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The corporate world in the city of Chennai is ever exciting. Yet, the industrial groups in Chennai are always dubbed as conservatives. This is far from the truth, however. This company from the Murugappa group was, perhaps, among the first in the post-liberalisation era to daringly make an open offer to acquire Wendt India in early 90s. Much water has flown under the bridge since then. Today, each constituent of the Murugappa group is chalking out its own aggressive growth path. September 16, 2024 was a hectic day for Carborundum Universal Limited (CUMI), a leading materials sciences engineering solutions provider headed by MM Murugappan. It announced a couple of deals. First, it said it had entered into a Purchase Agreement for acquiring 100% membership interest in Silicon Carbide Products Inc through a special purpose vehicle at an enterprise value of around Rs 56 crore. SCP specialises in producing high quality Nitride Bonded Silicon Carbide (NBSiC) products. It has also announced a deal with Amplus Energy Solutions PTE Limited, Singapore, and Grian Energy Private Limited (GEPL) to invest Rs 8 crore in GEPL having its registered office at Okhla Industrial Phase, aggregating to 4.19% in its equity capital for accessing the contracted capacity of around 10 MW in the captive power plant of GEPL. This particular investment is expected to aid CUMI source clean green energy, thereby reducing the carbon footprint. Trust CUMI to stay contemporary!
Generally speaking in Tamil Nadu the alliance partners whether of the DMK or AIADMK get itchy and periodically restless then threaten to walk out. So it was not surprising to see Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi’s (VCK) supremo Thol Thirumavalavan make his stunning move when chief minister MK Stalin was away to the U.S. for a month. Thiruma announced plans to hold the mother of all public meetings on Gandhi Jayanti (Oct 2) to hammer home the need for prohibition in TN (where state sells liquor to the thirsty populace) and highlight the fast spreading drug menace. Holding a mega meet of over 35, 000 women against liquor, on 8 acres of his venue, bringing women voters from 134 wards to Kallakuruchi. Thiruma cannily invited the AIADMK to join the mammoth meet and share a common platform. But his other demand, more share in power and governance is what shook the ruling DMK, shocking Stalin and his stalwarts Duraimurugan, KN Nehru, AV Velu and Ponmudi. Sure enough Stalin was rattled sufficiently to call Thiruma for an immediate meeting at DMK Anna Arivalayam. Thirumavalavan poured out a litany of woes…his party did not get respect when the party flags had to be put up whereas PMK and even newbie Vijay’s TVK were getting better treatment from the Police. It is not clear which hit Stalin most…Jet lag or Thiruma’s tirade. Muscle flexing seems to be the best optic for alliance partners.
If it has been puzzling everyone in the Lutyens political circles how Atishi Marlena, daughter of Marxist parents, was chosen over the likes of Raghav Chadda, Sanjay Singh and Saurabh Bharadwaj to be Delhi CM, the reasons are apparently not far to seek. It seems she was chosen because she was fully endorsed by Arvind Kejriwal’s wife Sunita, a public activist who had a voice in this decision. The proof of it is the manner in which estranged Delhi AAP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal who was in Sunita’s crosshairs has come out openly against Atishi’s elevation. Through a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter), Swati has hit out that Atishi as Delhi CM could be a security risk as her own family has fought a long battle to save terrorist Afzal Guru, the man responsible for Parliament attack in 2001 from death penalty. “Her parents wrote mercy petitions to the President several times, that he is innocent, that he should not be hanged, that he is a victim of political conspiracy. How wrong is this? Today, Atishi will become the CM but we all know that she will be only a “dummy CM”. Still, this is a major issue because she will be the CM and this matter is directly linked to the security of the country as well as Delhi. God save the people of Delhi from such a CM”. Swati also posted signed copies of the mercy petition. Of course the Kejriwals may have preferred a rootless Atishi as she will step down whenever told. So far the BJP has not accused her of corruption and it will be difficult for it to do this now. And of course the LG will get little ground support if he blocks files.
In an interesting political twist, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal picked Atishi Marlena, a junior minister and someone considered close to Deputy CM Manish Sisodia as the new chief minister of Delhi, as he decided to step down and hand in his resignation to Lt Governor VK Saxena. Known as the main brain behind Delhi Government school reforms, Atishi played down her elevation as a stopgap arrangement. Making it clear that Delhi and its 2 crore people can only have one CM — that is Arvind Kejriwal. Atishi asked party cadres not to celebrate her elevation. There could be celebration only after Kejriwal gets re-elected in the March 2025 assembly elections. Initial announcement about Atishi was made by a party heavyweight and potential contender Gopal Rai. AAP also made it clear that there will be no deputy CM this time. By choosing to play the woman card and not opting for his wife Sunita as CM, Kejriwal may have tried to buy time with voters but will it blunt the edge on incumbency and non-delivery? Only time will tell. Yet with her rise as CM, Atishi will be the third woman CM of the UT after Sushma Swaraj and Sheila Dikshit. Born in June 1981 Atishi hails from an academic family in Delhi, with her parents, Vijay Singh and Tripta Wahi, both professors at Delhi University. She will be the youngest CM of Delhi at 43.When Kejriwal became CM in December 2013 he was 45. With an undergraduate degree in History from the prestigious St Stephen’s College in 2001, she completed her Master’s from Oxford University as a Rhodes scholar.
AAP’s former CM Arvind Kejriwal has a new political guru in Congress MP and advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, instrumental in his enlargement on bail. Initial plans to reward Singhvi with Rajya Sabha seat failed, even blowing up in Kejriwal’s face over l’affaire Swati Maliwal, with Congress accommodating their estranged leader from Telangana instead. Senior BJP leader Mahendra Jain says, the non-resignation drama first, by Arvind Kejriwal, continuing during incarceration over five months and then, precipitating as two-day resignation drama played over worries about Delhi LG, VK Saxena’s imminent intention to seek his resignation following Supreme Court’s diktat against Kejriwal attending CMO, other official duties. While incarcerated, Kejriwal pretended to carry on as CM from jail although no government papers were signed by him over issues of confidentiality and directives of SC. Even his note to the LG seeking approval for AAP’s CM incumbent Atishi (Marlena Singh) hoisting the tricolour on August 15 was rejected by Saxena instead authorizing AAP minister Kailash Gehlot.” The LG took issue over Kejriwal’s access to official CMO letterhead over the communique with SC also curbing jail visitors thereafter. Plans to reach consensus over two days for better half Sunita Kejriwal as incumbent CM were shelved as LG would cite her unelected status with less than five months to state assembly elections in Delhi. With Atishi helming AAP, BJP lost no time raking up her parents’ leftist leaning as ideologues demanding release of parliament attack terrorist Afzal Guru. The saffron party insists moniker ‘Marlena’ was a combination appended to Atishi Singh’s name by parents assimilating leftist philosophers: Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin.
Political parties have their own whims and fancy notions about good luck charms of their parliamentary party offices. That’s why when it comes to the new Parliament complex, it seems — both the Congress and the BJP– are reportedly being reluctant to move their parliamentary party offices from the old Parliament House. Both the offices are on the ground floor and have plenty of history to it. Of course ministers and the LoP do have their offices in the new complex. The only party which has moved into the new building is the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) which stormed to power in Andhra Pradesh winning 164 of 175 assembly seats in an electoral alliance with Janasena Party and the BJP and has 16 seats in Lok Sabha. The Lok Sabha Secretariat allocated a new office, F09, to the TDP on the first floor of the new Parliament, a prime location that also houses the offices of the Prime Minister and Union Ministers. This change marks a transition from the party’s previous office, Room No 5, which was situated in the old Parliament building. Recalling how the YSRCP led by Jagan Mohan Reddy had occupied TDP’s office after party was routed in 2019 elections, a TDP source pointed out that in the 2019 LS polls, the YSRCP had swept the elections, winning 22 of the 25 Lok Sabha seats in the state and TDP was reduced to just 3 seats. Official sources said regional parties like DMK are also reluctant to move into the new Parliament complex.
A new star has joined the Indian insurance galaxy! Galaxy Health Insurance Co Ltd is the new addition. The birth of Galaxy signals the re-entry of yet one more family of the erstwhile TVS group into the insurance space. Significantly enough, this happens a few years after the formal legal separation of four families of the erstwhile TVS group. Galaxy Health Insurance is promoted by Venu Srinivasan and his family. V Jagannathan, former CMD of United India Insurance Company and the founder of Star Health & Allied Insurance, is the co-promoter. Industry stalwart G Srinivasan, former head of United India Insurance, is the MD & CEO. The Galaxy board comprises Dr Sai Satish, a renowned cardiologist, and Sudarshan Venu, MD of TVS Motor Company. Galaxy Insurance is all set to commence its operations shortly. Insurance business is nothing new to the Chennai-based TVS Group. It was the owner of Madras Motor and General Insurance before the industry’s nationalization. After nationalization, Madras Motor merged into United India Insurance. Subsequently, in the post-liberalization era, Sundaram Finance, initially promoted by Madras Motor, launched Royal Sundaram Insurance, a general insurance company. Ironically enough, two former heads of United India Insurance will be guiding Galaxy Health Insurance to make a mark in the space. The size of the Indian health insurance sector was estimated at Rs 1.17 lakh crore in FY 2024, and is currently growing at a CAGR of 20%. Post the legal separation, assorted organisations who once formed part of the erstwhile TVS group are now freely exploring the freedom of opportunity, it appears.
Top BJP minister Nitin Gadkari’s sensational disclosure that he had been offered support for Prime Ministership by a prominent opposition leader before the Lok Sabha election is considered significant owing to its crucial timing. Gadkari generally avoids commenting on political developments and does not entertain any media questions in this regard. Hence, his candid revelation has surprised the BJP brass, which has refrained from reacting to it. The opposition, by and large, also has kept away from the potential bombshell. Gadkari has refused to name the opposition leader who made this offer to him. But the political grapevine is on overdrive to identify the opposition emissary. Various algorithms are applied to find out who it could be. Is he from Maharashtra? From Nagpur or Vidarbha? A former BJP member? Close to Rahul Gandhi or Mallikarjun Kharge? Or someone having tacit approach to the RSS decision makers? Of course, all these are supposition without any factual backing. Still, the suspense is mounting in view of the coming assembly elections. It is deepened since Gadkari has declared on multiple occasions that he is not interested in the topmost job and is happy with his ministry. In the past, his name was being discussed to become the Maharashtra CM but he had firmly rejected the idea. His only connection now with the state elections is that he is one of the star BJP campaigners.
The ongoing RG Kar Medical College protests have cast a shadow over the Bengali film industry, with many in the fraternity struggling to return to work amid constant backlash and online trolling. While several actors, directors, and singers actively participated in the protests, some have gone back to work sparking mixed reactions from the public. The situation intensified after West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s call to “return to festivities”. This statement was widely criticized. Amidst this political tension, prominent figures in the Bengali entertainment industry have found themselves facing undue criticism from netizens. Celebrities like singer Iman Chakraborty, actors Swastika Mukherjee, and Sohini Sarkar, all of whom supported the protests, became targets of online trolling. Swastika faced particular backlash after promoting her upcoming film Tekka, despite her regular attendance at protest rallies. Dev, who stars in Tekka and is also a Trinamool Congress MP, defended his stance, supporting the movement while stressing that livelihoods, especially during Durga Puja, should not be affected. He pointed out that marginalized groups, such as dhakis, decorators, and vendors, depend on the festive season. Singer Shilajit, another victim of online criticism, echoed similar sentiments. He defended the importance of continuing work, noting that events contribute significantly to artists’ earnings. Director Raj Chakraborty expressed concern over how easily celebrities become targets for trolls, leading many to avoid social media. Amid this growing tension, promotions for upcoming Puja releases, such as Bohurupi and Shastri, have been toned down to avoid further controversy. The Bengali film industry continues to navigate these challenging times with caution.
The mantle of head coach of the Indian cricket team has passed on smoothly from Rahul Dravid to Gautam Gambhir. The once famous ‘Wall’ of Indian cricket has returned to IPL’s Jaipur franchise, Rajasthan Royals, but the immediate focus will be on the doughty left hander from Delhi who showed guts and gumption for India across the three formats, scored 10324 runs in 242 matches embellished with two World Cup titles — the Twenty20 In 2007 and the 50 over format in 2011. Gambhir’s international career spanned from 2003 to 2016 after which he spent time as a BJP member of the Lok Sabha from 2019 to 2024 before he joined Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkata Knight Riders. His success there has catapulted him to the national team that won the Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies in July. Gambhir’s first major work will be to facilitate India qualify for the final of the World Test Championship. India under Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri and Rohit Sharma and Dravid finished second best against New Zealand and Australia in the two previous cycles of the WTC, the finals being played in Rose Bowl and The Oval. India has to win at least five of the remaining 10 Test matches to be in the running for a third consecutive WTC final appearance, and this time the final will be played at the famous Lord’s Cricket Ground in London from June 11 next. Gambhir will have five home Tests — two against Bangladesh, starting this Thursday and three against New Zealand — before the historic five-Test series in Australia from November 22. Guiding India to the WTC summit before the ICC Champions Trophy in February- March 2025 in Pakistan will give a perspective about Gambhir’s coaching and mentoring philosophy.
AIADMK, the principal opposition party in Tamil Nadu, is in turmoil. A tussle between the two factions headed by Joint coordinators Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) and O Panneerselvam (OPS) has led even to skirmishes and a former minister’s car being thumped as he left HQ. Together, EPS and OPS mean something in Tamil Nadu politics but if they go their separate ways, the former ruling party, founded by MGR and nurtured by J Jayalalithaa, will lose ground rapidly. Prime Minister had played the peacemaker on his last visit to Chennai, telling both party honchos to stay united and play a constructive role as opposition party. What is causing stress now is the playbook of EPS supporters eyeing to bring back the old days of a unitary leader and to hold an election for a revived general secretary post. But, OPS, fearful that he may stand no chance in a party poll, would like to avoid a head-to-head contest. A compromise may be OPS’ best route out but he would end up losing whatever hold he has on the party. A hidden hand in this is, of course, that of the Jaya confidante VK Sasikala whose political ambitions run sky-high. Truth to tell, EPS is the party’s best-known face but he can assert himself only at the cost of the party splitting. June 23, when the party council meets, should be fraught with interest.
There was a time when a contractor would give an arm and a leg to win a big government tender. Not anymore. According to ministry mandarins, many contractors who bagged major contracts are doing their utmost to get blacklisted to avoid executing the tenders, and escape severe penalties for failing to meet the project execution milestones. According to a highly placed PSU source, many of the contractors had bagged the contracts in 2020, when steel prices were in the range of Rs 37,000 per tonne. The contractors, as is the norm, would have factored in a 15-20% hike in steel prices. In reality steel prices doubled to Rs 72,500 in March 2022 before falling to around Rs 60,000 per tonne in April 2022 “There is no way the contractors can execute projects at these prices; it’s totally unviable. But given the stringent penalties for failing to meet tender conditions, the only hope for contractors to escape the penalties is to get blacklisted on some count or the other,’’ said a source. If a large number of contractors get blacklisted it will be a big setback for all public sector undertakings. With the government chalking up a CAPEX of Rs 7.5 lakh crore in 2022-23, it will be a lose-lose proposition for everybody. So, should public sector undertakings go in for re-tendering the contracts?
A substantial increase in the monthly gratis announced by the BCCI for retired cricketers has brought joy to all of them. The Indian Cricketers Association (ICA) whose representatives — Anushman Gaekwad and Shanta Rangaswamy — are in the Apex Council of the BCCI conveyed its happiness to Jay Shah (Secretary, BCCI); some cricketers took to Facebook and Twitter outlets to thank Shah, but there is one unhappy soul — Karnataka’s Smitha Harikrishna — who is left wondering why she was given the go bye by her fraternity and the BCCI whose President is former India captain Sourav Ganguly. Smitha played 22 one day internationals from 1995 to 2000, 13 matches of which were in World Cups held in 1997 in India and in New Zealand. Those who argue for Smitha’s genuine grievance say that if those who have played only one Test (before the cut-off date of December 2004) can get Rs 30,000 a month, why is Smitha being discriminated against. Initially the BCCI took a policy decision to consider monthly gratis to women players who have played upwards of five Tests on or before December 31, 2004, but the Supreme Court appointed of Administrators extended the benefit to those who played even one Test match, leaving one day specialist Smitha in tears. The increase in monthly gratis payment has only compounded her woes.
So now it is quite obvious that when Congress President Sonia Gandhi avoided the first ED summons in the National Herald case on June 8 citing COVID, it is clear she wasn’t suffering from it. A party statement now has claimed she was admitted to the Sir Gangaram Hospital on June 12 citing “profuse bleeding from the nose” where she is currently being treated for a fungal infection detected in her lower respiratory tract, along with other post-COVID symptoms. That it is not COVID became clear by the manner in which Rahul and Priyanka were regularly visiting Sonia in the hospital. She underwent a related follow-up procedure on June 16 morning. “She continues to be under close observation and treatment.” It seemed very odd that a medical bulletin on Sonia’s health should be issued by the party, instead of the hospital. Of course, the statement was carefully worded, loaded with medical terminology to help Sonia avoid her June 23 date with ED. Towards this end new AICC media head Jairam Ramesh has done a thorough job. Yet, it is surprising why the hospital did not issue a health bulletin on Sonia? This is generally the practice most hospitals follow whenever well-known political leaders are admitted under their care.
Lady Luck seems to have stopped smiling on actor-producer Akshay Kumar. The 55-year-old Bollywood money making machine, with over 100 films, faced a series of flops in recent times. But, he is unfazed as he personally suffered no monetary losses. The moment a film bombs he completely cuts himself off from the project and moves on to the next one. These days Kumar takes pride in the fact that he created a record of sorts, producing and acting in the maximum number of films during the Lockdown. However, not all the films were successful. Laxxmi was OTT streamed, Bell Bottom got panned by critics and Sooryavanshi was an average hit only thanks to Rohit Shetty. Bachchan Pandey also bombed at the box office. It was the third flop in a row for Sajid Nadiadwala but, didn’t really impact Akshay Kumar. As is his wont, he went on to promote Samrat Prithviraj Chauhan and dropped out of the promotions when it too flopped. Well-known trade analyst Komal Nahta aptly summed up Akshay’s problems. He says Akshay needs to carefully choose his subject and get into the skin of the character. For instance, in Samrat Prithviraj Chauhan he looked like Akshay, not the character he was playing. Perhaps his political alignment has not gone down well with his fans.
Telangana Chief Minister and TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao wants to rebrand his party as Bharat Rashtra Samiti on the premise that he wants it to grow nationally. The whispers inside his own party are that their chief honcho is guided by astrologers who seem to have picked on the name ‘TRS’ as the reason why it won’t do well in the next polls. In fact, short of saying he may be heading for defeat for the first time since the State of Telangana was formed and the party its leading votary formed sweeping the polls twice, soothsayers may have warned KCR that the stars don’t foretell a great future beyond the elections that are due in 2023 in the state. By rebranding his party through a change to Bharat, KCR believes he can build on his national ambitions by seeking to expand beyond Telangana boundaries. While it is moot if the party can so much as seek to do well even in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, it’s likely KCR is thinking of projecting himself in the Hindi belt, towards which he would like to take on the avatar of a national leader, beginning with an active role in the Presidential polls in July. What the stars portend may be a fear driving him but KCR is convinced that a national role awaits him.
BJP has woken up to the harsh reality of difficulty in dividing Bengal politically. This realisation saw BJP Chief JP Nadda telling partymen not to rake up the Bengal bifurcation issue in public. Some BJP leaders were pushing for a separate state/Union territory status for North Bengal from the state’s western plateau. This change of heart comes even as TMC postures on unity in political diversity making BJP top leader thinks it is inopportune time to be treading on the statehood landmine and getting perceived as dividers of Bengal. BJP’s MLA numbers are down owing to cross-overs to the TMC. Nine local BJP MLAs have written a letter to Nadda expressing displeasure over recent organisational changes in the state. More importantly, with the Presidential election in July, 2023 panchayat elections and 2024 Lok Sabha elections, BJP’s top brass won’t risk slicing Bengal politically for the time being. BJP has also realised that there is no common cause among political parties in North Bengal. “The splitting of Bengal is far from being over, BJP has pressed the pause button for now”, analysts say. So, for now the party is focussed on consolidation fearing its anti-Mamata and divide Bengal politics may boomerang.
A new bee on the job horizon goes by the exotic name of Gig business. Many big companies including Tatas, Infosys, Britannia, Wipro, Ola, Fresh to Home etc are looking to the gig economy to cut costs and access talent across locations. There are now quite a few popular gig worker platforms like Awign and Taskmo. Gig is a slang term used for a single professional engagement usually for a short duration. Some of the examples are freelancers, independent contractors, project-based workers and temporary or part-time hires. The huge interest has seen Awign’s top line and bottomline grow 10- fold, according to Annanya Sarthak and Gurpreet Singh, the founders. In the last one and half years, the business profile of its customers changed to large enterprises — either Rs 1000 crore brick and mortar enterprises or scaled up growth companies like Swiggy, Ola, Byju’s etc which have grown into large enterprises. Another company, Taskmo, is also seeing its business grow. Taskmo has added 430-450 new task listings. At least 20% of them were as per specific customer requirements. This is a new trend with momentum picking up as companies look at flexi-hiring to rationalise talent acquisition, says Prashant Janadri, Taskmo promoter.
One cannot grudge the BCCI functionaries if they feel like the fictional character Richie Rich, whose net worth was once valued at $25 billion. The fact is that the prime cricket property in the world with a famous acronym IPL — a Twenty20 tournament conducted by the BCCI — has been screaming about having crossed the $5.6 billion mark valuation; a far cry from the Richie Rich valuation and what the ideator of the tournament, Lalit Modi had predicted; between $8 to 10 billion for the 2023-27 period. But the BCCI top brass must be pleased as punch with Rs 47,000 crore valuation of the tournament that in 2008 was put in place by business tycoons from the textile, oil, beverages, real estate, cement, media, pharmaceutical, airport industry and celebrities from the tinsel town. SONY Sports held the media rights for the first 10 years at Rs 8,200 crore plus and Star Sports held it for the last five season cycle for Rs 16,347 crore plus. And now the successful bidders for the 2023-27 cycle, reported to be Star Sports for television and the Ambanis driven Viacom18 for digital, have to shell out Rs 4,750 crore and Rs 4,100 crore to the BCCI for each of the next five seasons. The BCCI’s Jay Shah and Brijesh Patel have every right to feel like Richie Rich!
A lot of meaning is being read into the way NCP Chief Sharad Pawar praised BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis for winning all the 3 seats his party contested. Pawar praised Fadnavis for succeeding in working the “miracle” of weaning away independent MLAs from rival camps using “different means”. He said that there was nothing shocking in the election results, in which a Shiv Sena candidate Sanjay Pawar lost to BJP’s Dhananjay Mahadik. “One has to accept the miracle in which BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis succeeded in weaning away independent MLAs and also those from smaller parties, who would have otherwise supported the MVA. He was successful in bringing people (independent MLAs) close to him by using different means,” said Pawar. Congress sources said the two AIMIM MLAs who extended support to the MVA Government didn’t vote for Sena candidate Sanjay Pawar but only Cong-NCP. Sena MP Sanjay Raut, who scraped through the polls, however down played BJP’s accomplishment. Political buzz is that the NCP could soon stake its claim to lead the government in Maharashtra. It is being said Pawar would like to see his daughter Supriya Sule installed as the state CM. The MVA Government under Uddhav Thackeray has completed two and half years in office. Guess it must be NCP’s turn now at the top.
Fifty-seven and yet, Bollywood’s eligible bachelor Salman Khan’s run in news columns continues for the right or wrong reasons. This time the reel life hero was targeted by a real-life villain Lawrence Bishnoi, the gangster who bumped off singer Sidhu Moose Wala over an old killing of his own aide by Moose Wala’s personal aide. After an anonymous letter threatened Salman and his father Salim Khan, the actor told police he was clueless, nor did he suspect anyone. Khan flew to Hyderabad to shoot the Bhaijaan movie thereafter. His stand-up macho act to criminal intimidation won him admiration among fans. The commercially successful star was linked up to with one too many affairs naming Sangeeta Bijalani, Somy Ali to Aishwaraya Rai and Katrina Kaif but, mostly ended up with bad press for alleged physical intimidation bordering on domestic abuse blamed on him by his girl-friends. The Bhai remained unfazed and bounced back professionally. He was acquitted in the Bandra hit-and-run case, but the Black Buck shooting case continues to still haunt him. The Bishnoi gang’s linkages to the community that had Salman arrested for killing of black buck deer is the latest buzz. Khan‘s 44 million followers on Twitter are hard at work.
Maharashtra Congressmen simply cannot get over the fact that they had to elect AICC minority cell head Imran Pratapgarhi to the Rajya Sabha. It was a tough call to elect an outsider for the single seat that fell vacant in the state. But then it was a whip from Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. So all the 44 MLAs duly voted Pratapgarhi. Yet what is riling many party seniors is how Pratapgarhi, a well-known poet-qawwaali singer, had played hard to get during the 2019 assembly election campaign. State party managers recalled when asked to do some shows in Muslim-majority pockets in western Maharashtra, the snooty poet had quoted Rs 2 lakh per show. It was a price the state unit found too high to afford. Pratapgarhi had lost from Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Today, Maharashtra has quietly sent him to Rajya Sabha, hoping he may not send a huge bill for the campaign again. In this context, old timers recall how when veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad was sent to the Rajya Sabha for one term in the 90s there was a howl of protest. That too after he had already been twice elected to Lok Sabha from Washim in Maharashtra.
A huge amount outstanding in bad loans which they will have to write off because they can never recover the money is seeing Indian public-sector banks (PSBs) winding up their operations in Hong Kong. The city state, unlike back home in India, has strict laws about bad loans in bank’s books. Many of these PSBs, perhaps, were pressured to open branches for political and not commercial reasons. These allowed businessmen to get easy loans, allegedly for a fee, and these borrowers then declared huge losses and, eventually, bankruptcy – obviously leaving the lenders in the lurch. Says a local banker: “Even today, there are too many Indian banks here and none making money!” While there is an uproar in Parliament if banks write off loans, HK laws say that bad loans must be written off if they are not collectible. “Bahut chor hain – and banks are bakras!” he adds. “It is good that finally, this government is closing down banks which are not profitable.” The Union Bank of India has already transferred its client accounts to its Singapore and Australian branches and is on the threshold of winding up in HK totally. There are three more in the process of winding up in HK. Eventually, State Bank of India will probably be the only PSB left there.
Mithali Raj put an end to all speculation regarding future appearances wearing the India colours by announcing retirement from international cricket. Into her 40th year, it was time to move on for the prima donna of the national team after 23 years of playing Test, one-day internationals and Twenty20 cricket. Mithali took to Twitter to inform fans that she was bidding adieu to the game; her declaration coming a few hours before the BCCI announced Harmanpreet Kaur as captain of the Indian team for the white ball series (ODIs and Twenty20) in Sri Lanka. These two events happening one after another, sent the rumour mill on a spin with whispers that she may have been elbowed out. Mithali’s last assignment as India captain was the failed campaign in the ICC Women’s World Cup in New Zealand. Her team lost four league matches and could not enter the semi-finals. For over a decade she had shouldered the task of scoring runs until Harmanpreet and Smriti Mandhana arrived on the scene, exhibiting lovely stroke play that riveted attention on them in domestic and international cricket. Then came Jemima Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Harleen Deol, Richa Ghosh and Yastika Bhatia; all of whom went after the ball and sent pulses racing. But the famous ‘Didi’ of Indian women’s cricket cannot be denied her exalted place in the pantheon of women’s cricket in the world.
At long last they are married. After a seven-year love story, amid now-on-now-off rumours regarding actress Nayanthara’s wedding with writer-director Vignesh Shivan, it finally happened at a 5-Star resort in Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu, amid a vetted down guest list of 200 people, digital invitations and QR codes in place. Reportedly, Nayanthara wanted a Tirupati Balaji temple wedding. But the Netflix offer of Rs 25 crore for telecast rights for an orchestrated ceremony was too good to resist. Nayan, the savvy entrepreneur, quickly course corrected towards a resort wedding. The Vicky-Katrina wedding had set benchmarks of monetisation. The guest list read like a K Town compendium — Rajini, Kamal, Karthi, Vijay, Sethupathi, AR Rahman to name a few. Rajini did the ritual honour of giving the ‘thali, maangalyam’ (mangalsutra) to Vignesh, who has waited seven long years to snag one of the most wooed and striking stars from K town. Ace director Gautam Vasudev Menon directed the 2-hour proceedings in his inimitable style ensuring a slick event with an ensemble cast. Nayan’s vermilion clingy saree, the beautifully embossed choli (with Lakshmi motifs), heavy emerald and polky diamond jewellery vied for attention with Nayan’s drop dead gorgeous looks. Shah Rukh Khan with director Atlee sashayed in style to wish his Jawan heroine loads of happiness. Next to follow is the high-octane reception at the Grand Chola.
The term of the first ever President from BJP-RSS, Ram Nath Kovind, is getting over and the race for succession has been throwing up interesting names. While the Modi-Amit Shah-RSS chief trio may come up with an outreach name of their own choice to spring a surprise as they did last time, the importance of the person holding the post in 2024 in having to decide who to call to form the government is not to be underestimated. The odds are the name will be acceptable to allies on whom the BJP will be relying to get its candidate past the post. Kovind got more than two-thirds of the vote, which may not happen in these more polarised times. But the BJP is certain it will seal the numbers as the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party(YSRCP) will be its banker. YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is an ally who has never stepped out of line, maybe because of his experience with the central agencies before sweeping the polls to become Andhra CM. The result is not in doubt thanks to Jagan deciding to stick with the rulers. The UPA has been toying with various names, including that of Nandan Nilekani whose brainchild is Aadhaar, but it lacks the numbers to make any great impression on Presidential polls that have always been won by the candidate of the ruling dispensation.
Post the embarrassment of fire-fighting utterances of the now sacked party voices Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal, the BJP has come up with new guidelines for its spokespersons appearing on TV shows. As per the new guidelines, only the official spokespersons and panelists will now be allowed to appear on TV debates. The party’s media cell has been charged with assigning spokespersons for the talk shows on TV channels. The party will once again go back to the old system when spokespersons were briefed by senior leaders or ministers such as the late Arun Jaitley or Sushma Swaraj. Looks like the media cell will once again be guided by senior party leaders or ministers. For a while spokespersons have been operating autonomously, relying on their own understanding of the subject. The media cell has been sorely missing critical inputs of someone like Shrikant Sharma — now a minister in the Yogi Government — who used to give briefs to spokespersons before they went on air. Sharma used to ensure that no one crossed the line or made any controversial comment. As per the new advisory, spokespersons have been advised to research on the topic of debate before they go on air and prepare themselves keeping in mind the party line.
The high attrition levels in the IT industry is turning into a big headache for corporates. Big IT companies like Cognizant, Infosys, TCS, Capgemini, Wipro are witnessing an exodus of employees with five years of experience or more. The reason is amply clear, as salaries have jumped up after the long Covid break. Cognizant saw attrition levels of 40%, Infosys @ 25% and TCS @ 15% to name just a few. Earlier, someone with five years of experience earned Rs 24-25 lakh per annum. Now the salaries for the same level and experience net an employee Rs 30-38 lakh per annum. It is not clear if the same is happening for higher level jobs in IT companies but, this is good news for engineering graduates. The IT sector has been a mass recruiter for some years now contributing to 5% of the Indian GDP. But it was saturating with only good skilled IT engineers in demand. All this was before the Covid-19 pandemic. The U.S. produces around one lakh engineers per year in a $ 16 trillion economy. And India produces 15 lakh engineers in a $ 2 trillion economy. With manufacturing, electrical and civil taking a back seat as employment generators, it was the IT sector that has been the saving grace for some time now.
A message has gone out to DMK party members from the Stalin household to mind their language in public. A full licence has been given to keep knocking the Centre over Hindi and NEET but don’t get into caste politics by dragging names of communities is the message. Stalin has mastered the art of saying it nicely even if he is diametrically opposed to the Centre and its Governor but many down the line may have lost their way in packaging their messages. The DMK MP TKS Elangovan’s rant against Hindi imposition would have been fine with the party except for the twist given in dragging caste into it with the word “shudras”. The higher education minister K Ponmudy had also raved against Hindi and he also overstepped in calling all Hindi speaking people as “Paani-puri wallahs” but the humour had struck home. Having won the battle against caste hierarchy long ago after having come to power in 1967, the DMK would like to keep social justice as an ideological peg and not give it a spin by airing caste politics. Their high command may have enjoyed the divisions among the AIADMK over the BJP trying to take over, at least in voice, as the main opposition in the State but it does not wish to get tangled in rhetoric taking over practical politics.
Ever since election strategist Prashant Kishor walked out on the Congress, many tried filling into his shoes. Even his understudy turned rival, poll strategist Sunil Kanugolu has now become part of the Congress task force for the 2024 general elections. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi constantly seeks someone to give him an edge over PM Narendra Modi. It is in this light that a recent tweet by Sudheendra Kulkarni caught the attention of Congressmen in Karnataka. On May 22, Kulkarni tweeted that he had conducted a training camp for Congress karyakartas in Bengaluru in Sarvagnangar assembly constituency of party MLA KJ George. IIT-Bombay educated Kulkarni was a speechwriter for former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee. A native of north Karnataka, he also handled senior BJP leader LK Advani’s 2009 election campaign. He is credited for Advani’s praise of Jinnah’s speech in May 2005 during the Pak visit. Congress sources say Kulkarni is yet to join the party. Kulkarni was a student of Jairam Ramesh’s father at IIT, Bombay and it is possible Jairam may have introduced him to Rahul Gandhi. In the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, after BJP failed to win, Kulkarni exited the BJP. Then, BJP leader Muktar Abbas Naqvi had said Kulkarni was never a member of the BJP.
Days after popular Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala was murdered, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi visited his family in Mansa district on Tuesday, June 7, to offer his condolences. Sidhu Moose Wala had joined the Congress in December 2021 and unsuccessfully contested from the Mansa seat in the 2022 Punjab state assembly elections. Rahul’s visit to the singer’s family in their native village of Moosa was interesting in the backdrop of Moose Wala’s parents meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah on June 4 at Chandigarh airport. At the meeting, Moose Wala’s father Balkaur Singh had demanded a probe by central intelligence agencies into the brutal murder of his son in Mansa on May 29. Rahul Gandhi was abroad at the time and returned over the weekend. His sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had also planned to visit the Moose Wala family. But it was finally decided that it would be Rahul. With a number of Congress leaders joining the BJP in Punjab, Rahul’s visit to the state assumes importance, party sources said. Rahul was accompanied by several Congress leaders including Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and LOP in the Punjab Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa. Yet some MLAs, apparently those close to Priyanka Vadra, like Suhkpal Singh Khaira felt miffed as they were not included in Rahul’s itinerary.
The 15th season of the Indian Premier League concluded and with it, global media rights secured by Star India for Rs 16,347 crore for five seasons from 2018. SONY Pictures had won the first 10-year media rights for around Rs.8200 crore in 2008. Fifteen years back Lalit Modi, chief architect of the trailblazing Twenty20 league, monetised the franchise auctions and media rights for astronomical figures. The refrain in the ad world today is “sky’s the limit” for the next IPL media rights 2023-27 (in four categories) as IPL is the most premium product for advertisers now. “The IPL became a premium product after the first 10 seasons. Today corporate first set aside money for IPL, before considering other options. There are a number of them. The IPL is the pivot for broadcasting companies as a whole, not just their sports channels,” explained a doyen in the media rights business. The BCCI has pegged a high reserve price of Rs 32,890 crore for all four categories together. There are reports that TV18-Viacom, Disney Star, Sony, Zee and Amazon have bought the invitation for tenders. NP Singh, CEO & MD of SONY Pictures feels the need for a reality check on the reserve price following a drop in viewership for IPL-15. The weekend e- auction of media rights will quantify the windfall BCCI will reap.
Playing a master stroke is a habit with Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. But, the latest one caught his band of ministers by surprise. Emboldened by the recent bypoll win in Brajrajnagar and the Panchayat polls earlier, Patnaik did the apparently unthinkable –asking all his ministers to resign en masse on Saturday (June 4) and rejigged the 21-member new cabinet with new faces the next day. Non-performers were shown the door. Surprisingly, Governor Ganesh Lal approved the entire exercise without quibbles. In simpler words Modi’s dispensation did not throw any spanners in the works. Seasoned politicians from Odisha say no Odisha Chief Minister ever, including Naveen’s father Biju Patnaik, had the audacity to do what he did at such a short notice. His decision was with some purpose. Naveen babu clearly wants his party BJD to sweep the 2024 Lok Sabha election in Odisha. To ensure the win, he did away with deadwood, controversial ministers and sycophant advisors. While 20 ministers quit, Naveen gave cabinet berths to only nine. Five women and, seven people elected from western Odisha, considered a stronghold of BJP were also accommodated. Some political analysts are calling it a shock therapy while others are saying it’s Patnaik’s winning strategy. There is no denying that Patnaik remains an undisputable hero for some time to come.
Four-time National award-winning director Srijit Mukherji’s film X=Prem was declined screening slots at the iconic state-run Nandan theatre. Director-cum-Trinamool Congress MLA Raj Chakraborty’s film Habji Gabji got an afternoon slot though. Srijit tweeted, “Two films released on the same day. Both applied for Nandan. But, only one got through. Whereas ideally and in all fairness either both or neither should have. Why did this happen? Though all films are equal, some films are apparently more equal than others :-).” Raj Chakraborty’s counter was quick stating, “I don’t want publicity through controversy because the film will speak the final (last) word.” Mukherji later clarified that his question was addressed to the state government’s information and cultural affairs department, which did not cite any reason while denying him the daytime slot. Interestingly, the reason why producers clamour for the state -run theatres, especially Nandan, is because 50% of the revenue earned at the state-run theatres goes to the producers after GST deduction. The rule is applicable for the first week of release and, thereafter the amount drops to 40% in week two and so on. In the recent past, director Anik Dutta’s film Aparajita, based on legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray’s journey on his masterpiece creation Pather Panchali, was denied screening at Nandan as Dutta is anti-TMC.
CSK is Dhoni and Dhoni is CSK. This is often reiterated by N Srinivasan, the owner of the Chennai franchisee of the IPL team. To be sure, Dhoni and Chennai have become inseparable. Not surprisingly, Dhoni has often said his last game in the highly popular Indian Premier League would be in his adopted home city of Chennai. His affinity to Chennai is all too apparent. And, his propensity to think out-of-the-box is legendary. It is no wonder that people across the spectrum view him a strategist par excellence. How else could one decipher his investment in the Chennai-based Garuda Aerospace, which is a DaaS (drone-as-a-service) provider. If highly-placed sources are to go by, the former Indian cricket captain has invested close to Rs 10 crore into Garuda Aerospace. Garuda has also signed up the World Cup winning captain as its brand ambassador. This is expected to fetch MSD Rs 5 crore. Besides bringing in Rs 5 crore, captain cool will be investing this fee also into Garuda. This makes his total investment into the Chennai-based company at Rs 10 crore. The investment of Dhoni is part of the bridge round, ahead of Garuda’s $30 million Series A round. He may have quit international cricket. Yet, Captain Dhoni remains a formidable brand to reckon with.
It seems wives in the Samajwadi Party have lost out on party tickets, whether for the Rajya Sabha or, even for Lok Sabha by-elections. SP men simply aren’t willing to risk their better halves in UP under Yogi. First it was Dimple Yadav, wife of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav who couldn’t win a nomination to Rajya Sabha as the RS ticket went to RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary. No wonder when Akhilesh Yadav met senior leader Azam Khan in the hospital, after the latter’s release from jail, a clash ensued between the two over the question of fielding candidates for two upcoming Lok Sabha by-elections. Akhilesh wanted to field wife Dimple from Azamgarh, the Lok Sabha seat he vacated to retain his assembly seat of Karhal, even as Azam Khan was against it during their couple of hours long meeting. Finally, Akhilesh picked his first cousin Dharmendra Yadav to contest from Azamgarh. Similarly, Azam Khan initially proposed his wife Dr Tanzeem Fatima but, later opted for SP city president Asim Raza for the Rampur Lok Sabha by-polls. “Earlier it was Dr Tanzeen Fatima but Raza will be contesting now. He is one of the loyal workers we have,” Khan said in Rampur. The BJP has fieIded Dinesh Lal Yadav, who is asking for a vote for “your development”.
A day after receiving flak for all out appeasement of Gulf countries and suspensions of BJP spokespersons Nupur Sharma and Naveen Kumar Jindal, over controversial statements regarding a religious entity, India is standing its ground while dealing with the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC). The Ministry of External Affairs on June 6 cited an OIC statement asking it to stop pursuing a “communal approach and show due respect to all faiths and religions”. “The Government of India (GoI) categorically rejects the OIC Secretariat’s unwarranted and narrow-minded comments. The GoI accords the highest respect to all religions,” the MEA statement stated adding that “offensive tweets and comments denigrating a religious personality were made by certain individuals. And that they do not, in any manner, reflect views of the GoI.” The MEA had earlier referred to Sharma and Jindal as fringe elements on June 5. BJP sources say Nupur, an Arun Jaitley protégé and Naveen Jindal were too ambitious and not in sync with the official party line; while perpetually competing to impress party bosses. During TV debates Nupur flaunted her skills in shaming fellow panellists. Only this time, her one upmanship blemished efforts by the PM to improve India’s ties with Gulf nations. The ‘y’ category security accorded to Sharma, however, remains unchanged particularly in view of threats issued to her.
Even as Atlee tried to convey his excitement about directing the King Khan in a much talked about pan India film, Jawan, the goose bumps were evident. When the deal was signed, Atlee in a teary tweet said, “I have grown up watching his movies, lapping up every Khan nuance. And now directing him….it is unbelievable. I am blessed “. Atlee has hit the mother lode in his very first Bollywood venture by getting to direct Shah Rukh Khan. Of late, a number of Bollywood films, five to be precise, could not match up to the box office takings of many south Indian movies. SRK’s choice of Atlee for Jawan, produced by his wife Gauri Khan, is seen as an acknowledgement of this 35-year-old director with the Midas touch. Trained under S Shankar, Atlee has given Tamil hits like Raja Rani, Theri, Mersal, Beast and Bigil. For good measure Jawan has Kollywood Lady Super Star, Nayanthara in the lead, with Sunil Grover and Sanya Malhotra adding more glitter to the awesome twosome. Rock star Anirudh Ravichander who scores the music is bound to Amp up the quotient. The teaser is out and SRK’s role has triggered excitement. Could Atlee’s Midas touch work in Bollywood which in recent times has seen strings of flops? One has to wait till June 2023 for the answer!
Every region in the UK is actively pursuing collaborations and tie-ups with Indian organisations. Recently, the University College Birmingham (UCB) entered into a tie-up with a range of academic institutions and organisations in India as part of a continuing drive to boost skills development in India. Bharat Sakhuja, Associate Director of the University’s International department and Alice Wilby, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Access, Participation and Student Experience) at University College Birmingham from the University were in India recently to meet Dr Sangeet Jaura, Pro Vice-Chancellor of Chitkara University, Professor Tabrez Ahmad, Vice-Chancellor of GD Goenka University, Dr Manju Gupta, Dean Academics at IMS Noida, Ved Mani Tiwari, Chief Operating Officer of the NSDC. The duo told shortpost.in, “The new linkups will offer a wide range of potential benefits and opportunities covering key areas including student mobility and up-skilling, progression arrangements, teacher training and cooperation, as well as collaborating in joint conferences and seminars.” They also shared that discussions were held towards creating more opportunities for Indian students to attend short courses in the UK. Collaboration between these Indian institutions and UCB will allow effective mobility of students between the institutions and enable them to consider integrated pathways which would be beneficial not only for students but for the academics in raising the level of teaching.
The BJP has devised a master plan for the three southern States that are the last bastions against the right – Andhra, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The party has been stepping on the toes of regional parties, predominantly in Tamil Nadu, where they have been showing a tendency of setting the cat among the pigeons. The latest friction concerns former Jayalalithaa confidante VK Sasikala. When asked whether the BJP would accept her into their party, Nainar Nagendran said that indeed they would. This set off tremors with senior AIADMK leader C Ponnaiyan wondering whether the growth of BJP was good for the State’s two Dravidian majors who have been ruling the roost alternately over the last 55 years. BJP chief Annamalai stepped in to clarify that the comment represented an individual viewpoint and that only the BJP’s Parliamentary board may decide on high-profile political entrants. So long as the two former CMs – EPS and OPS – stay glued together, there is little threat of BJP admitting the eternal political wannabe Sasikala – a backroom manipulator until her attempt at becoming CM was shot down by the top court. PM Narendra Modi also wants the AIADMK honchos to stay united and not be drawn into divisions. But, in case a split does come about, the BJP might just use the Sasikala card.
For decades, Asian Paints has led the pack in the Rs 60,000-crore plus paint industry. But with Grasim Industries, part of the Aditya Birla Group setting its sights higher, the competition will intensify. Grasim has chalked up a Rs 5000-crore investment plan in the decorative segment which is growing at 11% per annum. This announcement by Grasim which has heft and gravitas to disrupt the market made competitors like Asian Paints, Berger Paints, Kansai Nerolac and Akzo Nobel sit up and take notice. Grasim’s foray into the segment will be backed by their existing leadership in cement, white cement and putty business. Paint is a high growth market and the pie is large enough for everyone to share, industry observers say. There is no denying that leaders like Asian Paints will not find the going easy anymore. Sajjan Jindal group’s JSW has also entered the space, so cut-throat competition is bound to see ad spends growing with margins coming under pressure. In fact, Asian Paints read the writing on the wall and made public that it was looking beyond paints. Recently, the company picked up 49% stake in White Teak Company selling lighting and fans and will increase its stake based on the response. Time will tell which company remains in the black and which moves into the red.
The Tata IPL-15 came as a welcome breather for quarrelling factions within the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) who shifted their focus to conducting the 21 league matches. The MCA was able to deploy its resources to run the games virtually incident-free. The association earned much praise from BCCI Secretary Jay Shah and Rs 12 plus crore for bailing out the BCCI in these pandemic times. However, an uneasy calm prevails now in MCA’s corridors of power over the matter of accepting Justice (Retd) Dilip Babasaheb Bhosale as its Ethics Officer and Ombudsman (EOO). Multiple sources caught in the vortex of the sensitive matter told shortpost.in that former MCA President Sharad Pawar, who still commands a lot of clout in matters of the association, is in favour of Justice Bhosale’s appointment. He is the son of former Maharashtra Chief Minister Babasaheb Bhosale and a former Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court. The reason for rancour is that Justice Bhosale was appointed at an AGM, the present MCA Apex Council had actually called off, but still conducted by a fair number of members, who elected a chair and obtained post-facto validation from senior advocate Darius Khambata. Now, the Apex Council, due for elections in a few months, is showing the barndoor defence to all persuasions!
Following singer Sidhu Moosewala’s broad daylight murder, the Punjab government has been directed by the High Court to restore the security cover of 424 people, which it had earlier withdrawn. During a hearing in the Punjab & Haryana High Court, the AAP government had claimed it had withdrawn the security of 424 people only for a few days. Responding to a PIL moved by a Congress leader OP Soni against his security down-grade, the government told the court that the security covers of the 424 VIPs would be restored after Ghallughara Diwas on June 6, which is observed as a day of protest against Operation Blue Star. Incidentally, a day before Moosewala’s murder, the AAP government had highlighted it as ‘crackdown on VIP culture’ on social media. But then the government got cornered only because of Moosewala’s death. In a plea against his security downgrade, Congress leader Soni wanted to know how a report of security withdrawal with a list of VIPs came into the public domain. It is being said that Punjab police is being stretched beyond state borders to provide security cover to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal; also special cover for his key aide for Punjab area — Raghav Chadha. Chadha, a Rajya Sabha MP almost functions like a de facto Punjab CM.
BJP’s firebrand and outspoken Odisha MP Aparajita Sarangi, who is also BJP’s National Spokesperson, well known for her high decibel opposition pitch against BJD CM Naveen Patnaik missed out on a berth in the BJP’s newly constituted 17-member Odisha Core Committee. BJP President JP Nadda heads the committee. Only long serving senior BJP members with relevant experience apart from others the BJP thinks will add value and insight have been inducted. Some core committee members include: Baijayant Panda, Dr Sambit Patra, Jual Oram, Pratap Sarangi, Dharmendra Pradhan, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Biseswar Tudu, Suresh Pujari, Samir Mohanty and Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo. This Odisha Core committee has been formed to prepare for the 2024 general election. The purpose of this committee is to chalk out BJP’s blueprint for the state to win as many seats from Odisha in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The Committee will sit together, think together and work together taking stock of progress made on a monthly basis. Clearly, BJP has understood the need to reinvent itself since the agenda of criticizing Naveen Patnaik and his party Biju Janata Dal BJD did not cut much ice with the people or even taken them anywhere.
This IAS class of officials possesses the uncanny ability to stay relevant all the time. They don’t just disappear into the sunset after superannuation but, simply don a new avatar. Their utility never dissipates and, their experience in government simply can’t be brushed aside. Probably, they are capable of bringing to the table an entirely new perspective. It is no wonder then that two leading industrial groups of Chennai have drafted ex-IAS officers as chairmen for their enterprises. Sundaram-Clayton Limited (SCL) has appointed R Gopalan, a bureaucrat who served Tamil Nadu as well as the Centre, as its chairman and, another Chennai-based company Ramco Cements followed suit onboarding MF Farooqui, a retired IAS officer to the same post. Of course, both Gopalan and Farooqui have served on the boards of SCL and Ramco Cements respectively for a while now. But their elevation to the top slot in the organisations has forced many long-time watchers of these family enterprises to sit up and take notice. This is the first time that these industrial conglomerates in Chennai have adopted such a course. Larger benefit of having experienced bureaucrats as chairmen notwithstanding, the move is also seen as a step towards splitting the CMD post. At least in these two instances, it appears to be a case of striking two mangoes with one stone!
On May 26, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Chennai, where he launched Rs 31,000 crore worth of centrally-funded projects in Tamil Nadu despite which, Chief Minister MK Stalin tried to humiliate him. Two days later, Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu went all out to praise late DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi while unveiling his statue in Chennai. As soon as Naidu agreed to unveil the Dravidian stalwart’s statue, BJP cadre had opposed the move on social media. Naidu accepted the DMK invite as it seems the end of the road for him as his term ends in August. The DMK was elated. The party’s mouthpiece Murasoli, in its editorial showered encomiums on Naidu over his speech. The paper also dwelt on Karunanidhi’s long and strong association with Naidu. It said he had replied to the party’s critics during his speech. It recalled his comments when Karunanidhi was arrested in 2001 by the erstwhile AIADMK-led government. It was equally happy that Naidu had taken pot-shots at the step-motherly treatment that the BJP led government was meting out to the state governments led by Opposition parties. “If the States grow, the country grows,” he said. What does Naidu gain by pandering to DMK? He will never be Modi’s candidate for Rashtrapati. So, is he trying to position himself as the Opposition candidate for Raisina Road?
After an all-party meeting when Bihar CM Nitish Kumar announced a caste-based survey in the state, he appeared a bit triumphant. He could not conceal his happiness that he had driven a wedge between the state BJP and the Centre on the issue. The Centre had expressed its inability to conduct a caste census after the experience of socio-economic survey of 2011 census. He had the satisfaction that Bihar BJP leaders were fully backing the caste survey. Bihar BJP chief Sanjay Jaiswal denied there was difference between the Centre and the state unit on the caste survey. “Let us get one thing clear: what the Bihar government is going to undertake is a caste survey, not a census. Census comes under the Seventh Schedule and that it falls within remit of the Centre. As for Caste survey, Bihar is not the only state to undertake such a survey. Telangana, Karnataka has already done it.” He pointed out that BJP’s support for the caste survey was incumbent on keeping out Rohingyas and Bangladeshi Muslims. Also keeping out certain Muslims from claiming OBC status. Politically, of course, it is seen that Nitish Kumar has pushed the caste survey idea because the Centre had introduced a quota for the economically weaker section. With the lines of social justice getting blurred among parties, the JDU has been desperately trying to push “contradictions” within the BJP and failing.
ICICI Bank’s blue-eyed boy Anup Ratnaparkhi, who currently heads Branch Banking and NRI operations in the UK, has put in his papers. Thirty-nine-year-old Anup, who had a 14-year long stint, is joining the London-based Ribbon Plc as Chief Commercial Officer. This venture has been promoted by his former ICICI boss Asesh Jani. It is an AI powered technology company that promises to offer a hyper-personalised digital experience to users. Ribbon is loaded with features including an embedded payments marketplace, access to deposits, FX, Crypto & Equity trading platforms. It was Asesh who had spotted Anup’s talent in ICICI and moved him up from Hyderabad to London. The scene at the State Bank of India, UK is no different. Most professionals posted here from India are currently in a flux. Most of the senior staffers who were transferred out of India have completed their term and will now return to India. This includes SBI UK head Sharad Chandak, ED Sanjay Pandey and COO Anurag Joshi. Elsewhere too, it seems to be the season of retirements or transfers. Gayatri Issar Kumar, the Indian High Commissioner in UK is into farewell party mode as she retires in September. Meanwhile, Rohit Vadhwana (IFS) who is First Secretary for Investment & Trade and also handles the Press portfolio, has been posted to Kenya.
A decade ago, he was told that he couldn’t head an incubator company being set up by Microsoft because he had no start-up experience. James Joseph, a 25-year tech veteran, took a year’s sabbatical to write a book – which was when he saw his future growing outside his study window in Kerala: a jackfruit tree. The idea that hit him fructified further when he met a diabetic parish priest, who told Joseph that raw jackfruit had brought his sugar down. He researched it, and came up with Jackfruit365, a flour made with green jackfruit. “This is a diet supplement for diabetics and has beneficial effects when used as a replacement for an equal volume of rice or atta,“ he says. “But it should not be compared with medicine.” Along the way, he won the 2020 National Start-up Award for Food Processing and found another supporter: Infosys co-founder and billionaire businessman Kris Gopalakrishnan, who has provided his start-up with the all-important corporate connect. “CII, especially Kris, wants more members to use Jackfruit365 as an example to foster more such partnerships,” he says. Why? “I am an admirer of James and his entrepreneurship,” Gopalakrishnan explains. “So I talk to my industry colleagues and government officials about the product and how James has established the benefits of using it. He alone is responsible for jackfruit becoming the state fruit of Kerala.”
It is amazing how Chennai-based Achimuthu Shankar has transformed himself from a social media journalist to a whistle blower folk hero. He gained both fame and notoriety as Savukku Shankar, choosing a self-styled sobriquet. Savukku in Tamil means whip. Shankar who started his vigilante career in the TN Directorate of Vigilance & Anti-Corruption, had extraordinary talent to sniff out corrupt deals. Naturally, this angered a vast array of bureaucrats and politicians in TN. Savukku paid the price; he was jailed and tortured for two months. Currently he is once again in the news for the wrong reasons though. His name along with BJP leader Maridass appear in a hastily filed FIR by overzealous TN police against the 90-year-old media house, Ananda Vikatan and its sister publication Junior Vikatan. Junior Vikatan, a bi-weekly tabloid, exposed the phenomenally murky growth of a real estate conglomerate, G Square, alleged to be close to the first family, which turned sensational. The FIR indirectly warned “zealous “journos and vigilantes of certain Lakshman Rekhas they should not cross. This police action saw journalists across Chennai raising a storm of protest. These protests coincided around the time of the Prime Minister’s planned visit to the state. Top police officials, fearing journalists may greet the PM with black bands, quietly withdrew the FIR against Vikatan Press, Shankar and Maridass.
The campaign began after Hardik Pandya emulated Shane Warne, taking his debutant team to the final and winning the IPL. He is now tipped as a future Team India white ball captain. It’s not only his star turn with bat and ball that was impressive. His zen-like calm as skipper throughout the season was also notable, though he lost it when Shubman Gill declined a third run, and he was left facing a Warne-like ripper that pitched outside leg stump and spat as it spun to catch his outside edge. But, as Gill anchored the chase to a triumphant finish, it was well-deserved coronation time for Pandya. Controversy was his middle name as the tattoo-loving admirer and owner of the most expensive watches was once suspended for a sexist comment during a celebrity TV interview. Captaincy transformed him into a studious, responsible leader who has curbed his flamboyance to contribute meaningful contributions. Having faced the axe from Team India for not being able to bowl through a painful phase following back injury, Hardik worked his way back and bowled at close to 140 kmph in IPL to make his point. He was in winning teams four times before but, the 2022 win was special and it has spurred his ambition to contribute to Team India well enough to break a 11-year World Cup drought.
Tendulkar Joins The Hardik Pandya's Hurrah Parade, After Gujarat Titans Captain's Great IPL Escapade
The IPL Twenty20 competition is a different ball game from turning up for India duties. Performances in the most popular league may be put down as a flash in the pan but, Hardik Pandya, not long back known for his bling fetish, has refreshingly improved his excellent run of form in the TATA IPL-15; as a batter, bowler, fielder and now, as captain. Hardik’s makeover was applauded by his former Mumbai Indians icon Sachin Tendulkar on his Youtube show #SachInsightT20. “It has to be celebrated, Hardik has been a stand-out as a Number 4 batter and captain. He has outsmarted the opposition,” said the former master blaster. Hardik was the Titans’ highest run getter with 487 runs and chief wicket-taker in the title match. What’s so significant about these numbers is the manner in which he exhibited his gifts all through the tournament. In the final he broke the back of Rajasthan Royals taking 3 for 18 and chipping in with a weighty 34 runs with his bat. Hardik is being dubbed as a hero now, but his true test will come up against a strong South African Twenty20 team that will lock horns with KL Rahul’s team from June 9 in five matches. Hardik is a genuine talent though. The Indian team would hope that his lower back doesn’t flare up again!
Since releasing on May 20, Kangana Ranaut starrer Dhaakad earned a measly Rs 3 crore indicating its box-office status. Kangana can now boast of four consecutive flops including Thalavi, Panga, and Judgemental Hai Kya; although Manikarnika did reasonably well. The fiercely independent, strong minded-star had proved she can carry a movie single-handedly without needing the crutches of the Khans, Kapoors or, even the Kumars. Lately, however, she is going through a bad patch as far as her movies are concerned. Every star has experienced cyclical ups and downs, be it Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan or, Rekha. Does the string of flops make Kangana any less a bankable star today? A senior trade analyst says, “It will be difficult for her to get the same kind of investment that she got in the past. Films already on the floor will continue but a correction is bound to happen in the way her (future) films are made.” Currently, she has two films in the pipeline – Sita and Tejas. The latter is produced by Ronnie Srewvala. Perhaps, the fiery star with strong political leanings is making up with people on the Bollywood front. She was recently spotted at Salman Khan’s event. Bollywood watchers say her best hope could be Tanu Weds Manu 3 which Anand L Rai is planning. She could bounce back again.
The Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) has signed an MoU, to provide technical support for Bangladesh’s first commodity exchange. The Chittagong Stock Exchange has decided to launch Bangladesh’s first commodities exchange, on futures markets next year and roped in MCX to draw up the regulations and bye-laws, the settlement methods, besides providing tech and infrastructure support for the new exchange. MCX which is working on a five-year plan is scouting for talent to manage and work on the project. The new exchange is expected to provide competitive pricing and rationalise price manipulations in the commodities sector in that country. The exchange is also expected to provide farmers with greater liquidity. The exchange is expected to trade in gold, tea, agricultural produce, iron ore etc. MCX, India’s first listed exchange, is a commodity derivatives exchange that facilitates online trading of commodity derivatives transactions, thereby providing a platform for price discovery and risk management. The Exchange, which started operations in November 2003, operates under the regulatory framework of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). MCX offers trading in commodity derivative contracts across varied segments including bullion, industrial metals, energy and agricultural commodities, as also on indices constituted from these contracts. It is India’s first Exchange to offer commodity options contracts, bullion index futures and base metals index futures contracts.
There is much disquiet within the Congress over its list for Rajya Sabha elections next month. Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra have nixed senior Congress leaders including Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma, the torch bearers of the G-23 grouping, in their quest for a Rajya Sabha berth from Rajasthan and Haryana. Sharma, confident that friend Bhupinder Hooda would get him elected to RS finds himself stranded, as Rahul has thrust AICC in charge of Rajasthan Ajay Maken, who partly handled Punjab upon Hooda. Chattisgarh CM Bhupesh Bhagel, who publicly pitched for Priyanka as a RS candidate was told to get Rajiv Shukla elected. Party sources say Baghel’s aversion to giving another term to retiring MP Chhaya Verma had prompted him to accept the Bihari candidate Ranjeet Ranjan. Of the 10 candidates, only P Chidambaram is contesting from home ground Tamil Nadu. Priyanka has imposed Imran Pratapgarhi, an AICC Minorities Cell chief, a young rabble-rouser from UP on Maharashtra Congressmen. Priyanka also sent another favourite from UP Pramod Tewari to Rajasthan. Rahul got fanboy Randeep Surjewala a RS berth from the same state. All this rush made Sanyam Lodha, an MLA in poll-bound Rajasthan to raise the son of soil bogey. AICC functionary Jitendra Baghel wants a break-up of candidates as the UP BJP list represents an array of castes.
Bihar politics is apparently on the cusp of an implosion with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar refusing to nominate to Rajya Sabha Union Steel Minister RCP Singh, his one-time number two in Janata Dal United (JDU). By denying Singh a third term in Rajya Sabha, Nitish has ensured that he will have no one from his party in Narendra Modi’s cabinet. With RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav further getting embroiled in the IRCTC scam and the CBI registering FIR against Lalu Prasad Yadav his wife Rabri Devi, daughters Misa and Hema, for taking land from candidates in exchange for jobs in Railways between 2008-2009, Nitish Kumar’s option of walking out on the BJP to join hands with a tainted RJD also don’t exist. At present, his party with 44 MLAs is supported by BJP which has 77 MLAs. JDU sources said RCP Singh got into trouble because of his public praise of PM Modi. “Nitish wants slaves. If only RCP Singh had praised Nitish along with Modi, he would have remained a minister,” rued a JDU leader. Modi may use him in Bihar. Probably why Singh actually expressed his “gratitude” to Nitish after being denied a Rajya Sabha seat. “I am grateful to him. Whatever he has decided is in my interest.” Of the 44 JDU MLAs, Singh holds sway over a majority.
Chennai is set to soar high. The old man on Mount Road, the 13-storey LIC Building, for long the only noticeably tall landmark in an otherwise vertically challenged city used to growing sideways rather than upwards, will soon get company. A 25-storey tower block of offices is coming up on the old TVS plot. Whether vertical growth is defined as progress would depend on the point of view. But, with a change in government, came a significant FSI change – from 3.5 to 5. You can think what you will of how such changes come about, the most obvious being the use of financial clout by the builders’ lobby. The fact is the Brigade group of Bangalore, with its political connections and heft, will be the first to take advantage of the higher FSI with a landmark building that will dwarf the nearby LIC structure, old Chennai citizens described using the Tamil phrase – Heightu da! A lot of changes are also on the cards for what used to be the centre of the city’s business district, with many old firms likely to sell out to builders in the CBD. TVS’ R Dinesh, who inherited the old HQ of the reputed TVS group on Mount Road along with the Honda dealership, was the first to cash in on the new FSI.
Is Rajasthan too going Punjab way for the Congress ahead of the 2023 assembly polls? In a grim reminder to what used to be complaints against Capt Amarinder Singh for excessively relying on bureaucrats, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is facing similar complaints from one of his ministers who publicly offered to step down. In a tweet, Sports Minister Ashok Chandna said: “Honourable Chief Minister, I have a personal request to you, that by freeing me from this cruel ministerial post, the charge of all my departments should be given to Kuldeep Rankaji, because anyway he is the minister of all the departments. Thank you.” Chandna’s protest should worry Gehlot as it comes ahead of Rajya Sabha elections next month — he is the second MLA to raise a banner of revolt. The first dissenting note was struck by tribal leader and MLA Ganesh Ghogra who had a row with the state bureaucracy over land deed distribution. Ghogra resigned on May 18 saying that despite being an MLA of the ruling party, he is being ignored. Turbulence in the Congress is of course sweet music to the BJP. Yet it will be important to see how Gehlot survives this attack within. That too when it’s not coming from a usual suspect like Sachin Pilot.
Rejected outright by all 10 franchises at the big player auction for the Tata IPL-15 in Bengaluru, Indore-born batter Rajat Patidar proved how the talent scouts hunting for gifted players were wrong in their assessment of his class and calibre. Even the United Spirits owned Royal Challengers Bangalore, which played him in four matches in season 2021 did not have a second look at him at the auction. But ‘kismet’ has its own ways to bring luck for a player. RCB chose the Madhya Pradesh bombarder as a replacement for the injured Luvnith Sisodia after the league had got off the ground and RCB had lost two matches. Being an uncapped player (not played for India in any format), the CTC to the Bangalore franchise was a meagre Rs 20 lakh. Patidar showed glimpses of his hitting ability in six matches before blasting away to glory with a 54 ball unconquered 112 with 7x6s and 5x4s. The Return of Investment on a start-up like player was humongous; the RCB eliminated the RP-Sanjiv Goenka group owned Lucknow Super Giants from the playoffs and got within striking distance of the title match. Former England captain and a busybee on Twitter, Michael Vaughan, described Patidar’s match-winning knock as: “Talk about producing when it really counts…incredible.” A discard at the IPL auction, Patidar became overnight famous with a gem of a knock.
Cinema-goers in Tamil Nadu are eagerly awaiting the September release of Mani Ratnam’s magnum opus, Ponniyin Selvan, the five part literary Tamil classic of late Kalki. But the Kollywood chatter tower is abuzz with speculation that the film release date may be delayed. Reason: AR Rahman wanted some parts of the movie to be reshot, more to align with his music, as he is not happy with how some scenes might sync with his captivating music. Kollywood is shocked. Mani Ratnam, the master of cinematic excellence must have never encountered such requests. He is well known for his creative collaboration, not disruptive collision. It is also hard to believe that Oscar winner Rahman would interfere in Ratnam’s creativity. With an ensemble cast of Aishwarya Rai (playing the lead), Trisha, Vikram, Karthi, Jayam Ravi, Sarath Kumar, Keerthi Suresh, and Prakash Raj, one would think Ratnam had enough divas to choreograph, and conjure that magic to the screen with his stamp of class even for the mass. Meanwhile, Mani Ratnam fans are keen awaiting the release of the first Part 1 this September and they are sure it will be a rewarding experience. And everybody knows such hiccups apart, once the film is screened Mani Ratnam’s signature will be all over.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s new dream is to make Odisha India’s aluminium capital and the global aluminium hub. Not without reason too. The state enjoys the true boast of 54% of the aluminium smelting capacity through NALCO, Vedanta and Aditya Birla manufacturing units in India. Of course, this is backed by the state’s rich reserve of 2 billion tonnes of bauxite. NALCO has already chalked out an investment outlay of Rs 30,000 crore towards expansion and diversification to be completed by 2027-28. It has also entered into a JV with the state-owned Industrial Development Corporation to set up a state-of-the-art Aluminium Park in Anugul costing Rs 428.95 crore, estimated completion by 2023-24. The Aluminium Park located next to NALCO’s plant will promote downstream aluminium industries with common facilities including logistics, testing, simulation, prototype development and skill development facilities. Joining the chorus is Anil Agarwal of the Vedanta Group that is also planning a Rs 10,000 crore investment to set up an Aluminium Park at Jharsuguda in Odisha to bring in SMEs and MSMEs under one single roof so they can procure the hot metal from Vedanta. With Patnaik transforming the state, Odisha has emerged as the new investment destination of India.
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.