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Good news for footwear enthusiasts in Chennai. The city will host the first Kickers store. Following a 30-year licensing deal with Royer Group of France, Kothari Industrial Corporation Ltd (KICL) is gearing up to set up its maiden Kickers store in Chennai tomorrow. The timing could not have been better for KICL, which has come under a new owner in Rafiq Ahmed and got relisted on the bourses. The opening of the Kickers store in Chennai comes within days of a significant development in the annals of KICL. A Qatar company belonging to the Royal family has just been cleared by the board of KICL to pick up a 10% stake in the Chennai company. Qatar-based F J Global Investment is owned by Falah Jassim J.M.AL-Thani, who is a director of Doha Bank and was also the founder of Qatar Airways. He was also a minister in the Qatar Government. This is a significant boost to KICL under Rafiq Ahmend, who has gone on a mission to revive the KICL and bring the iconic Kothari brand back to yester-year glory. The investment from a company owned by Qatar Royal family is seen positively by industry circles in Tamil Nadu, which is going the extra mile to woo foreign investment into the state. Significantly enough, KICL has also embarked on a consolidation move with the board approving a proposal to buy 30% stake held by Rafiq Ahmed in Phoenix Kothari Footwear Ltd, a joint venture that is setting up a non-leather footwear park in backward Perambalur district of Tamil Nadu. Well, things appear to fall in place for KICL as it seeks to make a strong comeback and regain its past glory.
It was something that the Congress couldn’t stomach easily. Perhaps the party was surprised that the Raj Kapoor family had chosen to interact with PM Modi. A day after the social media and TV channels were awash with PM Modi’s interaction with members of the Kapoor family, a very senior Congress leader ventured to put out a snarky social media post questioning the meeting. For some odd reason he completely chose to ignore the context of the meeting. “We have been asking PM Modi to visit Manipur. But he has instead found time to meet with Kareena Kapoor.” Soon good sense prevailed and he deleted his crude post. Guess he must have realised that his post was outright offensive. The Kapoor family had called on PM Modi on December 10 to invite him to the legendary actor-filmmaker’s Film Festival. The festival is to commemorate Raj Kapoor’s 100th birth anniversary, an iconic figure in Indian cinema who passed away in 1988. Ten Raj Kapoor films are going to be showcased across 40 cities in 135 cinemas .The Kapoor family, including actors Ranbir Kapoor, Riddhima Kapoor Sahni, Neetu Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Alia Bhat and Saif Ali Khan met the PM. “This is a special day for us. We enjoyed the conversation. He spoke to us in a friendly manner. He made all of us feel very comfortable,” said actor Ranbir Kapoor. His cousin actor Kareena Kapoor Khan said that it was her dream to sit next to PM Modi and talk to him. “His energy is so positive and he is truly a global leader.” PM Modi inquired about the third generation of Kapoors — and autographed for Kareena’s children Tim and Jeh. December 14 marks the 100th birth anniversary of Raj Kapoor.
It couldn’t have come at a more inappropriate time than this. The day when the entire national media was riveted on the Parliament debates commemorating 75 years of Constitution of India and newly-elected Wayanad MP Priyanka Vadra Gandhi was making her debut speech in the House. For some odd reason the Telangana Police chose to arrest Telugu star Allu Arjun, protagonist in the Rs 1000-crore plus grosser Pushpa 2: The Rule. He was arrested in connection with the stampede incident at Hyderabad’s Sandhya Theatre, which resulted in the death of a woman. On December 4, a massive crowd gathered at Sandhya Theatre to see Allu Arjun, resulting in a tragic stampede. Revathi, a 39-year-old woman, died due to asphyxiation, and her 8-year-old son was hospitalised. While granting interim bail to Allu Arjun, the Telangana High Court affirmed Arjun’s right to life and liberty, stating that he cannot be deprived of these fundamental rights. While leaders cutting across the political spectrum came out in support of the actor, Telangana BJP leader and Union Minister Bandi Sanjay described the arrest of a National Award-winning actor as having been done to steal the spotlight. “Drama over delivery, diversion over governance — that’s the Telangana Congress government for you!” Arjun’s uncle and Andhra deputy CM Pawan Kalyan rushed to rally support for him. In the meanwhile, it will be interesting to see how Priyanka Vadra herself responds to the ham-handed manner CM Revanth Reddy handled the situation. He had after all managed to divert attention from her debut performance in the Lok Sabha to an avoidable law & order incident in Hyderabad.
To ensure the social welfare schemes reach the intended target group, West Bengal chief West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has rolled out a robust mechanism to ensure the effective implementation of socio-welfare schemes. This initiative aims to hold government officials accountable for supervising these projects and addressing inefficiencies that have marred progress in recent years. The state finance ministry has issued a notification, followed by the establishment of a dedicated help desk at Navanna to oversee information flow from block and sub-division levels. This initiative, aimed at curbing inefficiency and fraud, will require officials to physically visit project sites instead of submitting progress reports from office desks. The app will feature automatic geo-tagging, ensuring accurate location tracking of officials during field visits. During multiple administrative meetings chaired by CM, officials repeatedly failed to provide accurate updates on the status of ongoing schemes. This incomplete information has not only slowed down critical projects but also caused dissatisfaction among citizens. Officials, from BDOs to District Magistrates, must register using their mobile numbers. Reports will require OTP authentication and must include photographs of on-ground work. The app mandates regular updates, such as reporting issues in road construction, cleanliness, drinking water, and electricity services, along with distinguishing between simple and complex problems. The model draws inspiration from private sector practices, where geo-tagging apps track employee performance. The state’s new app is expected to enforce accountability among officials, address bureaucratic delays, and improve public service delivery.
In a move that may have surprised the Opposition BJP, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee appointed Radharamn Das, vice president of ISKCON Kolkata,to a 13-member board of trustees for the upcoming Jagannath Dham project in Digha. The temple, set to be a cultural and religious landmark on the shores of the Bay of Bengal, will be inaugurated on Akshay Tritiya on April 30, 2025. The Jagannath Dham Sanskriti Kendra, spanning 20 acres, is being developed under the supervision of HIDCO, an urban planning body under the state government. With an investment of Rs 250 crore, the project aims to replicate the grandeur of the Puri Jagannath Temple and serve as a significant pilgrimage and tourist attraction. This development comes amid ongoing political friction between Didi and BJP’s Opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari. It may be recalled that Nandigram where the temple is being built was the place where he had defeated Didi in the 2021 Assembly elections. Adhikari who is opposing the project on the ground that using public funds to construct religious structures is unconstitutional. He accused Mamata of attempting to win the Hindu vote bank as her minority appeasement has alienated Hindus. Mamata’s decision to include an ISKCON leader is seen as a strategic move, in light of recent attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh and the arrest of an ISKCON monk. Political analysts believe Didi is sending a message of solidarity to the Hindu community while subtly addressing concerns raised by the BJP over her government’s alleged minority appeasement policies.
Devajit Saikia is the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) representative in the International Cricket Council (ICC) as its Director. Saikia, who is the question that is being asked by those not acquainted with the BCCI’s governance structure, especially after the Justice Lodha Committee’s Reforms in Cricket report was accepted by the Supreme Court in 2016 and its Constitution was rewritten thereafter. The ICC Board is the all-powerful body in its Governance structure, and as a convention, the 12 full members of the ICC nominate its Presidents as Directors. Many stalwarts of the BCCI, like Jagmohan Dalmiya, Sharad Pawar, N Srinivasan and Shashank Manohar were on the ICC Board, and after the 2019 election, post the reforms, former India captain and BCCI President Sourav Ganguly was on the ICC Board. Ganguly was succeeded by the BCCI Secretary Jay Shah with the BCCI President Roger Binny as the alternate director in 2022, the same year when the former Assam Ranji Trophy cricketer and legal practitioner Saikia was elected as Jt. Secretary of the BCCI. People in the know attribute Saikia’s rise on the administration side of the game to his association and rapport with Assam’s BJP chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. Once it was announced that Jay Shah would take charge as Chair (Independent Director) of the ICC from December 1, 2024, quite a handful of names like Arun Singh Dhumal (former BCCI Treasurer and currently chairman, IPL) and Ashish Shelar (BJP President, Mumbai and BCCI Treasurer) emerged as a potential successor to Shah as BCCI Secretary. Saikia, will remain the BCCI Joint Secretary and perform the duties of the Secretary. But his nomination to the ICC Board has surprised many people.
Veteran leader Sharad Pawar has once again monopolised the centre stage following reports that a top leader of his party has held talks with a prominent BJP Union minister in Delhi. The political grapevine is buzzing with different versions since the meeting is believed to have occurred at industrialist Gautam Adani’s Delhi residence. In fact, Pawar started hitting the headlines on Thursday (Dec 12) morning as the news that his nephew Ajit Pawar and a couple of other NCP (Ajit) leaders had reached the patriarch’s residence. Ajit later said that being a family member, he had greeted his uncle on his birthday and nothing unusual should be read in the visit. Ajit was accompanied by Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare, both very close to Sharad Pawar till the recent split in the NCP. The name of Adani added grist to the gossip since the industrialist had visited Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis just a couple of days ago in Mumbai. The Adani group continues to BE target of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Shiv Sena party chief Uddhav Thackeray. In the past too, Adani has been meeting Pawar off and on. The presence of Fadnavis in Delhi on Thursday proved to be another trigger to speculate that the political scene of Maharashtra was likely to undergo another overhaul. Pawar’s hot and cold relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always remained an intrigue. Hence, his followers are unable to predict which way he can turn.
The Raj Kapoor family has finally come out together to celebrate the centenary year — 1924-2024 — of the showman of the film industry. Forty two year old Ranbir Kapoor who has been in the film industry for nearly two decades has taken the lead along with his cousin Kunal Kapoor to celebrate Raj Kapoor through his cinema. But was it too late to celebrate RK? Is the newer generation enthusiastic to watch his films? Ranbir Kapoor said, like his wife Alia, the young generation needs to know about the cinema of Raj Kapoor and one hopes he is successful through his stardom and initiative to keep RK’s legacy alive. But, is the film industry or the government really care about saving our heritage or culture, considering the government is calling the film industry as soft power? The hard truth is: why are our studios and banners not surviving be it Filmalaya Studio, Kamalistan Studio and Raj Kamal Studio which has limited work space. Raj Kapoor’s RK Studio, a famous landmark in Chembur along with his bungalow has been sold to Godrej Properties for constructing residential properties. It may be recalled that RK Studio was working on the rentals till the fire destroyed the entire heritage. Luckily film lovers are lucky his films were in the safe custody of NFAI. It is learnt that Ranbir Kapoor who is already a producer wants to turn director. So will he revive the RK Banner? As a part of the centenary celebration the entire RK clan met the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and conspicuous by his absence was Randhir Kapoor as he was not keeping well. In the end one only hopes that Ranbir Kapoor carries the great showman’s legacy forward.
This maverick and marauding scam tainted politician was once the acolyte of Lok Nayak Jayprakash Narayan. Former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav has burnt many bridges in his meteoric rise in politics. A stormy petrel, indicted for five scams, served jail term and is now out on a bail. He is once again in the news for his below-the-belt remark against his bete noire, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar who recently announced a Mahila Samvad Yatra to interact directly with women and evaluate the impact of his government’s programme targeted for women. When the media quizzed the RJD supremo Lalu about Nitish Kumar’s Mahila Yatra and his goal of winning all 225 seats in the forthcoming Assembly elections, the unstoppable motor mouth said, “Pahle unko aankh sekhne do” (let them get an eyeful of the women). Lalu is famous for double entendres and pithy talk. This chintzy, low end hit at both Nitish’s party and the women electorate set off a storm. Bihar deputy CM Vijay Kumar Sinha said, “It seems Lalu Prasad has lost his ability to comprehend, doesn’t know what he is saying “. JDU MP from Munger, Rajiv Ranjan Singh said, “Lalu is master of buffoonery”. Public discourse is an amalgam of many such talents. But certainly hitting below the belt and indulging in such loose talk shows the lack of grace and polish.
Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray’s plans to attend the Winter Session of the Maharashtra legislature beginning from December 16 at Nagpur will prove to be a game changer, his followers feel. Thackeray’s continued distance from the state legislative council proceedings over the past year are discussed by his party members in hushed tones since the aggressive direction needed to corner the BJP-led three-party government somehow lacks as far as his Sena is concerned. Council’s leader of the Opposition Ambadas Danve (of the Sena UBT) lacks the image and articulation which are vital for any LoP to humble the ruling side. Now that the new government led by Devendra Fadnavis has decided to appoint former CM Eknath Shinde as leader of the upper house, Danve’s limitations will be felt more vividly. Thackeray’s intermittent presence in the council ever since he resigned as chief minister in 2022 has been noted more due to his statements outside the house. He has hardly made any worthwhile speech on the floor. Therefore, his plans to remain present for the Winter Session have revived the hopes of his followers, who wish to witness his attacks against the BJP and the Sena led by Shinde. It is being recalled that Thackeray did not attend the recent three-day session of the legislature in Mumbai, held after the assembly elections. According to present indications, Thackeray will reach Nagpur well in time for the week-long session, which will be a stormy affair, focussing on settling political scores.
For whatever reason senior Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath kick-started this whole issue of projecting Rahul Gandhi as the Opposition’s PM candidate for the Lok Sabha elections in 2024. The cacophony over this mindless campaign is already said to have put the Congress’ efforts to win Karnataka assembly elections in a tailspin. That is because news of a 2024 prime ministerial candidate from the Congress side for the Opposition side has already left Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge unenthused. He was gearing up for the assembly polls, hoping if he clinched Karnataka he would be rewarded with something higher — projected as PM candidate for 2024. Now that seems to have gone out of his reach. Nath’s praises for Rahul on leading the Bharat Jodo Yatra, saying “He is not doing politics for power but for the betterment of the common people of the country”, has simply stunned those backing Kharge. Not only Nath, even Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel rooted for Rahul. Even an ambitious Bihar CM Nitish Kumar has said that he doesn’t have any problem with Rahul’s candidature. The only cautious response came from Jairam Ramesh who made it clear that “the question of who will emerge as PM will be decided by election outcomes. Election of the PM can’t be treated as a beauty contest. Contests in India happen between political parties.” He admitted the yatra had strengthened the Congress.
By all indications, it looks like this year’s Union Budget will be tabled in the present Parliament House. The new Parliament building is likely to be inaugurated in March, when the House reconvenes for the second part of the Budget Session. Officials say work was going on in full swing on the Parliament building and was expected to be completed by February. PM Narendra Modi had performed the Bhoomi Poojan and foundation stone laying ceremony of the new Parliament House in December 2020. He is known to be closely monitoring progressing work on the building via drones. While inaugurating a drone festival in Delhi last year, Modi had emphasised on the use and importance of drones in governance. He had spoken about how the drones have been useful for him in conducting “surprise inspections of development work across the country”. The design of the Lok Sabha Hall in the new Parliament House is such that a joint session can be held there easily. The new Lok Sabha Hall will seat 1,272 people and it will have no Central Hall. The new Parliament House will have a seating arrangement of 888 MPs in the Lok Sabha. The current Lok Sabha has a seating capacity of only 552 MPs. Thus, when the number of MPs will increase in the coming years, there will be no problem.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi informed the nation via a tweet about the sad demise of his mother Heeraben: “A glorious century rests at the feet of God…“ Within an hour of her cremation, PM Modi was back at work virtually from Raj Bhavan in Ahmedabad. Yes, the dedicated karmayogi was attending to all his official duties such as flagging off a metro from Kolkata to New Jalpaiguri, and chairing the second meeting of the National Ganga Council meeting in Kolkata via video conferencing. The meeting was attended by the Union Minister for Jal Shakti, and other Union Ministers who are members of the council besides the CMs of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and West Bengal. Bihar was represented by Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav. Presciently, in a blogpost on Heeraben’s 100th birthday this June, Modi shared a glimpse of his bond with his mother and about how she never accompanied him for any government or public programme. “She has accompanied me on only two occasions in the past. Once, it was at a public function in Ahmedabad when she applied tilak on my forehead after I had returned from Srinagar where I had hoisted the national flag at Lal Chowk completing the Ekta Yatra led by Dr Murli Manohar Joshi. That was an extremely emotional moment for my mother because a few people had died in a terror attack in Phagwara at the time of the Ekta Yatra. She became extremely worried at that time.”
It is not unusual for estranged foes in politics to bond over death and bereavement. It may seem a bit odd but Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin has decided to visit Delhi to personally convey his condolences to PM Modi on his mother Heeraben passing away. This may certainly come as a surprise to many but apparently Stalin recalled how Modi had visited him when his father M Karunanidhi was seriously ill. Stalin is taking an evening flight today (Dec 30) to Delhi. Similarly, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee who was miffed by Jai Shri Ram sloganeering at the metro inaugural function, went out of her way to offer an emotional condolence to PM Modi over his mother’s death. Significantly, Modi had virtually flagged off the Vande Bharat express connecting Howrah and New Jalpaiguri, just an hour after cremating his mother. Just before the inauguration, Mamata said, “Respected PM, today it’s a sad day and great loss to you. I pray to god, may God give you strength. I convey my gratitude to you that you were supposed to come to West Bengal but because of the demise of your mother you couldn’t come but joined virtually. On behalf of the people of West Bengal, I thank you so much for giving us this opportunity. It’s a sad day for you. Your mother means our mother also….”
Senior Congress leader AK Antony is one man who is averse to stirring any controversy and found himself in the middle of one. Speaking his mind on the Congress Foundation Day, he urged party strategists to make efforts to win back Hindu voters at least for winning the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. It was failure to mobilise the Hindu votes adequately that had led the Congress-led UDF to flounder in 2021 Kerala assembly polls. “The Congress should bring together the majority and minority if it wants to defeat the BJP”, he declared. He also added that the majority of the people in India are Hindus, and this community should be marshalled in the “fight against Narendra Modi”. Reacting to Antony’s speech, BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi recalled how this former Defence Minister who was asked by his party to prepare a report on its 2014 defeat had similarly blamed the Congress rout for its pro Muslim bias. “It just shows that Congress indulges in such theatrics to get support of Hindus and once it gets Hindu votes it dubs them as terrorists or as Pakistani, Talibani or Boko Haram.” He felt that just to come to power, leaders like Salman Khurshid would even call Rahul Gandhi “Lord Ram”. Meanwhile, Khurshid stoked more controversy by asserting that “main Congress leaders were from Gandhi family and Kharge ji was our national president”.
Karnataka Congress leaders were disappointed with party president Mallikarjun Kharge’s brief visit to Bengaluru. With assembly elections round the corner, many leaders were apparently advised by PCC chief D K Shivkumar to catch up with Kharge. Hoping to push their case for assembly tickets, the leaders were told by Kharge that he would not be able to interact with them as he wasn’t feeling comfortable – he had complained of backache. It was only natural that Kharge was physically exhausted – he had landed in Bengaluru, a day after keeping pace with Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra in Delhi. The day-long activity must have surely sapped Kharge’s energy. Unfortunately, the Congress chief had to fly back to Delhi to be at the AICC headquarters for the Congress Foundation Day. Meanwhile, what is irking Congressmen is that Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be spending the next two days in Bengaluru and Mysuru and interacting with BJP workers. Asked to comment on Shah’s visit, a Karnataka BJP leader said “With elections coming all our top three leaders—J P Nadda, Amit Shah and PM Narendra Modi — will be frequently visiting the state.Why should anyone mind?” Such coordinated action from the BJP is bound to bother the Karnataka Congress that is in any way in a disarray.
Even as Himachal CM Sukhwinder Sukhu is back in Shimla after a brief Covid infection, it still seems the state will still not get a full-fledged Cabinet until the New Year. No this has nothing to do with the Gandhis being preoccupied or Sukhu still remaining undecided about who to include in his team. It is only that Governor Rajendra Arlekar is going to be away for the year end at his home in Goa; he will apparently be back only in the first week of January. It is only after that CM Sukhu plans to hold a brief session of Vidhan Sabha when newly elected members will take oath. Thereafter, his hand-picked team could be sworn into office. This effectively means, Sukhu’s full-fledged team could come into being after the auspicious Makkar Sankranti! Congress sources however deny the CM was waiting all this while for a good date. He did have issues about inducting some MLAs loyal to late CM Virbhadra Singh. He found it difficult to include Virbhadra’s son Vikramditya Singh, Shimla (Rural) MLA in his team. After all, his father had never found it fit to include Sukhu in his ministry. It apparently took some convincing by AICC managers to sort out Sukhu’s problem with the Virbhadra group.
Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Atal Behari Vajpayee’s Samadhi stirred the social media more for what he was wearing in Delhi’s biting cold than he sought to convey. Rahul was spotted in his trademark Bharat Jodo Yatra T-shirt at various VVIP samadhis. He offered his tributes at Sadaiv Atal, Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial at Rajghat and also at memorials for Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. The BJP dismissed Rahul’s trip to former PMs’ samadhis as “part of a makeover exercise,” for the nth time that was meant strictly “for the shutterbugs and chattering elites”. The party wondered if Rahul Gandhi was sincere,” he would have visited former PM, P V Narasimha Rao’s samadhi in Hyderabad too. “He didn’t, even though it was on his way…” pointed out Amit Malviya in a tweet. On the other hand, Congress media chief Jairam Ramesh said Rahul’s visit to Vajapayee’s samadhi was an acknowledgment of the first BJP PM’s contribution to the nation. He said “Rahulji’s visit to the samadhi would have reminded PM Modi about the rajdharma lessons that Atalji had sought to give him in 2002. Rahulji today showed how politics is done with a big heart. This is what he has achieved by visiting samadhi.” This is a bit rich for the Congress as a day earlier a party coordinator Gaurav Pandhi had dubbed Atalji as a British stooge.
As Bharat Jodo Yatra winds its way into Delhi on Christmas eve, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was apparently quite keen to showcase the yatra as an event of Opposition unity. Maybe he was a bit too late. With Opposition leaders from South like DMK Lok Sabha MP Kanimozhi — she joined the yatra outside Delhi — and newbie Makkal Needhi Maiam leader Kamal Haasan joining the yatra, Rahul wrote to TMC Lok Sabha leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay, wanting to know if TMC MPs could join the yatra. The Trinamool leader spurned the offer and promptly shot off a reply saying TMC MPs would be busy in “their constituencies “. Clearly, this was a message from the TMC that it was going to maintain an equidistance in Opposition politics in the run-up to 2024 polls. After all, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee had a series of meetings with PM Narendra Modi to get Centre’s funds released for various state schemes. Only last week, Mamata had a one on one meeting with Amit Shah in Kolkata on the sidelines of the Eastern Zonal Council meeting. Besides, PM will be in Kolkata on December 30 to chair the National Ganga Council meeting. He will also be launching the Vande Bharat Express that will run between Howrah and New Jalpaiguri in North Bengal.
Upping pressure on Rahul Gandhi to enforce Covid norms on Bharat Jodo Yatra, the BJP walked the talk by first enforcing Covid restrictions on itself. Yes, the party suspended its “Jan Aakrosh Yatra” that it had launched in Rajasthan on December 1 in view of a rising number of Coronavirus cases globally and in the state. In fact, masks made a comeback in the Parliament with presiding officers ensuring MPs wore masks. “The BJP has suspended Jan Aakrosh Yatra in Rajasthan in the wake of rising number of Covid-19 cases. For the BJP, people come first before politics. For us the safety of people, their health is priority,” announced BJP general secretary Arun Singh. He also described Congress’s Bharat Jodo Yatra as a “morning and evening walk”. The yatra is about to enter Delhi on December 24. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi pointed out, “Both the chairs in the Parliament have requested the members to wear face masks during proceedings. But the leaders from the Opposition didn’t wear masks which shows their attitude towards Covid guidelines “On his part, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi dismissed Covid concerns flagged by the Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya as BJPs’ new idea to stop his Yatra.”They are scared of India’s truth”. Against the global rise in Covid-19 cases, India has been reporting 153 new cases on an average every day.
As the Bharat Jodo Yatra nears Delhi, it has begun to get a bit of a mixed reception. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandviya rushed a letter to Rahul Gandhi urging him to follow Covid protocols during the yatra. In a letter addressed to Rahul Gandhi and Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, Mandviya suggested that he either adhere to Covid protocols or suspend the yatra. By Covid protocol, the minister meant allowing only the vaccinated and masked to participate in the BJY. Mandviya was apparently acting on complaints of three Rajasthan MPs who said their state had seen a spike in Corona cases in the aftermath of the yatra. There may be no exaggeration here; after all Himachal CM Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu tested Covid positive post his Dausa visit and failed to keep his date with PM Modi. While Jairam Ramesh dismissed complaints of MPs as a fallout of “enormous success of BJY in their state,” he admitted public health is far too serious an issue on which to play party politics. “If there is a protocol for gatherings Bharat Jodo Yatra will abide by it undoubtedly,” he said. Chattisgarh CM Bhupesh Bhagel, however, felt the Centre was “looking for new ways to stop the yatra.” When there was Corona, you held polls in WB, Assam and UP. Now you’re making excuses to stop the yatra?” he asked.
For a change treasury benches were on the offensive in the Parliament. Congress President Kharge’s “chuha” charge against PM Narendra Modi spiced up House proceedings. It provided a breather from a stalemate on Tawang clashes. A day after Kharge called Modi a “chuha” or a mouse at a public rally in Alwar on December 19, there was sparring in the Rajya Sabha over Kharge’s name calling with the Leader of the House & Union Minister Piyush Goyal demanding an apology from him. Kharge naturally stonewalled and insisted that the remarks were made outside the Parliament and should not be discussed in the House. He argued that what he said during Bharat Jodo Yatra in Rajasthan’s Alwar was outside the House and was politically outside the House, not inside. Karnataka Congress sources believe that by continuously attacking PM Modi, Kharge was pitching himself as a PM candidate for 2024. Kharge maintained that if he were to only “repeat “what he said outside it would be difficult for the BJP. “The BJP accused the Congress of holding ‘Bharat Todo Yatra’, to which I responded by saying that Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi gave their lives for the country. Who has given life from your side (saffron party)?” Interestingly, Kharge’s attack on Modi helped the Government shift focus from Tawang clashes in the Parliament.
It was interesting to watch External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar make a transition from a suave diplomat to an ace politician. After putting down Pakistan foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto at the UN Security Council meeting, Jaishankar gave a full dressing down to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha for his comment on clashes between Indian and Chinese troops on December 9 in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh, saying the word “pitai” (beating) should not be used for “our jawans”.“We have no problem with political criticism but we should not disrespect our jawans. I have heard that my own understanding needs to be deepened. When I see who is giving the advice I can only bow and respect,” Jaishankar said. He was taking on Rahul who had suggested that the EAM must “broaden” his understanding. “If we were indifferent to China then who sent the Indian Army to the border? If we were indifferent to China then why are we pressuring China for de-escalation and disengagement today? Why are we saying publicly that our relations are not normal?” the minister asked. Earlier, speaking at India Today event, Jaishankar said,” You have a deployment of the Indian Army on the China border that we never had. It is done to counter Chinese aggression. The Indian Army today is deployed to counter any attempt to unilaterally change LAC. This deployment is not on orders of Rahul Gandhi, it is on orders of the Prime Minister.” Will Jaishankar’s exhaustive statement help end Opposition disruption of the House?
It was as if Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was waiting for a question on border dispute in Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh to unleash his scathing attack on the Modi government. Charging the Centre of being clueless, he claimed, “China is preparing for war, but the Indian government seems to be sleeping. China is gearing up for the war but our government is not ready to accept this fact.” These words were a bit rich coming from a leader, who took briefing from a Chinese envoy when Indian soldiers gave a befitting response to the Chinese soldiers in Galwan two years ago. Recently the Chinese Government has acknowledged 11 of its soldiers had died in Galwan. But then Rahul is so easily convinced by Chinese official propaganda that he even went on to assert that “China’s PLA is beating our soldiers on the border. They are preparing for the full offensive, but our government is hiding it. We need to be careful as the government only indulges in rhetoric.” Unfortunately for the Congress and the Opposition, the Indian side did not suffer much in Tawang clashes and even the soldiers who required hospitalisation in Guwahati were so few. So why is Rahul pushing the China narrative in India? Who does it benefit? Is it because the Congress has some fraternal ties with Communist Party of China that Rahul is feeling compelled to defend every action of Beijing? Possibly.
It has been a week since election results came out. Yet there is no full-fledged government in Himachal Pradesh. Both CM Sukhinder Singh Sukhu and his 39 MLAs are busy doing parikrama of Delhi. They are expected to join Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra in Dausa, Rajasthan on December 16 on completing 100 days. As for giving the final shape to his team, Sukhu says it will happen after an assembly session. That’s probably why BJP leader and former Himachal CM Jairam Thakur is no longer moping about losing the elections but focusing on turning tables on the Congress for running a campaign against him and calling him names like “helicopter vale CM”. He hit out at the Congress for just appointing a CM and a deputy CM and went full blast raising questions on the misuse of helicopters. Thakur wanted to know how a small state like Himachal which has a legislative assembly of 68 MLAs can have a CM and a deputy CM? The chopper first goes to drop the Dy CM and then returns to pick the CM. Now there is talk of appointing another Deputy CM. Will it not increase financial burden? Meanwhile CM Sukhu has already made three Cabinet rank appointments. His close aide Sunil Sharma has been appointed political adviser, AICC joint secretary Gokul Butail as principal adviser (IT & innovation) and Naresh Chauhan as principal adviser (media).
The first G20 Finance and Central Bank Deputies (FCBD) meeting held in Bengaluru (Dec 13-15) was to prepare an effective forum for global economic discourse. This meeting marks the start of discussions on the Finance Track agenda under the Indian G20 Presidency and is hosted by the Ministry of Finance and the RBI. Co-chaired by Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth and RBI Deputy Governor Dr Michael D Patra, their counterparts from G20 member countries, and representatives from international organisations participated in the meeting. Through a series of nearly 40 meetings that will be held in several locations across the country, the Finance Track India will champion the cause of the “Global South”, promoting “oneness”, and lead in pushing for a collaborative action. The G20 Finance Track, led by Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of G20 countries, will focus on economic and financial issues to “provide an effective forum for global economic discourse and policy coordination”. The First Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting will be held during February 23-25, 2023 in Bengaluru. In the Bengaluru meeting, discussions will focus on the agenda for the Finance Track under the Indian G20 Presidency. This includes reorienting international financial institutions to meet the shared global challenges of the 21st century, financing cities of tomorrow, managing global debt vulnerabilities, advancing financial inclusion, financing for climate action and a globally coordinated approach to advancing the international taxation agenda.
For a change, the Congress benches were happy that Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla allowed their Virudhanagar MP and AICC in charge for Telangana Manickam Tagore to make a brief special mention in the House the issue of Hyderabad police raid on of the office of its key poll strategist Sunil Kanulogu and detaining of five people for allegedly posting on social media derogatory comments against Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR). Kanugolu, member of AICC national task force, is currently strategising for Telangana PCC. After lodging an FIR in the case, the Hyderabad Cyber Crimes police conducted the raid, seized mobile phones, laptops and other equipment used by the Kanugolu’s team. Tagore said the police barged into Kanugolu’s office on September 13 evening without an FIR and picked up an eclectic team working with the strategist on the instructions of KCR’s son and Telangana Minister KT Rama Rao. After the party got to record its opposition against Telangana in the Lok Sabha, the AICC still decided to equate KCR with PM Modi. ”When it comes to his own daughter K Kavitha in the Delhi liquor scam, KCR demands from the CBI…give me this paper, show me that notice…only then will my daughter be questioned by the agency. However, while raiding the war room of the Congress or detaining members of Sunil Kanugolu the Telangana police behaved like goondas,” charged party spokesperson Pawan Khera.
Rail &Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw is not the usual polite technocrat that he seems; he could be even politically savvy given an opportunity. Much of his wit was on display during the Question Hour on December 14 when he was taking a query on network problems of BSNL from a Karnataka BJP MP. Vaishnaw explained that the BSNL went through a very bad phase, primarily because of “certain political parties, especially during the UPA Government” when a lot of its funds were diverted. With DMK benches being empty in the Lok Sabha, there was not much contest on this point though Congress leader Sonia Gandhi was present in the house. Disclosing that PM Modi has approved a package of Rs 164,000 crore for the revival of BSNL. “We should take pride in the country’s engineers. The PM gave this challenge to our engineers, in line with PM’s Make-in-India initiative, today, the 4G and 5G technologies stack are made in India, designed in India, and developed in India. Today, it is recognised all over the world. For certain people — from the other side of the House — BSNL was always a cash cow. Those days are gone.” On questions raised by Congress members on data cost, he countered them saying that under the UPA consumers had to pay Rs 200 for 1 GB, today it is around Rs 20.
In a coordinated manner both Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Home Minister Amit Shah cornered the Opposition that was trying to politicize Chinese Army aggression in Tawang on December 9 which was ably rebuffed by the Indian Army. While Defence Minister Rajnath Singh informed both the Houses of the Parliament that there was “no death, no major injuries to our soldiers” on India-China LAC clash and urged the Parliament to support “the valour and courage of our army with one voice”, the Opposition leaders preferred to stage a walkout as they weren’t allowed to discuss the clashes. Home Minister Amit Shah launched a broadside at the Congress MPs outside the Parliament for trying to disrupt Question Hour in the Lok Sabha by raising the issue of Tawang clashes only to avoid questions on the money received by the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF) from China and controversial preacher Zakir Naik’s organisation. The Congress MPs in the Lok Sabha had demanded to suspend Zero Hour and relevant rules relating to Question Hour. Shah said that the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) licence of RGF was cancelled by the Home Ministry as the foundation accepted a grant of over Rs 1 crore from the Chinese Embassy and Rs 50 lakh from Naik.”I saw the question hour list and after seeing question number 5, I understood the anxiety of Congress.” The question was regarding the cancellation of the FCRA licence of the RGF.
Much of the BJP losing Himachal Pradesh is being viewed through the prism of the party doing badly in I&B Minister Anurag Thakur’s Hamirpur Lok Sabha constituency where the Congress won 12 of the 17 assembly seats; the BJP had 44 seats in the outgoing assembly. The BJP lost all the five seats in Hamirpur district and it is significant that the Congress picked Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu who is an MLA from Nadaun that falls in Hamirpur region. Deputy CM Mukesh Agnihotri is Haroli MLA from Una district that is also part of Hamirpur Lok Sabha seat. What does this mean for the BJP? Will a Congress win in 2022 make it difficult for Thakur to get re-elected from Hamirpur in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls? Himachal Congress leaders themselves admit that Thakur would face no threat for the Lok Sabha seat in spite of a strong Congress performance. “That is because assembly elections and Lok Sabha elections would be fought on different issues. Besides, remember an assembly seat like Sujanpur in Hamirpur was secured more by postal ballots than the EVM,” pointed out a Congress leader. Congress sources admit that though Thakur had campaigned aggressively, it was his father PK Dhumal’s laid back strategy that benefited Congress — yes they admit to have gained from the J P Nadda-Dhumal rift.
Three months of being on Bharat Jodo Yatra seems to have made Rahul Gandhi somewhat a much wiser man. He is at least very nice and polite with senior leaders and has surprised them with his inter-personal skills. He probably learnt it all while doing the balancing act between D K Shivkumar and Siddaramaiah in Karnataka. Like he recently surprised a party veteran in Himachal Viplove Thakur when he warmly greeted her with a hug and even complimented her for “looking much younger” when he met her in Shimla. Such kind words from the Gandhi scion naturally cheered the former Rajya Sabha MP when she reached the podium for the swearing in of Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu as chief minister. Only person to reach the swearing-in late was a sulking PCC chief Pratibha Virbhadra Singh and the Gandhis took it in their stride. Whatever the objectives of the yatra, Rahul now seems more open to people and the yatra has certainly helped him reach out to more leaders within his party than his office would have ever allowed. Himachal Congress leaders were also happy that Rahul took a break from his yatra to savour the success of his sister Priyanka in retrieving the hill state from the BJP. In turn, Priyanka has joined her brother’s yatra with an all women team in Rajasthan on Day 95.
It is now more or less clear that display of street-power by those supporting Himachal PCC chief Pratibha Singh could just come a cropper. Efforts by her supporters to gherao vehicles of Congress observer Chattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel or Pratibha Singh’s own claim that she has support of 25 MLAs cannot swing the opinion of the Congress high command. In fact party old timers say Pratibha’s supporters seem to be following everything from her late husband Virbhadra Singh’s playbook. “Pratibha Singh had won the Mandi Lok Sabha seat in a by-election in 2021. In the assembly elections, of the 17 seats under Mandi Lok Sabha the Congress managed to win only 6 seats, 11 went to the BJP,” pointed out a party veteran. Besides, the favourite of high command seems to be Sukhwinder Singh Sukku. A former Youth Congress president, he claims support of 19 MLAs. He is also close to Rahul Gandhi’s aide, K C Venugopal. Beyond Sukku, Pratibha and CLP leader Mukesh Agnihotri, the Congress may go for a fresh alternative — an OBC face from Kangra — Jawali MLA Chander Kumar. That is because in this election the Congress won 10 of the 15 seats in Kangra. “Whoever wins Kangra wins Himachal. Last time, the BJP had won 11 of the 15 seats. It is only right that someone from Kangra becomes CM,” said an ex-party MP. Pratibha may also back Chander to block Sukku.
After the rout of the Congress in Gujarat and MCD elections in Delhi, emphatic return of the party to power in Himachal Pradesh is the best news that could have happened to it. For some reason credit for the Congress victory is being given to none other than Priyanka Gandhi Vadra — who is not even AICC General Secretary responsible for the state. It is only that she has her residence in Chharabra. Interestingly a party leader close to her, Acharya Pramod Krishnam was the first to go public crediting the Himachal victory to Priyanka on live TV. ff support data apkIt was obviously a fan girl moment for him. He felt this was the first good news, the first success since Priyanka made a formal entry into politics in 2019 as AICC General Secretary for UP. Party sources conceded that Priyanka had been working closely with Rajiv Shukla, tải ff support dataAICC functionary handling the state. minecraft lmhmodOf course, she did not address many meetings; just addressed four rallies. But then Congressmen like Krishnam feel Priyanka’s camping in Himachal for nearly a month helped. “Everyone felt Priyankaji was closely monitoring everything.” It is also felt the Himachal results could burnish her CV as political leader after the poor show in UP in 2022. Meanwhile, the party has a tricky issue on hand of finding the next Congress CM. While PCC chief and Mandi MP Pratibha Singh could be the front runner,programlarindir MLAs could root for one amongst them — either Sukhwinder Singh Sukku or Mukesh Agnihotri.
Gujarat, home to both PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, gave a historic mandate to the BJP as it voted the party for a seventh straight term handing the ruling party a record haul of 156 assembly seats while the Congress was reduced to a humble 16 seats. Endorsing Modi’s call to vote in his CM nominee Bhupendra Patel, Gujaratis clearly showed that they took a lot of pride in him and helped him break Congress stalwart Madhavsinh Solanki’s 1985 record of 149 seats. TaiwindowsUnlike people of Punjab or Delhi, the state steered clear of AAP’s freebies; maybe people were too self-respecting and did not fall for AAP’s promise of doles. Kejriwal had picked a popular TV anchor Ishan Gadhvi as his CM face but he was voted out. However, lmhmod minecraftKejriwal seems to have got what he wanted out of Gujarat polls, a national party status that he desperately craved. AAP had to win two assembly seats and poll 6% votes for this. The state rewarded him — 5 seats and 12.9% votes. The Congress low-profile, door-to-door campaign without involving Gandhis did not work. In 2017, Rahul Gandhi had taken a lot of interest in the Gujarat polls. allwindows4u This time he opted to canvas just for a day. No wonder, the Congress seats plunged from 77 to 17. New government will be sworn in on December 12.
In the fiercely contested elections to Municipal Corporation of Delhi which saw the Aam Aadmi Party edge out the BJP after 15 years of presiding over the civic body by winning 134 out of 250 municipal wards, AAP supremo and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal came across as a humble man. Maybe the results had a sobering effect on him — for a party that had vowed to restrict BJP to 20 wards, AAP fared poorly in Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and his jailed minister Satyender Jain’s assembly segments. The BJP went on to secure 104 wards. “We need cooperation from all, especially the help and blessings of the Centre and PM to improve Delhi,” he said. For a start, these words may have been enough to soften bruised ego but the BJP is unlikely to fall for it. In fact it doesn’t view the civic poll results as a setback. “We wanted an honourable exit from the MCD. That is what we have got”, conceded a top BJP poll strategist. In fact the idea of getting high profile campaigners for street corner meetings was to ensure that the party has an adequate presence in the MCD. “If our senior leaders hadn’t made this effort, AAP could have restricted us to 50-60 wards. At least we managed to reach three-digit”, pointed out a leader.
With elections behind them PM Narendra Modi and his team of ministers were back to some serious work. While he was himself briefing aspects relating to India’s G20 Presidency at the all-party meeting. Briefing the leaders, Modi stated that India’s G20 Presidency belongs to the entire nation, and is a unique opportunity to showcase country’s strengths to the world. Emphasisng on teamwork, he sought the cooperation of all leaders in organising various G20 events. He pointed out that the G20 Presidency would help showcase parts of India beyond the conventional big metros, thus bringing out the uniqueness of each part of our nation. Highlighting the large number of visitors, Modi took note of the potential for promoting tourism and boosting the local economies of the venues where G20 meetings would be organized. Before Modi spoke, various political leaders shared their insights and these included former PM H D Deve Gowda, BJP president J P Nadda, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, Andhra CM Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu, Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin, Rashtriya LokJanshkti Party leader Pashupatinath Paras, Mahasrashtra CM Eknath Shinde and IUML leader K M Kader Mohideen. The best part, of course, was that the MEA got to issue a release about the PM’s all-party meeting.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is meeting heads of various political parties at the Rashtrapati Bhavan’s Cultural Centre to brief them about the significance of India’s G-20 presidency. West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin are attending the meeting convened by the PM to rally domestic political support for events linked to G-20 through next year. Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao is skipping the event. At the meet, Modi will underline the significance of the G-20 presidency for the country, and brief leaders on how his government is approaching the “unique opportunity”. The leaders will get a glimpse of year-long activities that are being planned to showcase New Delhi’s soft power. Significantly, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge will be attending the meeting even as his party’s media-in charge Jairam Ramesh mocked PM Modi as an “event manager” and tried to point out that India’s presidency was rotational and wasn’t extraordinary. The CMs are taking interest in the PM’s G-20 tete-e tete because from the time India will be holding the G20 presidency from December 1, 2022 to November 30, 2023 and during this period about 200 meetings on 32 sectors at multiple locations will be held. Already, India hosted the first meeting for G-20 sherpas in Udaipur on December 4 and set the stage for important conversations including technological transformation, and spotlighting women-led development.
Looks like Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge will most likely continue as Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in Rajya Sabha at least for the forthcoming Winter Session of Parliament as the party hasn’t yet decided on his replacement. If Kharge holds two posts, it will be a complete reversal of the “One Person, One Post” policy that was formulated in the Udaipur Declaration. In fact Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, who was hoping to keep his CM post, lost out on being Congress chief because of Rahul Gandhi’s insistence that he must adhere to one man-one post resolution. Sonia Gandhi has called a meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) “strategy group” on December 3, ahead of the Parliament Session that begins on December 7. Rajya Sabha MPs Jairam Ramesh, KC Venugopal and Kharge have been asked to attend. In keeping with the Udaipur Declaration, Kharge had resigned as LoP in Rajya Sabha before filing his nomination papers for Congress chief. But then he handed in his resignation to Sonia Gandhi as CPP chairperson. Which is why there is a lot of speculation that Sonia may ask Kharge to continue in the post. On his part even after getting elected as Congress president, Kharge has taken care not to disturb the Gandhis. Like he did not make his photos visible at AICC headquarters. His focus is to win back Karnataka when elections are held early next year.
A day after India assumed the leadership of the G-20, trust the Congress to say the presidency was rotational and inevitable, and dubbed PM Narendra Modi as an event manager. It went on to point out that none of the countries that held the responsibility earlier had staged a “high voltage drama” as was being done now. India assumed the presidency of the G-20 on December 1 with Prime Minister Narendra Modi making a strong pitch for “fundamental mindset shift” to benefit humanity as a whole, saying the country will work to further promote “oneness”. Several centrally-protected monuments including UNESCO world heritage sites spread across the country were lit up with the G-20 logo to mark the start of India’s year-long presidency of the grouping. Attacking the government, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh via Twitter went on to point out that “Previous presidents of G20 have been from the USA, UK, Canada, South Korea, France, Mexico, Russia, Australia, Turkey, China, Germany, Argentina, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Italy and Indonesia. None of these countries staged a high voltage drama as is being done around India becoming President of G20 for a year.” Adding further he said, “I’m reminded of what LK Advani said in 2014 in Gandhinagar—he called Modi a brilliant event manager. That’s all there is to all the spin around G20.” India’s G-20 sherpa Amitabh Kant dismissed the Congress attack as “bizarre”.
As the campaign for December 4 elections to Municipal Corporation of Delhi peaked, frustration of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal became all too obvious. Not only was he forced to abandon his last-ditch campaign in Gujarat but he found in Delhi too the BJP has made a remarkable recovery on ground. Ideally, it should have been an AAP advantage as the BJP has been in power in the civic body for the past 15 years. However, the BJP recovered much of its lost ground by deploying its leaders and karyakartas in community specific areas. “We sent out leaders such as CM Pushkar Dhami and MP Ravi Kishen for a campaign to reach out to specific communities,” said a party source. BJP also reached out to Kejriwal’s vote bank of slum dwellers by showcasing houses built under PM’s housing scheme for urban poor in Kalkaji. Clearly upset with the BJP’s election strategy, a dejected Kejriwal lamented how the BJP had brought in CMs from other states and 17 Union ministers for the campaign. “There would have been no need to bring so many high-profile leaders if the MCD had done any work in the previous 15 years,”, Kejriwal lashed out at a public meeting. He blamed the BJP-led MCD for clogging the city’s sewers and for failing to resolve the problem of the overexploited landfills. Even as his government was caught in a liquor scam, he promised to make MCD corruption free within four months.
The Kashmir Files was amongst the 24 films that did not win any award at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) held in Goa. Which is why utterances of the Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid, the head of the IFFI jury, describing The Kashmir Files as “vulgar” and “propaganda” has completely taken the I&B ministry by surprise. While ministry sources point out that the film was one of 25 films short-listed for competition on the recommendation of Indian Panorama Feature Jury, only one film Cinema Bandi by Praveen Kandregula (Director) won Special Mention. So then why did Nadav Lapid pick only The Kashmir Files at the closing ceremony? If The Kashmir Files did not bag any award was there compulsion on the jury to give some award to the film? The film directed by Vivek Agnihotri has been backed by the BJP. Absolutely no pressure, said jury member Sudipto Sen. “In fact, we never even got to meet the festival director. We were left to ourselves,” he said. Which means it was clearly Lapid’s own politics. As Israeli ambassador Naor Gilon contended that Lapid may have been influenced by his views on Israeli politics. He cited Lapid’s interview with Israeli news website Ynet. “From your interview to Ynet the connection you make between your criticism of “Kashmir Files” and your dislike to what is happening in Israeli politics is quite evident.”
No one familiar with Telangana politics is surprised by the high political drama that erupted in Hyderabad on November 29; the police dragging away the SUV of YSR Telangana Party (YSRTP) President YS Sharmila with the help of a crane, even as she sat inside it to protest against Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao. Sharmila, who is the sister of Andhra Pradesh CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, was later arrested by the Hyderabad Police as she proceeded to gherao along with her followers Pragathi Bhavan, the CM’s office. Action against Sharmila is being seen more as a coordinated act between KCR and her brother Jagan. Both the Telugu-speaking CMs have always supported each other. They have a common bond which is forged by their spiritual seer based in Visakhapatnam — Swamy Swaroopanandendra Saraswati. It is felt KCR is deliberately making it difficult for Sharmila as she has taken an adversarial position against her brother. BJP sources, however, feel Sharmila’s side show may have been propped up by KCR just to “subvert the political narrative” which is favouring the BJP. By arresting her, Sharmila is being made to be someone who can divide the Opposition in the state and subvert BJP’s narrative. After all, Telangana BJP president Bandi Sanjay is on a padyatra and KCR is playing the politics of distraction to hijack focus on the BJP.
At the Constitution Day valedictory function on November 26 evening, while reading out her prepared English speech, President Droupadi Murmu digressed a bit to speak extempore in Hindi. From her expressions it was evident these words came from her heart. She got a standing ovation which no judge or lawyer got in the two sessions at SC additional building complex auditorium. She spoke about doing something for undertrials in our prisons. What President Murmu said, could best be summed up in these words, “You judges and lawyers are knowledgeable and experienced. You should do something for the people languishing in jail. Neither do most of them know about their fundamental rights, nor their fundamental duties. People who may have just slapped a person during a fight sometimes languish in jail for many years without any legal help. But people who take other’s lives sometimes roam free….people say more jails are to be built as there is overcrowding in jails.. You say we are progressing (“vikas? kaisa vikas”) …then what is the need for more jails? Bringing down crime rate is also part of vikas…it is just my thought…saying this much I am leaving it you…give a thought on what all I said. When I was an MLA, I had the opportunity to visit jails. I wanted to know how the prisoners lived there… especially undertrials. I tried to make changes, but I couldn’t do much”.
The infighting in Rajasthan Congress got a fresh lease of life with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot renewing his attack on his challenger Sachin Pilot. He not only called Pilot a ‘Gaddar’ but also accused him of taking money from the BJP to rebel in 2020. For some reason, Gehlot’s latest outburst was more a dare to the Gandhis to oust him from office. He threw the gauntlet at the Gandhi family barely 10 days before Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra is to enter the state on December 3. So why is Gehlot precipitating a crisis? Has Gehlot heard anything from Kharge about imminent change? After all he had defied the Gandhis in the most unimaginable way possible and survived so far. He had refused to move to Delhi and become the AICC President. So why is he now trying to jeopardise Bharat Jodo Yatra? Gehlot claimed Pilot and MLAs supporting him were paid Rs 10 crore by Home Minister Amit Shah to rebel in 2020; he even claimed he had evidence of it. On his part, Pilot tried to be deferential and on the use of the word Gaddar, he said: “Such language doesn’t suit him… In the past too he called me useless.” Pilot’s MLAs are pinning hope on Jairam Ramesh’s statement that the differences between the two leaders will be resolved in a manner that strengthens the Congress. Will that happen?
India has expressed its displeasure after a US state department official referred to PM Narendra Modi while talking about waiver to Saudi leader Mohammed bin Salman to travel to the US. At its weekly briefing on November 25, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi frowned upon remarks made by the US state department principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel in citing examples of immunity given to several heads of state including Indian PM Modi along with that of Saudi Crown Prince. “Frankly, I fail to understand how the comment on PM Modi was either relevant, necessary or contextual. Our two countries enjoy a very special relationship which is growing from strength to strength and we look forward to working with the US to further deepen it,” said Bagchi. Significantly, he also flayed attempts in the social media to downplay the outcome of the bilateral meetings at G-20 summit at Bali between US President Biden and PM Modi. “We’ve seen some social media stuff. So let me just say the PM did meet President Biden on a number of occasions during the course of the Bali Summit, including a brief bilateral meeting and trilateral meeting that involved President Widodo (Indonesia). During these interactions, they exchanged views on a number of issues. Our press releases and tweets as well as you would recall foreign secretary’s briefing in Bali, encapsulates all these conversations.”
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”.
Even before AAP could make much headway in Gujarat, it has been caught into a trap of its own making in Delhi. Yes, the party that was founded by the Ghaziabad boys — Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia — and won its first election in 2013 on an anti-corruption plank has now lost its credibility over corruption charges. Allegations of selling tickets for the upcoming Delhi municipal corporation (MCD) elections are flying thick and fast and Kejriwal has no answers. Two videos purportedly shot by an ex-AAP member Bindu Sriram alleged that the AAP had sold tickets to candidates contesting the polls. Sriram claimed that she was asked to fork out Rs 80 lakh to get a party ticket from Rohini ward D. IIT-educated Kejriwal who won three back to back assembly elections (2013, 2015 & 2020) on power freebies, is a cornered man now. It appears he will not be able to easily wrest control of the MCD which has been with the BJP for 15 years. Besides, the AAP Government’s flawed liquor policy, and visuals of its jailed minister Satyendra Jain receiving massage from a rape accused Rinku in Tihar Jail have further dented Kejriwal’s image. On its part, the BJP has unleashed a mega campaign to reclaim the MCD. Senior leaders like Rajnath Singh, CMs of Haryana, Assam and Uttarakhand have all hit the road.
It was an exercise to filter non-serious ticket aspirants for upcoming Karnataka assembly elections next year. Tightening grip on party, KPCC president DK Shivakumar had asked ticket aspirants to avail forms paying Rs 5,000 and submit the applications with a demand draft of Rs 2 lakhs between November 5 and 15. When he found that at least 35 sitting MLAs, particularly senior leaders like G Parameshwar and former CM Siddaramaiah had not responded to his call for applications; he extended the deadline to November 21. Finally 1,100 applications were received and out of which 945 were submitted with a DD of Rs 2 lakh for the general category and Rs 1 lakh for SC & ST aspirants. Party sources said while the high fee ensured only serious applicants remained in the fray, the Congress was richer by Rs 55 lakh. The party picked about Rs 20 crore in the form of DD. Shivakumar also made it clear that aspirants will be allowed to apply for one seat. Restricting the contest to a single seat could put seniors like Siddaramaiah in a spot. Last time, Siddaramaiah had contested from two seats and lost in one. Shivakumar has already submitted his application seeking a ticket from Kanakapura constituency in Ramanagara district. Siddaramaiah is yet to finalise his constituency but may not contest from his incumbent Badami seat as it is far from Bengaluru.
Who is the Prime Minister’s most favourite officer? Well, after getting yet another year-long extension on November 17, Enforcement Directorate (ED) chief Sanjay Kumar Mishra will now have a longer term than the senior most bureaucrat in the country, the cabinet secretary. Mishra, an Indian Revenue Service officer, will now enter his fifth year as the ED director while the maximum term that any cabinet secretary has had so far is four years. Mishra was appointed the ED chief in 2018 and the latest order says he will continue in his chair till November 18, 2023. A number of sensitive and high-profile probes, especially against various opposition leaders, are being led by the ED presently and the move is hence expected to attract swipes from the opposition parties. The government had last year brought in an ordinance to enable itself to give a five-year term to the ED and CBI chiefs, up from two years. The government had argued before the Supreme Court, where the move was challenged, that the tenure of the ED chief had been earlier extended “in public interest” as various cases being probed by the agency were at a crucial juncture and continuity of officers means proper and expeditious disposal of cases. The ED is investigating cases against Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, TMC leaders in West Bengal, AAP minister Satyendar Jain, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut and Congress leaders including Gandhi family.
When Union Home Minister Amit Shah called up West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to inform her about the appointment of Dr CV Ananda Bose as the new Governor for her state she apparently told him that he had not consulted her before taking a decision but was only routinely informing her. The HM retorted that “consultation with states did not require consent”. Speaking in a lighter vein, he assured her that she would perhaps have better equations with the new governor than may be even Meghalaya Governor La Ganesan who had temporarily held the charge after Jagdeep Dhankar was elevated as Vice President. Bose, the 1977 batch IAS officer, recalled his emotional relationship with the state; his first job as bank officer was in Kolkata. Although from Kerala, he was named Bose by his father, who was a freedom fighter, apparently after Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Bose joined the BJP before the 2019 general elections. During the Covid pandemic, Bose was asked by the Union Labour Ministry to prepare an action plan for the welfare of migrant workers. He was Principal Secretary to the late Congress veteran K Karunakaran during his term as Kerala Chief Minister. He was District Collector of Quilon district (Kollam). Born in Mannanam, Kottayam district, Bose has penned over 40 books in English, Hindi and Malayalam.
Many of us may have noticed world leaders turning on warmth and bonhomie while greeting PM Narendra Modi. Be it French President Emmanuel Macron giving a friendly tap to our PM on his shoulders as he walked in or US President Joe Biden acknowledging him, it just showed the bond world leaders have been sharing with Modi. On his part, Modi also seemed to be making an effort to seal his ties with every leader. He had special gifts for each one of them showcasing India’s culture and arts. Like he gifted a Kangra miniature painting portraying ‘Shringar Rasa’ to the US President. The UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak received Mata Ni Pachedi, a sacred textile piece made by nomadic communities in Gujarat. While the head of state from Italy got the Patan Patola Dupatta packed in a ‘Sadeli’ box, which in itself is a decorative piece of woodcraft native to Surat. The Patan Patola textile woven by the Salvi family in Patan area of Northern Gujarat is so well crafted that it becomes a feast of colours, with the front and the reverse being indistinguishable. Leaders from France, Germany and Singapore received Agate bowls from Kutch which are supposed to have healing powers. Modi gifted a tribal art piece, Pithora paintings, to his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese. As for the host country, Modi gifted Indonesia a silver bowl from Gujarat and a Kinnauri shawl from Himachal.
Congress In A Cleft Stick On EWS Quota; Could Hurt Its Support Base Among Jats, Lingayats & Marathas
When the Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of the Modi Government’s decision to implement 10% reservation in jobs and higher educational institutions for the economically weaker sections (EWS) in the general category, the Congress initially welcomed the court’s ruling. The party even claimed credit for implementation of the reservation meant for the poor among general category people. The 10% quota, based on economic status, excludes the SCs, STs and the OBC, who already have 49.5% seats reserved for them in government jobs and higher education. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the amendment was the result of a process initiated in 2005-06 by the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government. The government had appointed a three-member commission, headed by Major General (Retd) SR Sinho which submitted its report in July 2010. Both the Congress and Modi government have cited the Sinho Commission report as the basis for the legislation. Now, it seems the initial enthusiasm for the EWS quota of the Congress has waned and the party is caught in a cleft stick. That is because the DMK is in no mood to implement EWS quota as Tamil Nadu is already providing 69% reservation. The DMK is stoking anti-Brahmin sentiment over EWS. Interestingly, the Congress manifesto for the 2009 and 2014 Lok Sabha elections had taken a different stand. Any anti- EWS stand by the Congress could ultimately hurt its Jat, Lingayat and Maratha support base.
A series of by-elections in Uttar Pradesh on December 5 will put to test the mettle of Samajwadi Party leadership of Akhilesh Yadav after his father Mulayam Singh Yadav’s death. More so as he has chosen to field his wife Dimple from the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat, a constituency that has traditionally backed the party patriarch. Dimple, who lost the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Kannauj, was hoping to ride on the sympathy wave in Mainpuri. Apparently, it is not going to be a cake walk for her as Akhilesh has not managed to secure a truce with his uncle Shivpal Yadav. Of the five assembly constituencies under the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat, two of the five seats are currently held by Akhilesh Yadav and Shivpal Yadav as MLAs. However it is significant that the BJP has fielded Raghuraj Singh Shakya, a former MP and someone close to Shivpal Yadav, as its candidate. Shakya joined the BJP earlier this year after quitting Shivpal Yadav’s Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party. With tacit support of Shivpal Yadav, the BJP is hoping to breach this Yadav bastion. BJP is also hoping to pick up the Rampur assembly seat that fell vacant after SP MLA Azam Khan was convicted by an MP-MLA court in a 2019 hate speech case.
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.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah inarguably remains the best election strategist and untiring campaigner for the BJP. With Himachal and Gujarat elections on his plate, one must give it to him that he makes it a point not to ignore his ministerial responsibilities as advised by PM Narendra Modi. He held as many as six rallies in Himachal. Even then he was recently seen holding a six-hour-long meeting in Delhi on how to further strengthen the process of information sharing and enhancing liaison between counter-terrorism and anti-drug agencies of the states, MHA officials were stuck in awe. The meeting started at 11 am and continued till 5pm. Shah chaired a high level meeting of Intelligence Bureau (IB) officers from across the country and reviewed the internal security situation of the country. The meeting held extensive discussions on various issues related to national security. At the meeting, Shah underlined the government’s commitment to ensure the country’s security and lauded the IB for its “very important contribution in maintaining peace in the country since Independence, anonymously without any expectations.” “Our fight is against terrorism as well as its support system; till we do not fight strictly against both of them, victory over terrorism cannot be achieved,” he said. He called for the need to control the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) by dismantling its financial and logistical support system.
With a focus on the South, PM Narendra Modi has in the past two days been reaching out to people in the four states inaugurating a slew of infra projects. In a marked departure, he was seen connecting with the masses who had lined up to see his cavalcade whether it was in Dindigul in Tamil Nadu or in Bengaluru in Karnataka. In fact, there was a huge crowd to welcome Modi despite the rains in Madurai. People had turned out in large numbers to greet the PM in Visakhapatnam on November 12. While in Visakhapatnam, Modi launched projects pertaining to connectivity, oil and gas sector that will give fillip to Andhra Pradesh’s growth, he will visit a fertiliser plant at Ramagundam in Telangana. Modi described his visit to Karnataka and Tamil Nadu as “an eventful day with diverse programmes”. In Bengaluru, where the PM inaugurated terminal 2 of the international airport and unveiled a 108-feet tall statue of Bengaluru founder ‘Nadaprabhu’ Kempegowda, Modi said, “Unlike previous regimes, his government believes speed as India’s aspiration and scale as its strength”. He also stressed that along with physical infrastructure, social infrastructure of the country needs to be strengthened for India’s advancement. “Whether it is governance or developing a physical and digital infrastructure, India is working on a different level. The world is admiring the strides India has made in the digital payments system, was it thinkable eight years ago?”
The BJP released its list of candidates for 160 constituencies for the upcoming #and picked up interesting names as it dropped 38 of its sitting MLAs. Its most talked about pick is former Morbi MLA Kantilal Amrutiya who had jumped into Machchu river to rescue people following collapse of the bridge, cricketer Ravindra Jadeja’s wife Rivaba Jadeja, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and Hardik Patel. Entry of Amrutiya, a former Congress MLA from Morbi, into the fray is interesting as he is seen as someone who had reached out to people in their hour of distress. The video of the leader skirting the waters of Machchu river had gone viral soon after the tragic incident where 135 people lost their lives. That’s perhaps why the BJP replaced its sitting MLA and Minister Brijesh Merja, and selected Amrutiya who had lost in 2017 on a Congress ticket. Merja was also a Congress turncoat who had defected to the ruling party in 2020 and was made a Minister in 2021. The party has dropped as many as 38 sitting legislators including outgoing Assembly Speaker Nimaben Acharya and several Cabinet Ministers The 160 list includes as many as 14 women including 69 sitting MLAs. Rivaba Jadeja is contesting from Jamnagar North.
With elections in Himachal Pradesh scheduled on November 12, PM Narendra Modi took permission from President Droupadi Murmu to skip the swearing-in ceremony of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud on account of a hectic poll campaign. Amidst reports of rebels in as many 50% of the 68 assembly seats, Modi addressed rallies in Kangra and Sujanpur districts. Results for Himachal are to be declared along with Gujarat on December 8. In a direct appeal to people of Himachal, Modi urged them to shed their habit of not repeating a government. He pointed to how the people of Uttarakhand had changed the old tradition and made the BJP win. “In UP too, it has happened after 40 years when a party won again and came to government for the second time in a row with an absolute majority. In Manipur also the BJP government has come again. The condition of Congress is deteriorating day by day. The area which was once considered Congress’s stronghold, the party has been completely wiped out from there…It has only two states left, Rajasthan & Chhattisgarh, no news of development comes from these two states.” It is the tenacity of rebels like Kripal Parmar who have stayed on in the fray in Fatehpur seat even after Modi spoke to him that may worry the BJP. The alleged phone call with the PM had gone viral.
For reasons best known to it, the Congress kicked up a needless row over “lotus” being part of the G20 logo that was unveiled by PM Modi on November 8. It was left to Union Minister Hardeep Puri to put Jairam Ramesh in his place for trying to draw an equivalence between use of lotus — BJP’s symbol and instance of Nehru resisting Congress Party flag being adopted as flag of India. Puri pointed out that lotus wasn’t merely BJP’s symbol but had been declared India’s national flower since 1950 “by the then Congress Government. Jairam was born in 1954. God alone knows why the Congress chooses to denigrate & undermine every national symbol even as it is desperately out to ‘jodo’ itself.” In an explainer, the MEA says the G20 Logo draws inspiration from the vibrant colours of India’s national flag – saffron, white and green, and blue. It juxtaposes planet Earth with the lotus, India’s national flower that reflects growth amid challenges. Modi made it clear that the G20 presidency for India would not remain a central government event and would be a great opportunity for all states to showcase our tradition of ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’. That means events related to G-20 will not be limited to Delhi. PM Modi will be travelling to Indonesia next week where the G-20 presidency will be handed over to India.
Mallikarjun Kharge’s emergence as AICC president has given a lot of confidence to Congress leaders in Karnataka that they will be able to form the next government in the state when assembly elections are held early next year. A clear sign of this was the manner in which Kharge’s Sadashivanagar residence in Bengaluru was packed with visitors — hundreds of party leaders and workers — calling on him early this week. In the fractious Karnataka politics message went out that the new Congress chief would not be another power centre but someone who would play a referee in the all -out war between two factions of DK Shivkumar and Siddaramiah. It was interesting that very important visitors had lined up, seeking a ticket for their kin in 2023 polls. Among the senior leaders who called on Kharge were former Governor Margret Alva, former Assembly Speaker KB Koliwad and Allum Veerabhadrappa. The rush to meet Kharge was so much that he had to skip his 1.15 pm flight back to New Delhi and instead take an evening flight. He was confident that he would get everybody’s support. He has already asked party leaders to chase a target of 150 seats– a target set by Rahul Gandhi.
In a big win for the Modi Government ahead of Gujarat and Himachal polls, the Supreme Court on November 7 backed a 10% quota in jobs and education for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), introduced just before the 2019 general elections. The EWS quota is not discriminatory and does not alter the basic structure of the constitution, said the majority judgement of SC bench. Two judges Chief Justice UU Lalit and Justice Ravindra Bhat dissented. Justice Bhat said he supported quota for the economically backward, but the exclusion of the socially backward sections is not allowed in the Constitution. Economic destitution, economic backwardness is backbone of this amendment and on this account, amendment is constitutionally indefensible. “However, excluding the classes such as SC/ST and OBC is not constitutionally permissible,” Justice Bhat said. CJI Lalit concurred with his view. The decision stands at 3:2. The EWS quota introduced through the 103rd constitutional amendment helped the BJP to reach out to those castes who were left out of the reservation system, like the Patels in Gujarat, Jats in Haryana, Marathas in Maharashtra and Lingayats in Karnataka. As many as 40 petitions were heard by the SC for 6 days. Tamil Nadu, which has among the highest reservations in the country, opposed the EWS and asked SC to revisit the Indra Sawhney or the Mandal judgement.
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.
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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.