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The kerfuffle following Ricky Ponting’s straight–from–the–shoulder observation of Virat Kohli’s form was unnecessary. In the course of an International Cricket Council (ICC) conducted interview before the five-Test series between India and Australia in Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the former Australian captain said that Kohli has scored only two Test centuries in the last five years (186 against Australia in Ahmedabad in March 2023 and 121 against the West Indies in Port of Spain in July 2023). In these circumstances, he wondered if any other player would have been picked for the national side. While Kohli — described by Ponting as one of the greats in the same interview — himself did not respond to Ponting’s appraisal of his form, a seemingly annoyed India head coach Gautam Gambhir virtually questioned Ponting saying: “What does Ricky Ponting have to do with Indian cricket? He should be talking about Australia.’’ Gambhir’s retort was churlish. The media seeks the opinions of former greats as a build-up to events and in this case Ponting was interviewed by none other than the ICC because of the importance of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Ponting has gone to the extent of saying that the series between India and Australia — from the backend of his career – has always been a high-stakes affair, not far from the relevance of the Ashes. Ponting has played 560 matches for Australia across formats, scored 27483 runs with 71 x 100s and 146 x 50s and led Australia in 77 Tests. He is also a World Cup-winning captain. To question his credentials is downright absurd.
Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath packed a lot of wit and humour while taking potshots at Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge who had mocked Hindu sadhus straying into politics and occupying high offices “in saffron robes”. Yogi reminded Kharge that he may have forgotten some crucial parts while recollecting his family’s sacrifices “for votes”. Yogi alleged Kharge purposely glossed over the tragic death of “his mother and sister” in an attack by Razakars as he feared losing Muslim votes. Addressing a rally in Achalpur in Vidarbha, the UP leader said, “I am a Yogi, and for me, the nation comes first, while for Mallikarjun Kharge, appeasement politics comes first.” He was responding to Kharge’s comments on the “batenge toh katenge” remark. He recounted Kharge’s childhood tragedy during the political unrest in Hyderabad during India’s independence. Kharge was born in the Bidar region of erstwhile Hyderabad state, ruled by the Nizams. The Razakars were a paramilitary force that operated in the princely state with a primary objective to maintain the rule of the Muslim Nizams of Hyderabad and prevent the accession of Hyderabad to India. Incidentally, at the very rally where Kharge was pouring scorn on Yogi’s saffron attire, the Congress chief was trying to generate some sympathy for himself by talking about how he had narrowly escaped the wrath of razakars. He didn’t name the razakars; he merely said how his father was relieved that his only son had been “saved”. “Even our house was burnt. I don’t want to talk about those who attacked us.”
India’s Test team – thrashed 3-0 by New Zealand – will look upon the five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against Australia with trepidation rather than hope. After the 2-0 win against Bangladesh, the Rohit Sharma-led team seemed to have reached the doorstep of the ICC World Test Championship final. But in a matter of 10 playing days from October 16 to November 3, all the hype around a third consecutive WTC final turned into slough of despond because drawing a blank from the available 36 points from three Tests against New Zealand meant winning four of the five Tests in Australia to qualify for the WTC final. India could be disappointed when the fourth Test begins in Melbourne on Boxing Day (December 26). Of course, putting it across the Pat Cummins-led Australian side will drive the Indian team that competed hard to bring down the home side in the two previous series of 2018-19 and 2020-21. Preparing “designer turners’’ in Pune and Mumbai did not help the home team in any way as New Zealand’s two left-arm spinners, Mitchell Santner and Ajaz Patel, sent the home team packing, capturing 13 wickets in Pune and 11 wickets in Mumbai. The five pitches in Australia will not afford copious turns to the slow men, but Cummins will deploy the smart off-spinner Nathan Lyon – he has taken 60 of his 259 wickets at home in 15 Tests against India — to the full. India has to muster all its wits, hour by hour, session by session, and day by day, deliver with the bat, ball, and field well in each Test match to make the series riveting.
It was a public-private partnership to provide water services on commercial terms. It was touted as one of the largest private investments in urban infrastructure in India. New Tirupur Area Development Corporation Ltd. (NTADCL) was incorporated in 1995 as a special purpose vehicle to improve potable water and sewerage infrastructure in Tiruppur through an integrated water supply and sewerage project. In 2000, Tamil Nadu Water Investment Company Ltd (TWIC) was formed as a promoter company to route all investments into NTADCL. The Tamil Nadu government owns a 46% stake in TWIC and IL&FS 54%. TWIC holds a 28.72% stake in NTADCL. Overall, the Tamil Nadu government owns 38.32% stake in NTADCL and IL&FS 25.88%. In 2003, Aidqua Holdings (Mauritius), Inc invested ₹90 crore in NTADCL for a shareholding of 27%. Post a corporate debt restructuring (CDR) in 2012, its stake came down to 15%. Aidqua has challenged the CDR before the Supreme Court and the case has been pending since then. In the meanwhile, NTADCL wanted Aidquo to disclose the details of significant beneficial owners (SBO), who exercise control in Aidqua. This was objected to by Aidqua. The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Chennai, has now directed Aidqua to disclose details of beneficial owners. The concept of SBO was introduced in India with the objective to curb illegitimate activities and identify the natural persons controlling a corporate entity. An amended Companies Act provides for the disclosure of beneficial owners in a corporate entity. Well, the NCLT ruling could prove significant in the context of changing dynamics in the corporate world.
He looks very much like the boy next door. When he walks on the street, he doesn’t seem to get noticed. This lanky lad, however, is now sort of emerging as a star bowling member of the Indian test cricket squad. He became the first off-spinner in very many summers to pocket seven wickets in the first innings of the second test against the Kiwis at Pune recently. He went on to bag its maiden 10-wicket haul in the match. Not surprisingly, Chennai boy Washington Sundar finds berth in the Indian team that is set for a test series in Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Australians are a tough nut to crack in their home pitches. The Indians require more than a bit of luck to bell the Australians in their home turf. Washington Sundar is acutely aware of this. Recently, the off-spinner made a beeline for Lord Parthasarathy at Triplicane, one of the oldest Divya Desam temples in Chennai, to seek HIS blessings for the ensuing test series in Australia. Washington Sundar was escorted by a temple volunteer for a quiet darshan of deities in this historical temple. Accompanied by his family members, Washigton Sundar had an archana darshan of all deities at the temple. Sundar needs a chariot of good luck. Who could give him that? Lord Parthasarathy, of course!
Looks like Himachal Pradesh chief minister Sukhwinder Sukhu is battling a needless controversy over a CID probe into missing samosas linked to his visit to CID headquarters last month. He has been at pains to clarify that the probe, as reported by media, was not linked to the savoury ordered from a 5-star hotel but into “misbehaviour” of officials. He also feels that the BJP’s attack against him regarding the issue was “childish”, and that the party was running a smear campaign against him ever since the Congress won the assembly election. Sukhu felt the BJP was focussing on missing samosas since ‘Operation Lotus’ to dislodge his government failed. Samosas and cakes, which were ordered for CM Sukhu, were reportedly served to his security staff instead, and the entire situation snowballed into a controversy. Eventually, a CID probe was launched as the incident was termed as an anti-government act. Those responsible acted according to their own agenda, a highly placed official in the CID said in his note on the October 21 incident when the CM visited the CID headquarters. An enquiry report by a deputy SP rank officer found that samosas from three boxes of refreshments meant for the CM were rather served to his security staff. Recovering from an infection, it must be said the CM was keeping off samosas. While on samosas it must be noted the savoury featured in the farewell proceedings in Court No 1 in the Supreme Court when CJI designate Justice Sanjiv Khanna — also referred to samosas as outgoing CJI DY Chandrachud’s favorite snack!
Vidya Balan struck Bollywood like a tornado in Parineeta having debuted in 2003 with a Bengali film Bhale Thaco …this South Indian star raved by audiences for her acting and beauty struck a chord. Another Hema, Rekha, Padmini, Vyjayantimala? Vidya has her unique magnetism and left behind her signature in every role. Then it happened …actually it had been building up kilo by kilo …her weight gain overshadowed all else. Though she faced body shaming with determination, even as she claimed that she had overwhelming hormonal issues. But in a super charged fashion and style world where the Manish Malhotras and Tarun Tahilianis who designed for super trim beauties, Vidya had to regain her trim figure. And you know how she lost weight, leading to OMG gasps and wonderment? As stylishly as she handled an on stage fall, oops moment while performing a dance number with Madhuri Dixit for the promo of Bhool Bhulaiya 3. Even as Vidya performed intricate Bharata Natyam steps, she just fell…and raised herself stylishly and carried on, almost as if it was a dance move. Vidya now basks in admiration for her weight loss which was through the diet change that she credits — Anura, a health center that helped her to identify her particular “inflammation” prone body response to sluggish metabolism. The born again Vidya is chirpy and cheerful and fans are going to see a lot more of the new Vidya.
Maharashtra has locked-in six political parties fighting the mother of all poll battles. Upbeat NDA (BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP) — despite initial assessments indicating alliance bagging below 130 seats — hopes orchestrated triangular fights will register 140 wins. BJP wants 105 like 2019, and expects a two-digit final outcome like Gujarat (99 MLAs won). Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, BJP’s CM face, discerned his party’s 148 candidates as also for Shiv Sena/NCP led by CM Eknath Shinde/Ajit Pawar respectively, even supplanted BJP candidates on alliance party tickets (Shiv Sena:9, NCP:5). Congress leads MVA bloc fighting over 100 seats, UBT Sena fights 90 plus (below 126 in 2019). Sharad Pawar’s NCP shortlisted 35 candidates, then handled a problem of plenty after 85 bounty, finding 50 more candidates post haste. Uddhav Thackeray discerned winning candidates to rectify Lok Sabha debacle (nine MPs from 21 contested seats). Independents, (over 25) from MVA ranks while BJP mostly quelled rebellion, expected to play king makers in Maharashtra government formation post November 23. BJP’s Borivali MLA Sunil Rane rues double bad luck being dumped in favour of Sandeep Upadhyay even as CM Shinde fielded reluctant MP Milind Deora from Worli constituency. Samajwadi Party’s Mankhurd MLA Abu Azmi worries over minority reports swaying towards NCP’s Nawab Malik while BJP’s ‘Bullet’ Patil hopes to gain from “Chanakya Niti” by Fadnavis. Navi Mumbai strongman Ganesh Naik’s son Sandeep quit BJP after senior leader Manda Mhatre got the party ticket making independents unofficial third front in polls.
The CPI(M) in West Bengal is grappling with a challenging phase as several of its prominent leaders continue to quit the party and join rival parties like the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Surprisingly, notable figures who previously held influential roles within the Left Front government have quit. Some like Abdus Sattar and Abul Rezzak Mollah stand out as former Left Front ministers who have now ascended to notable positions within the TMC. The BJP, too, has benefited from CPI(M) defections. Shankar Ghosh, a young leader from Siliguri, left the CPI(M) to join the BJP ahead of the 2021 polls, defeating his mentor and veteran CPI(M) leader Ashok Bhattacharya. Ghosh has since risen to become the chief whip of the BJP Legislative Assembly Committee. Former CPI(M) MLA Tapasi Mondal is now a BJP legislator from Haldia, her former constituency. CPI(M) State Secretary Mohammad Salim has attributed the trend to a “bankrupted political culture” fostered by the TMC-BJP nexus, emphasizing that true ideological commitment would prevent leaders from joining parties with opposing values. However, within the CPI(M), there is a growing realization that even efforts to rejuvenate the party with youth faces are not stemming the outflow of talent. Amidst these concerns, CPI(M)’s Bengal unit is re-evaluating its alliance with Congress for upcoming state elections. Although the two parties are long-time allies in West Bengal, their ideological differences remain stark, especially given their rivalry in states like Kerala. Clearly, CPI(M) leadership has a tough job on hand – to stop the exits and ensure that the party regains its pristine glory in West Bengal.
Is the honeymoon over for Odisha’s chief minister Mohon Charan Majhi who recently completed 100 days in the office? Majhi who operates from the famous third floor of Odisha Secretariat building is now being judged for his leadership skills, teamwork and results by his partymen, opposition leaders and bureaucrats. Not without reason. According to former editor of Outlook magazine Ruben Banerjee, Majhi has yet to put in place a well-oiled team in CMO on whom he can rely to monitor and execute projects. He says there is a trust deficit as Majhi has not been able to build relationships across ministries as a result most ministers and bureaucrats in Odisha’s BJP government are working in isolation. Banerjee says neither CM trusts all ministers nor they trust him. This impression is gaining currency as the CM recently asked for assistance to look after some of his portfolio from Health & Family Welfare and Parliamentary Affairs minister Dr Mukesh Mahaling instead of several ministers like Suresh Pujari holding miniscule portfolios. Also, what seems to be going against Majhi is his time-management skill. He is either late for the meeting or keeps people waiting for long hours. Recently when the Singapore High Commissioner came calling, the CM was 45 minutes late for the meeting. Sometimes back at the Odisha government’s Mumbai investor summit, he kept Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman of AV Birla Group waiting for over an hour.
Is Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee planning to hand over the reins to her nephew Abhishek Banerjee? All indications point in that directions. Witness this, Abhishek, the party’s second-in-command and national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee has unveiled a new campaign “Trinamooler Nabojowar” (Uprise of New Trinamool). Spanning over two months, the campaign has two parts — first a Jono Sanjog Yatra (mass outreach march) where he will be addressing over 250 public meetings, and the second being Gram Banglar Motamot (opinion of rural Bengal). Interestingly, Abhishek will hold meetings with 3,000 party functionaries of the district, panchayat and booth levels and also with the people of local influence in the view of selecting 73000 candidates for the three-tier panchayat election through a secret ballot. Political analysts say that with Didi announcing the outreach drive it clearly hints at projecting her nephew as a mass leader ahead of the panchayat and the national polls next year. Moreover, analysts are also equating the new programme with that of Didi ke Bolo (Tell to Didi) campaign, designed by erstwhile political consultant Prasant Kishore, which resulted in thumping mandate during State Assembly election 2021. The march begins from North Bengal where TMC is still struggling for a strong foothold.
Edappadi Palaniswami getting the nod from Election Commission might prove embarrassing for the Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai. The Supreme Court had nudged ECI to take the call within 10 days and the EC came up with the permissions needed for EPS to be recognized as the general Secretary of AIADMK and while also granting his faction the right to use the ‘Two Leaves’ symbol. Word on the ground as a tiff was developing between EPS and Annamalai was that the BJP was not happy about a Gounder (caste) taking on a Gounder, which is why it appeared there was a chance that the party might press for O Panneerselvam’s faction so the party could bring the dominant caste Thevars to support them. All that proved to be just speculation, which was fuelled some more by the Prime Minister not meeting EPS or OPS on his Chennai visit. Meanwhile, Annamalai, who is busy taking up corruption issues against the top DMK leaders, played an audio tape reportedly containing finance minister P Thiaga Rajan’s (PTR) alleged admission that the CM’s son Udhayanidhi and son-in-law Sabareesh were collecting Rs 10 to Rs 20 crore a day and that they may have amassed Rs 30,000 crore so far. Indeed, these are interesting times in Tamil Nadu where alone the central agencies like ED and CBI are not seen to be that busy.
The political uncertainty playing out in Maharashtra has led to the emergence of Sanjay Raut as a unique polarising factor in Maharashtra politics. Be it during the split of the Shiv Sena, when Eknath Shinde legislators blamed him for the split or now during the almost-split of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Raut’s claim in his political column about Sharad Pawar admission of factions within his party set to join the BJP, had clearly rankled Ajit Pawar, who saw it as Raut’s meddling in his party’s affairs. Earlier, Raut had similarly rankled the Bharatiya Janata party Party (BJP), which blamed him particularly his editorials in Saamna for creating rifts in the SS- BJP’s alliance. Raut has clearly emerged as a unique player in Maharashtra politics way beyond his position as editor of the Shiv Sena (UBT) mouthpiece Saamna or even as his party’s spokesperson. He is now the most vociferous proponent of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) –Maharashtra’s experiment of an anti-BJP front. Though Sharad Pawar is the architect of the MVA, it was Raut, who has successfully advocated it before the media and the people. Enforcement agencies and even 100 days in jail have failed to tame his sharp-tongue. As political uncertainty lingers on over the forthcoming Supreme Court verdict on the fate of the Eknath Shinde’s legislators and his government, Raut’s role is only set to get more prominent.
Thursday (Apr 20) was a day of mixed news for the Gandhi siblings from the courts and this brought some cheer to the Congress. While Surat sessions court refused to stay his conviction in the defamation case for Rahul Gandhi, Haryana revenue officials brought some cheer by giving a clean chit to transfer of land by Robert Vadra’s Skylight Hospitality to the DLF in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. This came nearly five years after an FIR was registered against former chief minister Bhupinder Hooda and others for cheating and other offences at Gurugram. It is not clear if Vadra got the clean chit as an unintended consequence of the Khattar government’s efforts to bail out its ally — the Chauthalas. As for as the Vadra-DLF land transfer matter, the affidavit said: “It was reported by tehsildar, Manesar, Gurugram, that Skylight Hospitality sold 3.5 acres to DLF Universal Limited on September 18, 2019, and no regulation/rules have been violated in the said transaction. As per the report received from tehsildar, Wazirabad, Gurugram, it was clearly stated that the land in question has not been found in the name of DLF Universal Ltd and the land still exists in the name of HSVP/HSIIDC, Haryana”.
Netflix, the California-based OTT player, is rejigging its business strategy. To start with it has done away with its initial business of mail order DVDs. The DVD postal service was launched as an alternative to DVD rental stores. This business generates only $ 126 mn of Netlfix’s annual turnover of $ 31.6 bn. Besides, it is also aggressively cracking down on free password sharing among its subscribers. Recently it launched a new password sharing policy in the U.S. which includes paid sharing. This policy is being introduced to all its 231 mn paid subscribers across 190 countries. Also, on the anvil are more streams, like subscription only and ad driven streams. In the first quarter of 2023 Netflix added 1.75 mn new customers as against 7.66 million customers last quarter. Though the customer additions look lower, it is considered a significant turnaround as it had lost 200,000 customers in the first quarter of 2022. Netflix’s India business too is looking up with engagement growing nearly 30 % in the first quarter of 2023 vis a vis last year. This follows lowering of prices by 20% to 60 % in December 2021, leading to deepening the penetration of the market. This also led to a revenue growth of 24% in 2022 as against 19% in 2021. Netflix now plans to replicate the India model to 116 other countries.
Arjun Tendulkar has bowled the first over of the powerplay, and thereby the first over of the match itself, and the last over (40th) of an IPL match. Both tough overs when the batsmen throw their wrists to get going, especially in the first six overs when only two fielders are allowed outside the inner circle. Son of the legendary Sachin Tendulkar, Arjun has been in the news ever since the five-time winner of the league Mumbai Indians made a successful bid for him at Rs 30 lakhs at the player auction in February last. The 23 year old is a left arm seamer who has played a few matches in the BCCI’s domestic tournaments for Mumbai and Goa. He has also played two Under-19 Test matches for India. He was often seen at the MI nets before the franchise chose him for the 2021 IPL season. The inability of left arm seamer Arshad Khan to make a big impact in the first three matches may have hastened Arjun’s IPL debut against the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede. Arjun gave just five runs in the first over and when given the last (death) over against the Sunrisers Hyderabad — when he had 19 to defend — he bowled to the field and took his first IPL wicket too. In two matches Arjun has held his own!
Karnataka PCC chief D K Shivkumar’s last minute gamble to get his brother and the lone Congress Lok Sabha MP D K Suresh to file papers as his cover candidate from Kanakapura assembly seat has not gone down well with state Congress cadres. It was felt such a move could send out a message of uncertainty about the Congress. While officially the Congress explained the need for a cover candidate for Shivkumar — who was hoping to be CM — as a technical necessity. Party sources said Shivkumar had moved his brother to Kanakapura only as a back-up plan. “Having a cover candidate is necessary; he has to be there in the fray only till the time of withdrawal of nominations,” explained an AICC manager. But then why is the PCC chief suddenly preparing for the worst and worrying about rejection of his papers? Hasn’t Shivkumar been winning the Kanakapura assembly seat since 2008? Or has the entry of a senior BJP minister and prominent Vokkaliga face R Ashoka from Kanakapura queered the pitch for him? Meanwhile, Shivkumar’s attempts to consolidate the star power of Vokkaligas are showing results. He got former Lok Sabha MP and actor Divya Sapandana aka Ramya back as star campaigner. Ramya had also joined Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra in the state. Shivkumar was also hoping to get Mandya MP and actor Sumalatha Ambareesh to contest on Congress ticket. She opted out.
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.