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Why Modi's Aggressive Campaign Is Crucial To Breach Threshold For BJP in Gujarat

After a day’s break, if PM Modi was back in Gujarat for electioneering it should not be a surprise; he is scheduled to address 35 more rallies in 93 assembly segments that are going to polls in the second phase on December 5.  Over the next two days, he will address rallies at Mehsana, Dahod, Vadodara, Bhavnagar, Palanpur, Dehgam, Matar, and Dholka. He has already addressed 16 rallies during his first visit, taking his overall tally of meetings to 50. It is apparent that Modi’s aggressive campaign is crucial to breaking his own record of 2002 when BJP won 127 seats. In fact, at the end of his speeches Modi appeals to people to help CM Bhupendra Patel break his record so that Modi could go “back to do his work in Delhi” — that is to hand the BJP 150 seats. Gujarat takes a lot of pride in Modi’s achievement as PM. It is for this reason Modi hit out at Congress leader Madhusudan Mistry’s remark about showing “aukat” to him. Taking a swipe at Rahul Gandhi for hand-holding social activist Medha Patkar as someone opposed to Narmada Dam, Modi said those who stalled the Narmada project for 40 years through litigation had kept Gujarat thirsty for 40 years. “The people of Gujarat will punish those who are doing padyatra to get back to power and punish those who were against the Narmada project”.
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Maharashtra-Karnataka Border Row Hots Up, Both BJP Governments Adamant

The age-old border dispute between Maharashtra and Karnataka has pitted BJP governments in both states against each other again. On the other hand, all political parties in Maharashtra have come together to oppose any move by the neighbouring state Karnataka in this direction. The dispute was born with the formation of Maharashtra and Karnataka (then Mysore) states on linguistic basis over 60 years ago. Several Marathi-speaking areas were included in Karnataka. Since then, the two states are at loggerheads even when both have had governments of the same parties, first the Congress and now the BJP. The dispute at present is before the Supreme Court. After an all-party meeting in Mumbai a couple of days ago decided to jointly fight the matter, Karnataka chief minister Basavraj Bommai has asserted that his government was considering a demand by 40 villages in Jath taluka of Sangli district along the border to merge them with his state since they were facing water scarcity. Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said the demand was made way back a decade ago. During his chief ministership, the problem of water shortages was handled by him. If the remedy is held up due to some reason, it will be implemented soon, he promised. Fadnavis has emphatically declared that not a single village from the state will go to Karnataka. 
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BJP And Spin Doctors Pull Out All Stops To Hijack Tamil And Tamilians To Kashi

People are still shell shocked by the concentrated and concerted effort of the BJP’s Kasi Tamil Sangam show, presided over so eloquently as a hard sell by the PM, a month long event focussed on the Tamils. Thirteen religious heads of Mutts from Tamil Nadu are camping in Kashi, Uttar Pradesh, the PM’s much vaunted constituency. Maestro Ilayaraja and his group performed a mesmerising Shiva sthotram with the PM clapping in rhythm. A full trainload of religious Tamil Savants and assorted youth was seen off by no less than Governor of TN for back to back religious events and tours of Kasi .And oh! not to forget the 13 language translation and book release of the Thirukkural, a historic spiritual work of poet Thiruvalluvar, long hijacked by the Dravidian parties as their own. Topping this blitz cake was the PM’s address; he looked comfortable in a “Veshti and Angavastram”. Kashi is the second home for Tamils. Who scripted this eclectic show? When the PM’s chopper trip to Madurai airport was cancelled due to bad weather he took the road. And BJP’s Tamil Nadu K Annamalai was handpicked as a solo companion to accompany the PM on this hour-long drive. And the entire Kashi caper was scripted and presented to the PM. Kashi, the oldest city in the world is now the newest magnetic confluence of politics.
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Bitcoin Craze Has Badly Hit An Unexpected Target, The Direct Selling Business

The Indian Direct Selling Association (IDSA), the apex body of companies like Amway, Herbalife, Tupperware, is going through bad times. Not due to regulatory issues and being badmouthed for being multi-level marketing rackets, as its members were branded in the past, but because of another factor that has generated a lot of hype and interest among entrepreneurs looking to make astronomical returns on their investments. With Bitcoin exchanges having mushroomed, and many of them having vanished after collecting money from investors, the cryptocurrency – touted as “the new oil – has lured many of the players’ younger elements away from direct selling. The impact of the Bitcoin frenzy is particularly severe in the direct selling, which is based on a self-entrepreneurial business model, leading many top leaders in the industry to brainstorm strategies to retain their sales field force in training which they have invested heavily. Emerging industries, like food, cab hailing services and e-commerce marketplaces, as well as direct selling and FMCG, which have adopted an aggregator business model using gig workers for last-mile delivery, are experiencing attrition. Industry leaders have also expressed concern about Bitcoin exchanges propagating their businesses as MLM. “We are all over the place,” says an IDSA official who doesn’t want to be named. “Sales have taken a hit because of Bitcoins – the lure of making quick money is attracting the youth.”

TRENDS & VIEWS

Technology Cannot Disrupt Original Content Provider: Short Post Editor

They say time flies. How true!  Today is our #SecondAnniversary. Two years back at the height of Covid-19 Pandemic when lockdown was the way of life we took a leap of faith and launched Short Post (Jan 28, 2021), the first-of-its-kind website in the country that focuses on Authentic Gossip. The Oxymoron is deliberate. Well, the response has been quite encouraging. That’s what has kept us going. Till date we have posted close to 2000 stories in the areas of Politics, Business, Entertainment and Sports. Each insightful story of around 225 words has been contributed by Senior Editors. There is a sense of satisfaction of creating a new segment in the market – authentic gossip — and in the process creating a brand (in a limited sense), creating demand (readers) and creating supply (writers). Well known advertisers — IDFC FIRST Bank, ICICI Lombard – supported us.  And that really boosted our confidence. Thank you!

So here we are raring to go.  But, when I look at the media landscape the disruption is indeed fast and furious. Technology is playing a very big role in how content will be consumed. In the past, we have seen how social media has disrupted the media world. Now, everybody is saying the same thing about ChatGPT. It has reached 1 million users in five days. Its scorching pace of growth is indeed frightening and will disrupt the media industry big time. My limited argument is can it do investigative stories, write gossip items using the digital world ecosystem. Unlikely. Clearly, the original content has to be created first — only then can ChatGPT do the magic. That’s what we promise to do – focus on original content.

Before I sign off, I am reminded of an old advertisement of the early sixties: “Avis is only No.2 in rent a cars. So we try harder”. Likewise I can say, we are two years old and we are trying even harder to be relevant to you readers.