Good evening. The aftermath of the Kurnool bus fire in Andhra Pradesh and Trump ending ‘all trade negotiations’ with Canada the dominated news headlines on Friday, October 24. But much more has happened in the worlds of politics, business, technology, sport, and entertainment. Don’t worry, Express Catch-up is here to bring you up to speed.
- 01
Trump ends ‘all trade negotiations’ with Canada
US President Donlad Trump on Thursday that he is ending “all trade negotiations” with Canada over an advertainment campaign against the trade tariffs. According to Trump, Canada was trying to influence the US Supreme Court decisions through ads on American TV channels. The ad in question features comments of former US President Ronald Reagan, where he speaks critically of tariffs. But according to Trump, the Reagan Foundation has alleged that the ad was a misrepresentation of what the former President said. Read more
- 02
Ad legend Piyush Pandey passes away
Piyush Pandey, one of the biggest names in the Indian advertising industry, has died at the age of 70. Pandey, who was the Executive Chairman of Ogilvy India and a recipient of the Padma Shri award in 2016, reportedly died due to an infection. He is credited with transforming Indian advertising with his earthy wit and human touch, and gave some of the most memorable TV ads for generations of Indians. Read more
- 03
Indian-origin US policy expert Ashley Tellis released from detention
A US court on Tuesday sent Ashley Tellis, an Indian-origin foreign policy expert arrested last weekend under charges of illegally storing sensitive government records, to home confinement. He was arrested after federal agents found more than 1,000 pages of “secret and top secret level” documents in the basement of his home in Vienna, Virginia. Tellis has been charged with one count of retaining national defense information. His lawyers have rejected allegations that Tellis ever shared the information with anyone and pointed out that the sole charge against him involves the unlawful retention of national defense information. Read more
- 04
Assam Cabinet to table Nellie massacre report in Assembly
Forty-two years after the Nellie massacre took place, the Assam Cabinet has decided to table the Tiwari Commission report on the violence in the legislative assembly next month. The Nellie massacre refers to the violence on February 18, 1983, in which around 1,800 people, mostly Bengali-origin Muslims, were killed in targeted attacks on illegal immigrants. The then Assam government had constituted a commission led by retired IAS officer Tribhuvan Prasad Tewary to look into the violence. Though the report was submitted in May 1984, it was never tabled or made public. Read more
- 05
Meta layoffs included employees who monitored risks to user privacy
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has announced that it would be laying off 600 people in its AI division. In a letter to employees, Alexandr Wang, Meta’s chief artificial intelligence officer, said the job cuts would help Meta build new products faster. According to reports, those laid off include more than 100 people in its risk review organization, responsible for making sure Meta’s products abide by an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission as well as privacy rules set by regulatory bodies around the world. Read more
