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Dhananjay Chatterjee's Execution

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Criminal Justice Dhananjay Chatterjee was a guard in a building where a teen-aged girl named Hetal Parekh was found dead in March 1990. He was convicted of having raped and killed her and was hanged on his 39th birthday, August 14, 2004, protesting his innocence until the end. His execution followed a shrill campaign waged by the wife of the then West Bengal chief minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya. Chatterjee’s appeals were rejected by the then president APJ Abdul Kalam on the advice of arguably India’s worst home minister, Shivraj Patil, going by historian Ramachandra Guha’s estimation . In a similar situation, his predecessor in Rashtrapati Bhavan, KR Narayanan, had applied his mind wonderfully, as emerges from an anecdote narrated by his secretary, Gopalkrishna Gandhi. Delivering the People’s Union of Civil Liberties’ 35th JP Memorial Lecture in Bangalore on March 23 in 2015 earlier this year, Gandhi described how he had received a call late at night from Chennai regarding ...
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Musical note Music and India seem to be like two words that are analogous. History stands testimony to this. Even now we pick up Tansen's instance to compare one's versatality and the prowess in music. Zoom in on Bollywood music history, names of S D Burman, Mohammad Rafi, Naushad, Majruh Sultanpuri, Kishore, Geeta Dutt, Asha and R D Burman still make India pride, whether it is in composing music or lending a lilting voice to soothe the huge audience. Fast forward to 21st century. Things haven't changed much, except that new talents are finding place on the dais. The flurry of singers flourishing across the country shows that music is a talent that is aplenty. Thanks to the talent hunt shows. Yes, they might be interested in business, but it is undeniable that youngsters from corners of India get the opportunity to stage their talent. And, also can shoot to fame in few days, with a huge fan following. Their lives too change for a few days __ from designer clothes to prying ...
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Starmark. G block, city centre. So many times I had visited the mall, but never did I walk into the book store. Unfortunate I was. Now, I understand. The red posters of Women's Day messages like "No one can make you feel inferior without your permission" (I think I am not misquoting the quotes!) were still shining bright. They made me feel better. Ma was with me that day. Transparent doors (was it Gautier?) welcomed us. What struck me first was Gulzar, not in flesh and blood but his new book on lyrics...and the song that came to my mind..."Tere bina zindagi se koi, shikwa toh nehi..."Yes, the cover page was so apt, it was Gulzar with his patent spectacles and crisp white kurta, wah kya ada hain janab:). The next moment, the book was in my hand and I flipped through the pages. The left hand pages had the hindi lyrics and the right had English. For all Gulzar fans, the book is worth a read even if you don't have the money to buy. And needless to say, a gift fo...
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