Director Prakash Jha is contesting for the Lok Sabha elections from the Bettiah seat in Bihar and helping out in his campaign will be his ‘Rajneeti’ lead actors, Ajay Devgan and Katrina Kaif. Both are popular public figures and will invite huge crowd.
A source on the project reveals, "Ajay is very close to Jha. Even though he doesn't endorse political parties or take a political stand, he will definitely do everything in his capacity to support Jha. Also Katrina, who has been drawing huge crowds to the locations where the film is being shot, will be roped in. People travel from long distances to come and see her. If she campaigns for Jha, it will definitely add to the glamour element."
Devgan feels Jha will an ideal leader for the constituency. A source adds, "Jha has done to help the flood victims in Bihar, and his Punarvaas campaign has been a huge success and Ajay has personally followed the project. So he wants to support him."
However Ajay Devgan's publicist denied the news, "The news that Ajay is campaigning for Jha in the forthcoming elections is not true."link
Friday 27 February 2009
Jan Adalat in Bihar by Naxals
Just 145 kms from Bihar's capital Patna, armed naxals from the People's War Group are regularly holding a people's court to dispense justice.
Armed naxals from the People's War Group, holding a Jan Adalat (people's court) in Banke Bazar of Gaya district. The naxals held this court to convey to the villagers about their fight against the atrocities of the police and the rich capitalists.
More shockingly, the Jan Adalat was being held in the presence of the heads of five village panchayats, who hailed the 'effort' for the naxals, raising pro-naxal slogans 'lal salam, lal salam'.
Around 2000 villagers participated in the Jan Adalad. Visibly pleased by the 'justice' dispensed by the naxals, the villagers say that the naxals are a big help to them as the state government is crushing their rights.
''The capitalist and feudal landlords have suppressed us. And now these naxals have shown us the way to progress and development." said Sukhdev Prasad, a villager from Banke Bazar.
Another villager from Warheta, Ramanuj Rai said, "We don't get our right that is why we have come here. These naxals are showing us the way to fight for our rights. The Maoist and naxals have found the way to redress our problems. The government hasn't helped us much as the Maoists. If the Maoists weren't here we wouldn't be respected by the rich and the capitalists"
The naxals, on there part, have taken their fight for justice to a new level. They are telling the villagers that that 90 % of the poor people were the victims of the police atrocities.
A naxal leader said the gathering, "More than 90% of people face police attrocities. They frame false charges against people - accusing them of being terrorists and criminals. The common man keeps fighting for their rights, while the capitalist and the rich keep suppressing us. But no matter how much we will continue our fight."
The naxals also called for a boycott of the Lok Sabha polls and even paid tribute to around 14,000 naxals who were killed in parts of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttaranchal, Nepal and Bihar.
Ironically, the police are not even aware of this Jan Adalat that was held in broad daylight. Twenty-two out of Bihar's 38 districts are facing the naxal menace. Despite the spate of brutal Naxal attacks in recent time, no one seems to have learnt the lesson yet - neither the cops nor the authorities.link
Armed naxals from the People's War Group, holding a Jan Adalat (people's court) in Banke Bazar of Gaya district. The naxals held this court to convey to the villagers about their fight against the atrocities of the police and the rich capitalists.
More shockingly, the Jan Adalat was being held in the presence of the heads of five village panchayats, who hailed the 'effort' for the naxals, raising pro-naxal slogans 'lal salam, lal salam'.
Around 2000 villagers participated in the Jan Adalad. Visibly pleased by the 'justice' dispensed by the naxals, the villagers say that the naxals are a big help to them as the state government is crushing their rights.
''The capitalist and feudal landlords have suppressed us. And now these naxals have shown us the way to progress and development." said Sukhdev Prasad, a villager from Banke Bazar.
Another villager from Warheta, Ramanuj Rai said, "We don't get our right that is why we have come here. These naxals are showing us the way to fight for our rights. The Maoist and naxals have found the way to redress our problems. The government hasn't helped us much as the Maoists. If the Maoists weren't here we wouldn't be respected by the rich and the capitalists"
The naxals, on there part, have taken their fight for justice to a new level. They are telling the villagers that that 90 % of the poor people were the victims of the police atrocities.
A naxal leader said the gathering, "More than 90% of people face police attrocities. They frame false charges against people - accusing them of being terrorists and criminals. The common man keeps fighting for their rights, while the capitalist and the rich keep suppressing us. But no matter how much we will continue our fight."
The naxals also called for a boycott of the Lok Sabha polls and even paid tribute to around 14,000 naxals who were killed in parts of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttaranchal, Nepal and Bihar.
Ironically, the police are not even aware of this Jan Adalat that was held in broad daylight. Twenty-two out of Bihar's 38 districts are facing the naxal menace. Despite the spate of brutal Naxal attacks in recent time, no one seems to have learnt the lesson yet - neither the cops nor the authorities.link
Bihar,s is a hi-tech budget
When Bihar deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi, who has also the finance portfolio with him, tabled the state budget for the financial year 2009-10 in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday, few realised that an old system of preparing budget, which was in vogue since independence, has been done away with.
The old theory of centralised control over every small and little item of expenditure leading to the creation of over 400 `unit codes’ has been replaced by a budget built on `object units’. The number of `unit codes’ has been reduced to just 62, and the 1,500 pages of budget documents were generated by computer. All this reduced the budget-preparation time from six months to just one month.
“According to the new budget-making theory, the head of an office is the finance manager of its establishment, and the budget is designed on the basis of `object heads’ which define the objective of the expenditure,” explained IAS officer and additional finance commissioner Arunish Chawla.
Chawla, who has done PhD from the prestigious London School of Economics, played a major role in the formulation of the new system of finance management in the state.
Officers and employees concerned recalled how tiresome the budget-making process used to be earlier. Expenditure provisions were complicated and calculations a time-taking exercise. For instance, for minor repairs in government buildings, provisions had to be made from 35 `unit heads’. For meeting office expenses, provisions had to be made from 20 `unit heads’. “There were different heads to purchase food for dogs and horses,” one official said, adding if one had to make an additional provision, he had to go through the tiresome process of re-appropriation.
“The number of operational sub-heads has been brought down by 25%. This, coupled with the corrections in the `unit heads’, has simplified the process at least 10 times,” Chawla said, stressing that the simplification will boost the state machinery’s ability to deliver.
No less important is the fact that the new budget system has been integrated with the computerised treasury system. “From April 1 onwards, heads of the departments can get information not only about their budget but also about the actual expenditure against their allotment 24X7 online,” Chawla said and added the process of budget allocation, allotment, passing of bills, generation of treasury voucher numbers and compilation of AG accounts will now be carried out without manual intervention.link
The old theory of centralised control over every small and little item of expenditure leading to the creation of over 400 `unit codes’ has been replaced by a budget built on `object units’. The number of `unit codes’ has been reduced to just 62, and the 1,500 pages of budget documents were generated by computer. All this reduced the budget-preparation time from six months to just one month.
“According to the new budget-making theory, the head of an office is the finance manager of its establishment, and the budget is designed on the basis of `object heads’ which define the objective of the expenditure,” explained IAS officer and additional finance commissioner Arunish Chawla.
Chawla, who has done PhD from the prestigious London School of Economics, played a major role in the formulation of the new system of finance management in the state.
Officers and employees concerned recalled how tiresome the budget-making process used to be earlier. Expenditure provisions were complicated and calculations a time-taking exercise. For instance, for minor repairs in government buildings, provisions had to be made from 35 `unit heads’. For meeting office expenses, provisions had to be made from 20 `unit heads’. “There were different heads to purchase food for dogs and horses,” one official said, adding if one had to make an additional provision, he had to go through the tiresome process of re-appropriation.
“The number of operational sub-heads has been brought down by 25%. This, coupled with the corrections in the `unit heads’, has simplified the process at least 10 times,” Chawla said, stressing that the simplification will boost the state machinery’s ability to deliver.
No less important is the fact that the new budget system has been integrated with the computerised treasury system. “From April 1 onwards, heads of the departments can get information not only about their budget but also about the actual expenditure against their allotment 24X7 online,” Chawla said and added the process of budget allocation, allotment, passing of bills, generation of treasury voucher numbers and compilation of AG accounts will now be carried out without manual intervention.link
Thursday 26 February 2009
Trouble over Bihari dialogue in Bobby Deol's film
A dialogue in his soon-to-be-released film, Ek, equates Biharis with killers. Censors cleared promos, but now want them dropped After Kamaal R Khan’s Deshdrohi, another film involving Biharis has hit trouble. Controversial dialogues in the TV promos of Sangeeth Sivan’s Bobby Deol-starrer Ek have stirred a hornet’s nest and landed the Censor Board, which cleared the promo for airing, in the soup.
Currently on air, the promo shows Bobby Deol playing a killer, and the following dialogue in the background: “Aam Aadmi ko marna hai? Dus hazaar ka desi katta aur ek Bihari. Kaam khatam.” (Want to kill an ordinary guy? All you need is a ten thousand rupee country revolver and a Bihari, and the job will be done).
The pejorative promo has led to executive producer Jaswant Khera getting threatening calls from Bihar and a controversy that may yet jeopardise the film’s future. “Once the Censor Board has cleared it why should anyone have a problem?” demands Khera. But after the matter was brought to the Censor Board’s notice, the Board has asked the film's producers to either drop the promo or beep out the word Bihari. "We have raised an objection to the dialogue as in a 30 second or a 15 second promo we can't make out the entire context of the dialogue or what the actor is referring to," says Regional Officer of the Censor Board, Vinayak Azad. The promo was initially passed by someone, said Azad who himself saw it on Wednesday. "I have now asked them to remove it. We can't form such opinions about any caste or community. This clearly refers to Biharis as people who take money to kill people. The Censor Board's intention is to safeguard every community and religion and hence we have told the producers to remove the dialogue from the teaser and they will have to do so accordingly."However, for his part, Khera has a logistical nightmare. "I don't think it will be possible now (to delete) as we have sent the teasers everywhere and it is very difficult. We have told the Board that they can do whatever they want to when the film comes but right now it's impossible for us to remove the teasers from air," he told.
When contacted, the film's director Sangeeth Sivans said:, "We had started the film quite some time back. All these problems of Bihar and UP came much later. We never intended to disrespect anyone but during the time the script was being written we used to read every day in newspapers that the sharp shooters have come from Bihar. But never did we think it could lead to trouble." While Khera has saved all the numbers from which we is getting the threatening calls, and is all set to go to the police, Congress politician and man from Bihar Sanjay Nirupam has requested the Censor Board to ensure that the reference is deleted immediately. "When one makes any creation, any book, any film you cannot comment adversely on any community. I condemn this kind of an attitude and would like to tell the producer and the director of the film that Bihar is not like that. I agree that there are goons in Bihar but goons are everywhere and this kind of a dialogue is in bad taste."link
Currently on air, the promo shows Bobby Deol playing a killer, and the following dialogue in the background: “Aam Aadmi ko marna hai? Dus hazaar ka desi katta aur ek Bihari. Kaam khatam.” (Want to kill an ordinary guy? All you need is a ten thousand rupee country revolver and a Bihari, and the job will be done).
The pejorative promo has led to executive producer Jaswant Khera getting threatening calls from Bihar and a controversy that may yet jeopardise the film’s future. “Once the Censor Board has cleared it why should anyone have a problem?” demands Khera. But after the matter was brought to the Censor Board’s notice, the Board has asked the film's producers to either drop the promo or beep out the word Bihari. "We have raised an objection to the dialogue as in a 30 second or a 15 second promo we can't make out the entire context of the dialogue or what the actor is referring to," says Regional Officer of the Censor Board, Vinayak Azad. The promo was initially passed by someone, said Azad who himself saw it on Wednesday. "I have now asked them to remove it. We can't form such opinions about any caste or community. This clearly refers to Biharis as people who take money to kill people. The Censor Board's intention is to safeguard every community and religion and hence we have told the producers to remove the dialogue from the teaser and they will have to do so accordingly."However, for his part, Khera has a logistical nightmare. "I don't think it will be possible now (to delete) as we have sent the teasers everywhere and it is very difficult. We have told the Board that they can do whatever they want to when the film comes but right now it's impossible for us to remove the teasers from air," he told.
When contacted, the film's director Sangeeth Sivans said:, "We had started the film quite some time back. All these problems of Bihar and UP came much later. We never intended to disrespect anyone but during the time the script was being written we used to read every day in newspapers that the sharp shooters have come from Bihar. But never did we think it could lead to trouble." While Khera has saved all the numbers from which we is getting the threatening calls, and is all set to go to the police, Congress politician and man from Bihar Sanjay Nirupam has requested the Censor Board to ensure that the reference is deleted immediately. "When one makes any creation, any book, any film you cannot comment adversely on any community. I condemn this kind of an attitude and would like to tell the producer and the director of the film that Bihar is not like that. I agree that there are goons in Bihar but goons are everywhere and this kind of a dialogue is in bad taste."link
Monday 23 February 2009
Centre sitting over funds for Bihar flood relief work: Nitish Kumar
Referring to release of funds for flood relief and rehabilitation work in Bihar, state Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday accused the Centre of being partisan towards the state, as it did not provide adequate aid to overcome the devastation caused by Kosi floods.
"The Centre has done great injustice to Bihar. We could not get the relief fund as per norms despite the Prime Minister himself declaring Kosi tragedy a national calamity," Nitish Kumar told reporters here after his visit to the Planning Commission to finalise state's annual plan size.
The extent of injustice can be understood from the fact that the state could not get any help from the Central Relief Fund (CRF) too, which is meant for the entire country, he said adding, "CRF is our right and not a favour". "We had a negative balance of Rs 800 crore in CRF," he added.
Kumar maintained that relief should have been granted by now as rehabilitation and reconstruction package were needed. "There are hardly five or six days left for the elections to be announced and the model code of conduct will be applicable," he said.
The matter was pending with the Government of India's high-level committee and there was no concrete proposal with the Planning Commission at the moment. He, however, stressed the state would seek its support and raise the issue during the full budget after the elections.link
"The Centre has done great injustice to Bihar. We could not get the relief fund as per norms despite the Prime Minister himself declaring Kosi tragedy a national calamity," Nitish Kumar told reporters here after his visit to the Planning Commission to finalise state's annual plan size.
The extent of injustice can be understood from the fact that the state could not get any help from the Central Relief Fund (CRF) too, which is meant for the entire country, he said adding, "CRF is our right and not a favour". "We had a negative balance of Rs 800 crore in CRF," he added.
Kumar maintained that relief should have been granted by now as rehabilitation and reconstruction package were needed. "There are hardly five or six days left for the elections to be announced and the model code of conduct will be applicable," he said.
The matter was pending with the Government of India's high-level committee and there was no concrete proposal with the Planning Commission at the moment. He, however, stressed the state would seek its support and raise the issue during the full budget after the elections.link
Bhojpuri-Hindi film “Smiles” at Oscar
Indian enthusiasm for Oscars is not just limited to Slumdog Millionaire. Smile Pinki, a real world fairly tale, which celebrates the work of the plastic surgeon Dr Subodh Kumar Singh in providing free surgery to fix the cleft lip of poor young children, won the Oscar in the best documentary (short) category on Sunday night.
Smile Pinki is a 39-minute documentary that depicts the story of Pinki Sonkar, an eight-year-old girl from Mirzapur whose face cleft lip made her a social outcast.
Made in Bhojpuri and Hindi, the film has been directed by distinguished filmmaker Meg Mlyan, best known for her feature length documentary Lost Boys of Sudan which was shown in some 70 cities in North America.
Mylan thanked Pinki in her acceptance speech at the award ceremony in Hollywood.
“Thank you Pinki. Thank you for letting me tell your incredible story,” she said.
The film was shot entirely in Varanasi and villages of Uttar Pradesh.
Smile Pinki is a 39-minute documentary that depicts the story of Pinki Sonkar, an eight-year-old girl from Mirzapur whose face cleft lip made her a social outcast.
Made in Bhojpuri and Hindi, the film has been directed by distinguished filmmaker Meg Mlyan, best known for her feature length documentary Lost Boys of Sudan which was shown in some 70 cities in North America.
Mylan thanked Pinki in her acceptance speech at the award ceremony in Hollywood.
“Thank you Pinki. Thank you for letting me tell your incredible story,” she said.
The film was shot entirely in Varanasi and villages of Uttar Pradesh.
Sunday 22 February 2009
Bihar govt offers 2 plots of land to Singapore Buddhist Lodge for Pilgrim Centre
The 5th Nalanda Mentor Group meeting in Bodh Gaya in Bihar has been concluded.
The group, which included Singapore's Foreign Minister George Yeo, called on the state's Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and updated him on details of the two-day meeting, which ended on Friday.
The Bihar government also offered for consideration two plots of land to the Singapore Buddhist Lodge to build a Pilgrim Centre for Singaporeans visiting Bodh Gaya.
The plots are near to where Lord Buddha gained enlightenment.
Mr Yeo accompanied the delegation to view the plots on Saturday.
He said: "The Chief Minister told me that we will then go through the procedures for the land that has been allocated to us. There is a hope that we can begin work on the Pilgrim Centre very quickly."
The group, which included Singapore's Foreign Minister George Yeo, called on the state's Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and updated him on details of the two-day meeting, which ended on Friday.
The Bihar government also offered for consideration two plots of land to the Singapore Buddhist Lodge to build a Pilgrim Centre for Singaporeans visiting Bodh Gaya.
The plots are near to where Lord Buddha gained enlightenment.
Mr Yeo accompanied the delegation to view the plots on Saturday.
He said: "The Chief Minister told me that we will then go through the procedures for the land that has been allocated to us. There is a hope that we can begin work on the Pilgrim Centre very quickly."
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