The Russian invasion: The latest update

• Get ready for phase two of the war—as Russia targets the eastern region of Donbas. This will be a very different kind of war—like that of “the Second World War, with large operations, thousands of tanks, armoured vehicles, planes, artillery.” All of which is sure to favour Moscow’s superior military equipment.
• The commander in charge of the Russian offensive: Aleksandr Dvornikov—infamous for using airstrikes to kill thousands of civilians in Syria.
• Kremlin has admitted to suffering “significant losses” of troops—but its estimate is 1,351 as opposed to the German estimate of 10,000. 
• UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson secretly travelled to Kyiv—and announced his country will send additional military equipment including Starstreak anti-aircraft missiles and 800 anti-tank missiles.
• President Biden is getting ready for a virtual summit with PM Modi—which will likely focus on India’s purchases of Russian oil.

Something related to see: Pink Floyd reunited after 28 years to perform a protest song titled ‘Hey Hey Rise Up!’—which features vocals of Ukrainian singer Andriy Khlyvnyuk. Watch it below. (BBC News)

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.

Emmanuel Macron leads in French election

The French President scored 27.6% of the vote in the first round of the presidential elections—and will face far-right leader Marine Le Pen (23%) in a runoff battle on April 24. While Macron has performed better than his first round result five years ago—so has Le Pen. And it promises to be a nasty fight that will determine the political future of France. (Agence France Presse via The Hindu)

The Sunak-Murty drama: The latest update

Here’s where we are with the tax-evasion scandal enveloping the chancellor Rishi Sunak—and his wife Akshata Murty, the daughter of Infosys founder Narayana Murthy (explained in detail in our Big Story):

• Murty declared that she will give up her non-domicile status—which means she will pay UK taxes on her overseas earnings, including the hefty dividend on her 0.9% Infosys stake. 
• Sunak has ordered a probe into who leaked the details of his wife’s tax filings. 
• He has also asked PM Johnson to review his own financial assets—though only since he became a minister in 2018. So this will not cover a blind trust he created for his investments. Sunak has refused to reveal which jurisdiction they are held in or when the arrangement was formed.
• To protect their privacy, the family has moved out of his official residence at 10 Downing Street to their private home. Sunak plans to visit on the weekends.

Elon Musk’s big plans for Twitter

On Sunday, the newly anointed board director announced three new features that will be added to the Twitter Blue program—a premium $3/month service for users. They can add an authentication badge (the much-desired blue tick) to their handle—and get 20 seconds to edit their tweets. Also: zero ads on their feed. Blue is only available in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, sadly. (Mint)

Meanwhile, at Apple: British authorities are investigating a former engineer’s claim that the company is accessing personal data on its employees’ phones—which has been taking place over “years and multiple countries.” She has also accused Apple of “pressuring its employees to participate in invasive data collection procedures, including scans of ears/ear canals”—using an app on employee phones that “automatically took photos/videos whenever it ‘thought it saw a face’.” Apple has denied the accusations. (Telegraph UK)

A flurry of stories about intolerance

In Delhi: Jawaharlal Nehru University witnessed an ugly battle between rightwing and left-leaning groups—which left a number of students injured. Each side has a different account of what triggered the confrontation. Members of the left-leaning groups say that ABVP supporters blocked the serving of non-vegetarian food at a hostel—citing Ram Navami celebrations. But ABVP insists that students tried to interfere in a puja being held on campus—delaying it by hours. What caught our eye: “JNU vice-chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi’s phone was switched off on Sunday night.” (The Telegraph)

In Uttar Pradesh: A Hindutva leader named Bajrang Muni publicly issued a rape threat aimed at Muslim women. He later issued an apology: “All sisters and mothers are worth worshipping for me. I respect all women.” The police has registered a case against him but has not made any arrest as yet. The Wire has more on Muni’s long list of past offences. 

In Karnataka: Members of Sri Ram Sene destroyed four pushcarts belonging to Muslim vendors. Their crime: They were selling their wares close to a temple. Among those targeted: A hapless watermelon seller—despite the presence of police, who have not arrested anyone as yet. See the clip below:

For what it’s worth, good folks on Twitter tracked down the vendor and sent money to compensate him. And Bangalore residents started a campaign to distribute watermelons, declaring: “Hate heats your head. Watermelon cools it down.” Related read: Article 14 report on how Delhi’s so-called meat ban has left Muslim vendors anxious and afraid. Also read: Our Big Story on the many myths surrounding veg vs non-veg Hindus. (Indian Express)

Shanghai’s growing Covid woes

The Chinese city carried out another round of mass testing on Saturday—this time testing residents twice in a single day. It was the fourth consecutive day of city-wide testing—which has reported a record 23,600 new locally transmitted cases. Residents are struggling with shortages of essential supplies—including food—and public anger at Beijing’s strong-arm zero-Covid policy is growing. See a scuffle with health workers below. (Reuters)

Meanwhile, in India: Paid booster shots were rolled out for all adults at vaccination centres—but there was great confusion over pricing after the government announced “revised” rates for the Covishield and Covaxin vaccines. The Hindu explains why India is calling these “precaution” doses.

An astonishing anti-aging achievement

Scientists have rejuvenated a 53-year-old woman’s skin cells so they are the same as that of a 23-year-old. No, this is not a big breakthrough in cosmetic surgery. Based on the techniques used to clone Dolly the sheep, the bigger aim is to use this new technology to reverse ageing in other tissues—and develop treatments for diabetes, heart disease and neurological disorders. Point to note: This revolutionary research is at a very early stage—and there are “several scientific issues to overcome before it could move out of his lab and into the clinic.” Why this matters: “The long-term aim is to extend the human health span, rather than the lifespan, so that people can get older in a healthier way.” (BBC News)

The big problem with MBAs

A new paper looked at newly appointed CEOs with MBAs in America and Denmark—and found they did pretty well for their investors. They increased returns on investments within five years after their appointment—by a total of three percentage points on average in America and 1.5 points in Denmark. Nice… except here’s the catch:

“But that is not because they boost sales, ratchet up investments or raise productivity. Rather, the higher returns are the result of suppressing workers’ wages, which fall by 6% in America and 3% in Denmark over the five years after an MBA takes charge. In short, ushering MBAs into corner offices seems to boost shareholder value by slicing the pie in certain ways, not by making the pie bigger.”

And this is actually a recent trend driven by changes in MBA programs—which have become more “obsessed” with maximising shareholder value and corporate leanness. As a result, workers are seen as “costs to be reduced”. (Economist)

Five things to see

One: New York City now has the world’s skinniest skyscraper—an 84-storey residential building that is only 57 feet wide. But the lack of space doesn’t mean any of its 60 apartments come cheap. A tiny studio costs $7.75 million while the penthouse’s price tag is $66 million. The only thing roomy in this building: the 82-foot swimming pool.

(CNN)

Two: Football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has not been doing well at Manchester United—and he took his temper out on a young fan’s phone after a 0-1 loss to Everton. He later apologised for his tantrum, saying “It's never easy to deal with emotions in difficult moments such as the one we are facing.” Really? Doesn’t he get paid ridiculous amounts of money to play as a professional? Maybe he should try acting like one. (BBC News)

Three: Yuzvendra Chahal spoke about shocking instances of being hazed by his teammates at the Mumbai Indians. One involved Andrew Symonds and James Franklin—who tied him up, taped his mouth, and locked him up on a balcony. Another one involved an unnamed player who hung him from the 15th floor during an afterparty. Watch him tell the story below. (Indian Express)

Four: Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are engaged… again! Let’s hope this one has a happy ending unlike the last time—when they broke up around 14 months after he gave her the ring. JLo made the happy announcement with this vid—note the song playing in the background. (Vogue)

Five: As you may have heard, the Academy has banned Will Smith from the Oscars for 10 years—but he can still be nominated for an award. Here’s the best take on this pronouncement. (Variety)

Good stuff to check out 

On the latest episode of the splainer podcast ‘Press Decode’, the splainer team looks at what constitutes a war crime—and the gender gap in sports, especially cricket. Be sure to head over to the IVM website, Spotify or Apple Podcasts to listen to it.