Elite US colleges accused of… elitism!

Written by: Aarthi Ramnath, Raghav Bikhchandani & Yash Budhwar

Getting real: The future of independent media in India

Our founder Lakshmi Chaudhry hosted a frank and lively discussion on the future of independent digital media earlier this month. The panel included Samar Halarnkar (Founder Editor of Article 14), HV Vasu (Community Head of Eedina), Kavya Sukumar (Principal & CTO of Lightrock) and Vignesh Vellore (Co-Founder of The News Minute). It offers a rare peek into the behind-the-scenes strategies and challenges of a diverse set of news publications. It also gives you—dear reader—a glimpse of the future of independent media in India. The conversation was part of the Editors Guild of India conclave held on December 7 in Bangalore.

Elite US colleges accused of… elitism!

A lawsuit filed by former students against 17 top US colleges alleges that they colluded in a “price fixing scheme.” They are claiming $685 million in damages—which will automatically triple to $2 billion under US antitrust laws—if they win.

The allegation: The key accusation—of collusion—stems from a 2022 class action lawsuit that alleges a coalition of these universities shared a methodology for calculating students’ financial need—aimed at reducing the amount of aid given to low-and middle-income students. Now, ten of the original 17—including Yale University and Brown University—settled out of court for $284 million in July. But they have not accepted wrongdoing. Others such as Georgetown, Penn, Caltech, MIT, Cornell, and Notre Dame continue to fight.

The masala: comes from the documents made public by court filings. For example:

Every year… Georgetown’s then-president would draw up a list of about 80 applicants based on a tracking list that often included information about their parents’ wealth and past donations, but not the applicants’ transcripts, teacher recommendations or personal essays. “Please Admit,” was often written at the top of the list, the lawsuit contends — and almost all of the applicants were.

Other examples include the Cornell admissions team’s practice of conducting “connection reviews” of applicants—to check for those kept on “VIP watch lists” by the school’s fundraising team. At UPenn, kids of donors were tagged ‘bona fide special interest’.

The big picture: The Varsity Blues scandal revealed how wealthy parents were using money to rig their kids’ applications. This lawsuit shows how schools are doing exactly the same. They surely deserve an ‘A’; for (team) effort.

Reading list: Washington Post has the detailed report on the court case. USA Today has the most explosive allegations.

Ravichandran Ashwin’s surprise googly

The star spinner announced his retirement from international cricket at the end of the third Test match against Australia in Brisbane. The decision to retire in the middle of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy was a shocker. According to captain Rohit Sharma, Ashwin landed in Perth—at the very start of the series—ready to call it quits. One likely reason: He was already being pushed out the door:

Sources told The Telegraph that it was made clear to Ashwin that he was no longer an automatic choice and alternative plans were being worked out. The decision to play Sundar in Perth at the expense of Ashwin and the vastly experienced Ravindra Jadeja was perhaps a firm indication of the think-tank’s intentions.

According to The Telegraph, the clock may be ticking for Rohit and Virat, as well. Watch a clip from Ashwin’s presser below.

The Donald’s war on media

Donald Trump is back—and he wants vengeance. Top of his shitlist: US media outlets who said mean things about him.

One: Earlier this week, ABC News shelled out $15 million to settle a defamation claim against its anchor George Stephanopolous—who said on air that Trump “was found liable for rape” in a civil trial. The problem: he was found liable for sexual assault. Disney decided it didn’t have time for that kind of hair-splitting—in a trial that would be held in Donald’s hometown:

The company was concerned that a jury in Florida — a deep-red state that Mr. Trump carried by 13 points in the election last month — would side with the president-elect and potentially award him a sizable sum exceeding what it would cost to settle.

Two: Emboldened by that cave-in, Trump has now sued Iowa’s biggest newspaper—the Des Moines Register—and its former pollster, Ann Selzer. The reason: Their election poll published on November 2 showed Kamala Harris 3 points ahead of Trump in Iowa. But he ended up winning the state by 13 points. According to Trump, the flawed poll constitutes deliberate “election interference.”

Three: He is also suing CBS for $10 billion—claiming it “edited its pre-election 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris to deceive voters.”

Why this matters: First off, it is rare for American pols to claim defamation—since it's hard to prove under US law—which is skewed heavily toward free speech. Trump’s lawyers appear to be trying “novel legal theories to argue that the news organizations violated state consumer protection laws.” It also opens the door for a flood of similar lawsuits from the right—which may be thrown out of court—but still do damage:

“I hope it means that more of these cases are going to get filed, because I think it is what keeps journalists and the press minding their Ps and Qs — the legal risk of economic loss and reputational impact of being on the defendant’s side of the lawsuit,” said Libby Locke, who represented former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in a defamation suit against the New York Times and Dominion in its mammoth suit against Fox News.

The lawsuits are also about ’sending a message’—which may have a chilling effect on news coverage of Trump, encouraging self-censorship. Btw, this is near-routine in India—where these cases are filed in remote states to make it doubly inconvenient for the news company’s lawyers.

Point to note: Many on the right think this war on the media is a precursor of a war on press freedom. They’re hoping a right-leaning Supreme Court will overturn the landmark ruling in New York Times v. Sullivan, “which set a very high bar for defamation lawsuits brought by public figures.” Politico has more on that angle. (Morning Brew)

Apple accused of using ‘blood minerals’

The context: The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been torn apart by a civil war since the 1990s. The battle has mainly been between the Congolese armed forces (FARDC) and the M23 rebel group. Approximately six million have been killed since 1996 and more than six million have been internally displaced.

Complicating matters:

DRC is home to some of the world’s largest reserves of metals and rare earth minerals like cobalt, considered essential in the lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles (EVs). As much as 70% of the world’s cobalt supply comes from the DRC.

Various rebel groups—armed by the government, foreign actors like the Russian Wagner group, US and China—are fighting for control of these mines. Much as blood diamonds, these ‘conflict minerals’ are used to fund militias—and fuel the massacres, rapes etc.

What happened now: The DRC government has filed criminal charges against Apple—accusing it of buying these “conflict minerals”—specifically tin, tantalum, and tungsten, (aka 3T). These are used in computers and mobile phones. The company insists 100% of its smelters and refiners for all Apple products have been cleared by “an independent third-party conflict minerals audit.” But, but, but: DRC lawyers say they have receipts:

Another lawyer from Amsterdam & Partners LLP, Peter Sahlas, told Reuters that people who worked on Apple's supply chain verification in Congo had come forward to say that their contracts were terminated after they flagged concerns that "blood minerals" were in Apple's supply chain.

Point to note: The US courts have rejected similar complaints but this one has been filed in France and Belgium. Al Jazeera has a good explainer on the armed conflict in Congo which includes Rwanda. Reuters has more on the new evidence. (Gizmodo)

Amit Shah has an Ambedkar problem

Here’s how it started. The Home Minister got a bit carried away during a discussion of the Constitution in the Rajya Sabha—and made a sarcastic remark that involved its Framing Father: BR Ambedkar:

Abhi ek fashion ho gaya hai — Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar. Itna naam agar bhagwan ka lete to saat janmon tak swarg mil jata (It has become a fashion to say Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, If they had taken God's name so many times, they would have got a place in heaven)

The crack was aimed at the Opposition—who threw the grenade right back—accusing Shah of insulting Ambedkar. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi staged a silly protest, chanting, “Babasaheb ka apman, nahi sahega Hindustan” etc etc.

Why we took note: of this silly fight? A number of Congress leaders also shared the clip of Shah’s remarks on X:

And they promptly received warnings from the platform. The email said X has received a notice “from the Cyber Crime Coordination Centre of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for removal of the content shared by them, which is in violation of the law of India.” But, but, but: Modi-ji also shared a long thread on X—accusing Congress of hating on Ambedkar. We assume he has not received a notice from Amit-bhai. The only good news: The posts have not been removed. (The Hindu)

Meet the diseased princesses of Disney

Just in time for Christmas, the British Medical Journal has published a lighthearted study on health risks faced by Disney princesses—far more perilous than a poisoned apple. For example, sleeping beauty Aurora faces the risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity, pressure ulcers and muscle atrophy. But at gravest risk is Cinderella—who is being endangered by her very own fairy godmother:

Cinderella... would be exposed to dust from cleaning and chimney sweeping, raising her risk of occupational lung disease, the researchers have said. And Cinderella’s fairy godmother spreads massive quantities of magical glitter — otherwise known as aluminium-coated microplastics — which could exacerbate the occupational lung disease. “Rather than a prince, Cinderella needs ongoing respiratory therapy to live happily ever after,” they wrote.

Euronews has more such gloomy prognoses for the others.

what caught our eye

business & tech

In yet another worrying sign for private consumption, bad personal loans are at an all-time high—jumping by 51% between May 2023 and June 2024. Credit card defaults spiked by nearly 40%.
Nvidia has introduced Orin Nano, a palm-sized AI computer, which makes local AI applications more accessible to small companies.
The EU has signed a deal to launch IRIS²—a rival to Elon’s Starlink.
Honda and Nissan—the #2 and #3 carmakers in Japan—are in talks to merge. If it happens, the new company will be the third largest in the world behind Toyota and VW.
TIME's CEO of the Year Lisa Su runs one of the world's biggest semiconductor companies—AMD—and holds meetings on the weekend. Nope, double X chromosomes don't guarantee a kinder, gentler corporate policy.
SoundCloud is launching an artist subscription plan to help emerging musicians distribute their music on the cheap.

sports & entertainment

Big moves continue in the F1 offseason—champion Max Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez has been sacked after a highly disappointing year.

as for the rest

Arvind Kejriwal has announced the 'Sanjeevani Yojana' scheme ahead of Delhi's Assembly elections, offering free medical treatment for all citizens above 60 in government and private hospitals.
Russian authorities have detained an Uzbek man over the killing of senior general Igor Kirillov and his assistant in Moscow.
Nestle just launched a protein shot for weight loss that helps promote GLP-1 production. Reminder: Nestle is the king of processed foods.
Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will remain on the ISS until at least March 2025 due to delays with their replacement SpaceX Crew-10 spacecraft.

Five things to see

One: Abu Dhabi’s Zayed International Airport is the most beautiful airport in the world—according to the 2024 Prix Versailles International Architecture Awards. A random bit of trivia: The terminal’s roof is “designed to mimic the landscape of Abu Dhabi’s desert” and was featured in the latest Mission Impossible film. Check out the promo vid below. (Condé Nast Traveller)

Two: We’ve got an early Christmas present for all the AC/DC fans. In the recent Carpool Karaoke Christmas special on Apple TV+, legendary Brian Johnson surprised guest Lady Gaga—and the two of them belted out the iconic ‘Highway to Hell’. (Vice)

Three: Sticking with musical gifts—this is the music video teaser for SZA’s new single ‘Drive’—which stars none other than Ben Stiller. The full track and her new album titled ‘Lana’ will be released tomorrow. (Variety)

Four: Karate Kid is back! The newest installment ‘Karate Kid: Legends’ brings together the OG karate kid Ralph Macchio and Jackie Chan to teach the next gen karate wonder Li Fong—played by Ben Wang (previously seen on ‘American Born Chinese’). The new movie is slated to release on May 30, 2025. (Hollywood Reporter)

Five: We leave you with this adorable holiday-themed short film, ‘The Boy and The Octopus’ directed by Taika Waititi. Directed for Disney, Waititi’s four-minute short is about a young boy who finds a loveable companion in an octopus while on a seaside vacation. (Hollywood Reporter)