Researched by: Rachel John & Aarthi Ramnath
Biden khandaan is in trouble… again!
Just days after the Republicans announced an impeachment inquiry into President Biden, his son Hunter has been indicted on gun charges:
Two counts are tied to Biden allegedly completing a form indicating he was not using illegal drugs when he purchased a Colt Cobra revolver in October 2018. The third count alleges that he possessed a firearm while using a narcotic. The indictment says Biden certified on a federally mandated form "that he was not an unlawful user of, and addicted to, any stimulant, narcotic drug, and any other controlled substance, when in fact, as he knew, that statement was false and fictitious.”
This isn’t good news for Biden Sr—especially since the prosecutor in the case is a Trump appointee. It’s gonna be an ugly election year on both sides of the world. NBC News has lots more detail.
Byju’s is in trouble… again!
The context: India’s most valuable tech startup defaulted on a $1.2 billion loan. The US lenders took Byju’s to court in Delaware—demanding their money back or, at the very least, control of its US holdings. At the time, they also accused Byju’s of hiding $500 million—of the $1.2 billion loan. In his court testimony, a top manager at Byju’s Alpha “admitted to transferring half a billion dollars out of the company”—though the company said it had every right to do so to protect the funds from “predatory lenders.”
In late June, the Delaware lawsuit was thrown out—and Byju’s was back to negotiating new terms with them. We broke down the lawsuit in this Big Story.
What happened now: The lenders sued a hedge fund in Miami called Camshaft Capital Fund. According to the filings, Byju’s transferred $533 million—flagged in the Delaware lawsuit—to Camshaft. They claim this amount is collateral for the $1.2 billion loan. More interesting is their claim that Camshaft is a dodgy fund:
In a 2020 Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Camshaft listed its principal business address as 285 NW 42nd Ave. Far from a typical office, that building is currently home to an IHOP. The diner in Miami’s Little Havana district is surrounded by a drive-through car wash and a strip mall that hosts a massage parlor and a sandwich shop.
Camshaft has also claimed in other filings that its address is a swanky condo in Miami—and another in the Virgin Islands. Also, Camshaft founder William C Morton bought himself a 2023 Ferrari Roma, a 2020 Lamborghini Huracán EVO, and a 2014 Rolls-Royce Wraith after the half-billion transfer occurred.
What Byju’s said: It claims: the money has been invested in “high security fixed income instruments” with “a multi-hundred billion dollar fund”—and “an offshore subsidiary” of Byju’s remains the beneficiary of the investment. Also: the company has every right to move the money where it wishes. Bloomberg News has lots more on Camshaft and the IHOP scandal.
In happier financial news: The chip designer Arm had Wall Street’s largest IPO this year—raising an astonishing $4.87 billion. The company is now valued at $54.5 billion. This is a huge win for its owner SoftBank—which has been under pressure for making terrible investment choices (see: Vision Fund). The Japanese fund acquired Arm in 2016 for $32 billion. It is betting big on Arm designing chips that will power AI tech. (Reuters)
Big revamp of drug licensing regs
The government has proposed a sweeping rehaul of the drug licensing program. The specifics aren’t available but it seems to be aimed at state regulators—who often bend or break the rules. There will be more frequent inspections, better and more uniform testing—and a single nationwide licensing process. The reason for this sudden move: “Indian health officials fear that contaminated medicines could seriously harm the country’s reputation as a supplier of medicines to the world.” There have been multiple instances of India-made cough syrups causing deaths of children around the world (explained in this Big Story). (Mint)
INDIA’s bold media move
The alliance of opposition parties has decided to boycott 14 TV anchors across nine news channels. The reason: “We will stay away from these TV shows because we don’t wish to legitimise the hate-filled narrative spewed by these anchors.” Of course, Arnab Goswami, Gaurav Sawant and Navika Kumar are at the top of the list—the others are named over at The Print. According to a source who spoke to NewsLaundry, the boycott may not be permanent:
The boycotted channels will be “observed over the next few months” and the ban will be withdrawn “if there is improvement”, the committee member told Newslaundry. “In case of no improvement, measures like ban on advertisements for these channels can also be adopted.”
The parties plan to use social media and YouTubers to get their message out—which was Rahul Gandhi’s strategy during the Bharat Jodo Yatra. The BJP has called it a “Nazi style” move. Yes, Nehru was mentioned. (NewsLaundry)
Asia Cup final: It’s gonna be Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka scored a nerve-wracking two-wicket victory over Pakistan to enter the finals. All looked good until the team suddenly lost five wickets for just 36 runs—and eked out a win in the last over. The final against India is on 17 September at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. (The Hindu)
Meet the top 20 ‘planet wreckers’
According to a new NGO report, 20 countries are responsible for 90% of new oil and gas extraction projects that will be launched between 2023 and 2050. These include the usual suspects like the US—which is right at the top and has been dubbed “Planet Wrecker In Chief”. Its projects will collectively emit 172.6 gigatons of CO2 through 2050:
Along with the US, four other Global North countries with the greatest economic means to rapidly phase out production—referred to in the report as “climate hypocrites”—are responsible for 51% of oil and gas expansion by 2050. Canada trails the US and is followed by Australia, Norway, and the UK.
Yes, India is on the list—but way close to the bottom. We will be responsible for emitting 1.7 gigatons in the same period. (Quartz)
In other unsurprisingly bad news: The planet wreckers appear to have indeed wrecked the planet—literally so. A health check up of the Earth conducted by scientists shows it is “well outside the safe operating space for humanity.” The nine key markers for Earth’s well-being are called ‘planet boundaries’. We have broken six of them—climate, biodiversity, land, freshwater, nutrient pollution and “novel” chemicals.
But, but, but: These ‘boundaries’ are not irreversible tipping points—but the risks to the planet’s life support system escalate when we cross them. The good news is that if we fix one of the boundaries, it often has a knock-on effect on the others—and vice versa, of course:
The simulations showed “that one of the most powerful means that humanity has at its disposal to combat climate change” is cleaning up its land and saving forests, the study said. Returning forests to late 20th century levels would provide substantial natural sinks to store carbon dioxide instead of the air, where it traps heat, the study said.
Associated Press and The Guardian have more.
An #IndianLivesMatter moment in Seattle
A police officer was caught on his bodycam laughing about the death of an Indian student—Jaahnavi Kandula. She had been run over by a speeding patrol car driven by his colleague. Daniel Auderer—the vice president of the police union—was discussing the investigation into her death with the president. This is one appalling part of what the video captured (full vid here):
The video was released by the Seattle PD—who said it surfaced as part of an internal investigation. The inquiry into Kandula’s death also showed the policeman “was driving at 74 miles an hour in a 25 mile an hour zone while responding to a priority call when Jaahnavi was hit and thrown more than 100 feet away.” (The News Minute)
Surge pricing for beer? Noooo!
The UK’s biggest pub chain owner announced its plan to charge more for drinks during ‘peak hours’:
Patrons have been informed of the change with a “polite notice” in Stonegate pubs, informing them of the need to raise prices to cover extra staffing costs, more bouncers at the door, extra cleaning, washing glasses, and “complying with licensing requirements”.
To be fair, the hike is only 20p per drink but it’s the (lack of) principle that counts! Which establishment punishes its customers for being popular? FYI: the new policy will affect 800 pubs around the country. Waiting for Indian bar owners to catch on. (Independent UK)
Two things to see
One: Everyone is talking about aliens. The US Congress held hearings back in July on UFOs—while NASA unveiled plans to document the phenomenon—saying we need to shift the convo from “sensationalism to science.” Not helping matters: congressional hearings in Mexico—where journalist Jaime Maussan unveiled what he claimed were thousand-year-old “non-human” corpses: “The tiny alleged aliens… were recovered underground in Peru in 2017 and found wrapped in algae, which helped preserve them, he said.” A military doctor even presented scans to prove that they are not mummified humans.
Yes, they look exactly like ET. And yeah, everyone thinks it’s a fraud. FYI: we did a Big Story looking at the evidence collected by the Pentagon—which was presented in the US hearings. (Washington Post)
Two: Moving to something more recognizably creepy (crawly), scientists have discovered three new species of spiders—and named them Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. One reason: “They somewhat resemble Star Trek spaceships.” The other reason: they belong to the genus Roddenberryus—named after Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. (New York Times, paywall, Gizmodo)
