Death of a dictator

No one likes a dictator. More proof of this arrived as the death of Kim Jong Il ufffd supreme Leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea - led to amusement online. Jake Adelstein tweeted: 'North Korea, mourning for the death of Kim Jong il, has put all missiles aimed at Japan at half-mast.' In Dax Shepard's words: 'Learning to pronounce Kim Jong II's name was on my new year's resolution list. Guess I can skip that now.' From Louis Wood: 'There is absolutely no truth whatsoever in the rumour that his replacement will be Kim-Jong-Feeling A Bit Peaky.' Finally, from Tony Cowards: 'It's not really a surprise that he's dead; Kim Jong did say he was il.'

In a surprise move, AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa expelled close aide V K Sasikala and her husband M Natarajan besides 10 others from the party's primary membership. It prompted someone using the handle Unfairandlovely to comment: 'From now on, when Sasikala will try to get an appointment with Jayalalithaa, she will say, "Sasi, kal aa."

Actor Anil Kapoor came in for a bit of teasing on account of his role in the Hollywood blockbuster Mission Impossible IV, which was reportedly rather small. As Purvaja Sawant put it, for instance, 'It really was an impossible mission to find Anil Kapoor in the film.' Someone using the handle God Save India tweeted: 'I have to get my laptop battery changed. It lasts for about the same duration as Kapoor's role in MI 4.' Shweta Pandit was more positive though: 'People love running other people down, but I think Anil Kapoor was so much fun in MI4. He really added the Indian flavour to it.'

A question from filmmaker Shekhar Kapur: 'If 75 percent of Indians need subsidies just to eat, where is the hyped India story? And how will Walmart help?'