Splainer is hiring: A key role in the newsroom
We are hiring for the key position of a News Editor to join our brilliantly talented editorial team. This is a ‘teaching’ newsroom—where learning new things is a big part of the job. We also pride ourselves on a warm, friendly work culture. But, but, but: This is not an average newsroom gig with a boiler-plate desk job. What we’re looking for:
- Someone with 1.5 to 2 years of experience in a newsroom or related field. This is not an entry level position.
- Excellent research skills are a must—especially the ability to break down complex jargon into accessible language.
- Someone who is interested in—and has some knowledge of—hard news issues in politics, economy and law. This job isn’t for someone who prefers culture/lifestyle topics.
- A person who enjoys juggling a couple of different roles. Example: working closely with the production team that creates our awesome videos. Or managing relationships with content partners.
- Willingness to work in a startup environment where we all do a bit of everything—and are eager to take initiative and responsibility.
- A knowledge of and love for splainer is a huge plus—since we’re not the usual news product.
Please note there is a six-month probation period and the pay will be industry standard. We are an equal opportunity employer and work remotely. But we prefer someone based out of Bangalore–to lend a hand with video shoots and events. Please send your resumes and cover letter—telling us why you want this job—to talktous@splainer.in. We will reach out to you if you’re shortlisted.
Splainer’s latest vid explainer: Lost city of Dwarka
Last month, Prime Minister Modi offered prayers at the underwater remains of Dwarka—the kingdom ruled by Krishna in the Mahabharata—or so many believe. Is this the divine land described in the Mahabharata? A civilization that some say predates the Harappans. We look at the evidence and the debates surrounding India’s Atlantis.
Check it out below. Stay tuned for more such explainers on fascinating stories from India and around the world coming soon, and be sure to hit the notification button.
The arrest of Arvind Kejriwal
The Enforcement Directorate arrested the Delhi Chief Minister—fulfilling his repeated warnings that the government plans to throw him in jail before the elections. Kejriwal is accused of corruption and money laundering in connection with the Delhi government’s liquor’s policy. In sum: AAP took money from liquor companies in exchange for favourable excise tax rules (explained in greater length in this Big Story).
The Supreme Court granted AAP’s request for an urgent hearing—after the Delhi High Court refused to offer Kejriwal immediate protection against arrest. Meanwhile, AAP reps made suitably dramatic speeches:
Arvind Kejriwal is not a person. Arvind Kejriwal is an idea. If you arrest one Arvind Kejriwal, thousands more will rise across the country to save democracy and the Constitution of India.
His arrest essentially takes him out of the Lok Sabha campaign—as unnamed BJP leaders cheerily told the Indian Express:
This will also take away one of INDIA bloc’s star campaigners, as well as reinforce our message of it being a coalition of the corrupt.” And there is no bigger catch than Kejriwal on this front, given the AAP’s rise to power as an anti-corruption crusader.
They also say that their survey indicates voters will not rise up in protest against the arrest: “Plus, as a Delhi BJP leader pointed out, the Capital votes only in the sixth phase, or on May 25 — more than two months from now. ‘By then Kejriwal’s absence would have weakened the AAP and affected its ability to fight’.” (The Hindu)
Meanwhile, over at Congress: The party’s top leadership held a press conference to allege more foul play by the BJP. They say the government has frozen the party’s bank accounts—to cripple it in time for the election. FYI: The reason for freezing the accounts: a “delay in filing income-tax returns in 2018-19, an election year, and over a cash deposit of Rs 14.4 lakh” by Congress leaders. The party also faces a fine of Rs 2.1 billion (210 crore). Again the Supreme Court has been asked to intervene—after the Delhi High Court refused to do so. (The Telegraph)
Electoral bonds: The latest update
The Election Commission finally released all information related to the electoral bonds, including the unique numbers, on Thursday. Every bond that is purchased has a unique number that links the purchaser to the party that encashes it. The EC released this information for bonds purchased between April 12, 2019, and January 24, 2024. Here are the key findings from the latest data dump:
- The BJP received the highest donation in this time period from Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering and Infrastructures, Ltd (MEIL). It donated 60% of its total donations—about Rs 5.8 billion (584 crore)—to the party.
- Its subsidiary Western UP Power Transmission Company, Ltd donated Rs 1.1 billion (110 crore) to the Indian National Congress (INC), followed by Rs 800 million (80 crore) to the BJP.
- Future Gaming and Hotel Services—which purchased the most bonds in this period—donated Rs 5.42 billion (542 crore) to Trinamool Congress and Rs 5.03 billion (503 crore) to DMK.
- The third biggest donor of electoral bonds, Qwik Supply Chain Pvt. Ltd, gave Rs 3.75 billion (375 crore) to the BJP and Rs 250 million (25 crore) to the Shiv Sena. FYI: Reliance Group owns 50% of this company.
The Hindu has more details.
Big tech shocker: US Justice Department sues Apple
Federal government and 16 state attorney generals have accused the company of keeping customers dependent on iPhones—by restricting access to competing products:
By tightly controlling the user experience on iPhones and other devices, Apple has created what critics call an uneven playing field, where it grants its own products and services access to core features that it denies rivals. Over the years, it has limited finance companies’ access to the phone’s payment chip and Bluetooth trackers from tapping into its location-service feature. It’s also easier for users to connect Apple products, like smartwatches and laptops, to the iPhone than to those made by other manufacturers.
Why this matters: The government is taking aim at Apple’s most popular product—which powers its 2.75 trillion empire. That said, it likely won’t make much of a difference to customers since the lawsuit will take years to resolve. Washington Post has a very handy list of all the things you can’t do when you have an iPhone. (New York Times, paywall, Vox)
Doing far better: Reddit—which made a smashing debut on Wall Street. Its share price jumped 48% in the first IPO for a major social media company since Pinterest in 2019. The stock was priced at $34 a share—“opened at $47 and reached a peak of $57.80”—a 70% spike. Reddit raised $519 million on the first day.
The fly in ointment: Changes at Reddit that make investors happy have prompted a revolt among users:
Its plans for profitability risk angering its users by undermining the very reasons for the site’s success. Reddit has thrived as a relatively egalitarian, all-in-one online forum. In contrast to Facebook or Twitter, most users remain anonymous and the site has historically had a relaxed attitude toward content moderation. But recent pivots ahead of the IPO toward a more investor-focused strategy, such as cracking down on third-party apps, has already led to significant backlash from the user base.
See: our Big Story has on the rebellion by Reddit admins back in June. (CNBC)
A Carnatic music row over caste
The context: On March 17, the Music Academy in Chennai conferred the prestigious Sangita Kalanidhi award to TM Krishna. The academy praised Krishna for calling out gender and caste privilege within the Carnatic music establishment—and his use of “music as a tool for social reform.” Point to note: the recipient of this award presides over the prestigious sessions and concerts of Chennai’s iconic Margazhi music festival season—to be held between December 15 and January 1 this year.
What happened now: In an unprecedented move, well-known singers Ranjani and Gayatri called out Krishna for his social activism. Their angry statement reads:
He has caused immense damage to the Carnatic music world, wilfully and happily stomped over the sentiments of this community and insulted most respected icons like Tyagaraja and MS Subbulakshmi. His actions have tried to spread a sense of shame in being a carnatic musician and has been exhibited through his consistent denigration of spirituality in music.
They also called out Krishna’s “glorification” of Periyar, who “openly proposed a genocide of ‘brahmins’.” They have refused to participate in the festival—as have other musicians such as the Trichur Brothers. The Music Academy dismissed the “slanderous assertions and insinuations.” To get a sense of Krishna’s politics, check out the transcript of his 2016 acceptance speech when he received the Ramon Magsaysay Award. (Scroll)
US pressure on India’s tech policy
The context: In August, the government suddenly announced new rules that required Apple, Dell, Lenovo and HP et al to get a special licence to import laptops, tablets and PCs. Just months later, it rolled back the policy—after outraged protests from the companies.
What happened now: Reuters accessed internal US government emails that reveal the reason for the rollback: pressure from US officials who were unhappy at the news rules that came "out of the blue" and were "incredibly problematic.” They made it clear that such sudden moves would make US firms “think twice about doing business in India." The result:
[A] U.S. diplomat for trade in New Delhi, Travis Coberly, told his USTR colleagues that Indian officials had conceded the sudden rollout of the laptop licensing policy was a mistake. India's IT ministry "understands they (India) screwed up. They admitted as much. American companies here have been hammering them about this," he wrote.
Why this matters: This is seen as a rare win for the US lobby in India. (Reuters)
Good news for free speech
The Supreme Court stepped in to stay the Press Information Bureau’s spanking new Fact-Check Unit. The unit was set up to flag misinformation about the government on social media platforms. The Court noted that the petition—filed by stand-up comic Kunal Kamra, the Editors Guild of India and others—challenging the move raised “serious constitutional questions.”
Their petition claimed the new FCU imposes “unreasonable restrictions to freedom of speech and expression”:
In his petition, Kamra said the law would also restrict his “fundamental right to practice trade or profession” since he relies on social media platforms to share his content. He said it could also lead to his content being “arbitrarily blocked” or taken down, or his accounts being suspended or deactivated.
Al Jazeera has more on the petition.
A landmark pig kidney transplant
US surgeons have transplanted a kidney from a genetically engineered pig into a 62-year-old man. It is the first surgery of its kind—and has been very successful:
The new kidney began producing urine shortly after the surgery last weekend and the patient’s condition continues to improve, according to physicians at Massachusetts General Hospital, known as Mass General. He is already walking the halls of the hospital and may be discharged soon.
Why this matters: If kidneys can be transplanted from genetically modified animals, then “dialysis will become obsolete.” Millions of patients die waiting for kidney donors. OTOH, animal rights activists are not happy: “Using pigs as a source of spare parts is dangerous to the human patients, deadly for the animals and may bring about the next pandemic. It’s impossible to eliminate, or even identify, all the viruses that pigs carry.” (New York Times)
In less happy health news: A new Lancet study predicts that fertility levels around the world will plummet by the end of the century—and replacement rate will be too low to sustain population numbers. That’s the number of children a person must have to effectively replace themselves. By 2050, 155 countries will have fertility rates below replacement rates. Also this: In the future, most of the babies in the world will be born in low-income countries with great economic and political instability. (Reuters)
Three things to see
One: What is red and black with long white hair all over? No, not a newspaper but a new kind of longhorn beetle discovered in Australia. True story: scientists initially mistook this looker for bird poo! The beetle has been named as albopilosa which translates to ‘white and hairy’. (BBC News)
Two: Bruce Springsteen returned to the stage with his band after recovering from peptic ulcer disease. The 72-year-old was feeling so spritely that he tore into “guitar solos, playing the harmonica and even ripping his shirt open near the end of the show” But we’re not entirely sold on the ageing Arnie (Schwazennegger) look. Or is it the Tilda Swinton look–as some mean Twitter types claim? You can watch the performance below. (Associated Press)
Three: Finally: A promising Bollywood romcom—though the trailer doesn’t tell you much about the plot. ‘Do Aur Do Pyaar’ stars Vidya Balan, Pratik Gandhi, Ileana D'Cruz and Sendhil Ramamurthy. The film will drop in theatres on April 19. (NDTV)
