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yogi_adityanath

Sangh Gets Poll Ready As UP CM Yogi’s Decisive Covid Leadership Saves The Day

For BJP the battle ground has now shifted to Uttar Pradesh. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the guiding force for Sangh Parivar, has already swung into action to help UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who seems to have got a bad Press for handling the coronavirus pandemic. To make matters worse, there has been strong rumours of a cabinet reshuffle including induction of a new deputy chief minister. To allay fears and indicate full faith in Yogi’s leadership, BJP’s national general secretary BL Santosh praised Yogi Adityanath’s “effective” management of Covid-19. He tweeted: “In five weeks, Yogi Adityanath’s Uttar Pradesh reduced the new daily case count by 93% … Remember it’s a state with 20+ Cr population. When municipality CMs could not manage a city of 1.5 Cr population, Yogiji managed quite effectively.” Having put one problem to rest, the next step was to up the ante. It is learnt that RSS along with VHP, Bajrang Dal, Sewa Bharati will mobilize their swayam sevaks and karyakartas in the run up to the next assembly elections in 2022. It may be recalled that in the recently held Gram Panchayat Election Samajwadi Party won big in PM’s constituency Varanasi. So, Sangh Parivar is leaving no stone unturned. UP with 403 assembly and 80 Lok Sabha seats is critical for the BJP which is aiming at a record hat trick in Lok Sabha elections slated for 2024.
rahejas

Ravi, Neel and Chandru Raheja

Mumbai Worli’s Rs 427-Cr Artesia Deal Sees Luxury Realty Buying Within The Raheja Family

It is one of the big ticket real estate deals in recent times, says squarefeatindia.com – a leading real estate website. “Three duplexes, spread over five floors comprising 18 flats and 42 car parking spaces, were sold for Rs 427.81 crore.” The 60-storeyed Raheja Artesia located at Mumbai’s tony address Worli Sea Face is a project of K Raheja Corp. And interestingly, buyers are from the developer’s family. Chandru Raheja, Chairman of K Raheja and his two sons Ravi and Neel, have bought five floors between them. Thus, the duplex on 41st and 42nd floors measuring 2,079 square metres (sqm) costing Rs 143.63 crore will be occupied by second son Neel and his wife Jaya Raheja. The duplex on 42nd and 43rd floor spread over 1,989.71 sqm costing Rs 137.78 crore will be occupied by Chandru and his wife Jyoti Raheja. While the eldest son Ravi and his wife Sumati who paid Rs 146.40 crore will occupy 44th and 45th floors measuring 2,138.23 sqm. Effectively, the three families between them will be occupying 66,811 sqft. Each duplex comes with 14 car parking. This project has been attracting any number of HNI buyers, especially from the HDFC Group. HDFC Securities MD & CEO Dhiraj Relli and wife Archana forked out Rs 30.31 crore to buy an apartment. HDFC’s MD & CEO Keki Mistry paid Rs 41.23 crore and Smita D Parekh, wife of HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh, paid Rs 50 crore.
rajiv lochan

Sundaram Finance Chief Rajiv Lochan Sharpening Focus On Strategic Sectors To Overcome Covid Woes

Rajiv Lochan, having taken over as MD of Sundaram Finance (SFL) at a very challenging time from his iconic predecessor,  TT Srinivasraghavan (who presided over the fortunes of this ever dependable, beacon like NBFC for 18 years), is firming up strategies to recover from the pandemic that has left its devastating impact on business two years in a row. So, how will Lochan take on the prevailing challenges, and also prepare for new ones? To start with, Lochan will have to slay the demand for morphing into a bank — a tough decision taken by the Board. He will have to innovate to navigate. A high level source says that for the last two years in a row they have borne the brunt of not getting receivables on time, “We don’t resort to harsh measures for EMI recovery, keeping our accounts alive is more important. About 70% of SFL’s portfolio consists of retail operators, owning and operating two or three trucks; only 30% are big fleet operators. Till the manufacturing sector kick starts, the aim is to stay connected and keep these small enterprises alive.” SFL outlook for quicker recovery is for three sectors: the IT, pharma, and hatchback auto segment. With public transport posing a health hazard, people are aiming to buy their own small cars. The Sundaram Group has a clear view of where to head, and how even during this pandemic. Soft touch for tough times.
MK_stalin_005

New Era In Tamil Nadu Politics: Stalin Gives Free Hand To His Ministers

It’s not without reason that the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, son of the DMK patriarch late M Karunanidhi whose birth anniversary was on June 3, is being thought of as someone with the potential to match the brightness of the Rising Sun in the party symbol. He may have spent decades in the shadow of his father but Stalin, as CM, seems determined to be the change in a new era of politics in Tamil Nadu. His visit to inside a Covid-19 ward may have been stage-managed to some extent to ensure he was not at risk but he was willing to make the bold gesture to reassure patients, nurses and doctors that treating the disease is a priority. In fact, the TN CM has made Covid-19 management such a priority that he has eschewed any celebrations in the whole of May after ascending the Fort St George throne. Freely delegating powers to his senior ministers to handle their portfolios, meet Union ministers in Delhi and take a call on their subjects, he has only told them that they would be accountable for their actions and that the buck in their fields stops with them. All the while he has sent soft-spoken diktats to them on sensitive matters. Right now, Covid-19 is his priority and his image as CM second and he has been willing to make any number of concessions to be an acceptable face to all.
pyasa

Luck Or Destiny: Dilip Kumar Not Guru Dutt Was To Play Lead Role In ‘Pyaasa’

The 1957 romance-drama Pyaasa starring Guru Dutt and Waheeda Rehman is widely considered one of the best Indian films. Produced and directed by Guru Dutt, it was a box office hit too. And of course who can forget the melodious songs like Jaane woh kaise log they jinake pyaar ko pyaar milaa or ye mahalo, ye takto, ye taajo ki duniyaa…  Guru Dutt not only perfectly fitted the role of a sensitive poet, he immortalized the character! But Guru played the role not because he wanted to but because he was left with no option. How?  Actually for the main role of the poet, the actor finalized was Dilip Kumar. Guru Dutt briefed him about the story and finalized the deal. But strangely as promised, Dilip Kumar never reported to the set for shooting. The entire crew was kept waiting and a totally exasperated Guru Dutt decided he will put on the make-up and do the role. And what a momentous decision he took. It turned out the best thing that could have ever happened to him, the movie and also the Indian audience. Even today Pyaasa is regarded as one of the greatest films ever made. It frequently features on world cinema’s greatest films lists. It was one of the earliest films to have achieved a healthy blend of artistic as well as commercial mainstream traits. One may ask, was it destiny or luck that played the role here!
ICC

ICC Means Business With 100% Cricket Future Leaders Programme For Women

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has come a long way from once being described as nothing more than a “post office” by a former England batsman and renowned Match Referee, Raman Subba Row. The England-born with Indian ancestors, Row, who liked to prove he has Andhra blood in him by biting a green chilly at Mumbai’s Samrat Restaurant, was instrumental in recommending to the ICC that the Match Referee has the last word on the outcome at the toss and confirm which of the captains had called it correctly (Heads or Tails). It was during Row’s time in the 1990s that several regulatory measures were put in place, notably the Players’ Code of Conduct. But more significantly, the ICC took women’s cricket under its wing. Three years ago, in 2018, the ICC under the leadership of Nagpur-based lawyer, Shashank Manohar, took a trailblazing call to bring in Indra Nooyi (Ex-Chairperson and CEO of Pepsico and presently on the Board of Amazon) as the first independent female director. Three years later, Greg Barclay, the Auckland-based commercial lawyer who succeeded Manohar, has founded the innovative 100% Cricket Future Leaders programme designed to support emerging female talent in cricket. Sharda Ugra (mentor); and Vijaylaxmi Narasimhan and Harini Rana (mentees) are the Indians involved in the six-month programme meant to empower women. Others driving the programme are former Australian cricket icon Belinda Clark, and the ICC’s Claire Furlong and Ketaki Golatkar. Lauding the ICC initiative, former India captain and ICC Women’s Committee member for 13 years, Shubhangi Kulkarni said: “As of now, we have hardly any women in leadership roles and in decision making positions in cricket. This programme will give them a foundation to develop their skills in administration, officiating, broadcasting, journalism and other aspects of cricket organisations.”  

TRENDS & VIEWS

Editor’s Note: Big Punch In Small Pack

It is the Third Anniversary of Short Post and as a news media startup launched during the Covid-19 pandemic it certainly feels better than good to find ourselves where we are today. Here, I must cite the unstinted support of our seasoned contributors, all senior editors in the country, who brought a great degree of maturity and sagacity to the Short Post newsroom. But for them, our tagline “Authentic Gossip”, an Oxymoron, would not have matured viably. Our user numbers may be small but our stories have created the desired impact among people who matter — decision makers and influencers. We offer a big punch in a small pack and Short Post with its 225-word stories has been punching above its weight category. Having posted close to 3,000 stories in the last 36 months, Short Post, I feel, is an idea whose time has come.
And this is vindicated by our two marquee advertisers – IDFC FIRST Bank and ICICI Lombard. Both believed in our story and have supported us from Day one. A big thank you to both.
If you look at the media landscape – print, TV and digital — it is a mixed bag. There are job losses as some outfits have closed down while a lucky few were bailed out by large corporate houses. Yes, there is a lot of action in the digital space. However, the entry of corporate houses has raised the question of independence of news media outfits. Sadly, there are just a handful of independent media outfits in the country that are highly respected for their neutrality. At Short Post, our credo is not to take sides, prejudge issues or be biased but, informing readers of behind-the-scenes happenings. In essence, Short Post strives to be a neutral editorial platform — neither anti-establishment nor pro-establishment.
As I said last year, disruptions in the media world are moving at a fast and furious pace. Technology is playing a very big role in how content is generated and consumed. But, we are neither alarmed nor perturbed as it is all a part of the evolution process. What gives us comfort is that AI is unable to create original gossipy content. And that is the news arena where we have achieved a distinction.