Researched & collated by: Vagda Galhotra & Prafula Grace Busi 

The Russian invasion: The latest update

Editor’s note: If you need more context, we highly recommend reading our Big Story on the historical roots of the conflict and this timely explainer on the effectiveness of economic sanctions, the return of the Cold War, what is driving Vladimir Putin, India’s “balancing act” and the looming oil crisis.

• The Ukrainians are fighting back and gaining some ground—outside Kyiv and in the south in the region of Kherson. But Mariupol is still being pounded to dust—with 100,000 civilians trapped inside.
• A pro-Kremlin tabloid published—and quickly deleted—a count of Russian casualties. The number: 9,800 dead and over 16,000 wounded. The official death tally: 498 as of March 2. If the unofficial estimate is correct, that’s greater than the number of American troops killed over 20 years in Iraq and Afghanistan combined—and in less than a month of fighting.
• NATO warned that Belarus is getting ready to join the war to offer Moscow support.
• President Biden called out New Delhi on its Ukraine stance: “The Quad is, with the possible exception of India being somewhat shaky on some of this, but Japan has been extremely strong—so has Australia—in terms of dealing with Putin's aggression.” But PM Modi stayed the course in his conversation with Boris Johnson.
• There are reports of wildfires in the radioactive forests surrounding Chernobyl—raising fears of radiation.
• The 2021 Nobel peace prize winner—Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov—is donating his medal, and proceeds will go towards helping Ukrainian refugees. 
• The 7-year-old Ukrainian girl who sang ‘Let it Go’ while hiding in a bomb shelter is now safe in Poland—where she performed the Ukrainian national anthem at a benefit concert.
• Associated Press journalists describe their frantic attempts to escape Mariupol—while being hunted by Russian troops.

A common entrance test for college

The University Grants Commission—which oversees higher education in India—has announced the institution of the first ever common entrance exam for undergraduate degrees. The test will be mandatory for admission into undergraduate programmes in 45 universities run by the union government. The Common University Entrance Test (CUET) is a computerised exam and will be conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA). Details on the format will be available soon—and the application process kicks off in early April. Why this is a big deal: Board exam scores will not matter at all. Also: the cutoff marks set by the likes of Delhi University will now be meaningless. FYI: This year, seven DU colleges set a score of 100% as the minimum score to make the first list. Indian Express has more details on the test.

A first trickle of Sri Lankan refugees

Tamils from Jaffna and Mannar have arrived in Tamil Nadu—of whom one batch were found stranded on an island off the coast of Rameswaram. They are fleeing severe food shortages in Sri Lanka—which is in the midst of a serious economic crisis. And this may be just the beginning. An activist in Mannar says: “Many people whom I know are planning to leave Sri Lanka, some have relatives in Indian camps, some have contacts in Tamil Nadu. There is panic and anxiety about tomorrow.” (Indian Express)

Rich Indians are getting stingier

Ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNIs)—with a net worth of more than Rs 10 billion (1,000 crore)—have cut back their philanthropic donations by 40% over the past six years. What makes this even more notable: The number of UHNIs has jumped by 20% in just 2020/21—and their cumulative net worth expanded by about 50%, from about Rs 6 trillion (6 lakh crore) to about Rs 9 trillion (9 lakh crore) in the same period. Mint has more details.

Facebook still awful on hate speech

An NGO investigation found that despite Mark Zuckerberg’s big talk about cracking down on hate speech, his company is shockingly lax as ever. Global Witness submitted eight ads—each containing different kinds of hate speech against Rohingya Muslims. And all of them were approved by Facebook—including one that urged people to “kill more” Rohingyas. Why this matters: 

“The fact that Facebook approved all eight ads is especially concerning because the company claims to hold advertisements to an ‘even stricter’ standard than regular, unpaid posts, according to their help centre page for paid advertisements.”

FYI: Rohingya refugees have sued Facebook for more than $150 billion for failing to stop speech that incited violence against them. (Associated Press)

Speaking of unspeakable crimes: Indian journalist Danish Siddiqui was captured and killed by the Taliban while he was covering their takeover for Reuters in July. His parents have now filed a lawsuit in the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Taliban commanders who tortured Siddiqui—and mutilated his body. (Reuters)

Speaking of rising hate: For the very first time, Muslim shopkeepers have been banned from temple fairs in coastal Karnataka—due to pressure from Hindutva groups. Why this matters: These annual festivals—usually held in April-May—draw a huge revenue running into crores. And after a long pandemic, they represent a chance to recoup years of lost earnings. (Indian Express)

“Prolonged grief” is a disorder

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is the bible of psychiatry and it has added a new entry. The criteria seems to be a bit vague but “prolonged grief” is defined as suffering from intense sorrow for more than a year after a loss. Why this matters: For starters, it treats grief as distinct from depression. Next, it offers the possibility of clinical help for people who we now merely leave to their own devices—saying “oh, they never got over it” or “they never moved on.” But the move is also controversial—with many experts saying it pathologizes a normal human condition:

“I completely, utterly disagree that grief is a mental illness. When someone who is a quote-unquote expert tells us we are disordered and we are feeling very vulnerable and feeling overwhelmed, we no longer trust ourselves and our emotions. To me, that is an incredibly dangerous move, and short sighted.”

New York Times has more on the fierce debate over this new disorder.

Speaking of emotions: A new study has found that emotions of pigs can be decoded from the noises they make. Researchers used an algorithm to study 7,414 sounds—including grunts, squeals and oinks—from 411 pigs. And then used it to figure out whether they were experiencing a positive emotion, negative emotion or something in between. Why this matters: It is important to have non-invasive methods to assess an animal’s welfare. The authors are now looking for someone who can turn the algorithm into an app that can be given to farmers. Though given the cruelty of industrial farming, we’re not sure anyone really wants to know how animals are feeling. (The Guardian)

Speaking of animals & humans: Scientists have found that a species of roundworms can help detect lung cancer—because they are attracted to the odours that infected cells emit. And they are 70% accurate! Researchers say they don’t know why the worms are attracted to lung cancer tissues “but we guess that the odours are similar to the scents from their favourite foods” Yikes! (Mashable)

Poverty wages for Indian crew

A 185-year-old British ferry company is giving Better.com CEO Vishal Garg—who sacked 900 employees over a Zoom call to hire in India—serious competition. P&O has sacked 800 British workers and plans to replace them with Indian crews who will be paid “poverty wages” of $2.38 per hour. The British minimum wage: at least £8.91 ($11.76) for workers aged over 23. Why this matters: 

“Typically, an early-career seafarer in India earns about Rs 300,000 ($3,900) annually. Assuming an eight-hour day with one weekly holiday, that’s well under $2 an hour. Abroad, too, they are shortchanged. For instance, where an Asian deck cadet on an oil product tanker is paid around $400 per month, a US deck cadet fetches $950 for the same job. That $400 also boils down to around $2 with normal working hours. And these figures are even lower when you consider that Asian crews tend to work longer hours.”

A new dating app for single parents

Match—which owns OKCupid, Hinge and Tinder—has launched a new product called Stir. Designed exclusively for single parents in the US, it has special features developed especially for single parents. For example: 

“‘Stir Time,’ which allows parents to overcome the often difficult aspect of coordinating time to date between two different people’s schedules which may have to take into account co-parenting arrangements, children’s activities and other parenting-related commitments.”

No news on whether Match plans to introduce it in other parts of the world. (TechCrunch)

Three things to see

One: A rare copy of the first ever Marvel comic sold for $2.4 million. Published in 1939, it is more special than others of its kind because it is a “pay copy”—in which the publisher marked payments due to the illustrators. (New York Times)

Two: Christie’s is getting ready to auction a 1964 Andy Warhol silkscreen featuring Marilyn Monroe—titled ‘Shot Sage Blue Marilyn’. The estimated sale price: $200 million. If it fulfils predictions, the Warhol will become the most expensive 20th century painting to be sold at auction. The good news: the proceeds will go to children charities. (Bloomberg News)

Three: An insane person took a Tesla at such a high speed down a road that it became airborne—crashed—and then hit two other vehicles. What’s worse: rivalling social media influencers are claiming credit for it. Honestly, why haven’t we declared the end of civilization already. (NBC News)

Good stuff to check out

On the latest episode of the splainer podcast ‘Press Decode’, the splainer team discusses the revelations of an explosive Al Jazeera investigation into the ties between Facebook, the BJP and Reliance. Be sure to head over to the IVM website, Spotify or Apple Podcasts to listen to it.