headlines that matter

Researched by: Aarthi Ramnath, Anannya Parekh, Aakriti Anand & Raghav Bikhchandani

Olympics update: Gender wars in the ring

Algeria’s Imane Khelif needed just 46 seconds to defeat Italy’s Angela Carini in their women’s boxing welterweight match. But the furore surrounding Khelif’s victory has not yet subsided.   

What happened: Carini wasn’t knocked out, or KO’d in boxing terms. She quit in the very first round after getting clocked in the face by Khelif twice. Carini was afraid of suffering a broken nose. Check out Khelif’s match-ending punch—in normal speed:

The fallout: Afterwards Carini said:

“I was convinced I would win, I was concentrated, serene. But these punches to the nose hurt, I said enough.” Carini said it was “not up to me to judge” whether Khelif should have been barred from the competition. “I did my job.”

Cue the gender wars. Everyone from JK Rowling to Elon Musk and the Italian PM voiced their outrage at “men” competing in women’s events. FYI: Carini herself tried to distance herself from the controversy. 

What’s up with Khelif: First, the facts. Khelif is not a trans person—gender transition is illegal in Algeria. She is intersex—a broad label for people who have biological traits that don’t fit into the male/female binary. They could have an unusual chromosome combination—such as XXY—or possess both male and female genitalia. Intersex babies, however, are assigned a gender at birth. Khelif was deemed female—at birth has competed all her life as one.

A debate over rules: A number of global athletic organisations have recently banned trans persons from competing in women's events—including World Athletics and Fina aka World Aquatics. But the International Boxing Association and IOC cannot agree over the rules for intersex athletes. At the Women’s World Championships final in Delhi, Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting were disqualified for allegedly having XY chromosomes. The IBA chief claimed: “Based on the results of DNA tests, we identified a number of athletes who tried to deceive their colleagues and pretended to be women.” 

But, but, but: The IOC—Olympics’ chief governing body—cleared both Khelif and Lin for the Paris Games. The organisation is now running the show—having banned the IBA over governance issues. It claims the 2023 disqualifications of Khelif and Lin were “sudden and arbitrary” and “without any due process.” The IOC and IBA are involved in a public brawl over their eligibility. 

What’s next: Lin plays her first match on August 2 while Khelif will play next on August 3. So this controversy isn’t going to die down anytime soon. Check out this paper on participation of intersex athletes by the Women’s Sports Foundation—founded by tennis legend Billie Jean King. 

Moving on to India: First the best news: We have scored a third medal!!! Swapnil Kusale bagged bronze in the men’s 50-metre rifle 3 positions final. Indian Express has more on Kusale, who has a day job as a railways ticket collector in Pune. Check out highlights from his bronze-winning performance here. 

The big heartbreaker: Badminton superstar PV Sindhu has been knocked out of the chase for her third Olympic medal. She lost in straight games to China’s He Bingjiao in the pre-quarterfinals. The Telegraph has the match report. FYI: Only Lakshya Sen is left in the hunt for a badminton medal—with the doubles team of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also out of the picture.

Sticking with India: Here’s how the rest of our athletes got on, and it wasn’t pretty: 

• In athletics, we were nowhere near the podium finishers in both the men’s and women’s 20km race walk. 
• In archery, Pravin Ramesh Jadhav was thrashed 6-0 by China’s Kao Wenchao in the men’s individual event. 
• In boxing, Nikhat Zareen fell to China’s Wu Yu in the women’s 50kg round of 16.
• In hockey, Tokyo gold medallists Belgium edged out our men’s team 2-1. Since we’ve already booked our spot in the quarterfinals, our final group game against Australia will be a shootout for second place, to determine seeding.
• In shooting, the rest of our roster failed to get past the qualifying stages. 

The Olympics website offers a useful daily schedule, including India-specific events.

Showstopper Simone Biles: The most decorated gymnast in Olympic history has added another gold to her kitty—in the women’s artistic individual all-round event. This is her sixth. Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade and Biles’ fellow US compatriot Sunisa Lee round out the podium. Check out Simone’s dazzling diamond GOAT necklace below. It goes very nicely with her sixth Olympic gold:
The feel-good Olympics: Moving on to the more fun side of the Games, say hello to  Italian gymnast Giorgia Villa—silver medalist and parmesan cheese ambassador. She has excellent marketing skills:) (Yahoo News)

Also making waves: Super-cool shooters—like Turkey’s Yusuf Dikec—who screams gangland assassin: 

As opposed to the ‘Matrix’ version—aka South Korea’s Kim Ye-ji:

Of course, there are ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ memes.

A controversial Supreme Court ruling on caste

In a 6-1 ruling, the Supreme Court has greenlit sub-classifications among Schedule Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The aim is to eliminate the “creamy layer”—the odd phrase used to denote more affluent members of marginalised communities. What this means: 

One: The justices said: “Empirical evidence indicates that there is inequality even within the Scheduled Castes. The Scheduled Castes are not a homogeneous integrated class.” Hence, the need for sub-categories.

Two: States must identify and create these subcategories based on “quantifiable and demonstrable data'' about the backwardness or the lack of representation of their members: “It cannot in other words merely act on its whims or as a matter of political expediency.” This is presumably aimed at castes who lobby to be reclassified as backward—to benefit from reservations.

Three: The underlying goal is not just to better target reservations—but to exclude the so-called “creamy layer”:

Justice B.R. Gavai explained that an SC/ST person would continue to be socially, economically and educationally backward if he or she could only achieve the position of a peon or a sweeper through reservation. However, on the other hand, individuals who availed quota benefits to reach the “high echelons of life” should be considered as belonging to the creamy layer as they had already “reached a stage where on their own accord they should walk out of the special provisions and give way to the deserving and needy”.

Point to note: This judgement overturns previous Supreme Court rulings that declared creating subcategories is “unconstitutional.” But the ruling also does not make it mandatory to do so. 

The main takeaway: As Gautam Bhatia points out in this thread, this is an advisory—not a directive. The justices were asked to rule purely on the constitutionality of creating subcategories. Comments about ‘creamy layer’ were unwarranted—and besides the point:

The gratuitous and ahistorical comments on varna/caste, first generation/second generation, alternatives to reservation etc were not in issue. They reflect a continuing problem of SC judges pontificating on things outside their institutional competence.

Reading list: We recommend Indian Express and The Hindu for the gist of the ruling. 

Israel claims key Hamas assassination

The military says it has killed Muhammad Deif, the leader of Hamas’s armed wing—and key planner of the October 7 attacks. Tel Aviv says he was killed in a major attack in Gaza—back in July—which also killed 90 residents. Why Deif’s death matters:

Hamas acquired much of its rocket capability under his command. Among the supporters of Hamas, Deif enjoyed a cult status. The group always maintained a web of secrecy around its shadow commander… For Hamas, his words made its rule book, which was evident on the October 7 attack. If Israel’s claim that Deif was killed in the July 13 strike is true, that’s a heavy blow to Hamas. 

Reminder: Israel just assassinated the leader of Hamas’ political wing: Ismail Haniyeh. Stanly Johny via The Hindu has more on Deif. The New York Times has an exclusive on Haniyeh’s assassination. He was killed by an explosive device smuggled into a guesthouse—where he usually stayed when visiting Tehran—months in advance.

Meanwhile, in Washington: Sixteen people were released from Russian custody in the largest prisoner swap between Russia and the US since the Cold War. Those released include Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. What Moscow got in return:

Among those returning to Russia was the assassin Vadim Krasikov, who has been held in a German prison since 2019 for the murder of a Chechen exile in Berlin. Additionally, several deep-cover Russian “illegal” spies arrested in Norway and Slovenia were swapped, along with Russians held on criminal charges in US jails.

The Guardian has more on the swap.

Finfluencers, begone!

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has asked social media platforms—including Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, and YouTube—to take legal action against finance influencers or finfluencers. The reason:  

Many of these self-claimed influencers have been providing stock tips and investment advice without proper registration, putting investors at risk. Instances include false promise of guaranteed returns, technical jargon to confuse investors, and misleading testimonials in social media posts and advertisements, Sebi has noted.

As of July 17, the regulatory body found “8,890 unlawful/misleading social media content.”

Point to note: SEBI has been trying to crack down the impact of these finfluencers for almost a year now. In April, Ravindra Bharti was fined Rs 12 crore (120 million) for claiming “guaranteed returns up to 1000%.” 

Why this matters: Around 15% of the banking and market sector is driven by finfluencers. Also: a whopping 79% people trust social media influencers—because money and fools etc. etc. (MoneyControl)

Dating apps aid and abet stalkers

New research shows that apps like Bumble and Hinge allow stalkers to ID your location—within a two-metre radius. The method is called “oracle trilateration”. Trilateration is when you use three GPS points to create three circles—and where all three overlap gives you the location of the person. Here then is how oracle trilateration works:

The researchers wrote in their paper that the first step for the person who wants to identify their target’s location “roughly estimates the victim’s location,” for example, based on the location displayed in the target’s profile. Then the attacker moves in increments “until the oracle indicates that the victim is no longer within proximity, and this for three different directions. The attacker now has three positions with a known exact distance, i.e., the preselected proximity distance, and can trilaterate the victim,” the researchers wrote.

TechCrunch has more nerdy details. 

Related good reads: We did a two-parter on dating apps: part one explains their history—and all the ways that their algorithms are broken. Part two explains how AI is taking over the romance aspect of our lives.

Meanwhile, over at Google: Google will now take down deepfaked porn reported by you—if you can be clearly identified in the image; it shows you in a sexually explicit manner—and if it’s been shared without consent. Ars Technica lays out the new measures.

Speaking of AI: ChatGPT is terrible at making medical diagnoses—though it does have a nicer bedside manner than human doctors. Apparently, it is only correct 49% of the time—which presumably is unacceptably low to the hapless patient. (Gizmodo)

Political wars over dogs in Turkey

The law: The Parliament passed a new law directing local authorities to put all stray dogs into shelters. It also allows the euthanization of aggressive or ill animals. The kicker: “The law mandates shelter improvements by 2028 and threatens mayors with prison time if they don’t enforce the law.” 

The fallout: It has sparked furious objections on both humane and political grounds. Turkish shelters can only accommodate 100,000 dogs—and there are only 3,000 vets in these municipalities. But President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is hell-bent on the new rules because he wants to reassert himself in local politics—after suffering the big losses in the local elections in March. Experts say he is also pandering to his religious conservative base:

He’s approaching this in a way that aligns with his base, where the mass culling of dogs has been embraced by pro-Erdogan pundits. This is not just about that brutal act of mass killing of dogs, but it’s also informed by class, Islamic lifestyle, and the unending war between Erdogan and the opposition.

New York Times has more on this unlikely political battleground.

what caught our eye

business & tech

• Amid its struggle to recover its brand reputation from manufacturing and safety-related controversies, Boeing has named Robert “Kelly” Ortberg to replace outgoing CEO Dave Calhoun. 
• Nearly 300 small Indian banks—mostly rural and cooperative institutions—suffered outages in their online payment systems due to a ransomware attack on a common vendor: C-Edge Technologies. 
• Zomato will soon launch ‘District’—a new going-out app that consolidates their dine out reservations and ticketing platforms.
• The European Union’s (EU) AI Act—aimed at regulating big tech AI and includes banning systems dependent on biometric data—has come into effect.
• Riju Ravindran—a former director at Byju’s and the founder’s brother—has been fined $10,000 per day until he helps find the $533 million that the edtech startup is accused of fraudulently hiding from US moneylenders.
• Tata Play has decided to remove Sony channels from some curated subscriber packs, citing declining viewership. Sony has labelled the move as “retaliatory” as they had requested to audit Tata Play’s subscriber management system.   

sports & entertainment 

• Netflix has announced the release dates of the second and third seasons of the hit series, ‘Squid Game’—December 26 and 2025, respectively. 
• GMR Group—co-owners of IPL franchise Delhi Capitals—have agreed a £120 million ($152.6 million) deal to buy a majority share in English county cricket club Hampshire. 

as for the rest

• Gouda cheese derives its name from a small Dutch city, but the future of both the city and the industry appears bleak due to rising sea levels. 
• Australia will start offering the world’s first peanut allergy treatment for babies—by giving them doses of peanut powder daily for two years to build immunity.
• A record number of people in England—particularly young women—are taking medication for ADHD, according to data by the National Health Service (NHS). 
• Korean Air will no longer serve the popular ramyeon instant noodles as a snack for economy class passengers on long-haul flights. The reason: Turbulence.
• With Iran-Israel tensions flaring up after the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, Air India has cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv.
• Your nose has a number of immune cells which help protect the lungs, as the “first line of defence”, a study has revealed.
• Gen X and Millennials are at higher risk of developing 17 types of cancers compared to older generations, according to a large American Cancer Society study.
• South Korean scientists have found that poop transplants—yup, you read that right—could help boost the treatment for cancers—especially gastrointestinal cancers.

four things to see

One: When she last ran for president in 2020, Kamala Harris said she was tired of having her blackness “put on trial”—especially by Black critics. This time around, however, it is the very white Donald Trump who is challenging her cred—claiming she suddenly “became a Black person” though she’s “Indian all the way.” Ofc, the Black people were surprised to learn you can indeed “become Black.” ICYMI: Our two-part series on whether Kamala Harris can win—part one looks at her colourful backstory, and part two assesses her winnability. (USA Today)

Two: Every monsoon, we get innumerable clips of flooding. First it was Mumbai, now it’s Delhi’s turn—which now boasts a very leaky Rs 1,000 crore Parliament building. 

This was certainly not on Modi-ji’s bucket list. See the leaky building here. (NDTV)

This was the scene outside:

Three: Man-children will be man-children. Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro has challenged Elon Musk to a fight—after Musk repeatedly called him a “dictator.” The stakes: If Musk wins, Maduro will resign and if Maduro wins, Musk gives him a free ticket to Mars (cue: eye roll). This is as likely to occur as the much-touted Musk—Zuck faceoff. (Forbes, paywalled, CNBCTV18)

Four: Ranbir’s foot meets his very loud mouth. The man should just stop giving interviews. Or Aamir should challenge him to a brawl—which would be more entertaining. You can watch the clip here. 

feel good place

One: When they show you clips of dogs doing yoga… 

Two: Hazards of CorporateSpeak.

Three: Rihanna who? (Back story here.)

Splainer is making changes

Earlier this month, we ran a two-part series (Part 1 and Part 2) on the dismal state of the news industry—and how minnows like splainer are finding novel strategies to survive. Starting July 22, we are putting some of those new ideas to work: 

• The first big change is that we will drop most of our sections in a single edition on Monday: Big Story, the quiz, good reads and curious facts. Much of this used to be spread across the week. 
• Headlines That Matter will be sent in a separate email from here on out—Monday through Friday—so you can read it in your inbox or on the app/site. 
• Please note: you will get two email notifications on Monday—the big story and headlines editions. It’s annoying but it only happens on that day. A tech fix requires moving way too much furniture on the back end.
• For the rest of the week, you will only receive the headlines edition. As you can see, we have a new, expanded format to make sure you stay updated through the week:) 

Be sure to send questions, complaints and advice to me at lakshmi@splainer.in. Always happy to hear from you.

Takshashila: A doorway to public policy

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