‘ Last plane out of Saigon’

The G20 Summit in New Delhi had elaborate arrangements for the international media, right from comfortable and well-equipped workplace to a variety of food options (all vegetarian though), perhaps in acknowledgement of the “important” role played by journos in shaping world view on the event. There was, however, one lapse that could have spoilt things a bit had it not been addressed adequately the next day.

When the media, both local and international, lined up outside the venue after a hard day’s work late on Friday, there were no security buses to be seen that one had to compulsorily take to get out of the security zone. The number of assembled journos kept growing as the wait continued. Finally, a small van came with a capacity for about 20 when at least 7-8 times more were waiting.

Some lucky/desperate ones managed to get in while others looked on. The small van made a second trip after 20 minutes or so and again a small number managed their escape. Finally, after a wait of at least 45 minutes for the majority that were left behind, the long promised big bus came and there was almost a scramble to get in. “It was like catching the last plane out of Saigon,” a Brussels-based journalist said on a humorous note in a group chat later that night.

Wooing tech moghul

A meeting between a technology moghul and senior leaders of the ruling Congress party in Karnataka has set tongues wagging amongst the political class in the State. The technology titan who tries to maintain a low profile has never hidden his disdain for communal politics. He has indirectly funded several online portals and organisations, seen by the ruling party at the Centre as inimical to their interests.

Though Sangh Parivar organisations in the past have tried to woo him, the latest meetings indicate that they have not met with much success. The billionaire is said to have “favourably” heard pleas for resources (read funding) from India’s Grand Old Party. With the upcoming general election just 200-odd days away, such requests by parties to leading industrialists is expected to only rise.

Good roads boosting diesel use

“Don’t blame me but blame the traffic for the delay. Now I know why diesel consumption is going up despite the automobile industry not taking off,” said Shrikant Madhav Vaidya, Chairman, Indian Oil Corporation, for being late for a meeting with editorial staff of the Hindu Group on Friday evening. “When I met Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari recently, I told people are driving more because of the good roads. This is a fact. In the last one-and-a-half years, there was a diesel growth of 8-9 per cent, which is something unprecedented.” Normally, “we used to be happy with 3-4 per cent of diesel growth. This is really something out of the world. The good infrastructure is helping it up,” he added.

Practice makes you perfect

We all know that practice makes a person perfect, and the senior actors in the film industry are not exception to it. Recently, citizens of Mangaluru honoured the Kannada actor Anant Nag for completing 50 years in the film industry. Anant Nag, who was the narrator in KGF-Chapter 1 and who played Sawmi’s father in ‘Swami and his friends’ episodes of TV serial Malgudi Days, had played a character in a Kannada movie directed by Rishabh Shetty (of Kantara fame) in 2018.

The plot of the movie was based on a Kannada-medium school in a border village in Kerala, and Anant Nag’s character argues in the court on behalf of villagers to avoid its closure. Speaking at the Mangaluru function, Shetty said Anant Nag had done a 16-minute monologue in a single take in that movie after two days of rehearsal. Anant Nag, who has worked in Hindi theatre in his initial days, said he used to rehearse dialogues of several pages during his theatre days also.

Merger blues

Competition law practitioners were in for a rude shock this past week when Competition Commission of India (CCI) issued draft regulations on combinations. Reason: Merger filing fees with CCI will now go up by nearly 50 per cent. While filing fee for Form 2 has gone up to ₹90 lakh from ₹65 lakhs, fees for Form 1 has shot up to ₹30 lakh from ₹20 lakh earlier. The last time merger fee was revised was in 2019.

Given that CCI is now on top gear to implement deal value threshold, there is going to be flood of M&A deal notifications coming the way of CCI. Achhe din (good days) for CCI, said a CCI observer.

Our Bureau