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Last week, as Congress leaders protested against Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s so-called “anti-Ambedkar” remark in Rajya Sabha, Rahul Gandhi joined his party MPs in a blue T-shirt, giving up his trademark white polo T-shirt. His sister Priyanka also twinned with him wearing a blue sari. Clearly the Gandhi siblings opted to go for a very visual protest against Shah’s remarks. The choice of the colour of clothes of the Leader of Opposition (LoP) — usually spotted donning plain white T-shirts raised eyebrows. The colour blue has been associated with Dalit politics since 1942, when Dr BR Ambedkar established the Scheduled Castes Federation to campaign for the rights of the Dalit community. The body adopted a blue flag featuring Ashok Chakra. The flag was later retained by the Republican Party of India (RPI), founded by Ambedkar in 1956. Over time, blue became very closely associated with Dalit identity and activism. Even political parties like the Bahujan Samaj Party and the ASP, which champions Dalit welfare, embraced blue colour in their branding. As the Gandhi siblings lead the protest, it was the choice of colour of their clothes that caught everyone’s attention!
The Winter Session which saw a two-day discussion on the 75th anniversary of the Constitution and introduction of One Nation One Election (ONOE) Bill has come to a close. It brought out sharp divisions over discussions and bills at least in two political parties — the Congress and DMK. In the Congress, if a first term MP Priyanka Vadra was seen opening the discussion on the Constitution in the Lok Sabha, for some reason senior leader and eminent lawyer P Chidambaram did not get an opportunity to have his say about the Constitution in the Rajya Sabha. In the DMK, there was a clear division of views between the DMK parliamentary party leader TR Baalu and deputy leader Kanimozhi. While Baalu endorsed the government’s offer to refer the Bill to the Joint Parliamentary Committee, Kanimozhi seemed completely surprised by his stand and insisted that her party was opposed to the Bill and demanded its withdrawal.”DMK has consistently opposed the entire Bill. We do not accept that there can be ONOE because it is against the Constitution. It is against federal rights and it is against the will of the people. People choose state governments for 5 years, I don’t think you can take that right away from the people and give it to the EC to decide how many years governments can last or not. So, this is completely against the state, against federalism” said Kanimozhi. While her stand reflects TN assembly resolution passed in February against ONOE Bill this year, the media is awash with reports about how her late father Kalaignar M Karunanidhi had highlighted the benefits of simultaneous polls in his autobiography Nenjuku Neethi. Incidentally, Karunanidhi had advanced state polls to 1971 to coincide with LS polls.
The Thursday (Dec 19) visit of BJP and Shiv Sena (Shinde) MLAs to the RSS headquarters in Nagpur has become a hot political topic though there are other reasons, too, for intense politicking. Firstly, the MLAs belonging to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar did not join the event. Secondly, those disgruntled due to their non-inclusion in the council of ministers have started expressing their anger openly. Like earlier two occasions, Ajit Pawar and most of his followers distanced themselves from the visit organized by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. The presence of former CM Eknath Shinde and his MLAs proved to be another highlight. However, the discontent brewing within Mahayuti on other counts is now becoming more vocal. Political heavyweight Chhagan Bhujbal was the first to articulate it. His open criticism of Ajit Pawar surprised many since he had stayed by the side of Pawar all through. Now, there are reports that some of Bhujbal’s supporters want him to join the BJP to end his political wilderness. So far, Bhujbal has maintained that he is with the NCP (Ajit). The other notable leader to become the subject of political speculation is the legislative council’s deputy chairperson Neelam Gorhe. Her detractors, mainly the recent Sena (UBT) entrant Sushama Andhare, have started hinting at Gorhe’s plans to go with the BJP. Gorhe, too, has not reacted to the talk. Ajit’s sudden disappearance for two days from the winter session only added grist to the grapevine. His explanation that he was down with a throat infection is hardly swallowed. More murmurs are expected to be heard once Fadnavis announces the allocation of the portfolios.
The Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray has started preparing for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) election, expected to take place early next year. This will be the fight for political survival for Thackeray because the Sena has been in power in India’s richest civic body since 1985. Taking stock of the situation, other political parties, too, have begun their planning. The picture this time will be fundamentally different since the BJP has emerged as the largest party in the state after the assembly election. Its estrangement with the Sena (UBT), which split in 2022 owing to Eknath Shinde’s decision to walk out of it, will be a major factor in the coming election in which the Congress will be an insignificant player, given its lacklustre performance in Mumbai and the state as a whole. Equally exasperating is the condition of the state Congress committee as its president Nana Patole is perceived as an ineffective leader by the rank and file. The BMC’s last election saw the Sena winning 84 seats in the 227-member house while the BJP had captured 82. Owing to the alliance ethics, the BJP had made no effort to bag the mayoralty of the financial capital of India. However, the BJP is not prepared to take any chance this time and a decision about its Mumbai president is likely to be taken soon. Sitting chief Ashish Shelar is among the hopefuls though his inclusion in the council of ministers could be a decisive factor in the final choice.
This was to happen one day or the other with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) putting its foot down saying it will not send its national teams to India for any signature event of the ICC, like the World Cups in the two formats in men, women and the juniors. This was the PCB’s riposte to the long-standing BCCI position — citing security concerns — that it will not send its team across the border for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and that it will play only at a neutral venue. For three World Test Championship (WTC) the two nations have taken themselves off the Future Tours Programme (FTP). The cricketers of the two countries may enjoy good relationships when they lock horns in neutral country venues and have fans across the border, but the Indian government has been steadfast in denying permission to the BCCI. The latest communication from the ICC has confirmed that in the 2024-2027 cycle all ICC events given to India and Pakistan, the matches featuring the two countries will be held at a neutral country chosen by the host country; in the Champions Trophy case the PCB is the host. What all this means is the elimination of high security arrangements that India had to do when Pakistan played last year’s World Cup matches in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai and Kolkata. It took hard bargaining by the PCB with the ICC — with Jay Shah in Chair since December 1, 2024 — for it to agree to a hybrid model in order to ensure that it remains the host in a neutral country venue as well and where India will play and this country is said to be the United Arab Emirates.
The massive success of Pushpa 2, has reignited the debate over screen allocation in West Bengal’s single-screen theatres. While the blockbuster continues to dominate the box office, its stronghold has created challenges for four Bengali films— Khadaan, Shontaan, Chaalchitro, and 5 No. Swapnamoy Lane—which targeted Christmas Day for their releases. The overlap has sparked a heated controversy over securing adequate slots in single-screen theatres, which remain a key audience base for Bengali cinema. Single-screen theatres across Bengal are grappling with the balancing act of accommodating these films while catering to the massive demand for Pushpa 2. Tollywood’s Christmas lineup has been significantly impacted, with producer-actor Dev expressing frustration on social media. He alleged that Khadan’s shows and advance bookings were disrupted due to the overwhelming presence of Pushpa 2. Arijit Dutta, owner of Priya Theatre, reported dividing slots among the films: Khadaan (two shows), Chaalchitro (one), 5 No. Swapnamoy Lane (one), and Pushpa 2 (one). However, veteran actor Mithun Chakraborty’s Shontaan was left out entirely, sparking outrage from its director Raj Chakraborty, who criticized the lack of consistent support for Bengali cinema. A distributor, speaking anonymously, blamed the simultaneous release of multiple Bengali films during the festive season, suggesting a lack of coordination among producers. He pointed to Bollywood’s strategy of staggering releases as a model Tollywood could emulate. Star Theatre owner Joydeep Mukherjee called for better planning within the Bengali film industry to avoid internal competition. Interestingly, allegations have resurfaced about Shontaan‘s producer, pressuring hall owners to prioritize its films. This history has led some distributors to side with independent producers in the current clash.
Sunday’s swearing in of 33 (16:9:8 ratio for BJP, Shiv Sena, NCP respectively) mostly young cabinet ministers in CM Devendra Fadnavis’ 3.0 government was not followed up by expected portfolio allocations even late Thursday (Dec 19). The unrelenting clamour for one specific portfolio by a senior BJP minister-in-waiting (in apparent conflict of interest), aspiration to improve upon earlier performance in power sector by another are in the open awaiting the Maha Chanakya to coolly decide upon. Scribes housed at the state government ‘Suyog’ facility within the Family court premises near Vidhan Bhavan enjoy the Nagpur chill over familial evenings at ‘Sneh Bojans’ hosted by these as-yet ‘Anamika’ ministers. DCM Eknath Shinde’s camp brews hostility from left out veteran MLAs and cherry-picking ministers-in-waiting who threaten boiling point anytime soon. This is unlike the chill that has set upon the near deserted NCP office at Vidhan Bhavan sans activity, notwithstanding the bustling beehive of activity right outside and within the state legislature that is hosting its winter session. It is probably the first time in Maharashtra’s political history for such an ongoing legislature session without specifically assigned ministers manning questions on the floor of the state assembly and council while responding to public interest issues of state. For now, all portfolios rest with CM Fadnavis. NCP veteran Chhagan Bhujbal, Sena’s Tanaji Sawant complain vociferously from out in the cold even as some BJP MLAs rue their bad luck despite winning big in Mumbai city where the richest civic body will face the hustings very soon.
The events outside Parliament House that led to injuries to two BJP MPs was best summed up by FM Nirmala Sitharaman in her X post. She explained how “During the INDI Alliance’s protest inside Parliament premises today, Rahul Gandhi had forcefully pushed an MP, causing a domino effect that injured 2 BJP MPs –Pratap Sarangi (Balasore, Odisha) and Mukesh Rajput (Farrukhabad, UP)” Both the MPs are now hospitalised as they have sustained head injuries. Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan was surprised that the Congress had so far not even bothered to say sorry. “I was wondering what was the purpose of Kharge-Rahul Gandhi’s presser, if they can’t say sorry. Our Nagaland MP, a tribal woman leader Phangnon Konyak had voiced discomfort that was caused to her by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.” She has written a letter to the RS Chairman. Adding further he said, “We feel Rahul simply does not deserve to be the LoP. When the Opposition is holding a protest, we usually take another gate. What was the need for Rahul Gandhi to wade into the area where BJP MPs were standing? He should simply quit as LoP.” BJP MPs including Anurag Thakur and Bansuri Swaraj filed a complaint against Rahul Gandhi at the Parliament Street Police station in connection with the scuffle between Opposition and NDA MPs. It is learnt that security forces repeatedly requested the Congress MP to use an alternative path, specifically arranged for a peaceful entry into Parliament. However, Rahul Gandhi declined the request. BJP’s Thakur said “The kind of attitude Rahul Gandhi has, he thinks he is above the law.” Responding to the allegations, Rahul said BJP MPs were trying to stop him and were threatening him “
Home Minister Amit Shah whose intervention in discussions on the 75th anniversary of the Constitution sparked off a row and seemed to have majorly united the Opposition. Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge charged him of insulting Dr BR Ambedkar.. He accused his rivals of being “anti-Ambedkar” and “anti-Constitution”, and “spreading lies”. In his concluding remarks in the Rajya Sabha, Shah sarcastically said, “It has become the fashion to say ‘Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar…’ If they (the opposition) took God’s name so many times, they will get a place in heaven.” At a Press Conference, he charged the Congress of distorting his comments in the Rajya Sabha saying the Congress had put out an edited version of his speech. “I come from a party which follows the ideals of Ambedkar,” asserted Shah.” Rebuffing calls for his resignation by Kharge, Shah made it clear that he had no intention of stepping down. “Kharge is asking for my resignation. If that will make him feel happy, then I’ll give it. But the Congress has to sit in the opposition for at least 15 more years. “In an unusual move — perhaps underlining the impact of the Opposition’s attack on this issue — PM Modi and senior ministers rallied behind Shah. “If the Congress and its rotten ecosystem think malicious lies can hide their misdeeds of several years, especially their insult towards Dr Ambedkar, they are gravely mistaken!” said PM Modi. Amidst this, PM Modi and Shah met Rahul Gandhi and Kharge to appoint the next NHRC chief. TMC leader Derek O’Brien has moved a privilege notice against Shah in the Rajya Sabha for his remarks on Dr Ambedkar.
Ravichandran Ashwin was adroit in bowling the carom or knuckle ball or the doosra, but on Wednesday afternoon, Brisbane time, the nonconformist off-spinner of 13 years in the big league of the game deployed the “bombshell” to bring an end to his illustrious career. At the conclusion of the rain-marred third Test at the Gabba, the finger spinner with a few sobriquets, “scientist” being the most used among the media, Ashwin sitting beside his beleaguered captain, Rohit Sharma, matter of fact said: Today (Wednesday, December 18) was his last day as an international cricketer across formats and that he will be seen in action in club cricket, meaning IPL etc. The seasoned campaigner, starting his Test career in November 2011, was capped 106 times, and he missed 25 Tests after his debut; he featured in 61 wins, 47@home and 14 overseas. He read the writing on the wall about him losing the primacy as the No 1 spinner of the team in flannels after Washington Sundar was chosen for the first Test in Perth. Then being dropped to bring in Ravindra Jadeja for the third Test in Brisbane convinced him that his time was up…to hang up his boots. The home series against New Zealand that India lost 3-0 was a bitter pill to swallow for him. His numbers — 765 wickets in the three formats, including 537 wickets in Tests alone speaks of his right to be called a legend. It was a bold, practical call to take a bow while not in the field and that was an unhappy part that Indian cricket could not give one of its icons a fitting farewell. Ashwin has perhaps shown the way for a few more to bid adieu, sooner than later! They are over the hill, indeed.
Thrust the Malayalam film makers to rework things amidst the OTT boom, especially yesteryear producers/directors who are missing the present day boom. Malayalee film goers are queuing up to watch some of the yesteryear classics like Manichitrathazhu, Devadoothan, Spadikam etc first released 20 to 30 years back. The re-release boom is fast catching up with at least 15 to 20 old Malayalam classics being lined up for re-release. Film maker Sibi Malayil, who is behind the re-release of Devadoothan, says that “one thing we need to ensure is that the quality of the visuals and sound improves on re-releasing a movie. Better quality raw materials help in giving audiences a better theatre experience, he added. It costs about Rs 1 crore to rework an old movie to give a 4K experience. Devadoothan, a Mohanlal starrer was a colossal flop when it was released first, 24 years back. Today, after restoring the film, re-editing and removal of unnecessary scenes and even adding spice to some of the fight scenes, the film has grossed Rs 4 crore in two weeks at the theatres. The movie is still running full house in the third week. Movies being lined for re-release include Mohanlal’s Devasuram (1993), Araam Thampuran (1997), Mammoothy’s Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha (1989) and Palery Maanikyam Oru Pathira Kolapaathakathinte Katha (2009). But, theatre owner Liberty Basheer sounds a word of caution. “We cannot predict the audience. Most of these films are available on YouTube or have been telecast on TV. Not everyone would want to experience the 4K version. “Kerala of late has been witnessing huge footfalls at theatres following successful launches of new generation films like Manjummel Boys, Avesham, Premalu etc which have grossed theatre collections over Rs 100 crore.
The hospital acquisitions of Blackstone, a private equity firm, is getting bigger by the day. Blackstone gained controlling stakes in two South Indian hospital chains– Hyderabad’s CARE Hospitals and KIMS (Kerala Institute of Medical Science) in May 2023 for an investment of Rs 8300 crore. The combined entity under the CARE brand name has emerged as the fourth largest hospital group in India. Now, Blackstone is believed to have struck an all share deal with Aster DM Healthcare to merge their hospital entities under the brand name — Aster DM Quality Care Pvt Ltd. The merger, reported to be in the ratio of 50:50 is between Aster Healthcare and CARE Hospitals. The promoters are expected to approach the National Company Law Tribunal soon. The deal is subject to clearance from the Competition Commission of India. The deal, which would be a share swap agreement, will see the Azad Moopen family’s 42% in Aster DM diluted in the joint entity and Blackstone’s increased. Aster Healthcare is today valued at Rs 19,068 crore and CARE at Rs 16,800 crore. The merger would place the new entity as a major hospital chain with Aster having 5000 beds capacity and CARE another 5000 beds. Apollo Hospital is the biggest hospital chain in this segment. Dr Azad Moopen, chairman of Aster is expected to head the new entity as executive chairman with a professional management team running the day-to-day affairs.
The much-awaited Vizhinjam International Seaport, India’s first deep-water container transhipment port began trial runs with Mothership- San Fernando, a Maersk line vessel berthing at the port with 1930 containers. Once fully operational, the turnaround time of the port is expected to be less than a day (0.9 day), which is better than the U.S. (1.5 days), UAE (1.1 days) and Singapore (1 day). One of the major attractions of the port is its proximity to international shipping routes and its deep draft. Global shipping majors prefer ports with an 18 metre or more draft. Vizhinjam has a 20 meters draft, while neighbouring ports like Cochin and Thoothukudi have insufficient draft of 14.5 m and 14.2 m respectively. The Vizhinjam Port, once fully operational, will be competing with some of the major ports in this region — Colombo, Singapore, Port Klang and even Dubai. While the projected handling capacity of the Vizhinjam Seaport in the first phase would be One million (TEUs) Twenty foot equivalent units, Singapore does 36.8 million (TEUs) and Colombo 6.85 million (TEUs) as per 2020 figures. Work on the Vizhinjam Port started in 2015 under a public-private development plan. For this purpose, the Kerala Government entered into a concession agreement with Adani Vizhinjam Port Pvt Ltd. Out of the total investment of Rs 8,867 crore, the Central Government has allocated Rs 5,595 crore and State Government Rs 818 crore. The port hopes to be fully operational by October 2024.
Air Kerala, the long standing demand of Malayalees, is finally taking shape. The brainchild of two UAE entrepreneurs, Afi Ahmed and Ayub Kallada, Air Kerala will be the first regional airline originating from Cochin. The airline which is registered under the name, Zettfly Aviation, has received the NOC from India’s Civil Aviation Ministry to operate scheduled commuter air transport services for three years. With NOC in hand, the promoters will now have to obtain an Air Operator’s Certificate. The next step also involves zeroing on the right type of aircraft. Initially, Air Kerala plans to buy/lease ATR 72-600 model aircraft to connect tier-II and tier-III cities. The intention is finally to graduate to tier-I cities and expand to international routes. For this, the airline will have to expand operations over a period of three years with an expanded fleet including wide-bodied Jets. Air Kerala has been the dream-child of the Kerala Government since 2005, to operate a low cost air service offering economical fares to expats. Last year, Afi Ahmed, one of the promoters who owns Smart Travels, bought the domain name airkerala.com for a whopping Dh 1 million. The promoters plan an initial investment of DH 1.1 billion. Zettfly Aviation’s board comprises Afi Ahmed, Ayub Kallada and Kanika Goyal all having expertise in the aviation field.
It is reliably learnt that Adani Data Network, which was the surprise entrant in the 5G spectrum auction conducted by the Telecom Department, has silently walked out of the space. Adani had acquired the right to use 400 MHz of the spectrum in the 26 GHz milimetre waveband for 20 years. Adani it seems has not paid the requisite auction money by the stipulated period perhaps an indication it is having second thoughts about its entry into 5G space. Generally, in such cases, the bank guarantee, given at time of bidding, would be encashed and a penalty charged. Reportedly, the Department has decided to waive off both as the ecosystem is yet to be developed. After the auction in September 2021, Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had said that the acquirers of spectrum would roll out their 5G services by October 2022. The government had received bids for Rs 150,173 crore from Jio, Bharti Airtel, Voda and Adani. The total amount mopped up by the government from 5G spectrum capable of offering ultra-high speed mobile internet connectivity was Rs 77,815 cr. At the time of bidding for the 400 MHz spectrum, Adani Group had indicated that it was the group’s first step in integrating its digital infrastructure portfolio including data centres, terrestrial fibre and submarine cables, industrial cloud, AI innovative labs, cyber security and super apps. The Telecom department was supposed to hold the next round of spectrum auction in February 2024 but with elections round the corner, the auction was not held, and may be held once the new government is sworn in. This time round, however, the Government expects operators to go for lower bands beginning with 600MHz for many which are lapsing soon. Back in September 2021, the Government decided that spectrum auctions should be held annually.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar, minister of state for IT, Electronics and Skill Development was not re-nominated to Rajya Sabha from Karnataka. Indications are that he will be the BJP candidate for Thiruvananthapuram seat to take on superstar politician, Shashi Tharoor. The three time Congress MP had recently gone on record that even a Narendra Modi will not be able to unseat him from the Kerala capital seat. The BJP candidates have come second in the Thiruvananthapuram seat in the last three elections. Tharoor had won by handsome margins in 2009 and 2019 while in 2014 he won by a narrow margin of 2% against former Railway Minister, O Rajagopal. Hindus account for 66% of the population in the seat followed by Christians 19% and Muslims 15%. Chandrasekhar, a Malayalee by birth, owns Kerala’s number one media house, Asianet Group. After selling off the number one Malayalam entertainment channel, Asianet TV to Star TV, he retained Asianet News, by far the number one Malayalam news channel. Despite being a BJP Minister, the channel has all along maintained a straight forward news stand. Chandrasekhar’s chances of grabbing the Thiruvananthapuram seat looks bleak but he could well build up his chances for 2029 when Tharoor relinquishes the seat as promised.
The BJP, which is yet to open its account in Kerala, is eyeing the state’s cultural capital, Thrissur to deliver its first Member of Parliament. The electorate of Kerala’s cultural capital, Thrissur, which has amidst it the Vadakkuumnathan Shiva Temple and the World famous Guruvayur Krishna Temple, is being wooed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, himself. After holding an impressive road show at Thrissur on January 3, 2024, Modi is returning to Thrissur on January 16, this time in the garb of attending the marriage of film star – Suresh Gopi’s daughter at Guruvayur Temple. Gopi, a former Rajya Sabha member, was the BJP candidate from Thrissur in the 2019 elections where he came third behind the UDF and LDF. The only silver-lining in the election was the BJP vote share increasing from 11.5 % in 2014 to 28.2 % in 2019. The increased vote share plus the constituency’s demographics — 58% Hindus, 24 % Christians and 17 % Muslims — has made the Thrissur seat BJP’s best bet. Also, BJP’s Christian outreach programme which seems to have received a favourable response in Kerala despite the issues in Manipur, has spurred BJP and Modi to have a second road show in neighbouring Kochi, the commercial capital of Kerala on January 17. After assembly election losses in Karnataka, Telangana and losing their Tamil Nadu partner, AIADMK, BJP is pulling out all the stops to woo the South Indian electorate.
Sridhar Vembu, the business visionary who set up the multi-billion dollar Zoho Corporation at Tenkasi in Tamil Nadu, plans to replicate the model in rural Kerala. Vembu proposes to set up Zoho Corporation’s R&D centre at Kottarakarain, Kollam, 65 km from Thiruvananthapuram. The unit, which has the blessings of the Kerala government, will provide jobs for 1000 people. Vembu had only one condition to set up the unit in Kerala, when Kerala’s officials approached him, “Find a leader to head the operations”, according to Anoop Ambika, CEO, Kerala Start-Up Mission (KSUM). And KSUM was looking to persuade Dr Jayaraj Poroor, Zoho’s former research head who is now an academician, to head the project. In Tenkasi, Zoho converted what was once a nondescript fruit pulp manufacturing unit, into a tech centre par excellence on the world map. Vembu wanted to debunk the idea that location plays an important part in the success of a company. According to Anoop Ambika, once the project takes off, it will not only bring technology and jobs to the local talent pool but also put Kerala on the technology map.
At a time when Cruise services are turning popular in India, Kerala has found a new way to counter the exorbitant air fares to the Gulf. Come December 2023, Malayali expats can travel home in luxury cruises. The Kozhikode-based Malabar Development Council and Indian Association, Sharjah, have planned to ply private luxury cruises between UAE and Kerala. Each cruise will have a capacity of 1300 passengers and the three day trip will cost Rs 10,000 one-way. Each passenger will be allowed to carry baggage of 200 kg. The fare will be 50% lower than the present average airfare between UAE and Kerala. The associations behind the cruise project, have approached the Kerala Government and the Kerala Maritime Board with the proposal. Once the clearances come through, the promoters will approach the Central Government for a formal approval. The Kerala government had earmarked Rs 15 crore to resolve issues faced by expats travelling between UAE and Kerala. The promoters hope that this money could be used as seed money to start the operations. A vessel currently being constructed at the Cochin Shipyard could be diverted for the project. The Andaman and Nicobar Administration which placed the contract for the vessel has now backed out for unknown reasons.
From Day One, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious Project Cheetah aimed at re-introducing cheetahs in the country has come in for severe criticisms. First, the Opposition leaders castigated the Modi government for its fanfare of releasing cheetahs in Kuno National in Madhya Pradesh on his birthday. Now, with the death of six cheetahs there is more criticism directed at the PM. Taking cognizance of what’s happening Valmik Thapar, a wildlife expert who has studied Indian and African wildlife for nearly 50 years in a signed edit in The Economic Times makes startling revelations. He says cheetahs were never found in India but for centuries “maharajas, princes and the rich and famous were obsessed with importing this animal from its source population.” He raises two pertinent questions in the article “Why did the architects of this multimillion-dollar reintroduction plan ill-advise GoI? Did they not know that India’s 300-year history was full of the presence of captive cheetahs, which were clearly runaways that turned feral?” Second, why was Kuno-Palpur selected as a site for reintroduction? “Anyone who has observed wild cheetahs in Africa will realise that the Kuno region is not suitable because of a lack of prey, uneven ground, a high density of leopards and hyenas, and a thriving population of ferocious village dogs…” One wonders why the government of the day did not consult an expert like Thapar when it conceived Project Cheetah.
Irony! Kerala’s Left Front Govt In Talks With Tatas, Adanis To Bail Out Kannur International Airport
It is rare that the fortunes of an airport are tied to an airline. One of the big casualties of Go First’s insolvency is Kerala’s second public-private airport, Kannur International Airport Ltd (KIAL). Set up at a cost of Rs 2500 crore in 2018, the airport which has attracted over 20 million passengers is today defaulting on salaries and all infrastructure payments. In fact, things have turned worse in the last two months, with the airport defaulting on interest payments on borrowings which have now risen to Rs 1200 crore. Go First used to operate 240 flights per month from KIAL to domestic and international destinations. These operations earned it a revenue of Rs 5 crore every month. Also, KIAL was used by Go First as a major parking bay for its fleet of aircraft. The airlines which operate from KIAL today are Air India Express and Indigo, which do only four or five flights per day. The Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan is worried that the airport could turn out to be another white elephant. It is believed that his government has approached the Tatas and Adanis to bail out KIAL. This is ironic, as the same Pinarayi government had vehemently opposed the privatisation of Trivandrum International to Adani. Critics say that Vijayan will go to any extent to save KIAL, as it is in the backyard of all the top Kerala CPM leaders.
The twitter world went on overdrive over a tweet by Trinamool Congress national spokesperson Saket Gokhale over the CoWin data leak. He tweeted: “a major data breach of Modi Govt where personal details of all vaccinated Indians including their mobile nos., Aadhaar numbers, Passport numbers, voters ID have been leaked and are freely available.” Some of the people whose data were leaked are: Dy Chairman Rajya Sabha Haribansh Narayan Singh; TMC leaders Derek O’ Brien, Sushmita Dev; Congress leaders P Chidambaram, Jairam Ramesh, Ahishek Manu Singhvi KC Venugopal and couple of TV journalists. So where does the blame lie? Clearly, during Pandemic anybody who travelled had to give a vaccine certificate. Besides, self-attested copies of Aadhaar/Passport/Pan cards are given by all of us for various purposes – banks, insurance companies, CAs etc. So the leak can be from anywhere. From the government side, union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar immediately tweeted: “With ref to some Alleged Cowin data breaches reported on social media, @IndianCERT has immdtly responded n reviewed this (sic). A Telegram Bot was throwing up Cowin app details upon entry of phone numbers. The data being accessed by bot from a threat actor data, which seems to hv been populated wth previously stolen data in the past. It does not appear that Cowin app or database has been directly breached.“
Netflix, the California-based OTT player, is rejigging its business strategy. To start with it has done away with its initial business of mail order DVDs. The DVD postal service was launched as an alternative to DVD rental stores. This business generates only $ 126 mn of Netlfix’s annual turnover of $ 31.6 bn. Besides, it is also aggressively cracking down on free password sharing among its subscribers. Recently it launched a new password sharing policy in the U.S. which includes paid sharing. This policy is being introduced to all its 231 mn paid subscribers across 190 countries. Also, on the anvil are more streams, like subscription only and ad driven streams. In the first quarter of 2023 Netflix added 1.75 mn new customers as against 7.66 million customers last quarter. Though the customer additions look lower, it is considered a significant turnaround as it had lost 200,000 customers in the first quarter of 2022. Netflix’s India business too is looking up with engagement growing nearly 30 % in the first quarter of 2023 vis a vis last year. This follows lowering of prices by 20% to 60 % in December 2021, leading to deepening the penetration of the market. This also led to a revenue growth of 24% in 2022 as against 19% in 2021. Netflix now plans to replicate the India model to 116 other countries.
Malayalam superstar Prithviraj Sukumaran, who was supposed to direct and act in the web series Biscuit King, a biopic on Rajan Pillai, seems to have put the project on the back burner. Yoodlee Films, a subsidiary of Saregama, had announced in December 2021 that it was backing the project on Rajan Pillai who died a gruesome death in Tihar jail in 1995. Recently, when Prithviraj and actor Suriya got together for a photo shoot it was speculated that the Tamil superstar was in discussion to act in the biopic. However, Prithviraj’s PR team has now clarified that there is no biopic project and that the director’s next two projects are Empyrean and Tyson. Suriya is now expected to do a cameo role in Empuraan or Prithviraj could star in the Tamil actor’s upcoming movie. It may be recalled that in 2021 when the web series Biscuit King was announced, Prithviraj had said, “This story has it all; ambition, success, a jet-setting lifestyle and then a hubris-induced fall. It will be very interesting to discover what made this charismatic personality tick and to relive his intriguing, complex life”. It now looks like the project has been dropped. The biopic since its announcement had his critics as it was not clear whose version it was — Rajan Pillai’s wife Nina, Nusli Wadi/Sunil Alag combine who dethroned him or Rajan’s brother Rajmohan Pillai.
The Bengaluru-based FreshToHome now has the financial backing of Amazon. Through its India-focused Smbhav Venture Fund, Amazon has made $104 mn series D funding. The 2015 incubated FreshToHome sells fresh fish and meat to consumers in South Asia and Middle East. FreshToHome would be a right fit for Amazon, which of late has expanded to the grocery and fresh category leveraging on its logistics infrastructure in South Asia. During its first phase of funding two years back, FreshToHome, raised $121 mn from Investment of Corporation of Dubai, IronPillar, Ascent Capital and US Government’s DFC. FreshToHome is one of the largest players in the $ 100 billion Indian fish and meat market. The size of the market indicates that India is not just a vegetarian country. FreshToHome plans to change the existing market set-up, run on age-old systems. The company proposes to bring in better efficiency by first streamlining the sourcing infrastructure of meat and fish. This will be backed by improved quality of produce and delivery time by using its own processing plants and vast supply chain network. “Customers ordering fish from Delhi to Dubai on a Monday, get their purchases delivered the latest by the next day,” says Shan Kadavil, co-founder and CEO of FreshToHome. The company today serves over 4,000 fishers and farmers and millions of customers in over 160 cities in India and UAE.
Air India’s mega aircraft order is expected to spell doom for the air-transit business from India. Also, the major beneficiaries till date, Emirates, Qatar and Etihad Airways will have to rework their strategies like Singapore Airlines, British Airways and Gulf Air did when the Gulf airlines took over the India transit business. Air India’s order for 40 Airbus A350s, 20 Boeing 787s and 10 Boeing 777 -9s wide-bodied aircraft will see it offering multiple daily direct flights to all premium destinations in USA, Europe and Canada. Air India plans to have daily flights from Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru to major U.S. cities, EU capitals, Australia and Canada to start with. The Gulf-based airlines have been fleecing Indian travellers transiting through Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi, to USA and Europe with huge fares during the peak season. The trips are often camouflaged with free stopovers, lodging and site-seeing trips. Air India’s planned direct flights to USA and Europe should see the fares drop by as much as 30% to 40%. And more importantly, the flying time saved would be four to five hours plus stop over time which is a minimum of two hours. Gulf airlines will now have to rework their India strategies by cutting fares and reducing the number of connections. Some of them may look to tie-up/acquire one of the Indian domestic carriers. As things stand, Qatar Airways was in talks with Indigo and SpiceJet. Experts feel the weaker ones like SpiceJet and Go First could be the first to be approached.
The Gulf-incubated GEMS Education, run by second generation entrepreneur, Sunny Varkey, is on the lookout for a long term partner, failing which it will go for an IPO. The $ 6 billion valued GEMS, is the largest non-Government operator of private kindergarten-to-grade-12 schools in the world, teaching 140,000 students from 175 countries. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs have been given the mandate to find a long term partner for GEMS by mid-2023. The hunt for a partner follows private equity firm CVC’s decision to exit its over 30% stake in the world’s largest private school operator. According to informed sources, ADQ (Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Co) and real estate developer Alder have shown interest in GEMS. Sunny Varkey, who started in the healthcare business, later moved to run GEMS started by his parents. Varkey in a recent interview stated that he has no plans to relinquish majority stake in the company. In fact, he stated that he would prefer long term partners like sovereign wealth funds, infrastructure funds or even pension funds. And if the current exercise to find a long term partner fails, then the group will have no option but to go in for an IPO.
The Lamborghini group is looking at opportunities to invest in Kerala in the areas of luxury flats, apartment complexes and boutique hotels. Tonino Lamborghini, son of the legendary Italian businessman, Ferruccio Lamborghini, is currently in Kerala enjoying the backwaters, cuisines and ayurvedic spas. He also found time to meet the Kerala Industries Minister P Rajeev to identify areas of investment and tax holidays. The group is also interested in partnering with local businesses and also exploring manufacturing opportunities for some of its products. Despite hiving off its famous luxury car business to the Volkswagen group, the Lamborghini family still retains the brand name. The Lamborghini brand has under its belt a line of luxury products like watches, mobile phones, sunglasses, perfumes, bags, clothings and boutique hotels. The group is also looking at partnering with Indian companies to help their brands enter the worldwide market. Tonino also expressed a desire to set up an electric car manufacturing unit. To start off, he felt golf carts would be an ideal area to enter. Tonino is visiting Kerala with his partner, Angela Kriegar and Usman Rehman, MD of Times World group and brand ambassador of the Lamborghini brand in Dubai.
It’s rare that the Chief Minister of a State goes out of his way to torpedo an expansion plan. That’s what’s happening in the case of Trivandrum Airport which needs to expand and extend its 3.1 km runway to meet the International Civil Aviation Organisations (ICAO) specifications. For expansion, an additional 18.5 acres of land adjoining the present airport has already been earmarked. Out of this, 16 acres are government land and the balance in private hands. The Adanis, who operate the airport, have been after Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan for the release of land. Pinarayi seems to be sitting on the proposal. ICAO has given Trivandrum airport time till December 2023 or lose its International airport status. This will mean stoppage of all international flights to and from Kerala’s first international airport built on land given by the Travancore Maharaja. The airport operates 120 international flights per week. Pinarayi’s ire follows the State government’s failure in its bid to take over Trivandrum airport from AAI. Two of Kerala’s greenfield airports — Kochi and Kannur — are run by the private sector with the State Government being the principal shareholder. Despite being world class, Pinarayi’s home town airport at Kannur is struggling for want of traffic and passengers. If the CM hopes that by blocking Trivandrum airport’s expansion Kannur could benefit, then he is totally off the mark going by the distance between the two places.
The Narendra Modi Government is believed to be going ahead with its move for a ‘one nation, one election’ plan. Though the plan has not found favour with the main opposition parties. The next Lok Sabha elections is expected to be simultaneously held along with 12 assembly elections. To accommodate this, the Election Commission will have to tweak the dates and even consider advancing the next Lok Sabha elections by a couple of months. The tentative period being considered is believed to be December-January 2023-24, according to informed sources. While the next Lok Sabha elections are due in April-May 2024, the assembly terms of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana will end by December 2023 and Mizoram by mid December 2023. The other states being roped in for the mega election plan are three non-NDA ruled states with BJP affinity — Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim. The term of these assemblies are scheduled to end by June 2024. And also in the mega election plan are two BJP ruled states, Haryana and Maharashtra, where the elections are due in November 2024. If mega election plan fructifies it will bring down the cost of holding elections across India. The cost of the last Lok Sabha elections was around $ 7 bn (approx. Rs 56,000 crore, up 40% from the previous election. The US spend for its Presidential and Congress elections is around $ 6.5 bn.
There is no end to the football frenzy in Kerala. Huge cut-outs of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar have sprung up at street corners across Kerala. What takes the cake this World Cup are the cut-outs in the middle of paddy fields much to the consternation of municipal corporations. It is estimated that Keralites spent over Rs 4 crore on cut-outs in the Malabar region alone during the 2018 World Cup. This year the figures are expected to double. And if this is not enough the frenzy has moved on to another level. Around 17 football fans pooled their resources to pick up an old house for Rs 23 lakh at Mundakkamugal, near Kochi to watch the World Cup matches with friends. The house has been converted into a viewing gallery with the walls adorning flags of the 32 teams participating in the Doha World Cup and also portraits of Messi and Neymar. No match is enjoyable without loud cheering, fun and friendly banter, says P H Harris, one of the house owners. Following up on their elders, school kids from Perambra in Calicut and Shoranur in Palghat petitioned their Principals to wrap classes early so as to enable them to watch their favourite matches. At Doha Keralites make up the fan clubs of England, France, Brazil and Argentina. In fact, Keralites have their own football league in Doha, with teams named after each district of Kerala.
With oil on the decline, UAE is rolling out the red carpet to attract all kinds of tourists from all round the world. The latest introduction would be an American style Casino at UAE’s sixth largest city, Ras Al Khaimah by 2026. The Wynn Marjan casino cum resort will be located on Dream Island, an unused area of Ras Al Khaimah’s Marjan Island. The integrated resort will come up in a 18,500 sq m area and would be double the size of Wynn’s Las Vegas property. The emirate’s tourism development authority is believed to be writing gaming laws for the casino using Singaporean and US regulations as the base. For this purpose, a new Department of Entertainment and Gaming Regulator has been set up to consider the social, cultural and environmental impact of the emirates. It will also cover issues of licensing, taxation, operational procedures and consumer safeguards, according to Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority. The proposed casino is expected to be one of the 10th biggest casinos in the world. The biggest casino in Asia is The Venetian at Macau. It is also the second biggest casino in the world with a Venice theme in an area of 51,000 sq m. Wynn Resorts will initially operate the casino on its own for some period of time.
The Hindi feature film, The Kerala Story, directed by Sudipto Sen has kicked up a row. In the teaser now on YouTube, a burkha-clad woman states that her name is Shalini Unnikrishnan and she wanted to become a nurse. “Now I am Fatima Ba, an IS terrorist held in a jail in Afghanistan.” She goes on to state that 32,000 girls like her have been converted and many buried in the deserts of Syria and Yemen. The teaser has received both criticism and praise. Sen has claimed that former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had stated, “Every year 2800 to 3200 girls are converted to Islam and so it worked out to 32,000 in 10 years. CPM MP John Brittas has requested Union Home Minister Amit Shah to take “swift action” against the “mischievous” teaser of the film. A Chennai-based journalist has written to the state Chief Minister seeking an enquiry. Some politicians in the state have called for a ban on the film. The Trivandrum City Police Commissioner has sought legal advice on the letter on what action could be initiated. Adah Sharma, the actress in question, has tweeted the teaser of the movie with the hashtag #TrueStory. The producer, Vipul Shah, has been silent on the controversy.
Kerala politician Thushar Vellappally is in the eye of the storm with Telangana Chief Minister, K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) naming him as the kingpin behind BJP’s Operation Kamala to woo TRS MLAs for Rs 50 crore each. Son of SNDP leader Vellappally Nadesan, Thushar heads Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS) and is State Convenor of NDA Kerala. BDJS has not really made any inroads in Kerala. But Home Minister Amit Shah has found Thushar very resourceful. He came close to Amit Shah because of an incident in UAE where he was arrested for defaulting on a payment of Rs 6 crore. Following his arrest, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan was approached for help. But, since it was a country-to-country issue, the CM directly requested the Home Minister to intervene. Shah moved in quickly and UAE agreed to release Thushar provided that the overdue amount was deposited in a local bank. This condition put everyone in a spot. But Vijayan tapped his good friend, LuLu Group’s MA Yusuff Ali to do the needful which he duly obliged. Thushar was released, and all cases against him in the UAE withdrawn. The so-called Shah and Vijayan link ensures that the Congress-led UDF remains out of power in Kerala and the CPM remains BJP’s default team.
Reliance Retail is eyeing the Kerala-based hypermarket and electronic store Bismi, owned by the first generation entrepreneur VA Ajmal. Bismi operates 30 electronics and grocery retail chains across Kerala. Each Bismi Hypermarkets which are a combination of food, groceries and electronics operate in premises of 30,000 to 40,000 sq ft. The standalone single format grocery stores occupy 10,000 sq ft. Started in 2003, Bismi generates a business of Rs 750 cr per annum. The company hopes to achieve a turnover of Rs 4000 cr in the next couple of years. On the anvil are 40 plus Bismi Hypermakets and electronic stores in tier-2 cities across the country. Informed sources said that the talks with Reliance Retail are at an advanced stage and should have been concluded by Diwali. The Bismi valuation is the vicinity of Rs 600 crore. However, Ajmal has refused to confirm nor deny the deal. Reliance Retail today operates 2000 brick and mortar grocery stores across India. It also operates JioMart, an e-commerce platform. The Indian retail market is estimated at $ 900 billion.
The adage that governments should not be in business is turning out to be true as far as the App hailing cab service launched by Kerala’s Left Front government goes. Launched on August 17, Kerala Savari seems to have come a cropper. Over 5000 trips were cancelled. A closer look reveals that 5,141 trips were cancelled by the drivers registered with the app while the user cancellation was only 76. According to officials, drivers tend to go for more attractive deals on other private apps and cancel the rides. The private auto services are charging Rs 55 for a minimum distance with Rs 23.50 being added for every one-half km, which is much higher than the standard rate fixed by the government. The slew of cancellations have eroded the trust of the users at a time when the app is available only in Trivandrum city limits on a pilot basis. However, it failed to take-off due to technical glitches for two weeks. The hiccups raised concern among drivers who enrolled for the taxi app. They also complained of no effective marketing strategies. The CPM has been at the forefront of such foolhardy decisions designed to give its historically militant labour unions a leg up on the employment front. A recent example was the government’s failed attempt to take over the Trivandrum Airport which went to Adani.
BYJU’S, which recently announced the retrenchment of 5% of its 50,000 strong staff in a phased manner, has now gone ahead and shut down its Trivandrum office. The Kerala government’s General Education and Labour Minister, V Sivankutty in a Facebook post has stated “It is alleged that BYJU’S has closed down its Trivandrum office at Technopark, forcing its employees to resign.” More than 170 employees with the Trivandrum unit have told the Minister that they are seeking compensation and pending salaries. Technopark Today, the community media platform, reported that BYJU’S employees were demanding “payment of salary for the month of October 2022 and one-time settlement of salary for the upcoming three months, from November 2022 to January 2023.”Also, “they have demanded encashment of earned leave and full settlement of variable pay as applicable to each employee.” BYJU’S which commands a valuation of $ 22-billion announced a slew of belt tightening measures after posting a loss of Rs 4,588 crore for the fiscal of 2021. Apart from retrenchment of its staff, the company announced that it is optimising its marketing budget, prioritising spends, reducing operational cost and integrating multiple businesses. The company put the blame of its losses in 2020-21 due to the operations at WhiteHat Jr.
With 5G being the flavour of the times, the emphasis on the present day mobile and broadband speed is turning out to be low priority. According to Ookla Speedtest Global Index, the Indian ranking in media mobile network speeds as well as fixed broadband speeds globally has slipped marginally from 117 and 78 respectively to 118 and 79 respectively. However, the median download speed marginally increased from 13.52 Mbps in August to 13.87 mbps in September. In the case of fixed broadband median the average speed also increased from 48.29 Mbps to 48.59 Mbps. For the record, China tops the Speedtest Global Index with Shanghai as the fastest city with a median download speed of 158.63 Mbps for mobile networks. During its trail phase, the Indian 5G networks have generated a download speed of 500 Mbps. The Ookla report also goes on to state that close to 90% of existing Indian mobile owners will shift to 5G as and when it comes about. Reports indicate that it will take from two to three years for 5G to cover the entire country. Till then Indians will have to live with the present download speeds which puts India’s ranking lower than Nepal (115), Pakistan (116) and Sri Lanka (117).
Kerala-based GenRobotics, which introduced Bandicoot, the robotic scavenger, is now getting into robot-assisted gait training solutions. Called G-Gaiter derived from the word Gait (manner of walking), it helps to speed up rehabilitation of paraplegic patients. The product is assembled with the world’s first Pneumatic Leg Orthosis Technology-G Plot. It is designed to maximise muscle strength, range of joint motion and gait function of paraplegic patients. G-Gaiter aims to make a difference in the lives of millions of people by assisting them in the recovery of paraplegic conditions caused by spinal cord injuries, stroke, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, accidents, war injuries sustained by soldiers etc. Unlike the conventional method, G-Gaiter provides an AI-powered natural gait pattern which helps to reduce therapy load and enables efficient and effective recovery. The tagline says it all “Run back to walking”. Genrobotics, which came to limelight for introducing Bandicoot, a robotic machine which cleans any type of manholes, is backed by marquee investors like Anand Mahindra, Zoho Corporation, Rajan Anandan, Unicorn India Ventures and SEA Funds.
Kerala start-up Greenikk, has set up the country’s first full-stack supply chain connecting banana cultivators, traders and exporters on a single platform. Greenikk has built Enabled Centres (ECs) in major producing agri-belts in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. These ECs provide farmers with finance, seeds, crop advisory, insurance coverage, agri inputs including weather tips and market connect. It is covering the entire gamut of production and marketing both within the country and outside. Following its initial success, Greenikk plans to set up similar ECs in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and the rest of the country. On the selection of bananas, the promoters Fariq Noushad and Pervin Jacob said that “After working with banana farmers, dealers and buyers, we realised that it has the maximum potential among all fruits grown in India, if linked to a strong and reliable value chain that would scale up exports.” India accounts for 25% of the world’s banana production at 32.6 million tonnes in a land area of 9.6 hectares with 10 million stakeholders. Greenikk also helps to convert stems of the post-harvest banana plants into natural fibre and re-purpose the other left overs as manure and poultry feed to ensure supplementary income for the farmers and curb pollution.
Apollo Hospitals is diversifying into the ayurveda business. The hospital chain has acquired a 60% stake in AyurVAID, a pioneering chain of new generation Ayurveda hospitals, for a consideration of Rs 26. 4 crore. Cochin headquartered AyurVaid, operates nine hospitals and clinics across India. The hospitals are located at Kochi, Gurugram, Uttarakhand and Bengaluru. Bulk of Apollo’s investment will go towards upgrading existing facilities, setting up new centres, strengthening enterprise platforms and digital health initiatives. AyurVaid, which has set up new generation ayurveda hospitals with around 150 beds, specialises in applying Ayurveda to solve modern health problems. “We believe there is immense scope to deliver evidence-based integrated medicine, combining allopathic and traditional models, to improve outcomes and quality of life of our patients,” according to Pratap C Reddy, Chairman, Apollo Hospitals. Elaborating on the acquisition, he said that it is a transformational journey which will lead to the evolution of care models In India and around the world. Apollo hopes that its investment will push the turnover of AyurVAID from Rs 15 to Rs 100 crore in three years’ time.
The only refreshing break in the ongoing slugfest between BJD and BJP in Odisha is the Ollywood casting couch allegation going viral with newspaper headlines screaming that an eminent high profile Ollywood film maker Akshay Parija has joined the unenviable list of men who have been accused of sexual harassment, assault and misconduct. Me-too campaign has hit Odisha. Akshay, is an NRI film producer who makes both commercial and parallel cinema. He is in talks with Zee Sarthak for a tie-up. This national award winner has won acclaim for his documentaries on environment issues such as Kadvi Hawa, Agastya, Paiko Bidroho, Kehi Nuhen Kahara and others. According to a FIR filed by a lady in Bhubaneswar Parija established physical relation with her, against her will at her house by luring her with an offer of a role in a film and threatened her if she dared to marry anybody else. It seems to be endemic in the film industry globally. In the case of the Odisha film industry it seems to be rocked by controversies. Popular actor Babushaan’s wife Trupti Satpathy stopped his co-star Prakruti Mishra from boarding an auto-rickshaw for having an affair with her husband. Earlier, actor Anubhav Mohanty and his actress wife Varsha Priyadarshini hit headlines over their marital discord.
Two days before the simultaneous raid by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Popular Front of India (PFI) premises on September 22, 10 companies of CRPF numbering 750 were flown from Ranchi to Kerala. In other states the raid was conducted by NIA officials of the respective states. But in Kerala it was led by the central team. Even Kerala Police were in the dark barring the State DGP. The raids on the PFI top leader’s residences and various offices across Kerala started around 3 am. The arrest, confiscation of computers/laptops, documents, vouchers etc were completed by 6 am. Before the PFI workers got wind of the raid, top leaders like chairman OMA Salam, president CP Mohammed Basheer and 17 others were already on a flight to Delhi’s NIA court.The raids were successful because 20-odd NIA personnel were camping in Kerala for two months disguised as shop workers monitoring PFI’s activities. Taken by surprise the PFI vented their frustration by calling for hartal and destroying public properties. The Enforcement Directorate revealed that a Malayalam newspaper Thejas was not only PFI’s mouthpiece both in India and Gulf but also a conduit for hawala funds. It seems Darbar Restaurant in Abu Dhabi was the hub through which all hawala transactions were made. Also unraveled were acquisitions of hotels/ villa projects in Munnar and a flourishing spices trade, all part of PFI’s funding.
Australia is the latest country to woo Indian students in a big way. In order to avoid competition with traditional destinations, like the US, UK, Canada and Ireland, Australia is offering unique courses to attract Indian students. Skill oriented courses are the ones being targeted to Indian students. Also the Study Australia programme gives enough weightage to enhancing employability skills. After Covid, the Aussie government has gone all out to launch a marketing campaign to attract more students to the 40-odd Universities there. According to Vik Singh, Program Director, Digital Education Hub, Australian Trade & Investment Commission, of the 260,000 international students studying in various Universities in Australia, 130,000 are from India. The students who go the Australia do not go for the conventional courses. The courses most in demand are those related to sports, healthcare nursing and aged care, he added. The post-study work opportunities being offered has now been made more attractive for Indian students. The Aussie government recently increased the post-study work rights from two years to four years for students pursuing select bachelor degrees. Three years to five years for select post-graduate degrees and four to six year for select PhDs. And it has also made available scholarships at the national and institutional levels. Australia intends to offer world class education, strong career pathways and unmatched lifestyle for students.
There has been a mad scramble among Indian automobile companies to get on to the EV bandwagon. But Toyota Motors, the world’s top car maker, is treading a different path to attract new Indian auto buyers. Toyota has taken the hybrid route. Twenty years back, Toyota introduced hybrid cars through the Prius brand. Today hybrids have given way to EVs led by Tesla. . But Toyota does not think Indian consumers are ready for it due to infrastructure and charging bottle-necks. In fact after the launch of Toyota Hyrider and Maruti’s Grand Vitara comes the news of Honda’s entry with City Hybrid. According to Takuya Tsumura, CEO, Honda Cars India, “ EVs may be picking pace but Honda believes that strong hybrids are currently the best bet for India as they are practical and worry free given the state of charging infrastructure.” Hybrids combine the power of petrol engines and the fuel savings of electric motors to give you lower emission without waiting for the battery to be recharged. Hybrids are environment friendly, require less maintenance and get a higher resale value but compared to EVs they have less power, higher upfront cost and high repair cost. Toyota feels that the Indian market is just not ready for the latest offerings in the international market but Korean makers like Hyundai are offering the best of technologies and latest gizmos to attract Indian buyers.
Thrissur based Dhanlaxmi Bank has always been in the news for the wrong reasons — labour/union strife, mis-management and hostile takeovers. The Delhi-based diversified group, Dhanvarsha Group, has made an Rs 300 crore unsolicited bid. The group has offered Rs 11.85 per share as against the market price of Rs 12.45. The bank is not new to takeover bids. ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank and HDFC Bank have all eyed Dhanlaxmi Bank but seem to have faltered at the altar. The first hostile bid was made during its public issue in 1996. Ind Global and the Concept group, both involved in the public issue, intended to acquire controlling stake of the bank. This failed once the media got wind of their interest. To tied-over its problems, the then promoter, R Kalyanaraman (Goodnight Mohan) brought in the Bangalore-based Raja Mohan Rao, who owned JT Mobile. Rao also entered through the back door when the bank’s 2002 public issue bombed. Rao then picked up 37 % stake for Rs 20 crore thereby making him the single largest shareholder ever. By then the RBI changed the rules of the game. No private entity could hold more than 40% in a bank and the voting right for each individual/company was restricted to 10% only. The bank, started in 1927, has Kerala’s two top businessmen, Yusuf Ali (4.9 %) and Ravi Pillai (4.4%) as shareholders.
For the first time ever, streaming usage has claimed the largest share of Television viewing in the U.S. According to Gauge, Nielsen’s monthly total TV and streaming snapshot, streaming notched up 34.8 % of total TV viewing while cable and broadcast came in at 34.4% and 21.6% respectively. Streaming usage increased 3.2 % in July compared to June 2022. Time spent streaming in July averaged nearly 191 billion minutes per week and each of the five measurement weeks in July 2022 now account for five of the six highest volume streaming weeks on record. Streaming majors, Prime Video, Netflix HULU and YouTube each captured record-high shares again in July after doing so in June. Netflix got the largest share of overall TV viewing with 8 % boosted by the nearly 18 billion viewing minutes of Strange Times alone. Both Cable and Broadcast are losing out for want of new content. Both have lost mainly their sports viewers which has moved to streaming with the major OTT players lapping the digital rights. The same trend is repeating in India and the proof of that is aggressive bidding for sports properties by broadcast and cable players. Reliance Viacom18 walked away with the digital rights for the next four years of IPL paying Rs 237.58 billion. Disney Star paid Rs 235.75 billion for broadcast rights. Clearly, the future is streaming.
The EdTech industry which was booming during the Covid-19 pandemic as parents and students preferred online classes, is now battling for its very own survival. Some are laying off employees, opening offline centres, offering discounts and restructuring their businesses. Byju’s has laid off 500 employees and Vedanta 425. Unacademy has stopped offering complimentary snacks and meals across offices. The economic slowdown is also leading to funding problems. Byju’s which announced raising $ 800 million in March 2022, is yet to receive $ 250 million from two of its investors. Abu Dhabi’s Sovereign Wealth Fund and Qatar Investment Authority are willing to invest but at 40-50% discount. A PwC India report says that funding for EdTech companies has declined 50% in the second quarter of 2022. The funding is now phase-based which is target and revenue driven. The downhill run started once kids started going to school and parents not renewing EdTech services. This has prompted Byju’s, Unacademy, Vendantu, Physicswallah, Eruditus, Lead etc to open offline tuition centres to attract students. The problem was that the industry focused only on growth and not stability, says an industry expert. The EdTech companies have now realised that 360 degree attention is required. The sector needs to communicate clearly so as to ensure students are not misled. More transparency and clarity are required on courses and cost factors.
The Indian toy business is turning traditional. This festival season look out for Lagori games, spinning tops and Gilly-Danda from Funskool. Check out Hasbro’s Monopoly which has Indian cities and locations in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada. Also, Shumee Toys is lining up Janmashtami picture collections and board games on Ramayana and Indian fables this Diwali. The industry owes its new outlook to the hike in import duty from 20% to 60% and introduction of BIS trademark certification. This ensured that low quality imported toys especially from China took a hit. The $ 1-billion Indian Toy industry is no longer a small business, it is set to double by 2025, according to the FICCI-KPMG report. This is still considered minuscule going by the world business which is set to touch the $ 230.64 billion by 2028 from $ 141.08 billion in 2021. Today the unorganised sector has cornered about 90% of the $1 billion Indian toy market. And BIS has issued 800 licences to toy makers. This has resulted in a wave of innovation among desi toy makers. The new products reflect Indian culture and popular themes from various regions of India. The spike in business has also seen big players like Reliance Brands takeover UK toy retailer Hamleys, and pick up 40% in Italian toy maker Plastic Legno SPA’s manufacturing business in India.
The National Asset Reconstruction Company (NARCL), which was supposed to start functioning in April 2022, is yet to take off. Also known as Bad Bank, NARCL was to acquire bad loans worth Rs 51,000 crore by April 2022. The Bad Bank was supposed to acquire the bad loans from Indian Banks and transfer them to the India Debt Resolution Company (IDRCL) for part-realisation. It is believed that the Bad Banks initial offers to acquire bad debts stunned banks for their low value, raising questions about the validity of the exercise. NARCL offered Rs 80 crore for an outstanding due of Rs 1136 crore from Rainbow Papers. And for Consolidated Construction Consortium Ltd the offer was Rs 60 crore for an outstanding of Rs 2623 crore. In fact, both the offers dwarf the offer of the existing promoters of both the companies. The Bad Bank has been plagued with regulatory issues, talent and operational headwinds. NARCL now plans to buy 15 accounts aggregating Rs 50,000 crore initially and 38 accounts overall totalling Rs 83,000 crore. The game plan is simple but cumbersome. The banks will transfer their bad debts to NARCL for 15% per cent cash. Security receipts will be issued for the remaining 85% for which the government has approved a five year guarantee of Rs 30,600 crore. If things go as per plan, NARCL will now kick-off in September 2022.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken umbrage at the Congress party’s recent black clothes protest against price rise, saying that “Those who believe in black magic will never be able to earn the trust of the people. Some people are resorting to black magic as they are immersed in despair and negativity. We saw on August 5, that there was an attempt to propagate black magic. These people think that by wearing black clothes, their period of despair will end,” Modi said. What Modi does not know is that the all black protest first started in Kerala, albeit inadvertently. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has been at the receiving end with the opposition waving black flags at almost all his public functions and motorcade. Since the Kerala Police was at its wits end to stop this form of protest, an over-zealous officer issued an order banning not only black flags but also wearing black shirts to CM’s function. This blew up in the face of the cops with protesters across the state wearing black shirts not only at the CM’s functions but also during the assembly sessions. The CM is in a spot of bother these days as an ex-employee — Swapna Suresh — of the UAE Consulate in Trivandrum revealed that gold was smuggled using the diplomatic channel by the CM’s office.
The Over-The-Top (OTT) platforms may not have set the cash registers on fire but they sure are gaining traction at the expense of direct to home (DTH) operators. According to latest figures by TRAI, DTH subscriber base has shrunk from 68.52 million to 66.92 million in the last quarter ended March 31, 2022. In fact, the DTH numbers have not been looking good since 2020, when the overall subscribers were 100 million. This dropped to 70.99 million in 2021. The OTTs made their entry in the Indian market in 2019 with Netflix leading the way followed by Amazon Prime. Indian players like Zee5, ALT Balaji, Sony Liv, Voot, Jio Cinema and Disney-Hotstar have cornered 102 million subscribers. This is expected to double to 224 million by 2026. Among the DTH players. Tata Play continues to be the market leader with a share of 33.23 % down from 33.48 %. Bharati Telemedia, ranked second, saw its share drop from 26.36 % to 26.24%. Only two players recorded gains — Dish TV from 22.04% to 22.10 % and Sun Direct from 18.11 % to 18. 43%. Reliance Big TV DTH seems to be nowhere in the picture. The OTTs have also hit satellite channels with many big players like Star, Zee, Sony Colors etc reducing the number of channels in their bouquet, especially in English language.
It is turning out to be the season of precious artefacts owned by controversial people up for sale both at home and abroad. Recently, a watch said to have belonged to Adolf Hitler was sold for $ 1.1 million at the Alexander Historical Auctions in Maryland, much to the consternation of the Jewish community. The timepiece made by German watch firm Huber has a Swastika and initial AH engraved. It was picked up by an anonymous bidder. Also, on the auction table was a dress belonging to Hitler’s wife Eva Braun. Back home, Union Bank of India, is set to auction artefacts owned by scam-tainted Wadhawan brothers of DHFL-fame. During raids at their premises, CBI found rare artworks of S H Raza and FN Souza, luxury watches manufactured by Jacob & Co and Frank Muller Geneve and loads of gold and diamonds. While Raza’s 1956 oil-on canvas painting titled Village is worth over Rs 3.5 cr, FN Souza’s 1964 untitled oil-on-linen piece is valued at Rs 2 cr. The two watches of Jacob & Co and Frank Muller Geneve are worth Rs 5 cr. The gold and diamond jewellery including bangles and necklace were worth Rs 2 cr. Though the Rs 12.5 cr of artefacts recovered is miniscule compared to Rs 34,615 cr losses of DHFL, the consortium of 17 banks say something is better than nothing.
Things took a bleak turn for the Kerala Government recently, when the Thrissur-based Karuvannur Cooperative Bank rejected pleas by a customer to withdraw a part of his deposit of Rs 40 lakh. Consequently, the customer’s wife died as they did not have money to meet the hospital bills for a critical operation. After that similar deeds of mismanagement, embezzlement, and non-disbursement of deposits have surfaced not only from the Karuvannur but other cooperative banks across Kerala. Kerala has 1600 cooperative banks in all, with bulk of them controlled by CPM. The Kerala Cooperative Minister, VN Vasan, admitted in the assembly that 160 cooperative banks are unable to return funds to depositors due to financial crunch. The modus operandi of cooperative banks are simple. The political parties/leaders start the bank first in each district and then in big towns. Local leaders at the municipality, block and ward level, head these banks. They then employ their cadre in the bank as clerks, managers, peons, sweepers etc. Then they use their clout and political muscle to garner deposits promising higher rates of interest than scheduled banks. Loans are then disbursed to those who curry favour with the party and leaders. Home Minister Amit Shah, who is also the Co-operative Minister is yet to swing into action as majority of the 98,042 co-operative banks in India are in two politically sensitive states, Maharashtra and Gujarat.
Six years after being banned, Google is relaunching its street view service in India in partnership with Tech Mahindra and Genesys International. Starting Wednesday (August 3) — Street View — which displays 360 degree panoramic street-level images will be available in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Nashik, Vadodara, Ahmednagar and Amritsar. Google intends to expand the service to 50 cities by 2022. Starting with Bengaluru, Google Maps will also inform users of the speed limits data shared by traffic authorities. The Mumbai-based Genesys International has been a pioneer in the introduction of street imaging maps in India. Over the next 12 months, Genesys plans to cover all of urban India street imaging, spanning over a million kms. This makes it the largest street imaging exercise in the country. Genesys has the technology and capability to capture almost 150,000 unique kms of street imaging data, according to Sajid Malik, Chairman & Managing Director. To put this number into perspective, the island city of Mumbai is 5000 unique kms. The company is building one of the biggest imaging platforms in India, across both street and aerial, in sync with the Prime Minister’s vision of Digital India reflected in the geospatial policy, added Malik.
The free run that tech majors like Google, Meta, Microsoft, Apple, Twitter, Amazon enjoyed in India will be a thing of the past. Already, they have come under pressure to take down content considered unlawful, inappropriate and disturbing public order. And if Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for IT and Electronics has his way, all of them will be paying Indian newspapers and digital news publishers a share of revenue for using original content. The move is being mooted through regulatory interventions, which is expected to happen as part of the revisions being made in the existing IT Laws. “The Indian news publishers have no negotiating leverage at all, and this needs to be tackled legislatively,” said Chandrasekhar in an interview. The market power on digital advertising that is currently being exercised by the Big Tech majors, has already put Indian media companies at a disadvantage. Several countries like Australia, France and Spain have passed rules that require Tech majors to compensate content producers for using their content and search results. It comes as no surprise that spear-heading the Indian initiative is Rajeev Chandrasekhar, a media honcho himself. Chandrasekhar owns two satellite channels, Asianet News and Suravana News and a clutch of digital news websites in South Indian languages. Incidentally, he was one of the founder-promoters of Republic TV, but sold his stake subsequently.
Soon tipplers in Kerala will be sipping wine and liquors made from locally grown fruits and it will be relatively cheap. By giving license to make fruit-based, low alcohol content beverages, the Kerala government intends to boost cultivation of bananas, pineapple, jackfruit, cashew and nutmeg in the State. The government has also initiated steps to extract liquor from tapioca, for which it has allocated Rs 2 crore in the Budget. Studies show that 250 ml of spirits can be produced from 1 kg of tapioca at a cost of Rs 48. Meanwhile, a local cooperative bank, Payyavur Service Cooperative Bank has been given permission to produce liquor from cashew apple on the lines of Goan Feni. The new President of the Cooperative Bank, TM Joshy, had mooted the idea of making liquor from cashew apple way back in 1991. “As the state and its people always hesitate to accept new and non-conventional ideas, my attempt had failed then”, said Joshy. As per rough estimates, farmers are expected to make Rs 300 crore per annum and excise department another Rs 300 crore from production and sale of Feni. It is learnt that liquor and wine made from fruits and vegetables sourced locally will be processed and distributed by the Kerala State Beverages Corporation Ltd (Bevco), which has a wide distribution network.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has issued an internet service provider (ISP) Category B licence to Kerala Fibre Optic Network Ltd (KFON). This enables KFON to provide internet services within Kerala. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in a Facebook post said that Kerala has become the first state in India to have its own ISP and internet project. Kerala will provide internet services as a basic right to the people. The project announced in 2019 envisages installation of 35,000 km of optical fibre cable (OFC) network across 14 districts in Kerala. Till date 30,000 km of OFC has been laid and connected to 5000 Government offices and 25,000 Government institutions. KFON aims to provide free internet access to 20 lakh economically-backward households. The project also plans to connect government offices, educational institutions, hospitals etc. KFON will allow telcos and other service providers and community -level networks to offer services to under-served areas. Of the total OFC network, 50% will be leased out to telcos and cable TV operators. KFON will be able to connect to the nearly 8000 odd mobile towers in Kerala and significantly enhance the mobile call quality and also accelerate the 4G/5G transitions. The project is backed by Kerala State Electricity Board, Bharat Electronics Ltd, Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board and Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure Ltd.
The high attrition levels in the IT industry is turning into a big headache for corporates. Big IT companies like Cognizant, Infosys, TCS, Capgemini, Wipro are witnessing an exodus of employees with five years of experience or more. The reason is amply clear, as salaries have jumped up after the long Covid break. Cognizant saw attrition levels of 40%, Infosys @ 25% and TCS @ 15% to name just a few. Earlier, someone with five years of experience earned Rs 24-25 lakh per annum. Now the salaries for the same level and experience net an employee Rs 30-38 lakh per annum. It is not clear if the same is happening for higher level jobs in IT companies but, this is good news for engineering graduates. The IT sector has been a mass recruiter for some years now contributing to 5% of the Indian GDP. But it was saturating with only good skilled IT engineers in demand. All this was before the Covid-19 pandemic. The U.S. produces around one lakh engineers per year in a $ 16 trillion economy. And India produces 15 lakh engineers in a $ 2 trillion economy. With manufacturing, electrical and civil taking a back seat as employment generators, it was the IT sector that has been the saving grace for some time now.
The Rs 5,138-crore HLL Lifecare (formerly Hindustan Latex) headquartered in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala is attracting many suitors. This follows the Government of India’s November 14, 2021 decision to hive off its entire stake in HLL Lifecare. Around seven suitors including the Adani Group, Piramal Healthcare, two Kerala based companies advised by two former CMDs of HLL Lifecare, a fund besides NRIs. HLL Lifecare, which started as a condom manufacturer sold under the brand name Moods, is today a health care company in the truest sense. It has a Pharma business, makes medical devices, runs diagnostic centres, manufactures sanitary napkins and blood bags etc. The company has seven factories, four in Kerala and one each in Belgaum, Manesar and Indore. Today the company operates 220 pathology labs, 47 imagery centres, six labs under the Hindlabs brand and 253 pharmacies across India. Both Adani and Piramal are keen to acquire it. The cash strapped Kerala government, however, could play spoilsport since it wants to take over the company although its offer was declined. The company’s turnover jumped three times from Rs 1739 crore in 2019-2020 to Rs 5138 crore, the profit marginally lower than the previous year. The jump in turnover was a result of enhanced non-core activities including huge purchases and supplies of Covid vaccines, surgical masks and gloves for various State Governments and hospitals.
As if competition from local Indian players was not enough, mainline OTT players are now facing heat from a fresh wave of regional players. Following in the footsteps of Zee 5, Sony Liv, Voot et all are MX Player in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Bengali, Alt-Balaji and Eros in Hindi, Hoichoi in Bangla, Aha in Telugu, now expanding into Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam, Manorama Max, Neestream and Koode in Malayalam, Kanncha Lannka in Odiya, My Toonz (Kids OTT in Hindi and English). And, so many more are still lining up. Why is the Indian market turning out to be a different ball game? None of the big players are standalone entities like Netflix. Disney has the backing of Star group and Hot Star, Amazon Prime has Amazon Shopping and online services, Zee 5 has the Zee TV group, Sony Liv is with Sony TV group, Viacom 18 boasts of Paramount + while Sun Next has the parent Sun group. And if this was not enough, there is a new entrant in the form of the James Murdoch-Uday Shankar combine tying up with Reliance’s Jio Cinema. Competition is sizzling up in the OTT space with viewers beginning to feel like kings.
TRENDS & VIEWS
Editor’s Note: Big Punch In Small Pack
It is the Third Anniversary of Short Post and as a news media startup launched during the Covid-19 pandemic it certainly feels better than good to find ourselves where we are today. Here, I must cite the unstinted support of our seasoned contributors, all senior editors in the country, who brought a great degree of maturity and sagacity to the Short Post newsroom. But for them, our tagline “Authentic Gossip”, an Oxymoron, would not have matured viably. Our user numbers may be small but our stories have created the desired impact among people who matter — decision makers and influencers. We offer a big punch in a small pack and Short Post with its 225-word stories has been punching above its weight category. Having posted close to 3,000 stories in the last 36 months, Short Post, I feel, is an idea whose time has come.
And this is vindicated by our two marquee advertisers – IDFC FIRST Bank and ICICI Lombard. Both believed in our story and have supported us from Day one. A big thank you to both.
If you look at the media landscape – print, TV and digital — it is a mixed bag. There are job losses as some outfits have closed down while a lucky few were bailed out by large corporate houses. Yes, there is a lot of action in the digital space. However, the entry of corporate houses has raised the question of independence of news media outfits. Sadly, there are just a handful of independent media outfits in the country that are highly respected for their neutrality. At Short Post, our credo is not to take sides, prejudge issues or be biased but, informing readers of behind-the-scenes happenings. In essence, Short Post strives to be a neutral editorial platform — neither anti-establishment nor pro-establishment.
As I said last year, disruptions in the media world are moving at a fast and furious pace. Technology is playing a very big role in how content is generated and consumed. But, we are neither alarmed nor perturbed as it is all a part of the evolution process. What gives us comfort is that AI is unable to create original gossipy content. And that is the news arena where we have achieved a distinction.