Researched by: Rachel John & Aarthi Ramnath
The unparliamentary suspensions of 78 MPs
Yup, 78. That’s the unprecedented number of MPs who were suspended from Parliament yesterday. Of these, 33 were in the Lok Sabha and 45 in the Rajya Sabha. Irony alert: It all started when they protested the suspensions of the other 14 MPs last week. All the suspensions are linked to the Opposition’s demand for a debate on the gas attacks. Btw, the total number of suspensions in just this session is a staggering 92. Many of the prominent party leaders have been kicked out. The Opposition strength has been cut by 50% in the upper house. The Telegraph and Indian Express have more on the chaos. The Hindu has more on how the suspensions have repaired the tattered Opposition alliance.
A very worrying telecom bill
The government introduced the draft of Telecommunications Bill, 2023 yesterday—in the middle of all the shor sharaba. It includes a number of worrying details:
One: The bill doesn’t say who is covered by this bill. This is a bit worrying because an earlier 2022 draft expanded the definition of ‘telecommunications’ to include email and messaging platforms like WhatsApp and Signal. This one is just silent.
Two: The bill allows the government to take over any telecommunications network due to the “occurrence of any public emergency, including disaster management, or in the interest of public safety”—which is a bit vague. Also: A government or any officer specially authorised just has to be “satisfied that it is necessary or expedient” to do so. It essentially implies that the government can shut down any communication network—including the internet—at will.
Three: The government has the power to intercept "any message or class of messages”—sent to or from any person—”relating to any particular subject." Of course, this again will be to protect national security, public order etc. What this means: WhatsApp and Signal—which offer end-to-end encryption—can be asked to either not transmit messages or intercept them. Mint and The Quint have more on the bill.
Point to note: The bill is being tabled as a “money bill”—which means it doesn’t need approval from the Rajya Sabha—where the BJP does not have a majority. Reminder: The government also passed the electoral bonds law in this backdoor fashion—which is now being challenged in the Supreme Court.
In other bad news for democracy: Media tycoon and pro-democracy icon Jimmy Lai will stand trial in Hong Kong. He is charged with colluding with foreign forces—a crime that carried a punishment of life imprisonment. BBC News has more on the trial while The Atlantic profiles his newspaper Apple Daily.
A flurry of AI stories
ByteDance’s AI scandal: TikTok’s parent company has been using OpenAi’s APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) to develop its own large language model. The secret Project Seed plans to create a rival for ChatGPT—which violates the APIs terms of use. ByteDance says it only used the APIs “in an experimental model that was never meant to be publicly launched.” According to a Verge investigation, the company instructed its employees to stop only when its own chatbot Doubao was approved by Chinese regulators. And it continues to use the API to evaluate its chatbot's performance. (The Verge, paywall, Business Insider)
A legit Imran Khan deepfake: The former PM cannot hold election rallies since he is in prison—facing trial for a laundry list of charges. His party settled on a cutting-edge solution—an AI-generated speech by Khan that he got approved from prison:
The audio clip, marred by internet disruptions, was played over the AI-generated image which appears to be speaking, during an internet rally of Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party. It drew more than 1.4 million views on YouTube and was attended live by tens of thousands on other social media platforms.
Reminder: General elections in Pakistan are slated for February 8. See the speech below. (Reuters)
A Modi AI speech: Our PM has also embraced the wonders of new tech. He used an Indian language translation tool called Bhashini while giving a speech at the Kashi Tamil Sangamam in Varanasi. It apparently translated his speech in real time. We sadly have no clip of the event. (The Hindu)
Pope softens on same-sex unions
The Vatican announced that Pope Francis has given permission to priests to bless same-sex couples. This is a significant step since the Catholic Church had previously refused to do so—insisting that marriage can only be between a man and a woman. The move, however, comes with lots of caveats:
But the new rule made clear that a blessing of a same-sex couple was not the same as a marriage sacrament, a formal ceremonial rite. It also stressed that it was not blessing the relationship, and that, to avoid confusion, blessings should not be imparted during or connected to the ceremony of a civil or same-sex union, or when there are “any clothing, gestures or words that are proper to a wedding.”
New York Times has more on the significance of the announcement.
Swiggy’s jhagda with restaurateurs
The platform will begin charging a “collection fee” of 2% from its restaurant partners starting December 20. The explanation: "This fee is for facilitating seamless customer payments on the Swiggy platform. Please note that this amount will be deducted from your payouts.” Restaurant owners are furious because the sudden move comes at the most profitable month of the year. FYI, Zomato already charges payment gateway fees. The unanswered question: Whether the costs will be passed on to the customer. (Economic Times)
Jonathan Majors found guilty of DV
The Marvel star was found guilty of assault and harassment—for physically attacking his girlfriend in a car. Majors was a rising star—best known for playing a villain in ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’—plus his turn in ‘Creed’. Needless to say, Marvel has dropped him. (New York Times)
A link between reproduction and lifespan
Chinese researchers have uncovered a genetic link between reproduction and lifespan. Human beings who have genes that favour having children when they are younger do not live beyond the age of 76. To put it differently:
Genetic mutations that increased an animal’s fertility could also cause harm late in life. Over many generations, those mutations would create a burden that would lead eventually to death.
One such variant is called rs12203592—and has been linked to some cancers. New Scientist has more nerdy details.
An ancient ocean in the Himalayas
Researchers have discovered traces of water from an ancient ocean in the Kumaon mountains aka the Lesser Himalayas. These are droplets trapped inside mineral deposits. The ocean named Tethys—after the Greek goddess of freshwater—existed around 500-700 million years ago. Why this matters: “We know very little about our past oceans, where the first life forms originated and evolved.” The original study is here. (Mongabay)
Two things to see
One: A silver sedan collided with a security SUV in President Biden’s security motorcade—mercifully, while it was stationary. The driver wasn’t mad at Biden—just not paying attention because he’d been drinking. (BBC News)
Two: This Italian glass vase—purchased for $4 at a thrift store—fetched $107,100 in auction. Designed by Carlo Scarpa around 1947, it is only one of two vases in this colour. We only included it because it was pretty—and reminded us of a vodka bottle for some reason. 🤔 (Artnet Newspaper)
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- Impeccable writing, editing and researching skills.
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A knowledge of and love for splainer is a huge plus—since we’re not the usual news product. Above all, we’re looking for a person who shows initiative, commitment and, above all, curiosity.
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