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The deep depression in the Bay of Bengal has been pounding Tamil Nadu with massive rainfall and flooding. Schools, Colleges and all public institutions are to remain closed with dire warnings of every hue…red, orange alerts to stay indoors and stay safe. But the government in its wisdom is keeping the state-run TASMAC outlets open for thirsty denizens. PMK leader Dr Anbumani Ramdoss has lashed out at the TN government over this move. “Is it life-saving medicine or an essential that the public can’t live without? Is it an intrinsic part of the Dravida model to keep liquor sales open”? asked Anbumani in X. Significantly, Deputy CM, Udhayanidhi Stalin addressed the media even as the MET office warned about the heavy rain conditions to hit and assured that the DMK government was fully prepared to take on the threat of flooding. Having suffered severe losses in the past two cyclone hits with cars inundated, the public quickly resorted to parking cars on the flyover bridges….The Velachery flyover overnight turned into a parking lot. It’s another outrage that the police warned about big fines for such “parking”, adding insult to injury. YouTube podcasts on the rain caused flooding in Poes Garden, the hallowed precinct of power, politics and prestige turned smirk worthy. Ramadoss and his take on keeping TASMAC sales open as part of Dravida governance is seen as justified. Strange are the ways of “ideology” when it is business as usual.
Even as the Election Commission finalised polling date for Maharashtra as November 20, the Congress took a lesson from the BJP playbook and appointed senior leaders from other states to manage the polls in Maharashtra as observers. The high-profile team includes former CMs like Ashok Gehlot, Bhupesh Baghel and Charanjit Channi. Karnataka deputy CM G Parameshwara, former deputy CMs TR Singhdeo and Sachin Pilot. The team also includes two Telangana ministers Uttam Kumar Reddy and D Anasuya Seethakka. Deployment of a super team comes right after Congress’ debacle in Haryana elections where BJP won for the third time, securing 48 seats despite exit polls predicting a definite win for the Congress, which was able to secure only 37 seats. One of the reasons that was attributed to the party’s loss is leaving it all to former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Former Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot and Karnataka deputy CM G Parameshwara have been assigned Mumbai and Konkan region while Vidarbha region will be handled by former Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel and former Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi and Madhya Pradesh MLA and former minister Umang Singhar. Former Rajasthan deputy CM Sachin Pilot and senior Telangana minister Uttam Kumar Reddy have been deputed to Marathwada region while former Chhattisgarh deputy CM TS Singhdeo and senior Karnataka minister MB Patil have been assigned Western Maharashtra. Senior Rajya Sabha MP Syed Nasser Hussain and senior Telangana minister D Anasuya Seethakka have been asked to look after North Maharashtra. For Jharkhand, the party has appointed a 3-member team headed by Tariq Anwar and Adhir Ranjan Choudhary. Meanwhile, the party has declared Priyanka Gandhi as Wayanad Lok Sabha candidate.
The Eknath Shinde government in Maharashtra held over five cabinet meetings in the span of the first fortnight of October and took over 200 decisions. This was the sprint before the code of conduct got enforced on October 15, 2024. In fact, even the death of Ratan Tata, that had the state observe a day of mourning, did not dissuade Shinde from not holding a cabinet. There was rapid fire decision-making with two cabinet meetings witnessing almost 71 decisions and even 80 decisions each. The chief minister has been over-generous and liberal in doling out freebies, sops and financial allocations in a bid to earn brownie points in the forthcoming elections forcing the opposition to claim that the state treasury was being emptied to woo voters by Shinde. Maharashtra already has debts of over Rs 7 lakh crore and the Ladki Bahin Yojana is expected to bleed it further. Concerns are already being raised about the feasibility of Shinde’s schemes be it the launching of multiple corporations considering that CAG report had claimed that most corporations were not functioning well. In fact, Shinde’s generosity in financial disbursements goes beyond the confines of the state. Sanjay Raut has claimed that the BJP has got Shinde to fund elections in other states like that of Haryana and that each of the probable candidates were being doled out Rs 20 crore by Shinde. The average Mumbaikar is happy that the toll fee at the five entry points has stopped for now. Whether this will convert into votes for Shinde remains to be seen.
The BJP has finalized its polls strategy for the Maharashtra state assemblies for which Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and UP CM Yogi Adityanath will be the star campaigners. The troika will address 18, 26 and 26 public rallies respectively across Maharashtra in a blitzkrieg of public rallies. This carpet-bombing political strategy seeks to exploit the party’s recent success in the Haryana assembly elections where the BJP returned to power for a record third time and improved performance in the Jammu region of J&K where this troika delivered the goods so-to-speak in good measure. International political developments particularly, in neighbouring Bangladesh played a crucial role in consolidating the Indian voter base of the BJP. Additionally, the RSS had organized 16,000 public meetings in Haryana over the last four months encompassing 6,000 villages in the state through a targeted door-to-door campaign by deploying its Karyakartas in the run up to the state assembly elections with a message of Hindu unity that worked like a charm for the BJP. The RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat publicly announced that his cadre of Pracharaks has laser focussed its attention to the forthcoming state assembly elections in Maharashtra, Jharkhand just like it did for Haryana and the general elections of India prior to that through a micro-outreach program. “Our culture, country and (Hindu) religion must not only survive but thrive,” Bhagwat has stated in obvious reference to consistent international (deep state) efforts to undermine India’s growing economy and its cultural identity that has been re-established over the last decade.
Could Baba Siddique who was shot dead while he was bursting crackers outside his MLA son Zeeshan’s office on Vijaya Dashami lived if he had moved out of Maharashtra politics just as he had wished? The former Congress leader, who hailed from Bihar, was apparently wanting to return to his roots and had even met with RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, seeking a Rajya Sabha berth before making the switch to the NCP led by Ajit Pawar. It seemed he had enough of Mumbai politics and deals. Responding to Siddique’s tragic news, Tejashwi Yadav merely acknowledged how he had interacted with Siddique and his family during his recent visit to Mumbai. Siddique hailed from Gopalganj district. For some reason, Siddique was uncomfortable with the Congress and Shiv Sena(UBT) alliance, and had decided to opt out of the party in March this year. A three-time MLA from Bandra West assembly constituency, Siddique had served as a minister in the Congress-undivided NCP government in the early 2000.While his exit would be a big loss to Ajit Pawar ahead of the assembly polls, Sharad Pawar too hailed him as a leader who fought for the “minority community and championed secularism”. A close associate of actor-turned-politician Sunil Dutt, who helped him secure his first Congress ticket in 1999. Siddique is credited for bringing to end frosty ties between actors Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan in 2013
India’s Twenty20 team — a new look team — after the Twenty20 World Cup win has been going full throttle, starting with the five-match series against Zimbabwe in Harare. Zimbabwe made India — led by Shubman Gill — trip in the first outing, but since facing that one-off reverse by 13 runs, the men in blue have won in a canter, almost every match. After the World Cup win — Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja bid adieu to the short format to make way for youngsters. The selectors made the biggest change, appointing Suryakumar Yadav as captain of the Twenty20 team, not Hardik Pandya. Yadav was rested for the Zimbabwe tour, but the ball-basher from Mumbai has been going great guns from the three-match series against Sri Lanka. The best though, India reserved it against Bangladesh, smashing them out of sight in the three matches that ended with the home team posting a mammoth 297 in Hyderabad. The team was without Yashasvi Jaiswal, Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. Out of 11 matches, India won nine of 10 matches with ease. The third and final match against Sri Lanka ended in a super over finish. Yadav, it appears has taken a leaf out of Rohit Sharma’s Kanpur book — going after the bowling and taking the game forward. In all India struck 57x 4s and 44 x 6s in three Twenty20s accounting for 492 runs. Such was the annihilation of the Bangladesh attack, a significant pointer to hit sixes as a strategy to mount pressure and bring down the opponent.
Sixty-year old popular star Jayaram Subramaniam has created a soft and stylish spot for himself in Kerala films despite Mammootty and Mohanlal’s reigning supreme as evergreens. His performance in the hit period drama Ponniyin Selvan (as Alwar Kadian Nambi, the articulate comic Brahmin) was as much the highlight of this epic drama as the pivotal characters of Ponni and Karikala Chozhan. His 26-year old son Kalidas Jayaram has created a niche for himself in the film industry. Recently he was cast in the Dhanush film Raayan, and showed his mettle in the Tamil OTT anthology Pava Kadaigal in which he played a transgender. Kalidas is all set to marry Tarini Kalingarayan, a former Miss Tamil Nadu 2019, well known model and alumnus of MOP Vaishnav College. Jayaram and wife Parvathy had just celebrated daughter Malavika’s wedding in grand style , and it came as no surprise that they announced Kalidas ‘ wedding too in quick succession. The only surprise was that Jayaram, Parvathy and Kalidas honoured MK Stalin, TN CM with the first invite. Not surprising it created a buzz as why had he not given the first invitation to the Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan? In the world of politics and cinema events occur not according to the logic of mundane society. Celebrities have their own exalted status or political predilections. Superstar Mammootty’s son Dulquer Salmaan’s was an arranged marriage in 2011 to Amal Sufiya whose family is from North India. Mohan Lal’s son, Pranav Mohanlal’ marriage with Kalyani Priyadarshan has remained an enigmatic topic.
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s Dussehra address in Nagpur is seen as an endorsement of the BJP’s policy of Hindu consolidation. It is like a green signal for the party to proceed with its agenda, the insiders feel. Bhagwat’s remarks will be helpful in boosting the BJP’s prospects in the upcoming Maharashtra assembly election since there is no ambiguity in his message. The tone of the address, delivered at the beginning of the centenary year of the RSS, will be interpreted severally but the RSS will continue its work undaunted, its veteran members say. The BJP had suffered in the Lok Sabha election since the RSS had not immersed itself fully in the contest. The BJP took due note of its displeasure and took corrective steps. The result was that it bagged Haryana, though with a nominal margin. The same formula will now be emulated in Maharashtra where the BJP lost 16 Lok Sabha seats due to minority collective vote in favour of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi candidates. Learning a lesson from the debacle, the ruling Mahayuti partners have been implementing their strategy in an organized manner. Still, there was uneasiness in the saffron camp given the clout of NCP founder Sharad Pawar. The announcement of the election dates and the candidates of respective parties is expected to occur at any moment now. Hence, Bhagwat’s clear call has come as a welcome breather for the Mahayuti.
Former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique’s tragic death in a shooting attack has once again churned the state politics on the eve of the coming assembly election. A former Congress leader, Siddique had only recently joined the Nationalist Congress party (NCP) led by deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar. Incidentally, but for a handful pockets, the party has no political space in Mumbai. Hence Siddique’s loss will be felt by it intensely. His son Zeeshan is a Congress MLA from Nirmal Nagar in Bandra. Siddique’s death just outside his son’s office and despite having ‘Y’ grade security has put the three-party Mahayuti alliance in the dock. The focus, however, is on deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis as he handles the home portfolio. His critics have once again trained their guns against Fadnavis, perceived as the main challenger for the opposition-led Maha Vikas Aghadi. The demand for his resignation had started no sooner than Siddique was being moved to hospital. Congress scion Rahul Gandhi is among the prominent politicians to castigate the state government for the tragedy. Even some NCP (Ajit) functionaries, too, have joined the chorus. The police are investigating various possible connections behind the killing in the congested busy locality. A popular figure among politicians and Bollywood, the image of the Mumbai police has suffered but the fallout will have to be faced by the political leadership. The embattled Mahayuti will need a herculean effort to emerge from the situation.
Women’s safety is an often-spoken subject. Yet, the assault on women finds constant notice in the media. Has there been a practical way to end this? Not really. But, this UAE-based organization is coming out with a unique campaign. In a first of its kind initiative, Secure Cam, a security surveillance and IT solutions provider, will be launching the “Secure Our City” campaign. A novel effort, this will see Secure Cam organize a charter flight by 100 women from various walks of life at the Chennai International Airport. The DGCA has reportedly approved the in-flight introduction of the “Secure Our City” campaign on December 10. The flight will take off at 11:35 am and return at 13:05 pm. Ostensibly, the flight is intended to raise awareness of women’s safety. Rijoy Thomas, Chairman and CEO, is of the view that an unconventional launch method will spread the message to a wider audience effectively. An opportunity will be given to women from various BPL social groups to take a plane. As a part of the campaign, Secure Cam plans to provide free installation of security surveillance systems (CCTV) for more than 10,000) buildings across a city. Chennai will be the first city, and the firm plans to cover five cities in all. To begin with, Secure Cam will be honouring 100 women by offering complimentary CCTV installations. One small step towards a giant effort, it appears.
After a Rs 93 lakh deficit in 1993, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has seen better times, thanks to its ability to command a higher price from the market, especially from the global media rights. The big breakthrough was made in 1999 when under the stewardship of Jagmohan Dalmiya, the public broadcaster Prasar Bharati was given the media rights for Rs 230 crore for five years. And in 2002 the BCCI introduced the Central Contract and match fee for its senior team, match fee in the domestic tournaments and allocated something for the juniors. After three decades, the BCCI’s media rights income for five years is Rs 5,963 crore and the IPL media rights has shot up for the 2023-2027 cycle to close to Rs 50000 crore. But the good development was the BCCI showing its readiness to share money with the players, men and women, retired cricketers and their spouses. India’s women cricketers at the national level get the same match fee and allowances as the men and they also compete in the Women’s Premier League. The BCCI has now extended the match fee to the IPL with the franchises told to set aside Rs 12.5 crore with each player in the XI to get a sum of Rs 7.5 lakh per match. The BCCI and IPL are the big brands in India’s sports canvas, and the authorities have responded in many ways to look after its constituency, the players in particular. The Rs.7.5 lakh match fee is meant to assuage the feelings of the players who are not among the high-price-band cricketers and also the uncapped (not playing for India) players who generally get Rs 20 lakh, has been increased to Rs 30 lakh at the recent AGM in Bengaluru.
With the creator economy in India experiencing significant growth, driven by a multitude of platforms and an expanding community of tech-savvy individuals, influencer-marketing has proved to be the fulcrum for brands to succeed. The influencer-marketing industry is expected to grow by 25% annually. Influencer.in, a well-known influencer platform in the country in association with Social Beat, has just come out with Influencer Marketing Report 2024, its fourth edition. Significantly enough, the report finds the rise of mid-tier influencers. While Instagram has emerged the top choice for both creators and brands, LinkedIn appears to have a low adoption rate among creators at 4.4%. This is in sharp contrast to a 19.5% adoption rate by brands, which use LinkedIn for influencer marketing. Brands have now to go that extra bit to onboard creators to this platform, especially those capable of delivering professional content. The report has articulated the need for brands to recognize the underutilization of YouTube Shorts, with 75% of creators using short-form content for engagement. Today, over 40% of brands spend more on influencer-marketing. Yet, budgetary constraints limit the partnership between the creators and brands. “There is a need for brands to move beyond transactional relationships, recognize the power of creators and empower them with creative freedom,” the report said. If this has to happen, the creators have to align with brand objectives while showcasing their unique value proposition for more authentic and engaging campaigns. The key for a rewarding relationship between creators and brands lies in being adaptable, innovative and aligned with the values of an increasingly discerning audience, according to the report. Together, as Helen Keller said, they can do so much!
As Durga Puja, the most anticipated festive season in West Bengal, approaches, the Bengali music industry finds itself in a precarious position, haunted by memories of the Covid-19 pandemic. The recent RG Kar Medical College incident has sparked a wave of concern, resulting in the widespread cancellation of events and programmes. Several prominent singers, music bands, and musicians have voiced their worries as the festive period, usually a time of high earnings, now faces a grim scenario. One of the key voices from the industry, renowned singer Jojo, expressed her anguish over the unfolding situation. According to her, people often think that musical events are merely entertainment, not realizing that these shows provide income to a wide array of people—from backstage crew members to sound engineers and support staff. Echoing her sentiment, celebrated singer Lopamudra Mitra highlighted the impact on young musicians who often accompany established artists during live performances. She further mentioned that many budding talents rely on the festive season to showcase their skills and gain exposure. Veteran singer Rupankar Bagchi raised concerns about the inconsistency in policies, where television productions are continuing uninterrupted, with channels banking on new content for the festive period, but music and cultural shows are being singled out. It’s not just the music industry that’s bearing the brunt. The local theatre industry, popularly known as “Jatra,” is also witnessing a steep decline in sponsorship and participation. The Bengali music and cultural community is now grappling with the fallout of these developments, fearing long-term repercussions.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) of the three main opposition parties in Maharashtra is in search of a formidable candidate who can take on chief minister Eknath Shinde in his home constituency of Kopari-Pachpakhadi in Thane city. Shinde has been representing this assembly seat since it was created in 2009. This being a traditional Shiv Sena stronghold, a keen fight will be seen for the first time in many years here. Under the unified Sena, Thane had been a virtual monopoly of the party. However, Shinde broke away from the parent party in 2022, taking along many legislators and corporators. This will be the first trial of strength between the two Sena’s with the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena standing by Shinde, making his position stronger. At the same time, the Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray has proved again and again over the past two years that its popularity is not reduced much in the Mumbai-Thane belt, which controls nearly 75 seats in the 288-member assembly. Uddhav and his followers have vowed to make Shinde bite the dust, calling him a traitor. In retaliation, Shinde and his mentor late Anand Dighe are now projected as protectors of Hindutva. The ‘Laadki Bahin’ scheme launched by Shinde is proving extremely popular and is expected to reap bonus for himself and the Mahayuti alliance. Realising the possibility, the MVA has decided to mount a challenge for Shinde on his home turf.
Amidst Jharkhand poll buzz, speculation is now rife that Odisha governor Raghubar Das is now gearing up to contest the Jharkhand Assembly election. This speculation is gaining ground as Assam chief minister Hemanta Biswa Sarma who is election in-charge for Jharkhand, met Odisha Governor at Raj Bhavan along with Odisha chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi. Separately even former Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu met Governor Das. This meeting of senior BJP leaders with Governor Das is what is giving credence to the rumours that Das is naturally keen to return to active politics. Though the Assam CM said his meeting with Governor Das has nothing to do with the Jharkhand election, it now seems imminent that Das will give up his governorship and return to politics. Governor Das who is considered a power centre in Jharkhand took up the Odisha Governor post as a stop gap arrangement. He represents Jamshedpur East constituency from where he won five consecutive times till 73-year old BJP rebel MLA Saryu Roy defeated him by a margin of 15,000 votes as an independent in 2019. Effectively, it means Odisha will get a new governor.
The Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray has been placed in a firmer position to demand most assembly seats in Mumbai following its youth wing’s spectacular victory in the Mumbai University senate election held a couple of days ago. The outcome has enhanced Aaditya’s clout and his party’s prospects for Mumbai. Over the years, the Sena has been a dominant political player in Mumbai, relegating the BJP to a secondary position when both were together. Since the Sena split in 2022, it was felt that the party will be weakened considerably. However, Uddhav has established that its popularity is hardly affected. The Sena won the legislative council election from the Mumbai Graduates’ constituency with a solid margin earlier this year. The win in the senate election has endorsed the fact that the Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde’s Sena faction has failed to make its mark in Mumbai in spite of the fact that several MLAs and corporators had followed Shinde out of the party. The three-party Maha Vikas Aghadi swept the Lok Sabha election in Mumbai and Maharashtra, sending alarm signals for the saffron Mahayuti alliance. The senate election was a fight between the Sena (UBT) and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, under the Sangh Parivar. Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirmal Sena’s youth wing and other student organisations had kept away from the prestigious election.
The oft debated question, can meaningful cinema entertain? Or intended pure entertainment be meaningful? Suriya and Jyotika’s home production 2 D Entertainment‘s just released Meiyazhagan is sure to raise this debate all over again till the next Mega extravagant film comes along to zap film buffs with the scale of spend. Director Premkumar has taken 6 long years after the super success of 96, a Trisha and Vijay Sethupathi led, literally one night stand when they meet and relive their now ended love story. Meiyazhagan is the one night story of Arulmozhi( Arvind Swami in a riveting, unforgettable performance ) who travels home in the Needamangalam bus, to his native village from where he was unexpectedly hounded out when his ancestral home was willed to his sisters. The trip is made memorable by meeting Karthi the hail fellow well met, cheer and bonhomie maker. Malayalam cinema’s “almost there” super star Tovino Thomas feels Meiyazhagan is the leitmotif of meaningful cinema that touches viewers and lingers as emotional super glue. Arvind Swami and Karthi share the powerful impact of a common story that appeals in uncommon ways. Incidentally, Karthi, still under the spell of his role as influencer was an inch away from trouble. At a press meet for movie’s promotion, he was asked about the Tirupati Laddu issue. In his usual way he tried humour. Pawan Kalyan came down heavily on his flippant attitude and soon Karthi had to apologise. Sensible otherwise, the Telugu version of Meiyazhagan would have suffered.
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.