On Thursday, amidst grim news of a Russian advance through Ukraine, Times Now anchor Rahul Shivshankar provided some unintended relief as he sanctimoniously lectured a guest on his programme – only to realise that he was berating the wrong man.

Shivshankar was under the impression that he was reproaching Daniel McAdams, executive director of the Ron Paul Institute in the US. The anchor did not realise that the guest he was addressing was actually Bohdan Nahaylo, chief editor of Kyiv Post.

As part of his rant, Shivshankar advised McAdams to “take a chill pill”.

After a little while, McAdams decided to set the anchor right.

“Dear host, I have not said a word yet,” he said. “I don’t know why you’re yelling at me.”

Shivshankar failed to realise his error. “I’m not yelling at you,” he told McAdams. “I’m talking about Mr McAdams.”

“I am Mr McAdams!” McAdams burst out.

It wasn’t long before social media was flooded with memes and jokes about the exchange.

One tweet made a reference to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who had a reputation for reticence.