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Ever since mid-January when Bihar CM Nitish Kumar was accompanied by his son Nishant Kumar at a political function in Bakhtiyarpur, there has been a buzz that the JD(U)leader’s son would be taking a political plunge. The event was to pay tributes to freedom fighters, including Nitish’s father Ram Lakhan Singh, who too had participated in the freedom movement. Soon after the function, 50-year old Nishant, the only child of Nitish and his late wife Manju Sinha, told the local gathering that his father had put Bihar on the fast track of development and appealed to them to make him CM again. Nishant’s appeal came in the midst of reports that he was keeping indifferent health and had reduced public interaction. An engineer by training, Nishant had so far kept away from public glare. Raised by his mother, he is known to have spent time away from his father and dabbled in spiritualism. He came to live with his father only after his mother passed away in 2007. Those who have known the JD (U) supremo personally as well as politically feel with an indifferent health Nitish may no longer be in a position to even oppose entry of his son into politics much as he has always opposed dynastic politics. A section of JD(U) dominated by Kurmis is reportedly rooting for Nishant’s entry to perpetuate Nitish Kumar’s legacy; this section doesn’t care if it fits with Nitish Kumar’s vision of politics. It is being argued that JD(U) can’t survive without Nitish’s legacy. As for those competing against the towering stature of Nitish Kumar in Bihar — both the BJP and RJD — are also keen that a bumbling newbie and dynast Nishant does take the plunge and salvage JD(U). Ahead of assembly polls, JD(U) is likely to witness a churn.
What goes out seems to return to the same place. Well, how else could one view the unfolding scenario. Reports suggest that Aditya Birla Group-owned UltraTech Cement is in advanced talks to acquire Heidelberg Cement India. Heidelberg Cement India is the subsidiary of HeidelbergCement Group, Germany. It entered India in 2006 with the acquisition of erstwhile Mysore Cement, Cochin Cement and a JV with Indorama Cement. The company has plants at Damoh (MP), Jhansi (UP), and Ammasandra (Karnataka). If this acquisition happens, UltraTech may get Zuari Cements as well, which is a part of the Heidelberg Group. In such an eventuality, the Sitapuram plant of Zuari will also come under UltraTech. The Sitapuram plant was once with The India Cements (ICL). The India Cements got the Sitapuram plant as a bonus when it acquired Raasi Cement many years ago. Subsequently, India Cements sold the Sitapuram plant to Zuari to raise funds. The Parli grinding unit of India Cements, it may be recalled, was acquired by UltraTech. Since UltraTech has taken over India Cements, the Parli grinding unit has technically returned to its original place (since India Cements has now become a subsidiary of UltraTech). Well, the world is small after all. And, the world is indeed round!
An estimated 30% of the IAS administered Indian bureaucracy actively considers the VRS option. According to well-placed sources, “Last three years registered a spurt in the number of pending applications to exercise the VRS option, most officers still having over five years of service left. The handsome pension amount appears lucrative to many, including those put on notice by the Union government (and respective state governments like Maharashtra) for low productivity, efficiency and delinquent public service.” Majority of the pending applications seek the cushy handshake option, while those who fell foul of GOI evaluation parameters were told to consider exit plans sooner than resignation options later. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 1.0 and 2.0 tenures (between 2014 and 2024) had witnessed not only weeding out of senior officials through shortening of tenures under government service but also witnessed the lateral entry of professionals and industry domain specialists into government service. Similarly, several officials continue to perform government service notwithstanding their respective retirement from service due to their diligent and outstanding performance till retirement to include Pravin Pardeshi (CEO of MITRA). Others like former Chief Secretary of Maharashtra Dr Nitin Kareer are also expected to be tapped for active post-retirement service to the nation, sources reveal. As pen-pushing, non-productive Babus opt for early retirement the Maharashtra IAS fraternity anticipates similar cleansing of Maharashtra’s state secretariat that may be on the cards once again.
After all the hype over the low-cost DeepSeek artificial intelligence from China that seemed to be threatening the earlier model, doubts have begun to surface, at least in India, about its ability to continue posing a challenge to ChatGPT in the long term. The new app, which became the most-downloaded free app on the iOS App Store in the U.S. a fortnight after its launch on 10 January 2025, resulted in a steep fall in the share price of the more established Nvidia. While various users and reviewers have hailed it as a harbinger of the “global AI space race”, experts here are raising the old question of the longevity and reliability of anything made in China, especially when it is priced at a fraction of others in the same space. Says one leading infotech player, expressing the opinion of many in the field: “Like any data from China, nobody knows the real cost — it may be a whole lot higher than those incurred by Open AI.” Drawing a parallel with renewable energy, this expert points to a record 11 Gw of wind turbines commissioned years ago with turbines in almost all remote areas but no connection to the grid. “Renowned global consultants based in China whom I have met, always take any data from the Chinese government or otherwise from China with a pound of salt,” he adds. “It is perhaps disruptive news to pull the U.S. down. Let’s wait and see.” The Chinese company, established in Hangzhou, Zhejiang in 2023, is owned and funded by Chinese hedge fund High-Flyer, which develops open-source large language models (LLMs).
In recent times, Bollywood has seen a noticeable shift, with many newcomers struggling to leave a lasting impression on audiences. This decline can be traced back to a variety of factors, including the selection of projects that fail to resonate with viewers. Gone are the days when iconic films like Betaab, which introduced Sunny Deol or Rocky which launched Sanjay Dutt, captivated audiences and launched the careers of these stars. So too Jackie Shroff with Hero. In contrast, today’s newcomers like Suraj Pancholi, Siddhant Kapoor and Sasha Agha find themselves lost in films that do not provide them with the platform to showcase their talents effectively. The recent film Azaad featuring Aaman Devgan and Rasha Thadani serves as a case in point. Aaman Devgn, nephew of Ajay Devgn has struggled to make a significant impact, while Raveena Tandon’s daughter Rasha Thadani managed to capture some attention with her performance. Many of the films do not offer the newcomers a fair opportunity to shine; often focusing more on star power than on storytelling. For instance, in Azaad, the narrative centres around the titular horse rather than the lead pair, which diminishes the impact of the human characters. This misalignment can lead to a lack of engagement from the audience, making it difficult for the actors to connect with viewers. Aaman’s performance, despite being camera-friendly, lacks the emotional depth and histrionics that are often necessary to truly engage the audience. In contrast, Rasha stands out with her strong screen presence and impressive dance moves, showcasing a talent that could potentially elevate her career. Ultimately, even when a film does not resonate with audiences, a standout performance can create opportunities for newcomers to prove themselves.
The England captain Jos Buttler did not mince words on the matter of fast bowler Harshit Rana replacing Shivam Dube as the like-for-like “concussion substitute” in the fourth Twenty20 international in Pune. The scoreboard will show left-hander Dube having scored 53 off 34 balls with 7x 4s and 2x6s – a fine performance that went a long way in India posting a stiff 181 in 20 overs after being rocked by Saqib Mahmood’s three-wicket burst in his first over. It was Dube’s first international match in eight months. Rana, who replaced Dube after India chose to use the “Concussion substitute” rule at the innings break, ended up with flattering figures of 3 for 33, sending down his full quota of four overs. Rana took the wickets of Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell and Jamie Overton – all capable of giving the ball a solid whack. A pertinent question that cropped up was whether “Rana was a like-for-like’’ replacement for Dube, particularly as a fast bowler. In his previous 33 matches, Dube had sent down 45.3 overs and taken 11 wickets with a 3 for 30 as his best against Bangladesh in Nagpur in 2019. He did not bowl in 11 matches and went wicket-less in 15. Buttler disagreed with “Rana coming in for Dube” and wondered if Dube’s bowling speed had shot up by 25 miles per hour or if Rana’s batting had improved. On the face of it, Rana was a far from like-for-like replacement for Dube. India’s bowling coach, Morne Morkel, explained that the team forwarded Rana’s name and the match referee, Javagal Srinath approved it. The unsavoury event will compel the ICC to mull over the “Concussion substitute” rule.
Armed with a landslide majority in Maharashtra, the BJP, it is learnt, is now strongly pushing its coalition partners up against the wall. Not only has it launched a strong attack against Ajit Pawar’ party deputy leader Dhananjay Munde but it is keeping Eknath Shinde on the edge too. While the knives have been sharpened against controversial minister Dhananjay Munde demanding his resignation for the alleged involvement of his aide in the murder of Beed sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh. Munde and his party have been resisting and fighting it against all odds. While Ajit Pawar may have strongly backed Munde for now, he realises that the BJP may not stop at him and could launch fresh salvo against his other deputies. Hence, Pawar has directed his men to maintain a clean slate and even demanded that freshers be vetted before giving entry in his party. His contemporary, Eknath Shinde too is not having it easy with BJP ministers like Ganesh Naik eyeing his Thane stronghold and launching a worker engagement campaign clearly with an eye on the forthcoming local body polls. While Shinde chose to brush aside concerns, his workers have threatened to do a quid pro quo by launching similar exercises in BJP’s constituencies. Shinde did not attend the cabinet meeting last week, while Munde is believed to have left mid-way. The BJP strategy seems to be to keep the coalition partners constantly on the edge.
The year 1952 saw the release of a cult movie and a classic coming together of two names that shaped Dravidian cinema indelibly. A talented writer from Thirukkuvalai …the indomitable M Karunanidhi (DMK founder) and a firebrand actor who set the template for Tamil cinema…Sivaji Ganesan. These two cinema debutants made Parasakthi, an evergreen movie still remembered by connoisseurs of this powerful medium. Suddenly, Parasakthi is in the news. Two Kollywood producers are claiming the title Parasakthi. Vijay Antony (actor-producer-director-music director) claims that his 25th movie under production, Sakti Thirumagan has been already registered as Parasakthi for its Telugu version in July 2024. His posters were splashed on X. Imagine the shock that Town Pictures and avant garde director Sudha Kongara got on hearing that their Sivakarthikeyan’s 25th film Parasakthi has an ostensible me too. This was no filmi coincidence. A high decibel legal battle is being averted by Akash Bhaskaran, emissary of Kongara who met Antony to resolve the issue. AVM Pictures also endorsed that the title was given to Kongara’s team and all concerned were just heaving a sigh of relief. Then for Kongara trouble came from an entirely unexpected quarter. The legal heirs of Perumal Mudaliar, National Pictures, original Parasakthi producers decided to digitalise the 1952 hit and re-release it. This claims that the Krishnan Panju directed original has allotted only distribution rights to AVN for a few areas, that no other house could use the title. Avowedly, the Sivaji craze and the Kalaignar charisma guarantee big crowds.
Manoj Ahuja, the upright well experienced IAS Odisha cadre Chief Secretary since June 2024 is making headlines in Odisha. Reason: He has now been entrusted with the additional responsibility as Chief Resident Commissioner in New Delhi as well. Senior journalist Ruben Banerjee, based on his feedback from the state retired bureaucrats, has questioned the logic of this move. Banerjee argues that Odisha already has two persons — one Principal Residential Commissioner and an Additional Resident Commissioner in Delhi for liaisoning work with the Centre, so what’s the need to assign Manoj Ahuja with the additional responsibility of Delhi? Ruben raises a whole lot of questions: Does this mean Manoj Ahuja can do two jobs effectively? Does this mean he doesn’t have enough work in the Odisha Secretariat? Is he super-efficient in delivering two jobs? or is it that the government understands the importance of Ahuja spending time with his family in Delhi on an official visit? But bureaucrats have different views. They say, the Odisha Government is betting big time on Chief Secretary Ahuja for dual responsibility as he will be able to effectively promote cooperation and investments between the state and the Central government without any delay. Before moving into the current position Ahuja was Secretary – Agriculture; Joint Director (Personnel Training/Personnel & General Administration); Commissioner & Secretary (Steel & Mines, Sports & Youth Services); and Chairman of the Central Board of Secondary Education.
Big parties like the AIADMK and BJP have boycotted the February 5 Erode East bypoll to the Tamil Nadu assembly, leaving the Opposition space for the rabble rouser Seeman who heads his Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK). And he has enjoyed his moment in the sun by taking potshots at the DMK and its ideological patriarch EVR Periyar, the social reformer who stood up for the classes oppressed in the old Hindu caste system. Known as much for his atheist views, EVR had left himself open to criticism for his Brahmin-baiting ways that denigrated Hindu gods. No one in Tamil Nadu, a major portion of whose people deify Periyar as an ideologue who showed the path to political power for the Dravidian classes even though he himself was not for electoral politics, would like to see their idol’s ideas and actions challenged thus. Seeman has continuously sniped at Periyar’s ideas while promoting his brand of Tamil nationalism that deifies the terrorist Marxist Prabhkaran of the LTTE who was gunned down by Sri Lankan armed forces after 30 years of civil strife in 2009. Seeman’s tactics may not improve his vote share but since his candidate is certain to finish second to the DMK, he is having fun mocking Dravidian claims. The ruling DMK’s cadre were told to ignore him as Seeman will become politically insignificant again when the State goes to the polls and there will be two or three major fronts with the DMK+, BJP+, AIADMK and actor-politician Vijay’s TVK in the fray.
Even as the corporate world rolls up its sleeves and prepares to get back to offices and tables, not everyone will be able to resume the daily commute. Some companies, including large multinationals, have cut their overheads by giving up their plush leased offices soon after work from home (WFH) became the norm (prevalent). So, the many who have got used to working while lounging comfortably in their pyjamas cannot, even if they – or their families – want to, as they no longer have a workplace to go back to (which they can start going) again. The Bengaluru-headquartered Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM), which has its manufacturing facilities at Bidadi on the outskirts of the city, gave up the lease on its corporate office in the city’s posh Vasanth Nagar soon after the pandemic made it impossible for people to get to it. “We have decided to stick to WFH,” said the India-Japan joint venture’s vice chairman and managing director Vikram S Kirloskar. “When we need to have meetings, we can have them in a hotel instead of our own conference room. Anyway, people who need to come in from our other offices stay in a hotel.” Surely, the company is making huge savings by way of rents but are the employees really happy to WFH?
Is Priyanka Gandhi Vadra playing the ‘ladki hoon, lad sakti hoon’ card to empower women across the country or, is it more about just herself? Is she pushing the ladki issue merely to enlarge her own canvas within the Congress party? Why else would Priyanka be travelling outside Uttar Pradesh (UP) in the midst of heated poll campaigning and conducting herself like a super Mahila Congress president to spread the message about her Pink manifesto? This is a question party leaders are asking. In early December, within days of launching her Pink Manifesto for women in UP, promising 40% reservation for women candidates alongside tax sops for organisations represented by women as 50% of their workforce, Priyanka suddenly headed off to another poll-bound state of Goa. She spent an entire day there pitching her women’s agenda extensively. While many in the party believe Priyanka Vadra is looking to expand beyond her limited charge of Uttar Pradesh as AICC General Secretary, some party sources say Priyanka may strongly be competing with brother Rahul Gandhi to provide a new leadership to the Congress. Significantly, at the Mehangai Hatao Rally in Jaipur she addressed the crowd jointly with Rahul. With the Congress likely to fare poorly in the upcoming polls, Priyanka is perhaps already recalibrating for the aftershocks.
TMC chief Mamata Banerjee has made acquiring Goa’s 40 assembly seats almost a prestige issue. She has apparently poured money to acquire political assets — namely three sitting MLAs, two belonging to the Congress — Luizinho Faliero and Alexio Reginaldo Lourenco, and one from the NCP, Churchil Alemao, ahead of the Goa assembly elections slated next year. With Alexio’s exit, only two of the 17 MLAs elected in 2017 are left with the party. Going against its grain of procrastination, the Congress for the first time decided to go ahead with finalizing candidates and released the first list of eight candidates last week, just to prevent TMC from poaching its leaders. It was apparently former Union Minister P Chidambaram’s idea to halt the erosion of rank and file. Sources say the TMC was so livid with the Congress’ first list that poll strategist Prashant Kishor even boasted to a Goa leader that he would poach a candidate even after the list was finalised by Rahul Gandhi. He did it with Alexio joining TMC. AICC in charge Dinesh Gundurao was aware of this development. Well, If you want to know why no effort was made to stop this MLA from Curtorim from leaving the party, it was because the AICC made no offer to finance the elections.
Two incidents of sacrilege, in a span of 24 hours, leading to two deaths, one at the Golden Temple in Amritsar and the other at a gurudwara in Kapurthala has shocked and raised hackles of everyone. The murderous assault on a man at Harmandir Sahib caught for the sacrilege by devotees seemed something akin to events in the run-up to Operation Blue Star in 1984 noted a Congress veteran. BJP leaders feel the sudden spike in religious violence could probably be an attempt to scuttle Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi’s move to get justice in an old sacrilege case — Bargari Case of 2015. After all, Channi had changed the state DGP and was trying to bring Akalis to book. Looks like whenever Akalis are in trouble, they foment sectarian trouble. There was a spike in sacrilege incidents in the run-up to 2017 assembly polls. As for Channi, he is not in a happy place either. He is sort of sandwiched between two kinds of CMs — AICC in-charge Harish Chaudhury who functions like a super CM in Punjab, attends Cabinet meetings and a wannabe CM and PCC chief Navjot Sidhu. While Chaudhury, a close Rahul aide, gives directions on running the government and enjoys facilities available to CM’s office, Sidhu simply avoids sharing any forum with Channi; he thinks he will be the CM post poll.
The firebrand Navjot Sidhu is on the warpath again. He has seized upon the two incidents of sacrilege and subsequent lynchings as his ticket to dominating the Punjab poll scene. Amid the silence of Punjab’s political faces over the two lynchings, Sidhu is demanding public execution for those accused of desecrating religious texts. Sidhu knows this is a topic on which opposing political parties can tread only softly as they can’t be seen justifying lynching in a civilized country. The space is thus open for the Congress chief Sidhu to exploit the emotions that are attached to anyone playing the fool with religion and attempting sacrilege by attacking the holy text. Sidhu is alleging a “conspiracy against one community” and that fundamentalist forces are trying to disturb peace in Punjab. He had made an issue of the inaction over past attempts at the desecration of the Granth Saheb against which the government had not acted in time with due prosecution. Sidhu made it his plank against the then Congress CM Captain Amarinder Singh and dethroned him and got Charanjit Singh Channi installed. The CM has slammed the alleged sacrilege attempts but, chosen to remain silent on the lynchings. Sidhu has no qualms about it. He is virtually giving a license to the public to go after sacrilege while giving lip service to making laws stringent with a death sentence for sacrilege.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is leaving no stone unturned to transform his state. And, the results appear to be showing. It is reliably learnt that five steel giants have finalized mega investments in Odisha namely: Posco, ArcelorMittal, Tata Steel, Jindal Steel and JSW. While Posco has evinced an interest to invest once again, steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal’s ArcelorMittal has secured approval from the Patnaik government to set up a 24 MTPA greenfield integrated steel project at Kendrapara district. Similarly, Tata Steel will expand its Kalinga Nagar capacity from 3 MTPA to 8 MTPA; while Jindal Steel & Power will up its Anugul plant capacity from 6 MTPA to 25.2 MTPA. This will make JSPL’s Anugul plant the world’s largest single location steel plant. JSW, which acquired Bhushan Power & Steel plant located at Jharsuguda, will also ramp up capacity from 5 MTPA to 15 MTPA while the Rungta Mines’ Karakhendra plant capacity goes up from 0.53 MTPA to 3 MTPA. If all goes as planned, Odisha will become the ‘Steel Capital’ of the country, driving national economic growth through steel production. The state had a mere 2 MTPA steel production capacity in 2000 compared to its steel production of 30 MTPA today and, plans to further increase it to 100 MTPA by 2030. Clearly, Odisha is setting the pace of development for India.
Huelva, in southwest Spain, delivered good tidings for men’s badminton in India and, particularly for the Bengaluru-based Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy (PPBA). Huelva was the venue for the season ending 2021 Badminton World Federation (BWF) Championship held last week, and the budding star from the PPBA, Lakshya Sen, reached the semi-finals before losing to countryman Kidambi Srikanth in a 69-minute three-setter. Sen won the bronze medal, but more significantly he has signalled his arrival into the big league. The world men’s singles field is replete with champion performers from Asia and Europe. Sen had lost to Denmark’s World No 1 Viktor Axelsen twice in Round Robin (second round) and the semi-finals of the previous week’s HSBC BWF World Tour Finals at Bali, Indonesia. He got a walkover from top gun Japanese Kento Momota due to injury and also from Denmark’s Rasmus Gemke but, he made the most of the following week’s World Championship upper half draw that was also weakened by injury related walkovers by Momota , Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie, France’s Toma Popov. Sen himself got a R32 walkover from German Max Weisskirchen. Sen needed all the luck, but he ran out of it against Srikant. The professional shuttler of four-plus years, Sen gives Indian Badminton plenty of hope.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin announced a slew of welfare schemes in quick succession. Political watchers wonder if poll strategist Prashant Kishor still hand holds the DMK or, is it the Think Tank constituted by Stalin for reform that is behind these schemes? TN has been on top of its Corona vaccination priority alongside pandemic control. Health Minister M Subramaniam and his Health Secretary were fully primed to deal with every contingency. Consciously projecting an all-around presence in TN’s government landscape, Stalin announced the ‘Save A Precious Life’ scheme to render timely medical aid to accident victims. Accident victims are now entitled to free medical care for the first 48 hours, including the crucial golden hour, at government or notified private hospitals. As a further impetus, being a good samaritan no longer holds worries for citizens. Many victims remain unattended due to the fear of subsequent police inquisitions. Now, good samaritans would be rewarded Rs 5,000 each for taking accident victims to the hospital. The CM’s mass Health Insurance Scheme bagged the “e-India Jury Award” for best practices in the Health Insurance sector. People can discern between mere populist announcements and tangible results on the ground. Lofty slogans must translate into real benefits is Stalin’s doctrine.
Thiruvananthapuram’s Member of Parliament, Shashi Tharoor dons many hats. He’s famous as a wordsmith, ladies man, trend-setter on social media et al. Even as a politician, he takes on the high and mighty, even from his own party. On December 16, at the launch of the biggest Lulu Mall of India in Trivandrum he hobnobbed with CPM Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, even praised him for his development agenda. This, when the Congress led-UDF has launched a concerted campaign against Vijayan’s controversial Rs 55,000 crore Silverline Rail project connecting Trivandrum and Kasaragod, aimed at accomplishing train travel from one tip of the state to the other in four hours flat. While UDF MPs petitioned the Union Railway Minister against the project, Tharoor refused to fall in line to demand more time and discussion before inking of the deal. This is Tharoor’s way of getting back at fellow MPs and party colleagues who backed the Communist government’s blockade of the privatization of Thiruvananthapuram airport. The Congress was against the airport being handed over to Adani although it was the Congress-led UDF’s erstwhile government that handed over Thiruvananthapuram’s greenfield deep-sea port to Adani. For Tharoor, development sans negative politics is the new mantra. Political conversations abound on how he would make a better leader of Opposition in Parliament than Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.
When Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan was arrested in the drugs-on-cruise liner case the whole of tinseltown came out in support for him. The same spontaneity was missing when actor Armaan Kohli was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau in August 2021. Bollywood’s silence is peculiar, given its penchant to make stars of controversial actors in the past and, may be due to multiple earlier police cases against Kohli. With Bombay High Court rejecting his bail plea, Armaan’s only option is the Supreme Court now. The 49-year old actor, son of renowned film maker Rajkumar Kohli and actress Nishi, was always a maverick since his foray into Bollywood in 1992 with Virodhi. Since then, many interesting offers that came his way were turned down by him. For instance, Shah Rukh Khan became his replacement in Deewana and an overnight star. Though 15 films old, success has eluded Kohli so far, despite his filmy family, by his own doing, says an industrywallah. Still, Salman Khan featured him in Prem Ratan Dhan Paayo and even Bigg Boss. At the Bigg Boss house Kohli befriended Tanisha Mukerji and many felt they would settle down. That was not to be. What does the future hold for Armaan considered a very good looking actor before Hrithik Roshan had arrived? Only time will tell!
TRENDS & VIEWS
Editor’s Note: Short Post Noticed By People Who Matter
Four years have zipped by and we are crossing another milestone on 31st January 2025 – it’s our 4th Anniversary. It feels good.
Looking back at the 1460 days, I must say Short Post has made its mark with people who matter via 4000 stories published in the areas of politics, business, entertainment and sports. All made possible by the unflinching commitment and dedication of our senior editors, most of whom have been part of this journey from Day One.
Small pack, big impact is in essence the story of Short Post which was launched at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021. It shows our conviction. In all humility, I can say, we have created a new niche in the news segment space like Hindustan Unilever which created a new segment, when it launched CloseUp Gel.
Yes, we have created a brand (in a limited sense), created demand (readers) and created supply (senior journalists). But we are facing teething problems like all start-ups. What makes us happy and confident is the recognition of our efforts. For instance, we have an arrangement with the OPEN Magazine, part of the $4.5 billion Kolkata-based Sanjiv Goenka-RPG Group. This arrangement sees around 10 Short Post stories posted on OPEN Magazine website every week. This arrangement is testimony that our content has been well received! Also, I may add that the Maharashtra government has recognised Short Post and has allowed our senior editor to cover the Assembly sessions. Ditto: Odisha.
Our goal is to ensure that Short Post becomes a habit. I would like people to keep checking their smartphones to know the latest Authentic Gossip. As regards AI and the fear of it disrupting all businesses including media. On that, personally, I have no such fear as I am confident AI cannot smell news particularly Authentic Gossip. That’s the place we are well entrenched.