A Kandahar-sized headache for Netflix

Researched by: Aarthi Ramnath, Aakriti Anand & Raghav Bikhchandani

The Durov arrest: Part two

The TLDR: In part one, we looked at who Telegram founder Pavel Durov is—and why he was arrested. In part two, we lay out the debate over the implications of Pavel Durov’s arrest. Is Durov just a bad apple—as other tech companies claim—who had it coming? Or does his arrest set a global precedent—opening the door to governments (like ours) eager to restrict privacy and free speech rights? You can read part two here.

A Kandahar-sized headache for Netflix

The government is unhappy with Netflix’s new series on the 1999 hijacking of an Air India flight—titled ‘IC814: The Kandahar Hijack’. The Information & Broadcasting Ministry summoned the India office’s head of content to “demand an explanation” for director Anubhav Sinha’s artistic choices. Specifically, his decision to retain the aliases used by the real-life Pakistani hijackers: Chief, Doctor, Burger, Bhola, and Shankar. Their real names: Ibrahim Athar, Shahid Akhtar Sayed, Sunny Ahmed Qazi, Mistri Zahoor Ibrahim, and Shakir.

The problem: Two of these aliases are Hindu. The ruling party is worried some (immensely clueless) viewers may not realise these hijackers are in fact a) Muslim—and b) Pakistani:

BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya said the hijackers were dreaded terrorists who acquired aliases to hide their Muslim identities. “Filmmaker Anubhav Sinha, legitimised their criminal intent, by furthering their non-Muslim names. Decades later, people will think Hindus hijacked IC-814.”

Netflix was told: “No one has the right to play with the sentiments of the nation”—which apparently include an allergy to both facts and common sense.

What’s next: The ministry plans to summon Sinha next—and has told Netflix to “find a way to douse the controversy”—whatever that means. We recommend you watch the series asap. Watch one of the hostages —Anita Joshi—confirm the aliases used by the hijackers in the clip below. No, she did not think they were Hindus. (Indian Express)

Paralympics 2024: India soars to 15!

Our Paralympics campaign is going from strength to strength—we’ve more than doubled our medal tally from seven to 15, and we’ve improved our ranking to 14th in the medal table. The official tournament website has more on the winners and the medal count—which now sits at three gold, five silver, and seven bronze. Note: we took home 19 medals in the last Paralympics edition in Tokyo.

Sumit smashes records: One of five gold medallists in Tokyo, javelin thrower Sumit Antil defended his title—becoming the first Indian man to do so—by breaking the Paralympics record with a monster effort of 70.59 metres. Check it out below.

Nitesh wins thriller: He was made to work hard against Team GB’s Daniel Bethell, but Nitesh Kumar ultimately came out on top in a three-set thriller 21-14, 18-21, 23-21 in their badminton men’s singles category. Relive his match-winning point below.

Kathuniya’s discus double: Yogesh Kathuniya repeated his podium finish from Tokyo by winning another silver medal in discus throw, this time recording a personal best of 42.22 metres. You can see his effort in the clip below.

A bronze in archery: 17-year-old rising star Sheetal Devi has backed up her pre-Paralympics hype with a medal—teaming up with Rakesh Kumar to bag bronze in the mixed team event. While it was the more experienced Rakesh who led the way throughout the elimination rounds, the 17-year-old got to record the bronze-clinching effort. Check it out below.

Badminton domination: Other than Nitesh Kumar’s gold, India recorded two silvers and two bronze medals across the badminton categories. Thulasimathi Murugesan and Suhas Yathiraj finished runners-up in their respective singles’ events, while Manisha Ramadass and Nithya Sivan won their bronze medal matches. (The Hindu)

A good read: New York Times (splainer gift link) sheds light on the quiet collaboration between paralympic athletes and their guides or assistants.

In related news: North Korea’s Olympic silver medal-winning table tennis players Kim Kum-yong and Ri Jong-sik caused a bit of a stir back home and could face punishment if they don’t criticise their own behaviour. Their crime? Taking a selfie on the podium with their South Korean counterparts, who had bagged the bronze. (The Guardian)

Undocumented Indian immigrants heart Canada

The latest US government data shows that the number of undocumented Indians entering the country from Canada has reached an all-time high. More than 5,000 crossed the border on foot in June alone—and the number of Indians detained, expelled or refused entry at the border has jumped by 47% in the past six months. The typical MO: is to get a Canadian visa to access the 9000 km-long border—which is far more porous than the US-Mexico stretch.

Meanwhile, in the UK: Indians are using a visa loophole to seek asylum. First, they secure a Canadian visa—which is far easier to get. Then they book a ticket to Canada via Heathrow—which is easy since they don’t need a transit visa for the UK. Then they ask for asylum at the ‘port of entry’ when they land. Data point to note:

Between 2018 and 2023, the annual number of Indian asylum seekers at UK ports increased 11-fold — much ahead of Pakistan nationals, who recorded a five-fold rise, and Afghan nationals at 15%.

Indian Express (paywall) and Financial Express have more data.

Buried in ice: A stash of ancient viruses

Researchers have found 1,700 new viruses—which were trapped inside the Guliya Glacier in Tibet. Of these, three quarters are entirely new—with no genetic overlap with known organisms. They were trapped in ice—but have now been exposed due to global warming. Reminder: “Ground that has remained frozen (permafrost) for thousands of years is thawing due to climate change.”

Why this matters: The viruses date back to nine ancient time periods—allowing scientists to map their evolution—at a critical time for humanity:

These time horizons span three major cold-to-warm cycles, providing a unique opportunity to observe how viral communities have changed in response to different climatic conditions. By studying these ancient viruses, we gain valuable insights into viral response to past climate changes, which could enhance our understanding of viral adaptation in the context of ongoing global climate change.

What’s interesting: Many experts have raised the alarm over ancient viruses unearthed by global warming—but this research team says there is no reason to worry:

[A]ccording to Dr Harvey, the vast majority of the viruses in the permafrost infect bacteria, not humans. "I think it's very unlikely that [the researchers] could defrost something that could cause a problem," she said. "We should be far more worried about … new things evolving rather than old things coming back."

ABC News has lots more on this new haul of viruses.

Are crypto bros ‘psychopaths’? Maybe

A new study offers unwelcome news for men who are into cryptocurrencies. They are more likely to show “dark” personality traits like “narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and sadism”. That’s primarily because of ‘self-selection’—i.e who is more likely to own crypto. The “strongest predictors” are “being male, having a victimhood mindset, or relying on fringe social-media sources for news.”

This is also why crypto owners are more likely to be conspiracy theorists. As one crypto bro explains: “You literally have to be crazy to be involved in something where your net worth is going up a million and down a million in one day”. Enuf said. (Bloomberg News via Mint)

what caught our eye

business & tech

Namastey, London—Air India’s new flagship A350 aircraft makes its long-haul debut with Delhi to Heathrow flights.
Keep the coffee and free WiFi coming. Cafe and bakery brand Blue Tokai has raised $35 million from a Belgian investment firm to expand its brand across Tier 1 and 2 cities.
China has threatened severe economic retaliation against Japan if Tokyo continues to restrict sales and servicing of chip manufacturing equipment to Chinese firms.
When it rains, it pours for SEBI—the regulatory body is facing criticism over greenlighting the merger of ICICI bank with ICICI’s securities arm.

sports & entertainment

Thalaiva Rajinikanth will return for a sequel to his hit 2023 film ‘Jailer’, director Nelson has confirmed.
Turn back the clocks, Stevie Wonder has a new song out! It’s called ‘Can We Fix our Nation’s Broken Heart’. In an election year, the song’s message is self-explanatory.
Wall Street Journal (splainer gift link) has a good read on how Matthew Perry crossed paths with ‘ketamine queen’ Jasveen Sangha.
Boman Irani’s directorial debut ‘The Mehta Boys’ will open the Chicago South Asian Film Festival on September 20.
Emma John in The Guardian writes on poor ticket sales at Lord’s for the recently concluded Test match between England and Sri Lanka, and what that says about the health of the sport in England.
The first India men’s football squad—following Sunil Chhetri’s retirement—has been named. Goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu is the new full-time captain.

as for the rest

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested AAP MLA Amantullah Khan on Monday over money laundering charges. He is the fourth high-profile AAP leader to be arrested since Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh, and Arvind Kejriwal.
In related news, the Supreme Court has granted bail to ex-AAP member Vijay Nair in the Delhi excise policy case. Check out our Big Story for more context.
Over 6,900 corruption cases probed by the CBI are pending in different courts, 61 of which have been for over 20 years, the latest annual report of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has revealed.
Speaking of the CBI, the agency has arrested former RG Kar principal Sandip Ghosh in connection with financial irregularities at the medical college, after questioning him for 15 days.
Germany’s far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party has claimed its biggest electoral success since World War II, winning a regional vote in the province of Thuringia.
Suicide among students in Odisha increased by 58% from 2021 to 2023, the state assembly was informed on Monday.
The problems continue to mount for Boeing—astronaut Butch Willmore alleges that the company’s Starliner spacecraft recently started to emit “strange noises”.
New research has revealed that there is a large doughnut-shaped region of the Earth’s core around the Equator. The Conversation has more nerdy details.

Four things to see

One: Torrential rains have now moved on to terrorise Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The rain has killed 25, displaced 17,000. You can see how bad it is below. (The News Minute)

Two: Researchers in Assam stumbled upon a very peculiar spider—seen for the very first time in India. What makes the Phrynarachne decipiens super special: it looks like bird poop—which is why it’s called the bird dung or bird-dropping crab spider. The spider is usually found in Malaysia and Indonesia—and is difficult to spot because, well—it looks like shit, literally lol! (The Hindu)

Three: Yulia Putintseva earned angry booing at the US Open for disrespecting a ball girl trying to toss her a ball for her serve. FYI: This is part of the JD. Putintseva—who lost the match to Jasmine Paolini in straight sets—later claimed she was “pissed off” at herself for not playing well—not the kid (see this vid). (The Independent)

Four: Over the weekend, Chennai hosted the Indian Racing Festival—which included an ambitious Formula 4 night race on city streets. As you can see, the race under the lights was a treat to watch. Watch the highlights below. The Hindu has the race report.