November 14, 2022 - Short Post

All Politics

Jitendra Awhad Threatens To Resign His Assembly Seat, NCP Furious

Controversial NCP leader Jitendra Awhad’s announcement to resign his membership of the legislative assembly to protest against police atrocities has created a political storm in Maharashtra as the former minister has dragged chief minister Eknath Shinde into the whole affair. Awhad has announced his intent as Thane police have filed a second case against Awhad within 72 hours. The case pertains to a BJP woman worker’s complaint that he had pushed and molested her in a crowd that had gathered in Thane during Shinde’s visit on Sunday (Nov 13). Awhad is already out on bail in a case when his supporters assaulted a cinegoer in his presence a couple of days ago in regard to some debatable references to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in a Marathi movie. According to the complaint filed by the aggrieved, he had gone to watch the movie with his wife. When Awhad and his supporters stormed the theatre and stopped the screening, the cinegoer demanded a refund of his ticket money. It was at this juncture that he was roughed up. He has alleged that this happened in Awhad’s presence. The NCP has condemned the police action and warned that the level of politicking in the state had been deteriorating day by day. Maharashtra NCP president Jayant Patil has declared that he will try to convince Awhad not to take the extreme political step.

Post By Dilip Chaware

@AnupamPKher

All Entertainment

Sooraj Barjatya Is Always Grounded Despite His 'Unnchai'

Rajshri’s high profile star cast movie Unnchai released with a slow start but saw a jump on the second day of its release. Sooraj Barjatya, the filmmaker who is known to make family films has this time returned with a film that is outside his comfort zone but has the underline thread of friendship Rajshri style. Those in the trade would not like to criticize Barjatya’s film but those who have watched say it is not an extraordinary story. Yes, his name gives them a reason to not run it down and this has translated into a cash register ringing. A visit to Barjatya’s office, Rajshri which is India’s leading film, TV, music and digital studio set up in 1947, gives you the feeling that cinema is still alive and their functioning reminds us of the Indian values. All what he shows in his films is from families around him. For him to show the stars drinking in a song was full of reluctance. He is a gentleman director of the film industry who never raises voice or gets upset with any actors or people around him. Only once he lost his cool by his own admission with Abhishek Bachchan and Kareena Kapoor. He is humility personified. Nobody likes to hurt him. Salman Khan is one of his best friends and looks like he will return in his film as Prem very soon.

Post By Entertainment Editor

All Politics

Rahul To Take Yatra Break For Gujarat Poll Campaign, May Skip Parliament Session

There is speculation whether Rahul Gandhi who is busy with Bharat Jodo Yatra would be attending the winter session of Parliament in December. The session is expected to be held soon after Gujarat and Himachal assembly results are out on December 8. As such he has kept himself away from the election campaign in Himachal because of yatra. So did the incumbent AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge. However even as the yatra is now moving northwards, Rahul has not included poll-bound Gujarat– in his route map. Incidentally, Gujarat was a state, he had extensively campaigned in 2017 and had got good results. This time his yatra has decided against entering Gujarat; may be as late political secretary Ahmed Patel is no longer around. So he has chosen to spend some time in Rajasthan and will be visiting Bulandshahr in western UP before reaching J&K via Delhi. It is now being said that the Wayanad MP will spend a day campaigning in Gujarat on November 22 — the state goes to polls in two phases on December 1 and 5. After this Rahul may most likely skip the winter session as he would not like to be seen taking any break from the 3,500 km long foot march from Kayakumari to Kashmir Yatra.

Post By Lakshmi Iyer

All Celebrities

Amish Tripathi Bags Additional Portfolio Of Education At Indian High Commission UK

Celebrated author, writer and bureaucrat and currently Director, Nehru Centre in London, Amish Tripathi (48) has obtained a two year extension to serve in London. In addition to his current posts as Director, Nehru Centre Amish has been offered an additional portfolio — Education. With this he is now Minister (Culture & Education), High Commission of India. This move reflects on him as a powerful Indian bureaucrat as extensions are very seldom rather unprecedented and happen in very special cases. Amish says, “My team and I will manage all interactions with the British Education ministry, universities here in the UK and actively support Indian students here.” Following a memorandum of understanding struck on July 21, 2022 that is a part of the UK-India Enhanced Trade Partnership by the UK and India to recognise each other’s higher education qualifications, Universities in the UK expect a surge in applications from Indian students. In 2020-21 the UK attracted 84,555 Indian students, with 73% coming for masters courses mostly of one year’s duration. In the year ended March 2022, as many as 107,978 Indian students were issued study visas to the UK, marking a significant rise of 93% compared to the same period before that. The UK government had indicated in 2019 that it was going to reintroduce the post-study work visa route for international students graduating from July 1, 2021 resulted in a massive boost in student numbers.

Post By Rahul Laud

All Business

India Cements Platinum Jubilee Celebrations Connect Business, Politics And Cricket

In a land where cricket has a mass appeal, it is little wonder that the game has become a connector par excellence. Well, the platinum jubilee celebrations of The India Cements Ltd (ICL) held on November 12 in Chennai saw the Union Home Minister Amit Shah grace the occasion as chief guest. N Srinivasan, vice-chairman & MD of ICL, and Amit Shah have something in common between them. Shah was heading the Gujarat Cricket Association once upon a time. Srinivasan has been a cricket administrator for a very long time – both at the state as well national level. Shah recalled their sports connection and indicated that their relationship required no thanks between them. Shah’s rare presence at a corporate function threw a surprise of a different sort also. Former Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, O Panneerselvam was seated on the front row! Is this a signal BJP will go along with AIADMK to fight 2024 general elections? Interestingly, Tamil Chief Minister MK Stalin who is very close to Srini stayed out and instead deputed his Industries Minister Thangam Thennarasu to attend the function. And of course CSK Captain MS Dhoni was also seen hobnobbing with Amit Shah. If optics matter, there is enough to ponder over for everybody.

Post By KT Jagannathan

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.

TRENDS & VIEWS

Editor’s Note: Big Punch In Small Pack

REACH US