Researched by: Rachel John, Aarthi Ramnath & Anannya Parekh
The ‘24 Questions project is here!
We published the first edition of our weekly election special on Sunday. And it looks pretty good:) All through the election season, we will send you an exclusive election goodie bag right in your inbox each week—with the following:
- Deep dives by independent experts—with true area expertise—that will DECODE everything around elections.
- Creative (and shareworthy) infographics that offer important insights—perfect EYE CANDY.
- Our pick of the best YouTube analysis in our WATCHLIST.
- A weekly roundup of the most taaza election khabar plus the best reads of the season to understand the STATE OF PLAY.
Coming soon: Join our new Whatsapp channel here—to stay in the loop! And look for announcements of our IRL town halls—where you get to ask the smartest people in the biz all the questions you have about this election.
Farewell, Nikki Haley!
Donald Trump’s sole challenger for the Republican Party nomination suspended her campaign on Wednesday—after he swept the Super Tuesday primaries. Haley managed to win only two of the races this year—and was never considered a real threat. So why does her loss matter? It marks the end of the last hope of moderate Republicans to win back their party. An interesting bit: Haley did not endorse Trump, saying instead, “It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him. And I hope he does that." FYI: Trump has called Haley supporters Radical Left Democrats—which surely comes as a rude shock to her billionaire Wall Street donors.
What this means: We’re slated for a Trump vs Biden rerun—a race to figure out which geriatric neta is less popular with the American voter. New York Times has a long analysis of Haley’s run for president. (Reuters)
An excellent new rule for bank credit cards
In India, Visa and Mastercard enter into exclusive agreements with banks and non-banking institutions that issue credit cards. What this means: banks get to choose the network for its customers—an unfair outcome that the Reserve Bank of India has now banned. You can now choose whether you prefer Visa, Mastercard or any other network. Why this is a good thing: you can now pick a card based on the perks, terms etc. Why this is a big blow to Visa/Mastercard:
The move may impact Visa and Mastercard the most in India as they charge various fees based on their card offerings, including for use overseas. Cards from Rupay, part of India’s homegrown National Payments Corporation, don’t succumb to network registration fees and are typically free for domestic usage.
For more, read Bloomberg News (paywall) or Economic Times.
A manslaughter conviction in ‘Rust’ trial
The context: Back in 2021, Baldwin fired a gun while filming a scene for ‘Rust’. The bullet killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza. The gun should not have had live bullets. And nothing in the script required Baldwin to actually pull the trigger of the Colt .45. Baldwin and other crew members were first sued by people on the set that day in November, 2021. Our Big Story has the latest on Alec Baldwin's indictment which happened in January.
What happened now: The armourer—person in charge of weapons on the set—Hannah Gutierrez-Reed has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. She may be sentenced to as much as 18 months in prison. Why this matters: This marks the first time a jury has weighed in on the shooting—and it’s a bad omen for Baldwin who will be tried on a charge of involuntary manslaughter in July. Point to note: Gutierrez-Reed loaded the bullets into the gun—not knowing they were live (not dummy ones). The jury concluded that it was “her job to check those rounds and those firearms.” That’s not true for Baldwin—who says he had no idea that the gun given to him on the set was loaded with live bullets. (New York Times)
Supreme Court cracks down on tiger safaris
The Supreme Court has banned safaris in critical areas of the Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand. They will be only allowed in buffer or peripheral zones adjoining the reserve. The order comes after the Court discovered that the government had turned a blind eye to the cutting of over 6,000 trees to build a zoo (?!!) inside the park. The justices were outraged:
On the “huge devastation” caused by the illegal felling, the court said it was “amazed at the audacity” of former Uttarakhand Forest Minister and Congress leader Harak Singh Rawat and ex-Divisional Forest Officer Kishan Chand for giving the forest and wildlife conservation laws a complete go-by and throwing the public trust doctrine “into the dustbin.”
The Court also signalled that it may ban all safaris—even in the bordering zones. For now, it has allowed safaris in rescue and rehabilitation centres—for injured or orphaned tigers—in these areas. But bringing in injured tigers from zoos to include them in the safari is no longer permitted. (Hindustan Times)
A bonus read: The Hindu has astonishing photos of a tiger hunting a bull in Uttar Pradesh’s Pilibhit Tiger Reserve—captured by wildlife photographer Jeetendra Chaware.
Elon Musk vs OpenAi: The plot thickens
The context: In 2015, OpenAI was founded by Elon Musk and legendary investor and current CEO Sam Altman—as a non-profit with a high-minded mission to create “a machine with the learning and reasoning powers of a human mind.” Musk pulled out in 2018—after clashing with Altman over control of the company. Musk is suing OpenAI and Altman for allegedly violating these founding principles. For more: We did a detailed Big Story on Altman and OpenAI.
What happened now: The other founding members of OpenAI refuted Musk’s allegations in a blog post. They also released redacted emails that showed Musk’s support for a for-profit entity. According to OpenAI, the real reason Musk is in a sulk is this:
“In late 2017, we and Elon decided the next step for the mission was to create a for-profit entity. Elon wanted majority equity, initial board control, and to be CEO. In the middle of these discussions, he withheld funding.” according to the blog post.
“We couldn’t agree to terms on a for-profit with Elon because we felt it was against the mission for any individual to have absolute control over OpenAI. He then suggested instead merging OpenAI into Tesla. In early February 2018, Elon forwarded us an email suggesting that OpenAI should ‘attach to Tesla as its cash cow’,” Altman and his colleagues wrote.
Financial Times (splainer gift link) has all the details.
India is a nightmare for expats
According to a new study, India is the hardest place in the world for foreigners. It looked at 30 countries and “factors such as expat population, visa data, required vaccines and language requirements.” The reason why India scored poorly: it is difficult and expensive to obtain an employment visa. Plus, the long list of essential vaccinations. Also this: “Remarkably, just 0.4% of India’s population were born outside the country.”
Next on the list after India: Australia and Finland. OTOH, the best countries for expats are Hungary, Malta and Austria. (The Wire)
Smartphones hurt language skills of kids
An Australian study revealed yet another reason to keep kids away from screens. They limit conversations with adults and peers—which are critical to early language development:
When the children were 18 months old, each additional minute of screen time was associated with 1.3 fewer child vocalisations, for example, and when they were 2 years old, an additional minute was associated with 0.4 fewer turns in conversation.
In other words, “every minute counts.” (New York Times, paywall, ABC News)
In other bad health news: Diet soda is terrible for your heart. According to a new study, drinking over two litres of diet soda in a week (approx. six cans) increases the risk of “atrial fibrillation” by 20%. A-fib refers to “a chaotic quivering of the top chambers of the heart”—and is the leading cause of stroke, heart attack and heart failure. But here’s the surprising bit:
Drinking a similar number of added-sugar beverages raised the risk of the condition by 10%, while drinking about four ounces of pure, unsweetened juices, such as orange or vegetable juice, was associated with an 8% lower risk of atrial fibrillation, the study found.
In other health news: Researchers have found that the vaccine Covishield—developed in the UK and manufactured by the Serum Institute in Pune—generated higher antibody levels and stronger immune responses than the ‘made in India’ Covaxin. However, scientists note that this does not imply that Covaxin also did not protect people from severe Covid. (The Telegraph)
Four things to see
One: India got its first underwater metro line—which runs for 16.6 km beneath the Hooghly River—connecting the twin cities Howrah and Salt Lake. It includes three underground stations and can “traverse a 520-meter stretch under the Hooghly river in a mere 45 seconds.” Watch the train below. (MoneyControl)
Two: The “most famous wet shirt” in television history—worn by Colin Firth on the BBC adaptation of ‘Pride and Prejudice’—sold for a whopping $25,000 at an auction. Yes, we included this entirely unimportant bit of news so you can revisit the scene below. (Associated Press)
Three: Here’s the trailer of ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry’—a coming-of-age series focused on an all-girls boarding school. It’s directed by Nitya Mehra of ‘Made In Heaven’ fame—so expect excellent visuals and masaledar plotlines. Watch the trailer below.The series drops on Prime Video on March 14. (Outlook)
Four: Speaking of intriguing trailers, here’s a new robot movie based on the award-winning eponymous novel ‘The Wild Robot’. Lupita Nyong’o voices the lead robot named Roz—and the film also features the always dreamy Pedro Pascal. It releases in theatres on September 20. (Mashable)
