headlines that matter

Researched by: Rachel John, Aarthi Ramnath & Nirmal Bhansali

This week in ‘24 Questions: Whispers and WhatsApp waterfalls

In the third edition of our weekly election special, political consultant Ritwick Shrivastav reveals the secret of the BJP’s success—an army of panna pramukhs who win elections one booth at a time. In Eye Candy, the BJP's Google ad spends reveal a very surprising pattern. Plus an excellent round up of election stuff to read and watch.

Reminder: All through the election season, we will send you an exclusive election goodie bag right in your inbox each week—with deep dives that DECODE the important issues—without boring you to death; creative (and shareworthy) infographics that offer the perfect EYE CANDY; our pick of the best YouTube analysis in our WATCHLIST; and a weekly roundup of the most taaza election khabar plus the best reads of the season to understand the STATE OF PLAY.

There’s more! Join our new Whatsapp channel here—to get the best bits of the election coverage out there! Coming soon: A town-hall in Bangalore! More deets soon.

The big picture: We’re a tiny team straining to put out the best—be it in our weekday edition, weekend Advisory or the weekly election special. If you can, please level up to a founding member subscription—which helps us pay the added bills—and 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!

Splainer is hiring: A key role in the newsroom

We are hiring for the key position of a News Editor to join our brilliantly talented editorial team. This is a ‘teaching’ newsroom—where learning new things is a big part of the job. We also pride ourselves on a warm, friendly work culture. But, but, but: This is not an average newsroom gig with a boiler-plate desk job. What we’re looking for:

• Someone with 1.5 to 2 years of experience in a newsroom or related field. This is not an entry level position.
• Excellent research skills are a must—especially the ability to break down complex jargon into accessible language.
• Someone who is interested in—and has some knowledge of—hard news issues in politics, economy and law. This job isn’t for someone who prefers culture/lifestyle topics. 
• A person who enjoys juggling a couple of different roles. Example: working closely with the production team that creates our awesome videos. Or managing relationships with content partners. 
• Willingness to work in a startup environment where we all do a bit of everything—and are eager to take initiative and responsibility.
• A knowledge of and love for splainer is a huge plus—since we’re not the usual news product.

Please note there is a six-month probation period and the pay will be industry standard. We are an equal opportunity employer and work remotely. But we prefer someone based out of Bangalore–to lend a hand with video shoots and events. Please send your resumes and cover letter—telling us why you want this job—to talktous@splainer.in. We will reach out to you if you’re shortlisted.

War on Gaza: Famine alert

A new report warns that 1.1 million people in north Gaza face “catastrophic” levels of hunger—and are in imminent risk of a “man-made starvation” created by Israel. The IDF is blocking humanitarian aid on the borders—and has been accused of shooting at Gazans assembled at aid distribution centres.

This is how bad it is:

Jeremy Konyndyk, the head of Refugees International and a former Biden administration official said: “In my 25 years as a humanitarian this may be, pound for pound, the grimmest analysis I have ever seen… The famine is now starting. Only question at this point is how much more momentum it will be allowed to develop,” Konyndyk said on X.

Meanwhile, over in The Hague: 

Israel has asked the International Court of Justice not to issue emergency orders for it to step up humanitarian aid to Gaza to address the looming famine, dismissing South Africa’s request to do so as “morally repugnant”.

The Guardian has more on this catastrophe. Reuters has more on the case in the ICJ.

Hollywood’s Jews unite: At the Oscars ceremony, filmmaker Jonathan Glazer—whose movie ‘The Zone of Interest’ won the best international feature award—expressed his solidarity with the people in Gaza in his acceptance speech. He has now been called out in a letter signed by 450 Jewish creatives in Hollywood. They focused on his use of the word “occupation”—which they claim fuels anti-Jewish hatred. BTW, Glazer is Jewish—and his movie is about the Holocaust. You can watch his speech here. (The Guardian)

Two damning reports on our environment

Hey, at least we offer fair warning!

Air pollution in India: India came in at #3 in a list of most polluted nations—-after Bangladesh and Pakistan. Of 100 cities with the worst air last year—83 were in India. The worst in the world: Begusarai, Bihar—followed by Guwahati, Delhi and Mullanpur in Punjab. The study focused on fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, “which is the tiniest pollutant but also the most dangerous.” In Begusarai, the average annual concentration of the pollutant PM2.5 was 118.9—which is 23X higher than WHO standards. In fact, 95% of the Indian population lives with pollution that is 7X higher than what is considered safe. (CNN)

Scorching ocean temperatures: New data shows that the ocean temperature broke new records every single day in the past year—and were on average 0.25°C warmer in 2023 than the previous year. This rise “is equivalent to about two decades’ worth of warming in a single year. Not only are temperatures rising, they are rising by a very large margin. CNN and Axios have more details.

Saudis are coming for AI!

The nation is creating a $40 billion fund to invest in AI technology—and could become the “biggest player” in the market:

Officials from the Saudi fund have discussed the role Andreessen Horowitz — already an active investor in AI and whose co-founder Ben Horowitz is friends with the fund’s governor — could play and how such a fund would work, the people said. The $40 billion target would dwarf the typical amounts raised by U.S. venture capital firms and would be eclipsed only by SoftBank, the Japanese conglomerate that has long been the world’s largest investor in start-ups. 

Andreessen Horowitz—one of the biggest VCs in Silicon Valley—is also planning to set up shop in Riyadh. This is, of course, only a sliver of the $400 billion sovereign wealth fund that is being deployed to seal Saudi Arabia’s status as a global power. New York Times has loads more on Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s big tech plans.

Speaking of big tech & AI: YouTube has made it mandatory for creators to disclose AI-generated  content:

When a user uploads a video to the site, they will see a checklist asking if their content makes a real person say or do something they didn’t do, alters footage of a real place or event, or depicts a realistic-looking scene that didn’t actually occur.

Point to note: This system still relies on self-reporting. If the creator flags their content, then YouTube will add a label in the description noting that it contains “altered or synthetic content” and that the “sound or visuals were significantly edited or digitally generated.” (CNN)

Furore over Zomato’s ‘pure vegetarian’ move

The company has set up a fleet dedicated to delivering “pure vegetarian” food—from “pure vegetarian” restaurants. The reason offered by CEO Deepinder Goyal:

Because despite everyone's best efforts, sometimes the food spills into the delivery boxes. In those cases, the smell of the previous order travels to the next order, and may lead to the next order smelling of the previous order. For this reason, we had to separate the fleet for veg orders.

But many folks on X were not impressed—and worried that the service offers new justification for discrimination—against meat-eaters:

It wasn't enough that our food is considered a sin to eat, us filthy for eating it, and to be discriminated for cooking or ordering it at home. Now we watch as RWAs with their history of great decisions make houses 'pure veg fleet only’. 

Initially, Goyal announced that special green-coloured boxes would be used for vegetarian food. However, several people pointed out that it would make it easier to harass those whose food arrives in red boxes. Such harassment may well extend to drivers who deliver food in red uniforms.

Goyal’s latest response: The CEO announced that he is rolling back the colour-coding to protect the fleet:

While we are going to continue to have a fleet for vegetarians, we have decided to remove the on-ground segregation of this fleet on the ground using the colour green. All our riders — both our regular fleet, and our fleet for vegetarians, will wear the colour red… This means that the fleet meant for vegetarian orders will not be identifiable on the ground (but will show on the app that your veg orders will be served by the veg only fleet). 

The next James Bond is… Aaron Taylor-Johnson?!

At least, that’s what the rumour mill says. If you’re wondering who he is, Taylor-Johnson is best known for ‘Kick-Ass’ and playing Quicksilver in Marvel films. He has reportedly been offered the role, and is likely to accept. He will replace Daniel Craig—who bid farewell to the iconic character in the 2021 film ‘No Time To Die’. Ever since a number of English and Irish actors have been under consideration—including Idris Elba, Henry Cavill, Tom Hardy—and more recently Cillian Murphy. (Telegraph UK, paywall, BBC News)

Three things to see

One: Kate Middleton drama continues unabated. She has allegedly been spotted shopping in the company of hubby Will. Or so claim the tabloids which released video footage. Of course, folks are now freaking out over body doubles. We leave you to invent your own conspiracy theory. (Newsweek)

Two: Adding to the chaos: the photo agency Getty—which placed a new advisory on another Kate image:

The picture of the queen flanked by 10 children, which was shot by Catherine at Balmoral Castle in Scotland in August 2022, appears to have multiple visual inconsistencies. Most conspicuously, there is a mismatch in the vertical line on the queen’s tartan skirt.

Sigh! You can see the latest suspect below. (New York Times)

Three: Bangalore’s legendary South Indian restaurant chain MTR has set the record for making the longest dosa in the world—measuring a staggering 123 feet! It was prepared by a team of 75 chefs headed by Chef Regi Mathews—after 110 failed attempts—for the restaurant’s 100th year anniversary. (Indian Express)