Alibaba hits pause on India

The Chinese tech giant is freezing new investments in the country due to ongoing diplomatic tensions. Even money that has been committed is being held up by the government’s stricter foreign investment rules. Example: Zomato is still waiting on $100 million of the $150 million committed by Ant Financial—owned by Alibaba. Startup money from Chinese investors dipped to $166 million between January and July compared with $197 million during the same months last year. Total Chinese investment in Indian startups: $641 million in 2019. (Mint)

Also on the anti-China radar: NASA’s collaboration with Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The reason: Musk’s other company Tesla secured a line of credit worth approximately $1.4 billion from Chinese state-owned banks in December. Now, some Republican Congressmen are all worried:

“I'm concerned that companies in China could come into the U.S., make a sweetheart deal, take sensitive information, take proprietary technologies, and use it to enrich their own space program, their own national security efforts in China.”

Amazon India is being sued

A group of more than 2,000 online sellers has filed an antitrust case against the company. They claim that Amazon’s wholesale unit sells goods at a loss to select companies like Cloudtail (in which Amazon is an investor). This allows Cloudtail to heavily discount their products and undercut others on the platform. The filing claims: “This anti-competitive arrangement ... is causing foreclosure of competition by driving independent sellers out of the market.” Reuters has the exclusive.

Also being sued, Netflix: And by none other than Mehul Choksi—the uncle and co-conspirator of the infamous Nirav Modi (The great defaulter of bank loans). Choksi is upset about its upcoming series ‘Bad Boy Billionaires’ which “explores the greed, fraud and corruption that built up—and ultimately brought down—India’s most infamous tycoons.” Oddly, Choksi is not suing to ban the series but to get an early look at it. (Hindustan Times)

Yet another Facebook exposé

Article 14 has uncovered a number of pro-BJP pages that are hiding their connection to the party—in violation of FB rules. Two of them label themselves as ‘News and Media’ websites:

Three of these five pages—Nation With Namo, My First Vote for Modi and Bharat Ke Mann ki Baat—feature among Facebook’s top 10 India advertising spenders. Together, these three account for Rs 4.83 crore of the nearly Rs 16 crore spent by Facebook’s top 10 political advertisers since February 2019, or more than a quarter, company data show. 

 

In submissions to Facebook, all three admitted to operating from the same address—6-A, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, New Delhi. This is the registered address of the BJP’s national headquarters.

We are shocked.

New charges against Rhea Chakraborty 

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has filed a criminal case against the actor and three of her acquaintances. The reason: The Enforcement Directorate—which is investigating her role in Sushant Singh Rajput’s suicide—alerted the NCB to WhatsApp conversations between Chakraborty and others regarding cannabidiol, LSD, MDMA and marijuana. Now the NCB aims “to unearth the nexus of trafficking.” Chakraborty’s lawyer says she has “never consumed drugs in her life.” Alarming point to note: The charges are non-bailable and carry punishments between 1-10 years. Yup, now it’s officially a witch hunt. (Indian Express)

Women make better corona warriors

A new study compared 19 countries led by women with male-led countries closest to them in terms of population, economy, gender equality etc. On average, nations with a woman in charge had half as many Covid deaths. Likely reason: They generally ordered lockdowns much earlier and “flattened the curve” more quickly. The most interesting bit of speculation is this:

“One reason could be that women are more averse to risk, as most studies corroborate. But the choice facing leaders this spring wasn’t simply between more or less risk. It was a trade-off between one risk, that to life, and another, that of economic loss. So the difference between the men and women, as the study’s authors point out, was really that the women took less risk with lives and more with the economy, whereas men did the opposite.”

Coming soon: A West Wing reunion

The cast will reunite for a special to be aired on HBOMax right before the election. The aim: to encourage Americans to vote. No, this won’t be a Zoom-only episode, but will be shot at the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles. Yes, Barack Obama will make a guest appearance. Still delayed due to the pandemic: The ‘Friends’ reunion. (Variety)

Activists dismantle ‘illegal zoo’

The so-called ‘emu park’ in a South Delhi park had birds—including a turkey, geese and emus!—and also: rabbits, guinea pigs and persian cats. Activists have now shut it down, and relocated the animals to shelters. The reason: They were being kept in tiny cages and in filthy conditions. Everyone—including park authorities—are feigning total ignorance. But the park has long been a beloved Delhi attraction.

Empty Patra makes great noise

The ‘Rasode mein kaun tha’ meme took a bizarre and insane turn on television thanks to BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra—who gave it a whole new ‘Rahul is Rashi’ spin. Bonus points to the anchor for keeping a straight face—and to the Congress rep who offered a super-smart response. Watch Patra below.