Did Google CEO Sundar Pichai cast his vote in Tamil Nadu? Here's the truth

A media house was caught on the wrong foot when it tweeted pictures of Google Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sundar Pichai surrounded by people stating that he had "marked his vote in this election". The picture went viral (above), with many retweeting the news. Some Twitter users from the state — Pichai hails from Tamil Nadu — also pointed out how a recent movie, Vijay-starrer Sarkar, had a character, Sundar Ramasamy, CEO of a multinational, who had returned to the country to cast his vote during an election. Sarkar's Ramasamy went to the extent of conducting a fresh election and forming a government on his own after finding that somebody had cast his vote. But as it turned out, the Pichai video was from a tweet in 2017, when he visited his alma mater IIT Kharagpur. In any case, being a US citizen, the Google CEO cannot cast his vote in an Indian election.

Booth loses VVIP status

Stella Maris College, located on RK Salai, at the heart of Chennai, has been the cynosure of all eyes in most past elections. The late AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa lived behind the college; the late DMK supremo M Karunanidhi lived right opposite to this college. For decades they had cast their votes at the RK Salai booth. With the two dead, the polling station seems to have lost its sheen this election. While actor-turned-politician Rajinikanth and Karunanidhi's son Stalin went to the college to cast their votes, the security personnel there appeared relaxed and even found time to shake hands and take selfies with Rajinikanth.

Mosquito nets as wedding gifts

A joint Sun Pharma-Madhya Pradesh government initiative has helped bring down the incidence of malaria in Mandla (MP) by 90 per cent. Interestingly, the mosquito nets that were distributed among locals have taken pride of place among dowry gifts in many homes. When local coordinators of the programme visited families to assess the progress, they found that some families had neatly tucked away unopened packets of mosquito nets to give them as gifts to the groom's family when they marry off their daughters. Mosquito nets were also found in villages that were not targeted under the programme. When asked, locals told officials that they got them as wedding gifts.