Written by: Aarthi Ramnath, Aakriti Anand & Raghav Bikhchandani
Pannun-wala tamasha: Meet Vikash Yadav
The context: In November 2023, the US Department of Justice filed charges against an unnamed Indian government official—for orchestrating the plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun—a Khalistani sympathiser. The diplomatic debacle came on the heels of Canada’s allegations that RAW orchestrated the killing of another Khalistani leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar (explained in this Big Story). We explained the entire Pannun mess in this Big Story.
Say hello to Vikash aka Amanat: Last week, the Justice Department finally named the Indian RAW official: Vikash Yadav. So why is he? Here’s what the indictment said:
The indictment alleges that Yadav was employed by the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India’s external intelligence agency. It described Yadav as a “Senior Field Officer” working in security management and intelligence. The US document also says Yadav has worked for India’s largest paramilitary force, the Central Reserve Police Force, as an “Assistant Commandment”.
As for New Delhi: The Indian government merely said he “was no longer a government employee, without saying whether he had been an intelligence officer.”
Cue the plot twist: Soon after Yadav was named, Indian Express reported this bizarre story: The Delhi police arrested Yadav in December 2023. The FIR was filed by the owner of an IT company—and his story is wild.
He was supposedly introduced via a friend to Yadav—who claimed to be “some kind of undercover agent” executing a “sensitive operation for a Central agency.” Yadav then abducted this man:
Yadav came in a vehicle along with an accomplice, and they forcibly took him to a flat near Defence Colony. It stated that Yadav told the complainant there was a “supari” (contract) to eliminate him, given by gangster Lawrence Bishnoi at the behest of a Dubai-based person. He claimed he was eventually “hit on my head” by Yadav’s accomplice, and forced to give his gold chain and some rings.
Chronology samajhiye: The Delhi police case is filed on December 18, 2023—the Justice Department case is filed on November 29, 2023. Yadav’s arrest becomes public last week on October 19—two days after his name is made public in New York. Yadav was granted bail in April—and is now (surprise!) AWOL.
Adding to the intrigue: According to The Print, Yadav was a RAW employee for nine years—but was kept on probation. He was made permanent as a Senior Field Officer—on October 9, 2023—just before he was charged in the US case.
But, but, but: The Indian government told The Print last week that Yadav had been suspended from RAW—soon after he was named in the case. He is now “a subject of an enquiry being conducted by a high-level committee formed by India to look into the allegations.” There is a scant two-day gap between those two Print stories.
The main takeaway: isn’t about the Pannun plot or even Yadav’s culpability. The greater mess is Indian reporting—compromised and confusing—on such an important matter.
Reading list: Indian Express (paywalled) and The Hindu have the Delhi police case. Reuters spoke to his family—who have no clue what’s going on. The Print has the probation plotline.
Middle East madness: The latest update
Israel is still bombing Lebanon—more intensely than ever. Tel Aviv has slipped from ‘destroying Hamas’ to ‘destroying Hezbollah’—as the stated aim of its bombing machine. It is also readying to ‘destroy Iran’ according to “a pair of highly classified U.S. intelligence documents”—leaked to everyone and their mother. They claim to reveal Israel’s preparation to strike Iran.
Something to see: In case you were wondering, this is what is involved in ‘destroying’ Israel’s enemies. Below is the video of Shaaban al-Dalou burning to death after an Israeli strike at a Gaza hospital. According to New York Times—which has a full-length, sombre profile!—he was a bright boy who wanted to become a doctor.
Ofc, the video is horrific. No, we don’t offer separate content warnings for war clips of any kind. If the world is going to idly look on horror—at the very least, we can look, yes?
An egregious Elon-sized election mess
We truly do not want to write about this man, but he finds so many ways to make himself, um, news-worthy. The latest kerfuffle involves the Political Action Committee (PAC) he has set up to support Donald Trump’s campaign. In true Musk style, the PAC has done the following:
One: Elon has promised to give $1 million every day to a person who signs his petition—which expresses support for the First and Second Amendments of the Constitution. Yes, it’s basically a lottery. Yes, it’s a ploy to get people to register to vote because “the small print says that to be eligible for any of the monetary awards, signers need to be registered voters in the key battleground states.” It’s a way to sidestep laws that specifically prohibit offering cash for votes or voter registration. But experts say it is still illegal. Not so clever, yaar! (The Guardian)
Two: The PAC is also playing both sides of the war on Gaza:
In areas of Michigan with relatively large Muslim populations, the Super PAC is painting Harris as a close friend of Israel and is suggesting that she is beholden to the beliefs of her Jewish husband Doug Emhoff; in parts of Pennsylvania with relatively large Jewish populations, the advertisements call Harris antisemitic and say she “support[s] denying Israel the weapons needed to defeat the Hamas terrorists who massacred thousands.”
See? Now that is clever. (404 Media, login required)
A massive electricity collapse in Cuba
The context: The island of Cuba gets most of its electricity from thermoelectric plants fueled by crude oil. Cuba relies on imports from countries like Russia, Venezuela and Mexico for about half its fuel needs. It is not a rich country—and is therefore often short of electricity—even more so recently. FYI: Cubans have been facing rolling power cuts for the last few years, which last eight to 10 hours a day.
What happened now: Cuba’s largest power plant suddenly shut down, plunging 10 million people into blackout darkness. Another full outage occurred on Saturday, and then Sunday. Two million people in capital Havana are among the worst affected. Why this is worrying: Hurricane Oscar is building strength near the Dominican Republic—and is expected to move across eastern Cuba. (Reuters)
what caught our eye
business & tech
- Be afraid of this new generative AI—Midjourney will soon release an ‘upgraded’ web tool through which users can edit any image uploaded online.
- Penguin has changed its copyright section to specifically ban AI models from scraping its books.
- When it rains, it pours for Boeing—NASA has frozen future Starliner missions after this Boeing-made spacecraft (see: our Big Story) left astronauts Butch Wilmore and hamaari Sunita Williams stranded in space earlier this year.
- Desis are everywhere! 61% of top global firms have senior leadership of Indian origin, according to research by search firm EMA Partners.
sports & entertainment
- Business Insider analyses Taylor Swift’s decision to self-publish her new ‘The Eras Tour’ book and how that risks disrupting the traditional publisher-distributor industry.
- Musical enthusiasts, get hyped! ‘Dirty Dancing’ will be getting the Broadway treatment late next year.
- Also coming late next year: Disney’s Adventure cruise, setting sail from Singapore’s Marina Bay. Bookings open in December.
- The highly anticipated Trump film ‘The Apprentice’ had its India release delayed at the last minute last Thursday. Director Ali Abbasi’s response: “Censorship seems to be an epidemic at the moment. We need a VACCINE!”
- This week in unexpected comebacks—Indian Express’ film magazine ‘Screen’ after an 11-year absence, with Shraddha Kapoor on its first cover.
- Rafael Nadal completes his last dance, losing to Novak Djokovic in the third-place match of the Six Kings Slam exhibition tournament.
- Thanks to their stellar seam-and-swing battery and Bengaluru diaspora kid Rachin Ravindra, New Zealand recorded an emphatic win over Rohit Sharma’s India—their first in India since 1988!
as for the rest
- The North-South Korea lafda is slowly heating up again—Seoul alleges that Pyongyang is now sending troops to fight alongside the Russians on the frontlines in Ukraine.
- An update on the floundering Cheetah Project (see: our Big Story)—seven cubs in Kuno National Park are dealing with a tick infestation, while park officials “have no prior experience of anesthetising them in the open forest”.
- According to the outgoing Indian High Commissioner to Canada Sanjay Kumar Verma, Khalistan separatists are “being encouraged all the time” and are “deep assets” of the Canadian intelligence agency.
- In some truly bizarre remarks, CJI DY Chandrachud said he “prayed to god” for a solution to Ayodhya’s Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute.
- Dilliwaalon, brace yourselves, it’s smog season again—according to a new survey, three in ten Delhi NCR families are already affected by Air Quality Index (AQI)-related issues.
Five things to see
One: October 20 will go down in the history books as New Zealand cricket’s greatest day ever. Nearly 12 hours after the men’s incredible Test victory in Bengaluru, the women went one better in Dubai—beating South Africa by 32 runs to win their first ever T20 World Cup! The stars of the final were leg-spin allrounder Amelia Kerr and batter Brooke Halliday, while the heartwarming moments belonged to the team’s ‘three grandmas’—opener Suzie Bates, fast bowler Lea Tahuhu, and captain Sophie Devine. But our fave bit from last night was the team’s post-match Māori song, led by Kerr on guitar. (ESPNCricinfo)
Two: Wedding season is officially upon us…even in the Delhi metro! Watch Jeevansathi.com’s quirky new marketing campaign. We can’t get over their paavam faces. The Print has more context.
Three: Punjabi aa gaye, oye! Diljit Dosanjh hit yet another major milestone by becoming the first ever Indian artist to grace the cover of Billboard’s Canada edition. (Mint)
Four: The winner of Nikon’s annual Small World contest is…an image of mouse brain tumour cells!?
Our fave is this one of a palm weevil—which is a kind of beetle. NBC News has more winning images. You can see the top 20 here.
Five: We leave you with this music video of FKA Twigs’ ‘Perfect Stranger’ from her upcoming album ‘EUSEXUA’—which includes a fleeting cameo from Phoebe Waller-Bridge—in BDSM regalia, no less. The full album drops in January 2025. You can check out the full music video below, or just watch Waller-Bridge’s cameo here. (NME)
feel good place
One: Twinsies!
Two: Compendium of terrible tech jokes.
Three: Usher—literally NOT the centre of attention.
