Young Indian dream and emerging entrepreneurial opportunities

One small step is one giant leap for the mankind! Narendra Modi government’s Startup India initiative seems to be similar leap in turning bright innovative ideas into emerging entrepreneurial opportunities.

Thanks to huge FDI inflows – ever since the government announced a slew of initiatives -- it has turned the tide of growth in new areas of technology.

According to a NASSCOM 2015 report, India received over USD 5 billion worth investment in 2015 with three to four startups emerging every day. India also secured third position in the world in terms of the number of startups, with a growth of 40%, by the end of 2015.

As per the statistics in the report, the number of active investors in the ecosystem too grew from 220 in 2014 to 490 in 2015, depicting a 2.3X growth.

Further, with 8 out of every top 10 VC/PE Firms in India being foreign, the global investment in the Indian ecosystem means increased FDI.

Besides, the total funding in 2015 grew by 125% over 2014. Similarly, the number of accelerators grew by 40% from 80 in 2014 to 110 in 2015.

India serves as the fastest growing startup-base worldwide and stands third in technology-driven product startups just after the United States and United Kingdom, respectively.

In what could be termed as some cheering news for India, the startup boom has also led to generation of over 80,000 to 85,000 employment opportunities, with more than 65% of the startup being headquartered in Mumbai, Bangalore and National Capital Region (NCR).

Majority of the new startups are B2C, primarily present in 3 segments namely E-commerce, consumer services and aggregators followed by hyperlocal, health-tech, edu-tech and analytics.

It’s highly motivating to know that not only the new emerging startup ecosystem is young, but also about 72% of the founders of the new startup era are less than 35-year- old.

So if you are young and have a dream to achieve, this is just the time to standup and be a part of this initiative.

Renewables: Making a Case for Wind Power in India

Credit: Google images

As winters turn summery and summers become synonymous with living in hot hell with each passing year, there can’t be a better time to start focusing on a more sustainable and non-polluting ways of producing and fulfilling the vast energy needs. 

The governments the world over have initiated dialogue, are formulating and implementing policy measures in a bid to tackle the climate change demon. 

Demand: Supply

The overall world energy demand is set to grow by nearly one-third between 2013 and 2040 with the net growth driven entirely by developing countries. 

According to estimates by 2040, India's net oil imports will easily exceed those of the European Union. India has clearly moved to centre stage in terms of demand for energy, rising to two-and-a-half-times current levels, on the back of high levels of economic growth, a large population base and increasing levels of energy use per capita.

Switch to Renewables 

In the backdrop of the ongoing climate summit in Paris, there are clear indications that there is a paradigm shift in the energy consumption patterns across the globe. In 2014 Renewables contributed almost half of the world's new power generation capacity and have already become the second-largest source of electricity. 

Renewables-based energy generation is estimated to reach 50% in the European Union by 2040, around 30% in China and Japan, and above 25% in the United States and India, according to data.

Winds of Change

As the Indian economy races up the growth track the need for energy is only set to rise. In the current scenario it will be important, more than ever, to develop more and more sustainable sources of energy.   

According to official estimates the total onshore wind power potential has been placed at 302 GW. A bulk of potential for wind energy is pegged from the states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat. According to estimates wind power generation is set to increase, with installed capacity rising from 23 GW to 142 GW by 2040.

The large-scale development of wind power offers the potential to develop expertise and an industry that can deliver services internationally. The growing demand for sustainable energy sources will only boost the potential for the companies engaged in supporting the sector. India-based Suzlon, now the world’s fifth-largest wind turbine supplier, operating factories in the United States, China and India, is a case in point. In addition, several international players have entered the Indian market space driven by the sheer size and tax breaks.

Woes of Caste Politics

Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are two states where caste politics has ever been dominant  during assembly elections. Occasionally , the issue of development is raised but mainly form publicity purposes. Caste factor is never lost sight of, whether in the selection of candidates to contest from specific constituencies or in overall structure of political parties. And political leaders never conceal their intentions.

Once elections are over ,caste considerations become prominent while taking decisions to run the government machinery. This naturally results in injustice to weaker sections. While a few influential persons belonging to castes favoured by the ruling combination are allowed to garner benefits legally or illegally, others are forced to suffer. The victory of particular castes in elections, thus mainly remains notional for the poor and oppressed.

This is an unfortunate situation. More unfortunate has been the conflict between dalits castes and sections of backward castes. The sharp division in the ranks of these two sections has been of more disadvantage to the weak and powerless.

As the elections change the status of those in the government and the opposition, the situation becomes worse.In UP government servants favoured during the Bahujan Samaj Party rule came to the receiving end after Mayawati had lost power. If the situation changes in the next elections, the opposite will take place.

A similar situation seems to be emerging in Bihar with leaders like Lalu Prasad Yadav and Nitish Kumar, belonging to other backward classes pitted against Dalit leaders like Ram Vilas Paswan and Jitan Ram Manjhi.Victory of any one group is likely to result in worry for the group that loses.This is not a welcome situation for Indian democracy.

PRETENSION AND PRACTICE

Professing a political ideology and sticking to ideological principles in political behaviour are quite different things.It is easier to claim that a political party or leader stands for serving specific principles and bringing about social and economic changes for the good of the people but it is quite difficult to make strenuous efforts to achieve such  objectives. Claims are generally made to hoodwink the gullible masses and serve own interests in the name of serving the society.
Names of political parties may, thus , be misleading. Names may portend  that a political party stands for high political standards but in practice its leaders might be involved in  serving very narrow interests. They may claim to follow the ideals of some great leader but in practice may be doing just the opposite. Samajwadi Party of Mulayam  Singh Yadav and the Rashtriya Janata Dal of Laloo Prasad Yadav  or only two examples.
Samajwai Party claims to stand for the socialist ideology of Dr ram Manohar Lohia. But its behaviour  never reflects that it has to do anything to achieve what Dr Lohia  wanted to. Socialism of Dr Lohia meant annihilation of the caste system  to build a society  based on justice and equality.Samajwadi Party , on the contrary, has blatantly  strengthened casteism to serve the interests of  kinsmen of its leader.Dr Ram Manohar Lohia condemned with equal vehemence communalism of all kinds.For the Samajwadi Party the bogey of communalism is raised only selectively with the objective of polarising votes during elections.
Rashtriya Janata Dal of Lalu Prasad Yadav again professes to work for the uplift of the backward classes.But in practice it serves the interests of one clan.Its secularism is also no different from the secularism of the Samajwad Party.
So long as this gap between political pretension and practice persists, there seems little hope for the people.

DIY #Airtel4GSpeedTest

The launch of new Airtel 4G has opened the new window of web-world with far better connectivity and high speed for internet users.

The Airtel 4G, which one can grab at 3G rate for now looks far more swift in connecting to your favorite App and is widely compatible to our growing internet apatite.

#Airtel4GSpeedTest which is now available with the new Airtel 4G, is also the first of its kind of test, allows its users to find out how much time a particular App would take to be downloaded from all the three networks that is 4G, 3G, and 2G available to its users.

One can also check this test by tweeting to Airtel in the given format -@airtelindia #Airtel4GSpeedTest to find out how much time will a particular app take to download on 4g vs 3g vs 2g. This is admirable! @airtelindia quickly responds with a Twitpic infographic that shows how much time a particular app will take to download on each of the networks. Something like this example: 

Not only this, with the launch of new 4G services Airtel is also offering lucrative deals to its consumers such as '4G at the price of 3G' and double data offer on 4G. This is clearly a good news for the consumers as they can move to a better speed at the price of 3G. The easy and affordable services has also made things favorable for the smartphone market, which has also adopted to the new technology very fast. The 4G compatible handsets are now available at less than Rs10,000 range making the internet services easy, fast and of course affordable.

People's Policy : Edelweiss Tokio Life- MyLife+

Abhay Singhal was a carefree man until one day his friend Akash asked him his age. A shy Abhay, who was there to offer sweets on becoming a proud father, said, “35”.

The following question was, “Do you have a life insurance policy?” Now Abhay was perplexed where the discussion was heading. He had heard the term and seen adverts but hadn’t really thought much about it.

“Be responsible and buy a life cover, my friend,” Akash said with a comforting touch and enthusiastically went ahead.  

When Abhay, an executive at a multinational company, researched about life insurance, he found he was so wrong that just the group life insurance cover provided by his company was enough.

Now Abhay has decided that he would opt for an additional insurance cover to safeguard his family’s future. He has gone through various attractive policies by different life insurance companies in the market and has finally decided to opt for a policy, launched by Edelweiss Tokio, which seems much consumer friendly as compared to other available options in the market and suits his pocket.

The new life term policy Edelweiss Tokio Life-MyLife+ brings many benefits for its consumers part from providing cheap life insurance.

Anyone between the age group of 18-60 can opt for the policy cover. Maximum maturity age is 80 years.

The policy is an online term plan with three death benefit payout options – lump sum payment, income benefit option, and a combination of the two.

Under lump sum payment option, upon the death of the policy holder, the beneficiary gets a lump sum payment. The income benefit option allows you to have monthly payments (which is 1 per cent of the sum assured for the next 130 months).  

Finally, the third option means the policy holder can combine the two to have part lump sum and part monthly payments as per his/her choice.  

For a person of about 35 years of age, the policy comes with a term of 25 years. For an annual premium of Rs8,510 one can get a life cover of Rs1 crore. If the person wants to break this under the income benefits then the beneficiary will get one per cent of the assured cover paid every month for the next 10 years. The total amount received by the beneficiary is about Rs1.3 crore under the income benefit plan but the premium is same.

According to industry estimates, this is one of the cheapest plans available in the segment. The fact that this policy can be tailored is the + factor which even reflects in the name.

In this ever changing times it may be tough to pick an easy insurance policy, which fits in all our requirements but with an option like Edelweiss Tokio Life-MyLife+ life will be an easy journey ahead for sure.

RBI rate cut likely

With the news of output of eight core industry sectors shrinking to 0.4 per cent in April now all eyes are on the Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan and the key question is if he would relent this time and come up with the long awaited announcement of rate cut.

The industry experts feel that this is the right time for RBI to come up with CRR cut as this could help liquidity ease a bit. This would help the manufacturing sector as more liquidity with banking institutions may ease heavy EMIs and would thus attract the consumer to go out and shop. 

Most analysts had forecast a 75 bps to 100 bps cut in 2015 at the beginning of the year. So far, 50 bps have been delivered. It is time to do more.   

Meanwhile, the contraction in April, was mainly on account of the poor generation of electricity and declining output of cement, refinery products and fertiliser, came on the back of March’s marginal decline of minus 0.1 per cent.

Coal and steel sectors only saw an output growth, showed official data released on Monday (June 1, 2015. )

Coal production grew 7.9 per cent, steel output grew but at 0.6 per cent in April as against 6.9 per cent in the same month last year.

The eight sectors contribute 38 per cent to the overall industrial production. Output of the core sectors had contracted 6.7 per cent in November 2014, which fell to 2.4 per cent in December 2014 and then to 1.8 per cent in January and 1.4 per cent in February.

The output of crude oil declined 2.7 per cent in April. Natural gas production was 3.6 per cent lower. Electricity generation shrank 1.1 per cent and cement output fell 2.4 per cent. The production of refinery products declined 2.9 per cent and fertiliser output shrunk marginally by 0.04 per cent.

Vodafone to launch 4G services in five circles

Vodafone India announced its plan to roll out fourth generation (4G) services in select cities during the second half of this year.

"We are conducting 4G trials and plan to roll out the 4G services in a few towns later this year," said managing director and chief executive officer Sunil Sood.

The company won 5 MHz spectrum in the 1,800 MHz band in five circles-Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Karnataka and Kerala-where 4G services will be rolled.

The company will also expand its services in the North East. Sood also said that Vodafone is completely for Net Neutrality.

"We are pro-Net Neutrality and would like to see the same rule for the same services. There is a need to create a level playing field," he said. At the same time he said, "Let the government decide the rules of the game but we are open to a healthy debate on the issue."

Announcing the financial performance of the company for FY15, Sood said, "We have witnessed a year-on-year growth of 12.6 per cent in our service revenue at Rs 42,352 crore (against Rs 37,777 crore in FY14) and the company added about 17.2 million subscribers."

Operating profit stood at Rs 12,605 crore, which represents a growth of 16.2 per cent over the previous year. Vodafone has made a fresh capital infusion of Rs 6,000 crore in March to fuel its expansion plans.

It expanded its 3G services from nine to 16 circles during financial year 2014-15. "The company's customer base stands at around 184 million and the average revenue per user at Rs200 in the fourth quarter of 2014-15," Vodafone chief financial officer Thomas Reisten said.

The company made a capital expenditure of Rs 8,598 crore mainly on new site roll out in the last fiscal, he added. The net debt for the company stands at Rs 47,807 crore as of March.

Jabong has no plans to switch to 'app only' platform, says MD Praveen Sinha

Fashion and lifestyle e-commerce company Jabong has decided to buck the trend by not joining other e-tailers, especially its arch-rival Myntra, in switching to a 'app only' platform.

Jabong co-founder and managing director Praveen Sinhatold Ajay Shukla in the national capital on Tuesday, "Today is not the time to make any such move. The main aim of online retail is to provide choice to customers." Any such move would amount to killing the customer base, he further said.

"Industry estimates show that there is still about 50 per cent of the demand originating online. So, we would not consider any such move in the next two years," Sinha added.

"If app-based orders are 90 per cent or more, only then Jabong can change its mind", he further added.

The announcement assumes significance as Myntra announced on Tuesday its shift to become only an app-based store from May 15.

Myntra chief executive officer (CEO) and head of commerce atFlipkart Mukesh Bansal told reporters in Bangalore, "... we have decided that effective May 15, Myntra services will only be available through app on all smart phones."

Sinha and another Jabong co-founder Arun Chandra Mohan also announced $2-million investment as individuals in on-demand laundry service provider Wassup.

The Chennai-based start-up offers services in Bangalore, Delhi and Chennai in a managed marketplace model and will add Pune and Cochin in coming months.

"The intent is to be present in about 100 cities in next three years. We will also add personal care, home care, car care, pet care and handyman services to the portfolio through our technology platform in the near future," Wassup co-founder and CEO Balachandar R said.

The company plans to rake in another $10-$15 million in next 8-12 months as it expands its services across major cities in the country.

"We are looking to service the daily laundry requirements of middle class consumers. About 95 per cent of the market is still unorganised and there is a huge potential to move that to organised online route," Balachandar said.

Gunning with 'Slow-gun'

If cricket in India is a religion then politics is not less than a prayer with slogans as a chant of piety.

However, in recent times we have witnessed these chants, which are used to galvanize the cadre have often raked up huge controversies.

The BJP’s recent attempt to plagiarise the Shaivite chant of ‘Har Har Mahadev’ to coin the ‘Har Har Modi’ and then changing it to ‘Har ghar Modi’ saw huge criticism with detractors even tweaking the slogan against the BJP strong man to ‘Darr Darr Modi’ and ‘Thar Thar Modi’.

Some slogans we know have produced results in the past.

The famous slogan of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in early nineties ‘Tilak, taraju aur talwar ; inko maaro joote chaar’ brought it attention and there after ‘Haathi nahi ganesh hai, Brahma Vishnu Mahesh hai’ and ‘Sarv jan hitay; sarvjan sukhaya’ helped the party gain a complete majority in 2007 UP assembly elections.

The BJP slogan of ‘Ab Ki Baar, Modi Sarkar’ which is picked from ‘Ab ki bari Atal Bihari’ is seen as an attempt to get back the lucky charm of Vajpayee.

The Congress party is also not far behind in reframing the old lucky slogan ‘Congress ka haat aam admi key saath’ to ‘Har Haat Shakti, Har Haath Tarakki’.

Today slogans no more remain a catchy political jingle for entertainment but a tool to connect to the masses. Slogans have even emerged as a catalyst to understand the popular mood in the country.

It was ‘Sheila Dixit wapas jao’ slogan that set the agenda against once popular three time chief minister of Delhi during the protest of brutal gang rape in Delhi. Sheila Dixit had to go packing her bags after the humiliating defeat in the elections thereafter.

May be this is the reason why the political parties do not relent and answer back in slogan against a slogan these days. The Aam Admi Party (AAP) slogan in Varanasi ‘Abhi to Sheila hari hai ab Modi ki bari hai’ was instantly replied with ‘Jo lad na saka apni khasi se vo kya larega Kashi se’.

Aam Aadmi’s Khaas aspirations may boomerang

Not many years ago, a ‘giant killer’ of its kind in information technology (IT), the infamous B. Ramalinga Raju—the founder of Satyam Computers (now Tech Mahindra)—in his last communiqué to then Board members had said, “It was like riding a tiger not knowing how to get off without being eaten.” It was as a confession of his ambitious virtues that marked the fall of one of the biggest IT giants unearthing one of the gravest corporate frauds in the country.
Raju was riding the IT wave high and became the pioneer of outsourcing but had to step down after admitting to faking financial figures of the company to the tune of Rs7,136 crore of non-existent cash and bank balance.
The recent rise of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal at times reminds of a similar stellar rise—he is riding a wave of aspirations of millions of Indians with his way of politics suddenly becoming a ‘route’ to bring change. The urge is monumental. However, how far this would last is another question.
AAP’s big promises during the Delhi elections are being pushed through quickly keeping in mind the due date of the general elections. Populist measures like the water subsidy will impact the exchequer, which will finally hit the taxpayer’s belly. Is this not the same method used by the other political parties in power? Besides, his alliance with the Congress was akin to what other political parties do to the electorate after winning elections.

Kejriwal’s idea of governance is appealing and his style dynamic. His rise as a politician is spectacular. But his over-ambitious moves reminds of Raju’s fatal tiger ride without being aware of being gobbled up—though one thing is for sure that Delhi’s Khaas AAdmi has rewritten the rules of the game.

 

Match-fixing scandal gives respite to scam-hit UPA

The scam-hit UPA gets some space to breathe easy as the cricket scandal takes focus away from the recent corruption charges.
In a nation where questions in Parliament and top government jobs can be fixed it does not come as a surprise that a ball or two in the game of cricket is also on sale.
The recent fixing allegations have led to a lot of hullabaloo giving an opportunity to a few foes (politicians) to unite, while granting the ruling coalition some space to breathe easy (to take focus away from recent corruption charges).
Not surprising is the swiftness the government has shown to fix the fixing case before another scam rolls out from the UPA closet and takes center-stage.
Taking a proactive line it has even indicated that it would table a Bill against fixing in the coming monsoon session of Parliament.
But, surprisingly all this does not seem to matter so much to the game lovers.
What does this mean? Are there no moral or ethical values left among people of this country or is it that in a country infamous for corruption people have come to live with such malpractices?
Politicians suddenly seem over-sincere about restoring credibility in the game of cricket.
Unfortunately, such sincerity was nowhere on display while Railgate or the infamous Coalgate rocked Parliament recently.
It may be true that recent events have hurt the image of the game, but it is truer that what we get to see in the political domain is far worse.
It took the use of water cannon and tear gas shells against Delhi rape protesters for the government to gauge public mood.
Somewhat similar was the case during the Lokpal protests.
While the concern of our politicians for the gentleman's game is understandable, they would do well to focus on something closer home: the total disconnect between the elected government and its electorate and the rampant corruption which has marred every aspect of the state's functioning.

Disgraceful 'act'

Former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee once on a lighter note had said “I am not married, but I am not a bachelor either”. He was referring to his private life, which he felt should be known to his people as he believed there was no private affair in public life.

But times have changed since!

The modern day politicians enjoy a dual life, which has both private affairs as well as public life.

The new salvo of the Indian politics has emerged after the recently found video of Congress big gun Abhishek Manu Singhvi illegally leaked on the social networking site.

As the leader claims the ‘morphed’ video to be his private affair, which has nothing to do with his public life the debate over such conduct in public life has grown.

This is not first such leaked video. In the past there were instances of a former governor of Andhra Pradesh seen in a similar explicit video. He had to resign and was shunted back to his home state.

Another CD of a former minister in the Rajasthan cabinet was found. The MLA is facing a trial in the same case.

Is this reflecting the moral depletion of Indian politics or has this surfaced due to the technological advancement. This is really tough to comment in the scenario when a cover up of immoral act is quoted as a private affair.

Showing oneself as a holy cow to garner the support of the common man and then stepping on the pedestal of success with that support and then getting into the ‘act’ and then calling it private affair is this not a sick ‘act’, which would further dent the faith in the politicians among the people?

Certainly the holy cow had no clue when was gulping down the faith and morals in the presence of a hidden intruder tracing their reality. (If you have seen the cow in video)

It has (holy cow) lost more than what it seems. Belief of few and faith of many.

Time has come for the political class to choose between the private ‘act’ or the public life as in the era of awareness if faith falls then an uprising is in making. 

Falling morals of Indian politics

With the battle for Bihar heating up, decibel levels are rising and allegations of kinds are flying thick and fast in the state known for high drama and colour during elections. And this time the stakes are high, especially for chief minister Nitish Kumar, for this is an important state of the National Democratic Alliance. It is similarly also crucial for former chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav. Despite all attempts, the Congress remains a fringe player. It was Congress general sectary Rahul Gandhi who fired the first salvo and accused the Bihar government of massive irregularities in using the central aid for the benefit of the people of Bihar and since then there is no looking back in throwing filth at one another by the politicians. The Congress and Rahul Gandhi made this allegation even during run up to assembly and Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh. It was prime minister Manmohan Singh who hit out at Nitish Kumar at a rally in the state's Araria district on Saturday saying central funds were being misused. Nitish hit back by saying that no money had been squandered or misused and has been used for the purpose it was meant to be. He added for good measure that the finance commission decides on how much percentage of this money remains with the centre and how much goes to the states. By doing so no government had done a favour to Bihar and in fact this was the job of central government. This is sad part of the politics that allegations and counter allegations are thrown to garner public support. But if the central government’s fund was misused by the Bihar government then what have they done to stop this. Do they have any relevant figures of amount of funds misused? The Congress party has all these years just complained and made allegations at states, which it does not rule, but has seldom acted on any such irregularity where it is in power. Whether it is corruption in Commonwealth Games or fund allotment to any states, the pro-establishment forces always sneak through and rule the roost. At best, ministers like Shashi Tharoor just tender their resignation – and even such cases are not few and far between – and get a safe cover. Contrast this with Lalit Modi, who is paying the price of going anti-establishment. It remains to be seen how the government handles the Suresh Kalmadi issue now that the Games are over. Or it may well think that since the Games went by so well that the people will forget it. Wait and watch. May be this is the character of politics or the UPA government!

Painful punishment

The verdict of the 26-year-old Bhopal gas tragedy is finally out. And what is the punishment? Two years in jail and that too is bailable, along with an apologetic compensation for the negligence in one of the biggest manmade disasters in a century. And after all that, the high and mighty still move scotfree. This has become almost of every big and small verdict in this country where the victim suffers and the convict flees. Be it Jessica murder case or Ruchika, the law took its course only after a trial by the media. One still remembers a hard hitting headline in a newspaper saying ‘No one killed Jessica’. The media hit hard on the lower court’s verdict and the high court had to take a suo moto cognizance on the matter. The accused, who were acquitted had to face another trial and were thereafter sentenced with much severe punishment. But this was a high profile case in the national capital. But how many like Jessica get justice in ordinary circumstances? Well, the verdict in the Bhopal gas tragedy has made it clear that being poor in this country is a curse. People said the era of kings was brutal when they used to watch duels (a game where two people fight and one dies in the end) for their entertainment but I don’t think it can be more brutal than this where 20,000 lives have been killed with Rs 5 lakh compensation and the perpetrators get away with a bailable a two-year jail term.

War for Tamil hearts

Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa may have pledged to strive for a settlement acceptable to all Tamils in Lanka, but that does not seem to have silenced his detractors in India and back home in Sri Lanka. This is the first official visit of the Lankan president after cleaning up the three-decade-old LTTE and the killing its chief V Prabhakaran last year. Prabhakaran could not garner much support from India due to his anti-India policy, but his cause still seems to strike a chord here, and is still alive in the hearts of many Indians. At least the big divide in the Indian entertainment industry over organising a cine award function – the International Indian Film Academy awards — in the island makes us believe so. Bollywood stars, including IIFA brand ambassador and superstar Amitabh Bachchan, chose to miss the show. Various Tamil groups urged the senior Bachchan to boycott the Colombo awards ceremony as they marched from his Pratiksha bungalow to his Jalsa residence in Mumbai last month.This is the first time in 11 years that Big B kept himself away from the annual award function. Bachchan wasn’t the only to give the show a miss. The event was insipid as Bollywood biggies like Shahrukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai and many others kept away from the show after the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce threatened to boycott films of Bollywood stars attending the event. The event has already drawn the ire of the Tamil film fraternity, with popular figures like Rajnikanth, Kamal Hassan, Vijay, Ajith and Surya refusing to be associated in anyway with the IIFA. This displeasure and divide over the issue also propelled the Lankan president to keep away from the event after Bollywood stars did not make an appearance at a brunch hosted by him at Temple Trees (his official residence). Rajapaksa may have salvaged his nation from decades-old militancy, but is still found stumbling in the ruins of Tamil legacy. May be this is the time to wage another “war” to win Tamil hearts.

'Left' in ruins...

It was furious red faced communists standing in the ruins of the rich left legacy on Wednesday as the verdict of West Bengal municipal elections made it clear that the change had arrived. Mamata’s second thumping victory within a year in the communist bastion has made it clear that the Left parties might well be in the twilight of their politics. And the West Bengal story is not just about that state, it is about a diminishing Left era in India. The communists have been ruling in the land of Tagore since the late 1970's and no party could break the record. May be, the Left lost the script, remained complacent or just refused to re-discover itself as it happened to communism elsewhere in the world. But the rout of the communist party may not portend well in the larger context of Indian polity. The communists were a great balancing force in the United Progressive Alliance, though they were considered an irritant who would always oppose everything progressive. It should not be forgotten that they played a vital role in making the National Rural Employment Guarantee programme a reality. The municipal election, which was seen as a semi final in West Bengal before the assembly elections next year, seems to have given Mamata Banerjee led Trinmool Congress a good chance to conquer the 'red fort' after more than three decades. The communist party, which was build on an anti-Congress theme decades later backed a Congress led government. Was this dilution in ideology or desperation to remain close to power that they lost, it is difficult to say.

Modi will rise, Am(i)en!

“Fear not what is not real, never was and never will be. What is real, always was and cannot be destroyed” Lalit Modi got rather philosophical as he quoted Bhagwad Geeta after his unceremonious suspension in the wake of the IPL drama. He stood all ‘alone’ with virtually everyone gunning for him – out but not down.Things would have been really different if the IPL chief had learnt another truth about ‘by power, for power and to hold back power’, of the modern times and would have kept mum when the UPA ministers were busy making money by ‘sweat’ equity. His stance on the issue not only took the toll of some big names in the UPA government but also raised many fingers over the alleged behind-the-door government involvement in money making. He just tweeted and one of the poster boys of the ruling coalition was dropped from the game; this should have given Modi enough indication that he was next in line to get the boot. It seems the government would not sit back and wait to see few more powerful ministers going the Shashi Tharoor way. Modi’s last words at the IPL final showed that he may be down but certainly not out and would fight back with full spirit and faith in himself. Success is the most difficult thing to achieve in this world and people who believe that money making is easy should go and ask a beggar.Modi has written his own success story. And only time will tell how long it will take for him to emerge from the ashes – like the proverbial phoenix.

IPL fiasco in last lap

It seems the IPL imbroglio will take many more days -- even after the IPL finals are over -- to reach its logical end. After Shashi Tharoor’sresignation from the union government, it seems to be the turn of IPL chief Lalit Modi to feel the heat from politicians who missed the IPL bus -- in other words those who failed to gain directly or indirectly from the league.With politicians like Lalu Yadav demanding banning the game in its present form clearly shows the frustration and pain for not being a 'beneficiary' of the game. One can understand this situation since Lalu who despite ruling the Bihar cricket board for past several decades, could not see his son in the playing eleven in IPL though he was part of the Delhi Daredevils team. Of late, the BCCI had also derecognised the Bihar state cricket body. This could be the backdrop of raising such a demand in the Parliament to at least grab some attention from the media, which after his Rashtriya Janata Dal's Lok Sabha debacle has been giving a short shrift to the maverick Bihar leader. Tharoor who presented his side in the Parliament while pleading innocence spoke about his statesmanship as a politician and his aura but could not explain why his resignation was accepted by the prime minister.The income tax action against Modi smacks of political vendetta from the union government after it suffered a huge embarrassment caused by Tharoor.While only time -- and investigations -- will tell if Lalit Modi is involved in any wrong doing, but one has to give him credit for the new dimension he has given to the game of cricket in India through the IPL. If it was Kerry Packer who brought in and popularised one-day cricket, it is Modi who has introduced the modern ‘private’ version of cricket. Many parents today want their children to become cricketers as the new form of cricket has opened doors for manyyoung sportspersons to fulfil their dream of becoming successfulcricketers.

Quiet escape

Shashi Tharoor, who has resigned as a union minister in the wake of the IPL Kochi controversy, seems to have paved the way for another round of showdown between the government and Board of Control for Cricket in India. After the government made the minister to resign taking a high moral stance, it seems to be ready to gun for IPL chief Lalit Modi. This seems to be really strange that a minister, who used the public office to favour a friend, is treated like a martyr and no further inquiry is being initiated against him, whereas others are being probed.