Researched & collated by: Vagda Galhotra & Elisha Benny
The Russian invasion: The latest update
- A New York Times investigation of satellite images shows that the bodies in Bucha had been lying in the street for weeks. This contradicts Moscow’s claim that they were placed there after the Russians withdrew.
- Washington has blocked Russia from paying holders of its sovereign bonds from the $600 million reserve held in US banks. This raises the possibility of Moscow defaulting on its debt to protect its remaining foreign currency reserves.
- Ukraine has entirely retaken the north—as Moscow retreats from vast swathes of Ukraine—to regroup and return with a fresh plan of attack. It is, however, increasingly unclear how either side can win—making a protracted and ugly war more likely. Washington Post has more on what’s next in Ukraine.
- The Guardian’s defence editor has a good analysis of Kyiv’s military options.
Editor’s note: If you need more context, we highly recommend reading our Big Story on the historical roots of the conflict, effectiveness of economic sanctions, return of the Cold War, what is driving Vladimir Putin, India’s “balancing act” and the looming oil crisis.
Sri Lanka crisis: The latest update
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s government has lost its majority in Parliament after 41 members left the ruling coalition. And his finance minister Ali Sabry resigned within 24 hours of being appointed. Rajapaksa also revoked the state of Emergency he declared last Friday—likely because he doesn’t have the numbers to get parliamentary approval. It isn’t clear what will happen next. Opposition parties have not called for a vote of no-confidence. And the defecting legislators have not actually crossed the aisle to join them—but declared themselves independent. If you need more context, read our Big Story on the economic crisis. Indian Express has more on the political deadlock. (Reuters)
Musk to be Twitter board member
The company announced that Tesla founder Elon Musk will be appointed to its 11-person board in a term that ends in 2024. The move may be aimed at making sure that Musk does not buy more Twitter stock—expanding the 9.2% stake that he now owns. He has agreed not to own more than 14.9% or take control of the company. Point to note: “Unlike some other Twitter board members, Mr Musk did not sign an agreement that forbade him from influencing the company’s policies.” Apparently, he’s already had a series of conversations with CEO Parag Agarwal. (New York Times)
An azaan ban in Karnataka?
After banning the hijab from classrooms, the government may be considering a crackdown on the daily call to prayers—broadcast on loudspeakers. It all started in the neighbouring state of Maharashtra where Raj Thackeray is making azaan an issue—and his party has taken to playing the Hanuman Chalisa from loudspeakers in protest. This in turn prompted Karnataka minister KS Eshwarappa to declare:
“I have been hearing that Azaan through loudspeakers disturbs students. The community has for long followed the tradition of calling for prayers using loudspeakers, and this is an issue even for their own children's studies.”
This could be considered just mouthing off except CM Basavaraj Bommai seemed to indicate that he plans to act—citing a High Court order curbing the use of loudspeakers in religious places: “This is a high court order. It's not forced. Everything has to be done by talking and explaining to people… It is not only for azaan, it is for all loudspeakers." Point to note: The city police have already sent a notice to mosques and temples asking them to comply with the order. (The New Indian Express)
Meanwhile in Delhi: South Delhi’s BJP mayor ordered all meat vendors to close shop for nine days during Navratri. The order says people’s “religious belief and sentiments are also affected when they come across meat shops or when they have to bear with the foul smell of the meat on their way to offer their daily prayers to the Goddess.” And he claimed: “During Navratri, 99% of households in Delhi don't even use garlic & onion.” FYI: BJP controls all three of Delhi’s municipal districts. Indian Express has more on the fear and confusion among meat sellers—who will lose money on their existing stock. (Hindustan Times)
Sound is slow on Mars
Researchers used audio captured by NASA’s Perseverance rover to determine the speed of sound on Mars. It travels at 240 metres/sec—which is way slower than its speed of 340 m/sec on Earth. What’s really weird: Sounds at high and low frequencies travel at different speeds—with a 10 m/sec difference. The planet's thin atmosphere is made up of primarily carbon dioxide—which muffles sounds, with high-pitched sounds hardly travelling at all. So people standing just a few feet apart may not be able to hear each other. (Cnet)
Two key studies on health
Walking: New studies have found that walking 7,000 steps a day slashes the risk of death in older adults by 50%. What this means: 7,000 is the new 10,000, in terms of fitness goals. For younger people, the benefits max out at 9,000. (Axios)
Naps: We’ve long been told that taking a nap is good for us—and helps improve cognitive skills. But new research has found that older adults who napped at least once a day—and for more than an hour—had a 40% higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s. (Inverse)
Charles Darwin returns to Cambridge
Well, not the man himself, but two of his prized notebooks—which were stolen back in 2000—have been given back to the university library. Someone quietly returned them in a pink gift bag with the message “Librarian, Happy Easter X.” The diaries document Darwin’s trip to Galapagos Islands—and contain “a spindly sketch of a tree, which helped inspire his theory of evolution.” See the badly-drawn but famous tree below. (BBC News)
Three things to see
One: The Aam Aadmi Party is more like the BJP with each passing day. The latest PR stunt by its supporters: a screenshot of a fake New York Times headline claiming “Aam Aadmi Party sets world record of gathering highest number of people in a political rally.” The Times was forced to issue a statement to set the record right. Point to note: the rally was allegedly held in Gujarat—the next election battleground for AAP. (BoomLive)
Two: A Chinese company unveiled plans for a hypersonic space plane that will be able to fly at one mile per second—over twice the speed of Concorde. And it will literally skim the edge of space. What that means: you’d be able to fly from Shanghai to New York in just two hours. The first step is to offer space tourism flights by 2025. CNN has a detailed report on the plane—and the future of hypersonic travel. See the promo video below.
Three: A Minneapolis TV station accidentally discovered footage from 1970 of an 11-year-old Prince—filmed during a teachers’ strike at his school. Watch a brief clip below. The entire report is here. (Variety)
Good stuff to check out
On the latest episode of the splainer podcast ‘Press Decode’, the splainer team looks at the Will Smith ‘thappad’ through an Indian lens—which has been missing in the popular debate—including how the protector role plays out in politics. Be sure to head over to the IVM website, Spotify or Apple Podcasts to listen to it.
