Innholdsfortegnelse for Monday, March 6, 2023 i India Today

It was an unceremonious exit with no fanfare or mentions of his contributions to the service. M. Sivasankar, who was principal secretary to Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan during his first term, retired from service on January 31. On February 14, he was taken into custody by the Enforcement Directorate (ED)—his third arrest since the scam about alleged gold smuggling via diplomatic baggage broke in 2020. This time, it was over allegations that he had received kickbacks in one of the government’s Life Mission scheme projects, where low-cost houses were to be built for the 2018 flood victims. The arrest comes in the wake of new revelations by former UAE consulate worker Swapna Suresh, one of the prime accused in the gold smuggling case. Based on the interrogation of Sivasankar…

The tussle between Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot and Union minister and BJP leader Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has been getting uglier every day. Shekhawat has taken Gehlot’s government to task on law and order and the budget. Gehlot has state agencies investigating allegations of Shekhawat’s role in a cooperative society fund scam and in the attempt to topple his government in 2020, but there has been little headway. Recently, at a rally in Jodhpur, the hometown of both leaders, Gehlot said the Centre had raised Shekhawat’s security cover so that the agencies could not arrest him. Shekhawat retorted that it was news to him that people with security cover could not be arrested. On Shekhawat’s FIR in Delhi against the illegal tapping of his phone, the Delhi police interrogated Gehlot’s…

A few weeks ago, Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel started the practice of switching off all fans, air conditioners and lights when the office was not in use. On odd occasions, he would switch off the lights himself before leaving. Ministers and their secretaries mocked the move, pointing to the practice of cooling cars and cabins of bureaucrats beforehand so that the space would be comfortable by the time they arrived. Interestingly, though, when the tattle reached the CM, rather than retort, he went about the task as usual. Inspired (or shamed?), at least a few senior bureaucrats have started doing the same.…

The events of the past few weeks have been a testing time for the country’s ruling party, what with the crony capitalism charges against the Adanis and a damning BBC documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots. But, as always, the fightback has been led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself, starting off with his speeches in both houses of Parliament during the motion of thanks to the President’s address. Political analysts have focused on one line from it — “Desh dekh raha hai, ek akela kitnon pe bhari padh raha hai (The country is watching how one man alone has taken on so many)” — to get a sense of the course the PM’s party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, is likely to take in the run-up to the 2024 general…

When Union minister of state (MoS) for finance Bhagwat Karad told the Lok Sabha on February 6 that there is no provision for a refund of the accumulated New Pension Scheme (NPS) corpus to states that have reverted to the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), he was just reiterating the Centre’s consistent stand that there will be no return to the old scheme. But it has not discouraged a revolt in the opposition-ruled states. Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot of the Congress was the first to withdraw from the NPS in March 2022, shifting state employees to the OPS (now called OPS-2) retrospectively from the day of their joining the government job. Indeed, in his budget speech on February 10 this year, Gehlot extended the OPS to staff of state-run universities…

Around the same time that Somdev Devvarman began tennis lessons, he also took guitar classes. Starting at the age of nine, Devvarman recalls, “I took lessons for like three months and then tennis took over.” Even as tennis took him around the world and made him a sports idol, Devvarman retired in 2017 and turned his focus to being on broadcast TV and coaching as well. The same year, he and a friend went to see UK pop artist Ed Sheeran perform in Washington D.C. Devvarman recalls how Sheeran spoke about encouraging every closeted musician to “get out there and play”. It struck a chord with him, and he wrote his first song, ‘New Man’, that same night, which he says put into words his feelings about leaving behind tournaments…

Today finds an easy reference within the glory days of past tradition at the historic Sawantwadi Palace Boutique Art Hotel. Here, fiercely guarded palace recipes such as sunti gola and keshari maas share space with ramen and croissants in the royal kitchen. Just as heritage art forms such as the Persian-origin ganjifa paintings and lacquer ware find modern expression on night lamps and mirror frames. At the two-month-old Sawantwadi Palace Boutique Art Hotel, currently the only royal residence-hotel in Maharashtra, heritage marries modernity in every experience, making the union appear almost seamless. The ‘rajwada’ is the residence of the Sawant-Bhonsles, the former rulers of the region. The princely state was founded in 1627 and Khem Sawant III built the palace in 1755 using the local red laterite stone home and…

Almost as whimsical as Takashi Murakami’s prose, the second collaborative watch from Hublot and the Japanese artist uses the smiling flower as both muse and theme. This is a recurrent icon of Murakami’s work, and in the case of this watch, transforms it into a whirlwind of transparency and colour. The Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami Sapphire Rainbow is an artifact for all practical purposes! While the first timepiece was an all black watch, this new rendition is a riot of colour with transparent effects. The technicians in Hublot’s workshops have created a unique setting with this new work of art—a transparent background through which we can ascertain both the artist’s work and the intricate mechanics of the watchmakers in Nyon. The smiling flower offers a mischievous smile on a three-dimensional…

Indian cities may otherwise be earning notoriety on world pollution indices, but Hyderabad seems to be racing towards a cleaner future. On February 11, after hosting the first-ever Formula E race in India—also the first on a street circuit—Telangana’s capital is poised to earn a place at the global electric vehicle (EV) high table. That all 20,000 tickets were sold out for the inaugural event of the electric equivalent of Formula 1 is testimony to the growing popularity here of motorsport as well as green mobility. In 2022, every 20th vehicle registered in the country was an EV, with more than one million of them sold in India. The Union and state governments have launched several initiatives to expedite EV adoption. A NITI Aayog report says that by 2030, some…

The impending byelection in the Sagardighi assembly seat in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district on February 27 is the latest platform on which the ruling Trinamool Congress and the principal opposition party BJP are facing off, with no one losing the chance to treat it as a crystal ball through which to gaze at the 2024 general election. Subrata Saha of the TMC, whose death in December 2022 necessitated the bypoll, had won the seat with a margin of over 50,000 votes in the 2021 assembly election. But it can be a closer fight for the TMC this time around—its candidate Debashish Banerjee faces not just the BJP’s Dilip Saha, but the Congress-appointed, Left-backed beedi magnate Byron Biswas, owner of Jeet Beedi Manufacturing Company, as 30 companies of central forces keep…

It was ‘Khela Hobe’ all over again as Mamata Banerjee’s West Bengal took on Saurashtra, the home turf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah, at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens in the final of the Ranji Trophy match. Bengal’s sports and youth affairs minister Manoj Tiwary led the state team from the front, convinced that Bengal would replicate the rout on the 22 yards that Didi had accomplished in the political field. As luck would have it, Bengal lost the match. Has khela hobe run its course then as a motivating slogan?…

The West’s war against Chinese CCTVs UNITED STATES ⋆ Under National Defense Authorisation Act (NDAA), 2019, US department of commerce places Hikvision, Dahua, Huawei, ZTE Corp and Hytera on an ‘Entity List’ along with 26 other Chinese entities, prohibiting US-based businesses from exporting their products to them ⋆ In Nov. 2019, President Trump signs order prohibiting US firms and individuals from investing in Chinese firms with links to its military ⋆ In Mar. 2021, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) puts 5 Chinese firms among entities deemed national security threats ⋆ In Oct. 2021, US legislature passes Secure Equipment Act prohibiting FCC to authorise such companies. FCC implements it in Nov. 2022 UNITED KINGDOM ⋆ Leaked CCTV footage in June 2021 shows then health secretary Matt Hancock kissing an aide. The scandal…

On January 24, US-based shortseller Hindenburg Research set off a minor earthquake when it published a scathing report on one of India’s largest business groups, helmed by a businessman steadily climbing the world’s richest lists, the Ahmedabad-based Gautam Adani. Among its many accusations were manipulation of group companies stocks via shell firms in tax havens and accounting lapses. Coming shortly before Adani Enterprises’ planned launch of a follow-on public offer, the revelations triggered panic selling of the shares of the nine listed group companies, sending their prices crashing on the Indian bourses. It not only eroded as much as $120 billion (nearly Rs 10 lakh crore) in investor wealth but also half the market capitalisation of the companies in a matter of just a week. Although robust quarterly results of…

On a warm spring morning on February 18, some of the finest minds in the country came together at the first INDIA TODAY-RPG Group Happiness at Workplace Summit and Awards to discuss what defines happiness at workplaces. Is it success? Is it achieving a certain goal, or beating your competitors? Does success make you happy, or is it happiness that makes you successful? These and other such ideas were discussed at the event. Globally, as the world emerges from the ravages of the Covid-19 pandemic and people return to offices, a new kind of normal is in the making. More corporates are embracing a hybrid work culture as employee wellbeing becomes a critical factor. A number of research studies have established that there is a direct link between workplace happiness…

Until January this year, Jyothi Yarraji had never competed in the 60-metre indoors hurdles event. When she stepped out on the track at the Aarhus Sprint’n’Jump in Denmark, she was excited to simply soak it all in. “It’s a lot more aggressive and intense—nothing like running outdoors. Every single move counts, a small mistake and it’s over,” says Yarraji, 23. The inexperience hardly mattered. In the very first race, she smashed Gayathri Govindaraj’s national record (8.34 seconds) from 2016 after clocking 8.20 seconds. Since then, she has progressively bettered her own mark on four other occasions. On February 12, she ran her last race at the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in Nur-Sultan in Kazakhstan. Her timing of 8.13 seconds wasn’t just her fastest time yet—it also won her a silver…

WITH JANUARY’S BRISTLING COLD FINALLY BEHIND US AND the searing summer sun still a distant threat, spring is in the air in all its balmy glory–perfect for all things outdoors: languorous brunches, moonlit picnics, wine trails, hiking trips and of course, it’s the country’s unofficial convertible season. While a lot of luxury cars come with bragging rights, it’s the rarefied world of sports cars, and convertibles in particular, that truly capture the spirit of spring. Apart from nailing the looks and the drive, the Mercedes-AMG E53 Cabriolet’s interior simply writes its own tribute. At a price tag of ₹1.3 crore, it has all thew bells and whistles to match its six-cylinder magic. After all, what’s the point of fame and fortune unless they come with toys that remind the world to…

I’ll just come out and say it: I absolutely love convertibles. Sure, for us Mumbaikars, conditions are far from favourable to ride an open-top automobile. Our summers are too humid; it rains a lot, and, of course, the air quality in the city has deteriorated to an extent that Delhi air seems cleaner. But with the 2023 Mercedes E53 Cabriolet in my driveway, I decided to set aside skepticism and take my parents on a long drive. The E53 Cabriolet is a sibling of one of Mercedes’ highest-selling models in the country, the E-Class sedan. While it bears a strong resemblance, it is equally distinct. It is for the very first time that an E53 has got the Mercedes-AMG’s iconic Panamericana grille. Flanked by brand-new headlights and bold vertical slats,…

Twenty minutes of gentle bobbing on the emerald waves of the Indian Ocean brings you to the tranquil lagoon-setting of the Hilton Amingiri Resort & Spa, Maldives. The nirvana credentials of this luxury island-hotel are well endorsed by yacht transfers, private pools and personal butlers. The pampering begins as soon as you land at Malé, only to be greeted by the resort’s own convoy of indulgent yachts. Malé may be close, but it’s far enough to amplify the ‘lost in the ocean’ tranquillity. Thatched roofs set against clumps of fragrant frangipani groves, quintessential palms and hibiscus clusters ensure that beauty and colour are adequate decor accents for the villas’ wooden doorways that dot the sandy lanes. The GEM – Amingiri’s new word for butler–plays up to expectations and the moniker…

No one really was surprised when the Election Commission of India on February 17 recognised the Eknath Shinde-led faction as the ‘real’ Shiv Sena and allowed it to retain the party’s original symbol—the bow and arrow. Making the blow even heavier, the election body ruled that Uddhav Thackeray could retain the name ‘Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray)’ only till the two assembly bypolls later this month. Ditto for the ‘mashaal’ or flaming torch symbol, which the EC had allocated to it on October 10, 2022. This means that Uddhav, who is left with just 16 of the party’s 56 MLAs and six of its 19 Lok Sabha MPs, may have to scout for a new party name and poll symbol, while Shinde, who heads the government in Maharashtra with the…

On February 4, a piece of news hit Gujarat’s real estate developers like a tonne of bricks. The state government announced that it was doubling the circle rates relating to property, known as jantri rates locally, with immediate effect. Also called the Annual Statement of Rates (ASR), it’s the minimum benchmark rate at which any property or land transaction can take place in the state. It determines the actual stamp duty paid to the government on every transaction at the mandated 6 per cent. All transactions beginning February 6 were to be done per the new jantri rates. Though realtors had loosely anticipated the revision—it was last done 12 years ago—the suddenness and magnitude of it shocked big and small players alike. “It was a bolt from the blue,” says…

Chandrashekhar Azad of the Bhim Army certainly understands the power of optics. On February 12, he organised a massive rally in Bhopal, which was attended by OBC, Dalit and tribal groups, and announced that his Azad Samaj Party (ASP) will contest all 230 seats in Madhya Pradesh and elect a chief minister and deputy CMs from marginalised groups if it won. The rally was held ostensibly as a show of strength against an antireservation meet organised by the Karni Sena Parivar in Bhopal in January, in which it had slammed the BJP for continuing with caste-based reservations. With assembly polls in the state just months away, Azad wants to build a coalition of backward, SC and ST communities. In doing so, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which projects itself as…

The Uttar Pradesh Global Investors Summit 2023 has kindled hopes of large-scale industrialisation in Uttar Pradesh, with the government receiving investment proposals worth Rs 33.5 lakh crore—nearly eight times higher than Rs 4.68 lakh crore worth of MoUs signed during the first such summit in 2018. The event has been a vindication for Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who returned to power last year with the promise of turning Uttar Pradesh into “Uttam Pradesh”. While asserting that UP is a safe destination for investments, the chief minister, at the three-day summit in Lucknow from February 10-12, said that unlike earlier when only a few regions around the National Capital Region benefitted, the current proposals covered all the state’s 75 districts. He also claimed these investments will lead to the creation of…

↘ Per US intelligence, Chinese ‘spy balloons’ of the type shot down over the US conduct surveillance from the upper atmosphere at altitudes above where commercial jets fly—between 60,000 ft and 80,000 ft, or higher ↘ Part of a vast surveillance programme of the People’s Liberation Army, they have flown across five continents and collected information on military assets of countries like India, Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines ↘ Equipped with a detection and fight function, they can provide earth space communication relay functions to ground operations personnel infiltrating into any country ↘ Provided with EMP (electro-magnetic pulse) jamming capability ↘ The six entities the US has banned for alleged links to Beijing’s spy balloon programme are: Beijing Nanjiang Aerospace Technology Co., China Electronics Technology Group Corp, Dongguan Lingkong Remote…

When filmmaker Rahul V. Chittella locked in on a house to shoot his directorial debut Gulmohar, all he needed to tell the owner was the name of his leading lady: Sharmila Tagore. Says Chittela, “He was eight years old when he got a photograph with Sharmilaji on the front lawn. He lost it. All he wanted was a new photograph with her. That’s how we got the house.” Gulmohar premieres on Disney+Hotstar on March 3. For the past decade or so, Tagore has largely avoided the spotlight, opting for a quiet, independent life in New Delhi. When Chittella came to her with the character of Kusum in 2019, she had a change of heart. “She spoke to me. She is my age and close to what I am in real…

Simply Divine Imagine the lingering scent of Mediterranean lemon groves, laced with sweet geraniums, star anise and cloves that transform into an earthy base of patchouli, ambergris and cedar with leathery undertones. Can’t imagine? Spritz the Electimus Auster instead to channel the charming complexity of light and dark. Price ₹16,400 (100 ml); Availability scentido.com Skin Reset Multitasking is an enviable skill, especially in a skin care product. For those, who need workable shortcuts to an elaborate skincare regime will do well with the Gotu Kola Dew self-care brand 82°E. The revitalising toner serum is infused with gotu kola and niacinamide and serves as a toner and serum in one lightweight, fast-absorbing formula to restore the skin’s natural barrier. Price ₹2,400 (100ml); Availability 82e.com Winsome Glory The perfect antidote to winter…

India shining’s sparkle saga seems to have shed some of its tinsel magic on the domestic luxury car market, which has been booming like never before. Although semi-conductor shortages and supply-chain disruptions—due to Covid as well as the war in Eastern Europe—have thrown a spanner in the works, preventing sales figures from touching astronomical heights, they are still record breaking. Almost all premium and luxury car manufacturers have order books that run if not in the thousands then in the tens of thousands, and some of the car models are sold out for a few months at the least, but at times for the entire year. Another noteworthy trend is the market moving not only to premium cars but many more of those buyers are now ordering cars that cost…

Distilling the perfect cocktail is an artful production: The idea, inception, curation, preparation, portions, presentation, nomenclature, the storytelling, and finally the actual taste test. India has finally risen to the occasion grabbing eight of the 100 top seats at the last Asia’s 50 Best Bars. This wave has brought to shore themed bars, with classy menus, interesting storytelling, with thought-provoking drinks, bites, and ambience to score both on the surprise and delight quotient. Here are some pit stops that mark the golden hour for Indian mixology. HOOTS’, Delhi Imagine an intimate 16-20 seating space, candle-lit, with leather bound couches, and whiffs of the fragrant cigar leaf wafting through with Frank Sinatra gently cooing on a vinyl record. No barstools, no food menu. Push past an unpretentious, unlabelled white door that…