Donald Trump II: The India story

Written by: Aarthi Ramnath, Aakriti Anand, Raghav Bikhchandani & Yash Budhwar

Donald Trump II: The India story

In this final instalment of our US election series, we ask the only Q that matters to Indians: Will Washington remain India’s BFF—or turn into our worst frenemy? The answer: Yeah, we have good reason to worry—though perhaps far less than China.

Editor’s note: This ends a long-ass series on the US elections—and its surprising result. Earlier this week, we laid out why Donald Trump’s second tenure will likely mark the end of American hegemony—and what that means for various parts of the world. You can read the analysis of why Trump defeated Kamala Harris in this Big Story.

A landmark verdict on bulldozer (in)justice

The Supreme Court has finally banned the government’s brand of ‘bulldozer justice’—demolishing homes of those accused of a crime (usually Muslims).

What is this about? The state and union governments have been using demolitions to suppress protest—and in some cases, punish Muslims. The practice first started during the anti-Citizenship Act protests in 2022. Since then officials in UP, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh etc have used the bulldozer in Muslim neighbourhoods—usually after riots to deliver a message. The pretext is illegal construction. This Big Story has lots more context.

Data point to note: Local, state and union authorities have demolished 153,820 homes in 2022 and 2023—making 738,438 people homeless.

The Court ruling: The Supreme Court ruled on a batch of petitions challenging various demolitions—filed by activists and victims. The ruling declared the obvious—bulldozer justice is illegal, period:

In its ruling, the court said that meting out such punishment without due process “reminds one of a lawless state of affairs, where ‘might was right.’ The executive cannot become a judge and decide that a person accused is guilty and, therefore, punish him” by demolishing his properties, the judgement said.

Also this:

The settled principle of criminal jurisprudence is that the accused is innocent till proven guilty and if the structure is demolished, then it is collective punishment on all family members which cannot be allowed under the Constitution.

The ten commandments directives: primarily focus on due process:

First, government officials must issue a notice—giving a grace period of at least 15 days.
The notice must specify the specific violations—and legal grounds for demolition.
The person must have the opportunity to appeal the order in person.
There will be a digital portal that records the entire process—including the notice, responses and final order.
Officials must videotape the actual demolition—and file a detailed report naming the police officials and personnel involved in the operation.

Punishing the babus: The last is extremely important—as the Court lays out punishment for individual officials who flout its order. They will have to pay for restitution of the demolished property out of their own pocket. Some experts say this directive adds teeth to the ruling—and will make “officials to think twice before blindly following the orders of the political class to demolish houses to ‘send a message’.”

Does this matter? It’s always good to remind our netas of the rule of law—which they seem to forget so easily. But Supreme Court orders often become an exercise in constitutional showboating. They reaffirm principles in theory—which continue to be violated in practice. But the ruling did not offer what the victims needed most: compensation and punishment. Where’s the justice in that?

Reading list: The Hindu has the most detailed explainer on the ruling—while The Print offers an overview. The Telegraph lists the various directives in the order. Indian Express reports on the disappointment of the victims.

A horrific abduction in Manipur

The context: Manipur has been torn apart by ethnic violence for the past 18 months—although the stories have disappeared from the front page. We explained the reasons for the conflict between Meitei and Kuki communities in this Big Story.

What happened now: On November 11, three Meitei women and three children— including an eight-month-old baby—were abducted by Kuki militants. Two elderly persons were also burnt alive. They were taken from a refugee camp—amid a battle with CRPF soldiers. It’s been 48 hours—yet none of them have been traced by the police. Imphal has been entirely shut down by a bandh protesting the kidnapping. The government has rushed additional forces—to deal with any resurgence in violence. The death tally since the violence started: 240. (The Hindu)

Saudi dreams of NEOM are dying

The context: In 2017, Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammad Bin Salman unveiled grand plans for a $500 billion megacity called NEOM. The plans were part of a grand makeover of Saudi Arabia—2030 Vision. From the very beginning, the project has been plagued by problems—the biggest being a tenuous relationship with reality. The plans included: flying taxis, robot maids, dinosaur robots in a fake Jurassic Park, glow-in-the-dark sand, and a giant artificial moon. All of which led to hasty downsizing and delays in recent years. All this and more in our recent Big Story on NEOM.

What happened now: NEOM has lost its CEO—Nadhmi al-Nasr—who has been in the job since 2018. It is the first real confirmation of the many rumours of trouble—although the Saudis have not offered any explanation for his departure. The Saudi sovereign fund—which is financing the project—is now taking direct control. However, that may mean NEOM is becoming less important. MBS no longer needs a shining city to declare Saudi Arabia’s rebirth—when he is remaking the entire kingdom:

Since then, Prince Mohammed’s moves to liberalize his economy have rapidly changed the kingdom as a whole, with a huge increase in women joining the labor force and an influx of foreign investors setting up offices in the capital. Some Neom employees now argue that there is little need for a separate part of the country with its own laws and regulations.

OTOH, it is also likely that the Saudis are simply running out of money. In 2018, the price tag was optimistically set at $500 billion—but execution of even part of the plans would run into the trillions. Reminder: “Saudi real GDP is expected to grow 0.8% this year, in a dramatic drop from a previous estimate of 4.4%.” (Wall Street Journal, paywall, CNBC)

Swiggy makes its market debut

After months of anticipation, the food delivery company went public yesterday—with mixed results. Its share price surged by 15%—but then dropped by 5%. It ended the day at Rs 464 per share. The market view of Swiggy is a bit bipolar. Some analysts are recommending a target price of Rs 325—while others put it at Rs 470. Meanwhile, Zomato sent this cutesy pic—captioned: “You and I... In this beautiful world.” (Mint)

Qatar scores on labour law reforms

The context: Back in 2022—when Qatar hosted the FIFA World Cup—it received relentless grief for its exploitation of foreign workers. The nation imported a reported 30,000 labourers just to build stadiums—mostly from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and the Philippines. And there were successive media and NGO reports flagging their appalling working conditions. For more details, read our Big Story.

What happened now: Doha received vindication from the Human Rights Council in Geneva for reforming its labour laws—as part of its five-yearly review. These include a minimum wage, freedom to change employers, and a crackdown on trafficking. But, but, but: The council flagged gaps in implementation—and not everyone shares the UN’s assessment. Example: Amnesty’s 2023 report on human rights in Qatar.

Why any of this matters: Middle Eastern countries like Qatar have been under fire for using sports events—like the World Cup—to ‘sportswash’ their human rights record. The council’s review suggests that these events could, in fact, offer an incentive for real reform. That sportswashing—and the desire to improve a nation’s global rep—could lead to change. OTOH, global NGOs like Amnesty and Human Rights Watch disagree. Also: Look for this heated debate to take centre stage when FIFA confirms Saudi Arabia as host of the 2034 World Cup—in December. (Associated Press)

Is Perplexity going the Google way?

There has been loads of talk about AI-driven search engines displacing Google’s search monopoly. All of which raised hopes for a search engine that actually does its job—and throws up useful links as opposed to ads. Sadly, Perplexity seems to be going down the same path. The Jeff Bezos-backed search engine will now run ads—labelled as “sponsored follow-up questions”—the kind that appear alongside results when you put in search terms. It will look like this:

The answers to the questions will be written by Amazon’s AI—not the brands. Apparently, this format “integrates advertising in a way that still protects the utility, accuracy, and objectivity of answers.” Reminder: ChatGPT hasn’t embraced ads… for now. (TechCrunch)

Elephants + garden hose = excellent baths

Two Asian elephants—Mary and Anchali—at the Berlin zoo impressed researchers with their ability to use tools—specifically, a garden hose. The “sophisticated” Mary—aka “the queen of showering”—intuitively knew how to use a hose to “methodically wash her body with a hose, lifting up her limbs to ensure she got in all the crevices.” OTOH, Anchali tried to cut off Mary’s water supply by stepping on the hose—maybe to teach the big show-off a lesson:)

Why this is more than just cute:

Both animals exhibited goal-directed behaviour using tools… This is a skill once believed to be unique to humans but has recently been observed in chimpanzees, crows, dolphins and other species.

Watch the super-fun vid below. You can read the study here. (Independent UK)

what caught our eye

business & tech

To no one’s surprise, the most powerful businessman on Fortune’s annual list is…Elon Musk! The rest of the top five: Jensen Huang, Satya Nadella, Warren Buffett, and Jamie Dimon.
Star India has incurred a whopping Rs 12,548 crore ($1.48 billion) loss for FY2024—which it blames on an ‘onerous’ cricket media rights deal signed with the ICC.
Say hello to ‘gCommerce’—a new in-game shopping platform launched by mobile gaming giant Nazara and the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).
The latest on the BCCI-Byju’s legal lafda—the board now wants to withdraw from the insolvency proceedings it had initiated against the edtech startup.

sports & entertainment

Lena Dunham of ‘Girls’ fame will write the script for an upcoming film on crypto bro and convicted fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried.
Coldplay has added a fourth India show, scheduled for January 25 in Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium. Tickets go live on November 16.
The ICC Champions Trophy stalemate continues: India refuses to travel to Pakistan for the tournament—and the Pakistani government has asked its cricket board to not give in to India’s demand of moving its matches to Dubai.

as for the rest

Indian kids are now spending 60% more time watching videos online than they did two years ago, a new report reveals. What about the adults?
India will have to spend Rs. 816 billion ($9.67 billion) per year to conserve its biodiversity, according to the government’s new strategy and action plan.
According to a new study, rents have shot up by 70% over the last six years in seven major Indian cities—including Delhi NCR and Mumbai.
In scenes straight out of a Guy Ritchie film, Greater Noida police raided the tenth-floor apartment of a man who was operating a full-blown nursery of cannabis plants!
India has issued new guidelines to crack down on misleading ads by coaching centres—no more lofty guarantees of ‘100% selection’ or ‘100% job security’!
Coming in 2025: ‘The Nehru Archive’, your one-stop digital repository of all things Jawaharlal.
The Telegraph has a must-read on the ‘tale of two cities’ in Jamshedpur West—Tata Steel’s ‘command areas’ where employees live, and Mango which lacks basic facilities and infrastructure.
In The Print, Karanjeet Kaur pens a sharp op-ed on the real problem with Goa tourism—sea view homes killing the state’s mangroves.
The Guardian is no longer posting on Elon Musk’s X, because of the increase in unchecked posting by far-right conspiracy theorists and racists.
US consumers continue to show their vast knowledge—Costco is recalling nearly 80,000 pounds of butter because… they were missing a ‘contains milk’ label.
Women in the US are preparing for a second Trump term—sales of emergency contraceptive pills, like the morning-after Plan B, are skyrocketing.
Vox has a good read on the escape of 43 lab monkeys from a research lab in South Carolina, in a ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’-esque incident.
Wired (paywalled) has a bizarre story on the US’ cloned sheep contraband problem—after a Montana resident illegally cloned and bred an endangered sheep species.

Four things to see

One: While Priyanka Gandhi campaigned for the by-polls in Wayanad—Rahul Gandhi promoted the longest zipline in Kerala—GoPro camera in hand. (Economic Times)

Two: People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive for 2024 is… John Krasinski! He takes over from 2023’s Sexiest Man Patrick Dempsey—who also peaked over a decade ago on ‘Grey’s Anatomy’. Only fitting since the magazine and its award feel kinda retro, as well. (People)

Three: Behold the stunning images from the 2024 Nature’s Best Photography International Awards—which received more than 25,000+ entries from 62 countries. The grand winner was taken by Mangesh Ratnakar Desai—at the Tadoba-Andhari reserve in Maharashtra. It shows a mum teaching her cub how to fight—let’s go, tiger moms!

We’re partial to this other tiger pic—photographed by Krishna Daga at the Pench Tiger Reserve. Aww, tree huggers are the best! The other winners are just as beautiful. Check them out here. (Popular Science)

Four: Bridget Jones fans, rejoice (or is it ‘beware’?)! The trailer for the latest sequel ‘Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy’ is finally here! Yes, Renée Zellweger is back as a single mom coping with Mark Darcy’s death. Yup, no more Colin Firth! But but but: she has three delicious choices to choose from: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Leo Woodall and… Hugh Grant! The movie will hit streaming in February 2025. (Hollywood Reporter)