s mobile phone is now part of the police’s evidence.Sitting outside the haveli, surrounded by grieving women, Ranjana says the 2013 incident would change their lives forever.Fearful of the consequences, around 20 members of Gajender’s family had fled to Ahmedabad in Gujarat, where he and the other male members worked odd jobs, including as security guards, while the women worked as thread cutters in small garment units. None of the children in the family, including Ranjana and her cousins, ever went to school.However, the 2013 case caught up with Ranjana’s father Virender, who worked as a rickshaw puller in Ahmedabad, and he was arrested in 2021.“After my father’s arrest, my mother and I worked overtime in factories earning Rs 5,000 a month. But then we lost our jobs during the lockdown and things got desperate… That’s when Dhir Singh’s family reached out to us for a compromise,” says Ranjana.Her grandmother, Gajender’s wife Kusuma, 57, said that it was at Morena’s Ambah court, where some of her family members had to appear for the 2013 murder trial, that Dhir Singh’s family allegedly struck a deal: they would turn hostile in exchange for Rs 5 lakh and a home.“My husband kept turning down their offer. But after the lockdown, it became difficult to earn any money. We have 11 women in the family and had to marry the girls off. Going back home seemed to be the only way out,” she says.Ranjana’s cousin Shivani Tomar, 15, lost both her parents in Friday’s attack.“I was four years old when my family left for Gujarat. My father lost his right leg in a train accident and my mother ran the household. She used to earn Rs 250 every day cutting thread. The pandemic made it extremely difficult for us. My grandparents and parents wanted to get me and my cousins married. They said we need to come back home for that. But I wish we hadn’t,” she says.Following Friday’s killings, multiple teams of the Madhya Pradesh Police have been scouring the state to arrest the seven absconding accused.ASP (Morena) Raisingh Narwariya told The Indian Express that the investigation has found that none of the nine accused owned a gun license. “We need to recover the weapon of offence, the accused did not have a gun license. There are around 27,000 weapons registered in Morena. Usually, two to four incidents of firing take place in a month over property disputes. But in my two-year tenure, this is the first time such a murder has taken place,” he said.

A rooftop killing, writing on the wall and a revenge attack that left six dead in MP villagePremium Story
The new Nihangs: Academics to showbiz, wearing their faith on sleevesPremium Story
The Indian Express | 1 month ago | |
The Indian Express
1 month ago | |

In his flowing blue bana (a blue attire), a kirpan (sword) tucked into the broad belt (kamar kassa) and a boar-tooth necklace around his neck, the 31-year-old would seem more at home in a chauni (cantonment) than his swish Mohali office.A high-powered executive with a popular OTT app that promotes regional content, he said he wanted to remain unnamed as he believes his attire comes with “great responsibility”. Recalling what influenced him to become a Nihang, he said, “While studying in the United Kingdom (around 10 years ago), I saw British Sikh boys wearing banas and carrying kirpans. I was struck by how deeply the British Sikh community was attached to its culture and roots. I felt embarrassed about not embracing my own culture and decided to start wearing a bana,” he said.A warrior sect known to be aggressive in its defence of faith, Nihangs are prescribed a disciplined way of life (rehat), resulting in many of them leading traditional, austere lives. Yet, like the 31-year-old executive, a growing number of them are finding their own ways to express themselves — on social media and in their professional lives — while staying true to their faith.Sahildeep Singh, a second-year music student at Punjabi University, Patiala, said he decided to become a Nihang during the Covid-19 lockdown. “During the lockdown, the police would not allow people to step out of their homes. But I would go to Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) every day by sidestepping all the barriers. It was at Darbar Sahib that I met some Nihangs. They inspired me to become one of them,” said the 20-year-old.Moving around in his traditional attire, Sahildeep breaks many stereotypes on the Punjabi University campus. “Initially, some students were taken aback when they saw me, but now few give me a second look. Anyway, no one has ever objected to my traditional attire on campus,” he said, adding that he is not attached to one jathebandi (body) and likes to visit different centres to learn from all.Over the past few years, Nihangs have often hit the headlines for the wrong reasons. In October 2021, a group of Nihangs claimed responsibility for the murder of a 35-year-old man at the Singhu border during the farmers’ protest. The man had allegedly disrespected the Sikh holy book. In April 2020, Nihangs had attacked a Punjab Police party in Patiala and chopped off the hand of an assistant sub-inspector when stopped for a curfew pass in the midst of the lockdown.These incidents, says author Jagdeep Singh Faridkot, often end up stereotyping the community. “It is a stereotype that Nihangs only fight. There have been Nihang scholars in every stream. They are singers, writers, poets and even teachers. But the world mostly sees them as soldiers stuck in the past.  Nihangs are unaffected by modernity but our minds have become incapable of understanding something that is not ‘so-called modern,” says Faridkot, a 40-year-old whose novel on Nihangs, Hane Hane Patshahi, has made him one of the bestselling Punjabi authors.Arvinder Singh, also called Nikka Singh, is pursuing his master’s degree in philosophy from Punjabi University, Patiala. Besides studying, he has also penned a book on Nihang poems and is reprinting old literature.“Arvinder Singh is the name given to me by my parents. Nikka Singh is the name given to me by the Dal Panth (a Nihang community),” the 25-year-old shared. He added that he was inspired to become a Nihang during the 2012 Hola Mohalla, a three-day festival started by Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th Sikh Guru, in the 17th century.“It dawned on me that a bana is not just a robe but a blessing by Guru Gobind Singh,” he said, talking of the moment he decided to turn to spirituality and the Nihang way of life.He added, “Many people think that Nihangs and universities have nothing in common. The truth is that Nihangs have played the role of teachers as well. Balwant Gargi (a famous Punjabi writer) wrote in his biography that a Nihang used to come to his village to teach children and that he received his first Gurmukhi lesson while the Nihang sat astride his horse.”Tejbeer Singh was pursuing a diploma in civil engineering from a college in Fatehgarh Sahib when he came in contact with Udna Dal, a Nihang jathebandi.“I can’t say for sure what attracted me to become a Nihang, but I have been with the Udna Dal for about eight years now. There is no specific reason why I became a Nihang. All I know is that a Nihang can have no motive other than serving Akal (the Timeless Being),” said the 24-year-old.Calling it seva (service), Tejbeer said he works in the stable at Udna Dal. Active on Facebook earlier, he has gone offline now. He said it was because he understood that being a Nihang meant freedom from material possessions.“My relatives are surprised to know that I take care of horses despite having a diploma in civil engineering. Little do they know that a stableman was appointed as a Nawab in the 18th century (Nawab Kapur Singh, a prominent military chieftain of the Sikh Confederacy). Every Nihang is considered equal and the Guru can shower his kirpa (blessings) on anyone,” he added.Jatinder Singh Bazidpur is a Nihang who works at a Nawanshahr-based private firm that specializes in immigration consultancy services. The 26-year-old said his company was founded by a highly qualified Nihang who had received job offers from numerous universities but had turned them down. Stating that priority for Nihangs was the Dal Panth, Bazidpur said he knows many Nihangs who prioritize their faith even as they work in offices or run their own businesses.Bazidpur, who became a Nihang seven years ago, said it is common for Nihangs to avoid publicity and maintain a distance from the outside world. However, he added, social media has touched their lives too.Several Facebook and Instagram pages run by admirers or acquaintances of Nihang jathebandia have started gaining popularity. Instagram handles like ‘Nihanglife’ and Facebook pages like ‘Budhadalfouj’, which have 66,500 and 47,000 followers respectively, show the life of Nihangs to bust myths about their stereotypical image.Kuljit Kaur Khalsa, a 28-year-old resident of Ludhiana, manages a Facebook page named ‘Ladlian Faujan (Guru’s Beloved Army)’. Her page, which has nearly 68,000 followers, contains posts on Nihangs grooming their horses, preparing langar (community meals), meeting followers, their language, etc. Khalsa, whose family is a devotee of Baba Joginder Singh, is a kavishri, a singer of Punjabi folk music and ballads about valour. She said social media pages like hers help people understand and appreciate Nihangs better.

The new Nihangs: Academics to showbiz, wearing their faith on sleevesPremium Story
How technology is helping (re)shape the fitness industry
The Indian Express | 1 month ago | |
The Indian Express
1 month ago | |

When Usha Ayyagari, a 25-year-old management student, enrolled herself in yoga classes in January 2020, little did she know that something called ‘Covid-19’ was lurking nearby, all set to derail her plans. Soon, the pandemic struck and Ayyagari was among the millions who got restricted to the confines of their homes across the globe. But that did not deter her resolve to work on her health, and luckily for her, her yoga classes went online. “The pandemic also made me more fitness conscious and I lost about 7-8 kg by being regular with my classes, giving up junk food, and only eating home-cooked food made by my mum,” she told indianexpress.com.Similarly, Purnima Jha, 26, started her fitness journey in 2019 after gaining weight and feeling unhealthy. Much like Ayyagari, she too turned to online training and hired a personal trainer amid the pandemic. “Slightly wary of my form and posture, I started working out with a personal trainer online so that there would be somebody to correct my form, if required. Online fitness classes actually turned out to be very convenient, and effective,” she told indianexpress.com.But, it’s not just Ayyagari and Jha; the COVID-19 pandemic provided a technological thrust to the fitness industry as people started realising the importance of staying healthy, and amid curtailed movement, looked for ways to keep up with their fitness while practising social distancing.“The growth and capitalisation of the fitness technology sector can be traced to several factors: the onset of the pandemic, which emphasised the importance of staying fit; rapid technological advancements like smartwatch wearables and apps which made it easier for people to track their progress; as well as heightened awareness and knowledge of habits that can exacerbate our health for the worse. People who regarded health as ‘curative’ (something you work on curing during instances of a disease) started considering it ‘preventive’,” said Santhosh Kumar, Head of Product and Digital Business, CureFit, a Bengaluru-based health-tech start-up.Agreed Jitendra Chouksey, founder of FITTR, an online fitness startup based in Pune, and said that the pandemic has brought about a “shift in attitudes towards fitness and wellness”, with more people recognising the “importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle”. “This is likely to continue to drive demand for fitness classes and consultations, both online and in-person, in the coming years,” he added.All this culminated in the boom in the fitness technology sector worldwide, a domain that includes wearable technology, virtual fitness technologies, fitness apps that are software, AI, and machine learning-driven innovations. In fact, now even traditional gym trainers and nutritionists have embraced such technology and are providing online consultations and assistance.“Technology has revolutionised the fitness industry in several ways by offering innovative ways for people to exercise, monitor their progress, and stay motivated. Through data analytics and machine learning algorithms, technology can provide personalised recommendations based on an individual’s fitness goals, preferences, and activity levels. Features such as AI coaching, virtual training, wearable devices, and easy tracking modes provide comprehensive fitness solutions for users,” said Akshay Verma, co-founder FITPASS, India’s largest network of gyms and fitness studio aggregator.According to the Statista report, the revenue in the Digital Fitness and Well-Being segment is projected to reach US$10.12 billion by 2023, with an annual growth rate (CAGR 2023-2027) of 21.59%. This projected growth is expected to result in a market volume of US$22.12 billion by 2027. Similarly a report by Grand View Research values the global fitness tracker market size to be valued at USD 138.7 billion by 2028 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.9% during the forecast period.“Our app saw an exponential rise with six times the users during the pandemic as people started flocking to the platform for digital fitness solutions every day,” shared Bansal.Adding, Chouksey said that the pandemic accelerated the adoption of virtual fitness technologies with no option of visiting physical gyms and fitness centres during the COVID lockdown. “Virtual fitness technologies are expected to continue to be in demand even after the pandemic subsides,” he added, further mentioning that the pandemic has had a profound impact on the fit-tech industry by introducing people and seeing them adopt technology-based platforms to meet their fitness requirements.The COVID-19 lockdown provided an impetus for the adoption of fitness technology, however, once the restrictions were lifted, people went back to physical fitness centres and gyms but this in no way meant a recession in the fit tech. “There was a temporal spike in adoption of fitness products and services which has since then stabilised. The absolute growth in numbers is similar to what we would have achieved if there was no lockdown,” said Aanan Khurma, co-Founder, Wellversed, an aggregator of Wellness brands.Vishal Gondal, Founder and CEO of GOQii, an Indian fitness technology company, said, “We did not see a decline in our user base after COVID-19 restrictions were eased; we have a strong user base with a focus on holistic wellbeing. Those who prefer home workouts or online fitness classes continue to engage in these activities. Only individuals who prefer advanced workouts may choose to go to gyms, but this did not impact our user base”.Ayyagari, who would ideally prefer offline classes, is however continuing to take online fitness classes. “I’m still taking online classes. Offline classes are always better but with my present busy schedule, and for the present generation in general, online classes are the go-to solution,” she said, adding that fitness apps have made working out accessible “from anywhere and everywhere”.Everyone in the fit tech industry unanimously agreed that the future of the fitness industry involves the adoption of technology, yet at the same time, physical gyms, trainers and personal nutritionists will always be needed. “Fit-tech has become increasingly popular and is expected to remain a prominent feature of the fitness industry, complementing traditional gyms, fitness centres, and nutritional consultations,” asserted Verma.By leveraging technology, fit-tech allows individuals to “monitor and track their fitness goals, receive personalised workout and nutrition plans, and access virtual support and motivation from anywhere, at any time,” he added.However, he was quick to add that while fit-tech provides convenience and accessibility, it should not be viewed as a replacement for traditional fitness options. “Rather, it should be used in conjunction with them to create a comprehensive approach to health and wellness,” he told indianexpress.com.Concurring, Kumar stressed that although fit tech gave people alternate opportunities to be active and healthy during the pandemic and other restrictions, it is highly improbable that fit tech will completely replace gyms and yoga studios. “Gyms offer highly qualified trainers who offer guidance, corrections, and feedback tailored to an individual’s needs and goals. This is especially critical when individuals have just started their fitness journey and need constant guidance. More than the intensity, it is crucial that beginners focus on their form and nutrition,” he explained.Instead of resisting technology, various fitness coaches, nutritionists and others are leveraging technology as a platform to widen their reach and practice. Similar is the story of Fitelo, founded by friends — Mehakdeep Singh, popularly known as Mac Singh, and Sahil Bansal. While Bansal brings technical expertise, Singh has an MSc in fitness and nutrition and is also a fitness influencer. According to Mckinsey’s report Still feeling good: The US wellness market continues to boom, influencers and celebrities continue to rise in importance for brand discovery.“Fitelo leverages technology to help clients achieve their fitness goals. Right from data collection, analysis of the body nutrition status, creating lifestyle profiles and suggesting customised plans, tracking and monitoring progress and habit building interventions, technology is at the centre of everything we do,” shared Singh. However, “A personal coach is also assigned to every client of Fitelo”.   A post shared by Yasmin Karachiwala | Celebrity Fitness Instructor (@yasminkarachiwala)Commenting on the online vs offline mode of getting fitness training, Singh said, “This at-home trend is here to stay. As the pandemic settles down, people would also want to go outdoors to their normal routines. As such, both the models will co-exist”. He concluded by saying that a traditional fitness expert will have to evolve and “adopt these technologies to survive in the future”.📣 For more lifestyle news, follow us on Instagram | Twitter | Facebook and don’t miss out on the latest updates!

How technology is helping (re)shape the fitness industry
Struck by lockdown, Faridabad couple quits printing business, now sells street food
The Indian Express | 2 months ago | |
The Indian Express
2 months ago | |

The Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns impacted the livelihood of many small business owners. A couple in Faridabad, who used to run a printing press, suffered loss during the lockdown, and is now operating a food stall.A video of a couple selling ‘rajma chawal’ and ‘kadhi chawal’ in Faridabad has gone viral. Jatin Singh, a food blogger, shared the couple’s video on Instagram a week ago and it has received more than 6.68 lakh views.The couple sells the dishes at Rs 40 each at their stall near gate number 5 of Greenfield Colony metro station. “I used to run a printing press but during the lockdown, it went downhill. Subsequently, I did a job for some time but it was difficult to manage our expenses with the salary so we thought of doing something on our own. So, my wife and I opened this food stall as we knew how to cook,” the man explained in the video.Watch the video below:  A post shared by Jatin singh (@foody_jsv)“May god bless them, earn lot lot money,” commented a user. “That’s Actually Definition of true Love,” said another. “God bless both of you. Good job by Admin promoting people who are selling street foods,” appreciated another. “You don’t need to go a particular location to support someone.. luk around you hundred of vendors are working hard to earn money. You can help them,” another netizen expressed.

Struck by lockdown, Faridabad couple quits printing business, now sells street food
From Assam to Bangalore and back, a Malabar parotta success story
The Indian Express | 2 months ago | |
The Indian Express
2 months ago | |

When he was 18, like many young men in the state, Diganta Das left his home in Assam to look for work in Bangalore. Despite more than a decade of work in South India, the pandemic brought him back home with no money in his wallet. But what he did have was the knowledge of how to make a good Malabar parotta.Now, with a six-month-old parotta manufacturing unit, 32-year-old Das is selling packaged parottas – a once unfamiliar food item – every day to residents of Upper Assam.“I’m the first businessman in my family,” said Das, a resident of Biswanath Chariali. His father was a farmer and, after completing school, he travelled to Bangalore in 2009 to supplement his family’s income.Over the years, he did many jobs in many cities: room service at hotels; security work in Mumbai; painting machines at a construction company; coconut husking; and, most crucially, various stints at parotta-making and packaging units.In early 2020, his friend Suriya Thapa from Tinsukia in Assam, who he had met in Bangalore and had also worked in parotta manufacturing units, decided to take the skills he had picked up to start his own such unit.Das joined him in marketing. They identified Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh as a market with less competition and Thapa set up shop. But it was just a month before the pandemic and the national lockdown struck.Along with the crash in business, Das had another worry: his wife back home was due to give birth soon. The baby was born while he was in Andhra Pradesh.“The day the lockdown lifted, I rushed home. When I finally met my baby, she was a month old and I barely had Rs 10 in my wallet. That is when my mind began working on how I should set up something here,” he said.Two years ago, he met Faizul Hoque, who too had set up a parotta-making unit in his home in Udalguri in Assam, and began selling his product in the market around his hometown.It was six months ago that he decided to take the plunge and start a unit of his own in Biswanath Chariali.His old friend Suriya Thapa, whose business in Vijayawada continues, lent him a hand. “I helped him out with his investments. It’s not a formal business partnership, more like helping a friend out,” he said.“When I first entered this market, the parotta was not really a product that was known. But there are some shops in my town that accepted me and liked my product and began carrying it in their stores,” said Das.With a staff of 18, Das says he earns enough to meet his business expenses. The next step, he hopes, is profits.

From Assam to Bangalore and back, a Malabar parotta success story
Banking mistake leaves man richer by over Rs 1 lakh — & in jail 2 years later
The Indian Express | 2 months ago | |
The Indian Express
2 months ago | |

A bank account with over Rs 1 lakh that was ‘mistakenly’ linked to his Aadhaar number two years ago has cost Jeetrai Samant his freedom.The 42-year-old beedi worker, from Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district, has been arrested by the state police for allegedly withdrawing the money that belonged to a woman, whose bank account was linked to his Aadhaar number erroneously.Samant came to know of the money two years ago, as Covid cast its shadow across the nation, through a Common Service Centre. The centres serve as access points for delivery of essential public services, welfare schemes, etc in rural and remote areas of the country. According to sources familiar with the probe, the CSC also had a bank representative to help withdraw money that a beneficiary might have in his or her account.But the law caught up with Samant last September, when the manager of Jharkhand Rajya Gramin Bank received a complaint from an account holder named Shrimati Laguri regarding money disappearing from her account. The manager wrote to the authorities and, on discovering the error that had taken place, asked Samant to return the money. Since he was unable to do so, an FIR was lodged against him in October under IPC section 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating) in the district’s Muffasil police station.Superintendent of Police Ashutosh Shekhar told The Indian Express: “Samant was arrested on March 24. There was a mistake and his Aadhaar got linked to someone else’s account, but he did not return the amount. He allegedly paid a bribe at the CSC point so no one else would get to know. (When police issued a notice about the issue) he wrote a letter to us saying he believed Prime Minister Narendra Modi had sent him money.”Bank manager Manish Kumar told The Indian Express: “Earlier, Bank of India used to sponsor the Gramin Bank, and now SBI does it. So the entire data was merged with SBI in April 2019, and it was during this process that Samant’s Aadhaar number got accidentally linked with someone else’s bank account. The woman did not complain earlier, else we could have stopped it.” He said it was “difficult” to pin blame on a single bank official.A UIDAI official, requesting anonymity, said: “This is clearly the bank’s mistake. The UIDAI has no role in it.”From October to March, Samant received three notices to appear before the police under CrPC section 41 A, under which police can arrest a person without a warrant in case he fails to appear before the court or the police since he is an accused.The Indian Express had spoken to Samant in December, before his arrest. At the time, he claimed: “During the first lockdown, everyone in the village was checking the amount in their Aadhaar-linked account numbers as it was announced that people would receive something. I put my thumb on the reading machine and it showed a balance as Rs 1,12,000. I rushed to the Gramin Bank, but could not find any money having been credited there. When I asked them about it, they told me the government would have sent the amount.”Police have claimed he withdrew Rs 2 lakh.Samant, a father of six children, said he kept withdrawing the money during the lockdown since he was in financial distress and believed it had come from the government.In response to one of the police notices, Samant had written to Superintendent of Police, Chaibasa, Ashutosh Shekhar in December. He claimed: “During the lockdown, there was a talk in the village that the Modi government is giving money in the account. My Aadhaar-based account showed Rs 1 lakh. The bank manager said I could withdraw the money. Now a case has been registered against me. I am not at fault. Without my knowledge, my Aadhaar was linked to someone else’s bank account. For the last two years, the bank did not even inform me.”Sub-inspector Ratu Oraon of Pandrasali observation point told The Indian Express: “After receiving the first notice, Samant did come to the police station, but he did not commit to returning the amount. Obviously there was a mistake when his Aadhaar got linked with Shrimati Laguri’s account number, but it was his moral responsibility not to withdraw the amount.”Asked why the arrest was not made earlier, Oraon said: “This was not an urgent case.”He added that Samant’s account originally had only Rs 650, but he kept withdrawing amounts ranging between Rs 500 and Rs 5,000. “Even during withdrawals, the name of the account holder must have appeared, but he chose to ignore that.”

Banking mistake leaves man richer by over Rs 1 lakh — & in jail 2 years later
In UK hearing, Boris Johnson fights for his political career, says ‘I did not lie’ about lockdown parties
The Indian Express | 2 months ago | |
The Indian Express
2 months ago | |

A combative Boris Johnson fought for his political career on Wednesday, as the former British prime minister said “hand on heart” he did not lie to parliament over Covid-19 lockdown parties at a hearing with lawmakers.Parliament’s Committee of Privileges is investigating whether Johnson, who was ousted from Downing Street in September, intentionally or recklessly misled the House of Commons in a series of statements, where he said no rules were broken in the gatherings. If the committee finds Johnson deliberately misled lawmakers, then he could be suspended. Any suspension longer than 10 days could prompt an election to remove him from his parliamentary seat and end his political career.The former leader, who considered an audacious bid for a second stint as prime minister last year, launched a lengthy defence at the hearing, saying statements he made to parliament had been done in good faith.“I’m here to say to you, hand on heart, that I did not lie to the House,” said Johnson, who has accused the committee of bias. “When those statements were made, they were made in good faith and on the basis of what I honestly knew and believed at the time.”The so-called partygate scandal contributed to the ultimate downfall of Johnson, after months of reports that he, alongside other senior government figures, had been present at alcohol-fuelled gatherings in Downing Street during 2020 and 2021 when much of the rest of Britain was forced to stay at home.Johnson was fined by police for attending an event to celebrate his birthday in Downing Street in June 2020, making him the first prime minister found to have broken the law while in office. Some 126 fines were issued over the gatherings.The outcry and repeated accusations of lying over the parties and allegations that a Conservative lawmaker had drunkenly groped two men eventually prompted the resignations of most of his top team of government ministers, including the current prime minister, Rishi Sunak, who was among those fined.Thanking staffHarriet Harman, the chair of the committee, said it would consider the evidence Johnson had given and may take further evidence in due course. It is expected to report its findings later in the year. She stressed the importance of ministers telling the truth, saying this went to the heart of the way Britain’s parliamentary system functions.At the start of the hearing, Johnson was made to swear an oath to tell the truth on a bible before giving his evidence. He said the inquiry had not found any evidence he deliberately misled parliament and said he was banned by the committee from publishing a “large number of extracts” he relied on in his defence.Asked about events in May, November, and December 2020 when he was pictured talking to colleagues who were drinking, Johnson said some meetings were “essential” to the functioning of government. He said his presence at events was necessary to thank staff for their hard work.“People who say that we were partying in lockdown simply do not know what they are talking about,” he said, crossly. He said he was “shocked” to be fined and “amazed” by the number of other fines issued.“I think what happened basically, was that on a few evenings, events did simply go on for too long and I can’t apologise for that enough,” he said.Britain had one of the highest coronavirus death tolls in the world with more than 1,75,000 deaths by the time Johnson said he would step down as prime minister.The campaign group Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK said that Wednesday was “a new low” for Johnson and said it was “painful to watch him pull his usual tricks of deflection, self-pity and blaming everyone but himself”.Johnson accepted he had inadvertently misled parliament but had believed what he had said when he spoke.“I didn’t think that those events were an issue. Nobody had previously raised them with me as being things that I ought to be concerned about,” Johnson said. “Call me obtuse or oblivious, but they did not seem to me to be in conflict with the rules.”

In UK hearing, Boris Johnson fights for his political career, says ‘I did not lie’ about lockdown parties
Anubhav Sinha on removing PM Modi's speech from Bheed trailer: 'Every film goes through challenges'
The Indian Express | 2 months ago | |
The Indian Express
2 months ago | |

Filmmaker Anubhav Sinha says it’s best for him to focus on the story of his upcoming film Bheed, rather than the controversy surrounding it. Ever since the first teaser of the film dropped, the pandemic-set drama has been generating polarising discussion.Bheed chronicles the plight of migrants during the Covid-induced lockdown of 2020, when lakhs of migrant workers travelled to their home towns from cities. The teaser drew parallels with the horrors of Partition, juxtaposing grim visuals of 1947 and the heartbreaking images of 2020 lockdown with a powerful voiceover which says, “Ek baar phir hua tha batwara, 2020 mein (The Partition happened once again, in 2020).”The visual unit lead to an uproar, with a section on Twitter dubbing the film “anti-India”. Soon, producer and presenter Bhushan Kumar reportedly distanced himself from Bheed, with his company’s name T-Series disappearing from posters and social media tags. Even the film’s trailer, which began with a voiceover of Prime Minister Narendra Modi announcing the lockdown and juxtaposed it with visuals of migrant workers being beaten up by the police, was replaced with a new trailer, completely omitting the earlier audio video.When asked, why was PM Modi’s voice over removed the new trailer, Sinha told indianexpress.com, “There are more changes in the trailer, but this makes more news for you.” When explained that it’s the biggest change, Sinha agreed but added, “Every film goes through various such challenges. In Thappad I wanted to use Amrita Pritam’s poem. I couldn’t use it so one day before the film release, I had to change it.“It didn’t matter to anybody, why? Did you ask me? I had to overnight write a poem, sync with a Punjabi lip sync. I was in Delhi, Kumud Mishra was dubbing it from Mumbai. I had to write a poem to match Amrita Pritam’s lip sync in Punjabi! That’s an interesting story, not this (removal of PM Modi’s voice over). Let’s talk about Bheed the story. I don’t want to distract people from the story of Bheed, as it’s way more interesting.”The teaser of Bheed had also made a section of people on the internet feel that it attempted to sensationalise the crisis with its deliberate reminder of the traumatic partition. Sinha, however, said he doesn’t take seriously what people on Twitter feel. “Who are those people? On Twitter? Internet is not a farce but a lot of it is. People have opinions. Like how in small towns people gather around pan shops, the same way Twitter has a lot of these discussions. On Twitter, even Elon Musk talks stupidity and he’s such an intelligent man.”The director said he is by now used to people labelling him “anti-national”, after having helmed acclaimed socio-political dramas like Mulk and Article 15. So when he was alleged to have made Bheed with vested interest to show the country in poor light, Sinha said it didn’t bother him at all.“Yes I have heard I am anti-national before. I do hear it for most of my films. But it didn’t surprise me. I love India, I love the original idea of India. Anybody who loves India more than I do, I respect that person. I’m trying to do my best as a lover and I’m sure even they’ve done their best as lovers of the country.“The teaser got that reaction because it’s the angle. When you see a black spot on the road it may look like sh*t or a coal tar. It’s how you see it and the angle is always of convince. These things happen when the other angle is inconvenient. Then you want to shift to the convenient angle, see it and reject the inconvenience. So I am fine with it really,” he added.Bheed stars Rajkummar Rao, Bhumi Pednekar, Dia Mirza, Pankaj Kapur, Ashutosh Rana, Kritika Kamra and Kumud Mishra. The film is scheduled to release on March 24.

Anubhav Sinha on removing PM Modi's speech from Bheed trailer: 'Every film goes through challenges'
Hardship & struggle make All England Badminton semifinalist Treesa Jolly the player she is
The Indian Express | 2 months ago | |
The Indian Express
2 months ago | |

You need to have stayed away from home and parents, gone through difficulties of getting food after missing hostel mess deadlines and felt deliriously grateful when some kindly lady offered to pack a tiffin for you sensing your struggle, to understand where Treesa Jolly’s appetite for a fighting win comes from.We asked her about the metaphorical hunger to win, what fuels that tremendous energy when she stomps about the court and guides the shuttle with terrific angles across the net. Her reply blends her struggles on the court and many more off it.“I moved from my village to Kannur city’s Mundayad to train at the University indoor courts at age 12. Alone. For badminton. Obviously, I missed my family, and fixing dinner every day after practice sessions was a struggle. But I had that fighting spirit inside me. I had to do this. I knew this was my long journey. If I lose, I have to come back and beat them,” she recalls of the three years after leaving her home in Pulingome village and before moving to Hyderabad at the age of around 15.She had to move because her village had no indoor court to train on. Dr Anil Ramanathan, director of the Kannur University, would offer to let her train without coaching charges, but that meant moving out and staying away from home. It’s the three years in Kannur that Treesa says shaped her personality, and it’s a struggle memories of which she dips into – to tell herself that being on a badminton court facing a Top-10 opponent is nothing in comparison.“I rented a flat with 3-4 other players at Kannur because I couldn’t afford otherwise. I had to wash my own clothes in the beginning. Getting food used to be difficult. The university mess would give first access to their own physical education students. If we missed that short window, getting food anywhere else would become a problem in the evening. Staying out, not getting food, is one of the toughest experiences that have made me strong,” she says.A young Treesa – in her early teens – also taught herself to ignore undercurrents of envy that can make hostel life hellish. “The other girls were seniors. I was playing better than most of them there, and they would get jealous. At that age, it was difficult because if I needed some help, I had to approach my seniors only. I told myself I don’t care, I’m so strong,” she recalls of the tricky days.“It was a rollercoaster, but we’re extremely happy with our performance today.”Another big win for the Indian WD pair 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/0e7O0TMlL9— 🏆 Yonex All England Badminton Championships 🏆 (@YonexAllEngland) March 16, 2023Sacrifices by familyBesides, Kannur city had a wondrous wooden court, on which she had always dreamt of playing, as a child.Treesa remembers her father making her and her sister an outdoor court to play on. He was a physical education teacher, who himself played badminton, volleyball and ran marathons. Both her parents taught in an unaided school, from where getting leave to travel with her for tournaments would become difficult, and her father would resign. “Because in the rainy season, it would become a mess, my dad made the first tarpaulin court so we wouldn’t miss a single session,” she says.In her first state tournament, Treesa would win a singles silver. “That was the first time I saw a wooden court. I couldn’t even think of playing on a court like that, it was so shiny,” she recalls her wonder. “And then all these people came with hi-fi kits. But I won the doubles gold with my sister, Maria Jolly.”Tournaments were the only time Treesa would play with feather shuttles. “I couldn’t afford them so it was plastic shuttles. I told myself anyway I need to win, plastic or feather shuttle, doesn’t matter. It couldn’t be an excuse.”The parents also had to choose between the two daughters to allow Treesa to go ahead with sport, because they could only afford one person’s equipment and coaching expenses, so Maria was asked to step back, though she continued playing badminton as a hobby. “My father watched badminton and taught us variations and how to mix strokes. I had the natural talent for doubles and got results there, so I decided if I focus on that I can be the world’s best player,” she says with clarity.While doubles as a serious pursuit has taken off in India only in recent years after Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty started logging in regular international victories, it was the Kerala environment which has always nurtured the discipline. “Kerala has had so many players – Aparna Balan, V Diju, Sanave (Thomas), Rupesh (Kumar). But more importantly, there are so many local tournaments where just doubles is played. No one will conduct singles meets. I remember before going for state tournaments, we would travel half an hour to play tournaments with these uncles in the age-bracket of 22-40. Me and my sister grew up competing against them, that’s how my game got its style,” she says. “We just love doubles in Kerala.”She loved it enough to move out of home to Kannur City, and then later make the shift to Hyderabad.Rising through the ranksPicked for the national camp, Treesa’s earlier partners had been her sister Maria, then Mehereen Reeza, and later during the Dutch-German Open swing of tournaments, V S Varshini. Coaches at the national camp would pair her up with Gayatri Gopichand, as their games immediately complemented each other, and the pandemic lockdown would give her further clarity. “During the lockdown, we had Zoom sessions morning and evening. After 6-7 months, the academy opened and I realised I love playing doubles and I was enjoying the practice sessions,” she recalls.Runners-up at the Syed Modi International, the unexpected march into the All England semis in 2022, beating two Top-20 pairings on the way, the Uber Cup last season, and then the Commonwealth Games, were followed by stunning wins against Malaysian, Hong Kong and Chinese pairs at the Mixed Team Asian meet this year.It helped that former doubles player Arun Vishnu had risen in the ranks to become a national level coach. “Especially with the language. I call him Chetaa, and I could directly tell him anything that was on my mind. During matches he keeps saying ‘adiki adi’ – I’m damn sure you will win’.”Being a livewire on court also means she holds her resting hours precious. “No hobbies, after sessions I love to sleep,” she says. Playing the Nationals in Pune, the pairing would play two matches a day. “Rest is more important during tournaments,” she adds.Treesa loves her movies and TV series and K-Pop though. “Alice in Borderland, it’s like Squid Games. That’s my latest favourite. But I like K-dramas – Crash Landing on You, It’s Ok to not be OK. Blackpink are my favourite K-Pop band, and I end up watching 2-3 movies after every tournament. Kaapa in Malayalam was the latest.”We return to the original question during the interaction: what fuels her energy? “It’s not so much about Kerala food, I like many types of food. But my mother’s tapioca biryani and beef. And kappa biryani. But staying out when you are not getting food, and you struggle like I did in Kannur, you become grateful for any food you get when hungry.” You also get strong-willed and resilient like the 19-year-old youngster Treesa Jolly.

Hardship & struggle make All England Badminton semifinalist Treesa Jolly the player she is
CBI books inspector in Chandrapur for seeking Rs 20 lakh bribe from Cidco official
Times of India | 3 months ago | |
Times of India
3 months ago | |

MUMBAI: The CBI has searched the premises of a CRPF inspector in Chandrapur district after registering a case of corruption against him last week, for demanding a Rs 20 lakh bribe from a Cidco officer in 2020. The inspector, Mangesh Ghayawat, was on deputation with the CBI when he had allegedly demanded the bribe from the Cidco officer after threatening to take action against him in a case he was investigating.Ghayawat was an investigation officer in a CBI case wherein a doctor couple had fraudulently taken bank loan after showing their ownership on a piece of land owned by Cidco in 2018. It is alleged that the couple managed to commit fraud due to negligence of Cidco officials. No Cidco official was named as accused in the CBI FIR. It is alleged that Ghayawat had collected Rs 25 lakh and Rs 20 lakh from two different Cidco officials after threatening them. He was threatening the third official (complainant) for a bribe when he was reported. He had questioned the Cidco official four times and recorded his statement in the case in 2019. He demanded a bribe from him to avoid further harassment in the case, but the Cidco official refused.After the lockdown was announced, Ghayawat called the Cidco official and allegedly insisted on payment of the bribe. In May 2020, Ghayawat visited the Cidco office building and again insisted on payment of Rs 20 lakh bribe. The Cidco officials had recorded their conversation. The Cidco official approached senior CBI officials after Ghayawat was repatriated to CRPF in June 2020 and submitted the recording of his conversation with the accused and CCTV footage to establish that Ghayawat had met him during the lockdown.

CBI books inspector in Chandrapur for seeking Rs 20 lakh bribe from Cidco official
Rahul Kumar: ‘It is as stupid as it is brave to dream with a life like mine’Sign In to read
The Indian Express | 5 months ago | |
The Indian Express
5 months ago | |

As we emerge from the pandemic and everything around us opens up, we speak to people across the country to hear their stories and their strugglesRahul Kumar, 18Worker at the new Parliament building, Central Secretariat, New DelhiOf late, at work, I have been hearing about a new variant of COVID spreading in China. The last time the pandemic struck, I was in my hometown in Bihar, and most days, we lived on plain rice from the government’s ration scheme, not even dal was provided. I remember my father, a carpenter, losing his job, after which we had to borrow Rs 1 lakh from a local moneylender for my sister’s wedding. The debt has now piled up to Rs 4-5 lakh. Two months ago, I thought that boarding a train to Delhi from my village in Samastipur would solve my woes. Now, I slog away as a helper at the Central Secretariat Parliament construction site to earn Rs 475 a day, and nowhere am I close to paying back the loan. If I borrow Rs 10,000 today, I am asked to repay Rs 50,000 within two years. If I have to shell out Rs 8 lakh in another two years, how will I settle this debt?The last couple of years have been challenging. We might have ridden COVID out, but we haven’t outlived its aftermath. Now, there are talks about the virus again, and I can’t imagine going back to my village without enough money. I dropped out after Class IX, owing to the pandemic, and now at 18, have to stay in Delhi and work alone, away from home. Though my accommodation in Ganesh Nagar — where 12 workers are lodged in four tiny rooms — and commute, are taken care of by the contractor, a lot of money goes into food, and I have very little savings. Which is why another lockdown would land me in dire straits.“Dreams are many, but it is as stupid as it is brave to dream with a life like mine. I want to open a shop in my village where my grandparents own 4 kathas (2,880 square feet) of land, so I can stay at home, but it is just that — a dream. I no longer think about resuming my studies. It has been a long time and I don’t have the liberty to spend money or time on it. If I have enough money after repaying all debts, I want to build a better house since we could not avail of the housing scheme for the poor. But for now, all I care about is an impending lockdown. Every time I see an official, I ask them, “Will there be another lockdown?”What I want to leave behind from the past two years?The fear of lockdownWhat I am looking forward to in 2023?Earn enough to repay the loan within a year— As told to Aiswarya Raj

Rahul Kumar: ‘It is as stupid as it is brave to dream with a life like mine’Sign In to read
Shobha Dilip Kushwha: ‘The doctors are doing so much for us, can’t we do something for them?’Sign In to read
The Indian Express | 5 months ago | |
The Indian Express
5 months ago | |

As we emerge from the pandemic and everything around us opens up, we speak to people across the country to hear their stories and their strugglesShobha Dilip Kushwha, 39Worker at IAttire, Pune, MaharashtraWhen I used to make clothes on my sewing machine at home in Nagpur and, then, Pune, I never thought that, one day, I would be tailoring PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) kits. I work for a company called IAttire in Pune, manufacturers of corporate uniforms. I was in the Shirts division. My earnings helped at home, especially with the education of our two children.The lockdown brought a halt to regular production, but IAttire got the government’s approval to make PPE kits, one of the few companies in India to be certified. We started working on PPEs, where we had to be careful about every stitch so that no virus could get inside the body. Special machines had been imported and kept in “clean rooms”. Unlike shirts, PPE was a one-piece garment that covered the entire body, including the head. I learnt the new design in half a day.In our minds, there was a constant fear of the disease but our sewing machines never slowed down. Doctors hamare liye itna kar rahe the toh apun unke liye kuchh kyun nahin kar sakte (The doctors were doing so much for us, can’t we do something for them?). I would make 50 PPEs in a day, a few others could do 100. We also won a contract to make PPEs for Indigo airlines and realised that our work was helping in bringing back normalcy. We worked on PPEs until October-November 2021, when the government and the aviation ministry announced that the PPEs wouldn’t be required any more.During the pandemic, I came to know of women who had lost their jobs. I brought about 60 of them to the factory and they were taken in to make PPEs. They still work at the factory. The lockdown was a time of great difficulty in many homes. A lot of companies had shut down, and people wondered how to put food on the plate. My husband, a driver, had also lost his job but my company hired him. He would transport the special fabric for PPEs from Mumbai to our factory in Pune. We were aware of the risks, but it helped to know that our work was keeping a lot of people safe.What I want to leave behind from the past two years?I hope those dreaded days of fear are now behind us. Let us never see another such time. The horror of companies shutting and people left jobless should be a thing of the pastWhat I am looking forward to in 2023?I am looking for dreams coming true — my daughter entering an air-hostess academy; everybody having rozi roti and children going to school rather than studying online— As told to Dipanita Nath

Shobha Dilip Kushwha: ‘The doctors are doing so much for us, can’t we do something for them?’Sign In to read
‘I started taking care of my personal growth and want to keep learning’Sign In to read
The Indian Express | 5 months ago | |
The Indian Express
5 months ago | |

As we emerge from the pandemic and everything around us opens up, we speak to people across the country to hear their stories and their strugglesMumtaz Saifi, 21Entertainment Service Provider, PVR: Vegas LUXE, Dwarka, New DelhiTowards the end of 2019, I began working at PVR. I sell tickets to customers at the box office, make popcorn and serve them drinks, and, overall, ensure they have a good time at the theatre. When I joined, I was also a year into my undergraduate studies at Delhi University’s School of Open Learning, and was managing both responsibilities. I stayed with my family in Palam, worked nine hours a day and got one day off. I worked only for a few months, from December 2019 to March 2020, and then the pandemic started.We never expected it. We were afraid of the disease and that we would lose our jobs. But I was lucky. PVR supported me financially and emotionally in those lockdown periods. My father, who is an assistant manager at a company, met with an accident and, temporarily, I became the sole earning member for my parents and two siblings. But since theatres were shut, we could not go to work, nor could we go out with friends and family. It got really boring. I started missing the time when I could go out, and realised the value of my loved ones as many began losing people close to them.I started taking care of my personal growth. I spent time with my family, I cooked a bit, I started exercising and doing yoga, and then, since I wanted to do something productive, I decided to learn another language: German. That was something I have always wanted to do! We were home for an entire year, and restarted work around March 2021. Many of my friends lost their jobs, while some got financial support from their companies. Somehow, we all managed, and have come out stronger.What I want to leave behind from the past two years?People were losing so many of their loved ones, I never want that to happen again. Also, the lockdown was really difficult, it’s hard to stay at home all day. I really like going out with friends and familyWhat I am looking forward to in 2023?I’m currently pursuing my Master’s in English Literature from Indira Gandhi National Open University, and enjoy my studies. I’m learning about the history of the English language and how it came to India. Secondly, of course, I want everyone to be healthy and safe if a new COVID wave comes, so we aren’t affected like before— As told to Udbhav Seth

‘I started taking care of my personal growth and want to keep learning’Sign In to read
Maharashtra pays woman Rs 1 lakh for no med aid during lockdown
Times of India | 5 months ago | |
Times of India
5 months ago | |

MUMBAI: In the first case of its kind, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has directed the state public health department to pay Rs 1 lakh to a mother and child as interim relief for failing to provide timely medical care during the delivery and causing great mental stress to the woman, reports Prafulla Marpakwar.The NHRC took cognisance of an alert by an NGO in 2020 following reports that the woman, forced to walk home to Madhya Pradesh with her migrant labourer husband who was then working in Maharashtra during the countrywide Covid lockdown, gave birth to a baby on the way near Pimpalgaon on May 26, 2020. She could not avail of any medical facilities and after resting for a few hours, resumed the walk of 150km home.Acting on the NHRC directives, the public health department on December 26 approved payment of Rs 50,000 for the mother, Shankutala Kaul, and another Rs 50,000 for her newborn child.

Maharashtra pays woman Rs 1 lakh for no med aid during lockdown
Arnab Goswami’s ‘inflammatory’ comments: SC to hear Monday Maha govt plea against HC order of staying probe
The Indian Express | 6 months ago | |
The Indian Express
6 months ago | |

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea of Maharashtra government challenging a Bombay High Court’s 2020 order by which it had suspended probe into two FIRs filed against Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami for allegedly making inflammatory comments.The FIRs pertain to Goswami’s comments during his TV programmes about Palghar lynching incident and migrants gathering in large numbers in Mumbai’s Bandra area during the Covid-induced lockdown.A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice Hima Kohli will hear the appeal filed by the Maharashtra government.On October 26, 2020, the top court had observed that some people are targeted with “greater intensity” and need more protection.The Maharashtra government, which was then ruled by Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi, had opposed the high court’s decision to stay the police probe against Goswami.The top court had sought response from Goswami and others on the appeal filed by the state government.In its June 30, 2020 order, the high court had noted that while Goswami’s comments targeted the Congress and its president Sonia Gandhi, he did not make any statement that would cause public disharmony or incite violence between different religious groups.Citing observations made by the Supreme Court that India’s freedom will rest safe as long as journalists can speak to power without being chilled by a threat of reprisal, the high court had said in its order that free citizens cannot exist when the news media is chained to adhere to any one position.While admitting for final hearing of the petition filed by Goswami seeking to quash the two FIRs, the high court had directed the police not to take any coercive action until the disposal of the plea.Two FIRs were filed against Goswami — one in Nagpur, which was later transferred to N M Joshi Marg police station in Mumbai following directions from the Supreme Court and another at Pydhonie police station.The one filed in Nagpur was about a news show aired on the channel on April 21 about the Palghar incident where two religious leaders and their driver were lynched.The Pydhonie case followed a show aired by Republic TV on April 29 where Goswami had referred to migrants gathering near a mosque outside the Bandra railway terminus during the lockdown.

Arnab Goswami’s ‘inflammatory’ comments: SC to hear Monday Maha govt plea against HC order of staying probe
Govt nod to extend EWS reservation to SEBC candidates pending appointment
The Indian Express | 6 months ago | |
The Indian Express
6 months ago | |

THE MAHARASHTRA Cabinet on Thursday approved extending the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) quota facility to candidates under the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) category.The benefit will be available to the candidates, selected during the period from 2014 to September 9, 2020, who were denied appointment in the selection process completed after accepting the EWS option allowed to the SEBC candidates.The Marathas were given reservations of 12 and 13 per cent in employment and education, respectively in 2018 under the SEBC Act, 2018. On September 9, 2020, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court had stayed the reservation and on May 5, 2021, it was cancelled by the court.After the Cabinet’s decision to include SEBC under the EWS quota, the Chief Minister’s Office issued a statement on Thursday, and said, “Due to the Supreme Court’s stay, as the matter was sub-judice, and during the Covid-19 lockdown, candidates could not be appointed to the government service even after being selected.”“The appointment will be subject to the final verdict on the petitions pending before the Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal, HC and Supreme Court,” the statement added.

Govt nod to extend EWS reservation to SEBC candidates pending appointment
Panel to see if cases can be taken back, Bombay HC told
Times of India | 7 months ago | |
Times of India
7 months ago | |

MUMBAI: The state government has informed Bombay high court that it has set up a committee to decide on taking back cases registered against people who violated prohibitory orders during the Covid-19 lockdown.Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Shriram Modak were on October 11 submitted the home department's September 26 government resolution (GR) on constitution of the committee to look into cases registered during lockdown - from March 21, 2020 to March 31, 2021. They heard a petition by a city-based advocate who was booked for not wearing a mask in a marketplace in Sangli. The GR states that the decision to take back cases will be subject to considering that in a case no government servant or frontline worker was attacked and no private or public property above Rs 50,000 was damaged. It cited the Supreme Court's 2016 direction that, if a sitting or former MLA or MP is involved, the case cannot be taken back without the HC's approval. There will be two committees at the police commissionerate level and at the district level. Following the lockdown, the advocate and his parents shifted to their village. On April 24, 2020, he and his cousin, wearing handkerchiefs around their faces, went to Kargani market to buy water. A constable asked them why they did not wear medically approved masks. Told by the advocate that a handkerchief was sufficient, as per the collector's April 13, 2020 order, the constable refused to let him leave and compelled them to purchase masks. On learning that he is an advocate, the constable warned that he will file a criminal complaint. Advocates Sudeep Pasbola and Karl Rustomkhan urged quashing of the FIR under Indian Penal Code sections, including for disobeying quarantine rule. Prosecutor Jayesh Yagnik said Atpadi police station will forward the FIR to the committee in a week. The judges directed that the committee "shall look into the same and take an appropriate decision, as expeditiously as possible, and by November 25."

Panel to see if cases can be taken back, Bombay HC told
Mumbai: Colour returns to Diwali fireworks trade after pallor of lockdown
Times of India | 7 months ago | |
Times of India
7 months ago | |

MUMBAI: Colour has returned to the cheeks of the fireworks trade at Diwali 2022 after the pallor caused by the pandemic lockdown. Evening crowds are visible at cracker shops as well as roadside stalls, and traders say footfalls will increase by the weekend. Diwali falls Monday October 24. Minesh Mehta, general secretary of the Mumbai & Thane District Fireworks Dealers Welfare Association, said, "Shoppers have returned to the bazaars and we saw a robust Janmashtami, Ganeshotsav, Navratra and Dussehra. Cracker sales are gathering pace because of public demand and also because we are now permitted to stock certain firecrackers which were not allowed during the lockdown. And most of the items are tailored for the children's market. Light based items have replaced noisy crackers, and several new products ranging from Rs 150 to Rs 450 per box are selling briskly," he said. In an altered post-Covid economy, it is little children who are driving the sales of fireworks. "Elders have lost the enthusiasm for lighting fireworks. Yet, parents are indulging their children's desire to do so despite a financial crunch. Crackers called Lotto, I-Spin, Robot, Ninja Magic, Tutti Fruity, 3D Pot and Happiness are doing well." Navin Chhadva, who heads the federation, cited items like Chip Chip, Sky Gen, Fly Machine, Miracle as bestsellers that are attracting children. "These crackers either fire upwards or upon the ground and emit light. Stars, colour balls, and anaar are favourites," he said. In Sion Koliwada, Ramesh Mehta of the 60-year-old Koliwada Kapole store says business will pick up by the weekend. "Schools are yet to break for the Diwali holiday else more children would have come by now. Unseasonal rain has also confined people indoors. But markets will pick up by the weekend," he said. Mehta said rates of fireworks are 15-20% higher than 2021. Also, Mohammed Ali Road, Null Bazaar are not the sole hub any longer with new stores opening in Malad, Koliwada and Kurla. Mehta said, "Online sale was the focus in 2021, but that has ebbed now as bazaars have reopened." Mehta and Chhadva say business could have fared better were it not for a production shortage. A sweeping ban on crackers in many states and a Supreme Court order on the use of barium in crackers has dented production of fireworks in the manufacturing hub of Sivakasi, Tamil Nadu. Output has declined by 40% and costs are higher as manufacturers are forced to seek expensive imported alternatives for barium. Rains have impacted production and storage too.

Mumbai: Colour returns to Diwali fireworks trade after pallor of lockdown
Covid-19 pandemic underscores role of MGNREGA as safety net despite shortcomings: Study
The Indian Express | 7 months ago | |
The Indian Express
7 months ago | |

About 39 per cent of all job card-holding households interested in working under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) 2005 did not get a single day of work in the Covid year of 2020-21, revealed a survey conducted by Bengaluru’s Azim Premji University in partnership with the National Consortium of Civil Society Organisations on NREGA and Collaborative Research and Dissemination (CORD) in November-December 2021 in the states of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar.The survey was conducted in 2,000 households across eight blocks in Phulparas (Madhubani) and Chhatapur (Supaul) in Bihar, Bidar (Bidar) and Devadurga (Raichur) in Karnataka, Khalwa (Khandwa) and Ghatigaon (Gwalior) in Madhya Pradesh, and Wardha (Wardha) and Surgana (Nashik) in Maharashtra.The key findings of this survey were released on October 13.“Our study shows how much the workers value the need and utility of MGNREGA. More than 8 out of 10 households recommended that MGNREGA should provide 100 days of employment per person per year. We also find a massive extent of underfunding. A conservative estimate yields that the allocations in the surveyed blocks should have been three times the amount that was actually allocated in the year after lockdown to fulfill the true extent of work demand,“ said Rajendran Narayanan, co-author of the study and a faculty member at Azim Premji University.Ashwini Kulkarni of the NREGA Consortium said “one of the objectives of MGNREGA is as a social protection measure during distress times”. “Covid Pandemic, lockdown created unprecedented distress and MGNREGA, as expected, rose to the need and provided work for many more villages and many more households than in the preceding years. MGNREGA’s role for reducing vulnerability has been reemphasized and continues to be of vital importance in post-pandemic times. We as Civil Society Organizations have the responsibility to convey voices of the people to the policy makers to fine tune the implementation process, this report is an effort in this regard,” he added.“Across all blocks, roughly 39 per cent of all the job card holding households interested in working in MGNREGA in the Covid year could not get a single day of work while they wanted 77 days of work on average. As per the MGNREGA Management Information System (MIS), the total amount spent on labour in the surveyed blocks in the Covid year (FY 2020-21) was Rs 152.68 crores. As per our conservative estimate, to fulfill the true demand for work in these blocks, the allocated labour budget should have been Rs 474.27 crores, i.e., more than 3 times the amount actually spent on wages,” said one of the key findings of the study.“The most frequently mentioned reason for not getting as much work as needed, across all blocks, was lack of adequate works being sanctioned/opened. On average, 63% of all job card holding households cited this reason in the surveyed blocks. On average, only 36% of all households that worked in the Covid year got their wages within 15 days. For households who found work in both the periods (pre-Covid and Covid), increased earnings from MGNREGA were able to compensate for somewhere between 20 to 80 percent of income loss depending on the block. For households who had not worked in the pre-Covid year but did find work during the Covid year, we find that MGNREGA earnings compensated for anywhere between 20% and 100% of income lost from other sources,” the study said.“More than 8 in 10 households recommended that MGNREGA should be 100 days per person per year and 3 out of 5 households said that MGNREGA contributed positively to overall development in their village. Despite low wages and payment delays, MGNREGA clearly made a difference during the pandemic, insuring some of the most vulnerable households against income losses. But it fell quite a bit short of fully protecting households either because it did not meet their demand or completely excluded them from the programme,” the study added.Recommending massive expansion of the programme to deal with high work demand, the study also the government should ensure that computerised receipts are given to the workers for work demanded.“Update job cards with work done, wages earned etc. In addition to manual updating of information on job cards, equip each panchayat to a job card printing facility similar to passbook updation facilities in banks. Ensure that wage slips with details of wages and work details are printed and provided to workers after Funds transfer orders are generated. Prominently display a ‘Know Your Rights (KYR)’ concerning MGNREGA and banking rights in public places,” the study recommended.“Ensure that the GPs (gram panchayats) get funds in advance and have more authority in sanctioning works. This will ensure that the mandate of the 73rd constitutional amendment is honoured and work is available on demand. Ensure that social audits are strengthened with timely and adequate funds. Bring every agency involved, including payment intermediaries like NCPI (National Payments Corporation of India), banks, UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) etc. within the ambit of social audits with clear penalty norms in case of violations,” said the recommendations of the authors to the government.

Covid-19 pandemic underscores role of MGNREGA as safety net despite shortcomings: Study
A bite of nostalgia and comfort: How dine-ins are making a comeback after Covid lull
The Indian Express | 8 months ago | |
The Indian Express
8 months ago | |

Sneha Saikia’s dining hall came to life again with laughter, jokes, anecdotes, and a combination of aromas coming out of her kitchen as she reopened her doors for home dine-ins in August last year.It was in March 2020, when the Covid lockdown was first imposed in the country, that Saikia, like everyone else, had to shut down her pop-up. Two years later, as travel resumes and restaurants brim with life, home chefs share stories of food, flavours, and resilience.Buy Now | Our best subscription plan now has a special price“Earlier, people never minded dining with strangers but after Covid they became hesitant to even visit a stranger’s home. When the second Covid wave subsided, people started attending the dine-ins again but they were still not comfortable mingling with strangers and preferred coming in with their friends or family,” says Sneha, who started ‘Table for 6 Luncheon’ in 2018 to put Assamese cuisine on the national capital’s culinary map.People choosing to form their own groups and come over for the intimate food experience with only known people made Sneha’s business suffer. The first group of guests she hosted after the pandemic was three couples who were friends with each other. “The couples made the group on their own so as to avoid dining with strangers,” informs Sneha. “But, slowly people started dining with strangers.”Lucknow-based Sheeba Iqbal has a similar story to share. Iqbal, who recently hosted the team of the upcoming movie Bawaal, starring actors Varun Dhawan and Janhvi Kapoor, at her dine-in Aab-O-Daana, tells how she had to shut her pop-up and stop food delivery following the pandemic-induced lockdown. However, once the restrictions were lifted and there was a movement of groceries and other raw materials, she resumed home deliveries.  A post shared by Aab_o_Daana (@aab_o_daana) It was in October 2020, after a gap of six months, that Sheeba hosted two Bengali couples and soon after a group of eight doctors from Punjab. “After hosting the Bengali couple, there was no stopping. I hosted the doctors’ groups and business started bouncing back. I had a good season throughout the winter of 2020,” says Sheeba.In the winter of 2021, Sheeba resumed hosting big groups, and then there was no looking back. “The frequency of diners increases in winters, which is from October to March. I do dine-ins every alternate day to meet the demand,” she adds.Sheeba specialises in Awadhi cuisine, the traditional recipes for which have been passed on to generations in Lucknow homes. She learned cooking from her mother but honed her skills under the guidance of her mother-in-law, who belonged to Bhopal, and brought the taste from the royal kitchens of begum of the capital city of Madhya Pradesh.A Bite of ComfortOne of the reasons behind the popularity of dine-ins is the traditional cuisine the host has to offer, which is not found in many restaurants. From Bohri and Awadhi to Assamese and Himachali — there is nostalgia in every bite. Home pop-ups also offer a new way to socialise as they help in bringing people with common interests together, learn about the rich heritage of various communities while enjoying a good home-cooked meal.Dr Aman Bhosle, a Mumbai-based psychotherapist, who is regular to home dine-ins says that besides the authentic food that he gets to taste at these pop-ups, he loves meeting food enthusiasts and making new friends. Bhosle has travelled far and wide to explore various cuisine especially, Southeast Asian cuisine. Next, he is keen to try authentic Russian and German cuisines.Mahua Jain, a Delhi-based content writer, who first visited a home dine-in 2019, says “authentic food” is what attracts her to these places.Jain, 51, who has been to various restaurant pop-ups says she is now searching for a dine-in that specialises in Kashmiri cuisine.Of Food and LaughterNitika Sood, who runs Pahadi Pattal, too closed her doors for home dine-ins during the pandemic but her loyal diners bombarded her with queries on reopening. Overwhelmed by the response to her Himachali food, Sood decided to venture into home deliveries. “I was getting a lot of inquiries about the pop-ups and my diners wanted to taste my food. So, I started home delivery and within no time I was swamped with orders from Delhi-NCR,” Sood says.She takes only 12-15 orders on Saturdays besides orders for special occasions.Although there is no dearth of online orders, Nitika is still set to open her doors for home dine-ins towards the end of the year. “I miss interacting with people, sharing stories and knowledge about Himachali cuisine, and bonding over the food,” says Sood.Dr Ruchi Mittal, who runs ‘Miles n Meals’, too is keen to resume home dine-ins after Diwali. With the virus still lurking around, she intends to write Covid-related protocols on the invite to make the dining experience for her guests safe. Currently, she runs a food delivery business and organises a small gathering of 4-6 people every month.For Sunetra Vijaykar of ‘Dine With Vijaykars (DWV)’, it has always been about dining experience and not just the unique food that kept her away from venturing into home deliveries and made her put the dine-ins on hold.Already having several confirmations from her regular diners and patrons, she plans to restart dine-ins by the last quarter of this year. Asked about the precautions she is going to take when she resumes the pop-up, Sunetra says, “It may not be large groups but a smaller, socially distanced group and more private dinings will be the way ahead.”DWV specialises in Pathare Prabhu (PP) cuisine, the traditional cuisine of the Pathare Prabhu community in Western Maharashtra. As per her, the community has developed a full cuisine over centuries with several items that are unique and some which are twists to the typical neighbouring Marathi and Gujarati dishes.Speaking about the future of home dine-ins, she says, “The last two years have been difficult for people, but now that things are open, and with travel and experiences coming back in action, there is a lot that can happen in the home-dining space.”“The stage seems set for home-dining experiences to take the next steps, which could be in collaborative models with restaurants in more holistic experiences that cover tourism and cultural aspects along with food, like cultural festivals and food consulting,” she feels.📣 For more lifestyle news, follow us on Instagram | Twitter | Facebook and don’t miss out on the latest updates!

A bite of nostalgia and comfort: How dine-ins are making a comeback after Covid lull
Maharashtra Village Begins 'Digital Detox' For Residents
Ndtv | 8 months ago | |
Ndtv
8 months ago | |

A siren goes off at 7 pm signaling people to switch off their TV sets and gadgets. (Representational)Sangli, Maharashtra: A village in Maharashtra's Sangli district is showing the way out of the clutter of electronic gadgets and social media platforms in modern life by getting its residents to go in for a "digital detox" every evening.The idea was mooted by Vijay Mohite, the sarpanch of Mohityanche Vadgaon village, and residents have been participating in this novel exercise enthusiastically.A siren goes off from a local temple at 7 pm, signalling people to put off their mobile phones and other gadgets and switch off their television sets, etc to indulge in reading books, studying and talking with one another, while the second alarm at 8.30 pm signals the end of the detox period.Talking to PTI, the coronavirus-induced lockdown and the subsequent spell of online classes brought mobile phones into the hands of children for long hours even after school ended for the day, while television viewing hours of parents got extended."When physical classes resumed, teachers realised children had become lazy, did not want to read and write and were mostly engrossed in their mobile phones before and after the school hours. There weren't separate study rooms in the homes of the villagers. So I put forth the idea of a digital detox," he said."I had proposed a one-and-a-half hour period at first. Initially, there was hesitancy as people were wondering if it was possible to keep away from mobile and TV screens. On Independence Day, we convened a gram sabha of women and decided to purchase a siren. Then ASHA workers, anganwadi sevikas, gram panchayat employees, retired teachers went home to home to create awareness about digital detox," he added.Mohityanche Vadgaon has been home to freedom fighters, has won awards for cleanliness from the state and central governments and is known for maintaining social harmony, with the focus always being on development works, he said."At present, between 7 pm and 8.30 pm, people keep their mobile phones aside, switch off television sets and focus on reading, studying, writing and conversations. A ward-wise committee has been set up to monitor if the initiative is being implemented," the sarpanch explained.Emphasising the need for such a move, student Gayatri Nikam said her peers and others were glued to phones and television sets during lockdown, even during power outages, with hardly a glance at course books and other study material.Another person said women in the village's households would be busy watching television serials and there wasn't much parental supervision over children."Now, from 7 pm to 8.30 pm, children study while parents read and write. There is no disturbance as everyone goes about such productive activities," the villager added.PromotedListen to the latest songs, only on JioSaavn.comIncidentally, earlier this month, some members of the Jain community in Raisen in Madhya Pradesh had observed a "digital fast" for 24 hours during the 'paryushan parva' by keeping away from their smartphones and other electronic gadgets.(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Maharashtra Village Begins 'Digital Detox' For Residents
Took chartered flights during lockdown for work, not personal reasons: Nitin Raut to HC
The Indian Express | 8 months ago | |
The Indian Express
8 months ago | |

Congress leader and former state energy minister Nitin Raut recently told the Bombay High Court that he had used chartered flights to travel to Nagpur during the Covid-19 pandemic only for official or administrative work and not for personal reasons.Raut filed his affidavit in response to a PIL by BJP leader Vishwas Pathak, who sought directions against Raut to reimburse state power companies to the tune of more than Rs 40 lakh, allegedly spent on his “illegal” use of chartered flights in 2020.Citing alleged RTI information obtained from power generation and distribution companies, Pathak said that during the nationwide lockdown, Raut had used chartered flights for numerous trips to Mumbai, Nagpur, Hyderabad and Delhi for “administrative work”, and had made the debt-ridden power companies pay his bills amounting to over Rs 40 lakh. Raut denied the allegations that the companies were pressured into paying for the chartered flights and said, “I deny that the expenditure incurred for the chartered flights was illegal, arbitrary and a gross waste of public funds.”Raut also said Pathak had already filed complaints against him with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and BKC Police station in Mumbai and has availed of alternate remedies for his grievances and since both the authorities are seized of the matter, the High Court should not hear the plea. Raut said Pathak was media head of the state BJP and the petition was filed with political vendetta to settle political scores.He also said that he had travelled by chartered flight only while carrying out his duties as minister and since he had undergone angioplasty, his doctors had advised him not to take up long distance road travel, otherwise he would travel to Nagpur by commercial flight or train. He added that being then guardian minister of Nagpur, he had to travel there regularly for administrative work.“At that time, since commercial flights were not operating and due to the urgency of the situation, I was forced to travel by chartered flight,” Raut claimed.The affidavit read, “On the relevant occasions, I had travelled to Nagpur for administrative work which included overseeing of day to day functions of the power companies and to resolve issues brought about by the lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the Nisarga cyclone. This was to ensure uninterrupted supply of electricity.” He added that he had travelled for work, and his responsibilities had included deciding utilisation of power plants for producing oxygen, and ensuring the power supply remained undisturbed. Moreover, he had to travel to oversee rehabilitation of power lines that were destroyed during the Nisarga cyclone that impacted Western Maharashtra.He added that during the lockdown, the energy sector had to work as an essential service and he had to travel as the head of the ministry to ensure power companies work smoothly.

Took chartered flights during lockdown for work, not personal reasons: Nitin Raut to HC
Mumbai: Liftman gets bail in Pocso case but his entry to housing society barred
Times of India | 8 months ago | |
Times of India
8 months ago | |

MUMBAI: Releasing on bail the liftman of a building where an 11-year-old was molested, the Bombay high court has however barred his entry into the housing society. Justice Bharati Dangre passed the direction on the man's bail plea. He was booked for abetting the accused, a watchman, under IPC and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (Pocso). During the Covid-induced lockdown, the minor played with other children in the basement. In August 2021, the watchman took her mobile number. On August 15, 2021 he called her behind a car, kissed her and touched her inappropriately. After 2-3 days, he repeated his act and threatened her not to tell anyone. A few days later, he again called the girl and exposed himself. She informed her parents. He was arrested on November 5, 2021 after the girl said he told her to go upstairs as the watchman was there. Justice Dangre took note of the minor's other statement that the liftman scolded her when he saw her coming out of the washroom. Both men had argued. She said the prosecution has accused the liftman of not reporting the incident, but his action would attract Section 21. Justice Dangre said Section 16 defines 'abetment' and explained a person has to either instigate another to do an offence or engage in conspiracy or intentionally aid the offence.

Mumbai: Liftman gets bail in Pocso case but his entry to housing society barred
Crimes against women in Mumbai< in pre-Covid days
Times of India | 9 months ago | |
Times of India
9 months ago | |

MUMBAI: Mumbai records more than one offence against women every two hours (total cases in 2021: 5,543). The consolation is that the city ranks 10th among urban centres for crimes against women (see graphic) if measured per lakh population. And rape constitutes a small percentage of these cases (6.5%). In fact, Mumbai provides a silver lining to the overall picture for the state as numbers are down compared to the pre-Covid times of 2019 when cases of crimes against women was higher at 6,519. On the other hand, Maharashtra recorded more crimes against women in 2021 compared to pre-Covid times, according to National Crime Records Bureau data. Over 39,500 cases were filed in Maharashtra in 2021, an increase of more than 6% since 2019 when the figure was 37,144 cases. Activists said child marriage and instances of violence at home were observed the most. Meanwhile, conviction rate was as low as 14%. A total of 4.28 lakh cases of crimes against women were registered during 2021 in India, showing an increase of 15.3% over 2020 (3.71 lakh cases). Most pertained to cruelty by spouse or relatives (31.8%), molestation (20.8%), abduction (17.6%) and rape (7.4%). The crime rate registered per lakh women population in India is 64.5 in 2021 in comparison with 56.5 in 2020, the report said. "There were restrictions on mobility in the lockdown year of 2020 and during some months of 2021 when a spurt in instances of violence at home were observed. The victims were not only women but also adolescent girls," said Nandita Shah of the non-profit Akshara. As lockdown-like restrictions lifted in 2021 and mobility increased, more cases came to light. "Women that were enduring silently until then and couldnt take it anymore could have finally stepped out to report," said activist Priti Patkar of the non-profit Prerana. Activists added that one reason for low conviction rates in crimes against women is the absence of a victim protection programme "The victim and the family are almost entirely on their own without any support. As cases remain pending in court for years, prosecution fatigue also sets in," Patkar said.

Crimes against women in Mumbai< in pre-Covid days
  • Crime cases against kids: 7 reported daily in Mumbai

    • Times of India

    MUMBAI: Seven cases of crime against children were reported in Mumbai per day in 2021. Mumbai recorded a total of 2,762 cases of crime against children in 2021, second only to Delhi, according to the NCRB. The city also recorded the second highest number of POCSO cases (1,048). In every single case of POCSO (cases of sexual abuse of children), the offender was known to the victim, data revealed. "Children living on the streets are immensely vulnerable to crimes and have no safety net. The state must provide night shelters for every street child on priority," said activist Sandhya Gokhale. Activists said that big cities like Mumbai and New Delhi are densely populated and as a result, the number of crimes occurring would be higher. "As far as POCSO is concerned, registration is mandatory. Then in instances of a child under 18 going missing, the Supreme Court has mandated kidnapping offences to be registered. So for both these offences, the numbers are going to be high as law enforcement agencies wouldn't want to take the risk of not registering an offence which they are mandated to record," said activist Priti Patkar of the non-profit Prerana. More than 1,500 kidnapping cases of children were reported in Mumbai last year. Patkar points out that one interpretation of higher numbers could mean an increase in crime, but it could also mean an increase in reporting and recording of crimes. NCRB data also showed that in POCO cases in Mumbai, a majority of the victims were girls aged 16-18 years.

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