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Hindi Day 2022 observed
The Brisbane Maharashtra Mandalorganized the Ganesh Utsav recently. Brisbane’s community participated in the
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Ganesh Utsav.Dignitaries present at the event were James Martin
MP, member for Stretton, Max
Chandler-Mather, MP, member for
Griffith, Hon. Consul Archana Singh,
Ram Mohan, Parminder Singh,
AnoopNannuru, Krishnan Menon, SunitaAvadhani, JyotiGoraiya, Parul Mehta and Kirti Patel. The sponsors of the celebrations were Mahindra Automotive, Migration Guru, Cornerstone Law offices, Lee and Associates, Future Now, Relianz Home Loans, Mahendra’s Indian Cuisine, Century 21, Ganesh Grocery Store, and Oz Kirana. The participants of the cultural program during the event comprised Nupoor Dance Studio, Sargam Music Academy, Sharad More and his group of Bhajan singers, ShardaKolekar group, MrunaliniKolhe group, and Apali Marathi Shala children and Parents. Rhythm Drums Group presented the wonderful multicultural experience for VisarjanMiravnook. An art competition was also organized on the occasion.
Music maestro Zubin Mehta honoured
Legendary Maestro Zubin Mehta was awarded Honorary Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) by Governor-
General of AustraliaDavid Hurley in recognition of his eminent service to the Australia-India bilateral relationship in the field of classical music and philanthropy at iconic @SydOperaHouse in the presence of anaudience at the end of the Australian World Orchestra’s Concert. Zubin was born into a Parsi family in Mumbai, India, during the rule of the British. His native language is Gujarati.His father was a self-taught violinist who founded the Bombay Symphony Orchestra and later the AmericanYouth Symphony, which he conducted for 33 years after moving to Los Angeles. TheBrisbaneRavishingFashionistasFashionShow 2022was organized recently, at Old
Government House, Queensland.
The 2022 Spring Themed show was made a success with beautiful garments and perfectly fit the theme.
The runway was a colourful explosion of elegance, innovation and fun with positive feedback coming from the guests.
The mission of Ravishing Fashionistas is to empower women.
They are setting a new standard where any woman can be a model in their own right and own their confidence irrespective of body types, background and beliefs. Their vision is to help the average women from disparate cultural backgrounds to reach their maximum potential and find their uniqueness to be a better version of themselves.
Hindi Day 2022 observed
India’s Prime Councilavas in Perth organized Hindi Day 2022 with participation of over 300 Hindi servants and Hindi lovers from Western Australia at the Indian Community Centre (ICC) on September 17. Two Indian origin MPs of Western Australia - YazMubarakai, MLA and Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Citizenship and Multicultural Interests; and, DrJagdish (Jags) Krishnan, MLA were present at the program. The climax of the program was presentations by primary and senior high school children and Swang art performance by JyotiRana. Winners of three competitions in Hindi language - essay writing, calligraphy and manuscript - were awarded by the Prime Council and dignified guests. All participantstaking part in each competition were awarded consolation prizes. Hindi language teachers as well as the Chief Advisor werehonoured in the ‘School Curriculum & Standard Authority’ (SCSA) of Western Australia. From the next academic year starting January 2023, two Indian languages - Hindi and Tamil - will be taught in all Western Australian schools, for which the required curriculum has been finalized by SCSA. Hindi Samaj of Western Australia (HSWA), School, Hindi Language Teachers Association (HLTAWA), Arya Hindi Vidyalaya, Sanskriti Teaching Center, KalamDawat Group, and Vishwa Hindu Parishad of Western Australia contributed to the success of this event. Many socio-cultural organizations such as Maharashtra Mandal, Bhairavi Dance School and Academy of Classical & Bollywood Dance fascinated all participants and guests with their cultural presentations based on Indian philosophy. The Indian Society of Western Australia (ISWA) extended its full support for the hosting of the event.
Consul General Dr. Sushil Kumar inaugurated the India Pavilion of the “Fine
Food Australia” at the Melbourne
Conventions & Exhibitions Centre, which was organized from 5-8 September. Spices Board INDIA and India Trade Promotion Organization participated in the exhibition. A total of 20 Indian exhibitors/exporters of food items, including spices displayed their wide range of products.
$23000ladduauction atGanesh
HarbhajanMaan Show was organisedat Craigieburn, in Melbourne.Maan, who has enthralled Punjabi audiences across the world,has been singing songs for the last 30 years. It was a memorable evening.
Australia Alludu Indian Students organisationorganised a grand Ganesh Mahotsav celebration recently, in which a laddu auction raised $23000for the organizers. The celebration wasattended by thousands of devotees from Melbourne and other places from across Australia. For the occasion of Ganesh Utsav, a majestic five-foot eco-friendly idol of Ganapathi, specially made in Hyderabad, was installed. The Ganesh Mahotsav celebration began with Ganesh puja and a special arathi. Lord Ganesh’s idol was decorated with rich adornments, artistic décor, lavish flowers, and fruit garlands. Rituals and Archana were performed during the day, and shlokas and Ganesha mantras
were chanted by the priest. As The GOPIO Gold Coast announced spiritually uplifted when attending Vice President 2nd –ShrutiThakkar part of the celebrationAyyapa- its new Executive Committee for SevaSamithi Melbourne performed 2022-2023 after its annual general Ganesh Bhajans. Entertainment meeting held on 11 September at and dhol performances continued the Indian Place Surfers Paradise. all through the day amidst a spiri- The following are the new Executive tual fervor. More than a thousand Committee members: devotees and visitors participated President – PradipGorasia in the celebrations. The organizers Vice President – Mokhtiar Singhconducted ladduauction at the Ganesh immersion. Talking about the celebration organizers Pallavi and Charan said, “This is the most incredible GanapatiChaturthi celebration in Southeast Melbourne. I feel these celebrations. The vibrant Secretary – Arash Singh ambience with colour, festive spirit Joint Secretary – Padmanabhan and coming together of the com- Krishnan munity is incredible. My special Treasurer – JessyKaurahthanks to Carina Garland, MP for Chisholm, Julian Hill MP For Assistant Treasurer – VarshaBadhe Bruce, MengHeangTak MP, State Patron - PushpinderOberoi Labour Member of Parliament for After being appointed the new team Clarinda.” has said that it will look forward to
Festival in Melbourne GOPIO Gold Coast gets new Executive Committee
uniting and connecting the Indian diaspora on the Gold Coast and it is committed to working together with all its members and volunteers to bring onboard a wonderful experience through networking, social/cultural events, and seamless feedback from all to help improve and grow as a team throughout its tenure.
The Gujarat Community Queensland (GCQ) organized a one-day trip for senior citizens on 3rd September.
The one-day trip was thoroughly enjoyed by the senior citizens.
The GCQ distributed disposable masks, hand sanitizer, water bottle, and cap at no cost. This one-day trip was taken at spectacular places covering Glass House Mountains and Pine River Dam. The arrangement of the journey along with morning tea-breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea-snacks was arranged at a muchsubsidized cost. The GCQ volunteers worked hard to make this day special, successful and memorable. With all of your support and companionship, GCQ would like to continue organizing more community activities/events with excitement and happiness. GCQ One-day Senior Citizen trip was supported monetarily and with support in kind by all the below businesses/ individuals. The Hindi Day celebration was organized by Councilavas in cooperation with IABB School, Sydney. The ceremony was attended by several dignitaries from New South Wales
State. School students introduced rich expression by presenting many good poems, and cultural programs.
Ramayan Dolls exhibition organized at Ganesh Festival
The Hindu Council of Australia (HCA) celebrated the Ballarat Ganesh Festival recently by organizingRamayan Dolls exhibition in Golu tradition, which isthe festive
Australian airline Qantas launched a brand-new service between Bengaluru and Sydney on September 14.The first direct flight linking South India and Australia took off from Kempegowda International Airport at 6:35 p.m. The September 14 return flight from Sydney touched down in Bengaluru at 4:55 PM. The Bengaluru-Sydney and the return flights will be operated by Qantas four times each week on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday using an A330 aircraft. With IndiGo, Qantas has a code-sharing arrangement. According to Australia’s national airline, the direct trip will reduce the distance between the two cities’ travel times by approximately three hours. The route has experienced display of dolls and figurines in South India during the autumn festive season. The exhibition was much appreciated by the attendees. Students from local schools visited
high demand since the launch of the new service earlier this year, with both the outward and inward maiden flights completely sold out, according to a statement from Qantas. About the flight Andrew David, CEO of Qantas Domestic and International, said, “Bengaluru’s and took interest in Ramayan. Ballarat Mayor Daniel Moloney and local MP Catherine King also visited the exhibition.
inclusion on our route map strengthens our links with India and comes after the introduction of direct services from Australia to Delhi last year, which were also well-received. The only airline now operating direct flights between the two main cities in Australia and the north and south of India is Qantas.”
Qantas starts new direct flight to South India
Fashion categories set to see biggest growth in India festive season
Bengaluru, Sep 23 (IANS) As the sales in the first festive week is likely to touch $5.9 billion this year, 63 per cent of consumers are planning to spend on fashion categories compared to 56 per cent last year, a new report showed on Friday. Despite concerns around inflation and discretionary spends, customers are looking forward to spending more and sellers on e-commerce platforms are expecting a 20 per cent volume growth during the festive season, reports Redseer Strategy Consultants. According to its report, 83 per cent of the respondents indicated willingness to buy various products this festive season that began this week. “The share of fashion in overall festive sale in the first festive week is estimated to increase by 9pp from 2018-22. Online fashion has grown 4x in the last four years compared to 3x growth for overall e-tail,” said Sanjay Kothari, Associate Partner, Redseer Strategy Consultants. Fuelling this growth is the increasing shopper base from tier 2 and beyond cities, “resulting in 2.5 times growth in fashion shoppers in the last four years”, Kothari added. The positive sentiments are driven by demand for fashion, mobiles, electronics and large appliances. Nearly 53 per cent of consumers are going to spend on electronics compared to 44 per cent last year. Festive sales will see higher participation from fashion sellers this year compared to other categories. Redseer has predicted $11.8 billion worth gross merchandise value (GMV) during the festive month.
Permanent Capital: Answer to India’s $10 Trillion Economy
By Poornima Vardhan And Taponeel
Mukherjee
The development and expansion of Indian enterprises, especially in terms of improving capital use efficiency, can benefit from understanding global trends in money management and business efficiency.
The one trend that has been in focus throughout the asset management industry, especially the private equity world, is “permanent capital”.
This is broadly defined as access to funds for long periods instead of the usual seven to ten-year fund horizon that has been the norm in the private equity industry.
Permanent capital funds focus less on exiting investments in a defined period - and the emphasis is more on generating potential long-run investment returns.
Investors have generated permanent capital through a variety of strategies. Some large investors, such as Blackstone, Apollo & KKR, have utilised Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) to generate capital they can invest strategically. Apollo has also generated permanent capital through investing, and managing assets for a retirement solution focused annuity business called
“Athene”, which, through its annuity business, generates significant cash that Apollo has utilised to generate returns.
Permanent Capital Vehicles’ (PCVs) growing popularity, in large part, was inspired by Warren Buffett. As the head of one PE firm was quoted by Financial Times, “everyone is suffering from Warren Buffett envy”.
Specifically, Berkshire Hathaway’s buy-and-hold investment strategy, wherein every investment is viewed as an acquisition in a company rather than a mere trade. As such, the investment is considered a vote of confidence in the company’s prospects and a long-term commitment to helping it achieve the same. As Buffett himself once famously noted, his “favourite holding period is forever”. While Berkshire Hathaway may be the most celebrated name in the PCV space, it is by no means the only one. Markel Corporation, Danaher, Apollo, ThermoFisher, KKR and Johnson & Johnson are other examples - and the list is growing.
So how will Permanent Capital help India in the next decade?
The success of nations/economies depends on access to high-quality growth and low-cost capital. While India will enjoy high growth due to favourable demographic and economic factors, access to the low cost of capital will be critical. As the world heads toward high inflation and high-interest rates, the ability to make India an attractive destination for global capital is a must. The Indian government has been making a huge push in this direction. Government-led economic planning platforms, such as the development of GIFT City and the International Financial Service Centre (IFSC) in Gujarat, have already been created. There is a significant push to create a more open and conducive regulatory scheme and simpler tax structure. With Permanent Capital, India will have the advantage of accessing global investments while generating long-term returns for investors. • Permanent capital allows prioritising value and steady longterm returns over risky one-time buyouts that may be adversely impacted by unpredictable market cycles. Long-term value creation will help generate significant returns. • With higher degree of permanent capital, it will allow Indian
businesses and investors to access opportunities for longer periods, ride out periods of high market volatility and, most importantly, acquire assets at attractive valuations when rivals cannot do so due to unfavourable market conditions or internal distress. • With permanent capital, Indian companies can pursue essential high-growth-high-return projects that may yield significant investment returns in the future. • For investors looking toward emerging markets such as India, PCVs are essential, especially in the context of relatively lesser secondary market liquidity, longer investment horizons for value generation and smaller size of debt capital markets. Using PCVs to hold on to investments longer for value creation could be a vital factor. • Most importantly, stable cash flows via permanent capital can help shield India from adverse market conditions and businesses from the adverse funding conditions and assist a company in acquiring valuable assets across the industry. Over the past decade, long-term investing has garnered more takers, especially in the aftermath of the Great Recession, following which economic growth, especially in developed countries, was muted. The usual buy-and-sell-quickly strategy was becoming less viable. Case in point: a quarter of buyout firms worldwide never raised a fund post-2008. As the capital markets and businesses in India evolve, winners and losers in highly competitive markets will be determined by various factors, including sources of funds. Both the quality and quantity of funding available will be one of the fundamental factors determining long-term winners. Permanency of capital offers some essential insights into improving one’s competitiveness.
(The views expressed in this article are personal and that of the authors. The authors, Poornima Vardhan and Taponeel Mukherjee, head AltG, a firm that Offers Proprietary Investment Research)
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Swiggy, Zomato make it to top 10 global online food delivery firms
New Delhi, Sep 22 (IANS)
Homegrown online food delivery platforms Zomato and Swiggy have made it to the list of the world’s ‘Top 10’ e-commerce-based food delivery companies, says a new report. According to the Canadaheadquartered global research firm ETC Group, Swiggy was placed in 9th place and Zomato on 10th. Meanwhile, China’s Meituan, the UK’s Deliveroo, and the US’ Uber Eats, a subsidiary of Uber, captured the top 3 positions, respectively. “The food delivery sector refers to digital, on-demand platforms for ordering and paying for prepared food and, increasingly, groceries and other retail items,” the research firm said in a statement. “Restaurants/retailers fill the orders and couriers deliver them to customers within a prescribed timeframe,” it added. In June 2022, Zomato approved the acquisition of quick commerce start-up Blinkit for Rs 4,447.5 crore ($570 million) in an all-stock deal. Zomato already owned more than a 9 per cent stake in Blinkit (earlier Grofers). Meanwhile, Swiggy, a subsidiary of Bundl Technologies Private Ltd, deals with prepared food (restaurant) delivery, cloud kitchen, and grocery delivery via Swiggy Go. “Venture capital and technology investment has fuelled the sector, but companies have yet to deliver profits -- even in the sector-friendly circumstances of the global pandemic when delivery became more necessity than convenience,” the report said. “Tweaking the business model to move toward profitability -- most prominently by adding grocery delivery -- is underway,” it added.
Alibaba Cloud to invest $1 bn to boost global biz
Beijing, Sep 22 (IANS) Alibaba Cloud has committed $1 billion investment to boost its partner ecosystem capabilities and gain a larger pie of the Cloud market globally. Alibaba Cloud is currently the world’s third-largest public cloud provider. This investment consists of both financial and non-financial incentives, such as funding, rebates and go-to-market initiatives, the company said in a statement. “With more enterprises moving to the cloud and an increase in demand for cloud services in a hybrid environment, Alibaba Cloud has made available globally a series of its proven infrastructure products, a multi-model cloud-native database and distributed cloud services,” it added. With its revamped ecosystem strategy, Alibaba Cloud said the it is committed to investing $1 billion to support partners’ technology innovation and their market expansion with Alibaba Cloud in the coming three fiscal years. To accelerate partners’ growth, Alibaba Cloud also launched a “Regional Accelerator” programme to provide partners operating in different markets with a localised business collaboration model. Alibaba Cloud ecosystem partners including resellers, technology partners (ISV, SaaS and SI), service and consulting partners can benefit from the program. “Partners have always been a key focus for Alibaba Cloud, and we are committed to providing them with strong support for our ongoing co-creation and value-add - both technologically and commercially - to further empower our joined customers,” said Selina Yuan, Alibaba Cloud Intelligence International President. “Our revamped partner strategy prioritizes our partners’ growth. By continuing to support our partners’ business expansion, we can build an inclusive ecosystem benefiting partners and customers,” Yuan added.
All hell breaks loose on moonlighting as WFH shrinks at Indian IT firms
By Nishant Arora
New Delhi, Sep 22 (IANS) With IT major Wipro sacking 300 employees for moonlighting -- working for rival firms while drawing full-time salaries at the software firm -- industry experts on Thursday said IT companies must clarify their policies regarding employment and moonlighting as work-from-home (WFH) culture in the IT sector has apparently given rise to such work practices. Amid the debate on what is right and what is wrong for employees who are at home and working, some leading IT and Cloud firms, afraid of backlash from employees if they go on record, told IANS that such practices are actually unethical, and WFH has kept their hands tied as they cannot monitor what their employees are doing from the boundaries of their homes. At this moment, C.P. Gurnani, CEO and Managing Director of Tech Mahindra, has come in support of moonlighting from the big tech enterprises, saying that “If someone is meeting the efficiency and productivity norms, and wants to make some extra money, I have no problem. I would like to make it a policy. So, if you want to do it, cheers to that, but be open about it.” Shrijay Sheth, Founder, Legalwiz. in, told IANS that the issue around moonlighting is beyond just having multiple jobs. “It is a larger issue that employers face around work ethics, integrity, and priorities. With work from home being mainstream now, moonlighting is a common secondary revenue stream. While many are ok with employees being involved in alternative activities in extended work hours, some moonlighters are actually double dipping,” Sheth elaborated. There are data-sharing and intellectual property (IP) stealing fears too. Most of the new-age businesses are IP, know-how and data driven, and there is always a risk of data and knowledge drain, more specifically when the moonlighting is done for competing companies. “Many businesses rightly expect their employees to be the advocates of their brand. Many even do not claim employment credentials on their public social profiles, simply because they run a competing ‘freelance’ business in the same domain. It is becoming highly common in ITES and other services industries,” Sheth noted. It was on-demand delivery platform Swiggy that introduced a new “Moonlighting” policy last month for its employees that will let them take up external projects to make more money. Swiggy said this could encompass activity outside of office hours or on weekends that does not impact their productivity on the full-time job or have a conflict of interest with the company’s business in any way. And all hell broke loose. Mohandas Pai, former Director of Infosys, feels that “moonlighting is not cheating”. “Employment is a contract between an employer who pays me for working for them for ‘n’ number of hours a day. Now what I do after that time is my freedom, I can do what I want,” according to Pai. TCS has also called moonlighting an ethical issue. Infosys issued a letter to employees strictly prohibiting them from practicing moonlighting, saying “No two-timing, no moonlighting, and no double lives”. The IT major has sent an email to its employees, saying it is mandatory now for all to work from the office at least three days a week. Amid the brouhaha over moonlighting in India, cloud major IBM last week made it clear that the practice is not ethical and the company does not promote such behaviour at the workplace. According to Sheth, it is best for the businesses to clarify their policies. “Employment contracts should explicitly define employers’ tolerance to moonlighting and provide guidelines as to what is acceptable, if at all. That can help in formally easing up the conflicts and frictions around the issue,” he noted. However, a shocked workforce of millions, working from home, can revolt against their bosses if more firing episodes happen within the IT firms’ ranks.
(Nishant Arora can be reached at nishant.a@ians.in)
Congress prepares for first non-Gandhi president after 1998
New Delhi, Sep 25 (IANS) The coming week Congress leaders will be filing nomination papers for the presidential poll. It now seems that apart from Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari will throw his hat into the ring and some others may also join the fray. While the Gandhis are likely to be neutral in the elections, party interim president Sonia Gandhi has asserted that the polls will be fair and she will not endorse any candidate. Sources said that the issue of Rajasthan in the event of Gehlot joining national politics was also discussed, but there is no official word on it yet. This will be the first election since 1998 that a non-Gandhi will be elected as party president. After Sonia Gandhi got elected for the first time
Jaipur, Sep 25 (IANS) The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting called on Sunday at Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s residence has been cancelled as more than 90 Congress MLAs loyal to the veteran party leader threatened to resign, while demanding the new CM face be picked from their group. New Delhi, Sep 25 (IANS) As drama unfolded in Jaipur on Sunday, the Congress top leadership seems committed the same mistake as it did in Punjab, but did not anticipate that MLAs will go against high command unlike in Punjab where a majority of legislators went with its wishes. The reason of the Rajasthan MLAs revolting is that unlike Amarinder Singh in Punjab, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has been with the MLAs and had held them together since the 2020 crisis. In Punjab the change of guard was smooth as Amarinder Singh did not resist and resigned, but in Jaipur, the veterans have checkmated the rival camp, who thought MLAs will go as the wish of high command. Politics in Rajasthan took a new twist on Sunday with around 70 MLAs, who are staunch supporters of Gehlot, gathered at the residence
defeating Jitendra Prasada, since then she was elected unopposed and in 2017, Rahul Gandhi was elected unopposed. Gehlot said that Rahul Gandhi has refused to contest the party president’s election and wants a non-Gandhi to be the party president. Gehlot said, “I will be filing nomination soon and it’s the need of the hour that the opposition should be strong.” Gehlot will have to relinquish the post of Chief Minister if he gets elected as Rahul Gandhi has hinted that the Congress will adhere to the ‘one man one post’ formula as per the Udaipur declaration. When asked he said “I think we have made a commitment in Udaipur and I hope that it will be maintained.” The Congress had reiterated that anyone can contest the party president’s poll as it was a democratic and transparent process and no nod was required from the leadership. Jairam Ramesh, party general secretary said, “It’s important to reiterate that any member is welcome to contest for Congress president. This is a democratic and transparent process. Nobody needs anybody’s nod to contest, especially that of the party leadership.” Jairam has also asked the spokespersons not to comment on any candidate as their duty is to highlight that the Congress is the only party which is conducting an election. The direction comes a day after
“The MLAs want either Gehlot or his pick to be Chief Minister instead of Sachin Pilot,” Rajasthan minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas told the media. Gehlot reportedly received a call from Rajya Sabha MP K.C. Venugopal who asked him to “handle the situation” but the Chief Minister told of state minister Shanti Dhariwal, to chalk out a strategy to eliminate Sachin Pilot from the race to select his successor. State minister Pratap Khachriyawas said: “We have all the right to choose our leader and we will decide our leader.” These MLAs reached the residence
party spokesperson Gourav Vallabh openly supported the candidature of Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. “We all have our individual preferences but our job is to highlight ONLY the following,” he said in a message to AICC spokespersons, media panellists, office-bearers of the communications department. He said that the Congress is the only political party to have a democratic and transparent system in place for election to the post of its president and this should be highlighted. The Congress is the only political party in India to have an independent Election Authority to conduct organisational elections. A person wanting to contest needs no nod from anybody to do so except from 10 PCC delegates for filing the nomination form, he added. The Congress’ central election authority had issued a notification for the AICC president polls on September 22. According to the notification, while the nomination forms will be available from Thursday, the filing of nominations will take place between September 24 and 30. Scrutiny of the nominations will take place on October 1, and the same day, a valid candidate list will be published. The last date of withdrawal is October 8 following which, a final list will be brought out. While the poll will be held on October 17, counting will take place on October 19.
Gandhi family has no issues with me contesting for party chief: Tharoor
Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 26
(IANS) Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday said that the Gandhi family has no issues with him contesting for the party president’s post. The Thiruvananthapuruam MP made a quick visit to Rahul Gandhi soon after his morning session of the Bharat Jodo yatra ended at Pattambi in Palakkad district. “I came and met Rahul Gandhi. I spoke to the three people in the Gandhi family and they have no issue with contesting for it. I am yet to make a decision and have been getting reactions from across the country, he said. Asked if he expects backing from the Congress leaders in Kerala, with a smile, he said, “Yes, surely, but not all would support and my support will increase after the nomination is filed.” Meanwhile, the indication is that Tharoor will be filing his nomination on Friday, the last day of filing of nominations.
R’than crisis: CLP meet cancelled as over 90 MLAs threaten to resign
the Congress’ central leadership that it was “not in his hands”. Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Pilot, meanwhile, is believed to be the central leaders’ choice for the chief ministerial position. A delegation from the Gehlot camp has went to meet senior Congress leader Ajay Maken who is in Jaipur as observer for the CLP meeting. These include state Urban Development and Housing Minister Shanti Dhariwal, Pratap Singh Khachariyawas and Mahesh Joshi. Maken, speaking to the media, said: “We are not going to Delhi as of now. We have been asked to take feedback from each and every single MLA.” Meanwhile, sources said that the Congress high command has called both Gehlot and Pilot to Delhi. New Delhi, Sep 25 (IANS) Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad on Sunday met Congress President Sonia Gandhi to discuss matters pertaining to opposition unity. The two leaders briefed the Congress chief about the initiatives taken to unite the opposition parties against the BJP for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. After the meeting, Nitish Kumar, who had met Rahul Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, Arvind Kejriwal, and Sitaram Yechury on his previous Delhi visit, said: “Talks are on with all like-minded parties and since Congress is into organisational elections, we will take a view on it.” Lalu Prasad said: “The prime agenda is to remove BJP as it has been done in Bihar.” The meeting came soon after several opposition leaders had come together to pay tribute to former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal in Haryana. At the event in Haryana’s Fatehabad, Nitish Kumar gave a call for a “main front”, comprising the Congress, to oust the BJP in 2024 parliamentary polls. NCP’s Sharad Pawar, Nitish Kumar and Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Badal, among several Opposition leaders, shared the dais at the rally organised by the Indian National Lok Dal, and gave a united call to out the BJP government in the Centre. RJD leader and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav and CPIM’s Yechury also attended the rally to mark the birth anniversary of the INLD founder Devi Lal. However, the rally organiser INLD and its ally SAD do not share cordial relations with the Congress. Nitish Kumar, who reiterated that he is not a Prime Minister candidate, said: “There is no question of a third front now and what is needed is the main front of opposition to ensure that BJP loses badly. I will urge all parties including the Congress to come together. My only wish is that we all need to come together at the national level. We need to bring together more parties.” Tejashwi Yadav said Kumar’s “fearless” decision to part ways with the BJP would prove to be the last nail in the party’s coffin. “Nitish Kumar had no vested interests, but his only ambition was to uproot the communal forces,” he said. Sukhbir Badal joined the call for like-minded parties to form a united front. He said his party, along with the Shiv Sena and the JD-U, “are the real NDA as they had founded the alliance”.
Cong high command thought Rajasthan is Punjab but checkmated
of Assembly Speaker C.P. Joshi to submit their resignation. Khachriyawas said that their only demand is that the new Chief Minister should be from those 101 MLAs who helped in saving the government during the rebellion and not from those who were a part of the rebels.
Azad launches new party, names it Democratic Azad Party
Jammu, Sep 26 (IANS) Former senior Congress leader, Ghulam Nabi Azad on Monday launched his new political party and named it, the Democratic Azad Party. Azad told the mediapersons here that around 1,500 names were suggested to him in Urdu, Hindi and Sanskrit. “The mix of Hindi and Urdu is Hindustani. We wanted the name to be Democratic, peaceful and independent. “My party will focus on the restoration of full statehood, right to land and employment to native domiciles,” he said. He also displayed the flag of his new party which has blue, white and yellow colours. Azad parted ways with the Congress after five decades as he said that nobody at the high command level of the Congress would listen to those who gave their life to strengthen the party. After he resigned from the basic membership of the Congress, over two dozen prominent Congress leaders of J&K resigned in support of Azad. He is now set to fight the forthcoming Assembly elections in the union territory on his own. So far, he has been maintaining distance from both the BJP and the regional mainstream parties of J&K.
By Vishnu Makhijani
New Delhi, Sep 20 (IANS) India got a shot at playing in the Football World Cup way back in 1950 but backed out for reasons that are still not exactly clear and its chances of reaching the pinnacle are a distant dream but there is some hope for the revival of the game in the country with a new dispensation in place though it’s too early to predict the future, says veteran sports journalist Jaydeep Basu, who has edited a book titled “Box to Box” that traces the highs and the lows of the game in the country in the past 75 years. “In my humble opinion, India playing the World Cup is still a distant dream. It will take many, many years to achieve, unless some drastic changes come in Indian football,” Basu told IANS in an interview. Do you see the new dispensation in the AIFF (All India Football Federation) turning around the fortunes of the game? “The current body has been elected less than a month ago. So, we have to wait and see,” Basu responded. After a prolonged series of events, that even saw the intervention of the Supreme Court, FIFA, the worldwide governing body of the sport, suspended the AIFF on August 15 for violating its statutes on third-party interference in its management. India was also stripped of its hosting rights for international tournaments, including the U-17 Women’s World Cup in October. The suspension was lifted on August 27, following which the tournament will be held as scheduled. In the elections held on September 2, as mandated by the Supreme Court, Kalyan Chaubey, a former India goalkeeper and currently a member of the BJP, was elected the AIFF President, defeating former India captain Bhaichung Bhutia by a lopsided 33/1 margin and ending the 14-year reign of NCP politician Praful Patel. Choubey, in fact, is the first footballer to head the AIFF and certainly has his hands full with Bhutia himself suggesting a way forward, harkening back to a time when the Santosh Trophy, the IFA Shield. the Durand and the DCM Cup and clubs like JCT and Premier Tyres were the feeding grounds for Indian football. Then came the I-League and the ISL Today, the Santosh Trophy, the National Football Championship, is almost extinct. “We have not got the domestic structure right as yet. The structure is yet to get sorted more so with the Indian Super League (ISL) coming in,” Bhutia says in an interview in the book. “I am hoping that in the next 2/3 years, the domestic structure will be settled where the ISL and I-League will have more teams and we could have a 7-8 month-long season. “The absence of a domestic league structure is definitely going to hamper the game in the long run. I feel there should be a domestic league structure from where players can be spotted to play for ISL or I-League and then for India. It is important to have a domestic league structure,” Bhutia asserts. “Bhaichung is very right in his observations. The newly-elected body of the All India Football Federation is now trying to bolster the domestic football system and has announced plans to revive old tournaments you are talking about. So, let us see where it goes,” Basu said during the IANS interview. As for the 1950 World Cup fiasco, this is best described in an article titled “Were India banned (from the tournament) for wanting to play barefoot” by Peter Jones that appeared on July 11, 2018 on worldfootballindex.com: “It appears that the main reason was the AIFF delaying a decision on whether they would attend, this delaying tactic provided them with free travel courtesy of FIFA, and perhaps they were waiting for further benefits before the opportunity passed them by.” Basu terms this “The Blunder Of the Century” just two years after India had appeared for its maiden Olympic football match against France at the 1948 London Games which they lost by a last-minute goal. This is what was written for “All India Football 1945-50” by an eminent soccer critic of England today who is also the sports chief of a leading English daily and who prefers to remain anonymous: “...India lost the match which she should have won. Her defence was sound, with not one weak link. Her forwards were clever and better masters of sprinting and dodging. They went through the 90 minutes of play without visibly tiring although they looked frail in comparison with their heftier rivals. Where they failed was in shooting at the goal. Once they make up this deficiency, it will have to be very very strong national side that would be able to beat the Indians. They have evolved a technique which baffles the Western player and makes his physical superiority appear futile,” the critic wrote. It’s a different matter that just eight years later, India finished fourth at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, the highest they have achieved at the international level, not counting regional tournaments like the Asian Games. Alas, while India were the champions of Asia in the 1960s, the book maintains that “narrow political considerations caused irreparable damage to its fortunes in the 1970s” and narrates “how the game was undermined in the country in the 21st century and forced by unscrupulous officials to toe the line of the corporates”.
How did the book come about?
“I wanted to come out with a book on the Indian national football team on the 75th celebration of India’s independence. It also coincided with the Indian national team’s 75th year as the Indian football team played their first match in August 1948 at the London Olympics. Being a person always keen on history, I have been doing some research on Indian football for the past 30 years. So, I did not have to do much extra work on this book. But at the same time, I spent lots of time selecting the writers and different angles of the national team. The writers in this book are some of the best names in Indian football and I feel proud of them for writing some top class articles,” Basu responded. Basu, who has covered several World Cups, Olympics and Asian Games, is also the author of “Stories From Indian Football”. What next? What’s his next book going to be on? “I have not set a target yet. But yes, I have plans to write more on Indian football,” Basu concluded.
(Vishnu Makhijani can be reached
at vishnu.makhijani@ians.in)
Anupam Kher visits Sindhu’s house; gets bowled over by her trophies, medals
Hyderabad, Sep 30 (IANS) Veteran actor Anupam Kher recently paid a visit to ace badminton player PV Sindhu’s house and was completely bowled over after looking at the huge number of trophies and medals won over the years by one of India’s most successful sportswomen ever. The 67-year-old actor shared a video of their meeting, giving fans a tour of her house, including her massive trophy collection. Starting from the trophies that she won for the Under-16 tournaments and the Olympics, Sindhu gave an inside view of all her accomplishments and the pride that she brought to the country through the sport. In the video posted by Kher on Instagram Reels featuring Sindhu’s medals and trophies, he can be heard saying, “One and only champion, look at this wall, I used to be very proud that mere wall pe kaafi saare awards hai par ye toh kamaal hai, (that wall has loads of awards but this is amazing) oh my god.” “Yaha toh jagah hi nhi hai, bilkul jagah nhi hai (There is no space here),” he added. The actor-author also said in the video that he had a conversation with Sindhu’s father where he shared plans of taking over another floor as they are running short of a place for trophies and medals. The versatile artist who felt ‘privileged’ to have visited the badminton player’s house, wrote how he was mesmerised to see all the feathers that she has added to her embellished cap. “This is AMAZING: Recently I had the privilege of visiting CHAMP @ pvsindhu1’s home. She very humbly gave me a tour of her achievements! Right from the age of 8! I was completely bowled by her awards, trophies & humility! She is our daughter of India, our honour. She is our motivating hero. Jai ho, Jai hind,” Kher captioned the video. On the other hand, Sindhu also shared a picture of their meeting on her social media account saying it was her ‘honour’ to meet the veteran actor. “Had the fortune of spending time with one of the all-time greats of Indian cinema. The laughs, the memories and quality conversation. What an honour,” she wrote. The 27-year Sindhu, who is a two-time Olympic medallist having won a silver in women’s singles at the 2016 Rio Olympics and bronze in Tokyo last year, is currently on the path to recovery after sustaining an ankle injury during the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham while Anupam Kher is currently riding on the success of his movie The Kashmir Files and Karthikeya 2.
Magnus Carlsen courts controversy, calls Niemann a cheat, says he is not willing to play against the American
New York, Sep 27 (IANS) A day after world No.1 chess player Magnus Carlsen crushed India’s Arjun Erigaisi to clinch the Julius Baer Generation Cup -- the seventh leg of the USD1.6 million Meltwater Champions Chess Tour -- and broke the 2900 Tour Rating barrier, the world champion shed light on him sensationally quitting his game against American star Hans Niemann after playing just one move in the preliminary stage of the tournament on September 19, saying it was because his opponent had “cheated”. In a statement posted on social media, Carlsen, who had caused a wave of shock when he pulled out of a match for the second time in two weeks, seemingly in protest at alleged cheating by his opponent, said, “At the 2022 Sinquefield Cup, I made the unprecedented professional decision to withdraw from the tournament after my round three game against Hans Niemann. A week later during the Champions Chess Tour, I resigned against Hans Niemann after playing only one move. “I know that my actions have frustrated many in the chess community. I’m frustrated. I want to play chess. I want to continue to play chess at the highest level in the best events,” said Carlsen, terming cheating an “existential threat” to the sport. “I believe that cheating in chess is a big deal and an existential threat to the game.” Carlsen also urged the organisers of tournaments to increase their vigil to ensure weeding out of the cheats. “I also believe that chess organisers and all those who care about the sanctity of the game we love should seriously consider increasing security measures and methods of cheat detection for over the board chess. When Niemann was invited last minute to the 2022 Sinquefield Cup, I strongly considered withdrawing prior to the event. I ultimately chose to play. “I believe that Niemann has cheated more -- and more recently -- than he has publicly admitted. His over the board progress has been unusual, and throughout our game in the Sinquefield Cup, I had the impression that he wasn’t tense or even fully concentrating on the game in critical positions, while outplaying me as black in a way I think only a handful of players can do. This game contributed to changing my perspective,” added Carlsen. In an indication he was not willing to play against Niemann anymore, Carlsen said, “I don’t know what they (alleged cheaters) are capable of doing in the future”. “We must do something about cheating, and for my part going forward, I don’t want to play against people that have cheated repeatedly in the past, because I don’t know what they are capable of doing in the future. There is more that I would like to say. Unfortunately, at this time I am limited in what I can say without explicit permission from Niemann to speak openly. So far I have only been able to speak with my actions, and those actions have stated clearly that I am not willing to play chess with Niemann. I hope that the truth on this matter comes out, whatever it may be,” added Carlsen.
