On Italian Visit, Modi’s Teleprompter Takes the Toffee; As Rupee Falls Further, Anxiety Over Unclear Picture of India’s LPG Reserves; Congress Becomes Part of TN Government After 59 Long Years
Delhi court rejects Umar Khalid's appeal for interim bail; The Great Nicobar project – a geological folly and a strategic gamble; Norwegian journalist says her Facebook, Instagram accounts suspended
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Snapshot of the day
May 20, 2026
Sidharth Bhatia
What The Teleprompter is going on.
This European tour of India’s prime minister Narendra Modi is turning out to be quite revelatory, and for many reasons. First, by the refusal of the Modi government to respond to criticism and questions maturely. Secondly, in Italy, by wilfully in the telecast of Modi and Meloni addressing members of the Press, hiding the fact that Modi read out a statement in Hindi off his teleprompter. So nothing impromptu about anything. How do we know? Because the exact same telecast by Georgia Meloni, spilled the toffee, er, the beans. The teleprompter is clearly there in frame. Meloni does not have one and Modi needs it, even for this short statement in Hindi.
Check for yourself here - Modi in the Meloni news feed, starring but with a teleprompter in tow.
Modi without the telepromoter in his own X feed. Starring, but no teleprompter.
This is how ‘pliant media’ in India is also urged to scrub the teleprompter from shots.
Wah, Modi ji, wah!
Speaking of the third M in the alleged ‘Love Triangle of Ms’, consisting of Modi, Meloni and now Melody, toffee has created quite a stir on social media. Minister of Commerce Piyush Goyal took to X to insult the intelligence of the common public and Bloomberg reports that shares of Parle Industries Ltd. briefly surged after traders mistakenly linked it to Parle Products (which produces Melody, the toffee Modi carried to Rome). Serious market confusion, as if the complete race-to-the-bottom show the Modi government has managed to kick off for the Sensex was not enough.
The Modi government, feeling the strain – and mounting pressure – of the energy squeeze, is now preparing to send vessels through the Strait of Hormuz to load up
