Strategy Or Compulsion: Srinivasan Sells India Cements to Birlas, Ring-Fences CSK

After 75 years, The India Cements Ltd (ICL) has changed hands. The indefatigable vice-chairman & MD N Srinivasan has finally called it quits and sold his family holdings to the Aditya Birla Group-owned flagship company UltraTech Cement. At the end of the day, he was a reluctant seller having got into a pincer-like situation by a combination of physical, economic and financial factors. An ageing Srinivasan and ageing plants have pushed ICL, whose birth could be traced to the pre-Independence era, into the hands of UltraTech. It may not be easy for Srinivasan -– who breathes cement -– to let go of ICL. No doubt, Srinivasan and his family are richly rewarded for their renunciation of ICL. Yet, he must be silently suffering the pain of parting ICL. Significantly enough, he has managed to ring-fence Chennai Super Kings (CSK), the largely successful IPL (Indian Premier League) cricket team. As an independent unlisted company, it is now largely owned by him and his family. CSK has not only gone from strength to strength but also spread its wings across the globe. A passionate patron of Cricket and cricketer, Srinivasan and his ilk could now focus fully on the game like a blinkered-horse. Franchise-based sport is proving to be the future across the globe.  Significantly enough, Ultratech will get ICL only since Srinivasan and his family have ring-fenced India Cements Capital as well. Indeed, a fresh innings has begun for Srinivasan and his family.(By KT Jagannathan)

Birlas Enter The Southern Market Via Buy Route, Are Adanis On Prowl Too?

If winter comes, can spring be far behind? If UltraTech Cement arrives, can the Adanis stay away? Well, the Aditya Birla Group-owned UltraTech Cement has just re-laid the industrial landscape in Tamil Nadu by buying out the indomitable N Srinivasan in The India Cements Ltd (ICL). Is this the beginning of a new order in the Southern cement field?  All of a sudden, the game is getting redefined. In a fragmented south side story, the opportunities appear to be quite a lot. Not surprisingly, every little player in this part of the world pales into insignificance – reduced to the level of a small scale industry (in terms of capacity and financial muscle) – when compared to the Adanis and the Birlas of Ultratech. Adanis have just recently acquired Hyderabad-based Penna Cements. With Ultratech making its advances in the Dravidian land, Adanis have reportedly upped their ante and are looking around aggressively for cement assets. There are legacy names in this part of the word with good pedigree. When the competition takes an intense format, the playground becomes a vicious turner. When the name of the game is big, the focus is increasingly turning out to be on capacity building. What’s in a name? What’s in a brand?  Everything can get consigned to the pages of history when the big game arrives! (By KT Jagannathan)

Pak-Chinese Coalition Fuels Jammu Terror; Kashmiri Pandits, Indian Lithium Reserves On Target!

The recent bout of intensified terror attacks launched in the Jammu region of the J&K Union Territory of India by Pakistan is akin to an unofficially declared war backed up by Chinese armory and Pakistani sniper commandos tasked with inflicting mortal damage upon the Indian army. According to a source, “The targeted terror strikes in the Hindu dominated Jammu region over the last three months has witnessed military sharp commandos carrying out the attacks using sophisticated Chinese make weapons and bullet proof vests piercing bullets to cause collateral loss of Indian soldiers. These apparent terrorists are expert snipers trained to set their sights on vulnerable spots on the soldiers notwithstanding the vests they wear.” Already, five to six families (Kashmiri Pandits) resident in the border regions of Jammu have relocated providing indication of the intent of the Pakistani offensive. Additionally, the huge lithium reserves discovered in the region that India intends to exploit to launch into the next age of economic development of the country through new age battery technology is also sought to be undermined by arresting the region of Jammu under a vortex of new found terrorism to literally bring physical regions under Pakistan’s terror cloud. J&K Governor Manoj Sinha, meanwhile, is working overtime after securing additional troops to quell the resurgent terror targeting soldiers and the Hindu population living peacefully in India’s paradise on Earth. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Russia in the wake of the intensified attacks were also aimed at exploiting the Russian alliance with China in order to curtail the latter’s tacit backing for Pakistan. The signs are ominous just like in 2019, when Modi stopped referring to Pakistan by name following the Pulwama terror attack and the Balakot strike upon terror was launched. (By Renni Abraham)

Is Formula 4 Night Street Racing Still Coming To Chennai’s Marina?

Is the Tamil Nadu government fixated on conducting a Formula 4 Night Streetcar race in Chennai? It should not, considering that an assurance was given in the high court that a proposed street event in December 2023 would not be held on the Island Grounds-Marina-War Memorial-Napier Bridge Road circuit for at least two years. But since the guarantee runs out in 2025, that year may well see the event being organised in the city at the cost of rearranging road traffic for days on end. Chennai, unlike Monaco or Singapore, may not be best suited to making busy roads into a race track for the mild enthusiasm of a few diehard fans who may love the sound of screaming race engines.  It is the Opposition leader and AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami who threw light on the government’s plans to go ahead with the road race as he saw letters written to industrial houses to support the event. The plan for the formula race had created a controversy when a YouTuber, now in jail, alleged that a Tamil actress having a home in Dubai was associated with the racing circuit companies and was behind the event coming to Chennai. It is clear young ministers in the cabinet seem committed to this tamasha just to please a filmy friend. They can expect severe strictures from the court if ever they solidify plans to run fast cars around the Beach Road. (By Tamil Raja)

Shooter Manu Bhaker Cracks The Olympic Code!

Fairy tale or a dream come true, Manu Bhaker became part of India’s shooting sport’s folklore when she cracked the Olympic code by winning the bronze medal in the 10-metre air pistol event. Just 22, Manu’s performance, like the rest of the others, had fizzled out three years ago in Tokyo. India had fielded the most robust shooting contingent when the Olympics – because of the coronavirus pandemic was pushed back by a year – was held in the Japanese capital.  Manu has been the most talked about shooter debated among the fraternity – all about her talent after winning the Youth Olympics at the age of 16. Thereafter, she won many medals but was disappointed that she could not rise to the occasion in Tokyo. As Anjali Bhagwat, once the face of India’s shooting sport in the women’s ranks, said: “Manu was amazingly focused right from the qualification stage and in the final. She held her nerves, she got great scores!”. Manu comes from Jhajjar in Haryana and has given an impetus for the sport after two disappointing Olympics for India at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 when none of its shooters could muster all their strength and demonstrate skill to win a medal, especially after Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore won a bronze medal in double trap at Athene 2004, Abhinav Bindra won the gold medal in the 10 m air rifle in Beijing, and Vijay Kumar and Gagan Narang clinched the silver medal and bronze medal in the 25 m pistol and 10 m air rifle in London. Manu brought happiness on the second day of the Olympics at Paris 2024, an achievement that should inspire the others to become medal hopes and win too! (By G Viswanath, Paris)

Siddaramaiah Drags In Gowdas To Save His Name In Land Allotment

Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah who is battling charges of land allotments to his wife Parvati by Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) way back in 2006, has reportedly unleashed media war via advertorials to counter political charges against him. These advertorials in local media which first appeared on July 20 are apparently being released back to back on a weekly basis. The CM insists that MUDA had legally allotted 14 residential sites to his wife, Parvathi, in lieu of illegally acquiring her land. The authority had accepted its ‘mistake’, and a MUDA committee comprising members of BJP, JD(S) and Congress had allotted alternative sites in 2021 during the tenure of the BJP government. Siddaramaiah’s opponents including Union Minister and JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy  feel details of  the CM’s land allotments made their way into public domain  courtesy his deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar. To counter allegations by the BJP and JD(S), Urban Development Minister Byrathi Suresh released a list of beneficiaries that included Kumaraswamy and some JD(S) MLAs. Responding to the charges levelled against him by Siddaramaiah, Kumaraswamy said he was yet to receive the site allocated to him in Mysore. “I was the CM in 2006. Had I wished to misuse my power, I could have registered that site in my name back then. But unlike CM Siddaramaiah, I did not misuse my authority.” He added that the investigation into this site has been ongoing since the time of late CM Ramakrishna Hegde.”In 2012, I wrote to MUDA for allocation of the site. I wrote another letter in 2017.  Unlike CM Siddaramaiah, I never misused my authority. They are not giving me this site out of charity. I paid Rs 34,000, and it’s been 40 years,” said Kumaraswamy. (By Lakshmi Iyer)

Face Off In Tollywood: Directors’ Guild Vs Cinema Technician Workers

The Bengali film industry is seeing a faceoff between the Directors’ Guild and the Federation of Cinema Technician Workers of Eastern India (FCTWEA) leading to political interventions to resolve the issue. The trigger was a 3-month shooting ban on Tollywood director Rahool Mukherjee for commencing shoot without requisite permissions from Directors’ Guild and FCTWEA. Notably, FCTWEA is led by Swaroop Biswas, the brother of Trinamool Congress minister Aroop Biswas. The situation has intensified with several high-profile Tollywood figures speaking out against the ban. Directors Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Kamaleshwar Mukhopadhyay, and Kaushik Ganguly, along with TMC MLA and director Raj Chakraborty, and actor-turned-MP Dev, have condemned the restriction. On July 26, the Directors’ Guild gave green signal to Mukherjee to start shooting of his film starring Prosenjit Chatterjee and Anirban Bhattacharya. However, FCTWEA refused to lift the ban and permitted Mukherjee only to serve as a creative director. This decision led to a fiasco on July 27 when several technicians failed to show up for the scheduled shoot. Prosenjit pointed out that such a situation is detrimental for the Bengali film industry. Dev expressed strong disapproval of the Federation’s stance, while Parambrata Chattopadhyay accused Federation officials of leveraging their position to impose their own crew members, despite having sufficient staff already in place. The issue has stirred concerns about the influence of political figures on the film industry, with allegations of muscle-flexing by the Federation at the behest of Minister Aroop Biswas’s family. Director Rahool Mukherjee is keen that the whole situation is resolved amicably in the interest of Tollywood. Will the West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee who enjoys a cordial relationship with Tollywood personalities intervene and resolve the conflict? Tanya Bagchi

Controversial IAS Officer Pooja Khedkar’s Vanishing Act Raises Many Questions

Controversial IAS officer Pooja Khedkar’s vanishing act has raised many questions as the family’s alleged past deeds are coming to light one after another. Khedkar, appointed in Pune collectorate, was hastily transferred to Washim in Vidarbha earlier this month as her medical certificate as a physically challenged person was found to be questionable. While she is still missing, UPSC chairman Manoj Soni resigned, making the matter murkier. Pooja was asked to report at the IAS Training Academy at Mussoorie but she never turned up, nor intimated about her movements. The Delhi police has filed a case against her. Pooja had given the address of a company, Thermoverita, in Pimpri Chinchwad, for obtaining the disability certificate. The company was sealed after the scandal broke out and now the municipal corporation is planning to auction it. The company has tax dues of nearly Rs 3 lakh and hence can face such stringent action. Meanwhile, the Khedkar family’s purported Baramati connection has been disclosed. Her father, Dilip Khedkar, had purchased some land in Waghalwadi in Baramati taluka over a decade ago, according to information surfacing now. There are allegations that he tried to change the record of ownership of the land. Pooja’s mother Manorama was earlier in the news for threatening some farmers in adjoining land in Maval area by brandishing a revolver. The police department’s efficiency is now questioned since Pooja has disappeared for such a long time. (By Dilip Chaware)

Tamil Film Popular Star Dhanush No Longer ‘The Grey Man’

Just before the release of his own Rs 100-crore budget directorial film Raayan, Tamil film popular star Dhanush went through pre-release agony of doubt and fear… he needn’t have.  The crowds exiting cinemas were full of praise and admiration…for not just his direction, but the gracious way of projecting every actor in his or her true worth, not casting himself in every frame, using the ultraviolent action theme to effectively convey the blood and gore story….all in his favour as director. On X, a fan tweeted “A Badshah for Dhanush” (putting him on par with Rajinikanth hit Badshah). With the release of Raayan the debate in Kollywood has now graduated to Dhanush’s directorial skill? Will he plunge full-fledged into direction or manage both acting and direction? His confidence in directing actors like Prakashraj, Kalidas Jayaram, SJ Surya and Sandeep is now evident that he is capable of 50 shades of Grey. Starting off as an average looker and hesitant actor in 2002 in Thulluvadho Ilamai, taking on a variety of films and roles in 23 years, Dhanush has pitched his talent tent, in the right spot, capably. Of course he has gathered much moss and unsavoury baggage in his rise…as star, superstars damaad, family discord, competitive strife with Sivakarthikeyan, media overdrive on so-called dalliance with co-stars. Dhanush who acted in the Hollywood The Grey Man is no longer the Grey Man…He is Atrangi Re. (By Padma Ramnath)

New Record: Majhi Govt In Odisha Renames Naveen Patnaik’s 40 Popular Schemes

The maiden budget presented by the BJP-run Odisha government recently seems to have come in for harsh criticism from the intelligentsia and former chief minister Naveen Patnaik. The general feeling is that the BJP chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi has done a cut and paste job of his predecessor Patnaik’s popular programmes. Analysts pointed out that it was a rehash of most schemes implemented by Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal; the only difference being it was rechristened. On the social media questions were asked “Is CM Majhi running a name changing government or a game changing one?”. For instance, Patnaik’s ‘Mission Shakti’ programme has been renamed as Subhadra Yojana 2024 by the BJP. Similarly, BJD’s ‘Make in Odisha’ was changed to Utkarsh Utkal,  ‘Ama Odisha Nabin Odisha’ renamed Vikasit Gaon Vikasit Odisha, ‘Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana’ rechristened Gopabandhu Jana Arogya Yojana. Looks like the BJP government in Odisha liked the content of BJD’s various schemes but not its name. Not to lose an opportunity Patnaik joined by the Congress blasted the Majhi’s government saying, “There is nothing new in the budget…more than 40 BJD’s government schemes were renamed by the Majhi government”. This renaming of these many schemes cannot be a coincidence. CM Majhi stated that the budget has taken inspiration from PM Modi’s ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikash’ vision. Besides cut-and-paste job, Majhi’s budget focussed on welfare of farmers and women as it was an election promise. Besides, it also saw prudence in funding Naveen Patnaik’s Metro Railway project at Bhubaneswar. (By Sangram Mohanty)

Maharashtra State Assemblies, For Whom The Bell Tolls?

The Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha elections due in October/November 2024 has the BJP recalibrating its poll plans in the wake of the setback it suffered in the state at the recent hustings for the Lok Sabha. A revitalized and wiser BJP deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis is expected to stake a claim to contest 130 to 135 state assembly seats out of the 288 assembly constituencies in Maharashtra. At the recently held party conclave in Pune last week the BJP’s face for Maharashtra, shedding his inaccessibility tag, exhorted party men to desire and deserve party candidatures for the state assemblies with the only proviso that they consciously refrain from indulging in controversial public speaking. “The BJP has always performed well when a triangular political fight took place in Maharashtra, as in 2014 and 2019 securing when it won 122 seats and 105 seats respectively. The party is backing up DCM Ajit Pawar wholeheartedly to ensure a repeat in their poll fortunes in the state of Maharashtra,” BJP’s Maharashtra Executive Committee member Mahendra Jain avers dismissing talks of imminent plans to eject the Maratha leader as just idle chatter. All the same, loud rumblings abound of possible plans by the prodigal nephew of Sharad Pawar to reinvent his political positioning in Maharashtra. The BJP’s desperation for Maharashtra is undeniable, considering it lost the state in 1999 under then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s tenure and again in 2019 under PM Modi, when the MVA alliance trumped BJP prospects in the state and, is leaving no stone unturned in its efforts to rule the state. The poll efforts of the BJP are easier said than done what with the tallest Maratha leader in Maharashtra, Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray of the original Shiv Sena busy garnering a double sympathy wave for their respective political formations once again in tandem with the Congress. Only time will tell for whom the political bells toll? (By Renni Abraham)

Present And Former Maharashtra Home Ministers At Each Other’s Throat

The present and former home ministers of Maharashtra are entangled in a fierce word war, hurling serious allegations against each other. Former home minister Anil Deshmukh has claimed that he had received a proposal from deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to escape the ED’s action. Fadnavis is the home minister, too. Deshmukh has named a Jan Surajya Party leader, Samit Kadam, as the go-between. Kadam is learnt to be from Miraj in Sangli district and has refused to respond to any queries. Deshmukh was in the ED custody for a long time and has been out on bail. He said Kadam came to him repeatedly on behalf of Fadnavis and has threatened to make public certain video clips about the meetings. Fadnavis has refuted all allegations and countered that Deshmukh should come out with concrete evidence. He has threatened that he will publicise the information in his possession about Deshmukh after the latter really releases the clips. Deshmukh has reiterated his charge that there was a plan to arrest Uddhav Thackeray, his son Aaditya, Ajit Pawar (then DCM) and Shiv Sena (UBT) MLC Anil Parab. He said Kadam had carried four affidavits and had asked him to sign them. “Had I signed them, all these four leaders would be behind bars today,” Deshmukh has said. The ruling and opposition formations are now busy discrediting each other over the controversy as the state assembly election approaches. (By Dilip Chaware)

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