Researched by: Rachel John, Nirmal Bhansali & Anannya Parekh
Delimitation dharma: A YouTube explainer
In 2026, there will be a significant readjustment of Lok Sabha seats—granting North Indian states a decisive majority. The reason: the North has far more citizens than the South. So should the South be “punished” for population control—or is it the inevitable price of the one person one vote rule? We look at that very prickly question in our latest video explainer.
Check it out below. Stay tuned for more such explainers on the big fat election coming soon, and be sure to hit the notification button.
War on Gaza: Ceasefire talks fail
The ceasefire negotiations in Egypt spearheaded by CIA Director William Burns have stalled out. According to sources, Israel chose to walk out:
A team of Israeli security officials led by Barnea left Cairo on Tuesday evening without closing any of the major gaps in the negotiations, including the duration of a cease-fire and the ratio of Palestinian prisoners to be released for each hostage, Egyptian officials said. The Israeli officials reiterated the government’s view that Hamas’s terms for the deal are unrealistic.
Tel Aviv has now rejected both Hamas’ ceasefire proposal and this one drafted by Egypt and Qatar—probably because it isn’t interested in cutting a deal. PM Benjamin Netanyahu sent a delegation to Cairo solely due to pressure from President Joe Biden.
Why this matters: Israel is readying ground assault on Rafah—the last refuge of over a million residents in Gaza. Everyone—including aid agencies, US officials and the UN—are warning it will result in a bloodbath. But Israel is determined to push ahead. Hence, the scramble to seal a ceasefire. (Wall Street Journal, paywall, Al Jazeera)
Pakistan has a new prime minister
In a surprise move, PML-N chief Nawz Sharif nominated his brother to become the next prime minister. The reason: He doesn’t want to head a minority government—propped up by a coalition. PPP president Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari withdrew from the prime ministerial race—saying his party will support PML-N from the outside without being part of the new government. Imran Khan’s PTI won the most seats—but doesn’t have the numbers to form the government. It will instead sit in the Opposition—aligning itself with the two main rightwing Islamic parties. This Big Story has loads more on Shehbaz. (The Hindu)
South India angst: Tamil Nadu makes its move
The context: The BJP government has signalled that it will push through for two sweeping changes in the election process in its third term. One is the ‘One Nation, One Election’ proposal. This entails holding a single election for state legislature, Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha seats—all at the same time (explained in this Big Story). The second is delimitation—a significant readjustment of Lok Sabha seats based on the latest census figures (explained in this Big Story). The first will weaken regional parties. The second will grant North Indian states a decisive majority in Parliament—since it has far more citizens than southern states.
What happened now: Tamil Nadu became the first state to pass resolutions against both ‘One Nation, One Election’ and the delimitation exercise. Chief Minister MK Stalin called delimitation “a sword hanging over the head” of the state:
This should be nipped in the bud…Delimitation could be a conspiracy to reduce the number of Parliaments seats from Southern states like Tamil Nadu…Redrawing constituencies based on population will “weaken” states like Tamil Nadu, Stalin said, asking the Union Government to postpone such an exercise till all states follow population control measures rigorously.
Point to note: the delimitation resolution was supported by all parties—including the Tamil Nadu wing of the BJP.
Why this matters: While such resolutions have no legal weight, this is an important symbolic move of defiance. These are first shots fired in what is likely to be an ugly fight come 2026—which is the deadline for the delimitation exercise. (Deccan Herald)
The dismal end to Umar Khalid’s petition
The context: The former JNU student has been languishing in prison without jail for over three years. He has been charged under anti-terror laws for allegedly instigating the violence in Delhi in 2020. Khalid’s lawyers moved the Supreme Court in April 2022 after being denied bail by the lower courts.
What happened now: Khalid has finally withdrawn his Supreme Court petition. The reason: The hearing was deferred by the Court 14 times. Some delays were due to the police or prosecution asking for more time. Other times, hearings were pushed back because the justices simply didn’t make the time—showing no sense of urgency. The proceedings were delayed five times just this year. Khalid’s lawyer did not explain why he is withdrawing his petition—but said they will “try our luck in the trial court.” (The Hindu)
ChatGPT: Hey, I remember you!
OpenAI’s chatbot will now have a “memory”—which means it will remember information and conversations from the past. Here’s how it will work:
If a user mentions a daughter, Lina, who is about to turn 5, likes the colour pink and enjoys jellyfish, for example, ChatGPT can store this information and retrieve it as needed. When the same user asks the bot to “create a birthday card for my daughter,” it might generate a card with pink jellyfish that reads, “Happy 5th Birthday, Lina!”
You can specifically tell the bot to remember something—or it will automatically store the information for future use.
Why this will help: You won’t have to input the same information each time you have a convo with the bot. The not-so-good: the inevitable privacy issues—although OpenAI says users can control what ChatGPT remembers. FYI: This functionality is available in both the free and paid versions. (The Verge)
Speaking of creepy chatbots: The far-right network called Gab has developed an AI chatbot that allows users to interact with infamous people—such as Adolf Hitler and Osama Bin Laden. Such convos inevitably become, um, problematic:
The Hitler chatbot says that the Holocaust was a myth and the Jews are a malevolent force who seek to control the world and their influence “must be eradicated”. It refuses to condone violence against Jews, however. When asked whether one should commit a terrorist attack, the Bin Laden chatbot said it should only be done “in the pursuit of jihad for the defence of Islam” and must be carefully considered and planned.
Why this matters: Experts in online extremism say such chatbots can be used to spread misinformation—and radicalise a person. For example, a man who plotted to kill the Queen with a crossbow was encouraged to do so by a chatbot. OTOH, Gab insists such chatbots are protected by the right to free speech. (Times UK, paywall)
RBI’s big move against commercial cards
The context: Business transactions—such as vendor payments or electricity/rental bills—are ordinarily conducted through traditional banking transactions such as NEFT and RTGS. But fintech companies like EnKash now allow businesses to use their commercial cards to make such payments. These commercial cards are a type of credit card issued to companies—usually with enhanced credit limits and repayment windows, rewards, benefits etc.
What happened now: In a recent notice, the Reserve Bank of India has directed card networks like Visa and Mastercard to stop all business payments made through commercial cards. While the reason is still unknown, experts speculate that this may be a KYC (know-your-customer) issue:
Industry sources indicate that flow of money through the card route towards non-KYC-ed merchants is something that has irked the regulator. While their bank accounts might be KYC-ed but they are mostly not authorised to accept card payments as merchants…Others said that it could have been triggered from the fact that many fintech platforms are allowing consumers to use their cards to pay for tuition fees, rentals etc. Since these users are not authorised to accept payments via card, it could be attracting regulatory scrutiny.
But, but, but: The overall impact of this move may not be very significant as commercial card transactions via fintechs amount to Rs 40 billion in an average month. In comparison, RTGS transactions were Rs 135.9 trillion. (CNBC TV18)
Also in trouble: PayTM. The Enforcement Directorate has been called in to investigate its payments bank’s records—for evidence of money laundering. Reminder: The RBI had ordered Paytm Payments Bank to shut down most of its business activities by February 29 due to serious compliance issues—explained in this Big Story. (Mint, paywall, Economic Times)
A disturbing study about polar bears
Scientists strapped recording devices to 20 polar bears in Canada’s Hudson Bay—and recorded 115 hours of footage over three recent years. What they found: polar bears are facing starvation due to melting sea ice in the Arctic caused by climate change. Bears use sea ice as a platform to hunt seals—which constitute their food source. As these ice platforms disappear, bears spend more time on land—where food is scarce:
In the ice-free summer months, the bears adopted different strategies to survive, with some essentially resting and conserving their energy. The majority tried to forage for vegetation or berries or swam to see if they could find food. Both approaches failed, with 19 of the 20 bears in the study losing body mass, by up to 11% in some cases. On average they lost one kilogram per day.
Data point to note: polar bear populations have already declined by 30% since 1987. The footage of the bears is breathtaking—as you can see in the clips below. (Vox)
Moving on to filming gorillas: Seventy five hours of footage from San Diego and Leipzig zoos show 142 clear instances of great apes teasing their peers. As with humans, teenagers are the most annoying. The teasers were mostly juveniles aged three to five years old. See the amusing footage below. (The Guardian)
Beyoncé’s stormy country music debut
Last week at the Superbowl, Queen Bey released two singles—’Texas Hold ‘Em’ and ‘16 Carriages’—and announced her next album ‘Act II’. The surprising bit: Her move to country music—which has become the hottest genre in the US. But the notoriously white country music establishment may not be as thrilled to welcome her to their pantheon. Fans claim country music radio stations are refusing to play her songs—and shared their outrage on social media. After intense backlash from the Beyhive, the station started playing her songs on rotation. FYI: Something similar happened back in 2017 when Lil Nas X released ‘Old Town Road’.
Why this matters: “Country music has a complicated history with race. Although it has its roots in blues music, and black musicians were early and important contributors to its sound… they've frequently been shut out from the genre or seen as outsiders.” BBC Culture has more on why Beyoncé is looking to reclaim country music. You can hear the requested song—‘Texas Hold ‘Em’—below. (NPR)
Sticking with Super Bowl controversies: Fans noticed that Alicia Keys voice cracked when she sang live at the halftime show—but the stumble was magically erased on the version uploaded on YouTube. This is the live version:
This is the corrected version:
Two things to see
One: Here’s a not-so-cuddly story about adorable squishmallows—“squidgy pillows-with-a-face” made by Jazwares. The Warren Buffet-owned company is suing Build-A-Bear for ripping off its products for its Skooshers line:
Jazwares said in its lawsuit that rival toys were similarly “shaped fanciful renditions” of animals, with “simplified Asian-style kawaii faces” and “velvety velour-like” fabric. Kawaii means cute, tiny and lovable in Japanese.
Build-A-Bear rightly points out that Jazzware hardly has a monopoly on “soft, pillow-like squishy-type” toys. You can compare and contrast for yourselves below. (The Guardian)
Two: We’re all for husbands stanning their wives—but Robert Vadra’s disco deewane tribute to Priyanka for V-Day is a bit… well, see it for yourself. Also: did you notice it's all about Robert voguing in the foreground—while she is a blur of red.
