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A Tiny Flaw In Virat Kohli’s Captaincy Record
There is a tiny flaw in Virat Kohli’s captaincy record. Teams playing under him have not won a single ICC trophy. One of the modern greats with the bat and at captaincy, the cricketer would dearly love to set the record straight. Not only because his record pales in front of his mentor Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s sterling captaincy record. Dhoni won all the ICC trophies on offer — World Cup (50 overs), Champions Trophy and the T20 World Cup besides the IPL three times and the Champion’s League Trophy twice for Chennai Super Kings. Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore is yet to taste success. An Indian captain led India to top of the Test ladder of merit as early as 2008-09 while Kohli kept it up there for 44 months from October 2016 right up to June 2021 when New Zealand moved up to No. 1 after beating England. Firmly in the saddle in all three formats since 2017, Kohli would be hoping that the World Test Championship, being played from June 18 at the Rose Bowl in Southampton in England would become his first ICC and most prized Cup ever. India faces a very professional and committed New Zealand side under Kane Williamson. Still, given the strengths and skills Team India possess, they have a great chance to win the WCT and Kohli knows he must make it happen in England.
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Astro Take On Covid-19: What Does The Crystal Ball Reveal?
There is a joke in Tamil, “After allopathy, homeopathy, naturopathy, only Tirupathi.” As the pandemic raged, astrologers sprouted like mushrooms in the monsoon on YouTube. Tamil Nadu is particularly addicted to astrology. But where did these futurists go wrong in predicting the course of this scourge from Wave 1 to 2, and now watch out for 3? The 95-year old stalwart of the astro world, AM Rajagopalan, erstwhile editor of Kumudam Jothidam, a popular Tamil weekly, lucidly tells us about the very unusual planetary configurations from December 2019 onwards, when Saturn and Jupiter were impacted by the invisible Rahu. According to this much sought after savant, from September 2021 onwards, Corona’s deadly intensity will diminish. Abhigya Anand from Karnataka made news for accurately foreseeing the conjunction of six powerful planets aligned in a line, portending great danger from a pandemic that would shake the world. EK Dhilipkumar, another popular social media Jothishi has his disclaimer – “Can Doctors cure every malady? We can’t predict the course for every event or calamity.” His logic, Rahu is an invisible planet, the “paapa graham.” He foresees that the pandemic will start self-limiting by mid-2022. Srirangam Ravi also talks about planetary effects of Mars, and mainly Jupiter who starts his movement from June 21, and will give significant relief in September, and a collective sigh of relief by November.
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Rising Cement Price Puts Stalin Govt In A Spot As Builders Lobby Play Victim Card
The MK Stalin-led DMK government in Tamil Nadu has just finished a month in office at Fort St George. But it has already come under intense flak from Opposition quarters. The reasons are not far to seek. Escalating cement prices has put the DMK government in a tight spot. The builders’ lobby has turned hyperactive now and accused the cement makers of competitive collusion. Builders have claimed that the retail cement prices have increased by 13% to Rs 520 a bag of 50 kg from Rs 460 in May. Of course, the builders’ lobby have also come down heavily on steel makers for rising prices. Now, the rising cement prices comes as an unsolicited stick to needle the nascent Stalin regime. Put on the defensive, the Stalin government has sort of sought to correct the `recalcitrant cement industry’ through discussions. The builder lobby has always projected itself as the victim in this cement price game. Never once did the builder lobby come out with any explanation for zooming flat cost! Often, politics (read politicians) ignores the hard economics of any business. How to cement this irreconciliation? That is hard to visualise in Dravidian politics.
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Grand Old Party Awaits Metamorphosis
How many obits are to be written for the Grand Old Party? It is a sad and heart-rending feeling when one thinks of the role of this august group that fought so fearlessly for our independence, downed in disarray, retreating disheartened. Today, all tail waggers and party swaggers, the neo Tarzans of politics, covered in their capitalist chain armour are thriving only on this stage laid by the Congress. But what an ending, friends and countrymen! What is left of this great movement for which Gandhiji, Sardar Patel, Rajaji, Pandit Nehru, Lal Bahadur and other stalwarts gave their blood, sweat, toil and tears? Saying that this sorry state is because one Family is hell-bent on tightening its vice like grip on the party, knowing fully well that it is riding a snarling tiger. So, what if the Congress collapses? The Gandhis won’t let go of their own. The Congress won’t collapse totally: it may disintegrate, pulverised beyond salvage as a macro entity. But its atoms still have the power to radiate heat and light. This is the metamorphosis many are eagerly waiting for: another multihued butterfly emerging, yet another Phoenix rising from the funeral pyre of the erstwhile organisation. This will require the Kapil Sibals, Chidambarams, Manu Singhvis to allow the Gen Next to take centre stage. The Shashi Tharoors, Pilots, Milind Deora…..If ever a millennial Sun Tzu is wanted/needed…it is now. Sun Tzu who compiled The Art of War.
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Shafali Verma Cocks A Snook At Selectors With A Fiery 96 On Test Debut
On a balmy Thursday on June 17 in England’s South-West coastal town of Bristol, the brightest star of Indian women’s cricket, Shafali Verma cocked a snook at India’s women selectors for not selecting her for the home limited-over series against South Africa. Shafali uncorked her typical bold and stylish brand of cricket that lit up the second day’s play of the one-off Test against England. Not accustomed to red-ball cricket, Shafali, 17 years and 141 days when she took guard, and one of the fortunate Test debutants sparkled with a knock of 96, hitting 13 fours and two sixes. The young right-hander fell in a moment of unbridled ambition to bring her century with a big shot. The Rohtak-born has been a whiff of fresh air playing electrifying knocks. She has not only breathed life into women’s cricket in India, but now has also campaigned straightaway for resumption of Test cricket across the world. It was a fallacy on the part of the women selectors to brand her as a Twenty20 specialist, when India’s women cricketers were pleading for continuous competitive cricket at domestic and international levels. Shafali took the centre stage at Bristol, raising a record first-wicket stand of 163 for India with left-hander Smriti Mandhana. It was India’s fourth century plus stand for the first wicket, and the world’s joint seventh highest in 889 Tests.

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.