Innholdsfortegnelse for March 23, 2020 i India Today

Greed is good,” reasoned Gordon Gekko, the reptilian investment banker in the 1987 Hollywood hit, Wall Street. Of late, a few Indian bankers seem to have embraced that flawed logic. A fatal combination of ambition, greed and corruption has led to a series of failures of Indian banks, with disastrous consequences for India’s financial institutions and economy. They include cases of outright fraud, such as Nirav Modi’s collusion with bank officials to allegedly defraud the Punjab National Bank of Rs 14,356 crore, to the collapse of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) and the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank scam, in which the bank lent heavily to a stressed infrastructure firm, HDIL. The most recent entrant into this hall of banking infamy is YES Bank and its promoter Rana Kapoor—the…

In politics, you can never write a person’s epitaph with certainty. No one knows this better than Lalu Prasad Yadav. His party may have drawn a blank in the 2019 Lok Sabha poll and won just one seat in the Jharkhand poll last year, but the RJD chief, currently undergoing treatment at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences in Ranchi while serving a jail term in the fodder scam cases, is back in the reckoning. With the Rajya Sabha election scheduled this month and the RJD set to gain two seats in the upper house from Bihar, more than a dozen leaders from the state are queuing up to meet Lalu. Prominent visitors include Lok Sabha losers Shatrughan Sinha and Sharad Yadav.…

On March 10, his father Madhavrao Scindia’s 75th birth anniversary, Jyotiraditya Scindia posted on Twitter a letter addressed to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, announcing his resignation from the party he had been associated with for 18 years. While his frustration at being denied the post of Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief in Madhya Pradesh and receiving no assurance of a Rajya Sabha berth may be the immediate trigger behind Scindia jumping ship to the BJP, the Gwalior royal’s disenchantment with the Congress had begun in 2018, in the run-up to the MP assembly election. Sources say Scindia wanted to be projected as the chief ministerial candidate or be made PCC chief, but the Congress central leadership—then president Rahul Gandhi and mother Sonia—remained non-committal. Six months before the election, the Congress…

THE DUBIOUS CAST THE DHFLYES BANK NEXUS ED alleges Kapoor and DHFL promoter Kapil Wadhawan were involved in a criminal conspiracy, under which loans were given to 78 firms owned by Kapoor family members, bypassing RBI guidelines ₹ 4,300 crore ALLEGED MONEY LAUNDERING › Roshini, Radha and Rakhee own and run Doit Urban Ventures Pvt Ltd (DUVPL) › DUVPL is a subsidiary of RAB Enterprises, owned by Bindu Kapoor, says ED › DUVPL mortgaged 7.79 acres in Alibaug and 91.6 acres in Raigad for this loan › CBI says these were sub-standard properties of low value, though DHFL calculated a highly inflated value of Rs 485 crore › The calculation was based on anticipated conversion from agricultural land to residential land…

A wife has second thoughts about her marriage after her husband slaps her at a party (Thappad); a pilot makes history as the first woman in combat in the Kargil war (Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl); a portrait of a surrogate mother (Mimi); another of a superstitious Punjabi woman (KTina); and a thriller about a disturbed woman who witnesses a murder (The Girl on the Train). These are just some of the stories where women take centre stage in 2020. Women-oriented narratives are certainly not new to Hindi cinema but this year stands out for the sheer volume of such films. Moreover, it is actresses, both new and experienced, who will carry these films on their shoulders. It’s an encouraging sign that studios are eager to bankroll projects where a…

Coins have been a symbols of status, wealth and power from the dawn of human civilization. They are indicators of history, a reflection of the balance of power, and of influence. These medallions come alive in Rose’s new collection, the Antico De Modena. A collection that combines the powerful symbology of coins sourced from Turkey, Spain, Croatia and Italy adorned by precious diamonds and vibrant gemstones like coral, emeralds, onyx and rubies. For more information log on to www.therose.in…

I first tasted the Yamazaki 25 YO at a blind whisky tasting in London, in 2016. As a judge on the World Whisky Awards panel, it was one of 48 whiskies I tasted that cold February day. The deep and intense whisky was sublime, distinctive, assertive with rich aroma and a long finish. I was keen to know the name of the whisky, since it just stood way above all other whiskies we had tasted that day. Later that evening, at the World Whisky Awards ceremony, The Yamazaki 25 YO, was declared The Best Single Malt in the World. Just another notch on the belt for the hugely successful Japanese whisky industry. Background Score The story of Japanese whisky goes back just about a 100 years, when Suntory, headquartered in…

Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray visited Ayodhya on March 7 to announce that his party, the Shiv Sena, had parted ways with the BJP, not Hindutva. Days before his visit, key Uddhav aide Sanjay Raut called on Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath to lay the groundwork for Thackeray’s visit. The UP CM, it seems, was more interested in knowing why the Sena split with the BJP. Most of his queries to Raut were on the subject. Is the yogi playing matchmaker?…

Chhatradhar Mahato, once the face of the People’s Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA), an overground outfit of the Maoists in Bengal, was released on February 1. One of the accused in an abortive attempt to blow up Left Front chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s convoy in November 2008, he was arrested In September 2009. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was then leader of the Opposition, and Mahato’s release was a constant chant as the Trinamool Congress (TMC) worked with the PCPA in the tribal belt to unseat the Left. But that was then. Mamata has been in power since 2011, but it took her till now to keep her promise. During this time, despite the pleas and intimidatory tactics of the Maoists and even Mahato’s wife Niyati’s ultimatum to contest from the…

2001 Jyotiraditya Scindia joins the Congress on December 18 2002 Wins the Lok Sabha by-election from Guna, a seat that fell vacant after his father Madhavrao Scindia’s death on September 30, 2001 2004 Is reelected to the Lok Sabha from Guna 2007 Becomes MoS for communications and IT in the UPA-1 government 2009 Retains Guna seat in the Lok Sabha election, is made MoS commerce and industry in UPA-2 2012 Becomes MoS for power 2014 Wins Guna Lok Sabha seat for the fourth time, is made Congress chief whip in the Lok Sabha 2018 Inducted into the Congress Working Committee, the party’s highest decision-making body; made campaign committee head for Madhya Pradesh assembly poll; is reportedly offered the post of deputy CM, but he declines 2019 In January, made AICC…

# Rana Kapoor saw opportunity in corporate banking and built YES Bank on that model as against retail banking. He lent aggressively to companies unable to raise money after the global financial crisis of 2008. The bank grew its loan book from Rs 22,193 crore in FY10 to a staggering Rs 2.41 lakh crore in FY19 # RBI’s asset quality review and a challenging economic environment started taking their toll on the loan book. Gross NPAs started climbing in 2015-16, and went from less than 1% in FY16 to 7.4% in Sept. 2019 # Higher NPAs started putting pressure on profits, profit after tax crashed from Rs 4,225 crore in FY18 to Rs 1,720 crore in FY19 and Rs 109 crore in Sept. 19; the stressed assets stood at Rs…

Just as the war clouds in West Asia seemed to be receding, with the US toning down its tirade against Iran, calamity appeared on the horizon. As of March 11, the novel coronavirus—COVID-19—had infected 121,312 people in 120 nations and territories, with over 4,379 deaths reported worldwide. China, which saw 80,788 infected and 3,158 fatalities since the outbreak began in December 2019, has begun to see a lull in the incidence of the disease. But elsewhere, it is still on the rise. Korea has seen 7,755 cases, Italy 10,149, Germany 1,622, the US 1,016 and the UK, 383. India has seen 62 cases with no casualties reported yet. While the disease and deaths pose a huge social challenge to governments worldwide, the economic costs are already significant. On March 4,…

GREEN THUMBS UP In 2017, two PhD students from Lovely Professional University (LPU), Punjab, began developing a device to monitor agricultural lands for fertility, soil temperature and moisture, as well as controlling water pumps, blowers and sprinklers. Mentored by professors from the School of Electronics and Electrical Engineering, Mahendra Swain and Wasim Akram developed E-parirakshak, which comprises several sensor nodes that are deployed in the field, a handheld tool that displays information and micro controllers. BRIGHT IDEA Their inspiration came from the realisation that most Indian farmers don’t have modern farming tools. “We wanted to develop a solution that would ultimately improve productivity,” says Akram. “We built the prototype from scratch, starting from layout fabrication to integrating all components,” says Swain. “A major hurdle was figuring out how to place…

GANGUBAI KATHIAWADI After back-to-back historical epics, Sanjay Leela Bhansali teams up with Alia Bhatt for the true story of a brothel owner who had connections with the underworld. Based on a chapter of crime journalist S. Hussain Zaidi’s Mafia Queens of Mumbai THALAIVI Kangana Ranaut plays the actress-turned-politician J. Jayalalitha in this biopic which will be released in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu SHAKUNTALA DEVI Vidya Balan plays Shakuntala Devi aka the “human calculator”, a mathematical wizard, who was also one of the earliest defenders of gay rights MADAM CHIEF MINISTER Richa Chadha headlines this political satire said to be loosely based on the life on Bahujan Samaj Party supremo and erstwhile Uttar Pradesh CM Mayawati…

Lowis the third instalment of Jeet Thayil’s ‘Bombay trilogy’, its protagonist Dominic Ullis, the Syrian-Christian narrator of Narcopolis, the Booker-shortlisted first instalment, returning to the city after his wife’s suicide. Set over two (possibly three) nights—rather than the decades over which both Narcopolis and The Book of Chocolate Saints, the second instalment, unfurl—Low is a descent into the subterranean. Once more, if you like, unto the depths. It is, for Ullis, familiar territory, having spent the better part of 20 years sunk in an opioid fug on Bombay’s Shuklaji Street. Low, the cunning title of Jeet Thayil’s book, reflects the lowlife of Bombay—the itinerant poets, prostitutes and peddlers But this is a different Bombay from the thrilling, if squalid, city Thayil memorialised in Narcopolis. The change that is hinted at…

Filmmaker Neeraj Pandey’s oeuvre suggests he has a predilection for telling stories of men in service—in A Wednesday (2008), a police officer bargained with a disillusioned citizen; Special 26 (2013) dealt with CBI officers chasing a gang of conmen; in Baby (2015), counter-intelligence agents went on a mission to nab a terrorist; in Aiyaary (2018), his focus was on army men. Now, in Special Ops (to stream on Hotstar from March 17), he focuses on six Research Analysis & Wing agents looking for the 2001 Parliament attack mastermind. The filmmaker says he is drawn to such characters because of the ‘unsung nature’ of their work. “We will never know so many people’s stories because of the nature of their job. This is slightly fortunate and also terribly unfortunate,” he says.…

Q. Your film is set on a college campus. What’s it like to play a teenager at 39? Age is just a number, I think. It’s how you feel that is really important. And at 39, I don’t feel old. I feel as amazing as I did when I was 16 or 17. Q. What was most appealing about the script? Are you confident about your Tamil skills? It is all about friendship and going back to college. I could never actually go to college, so I am living those days through the movie. Thanks to playing for the Chennai Super Kings, I know konjum konjum (little little) Tamil. Q. How did your actor-wife, Geeta Basra, react to your acting ambitions? She asked me to stick to my forte. She’s…

Modern Influencer Created by Carlos Benaim and Anne Flipo, Carolina Herrera’s 212 VIP Black is a spicy and energetic fragrance that commands the room. Price On request Availability Brand stores Coming Up Roses Inspired by the freshness of rosebuds, Bvlgari’s Rose Goldea is dedicated to the woman who is ready to set out on a journey of her own design. Price ₹8,350 Availability Brand stores and online Fatal Attraction Named for a Greek goddess, the salty vanilla Olympea is dedicated to the woman comfortable in her skin. Price £83 Availability Brand boutiques and online Push the Limits Good Girl is inspired by Carolina Herrera’s vision of the modern woman—audacious, sexy, elegant, enigmatic, good and bad. Price ₹6,800 Availability Brand stores and online Delicately Floral Luna by Nina Ricci is an…

Its tough to improve on a classic, certainly one that has been loved for its simplicity. But that doesn’t mean one should give up. Adding panache to a beloved line, the new Classique Grandes Complications 5367 provides a beautifully simple interpretation of the tourbillon, which reigns supreme on a minimalist dial. The information has been deliberately pared down to essentials in order to give the mechanism the full attention it deserves. Contrary to reference 5377 presented in 2013, this 2018 edition has no power-reserve indicator. The blue Breguet hands strike a powerful contrast with the immaculate whiteness of the traditional enamel, thereby ensuring perfect legibility of the hours and minutes. The chapter ring with Breguet Arabic numerals is off-centred at 11 o’clock and thus directly facing the tourbillon at 5…

In Vienna, finding the birthday man’s home address can be fiddly. Try looking for Pasqualati House of Baron Johann Baptist Pasqualati in the 1st district of Vienna’s Inner City, on the corner of Mölker Bastei 8 and Schreyvogelgasse 16. Do not take location cues from his works either: Schicksalssinfonie (Fate Symphony) or Siegessinfonie Wellingtons Sieg oder die Schlacht bei Vittoria (Battle Symphony). By the time one learns to get the umlaut correct, the candles would have melted into the cake. The easier method is to ask for the home of composer Ludwig van Beethoven, the man who turned 250 this year. Beethoven has been dead for 193 years, but the grey corner house still stands stoic as it did when the composer called Pasqualati House his home. Within its four…

• Yamazaki Distillery Reserve pairs well with pork chops; the mighty malt blends with the bold taste of the smoked pork chops. • Nikka Miyagikyo 12 Y O Sherry and Sweet matches well with Sushi. A pre-dinner aperitif, a colourful platter and some music…great start to an evening !! • Hibiki 21 YO is a great companion to tandoori chicken. A robust whisky, it goes well with light smoked meat. • Hakashu 18 YO is best with chilled water. A reluctant but assertive whisky, it needs its own time and company and commands a serve in premium glassware. • Nikka Coffey Grain walks well with a walnut and raisin cake.…

Before Bourne and Batman, before the Avengers and Justice League, there was James Bond. Articulate, suave, mysterious and irreverent, James Bond is the modern day superhero, minus the spandex tights and flowing cape. No Time To Die, set to release in 2020, is the 25th installment of James Bond—the longest running film franchise—in action since 1962. This year also marks the 25th anniversary of Omega’s association with the Bond films, which began in 1995 with Goldeneye, in which Bond (played by Pierce Brosnan) wore the Omega Sea-master. The Seamaster has since featured in subsequent movies, as much a part of Bond’s swagger as his razor sharp suits. This new Seamaster Diver 300M features a 42-mm titanium case, with a brown aluminum bezel ring to match its dial. It uses crown…

Evolution is the cornerstone of growth. In art, as in life, one must evolve to better understand the space one occupies in this world. Building on this principle, Panerai has taken a signature aesthetic and evolved it such that it straddles the spirit of today and the future. In keeping with the genetics of the Luminor Due family, Panerai remains unconventional in its attitude. The new watches have been mechanically redesigned in terms of size. On the one hand there are three new models sharing the brushed titanium of the case and the blue satiné soleil finish of the dial. On the other hand there are three updated models of varied character, embodying a consistent versatility. All of them are united in being fitted with mechanical Manufacture movements and quickly…

Rahul Gandhi’s decision to contest from Wayanad besides Amethi in the 2019 general election was a great face-saver, as it got him a place in the 17th Lok Sabha. And this time round, he seems determined to make the most of it. In the nine months from June 2019 to March 2020, Rahul Gandhi has asked 32 questions, a personal record of sorts, given that he has been Lok Sabha MP since 2004. In the 15 years from 2004 to 2019, Rahul Gandhi had asked just three questions, all of them in UPA-I (2004-09). What then, is the mystery of Rahul’s newfound questioning voice?…

New Delhi ranks among the world’s greatest and most beautiful capitals. It is, therefore, no surprise that the Indian government’s plans to revamp its Central Vista have received a mixed response. It is obvious that the government cannot manage with its existing buildings and that change is needed to accommodate increased numbers of legislators, civil servants and a constantly changing technology. The Lutyens Trust understands these pressures, but feels, like many conservation bodies, architects and urban designers in India, that the timescale for implementing these changes is too short and the process has lacked both proper public consultation and study of the environmental impact. These questions are for the Indian government and other interested parties in India to settle. New Delhi, however, represents a vital part of Sir Edwin Lutyens’s…

The forthcoming Rajya Sabha election has presented the Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in West Bengal a fresh opportunity to strengthen their state-level ‘alliance’ against the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the BJP. The two parties, which had been locked in negotiations on a consensus candidate for one of the five Rajya Sabha seats from the state, have agreed on the candidature of CPI(M) nominee and former Kolkata mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya. The other four seats will go to the TMC on the basis of its strength in the state assembly. Initially, the Congress had favoured CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury as the joint candidate, but his party said its norms disallowed members from being nominated for a third Rajya Sabha term. Yechury has been Rajya Sabha…

Rana Kapoor was not part of the banking licence plan when Ashok Kapur and Harkirat Singh prepared a blueprint for the new-generation YES Bank. The two had been colleagues at Grindlays Bank, and knew each other personally, professionally and socially. Kapur arguably sneaked in the relatively younger Rana, his co-brother-in-law (their wives were sisters) as co-promoter. Singh didn’t know Rana personally or otherwise while Kapur carefully hid the fact that they were related. The foundation of a public trust institution thus was based on a tactical omission. Regardless, the trio, armed with an ‘in principle’ licence from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in 2003, set up the private bank from scratch in 2004. Singh left within a year, alleging that Rana and Kapur had teamed up against him. In…

BLU TOWER Dr E. Moses Road, Parel, Mumbai. Seven flats (4701, 4801, 4901, 5001, 5101, 5201 & 5301) of 11,000 sq. ft each, with a total area of 72,961 sq.ft SESEN Nepean Sea Road, Mumbai. Four duplex apartments (15th-18th floors) on a total area of 1,000 sq.m APSARA NCPA Dorabji Tata Road, Nariman Point, Mumbai. 3,475 sq.ft flat (#34) on third floor BLISS VILLA 18 Kautilya Marg, Chanakyapuri, Diplomatic Enclave. Area: 1,031.29 sq.m 40, AMRITA SHER-GIL MARG Total area: 1,237 acres KHURSHEEDABAD BUILDING Next to Mukesh Ambani’s Antilla, Altamount Road, Mumbai. Six flats on ground + two floors, with a total area of 14,811 sq.ft. Rana planned to construct a bungalow…

IMPACT HIGH PHARMA India imports 69% of its bulk drug intermediates from China Buffer stocks exist for 2-3 months; prolonged shutdowns will hurt TRAVEL & TOURISM Airlines could lose $113 billion (Rs 8.4 lakh crore) in global passenger revenues In India, Kerala tourism hit by cancellations; hotel occupancy down by 30-40%; 100% cancellations from Japan, Malaysia, China. Over 280,000 Chinese tourists visited India in 2018 IMPACT SIGNIFICANT ELECTRONICS (includes mobile handsets) 67% of electronic components are imported from China; import dependency is high PETROCHEMICALS India exports 34% of its petrochemicals to China Finding new markets will be tough. Petrochem prices and margins will be under pressure GEMS & JEWELLERY India exports 36% of its diamonds to China. The rescheduling of the Hong Kong International Jewellery Show and cancellation of four…

Having single-handedly ferried his parents to 40 spots of pilgrimage on a DIY bamboo palanquin, the mythological Shravan Kumar has always been a bit of an impossible ideal. Yet, when Arvind Kejriwal was re-elected chief minister recently, his deputy Manish Sisodia said, “Delhi has again voted for its favourite son, its Shravan Kumar”. For the cover of his new book, Pilgrim Nation: The Making of Bharatvarsh, Devdutt Pattanaik, too, decided to illustrate Shravan. The word Bharatvarsh, too, almost seems borrowed from a politician’s vocabulary. “You now have politicians who are chauvinistic about these words, but there was a time when they were embarrassed by them. Politicians come and go, but I keep writing my books,” says Pattanaik. Hindutva, one might think, appropriates any narrative similar to itself, but in all…

SOAR by Amit Majumdar PENGUIN VIKING ₹499; 256 pages Bholanath and Khudabaksh’s friendship is never threatened by religious differences. Drifting in a surveillance balloon with an angry squirrel during WWI, they find adventure and delight HIJAB by Guruprasad Kaginele; translated by Pavan N. Rao SIMON & SCHUSTER ₹499; 304 pages Winner of the Karnataka Sahitya Academy Award, Hijab tells the story of three Indian doctors in Minnesota, grappling with identity, racial profiling and reality TV TABOO by Nirmala Govindarajan PAN MACMILLAN ₹399;310 pages Erendira is a sex worker. As we see her move across India and then to Sri Lanka, we are left with a map to the networks of human trafficking, but also one to a woman’s resilient mind and her bruised body…

Mehlli Gobhai always believed that a retrospective spelt mortality and should be a posthumous event The canon of Indian abstract art includes the likes of V.S. Gaitonde, S.H. Raza and Ram Kumar, but Mehlli Gobhai’s name has, sadly, slipped through the cracks. A new Mumbai retrospective, however, finally gives it its pride and place. Don’t Ask Me About Colour will be on view at the National Gallery of Modern Art till April 25 and, according to Ranjit Hoskote (who has curated the show with Nancy Adajania), it is designed “precisely to demonstrate the richness of Mehlli’s work, of a compelling and inspired 70-year quest”. Fascinating and unnerving in turn, for Hoskote, Gobhai’s abstractions “never gave in to the easy seductions of colour, pattern and references to the landscape”. Artist Sheetal…

A HOLIDAY COULD be almost anything these days. But for the discerning vacationer, falling off the grid is more likely to leave you with memories that linger than a formulaic sun, sea and sand trip. At a time when tourists are becoming travellers, our travel issue aims to nudge your wanderlust towards a host of less conventional possibilities. Photographer Joel Koechlin, actress Kalki Koechlin’s father and the man behind Raj Hamsa, the oldest makers of hand gliders and microlights in India, gives us a bird’s eye view of the Himalayan Outdoor Festival in Nepal. As the name suggests, arduous outdoor mountain activities are on the boil for this menu. Never mind the epiphanies of sweat and toil, you’ll, learn to appreciate the precision of the chase on a mountain biking…

Stay Seamless If you travel for work often, then you’ll know how hard it is to keep your tailoring crease free, but packing Steamery’s Cirrus No. 2 handy steamer will ensure you look sharp for meetings and cocktails. Price ₹14, 137 Availability www.mrporter.com Hands On There’s no excuse for less than perfect digits with Czech & Speake’s manicure set. It is compact enough to carry in the smallest of bags, yet holds all the bare necessities. Price £521 Availability www.mrporter.com Vintage Styling Kompanero’s hand-crafted leather trolleys are a delight to own and gift. We love this brown leather luggage with the aqua side trim. Price On request Availability Brand boutiques Keep it Light This edgy luggage from Crash is crafted to withstand the wear and tear of frequent travelling. Compact…

It was Friday frenzy in Cape Town. Roads were jammed, the wind swirled and 50,000 people descended at the Cape Town stadium. Two of tennis’ greatest, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, Bill Gates, and stand-up artist and daily show host Trevor Noah, were playing at the Match for Africa, a charity event to raise funds for Federer’s foundation. Next day, Federer was to be part of a discussion on the arts in times of polarisation, part of the Rolex Arts Weekend held at the cultural centre Baxter Theatre. But Federer wasn’t the only talent that weekend at Baxter—the venue for the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative. Some of the mentor sightings included tabla maestro Zakir Hussain, Booker-shortlisted novelist Colm Toibin, and filmmaker Mira Nair. There were also young practitioners…

The lush lawns of W Goa, slender palms swaying in the sea breeze and flowering bushes springing colour in an all-green landscape offered an idyllic backdrop for Rado’s reinterpreted collection of classics. The dazzling green dials of the re-imagined iconic Rado watches peeped from behind palms leaves decorating a dark wooden table, announcing the arrival of a brand that is going the youthful, fresh, bold and fashion-forward way. The glass-walled private dining room of the Spice Traders restaurant was washed in green, the colour of emotions as Rado urges people to touch, feel and experience the timepieces. Matthias Breschan, CEO of Rado, launched its new campaign for 2020, Feel It, which gives the watch a sensorial appeal. New Look A pioneer is developing new materials for its watches, the new…