headlines that matter

Researched by: Rachel John, Aarthi Ramnath & Anannya Parekh

Political chaos in Himachal Pradesh

The context: Members of the upper house are not elected by ordinary voters—but by members of state legislatures. So a majority in a state should give you the power to elect your party members to the Rajya Sabha—in theory. So it was a rude surprise when Congress’ nominee Abhishek Manu Singhvi was defeated—even though the party has 40 out of 68 seats. Nine MLAs—six from Congress and three Independents—voted against him. The result: victory of the BJP nominee Harsh Mahajan. 

What happened now: The government was anxious to pass the budget—since it would have technically lost the confidence of the House if it had failed to do so. Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu managed to do so yesterday in the midst of absolute chaos:

[T]he Speaker, Mr. [Kuldeep] Pathania, suspended 15 of the 25 BJP MLAs amid an adjournment. The remaining 10 BJP MLAs staged a walkout and in the absence of any Opposition, the Budget was passed with a voice vote.

So Sukhu has survived… for now. But with the BJP baying for his head, it remains to be seen how long he can hold on.

Meanwhile, in Assam: More trouble is brewing for the Congress. Over a span of two weeks, three senior leaders of the state party have embraced the BJP. It may be just the beginning of a full-on exodus:

These successive blows to the Congress come amid mounting pressure from the BJP, which has been claiming that nearly all Congress MLAs were in touch with the ruling camp. CM Sarma himself told reporters Tuesday that by the time the 2026 state Assembly elections are held, “only a few MLAs such as Rakibul Hussain, Rekibuddin Ahmed, Jakir Hussain Sikdar and Nurul Huda” will remain with the Congress.

Why any of this matters: It is difficult to fight any election—leave alone, win it—when even your leaders are ‘voting’ against you. Indian Express has more on Assam. The Hindu looks at the tamasha in Himachal.

Signs of election trouble for Biden

President Joe Biden is also losing electoral ground due to his unqualified support for Israel. He won the Michigan primary with a comfortable 81% of the votes—but a solid 13% chose the ‘uncommitted’ option. Why this matters: Over 100,000 people disapproved of him—in a state where Biden defeated Trump by just 150,000 votes in 2020. Also this: 

The movement is now likely to spread to other states, many of which have an option for voters to choose “uncommitted” or “no preference” in their primaries…The challenge for the Biden campaign will be slowing any perceived momentum after Michigan by those protesting his Gaza policy. 

FYI: Michigan has the largest number of Arab-Americans in the United States. Also this: Recent opinion polls predict a possible Trump win in the state. (New York Times, paywall, BBC News)

Speaking of Gaza: The UN warned that Israel is starving its residents to death: 

At least a quarter of Gaza’s population is “one step away from famine,” a U.N. humanitarian aid official has warned, as aid groups say that people are so hungry they are resorting to eating leaves, donkey feed and food scraps.

That doesn’t bode well for Gazans—or Biden come November. (New York Times)

BCCI delivers a big snub

The cricket board announced the list of players who will receive national team contracts. These award a hefty annual payment for each player—over and above compensation for playing in a match. The usual suspects—Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma—were renewed at the highest ‘A plus’ bracket. R Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya made the ‘A’ level. 

The big omissions: The BCCI made sure everyone noted who was entirely missing from the list in its announcement: "Please note that Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan were not considered for the annual contracts in this round of recommendations." The reason: The two men skipped their Ranji matches—to rest themselves for IPL.

What this means: Iyer and Kishan can still play for their IPL teams but not for the country. And that’s not good news:

If they are unable to play for the country, it denies them the chance to be in the spotlight. The IPL is held for only two months a year, and domestic cricket, though central to the development of players, doesn’t attract as many eyeballs. It also provides a chance to other contenders to stake their claim and cement their spots in place of Iyer and Ishan. With the sort of competition for places in the Indian team, out of sight can often mean out of mind.

Indian Express has more on the fallout of this punishment.

Disney makes it official!

After months of endless rumours and insider reports—plus one official announcement—we finally have the details of the merger with Reliance. Here are the terms:

Under the terms of the deal, Reliance will invest $1.4 billion into the JV, which is valued at $8.5 billion. Disney will provide a content licence to the JV, and “may also contribute certain additional media assets to the JV, subject to regulatory and third-party approvals,” the company says. The JV will also have the exclusive right to distribute Disney films and productions in India.

Disney will be a minority shareholder with a 37% stake. 

The real queen: of this entertainment empire: Nita Ambani—who will be the chairperson of the merged entity. Also notable: The shout-out to Modi-ji from the future vice-chair person Uday Shankar:

All of us are committed to delivering exceptional value to our audiences, advertisers, and partners. This joint venture is poised to shape the future of entertainment in India and accelerate the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of making Digital India a global exemplar.

Modi-ji gets credit for everything these days—why not your streaming platform? (Hollywood Reporter)

Bitcoin’s stratospheric rise

The value of the cryptocurrency passed $60,000 for the first time since 2021. It has jumped more than 15% in just four days this week. Coming soon: an event called ‘halving’:

In April, the reward miners get for minting new bitcoin will be halved from 6.25 bitcoin to 3.125. This happens every four years and will continue until all 21 million bitcoins are mined. Halving was written into bitcoin’s code from the beginning to ensure scarcity and safeguard from inflation. Previous halving events coincided with huge price increases for bitcoin.

This will act as a curb on Bitcoin’s soaring value. But here’s the odd bit: Coindesk says retail investors (as in ordinary folks like you) are still not excited about bitcoin. It means this boom is being fueled almost entirely by institutional investors. (Quartz)

Excellent news about boiled water

A new study found that boiling water can help remove 80% of the nano microplastics (NMPs) in it:

We estimated that intakes of NMPs through boiled water consumption were two to five times less than those through tap water on a daily basis. This simple but effective boiling-water strategy can ‘decontaminate’ NMPs from household tap water and has the potential for harmlessly alleviating human exposure to NMPs through water consumption.

Why this matters:

Traditional water treatment plants aren’t able to eliminate NMPs from drinking water, and while some water treatment technologies are able to capture and remove tiny plastic bits, these advanced systems do not exist in developing or underdeveloped countries.

Something to remember: We don’t know what these microplastics do to our body—although scientists are increasingly worried about them. (New Scientist, paywall, Healthline)

Not so great news about trees: According to a new study, the benefits of planting forests may actually be 15 to 30% lower than previous estimates. The reasons include the following: 

[D]ark foliage can have a warming effect by soaking up light that would be reflected back into space if no foliage was present. This effect is strongest where trees replace snow and ice, but can occur in other situations too.

Plants also emit volatile organic compounds that react with chemicals in a variety of ways—limiting their benefits. What this means: It is better to preserve the forests we have–which are keeping the planet cool—than planting trees to offset the damage. (New Scientist, paywall, The Weather Channel)

One ‘not lizard’ to see

Back in 1931, scientists discovered a 280 million-year-old fossil of a lizard-like reptile—Tridentinosaurus antiquus. It was considered to be one of the best preserved specimens of its species for generations. Sadly, state-of-the-art imaging systems have revealed it to be a painting—that is just about 100 years old. It’s a bit of black paint slapped over a carving. Well, maybe it’s just the OG Banksy. (CNN)