At the boardroom or playground, the captain’s writ runs large. So, it is no different in the political arena. Nobody respects or admires an indecisive leader. A case in point is the former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is different. He seems to have taken a leaf out of the U.S. President Harry S Truman’s frequently used phrase “the buck stops here.” To ensure that he is always on the top of the situation, everything is routed through the Prime Minister’s Office. So what’s wrong? But, this prime ministerial centric government seems to be getting everybody’s goat. Why?  During UPA I and II everything was routed via Sonia Gandhi’s office. Then everything was centralised with one family; the so called ‘concerned citizens’ did not have any objections. In the corporate world, the shareholders hold Mark Zuckerberg, Mukesh Ambani or Warren Buffett accountable. The buck stops with the CEO. Accountability and responsibility are two sides of the same coin. Are opposition or some of the BJP leaders unhappy with the centralisation of power because they are not able to game the system? Modi seems unperturbed with this surround sound and his latest cabinet reshuffle clearly points out that he means business. The report cards of the ministries and ministers were the deciding factor. Twelve ministers who did not score passing marks were dropped while seven who came out with flying colours were promoted. Besides, 36 new faces or future leaders were inducted. For now, this powerful well-oiled coterie, basically Modi haters, comprising journalists, politicians, bureaucrats, academicians, historians, actors and authors have to twiddle their thumbs because their social media efforts to denigrate him has come to nought. But, they are no quitters. To keep the ember burning they are now heavily tweeting and retweeting about grammatically incorrect language of the new health minister.  Still living the Raj days!

Dilip Kumar was not just a legendary actor but was also a writer and producer who made the blockbuster movie Ganga Jamuna in 1961 and played the title role of Ganga in that film. The heroine was Vyayanthimala. It was a tale of two brothers one — an uneducated, simple human being who is forced by the circumstances to take the law in his own hands and the other Jamuna who is educated, urbanized and who tilts on the side of the law of the land. The movie Ganga Jamuna was inspiration for the famous duo Salim-Javed while scripting for Deewar.  So too it was for Amitabh Bachchan. Well, when Ganga Jamuna was to be released it went to the Censor Board for clearance. They recommended a cut of the scene where Ganga is shot and utters Hey Ram! When asked why should it be cut? The Sarkari Babu said it was Gandhi who uttered Hey Ram…so how can you utter the same words? Dilip Kumar was shocked by his logic and said every Hindu when he dies might utter Hey Ram!  Come to think of it one must admire the creative guys from Bollywood who have had to put up with idiosyncrasies of babus and politicians for decades now.

A deliriously joyful England, if not quite all of the United Kingdom, is preparing for its greatest night out on Sunday after its football team made it to the Euro final. They are talking of a knighthood for manager Gareth Southgate and he could be called “Sir” even if England can’t get past the Italian wall. Harry Kane, who scored the winning goal against Denmark off a penalty kick rebound, and Raheem Sterling, to whose talent Southgate stayed loyal enough to keep him in the starting lineup, are quite the flavour of the season. Even so, it was a questionable penalty award, which stayed despite a second look on VAR after Sterling seemed to go down too readily in the Danish penalty box that made the difference.  England is accustomed to celebrating beyond questionable refereeing decision, including most of all the disputed goal in the 1966 World Cup final when no one is till today sure if the ball actually passed into the net beyond the goal line. The penalty against Denmark was spoiled by one spectator in the stands shining a laser pen at the face of Danish goal keeper Kasper Schmeichel.  As a home final at Wembley nears voices are rising against football jingoism, unleashed at full throttle after months of tight lockdown rules, as booing of the Italian national anthem is feared.

Relocating the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup to the petro-dollar venues in the UAE and Oman from October 17 to November 14, has come as a blow to the BCCI members who were bullish on hosting money-spinning matches. The host associations receive good money per match; for example the Vidarbha Cricket Association received Rs 14 crore for hosting the ICC World Cup in 2011 and Rs 12 crore for hosting the Women’s World Twenty20 in 2016. The BCCI had shortlisted Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Delhi, Dharamshala, Lucknow, Kolkata Ahmedabad and Mumbai for one of ICC’s signature events in October-November. There were reports that the BCCI would eventually whittle down the venues to three, all in West Zone, but with the threat of the third wave of the COVID-19 looming, the BCCI shifted the event to the offshore venues. The Mumbai Cricket Association which received Rs10 crore for hosting 10 IPL-14 matches, Pune and Ahmedabad would have probably lost considerable money for not getting the opportunity to host the World T20 matches, but the former BCCI Secretary, and long-time Secretary of Saurashra Cricket Association, Niranjan Shah said that the  BCCI has been up to date releasing “on account” money till the 2020 fiscal. “We do not know about the bifurcation (IPL and BCCI media rights share),” said Shah. The BCCI has disbursed Rs 50 crore, for two fiscals, to majority of its members.

L Murugan, 44-year old BJP’s points man in Tamil Nadu was the butt of many a joke when he took over as state BJP president.  YouTube shows nicknamed him “L Board” Murugan. When he scripted the Vetri Vel Yathra and took off with an ersatz Vel like Lord Murugan, the chortling was loud enough to make waves of mirth. Such teasing and tongue-in-cheek reactions would have shaken a lesser man. Not L Murugan. Before coming to TN, he was Vice Chairman of the Minority Commission for Scheduled Castes, with a 15 year lawyers’ stint in the High Court. Sent to TN to add sinew to a weak BJP presence, the Dravidian parties could not have anticipated that he could come up with his own formula for “boost as the secret of my energy.” Murugan succeeded in inducting a few high profile wannabes, including Khushboo to BJP. He himself did not win the Assembly seat. But Destiny cannot be denied…. if not a quick gun, Murugan is a pole vaulter. He has bagged a coveted ministry, I&B, with Fisheries & Animal Husbandry, Dairy. Soon, Murugan will have to take on the latest controversy about the changes to the Cinematrography Act, a fiery issue bound to test this legal eagle and his canny brand building. Never judge a book by its cover.

Covid-19 has indeed re-jigged the world of business. And, it has realigned relationships as well in several instances. For some, this has turned out to be a new opportunity. One of the big things that happened last year at India’s largest auto component manufacturer Wheels India was the exit of Titan Europe by selling its stake to TVS group. With its exit, Wheels India, part of the TVS Group, can now sell all its products anywhere it wants. When Titan was around, the Chennai-based company had restrictions on where it could do business. A quarter of its turnover comes from exports. Having got out of the Titan bandwagon, Wheels India, led by managing director Srivats Ram, is now feeling free and is very much keen to explore its new found-freedom internationally. It is now eyeing a bigger pie in the global space. And, it has quietly moved toward realising this. A Rs 140-crore cast aluminium wheel plant is, in fact, the result of the de-risking strategy of a U.S. customer who has already committed off-take. A windmill project is currently underway. This too is the consequence of a strategic partnership with a windmill supplier who has decided to build a global base for his product in Chennai. A good portion of its Rs 100-crore capital expenditure will go into this new wind mill plant.

For reasons known to a few, the Grand Old Party has not been able to declare date for the election of the new president. This dithering poses twin challenges: keeping its flock together in various states and avoiding internal bickering among senior leaders. This indifference has already led to diehard Congressmen quitting: Jitendra Prasad, followed by Pranab Mukerjee’s son Abhijit Mukherjee. But so far nobody has been able to persuade Rahul Gandhi to reverse his stand and once again assume the post and responsibility of Congress party president. The insiders rue his approach, saying instead of putting his house in order Rahul is taking potshots at the BJP government from time to time, on wrong advice given by people close to him. “They have lost all elections in recent times, yet there is no introspection or post mortem. In the corporate world the CEO would have been sacked,” says a political analyst. Lack of decisions at the high command level has made the leaders, and rank and file restless. Witness this: In all Congress ruled states of Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Punjab, the rift among senior leaders is out in the open; and so too in Karnataka where the party is in the opposition. For BJP and other regional parties, a rudderless Congress is good news.

Is it chemistry or mental harassment or the classic story of doosra aadmi or pati, patni aur woh? The morality in most of us is intact because of sheer lack of opportunities but in the case of celebrities — film stars and cricketers — they have opportunities galore. Money, fame and with that comes women and men.  So, Aamir Khan-Kiran Rao deciding to go in for a divorce should not raise eyebrows. They have more than survived a seven-year itch. Well, one can say… 16-year itch. Insiders say it has been simmering for over two years now. So much so that Kiran moved to Goa. So, what was the final nail in the coffin? Again, close circles point out it is another woman. In the past many marriages were almost on the rocks because of linkup — Shah Rukh Khan-Priyanka Chopra, Amitabh-Rekha. In the case of yesteryear’s superstar Rajesh Khanna, it was one too many affairs. Again, in the case of a well-known star, his wife’s affair rocked his marriage of two kids. Women alone cannot be blamed. A respected star confessed: “It is difficult not to have an affair with our co-stars as we work in close proximity.” Some stars did not call off their marriages because of sheer societal pressure and kept it under wraps. Others did not: Hrithik Rohan, Karishma Kapoor, Arjun Rampal.

The late J Jayalalithaa was a firm believer in vaastu all her life. While she was the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, even the choice of sari to wear for the day was determined by the stars. As an intense believer, she encouraged many a soothsayer to study her Kundali (horoscope) and give her advice. And, ironically, after her death too the question of vaastu is hanging around the political party AIADMK which she headed after her mentor MGR’s death. The election defeat and the prevailing confusion and infighting in her party ranks is now being ascribed to bad vaastu. Voices are now being raised about bad vaastu creating all the problems, chaos and infighting in AIADMK. If you believe the pundits, the theory is that Amma’s memorial on the Marina Beach is totally against vaastu.  At least one vaastu believer avers that Jaya was no Phoenix rising from the ashes and such a depiction in her memorial by the architect is all wrong. There were other designs submitted that would have served Jaya’s memory best, like a blooming flower that would last forever.  The erroneous curvilinear design is to blame for all the woes, says the ardent Jaya admirer but it is unlikely that the party will tinker with the memorial now.

Woken up at dawn on September 5 by the unusual clatter around his block at the Olympic Village in Munich in 1972, India’s expert runner in the half-mile, metric mile and over 5000 metres was terrified and scared by the goings-on at the block across, where the Israeli contingent was put up. It was on September 6 though that the famous Eddie Sequeira from Sanata Cruz, Mumbai came to know that the Palestinian ‘Black September’ group had invaded the Olympic Village, killed two Israeli delegates, and held nine more as hostages, all of them later killed around midnight at a nearby airport. The carnage sent shock waves across the world. “I was terrified and scared by what I saw on September 5. They were in red track suit, black bags, mask and hood. Myself and Sriram Singh were occupying a room in a ground floor block. And the Israel team was across our Block, about 100 metres away. At 4.21 am or thereabout, there was a lot of noise, and I saw people running away. I awoke Sriram immediately. It was not very dark, but a light morning. We made sure our door latch was on. Later in the morning we were told that the events for the day have been cancelled. The fright was there in my mind, but I managed to clock my personal best in the 5000 m run.”

Manoj Sinha, in his role as the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), is a man on a mission, reaching out to the region’s key stakeholders, including the Abdullahs and Mufti, and ensuring peace and security needed to hold assembly elections, just like the District Development Council (DDC) elections that won him laurels from all quarters. He is arguably Prime Minister Narendra Modi Government’s most agreeable messenger who is doing everything to help remove Dilli Ki Doori (the distance from Delhi) as well as Dil Ki Doori (distance from the heart) through a raft of development work and thoughtful conversations. His confidence building exercise has indeed yielded positive results. Opposition leaders under the aegis of Gupkar alliance participated at the meeting chaired by PM Modi – the first meet after the scrapping of Article 370. Sinha’s presiding over the meeting moved many when they learnt that his son was getting married during the same time. As a people friendly gesture, Sinha discontinued the darbar tradition, letting Jammu and Srinagar secretariats operate from either Jammu or Kashmir throughout the year. This move has also given savings of Rs 200 crore. His focus on reviving the J&K economy, helping the administration embrace critical Digital expertise, and empowering local bodies, will ensure that the newly elected government will have everything on a platter.

Cricketers are now no less prima donnas than Hollywood stars, Olympic legends and Wimbledon warriors. Fame comes, often with a price. Dinesh Karthik on his first test commentary outing for Sky Sports at the 3 ODI between Sri Lanka and England was on a high…he even had his own desi cheerleaders, led by brother and company rooting for him. Karthik in an effervescent spell of commentary said, “Often batsmen don’t like their own bats, they like others (bats)…a neighbour’s wife always feels better.”  In a conference hall, this scandalous sexist comment would have met with…pin drop silence. On a cricket ground, especially a test match, such an infamous remark took time to sink in. Women’s Groups condemned Karthik’s motor mouth remark. He apologised later, admitting that he got a lot of stick from his mom and wife. Remember Dean Jones? His contract with 10 Sport was terminated instantly after he made that other dishonourable comment about South African player Hashim Amla and his full bearded appearance. “The terrorist got another wicket”. In these days of super cricket technology, when TV cameras capture every nuance of the game, we really don’t need commentators to interpret the excitement of the game. But they certainly add value by analysing various nuances. And then comes along a Dinesh Karthik, foot in the mouth addict. Representing India also means being a gentleman.

The king of romance is back in what he does better. The Mumbai-based Hygienic Research Institute has signed up the 55-year old superstar Shah Rukh Khan as their brand ambassador for Streax Hair Colour. The first brand which Shah Rukh Khan endorsed was Liberty Shoes way back in 1988. During the last 33 years, SRK has endorsed close to 44 brands and hair colour is the latest addition to his remarkable portfolio. With fewer movies in action, SRK, it is learnt, is looking at every opportunity to climb up the Brand endorsement rank. According to Duff & Phelps Celebrity Brand Valuation Report 2020, Shah Rukh Khan has moved up one notch to No. 4 commanding a brand value of $51.1 million. At No. 1 is Virat Kohli with brand value of $237.7 million followed by Akshay Kumar ($118.9 million) and Ranveer Singh ($102.9 million). Shah Rukh is trying to move up the pecking order. He has signed a number of brand endorsements contracts and shooting of most of the ad films was done at his residence, Mannat during the second lockdown. The superstar, whose personal net worth, according to Forbes Rich List 2021, is around $690 million also runs a successful production house Red Chillies and is the co-owner of the IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders.

Ever since Uday Shankar, former chairman & CEO of Star India and President of Walt Disney Asia Pacific, joined Business Standard as non-executive director in February this year, rumour mills have been on an overdrive. Avid media watchers say, BS has been looking for a good investor to buy a majority stake. Shankar, a former TV journalist who redefined media business in the country, is not joining the board for its ornate position. They say, going by his past track record, he may play an active role in the running of the paper and chalking out its growth plans. Coincidentally, Shankar has entered into a new venture with his former employer James Murdoch. The venture will be focusing on technology and media opportunities, including digital media, in the emerging markets. “The fact that BS has been looking for an investor is no secret and hence it will not be a surprise if Uday Shankar buys a majority stake in the paper,’’ said an insider. The paper has been quietly witnessing a slew of changes. Veteran business journalist TN Ninan, who transformed the paper, after getting in Uday Kotak and company to buy stake from Ananda Bazaar Patrika, has stepped down as chairman and director after over three decades of association. The business daily’s CEO Shivendra Gupta has been appointed as MD & CEO.

The New York Times’ call for an enterprising journalist would have been a non-event, a non-issue but for the backlash its grand 627-words job description evoked. “India’s future now stands at a crossroads. Mr Modi is advocating a self-sufficient, muscular nationalism centered on the country’s Hindu majority. That vision puts him at odds with the interfaith, multicultural goals of modern India’s founders.” The message was soon picked up. Tweeted one @SamairaRehan: “These two factually incorrect sentences are part of the job description for the position of @nytimes ‘South Asia Business Correspondent’ based in New Delhi. Journalism is in danger, indeed. But from within.” Apparently, anybody arguing against these twisted premises knows they haven’t got a hope in hell of getting an NYT offer. Senior I&B Ministry adviser Kanchan Gupta fumed: “@nytimes has dropped all pretences of impartiality with this job ad. They are clearly looking to hire an anti-Modi activist who can also stoke anti-India sentiments in our neighbourhood. With this, the paper qualifies as a foreign-funded NGO.” Such hiring practices by dominant Big Media – with naked political and ideological tilt – point to a scary future of journalism. And this practice is unlikely to stop anytime now – given American billionaire George Soros’ $1-billion fund to fight nationalists; China’s ads in Big Media; and Pakistan, Turkey and Malaysia floating a media joint venture.

Some may mark Wednesday, June 30 as the day of “Justice for Black America” when Bill Cosby —  an American stand-up comedian, actor and author famous for his TV show, The Cosby Show — walked free after serving just three years of a 10-year sentence on three counts of aggravated sexual attack. Half the world will mourn it as the day the #metoo movement died. When “America’s Dad” was convicted in 2018, it seemed a landmark moment when a famous and powerful man was held to account for abusing his position to exploit women. Women exulted as their movement gained traction with the Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby cases. Cosby used the classic Black card, much like American football legend OJ Simpson did to exploit racial divisions splitting the court of public opinion. The court decided that Cosby had been unfairly prosecuted three years ago but a 12-person jury had found him guilty. The climax in this cause celebre shows the American legal system is flawed and that the rich and famous can find their way out. But what it does for the women’s movement against sexual assault is a sad commentary on what is still a man’s world in which power and money can make a mockery of justice.

It is the same story, pan India. Aspiring Godmen turn rogue conmen when their followers blindly endorse their divinity. Tamil Nadu has its share of notorious babas — Daadi babas, Beedi babas, Naaadi babas and assorted con Babas who preyed on gullible followers in ingenious ways and amassed wealth. As a first, the current news sensation, Siva Shankar Baba, revelled in dance and nicknamed himself the Dancing Baba. His full moon day Rasa Leela’s with nubile girl students of his Sushil Hari International Residential School in Kelambakkam, a salubrious suburb of Chennai turned into giddy events. Also, Baba’s Waterloo. A devotee of Baba had donated 60 acres of land for the ashram cum school. 72-year old Siva Shankar Baba has travelled a hoary road as a graduate, logistics professional, soothsayer, desi dava vendor…the list goes on, till Baba’s potent talent for hugging and kissing his girl students hit public attention. Soon, stories of rape set Baba on the run, now in the CBI-CID net, charged under POCSO. So called true followers of Baba are busy fighting over the wealth. Siva Shankar is not the first nor will he be the last.

Pusarla Sindhu, the long-limbed Indian shuttle-cock champion has been the cynosure of all eyes in the last five years. She sprang a big surprise winning the women’s singles silver at the 2016 Rio Olympics, followed it up with a silver at the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia and the gold at the World Championship in Basel. She is expected to bring home a medal from the Olympics at Tokyo set to start on July 23. Soon to turn 26, Sindhu, has a wholehearted supporter in former nine-time national champion Aparna Popat who is not really bothered with Sindhu not winning other BWF tournaments: “Sindhu does well in the big ones, the World Championships, Super Series Finals, and the multi game events like the Olympics, Asian Games and Commonwealth. No one talks about Djokovic. Nadal, Federer, winning ATP titles now, only the grand slams like the Australian, French, Wimbledon and the US. Why can’t Sindhu be seen that way?  You introduce her as the World Champion and Olympic silver medallist. Who is asking for more? That’s all. It’s not that she needs to make money from other tournaments to make a living. She has got everything sorted. Winning the big ones is like a lottery, you win one big title and you get 20X. This has been her strategy, and it has worked.”

Dadasaheb Phalke Chitra Nagari, famously known as the Film City, is getting ready for a makeover in phases. This integrated film studio complex, spread over 520 acres, is located in Mumbai’s western suburb at Goregaon East. It has over 42 outdoor shooting locations and 16 studios of various sizes. Now, the latest news is that Maharashtra Film, Stage & Cultural Development Corporation (MFSCDC) is keen to equip the Film City with technologically advanced infrastructure. According to squarefeatindia.com – a leading real estate website, MFSCDC intends to undertake the development of 22 acres of the Film City via the PPP route. It will develop sound stages, post production facilities, and related infrastructure. It has invited Expression of Interest and the cost envisaged is around Rs 391.6 crore. With big demand coming from commercial cinema, TV and now OTT, most state governments see business opportunities in creating a hub for film shooting. It may be recalled that UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath met with several leading Bollywood bigwigs when he was in Mumbai a few months back, inviting them to shoot in UP. Perhaps not wishing to lose out business to other states, the Maharashtra government is going all out to ensure that the Film City is equipped with latest state-of-art technology that makes life easier for film makers. About time too.

Actor Udhayanidhi Stalin, new elected DMK MLA, son of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, is all over his Cheppakkam Thiruvallikeni constituency, a dense demographic mix of Hindus and Muslims, who have lived in amity for long, mostly from the middle- and lower-income groups. Their concerns: navigable roads, uninterrupted power and water, safe neighbourhoods. A TASMAC outlet right in their midst and the fallout of filth and unruly behaviour was one of the first vexing issues brought to him. Overnight, the outlet was sealed. The voters here are on overdrive praising his tireless efforts and can-do attitude of solving civic problems as fast as they are filed. This area is plagued by clogged up drains and overflowing sewage. He has tackled this with huge septic tank vacuum cleaners. Old tenements with broken power meters were on the list of woes. The young MLA has given orders to install new ones. The hawks are just waiting to see him take one wrong step. Udhayanidhi is tunnelling through, unmindful. After all, his grandfather, Kalaignar Karunanidhi, won from Cheppakkam three times, building the DMK cadre. And having played only the hero in his six films, for Udhayanidhi taking on the adversaries is scripted by the mighty party machinery. Reel hero turns real hero for now.

Undeterred by a big setback in West Bengal, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has started preparations for assembly elections slated next year in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa. After the recent marathon meeting attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, party president JP Nadda and senior office-bearers, the party has set sights on increasing the assembly segment-wise presence of the senior leaders. The saffron party has decided to strengthen the booth level management in all five states — notwithstanding criticism over the handling of the pandemic and the covid-hit economy. BJP will set up a five-member committee for each page of the electoral roll with the objective of providing the much-needed support to the party, and reaching out to every voter in the individual constituency. UP is critical for the party’s quest to retain power and the party is leaving nothing to chance: it’s bringing together CM Yogi Adityanath, Dy CM KP Maurya and other factions. Modi’s blue-eyed boy AK Sharma, who has been appointed as the state unit vice president, is also likely to play a key role in the makeover after the Yogi government came under attack on numerous fronts. BJP insiders say that Modi has yet again taken the control of poll management in a serious bid to avoid a West Bengal-like setback.

The legislature is the place where politics rules in word and deed. But have you heard of politics about the very building in which the legislature is situated? This politics over the legislature building has been going on for years in Tamil Nadu where leaders have had various reasons for shifting the TN Assembly out of Fort St George, with its historic colonial links. Karunanidhi wanted to leave the old Assembly because it was too cramped, and he made a master plan of an alternative building. Jaya was told not to travel to Fort St George because a statue of Kannagi, of Tamil epic Silapathigaram fame, was on the way. She wanted to shift the legislature south, but the High Court busted her plan to take over Queen Mary’s College. The DMK is back in power, and Stalin has not dropped plans to restore his father’s pet project, which Jaya had converted into a multi-specialty hospital. The government is spending Rs 500 crore to upgrade the King Institute in Guindy so that the current Omandurar hospital can be converted back into the legislature. About Rs 1,000 crore has been spent so far in making the changes. But this is India of Tughlaq rule where shifting of the capital itself was not thought to be too extravagant or fanciful.  

His rise was meteoric, so was his downfall. Rapid. Billionaire Pramod Mittal (65), the younger stepbrother of steel tycoon LN Mittal, who reportedly spent $82 million for his daughter’s marriage, is bankrupt. He has lost everything from coast to coast — business empires in Bosnia, Bulgaria, Africa, Philippines. Ditto: India. His steel business Ispat Steel was sold to Sajjan Jindal controlled JSW in 2010. The only saving grace was the Orissa-based Balasore Alloys, earlier Ispat Alloys. This listed company, with captive mines, is one of the largest manufacturers and suppliers of high carbon ferrochrome. Now, this cash rich company too has turned sick. The plants have been shuttered close to a year with hundreds of workers, employees, vendors, banks and utilities not paid. Reportedly, some of the top brass including finance director, company secretary, and independent directors have resigned over non-payment of dues and fees. People close to the company say this plant, a legacy of Pramod’s father Mohan Lal Mittal, will require a fund infusion of Rs 1,000 crore to start operations. Analysts are surprised that at a time when commodity cycle is on upswing how come this company has turned sick? For now Balasore Alloys future hangs in a balance –waiting for knights in steely armour.

The lockdown seems to be a boon for Bollywood actresses, especially the newcomers who are active on social media. Ananya Panday who has 19 million Instagram followers has been cashing on it by running some social media campaigns. Sara Ali Khan has been promoting fitness videos through a fitness app, Power. But on Instagram she has been regularly promoting brands like Vivo and Colgate. Janhvi Kapoor posts only activity videos like dancing and fitness apart from paid partnerships like Nykaa. Sara Ali Khan’s Hello Darshako which predominantly posts shayaris and random videos has gained her good many followers. Encouraged by this response, Sara has roped in her mother Amrita Singh, a former actress on this platform. And today we see mother-daughter doing commercials together. Disha Patani actively engages with her followers by posting action video almost every hour. Her popularity has gone up ever since she has been dating Tiger Shroff. Interestingly, a new starlet has been openly saying that she makes enough money (Rs 3-5 lakh per month) to pay her entire year’s rent by being active on social media. No, wonder these starlets are heavily focused on social media. Incidentally, most of the top actresses may not be getting big billing from films they sign but on social media they have more followers than the Khans and the Kumars.

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, who hogged the headlines ahead of the party’s official break up with alliance partner BJP and later during the formation of three party-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, is again on a major mission to save the government. Raut has been insisting that the alliance would stay in power and complete its five-year term. He met both the Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and NCP Supremo Sharad Pawar twice in a bid to strengthen the coordination and thereby address the disagreements among the ruling partners. Raut has admitted that there are differences, but they can be resolved. However, his fresh initiatives come at a time the BJP is said to have renewed efforts to form the government and if rumour mills are to be believed that too with Sena. Another set of rumours doing rounds is that the Urban Development & Public Works minister Eknath Shinde may walk away with one third of the 56 MLAs to join hands with the BJP. Four times elected MLA, Shinde enjoys good rapport with his party colleagues. But diehard Sainiks dismiss all these rumours and say nobody will ditch Uddhav Thackeray. But, with so much push and pull combined with Raut’s meeting diplomacy clearly indicates that all is not well within MVA and it is a matter of time.

Kane Williamson has been the nice guy of world cricket, a far cry from an adventurer of the Sir Edmund Hillary type, the death-defying New Zealander who became the first to climb the summit of Mount Everest some 68 years ago. But last week Williamson, the most genteel of cricketers of modern times, won cricket’s Mount Everest — the ICC World Test Championship, outsmarting India at the Hampshire Bowl in Southampton, England. Williamson, 30, marshalled his potent set of speed merchants to win the rain-marred final. It’s Williamson’s team that has largely provided the real import to the ‘gentleman’s game’ that cricket is known for. Williamson has been in the vanguard of New Zealand’s pursuit of a first ICC prize for many years, but after a few heart-breaking losses in two finals in recent times, Williamson eventually got his hands on an ICC prize. After Williamson figured in the ICC Test team of the decade, the late Martin Crowe, a legend, said: “We are seeing the dawn of probably our (New Zealand) greatest ever batsman.” Williamson is the second highest run-getter for New Zealand with 7,230 runs; he topped the New Zealand batting in the WTC cycle with 10 matches, 918 runs, 251 highest, 61.20 average, 3 x 100s and 2 x 50s. For nearly 14 years, the right-hander has been a batsman beyond compare for New Zealand, also known as the All Blacks

Covid-19 has turned life topsy-turvy for everybody. For practitioners of classical art especially, the past few Covid-hit months have been excruciatingly painful. With Sabhas in Chennai, the Mecca of Carnatic music, shut and no live concerts, the artists have been caught in a pincer-like situation. On the one hand, their income flow has stopped. On the other, their live connection with the audience, too, has snapped. More than anybody else, the disadvantaged artists are worse off. These tough times call for mutual empathy and sympathy. Well, the pandemic has seen top female artistes in this part of the world coming out to aid fellow-artists who are in distress at the moment. Funds for the folks, and disadvantaged folks, at that! This is an initiative facilitated by Panchavarnam Silks. Eighteen top female artistes from the world of classical music and dance (Aruna Sairam, Bombay Jayashri, Sowmya, Chitra Visweshwaran, Sudharani Raghupathy, Priyadarsini Govind, Nityasree Mahadevan and others) have donated a six-yard sari each to help this cause. The saris were put on auction. The money thus raised will go to support the disadvantaged artistes and their families in these stressed-out times. These aren’t yards of fabric. Well, these 18 have given yards of hope to their fellow-artistes.

Looks like the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has decided to bring out a White Paper on the state of the economy. It is easy to blame a previous regime for populist doles and non-essential schemes that have emptied the coffers. Media watchers are nonplussed by a new energised Stalin, who is vocal, vociferous, and vituperative about the huge debt burden of TN, the inequitable share of the tax, Vat and GST allocated, the staggering cost of the corona pandemic and huge losses in livelihood. People openly talk about how Stalin was ridiculed at election rallies for his hesitant and almost rambling campaign mode. What a transformation after winning! What then happens to the election promises like the monthly stipends to women, cut in fuel VAT and other propositions? His advisors suggest that a plea of empty coffers left by AIADMK could prove useful to get through for now. But apparently Stalin stuck to his resolve… “A promise is a promise.” A staggering debt burden of Rs 5 lakh crore (for 20-21) is his inheritance. Meanwhile, it is rumoured that Stalin along with his wife Durga and son-in-law Sabareesan and key bureaucrats are likely to travel to London in July. Insiders say it could be for his routine health check-up plus woo investments in Tamil Nadu.

It was the quietest of birthdays for the emerging superstar of Tamil cinema. In normal times, his fans would also have indulged in shows of grand affection by holding charity events in honour of Vijay. In pandemic times, the star has been content to keep a low profile but his phenomenal record in the 2010s marks him out as the industry’s undisputed money spinner.  His co-stars held a Twitter chat event on his 47th birthday that was a super hit in terms of numbers. As Total Unlock nears with the second wave waning, Vijay awaits the opening of theatres to continue his domination of the big screens. In the last decade, he churned out nine films that grossed over Rs 100 crore, a record that surpassed the industry’s ageing Superstar, the one and only Rajinikanth who is now in the US for medical checkup. Vijay’s last four releases – Bigil, Sarkar, Mersal and Master – saw business in excess of Rs 350 crore worldwide with Master a Superhit even in the pandemic year of 2020. And now Beast is getting ready as the star’s next with Pooja Hegde and Yogi Babu in supporting roles. Beast may usher in the next wave of theatre-going cinema fans.

From being a high-profile Minister of State for Home Affairs for five years under Rajnath Singh from 2014, the 49-year-old, Kiren Rijiju was given the pleasant task of steering India’s sports programme, the Tokyo Olympics in particular. He held his own at the hustings of the 2019 Lok Sabha election from West Arunachal constituency, and became a giant killer, defeating two-time Chief Minister, Nabam Tuki by a huge margin of 1,67,132 votes. As a BJP candidate, he had won the 2014 election by 41,738 votes. The shift, as Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports (Independent Charge), by replacing Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, a silver medalist in the Double Trap shooting competition in Athens 2004, saw Rijiju become proactive in almost every aspect of running the ministry with assistance from the Sports Authority of India. Rijiju was Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s handpicked man for the job that covers the entire gamut of sports in the country, including selection of sportspersons for the Arjuna, Khel Ratna, Dronacharya, Dhyan Chand, Tenzing Norgay, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad awards and the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar. For a little over two years, Rijiju has been a livewire, and in the vanguard of assisting athletes for the Tokyo Olympics. He has supported the official broadcaster of the Summer Olympics, Sony Pictures Sports Network’s Hum Honge Kamyaab campaign for India’s athletes.

The year 2021 continues with Bollywood heavy weights staying bullish on real estate market. The latest one, according to a leading real estate website squarefeatindia.com, is popular Bollywood star Ajay Devgan has purchased a bungalow measuring 474.4 sqm located at Kapol CHS, JVPD, in Mumbai’s Juhu for Rs 47.5 crore. Devgan paid stamp duty of Rs 2.37 crore and availed a bank loan of Rs 18.75 crore. Earlier, Big B paid Rs 31 crore for a duplex in Andheri. Last year we saw big investments in the real estate space by nine top Bollywood producers, directors, and actors. Bhushan Kumar of T Series fame paid a whopping Rs 167.5 crore for 6,700 sqft villa at Vasanta Theosophical CHS in Juhu. While Hrithik Roshan bought three floors measuring 38,000 sqft for Rs 97.50 crore on Juhu-Versova link road. Late Sridevi’s daughter Janhvi Kapoor paid Rs 39 crore for a flat in Juhu while Alia Bhatt paid Rs 32 crore for a flat in Bandra’s Pali Hill. Adman turned director R Balki, bought two flats worth Rs 24 crore in Bandra.

Is it a truce between the two estranged partners BJP and Shiv Sena? According to reliable sources, BJP has renewed its efforts to form the government with estranged ally Shiv Sena in Maharashtra – a move that gathered momentum after CM Uddhav Thackeray’s exclusive meeting with PM Narendra Modi. It is learnt that the Union Cabinet expansion has been deliberately delayed in view of the new development in Maharashtra. Sena will be accommodated in terms of cabinet berth. Devendra Fadnavis is likely to become CM for the third time while the name of Aaditya Thackeray for deputy CM is doing the rounds. Party insiders indicate that the “Maha Vikas Aghadi government may fall in the next 72 hours or in two weeks”. The deal is that the BJP-led government will not pursue various legal cases against Sena leaders. It may be recalled that Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik, in a letter to Thackeray, had urged him to patch up with BJP to avoid harassment from Central agencies. Coming together will also help in the coming civic elections. Now the ball is in Thackeray’s court, and he has to decide whether to once again play a second fiddle in the interest of the party’s future or remain in the driver’s seat with the NCP and Congress.

Congress party’s ‘going solo’ call by the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president Nana Patole has not gone down well with the alliance partners Shiv Sena and NCP. But, he has received strong support from two former CMs Sushil Kumar Shinde and Prithviraj Chavan. Both have hailed Patole’s efforts in a short span to rejuvenate the party and recharge the cadre. Both said there is nothing wrong to declare party’s resolve to regain its past glory and become No. 1 again and assume power single-handedly. In fact, Chavan went a step ahead saying that the MVA was formed with the single point objective of keeping BJP out of power and that has nothing to do with the Congress party pursuing its expansion plan. Chavan said Congress can tolerate Shiv Sena’s ideology but not that of BJP. With dissensions within the party, and the Congress leaders speaking out of turn, can this number four party in Maharashtra regain its pristine glory? That’s a wager nobody is willing to take.

Dravidian politics is hard to comprehend. Often, it is riddled with inconsistencies. How else could one interpret the composition of the just-announced economic advisory council (EAC) for Tamil Nadu? The MK Stalin-led government of the DMK has set up a high-profile EAC comprising Nobel laureate Esther Duflo (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Raghuram Rajan (former Governor of Reserve Bank), Aravind Subramanian (former Chief Economic Advisor to the Centre), Jean Dreze (Development Economist) and S Narayan (former Union Finance Secretary). Who said DMK is anti-Brahmins? Well, the just- formed EAC has three Brahmins – two high-profile ones at that! Rajan and Subramanian, in particular, turned much bigger than the institutions they headed. Narayan is all too well known in the political and bureaucratic circles in Tamil Nadu. If these three have roots in Tamil Nadu, the other two are rank outsiders. Not surprisingly, tongues have started wagging. DMK is a party which has vociferously articulated the cause of reservation in higher educational institutions and government jobs. In the formation of the state’s highest policy-advisory body, the DMK regime of Stalin appears to have quietly overlooked its own relentless demand for reservation for dalits, backward classes and the like. Is there a paucity of talent within Tamil Nadu? Inconsistency is the sign of development, it said. DMK has embarked on a growth path, it appears.

He refused to bowl at Virat Kohli in the Royal Challengers nets though the RCB captain was instrumental in signing up the giant from Auckland for the IPL. Kyle Jamieson did the star turn for New Zealand in the rain-hit WTC Final at Southampton, picking up his Bangalore skipper’s wicket with one that came back. Cricket may have already found the new Joel Garner as the 6 ft 8 in fast bowler claims a unique record of a fifth five-wicket haul in only his eighth Test for a tally of 44 wickets at an average of just 14.13. No bowler since the 1890s has taken more at a lesser average. Bowling to a fuller length, up by 44% after an opening day in which he tried to do too much, did the trick as Jamieson dominated the Test while presiding over the destruction of the reputed Indian batting. Like Garner, the Kiwi gives nothing away, no loose balls as freebies for the batsmen.  During the IPL, Jamieson put two new Dukes balls in his kit bag to practise with them as the England tour was to come up immediately after IPL. What we have now is a gentle giant capable of bowling out Test batsmen with his consistency of line and length.

Arya Rajendran, all of 22, adorns the mayor seat of Kerala’s capital, Thiruvananthapuram with the distinction of being the youngest elected mayor in the country. This BSc maths second year student, stood and won from the Mudavanmugal ward under the CPI-M banner. Arya is no greenhorn test case politician, fielded by her party. Daughter of an electrician father, a CPI-M activist and working mother (LIC agent), privilege and power did not boost her rise, having been inducted into the Balasangam (the children’s wing of CPI-M) when she was in Class 5.  Politics being what it is, the accolades she got from all over the country when elected mayor, must have rankled the major opposition incumbents, the BJP and the Congress among others. Recently, BJP Councillor Karamana Ajith took her on for lack of supervision and accountability in her duties. The ward’s garbage disposal and inventory and high-cost equipment obviously got flak.  “The AKG Centre’s LKG student probably thinks of this as a play school. Taking on a Mayor’s duties is not child’s play.” Ouch, that must have hurt.  But Arya is no wilting wallflower. Her repartee, “No one needs to judge my capability and efficiency by my age. I am confident of holding my own.” Don’t mess with this Miss.

Athletes and officials who like to tipple will be allowed to consume their favourite alcohol, but strictly within the confines of their rooms at the Olympic Village spread over 44 hectares in Tokyo. The local organising committee of the Summer Olympics 2020, postponed exactly by a calendar year, because of the  COVID-19 pandemic, had actually mulled over banning consumption of alcohol in the Athletes Village in order to enforce the “No, No” rules generally put in place in Japan. Now the habitual among the 18000 athletes and officials, can look forward to enjoying a drink or two. However condoms will not be available. It’s from the Summer Games in Seoul in 1988, that condoms were distributed at the Olympic Village, but as a forced shift from a 32-year-old custom, the athletes and officials will get the contraceptives when they depart Tokyo. The Olympic Village consists of 3800 condominiums and 21 residential quarters. The “Playbook” which details the rules to be followed by all delegates and athletes during the Games has counselled participants to avoid being close to people. Any violation of the rules will risk getting ejected from the Games. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) believes that the majority of the people involved with the Games would have received both jabs of the vaccine by July 23, 2021, the first day of the Games.

Samantha Ruth Prabhu, now Samantha Akkineni, has put in a once in a lifetime performance as the LTTE woman in a very highly acclaimed Season 2 of The Family Man, on Amazon Prime. The central antagonist, Srikant Tiwari who carried Season 1 entirely on his talent and skill, playing the role of a covert operator of TASC (a fictional NIA), is pushed to play second fiddle to Samantha as Raji. In trying to tar her in sepia tones as a Sri Lankan, the brown make up has totally gone haywire…but this does not diminish from her brooding, menacing , almost other worldly countenance as she takes on the suicide mission of bombing the venue for a crucial meet of the two neighbouring country’s Prime Ministers. Her kill skills, spycraft and totally frigid inhuman approach to the enemy spies and mission…chilling. Samantha has pirouetted through many inane films that showcased her good looks. In The Family Man Season 2, she conveys every nuance needed to prove what it takes to be a suicide missionary, whatever the cause.

There is a tiny flaw in Virat Kohli’s captaincy record. Teams playing under him have not won a single ICC trophy. One of the modern greats with the bat and at captaincy, the cricketer would dearly love to set the record straight. Not only because his record pales in front of his mentor Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s sterling captaincy record. Dhoni won all the ICC trophies on offer — World Cup (50 overs), Champions Trophy and the T20 World Cup besides the IPL three times and the Champion’s League Trophy twice for Chennai Super Kings. Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore is yet to taste success. An Indian captain led India to top of the Test ladder of merit as early as 2008-09 while Kohli kept it up there for 44 months from October 2016 right up to June 2021 when New Zealand moved up to No. 1 after beating England. Firmly in the saddle in all three formats since 2017, Kohli would be hoping that the World Test Championship, being played from June 18 at the Rose Bowl in Southampton in England would become his first ICC and most prized Cup ever. India faces a very professional and committed New Zealand side under Kane Williamson. Still, given the strengths and skills Team India possess, they have a great chance to win the WCT and Kohli knows he must make it happen in England.

There is a joke in Tamil, “After allopathy, homeopathy, naturopathy, only Tirupathi.” As the pandemic raged, astrologers sprouted like mushrooms in the monsoon on YouTube. Tamil Nadu is particularly addicted to astrology. But where did these futurists go wrong in predicting the course of this scourge from Wave 1 to 2, and now watch out for 3? The 95-year old stalwart of the astro world, AM Rajagopalan, erstwhile editor of Kumudam Jothidam, a popular Tamil weekly, lucidly tells us about the very unusual planetary configurations from December 2019 onwards, when Saturn and Jupiter were impacted by the invisible Rahu. According to this much sought after savant, from September 2021 onwards, Corona’s deadly intensity will diminish. Abhigya Anand from Karnataka made news for accurately foreseeing the conjunction of six powerful planets aligned in a line, portending great danger from a pandemic that would shake the world. EK Dhilipkumar, another popular social media Jothishi has his disclaimer – “Can Doctors cure every malady? We can’t predict the course for every event or calamity.” His logic, Rahu is an invisible planet, the “paapa graham.” He foresees that the pandemic will start self-limiting by mid-2022. Srirangam Ravi also talks about planetary effects of Mars, and mainly Jupiter who starts his movement from June 21, and will give significant relief in September, and a collective sigh of relief by November.

The MK Stalin-led DMK government in Tamil Nadu has just finished a month in office at Fort St George. But it has already come under intense flak from Opposition quarters. The reasons are not far to seek. Escalating cement prices has put the DMK government in a tight spot. The builders’ lobby has turned hyperactive now and accused the cement makers of competitive collusion. Builders have claimed that the retail cement prices have increased by 13% to Rs 520 a bag of 50 kg from Rs 460 in May. Of course, the builders’ lobby have also come down heavily on steel makers for rising prices. Now, the rising cement prices comes as an unsolicited stick to needle the nascent Stalin regime. Put on the defensive, the Stalin government has sort of sought to correct the `recalcitrant cement industry’ through discussions. The builder lobby has always projected itself as the victim in this cement price game. Never once did the builder lobby come out with any explanation for zooming flat cost! Often, politics (read politicians) ignores the hard economics of any business. How to cement this irreconciliation? That is hard to visualise in Dravidian politics.

How many obits are to be written for the Grand Old Party? It is a sad and heart-rending feeling when one thinks of the role of this august group that fought so fearlessly for our independence, downed in disarray, retreating disheartened. Today, all tail waggers and party swaggers, the neo Tarzans of politics, covered in their capitalist chain armour are thriving only on this stage laid by the Congress. But what an ending, friends and countrymen! What is left of this great movement for which Gandhiji, Sardar Patel, Rajaji, Pandit Nehru, Lal Bahadur and other stalwarts gave their blood, sweat, toil and tears? Saying that this sorry state is because one Family is hell-bent on tightening its vice like grip on the party, knowing fully well that it is riding a snarling tiger. So, what if the Congress collapses? The Gandhis won’t let go of their own. The Congress won’t collapse totally: it may disintegrate, pulverised beyond salvage as a macro entity. But its atoms still have the power to radiate heat and light. This is the metamorphosis many are eagerly waiting for: another multihued butterfly emerging, yet another Phoenix rising from the funeral pyre of the erstwhile organisation. This will require the Kapil Sibals, Chidambarams, Manu Singhvis to allow the Gen Next to take centre stage. The Shashi Tharoors, Pilots, Milind Deora…..If ever a millennial Sun Tzu is wanted/needed…it is now. Sun Tzu who compiled The Art of War.

On a balmy Thursday on June 17 in England’s South-West coastal town of Bristol, the brightest star of Indian women’s cricket, Shafali Verma cocked a snook at India’s women selectors for not selecting her for the home limited-over series against South Africa. Shafali uncorked her typical bold and stylish brand of cricket that lit up the second day’s play of the one-off Test against England. Not accustomed to red-ball cricket, Shafali, 17 years and 141 days when she took guard, and one of the fortunate Test debutants sparkled with a knock of 96, hitting 13 fours and two sixes. The young right-hander fell in a moment of unbridled ambition to bring her century with a big shot. The Rohtak-born has been a whiff of fresh air playing electrifying knocks. She has not only breathed life into women’s cricket in India, but now has also campaigned straightaway for resumption of Test cricket across the world. It was a fallacy on the part of the women selectors to brand her as a Twenty20 specialist, when India’s women cricketers were pleading for continuous competitive cricket at domestic and international levels. Shafali took the centre stage at Bristol, raising a record first-wicket stand of 163 for India with left-hander Smriti Mandhana. It was India’s fourth century plus stand for the first wicket, and the world’s joint seventh highest in 889 Tests.

Cracks in the Shiv Sena led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) became clear with the latest, unilateral announcement by the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee President Nana Patole that the party will go solo in the next assembly elections. (Congress has one MP, 44 legislators and insignificant presence in local and civic bodies). He also added that if approved by the High Command he would like to be the party’s face for the post of Chief Minister. Clearly, Patole is posing challenge to his colleagues like Balasaheb Thorat, Ashok Chavan, Nitin Raut and Vijay Wadettiwar. Meanwhile, Deputy CM Ajit Pawar snubbed Patole for his ‘CM statement’. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray seem to be playing his card well too. His closed-door meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi has created heebie-jeebies among his rivals. Informed sources say that Thackeray has killed two birds with one arrow. He has snubbed BJP by showing that he has kept his communication channel open with Modi. Brave Sanjay Raut said, “It’s a rumour that Shiv Sena CM will be replaced after 2.5 years … CM will be Uddhav Thackeray for 5 years.” For the NCP and Congress, the message is not to take Thackeray for a ride despite lacking administrative experience. Meanwhile, within the BJP too the rift is widening between former CM Devendra Fadnavis and the state BJP unit chief Chandrakant Patil.

The D Gang’s clout was all pervading.  All top stars – heroes, heroines and producers – were forced to fly to Dubai and perform for bhai’s events. There is video footage of stars hobnobbing with the Don at a Sharjah cricket match. A ‘No’ was not an option. And the job of terrorizing the film industry was entrusted to the handsome gangster Abu Salem, now languishing in Taloja jail, on the outskirts of Mumbai. Abu Salem almost threatened every top actor and producer. One of the early victims was Rajiv Rai, son of Gulshan Rai of Trimurti Films fame. He fled to the UK with his wife Sonam and son after a failed attempt on his life by Abu Salem’s henchmen. Gulshan Kumar of T Series fame was chased and gunned down. Bollywood biggies – producer-director Subhash Ghai, Manmohan Shetty, and Rakesh Roshan received threatening calls from Abu Salem. Rakesh Roshan survived a brutal murderous attack, and luckily recovered from gunshots wounds. Not unlike Haji Mastan, Abu Salem too needed his share of Bollywood beauties – and he got Monica Bedi. His threat forced producers to cast her opposite big stars in movies like Jodi No 1, and Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat. In September 2002, Monica Bedi and Abu Salem were arrested in Portugal. After serving prison sentences there, they were deported to India. To cut to the chase, the gangsters had paid informers in the film industry who tipped them about stars’ financials – movie signing amount, movie release date etc. Armed with this information, the underworld would make extortion calls. The Bollywood-Underworld nexus became apparent when Mumbai serial blasts of 1993 was investigated.  READ PART 4

High on money and muscle power, the underworld started dominating Bollywood. The money was routed through financiers and big stars who often visited Dubai to meet the Don. In the late 90s, early 2000s photographs of top actors, musicians and singers performing at Dawood’s Darbar were published by the media. These photographs exposed the nexus between Bollywood-Underworld. And proof of that was tapped telephonic conversation between Dawood’s right hand man Chhota Shakeel and various film personalities. This nexus pressurised Mumbai police to arrest diamond merchant cum film financier Bharat Shah under MCOCA. Reportedly, Shah was arrested for aiding Chhota Shakeel. Somebody like Rakesh Roshan had a narrow escape on the eve of the release of Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai, his son Hrithik’s first movie. The sharp shooters fired two rounds at him for not paying Rs 5 crore. This incident shook the film world. The Mumbai police came forward to provide them protection. But, things started ebbing with Dawood not keeping well; Abu Salem incarcerated, and Chhota Rajan too cooling his heels in Tihar jail. Insiders say the extortion cases have come down. Though there were sporadic incidents like gangster Ravi Pujari trying to take advantage of the situation. Now, he too has been arrested. Now the underworld has almost stopped extortion but continues with its piracy business. Ironically, the fraternity which complains about the underworld are the same people who glamorize the underworld, making them larger than life.  CONCLUDED

The  fashionable world of Parisians, also accustomed to a ‘Bon Appetit’ of the Rafael Nadal variety of tennis on the red shale at the Roland Garros, recently got to taste caviar on toast of one for the books kind, so imposingly dished out by a Serbian champion. Down and out virtually, Novak Djokovic summoned his physical and mental reserves, picked up the pieces to play havoc on the mind of the far from pretender for the crown, Stefanos Tsitsipas and eventually downed the terrific 22-year-old Greek with a blonde mane and Adidas bandana. The final bout lasted four hours and 11 minutes as the versatile tennis artist, who has won 1,102 singles matches on the ATP tour, proceeded to win his 19th Grand Slam singles title and come within whistling distance of Nadal and Roger Federer’s 20 each. The Serbian, 34, had stopped the successful run of the  southpaw Nadal in the semi-finals, who had proved to be a one-man Spanish Armada, winning the title in Paris, a baker’s dozen times between 2005 and 2020 and lifted the 14kg Musketeers Cup Trophy. Nadal did not win in Paris in 2009, 2015 and 2016, when the Serbian clinched his first clay Grand Slam. Trailing by two sets (6-7, 2-6), Djokovic smothered the Greek 6-3, 6-4, 6-2, firing a mere five aces to his opponent’s 14. The 187cm tall Djokovic who began his professional career in 2003, has won 305 matches on clay, 520 on hard courts, 104 on grass, 140 in indoor courts and 33 Davis Cup singles matches. Leading to the French Open, Djokovic had lost three Clay court matches at Monte Carlo, Belgrade and Rome this year but was unstoppable in Paris. He is in line for a sweep of the calendar year Grand Slam wins and be hailed as the Greatest of All Time (GOAT).

It is almost akin to running with the hare and hunting with the hounds. Shiv Sena, which heads the Maha Vikas Aghadi government with NCP and Congress, is not only striving to maintain its Hindutva identity but also projecting its secular credentials. Recently, party MP Rahul Shewale stoked a controversy after he proposed to rename flyover on Ghatkopar-Mankhurd link road after Ajmer’s Khwaja Gareeb Nawaz Moinuddin Chishti. The BJP and VHP slammed Shewale for his demand. Shewale reacted saying that he was unaware of BJP MP Manoj Kotak’s proposal to name the flyover after Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaja or demand by locals for Krantikarak Vastad Lahuji Salve and Lokshahir Annabhau Sathe.  Earlier, Sena leader Pandurang Sakpal, Vibhag Pramukh of south Mumbai likened ‘Azaan’ (a call for Muslim prayer) with Hindu ritual of ‘aarti.’ And mooted the idea of holding an ‘Azaan’ recital competition for Muslim children. The BJP accused Sena changing its stand to remain in power. Interestingly, CM Uddhav Thackeray has told BJP not to teach him Hindutva reiterating that the party has not left it despite joining hands with the NCP and Congress with an agreement to follow secular principles.

Yes, ever since the DMK win, it has been a Stalin overkill about how he is everywhere, doing everything, covering everything. Just the other day, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin visited Mettur Dam, to inspect desilting preparations to receive the annual inflow of Cauvery waters from neighbouring Karnataka. This is very crucial to irrigate the TN kuruvai (short term) crop that has seen many a parched and lost year in the past, with both states fighting over river water sharing. With his new found confidence, Stalin announced that Mettur dam would be opened and that he expects Karnataka to open the hatch, a fait accompli decision, no longer up for negotiation. Is this a positive shift in the power equations of these two warring states? The same strong narrative in demanding vaccine stock for TN, reaching out to non BJP CMs for possible Third Front to leverage more federalism….the canvas is big. But some chinks in the armour are evident too: the opening up of liquor outlets (opposed earlier) as the state needs revenue (TASMAC revenue is Rs 30,000 crore plus) to back emergency healthcare. There are also serious concerns and talk about the Omandurar Hospital changing yet again to become the TN Assembly building, the original dream project of Kalaignar. The historic King Institute may take the place of this hospital. Taxpayers are the obvious beasts of burden.

At 69, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin knows that he has to hurry up and deal an impressive hand to the people who voted him in. May be even take on the issue of enhanced federalism. In his earlier avatar as lieutenant to Karunanidhi, and his mayoral stint, Stalin earned the sobriquet of Flyover Man with a visible preference for flyovers. Singara Chennai (Beautiful Chennai) was his other pet project to leave a lasting impact on the Chennai landscape. The Greater Chennai Corporation, under Gagandeep Singh Bedi, has launched Singara Chennai 2.0 with a slew of plans for beautifying its beaches (even far flung beaches of Thiruvottiyur and Uthandi with 21 km of coastline are to be developed as coral reefs). An integrated scheme for making a dramatic aesthetic impact on urban spaces, including water bodies, roundabout gardens, an underwater aquarium and numerous other breath-taking schemes! Ambitious? The cynical say, “Ah, new brooms sweep clean. Let’s see when all these sprout.” The practical punters are happy….so much to gain, invest and of course, earn. Who is the Catalyst powering this State Vista?  Could it be that Chanakya who orchestrated the party’s telling win? Or did a certain Wall Street wizard motivate Stalin? Whatever the genesis of Stalin’ takeover makeover, Gagan Deep Singh Bedi will lead the charge of the light brigade to make Stalin’s plans take shape.

For more than three hours she was not just the elephant in the room. Sasikala, confidante to J Jayalalithaa who ruled Tamil Nadu more like an empress, was the hot topic of discussion within the party founded by MGR and consolidated by his protege Jaya. Former CMs E Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam joined ranks to keep Sasikala out of the party while expelling her loyalists who had the temerity to speak to her on their mobile phones seeking her comeback. So long as the two heads of AIADMK keep their flock together, they can stave off any attempts by the discredited Jaya aide to create confusion in the party about her imminent comeback. But she seems determined to get back in and seize control by manipulating sentiment among the party rank and file. Jailed for graft, Sasikala’s strength is a seemingly infinite access to funds. Disqualified as she is from standing in elections for another six years, Sasikala aims to become a party boss like Lalu Prasad Yadav, who is under a similar cloud. Her strategy before the polls was to announce retirement from politics in the hope that once the AIADMK was trounced at the polls, there would be a clamour for her re-entry. That didn’t happen with the party winning 66 of 75 alliance seats. But Sasikala lurks, waiting for that chance to pounce.