India 

1. India-Canada relations hit rock bottom

   The best way to explain this would be a simple chronology of events

   • 10 Sep - Modi expressed concerns about anti-India activities in Canada to PM Trudeau who then emphasized, in the media, Canada's commitment to defending ‘freedoms of expression’.

   • 18 Sep - Trudeau told Canadian parliament that they are investigating a potential link between the Indian govt. and the killing of Nijjar(a prominent Khalistan ‘activist/terrorist’)

   • 19 Sep - Canada ordered Indian intelligence head posted in Canada to leave, after which India too expelled a top Canadian diplomat.

   • 20 Sep - India issues travel advisory - ‘Exercise utmost caution in Canada in light of anti-India activities and politically condoned hate crimes’

   • 21 Sep - India temporarily suspends issuing Indian visas for Canadian citizens due to ‘security concerns’.

   • 22 Sep - Trudeau takes a softer line - ‘We are not looking to provoke or cause problems but unequivocal about the importance of protecting Canadians’

2. Woman-reservation bill

   • The Lok Sabha passed the women’s reservation bill with only 2 opposing it.

   • The Bill proposes to reserve 33% seats for women in state assemblies & Lok Sabha.

   • This will not take effect until after census in 2026.

   • Additionally, 1/3 of the reserved seats are for SC/ST women.

3. Terrorist’s week long seige in Kashmir

   • On September 13, 3 officers were killed in the Anantnag district during a gunfight with suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants.

   • These militants then escaped to the forests where a week-long gunfight took place resulting in death of the LeT commander and 1 more militant.

4. China denies Arunachal athletes visas

   • India accuses China of discriminating against Arunachal Pradesh(AP) athletes

   • China seems to be denying them visas due to China claiming AP as part of southern tibet.

   • China argues it has the right to issue different visas, claiming athletes can enter but choose not to.

   • Previously, these athletes were barred from a competition and given stapled visas, while the rest received regular ones.

Business

1. Tata acquisition spree: Ching’s secret next

   • After Haldiram acquisition reports, Tata’s are now the frontrunners to acquire company owning the brands Ching’s secret & Smith&Jones.

   • Deal value - 5500cr , Revenues - 900cr, Margin - 25%

2. ‘Serve your notice period or pay’ - Akasa air

   • Akasa is suing 43 pilots for not serving notice period, seeking ₹22 crore compensation.

   • The 13-month-old airline faced disruptions due to pilot exodus and plane troubles, leading to 700 flight cancellations

   • This led to market share declining from 5.2% to 4.2% in August.

   Just btw, 33 pilots and 97 cabin crew members were caught drunk in the first half of 2023. (they were ‘high’ before even flying lol)

3. Rupert Murdoch steps down, finally

   • Murdoch, who sold 21st Century Fox to Disney for $71 billion, has finally stepped down from Fox news after 70 years!

   • He hands over the reigns to his eldest son, Lachlan.

   He inspired the show ‘Succession’, so TLDR for succession fans - Logan stepped down and Roman won. Read this beautiful article linking ‘Succession’ with real life events and people.

4. WhatsApp gets new features

   • WhatsApp will soon allow payments through rival UPI platforms (like Gpay, PhonePe) directly within the app since WhatsApp Pay has a user cap of 100 million in India due to NPCI rules.

   • They have also launched flows which allows customers of a registered business to complete a trasaction like book a reservation or ordering delivery — directly on WhatsApp.

   • Another new feature: Channels - allowing users to create one-way broadcast channels for sharing updates. We’re launching one soon :)

Global

1. Chinese cabinet ministers vanish

   • Defense Minister Li Shangfu has gone off the public radar,

   • This might be potentially due to corruption concerns, an ongoing issue in the Chinese military.

   • This situation mirrors what happened in June with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, who vanished & subsequently replaced without official explanation.

2. Azerbaijan-Armenia fight, again

   • Azeri forces have taken back the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh within 24 hours.

   • They cited terrorist threats. This is after the previous 44 day war in 2020 & continuous border skirmishes since then.

   • They forced ethnic Armenian forces to surrender and agree to a Russia-brokered ceasefire.

Sports, Culture & Everything else

1. India Asia cup champions

   India became Asia Cup champions, defeating Sri Lanka by 10 wickets. SL scored only 50 runs, thanks to Siraj's six-wicket performance which India chased in just 6.1 overs.

2. More cheetahs?

   The gov plans to import more cheetahs even as 9 out of 24 cheetahs previously brought have passed away, but govt experts claim they anticipated this and don't see it as a setback.

3. T-20 world cup in USA

   USA, along with the West Indies, will co-host the men's T20 World Cup next year in June. This is the first time the US will host a global cricket event, as the sport aims to secure Olympic status in 2028 LA games. Ind vs Pak to be held in New York!

4. Stranger things - Fascinating tidbits

   • DLF has gyms and wellness centres in malls now, through DLF thrive.

   • Manforce sold 52 crore condoms in 2022-23, that’s 16 every second!

   • The authors guild filed a lawsuit against OpenAI for copyright violation.

   • Blinkit partners Apple reseller Unicorn for 15-min iPhone 15 delivery

   • SBI to send chocolates as loan repayment reminders. (cute)