000-tobecategorised

 UN votes on rival proposals on Gaza by Russia and US  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQTye_QjzpU Both countries seek U.N. Security Council resolutions to address shortages of food, water, medical supplies and electricity in Gaza. But the U.S. has called for humanitarian pauses to allow aid to enter Gaza, while Russia wants a humanitarian ceasefire.

How a Small Town in UP Is Bridging Cultures Through Ramleela https://thewire.in/culture/how-a-small-town-in-up-is-bridging-cultures-through-ramleela

For the past 51 years, the Ramleela in Bakshi Ka Talab has been breaking religious barriers, with Muslim artists playing the role of Lord Rama, Laxman, Sita, Janak, Dasharath, and many others...

For the past 51 years, the Ramleela in Bakshi Ka Talab has been breaking religious barriers, with Khan playing the role of Lord Rama. This tradition was started in 1972 by the then gram pradhan, Maikulal Yadav, and his friend, Muzaffar Hussain. In this Ramleela, Muslims perform various roles such as Lord Rama, Laxman, Sita, Janak, Dasharath, and many others. Just as Khan portrays the character of Lord Ram, Suhail Khan takes on the role of Laxman, while Farhan Ali portrays Sita. Bharat is played by Suhel Khan, and Sher Khan embodies the character of Janak. Even the role of young Ram is portrayed by Abdul Hasan. ..

Videsh Pal Yadav, son of Maikulal Yadav, who was the founder member of Ramleela organising committee, shares an interesting anecdote. “Once, Ramzaan (the holy month of fasting for Muslims) and Navratra (a Hindu festival) had coincided. We were worried about how we would manage Ramleela because most of our Muslim artists would be observing Roza (fasting),” he recounts.

He said that none of them allowed their fasting to disrupt the smooth flow of the rehearsals.

He added, “On the final day, they [the artists] broke their fast (Iftaar) on the stage itself, just before starting the programme to ensure that there was no interruption in the performance.”

Decoding the mystery of MNC exits from India  https://www.businesstoday.in/opinion/columns/story/decoding-the-mystery-of-mnc-exits-from-india-343768-2022-08-04
Companies have left India for various reasons. In the case of some companies, the decision to leave India was attributed to a multi-nation strategy to get out of non-profitable operations and focus on easier markets.

one would expect India to top the list of multinational corporations scouting for an investment destination...despite the red carpet, liberal policies and incentives, it is also true that India has not exactly been a happy hunting ground for several other MNCs. The government revealed in Parliament in December last year that as many as 2,783 foreign companies and their subsidiaries ceased operations in India between 2014 and November 2021. Some of the notable exits include Cairn Energy, Holcim, Daiichi Sankyo, Carrefour, Henkel, Harley Davidson and Ford... In India,, MNCs have exited due to arbitrary tax regime, accumulated losses, over capacity, land acquisition issues and lack of expected growth due to market anomalies. In case of some companies, the decision to leave India was attributed to multi-nation strategy to get out of non-profitable operations and focus on easier markets. Then, there were some auto players that set up base in India and brought technology and products that had stopped selling in global markets. While they received initial success and paid little attention to upgradation, the domestic firms started making better products slowly and steadily. As a result, the MNCs were eventually pushed out.

there are also some rare cases.. the latest such case is that of German wholesale giant METRO Cash and Carry. The company has grown in a robust manner, forged strong partnerships with local kiranas and made steady investments in store expansions and digitalisation. Its deep commitment to domestic customers can be gauged fact that it has stayed in India for the past 19 years despite running losses for 14 consecutive years. Having turned the corner, it’s reportedly making profits for the past four years and its B2B operations across 31 stores have immensely benefitted small retailers...In balance, considering METRO has done all the hard work and now understands the Indian market and customers at par with its rivals, stitching up a partnership with a strong local player seems to be a better option since it can now expect strong returns on its past investments. Whatever the outcome of the strategic review, the company will face headwinds, even though it is obvious that the public rumours and attacks do not have any basis.