California-based fashion label JW PEI has renamed a garment after facing online backlash for marketing what critics called a saree as a Western-style ‘draped maxi dress.’

The item was originally listed as the ‘Botanical Embellished Draped Overlay Maxi Dress,’ priced at around $229, roughly Rs 21,900 to Rs 26,000.

The controversy was raised by Indian beauty entrepreneur Arshia Moorjani, who questioned why a garment so clearly resembling a traditional saree was being marketed without acknowledging its origin.

Following the backlash, JW PEI changed the product listing to ‘Botanical Embellished Saree-Inspired Gown,’ with the updated description now stating the design is ‘inspired by the traditional South Asian saree.’

The garment in question was a navy blue pre-draped saree-style piece with a floral embroidered blouse, featuring the tight waist pleats and structured pallu characteristic of the Nivi drape, India’s most widely recognised saree style.

Social media users pointed out the pattern of Indian garments being rebranded for Western markets, drawing comparisons to earlier controversies involving dupattas marketed as ‘Scandinavian scarves’ and Prada’s Kolhapuri-inspired sandals.

This is not the first time a global fashion label has faced criticism over how it describes traditional South Asian garments, with similar rebranding disputes recurring periodically as Indian-inspired silhouettes gain traction in Western fast fashion.

The brand’s revised product listing now explicitly credits the design’s roots, a change commentators noted came only after the criticism gained visibility online rather than being part of the original marketing.

The garment in question was a navy blue pre-draped saree-style piece with a floral embroidered blouse, featuring the tight waist pleats and structured pallu characteristic of the Nivi drape, India’s most widely recognised saree style.

Social media users pointed out the pattern of Indian garments being rebranded for Western markets, drawing comparisons to earlier controversies involving dupattas marketed as ‘Scandinavian scarves’ and Prada’s Kolhapuri-inspired sandals.

Photo by Wikimedia contributor, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

A student has built a free platform called Bribes.fyi that lets citizens anonymously report being asked for bribes at government offices.

The website was created by Aryan Nishad, a B.Tech student at Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology in Delhi, who used AI-assisted coding to build it.

Users can submit a report in about a minute by filling in basic details of the incident, after which it is published anonymously with identifying details removed.

The platform has gathered 616 reports from 251 cities since going live on July 2, with police departments accounting for the largest share at 337 entries.

Reports are organised by department, city and state, giving the public a searchable view of where bribery complaints are most commonly reported.

The site has gone viral on social media in recent days, with many users praising the simple, anonymous design as a practical tool for surfacing corruption patterns.

Reports on the platform are organised by department, city and state, giving users a public view of where corruption complaints are most frequently reported.

The platform does not verify individual claims before publishing them, relying instead on aggregate, anonymised data to surface patterns rather than pursue individual cases.

The idea follows a broader tradition of crowdsourced anti-corruption reporting tools that have surfaced periodically in India over the years, though Bribes.fyi has stood out for the speed with which it was built and its rapid early adoption.

The platform’s low-friction, minute-long reporting process is widely seen as a key reason for its quick early adoption compared to more formal complaint mechanisms.

Nishad, a B.Tech student at Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology in Delhi, used AI-assisted coding to build the platform from scratch.

The website went live on July 2 and has since gathered 616 reports from 251 cities across the country.

Police departments account for the highest number of reports on the platform so far, with 337 entries alone.

Photo by Tirza van Dijk, Wikimedia Commons, CC0

A video of a four-year-old girl from Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, has gone viral after she firmly told a stranger not to call her Chinese, insisting instead that she be called Indian.

The girl, Karga Tinkle Gongo, was being filmed by her mother while buying ice cream when a social media user commented that she looked Chinese.

In the video, she responds, ‘Don’t call us Chinese. Call us Indians. It makes me angry,’ before singing the national anthem, Jana Gana Mana.

Her mother said the family was surprised by how widely the clip travelled online, with many users praising the young girl for confidently asserting her identity.

The moment has added to a long-running conversation in India about the casual stereotyping faced by people from the Northeast, who are frequently mistaken for other nationalities because of their appearance.

The video has been widely shared as a heartwarming example of a child’s unfiltered pride in her national identity, drawing appreciation from across the country.

Itanagar, where the girl and her family are from, is the capital of Arunachal Pradesh, a state in India’s far northeast bordering China, Bhutan and Myanmar.

The clip has added to a recurring conversation in India about casual racial stereotyping faced by people from northeastern states, an issue that resurfaces periodically whenever such videos go viral.

Her mother, who was recording the ice cream purchase when the comment appeared, said the family was surprised by just how far the video travelled online.

People from India’s Northeast have long dealt with being mistaken for other nationalities because of their appearance, with the casual use of terms like ‘Chinese’ or the derogatory ‘Chinki’ remaining a persistent frustration for the region.

In the video, the young girl also sang the national anthem, Jana Gana Mana, adding to the emotional response the clip generated online.

Photo by SK Gupta, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0