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BJP’s top brass ignored RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat’s latest broadside seeking to curtail the rising momentum to reclaim, reinstall old temple sites to their pristine glory. A politically savvy RSS man says, “There is little likelihood of response or retort from either PM Modi or Shah to Bhagwat’s vocalisation for limiting the number of devastated temples in India needing reinstallation.” Legal remedies are increasingly the resort of Hindus thanks to the mountain of evidence unearthed by the Archaeology Survey of India (ASI). Modi-Shah will plough ahead with their rejuvenation plans for Hindutva ignoring Bhagwat even as their political favourites: UP CM Yogi Adityanath, his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma espouse political advocacy stridently furthering Hindutva’s agenda. Notwithstanding PM Modi’s radio silence over Bhagwat’s repeated outbursts, last time prescribing arrogance shedding over general election results that restricted BJP to 240 MPs, social media platforms unleashed criticism waves targeting the RSS Chief over his soft advocacy of Hindutva. “Typical of RSS claiming credit for political wins registered by BJP after Haryana and Maharashtra elections while feigning sleep over their own track record in states like Jharkhand over RSS’ abject failure at outreach in tribal belts through Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram,” the RSS man says. NASA has confirmed the structural engineering marvel of the Ram Setu while Dwarka city is truly resting underwater and yet, India dilly-dallies over Moghul-British era false narratives including scheduled castes and tribes introduced by the latter. Latest infringement at Sambhal was exposed by the ASI to be the remains of a 200-year-old temple built over a mosque and yet, Bhagwat preaches secular values today. Advocacy of Moghul-British invaders next?
The prestigious New Delhi Assembly seat is poised to witness a fierce electoral contest with sitting MLA and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal pitted against the sons of two former Delhi chief ministers. While the Congress has already declared Sandeep Dikshit, son of late former Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit — who was three time CM — as its candidate, the BJP has asked Parvesh Verma, the son of late former Delhi chief minister Sahib Singh Verma to prepare for the contest. The BJP has so far not declared its list for the Delhi Assembly elections. For Sandeep Dikshit, taking on Arvind Kejriwal would be like avenging his mother’s defeat in 2013 by Kejriwal. The AAP supremo shot to fame by defeating incumbent CM Sheila Dikshit by a margin of over 25,000 votes. In 2015, he again won from the same seat defeating the BJP candidate by more than 31,000 votes. His victory margin was reduced to 2,000 votes in 2020 polls. Of the 70 assembly seats, the New Delhi constituency is one of the smallest assembly seats and is dominated by the government employees as voters. It has 17% SC voters. Also in the fray is former AAP leader, Dr Munish Raizada, a U.S. trained neonatologist, is vigorously pushing for his candidacy as Bharatiya Liberal Party candidate. A boost for him is that at least his main rival BJP, is taking him seriously. “It gives me satisfaction that the BJP candidate’s managers took my name more often than Kejriwal,” says Dr Raizada. As for Kejriwal, it is only his wife Sunita and two children who are campaigning for him. It is possible the AAP supremo is acutely aware that even if he wins, he may not be able to return as CM.
Perhaps the time is upon the BCCI to take stock of women’s cricket and effect changes starting from now on. It’s 18 years since women’s cricket came under the BCCI umbrella and in this long period things have looked up for the teams across formats on all counts, from contracts to match fees, coaching, exposure in India and abroad. It’s the women in blue team that’s seen in action much more than they being in whites. What has been disappointing is that the national team has not been able to bring the ICC tournament silverware even once. The women’s team, under the BCCI, has taken part in four 50-over World Cups and nine Twenty20 World Cups. The illustrious former India allrounder Diana Edulji squealed at the team’s inability to rise above mediocrity and lose to Australia 3-0 recently. As far as the World Cup matches are concerned India has played 27 ODI World Cup matches since 2009, won 16 and lost 11 and played 40 World Twenty20 matches, won 22 and lost 18. Not impressive! India’s top five batters average around 25 in World Twenty20 matches and in 50 over World Cups, India’s batters have not been consistent. In general the women in blue team has not been able to outwit Australia, England and New Zealand in matches/series away from home. In less than a year’s time India will host the 13th World Cup and hence just the time now to make changes that’s likely to bring in fresh ideas. The big question the BCCI and the selection committee has to take a call on is who should lead the team: Harmanpreet Kaur or Smriti Mandhana?
For over a year now the social media has been on an overdrive about Aishwarya and Abhishek’s marriage. Mirroring this sentiment, shortpost.in on December 22, 2023 ran a story headlined “Aishwarya And Abhishek: Rocky Marriage Or Only Hiccups? Now, Aishwarya and Abhishek have shut the mouth of rumour mongers after the two were spotted together at their daughter’s Aaradhya birthday party. Then tongues started to wag that Aishwarya is having issues with her in-laws. What gave credence to this rumour is her solo appearances with her daughter at Ambani wedding and other events. So the Bachchans took the opportunity to clear the air with Amitabh Bachchan making it to Aaradhya’s annual school day function. The video that went viral shows Aishwarya all smiles when Amitabh Bachchan steps out of the car. But, many say that it was done for optics as grandmother Jaya Bachchan was missing from the scene. So too were Aaradhya’s cousins (Shweta Nanda’s children). All these clearly indicate all is still not well but amends are being made. The reports about fallout began when a news report said that the actress had walked out of the Bachchan’s Jalsa bungalow and moved into Amu which is in close vicinity. Although there was no official statement but once Abhishek showed his wedding ring to the media to indicate all is well. Sources say that Aishwarya is slowly getting back to doing more work. This should be music to ear for her diehard fan.
When RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat recently expressed concern over the resurgence of temple-mosque disputes, and advised people against raking up such issues, was he speaking on behalf of PM Modi? Most likely. With the U.S. President Donald Trump all set to take over next month, the Modi government may not want any Hindu-Muslim communal tension to disturb the country’s economic trajectory of reaching $ 5 trillion. It is in this background what Bhagwat said at a function of Pune NGO assumes significance. He said no one will become a “leader of Hindus” by fanning communal divide. His statement surprised many Hindu leaders and came after Hindu right-wing groups moved various courts across the country seeking demolition of decades-old mosques claiming that those were built on temple sites. These mosques include the Shahi Jama Masjid in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal, where riots had left five dead, and the Ajmer Sharif in Rajasthan. “Extremism, aggressiveness, forcefulness, and insulting other gods are not in the nature of our country and this is unacceptable,” he said, adding that to become ‘Vishwa Guru’, India should not forget its nature that it is “accommodative” to all. The RSS chief said that the Ram Temple in Ayodhya was built to respect the sentiments of Hindus but to use it to become a “Hindu neta (leader)” was unacceptable. This is not the first time Bhagwat has cautioned Hindus about going overboard. In the past, he had talked of not looking for ‘Shivlings’ under mosques. This was his remark after the Ram Temple judgment came. It was a clear message of unity. Bhagwat’s words were welcomed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.
This serial “multi-dimensional entrepreneur” never ceases to excite. This first-generation foreigner of Indian origin holding Seychelles citizenship has strong roots in Tamil Nadu with most of his ilks living in Chennai. Well, C Sivasankaran is his name. From launching affordable Siva Computers a few decades ago to his aborted bid to acquire Tamilnad Mercantile Bank (TMB) and his foray into telecom field with the floatation of Aircel (now defunct, of course), Siva, as is popularly known, has managed to keep the arclight focussed permanently on him. Controversies are nothing new to him. So are court cases. A Look Out Circular issued by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with alleged financial fraud has forced him to stay put in India. Being a mentor of AIWO Ltd., he insists that he has to visit abroad every month to deliver wellness services to clients. But his persistent efforts to get this LOC revoked proved futile. Finally, the Madras High Court gave him a reprieve. On Friday (Dec 20), the Madras High Court allowed him to go abroad by providing for temporary suspension of LOC. It has set some stringent terms, though. The HC allowed him to travel abroad to balance concerns of the prosecution side and constitutional rights. His travel to Seychelles, however, is prohibited since India does not have an extradition treaty with that country. Well, Siva can never be out of focus!
Six months after the BJP came into power in Odisha, chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi has every reason to be happy. It is learnt that PM Modi has appreciated his citizen centric outreach programmes. This is why PM Modi made it known to Odisha BJP leaders, during his last visit that Majhi is doing good work, in the process he subtly sent a message to CM aspirants that Majhi will be in the CM’s chair for the next five years. Now, there are strong talks that to strengthen Majhi’s hands a former bureaucrat with a strong administration background may be drafted into the Odisha ministry. The name of ex-CAG Chief Girish Chandra Murmu and now external auditor of WHO is doing the rounds. He was one of the several names shortlisted before PM Modi cast his vote in favour of Majhi. Sources say Murmu, who hails from Mayurbhanj in Odisha seems to have ticked all the boxes. He is a strong administrator, down to earth personality. Two, a tribal leader, three, not arrogant and fits into Odia Asmita culture. Being industrious and having both Modi’s and Shah’s confidence since he was earlier Modi’s Principal Secretary in Gujarat and was appointed as Lieutenant Governor of J&K when Article 370 was abrogated. Murmu certainly seems to have the heft and gravitas.
Even as the dust is settling over the internecine acrimony about the allocation of portfolios in the ruling Mahayuti alliance, a new wave of one-upmanship has erupted about the appointment of guardian ministers. As there are more than two or three claimants to grab the powerful position, the competition is intense. Moreover, as there are 36 districts in Maharashtra while the number of ministers is 41, it is obvious that some of them will be ejected out of the race. Another major issue of contention is the guardianship of Pune and Thane districts, which are politically very important for every party. In Pune, deputy CM Ajit Pawar was the guardian minister under the government of Eknath Shinde till recently. Now, the BJP and the Shiv Sena (Shinde) feel it is their turn to occupy the position. Similarly, in Thane, deputy CM Shinde wishes to become the district guardian minister. However, the BJP is keen to obtain the turn this time. Senior BJP minister Ganesh Naik and Shinde have been at loggerheads for long and the tussle between the two seems unavoidable. In neighbouring Raigad district, NCP(Ajit) boss Sunil Tatkare’s daughter Aditi is trying to retain the responsibility though Shinde’s supporter Bharat Gogawale is determined to wrest it from her. Sambhaji Nagar, another sensitive district, is claimed by Shinde’s soldier Sanjay Shirsat while BJP’s powerful minister Atul Save, too, is considered a strong claimant. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis is now busy untangling the rider.
West Bengal politics was set ablaze recently after a statement by Firhad Hakim, senior minister of Mamata Banerjee government. Addressing a gathering of minority students, Hakim, a trusted lieutenant of Didi remarked that minorities could soon become the majority, prompting sharp reactions from political circles and his own party, the Trinamool Congress. The TMC, quick to distance itself from Hakim’s remarks, faced an internal and external uproar. Party leaders expressed disapproval, with several calling the comments “unnecessary” and “potentially divisive.” Opposition parties, led by the BJP, accused Hakim of fuelling communal tensions and promoting a polarising narrative in the state. Hakim’s controversial statement marks another instance in a series of remarks that have landed him in trouble over the years. In 2016, he faced backlash for referring to the Garden Reach constituency as a “mini-Pakistan”. More recently, his description of a BJP candidate during a campaign as an “item” also drew severe criticism. Sources within the TMC revealed that Didi, who relies heavily on Hakim for political and administrative matters, has expressed dissatisfaction with his comments and reminded him of his past controversies that caused embarrassment to the party. In an unusually stern response, she advised him to exercise caution in his public statements to avoid further political damage. Hakim’s daughter Priyadarshini, a youth leader within the party, defended her father, asserting that his statement in Urdu had been misinterpreted. Political analysts say that TMC faces the dual challenge of containing the fallout from Hakim’s remarks while steering the focus back to governance and development in the run-up to crucial elections.
Controversial minister Dhananjay Munde is now facing public ire over the murder of Massajog village sarpanch, Santosh Deshmukh, last week in Beed district. Allegations abound regarding Munde’s close associate Walmik Karad being the mastermind of the gruesome broad daylight killing in Beed district, the fiefdom of the Munde clan for several years. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has announced a judicial inquiry into the shocking incident and has replaced the district police chief. However, as this could not pacify the local people, deputy CM Ajit Pawar visited the village immediately after the legislature’s winter session was over as Munde is one of his staunch supporters in the NCP. Pawar was greeted with demands to remove Munde from the council of ministers. The situation has a caste angle as the deceased Deshmukh was a Maratha while Munde and Karad belong to the Vanjari community, a prominent OBC section. Pawar now has been asked by a Maratha delegation to forthwith remove Munde from the cabinet. A memorandum submitted to Pawar has levelled serious allegations against Munde. When Pawar reached Beed to interact with the Deshmukh family, he promised the bereaved that no guilty would be spared. However, the villagers were angry since Ajit Pawar did not meet them. Munde’s absence from the legislature for the last three days and the refusal of his cousin Pankaja to comment on the incident, too, have added to the gravity of the situation. Munde is expected to come out with his version so#WalmikKarad
One more book on Pakistan’s first woman prime minister Benazir Bhutto hit the book shelves sometimes back. The Bhutto Dynasty, authored by Owen Bennett-Jones, while tracing the turbulent history of the Bhutto dynasty, also reveals about her views on corruption. “Politicians everywhere, the former prime minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto argued, made money. The difference was that while Western politicians did so after they left office, their counterparts in the developing world did not have that option. The U.S. journalist Ron Suskind once put it to her that his high-level sources in the U.S. government had told him that she was making ‘real money’. There was no denial. Rather she said, “Let me explain how it works. In your part of the world Dick Cheney is vice president and then he goes to Haliburton to make his money. In this part of the world, you make your money whilst you are in office. It is not that different.”
The OTT Entertainment industry doesn’t know what hit them. First came the Allahabad High Court’s massive observations on the streaming of Tandav – seen by many as an indictment of the rapidly growing, unregulated platform. Next followed the remarks of the venerable Supreme Court’s bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and R Subhash Reddy that concluded that the new guidelines governing social media (SM) and OTT (over the top) platforms have ‘no teeth’. Swiftly pouncing at the SC-sent opportunity, Information & Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar promised that the government would soon issue guidelines for the regulation of OTT platforms. Replying at the floor of the Rajya Sabha, the soft-spoken minister said that the new guidelines would address the issues of sensitive content, adding that a lot of suggestions on the regulation of OTTs have been received. The new development comes as a sharp contrast to the Minister’s earlier espousal of Self-Regulation for the industry. While meeting the OTT honchos, he tried dispelling misrepresentations around the digital media guidelines, assuring that the self-regulatory bodies would not have any member appointed by the government. Well, the fiery tussle between the key protagonists – including the FoE advocates – is far from over. What’s urgently needed is clarity in guidelines to draw more investments in the sector with about 40 OTT platforms.
The world’s largest cricketing stadium opened to a deluge of media headlines. And also, to one of the globe’s wealthiest: Lakshmi N Mittal, Chairman & CEO of the $53.3-billion ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steel and mining company. Mittal was spotted at the Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium, Ahmedabad along with BCCI Secretary Jay Shah, and Congress Leader Rajiv Shukla, enjoying the fourth test match between India and England. According to the Gujarat government’s official version, Mittal visited the Statue Of Unity at Kevadia, less than 200 kms from Ahmedabad. But the corporate observers are attributing the timing of the visit to more than that. They are connecting dots. It may be mentioned that during the same time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Kevadia to address the concluding session of the annual conference of top officers of India’s Armed Forces. It is speculated that Mittal met Modi and Chief Minister Vijay Rupani before the PM’s address and after that watched the cricket match.
One of the weakest points of the current NDA government at the Centre has been the lack of leaders who could communicate the economic policies and decisions of the government in the right perspective and that too effectively. The untimely demise of two BJP stalwarts Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj depleted this capability further. While the other side of the story may be that you don’t need anybody else to do this when you have such a strong orator in Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Nevertheless, the need was felt to find ways to improve government communication, and the report of the Group of Ministers (GoM) on government communication, which is the talk of the town currently, has captured the wide gamut of issues. Several journalists, industry leaders and ideologues participated in the GoM’s deliberations. The Opposition parties have labelled the exercise as another effort to control media while the government obviously is portraying this as an exercise to help find the ways to deal with intentional negative narrative and make the policy messages reach people in the right way. An interesting point to ponder here is whether the industry leaders and journalists would do better by being critical of the government policies or by becoming a tool in the hands of the government in promoting the policies — a job that should primarily rest with the government spokespersons.
Like Alice In Wonderland, the Tamil Nadu politics seems to be getting curiouser and curiouser. It all started with Superstar Rajnikant throwing in the towel thereby dashing BJP’s hopes of making significant impact in the upcoming Assembly polls. For MK Stalin of DMK, this announcement was music to ears. But the news of VK Sasikala or ‘Chinamma’, confidante of the late J Jayalalithaa, former Chief Minister, saw both the ruling party AIADMK and the DMK pull a long face. She came out of Bangalore jail after serving four-year term, and entered the fray .So much so, Chinamma was prevented by the very people who prostrated before her from going anywhere near Jayalalithaa’s Samadhi at Marina Beach. At the same time, to keep her in good humour mediators have been holding talks with her nephew TTV Dinakaran to work out a possible merger of his party AMMK with the AIADMK so that they can fight the common enemy DMK. But in a new political twist, Chinamma dropped a bomb, announcing to stay away from politics. The DMK and the Congress spokespersons on the TV channels are saying she must have been pressurized by the BJP! Apparently, local BJP leaders have welcomed the move. In the fast changing political contours, is it advantage AIADMK? Does DMK stand a better chance minus Chinamma? And where does Kamal Hasaan’s party Makkal Needhi Maiam figure?
Post retirement there is a tendency among most bureaucrats to pen a book of their years in the government job. The latest to join the writers’ hall of fame is Shakti Sinha, an IAS officer who served as private secretary to the late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. His book Vajpayee: The Years That Changed India provides an insider’s account of Vajpayee days as prime minister. He says whenever there were any crisis or controversies, Vajpayee never blamed the Opposition. People do not know how difficult it was for him to form a government in 1998 and run it. Vajpayee held the post of the prime minister for three non-consecutive terms in 1996, 1998-99, and from 1999-2004. Despite numerous political difficulties, he took important decisions like going nuclear and, paradoxically, extending a hand of friendship to Pakistan. The book highlights how resolutely Vajpayee defended India when the Kargil war broke out. And yet how his government was denied a second term.
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi receiving his first dose of vaccine, not only the inoculation drive against Covid-19 — but also the nation’s recovery prospects got a fresh shot in the arm. The investors now foresee acceleration in the drive to subdue the virus – which should free up all critical sectors. Moody’s has revised India’s GDP projections for FY22 upwards to 13.7% (from 10.8% estimated earlier) while the IMF has projected 11.5% (up from 8.8%). Despite Covid-19 stress, the GST collections for past five consecutive months have exceeded over Rs 1 lakh crore – including Rs 1.13 lakh crore in Feb 2021, up 7% versus Feb 2020. The state-wise GST growth is led by big states – Gujarat (up 14%), Tamil Nadu 9%, Maharashtra 2%, and Karnataka 2%. The recovery is attributed to a resilient farm economy as well as an impressive manufacturing performance with the Purchasing Managers’ Index hitting 57.5% in Feb. With vaccination drive in full swing, the services sector and the MSMEs should also bounce back. Meanwhile, the Central and the state governments should focus on reforms and relief on four fronts: 1) Employment generation; 2) an empowered antitrust watchdog to track corporate dominance in key businesses, including farming; 3) better industrial relations amid Kolar violence (at Apple iPhone plant); and 4) better outcomes from the Bad Bank (with the creditors identifying corporate loans of over Rs 1.45 lakh crore).
Road Transport & Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari does not hide his frustration with obstructionist bureaucrats. He is vocal and open about it. From time to time, he has been using various fora to drive home his point. He is furious at the slow pace with which the files move from the desk of a director-level officer to a joint secretary, additional secretary and secretary. He has warned the bureaucrats that “dead assets in government, who neither take decisions nor allow others to work, would be shown the door.” But, bureaucrats on their part seem indifferent to his threat and insult. Result, Gadkari seems to have given up on them. At a web-based event, he threw his hands up and said: “After my six years’ experience I have found that in this system people won’t change. I am coming to the conclusion that it is very difficult to change them. I have given up on these people.” And now, a few months back while speaking at the inauguration of the eight-floor NHAI building, Gadkari said: “The project was decided in 2008. Twelve years, two governments and eight NHAI chairmen came and went before this building could be completed. I am ashamed.” So how do we bring accountability and responsibility among bureaucrats? If a minister cannot fix this problem who can? Can the judiciary (saddled with lakhs of pending cases) play a role here? There are more questions than answers.
The Khushboo Gujarat Ki campaign run by the Gujarat Tourism since 2010 has been very effective, giving a massive boost to the number of in-bound tourists. But our Short Post Team discovered a shocking case of tourist alienation – with two Mumbai-based businessmen confiding in about a horrendous experience. It was a different khushboo when they drove down to Jaisalmer in Rajasthan from Mumbai. On return, their car bearing Maharashtra number plate was stopped by the Gujarat police at four different checkpoints. And from the word go it was mindless harassment and heaps of insult. At the first check-post, they were questioned whether they carried drugs, guns or alcohol and then asked to turn their bags upside down. At the second check-post they were asked why they did not cover the top portion of the headlights with yellow scotch tape? At the third check-post, they were fined for not wearing their mask properly inside their car. But, their real nightmare began at the fourth check-post. The cops once again rummaged through their bag and separated an empty liquor bottle. Immediately, they shouted with glee “Milee Gayo”, “Milee Gayo” (got it). Their reactions shocked these two businessmen. The cops forced one of them to sit in the driver’s seat and clicked pictures with an empty bottle on his lap. Then, they were told that now an FIR would be filed; and that they would have to pay a fine of Rs 1 lakh or else they would be jailed. Physically and mentally exhausted because of this senseless extortion the businessmen decided to loosen their purse strings and after which they were allowed to go.
It was a hotly contested election between a corporate chieftain and a politician. In the end, SpiceJet Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh won. Singh was re-elected President of the Boxing Federation of India defeating senior BJP leader and former Maharashtra Sports Minister Ashish Shelar. The defeat of a prominent Maharashtra politician refreshed memories of the tussle between Jagmohan Dalmiya and Sharad Pawar for the BCCI President’s post in 2015. Dalmiya was unanimously elected BCCI President as Pawar failed to secure a nomination for the post. This begs the question: Why do politicians make beeline to join various sports bodies? Do they make for good sports administrators? As per a report, 47% of India’s sports federations are headed by politicians. Jay Kowli, Secretary-General of the Boxing Federation of India, believes having politicians as administrators have proved to be beneficial – with leaders like Sharad Pawar making a big difference to the world of cricket. Well, such encomiums must be music to the ears of politicians as the general feeling is that the politicians should keep out of the sports bodies.
Former CBI Director RK Raghavan, who was the chairman of the Special Investigative Team constituted to probe the 2002 Gujarat Riots, revealed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, then chief minister of Gujarat, kept his cool right through the marathon session of questioning and never parried questions. In his autobiography A Road Well Travelled, Raghavan said: “The SIT’s unequivocal stand on the chief minister’s role was unpalatable to his adversaries in the State and in Delhi. They engineered petitions against me, accusing me of favouring the chief minister. The grapevine had it that they misused central agencies to monitor my telephonic conversations. They were, however, disappointed not to find anything incriminating.” Raghavan’s book sheds light on the gruelling interrogation that Modi was subjected to. “At one point of time, SIT had to question Modi on the various allegations made against the state administration. We had it conveyed to his staff that he had to come in person to the SIT office for this purpose, and that meeting him elsewhere would be misconstrued as a favour. He readily agreed to come to the SIT office within the government complex in Gandhinagar. Modi’s questioning lasted nine hours and he kept his cool right through the marathon session which ended late at night. He never parried questions. Nor did he give the impression of padding up his responses,” the book points out.
With the rise in Covid cases, especially in two States — Kerala and Maharashtra, the question everybody is asking: Has the vaccination drive slowed down? Is it because of a glitch in CoWin App? The cynics were asking whether the vaccination drive was kept on hold to deliver it in the poll-bound States. Till date, 1,14,24,094 vaccine doses have been administered to 75,40,602 healthcare workers and 38,83,492 frontline workers through 2,44,071 sessions. The government which was silently working on the issue gave its answer saying that that vaccines for senior citizens above 60 years and those above 45 years with co-morbidities will be vaccinated across 30,000 centres across the country from 1st March. Effectively government is targeting to touch nearly 1 million people per day. It is working on the supply side too. Currently, the Serum Institute Of India’s Covishield, and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin are being administered. Dr Reddy’s Laboratories have sought emergency use authorization of Sputnik V developed by Russia. And the fourth vaccine, which everybody is eagerly awaiting is ZyCov-D developed by the Ahmedabad-based Zydus Cadila. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited this plant sometimes back. According to newspaper reports, Zydus is currently conducting phase 3 clinical trials and will make public its finding.
Eagles don’t flock you have to find them one at a time, said Ross Perot, the American billionaire who also ran for the Presidency. And BJP, it seems, is following Perot’s strategy to T. From time to time they have been wooing heavyweight politicians, bureaucrats, film stars and sports personalities into the party fold. The latest news from the BJP HQ: Metro Man E-Sreedharan is likely to join the party and contest elections in the poll-bound Kerala. The BJP has often boasted about its pantheon of crowd pullers and super achievers with clean image. In Tamil Nadu, they had almost succeeded with Superstar Rajnikant but at the eleventh hour he backed out on health grounds. In West Bengal, they are trying to woo yesteryear Superstar Mithun Chakraborty who was nominated to the Rajya Sabha on Trinamool Congress ticket in 2014. But, two years later he stepped down. With elections round the corner, the BJP is not only looking for winning candidates to form the government but also a local hero who will take over as the chief minister. That’s the promise Amit Shah has made to the Bengalis. The guessing game is on as to who will wear the crown.
A very public outrage against misdemeanours by powerful men has received the much-needed judicial support. #MeToo is not some time-barred phenomenon. “The woman has the right to put her grievances at any platform and even after decades,” said Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Ravindra Pandey who acquitted journalist Priya Ramani in the criminal defamation case initiated by the former Union Minister MJ Akbar. The right of reputation cannot be protected at the cost of right to dignity, the Delhi court observed. It will be interesting to see if Akbar’s battery of lawyers – led by Sandeep Kapur of Karanjawala & Co – will challenge the order. But the public opinion is hardening. “Akbar must be made to pay for this,” tweeted civil rights lawyer Prashant Bhushan. #MeToo has still miles to go in India. Experts note how the Supreme Court had upheld Delhi High Court’s acquittal of Peepli Live director Mahmood Farooqui of rape charges on the grounds that a ‘feeble no’ from a friend may have been construed as consent (from a Columbia University researcher, who had come to India on a Fulbright exchange fellowship). The trial court had convicted Farooqui but the decision was overturned by the Delhi High Court. Earlier, #MeToo flagbearer Tanushree Dutta’s allegations against actor Nana Patekar collapsed too with the Mumbai police filing closure for want of evidence.
The ‘Subtext’ hangs in the air long after former Finance Minister P Chidambaram decoded the Text, Pretext, Context & Subtext of the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Budget speech 2021-22 at the Rajya Sabha. What’s the text of the speech? He explained: “The text is prosaic, bureaucratic.” What’s the pretext? “The pretext is: we have a pandemic. (Yet) we have supply side measures!” And the context? “The context is a slowing down economy, pushed into a deep recession, minus 10%, thanks to the pandemic — and thanks to incompetent economic management.” He continued: “But, more than the text, more than the pretext, more than the context, what is important is the subtext. The subtext is: this is a Budget prepared for the rich, of the rich and by the rich.” He said the Budget has nothing for: 120 mn people losing jobs; 64 mn dropping out of the labour force, including 22% women; and 35% of MSMEs shut down. Replying to the Budget discussion in Rajya Sabha, Sitharaman put the things in context: “Speaker sir, the former FM is trying to imitate you but he has been a miserable failure in the impact he created unlike you who has created good impact.” Speaker M Venkaiah Naidu is known for his quick one-liners that fill the House Of Elders with laughter.
Cartelisation among manufacturers is a known fact. OPEC is the biggest global example. Close to home the Competition Commission Of India, which came down heavily on cement companies sometimes back, has now set its sights on the domestic steel companies. It is believed that the steel companies have increased their prices in unison in the last few months. But, recent developments in the distribution trade in Mumbai – liquor and paper – are quite an eye-opener. With businesses shuttered for nearly a year, those running hotels & restaurants, printing presses, and paper distribution have been hit by severe liquidity crunch. Most of them have not been able to pay their vendors, suppliers, or staff. After the Lockdown was lifted, the restaurant owners, printers and media houses placed fresh orders with their respective distributors. But they were told to clear some of the backlog. Irked, some of these businessmen tried tapping new distributors but they were surprised to learn that the liquor and paper trade had a list of outstanding of different businesses or credit information of bad borrowers. The distributors felt if they supply today their fellow traders would lose. So they decided to unite. It is proving to be a win-win for all.
After the Tandav controversy, the Indian government is seriously looking at tightening the noose around the OTT channels. The plan is to form a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to bring in a regulation to control the content that is streamed on the OTT channels. Feelers are being sent to various film personalities to become a part of the JPC and create some kind of guidelines based on the lines of the Central Board Of Film Certification (CBFC) for feature films. Those close to the film industry have hinted that the Standing Committee on the Information & Technology Ministry are examining the functioning of the CBFC. In order to have a holistic examination of the subject, the committee has decided to seek views of individuals associated with the media and entertainment industry. While their plan is being worked out, the makers of edgy content have begun self-regulation to avoid any kind of issues with the government. Most industry people said there has to be censorship, but there are quite a few who feel that self-regulation is the best option. The government, it seems, is keen to avoid another Tandav kind of situation. So, for now it is wait-and-watch game.
Arguably, nobody conjures up national slogans as profoundly – or coins acronyms as tellingly — as PM Narendra Modi. The Government’s pantheon of programmes – from Swachh Bharat to Make in India to Startup India and Stand Up India – all bear the signature of the master wordsmith. Many of the acronyms – from SCAM to JAM he popularised continue to endure. Some acronyms are being masterly resurrected – FDI is now ‘Foreign Destructive Ideology.’ And the patriots must now stay away from this FDI, the PM informed while replying to the motion of thanks to the President’s address in the Rajya Sabha. In 2015, the FDI meant ‘First Develop India’, a mission to support the Make in India programme. 2021 onwards, this will mean Transnational or foreign ‘tukde-tukde gang’ that promotes Rihanna tweet-busters, Meena Harris ‘book of Intimidation Monsters, or Greta Thunberg’s Tool-Kit for Dummies that transforms tractor rallies into raging rampage. Another breed of creatures that patriots must guard against are: Andolan-Jeevi (one who feasts on protests), who is actually a par-jeevi, (a parasite) for the nation. His creative masterstroke was in full, sublime display at a time the Opposition sensed they had Modi on the mat over the farmers’ agitation.
The hottest topic being discussed by business tycoons these days is not the Union Budget but the Which, When, Where (and maybe even, if) and How to get the Covid-19 vaccine. Before India rolled out its own versions, some wealthy individuals were rumoured to have rushed overseas (read: Dubai) to get their shot. Now there are whispers about certain famous people making private arrangements to get the vaccine out of turn. Because, as per the Government diktat, in the current phase, the vaccine is being made available only to the frontline healthcare workers. Such clandestine shots may give them immunity but without the all-important vaccine certificate. They are confident, however, of procuring one with some jugaad in due course. One person who won’t have to resort to any such subterfuge is Dr Swati Piramal, vice chairperson, Piramal Enterprises. The wife of billionaire Ajay Piramal, who is a qualified doctor, recently got her Covid-19 shot at the BKC jumbo vaccination center in Mumbai, along with staff of the Gopikrishna Memorial Hospital. Piramal took the Covishield vaccine made by the Serum Institute of India and promptly posted photos of the said deed on Facebook.
Everything is fair in love and law — and loyalty is not static but flexible. None other than Narayan Rane epitomizes this saying. Thanks to the blessings of Shiv Sena Supremo Bal Thackeray – Rane grew from strength to strength. From a corporator to legislator to Chief Minister, his rise was meteoric. However, Thackeray’s decision to appoint his son Uddhav as Executive President of the Sena changed the equation, forcing Rane to quit the saffron party and join the Congress. Here, he was made a minister – but not the CM as promised. Irked by the deceit and denial, Rane floated his Swabhimani Party. The new party didn’t do too well – and he subsequently joined the BJP that has placed him in the Rajya Sabha. His new mentor is Home Minister Amit Shah, who visited the state to inaugurate the SSPM Medical College at Kudal in Sindhudurg. Shah’s visit has created ripples – with Rane predicting that the Maha Vikas Agadhi government’s days are numbered now. Interesting times for a party, which despite winning 105 seats is sitting in the Opposition bench.
The timing behind the ongoing war of words between Maharashtra and Karnataka leaders on the long-pending border dispute is politically as significant for the Shiv Sena as it is for its former partner Bharatiya Janata Party in the run up to the 2022 elections for the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) — India’s richest civic body. With its renewed demand to incorporate Karnataka’s Marathi-speaking areas into Maharashtra, the Sena has unleashed a frontal assault to retain its supremacy in the BMC, which the party has been ruling for over 28 years. Joining forces with the saffron party are the Congress and the NCP, its partners in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in the state. The Sena is hoping to stand tall with its espousal of the Marathi Manoos plank – even as it embraces the ‘Secular’ programmes of its partners, and reaches out to the Gujaratis. This leaves the BJP treading on a tricky tightrope: the BJP-ruled Karnataka’s loud opposition to the demand will only provide political ammunition to the Sena-led alliance. The BJP’s Mission Mumbai 2022, which seeks to end Sena rule and elect its own mayor, must now make sense of the new duel “Mazi Mumbai vs Mumbai Nammde’’.
Well, that’s the amount for the Tweet that launched a thousand ships against India. For the Delhi cops, this is all a part of the very original Greta Thunberg ‘Tool-Kit’ that earlier sent thousands of tractors rampaging through the Capital on the Republic Day, delivering India its Capitol Hill moment. According to investigative website The Print, international pop star Rihanna was allegedly paid $2.5 million (Rs 18 crore) by a Canada-based Public Relations firm to tweet in support of farm protest. The PR firm’s Tool-Kit for Dummies (leaked by ‘Child’ Greta by mistake) instructs the protestors on a range of goals: how to Disrupt ‘Yoga and Chai’ image of India; Watch out for Physical Actions during the first-of-its-kind Farmer’s March/Parade into Delhi on Jan 26th; and how to create a Twitter Storm. The PR project clearly has all the hallmarks of a well-funded conspiracy – and it’s designed not to stop at the repeal of farm laws. Now after disclosures on Rihanna, Twitter is afire with guesses on what inspires former porn star Mia Khalifa to support farmers. And we are asking: Why the paid tweet didn’t carry the tag of the sponsored or commissioned content?
Legendary investor Warren Buffett said: “Unless you can watch your stock holding decline by 50% without becoming panic-stricken, you should not be in the stock market.” The stock market is not for the weak-hearted – nor for Inside Trading. An NSDL campaign is creating awareness among the retail investors not to fall prey to the Insider Trading. If you are an equity investor, chances are that at some point in time you would have been offered an ‘insider tip’ to conduct a trade in a particular stock to make quick money. If the tip turns out to be false, you could end up losing money. If the Tip turns out to be true, although you might make quick money, it could land you in legal trouble. Insider trading is a punishable offence, as per the SEBI. The BSE, the NSE, and the SEBI keep routinely tom-tomming about such instructions – and yet the greedy investors keep falling prey to such Tip messages. Looks like investors seem to blindly follow the investment philosophy of Gordon Gekko in the movie Wall Street, “Greed, for lack of a better word is good.” And we know where insider trading and greed got Gekko and his ilk.
With four films in his kitty, Kartik Aaryan is one of the busiest stars from the younger generation of Bollywood actors. The actor has finished shooting for Ronnie Screwala’s film in record time and, believe it or not, has received a fee of about Rs 20 crore. The film was first slated to have a theatrical release, but the makers decided to go for a digital release with the actor being paid a premium price for it. Kartik is one of the most sought-after stars and those in the film trade feel that the actor is justified in being paid that amount. They believe that he is going the Akshay Kumar way by slowly becoming the Gen-Next bankable star. He is also following Akshay Kumar’s footsteps and becoming a socially responsible star. The actor’s monologue ‘Corona Stop Karo Naa’ became a huge hit. He is also one of the few to donate about Rs 1 crore for the welfare of Covid Warriors followed by an awareness chat show on Covid-19 titled ‘Kookie Poochega’. Kartik who started his journey in Bollywood with multi-starrers is now shouldering a film as a solo hero. It is his track record with Lukka Chhupi and Pati Patni Aur Woh that probably got producer Karan Johar to sign him for Dostana sequel. Kartik’s other films in the pipeline are Anees Bazmee’s Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 and Rohit Dhawan’s next film, which is a remake of a South film.
BJP leader Dr Subramanian Swamy holds many incredible records. One important one: he has not lost a single defamation case. So much so that even international bodies like the United Nations are wary of taking him on. In fact, the services of Under-Secretary-General Adama Dieng were terminated for misattributing quotes to Dr Swamy. An elated Dr Swamy tweeted: “UN Under-Secretary General Mr Adaams Dieng, who defamed me in a media release by recycling my cut and spliced statement on CAA put out by Pakistani owned TV stn VICE, was terminated from UN post by “Good bye Sweetheart” letter from UNSG. I thank FS Shringla and UN Rep Trimurti.” Now, he has sent a defamation notice to Indian Express newspaper for publishing a column by Pakistani journalist Khaled Ahmed. Dr Swamy said that the Pakistani journalist wrote a lie that he said that Muslims are not equal citizens of India. This fake news was first published in a Canadian based TV known as Vice News owned by a Pakistani – and the United Nation’s Dieng issued a Press Release based on this fake news. Incidentally, even BBC carried the same news and reportedly a legal notice has been sent to them too.
There is one thing that the remake of Coolie No 1 managed to achieve in December 2020 – it made the film industry miss the original bearer of that title, Govinda. Film buffs felt that Govinda’s Coolie No 1 was like Mughal-e-Azam in front of the new-age version starring Varun Dhawan. The senior actor, however, does not have anything to say on the remake as he is getting ready to make his debut on the OTT platform. He wants to explore the medium as he has been getting offers for it. He feels that the pandemic has exposed people to the world of cinema and content that has universal appeal. The actor, who has often mentioned a conspiracy against him and his films, feels that the OTT is a boon for somebody like him who has been struggling to find a platform. Much before Govinda became largely synonymous with breezy entertainers and musicals, he had showcased his versatility in intense films like Hatya, Swarg, Awaargi and Marte Dum Tak among other films. The actor is now hoping to make 2021 his year and is seriously working towards making a comeback in a big way. The actor has been listening to scripts and will soon be making an announcement. He also has plans to give opportunities to those looking for a break in the film industry.
“I’m just a phone call away,” said PM Narendra Modi to the agitating farmers, while expressing pain over the vandalisation of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue in the U.S.; and assuring the law will take its own course in the Republic Day Tractor Rally violence that injured about 400 cops in New Delhi. What the government received was a Tweet from Hollywood pop star Rihanna on #farmerprotest: “Why aren’t we talking about this?” Soon, this became a synchronised tweet assault from other international influencers – with Indian celebrities and politicians joining in, taking their own ideological positions. Shouldn’t the government dismiss this tweet-burst as an innocuous thing? They didn’t. Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar’s office issued a statement: “Temptation of sensationalist social media hashtags and comments, especially when resorted to by celebrities and others, is neither accurate nor responsible.” Let’s accept that the Globalization of Protest is on the ascendency – while the other real trade Globalization is weakening. With the Big Tech providing megaphones to new Transnational entities and Influencers, the George Floyd protest riots in the U.S. became a massive global BLM campaign. And Turkey President RT Erdogan’s call for a boycott of French goods triggered massive anti-French rallies.
With the stock market booming and indices touching lifetime highs, the investor’s appetite seem to be growing even bigger. Many are keenly awaiting the IPO of the state-run Life Insurance Corporation Of India. Set up in 1956, the LIC is the jewel in the government’s crown. The state insurer has smartly competed with 23-odd private sector players to command a market share of 70.21%. With assets over Rs 31.96 lakh crore, the LIC manages 28.92 million customers through a network of 12,08,826 agents and 144,498 employees. Such impressive numbers have made the government plan a mega IPO in 2021. The government hopes to raise around Rs 70,000-100,000 crore by diluting a 10% stake. Based on this figure, the valuation of the LIC works out to around Rs 13-15 lakh crore. Experts say that the IPO could attract a large number of retail and institutional investors. The IPO dates are not finalized neither has the Red Herring prospectus been filed with the SEBI. Reportedly, Edelweiss Financial Services and Deloitte have been appointed as pre-IPO advisors. Now, the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget Speech has indicated that LIC IPO could hit the market in FY21-22. The good news for LIC policyholders is that up to 10 per cent of IPO may be offered to them.
Buzz in the Karnataka BJP is that search is on to find a successor to replace the current Chief Minister BS Yediyuruppa who despite crossing the 75-years-age cut-off limit has continued to hold the CM’s post. The party insiders claim he has lost the TINA (There Is No Alternative) Factor as discontent brews among the ministers, the party men, and the RSS parivar. The rift between Yediyuruppa and BL Santhosh, BJP national general secretary (organisation) has been widening. After the recent cabinet reshuffle, Yediyuruppa was forced to change the portfolios in Day Two as Santosh raised hue and cry over portfolio distribution. Even though the Karnataka assembly elections are still two and half years away, a section of party has put up a strong argument for a new face to be the leader. Yediyuruppa’s clout, according to the insiders, is eroding and the leadership is not ready to sacrifice the BJP government because of him.
It’s been a year since the coronavirus touched India. It is now rapidly declining, seemingly escaping a second wave unlike the developed world where vaccine rollout has been botched and the healthcare system overwhelmed. India in comparison has done much better for reasons we don’t know. We may even be into herd immunity. There are conjectures but no peer-reviewed scientific papers have emerged yet. That said, the Indian public does not have the full picture about the status of the UK variant of the virus. By mid-January, 150 persons tested positive for the new strain of the virus that the UK prime minister Boris Johnson had described as “more lethal”. Nor do we know much about the South African virus – an altogether different mutant said to be less amenable to the new vaccines developed so far. Have they too stealthily entered India? After the initial announcement of the UK variant spotted in travellers from the UK, nothing is known about the SA variant. All this is discomfiting after the struggle with Covid19 since March last year. — Mahesh Vijapurkar
The country’s telecom sector has gone through cataclysmic change. From about two dozen players, it is now reduced to three telecom service providers. Falling average revenues per user or ARPUs — and now the payment of Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) to the government — has broken the back of the debt-laden service providers. Vodaphone, which is facing a bigger impact, has been looking for strategic alliance and name of Verizon International has cropped up. Meanwhile, Vodaphone-Idea has gone for another name change — sixth time in the last 25 years, in line with change in ownership pattern. It started with Max (promoted by Analjit Singh) then became Orange, and then followed by Hutch, Vodaphone and finally, after merger with Idea –Vodaphone-Idea. Now, this consolidated name has a new, abbreviated identity – Vi. People are reading between the lines about the new abbreviated name. Watch this space for more development.
Bonhomie between Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banejree and Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray was on full display at the recent meeting of opposition chief ministers when Mamta praised Uddhav for doing a great job despite the BJP’s repeated predictions that the Maha Vikas Aghadi government will not last. Mamata also responded to Uddhav’s call for whether Humein darna hai ya ladna hai?” (Do we have to fear or fight)? She thundered: “Ladna hai (we must fight). Shiv Sena’s announcement to contest West Bengal assembly elections also comes with a tacit understanding. Sena proposes to contest polls on the Hindutva plank, working as the Team B of Mamata just as Asaduddin Owaisi’s All-India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen alleged to be the BJP’s Team B. Sena is insignificant in West Bengal but the Trinamool Congress insiders and the Shiv Sena think tank believe that it may split the BJP votes and thereby help Mamata in a small way. Although there will not be any formal alliance but voters may shout Jai Maharashtra and Jai Bangla together for the first time.
His family has been a great votary for euthanasia and both his parents walked the talk. So it is hardly surprising to see the 79-year old Arun Shourie writing his 20th book aptly titled “Preparing For Death”. For many the title of the book may seem morbid and negative. Not so for Arun Shourie who is known to take the bull by the horns. Shourie has shifted his base from the power centre of Delhi to the quiet, idyllic Lavasa near Pune. He has played an interesting innings, donning the hat of the economist, journalist, author and politician. But, over the last three-four years, this Ramon Magsaysay Award winner has become bitter with NDA’s dispensation. He is particularly peeved with the Prime Minister Modi for not giving him a cabinet berth. Post-NDA’s first win in 2014, there were strong rumours that Shourie would become the Finance Minister but that did not happen. Disappointed, he along with other disgruntled party colleagues like Yashwant Sinha and Shatrugan Sinha, went all out against Modi during 2019 elections. But of no avail. The man who once praised Modi sky high reportedly told his media friends that his eternal regret in life is that he supported Modi.
The news that BCCI Secretary Jay Shah, son of Amit Shah, is likely to become India’s representative on the ICC Board was met with lots of cynicism. The Modi-Amit hate brigade trolled on social media. Author and columnist Saba Naqvi tweeted: “His qualification is that he’s a terrific cricketer known for papa smashing ball into boundary.” Print & Broadcast journalist Swati Chaturvedi’s tweet was even more charitable: “So deserving. So proud of Jay Shah & such an honour that he will represent India at the ICC Board. No dynasty exists in BJP at all.” These tongue-in-cheek tweets met with almost proportionate reactions. Said one Twitterati: “How about Sharad Pawar, Jagmohan Dalmia, N Srinivasan etc and worst of all Mr Manohar (Shashank)? Never saw her question when Kalmadi (Suresh) was of head of the IOC for time unlimited.” There is never a dull moment on social media.
Seema Pahwa of the Humlog fame is breathing fire at Bollywood’s trade magazines which dubbed her maiden directorial venture Ramprasad Ki Tehrvi as a commercial disaster. Digital entertainment portal Koimoi.com said: “Ram Prasad Ki Tehrvi was an ensemble affair that hit the screens on 1st January and the numbers are practically nothing to talk about. The collections were never meant to be encouraging and this is what actually transpired too with just about 20 lakhs coming in.” According to Seema Pahwa’s interview in Mid-Day: “For a film to release in current times and survive is challenge in itself. How can box-office be the yardstick of a film’s success when the theatres are functioning at half the capacity?” Many are questioning the current yardstick of measuring the success or failure of a movie based on footfalls during Covid times. Interestingly, the Twitteratis were all praise for the director and producer. But, it is about time trade magazines revisited their traditional approach – and usual parameters — to gauge the popularity of a movie.
Since 2014 the BJP has been trying very hard to make inroads into Tamil Nadu but found no takers – perhaps because its rivals have so far been successful at associating it with the Hindi chauvinism. This state, which rotates power between two parties AIADMK and DMK, has had three legendary leaders – M Karunanidhi, MGR and J Jayalalitha – running the State for almost 50 years. Now with no charismatic Dravidian leaders to turn to, the field seems to be open to a leader like Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He is widely accepted in TN owing to his credentials as a crusader against corruption. Some impact is also being created by the ever-resourceful RSS ideologue S Gurumurthy, who is helping the BJP press the right button in TN. His research came in handy when the Modi government went in for demonetisation. Guru managed to convince the legendary star Rajnikant to enter politics. Thailava as he is popularly known said yes – and was all set to kick off his spiritual-political odyssey but for an unfortunate hospitalization and a health condition that stopped him in his tracks. Thailava has decided not to launch his own party or contest 2021 elections. In a new development, with Sasikala Natrajan, (confidante of the late J Jayalalithaa former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu) completing her jail term, the state’s political landscape once again changes.
From pauper to prince everybody was badly impacted by the Lockdown. But, not a section of Bollywood; they were flush with funds and therefore they lost no opportunity to invest in real estate as prices were attractive. Nine top Bollywood producers, directors and actors forked out around Rs 400 cr to buy luxurious apartments, penthouses in Mumbai, Chandigarh and Goa in 2020. Of this, nearly Rs 387 cr was spent on buying apartments between Bandra and Juhu by paying anywhere between Rs 50,000 and 150,000 per sq ft. Leading the pack was Bhushan Kumar of T Series fame. He paid a whopping Rs 167.5 cr for 6,700 sq ft villa in Vasanta Theosophical CHS in Juhu. Following him was Hrithik Roshan. He bought three floors —14th, 15th & 16th — admeasuring 38,000 sq ft for Rs 97.50 cr on Juhu-Versova link road. New comer Janhvi Kapoor paid Rs 39 cr for a flat in Juhu, Alia Bhatt Rs 32 cr for a flat in Bandra’s Pali Hill while R Balki, bought two flats worth Rs 24 cr in Bandra. Of course, some made killing too. Parineeti Chopra sold her two flats in Quantum Building in Bandra reportedly for Rs 13.50 cr. So did Karisma Kapoor by selling her Khar flat for Rs 10.11 cr. While Ranbir Kapoor rented his 6th floor flat in Bandra apartment for Rs 7.94 lakh per month.
Bishen Singh Bedi, India’s former cricket captain, seems to have set cat among the pigeons, by asking the Delhi & District Cricket Association to remove his name from the spectator’s stand at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium and cancel his membership. This move follows the decision of DDCA to erect statue of the late Arun Jaitely, the former president of DDCA. In a scathing letter to Jaitley’s son Rohan, who is currently the president of DDCA, Bedi said: “The late Arun Jaitley, I’m told, was an able politician. So it’s the Parliament & not a cricket stadium which needs to remember him for posterity… I can’t be part of a stadium which has got its priorities so grossly wrong & where administrators get precedence over the cricketers. Please bring down my name from the stand with immediate effect.” Bedi seems to have got support from unknown quarters. All Modi-baiters have endorsed Bedi’s decision on social media. Now, some folks are also asking why Bedi did not raise a similar concern when Hyderabad stadium was named after Rajiv Gandhi.
Reel life villain but real life hero Sonu Sood is widely hailed for helping thousands of migrants stranded at different parts of the country to reach their home safely during Corona lockdown. Now, his new image as the migrants’ messiah seems to have unnerved some politicians in Maharashtra, and set tongues wagging. “He is just the face, the producer-director is BJP,” suspects a section of non-believers. Mahatma Sood is what Shiv Sena’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut called him. Be that as it may be but this can’t be denied that thousands of migrant labourers have benefited from his social mobilization and community initiatives. Now, he is embroiled in a court battle with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for allegedly converting a residential building in Juhu into a hotel. Both the civil court and High Court has not given him any relief and Sood has moved the Supreme Court for a relief. But, the moot point is why is BMC trying to make an example of a good Samaritan like him when there are thousands of illegal structures in the Maximum City.
Despite veteran leader and former minister Kapil Sibal’s repeated criticism of the Congress party’s present state of affairs, chorus is growing louder for Rahul Gandhi to take over as the party president. The party veterans have taunted – without directly naming Rahul – that this move may not necessarily help revive the party or regain the past glory. But that has not stopped the party’s state leaders from kicking off the Come Back Rahul Ji campaign. Rahul had a major say in the recent appointments of the state-level or city-unit chiefs in various states, including Maharashtra. Senior party leaders may continue questioning the election process for the new president, but the local state leaders are unanimous that time is opportune for Rahul to take over as he is the sole leader who is fearlessly taking on the troika of PM Modi, the BJP and the RSS. So the scene shifts to the states for a moment.
Eyebrows were raised when NCP MP Supriya Sule said her father and the party chief Sharad Pawar is most unpredictable. Well this view is widely shared not just by the NCP leaders but also by Pawar’s friends across parties. Be it his unilateral announcement to support the BJP to avoid fresh elections (even before the assembly poll results were announced in October 2019) or his support to the Modi government on the issue of conflict with China – the unpredictable Pawar was evident to all. Pawar also said one must not politicise matters related to national security, which irked the Congress and other opposition parties. Despite all this, Pawar is widely seen as the leader who can bring together the opposition and the like-minded parties to take on Modi led BJP in the next general elections. Though he has denied the speculation that he was eying the post of the UPA chairperson. Pawar stood out again when he welcomed the Supreme Court’s ruling to stay three farm laws and appoint a four-member committee to talk to the agitating farmers. The BJP’s estranged ally Akali Dal claimed the new move as an ‘’unacceptable joke’’ while the Congress alleged that it was a partisan panel which could not be expected to be a “neutral arbiter.” Pawar’s close confidante in private admits that he would have held the PM’s post long back had he not been unpredictable! Yes, the breaking away from the Congress two decades ago was unpredictable too.
The speed and alacrity with which Satyam Computer, the brainchild of Ramalinga Raju; YES Bank, promoted by Rana Kapoor; and Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) were bailed out by the Union government seems to have surprised everyone. No government since Independence has moved at this sort of lightning speed to resolve such tricky, tortuous issues. Seeing the government’s bailout overdrive, especially in relation to YES Bank and LVB, some of the Opposition parties attributed motives, saying it was shielding people aligned to the government. Be that as it may, the government’s move has certainly given succour to the aggrieved depositors of both the banks. And it is this kind of relief that the shattered depositors of PMC Bank have been clamouring for since the news of the Rs 4,300-crore money laundering scam hit the bank. The angry depositors of PMC Bank staged dharna in front of the RBI, dashed off letter to the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. But of no avail. Seeing depositor’s hapless state, Republic TV ran a high decibel campaign. Republic TV revealed that a letter was written on January 28, 2011 by Manpreet Kaur to the then Chief General Manager in-charge, Urban Banks Department, RBI about bank’s misdoings way back in 2011. There is hope for depositors as there are many suitors eager to take over this bank.
The late Big Bull Harshad Mehta was in the news. This time for reel life – a movie The Big Bull starring Abhishek Bachchan and The Scam 1992 : The Harshad Mehta Story and A 10-episode series, based on a book, sketches his dramatic rise and tragic fall. The brain behind the 1992 Securities Scam, Mehta never displayed emotions openly. He was always smiling and had a swagger. He greeted people with Jai Shri Krishna, an usual greeting among the Gujaratis. Like the movie Sholay a lot of his one liners have become immortal. He once told a few journalists after being caught: “Badnam hua tho kya hua, naam tho howa! His another famous line was: “India is a turnaround scrip.” True to his words, the Sensex in 1992 zoomed from 1,000 points to 4,546. The Big Bull was yoked and jailed in 1992. But after his release from the jail, his fan following did not dwindle; in fact it increased. A huge crowd was seen waiting for him at a book launch at a Crossword book store in south Mumbai that he attended. Many took his autographs. Out of jail he was back punting on scrips like BPL, Videocon and Sterlite. Interestingly, he wrote Guest Column for The Financial Express and had plans to launch a TV channel called Money Television. But a story in Business Standard in 1996 scuttled his IPO plans for the proposed TV channel. In the end, despite amassing huge wealth, he died in a Thane jail. He got a massive heart attack. It was a short lived bull-run.
ends
If you ever wonder what made a talented actor like Swara Bhasker an activist that may see her lose a promising career in Bollywood then you should read her foreword in the book Inquilab: A Decade Of Protest. This is a collection of articles penned by various activists like Anna Hazare, Kavita Krishnan, Rana Ayub, Nayantara Sehgal, Ramachandra Guha etc. Swara writes that she grew up in defence services gated colony as her father is Commodore C Uday Bhasker, now retired. The colony consisted of three multi-storeyed buildings occupied by the families of officers serving the defence forces. The separate lift and staircase for officers and servants intrigued the 10-year old Swara. Now, segregation based on hierarchy in the armed forces isn’t a new thing. But this discrimination disturbed her? So she asked her father: “Is it not like our own kind of apartheid?” Her father smiled and told her: “Well, if you think it’s wrong you should do something about it.” Encouraged by her father, she did protest and took a signature campaign but of no avail. Like charity begins at home, so too for her, the crusading started at home.
In today’s tech-driven world life evolves, revolves and devolves around a smart phone. But, this news may come as a shock and surprise to many that this just retired super banker never carried one. Aditya Puri, to whom all the credit goes for building the country’s most valuable bank, seem to be uncomfortable with the electronic leash, as many see it. But, that has not stopped Puri from ensuring that HDFC Bank adopts cutting-edge technology to keep its stakeholders enthralled. Then we have one more superman – a superstar actually – who carries the latest smart phone but never answers it because it is always on the silent mode. This revelation came from Big B’s son Abhishek at The Kapil Sharma Show. He said, “Since dad gets too many calls, he never answers the phone. He asks people to send him an SMS or a WhatsApp text and then he will answer the phone.” Abhishek then laughingly added, “But dad never reads SMS or WhatsApp on time.” He then went on to narrate an incident where his mother after boarding the flight from Kolkata to Mumbai messaged to the family group “Boarded”. On landing she said “Landed”. “Dad saw the message a good 7-8 hours later and messaged mom ‘Have a safe flight’. But she was already home, had her dinner and had gone to sleep,” said Abhishek.
Why are some people up in arms against Modi government over the implementation of FASTag? According to the reports, the daily toll plaza collection via FASTag — 615 plazas of NHAI and 100 toll plazas of State highways – is nearly Rs 93-100 crore per day in January 2021 compared to around Rs 65-68 crore a year ago. Roughly this works out to Rs 25 crore leakage every day or Rs 750 crore per month or nearly Rs 9,000 crore per year. That’s big money which is being siphoned off the system and ending in the pockets of the corrupt officials and politicians. Effectively FASTag has blocked one more avenue to make black money. In the other move, the Modi government’s implementation of faceless tax scrutiny would leave some of the corrupted tax officials high and dry. This ill-gotten wealth is what pushes the real estate prices up in the metros. Earlier, the Direct Benefit Transfer for 450 government schemes saw the government plugging leakage to the tune of Rs 153,000 crore. Net, net more money in the government coffers. Clearly it is the Government At Work.
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.