Projecting India as the land of biggest opportunities globally, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday promised the business sector facilitation, reforms, a stable policy regime and high growth. Addressing the ET World Leaders Forum, Modi, in turn, asked investors to commit to innovation, performance, positive disruption and high-quality products, as he stressed that the country respects wealth creators.
We asked colleagues, present and past, to reflect on a man who has made such a difference to their lives and careers. Here it is then, a rich collection of memories that offer enchanting glimpses of the enigmatic Ajit Balakrishnan.
'I don't feel like going back to India, to the old Delhi that I grew up in. Because the place doesn't exist anymore.'
"Trump failed our country during the COVID-19 pandemic. Trump is a chaos agent who is focused on himself, not the American people. Trump tried to destroy our democracy by lying about the election and inciting a violent mob to attack the Capitol," he said.
'Once in a while, I flirt with the idea of direction.' 'If I direct, it will be a human story that touches me.' 'I'm nervous of forcing myself into making a socially relevant film.'
'People don't know about the immense pressures that come with this position -- every decision a judge takes affects real people and their lives.' 'This is not a job that one can take lightly.' A
'With passage of time, Kamal did move away from the humdrum of commercial cinema, using it only as a peg to launch a new concept or new technology, as no other actor/film-maker has done in Indian cinema.' N Sathiya Moorthy assesses the career and politics of movie legend Kamal Haasan on his 70th brthday.
Haryana has done well in terms of economic growth over the last couple of decades. For it to continue to lead the growth ladder, the new government has to work hard on multiple dimensions, recommend Shishir Gupta and Rishita Sachdeva.
According to the apex court, the disclaimer should say that 'there is no authenticated data to back up the suggestion on figure of conversion and the film represents the fictionalised version'.
'Crores of rupees have been spent on paper but nothing has actually happened on the ground.'
'Not many films have a reference to a creature who talks, emotes, acts in a film. And Munjya is doing all of it.
From the word go, Bihar growled its needs out when an MP from the state said aloud: "Give something for Bihar also, Madam." Every time the Budget mentioned cities and towns in Andhra Pradesh, "Kursi Bachao" was the call from Congress MPs.
'The Elephant Whisperers is a hopeful story of respect and cooperation with nature in an era rife with conflict and threat to our beautiful planet.'
The PDP looks a distant third in the race, observes Mohammed Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir politics.
rediffGURU Samkit Maniar answers readers' personal income tax queries.
'The larger story of systematic destruction, which can and has been quantified, goes mysteriously missing from any political and/or public discourse about the ongoing devastation in the Ghats,' notes Prem Panicker.
Questions that the state had come to recognise over time but consistently delayed treating seriously because doing so requires an overhaul of perspective and lifestyle, notes Shyam G Menon.
Langer said conversation they had at that time included a deep dive into Chandrashekhar's life and 'his story blew me away'.
GMC principal Shashi Sudhan Sharma also requested senior superintendent of police, Jammu, to take all precautionary measures, including deployment of additional police personnel around the hostel and college premises, to avoid any law and order problem.
'In Parliament, he was the one person who stood for democracy and secularism even when the principal Opposition party was not very forthright in taking on the BJP and RSS.'
They realised that the Portuguese were better prepared to defend Daman than Dadra and Nagar Haveli. If reinforcements from Daman were to reach Silvassa, there was no chance of defeating the Portuguese. They decided that cutting Daman's communication lines would have to be their top priority before attacking Silvassa. A fascinating excerpt from Neelesh Kulkarni's new book, Uprising-The Liberation of Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
'She was lying there and I mustered up enough guts to lay next to her and hold her tight.' 'And she said, "Oh my, Girish, isn't he supposed to be nervous?"' 'Making light of the situation, Girish said, "No, he's been practicing with a pillow the whole day".'
From start to finish, Dharmaveer 2 feels less like a biopic and more like propaganda crafted for Eknath Shinde's political gain, observes Prasanna D Zore.
'When the bombing happened in the Taj Mahal hotel in 2008, that was a very sad moment, but he really took care of the people, took care of everybody and that was when you saw some of his best moments.' 'There are some things which we will never forget. That is when the best of a person comes out.'
'If you see another 1000-point correction, people may start panicking.'
They said the police team collected electronic devices including CCTV DVR to potentially get the footage of the alleged assault on Maliwal on May 13 when Bibhav Kumar, Kejriwal's close aide, allegedly attacked her at the CM's residence.
'Investors should do proper analysis before putting in their money in NFOs as most new launches are in the high-risk thematic space.'
'The Paris Olympics has once again blessed the Indian sports marketing landscape with fresh faces and promises.' 'Expect at least one biopic.'
The BJP-led Centre sent the CBI to conduct searches at Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia's residence here just after the New York Times published a positive story in its front page about the Delhi model of education, AAP leaders said.
'My trajectory right now is five steps forward, two steps backwards.'
Medical help did not reach Singh until an hour and a half later. He was airlifted to a hospital in Rome but died on Wednesday.
'Healthcare is not an industry.' 'The government is only encouraging insurance as they are not able to provide healthcare to people.' 'Opening new medical colleges is not what is needed.' 'You have to invest in public sector hospitals.' 'You cannot hand over healthcare to the private industry.'
'It's a struggle for everybody, even established people are struggling.'
She is just two points behind leader Veronika Major of Hungary, who shot an aggregate of 592 (294 and 298) which helped her equal the Olympic record.
'Kajol has always been very particular about Nysa and Yug coming for the puja every year.'
'We are sure FY25 is going to be better...But to call out that all problems are behind us is a bit early.' 'The underlying business sentiment has not changed significantly.'
Captain Sharan and Flight Engineer Anil Jaggia both confirm that the hijackers seemed to know a lot about flying an aircraft. Without help from the ISI or the Pakistan army, it was impossible, points out Utkarsh Mishra.
'I want to believe that now the world is my oyster.'
A strong influx of 11 equity new fund offers (NFOs) in June, particularly within the thematic space, helped mutual funds collect Rs 14,370 crore - the highest ever via such introductory offers. This surpassed the previous high recorded in July 2021, where four NFOs accumulated Rs 13,709 crore, with ICICI Prudential MF's flexicap NFO alone mobilising Rs 9,808 crore.
The number of subsidence-affected homes rose to 678 while 27 more families were evacuated to safety, a bulletin from the Disaster Management Authority in Chamoli said, adding so far 82 families have been shifted to safe locations in the town.
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