This is what Marx says in his eassy The Eighteenth Brumaire of Luis Bonaparte”. The daughter of Indra, torn between vitrolic reasoning and the gentle voices of angles that bring with them the messege of hope and love.”This puppet play was directed by Michael Meschke in 1996. Servant Yasha played by Sarfaraz Ali Mirza. Two plays by the National School of Drama were staged recently. They have feet for walking but no wings. Later in the play, Mefisto as the sutradhar, orders Mahatma Gandhi to come as the next witness to life as he described it. The play is difficult to enact with all its mythological characters that have universal names and characters like Opera dancers, party dancers, hawayeins and monsters. The first year students presented August Ka Khwab based on August Strindberg’s A Dream Play.

“Men make their own history”, says the director in his note on the play.Chekhov’s another play, Uncle Vanya, was also enacted in the same area during the Bharangam 2016. The narrator and the protagonist was Mefisto, who in his initial speech from the top of a rotating step ladder, here he was climbing a net, “condemns humanity as a betrayer of ideals created by itself, as butcher and killer, knave and traitor”. There was Ankur Saxena Bashar who played the rich man, Lopakhin. Kunal, who has been writing for the stage and screen alike for quite sometime, has also done some original writing including, Che, the Land Weaver, Akk Amoli, Plastic Money and Bharat Milaap. Resignation! Yes this what I tried last, but if you put up with everything you have in the end to endure filth and humiliation, and that is what you have no right to do.. The way she climbed up the net was remarkable and so was Mahadev Singh Lakhawat who acted as August, an actor, police, lover and scholar. He has also adapted classics like George Orwell’s Animal Farm and Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream and Merchant of Venice. She comes to earth from heaven in the form of a beautiful woman to find out the complexity of humanity and their discontentment.

She is in love with Lopakhin who has all the money and comforts that she so desires.” Strindberg meditated suicide but he lived to write The Dream Play, inspired by Hindu philosophy and mythology. It is difficult to imagine these characters on stage. It was designed and directed by Suman Mukhopadhyay in the open lawn of the NSD campus. Yet, director Satyabrata Raut did a good job as he tries to realise the play in Hindi with performance text by Kuldeep Kunal.August Ka Khwab follows the journey of the central character, Agnes, the daughter of Hindu God Indra. The play begins with a monologue in which Strindberg wrote Mercedes-Benz ML-350 Grille these lines: “Life disgusts me and has always done so, everything is worthless! People are not born wicked but life makes them wicked, so life cannot be an education nor can it be a punishment (which improves). “In my opinion”, says the director, “it is so true and prophetic. Human beings are not good and nor are they evil. Suman has been doing TV series, short films and cineplays. As the iron rod puppet of Gandhi descends on stage, talking about peace, harmony and love and of non-violence and truth, screams Mefisto, the sutradhar: “what did the world do to him?

And when the gun shot booms and the once praying hands trun on each other, the enactment comes full circle. Debashree Chakraborthy as the mother, Ranevskaya was the star of the show. The character of Ignis was played by the very beautiful Indira Kumari, who was both subtle and flexible in her role. Debashree Chakraborthy as the mother, Ranevskaya was the star of the show.August Ka Khwab follows the journey of the central character, Agnes, the daughter of Hindu God Indra. It is simply an evil. The choreography by Vikram Mohan was quite good and Akash Gupta’s music composition was imaginative.This play was staged in September 1996 at the open air theatre in Dilli Haat in puppet form, by Marionetteatern Company. Then there was Debarati Sikdar who played the elder daughter, who was a sad face in the house where she has spent all her life. The second play, Waqt Guzar Jaata Hai, was staged by the final year students of the NSD. In the beginning she is hopeful that love will conquer everything. It is based on Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov. The idea to perform Cherry Orchard for final year students of the NSD, is from a long-preserved dream to work with a Checkov play.

But after she listens to the anguished cries of humanity, and experiences the pains of family life, she discovers that refromation will always be stifled by the self-righteous people. “But they do not make it under self-selected circumstances but circumstances existing already, given and transmitted from the past, the tradition of all dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brains of the living. She experiences the pain of being a human being.His internationally acclaimed play, Eklavya Uwach has been translated and performed in Kannada and Bangla. But the production lacked the dramatic intensity of either the Russian or Robin Das’ version of the Cherry Orchard done a couple of years ago. All these people tried to make this play a success but unfortunately they were crossed by the quality of the Russian play

It feels sharp and direct, the feedback though is still not at par with the competition which does tend to take away a bit of fun even if only slightly. wholesale low-pressure injection molds We were quite impressed with the first looks of the luxury sedan in Bhubaneswar and were excited to test it on the Indian roads.The driver's perch is decently comfortable. But where the other three have specific focus areas, the A4 attempts to be a balancing act between comfort and spirited driving and succeeds to a certain extent.All in all the new A4 is a great overall package. It is crisp easy to read though the operation will take some time getting used to as the number of buttons have been reduced and scrolling through the options can prove to be a tad too distracting. Speaking of which, the tail lamps are new and redesigned as well and the fluid turn indicators have trickled down to the A4 as well.

It rides well, is comfortable to be in and fun if not exhilarating to drive. It can sit at 120kmph on the highway with the needle barely breaking the 2,000rpm mark thanks to the overdrive seventh gear.The A4, being a bestseller from Audi, clearly has to remain updated to retain that position. The steering too is well weighed at high speed and light at docile pace. The shifts are responsive and are in essence based on the heaviness of your right foot. Put it into drive via the new rectangular gear lever and it takes off effortlessly. It's like Audi has taken the perfectly good A4 and turned it up a notch. They flank the 3D grille which is in tune with Audi's new design philosophy.com. What we got instead was a linear and smooth delivery of torque right up to its powerband at 5,000rpm. We expect it to be between Rs 35 to Rs 42 lakhs ex-showroom, Delhi. The luxury quotient has gone up as well. The bigger potholes do make themselves heard but are rarely felt.jpg The A4 has been one of the highest-selling models for Audi in India. And before we knew it we were well on our way to breach the speed limit. Also, finding the right driving position will take up a fair bit of setting up and once you do, do remember to save it in the memory.Then there’s the MMI system which has experienced some growth, literally.Source: CarDekho. Same is the story at the rear.

The car we got was the 30 TFSI which employs a considerably smaller 1. The brakes provide plenty of stopping power and great feel and are also fitted with the brake energy regeneration system. To the uninitiated it could even be passed as a face-lift.You can even choose the map as your central display to help you keep your eyes on the road. The shifts are sharper and almost instantaneous, pull a paddle and the tacho needle starts to dance while the engine sings a brilliant note.The A4 has been one of the highest-selling models for Audi in India. There was a sense of urgency from the engine but there was no pushed-in-the-seat drama. But Audi has given eight shortcut buttons that you can assign to any function you like so you can have all your preferences at a touch of a button. And the new 7-speed STronic transmission complements the engine just as well.4-litre four cylinder turbocharged petrol engine. There is soft feel plastic and leather all around and you also get wood inlays on the dash and door panels. It sits on 17-inch 5-spoke alloy wheels which add a bit of sporty character and the rubber is 225 section Hankook on all four sides. And the upped notch is more to do with technology than anything else.Aesthetically you'll notice that it doesn't look radically different from the current A4. But make no mistake that this is actually a brand new car.

It might not sound like much but it does dish out 150PS of power and 250Nm of torque, impressed yet It is the same engine that is employed in numerous VW cars and frankly it was only a matter of time before it came to this segment.Start the car and wakes up in the most undramatic fashion. It is clearly focused towards people who want the controls in their own hands and it shows. And you can be rest assured that it will be quite fuel-efficient as well. The shoulder line is quite prominent and runs all the way from the headlamp to the tail lamps. You can have the traditional tacho and speedo flanking the small info display or you can choose to give prominence to the vehicle information wherein the clocks retire to the bottom corners of each end. However, the pricing will play an important role in the sales of this car. It looks familiar without looking staid. We being us, floored the throttle as we pulled out on an empty road just outside our hotel in Bhubaneshwar and the result was not what we expected.1inch across and displays everything you might or might not need to know. There’s no doubt that the Audi will face stiff competition from the Mercedes C-Class, BMW 3-Series and Jaguar XE.

Though the headroom is ample all around, taller driver (6’2 upwards) could feel restrained.Put your foot down however and keep the needle in the peak torque band and the A4 responds accordingly. The new DRLs look good and edgy. Keep the tacho from crossing the 2,500rpm mark and the shifts will be relaxed and focused more towards fuel economy and comfort. There’s no dab of revs or drama, it's quite straight forward. It can seat four in comfort as the space in the cabin has increased but seating five is a challenge and the under thigh support also could have been better. Though they do tend to look slightly out of place for they are now known to be more of a Japanese trademark than a European or more specifically a German one. The car looks bigger than it used to yet weighs 95kg less. But as far as in car technology goes, it is far ahead of its competition. The acceleration is borderline undramatic but relentless.

The screen now measures 12. Also, it is one of the best displays you’ll come across in modern day luxury cars. The scroller knob also doubles up as a touchpad for easy access to contact lists. The overall familiarity of the design is to keep the identity of the A4 intact, you cannot mistake it for any other car and it looks rather elegant in form. audi0.You never run out of power and neither do you run out of the torque.Step inside the cabin and it feels different yet quite familiar. There's ample back and side support but the squab could’ve been slightly longer.The suspension setup is on the stiffer side but yet the ride is pliant and forgiving. The traditional clocks have been replaced by a digital screen which allows you to choose between different display options. It will also let you coast rather than let engine braking kick in when you take your foot off the throttle

Heat over medium heat and cook bacon until crisp for about eight to 10 minutes. It’s Germany’s biggest Volkfest — a month-long celebration of food, drinks and merrymaking. The festival’s international appeal is so strong that it is celebrated all over the world, including here in India.Remove from the grill and arrange on pre-heated plates.Here are a few German dishes that one would originally find at the Oktoberfest. Whip them up at home.MethodPlace the raisins in a bowl, mix with the rum and leave to stand for approximately 15 minutes. Cook the underside until light brown, turn over using a spatula and bake for six to eight minutes in the pre-heated oven until golden brown.

Drain chicken, reserving marinade. Add red onion to grease and cook for five minutes until onions are soft. Toss with bacon and parsley. Separate the eggs and place the yolk in a mixing bowl. Mix to form a smooth dough. Pour sauce over cooked potatoes.Beat the egg whites with the crystal sugar and a small pinch of salt until it forms a firm peak, and fold into the dough mix.Marinade for four to six hours or overnight.Serve hot, or chill to serve cold.German Roast ChickenIngredients1½ kg split broiler chicken, or one 1½ chicken spatchcockedfor the marinade4 tbsp melted butter½ cup Bavarian lager beer¾ teaspoon black pepper1 tsp salt1 tbsp worcestershire sauce1 tbsp sweet paprika1 tbsp white wine vinegarMethodPour marinade over chicken in a plastic marinating bag, squeezing out all excess air.

Meanwhile, add bacon to a cold large skillet. Scatter the butter shavings over the top, sprinkle with some crystal sugar, and caramelise under the grill at a high heat. Pour in the milk, flavour with some grated lemon rind and vanilla sugar, and add the flour. Let the butter melt and bubble up in one large or two small (coated) heatproof dishes. Celebrate Oktoberfest with Kaiserschmarrn and German Roast Chicken instead! German Roast Chicken Oktoberfest is legendary for its beer-swilling gatherings. Pour in the mixture and after one to two minutes, scatter the soaked raisins on top. Dust with icing sugar and cinnamon.

Tear the schmarren into small pieces, using two forks.Remove bacon from grease and set aside, leaving grease in the pan. The kaiserschmarren can also be cooked at the top of the oven and caramelised at the end with a lid to cover.Grill chicken over indirect heat on an outdoor grill until temperature tests 1650F or in an OTG at 1800C for 40 minutes.Whisk in vinegar, olive oil, sugar, mustard, salt, and pepper until heated through for one to two minutes.Pre-heat the oven to 180 °C. Prost!KaiserschmarrnIngredients6 eggs350–400 ml milk180–200 gm finely ground flour3 tbsp crystal sugar, for the topping2 tbsp raisins1 packet (8g) vanilla sugar

A dash of rumSome grated lemon rindA pinch of saltApproximately 50 gm butter (for frying)1 tbsp of butter shavings and crystal sugar, for caramelisingIcing sugar andcinnamon for dustingGerman Potato SaladIngredients 1 kg red potatoes, diced500 gms bacon, diced1 red onion, diced¼ cup white vinegar¼ cup olive oil2 tbsp sugar1 tbsp dijon mustard1 tsp salt½ tsp China Geely NL-5 Door Panel pepper¼ cup fresh parsley, choppedMethodBring a large pot of water to a boil. Drain potatoes and place in a large mixing bowl. Add in diced potatoes and boil until tender for about 10 to 12 minutes. Serve with baked plums, a berry ragout or fruit compote. Boil marinade for three minutes, adding water as needed and use for a grilling baste.— As told to Oishani Mojumder.It’s time to think beyond the German Schnitzel and Bratwurst

Lantern-maker Lin Chow-chin is part of a growing movement on the island to make the celebrations greener, creating sustainable lights which can be converted into everything from desk lamps to flower vases.When the bulb is taken out, users can connect the stopper to a water bottle and recycle the lantern as a vase.After retiring seven years ago, Lin reignited his passion -- with a new twist.Some of the lantern frames are made from self-assembled cardboard cut-outs which Lin says are popular with students as they can be used as pen holders, and come with spare parts that can be modelled into sculptures and business card holders.

It is still a small business and Lin makes all the lanterns himself from home, selling around 800 a year by word of mouth.Environmentalists say used lanterns are not properly recycled and pile up as rubbish, while batteries inside them contain hazardous chemicals that cause pollution.Lin hopes to help combat the problem by creating lanterns which owners will want to keep rather than discard. China Mercedes-Benz ML-350 Grille Taipei: As Taiwan lights up for the start of its annual lantern festival this weekend, one eco-friendly craftsman is breaking with tradition.Authorities there are also offering cash or small gifts as rewards for recycling.He experimented with making them in his youth and even considered exporting them as a business -- but gave up the dream for a steady post office job.But interest in his art has seen him conduct workshops across Taiwan and stage exhibitions in Hong Kong and mainland China.

Visitors gather around a large lantern of a chick hatching displayed to mark the Year of the Rooster at the Lantern Festival in Taipei, Taiwan.Environmental authorities are also urging the public to recycle batteries used in small hand-held lanterns -- last year they generated an estimated 3.Lin's colourful lanterns come in a range of shapes and sizes, some using recycled paper, leaves and plant fibres."I don't want to see lantern-making become a fading art so hopefully the creative, environmental and practical aspects can appeal to more young people," he tells AFP.Each year huge electric sculptures go on display in Taiwan's major cities, children carry tiny disposable lanterns and the skies fill with floating lights for the festival that marks the end of two weeks of Lunar New Year festivities. "It's rewarding to see my students embrace my ideals and come up with their own creations," says Lin.Liu Jyh-jian, vice director of the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union, says the focus should be on the "content, not the size" of the celebrations.

Taiwan's tourism bureau, which sponsors the island's biggest lantern celebrations, featuring huge electric lights in the shape of zodiac animals, says the creations are now being "adopted" after the festival, mostly by schools and local government departments.Mass mobilisation Campaigners say they do not want the lantern festival to disappear, just to improve.79 tonnes of waste.Mountainous Pingshi town in northern Taiwan is at the vanguard of the new green push.Hu Min-shu, a veteran sky lantern maker who uses recycled materials and is head of an association promoting the craft in Pingshi, says up to 90 percent of used lanterns are now recycled there."Of course, we hope to achieve a 100 percent recycling rate," he says.".Special hiking groups head out into the hills to retrieve thousands of floating lanterns which are released into the sky then fall to earth.Lin has patented a removable plastic stopper that connects to a light bulb inside the lantern.Lantern-maker Lin Chow-chin is part of a growing movement on the island to make the celebrations greener, creating sustainable lights."The whole town is mobilised.His main aim is to make them reusable

Initially, 100 meritorious students would be sponsored under the scheme. However, in case of students having a total family income of up to Rs 2,00, 000 full admissible coaching fee would be given by the government.The Delhi Medical Association (DMA) and the Indian Medical Association (IMA) have criticised the AAP government Jetour X70S Seat Cover Factory;s decision to cancel the license of the private hospital as harsh.They will be able to prepare for examinations conducted by the UPSC, the DSSSB, the SSC, the Railway Recruitment Board, besides medical, engineering and other # competitive examinations, Kejriwal said.The Delhi Medical Association and the Indian Medical Association have criticised the AAP govt;s decision to cancel Max hospital;s license

.Kejriwal said his government was translating Ambedkar;s dreams into actions by making education accessible to the poor and vulnerable sections of the society. (File photo) New Delhi: The Delhi government was not against the city;s private hospitals but it would not hesitate to act sternly in cases of criminal negligence and "looting of patients", Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Saturday.The baby;s body was handed over to their parents in a plastic bag, along with his still-born sister. We are not against private hospitals.He said his government has transformed the education sector in the past three years and doubled the budget for education.His comments came a day after the Delhi government decided to cancel the licence of the hospital for alleged medical negligence on multiple instances, including one in which it wrongly declared alive baby dead on November 30.Under this scheme, 75 per cent of admissible coaching fee would be provided by the government and the remaining 25 per cent would be borne by the students.

He died during treatment at a nursing home in Pitampura a week later. The chief minister sought people;s support so that he can work "honestly"..The DMA called the decision "irrational and autocratic" and wrote to Kejriwal on Saturday seeking withdrawal of the order. But we will not hesitate to act sternly in cases of criminal negligence and looting of patients," he said.Kejriwal was speaking at the launch of the ;Jai Bhim Mukhyamantri Pratibha Vikas Yojna;, as part of which students from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Castes and minority communities would be able to join coaching centres to prepare for competitive exams and the Delhi government will provide an assistance of up to Rs 40,000.Kejriwal said it takes courage to cancel the licence of a leading healthcare facility like the Max hospital in Shalimar Bagh.

From 2018 it would be made available to 5,000 students, Kejriwal said at the function organised by the Delhi government to mark the ;Parinirvan Diwas; of Dr B R Ambedkar at Talkatora Stadium.The chief minister also announced that his government would soon launch a scheme to give loans to the poor and needy to start their ventures and become self-reliant.Attacking his political rivals, he claimed "some powers" were trying to crush him and his party.In its letter, marked also to Delhi Health Minister Satyender Jain, the doctors; body said the government should wait for the Delhi Medical Council;s report expected in a few days.Citing his government;s handling of discoms, he said power tariffs had not risen in Delhi in the past three years."If we had entered into any setting with the hospital, we would not have been able to face our conscience and would have lost the faith of the people. Arvind Kejriwal says that it takes courage to cancel the licence of a leading healthcare facility like the Max hospital in Shalimar Bagh, Delhi.Kejriwal, however, attacked the previous dispensation in Delhi, alleging they were often hand in glove with the "big" and the mighty

Hence, responsibility should be fixed now or else the currents efforts too will not bear fruit,” Gupta, an amicus curiae of the Allahabad high court, said over the phone from the Uttar Pradesh city..Among others, the panel led by retired Justice Giridhar Malaviya, has also suggested declaring an area abutting within 1 kilometre from Ganga and its major tributaries as a “water saving zone”. Offender concerned shall be punishable with imprisonment for the term which may extend up to seven years in case the failure continues for a year after a conviction. Such a meeting shall be convened in the near future,” sources in the ministry said.* Contaminating water of Ganga/tributary by disposal of pesticide, non-degradable plastic, waste batteries, hazardous chemicals: imprisonment for a term extending up to one year or with fine which may extend up to Rs 50,000 or with both and in case contravention continues, with additional fine which may extend up to Rs 5000.* Constructing jetties/port/permanent hydraulic structure for storage/diversion/control/channelisation of water into/from Ganga/tributaries sans permission: one year imprisonment and monetary fine which may extend up to Rs 50 crore.

Withdrawing water by electric/diesel-operated tubewells from the land fronting Ganga/tributaries: simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years or with fine which may extend to Rs 2000, or with both.* Causing discontinuity in flow of water in Ganga/ tributaries without permission from competent authority: Offender shall be liable to imprisonment up to two years and monetary fine which may extend to Rs 100 crore.In case the contravention continues, an additional fine extending up to Rs 20,000 per day. 100 crore for anyone who commits a range of offences on the river, including blocking its flow, quarrying its banks or constructing jetties without permission.Some of the major punishments for various offences recommended by the panel are:* Stone quarrying, crushing, cutting, finishing or processing sand mining illegally in bed/on banks of Ganga/its tributaries: Simple imprisonment up to five years or with fine which may extend up to Rs 50,000 or both.A Centre-appointed panel has drafted a bill, the National River Ganga (Rejuvenation, Protection and Management) Bill 2017, which if passed into a law will also prescribe seven years in jail and a fine of up to Rs. Now add one more crime to that list that may soon attract such a stringent punishment: messing with Ganga.

Advocate Arun Kumar Gupta, one of the four members of the experts’ committee currently studying the draft bill, pitched for making stringent provisions to ensure people did not violate the law which aims to make the river pollution-free.The panel though has suggested that such zones may be defined after conducting scientific studies within 6 months after the bill is enacted.“Crores of rupees were spent on cleaning the river in the past, but all went down the drain. The imprisonment may be extended to five years in case the failure continues beyond a period of a year after conviction.The Uttarakhand High Court recently declared the river a “living entity,” and the panel’s bill makes it emphatically clear that troubling it can be a costly affair, if converted into the country’s first ever act on a river.Additional fine which may extend up to Rs 2000 per day in case of contravention.

The government has forwarded the draft, submitted to the water resources ministry in April, to another experts’ committee to seek their suggestions on the bill, which will be further discussed with the basin states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Changan Eado Instrument Panel Body Factory Bihar before the final draft is out.“Since the issue relates to the basin states of Ganga and its tributaries, the Centre wants to discuss the draft with the state governments first.The panel though has suggested that such zones may be defined after conducting scientific studies within six months after the bill is enacted. Devotees take a dip in the river Ganga on the first day of Ardh Kumbh festival at Haridwar. (Photo: AP) New Delhi: Robbery, cheating, causing grievous hurt and attempt to commit culpable homicide are all punishable by up to seven years in prison

But the Oxfam report should give food for thought to a government that ostentatiously proclaims its commitment to the poor and whose flamboyantly-attired head boasts of starting out as a lowly chaiwallah. Nor do police stations and law courts baulk at accepting obviously fabricated charges.If the Senate chaplain looked at our governance, he would probably pray not just for the country but for the world.There are several explanations for what outsiders might regard as self-indicting candour.V.The Narasimha Rao-Manmohan Singh reforms opened the gates to the creation of new wealth. As in post-Soviet Russia, the subsequent capitalism blurred the distinction between the government and tycoons so that it is often not clear whose is the upper hand, who orders and who obeys. But these 70 years, especially the last 30 since the reforms initiated by P. Until 1952 the Maharaja of Baroda owned a controlling share of the equity in Fortnum & Mason, the chic food shop in Piccadilly that a footman of Queen Anne’s started in 1707 and which is still grocer to Queen Elizabeth II. If stem-cell therapy was common then like plastic surgery and artificial insemination, and if Ram piloted his own aircraft while Arjun felled his foes with nuclear darts, there is no reason why the credulous should disbelieve pretty but not especially moral tales like the legend of Ashwathama or the ocean being churned for its nectar.”

That might well be said of India’s legislatures as our republic steps into its 71st year.No wonder Indian courts do not admit the common law doctrine of Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus, “false in one thing, false in everything”, meaning witnesses who testify falsely about one matter can’t be believed when testifying on any matter.Not that flirting with falsehood is a serious impediment to development. They have always been with us. The epics bestow respectability on legends in which the simple place implicit faith. Our lawyers argue that falsehood is often necessary to establish the truth. Another is the calibre of politicians.The Narasimha Rao-Manmohan Singh reforms opened the gates to the creation of new wealth.Victorian England bristled with social China Cadillac Medium Grille contrasts and conflicts but it was also the age of scientific inquiry, technological innovation, social experimentation and imperial expansion, with no constraints on thinking and scholarship. Deploring the imposition of British jurisprudence, Penderel Moon of the Indian Civil Service cited instances of witnesses who were for sale and their concocted evidence leading to innocent people being executed.Although it’s fashionable to call India a rich country of poor people, a more accurate description would be a poor country of ultra-rich people.Some hardened criminal-politicians are actually proud of their record. Not only does the economy seem to be stagnating back to the so-called “Hindu rate of growth”, but India’s poor performance is dragging down global progress.

They themselves set down the information regarding murder, attempted murder, crimes against women including rape and kidnapping, culpable homicide, house trespass, robbery and criminal intimidation in their sworn affidavits, even to listing the 204 criminal cases that didn’t prevent a Kerala politician being elected to Parliament.. Others who have been weaned on the myths and legends of the supposedly golden age of Hindu ascendancy to which India is being dragged back innocently believe that the Mahabharat and Ramayan sanction and even glorify cleverness on the shady side. Others argue that litigation is so commonplace as to be meaningless, and cite the old story of the villager who had four annas left in his pocket after visiting the weekly fair and couldn’t think of a better way of spending it than making a police diary against his neighbour. False allegations occasion neither surprise nor shame. Credibility matters. However impeccable the high courts and the Supreme Court might be, India’s lower judiciary must be the worst in the world. The colourful Republic Day floats concealed many of the basic weaknesses of our situation — the infrastructure is worn, foreign investment is shrinking, agricultural production is far from robust, “Make in India” hasn’t taken off, banking is in a mess, unemployment is rising, corruption is rampant. It’s forgotten amidst the excitement of an upsurge of billionaires — 63 tycoons who own more money than the 2018-19 Union Budget of `24,47,200 crores, according to Oxfam’s latest report Time to Care — that for many years Mir Osman Ali Khan, the last ruling Nizam of Hyderabad, was reckoned to be the richest man in the world with an estimated wealth of 230 billion.

Criminal charges hang over the heads of 233 Lok Sabha members — a 44 per cent increase since 2009 — who are not at all coy about their alleged misdemeanours. Being astute practitioners of the art of the possible, politicians have their finger on the public pulse, and know it has been dinned into generations of orthodox Hindus that it was smart to call an elephant after a great warrior and kill it in order to trick and vanquish the warrior’s otherwise invincible father. That interaction is one factor shaping the future. Seven decades is of course only a blip in the countless millennia of Indian nationhood. Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh laid the foundations of the modern state, could be crucial in defining the future. P V Narasimha Rao (Photo: PTI/File) Asked if he prayed for America’s senators, a chaplain to the United States Senate once replied: “No, I look at the senators and pray for the country. Some would say that the candidates had to come clean because they would have been found out otherwise, which might have been worse. The fear here is that our universities and other academic institutions are being brought under official control, with the democratic consensus behind the government faltering as independent thinking yields to empty bombast. It’s also forgotten that Ratan Tata’s forays with Tetley Tea and Jaguar Land Rover are not India’s first ventures in international commerce

Most people think of Siberia as one of the coldest, most inhospitable places on earth. Most people think of Siberia as one of the coldest, most inhospitable places on earth. It also has accomplished groups of “laughtivists”, activists whose trademark is hilarity, famous political activist Srdja Popovic tells us in his seriously funny book Blueprint for Revolution.These laughtivists were not born so; they were made. And Vladimir Putin’s Russia has a lot to do with it. In 2012, ahead of the presidential election in Russia, the Siberian city of Barnaul was suddenly in the news. Local authorities had said “no” to rallies. But they had not counted on people gathering in the centre of town with their children’s toys — plastic elephants, toy tigers and Lego men carrying banners against Mr Putin’s 12-year rule. Snapshots were taken of the “nanoprotests” to highlight the restrictions faced by many groups.The toy protest was eventually also banned but not before most of Russia and the rest of the world had learnt about it, and laughed heartily.It does not come as a surprise to know that authoritarian regimes all over the world are wary of comedy, especially of its subversive power. But what about free societies Comedy thrives on breaking taboos. How tolerant should we be Can comedy be ever deemed a crime What if it is truly low-grade and tasteless You would not think such questions would dominate the national discourse in India at a time when huge swathes of the country are ravaged by drought, when a jobs drought threatens to knock the shine out of the “fastest growing economy” tag.

That was before last week’s knockout blow by l’affaire Tanmay Bhat. Comedian Bhat’s Snapchat video mocking two of India’s greatest icons, Lata Mangeshkar and Sachin Tendulkar, is now a big story in the traditional and social media.There was a time when one could get away by staring blankly if one was asked “How do you do Face Swap on Snapchat Only millenials were supposed to know such stuff. No longer.Today, there is no getting away from Faceswap or Snapchat. Bhat has ensured that. The over-the-top reactions of some of his critics who want to hang him, whip him, jail him and probably toss him to the lions have kept the story alive.And we find ourselves in this strange situation where a Snapchat video created at 3 am by a bored Bhat is national news. The expletive-laced video, called “Sachin vs Lata Civil War” seeks to enact an imaginary conversation between Tendulkar and Mangeshkar using the face-swap feature, resulting in the two Indian icons vigorously jousting with each other. In the video, the face-swapped Mangeshkar is at the receiving end of lines like “Have you seen your face It looks like someone has kept you in water for, like, eight days.” And “Jon Snow (Game of Thrones) also died, so you should also die.” Tendulkar comes in for some corrosive ribbing about whether Virat Changan Automobile B pillar Body Factory Kohli is better than the Master Blaster. And suchlike.This is clearly about hitting at holy cows. Much of the humour in the video is crude and tasteless. The real comedy, however, is the disproportionate reaction to the video with Mumbai cops seeking legal opinion on how to crack down on comedian Bhat. The cops vs comedian story popped up in the wake of a complaint from the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).

The MNS is not the only party who is breathing fire and brimstone. Sanjay Raut of the Shiv Sena has said people like Mr Bhat “should be whipped in public”. And do not single out the saffron groups. The Nationalist Congress Party of Sharad Pawar is equally upset. So are many who profess their secularism.The Mumbai police has asked Facebook and YouTube to remove the video. Can a FIR be filed against comedian Bhat Legal opinion is being sought.How does the system which is so slow to respond on so many vital issues act so quickly in the case of a spoof Bhat later said he was just fooling around and that he obviously loved Mangeshkar and Tendulkar but there is no let-up by the angry brigade. Mumbai’s political analysts darkly hint at the shadow of next year’s municipal elections in the city.This is not, of course, the first time that comedy is being bracketed with crime in this country.Earlier this year, Kiku Sharda, another Indian comedian, was jailed for two weeks after he appeared to mimic Baba Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Ji Insan, the motorcycle-riding flamboyant religious guru who leads the Dera Sacha Sauda sect. Sharda was taken into custody for offending the “sentiments” of the Baba.Last year, a group of Muslim youths vandalised the office of a leading Marathi daily because they were angry about a “derogatory” cartoon and an article. Kanpur-based cartoonist Aseem Trivedi shot into fame after he was charged with sedition.

Fortunately the Bombay high court offered relief subsequently by noting that Trivedi’s cartoons did not incite violence and that they only expressed anger with the state machinery.The jury is out on whether this is Indian stand-up comedy’s darkest hour or its most glorious moment. That depends on how you look at it. Bhat is being roasted but he has also become a household word, as has Snapchat. And in recent days, numerous stand-up comedians have been holding forth on television. Bhat is a member of the comedians’ group All India Bakchod (AIB). It would not be incorrect to say that AIB is laughing its way to victory. It has put up another spoof, “Unoffended”, which claims to be a special news report on a horrifying terror group with the motto of never taking undue offense to things.India has a rich heritage of humour but are holy cows still too holy to be hit Twitter, that repository of contemporary wit and wisdom, put it crisply.

Hyderabad-based Shashank tweeted: “It is simple — you don’t like a joke, turn a blind eye to it. Like you do to poverty, patriarchy, child labour, racism and sexism.”That, actually, is the point. Comedy, especially of the parody and satire kinds, provide an unforgiving mirror to society. As a result, they are potent political weapons, used for centuries, though many anglophiles like to trace the origin to 1726, when Jonathan Swift wrote Gulliver’s Travels.If nothing else, that book shows how comedy endures all attempts to stifle it, especially if it is good. Not many people think Tanmay Bhat’s piece was any good. In that case, it will die a natural death. Attacks on the comedian have only given it a longer than natural lease of life.The writer focuses on development issues in India and emerging economies. She can be reached at patralekha.chatterjee@gmail.com

So far, police have arrested four persons in the case namely Azad Rajhbhar, Pradeep Rajhbhar, Vijay Rajhbhar and Shivkumar Rajhar alias Sadhu.Rajbhar was detained in Varanasi and was brought to Mumbai on Wednesday morning. Also, it will shed light on the involvement of Hema's estranged husband Chintan Upadhyaya, if any, in the murder, police said.A hunt was launched for Vidyadhar soon after detention of Sadhu by the UP Special Task Force in Varanasi on Monday following a request by Mumbai police.According to police, the trio along with two other accused -- Sadhu and Vidyadhar-- had killed the artist and her lawyer.The tempo driver had claimed that he was unaware of the contents inside the boxes.

Except Sadhu, who was detained in Varanasi on Monday, the remaining three were picked up from Kandivali on Sunday.On Wednesday, the trio was remanded to police custody till December 19. These boxes along with other details including call records of Hema led police to a fabrication shop (run by Vidyadhar) near Borivali where the accused were based, a senior police official said."Interrogation of Sadhu--the fourth to be arrested in the case--is likely establish the roles of each of accused in the killings.Sadhu had gone public with the claim that the two were killed under instructions from Vidyadhar. He has been arrested and shall be produced in the court shortly, added Bharti.The boxes were generally used for transporting idols.Bodies of noted installation artist Hema (43) and her lawyer Harish Bhambhani (65) packed in cardboard boxes were found in a drain in Kandivali on Saturday.Vijay Rajbhar was the person who allegedly ferried the cardboxes containing the bodies of the deceased in China low-pressure injection molds Manufacturers a tempo from the warehouse of Vidyadhar in Kandivali (W)..

Based on leads provided by the three during their sustained questioning, teams of Mumbai Police have been dispatched to various locations in and outside Maharashtra to nab Vidyadhar, who used to make the material required by Hema for her work.Hema, a Baroda-born painter, was locked in bitter divorce proceedings with her husband Chintan. Mumbai: Two days after he was detained in the double murder case of artist Hema Upadhyaya and her lawyer, the Mumbai Police on Wednesday formally arrested Shivkumar Rajbhar alias Sadhu even as the prime accused Vidyadhar Rajbhar still remains at large. Bhambhani had represented Hema in this case.The three arrested accused are in the business of manufacturing and selling fibre glass used by Hema and Chintan for their installations. On Tuesday, the trio — Azad, Pradeep and Vijay — were placed under arrest after being booked under IPC sections 302 (murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention). Their bodies were wrapped in plastic and stashed into two separate cardboard boxes before being dumped there.

According to police, the three accused — Azad, Pradeep and Vijay — were tracked down on the basis of manufacturing details and batch number of the cardboard boxes which were used for disposing the bodies of the killed duo.On whether there was any headway in the investigations and whereabouts of Vidyadhar, Bharti said, "Our probe is still on and we have just got a few insights about the crime.She had in 2013 filed a case against him alleging that he painted obscene pictures of women on the walls of their matrimonial home in Mumbai to harass her. We don't have complete details about the way in which the crime was carried out and which of the arrested and wanted accused have played what type of role.Sadhu was brought to Mumbai on Wednesday morning by a team of Mumbai Police which had gone to Varanasi and detained him, JCP (Law and Order) Deven Bharti said. (Photo: PTI) Rajbhar was detained in Varanasi and was brought to Mumbai on Wednesday morning

He, himself, began doing so and has been picking up litter every day since.Their idea Automotive molds Suppliers is simple: anyone who picks up at least one item of trash a day qualifies as a Wastebuster."Now it's become a part of me," she adds, pointing to the plastic bottles, beer cans, empty cigarette cartons and sweet wrappers poking out of the grass..She says they do not stop at one piece of trash a day.Participants post selfies on a social network each time they pick up a piece of litter and put it in the rubbish bin."When people see us picking up trash, they never join in."You can do it on your way home, on the way to the cinema or while waiting for the bus. It's people's mentalities that should change.Slovak financial analyst Rastislav Krul launched the campaign from his hometown Rovinka The Slovakian couple get up and about any time they see people littering the the area they move through.

No instant results but he is optimistic about change down the line.Boss on boardTheir crusade began two years ago, when Rastislav was living in the capital Bratislava and overheard his neighbours complain about litter on the block."When we go for a walk, bike ride or hike, we usually take some gloves and bags with us."No one joined in."Before I met Rasto, I thought garbage on the ground didn't concern me."One person's a litterer, another's a cleaner."Last month, the Slovak Wastebusters launched a website to further spread the word. He's shown me that it doesn't take any extraordinary effort to pick up trash," she says.Their main piece of advice, however, is one that may sound like a no-brainer but makes a world of difference: all it takes is one piece of garbage a day."For us time flew by, for them it went slowly," he adds, picking up yet another plastic bottle on a weekend stroll around a lake. You drop litter, I pick it up. (Photo: AFP) Rovinka (Slovakia): Slovak financial analyst Rastislav Krul and his wife once waited out an hour-long traffic jam by picking up several bags worth of rubbish around a rest area off the motorway.

"I realised that if fewer people complained and instead each picked up one piece of garbage off the ground and binned it, our city would not be as polluted," he tells AFP.How much of it ends up thrown out on to the streets is hard to say, but the couple feel they still have plenty to do and say the Wastebusters project is a good option for those who hate organised cleaning. Since last year, they have been spreading their philosophy online."In the same vein, the 1 Piece of Rubbish campaign, launched by British expatriate Eddie Platt in the southern French city of Marseille has won cyber fans around the world from Buenos Aires to New York. Then if we see something we can just stop, pick it up and walk on." Anywhere, anytime Slovakians rank among the least worst offenders for piling up rubbish in the European Union, according to Eurostat figures, which showed each of the country's 5. Instead, I brought a glass water bottle that I fill up and use," says Rastislav."Rastislav has even managed to win over his boss: "When he's out with his kids, they sometimes pick up trash."Laws and fines don't solve anything."I took the first step by no longer buying bottled water for work.

Their Facebook page now has thousands of followers, who post stories and photos of cleaning up the streets and countryside."They don't have to plan anything or specifically go somewhere to pick up trash," he says.Rastislav says setting an example is like a long-distance run. People just watched us from their cars," recalls the 30-year-old, who has launched an anti-litter campaign from his western village of Rovinka.4 million inhabitants produced about 321 kilos of household rubbish in 2014. He also encouraged his wife, Veronika, 30, to join in."Maybe it'll stop them from tossing their next beer can or bubble gum wrapper. But I think it does make them start to reflect on what we're doing," he says. Most of the comments are positive. They also plan to provide tips and tricks on how to reduce waste