The live-action Fallout series based on the massively popular video game franchise is out. Within a week of its release, the makers have announced that fans can expect more episodes as the show has been renewed for season 2.

The first season of Fallout starring Ella Purnell, Aaron Moten and Walton Goggins opened to positive fan and critical reception. Opening up about the upcoming season, Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy who serve as executive producers, said, “We can’t wait to blow up the world all over again.”

“It’s been one of the most spectacular projects we’ve ever been a part of. Jonah and team did such an incredible job, and we’re overjoyed not just by the reaction to the show, but that we get to work with these amazing people even more,” said game developer Todd Howard.

Set in a post-apocalyptic world, Fallout revolves around a Vault-dweller Lucy who is forced to go to the inhabitable surface to rescue her father. The show also follows Maximus, a soldier from the Brotherhood of Steel and bounty hunter Cooper Howard/The Ghoul. 

Exclusive: Fallout game developer Todd Howard on the live-action series

Countering the Opposition’s charge on the now-scrapped electoral bonds system, Union Home Minister Amit Shah today asked if the Opposition parties would also describe donations they received through bonds as “extortion”.

Mr Shah’s remarks, made in an exclusive interview to NDTV, were a sharp response to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who has said the electoral bonds system was the “world’s biggest extortion scheme” and called Prime Minister Narendra Modi as “champion of corruption”.

Responding to the Opposition parties charge on the issue in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls, Mr Shah said, “Their parties have also received donations through bonds. Is that extortion as well? Rahul Gandhi must tell the people, yes, we have also extorted. And the donation they have received in proportion to the number of MPs is more than what we got. They don’t have an issue, there is no allegation of corruption against us. So they are trying to create confusion. They won’t be successful.”

In a landmark verdict on February 15, the Supreme Court scrapped the electoral bonds scheme on the grounds that it violates the citizens’ right to information. The scheme, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said, was unconstitutional and arbitrary and may lead to a quid pro quo arrangement between political parties and donors.

The Constitution bench of five judges held that the stated objective of fighting black money and maintaining the confidentiality of donors cannot defend the scheme. Electoral bonds, the court said, are not the only way to curb black money.

Subsequently, in data released by State Bank of India and made public by Election Commission of India, the BJP was found to have received maximum funds through these bonds — Rs 6,986.5 crore — since they were introduced in 2018. The BJP was followed by Trinamool Congress at Rs 1,397 crore and Congress at Rs 1,334 crore. 

Has Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal – a Type 2 diabetes patient – been denied insulin while behind bars in Tihar Jail? Did Mr Kejriwal eat mangoes and sweets, and did he drink tea with sugar instead of a non-calorific sweetener meant for diabetics? And how many times did he eat aloo-puri?

These are the questions at the heart of the latest row between the Aam Aadmi Party leader and the Enforcement Directorate, which had opposed his request for daily 15-minute video consults with his doctor; the ED claimed Mr Kejriwal had deliberately eaten foods high in sugar to create grounds for medical bail. The court resumed its hearing today and then reserved its verdict for Monday.

In today’s hearing Mr Kejriwal – who sought directions to jail officials to ensure supply of insulin – hit out at the ED for being “petty” and “politicising” his diet in jail instead of ensuring his health. “Just because I am a prisoner… do I have no right to a dignified life and good health? Am I a gangster that I cannot even be allowed 15 minutes of video conference with my doctor?” he asked in court.

“ED claimed I want to increase my blood sugar levels to get bail. Am I going to risk paralysis to get bail? Whatever food I have is as per the diet chart prepared by my doctor prior to arrest,” senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Mr Kejriwal, told the court.

In his submission Mr Kejriwal said he had been prescribed 50 units of insulin – 28 in the morning and 22 at night – since 2012, and that he had been “deprived of the life-saving drug for the last 29 days”.

“It is shocking that ED (believes) a person would deliberately cause such alarming hikes in sugar level and risk his life – for getting medical bail,” Mr Kejriwal argued in his submission, countering the ED’s rationale for the spike in his blood sugar level (that he has deliberately been eating sugary foods).

“The real reason for the continuous spike is the refusal of jail authorities to give insulin to the applicant, which is life-saving drug…” the Chief Minister’s submission argued.

Mr Kejriwal’s submission offered a detailed rebuttal to the ED’s claims, including providing the names of the insulin injections and underlining his doctor’s recommendations, as well as listing when he had been supplied with mangoes (as part of the home-cooked meals allowed by the court).

“The allegation is I have been consuming mangoes (but) out of 48 meals sent from home, only three times mangoes were sent. No mangoes were sent after April 8,” Mr Kejriwal’s lawyer told the court, arguing the ED had made mangoes “look like sugar bullets”. “(In reality) their sugar level (glycemic index) is much less than brown rice or white rice,” Mr Singhvi explained.

On the ED’s claim that Mr Kejriwal regularly had white sugar in his tea, Mr Singhvi clarified the Chief Minister only used Sugar Free, a popular artificial sugar food item. Slamming the probe agency for being “ridiculous”, Mr Singhvi also accused it of misusing its “influence in the media”.

“Just because you have a lot of influence in the media you are able to publish – that I am having aloo-puri – even though this meal was sent only once – during Navratri,” he told the court.

The ED opposed these submissions, claiming the food Mr Kejriwal was eating did not match the prescribed diet chart. It also argued the jail had sufficient medical facilities to care for Mr Kejriwal.

Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21 in connection with the alleged liquor policy scam in the national capital. The probe agency believes the Chief Minister played a key role in drafting the now-scrapped policy and seeking bribes, or kickbacks, in return for liquor licences.

The AAP and Mr Kejriwal have refused all charges and called the arrest and case “political vendetta”, coming as it did, weeks before the Lok Sabha election.

Mr Kejriwal has challenged his arrest in the Supreme Court. However, the top court has refused an early hearing. He must now wait till April 29, when the court reconvenes to hear the ED’s reply.