Latest news with #Khemka
DW
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- DW
Two Indian women artists blazing their own trails – DW – 05/22/2025
Mayuri Chari and Janhavi Khemka's artwork is very different. But they both have powerful artistic visions informed by personal experiences of gender, disability and family — and they're both making names for themselves. 'Art is my accessibility': Janhavi Khemka Janhavi Khemka's mother has always been the source of her inspiration as an artist. Her earliest memories of making art involve her mother: "My mother would help me with my school assignments, explaining them through hand gestures, facial expressions, and body language." Khemka (above right), who was born in Varanasi, India in 1993, is hearing-impaired. Her mother taught her to read lips in Hindi at a young age and encouraged her artistic exploration. But she died when Khemka was 15. "The impact she left on me helped me navigate an able-bodied world, further inspiring my art through light, touch, experimental sound, and tactile mediums," Khemka said in a written interview with DW. Janhavi Khemka's woodcut work 'Self-portrait' (2024) is inspired by Van Gogh Image: Janhavi Khemka It is in this able-bodied world that Khemka is making a name for herself as an interdisciplinary artist working across a diverse array of mediums, from woodcut to painting to performance and animation. She earned an MFA (Master of Fine Arts) from the prestigious School of the Art Institute of Chicago and, prior to that, one from Visva-Bharati University at Santiniketan, a historic education center based in West Bengal that is deeply rooted in Indian culture and traditions. "Santiniketan opened a new world for me, as it was my first time being away from home. It helped me grow, understand how my disability shapes my identity. It was transformative, helping me expand my perspectives, connect with people and artists, and deepen my engagement with art." Friends and mentors have supported Khemka's career as an artist, but she still faces a lack of accessibility and is "constantly self-aware" and having to explain her experience to others, which can be "exhausting." Khemka's art has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions. Much of it relates to her being a hearing-impaired person who experiences sound through vibration. Some of her works, like "Impress/ion" and "Your name, please?" are interactive, involving a direct exchange with individual audience members. In 2021, she created "Letter to My Mother" — a vibrating platform adorned in a projected animated light pattern consisting of lips made from woodcut prints. It recalls how her mother taught her to lip read on a mat. For her, "It's a personal experience that connects me with my mom in a way that words alone cannot express." For viewers, it allows them to experience sound in a tactile fashion and ushers them into an intimate moment in the artist's life. "My greatest success is feeling comfortable in the world, where I can exist freely and confidently," Khemka says. 'A woman is not born, she is created': Mayuri Chari A free and confident existence: This is always what conceptual artist Mayuri Chari hopes for herself as a woman — and for women everywhere. She prefers the term priorities to success. And her priorities are speaking through her work, which focuses on the female body, and expressing what she wants to tell people, not what people want her to tell. In fact, they don't always like what her art tells. Conceptual artist Mayuri Chari's work draws on the motto, 'A woman is not born, she is created' Image: Tausif Matwal Whether through print, textile, film or even cow dung, Chari examines and challenges how women are seen, positioned and treated across various strata of Indian society. "They are not stories or tales," she says of her artwork's messages about women. "They are reality." She started experimenting with the female body as a subject during her MFA at the University of Hyderabad. For one semester show, she made large prints of her own body. She saw the work artistically, for its texture and colors. "But they," she said of her classmates and other viewers, "their gaze was totally different. They saw it as a vulgar thing and suggested that I shouldn't do this openly." Their response only got her thinking more. "I started to question why: Why are people seeing the body as something vulgar, sexy? Why not as a creative thing?" she told DW in a phone interview from her home in rural Maharashtra. The body prints Chari made during her master's, including the one above, significantly influenced her artistic direction Image: Mayuri Chair In Chari's work, the female body is neither a goddess nor an object of consumption but rather a statement of self-awareness. Yet her art has been controversial in India for simply featuring nude female bodies — realistic, imperfect, bold. Indian galleries have rejected her works and exhibition venue owners have asked her to remove pieces. Despite such institutional rejection, her work resonates strongly with Indian women, who see themselves and their experiences reflected in her art. Chari says that women often come up to her at shows and whisper in her ear, "I feel the same thing. This happens to me, also." Her work has been garnering international attention in recent years. Her installation "I WAS NOT CREATED FOR PLEASURE," was featured at the 12th Berlin Biennale , in 2022, and she was an artist in residence at the 2024 India Art Fair. 'My body, my freedom II' (2021), by Mayuri Chari Image: Mayuri Chari Like Janhavi Khemka, Chari's family also influenced her path as an artist — though not always positively. Born in the coastal state of Goa in 1991, Chari spent a lot of time as a child watching and helping her father, a carpenter, create furniture and carvings. She started making art in school, where her teachers encouraged her. But after her father died, Chari was forbidden by her family, in particular her elder uncle, from pursuing higher-level studies. She defied them and did it anyway, earning a master's in fine arts with the help of friends and scholarships. Her now husband and fellow artist, Prabhakar Kamble, provided her with important support and resources in her early days out of school. While Chari's work centers on society's positioning of women, she feels it is caste, more than gender, that has affected her reception. "Everything depends on the caste, where you come from. I came from a low caste, and big galleries always appreciate the high caste people. They notice them, and they always want people who speak well in English, and who have money," she explains. During COVID, Chari (center) launched a project called 'Me, home and the kitchen,' that sought to empower local women affected by the lockdown Image: Manasee Chari Advice for aspiring young artists Chari's current projects include a short documentary about the lives of rural female sugar laborers and textile projects dealing with trousseau-making — a bridal needlework practice that Portuguese colonizers brought to her home state of Goa and that continues to be passed on today from mother to daughter; she learned it from her own mother. Janhavi Khemka's mother will also continue to be at the forefront of her work. In the future, she hopes to make a movie using woodcut print animation exploring their relationship. Drawing on her own experience, she tells younger artists to "face failure with courage, hold on to patience and hope, and be ready to meet challenges head-on." Chari, for her part, advises younger artists to make sure they remain free and independent thinkers. "They shouldn't follow others," she says. "Or follow the thoughts, ideas, what other artists are doing, but don't copy them." Edited by: Brenda Haas
India.com
10-05-2025
- Business
- India.com
STQC Certification: Fortifying Indias Surveillance Infrastructure Amid Geopolitical Tensions
NEW DELHI: As India strides towards digital governance and smarter public safety frameworks, the role of Standardisation Testing and Quality Certification (STQC) has become increasingly vital in the surveillance industry. More than a hallmark of quality, STQC certification is a stringent, multi-layered process designed to test the security and integrity of surveillance products. Administered by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), STQC certification focuses on two critical dimensions: security testing and supply chain verification. Security testing assesses a system's resilience to cyber threats and unauthorized access, while supply chain verification ensures compliance with the Ministry of Home Affairs' Public Procurement Order (PPO) guidelines for essential security equipment. Together, these evaluations form a bulwark against vulnerabilities in systems that protect critical infrastructure, transportation hubs, and public spaces. "The surveillance sector is no longer just about watching: it's about securing data, networks, and national interests," said Aditya Khemka, Managing Director of CP PLUS. The emphasis on STQC certification reflects the government's push to create a self-reliant, secure digital infrastructure under initiatives like Digital India and Atmanirbhar Bharat. Khemka also echoed the urgency of compliance. "Compliance is no longer optional. As India pushes toward digitally integrated governance and smarter public safety, systems that don't meet standards simply don't make the cut," he said. "Choosing STQC-certified surveillance isn't just a strategic move; it's a responsible one." With rising cyberattacks and geopolitical tensions, stakeholders across public and private sectors are viewing STQC certification not just as a quality check, but as a national imperative. As India builds smarter cities and more connected ecosystems, STQC stands as a critical gatekeeper of trust and security.
Indian Express
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Cross FIRs: Haryana govt declines probe sanction against Khemka, Verma
The Haryana government has declined permission to investigate two separate FIRs lodged against retired IAS officer Ashok Khemka and IAS officer Sanjeev Verma. The FIRs, filed on the same day—April 20, 2022— stemmed from complaints the two officers had made against each other. Ashok Khemka, a 1991-batch IAS officer, attained superannuation on April 30 this year while Sanjeev Verma, a 2004-batch IAS officer, currently serves as Director General of Haryana Sports Department. The Haryana Police had previously sought ex-post facto permission to proceed with investigations into both FIRs. However, a senior official in the Haryana government said on Friday that the request for sanction had been denied. Official sources confirmed that Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, the competent authority in this case, has approved a related proposal concerning the matter. When asked about the reason behind the denial of probe sanction, an official explained, 'The fundamental basis for the decision is that under the Prevention of Corruption Act, no case can be registered against an officer without prior government approval. If an FIR is lodged in such matters without prior permission, further proceedings cannot continue. In this case, both FIRs were filed without the government's approval.' The officer added, 'This means that both FIRs will not be pursued any further.' The FIR against Khemka was registered under Section 13 (criminal misconduct by public servant) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 420 (cheating) of IPC at Panchkula 's Sector 5 police station on a reference sent by Verrma. Verma, in his reference, had alleged irregularities in the recruitment of two manager Grade-I officials (a class-III post) in the Haryana State Warehousing Corporation (HSWC) in 2010. Both the officials, Pradip Kumar and Surinder Singh were dismissed from service by Verma on April 20, 2020. An hour after it booked Khemka and three others, the Panchkula Police registered another FIR — on charges of criminal conspiracy and fabrication of official documents — against Verma on the former's complaint. The FIR against Verma was lodged after an unprecedented development in which the then state Home Minister Anil Vij had accompanied Khemka to Panchkula deputy police commissioner's office to complain against Verma.
Hindustan Times
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Graft cases against IAS officers: Haryana declines to grant approval to FIRs against Ashok Khemka, IAS colleague
The Haryana government has declined to accord ex-post facto (retrospective) approval to a first information report (FIR) registered in 2022 under the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act against former IAS officer, Ashok Khemka in 2022 at Panchkula. This means that the police after a period of three years will seek the cancellation of the FIR against the former IAS officer in a court of law. The decision comes as a major relief for Khemka who retired from service on April 30. Khemka, a now retired 1991 batch IAS officer, was booked in April 2022 by the police for allegedly making appointments in an illegal and arbitrary manner during his stint as managing director of Haryana State Warehousing Corporation (HSWC). The state government has also declined to grant ex post facto approval to another April 2022 FIR registered under PC Act on a cross complaint by Khemka against his IAS colleague, Sanjeev Verma who headed the Haryana State Warehousing Corporation (HSWC) when the PC Act case was registered against Khemka. Chief minister, Nayab Saini on May 1 ordered that the plea of the police to grant ex-post facto approval for the PC Act FIRs be refused as it was not in tune with the amended anti-graft law. Officials said that as per Section 17-A of the PC Act, prior approval of the state government is required for registering an FIR for any offence alleged to have been committed by a public servant under the act pertaining to the decisions taken in discharge of official duties. This has been held by the Supreme Court in its November 14, 2019, judgment in Yashwant Sinha versus CBI. The May 1 decision is in consonance with August 18, 2022, communication by the then chief secretary to the director general of police who had asked the police to take further action accordingly. Hindustan Times was the first to report on April 29, 2022, that the FIR against the erstwhile civil servant was not sustainable in the eyes of law as it was registered in contravention of Section 17-A of PC Act. This state government's decision to decline ex post approval to FIRs was also supported by a legal opinion of 2019 tendered by the then Haryana advocate general. Officials said that the AG's opinion said that Section 17-A cast a duty on the police officer to obtain approval from the competent authority before conducting an investigation against any public servant for the offences relatable to the discharge of his official functions or duties. Chapter 12 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) mandates that the investigation can only be conducted by the police officer after the registration of FIR. So before registering a case under provisions of PC Act against a public servant, prior approval from the competent authority is mandatory, the top law officer had held. The Haryana Police had booked Khemka on April 26, 2022, under the provisions of Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act for allegedly making appointments in an illegal and arbitrary manner during his stint as managing director of Haryana State Warehousing Corporation (HSWC). Besides Khemka, a former HSWC manager Som Nath, former assistant manager SC Kansal, and former assistant Naresh Kumar were also booked on under Section 420 of the IPC for cheating and Section 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act (criminal misconduct by a public servant). Khemka's colleague, Sanjeev Verma was booked the same day (April 26, 2022) under IPC provisions for allegedly framing an incorrect document with intent to cause injury, false information with intent to cause public servant to use his lawful power to the injury of another person, threatening any person to give false evidence, criminal conspiracy following a cross complaint by Khemka and on the intervention of the then home minister, Anil Vij. The police later added Section 13 of the PC Act (criminal misconduct by a public servant) in the FIR against Verma.
Time of India
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
After Haryana denies prosecution nod in internal corruption case against Khemka & Verma, police may file cancellation reports
Chandigarh: The three-year legal battle between IAS officer Sanjeev Verma and Ashok Khemka , who retired as one on April 30, may come to an end, with the Haryana govt refusing to grant ex post facto sanction to prosecute these officers. This means the FIRs against these two bureaucrats may be nullified as these were registered without prior approval under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 , a mandatory condition required before initiating criminal proceedings in corruption charges. Sources added that upon not getting permission from the chief minister's office (CMO), the chief secretary's office has recently written a letter to the DGP for appropriate action in the matter. Sources also added that even the previous chief secretary, TVSN Prasad, in a note sent to the CM on Oct 30, 2024, made it clear that the FIRs in these cases should have been registered only with permission. Prasad also recorded on the file that police should be informed about denial of permission to proceed further in both FIRs. While Khemka retired two days ago as additional chief secretary (transport), Verma is currently serving as director general, sports department, Haryana. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Nagelpilz-Laser jetzt 69,90€ statt 229€ (Rabattaktion) Heilratgeber Weiterlesen Undo Both Khemka (1991 batch) and Verma (2004 batch) were facing FIRs since 2022 after they registered cases against each other at Sector-5 police station in Panchkula. An FIR No. 170 dated April 26, 2022, was registered against Khemka at Panchkula on a complaint by Verma regarding alleged irregularities in appointments made during Khemka's tenure as managing director (MD), Haryana Warehousing Corporation (HWC). Later, an FIR No. 171 was registered against Verma under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act on Khemka's complaint. Khemka claimed that allegations in the FIR against him, even if taken to be gospel truth, did not constitute any offence under any penal provision, especially when the eligibility of candidates was determined by a screening committee, and selections were finalised by the executive committee. When an inquiry was conducted by an IAS officer, D K Bahera into the allegations against Khemka, it was held that the IAS officer's action in making such appointments was bona fide discharge of his duty. On the other hand, Verma claimed that FIR No. 171 against him was nothing but a counterblast to FIR No. 170, and it was lodged under the influence and presence of the then home minister of Haryana. Verma had even said that the matter should be probed by the CBI. Sources added that several efforts were made by the senior bureaucrats to resolve the issue, which was seen as an internal rift within the bureaucracy. MSID:: 120825754 413 |
