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New Indian Express
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- New Indian Express
Giving voice to marginalised communities: Venkatarama Reddy's 'Kondapolam' now roars in English as 'Tiger Lessons'
KADAPA: S annapureddy Venkatarama Reddy, a retired government school teacher and author from Balarajupalle in Kadapa district, has had a profound impact on Telugu literature. His notable work, the novel Kondapolam, has been translated into English by Narasimha Kumar under the title Tiger Lessons. The translation is set to be officially released on June 3 by Bloomsbury. Born on February 16, 1963 to Lakshmireddy and Chennamma, Reddy's love for literature was cultivated early. His father used to read the Ramayana and Mahabharata, and at a young age, Reddy was handed the Ranganatha Ramayanam, a moment that shape his literary future. As a youth, he delved deep into Indian epics and classical poetry, eventually embracing modern literature during college. Reddy's formal education took him through a website of VR College, Nellore, and a BEd from the Regional College of Education, Mysore. He began his teaching career in 1989 and retired in March 2024 after serving in various schools across Porumamilla, Kashinayana, and Kalasapadu mandal. Since 1987, Reddy has penned over 200 poems, 90 short stories, and 9 novels, many of which have won prestigious awards. His novel Kondapolam, grounded in the real-life struggles of shepherd communities from the Nallamala forest, has not only received literary accolades but was adapted into a critically acclaimed Telugu film directed by Krish Jagarlamudi, starring Vaishnav Tej and Rakul Preet Singh.
Wall Street Journal
5 days ago
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
The Latest Trend in High-End Hotels? ‘Shoebox' Rooms
When Seattle-based travel adviser Shawn Kirschenman was tasked with finding a suitable London hotel room for parents traveling with their adult offspring, he turned to the five-star Kimpton Fitzroy in the city's Bloomsbury district. Though the trio had said they'd be fine sharing one room, Kirschenman suggested they spring for two: For the parents, he recommended a standard setup, and for their 50-something pilot son, an option called a 'City Single.'
Indian Express
27-05-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Textile and IT tycoon C Valliappa's biography is a valuable addition to the genre of business journalism
Early in his career, C Valliappa, a business tycoon well-known in South India, walked into his father's office in his financial company and sat down without realising the chain of command he had just broken. 'Look, here's your new managing director,' his father joked, making Valliappa realise that his rise to the top would not be as nepotistic as he expected. He would have to, in today's corporate-speak, drill down — on pretty much everything. The story of his life has been detailed in a new biography The Sona Story: The Textile to Tech Journey of Chettiar Industrialist C Valliappa (Bloomsbury) by business journalist Chitra Narayanan. The book explores how his family was responsible for bolstering the Information Technology movement in Bengaluru, filling gaps in college-level technical education in South India and recovering from the end of a legacy business in textiles after conflicts with labour unions. The book is a little scattered, its non-linear flow getting in the way of the in-depth research and reportage the author has clearly done, but it is a valuable contribution to the genre of business biography for laypeople and experts alike. The book begins with well-wishers and family members recalling the building, Sona Towers, in Bengaluru that became the first to house a satellite office in India, for Dallas-based Texas Instruments. A building that would go on to house many more multi-national IT companies like Verifone, Oracle and Cisco, Narayanan chooses the right quotes by business and political veterans like Nandan Nilekani, Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Srini Rajam to indicate just how big of a deal it was in the 1970s and 1980s for a US-based company to have foreign employees in India making software for consumption abroad. The building needed to have a very particular construction as well as the availability of a wind map so Texas Instruments could confidently set up a satellite — and it did, an achievement possible in equal part due to Valliappa's interest in architecture and him rising to a challenge by his father to make an office building wider than one made by him. Growing labour costs in the '90s and the withdrawal of government subsidies, particularly in power, dented the family's textile business to an extent where it was ultimately irrecoverable. There were also conflicts with labour unions, stoked partly by Janata Dal leader HD Deve Gowda, that were handled with varying success. Despite attempts to cut costs by importing foreign machines to speed up production and multiple meetings with the labour unions, the mills were shut down in 1999. Valliappa's personal life and interests are also part of the book, particularly his college days as a student leader in which he crossed paths with political and cultural figures like CN Annadurai, Dr S Radhakrishnan, Periyar, MS Subbulakshmi and Sadasivam, as well as anecdotes of his father sending him away from home at the age of 23 to prove his business acumen. Other stories, like that of the surgery that recovered his voice, his interactions with his sons and wife, and his love for Tamil literature, could have shone better if arranged in juxtaposition to the businesses he helmed every day for six decades.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
FTSE 100 slides after jump in UK Government borrowing
The FTSE 100 slumped on Thursday after new data showed UK Government borrowing surged higher than expected last month. London's blue-chip index ended the day down 47.20 points to finish the day at 8,739.26, a 0.54% fall. Earlier in the day, official figures showed that public sector net borrowing in the UK soared above expectations to £20.2 billion, leading economists to predict that tax increases 'feel inevitable' later this year. The state borrowing figure reflects the difference between Government spending and its income, largely through tax receipts. Ruth Gregory, deputy chief UK economist at Capital Economics, said: 'April's public finances figures showed that despite the boost from the rise in employers' national insurance contributions, the fiscal year got off to a poor start. 'With the PM (Prime Minister) announcing a partial U-turn on the cut to winter fuel payments, the dilemma faced by the Chancellor over how to deal with increased spending pressures in an environment of low economic growth and high interest rates hasn't gone away. 'With the markets seemingly uneasy about more public borrowing, further tax rises are starting to feel inevitable.' In Europe, Germany's Dax fell 0.47% and France's Cac 40 fell 0.58%. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 was up 0.15% as UK markets were closing, while the Dow Jones was up 0.12%. Sterling was up 0.04% against the US dollar at 1.3424, while it was 0.5% up against the euro at 1.1901. In company news, BT's share price jumped higher after the telecoms giant said it was on track to deliver its major cost-cutting programme and had made more than £900 million annual savings so far. The firm said underlying earnings rose 1% to £8.21 billion in the year to the end of March, as cost savings helped offset a 2% fall in revenues. It is forecasting earnings to be broadly flat over the next financial year, between £8.2 billion and £8.3 billion. BT shares closed 3.6% higher. Elsewhere, Bloomsbury shares plummeted by a fifth after the publisher revealed its pre-tax profits slipped by 22% to £32.5 million for the year to the end of February, compared with the previous year. This was despite revenues rising by 5% year-on-year, as it benefited from expanding its consumer portfolio, and its non-consumer division was boosted by the acquisition of US publisher Rowman & Littlefield. Bloomsbury shares were down 19.5% at close. The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Hiscox, up 90p to 1284p, BT, up 6.1p to 175.35p, Pershing Square, up 130p to 3,856p, Beazley, up 30.5p to 949.5p, and Marks & Spencer, up 9.3p to 384p. The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were DCC, down 234p to 4,540p, Intermediate Capital, down 86p to 1,982p, Diageo, down 72p to 2,061p, Intertek, down 162p to 4,758p, and Kingfisher, down 9.9p to 300p. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Wales Online
22-05-2025
- Business
- Wales Online
Bloomsbury shares tumble after publisher reveals lower profits
Bloomsbury shares tumble after publisher reveals lower profits Shares in the Harry Potter publisher dropped by around 15% on Thursday morning (Image: Getty Images ) Bloomsbury shares have slumped after the publishing firm revealed weaker profits despite selling more books over the past year. Shares in the Harry Potter publisher dropped by around 15% on Thursday morning. The company revealed that pre-tax profits slipped by 22% to £32.5 million for the year to February 28, compared with the previous year. Profits in the group's consumer books business declined for the year as bosses said it returned to "a normalised level... following an exceptional performance" a year earlier. Meanwhile, Bloomsbury saw revenues rise by 5% to £361 million for the year, although this reflected slower growth than the previous year. The company said it benefited from expanding its consumer portfolio, which includes fantasy, cosy crime, cookery and other genres. Article continues below It pointed towards a strong release list for the new financial year, including the paperback releases of books by Sarah J Maas and Gillian Anderson. Elsewhere, revenues in its non-consumer division, covering academic and professional publications, grew by 12% to £105 million. This division was boosted by the firm's acquisition of US publisher Rowman & Littlefield last year. Article continues below On Thursday, founder and chief executive Nigel Newton also said that the business is pushing forward with opportunities to "monetise academic content through AI deal in our authors' best interests". Bloomsbury indicated it is still on track with its targets for the current financial year. Mr Newton added: "Trading for 2025/26 is expected to be broadly in line with current consensus expectations in constant currency."
