Latest news with #Meenakshi
New Indian Express
a day ago
- Entertainment
- New Indian Express
Why Kandukondain Kandukondain remains a classic
Character sketch Rai's Meenakshi echoes Marianne's emotional spirit, while Tabu's Soumya reflects Elinor's sensibility — but with a uniquely Indian layer: the internalised burden of always having to please others. Social media critic Rino, who writes for carpe_diem_movies on Instagram, notes, 'Soumya is a poignant portrayal of a person suffering from a people-pleasing attitude, burdened by the label of being 'unlucky'. She silently endures its impact. She is overcompensating for the stigma of being unlucky.' Her growth — standing by Manohar (Ajith) while suppressing her own dreams, dealing with society's judgement — ends not just in love but in finding herself. Rino says, 'After a moment of intense doubt, she finally surrenders her self-doubt. It's a moment of profound self-realisation, signalling her growth as a person.' Instead of accepting her sister's 'fate', Rai's Meenakshi directly questions it, notes Meenakshi Girish. 'Why blame the woman? Why not consider that the guy was unstable or problematic? That kind of internal questioning within the film makes it feel intelligent and self-aware. The sisters don't just contrast — they complement each other,' she adds. The film also updated Austen's idea of marriage as a woman's primary goal. Dr Meenakshi explains, 'In Austen's world, marriage was an important way in which a woman found herself. In the modern world, especially in tradition-bound south India, carving an independent identity takes precedence over mere romantic interests. The ultimate fruition of romantic relationships take on strength and adds meaning from the assertion of newfound identities.' Soumya finds her voice before finding love. Her sister fiercely pursues her music career. Their romantic relationships feel earned, growing out of their personal journeys rather than defining them.
The Star
2 days ago
- Automotive
- The Star
Consumers, manufacturers key to enforcing EV battery recycling
PETALING JAYA: The government's plans to push for the recycling of depleted electric vehicles (EVs) batteries must be enforced among both manufacturers and consumers to be environmentally sustainable, say environmental groups. Sahabat Alam Malaysia president Meenakshi Raman said manufacturers or importers of EVs must be legally required to collect back the same number of EV batteries as the vehicles they sell or bring into Malaysia. 'Failure to do so should result in fines or legal penalties. Companies that design longer- lasting or easier-to-recycle batteries should be rewarded with tax incentives. 'There must also be clear guidelines, good enforcement and proper facilities in place because used batteries could end up being dumped or handled in unsafe ways, causing harm to the environment and public health. 'Only licensed certified companies should be allowed to handle used EV batteries,' said Meenakshi. She also urged the government to invest in propping up local recycling facilities and the development of an EV battery passport initiative that would track key battery information such as composition, origin, usage history and recyclability. 'An EV battery passport system will allow for better resource management as this makes it easier to identify which batteries can be reused, repurposed or need to be safely dismantled. 'Grants or tax breaks should be given to companies that invest in recycling technology or use recycled materials. 'The government should also consider supporting second-life uses for EV batteries such as repurposing them for solar energy storage before they are fully recycled, extending each battery's life and reducing waste,' she added. Environment Protection Society of Malaysia vice-president Randolph Jeremiah said manufacturers must be legally mandated to take responsibility for the safe disposal or recycling of EV batteries. 'Manufacturers must be made to establish their own recycling facilities, either domestically or in their country of origin or partner with local specialised recyclers. 'Extra tax benefits could be offered for those that invest in their own local recycling infrastructure as it strengthens Malaysia's circular economy ecosystem, allowing for the prevention and better handling of other environmental issues in the long run. 'Consumers must also be legally mandated to return used batteries to designated collection points for a cost, creating a closed-loop ecosystem where fiscal and environmental responsibility is shared by both consumers and manufacturers. 'This model would ensure long-term economic and environmental viability while preventing potential crises from inadequate recycling capacity,' he added. EcoKnights president Amlir Ayat proposed that a dedicated task force be set up to oversee this issue, particularly related to the disposal of EV battery waste that cannot be recycled. 'Any policy on EV battery recycling must be concrete, with continuous monitoring and enforcement being diligently conducted to ensure there are no potential legal or management loopholes which could lead to toxic waste management under the guise of recycling. 'The critical part now is securing the commitment from all parties, particularly the producers and consumers, through clear communication to avoid any such risks which may lead to disastrous consequences,' he said. He also urged the ministry to continue gathering public feedback on the matter.
Hans India
3 days ago
- Politics
- Hans India
Meenakshi takes stock of situation
Kothagudem/Khammam: Ahead of the upcoming local body elections, Congress leadership is leaving no stone unturned towards connecting with grassroots and formulating an action plan. On Saturday, AICC In-charge Meenakshi Natarajan along with TPCC Chief Mahesh Kumar Goud, and Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy participated in a review meeting of Khammam and Mahabubabad Parliament constituencies. Following this, Meenakshi held one-on-one meetings with MLAs and contested candidates during which she inquired about party development details and discussed the upcoming local body elections. Earlier, as part of 'Jai Bapu, Jai Bheem, Jai Samvidhan' programme Meenakshi planted a sapling at the premises of the Tribal Boys' Gurukul School at Kinnerasani in the mandal in Khammam. Speaking on the occasion, Ponguleti said, 'As per the instructions of Congress Party Presidents Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, and and Priyanka Gandhi across the country, we are moving forward with the slogan of 'Jai Bapu, Jai Bheem, Jai Samvidhan.'
Hindustan Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Startup Mantra: Brining millets back to our plates
In Tetavali village, a five-hour drive 180 km from Pune, where traditional millets were once grown in every field, change had quietly crept in. Most of the youths in the village had migrated to nearby cities for jobs, and those who stayed back were cultivating only rice and had forgotten about the legacy of millet farming. Nitin Deodhar, 59, and his wife Meenakshi, 58, who visited the village quite often, saw both a crisis and an opportunity here. This gave birth to Sonkan in 2021, a startup that sells nutritious and wholesome millet-based foods, and other products of Konkan. How it started Nitin, who was at the time running a very successful MEP (Mechanical, Electrical Plumbing) Consultancy offering services across the globe, said, 'Our family roots are in Konkan and we'd go there regularly, and, on our trips, we saw that the locals were leaving the village to work in cities. The bright students would go to the cities to get jobs as clerks, and delivery men while the not-so-bright students would stay back to tend to the farm. In addition to this, their dietary habits were changing. Instead of eating what was over generations produced by their farms, they were switching to government-provided rice and wheat that came from ration shops and came with its own economic pitfalls.' Nitin and Meenakshi found this very disturbing. Says Nitin, 'The area traditionally would grow millets – the hardy crop. Hardy because it could withstand a drought as well as flood excess rainfall situations. Besides being a hardy crop, it was grown in the sloping wastelands of Konkan. However, falling prey to the ongoing trends, the villagers of Konkan shifted to growing only rice and giving up ragi (finger millet) and varai (barnyard millet) which need very little tending. This was also changing their food habits. This not only affected their earnings but also impacted their health.' Initial steps The situation of the villagers of Tetavali had a deep impact on the Deodhars. Nitin thought that he should lead by example and bought 15 acres of land in the area (self-invested) to grow their traditional crops – ragi and varai along with cashew. He employed some locals to do the job hoping that it would spur the others to get back to the crops their land could bear. However, in 2020 Covid hit the country. Says Nitin, 'We put the 300 kgs of ragi in our car and came back to our home in Pune.' Not knowing what to do with the ragi, Meenakshi sprouted a few kilos, dried it and after roasting ground it in her kitchen grinder. 'We put it into 200 gms packets and distributed it to family and friends.' Soon those same people were asking for more and Meenakshi made some more. After all, she had 300 kgs of ragi at home. Says Nitin, 'Our friends said why don't you keep this ragi satva in a local store, so we won't have to nag you for it.' And Nitin did just that. He went to the local grocer near his house at Swargate and kept a few packets there. Soon they were sold. The grocer then said, 'Why don't you get a Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) licence and Nitin followed that advice. 'My daughter who's done her architecture offered to design the label, logo and other such marketing collateral. After the FSSAI registration, you need to have a trademark. We first thought of the name Deodhar's Konkan Sampanna. However, this was not possible because Deodhar being a proper name, Konkan was a geographic area and Sampanna was a brand owned by the Tatas. So, we coined the name Sonkan. In 2021 we had it registered. Learning the ropes What started with an effort to help their family village was soon turning out to be a small company. Nitin started by distributing his ragi satva for free and when the demand kept increasing, he got into the commercial and legal mandates required. He now had to charge for the satva. How did he figure out how much it costs? Says Nitin, 'I simply saw what was the price of the other satva products. They sold for ₹50 generally for 200 gms. I priced ours at ₹55/- because our process was more demanding and the product more nutritious.' Sonkan satva is made by sprouting, roasting and then milling the ragi. This meant that the fibre was available as the ragi was semi-cooked whilst roasting, making it easier to digest. Something that hooked his customers who kept repeating their orders. The 300 kgs of ragi would soon get over and be depleted. What next? At that time the couple invested in a flour mill and a weighing machine. However, grinding large amounts of ragi made the machine too noisy in the house. 'So, we bought a professional flour mill and shifted operations to our village where the ragi was being grown. At first, we employed a local lady who would grind the flour, weigh it and pack it. Once a week we drove down to our village and picked up the stock for sale.' Growing organically This pushed Nitin to procure the ragi from local aggregator agents. 'The village economy is different. A small farmer may approach an agent with the produce of his farm which may be a few 100 kilos. Instead of money he may need dal or rice or some such and do a barter. This is something I cannot offer. So, I procure the ragi but from our village only. The aggregator does agents do the settling of their dues.' But has this succeeded in increment of areas growing millets in the Konkan district? Says Nitin, 'It most certainly has. While I would not have the acreage of land, I now required that when we started when we had just one farmer, i.e. me, growing millets, but now 30 farmers are growing growing millets.' Finding opportunities Meenakshi, who has a deep knowledge of medicines, knew very well that eating right can keep you away from pharmaceutical products. So, she kept experimenting with the millets as the customers wanted more. 'They wanted to know if they could make idlis and cakes with millets.' With her PhD in pharmacy and study in psychology and nutrition, Meenakshi knew that people were getting health conscious, but also did not have the time or the inclination to slog over cooking. They wanted quick, easy-to-make nutritious foods.'Says she, 'No one would spend time and effort to make a jowari bhakri but would very easily flip it on a tawa to make a pancake or chila in minutes.' She started by making a ragi cake mix. But realisation dawned. 'Who would want to eat a healthy cake on their child's birthday? Celebrations are meant to be cheat days when the occasion overrides all health issues. So, I abandoned the cake mix and created a pancake mix that also doubles up as a cake mix' says Meenakshi. She took ragi and dal, and added soda bicarb to make a ready-to-cook idli mix. Added dals to make a chila. 'All healthy and tasty.' Growth compulsions Understanding that as a business grows one needs to prepare professionally for it, the couple has now hired a sales manager, four salesmen, and a brand consultant to help them. Says Nitin, 'Our brand consultant told us that we should position ourselves as 'the first meal of the day' largely because people may eat early or late but generally stay true to their 'breakfast.' So, we have added that as our positioning statement. Also, we are in talks with retailers to display our products as 'the first meal of the day' be it pancakes, chilas, breakfast cereals, satva, thalipeeth bhajanis and so on.' Future plan So far, the Deodhars have invested ₹40 lakh in this venture and Sonkan has grown 3X. Sonkan now has a total of 22 products consuming 800 kgs of millet per month with revenues of ₹90 lakh projected for this year. Last year his revenue was ₹36 lakh and the year before that ₹11 lakh. They started with three people and today they are employing 22 people. They aspire to become an international brand selling nutritious and wholesome millet-based foods, and other produce of Konkan.
Business Standard
5 days ago
- Business Standard
Turkiye, Azerbaijan boycott: Passport as an instrument of peaceful protest
It was 1989. My spouse and I were in Madurai, stepping out of our hotel to visit the Meenakshi temple, when we were surrounded by cycle-rickshaw drivers vying for our attention. One voice cut through the din — 'Aao, aao Beso' (Come, come, sit — in Gujarati). The phrase was so unexpected — we understand Gujarati but aren't Gujarati ourselves — that we promptly chose his rickshaw. In a region known for its political resistance to learning other languages, Sundar — our semi-literate, Tamil-speaking driver — had picked up a smattering of Gujarati, along with bits of several other languages. Through gestures and an improvised multilingual conversation, we learned that he had taught himself these phrases to better serve tourists — and had been rewarded for it. That encounter stayed with me as a lasting lesson: Economic incentives can shape human behaviour in ways that politics often cannot. Similar patterns emerge across tourist hotspots: Signboards in German, Russian and Hebrew in Rishikesh, for instance, reflect the rising number of visitors there from countries where these languages are spoken. Sundar's story came to mind amid the growing grassroots movement in India: Citizens choosing not to travel to Turkiye and Azerbaijan. This voluntary restraint stems from the unambiguous support these countries offer Pakistan, especially on issues like Kashmir and cross-border terrorism, as well as their deepening military ties. Today, India's admired soft power — from Yoga to cinema to cuisine — has begun extending to our travel decisions. The presence of a Bollywood-themed restaurant at the summit of Jungfrau in Switzerland, the availability of Hindi-speaking local guides in African safari packages for the Serengeti and Masai Mara, and the presence of dedicated wedding planners, caterers, and priests for Indian weddings in unlikely countries abroad — all speak volumes about the economic influence and cultural footprint of Indian travellers. It is in this context that we need to see the travel statistics for Turkiye and Azerbaijan. In 2024, over 330,000 Indians visited Turkiye, contributing an estimated $350–400 million in tourism revenues. India also ranked as the third-largest source of tourists for Azerbaijan. Indian travellers — particularly in the luxury and event-tourism sectors — tend to spend significantly above average, giving them quite an economic clout. The travel boycott isn't about jingoism. It's akin to choosing organic over pesticide-laden produce or opting for fair-trade goods. Travel isn't just about leisure; it's a transaction of trust, culture, and capital. Choosing where not to go becomes a peaceful yet powerful way to express values.
