Manipur News

MNS:- Renowned Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Zanussi known for producing acclaimed films like Camouflage, Family life, The Silent Touch, The Contract and Revisited will be honoured with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award at the 43rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa beginning tomorrow. The Award is conferred on an eminent international film personality for outstanding contribution to the world cinema and it carries an amount of Rs10 lakh, a scroll , a shawl and a certificate. Information and Broadcasting Minister Shri Manish Tewari will present the Lifetime Achievement Award to the 73-year-old Zanussi during the opening function of IFFI here on November 20.
Zanussi is a professor of European film at the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland where he conducts a summer workshop. He is the director of the Polish Film Studio TOR and has received several prizes and awards. Some other prominent films by Zanussi include The Structure of Crystal (1969), The Spiral (1978), Constant Factor (1980). Zanussi’s works are often described as intellectual and deeply philosophical.

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/polish-filmmaker-krzysztof-zanussi-to-get-lifetime-achievement-award-at-iffi-2012/

MNS:- The Minister of Culture Smt. Chandresh Kumari Katoch today inaugurated an exhibition entitled ‘The Last Harvest’- Paintings by Rabindranath Tagore. Secretary, Culture Smt. Sangita Gairola was the Guest of Honour on the occasion at the National Gallery of Modern Art.
Speaking on the occasion, Smt. Chandresh Kumari Katoch has said that a whole generation has passed since the poet’s death, and, perhaps, he is just beginning to be understood. Tagore embraced ‘Modern’ both in art and poetry, long before his contemporaries or the younger generation. However, what still remains to be explained is the relation between has verbal and visual expressions and his psyche and inner self. The more I see Tagore, I believe that the frequent use of pictorial imagery and visual metaphors in his poetry is also a rich source for understanding his paintings.
She said that it is indeed a moment to congratulate the curator Prof. R. Siva Kumar for his insightful contribution and meticulous effort and the National Gallery of Modern Art for the successful showing of this exhibition across the globe.
To commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, the Government of India constituted a committee to plan a number of programs nationally and internationally, including showcasing Tagore’s paintings at select museums across the world from 2011 to 2012. The Last Harvest: Paintings by Rabindranath Tagore comprises works on paper drawn from three collections in India.
The works of art are drawn from the prestigious collections of Rabindra Bhavan, Kala Bhavan, Visva Bharati Santiniketan and from the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi. The majority of the works comprise haunting heads, romantic figures, and melancholy landscapes. Then there are dancing figures as well as fantastic and bizarre forms. What is remarkable about these works painted some 75 to 80 years ago is their timeless quality. Rising beyond its immediate context, Tagore’s art continues to communicate with new generation in new ways and with new meanings.
The drawings and paintings of the poet had richly traced the extraordinary inner journey of a complex individual through the ecstatic affirmation of existence manifest as rhythm-articulate inherent in form self-referent, towards, to the convinced cognition of individuated imagery as dramatic characterization of concepts and associations, being the total fantasy of the emotional world.
The Director of NGMA, Prof. Rajeev Lochan has said that this exhibition has been mounted at nine major museums across three continents. The Last Harvest – a series of remarkable exhibitions of Rabindranath Tagore’s works were organized at the following venues during the period initiated against each.
· Asian Art Museum, Berlin (1st September- 30th October, 2011)
· Asia Society, New York (15.9.2011 to 2.01.2012)
· National Museum of Korea (19.9.2011 to 27.11.2011)
· Victoria and Albert Museum, London (13.12.2011 to 4.3.2012)
· The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago (January 28, 2012 to April 15th, 2012)
· Petit Palais, Paris, France ( 30.01.2012 to 11.03.2012)
· National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art, Rome (28.3.2012 to 27.05.2012)
· National Visual Art Gallery of Malaysia, Kuala Lampur (2.04.2012 to 15.07.2012)
· McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Ontario, Canada (24.5.2010 to 15.07.2012)
In this exhibition the works are grouped into what may be considered four important facets of his oeuvre. His earliest paintings grew out of the doodles he did in his manuscripts while attempting to turn crossed out words and discarded lines into visually exciting motifs. These have an element of playful inventiveness and involve morphological cross-projections that defy perceptual experience. If the subliminal played an important part in his first paintings, painting itself led him to pay attention to the pageant of forms in nature. The landscapes included in these selections are a token of this shift. As he progressed he also began to see the human body not merely as form but as gestures carrying within them the seeds of visual narration and theatre – ambivalent as they may remain without the benefit of names. A third group of paintings bring this into focus. And finally there are his representations of the human face; hovering between hieratic masks and individualised portraits, they turn countenance into characters.

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/katoch-inaugurates-the-last-harvest-paintings-by-rabindranath-tagore/

MNS:- The Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Shri Jitendra Singh has said that the government is working towards further strengthening and increasing the numbers of Centers of Excellence for different sports in the country. Inaugurating the Silver Jubilee celebrations of Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS) here today he said, recognition of talent at an early age and proper grooming in the areas of interest is a must for further development of sports in the country. Lauding the efforts of the NYKS, he said, Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan has been working in various fronts of youth development with a variety of youth programmes of the Department of Youth Affairs and certain special programmes in coordination and cooperation of other ministries. He said, main focus has been on developing values of good citizenship, thinking and behaving in secular ways, skill development and helping youth to adopt a productive and organized behaviour. He asked NYKS to further strengthen their work among youths in the J&K, North-East and Naxal affected areas for creating awareness for development and peace. He said, his Ministry will organise a mega youth convention in February, 2013 on the issues like national integration and communal harmony.
Shri Jitendra Singh informed the gathering that the Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development (RGNIYD), Sriperumbudur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu has been granted status of Institute of National Importance by the Government of India through an act of Parliament which has come into effect now.
Speaking on the occasion, the Secretary, Department of Youth Affairs Ms. Nita Chowdhury asked the youth to maintain discipline and work towards nation building in a resolute manner. The former Chief Election Commissioner of India Dr. S.Y.Quraishi in his speech asked youth to further strengthen democracy in the country and said, youth should participate more actively in elections in the country. Shri Oscar Fernandes, Chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resource Development has said that this is an era of youth and they should work with their full potential for the nation building. Director General, NYKS Shri Saleem Ahmed in his speech spelt out major highlights of Year Long Programme & Activities to be organized by NYKS during Silver Jubilee Year as under:
· Providing Employment linked Skill Training to more than one lakh youth under Skill Development Initiative of NYKS in collaboration with ATDC, NSDC, KVKs and other agencies
· Creation of Awareness about National Goal of Skill Development as announced by National Skill Development Mission headed by Prime Minister of India
· Involving Youth Clubs for activating Gram Sabhas to function as Social Audit Forum for effective implementation of various development programmes at grass root level
· Setting up of Libraries and Youth Information Centres in rural areas for creating awareness on developmental programmes
· Awareness and education on Prevention of Drug Abuse and Alcoholism
· 05 Regional Conventions of Youth Club Office Bearers
· Exhibition on NYKS Showcasing its achievements of 25 Years in all states

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/jitendra-singh-inaugurates-year-long-silver-jubilee-celebrations-of-nehru-yuva-kendra-sangathan/

MNS:- The stage is set for the 43rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) beginning tomorrow amidst genial surroundings of Goa to promote some of the best cinemas of India and the world. The 10-day cinematic extravaganza which promises to be a showcase of the glorious hundred years of Indian cinema will look back at the magic of Indian cinema in a never seen before avatar. With the galaxy of stars like Akshay Kumar, Irrfan Khan, Tabu, Om Puri, Jackie Shroff, Vinay Pathak, the opening ceremony promises to be one of the greatest celebrations of the centenary year of Indian Cinema. While the opening festival will see popular Bollywood star Akshay Kumar as the Chief Guest, the cultural celebrations will bring together ace Bollywood Choreographer Saroj Khan, much appreciated Bollywood singer Kailash Kher, along with a bevy of stars on a singular podium. As a part of the international presence, the cine lovers will be treated to the company of renowned Polish Director Krzysztof Zanussi who will be conferred the Lifetime Achievement Award, Kim Ki-duk, Michael Winterbottom, Susanne Bier amongst others.
Briefing the media here, Shri Shankar Mohan, Festival Director, IFFI said, at the festival one can look forward to the international premier of Ang Lee’s much anticipated 3D Film ‘Life of Pi’, and also Kim Ki-duk’s much awaited movie ‘Pieta’. Apart from showcasing cinema of varied cultures of the world, the festival will also bring together stalwarts like Nitin Desai, Resul Pookutty, Debabrata Pain, Shyam Benegal, Avy Kaufman, Adoor Gopalakrishnan and David Womark taking Master Classes which will provide the audience with an opportunity of interacting with the masters themselves and learn the nuances of filmmaking. As a first of its kind initiative, Canon will do a technical workshop to increase knowledge about the nuances of filmmaking.
In the 43rd edition of IFFI, over a hundred movies will be screened as a part of the Indian Cinema and the World Cinema segments. The Indian Section will bring to the audience movies from across the country in the Indian Panorama (Feature and Non-Feature Section) which is selected by a core jury headed by Buddhadeb Dasgupta for the Feature and M R Rajan for the Non-Feature section. The Indian Panorama will screen twenty feature films with ‘Baandhon’ director by Jahnu Barua as the Opening film, and nineteen films in the non-feature section with ‘Celluloid Man’ directed by Shivendra Singh Dungarpur as the Opening film.
Apart from the Indian Panorama, the Indian section will bring to the audience varied films in different sections like ‘100 Years of Indian Cinema-A Celebration (Feature & Non-Feature)’ showcasing choice of movies from the glorious hundred years of Indian cinema, ‘FTII: Young at 50’ which will showcase films from Film and Television Institute of India’s glorious fifty years, Retrospective of Soumitra Chatterjee, Special Tribute to Girish Kasaravalli and Muzaffar Ali, Vintage: A Tribute to Masters showcasing works of Mrinal Sen, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Shyam Benegal, D Ramanaidu and K Balachander; Homages to Yash Chopra, Dev Anand, Rajesh Khanna, Navodaya Appachan, T Damodaran, Ashok Mehta, Rajen Kothari, AK Hangal, Dara Singh, Joy Mukherjee, Dinesh Thakur and Ravi Shankar Sharma; along with a showcase of Students’ Package and a package of movies celebrating Incredible India.
Apart from the International Competition, the cine lovers at the 43rd IFFI will be treated to a varied line-up of world cinema which will be showcased in sections like ‘Cinema of the World’ which will have a showcase of fifty-one films.

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/goa-all-set-to-host-43rd-international-film-festival-of-india/

MNS:- The 2nd Interpol Global Programme on Anti Corruption and Asset Recovery was inaugurated at the CBI Headquarters, New Delhi today. The theme of the programme is “Corruption – A Multi Jurisdictional Investigation”. The programme is being attended by over 29 participants from nine countries, including Maldives, Malaysia, Fiji, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bhutan and Nepal. Senior officers of the Interpol are also participating.
Inaugurating the Conference, Special Director, CBI Shri V.K.Gupta said that corruption has taken the centre stage in many countries and has emerged as the most important issue concerning polity and public life. He said that the need of the hour is international cooperation amongst law enforcement agencies of the world. Shri Gupta said that the battle against global corruption has to be fought at many levels. The design of any government’s development programme should provide more transparency and accountability, he said, adding that systems and procedures which are opaque, complicated, centralized and discretionary are a fertile breeding ground for the evil of corruption. Special Director V. K. Gupta said countries need to engage with each at different levels to effectively block all physical escape routes for those fugitives who are blatantly indulging in corrupt practices.
In his address, Shri K.Saleem Ali, Special Director, CBI said that asset recovery and impounding of proceeds of corruption is extremely important as it is the one factor that hits hard those indulging in corrupt activities. He also said that an ‘ethical ambience’ is required in society which promotes transparency, accountability and equitable distribution of powers to combat this menace of corruption.
Additional Director, CBI Shri R.K .Dutta said new sophisticated and ingenuous ways are being adopted by those indulging in corruption, to transfer proceeds of crime to various countries through dubious channels. He said that there is a need for law enforcement agencies to equip themselves with updated knowledge, skills and techniques to fight corruption.
The five day Interpol Global programme (19-23 November, 2012) being organized by the Central Bureau of Investigation will have over 14 sessions to be addressed by Experts from Interpol, CBI, NIA, FBI, World Bank, Europol, CFSL and other Law enforcement organizations. Some of the issues which will be dealt with and discussed, include Role of international Organizations in Asset Recovery, Active Vs Passive Bribery, Intelligence collection in Anti-Corruption Cases & Asset Recovery, Detection, investigation and prosecution of corruption in exploitation of natural resources, Computer Forensics, and issues in mutual legal assistance and extradition in asset tracking and recovery.
The Central Bureau of Investigation which is also Interpol’s National Central Bureau in India, had organized the first such Interpol Global programme in February this year.

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/international-cooperation-is-essential-to-track-proceeds-of-corruption-and-asset-recovery-vk-guptacbi/