Researched by: Rachel John, Aarthi Ramnath & Anannya Parekh
The ‘24 Questions project is here!
We published the first edition of our weekly election special on Sunday. And it looks pretty good:) All through the election season, we will send you an exclusive election goodie bag right in your inbox each week—with the following:
- Deep dives by independent experts—with true area expertise—that will DECODE everything around elections.
- Creative (and shareworthy) infographics that offer important insights—perfect EYE CANDY.
- Our pick of the best YouTube analysis in our WATCHLIST.
- A weekly roundup of the most taaza election khabar plus the best reads of the season to understand the STATE OF PLAY.
Coming soon: Join our new Whatsapp channel here—to stay in the loop! And look for announcements of our IRL town halls—where you get to ask the smartest people in the biz all the questions you have about this election.
The big picture: Every bit of our election project is designed to help you understand what makes our democracy tick—without jargon or rants (and a sense of humour). If you’d like to support our work, you can get a founding member subscription—which comes with free subs for you and your friends:)
As always, thank you for your continued support. With your help, we hope to kick ass this election season, splainer style!
GN Saibaba finally gets bail
The context: Back in 2014, wheelchair-bound Delhi University professor GN Saibaba was arrested under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for allegedly being a Maoist. In 2017, he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
What happened now: The Bombay High Court has acquitted Saibaba and ordered his immediate release. The reason: Authorities did not follow due process:
The prosecution has failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt the case against the accused persons…the prosecution has failed to establish any legal seizure or any incriminating material against the accused.
What’s notable: is that Saibaba had been acquitted by the Bombay High Court back in 2022—but the order was overturned by the Supreme Court in an astonishing hurry. At the time, the justices claimed the High Court had “not at all dealt with and considered anything on the merits of the judgment.” The Hindu has lots more on the twists and turns.
War on Gaza: The latest update
Tensions around a UN report: A recently released report found “clear and convincing information” that Israeli hostages had been subjected to sexual violence––including rape—by Hamas terrorists. And it said those being held in Gaza may be victims of sexual abuse right now. Although Israel is satisfied with the findings, it is threatening to withdraw its UN ambassador. The reason: Israel is unhappy with UN secretary general António Guterres for not immediately convening the Security Council to discuss the report—and to declare Hamas a terrorist organisation. (New York Times)
Indians in the line of fire: On Monday, a 31-year-old Indian was killed in a rocket attack by Shia militant organisation Hezbollah on northern Israel. Pat Nibin Maxwell was a farm worker from Kerala and moved to Israel this January. Reminder: Israel has been actively recruiting Indian workers in camps organised in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh—taking advantage of the unemployment crisis in rural areas. (The Hindu)
Paytm problems are getting worse
The context: In February, the Reserve Bank of India ordered Paytm Payments Bank to stop accepting fresh deposits in its accounts and popular wallets. The reason: Unspecified “persistent non-compliances.” As a result, Paytm shifted all its accounts to Axis Bank to allow consumers to continue using its services. Our Big Story has more on the RBI order.
What happened now: The Financial Intelligence Unit has found evidence of “a syndicate of individuals connected to a foreign state” who held accounts with the Paytm Payments Bank:
In the course of such investigation, certain entities were found to have cheated lakhs of Indians through the offering of fraudulent services including prohibited gambling activities, dating services, and streaming. The proceeds of these fraudulent activities were subsequently remitted abroad.
Any accusation of harbouring “foreign” actors is a bad omen—and suggests that Paytm is not out of the woods. (The Hindu)
Mukesh-bhai’s gargantuan streaming empire
A new Comscore report shows that Disney+ Hotstar, JioCinema and JioTV together had 243.5 million users. That’s 46.5% of the total market share. And the primary driver of their soaring numbers: cricket:
Streaming cricket has been essential to the success of Hotstar and JioCinema and JioTV. The Reliance platforms garnered a huge spike in viewership between March and May 2023 thanks to its coverage of the Indian Premier League, Comscore date shows. Hotstar received 191 million visitors last November, driven in large part by offering the Men’s Cricket World Cup.
Why this matters: The recently sealed Disney + Reliance union will command nearly half of the total Indian streaming market. That’s terrible news for Netflix, Prime Video, Zee5 et al. But, but, but: This is also why the merger could face close scrutiny by the Competition Commission of India. (Bloomberg News via Economic Times)
Diet pills boost Denmark economy
The country’s largest bank—Danske Bank—predicts that Denmark’s gross domestic product will grow 2.1% in 2024 due to Novo Nordisk. That’s the maker of the two most successful weight loss drugs—Ozempic for diabetes patients and Wegovy for everyone else. The company’s 2023 sales jumped 31%—compared to 2022—and is expected to increase by up to 26% in 2024. FYI: We took a close look at Wegovy in this Big Story. (Quartz)
Also doing well, Anthropic: OpenAI’s rival unveiled a family of AI models called Claude—including the super-smart chatbot Opus. It scored higher than ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini in undergraduate- and graduate-level reasoning, math, and common knowledge. The difference: Opus scored 50.4% in a graduate-level reasoning test compared to 35.7% for ChatGPT. According to the company, the AI model “exhibits near-human levels of comprehension and fluency on complex tasks.” Quartz has more on why OpenAI should be worried. Also see: Our Big Story on the promise/perils of AI.
Not doing well: Elon Musk—who is being sued by four former top Twitter execs—including hamara Parag Agrawal. The reason: Musk didn’t pay them their severance pay. (BBC News)
Discovered: level of O2 on Jupiter’s moon
NASA’s Juno spacecraft—sent to explore Jupiter—has found that its moon Europa generates about 1,000 tons of oxygen every 24 hours. But it doesn’t produce oxygen quite like Earth:
On Earth, the photosynthesis of plants, plankton and bacteria pump oxygen into the atmosphere. But the process works differently on Europa. Charged particles from space bombard the moon’s icy crust, breaking down frozen water into hydrogen and oxygen molecules.
That’s less than what astronomers hoped for (to find signs of life). But it’s not a dealbreaker. Below that icy shell is an ocean—which may harbour life: “Astronomers speculate that this oxygen might move into Europa’s watery underworld. If so, it could mix with volcanic material from the seafloor, creating ‘a chemical soup that may end up making life.’” (New York Times)
Two things to see
One: The roof of one of the most popular and fancy malls in South Delhi—Ambience Mall—collapsed on Monday around 12:45 am during maintenance work. See a video of the destruction below. (NDTV)
Two: Fans of murder mysteries rejoice! Netflix unveiled a new whodunit called ‘Murder Mubarak’ with a stellar cast: Pankaj Tripathi, Vijay Verma, Dimple Kapadia and more. The movie is directed by Homi Adajania—best known for ‘Finding Fanny’ and ‘Angrezi Medium’. It will drop on March 15. (Hindustan Times)
