The splainer podcast is here!
We are very excited to announce that the first episode of our podcast ‘Press Decode’ is out! Our super-talented team members—Adya, Vagda, Ragini and Sara—host this weekly news wrap, offering their take on the biggest, quirkiest, most interesting stories. Psst: It’s a great way to get a peek at what we really think about the news. Also: it's ideal for young people who want a smart, funny catch-up on the headlines. Be sure to listen and share. And we’d love to get your feedback! Head over to the IVM website, Spotify, Apple podcasts.
Tokyo Olympics: A quick update
- India had a mixed day Badminton player PV Sindhu, Archer Deepika Kumari and boxer Pooja Rani won their matches—with Sindhu and Rani going through to the quarter finals. But the women’s hockey team recorded its third successive defeat in the Olympics—this time against Great Britain.
- Simone Biles has now withdrawn from the individual all-around competition—after dropping out of the team finals earlier. She will be evaluated daily to see if she will participate in the event finals next week. Vox has a good read on why Simone Biles said no.
- Table Tennis player Manika Batra is facing the wrath of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) for complaining she did not have access to her personal coach during her matches—but had to make do with the national coach instead. TTFI is calling this a brazen “act of indiscipline”.
- Russian tennis player Daniil Medvedev really struggled to play during his match against Italy’s Fabio Fognini due to the extreme heat. He told the referee: "I can finish the match but I can die. If I die, are you going to be responsible?" Happy news: He won the match. A good related read: The Verge reports on NASA images which show that the athletes are competing on an “urban heat island.”
- Speaking of tennis, Novak Djokovic is in the quarter finals.
- Going viral: A bizarre video of German coach Claudiu Pusa slapping Judo player Martyna Trajdos just before her match. Interestingly, Trajdos defended her coach on Insta, saying: “As I already said that’s the ritual which I chose pre competition! My coach is just doing what I want him to do to fire me up!”
Four shady entities who fund Adani
Regulatory authorities have been investigating four investment funds that have put 90% of their $6.9 billion into Gautam Adani-owned companies. A closer look reveals a dubious history:
“[T]he funds—Elara India Opportunities Fund, Cresta Fund, Albula Investment Fund and APMS Investment Fund—held significant stakes in two companies whose founders fled India and have since been probed for money laundering, another that went bankrupt, and a fourth that was liquidated after sparring with the Ethiopian government.”
The funds are the biggest shareholders in Adani group companies, but no one knows who owns these funds since they are based in Mauritius. Leaders like Trinamool’s Mahua Moitra claim they may be a shell for Adani’s own money. But neither the funds nor Adani’s companies are being investigated for serious financial crimes—be it money laundering and round-tripping. Bloomberg News via Economic Times probes the details of these murky funds.
A diplomatic stalemate over a Mumbai mansion
Lincoln House in Breach Candy is a former maharajah’s mansion and once housed the U.S. consulate in Mumbai. The US government bought the property back in 1959—but then the consulate moved to a shiny new building in 2011. So it went on sale and the Poonawallas—of Adar Poonawalla and Covishield fame—bought the mansion for $110 million. But the Indian government has been doing its best since 2015 to block the transfer of the property—much to Uncle Sam’s great irritation. And it has become a diplomatic sore point between the two sides—so much so that Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to bring it up during his current visit.
What’s the hold up? No one knows but US officials have their theories:
“They suspect Mr. Modi’s government doesn’t like the idea of the United States making so much money off the deal, which would be one of the biggest house sales in Indian history. Or possibly the Modi government wants to prevent Lincoln House from going to the Poonawallas, who are not among the handful of Indian billionaires known to be Modi stalwarts. Or maybe it’s a matter of pride, and officials feel uncomfortable with a foreign government simply selling off an iconic piece of Indian history like any other property.”
New York Times has more on this very odd tale of vexed international relations.
Speaking of Blinken: He chose an interesting array of people to meet on his first day in New Delhi: a representative of the Dalai Lama, constitutional lawyer Menaka Guruswamy, Inter-Faith foundation founder Khwaja Iftikhar Ahmed and representatives of the Ramakrishna Mission, as well as Baha’i, Sikh and Christian NGOs. (The Hindu)
Get ready for a new airline!
Billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala is getting ready to launch a new airline—which will have 70 aircrafts within the next four years. The name of this ultra-low cost brand that will carry around 180 passengers per flight: Akasa Air. Jhunjhunwala will invest $35 million and own 40% of the airline. (Bloomberg News via Times of India)
Another UN honour for Indian site
After the Ramappa temple in Telangana, the Harappan city of Dholavira—in Kutch, Gujarat—has been added to UNESCO’s World Heritage list. And here’s why:
“The ancient city of Dholavira is one of the most remarkable and well-preserved urban settlements in South Asia dating from the 3rd to mid-2nd millennium BCE (Before Common Era). Discovered in 1968, the site is set apart by its unique characteristics, such as its water management system, multi-layered defensive mechanisms, extensive use of stone in construction and special burial structures.”
It is the larger of the two most remarkable excavations of the Indus Valley Civilisation. Dholavira is now the 40th Indian site on the list. And it looks like this:
Also on the honours list: Comedian Vir Das who is on Variety’s 2021 Comedy Impact Report. He made it for his series ‘Ten on Ten’ which he describes as: “It’s 10 hard conversations, about topics that are hard to laugh at and hard to do within system I exist in.” And Das is in excellent company that includes Sacha Baron Cohen, Tina Fey, Jason Sudeikis et al. (Variety)
Also named for the first time: An AI as the inventor of a product. South African officials awarded the first ever patent to a non-human inventor named Dabus. The invention: interlocking food containers that can be easily grasped and stacked by robots. Point to note: In most jurisdictions, only humans can be listed as inventors on patents, as things cannot create other things. (Times UK)
And speaking of lists: The Booker prize long list is out—and it includes Kazuo Ishiguro, Richard Powers, Rachel Cusk and ten others. BBC News has all the names.
A pain-tracker for your cat
An app called Tably uses the phone's camera to tell whether a feline is feeling pain:
“The app looks at ear and head position, eye-narrowing, muzzle tension, and how whiskers change, to detect distress. A 2019 study… found that the so-called 'feline grimace scale,' or FGS, is a valid and reliable tool for acute pain assessment in cats.”
Other ways to tell if your kitty is in pain: “Cats that are worried or scared will hold that tail really tight and tense to them.” (Reuters)
Two things to marvel at
One: A large meteor hurtled over Norway and lit up the sky over most of southern Scandinavia—and was accompanied by a roaring sound. It was only visible for five seconds at around 1 am local time, and was traveling at 36,500 miles/hour or 16.3 km/second, and likely weighed 10 kg. Experts are trying to figure out where it landed. See the 5-second wonder below. (Futurism)
Two: The world's largest star sapphire cluster has been found in a backyard—by workmen digging a well. The cluster weighs around 510 kilograms or 2.5 million carats, and the stone is pale blue in colour. Named the ‘Serendipity Sapphire’, it has an estimated value of up to $100 million. A gemologist says: “I have never seen such a large specimen before. This was probably formed around 400 million years ago." BBC News has more details. You can see the astonishing find below—though it just looks like a very big rock.
