CuBird

CB+ by Cricbuzz Staff • Last updated on Share Tweet . © Cricbuzz As the cricket fever sets in, Cricbuzz is proud to offer an exciting addition to the platform that aims to satisfy discerning viewers who love to be updated on the finer aspects of the game. With Cricbuzz Plus, die-hard cricket lovers will get to improve their knowledge of the game as they get exclusive peeks in teams, players, analysis and strategies. As a true-blue cricket fan, you will find immense value in what this premium package has to offer from exclusive interviews and video shows to in-depth editorials, all this in a completely ad-free format. As Pankaj Chhaparwal, CEO of Cricbuzz says, "Cricbuzz Plus is aimed at discriminating cricket lovers who enjoy the game and are interested in the finer nuances of the sport. Everyone offers content, what we have on offer, is a complete cricketing experience that every cricket fan will find … [Read more...] about Stay #AboveTheNoise with Cricbuzz Plus

I F IT EVER was Shanghai’s tallest building, the 40-metre-high headquarters of the North China Daily News did not remain so for long. Skyscrapers became fashionable before the Communists took over in 1949 and turned China into a world leader for them. In 2015 the tallest building in China (and second-highest in the world) opened in Lujiazui, Shanghai’s Wall Street, on the far side of the Huangpu river. Chinese officials call the 632-metre edifice Shanghai Tower, a symbol of the financial capital’s might. The sinuous, 128-storey structure, designed by an American firm, purports to evoke a dragon’s twisting form. It is home to Chinese and foreign financial firms betting on China’s rise. JPMorgan, an American bank, occupies four floors. But the Communist Party is there as well. It has taken a large, airy space high up to run a political operation about which it is open and proud. Its focus is on companies in Shanghai Tower and other skyscrapers. For private firms in China, there is … [Read more...] about It’s the party’s business, too

“P ARTY-BUILDING has no borders.” So intones the Communist Party to encourage Chinese firms to set up party branches abroad. “No matter where the project, that country will have a party organisation,” is another slogan. China’s rise has expanded the party’s influence abroad. As Chinese citizens head overseas for work and study, its branches are spreading too. Browbeating the West to show more respect is the task of party organs in Beijing. The foreign ministry does the grunt work, but the party’s Foreign Affairs Commission, headed by Mr Xi, sets policy. The Publicity Department spreads propaganda through state media such as CGTN , a television network, and Xinhua, a news agency. The United Front Work Department ( UFWD ) controls organisations seeking to boost the party’s influence abroad, especially among ethnic Chinese. The ASPI Australian think-tank says the UFWD oversees Confucius Institutes, the government-supported cultural centres on university campuses abroad. … [Read more...] about Flying the Chinese flag

T HE FIGHT against covid-19 has been a propaganda boon for the Communist Party. China swiftly crushed the disease and allowed its economy to return to near normal, even as much of the rest of the world struggled to cope. State media have crowed. “The advantages of the leadership system of the Chinese Communist Party and the shortcomings of the capitalist party system have been shown up in clear contrast,” said an article by the party’s discipline-enforcement agency. Many Chinese, though initially critical of officials’ cover-up of the outbreak, seem to agree that the party has triumphed. In the West, many wonder if China was partly responsible for the pandemic, by failing to respond sooner to early signs of a new coronavirus and by keeping news of it secret—or even by allowing the virus to escape from a laboratory in Wuhan. China’s censors tolerate no such speculation. State media report only on the party’s resolute response, the results of which are clear. The country has had few … [Read more...] about Getting into the vanguard of the Chinese elite

A FEW DAYS after he took power in November 2012, Xi Jinping convened a “collective study” session of the Politburo. Looking at the 22 men and two women round the table in an imperial-era building in Zhongnanhai, the party’s headquarters, he may have felt uncomfortable. Most owed their positions to his predecessors, not him. The party had been traumatised by a fierce power struggle. Who was reliable? Beyond the high-walled compound, Chinese society was changing at a dizzying pace, with the emergence of a large middle class. An internet-fuelled information revolution was under way. Could the public be trusted? Against a backdrop of an ink-brush painting of China’s iconic scenery, Mr Xi aired his concerns. The party’s ability to fulfil its “historical mission” and cope with change was beset by “many shortcomings”. Some members had lost their sense of conviction, he said. Their bones were “losing calcium”. Mindful of the recent Arab spring, he warned that in other countries, public … [Read more...] about Trying to heal the wounds