Researched by: Rachel John, Aarthi Ramnath & Anannya Parekh
JMM-Congress alliance sweeps the floor test
The context: Last week, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren stepped down from his post—under pressure from an Enforcement Directorate investigation. He was promptly arrested and is now in judicial custody. Soren turned the baton over to his fellow Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader Champai Soren—a veteran tribal leader (who is not a relative). However, the governor asked Champai to conduct a floor test to prove his majority in the legislature. Our Big Story has lots more on why this arrest matters.
What happened now: The JMM-Congress alliance led by Champai easily won the trust vote on Monday—bagging 47 out of 81 votes. The BJP managed just 29. Hemant Soren —allowed to cast his vote by the Jharkhand High Court—gave an emotional speech accusing the BJP for targeting adivasis:
“Hum jungle se bahar aa gaye aur inke barabar baithne lage to inke kapde maile hone lage. Ye hume achoot dekhte hain. Aur inhi cheezo ko todne ke liye humne ek prayas kiya tha … Inka bas chale to hum 50-100 saal purane jungle mein jiyein (We came out of the Jungle and started sitting next to them then their clothes started getting soiled. To break these shackles I had made an attempt … If these people (BJP) would have it then we should go back 50-100 years back in the jungle).”
What’s next: Soren’s plea challenging his arrest will be heard by the high court on February 12. (Indian Express)
King Charles has cancer!
Buckingham Palace announced that King Charles was recently diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer—and will be undergoing treatment. It was discovered when he was being treated for an enlarged prostate. He will step back from public-facing duties. Harry will be travelling to the UK to meet dad—so bring out the popcorn. You can read the full Palace statement here. CNN has more on the health crises affecting the Windsors.
Speaking of cancer: A World Health Organisation report says that cancer diagnoses across the world will increase by 77% by 2050—jumping from 20 million to 35 million cases. The grim prediction: “About 1 in 5 people will develop cancer in their lifetime, and around 1 in 9 men and 1 in 12 women will die from the disease.” Lower-income countries will be the worst-affected—as deaths due to cancer are expected to nearly double in the time period. FYI: Lung cancer is the most diagnosed form of cancer worldwide. In India, breast cancer was the leading cause of death in 2022. The Guardian has lots more.
Hyundai India’s big fat IPO
The Indian arm of the South Korean car company is planning to list itself on the Indian stock market. Slated around Diwali in November, Hyundai aims to raise at least $3 billion. This would be India’s biggest IPO ever. Hyundai is the second largest automaker in India with a 15% market share. The IPO will set the value of its Indian operation at around $30 billion. Good to remember: Nothing has been officially announced—and Hyundai is still in early talks with bankers. (Reuters)
And the Grammy goes to…
It was an all-women show at the Grammys on Sunday with female artists bagging the biggest awards. Billboard has the full list of winners and CNN has the red carpet looks. Here’s a roundup of the highlights:
Taylor Swift’s big night: She won ‘Album of the Year’ for a record-setting fourth time—for ‘Midnights’. In true Taylor fashion, she also stole the spotlight by announcing her next studio album titled ‘Tortured Poets Department’—slated for release on April 19.
A retro kinda night: Everyone’s talking about Tracy Chapman’s duet with Luke Combs (see our Sanity Break). But a number of other legends also gave wonderful performances. Annie Lennox sang ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ in tribute to Sinead O’Connor—who passed away in July 2023. She also was one of the few artists (other than boygenius) to give a shoutout for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Another fave retro performance was by Joni Mitchell—who made her Grammy performance debut at the age of 80. Mitchell also bagged the award for the Best Folk Album.
And Billy Joel closed out the night with ‘You May Be Right’:
Winning with flowers: Miley Cyrus scored her first-ever Grammy wins with ‘Record of the Year’ and ‘Best Pop Solo Performance’—for her self-love anthem ‘Flowers’. We also loved her adlib while performing the song—see it below:
Other key wins: Billie Eilish’s ‘What Was I Made For?’ from the movie ‘Barbie’ won ‘Song of the Year’. Singer SZA also took home three trophies—as did boygenius—including best rock song. R&B artist Victoria Monét won the best new artist title.
Big wins for India: Five Indian musicians bagged Grammys on Sunday. This included three for renowned tabla player Zakir Hussain. He won the trophies for the song 'Pashto' with Bela Fleck and Rakesh Chaurasia, the instrumental album 'As We Speak' and the album ‘This Moment’—recorded with his superband Shakti. It won ‘Best Global Music Album’.
Trouble in Africa’s most stable democracy
Senegal has been a stable democracy since gaining independence in 1960. So it’s a bit alarming that its leader—President Macky Sall—has postponed the presidential elections scheduled for February 25—till December: “Sall promised to hold a national dialogue to ensure that the elections are fair and transparent but offered no timeline.” The announcement was made just hours before campaigning was set to start. The reason offered by Sall: a legal dispute over eligibility of candidates. But critics are calling it a “constitutional coup.” (Washington Post, paywall, Associated Press)
Bad news for Indian movie theatres
According to a new report, the number of Indians going to the movies has dropped from 1.03 billion in 2019 to 943 million in 2023. At the same time, the industry raked in record ticket revenues of Rs 122.2 billion (12,226 crore) in 2023. Fewer people went to the theatres—but they paid a lot more money for their tickets: Average ticket prices grew 9% in 2023 compared to 2022—and are now 22% higher than 2019 levels.
The higher prices help earn more revenue—but also drive the decline in moviegoers:
Industry experts say footfall has fallen 10-20% across multiplex chains and single screen cinemas, and add that the rise in ATP, estimated to be up to 35% in the case of some multiplex chains, has alienated a section of the audience that sees home viewing on OTT channels such as Netflix or Prime Video as a cheaper, more convenient option.
This trend is especially true for Hindi films screened in multiplexes. The fallout: Some blockbusters like ‘Jawan’ or ‘Animal’ do very very well—driving up the overall revenue members. But many other films run in front of mostly empty seats—because the higher ticket prices keep people at home. (Mint)
Say goodbye to cached websites
Back in the day—when connectivity was slow—Google would show you cached versions of a website. It was very helpful when web pages took ages to load:
[Twenty five] years ago, the internet was kludged together with duct tape and a dream. Sometimes typing in a URL brought up a website. Sometimes things were just broken. Google, then just a bizarrely named startup, would soon offer a solution. The company added “cache” links to its search results, which brought up a previously saved version of web pages.
But not everyone is happy about the change—because caches served as a “backup of the entire Internet”—since Google would store every version of a webpage. Now we’ll have to make do with the Internet Archive. (The Verge)
Is global warming turning animals nocturnal?
A new study has found that Alpine ibexes are increasingly foraging at night to deal with warmer temperatures in the Alps. But this also makes them more vulnerable to predators that typically hunt at night. For example, wolves. This trend is true for other animals, as well. A previous study revealed that African cheetahs hunt most often at nights rather than the day. As a result, they have to compete with other carnivores—and end up losing out on their prey.
The bigger picture is this:
Research like this shows that human activity alters not only the landscape but also what some scientists call the “timescape.” Time, like space, is an ecological resource, during which animals forage, mate, and sleep. And like space, it offers gradients in climate, from the colder hours of the night to the warmer hours of the day. Climate change certainly makes some spaces uninhabitable — by, say, melting ice in the Arctic that polar bears need. Importantly, it is increasingly making certain times of day uninhabitable, too.
Vox has lots on why this nocturnal shift is alarming.
A safer Sikh turban
Many Sikhs with turbans do not wear helmets when they ride motorcycles, bikes etc. This also puts them at greater risk of head injury. A new study out of Imperial College London has helped identify the type of turban that minimises that danger.
For impacts to the front of the head, the 10 foot long Dastaar turban style reduced impact force by 23% compared with the worst-performing turban style. For impacts to the side of the head, the 32-foot (9.7 metres) Dumalla turban style performed the best, with a 59% reduction in the force.
You can see the recommended styles below. (Telegraph UK, paywall, Hindustan Times)
Three things to see
One: Wildfires have devastated the city Viña del Mar in central Chile—killing 112 people and 1,600 people. Around 200 people are still missing. Over 14,000 homes have also been destroyed. The trigger: High temperatures caused by El Niño. You can see the devastation below. (The Guardian)
Two: Scientists have found five tree fossils that were buried by an earthquake 350 million years ago. They look like something out of a Dr Seuss book. CNN has lots more on why this is an important find. We were delighted by the reconstruction of the prehistoric trees below.
Three: Fans of ‘Sacred Games’ & ‘Masaan’ will be delighted to learn that writer Varun Grover will be making his debut as director with ‘All India Rank’—which follows an IIT aspirant’s struggles in Kota. You can see the trailer below. The film will hit theatres on February 23. (The Hindu)
