Indholdsfortegnelse for November 2, 2020 i India Today

When I visited Bihar during the 2015 state election, the first thing I noticed was that all the BJP hoardings there had pictures only of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, president of the BJP at that time. They did not project any local leader even though their opponents were two Bihar stalwarts: Nitish Kumar of the Janata Dal (United) and Lalu Prasad Yadav of the Rashtriya Janata Dal. The result shocked many. The BJP and the minor parties it was in alliance with were trounced by the Grand Alliance of the JD(U), RJD and the Congress, which won 178 seats to their 58 in the 243-member assembly. It was surprising because just a year ago, the BJP-led NDA had won 31 of Bihar’s 40 Lok Sabha seats in…

Known for his natty dressing, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was spotted in trademark Bengali attire during the August 5 ground-breaking ceremony for the Ram temple in Ayodhya—dhuti, panjabi kurta and long socks. The attire may well make a comeback on October 22, when Modi virtually inaugurates a Durga puja, organised by the BJP’s Bengal unit, in Kolkata’s Salt Lake. The community puja has lined up some big-ticket celebrity shows, by the likes of Union minister and singer Babul Supriyo and classical dancer Dona Ganguly. But with Bengal getting into election mode, no prizes for guessing who the star performer will be.…

The Indian ed-tech start-ups that received the most funding between January and September 2020 BYJU’S CLASSES Jan. 2020 $ 300M Tiger Global Jun. 2020 $ 300M Bond Capital, DST Global, Silver Lake Sep. 2020 $ 200M Owl Ventures, Sands Capital, Tiger Global, General Atlantic and others Feb. 2020 $ 200M General Atlantic ERUDITUS Aug. 2020 $ 113 M Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Naspers, Sequoia Capital India and others UNACADEMY Sep. 2020 $ 153 M SoftBank Corp, IIFL VC, Nexus Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital India, General Atlantic and others Feb. 2020 $ 104 M Steadview Capital, Blume Ventures, Nexus Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital India, General Atlantic and others VEDANTU Jul. 2020 $ 100M GGV Capital, Coatue Management, WestBridge, Omidyar Network, Tiger Global and others TOPPR Jul. 2020 $ 47M Foundation Holdings, Kaizenvest…

India’s military standoff with China in Ladakh, now in its sixth month, has resulted in an increased focus on equipping the armed forces. One piece of hardware has topped the acquisition wishlist of all three branches of the armed forces—drones. The urgency with which these weapons systems are now being acquired—via fast-track purchases and deliveries in months, not years—speaks of the growing importance being attached to these force multipliers. The army is looking for man-portable surveillance drones that can operate at the rarefied altitudes of its northern theatre. It also wants bigger, armed drones that can target terrorist camps across the Pakistani border with precision missiles. The navy hopes to close a fast-track contract to acquire 10 UASes (unmanned aerial systems) that can operate off its warships, before the end…

An October 6 letter sent by Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) S.A. Bobde has sparked off an extraordinary executive versus judiciary conflict. Caught in the cross-fire between Reddy and his predecessor N. Chandrababu Naidu is the next seniormost Supreme Court judge, N.V. Ramana, who, if the tradition continues, is set to succeed Bobde as CJI. The judiciary has been dragged into the bitter Reddy-Naidu rivalry following grave allegations of an enduring nexus between the latter and Ramana, and charges of corruption and judicial impropriety (see Jagan’s Charges Against Ramana). A state cabinet sub-committee constituted by Jagan Reddy, in keeping with his poll promise to expose the wrongdoings of the Naidu government, alleged in its report on December 27 last year…

On September 10, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, was made president of the party’s West Bengal unit. A bitter critic of Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, his appointment apparently ends the prospect of a grand alliance of non-BJP parties in the upcoming state election. In an exclusive interview with Deputy Editor Kaushik Deka, Chowdhury talks about plans to take on two formidable adversaries—the ruling TMC and a rising BJP—and why he is not a BJP mole, as alleged. Excerpts: Q This is your second stint as Bengal Congress president. How prepared is the party for the assembly election? A. We are facing two strong adversaries at the same time—the BJP and the TMC; we are between the devil…

1 INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, Ahmedabad 2 INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT CALCUTTA, Kolkata 3 INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT BANGALORE, Bengaluru 4 S.P. JAIN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT & RESEARCH, Mumbai 5 XLRI - XAVIER SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, Jamshedpur 6 INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, Indore 7 MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE, Gurugram 8 INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, Kozhikode 9 FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF DELHI, New Delhi 10 SVKM’S NMIMS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT, Mumbai…

NORTH 1 MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE, Gurugram FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES, 2 UNIVERSITY OF DELHI, New Delhi 3 INDIAN INSTITUTE OF FOREIGN TRADE, New Delhi 4 INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY, Ghaziabad 5 INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE, New Delhi EAST 1 INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT CALCUTTA, Kolkata 2 XLRI - XAVIER SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, Jamshedpur 3 INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, Shillong 4 VINOD GUPTA SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, IIT KHARAGPUR, Kharagpur 5 XAVIER INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, XAVIER UNIVERSITY, Bhubaneswar WEST 1 INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, Ahmedabad 2 S.P. JAIN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT & RESEARCH, Mumbai 3 INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, Indore 4 SVKM’S NMIMS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT, Mumbai 5 NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING, Mumbai SOUTH 1 INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT BANGALORE, Bengaluru 2 INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, Kozhikode 3 INDIAN INSTITUTE OF…

‘7500’, Ankith Gupta The 17-year-old hip-hop producer from Chennai earned himself a place in the Guinness Book of World Records with this song for “the most languages featured on a CD single”. The song features a dozen rappers from across India and the world rapping in 14 languages: English, Arabic, Malayalam, German, Hindi, Bengali, Italian, Kannada, Swedish, Spanish, Tamil, Nepali, Jamaican, and Telugu. ‘Shambar Bars’, MC Mawali Mumbai’s Marathi rapper MC Mawali aka Aklesh Sutar is considered one of the most versatile and voluble wordsmiths in the country. Earlier this month, he decided to take things up a notch with ‘Shambar Bars’, which, as the title implies, comprises a whopping 100 bars in which he schools listeners on the commercialisation of the Indian hip-hop scene and the socio-political issues that…

Q. Kaali Khuhi reflects on a social evil that still haunts India. Is that what drew you to it? Yes. Female infanticide is an issue I feel very strongly about. I find it unacceptable that we are aware it exists and yet brush it off and not associate with it the kind of horror we do with murder. It all comes from the patriarchal mindset, where a woman is seen as not equal to men and only as somebody’s daughter, sister, mother, wife. Q. In a recent address to young Muslim women during a convocation ceremony, you said, “Know that you can own a space that you wish to occupy.” Women have been raised to believe that there are certain things we can’t do. A lot of it has to…

Experts underline the need for greater vigil during the festive season, and insist that people must follow the standard safety protocol of wearing masks, maintaining good hand hygiene and physical distance in public spaces. Failing which: We could see 2.5 million active cases within a month’s time from the current 700,000; The number of deaths could treble, and Delhi could see 15,000 daily new cases Infectivity rates in Maharashtra and Goa, already alarmingly high at 19.6% and 14.4%, could spiral…

AS THE CAMPAIGN for India’s first major election held under the shadow of Covid got underway in Bihar, party candidates initially adopted unconventional methods to reach out to voters. These included e-rallies and marshalling social network sites to unleash a blizzard of political messages. However, as the contesting parties soon realised, nothing is more effective than traditional methods of wooing the electorate, including addressing public meetings in person and ensuring massive turnouts, even if it means ignoring social distancing protocols or wearing masks. Despite warning the nation of the dangers of a second wave of infections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself is slated to address a blitzkrieg of 12 poll rallies, beginning October 23, to ensure that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) continues to rule the state. The major political…

NAVAL SHIPBORNE UAS ₹1,100CR PER UNIT STATUS: Awaiting DAC (Defence Acquisition Council approval MQ-9 GUARDIAN ₹900CR PER UNIT STATUS: Awaiting DAC approval PROJECT CHEETAH Upgrading existing fleet of 90 Heron drones with weapons and improved sensors by Israel Aerospace Industries ₹8,500CR TOTAL PROJECT COST STATUS: Awaiting DAC approval RUSTOM 1 STATUS: Development complete. No orders for production RUSTOM 2 STATUS: In development. Last trial flight in October 2020 MEHAR BABA SWARM DRONE CONTEST An IAF contest, open to the private sector, to build a swarm of 50 drones to deliver humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. Named after Air Commodore Mehar Singh ₹100CR PROJECT COST STATUS: Submissions by three teams under evaluation…

That Ramana allegedly used his proximity to ex-CM N. Chandrababu Naidu and the TDP as a lawyer and then as the former additional advocate general during TDP rule to further personal and professional interests. Reddy charges that Ramana influenced the Naidu government’s note on the promotion of six lawyers slated to be elevated as judges of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana That Ramana’s relatives allegedly used insider information to buy agricultural land in Amaravati before Naidu declared the area the new capital city of Andhra Pradesh. They allegedly bought land at the low price which existed before the demarcation, enabling them to profit when the development plans were unveiled That Ramana allegedly influenced work in the AP High Court, including the allotment of work in politically sensitive…

1 INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, Ahmedabad 2 INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT CALCUTTA, Kolkata 3 INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT BANGALORE, Bengaluru 4 INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, Indore 5 INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, Kozhikode 6 FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF DELHI, Delhi 7 INDIAN INSTITUTE OF FOREIGN TRADE, New Delhi 8 NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING, Mumbai 9 DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES, IIT DELHI, New Delhi 10 INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, Shillong…

DELHI-NCR 1 MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE 2 FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF DELHI 3 INDIAN INSTITUTE OF FOREIGN TRADE MUMBAI 1 S.P. JAIN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT & RESEARCH 2 SVKM’S NMIMS, SCHOOL OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT 3 NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING KOLKATA 1 INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT 2 INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING & MANAGEMENT 3 TECHNO MAIN SALT LAKE CHENNAI 1 GREAT LAKES INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT 2 LOYOLA INSTITUTE OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 3 SRM SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT BENGALURU 1 INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT BANGALORE 2 SVKM’S NARSEE MONJEE INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES 3 PRIN. L.N. WELINGKAR INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT & RESEARCH…

Filmmaker Mira Nair, in a career spanning three decades, has often turned to books for inspiration. There’s her beloved adaptation of Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake, and also the misfire in William Thackeray’s Vanity Fair. So, when it came to adapting Vikram Seth’s mammothnovel, A Suitable Boy, Nair knew a two-hour feature won’t do justice to the saga that follows four families. “It deserves the unfolding pace of a marathon,” says Nair. “It is gruelling but also gorgeous.” The six-episode series released on Netflix on October 23. For Nair, there was no city better than Lucknow to represent Brahmpur, a fictional town by the Ganga. Nair and her crew shot on real locations, moving from old havelis to crumbling forts. “We were going into places and refurbishing them to make them…

The BJP is again betting on Olympic medallist wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt as its candidate for the November 3 bypoll to the Baroda assembly seat in Haryana. The bypoll has been necessitated by the death of Congress MLA Shri Krishna Hooda, who defeated Dutt by some 4,800 votes in the 2019 election. The Congress has never lost a bout in this constituency. With grappler Dutt, can the BJP put its rival on the mat this time?…

Chirag Paswan may not have had a successful film career, but the Lok Janshakti Party chief has reserved some of the best lines for the Bihar poll potboiler. When the BJP tried to distance itself from him, Chirag described himself as “Modi’s Hanuman”. “If you cut open my heart, you will find only Modiji,” he told a TV channel. Then, he tweeted that he wanted to save Modi any dilemma on his account. Looks like the prime minister agreed it really wasn’t worth it—the BJP has decided to throw all its weight behind their main ally JD(U) and their chief ministerial face Nitish Kumar.…

The economic consequences of the lockdown, imposed to fight a runaway Covid-19 pandemic, are by now well known: the headline statistic being a 23.9 per cent contraction in India’s GDP growth for the first quarter of the current fiscal, which underlines how the broad economy has been crippled. India’s education sector, estimated at $91.7 billion (Rs 6.67 lakh crore) in FY18, according to India Brand Equity Foundation, was not spared either. The closure of schools and colleges hit the finances of thousands of educational institutions. However, the constraints of the physical world presented a fortuitous opportunity for educational technology start-ups, which witnessed a big surge in demand for their offerings. India’s leading ed-tech app Byju’s Classes ranked among the world’s top 10 most-downloaded education apps during the lockdown. Current trends…

Though voters are satisfied with the Nitish Kumar government, the levels are dropping Voters are highly satisfied with the performance of the Narendra Modi government Anti-incumbency is evident, with more people saying Nitish Kumar should not get a fresh term (Note: All figures in per cent; VS: Vidhan Sabha; LS: Lok Sabha; Source: Lokniti-CSDS survey) But the anti-incumbency vote is being split between opposition groups—mostly the MGB and the Independents—giving the NDA an advantage that Tejashwi Yadav has tapped into and converted into a poll plank that seems to be having some impact. TEJASHWI’S PITCH He may have little administrative experience, barring the 20 months as deputy chief minister, and led the RJD to its worst showing ever in the 2019 Lok Sabha poll, when the party drew a blank…

1 S.P. JAIN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT & RESEARCH, Mumbai 2 XLRI - XAVIER SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, Jamshedpur 3 MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE, Gurugram 4 SVKM’S NMIMS, SCHOOL OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT, Mumbai 5 INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY, Ghaziabad 6 INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE, New Delhi 7 SYMBIOSIS INSTITUTE OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT, Pune 8 SYMBIOSIS CENTRE FOR MANAGEMENT & HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT, Pune 9 GREAT LAKES INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, Chennai 10 T.A. PAI MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE, Manipal…

Indian independent music is most strongly associated with rock, pop, hip-hop and EDM, genres that have generated some of its biggest stars. But many of Indian indie’s finest acts make music that simultaneously traverses multiple styles—from jazz to progressive rock to experimental electronica. Here are recent releases by three such artists who stand out for their inventiveness. 1 ‘The Shape of Things to Come’, Tarun Balani Delhi-based drummer, composer and producer Tarun Balani is prolific. This five-track collection is the second release from his jazz ensemble Dharma in 18 months, and, in between, he put out the EP 2°, recorded under his solo electronic music avatar, Seasonal Affected Beats. Dharma, the press note says, specialises in “free jazz”, a genre that places a premium on the expression of each performing…

Watchmen Disney+ Hotstar Damin Lindelof revisits the 1918 racial violence in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for his adaptation of the popular graphic novel. It is 2019 and police officers in Tulsa are dealing with attacks by a white supremacist militia. The US’s #BlackLivesMatter protests and the rise of right-wing groups like Proud Boys make this sci-fi show disturbingly relevant. Mindhunter Netflix Filmmaker David Fincher’s crimethriller Mindhunter, inspired by Mindhunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit, follows two agents as they travel to prisons across the US to speak to the most deviant minds. Inevitably, the chilling conversations disturb their own emotional equilibrium. Anne with an E Netflix Amybeth McNulty is pitch perfect as Anne, the titular character of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s beloved novel Anne of Green Gables which sparked off the…