headlines that matter

Written by: Aarthi Ramnath, Aakriti Anand & Raghav Bikhchandani

The Big Q: Can Kamala Win?

Welcome to our new news show titled ‘The Big Q’. In each episode, we take up one big question and look for answers. As with splainer, we’re trying to understand the world a little bit better—and have a good laugh. It’s more light-hearted than our usual Big Story—but without sacrificing substance. Please take a look and let us know what you think. As with all new projects, it’s Work In Progress.

The first episode tackles the big question on the planet’s mind: Can Kamala win—and save the United States—nay the planet—from a Trump sequel? More important: how the Dems win. This US presidential election is no longer about policy or even politics—but the fab edit! The campaign has turned the extended Harris-Walz khandaan into a feel-good meme. That’s great for TikTok, but is it good for democracy? 

Watch the first episode below—and be sure to follow us on YouTube to catch the next instalment.

The great SEBI uprising 

The context: Last month, the pesky Wall Street short seller Hindenburg resurfaced with a new bombshell—this time aimed at SEBI chief Madhabi Puri Buch—and her husband Dhaval. The allegation: Madhabi and Dhaval Buch held investments in offshore funds linked to Adani-bhai. And she continued to control those investments even after she was appointed to SEBI. The kicker: Last year, when the Supreme Court asked SEBI to investigate offshore funds linked to Adani, SEBI claimed it could not trace the investors in these funds. SEBI and the Buchs denied all allegations. We explained all this in great detail in this Big Story.

What happened next: SEBI officials filed a letter of complaint with the Finance ministry—accusing the regulator’s leadership of fostering a “toxic work culture”: 

Shouting, scolding and public humiliation have become a norm in meetings…The letter entitled 'Grievances of Sebi Officers-A Call for Respect' says the leadership steered by Buch uses "harsh and unprofessional language" toward team members, monitors their "minute-by-minute movement" and has imposed "unrealistic work targets with changing goalposts". This is perhaps the first time in Sebi's history that its officers have raised concerns about unfriendly employee practices. This has impacted mental health and thrown work-life balance out of gear, they said in the letter.

The letter was signed by half of the 1,000 middle to senior SEBI officials. 

What happened now: SEBI released a statement dismissing the complaints—saying the officials were influenced by “external elements.” But it coyly refused to name these devious creatures—or their motives. Enraged by what they see as a smear campaign, the officials staged an unprecedented protest outside the SEBI office yesterday. 

Adding to SEBI’s woes: Its denials come in the midst of new reporting that shows Buch held two jobs between 2011 and 2013—at ICICI Bank and a Singapore-based private equity firm called Greater Pacific Capital. This double employment was not a secret—and was disclosed by SEBI in a press release back in 2017—when Buch became a SEBI member. But it’s still a bit dubious—as one corporate governance expert points out:

From a governance standpoint, all three—ICICI Bank, Greater Pacific Capital and Ms. Buch—need to explain what was the role of Ms. Buch at ICICI Bank between 2011 and 2013 and what were the circumstances that made the bank and her other employer, Greater Pacific Capital, agree that she could work at both places. As the head of the Singapore office of Greater Pacific Capital, she would not have managed to come to ICICI Bank’s office. So, was she getting paid by ICICI Bank during those two years?

Where we are now: ‘External elements’ have indeed jumped into the fray. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC)—a parliamentary watchdog for government spending—announced plans to review SEBI’s performance. It is likely to summon Buch as part of the process. Yes, the committee is headed by the Opposition—specifically Congress leader KC Venugopal. Indian Express has that story. Economic Times has the best reporting on the protests and the letter of complaint. Mint (paywall) has the scoop on Puri-Buch’s dual roles.

France has a new Prime Minister 

The context: The centrist alliance led by President Emmanuel Macron received a political thappad in the recent parliamentary elections—its seat total dropping from 245 to 163. The unlikely winner was a Left party coalition—which came in at #1 with 182 out of 577 seats. As per French law, the prime minister is chosen by the President—usually from the single largest party. But Macron and the Left are bitter rivals—which is why he has been dragging his feet. See our Big Story for more.   

What happened next: First, Macron called for a “republican” alliance that didn’t include the Left. He also refused to nominate the Left’s candidate of choice—37-year-old Lucie Castets. The result: a political deadlock and rising anger among Left parties—who accuse Macron of stealing the election. 

What happened now: Macron has made his choice: 73-year-old Michel Barnier—“a previously unknown municipal technocrat who didn’t even have a Wikipedia page.” He calls himself a “French Joe Biden”. Naturally, the Left is unhappy and feels short-changed—more so as Barnier belongs to the right-wing Les Républicains (LR) party. FYI: the Right parties came in last. To be fair, he’s also been a bitter critic of Macron’s "vertical, arrogant and solitary" presidency. (Politico)

The horrific death of an Olympic runner

Rebecca Cheptegei is a Ugandan long-distance runner—who recently competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics. She was killed by her boyfriend—who “entered her home in Kenya with a jerry can of gasoline, poured it on her and set her on fire.” Cheptegei sustained 80% burns to her body—and finally died when her kidneys failed. Her death has sparked rage over the alarming rise in ‘femicide’—the killing of girls and women in Africa—especially Kenya, where Cheptegei was killed. Indian Express has more on the worrying trend. (The Guardian)

Who wants a Hindu Prime Minister?

A global Pew survey shows 80% of Indians want a prime minister who shares their religious beliefs—and a similar number want a leader who can stand up for their religious beliefs. What is left implied: Most Indians want a Hindu PM. India came in at #5 in its response to this question—behind Muslim-dominated countries like ​​Indonesia (90%) and Bangladesh (89%). In contrast, only 48% in the US shared the sentiment. 

An relevant reminder: In a 2021 Pew survey that focused specifically on India, most people (84%) said it is very important to respect all religions to be “truly Indian.” But, but, but: 64% said it is important to be Hindu to be “truly Indian.” 

Point to note: It seems obvious but people who value religion are also more likely to see it as vital to both national identity—and the identity of their leader. This Big Story offers fascinating insights into the 2021 survey. Indian Express has the highlights of the latest survey, while The Hindu offers a visual representation of the data. 

ANI vs Wikipedia: A worrying development

The context: In July, the Indian press agency sued Wikipedia for “false and misleading” content on its page on ANI—and demanded Rs 2 crore (20 million) in damages. The other demand: to ‘fix’ a line in the description that read: “[T]he news agency has been criticised for having served as a propaganda tool for the incumbent central government distributing materials from a vast network of fake news websites and misreporting events.”

What happened next: The court is demanding information on the three community editors who added information to the page—which the platform has not submitted. In July, the parent organisation—Wikimedia Foundation—said it does not have control over content in these pages: 

One of the main constraints in this case is that Wikipedia globally abstains from the kind of article-level control over its content that such regulations demand of online platforms, deferring instead to its vast network of volunteer editors.

To further ensure the integrity of its content, some pages—including that of ANI—are subject to “extended confirmed protection, which allows edit access only to volunteer user accounts that meet the criteria of being at least 30 days old and having 500 edits.” Complying with the court’s demand would require breaking the open editing model—that is core to Wikipedia.

What happened now: The foundation has asked for more time to comply—but the High Court is unhappy with the delay. The judge said: 

We will not take it anymore. If you don't like India, don't work here. I will impose contempt…We will close your business transactions here. We will ask the government to block Wikipedia…Earlier also you people have taken this argument. If you don’t like India, please don’t work in India.

As we noted in our two-part series on Telegram founder Pavel Durov’s arrest, we may be headed for a new era of internet censorship around the world. The Hindu has more context on this lawsuit. (Mint)

Speaking of lawsuits: The other push to restrict online content is coming from publishing companies—furious at tech platforms that steal their work. And it's not just media outlets suing AI companies. The Internet Archive has lost its copyright lawsuit—filed by the book publisher Hachette. The archive offered ‘free’ digitised versions of audio recordings, books etc—and considers itself the equivalent of a public library. Book publishers like Hachette view its practices as stealing. On Thursday, the courts agreed: 

[T]here is nothing transformative about converting entire works into new formats without permission or appropriating the value of derivative works that are a key part of the author’s copyright bundle.

A reminder: Internet Archive is also being sued by Universal Music and Sony for digitising music. It will have to pay up to about $400 million if it loses—which will be fatal for an NGO. Wired has more on this story.

Look, X is on television! 

As promised, Elon Musk unveiled a new TV app for X—which launched in the US across platforms such Amazon Fire TV etc. For all the hype, early inspections say it isn’t anything special:

Currently, the X TV app is just a video delivery system for the X app. You’ll need an X account to log in and it just sends you to a curated list of X videos that are already on the platform. However, what appear to be the default recommendations are truly hideous to anyone not of the same political mind as Musk.

The app also has content from Tucker Carlson and channels for SpaceX and Tesla, but little else. The challenge for Musk: “to nudge creators to post original video content — and ultimately for those creators and that content to be compelling enough to drive more usage of its apps.” Engadget has more on the user experience. TechCrunch has more on X/Twitter’s history with video-first platforms. 

Staying with X: According to their official job listings, X is finally hiring people for its safety and security teams to help moderate content—for the first time since Musk took over in 2022. He immediately fired almost 6,000 people in his first six months—with the safety team losing 80% of its members. (TechCrunch)

The country with the most plastic pollution is…

India! According to a new UK study, we are #1 on the list of countries that dump plastic waste. The amount: a whopping 9.3 million tonnes each year—which is one-fifth of the global total. It is enough to fill the Taj Mahal 604 times over. Also this:

The researchers concluded that uncollected waste and its open burning were leading factors in the global pollution crisis, and that these sources of pollution are particularly pronounced in India. About 53% of India’s plastic pollution comes from uncollected waste and 38% is a result of open burning from dumpsites, they found.

The other countries in the top five: Nigeria, Indonesia, China, and Pakistan. Reminder: India actually banned the use of single-use plastics in 2022. (The Telegraph)

what caught our eye

business & tech

• Instagrammers, rejoice! You can now add comments on people’s stories, but there are restrictions. The Verge has more. 
• Say hello to the world’s first ‘nuclear clock’—it marks the passage of time using minute signals from the nucleus of an atom. Gizmodo has the nerdy details.
• Nvidia has received a subpoena from the US Justice Department—which is investigating possible antitrust violations. CNN has a roundup of the chipmaker’s laundry list of problems.

sports & entertainment 

• India’s Paralympics medal tally is up to 25 and the new ranking is #16—thanks to our first-ever medal in Judo, a bronze achieved by Kapil Parmar. 
• Australia’s Raygun has apologised for her breaking performance at the Paris Olympics, which had gone viral for all the wrong reasons. 
• Fortune has a good read on how playing tennis may help you live longer.
• The fallout of the Hema Committee report in Kerala’s film industry continues— the mafia-like Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA) has been rendered toothless.
• ‘Twilight’ is now an animated Netflix series—based on Stephanie Meyer’s novel ‘Midnight Sun’—which reimagines the popular story from Edward Cullen’s perspective. 
• Disney has paused production on its adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s ‘The Graveyard Book’, in light of the sexual assault allegations against him. IndieWire has the scoop.

as for the rest

• Mumbaikars, brace yourselves for (totally unnecessary and expensive) pod taxis—which will run from BKC to the nearest local train stations. 
• “Who shot Hvaldimir?”—animal conservation groups suspect the beloved Russian spy whale was killed by gunfire.
• The family of the RG Kar victim have alleged that they were forced into cremating her body in a rush and were offered a bribe by the police. 
• Sticking with the Kolkata case, legal experts explain why the new anti-rape law in West Bengal won’t do much to address violence against women.
• A new study shows that four key nutrients—Iodine, Calcium, Iron, and Vitamin E—are shockingly lacking in the diets of two-thirds of the global population. 
• Wall Street has a surprising favourite in the US election: Kamala Harris. Goldman Sachs says a Democratic sweep of the White House and Congress would be best for the US economy.
• Donald Trump is holding on to the rich bros he can get. He announced Elon Musk will lead a commission to slash government spending.
• Researchers have found an antibody that could protect against all COVID variants.
• A new study shows that people with depression have brain networks that are twice as large as others.
• A class of diabetes drugs may help curb the risk of dementia by 35% and Alzheimer’s by 39%.
• New York Times (splainer gift link) has a good read on Dead Butt Syndrome—a result of sitting all day.

Five things to see

One: In a never-before-seen show of solidarity, delivery partners for Swiggy, Zomato, Blinkit, and Zepto took out a bike rally in support of the ongoing RG Kar protests in Kolkata. (Times Now)

Two: Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s relationship have long been plagued by rumours of being a PR stunt. Adding to the goss: viral photos of a ‘relationship contract’—titled ‘Comprehensive Media Plan for Travis Kelce’s Public Relations Following Breakup with Taylor Swift’. Don’t worry: it’s fake. (Gizmodo)

Three: This is a trailer for a new road-trip documentary called ‘Will & Harper’—tracing comedian Will Ferrell relationship with Harper Steele—his close friend who is transitioning to live as a woman. The docu releases on Netflix on September 27. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Four: Linkin Park released a new song titled ‘The Emptiness Machine’ from their upcoming album ‘From Zero’—the first since lead singer Chester Bennington’s death in 2017. (Billboard) 

Five: We end with a Ganesh Chaturthi gift: a lovely 18th century Kangra miniature painting of Parvati and Shiva bathing baby Ganesha. The painting is housed at Allahabad Museum. Happy Ganesh Chaturthi everybody!

Takshashila: A doorway to public policy

Editor’s note: We are delighted to unveil our partnership with Takshashila Institution. It is one of India’s foremost think-tanks on public policy. They also run valuable courses that teach students how to tackle complex policy challenges—bringing together academic experts and policy practitioners from across the world. We will be showcasing their courses and community in splainer. Please note: This is not paid content. 

Over to Takshashila… 

The doors to knowledge and innovation in public policy are now wide open for everyone. Takshashila Institution, the pioneer in public policy education in India invites you to join OpenTakshashila, a free space for learning, exploring and engaging with the public policy community. 

What’s happening on OpenTakshashila? Educate Yourself: Our "Open Course in Public Policy" is a free, self-paced online course designed to equip you with the fundamentals of public policy. It's your foundation for understanding, analysing, and influencing policy decisions.

Join the Conversation: Participate in "Open Mic" sessions where nuanced discussions on current policy issues thrive. It's your chance to voice your thoughts, listen to diverse opinions, and engage in debates that matter.

Dive into Books: Our "Books & Banter" book club invites you to share your latest reads, discover new insights, and discuss ideas that can transform society. It's a space where policy enthusiasts and book lovers unite.

Have Fun Learning: "OffBeat" offers a unique blend of events and fun games focused on public policy. This is where learning meets play, allowing you to grasp complex concepts through engaging and interactive activities.

Explore Open Takshashila—and sign up here.

Feel good place

One: Is there anything better than a Nirvana flashmob? Maybe not.

Two: Elon’s big Hollywood moment. Hmm, maybe not.

Three: The Zoomer guide to marketing.