Researched & collated by: Prafula Grace Busi, Nivedita Bobal & Elisha Benny
The Russian invasion: The latest update
- US intelligence officials claim that President Putin does not have accurate or complete information about military setbacks in Ukraine—because his closest circle of advisers is afraid to tell him the truth. And there is growing tension between him and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu.
- Meanwhile, Russian troops continue to starve the city of Mariupol—and Putin declared that the siege will not end until it surrenders.
- It may not much matter since Russia amped up its bomb and artillery assaults—despite promising to cut back on attacks in recent talks in Turkey.
- Russia continues to demand payments for its natural gas in roubles—which European nations have rejected. Germany and Austria have now started gas rationing in anticipation of shortages. Poland, meanwhile, announced plans to end its dependency on Russian oil by the year’s end.
- Meanwhile, New Delhi is working with Moscow to figure out a rupee-rouble payment system that will bypass Swift.
- A new report estimates that the war will slow global economic growth—knocking down its projected rate to 3.4%.
- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is coming to New Delhi for a two-day visit. Already in town: US Deputy National Security Adviser Daleep Singh—who is the architect of the sanction strategy targeting Russia—and UK foreign secretary Liz Truss.
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.
Imran Khan loses his majority
The Khan government has lost its key coalition ally—Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan—which defected to the Opposition. With the loss of its seven seats, Khan’s party has fallen below the majority mark. The opposition parties have already declared their candidate for prime minister: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif—who is also Nawaz Sharif’s brother. It’s not clear what Khan will do next—though his party leaders claim “he will fight till the last ball.” He has also been talking of a foreign conspiracy to oust him—and has promised to share a “threatening letter” in Parliament. If none of this makes much sense to you, read our explainer on the chaos in Pakistan. (The Hindu)
Apple, Meta have been scammed!
The companies turned over user details—including residential addresses, phone numbers and IP addresses—to hackers pretending to be law enforcement officials. They were responding to forged “emergency data requests”—which do not require court approval unlike typical warrants or subpoenas. It isn’t clear how data has been shared or how it has been used. The Hill and Bloomberg News have more.
In other alarming tech news: India may be a target of Russian disinformation. Soon after the invasion of Ukraine, the hashtag #IStandWithPutin started trending. Interestingly, most of the accounts supporting Russia were located in India (11%). The numbers for the US (1.6%) and Russia (0.3%) were much lower. And many look fake—racking up thousands of RTs despite having few followers. There is no evidence this was a coordinated campaign, according to Twitter:
“Since the war in Ukraine began, we have removed more than 75,000 accounts for violations of our platform manipulation and spam policy. These accounts represent a wide range of attempts to manipulate the service…and we don’t currently believe they represent a specific, coordinated campaign associated with a government actor.”
Axis Bank buys Citi India
Axis has bought all of Citibank’s consumer banking businesses in India—including credit cards, retail banking, wealth management and consumer loans. Excluded from the deal: Citi’s institutional clients. The sale price: $1.6 billion. Economic Times has more details.
‘Moderate’ drinking is not good for you
Remember we were told that a daily glass of wine may be actually good for the heart? A new study says all that past research is wrong. It concludes instead that any level of drinking comes with some risk of heart disease. It is low (9%) if people have an average of seven drinks a week compared with none. But the danger increases very quickly with the level of alcohol consumption:
“We have to start thinking about those moderate ranges and inform patients accordingly. If you are choosing to drink, you should know that beyond a certain level, the risk ramps up quite a bit. And if you choose to drink less, you will get the bulk of your benefit if you go to the seven drinks a week range.”
Pluto is an ocean world!
Scientists analysed images taken of the planet—during a flyby back in 2015—and found something surprising: Ice volcanoes—that spew ice instead of molten rock. Why this is a very cool discovery:
“If the team is correct, the implications are significant. Any erupting volcano requires a molten fuel source. If these ice lava deposits are young, then the underworld just below this spot on Pluto’s icy shell was, at least to some degree, hot and liquid very recently. And such a finding gives credence to the hypothesis that present-day Pluto is an ocean world, however improbable that may seem for a tiny, icy orb so far from the sun.”
CNN and New York Times have more.
A PR campaign to counter haters
iD Fresh Food launched an innovative campaign called TransparenSee—on World Idli Day, no less—that live-streams the operations of its idli and dosa batter factory. The company did not mention the vicious hate campaigns in the past—which claimed it mixed cow bones and calf rennet in its instant batter. The statement said: “At iD, trust is at the heart of everything we do. Our products are made up of 100% natural ingredients. The last two years have been tough, yet there has been no dearth of inspiration and love from our consumers.” (Times of India)
Something to see
Oscars night had its ugly moments, but Jamie Lee Curtis offered a needed moment of positivity. She brought on stage a puppy called Mac N Cheese during her tribute to the legendary Betty White—reminding folks of White’s love for rescue animals. We’re happy to announce that Mac N Cheese now has a new home—with John Travolta and his son (see cute Insta pic).
