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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

HC orders fresh elections in three months

Dr. Rumi F. Beramji Mumbai: In a jolt, the Bombay High Court has directed the state government to hold elections to the Maharashtra Council of Acupuncture (MCA) - which is managed by an Administrator for past three years – within three months, here on Friday. A division bench of the Bombay High Court (Aurangabad Bench) comprising Justice Ajit Kadethankar and Justice Vibha Kankanwadi were disposing off a petition filed a senior medical practitioner, Dr. Laxman Bhimrao Sawant through his...

HC orders fresh elections in three months

Dr. Rumi F. Beramji Mumbai : In a jolt, the Bombay High Court has directed the state government to hold elections to the Maharashtra Council of Acupuncture (MCA) - which is managed by an Administrator for past three years – within three months, here on Friday.   A division bench of the Bombay High Court (Aurangabad Bench) comprising Justice Ajit Kadethankar and Justice Vibha Kankanwadi were disposing off a petition filed a senior medical practitioner, Dr. Laxman Bhimrao Sawant through his lawyer Sharad V. Natu, seeking different reliefs.   These included alleged serious irregularities in the functioning of the MCA and challenging the continuation of the Administrator for a prolonged period pending the elections. The matter was highlighted in detail by  ‘ The Perfect Voice’   on April 21.   Strong Observations In its order uploaded today, Justice Kadethankar and Justice Kankanwadi noted the petitioner’s contentions that the Administrator, Dr. Rumi F. Beramji was appointed for only one year, and that period is over.   “It should be the endeavour of the State to implement the various provisions of the Act, that is, the Maharashtra Acupuncture System of Therapy Act, 2015. Holding of elections and formation of the council as per Section 3 of the said Act should be adhered to by the State Government and it cannot be then postponed in infinity,” said the court.   Accordingly, Justice Kadethankar and Justice Kankanwadi directed the state government, through the Medical Education & Drugs Department (MEDD) to conduct the MCA elections within a period of three months.   Prolonged Tenure Among other things, the petitioner had termed the appointment and prolonged tenure of former MCA Chairman Dr. Rumi F. Beramji as “illegal and arbitrary,” and detrimental to the cause of Acupuncture.   Elected as the inaugural head (May 2018-May 2023) of the five-member statutory body, Dr. Beramji, was subsequently appointed its Administrator after the MCA’s term expired.   Adv. Natu pointed out that the Administrator’s appointment was intended to be a stop-gap arrangement for one year to facilitate the polls, but it was subsequently ‘extended’. However, nearly three years later, Dr. Beramji continued without fresh elections being conducted, raising questions over adherence to statutory norms and principles of governance.   Directionless Members Dr. Sawant further contended that while Dr. Beramji was installed as Administrator, the remaining members of the council were effectively superseded, leaving the regulatory body without its mandated collective structure, and over 6500-members directionless.   He argued that the excuse cited for delay in conducting elections was ostensibly an incomplete voter list, but this reason was flimsy considering the extended time lapse.   The petition, which was heard and disposed of on April 22, also levelled serious allegations against the style of functioning of the MCA Administrator, decisions were taken unilaterally, whimsically and without transparency or institutional accountability.   Selective Targeting It also made accusations of ‘selective targeting’ of certain prominent members who attempted to raise valid issues, including the globally-renowned noted acupuncture expert Dr. P. B. Lohiya of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.   Other members raised doubts over approvals granted to more than a dozen acupuncture colleges and some two dozen Continuous Acupuncture Education (CAE) centres in undue haste, purportedly in violation of prescribed norms and alleged shady deals. Many of these institutions, it was claimed, either exist only on paper or lack essential infrastructure, faculty and facilities.   The petitioner called for a comprehensive review of the Administrator’s tenure, a financial audit of the MCA's affairs, and an independent probe by the MEDD into the approvals granted to the institutions in recent years.   Dr. Sawant had sought quashing Dr. Beramji’s appointment as MCA Administrator and setting aside all policy decisions taken during his tenure in the last three years, and ordering the government to hold elections to the body.

Coldplay’s cross-generational appeal lies in innovation

Updated: Jan 21, 2025

Coldplay

Mumbai: If we saw a 50-plus Sachin Tendulkar swinging to the music, a 40-something Shreya Ghoshal was crooning and dancing to the numbers being belted out and a 20-something Suhana Khan with Navya Naveli Nanda were grooving to the same beats as Coldplay captured Mumbai city on Sunday. Groups of teenagers were in a celebratory mood, donning bands and colourful tees as they boarded the special suburban trains that were booked by the organisers to ferry fans to the venue in Navi Mumbai. The excitement was palpable and it felt like a festive wave had swept over the entire city.


Coldplay, the British band’s star appeal and pull was such that tickets were sold out almost on day one and were being resold in black, at multiple times the original price, through WhatsApp groups. A ‘balcony ticket’ gave the owners bragging rights like nothing else. A 75-year-old advertising professional from Cuffe Parade has been parading his expensive ticket for the past 45 days, much to the envy of those who didn’t bag it in time.


Coldplay’s first concert in the Music of the Spheres series saw more than 75000 fans gather at the DY Patil stadium in Navi Mumbai. Two more concerts till January 21 will wrap up their Mumbai tour before they head to Ahmedabad where there are no tickets left.


The British rock band, led by pianist and vocalist Chris Martin, was formed in 1997, a few years before most of the fans, crowding the stadium, were even born. But the Gen Z, growing up on a heavy dose of Taylor Swift and K-pop music, jostled for space with the millennials and Gen X and even older music fans when Coldplay announced their concert.


Their cross-generational appeal is fascinating. When Bryan Adams came to India last month, the crowd was largely a 35-plus audience who were there to soak in some nostalgia of listening to his rock songs on loop on their cassettes and the Walkman. Backstreet Boys, a rage in the 1990s, is a band that’s probably relegated to an inner corner of the human memory. But Coldplay, a band that is 27 years old, continues to wow people. What’s the secret for The Scientist, Yellow and a Sky Full of Stars to be on the playlist of most?


Music lover Kabir Khaitan explains that Coldplay has innovated and moved with the times. They originated at a time when rock and roll ruled the music scene but belted out pop along the way. Along with their timeless classics, they’ve dished out chart-topping hits that have a broad appeal. Not staying confined to their original fan base, Coldplay collaborated with young heart-throbs like Beyonce, Avicii and The Chainsmokers and recently, even with K-pop bands whose appeal about the Gen Z is unrivalled. So, if a 40-year-old will get nostalgic with The Scientist, the young ones will jump and swing to Yellow.

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