Ro-Ko Deserve To Retire When They Wish, Not When Social Media Critics Want

After the RO-KO show at the Sydney Cricket Ground, both cricketers seem determined to play on in ODIs and end their careers with a last hurrah in the 2027 ODI World Cup. The event may be two years away, which is a long time for a 38-year-old and his partner in the century stand who is only two years younger. But they will not be lacking in enthusiasm to take their bow in a significant event, which is the ICC Cup that Rohit Sharma has not won but Virat Kohli has as a young member of the Dhoni’s 2011-12 team.

What they proved in their fluency and their calm methods of scoring in ODI cricket was that they know how to beat this game regardless of 17-18 years having passed since India’s win in the 2007 T20 World Cup changed the course of cricket. What they will have is the backing of the BCCI selectors who would not dare to pass judgment on their game unlike the social media and WhatsApp experts who will bay for anyone’s blood after just a duck or two as they did in Kohli’s case when he picked up the unwanted record of his first ever ducks in Australia, a country against which both Kohli and his partner have played some of their most combative performances. The simple point delivered in their success Down Under is to please leave the question of when to call halt to their ODI careers when they wish. (By Tamil Raja)

Rail Minister Vaishnaw Moves Into "War Room" To Make Rail Journey Safe

The Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw is working out of the War Room. That's because PM Modi has asked him to ensure super arrangements for the annual Chhath festival in Eastern India, which coincides with Skanda Sasti in Tamil Nadu falling on October 27-28. All trains to Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh are full because families are returning to their villages to celebrate this festival. Outside some stations in many states, nearly 2 km long queues of travellers have been seen. Indian Railways has made arrangements to run 13,000 special trains, but these are unable to cope with the rush. As Bihar goes to elections soon after the festival, Modi told the Railway Minister to ensure everything runs smoothly. So, Vaishnaw is sitting in the three war rooms at Rail Bhavan to monitor crowd management and train locations. These three war rooms monitor the movement of crowds at 35 top stations round the clock using CCTV cameras. Minute-to-minute data are being prepared, and a heat map is being developed. Every hour, footfall in at least 35 stations is recorded. Special trains are immediately sent to stations where huge crowds are noticed. In one case, when the minister noticed a huge rush at Ambala station in Haryana for a train going from Amritsar to Purnea, another train was dispatched from Jalandhar to accommodate extra passengers. Crowds were also noticed in Surat and Udhna stations in Gujarat. More than five million people travelled during Diwali and Chhath this year compared to last year. The only difference this time is that Indian Railways is trying its best to take care of travellers. (By Lakshmi Iyer)

Time SKY Gets The Big Shots Right In Australia!

The time has arrived -- in Australia -- for Suryakumar Yadav, known by the popular acronym SKY, to get runs under his belt before the ICC World Twenty20 in India and Sri Lanka in Feb-Mar 2026. It’s unlikely that the bang-bang batter will be dropped should his form continue to dip. In the seven-match Asia Cup in the UAE that India won -- but is yet to get its hands in the trophy -- he flopped with a measly collection of 72 runs for an average of 18.00. Prior to the Asia Cup in the five match home series against England, he faced just 14 balls and made 28 runs for an average of 5.80. Before that in the away series in South Africa he tallied 26 runs in four matches for a single digit average of 8.67. All this works out to 126 runs in 16 matches. In normal circumstances Yadav, for all his versatile batting and showmanship, would have been dropped from the team, but he is the captain who has won 25 of the 29 matches and hence the selection committee as they say are “ready to give him the long rope.” The selection committee with Ajit Agarkar as Chair are not keen to upset the apple cart a few months leading to the World Cup that Rohit Sharma’s team won defeating South Africa in the final at Bridgetown, thanks to Yadav’s brilliant “bunny hop” catch to send back left hander David Miller. Yadav in jest may have said he hardly got starts in the Asia Cup, but he must be disappointed with the numbers since November 2024 and keen to hammer a big score. Yadav’s average has dipped to 37.08 from the impressive 40s. (By G Viswanath)

117-Year Old CSE Closes Down, Srijan Group Eyes Rs 253 Crore Property

Once a formidable rival to the BSE, the 117-year-old Calcutta Stock Exchange (CSE) is voluntarily exiting the stock exchange business, marking the end of an era in India’s capital markets. Established in 1908 as the country’s second recognised bourse, the CSE once served as Kolkata’s financial hub, attracting significant trade volumes and investor interest. The exchange’s decline accelerated following the Ketan Parekh stock market scam, which triggered a payment crisis and broker defaults. Despite attempts to modernise, CSE struggled to compete with the technologically advanced BSE and the NSE. Trading at the CSE was suspended in April 2013 by the SEBI for failing to meet mandatory turnover thresholds and establish a separate clearing corporation. Over the last decade, the exchange attempted multiple revivals, including approaching Calcutta High Court and the Supreme Court challenging SEBI’s suspension order. However, these efforts added to financial strain without delivering results. In December 2024, the CSE board resolved to withdraw pending litigation and pursue a voluntary exit. Shareholders formally approved the exit at an EGM in April 2025, after which the CSE submitted its exit application to SEBI. The regulator has appointed Rajvanshi & Associates, a valuation agency to determine the exchange’s worth. Once the exit is sanctioned, CSE will transition into a holding company, with its 100% subsidiary, CSE Capital Markets Pvt Ltd, continuing broking operations as a member of NSE and BSE. Speculations are rife that CSE is seeking SEBI’s approval to sell its 3-acre EM Bypass property to the Srijan Group for Rs 253 crore. (By Tanya Bagchi)

After 'War 2' Flops, Everyone Scrambles To Dodge Blame

They say success has many fathers and failure is an orphan, and the fate of 'War 2’ illustrates that proverb perfectly. The film began with a show of camaraderie: Hrithik Roshan and Junior NTR promoted it together in Hyderabad and Mumbai, projecting a united front. But when the film flopped, that unity evaporated. Junior NTR distanced himself and pointed fingers at the producers; in turn another producer Naga Vamsi defended his own decisions while criticizing Yash Raj Films as the Main Producer and the Decision-maker, insisting that he along with Jr NTR had trusted the studio and backed the wrong creative choices. Made on a reported budget of 400 crores, War 2 failed to recover its costs, and the public spectacle of blame-shifting left the project politically and reputationally orphaned. Cast and crew who once stood shoulder to shoulder in promotion were suddenly eager to separate their names from the failure. The fallout extended beyond personal recriminations. Director Ayan Mukerji has claimed that he merely followed the script by writer Sridhar Raghavan and therefore had limited creative inputs, a statement that coincided with his exit from Yash Raj’s Dhoom 4 and his reported move to work on Brahmastra 2 with Dharma Productions. Meanwhile Aditya Chopra and Yash Raj Films have largely refrained from talking to the press about the disappointment. The production house that enjoyed a major hit like Saiyaara and a major flop like War 2 in the same year now finds itself fielding public criticism from former collaborators rather than defenders. In the end, War 2’s failure has few takers: while many involved were quick to distance themselves, silence or deflection remain the dominant responses—leaving the film, as the proverb warns, orphaned in its failure. (By Girish Wankhede)

Elite Muslims In Kerala Re-Wed Under SMA To Beat Bias, Empower Daughters

Remarriages among the elite Muslim community in Kerala are in vogue these days. It is not everlasting love between spouses which is prompting this new trend, but to ensure their hard-earned wealth and properties remain with their children after their demise. What began as a few isolated remarriages is rapidly becoming a powerful movement that questions the long-held authority of religious organisations over personal lives. For generations, the unequal division of property, where sons inherit twice as much as daughters, has been justified as divine law. Couples, who all along accepted this without questioning, are rewriting the narrative. They are using secular legal frameworks to ensure that their daughters and wives are treated as equals. Defying century-old patriarchal interpretations of personal law, a growing number of muslim couples are turning to the Special Marriages Act (Section 15) to secure equal inheritance rights for women. One of the latest to take this step is 76-year old Basheer and 72-year old Hasanath from Palakkad. They remarried to ensure that their daughters get equal share in property. "This is not a rebellion against faith. It is a demand for justice within it," says Neju, State Convener of Forum for Gender Equality Among Muslims. Neju was one of the first to get remarried to her husband, Ismail, as early as December 10, 2024. "After our marriage, many approached us quietly to know how they could do the same. Hundreds of couples have already chosen this path to avoid pressure from Mahal committees and to protect the future of their daughters." Prominent Islamic scholar C H Musthafa Moulavi revealed that he knows of a prominent Islamic leader who remarried under the SMA to safeguard his daughters. The current system is unfair to women. In Egypt and Tunisia, where Islamic law is followed, inheritance is distributed equally. (By Our National Editor)

Makers Of ‘Lokah 1’ Change To A Male Superhero In The Sequel

Malayalam films have set benchmarks in many dimensions of cinema…simple yet complex stories (contradiction?), slick editing, chilling suspense and above all gripping unravelling of a credible plot at budget spends. The English subtitles have further boosted their allure to audiences, weary and wary of boy meets girl stories, families fighting over wealth, incredible plots and huge budgets. People like Dulquer Salmaan are fully conscious of the boredom and ennui of run-of-the-mill films. So Dulquer eases into the change brigade. His Wayfarer Films is now enjoying the record-breaking success of Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra which had a dream run in cinemas, grossing Rs 300 crore…it set the trend for a film superheroine, a novel status. Heroine Kalyani Priyadarshan is still savouring the fantasy theme. It is learnt that Wayfarer Films already has the sequel to Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra almost ready to hit cinemas; even as Lokah 1 breezes into OTT. But there is a big change ….Tovino Thomas is the superhero playing Chathan Kutti in Lokah Chapter 2. Dulquer appears in the sequel too as the Odiyan Ninja. Malayalam cinema is reinventing itself like Rowling’s Harry Potter series …Ministry of Magic, a universe where good and evil fight, ghouls, goblins, house elves, wizards, witches, Yakshis who transport you to the world of ancient magic. Cinema as an art form is transforming itself from a “golden era” of diverse content to new wave entertainment of bold themes. The success of Bahubali and Kantara have definitely opened up audience appeal to folklore and fantasy. (By Padma Ramnath)