Three states: Magic of Modi’s guarantees
India’s prime minister Narendra Modi has always been a newsmaker but driving a three-state win in assembly elections is a superb feat that few expected. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) delivered a surprise by wiping out Congress in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, while retaining Madhya Pradesh. Party members say that victory is due to the trust they place in Modi’s pre-election guarantees. It proves that he has as much pull in the hinterlands as much as with G20 country leaders. The photo opportunities of him welcoming US President Joe Biden to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the Bharat Mandapam went far and wide in the media. But social media was most thrilled with the 73-year-old’s chemistry with Italian PM Giorgia Meloni. She shared a pic that broke the Internet, with the title #Melodi.
Dec 28, 2023
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RaGa’s Bharat Jodo Yatra
Rahul Gandhi’s Kanyakumari to Kashmir marathon walk extended into January 2023, as he tried to spread ‘unity’ amidst divisive politics. Though critics dubbed it as innocent idealism, RaGa seems to have won a few hearts, especially in the South. In 2023, the party saw landslide victory in Karnataka state elections, and sweeped KCR’s BRS in Telangana. Even as it lost to BJP in the Hindi heartland. Personally however he had a tough year with courts, over his defamatory remarks on PM Modi where he almost lost his MP seat in Waynad constituency. Within weeks after the Supreme Court reversed his two-year jail term, warning him ‘to be more careful’, he slipped again — calling the PM, a ‘panauti’ (bad luck).
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Gautam Adani: To the Hindenburg & back
Gautam Adani started the year as the third-most richest man in the world. Early January, US-based research firm Hindenbug questioned the Adani group’s accounting practices, accused it of stock manipulation and more. It wiped off half of its marketcap, he too dropped in the rich lists, court cases were filed on the issue, market regulators and experts were brought in to weigh in on Hindenburg’s accusations. This is just the first few months of the year. Then came the comeback of the decade. International investor GQG backed the company, purchased the stock propping up the shares, riding over the bears who were shorting the stocks. Even as the judgment is reserved by the Apex court, his stocks have been gaining strength, and Adani personally is back in the list of top 20 richest men in the world.
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S Somnath: Mission Moon
The head of ISRO, S Somnath, has put India on the map. Even better, he put it on the moon. In 2023, Chandrayaan-3 successfully landed on the moon’s South pole, becoming the first country to do so. India proved to the world that it’s capable of spectacular scientific feats, earlier the bastion of US, Russia and China. The IIS Bangalore student spearheaded the mission on a shoe-string budget to land softly on the moon’s surface. The times have changed, Somnath insists and says that India is capable of building the best rockets, best devices and more. And, the sky is no more the limit.
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Byju Raveendran: The lost billions
Byju’s had once claimed to change the way India is educated, learnt a few hard lessons in 2023. Prosus, one of its investors, says that decacorn which was once valued at over $22 billion is now worth $3 billion. Many startups suffered from funding winter in 2023, many edtechs faced the brunt of screen fatigue. But not as much as the edtech led by Byju Ravendran, as it delayed earnings reports, faced fraud investigations, and cut over 4,000 jobs as it attempted to merge the many businesses it acquired in order to go offline. Not only is he out of billionaire lists, shareholders are also known to be seeking his ouster from the company he founded. There are reports of him finding it tough to pay salaries.
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SRK is still ‘Jawan’ at heart
The King Khan is back, at a time when Bollywood needed him the most. Without his widened arms or Rahul as his name, SRK made people rush back into theatres. Both his movies became all-time blockbusters if not the top grossers of 2023. His spy thriller Jawan collected ₹1,160 crore, while Pathaan ₹1,055 crore. To put it in business terms, the collective earnings of his movies rivals that of Nifty50 company revenues. Apart from money, he changed the mood around movies too. Until his movies charged up theaters, many people have been questioning the relevance of Bollywood itself, thanks to all the adulation South movies were receiving. Khan proved his critics wrong too to show that he still rules the silver screens even as his daughter debuts on Netflix with Archies.
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Virat Kohli: Breaking the Masterblaster record
India’s Cricket World Cup loss might have broken a billion hearts this year, but this tournament will be remembered forever. Former skipper Virat Kohli cracked two, not only records. He scored 765 runs in 11 outings — his first record. In the process, he scored his 50th ODI century at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Kolhi went past the record held by his idol Sachin Tendulkar, who had the record of 49 centuries — which was unbroken for years now. Now, he joins the elite list of people who can be regarded as one the best One-Day International batsmen of all time, right beside the masterblaster Tendulkar.
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Narayana Murthy: The 70-hour rule
Narayana Murthy, the founder of Infosys, has replicated his wife Sudha Murthy’s social media popularity, in 2023. His statement in a podcast statement that youngsters must work 70 hours a day for the sake of the nation has been appreciated and derided in equal measure — dividing the nation. As more and more people, be it JSW group head Sajjan Jindal supporting him; or Bill Gates chose to back a three-day work week. As scores of people, celebs and commoners alike share their opinions on a daily basis — he is back on headlines, memes and more. And, it’s likely to seep into 2024 too, as work-life-balance is a topic that never dies.
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Nita Ambani: Broadway in Bombay
Gone are the days when Indians had to travel to New York and London to watch a Broadway musical or a play. Nita Ambani who has spearheaded many successful institutions in the past like Dhirubhai Ambani International Schools, has now shifted her focus to arts. She inaugurated the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC). It has already showcased The West Side story. Now the longest running show on London’s West End, Mamma Mia is bringing ABBA’s music to India. Nita Ambani has als stepped down as the board member of Reliance Industries this year. But she is also stepping up her game in the areas of art and culture.
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Rajamouli’s RRRoaring Oscar success
It takes a lot to be a movie director who hasn’t peaked with the Bahubali series. S S Rajamouli has done what no one expected him to do, beat his own success with RRR. The story of two freedom fighters in the British era has not just touched the hearts of movie-goers, but also made people tap to its tunes. So much, that its song ‘Natu, natu’ went to win an Oscar in 2023, giving a stage to ‘as-desi-as-it-can-get’ song to an international stage. It’s left to be seen what this director, who has already bought a house in LA, will do next, in 2024.
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Praggnanandhaa master moves
In 2023, Indian chess sensation Praggnanandhaa, 18, made waves globally. He became India's youngest player to reach the FIDE World Cup final, facing Magnus Carlsen. Despite not winning, he earned a spot in the prestigious Candidates Tournament, a pathway to challenge the world champion. His victories against top-10 players solidified his elite status. Beyond wins, he sparked a chess revolution in India, inspiring numerous youngsters with his humility and dedication. 2023 marked his breakthrough, signaling the start of a promising journey, where each triumph cements his path from prodigy to future legend.
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Satya Nadella: Altman + Backspace
Bros before boards – that’s the message that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella gave the tech world. After Sam Altman was ousted from the OpenAI, Nadella publicly offered jobs to him and another top OpenAI official, at his company. “We will work Sam, wherever he is,” Nadella said publicly. Microsoft is also an investor in the company that created ChatGPT. The chatbot caused much imagination and fear. For Bill Gates’ company, genAI is a tool to get ahead of Google and others who have captured the internet. Nadella won the battle and how, as the board brought him back after an employee-led coup shocked the world. At the middle of it is Nadella and his unwavering support to genAI and its potential.
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