Daily News (In Short)-20-August-2015

#* Government sends three member team to resolve FTII crisis

A three-member team of officials from the information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry is set to visit the crisis-hit Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) on Thursday to find a solution to the 70-day-old strike by the students.

The team, headed by the registrar of newspapers in India S M Khan, will assess the ground situation in FTII and try to end the impasse, even as students ruled out any compromise on their main demand of removal of TV actor and BJP member Gajendra Chauhan's as chairman of the institute.

Students have also been protesting against the appointment of four of the governing council’s eight members under the ‘Persons of Eminence’ category, saying they were picked because of their proximity to the BJP.
 
"The team will comprise S M Khan, Anshul Sinha and S Nagnathan. They will study the prevailing situation on the campus and hold discussions with all concerned, including the students," FTII director Prashant Pathrabe told reporters.

The protest reached a flashpoint after five students were arrested in a midnight swoop on Tuesday after they allegedly confined the director Pathrabe to his chamber a day earlier.

Reports said the government was looking for an “honourable exit” from the controversy.“The government is open to debate. We are not struck upon anything,” The Indian Express quoted an unnamed I&B ministry official as saying.
 
Another report in the daily said I&B minister Arun Jaitley and the minister of state Rajyavardhan Rathore had a back-channel talk with the students to call off their strike. But the deal failed because the ministry did not want to give a written confirmation.

The students' protest that started by questioning the "credentials and vision" of Chauhan to lead the premier institute, took a different turn last week when Pathrabe announced his decision to conduct assessment of incomplete diploma film projects of the 2008 batch on "as it is where it is" basis.

According to the FTII Students' Association (FSA), the assessment as proposed by the director was also opposed by the faculty as it was "unjustified, irrational and unfair" with the project films devoid of editing and audio.

Addressing a press conference after his arrest and release on bail by a local court along with four others, FTII Students' Association (FSA) leader Vikas Urs said that conversely it should be the information and broadcasting ministry which needs to dilute its hard posture on the controversial appointment.

Asked about the students' stand on  the visit by the high-level committee, he said, "we are ready and willing for any dialogue but we will not compromise on our demands."

FTII alumni criticise midnight arrests

Prominent film-makers and FTII alumni have criticised the midnight arrests.

“It is very unfortunate that students were arrested in this manner. The demands of the students are reasonable and they were showing remarkable restraint in their protests,” said Beena Paul, FTII alumnus and former artistic director of International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK).

Documentray filmmaker Amlan Dutta said strikes were not new to FTII but the way the government is trying to tackle them is unforeseen.

“This is not the first time strikes are happening in FTII. When we were studying, we had also gone on strike .The attitude of the government has changed now,” said Dutta.

Cinematographer and filmmaker Rajeev Ravi criticised  Pathrabe’s decision to go ahead with the assessment of diploma projects.

“The administration is responsible for this mess. In my time we used to finish our diploma on time. They have increased the number of courses and intake of students without increasing the number of faculty or improving the infrastructure,” Ravi said.

“We never imagined that such a thing will happen in FTII. I’m really concerned about the kids (FTII students),” he added.

#* No Jail for Ansals in Uphaar Case: CBI Not Allowed to Argue Verdict, But Can File Appeal

NEW DELHI:  The Ansal brothers, real estate barons, must go to jail for the 1997 Uphaar fire tragedy, the CBI says, but was today denied "15 minutes more" to argue its point in the Supreme Court, which yesterday said the builders will pay a 60-crore fine but will not be arrested.

The CBI, which investigated the case, was told it is free to file an appeal or a review petition against the verdict, asking the Supreme Court judges to re-examine their decision.

Senior lawyer Harish Salve, appearing for the CBI, had said: "I have been appearing in the case for the last 16 years. Give us 15 minutes to argue our case because some points were not argued."

On Wednesday, brothers Gopal and Sushil Ansal were not sent to jail but were fined for the massive fire in which nearly 60 people were killed at the Uphaar cinema they owned in Delhi.

In 1997 on a Friday evening, the Uphaar cinema during a packed show of hit film "Border" turned into a death trap when it went up in flames. Men, women and children choked to death as routes to fire exits had been blocked to accommodate extra seats; 100 others were injured in a stampede as people rushed towards several doors to find them locked.

Last year, the Supreme Court found the Ansals guilty of criminal negligence, and indicted the Ansal brothers for being "more interested in making money" than in ensuring the security of their customers; however, the judges differed on how much jail time they merited.

The Ansals had many years earlier served a few months each in prison.

Neelam Krishnamurthy, whose young son and daughter died in the Uphaar fire, broke down on hearing the Supreme Court verdict. "I've been let down very badly.  Can the money ever be a substitute for losing your children?" she said.

The Rs. 60 crore due from the Ansals within three months is to be paid to the Delhi government for the building of a trauma centre.

#* 'Think of the country': Sri Lanka PM Ranil Wickremesinghe warns against return to divisive politics

Colombo: Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe urged Sri Lanka's parties Wednesday to work together as he began forming a new government backed by minority Tamils after a surge in support for his reform-driven agenda in parliamentary elections.
Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP) more than doubled its seats in parliament in Monday's polls, easily beating the party of Mahinda Rajapakse and dashing the former president's hopes of returning to power.
Sri Lankan Prime Minister-elect Ranil Wickremesinghe. AFPSri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. AFP
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, he called for unity in a country still riven by the scars of a decades-long civil war that pitted Tamil separatists against the army.
"I want everyone to come together now, think of the country, think of the people," said Wickremesinghe on the lawns of his official residence in Colombo.
"We can achieve unity in this country... I don't think anyone can opt out. No one can go back to divisive politics. We will not allow that."
He will be sworn in as prime minister this week after his UNP won 106 seats in the 225-member house, up from 40 in the previous election.
That is short of a majority, but a pledge of "issue-based" support from the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which holds the balance of power with 16 seats, will allow the party to carry out promised political and economic reforms.
"We will sit in the opposition but extend support to the government," TNA lawmaker Dharmalingam Sithadthan told AFP Wednesday.
"It will be issue-based support, but we think we can work with the prime minister."
Fractured opposition
President Maithripala Sirisena, who won a surprise victory over Rajapakse in a January 8 presidential election, had appointed Wickremesinghe as the head of a minority government after that poll.
Rajapakse, whose United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) came second in Monday's poll with 95 seats, will sit on the opposition benches after conceding Tuesday that his "dream of becoming prime minister has faded away".
But the UPFA is divided between those loyal to the former leader and supporters of Sirisena, the nominal head of the party. Sources said Wickremesinghe would likely engineer defections from the fractured opposition.
He also has the backing of one more MP from the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress party.
Wickremesinghe's UNP has said it will investigate allegations that up to 40,000 Tamils were killed by government forces under Rajapakse's command in 2009 during the final stages of the war against Tamil separatist rebels.
Rajapakse has long insisted that not a single civilian was killed by security forces and resisted international calls for an independent investigation.
The 69-year-old remains hugely popular among large sections of the majority Sinhalese community for presiding over the crushing defeat of Tamil guerrillas after their 37-year war for a separate homeland.
But he is a polarising figure on an island still struggling to come to terms with the past.
He was shunned by Western governments over the brutal end to the island's ethnic conflict, and remains deeply unpopular among its Tamil and Muslim minorities.
Rajapakse secured a seat in parliament by standing for the north-western district of Kurunegala after ditching his home constituency of Hambantota.

#* 11 entities get payments bank licences: What it means for Indian banking sector

The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday gave in principle approval for 11 entities to set up payments banks. The move has been touted as a harbinger of a revolution in the Indian banking sector.
Here are the key facts you need to know about the development:
What is a payments bank?
ReutersReuters
A payment bank is a differentiated bank that will undertake only certain restricted banking functions that the Banking Regualtion Act of 1949 allows. These activities include acceptance of deposits, payments and remittance services, internet banking and function as busines correspondant of other banks. Initially, they are allowed to collect deposits up to Rs 1 lakh per individual.
They can facilitate money transfers and sell insurance and mutual funds. Besides, they can issue ATM/debit cards, but not credit cards. They cannot set up subsidiaries to undertake non-banking financial services activities. More importantly, they are not allowed to undertake lending activities at all.
There were 41 applicants. "...Some of the entities who did not qualify in this round, could well be successful in future rounds," the RBI has said. In future, it plans to grant such licences "virtually on tap".
When can we expect the banks to start functioning?
According to the RBI, the 'in-principle' approval granted will be valid for a period of 18 months, during which time the applicants have to comply with the requirements and fulfil the other conditions stipulated by the guidelines. According to a PTI report, the companies that got the licence are enthusiastic and have said they will launch services ahead of the 18-month deadline.
Why is this a revolution?
Because it will bring unbanked masses under the ambit of formal banking and also expedite financial inclusion. The spread of banking will also make the poor financially literate and help fight poverty. Finance minister Arun Jaitley termed it a significant and important step from the RBI.
"Payments banks will reach out to people in rural areas. Payments bank will ensure more money comes into banking system. Various banks are looking at increasing their rural reach, including big banks like SBI, payments banks will help them realise this," Jaitley said.
With 11 more entering the banking space, should the biggies like SBI, ICICI Bank etc feel the jitters?
Not really. For one, these are differentiated banks that function only in specific areas. The major banks can actually make use of these banks to spread their reach as payment banks are allowed to function as business correspondents too. Some of them have already tied up with existing licence holders.
For instance, SBI, the country's largest lender, will take as much as 30 percent in RIL's proposed bank while Bharti Airtel, India's largest telecom operator, plans to give 19.9 percent stake in the bank to Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. Meanwhile, Aditya Birla Nuvo Limited has tied up with Idea Cellular which will have 49 per cent stake in the joint venture.

#* Hurriyat leaders held under house arrest ahead of NSA talks

Kashmiri separatist leaders who were invited by Pakistan to meet its national security advisor Sartaj Aziz when he visits India, were placed under house arrest on Thursday.
Hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and leaders of the moderate faction Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Moulvi Abbas Ansari and JKLF leader Yasin Malik were  among those placed under house arrest just three days ahead of the Pakistan NSA's visit to India for talks.

Authorities put up stop gates and deployed police personnel outside the houses before informing the separatist leaders not to step out.

Read: Govt warns of 'appropriate' action if Pak NSA meets Hurriyat

The steps were taken to prevent the separatists from going to Delhi to meet Sartaj Aziz, police sources told Hindustan Times on condition of anonymity.

"This is for the first time the separatist leadership is not allowed to meet Pakistan officials. We have attended receptions and meetings at the high commission in the past. The step was totally uncalled for," Hurriyat(G) spokesperson Ayaz Akbar said.

Police also raided the houses of moderate Hurriyat spokesperson Shahid Ul Islam and senior leader Javed Mir, but they were not present. 

National security advisor Ajit Doval is meeting Sartaj Aziz on Sunday in New Delhi for talks on countering terror.

In a provocative act the Pakistan high commission had on Wednesday called hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani for a meeting with Aziz and invited moderate separatist Kashmiri leaders including its chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq for a reception on August 23.

India immediately warned against such a meeting, saying "appropriate action" will be taken.

Last July, India called off talks with Pakistan because Kashmiri separatists were invited before a meeting of foreign secretaries.

#* Have you seen the new AC coach unveiled by Indian Railways? Here it is!

ndian Railways has unveiled a new AC 3-tier coach with improved safety features aiming to provide enhanced services to passengers. To make the journey comfortable Railways has including CCTV cameras, bio-toilets in addition to upgradation of some of the already existing facilities.  Also Read- Suresh Prabhu: Railways to be disabled-friendly.
The new AC coach, which happens to be the 50,000th rolled out by the Integrated Coach Factory (ICF), has better interiors and security features. Like new improved steel ladder with hand-holds for easy climbing to upper berth.

IRCTC partners with RuPay to extend its range of services, including shopping and dining

Now passengers can do shopping by using the IRCTC RuPay prepaid card as Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation has expanded its range of service. IRCTC Union Bank Prepaid Card was launched in collaboration with the Union Bank of India and the National Payment Corporation of India in May.shopping as we have got the necessary permission for expansion of the service, IRCTC Chairman and Managing Director, A K Manocha said. The card allows for easy transactions on the railway booking website, with the first five transactions each month offered free of transaction charges, and an attractive rewards point system on every transaction.

“The IRCTC Union Bank Prepaid Card has already notched up 7,000 users since its launch, and the number of prospective users is showing an upward trend”, Manocha said. A PSU of the Railway Ministry, IRCTC had recently tied up with Amazon, a leading e-commerce company, to offer its customers the online shopping opportunities in addition to its regular travel ticket booking and hotel accommodation booking services. “The IRCTC Union Bank Prepaid Card will further expand the online shopping preferences of our patrons, besides online rail ticketing”. Manocha said.

#* This whacky Google project is a decidedly non-Alphabet moonshot

The customizable handset project demonstrates that Google, now definitively an ad company, will remain robustly creative.

There’s curious news out of Google this week, albeit of the fringe variety. Via a tweet, the company says it no longer plans to test its “Project Ara” modular smartphone in Puerto Rico this year. Instead, as Cnet neatly summarizes, Google aims to try out the product somewhere in the U.S. in 2016.

This leads to two obvious questions: What’s a modular phone and why would Google  GOOG 0.62%  have considered testing it in Puerto Rico in the first place?

The first answer is pretty cool, actually. Google wants to seed the smartphone market with a product that lets consumers pick and choose the components they like, much the way they currently configure phones with software applications of their choosing. As Google notes in an online FAQ: “With a modular platform, you can pick the camera you want for your phone rather than picking your phone for the camera. You could have a sensor to test if water is clean. You could have a battery that lasts for days. A really awesome speaker. A gamer phone. Or it could even be your car key. The possibilities are limitless.” As for Puerto Rico, it seems Google liked the idea of an FCC-regulated area where inexpensive phones still dominate the market, among other attributes.

Production problems are the culprit for the delay. But a setback for a pie-in-the-sky project isn’t all that important. What matters is that Google continues to try whacky ideas. What’s more, though Project Ara certainly is a stretch, it resides within what will be Google Inc., not the new Alphabet, home to Google X and other out-there experiments. The company’s Advanced Technology and Projects Group—which Miguel Helft profiled when he was at Fortune—runs Project Ara, and a modular phone theoretically fits nicely with Android, the mobile software that’s core to Google’s search business. ATAP is staying with Google, whose engineers still work on creative “20% projects,” like the solar-panel information site Katie Fehrenbacher covered Monday. In other words, the advertising company is maintaining its spirit of experimentation as well as a “moonshot factory” of its very own.

#* GST Bill Held Up By PM Modi For Four Years, Says 

Congress on Wednesday blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for holding up the GST bill when in opposition and said that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has no moral authority to criticize them.
“PM Narendra Modi’s support for GST is an afterthought. He alone stalled it for four years as chief minister of Gujarat. I personally met him and then leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj… I can tell you, he was the reason,” former UPA minister Jairam Ramesh told a press conference.

“For Jaitley to participate on GST based on what his PM did to it… he has no moral right to do so,” Ramesh added.

The GST Bill was one of the major proposals slated to be tabled at the washed out Monsoon Parliament session, owing to incessant Congress protest in Rajya Sabha. The Centre has since said it may call a special session to pass the GST bill and the finance minister has dismissed the amendments proposed by Congress as a rethink since they were not part of the bill brought by UPA.“We have gained from experience and learnt. The most persuasive case against the 1% tax in GST has been made by the chief economic advisor to the finance minister,” Ramesh said.

“The GST bill cannot be a reality without the support of Congress,” he added.

The Congress member was taking a swipe at the Modi-led government, and said that the Centre should be reminded of their time in oppositon when they sat on the bill for years during UPA. “The GST would have been a reality four years ago,” he added.

#* Egypt: Bomb blast targeting security building injures six cops

A car bomb injured six Egyptian policemen on Thursday as it exploded in front of a police building in Cairo, the interior ministry said, the latest in a wave of militant attacks that has rocked Egypt.

The powerful blast in northern Cairo's district of Shubra came in the middle of the night, an AFP journalist said, as Egyptian security forces are being targeted by Islamic State jihadists waging an Islamist insurgency.

"A man suddenly stopped his car in front of the state security building, jumped out of it and fled on a motorbike that followed the car," the ministry statement said.

"The car exploded, wounding six policemen."

Earlier a security official told AFP that "an attack targeted a state security building".

"The explosion partially destroyed the building," said a colleague on condition of anonymity.

The bombing came just days after President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ratified an anti-terrorism law which critics claim gives wider powers to police, restricts human rights and muzzles the press.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for Thursday's attack, but Sinai Province, the Egyptian branch of the Islamic State group regularly carries out attacks on security services as part of an insurgency that has swelled since the army's ouster of president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.

Jihadists say their attacks are in retaliation to a police crackdown targeting Morsi supporters that has left hundreds dead and thousands jailed.

Hundreds more have been sentenced to death after speedy trials, denounced by the United Nations as "unprecedented" in recent history.

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