On a day that is considered to be a tribute to the most basic expressions of love, International Kissing Day, a new social activist group called Progressive People or PP has launched a campaign to dissuade people from Public Display of Affection or PDA.
International Kissing Day is celebrated on the 6th of July every year and is said to pay homage to the simplest expressions of love rather than use it as a prelude for other activities. It has been observed that on average 5% of people over the age of 45 lock lips over 31 times a week.
Progressive People or PP was launched as a social activist group that believed that the one thing holding back the Indian society is our outlook that is riddled with superstition and blind adherence to faith. They believe that to accelerate our growth into the next decade we should become more prudent as a nation and look within our history for clues rather than aping the west.
PDA or Public Displays of Affection is a term used to describe the expression of love like hugging, kissing, holding hands etc in public. The liberalization of Indian society has witnessed such instances becoming much more common today where people are not afraid to show their affection in front of others. Traditionally any show of intimacy outside the confines of your bedroom was frowned upon.
The PP has launched their campaign against PDA because they believe that people are losing focus on parampara (tradition), pratishta (prestige) and anushasan (discipline). Using the hundreds of couples in the background at Marine Drive as an example, the spokesperson for the PP, Kanya Kumari, made her point to us.
“Look at all these shameless couples here sitting so close to each other, hugging and kissing in public. It is a shame that they have completely forgotten what we as a culture stand for. By copying the west we do not become progressive. It is proof that from the USA to Germany, all western countries have gone through regression in their societal values. This has resulted in the degradation of their moral and cultural values as well.”
“We believe that social distancing should be the norm while in public. No two people should be allowed to stand within 2 feet of each other while outside the privacy of the four walls of a home. This will help us post corona as well.”
When we pressed Ms Kumaree on how this movement was any different from the moral policing done by fringe outfits like Bajrang Dal or the Shiv Sena. The 33-year-old resident of South Mumbai responded by saying that, unlike the others, the PP is not politically motivated nor does it have a regressive mindset.
Read the full article at: http://thedailyvanilla.com/2021/07/07/pp-releases-pdf-against-pda-on-international-kissing-day/

We have received reports from our sources who say that an 83-year-old grandmother from Maharashtra has written to Bollywood actor Sonu Sood to help her from the mental and physical torture she is currently going through.
Actor Sonu Sood, who is known for the portrayal of villainous characters across multiple Indian languages, had emerged as a messiah of sorts during the migrant worker crisis which rocked the country in 2020. The first lockdown prompted workers to leave for their hometown on foot, at which point Sonu Sood jumped in and helped ensure that migrant workers were safely transported.
The 83-year-old woman was being pressured by her grandchildren to start a Village Cooking style YouTube channel. She wrote to Sonu after she could not take the constant bickering of her grandchildren after she refused.
The letter said – “I have cooked my whole life and have finally retired. I want to live the rest of my life peacefully but my grandchildren will not allow it. They want me to cook for them without a proper gas stove or a mixie. Please save me from this torture.”
Sonu Sood is yet to respond.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://thedailyvanilla.com/2021/07/06/woman-writes-to-sonu-sood-to-save-her-from-own-grandchildren/

Bengaluru is known as the software or IT hub of India with a large number of companies within the Information Technology space calling it home. The city is also known to have the highest number of software professionals living in it and also boasts of one of the highest per capita incomes in the country.
The city has always lured some of the best talents in the country with its modern lifestyle and very international nightlife. The vibrant city also has pockets of serene living that attracts retirees and people who have decided to call Bengaluru home for good. The number of people choosing the city as a retirement home has come down over the years with the hustle and bustle of the city becoming too much for this demographic.
Known earlier as Bangalore, the wonderful weather and quaint lifestyle had attracted people from all over the country as a retirement home This, however, changed in the last 20 years with the advent of the IT boom that propelled the city and India onto the world map. The city is now filled with working professionals in various fields making the city bulge and strain at the edges.
The city of Bengaluru is also known for the large number of start-ups that are registered every year. This is predominantly due to a large number of IT professionals within the city. Recent studies however have shown that the number of start-ups being registered has gone down drastically.
This trend was witnessed once the country went into lockdown and most companies decided to ask their employees to work from home. Experts believed that this was a temporary situation with the entrepreneurial spirit expected to kick back once the uncertainty and paranoia over the pandemic fizzled out.
However, this was not the case. The declining trend in the number of registered start-ups continued from early 2020 and until June 2021 marking more than 14 months of continued negative growth in the number of start-ups. This is a worrying factor for all developmental and financial indices as the growth of start-ups in an economy is considered to be vital in ensuring that the economy and the ecosystem is still alive.
We uncovered that the reduction in start-ups also coincided with the reduction in traffic jams in Bengaluru.
The city is under constant renovation. Construction for roads, flyovers and underpasses are a common sight and has become one of the trademarks of the city. It is often said that if 5 minutes pass and you haven’t seen a road construction, you have left Bengaluru city limits.
This strain on the city’s infrastructure had lead to the rise of the now world-famous, Bangalore Traffic. Officially acknowledged as the city with the worst traffic in the world, the average commuter tends to spend an additional 71% more time travelling than the global average.
Read the full article at: http://thedailyvanilla.com/2021/07/05/start-up-culture-dying-in-bengaluru-due-to-lockdown-and-work-from-home/

International sensation Mia Khalifa has announced that she would like to help the Pakistani community accelerate its foray into robotics and artificial intelligence by identifying robots within Pakistani society.
This comes after Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan made controversial statements in an interview with Jonathan Swan for ‘Axios on HBO’, HBO’s documentary-news series, Khan said, “If a woman is wearing very few clothes, it will have an impact on the men, unless they are robots. It’s just common sense.”
Imran Khan during his younger days was known as a playboy of sorts using his international appeal as one of the top cricketers in the world to full effect. One of the best all-rounders to play the game of cricket, he also led Pakistan to their only Cricket World Cup title in 1992. After retiring from an impressive cricketing career, he spent a few years indulging in philanthropy via his foundation Shaukat Khanum Foundation for Cancer Research.
He founded the political party Pakistan Tehreek e Insaaf in 1996 and entered active politics by winning his first election in 2002. He became the Prime Mister of Pakistan in 2018 after his party won an allegedly rigged election and is also known to have the blessings of the powerful Pakistan army. From the time of election to the top post, he had tried to prevent the economic devastation that has plagued Pakistan over the years and has managed to bring some semblance of hope to the Pakistani population.
Imran Khan has constantly been under fire for his controversial and hypocritical actions at home and internationally. From refusing to condemn China for the atrocities against Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang to trying to interfere in the operation of the Pakistan Cricket Board, he has managed to alienate a certain section of the Pakistani society.
With his latest statement on the HBO show, Imran Khan has been officially called out as a “rape apologist” by large sections of the Pakistani society and other international human rights groups. Blaming the rape or sexual abuse victim for the crime is not something new nor is Imran Khan the first politician to play that card.
Equating decent Pakistani men to robots has hurt the sentiments of the conservative society in Pakistan and many experts believe that this could be contrived as an open challenge by the Prime Minister to prove that one is not a robot leading to increased sexual crimes against women by the poorly educated society.
One of the people we talked to in Karachi said, “This is stupidity. I am a decent man who upholds a certain sense of morality that is given to me by my parents. I have never assaulted a woman because of these values and not because I am a robot.”
A female college student remarked, “If only robots do not get tempted by women, then how do I marry once my studies are over? Do I need to try and seduce my future husband to see if he is tempted? How will I ensure that the person I am going to marry is a robot or not? This is all very confusing.”
After hearing the statements of Imran Khan, porn star Mia Khalifa who has a huge fan following in Pakistan has offered to help identify the robots who are living in Pakistani society. We spoke to a person close to her and was told that Mia Khalifa believes that the future is all about robots and artificial intelligence.
Read the full article at: http://thedailyvanilla.com/2021/06/25/mia-khalifa-offers-help-to-identify-robots-in-pakistan-society/

A popular Indian matrimonial website is rumoured to be experimenting with Tinder-like features where profiles can be swiped right or left to encourage the younger population to start using the app rather than leave it with their parents to manage.
A large section of the population is now familiar with swipe-based dating apps like Tinder, Aisle, Bumble etc where you can like or dislike a profile by just swiping right or left. This quick and easy approach allows people to skim through profiles and only interact with people that grab their attention. Early adopters of these apps have now given way to regular users and the user base is getting younger by the day.
The introduction of theme-specific swiping apps like Grindr or Bumble makes it easier for a person to find someone with similar interests or sexual orientation. India, although slow to get warmed up to the concept of casual dating, has wholeheartedly accepted the apps in the past 5-6 years.
With the additional security features to verify real profiles and the control over the visibility of your profile, it has not become a platform with only men and fake female profiles. The convenience and lack of judgement that is passed is an additional bonus.
The biggest reason for the younger Indian population to jump on the bandwagon is that the profile is free from older relatives like parents and nosy uncles and aunties. The platforms are filled with people looking for roughly the same things.
Dating apps do have a bad rep as it is considered to be a place for casual hookups and one night stands but once again, it is purely in the hands of the user as to what to entertain. The fact that you can only start a conversation if both parties match is a blessing in disguise to the time-starved Indian youth. The paywall for various functions to see who likes you etc. is an added deterrent to spam.
It is for these many reasons that matrimonial websites across India have been seeing a decline in active users. Add to it the incessant and rude phone calls from the customer service trying to upsell you their paid subscriptions is another reason that people are slowly getting disenchanted with the whole concept.
Today, matrimonial websites are being used by parents of the prospective bride or groom. This leads to a long drawn out process of matchmaking as parents and children rarely see eye to eye at this juncture. Parents spend most of their time finding a profile that they like rather than what would be the perfect match for their son or daughter.
Our source at one of the largest matrimonial websites in the country told us that all this was going to change. The company had finally cracked the code on how to bring back the zing to their websites and also appease both the bride/groom and their parents.
Read the full article: http://thedailyvanilla.com/2021/06/24/indian-matrimonial-site-set-to-launch-tinder-like-features/

The final of the much-hyped World Test Championship is finally concluding with the final 2 sessions left to play. Both teams have been hampered by delays due to rain and bad light interrupting play multiple times across the past 6 days.
The ICC has been receiving a lot of flak for hosting the final at a location where the weather is so circumspect at this time of the year. With multiple other locations clambering to host the final it would have made more sense to host it in a venue that would have had better weather conditions.
There have been multiple sessions of the test match completely washed out due to rain and bad light. Other sessions of play were interrupted by incessant showers which ensured that neither team got a chance to showcase their skills at the biggest stage of them all.
With test cricket audiences dwindling across the globe, this was the one chance that the ICC or International Cricket Council had to bring back the interest in the game but have floundered a golden opportunity.
The New Zealand team bowled first and despite steady knocks from Ajinkya Rahane and Virat Kohli, the Indian team never looked to be in a position for their famed batting lineup to take the game away from the Kiwis. The average performance continued when the Kiwis batted with Day 4 being completely washed out as well.
The bowling lineup of both teams looked good with the 5 man Kiwi pace attack performing as well as the pace-spin combination from India. Almost all bowlers on both sides were among the wickets and it would have been an entertaining bowling performance if not for the constant interruptions in play.
Fans and experts around the world are livid.
What was hyped to be the biggest showcase for Test cricket has now become a farce. Requests are coming in from all corners to just cancel the test match as even if there was a winner, it would be the result of a slam-bang type of cricket that will be played on the final day. This is the one time where purists and modern fans seem to agree.
Read the full article at: http://thedailyvanilla.com/2021/06/23/icc-formulating-tie-breaker-options-in-case-the-world-test-championship-ends-in-a-draw/

The National Rifle Association or the NRA, one of the largest gun advocacy groups in the world has decided to lodge an official protest over the newly released poster for Tamil superstar Vijay’s latest film Beast.
Vijay or Thalapathi as he is fondly referred to by his millions of fans across south India has a tradition of releasing the poster for his upcoming film on his birthday. Keeping with the tradition, the poster for his 65th film Beast directed by Nelson and produced by Sun Pictures was released yesterday.
It is speculated that Vijay might be playing a cop or an army man based on the smoke explosion background and the gun he is seen holding in the poster. This would be only among the very few times that Vijay has played the role of law enforcement with the most memorable ones being Thuppaki and Pokiri.
The 47-year-old actor was born Joseph Vijay Chandrashekhar and began his career as a child actor before transitioning to the leading man. He is now the most highly paid actor in Tamil cinema and also holds the distinction for being the most searched Tamil actor on Google. His die-hard fan base spreads across all southern Indian states and is known for the philanthropic work that is carried out under the social welfare organisation Vijay Makkal Iyakkam.
The popularity of the actor outside India has only grown in the past decade with some of his films becoming international hits. This is probably why the NRA stood up and took offence against the poster.
The NRA is an organisation that has easily divided the American public. It is also a major player in the Presidential elections with the candidates stand on the organisation and its policies having a direct effect on the votes. The NRA has Republican leanings and is a relentless advocate for the right of every American to carry guns.
Read the full article at: http://thedailyvanilla.com/2021/06/22/nra-launch-official-protest-against-vijays-new-release-beast/

The city of Kochi in the Ernakulam district of Kerala was in the news lately due to the discovery of a bean-shaped formation that was visible on Google Maps. Speculations were rife as to what the island was and the reasons for it to appear suddenly off the Kochi coast.
This formation was brought to the attention of Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Study or KUFOS by K. X. Julappan, president of Chellanam Karshika Tourism Development Society. Highlighting his discovery via a Facebook post on the 5th of June, he requested KUFOS to investigate this phenomenon as it could lead to new findings on erosion and ocean currents of the region.
KUFOS has announced that it will be investigating the matter although they claim that this formation has been on its radar for over 4 years but chose to ignore it as it wasn’t growing in size or affecting the geological implications of the region.
New islands being formed and some islands disappearing are a common occurrence nowadays. Most islands formed are peaks of underwater mountains and many of the clusters are all part of tall submerged mountain ranges. Changes in sea level, erosion, movement of the tectonic plates and underwater volcanic eruptions are all known to have an impact on the topography of the ocean floor and islands.
There have been instances of islands disappearing in Lakshwadeep and new ones temporarily forming in the Lakshwadeep – Maldives belt also known as the Chagos – Laccadive ridge. Most experts believe that this is a natural phenomenon and not something that needs extensive study and research. Even if there was the formation of an island, it would be one among many present all over the world.
Another section of experts believes that there is no actual landmass at the location and it is a technical glitch on Google maps. The high-resolution satellite images on Google Maps and Google Earth are restricted to land and the oceans tend to be generalised with a blue colour. This aberration could just be a glitch in the system. They compound their theory by citing examples of ship-tracking websites that show ships passing over the so-called island.
With the international scientific community focussing attention on this formation, the local authorities seem to be in a fix. This unwanted attention is sure to disrupt the functioning of the city which has just come out of a 2-month lockdown. A senior bureaucrat in the Cochin Mayor’s office was quite disturbed when we talked to her.
“Why can’t you people just leave this alone. We have so many important things to do like fighting the COVID19 virus. Do you know that Kerala is at the top of the country in the number of cases? Ernakulam district is at number 3 in Kerala. The cases are not coming down as we expected and this stress is getting to all of us. In between all that, you come to us with your new island.”
Read the full article at: http://thedailyvanilla.com/2021/06/21/mysterious-island-off-the-coast-of-kochi-not-actually-an-island-claim-locals/

With International Yoga Day around the corner, celebrations around the world are muted this year owing to the pandemic situation in most of the countries including its birthplace, India. With no mass gatherings allowed and most people around the world entering into Zoom fatigue, many organizations are looking at innovative methods to celebrate the international event.
Yoga originated in India as a form of physical exercise in early 3000 BC as a form of mental and physical union. The practise of yoga was first mentioned in the Rigveda and also finds mention in the Upanishads. This practice has evolved over the years and has led to modern variations like prenatal yoga and hot yoga.
Yoga was introduced to the west in the 1900s and has gained popularity as a form of physical exercise and spirituality with a focus on asanas. It is a variant of the Hatha Yoga form and is now considered to be the foremost style recognized the world over. The traditional style focuses more on flowing movements and breathing when compared to the asana-centric format which is more about postures and holding still.
Yoga has been gaining popularity across the world with celebrities like Robert Downey Jr, Jennifer Aniston, Mathew McConaughey, Madonna, Shilpa Shetty, Russell Brand, David Beckham, Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga, Ryan Gosling, Jessica Alba, Sting, and Beyonce attributing their physical fitness to yoga.
Yoga is practised in many variations including Bikram yoga, Hatha yoga, Ashtanga yoga, Vinyasa yoga, Iyengar yoga, Kundalini yoga, Power yoga, and Jeevamukhti yoga. Each form has its advocates, schools, and gurus associated with it.
The Canada and Cyprus based website, PornHub has decided to play its part in promoting Yoga around the world by dedicating the entire day to yoga-based content.
PornHub is the world’s 10th most popular website and the 3rd most popular pornographic website on the internet. They recently purged all content from nonverified users on the website in an attempt to fight child pornography, non-consensual, and revenge porn.
Read the full article at: http://thedailyvanilla.com/2021/06/19/pornhub-to-pay-tribute-to-yoga-on-international-day-of-yoga/

India is home to over 75% of the worlds wild tiger population and if experts are to be believed, this number will be shooting up drastically at the time of the new population census in India scheduled to happen in 2022.
As per the last count, India had a wild tiger population of 2967. This count itself was almost double the population levels in 2010 and India had made a commitment to double its tiger population by 2022. Not only has India hit that target 4 years ahead of schedule, but it also gained the distinction of putting in practice the largest camera trap animal survey recognised by the Guinness Book of World Records.
Unlike lions, tigers are solitary animals and males and females only meet to reproduce. The cubs then spend the next year or so with their mother before branching out on their own. Tigers are not overtly territorial and have been known to have complex relationships between individuals. They are not averse to sharing food with other tigers and do not mind if territories overlap.
Being at the top of the food chain in its natural habitat in India, the tigers kill and feast on mainly the various types of deer available like barasingha, wapiti, sambar deer while also killing and eating wild boars. They also prey on smaller animals like monkeys from time to time. If they live near human beings, tigers have been known to attack livestock like cows, buffaloes and goats.
A male tiger can reproduce all year round and usually reach sexual maturity at around 4 – 5 years. A female tiger is ready to reproduce by the age of 3 and has a gestation period of around 105 days. The females however are in heat only for 5-6 days with the pregnancy, gestation period and the rearing of children making her unavailable to reproduce for another 2 years.
On average, each tiger pregnancy will have 2 -3 cubs. The father is usually absent in the whole child-rearing process. The tiger births usually happen between March and June with another season in September. This is mainly governed by the weather conditions.
India has over 50 tiger reserves spread across the country with most of the reserves being set up between 1973 and 1974 which was the first time that India decided to take a serious look at its dwindling tiger population.
The largest reserve based on the number of tigers is Jim Corbett National Park in Uttrakhand followed by Bandipur National Park in Karnataka. Other tiger reserves with a considerable tiger population include Kaziranga in Assam, Nagarhole in Karnataka, Mudumalai in Tamil Nadu and Sunderbans in West Bengal. Madhya Pradesh leads with the most number of reserves at 7 with Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Karnataka following close behind with 5 each.
These reserves are major tourist attractions and boast impressive numbers throughout the year. Tiger spotting treks are one of the major activities that tourists indulge in. Experts and resorts work together to ensure that the safety of the tourists and the tigers are equally taken care of.
Read the full article at: http://thedailyvanilla.com/2021/06/18/tiger-population-in-india-expected-to-explode-due-to-lockdown-privacy/