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B R Chopra receives Dadasaheb
Phalke Award NEW DELHI, Feb 15: Indian cinema’s living legend B R Chopra.....more
Maneka for inclusion of NEW DELHI, Feb 15: Minister of State for Social Justice.....more
Restoration project NEW DELHI, Feb 15: The much-awaited project.....more |
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Kant for better coverage NEW DELHI, Feb 15: Media coverage of Parliament proceedings has been often........more CBI submits report CUTTACK, Feb 15: The CBI has submitted its interim report on the alleged irregularities committed in the purchase of polythene rolls by the Orissa Government for the cyclone victims before a division bench of the High Court. The bench comprising Justice P C Nayak and Justice B P Das, while adjourning the case till tomorrow, yesterday directed the State Government to file its counter.........more VHP gives ultimatum BHOPAL, Feb 15: The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) today gave an ultimatum to the......more 30,000 security personnel CUTTACK, Feb 15: More than 30,000 security personnel, including 50 companies....more CPI-M condemns NEW DELHI, Feb 15: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) today condemned the.....more |
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R Chopra receives Dadasaheb Phalke Award NEW DELHI, Feb 15: Indian cinema’s living legend B R Chopra today received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for lifelong contribution to the medium at a glittering function here during which awards were also given away for the best films of 1998. The 46th National Film Awards, which showed a resurgence for Hindi cinema, were given away by President K R Narayanan in the presence of Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley at the tastefully decorated Vigyan Bhavan. Speaking on the occasion, both called upon filmmakers to be sensitive to the sensibilities of the viewing public. While well-known filmmaker Shyam Benegal’s hindi film ‘Samar’ received the award for the best film of 1998, the award for the best director was given away to Rajeevnath for the Malayalam film ‘Janani’ while Ajay Devgun shared the actor award won for his role in ‘Zakhm’ directed by Mahesh Bhatt with popular Malayalam star Mammootty who got it for playing the title role of Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar in the english film ‘Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar’ directed by Jabbar Patel. Senior actress Shabana Azmi bagged the award for her histrionics in ‘Godmother’ directed by Vinay Shukla. (the last time a Hindi film bagged the best film award was ‘Bagh Bahadur’ by Buddhadeb Das Gupta in 1989). The awards which should in the normal course have been presented in mid-year last year, could not be given away due to various reasons including the political situation. Others present at the award function included I and B Secretary Y N Chaturvedi, Director of Film Festivals Malati Sahai, veteran filmmmaker D V S Raju, renowned cinematographer and Director Shaji N Karun and senior author-filmmaker M T Vasudevan Nair who chaired the feature, non-feature and book juries respectively. The 1998 blockbuster ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’ by Karan Johar bagged the award for the best popular film providing wholesome entertainment while the Malayalam film ‘Daya’ by Venu was selected for the Indira Gandhi Award for the first film of a director. The Nargis Dutt Award for the best film on national integration is ‘Zakhm’, which was produced by actress Pooja Bhatt who also enacted the main role. In fact, a majority of the 17 awards and mentions bagged by Hindi films have gone to mainstream commercial cinema. The films include the controversial ‘Godmother’ which won the largest number of awards (six) for any single film, including best feature film in Hindi in the language category, and an award for best lyric ‘Mati Re Mati Re’ by Shabana’s husband Javed Akhtar. Both the supporting acting awards were bagged by Hindi films: Manoj Bajpai in Ram Gopal Verma’s ‘Satya’ and Suhasini Mulay for Gulzar’s ‘Hu Tu Tu’, her second film as an actress after her debut in ‘Bhuvan Shome’ in the late seventies. ‘In the forest hangs a bridge’ by Sanjay Kak won the best non-feature film award, while ‘Cinemaee Bhasha Aur Hindi Samvaadon Ka Vishleshan’ by Dr Kishore Vaswani was selected as the best book on cinema with Meenakshi Shedde being chosen as best film critic. There was also special mention of gaston roberge for the book ‘Communication cinema development’. The Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest national honour in cinema presented every year to senior film personalities for their contribution to the growth and development of the art, comprises a sum of Rs two lakh apart from a citation and a shawl. This award has been decided by the Government, while the other awards were selected by a 17-member feature film jury, a five-member non-feature jury, and a three-member book jury. Apart from the Swarna Kamal and the Rajat Kamal, the cash component of the awards ranges from Rs 10,000 to Rs 50,000 for feature films and Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 for non-feature films. Other Hindi films awarded were ‘Kabhi Pass Kabhi Fail’ by Virendra Saini as the best children’s film, and ‘Dil Se’ which won two awards, including one for best audiography for H Sridhar. While Hindi led with 17 awards, Malayalam was next with seven, followed by tamil with four Bengali, English, and Telugu with three each and Assamese, Kannada, Punjabi, Oriya and Marathi with an award each. ‘Godmother’ won three other awards: Best male playback for Sanjeev Abhyankar for ‘Suno Re Bhaila’, to Renu Saluja for its editing, and Vishal Bhardwaj for music. Alka Yagnik won the female playback for the title track of ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’. Benegal’s film ‘Samar’ got an award for best screenplay for Ashok Misra. The film ‘Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar’ also received an award for best art direction to Nitin Desai, while S B Satheesan gets the costume award for ‘Daya’. Perhaps for the first time in the history of the national film awards, a single individual won two awards each in consecutive years, and each award is for a different film. Renowned cameraman Santosh Sivan, who had received the regional language film award for ‘The terrorist’ and for cinematography for ‘Iruvar’ in the national awards for 1997, got the award for environmental conservation film ‘Malli’ and for cinematography in ‘Dil Se’. Child actress Baby Amma (Shwetha) got the award for best child star for ‘Malli’. The Bangla ‘Atmiyo Swajan’ by Raja Sen was awarded for the best film on family welfare while the Malayalam ‘Chinthavishtayaya Shyamala’ by Sreenivasan got the award for depicting a woman’s struggle. Venki received the special effects award for the tamil ‘Jeans’, while the Malayalam film ‘Daya’ got one more award: To vrinda for choreography. The special jury award went to Asoke Viswanathan’s ‘Kichhu Sanlap Kichhu Pralap’ in Bangla. Three persons came in for special mention: the veteran Dasari Narayan Rao for the Telugu film ‘Kante Kuturne Kanu’, actor Prakash Raj in the Telugu ‘Anthahpuram’ and actress Manju Warrier in several Malayalam films including ‘Kannezuthi Pottum Thottu.’ The language-wise awards were: Assamese - ‘Kuhkhal’ (Jahnu Barua) Bangla - ‘Asookh’ (Ritu Parno Ghosh) english - ‘Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar’ (Jabbar Patel) Kannada - ‘Hoomale’ (Nagathihalli Chandrashekar) Malayalam - ‘Agneesakshi’ (Shyam Prasad07,- ‘Shaheed-e-mohabbat Boota Singh’ (Manoj Punj) Tamil - ‘Housefull’ (R Parthepan) and Telugu - ‘Tholi Prema’ (A Karunakaran). Among the non-features, the best first non-feature film of a director award went to Rajeev Raj for the Malayalam short ‘Repentance’. Other awards included: anthropological/ethnographic - ‘Kherwal Parab’ (Santhali - Sankar Rakshit) arts/cultural - ‘A painter of eloquent silence: Ganesh Pyne’ (English - Buddhadeb Das Gupta) environment - ‘Willing to sacrifice’ (English - B V P Rao) and historical reconstruction - ‘Anna lives’ (Tamil - Tamil Nadu Films Division). The best short fiction film was won by the Hindi film from the Film and Television Institute of India, ‘Jee Karta Hai’ by Hansa Thapliyal, while the biographical film award was shared by two Malayalam films by the same director, M R Rajan: ‘Premji - Ithihasathinte Sparsam’ and ‘Unarvinte Kalam - M R B. (UNI) |
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Maneka for inclusion of disabled in Census 2001 NEW DELHI, Feb 15: Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Maneka Gandhi today said Census 2001 should also incorporate the number of persons with disabilities to ensure that a data-base is available for the welfare of the deprived sections of the society. Addressing the two-day conference of the State Welfare Secretaries here, Gandhi said she had already approached the Census Commissioner of India in this regard and expressed hope that the forthcoming census would include this information. Emphasising the need for a coordinated effort by the Centre and States to achieve the common goal of reaching the maximum number of disabled and marginalised sections, Gandhi said the ministry had taken many initiatives including the passage of National Trust Act in this regard. The trust would be promotive, proactive and protectionist in nature and seek primarily to uphold the rights, promote development and safeguard the interests of persons with autism, cerebral palsy, mental retardation and multiple disability, Gandhi said. She said besides this, a national programme for rehabilitation of persons with disabilities had been launched to fulfil the obligation of the ministry after the implementation of the persons with Disabilities Act. She also proposed setting up of a hierarchical service delivery system for rehabilitation of disabled persons comprising of two community based rehabilitation workers in each gram panchayat, two multi-purpose ones in each block for providing basic rehabilitation services and coordinating activities with other Government agencies. Gandhi said a project had been approved recently to set up six regional composite centres covering all areas of disability as the present institutional framework was not adequate to provide the requisite support to all regions and states of the country. In addition, she said 100 districts are to be adopted by the National Institutes and District Rehabilitation Centres to provide services at the doorsteps of the people to enable them to lead a fuller life. In the social defence sector, Gandhi said the ministry had attempted to develop the Old Age Security and Income Scheme (OASIS) and it is hoped that in the near future unorganised workers will also be able to look forward to a modicum of security in their old age. She said day care centres for the aged and other home care and residential service were being supported by the Ministry and Aadhar had been set up as a service for pursuing redressal of grievances of older persons. Gandhi said she would prefer to identify four to five persons in each district of each state for participating and collaborating with Aadhar in this endeavour and asked the secretaries to refer their names for further follow up. (PTI) |
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Restoration project at Mirza Ghalib haveli launched NEW DELHI, Feb 15: The much-awaited project for the restoration and preservation of the Haveli of 19th century urdu poet Mirza Asadullah Ghalib in the walled city area here was launched by Delhi Lt Governor Vijai Kapoor today. The Haveli, located in Ballimaran area about one-and-half km from the historic Red Fort and which was being uptil now used as a workshop for manufacturing tin boxes, would now be converted as a memorial by the Archaeological Department of the Delhi Government. Speaking on the occasion, Kapoor said an apex committee formed under his chairmanship and comprising Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit among others will oversee the construction of a suitable memorial at Ghalib’s Haveli and will provide inputs on the conservation and restoration, its designing and authentic use of materials. The committee would also suggest appropriate utilisation of space in the memorial and would monitor the implementation of the project keeping in view the birth anniversary of the poet on December 27. The Government, as part of the project, acquired 130 sq yards of the Haveli, which is in its original shape, and efforts were being made to acquire the adjacent Haveli of Nawab of Loharo, whose daughter was married to Mirza Ghalib and where Mushairas and literary gatherings were organised those days, Kapoor said. (PTI) |
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Kant for better coverage of Parliament proceedings NEW DELHI, Feb 15: Media coverage of Parliament proceedings has been often perfunctory and casual and reflected rather poorly on its understanding of Parliament’s functioning, Vice President Krishan Kant said today. "The coverage of parliamentary proceedings in the media so often reflects rather poorly on its understanding of the procedures of parliamentary functioning or the import of what has been spoken on the floor," Kant said inaugurating a conference on "Parliament and the media: Building an effective relationship" here. "The coverage is often perfunctory, casual and cursory. Even when debates are elaborately reported, the essence and the spirit of the debate is missing," he regretted. An impression was growing among parliamentarians that the media was interested only in reporting what was sensational, which often meant highlighting the "disorderly and unseemly conduct of some members and ignoring or downplaying the sober, serious and thoughtful contribution of the others", he said. "When this happens day after day, week after week, the serious and sober members begin to feel dispirited," the Vice President said. Kant said that there was a change in the conduct of some members who, when they first entered Parliament, used to be serious and sober speakers, but after having been there for some years, turned almost into "rabble-rousers". The members felt that as long as they concentrated merely on making a thoughtful contribution in a debate, the media took little notice of them because of which their constituencies kept complaining about their inactivity in Parliament. "But once they began creating scenes in the house, the media began taking prominent notice of them", the Vice President said. "Parliament and media, the organised institutions of democracy, have to consciously tread the path of morality and values, which would be an inspiration for the rest of the community," Kant told the delegates from several countries and prominent media personalities. Stating that Parliament and the media were complementary institutions in a democracy, he said there should be an understanding and appreciation of each other’s roles, duties and functions. Highlighting the importance of democracy, the Vice President said "it was natural for us to feel pained to see democratic institutions crushed under military boots in Pakistan, a fellow commonwealth country." The five-day conference is being jointly organised by Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, the Commonwealth Press Union, the Commonwealth Journalists Association and the Commonwealth Broadcasters Association along with World Bank, UK foreign and commonwealth office and Parliament of India. (PTI) |
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VHP gives ultimatum to MP Govt on convention venue BHOPAL, Feb 15: The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) today gave an ultimatum to the Madhya Pradesh Government that the Bajrang Dal convention would be held at the proposed old venue here if it continued to linger on on granting permission. VHP vice president Giriraj Kishore told newsmen here that the administration held two rounds of meetings with the Bajrang Dal and VHP leaders to suggest a different place than the one earlier announced by the Bajrang Dal. However, they continue to linger on on the permission to the convention at the new venue stating that the matter would be put up before Chief Minister Digvijay Singh for final approval, Kishore added. He said right from the beginning, the Bajrang Dal was ready to shift the venue of the convention without compromising with the place - Bhopal. (PTI) |
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30,000 security personnel to bedeployed in Orissa CUTTACK, Feb 15: More than 30,000 security personnel, including 50 companies of para-military forces, would be deployed in 70 of the 147 Assembly constituencies going to the polls in the first phase elections in Orissa on February 17. Talking to UNI here today, State Director General of Police B B Panda said security had been tightened in four Naxalite-prone districts of Malkangiri, Rayagada, Gajapati and Koraput following the poll boycott call given by the People’s War Group (PWG) and its frontal organisations. Admitting that the Naxalities had been very active, particularly in Malkangiri, Rayagada and Gajapati districts, the DGP, who visited the areas recently, said extra forces were sent there to combat any threat from the Naxalities during the polling. Asked about the recent Naxalite attack on a BJP election campaign group at Poteru in Malkangiri in which the party Jeep was set ablaze by the armed mob, Dr Panda said no one had been arrested in this connection so far. The security personnel to be deployed for the first phase elections covering 19 districts included 90 platoons of Orissa State Armed Police (OSAP), 6483 constables, 776 Havildars, and 65 Deputy Superintendents of Police. A total of 970 mobile patrol parties had been set up to keep a strong vigil on the sensitive areas as well as 13,325 polling booths set up to enable 11.2 million voters to exercise their franchise without any fear or favour, the State Police chief said. The DGP said the State Police was facing serious constraints this time as it had been provided only 50 companies of Central Para-Military Force (CPMF) as against its demand of a minimum of 95 companies. The assistance of the CPMF was sought in view of the growing Naxalite activities in the Jharkhand-dominated Northern Orissa and the coastal belt in the East, Dr Panda said, adding that the State had been assured of another five companies of CPMF considering the gravity of the situation. During the last Assembly elections held in two phases in March, 1995, the State was provided with 150 companies, he said. Claiming that the overall law and order situation in the state had been normal so far, the Police chief said all borders with the neighbouring states of Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar had been sealed to prevent entry of anti-socials. Besides, hundreds of anti-socials had been taken into custody during the last fortnight following execution of warrants, excise raids and combing operations in different parts of the state. (UNI) |
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CPI-M condemns Centre’s decision NEW DELHI, Feb 15: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) today condemned the Centre’s decision to withdraw the Z Plus security provided to the party’s general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet and demanded that the decision be rescinded at the earliest. The CPI(M) politburo in a statement here said that Mr Surjeet had conducted a movement against militancy in Punjab. Over 2,000 leaders and cadres of the party were killed by militants in that state. He had also been associated with the nationalist forces in Jammu and Kashmir and was required to travel all over the country besides Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir. Therefore, the Z Plus security cover provided to him should not be withdrawn, the CPI(M) said. (UNI) |
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