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Days after the royal family of Jaipur firmly stood behind the Shri Rajput Karni Sena that had stalled the shooting of Bollywood movie `Padmavati’ at the historic Jaigarh Fort last month, makers of the movie have announced that there would be no scenes between Rani padmini and Allauddin Khilji now.

This was indicated by the Padmavati team in a series of tweets. “”Anyone working on #Padmavati will confirm that there NEVER was any scene or dream between #RaniPadmavati and #AlauddinKhilji @ShobhaIyerSant.’’ The team also tweeted, “”Repeating. #SanjayLeelaBhansali revers #ARaniPadmavati and will NEVER do anything to hurt #Rajput sentiments. Do not believe otherwise.’’ In the film, Rani Padmini is being played by Deepika Paudukone and Ranveer Singh plays Alauddin Khilji.  

Activists of the little-known Karni Sena had disrupted the shooting of `Padmini’ in Jaigarh Fort and roughed up the director Sanjay Leela Bhansali alleging that the movie had attempted to distort history by suggesting that Padmini had an affair with Allaudin Khilji.

Just last week, in a statement, Rajmata Padmini Devi of Jaipur has said that “anyone attempting to distort the heritage or the history will not be tolerated at any cost. Jaipur royal family stands with Shri Rajput Karni Sena and other such national organizations which want to keep alive the rich and proud history of Rajasthan’’. The statement further added that shooting for films, serials and advertisements take place frequently in the different historic palaces belonging to Jaipur royal family on a regular basis. To take care of such shootings and to take necessary permissions in this regard, the Jaipur royal family has setup a separate Department. This Department did not provide full information to the royal family relating to the film ‘Padmawati’ and gave permission to shoot it. When it came to the knowledge of the royal family, disciplinary action is being taken against the erring officials of the Department, it said.  

Jaipur royal family stands committed to protect the proud history of Rajasthan. Anyone attempting to twist or change the history of Rajasthan will not be tolerated. In future before any such shootings take place in the historic monuments of the royal family, the narration of the entire story will be thoroughly checked, Rajmata Padmini Devi said.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali had subsequently suspended the shooting and left for Mumbai with the team while refusing to make changes in the film as sought by the Karni Sena.”

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NEW DELHI: In its 39th flight (PSLV-C37), ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle successfully launched the 714 kg Cartosat-2 Series Satellite along with 103 co-passenger satellites on Feb. 15 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota. This is the 38th consecutively successful mission of PSLV. The total weight of all the 104 satellites carried on-board PSLV-C37 was 1378 kg.
PSLV-C37 lifted off at 0928 hrs IST, as planned, from the First Launch Pad. After a flight of 16 minutes 48 seconds, the satellites achieved a polar Sun Synchronous Orbit of 506 km inclined at an angle of 97.46 degree to the equator (very close to the intended orbit) and in the succeeding 12 minutes, all the 104 satellites successfully separated from the PSLV fourth stage in a predetermined sequence beginning with Cartosat-2 series satellite, followed by INS-1 and INS-2. The total number of Indian satellites launched by PSLV now stands at 46.
After separation, the two solar arrays of Cartosat-2 series satellite were deployed automatically and ISRO’s Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) at Bangalore took over the control of the satellite. In the coming days, the satellite will be brought to its final operational configuration following which it will begin to provide remote sensing services using its panchromatic (black and white) and multispectral (colour) cameras.
Of the 103 co-passenger satellites carried by PSLV-C37, two – ISRO Nano Satellite-1 (INS-1) weighing 8.4 kg and INS-2 weighing 9.7 kg – are technology demonstration satellites from India.
The remaining 101 co-passenger satellites carried were international customer satellites from USA (96), The Netherlands (1), Switzerland (1), Israel (1), Kazakhstan (1) and UAE (1). With today’s successful launch, the total number of customer satellites from abroad launched by India’s workhorse launch vehicle PSLV has reached 180. President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President M. Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have congratulated the ISRO for the successful launch into space of PSLV – C37, carrying a record 104 satellites.

In a message to Shri A.S. Kiran Kumar, Secretary, Department of Space and Chairman of ISRO, the President said: “This day shall go down as a landmark in the history of our space programme. The nation is proud of this significant achievement, which has demonstrated, yet again, India’s increasing space capabilities.”

Prime Minister Modi said: “This remarkable feat by ISRO is yet another proud moment for our space scientific community and the nation. India salutes our scientists. Spoke to the Secretary, Department of Space and congratulated him & the entire team of scientists on today’s exceptional achievement.””

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The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), which is addressing the nutritional gap in the population through fortification of various foods, has now constituted a scientific panel on “Food Fortification and Nutrition” to take the program further.

The Panel will identify critical nutritional gaps in the Indian diet in general as well as in specific target groups based on diet surveys and credible scientific evidence, define strategies to address nutrition needs of the general population and vulnerable groups, and review the standards for all suitable food fortifying vehicles, in addition to the healthy dietary intake of fat, sugar & salt.  It will also address regulatory and related technological issues, review proposals from industry using modern risk assessment methods, and prescribe standard sampling and test methods for effective monitoring, surveillance and enforcement of the relevant regulations.

The scientific panel has eleven distinguished experts and scientists and includes Dr Ambrish Mithal from Medanta, Dr C. S.Pandav and Major General (Dr) R. K.Marwaha (Retd) from AIIMS, Dr Anura Kurpad from St. John’s Medical College, Dr Yogeshwar Shukla from CSIR- Indian Institute of Toxicology Research, Prof. H. P. S.Sachdev from Sita Ram Bharatia Institute of Science and Research, Dr K. M. Nair from National Institute of Nutrition, Dr P. Ramachandran from Nutrition Foundation of India, Dr Sumit Arora from National Dairy Research Institute, Dr Sirimavo Nair from the MS University, Baroda, and Prof. Harsulkar from Bharati Vidyapeeth. Apart from these, members from Scientific Panels dealing with fortification of food such as wheat flour, refined flour, rice, milk, edible oil and salt will also be a part of this Panel. In addition, Ministries of Women & Child Development as well as Health & Family Welfare; Department of Biotechnology; and the Indian Council of Medical Research will also be working with the Panel.

Micronutrient Malnutrition Disorders are ubiquitously prevalent in all age groups of the population. According to National Family Health Survey (2006-07) and the World Bank (2006), about 70% preschool children suffer from iron deficiency anaemia and 57% preschool children have sub-clinical Vitamin A deficiency respectively. Further, as per the World Bank (2006), Iodine deficiency is endemic in 85 per cent of districts. Moreover, folate deficiency which leads to Neural Tube Defects (NTDS) are the most common congenital malformation in Indian context with an incidence that varies between 0.5-8/1000 births. It is estimated that 50-70% of these birth defects are preventable.

FSSAI being the standard setting and regulatory body has taken a step in public health domain to address these and other vitamin deficiency-related Malnutrition Disorders through fortification of food. 

It may be noted that FSSAI had earlier brought out Draft Regulations for fortified food namely “Food Safety and Standards (Fortification of Food) Regulations, 2016 which were operationalized at the National Summit on Food Fortification held in mid-October, 2016. Based on the comments received on the draft Regulations, the Panel will finalize the Regulations. As a consequence of the National Summit, FSSAI has launched the Food Fortification Resource Centre (FFRC) to promote large-scale fortification of food across India. An online portal of FFRC to nudge and facilitate food businesses and bring fortified foods into Government programs was launched on November 17, 2016 in the presence of Mr. Bill Gates.

Meanwhile, four Zonal Consultations for States/UTs covering Northern region at Delhi, Western region at Bhopal, Eastern region at Bhubaneswar, Southern region at Bengaluru have been convened jointly with Ministry of Women and Child Development, other line Ministries/Departments and development partners such as Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), World Food Programme (WFP), Micronutrient Initiative (MI) along with continued engagement with staple food manufacturers. The fifth Consultation with the North Eastern region is scheduled for February 15, 2017 at Guwahati.

FSSAI anticipates that with an effective regulatory mechanism ensuring food safety and quality along with the continuous support of the Government and programme partners, stakeholders and the consumers, the problem of malnutrition in general and micronutrient malnutrition in particular would be overcome soon.”

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A small but clinically important trial of a new ultra-low dose four-in-one pill to treat high blood pressure is said to have produced remarkable results. Every patient on the pilot trial conducted by The George Institute for Global Health saw their blood levels drop to normal levels in just four weeks. The four medicines used in the pill are already in use.

Recognizing the need to check whether trial results were “too good to be true”, the researchers also completed a systematic review of past trials, including 36 trials with 47,500 patients testing single and dual quarter-dose therapy. This previous evidence also indicated little or no side effects with very low doses, and important benefits with three or four drug combinations.

According to Prof Clara Chow of the George Institute the results, published in The Lancet, were exciting but larger trials were still needed to see if these high rates could be maintained and repeated. Hypertension or high blood pressure affects about 119 million adults in India.

“Most people receive one medicine at a normal dose but that only controls blood pressure about half the time. In this small trial blood pressure control was achieved for everyone. Trials will now test whether this can be repeated and maintained long-term. “Minimising side effects is important for long-term treatments – we didn’t see any issues in this trial, as you would hope with very low dose therapy, but this is the area where more long-term research is most needed.

“We know that high blood pressure is a precursor to stroke, diabetes and heart attack. The need for even lower blood pressure levels has been widely accepted in the last few years. So, this could be an incredibly important step in helping to reduce the burden of disease globally,’’ Prof Clara said.

Over four weeks 18 patients in Sydney were either given a quadpill – a single capsule containing four of the most commonly used blood pressure-lowering drugs each at a quarter dose – or a placebo.  This was then repeated for a further four weeks with the patients swapping their course of treatment. Blood pressure levels were measured hourly over a 24-hour period at the end of each treatment, allowing researchers to significantly reduce the number of patients normally required in a clinical trial.

During trials 100 per cent of patients saw their blood levels drop below 140 over 90. Just 33 per cent of patients on the placebo achieved this rate. Also, none of the patients experienced side effects commonly associated with hypertension lowering drugs, which can vary from swollen ankles to kidney abnormalities depending on the type of class of the drug, the researchers have claimed.

Professor Chow said: “What makes these result every more exciting is that these four blood pressure medications are already in use. We are increasingly finding there are opportunities to treat many commons diseases hiding in plain sight. This ultimately means we will be able to deliver life changing medications much more quickly, and more affordably.”

Researchers at the George Institute are just about to commence a much larger trial into the “”quadpill”” which has been funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia.The project was funded by The National Heart Foundation of Australia and the University of Sydney. The project was started in January 2016 with an aim to investigate in a double blind randomised controlled trial whether initiating treatment with ultra-low dose quadruple combination therapy will low blood pressure more effective.

The George Institute India partners with over sixty national and international institutions such as the Public Health Foundation of India, the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, University of Hyderabad; and affiliations with University of Sydney, Oxford and Peking.”

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Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) would soon sign a contract to supply 73 Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) to armed forces, HAL Chairman and Managing Director T. Suvarana Raju said at a press conference here on February 15. The contract is expected to be worth over Rs. 14,000 crore.The order for 106 HTT-40 to the IAF is also expected to be inked soon and it would be worth Rs. 4,770 crore, he said at the conference. HAL has already delivered 231 Advanced Light Helicopters to the armed forces since 2002. “”The indigenously designed and developed basic trainer aircraft has to complete stall and spin manouvre for certification. We plan to produce 100 of them initially,”” Mr. Raju said as the biennial Aero India 2017 entered its second day at Yelahanka Air Base. 

HAL is waiting for orders to supply its multirole Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) to the IAF and the army as the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) cleared 15 of them, including 10 to IAF and five to the Army. The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has cleared the IAF order for an additional 83 Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas Mark-1A worth Rs 50,000 crore. “”The government has recently sanctioned Rs 1,000 crore to ramp up our production capacity for rolling out 16 Tejas fighters every year from eight currently,”” the HAL chief said.
In accordance with the agreement, the IAF and Indian Navy will each share 25 per cent of the investment while HAL will invest the remaining 50 per cent. The company has an order to produce and deliver 40 Tejas Mark-1 fighters to the IAF, including eight in the limited series production for IOC (initial operational clearance) and FOC (Final Operational Clearance).

Answering a question on the Government’s plan for giving a vigorous push to Make in India programme under which there are plans to produce a fighter jet in collaboration with global giants like Swedish SAAB, Lockheed Martin and Boeing, Mr. Raju said that as per the government’s thinking the Indian partner could be any entity other than HAL despite the fact that HAL has seven decades experience in the manufacture of jet fighters and their upgradation.”

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BANGALORE: In first official word on extending the range of supersonic BrahMos cruise missile, DRDO chief S. Christopher declared on February 15 that India was looking at increasing the range of BrahMos to 450 km from the present 290 kms. A test is likely to be conducted around March 10, he said.

Addressing a press conference on the second day of the ongoing Aero India 2017 at Yelahanka Air Base here, the DRDO chief further said that new blocks of BrahMos could have a range capability of 800 to 850 kms. He also disclosed that talks were on with Vietnam for sale of Akash and aircraft missile system. Also talks with other nations for Akash, BrahMos and Helina missiles were going on, he added. 

However, he denied any plans of extending the range of the Agni missile, which has a range above 5,000 km. The DRDO announcements come post- Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) developments as India became its member in June last year. The MTCR is an informal and voluntary partnership of countries to prevent the proliferation of missile and unmanned aerial vehicle technology capable of carrying above 500 kg payload for more than 300 km. It bans member countries to give such technology to countries outside the club. The range of the BrahMos missile, a joint venture of India and Russia, can be extended beyond the present 290 km.
The DRDO chief said that a change in the software will be needed, after which the missile (BrahMos) will be tested for an enhanced range of 450 km. “”We will tentatively test it around March 10,”” he said. Asked if India will also increase the range of the Agni V missile, Dr. Christopher said: “”We may not do it, because it can antagonise someone,”” he said without taking name of any country.”

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Most of the world’s population eats more salt than required, and there is strong scientific basis to believe that this is causing large adverse effects. Globally, 12.90 million people die of heart attack every year with 2.68 million in China and 1.74 million in India. High blood pressure, a major cause of heart attacks, is caused by high salt intake. Reduction is the daily intake of salt is one of the best ways for prevention of non-communicable diseases in low and middle-income countries without any adverse impact on the general health of the people. Just 1.0g lower salt intake reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke by 4.8%. Most salts are consumed as packaged or restaurant foods while a chunk of salts are added during food preparation and consumption, 10% are naturally occurring. Not much can be done about naturally occurring salts, 90% use of discretionary salt is preventable.

Science has it that salt was scarce for most hominid evolution with no adverse health consequences and was first manufactured some 6,000 years ago for a few hundred people. Several studies carried out in the developing countries, including India, have been reporting an increase in the prevalence of diet related chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like overweight and obesity, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, other cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), and cancers , especially among urban population causing 70% of the deaths in the world as per the Global Burden of Disease report.

Raised blood pressure is one of the leading risk factors for global mortality and is estimated to have caused 9.4 million deaths and 7% of disease burden – as measured in DALYs − in 2010. A large number of risk factors for DALYs are nutrition-related. India is particularly hard hit. The prevalence of raised blood pressure in India is around 26 percent and is considered to be a leading cause of death, stroke, myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, and chronic renal impairment. About 1 in 3 of all adult Indians have high blood pressure, by itself making it a major public health burden. According to the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015, approximately 3750 years of life were lost per lakh population in 2015 due to ischemic heart disease, representing more than 20% increase from 2005.  Five out of the top 10 causes of deaths in India are now due to NCDs. What is more alarming is the inexorable rise in the contribution of NCDs to all deaths, presenting a challenge for health community.

While national and international guidelines have called for reductions in average sodium intakes at the population level to tackle the population-wide burden of high blood pressure levels and the associated cardiovascular risks, much still needs to be done on ground. The report of a joint World Health Organization (WHO) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Expert Consultation recommended that adults consume less than 85 mmol/day (<2g/day) of sodium, equivalent to 5 g of salt daily. Reducing salt intake is identified as one of the most cost effective strategies (‘best buys’) in the global action plan for the prevention and control of NCDs.

Keeping this scenario in mind, the recently concluded first-of-its-kind Salt Summit called for measures from the government, food manufacturers, private sector, restaurants, street vendors, cafeteria managers, housewives, civil society and academic and research community to reduce the use of salt. This can be done by mandatory pack labeling, mentioning sodium content targets for food, requiring salt, fat, calorie content display in restaurant menu board and a gradual reduction in salt content of chutneys and junk foods by vendors.

India is one of the first countries to have developed an action plan for meeting the NCDs 10 targets. One of the targets is 30% relative reduction in mean population intake of salt/sodium. This will also directly help in achieving the other target which is 25% relative reduction in raised blood pressure, or contain the prevalence of raised blood pressure.

The World Health Organization has established that salt consumption should not exceed 5 g of salt (2.3 g of sodium) per person per day.   In 2010, global mean sodium intake was 3.95 g/day. This was nearly twice the WHO recommended limit of 2 g/day and equivalent to 10.06 g/day of salt. Intake in men was 10% higher than in women. A recent meta-analysis showed.  It is worth pointing out that the 30% reduction in mean population salt consumption by 2025 target adopted by the WHO member states will still leave the salt consumption substantially higher than the recommended daily salt intake, suggesting the need to identify effective strategies. 

Sodium (salt) intake is reported to be a modifiable determinant of raised blood pressure. While in the United States and many Western countries, packaged foods eg bread, or chips are the main source of salt, in India, it is salt used in cooking and at the table that is the biggest source of dietary salt. A recent meta-analysis of several studies undertaken in India to estimate salt intake over the past three decades found that the overall mean weighted salt intake among Indians was 10.98 g/day. 

In earlier generations, Indians did hard labor in the fields or walked long distances even in urban India.  The high amounts of salt consumed were excreted in perspiration.  Now with millions migrating to urban settings, driving in to work, or sitting in air-conditioned offices all day long, the amount of salt consumed in everyday food is too much. “Raised blood pressure is one of the leading risk factors for global mortality and is estimated to have caused 9.4 million deaths and 7% of disease burden – as measured in DALYs − in 2010,” says Dr Vivekanand Jha, Executive Director, George Institute for Global Health.

The prevalence of raised blood pressure in India is around 26 percent and is considered to be a leading cause of death, stroke, myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, and chronic renal impairment. “About 1 in 3 of all adult Indians have high blood pressure, by itself making it a major public health burden. Five out of the top 10 causes of deaths in India are now due to NCDs. What is more alarming is the inexorable rise in the contribution of NCDs to all deaths, presenting a challenge for health community,” Dr. Jha adds.

Some of the common Indian food items with high salt content include pickles, papads, street food, junk food like namkeen, chips, and chinese food.  Further, street foods in India are not regulated, and many people eat home cooked food.  Thus, food labeling has some challenges in the Indian context. 

In India, we need to dispassionately examine the scientific evidence behind the need for salt reduction, learn from the strategies that have worked in other countries, and work collaboratively with multiple sectors to make change.  

It has been reported that 75 countries have a national salt reduction strategy in place, more than double the number reported in 2010. The majority of programs are multifaceted and include industry engagement to reformulate products, establishment of sodium content targets for foods, consumer education, front-of-pack labeling schemes, taxation on high-salt foods and interventions in public institutions. Legislative action related to salt reduction such as mandatory targets, front of pack labeling, food procurement policies and taxation have been implemented in 33 countries. 12 countries have reported reductions in population salt intake, 19 reduced salt content in foods and 6 reported improvements in consumer knowledge, attitudes or behaviors relating to salt.”

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The National Regulatory Authority of India (NRA) and affiliated institutions meet the WHO Global Benchmarking Tool requirements for a functional vaccine regulatory system.

A World Health Organization (WHO) led team of international experts from several countries came to this conclusion at the end of a comprehensive review from 13-17 February 2017. “This is indeed a great achievement and we would like to congratulate the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and its affiliated institutions: Central Drugs Standards Control Organization (CDSCO); Central Drugs Laboratory, Kasauli; Pharmacovigilance Programme and Immunization Division, and other relevant institutions engaged in the regulation, control and testing of vaccines,” said Dr Alireza Khadem, WHO Team Leader for the NRA Re-benchmarking, Group Lead, Regulatory System Strengthening Team, a statement issued by WHO has said.

 Mr C.K. Mishra, Secretary Health, Health & Family Welfare, Government of India said that the Central Drugs Standards Control Organization, in collaboration with WHO, has made exemplary efforts towards this achievement. “India is one of the largest manufacturers and exporters of vaccines world-wide; this development further deepens our resolve to maintain the highest quality and efficacy of the products that are manufactured within our country and in this context, we look forward to strengthening our collaboration with WHO,” he added.

Welcoming the positive outcome of international assessment, Dr Henk Bekedam, WHO Representative to India said, “It will go a long way in re-affirming India’s role in global health, including the strength of its pharmaceutical sector and drug regulatory capacity.” “WHO had scaled up its technical support to the India’s national regulatory authority over the past several years. This success is a culmination of intensive effort by the Health Ministry, including CDSCO, in collaboration with WHO, to implement a roadmap to strengthen capacity for regulation of vaccines. WHO will continue to support development of the NRA through technical advice, training and capacity building,” he added.

One of the requirements to become eligible and retain the prequalification status is to have the NRA assessed as functional against the WHO Global Benchmarking Tool. Safety, efficacy and quality are three basic parameters of assessment of vaccines. WHO has established global standards and benchmarks for assurance of vaccine quality by development of tools and guidelines, benchmarking of the NRA and Prequalification programme of vaccines.

In addition to the general framework for the system, the following regulatory functions were evaluated: registration and marketing authorization; licensing of premises; vigilance; market surveillance and control; lab access and lot release by the national regulatory authority; regulatory inspections; and oversight of clinical trials. The WHO Prequalification Programme (PQP) is aimed at facilitating access to vaccines that meet unified standards of quality, safety and efficacy as well as programme needs. It is also prerequisite for manufacturers to supply to countries through United Nations procuring agencies. A functional NRA is a criterion for WHO prequalification of vaccines, the WHO statement said.

India is a major vaccine producer that has 21 major vaccine manufacturing facilities. These vaccines are used for the national and international market (150 countries), which makes India a major vaccine supplier across the globe. India continues to meet the standards of the WHO NRA published indicators (WHO Global benchmarking Tool) on functional regulatory system for vaccines. This allows the domestic vaccine manufacturers to apply for WHO vaccine prequalification. It also allows export of Indian vaccines to the world immunization market, and will probably lead to more affordable vaccines. As for all NRA benchmarkings, sustainability of the gains made in regulatory capacity is critical. For this purpose, the team, which has just completed the assessment in India, has drawn up a detailed Institutional Development Plan. The plan will outline additional activities to be undertaken to further strengthen regulatory capacity in India in the coming years.”

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It took the Governor of Tamil Nadu C Vidyasagar Rao nine days since the rebellion by O Paneerselvam in inviting A Palanisamy to form the AIADMK government in Chennai. It dashed the hopes of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa’s loyalist O Paneerselvam who lost the race in the wake of V K Sasikala taking a firm grip of the Dravidian party following her recent appointment as its all powerful general secretary.  

Palanisamy was administered the oath of office and secrecy by the Governor and urged to prove his majority on the floor of the state assembly within 15 days. All the 124 odd legislators kept at a resort on the outskirts of Chennai reportedly under duress attended the swearing in ceremony.

Prior to all this amid the attendant drama, the Supreme Court busted Sasikala’s ambitions of becoming the chief minister of Tamil Nadu last Tuesday by convicting her and two others in the Rs 66 crore disproportionate assets case. A new dimension has been added to the power struggle in the AIADMK having already split the party. The Apex court rejected Sasikala’s application seeking a week’s time to sort out matters in her party before surrendering in Bengaluru for completing the remaining period of her four-year term in jail. 

This puts the brakes on Sasikala, 61, for at least a decade from holding any public office or contesting elections. Nevertheless, she has sought to turn the AIADMK into her family fiefdom along with her hushand M Natarajan and other relatives described as the “”Mannargudi mafia””. She ensured one of Amma’s and her loyalists Palanisamy being installed as the legislature party leader facilitating him to stake claim for the chief minister’s job. Having achieved this Sasikala has ensured her vice like grip on the AIADMK seeking to snuff out any challenge.   

The reinduction of her nephew T T V Dinakaran as the deputy general secretary and S Venkatesh into the party on the specious plea that they had submitted their apologies to Amma is a case in point. Dinakaran is expected to be made a cabinet rank minister in the Palanisamy ministry. 

All of them have returned to the party fold overnight as it were after having been expelled by the then chief minister J Jayalalithaa in 2011. It is apparent Sasikala will be calling the shots while serving her sentence in jail despite the cadres of the AIADMK having strong reservations about ‘Chinamma’ as she is known.  

In a prelude to tightening her grip on the AIADMK, Sasikala summarily expelled acting chief minister Paneerselvam and at least ten others from the primary membership of the AIADMK. It was widely believed after Sasikala’s conviction that the decks had been cleared for Paneerselvam but that was not to be. 

Eyebrows are being raised about Sasikala and her family occupying Jayalalithaa’s sprawling Poes garden residence in Chennai and carrying out  their machinations from there. Already tongues are wagging in this regard even as Paneerselvam had announced that he will turn the late Amma’s residence into a museum. Governor Vidyasagar Rao has been vindicated for biding his time till the Supreme Court gives its verdict in the disproportionate assets case. Motives were attributed to him initially for dragging his feet in not installing Sasikala as the chief minister. There is a sigh of relief that the political stalemate and administrative uncertainty has ended in Tamil Nadu.

After her conviction Sasikala has inevitably lost the coveted office of chief minister. Public perception appears to have gone against her with hardly any supporters assembled at the Poes garden residence when Sasikala’s convoy drove to Bengaluru in the forenoon on February 15. 

Paneerselvam has not thrown in the towel in this game of political oneupmanship. In a smart move he has secured the support of Jayalalithaa’s neice Deepa Jayakumar. Sasikala deliberately kept her at an arm’s length from Amma even while the latter was seriously ill in Apollo hospital. Deepa has been drawing crowds of AIADMK sympathisers since Jayalalithaa’s death. The Apex court’s verdict upheld the order of the trial court which found all the accused guilty. That has lent credence to Jayalalithaa indulging in corruption as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu.  

The message from the Supreme Court is unmistakable. The high and mighty, however influential, can be brought to book without getting away scot free all the time. The malaise afflicting the AIADMK is that Jayalalithaa never thought of having in place a second rung leadership for a smooth of transition of power. She assiduously ran the party with an iron grip. The question is can Sasikala create the charisma of Amma? Impartial observers have grave doubts in this regard. As Jayalalithaa’s confidant for three decades it is evident the cadres of the Dravidian party have strong reservations about ‘chinamma’ smoothly stepping into the shoes of Jayalalithaa. 

The unsavoury developments in the AIADMK following Amma’s death has created the space for another dynamic Dravidian party coming to the fore or the national parties seeking to create space for themselves in the southern state. Tamil Nadu has been the preserve of the two Dravidian parties — AIADMK and DMK — for nearly four decades which is bound to change. Jayalalithaa’s death resulted in a rudderless ship being rocked by turbulence. The prevailing crisis in Tamil Nadu provides an opportunity for the two main Dravidian parties to change their style of functioning necessitating a generational shift in leadership. 

The administration is virtually at a standstill since Jayalalithaa’s death late at night on the fifth of December. The discriminating believe the morally right course in the southern state is to go in for fresh assembly elections. That is what the legislators do not want as they got elected in May last year when Amma managed a second successive term at Fort St George in Chennai. The legislators want to serve the five-year term rather than have a snap poll as they have not completed even one year.”

The day I stop enjoying playing football, I’ll leave football, said Lionel Andres Leo Messi in 2012. Now, four years later on June 28 at the Metlife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey the enjoyment for playing for his country Argentina appeared to have ended as he announced his decision to hang up his boots. This was soon after he failed to lead Albiceleste as Argentina are known failed to win Copa America Centenary tournament in USA losing for the second consecutive year to neighbour Chile with Messi failing to convert a penalty in the penalty shoot out.

Soon after the 29 year old Messi announced his decision, the social media went viral with even his famous countryman Diego Mardona asking him to reconsider his decision. Messi who was the third of the four children of Jorge Messi, a steel factory manager in Argentina, the father Jorge was of Italian and Spanish heritage and the mother was of Italian descent.

However, Lionel’s main source of inspiration was his maternal grandmother, Celia, who accompanied him to training and matches. Tragically, she died before his 11th birthday and that is why when he looks up at the sky after scoring goals is his tribute to this football loving grandmother. Suffering from growth hormone deficiency, so the family decided to move out of Argentina.

As the Messi family had relatives in Catalonia, they sought to arrange a trial with Barcelona in September 2000. First team director Charly Rexach immediately wanted to sign him, but the board of directors hesitated since it was highly unusual for European clubs to sign foreign players of such a young age. On 14 December, an ultimatum was issued for Barcelona to prove their commitment, and Rexach, with no other paper at hand, offered a contract on a paper napkin. In February 2001, the family relocated to Barcelona, where they moved into an apartment near the club’s stadium, Camp Nou. During his first year in Spain, Messi rarely played with the Infantiles due to a transfer conflict with his former team Newells Old Boys. As a foreigner, he could only be fielded in friendlies and the Catalan league. Without football, he struggled to integrate into the team. Being very quite and reserved his quietness made his team mates think that he was mute. At home, he suffered from homesickness after his mother moved back to Rosario with his brothers and little sister, María Sol, while he stayed in Barcelona with his father.

Messi enjoys a close relationship with his immediate family members, particularly his mother, Celia, whose face he has tattooed on his left shoulder. His professional affairs are largely run as a family business: his father, Jorge, has been his agent since he was 14, and his oldest brother, Rodrigo, handles his daily schedule and publicity. His mother and other brother, Matías, manage his charitable organisation, the Leo Messi Foundation, and take care of personal and professional matters in Rosario.

It was his mesmerizing performance on the field that led to his immense global popularity and influence. He was among the Time 100, an annual list of the world’s most influential people as published by Time, in 2011 and 2012. His fanbase on the social media website Facebook is among the largest of all public figures: within seven hours of its launch in April 2011, his Facebook page had nearly seven million followers, and by November 2013, he had become only the second sportsperson, after Cristiano Ronaldo, to amass over 50 million followers. According to a 2014 survey by sports research firm Repucom in 15 international markets, Messi was familiar to 87% of respondents around the world, of whom 78% perceived him favourably, making him the second-most recognized player globally, behind Ronaldo, and the most likeable of all contemporary players.

His popularity can be gauged by the fact that a solid gold replica of his left foot, weighing 25 kg (55 lb) and valued at $5.25 million, went on sale in Japan in March 2013 to raise funds for victims of the 2011 Thoku earthquake and tsunami. A 2013 Turkish Airlines advertisement starring Messi, in which he engages in a selfie competition with Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant, was the most-watched ad on YouTube in the year of its release, receiving 137 million views, and was subsequently voted the best advertisement of the 2005-15 decade to commemorate YouTube’s founding. World Press Photo selected “The Final Game”, a photograph of Messi facing the World Cup trophy after Argentina’s final defeat to Germany, as the best sports image of 2014.Messi, a documentary about his life by filmmaker Álex de la Iglesia, premiered at the Venice Film Festival in August 2014.

So, even though he did not win any trophy on the world stage for Argentina World Cup and Copa America but his performance for Barcelona has indeed made him a legend in football.