Researched by: Rachel John, Anannya Parekh & Aarthi Ramnath
ICYMI: We have a new YouTube show!
In case you missed the Editor’s Note, we’ve launched our daily news wrap called ‘What the F*** Happened Here?’ The title sums up how all of us feel any time we watch or read the news. But we are here to make it easier to know what’s up—without noise, negativity or that existential feeling of despair. The latest edition from last evening is below. Follow us on YouTube to get your daily dose.
War on Gaza: The latest update
Google workers revolt: They want the company to dump a $1.2 billion contract with Israel called Project Nimbus—jointly held with Amazon. It provides AI and cloud computing services:
Nimbus reportedly involves Google establishing a secure instance of Google Cloud on Israeli soil, which would allow the Israeli government to perform large-scale data analysis, AI training, database hosting, and other forms of powerful computing using Google’s technology, with little oversight by the company. Google documents… suggest that the Google services on offer to Israel via its Cloud have capabilities such as AI-enabled facial detection, automated image categorization, and object tracking.
Google insists that none of this is used by the military—but no one is buying that line. To be clear, this isn’t exactly a mass uprising. ‘No Tech for Apartheid’ only has about 40 official members—though they claim there are hundreds more sympathetic to their cause. Time Magazine has the exclusive.
Germany vs Nicaragua at ICJ: Nicaragua has taken Germany to the International Court of Justice for providing military aid to Israel: “By sending military equipment and now defunding UNRWA [UN agency for Palestinian refugees] … Germany is facilitating the commission of genocide.” Point to note: South Africa has already accused Israel of war crimes in the same court. That said, ICJ is a UN body. Its rulings take ages to deliver—and while they’re binding there is no enforcement mechanism in place. Think of this as PR pressure on Israel—that embarasses its allies. (Al Jazeera)
Sticking with the UN: The Palestinian Authority—which administers the occupied West Bank—has applied to become a full member of the United Nations. As of now, it is a “non-member observer state”—same as the Holy See (the Vatican). A committee in the Security Council will vet the application. If they greenlight it, then the request is submitted to the wider Council. Approval requires nine ‘ayes’—and zero vetoes from the permanent members. Israel, of course, strongly disapproves—claiming, "The UN has been sabotaging peace in the Middle East for years. But today marks the beginning of the point of no return." (The Hindu)
A key ruling on climate change
In a case involving the endangered Great Indian Bustard, the Supreme Court delivered a landmark ruling on climate change. It recognised a citizen’s right to be protected from its worst effects—as part of their constitutional rights to equality and life. And here’s why: The right to health (which is a part of the right to life) is affected by air pollution, rising temperatures, droughts etc. And if climate change leads to acute food and water shortages, it will have unequal effects on the rich and the poor.
Why this matters: It establishes the government’s responsibility to protect all citizens from climate change—and accountability for actions that undermine the environment. Of course, no one knows what that means in practice. (The Hindu)
India vs China: Kaun banega economic super-giant?
India is the fifth largest economy in the world with a GDP of $3.5 trillion. In comparison, the Chinese economy is worth $17.8 trillion—and it will likely take India a lifetime to catch up. However, according to a Bloomberg analysis, India could dethrone China in this critical parameter:
In Bloomberg Economics’s base case scenario, India’s economy will accelerate to 9% by the end of the decade, while China slows to 3.5%. That puts India on course to overtake China as the world’s biggest growth driver by 2028. Even in the most pessimistic scenario — in line with the IMF’s projections for the next five years in which growth stays below 6.5% — India overtakes China’s contribution in 2037.
Right now, India is at #3—contributing 9.5% of global growth—compared to China’s 18.5%. As always, it’s all about the demographic dividend: a large population of young people to replace retiring generations.
But, but, but: Many Indians are simply not working or looking for a job. The number of people of working age in the labour market is only 55.4%. OTOH, it is 76% for China. This is also because Indian women are stuck at home. But also this—a skill gap that we rarely acknowledge:
India has a lot of extremes. It has the brightest minds, and then the greatest institutes in India that compete with the Ivy League universities, but then on average human capital levels are just not quite comparable to most other countries in the region, let alone higher or more developed countries.
Bloomberg News (paywall) has more of this exclusive analysis.
Why is Maldives so mean?
Former Maldives minister Mariyam Shiuna had to apologise for misusing the Ashok Chakra in one of her tweets. Shiuna created a meme mocking her party’s rival Maldivian Democratic Party. Basically, she swapped out the circle in their logo for the Ashok Chakra—presumably to call them out as India’s chamchas.
Great Twitter outrage ensued and she has delivered the usual non-apology. Shiuna belongs to the ruling party Progressive Party of Maldives—which ran on an anti-India platform. Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu has been cuddling up to China these days—kicking out all Indian military personnel. But New Delhi has stayed calm and amenable… for now. See the silly meme below. (Indian Express)
Found: A splainer easter egg!
Editor’s note: Every once in a while, we drop something funny, whimsical or beautiful in an unexpected part of the edition. Our last easter egg was a few lovely lines from Wislawa Szymborska’s ‘Love at First Sight’—a wonderful meditation on romantic love.
Today, we offer this striking self portrait by Korean-American painter Sasha Gordon that challenges body ideals with impish humour. ‘Trimmings’ shows Gordon using gardening shears to trim a hedge version of herself: “She makes herself into a monument without asking for permission.” New York Times has more on the modern nude, if you’re interested.
A flurry of cancer-related news
One, an Apollo report: Apollo Hospitals released its annual Health of Nation Report—which has some dismal data. One in three Indians is at risk for diabetes, two in three are at risk for hypertension, and one in 10 suffers from depression. Then there’s cancer. The number of cases was 1.39 million in 2020—but is expected to jump to 1.57 million by 2025. That’s a 13% increase.
More worrying: is the fact that the median age for cancer diagnosis in India is lower than other countries. For example, the median age for breast cancer is 52 in India—but 63 in the US and Europe. And yet only 1.9% of Indian women are screened for breast cancer—compared to 82% in the US. (Business Standard)
Two, a new Lancet study: found that prostate cancer in India will double to about 71,000 new cases per year by 2040. This is part of a global trend—cases are projected to double from 1.4 million per year in 2020 to 2.9 million per year by 2040 worldwide. Lower and middle income countries will see the biggest increases. (Indian Express)
Three, a link to biological age: A US study found that our biological age may be linked to the risk of cancer. As you know, we all have the age that measures the number of years we’ve spent on earth. Then there is biological age—which measures just how “old” our body is right now—given our lifestyle and genes.
Turns out, people who age faster according to that measure are far more likely to get cancer. They have twice the risk of early-onset lung cancer. A 60% higher risk of getting gastrointestinal tumours and more than 80% higher risk of uterine cancer. It’s all a bit ironic. We spend so much energy on anti-ageing treatments for the outside—while our insides shrivel into old crones. (CNN)
Get ready for expensive flights
As we predicted yesterday, Vistara’s plan to cut 1,000 flights in April has ended in grief for all passengers. Fares have already jumped by 25% on routes between Delhi and other cities, such as Goa, Kochi and Srinagar. Don’t expect the situation to improve any time soon. Vistara is just one factor pushing ticket prices upwards—as industry experts point out:
Over 70 aircraft of IndiGo are grounded due to engine-related issues and supply chain problems and over 50 Go First planes are idling at airports as the airline filed for insolvency in May last year. There are visible capacity constraints and the airlines seem helpless at this stage. On the other hand, demand growth is not letting up, leading to a skewed demand-supply scenario.
But hey, Air India is making Bengaluru its international hub in South India—water shortages be damned! (Indian Express)
AI comes to Spotify
Spotify is upping its AI game. It has launched a beta version of a tool that allows users to create a playlist based on textual prompts. Sadly this will only be available to folks in the UK and Australia for now. Don’t worry, soon enough, you will be able to create playlists for really important moments in your life. Like ‘songs for a food coma’ or tracks to ‘save this Tinder date’ or—if you insist on being really boring—“music to read to on a cold, rainy day.” Watch a demo video of the feature below. (TechCrunch)
Paris is getting hook-up ready!
In 2020, Tokya had placed a ban on athletes hooking up at the Olympic village because of the evil coronavirus. That’s where the athletes stay during the event and—left to their own devices—have lots of sex with each other. But social distancing made that a big no-no!
Happily, we have conquered the corona and athletes are now free to get down and dirty. Paris has lifted the ban for the Olympics this summer. Even better news: The village will be stocked with 300,000 condoms to promote safe sex. But it will not be drunken sex because the Olympics village is as dry as a gaon in Gujarat. (CBS News)
Four things to see
One: A rare total solar eclipse crossed the North American continent yesterday. The images are, of course, stunning—see an excellent gallery by CNN. NASA shared this view from planet Earth:
And this one from space:
Content warning: The clip below depicts gruesome violence that is difficult to watch.
Two: Social media is buzzing over a clip that shows a man being beaten with an iron rod in broad daylight. Now, that’s not exactly shocking in our great country—where good citizens rarely interfere when something bad is going down. They just whip out their mobile phones instead. In this case, the only-in-Bengaluru bit is this: The victim is a manager who was whacked around by goons hired by colleagues. Apparently, he was leaning on two members of the staff to work “faster.” It’s official: Bangalore is losing the plot. (Economic Times)
Three: We finally have a teaser trailer for the much-anticipated sequel to the Telugu blockbuster ‘Pushpa’—and it looks intriguing. It has Allu Arjun in a pattu saree—with fab jewellery to match—beating up the bad guys. The film also stars Rashmika Mandanna and Fahadh Faasil. ‘Pushpa: The Rule’ hits theatres on August 15. (Hindustan Times)
Four: The Qutub Minar marked the 30th anniversary of the Rwanda Genocide—the 100-day massacre that claimed the lives of 8,00,000 people in 1994. It was illuminated in the colours of the Rwandan flag. Nice! (The Hindu)
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 "PageTurners" 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.
