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      The Ambani Wedding Event Signifies the Rise of the Oligarch in Modi’s India

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      Rihanna, Mark Zuckerberg, bejeweled elephants and 5,500 drones. Those were some of the highlights of what is likely the most ostentatious “pre-wedding” ceremony the modern world has ever seen.On a long weekend in early March, members of the global elite gathered to celebrate the impending nuptials of the billionaire business titan Mukesh Ambani’s youngest son, Anant, and Radhika Merchant. Monarchs, politicians and the ultrawealthy, including Bill Gates and Ivanka Trump, descended on an oil refinery city in the western Indian state of Gujarat for an event so extravagant you’d be forgiven for thinking it was, well, a wedding. But that will take place in July. For the long windup to the big day, some of Bollywood’s biggest stars, though invited as guests, took to the stage to sing and dance in what amounted to a bending of the knee to India’s most powerful family.Watching the event, I couldn’t help thinking of the 1911 durbar, or royal reception, when King George V was proclaimed emperor of India. Once India won its independence from Britain in 1947, it committed itself to becoming a democratic welfare state — an audacious experiment that resulted in what is now the world’s largest democracy. But in advance of this year’s general election, expected to begin in April, the Ambani-Merchant matrimonial extravaganza shows us where true power in India now lies: with a handful of people whose untrammeled wealth and influence has elevated them to the position of India’s shadow leaders.It’s difficult to imagine the Ambani-Merchant wedding event in an India that isn’t ruled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It’s true that the Ambanis have been wealthy for years now and that accusations of favorable treatment from government authorities are not unique to this family or the Modi government. But no other prime minister in India’s history has been so openly aligned with big business, and never before has the concentration of wealth been more apparent. India’s richest 1 percent now own more than 40 percent of the country’s wealth, according to Oxfam. The country has the world’s largest number of poor, at 228.9 million. And according to a newly published study looking at 92 low- and middle-income countries, India had the third-highest percentage of “zero food” children — babies between 6 months and 23 months old who had gone a day or more without food other than breast milk at the time they were surveyed. Oxfam has described this new India as the “survival of the richest.”For the uberwealthy, this presents a no-holds-barred opportunity to exert their power and influence. In 2017, Mr. Modi introduced a fund-raising mechanism called “electoral bonds” to allow unlimited anonymous donations to political parties. In the five years that followed, the prime minister’s Bharatiya Janata Party received $635 million in contributions through such bonds, 5.5 times as much as its closest rival, the Congress Party. The 2019 Indian general elections cost $8.6 billion, surpassing the estimated $6.5 billion spent on the 2016 U.S. presidential and congressional elections.Analysis by three independent media organizations in India published on March 14 revealed that a company called Qwik Supply Chains purchased bonds in the scheme worth $50 million. One of the company’s three directors, reporters later uncovered, is also a director at several subsidiaries of Reliance, Mukesh Ambani’s mega-firm. A spokesperson for Reliance said that Qwik is not a Reliance subsidiary and did not respond to further questioning from Reuters. The Indian Supreme Court has since struck down the electoral bond mechanism, calling it unconstitutional, but the delay in addressing the matter has most likely come too late to change the outcome of the forthcoming election, which is widely considered all but certain to go in Mr. Modi’s favor.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Monica Hickey, Doyenne of Bridal Gowns, Dies at 100

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      As the director of salons at Henri Bendel, Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue, she spent decades outfitting brides-to-be for their grand ceremonies.Monica Hickey, who for decades swathed celebrities and socialites for their lavish nuptials in the haute bridal salons at the New York department stores Henri Bendel, Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue, died on Jan. 26 in Valle de Elqui, Chile. She was 100.She died at the home of her daughter, Caitlin Margaret May, who announced the death.Ms. Hickey ran the bridal boutique at Bendel’s under the company’s president, Geraldine Stutz, a celebrated figure in fashion retailing, from 1960 until she was hired away by Bergdorf’s in 1967 to run a department under her own name, the Bridal World of Monica Hickey.In 1978 she returned to Bendel’s, where for more than a decade she directed the venerable Shop for Brides at the company’s flagship on West 57th Street in Manhattan, which had opened in 1908 and was considered an institution. In 1987, Bendel’s announced the closing of the shop. The closing followed a takeover by The Limited two years earlier, which also led to a move to Fifth Avenue.“Through the years, the Bendel’s bride has been steadfast in one concept,” Ms. Hickey said in an interview with The New York Times after the announcement. “Her dress had to be romantic, delicate, in perfect taste, streamlined, never frantic.”Among the prominent brides Ms. Hickey served there were the television host Jane Pauley and three daughters of the auto magnate William Clay Ford.Over the years, she helped dress a number of other notable brides, including Amanda M. Burden, a daughter of the magazine editor and socialite Babe Paley, who would go on to serve as the New York City planning commission under Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg; and Margaret Lindsay, a daughter of another New York mayor, John V. Lindsay; Phyllis George, the former Miss America and CBS football host, who married John Y. Brown Jr., the Kentucky Fried Chicken mogul who was elected governor of Kentucky in 1979.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Tim Scott Is Engaged to Be Married

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      Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, who for years faced speculation about his marital status, on Saturday proposed to Mindy Noce, his girlfriend and an interior designer who lives in Charleston. She said yes.It’s been a whirlwind few days for Mr. Scott, whose endorsement of former President Donald J. Trump at a New Hampshire rally on Friday renewed talk about his consideration as a running mate, should Mr. Trump win the Republican nomination. The engagement, which was first reported by The Washington Post, comes after more than a year of dating. Mr. Scott made his relationship with Ms. Noce public when he brought her onstage after a Republican presidential primary debate — the last he would participate in before suspending his campaign in November. The two met at church.A spokesman for Mr. Scott, Nathan Brand, confirmed the engagement, which took place on Kiawah Island, S.C., near Charleston. Mr. Scott and Ms. Noce had a celebratory dinner afterward and Ms. Noce attended church the following morning, wearing her engagement ring.Mr. Scott shared his news with a national audience on “Sunday Night in America,” the Fox News program hosted by Trey Gowdy, his friend and a former South Carolina congressman.Mr. Scott, a longtime bachelor, attempted to keep his relationship status quiet. Even so, his bachelorhood had been the subject of much scrutiny during his presidential run and in his Senate career. Asked multiple times on the campaign trail about his marital status, Mr. Scott often demurred, saying he was praying for the right woman before taking that step.“One of the things I love about the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that it points us always in the right direction. Proverbs 18:22 says, ‘He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord,’” he told Brenna Bird, the Iowa attorney general, in September. “So can we just pray together for me?” More

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      Should No Labels Run a Presidential Candidate?

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      More from our inbox:Oppenheimer’s Lessons on Politics and ScienceDisease Outbreaks in Animal IndustriesCans on the Newlyweds’ Car Jacquelyn Martin/Associated PressTo the Editor:Re “With Centrist Platform, No Labels Pushes Cause and Latent Third-Party Bid” (news article, July 16):Although I would love to see our two-party system evolve and I think less acrimony is essential to moving forward, I have two basic problems with the No Labels party idea.First, the U.S. system simply doesn’t support the creation of viable alternate parties. Until the barriers in place are removed, all third parties can do is play spoiler.Second, I firmly believe that our first priority should be defending our democratic foundation. For the first time in U.S. history, we have one party actively and unashamedly undermining the rule of law and democracy itself. We need to defend and shore up our democracy first. Then it will be a great time to change the rules so we don’t have this seemingly black or white constraint for our choice of candidate.Since Harlan Crow, the Texas billionaire who gives generous gifts to Justice Clarence Thomas, is a contributor to No Labels, I am suspicious of the rest of the donors whom we don’t know about.I see this movement as a political effort designed to prey on the public’s good faith, good intentions and frustration with the chaos caused by anti-democracy forces in the U.S.The way forward is to stick together for democracy — not splinter.Deb GarriesCalgary, AlbertaThe writer is an American citizen.To the Editor:The article mentions the possibility of the No Labels movement in the U.S. seeking to be listed on state ballots as a political party. This is no easy job. Of the two largest American minor political parties, Libertarians and Greens, only the Libertarians have been getting their candidates on the ballot in all 50 states.Each state has its own often complex rules and requirements to be listed on its ballots. Any group such as No Labels could also face legal challenges by one or both of the major parties. Such an effort to gain ballot access for a new party typically requires years of work and much money.No Labels could cause problems in battleground states for President Biden’s re-election bid, but No Labels’ major battle would be just trying to get on state ballots.Dan DonovanBrooklynTo the Editor:The third-party scam must have the Trump wing of the G.O.P. chuckling with glee. Currently, only a Republican or Democrat can win the presidency, and that’s not going to change in a year and a half. Donald Trump’s followers will not be moved by persuasion or facts, so he will be a nominee.This week you reported on Mr. Trump’s intent to concentrate power in the executive branch, weakening the courts and Congress. He plans the end of the republic as we know it. Yet his followers will vote for him.The Republicans’ path to power is a continual drumbeat of “President Biden’s too old, we need fresh blood,” etc., shifting attention away from Mr. Biden’s effectiveness. The strategy: Persuade Democratic voters that they are too “sophisticated” (No Labels) to accept the binary choice, and should go for a Manchin, a Kennedy.In 2000, Ralph Nader voters helped elect George W. Bush, who attacked Iraq and ballooned the national debt. Many “Bernie Bros” in 2016 refused to vote for Hillary Clinton, helping clear the way for Mr. Trump.Thanks for nothing.This search for political purity, or just novelty, could ironically result in the beginning of American dictatorship next year. It is unrealistic to think that third-party votes will lead anywhere else.Howard SchmittGreen Tree, Pa.To the Editor:I’d like to propose an alternative way to refer to No Labels. It should be called what it is: Republicans Only Not in Name (RONIN). Not only is that resonant with the term RINO (Republicans in Name Only), which is used by many Republicans to refer to other Republicans they disapprove of. It’s also consistent with the Japanese term “ronin,” a kind of loose cannon in the feudal social structure.Ron GroveFlagstaff, Ariz.Oppenheimer’s Lessons on Politics and ScienceJ. Robert Oppenheimer in an undated photo.Associated PressTo the Editor:Re “‘Oppenheimer’ Shows the Danger of Politicizing Science,” by Kai Bird (Opinion guest essay, July 18):Mr. Bird’s excellent essay about J. Robert Oppenheimer illustrates all too well the dangers to our democracy in allowing political rhetoric and policies to alter scientific facts and theories.Such lessons do not belong only to the McCarthy era. The politicization of the Covid vaccine and the far right’s attack on Dr. Anthony Fauci are recent history. And indeed, as we speak, Republican strategists are planning increased executive and presidential political control over scientific and other now independent agencies.Let’s not let the lessons of Oppenheimer be lost. They are as relevant now as they were in the McCarthy era.Ken GoldmanBeverly Hills, Calif.To the Editor:Whether it’s harsh truths about atomic power or the merits of vaccines against Covid-19, influenza and childhood illnesses, it’s science — regularly, honestly and clearly explained — that is sanity’s ultimate home-field advantage.Peter J. PittsNew YorkThe writer, a former F.D.A. associate commissioner, is president of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest and a visiting professor at the University of Paris School of Medicine.Disease Outbreaks in Animal IndustriesThe United States produces 10 billion animals for food every year, including more pigs and poultry, which can harbor and transmit influenza, than nearly any other country.Gerry Broome/Associated PressTo the Editor:Re “Risk Seen in U.S. Animal Industries” (Science Times, July 11), about the risk of infectious disease outbreaks:This article is illuminating, but one element of the crisis is missing: the degree to which animals suffer in these appalling situations.Consider the complete lack of hygiene to which animals confined in farming operations and live animal markets are subjected without relief until they die, either at the hands of slaughterers or from chronic stress and disease.I doubt that much will be done to control the animal industries identified in the article until more people speak out against what these animals are forced to endure.The cruelty and contamination are linked. We might stretch our imaginations to make this connection and act on it.Karen DavisMachipongo, Va.The writer is the president of United Poultry Concerns, a nonprofit that promotes the respectful treatment of domesticated birds.Cans on the Newlyweds’ CarTo the Editor:Re “Where Those Cans Behind the Car Came From” (Traditions, Sunday Styles, July 16):When my wife, Laurie, and I were married, my brothers affixed a “Just Married” sign and a bouquet of cans to the bumper of my Jeep Cherokee.On our way to the airport that evening, we were pulled over by the Suffield, Conn., police. We weren’t speeding, and there was no one else on the road. Perhaps the officer wanted to congratulate the newlyweds?No; apparently a can had come loose from the vehicle. We were issued a warning — and informed that a ticket would have cost us $82 (more than $200 today) — for “operating with an unsecure load.”Despite that inauspicious start, my wife and I will celebrate our 34th anniversary in November.David CecchiAgawam, Mass. More

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      Their Careers and Romance Took Root in Politics

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      Henry Connelly, the communications director for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Samantha Warren, the chief of staff for Representative Bill Foster, became fast friends and confidants when they met in Washington.Henry Connelly, the communications director for the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, can relate to the cinematic tale of a farmer discovering his “Field of Dreams” in an Iowa cornfield.The girl of his dreams, Samantha Warren, was born and raised in the thick of an Illinois cornfield. Their love story, though, was set in Washington.“He inspires me,” said Ms. Warren, the chief of staff for Representative Bill Foster, Democrat of Illinois. “Henry’s successful but modest, and is so generous with his time and his talents where both me and his friends are concerned. And he comes from the most wonderful family.”After graduating from Yale in 2009, Mr. Connelly, 34, was hired as an organizer on a campaign for the 2011 special election for a Los Angeles-area congressional seat, which was won by Janice Hahn. She then hired Mr. Connelly to work in her Washington office.“When you win a special election like that, you get thrown right into an office and have very little time to make hires and fill it up with people,” Mr. Connelly said. “The first week or so is always complete chaos.”Within the maelstrom of those very first days came Ms. Warren, 36. “Samantha had a boyfriend at the time, and early-on, I really tried to do everything I could to not admit to myself how extraordinary I thought she was, and how much I liked her,” said Mr. Connelly, who was born in New York City and raised in Los Angeles.“She was smart and tough and radiant,” he added. “I really tried to convince myself that it was a platonic thing.”Like Mr. Connelly, Ms. Warren’s career also took root in politics. She got her start working on the election campaign of Representative Debbie Halvorson, Democrat of Illinois, in 2008. She then worked as the regional director in Ms. Halvorson’s Illinois office until she lost re-election in 2010.Following the advice of a friend, Ms. Warren “took a leap of faith,” as she put it, in July 2011 and moved to Washington without a job, initially joining Mr. Connelly in Ms. Hahn’s congressional office as an intern.“I was hoping that a paying job would eventually open up, and thank goodness it did,” said Ms. Warren, who was born and raised in Princeton, Ill., a rural farming community.“Our family home was on an unnamed postal road in the middle of cornfields,” she said. “Those cornfields seemed to stretch to the horizon.”Foot Candles PhotographyIt wasn’t long before she and Mr. Connelly became fast friends and confidants. “Henry was so handsome and super intelligent,” said Ms. Warren, who graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, from which she received a master’s degree in political science.“I was sort of aware that he really liked me, and to tell you the truth I was worried about it, because I didn’t want to ruin a good friendship.”They carried on that friendship for two and a half years, “until it became undeniable,” Ms. Warren said.They turned a romantic corner in February 2013, on a first date that began in Mr. Connelly’s Washington apartment, where Ms. Warren helped him cook risotto.“I knew that the constant stirring required would mean precious minutes rubbing shoulders with each other in front of the stove,” said Mr. Connelly, laughing.Later that night they went dancing, and were still on the dance floor when they shared their first kiss.“It was a little nerve-racking,” Ms. Warren said. “But then I thought, ‘Wow, I think we have something here.’”On a March weekend in 2019, Mr. Connelly took Ms. Warren to brunch at their favorite restaurant in Washington, and they later walked together through the cherry blossoms around the Tidal Basin, where Mr. Connelly proposed.They were married July 31 at the Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara in California. Sidney Fowler, a United Church of Christ minister, officiated before 100 guests.“We have a passion for making the world a better place,” the bride said the day after her wedding, “and we’re going to make it happen.” More

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      When Love and Politics Mix

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      Emorie Broemel and Philip Swartzfager II met in Cleveland at the 2016 Republican National Convention. She was there working for ViacomCBS; he was a volunteer.Emorie Broemel, a senior director of government relations at ViacomCBS, never imagined she would meet her future husband at the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. As a Democrat, it was one of the last places she expected to find love.“I joke that it’s my secret shame,” she said. She was also too consumed by her work at the time to even consider the possibility that she might make a romantic connection. “Conventions for me are not fun at all,” she said. “They’re very stressful. I’m like doing events and running around.”But for Philip Swartzfager II, an operations volunteer at the July convention, politics were the furthest thing from his mind when he was introduced to Ms. Broemel by Sarah Hudson, a mutual friend. Instead, he was surprised and a bit regretful. Ms. Hudson had actually been trying to set the two of them up for months and he wished they had connected sooner.It was not an ideal environment for a first date, Mr. Swartzfager said, because they each had social obligations throughout the evening. But after drinks, a concert performance by the country singer-songwriter Pat Green and a stop at the former House speaker John Boehner’s warehouse party — one of the convention’s marquee gatherings — they had gotten enough time together for Mr. Swartzfager, 39, to feel confident he’d met someone special. “I knew when we left the party,” he said. “I was like, ‘I’ve got to get her to commit to another date.’”It was about two weeks later when they were able to see each together again because Ms. Broemel, 36, had to travel, with only two days of rest at home in Washington in between, to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. To keep himself on her radar, Mr. Swartzfager, a manager of government relations at PayPal, sent Ms. Broemel an “encouraging text message so she didn’t forget me.”The message, Ms. Broemel said, was unnecessary: “I knew that I wanted to see Phil again.” Despite being exhausted from the back-to-back conventions, she agreed to meet up with Mr. Swartzfager for drinks at the Spanish restaurant Jaleo, just a few days after returning to the capital.Within months, they were dating seriously and in August 2017, on a trip to Rosemary Beach, Fla., unplugged from work and fully relaxed for the first time since they met, the couple realized that their relationship was on its way to becoming permanent. “That was kind of a crystallizing trip where I think we both knew that we wanted and that we would at some point marry,” Ms. Broemel said.Further confirmation came in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic when they quarantined together. “Although I knew we would get engaged, I knew we would be married, it was a very comforting experience to know that you can get along with somebody so well that you can weather working from home together,” Mr. Swartzfager said.He planned to propose in Baltimore, after a meal at Charleston, one of their favorite restaurants. But that fell through because of new public health rules, so Mr. Swartzfager asked Ms. Broemel to marry him at their Capitol Hill apartment in December.They were married April 17 before eight guests at Christ Church Cathedral in Nashville, where the bride grew up. The Rev. Anne Stevenson, Ms. Broemel’s childhood priest, came out of retirement to perform the Episcopal ceremony. More