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Last week, as Congress leaders protested against Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s so-called “anti-Ambedkar” remark in Rajya Sabha, Rahul Gandhi joined his party MPs in a blue T-shirt, giving up his trademark white polo T-shirt. His sister Priyanka also twinned with him wearing a blue sari. Clearly the Gandhi siblings opted to go for a very visual protest against Shah’s remarks. The choice of the colour of clothes of the Leader of Opposition (LoP) — usually spotted donning plain white T-shirts raised eyebrows. The colour blue has been associated with Dalit politics since 1942, when Dr BR Ambedkar established the Scheduled Castes Federation to campaign for the rights of the Dalit community. The body adopted a blue flag featuring Ashok Chakra. The flag was later retained by the Republican Party of India (RPI), founded by Ambedkar in 1956. Over time, blue became very closely associated with Dalit identity and activism. Even political parties like the Bahujan Samaj Party and the ASP, which champions Dalit welfare, embraced blue colour in their branding. As the Gandhi siblings lead the protest, it was the choice of colour of their clothes that caught everyone’s attention!
The Winter Session which saw a two-day discussion on the 75th anniversary of the Constitution and introduction of One Nation One Election (ONOE) Bill has come to a close. It brought out sharp divisions over discussions and bills at least in two political parties — the Congress and DMK. In the Congress, if a first term MP Priyanka Vadra was seen opening the discussion on the Constitution in the Lok Sabha, for some reason senior leader and eminent lawyer P Chidambaram did not get an opportunity to have his say about the Constitution in the Rajya Sabha. In the DMK, there was a clear division of views between the DMK parliamentary party leader TR Baalu and deputy leader Kanimozhi. While Baalu endorsed the government’s offer to refer the Bill to the Joint Parliamentary Committee, Kanimozhi seemed completely surprised by his stand and insisted that her party was opposed to the Bill and demanded its withdrawal.”DMK has consistently opposed the entire Bill. We do not accept that there can be ONOE because it is against the Constitution. It is against federal rights and it is against the will of the people. People choose state governments for 5 years, I don’t think you can take that right away from the people and give it to the EC to decide how many years governments can last or not. So, this is completely against the state, against federalism” said Kanimozhi. While her stand reflects TN assembly resolution passed in February against ONOE Bill this year, the media is awash with reports about how her late father Kalaignar M Karunanidhi had highlighted the benefits of simultaneous polls in his autobiography Nenjuku Neethi. Incidentally, Karunanidhi had advanced state polls to 1971 to coincide with LS polls.
The Thursday (Dec 19) visit of BJP and Shiv Sena (Shinde) MLAs to the RSS headquarters in Nagpur has become a hot political topic though there are other reasons, too, for intense politicking. Firstly, the MLAs belonging to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar did not join the event. Secondly, those disgruntled due to their non-inclusion in the council of ministers have started expressing their anger openly. Like earlier two occasions, Ajit Pawar and most of his followers distanced themselves from the visit organized by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. The presence of former CM Eknath Shinde and his MLAs proved to be another highlight. However, the discontent brewing within Mahayuti on other counts is now becoming more vocal. Political heavyweight Chhagan Bhujbal was the first to articulate it. His open criticism of Ajit Pawar surprised many since he had stayed by the side of Pawar all through. Now, there are reports that some of Bhujbal’s supporters want him to join the BJP to end his political wilderness. So far, Bhujbal has maintained that he is with the NCP (Ajit). The other notable leader to become the subject of political speculation is the legislative council’s deputy chairperson Neelam Gorhe. Her detractors, mainly the recent Sena (UBT) entrant Sushama Andhare, have started hinting at Gorhe’s plans to go with the BJP. Gorhe, too, has not reacted to the talk. Ajit’s sudden disappearance for two days from the winter session only added grist to the grapevine. His explanation that he was down with a throat infection is hardly swallowed. More murmurs are expected to be heard once Fadnavis announces the allocation of the portfolios.
The Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray has started preparing for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) election, expected to take place early next year. This will be the fight for political survival for Thackeray because the Sena has been in power in India’s richest civic body since 1985. Taking stock of the situation, other political parties, too, have begun their planning. The picture this time will be fundamentally different since the BJP has emerged as the largest party in the state after the assembly election. Its estrangement with the Sena (UBT), which split in 2022 owing to Eknath Shinde’s decision to walk out of it, will be a major factor in the coming election in which the Congress will be an insignificant player, given its lacklustre performance in Mumbai and the state as a whole. Equally exasperating is the condition of the state Congress committee as its president Nana Patole is perceived as an ineffective leader by the rank and file. The BMC’s last election saw the Sena winning 84 seats in the 227-member house while the BJP had captured 82. Owing to the alliance ethics, the BJP had made no effort to bag the mayoralty of the financial capital of India. However, the BJP is not prepared to take any chance this time and a decision about its Mumbai president is likely to be taken soon. Sitting chief Ashish Shelar is among the hopefuls though his inclusion in the council of ministers could be a decisive factor in the final choice.
This was to happen one day or the other with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) putting its foot down saying it will not send its national teams to India for any signature event of the ICC, like the World Cups in the two formats in men, women and the juniors. This was the PCB’s riposte to the long-standing BCCI position — citing security concerns — that it will not send its team across the border for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and that it will play only at a neutral venue. For three World Test Championship (WTC) the two nations have taken themselves off the Future Tours Programme (FTP). The cricketers of the two countries may enjoy good relationships when they lock horns in neutral country venues and have fans across the border, but the Indian government has been steadfast in denying permission to the BCCI. The latest communication from the ICC has confirmed that in the 2024-2027 cycle all ICC events given to India and Pakistan, the matches featuring the two countries will be held at a neutral country chosen by the host country; in the Champions Trophy case the PCB is the host. What all this means is the elimination of high security arrangements that India had to do when Pakistan played last year’s World Cup matches in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai and Kolkata. It took hard bargaining by the PCB with the ICC — with Jay Shah in Chair since December 1, 2024 — for it to agree to a hybrid model in order to ensure that it remains the host in a neutral country venue as well and where India will play and this country is said to be the United Arab Emirates.
The massive success of Pushpa 2, has reignited the debate over screen allocation in West Bengal’s single-screen theatres. While the blockbuster continues to dominate the box office, its stronghold has created challenges for four Bengali films— Khadaan, Shontaan, Chaalchitro, and 5 No. Swapnamoy Lane—which targeted Christmas Day for their releases. The overlap has sparked a heated controversy over securing adequate slots in single-screen theatres, which remain a key audience base for Bengali cinema. Single-screen theatres across Bengal are grappling with the balancing act of accommodating these films while catering to the massive demand for Pushpa 2. Tollywood’s Christmas lineup has been significantly impacted, with producer-actor Dev expressing frustration on social media. He alleged that Khadan’s shows and advance bookings were disrupted due to the overwhelming presence of Pushpa 2. Arijit Dutta, owner of Priya Theatre, reported dividing slots among the films: Khadaan (two shows), Chaalchitro (one), 5 No. Swapnamoy Lane (one), and Pushpa 2 (one). However, veteran actor Mithun Chakraborty’s Shontaan was left out entirely, sparking outrage from its director Raj Chakraborty, who criticized the lack of consistent support for Bengali cinema. A distributor, speaking anonymously, blamed the simultaneous release of multiple Bengali films during the festive season, suggesting a lack of coordination among producers. He pointed to Bollywood’s strategy of staggering releases as a model Tollywood could emulate. Star Theatre owner Joydeep Mukherjee called for better planning within the Bengali film industry to avoid internal competition. Interestingly, allegations have resurfaced about Shontaan‘s producer, pressuring hall owners to prioritize its films. This history has led some distributors to side with independent producers in the current clash.
Sunday’s swearing in of 33 (16:9:8 ratio for BJP, Shiv Sena, NCP respectively) mostly young cabinet ministers in CM Devendra Fadnavis’ 3.0 government was not followed up by expected portfolio allocations even late Thursday (Dec 19). The unrelenting clamour for one specific portfolio by a senior BJP minister-in-waiting (in apparent conflict of interest), aspiration to improve upon earlier performance in power sector by another are in the open awaiting the Maha Chanakya to coolly decide upon. Scribes housed at the state government ‘Suyog’ facility within the Family court premises near Vidhan Bhavan enjoy the Nagpur chill over familial evenings at ‘Sneh Bojans’ hosted by these as-yet ‘Anamika’ ministers. DCM Eknath Shinde’s camp brews hostility from left out veteran MLAs and cherry-picking ministers-in-waiting who threaten boiling point anytime soon. This is unlike the chill that has set upon the near deserted NCP office at Vidhan Bhavan sans activity, notwithstanding the bustling beehive of activity right outside and within the state legislature that is hosting its winter session. It is probably the first time in Maharashtra’s political history for such an ongoing legislature session without specifically assigned ministers manning questions on the floor of the state assembly and council while responding to public interest issues of state. For now, all portfolios rest with CM Fadnavis. NCP veteran Chhagan Bhujbal, Sena’s Tanaji Sawant complain vociferously from out in the cold even as some BJP MLAs rue their bad luck despite winning big in Mumbai city where the richest civic body will face the hustings very soon.
The events outside Parliament House that led to injuries to two BJP MPs was best summed up by FM Nirmala Sitharaman in her X post. She explained how “During the INDI Alliance’s protest inside Parliament premises today, Rahul Gandhi had forcefully pushed an MP, causing a domino effect that injured 2 BJP MPs –Pratap Sarangi (Balasore, Odisha) and Mukesh Rajput (Farrukhabad, UP)” Both the MPs are now hospitalised as they have sustained head injuries. Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan was surprised that the Congress had so far not even bothered to say sorry. “I was wondering what was the purpose of Kharge-Rahul Gandhi’s presser, if they can’t say sorry. Our Nagaland MP, a tribal woman leader Phangnon Konyak had voiced discomfort that was caused to her by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.” She has written a letter to the RS Chairman. Adding further he said, “We feel Rahul simply does not deserve to be the LoP. When the Opposition is holding a protest, we usually take another gate. What was the need for Rahul Gandhi to wade into the area where BJP MPs were standing? He should simply quit as LoP.” BJP MPs including Anurag Thakur and Bansuri Swaraj filed a complaint against Rahul Gandhi at the Parliament Street Police station in connection with the scuffle between Opposition and NDA MPs. It is learnt that security forces repeatedly requested the Congress MP to use an alternative path, specifically arranged for a peaceful entry into Parliament. However, Rahul Gandhi declined the request. BJP’s Thakur said “The kind of attitude Rahul Gandhi has, he thinks he is above the law.” Responding to the allegations, Rahul said BJP MPs were trying to stop him and were threatening him “
Home Minister Amit Shah whose intervention in discussions on the 75th anniversary of the Constitution sparked off a row and seemed to have majorly united the Opposition. Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge charged him of insulting Dr BR Ambedkar.. He accused his rivals of being “anti-Ambedkar” and “anti-Constitution”, and “spreading lies”. In his concluding remarks in the Rajya Sabha, Shah sarcastically said, “It has become the fashion to say ‘Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar…’ If they (the opposition) took God’s name so many times, they will get a place in heaven.” At a Press Conference, he charged the Congress of distorting his comments in the Rajya Sabha saying the Congress had put out an edited version of his speech. “I come from a party which follows the ideals of Ambedkar,” asserted Shah.” Rebuffing calls for his resignation by Kharge, Shah made it clear that he had no intention of stepping down. “Kharge is asking for my resignation. If that will make him feel happy, then I’ll give it. But the Congress has to sit in the opposition for at least 15 more years. “In an unusual move — perhaps underlining the impact of the Opposition’s attack on this issue — PM Modi and senior ministers rallied behind Shah. “If the Congress and its rotten ecosystem think malicious lies can hide their misdeeds of several years, especially their insult towards Dr Ambedkar, they are gravely mistaken!” said PM Modi. Amidst this, PM Modi and Shah met Rahul Gandhi and Kharge to appoint the next NHRC chief. TMC leader Derek O’Brien has moved a privilege notice against Shah in the Rajya Sabha for his remarks on Dr Ambedkar.
Ravichandran Ashwin was adroit in bowling the carom or knuckle ball or the doosra, but on Wednesday afternoon, Brisbane time, the nonconformist off-spinner of 13 years in the big league of the game deployed the “bombshell” to bring an end to his illustrious career. At the conclusion of the rain-marred third Test at the Gabba, the finger spinner with a few sobriquets, “scientist” being the most used among the media, Ashwin sitting beside his beleaguered captain, Rohit Sharma, matter of fact said: Today (Wednesday, December 18) was his last day as an international cricketer across formats and that he will be seen in action in club cricket, meaning IPL etc. The seasoned campaigner, starting his Test career in November 2011, was capped 106 times, and he missed 25 Tests after his debut; he featured in 61 wins, 47@home and 14 overseas. He read the writing on the wall about him losing the primacy as the No 1 spinner of the team in flannels after Washington Sundar was chosen for the first Test in Perth. Then being dropped to bring in Ravindra Jadeja for the third Test in Brisbane convinced him that his time was up…to hang up his boots. The home series against New Zealand that India lost 3-0 was a bitter pill to swallow for him. His numbers — 765 wickets in the three formats, including 537 wickets in Tests alone speaks of his right to be called a legend. It was a bold, practical call to take a bow while not in the field and that was an unhappy part that Indian cricket could not give one of its icons a fitting farewell. Ashwin has perhaps shown the way for a few more to bid adieu, sooner than later! They are over the hill, indeed.
It seemed odd when Congress leader Jairam Ramesh posted a cryptic tweet “Right thing to do. He wants to be Azad, not (a) Gulam”, while also lauding former West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya who refused to accept the Padma Bhushan award. Incidentally, the award was announced only after getting due approval from the recipient. The Union Home Secretary had spoken to Bhattacharya’s wife who said “thanks.” Strangely Jairam politicised the award given to his senior party colleague Ghulam Nabi Azad but, had no issues when the Modi Government conferred the Padma Bhushan posthumously upon another Congress veteran Tarun Gogoi, the longest serving Chief Minister of Assam just a year ago in 2021. That announcement was made before the Assam assembly elections too. While honouring leaders from across the political aisle, Modi only emulated his predecessors PV Narasimha Rao and Dr Manmohan Singh. Rao honoured Morarji Desai with the Bharat Ratna and the UPA Government honoured Brajesh Mishra with the Padma Vibhushan. The award came on the day the Congress designated Azad on the list of star campaigners for Uttar Pradesh. Interestingly, other party colleagues Kapil Sibal, Anand Sharma, Manish Tewari and Shashi Tharoor welcomed the move. Was Jairam taking an aggressive stand because his RS term from Karnataka is coming to an end in July? Quite possibly.
After India’s one-day international (ODI) fortunes took a hit in the Krugerrand country recently, ‘Chinaman’ practitioner (left-arm leg spin and googly bowler) Kuldeep Yadav got a call up, to swing matches back in its favour, for the three-match home series against the West Indies in early February. Under skipper KL Rahul, India lost 0-3 to South Africa at Paarl and in Cape Town but, under fit-again captain Rohit Sharma, it will look to put it across the West Indies on the slow turners of the Motera venue in Ahmedabad, renamed as Narendra Modi Stadium. The unorthodox Yadav — who earned the sobriquet, Kulcha, bowling in tandem with right-hand leg spinner, Yuzvendra Chahal — was soundly thrashed by England batters in March 2021 on the flat tracks of Gahunje (Pune) off the Expressway. He went for 0/68 and 0/84 against England and when recalled for the series in Sri Lanka, he returned 2/48 and 0/55 at Colombo in July last. Yadav, after three very successful years in 2017 (22 wkts at 24.77), 2018 (45 at 17.78) and 2019 (32 at 34.69) has been on a downhill in the pandemic years. Now the selectors expect the Uttar Pradesh tweaker to tease and torment the carefree West Indian batters. He has taken 24 wickets at 24.92 in 15 ODIs against the West Indies from 2017 to 2019.
What does holding one-fifth stake in a company mean to the strategic investor? Wielding major influence on the running of the enterprise? Well, it depends on variable factors. Some investors are just happy to park their funds and, earn rich dividends as income. Others, however, seek a more active role in the running of operational affairs. More than anything else, the nature of the enterprise itself defines the role of a one-fifth shareholder. An equity stake of 21.28%, as on September 30, 2021, made DMart’s founder Radhakishan Damani a significant player in The India Cements business. The promoter group – N Srinivasan family — holds a 28.42% stake in the company. Operating a cement enterprise is no kids’ play. Given the very nature of the operating environment, the cement business makes for a heady cocktail which needs a customised management to run the enterprise. Also, the rough and tumble playground requires a combination of native intelligence and deep marketing mind as sine qua non to safely and securely navigate the playing fields. That is a catch that the Damanis appear to fully understand as also, India Cement’s illustrious history. The indefatigable never-say-die spirit of N Srinivasan at the helm with near-term excitements aplenty will make for a fascinating long-haul story! One thing is for sure, however. It is only headed for more interesting times.
What is the difference between a shrimp and prawn? The simple answer: both belong to different suborders of Decapoda, but are very similar in appearance and the terms are often used interchangeably in commercial farming and wild fisheries. Kings Infra Venture Ltd has gone a step further in dispelling another common notion: that prawns are bigger than shrimp. The Kochi-headquartered company has just created a world record by growing 80-gm L Vannamei shrimps – better known as the whiteleg shrimp – in its pond. These measure 210 mm, against a record of 230 mm in the ocean. Kings Infra – earlier Victory Aqua Farm – is looking at its shrimps attracting a premium in both domestic and international markets by providing sustainability and traceability certifications. This is special because Greenpeace International had added the whiteleg shrimp to its seafood ‘red list’ in 2010 with its risk of being sourced from unsustainable fisheries which contribute to the destruction of vast areas of mangroves. Explaining that the record-breaking growth was achieved in normal earthen ponds by applying proprietary protocols developed by his company’s R&D wing, Chairman & Managing Director Shaji Baby John says: “Being a technology-driven sustainable aquaculture company, we used only antibiotic-free feed, probiotics, and natural supplements including ingredients like curd, jaggery, turmeric, moringa leaves, garlic and tamarind regularly to improve immunity, disease resistance and growth rates.”
The exit of RPN Singh from Congress was anticipated, though the party officially called him a “coward”. Now it is left with only three MLAs in UP. A former Union Minister, RPN was apparently upset over the raw deal from the Gandhi siblings even after wresting Jharkhand from the BJP in 2019. A Doon School alumnus, he had high expectations from fellow schoolmate Rahul Gandhi but got only disappointment even as juniors like Ajay Maken and KC Venugopal were promoted as AICC general secretaries, while he remained AICC-in-charge till his last day. His aspiration for a Rajya Sabha seat was dashed by Venugopal getting the slot. The current developments were in stark contrast to the times when RPN first got elected as Lok Sabha MP from Padrauna in 2009. Then he received a lot of attention from Rahul Gandhi and was made Minister of State in Manmohan Singh’s Government. As for his future in the BJP, it is not clear what it holds? His contesting the Padrauna assembly seat is not certain, as he had won from there 12 years ago. However, his BJP entry has unnerved another key contestant: Swami Prasad Maurya. The latest buzz is the Congress may also lose another prominent leader Pramod Tewari and daughter Aradhana Mishra in two.
Getting a steady supply of drinking water is a problem not only in the most backward areas of any country, but in modern facilities, too. One such place has been the Mumbai High oil drilling platforms in the Arabian Sea. The offshore oilfield, about 75 metre deep in the water, was discovered in 1974 and the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) pumps up about 12 million metric tonnes (MMt) of oil a year from the 1,659 MMt the oilfield holds. The supply of drinking water for the officials and crew manning the drilling platforms 176 km away from Mumbai, however, has been a logistical challenge since production began in 1976. No longer: Maithri Aquatech, a Hyderabad-headquartered manufacturer of atmospheric water generators, has installed its machines on the oil rigs. “These are the first installations of their kind in the world!” says an excited Ramkrishna Mukkavilli, founder-chairman of Maithri, which has set up four AWGs after winning an ONGC tender. The entire system for these machines – which cost about Rs15 lakh each against the normal ones at Rs10 lakh – had to be specially designed to suit the conditions, Ramkrishna explains. The evaporation coils needed to be strong enough that they wouldn’t get blown away in the high wind velocity of nearly 150-180 kmph, while the entire machine was made of stainless steel to resist seawater corrosion.
The heart-breaking quest for jobs, both in the private and public space is now taking a dramatic turn from “gimme a job” to giving jobs thanks to the fast changing ecosystem of startups. Tamil Nadu for long the incubator of research through its IIT (M), and tech centres of learning has set an ambitious course to churn up the environment for creative startups. Leading the change is Shivarajah Ramanathan CEO, TN Startup innovations Mission. He is now eyeing the Trillion dollar dream of incubating viable ventures that are fair and inclusive. IIT-Madras Gopal Deshpande Centre (GDC) has set a flight path for youth to take wings, “nurture research for world class startups.“ Dr Gururaj Deshpande and Kris Gopalakrishnan (Infosys) are mentoring IIT Alumni to commercialise research. The theme, global think for local needs. GDC designed a very rugged boot camp of 8 weeks duration for investors and innovators. Eleven teams form a cohort, and each team is mentored to test the strength of the ideas. CMO of one such team, Suresh Srinivasan is upbeat about the National Award won by Zentron Labs, a post-harvest startup. The company has developed Hortisort, India’s first high-speed optical fruit grading system that sorts Apples, Oranges, Mangoes, Guavas by colour, weight, quality and freshness. This business plan of integrating technology is a boon for horticulturists. Who says don’t compare apples and oranges?
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Jagan Mohan Reddy, on the back of his election promise, has got cabinet approval to carve out 13 new districts in the state each with its own swanky airport, to be completed by the Telugu New Year in April. With the AP economy burdened by people’s rising expectations, Jagan made a slew of announcements to keep people engaged and combat the building opposition onslaught about the state’s progress into an irreversible debt trap, sans any viable revenue generation scope. The joke doing the rounds of the state secretariat is that ‘Andhra Pradesh has turned into ‘Andhera Pradesh’. This probably explains why Jagan announced the development plans on January 21, 2022, pitching for the ‘One District One Airport” initiative and directed officials of the Infrastructure and Investments (I and I) department to expedite the development of the airports in all the 13 new districts of the state including, seven new airports in districts bereft of an airport as of today. Jagan is pulling out all the stops to get the Andhra economy back on track and, also plans to speak to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking central assistance and the speedy clearance of pending projects. Jagan’s, and Andhra Pradesh’s future depends on how the beleaguered state’s turnaround comes about.
Age is just a number. But only for the fortunate few in cricket who continue to defy age – like 40-year-old MS Dhoni’s Dad’s Army winning IPL 2021 or Sachin Tendulkar’s masterclass in World Cup 2011 at the age of 38. For most, Age is the moment of Truth that could end their illustrious career. Sunil Gavaskar’s recent suggestion to make 24-year-old Rishabh Pant India’s Test captain; and earlier Virat Kohli’s wish (after the T20WC 2021) to have KL Rahul as vice-captain in ODIs while Rishabh Pant in T20Is have clear bias against the undisputed contender: Rohit Sharma, on account of his age. While the suspense over who will succeed Kohli as India’s Test captain continues, Sharma, 34, has started building the ODI team for World Cup 2023 – beginning with the home series against West Indies on February 6. Shikhar Dhawan, 36, is there too, bringing his heroics of three centuries in World Cup ODIs to complement Hitman’s six centuries, including five in WC2019. What Team India – with eight players aged above or around 30 — may now need are batters to cross the finish line: like in WC2011, Suresh Raina scoring 34 (28 b) with Yuvraj Singh 57 (65 b) to take match away from Australia in the QF. More than age talk, what’s needed is Fitness & Form – and a clear ability to perform in knockout matches.
From contemplating a degree in nuclear physics to wielding a megaphone is Rahul Rawail’s initial confession. In his book, Raj Kapoor: The Master at Work Rawail reveals about his visit to the big top with his school buddy Rishi Kapoor to ogle at Russian circus artistes who were participating in the shoot of Mera Naam Joker directed by the Showman Raj Kapoor. His family’s Bollywood connection (Father H S Rawail was a famous film maker) lands him an internship for the filming which melds into a coveted assistant’s job with RK. His sojourn with RK begins with the studio’s biggest flop and gets cemented with its hugest hit Bobby worth a lifetime of experience. He gives a ringside view into the making of these blockbusters and this is the most valuable part of the book where he shares intimate nuggets and anecdotes. There are stories about the Showman himself and other larger than life characters like Premnath whose bizarre antics are gleefully related. The legendary gourmet tastes of RK and his love of good food and drink are peppered throughout the book. Ultimately Rawail would go on to direct his own film for RK called Biwi O Biwi before embarking on his solo career which included blockbusters like Love Story, Betaab, Arjun to name a few. Rawail remains an important bridge between the movie moguls of the sixties and the present day.
The Chennai-based ePlane Company, which provides electrically-operated air taxis for intra-city commutes, announced last week that it has raised $ 5 million in seed funding. The company, founded by Prof Satyanarayanan Chakravarthy with Pranjal, one of his engineering students at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, said it would use the funds to hire top talent, conduct R&D and continue to work for air-worthiness certification for its pollution-free small aircraft. An analysis conducted on the business of urban air mobility and electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (VETO) by JP Morgan Securities LLC describes the sectors as “nascent, with big potential”. These markets, it says, can change the way people travel – but they are, for the most part, new markets with a lot to prove. US-based Dr Aravind Melligeri, Chairman & CEO of Aequs Inc which manufactures about 3,000 different types of products at its aerospace facility in Belgavi, Karnataka for aircraft makers and others – was too far ahead of his time for small aeroplanes which he had launched for personal use more than a decade ago. “The winner takes the most in this business,” he says. “When the dust settles in this space, we will have one or two left globally and several in the graveyard.”
It would be most ironic if a businessman of Indian origin were to become the Prime Minister of Britain. A payback for three centuries of rule by the East India Company and the queens and kings of England, some might say. Rishi Sunak, son-in-law of India’s tech czar NR Narayana Murthy of Infosys, and Chancellor during the difficult pandemic years, was the bookie’s favourite to take over from Boris Johnson if the latter were to be called to account by Tory MPs. Sunak, whose image has been taking a beating lately because of runaway inflation and high taxes, was considered to be ahead of Liz Truss, the foreign minister, as he had picked up a reputation for smart management of the economy when he unfurled big spending support when the pandemic raged. But his lukewarm support of his beleaguered Prime Minister during the ‘Partygate’ scandal may not have impressed many. But Liz took off to Australia while Sunak sat by BoJo’s side during a difficult PMQ hour in Parliament. One of the richest MPs whose business links might come in for scrutiny if he vaults into the top job, Sunak is in for a big fight with Liz. An influential Indian origin community in Britain would be rooting for him.
Marriage has turned into one of the most fragile institutions in today’s fast paced world. Celebrity marriages more so, as frothy as Frappuccino. Dhanush and Aishwaryaa’s divorce announcement kicked up a storm of reactions both, for and against either spouse. If one were to believe all that cine raconteur and newscaster Bayilvan Ranganathan spouts over multiple filmi YouTube channels, the salacious gossip would put even the most notorious Hollywood philanderers to shame. Without making a direct reference to Dhanush’s multiple liaisons, he simply terms these as Body Demands! Even when Aishwaryaa directed Dhanush in a movie, his dalliance with Shruti Haasan apparently rang alarm bells for their high-profile parents Rajinikant and Kamal Haasan. Similar was his so-called veering off course with Amala Paul, TV anchor Deva Dharshini, Sonia Agarwal and, even Sara Ali Khan after his latest movie Atrangi Re. Aishwaryaa is not spared by the chin wags either. She allegedly married Dhanush on the rebound, made little effort to bond with his family, spent most of her time at her parent’s place, and would not let go of her high profile image as Rajini’s ladli Beti. So who is to be blamed for this marital collapse? Nobody. Clearly, two mature adults exercised the civilized, modern day exit out of a bad marriage –splitsville.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi plans to unveil a fixated hologram statue of Netaji Subash Chandra Bose at India Gate before Republic Day on January 23, till a grand statue of Bose is complete and installed at the same site. Marking the 125th birth anniversary of Bose, this grand gesture by the Government is likely to silence the Opposition that criticized the decision to shift Amar Jawan Jyoti or the “eternal flame” for soldiers from India Gate to the National War Memorial (NWM) built in 2019 at a cost of Rs 176 crore. “It gives me great satisfaction that the eternal flame of Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate is being merged with the NWM. As someone who had steered the design selection and construction of NWM, I’d been of this view all along,” tweeted Lt Gen Satish Dua. India Gate was built by the British in memoriam of soldiers of the British Indian Army who died in World War-I. The Amar Jawan Jyoti was placed under the India Gate in 1971 by former PM Indira Gandhi but names inscribed on India Gate were not of martyrs of the 1971 war. Targeting the Opposition, sources term it “ironic” that people who did not make a NWM for seven decades were protesting now, “when a permanent and fitting tribute is being made to our martyrs”.
India will play its 1000th ODI when It takes on the West Indies in a match up on February 6. It will be the first among 25 International Cricket Council accredited countries to reach this significant milestone. India played its 997th match against South Africa at Paarl and will play the 998th and 999th in the rainbow nation as well. India played its first ODI against England at Headingley back in 1974 and, over the last 51 years has become a force to reckon with, winning two World Cups under Kapil Dev (1983) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (2011) as captains respectively. India also won the World Championship of Cricket under Sunil Gavaskar’s captaincy in Australia in 1985. Up till its 998th match, India has won 518, lost 429, tied 9 and was involved in 41 abandoned matches. Australia has played 958 and Pakistan 936. Fifty-one years ago on January 5, 1971, Australian cricket officials set up the first ODI between Australia and England after the first three days of the Ashes Test was rained off. ODI cricket has evolved rapidly since then. When coloured clothing was introduced in the 1990s, the purists’ frowned and dubbed it as pajama cricket, but the short format of the game enjoys a humongous following in the Commonwealth. Now it has found an even more popular cousin in Twenty20!
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate is a law unto herself in the party’s media department and, not resented for her earlier television avatar as anchor but, her unlimited access to the Gandhis — both Priyanka and Rahul. When former Finance Minister P Chidambaram ticked her off for a faulty briefing on financial issues, asking her to steer clear of matters economy hereon, Shrinate flaunted her stint as “successful anchor” on ET Now (she had quit and contested as Congress candidate from UP in 2019) and, rudely asked Chidambaram not to tutor her on India’s economy. Several Congress leaders await a chance to put her down. Shrinate lost the Lok Sabha seat but, with Priyanka’s blessings, may get yet another shot to fight for the UP assembly. Meanwhile, none of the eminent Congress lawyers stood up to defend their then Manmohan Singh headed Government after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman dubbed the 2005 Antrix-Devas agreement a “fraud of the Congress, by the Congress, for the Congress”. Sitaraman’s comments came after the Supreme Court upheld the NCLT order to wind up Devas Multimedia and she said rare S-band spectrum was allocated for a “pittance” under the Antrix-Devas deal. Senior lawyers like Abhishek Singhvi, Salman Khurshid and Kapil Sibal seem all too busy to “counter” India’s FM in defence of the erstwhile PM.
In Goa’s assembly elections everyone is targeting outlier Goa Forward Party (GFP) chief Vijay Sardesai. From the manner in which the Trinamool Congress (TMC) fielded its Rajya Sabha MP Luizinho Faleiro from Fatorda to take on Sardesai, it does seem like Mamata Banerjee’s team is trying to take revenge on Sardesai who has aligned with the Congress. Sardesai himself feels the TMC is only trying to “put” pressure on him for a renegotiation. Unlike his assessment, however, the Trinamool appears to have forced Faleiro to contest the assembly elections from an unfamiliar seat. Apparently the TMC’s Bengal cadre was unhappy when Faleiro was given TMC’s Rajya Sabha nomination. Incidentally, the former Goa CM is not contesting from his traditional seat of Navelim and, his seat was allotted to Valenka Alemao, daughter of former NCP leader Churchil Alemao, who has joined TMC. Did the BJP, whose government Vijay has supported all these years, treated him any better? Of course not! The ruling party snatched his sitting MLA, Jayesh Salgaonkar and then fielded him from Saligao. “I contested four seats in 2017, won three,” recalls Vijay with pride. If one migrated to the BJP, he lost the other seat to a Congress ally. The Congress has fielded Delailah Lobo, wife of Minister Michael Lobo from Siolim, a seat GFP won in 2017. Lobo defected to Congress recently.
Prior to crucial assembly polls in five states, the Election Commission of India raised the ceiling on poll-related expenditure by candidates from the existing Rs 20 lakh to Rs 28 lakh and, from Rs 28 lakh to Rs 40 lakh in states and Union territories. “These hikes in expense limits by the EC are a farce…they spend far beyond the (prescribed) statutory limit. Former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee himself said this,” points out Prof Jagdeep Chokkar of Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR). Quoting a study of election expenditure affidavits of 5,743 candidates of the 2009 Lok Sabha elections that ADR did, Chokkar recalls that only 4 candidates had declared expenditure above the then permitted limit of Rs 25 lakh; 30 candidates had spent between 95%-100 % of their limit. The remaining (5,743-4-30= 5,719) or 99.58% said they had spent between 45%-55% of the limit. Four years later a senior (late) Maharashtra BJP leader publicly stated that between Rs 8-10 crore was the actual cost of fighting each Lok Sabha seat in 2009 when the prescribed limit was Rs 25 lakhs. The same leader had declared in his sworn affidavit that his actual expenditure was Rs 19.63 lakh. Limiting individual expenditure of candidates by itself, serves little purpose. “The elephant in the room is — there is no cap on expenditure that political parties can incur”.
The Rahuls are the ones in charge of transition as Team India moves on from the Virat Kohli era. KL, the opener-captain of the ODI team, and Dravid, the coach, will be ushering in the fresh start. The alarm bells must be ringing in those who were given a long rope when Shastri-Kohli were in charge. Work ethic will have a very high value. There will be no more pampering of seniors and whenever Test matches come along both Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara can expect no more favours. Rishabh Pant may have got a renewed lease of life with his classy century marked by great discipline at the crease but he too can expect none of the old licence with Dravid in charge. Total commitment to the team cause would be the new mantra and anyone fed a false sense of confidence will know that everyone will be on trial from here on. Dravid will be the toughest task master because he was a cricketer who drove himself on in his career and his Karnataka mate Lokesh would know that very well. Committed cricketers will have a better chance as performance will count for more than players strutting about on their assumed potential. A new Team India is in the making.
With the five-year terms of India’s President and Vice President ending this July, rumour mills have gone into overdrive over likely successors respectively. And yet, political stakeholders know full well it is near impossible to predict Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Delhi-based senior journalist R Rajagopalan says an “informal, unofficial” committee (read think tank) was formed including Union Ministers, Bhupendra Yadav, Piyush Goyal and Nitin Gadkari to scope out all aspects, however, weighty as may be. How will the current selection process differ from the 2017 President and Vice President elections? On the political front now, the Shiv Sena and Akali Dal are no longer allies of BJP, the J&K Assembly is non-existent and a weakened AIADMK cannot be counted upon. Wags predict this time it may be a woman from the South? Definitely not Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in such a case, with her long drawn To Do List. Some deduce it could well be Tamilisai Soundararajan, Governor of Telangana and Lieutenant Governor Of Puducherry. Political analysts say the strategy seems fool proof as no party would generally oppose a woman SC candidate. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s name is also doing the rounds while the Grand Old party is mooting Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge’s name.
On the night of January 16, the BJP averted a repeat of the Swami Prasad Maurya moment in UP, being replicated in Uttarakhand by sacking a cabinet minister on the verge of turning rogue. In a pre-emptive strike, Harak Singh Rawat was let go after he hobnobbed with the Congress. He had blackmailed BJP, throwing tantrums over unreasonable demands for MLA seats. He wanted a ticket for daughter-in-law Anukriti from Lansdowne. Then, Rawat pushed the envelope at the late evening cabinet meeting on January 16 over pending approvals for a medical college in his constituency Kotdwar, even threatening to quit. Next, he held talks with Congress leader Pritam Singh and was to join the party on January 17 which the BJP got wind of. After being dumped by BJP, Rawat has cut a sorry figure with the Congress now disinclined to admit him right away. “Till a fortnight back, Harak Rawat was heaping insults on our leader Rahul Gandhi. Why should he get a free pass into the party?” asked a state Congress leader. Those backing former CM Harish Rawat feel the Congress should treat Harak just like Akhilesh Yadav side-lined Imran Masood, who dumped Congress to join the SP. Masood was denied a ticket from Nakur after SP admitted sitting BJP MLA Dharam Singh Saini who had defeated him in the 2017 polls.
If I can be vice-captain, why not be the captain? This line of thought could weigh in the mind of Jasprit Bumrah, a top-notch fast bowler who has captured 109 of his 113 Test wickets overseas. Bumrah, deputy to KL Rahul for the three match ODI series in South Africa averred at a media interaction that he is indeed game for India’s Test captaincy. Bumrah has been India’s linchpin bowler for four years and called upon for select white ball cricket matches. India’s selection committees have been generally conservative and are not inclined to name a specialist bowler as captain. Left-hand spinner Bishan Singh Bedi led India in 22 Tests and off spinner S Venkataraghavan in five Tests. Kapil Dev excelled at his primary work as a fast medium bowler, but he could have walked into the national team as a batter too! Anil Kumble got a late call in his career and he led the country in 14 Tests. As highlighted in these columns recently, India’s captaincy puzzle has taken an unknown contour now with Virat Kohli relinquishing captaincy for good. So who will it be next, the 35th Test captain; fast bowler Pat Cummins led Australia to a resounding 4-0 in the Ashes. Will the BCCI’s selection committee take the cue from Cricket Australia’s move, or will it plump for a batter? Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul are in the short queue!
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.
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.