Mohua Das

The Times of India • 25th July 2021

No ‘Aadhaar’: Film runs into UIDAI roadblock

Filmmaker Suman Ghosh—who had to contend with the Central Board of Film Certification in 2017 before it freed the “cow” and four other words that were asked to be beeped out from his documentary on Nobel laureate Amartya Sen—has run into trouble again. This time it’s with his feature film ‘ Aadhaar ’, a Hindi comic drama. Only it’s not a tussle between Ghosh and the certifying body, but a “super censor” in the form of Unique Identification Authority of India that issues Aadhaar card.

The Times of India • 31st May 2021

On the run since 2016, child activist Licypriya Kangujam’s father arrested from Delhi

In a joint operation by the Delhi Police Special Cell and the Manipur Police Kanarjit Kangujam , also known as Dr KK Singh — a self-proclaimed youth leader who also happens to be the father of nine-year-old climate activist Licypriya Kangujam — was arrested from his current residence in Delhi’s Safdarjung in the early hours of Monday morning.

The Times of India • 3rd March 2021

Goa police book Delhi woman for sexual assault on French woman

A woman from Delhi who identifies herself as a queer rights activist has been booked for “sexual assault” and “wrongful confinement” of a French woman — who also identifies herself as queer — in Goa last week. The French woman has alleged that on February 23 she was “drugged”, “groped” and “so-called shamanic rituals” were performed on her by the accused before she went on to sexually assault her by hand.

The Times of India • 8th October 2020

How will she heal from this, asks her mother, but says she's a fighter

“There is a God,” stuttered Sandhya Chakraborty as she let out a hushed cry, overcome with emotion when she learnt her daughter Rhea had finally been allowed to walk out of Byculla jail on Wednesday evening, after almost a month in judicial custody.

The Times of India • 16th September 2020

Hunt news, not women: Activists, celebs to media

In a strongly-worded open online letter, around 60 human rights advocacy groups and more than 2,500 individuals from diverse fields have castigated “News Media of India” for allegedly conducting a misogynistic media trial of actor Rhea Chakraborty. “We write to ask you to do the right and responsible thing. Your jobs. Hunt news, not women,” the letter said.

The Times Of India • 31st May 2020

Eye in sky is police ally in fight against Covid-19

“Oh red-shirt-waley, jo cricket khel rahe ho! Ghar jao warna police aapke khilaaf karwaai shuru karegi,” a voice booms in the air above Dharavi. The boy in red looks up wide-eyed at a flying machine buzzing above his head, and scurries off. “Aur ghar jaake haath dhona mat bhul na!” the voice trails off. A synthesised boom bap beat-led voice courses through the sky a little later in the day, rapping. For over a month, Mumbai’s skies have been dotted with swarms of light and small, unmanned aerial vehicles popularly known as drones.

The Times Of India • 27th April 2020

One lakh litres of craft beer in Maharashtra to go down the drain

Chaitanya Khanapure, a computer engineer, was having a decade-long run in Mumbai’s swelling realm of tech innovation but an idea for a switchover kept gnawing at him. When he quit everything to study and brew beer for a living two years ago, it was about concocting his own unique flavours of ale and the sweet spot that locally brewed craft beer had hit in 2018 — a far cry from 2009, when he was a student and tasted the first kick of hops, malt and wheat at Doolally, India’s first microbrewery in Pune.

The Times Of India • 22nd September 2019

Conservationists divided on Maharashtra plan to lease out forts

Apart from the ravages of time, weather and apathy, a critical challenge that the architectural legacy in the country is often faced with is resistance to change, even if that involves actual efforts to restore the remains of its past.That is what happened when Maharashtra decided to lease out 25 forts identified as Class-II category of lesser historical significance to private players for conversion into heritage hotels.

The Times Of India • 9th June 2019

Neighbouring towers dump 18 truckloads of trash in Raj Bhavan

There is never a shortage of ways in which Indians toss out their trash anytime, anywhere. In a curious case of rampant trash disposal, a tranquil patch of the 47-acre Raj Bhavan complex on the southern tip of the Malabar Point—despite being sheltered by a cliff and enshrined by the sea—has become the target of an aerial barrage of trash, allegedly dropping out of posh highrises that fringe the bhavan’s Lower Gates and landing with a splat on the western side of the compound.

The Times Of India • 26th May 2019

In diversity push, Academy to open 3rd office in Mumbai after London & NYC

In January 2016, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had responded to the #OscarsSoWhite outrage by announcing a diversity committee and a fixed goal: To widen its membership and double the number of women and people of colour by 2020. Now, almost three and a half years later, India finds itself in the middle of the revolution with the Oscar granting body trying to broaden its reach in a country that is home to the world’s largest film industry.

The Times Of India • 27th April 2019

Queer rights enter election script, but not all parties on same page

No matter who wins the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the one who takes the hot seat in Delhi will have a number of promises to keep to the country’s LGBT voters given the “commitment” that each political party has pledged towards the rights and beliefs of sexual and gender minorities in their manifesto.

The Times Of India • 9th April 2019

Why artists have joined hands against 'politics of hate'

With a manifesto promising to build a ‘new and inclusive India’, the present government may be trying to mend fences with its detractors in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, but in cultural and literary circles, things look like a tough sell.

The Times Of India • 2nd December 2018

Kin get five years in prison for forcing girl into sexual 'rites'

One year ago, a 17-year-old girl from Mumbra had looked her father and grandmother in the eye as well as a shaman from Dombivli and his agent, before calling them out and narrating to the court the horror of being forced as a 15 year old to perform sexual 'rituals' by all four who were convinced that if she could satisfy a Jinn or spirit with perverse acts, the family would receive a shower of gold coins and hidden treasures.

The Times Of India • 31st August 2018

Embarrassed Worli cops forced to file FIR in shelter home case

Following TOI’s report on a 13-year-old boy being whipped by the caretaker of Anand Kendra, a private shelter home for boys on Annie Besant Road, Worli police invited the boy, Riyaz (name changed), and his brother Sameer to the police station on Thursday, took down their statements and converted an NC based on their complaint into an FIR.

The Times Of India • 30th August 2018

Boy thrashed at Worli shelter, staff used to steal food, gifts

While the scale of horrors at shelter homes in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and a nationwide survey of over 2,000 such places are gradually lifting the lid on atrocities within care institutions, the brutal beating of a 13-year-old boy at a private shelter home in Worli last week reflects how the rot runs deep in the heart of Mumbai.Last Friday, Riyaz (name changed) was whipped by the caretaker of Anand Kendra, a home for orphaned and destitute boys, for being “too naughty”.

The Times Of India • 29th July 2018

‘Pricey popcorn at the movies ensures ticket prices don’t pop’

“Why does popcorn cost so much at the movies?” The answer to this big looming question that has baffled cinema lovers for years and sparked many tempers (and even threats and lawsuits in more recent times) – it turns out is one that is fascinatingly economics-driven and suggests that there is method to the multiplex madness, after all.Multiplexes say they rely on concession stands to make their businesses sustainable. It keeps ticket prices lower, which opens up the plush plex experience to more price-sensitive people while the premium on frills translates into better profit from those willing to fork out extra for corn and cola.

The Times Of India • 19th July 2018

WhatsApp’s new forwarding alert fails to identify fake stories

In an attempt to crack down on false stories secretly roving people’s handheld devices like chain mail spam from yesteryears of the internet, WhatsApp has come up with an alert that reads “forwarded” complemented by a curved arrow to indicate that the message which just popped up on your screen was a copy-paste post, and might not be entirely trustworthy.

The Times Of India • 10th July 2018

Activists hopeful after SC calls female genital mutilation unacceptable

The Supreme Court 's stance on Monday rejecting an impleadment by the Dawoodi Bohra Women's Association For Religious Freedom (DBWRF) in support of female genital mutilation , also known as female circumcision, by stating that bodily integrity of a woman cannot be infringed without her consent has brought some relief to women from the Bohra Muslim community who have been rallying against the centuries-old practice over the past three years.

The Times Of India • 9th July 2018

Gender activist files plea in SC against Section 377, cites religious relics & texts

Gender rights activist Harrish Iyer filed an impleadment application on IPC section 377 in the Supreme Court on Saturday citing Hindu and Jain temple relics and religious texts to legends and myths to establish the liberal stance of ancient and medieval Indian society towards non-procreative sexual practices even among same sex partners.

The Times Of India • 18th January 2018

11-year-old takes in sights and sounds of Mumbai

It was yet another day in the backstreets of the Colaba bazaar for 11-year-old Moshe who spent many more hours at the Chabad House on Wednesday saying his morning prayers, chatting with guests including Rabbi Eliezer Ashkenazi from the Chabad in Thailand and returning to the House again for his evening meal, notwithstanding the ghastly terror strike that had killed his parents, nine years ago.