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Hours after the U.S. bombed Iran’s three key nuclear facilities on June 21, PM Narendra Modi spoke with President of Iran Dr Masoud Pezeshkian. “We discussed in detail about the current situation. Expressed deep concern at the recent escalations. Reiterated our call for immediate de-escalation, dialogue and diplomacy as the way forward and for early restoration of regional peace, security and stability,” Modi said in a post on X. The conversation assumes significance as many Indian students are still in that country, hoping to return back home. Teheran had evacuated Indian students with the help of our mission to leave Iran via Armenia and Doha. Some batches of students managed to reach Delhi. Our mission in Tehran has been helping students from Nepal and Sri Lanka also to leave Iran. Pakistan too rushed to condemn the attack and said that Iran had all the legitimate right to defend itself under the UN charter. The official comments by Pakistan come days after its Field Marshal Asim Munir visited White House for a lunch hosted by President Trump. Pak reaction seemed odd considering the initial reports suggested that the U.S. plan was to use Pak base to attack Iran. But now media reports indicate that the U.S. Stealth bombers were flown from Missouri for over 37 hours and had refuelled mid-air to carry out the operation. Clearly it seems President Trump did not trust Gen Munir and had a surprise element in the strikes. In Iran, Hossein Shariatmadari, the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s representative, has called for immediate retaliation. He talked about launching a missile strike on the U.S. naval fleet in Bahrain and simultaneously closing the Strait of Hormuz. Any adverse action in Hormuz could hurt India.
Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandra Babu Naidu’s son Nara Lokesh is clearly moving centre stage in politics. The 42-year old Minister for IT and Human Resources Development came for high praise from PM Modi on the way he organised the International Yoga Day event in Visakhapatnam. The event was a logistical success with Lokesh overseeing extensive arrangements. Modi specifically praised Lokesh’s efforts, a gesture that resonated widely within TDP circles and reinforced his growing stature. He managed to mobilise a record crowd of 302,087 at Visakhapatnam alone. Calling him bhai, PM Modi said “I want to praise Lokesh profusely. He has proved how a social celebration should be planned, and executed and how all sections of society should be brought together in just one and a half months”. How Lokesh had organised the Yogandhra Abhiyan should serve as a role model for the rest of India. In this abhiyan, two crore people took part in it (referring to events across mandals). This is the cardinal principle of the Viksit Bharat, said Modi. TDP spokesperson Prof Jyothsna Trinagari said the Visakhpatnam numbers were double of Surat which was about 1.47 lakh. A notable highlight of the event was the use of a QR code-based participant tracking system, which yielded highly accurate attendance data, setting a new benchmark. Of course, it is not that Lokesh had suddenly moved into the spotlight; he has had a number of high-profile engagements with national leaders, including a one-on-one dinner with Modi on May 17 along with his family and meetings with key Union Ministers. These suggest that he has been slowly emerging as key interlocutor for Andhra and TDP — he has been acting as a bridge between the Centre and the state.
Just a year for the most bitter battle for the Tamil Nadu gaddi and a whole host of chinks and breaches in the DMK armour are tumbling out. Is the DMK being dismantled by a cunning Chanakya? Are DMK MP K Kanimozhi and MK Alagiri being instigated to rebel against a dynastic family succession? Political seers are seeing red at every turn. The latest buzz about the Maran brothers, Kalanithi and Dayanidhi fighting for their share of spoils has shaken the DMK leaders and cadres. The father of Maran brothers, Murasoli Maran was Kalaignar’s (nephew) alter ego, power broker and conscience keeper. The two families grew wealthy and powerful even as the DMK’s political relevance grew to sustain the families. Kalanithi, founder of the SUN TV Group, an entrepreneur with an unfailing Midas touch and brother Dayanidhi too basked in the sun’s radiance and held sway in Delhi. The timing of the fallout is what everybody is questioning. Whose hidden hand is at work? The recent star status accorded by PM Modi to Kanimozhi (Stalin’s step sister) to lead an all-party delegation post Operation Sindoor indicates she is a power centre in her own right. Was she given the plum role to highlight that she too was ready for the state’s CMship? On his recent visit to Madurai, an estranged Stalin made amends by calling on older brother MK Alagiri, who assured Stalin that he is no longer interested in politics and would create no trouble as the family’s “Southern Satrap”. BJP knows that 2026 may be too early to make a significant dent in the iron grip of the Dravidian parties. But chipping away brick by brick could dent that grip. Chanakya at work on many fronts.
After spending two years at 10 Janpath with his mother Sonia Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi is moving into a new address. He started the process of shifting on his birthday on June 19. It is being said 5, Sunehri Bagh Road, barely two km from 10 Janpath, will be his new address and Rahul will move into the Type VIII bungalow before the Monsoon Session of Parliament starting July 21. The Sunehri Bagh residence was earlier occupied by Karnataka BJP leader A Narayanaswamy, who was Minister of State for Social Justice in the Modi government from 2021 to 2024, and had not contested 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Since he became an MP in 2004, Rahul has been staying at 12, Tughlaq Lane for 19 years till 22 April, 2023. This was the house he had to vacate after he was disqualified from Lok Sabha following his conviction in a defamation case involving PM Modi. He was given the choice of moving back to 12, Tughlak Lane — but it was believed that it lacked an auspicious vastu and the Gandhis declined moving back. Rahul had the option of paying market rent and continuing to stay in the bungalow after filing an application but he chose to stay with his mother. He continued to stay at 10 Janpath even after the Lok Sabha election and assumed the chair of Leader of Opposition.
Shares of Sun TV Network crashed over 5% on June 19 after a family feud came to light. Dayanidhi Maran accused elder brother Kalanithi Maran of taking control of the Rs23,000 crore Sun TV through fraudulent practices soon after their father Murasoli Maran’s death in 2003. Now, there are reports that the legal battle over Sun TV ahead of Tamil Nadu assembly elections has begun to worry the ruling DMK. DMK leaders have begun to worry how they would face the polls without media, muscle and money. They are not only feeling caught between feuding Maran brothers but also feel they have no answer for the TASMAC liquor scam involving close aides of Deputy CM Udhaynidhi Stalin. Sources close to DMK say Dayanidhi’s revelation is bound to please chief minister MK Stalin’s son-in-law V Sabareesan as well as be music to ears of his sister DMK Lok Sabha MP Kanimozhi, who also runs a TV media network Kalaignar. Both Sabareesan and Kani have been in cold and watched Udhaynidhi flex his muscles. In his notice, Dayanidhi sought to restore the Sun TV’s shareholding structure to its pre-September 2003 status. This implies that Dayanidhi and his sister, Anbukarasi Maran, along with MK Stalin, and his two brothers and sister, would be the owners of Sun TV, as Kalanithi did not own any shares in the company 22 years ago. Dayanidhi says that after their father’s death, Kalanithi took over more than 75% of the company, while the shares held by their parents were reduced from 50% to just one single share. He claims Kalanithi used none of his own money to do this. He has threatened to request a government investigation by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office if Kalanithi does not agree to fix the issue. The notice says that when Sun TV was founded in 1985, the only shareholders were MK Dayalu (Karunanidhi’s second wife) and Mallika (Murasoli Maran’s wife).
The West Bengal government’s action is once again under scrutiny after political cartoonist Manjul received a takedown notice from Cyber Crime wing of the state police. News website, The Wire, reported that the notice targeted two 2019 cartoons featuring chief minister Mamata Banerjee; one depicting defections from TMC to BJP, and the other on chit-fund scams under her regime. The state police cited alleged legal violations behind the notice. Earlier in March, FIRs were filed against CPI(M)’s Mohammad Salim and BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya for sharing a video showing a woman being flogged by a TMC leader in North Dinajpur’s Chopra. The post led to public outrage, prompting police to seek content removal. These instances reflect a long-standing pattern. In 2012, Jadavpur University professor Ambikesh Mahapatra was arrested for forwarding a cartoon featuring Banerjee; his case dragged on for a decade. Farmer Shiladitya Chowdhury was branded a “Maoist” by Banerjee after questioning fertiliser prices, then detained and legally pursued. In 2019, Sanmoy Banerjee, ex-Congress spokesperson, was arrested for criticising the chief minister’s nephew. In June 2022, YouTuber Roddur Roy was arrested from Goa for allegedly abusing Banerjee and her nephew. In 2023, advocate and former Congress spokesperson Kaustav Bagchi was also detained for allegedly derogatory remarks about Banerjee. Both later joined the BJP. Notably, during protests over the rape and murder of a junior doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College in August 2023, artists criticised the state’s response. In retaliation, the TMC initiated a cultural boycott led by Kunal Ghosh, backed by MP Kalyan Banerjee and Education Minister Bratya Basu.
After Opposition parties BJD and Congress lashing out at Majhi government’s performance, it’s now the turn of titular Puri King expressing his displeasure and disappointment. He has openly shown red flags to CM Mohan Charan Majhi’s administration capability over preparation of Lord Jagannath Temple’s Ratha Yatra in Puri on June 27. The King said, “Everyone thought the Majhi government will make darshan hassle-free at Lord Jagannath temple but nothing has happened so far.” Everything is moving at a snail’s pace and the entry/exit of devotees seeking Lord Jagannath’s blessings is yet to be finalised. This is because the temple management committee has not been formed in the last nine months despite King’s personal written request to the Majhi government to appoint the temple governing body. Meanwhile, the Shree Jagannatha Temple Administration (SJTA) management committee issue has now snowballed into a legal issue to be decided by the Odisha high court. According to Odisha Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan the delay in appointing the temple management committee is because one ‘sabayat’ and seven others had moved Odisha HC challenging the inclusion of two individuals in the sacred ‘patabola seva’ — a ritual service traditionally reserved for hereditary sevaks of the Puri Jagannath Temple. In the recent HC interim order on 19 June by Justice RK Patnaik, he has now directed SJTA to consider excluding finalisation of two names of the new temple committee members for participating in the committee meeting since it is reserved for hereditary sevaks.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has targeted the BJP for distorting Bengal’s contribution to India’s freedom movement through the recently released film Kesari Chapter 2, starring Akshay Kumar, R Madhavan and Ananya Panday. Banerjee and the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) have accused the filmmakers of deliberately altering the names of iconic Bengali revolutionaries, alleging that this was done with political intent, as Kumar is known to be close to PM Narendra Modi and the BJP. According to Didi, the BJP had been consistently targeting the state and its rich cultural heritage. The film, directed by Karan Singh Tyagi, released in theatres on April 18 and later on OTT platform JioCinema, has now landed in controversy. A formal police complaint has led to a FIR under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for allegedly insulting freedom fighters and misrepresenting historical facts. Ranjit Biswas, a resident of Nabapalli Sector IV in Bidhannagar South, filed the complaint, claiming that the courtroom scene in the film related to the Muzaffarpur Conspiracy Case misrepresents revolutionaries Khudiram Bose and Barindra Kumar Ghosh. In the movie, they are portrayed as ‘Khudiram Singh’ and ‘Birendra Kumar’ from Amritsar, which Biswas called an “insult to Bengal’s martyrs.” Following the complaint, the police have registered a case under BNS Sections 352 (intentional insult), 353(1)(c) (public mischief), and 353(2) (dissemination of false information). The TMC has demanded an apology and correction, accusing the film of whitewashing Bengal’s revolutionary history.
The Bharatiya Janata Party in Maharashtra is facing some sticky moments over the entry of two controversial politicians, both belonging to the Shiv Sena (UBT). BJP sympathisers and supporters are perturbed over the welcome accorded to Sudhakar Badgujar and Baban Gholap, both from Nashik in north Maharashtra. Badgujar was till a fortnight ago a close associate of Sena MP Sanjay Raut. He was expelled from that party since he presented a memorandum listing civic demands to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis who was visiting Nashik. Badgujar was in the news for the past year after his pictures dancing with Salim Kutta, an alleged operator of Dawood Ibrahim, went viral on social media. Several BJP members had castigated the Sena though he had remained untouched. Even after he joined the BJP, Raut was cautious to react. Normally in the habit of launching a tirade against Sena opponents, Raut merely said about Badgujar that he would not comment on those who were not in his party. Gholap, a former minister in the first Sena-BJP alliance regime, was imprisoned for fraud and was rather inactive politically for a long time. His BJP entry was somewhat surprising for many. The BJP is facing heat for admitting the duo. Fadnavis has said that none should be held guilty unless convicted by the court. All said and done, Badgujar’s entry into the BJP has weakened the Sena (UBT) which is already facing a deluge.
Various political parties in Maharashtra are unanimous in opposing the imposition of Hindi in primary schools. The issue of teaching Hindi has provided cannon fodder to the various political outfits, which have started flexing their muscles in view of the coming local body elections. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has repeatedly clarified that the opposition to Hindi teaching is misplaced but this has had no effect for those who have taken up cudgels against Hindi’s teaching. For the first time in many years, the Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena led by his cousin Raj Thackeray have expressed similar sentiments on the touchy situation. Those leaders and insignificant political parties, which had been in hibernation after the Lok Sabha election, have suddenly reactivated themselves. In this atmosphere, senior leader Sharad Pawar has once again taken an ambivalent position. Pawar has indirectly supported the teaching of Hindi. In a chat with the media, while saying that Hindi should not be imposed, he has observed that hating Hindi will not be in the interest of the students. Pawar also pointed out that nearly 60% of India’s population conversed in Hindi. Pawar’s position is considered reasonable though with a rider, as usual. Other partners of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi are nixed since they can neither support him nor speak against him. The issue, however, has potential to impact the local body elections.
The Aam Aadmi Party expectedly named Bhagwant Mann as its Punjab chief ministerial face after an overwhelming two lakh people phoned in backing him. Arvind Kejriwal played safe and has opted for a popular Jat Sikh, overlooking his tipeler interests. A popular comedian, Mann is a two-term Lok Sabha MP from Sangrur. Punjab has never boasted a non-Jat Sikh CMs since its formation in 1966, barring former President Giani Zail Singh (1972-77) – a Ramgarhia Sikh. The Congress has shied away from officially announcing its CM face or even its stated preference between Dalit CM Charanjit Singh Channi and Jat Sikh leader Navjot Singh Sidhu, apart from hosting a brief Sonu Sood video featuring Channi on its twitter handle. While the media views it as the crowning of Channi, there’s still no official word on it. With ED acting on a 2018 FIR of Punjab Police against companies and individuals involved in illegal sand mining including raids on Channi’s nephew, it appears less likely the Congress will prop him up. “Punjab CM and his relatives are involved in illegal sand mining”, declared Kejriwal. With AAP no longer worried about Channi as the Congress CM face, he may be eased out post elections like Maharashtra Dalit Congress CM Sushil Kumar Shinde, who won the 2004 elections but, was replaced as Maharashtra CM by the dominant Maratha Vilasrao Deshmukh.
CEO of popular retail chain Café Coffee Day (CCD), Malavika Hegde is in the news for smartly turning around the company after the tragic demise of her husband VG Siddharth in July 2019. Within three years she pared down the business debt, that stood at a whopping Rs 7200 crore to Rs 1731 crore. So, how did she succeed? A top source in the conglomerate’s logistics arm says, “I don’t understand why this question is being asked. Even an Ambani or an Adani, with all the cascading cash flow revenues would find it difficult to pay off such a daunting sum. Something all should know; this gutsy lady didn’t even ask for a haircut. Just conveyed that every rupee would be paid off. She has brought the debt down to 1730 crores (which is nothing short of) a miracle.” Sensible strategies were introduced to monetise non-core businesses, business plans remodelled, tighter integration of fiscal strategy and, above all, the goodwill of the workforce who believed Malavika would pull it off. The daughter of former Karnataka Chief Minister SM Krishna, married into a well-heeled family of plantation owners, Malavika has proved yet again that women are more than capable to correct tail spins, just as efficiently as they manage their families. No doubts there at all.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is on one political conquest after another! In the 2017 Zilla Parishad elections his party, Biju Janata Dal won 473 seats, even beating the collective BJP (297) and Congress (60) tally of a total 846 seats. For the 2022 panchayat elections, scheduled between February 16 and 24, Patnaik is eyeing 600 seats and will do battle with BJP, the only other serious contender. Master strategist Patnaik and his just-timed-right appeasement manifesto has already swung into action. Knowing fully well that caste politics will dominate in the Panchayat elections, Patnaik reserved 40% seats for OBC communities which constitute 54% of the State’s population. He also introduced a slew of pro-poor schemes while directing BJD MPs and MLAs to visit backward districts to ensure effective delivery of the populist benefits. Patnaik monitors progress in each district in real-time via video calling. Surprisingly, the BJP, a tad late off the starting blocks, is replicating Amit Shah’s election winning model Vistarak Yojana to be implemented through a maze of planning measures with appropriate filtration, committees and coordinators at the Block level to help capture more BJP seats. Political observers say that the elaborate process driven strategy may not help BJP secure the desired numbers given BJD’s aggressive stance and Patnaik’s ‘welfare’ measures. BJP perhaps may have to wait a bit longer to capture the State.
Three ministerial resignations in Yogi Adityanath’s government — Swami Prasad Maurya, Dhara Singh Chauhan, Dharam Singh Saini – that rocked the poll-bound BJP bandwagon in Uttar Pradesh had been in the works for six months. All the three quit Mayawati’s BSP and enrolled BJP just ahead of the 2017 assembly polls while alleging money demands made by Behenji. Their hurried exit and joining Samajwadi Party may take some sheen off the BJP’s “double-engine Sarkar” theme but, the OBC leaders by themselves are no political Bahubalis. A segment of BJP in UP feels the BSP imports were overrated and blame BJP general secretary Sunil Bansal, who inducted them. Sources said while Maurya and Chauhan alleged neglect of OBCs during four years that he was a minister under BJP rule, even as the ex-ministers flexed their political muscles. They fell out over their demand for assembly seats not being met by the BJP. “Maurya asked for a dozen seats including a ticket for his son. Chauhan wanted 7-8 tickets for his people”, says a BJP insider. Will the OBC leaders’ exit wreck the caste coalition BJP had stitched in UP? “What is the guarantee that these OBC leaders will fit into the SP’s Muslim-Yadav (M-Y) matrix? As it is, there is non-acceptance of M-Y domination in UP villages,” says UP minister Sidharth Nath Singh.
The beleaguered Punjab and Maharashtra Urban Co-operative Bank’s (PMC Bank) draft amalgamation scheme with Unity Small Finance Bank (transferee bank) may have to be reworked ahead of the upcoming BMC polls. The fly-in-the-ointment pertains to the clause that “no further interest will be payable on interest-bearing deposits of transferor (PMC) bank for a period of five years from the appointed date (of merger). It will be a long wait of five years for innocent depositors to be paid their money in full. PMC Bank’s deposits stood at Rs10,535.45 crore at end of March last year with nearly 50,000 depositors expected to bear the brunt of the current deferred payment scheme. A number of housing societies (read voters) in Mumbai had deposited their funds in the PMC Bank. Even bank employees’ cooperative credit societies were caught in this jam: The RBI Officers’ Co-operative Credit Society with some 3,500 members has FDs of Rs 105 crore while the RBI Staff & Officers Co-operative Credit Society with nearly 8,300 members has Rs 86.50 crore. Sahakar Bharati, a powerful force in the cooperatives space, has already made clear its discomfort with the scheme as things stand today and sought a relook at the repayment plan for depositors. Will political parties in the BMC polls fray take up the issue now? Last year, the RBI gave a licence to Centrum Financial Services and BharatPe to set up a small finance bank, Unity Small Finance Bank so the PMC Bank could be amalgamated with it.
Move over Japan and USA, India now has a 300MW gas insulated substation (GIS), which can scale up to 700MW, that ensures full power 24×7 to 10 data centers on the two-million square feet Mumbai campus of CtrlS. Backed by three different sources and diversified paths that power it at all times, the GIS facility will allow businesses to co-locate their high-density IT infrastructure with seamless scalability, customized to growth requirements. The Hyderabad-headquartered data center major, with a campus in Noida too, is in the business of guaranteeing totally safe data hosting to its global clients. The new GIS facility with “very limited” sensitivity to environment and humidity, is corrosion proofed, seismic resistant, operating life longevity of over 50 years and maintenance free for 25 years. It is not only advanced but sustainable, too, possessing LEED Platinum certification and, designed to withstand earthquakes measuring 9 on the Richter scale. “This deployment is our commitment to the industry as we continue to address the growing needs of hyper-scalers, telcos, BFSI, healthcare, gaming and new-age companies,” says CtrlS Datacenters Founder & CEO Sridhar Pinnapureddy. The GIS technology originally started in Japan in the 1960s to save space as against, conventional air-insulated substations. Even in the USA only about 2-5% of new substations constructed are GIS facilities.
South Africa had the last laugh at Cape Town and outwitted India 2-1 to win the Freedom Trophy. Had India put it across the home team on the auspicious day of Makar Sankaranti, it would have become the first Asian team to win a Test match at a city that visitors visualise as “God’s Own”. So hitherto India/Pakistan/Sri Lanka have not won a Test match at a fascinating venue that’s beneath the Table Mountain and Devil’s Peak. India has now played six matches at Newlands and lost four, Pakistan and Sri Lanka four each and lost all. Bangladesh has not played a Test at this venue. The successful touring teams have been Australia which has played 14 and won 10, England has played 21 and won 10, and New Zealand has played three and won one. The West Indies has played four and lost three and Zimbabwe has played one and lost it. India created an opportunity to sort of buck the trend that has occurred over the last three decades because Asian teams have been playing in South Africa only after the apartheid policy was dismantled in the country. The sage of South African cricket, Dr. Aron ‘Ali’ Bacher said thus some hours before the start of the fourth day’s play: “Great Test series and a great Newlands Test match.”
Malaika Arora’s Bollywood career started in 1998 with run-away hit item song Chaiya Chaiya making her a star. She stayed rooted as an item girl without the urge to evolve as an actor perhaps, by design. The 47 years young model, fitness freak single mom carved a distinct place in Bollywood with more memorable item numbers including Gur Naalo Ishq Mitha, Maahi Ve and, Munni Badnaam Hui. This Mumbai-born middle-class lass started modeling as a teenager that made her film industry smart. She typically took in her stride and moved on, after her 19-year marriage with Salman Khan’s brother, producer Arbaaz Khan soured. She walked away with her son and started afresh, even dropping the Khan surname. She is a brand and needs no morning walks with a pet dog in tow, as other paparazzi crazy stars do. Malaika still bags modeling assignments, is part of dance reality shows and partners with Sarvanga Yoga to post pics of various asanas over Instagram. A Bollywood insider says, “She is a person, unlike most celebrities, comfortable in her body. She wears what she feels like and aces it.” She showed guts by dating a younger man, actor Arjun Kapoor and soon may even tie the knot. Malaika’s is the story of a strong-willed woman who has come of her own, on her own terms.
The third wave (Omicron) has turned politically providential for the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra that is actively considering deferment of scheduled local self-body elections including the big stakes Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in Mumbai. The MVA is beleaguered after the SC ordered the elections, re-designating 27% of allocated OBC seats in the general category. Faced with a political backlash from the unrepresented backward castes, MVA is actively considering postponement of polls to April/May 2022, giving it ample time to complete the ongoing fresh OBC census. A Shiv Sena minister’s aide told shortpost.in, “Omicron is spreading faster. We are considering postponement of elections to BMC and other local bodies scheduled in February 2022.” In the previous elections to BMC in 2017, the richest civic body in India, saw the Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena fighting tooth and nail against each other, and winning 83 and 85 seats respectively. Post elections, BJP withdrew from its natural claim to be leader of opposition post in the civic body, which then went to the Congress party. This time though, there is no state alliance between the two parties and no love lost either. While NCP and Sena announced joint plans to contest BMC elections, the Congress is yet to make up its mind.
AICC General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra kept her word giving 40% tickets to women in Uttar Pradesh as she released her party’s first list of 125 candidates for the state that featured 50 women candidates. There are going to be 120 women candidates out of a total 403 seats. Prominent among Priyanka’s picks were Asha Singh, mother of the Unnao rape victim, who battled for justice for her minor daughter. The other candidates include Poonam Pandey, an Asha worker who was allegedly roughed up by the police while trying to meet UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Shahjahanpur in November last year, and Congress leader Sadaf Jafar, who was incarcerated over the anti-CAA stir in the state. The list also has Ramraj Gond, who had spearheaded the Gond tribals’ legal battle over land in Umbha village in Sonbhadra. Significantly, Priyanka took a lot of pride in her candidates that she aired a short video clip on her activist candidates. Priyanka feels by setting a gender agenda, she has made other political parties follow suit. Has she? The BJP dismisses such challenges. After all, in the Lok Sabha, out of 81 MPs, 42 belong to BJP.” It is not enough that more women are fielded; it is important that the party helps them get elected,” says BJP spokesperson Anila Singh.
Mythologist-author-speaker Devdutt Pattanaik courted controversy, even before he spoke, as invitee of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports at the Two-Day National Youth Festival virtual conference, Puducherry. This may also have led to his live telecast over Doordarshan being blanked out. Pattanaik’s session was not televised live by DD due to “unforeseen technical issues”, said Kanchan Gupta, senior advisor to the I&B Ministry. Union Minister Anurag Thakur also faced flak from his own party and women’s pressure groups asking why the mythologist was chosen to inspire youth through his lessons from Bhagavad Gita? Sexist, misogynist and sexual abuses frequently hurled across social media by Pattnaik went viral on social media. The chorus for his removal from the event gained shrill currency even as author and columnist Shefali Vaidya (among several women) tweeted, “The problem with Devdutt Pattnaik is not just that he is a mediocre person, who completely distorts our scriptures without even basic knowledge of Sanskrit. He is an absolute filth who loves abusing people’s mothers. To hail this man as a ‘great mind’ is truly sickening!”. The fallout: of the huge banner of revolt and repulsion was that one of the backroom boys for the event decided on the “unforeseen technical issues” as a better option than facing the further wrath of the scorned women.
The sports broadcaster SuperSport of South Africa is in the crosshairs after an “impossible” replay reprieved skipper Dean Elgar when he seemed plumb in front to off spinner Ravichandran Ashwin in the Cape Town Test. Visiting teams are accustomed to facing hostility from various quarters but a telecaster is an additional one on tours of South Africa. Known for commentators who are cheerleaders for the home team, SuperSport is, however, not in charge of the technology of replays that is outsourced to a technical company and whose feed is made available to the match referee and TV. On an early tour of South Africa, Kepler Wessels shocked the cricket world by swiping his bat across Kapil Dev’s shins after taking his first run. There was a huge brouhaha about it and conveniently, the host broadcaster said it had no replays to show because the cameras had been on the blink. As excuses went, that was the weakest one but the South Africans, rabid supporters of their own, were quite smug about it. It is moot whether the host broadcaster can influence the replays which have predictive elements to them but the Indians let the world know what they thought of it by using the stump microphones strategically. And KL Rahul went the farthest with his cutting comment – “Whole country is playing against 11 guys.” The occasion probably deserved it.
The political party that swears by the ideology it preaches in India — the CPM — has failed the test of practice. By ideological standards, Communist leaders should head to Cuba, China for their medical treatment. Only, the preaching stops at the level of party members and the public without applying to the top leadership. At least three topnotch leaders, VS Achuthanadan, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan flew to the USA for medical treatment at the John Hopkins Hospital. Ironically, the same trio had scuttled John Hopkins University’s plans to set up its first University outside the USA in the 1990s, its Asian Institute of Public Health costing Rs 700 crore in Kerala’s picturesque hill station of Munnar. The Congress government headed by AK Antony then, had offered 150 acres of land free of cost as also the promise of local infrastructure. When the John Hopkins team landed in Kerala, however, they were red flagged by the CPM and, on the forefront were Achuthanadan, Kodiyeri and Vijayan. Seizing the opportunity, Singapore’s Li Kuan Yu, sent a chartered plane to fly out the John Hopkins officials from Kerala. The кряк для фотошопа cs5 result: John Hopkins Singapore International Medical Centre, a premier institute in Asia and the World came up in the Island nation instead seriales de activación malwarebytes anti malware 2018 of India
True to his style, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi returned from his two-week foreign trip on January 9 night and plunged straight away to take stock of Goa. He had a meeting with AICC observers for the state P Chidambaram and AICC General Secretary (organization) KC Venugopal. Much to Gandhi’s annoyance, PC has been advocating an alliance with the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and, speaking about a secular alliance in the western state to take on the BJP might. PC is also known to have personally written to Rahul for forging a tie-up with the TMC. Apparently, TMC strategist Prashant Kishor was sending feelers to the Congress for a tie-up. However, in a setback to the TMC in a late-night tweet on January 10, Gandhi through his close aide Venugopal clarified that the rumour in circulation that about “A possible alliance with the TMC was discussed by Rahul Gandhi in today’s meeting and is completely baseless and untrue.” Rahul is piqued that the TMC wants to do business with Congress after poaching its MLAs like Luizinho Faliero and Alexio Reginaldo Lourenco in Goa. TMC has reportedly spread the word in South Goa that it got the FCRA account of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charities restored. But does Mamata Banerjee really have a friendly equation with the Centre to have secured anything for her home state?
For journalists, even authors, high prestige also follows penning the Biography of a national icon. If that doyen is Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of the Tata Group, it is most certainly a reiteration that one has arrived. Many wannabe authors had vied to write Tata’s biography but, being introverted, Tata felt the moment was not opportune then. Now, comes the news of Tata’s authorized biography to be published by Harper & Collins, will be penned by retired IAS officer Dr Thomas Mathew who was additional secretary to the late Indian President, Pranab Mukherjee. Dr Mathew has already written two books – The Winged Wonders Of Rashtrapati Bhavan and Abode Under Dome. But, his nomination to write Tata’s life account surprised many corporate watchers and equally upset at least two hopefuls. Well-known in the national capital’s politico-corporate circles neither got the endorsements for the prestigious writing assignment of a lifetime. The two highly networked Page 3 personalities, in their own rights, have been closely associated with the Tata group in various capacities as advisors and strategists for long. Clearly, one man’s gain is two men’s lost recognition.
The Bengaluru-headquartered MTR Foods has fired the first salvo in its battle with fellow Bengalurite iD Fresh through an advertisement announcing its distinctive batters for idlis, dosas and even its ‘signature dosa’. “Idli and dosa are not the same. Why is your batter alike?” the advert questions. “Shots fired! How would iD react/respond?” asked a Twitter user. Others are quick to take up cudgels on behalf of one or the other of the two and say “Those who make it at home know there’s no major difference” or, even point out that the real competition for both MTR and iD is from mothers who make batter by themselves at home. One self-proclaimed ‘Delhi-Malayali’ says the convenience and taste of iD is “good enough to keep me loyal” while another asserts that those who love idli and dosa but don’t make it at home wouldn’t be too bothered. Musthafa PC, Co-Founder & CEO of iD Fresh, is unruffled: “We had tried it (separate products). Consumers prefer the same batter for both.” Meanwhile Musthafa has announced that the company has received Rs 507 crore in a Series D round of funding, led by NewQuest Capital Partners, in one of the largest deals in the food start-up space. Clearly, with such big funding the battle for batter could intensify in the coming days.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s deep involvement with the Kashi Vishwanath Dham is quite well known. He keeps track of all related issues and developments in the pilgrim town and, recently found most people working at the Vishwanath Dham had to perform their duties bare-feet due to the bar on leather footwear, even made of rubber, within the temple premises. The bar covers priests, people performing Seva, security guards, sanitation workers, and other temple staffers. He immediately procured 100 pairs of jute footwear and sent them across to the Vishwanath Dham so that those performing their duties don’t have to remain bare feet in the chill winter months. Needless to say, people working at the Vishwanath Dham were elated. Not that this is the first time that the PM has shown concern for workers at the Kashi Vishwanath Dham. After all, it was their efforts that helped complete the corridor work in a record time of two years. That’s why at the time of the inauguration in December 2021, Modi had showered flower petals on construction workers and honored them for their role in bringing the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor project to life and even had lunch with them. At the time of inauguration, Modi had acknowledged their contribution despite the difficult period imposed by the Covid pandemic when they did not allow the work to stop here.
Tamil Nadu’s Finance Minister, Dr P Thiaga Rajan (PTR) had many credits to his name when Chief Minister MK Stalin hand-picked him. His exalted background (Harvard, Wall Street, Bespoke political DNA, American wife, the yearning to serve his state). But, his quick temper, sometimes acerbic repartees, and not-so-friendly relations with other party colleagues have come under media focus. The latest news wafting through from the DMK HQ is that PTR has resigned as DMK’s IT Wing Secretary, an important party post, citing his (increased) workload as Finance Minister as well as a member of the GST Council. It may be recalled that a few months back, Dr Mahendran, who quit Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Manram party, was appointed as Deputy to Rajan in DMK’s IT wing by Stalin himself. The DMK ‘s IT arm, though set up as late as 2018, did a commendable job during the 2021 Assembly elections under the guidance of poll strategist Prashant Kishor. But, post-election, there has been a lull in the IT cell since. Now Rajan is being blamed for his touch-me-not attitude. Of course, the first family’s meddling is quite evident with Udhayanidhi Stalin strongly rooting for TRB Rajaa, his candidate from the delta region to take control of the IT wing. Clearly, whoever runs this new platform, social media and optics are crucial for the DMK. Is this a signal for the FM?
Mithali Raj has been the ubiquitous face of Indian women’s cricket for near about two and half decades. She made her one-day international debut against England in Milton Keynes in 1999 and became captain against the West Indies at Lucknow in March 2004. And into her 40th year, she is the captain, although her success rate in 143 matches (as captain) is 59.44. She has led India in 21 matches in three World Cups (2005, 2013 and 2017) won 13 for a success percentage of 61.90. These numbers indicate that women’s cricket in the context of leadership has not advanced, owing to, as the discerning believe, the selectors being bereft of dynamic thinking. The present selection committee has also refused to look at Harmanpreet Kaur (playing for India since March 2009) or Smriti Mandhana (playing for India since April 2013). Indian cricket ought to have gone for Harmanpreet after her splendid unbeaten 171 against Australia in the World Cup semis of 2017. Smriti is the fourth-highest run getter post the 2017 World Cup in England after England’s Tamsin Beaumont, Australia’s Alyssa Healy and South Africa’s Lizelle Lee. But the Mithali Raj rule continues; hopefully she will be lucky the fourth time as captain in the quadrennial event. Incidentally, Jhulan Goswami led India in the 2009 World Cup in Australia and won five matches!
The England Test cricket captain Joe Root has decided to stay in the job beyond the Ashes series till he can groom a successor, it is learnt. His resignation was thought likely after his team lost the Ashes 3-0 in double quick time halfway during the third Test. But he has thought it through and believes he has to put up his hand to ensure he passes on the baton to the right player. Ben Stokes, who was being groomed for the captaincy, does not want the burden. He is a multi-format cricketer who is in great demand in IPL. He is also just back from a break to tend to his mental stress problems and would much rather be the star all-rounder contributing to the team cause rather than bearing the additional responsibility of leading the team. Root, like Virat Kohli, is a committed Test cricketer who had an extraordinary year of success in 2021 when he became Test cricket’s third highest scorer in a calendar year after Mohammad Yousuff (1,788) and Viv Richards (1,710) with 1,708 runs. He also had reason to somewhat celebrate his team’s escape in Sydney when they were nine down while managing to draw. He has declared his intention to keep facing the challenge of Test captaincy after the final Ashes Test in Hobart this week.
Prime minister, Narendra Modi, states ad nauseam that he wants India Inc to prosper and, therefore, the all-out efforts by his government on the ease-of-doing-business front. For the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) though, it was business-as-usual when it recently “forced” RBL Bank’s renowned boss, Vishwavir Ahuja, to go on leave without citing what went wrong at the private sector bank. This comes in the wake of fiscal imprudence causing upheavals at several banking institutions over the last five years including Punjab National Bank, the Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services, Dewan Housing Finance Corporation, YES Bank, and Punjab & Maharashtra Co-operative Bank. These incidents led to considerable financial instability at huge cost to the exchequer. It also distracted the ruling government which had to expend both time and political capital to salvage and set right the mess. This has been the case since the early 1990s — remember Harshad Mehta scam, CRB Capital, Ketan Parekh-Bank of India and Madhavpura Co-operative Bank. Successive Union governments were compelled to launch into respective cleansing acts after the RBI was caught flat-footed on the supervisory front. Surprisingly, no one at RBI was asked to go on leave or lost their jobs because of supervisory lapses. Can India Inc afford regulatory complacency anymore?
Even as an entire nation was outraged over the breach of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s security, with non-BJP CMs like Naveen Patnaik condemning it, a day later it made for quite a spectacle watching Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi across TV channels. Channi downplayed the “inconvenience that may have been caused to Modi” whose entourage was stuck on the Ferozepur flyover for 15-20 minutes as a “small matter”. What compelled the Congress CM to conduct himself in such a bizarre fashion? Did Channi go overboard in order to score brownie points with PCC chief Navjot Singh Sidhu? Or, was he under pressure to compete against Sidhu to demonstrably prove his higher loyalty standards towards the Gandhi family? After all, Sidhu has been pressurizing the Congress high command to declare a CM face ahead of the assembly elections. Also, why else would a sensible Channi skip receiving Modi at Bathinda airport on the pretext that one of his staffers had tested positive for Covid and then follow it up, the very next day with a public interaction with people and the media, without any qualms whatsoever? Meanwhile, Punjab Congress campaign committee chief Sunil Jhakhar who flayed the way Channi handled the Modi visit has gone off to Sweden to attend to his ailing wife. As for the assembly tickets, sources say the screening panel had already finalized 82 of the 117 seats before Jakhar left. The remaining 35 seats will be finalized on January 8.
The perennial pan India cash cow, the cinema business, with its jingling cash registers is sending out distress signals right now! After two long Covid-19 pandemic hit (locked down) years, just as the film industry started seeing rosy dreams of making up for heart-breaking business losses, come Pongal Festival, a sudden downturn is now predicted. For years now, the Tamil calendar’s annual Pongal week always meant family indulgences with anything cinematic. That may not happen this time round, as Omicron and its tsunami wave hits the solar plexus of exhibitors and industry big guns alike. Three big budget films, RRR (directed by India’s Cecil B DeMille aka Bahubali SS Rajamouli), Boney Kapoor’s Ajith Kumar starrer Valimai and Prabhas-Pooja Hegde love anthem, Radhe Shyam were lined up for the Pongal sweepstakes. Then came government orders about total Sunday curfews, lockdown daily between 10 pm and 5 am and 50% seating in cinemas. The trade had estimated Rs 600 crore collections from these three films released worldwide and overseas. They had probably structured all their debt and business plans on Pongal to rake in big moolah. But, Omicron seems to have played spoilsport. Big disappointment for fans of Ajith, Prabhas NT Rama Rao Jr, and Ram Charan. But, it’s a question of a month or two before these movies hit theatres near you soon.
An advertisement in a newspaper, issued by the Credit Recovery and Legal Service Department of the public-sector Union Bank of India, announces an e-auction of immovable property at Mahalunge in Pune district to recover loans totalling Rs 52.74 crore. The property, around 1.27 hectare, is being auctioned because of borrowings by Viorica (sic) Hotels, which operated the erstwhile Hotel Holiday Inn — now Hotel Ramada – at Hinjewadi on the city’s outskirts. The ad names four personal (which the bank spells ‘personnel’) guarantors and, five corporate guarantors, headed by Vascon Engineers. “We will not be affected by this,” says Vascon founder chairman R Vasudevan, whose son Siddharth is among those named in the notice. “I don’t know why they are still dragging us into it. We got out of the hotel business five years ago, when we sold the property to Maruti Navale, formerly of Singhgad Institutes.” Navale and his Neemco Traders are also named in the notice. Vascon, which got into the hospitality sector in 2006-07, exited it because, as Vasudevan had explained then, this was a specialised job which did not fit into their specialisation of construction. The company held stakes in three hotels in Pune — Holiday Inn, Hyatt Regency and Golden Suites — and two in Goa, Galaxy Resort and Vista Do Ria.
Trust Punjab PCC president Navjot Singh Sidhu to give a weird spin to Rahul Gandhi’s prolonged absence from the country — he claimed his party leader has gone for a “secret meeting abroad”. He even told a TV channel it was quite possible that the Gandhi scion was indulging in ‘secret meetings’ with karyakartas. “When others go on vacation or take trips abroad, nobody questions them. Today, wherever Rahul Gandhi has gone, he is probably meeting with Congress workers or holding a secret meeting to present his personal views. That’s his right,” said Sidhu. Sidhu’s claims regarding Gandhi’s sudden vacations did not go uncontested. The BJP wanted to know if he had gone to meet his Chinese handlers. Between Congress General Secretary Randeep Surjewala, who said Rahul Gandhi was on “a brief personal visit” and Sidhu’s claims of secret meetings with karyakartas, the party seems left in this year of elections looking leaderless. It is likely that the Wayanad MP may play a limited role in the assembly elections in the five states that go to the polls. Meanwhile, there was a lot of trepidation in the party after reports emerged that 125 of 179 passengers who arrived at Amritsar international airport by a chartered flight from Rome had tested positive for Covid. Will this impact Rahul’s return? This is a speculation that no one in the party is willing to hazard a guess about.
The world’s greatest tennis player Novak Djokovic is holed up in an immigration detention hotel in Melbourne that is famous for serving maggot-infested food and mouldy bread. The experience of being hauled through the coals for his beliefs may not, however, knock any sense into the Serbian who has been susceptible to all kinds of quackery in his life. He believes that his breathing trouble from gluten intolerance was solved by a quack who held slices of bread on his stomach and used kinesiological arm testing as a diagnostic tool. A great believer in alternative medicine, he once copied a page from Chinese traditional medicine that said – “Each organ in our bodies is undergoing repair in roughly this order: Lungs 3-5 am, Large intestine 5-7 am, Stomach 7-9 am…” The lover of nature and seeker after truth considers a Brazilian fig tree in the Fitzroy Park near Tennis Australia as his best friend in Australia. He once supported a quack on his Instagram Live Channel selling bottles of Advanced Brain Nutrients for $50 a bottle. It is curious that a professional athlete of his standing would believe in such mumbo-jumbo but not trust science enough to take a Covid vaccine that is doing so much for public health around a world beset by a coronavirus pandemic for more than two years now. “No vax, no entry” might be the verdict in his case.
There is now a call on Odisha’s Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to consider transforming public administration by hiring corporate talent from the private sector. The idea, mooted by BJD’s Rajya Sabha MP Dr Amar Patnaik, has urged the Odisha Government to consider lateral entry of young and brilliant minds from the private sector to be inducted into the state bureaucracy in the rank of Special Secretary and below, percolating down to the district level. The whole exercise will be routed through OPSC giving the candidates a fixed term of 3-5 years, similar to what the Government of Karnataka has initiated through a collaboration with a non-profit organization — the Nudge Foundation. Knowing Patnaik’s progressive mindset, he is likely to be receptive to such ideas. It may be recalled that two years ago, it was Naveen babu who had asked his bureaucrats to share “transforming game changing ideas” so as to improve governance, speed of action and delivery of public service in the state. Should the Odisha government decide to recruit professionals from the private sector it will be touted as another major reform initiative by Naveen Patnaik’s government!
Dean Elgar, the mean opening batter may not fit into the “elegant left-hander” category. But, yet again, on the rain-marred fourth day of the second Test at The Wanderers, Johannesburg, the South African led the national team for the 12th time in four-and-a-half years and delivered the southpaw punch to the Indians; in cricketing parlance, a typical captain’s knock of an unconquered 96. Into his 10th year of international cricket, Elgar showed his body to defend and a lot of pluck while facing up to the Indian fast bowlers for five hours and nine minutes helping his team to level the three-Test match Freedom series 1-1 and, go to Newlands, Cape Town with their heads held high. The stodgy-looking batter has scored 4559 runs in 71 Tests — 4323 as an opener with 12 centuries and 19 half-centuries, almost 50% aiding in his team’s winning cause. Applauding Elgar’s unyielding undertaking, former captain and the man who worked hard for South Africa’s acceptance into the international fraternity in the early 1990s, Dr. Ali Bacher texted this correspondent saying: “Elgar showed what can be achieved by guts and determination. His performance is particularly praiseworthy because the pitch favoured the Indian fast bowlers.” Elgar is all set to become South Africa’s third left-hander opener to score 5000 runs after Graeme Smith, 9018 runs, and Gary Kirsten, 5726.
The reasons for Rupa Gurunath’s resignation as President of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) run deeper than the BCCI resolution citing a conflict of interest. This is one of the battles former BCCI and ICC chief honcho N Srinivasan is fighting to retain control over his billion-dollar brand — CSK. Earlier, Radhakishan Damania of DMart fame picked up a nearly 20% stake in India Cements. Was it to wrest control? Currently held by Indian Cements Shareholders Group Trust, CSK would become vulnerable if Srini is unable to ward off raids on India Cements. His plan is to move daughter Rupa to a key post in CSK after restructuring its ownership so that the IPL franchise stays in the family, regardless of developments in India Cements’ shareholding pattern. There is still a lot of fight left in the old cricket lover and corporate czar who once fought a pitched battle to wrest back control of the cement company with the help of Murasoli Maran. But if the tide turns against him, Srini would rather keep CSK in the family and leave the TNCA presidency to the DMK first family. V Sabareesan, the son-in-law of Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin, is one of the frontrunners for the post after it was found that son Udhayanidhi was ineligible as he holds public office as an MLA.
A proliferation of the newfound Covid virus or the Omicron Effect is rippling through the Bollywood taking in A listers into its embrace. It began with Kareena Kapoor Khan and friends – Amrita Arora and Seema Khan – admitting to their positive status with Covid after attending a party that was high on the celebrities’ quotient. Then came news of the other Kapoors. While Anil Kapoor was negative, daughter Rhea and her husband Karan and cousins Anshula and Arjun Kapoor tested positive. Curiously, none of these celebrities took to social media to apprise their daily contacts and connections about their Covid status, ignoring commonly followed protocol. Why these stars failed to warn people they came in contact with is perplexing. Others like Ekta Kapoor, who also tested positive, immediately posted their Corona status on social media. John Abraham and wife Priya also tested positive, while Pooja Bedi’s daughter Alaya F who was covid positive finally tested negative. Some crew members of the film Geheriyaanhave also tested positive. Despite infections reported rampantly, shooting for films and TV serials continues unabated just as before. However, two big films RRR and Jersey releases have been postponed as cinema halls are being shut in some states or occupancy reduced to 50% levels. Looks like Bollywood has thrown caution to the wind.
During a recent year-end TV event, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami revealed how Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s post-midnight visit to Varanasi Railway Station actually came about. The visit followed immediately after the PM concluded his meeting with 12 BJP Chief Ministers and two deputy CMs that had gone on way past midnight. After the meeting ended around 12.30 am, Modi told the CMs that he had one more engagement before he called it a day. They were collectively taken aback! “What engagement could the PM possibly have at such a late hour?” they wondered. The PM ended the suspense by stating that he would be checking the progress of development works in Varanasi city. He added that he did not want to do it during the day as his formal visit would disturb normalcy. So he preferred the wee hours of the night to inspect Varanasi railway station and other infra projects with UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in tow. By 6.30 am the Prime Minister had launched into his next day’s official tasks without having slept a wink. Modi takes immense pride in his Lok Sabha constituency, particularly on remaking the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor, and has asked party MPs to visit the pilgrim city, considered sacred by Hindus. Party leaders were also given booklets regarding the reshaping of Kashi under Modi.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has mastered the art of saying ‘No’ tactfully, without acrimony, notwithstanding his bonhomie with the BJP. So, when the Ministry Of Home Affairs refused to renew the registration of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act leading to a fund crunch and threatening a possible collapse of its charitable activities in the state, Patnaik stepped in with relief supplies. Acting quickly and, instead of indulging in empty political rhetoric, Patnaik directed all District Collectors (DCs) to ensure that no inmates would miss a meal or suffer health-related issues at any of Mother Teresa’s homes due to food shortage or lack of medical supplies. The Odisha CM opened up the coffers of the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. While doing so Patnaik was not cocking-a-snook at the Centre over the blockade imposed on foreign funding but ensuring that people in Mother Teresa’s homes in Odisha did not suffer hunger or sickness. Some political analysts say that Patnaik, unlike other opposition leaders, did not whine or go to the media about the Centre’s action but took decisions in the best interest of his state. Once again, Patnaik has reiterated that he is the boss of Odisha and his governance style is to talk less and do more public service.
The Indian pharmaceutical industry witnessed many learning curves and has come a long way since the days of controls. Today, the industry wears an entirely transformed look. In the rough and tumble of the modern-day business world, which has to contend with intense competition, only an honourable few have managed to ensure the longevity of their respective businesses. Take the case of Chennai-based company Tablets (India), one of the early pharmaceutical ventures in the country. It was founded in 1938 by Sri Krishna Jhaver, who ventured into the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry and acquired the British-owned Oakley & Bowden Company based out of Chennai. While primarily set up to serve the healthcare needs of British Colonials, it was renamed Tablets (India). It boasts of some well-documented products in the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical segments and is recognized as a pioneer in amino acids and probiotic therapy. A flagship company of the closely-held Jhaver Group, it is managed by accomplished professionals across various functions in the organization. It has five business divisions and three manufacturing facilities. How long could it have remained a family-owned enterprise? Not just that. The owners too, want to unlock value, thereby monetizing a part of their holdings. And what better way than to tap into the capital markets even as IPOs seem to be the flavour of the season.
There is no way the zoom media interaction at god’s own and sparkling wine country, Cape Town, can become “Dhoom, dham”; that’s the way Head Coach Rahul Dravid, uttering a line or two with gusto before the second Test, wanted Virat Kohli’s chat about with the media to be before his 100th Test at Newlands on January 11. Kohli, who has missed 13 Tests so far after his debut, because of injuries and personal, complained of a flare up of his upper back and is not playing the second Test at The New Wanderers in Johannesburg, and so the third Test at Cape Town, should he be declared fit, will be his 99th. This eventuality will make the first Test (from February 25) against Sri Lanka at Bengaluru his 100th. Kohli’s injury and absence from the second Test, enabled the selectors to name KL Rahul as India’s 19th captain in Test cricket and Jasprit Bumrah as vice-captain. It would be interesting to see the way the selectors go about looking at Rohit Sharma’s fitness. With two World Cups of the Twenty20 and 50 over variety to happen from October- November this year, the selectors would want a captain without injury baggage or concern. By close of the tour in South Africa, Rahul would have led India in two formats. All said and done a terrific jigsaw puzzle taking shape in Indian cricket!
Will Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who turns 50 this year, contest elections in the forthcoming assemblies? Conventionally, UP Chief Ministerial candidates are known to prefer the legislative council route, as Yogi himself did in 2017. Things may change in 2022, however, and there is a strong buzz that he will definitely seek to enter the UP Vidhan Sabha, although Yogi has left the decision to the BJP’s top leadership. Will he opt for Ayodhya or his home turf of Gorakhpur which elected him 5 times as Lok Sabha MP? Yogi could also choose Mathura, where efforts to reclaim Krishna’s janmabhoomi are ongoing. Party MP Harnath Singh Yadav even dashed off a letter to BJP chief JP Nadda proposing Yogi’s name from Mathura, even claiming it was the ‘wish of Lord Krishna, who had communicated with him (Yogi)’. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav countered Yogi’s Mathura plans claiming that Lord Krishna had visited him in a dream also and told him that SP would form the next government! A year younger than Yogi, Akhilesh is the sitting Lok Sabha MP from Azamgarh. Picking an assembly seat, however, won’t be easy after Yogi launched a no-holds-barred pitch of ‘Garv Se Kaho hum Hindu hai’ in Amethi. Akhilesh may not even find it easy going to contest from Yadav strong-holds like Kannauj and Mainpuri.
Former AIADMK minister KT Rajendra Balaji, who embarrassed his party by a public reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when he said, “Modi is our Daddy”, has been on the lam for over a fortnight now. The Tamil Nadu police are on the lookout to arrest Balaji for alleged involvement in a Rs 3 crore recruitment scam reported during his ministerial stint at the helm of the Tamil Nadu Co-operative Milk Producers’ Federation, which markets products under the brand name Aavin. The fugitive ex-minister, who was hopeful of securing anticipatory bail, was last seen addressing a public meeting in his Virudhunagar constituency. The moment police reached the spot he did a Houdini act and vanished much to their consternation. The TN police formed six special squads to nab him and have gone into overdrive, viewed by many as vendetta politics of the MK Stalin government. The underlying objective of the ruling DMK government is to tarnish the image and name of the AIADMK. Balaji is known to sport a red tilak prominently on his forehead and, mostly attired in bright mustard yellow shirt, is equally colorful in his choice of words. He served as Tamil Nadu’s Milk & Dairy Development Minister between 2016 and 2021. During the last Assembly elections, he tried his best to jump onto the BJP bandwagon but found no takers.
Before he flew to Europe over the year-end, Wayanad (Kerala) MP Rahul Gandhi thrust a futile debate upon his own unsuspecting Congress party — Hinduism versus Hindutva-vadi. At an anti-price rise Congress rally in Jaipur held on December 12 to launch the party’s campaign in poll-bound states in north India, Rahul had inexplicably veered off-course while mid-speech. A needless debate was kicked off by the Gandhi scion and has now been capped by UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on January 3. In his counter Yogi made clear that the Congress leader was lecturing people about the differences between Hinduism and Hindutva even though he had once sat on his knees in a temple instead of sitting cross-legged. “Gandhi’s ancestors called themselves accidental Hindus”;Yogi said, referring to Hindu Mahasabha leader NB Khare’s assertion about Nehru in 1950. Yogi asserted that he had never hesitated to refer to himself as a Hindu. “We don’t hide..We said it when I was not a chief minister, we keep saying it when I am the chief minister, and will continue saying in future too — Garv se kaho hum Hindu hain. It’s interesting that Yogi made the remarks in Amethi where Rahul had further sharpened his Hindu versus Hindutva postulation against the BJP. It was during his, now very rare and, infrequent visits to Amethi that Rahul had also taken a swipe at PM Narendra Modi for taking a solo dip in the Ganges while inaugurating the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor.
Some of the sharpest questions are being asked by one of their own but the BJP will not move against Varun Gandhi unless and until the big two take it up. To have a Gandhi name in the party was seen as a prized trophy when Maneka Gandhi, the estranged daughter-in-law of Sonia Gandhi, moved over to the saffron camp. While she has taken to staying off the limelight her son is making up for various insults to his mother by speaking up boldly on issues. His question on the paradox of polls in pandemic times contains such logic as to defy retorts. He asks if it is not ridiculous to impose curfew at night in Uttar Pradesh, one of five States heading to the polls in 2022, while rallies comprising thousands of cadre, party workers and the general public are attending poll rallies by day. With Covid cases going up in the State which has the most impact on who may get to rule in New Delhi after the general elections of 2024, UP has hit upon curfews to try and stop its fragile healthcare system from being overwhelmed. The EC is to take a call soon on polls in 2022 but word is it will only ask for a special vaccination drive in the poll-bound states where Omicron cases are still in very low numbers. Meanwhile a young BJP Gandhi is proving to be a cat among the pigeons.
From a rank outsider, Jacqueline Fernandez’s rise and rise in Bollywood was meteoric. The 36-year old Sri Lankan model-turned actor, who entered Bollywood in 2006, has acted in over 25 films already. In 15 years she has starred opposite top heroes including Salman Khan and Akshay Khanna. Even as her northbound career graph scaled new heights came news of her involvement with conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar, who was arrested for extortion and money laundering. She claims Sukesh lured her with Bollywood offers even as he showered her with costly gifts, even a high end car. Though Jacqueline tries hard to distance herself from Sukesh, the Enforcement Directorate is yet to give her a clean chit. Does this mean curtains for her Bollywood career? Not really, say Bollywood producers. “Film makers are not judgemental. We are a very forgiving industry and, have given second chances to Sanjay Dutt, Armaan Kohli, Shiney Ahuja.” On the ground, Jacqueline’s Dabangg live tour could not begin as the ED prevented her leaving the country but she is shooting for films within the country. As of now, she has Ram Setu, Circkus, Vikrant Rana, Bachchan Pandey and Attack on hand. The ED case may slow her down for a while but, there is little doubt she is among the most liked stars of Bollywood.
All eyes will be on Governor R N Ravi at his first address to the Tamil Nadu State Assembly when the legislative session commences next week — January 5, 2022. The customary Governor’s address will be delivered after a gap of two years and delivered at Fort St George. During the pandemic, assembly proceedings were held at a state government auditorium ‘Kalaivanar Arangam’ in Chennai. It was in March 2020, when AIADMK was in power that the assembly proceedings were held in the British era Fort St George. Governors usually read the text prepared by the state government in the address to the legislative assembly. However, there is much speculation that Ravi, like his predecessor Banwari Lal Purohit, will depart from the prepared text and even conclude his speech with “Jai Hind”. Apparently, Tamil Nadu’s babudom refrains from incorporating “Jai Hind” in official texts. In his address, Governor Ravi, a Kerala IPS cadre officer hailing from Bihar, has planned to include a few lines in Tamil also. He is likely to meander a bit more than to restricting to the “Jai Hind” deviation alone. The buzz going around is that he has sent the official text, prepared by the state law department, to the Union Home Ministry for suggestions.
Avantha Group promoter Gautam Thapar’s fall, currently lodged at Delhi’s Tihar jail, was swifter than his meteoric rise. A series of events dislodged the 61-year-old industrialist from his pedestal, the latest being a special CBI court denying him bail in an alleged fraud case. Thapar was arrested in August 2021 by the Enforcement Directorate for money laundering following a sale of property in Delhi. The property, mortgaged to Yes Bank against a loan by the Avantha Group, was purchased by another firm at much lower than prevailing market rates. Coincidentally, Yes Bank’s founder Rana Kapoor’s wife was a director on the board of the said firm. What led to Thapar’s fall from grace? A Doon School and, US-based Pratt Institute alumni, he joined the family business Thapar Group in 1980 and is credited with turning around many of the group’s ailing businesses. In 2007, he bought over the family enterprise, rechristening it as the Avantha Group. An over-ambitious Thapar launched into aggressive global acquisitions under Crompton Greaves and the BILT brands, even foraying into the power sector in 2008. All these ventures, however, bombed with accusations of financial fraud and corporate governance issues abounding thereafter. The group companies were taken over by lenders, and the ‘rainmaker’ turned into an economic offender even having “criminal antecedents”.
A scandalous cash haul of Rs 257 crore and, gold and silver bars were recovered from the premises of perfume trader Piyush Jain at Kanpur and Kannauj after raids by the I-T officials and the GST Intelligence unit. This has led to speculation that he was “punished” for financing the Samajwadi Party (SP). Post raid, SP became defensive. Initially, it protested the raids that coincided with similar action on Akhilesh Yadav’s close aide Rajeev Rai, also a party spokesman. Soon the party distanced itself from perfume man Piyush Jain. While the party had launched a Samajwadi Perfume in November with much fanfare, it was at pains to explain that its perfume maker was an MLC from Kannauj, Pumpi Jain, with no ties with the Kanpur-trader. Piyush Jain was arrested for GST evasion and taken to Gujarat for further probe. Taking advantage of the raids, the BJP UP unit tweeted, “People of SP, the smell of your sins will not be washed away by the ‘perfume of corruption’. The entire UP knows that SP means corruption.” SP spokesperson Udaiveer Singh says Piyush Jain’s own son has denied his father had links with the SP. But is that nearly enough? As of now, Akhilesh Yadav prefers to stay put on his home turf Saifai these days.
The late Kalaignar’s favourite child among the large brood and DMK MP, K Kanimozhi had to cut through a swathe of family animosity while jockeying for power. Kanimozhi, which means sweet language, has been put to test by nephew Udhayanidhi Stalin. When the DMK Women’s Wing Secretary Kanimozhi issued an advisory, claiming sole and “exclusive right to enrol young women cadres into DMK”, the emergency fire alert was sounded. Stalin Junior, the party’s Youth Wing Secretary, MLA, and almost certain political successor of his father, announced a drive in Coimbatore to enroll 2,000 young women to his youth wing. Did his daddy dear tacitly clear the drive? So far, Kani has reacted to the turf violation sweetly in a civil way, as an aunt of the young scion. Some insiders are busy fanning the fire. Does Kanimozhi have exclusive rights to rope in women of all ages? Is Udhayanidhi’s gambit of recruiting young women for his Youth Wing, just a dog fight over a bone? Cleverly, the name was changed to Young Women’s Youth Wing implying that Kani and cohorts were over-the-hill, much older women! Calling a woman of any age old is akin to asking for a full on cat fight. This aunt and nephew tussle is being watched with salacious interest. After all, who can resist a hot family fight?
Anyone in Mumbai wanting to sell a vehicle is now digitally enabled to exchange his or her vehicle registered in, say, Nagaland but parked on the outskirts of Delhi with a buyer from Bengaluru. This, according to Shriram Automall India Ltd (SAMIL), is thanks to a new cutting-edge system of ‘Phygital’ (Physical plus Digital) solutions, which helps to connect buyers and sellers all over India to exchange their pre-owned vehicles and equipment. The company, which is India’s largest platform for such transactions, used the same system for its latest strategic partner, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles, and exchanged and delivered the first batch of 10 BharatBenz trucks in Manesar (close to Delhi). Such transactions, of over 160,000 vehicles and items of equipment, with more than 4,000 physical events and over 25,000 online events conducted across the platforms, brought SAMIL business worth more than ₹3,000 crore last year – at an average selling price that was 10% higher than in the earlier year. In addition to all this, what Chief Executive Officer Sameer Malhotra is really excited about is that the company is now also certified as a “Great Place to Work”. “This reiterates SAMIL’s focus on achieving business goals while managing work-life balance and building what the Great Place to Work Institute has recognised as a High-Trust & High-Performance Culture,” he says. “This is a proud moment for us.”
The Biju Janata Dal’s 25th Foundation Day on December 26, 2021, saw Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik telling party workers, “The party has evolved into a social movement and represents aspirations of 4.5 crore people of Odisha”. Patnaik, an accidental leader, faced a veritable trial by fire throughout his political career. His vision, determination and conviction has led Odisha on the path of real transformation. The state’s growth trajectory stands at 7.1%, higher than the national average growth rate of 6.6%, overshadowing 13 states of India. But for the Covid-19 pandemic, growth parameters would have further accelerated. Patnaik’s ‘talk less, deliver more’ motto has consistently worked for Odisha. An ambitious goal of plunging the state’s poverty rate from the existing 33% to 10% over the next five years is Patnaik’s next goal and people trust he will achieve the target objective. The no nonsense CM transformed, reshaped the state with his clean image and governance delivery bestowing the unique status of being irreplaceable upon him. However, the 75-year old CM, facing some health issues, has gone on record about succession plans. “People will choose their leader and it is not necessary to groom one,” he said and also putting to rest speculation by stating that, “There is no one from the family” who aspires to succeed him.
South Africa was far from hostile on the first day of the first Test against India at the Centurion, a venue where the home team has gone down only twice in 26 matches; in fact South Africa has won 21 Tests. But the inability of fast bowlers Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Wiaan Mulder and debutant Marco Jansen ought not to take away anything from KL Rahul’s superb century. It can be said that the doughty and elegant opener has made it a habit of achieving the magic three figure on foreign soil, six times so far; 110 against Australia at Sydney in 2015, 108 against Sri Lanka at Colombo in August 2015, 158 against the West Indies at Kingston in July 2016, 149 against England at The Oval in September 2018, 129 against England at Lord’s in August 2021 and 123 against South Africa at the Centurion in December 2021. His only home century in 81 Test match innings is the 199 against England at the Chepauk in December 2016. His seven centuries, including the overseas have all been as an opener. The trick of the trade, as exhibited by Rahul, is to demonstrate judgment to know where his off stump is, leave the ball and see it go to the wicket keeper. As an opener Rahul who plays with calm demeanour, has been par excellence.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached out to Ludhiana after last week’s bomb blast in a court’s premises. He rushed Law Minister Kiren Rijiju to ground zero to convey empathy and support of the Centre for victims of the explosion and people of Punjab. Rijiju, a young BJP leader from Arunachal, provided some sanity even as Congress leaders in the state, Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and PCC chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, were seen making contradictory statements, post blast that claimed the life of one person. The idea of rushing Rijiju to Ludhiana was to underscore that safety and security of judicial complexes and judiciary was top priority of the Centre. As the minister himself pointed out, many review committees were already in place and it was only a matter of discussing it with the Chief Justice of India. Rijiju stuck to his brief in the Punjab, refusing to wade into politics and muddying waters. He simply emphasized how the “Centre and the state” would work together to take strong action against elements trying to spoil the peace and harmony of the state and, in the country. The minister also interacted with district and session courts judges and lawyers and had a word of praise for their resilience in the aftermath of the blast.
Nothing much has happened in the year since Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to the Indian toy industry to ‘make in India’ instead of relying on imports, especially from China. After his appeal in February 2021, the industry has been waiting for incentives, but in vain. The only positive development was a month earlier: the introduction of compulsory BIS certification, for both domestically-manufactured and imported toys, with effect from 01 January. This has cut down official imports – but CKD is still permitted – which, say industry spokespersons, allows traders to bring in the entire item in collusion with customs officers who are content to look the other way for a consideration. “We need more positive action”, says Vikram Goel, CEO of the Mumbai-based Infotech Resources, a manufacturer, exporter, supplier and retailer of hand puppets and soft toys. First, he says, the Government should give them free land to set up manufacturing facilities. It should also provide free space in Indian toy exhibitions and sponsor those abroad. A stall in a Mumbai or Delhi event puts an exhibitor back by Rs11,000 while a trip to Nuremberg for the biggest global exhibition costs about Rs11 lakh plus the fares. “Which small manufacturer can afford that?” he asks.
Ever since Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has been recuperating from a cervical surgery he underwent on November 12, intense speculation has abounded regarding his health status. Reason: he has avoided public appearances and preferred to operate from his official residence Varsha. He did privately visit the Vidhan Bhawan, participated in a cabinet meeting and tea party for legislators on the eve of the winter session via video conference. BJP, which was trying to topple the two-year old Maha Vikas Aghadi government went into overdrive saying, if the CM’s health condition is not good he must distribute his official work among cabinet colleagues. Setting speculation to rest, a senior Shiv Sena minister’s aide told Short Post, “The CM is reluctant to assume full charge of office till he is a 100% fighting fit. No new cardiac challenges have come up now either (Thackeray had stents implanted a few years ago).” He dismissed the story doing the rounds of the CM’s son and minister Aadtiya Thackeray holding proxy charge as bumkum. He further said “If Uddhavji took a break, as per protocol in the Sena, senior most cabinet minister and industries minister Subhash Desai would take charge for the interim period.” It may be noted that right now Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar from NCP is holding the fort.
The Indian cricket team is just two days away from sending its legion of followers in a tizzy as it girds up its loins for another brush with the South Africans at the Valhalla based venues, Centurion and The Wanderers, Johannesburg, both falling in the Omicron hit province of Gauteng. Come Boxing Day (December 26), when the Yuletide mood is at its zenith, Virat Kohli’s team, will come out of its bio-secured life at a resort to engage in a Test series that will be India ‘s eighth in South Africa since 1992, when blessed by Madiba Nelson Mandela, the two countries founded cricketing ties. The time is also upon Kohli, in the radar now following his disagreement with BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on the India Twenty20 captaincy matter, to focus on cricket for the first time under Head Coach Rahul Dravid. India has played 20 Tests in South Africa and lost 10 and so it will try to unleash Jasprit Bumrah and company to win a first Test series there for the first time. Kohli would be the fulcrum around whom India will strive to put match winning totals on the board; should he not, it would be interesting to see the response from the Chetan Sharma led Selection Committee, nay, BCCI. The third Test at Cape Town will be his 100th. Remarkable feat indeed!
It’s nostalgia time as the splendidly made movie 83 starring Ranveer Singh recaptures the spirit of India’s greatest cricketing achievement, which was to dethrone the two-time World Cup winners West Indies at Lord’s. The 83 World Cup team members, with only the departed Yashpal Sharma absent, gathered to celebrate the great moment again ahead of the film’s release on December 24. The one unanswered question that remains about the morning of the match against Zimbabwe in Tunbridge Wells is about why Kapil Dev chose to bat. Recalling the day, journalist R Mohan who was the only reporter from India who watched all the India matches in that World Cup, said he was the most nervous person at the picturesque Tunbridge Wells ground in Kent because he had spoken to Kapil before the toss and may have unwittingly prompted the decision to bat by speaking of how the Net Run Rate might improve if India got in and put up a 300-run total. Kapil, who said the wicket was wet – “thoda geela hai” – still chose to bat and soon was in with the scoreboard reading 9-4. It was soon 17-5 and he went on to craft one of the greatest fightback innings in limited-overs cricket history with his 175*, India’s first ever ODI century. That innings transformed the team into believing it could achieve anything and it went on to beat the world champs within a week beating Australia, England and the mighty West Indies.
TRENDS & VIEWS
Editor’s Note: Short Post Noticed By People Who Matter
Four years have zipped by and we are crossing another milestone on 31st January 2025 – it’s our 4th Anniversary. It feels good.
Looking back at the 1460 days, I must say Short Post has made its mark with people who matter via 4000 stories published in the areas of politics, business, entertainment and sports. All made possible by the unflinching commitment and dedication of our senior editors, most of whom have been part of this journey from Day One.
Small pack, big impact is in essence the story of Short Post which was launched at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021. It shows our conviction. In all humility, I can say, we have created a new niche in the news segment space like Hindustan Unilever which created a new segment, when it launched CloseUp Gel.
Yes, we have created a brand (in a limited sense), created demand (readers) and created supply (senior journalists). But we are facing teething problems like all start-ups. What makes us happy and confident is the recognition of our efforts. For instance, we have an arrangement with the OPEN Magazine, part of the $4.5 billion Kolkata-based Sanjiv Goenka-RPG Group. This arrangement sees around 10 Short Post stories posted on OPEN Magazine website every week. This arrangement is testimony that our content has been well received! Also, I may add that the Maharashtra government has recognised Short Post and has allowed our senior editor to cover the Assembly sessions. Ditto: Odisha.
Our goal is to ensure that Short Post becomes a habit. I would like people to keep checking their smartphones to know the latest Authentic Gossip. As regards AI and the fear of it disrupting all businesses including media. On that, personally, I have no such fear as I am confident AI cannot smell news particularly Authentic Gossip. That’s the place we are well entrenched.