Hotstar VIP’s Special Ops, created by Neeraj Pandey, is a homegrown thriller that satisfies the hunger for desi espionage shows. Special Ops’ plot might be a work of fiction, but it intertwines very real events into its narrative, making for exceptional content.

When you step out to buy your first AC, you’ll soon realise that there are nearly a million options to choose between, each boasting of more features than the average computer. Now if only there was some kind of device that could combine all the best benefits of all these air-conditioners, and look great while at it.

Assam has gone to work setting up a 700-bed quarantine facility in a sports complex in Guwahati. The state government will also rent an apartment complex close to the facility to accommodate at least 200 doctors. By proactively taking these measures, Assam is showing us how to prepare for a global pandemic.

With the British Prime Minister, Health Minister, the Queen, and the Prince of Wales all in isolation, two key decision-making ministers in the cabinet right now are Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, and Home Minister Priti Patel. Social media had a field day with the fact that two Indian-origin ministers are now in charge of Britain.

In Delhi’s Vijay Nagar last night, a man spat at a Manipuri woman and called her “corona”. As information around Covid-19 swells in India, it has led to an increase in xenophobic behaviour – particularly toward those from North-East India.

Odisha’s Naveen Patnaik, who has completed 20 years in office, has once again risen to the occasion. As the nation battles the coronavirus pandemic, he has promised to pay doctors, nurses, and other healthcare officials four months’ salary in advance. He has also donated his three months’ income to the CM’s relief fund.

The next time you’re convinced you should go into work despite whatever flu you’re currently grappling with, just stop yourself. If your boss forces you to come in anyway, sneeze on them. And let the contamination begin!

The award-winning filmmaker, Neeraj Ghaywan, quit a cushy corporate life and charted his own course at 30. The result is sensitive films like Masaan, that drew accolades at home and abroad, and the second season of Sacred Games.

As Bombay evolved into Mumbai, a lot has changed. The underworld and its dons are no longer part of the city’s everyday lexicon. #MumbaiMirrored is a video series, presented by Mumbai Mirror that charts the journey of the city. An anecdotal look at the city’s murky yet fascinating past.

While Roger Federer and Hollywood stars like Ryan Reynolds and Rihanna have donated toward coronavirus efforts, Indian stars seem notably absent. Barring Sachin Tendulkar and a few other celebrities, most of Bollywood is unusually quiet.

As people beat their bartans with manic fervour, an apparently homeless man joined in by clapping to the beats. Unlike the covidiots who willingly, and foolishly so, stepped out of their homes, this man likely didn’t even have the privilege to make a choice for himself.

I tried to be rational when I found out that my father was having an affair. But I was only drawing more lines for him to toe, for his halo to remain untarnished.

The Nizamuddin Markaz gathering in Delhi, which attracted thousands of devotees some of whom were carriers of COVID-19, has become an excuse for several sections of India to paint Indian Muslims as bioterrorists. The hashtag #CoronaJihad is evidence.

There’s no way in hell you can do anything about the Cosa Nostra of the train. Or can you? It takes nearly a lynching for Arré to find out.

It took just one day of me leaving my wallet at home to realise how unimportant it was. With the smartphone’s infinite capacity to get things done and the rise of the cashless economy, will wallets soon join the MP3 player and the torch as yet another item slain by the mobile phone?

Narrated as a slow-burn police procedural, Ladj Ly’s Les Misérables is a commentary on the pervasive, lingering stain of social injustice. The masterful filmmaking evokes the extent of powerlessness that the marginalised are forced to internalise.

In an Indian office your dedication is determined by what time you get to work. Which means, that you get labelled a “bad employee” for reaching work at 11 am instead of 10.30 am, but not if you’re one of those people who is at work at 9.30 am and yet does not meet deadlines.

Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite is an acidic horror comedy that points a sharpened knife to the biggest parasite of them all – modern society. Much of the film is a reflection on the aftermath of the unequal distribution of wealth that creates competition even between shades of poverty.

What’s up with the new PM-CARES fund created for those who wish to contribute to India’s fight against Covid-19? And how different is it from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund?

The last few months have seen the rise of poetry and parody as powerful tools of protest. And leading the revolution are artists such as Megha Rao and Saloni Gaur, popularly known as Nazma Aapi. The emergence of a clear voice by India’s women is a comforting reassurance that their perspective will be recorded.

On the day that Mahatma Gandhi was killed, a minor gunman opened fire at the anti-CAA protestors in Delhi’s Jamia University. Two bullets, fired more than 70 years apart, but with the same intent – to murder the idea of Gandhi’s India. Yet, the incident is proof that Gandhi’s India lives on.

Consequences for sexual predators even after the revelations of #MeToo are in short supply. But Harvey Weinstein’s conviction gives us hope; it marks a collective, cathartic exhale, both for his victims, for journalists, and for women around the world.

The online sale is an annual event now, just like the Mumbai Marathon, your marriage anniversary, or the Champions League final. We remember the date, we remember the time, and we know which deals we have to act on.

When I signed on for a new professional opportunity, I knew I could handle the demands of the job. But how would I handle the late-night commute, taking rickshaws through deserted streets at odd hours? I am not alone: 3 in 5 Indian women limit their opportunities to only a kilometre from home.

Minal Bhosale, of the Pune-based Mylab Discovery Solutions, led a team of 10 that designed a new coronavirus home testing kit in a record of six weeks. The following day, the real-life Wonder Woman delivered her baby.

Yes, coronavirus makes you sick with flu-like symptoms but it also sucks out all the decency out of you. A pandemic that threatens your life as much as it threatens that of others is all it takes for the facade of humanity to slip.

Ratan Tata announced that the Tata Trust would donate Rs 500 crore to protect medical personnel, treat patients, and increase testing in the country. The Tata group has also paid all temporary workers and daily wage earners, for March and April.

Shikha Malhotra, who was seen in the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Fan, has joined a BMC-run hospital to assist doctors fighting coronavirus. She has a nursing degree from Delhi.

In the middle of a pandemic, hope is the first thing you lose. But it will pass. And when you come out on the other side, you’ll be a different person. Pubs will be full of people, you’ll enjoy your cramped train commute, you will even like the colleague you botched about for three years. There will be no more surprises.

This episode examines how rumours tainted the investigation. Send us your feedback at trialbyerror@arre.co.in.