Researched by: Rachel John, Anannya Parekh & Aarthi Ramnath
Say hello to headlines in five
Have you checked out our excellent daily news wrap ‘What the F*** Happened Here?’. It tells you what happened during the day–in around 5 minutes. As always, we are here to make it easier to know what’s up—without noise, negativity or that existential feeling of despair. The Thursday pm edition is below. Follow us on YouTube to get your daily dose.
A very important pre-poll survey
The think tank Lokniti-CSDS released the results of its latest edition of the National Election Survey—which they have been publishing for every Lok Sabha election since 1967. It is one of the most comprehensive pre-poll surveys in the country. The NES 2024 polled 10,000 participants in 19 states on key election issues. Here are some key conclusions:
On what matters: The most important is unemployment—which comes in at 27%, followed by rise in prices (23%) and development (13%). Corruption and Ram Mandir was only picked by 8%—and Hindutva by 2%. Why this is striking: it was a key concern for only 11% in 2019. Also: rural voters were more likely to pick it as top concern—which would worry any ruling party. Reminder: an estimated 83% of the unemployed in our country are under the age of 30.
On development: Around 15% of the respondents say there has been no development in the past five years—and 32% say that development has only benefited the rich. But a solid 48% say there has been development for everyone—a slight drop from 2019 (51%). Notably, this view was more popular among the rich (50%) and the middle class (55%).
On religion: Here’s the really good news. An overwhelming majority (79%) subscribe to the idea that India belongs to all religions—and not just Hindus. They also say India must remain a country where people following different religions can freely live and practise their faith. Data points to note: “Nearly eight in every 10 Hindus said that they have faith in religious pluralism. Only 11% of Hindus said that they think that India is a nation of Hindus.”
On BJP’s record: These are the most interesting results. On the revocation of Article 370, only 34% support it. But 22% had no opinion on the issue—and another 24% didn’t even know of the Article. Another 63% had no clue about the G20 summit. The trend remained the same on the controversial Uniform Civil Code:
According to the survey, nearly three in ten (29%) voters believe that the UCC will empower women and provide greater equality and justice to them, whereas two in ten (19%) voters express their concerns by stating that the UCC might interfere with religious traditions by mixing personal beliefs and the legal framework. At the same time, a little over one in four (26%) chose not to express an opinion on the matter, and a similar proportion of voters indicated that they were not aware of the UCC.
The main takeaway: The results underline the vast chasm between what matters to the voters—and what matters to the media. The Hindu has all the results—on development, important issues, religion and BJP’s record.
War on Gaza: The latest update
About those hostages: A Hamas official says the group does not have 40 living hostages who met the criteria set by Israel for an exchange under a proposed cease-fire agreement. Israelis say there are 130 hostages remaining in Gaza—but its intelligence officers think 30 of them have died in captivity. (CNN)
Worried about Iran: On April 1, Israel struck the Iranian embassy in Syria—killing seven top commanders. It was a remarkable decision to escalate and broaden the conflict. Ever since, everyone has been bracing for Tehran’s response. The US has now sent its top military commander to Tel Aviv—to make sure Israel is protected.
FYI: The US AID chief Samantha Power says famine has already started in parts of Gaza—even as Israel continues to bomb Rafah—the last remaining refuge for residents. (New York Times)
India workers in Israel: According to Tel Aviv, 6,000 Indian construction workers will be shipped to Israel in ‘air shuttles’ over the next two months. There are already 18,000 working there. Reminder: Israel banned Palestinians from working in the country after the October 7 attacks—and is suffering a severe labour shortage. (Hindustan Times)
Trauma & psychedelics: When Hamas terrorists struck a music festival on October 7, many of the Israelis were high on mind-altering substances like LSD, MDMA and ketamine. They offer a rare opportunity for researchers to study whether psychedelics can help treat PTSD. The results from the festival are mixed:
In many instances, according to preliminary results of the researchers’ survey, even festivalgoers using the same drugs experienced the attack in different ways — variances that might have meant the difference between life and death…
Of those who made it out alive, some survivors appeared to be recovering well and others reported feeling numb and detached. Some said they had increased their drug use since the attack to cope.
New York Times has more.
EU approves big migration deal
After eight years of deadlock and three years of negotiations, the European Parliament voted for a package of new migration laws:
It asks front-line countries such as Greece, Spain and Italy to build detention centers, speedily process claims and quickly deport unsuccessful claimants. Other countries are obligated to resettle more people or provide financial compensation — a provision known as a “solidarity mechanism.”
Is that a good thing? It depends who you ask. Supporters say it will ensure asylum requests are processed faster—while imposing tough new screening systems. European Parliament president Roberta Metsola says: “A balance between solidarity and responsibility. This is the European way.”
OTOH, Amnesty International claims the reforms will mean “less protection and a greater risk of facing human rights violations across Europe—including illegal and violent pushbacks, arbitrary detention and discriminatory policing.”
What’s next: The deal has to be ratified by each member country before it becomes law. No one expects any problems—but the effect of these laws will depend on how they will be implemented by each country. (Washington Post, paywall, The Guardian)
Arrests & raids: Yet another update
Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha has been arrested twice—first by the Enforcement Directorate and now by the CBI. She is accused of bribing the Aam Aadmi Party with Rs 1 billion (100 crore) in return for liquor licences in Delhi. This is the same case that led to the arrests of Arvind Kejriwal and other AAP leaders.
In this case, Kavitha is already in Tihar thanks to the ED. So why is the CBI getting involved? We can only guess that it’s an attempt to make sure Kavitha stays in jail. In many other instances, two separate agencies arrest the same person for the same offence. If they get bail in one case, they can be held on the other. But our money laundering laws make it very hard for anyone to get bail—so this seems like overkill.
Point to note: Kavitha is so special because she is the daughter of K Chandrasekhar Rao. As Chief Minister of Telangana, KCR stymied the BJP’s efforts to gain traction in Telangana. When the state elections came around last year, he was toppled from his gaddi, replaced by Congress. But he managed to damage BJP’s chances.
So that may or may not be a reason why Kavitha is sitting in jail. Or why Kejriwal is in there with her. These days, being an opposition leader is like smoking—seriously hazardous to your health. (Indian Express)
Speaking of political hazards: Apple has sent a fresh batch of notices to some of its users. It warns that their iPhone could have been attacked by “mercenary spyware.” It doesn’t specify who or what may be responsible for the hacking attempt. But the notice mentions the Israeli spyware Pegasus—which is only sold to governments.
Apple issued the same notice back in 2021 to politicians like Shashi Tharoor and Mahua Moitra—but they specified quote unquote “a potential state-sponsored spyware attack.” A claim Apple had to walk back when the government got mad at them—and accused its algorithms of being, well, faulty.
The Supreme Court appointed a committee to look into the matter—but it didn’t find anything. That’s mainly because the government refused to cooperate—citing national security. But don’t worry, this isn’t just happening in India. Such notices were sent to iPhone users across 91 countries. We’re all being stalked by Big Brother now. (Economic Times)
Instagram’s big move against sextortion
Meta rolled out something called a nudity filter to protect children from becoming victims of sextortion—where predators solicit sexual images from minors:
The feature will be able to automatically detect nude images being sent, blurring them and encouraging “people to think twice before sending” them, telling users not to “feel pressured to respond” as well as reminding them that they can be unsent if they change their mind.
To protect their privacy, Meta will not have access to these images. The feature will be “turned on by default” for users under 18 years of age around the world. Adults will get a notification “encouraging them to turn it on”. (Forbes)
India ends Cannes drought
‘All We Imagine As Light' by filmmaker Payal Kapadia has been shortlisted for the main competition of the Cannes Film Festival. The winner receives the top prize—the Palme D’Or. This is the first nomination in this category after 30 years. The last Indian film to make the cut was the Malayalam movie ‘Swaham’ in 1994. Kapadia is up against legendary directors like Francis Ford Coppola and Yorgos Lanthimos of ‘Poor Things’ fame. Film Companion profiled Kapadia back in 2017 when her first documentary feature ‘The Wind Will Carry Us’ made it to Cannes. (Moneycontrol)
Not doing quite as well: Ajay Devgn’s new flick ‘Maidaan’—which was released yesterday—and immediately ran into trouble. A writer Anil Kumar says an assistant director stole his script. He invited Kumar to pitch him for a potential Aamir Khan project—that went nowhere. But later repurposed the script for Devgn’s film. A Mysore court has since placed a stay order on its release—which seems silly since the movie is already in theatres. FYI: ‘Maidaan’ is a wannabe ‘Chak De! India’—an inspirational story about football coach SA Rahim and the Indian football team’s success at the 1962 Asian Games. (Economic Times)
Shocking report on protein powder in India
A first-of-its-kind Indian study looked at 36 popular protein powders used in India. It found that 70% had inaccurate information about protein content. Example: Big Muscles Protein Whey advertises it has 76.5% protein—but the researchers only found 26.1%; Big Muscles Vegan Protein, with an advertised 81.3% and detected 19.4% protein. Much more worrying: 14% contained harmful fungal aflatoxins and 8% showed traces of pesticide residue.
The worst brands include Big Muscles and Amway—while Elements and Nutrilite contain fungal aflatoxins. The best of the lot: One Science Nutrition, the protein supplement by Nutrabox and protein powder by Origin.
Point to note: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) does not regulate herbal and dietary supplements. See the Liver Doc Abby Phillips’ X thread for a summary of the results. (The Print)
Anger management 101: Shred that paper!
A new Japanese study has found an easy way to control your temper. When you get mad, just write down your angry thoughts on paper. Then shred it to pieces and throw it in the bin. Researchers call this “backward magical contagion.” Think of it as reverse voodoo—where what you do to the doll can affect the person. In this case, what you do to the paper can cause the original emotion to disappear. So it’s important to shred the paper. Holding on to it doesn’t really help get rid of the rage.
Of course, Kareena Kapoor in ‘Jab We Met' was way ahead of the curve. Remember when she got Shahid Kapoor to burn the photo of his ex? Sheer genius! FYI: The Japanese themselves have a festival called Hakidashisara. People smash little discs that represent things that make them angry—and feel instant relief. (The Guardian)
Who owns the ‘Vitruvian Man’?
Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Vitruvian Man’ is an iconic depiction of the ideal proportions of the human body (see it here). In 2019, the Italian government sued Ravensburger—best known for their jigsaws—for using the drawing in a 1,000-piece puzzle. At issue:
Italy’s cultural heritage and landscape code, which was adopted in 2004 and allows cultural institutions, like museums, to request concession fees and payments for the commercial reproduction of cultural properties, like “Vitruvian Man.”
But this is at odds with EU law—which says works in the public domain are not subject to copyright.
Duelling court rulings: Back in 2022, a Venice court decided in favour of Rome—and directed the company to pay the fee and penalties to the government. But now, a German court has thrown its weight with Ravensburger—saying the Italian code does not apply outside its borders. The Italians have dramatically vowed to fight the German ruling in “every national, international and community court.”
FYI: Rome is very lawsuit-happy when it comes to copyright fees. It has separately sued a US gun maker and GQ Italia for using an image of Michelangelo’s David—and Jean Paul Gaultier for reproducing a Botticelli painting on clothing. Don’t hate us but we’re very amused by the gun-happy David. (New York Times)
Three things to see
One: A spectacular and rare cosmic event is set to take place soon—but will happen 3,000 light years away. T Coronae Borealis aka Blaze Star is a binary star system (two stars bound together by gravity)—which is essentially a ticking bomb. It explodes at 79-year intervals—the last was in 1946—and it’s due for a big one now. The good news: You will be able to see the explosion with the naked eye. Check out an illustration of the nova below: (Quartz)
Two: Roger—an eight-year-old Labrador—became a hero in Taiwan when he found the body of a victim in the country’s recent earthquake. The inspiring bit: Roger had failed a drug-sniffing program for being “too friendly and boisterous”—and was adopted by the search-and-rescue team of the Kaohsiung fire department. You can see the good boy at work below. (CNN)
Three: Have you heard of a reverse art heist? An employee at a museum in Munich did not steal a painting—but hung one of his own paintings on its walls instead. He smuggled it into the modern art collection of the Pinakothek der Moderne—which is one of the largest in Germany. Of course, he got caught and was fired. He is also being fined for drilling two holes into the wall. The really sad news: The museum didn’t share the rogue artwork.
Point to note: A museum in Bonn experienced a similar incident in October—and handled it very differently. It identified the artist, shared the painting on Insta (below)—and even arranged its sale. The going price: $4,000—which the painter donated to charity. So a much happier ending for all. (New York Times)
