Researched by: Aarthi Ramnath, Anannya Parekh & Aakriti Anand
What the F*** Happened Here: The latest edition
ICYMI: We now have a twice-weekly newsmagazine show—hosted by our editor Lakshmi Chaudhry. This episode is all about why Delhi is boiling, silent layoffs in India’s IT industry—which quietly shed more than 20,000 employees last year, and recommendations of music from around the world, and a heads up on what to watch on streaming platforms.
The show is a great option when you don’t have time to read us every day. You get a video version of our best stories twice a week. Do check it out and—most importantly—share it with your friends, fam, colleagues, and more. It’s a great cost-free way to introduce someone to splainer—especially if they are text-averse.
Exit polls 2024: A BJP bonanza or BJP bluster?
About those exit polls: They are conducted when people exit the poll booth after casting their vote. In theory, they should be more accurate than opinion polls—which measure a person’s intent to vote, and not actual voting behaviour. Sadly, this is not true. Exit polls have been wildly off-the-mark around the world—and have a particularly dubious record in India. Example: Donald Trump’s win in 2016—or the 2004 polls which predicted the reelection of PM Vajpayee.
But, but, but: Some polls get it right some of the time. We just don’t know it until the results are out.
What the polls say: A super-duper win for the BJP/NDA—beating their 2019 totals.
- India Today-AxisMyIndia: 381 seats for NDA; 148 seats for INDIA
- ABP-CVoter: 368 for NDA; 167 for INDIA
- Republic-PMAQ: 359 for NDA; 154 for INDIA
- News24 Today-Chanakya: 400 for NDA; 107 for INDIA
Decoding the numbers: The big numbers are a result of key gains in South India. It will supposedly hang on to 23 out of 28 seats in Karnataka. Gain two to four seats in Kerala and Tamil Nadu—where it is currently at zero. The most astonishing is Telangana—where BJP currently has four seats. That total is expected to soar to 9-12 seats—in a state where Congress just scored a thumping Assembly election victory.
West Bengal shocker: BJP is expected to wallop Trinamool—scoring an average of 21-25 seats out of 40. It’s 2019 total: 18 seats—compared to TMC’s 22.
As for the Hindi belt: The polls predict it will remain a BJP bastion. The party will do better than ever in Uttar Pradesh—with 64-67 out of 80 seats—compared to its 2019 total of 62. INDIA will probably win just 10 seats. BJP will also sweep Bihar—which was considered a swing state—with an estimated 13-16 seats out of 40. BJP won 17 seats in 2019.
The key takeaway: No one knows if any of this is true—but the responses are kinda entertaining. For example, Rahul Gandhi offered this unusually macho response—quoting Sidhu Moose Wala, no less, lol:
The shocker in South Africa: ANC is out!
For the very first time in its history, Nelson Mandela’s party—the African National Congress—has failed to gain a majority. It has managed only 159 out of 400 parliamentary seats. And its vote share has dropped precipitously from 57.5% to 40%. The likely reason: uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK)—a new party led by disgraced ex-president and ANC leader Jacob Zuma—which peeled away 14.71% of the votes. For context: we did a Big Story on Zuma. Why this matters: “The staggering nosedive… put one of the continent’s most stable countries and its largest economy onto an uneasy and uncharted course.” (CNN)
Meanwhile in Mexico: The country is getting ready to elect its first woman president. More on that when the results are out. (Associated Press)
A peace plan for Gaza
The US president put forward a plan that he described as a proposal from Tel Aviv:
Biden described a plan with three phases, with the first including a full and complete cease-fire over six weeks, a withdrawal of Israeli forces from populated areas of Gaza and the release of some hostages, including women and the elderly. He said the second phase would see a permanent end to the hostilities and the release of remaining hostages, and phase three would involve a plan for the reconstruction of Gaza.
The bizarre response: Hamas made a lot of positive noises—but Bibi Netanyahu immediately objected (to Israel’s own plan?):
The Israeli prime minister’s office, in a statement following Biden’s remarks, said that the war wouldn’t end until all of Israel’s war goals are achieved—including “the elimination of Hamas’s military and governmental capabilities.”
Hain, yeh kya hua? Ah, we forgot to read the fine print. Biden also “acknowledged that some parts of Mr. Netanyahu’s coalition would not agree with the proposal and would rather keep fighting for years and occupy Gaza.” The biggest part being Netanyahu himself. So not exactly Israel’s plan.
The fallout: Who knows. Wall Street Journal is positioning the deal as putting pressure on Hamas; New York Times claims it is crunch time for Bibi—who has to pick between a truce and his political survival. FWIW, Netanyahu’s aide told Sunday Times, the proposal was "a deal we agreed to — it's not a good deal but we dearly want the hostages released, all of them.” But the real question: Who will “reconstruct” Gaza? Reuters via The Hindu has the latest.
Air India’s latest tamasha
The airline just can’t stay out of the headlines. This time, it went viral because of a 30-hour delay in its flight from Delhi to San Francisco—which spawned vids like this:
Things were so bad on the plane—which had no air conditioning—that some passengers fainted due to the heat. Air India was finally shamed into offering an apology—and more importantly—a $350 voucher to passengers. But then… it happened again! The Delhi-Vancouver flight was delayed by 22 hours—due to a “technical” issue.
Point to note: Until recently, if you were taken off a plane stuck on the runway, you had to go through security all over again. This is why airlines have been reluctant to deplane passengers stuck on a runway. But in early April, airport authorities introduced a new rule allowing deplaned passengers to go through security at the boarding gate—precisely to prevent these kinds of situations. So Air India has zero excuse. (The Hindu)
Speaking of extreme heat: New data shows that there were 25,000 cases of heat stroke, and 56 deaths—due to heat waves between March and May. Point to note: Holding elections in the height of summer hasn’t helped. According to Al Jazeera, 33 polling staff died on the last day of voting due to heatstroke in Uttar Pradesh. (ThePrint)
Boeing’s Starliner grounded again
The context: Boeing planned to launch its first-ever spacecraft twice in May—but was stalled due to technical problems. The company has a lot riding on the Starliner—which has been plagued with delays since 2015. We look at why the Starliner matters—other than the fact that its maiden flight will be crewed by hamaari Sunita Williams—in this Big Story.
What happened now: On Saturday, the launch of the spacecraft was called off three minutes and 50 seconds before liftoff. The reason this time: One of the three computers that manages the launch “was slow to come up and that tripped a red line — that created an automatic hold…” More details will come out later. If the issue is fixed, the next window of opportunity for the spacecraft launch would be June 6 or June 10. (CNN)
A Chinese landing on the moon
In 2019, Chang-4 became the first spacecraft to land on the dark side of the moon—the side that permanently faces away from us. On Sunday, Chang-6 repeated the feat. But this time the probe will send samples back to Earth—which will be historic. Why this landing is significant: It is a key milestone in China’s push to become a dominant space power: “The country’s plans include landing astronauts on the moon by 2030 and building a research base at its south pole — a region believed to contain water ice.” You can see the touchdown below. (CNN)
Three things to see
One: On Saturday night, actress Raveena Tandon was assaulted by an angry mob—which claimed that her car had hit passersby. A claim that has since been proven wrong. You can see the frightening confrontation outside her home below. (Economic Times)
Two: During a warm up match for the upcoming T20 World Cup, a fan invaded the pitch to hug Indian captain Rohit Sharma. He was tackled to the ground by New York cops—even though Sharma repeatedly asked them to be kind. Sad. (Hindustan Times)
Three: The Ocean’s duo and real-life besties, George Clooney and Brad Pitt, reunite for an action comedy flick—where they play two ‘lone wolf’ professional fixers, hired to do the same job. This is their first joint outing after the 2008 film ‘Burn After Reading’. ‘Wolfs’ is slated to release on September 20. Watch the trailer below. (Variety)
