Researched by: Rachel John, Nirmal Bhansali, Aarthi Ramnath & Anannya Parekh
The Gaza war: The latest update
- As of today, 22,835 Gazans have been killed—and 58,416 injured.
- The US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is back in the region—trying to avert a broader war. Tel Aviv is considering bombing Lebanon in retaliation for Hezbollah air strikes. The Guardian has that story.
- More than 75 journalists have been killed in Gaza. The latest is the son of Al Jazeera’s bureau chief Wael Al-Dahdouh. He was also a reporter. FYI: Al-Dahdouh has already lost his wife, another son, daughter and grandson. See the funeral here.
- Israel claims it will launch a “new phase” of the war—with different tactics. No one knows what that means. More importantly, it now says the war will continue into 2025.
Tamil Nadu’s big fat global summit
Chief Minister MK Stalin beamed in the spotlight as his state snapped up $4.4 billion in deals with investors—at the Tamil Nadu Global Investors Meet. These include JSW Energy, Hyundai, Apple supplier Pegatron—and a number of Tata companies. A notable coup: Vietnamese EV maker VinFast will set up its first manufacturing facilities in India and invest up to $2 billion in Tamil Nadu. Also this: Singapore companies plan to sign an MoU for $3.7 billion (Rs 310 billion), as well. Coming up very soon: A global investor summit in Gujarat—which hopes to outshine TN. Moneycontrol has more on the politics of investment galas. Cheesiest quote of the day: Stalin declared, "It rained in Chennai this morning and I believe that investments will also rain." (The Hindu)
In related news: Foreign portfolio investment (FPI) in Indian equities and debt have reached a nine-year high—of Rs 2.68 trillion. Mint has that story.
Heading back home: Zomato—which has pulled out of nearly all its overseas markets—exiting ten in just one year. It announced the liquidation of its subsidiaries in Vietnam and Poland yesterday. The only remaining foreign markets: Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and UAE. (Mint)
Sheikh Hasina “wins” again!
The Bangladesh prime minister secured a record fourth straight term—surprising nobody. Her party Awami League scored two-thirds of the parliamentary seats in an election boycotted by the main opposition party. Voter turnout was barely 40%—compared to the 80% who showed up for the 2018 general election:
The usual election-day fervour was nowhere to be seen. Even in front of the election campaign booths, there was no presence of voters except the ruling party-backed supporters and election agents. Voters cast their votes without any disruption in the absence of long queues, leaving presiding officers with idle time.
We have lots more background on the election—and why India will be happy with this result—in this Big Story. (The Hindu)
An alarming Chinese land grab in Bhutan
The context: China has claimed vast swathes of Bhutan as its own for decades. In October 2021, the two sides—Bhutan and China signed a memorandum of understanding to settle their border disputes. It was mostly window dressing that sealed Beijing’s existing control over Bhutanese territory.
India has long been concerned about Beijing nibbling away at Tibet’s border with Bhutan—bringing it closer to India’s ‘chicken neck’—aka the Siliguri corridor. This is the skinny strip that connects the Northeastern states to the rest of India. We have lots more context in this Big Story.
What happened now: A new set of satellite images secured by NDTV shows that China has taken a big chunk of territory along the northeast border—in Jakarlung Valley. You can see the expansion of settlements in the ‘before’ and ‘after’ images:
Why this matters to India: The annexations are putting pressure on ongoing talks between Bhutan and China to “seal” the border in the north. Although this area is not close to the Indian border, New Delhi is worried that the final agreement will involve a “land swap”. Thimpu will retain more in the north in exchange for territory ceded in the Doklam plateau—which is right next to the ‘chicken neck’. You can see the locations of the disputed territories in the Chatham House map below:
NDTV has more on the satellite images. Also a good read: Chatham House on the border deal—and implications for India.
Beware of Digi Yatra bullying!
The context: This airport initiative uses facial recognition to process passengers—who are promised a seamless and paperless experience. But Digi Yatra is supposed to be voluntary—you have to actively opt for it—and consent to the collection of your facial data. Or maybe not…
What happened now: Travellers over the holiday break have increasingly complained about being forced to opt for Digi Yatra by airport personnel—by covert means:
First, a private airport staff escorted her to a kiosk to collect her personal details, including facial biometrics, without any information being provided. When she declined to register, she was sent towards the entry gate where CISF personnel were carrying out one-time enrolment of passengers, where too she put her foot down and refused to have her face scanned and the CISF official relented.
And some claim that their data was being collected even in non-Digi Yatra queues:
Mr. Pattanayak soon realised that passengers in his line were also being requested to look into a camera, following which the CISF personnel would click a button on the screen to give consent on their behalf for a one-time sign up for Digi Yatra.
Why this matters: Digi Yatra is not a government program. This data is being collected by a foundation—composed of five private airports. And yet the government security guards are part of the bullying campaign. Also: they now have access to your biometric data—without any transparency on how they will use it. The Hindu has an exclusive report. Also read Internet Freedom Foundation on privacy concerns.
Worries about Elon Musk’s ‘drug habit’
According to a Wall Street Journal exclusive, board directors and top executives are concerned about Musk’s prolific use of a wide variety of illegal drugs—including ketamine and psychedelics. They worry substance abuse is driving his erratic behaviour—and also about possible consequences to his companies:
Tesla’s code of conduct described the electric-vehicle maker as a drug-free workplace and prohibits all employees, including executives, from using them, even out of the office. Illegal drug use by employees is also in violation of the rules that govern the more than $14 billion in contracts that Musk’s private rocket company, SpaceX, has with the U.S. government for civilian and military space missions.
Point to note: Musk has openly acknowledged taking some of these drugs for his mental health issues such as depression. (Wall Street Journal, splainer gift link)
An ugly brouhaha over Lakshadweep
PM Modi’s innocuous tweet praising the “stunning beauty of its islands” triggered a tsunami of hate from Maldive ministers and bureaucrats:
Soon after PM Modi’s post, some prominent Maldivian social media users responded to it with offensive, racist, xenophobic and derogatory comments targeted at Indians at large, as well as the Indian prime minister. Among them was Mariyam Shiuna, Maldives’ Deputy Minister of Youth Empowerment, Information and Arts, who wrote: “What a clown. The puppet of Israel Mr. Narendra diver with life jacket. #VisitMaldives #SunnySideOfLife”. In a now-deleted post, Shiuna also compared India to cow dung.
The campaign soon escalated—fueled by the anti-India faction in Maldives. In the end, the tourism minister intervened to condemn the racist rhetoric—and three deputy ministers were suspended.
Why this is noteworthy: The recently elected government in Maldives has taken significant steps to distance itself from New Delhi—which has long been a close ally. President Mohamed Muizzu ran on an anti-India campaign—and is seen as being closer to China. Our Big Story has more on the geopolitics behind this ugliness. (Indian Express)
Worrying arrests in Manipur
The Biren Singh government has arrested a number of journalists over the past week. First in line: respected editor Wangkhemcha Shyamjai—who was taken in for publishing an article that suggested Kuki militants may have the support of the BJP. The latest to be arrested: Dhanabir Maibam, editor of a Meitei newspaper. He published a piece on rising violence in a Kuki-dominated town. (Telegraph India)
Two things to see
One: The winter fog in Delhi is so bad that 22 Delhi-bound trains were delayed up to six hours. The air quality remains poor as temperatures hit lows of 8.2°C. And it isn’t getting better any time soon. You can see the fog over Connaught Place below. (The Hindu)
Two: A silky shark has regenerated its torn dorsal fin over the course of a year—astonishing researchers. The shark was mutilated by a fishing boat—for unknown reasons:
A huge chunk was missing from its dorsal fin, equalling about 20% of the whole appendage… It seems that somebody caught this silky shark (Carcharhinus falciformis), possibly as a mistake during fishing, and purposefully removed its tag with a sharp object.
Scientists expected the shark to die—as it struggled to swim. But it was back 332 days later—having regenerated 87% of its fin. This is the only second such instance recorded in shark history. You can see how bad the damage was below.
This is what the healed version looks like:
