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EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE AHEMDABAD, JANUARY 23 THE INDIAN Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM- A) will host a socio-cultural event, Chaos, from January 25 to 28. With speakers like S S Rajamouli, director of Baahubali and Balaji Vishwanathan, the CEO of Invento Robotics, the event in its 31st edition is fo- cussing on social issues apart from being a cultural event. The event, themed ‘Colors of Life’, has been planned on a larger scale this year with more than 50 events showcasing mu- sic, literature, quizzing, art, dance and drama. Shubham Varshney from the marketing cell of Chaos said, “As part of its social initiatives, the event has collaborated with the Blind People’s Association to plan a ‘Dinner in the dark’ event where people will have a chance to dine and interact with visually challenged persons in complete darkness. Similarly, Abhiyaan-a crowd funding competition in association with CRY (Child Rights and You) will be organ- ised where crowd funded money will be donated to CRY.” Many other NGOs are also going participate in the event. The fest will also host a three- day quiz competition - Nihilanth, the annual inter IIT-IIM Quiz championship. The 15th edition of this competition will feature over seven quizzes for the insti- tutes on topics ranging from sports, sci-tech, business and oth- ers. The quiz is expected to see the participation from over 39 contingents of 19 IITs and 20 IIMs. For people with an entrepre- neurial outlook, Chaos is hosting Swarnim: Entrepreneur of the Year, in association with Swarnim Start-up and Innovation University (SSIU), Gandhinagar. The fest will host students from over 500 national institutes over the four-day period which would include participants for events including hip-notize, a western dance competition, natya katha, a stage play compe- tition, crescendo, a solo singing competition and a parliamen- tary debate. NGOS TO TAKE PART IIM-A’s cultural event takes a new leap — to address social issues EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE AHMEDABAD, VADODARA, JANUARY 23 AMID GROWING violent protests by members of the Rajput community against Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s magnum opus Padmaavat , scheduled to be released on Thursday, political leaders cutting across party lines supported the demand to ban the film. The latest to join the chorus demanding a ban on the film are Patidar quota leader Hardik Patel, and OBC leader and newly elected Congress MLA Alpesh Thakor. In an open letter to Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Hardik held the BJP government “responsible” for the “conse- quences” of the film releasing in Gujarat. Citing “honour of Rajput community”, which he said has “sacrificed” much for India’s unity, Hardik wrote: “We respect the Supreme Court of India but the Kshatriya community (Rajputs) offered their royal states at the feet of Ma Bharati (Mother India) with closed eyes in order to ensure the unity and strength of this country. Therefore, it is the duty of one and all to ensure that the honour of this Rajput community is not lowered (due to a film). If Padmaavat is released in Gujarat, the responsibility of the conse- quences and law and order will rest upon the government.” The film should not be re- leased in Gujarat under any cir- cumstances,he added. “The entire country, as well as Gujarat, is witnessing an aggres- sive opposition from the Rajput community towards Padmaavat which hurts the sentiments of the Hindu society. The filmmakers have distorted the history. It is our responsibility to safeguard the pride of our history as Maharani Padmavati had resorted to jauhar to save the honour of her state and women. I urge you to ensure a ban on the film in Gujarat, con- sidering the law and order issues as well as the sentiments of the community.” BJP state president Jitu Vaghani also voiced his opinion in favour of cinema owners de- ciding to not screening Padmaavat. “The stand of the Gujarat government has been clear from day one. Chief Minister Vijay Rupani had imposed a ban on the film. The cinema owners are supporting the government and are aligning with the feelings of the people. When most of the- atres are not going to show Padmaavat film, I want to request that the peace and harmony in the state is maintained,” Vaghani said, adding that the state admin- istration will be talking to cinema owners and convince them not to screen the film. Congress MLA Alpesh Thakor also said that “an attempt is be- ing made to tarnish the glorious history of the Kshatriya samaj through the film”. “We are fully against it (release of Padmaavat). Chief Minister had banned the release of Padmaavat, then why is the state police offering pro- tection to theatres wanting to showcase it. The coordination between the state government and the police administration raises a big question. When the chief minister has said that Padmaavat will not release, then there is no question of offering police protection,” he said. KAMAAL SAIYED SURAT, JANUARY 23 MUMBAI-BASED ORGANISA- TION, Associate Muslim Professionals (AMP), is set to hold its first job fair in Surat on January 27, and has invited youths from every religion and caste to participate in the fair. AMP, a group of 20 profes- sionals, has been working in the fields of educational training, jobs and career guidance in Maharashtra and other states for the past few years. Now, the Surat chapter of the organisation has collaborated with the Surat Islam Yatimkhana Society, Progressive Muslim Education Trust and National Career Services, and invited over 40 corporate companies to par- ticipate in the job fair. The eligibility criteria for em- ployment at the job fair is 10th standard and above. Firms from different sectors like insurance, finance, retail, FMCG, BPO etc have been invited. Attempts are being made to create awareness among the un- employed youth in the city re- garding the fair. Aamir Edressy, the president of AMP, said, “We are putting our level best to make this program a grand success. This is our 21st job fair in India. Till now over 21,000 unemployed youths got jobs through our fairs”. “Our teams maintain regular contact with the corporate firms and collect data on their vacan- cies, after which we organise job fairs. We will assess the response in Surat and conduct similar fairs again in Gujarat,” added Edressy. AMP Surat chapter member Kasim Bham said, “This job fair is not only for Muslims, any youth irrespective of religion or caste, can approach and participate in the fair.” “The youths should bring their photo identity with neces- sary certificates and fill the forms on January 27 and on the same day they would be inter- viewed by the representatives of different corporate companies. The jobs will be given in Surat and not outside the district,” said Bham. Earlier this month, the AMP had carried out a similar job fair in Mumbai, where over 1,800 candi- dates participated and about 310 got jobs on the same day. Surat Muslim outfits to hold job fair, 40 companies invited Demonstrators shout slogans outside a multiplex during a protest against the release of Padmaavat in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. Reuters Surat: In order to understand the issues of textile, zari and dia- mond industries regarding the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the Gujarat VAT Commissioner P D Vaghela, who is also a member of the GST Council, visited textile factories, trading shops and dia- mond factories in Surat on Tuesday and assured them that their suggestions will be con- veyed to the GST council. Vaghela also visited Surat Diamond Association. Incidentally, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani visited Surat last week to inaugurate “Udyog 2018”, an event organised by the Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SGCCI). M P Shah, president of SGCCI, had requested the CM to send gov- ernment officials to Surat to un- derstand the issues faced by tex- tile industry related to the GST and also to make representations to the GST Council about the is- sues and sort out their problems. The Federation of Surat Textile Traders Association (FOSTTA) also made representations to the VAT Commissioner on the problems faced by traders with regard to GST. FOSTTA president Manoj Agrawal said, “Due to the GST and now e-way bill, the business has gone down up to 40 per cent. We have got positive response from the VAT commissioner who has assured that the issues will be put forward to GST Council for possi- ble solutions.” ENS VAT chief meets Surat traders over GST issue GUJARAT 5 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM THE INDIAN EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2018 Most theatre owners against screening: Dy CM Gandhinagar: Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel on Tuesday said that most the- atre owners in Gujarat have voluntarily decided to not screen ‘Padmaavat’. “Most theatres have declined to screen the film, despite the green signal from the Supreme Court. They have taken the decision volun- tarily. The government is trying its best to maintain law and order in the state,” Patel told reporters. PTI PATIDAR LEADER WRITES AN OPEN LETTER TO CM Hardik, Alpesh join chorus against screening of Padmaavat in state
