With Zohran Mamdani now elected as the Mayor of New York, one of the most compelling backstories behind his rise to power has a strong Mumbai connection. His father, Mahmood Mamdani, was born in Mumbai in 1946, while his mother, acclaimed filmmaker Mira Nair, shares deep creative and emotional ties with the city that inspired some of her most iconic works.

Nair’s groundbreaking 1988 film Salaam Bombay! not only put her on the global cinema map but also immortalised Mumbai’s street life and resilience on screen. The film’s success led her to establish the Salaam Baalak Trust, a non-profit organisation that continues to support the city’s street children even decades later.

Her 1984 documentary India Cabaret, too, was filmed in Mumbai, offering an unflinching look at the lives of women working in the city’s cabaret bars. For both Nair and Mamdani, Mumbai has remained a place of inspiration, intellectual engagement, and cultural belonging.

In interviews, Nair has often credited the city’s chaos, colour and contradictions for inspiring her cinematic voice. Whether capturing the streets of Byculla or the dance bars of Grant Road, her lens has consistently reflected Mumbai’s layered reality.

Mahmood Mamdani’s journey began in Mumbai before his family migrated to Kampala, Uganda, where he was raised. One of Africa’s foremost scholars of postcolonial thought, Mahmood’s work has bridged continents, addressing questions of identity, governance, and displacement.

Expelled from Uganda in 1972 by Idi Amin’s regime, he went on to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard University and later became a professor at Columbia University in New York. His acclaimed book Citizen and Subject (1996) remains a seminal work on postcolonial governance.

Despite his global academic footprint, Mamdani’s Mumbai origins are often noted in scholarly circles, a reminder of the city’s role in shaping thinkers who transcend borders.

Zohran Mamdani, born in 1991 in Kampala, grew up surrounded by these influences, a scholar father who questioned systems and a filmmaker mother who gave voice to the voiceless. The family moved to New York in 1999, where Mahmood joined Columbia University’s faculty. Zohran became a naturalised U.S. citizen in 2018 and has since risen as a progressive voice in American politics.

Married to Syrian artist Rama Sawaf Duwaji, Zohran represents a generation that embodies global citizenship while carrying forward his parents’ legacy of thought and empathy.

From Mahmood’s birth in Mumbai to Mira Nair’s cinematic tributes to the city, the Mamdani family’s story remains deeply entwined with Mumbai’s spirit, cosmopolitan, resilient, and unapologetically global. As Zohran makes his political mark in New York, Mumbai continues to echo in the values and vision that drive him.

New Delhi, Nov 5: It is a testament to the boundless potential of the cooperatives, Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Amit Shah, congratulated daily giant Amul and Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) for occupying the first two ranks among the top 10 cooperatives in the world.

In a landmark achievement for India’s cooperative sector, two of India’s leading cooperatives, Amul and IFFCO, have secured the first and second ranks in the global ranking for cooperatives, respectively.

In a post on X social media platform, HM Shah said, “A proud moment for Bharat! Heartiest congratulations to Amul and IFFCO for occupying the first two ranks among the top ten cooperatives in the world”.

“It is an honour to the tireless dedication of millions of women associated with Amul and farmers contributing to the IFFCO. It is also a testament to the boundless potential of the cooperatives, which is being transformed into a global model of empowerment and self-reliance by Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” HM Shah posted.

Meanwhile, the India’s dairy sector is the backbone of rural livelihoods and a symbol of inclusive growth. As the largest milk producer in the world, India has combined farmer-led cooperatives, women’s participation and scientific practices to achieve remarkable progress.

Notably, while safeguarding existing gains, there is continued support to the sector through subsidies, credit facilities, R&D in fodder and animal health, among others, to ensure India’s dairy sector remains resilient, inclusive, and capable of meeting future domestic and international demand.

Moreover, the National Co-operative Exports Limited (NCEL), set up by the Government in 2023, has achieved the impressive milestone of exporting Rs 5,403.01 crore worth of agricultural commodities, including rice, fresh red onion, sugar, baby food, processed food, spices and tea.

Also, NCEL has been promoted by five leading co-operatives — Indian Farmers Fertiliser Co-operative Limited (IFFCO), Krishak Bharati Co-operative Limited (KRIBHCO), National Agricultural Co-operative Marketing Federation of India Limited (NAFED), Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF–Amul) and the National Co-operative Development Corporation (NCDC).

Kolkata, Nov 5: With the Election Commission of India (ECI) having started the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal, the two main opposition parties in the state, the BJP and CPI(M), are ahead of the ruling Trinamool Congress in appointments of booth-level agents (BLAs).

As per statistics available with the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal, as of 5 p.m. on Tuesday, the total number of BLAs appointed by the BJP and CPI(M) is 24,858 and 18,706, respectively.

On the other hand, sources in the CEO’s office said that, till that period, the total number of BLAs appointed by Trinamool Congress was just 13,526. Congress is in the distant fourth position, appointing just 5,797 BLAs till that period.

As per statistics available with the ECI’s office, the total number of booth-level agents (BLAs) appointed by the recognised national and state political parties registered with the ECI, including the four already mentioned, currently stands at over 63,940. The figure includes BLA-1s and BLA-2s.

While a BLA-1 is a party representative for an assembly constituency, a BLA-2 represents the party concerned for a polling booth. The number of BLAs appointed so far by political parties registered with the ECI is quite low; therefore, the district election officers have requested the leadership of all political parties to deploy one agent per booth.

The ECI has already expressed surprise over the significantly low ratio of booth-level officers (BLOs) appointed by the commission to the booth-level agents (BLAs) nominated by political parties in West Bengal.

At an all-party meeting held on October 28, West Bengal’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Manoj Kumar Agarwal, reportedly expressed concern about the shortfall, urging party representatives to appoint BLAs in sufficient numbers to ensure a transparent and efficient revision process. He also assured that BLOs would maintain regular interactions with the BLAs of all recognised parties during the SIR.

“Now, with the BLO-to-BLA ratio in West Bengal so low, the process of regular BLO–BLA interaction will be hampered to a great extent. Hence, the commission is insisting that political parties take proactive steps to appoint an adequate number of BLAs,” the sources in the CEO’s office said.

The entire SIR process is expected to conclude by March 2026 at the latest. The last such revision in West Bengal was conducted in 2002.