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He was a model to me of artistic labor and discipline, even if those early paintings were painfully amateurish. The painting followed me from Amherst to my first job in New York, and on to London and Delhi. IT WASN’T MY intention to start an essay about artistic beginnings with a story of artistic death. I’m especially moved by those first moments of validation by which an artist comes out to himself, as it were. It’s this, the inexorability of the correspondence between an artist and the world, that gives those first steps their magical quality.

Persons: Naipaul, Neil Shah, James Wood —, Zack, who’d, ”, Artemisia Gentileschi, Susanna, Elders ”, I’m, ” Gustave Flaubert, “, ” Zack, it’s, Bruce Chatwin, Paul Gauguin, Salman Rushdie, Somerset Maugham, Kathryn Bigelow, Philip Glass, Arundhati Roy, Booker, Joseph Conrad, Conrad, Jacques, ” Conrad, brimming, ’, ’ ”, Clarice Lispector, Benjamin Moser, ” Lispector, Maugham, eludes, Jan van Kessel, Elder, — Pieter Bruegel, —, Rebecca West —, “ Black Lamb, J.R, Hammond, Wells, Rebecca West ”, sloughed, Henrik Ibsen’s, Rosmersholm ”, Karan Mahajan, Salman Toor, what’s, ” Hemingway, Anoushka Shankar, Ravi Shankar, Harold Bloom, Ravi, Uday, René Daumal, Rasa ”, ” Anoushka, Norah Jones, Norah, I’ve, “ Raphael, Rachel Cusk, Italy ”, Perugino, Raphael, Cusk, J.M, Samuel Beckett, Gabriel García Márquez, Thomas Pynchon’s, James Joyce, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Marcel Proust’s, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Read, Emma Kehlbeck, Quinton Kamara Organizations: Amherst College, Elders, Fayerweather, ”, Google, Sunday Times, Somerset, Yugoslavia, The, “, . Locations: Delhi, ”, Massachusetts, Italian, Topeka, Kan, Amherst, New York, London, Patagonia, New Delhi, Torrens, Cambridge, Polish, Ukrainian, Brazil, Flemish, Victorian England, “ H.G, Fairfield, United States, “, East, Lahore, Europe, America, Texas, Side, Manhattan, India, Italy

He was a model to me of artistic labor and discipline, even if those early paintings were painfully amateurish. IT WASN’T MY intention to start an essay about artistic beginnings with a story of artistic death. No one captured the massive cultural and economic disparities of my life in Delhi (and his in Lahore) like Toor. But quite unbeknown to me, Toor’s life in New York had opened up a new vein of material. Not everyone who sees a Michelangelo can go off and paint a Michelangelo.”THERE ARE SO many ways to begin.

☆ Nita Ambani is now the most powerful woman in Indian media
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Diksha Madhok | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

New Delhi CNN —Just a few months ago, Nita Ambani stepped away from frontline business to focus on philanthropy. Now, the wife of Asia’s richest man is back with the biggest job in the ferociously competitive world of India media. Nita Ambani will not be steering the media giant alone. Nita Ambani first stepped into the business limelight 10 years ago, becoming the first woman director on the board of Reliance Industries. With her new job title, Nita Ambani has become the most powerful woman in Indian media and entertainment sector, which is worth over $25 billion and growing rapidly.

Persons: New Delhi CNN —, Nita Ambani, Mukesh Ambani, Uday Shankar, “, ”, Ambani’s, Nita Mukesh Ambani, Bikas Das, —, Isha, Anant, Akash —, Akash, ” Nita Ambani, National Stock Exchange —, EY, Mihir Shah Organizations: New, New Delhi CNN, Disney’s, Reliance Industries, Disney’s Asia, Disney, Reliance Foundation, Indian Premier League, IPL, Reliance, Music, International Olympic Committee, Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Stock Exchange, Media Partners, Netflix Locations: New Delhi, India, Mumbai, Disney India, New York, Viacom18

☆ Disney and Reliance to merge media businesses in India in $8.5 billion joint venture
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Ruxandra Iordache | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Entertainment titan Walt Disney and Indian conglomerate Reliance will merge their Indian businesses, the U.S. entertainment giant announced Wednesday. The companies will be combining their respective Star India and Viacom18 units into the newly-created Star India joint venture, valued at roughly $ 8.5 billion on a post-money basis, excluding synergies. Following the completion of the transaction, Reliance, led by Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani, will control the JV and inject $1.4 billion into its growth strategy. The ownership structure will comprise of a 16.38% interest for Reliance, 46.82% for Ambani's Viacom18 and 36.84% for Disney. Ambani's wife, Nita Ambani will chair the joint venture, while Viacom18 board member Uday Shankar will serve as vice chairperson.

Persons: Walt Disney, Mukesh Ambani, Ambani's, Nita Ambani, Uday Shankar Organizations: Reliance, Star India, Asia's, JV, Disney Locations: U.S

In southern Gaza, Israeli forces pushed further into the city of Khan Younis, where the intensity of the fighting has increased in recent days. The Israeli military on Friday ordered residents of three neighborhoods and the Khan Younis refugee camp to evacuate to a coastal area. The leader of Hamas in Gaza, Yehya Sinwar, and the commander of the group’s military wing, Mohammed Deif, both grew up in the Khan Younis refugee camp. Israel blames Hamas for the high civilian death toll for positioning fighters and military hardware in dense residential neighborhoods. “We grind it and bake it.”All supplies enter Gaza in the south, either through the Egyptian-controlled Rafah border crossing or Israel's Kerem Shalom crossing.

Persons: Khan Younis, Khan, Yehya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, Israel, Ashraf al, Qidra, Uday Samir, ”, Samir, ___ Jeffery Organizations: United Nations ’, Court of Justice, Gaza’s Health, Hamas, ’, United Nations Locations: DEIR, Gaza, Khan, South Africa, The Hague, Netherlands, Israel, Israel's, Gaza City, “, Rafah, Shalom, Deir al, Nuseirat, London, israel

☆ Palestinian ex-prisoner hopes his son will also be freed in Israel swap
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Yosri Aljamal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

HEBRON, West Bank, Nov 22 (Reuters) - For Yusif Abu Maria, the looming Gaza hostage deal is especially personal. Not only is his son on a list of candidates of imprisoned Palestinians to be freed by Israel: It would be a replay of Abu Maria's own release from jail almost 20 years ago. In return, 150 female inmates or teenaged males will be released from Israeli security prisons. Many Israelis see the Palestinian prisoners as dangerous foes whose freedom would raise risks of new and widespread violence. "I feel just like any mother who has a wounded son in jail would," said Yusif's wife, Fida.

Persons: Abu Maria, Abu Maria's, Ubay Abu Maria, Israel, Ubay's, I've, Yusif, Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah, Uday, Dan Williams, Nick Macfie Organizations: West Bank, Gaza, Qatari, Israel's, Ubay, Reuters, Islamic, Prisons Service, Thomson Locations: HEBRON, West, Israel, Gaza, Lebanese

NEW DELHI (AP) — Top diplomats and defense chiefs from India and the United States met Friday focusing on security issues involving the Indo-Pacific, China and the Israel-Hamas war. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. and India have a strong partnership and would discuss matters with implications for the future. He also said that the United States and India are bolstering their partnership in international peace and strengthening a rule-based order. Political Cartoons View All 1239 ImagesBlinken also said defense cooperation was a key pillar in ties between the countries. India and the U.S. have held the two-plus-two talks between India’s external affairs and defense minister and the U.S. secretaries of state and defense since 2018 to discuss issues of concern and strengthen bilateral ties.

Persons: Antony Blinken, ”, Blinken, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Uday Bhaskar, Defense Lloyd Austin, Rajnath Singh, Narendra Modi’s Organizations: DELHI, —, U.S, Association of Southeast, Nations, Defense, Indian Locations: India, United, Pacific, China, Israel, U.S, Asia, Japan, Australia, United States, Palestine, Gaza, Ukraine, Philippines, South China, Ladakh, Arunachal Pradesh, Washington

MUMBAI, Oct 21 (Reuters) - India's central bank has approved the appointment of veteran banker Ashok Vaswani as managing director and chief executive of Kotak Mahindra Bank (KTKM.NS), the private lender said in an exchange filing on Saturday. Vaswani's appointment comes after billionaire Uday Kotak, who founded Kotak Mahindra Bank, resigned as the MD and CEO last month in a surprise move, citing personal reasons. Dipak Gupta, currently the managing director and CEO, will carry out the chief executive duties until Dec. 31, the bank had said last month. "I am delighted that the RBI has approved our recommendation, Ashok Vaswani, as the next CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank," Kotak said in the filing, describing him as a "world class leader" with digital and customer focus. KVS Manian and Shanti Ekambaram, the two most senior bankers at Kotak Mahindra Bank, will remain on the board and keep their current roles, Gupta added.

Persons: Ashok Vaswani, Vaswani, Vaswani's, Uday Kotak, Dipak Gupta, Kotak, Gupta, KVS Manian, Shanti Ekambaram, Siddhi Nayak, Ira Dugal, William Mallard Organizations: Kotak Mahindra Bank, Citigroup Asia Pacific, Barclays, Reserve Bank of India, Kotak, Siddhi, Thomson Locations: MUMBAI

The $15.50 per month price for Netflix's most popular streaming option in the U.S. will remain unchanged, as will a $7 monthly plan that includes intermittent commercials. The increase left Netflix with about 247 million worldwide subscribers, well above the 243.8 million projected by analysts surveyed by FactSet Research. Netflix has picked up more than 16 million subscribers through the first nine months of the year, already eclipsing the 8.9 million subscribers that it added all of last year. The crackdown also has boosted Netflix’s in another way – current subscribers can share their accounts with someone living outside their households by paying higher monthly fees. The higher prices for Netflix's premium plans also seems likely to divert more subscribers into the ad-supported option.

Persons: it’s, ’, Greg Peters, hasn’t, Harding, Uday Cheruvu, Peters, ” Cheruvu, “, ”, Scott Purdy Organizations: FRANCISCO, Netflix, FactSet Research, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, KPMG Locations: U.S, —, France, Los Gatos , California

☆ Bodhi Tree Systems' Uday Shankar discusses India's 'unique' pay TV model
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-28 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

In this videoShare Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailBodhi Tree Systems' Uday Shankar discusses India's 'unique' pay TV modelAt APOS 2023, Uday Shankar of Bodhi Tree Systems tells CNBC that innovation is required to boost subscriber growth, even in the age of streaming.

Persons: Uday Shankar, Bodhi Organizations: Systems, CNBC

☆ Billionaire banker Uday Kotak steps down as CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-02 | by ( Jayshree P Upadhyay | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

FILE PHOTO-Uday Kotak, Managing Director of Kotak Mahindra Bank poses for a picture at the company's corporate office in Mumbai January 15, 2015. Kotak Mahindra Bank is India's fourth largest private sector bank by assets. Dipak Gupta, currently the joint managing director, will carry out the chief executive duties until Dec. 31, the bank added. "I thought it appropriate to hand over the baton and stagger the transition," Kotak wrote. The bank has already made an application for the new managing director to India's central bank, the bank said in its exchange notification.

Persons: Uday Kotak, Danish Siddiqui, Dipak Gupta, Kotak, Amit Tandon, Tandon, Anand Dama, Jayshree, Chris Thomas, Miral Fahmy, Tomasz Janowski Organizations: Mahindra Bank, REUTERS, Danish, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Reserve Bank of India, Investor Advisory Services, Global Financial Services, Thomson Locations: Mumbai, India

☆ Uday Kotak is wanting for the market’s support
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Shritama Bose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Uday Kotak plans to remain on the board of the $44 billion lender carrying his name after he steps down as CEO in December. India’s regulator will bear that in mind as it also decides if someone from inside Kotak Mahindra Bank (KTKM.NS) can succeed the 64-year-old. In the past, the regulator has booted out private bank chiefs for poor management of bad loans and overhauled a bank board where it perceived succession planning was poor. Whatever regulators decide for Uday Kotak and his bank, having the market onside will be helpful all around. Follow @ShritamaBose on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSThe Reserve Bank of India is nudging Kotak Mahindra Bank to select someone outside the lender to succeed billionaire founder Uday Kotak as the next CEO, Bloomberg reported on July 31, citing unnamed sources.

Persons: Uday Kotak, Jamie Dimon, Kotak, Jay, Una Galani, Thomas Shum Organizations: Reuters, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Reserve Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak, Reuters Graphics, nudging, Mahindra Bank, Bloomberg, Thomson Locations: MUMBAI, Mumbai

☆ 'Oppenheimer' sparks online outrage in India due to Hindu scripture scene
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The scene features the protagonist reciting a verse from the Bhagwad Gita, considered the holiest of Hindu scripture, just before sexual intercourse. "This should be investigated... on an urgent basis and those involved should be severely punished," the nationalist "Save Culture Save India Foundation" said in a press release. Universal Pictures India, the local unit of the film's producers, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Officials from the film certification board did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It grossed around 600 million rupees ($7.33 million) since Friday, Warner Bros Discovery, which released the film in India, said on Monday.

Persons: Oppenheimer, Uday Mahurkar, Christopher Nolan, Cillian Murphy, J, Robert Oppenheimer, Shilpa Jamkhandikar, Miral Organizations: Central Board of, Save, Universal Pictures India, Warner Bros Discovery, Thomson Locations: MUMBAI, India

☆ Sex scene with Florence Pugh in 'Oppenheimer' becomes latest target of India's Hindu nationalists
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Rhea Mogul | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Pugh stops during intercourse and picks up a copy of the Bhagavad Gita, one of Hinduism’s holiest scriptures, and asks Murphy to read from it. India’s film board gave “Oppenheimer” a U/A rating, which is reserved for movies that contain moderate adult themes and can be watched by children under 12 with parental guidance. In 2020, Netflix (NFLX) received significant backlash in India for a scene in the series “A Suitable Boy” that depicted a Hindu woman and Muslim man kissing at a Hindu temple. Ahead of the release of “Oppenheimer,” Murphy said he read the Bhagvad Gita in preparation. “I thought it was an absolutely beautiful text, very inspiring,” he told Indian film critic Sucharita Tyagi in an interview.

Persons: New Delhi CNN — Christopher Nolan’s, “ Oppenheimer ”, Robert Oppenheimer, Cillian Murphy, Florence Pugh, Jean Tatlock, Pugh, Murphy, Uday Mahurkar, “ Oppenheimer, Greta Gerwig’s, Barbie, Vivek Agnihotri’s, ” Murphy, ”, Sucharita Tyagi, “, Oppenheimer, ” Oppenheimer Organizations: New, New Delhi CNN, Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, Netflix, ISIS, Trinity Locations: New Delhi, India, Kerala, Indian

The male cheetah, named Tejas, was one of 12 that were relocated from South Africa earlier this year, CNN News18 said. The relocation was part of a historic project to reintroduce cheetahs to India after they went extinct in the country 70 years ago. In March, Namibian cheetah Sasha died of kidney disease, and in April, South African cheetah Uday died due to cardiac failure. Just weeks later, South African cheetah Daksha died after a violent encounter with male cheetahs during a mating attempt. One Namibian cheetah relocated to India as part of a reintroduction program died from kidney infection.

Persons: CNN — India’s, CNN News18, Sasha, Uday, Daksha, Bhupender Yadav, ”, It’s, ” Yadav, Eli Walker Organizations: CNN, CNN News18, Tejas, India’s, Times, Cheetah Conservation, Cheetahs, Cheetah Conservation Fund Locations: Madhya Pradesh, South Africa, India, Namibia, Namibian, East, Saharan Africa, Africa

[1/2] Uday Kotak, Managing Director of Kotak Mahindra Bank poses for a picture at the company's corporate office in Mumbai January 15, 2015. Kotak General Insurance, which is fully-owned by Indian banking giant Kotak Mahindra Bank (KTKM.NS), did not respond to Reuters queries. While the Kotak insurance unit's interest in selling a stake has been reported earlier, its talks with Zurich, the potential deal size and valuation are being reported for the first time. More than 30 companies operate in India's general insurance market, where annual premium collections grew 11% to reach $26.7 billion in 2021-22, helped by rising financial literacy and income levels, CareEdge Ratings said in a report. Already, foreign companies such as Germany's Allianz and South Africa's Lombard have general insurance partnerships with Indian banking or financial groups.

Persons: Uday Kotak, Kotak, South Africa's Lombard, Ergo, Sriram, Tom Sims, Victoria Farr, Aditya Kalra, Jacqueline Wong Organizations: Mahindra Bank, REUTERS, Danish, Zurich Insurance, Kotak, Zurich eyeing, Insurance, Asia's, Germany's Allianz, South, Thomson Locations: Mumbai, India, Zurich, MUMBAI, South Africa's, Europe, China, Frankfurt

REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis/File PhotoSummarySummary Companies Reliance's JioCinema to lock horns with Netflix, DisneyWarner deal to boost English content, local content in focus tooExecutives say Warner deal will boost Reliance streaming plansJioCinema content quality key to beat rivals, analyst saysMUMBAI, April 28 (Reuters) - The video streaming business of Mukesh Ambani, Asia's richest person, is likely to focus on pricing and local content following a deal with Warner Bros as it seeks to challenge the likes of Disney and Netflix, industry sources said. While Netflix and other rivals boast of content specially created for the India audience, JioCinema's current free offerings largely include old Hindi and local language movies. The big challenge is lack of fresh local and global content on JioCinema, something that will be become even more critical as the IPL season ends next month. They have also diversified into regional local language content. The only way to scale up is to really differentiate your content and make sure execution is right," he said.

☆ Asia's richest banker will loom over his successor
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Shritama Bose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

It will also be messy and is at odds with the regulator’s own aim to improve governance across the industry. Bosses of the country’s private-sector banks are allowed to stay in their jobs for up to 15 years. It is little surprise that more than 99% of investors voted for him to stay, per exchange filings published last week. If Kotak sits on the board, his successor - expected to be an insider – will effectively continue to work with his or her long-time boss. If things go wrong at Kotak, regulators may end up wondering who to blame.

The cause of death was not immediately known and authorities will perform a post-mortem to find out more, the outlet reported. Uday – who was named by Indian citizens in a contest – was among 20 cheetahs airlifted to India over the past few months from Africa. The news of the deceased 6-year-old cheetah came just three weeks after his fellow feline, Sasha, died from a kidney infection. Laurie Marker, founder of the Namibia-based Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF), which also helped with transferring the animals, said re-establishing a population is very difficult. In late March, the country welcomed four newborn cheetahs for the first time since the species disappeared from India more than 70 years ago.

☆ Factbox: Iraq War: quotes from the conflict and its aftermath
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

BAGHDAD, March 15 (Reuters) - Here are some notable quotes from before, during and after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 that toppled Saddam Hussein. - U.S. President George W. Bush referring to Iraq, Iran and North Korea in his State of the Union Address. - Saddam Hussein in message to U.N. General Assembly. - Saddam Hussein on first day of invasion. A lot of people put their reputations on the line and said the weapons of mass destruction is a reason to remove Saddam Hussein," - Bush.

Gulden said Adidas was still deciding what to do with its stock of unsold Yeezy footwear. One option could be for Adidas to donate proceeds from the sale of repurposed Yeezy stock to charity, Gulden said. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton 1 2 3The split cost Adidas 600 million euros ($632 million) in sales in the fourth quarter of 2022, and Yeezy shoes would have brought in an estimated $1.2 billion in revenue this year. Inventories came in at just under 6 billion euros at the end of December, up 49% from the previous year, including 400 million euros of Yeezy products. That, along with $200 million of one-off costs, would bring Adidas to a $700 million loss this year.

☆ Bed Bath & Beyond raises $135 million more to aid turnaround effort
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 8 (Reuters) - Bed Bath & Beyond Inc (BBBY.O) said on Wednesday it had raised another $135 million in an equity offering and was in the process of rebuilding its business after teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. The retailer has so far raised $360 million out of the roughly $1 billion that it planned in a complex deal of preferred stock and warrant offerings. "Over the past month, we have been rebuilding our financial and operational positioning to execute our customer-focused turnaround plans," Chief Executive Sue Gove said in a statement. In January, the company raised doubts about its ability to continue as a going concern, just months after it announced job cuts and 150 store closures. Reporting by Uday Sampath in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika SyamnathOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Walmart will derive more profit from services, ad sales in next 5 years -CFO
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"Today, the vast majority of our overall profits are attributable to in-store brick-and-mortar in the U.S.," John David Rainey, Walmart's CFO, said at a Raymond James Conference. Services, such as fees Walmart collects from third-party sellers on Walmart.com, the cut it gets if Walmart fulfills those orders to shoppers and the dollars that advertisers spend through Walmart's growing retail media business, are the higher-margin, faster-growing parts of Walmart's business, Rainey said. Most recently, Amazon disclosed $11.6 billion in revenue from its ad business in the fourth quarter. The business has grown rapidly since then, with sales rising nearly 30% to $2.7 billion in its fiscal year ended Jan. 31. In the fourth quarter, ad sales rose 41% year-over-year, the company said last month.

☆ Best Buy, Walmart, other major US retailers tout health services
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Katherine Masters | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Electronics retailer Best Buy recently kicked off a partnership with Atrium Health, part of Advocate Health, one of the country’s largest nonprofit hospital systems, Best Buy Chief Executive Officer Corie Sue Barry announced Thursday on a call with analysts. The partnership combines Atrium's hospital-at-home program with Best Buy’s technological services, she said. Best Buy Chief Financial Officer Matthew Bilunas, however, predicted continued growth of the company's health services would contribute to gross profit rate expansion even as it anticipates cooling demand throughout 2023. "The role of technology within health care is becoming more important than ever, and our strategy is to enable care at home for everyone," Barry said. New sign-ups for Best Buy's health services are expected to help drive a 40 to 70 basis point improvement in gross margins this year, despite lower sales.

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