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Upon the official announcement of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as the Congress’s candidate from Wayanad, Kerala for Lok Sabha by-election, Congress workers have started putting up her posters in the constituency. The posters featured the greeting “Wayanadinte Priyankari” (Wayanad beloved). The question is with the Lok Sabha bypoll for Wayanad on November 13, how much time will siblings Priyanka and Rahul Gandhi give for polls in Jharkhand and Maharashtra on November 13 and 20? Since it will be Priyanka’s first electoral foray, it is quite likely that Rahul is likely to do much of the heavy lifting for her. The seat fell vacant as Rahul who had contested from both Rae Bareli and Wayanad, decided to represent the UP seat and wanted Priyanka to contest from Wayanad in a by-election. However, the ruling Left Front has made it clear that it would not be a cake walk for Priyanka. Kerala Minister MB Rajesh sought to remind how Rahul Gandhi has deserted Wayanad. “In August, when the state was reeling under floods, we had expected Rahul to deliver special help from the Centre. Wayanad is a constituency that gave RaGa refuge when he lost Amethi, but in the very next opportunity, Rahul Gandhi abandoned Wayanad, and now people of Wayanad will give him a befitting reply.”
Normally, questions about EVMs (electronic voting machines) and the Election Commission are raised after elections. However, the question of EVM was raised again soon after the EC declared the poll schedules for the Maharashtra and Jharkhand assembly elections. Shiv Sena (Uddhav) leader Sanjay Raut said opposition parties do not trust the working of EVMs, and what happened in Haryana can be repeated in Maharashtra too. Congress leader Rashid Alvi alleged that EVMs could be manipulated just like Hezbollah pagers, which Israel hacked to carry out blasts in Lebanon. Rubbishing doubts, CEC Rajiv Kumar said, “Our EVMs are more robust than Hezbollah’s pagers, and they are 100% foolproof. EVMs cannot be hacked. Pagers are connected devices, but EVMs are not. “Those who are again questioning EVMs will have to answer many questions. Were EVMs working perfectly during the Lok Sabha polls but were hacked during the Haryana polls? Did EVMs work perfectly in Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh but were tampered with in MP and Chhattisgarh? Who will believe such allegations? An electronic voting machine is just like a calculator, and it has no connection to the Internet via Bluetooth or any remote device. The battery usage of an EVM is written on the form when the EVM is packed and sealed. Candidates or their agents countersign it. Secondly, in a big country like India, where thousands of EVMs are used, and lakhs of government employees are involved in the electoral process, how can EVMs be hacked? And if some people tamper with the EVMs, how can the matter remain a secret? Victories and defeats occur during elections, but blaming the defeat on the EC or raising questions about EVM tampering is childish.
The deep depression in the Bay of Bengal has been pounding Tamil Nadu with massive rainfall and flooding. Schools, Colleges and all public institutions are to remain closed with dire warnings of every hue…red, orange alerts to stay indoors and stay safe. But the government in its wisdom is keeping the state-run TASMAC outlets open for thirsty denizens. PMK leader Dr Anbumani Ramdoss has lashed out at the TN government over this move. “Is it life-saving medicine or an essential that the public can’t live without? Is it an intrinsic part of the Dravida model to keep liquor sales open”? asked Anbumani in X. Significantly, Deputy CM, Udhayanidhi Stalin addressed the media even as the MET office warned about the heavy rain conditions to hit and assured that the DMK government was fully prepared to take on the threat of flooding. Having suffered severe losses in the past two cyclone hits with cars inundated, the public quickly resorted to parking cars on the flyover bridges….The Velachery flyover overnight turned into a parking lot. It’s another outrage that the police warned about big fines for such “parking”, adding insult to injury. YouTube podcasts on the rain caused flooding in Poes Garden, the hallowed precinct of power, politics and prestige turned smirk worthy. Ramadoss and his take on keeping TASMAC sales open as part of Dravida governance is seen as justified. Strange are the ways of “ideology” when it is business as usual.
Even as the Election Commission finalised polling date for Maharashtra as November 20, the Congress took a lesson from the BJP playbook and appointed senior leaders from other states to manage the polls in Maharashtra as observers. The high-profile team includes former CMs like Ashok Gehlot, Bhupesh Baghel and Charanjit Channi. Karnataka deputy CM G Parameshwara, former deputy CMs TR Singhdeo and Sachin Pilot. The team also includes two Telangana ministers Uttam Kumar Reddy and D Anasuya Seethakka. Deployment of a super team comes right after Congress’ debacle in Haryana elections where BJP won for the third time, securing 48 seats despite exit polls predicting a definite win for the Congress, which was able to secure only 37 seats. One of the reasons that was attributed to the party’s loss is leaving it all to former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Former Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot and Karnataka deputy CM G Parameshwara have been assigned Mumbai and Konkan region while Vidarbha region will be handled by former Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel and former Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi and Madhya Pradesh MLA and former minister Umang Singhar. Former Rajasthan deputy CM Sachin Pilot and senior Telangana minister Uttam Kumar Reddy have been deputed to Marathwada region while former Chhattisgarh deputy CM TS Singhdeo and senior Karnataka minister MB Patil have been assigned Western Maharashtra. Senior Rajya Sabha MP Syed Nasser Hussain and senior Telangana minister D Anasuya Seethakka have been asked to look after North Maharashtra. For Jharkhand, the party has appointed a 3-member team headed by Tariq Anwar and Adhir Ranjan Choudhary. Meanwhile, the party has declared Priyanka Gandhi as Wayanad Lok Sabha candidate.
The Eknath Shinde government in Maharashtra held over five cabinet meetings in the span of the first fortnight of October and took over 200 decisions. This was the sprint before the code of conduct got enforced on October 15, 2024. In fact, even the death of Ratan Tata, that had the state observe a day of mourning, did not dissuade Shinde from not holding a cabinet. There was rapid fire decision-making with two cabinet meetings witnessing almost 71 decisions and even 80 decisions each. The chief minister has been over-generous and liberal in doling out freebies, sops and financial allocations in a bid to earn brownie points in the forthcoming elections forcing the opposition to claim that the state treasury was being emptied to woo voters by Shinde. Maharashtra already has debts of over Rs 7 lakh crore and the Ladki Bahin Yojana is expected to bleed it further. Concerns are already being raised about the feasibility of Shinde’s schemes be it the launching of multiple corporations considering that CAG report had claimed that most corporations were not functioning well. In fact, Shinde’s generosity in financial disbursements goes beyond the confines of the state. Sanjay Raut has claimed that the BJP has got Shinde to fund elections in other states like that of Haryana and that each of the probable candidates were being doled out Rs 20 crore by Shinde. The average Mumbaikar is happy that the toll fee at the five entry points has stopped for now. Whether this will convert into votes for Shinde remains to be seen.
The BJP has finalized its polls strategy for the Maharashtra state assemblies for which Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and UP CM Yogi Adityanath will be the star campaigners. The troika will address 18, 26 and 26 public rallies respectively across Maharashtra in a blitzkrieg of public rallies. This carpet-bombing political strategy seeks to exploit the party’s recent success in the Haryana assembly elections where the BJP returned to power for a record third time and improved performance in the Jammu region of J&K where this troika delivered the goods so-to-speak in good measure. International political developments particularly, in neighbouring Bangladesh played a crucial role in consolidating the Indian voter base of the BJP. Additionally, the RSS had organized 16,000 public meetings in Haryana over the last four months encompassing 6,000 villages in the state through a targeted door-to-door campaign by deploying its Karyakartas in the run up to the state assembly elections with a message of Hindu unity that worked like a charm for the BJP. The RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat publicly announced that his cadre of Pracharaks has laser focussed its attention to the forthcoming state assembly elections in Maharashtra, Jharkhand just like it did for Haryana and the general elections of India prior to that through a micro-outreach program. “Our culture, country and (Hindu) religion must not only survive but thrive,” Bhagwat has stated in obvious reference to consistent international (deep state) efforts to undermine India’s growing economy and its cultural identity that has been re-established over the last decade.
Could Baba Siddique who was shot dead while he was bursting crackers outside his MLA son Zeeshan’s office on Vijaya Dashami lived if he had moved out of Maharashtra politics just as he had wished? The former Congress leader, who hailed from Bihar, was apparently wanting to return to his roots and had even met with RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, seeking a Rajya Sabha berth before making the switch to the NCP led by Ajit Pawar. It seemed he had enough of Mumbai politics and deals. Responding to Siddique’s tragic news, Tejashwi Yadav merely acknowledged how he had interacted with Siddique and his family during his recent visit to Mumbai. Siddique hailed from Gopalganj district. For some reason, Siddique was uncomfortable with the Congress and Shiv Sena(UBT) alliance, and had decided to opt out of the party in March this year. A three-time MLA from Bandra West assembly constituency, Siddique had served as a minister in the Congress-undivided NCP government in the early 2000.While his exit would be a big loss to Ajit Pawar ahead of the assembly polls, Sharad Pawar too hailed him as a leader who fought for the “minority community and championed secularism”. A close associate of actor-turned-politician Sunil Dutt, who helped him secure his first Congress ticket in 1999. Siddique is credited for bringing to end frosty ties between actors Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan in 2013
India’s Twenty20 team — a new look team — after the Twenty20 World Cup win has been going full throttle, starting with the five-match series against Zimbabwe in Harare. Zimbabwe made India — led by Shubman Gill — trip in the first outing, but since facing that one-off reverse by 13 runs, the men in blue have won in a canter, almost every match. After the World Cup win — Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja bid adieu to the short format to make way for youngsters. The selectors made the biggest change, appointing Suryakumar Yadav as captain of the Twenty20 team, not Hardik Pandya. Yadav was rested for the Zimbabwe tour, but the ball-basher from Mumbai has been going great guns from the three-match series against Sri Lanka. The best though, India reserved it against Bangladesh, smashing them out of sight in the three matches that ended with the home team posting a mammoth 297 in Hyderabad. The team was without Yashasvi Jaiswal, Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. Out of 11 matches, India won nine of 10 matches with ease. The third and final match against Sri Lanka ended in a super over finish. Yadav, it appears has taken a leaf out of Rohit Sharma’s Kanpur book — going after the bowling and taking the game forward. In all India struck 57x 4s and 44 x 6s in three Twenty20s accounting for 492 runs. Such was the annihilation of the Bangladesh attack, a significant pointer to hit sixes as a strategy to mount pressure and bring down the opponent.
Sixty-year old popular star Jayaram Subramaniam has created a soft and stylish spot for himself in Kerala films despite Mammootty and Mohanlal’s reigning supreme as evergreens. His performance in the hit period drama Ponniyin Selvan (as Alwar Kadian Nambi, the articulate comic Brahmin) was as much the highlight of this epic drama as the pivotal characters of Ponni and Karikala Chozhan. His 26-year old son Kalidas Jayaram has created a niche for himself in the film industry. Recently he was cast in the Dhanush film Raayan, and showed his mettle in the Tamil OTT anthology Pava Kadaigal in which he played a transgender. Kalidas is all set to marry Tarini Kalingarayan, a former Miss Tamil Nadu 2019, well known model and alumnus of MOP Vaishnav College. Jayaram and wife Parvathy had just celebrated daughter Malavika’s wedding in grand style , and it came as no surprise that they announced Kalidas ‘ wedding too in quick succession. The only surprise was that Jayaram, Parvathy and Kalidas honoured MK Stalin, TN CM with the first invite. Not surprising it created a buzz as why had he not given the first invitation to the Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan? In the world of politics and cinema events occur not according to the logic of mundane society. Celebrities have their own exalted status or political predilections. Superstar Mammootty’s son Dulquer Salmaan’s was an arranged marriage in 2011 to Amal Sufiya whose family is from North India. Mohan Lal’s son, Pranav Mohanlal’ marriage with Kalyani Priyadarshan has remained an enigmatic topic.
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s Dussehra address in Nagpur is seen as an endorsement of the BJP’s policy of Hindu consolidation. It is like a green signal for the party to proceed with its agenda, the insiders feel. Bhagwat’s remarks will be helpful in boosting the BJP’s prospects in the upcoming Maharashtra assembly election since there is no ambiguity in his message. The tone of the address, delivered at the beginning of the centenary year of the RSS, will be interpreted severally but the RSS will continue its work undaunted, its veteran members say. The BJP had suffered in the Lok Sabha election since the RSS had not immersed itself fully in the contest. The BJP took due note of its displeasure and took corrective steps. The result was that it bagged Haryana, though with a nominal margin. The same formula will now be emulated in Maharashtra where the BJP lost 16 Lok Sabha seats due to minority collective vote in favour of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi candidates. Learning a lesson from the debacle, the ruling Mahayuti partners have been implementing their strategy in an organized manner. Still, there was uneasiness in the saffron camp given the clout of NCP founder Sharad Pawar. The announcement of the election dates and the candidates of respective parties is expected to occur at any moment now. Hence, Bhagwat’s clear call has come as a welcome breather for the Mahayuti.
India is emerging as a popular tourist and business destination against the backdrop of the Free Trade Agreement between India and UK to be signed soon. The MICE industry is flourishing with several business delegations travelling to India not just to Tier 1 but to Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. West Midlands Mayor Andy Street who led the West Midlands, UK delegation to India, did not confine his visit to New Delhi but travelled to Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru. He played Kabbadi and has promised to host the World Kabbadi tournament in Birmingham in 2024. Global Tech Advocates hosted their global meet with the Tech India Advocates led by British citizens Ani Kaprekar, Af Malhotra and Nilesh Gopali. The 40-plus delegates visited Bengaluru, Hubballi (Hubli), and Deshpande’s Tech Foundation. The global organisation TiE will host their annual summit in Telangana. About 3000 entrepreneurs are expected to attend. Bill Gates, N R Narayana Murthy, Gautam Adani, Telangana Minister K T Rama Rao are expected to take part in the summit. At the recently held World Travel Market in London, Arvind Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Govt of India and Rakesh Kumar Verma, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Tourism stated that “India is gearing up for the G20 Presidency to start from December 1, 2022. India is expected to host over 200 meetings across 55 cities in the country.”
To a cheering audience at the recently held 3rd Annual Conclave of Global Chamber of Saraswats Entrepreneurs and Professionals(GCSE) in Goa, Chairman of Saraswat Bank Gautam Thakur announced a lucrative and special loan scheme to support young Saraswat entrepreneurs. Honouring his commitment, Saraswat Bank’s top brass signed a Memorandum of Understanding with GCSE on November 17. Saraswat Bank has initiated an exclusive scheme Loan For Entrepreneurs And Professionals (LEAP) that would provide loans/ OD facility for first generation entrepreneurs from the Saraswat Community at a concessional rate of interest. Founder Director of GCSE Siddharth Sinkar, said, “Not only will LEAP boost the morale of the existing young first generation entrepreneurs for scaling up their businesses. This will also promote the entrepreneurial drive amongst the Saraswat minds.” This facility will be offered only to members of Saraswat Chamber. While GCSE would do the basic due diligence of applications routed through them, the final decision to grant loan will rest with the bank.
The prestigious Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Berhampur, Odisha has appointed Sandeep Ranade popularly known as “Geek Gayak” as a visiting scientist. Ranade probably is the first non-PhD scholar to be appointed to this post. He is expected to inspire students to do research in different areas of music. Pune-based Ranade, a software engineer, became globally popular after he won the Apple Designer of the Year Award 2021 for his App –NadSadhana. According to developers at Apple, “NaadSadhana is the sort of future-world app that could only be created by someone with an extremely specialized, almost-impossible skill set. Sandeep Ranade was that someone.” Ranade began singing from the age of four and by the 11th grade he had developed a great liking for vocal music. He has a masters from Johns Hopkins, two decades of tech-world experience, and a thriving career as a Hindustani classical vocalist. He returned to India to pursue both technology and music. He gave the app a test run by recording “Na Corona Karo,” a song about taking precautions against Covid-19 that went viral in social media after it was shared by AR Rahman and others. Ranade says his App is fully based on AI, and is trained not to adjust to the complexities of each instrument, but to the mix of the orchestra and the mood of the singer.
State Bank of India’s Sharad Chandak, Head of UK Region and also the Head of its subsidiary SBI UK has been transferred back to India. Chandak, an old guard at the bank, is currently Chief General Manager in SBI India hierarchy and is likely to be promoted to the Deputy Managing Director’s post of the bank and stationed in Delhi. Talking to shortpost.in Chandak says despite Covid and other odds faced by various banks and businesses at large in the UK, the SBI subsidiary succeeded in giving the parent SBI a dividend of 2.5%. With an Open Banking platform for non-customers of the bank the YoNo App that was launched during his tenure expanded remittance operations to Nepal and soon Sri Lanka operations will commence. To have a wider outreach to areas where bank’s branches do not exist, Chandak with his team has drawn up plans to start “Kiosk banking.” These kiosks are likely to be opened where the footfall is high like the malls. In 2023 Chandak said SBI UK will launch a development finance product that will offer financial support to those in the real estate sector. Sudhir Sharma, CEO (designate) will move into Chandak’s seat. Sanjay Pandey, currently Executive Director and Deputy CEO in the UK also returns to India and his colleague Varsha Bhat who is in the UK will take charge.
Celebrated author, writer and bureaucrat and currently Director, Nehru Centre in London, Amish Tripathi (48) has obtained a two year extension to serve in London. In addition to his current posts as Director, Nehru Centre Amish has been offered an additional portfolio — Education. With this he is now Minister (Culture & Education), High Commission of India. This move reflects on him as a powerful Indian bureaucrat as extensions are very seldom rather unprecedented and happen in very special cases. Amish says, “My team and I will manage all interactions with the British Education ministry, universities here in the UK and actively support Indian students here.” Following a memorandum of understanding struck on July 21, 2022 that is a part of the UK-India Enhanced Trade Partnership by the UK and India to recognise each other’s higher education qualifications, Universities in the UK expect a surge in applications from Indian students. In 2020-21 the UK attracted 84,555 Indian students, with 73% coming for masters courses mostly of one year’s duration. In the year ended March 2022, as many as 107,978 Indian students were issued study visas to the UK, marking a significant rise of 93% compared to the same period before that. The UK government had indicated in 2019 that it was going to reintroduce the post-study work visa route for international students graduating from July 1, 2021 resulted in a massive boost in student numbers.
The award-winning Indian singer and composer Shankar Mahadevan is to receive an honorary doctorate from Birmingham City University (BCU) for his outstanding contribution to music and the arts. West Midlands Mayor Andy Street made the announcement on behalf of the University before the globally acclaimed Mahadevan is formally invited to receive the University’s highest honour at a ceremony in 2023. The announcement follows a BCU India and West Midlands India Partnership-organised visit by Mahadevan to BCU’s 400 mn pound campus featuring creative industry facilities, including Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (RBC). Shankar had toured RBC with fellow Indian musicians including Zakir Hussain earlier this year, meeting with students, staff and partners, and committing to exploring links and opportunities between the Bangalore-based Shankar Mahadevan Academy and the Conservatoire. “When I started my career, never did I expect that one day I would be awarded a doctorate for music,” said 55-year old Mahadevan, part of the Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy trio. The honorary doctorate announcement underlines BCU’s commitment both to their strategic partnership work in India as well, reflecting a recent call to urge policymakers to place greater emphasis on the value of the Creative Arts in higher education and recognise the role universities play in strengthening the sector’s growth and innovation.
The Shinde-Fadnavis government in Maharashtra has given Mangal Prabhat Lodha, a reputed builder and staunch BJP loyalist an important portfolio. He has been appointed Minister of Tourism, Skill Development & Entrepreneurship and Women & Child Development. And one big task he has been entrusted with is to attract global tourists to the state. Toward this objective he has decided to camp for over a week in London for roadshows. Incidentally, his wife Dr Manju Lodha, author-poet, is also in London to release her book Ankahin Kahaniyan at the Nehru Centre to be launched by the Indian High Commissioner. The minister is expected to use this event to hobnob with the biggies and woo them to Maharashtra. Post the book launch Lodha accompanied by Saurabh Vyas, Tourism Secretary, Dr BN Patil, Director, Directorate of Tourism and Dr Dhananjay Sawalkar, Dy Director, Directorate of Tourism will attend World Travel Market between November 7-9. Lodha and team are likely to privatise MTDC’s 30 resorts. The Lodha team is likely to engage Tatas (Taj group), Mahindra group and other experts from the travel trade and hospitality to revamp, refurbish and make all properties productive and profitable. The current Maharashtra government’s thinking is developing strategy is the job of the government but businesses have to be run by private enterprises.
Indian origin British citizen Chandru Iyer, former Head of Business Development, South Asia Group at Grant Thornton UK is changing his career track. Iyer will don the mantle of a diplomat. He moves from the UK to Bengaluru to take over as the British Deputy High Commissioner. Chandru’s experience in the India-UK business corridor gives him the additional responsibility to oversee the trade and investment in the South of India and South Asia. Incidentally, the term of Alan Gemell, the current British Deputy High Commissioner in Mumbai who is also the Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for South Asia, comes to an end and thus it appears that Chandru’s role becomes more formidable extended to South Asia beyond south India. Chandru’s appointment comes at a time when the relationship between the two countries is extremely amicable and signing of the Free Trade Agreement is just round the corner. Hailing from Nagpur, Chandru needs no introduction to the corporate world, the India –UK business corridor, Department of International trade and the media in the UK. Fluent in various Indian languages Chandru was a popular host at several formal events hosted by Grant Thornton UK including the annual Diwali party. His name featured in the “Top 100 Influential People in India UK business relations”. He was instrumental in developing Grant Thornton’s strategic growth plans in the South Asia region.
With a huge success hosting Commonwealth Games in the City of Birmingham, Mayor Andy Street is set to travel to India between November 6-12 leading a big delegation of business leaders and politicians. Andy’s India trip includes visits to Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai. Andy’s visit in early November comes at a time when the UK is undergoing a huge political, social and economic turmoil and the Free Trade Agreement that was scheduled during Diwali has been postponed. Thus this mission is expected to build on the on-going negotiations for a new UK-India FTA and will promote opportunities for bilateral trade and investment between India, the West Midlands and the wider UK. During his visit it’s learnt that his delegation will sign various MoUs. Meeting with the Chairman of the ICCR Dr Vinay Sahasrabuddhe has been scheduled in New Delhi and the Birmingham Repertory Theatre will sign a MoU with the ICCR. Andy and Senior representatives from The West Midlands Growth Company (WMGC) and partners including the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) will explore business partnerships with CII members, meet Telangana leaders in Hyderabad and visit WE Hub to encourage women entrepreneurship. They have lined-up meetings with the Tata Group, TVS, Mahindra & Mahindra, Switch Mobility, Firstsource, Air India and the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
This month end New York-based Michelin Star celebrity Chef “Amritsar ka puttar” Vikas Khanna will visit his mother in Punjab and join his co-producer, business partner and friend Jitendra Mishra, President-Elect of CIFEJ (International Centre of Films for Children & Young People, UNESCO ) to restart shooting their film that has already been approved by the NFDC. This movie earlier titled The Home of the Rain Catcher produced by Mishra, Vikas’ mother Bindu Khanna and Poonam Kaul under the banner House of Omkar was on the list of 14 projects selected for the Co-Production Market Film Bazaar in 2019 by NFDC. But, the project had to be put on hold due to Covid-19 pandemic. Now, with fear of Covid-19 behind us, it’s business as usual. So, both Vikas and Jitendra are busy finalising the cast and script for the movie. Both friends came together for The Last Colour starring Neena Gupta. It was Vikas Khanna’s directorial debut while Mishra was the producer.The film which is streaming on Amazon Video made it to the final list of Oscar 2020 Eligibility for Best Film. In all, the two friends have produced one feature film, one feature documentary, three short films. Mishra’s company Cinema 4Good has produced, distributed and promoted more than 110 films.
Mumbai-based Ashu Thakur who heads Ashu Thakur & Associates, a law firm, has been flitting in and out of London for the past few months to help two of her key clients close the deal. It may be recalled that the Mumbai-based Restaurateur Riyaaz Amlani was keen to sell his stake in Mumbai-based French restaurants Slink & Bardot, and Soufflé S’il Vous Plaît back to his partner Alexis Gielbaum and Nick Harrison. Now, there has been a change of heart. Amlani, CEO of Impresario Entertainment & Hospitality and President of National Restaurant Association of India, is keen to stay invested and Thakur seems to be working on the finer points in light of the new development. The other deal Ashu worked closely on was the signing of the JV between the French designer Maximiliano Modesti’s Les Ateliers 2M and Asian Paints. The JV between two firms Asian Paints and Modesti saw the launch of brand INK in India. The collection comprising six distinct patterns combines techniques of screen-printing, block printing and embroidery. According to Amit Syngle, MD & CEO of Asian Paints, this collaboration will help the customers provide a complete portfolio of home décor products and services. Clearly, Ashu is on a roll.
To add more “zaika” to the growing exports of spices from India, BN Jha, Marketing Director, Spices Board of India has embarked upon a new mission: promote Turmeric Latte. Jha who was in London at the IFE Manufacturing 2022 Fair is scouting for brand ambassadors from UK who can promote this turmeric drink globally. During the pandemic and post Covid “haldiwala doodh” has given big boost to turmeric sales, and its exports have quadrupled because of its medicinal properties, says Jha. During 2020-21 turmeric ranked fifth with an export share of 6.16% of the total exports of spices valued at Rs 27,193.20 crore. Turmeric is globally recognised for its immunity properties. This is why Spices Board is aggressively marketing Turmeric Latte world over. Interestingly, the demand for organic products is growing rapidly in developed countries like Europe, USA, Japan and Australia. The current estimated share of organic foods in these countries is approximately 1-1.5%. This awareness and value for turmeric including other spices is seeing the Spices Board going all out to increase their market share from the current level. Under the Act of Parliament, 52 spices have been brought under the purview of the Spices Board. However 109 spices are notified in the ISO list.
University of Bolton in Greater Manchester has been in the forefront of forging ties with India’s educational institutions. To strengthen its ties with India, Bolton University sought special permission from the Queen’s Office, and conducted the MBE Award Ceremony to honour Dr Kondal Reddy Kandadi at its recent Graduation ceremony. This was unprecedented; never before such an award ceremony was held at the University’s graduation ceremony. Reddy was the former Deputy Vice Chancellor at University Of Bolton who left the UK shores last year at the peak of his career to return to his homeland Telangana to start his own educational venture iVOlViS by collaborating with Bolton University. “At iVOlViS, we are deploying globally proven educational pedagogies, systems, processes, people and technologies to achieve this core goal of realising the Power of Education in every child,” says Dr Reddy. Besides, Dr Reddy, Telangana’s high powered bureaucrat Jayesh Ranjan was conferred with Honorary Doctorate degree for his “outstanding contribution to the development of collaborative relationships between India and Manchester (particularly in the technology sector). “For the past many years I have tried to forge more partnerships between the province of Hyderabad and the UK and that is why I am getting this fabulous recognition by the University of Bolton and why I have received this honorary doctorate,” explained Ranjan.
Birmingham-based Ghanshyam Nabar is go to man. This 40-year old director of West Midlands India Partnership (WMIP) is helping Indian businesses find opportunities in the UK, particularly West Midlands. As somebody responsible for WMIP he is driving collaborative engagement between the West Midlands and India to unlock mutually beneficial and sustainable economic opportunities. He brings to table rich experience to ensure deals fructify and its win-win situation for both India and the United Kingdom. Such a laser-focused approach has seen him and his organisation gaining recognition and bagging awards. At the recently held UK India Awards his organisation won the award for the Best Business Promotion Agency Of The Year Award. WMIP edged out contenders like The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), Department of International Trade UK, Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and Manchester India Partnership to win the award. Nabar had won the same award for two years in a row for the Manchester India Partnership. Recently, WMIP hosted a do for the Indian delegates at Edgbaston ground. Spotted at the cricket match were Ajay Piramal and his son Anand. Besides, there were Telangana’s Principal Secretary Industries & Commerce Jayesh Ranjan, Prakash Wakhankar, BBC commentator and head honcho at the Mahindra BSA, Ankit Agarwal, CEO, Sterlite TECH, Dr Ravi Limaye, MD of Wockhardt. Looks like Nabar and his organization are creating the desired impact among the Indian diaspora.
Former BBC Global Food Champions, The Akshaya Patra Foundation (TAPF) UK, is growing rapidly with huge support from UK people. Speaking to shortpost.in, Bhawani Singh Shekhawat, CEO &Trustee, TAPF UK stated that his team is exploring all possibilities to open more kitchens in the UK. This means an addition to the existing kitchen at Watford which is already serving half million free meals a year. The new kitchens are likely to come up in the Midlands and North England in Manchester and will serve one million free meals every year, taking the total free meals distributed to 1.5 million a year. According to a TAPF study there are 8 million people in the UK affected by food poverty. Of these, nearly 5 million suffer from acute food insecurity. This includes low-income homes, the unemployed, the vulnerable and the homeless. There are close to 3 million children who sleep hungry during school holidays. Unfortunately, for 3 million children in the UK, holidays turn out to become “hungry holidays” instead of happy holidays. Besides, there are close to 300,000 homeless persons across England today. There are even more adults who are deprived of a basic plate of food. TAPF, winner of the Organization for Social Impact award at the India Global Forum, serves hot, tasty vegetarian food to the needy every day at no cost.
The news that Lakshmi Kaul, Head & Representative, Confederation Of Indian Industry, UK has moved out caught everyone in London by surprise. Nobody knows where Kaul is headed. Unlike her predecessor Suchita Sonalika who moved to the USA in 2018 to head the CII office in Washington, sources say it is unlikely that Lakshmi will stay within the CII. While Lakshmi was in New Delhi last week, CII’s senior director in Delhi, Kavita Choudhry flew to London to hold the fort till a new successor is found. Kavita who has worked with CII for over a decade was responsible for the Europe sector for over four years as well as the South East Asian corridor. Though Kavita is capable and has rich experience, the sudden departure of Lakshmi has perplexed trade, business and media especially at a crucial time when negotiations related to the Free Trade Agreement are in full swing. CII plays a stellar role in the UK as a powerful trade organisation representing Indian business interests. Lakshmi’s warm demeanor and social engagements have proved very valuable to CII over the years. Lakshmi who worked for over 15 years in the UK handled a whole gamut of things ranging from relationship building, public relations, research, strategy and policy work to creating community networks. Lakshmi will definitely be missed.
Retired Indian High Commissioner to UK Gayatri Issar Kumar at her farewell hosted by the Indian Journalists Association there said in lighter vein that London looked like India’s new “summer capital”. There is a ring of truth to what she said. Post Covid, no sooner were travel rules relaxed than there was a beeline of ministers, bureaucrats, businessmen air dashing to London. Union Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, Telangana’s IT Minister KT Rama Rao, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Salman Khurshid landed here in quick succession to engage with the Indian diaspora. Goyal’s frequent visits and systematic follow-ups were to generate investments through government bonds and expedite progress of FTA, slated to be concluded by Diwali this year. Senior BJP leader and RSS ideologue Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, who is set to visit London, is scheduled to address Indian groups and includes the Overseas Maharashtrians Professionals and Entrepreneurs Group. India’s growing soft power is the message. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also plans to visit London. Sometime in July, the Chief Justice of India and law department secretaries have their scheduled visits and public engagements. And finally, the Commonwealth Games will likely see the entire sports lobby from India travelling to the West Midlands in the UK. Clearly, London is not just a summer capital. Indian business and politics seems to evolve and revolve around it.
Every region in the UK is actively pursuing collaborations and tie-ups with Indian organisations. Recently, the University College Birmingham (UCB) entered into a tie-up with a range of academic institutions and organisations in India as part of a continuing drive to boost skills development in India. Bharat Sakhuja, Associate Director of the University’s International department and Alice Wilby, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Access, Participation and Student Experience) at University College Birmingham from the University were in India recently to meet Dr Sangeet Jaura, Pro Vice-Chancellor of Chitkara University, Professor Tabrez Ahmad, Vice-Chancellor of GD Goenka University, Dr Manju Gupta, Dean Academics at IMS Noida, Ved Mani Tiwari, Chief Operating Officer of the NSDC. The duo told shortpost.in, “The new linkups will offer a wide range of potential benefits and opportunities covering key areas including student mobility and up-skilling, progression arrangements, teacher training and cooperation, as well as collaborating in joint conferences and seminars.” They also shared that discussions were held towards creating more opportunities for Indian students to attend short courses in the UK. Collaboration between these Indian institutions and UCB will allow effective mobility of students between the institutions and enable them to consider integrated pathways which would be beneficial not only for students but for the academics in raising the level of teaching.
ICICI Bank’s blue-eyed boy Anup Ratnaparkhi, who currently heads Branch Banking and NRI operations in the UK, has put in his papers. Thirty-nine-year-old Anup, who had a 14-year long stint, is joining the London-based Ribbon Plc as Chief Commercial Officer. This venture has been promoted by his former ICICI boss Asesh Jani. It is an AI powered technology company that promises to offer a hyper-personalised digital experience to users. Ribbon is loaded with features including an embedded payments marketplace, access to deposits, FX, Crypto & Equity trading platforms. It was Asesh who had spotted Anup’s talent in ICICI and moved him up from Hyderabad to London. The scene at the State Bank of India, UK is no different. Most professionals posted here from India are currently in a flux. Most of the senior staffers who were transferred out of India have completed their term and will now return to India. This includes SBI UK head Sharad Chandak, ED Sanjay Pandey and COO Anurag Joshi. Elsewhere too, it seems to be the season of retirements or transfers. Gayatri Issar Kumar, the Indian High Commissioner in UK is into farewell party mode as she retires in September. Meanwhile, Rohit Vadhwana (IFS) who is First Secretary for Investment & Trade and also handles the Press portfolio, has been posted to Kenya.
Saraswat Brahmin entrepreneurs from across the globe will converge in Goa come September 10, for the first Annual Conclave. The Saraswat Brahmin community of business leaders from different parts of the world joined hands and formed the Global Saraswat Entrepreneurs Chamber (GSEC) in 2019, resurrecting the nearly 30-year-old Saraswat Chamber of Commerce set up by Suresh Prabhu, senior BJP leader and former chairman of the Saraswat Cooperative Bank. This one-day conference is expected to draw some of the biggest names from the community including, Bharat Ratna Sachin Tendulkar, singer activist Hemaa Sardesai, hoteliers Vithal Kamat (Kamat Hotels Group), Raghunandan Kamath (Natural Ice Creams) and Marathi actor Ashok Saraf to name just a few. The underlying objective of the conclave “to build a wise, vibrant and prosperous community ecosystem for Saraswats in business and profession,” says Siddharth Sinkar, founder director of GCSE. The Saraswat community is primarily known as an ethical and philanthropic segment of society that channelised and harnessed cumulative energies for collective excellence in society. In the fields of business and commerce the community has been a frontrunner in the banking and cooperatives sectors.
Pankaj Munjal of Hero Cycle’s fame has ambitiously big plans to strengthen the company’s presence in overseas markets, particularly across Europe. His company Insync Bikes Ltd has geared up to manufacture top end e-bikes at Trafford in the United Kingdom. Munjal, who visited UK to unveil his plans, told shortpost.in, “Manchester has given us more than what we had expected or planned.’’ The immediate future plan involves development as part of the budgeted £150m group-wide investment. His Manchester-based Global Design Centre has innovated an e-bike with artificial Intelligence functions that will incorporate advanced technologies such as Google services integration and introduce anti-theft systems and advanced telematics. Approximately 300 e-bikes will be manufactured every month at Trafford and priced at £3000 per piece. These e-bikes are expected to hit the road by August-September of 2022. The company received an award for being a Fast Track Indian company in the UK from among 900 companies surveyed by Grant Thornton in its India Meets Britain tracker report. Despite difficult conditions in the UK and Europe, Insync Bikes ranked 7th on the growth rate parameter. If the Indian experience is an indication, it will be among the top four players, sooner than later
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.