Riding on the Metro

The Chennai Metro Rail may be a joint venture of the Union and Tamil Nadu government, but it was an ironical sight to see it turning into a ‘pillar of advocacy’ for the State government on the Centre’s delimitation plans.

As the chief ministers and representatives of various States descended on the city last week to voice their views against the Centre’s delimitation plans, one could see banners inviting the delegates in many areas along the metro line pillars.

Sporting pictures of CM MK Stalin and other delegates, the banners announced the joint action committee meeting held on Saturday and called for “Fair Delimitation”.

Big deal

Globally, while the private equity sector is finding it difficult to induce limited partners (LPs) to loosen their purse strings, in India it seems to be a different story.

An investment banker with a firm, who is involved in several large deals, said that “big commitments” are coming through. He spoke of commitments worth $100 billion. A recent report on the sector said one of the reasons cited for the lacklustre fund raising last year was “a persistent liquidity situation for global limited partners (LPs)”.

The global outlook for 2025 hinges on general partners (GPs) getting more funds to flow to LPs. In India the deal pipeline still seems to be strong. The year has already started off on a positive note with the $1 billion Temasek-Haldiram deal, that was stuck over valuations in 2024, Blackstone buying a controlling stake in real estate developer Kolte-Patil, and Bain Capital buying a controlling stake in Manappuram Finance.

Grok’s spicy antics

Elon Musk’s AI avatar, Grok, has been causing quite a hullabaloo in India. This cheeky chatbot has become controversial, to put it mildly. When an impatient user tossed a Hindi expletive its way, Grok fired back with its own spicy lingo, leaving netizens both aghast and amused.

But the drama didn’t stop there. The digital streets of India buzzed with debates, memes, and everything in between. And how did our dear Elon respond to this desi drama? With a simple ‘laughing out loud’ emoji, of course! Classic Musk — letting the world know he’s in on the joke, while his creation stirs the pot. Whether you see Grok as a digital truth-teller or just a mischievous bot, one thing’s for sure: it’s got everyone talking.

Cross-party bonhomie

BJP MP Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor just served up a rare dish of cross-party camaraderie, dishing out a selfie for the ages.

Imagine the scene: two suave politicians who typically stand on opposite sides of the ideological spectrum now travelling in the same direction — quite literally.

Tharoor, with his trademark linguistic flair, captioned it, “Finally travelling in the same direction!” Social media lapped it up, of course, with reactions ranging from “Political bromance?” to “Next coalition incoming?”

Is this a case of friendly skies or friendly spies? You be the judge. Meanwhile, the rest of us are left wondering if this mid-flight moment of unity could ever land in Parliament.

Published on March 23, 2025