Facebook-BJP story, continued…
There was more fallout from the Wall Street Journal story—which showed that its director of policy in India blocked attempts to take down hate-filled posts of certain BJP leaders (see our explainer here).
Ankhi Das filed a complaint: against two Facebook handles, three Twitter handles and others of endangering her life:
“The content, which even includes my photograph, is evidently threatening to my life and body and I fear for my safety as well as that of my family members…. The above facts reveal that the accused persons have intentionally vilified me due to their political affiliations and are now engaging in online and offline abuse, subjecting me to criminal intimidation and making sexually coloured remarks.”
Among those named: Arshad Khan, social media coordinator of the Congress’s student wing, and activist Saket Gokhale—who has since put out this thread flagging a partnership between the Election Commission and Facebook in the leadup to the 2019 elections.
Facebook responded: with a rote statement claiming that it prohibits "hate speech and content that incites violence and we enforce these policies globally without regard to anyone's political position or party affiliation"—and refused to comment on Das.
Delhi government jumped in: A Delhi Assembly committee plans to summon Das and her colleagues to investigate whether they had “any role or complicity of Facebook officials in the orchestration of Delhi riots”—specifically citing Kapil Mishra’s FB video which triggered the violence. The video was taken down—and cited by Mark Zuckerberg as evidence of the company’s anti-hate policy. But Mishra remained on the platform, and his page has grown immensely popular since.
Reliance is on a buying spree
The company is in talks to buy online furniture retailer Urban Ladder and milk delivery firm Milkbasket. Also on its shopping list: e-pharmacy startup Netmeds and the lingerie brand Zivame. Times of India has more details.
Still making deals: TikTok which has surprisingly sealed a partnership with UniversalMasters—a music distribution company backed by Silicon Valley bigwigs—despite the looming US ban.
Also a potential loss to China: 24 companies have pledged $1.5 billion in investments to set up mobile-phone factories in India—including Samsung and Apple suppliers like Foxconn, Wistron Corp. and Pegatron Corp.
Pandit Jasraj has passed away
The legendary 90-year-old classical vocalist died of cardiac arrest on Monday at his house in New Jersey. Activist Kavitha Krishnan shared a lovely story of her mother’s relationship with the singer—who tutored her as a little child. Here is Pandit-ji speaking about awards and accolades (and he won almost every one) to Ayaz Memon. Indian Express profiles his career.
The Indian pandemic: A quick update
- Total number of cases: 2,702,742. Number of deaths: 51,797. Number of recoveries: 1,977,779. Two Indians died every third minute over the past 24 hours.
- Biocon CEO Kiran Mazumdar Shaw has tested positive, but has only mild symptoms.
- Busloads of migrant workers are streaming back into New Delhi. They were administered a rapid test, and quarantined when positive.
- The number of jobseekers has doubled on LinkedIn. The average number of applications per job opening posted on the platform has risen from around 90 in January to 180 in June.
- Also rising due to the pandemic: the demand for second-hand cars, motorcycles and scooters in both Tier One and Two cities. The most popular buy: Maruti Suzuki.
- In related news: WFH employees saving on commute costs will pay higher taxes next year. The reason: they will lose out on tax-free exemptions like their conveyance allowance etc. Times of India explains.
- Also: the anti-mask movement has now sprung up in India. See video below.
California records all-time high temperatures
The aptly named Death Valley hit 130 degrees Fahrenheit (54.4°C) on Sunday—which may be the hottest temperature recorded in the U.S. since 1913, and perhaps the hottest temperature ever reliably recorded in the world. CBS News has more.
A near-billion dollar clerical error
Revlon is in an ugly battle with a group of lenders who sued the cosmetics company—demanding immediate repayment of a big fat loan that will be due in 2023. Revlon has been refusing to do so. And yet on Wednesday, its banker Citigroup “mistakenly” transferred $900 million to those lenders—an amount equal to the full principal value of the loan, plus interest. Revlon insists it did not initiate the payment, but the lenders are refusing to give the money back. This big boo-boo is now the talk of Wall Street. (Bloomberg via NDTV)
In other news of massive eff-ups: A team of European scientists have deeply embarrassed a Calcutta-based journal named Asian Journal of Medicine and Health. The journal published their fake paper which claimed that the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine can prevent push-scooter accidents. The Telegraph has the details.
