Shit happens: Angry on Surf Excel’s Hindu-Muslim amity ad, saffronists target Microsoft Excel!

News Network
March 12, 2019

Newsroom, Mar 12: Enraged by the detergent brand Surf Excel’s latest advertisement which promotes Hindu-Muslim communal amity, dozens of online Hindutva activists have mistakenly taken revenge against software giant Microsoft’s Excel.

The ad that promotes Surf Excel’s ‘Daag acche hai’ campaign has also divided social media. While some people are praising Surf Excel for the advertisement, the ad has not gone well with others.

The one-minute-long ad features a young Hindu girl, dressed in a white T-shirt, who chooses to get stained in Holi colours in order to protect her young Muslim friend who has to go to the nearby mosque to pray. The advertisement ends with its classic tagline, 'daag acche hain' (stains are good). Agar kuch achha karne mein daag lag jaaye toh daag achhe hain (Stains that come as a part of a good deed are good stains), goes the tagline.

With the advertisement, Hindustan Unilever, owner of Surf Excel, tries promoting religious harmony and bringing people together with the power of colours.

Released on February 27, the video has already managed to gather around eight million views on YouTube. On Twitter, however, the campaign has faced the wrath of users who feel that the ad is 'Hindu phobic' and controversial and wants to showcase that Namaaz is more important than Holi.

The Hindutva chauvinists offended by the advertisement have already taken to Facebook and Twitter to demand the boycott of the Surf Excel brand and HUL. While hashtags like #BoycottSurExcel and #BoycottHindustanUnilever have been trending on social media since past couple of days, many people have now started to ‘downrate’ the Microsoft Excel app on Google’s app store.

Several new reviews on the Google Play can be seen as terming the Microsoft Excel app as “anti-national”. Also, there is a sudden surge of 1-star ratings of the app on Google Play with reviews like “boycott Surf Excel”. The Microsoft Excel app, goes without saying, has nothing to do with Surf Excel or HUL or the content of the recent Holi advertisement itself.

This isn’t the first time that an app has seen its ratings plummet due to the anger of Google Play users. In the past, Snapdeal and Snapchat have seen their ratings on the Google Play store affected by angry users.

Comments

Khasai Khane
 - 
Sunday, 17 Mar 2019

 SHIT HAPPENS? Am I reading a news or something else?  Have some editorial ethics. Who uses metaphors like these in a daily news?

 

kumar
 - 
Thursday, 14 Mar 2019

These sanghese are always anti natinal and any communal harmony.  They never supported freedom of india from british and still disrespect Constitution.  They are loft over waste in india by British.   Sanghis aloways coordinated wth british and were agents giving secrets about meeting of freedm fighgters.   British massacred thusands of people in jalianwala baugh and the informatin about the gathering was given to british by these gaddars.   Same blood is still running in them.  They treat the first indian terrorist Naturam Godse as their  God.   These gaddars should be give good lesson by all the peace lovers and nationalists.   

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News Network
December 5,2025

Mangaluru: In a significant step to curb online hate and intimidation, Mangaluru City Police have registered a suo motu case against multiple Instagram accounts accused of circulating alleged provocative and threatening content.

While monitoring social media activity on Tuesday, Kankanady Town PSI Anitha Nikkam identified the Instagram handle ‘team_targetttt_900’ for posting a hate message alongside images of lethal weapons. Another account, ‘team_nagara_900’, allegedly shared a threatening post targeting activist Bharath Kumdelu, tagging additional pages such as KARAVALI-OFFICIAL.

Several other accounts — including ‘immu_bhai.fan’, ‘target_boy_900’, ‘kings_of_manglore’, ‘team_target_boys.900’, ‘arshad_mangalore’, ‘target_ka19_ullal’, ‘team_target__’, ‘troll_tigersz_900’, ‘tr_group_900’, and ‘team_target_900’ — are also under scrutiny for spreading similar inflammatory material, police said.

Authorities have urged citizens, especially young social media users, to report suspicious pages and avoid engaging with groups that glorify violence or threaten individuals. Online hate can quickly escalate into real-world harm, and police stress that sharing or promoting such content can attract legal consequences.

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News Network
December 4,2025

Udupi: A 40-year-old NRI from Udupi has reportedly lost more than Rs 12.25 lakh in an online investment scam operated through Telegram.

According to a complaint filed at the CEN police station, Leo Jerome Mendonsa, who has been working in Dubai for the past 15 years in computer accessories sales, maintains NRI accounts in Karkala and Nitte.

On November 12, 2025, Mendonsa was added to a Telegram group called Instaflow Earnings by unknown individuals. Users identified as Priya and Dipannita persuaded him to invest in “Revenue Tasks.” Initially, Mendonsa transferred Rs 1,100 multiple times and received the promised returns, encouraging him to continue.

On November 14, another user, Nishmitha Shetty, directed him to register on a website, digitvisionuoce.cc, and invest Rs 4 lakh in various shares. Over the next few days, he made multiple transfers totaling Rs 12,25,000, including Rs 50,000 via Google Pay, believing the scheme was legitimate.

After receiving the money, the alleged handlers stopped responding, and neither the invested amount nor the promised profits were returned.

The CEN police have registered a case under Sections 66(C) and 66(D) of the IT Act and Section 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and investigations are ongoing.

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News Network
December 2,2025

Mangaluru, Dec 2: Mangaluru International Airport responded to a medical emergency late on Monday night. Air India Express flight IX 522, travelling from Riyadh to Thiruvananthapuram, was diverted to Mangaluru Airport after a passenger in his late 30s experienced a medical emergency on board.

The Airport’s Operations Control Centre received an alert regarding the passenger’s health condition. The airport activated its emergency response protocol, mobilising the airport medical team and coordinating with stakeholders including CISF, immigration, and customs. 

Upon landing, airport medical personnel attended to the passenger, assessed his condition, and arranged to shift him to a local tertiary-care hospital for further treatment. The passenger’s relatives accompanied the passenger, who incidentally received necessary medical care on board, which helped stabilise the situation.

Following the handling of the emergency, the flight departed for Thiruvananthapuram at 2:05 am on Tuesday.

"We appreciate the cooperation of all parties involved, and this incident reaffirms our ongoing commitment to prioritising passenger safety and readiness to respond to unforeseen emergencies with professionalism and care," the Airport spokesperson said. 

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