Armless cricketer gets a documentary on life
Aamir Hussain Lone of Bijbehara in south Kashmir does not have both arms, but that has not stopped him from becoming a cricketer. This 28-year-old lost his arms when he was eight. For three years, he lived a miserable life in a hospital. Many suggested to his father that he should “get rid of him”.
But the father did not relent. And now a 25-minute documentary, Mind Mightier Than Might has been made on the armless cricketer. It has reached the semi-final round of the festival of Federation of Cinema and Sports Television at Nice, France.
The festival starts on 29 May. It will compete with eight other international sports documentaries.
The film by Jalal Ud Din Baba showcases Aamir’s transformational cricketing ability, his fightback and resolve despite all odds.
“Through the narrative of Aamir and his para-cricket team friend Zahoor Ahmad, the film tells the story of human spirit with ease and curiosity. It is the only film from India which is getting the honour,” says Baba.
It’s Ganna or Jinnah in Kairana
Monday’s Lok Sabha byelection in western Uttar Pradesh’s Kairana will be the first test of the much touted opposition unity. The result will also show whether ganna (sugarcane) triumphed or Jinnah. Western UP is known for its sugarcane crop. There are numerous sugar mills in this rich rural belt. As there has been a bumper sugarcane crop this time, sugar mills are finding it difficult to make timely payments to farmers. This has agitated them. The BJP has tried to evoke the issue of Mohammed Ali Jinnah over his portrait in Aligarh Muslim University. Kairana has been in the spotlight since 2014 for alleged cases of forced migration of Hindus by Muslims. The issue had flared up when the late BJP Lok Sabha MP Hukam Singh made these allegations. The BJP has fielded his daughter Mriganka Singh.
The BJP is asking sugarcane farmers to “dump Jinnah” to regain their prestige. The Rashtriya Lok Dal and Samajwadi Party have fielded a joint candidate, Tabassum Hasan, with the Congress also backing her. The Bahujan Samaj Party has also reportedly extended its support to Tabassum.
Opposition ran down Modi’s love for Rabindra Sangeet
The controversy generated by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent comment (in his Mann Ki Baat) relating to the timing of “Rabindra Sangeet” broadcast by All India Radio’s Kolkata station looks like a case of making a mountain out of a molehill. The TMC added more fuel to the fire before Modi’s visit to Shantiniketan on Friday for the university’s convocation. This was the PM’s first visit to Visva-Bharati as the university chancellor. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also visited Shantiniketan on the occasion to inaugurate a building constructed by the Bangladesh government there. The two functions were also attended by the state Governor K.N. Tripathi and Mamata Banerjee.
Visva-Bharati presented to the PM the replica of the first edition of Tagore’s anthology of poems, Gitanjali, published in London in 1912. He was also given a replica of the original manuscript of Tagore’s famous poem Chitto Jetha Bhoy AShunno (“Where the mind is without fear…”) both in Bengali and Tagore’s own translation of the poem in English. He was also given a CD with half a dozen Tagore songs sung by Sangeet Bhavan students. The songs included Aguner Paroshmoni Choaon Prane and Anando Loke, Mongol Aloke, two songs mentioned by the PM in his Mann ki Baat in April.
Ayan Bandopadhyay of Debitola village in North 24 Parganas had written to Modi requesting him to touch upon Tagore’s philosophy of peace and brotherhood and harmony in his Mann ki Baat. But the PM’s statement that he used to listen to Tagore songs on AIR at 5.30 a.m., was converted into a controversy by the TMC and the Congress, alleging that in those days no radio station in India aired Tagore’s songs so early in the morning. But many responsible persons to whom this writer spoke to said that Modi was right about the timing he mentioned.
Talking to The Sunday Guardian, Rahul Sinha, BJP national secretary and former president of the party’s state unit, said, “Modi is the first PM to express his love for Tagore songs. He also is a great admirer of Tagore’s teachings.”
He added, “Whether Modi listened to Tagore songs at 5.30 in the morning or six or seven is immaterial. Only nit-pickers dwell upon such things.”
IAF to restore vintage spitfire
The vintage aviation restoration scene is burgeoning. There is a great demand to see and possess rare and unique aircraft, especially of the World War II era. In Britain, there are over 80 air shows a year, small locally-run events to big displays such as the Royal International Air Tattoo, which specialises in piston-engine aircraft, mainly from World War II. In India, sometime back, a vintage DC-3 Dakota transport aircraft flew after an exhaustive restoration process in Britain. The restored Dakota bears Tail No. VP 905, the same as the first Indian Dakota that transported troops of 1 Sikh to defend Srinagar from Pakistani raiders in 1947.
Now, Indian Air Force has decided to undertake a similar exercise on a World War II era Spitfire fighter. One of the most widely produced Allied planes during the war, the Supermarine Spitfire was in service with IAF from February 1944 to January 1960.
The British-made single-seat Spitfires saw action in Germany controlled Europe and many other war theatres during the war. Around 22,500 Spitfires were originally built. Around 56 are still flying.
The Spitfire’s restoration work will be carried out by an external agency.
The exhaustive process will involve complete stripping down of the plane. It will be cleaned and refurbished. The final assembly will be done in Delhi, Then an airworthiness certification will be issued by the aviation regulator.
This Spitfire, bearing Tail No NH-631, the Mark-VIII version landed in India in February 1945. After seeing service first with the British Royal Air Force and then with different Indian squadrons and the Maintenance Command, the fighter plane was scrapped in 1950.
Aviation historians say that it was recovered by Air Cmde Harjinder Singh, the first Indian “Hawai Sepoy”, and flown to Ambala.It was moved to the IAF museum in 1967 and was flown on ceremonial occasions.