Month: June 2018

Reliance Industries to acquire telecom solutions firm Radisys to accelerate 5G, IoT push

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Reliance Industries has signed an agreement to acquire US-based open telecom solutions provider Radisys, according to a statement. The cash acquisition is aimed at cementing Jio’s position in futuristic areas such as 5G and Internet of Things (IoT).

Sources familiar with the development said that the deal involves a valuation of roughly $74 million , and that Radisys will be delisted post the acquisition.

With headquarters in Hillsboro, Oregon, Radisys has nearly 600 employees. The Nasdaq-listed company also has an engineering team in Bangalore, along with sales and support offices globally, a joint statement by the two companies said.

“Radisys Corporation… a global leader of open telecom solutions…and Reliance Industries Limited, India’s largest private sector company have entered into a definitive agreement under which Reliance will acquire Radisys for $ 1.72 per share in cash,” the statement said.

The deal is subject to statutory and regulatory approvals and nod of Radisys’ shareholders. It is slated to close in the fourth quarter of 2018.

RIL plans to fund the transaction through its internal accruals, the statement added.

“Radisys’ top-class management and engineering team offer Reliance rapid innovation and solution development expertise globally, which complements our work towards software-centric disaggregated networks and platforms, enhancing the value to customers across consumer and enterprise segments,” Akash Ambani, Director of Reliance Jio said.

The acquisition is aimed at accelerating Jio’s innovation and technology position in the areas of 5G, IOT and open source architecture adoption.

“The Radisys team will continue to work independently on driving its future growth, innovation and expansion. The addition of Reliance’s visionary leadership and strong market position will enhance Radisys’ ability to develop and integrate large-scale, disruptive, open-centric end-to-end solutions,” Brian Bronson, CEO of the US based company said.

Disclosure: RIL, the promoter of Reliance Jio, also controls Network18, the parent company of CNBCTV18.com.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Fifa Football World Cup: France, Argentina clash in marquee Round of 16 clash.

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Argentina and France are unlikely opponents for the Fifa World Cup’s first Round of 16 encounter in Kazan, Russia.

Both teams have been unconvincing to a certain degree in the World Cup thus far. While Argentina’s midfield and defence have been in shambles for large parts of the World Cup, the French offence has failed to click, with only three goals in three games. On the positive side though, France has only conceded a solitary goal thus far, while Argentina conceded five, defensive errors influencing most of these goals. The return to form of Messi, and the introduction of Banega though, make this high profile tie close to an even matched one.

In the high pressure situation of a must win match, Jorge Sampaoli chose to change his lineup by starting the enigmatic No 10, Ever Banega. Known for having ample time on the ball, Banega has the ability to ping long balls as well as thread the needle with killer through passes. His awareness of space and velvet first touch ensures that Banega is always in the midst of attacking ventures. These qualities though were offset by Banega’s  lack of work rate and discipline in the early years of his career. A move to Sevilla in the summer of 2014 revived his faltering career. Under Unai Emery, the playmaker started delivering on potential, instrumental in two Europa League wins and Sevilla’s first quarterfinal appearance in the European Cup/Champions League since 1958. Viewers saw the renewed Banega in his display against a youthful and highly motivated Nigerian team. He delivered effective long range passes  aplenty in the first half, the best among them being a assist to Messi for the first goal, and a raking grounded through pass to Di Maria at the stroke of halftime. His creativity and calm on the ball meant that Messi could occupy more attacking positions on the pitch, and impact the game as we have been accustomed to – by scoring goals. In the second half though, Banega showed familiar signs of weariness and lack of fitness as Nigeria clawed back in the game by winning the midfield battle, and forcing Argentina into silly defensive errors, equalising with a penalty and only losing to an unlikely equalizer by Marcos Rojo. Apart from Banega, Sampaoli made 6 changes to the lineup that faced Croatia against the Nigerians. These changes brought mixed results. Franco Armani was assured in front of goal, and Gabriel Mercado was solid at right back, delivering the assist for the match winner, Rojo, who himself was reinstated at centre back. Enzo Perez, and Angel Di Maria, starting as wide midfielders performed defensive tasks well but did not offer attacking thrust, while Higuain who replaced Sergio Aguero, again went missing in the big matches as he fluffed two clear chances. It is safe to assume that Sampaoli will make quite a few changes against France too. Armani, Rojo, and Mercado are likely to retain their place while Enzo Perez might start as well due to the defensive discipline he offers coupled with Sampaoli’s tactical aversion to pair Paulo Dybala with Messi .

Angel Di Maria unlike Perez isn’t in the team for defensive steadfastness but for the attacking threat he possesses, and after two lacklustre displays from him, there is a strong case for Boca Juniors starlet, Cristian Pavon to start the match at left wing. Kun Aguero, who scored a clinical goal in the opener, could replace the misfiring Higuain to bring sharpness to the finishing. Sampaoli, who is virtually learning about this team on the job,  has a big enough sample size to figure the strengths and weaknesses of the team, and shall look to maximise the former at the cost of the latter.

If sample sizes are to go by, Didier Deschamps has amongst the largest in the surviving pool of managers. At the helm for 6 years, Deschamps’ tenure has been solid but unspectacular. France were World Cup quarter finalists in 2014 and finalists in the 2016 European Championships, but failed to dazzle offensively by and large. The last two years have seen a proliferation of young French talent such as Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Thomas Lemar and Benjamin Mendy to name a few, while the likes of Paul Pogba, Antoine Griezmann, Samuel Umtiti, Hugo Lloris and N’Golo Kante have gone on to further their reputations as stars of European club football. Yet, the Les Bleus manager hasn’t been able to integrate these immense talents into a cohesive footballing unit which plays with a defined style. Bordering on the pragmatic, the French team  looked bereft of attacking ideas with the game against Denmark providing an interesting opportunity to experiment with the likes of Steven Nzonzi, Dembele and Lemar. But the dull nil-nil result means that Deschamps has more problems than solutions before facing Argentina. The defence looks settled though France may opt to start Djibril Sidibe at the expense of Benjamin Pavard to expose the Argentine left back, Tagliafico. It is in midfield and attack where France have looked uncertain. Pogba and Kante should be safe picks to start after their assured displays in the first two games. They might either be paired with Blaise Matuidi, the ever reliable multipurpose central midfielder on the left, or by Sevilla midfielder, Steven Nzonzi, at the base of a midfield diamond. France could eschew width for attacking penetration in the shape of  the exciting No. 10 Nabil Fekir, or could play Mbappe as a right wing option in a 4-2-3-1. Leading striker, Antoine Griezmann has lacked service and Deschamps may look to address that issue by picking Fekir, though if his track record is to go by, he might as well fall back on the tried and tested method of minimising error at the cost of offensive intent. The game against Argentina may well prove to be the ultimate litmus test of Deschamps’ reign.

Player to Watch

Argentina

Javier Mascherano: Record cap holder Javier Mascherano was under the pump against Nigeria. He misplaced many passes in crucial areas of the pitch and was defensively unstable as he conceded the equalizing penalty. But even in such an unconvincing display, it was Mascherano who was key in rallying the midfield when Banega ran out steam as he recovered the ball constantly and gave his utmost to ensure it wasn’t the last game for Argentina in the World Cup. A typical Mascherano moment in the Nigeria game was when he carelessly gave the ball away as Argentina were chasing a win in the dying stages of the game, but instantly went on to make a sliding tackle to win the ball back for his team. Against formidable midfielders like Pogba and Kante, an inspired performance by Mascherano could prove the difference.

France

 Kylian Mbappe: At his best, Mbappe can do it all. Run past defenders, shoot from distance, engage in close link up play as well as help defensively. His goal against Peru was illustrative of his desire to scrap for chances, and against a weak Argentine defence, his technical abilities and goal scoring knack could be crucial to unlock the potential in a talented French team. With so many qualities befitting a centre forward, Deschamps could do worse than start Mbappe and Griezmann in a dynamic strike partnership with Nabil Fekir as a classical number 10 behind them. France seeking an electric start to the game will hope Mbappe is on song in his first knockout game for France.

Predicted Lineups

Argentina: 1-4-2-3-1

 Armani-Mercado, Otamendi, Rojo, Tagliafico-Mascherano, Banega- Perez, Messi, Pavon- Aguero

France: 1-4-1-2-1-2

Lloris- Sidibe, Varane, Umtiti, Hernandez- Nzonzi- Kante, Pogba- Fekir- Mbappe, Griezmann

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

The most dangerous country for women: The problem with the Thomson Reuters survey

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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A headline as audacious  as “the most dangerous countries for women,” is bound to grab eyeballs and generate curiosity, a necessary element in good headlines, as budding copy editors are often told.

In the news portal era, one more element becomes essential: a headline’s ability to be a clickbait.

The Thomson Reuters survey team seems to have taken this advice at the cost of another more important one: the quality of the copy.

The much-discussed survey released this week labels India as the most-dangerous country for women, ahead of even war-torn Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia etc.

India, and other countries, are ranked on six parameters: Access to healthcare, discrimination against women, sexual violence, human trafficking, prevalence of cultural practices that suppress women etc.

The headline magnifies the findings of the survey — like it should. It even sticks to the six-word limit — the golden rule of crisp headlines. It sounds factual, evokes curiosity, and has a negative word (even researchers say that people respond quicker to negative words in headlines).

In all, it has all elements of virality.

Only, it adds to the problem with the survey.

The good headline

To be honest, it’s among the headline world’s worst cliches. It’s unoriginal, bland, and overused. BUT in the world of viral headlines, it is good. Here’s why:

• It grabs attention and piques readers’ curiosity.
• It’s ultra specific.
• It’s clickbait. And that makes all the other factors redundant.

One major problem, though, is that it crowns a factually inaccurate ‘copy’ (in this case, the survey).

The bad copy

One important advice newbie editors get is to focus on the copy before moving to the headline. They are advised to look at the copy critically and check the accuracy of facts to ensure it doesn’t paint a false picture. That’s where the Thomson Reuters copy fails.

The assertion made by the ‘survey’ overlooks the fact that it’s after all a survey –an examination of opinions and not facts.

Secondly, the ‘list’ of most dangerous countries is based on a flawed process, and perhaps an incorrect sample. Apparently, the process of coming up with this list involved opinions of 543 experts spread across Europe, Africa, the Americas, South East Asia, South Asia, and the Pacific. These respondents were asked to choose five worst countries from United Nations’ 193 member countries.

So, the conclusions about the safest and the most unsafe countries  are based on opinions of just 500 something people in all. The survey claims they are ‘experts’ of women-related issues.

Assuming Thomson Reuters ensured fair representation of all countries –a claim it doesn’t make– only 2.8 people per country were chosen to comment on how good or bad it’s for its women. In fact, this minute sample of ‘experts’ could be smaller for few countries.

There’s doubt that all these experts have had first hand experience of detailed interactions with women of all the countries. Which means their responses themselves are based on half-baked information and opinions.

It’s a bad copy because it fails to check facts. Here’s a quick sample:

What the survey says: India ranks fourth worst in access to specialised healthcare, maternal mortality etc.

Fact check: A look at what the World Bank data say about maternal mortality in India and few countries that have been ranked better than it:

(Maternal mortality per 1,00,000 population)

Sierra Leone: 1,360

Central African Republic: 882

Congo Dem. Rep. 693

India: 174

What the survey says: India’s been ranked worst in prevalence of cultures, traditions that suppress women. These traditions include genital mutilation, child marriages etc.

Fact check: India doesn’t even figure in UNICEF’s list of countries with FGM prevalence among girls younger than 14. Even the rate of child marriage in India is quite low as compared to many other countries.

The effects of a bad copy

Everything in India is definitely not hunky-dory for women. However, projecting it as the most-dangerous country for women –when it’s clearly not– negates the achievements of millions who are fighting the good fight against patriarchy and inequality.

The abuse that women in war-torn regions and deeply patriarchal societies have to face is unimaginable. Casually done surveys do more harm than good to their cause.

A good story requires legwork. A good survey at least needs a good and fair sample size.

In newsrooms, copies that don’t meet the minimum standards of factual accuracy are junked. Novice reporters who struggle to put their stories on paper are often suggested to work backwards, that’s start from the headline for clarity.

Here’s my headline suggestion for the Thomson Reuters survey: “The most dangerous countries for women: Perception vs reality”.

It may not be the perfect six-word-headline, but it is closer to the reality. What this nonsensical survey projects is far disconnected from it.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Zorawar Kalra’s Rivers to Oceans marks Mumbai’s tryst with modern seafood dining

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Zorawar Kalra, the restaurateur who has launched some of India’s best-known concept restaurants, is back in Mumbai with a new seafood diner.

In a city ruled by Mahesh Lunch Home, Trishna and Gajali that focus on recipes drawn from India’s rich repository of coastal culinary heritage, Zorawar’s new brand will be driven by upscale dining.

“A seafood lover’s city like Mumbai, from where some of the best produce comes, has no great seafood fine-dine that serves global cuisine. All over the world, the most expensive restaurants either serve seafood or are steakhouses.”

Conceputalised by 41-yea-old Zorawar and his wife, Dildeep, and designed by Tokyo-based architect Masafumi Sanada, the décor complements the cuisine: the interiors are all blue, white and sea-green. The art pieces evoke the beauty of the ocean world.

R2O has a lot of firsts to its credit: its state-of-the-art freezers can chill up to a ton of fish and seafood at -80 degrees celsius. It hosts the country’s first champagne-and-caviar bar, with over 17 champagnes, each served in a wineglass or goblet befitting the bubbly, and a caviar menu that includes Beluga and Sevruga. And it is a rare restaurant that offers at least three Tasting Menus, including a raw tasting menu.

The kitchen is helmed by Chef Varun Kinger and his team of 26 chefs. The team travelled to several coastal cities to curate a menu that is as multi-cultural as the city it is located in.

Here are some of our choice picks: Cured salmon and tuna poke, served with seasonal greens and topped with garlic and yuzu mayo, fish roe and nuts. Chardonnay-soaked mussels cooked with parsley butter. Truffled red lobster topped with grated Parmesan, with sides of melted lemon butter and leeks.

The Tiger Prawn Thermidor, a classic French delicacy, is a creamy blend of cooked prawn and yolks. The amuse bouche is a Yuzu-flavoured caviar.  The Malabar Crab Curry and the Butter Pepper Garlic Prawns are the only Indian dishes on the menu. From his own menu, the restaurateur recommends the cold Hamachi and Caviar plate (hand-pounded seasoned hamachi served with selection of caviar, avocado tartare and spring onions).

Zorawar, whose first memory of seafood included dining on anchovies, says that every diner will be handed out a beautifully illustrated page documenting the antecedents of the produce, along with the menu. The food served here straddles an entire spectrum, from fresh river catch to the deep oceans.

The squids, prawns, clams and lobsters come from either the coastal stretches of Konkan or Mumbai. The scampi has been cultivated in the farms of Andhra Pradesh. The Hamachi and Hokkiado Scallops are sourced from Japan. The Tuna has been harvested from Port Lincoln Harbour in south Australia, while the delectable Black Cod is from the Gulf of Alaska. The soft-shell crab is from Indonesia and the salmon is from farms in Norway. The mussels come from Cape Regina in New Zealand.

But what left us surprised was Gujarat as a source for tiger prawns and huge oysters. “The Gujarat coast is fertile in oysters and prawns. Being a largely vegetarian-eating people, they send out most of their seafood produce to Mumbai, or export it,” Zorawar tells me over lunch. “You can actually taste the sea in your mouth if you eat the oysters or the tiger prawns. We place an equal focus on harnessing produce form our local fisheries.”

An equal amount of attention has been paid to curating the vegetarian menu. The Mushroom and Truffle pate on Melba toast is buttery and melts in the mouth. The reconstructed bell pepper and corn quesadilla is crisp and beautifully flavoured, while the homemade corzetti is served with wild mushrooms and stuffed morels.

“Palladium is surrounded by a lot of neighbourhoods where vegetarians dominate,” says. “So the vegetarian menu is as extensive as the seafood.”

Zorawar is fabled for his high-profile concept restaurants. He grew up in the shadows of his father, Jiggs Kalra, the famous food impresario, former food writer and a global ambassador of fine Indian cuisine.

Zorawar, who joined him in 2005 to revitalize Punjab Grill, their Punjabi gourmet restaurant, launched two fabulous new concepts in 2011, under the aegis of his company, Massive Restaurants.

Made in Punjab is his take on plated and upsaled Punjabi food. But it is with Masala Library—a luxury fine dine where he took the risk of applying molecular gastronomy concepts to modern Indian cuisine—that Zorawar came into his own.

“No one believed it would work. You cannot walk into Masala Library. You had to make an appointment. And you had to finish your meal in two hours. Everything is beautifully coordinated so you still eat at a leisurely pace and enjoy the experience.”

Since then, through an extensive network of restaurants and concept cafes, Zorawar has changed the food game. Farzi Café introduced light and quirky ‘Millennial Indian cuisine’ to India. Bo Tai and Pa Pa Ya took concept Asian cuisine to another level. And now, R2O introduces Mumbai to a whole new version of seafood.

Last year, Zorawar even landed an investment of Rs 160 crore from mid-market private equity firm Gaja Capital to back his expansion plans. “If R2O works, we will take it to London,” he promises.

Deepali Nandwani is a journalist who who keeps a close watch on the world of luxury.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

The sheer pleasure of viewing rustic cookouts

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Videos of an old man tossing salt and spices expertly over a meter-wide vat filled with freshly cut vegetables placed on a wood fire or watching an old granny in a crumpled sari, hunched in the middle of a lush green field, stirring over three dozen boiled eggs in a fiery red gravy,  are mesmerising, to say the least.

There are plenty of these YouTube videos featuring large scale cooking, with millions of subscribers watching and loving every moment of these rustic cookouts.

This is the exact opposite of the snazzy videos featuring dishes of Michelin starred restaurants being replicated with delicate flourishes of flaked truffle or a sprig of chive balancing on well cooked steak.

It is plain to see how rural cooking satiates our visceral and even “organic” tastes watching a fuss-free cook dunk huge amounts of ingredients into a vat of sizzling oil, under a blue sky.

It is a relief to watch cooking in an open field, since we have moved to the other extreme of being indoors all the time. We have surrounded with all comforts of modular kitchens where the drawers shut with a whisper. There is no unpredictability, and everything is measured.

There is nothing left for us to commune with nature, unless of course we sign up for nature walks or selected camp outings. For vacations, the hotel swimming pool is just about as much open space we allot ourselves.

When it comes to food, no one wants to be like Bear Grylls, the British adventurer famous for his TV show Man Vs. Wild, and live on raw fish or rabbit. City slickers are not ideal subscribers for survival cooking, unless it comes from a packet.

But the popularity of these videos of large scale cooking makes us forget about buttons, monitors, beeps and alarms. These cooking videos hosted by elderly ‘grandparents’ tap into our need an escape from rigid routines.

Grandpa’s kitchen, is another popular channel with over 2.2. million subscribers. It is hosted by an elderly Narayana Reddy sitting next to a large pan set over a wood fire, in the middle of a lush field in a remote village of Telangana, cooking hot dogs! An American dish, being made for orphans kids from his village.

He even cooks donuts, Homer Simpson worthy doughnuts complete with colourful sprinkles, a decadent chocolate cake heavy with chocolate chunks, a massive cheesy vegetarian pizza, and piping hot healthy chicken soup all over a wood fire.

The videos get him compliments from his fans all over the world. He doesn’t talk to the camera, he doesn’t explain the recipe. He just cooks, and you can see the kids enjoy his fare with relish. Then you have Mastanamma from Andhra Pradesh who is allegedly ‘106 years old’. She cooks up fish pickle, butter chicken, chilli chicken and her own special watermelon chicken (chicken curry cooked inside a watermelon) with flair. She wraps up each cookout with a gummy smile, before the comments come flooding in.

Sixty-year-old Arumugam from Tamil Nadu, called Daddy on his channel, has over 30 million views for his videos of cooking quail, prawn, crabs and even a 25 kg saw fish.

Perhaps watching Grandpa, Daddy or Mastanamma cook reminds us of our grandparents fussing over us. The way they chop and stir takes us back to our own ancestral homes. There is no running commentary, just visuals that hark on how food was cooked back in the day.

The videos are not much help to replicate the recipe but as you sit cooped up in an office, you can click on these videos and be transported to a field, surrounded by birdsong with a feast being cooked up for you.

Sharon Fernandes is a journalist based in Delhi.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Sacred Games on Netflix: To read or to watch?

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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I belong to a rare group of people: I read. Have stood in the queue to buy Harry Potter (and pushed kids out of my way too). I was outraged when Amazon began to deliver dish-washing soap and not just books. So, standing in the queue for the launch of Sacred Games on Netflix, I ask the most natural question to strangers, ‘have you read the book?’

Around the time Vikram Chandra’s Sacred Games hit the bookshelves, there was Chesil Beach (Ian McEwan), A Thousand Splendid Suns (Khaled Hosseini), The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest (Stieg Larsson) and even Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows (J.K. Rowling). And I must confess, I chose Rant (Chuck Palahniuk) over Call Me By Your Name (what a fabulous film it has turned out to be!)

Sacred Games turned out to be pulp, full of Bollywood cliches that made you cringe. Bribeable cops, the corrupt ‘system’, the politician-police nexus, dance bars, dons (one Muslim, one Hindu), madams, women of the Law, terrorist plot, religious festivals, monsoons, and a hero who is a bagful of cliches: freshly divorced but yet not unattached, unable to take bribes, and yet wants to get ahead, foul mouthed but has a golden heart, and he even has a sidekick constable.

But I had loved the casual details that are memorable. The sidekick constable Katekar settles down for the night, next to his ‘spare’ wife with arms as thin as the day he had married her. The description of how when the lights of his tiny flat are turned out, his wife’s frame settled into his, he can imagine all his worldly possessions around him, neatly put away.

Chandra writes, ‘Now, with the quiet and his own silence he could hear, on the other side of the black sheet that divided the kholi into two, the twinned breathing of his sons. They were nine and fifteen, Mohit and Rohit. Katekar listened to his family, and after a while, even in the darkness, he could see the shape of his home.’

This was uncannily real for me too. All cliches can be forgiven for such insights which pop up through the book. Want to taste another? When Gaitonde is talking about meeting Kantabai (and you have read enough Elmore Leonard for deja vu) there is a wonderful sentence, “The warm smell settled on my shoulders, brown as riverbottom earth.”

How will Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane bring this alive? I was happy to watch the super pulpy pilot of the book which releases on Netflix on July 6, 2018. Saif Ali Khan plays Sartaj Singh the hero cop and Nawazuddin Siddiqui is Ganesh Gaitonde, the dreaded don who has holed up in a bunker offering little nuggets to carry the narrative forward.

Anurag Kashyap does not disappoint. The show is stylish and well made. Maybe not as gritty as his film Gangs of Wasseypur, but the masala is all there. The cold machine gun killers, Salim Bhai who squeezes testicles, and there’s killings by bashing heads… You get the drift.

And there is a promise of an interesting confrontation because the deputy police commissioner Parulekar here is not the ‘mentor’ from the book, it is the nasty boss to Sartaj Singh. Plus Radhika Apte is the RAW officer listening in to the conversation between Gaitonde and Sartaj Singh.

Nawazuddin is so talented, he moves beautifully from the past to the present, his body language changing to suit his age. Yes, you will see cliches about the Don’s life: conducting business by cell phone in jail (every movie about bad guys in Bollywood), standing for election because the politicians won’t help (you saw it as recently as Raees)… But I’m not complaining!

Style makes up for the lack of newness of content. It has the Anurag Kashyap touch. Am willing to watch it when six episodes release in a week. Perhaps, the show’s fate will be like Katekar’s wife who asks, ‘Where are you going?’ and the audience, like Katekar will respond, ‘Masnaat!’ (in Marathi, it means ‘To hell!’).

Manisha Lakhe is a poet, film critic, traveller, founder of Caferati — an online writer’s forum, hosts Mumbai’s oldest open mic, and teaches advertising, films and communication.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Here’s what the weather is like if you’re a woman in India

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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So did we need a global poll to tell us ours is the unsafest nation? Indian women have long stopped sending their foreign sisters postcards saying, ‘wish you were here.’

Now we are busy trying to migrate.

No Indian woman goes out without risking a little groping-shoping; sometime they don’t even have to go out, the groper comes home or is a family member.

The unblinking stares, lewd comments and ‘accidental’ touches from the opposite sex are as omnipresent as they are unnerving.

This male arousal is directly proportional to the levels of female disinterest. The recent killing of an army officer’s wife by another army officer is an example of this extreme optimism by men when it comes to wooing techniques.

Propelled by Bollywood tales of women saying no and nahi before cooing their assent, the desi Romeos keep pushing for a yes till eternity.

Kashmir to Kanyakumari, we have rapists in every state. They are no racists either, foreigners are seen as fair game to con, dupe and lech at.

It is an equal opportunity platform as far as the eve-teaser is concerned; he only requires you be female. Baby, grandma, white, black, rich, poor, tall, short… all are welcome.

Thanks to their dedicated efforts, India has been able to top at something. Defeating Afghanistan and Syria, we are the world’s number one nation when it comes to abusing women and keeping them guessing about their safety.

The Thomson Reuters Foundation announced this recently, stating the obvious. In terms of human trafficking, sex slavery, domestic servitude, female infanticide and forced marriages, our women have everything to fear. The National Crime Records Bureau puts sex crimes at 100 a day, with the number only going up with every passing day.

At nights when mothers tuck their kids in bed, they say, ‘sleep fast or Gabbar will get you.’ Gabbar being everyone out there – the perennial bogeyman evoked by parents to warn their little girls against predators.

Our phobia of public transport stems from this distrust; women have been raped and killed in moving trains.

We don’t want our daughters to work or study away from home; their phones are filled with missed calls from us, checking if they are fine at any time of the day.

If they ever pick up the phone we sheepishly confess that we have, er, nothing to say, just, you know, wanting to know the call will be answered.

When I see young women in malls and cafés, I say a little prayer; I never want their confidence dented by a creep. I wish I didn’t feel protective when giggly groups of girls pass me by. No woman willingly walks into a crowd. We are conscious about how we dress wherever we go. We rarely initiate conversations with strange men.

If in a lift with a man, we keep our gaze averted. Women cross fingers walking down dark streets as most lampposts have no lamps. We peer into our mobile phones if we are alone to signal how content we are by ourselves. And as we grow older that disgusted expression becomes permanent.

This then is the weather report from India at all times of the year: stay covered from head to toe if you are a woman.

Shinie Antony is a writer and editor based in Bangalore. Her books include The Girl Who Couldn’t Love, Barefoot and Pregnant, Planet Polygamous, and the anthologies Why We Don’t Talk, An Unsuitable Woman, Boo. Winner of the Commonwealth Short Story Asia Prize for her story A Dog’s Death in 2003, she is co-founder of the Bangalore Literature Festival and director of the Bengaluru Poetry Festival. 

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Investment proposal for IDBI Bank by LIC approved by IRDA

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) on Friday cleared Life Insurance Corporation’s (LIC) investment proposal in state-run bank, sources privy to the developments told CNBC-TV18.

The decision, was taken at a the meeting of the Board of Directors of IRDA at Hyderabad. Sources told that insurance behemoth, LIC, can invest up to 51% in IDBI Bank, after all regulatory approvals. LIC currently holds 10.8 percent in the bank.

If the deal goes through, IDBI Bank will get capital support of Rs 10,000-Rs 13,000 crore from the LIC.

A panel of experts comprising MR Umarji, Former Chief Adviser -Legal, IBA, AK Purwar, Former SBI Chairman, Prabal Basu Roy- Management Advisor, Amit Tandon- MD- IIAS, JN Gupta- Former ED- SEBI and R Gopalan, Former Banking Secretary shared their opinions on the deal.

Watch Here: IRDA approves investment proposal in IDBI Bank by LIC

Edited Excerpt: 

Shereen: What do you make of this plan, I mean the rationale of the government is LIC has had banking aspirations, we do not want to sell IDBI Bank to a private bank at this stage even though there have been proposals to the government from at least two private sector banks, why should we sell IDBI Bank cheap to a private sector player is the government’s argument, why not give this to LIC and that is how they have structured this and the first regulatory approval has come in from the IRDA. Now of course we require the RBI to come in and of course cabinet approval will be required as well. What do you make of this?

Purvar: If you ask me purely as a banker, my assessment is that IDBI started as a long term lending institution. They focused on providing long term funds to whole host of industries. In fact in 2002-2003, when I was the chairman, and when initially IDBI ran into some issues, I offered to buy IDBI out.

Unfortunately for some reason it did not mature. However the rationale was that IDBI had huge domain expertise in appraisal of long term loans. Barring stray cases and because of economic position and all, the NPAs have gone up substantially, but having said that the domain expertise resides in IDBI even today. If you look at LIC, LIC is having a whole host of long term, very long term funds. I think it is an excellent cultural mix.

Latha: So you are not unhappy with the mix?

Purvar: I am very happy with the mix.

Latha: Looks like the first hurdle has been crossed, IRDA has cleared the LIC-IDBI Bank deal.

Gopalan: As Shereen said, it was expected and it will also go through with Sebi as well as with RBI. That also will get a clearance.

Latha: You think all three regulators will consider it kosher?

Gopalan: I have a feeling that it is going to be cleared by everyone because if the decision has been taken to do this, it will go through all the regulatory approvals. However, it is going to be a great strain on the regulators – three regulators making exception in one single case is unheard of in history but those are all things for learned people to look into, do a research and find out.

Mr. Purvar is a very senior man and I have a lot of respect for him, if he says that the kind of appraisal requirements or appraisal capabilities are still in IDBI, I will be very happy. Unfortunately, that has been getting eroded very badly in the last few years, and therefore if that is the only issue for which IDBI Bank is acquired by LIC, I will have to look at the LIC’s financial health also.

You are taking over an organization, Rs 55,000 crore NPAs, 28 percent gross NPA is there in the bank and you have to put in a good amount of cash. These are all policyholders’ money and policyholders’ money has to have ability to liquidate and then pay them whenever there is a requirement to pay. So you are putting in this money in IBDI, I am not sure how long this will get return from this bank as we go along.

Shereen: On the point that is being raised there by Mr. Gopalan that look this is policyholders’ money, IDBI Bank has seen a loss of Rs 5,700 crore in the last quarter, it is one of the worst performing banks in the landscape today. Why would the government want to broker such a transaction and LIC does not have expertise to run a bank, let alone a bank in a shape as IDBI finds itself in?

Purvar: Mr. Gopalan in some way I would respect his opinion in the sense that policyholders’ money is a money where you have to return back at the time of maturity. Yes, that is a very genuine issue. However, having said that, let us look at the nature of funds which LIC has – 20 year fund, 25 year fund, 50 year funds, where the returns generally been given by LIC – although it is a very respected organization, extremely credible organization, but in terms of percentage of returns, we know it is very close to 10-year bond yield or maybe less sometimes, little above 10-year bond yield.

Latha: Does LIC have a very good record of running LIC Mutual Fund? It is not the best run mutual fund. Does it have a great record of running a housing finance company? LIC Housing Finance does not compare to HDFC, it doesn’t compare to maybe even GRUH Finance. So do you really think that LIC will do a great job of running a bank?

Purvar: To be candid with you, unless and until we give them an opportunity to run the bank – and I would put it this way that there is a substantial amount of expertise available in the market and LIC I am sure must have tapped a lot of senior bankers, erstwhile bankers to help them run the show. Look at the present MD.

Latha: B Sriram has been appointed.

Purvar: Sriram is one of the very capable SBI officers, has an experience of running State Bank of India’s large credit portfolio for a long time and very successfully even in these difficult markets. So if they recruit proper people I am sure that they should be able to do it.

Shereen: Do you believe with Mr. Purvar that LIC should be given the opportunity and this is perhaps the best way forward that the government could get IDBI Bank out of its mess and in fact not have to put in additional capital into IDBI Bank and make it LICs problem?

Umarji: I agree with Mr. Purvar. LIC has investment in so many other banks along with this new bank which they are investing in. They have very long standing experience in dealing with banks and other financial institutions. The only issue involved in this is protecting the interest of the policyholders and protecting the interest of depositors of IDBI. As far as IDBI Bank depositors are concerned, there is no issue.

As far as policyholders are concerned, because you are exceeding the exposure levels in investments, there is a slight deviation from the norm but that is after due consideration by the regulator and LIC would ensure that the affairs of the corporation are managed in such a way that the policyholders interests are not affected and it helps in turning around the bank.

Shereen: The point was raised that LIC sits on the boards of so many other banks, has an investment in a whole bunch of other banks and perhaps that gives it some sort of expertise to be able to take IDBI Bank forward. But what about LICs holding in all of these banks now that it will be the owner of IDBI Bank?

Gupta: My opinion is very simple. It is a simple investment rather than anything else complex. I don’t think LIC is going to run this bank on day-to- day basis as a promoter. The bank will continue to run as a professional because till now government was owning 88 or 86 percent of the equity and the bank was being run by the management.

So, there was no day-to-day interference by government on policy. If that is the case and as Mr. Purvar said, B Sriram is an excellent person and he has got a very good reputation and experience, so in that case I don’t think there is any issue at all if you look at it as investment. However, the moment we bring many dimensions, the deal looks very different.

Q: It is not an investment, the government is clear this is an acquisition, it is not an investment.

Gupta: I agree, acquisition, but I will put it in another way, it will continue to work like a subsidiary of LIC as LIC Housing Finance is being done. The question that has been raised on the decision of LIC to get into this, I would say we as an analyst, we can never have the vision that investment team on LIC would have had.

It could be a wrong decision or a right decision, we would never know, but I would say that many times it is the stressed assets which can give you long term returns. As Mr. Purvar said, LIC is a very long term investor. Today the banking sector is in a very bad shape and if we do not see any light at the end of 10 or 5 years, I think we are in trouble.

Latha: So far how has Reserve Bank approached one bank holding stake in another bank or one shareholder holding stake in two banks? The philosophy normally has been that if you are owning one bank, then you cannot have more than four or five percent stake, more than 4.9 percent stake in another bank, it can only be a financial investment, and that bears reason because you cannot be sitting in the boards of other banks and own a bank yourself. That certainly looks like conflict, doesn’t it?

Umarji: I do not think in any other bank LIC has controlling interest. It is just an investment.

Latha: It is a shareholder, it has a board seat in Axis Bank, it has a board seat in ICICI Bank, it has a board seat in Corporation Bank.

Umarji: Shareholder is okay. RBI will have to look into this aspect, whether it should be allowed and whether it will adversely affect the working of any bank as a result of the same person controlling different banks. It may involve issues of competition also. RBI will have to look into this aspect and give a clearance.

Shereen: What would you now expect by way of the questions that the other two regulators may ask? We raised some of these issues about conflict and so on and so forth, but what would you now expect because at least one significant hurdle has been crossed?

Gopalan: As far as Sebi is concerned, this offer to making open offer beyond this 26 percent, 25 percent open offer has to be made and that Sebi has powers to waive and they have waived in a few cases. So that should not be an issue.

My only problem is I think the banking regulator will have a lot of issues to deal with and grapple with before permission is given. The kind of restrictions they may put in for the purpose of financial stability, whatever they would put in, we need to see whether that is going to affect the free ability of IDBI Bank to function.

So the kind of restrictions which RBI as a regulator in the interest of financial stability would put in, one needs to see how that is going to impact the function of IDBI Bank.

We will have to wait and see. I am presuming that RBI will also clear it, but when they clear it in the interest of financial stability, the kind of conditions they are going to put in, one needs to see how that is going to impact the functioning of IDBI Bank.

Shereen: You have been writing a scathing piece on LIC taking up IDBI Bank, it is at least going through so it seems, IRDA has given the green signal and now the other two regulators nod is expected.

Roy: I had no doubt that IRDA will be asked to give its consent on this. The primary issues as I raised were effectively, which probably everyone else has, which is to do with the conflict of interest with respect to the existing stakeholders of IDBI which are the policyholders and using their funds, which is their funds in perpetuity, that funds are going for investments which in all probability will not generate returns. Basically that is the issue. So if they are going ahead with it that shows a lot about how independent our regulators are as well.”

Latha: If you are a Prudential ICICI or if you were HDFC Standard Life and you want to have a banking partner, would you choose IDBI? That gives the impression that LIC is actually getting imposed with IDBI rather than choosing on its own.

Roy: Yes absolutely, that is the prime issue. That is precisely the reason why public sector banks or public sector institutions in India get such low multiples consistently in the markets because nobody knows what is going to be the fate of the funds which these companies generate for a particular stake of shareholders and there will be conflict of interest.

Shereen: What do you make of this, one regulator saying alright go ahead, we will wait to see what the other regulators will say about this proposed transaction?

Tandon: My sense is that the regulators will all be in sync at this stage. There might be a little bit of tweaking around. We need to remember that the decision to house IDBI Bank with a safe pair of hands or with someone with deep pockets was actually taken by RBI or initiated by the RBI. The issue they had was that it was IRDA which might become a bottleneck in terms of this happening. So, if IRDA has given the approval, I think RBI is going to be onboard with this.

Shereen: What precedent does this throw up? It looks very clear that the IRDA has made the exceptions as far as this particular transaction is concerned and maybe the other two regulators will make exceptions including SEBI by way of the waiver of the open offer. What kind of a precedent does that set then for the larger corporate landscape?

Tandon: As far as government owned entities is concerned, they are kind of got carve outs throughout, whether it is an open offer which we saw in the case of ONGC-HPCL or whether you see in terms of women on boards, whether it was in terms of the board composition, whole series of things.

Therefore there have been carve outs for the government owned entities and this is just a continuation. Maybe it is far more extensive than what has been given where you have kind of got some administrative fixes in the others but if we go back to ONGC-HPCL transaction, our belief was that merging the two entities might make sense but not the way they had envisaged the structure at that stage.

Again here there might have been some other solutions, maybe they could have merged it with one bank or split up. I think the challenge now is for LIC to think its own ownership role in IDBI Bank versus the other banks through.

I did hear comment in terms of whether they will still have nominees on other banks or they will not have, it not just for RBI but also for LIC to think about this.

The fact that they have got a slew of investments in other banks – where are they an investor, where are they an owner, how are they going to make a distinction between these two roles, will they then by virtue of being a significant owner in some of the other banks, try and push a merger.

Maybe that is what is being left unsaid at this moment by the Government of India that this might be an easy way to kind of start consolidation within the government owned banks, we really don’t know. It could actually go in many directions at this stage.

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