Now films on men’s sexuality
August 27, 2008
DEEPALI DHINGRA ,TNN.
How often have you seen a woman getting raped in a Hindi film?
Can’t keep count, right? But a man getting raped in a Hindi film? Or a man prostituting himself? Never, because male sexuality is a topic which has remained under the carpet.
Thankfully cinema, like time, is changing, and three new-age directors are making their debuts with films which discuss topics like male prostitution, rape and sexual identity crisis.
Manish Gupta, who’s written four hard-hitting scripts for Ram Gopal Varma, is ready with his Hostel. This is no romantic college caper, the film deals with the bold subject of rape, that too of a male student. “I studied in an engineering college where I met a guy who was raped in the hostel,” recalls Manish. “When I asked him if that was true, the expression on his face was like somebody had died.” For his debut film, Manish could think of no better subject than this. “I’ve blatantly shown all this and the censors have passed it,” he says. A safer subject would have been easier to handle. “But safe directors are a dime a dozen. Every film can’t be about loving your family,” says Manish.
Saurabh Sengupta’s It’s a Man’s World is equally stark, about male prostitution. Why this subject? “There have been many films made on female sex workers but nothing on men,” explains Saurabh. When he started work on the script, he wanted it to be a shocking film, “but when I started interacting with male sex workers, I realised their fears and problems.” When people see his film, they will be shocked, but he hopes to be able to convey the human side of male prostitution.
Sudipto Chattopadhyay’s Pankh, on the other hand, deals with the sexual identity of a man and is set against the backdrop of the film industry. A small boy who plays a girl in Hindi films grows up to deal with an identity crisis. “The young man is caught in a psychological matrix of gender confusion that has been imposed on him by his social circumstance,” says Sudipto.
All these directors have one agenda, to make the audience aware that these things happen. “My film is supposed to shock people into thinking ‘This has to be stopped’,” says Manish.
Courtesy: TOI
Kareena reveals all!
August 27, 2008
MARK MANUEL ,TNN.
I don’t know when last you saw her, but I did on Sunday, from spitting distance in her vanity van at Mehboob Studios.
And never mind size zero, Kareena Kapoor is a dreamboat of a woman, all smouldering sexuality, honest emotions and sensuous curves. Besides, of course, being God’s gift to Saif Ali Khan. I hope he knows this, because she is crazy about him.
“He’s my best friend,” she told me. “Being lovers is easy, but remaining friends is tough.” That kind of honesty is hard to come by anywhere; in Bollywood — don’t ask! But I did. What was it that she looked for in her man? Was it sex? Companionship? Or did she require a man in her life 24/7 and so moved from one relationship to another? Kareena pouted, “Friendship first, and then love. Saif and I were friends right through Tashan. After that, we became lovers. Jab We Met was before I met Saif. I thought, if he can be my best friend, and be such a wonderful father to his kids, the rest will just follow.”
But, given his past, wasn’t it true that while he might be a great lover, he was lousy as a husband? “There’s no such thing as any man being perfect husband material,” she shot back, “the most stable guys make awful husbands. In Saif’s case, I followed my heart and instinct; that always make me happy, especially when I sleep at night. When you follow only your head, you end up frustrated.”
She has, I must admit, the courage of her convictions. How many actresses at the top of their careers have been honest about their relationships to their family, fans, the media? None that I can think of. Did she not fear that sometimes people might tend to forget she is Bollywood’s No 1 actress and think of her only as the woman in Saif’s life?
“By being honest and coming clean, I can hold my head high,” Kareena replied. Not a trace of irritation at the bluntness of my questions. I pushed further. If he was unwilling to commit to marriage, would she care to have a child out of wedlock with Saif? A love child? “No,” she said firmly, “I’m open about my relationship, but traditional in my values. Saif thinks I’m the most conservative and traditional woman he has known. I tell him, if you have a problem with that, then go be with someone else!”
Was there any other man who turned her on more? “Apart from Saif, nobody else… But Leo (di Caprio), oh God, he’s unnaturally good looking, he’s hot and also intelligent. I’d enjoy his company,” she said brightly. Enough to if the opportunity came up, have a fling with him? “I’m traditional,” she reminded me, “I won’t have a fling.”
But this is not all about Saif only, and the love life between Kareena and him, we talked films as well. She’s got a fascinating fistful at the moment. There’s Kambakth Ishq with Akshay, Idiot with Aamir, Mr Aur Mrs Khanna with Salman, Golmal Returns with Ajay, and she’s doing Karan Johar’s next film (“It’s untitled and it’s based on terrorism,” she revealed) with Saif. “I’ve chosen the right roles in all of them,” she said with a look of smug satisfaction. Who was her favourite co-star?
Kareena hummed and hawed a bit, then came up with, “Akshay, it’s so strange, I’ve done more films with him than Saif. Akshay and I look nice together, I share a comfort level with him, an emotional bond. But I’ve always wanted to do a film with Aamir. And one with Shah Rukh Khan. I’ve not done a love story with Shah Rukh. I was in Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham with him, but opposite Hrithik.”
She being the Queen of Bollywood, did her heroes treat her as being on par, or… ? “Bollywood is male dominated,” she admitted, “but they are a little partial towards me. All of them have worked with my sister. And from way back then, they have treated me like a kid.” Did she, as a kid, have fantasies about any of these male hunks who were her sister’s co-stars, I asked. “All of them,” Kareena replied without batting an eye.
Talking of male hunks, would she do a film with her cousin Ranbir Kapoor, play his lover on screen? The eyebrows shot up, she laughed without embarrassment, “I don’t think so, and it would be my loss, because Ranbir is fantastic, he’s a brilliant actor. It’s so in his blood, he’s natural on screen. But I don’t know. Maybe Ranbir and I should do a film. Act as friends, perhaps brother and sister, but as lovers… maybe if the audience wants to see us that way. He’s hot and good looking, the best in the family, and I like interesting and different roles, I like taking risks, I’m ready to experiment. Jab We Met was different from Omkara. But I’m hopeful some director will write a film for me. I’d like to do a film like Erin Brockovich. Or be like Meryl Streep in Devil Wears Prada. I hope, at that age, I too have that fire in me that she has.” That the fire is raging in her at 28, there is no doubt.
She’s at the top of her career, she’s getting a film a day, she believes 24 hours is not enough even if she is facing the camera till 2 am, she’s been open and honest about her relationship and still maintained her popularity, films are her life — “I live, eat, breathe, drink films, often Saif and I slip into suburban multiplexes to enjoy films over a carton of popcorn.” Popcorn, I asked. “Yes, I love to eat, I have never been overweight, I’m fit and healthy, always slim. I don’t know what is it about size zero!”
Courtesy: TOI
Love signs!
August 27, 2008
PRIYANKA GEHLOT SOLANKI. TNN.
Have you wondered about the often-tumultuous lives of our Bollywood celebrities?
For instance, will Saif Ali Khan’s possessiveness for Kareena Kapoor spell the doom for their relationship or have Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif called it quits? We try to give you answers:
Saif Ali Khan-Kareena Kapoor:
Will this couple make it to the altar? World renowned astrologer Bejan Daruwala says, “They have 60 per cent chances of tying the knot, but considering that they are film stars, it is a good percentage! According to Pandit Ajai Bhambi, “Saif is a lover boy. In the initial throes of a relationship, he looks vulnerable but his relationships don’t last. On the other hand Kareena’s stars are strong. She wouldn’t have the patience to deal with Saif.”
Ranbir Kapoor-Deepika Padukone:
This couple is visible almost everywhere from newpapers, magazines, channels displaying their love for eachother but Bhambi says, “According to their stars I don’t see them getting married.” “It would be better if they wait for some time. But they will make a very sweet couple,” says Daruwala.
Priyanka Chopra- Harman Baweja:
Nothing official has been said by them on their relationship status but everybody knows that they are in love. “They have a good scope of getting successful as a couple. They have a good chance,” says Daruwala. “Priyanka’s focus is on career and I think they will not marry. Infact I don’t see them together after three years,” says Bhambi.
Salman Khan-Katrina Kaif:
This couple is said to be on the edge of ending the relationship. Who is trying to get away from the relationship and why, is something that has been much talked about. “Well, filmstars are basically insecure. Though Salman is a Capricorn, he is not steady because of his temperament. Katrina on the other hand is an emotional Cancerian and she has got attracted to him but soon she will overcome the attraction. Salman might be good, handsome, but it is difficult for him to sustain a relationship. They will not be happy if they marry,” says Daruwala. “Girls use Salman’s shoulder to get glory. But the two will not gel well and I don’t see them getting married,” says Bhambi.
John Abraham-Bipasha Basu:
This couple has seen many ups and downs in their relationship, but are very much together. “Bipasha’s stars are strong and her career will flourish. But if they get married then they will not be happy. I can also foresee divorce,” says Bhambi.
This is what the stars have to say, now it’s over to the stars of Bollywood.
Courtesy: TOI
One-third of world’s poor in India: Survey
August 27, 2008
TNN.
NEW DELHI: India is home to roughly one-third of all poor people in the world. It also has a higher proportion of its population living on less than $2 per day than even sub-Saharan Africa.
That is the sobering news coming out of the World Bank’s latest estimates on global poverty. The fine print of the estimates also shows that the rate of decline of poverty in India was faster between 1981 and 1990 than between 1990 and 2005. This is likely to give fresh ammunition to those who maintain that economic reforms, which started in 1991, have failed to reduce poverty at a faster rate.
India, according to the new estimates, had 456 million people or about 42% of the population living below the new international poverty line of $1.25 per day. The number of Indian poor also constitute 33% of the global poor, which is pegged at 1.4 billion people.
India also had 828 million people, or 75.6% of the population living below $2 a day. Sub-Saharan Africa, considered the world’s poorest region, is better — it has 72.2% of its population (551m) people below the $2 a day level.
The estimates are based on recently recalculated purchasing power parity (PPP) exchange rates, which makes comparisons across countries possible. The dollar exchange rates being referred to here, therefore, are not the ones used in normal exchange rates.
While the full report has not yet been released, a briefing note sent by the Bank had some of the data and showed that the poverty rate — those below $1.25 per day — for India had come down from 59.8% in 1981 to 51.3% by 1990 or 8.5 percentage points over nine years. Between 1990 and 2005, it declined to 41.6%, a drop of 9.7 percentage points over 15 years, clearly a much slower rate of decline.
An FAQ on the new estimates, also provided by the Bank, however states, “India has maintained even progress against poverty since the 1980s, with the poverty rate declining at a little under one percentage point per year.”
The new international poverty line of $1.25 PPP per day has been arrived at as “the average poverty line found in the poorest 10-20 countries”, according to the briefing note. In other words, more than four out of 10 Indians lives below what the world’s poorest countries consider the poverty line.
The new estimates are sobering not just for India but for the developing world as a whole, as they reveal higher levels of poverty than earlier estimated.
East Asia, in fact, is the region that has recorded the sharpest reductions in poverty from about 79% of the population in 1981 to 18% in 2005. In contrast, Eastern Europe and Central Asia has seen poverty rates go up from 1.6% to 5%. What is noticeable in this region is the decline in poverty till 1987, when it was down to just 1% of the population, and the sharp rise subsequently.
The Bank also makes the point that while raising people above the poverty line is a relatively achievable task — it believes poverty levels in 1990 can be halved by 2015 — it is proving very difficult to raise them above the $2 per day mark. The number of those in the developing world below this level has in fact gone up marginally from 2.5 billion to 2.6 billion since 1981.
Courtesy of Times of India
HC halts EC gazette for 3 months
August 8, 2008
Delimitation of 84 parliamentary constituencies
HC halts EC gazette for 3 months
Staff Correspondent.
The High Court has stayed for three months the gazette notification issued on July 10 by the Election Commission after finalising delimitation of 84 parliamentary constituencies across the country.
A Division Bench comprising Justice Khademul Islam Chowdhury and Mashuk Hossain Ahmed passed the judgment as former MP of Dhaka -2 (Nababganj) Abdul Mannan filed a writ petition of which filing lawyer was the petitioner’s daughter Barrister Mehnaz Mannan.
AL seeks int’l support to put pressure on govt
August 8, 2008
Demand for Lifting Emergency
AL seeks int’l support to put pressure on govt
Hasan Jahid Tusher.
Sticking to its position of not taking part in the parliamentary elections with the state of emergency enforced, the Awami League (AL) is trying to mount pressure on the caretaker government with the help of international community to have the emergency lifted.
The AL will hold the final round of talks with the government soon and make the party’s position clear about the December polls under the state of emergency.
Even though the August 4 polls to four city corporations and nine municipalities were held in a free, fair and peaceful manner with the emergency in force, the AL policy makers believe the situation would not be the same during national elections.
Sources said the AL would want the international bodies to mount pressure on the government so that the government lifts the emergency ahead of the elections scheduled for December. The party has already held a series of meetings with different international bodies and diplomats in this regard.
AL held meetings with the European Parliament members, USA, UK, Canadian and Chinese diplomats, International Republican Institute (IRI) and National Democratic Institute (NDI) during the last few days to ask them to put pressure on the government.
Talking to The Daily Star a senior AL leader said even though a number of diplomats said that the national elections would not be free and fair under the emergency, they are still confused. “We will continue to talk to them in this regard and talk to the United Nations and the Commonwealth parliament members,” he said.
A few AL leaders also told The Daily Star that if the government did not have any motive centring the national polls, they would have had no objection to national polls under emergency. Since the government has repeatedly asked voters to vote for a certain kind of candidates in the name of “honest and competent candidates”, it clearly indicates that the government has an intention with the polls, a senior AL leader said asking not to be named.
By holding a free and fair city corporation poll, the government has gained the international community’s confidence that it is possible to hold national polls with the emergency enforced, the leader said, adding, “We are not falling for that.”
AL acting General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam said, “We have taken part in the city corporation elections with the emergency enforced, but we will not do the same in the parliamentary elections.”
“If the emergency is not withdrawn, the fear factor will remain and the national election will not be free and fair,” said AL Presidium Member Suranjit Sengupta adding that political rights cannot be restored keeping the fundamental rights suspended.
Talking to The Daily Star he said, “We will hold the final round of discussion with the government very soon to make our position clear.”
“We will continue to be proactive in our engagement with the caretaker government and we hope they will be constructive in their approach and create an environment that leads to the election and lifting the emergency well before the announcement of the election schedule,” AL Organising Secretary Saber Hossain Chowdhury told The Daily Star.
Saber, also political secretary to party President Sheikh Hasina, said there is a political process leading to election day and the environment in which the political process goes on is as important as freedom with which voters cast their votes on the election day. “And the election is not a technical event confined to the day of polls,” he added.
However, Jatiya Party (JP), a component in the AL-led grand electoral alliance, is planning to get all political parties to have one common stance over the state of emergency.
“We and all political parties want to reach a consensus through discussion on the issue of emergency and then decide on taking part in the polls with or without the emergency enforced,” JP acting Chairman Anisul Islam Mahmud told The Daily Star.
Courtesy: The Daily Star
Gala opening today
August 8, 2008
Sports Reporter
The gala Opening Ceremony of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will be held today in Beijing, the capital city of China. Bangladesh Television will telecast the programme from 6.00 PM (Bangladesh Standard Time). Beijing is prepared to stage 2008 Olympic Games.
The slogan of this Games is One World, One Dream.
A total of 202 countries will take part in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
To watch the entertaining inaugural ceremony of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, the presidents, prime ministers and the chiefs of the states of the various countries are coming to Beijing.
This is for the second time an Asian country is the host of Olympic Games. Earlier, in the year of 1988 South Korea hosted the Olympic Games.
China has two targets. One is to clinch the highest gold medals and other is to prove her best ability to act as a host.
China has prepared a big Olympic Village, where a total of 16,000 athletes from different countries will be accommodated there.
After crossing 137,000 km roads of six continents the Olympic torch reached Beijing last Wednesday. The opening ceremony and the total Olympic Games will be held amid very tight security.
China has totally maintained secrecy about the gala opening ceremony. But it is expected that the programme of opening ceremony will be based on the 5000 year’s heritage of China.
It may be mentioned that Bangladesh Olympic team will also participate in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
Swimmer Rubel Rana will carry the national flag in the grand inaugural ceremony.
Athlete Mohammad Abu Abdullah and athlete Nazmun Nahar Beauty will compete in the 100 metre sprint respectively.
Swimmer Rubel Rana will take part in the men’s 50 m backstroke while swimmer Doly Akhter will participate in the women’s 50 metre freestyle.
The participants of Bangladesh have no target to achieve the medal. They are taking part in the grand Beijing 2008 Olympic Games for experience only.
They are taking part in the Games as a part of world friendship.
Conjoined babies: Barsha dies, Banya alive
August 8, 2008
Staff Reporter
Barsha, a four-month-old girl, died at the Bangabandhu Medical University Hospital on Wednesday only one hour after marathon surgery to separate her from her twin sister, the doctor who led the operation said yesterday.
A team of 50 doctors, nurses and technicians took part in the operation to separate conjoined twins, Banya and Barsha.
Paediatric surgeon Shafiqul Haq said Barsha had been on artificial respiration following the surgery.
“In such cases one of the twins is always stronger than the other and in this case Barsha was not strong enough and she died,” Haq said.
Doctors were hopeful that Banya would survive. They, however, hastened to add ” It is too early to determine whether the surviving twin is risk-free.”
Banya and Barsha were born at Rabeya Clinic in Gaibandha on March 24 this year and were transferred to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital a day after.
After undergoing treatment there for ten days, they were admitted to BSMMU on April 4.Since then the twins have been under the supervision of Dr. Shafiq.
Their mother Shahnaz Begum is a nurse and father Golam Kibria a schooteacher.
Courtesy: The New Nation
Pakistani coalition to impeach Musharraf
August 8, 2008
Afp, Islamabad
Pakistan’s ruling coalition said yesterday that it would impeach President Pervez Musharraf, posing the biggest threat to the key US ally in the “war on terror” since he seized power in a 1999 coup.
The landmark agreement came after three days of marathon talks between coalition leaders Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, and Nawaz Sharif, another ex-premier.
“We have good news for democracy,” Zardari said at a joint news conference with Sharif in Islamabad. “The coalition believes it is imperative to move for impeachment against General Musharraf.”
The government had summoned the national assembly, or lower house of parliament, to sit on August 11 and could begin the impeachment proceedings then, a senior coalition official said earlier.
Musharraf cancelled a trip to Beijing for the opening of the Olympic Games and his place will be taken by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, the foreign ministry said shortly after news of the impeachment plan emerged.
Musharraf’s allies have previously said he would fight any attempt to topple him, and a presidential source said he was consulting close aides on Thursday to discuss a course of action.
“The president’s options are either to issue an order dissolving the national assembly or impose emergency rule, under which the government will be suspended and a new caretaker set-up would be announced,” the source told AFP.
Musharraf, a former commando, ruled nuclear-armed Pakistan relatively untroubled for eight years with the backing of the United States, which has counted him as a key ally since the September 11 attacks.
But his popularity slumped after he ousted the country’s chief justice and imposed a state of emergency in November 2007 to prevent any challenges to his re-election as president.
Musharraf stepped down as army chief that month, and the parties of Bhutto and Sharif subsequently trounced his allies in general elections in February.
Coalition sources said the agreement to impeach came when Sharif assured Zardari that he could count on the support of some former PML-N members who are currently in a pro-Musharraf party.
The Pakistani constitution says a two-thirds majority in the upper and lower houses of parliament combined is necessary to impeach a sitting president, although it has never been done before in the country’s history.
The sources said a charge sheet on Musharraf’s position and performance as president would be drawn up and submitted to parliament to be signed by at least half of all MPs in the coming days.
The speaker of the national assembly, or lower house of parliament, would then notify Musharraf and ask him to defend his position within seven to 15 days, they said.
The coalition had been split by the twin issues of what to do about Musharraf and how to carry out their pledge to reinstate the judges.
The rift had effectively paralysed the government, which is under huge US pressure over its efforts to negotiate with Taliban and al-Qaeda militants. It is also facing public anger over rising food and fuel prices.
Courtesy: The Daily Star
Crime investigation awaits big boost
August 8, 2008
Forensic labs, national criminal database by next year
Shariful Islam
Crime scene investigation and the trial process of criminal cases are likely to enter a new era at the end of next year when the police department expects to be geared up with state-of-the-art forensic laboratories and a comprehensive national database of criminals.
The long overdue modern forensic labs and the centralised criminal database to some extent will ease dependency on the present testimony-based trial process that leaves room for a relatively large margin of error in identifying offenders or innocent people, said experts.
With this end in view, the police headquarters have already been working on several projects that include installing of a brand-new modern forensic laboratory in Chittagong and modernisation of the existing one located at Criminal Investigation Department (CID) headquarters at Malibagh in the capital city, said CID officials.
The chemical laboratory of CID at Mohakhali where crime related physiological examinations are conducted will also be equipped with high-tech equipment to ensure accuracy, they added.
Saiful Alam, deputy inspector general (DIG) of CID, told The Daily Star, “Work is underway to install the modern forensic laboratory in Chittagong, scheduled to be open in December next year.”
An initiative has also been taken to bring the country’s lone DNA lab at Dhaka Medical College Hospital under the direct administration of the police headquarters, said sources at the police headquarters adding that the lab is currently under women and children affairs ministry.
Explaining the present state of the CID, that handles only a handful of the country’s most critical cases, DIG Saiful said, “The department only has some ordinary equipment for fingerprinting, foot printing, ballistics testing, detecting counterfeit bank notes and coins and matching handwritings through micro analysis — which are considered to be technologies of the 60s.”
The situation is quite pitiful at other departments of police. Although most police stations in the country are provided with fingerprinting kits, the kits mostly lay unused as only a few police officials have the proper training on how to collect fingerprints or footprints.
As opposed to the CID’s requirement of 10 evidence collection vans, it presently has only one such vehicle. As part of the modernisation project, the CID will purchase three such vans for the Chittagong forensic lab and one each for six of its divisional offices, said sources at the CID.
Once the modernisation is complete, latest technologies such as Automated Finger Print Identification System (AFIS) and Integrated Ballistic Identification System (ABIS) will be introduced in the country for the first time, said Saiful Alam adding, “A modern computer laboratory will also be installed at the CID head office in Malibagh to check cyber crime.”
Acknowledging that the absence of a comprehensive criminal database is a major drawback of crime investigation in the country, the DIG said a national database consisting details of around 1 lakh criminals including the hardcore ones will be developed soon.
The database will enable field investigators access and verify vital information of offenders or suspects promptly, he added.
Lack of comprehensive information of a criminal can lead to failure on a law enforcer’s part to promptly identify an offender, said a number of CID officials.
Even if a criminal walks down the hallway of a police station right this moment, it is highly probable that no law enforcer will be able to identify the criminal, they added.
Prosecutors with the help of biometric and other evidences analysed at the modern forensic labs will be able to put together airtight cases against rapists, murderers and arsonists, said the CID officials adding that many of these criminals are repeat offenders and sometimes walk away without being convicted as the law enforcers presently lack modern tools and facilities to tie them to the crimes they had committed.
The CID officials also said criminals almost always leave a trail of their handiwork and evidence on the crime scene — blood, semen, hair, skin, nail scrapings, fingerprints, footprints, bite marks on the victims’ body, etc.
Other forms of evidence left on the crime scene may include tool marks, fabric impressions, tyre marks, gunshot residues, arson accelerant, paint, glass, etc, they said.
Upon the modernisation of the forensic lab in Dhaka and installing of the new forensic lab in Chittagong and the computer lab at CID headquarters, the CID will have the capacity to track down offenders by examining the evidence and samples collected from a crime scene.
“Although it’s like finding a needle in a haystack, the search for such crucial evidence is a routine procedure in modern crime scene investigation. Once the evidence is gathered, it is analysed by forensic experts and put through DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) tests that can provide precise evidence against criminals,” said a top CID official.
However, “it’s crucial that the first officer reaching the crime scene properly protect the area to restrict access and prevent contamination of evidence. The entire investigation hinges on that first person being able to properly identify, isolate and secure the scene by establishing a restricted perimeter, mainly with a rope, tape or barriers.”
“But most of our police personnel do not even know how to secure a scene to prevent evidence from being tampered with or destroyed inadvertently,” said another official.
Hubert Staberhofer, Programme Manager of Police Reform Programme (PRP) of the government, said under the PRP, case investigators will receive training so that they can properly identify, isolate and secure the scene.
Courtesy: The Daily Star