Researched by: Rachel John, Nirmal Bhansali, Aarthi Ramnath & Anannya Parekh
A big G20 win for India
The bitter division over the invasion of Ukraine was a cause for great alarm in New Delhi. India did not want to become the first nation to host a summit that did not produce a joint declaration. Happily, deft Indian diplomacy slowly herded opposing sides on to the same page:
The final statement, released a day before the formal close of the summit, highlighted the “human suffering and negative added impacts of the war in Ukraine,” but did not mention Russia’s invasion. It cited the U.N. charter, saying “all states must refrain from the threat or use of force to seek territorial acquisition against the territorial integrity and sovereignty or political independence of any state. The use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is inadmissible.”
Experts say that India’s ability to persuade US and its European allies is an unalloyed win—especially over China:
India’s statement embodies the voice of the emerging Global South. That is a coup for New Delhi, especially within the context of strategic competition against Beijing, helping it to become the leader of this bloc.
But New Delhi could not have achieved this victory without the whole-hearted support of the US—which has clearly bet big on India as an ally:
President Joe Biden led the charge, seeing in India his administration’s best hope of isolating China and Russia — and providing a booster shot to the US-led world order. The result showed that Washington is finally learning the language of the so-called Global South, with India as its principle guide.
Bloomberg News has more on that angle. Quartz explains what this means for India—while Indian Express traces the painstaking path to the final declaration.
Also this: While Russia is delighted with the declaration, it may be far less pleased with one of the biggest deals announced at the summit: a new rail and shipping corridor that will connect India, the Middle East and Europe. This is Washington’s big move to counter the source of Chinese global power—the Belt and Road initiative (explained in this Big Story). But it also indicates deepening ties between New Delhi and Washington—which can’t make either President Xi or President Putin happy. NPR has more on that plan.
Something to see: No one paid much attention to UK PM Rishi Sunak—who is still dragging his feet on that free trade treaty. But he did make news for visiting the Akshardham temple with his wife Akshata Murthy:
Three sports stories of note
Asia Cup: The rains once again proved that it was a mistake to make Sri Lanka the co-host for the tournament. The second India vs Pakistan match was suspended around 5 pm. India had played 24.1 overs—with Virat Kohli (8) and KL Rahul (17) at the crease. Our score: 147 runs. Play will resume today—but that means India will be on the field for three consecutive days. The contest against Sri Lanka is scheduled for Tuesday. (Deccan Herald)
US Open: It was a happy weekend for Coco Gauff and Novak Djokovic—who became the US Open champions. Gauff beat her opponent Aryna Sabalenka in three sets—2-6, 6-3, 6-2. Djokovic won his 24th Grand Slam title beating Daniil Medvedev in straight sets—6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3. CNN has more on the Gauff victory—while The Guardian reports on Djoko’s win.
Spanish football: The head of the Spanish federation, Luis Rubiales, has finally resigned—22 days after his attempt to forcibly kiss star player Jennifer Hermoso, during the World Cup ceremony. Rubiales had been suspended by the global governing body FIFA—and was facing a court case at home. Unsurprisingly, Rubiales remains unrepentant:
After the rapid suspension carried out by FIFA, plus the rest of proceedings open against me, it is evident that I will not be able to return to my position. My daughters, my family and the people who love me have suffered the effects of persecution excessively, as well as many falsehoods, but it is also true that in the street, the truth is prevailing more every day.
New York Times has more.
The arrest of Chandrababu Naidu
The main opposition leader in Andhra Pradesh has been sent to 14 days in judicial custody. The former CM and leader of the Telugu Desam Party is accused of being involved in a Rs 3.71 billion (371 crore) scam. He was arrested on Saturday by the state-controlled Crime Investigation Department. TDP has called for a state-wide bandh. Some analysts are calling it an overreaction by CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy—in the leadup to the Lok Sabha polls. Naidu has also been cosying up to the BJP—which may have made YSR nervous. (The Hindu)
Nvidia’s big India play
The tech company recently crossed the $1 trillion valuation mark thanks to the massive AI boom. The reason: its powerful chips are used by all the big players in the biz. And now it has made a serious play for the Indian market. The company announced two partnerships—with Reliance and the Tatas.
One: It will help Reliance build a large language model that is trained on Indian languages. This is huge as it is the first step toward building a ChatGPT-style bot that understands languages other than English—or at best, Mandarin:
India, despite being the world’s most populous country, has yet to make a significant mark in the global AI arena. Most Indian startups and established local companies have primarily focused on developing applications using large language models created by organisations like OpenAI. Elsewhere in the world, companies and countries are racing to secure the highly sought-after Nvidia chips to power their own large language models.
TechCrunch has the details on this story.
Two: The Tata Group will partner with Nvidia to build and process generative AI apps and a supercomputer. It will also upskill its 600,000-strong workforce by leveraging the partnership. Reuters and Times of India have more on this deal.
Ashton Kutcher’s appalling defence of a rapist
Kutcher and his wife Mila Kunis wrote a letter to the judge presiding over the rape trial of Danny Masterson—who was their co-star in ‘That ’70s Show’. They wrote an impassioned plea for leniency in sentencing Masterson—who has been convicted of raping multiple women:
In his letter obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, Kutcher referred to his co-star as a “role model” with “exceptional character” and explained that Masterson was the reason Kutcher didn’t fall into drugs. “Any time that we were to meet someone or interact with someone who was on drugs, or did drugs, he made it clear that that wouldn’t be a good person to be friends with,” the Your Place or Mine star wrote.
Here’s the kicker: Masterson often laced the drinks of his victims with drugs. Also: Kutcher runs an NGO whose mission is to prevent human trafficking. The couple have since issued an ‘apology’ video—which you can see below. Hollywood Reporter has all the details.
Moving on to Jimmy Fallon: A Rolling Stone investigation revealed that ‘The Tonight Show’ host is an abusive bully—who terrorised his crew:
Seven former employees say their mental health was impacted by their alleged experiences working at The Tonight Show. These staffers say it was commonplace to hear people joking about “wanting to kill themselves,” and that they would refer to guests’ dressing rooms in the office as “crying rooms” because that’s where they would go to let out their emotions when they were upset with their alleged mistreatment.
Fallon has since apologised to his employees on a video call. Reminder: Fallon along with four other late-night hosts—Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers and John Oliver—have started a podcast called ‘Strike Force Five’—to help pay salaries to the striking writers employed by their shows. (Rolling Stone, paywall, Variety)
Elon Musk intervenes in the Ukraine war
The context: Starlink is a division of Musk-owned SpaceX—whose satellites provide internet connectivity in remote parts of the world. Musk sent thousands of Starlink kits to Kyiv to help the country maintain communications on the frontline during the war. Musk has since complained about the financial burden of providing this assistance—and moved toward sounding more supportive of Moscow. In response, the Pentagon agreed to pay SpaceX to offer satellite internet in Ukraine. Outside funders have also paid for Starlink user terminals for the country.
What happened now: Musk says he refused to activate a Starlink satellite—preventing Ukrainian naval drones from targeting the Russian fleet based in Crimea. The reason: He did not want SpaceX to become “explicitly complicit in a major act of war and conflict escalation.” The account has been confirmed by a new biography of Musk by Walter Isaacson:
As Ukrainian submarine drones strapped with explosives approached the Russian fleet, they “lost connectivity and washed ashore harmlessly,” Isaacson writes. Musk’s decision, which left Ukrainian officials begging him to turn the satellites back on, was driven by an acute fear that Russia would respond to a Ukrainian attack on Crimea with nuclear weapons, a fear driven home by Musk’s conversations with senior Russian officials.
Why this is a big deal: A tech company is making key military decisions in a war. That’s pretty astonishing. To be fair, Musk doesn’t sound in the least happy about it. (Wall Street Journal, paywall, CNN)
One odd thing to see
Scientists have stumbled upon a golden object on the ocean floor off the coast of Alaska. All they know is that it is not man-made—and is “biological in origin.” So it could be evidence of an unknown species—or a stage in the life of a marine animal that we have no knowledge of. (Smithsonian Magazine)
