Afghanistan: The latest update

One: India held its first official meeting with the Taliban since 1999. The attendees: the Indian Ambassador to Qatar, Deepak Mittal and the Taliban’s head of politics in Doha, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai. The location: the Indian embassy in Doha. Matters discussed: safety of Indians still stuck in Afghanistan and Afghan Hindus and Sikhs. Interesting trivia: Stanekzai is a graduate of the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun. (The Telegraph)

Two: Politico accessed internal documents showing that the Pentagon was making preparations for a “mass casualty event” before the Kabul airport attacks—and was ready to shut down Abbey Gate by Thursday afternoon. But it did not go through with it due to UK pressure.

Going viral: Taliban fighters marked the US exit by parading mock coffins draped in US, UK, French and NATO flags:

Also see: This clip of the Taliban triumphantly flying a US military helicopter over Kandahar—with a person hanging from it. Initial reports claimed it was a dead body, but it turned out to be a fighter trying to hoist the Taliban flag on the governor’s office.

Plus this: This powerful image shows mourners at the funeral of the seven children who were killed by US drone strike on a suicide bomber—looking up and weeping as US Jet fighters evacuate the country.

And this: Taliban foot soldiers loomed in the background during a TV news broadcast:

Finally: Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi got serious flak for these comments praising the Taliban:

A big spike in India’s GDP 

Our GDP jumped a record 20.1% in the first quarter of the fiscal year 2021-22. That’s a massive rebound from the 16.9% contraction we experienced between January and March. But we are still 9.2% short of the pre-Covid GDP number for the first quarter of 2019-20. Driving this recovery: private investments and consumer spending. But experts urge against any premature celebration: 

“The spectacular headline number cannot be interpreted as a V-shaped recovery. The fact that the economy has still not recovered to the 2019-20 level, which was in itself seen as a disastrous year for growth, is not good news.” 

Indian Express offers a deep dive into the data, while Aparna Iyer in Mint offers an excellent analysis of the mixed messages.

Say hello to the new SC justices

For the first time in history, nine judges were sworn in all at the same time—and they included the woman who will likely go on to become the first female Chief Justice of India: BV Nagarathna. But it will only happen in 2027—and her tenure will only last a month. NDTV has more details. Watch the ‘likely to make history’ moment for Nagarathna below: 

Speaking of the Supreme Court: It has ordered the demolition of two 40-storey towers in Noida—alleging “an unholy nexus” between the builders and city planning officials. And the court ordered the company Supertech to reimburse all flat owners the entire cost plus 12% interest. The Hindu has the justices’ enraged quotes from the ruling. Mint has more on the case. Why this matters: It is a stirring defense of buyers’ rights in a market rampant with corruption.

A new variant in South Africa

Scientists have detected a new Covid variant C.1.2—which is present across South Africa and in seven other countries. They are not yet sure if this a matter of concern, but it shares mutations that have made other variants more infectious, and more able to evade the immune system. The WHO isn’t worried for now: “To date there are around 100 sequences of C.1.2 reported globally, the earliest reports from May ’21 from South Africa. At this time, C.1.2 does not appear to be rising in circulation.” (CNN)

In other pandemic-related news: Nike is giving all its employees at its corporate headquarters a week’s vacation—to help them recuperate from a tough year, saying: “Take the time to unwind, destress and spend time with your loved ones.” FYI: We take our mental health break over Christmas so please consider this advance notice:) (BBC News)

Speaking of staying healthy: Indians are increasingly turning to Ayurveda during the pandemic—primarily to build their immunity with products like chawanprash, honey, and herbal tea. A Mint online survey shows that 51% urban Indians trust Ayurveda a lot compared to 47% who say the same about allopathy. This preference is more marked among young, less educated respondents. It is also higher among Hindus and BJP supporters. Mint has more data and charts.

Great anxiety about democracy ranking

The Economist Intelligence Unit recently ranked India at #53 in its Democracy Index, and classified it as a “flawed democracy.” This move appears to have greatly perturbed the government—which reached out repeatedly to EIU to seek clarifications on “the assessment mechanism” and the “methodology, sample size, details of authors and agencies that were used to curate this index.” And EIU also “politely but firmly declined” an offer from Indian officials to supply data, research or similar inputs. Why this matters: The government has been very jittery about this ranking. The Law ministry recently asked to disallow a question on this matter from a Rajya Sabha MP on the grounds that it was “sensitive in nature.” And various ministries have been closely tracking India’s performance on this and other global indexes. Hindustan Times has this exclusive story based on internal documents.

Another HT scoop: The newspaper also accessed a draft development plan prepared by the National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB). It says:

“The eco-sensitive areas in each subregion of the four participating states shall be identified and notified by the respective state governments… However a distinction shall be made between ‘forests’ and ‘green cover’, wherein areas now categorized as ‘forests’ shall continue to be conserved, while conservation of the areas now designated as ‘green cover’ areas shall not be mandatory.”

What this means: The Aravallis will not be exempt since they are not designated as forest areas—but received broad protection as part of the Natural Conservation Zones. The draft has also removed a clause setting a target forest cover of 10% for the NCR.  Experts agree that the changes will be disastrous for a region already struggling with climate change, declining groundwater and green cover. (Hindustan Times)

Older folks need to sleep

New research shows that older adults—the age of 70-plus—who get six hours or less of sleep have elevated levels of beta amyloid, which “greatly increases” risk for dementia.  OTOH, folks who sleep nine hours or more each night develop issues with their learning skills. So it’s all about finding that sweet spot: 

“The main takeaway is that it is important to maintain healthy sleep late in life. Additionally, both people who get too little sleep and people who get too much sleep had higher (body-mass index and) more depressive symptoms.”

Instagram wants to know your birthday

You will now be forced to add your birthday to your account information—and will be repeatedly prompted to do so in order to use the platform. And you won’t be able to see “sensitive” content until you do. Also: If you’re lying, the company plans to use AI to catch you out. The reason for this nosiness: making the platform safer for children—and gearing for the under-13 version of Insta that Facebook plans to roll out soon. (The Verge)

German students are going meat-free

College canteens in Berlin are planning to offer a nearly meatless menu starting in October. It will be 68% vegan, 28% vegetarian, and 2% fish-based, with a single meat option offered four days a week. Mondays will be totally meat-free. The reason for this switch: “We developed a new nutritional concept mainly because students have repeatedly approached us with the request for a more climate-friendly offer at their canteens.” FYI: This is a growing trend in universities across Germany as students increasingly move away from meat. (The Guardian)

The world’s northernmost island

Scientists have discovered a new island off the coast of Greenland—and it now has the title of being the northernmost point of land in the world. It’s tiny and measures roughly 165 feet wide (50 meters) and 260 feet (80 meters) long-and consists mostly of seabed mud plus soil and rock left behind by moving glaciers. Its discovery was a Christopher Columbus-like accident—where scientists initially thought they were on a different island: “It’s a bit like explorers in the past, who thought they’d landed in a certain place but actually found a totally different place.” As you can see below, it doesn’t look like much.

Dine with Data: All About Royal 👑

Editor’s Note: Here is DWD’s weekly installment of one cool, innovative or just plain quirky startup from around the world.

Company: Royal 👑

About: Stocks allow us to invest in the potential of a business. Royal wants to do that for music artists. 

A cryptotech company, Royal makes it easy for artists to sell song rights to their fans. The fans will continue to earn royalties alongside the artist. This week, the company announced a $16M seed round led by Keith Rabois' Founder Fund, Paradigm, and other investors. 

Food For Thought: Royal is one of the first NFT platforms targeted towards music. It could have something to do with the fact that it has 3LAU, an incredibly successful EDM artist, as its co-founder. 

DWD Take: The NFT bull run continues with investors dumping millions of dollars in art-based NFT projects. Royal has attracted one of the best investors in the Valley, and we can't wait to see what they do with it!

URL: https://royal.io

ABOUT DWD: Dine With Data🍴 sends you a short summary of one new startup every day, delivered straight to your WhatsApp inbox!