For the second edition of the Mumbai Film and Comics Convention (MFCC), organisers Comic Con India decided to give the much-loved event a filmy twist. Filmmakers, graphic novelists, illustrators and over 20,000 comic lovers thronged to the World Trade Centre in Cuffe Parade for the two-day festival.
On the first day, author and artist Abid Surti launched the latest issue of his Indian Comic Journal. Draupadi, the latest in the mythological series by Campfire, was also launched, alongside 10 other books from the silver jubilee special edition of Nagraj and Dhruva by Raj Comics. “We wanted to do something special for this year’s Comic Con. It is the perfect platform for us to meet comic lovers,” said Manish Gupta, Raj Comics.
Apart from comics, films were an integral part of this year’s Comic Con. Veteran director Kundan Shah spoke about his hit comedy Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron on its 30th anniversary. Actors Shazahn Padamsee, Jiah Khan, Rajat Barmecha and Ayushmann Khurrana also made their presence felt.
Several graphic novelists also launched their books at the event. “Comics are no longer just illustrated versions of Hindu mythology. There are newer characters, interesting stories and great illustrations. They are no longer meant only for children,” said Abhijeet Kini, who launched his self-published comic Angry Maushi at the MFCC.
Marvel and DC Comics, among others, had set up their own stalls. “Everybody had a wonderful time. The merchandise as well as the interactive sessions were a great hit,” said Jatin Varma, founder, Comic Con India.

Rajesh Shah, 41, a resident of Dadar (East), was frantically trying to hail a taxi for more than half an hour near the Dadar flyover. He had to take his mother to a doctor in Mahim. Standing with his old and ailing mother, he stopped more than eight taxis but they refused.
Some sped past while others gave excuses that they were going in the other direction. The traffic constable at the junction was of no help. The only advice he gave Shah was to get in a cab even if the driver refuses.
Finally, a taxi driver obliged. Shah was not only late for the appointment, but had to struggle the same way on his way back. “I tried dialling for cabs, but they were not helpful,” said a frustrated Shah.
Shah represents the average Mumbaikar, who does not have a redress mechanism. There are helplines and e-mail IDs to file a complaint but no solution to the problem.

Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan heads the transport department but seems to have failed miserably in solving the persistent problem. “The transport department has been listening to the grievances of auto and taxi unions and giving them fare hikes. But, it has not come up with a foolproof mechanism to help citizens,” says Ajay Deshmukh, a commuter.
On October 5, the state government permitted hikes in autorickshaw and taxi fares — the third time in a year — to preempt a strike threatened by 55,000 taximen in the city. “The explanation for fare hike does not hold water because all cabs and autos in Mumbai run on CNG, whose price has been more or less steady,” says Vandana Shirsat, a government employee, whose daily ride to the station in share-a-cab has become costlier.
The government said the hike has been fixed in accordance with a state government-approved formula.
Weak citizen representation?
A senior transport department official says the chief minister should be serious about complaints and fill up vacancies in the department.
“The government has been prompt in solving the grievances of automen and cabbies but why is it ignoring the commuters’ grievances? Every time the issue comes up, officials cite the same reason that the Regional Transport Office (RTO) and the enforcement department are understaffed,” he said.
He cited the lack of a strong commuters’ representative. “The same old consumer organisations have been representing the citizens. There is a need for more aggression and perspective,” says the senior transport department official.

There are many like Shah who feel helpless and frustrated as there is no immediate redress mechanism. “You are expected to face the inconvenience, go home and then mail or e-mail your complaint. You end up documenting the complaint, without hoping for a solution,” Shah says.
Citizens cannot expect the traffic police to help them as they too are facing staff shortage.
There are only 2,696 policemen — including 153 officers — to man 20 lakh vehicles in Mumbai. This alarming statistics has been ignored and could be the major reason for lawlessness and rising number of accidents.
“No wonder, complaints against cab and auto refusing fare get less priority as there are not enough people to manage the traffic,” says Deshmukh. Sources said the proposal to increase the strength of the traffic police is with the home department, which is yet to act on it.
More issues
Not only staff crunch, but a lack of basic infrastructure has hit the Regional Transport Offices’ (RTOs) work.
The RTO has three offices in Mumbai — for south and central Mumbai, for eastern and north eastern suburbs and the third for the western suburbs. The offices are either in a rented place, open barrack (Andheri RTO) or an old British horse stable (the Tardeo RTO). The three RTOs that register thousands of vehicles every year, issue licences, monitor the city’s transport system and get revenue of hundreds of crores are housed in dilapidated structures.
When the department’s computerisation began a few years ago, the National Informatics Centre, the government’s IT wing, deemed the Tardeo structure unfit.
The Mumbai Central office, that registers MH01 vehicles, is housed in a long row of sheds. The Andheri office, which registers MH02 numbers in the western and north western suburbs, operates from a dilapidated structure. A driving test track and a posh building promised a few years ago are stuck in a scam.
The Wadala office, that looks after the eastern and north eastern suburbs and registers numbers MH03, has similar problems.
‘’All three offices are in a shambles. They have become a dumping ground for scrapped vehicles and gadgets,’’ says an RTO inspector on condition of anonymity.
The 2012 statistics reveal that Mumbai has around 20 lakh vehicles registered from the ‘three dump yards of scrap’.
Mumbai’s fourth RTO, MH-47, is only on paper despite being formally announced and declared in the official state statistics. The Borivli RTO office has been unable to start operations due to staff crunch and space.

Consumer activist and member of Citizen Transport Committee Jitendra Gupta says they should move the court over the problems and forward them to the Centre, although it seldom responds. “Citizens can start registering their complaints with the consumer grievance cell and the Union transport ministry,” says Gupta.
Activist Nitin Joshi too suggests taking the grievances to the Centre. “The Centre will at least know that there is something wrong with the Maharashtra transport department. Courts are another option. But it is high time citizens took up their own battle,” says Joshi.
Until the government comes up with a solution, commuters like Shah will keep suffering. “It is a sad situation. Even after the fare hike, cabbies and automen cheat commuters and the officials cannot tackle it. We will have to fight it ourselves,” said Shah.

Several leaders of the Congress party have termed the accusations being made by Arvind Kejriwal-led India Against Corruption (IAC) against Robert Vadra as cheap publicity. Rashid Alvi on Tuesday even questioned the veracity of the documents put out by Kejriwal and company. But a detailed look at the balance sheets of the companies owned by Vadra and statements made by DLF throw up several questions. Vadra is the son-in-law of Sonia Gandhi, the president of the Congress party, and chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance which governs this country. DLF is India’s largest listed real estate company.
How does DLF justify giving Vadra an advance of Rs 50 crore?
Robert Vadra owns 99.8% of Sky Light Hospitality Private Ltd. The balance sheet of the company as on March 31, 2009, shows an entry of a plot of land in Manesar, Haryana, valued at Rs15.38 crore. This means that somewhere during the period April 1, 2008, to March 31, 2009, the company must have bought this piece of land for Rs 15.38 crore. This can be concluded because the balance sheet for March 31, 2008, does not show this entry.
Vadra’s Sky Light Hospitality got an advance of Rs50 crore against this land from DLF. The company says this in a statement released on October 6. “Skylight Hospitality Pvt Ltd approached us in FY 2008-09 (i.e. the period between April 1, 2008 and March 31, 2009) to sell a piece of land measuring approximately 3.5 acres...DLF agreed to buy the said plot, given its licensing status and its attractiveness as a business proposition for a total consideration of Rs58 crores. As per normal commercial practice, the possession of the said plot was taken over by DLF in FY 2008-09 itself and a total sum of Rs50 crores given as advance in installments against the purchase consideration.”
This statement tells us that Vadra’s Sky Light Hospitality approached DLF to sell a piece of land of 3.5acres sometime during the period April 1, 2008 and March 31,2009. DLF agreed to buy this land and valued it at Rs 58 crore. Against this valuation it gave Sky Light Hospitality an advance of Rs 50 crore.
What is interesting is that Sky Light bought a piece of land for Rs15.38 crore anytime between April 1, 2008 and March 31, 2009. They approached DLF to buy it during the same period. And DLF agreed to buy it for Rs 58 crore. So in a period of less than one year the value of the land went up by Rs 42.62 crore (Rs 58 crore – Rs 15.38 crore) or 277%. This doesn’t really sound right given that it was precisely at that point of time the international financial crisis was starting and both real estate as well as stock markets were weak.
Did DLF really complete take over the land plot in the financial year 2008-2009 (the period between April 1, 2008 and March 31, 2009)?
DLF’s statement says very clearly that it took over the possession of the land in 2008-2009 from Sky Light Hospitality. If that was the case why does this land show up as a fixed asset in the balance sheet of Vadra’s Sky Light Hospitality as on March 31, 2011? Even the advance of Rs50 crore given by DLF shows up as a current liability on the balance sheet of Sky Light Hospitality. How could the land be with both Vadra and DLF at the same time? This is something that DLF needs to throw light on.
Was DLF’s advance to Vadra’s Sky Light Hospitality really an interest free loan?
DLF’s statement says very clearly that the company started giving the advance amounting to a total of Rs 50 crore to Vadra starting in the year 2008-2009. This advance was still on the books of Sky Light Hospitality as on March 31, 2011, listed as a current liability. A current liability is a debt or an obligation which is to be repaid within a period of less than one year. Interestingly there is another entry of an advance of Rs 10 crore from DLF which is there on the balance sheets of Sky Light Hospitality dated March 31, 2010 and March 21, 2009. This is again an advance which was given for a period of greater than one year.
DLF in its statement also claimed not to have given any loans to Vadra. Real Earth Estates Private Ltd, another company owned by Vadra shows an entry of Rs 5 crore as a loan from DLF as on March 31, 2010. The IAC media release points out that the company in a filing with Registrar of Companies had specified that this was an unsecured loan. An unsecured loan is a loan in which the lender does not take any collateral against the loan and relies on the borrower’s promise to return the loan.
There are two conclusions that one can draw here. One is that what DLF thinks is an advance looks more like an interest free loan to Vadra. And two, its claim of not having given any loans to Vadra don’t hold good.
What did Vadra do with these so called advances and real loans?
Sky Light Hospitality had a Rs 25 crore advance from DLF on its books as on March 31, 2009. A small portion of this was used to pick up a stake of 50% in a hotel joint venture with DLF. This company called Saket Courtyard Hospitality runs one hotel in Saket, New Delhi, which is reported to be on the block.
Sky Light Hospitality shows an advance received of Rs 50 crore from DLF as on March 31, 2010. During the course of the year April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2010, the company paid a total tax deducted source of Rs 4.95 lakh on the interest earned on its fixed deposits. TDS is cut at the rate of 10.3% when the interest earned on fixed deposits with a bank during the course of one year crosses Rs 10,000. What this tells us is that Sky Light Hospitality earned Rs 48.3 lakh (Rs 4.95 lakh/10.3%) as total interest. This interest obviously was earned out of investing a part of Rs 50 crore which the company received as an advance from DLF during the financial year 2009-2010 into bank fixed deposits.
Sky Light Hospitality also gave out advances and loans to other companies owned by Robert Vadra. As on March 31, 2010, Sky Light Hospitality had given a loan of Rs 6.61 crore to Sky Light Reality Private Ltd, another company owned by Vadra. This was used to fund seven flats in DLF’s Magnolias project and which are shown to be worth around Rs 5.23 crore. It was also used to buy a Rs 89 lakh apartment in DLF’s Aralias apartments.
The balance sheet as on March 31, 2009, shows an advance of Rs 3.5 crore to Sky Light Realty Private Ltd. This advance was used by Sky Light Realty to fund agricultural land in Palwal and land at Hayyatpur in Haryana. It also used around Rs 9 lakh to book flats with two builders. Sky Light Reality also earned an interest of around Rs 31 lakh by placing a part of this advance as a fixed deposit with banks.
Vadra’ Real Earth Estates had a total paid up capital of Rs 10 lakh as on March 31, 2010. DLF gave the company a loan of Rs 5 crore. This means the debt equity ratio of the company was 50 (Rs 5 crore/Rs10 lakh) which is humongous. This money was used to part-fund fixed assets worth around Rs 7.1 crore. This includes a plot in the posh GK-II area of Delhi and land in Bikaner, Gurgaon, Hassanpur and Mewat.
Whether DLF benefited with its relationship with Vadra we don’t really know. But Vadra clearly benefited from the same.

EVENT
JS Gallery presents Absolute Lustrum, an exhibition of paintings by five artists: Dhananjay Thakur, Kiran Chopra, Subrata Sen,Ved Prakash, Vijender Sharma. The works on display will showcase the artists’ respective specialities and subtle nuances in their recent works. This exhibition will enable art lovers to enjoy vivid art forms and expressive art works covering realistic, figurative and associated facets of visual arts.
When: October 7 to 13
Where: JS Art Gallery, Santa Cruz (West)
Timing: 11am to 7pm
Contact: 9821409569 / 9619835058
Website:www.jsartgallery.com

Jehangir Art Gallery presents Sensuous Splendour, an exhibition of paintings by Mumbai-based artist Parsharam Sutaar. His unique and picturesque works will truly enlighten all art lovers in the respective arenas and visual perspectives. The present series of artwork mostly highlights the depictions of our rich heritage and cultural traditions at several monumental places in an artistic and expressive style.
When: October 9 to 15
Where: Jehangir Art Gallery, Kala Ghoda
Timing: 11am to 7pm
Contact: 9869170967
Mystic Circle Tarot, Runes, Angels classes presents a unique workshop spread over six Sundays to master the art of tarot reading.
When: From October 7
Contact: 9930238289
Timings:1pm to 3pm

Gujarati play Maro Piyu Gayo Rangoon: A musical adaptation of William Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well, the play is set in Saurashtra, Mumbai, and Rangoon in the early 1900s. In the small town of Rasoli, Heli loves the young Bharatram, and when she cures his uncle merchant prince Rao Bahadur Gokuldas of TB, she claims Bharatram as her reward. But her brand new husband, flying from Heli to Rangoon, attaches two obstructive conditions to their marriage, conditions he is sure will never be met. Written by Mihir Bhuta, produced and directed by Sunil Shanbag, music by Uday Mazumdar
When: October 14
Where: Nehru, Worli
Timing: 3.30pm
Hindi play Kiss Kiss Ko Pyaar Karun: This is the story of a loving married bickering couple, that has begun to feel the itch’ in their marriage. The husband’s restlessness, monotony of routine-life and his roving eye leads to a comedy of errors and certain realizations. Written by Amit Aaryan and directed by Sunil Prem Vyas
When: October 14
Where: Rangsharda, Bandra
Timing: 8pm