Satyajit Ray's son unhappy over Cannes

     Kolkata: An Indian director's classic is to be screened at the Cannes film festival. But his son says he has not been invited. After 49 years "Pather Panchali," by Satyajit Ray makes a return in the classic section of the Cannes film festival. Though there is celebration among the film fraternity, Ray's son, a known Bengali film director is disappointed. "Pather Panchali" will be the only Indian movie at Cannes 2005 for which Indian censor board chief Sharmila Tagore is expected to represent India. "I am not still have not got any information. So I am not going. I think Sharmila Tagore is going. I do not know. It's unfortunate but I do not know. I was expecting an invitation and I wanted very much that at least Appu (the actor who played the character Appu) should go," Sandip Ray, the director's son, said in Kolkata.

     Organizers of the Festival de Cannes on Thursday unveiled the complete lineup of the Cannes Classics section dedicated to historic films from around the world. Now in its second year, the selection pays tribute to Mexican cinema with screenings of a restored copy of the 1950 picture "Los Olvidados" and a mini-retrospective of the work of Emilio Fernandez, three of whose movies will unspool. Also on the menu are two films restored by the Academy Film Archive under the aegis of the Film Foundation, the movie preservation organization founded in 1990 by Martin Scorsese and seven other leading American directors. Unspooling at Cannes will be Jean Renoir's 1951 "The River" and Satyajit Ray's 1955 work "Pather Panchali." Sandip said the screening of "Pather Panchali indicated its timelessness. "I think it's a milestone, it's a classic. The film is not dated and still looks fresh and new. The human relationship is universal and the film is very hard hitting with lot of impact," he said. Pather Panchali, Ray's directorial debut that tells the story of Appu and Durga was released in 1955 for which he received the Cannes award. Pather Panchali starts slowly, but builds inexorably towards a powerful climax as we come to know, and empathize with, the characters.

Left pulls up Manmohan's UPA for lacklustre performance (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: The Left parties have expressed strong reservations about the performance of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, saying that it was lacklustre on many counts, particularly economic issues. Ahead of the completion of the Congress-led government's one year in office on 22nd May, the Left said that the UPA regime has failed to enthuse confidence among the common people and continued to follow the ''discredited'' economic policies of the previous NDA regime. In an interview to a news agency, CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan, CPI(M) Politburo member M K Pandhe and other Left leaders, however, lauded the government's performance in foreign affairs and the education system where ''distortions incorporated by the previous regime were corrected.'' While the top leadership of the CPI begins its one-day deliberations from Friday, the newly-elected CPI(M) Politburo will meet on May 14 and 15 and the Forward bloc Central secretariat on May 20 to formally finalise the nationwide action plan to pressurise the UPA government to fulfill the ''promises and commitments'' made in the National Common Minimum Programme. Bardhan said that the UPA government's performance in its first year in office left much to be desired as several of its economic ministries strayed from target. Pandhe said that the government failed to bring in a legislation on the unorganised sector and introduced a ''lame bill'' on the Employment Guarantee Scheme, a pilot project in 150 select districts in the country. The Left leaders said that the government had failed totally in improving the Public Distribution System (PDS) and introducing the Women Reservation Bill, and continued with the policy of 'hire and fire', reducing the number of Government employees by giving VRS to them and disinvesting profit making PSUs. Pandhe said ''almost on every front, the performance of the government has been tardy''. ''It appears that mandarins and the bureaucrats in several economic ministries have not grasped the true meaning of the Verdict of 2004. The Finance Minister is going ahead with international finance capital dictates - policy of liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation,'' Bardhan said.

Mayawati likely to withdraw outside support from UPA (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati was on Thursday authorised by her party to take a decision on whether to continue outside support to the ruling UPA after a deadlock emerged in the Lok Sabha over the CBI probe launched against her in connection with the controversial Taj Heritage Corridor case. Amid uproarious scenes in Parliament, most of it stage managed by BSP parliamentarians, Speaker Somnath Chatterjee had to adjourned the House for 10 minutes when the former refused to move away from the Well of the House while demanding that the CBI probe against Mayawati be withdrawn immediately. Earlier, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Parliamentary Party met at Mayawati's New Delhi residence and supported former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister's decision to write to President A P J Abdul Kalam on the issue. After the meeting attended by all party MPs, Mayawati said that the MPs condemned the double standards being adopted against her by the CBI during the rule of UPA Government. "It was unanimously decided to expose the double standards of the CBI in both houses of Parliament and outside in front of the people," she added. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had on Tuesday questioned Mayawati in connection with the Rs 175 crore Taj Heritage Corridor scam about which it had registered a disproportionate assets case against her two years ago. Mayawati said the MPs authorised her to "take any appropriate decision on support to the UPA Government." BSP, which has 19 MPs in the Lok Sabha and six in the Rajya Sabha, extended unconditional outside support to the Government after the elections last year. However, Mayawati had said in Lucknow yesterday that the party might reconsider its support if Congress failed to take notice of the "treatment being meted out" to her. Mayawati had also accused CBI of becoming a 'manuwadi' agency and said it was adopting "double standards" in her case as she happened to be a Dalit. "While only one FIR was lodged against others framed in the Taj heritage corridor case, an additional case of disproportionate assets was slapped against me without much ground," she said. Asked whether any decision on withdrawing support to the Government could be expected soon, she told reporters "our future course of action will be conveyed to you." The CBI had carried out raids in 2003 in premises of Mayawati in Lucknow, Khurja, Bulandshahar (all in UP) and Delhi after filing an FIR under Prevention of Corruption Act.

Security scare in Washington (Go To Top)

     Washington: The White House and the Capitol were briefly evacuated on Wednesday when a light aircraft entered the no-fly zone over Washington DC. ''Run. Get out. Keep running,'' That was the urgent order shouted by guards at the White House, Capitol and other official buildings in Washington as a small plane in restricted airspace set off terror alerts. When the scare began just before noon local time on Wednesday (9.30 p.m. Indian Standard Time), the U.S. Senate was voting on a highway bill amendment, the House of Representatives was taking a procedural vote on anti-gang legislation. President George W. Bush was away from the White House, biking at a wildlife preserve outside Washington. Vice President Dick Cheney was swiftly moved from the West Wing to a ''secure location,'' an administration official said. Some people in the White House rushed out but others were directed to a basement until the Secret Service gave the all clear. The Supreme Court, across from the Capitol, was evacuated. Other official buildings were put on alert and staff were told to ''shelter in place'' or move away from windows and glass. Congressional leaders, in one of their rare moments of bipartisan solidarity, praised the police in appreciative speeches when the scare was over. It took nearly an hour for everyone to get back in.

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