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Parveen Babi seeks exemption from court appearance

MUMBAI, Aug 11: Film actress of yesteryears, Parveen Babi says she cannot appear before the designated TADA court conducting the Mumbai 1993 bomb blasts trial here, since she apprehends a threat to her life and wants the court to record her evidence at her residence itself.

Speaking to UNI at her sea-facing Juhu residence on Thursday evening, Ms Babi emphasised that she did not want to show any disrespect to the TADA court but explained that there were reasons for her refusal to appear in court in person.

She said she feared that she could be eliminated by an international ring made up of people in the Government, foreign powers and the mafia.

She had requested the court through a letter dated August 8, to "issue a commission to come to my residence and record my deposition."

Ms Babi said she had voluntarily filed an affidavit one year ago in the TADA court saying that she be allowed to submit the evidence in her possession, and that she be called upon as a witness. She had waited for a year for the summons to be issued in her name but nothing had happened.

In the August 8 letter, the one-time glamour queen has listed her reasons for her refusal to appear in the TADA court, this time around. Among other things, she mentions her plans to file a writ petition with the Supreme Court under Article 32 of the constitution, in the matter. Incidentally, under this article, a citizen can move the apex court to seek remedial measures for the enforcement of fundamental rights. The 48-year-old actress said she was in the process of writing this petition relating to certain alleged "irrefutable evidence" in her possession. Some of these, she had "discovered" since November 2001, and related to an international crime syndicate, involving foreign Governments, their heads of State as well intelligence agencies, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Government, film personalities in the Hollywood and in Mumbai and others, and its plans to assassinate her in order to prevent her from pursuing a criminal complaint filed by her with a local court here on August 14, 2000.

She charges that she would be killed and it would be made to look like an "accident" to prevent her from submitting other evidence she had found in the 1993 bomb blasts conspiracy. All such evidence would be submitted by her in the writ petition to the SC.

She points out that it was because of this nexus and the subsequent threats to her life that she has stopped moving out of the House till the filing of her SC petition and the execution of her will. She said she would move the apex court in the next four to five months.

Ms Babi, one of the few Indian heroines to be featured on the cover of ‘Time’ magazine, is willing to make a concession, though. She says, and has also mentioned the same in her August 8 letter, that if the blasts’ trial has ended and the TADA court wanted to expedite the matter and not wait till such time that she moved the SC, "I will depose from my house".

Ms Babi insists that the much talked about and suspected underworld-Bollywood does exist and claims to be a first hand witness to this.

If the former actress’ claims are to be believed the mafia wants to "have her shot through some henchman, or have her killed in a car accident, the moment she steps out of her house".

Ms Babi, feels that even the Maharashtra police or any other entity subordinate to the SC, provided her with security, they will not be able to help her. This was because, considering the powers of those charged by her in the criminal complaint, they will have her, so also the police escort killed in either a car accident or by some mafia sharpshooters. All of these allegations feature, either in her August 2001 affidavit before the TADA court or her August 2000 criminal complaint, she said. Ms Babi has alleged in the letter that some foreign Governments, as named in her earlier affidavit, had prevailed upon the police to release the evidence against Sanjay Dutt in the form of a taped conversation between Sanjay Dutt and underworld don Chhota Shakeel at this "strategic" time (July 25, 2002) even though the tapes had been with the police since November 14, 2000.

Here, too, she said she smelt a conspiracy against her. The tapes were released in order to implicate Sanjay Dutt with the mafia, so that it would then draw her out from her house to testify against Dutt in the TADA court as a witness. While she was doing that, she could be killed and the blame placed on Sanjay and he could be punished for her murder, she said.

This would acquit the foreign Governments and other accused as named in her criminal complaint, she claimed.

As proof of her claim, she pointed to the coincidence in the date of the release of the tapes and the day she received the summons from the TADA court to be present for the hearing (July 25).

According to Ms Babi, every time she made up her mind to file a First Information Report (FIR) with the police in any of the alleged conspiracies, she was unable to go to the police as yet another conspiracy occurs, stopping her in her tracks.

She alleged that she was forced to admit to being schizophrenic for fear of being killed by the accused named in her August 2000 affidavit.

"I was alone and petrified and had to flee the country in 1983", she said and alleged that the prominent film industry personalities had tried to kill her since 1979 as she had come to know about their links with the organised crime syndicate. (UNI)

Bollywood - veering towards ‘dark’ thematic rennaissance

NEW DELHI, Aug 11: A new kind of reality appears to have dawned in Bollywood: people who are often on the edge of society or the wrong side of the law are humans too.

Obsessed lovers, psychos on the run, victims of circumstances, or simply devilish men and women have of late become central to Bollywood themes.

Consider an obsessive lover of Yash Chopra’s "Darr" (played by Shah Rukh Khan), the man forced by circumstances to turn into a hardened criminal in Subhash Ghai’s "Khalnayak" (Sanjay Dutt), the psychopath of "Abhay" (Kamal Haasan), or the scheming mercenary of "Ajnabee" (Akshay Kumar).

These dark characters, hitherto treated with utter contempt by Bollywood filmmakers and audiences alike, are now being seen as the characters that can make the ticket counter registers jingle.

Clearly, recent successes at the box office — howsoever moderate — have shown that audience acceptability for such "fallible" characters is on the rise.

These include Vikram Bhatt’s "Kasoor" (where chocolate-faced Aftab Sivdasani plays a killer), Ram Gopal Verma’s "Pyar Tune Kya Kiya" (with ‘Mast Mast’ Urmila Matondkar playing a mentally disturbed woman), and "Company" (featuring Ajay Devgan and Vivek Oberoi as underworld dons who kill their opponents without any compunction).

Then there is Abbas Mastan’s "Ajnabee" (featuring Akshay Kumar as a scheming mercenary), Madhur Bhandarkar’s "Chandni Bar" (with Tabu as a bar girl) and Vipul Shah’s "Ankhen" (where superstar Amitabh Bachchan plans a bank robbery).

In an art-form where the last success decides the trend for the next, an increasing number of filmmakers in Bollywood today are focussing on these "dark characters".

The latest to be released is Hansal Mehta’s "Chhal" starring newcomers Prashant Narayan and K K Menon. Directed by the maker of black comedy "Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar", it is the story of an investigative cop (Kay Kay Menon) who is on a mission to enter the inner recesses of the mafia and pass on information to the police but soon realises he is just a pawn in a very big game. Awaiting early release is Anurag Kashyap’s "Paanch" ( revolving around members of the pop band who indulge in criminal activities for financing their music album but are caught in a web of their own making), Sanjay Gupta’s "Kaante" (about a group of scheming robbers who plan a bank robbery), Ram Gopal Verma’s "Road" (an experimental film focussing on a motley group of weird characters), Madhur Bhandarkar’s "Satta" (based on a scheming woman’s rise in the world of politics) and Shashilal Nair’s "Ek Chotisi Love Story" (story of a teenager who derives voyeuristic pleasure from secretly watching a women much older his age).

In an industry thriving on candyfloss romances, the tremendous excitement generated by such films is part of Bollywood’s transition to greater realism.

Film-writer Mushtaq Sheikh told UNI: "Changing audience perception over the years has meant that the cine-goer is now willing to accept more ‘sensible’ films (rather than the make-believe world of movies in 60s and 70s) whose characters, being human, are also ‘fallible’ and could make mistakes in life."

Apart from box office success, some of these films have also received critical acclaim. "Chandni Bar" won a host of awards this year, prominent among them four national awards including one for the best film highlighting social ills.

The others were best actress ‘- Tabu and best supporting artistes Atul Kulkarni and Ananya Khare.

Expectedly buoyed by these changing trends and audience tastes, an increasing number of newcomers and established stars are today willing to play roles which have shades of grey or are "completely dark", in sharp contrast to earlier decades.

Model-turned-actress Bipasha Basu, who consented to play a vampish character in her very first film "Ajnabee" had said in an interview that she was "open to all kinds of roles, including completely dark characters as long as the role is meaty and provides me a scope for emoting".

Her role in "Ajnabee" had fetched her an unprecedented response from filmmakers and audiences alike. "In this sense I can say that the role, even though having dark shades, has proved lucky for me,’ she added.

While Bipasha again plays a "dark" role in her forthcoming Vikram Bhatt-directed "Gunaah", others playing similar characters include Jackie Shroff in Kaizad Gustad’s "Boom" and "Sandhya", Karisma Kapoor, NaPa patekar and Shah Rukh Khan in Noney Kapoor’s "Shakti - the power", Raveena Tandon in "Satta", Arbaaz Khan in "Soch" and Manoj Bajpai in "Road". (UNI)

Police chief reviews security in capital

NEW DELHI, Aug 11: Considering the threat of terrorist attacks in the capital around Independence Day, Delhi Police chief Radhye Shyam Gupta undertook an overnight review of security arrangements in various parts of the capital, including the Red Fort where the main fuction on August 15 is to be held.

The police chief went to Red Fort around midnight last night and spent around 20 minutes talking to security personnel and officers about the arrangements.

Mr Gupta said the security arrangements this year were important considering intelligence inputs suggesting some serious terrorist attacks in the capital around the Independence Gay.

Delhi Police has already closed the fort for pubic viewing well in advance to ensure that terrorists do not indulge in any misadventure. Normally, the fort from where the Prime Minister hoists the Tricolour and addresses the nation is closed only a couple of days before August 15.

Senior police officials told UNI that the fort was clsoed early this year because there were apprehensions of ‘Fidayeen’ attacks by Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM).

After reviewing the arrangements, the police chief visited the borders of the state to state if the security drill was followed.

Apart from the regular presence of police, additional personnel were stationed at the borders for checking people and vehicles coming into the city.

Mr Gupta was accompanied by senior officials and Deputy Commissioners of Police of the districts visited by him. The closure of the Red Fort is one among various steps taken by Delhi Police to ensure incident-free Independence Day celebrations in the capital.

"Considering the serious threat perception and the need to sanitise the area around the Red Fort well in advance, it was decided to close it from the midnight of August nine," a senior Delhi Police official said.

The official said a search operation had already been launched in and around the red fort as part of efforts to sanitise the area.

Meena Bazaar has been vacated and the people working there have been asked to vacate the place for a week’s time till the function is over. Barring few army personnel, who have been staying in the camps and barracks there, the Red Fort premises has been vacated, he said.

The seriousness of the threat perception could be assessed from the fact that this year, the Defence Ministry is issuing passes in a very restrictive manner and this applies to even journalists wanting to cover the event for their respective organisations.

The Defence Ministry is issuing press passes to only those mediapersons having Press Information Bureau (PIB) accreditation cards.

Security was tightened following the rise in infiltration from across the border and the spurt of militant attacks in Jammu and Kashmir.

With Independence Day barely days away, Delhi Police has increased vigilance at strategic buildings like Rashtrapati Bhawan, Parliament, South Block, North Block, those Housing Union Ministries, All India Radio and Doordarshan.

Among the buildings where special security arrangements have been made are Shastri Bhawan, Udyog Bhawan, Sena Bhawan, Rail Bhawan, Krishi Bhawan, Nirman Bhawan, Nirvachan Sadan, Vigyan Bhawan, Parivahan Bhawan, Yojana Bhawan and Reserve Bank of India.

Officials said searches in sensitive areas had been increased and greater surveillance was being maintained at the borders to check the movement of ‘unwanted elements’.

The security in and around the Prime Minister’s residence at 7, Race Course Road has also been increased. (UNI)

DMA calls for a Gutkha free Delhi

NEW DELHI, Aug 11: The Delhi Medical Association has launched a Gutkha free Delhi campaign and demanded a ban on the tobacco-based product in the capital in view of its health hazard.

The initiative has been taken close on the heels of various States like Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar imposing a ban on Gutkha.

DMA president SCL Gupta said that tobacco related-diseases kill eight lakh people annually in India and around 40 lakh world wide. According to a World Health Organisation estimates, 70 per cent of the ten million people projected to die of tobacco consumption by 2030 would be from the developing countries.

"Every 40 seconds one person was dying in the world and every ten seconds one Indian is dying due to tobacco menace. Delhi being the national capital has a far-reaching impact in the State-level policy making, espcially in smaller States. A ban in Delhi is expected to be emulated automatically in all parts of the country."

He said that DMA would focus on getting Gutkha banned in Delhi and simultaneously build public opinion and pressure towards outsing other tobacco related products also in a phased manner. Gutkha samples collected randomly has been found to contain about 0.67 per cent to 2.36 per cent nicotine and an anti-caking agent magnesium carbonate which have very harmful effect on health and cause oral cancer.

"As part of the anti-Gutkha campaign the DMA house here has been made a Gutkha free-zone. It is our appeal to other private and public organisations to support us by introducing similar norms on restricting Gutkha consumption."

Generally Gutkha and Beedi come under the state act so the central act banning cigrette smoking in public not apply to it. However, since Gutkha was considered food article as defined under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 so its manufacture, sald and distribution was regulated by the Act.

"Section 23 of the PFA Act empowers the Central Government to prohibit the sale of any substance, which may be injurious to health, when used as a food or as an ingredient of food. Further there have been ample studies over the recent past that have confirmed the ill-effects of Gutkha and other forms of tobacco," he explained.

A recent study of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research on ‘tobacco related oral mucosal lesions and conditions in India’ has established that a large number of oral mucosal changes were attributable to tobacco consumption and more particularly to smokeless or chewing tobacco, he pointed out. Many other studies carried out by various groups also have established association between tobacco chewing and oral cancer.

"Similarly, recent scientific review under taken by the Indian Council of Medical Research on Pan Masala containing tobacco (Gutkha) shows that health hazard of these substances are similar to those of chewing tobacco. All these studies and scientific reviews have in general emphasised on the necessity to initiate steps to prohibit manufacture, sale and distribution of Gutkha."

Dr Gupta blamed foreign companies for increasing tobacco consumption in the country. In developed countries these countries have been stung by litigation, progressively declining smoking rates and stringent legislation so they have spread their tanticles in the developing countries.

"The large multinational tobacco companies are largely responsible for the tremendous increase in smoking trend and consumption of non-smoke tobacco, particularly among adolescents, in the developing countries. They have used their enormous political and financial power to influence Governments in the developing countries to aggressively promote their products. If the trend continues, in the near future, it is the developing countries that will carry the burden of disease due to tobacco use."

The DMA president said that ever since the ban in various States the Gutkha lobby has intensified its efforts to safeguard their cherished money-minting industry. They defend their weakened stance by bringing forth non-issues like unemployment of the tobacco producing workers and surmounting pressure on the legislative powers that prevents the law to be implemented effectively. So creating public opinion in favour of the ban was the need of the hour, he said. (UNI)

Centre to soon send high-level teams to
drought-affected areas

NEW DELHI, Aug 11: Stung by the worst drought in three decades, the Centre will soon send high-level teams to the affected States which have demanded over Rs 17,000 crore cash and around 100 lakh tonnes free foodgrains.

"Memoranda for assistance from national calamity contingency fund have so far been received from ten of the affected States which are being examined. Very soon we will decide on sending Central teams", a senior Central official told PTI here today.

Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan have sent detailed memoranda for help from NCCF, while preliminary reports have been received from Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Jharkhand and Uttaranchal.

Full impact of the drought would be known in two-three days and thereafter Central teams would visit the affected States for on-the-spot assessment of the situation, he said.

In the meantime, affected States have been asked to meet the cost of transporting fodder, drinking water and providing farm input subsidies from the Rs 809 crore advance release of the second instalment from the Calamity Relief Fund (CRF).

On the demand for foodgrains, sources said these are being examined by Union Agriculture Ministry for necessary recommendations to Rural Development Ministry. After final decision on the volume of allocation to various States, Food Ministry would order release of foodgrains accordingly.

Movement of foodgrains to the affected areas would not pose any major problem as around 595 lakh tonnes of the total stock of over 650 lakh tonnes of foodgrains are lying in 12 drought-hit States, they said.

Himachal Pradesh is the only affected State where the existing foodgrain stocks are comparatively lower at about 24,000 tonnes, but in view of its proximity to Punjab and Chandigarh, the State is unlikely to face any major scarcity, sources said.

The drought also provides an opportunity to offload the upto 1.63 lakh tonnes of damaged foodgrains of rotting in various godowns of the Food Corporation of India as these can be distributed for use as cattle feed, they said.

With the drought situation further aggravating and covering almost the entire country, demands by States have also increased substantially after the interim assessment.

Hit by drought for the fourth consecutive year, Rajasthan has sought a princely amount of Rs 6115 crore cash assistance and 38 lakh tonnes foodgrains.

Uttar Pradesh, where 62 of the 64 districts have received deficient rainfall, has sought Rs 5601.5 crore besides 20 lakh tonnes of foodgrains, while Maharashtra wants Rs 1730.60 crore, including arrears of Rs 530.61 crore, and two lakh tonne foodgrains.

Presenting a gloomy picture on crop prospects, sources said there has been a backlog of about 25 per cent in terms of area sown in all the States due to erratic behaviour of the south-west monsoon severely affecting coarse cereals like bajra, paddy and pulses.

States have been asked to draw up contingency plans for alternate crops and resowing to tide over the crisis. While crops like black and green gram as also soyabean can be possible in Andhra Pradesh, farmers in Punjab and Haryana can try some short duration paddy varieties. (PTI)

Indian fashion: foraying in far-off lands

NEW DELHI, Aug 11: The Indian fashion, still looking around to gain a foothold, is fast bracing up to gain more visibility both at home and on international front.

"We are concentrating at the domestic market for now as this has a lot of potential and the idea is to promote the ready-to-wear segment as volumes and visibility come through this segment," says Vinod Kaul, executive director, Fashion Design Coucil of India (FDCI).

However, plans to develop efficient exchange programmes with the New York fashion week are also in the offing and some designers may be taken to the show in February next year, says Kaul adding "we are looking at sponsors to hold a special India theme show at the fair."

There are also plans to create a database of buyers and rate them according to the seriousness of intent according to the quantum of purchase at the just-concluded India fashion week, he says.

A study commissioned by the FDCI pegs the official turnover of the fashion cottage industry at Rs 180 crores. However this is a fraction of the business generated by the international fashion industry.

"The India fashion week was good platform to bring together designers, manufacturers, and retailers on a single platform to project the entire industry in an organised form. It is an attempt to take them and their needs more seriously," he says.

The Indian fashion industry is still in a nascent stage, there is a large domestic market and a huge global potential to be tapped, says Kaul, noting the strategies to tackle the international market are still evolving.

"Most important is to recognise the importance of designers. A designer is the fountain-head of the product industry, and design and product are very crucial for the success of such business," says Asha Baxi of the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT).

"All leading designers should focus on product innovation so as to create demand for the fashion product and for this the need is that of trend forecasting to make the consumer feel the urge for the product," says Baxi.

There is also need to establish infrastructure for large scale production to bring designing costs down... There should be well planned retail strategies and professionals at every level of the production, she says.

For corporatising the fashion industry, linkages within the industry are also required, the textile mills should be ready to produce what the market requires and there should be synergy between sections dependent on each other, says Baxi.

The problems the industry currently faces include the family owned mindset and unprofessionalism, the tendency on the part of designers to cut corners and too much reliance on Western designs.

"Fashion does not have any language, age or sex barrier and promotions such as the fashion week can deliver in a way that advertising cannot," says Ravi Krishnan of IMG, one of the promoters of the event. (PTI)