Researched by: Rachel John & Aarthi Ramnath
ICYMI: We have a new YouTube show!
In case you missed the Editor’s Note, we’ve launched our daily news wrap called ‘What the F*** Happened Here?’ The title sums up how all of us feel any time we watch or read the news. But we are here to make it easier to know what’s up—without noise, negativity or that existential feeling of despair. The third edition from last evening is below. Follow us on YouTube to get your daily dose.
War on Gaza: The latest update
Bye, Bye Bibi? Things are getting hot for the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Thousands of Israelis have been packing the streets of Tel Aviv—demanding his head. And now—for the very first time—his rival Benny Gantz is calling for elections—as early as September. Remember, Gantz is also a member of Netanyahu’s war cabinet. And he’s way ahead of Bibi in the polls.
But here’s the bit that will likely upset Netanyahu the most. The moment Gantz called for elections, the Americans loudly expressed their support. Like Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer who tweeted “you know it’s the right thing to do.” President Joe Biden is also furious at Bibi for the slaughter of aid workers in Gaza.
This is probably because every single Muslim leader he invited for a Ramadan dinner at the White House turned him down. As one of them put it: “How can we talk to you about famine and starvation over bread and steak?” Yes, America is dreaming of regime change again. But hey, at least it’s not in an Arab country this time. (The Guardian)
Blame it on the AI: The Israeli military reportedly uses an artificial intelligence database called Lavender to identify targets for airstrikes in Gaza. The testimonies of officers are chilling:
I would invest 20 seconds for each target at this stage, and do dozens of them every day. I had zero added-value as a human, apart from being a stamp of approval. It saved a lot of time.
What’s worse: Once the targets were identified by the machine, the IDF used ‘dumb bombs' to wipe out entire buildings instead of precisely targeting individuals. As one intelligence officer put it: “You don’t want to waste expensive bombs on unimportant people — it’s very expensive for the country and there’s a shortage [of those bombs].”
FYI: At one point, the database identified 37,000 Palestinian men as linked to Hamas. +972 Magazine has the exclusive report.
Meanwhile, in Washington: Joe Biden is once again threatening Netanyahu with consequences if he continues to kill civilians—making future aid conditional on ‘good behaviour’. Israel has now offered to open a new aid route—to soothe the ruffled feathers. New York Times seems to think this is a serious step to rein in Israel.
Disney’s civil war has a winner
The context: Disney has been embroiled in an intense shareholder battle. Two activist hedge funds—Nelson Peltz’s Trian Fund Management and the smaller Blackwells Capital—have been battling for spots in the boardroom. And each has a different vision for the company. But they both want one same thing—to wrest control away from CEO Bob Iger. Back in February, a mystery investor even tried to buy votes—bidding a whopping $55 million—but their identity has remained a mystery.
What happened now: Bob Iger’s candidate won the boardroom seat—soundly defeating Nelson Peltz’s choice. Iger received the backing of the biggest investors such as Vanguard and BlackRock—but the retail investors proved decisive: “Nearly 75% of individual investors voted for Disney’s board picks—which makes sense since Disney spent almost $40 million on campaigns to sway them to do just that.”
But don’t feel bad for Peltz. He made a cool $300 million from his investment in Disney:
To date, [Peltz’s] firm has seen a roughly 40% return on its investment in Disney stock. Accounting the estimated $25 million Trian spent on its proxy battle with Disney, that’s a profit of about $300 million, according to the Journal.
Wall Street Journal has that exclusive—Quartz has a summary. (Morning Brew)
Bonus Disney item: Here’s the concept for ‘Avatar’ Land—part of the company’s big bet on theme parks. (Hollywood Reporter)
The climate change hall of shame
A new analysis by the Carbon Majors Database—put together by world-renowned researchers—shows that 57 companies are responsible for 80% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. That’s since 2016—just a year after the landmark Paris treaty was signed. Unsurprisingly, the biggest offenders are oil companies. The number one investor-owned company is ExxonMobil of the US—which alone spewed 3.6 gigatonnes of CO2 into the air over seven years. That’s 1.4% of the global total. (The Conversation)
In very much related news: A separate study shows that we are losing rainforests at a record rate. Human beings were responsible for the loss of 37,000 square kilometres of untouched rainforests in 2023. That’s the size of Switzerland! The head-spinning rate is equal to 10 football pitches a minute. Most of this was lost to agriculture and wildfires—which have rapidly increased due to climate change. Round and round we go… (Vox)
NCERT rewrites history (textbooks) again!
The context: A big part of the government’s education policy involves updating textbooks—as we explained in this Big Story. Many of the controversial changes involve rewriting history—or choosing what fact to omit or include.
What happened now: The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has made significant changes to history textbooks used by Class 12. The changes made to the chapter on Indus Valley Civilisation are significant:
The DNA of the Harappans has continued till today and a majority of the South Asian population appears to be their descendants. Due to trade and cultural contacts of the Harappans with distant regions there is a mixture of genes in small quantity. The continuity without any break in genetic history as well as cultural history rules out large-scale immigration of the so-called Aryans.
Also this:
More research is also required on the relationship between the Harappans and the Vedic people as some scholars have argued that the authors of the Harappan civilisation and the Vedic people were the same.
Why this matters: This is a sweeping and skewed version of ancient history—that runs counter to most known facts. It flatly denies the migration of Aryans—herders from the Central Asian Steppes (not the Nazi kind)—to the subcontinent. But all the research confirms this fact. The evidence also shows they brought elements of what we now know as Vedic culture—including Sanskrit.
The most recent study establishes three sources of Indians’ genetic ancestry. One of them is Aryan. We did two Big Stories on the fascinating origins of ancient Indians—on the genetic ancestry and the Harappan dig in Haryana. (Indian Express)
The young billionaire’s club
Yesterday, Forbes Magazine told us that there are more billionaires in the world than ever. 2,781 to be exact. But here’s the more interesting bit: There are 15 billionaires aged 30 or under but all of them have inherited their wealth. There are no self-made Richie Riches here. The big picture is even more astonishing. There are 1,023 billionaires who are 70 plus today. And they will give $70 trillion to their heirs over the next 20 years. This will make millennials the richest generation in history.
The India angle: Two of the young billionaires are Firoz and Zahan Mistry. They’re sons of Cyrus Mistry—the former CEO of the TATA Group who was pushed out by Ratan Tata. Mistry died in a car accident in 2022. But he left a 4.2% stake in Tata Sons to his kids. The value of that stake is $4.9 billion! FYI: There are a total of 200 Indians on the list. (The Guardian)
Vistara pilot protest: The latest update
The context: Vistara pilots are refusing to show up at work in protest against drastic cuts to their salaries—which has resulted in cancellations, delays and chaos all around. All this is a fallout of the Tatas’ decision to consolidate their three airlines—Air India, Vistara and AirAsia.
What happened now: Air India pilots have jumped in to support their Vistara colleagues. Their unions sent an open letter to the government—throwing their employer under the bus:
It is crucial to recognize that the concerns expressed by the Vistara pilots are not isolated incidents but rather indicative of systemic issues that extend across various Tata Group aviation entities.
More damning is this bit:
There have been instances where HR (human resource) has resorted to threatening pilots with potential disruptions to their future, accompanied by severe consequences, the letter read. "Pilots who feel threatened or intimidated may be reluctant to report safety concerns or speak up about issues that could impact flight operations," it added.
Mint has more on the Air India angle.
Bye, bye Ro Ro?
The media is abuzz with rumours of Rohit Sharma’s exit from Mumbai Indians. He is supposedly unhappy with Hardik Pandya’s captaincy—and the team’s performance under his leadership. Translation: He’s not over being dumped by Nita-behn for Pandya—and wants a team owner who appreciates him.
Random ex-cricketers like Manoj Tiwary are now saying that the Hitman could get back his crown. Even Michael Vaughn is adding his bit of masala—saying he has never seen Indian fans boo their own. Of course, most of this is just gossip. But it shows just how unpopular Pandya is right now. He’s booed by fans wherever he goes. All this fuss because he’s lost three games.
But, but, but: MI came in at number 10 in 2022—under Sharma and that was a 10-team tournament! They were at rock-bottom and while their performance in 2023 was better—they still got knocked out early in the play-offs. All this controversy is because Sharma has started to win once again as the captain of the national team, just when everyone was talking about his “twilight years.” The smashing 4-1 test victory against England is a case in point. (Times of India)
In happier IPL news: The Star TV network recorded an unprecedented number of viewers for the first 10 IPL matches—approximately 350 million viewers. The watch-time surged to 80.28 billion minutes—a 20% jump compared to 2023. What’s interesting; Jio hasn’t shared any streaming data about its IPL lineup. (Mint)
In the bestest IPL news: The Royal Challengers Bangalore unveiled a ‘Dog Out’ zone at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Pet parents and their doggos can now enjoy watching the RCB boys play in namma Bengaluru—and likely lose out on the trophy again! What? Too mean? They do this every single time! (The Telegraph)
Coming soon: Another Matrix movie!
Here’s big news for the devotees of the cult of Matrix. We have official confirmation of a fifth instalment in the series. But, but, but: the famed directors of the original franchise—the Wachowski sisters—will not be part of the project. We also don’t know if Keanu Reeves and Anne Moss will be back in the lead roles. But hey, we still have Priyanka Chopra. The last movie in the franchise was ‘The Matrix Resurrections’—released in 2021. It bombed at the box office. (Variety)
Two things to see
One: OpenAI’s AI image generator DALL-E will now be available as part of the ChatGPT tool. This is a big deal because users will be able to use text prompts to edit their AI-generated images. Watch a demo below. (Axios)
Two: The movie adaptation of John Green’s best selling novel ‘Turtles All the Way Down’ will be out soon. In case you’re wondering why this matters: “Green is otherwise best known for his 2012 romantic drama ‘The Fault in Our Stars’, centred on a meet-cute of cancer patients.” Presumably, the upcoming movie will dole out sentimental fare of the same kind. The film hits theatres on May 2. Deadline has more on the plot points.
