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Deepika Padukone dragged into Rajput case
The Narcotics Control Bureau has issued summons to Deepika Padukone, Sara Ali Khan, Shraddha Kapoor and Rakul Preet Singh as part of its Rhea Chakraborty investigation. The official reason: Chakraborty named the actors when questioned by the police after her arrest.
In the case of Padukone, reports cite “some allegedly incriminating Whatsapp conversations” involving the actor, her manager and employee of Kwan talent management company. We assume this is the nonsense being currently aired on Times Now and Republic TV—the 2017 WhatsApp messages which are being peddled as #DeepikaMaalChats. Rajyasree Sen offers an excellent and scathing takedown of this television witch-hunt—which also spares you the trauma of having to watch it yourself.
As for Sara Ali Khan, this is what the police have on her: “In a statement to the NCB, a boatman Jagdish Das had said Sushant used to party at his Lonavla farmhouse with Ms. Chakraborty, Ms. Khan and others, where weed and alcohol were common.”
We ask again: Are there no men in Bollywood who do drugs? Also: even respected news outlets like The Hindu are now calling this the “Bollywood drug nexus case” 🤮 (We rarely offer our unvarnished opinion but this is plain egregious)
Meanwhile in Bihar...: The top cop who kicked off this entire mess on behalf of Rajput’s family has retired. Gupteshwar Pandey is now positioning himself as a ‘crusader cop’ who got ‘justice for Sushant’—and may run in the upcoming state elections. Also: he’s released this music video/ campaign ad.
In other Bollywood news: The Mumbai Police have registered an FIR against director Anurag Kashyap—who has been accused by actor Payal Ghosh of sexually assaulting her in 2013. He has been charged with rape, assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty, wrongful restraint and wrongful confinement.
Breonna Taylor verdict sparks anger, violence
- In March, the police entered Taylor’s residence using a battering ram—in search of drugs.
- Her boyfriend reached for his licensed gun—unsure of what was happening—and hit one police officer in his leg.
- The police in turn discharged 32 rounds, killing Taylor.
- Yesterday, the jury decided none of the police officers are responsible for her death. Only one was convicted—but of shooting bullets into the neighbouring apartment building.
- Protests spread across Louisville, and now one police officer has been shot. The city has declared a state of emergency, and called in the National Guard. BBC News has more details.
The great pandemic: A quick update
- The minister of state for railways Suresh Angadi died of Covid last night. He is the first union minister to succumb to the disease. To date, the neta death toll includes six MLAs and three MPs.
- The UK will conduct controversial 'human challenge' trials in January. In such a trial, the participant is first given the vaccine and then deliberately infected with the virus to see if it works. There’s no word on which vaccine will be tested in this way.
- Also in the UK: Robots that kill the virus with ultraviolet light are patrolling London's biggest train station, St Pancras International.
- The Indian government warned that 85% of the population will become infected if we do not follow Covid safety procedures. For example: wearing a mask.
- Saudi Arabia has suspended flights from India, Brazil and Argentina.
Tesla fails to impress
CEO Elon Musk grandly announced that his company will be ready to roll out a $25,000 electric car… in three years! Tesla’s stock promptly tanked—wiping $50 billion off its market value. Quartz explains why investors are increasingly unhappy with Musk—and sceptical of his grand announcements.
In other Tesla news: The company is suing the US government to overturn President Trump’s tariffs on the parts it imports from China. The filing argues that the decision “was arbitrary and capricious because… [the government] failed to consider relevant factors when making its decision, and failed to draw a rational connection between the facts found and the choices made." Tesla wants the tariffs to be declared void and a refund of the amount it has already paid plus interest! (CNBC)
In other electric car news: Volkswagen unveiled its Tesla competitor: ID.4, a compact SUV for $39,995. In other words, the Germans (almost) have a mass-market cheap electric car right now! Business Insider has more.
Also unveiled today: The first online Apple store in India. NDTV has all the deets.
A Rohingya horror in Bangladesh
More than 300 refugees—trying to sail from Bangladesh to Malaysia—have been imprisoned on a small island in the Bay of Bengal. They are being held in appalling “jail-like conditions, with up to five people per 50-square ft room.” Worse: the women report being beaten and raped by the guards. Why this matters: The Bangladesh government plans to move a large part of the million Rohingya refugees who are currently living in Dhaka to this island. (The Guardian)
JK Rowling thrives amid transphobia outrage
Her new thriller ‘Troubled Blood’ is the number one bestseller in the UK—despite anger over one of its characters: a cross-dressing serial killer. And the author is doing little to douse the flames. A new row broke out when Rowling directed fans to buy merch from a website that sells items with transphobic messages. The message on the tee Rowling recommended: This Witch Doesn’t Burn.
The doxing of interfaith Indian couples
An important Buzzfeed News investigation shows that Twitter did nothing to protect Hindu-Muslim couples from being targeted by trolls—who were sharing their personal information on the platform.
“‘This is going to be a long thread,’ one of the accounts involved in the doxing said, following it up with 17 more tweets. Each tweet contained pictures of government documents including names, ages, occupations, addresses, and photographs of Hindu-Muslim couples in India.”
How are they getting all this information? According to the Special Marriage Act, interfaith couples have to announce their intent to get married to the government and wait 30 days for approval. The Kerala government has now uploaded their applications online—for everyone to see and misuse. This Buzzfeed story is a must read.
