Researched by: Rachel John, Aarthi Ramnath & Anannya Parekh
The ‘24 Questions project is here!
We published the first edition of our weekly election special on Sunday. And it looks pretty good:) All through the election season, we will send you an exclusive election goodie bag right in your inbox each week—with the following:
- Deep dives by independent experts—with true area expertise—that will DECODE everything around elections.
- Creative (and shareworthy) infographics that offer important insights—perfect EYE CANDY.
- Our pick of the best YouTube analysis in our WATCHLIST.
- A weekly roundup of the most taaza election khabar plus the best reads of the season to understand the STATE OF PLAY.
Coming soon: Join our new Whatsapp channel here—to stay in the loop! And look for announcements of our IRL town halls—where you get to ask the smartest people in the biz all the questions you have about this election.
The big picture: Every bit of our election project is designed to help you understand what makes our democracy tick—without jargon or rants (and a sense of humour). If you’d like to support our work, you can get a founding member subscription—which comes with free subs for you and your friends:)
As always, thank you for your continued support. With your help, we hope to kick ass this election season, splainer style!
War on Gaza: A big raid in Ramallah
On Monday, the Israeli Army raided the city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. The raid was the biggest in years—and resulted in one shooting death. The Israeli version: this was “a counter-terrorism operation in the camp during which a riot broke out, with rocks and petrol bombs thrown at soldiers, who responded with live fire.” IDF also killed a 10-year-old in a separate incident in the West Bank—Palestinian authorities say he was shot in the head. In other words, things are getting ugly in all parts of Palestine:
The Palestinian foreign ministry said Israeli occupation authorities were making lives of Palestinians in the West Bank "an unbearable hell" with actions including raids, detentions, and movement restrictions, warning of "serious risks" of plunging the West Bank into "violence and anarchy".
Reuters has the big picture.
Meanwhile, at the Red Sea: Houthi attacks on shipping companies in the region—in solidarity with Gaza—threatens critical internet cables. These 16 cables carry 17% of the world’s internet traffic:
Among the networks affected is Asia-Africa-Europe 1, a 25,000-kilometer (15,534-mile) cable system connecting South East Asia to Europe via Egypt. The Europe India Gateway (EIG) has also been damaged. EIG connects Europe, the Middle East and India and counts Vodafone as a major investor.
We have lots more on the importance of these cables in this Big Story. (Wall Street Journal, paywalled, CNN)
Trump gets an election pass
The context: The former US president is facing an array of charges—ranging from financial fraud to interfering with the 2020 election. A number of states have challenged his eligibility to run again in the presidential election. In one of these cases, a Colorado court disqualified him from returning to office because of his role in the Capitol Hill riots.
What happened now: The Supreme Court unanimously reversed the Colorado ruling—allowing Trump to remain on the election ballot. The reasoning:
The justices said the Constitution does not permit a single state to disqualify a presidential candidate from national office. The court warned of disruption and a chaotic state-by-state patchwork if a candidate for nationwide office could be declared ineligible in some states, but not others, based on the same conduct.
Sounds reasonable, but this does little to reduce the potential for chaos—since the Court did not say a word about the actual charges. Trump will still have to go on trial—setting up a scenario where he is found guilty and wins the election. (Washington Post)
A big Supreme Court ruling on corruption
The context: Back in 1998, the Supreme Court ruled that parliamentarians cannot be prosecuted for accepting bribes to vote or speak in Parliament in a particular manner. The reason: Article 105 of the Constitution offers them immunity.
What happened now: A Constitution Bench led by CJI Chandrachud overturned the ruling, calling the 25-year-old judgement a “grave error.”
Chief Justice Chandrachud clarified that the offence of bribery was complete the moment the corruption money was accepted. Culpability of the legislator did not depend on whether he actually delivered for the bribe-giver on the floor of the House. “The legislator will face criminal prosecution whether or not he makes a speech or votes in favour of the bribe-giver. The offence of bribery is complete on the acceptance of the money or on the agreement to accept money being concluded,” Chief Justice Chandrachud observed.
The Hindu offers a detailed analysis of the ruling.
Also at the Supreme Court: Last month, the Court delivered a landmark judgement overturning the electoral bonds program (explained in this Big Story)—and ordered the State Bank of India to publish the details of all donations to date—which promises to be greatly embarrassing.
The SBI has predictably asked for more time—until June 30—to complete this “time consuming exercise.” By sheer coincidence, the Lok Sabha elections will be done and dusted by then. Activists point out that donor names and other details of electoral bonds are available in SBI’s Mumbai Branch in sealed cover—as per the bank’s own affidavit (Indian Express)
War on Ukraine: An explosive leaked recording
Germany is in hot water thanks to a 38-minute recording of phone conversation between Germany’s air force commander and his top officers. They can be heard discussing the possibility of sending the country’s most powerful guided missiles—Taurus long-range cruise missiles—to Ukraine. The problem: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has publicly rejected any plan to do so. His reasoning:
While Germany will provide $30 billion in arms to Kyiv in the coming years, the Taurus can strike at a distance of 500 kilometres, or 310 miles.That would place Moscow at risk, and he made it clear he did not trust that Ukrainian forces could restrain themselves from bringing the war home to the Kremlin. Nor could Germany be seen as targeting Russia directly without itself risking direct confrontation with Moscow.
New York Times has more on how Scholz’s reluctance in widening divides within NATO. (Wall Street Journal, paywall, Reuters)
India’s children: Obese and hungry
Two important studies show India's daunting and complicated challenge of feeding its children.
One: A Lancet study has found that India has the third-highest number of obese people in the world—after the US and China. The 80 million obese Indians include 7 million boys and 5 million girls. Here’s the important bit: obesity is not a sign of privilege:
Eating junk food is cheaper and easier. For example, the cost of samosas and pakoras available at roadside shacks is less than fruit and vegetables. While it is not nutritious, it is tastier. It is the same as the West, where a McDonald’s burger will cost say a dollar but fresh vegetables much more. This has led to an increase in obesity even among the poor, especially in states that are better off such as Tamil Nadu, Punjab, and Goa.
Indian Express has more on the study.
Two: “Zero-food children” are infants or toddlers—between six and 24 months—who have not received any milk or food over a 24-hour period. Point to note: This is food that complements breast milk—which is essential at this age.
A study looked at 92 low-income and middle-income countries. It found that South Asia has the highest count of zero-food children—with India accounting for over 6.7 million of the estimated 8 million. What’s notable: This isn’t about the parents being too poor to feed the children. The more likely reason:
“It is not easy to feed children who are six months old — it takes time and energy, and many of the women in households where zero-food children might have been found don’t have the support they require for adequate complementary feeding,” [paediatrician Vandana] Prasad said. Mothers in many economically disadvantaged households, whether in rural areas or in urban slums, have to work to earn wages while also managing their household chores, leaving them inadequate time for complementary feeding.
The Telegraph has the JAMA study.
Apple’s big fat EU fine
The context: In 2019, Spotify filed a complaint in the EU against Apple for limiting choice and competition on its App Store—by charging a 30% fee on all purchases. The company also made it near impossible for apps to offer alternative payment systems to its users. A good example: This is the reason you can’t buy a splainer subscription on your app. And there is no guidance on how you could possibly get one. European regulatory authorities formally charged Apple in 2021 of anti-competitive behaviour—and launched an investigation.
What happened now: According to the Financial Times, the EU has imposed a €1.8 billion ($2 billion) fine on Apple:
Margrethe Vestager, the bloc’s competition chief, said the tech giant had broken EU antitrust rules for a decade by “restricting developers from informing consumers about alternative, cheaper music services available outside of the Apple ecosystem”. She said this amounted to abuse of the group’s dominant position for music streaming on its App Store.
The fine is much higher than the estimates reported last month—and is the third-largest penalty imposed by the commission. A reminder: EU has fined Google a combined €8 billion in the past 10 years. (Financial Times, paywall, Reuters)
AI chatbots ace maths as Trekkies
When answering your questions, AI chatbots use statistics to pick the response most likely to be accurate—from a variety of options. However, maths is tricky because there is just one correct answer. Researchers looked at how chatbots fared in eighth grade maths. And they asked the machine to figure out the best word prompts that would serve up the right answer.
What they found: “The highest-scoring prompt… asked the chatbot to adopt the persona of the captain of a Star Trek spaceship, jotting down answers in its ‘Captain’s Log’” Nah, it doesn’t mean Large Language Models are secret Trekkies. More likely, these chatbots were trained on Star Trek by human nerds:) (New Scientist, paywall, Gizmodo)
When the orca killed the great white…
For the very first time, scientists witnessed an orca kill a great white shark. It was a scene to put Hannibal Lecter to shame:
The solitary hunter (and diner) was Starboard, a male orca with a collapsed dorsal fin. The researchers watched Starboard incapacitate and eat a juvenile great white shark in two minutes. The unfortunate shark was 8.2 feet long (2.5 meters); the team also watched as Starboard carried the shark’s liver in its mouth.
Point to note: Since 2017, scientists have known that a pair of orcas—named Starboard and Port—have been teaming up to prey on great white sharks along the South African coast. Even creepier: They’ve apparently developed a taste for the shark’s nutrient-rich liver—feasting on the organ while discarding the rest.
Why this matters: This poses a serious challenge for conservationists since sharks are an endangered species—and liver-hungry orcas just add to the dangers. You can see the kill-vid below—if you have the ‘liver’ for it. (CNN)
One cool medieval thing to see
Astrolabes are the world’s first ‘smartphone’—used in medieval times to “calculate time and distances, plot the position of the stars, and even forecast the future by casting a horoscope.” Researchers have found a rare, eleventh century astrolabe inscribed in Arabic and Jewish—making it “a powerful record of scientific exchange between Arabs, Jews, and Christians over hundreds of years.” It is one of a handful discovered anywhere in the world. Phys.org has more nerdy details. You can see the astrolabe, housed in a museum in Verona, below.
