Why India’s Rich And Famous Choose To Settle Abroad

Migration of India’s well-placed millionaires has now become a concern area for India. As per Henley Private Wealth Migration Report 2024, 4,300 millionaires will leave India by the end of 2025 indicating nominal slow down. In 2024, 5,100 Indians moved their houses from India opting to work in Dubai, London, Europe, USA, Singapore and others.  This year, though there is a ‘wee bit ‘ slowdown of high networth individuals’ (HNIs) migration, what comes out loud and clear from the report is that for these HNIs, India is no longer where their heart is. They think that greater opportunity, freedom, and stability lie elsewhere. The HNIs have chosen Singapore, Middle East, Dubai, London, Europe and America and other countries as their destination of work, leisure and stay. The worrisome part is, there is now an increasing trend to renounce Indian citizenship as well. As of 2023, over 216,000 Indians holding Indian passports have already surrendered their citizenship. Sanjaya Baru, ex-Media Advisor to Dr Manmohan Singh, in his latest book Secession Of The Successful explores why India as a country increasingly becoming nationalist but the elite and successful are quite happy to migrate to other countries, a trend which is now increasing. He says Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) have become Non-Returning Indians. According to him, individuals are leaving India because India has not created an environment to retain the talent. The dichotomy is India’s HNIs chant “Bharat Mata ki Jai” while opting to live and work overseas but not returning to India for good. The challenge for any government is to improve the civic and urban life facilities making it worthwhile for people to come back. (By Sangram Mohanty)

KL Rahul: 10th Indian Batter To Make A Mark At The Mecca Of Cricket

KL Rahul, a true blue of Test match cricket, became the second Indian after Dilip Vengsarkar to make the crowd at the fabled Lords cricket ground in London applaud a three-figure knock a second time; Vengsarkar earned the sobriquet “Lord of the Lord’s” for his three  centuries at the celebrated venue in the capital city of England. On the third day of the third Test between England and India, the stoical, but stylish opener scored an exact 100 and he must have felt emotions running high. Lord’s is without a doubt the Mecca of cricket. The famous cricket correspondent of the ‘Yorkshire Post’ James Maurice Kilburn referring to the Lord’s, wrote in ‘Overthrows’: I always feel as though I am stepping into history. Top batters regret not getting the magical number at Lord’s, but 10 Indian batsmen have made together 13 centuries at the Marylebone Cricket Club which is the home ground for the Middlesex County. The first Indian to carve a century at Lords was the great all-rounder, Mulvantrai Himmatlal ‘Vinoo’ Mankad in a Test match known as “Mankad’s Test” because he scored 72 and 184 and took 5 for 196 in the first innings of the 1952 series.  After Mankad’s stupendous effort with the bat and ball, Gundappa Viswanath, Vengsarkar, Ravi Shastri, Mohammed Azharuddin, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid,Ajit Agarkar,  Ajinkya Rahane and Rahul have sparkled at the Lord’s. The Honours Board at the venue was embellished with names — 173 batsmen with a total of 252 centuries in all. England’s Joe Root made the count 253 and Rahul 254. Rahul had lorded over Lord’s in August 2021 making 129!  (By G Viswanath)

How TAFE Won The Massey Ferguson Brand From The U.S. Giant

Tractors and Farm Equipment Ltd (TAFE) of the Amalgamations group appears to have used `the naked licensing’ argument to press its claim for the iconic Massey Ferguson brand when it was engaged in legal battle with its over 65-year-old partner AGCO Corporation of the U.S. Of course, both have settled their dispute out of court and TAFE has been confirmed the owner of Massey Ferguson in India and two other countries. The term “naked licensing” in the context of trade mark laws refers to the practice of granting a licensee the right to use a trademark without demonstrating any control or supervision of the trade mark. In this instance, though TAFE has been using the Massey Ferguson brand for over six decades, AGCO had taken virtually no interest or contributed to its development in India. Apparently, this has proved a significant legal roadblock for AGCO to claim the ownership of Massey Ferguson brand in India. Also, TAFE has been strategic in its relationship with AGCO Corporation over the years. Its decision to invest in AGCO (it has over 16% shareholding in the U.S. company) has given TAFE the negotiating edge in effectively sealing its ownership for the Massey Ferguson brand in India. From hindsight, it could be argued that TAFE did well in consistently persuading AGCO Corporation to pare its holding in TAFE gradually from 49% a few years ago to less than 21%. The strategy, assiduously initiated by TAFE over the years, appears to have emerged victorious in the end. If proof is required, the out-of-court settlement is there for all to see. (By KT Jagannathan)

Is Pooja Hegde’s ‘Rasi’ Being Blamed For Her Films Not Doing Well?

Pooja Hegde, the almost Miss Universe turns overnight star yet trolled as not lucky for her heroes. She nearly walked away with the Miss Universe Tiara in 2010 but her destiny was in films. Pooja played the heroine in her first Tamil Film Mugamoodi. Now with 17 films, 4 SIIMA Awards, 3 Filmfare nominations and with overwhelming celebration of her beauty there is something lacking in her place as a superstar. Even with Prabhas as lead, ‘Radhe Shyam’ had a lukewarm reception. Despite item numbers Arabhikuthu and Jaalilo Gymkhana sizzling in Beast with Vijay as hero, the film flopped. Salman Khan serenading her in Kisike Bhai Kiseke Jan did nothing to boost the box office for the money backers. Deva and Retro were disappointing, even though the heroes were having a bad spell of filmy luck. But in the world of cinema, if a film fails, the hero does not have to take the whole blame …it is equitably distributed, sometimes passed off as “this heroine’s Rasi is not powerful” superstition. But significantly Pooja’s remuneration kept climbing up simultaneously. Reportedly, she is said to have been paid a whopping Rs 5 crore for ‘Jana Nayakan’ overtaking the remuneration of Kajal Aggarwal and Samantha. With too many films bombing, the buzz spread   …Pooja is not a lucky heroine. The trolls only jacked up her demand. Now the draw of her gorgeous persona has gone sky high — 5 million views for a cameo item in Rajinikanth’s Coolie. The number “Monica” is a guaranteed hot number. Pooja overtakes Katrina Kaif and Samantha with her raw appeal. And to shut all trolls, she has signed a new film with Dulquer Salman…yet another validation that trolls and myths cannot stop her rise.  (By Padma Ramnath)

Should Credit Bureaus Update Scores On Real-Time Basis?

How credit worthy is the Malayalee! Obviously, with banks depending on credit information bureaus like TransUnion CIBIL, Experian, Equifax, and CRIF High Mark, Keralites are just not satisfied with their own creditworthiness. This has seen many flocking to private lending agencies like Muthoot Finance, Muthoot Fincorp, Manappuram Finance etc. These private agencies offer their services at much higher interest rates but with less intensive scrutiny and speedy disposal of applications. Experts here say that lack of creditworthiness is also used as a ruse by banks to dissuade current account holders from moving over to other banks with better offers. Recently, a case surfaced of an individual who applied for a housing loan. The application was rejected for want of the required credit score. On close scrutiny, it was revealed that the applicant had earlier taken a two-wheeler loan which was finally settled. But before closing the loan, the loanee had defaulted once which was settled, including meeting the penalty. This is a clear case of the credit information bureaus not updating its stats on a real-time basis and thus depriving an applicant of a housing loan. In this case who is at fault? This has been just one of the many cases highlighted by the Kerala media in recent times. Perhaps, it was because of such news reports that the senior-most Deputy Governor of the RBI, M Rajeshwar Rao, was prompted to say at a conference organised by CIBIL that “We must aspire to have more frequent updates. Real-time or near real-time credit reporting will improve underwriting precision, enable timely reflection of borrower actions like loan closures or repayments and deliver a superior experience.” Sure, all this will entail additional costs because of investments in technology but the benefits will far outweigh the cost. (By Our National Editor)

Gopinath Munde’s Third Daughter Enters Public Life, Perpetuating Family Rule

Recognised by Cornell University in USA as “a promising Asian student,” Yashasri Gopinath Munde is all set to enter active public life. The youngest of Gopinath Munde, Yashashri has been a director of the Vaidyanath cooperative sugar, a power base of the Munde family. She kept away from politics. But, now, there seems to be a rethink. She has filed nomination for The Vaidyanath Urban Co-Op Bank Ltd election in Beed, signalling her intentions of moving forward in public life. The bank has remained a battleground in Beed’s politics. Hence Yashashri’s entry in the fray is considered an indication of her plans. The district’s politics, however, has remained a fiefdom of the Munde family and Yashashri’s appearance on the horizon will reshape it soon, it is felt. Her two elder sisters, Preetam and Pankaja, are already in politics. While Preetam has been elected to the Lok Sabha twice from their hometown Beed, Pankaja has been representing the assembly constituency and been a cabinet minister in Maharashtra over the years. Their father, Gopinath Munde, was a deputy chief minister in the state and a cabinet minister in the first team of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014. Munde married BJP leader Pramod Mahajan’s sister and the two ruled the state BJP firmly for a couple of decades. Munde’s abrupt death was a setback for the family but did not thwart the political career of his two daughters. This is going to be one more addition to the tradition of family rule in the state, critics say. (By Dilip Chaware)

Why Tollywood Stars Are Headed To Bollywood

An increasing number of Bengali actors are heading to Mumbai, reflecting a growing trend of migration from Tollywood to Bollywood. Over the past few years, noted actors like Saswata Chatterjee, Jisshu Sengupta, and Parambrata Chattopadhyay have featured in several Hindi films and web series. Even big names such as Prosenjit Chatterjee and Jeet have stepped into Bollywood. Meanwhile, many TV stars from Bengal are also seeking roles in Hindi serials, hoping to make it big in Mumbai. Cas^[i]ting directors like Mukesh Chhabra have gained prominence, especially with the rise of social media. Known for discovering Sushant Singh Rajput, Chhabra is considered a star-maker. He recently visited the sets of Raktabeej 2 and reportedly selected Mimi Chakraborty to play Dona Ganguly in the upcoming Sourav Ganguly biopic. He recently conducted a three-hour workshop in Kolkata which was hosted by Pritimoy Chakraborty, who runs the Kolkata studio. This open-to- all workshop generated widespread interest, especially among Tollywood actors like Tota Roychowdhury, Debdut Ghosh, Debleena Dutta, and Dibyajyoti Dutta. The initiative aimed to build confidence among Bengali actors. He noted that many actors face challenges in diction and presentation, which are crucial in Mumbai’s competitive industry. The workshop addressed how to audition, develop mental strength, and present oneself effectively. Debleena Dutta stated that Kolkata’s work opportunities have visibly shrunk with nepotism affecting casting decisions. Debdut Ghosh highlighted that TV serials in Kolkata have dropped from 40–50 to around 20, and films have declined from 70–100 to around 20. Likewise investment has halved from Rs 1,200 crore earlier. (By Tanya Bagchi)

IndiGo’s Manchester-Mumbai Direct Flight To Be A Game Changer

Pieter Elbers, CEO of IndiGo, one of the fastest-growing airlines in the world, has chalked up plans to enter 10 new destinations including four domestic locations in India. UK’s Manchester and Amsterdam are the first two cities identified by IndiGo to start direct flights thus paving the way to enter the European market. Elbers is confident that by 2030 IndiGo global ranking will change, and it will not be labelled as LCC in the European market. He doesn’t see any conflict with its code-sharing partner airlines. Elbers also put to rest the rumours by stating that the direct flight to Manchester ill depart/arrive from Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Andheri. Yes, IndiGo has a huge hub at the second airport coming at Panvel, Navi Mumbai. The reason for sticking to the city airport is because the new airport as of now lacks adequate connectivity.  Meanwhile the Indian diaspora is very happy with IndiGo’s direct flights connecting Mumbai and Manchester.  Direct flight is an economic booster as it will save time and money. A study indicates an extra £11.8 mn a year will be spent by additional Indian visitors to the region as a result of the three-times-a-week service between Manchester. Experts say cost, time, and productivity savings worth £9 mn a year will be unlocked. About 234,000 people travel from Manchester airport’s catchment to Mumbai every year. Roughly 70,000 of them flew via Manchester. It is estimated that the new route will increase the overall number of people who travel between Manchester and Mumbai by 21,000 per year.  (By Rahul Laud, Manchester)

Cricket Is More Than Just Balls

It has been another vexing cricket summer of ball changes in England. As the Dukes ball, which had built such a reputation for a hard seam and leather elements that stood up well to wear and tear, comes under pressure from modern batsmen batting aggressively and hitting the ball with greater power from state-of-the-art bats. And it is the Indian origin Jajodia whose company makes the hand-stitched balls who is in the crosshairs. And another who is being blamed now for a quixotic ball change in the course of the England innings is Md Siraj. He was seen throwing the ball to the umpire seeking a ball change just as Jasprit Bumrah was running through the middle order. Maybe, the ball became like soap but why change it when ‘Boom’Rah was bending it like Beckham? At least one commentator trained his guns on Siraj for seeking a ball change, and that too without consulting Bumrah, the team and the world’s premier fast bowler. Cricinfo stats revealed that the old ball with which Team India was taking wickets was swinging 1.869 degrees and seaming 0.579 degrees whereas the replacement ball swung only 0.855 and seamed less. An out of shape new ball was doing the trick for Bumrah but the ball change saw him seem more human than superman as England recovered to put up a challenging total. As the wag said, cricket is more than just the balls. It is about tactics too. (By Tamil Raja)