China-India tit for tat continues
Arunachal what? Five men in Arunachal Pradesh went missing earlier this week—and their family says they were allegedly abducted by Chinese troops. So the Indian Army raised the issue with their counterparts:
"We spoke with them on the hotline and told them that it's suspected that some people have crossed across to your side and we will be grateful if you could hand them over back, as per what we do normally.”
The Chinese spokesperson’s response: The Chinese government has never recognised the so-called ‘Arunachal Pradesh’. I’m not aware of the situation you mentioned.” Point to note: Beijing has traditionally claimed the state as part of its territory.
Tibet zindabad: New Delhi slid in its jibe, using the funeral of Nyima Tenzin—a member of a secret paramilitary unit who was killed in eastern Ladakh. BJP leader tweeted pics of the funeral:
“Attended d (the) funeral of SFF Coy Ldr Nyima Tenzin, a Tibetan who laid down his life protecting our borders in Ladakh, and laid a wreath as a tribute. Let the sacrifices of such valiant soldiers bring peace along d (the) Indo-Tibetan border. That will be d (the) real tribute to all martyrs.”
The tweet was later deleted but—as The Telegraph notes—the message had been clearly sent.
On to the next round: China is now accusing Indian troops of firing warning shots at Lake Pangong—the latest hotspot on the Ladakh border. India is also accused of crossing “the line” and entering Chinese territory.
The great pandemic: An update
India’s new landmark: India has zoomed past Brazil and is now #2 in the world in the total number of infections—which has crossed 4.2 million. We’ve recorded 90,000-plus daily cases for consecutive days. The central government is blaming the neverending spread on states, and their poor management of hotspot districts. Watch: This Reuters report on an overwhelmed Covid hospital in Delhi. See says-everything chart below.
A second wave? Cases of the coronavirus are spiking in France and Spain. France reported 8,975 new cases on Friday—which is higher than its previous record daily high of 7,578, which was set at the height of the pandemic. Spain recorded 9,000 new cases on Thursday. But, hey, the French Open will go on—and with a live audience, no less! But the number of spectators will be limited to 11,500.
In airline-related news: Air Asia is getting into the “super app” business, and it already has its own music label. All of which indicates a novel strategy to survive the pandemic. OTOH, IndiGo is sitting pretty. It has plenty of cash in hand and has increased its market share during the pandemic—jumping from 48% to 60.4%.
Chanda Kochhar’s husband arrested
The Enforcement Directorate has arrested Deepak Kochhar, the husband of former ICICI Bank managing director and CEO Chanda Kochhar. He is accused of money laundering based on an FIR filed by the CBI against the Kochhars. The gist of the case: Mrs Kochhar arranged for massive loans to Videocon. And in exchange, its chairman Venugopal Dhoot invested large money in Mr Kochhar’s company. Oh, and those massive ICICI loans were never repaid. (Livemint)
Mulan’s many battles
The live-action blockbuster is facing a boycott in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Thailand. The reason: its star Liu Yifei has previously expressed support of Hong Kong police for using force against anti-government protesters. The irony: The movie is also likely to fail in mainland China—where it’s attracting blah reviews despite its super-star Chinese cast. One viewer summed it up so: “It’s like that feeling when you go to a Western Chinese restaurant and have a pretty weird Chinese meal.” Also read: This Guardian essay on how changes to the original Mulan—made to target the Chinese box office—have actually made the movie more controversial.
An alarming number of suicides
Daily wage workers—excluding those in agriculture—now account for the largest number of suicides. Their share of the overall total doubled to 23.4% in 2019 as compared to the previous six years. The second-highest demographic: Housewives who account for 15.4% of all suicides. Also: the percentage of the unemployed has hit double digits (10.1%) for the first time in 25 years. Of course, these are likely to pale in comparison to 2020 numbers. (Indian Express)
Netflix vs Amazon: the numbers are out!
‘Made in India’ options offer little competition to the two global giants who are tied for the #1 spot in the streaming wars. They each accounted for 20% share of the market in the last quarter—followed by Disney+ Hotstar (17%) and Zee5 (9%). The silver lining for Disney: It added 625,000 new subscribers in India between April and June. (Quartz)
A new twist in Rajput investigation
The Bandra police have charged Sushant Singh Rajput’s sisters—Priyanka and Meetu Singh—with abetment of suicide, cheating and criminal conspiracy (among many, many other things). This is 12 hours after Rhea Chakraborty filed a police complaint against them for pushing and providing dangerous medication to their brother. (The Hindu)
Arnab is a terrible employer
Yes, it is shocking. The most popular (and deranged) TV anchor is a nasty boss who routinely humiliates and abuses his staff—apparently with active assistance from his wife. The sordid details first emerged when Republic TV’s Jammu bureau chief published his letter to HR—which detailed the reasons for his resignation. The most noteworthy bit: When Tejinder Singh Sodhi was asked to ambush the deceased Sunanda Puhskar’s father and get him to name her husband, Shashi Tharoor, as her killer. Read the letter here. Bonus read: Newslaundry did a followup based on interviews with unnamed employees—which pretty much confirms Sodhi’s account.
Lok Sabha: A hobby audit
Mint decided to do a deep-dive into the profiles of 373 MPs—and uncovered this astonishing fact about their listed hobbies: Most of our netas love to read! But their choice of reading material varies very, very, widely: “Y.S. Avinash Reddy from Andhra Pradesh likes reading on irrigation projects and West Bengal Congress MP Abu Hasem Khan Choudhury on Sufism.” More predictable: only four listed cooking as their fave pastime, and three of them were women. The man in the mix: BJP’s Shantanu Thakur. Mint has a lot more charts and data… in case you really, really need them.
