#Kolkata: Just a day earlier, the Trinamool’s mouthpiece ‘Jago Bangla’ had sneered at the Congress, saying that the Congress had gone into the deep freezer. People all over the country have confidence in Mamata as the face of opposition. And, without cutting his 24 hours, this time the Trinamool broke the CPM by accusing him of forming an alliance with the Congress on the floor in the pre-poll. This time in ‘Jago Bangla’ it has been written sarcastically, ‘They have taken the challenge of carving their name in the museum.’
If you look away from this aspect of state politics and look at the arena of national politics, the same orchestra is playing. The screenplay is the same. Change only to knots and knots. Just two days ago, Mamata Banerjee attacked the Congress in Maharashtra, calling the UPA “non-existent” alongside Sharad Pawar. On the same day, ‘Jago Bangla’ targeted Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the state president of the Congress and the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament.
But why? Why is it that the left, the Congress, which cannot be found even with ‘binoculars’, has to make such a mockery of the mouthpieces of those who have always blown the whistle, in the face of the Calcutta polls? Politicians cannot agree on this question. However, Rasik Bangali is saying, does ‘Jago Bangla’ want to ‘wake up’ the Left, the Congress? Or is it a game of dividing the opposition vote like the story of the monkey on the back.
BJP says, what else is new in this? These are the parties that have done fissure politics in Navanne. They want to turn the cat into a tiger by ‘attacking’ them to divide the anti-grassroots vote. However, neither the CPM nor the Congress is reluctant to smoke on the BJP’s hook. Congress MP Pradeep Bhattacharya claimed, “This is not an isolated incident. The promise to weaken the Congress across the country to save himself and his family from Modi-BJP is part of that larger conspiracy. “
However, the finger of blame on which the grassroots demanded, Mamata wanted the BJP to fight wherever it has the strength of the opposition to overthrow it. The rest of the people will support him. Otherwise, a force like the BJP cannot be ousted. The Congress did not accept Mamata’s condition in this state. He has opposed the Trinamool by forming an alliance with the Left. Has the Trinamool been a regional party forever? Where is the fault between the expansion of his party as a political party and his attempt to become a national party?
Sujan Chakraborty of the CPM, however, said, “Neither Mamata Banerjee nor her party insults the CPM. The Chief Minister and his party know very well that although not in all the wards in the Calcutta pre-poll, the Left is still worried about him in some areas. That is why after winning such a landslide victory in the just-concluded assembly polls, Mamata Banerjee has to hold rallies in leftist constituencies like Jadavpur, Taliganj and Behala to win the party’s candidates in the Kolkata polls itself. In fact, Mamata Banerjee and her party Trinamool know that there is no alternative to the Left. Today or tomorrow people will return to the left. “
The astrologers who have been staring at the telescope as the night sky coincides with the pre-vote in Calcutta on 19 December and the battle for the throne of Delhi in 2024 are quietly saying, “Tarja is frozen.” There is a proverb that Bengalis do not suffer as much if they do not get food as they do if they do not get involved in voting and politics. As a result, in the next few days, all the co-dramas and well-dramas will be in full swing in the life of the popular Bengali.
One reason why the best of Indian talent moves out to lead U.S. tech giants is because we let them. But not anymore. Tides are turning and revolution is on the way.
Silicon Valley has once again chosen an Indian origin CEO to run world’s one of the leading company. Following the footprints of the likes of Satya Nadella, Sundar Pichai and Indra Nooyi, Parag Agrawal has made it to the list of cream Indian brains that graduate from their nation and go on to become an indispensable asset to America’s top-notch tech firms.
The question that we try to answer here is — what is it about Indians that position them perfectly in the leadership roles of the leading tech companies? More importantly, whether it’s Indians who are winning in the U.S. or the U.S. that is winning due to the Indian talent?
A research by University of California at Berkeley in 1999 revealed that one-third of scientific and engineering workforce of the Silicon Valley was made up of immigrant population. Back then, 7% of the tech firms in U.S. were being run by Indian CEOs.
Fast forward to year 2021, Indian-origin population, which is just 1% of US population, accounts for 6% of the Silicon Valley’s workforce. What stands out most remarkably is how this 6% of Indian-origin workforce is disproportionately handling the leadership roles.
Putting it in simple terms- less quantity, a lot more quality.
What Makes Indian-origin CEOs taking over the Silicon Valley?
Vivek Wadhwa’s book “From Incremental to Exponential” provides some insight on why Indians are tailor-made for the leadership roles of the giant tech firms.
Back in 2014, when Satya Nadella inherited the position of CEO of Microsoft from Steve Ballmer, he faced a massive challenge ahead of him- company’s dysfunctional work culture. Founder Bill Gates had a reputation of a boss who got things done by rebuking employees. Nothing much changed when Steve Ballmer succeeded Gates.
Worse, in addition to being detrimental to employees’ well-being, the work-culture wasn’t working out for the business either. There was stagnancy of innovation and competitors were winning.
When Indian-origin Satya Nadella took over as the CEO of Microsoft, he began with improving the work-culture. As quoted by Wadhwa in his book:
Nadella focused on shifting the emphasis from “know-it-all” to “learn-it-all”.
The cultural teachings of India and Buddhism helped Microsoft’s new chief in setting a new leadership example, one that was peaceful, humble and compassionate. Nadella had no tolerance towards yelling and showing anger in executive meetings, kept his composure in check, never wrote angry mails, all this while setting example for others.
What followed later needs no introduction. Microsoft not only once again strengthened its foothold in the market, it went on to acquire a market capitalization of $2.5 trillion in 2021 from $300 billion in 2014.
A similar example can be witnessed at Google where CEO Sundar Pichai’s “good guy” style of leadership has made the company more professionally run than how it was six years ago. Employees working for Google have often acknowledged the thoughtful and caring leadership which has led to increased discipline. Composed Pichai has been praised for handling the tumultuous times for Google amid congressional hearings and mistrust of masses, with utmost sincerity and calm.
While talking about the slower decision-making problem, the one that Pichai is criticized for, Caesar Sengupta, former Vice President for Google said, “would I be happier if he made decisions faster? Yes. But am I happy that he gets nearly all of his decisions right? Yes.”
According to Saritha Rai from Bloomberg News, their “low-key, non-abrasive leadership is a huge plus.”
The Indian Edge- Country that births natural problem solvers
India is a challenging country and whoever doesn’t agree, is not being honest.
Living in a country that accommodates close to 2 billion people, crippled by corruption with inadequate infrastructure is like a constant fight to emerge victorious. Problem-solving is one quality that people here inherit right from the childhood and innovation is the part of life.
Social constructs in India again are a challenge. With a constant dos and don’t criteria listed down by society, rampant casteism and other prejudices, family values and mutual support among close groups play an important role in survival. This not only builds adaptability among people but also the quality of mutual respect, support and collective well-being.
“No other nation in the world ‘trains’ so many citizens in such a gladiatorial manner as India does,” says R Gopalakrishnan, former executive director of Tata Sons and co-author of The Made in India Manager.
“From birth certificates to death certificates, from school admissions to getting jobs, from infrastructural inadequacies to insufficient capacities,” growing up in India equips Indians to be “natural managers,” he adds, quoting the famous Indian corporate strategist C K Prahalad.
Indian-origin CEOs, brain drain and turning tides- is revolution near?
However, this is not all. One of the major reasons why Indians go on to hold the biggest leadership positions of tech giants is- because we let them. Brain drain is a bone of contention for the nation that can benefit manifolds from intellect diplomacy. Unfortunately, the best of Indian brains end up working for Silicon Valley, NASA and US healthcare authorities due to lack of opportunities internally. Not anymore!
No matter how the situations have been so far, India is changing. The country is creating new opportunities and the new wave of homegrown startups have flooded the market.
Lately, India has been witnessing a drastic boom in the number of unicorns, the startups with more than $1 billion valuation. These unicorns spell innovation in varying industries- fintech, tech, ecommerce, healthcare, etc.
In 2021, India added 38 new unicorns, taking the figure of total unicorns in the country to 76. More than 40% of these unicorns were made this year.
Whether one credits Modi administration’s make-in-india initiatives or slowdown in globalization due to COVID-19 outbreak, the country seems to be walking down the path that looks promising.
#Kolkata: Pairs of flowers vs. pairs of leaves. This fight is going on in two wards of South Kolkata in the pre-poll. Despite the efforts of the party, Sachchidananda Bandopadhyay and Tanima Chatterjee did not agree to withdraw their nominations. As a result, these two are going to contest the full vote by grabbing the double page. The last time to withdraw the nomination was till 3 pm on Saturday. Although that time has passed, neither of them has agreed to withdraw the nomination.
As a result, there are peg candidates in these two wards 6 and 72. Sachchidananda Bandopadhyay, former president of South Kolkata District Trinamool. He is fighting from ward number 72. Which is included in Bhabanipur assembly constituency. Firhad Hakim, Debashish Kumar, Shobhandev Chattopadhyay and Madan Mitra had requested the veteran leader to withdraw his candidature. But he gave back to everyone. He was also sent to Arup Chakraborty, co-ordinator of ward 110. Youngest son-in-law of Trinamool candidate Sachchidananda Babu of Ward No. 96. But he did not listen to his son-in-law.
Sachchidananda Bandopadhyay, who is a bit arrogant, said that this is his last fight in this election. He wants to fight this battle. On the other hand, it was said on behalf of the party on Saturday that the party has decided the candidate. The decision of the team is final. Strict action will be taken against those who do not abide by this decision. Sachchidananda Bandopadhyay said, “I am not one of the team. How to punish or expel me. I’m just like me. I will fight like me. “
The other will fight in ward number 8 in Baliganj assembly constituency with a pair of leaves. The Trinamool Congress had announced his name in the list of candidates on the 28th. Later it changed. In that ward, Sudarshan Bhattacharya was nominated instead of Tanima Chattopadhyay. Several top leaders of the party have also explained to Subrata Mukherjee’s sister. But he is adamant in his decision. So he came down to the field with a pair of leaves as a rival of a pair of flowers. Subrata is fighting with Mukherjee’s picture. Reaching house to house. He is also adamant, he will not withdraw the candidate post. He has heard about the decision of the party but he is not willing to give importance to it. As a result, the political circles are keeping an eye on the two high profile wards of the two assembly constituencies in South Kolkata in the forthcoming general elections. Flowers vs. leaves where involved.
Surviving a major pandemic outbreak and a change of director from Danny Boyle to Cary Fukunaga, Daniel Craig’s ‘No Time To Die’ is finally set to release in the US and other selected countries.
‘No Time To Die’: A fitting goodbye to Daniel Craig
After all, Daniel Craig’s James Bond and Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman are not as different as they seem
DANIEL CRAIG TO NO LONGER PLAY JAMES BOND
The wait for ‘No Time To Die’ has been incredibly long, but fans have been super patient, especially after knowing that this is the last time Daniel Craig is playing James Bond. The last night on the sets of ‘No Time To Die’ was swamped by eager crew members who stuck around Pinewood Studios near London until 1:30 a.m. just to watch the iconic Daniel Craig wrap his last scene as the infamous British spy. A historic moment indeed.
Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, ‘No Time to Die’ is the 25th official instalment coming from the James Bond franchise. Instead of ending the film with a gritty fight or one of the franchise’s patented chase sequences, the makers chose to show Craig running down an alleyway, disappearing around a corner.
One of the producers of the 59-year-old film franchise Michael G. Wilson told “NBC News”,
“It was a metaphor for Bond, the character, and for Daniel leaving. So it was highly emotional for us. We all had either open tears, or a lump in our throat, or found our voices breaking”.
Keeping Craig’s exit in mind, the writers decided to give closure to his fling and bring his journey to a full circle. But, in doing so, they inadvertently ended up creating a connection with Gal Gadot’s ‘Wonder Woman’! Here’s how:
The ‘No Time To Die’ opening sequence was shot in the village of Matera in Italy. Guess what, Matera also happens to be the same location where ‘Wonder Woman’s’ Themyscira scenes were filmed in 2017. But fans kept wondering, why Matera?
Speaking on the James Bond and Wonder Woman common thing, filmmaker Fukunaga told “EW”, “The monochrome nature of Matera already makes it feel like a large necropolis. There are a lot of metaphors there in terms of what Bond was leaving behind for the next chapter. So that’s kind of how we got there”. He added, “We also combined two different cities in the sequence. The bridge that we say connects Matera to the necropolis is actually in a neighbouring town around 30, 40 minutes away called Gravina in Puglia. We made it seem like it’s all part of the same journey, but it’s actually not part of the same town”.
‘NO TIME TO DIE’: A FITTING GOODBYE TO DANIEL CRAIG
‘No Time To Die’ is not just any other James Bond film. It is Craig’s final goodbye to the franchise. So director Cary Fukunaga took the liberty to pay homage to the actor’s decade-long association with the franchise that made billions globally. In ‘Casino Royale’, Vesper Lynd (played by Eva Green) betrayed Daniel Craig’s James Bond in Matera, Italy. So this was Fukunaga’s final tribute to Craig’s first James Bond movie and Bond and Lynd’s relationship which bloomed in Italy.
Fukunaga explains, “Because their romance was so centred in Italy, we felt we could do something that somehow ended there as well. To move forward with Madeleine Swann (played by Léa Seydoux), Bond has to let go of his past and holding on to that grudge with Vesper Lynd was part of that. Forgiveness is a big part of this opening sequence”.
With Daniel Craig leaving, the baton has to be passed on. But to whom? Could it be a woman? Daniel Craig could have dropped a hint. In an interview with Radio Times, Craig said, “There should simply be better parts for women and actors of color”. When asked about who the next James Bond will be, producer Barbara Broccoli assured he/she will certainly be British. They do not intend to start brainstorming any time before next year.
Broccoli said,
“That’s for the future. We haven’t really been thinking about that. We don’t really want to. We just want to celebrate Daniel right now. It feels inappropriate to start talking about his successor until he’s had his time”.
Who do you think will be the next James Bond? Tell us in the comments below.
#Kolkata: The Trinamool leadership sat in a meeting with 144 candidates of Kolkata Municipality on Saturday to decide the strategy of KMC Elections. Leaders like Trinamool All India General Secretary Abhishek Bandyopadhyay, Trinamool General Secretary Perth Chatterjee, State President Subrata Bokshi and former mayor of the municipality and Transport Minister Firhad Hakim were present there.
It was there that Abhishek Bandopadhyay gave peptocks to the candidates of Calcutta Municipality. This time the Trinamool Congress has brought a new face in multiple wards in Kolkata in the pre-poll. Joraful Shibir has adopted several strategies for their publicity and public relations. For that reason, how they will reach out to the people, what issues they will raise with the people were all discussed in yesterday’s meeting. Not only that, the instruction for the purpose of the candidates, no trouble can be made. The team will take strict action only if they gamble.
On the other hand, the meeting emphasized on conducting pre-election campaign in compliance with the Covid rules. At the same time, the candidates have been asked to focus on small publicity campaigns and door-to-door campaigns to reach as many people as possible. Apart from this, how they will preach, what issues they will focus on during the campaign, how they will convey the message of the party to the people — all these tactics are decided from the meeting.
The Trinamool Congress has made this year’s candidate list a mix of old and new. People like Firhad Hakim, Atin Ghosh, Debashish Kumar, Debabrata Majumdar have got such tickets. Similarly, many faces have been left out. According to the results of the Assembly polls, the Trinamool Congress is leading in most parts of Kolkata. But the party wants to judge the context of each vote before 2024. So what is the position of the party in urban areas before the Lok Sabha vote? What are you thinking? That is what the ruling party wants to understand. During the meeting, it was decided that the social schemes of the government, its benefits, what kind of citizens are getting the issues should also be highlighted in the campaign.
#Kolkata: As the election of Kolkata Corporation (KMC Elections 2021) is approaching, the heat of election is increasing in every ward. There are several delegates who are very comfortable in terms of their work and acquaintances. They belong to any party. Preaching from 8 in the morning. Some people are preaching again in the afternoon. On Saturday evening, Sunita Jharke, a BJP councilor from Ward No. 42, was seen campaigning in houses and shops near Rabindra Sarani.
During the election campaign, people of all religions were seen approaching Sunita Devi. Her acquaintance in the area was among the people. Sunita Jhawar won for the first time in 1995. He was still winning against BJP. It is 2021. If he had gone this time, he would have been elected as a councilor six times in total.
Sunita Devi said that in both panchayats and municipalities, people choose the local representative as their choice. As a result, the selectors won him through the right election. Sunita Jhawar will win again. She is campaigning from morning to afternoon with that confidence.
Many say he has an office on Mahatma Gandhi Road. He sits in that office from one to four in the afternoon, every day. If for some reason he does not stay. If you leave with the necessary paper or something, go and see the next day, he is done. 25-year-old councilor Sunita Jhawar is still walking towards the front. In the evening, when she came with only two of them, she stood up. Slowly everything became like a procession. Everyone kept chanting slogans leaving Sunita in front. And kept promising to win.
