headlines that matter

Researched by: Nirmal Bhansali, Aarthi Ramnath & Anannya Parekh

Russia, China cuddle up closer

While President Biden is busy trying not to get scorched by the Middle East conflagration, Chinese leader Xi Jinping presided over the Belt and Road Forum—in the warm company of his “dear friend” President Putin. This is especially notable since Moscow is not part of China’s global BRI project—which offers Chinese financing for massive infrastructure projects. And Putin has severely cut back on foreign trips ever since the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant—for war crimes in Ukraine. FYI: Jinping also removed all remaining curbs on foreign investment in manufacturing—to woo global firms jittery about state policy. (The Guardian)

World Cup 2023: Kiwis deliver reality check

Flying high after their shocking win over England, the Afghan team wasn’t able to create a winning streak. New Zealand handed them a 149-run defeat—thanks to skipper Tom Latham (68) and Glenn Phillips (71). Bowlers Lockie Ferguson (3/19) and Mitchell Santner (3/39) helped bowl Afghanistan out for just 139. (The Hindu)

Bribery allegations against Mahua Moitra

The feisty Trinamool MP is best known for her impassioned anti-government speeches. She has been accused by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey of taking money to raise questions in Parliament—mostly to protect the interests of a real-estate baron Darshan Hiranandani. While Moitra has sued Dubey for defamation, the Lok Sabha speaker has referred the complaint to the ethics committee. FYI: Even the Adani Group has jumped into the fray—claiming that Moitra’s been doing her best to hurt its reputation. The Indian Express has more on the history of the Ethics Committee, while The Hindu offers a quick overview of Dubey’s complaint. 

X/Twitter’s got a brand new plan

The beleaguered platform announced yet another change: charging new users $1 a year to use basic features like, umm, tweeting. In other words, if you don’t pay the bare minimum, all you can do is lurk. Owner Elon Musk explained why: “[R]ead for free, but $1/year to write. It’s the only way to fight bots without blocking real users. This won’t stop bots completely, but it will be 1000X harder to manipulate the platform.” So, no, he doesn’t think this is some brill revenue model. 

According to The Verge, this is why the modest fee only applies to the web version and not the app—because “it’s much easier to create a bunch of fake accounts via the website.” OTOH, some users think it is a sneaky way to collect credit card info for Musk’s ‘everything app’. (Fortune, paywall, BBC News)

Ram Mandir opens doors to foreign funds

The Ayodhya Ram temple trust—aka Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra—has been given the government licence to accept foreign donations. The licence is a must as per the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA)—and needs Home Ministry clearance. The temple has already raised Rs 3,500 crore in donations since it opened in January. Reminder: the government has cancelled the FCRA registration of 1,827 NGOs over the last five years—such as Amnesty International, Centre for Policy Research and Oxfam. (The Hindu)

Secret of a good life: Enjoy eating!

A new food survey confirms what most of us know: delighting in good food is the recipe for a good life. Across the globe, people who enjoyed their food were 1.29 times more likely to have a sense of well-being compared to those who did not. Those who had more choice were also 1.45 times more likely to feel better than others. At the top of the table: Puerto Rico, Greece and Norway—whose people enjoy their khana more than the rest of the world. Yup, Puerto Rico rates higher than the relatively wealthy France or Italy. OTOH, people in poorer countries didn’t fare well for the most part:

Overall, people living in North America, Latin America and the Caribbean were most happy with what was on their plates with an average satisfaction score of 96%. The least satisfied diners were in sub-Saharan Africa (72%), followed by north Africa (81%), eastern Asia and the Arab states (both 82%). These were also the areas where people said they had had the least choice of types of food over the previous seven days.

Wondering about India? We fall in the middle—with 87% of people who enjoyed the food they ate in the past seven days. The Guardian and Gallup have more. 

The hottest pepper: in the world is Pepper X—which was grown by Ed Currie—who beat his own record-holding Carolina Reaper. Chili Pepper X averages 2.69 million Scoville Heat Units (SHU). Apparently, it provides an “immediate, brutal heat.” Currie is only one of five people to try his own creation—and this is how he describes it:

I was feeling the heat for three-and-a-half hours. Then the cramps came. Those cramps are horrible. I was laid out flat on a marble wall for approximately an hour in the rain, groaning in pain.

In comparison, the hottest Indian pepper is Bhut Jolokia aka ‘Ghost’ Pepper—and is only 1 million SHU. Associated Press has more than you ever need to know about this dastardly chilli.

Moving on to wine: France is now the #1 winemaker in the world—toppling Italy from its top spot. The reason: torrential rain, heat and humidity have led to a proliferation of “downy mildew, a fungal disease that can spread quickly in vineyards, damaging grapes and drastically reducing yields.” (Bloomberg News)

Robots turn humans into ‘loafers’

Automated teammates are being introduced in workplaces to improve human performance and productivity. After all, we now get to focus on the really important stuff. But, but, but, a new study shows that robots also encourage us to indulge in “social loafing”: 

“Social loafing” occurs when an individual exerts less effort when working in a team compared to working alone… "Social loafing" can be explained by the fact that people are less likely to feel personally accountable for the outcome of a task when they are working in a team.

In this particular experiment, employees were far less likely to catch errors on a circuit board—likely because they think the super-efficient work buddy ‘Panda’ caught them all. Euro News has more on the concept of social loafing. The Guardian has details on the study. 

Three things to see

One: Nintendo’s reboot of Super Mario is all about getting on the psychedelics:

Each level includes a wonder flower, a new mechanic that sends Mario on something like a psychedelic trip, reconfiguring the world around him — warp pipes start crawling like caterpillars, rhinos begin a stampede and some mountains gain a set of googly eyes. 

Our fave power up is the one that turns Mario into an elephant who uses “his trunk to swat enemies and water benevolent flowers”. Watch the super ellie avatar below. (New York Times, paywall, The Verge)

Two: Utkarsh Saxena and Ananya Kotia were one of the couples whose petition to legalise same-sex marriage ended in disappointment on Tuesday. But here’s how they marked the day after: “Yesterday hurt. Today, @utkarsh__saxena and I went back to the court that denied our rights, and exchanged rings. So this week wasn't about a legal loss, but our engagement. We'll return to fight another day.” (Los Angeles Times)

Three: Four people were convicted for the death of TV journalist Soumya Vishwanathan—who was shot dead while she was returning home from work in 2008. It took 15 years for her elderly parents to get justice. You can see her mother thank the police commissioner who headed the investigation—in this lovely NDTV clip (Sorry, we can’t embed a copyrighted vid).