Researched by: Aarthi Ramnath, Anannya Parekh & Aakriti Anand
Rahul Gandhi to be Leader of Opposition
Rahul Gandhi has been selected as the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha. This will be his first Parliamentary role since becoming MP in 2004. The Congress staked its claim on the post because it has 99 MPs in the House. An Opposition party needs at least 55 MPs or one-tenth of the total Lok Sabha seats to be eligible for the post. What this role entails:
As the Leader of the Opposition, Rahul will be the Opposition’s voice in high-powered committees headed by the Prime Minister for appointment to key posts like the CBI Director, Central Vigilance Commissioner, Chief Information Commissioner, chairperson and members of the NHRC, and the Lokpal.
FYI: This will be the first time in 10 years that the lower house will have an LOP. Congress did not meet the requirements in the past two elections. Mallikarjun Kharge was the leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha in 2014 and the post went to Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury in 2019. (Indian Express)
Delhi HC stays Arvind Kejriwal’s bail again
The context: On March 21, the Chief Minister was arrested in a corruption case related to the Delhi Liquor Policy (explained in this Big Story). After spending nine days in the custody of the Enforcement Directorate, he was sent to Tihar jail by a Delhi court. In May, the Supreme Court granted him interim bail for election campaigning. Kejriwal returned to custody on June 2. On Thursday, a trial court granted bail to Kejriwal—but less than 24 hours later, the Delhi High Court directed an interim stay on the order, reserving its final verdict for a later date.
What happened now: The Delhi HC upheld its stay on the bail on Tuesday, saying that the trial court “didn't apply its mind” when granting bail to the Delhi CM. It pointed to lapses in judgement, including not giving the prosecution enough time to argue the case, and that the conditions for release in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act case were not discussed. Kejriwal is now set to appeal this decision in the Supreme Court and the hearing scheduled for today.
Meanwhile: The CBI is also circling around Kejriwal. The investigating agency has been pursuing its own case on the Delhi excise policy case—and interrogated Kejriwal on Tuesday night. According to sources, they will approach a Delhi court on Wednesday to get his custody. This means that even if the Supreme Court grants bail to the chief minister—he is likely to stay behind bars because of this CBI case. (NDTV)
Is India supplying weapons to Israel?
The context: Since the war on Gaza began back in October, there have been reports claiming that India has been supplying weapons to Israel. In February, reports suggested that India supplied advanced drones manufactured in a Hyderabad factory—which is a joint venture between Israel’s Elbit Systems and the Adani Group—which was “likely approved by the highest officials in India.” However, New Delhi neither confirmed nor denied these allegations.
What happened now: Former Israeli ambassador to India Daniel Carmon has now claimed that India might be supplying weapons to Israel, possibly as gratitude for Israel’s help during the Kargil War in 1999. Speaking to an Israeli publication Ynetnews, he said:
“The Indians always remind us that Israel was there for them during the Kargil war. Israel was one of the few countries that stood by them and provided them with weapons. The Indians don’t forget this and might now be returning favour”
During the 1999 war, Israel had sent crucial military supplies and equipment to India, including precision-guided munitions and surveillance drones. Ynetnews also reported that in May, Spain allegedly prevented a cargo ship from docking at one of its ports because it was carrying 27 tonnes of weapons from Chennai. (The Hindu)
Meanwhile, in Gaza: A report by the humanitarian aid group Save the Children estimated that 21,000 children are currently unaccounted for in Gaza. Of those, 17,000 are unaccompanied and separated, while 4,000 are likely buried under the rubble, based on data from the UN and the health ministry in the Strip. Some children are also likely to be buried in unmarked graves, or harmed beyond recognition by explosives. Reminder: Nearly 15,000 children in Gaza have been reported killed, since the war began in October 2023. (ABC News)
T20 World Cup: Afghans in, Aussies out
Afghanistan beat Bangladesh by eight runs in St Vincent on Tuesday—becoming semi-finalists in a major tournament for the first time ever. Their win knocked out Australia from the competition, and the team is all set to face South Africa on July 27. In a dramatic rain-interrupted match, Afghanistan defended a modest total of 115. Bangladesh was bowled out, with pacer Naveen-ul-Haq taking four wickets.
But the actual drama in the match came from the Afghan all-rounder Gulbadin Naib, who went viral for using “delay tactics” during the match. Watch the hilarious clip below. (The Guardian)
In other good news: India will be sending a full contingent to compete in archery at the Paris Olympics for the first time in 12 years. Both the men's and the women’s teams will participate in all five archery events. The six-member contingent will include veteran player Tarundeep Rai and former world No 1 Deepika Kumari. (The Telegraph)
Hackers are targeting old Android phones
According to a new study, many cybercriminals are targeting old Android phones and tablets which no longer get security updates. The aim is to lock them and then demand a ransom over Telegram. Here’s how the malware, called Rafel RAT, works:
Apps impersonated by the Rafel RAT include WhatsApp and Instagram, which will be installed on most of the devices targeted. Once installed, the RAT requests various permissions to access sensitive apps and services, including contacts, call logs and—critically—text messaging, which enables the RAT to bypass 2FA security measures.
Along with the ransomware, the threat campaigns were also found distributing malware that could wipe out all the files on a device, lock the screen rendering the device unusable, the capability to read messages that could compromise two-factor authentications and OTPs and tracking the device’s location.
The targeted devices were from popular and reputed brands such as Samsung, Google, Xiaomi, Redmi, Motorola, OnePlus, Vivo, and Huawei. Data to note: Malwares were detected in over 87.5% of the devices operating on Android versions 11 or older, and the rest 12.5% of infected devices had Android 12 or 13. Forbes has more.
A link between loneliness and strokes
A first-of-its-kind study has found that chronic or long-term loneliness in adults aged 50 and older increased their risk of having a stroke by 56%, as opposed to those who didn’t feel lonely, or felt loneliness only in certain situations.
Those who experienced situational loneliness but did not suffer long term did not have a higher risk of stroke, the study found, suggesting the impact of loneliness on stroke occurs over many years.
Researchers found higher blood pressure and lower immunity as causes for the strokes, and suggested that people who are lonely tend to adopt an unhealthy lifestyle, which could include “not taking medication, smoking, using alcohol and not getting enough sleep.”
Reminder: The WHO has previously declared loneliness to be a “pressing global threat” which impacts physical and mental health, with effects on mortality being as bad as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. (Independent UK)
Meta’s ‘Made with AI’ tag fail
The context: In February, Meta announced it is building tools that will tag and identify AI-generated content. Since May, the company began adding an ‘Made with AI’ tag on photos shared to Instagram, Facebook, and Threads.
What happened now: The tool is mistakenly tagging real images as AI—pissing off photographers who may edit their photos before putting them up on social media.
[Former White House photographer Pete] Souza told TechCrunch in an email that Adobe changed how its cropping tool works and you have to “flatten the image” before saving it as a JPEG image. He suspects that this action has triggered Meta’s algorithm to attach this label. “What’s annoying is that the post forced me to include the ‘Made with AI’ even though I unchecked it,” Souza told TechCrunch.
Meta also wrongly tagged a photo of the Kolkata Knight Riders winning the Indian Premier League as an AI image. Point to note: These tags show up on mobile apps, and not on the web versions of Meta platforms.
Why this matters: The label does not give enough information on how much AI was used—whether it was entirely generated using AI tools, or just cleaned up. So far, plenty of AI-generated images have not been caught by Meta’s algorithm, which calls its efficiency into question. TechCrunch has more.
China’s landmark Moon mission
The context: 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. In June this year, Chang-6 repeated the feat.
What happened now: In a historic first, Chang-6 has brought back samples from the far side of the moon. The mission took a total of 53 days. A part of these samples will be permanently stored in China, while the rest will be distributed among researchers around the world, to be studied alongside the samples collected from earlier Chang missions:
When scientists take possession of the far-side soils, they will compare the composition of the newly recovered basalts with those from the lunar near side. That may help them deduce how the moon’s volcanic activity caused its two halves to evolve differently.
Why this matters: The landing of the Chang-6 and the collection of the samples 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.” New York Times (paywall) and CNN have lots more.
Censor Board unofficially bans ‘Monkey Man’
The context: Dev Patel’s ’Monkey Man’ released worldwide on April 5, but doesn’t have an official release date in India yet. It is likely that the Hanuman-inspired action flick never will—Hindu gods are far too hazardous territory. FYI: Originally, Netflix owned the rights to the film but could never release it—we explain why in this Big Story.
What happened now: According to an exclusive report in The Hindu, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has been avoiding scheduling a screening of ‘Monkey Man’ for its Examining Committee, thereby unofficially staying its release. In effect, this equals to informally banning the film. The film was expected to release in India on April 19.
The Cinematograph (Certification) Rules, 2024, notified in March, and its preceding 1983 version, both lay out a five-day deadline for a film to be referred to the Examining Committee, which watches films before taking decisions on what changes should be made, if any. That deadline passed in May, and the film has still not been seen by the censors.
This comes even after Universal Studios deleted several ‘contentious’ scenes in the film that imply a nexus between religion and politics. One such deleted scene, had the following dialogue:
“Your power lies in bullets, and mine lies in these beads,” Baba Shakti says, holding up a japamala. A corrupt police officer then kills the politician in the scene, remarking, “What did you think? We’d let a Mullah run this town?”
Another scene involves a newsreader talking about crackdowns against the LGBT community, and shows real footage from the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests in 2020. (The Hindu)
Three things to see
One: Pappu Yadav, an Independent Member of Parliament from Purnia in Bihar, caused a stir as he took his oath as an MP, by raising a Re-NEET slogan—advocating for students who want the medical entrance to be cancelled. He was also wearing a ‘Re-NEET’ t-shirt. So when members of the Treasury bench objected to his sloganeering, he said: “I’m an MP for the sixth time, you’ll teach me?... You have won on the mercy (of others), I fight alone.” You can see the feisty exchange in the video below. (Hindustan Times)
Two: Researchers at Colorado State University have discovered a new species of dinosaur, which had fancy horns on its head, and behind its neck, and lived 78 million years ago. The scientists named the species the Lokiceratops rangiformis, as a hat-tip to the Norse god Loki, who wore a horned helmet. The bones of the Lokeceratops are currently on display in Denmark. You can see a picture of the horned skull below. (CNN)
Three: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan fans, rejoice! A lost album—recorded by the maestro before his untimely passing in 1997—has resurfaced. The album, titled ‘Chain of Light’, was recorded at musician Peter Gabriel’s Real World Records studio back in 1990, but was only found in the studio’s archives in 2021. The album features four qawwali tracks, including one never-heard-before piece. ‘Chain of Light’ releases on September 20. You can see a trailer for the album below. The Wire has more.
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