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Mirdha appointed new Sangeet Natak Akademi chief

     New Delhi: Former Union Minister Ram Niwas Mirdha has been appointed as the new Chairperson of the Sangeet Natak Akademi in place of the controversial NDA appointee and noted dancer Sonal Mansingh. Sources informed that Mirdha would take the charge later in the day. Earlier this year, the Akademi became the scene of bitter wrangling between Mansingh and those demanding her ouster because of her autocratic way of functioning. Tension at the Akademi, which is the apex body of the performing arts in the country, came to head when 60 artists made a representation in early April to President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam that Sonal Mansingh, Chairperson of the Akademi, should be dismissed from her position. The representation questioned her appointment by the National Democratic Alliance government under "circumstances that were both very dramatic and very curious". It went on to list instances of her "autocratic behaviour".

     Earlier, the government nominees to the Akademi's Executive Committee, noted Carnatic musician M. Balamurali Krishna and well-known theatre personality Kavalam Narayana Panikkar, who was its Vice-Chairman, had resigned. Many artists followed suit, by resigning from the General Council or the Executive Board. They included Hindustani vocalist Ajoy Chakraborty, Chandigarh Sangeet Natak Akademi Chairman Kamal Tiwari, his predecessor G.S. Channy, Chennai-based theatre artist B. Jayasree, Manipuri artist Savitri Heisnam and Hyderabad-based musician N. Satyanarayana. Narayana Panikkar, who resigned after the Executive Board meeting on April 23, said it was not about power but about the autocratic behaviour of the Chairperson. "I am not a person who would wish to pitch a tent in New Delhi to seek or enjoy power. I was an occasional visitor as required by my position as Vice-Chairman. I had no role in the day-to-day functioning of the Akademi. On the other hand, it was the Chairperson who was interfering on a day-to-day basis and making personal remarks about several eminent artists, including Balamurali Krishna and me. We have refrained from responding in kind. But all of us wanted to work for the institution, to contribute our mite to the glory of such a great institution. However, if someone is bent on being autocratic, on insisting that what she says alone should be implemented, then what else can we do?" he was quoted as saying then.

     Mansingh is said to have bypassed the Secretary and the General Council and that "affected the course and outcome of some of the most important events of the Akademi such as the ongoing golden jubilee celebrations," according to the representation made to the President. Instead of having year-long celebrations she decided to bring it to an immediate end, the artists alleged. The representation said: "For this prestigious function she personally edited and prepared a CD ROM of an archival 30 minute film... which began with her own speech and ended with several excerpts from her own dance recitals." Sonal Mansingh contends that the material for the CD ROM was prepared by Akademi Secretary Jayant Kastuar as she had just joined and that she had merely requested some artists to send in their photographs for inclusion. However, the artists alleged in the letter: "[Sonal Mansingh] set about with a list of names in order to hijack the structure of the new Executive Board and General Council that had to be appointed in April 2004." The letter also charged that the Chairperson proposed that the word "Natak" in the name of the Akademi, a composite term inclusive of both dance and theatre, be replaced by "Nritya", which implies only dance.

     To counter the charge Sonal Mansingh produced a letter written by the Secretary to the Vice-Chairman that states that "the proposal to change the name from Sangeet Natak Akademi to Sangeet Natya Akademi was discussed briefly only as a preliminary idea and was intended to bring in larger, more complete and comprehensive Indian concept of Natya which appropriately defines Indian Theatre tradition and practices as you have yourself referred to in the preceding para...". The artists have accused the Chairperson of having "ordered audio recording of all proceedings and meetings of the Council, Board and Committees. This mechanism is nothing but a virtual terror tactic to thwart members' right to hold free and frank discussions in confidence". In response, Sonal Mansingh said that the decision was taken at the Executive Board meeting as many members felt that discussions were omitted and ideas misrepresented in the minutes of the meeting. Apart from the allegation that she got the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Gujarat to nominate her mother for a Padma Shri in 2004, another serious accusation made by the artists is that "Smt. Mansingh's personal dance performances all over the country... justified by the fig leaf of `official' work, have multiplied and quadrupled. This is a clear case of Conflict of Interest and it is reprehensible that no less than the Chairperson of a national institution like the Sangeet Natak Akademi is thus using contacts made in the course of her honorary work to turn them into avenues of profit and promotion for herself and her personal institution."

     Sonal Mansingh dismissed the allegations. She said: "This was pre-planned and well-orchestrated. Different kinds of pressures were built up last year but direct pressure from the Ministry never came. There is no evidence of me campaigning for [Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra] Modi. If I had gone there would have been newspaper reports, pictures. But what hurts me most is the dragging of my 92-year-old mother into this. She received the award after the President saw her work in Gujarat." She insists that this controversy was raked up because of the "unfulfilled personal ambitions and gender bias". Sonal Mansingh added: "As long as I was among artists I was admired, celebrated and loved. It is also about the irregularities that had been going on. During two meetings many things were brought to [the] Board's notice and most things pointed to the Secretary [of the] SNA. Complete disregard for rules and discipline had become a norm to him. And discretionary funds were diverted for other things." However, Narayana Panikkar believes there were other ways of going about setting the wrongs right. Veteran musician N. Satyanarayana accused her of being unfair to South Indians. "We feel we are out of place. More than once I have been looked down upon and insulted by the Chairperson. Her style is not democratic. She brushes aside some members and maintains some groups of Delhi. Many South Indians are ill- treated. I had proposed names of two great persons who were from the backward class for the award but they did not get. Whoever she thinks is good gets the award. Decisions are autocratic and I feel my presence is not required. So I resigned," he said. Sadanand Menon, art critic, feels that the Akademi has been reduced to an organisation giving out annual awards and grants and has not helped art to grow. "It has to go beyond issues of personality, the machinery is not delivering, and even the bureaucracy is in a dismal situation," he had said.

Pakistan ups its defence spending by 3.3 percent (Go To Top)

     Islamabad: Pakistan has hiked its defence expenditure by as much as 3.3 percent. In the annual budget presented here, the defence sector has been allocated an outlay of 223.501 billion rupees for the fiscal 2005-06, registering an increase of 3.3 percent compared to the current figure of 216.26 billion rupees for the year ending June 30, which was revised from 193.926 billion rupees. Pakistan's Minister for Finance Omer Ayub Khan in his budget presentation said that under the present circumstances, it was necessary for Pakistan to increase its defence spending for maintaining its security. He said that despite the increase, Pakistan's defence expenditure would remain pegged at 3.1 percent of its GDP. "People of Pakistan are always ready to sacrifice their lives and resources for the defence of geographical and ideological frontiers of this sacred homeland," The News quoted Khan as saying. The budget specifies 223.223 billion rupees for military defence, 40.723 million rupees for defence production ministry, 1.4 million rupees for defence division; 0.264 million rupees for meteorology, and other funds allocated for Survey of Pakistan and for federal government education institutions in cantonments and garrisons. He said that in the present scenario, only the developed countries would have their say and there would be no respect for underdeveloped nations. Therefore for maintaining the country's sovereignty, it was necessary for Pakistan to have a respectable defence capability. "Sovereignty of only the well-off and developed nations will be protected. Therefore, we are today standing at a juncture where we must improve economic development and well being of Pakistan and its citizens. Rather, by developing rapidly in the shortest possible time, we can protect our sovereignty from external interference, domination and dictation," he added. The increase in the Pakistan's defence budget carries significance, as Islamabad is going in for a major upgrade of its defence hardware, which includes procurement of the F-16 fighter jets, C-130 aircrafts and Orion surveillance aircrafts from the US, JF -17 Thunder jets and the latest state of the art F-22P Frigates from China.

Pest attacks destroy Malihabad's mango produce (Go To Top)

     Malihabad (Uttar Pradesh): Farmers in Malihabad in Uttar Pradesh are suffering huge losses as their mango produce, which is famous world over for its flavour, have been hit by a pest attack. Malihabad is regarded as the mango belt of India, bearing the famous Malihabadi Dussehris, known for its innate sweetness and taste. The Malihabad mangoes are exported to several Saudi Arabian and European nations such as Sharjah, Dubai, Britain and the US. But this year a pest "Bhunga" has damaged 60 percent of their produce. Growers said even the insecticides did not rid the mangoes of the pest. "Last year the mango was very good but this time the produce is very less due to the pest attack. Though we had put medicine but the pest did not die and ate our produce," said Ram Singh. "We had put pesticides also at the right time but it did not have any affect. Some people sprayed the pesticides seven to eight times but still the Bhunga did not go. We feel that the medicines were duplicate. Most of our produce has been destroyed," said Mohammed Shahid Khan. India is the world's biggest producer of this tropical fruit contributing 59 percent of total production but its share in the world mango market is less than 15 percent. India's production veered around 10 million tonnes last year but this year's crop, which began hitting the markets in the second half of last month, is still expected to be higher at 12 million tonnes, an increase of about 20-25 per cent. In India, mango is cultivated in 42 per cent of the land under fruit crop while Uttar Pradesh has the largest area under mango production. It exports about 25,000 tonnes, valued at around 500 million rupees every year to nearly 40 countries around the world.

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