Court’s nod needed for ‘S Durga’ screening at IFFK
: Controversial Malayalam film “S Durga” will be screened at the forthcoming International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) only if it gets due clearance, state minister for culture and cinema AK Balan said Wednesday. “S Durga” was not screened at the IFFI in Goa despite the movie’s director Sanal Kumar Sasidharan’s best efforts. Sasidharan had moved the Kerala HC but title-related issues raised by the CBFC on the gala’s last day sealed the movie’s fate. The mayor of Kerala’s port city since 2015, Jain has come to acquire a reputation of being modest but firm. In April, she put Malayalam film director Jude Antony Joseph in his place after he publicly abused her for denying him permission to shoot for a film in a park. Jain lodged a complaint and Joseph was arrested.
A post-graduate in economics, Jain said women need to be treated better. “Our society is still male-dominated and many find it difficult to recognise the feat of women. We need drastic measures to change this old mindset,” Jain, who is also a singer and painter, argued. Her achievements have been many and include taking the plunge into politics a decade ago and becoming a councilor for the first time in 2010. “I love to take up challenges,” Jain said. Born in a Hindu Nair family, she married a Christian businessman. Both keep their respective faiths. Her ambition is to transform Kochi into the “Queen of the Arabian Sea”.
MEENAKSHEE BEHERA,
The mayor of India’s cleanest city since 2015, Gaud never tires of quoting what Rashtriya Swayamsevak
Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat told her recently: “A good homemaker is uniquely placed to be a capable administrator”. A ‘bhabhi’ to most city residents, she claims herself to be extremely approachable and sensitive to the municipal issues.
Gaud had joined politics following her husband and state education minister Laxman Singh Gaud’s death in a road accident in 2008. She first became an MLA and then successfully contested the mayoral elections.
However, Abhay Chhajlani, the former editor of Hindi newspaper, Nai Dunia, said her biggest contribution was that she did not interfere in the work of corporation officials. “Of course, she has close coordination with As the first woman mayor of Bihar’s capital Patna, Sahu, who defetaed her rival by only three votes, wants to make a difference. “I am working to make Patna cleaner and greener. We are working in coordination with the state forest department to plant more saplings. I have plans to improve the sewerage system to keep the Ganga riverfront and its waters clean. We are about to kick-start a door-to-door garbage collection system, which should be rolled out by February next year,” she said.
A widow, Sahu is also trying to live up to her late husband’s expectations. “He always wanted to do something for the society, so I willed myself into contest the (mayoral) elections and do something worthwhile with my life,” she explained. She is confident that she will be able to live up to her job. “It is a bit difficult for a woman to run for and hold on to such posts because the society never gets tired of trying to control her,” she said. Sahu, however, believes that it is up to the individuals to write their own destiny. Elected the mayor for a second time, Gupta presides over a corporation spread over 80 wards and having a staff strength of 4,500. Her major challenge is the body’s financial ill-health: against a salary and expenditure bill of Rs 14 crores, the corporation’s monthly revenue is only Rs 4 crores.
The wife of Uttar Pradesh minister Nand Gopal Gupta, the mayor insisted she was known for putting her foot down when required. “Time came when I had to stand against senior civic officials because I felt the people of my city were being harassed by them,” she said. Her re-election this month, she said, was proof of her positive contribution. Many, though, believe she is a political opportunist. In 2012, she became the mayor on a Samajwadi Party ticket, defeating a BJP candidate. This time, she won on a BJP ticket, defeating SP.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM
ASHA LAKRA,
Lakra, the mayor of Jharkhand’s state capital since 2014, has major challenges and one them is the sprawling city’s clogged traffic. Residents say traffic still crawls but Lakra insisted things are getting better. At least, the officials who run the corporation are taking her more seriously. “Initially, I was demoralised whenever I tried to give my opinion on any project. But I continued to raise my voice,” she pointed out.
A tribal, Lakra is pursuing her PhD on the dynamics of growth in the population of scheduled tribes. She claimed her achievements include building modular toilets to improve sanitation and LED streetlights. Work on a four-phased drainage and sewerage plan has also begun and efforts are underway to conserve the city’s water bodies. The improvements, if any, have only been marginal. But as Rakesh Kapoor, a resident of Purulia Road, put it, Lakra is more caring as mayor because she is a woman.