Ukraine make inroads into Russian territory

Researched by: Aarthi Ramnath, Aakriti Anand & Raghav Bikhchandani

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Ukraine make inroads into Russian territory

The context: In February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine—and got a rude shock when its troops encountered stiff resistance. Ukraine recovered territory—and Kyiv stood strong. In June 2023, Ukraine attempted a counter-offensive in order to liberate Crimea—which Russia had annexed in 2014—and cut Russian supply lines. But it led instead to a stalemate, followed by a costly war of attrition—which Russia appeared to be winning. Check out our Big Story from January for more.

What happened now: On August 6—newly fortified by the US weapons—Kyiv launched a surprise counter-offensive on the Kursk border. Its soldiers soon smashed through Russian defences—and now claim to control 1,000 km (or 34 villages) of territory. Moscow admits that Ukrainian forces are around 30 km inside its borders. See the frontline below:

Why this matters: This is the most significant cross-border attack launched by Ukraine since the beginning of the war. Having spent more than a year on the defensive, Kyiv is now “taking the reins.” Experts say the audacious move could help win the war—or at least leave Ukraine in a stronger negotiating position: “[M]omentum and initiative is everything in warfare; this caught everybody off guard.”

But, but, but: The unexpected incursion is a high-stakes gamble:

This offensive is a major gamble, especially since Russia dominates much of the frontline in Ukraine and has made significant inroads in the east. If Ukrainian troops are able to hold territory, they could stretch the capacity of Russian troops, deliver a major embarrassment for Mr Putin and get a bargaining chip for any peace negotiations. But if Russia manages to push Ukrainian troops out of Kursk and simultaneously move forward in eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian military leaders could be blamed for giving the Russians an opening to gain more ground.

Point to note: US officials say they were not consulted—and seemingly remain unimpressed:

The American officials said they were surprised at how well the operation has gone so far, but were sceptical that the Ukrainians could hold onto their gains. And in making the incursion, they said, Ukraine has created new vulnerabilities along the front where its forces are already stretched thin.

Reading list: New York Times (login required) has a detailed account of the offensive. The Guardian has more on Russian countermeasures. Al Jazeera explainer offers a broader overview.

Kolkata rape-murder case update: ‘Serious lapses’ from hospital admin

The context: On August 9, a 31-year-old post-graduate trainee doctor was found murdered in a seminar hall in RG Kar Medical College. The body had extensive injuries—suggesting that she had been raped and strangled. The alleged perpetrator—Sanjay Roy—is a civic volunteer with Kolkata Police. The murder has sparked widespread protests from doctors and the rest of the medical fraternity.

What happened now: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has taken over the case from Kolkata Police—following a Calcutta High Court directive. A team of agency officials from Delhi—with forensics scientists and medical experts—will arrive in Kolkata today to begin work.

Why this matters: The court “noted serious lapses” in the response by the hospital administration once the victim’s body was discovered.

The biggest concern: is the possibility of a cover-up. The High Court flagged the peculiarly lenient treatment of RG Kar principal Dr. Sandip Ghosh—who has close ties with Trinamool. Ghosh first claimed the victim had died by suicide—and then said: “it was irresponsible of the girl to go to the seminar hall alone at night.”

Yet when he resigned due to the backlash, he was promptly appointed Principal in another hospital. And the police have failed to interrogate him—as the Court noted: “You should have recorded his statement, why protect him? There is something amiss."

About those volunteers: The WB government has set a target of recruiting 1,30,000 ‘civic volunteers’—supposedly to gainfully employ youth without much of an education or prospect of a better paying job. They are paid around Rs 9,000 a month. The volunteers, however, have become a private force for the TMC:

The civic volunteers were initially recruited to help police control traffic and be general "do-gooders". Over time, they were co-opted to run a parallel law and order management system, granting them proximity to the ruling party which brings its benefits and perks. Critics of the civic volunteer system say they are untrained in law, policing and human rights and just have to keep the local Trinamul "dada" happy to keep the job and have the contract renewed.

Roy’s position as a civic volunteer—gave him access and impunity:

"He had access to all departments owing to his proximity with some senior police officers and the hospital authorities. Nobody had the guts to stop his unhindered movements in and around the hospital," an officer said… "There is ample evidence that the accused was throwing his weight around because of his proximity with senior police officers. This aspect is also under investigation," the officer said.

In fact, he went to the police barracks to sleep after committing the crime.

Reading list: The Telegraph has more on the civic volunteers. Deccan Herald has a good explainer—that has all the basic details of the case. NDTV has more on the court ruling.

Something to see: In the video below, the relative of the victim recounts the ordeal of the family to reporters. Warning: It is explicit, heart-wrenching—and very difficult to hear.

Starbucks has a new CEO

There are innumerable stories of desi superstar CEOs in the US. This is not one of them. Laxman Narasimhan has been fired after little over a year in the job. He was anointed as the heir to Starbucks’ legendary Howard Schulz—who recently threw him under the bus:

But investors and the company’s board quickly soured on the longtime PepsiCo executive, who trained as a barista and worked monthly in Starbucks stores but had little retail experience. Starbucks’ revenue dropped 2% in the first three months of this year, the first quarterly sales decline for the company since the end of 2020. The decline prompted a rebuke from Schultz, who wrote in a LinkedIn post this spring that company leaders should spend more time in stores and focus on coffee drinks.

He will be replaced by Chipotle chief Brian Niccol—who brings a lot more restaurant experience. New York Times has more on Niccol. (Associated Press)

An appalling drone strike on Rohingyas

The context: The Rohingya are a Muslim minority in the Buddhist-dominated country. The Myanmar government—whether military or civil—has refused to recognize their existence and claims they are actually Bangladeshi refugees. They have been hunted and killed by the military in a series of ‘clearance operations’. Back in 2017, at least 10,000 Rohingya were killed in a single month. This Big Story has more background.

What happened now: The military junta appears to have resumed its ethnic cleansing campaign. A drone attack killed 200 people including children—as they tried to flee across the border. According to an activist:

“They told me several dozen, at least three to four dozen, drone bombs were dropped there. They are saying at least more than 200 were killed and around 300 injured. There is nobody to collect the dead bodies. Everyone is running to save their lives. Some are already in Bangladesh”

Al Jazeera has more on the state of the refugees. (The Guardian)

A GST scam busted in Delhi

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in Delhi has unearthed a Rs 54 crore (540 million) GST refund scam. What’s notable: The scale of the scam executed by seven people—including a tax officer:

A GST officer, three lawyers, two transporters and the owner of a "company" were part of a plot involving 500 fake companies and fake invoices worth Rs 718 crore [7.18 billion] to claim GST refunds worth Rs 54 crore [540 million]. The 500 companies only existed on paper and were purportedly involved in the import/export of medical goods to claim GST refunds.

NDTV has a very detailed account of the scam.

Say hello to the ChatGPT CV

According to a new survey, nearly half of all job candidates are using AI to craft their CVs and cover letters—and are very good at not getting caught. The result: There are more job applicants—but of a far lower quality: “A candidate can copy and paste any application question into ChatGPT, and then can copy and paste that back into that application form.” What’s interesting:

It also discovered that those who used the free version of ChatGPT were less likely to pass psychometric tests, while those who used the paid-for version were highly likely to. “The one-quarter of job seekers who paid for ChatGPT passed “with flying colours”, Betts said, and are “overwhelmingly those from higher socio-economic backgrounds, male applicants, non-disabled, mostly white because there’s a correlation with socio-economic status”.

ChatGPT—pay us to help you cheat better. Financial Times (splainer gift link) has the story. A related good read: Our Big Story on whether AI will take your job in the future.

Indian bankers are fleeing their jobs

The attrition rate in our banking industry is 29.2%—nearly double the global average. The number is even higher—around 50%—when you consider only junior bankers. Why is this happening? The happy reason: A banking boom makes job-hopping easy. The less-happy reason: Long working hours with little pay—at the lower management level. Most significantly, junior staff bear the brunt of fierce competition within the industry:

Kamal Karanth, co-founder of Xpheno, a Bengaluru-based solutions firm, said many investors see nothing but upside for India. They expect banks to do whatever it takes to bring in business — a pressure-cooker environment that often falls heaviest on younger staff and leads to “higher friction between employees and institutions.”

“The sales teams are the worst affected,” he said. “Front-line staff have to sell company products aggressively and end up facing tough working conditions and the wrath of consumers.”

Bloomberg News via Straits Times has the nerdy details.

Worrying news about your sugar & salt

A new study has revealed that all Indian salt and sugar brands contain microplastics in all possible forms—pellets, fibres, films, and fragments. Yep, this includes small brands, and even unpackaged local varieties. Iodised salt is the worst of the lot—containing 89.15 pieces of microplastics per kg. OTOH, organic rock salt has only 6.71 pieces per kg. Of the five types of sugar tested, the worst offender was non-organic sugar with 68.25 pieces per kg.

The worrying bit: The average Indian consumes about 10.98 gm of salt and 10 spoons of sugar per day. Reminder: Scientists don’t exactly know what microplastics do to our body—but they have been linked to increased risk of cancer, infertility etc. (The Telegraph)

There’s a hidden ocean on Mars!

A new study has revealed a vast underground reservoir—with enough liquid to cover the entire planet with a mile of water. The bad news: It is “trapped inside a layer of fractured rock 7 to 13 miles (11.5 to 20 kilometres) beneath the Red Planet's outer crust.” Humans haven’t developed the technology to drill that deep on Earth—leave alone Mars. But, but, but: If we do figure it out, Elon Musk may turn out to be right—according to the co-authors:

Water is necessary for life as we know it. I don't see why [the underground reservoir] is not a habitable environment. It's certainly true on Earth — deep, deep mines host life, the bottom of the ocean hosts life. We haven't found any evidence for life on Mars, but at least we have identified a place that should, in principle, be able to sustain life

LiveScience has more on how scientists made this discovery.

what caught our eye

business & tech

Adani lost $2.4 billion in company value on Monday after the new Hindenburg report came out (see: this Big Story), which caused shares to plummet, yet again.
Dairy companies in China are now focusing on marketing to adults as a fallout of lowering birth rates.
The Elon Musk-owned X has been targeted with nine privacy complaints after it used EU user data to train the AI model Grok.
In light of the global IT outage, CrowdStrike has accepted a ‘Most Epic Fail’ award at a hacking conference.
SpaceX has announced the first-ever human mission to fly over Earth’s poles.
India’s antitrust body has ordered a recall of its investigation reports that found Apple to be breaching competition laws.
A good read: The biggest data breaches of the year.

sports & entertainment

JK Rowling and Elon Musk have been named in a cyberbullying lawsuit filed in France—filed by Algerian Boxer Imane Khelif.
The much-anticipated verdict in Vinesh Phogat’s appeal has been deferred for the third time. It is now slated for August 16.
A good read: Meet the “granfluencers”—elderly people who have found a new lease of life on social media platforms like TikTok.
Meta and Universal Music have announced an “expanded global, multi-year agreement that will further evolve the creative and commercial opportunities” for the label’s artists—which includes AI monetisation.
Indian para shuttler Pramod Bhagat won gold in Tokyo 2020 but won’t be able to defend his title in Paris. The reason: he’s been suspended for 18 months for violating an anti-doping whereabouts clause.

as for the rest

Hamas has pulled out of ceasefire talks in Qatar—citing bad faith on the part of Israel. A New York Times exclusive suggests it may be right.
Washington Post (splainer gift link) explains why clothing that mixes artificial and natural fibres are the worst for the environment.
A murder investigation has been opened, implicating Bangladesh’s recently ousted former PM Sheikh Hasina.
In other Bangladeshi news, the country’s inflation spiked to 11.66% in July—the highest in 12 years—due to the civil unrest.
Pakistan has arrested former spy chief Faiz Hameed—who was also a close ally of deposed PM Imran Khan.
More than 47,000 people died in Europe in 2023 due to heatwaves.

Five things to see

One: Algerian boxer Imane Khelif endured appalling harassment from rightwingers in the West—who questioned her gender. But Algerians more than made up for it with this joyous welcome for the gold medallist. Scenes of celebration below are sure to make your day. (AFP via Barron’s)

Two: Freshly printed banknotes with King Charles’s face sold for a whopping £914,127 ($1.16 million)—which is 11X the original value. BBC News has more on the auction.

Three: The famous Double Arch or the Toilet Bowl in Utah has collapsed—due to “changing water levels and erosion from waves in Lake Powell”. It was 190 million years old—dating back to the early Jurassic period. See the before and after photos below. (Associated Press)

Four: Behold, the Disneyfication of Shah Rukh Khan parivaar. In this Hindi-dub trailer for ‘Mufasa’, King Khan reprises his role as Lion King—joined by his sons Aryan and AbRam as Simba and young Mufasa, respectively. The movie hits the theatres on December 20. (Variety)

Five: Hindi film aficionados, rejoice! The three-part docuseries on the legendary Salim-Javed—titled ‘Angry Young Men’—drops on Amazon Prime on August 20. Catch the trailer below for a sneak peek. (Indian Express)