Researched by: Aarthi Ramnath, Anannya Parekh & Aakriti Anand
Birthday wishlist: A reminder
On our anniversary—earlier this month—we made a big wish for your support. Splainer needs to raise money to extend our runway in an extremely difficult funding climate—and we explained in detail why (See: This Big Story). What we need is pretty straightforward:
- If you live outside India, please consider becoming investors—or connecting us with other overseas investors. This is our best and easiest road to fundraising. Please email me directly at lakshmi@splainer.in.
- Buy a founding membership—ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 100,000. You won’t get a piece of the company, but we give you a load of free subscriptions to share with whoever you please.
- Gift subscriptions to friends and family—at a hefty 33% discount.
- Buy bulk subs at an even greater discount for your workplace or institution. Please reach out to our team at talktous@splainer.in.
- Renew your subscription—an ongoing commitment keeps our bottomline steady, at the very least.
The Pannun assassination plot: Embarrassment ahead!
The context: In November 2023, an indictment filed by the Justice Department accused a RAW officer of orchestrating a plot to kill a separatist leader—Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. The officer was later named by the Washington Post as Vikram Yadav. He allegedly recruited Nikhil Gupta—who was facing charges of drugs and weapons trafficking—who in turn hired a hitman to do the job. Sadly for Gupta, the hitman turned out to be an undercover agent. Our Big Story has lots more.
What happened now: Gupta was arrested in the Czech Republic last year—and has been desperately appealing his extradition to the US ever since. He has lost the court battle—and is now being held in Manhattan. He pleaded not guilty to charges of murder-for-hire—which carry a 20-year sentence. Why this matters: If Gupta cuts a deal, it is likely to be highly embarrassing for New Delhi. (Reuters)
In a related scoop: ABC News (Australia) put out an exclusive investigation into a “nest” of Indian spies in the country:
Indian intelligence officers were trying to gain access to sensitive defence technology and airport security protocols. They were targeting former and current politicians as well as a state police service. Crucially, they were also accused of monitoring the Indian Australian community…at least four intelligence officers were asked to leave Australia. Some had been posing as diplomats in India’s high commission.
What’s notable: The number of expulsions is on par with countries like China and Russia. The reporting also includes accounts of agents showing up on the doorstep of Sikh families, saying: “We got orders from the Indian authorities. If anyone’s doing the opposite against the country, we got orders to kill them.” Read the first instalment of the five-part series over at ABC News.
War on Gaza: Farewell, war cabinet
The context: Soon after the October 7 attacks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formed a war cabinet—with members of all the leading parties across the political spectrum. The three-member committee was a symbol of political unity—which finally fell apart when his main rivals Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot quit the cabinet last week. Gantz accused Bibi of not having any post-war plan for Gaza—and extending the war for his political benefit.
What happened now: Netanyahu has dissolved the war cabinet—which means he will make decisions in consultation with his ministers—including the hardline defence minister Yoav Gallant. The better news: Bibi made the move to limit the power of his rightwing allies:
Netanyahu had faced demands from the nationalist-religious partners in his coalition, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, to be included in the war cabinet. Such a move would have intensified strains with international partners including the United States.
Reuters has more on the state of the invasion.
Priyanka readies for political debut
Rahul Gandhi won both his seats—Wayanad and Rae Bareli. The rules say he has to give up one. After weeks of suspense, Gandhi announced his decision: He will bow out of Wayanad—but to make way for his sister. Priyanka will take the political plunge after decades of heated speculation and anticipation. Since it’s a very safe seat, there will likely be three Gandhis in Parliament—if you add Sonia who is now a Rajya Sabha member.
The rationale for keeping Rae Bareli: “[T]he party is giving a clear message: it will continue its fight in UP and the Hindi heartland and take on the BJP, riding high on the results in the state.” Indian Express has lots more analysis on the Gandhi family choices.
Two corporate moves of note
YouTube: is taking its cue from X—and will allow users to add notes to videos for context. It was introduced by X as a form of community fact-checking. The pilot program will roll out for English-language videos in the US. A limited number of users in “good standing” will be invited to write notes. (Quartz)
Flipkart: is entering the speedy delivery business—competing with the likes of Zepto and Blinkit. According to a Mint exclusive, the service will be rolled out in a handful of metros in the coming weeks. Reminder: Flipkart did try its hand at quick delivery for groceries—but it didn’t work out. The company is hoping to leverage its ability to offer everything from appliances to stationery and sabzi this time. (Mint, paywall)
The most expensive city in the world is…
Hong Kong—according to Mercer's Cost of Living Survey—which assesses 400 cities across the world. HK has topped the list for the third year in a row—closely followed by Singapore. The others in the top ten are… mostly Swiss: Zurich, Geneva, Basel, and Bern—which occupy slots from #3 to #6.
As for India, Mumbai continued to be the most expensive city in India for expats—coming in at #136—jumping 11 spots since 2023. Delhi has also gone up four notches to #164. Notably, Chennai and Bangalore have become cheaper—a claim that will outrage all Bengaluru residents. Mint has the India list—while CNN looks at the global rankings.
Meanwhile, in Greece: The government is planning to limit the number of cruise ships that dock on its shores—especially the islands of Mykonos and Santorini. The smaller islands are swamped by tourists—to a point where costs start to outweigh benefits to the economy. A total of 1,550 ships visited the two destinations last year. Shipping lines will now have to bid for a limited number of slots. Reminder: Italy and Spain are also increasingly resistant to being invaded by large cruise ships. (Bloomberg News, paywall, Quartz)
In terrible news out of Greece: A BBC News analysis shows that the Greek coastguard have killed at least 43 migrants in 15 separate incidents between May 2020-23. According to witnesses, nine died as they were thrown into the water. The worst bit:
In five of the incidents, migrants said they were thrown directly into the sea by the Greek authorities. In four of those cases they explained how they had landed on Greek islands but were hunted down. In several other incidents, migrants said they had been put onto inflatable rafts without motors which then deflated, or appeared to have been punctured.
Needless, all of this is grossly illegal as per international law. (BBC News)
Boeing has ‘dutch roll’ problems
The bad news about the airline manufacturer has now reached levels of absurdity. The latest involves a Southwest Airlines flight that experienced a “Dutch roll”—at a height of 34,000 feet. The incident took place on May 25—and involved the infamous Boeing 737-Max plane. So what’s a ‘Dutch roll’? “A Dutch roll is a manoeuvre that involves simultaneous yaw (side-to-side motion across a flat horizontal plane) and roll (see-saw motion over a horizontal plane).”
And it looks something like this:
Yeah, it’s scary. While no one was hurt, the plane’s tail sustained “substantial” damage.
What’s really worrying: Investigators still don’t know why it happened: “The cockpit voice recorder, which is currently limited to two hours of audio, was overwritten and unavailable to investigators. A preliminary report is expected within 30 days of the date of the event.” (USA Today)
Meanwhile, in New Zealand: A Virgin Australia Boeing 737-800 jet bound for Melbourne, landed in the New Zealand city of Invercargill due to a fire—which shut down the engine. Associated Press has that story.
Grim news for IT grads
Indian software companies have hired only 60,000 to 70,000 new graduates in FY24—the lowest number in two decades. Before the pandemic, the average was 200,000. The number of placements through campus recruitment has also nosedived by 70-80%. The worst bit: more than 10,000 freshers hired over the past two years are still waiting to start their jobs—although IT firms have said that they will honour their offer letters. While IT firms say their hiring levels will bounce back, AI is expected to disrupt the job market even further in the years to come. (Business Standard, paywall)
An electric current to cure a heartbreak
Heartbreak now has a clinical name: love trauma syndrome or LTS. Symptoms include everything from depression to anxiety, feelings of helplessness and guilt. In other words, the usual crap that comes from being dumped. A new study claims to have found a cure for your LTS blues—a $500 headset that stimulates specific regions of the brain with a mild electric current. Trial participants zapped themselves for 20 minutes, twice a day over five days. And they felt better even a month after the treatment. Likely better for your liver and mental health than those tequila shots. Interesting Engineering has all the nerdy details. (The Guardian)
Three things to see
One: NASA’s Mars rover—the Perseverance—accidentally drew a penis while roaming the red planet. Coincidence? We think not. (Gizmodo)
Two: Say hello to Kevin—the world’s tallest living dog. The great dane is truly great—at three feet and two inches—as tall as a three-year-old human. (People)
Three: Kylian Mbappé hurt his face—and broke his nose—in the Euros match between France and Austria. The French won 1-0—but it wasn’t pretty by any stretch of the imagination. He will have to wear a mask when he returns to the field. (Yahoo News)
