On August 22, PM Modi interacted with all 65 newly appointed BJP national office-bearers during a meeting at the party headquarters in New Delhi. It lasted around four-and-a-quarter hours and reportedly went beyond midnight.  It marked Modi’s first interaction with the new team since BJP president Nitin Nabin announced the 65-member organisational team on August 17. Modi wanted the new team members to freely suggest ways for the BJP to strengthen the organisation at the grassroots level, develop fresh ideas and deepen its connect with the public. Since then, BJP’s IT cell has suddenly become aggressive. The IT cell units in different states are bombarding social media with memes and videos against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. It all began with Rahul Gandhi’s “Chhatron Ki Goonj” rallies. A website named “Jhooth Ki Goonj” has surfaced to carry out a ‘fact check’ of all allegations levelled by Rahul Gandhi. According to this website, Rahul Gandhi levelled a total of 40 allegations in his four programs. Of those, 29 were completely fake, and 11 were misleading. The website claims it used government data and other facts from 134 sources for fact-checking. Congress leaders have alleged that this website has a BJP connection, but the saffron party has officially denied any connection. Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said the BJP has nothing to do with this website, which has been promoted by Gen Z creators. He said the website is exposing Rahul Gandhi’s PR stunts. Clearly, Congress is in a daze after this on social media by the BJP.

Can Tamil Nadu chief minister C Joseph Vijay really become Prime Minister in 2029? Given TVK’s presence only in TN, it doesn’t seem possible today, even as his government has completed 100 days in office. A recent India Today-C-Voter Mood of the Nation Survey, however, placed Vijay third in the national preference race for Prime Minister at 9%, trailing Narendra Modi (49%) and Rahul Gandhi (27%). This apparently added an element of tension between Vijay’s TVK and the Congress in TN. Several TVK ministers and leaders including PWD Minister Aadhav Arjuna and D Sarathkumar, publicly pitched Vijay as a future PM, arguing for a leader from southern India. Some TVK cadres and members put up promotional posters in towns like Tuticorin projecting Vijay as the next national leader. The development has caused a difficult situation for the Congress, which supported the formation of the TVK government after the Assembly election early this year. TVK had won 108 seats, 10 short of the majority mark. The Congress was the first party to join hands with them back then. Rahul Gandhi remains the Congress’ principal national face and a possible Prime Ministerial candidate. Vijay is now being presented by his own party as a possible alternative. Amid mounting friction between the two coalition partners over the issue, Congress Rajya Sabha MP Praveen Chakravarty met Vijay on August 31, a day after a Congress minister warned that the party’s two ministers in the state cabinet would quit if TVK did not back Rahul Gandhi for the top post. The Congress needs TVK in Tamil Nadu, where its own independent strength is limited. It may also need an electoral understanding with Vijay in the 2029 Lok Sabha election. However, TVK’s PM campaign may aim to strengthen its negotiating position with larger national parties.

Every film culture eventually produces a movie so clumsy that it becomes immortal. India had Kanti Shah’s Gunda which was released in 1998. China now has Niu Lai (Here Comes the Cow). Gunda was never meant to be high art. Mithun Chakraborty as Shankar, villains named Bulla and Chutiya, rhyming punchlines, and that unforgettable bicycle-and-revolver fight turned a C-grade action film into YouTube folklore. People did not watch it for craft. They watched it to confirm how far a movie could go and still exist. Decades later, the memes still travel.  Niu Lai follows the same path, only in 3D. Directed by Xin Yumeng and written by his mother Sun Lifang, the 86-minute animation was made over five years by essentially two people, largely on architectural software. A timid calf faints, dreams of a skylark, a snake, a leopard and wolves, then wakes up braver. The models look like early video-game leftovers. Mouths barely move. Pauses last too long. The plot wanders. Released on 5 August 2026 with almost no marketing, it collected a few thousand yuan in its first 10 days. Then clips hit Chinese social media. Mockery became a pilgrimage. Audiences filled halls to see, with their own eyes, how bad animation could be. The film has since crossed 50 million yuan (approx. 1 yuan= Rs14.16); a freak return on a near-zero budget. Gunda and Niu Lai both became communal jokes that people pay to share. One gave India immortal dialogues; the other gave China a handmade cow that looks like a sleep-paralysis demon. Niu Lai is not China’s Ne Zha. It is China’s Gunda: so pathetically made that it became a phenomenon. Watch it to understand why a bad movie can outlive a good one.

Faith films do not always explode on Friday. They arrive quietly, look finished by week two, and then, through word of mouth that behaves like aarti, they turn theatres into temples. Jai Santoshi Maa did it in 1975. Women removed slippers outside the hall, lit agarbattis, and offered coins and flowers to the screen. Shirdi Ke Sai Baba, with Manoj Kumar, did not dominate the 1977 charts, yet its songs and miracles lived on in homes, video libraries and pilgrim memory. In 2025, Gujarati movie Laalo – Krishna Sada Sahaayate made for Rs 50 lakh, opened to almost nothing and then, from the third week, became the first Gujarati film to cross Rs 100 crore worldwide, roughly Rs 96 crore India net, about Rs 120 crore global. Hanuman Ansh is walking the same path. Released on 7 August 2026, Vishal Chaturvedi’s film on Neem Karoli Baba opened at around Rs 10 lakh and had barely Rs 1.48 crore after two weeks. Then the third week collected over Rs 10 crore. By Day 23, it had Rs 27.38 crore India net and about Rs 32 crore gross, with a Raksha Bandhan Saturday of Rs 9.25 crore and screens multiplying from a few hundred shows to over 4,000. Budget estimates range from Rs 2 crore to Rs 10 crore. Either way, the return is the story. This is not a marketing miracle. It is a traditional one. Devotees do not need a star to carry Hanuman or Krishna; they need belief that survives a weak first Friday. Santoshi Maa taught the industry that a hall can become a shrine. Sai Baba taught that afterlife on song and screen can outlast a lukewarm opening. Laalo proved the model still prints money in 2025. Hanuman Ansh found its crowd late, then refused to leave the box office.

Reliable sources indicate that former State Bank of India (SBI) Chairman Dinesh Khara is emerging as a top contender to succeed Sashidhar Jagdishan as MD & CEO of HDFC Bank. Intriguingly, his name did not surface suddenly after Jagdishan announced he would not seek reappointment when his current term ends on October 26. Sources reveal that Khara’s name cropped up “informally” in July this year. That was when HDFC Bank’s Special Disciplinary Committee—examining the bank’s deposit arrangements with the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC)—found no evidence of personal enrichment or mala fide intent, but characterized the executive conduct as “business overreach”. Consequently, the board issued warning letters and a Rs 1 lakh fine to Jagdishan, CFO Srinivasan Vaidyanathan, and a senior executive. The incident sparked corporate governance concerns. Industry experts argue it would have been ideal for Jagdishan to step down then, particularly in light of former chairman Atanu Chakraborty’s abrupt resignation on March 18, when he cited practices not in alignment with his “personal values and ethics.” While the regulator initially backed Jagdishan and the bank, the internal disciplinary committee’s Rs 1 lakh fine raised eyebrows and drew scrutiny. What does the 65-year-old Khara bring to the table? He carries over 40 years of banking experience, having joined SBI as a Probationary Officer in 1984 and retiring as its Chairman in August 2024 after a four-year tenure. At SBI, managing a massive balance sheet and a customer base running into hundreds of millions gave him unmatched experience in handling large-scale financial operations without compromising liquidity or capital adequacy. There is also speculation that Khara enjoys the backing of a prominent business house.

The month of August witnessed a major shake-up in Corporate India, with three powerful CEOs—all TamBrahmins—calling it a day. All three are highly regarded professional managers whose departures were either unexpected or surrounded by questions.It started on the morning of August 11 with Sudhir Sitapati, MD & CEO of Godrej Consumer Products, abruptly resigning. He had joined Godrej in 2021 after a long stint with Hindustan Unilever. The board had recently reappointed Sitapati for another five-year term, making his sudden exit a mystery. Surely, it cannot be on the grounds of leadership or the company’s financial performance, given the board’s approval for an extension. Clearly, there are other issues beyond business, leaving ample room for speculation. Then, in the afternoon of the same day, news broke that N Chandrasekaran, Chairman of the Tata Group, informed the Tata Sons board in a letter that he would not seek an extension after February 2027. On April 7, Short Post ran a story titled “Will Tata Group Chairman Chandrasekaran Agree To A 2-Year Extension Post-2027?”—a prediction that has now been proven right. As reported, the relationship between Chandrasekaran and Noel Tata had grown strained. More significantly, Chandrasekaran disclosed in his letter that his proposed extension did not receive the support of one Tata Sons board member (read Noel Tata). The third to join the August exit list—and perhaps the most expected—was Sashidhar Jagdishan, MD & CEO of HDFC Bank. He announced that he will not seek reappointment when his current term expires on October 26 this year. His second term has been fraught with challenges. Former chairman Atanu Chakraborty abruptly resigned on March 18, 2026, stating that certain developments and practices at the bank were not aligned with his “personal values and ethics.” Following this, a special disciplinary committee examined HDFC Bank’s arrangements for MSRDC deposits, along with the Lilavati case involving...

Did Sonia Gandhi refuse to accept editorial changes proposed by Penguin Random House India for publishing her memoir Belonging: A Journey of Love? Sonia apparently did not agree to suggestions to tone down her criticism of PM Narendra Modi and the BJP. Both Sonia and Penguin decided to drop the project. On August 28, the company released a statement on Instagram that said: “Any suggestion that Penguin Random House India decided not to publish ‘Belonging’ because the author declined editorial changes does not accurately reflect the circumstances.” Penguin also said that, as publisher, it is their prerogative and responsibility to fact-check and provide authors with recommendations in the best interests of their books, calling it “a normal part” of the publishing process. Congress deputy leader in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi lashed out at Penguin, calling its response a “weak statement,” adding that “Penguin India is more than happy to publish Exam Warriors and several books on RSS.” Exam Warriors is a book by Modi, published in 2018. “No doubt there are those in the BJP government who have now become afraid of a book being read by the people of India,” he added. With Penguin India pulling out, several publishers are said to be interested in the book. HarperCollins is reportedly close to finalising an agreement to publish and distribute the memoir in India, Hindustan Times reported. The memoir is scheduled for an international release on November 10 through Alfred A Knopf, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Knopf earlier announced an initial print run of 1 lakh copies. The memoir is expected to narrate Sonia’s journey from her childhood in post-war Italy to her move to India and marriage to former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. Earlier this year, Penguin had issued a statement that it had “not printed” former Army Chief General M M Naravane’s memoirs titled Four Stars of Destiny but a hard copy of the title was flashed by Rahul...

Karnataka chief minister D K Shivakumar met Rahul Gandhi in Delhi for about half an hour on August 27 and discussed, among other things, his meeting with Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani on August 23. DKS apparently clarified to Rahul that he met Adani in his official capacity. He told Rahul it was not a personal matter, citing Adani Group’s investments in the state. Why did he have to clarify, Congress leaders asked? Was Rahul unhappy that his meeting with Adani had become a controversy? The BJP has accused the Congress of double standards and hypocrisy. Many leaders questioned Congress-run state governments’ engagement with the Adani Group, given Rahul’s frequent public criticisms and attacks on the conglomerate at the national level. DKS maintained that Adani met him because he had become CM and “they are doing a lot of work in Karnataka, giving jobs.” Adani met the CM at his Sadashivanagar residence in Bengaluru. It raised eyebrows in political and business circles, because Gautam Adani is the lowest bidder for the State government-proposed road tunnel project in Bengaluru. Adani Enterprises Ltd’s bid for the proposed road tunnel project was Rs 22,267 crore, while the State government estimate was Rs 17, 698 crore — Rs 4, 600 crore above official expectation. The proposed 16.75-km tunnel road is to link the area from Central Silk Board to Hebbal in Bengaluru city; the proposed road tunnel project will be implemented under the Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) model. In addition to being the lowest bidder for the tunnel project, Adani Group operates Mangalore International Airport in Dakshina Kannada, the Udupi Thermal Power Plant, and is also investing in renewable energy.

The great alacrity shown by Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in reassuring and actually helping the pilgrims who were stranded in Nepal after the deluge there is universally lauded. The latest example is the safe return to Kathmandu of 37 pilgrims from the state who were caught up in Saga, Tibet, after completing the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, thanks to his initiative. The 37 pilgrims are from Thane, Pune, Alibaug, Raigad, and Dombivli areas. They got stranded in Saga during their return journey. As their India flight from Kathmandu is at 2 pm on 29 August, they were desperate to come back to Kathmandu on time. They and their kin contacted CMO and Fadnavis alerted the Union government immediately. This prompt action made their safe return to Kathmandu possible. Earlier, Fadnavis arranged the travel of 106 Nagpur pilgrims from Kathmandu for Danapur in Bihar soon after disaster struck. Following the CM’s phone call, Nepal MP Sandeep Rana arranged four mini-buses for their trip to Bihar, from where their return journey by train was also arranged. Not to be left behind, state deputy CM Eknath Shinde, too, swung into action. He video called Shiv Sena leader Megha Chorge and her colleagues, who were stranded in Pokhara near Kathmandu. Shinde reassured them that all possible assistance will be rushed to them. Sena’s disaster management cell, too, was activated for relief work. Sena activist Rahul Kanal, along with a team of Shiv Sainiks, left for Nepal to offer help. At present, round the clock communication is maintained to trace the missing Maharashtra pilgrims, whose return is awaited anxiously.

Rattled by the response generated by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s interaction with young girls in Pune earlier this month, Maharashtra BJP has decided to counter the impact by holding a meeting of its prominent workers from across the state in Pune on Monday (Aug 31). Although Pune has been a stronghold of the BJP for a long time, Rahul’s selection of the historic town took BJP strategists by surprise. Moreover, as the meeting was well attended, it boosted the Congress party morale. The BJP meeting will be thus important, from another perspective as well. Newly appointed Maharashtra BJP president Ravindra Chavan will get an opportunity to interact with rank and file since this will be the first major meeting under his leadership. Of course, the focus of the conclave will remain chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, whose consummate handling of the political and administrative challenges has given rise to the speculation that he will be shifted to New Delhi soon. Fadnavis has time and again declared that he will be happy to remain in Maharashtra but his admirers and detractors, alike, keep on repeating the prediction. As there is no major election in the state for the next two or three years, Fadnavis has ample opportunity to consolidate his position and propel the state in the race to attract more and more FDI, besides concentrating on increasing the state’s agricultural productivity. All these issues will be on the agenda for the Monday meeting.