Researched by: Aarthi Ramnath, Anannya Parekh & Aakriti Anand
Wanted: A fabulous editor for Advisory
Our weekend edition—the Advisory—is all about helping our community get the best advice on what to watch, where to travel, what to buy etc. All of it served with wonderful essays on art, music, food, history and more. We are looking for someone who really gets what makes the Advisory special—and can take it to the next level. Requirements of the job include:
- At least five years experience in lifestyle/culture content.
- A well-informed taste in books, travel, movies and more—and the network to commission content across a range of categories.
- Impeccable writing and editing skills is a must.
- Ability to work closely with our partners—and forge new relationships with institutions and brands.
- Willingness to explore lifestyle & culture in new and innovative ways.
- A knowledge of and love for splainer is a huge plus—since we’re not the usual news product.
Please note this isn’t a job for someone who is looking to edit the standard lifestyle section of a newspaper or site. Our aim is to break new ground—and build something truly valuable for our subscribers.
As for the rest: There is a six-month probation period and the pay will be industry standard. We are an equal opportunity employer and work remotely. Please send your resumes and cover letter—telling us why you want this job—to talktous@splainer.in. We will reach out to you if you’re shortlisted.
Is Byju’s going bankrupt?
The context: Once India’s most valuable tech startup, Byju’s has been experiencing a full-on meltdown—mostly self-inflicted. Its valuation tanked from $22 billion in 2022 to under $3 billion in 2024. We have extensively covered Byju’s issues in our Big Stories—on its dodgy accounting practices, the legal tamasha around their $1.2 billion loan.
What happened now: Byju’s splurged on IPL sponsorship—but now can’t pay the bills. It owes the India cricket board Rs 1.58 billion (158 crore). The BCCI filed a complaint with the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT)—which has now started insolvency proceedings against Byju’s—which “it cannot be disputed” that the company doesn’t have the money to pay up.
What does that mean? The board of directors and founder Byju Raveendran no longer control company operations—the NCLT has appointed a resolution professional who will take charge temporarily. The insolvency doesn’t affect daily operations for the employees or subsidiaries like Aakash Institute.
Point to note: Byju’s has settled similar cases filed by other companies, but legal experts say this one is serious:
In the BCCI matter, the debt amount is huge. There is considerable pressure on him (Byju Raveendran) to strike a deal but it is also much tougher considering he has lost control of assets, operations and management of Byju’s.
Making matters even worse: Employees claim that the company has not filed Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) on their behalf with the IT department—since July 2023. FYI: This is a serious crime—offenders can face jail time of up to seven years. Moneycontrol has more on the TDS angle. Mint (paywall) and Economic Times have more on the current insolvency proceedings.
Extreme monsoon in South Asia
Over 200 people have died in recent days in the subcontinent—of which 100 were in India and nearly 40 in Afghanistan. Another 100 were killed in Nepal—and millions have been displaced in Bangladesh. Experts warn the casualties and damage are unusual—caused by climate change:
Roxy Mathew Koll, a climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, a research centre, said extreme rainfall events in India have tripled since 1950, according to his research. “We need to be perpetually prepared for these kind of extreme rainfall events across South Asia,” Mr. Koll said. “There is a definite shift in monsoon patterns with more extreme rainfall events and long dry spells becoming a new reality.”
New York Times (paywall) has more on this worrying pattern.
Speaking of climate change: It’s “snowing” in Philadelphia airport in the middle of a heatwave. Actually, it’s hail—which is called ‘trace snow’—but it was heavy enough to break a record set back in 1870. See the unbelievable pic below. (Quartz)
Kagame wins Rwanda’s rigged election
The context: President Paul Kagame rebuilt the east African country of Rwanda after the brutal genocide in 1994. But he has also ruled with an iron fist—many critics of the regime have died, disappeared, been arrested, or fled the country.
What happened now: President Kagame has won the election with 99.15% of the vote—with 79% of the votes counted—extending his 24-year rule by another five years. His two opponents shared less than 1% of the vote. More than nine million voters registered in these elections—with two million first-time voters. This isn’t exactly surprising. He won the 2017 election with 98.8% of the votes. Nope, his rivals were not allowed to run in that election either. (BBC News)
A made-in-India malaria vaccine
A new R21 vaccine—developed by the Serum Institute of India—has been administered for the very first time in Ivory Coast. It was developed in partnership with Oxford University—just as with the Covishield vaccine. What makes this one special: It only costs $4 per shot—and has a 75-80% efficacy rate. FYI: African countries account for 94% of all malaria cases worldwide, which lead to 608,000 deaths every year. (CNN)
A massive hack attack on Disney
Hackers broke into 10,000 internal Slack channels at the company—leaking 1.1 TB of data dating back to 2019. This includes login credentials, revenue data, assessments of potential employees, and even photos of employees’ dogs. The aim is not to milk the data for money. Nullbulge is a hacktivist collective—making a point about Disney’s unfair treatment of artists—and “pretty blatant disregard” for consumers. (Wall Street Journal, paywall, Hollywood Reporter)
There are caves on the moon!
There are massive caves on the moon. Their presence has been speculated since the 1969 US moon landing—and has now finally been confirmed by a new study. What’s notable: The newly discovered cave is massive—130m deep and 100m wide—and visible on the surface of the moon. Happily, no bat people have been spotted as yet. You can see a close-up of the cave below (CBS News)
Coming soon: Alcohol delivery at home
Get ready to order booze alongside your pizza. Swiggy, BigBasket, Zomato, and Blinkit are testing home delivery of alcohol in Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala. For now, hard liquor like vodka and whiskey will not be on the menu—only beer, wine and liqueurs. The justification for home delivery:
“This is to cater to a growing expat population especially in larger cities, changing profiles of consumers who perceive moderate alcohol-content spirits as recreational drinking along with meals, and women and senior citizens who have flagged buying from traditional liquor vends and shop-front experiences as unpleasant.”
In other delivery news: Zomato and Swiggy have increased their platform fee by 20% in Delhi and Bangalore. What it means: the price of the food has increased by Rs 1 per order. They last hiked the platform fees in April—so this makes for a worrying trend. Since then, Zomato’s shares reached an all-time high and CEO Deepinder Goyal is now a billionaire. Home delivery ke side effects. (The Hindu)
Two things to see
One: Samsung took its rivalry with Apple to the next level in Kuala Lumpur—where Apple has opened its first store. Samsung may have just stolen the spotlight. It hasn’t just plastered every single wall in the mall—leading to the Apple Store—with its ads. And it named the nearest metro stop Samsung Galaxy Station. (Moneycontrol)
Two: Everyone loves Messi—and most of the world roots for Argentina when they take on France (See: World Cup). But all Argentinians aren’t quite so lovable. France has complained against racist chants—not just from fans but also team members:
The racist and transphobic chant, which was first sung by Argentina supporters during the 2022 World Cup, claims that France’s players are ‘all from Angola’ and makes a vile reference to a reported relationship between Kylian Mbappe and transgender model Ines Rau.
Reminder: Many French players are of African origin. Below is a clip from a vid streamed by Argentinian player Enzo Fernandez—who later apologised. (New York Times, paywall)
