Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray’s 2nd death anniversary on Monday saw BJP reaching out to Sena with a promise to construct a memorial befitting the leader’s stature as it brought together the squabbling claimants to his legacy-son and successor Uddhav and nephew Raj of MNS.

After initial reports that only a state minister will pay tributes at the makeshift memorial of Thackeray at Shivaji Park, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis reached the venue with several of his cabinet colleagues in tow.

Fadnavis, while effusively praising Thackeray, one of the architects of the saffron alliance that lasted 25 years before coming apart ahead of the Assembly poll, announced setting up a committee to go into the issue of construction of a memorial, a long-standing demand of the Sena.

“Bal Thackeray was like a father figure to us. We have gained a lot from his blessings. There can be no person like him in Maharashtra,” he told reporters
Fadnavis had on Sunday said the door for talks with Sena had not been closed. “The doors for talks with Sena are not closed. In politics such a thing never happens. Talks are possible,” he had said in Nagpur yesterday.

He said a committee under the Chief Secretary will be constituted to discuss construction of a memorial “suitable to Thackeray’s status”. Uddhav Thackeray and leaders of other political parties will be on the panel.

Fadnavis had won a controversial confidence vote last Wednesday after NCP declared outside support to his minority government. As the confidence motion was passed by a voice vote, there was an uproar by Sena and Congress, with the two parties petitioning Governor C Vidyasar Rao to direct the government to seek a fresh vote in which its strength be determined through a division of votes.

NCP Legislature Party leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar too disapproved of the manner in which the motion was passed by voice vote. NCP chief Sharad Pawar had earlier said he cannot guarantee the survival of the BJP government for its full five-year term.

{mosimage}After comments from the Pawars, there have been talks of the possibility of BJP and Sena coming together to form a stable government but no clear signals from the two parties have come yet.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi too appeared to reach out to Shiv Sena when he took to microblogging website Twitter to pay tributes to Thackeray and “salute the great man”.

Modi, who is in Australia, tweeted: “On Pujya Balasaheb Thackeray’s Punya Tithi, I salute the great man who always lived for the people & stood for their well-being.”

“The life of Pujya Balasaheb Thackeray continues to inspire us. He lives in the hearts of millions,” Modi, whom Thackeray had solidly backed amid vociferous demands for his resignation as Chief Minister in the aftermath of post-Godhra riots in Gujarat, tweeted.

Amid the continuing confusion over a reconciliation between BJP and Sena, MNS leader Raj Thackeray shared the stage with Uddhav after a long time with their body language setting off speculation about a detente.

The bonhomie was evident when a smiling Raj walked up to the dais and shook hands with Uddhav, his younger son Tejas and Sena MP and spokesman Sanjay Raut. The MNS leader was motioned by senior Sena leader Ramdas Kadam to a vacant chair between Uddhav and Raut which he occupied.

The two leaders were seen chatting and laughing in public after a long time before Raj exited the venue with other MNS leaders in tow. He was also seen chatting with several women Shiv Sena leaders including city Mayor Snehal Ambekar.

The bonhomie between the two cousins, who had been sparring ever since Raj walked out of the family home and floated Maharashtra Navnirman Sena in 2006, comes in the backdrop of their political isolation in Maharashtra.

Contesting Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections for the first time in the absence of Bal Thackeray, Uddhav led Sena to plausible performances in both. The party won 18 of state’s 48 seats in alliance with BJP in LS poll, while it secured 63 of 288 seats in Assembly election after the split to emerge as the second largest party in the House.

Though Sena performed reasonably well in the Assembly poll, it is now friendless in Maharashtra politics and needs to fortify its position with the help of other parties.

Raj Thackeray, whose MNS had 13 MLAs in the previous House, was badly mauled in both Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. It could not open its account in LS poll, while in Assembly election it could manage to win just one seat.

Raj had publicly admitted he had sought an alliance with Shiv Sena after its bitter split with BJP “but there was no response from the other side”.

His presence at Bal Thackeray’s death anniversary event is being seen as another attempt by him to warm up to the estranged cousin, whose party is now occupying the main opposition’s space after splitting with BJP.

Senior MNS leader Bala Nandgaonkar, who accompanied Raj to the event, said that it was the wish of every Shiv Sainik and MNS worker that the two cousins reunite.

“This is a very sad day for us. It is difficult to cope with the absence of Balasaheb. But, if the two decide to become one force this day, it will turn out to be a memorable day for all of us.

“It is the wish of not only every citizen of our state, but also of every Shiv Sainik and MNS worker. Both should join hands and fight for the welfare of the state as a single force,” Nandgaonkar told reporters.

http://youtu.be/ZEjXK8zsRO0?list=UUxoQcj5v7JJ28ChDDw0-qdg

Tabish Khair, the award-winning Indian author of well-known books such as How to Fight Islamist Terror from the Missionary Position and The Thing About Thugs is now writing a family epic.

Khair, who was in the UAE to speak about his books at the Sharjah International Book Fair, said he has always written a new kind of novel and a family book is something he has not attempted yet.

“It will be far less humourous than How to Fight Islamist Terror from the Missionary Position, and more sweeping,” Khair told PTI.

He is, however, not sure about the final shape of the book.

“Who knows? Novels change as they are written,” he said.

Khair said that the Indian writing in English has definitely carved out a niche for itself over the years.

“There is much variety in it, though some writers might still be taking awesomely holy dips in colonial waters,” he said.

On the rapidly developing technology and its impact on the present generation of writers he said it is too early to tell.

“But I do feel that people read too cursorily and rapidly on screens. Page-reading allows for greater depth and introspection, more nuances,” said Khair.

How to Fight Islamist Terror from the Missionary Position explores the thin line between faith and fanaticism, the absolutes of love and faith in the varied contexts of religion, romance and family through the lives of three main characters, the narrator and his two flat mates.

Khair chooses not to compare the prevailing literary scene in India and Europe.

“I have never belonged to the scene in India or in Europe; I have always written from the margins and in substantial isolation, without the patronage of any big name, coterie or group. As such, I can hardly compare the two.

“Personally, I do not think highly of literary scenes anywhere; some of the best writers do not belong to such scenes,” he said.

Born and educated in Bihar, Khair is the author of various books, including the poetry collections, Where Parallel Lines Meet, Man of Glass, the studies, Babu Fictions: Alienation in Indian English Novels and The Gothic, Post-colonialism and Otherness.

His books have been shortlisted for a number of prizes, including the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, the Man Asian Literary Prize and the Encore Award.

• Part-time farmer Sultan Kösen, from Ankara, Turkey, measures 8ft 1in
• Chandra Dangi, who is just 21.5ins tall, lives in remote Nepalese village
• They are among those marking 60 years of Guinness World Records
• Record for largest gathering of people dressed as penguins was broken

It was a meeting of epic proportions.

The world’s tallest and shortest men met for the first time this morning to commemorate Guinness World Record Day.

Sultan Kösen, who is 8ft 1in. tall, and Chandra Dangi, who measures just 21.5ins., posed for photos outside the Houses of Parliament to mark the book’s 60th anniversary.

Standard & Poor’s issues BB- score, saying social network is growing strongly but spending heavily at the same time

Standard & Poor’s Ratings has assigned Twitter a junk-grade rating while also describing it as having strong growth prospects.

The ratings agency gave the San Francisco-based social networking company a BB- corporate credit rating, which places it firmly in the middle of junk-grade territory. The outlook is described as stable.

Shares of Twitter fell 5.7% to $40.12 in late afternoon trading on Thursday. The stock has lost more than a third of its value in the year to date.

S&P predicted Twitter would see healthy growth in active users and revenue, along with minimal debt leverage. But its very heavy investment in growth meant it might not have positive cash flow for discretionary use until 2016.

Jim Prosser, a spokesman for Twitter, pointed to S&P’s own words as comment: “Twitter will continue to experience very strong growth and not encounter a significant increase in competitive pressure.

The rating is unsolicited, meaning that S&P is basing it solely on publicly available information and that it may not necessarily involve the participation of Twitter.

The action comes a day after Twitter’s first-ever analyst day where it discussed its vision, strategy, finances and other matters.

The cop, identified as Shailendra Shukla, suddenly barged into the cultural function, climbed the stage, loaded his revolver in full public view and put it to the head of the dancer.

NEW DELHI: A police constable allegedly forced a dancer to continuously perform at gunpoint for an hour and showered currency notes worth Rs 30,000 on her at a function in Uttar Pradesh’s Shahjahanpur town.

On Monday night, the cop, identified as Shailendra Shukla, suddenly barged into the cultural function, climbed the stage, loaded his revolver in full public view and put it to the head of the dancer.

The horror played out on stage as the constable picked up his loaded firearm whenever the dancer showed signs of stopping due to exhaustion.

Shukla was also carrying Rs 100 and Rs 500 currency notes which he continuously rained on her, eyewitnesses said, adding that the constable was drunk and threatened both the dancer and audience at the venue.

“The dancer was so terrified that she initially lost her balance on the stage. But fearing for life, she somehow regained her composure and followed his order,” an eyewitness said.

Superintendent of Police, Shahjahanpur, Ramesh Chandra Sahu suspended Shukla on Tuesday evening and ordered an inquiry against the constable.

“We have suspended him with immediate effect and ordered a departmental inquiry against him. He will be attached with the police line till the inquiry is on,” the SP said.

He added that the probe will look into all the aspects of the episode.

In an apparent attempt to cosy up with Congress, the Shiv Sena has cautioned the Maharashtra BJP government against preparing to win the next trust vote by suspending Congress legislators.

The Devendra Fadnavis government had on Wednesday won a contentious trust vote in the state Assembly amid dramatic protests by the Opposition. Later, five Congress MLAs were suspended for allegedly causing “injury” to Governor C Vidyasagar Rao when they tried to block his entry into the legislature complex.

“Running the government is not a child’s play. Even if you get power in your hand, you cannot suspend MLAs and (by doing this) prepare to win the next trust vote after six months. If you are trying to cheat people by doing this, remember you are digging your own grave,” the Sena said today in an editorial in its mouthpiece ‘Saamana’.

“It has been alleged that some people tried to heckle the Governor following which he got injured. It is surprising that inspite of being injured he could walk in and give a long speech. We could not see any sign of injuries on him that day. Inspite of this, five Congress MLAs were suspended on false charges,” it alleged.

Taking a jibe at its former ally, the Sena said since the Governor is a BJP leader from Telangana, only leaders from that party would be able to gauge the extent of his injury.

The editorial said that though the BJP government managed to win the trust vote in the Assembly, it lost the people’s trust.

“All newspaper headlines are showing that the BJP has won the trust vote, but lost people’s trust. They (the BJP) have lost every moral right to govern now,” it said.

“Whoever fails to follow the constitutional rules will get a severe beating from the people. By trampling upon all the rules and regulations and traditions of the state to claim stake to the government, they have earned the wrath of the people. People have watched the shameful act committed by the BJP,” the Sena added

At recently held press conference at Mumbai Press Club, Managing Trustee of Praja Foundation, Nitai Mehta released its first white paper on Status of Affordable Housing in Mumbai. The white paper contains a complete report of the status of housing as per the population of Mumbai. The report states the following statics of housing as per the population.

11.36 lakh households stay in slums in Mumbai, out of a total of 28 lakh househols

15,274 homeless households

57% households live in one room

8% households do not have one room, but share a room with others

Only 203,624 units of public housing created between 1995-2014

Average cost of 269 sq ft house (at minimum ready recokner rate) is 12 times the median annual income of Mumbaikars, whereas the norm is that it should be less than four times the annual income.

To study the problem and come up with solutions Mehta said “Paraja has brought together a team of experts led by Mr Shirish b Patel, a vastly experienced civil engineer and urban planner, one of the three authors who originally suggested the idea of Navi Mumbai.

Mr K.G Krishnamurthy Managing Director and CEO of HDFC Property fund

Mr Aditya Somani, Chairman of Everest industries and

Mr. Ashok Dattar, Chairman of Mumbai Enviromental Social Network

Along with this team of experts, Praja will be putting forward as series of booklets, papers, notes and possible solutions to the this problem. The first booklet released today discusses basic issues such as housing, , FSI (Floor Space Index ) Crowding and densities. This booklet explains these Concepts to the citizens of Mumbai a user friendly manner.

Milind Mhaske, Project Director, Praja Foundation added, The political –social industry discourse to solve the problem of housing revolves around two extremes: One provide free or hugely subsidized houses and second increase FSI thus increasing supply and rationalizing costs.

Under the free housing schemes MAHDA has provided free housing to slum dwellers to a certain extent. Unfortunately these schemes are badly flawed with high corruption. Real News of India had reported about such housing scheme where slum dwellers are kept in shifting for a period of more than 7 years without a trace of being handed over their permanent houses. The present condition that they are living is below human standards at Golibar, Bandra East.

The other solution as suggested by the experts is new settlements moving out of the main and proper areas of the city. This can be very possible and successful if the government expands the network of trains and buses to new settlement areas. The public could purchase land space at a much lesser price than compared to the high unaffordable prices in Urban Mumbai.

It is to be seen what measures the new BJP led government would take up to solve this acute problem of housing.