A big victory for Ukraine?
According to Ukrainian claims, Russian forces have retreated from the city of Kharkiv—and its forces have pushed forward all the way to the border. Why this matters:
“If confirmed, it would suggest a Ukrainian counter-offensive is having increasing success in pushing back Russian forces in the northeast after Western military agencies said Moscow's offensive in the Donbas region had stalled.”
There are also weird reports of Ukraine using armed mannequins to fool the Russians. See those images here. (Reuters)
In related news: President Putin signalled he’s fine with Finland and Sweden joining NATO—as long as the alliance did not install troops or bases in these countries. It marks a U-turn from Moscow’s previous remarks threatening dire consequences if any such thing happened. The real roadblock for Sweden and Finland: Turkey—which is adamantly opposed to their membership. (Financial Times)
Wheat prices soar after Indian ban
The government slapped an export ban on wheat—to address the spiralling prices at home and surging food inflation. It had an immediate effect—with domestic prices dropping by 4-8%. However, global prices shot up by 6% overnight. Point to note: The international price of wheat has jumped by 60% just in 2022—thanks to the Ukraine invasion. The reason: Ukraine and Russia supply a third of the world’s supply. India, OTOH, accounts for 5%—and was hoping to ramp up its exports to take advantage of the shortage. But the government suddenly decided to slap an export ban instead. Financial Express has more on how bad data led to chaotic policymaking. (Indian Express)
Jack Ma exits Paytm
The company said goodbye to two of its biggest Chinese investors—Jack Ma-led Alibaba and Ant Financials. The Paytm ecommerce company bought back 28% and 14.98% of their stake, respectively—for a sum of $5.4 million (Rs 420 million). What’s notable: This values the company at a mere $12.8 million (Rs 1 billion)—which is a steep fall from the $3 billion (Rs 233 billion) valuation set in its last fundraise in 2020. Reminder: Paytm had a terrible debut on the stock market in November—with its shares sinking 27% soon after its IPO. (Mint)
News flash: India has deadly roads
Ok, so this isn’t exactly news for anyone who has stepped out on an Indian road. But we now have a global ranking to confirm our most jaded suspicions. According to a new study, we have the fifth-most unsafe roads in the world. This rating is based on five factors: WHO’s road traffic data, the maximum speed limit, use of seatbelt, driver’s blood alcohol concentration limit and alcohol-related deaths. But what you really want to know is who is far worse than us. The answer: South Africa, followed by Thailand, the US and Argentina. (Quartz)
Also an interesting study: New research reveals the big reason why some species went extinct while others did not. It’s not just about being too large since both the 1.4 kg platypus and the four-ton African elephant survived. The underlying reason: the size of the brain relative to the size of the body: “We found that the surviving animals had brains 53% larger on average than evolutionarily closely related, extinct species of a similar body size." This allowed the ‘brainy’ species to better adapt behaviour and cope better with the changing conditions—mainly human hunting and possibly climate change. Umm, how does that explain cockroaches? (Jerusalem Post)
Speaking of preservation: Remember the Leo DiCaprio movie called ‘The Beach’—about a bunch of Western tourists who end up on an island looking for nirvana (or whatever else). The hugely popular movie soon turned into a clear and present danger to the actual Thai island—Phi Phi Leh—it was filmed on.
The island had to deal with mountains of rubbish, disappearing wildlife—and 90% of its coral died. So Thai authorities shut the entire island down for four years—and it has now finally been reopened. But with new rules: No more than 375 people can visit at one time—and only for one hour. (The Guardian)
Switzerland’s controversial organ donor rule
The country voted to make every person a potential organ donor after their death—unless they explicitly refuse to become one. This is the opposite of the usual rule—where people have to opt into organ donation. However, relatives can still refuse if they know or suspect that the person concerned would have chosen not to donate an organ. The move is being opposed by some medical experts and religious conservatives. (France 24)
That’s Gayaji to you!
The city of Gaya in Bihar has decided to change its name to Gayaji—adding the ‘ji’ as a sign of respect for its religious significance as the site of Buddha’s enlightenment. What makes this amusing is the fact that Gaya—which just got a fancy new airport—was assigned the aviation code GAY. And all the fury of a parliamentary panel cannot change it—since the International Air Transport Association won’t alter it without a “justifiable reason primarily concerning air safety.” (Scroll)
Something to see
Man Ray’s ‘Le Violon d’Ingres’ literally means the hobby of Ingres (as in painter Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres). It is now the most expensive photograph ever auctioned—selling for $12.4 million. The black and white image taken in 1924 transforms a woman’s body into a violin. Here is the Getty Museum’s interpretation of the image:
“The transformation of Kiki's body into a musical instrument with the crude addition of a few brushstrokes makes this a humorous image, but her armless form is also disturbing to contemplate. The title seems to suggest that, while playing the violin was Ingres's hobby, toying with Kiki was a pastime of Man Ray. The picture maintains a tension between objectification and appreciation of the female form.”
This is what it looks like. (CNN)
Good stuff to check out!
On the latest episode of the splainer podcast ‘Press Decode’, the splainer team looks at why the South loves to hate on Hindi—and why India is so crap at meeting the needs of the differently abled. Be sure to head over to the IVM website, Spotify or Apple Podcasts to listen to it.
