As the eventful year of 2020 draws to a close, and the world as a whole gets ready to welcome a new year with the hope that 2021 would be kinder to human civilisation, it is but prudent to take a look back at the most sought after, most read and most significant stories of the year gone by. Nationally, a lot has happened in 2020. The year has by far been the most significant for India in terms of geopolitics, particularly with our brave armed forces giving China blue eyes along the Himalayas for its misadventures.
Among TFI’s most-read stories of 2020, are pieces which talk about Bollywood getting exposed before the nation for the coterie of dirtbags it is comprised of, and Vietnam taking away a major chunk of companies which should have ideally landed in India after packing up from China. Then, China being exposed as an origami before the world too was a story which TFI covered, so much so that the term ‘paper dragon’ is now used by people across the world to describe China.
So, here are our most-read stories from 2020. Stories which people connected with. Stories which made Indians proud, as well as turned their stomachs around.
With close to 587,000 views and 18,000 shares, this became the most read article on TFIPOST in 2020. Ajay Devgn shattering the inflated ego of Karan Johar and making him apologise for a series of steps which the Director took to harm the box office collections of Devgn’s films made for a good read among Indians. In an audio clip posted by Devgn on Twitter, self-proclaimed film critic Kamaal Rashid Khan had said that filmmaker Karan Johar paid him Rs 25 lakh to praise his film, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (ADHM), and trash Devgn’s Shivaay, both of which would release on the occasion of Diwali in 2016.
To make matters worse for himself, when the audio clip was made public. Kajol was furious with Karan Johar, to which Karan passed some objectionable remarks about her in an interview. This infuriated Ajay Devgn, who thrashed the man left, right and centre.
Finally, after almost three years, it was Karan who had to eat humble pie and publicly apologize to Ajay Devgn on his own show ‘Koffee with Karan’, where he said, “I regret the bitterness I held for the actress and said “sorry” to her. I missed those years when we didn’t speak. I wish I could take that chapter out of my book. I have to say this on National TV but I am really sorry. I shouldn’t have written that chapter.” He not only apologized once, but thrice, and also wished that he could be friends with Ajay once again.
2. ‘Ignore WHO, we shall listen to ICMR,’ How Modi govt sidelined WHO and averted a major crisis
Our second most-read national story of 2020, with 198,000 views and 35,100 shares was a report where we explained how India too, much like the U.S. had snubbed the World Health Organisation (WHO) for its explicitly visible bias towards China, and also its incompetence and complacency in ensuring that the virus strain spreads across the globe like wildfire.
In dealing with the pandemic, India has focused on domestic capabilities like the expertise of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) rather than toeing the WHO line. This is in sharp contrast with earlier times when WHO used to play a major role, in fact, it used to virtually run the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in India.
Despite WHO saying there was no need for facial masks and travel restrictions to and from China, and even the world at large, India issued an advisory to suspend all non-essential travel to China on January 25. The Indian government also banned all Air India flights to China until July, long before any such bans were in place in the world. And then, despite WHO not advising for the usage of facial masks for ordinary citizens in the early stages of the pandemic, India made wearing masks for all citizens compulsory.
3. As companies flee China, Vietnam is taking away the cake India so desperately wishes to have
The Indian government was hoping that the companies leaving China will ultimately shift to India, given the young demographics and cheap labour here. But, as per a study by Nomura Group on 56 companies shifting production out of China, only three of these relocated to India while 26 went to Vietnam, 11 to Taiwan, and eight to Thailand. TFI reported the same on April 25 this year, and the story garnered some 142,000 eyeballs while getting shared 3,000 times, making it one of the most-read TFI articles of 2020.
TFI further explained what Vietnam got right, and India did not. While Vietnam minimised red-tapism and allowed investments in infrastructure, education, and health; India continues to reel under lethargic bureaucratic machinery. Also, Vietnam started economic liberalization in 1986- exactly a decade after China – and since then invested heavily in primary education. An average Vietnamese is more skilled than average Indian, thanks to the skill-based education system.
In India, the companies who set up businesses have to deal with the farmers for factory land, lethargic and corrupt bureaucracy, local mafia, mafia-like NGOs, local trade unions, et al, making the country an unviable option. Of course, in 2020, the Modi government has taken long strides in reforming the business environment of India, and also ushered in major labour reforms.
4. Sushant Singh Rajput – The outsider who was killed by insiders
Who can forget the shocking death of acclaimed actor Sushant Singh Rajput, found hanging at his residence in Mumbai on June 14, 2020? The death of Rajput shook the conscience of India as a whole, as we helplessly watched a toxic Bollywood take the life out of a bright artist. In this emotive article, TFI brought to light how Sushant Singh Rajput was treated like a pariah throughout by the “insiders” of Mumbai’s rotten film industry. The piece which India connected to was read by over 79,000 people and shared by 31,800 individuals.
Bollywood is a nasty industry, and having a recognizable and royal filmy surname is a prerequisite to cutting in Mumbai. Talent, as we all know, has little to no place in the industry. Despite that, there are obviously a few who persevered and made a place for themselves. Perhaps, they did not have it as hard as Sushant did, because, at the end of the day, Bollywood killed an actor whose true potential in the industry was yet to be realized and tapped into.
2020 has been a year in which India has exposed China comprehensively as a country which under the tyrannical CCP regime is looking to destroy world peace and stability. In fact, in the backdrop of China mounting aggression against India in Eastern Ladakh, the Indian Army had thrashed the living daylights out of the paper dragon when in June, the PLA – comprised of little emperors and sissies, launched a guerrilla-style attack against the Indian forces, to which the Indian Army’s Bihar and Punjab regiments responded mightily, killing innumerable Chinese soldiers. Till now, China has not retreated and is probably waiting for another thrashing from India’s side.
But then, this is not the first time China has had to suffer a bloody nose at the hands of India. In 2017, during the Doklam standoff too, same China today flexing non-existent muscles in Eastern Ladakh was forced to retreat by India. With close to 75,000 views and 17,700 shares, this story drawing comparisons between Doklam and Eastern Ladakh became TFIPOST’s fifth most-read piece in 2020.