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GLOBAL RECORDS: ARTS & CULTURE / CINEMA / MUSIC: RRR’s Golden Globes Win set to make SS Rajamouli the First Indian Director in Hollywood’s Top Rungs

RRR’s win at the Golden Globes is not just a win for SS Rajamouli and his team, but a win for Indian cinema. Now, all eyes are on the Oscars and what’s next for the celebrated filmmaker.

In Short

  • RRR has its sights on the Oscars now.
  • Rajamouli has signed with Hollywood’s premier talent agency CAA.
  • The RRR director has said that a sequel is in the works.

Director SS Rajamouli, Ram Charan, Jr NTR, and composer MM Keeravaani are over the moon with the historic win at the Golden Globes 2023. Following the prestigious award win, the Indians are rejoicing around the world. The big win by Team RRR not just made history for the Indian and Telegu cinemas, but has made it a force to reckon with.

The career path for the Baahubali director has now split wide open and Rajamouli is likely to become the first Indian director to be working in mainstream Hollywood. How did Jakanna, as he is fondly called, get to this incredible moment in his career?

CINEMA FOR INDIANS

All the 12 films that SS Rajamouli has directed so far have been in Telugu and, astoundingly, all of them have been successful at the box office. This is not a simple feat to achieve. With Eega, Rajamouli tasted the success of his films in non-Telugu speaking areas as well, as the movie was dubbed and released in various languages. The success of this film made Rajamouli a household name in India. Come Baahubali, he pushed boundaries not just in terms of the story and scale and, with the marketing blitz, his team created pan-India to ensure that all Indians get to see this larger-than-life film. He used innovative promotional tactics and engaged social media and the millennials to get them hooked on his film. This strategy paid off.

Watch Naatu Naatu from RRR

With RRR, Rajamouli, his cast and their marketing team went a step further. They decided to market it to the world rather than just India. The cast flew to various places, including Japan, and made sure they interacted closely with the media and the audience in every city they visited.

Rajamouli has always said his stories connect emotionally with the audiences and that’s what he strives for – RRR hit this brief 100% on the head. In the United States, moviegoers were impressed with the male bonding and the story of nationalism which emotionally struck a chord with the audience there. It became the second highest-grossing Indian in the US (after Baahubali) and Rajamouli knew that this was the opportunity he had to seize to make inroads into the American awards circuit.

Recently, Rajamouli went on the Seth Meyers and spoke about the success of RRR, stating, “I make films for Indians in India and across the globe. When appreciation came in from the West, our initial thought was that these were friends of Indians who had seen RRR. Then celebrities and story writers started talking about it.”

The momentum set forth by the success of RRR at the box office has led it to making history at the Golden Globes 2023 by getting Naatu Naatu the Best Original Song award, beating the likes of Rihanna and Taylor Swift. However, this is just the beginning for Rajamouli.

HOLLYWOOD NEXT

While Rajamouli may talk about the sequel of RRR, this will be a while in the making given the other film commitments that RRR stars Ram Charan and Jr NTR have at this point. The Magadheera director is also said to have signed a film with Telugu superstar Mahesh Babu. It is Hollywood, though, that the director has his sights firmly set on.

Rajamouli has been signed by the American talent agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA), which is the number one agency in Hollywood. American producers, filmmakers, and actors have sat up and taken notice of Rajamouli’s work and, though he has currently worked only in Indian cinema, they understand that his style of storytelling and vision is as brilliant as some of the best directors in Hollywood.

Take the case of Oscar-winning director Ang Lee. Ang Lee, who started his career with Chinese language films, got roped into Hollywood and went on to successfully straddle the world of English and Chinese cinema. This is the possible career trajectory that Rajamouli could be looking at at this point – his heart may lie with Indian cinema, but Hollywood would allow him the budget, the reach and the opportunity of creating films that could turn out to be as big as the Marvel or DC films. Collaborations with American producers and stars could also allow Rajamouli to create Indian films that appeal to both Indian and Western audiences.

For Rajamouli, RRR was a story about superheroes and not just two freedom fighters. The Yamadonga director has stated that he uses his imagination to create different worlds and his stories have always been ruled by his imagination.

South film industry insiders strongly predict that Rajamouli would definitely sign a Hollywood in the coming times. This would make him the first Indian director to sign a mainstream Hollywood film and once that happens, he will again be creating another new paradigm shift for Indian cinema and the Indian film industry.

With an Oscar prediction for RRR as well, it’s just a matter of time before Rajamouli steps foot into Hollywood.

source/content: indiatoday.in (headline edited)

NATIONAL: DEFENCE SERVICES: January 15th – Celebrated as Indian Army Day | Here’s why it is Celebrated on January 15 every year

India celebrates 75th Army Day today.

India celebrates Army Day on January 15 every year to commemorate the achievements of the first Indian Commander in Chief of the Indian Army — General (later Field Marshal) K.M. Cariappa.

On this day, Cariappa, who led Indian forces to victory in the 1947 war, took over the command of the Indian Army from General Sir FRR Bucher, the last British Commander-in-Chief in 1949 and became the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of Independent India. The Army Day is celebrated every year to honour Cariappa and the defence forces.

Until last year, the main Army Day parade was held at the Cariappa Parade ground in Delhi where Service Chiefs paid homage to the Indian Army. The Army Day Parade showcases the evolution of various weapon systems held in the Indian Army’s inventory. Soldiers are also awareded with Gallantry awards and Sena medals on the day.

Army Day 2023

As part of an initiative to take major events to other parts of the country, away from the national capital region, the 75th Army Day will be held in Bengaluru this year.

The rationale behind the move is to bring about increased visibility of these events and secure greater engagement with the local population.

The parade on Army Day will begin with a wreath-laying ceremony by Chief of Army Staff General Manoj Pande at Madras Engineer Centre War Memorial. Gen. Pande will then review the Army Day parade. COAS unit citations will also be awarded to units for their exceptional performance.

As many as eight marching contingents including a horse-mounted contingent from the Army Service Corps and a military band comprising regimental brass bands will be a part of this year’s Army parade. The Army Day parade will also be supported by a flypast of Army aviation Dhruv and Rudra helicopters.

As a part of the Army outreach programme to build a better bond with civilians, a run was organised in Hyderabad at Necklace Road where around 1,000 people participated. A blood donation camp was also organsied in which 7,500 units of blood were donated in both Hyderabad and Secunderabad at Military hospitals.

In 2022, the Indian Army’s theme for the event was “In Stride with the Future”. It was seen as an acknowledgement of the “increasingly critical role played by niche and disruptive technologies in modern warfare”.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

GLOBAL RECORDS: ARTS & CULTURE/ HISTORY/ MANUSCRIPTS: World’s First Palm-Leaf Manuscript Museum in Kerala capital, a Mine of Stories

The facility is essentially a repository of curious nuggets of administrative, socio-cultural and economic facets of Travancore spanning a period of 650 years till the end of the 19th century.

A treasure house of both obscure and celebrated tales of the erstwhile Travancore kingdom that became Asia’s first to defeat any European power on Indian soil, the recently opened Palm leaf Manuscript Museum in the Kerala capital has further brightened the state’s cultural and academic space.

Billed as the world’s first palm leaf manuscript museum, the facility is essentially a repository of curious nuggets of administrative, socio-cultural and economic facets of Travancore spanning a period of 650 years till the end of the 19th century, besides documents relating to territories of Kochi in the state’s middle and Malabar further north.

Besides brightening the state’s culture space, the museum also serves as a reference point for historical and cultural research for academic and non-academic scholars, officials said.

Among the manuscripts that the museum houses are accounts of the famed Battle of Colachel wherein the valiant Travancore king Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma (1729-58) defeated the Dutch East India Company at Colachel, 20 km northwest of Kanyakumari in present-day Tamil Nadu.

This 1741 victory ended Dutch expansion in India, and Travancore under Marthanda Varma became Asia’s first state to defeat the expansionist designs of any European power.

The museum, which opened last week, has 187 manuscripts chronicling a mine of stories based entirely on primary sources: Documents written on cured and treated palm leaves consigned to the corners of the records rooms.

The archival material, in the first phase, was chosen after painstaking sifting from a huge stock of haphazardly stored 1.5 crore palm-leaf records from across the state.

Today, the select documents occupy what is the world’s only manuscript museum that solely displays sheaves of palm leaf materials and allied paraphernalia such as styluses and carriers of the Cadjan bundles, they said.

Bamboo splints and copper plates, too, make a presence. Officials are elated about the museum set up on the ground floor of the three-century-old complex which functions as the Central Archives under the state government.

More so, since this is just the first move towards a major heritage conservation project. With its eight galleries that also feature videos and QR code systems permitting the acquisition of information, the facility is wooing common people and niche researchers alike.

The manuscripts also outline the evolution of writing in the region, points out Dr V Venu, State Additional Chief Secretary (Archaeology, Archives and Museums).

“They give visitors an idea about the emergence of the Malayalam script from older systems such as Vattezhuthu and Kolezhuthu,” he said.

“Primarily, the galleries give a glimpse of the complex administrative systems of land management, path-breaking proclamations of the Travancore royals and international negotiations as well as agreements, besides documents that became historical milestones,” said Venu, also a former Director General of National Museum in Delhi.

The museum here is expected to breathe new life into exploring the entire manuscript collection and hopes to attract more researchers and students.

The collection of palm leaf records will soon move to a modern facility in the city, with arrangements for scientific storage and study.

“It is a safe set-up, giving a comfortable space for research,” Venu said. R Chandran Pillai, Executive Director of the government’s Keralam Museum, the nodal agency assigned to set up and refurbish repositories across the state, claimed that the palm leaf storehouse had no previous models anywhere in the world. The manuscripts straddle six centuries, from 1249 CE to 1896, said J Rejikumar, who heads the Directorate of Archives.

According to author-historian S Uma Maheswari, palm leaves have the capacity to plug certain gaps in Kerala’s history.

“The records may not guarantee continuity to past events, but they own a great potential to lend new angles to existing narratives and strengthen their composition as well as colour,” said the writer of the two-volume Mathilakam Records that essays Travancore history of the last millennium.

“Each item in the museum is a commentary on the state affairs: Revenue, defence, administration, health, education, religion, caste, corruption, crime and whatnot,” Maheswari said.

The museum has eight galleries representing as many segments: ‘History of Writing’, ‘Land and people’, ‘Administration’, ‘War and peace’, ‘Education and Health’, ‘Economy’, ‘Art and culture’ and ‘Mathilakam Records’. The tile-roof museum housed the Central Archives two years after the department was formed in 1962.

Before that, it had been the Central Vernacular Records Office since 1887. Till then, the building was a prison under the Travancore ruler and, prior to it, barracks of his Nair army.

source/content: newindianexpress.com (headline edited)

WORLD RECORD: TRAVEL & TOURISM: PM Flags Off World’s Longest River Cruise, Trip Costs 20 Lakhs: 10 Facts

It will cost ₹ 25,000 to ₹ 50,000 a day, with the total cost for the 51-day journey totalling to around ₹ 20 lakh for each passenger, the cruise’s Director Raj Singh said.

Here’s your 10-point guide to this big story:

  1. The PM inaugurated a ‘Tent City’, developed on the lines of similar setups in Gujarat’s Kutch and Rajasthan, on the banks of the Ganga in Varanasi. Over 200 tents will offer tourists a panoramic view of the famed ghats of the holy city on the other side of the river along with live classical music, ‘aarti’ in the evening, and yoga sessions. He also laid the foundation for several inland waterways projects, worth over ₹ 1,000 crore.
  2. “With this cruise, many places of eastern India will now figure in world tourism map… What can be more unfortunate that since Independence the banks of the Ganga did not develop and thousands of people living along the Ganges had to migrate for job,” the PM said.
  3. MV Ganga Vilas is the first cruise vessel to be made in India. It will travel 3,200 km in 51 days. The 32 tourists from Switzerland, who will take the first journey, were welcomed at the Varanasi port with garlands and tunes of shehnai. They will visit various religious and historical places in Varanasi before setting out on the cruise.
  4. The cruise’s Director Raj Singh told news agency PTI that this five-star moving hotel has 18 suites with the capacity of 36 tourists. Apart from this, it has accommodation for 40 crew members. The modernist ship is 62 meters in length and 12 meters wide and requires a draft of 1.4 meters. 
  5. It will take tourists across 27 river systems and will cruise through various prominent destinations. According to a statement from Uttar Pradesh Tourism Minister Jaiveer Singh issued in Lucknow, the cruise will cover 50 tourist destinations including world heritage sites, national parks, river ghats, and major cities like Patna in Bihar, Shahiganj in Jharkhand, Kolkata in West Bengal, Dhaka in Bangladesh, and Guwahati in Assam.
  6. The cruise has also been fitted with facilities such as spa, salon, and gym. It will cost ₹ 25,000 to ₹ 50,000 a day, with the total cost for the 51-day journey totalling to around ₹ 20 lakh for each passenger, Raj Singh said. The cruise is equipped with a pollution-free system and noise control technology, he added.
  7. There is a Sewage Treatment Plant on this cruise so that no sewage flows into the Ganges, as well as a filtration plant which purifies the Ganga water for bathing and other purposes, the cruise director said.
  8. “The journey will give the foreign tourists an opportunity to embark upon an experiential voyage and indulge in the art, culture, history, and spirituality of India and Bangladesh,” Union Minister for Port Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal told news agency ANI.
  9. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has criticised the initiative. In a tweet in Hindi with a photograph of the cruise, Mr Yadav said, “Now will the BJP take away the jobs of the sailors as well? BJP’s policy of earning money by making religious places tourist sites is condemnable. People from all over the world come to experience the spiritual splendour of Kashi, not for luxury. BJP will no longer be able to cover the darkness of real issues with external glare.” 
  10. “India has everything that you can imagine. It has a lot beyond your imagination. India cannot be defined in words. It can only be experienced from the heart,” PM Modi said in his message for tourists.

source/content: ndtv.com (headline edited)

WORLD RECORD: ARTS & CULTURE / HISTORY / MUSEUM: World’s First Palm-Leaf Manuscript Museum in Kerala capital- a Mine of Stories

The facility is essentially a repository of curious nuggets of administrative, socio-cultural and economic facets of Travancore spanning a period of 650 years till the end of the 19th century.

A treasure house of both obscure and celebrated tales of the erstwhile Travancore kingdom that became Asia’s first to defeat any European power on Indian soil, the recently opened Palm leaf Manuscript Museum in the Kerala capital has further brightened the state’s cultural and academic space.

Billed as the world’s first palm leaf manuscript museum, the facility is essentially a repository of curious nuggets of administrative, socio-cultural and economic facets of Travancore spanning a period of 650 years till the end of the 19th century, besides documents relating to territories of Kochi in the state’s middle and Malabar further north.

Besides brightening the state’s culture space, the museum also serves as a reference point for historical and cultural research for academic and non-academic scholars, officials said.

Among the manuscripts that the museum houses are accounts of the famed Battle of Colachel wherein the valiant Travancore king Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma (1729-58) defeated the Dutch East India Company at Colachel, 20 km northwest of Kanyakumari in present-day Tamil Nadu.

This 1741 victory ended Dutch expansion in India, and Travancore under Marthanda Varma became Asia’s first state to defeat the expansionist designs of any European power.

The museum, which opened last week, has 187 manuscripts chronicling a mine of stories based entirely on primary sources: Documents written on cured and treated palm leaves consigned to the corners of the records rooms.

The archival material, in the first phase, was chosen after painstaking sifting from a huge stock of haphazardly stored 1.5 crore palm-leaf records from across the state.

Today, the select documents occupy what is the world’s only manuscript museum that solely displays sheaves of palm leaf materials and allied paraphernalia such as styluses and carriers of the Cadjan bundles, they said.

Bamboo splints and copper plates, too, make a presence. Officials are elated about the museum set up on the ground floor of the three-century-old complex which functions as the Central Archives under the state government.

More so, since this is just the first move towards a major heritage conservation project. With its eight galleries that also feature videos and QR code systems permitting the acquisition of information, the facility is wooing common people and niche researchers alike.

The manuscripts also outline the evolution of writing in the region, points out Dr V Venu, State Additional Chief Secretary (Archaeology, Archives and Museums).

“They give visitors an idea about the emergence of the Malayalam script from older systems such as Vattezhuthu and Kolezhuthu,” he said.

“Primarily, the galleries give a glimpse of the complex administrative systems of land management, path-breaking proclamations of the Travancore royals and international negotiations as well as agreements, besides documents that became historical milestones,” said Venu, also a former Director General of National Museum in Delhi.

The museum here is expected to breathe new life into exploring the entire manuscript collection and hopes to attract more researchers and students.

The collection of palm leaf records will soon move to a modern facility in the city, with arrangements for scientific storage and study.

“It is a safe set-up, giving a comfortable space for research,” Venu said. R Chandran Pillai, Executive Director of the government’s Keralam Museum, the nodal agency assigned to set up and refurbish repositories across the state, claimed that the palm leaf storehouse had no previous models anywhere in the world. The manuscripts straddle six centuries, from 1249 CE to 1896, said J Rejikumar, who heads the Directorate of Archives.

According to author-historian S Uma Maheswari, palm leaves have the capacity to plug certain gaps in Kerala’s history.

“The records may not guarantee continuity to past events, but they own a great potential to lend new angles to existing narratives and strengthen their composition as well as colour,” said the writer of the two-volume Mathilakam Records that essays Travancore history of the last millennium.

“Each item in the museum is a commentary on the state affairs: Revenue, defence, administration, health, education, religion, caste, corruption, crime and whatnot,” Maheswari said.

The museum has eight galleries representing as many segments: ‘History of Writing’, ‘Land and people’, ‘Administration’, ‘War and peace’, ‘Education and Health’, ‘Economy’, ‘Art and culture’ and ‘Mathilakam Records’. The tile-roof museum housed the Central Archives two years after the department was formed in 1962.

Before that, it had been the Central Vernacular Records Office since 1887. Till then, the building was a prison under the Travancore ruler and, prior to it, barracks of his Nair army.

source/content: newindianexpress.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL AWARD: ARTS & CULTURE / CINEMA & MUSIC: Golden Globes 2023: ‘RRR’ wins Best Original Song for ‘Naatu Naatu’

The film is directed by SS Rajamouli, and stars the likes of Ram Charan, Jr NTR, Alia Bhatt and Ajay Devgn among others.

SS Rajamouli’s RRR has created history becoming the first Indian film to win a Golden Globe.

RRR won for Best Original song at the ongoing ceremony for Naatu Naatu. The song is composed by music director MM Keeravaani, and sung by Kala Bhairava and Rahul Sipligunj, with lyrics by Chandrabose.

Also Read | Golden Globes 2023: Here’s the list of key winners

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the team over Twitter, calling it a “very special accomplishment”.

Ex-Vice President, film personalities congratulate ‘RRR’ team

Former Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu, Telugu star Chiranjeevi and several other celebrities congratulated musician M. M. Keeravani and other team members of ‘RRR’.

Taking to twitter to congratulate the team over its win, Mr. Naidu said, “Every Indian is proud of the global recognition for #NaatuNaatu song from #RRRMovie Heartiest congratulations to ace music composer, Keeravani Garu & RRR team for bagging the #GoldenGlobes2023 Award for the best original song!”

Chiranjeevi, whose son Ram Charan played the lead role alongside Jr NTR in ‘RRR’, described the global recognition of the film as a ‘historic achievement.’ “What a Phenomenal, Historic Achievement!!!! Golden Globes Best Original Song – Motion Picture Award to @mmkeeravaani garu !! Take a Bow,” he tweeted.

“Heartiest Congratulations Team @RRRMovie & @ssrajamouli !! India is proud of you!,” Chiranjeevi said.

Top Telugu star Nagarjuna also congratulated Keeravani and his team for the feat.

“Congratulations to @mmkeeravaani garu and his team on winning the #GoldenGlobes2023 for #NatuNatu song in #RRR on the way to the oscars now,” Nagarjuna said on Twitter.

The original song nominees were “Carolina,” from “Where the Crawdads Sing,” music by Taylor Swift; “Ciao Papa,” from “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” music by Alexandre Desplat; “Hold My Hand,” from “Top Gun: Maverick,” music by Lady Gaga, BloodPop, Benjamin Rice” and “Lift Me Up,” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” music by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler, Ludwig Göransson.

Drawing inspiration from the lives of freedom fighters Komaram Bheem and Alluri Sitarama Raju,   RRR narrates a fictional tale set in the 1920s. The film boasts an ensemble cast, starring the likes of Jr NTR, Ram Charan, Ajay Devgn, Alia Bhatt, Olivia Morris, Samuthirakani, Alison Doody, and Ray Stevenson.

RRR is also nominated for Best Picture non-English language category.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

GLOBAL RECORD: SPORTS / FIELD HOCKEY: ‘Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium, Rourkela is the World’s Largest in terms of Seating Capacity – Certified by International Hockey Federation(FIH): Odisha Government

Amid a row over the status of Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela among major stadia across the globe, the Odisha government claimed that it is the world’s largest facility in terms of seating capacity and certified by the International Hockey Federation (FIH).

The Rourkela facility will host the Men’s World Cup Hockey, organised by the FIH, along with Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.

The tournament will be held between January 13 and 29.

After Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated the “world’s largest hockey stadium” in Rourkela on Thursday, a BJP MLA contested the claim and asserted that it is “the fourth”.

“Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela is the world’s biggest. We are not saying this. It has been certified by FIH that the stadium is the biggest in terms of seating capacity,” Sports and Youth Affairs Minister T K Behera said.

BJP lawmaker Shankar Oram from Biramitrapur in Sundergarh district claimed that the National Hockey Stadium in Pakistan’s Lahore with a capacity of 45,000 people is the world’s largest.

It is followed by Chandigarh Hockey Stadium (30,000) and Weingart Stadium (multipurpose) in Los Angeles in the US (22,355).

“Bisra Munda Hockey Stadium comes at number four”, he said wondering how the chief minister called it the world’s largest.

Odisha’s Sports Secretary R Vaineel Krishna had earlier clarified to PTI that the Bisra Munda Hockey Stadium is the largest as 20,000 people can formally seat and witness a match which is not available anywhere in India.

Other stadia in India might have the capacity to accommodate more people but that includes “standing accommodation”, he said.

The Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar has a seating arrangement for 15,000 people.

The Birsa Munda Stadium also has a World Cup Village with 225 rooms to house 400 players and officials. Of the total 44 matches of the World Cup, 20 will be played in Rourkela.

PTI AAM RG BDC BDC

source/content: theprint.in (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: INDIAN-ORIGIN / LEADERS: USA: Manpreet Monica Singh becomes First Female Sikh Judge to swear in

There are an estimated 500,000 Sikhs in the US, with 20,000 Sikhs living in the Houston area.

Indian-origin Manpreet Monica Singh has been sworn in as a Harris county judge, becoming the first female Sikh judge in the US.

Singh was born and raised in Houston and now lives in Bellaire with her husband and two children. She was sworn in as a judge of the Harris County Civil Court at Law No.4 in Texas on Friday.

Singh’s father immigrated to the US in the early 1970s.

A trial lawyer for 20 years, she has been involved in numerous civil rights organizations at the local, state, and national levels.

“It means a lot to me because I represent H-town (a nickname of Houston) the most, so for it to be us, I’m happy for it,” she said at the oath ceremony.

Indian-American Judge Ravi Sandill, the state’s first South Asian judge, presided over the ceremony, which took place in a packed courtroom.

“It’s a really big moment for the Sikh community,” Sandill said.

“When they see someone of colour, someone a little different, they know that possibility is available to them. Manpreet is not only an ambassador for Sikhs, but she’s an ambassador for all women of colour,” he said.

There are an estimated 500,000 Sikhs in the US, with 20,000 Sikhs living in the Houston area.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said, “It was a proud day for the Sikh Community, but also a proud day for all people of Colour who see the Diversity of the City of Houston in the Diversity of the Court.”

source/content: newindianexpress.com (headline edited)

GLOBAL RECORDS: AUTOMOBILES: India Surpasses Japan to become 3rd Largest Auto Market Globally

India’s sales volume is expected to rise further with the inclusion of pending fourth-quarter sales figures for commercial vehicles.

India eclipsed Japan in auto sales last year, according to the latest industry data, making it the third-largest auto market for the first time, Nikkei Asia reported on Friday.

India’s sales of new vehicles totalled at least 4.25 million units, based on preliminary results, topping the 4.2 million sold in Japan. New vehicles delivered in India totalled 4.13 million between January and November 2022, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers. Adding December’s sales volume reported on Sunday by Maruti Suzuki, India’s largest carmaker, brings the total to roughly 4.25 million units.

India’s sales volume is expected to rise further with the inclusion of pending fourth-quarter sales figures for commercial vehicles, along with year-end results yet to be released by Tata Motors and other automakers, according to Nikkei Asia.

In 2021, China continued to lead the global auto market, with 26.27 million vehicles sold. The U.S. remained second at 15.4 million vehicles, followed by Japan at 4.44 million units. Nikkei Asia said India’s auto market has fluctuated in recent years. Roughly 4.4 million vehicles were sold in 2018, but volume dipped below 4 million units in 2019, due primarily to the credit crunch that hit the nonbank sector that year. When the Covid pandemic triggered a countrywide lockdown in 2020, vehicle sales plummeted further below the 3-million-unit mark. Sales recovered in 2021 to approach 4 million units, but the shortage of automotive chips weighed on growth.

Vehicles powered by gasoline, including hybrid vehicles, accounted for most of the new autos sold in India last year, Nikkei Asia said, adding that electric vehicles hardly have a presence. Autos for the Indian market are seen as having fewer semiconductors than those sold in advanced economies. According to Nikkei Asia, the easing of the automotive chip crunch in 2022 provided a springboard for recovery.

Along with Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and other Indian automakers saw sales growth last year. India is home to 1.4 billion people, and its population is expected to outstrip China sometime this year and continue growing until the early 2060s. Incomes are rising as well. Only 8.5% of Indian households owned a passenger vehicle in 2021, according to British research firm Euromonitor, meaning there is plenty of room for sales growth.

The government has started offering subsidies for EVs amid a trade deficit resulting from petroleum imports. In Japan, 4,201,321 vehicles were sold last year, down 5.6% from 2021, according to data from the Japan Automobile Dealers Association and the Japan Light Motor Vehicle and Motorcycle Association. Nikkei Asia said the omicron epidemic and the lockdowns in China greatly undercut production, leaving automakers unable to meet demand.

Japan’s auto sales peaked in 1990 at 7.77 million units, meaning sales have tumbled by nearly half from the all-time high, according to Nikkei Asia. And the country’s declining population offers little prospect for a significant recovery in sales in the foreseeable future. According to Nikkei Asia, China surged past Japan to become the second-largest auto market in 2006. In 2009, China overtook the U.S. to become the world’s largest market.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: LEADERS / LEGAL & LAW: Chief Justice of India (CJI) Chandrachud to be Conferred with the ‘Award for Global Leadership’ by Harvard Law School Center

At the event, professor David Wilkins of the Harvard Law School will also have a conversation with the CJI.

Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud has been selected for the “Award for Global Leadership” by the Harvard Law School Center in recognition of his lifetime service to the legal profession in the country and around the world.

The award will be presented to him at an online event on January 11.

Chandrachud obtained an LLM degree and a Doctorate in Juridical Sciences (SJD) from the Harvard Law School in the United States.

At the event, professor David Wilkins of the Harvard Law School will also have a conversation with the CJI.

Justice Chandrachud, who was part of the apex court benches that delivered several landmark verdicts, including the Ayodhya land dispute case, was sworn in as the 50th CJI on November 9, 2022.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)