Unable to bear the constant trolling by the rest of the world over the poor performance of the American shooters at the Olympics, the NRA (National Rifle Association) has demanded a probe into why substandard participants were sent to Tokyo in the first place.
We had initially reported that the NRA was unhappy with the poster of the Vijay starrer Tamil movie Beast which they believed portrayed American gun owners in a bad light. The NRA has now taken it upon themselves to be the unofficial representatives of gun owners and aficionados worldwide.
In a surprising turn of events, the American shooters displayed a below-par performance at Tokyo 2020/21 Olympics. They are 2nd in the medal tally with China amassing almost twice the number of medals and even the ROC or neutral athletes have a higher count of overall medals.
The USA managed to get 3 Golds, 2 Silvers and 1 Bronze so far. They did not even feature in the top 3 in events like 10m and 25m air pistols. The events where they did end up with medals include Men's Skeet (Gold), Men's 10m air rifle (Gold), Women's Skeet (Gold), Women's Trap (Silver), Team 10m Air Rifle (Silver) and Team Trap (Bronze).
The not so surprising rise of China in the field of sports was compounded with them putting up a stellar performance in events like shooting and archery which are not technically domains that they are known for. Other countries too have grabbed their first medals in the discipline while some like India (who sent a large contingent for the shooting events) came back empty-handed.
Shooting is considered to be among the more expensive sports to take up. The cost of equipment, transportation costs, training facilities required etc make it a popular sport only among those who can afford it or who find the necessary sponsorships. Some countries also have extremely strict gun laws which make it even more difficult for someone to take it up casually as a hobby.
The USA on the other hand has one of the most relaxed gun laws in the world. It is often stated that in some states, a 12-year-old could walk into a shop and come out with a gun in his pocket. No verification or background check is needed. Any document to prove his or her identity is more than enough for them to get their hands on any gun of their choice.
It is this laxity in gun laws that became the crux of all the jokes and memes on the internet after the poor performance. With such a large population with access to guns, the team should have a better pool of participants resulting in better results.
Our sources within the NRA told us that the top level of the organisation was extremely agitated and was sure that this is a ploy by the Democrats to discredit the NRA and gun users as pure hobbyists who should not be allowed to have weapons.
"This is a conspiracy," our source told us. "It is not possible that our athletes are so bad. Just look at the events and see the pattern. It is evident that there has been a deep-rooted conspiracy led by the soft Biden government to use this as an opportunity to put stricter rules and regulations on us."
Read full article at: http://thedailyvanilla.com/2021/08/03/nra-demands-probe-after-dismal-performance-of-american-olympic-shooters/

India has now won 2 individual medals at the Olympics, and both of them have been won by women. On one hand, Mirabai Chanu was relatively unknown to the Indian population, while PV Sindhu has been the poster child of Indian badminton along with Saina Nehwal for quite a few years now.
Mirabai, who hails from the North-Eastern state of Manipur, won the silver medal in the 49 kg weightlifting category. She became the 2nd Indian woman to win a medal in weightlifting after Karnam Malleshwari’s bronze medal almost 2 decades ago in the Sydney Olympics.
PV Sindhu from the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh (now Telangana), has been in the limelight ever since she won the silver medal at the last Olympics. She also had an ongoing professional rivalry with Carolina Marin which garnered a fair bit of attention. By winning the bronze this year she has now become the first Indian to win consecutive medals at the Olympics.
Our sources say that all major production houses in Bollywood including Dharma Productions, Yash Raj Films, Balaji Telefilms, UTV, Eros and Anurag Kashyap films are scrambling to get the rights to make the biopics of these athletes. Our sources also tell us that Dharma Productions is close to signing the deal with both and that Ananya Pandey is the first choice to play Mirabai Chanu. They are still on the lookout for a dusky actress to play PV Sindhu as Radhika Apte declined the offer.
This episode is also available as a blog post: http://thedailyvanilla.com/2021/08/02/bollywood-scrambling-for-biopic-rights-of-pv-sindhu-and-mirabai-chanu/

A meeting of the top pornographic film producers from around the world in Las Vegas, Nevada triggered a series of discussions that included how to tackle the subject of child pornography and revenge porn. These were serious issues plaguing the industry and all the participants unanimously agreed that as responsible members of a bonafide industry, they need to be at the forefront of fighting such illegal content.
Both the makers of the content and distributors believed that if they can display an earnest attempt at weeding out or tackling the menace of child porn, the governments of various countries would be more receptive to them being allowed in the country.
Various countries around the world have declared pornography illegal. Creating, distributing and even watching porn is illegal in a few countries. Over 40 countries around the world including India, UAE, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have declared pornography illegal. Consumption of the content on pornographic websites via the use of VPN is quite prevalent in these societies and the government decision has not put a damper on the lives of those who seek these thrills.
The ambition to become a self-regulating industry that is accepted around the world is the overall mission for the meeting and the association. The USA and Japan are the largest producers of pornographic films and they both have strict rules in place for both production and distribution of this content. In Japan, for instance, the videos are called Japanese Adult Videos or JAV and they hide the sexual organs by pixelation. They however circumvent the need to show the actual act of penetration by producing anime or hentai.
In the USA, the actors sign off consent forms and are heavily regulated with strict action being taken if there are signs that a particular actor is underage. This leads us to the ultimate oxymoron in the world of American porn. Although pornography is legal, prostitution is not. So many people get away with prostitution by simply having a video camera in the room. Even if they are caught by the police, they can get away with claiming that they were shooting porn.
Both these loopholes were exploited and put in practice after a similar meeting years ago.
One of the biggest markets for pornographic content is India, mainly due to its huge population, relatively relaxed cyber laws and the penetration of the English language. China is not a potential market for most content creators as it is on the other end of the spectrum on these parameters.
Our sources at the event told us that the discussion on India was an important segment of the meeting. All the parties involved agreed that India was a potential cash cow and there needed to be some way to enter and operate in the market. The introduction of apps like Kooku, Ullu and others who have pornographic content has completely flummoxed the members. They were trying to figure out how this was possible when all the major pornographic sites were banned in the country.

Read the full article at: http://thedailyvanilla.com/2021/07/30/raj-kundra-inspires-adult-sites-to-comply-with-indian-laws/

The Indian team currently on tour in Sri Lanka have been going through a series of ups and downs throughout the series. First, they were accused of being a second-string team by former World Cup winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga but were elated when they won the ODI series.
Now with the T20 series tied at 1 – 1, the Indian team is in a desperate situation. It is not about having to win the tiebreaker to claim the series anymore, it is about being able to field a full team for the final match. With Krunal Pandya testing positive for COVID19, he along with 8 other members of the squad have been placed in isolation.
Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Krishnappa Gowtham, Prithvi Shaw, Suryakumar Yadav, Manish Pandey, Yuzvendra Chahal and Shikhar Dhawan are the players who have been isolated. This also means that Suryakumar Yadav and Prithvi Shah will not be able to travel to England to join the team for the England series as well. In the 2nd T20, the Indian team went into the match with 6 bowlers as they did not have any batsmen left in the squad.
Our sources tell us that Stuart Binny is getting ready to make a comeback to the Indian team as a full-fledged all-rounder for the last match. Stuart Binny last played for India in 2015 and was not picked in the IPL draw this year. However, he still holds the record for the best bowling performance by an Indian.
Our sources also tell us that Stuart Binny has been in isolation since the start of the IPL hoping that he will be called up when the BCCI runs out of players due to COVID19 protocol. His father Roger Binny has already started making the required calls to make this official.
This episode is also available as a blog post: http://thedailyvanilla.com/2021/07/29/stuart-binny-hopeful-of-making-comeback-to-indian-t20-squad-in-sri-lanka/

Dubai is undoubtedly one of the true examples of how human capabilities when combined with wholehearted support from the government can result in remarkable results. The city, which boasts of the most diverse and multicultural experiences in the world, has been the beacon of progressive light in an otherwise conservative region.
Dubai is the 2nd largest city or emirate of the United Arab Emirates and is currently ruled by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum who is widely considered to be the inspiration behind the rapid change that the city has experienced over the past 25 years. He inherited the throne from his elder brother Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid al Maktoum who in turn inherited it from the founding father of Dubai and the UAE, Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed al Maktoum.
Dubai is also home to some of the most amazing wonders of the modern world. This includes the tallest building, Burj Khalifa and the only 7-star hotel in the world, the Burj al Arab. Tourists from around the world flock in the millions every year to see these wonders and Dubai has also popularised the concept of “staycations” where the residents of the city decide to stay back and indulge themselves in some pampering and sightseeing of their own during holidays.
Dubai also boasts of some of the most amazing feats of human ingenuity. From creating a man-made replica of the world in the sea to the longest driverless metro system, Dubai proudly holds over 30 records in the Guinness Book of World Records. For tourists visiting this city, it takes them to a place of fantasy while residents always have new things to explore all year round.
Even the latest attraction in the city, the deepest swimming pool called Deep Dive Dubai is mind-blowing. The pool is 196 ft deep and is themed around a sunken city. The pool holds 14 million litres of water and even had Hollywood star Will Smith fly down to check out the place. While most of these attractions are not a cheap affair, it is not too pricey considering the once in a lifetime experience that they all deliver.
Dubai relies mostly on tourism for its income unlike the capital city of Abu Dhabi which has over 95% of the oil and natural gas reserves in the country. This non-reliance on oil has allowed Dubai to flourish into a major tourism and financial hub of the region. With the delayed World Expo to start in a couple of months, Dubai is gearing up to shake off the slump due to the COVID19 pandemic.
However, this magnificent city has hit a roadblock.
Our sources within the Dubai halls of power tell us that they are running out of ideas.
Over the past many years the true essence of the growth of the city has been its ability to come up with new ideas that could capture the imagination of the world. The moment they announced the twisted tower in Dubai Marina, every investor wanted to invest in property there. This was the same for the Dubai Eye, Dubai Frame, Dubai Croc and a whole lot of things that everyone dreamt of. What one could dream of, Dubai made it a reality.
Read full article at: http://thedailyvanilla.com/2021/07/28/dubai-running-out-of-innovative-tourism-ideas/

When 26 year old investment banker Subodh Shah quit his job in 2020 just before the pandemic took over the country, he had no idea that the next year and a half would be such an eventful one for him.
The firm Subodh was working for had started feeling the pinch of the vice-like grip the COVID19 pandemic had taken over the American and British economy. With lockdowns and stringent measures like social distancing and mask-wearing becoming the norm, he was forced to work from home by the overzealous HR department.
While working from home he was forced to face certain realities. The biggest thing was that as a bachelor, it was far better to just come home to sleep rather than having to live in a house full time. Although, there was a maid who would come to clean the house, do the laundry, cook food and do the dishes every day, the work at home never seemed to end.
Subodh was also a dog parent to an extremely active 2-year-old male Labrador named Jinx as well. Subodh had engaged the services of a dog walker to come home twice a day and take Jinx for a walk and feed him. Little did Subodh know that Jinx would pave the way for a multi-million dollar business in a matter of months.
One of the things that started getting on his nerves while working from home was the constant humping Jinx was indulging in. He would hump the cushions, pillows and sofas. Subodh finally lost in when during an important business meeting Jinx started humping his leg.
Frustrated with these antics Subodh did some research and realised that the only solution available to stop this habit was to neuter Jinx. However, the very thought of neutering the dog seemed to be cruel. After all, Jinx was just being a horny teenager. That started the journey to find a solution for this common problem. Subodh realised that he must not be the only person going through this.
He figured that the most obvious solution to the problem is to find Jinx a mate. However, the housekeeper refused to continue working if another dog was added to the household. She claimed that she was having trouble as it is with one dog and cannot manage another one as well. With that out of the question, the next option seemed to be to use Jinx as a stud. Not a single breeder was interested as Jinx did not have the required KCI papers making his reproductive skills worthless.
It was around this time that a close friend of his came with a request. Subodh lived in a 1 BHK apartment in Lower Parel which was close to his office. With the imminent lockdown around the corner, his friend Joseph who was a stockbroker at the Bombay Stock Exchange requested him to switch residences as he had to go to work every day despite the lockdown. Joseph lived all alone in a 2 bedroom house with a garden in Juhu as his parents and sister were stuck in the US as flights were cancelled.
As Subodh only had to work from home, he agreed and shifted over the weekend. This is when the business idea began to grow. The garden ensured that Jinx had plenty of space to run around but he kept sitting near the gate as there were plenty of other dogs in the locality who used to exchange lonely looks with him.
Read the full article at: http://thedailyvanilla.com/2021/07/27/investment-banker-turned-dog-escort-business-owner-now-earns-inr-1-2-crore-a-year/

Acclaimed filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma or RGV will be directing a boxing movie next, which will be completely different from the ones that we have seen so far. The style of the movie is also touted to be the first in the history of all sporting films.
Ram Gopal Varma who recently moved his official residence and office from Mumbai to Goa has been busy promoting his latest film Dangerous and dealing with Twitter trolls. The trailer for the movie that explores lesbianism starring Naina Ganguly and Apsara Rani was released 2 months ago and had created quite a bit of controversy due to the sexually explicit scenes in the trailer.
The last few movies that came from the RGV stables were all labelled as borderline erotica including Climax with Mia Malkova, a popular adult movie star with whom he had directed a nude short film called God, Sex and Truth. Other movies awaiting release include Ladki – Enter the Girl Dragon, another highly sexualised martial arts film starring Pooja Bhalekar.
Ram Gopal Varma shot to national and international acclaim with technically brilliant gangster films like Sathya, Company, Sarkar and Sarkar Raj. He also was known for having a knack for thrillers like Shool and Kaun while executing road movies like Daud, Jungle and many more. He was also adept at taking on the horror genre and did amazing jobs with Bhoot and Darna Zaroori Hai.
Apart from these Bollywood films, RGV was churning out hits in the Telugu industry as well making him one of the hottest talents of the 90s and early 2000s. It is widely accepted that after the huge backlash he received for his attempt to remake Sholay, which was released as Ram Gopal Varma ki Aag, his career had taken a drastic downward plunge. The movie despite having some of the biggest names in the industry like Amitabh Bachchan, Mohanlal, Ajay Devgn and Sushmita Sen, flopped badly at the box office and was panned by the public and critics alike.
Ramu is now quite happy away from the limelight and using Twitter to promote his upcoming releases. He also regularly courts controversy with his views on various subjects and remains one of the most trolled celebrities on the micro-blogging platform.
Our sources reveal that Ram Gopal Verma is an avid movie buff and watches almost all the movies launched. With the pandemic and being stuck at home, he has taken a liking to the digital platform. This was the reason behind the launch of his own OTT platform called RGV World Theatre which is focused on the 18+ A-rated films that he is now exploring.
Read full article at: http://thedailyvanilla.com/2021/07/26/ram-gopal-varma-to-shoot-female-boxing-film-with-real-fights/

Jeff Bezos recently completed the first space travel by his new company Blue Origin onboard the New Shepard rocket. The successful 10-minute flight which took them to the Karman line, higher than what Richard Branson accomplished a few weeks ago, triggered a bonafide space race among billionaires.
Our sources tell us that during the 4 minutes of weightlessness experienced by Bezos and his crew comprising of his brother and the oldest and youngest person to travel in space, a new business vertical for Amazon was born.
The Blue Origin space tourism missions will now have an additional objective. They will also be collecting ‘space air’ from these trips which will be packaged and sold on Amazon Pantry. This product line will be expanded to include ‘space dust’, ‘space light’, ‘space sound’ and ‘space smell’.
Our sources tell us that this is Amazon’s way of letting people who do not have the money for actual space travel experience space. These products will only be available for Amazon Space Prime members who need to pay a subscription fee of USD 149 a year.
This episode is also available as a blog post: http://thedailyvanilla.com/2021/07/23/amazon-pantry-to-sell-space-air-collected-from-its-space-missions/

Despite the COVID19 pandemic putting a damper on things, one industry that still manages to keep its head above water is the wedding industry. There have been almost the same number of weddings happening across the country when compared to pre-COVID times. The only difference is that the weddings are considerably smaller due to the insistence of the state governments that social distancing and COVID protocols should be followed.
Restrictions on the number of people who can attend a wedding vary from state to state. The TPR or Test Positivity Rate and the total number of active cases also play a major role in determining how many people can gather at an event like weddings or funerals. Any other kind of public gathering is not allowed. This was strictly implemented post-election after people started blaming the political parties for the spread of the disease via mega rallies.
These relaxations have allowed the other industries who are dependant on the wedding industry like hotels, event management, caterers, decorators, jewellers, textile shops and beauty parlours to sustain themselves. Although not at a highly profitable level, these industries are now showing signs of recovery after having to close shop during both waves.
The wedding formalities have also changed. In a society that is still heavily dependent on the arranged marriage system where the parents of the bride and groom meet and arrange for their children to get married, it has had drastic effects.
In the recent pre-COVID era, the bride and groom to be, formally meet a few times and even do a lot of video calls before getting married. This allows the couples to interact and get to know one another before tying the knot. This phase is very important and it is now becoming commonplace in urban India. However, in rural India, it is still the classic case of having seen your spouse just once before the wedding and the next time you see or interact with them, you are getting married.
With the multiple lockdowns, the closing of bars and restaurants and most offices also forcing employees to work from home, it had become extremely difficult to meet someone and fall in love. Dating apps like Tinder, Bumble, Aisle etc are also require paid subscriptions which Indians abhor.
This lead to a marked increase in the arranged marriages in urban India as well. With lockdowns and restrictions on movement in place, even physically meeting them in person has now become difficult. With fewer preparations to worry about and guests to invite, wedding planning is now becoming a smooth and easy process for the parents.
This smooth process was rattled by a petition filed in the Madras High Court this week with over 50 signatories.
Read the full article at: http://thedailyvanilla.com/2021/07/22/husbands-can-now-sue-beauty-parlours-under-ipc-420/

With the West Bengal 10th standard board exam results also being announced yesterday most of the state boards have announced the results of the non-existent board exams this year. With schools and state education boards using previous years results to formulate the final result of students, the general idea has been that everyone has passed with similar results.
With CBSE also set to announce results in the next couple of days, all eyes are eagerly waiting to see what kind of results are expected for the students.
There has been a call to pull the plug on the highly stressful board exams for the 10th and 12th standard with a few state boards seriously looking at getting rid of the 10th standard board exams. The criteria to pick streams like science or commerce could be made based on the results of previous years performance, just like what the different boards were forced to do this year.
Psychologists have claimed that the stress levels of students before these board exams are extremely high and the pressure from parents, teachers and society to perform well really pushes the adolescent mind to the brink. Many students even resort to suicide as they cannot take the pressure of the board exams or the dreaded results day.
A noted child psychologist in the city told us, “Students who go through the pressure of exams develop coping mechanisms that may take years to manifest. That usually happens during adulthood when they go through other stressful situations at work or in relationships. The ones who can cope with the pressure have easier adulthood as they tend to take things much more lightly. We all have that friend whose standard response to any situation is ‘Relax’ or ‘Chill'”.
This year’s 10th standard board exam results have thrown the whole educational system in India into a major quandary. Teachers, students, parents and neighbours of the students are not sure how to respond to this scenario.
Almost all the different state boards across the country have been dishing out pass results and that too with very similar grades. This has lead to almost all states recording all-time highs in the number of passing students. This on one hand is a very good sign as the students were saved from the mind-numbing, soul-crushing exercise known as board exams.
However, this is an issue. No one has an answer to the question – Who are the nerds, cool kids, jocks and ‘gone cases’?
A principal of a reputed CBSE school in the country with over 30 years of teaching experience spoke to us after we promised to not reveal her identity.
Read full article at: http://thedailyvanilla.com/2021/07/21/10th-standard-board-exam-results-destroy-decades-old-social-construct-of-schools/