MS Shanker A short video doing the rounds on social media has ignited speculation: Did Prime Minister Narendra Modi narrowly escape an assassination attempt during his recent visit to Beijing for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit? The clip links together several threads — Modi’s remarks about “safe return” from international trips, his drive with…
When Even the Balls Were Fixed Stadium chairs are bad enough. But cricket without balls? That’s not just corruption — that’s sacrilege. Yet the HCA managed to pull it off, with the finesse of a street-corner hustler palming cards. The forensic audit uncovered the great cricket ball scam of 2020–22. It revolved around two shady…
So, Donald Trump did the unthinkable. He hiked the H1-B visa fee to a jaw-dropping $100,000 a year. Indians screamed, IT firms panicked, and WhatsApp groups of US-obsessed engineers went into collective mourning. “What about our dream?” they cried. Ah, the great American Dream—otherwise known as the great Indian Obsession. To them I say: stop…
MS Shanker In India, dynasties don’t fade; they just change uniforms. Some wear crisp white kurtas and sit in Parliament; others slip into blazers and preside over cricket associations. Either way, they rule. Elections and trials are for the aam aadmi; succession is strictly for the khaas aadmi’s son, daughter, nephew, or, when imagination runs…
MS Shanker The Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA), already under fire for a series of administrative lapses, has once again invited criticism—this time over its handling of women’s team selections. Despite being reduced to a truncated apex council after recent controversies, the remaining office-bearers had an opportunity to rebuild confidence. Instead, their latest decision has raised…
MS Shanker Fresh controversy is brewing around the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA), with growing calls for the state High Court–appointed one-man committee, headed by Justice Naveen Rao, to represent the association in the upcoming BCCI Presidential polls on September 28. The proposal was put forth by former HCA Secretary Sheshnarayan, who has written to both…
Chairs, Cheats, and Bogus Bills In his report, Rao also unveiled EY audit exposes, which are nothing short of daylight robbery. If the fire-safety tender was a scam and the gym contract was a daylight robbery, the bucket chair saga is pure theatre — equal parts comedy and crime. Stadium seating, meant to host thousands…
Southern politics is never short of drama, but the recent churn in Karnataka and Telangana suggests something bigger is at play. For the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has already redrawn the political map of India from the Hindi heartland to the far-flung Northeast, the South remains unfinished business. The saffron party has pockets of…
In geopolitics, actions often betray words. The past week saw US President Donald Trump execute a sharp climbdown after a spell of reckless remarks against India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Suddenly, Modi is once again a “good friend” and India a “strategic partner.” Yet this new warmth from Washington has less to do with…
MS Shanker From Glory to Greed For three decades, Hyderabad was the envy of Indian cricket. From the swagger of M.L. Jaisimha in the 1970s to the artistry of Mohammad Azharuddin in the 1980s and the resilience of V.V.S. Laxman in the 1990s, the city produced cricketers who defined eras. Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) was…
