BENJAMIN NETANYAHU CONVERSES WITH CAPTAIN SMIT MACHCHHAR

 Benjamin Netanyahu: Captain Machchhar, I want to thank you for your extraordinary courage. What you did saved many lives. You are being admired in Israel, in India and around the world. I wish you a speedy and complete recovery. Please tell me—how did the incident begin?

Captain Smit Machchhar: Sir, it had been a normal flight. At one point, the co-pilot said that he wanted to pray. That was not unusual, so out of respect I kept looking forward and gave him privacy.

Captain Smit Machchhar: After about four or five minutes, I suddenly felt a very heavy blow to the back of my head. At first I thought something catastrophic had happened to the aircraft. Then the blows continued, one after another, and I realised that the person in the cockpit with me was attacking me.

Benjamin Netanyahu: And you were already badly injured at that point?

Captain Smit Machchhar: Yes, sir. My vision became badly blurred. At the same time I realised the aircraft was pitching sharply downward. I tried to stop him and also tried to get the cockpit door open so that help could come in.

Benjamin Netanyahu: How were you able to open the cockpit door?

Captain Smit Machchhar: From inside, the door has a mechanism that can be opened by turning the knob. My colleagues outside were trying to enter the code, but the co-pilot was preventing them from getting in. I managed to reach the knob and open the door once, but he closed it again.

Captain Smit Machchhar: Later I was lying on the cockpit floor. I could hear the aircraft rushing downward and people screaming. I felt that I had one final chance. I gathered whatever strength I had left, pushed myself toward the door and opened it again. People outside were ready. They came in, overpowered the attacker and helped regain control.

Benjamin Netanyahu: Your courage and your judgment under such impossible conditions are remarkable. You saved so many lives. What you did goes far beyond one flight—you showed extraordinary human courage.

Benjamin Netanyahu: I would be honoured to welcome you to Israel. I would also like to invite you, together with my friend Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to take part in our next Independence Day celebration. You are a hero to the people of Israel, to the people of India, and to people around the world.

Captain Smit Machchhar: Thank you very much, sir. I am grateful for your words. I would also very much like to meet the Israeli doctor who helped me immediately after the incident. He saved my life.

Benjamin Netanyahu: You will be welcomed with open arms. Please concentrate on your recovery. You have our respect, our gratitude and our best wishes for a full recovery.

Captain Smit Machchhar: Thank you, sir. I truly appreciate it.

HUSBAND TO WIFE

 

Though it's an advertisement in The Times of India on 01.10.2026, the letter makes sense.

BANK STRIKE PROPOSED AND AFTERMATH

 

Quiet funny. 

A bank strike was proposed for three days - the last Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of September 2026

It was withdrawn on the eve of the day the strike was set to begin. 

The demand was implementation of  5 day week like in RBI etc along with other longstanding issues.

First they made them work on Sunday that was a holiday.  Then they were made to work on the proposed strike days. 

Net result they worked for four days whereas they had to work only on three days.

Now the govt is going to abolish the 5 day week for everyone. It's going to be a seven day week.

Rotation  could mean the key holders might be tied up on all seven days. 

Just my guess

TURNING DEFICIT TO DIVIDEND

 Sharmila Mona Sinha was the third daughter.

In a society where the arrival of a son was treated as family dividend and another daughter as deficit, she absorbed the message early. She wanted to do something about it.                        She recalls,"I wanted to be a boy and do what boys did."

Last week, she entered the National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York - the cradle of the American Women's Right Movement.

She is the second woman of Indian origin to receive the honour after Indra Nui, former  CEO,Pepsico. 

She absorbed from her grandmother who showed her that challenging status quo was not alien to her family - the grandmother had helped to organise women during India's freedom movement.

She was in the corporate world after graduating in Economics from Smith College in Massachusetts and after an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Over time, Sinha began wondering whether the tools she had acquired in business could be deployed for a different kind of return. Rather than abandoning the language of capital, management and organisational efficiency, she brought it into philanthropy and social change.

Her worldview was shaped by her childhood where she could never shake off the feeling that her parents would have preferred a son, not a daughter Number 3. The care she received was no less than for her sisters, yet Daughter  Number 3, as a kid, internalised  her parents' ",disappointment."

She is a rarity for the strides she has made. But her words will have struck a chord with the women of the world. 

She now works for women. She toils to eliminate discriminating laws affecting women and girls.

Her story offers an Indian lesson about the evolution of feminism. Her Hall of Fame induction is more than another accolade for a prominent philanthropist. It is a long distance answer to the question that confronted the girl in Calcutta. 

What might that "wrong" daughter become, if nobody put a ceiling on her? 

Four decades later, the answer is inscribed in the National Women's Hall of Fame.

The Times of India 05.10.2026 and its editorial 06.10.2026

UPENDRA MACHCHCHAR, FATHER OF CAPTAIN SMIT MACHCHCHAR

 Upendra Machchchar reflects.

"The cuts are deep and he is in terrible pain. But when leaders of nations speak to him, he gathers himself and responds with remarkable calm.

As his family we know what lies behind that calm. the stress is immense. But the God who saved him will also decide the course of his life ahead. 

Right now, we are one hundred percent positive God will do what is best for him."

For Upendra, the question that keeps returning is what made his son open the cockpit door despite grievous injuries. 

"What happened shocked us. But it's his intrinsic nature to place others before him that made him do what he did."

The Times of India, 05.10.2026

ACT AS ONE

 

The team succeeds only when the members act as one

SPLIT VERDICT AT THE SC - APPOINTMENT OF CEC AND THE ECs

 Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma were on the bench at the Supreme Court of India. They were hearing the petition on  the validity of the law on appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners (ECs) by a panel consisting of the Prime Minister, a Cabinet Minister and the leader of the opposition.

Views of Justice Dipankar Datta on appointment of the CEC and the ECs

1. It would not be a fallacious metaphor if it is said that since the umpire is picked by the captain of one side and his team wins, even if the decisions taken by such umpire are correct, it has the patina of suspicion.

2. Deliberating on the validity of the law on appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and the Election Commissioners by a panel consisting of the Prime Minister, a Cabinet Minister and the leader of opposition, he mentioned the flaws.

a. It gave "overwhelming power" to the  executive.

b. It made the presence of the LOP ornamental.

c. It undermines the appearance of independence in the selection process.

d. Since independence, governments had tried to control the poll body.

e. Over seven decades, every dispensation wresting office found it convenient to keep institutions which the constitution envisioned to be independent under its control.

f.  To enact a law on the lines empowered by Article 324 (2) would have meant freeing ECI from exclusive executive control and inviting trouble for the ruling regime.

g. To the mind of this court, this has not been the failing of any one party or one period.

h. A consistent trait of political power, discernible over the decades, has been to preserve leverage over the very body that is meant to judge its claim to power.

i. If free and fair elections were to be ensured, it was axiomatic that the EC must not only be an independent body, but also be seen to act independently.

j. It was painful to note that not a single party in power entrusted by the people of India to govern this great nation took the initiative of enacting a law of the nature which Article 324 (2) left to the supreme law making body, ie. Parliament, to legislate.

k. Placing its own electoral fortunes in the hands of a truly independent arbiter was not favoured by any political party for obvious reasons.

l. To remain in power, the consistent pursuit through executive action has indeed been simple - influence the composition of the EC, control the process of appointment of the CEC and ECs and thereby temper adverse electoral outcomes.

m. The bottom line of the argument runs like this:-  It would not be a fallacious metaphor if it is said that since the umpire is picked by the captain of one side and his team wins, even if the decisions taken by such umpire are correct, it has the patina of suspicion.

n. There can be no gainsaying that free and fair elections, to a large extent, depend on a truly indepndent Election Commission. It is not enough for the EC to be independent, it must also appear to be independent. The minister nominated by the Prime minister to function as the third member on the selection committee chaired by the Prime Minister cannot be expected  to defy his own nominator.

o.In such a circumstance, the inclusion of a minister in the selection committee fails to provide the independent counterweight that a neutral selector could and he would merely echo the voice of his leader. 

p. Consequently, the presence of the leader of opposition in the selection committee becomes largely ornamental, without furthering the purpose of his inclusion.

Views of Justice Satish Chandra Sharma

a. The petition challenging the 2023 law on appointment of the CEC and the ECs raised substantial questions of law.

b.The substantive constitutional questions should be systematically referred for an authoritative pronouncement. 

c. It required consideration  by a larger bench.

Outcome

While Justice Datta did not find a reference to a Constitution Bench necessary, Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, puisne judge on the Division Bench held in favour of sending the case to a constitution bench reasoning that several questions of substantial importance were at stake.

Due to the differing opinions on whether to directly process or refer the matter regarding the inclusion of a Cabinet Minister in place of the CJI, the two judge bench delivered a split verdict. 

The Bench requested the Chief Justice of India to constitute a five judge Constitution Bench to settle the issue.

FACTOR FITNESS AND PERFORMANCE - M.R. POOVAMMA - GOLD MEDALLIST AT NAGOYA ASIAN GAMES

 When her teammates from the gold winning quartet of the women's 4x400 relay in 2014 Asian Games moved away from the track, M R Poovamma, the debutant at that games, chose to stay.

Many laughed and some questioned why she was still running. Some said she would not last. She answered them not with words, but with performances. At an age most Indian athletes would  move on from elite competition,  Poovamma, 36,  was among India's oldest at the 2026 Nagoya Asian Games. She was part of the quartet that won the women's 4x400 relay gold for India. It was the lone Gold India won in athletics at Nagoya. With the silver in the mixed 4x400 relay a couple of days earlier, she now has six  Asian games medals  altogether.

She believes the secret to her longevity lies in discipline and fitness.

To a query whether this was the end, she replied, "Why should I give up when I am performing well? "

"That I am competing even after all these years, with nothing to prove, should be an inspiration to youngsters."

"I have the LA Olympics and the 2030 Asian Games on my mind, which I may go to with my future child."

"I am in good form and retirement is not on my mind."

She insists age has little bearing on what an  athlete can achieve.

"Age for me is just a number."

"It is said that in India, there is so much talk on an athlete's age."

"The only thing that should be factored in is fitness and performance."

"That's the measure in most countries."

"I have always believed that it is important to be physically and mentally fit.'

"With that, you also need to stay motivated."

Poovamma, who had represented India at the 2016 and 2024 olympics concludes, "I have nothing to prove. I led a very disciplined lifestyle thanks to the support from my husband Jithin Paul, from my entire family and especially from my mother. She ensures I don't have to worry about household chores and can stay focussed on my training."

M R Poovamma does convey to us how we must look at life and how we must tackle life's challenges.

IIT - IIM ALUMNI TO HEAD INDIA'S TWO TOP PRIVATE BANKS

 Congratulations to,  Anup Bagchi and Anup Kumar Saha who have been appointed as MD &CEO at HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank respectively.

They have excellent track records.

They are brilliant

They both are alumni of IIT and IIM.

We wish them the very best in their challenging assignments

However, the question persists.

Not withstanding a few greats, unless you are from IITs or IIMs it's very difficult to ascend to top positions. And to get into these premier institutions, an aspirant from the remote villages of the country stands little chance. He doesn't even know the existence of such opportunities. You have to be city bred or you have to belong to major towns to cross the stringent admission processes that demand a high level of competence. 

Further even if you have similar qualifications from elsewhere you are treated badly in the sense you'd be recruited to positions lower down the scale.

When people from places like Kandankary, Agaly, Kanthalloor, Mankulam, Kunjithanny - these are places in Keralam - or places more remote than them in the whole of India  are able to prove themselves one better than those from India's premier institutions like IITs and IIMs and reach  the top postions, we can truly state that the country is a developed nation. Till then equality in opportunities will remain a rainbow.

ANUP BAGCHI - MD & CEO - HDFC BANK - FROM OCTOBER 27, 2026

 

Anup Bagchi will be the MD & CEO of HDFC Bank from October 27, 2026.

He is the first outsider to head HDFC Bank since it was set up in 1994.

He will have to focus on loan growth and credit-deposit dynamics in the existing competitive environment. Further he will be tasked to extract synergies from the HDFC merger. 

He succeeds Sashidhar Jagadishan who took over from Aditya Puri in 2020. Jagadishan had completed the merger leading the bank through the pandemic. During his tenure  the  digital operations of the bank had been expanded.  

Colleagues describe Anup Bagchi as a big picture manager. He prefers to give teams both a destination and a route to reach it. He is a firm leader. But he is known for persuasion than theatrics. The approach has shaped his mangement style. 

He is regarded as unusually grounded for someone who has occupied senior positions across a large financial conglomerate (ICICI group). He relishes holding meetings with executives in the common canteen rather than behind glass doors.

Bagchi has tended to travel light. During his transfers between ICICI group businesses, he is known to have moved without taking large teams with him.

WARREN BUFFETT - SIX TRAITS THAT LED THE GREAT INVESTOR

 Warren Buffett stepped down on September 18, 2026 as Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway at 96, a journey he began in 1970.  Early in Buffett's career, a member of a prominent Omaha family predicted over lunch that the young upstart would be broke within a year. Seventy years on, Bershire is up 6099.294%. The returns were the by-product. The character was always the point.

These are the six traits that made him great.

1.Rejection is not a verdict

Buffett was  certain of a seat at Harvard Business School. He had urged a friend to join him there, before he had even been accepted. A 10 minute interview ended it. He later called Harvard's rejection the pivotal episode of his life as it had guided him to his hero Benjamin Graham's classroom at Columbia.

Rejection today arrives faster and more publicly. Peers announce promotions you didn't get. Layoff lands by email.

Buffett's example is, a closed door is a measure of the target, not the archer, so re-aim

2. Audit your mistakes

He learned it at a very young age. 

Don't anchor on your purchase price. Don't grab a small profit to quiet your nerves.. Don't manage other people's money unless you are certain. Most of the people treat a  loss as bad luck and move on. Buffett treated it as tution and kept the notes.

3. Keep an inner score card

His father, Howard, judged himself only against his own standards. Buffett called him "a 100% inner scorecard guy" warning that anyone who lives for the world's opinion "will wind up with an Outer Scorecard."

The outer  scorecard displays, likes, followers and a screenshot of gains on the stock you .skipped.

He didn't get into the dotcom boom. He was ridiculed for that. After two years he was proved right.  In an era that rewards looking right, he optimised for being right.

4. Want less; be patient

The Buffett family motto might have been "spend less than you make" and "don't go into debt." He lived for decades in the house he bought in 1958. He took a hamburger over anything fancier.

It isn't a statement on thrift. He never converted future income into present obligations. A man who needs little money is never forced into a bad decision to get more of it. Desperation is expensive. Someone carrying fixed costs cannot afford to wait, and waiting was Buffett's entire edge.

5. Be sceptical of incentives

Buffett remembered a question put to him, "What stock do you like," forever. The rule he framed for himself was,"praise by name, criticise by category." He was sceptical of incentives. "Don't ask the barber whether you need a haircut," was a line that had been most useful to him. His principle was to listen politely and then ask who gets paid if you say yes to those who solicit business promising quick returns

6. Find your Charlie Munger

Everyone needs at least one sparring partner sharp enough to say "that's a dumb idea," and trusted enough to be heard.

Buffett's most valuable partnership began with long phone calls to Charlie Munger, lawyer at    Los Angeles. When Munger's wife asked why he paid such attention to this Omaha fellow, Munger replied,"That is no ordinary human being."

For six decades, Munger's real job was not to agree with Buffett. It was to tell him when he was wrong. Buffett credited him with the habit of studying failures, instead of admiring successes. 

Krishnan Ranganathan writes in The Times of India of October 1, 2026. 

MESSAGES FROM THE HEART

The early signs of heart disease never look like a medical emergency to most. The seemingly ordinary symptoms can be the body's first indication that something is seriously wrong -             - - A persistent bout of fatigue. Breatlessness that seems easy to blame on a hectic schedule. Discomfort in the jaw, back or shoulders that is dismissed as muscle strain. 

Recognising heart disease symptoms early can save lives and prevent cardiovascular deaths. Heart disease remains world's leading killer where one in three lives are lost due to its rampage. 

While advances in treatment have improved the outcomes, awareness remains still a challenge.  People, at first, tend to ignore the symptoms that arise.  The cardinal neglect delays diagnosis. And precious time is lost even as quick intervention could make rapid differences.

The burden of cardiovascular disease is quite large. CVDs claim about 17.9 million lives annually which is one third of all the deaths worldwide with more than four in five resulting from heart attacks and strokes.

Many cardiovascular signs develop silently. Elevated blood pressure may remain sans symptom for years together.  Cholestrol level goes up unchecked. Diabetes damages nerves and hides the warning signs.  Consequently, significant cardiovascular damage occurs before symptoms prompt medical attention.

Cardiovascular disease may arise silently. But the symptoms should not be overlooked. They include - unexplained breathlessness, unusual fatigue, dizziness, sweating, nausea, pain spreading from the chest to the arm, shoulders, back, neck, or jaw.

Symptoms may be atypical in women and people with diabetes, making them easier to miss.

The risk can be obviated by regular blood pressure checks, consistent physical activity, a balanced diet, adequate sleep, effective stress management and giving up smoking.

Women may experience atypical fatigue, breathlessness, nausea, heaviness in the chest or pain radiating to the jaw or back, symptoms often mistaken for stress or acidity. 

Adults, as the advance in age, may appear weak, dizzy or less active.

Emergency cardiac care doesnot begin at the hospital. The initial response can make  significant difference in a cardiac emergency. 

Knowing the warning signs, knowing when to call for help and knowing the difference betwenn a heart attack and a cardiac arrest can turn an ordinary bystander into the first link in the patient's chance for survival.

Heart disease is often preventable. But prevention has to begin with awareness. 

Recognising symptoms, knowing the risk factors, getting screened and acting on unusual warning signs  improve outcomes manifold. 

Fact is, efficient management of health condition  reduces cardiovascular risk to a great extent.

Warnig signs not be ignored

1. Persistent or unusual fatigue.
2. Shortness of breath without a clear cause.
3. Chest pressure, heaviness or discomfort
4. Pain spreading to the arm, shoulders, neck, jaw or back.
5. Dizziness, weakness or sudden sweating.
6. Nausea or syptoms mistaken for acidity.
7. Reduced stamina, confusion or unexpected decline in activity

Courtesy 'Listen to THE HEART',  A Lifetime in every Beat,  World Heart Day Special, The Times of India on 29thSeptember2026 

STENT

 A stent opens a narrowed artery. It does not remove the risk behind coronary artery disease. High blood pressure, high cholestrol, diabetes, smoking, physical inactivity and an unhealthy diet can continue to affect the heart and the blood vessels.

The coronary stent is a small mesh tube placed inside a narrowed or blocked artery to restore blood flow. It is inserted through a catheter, usually via the wrist or groin. The procedure is called PCI - Percutaneous Coronary Intervention. Recovery continues  after the procedure with  medication, lifestyle changes and follow up,  playing major roles.

After a stent, taking care of the self is important.

Adherence to medication is crucial.

A stent may address a blockage. Protecting the heart, however,  is an ongoing process. Smoking must be avoided even if medicines are consumed with discipline. Parting with the drugs leads to formation of clots inside the stent. 

Lifestyle changes are unavoidable to keep the heart healthy.

Stenting is not always the primary option. It is resorted to only after lifestyle modifications and drugs. However in an emergency with 100 percent blockage, stenting is carried out at once.

The coronary stent brings significant relief to a large number of patiens. It eases the symptoms. It assists the patients to return to an active and healthy life. 

It marks the beginning of an ongoing approach to heart health driven by the active role of drugs, lifestyle changes and regular follow up.

It secures  the heart. The quality of life leaps beyond  barriers.

It is resilence all the way.

Indebted to 'A stent is not the finish line' by Nayanthara Rajeev in,  A Lifetime in every Beat,  World Heart Day Special, The Times of India on 29thSeptember2026 

KNOW EXACTLY

 

Know exactly where you go wrong.

Address

In real life mistakes and errors are normal occurrences. 

The winners locate them fast. 

They are not led by false ego.

They retract at once.

They win

WHEN YOU ARE CHALLENGED

When you are under pressure and if there are butterflies in your stomach, never let them fly all over the place. Make  them fly in formation.

Your journey is not for the fainthearted.

When you trail, you must fight and survive.

Draw from your bucket of amazing experiences.

Keep your focus on what you are striving for.

Though you know very well you could be outwitted and outfought, keep those distracting thoughts off.

Try your best. Fight with all your heart.

Believe you can do it.

FAIL OR LOSE, IT HURTS. KEEPS YOU GOING

 

Asian Games. Nagoya. 2026. Badminton.

Three points. It separated P.V.Sindhu from what could have been her third Assian games Medal. It is very difficult for her to shake them off. Sindhu lost in the quarter final to        China's Chen Yufei,  21-11, 18-21, 10-21.

Sindhu says, "My Asian Games campaign is over. I am hurting. Three points from closing out the match. I keep coming to those three points."

"I had my chance. Letting it slip hurts."

"My team and I are working on closing those three moments. We'll fix it."

The circumstances  make the defeat hard to swallow.

"Three matches in 18 hours. Back at 3 am. Out again at 8.30 am. It took a toll. But after a camp that gave me every reason to believe, I wanted so much more."

"One painful result cannot define a journey that means so much."

"I am hurting. That's okay. I am glad it still means enough to hurt this much. I still want this."   

"That feeling keeps me going.'

This is the truth. Fail or Lose, it hurts. But it keeps you going.

This is the greatest lesson we can have in our lives. Go back to the drawing board. Unmindful of failures we have to keep going. It takes us to our goal.

KERALA'S MIGRATION STORY

 

Malayalis leaving Kerala is not new. Most of those leaving are Christians. That will one day make us a micro-minority here.

I asked an educationist about it. His answer stayed with me.

"Because Jesus's vision of the Kingdom of God is a universal vision, and therefore Christians tend to feel more at home wherever they go, even the remotest parts of the globe, as compared to other communities."

BINU ALEX
Rediff News
26.09.2026
Gujarat Vs Kerala: A Tale Of Two States

KHYRUNNISA. A, SPEAKS ON BOOKS AND ON WRITING, IMPARTS IDEAS FOR BUDDING WRITERS

Writing is hard work. You have to be persistent. 
Reading is the foundation of writing.                    

Keep reading. 

Keep updating yourselves.

Be observant.

Keep writing

You may not at once know what kind  of writing you are good at.                                                You may think you are going to write one thing.                                                                            You may later discover that your strength lies somewhere else.

Never give up because of rejection.

There should be books at home.
Lots of books.
A house without books is like a room without windows.

Research is vital for children's books.

Books are a source of knowledge for children.

The writer is responsible for what they tell them.

The New Indian Express - City - Thiruvananthapuram Express

26.09.2026

UNSOLICITED CALLS PURPORTED TO BE FROM PRAYER GROUPS

BEWARE

 UNSOLICITED CALLS PURPORTED TO BE FROM PRAYER GROUPS

Recently I have been receiving unsolicited calls from two phone numbers. A lady tells me on all occasions that it was from a prayer group. She enquired if I had any matters or issues that required their prayer support. 

My response on all occasions had been there was nothing.

Then she asked me whether I was a Christian.

I replied it was none of their business

Yesterday the person called again and said it was from a prayer group.

I asked, what they wanted.

She said, "Chetta (elder brother), we want nothing from you."

She said she wanted to convey  a munnariyippu (warning)

I replied I was disinterested.

I blocked the number

There was another call today. She said it was from a prayer group.

She said it was to enquire if there were any matters for prayer support.

I asked where this call was from 

She said, "Chetta, it is from Keralam."

I replied she should stop bothering me

I blocked that number too

They had at once sent a WhatsApp voice message from the first number I had blocked already

I didn't open it. Blocked it again

I checked True Caller

The first number            7902501949 name given is LUXY JOHN

The second number      9495548254 name given is LUXY LUXY

I have filed a complaint through Sanchar Saathi Portal.

They have acknowledged it

DR. THOMAS VARGHESE - NEURO SURGEON AT TRVANDRUM AND KOLLAM

When Dr. Thomas Varghese learned how Becka Jill Konnayil's father had survived a massive heart attcak he posted:

Lucky for her, her father survived. A few months back one of our church members had syncope and was pulseless. I detected it and the physician started CPR, he still comes to church! 

It’s a part of life some we can save, some we lose and a part of us dies with them. 

It’s both horrible and immensely satisfying…. We just pray the latter comes in often.