How Taiwan is defying China

In the eye of a storm: Former Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi was a regular fixture at the Bharat Jodo Yatra as it passed through the state. However, a large section of the local leadership was not impressed. They asked why he went missing for several months after the Congress’s defeat in the assembly polls last year and was now seeking to be seen in the same frame as Rahul Gandhi. Channi, who is learnt to have been abroad all this while, had earlier explained his absence from the scene, saying he was suffering from an eye ailment and was also working on his PhD thesis | Illustrations by Jairaj T.G.

Defending champion, not: It is troll time for Tamil Nadu BJP president K. Annamalai. He initially faced flak for wearing an expensive ‘Rafale’watch—Bell & Ross’s BR 03 Rafale, made in collaboration with Dassault Aviation that makes the Rafale fighter jets—and saying that he wore the watch because he was a patriot. Recently, he defended party colleague Tejasvi Surya, who landed himself in a soup for opening the emergency exit of a Tiruchirappalli-bound IndiGo plane. Annamalai, who was with Surya on the said flight from Chennai, said that the latter was trying to adjust the AC vent when his hand accidentally touched the emergency door. “It is impossible that the emergency exit will open with just a touch,”he said. “Surya apologised to all the passengers for the inconvenience.”But Annamalai was again trolled for his statement, as Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia had said that Surya had opened the door by mistake.

Poll-i-tickle: Finding humour in politics is an art, and Nagaland minister and state BJP president Temjen Imna Along seems to have mastered it. His witty and self-deprecatory posts on social media attract a lot of ‘likes’. His regular posts drawing attention to stereotypes about people from the northeast—be it his small eyes to myths about cannibalism or even his single status—have made him the most recognisable face from Nagaland. As he helps bridge the gap between the northeast and the rest of the country, he has a new challenge before him—the state is going to polls on February 27.

Hitched and how!: The Bollywood baarat season has begun, with actor Athiya Shetty and cricketer K.L. Rahul tying the knot in Khandala on the outskirts of Mumbai. The duo got married in a private ceremony at the Shetty farmhouse—“the home that’s given us immense joy and serenity,” wrote Athiya on Instagram, sharing pictures from the wedding. Athiya’s blush pink chikankari lehenga and Rahul’s embroidered ivory sherwani were designed by Anamika Khanna | PTI

Director’s cut: Ajay Devgn has donned the director’s hat yet again. After last year’s Runway 34, he is back with Bholaa, in which he plays the title role. According to his costar Tabu, who plays a cop in the film, “he was some other human being on the set as he sat on the director’s chair”. He was quiet and focused, she said, and would flawlessly switch to an action director while briefing about the action | AFP

Bejewelled inferno: For the Spring 2023 edition of Schiaparelli's Haute Couture Show in Paris, Pat McGrath and her team hand-applied 30,000 crimson Swarovski crystals to American rapper Doja Cat's body, covered in custom red body paint and glitter. Inspired by Dante Alighieri's Inferno, the look was dubbed ‘Doja’s Inferno’, and took almost five hours to complete. Doja Cat’s shaved head and daring fashion sense provided the perfect canvas for McGrath's vision. The outfit—hand-knitted skirt lacquered in wooden beads and paired with a silk bustier—was custom designed by Schiaparelli's creative director Daniel Roseberry | Getty Images

Winning debut: Shubhangi Swarup’s critically acclaimed debut novel Latitudes of Longing’ won the 2023 Émile Guimet Prize for Asian Literature at the Musée Guimet, Paris. The book, published in French as Dérive des âmes et des continents (Drift of Souls and Continents) by Métailié, became the first Indian novel to win the prize. This comes as no surprise as it had made it to many an award list at home. Latitudes of Longing narrates four interconnected tales about characters longing for true intimacy | Courtesy Instagram Swarupshubhangi

Warrior on the way: Vicky Kaushal, it seems, has a thing for history. After playing Sam Manekshaw in the Meghna Gulzar biopic, he will be donning the role of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, son of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Director Laxman Utekar, who has worked with Kaushal in a yet-to-be-released romantic comedy, said the actor was perfect for the role and would train for four months in sword fighting and horse riding. “We have seen many films on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj,” he said, “but nobody knows how big a warrior Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj was, or [about] his contribution to the Maratha empire and Maharashtra.” | AFP