About that Pan D in your medicine cabinet…

Written by: Aarthi Ramnath, Aakriti Anand & Raghav Bikhchandani

A festival that kills: 46 dead in a single day

Over the past 24 hours, 46 people died in separate incidents of drowning across Bihar during the ‘Jivitputrika’ festival. Of these, 37 are children. They were taken by their mothers to take a dip in the river. The heartbreakingly ironic bit:

As part of the annual festival Jivitputrika Vrat, celebrated mostly in northern India and some parts of Nepal, women fast for 24 hours and offer special prayers for the long life and good health of their children. During the hours when they are fasting, mothers travel to rivers and ponds in their neighbourhood to bathe, sometimes accompanied by their children.

Usually, police officers and other security personnel are deployed to ensure their safety. The likely culprit: In Aurangabad—where eight children died while bathing in a pond— water levels in rivers and ponds had increased considerably due to heavy rains.

The more shocking bit: Other than the New York Times, there is only a barebones PTI copy on this story.

About that Pan D in your medicine cabinet…

Every month, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) performs a random check of medicine samples—to ensure they meet standards. In August, 53 drugs failed the test—including the popular antacid Pan D and calcium tablets Shelcal, paracetamol, and metformin—the first line of treatment for diabetes. For example, metformin failed to dissolve—which means it would not work after being consumed.

Also worrying: A number of meds were just plain fake—like Glenmark’s Telmisartan (for hypertension) and Sunpharma’s pantoprazole were not manufactured by these companies. That said, all the pharma companies involved claim these meds are counterfeit—and they can’t be held responsible for their quality. So there’s that.

Why this matters: According to doctors: “When the levels of APIs are incorrect or when contamination occurs, these drugs may not effectively treat conditions like pain or fever and could even cause adverse reactions… The stakes are even higher for individuals who rely on these medications for chronic conditions.” Indian Express has the full list of drugs identified by CDSCO—and more on how to protect yourself. (Hindu Business Line)

Moving on to mental health: A new study has found that LGBTQ+ folks have 15% higher risk of developing poor neurological health—including dementia, stroke and late-life depression. The likely reason: Social stigma and marginalisation:

The increased risks likely stem from a combination of psychosocial and biological factors, [postdoctoral research fellow Dr Shufan] Huo said — chronic stress, discrimination and stigma can lead to mental health conditions including depression and anxiety, which in turn can worsen brain health.

But there is no evidence (as yet) for a cause-effect relationship—i.e being a sexual or gender minority alone doesn’t necessarily mean that you will suffer from these diseases. CNN has lots more details on this important study—and the level of risk.

New York City mayor goes down

Bye bye, Eric Adams? The unpopular mayor has become the first in NYC’s history to face criminal charges while in office. The charges: bribery, wire fraud, conspiracy, and solicitation of campaign donations from foreign nationals. They date back at least a decade.

The benefits included luxury travel — free and discounted Turkish Airlines tickets and free meals and hotel rooms — from wealthy foreigners and at least one Turkish government official, prosecutors said.

The estimated value of such gifts is more than $100,000.

What’s the big deal? The federal attorneys say there was a long-term, ongoing plan to compromise Adams: “This was a multiyear scheme to buy favour with a single New York City politician on the rise: Eric Adams.” Also: Adams’ indictment comes on the heels of the arrest of Linda Sun—who is accused of being a Chinese agent. She was deputy chief of staff to New York Governor Kathy Hochul.

What’s next: Adams is refusing to step down—and is claiming a conspiracy to take him out. But he has zero support from fellow Democrats—which means his exit is imminent. The somewhat good news for Dems: It is unlikely to impact the presidential election this November. (New York Times and CNN)

Jhumpa Lahiri says no to ‘Palestine phobia’

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author has turned down the 2024 Isamu Noguchi Award—presented by the Noguchi Museum in New York City. The reason: the museum’s new policy bans its staff from wearing keffiyehs—the traditional Middle Eastern head scarf associated with Palestine resistance:

Across the world, protesters demanding an end to Israel's war in Gaza have worn the black-and-white keffiyeh head scarf, a symbol of Palestinian self-determination… Israel's supporters, on the other hand, say it signals backing extremism.

Last month, the museum sacked three employees—saying “such expressions can unintentionally alienate segments of our diverse visitorship.” FYI: Lahiri was one of thousands of professors who had signed the letter of solidarity during the campus protests in May. Vox has a good explainer on how the scarf became a symbol of Palestinian solidarity. (New York Times)

X-Rays and AI can uncover lost details in Renaissance art

A team of art researchers have uncovered hidden details of two Raphael paintings—using AI. These are panels that were part of an altarpiece severely damaged in a 1789 earthquake.

The scientists first used x-rays to scan the art—and then fed the data to an AI model—which mimics how a human brain functions. Now here’s the cool bit: The ‘neural network’ was able to detect and identify all the chemicals used—and this: “spot work done to fix up the Raphaels later in time, as well as original motifs that didn’t make it into the final cut.” Why this is great news: AI can be as good as a human expert—but work at a much faster pace.

Gizmodo has the nerdy details. You can see a bit of their reconstructive work on ‘Virgin Mary’—who bears an eerie resemblance to the Nun (sorry, we couldn’t resist).

what caught our eye

business & tech

Times of India has a must-read on how rich Indians are buying up properties overseas in their kids’ names via the RBI’s Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS). See: Big Story for more context on the new wave of Indian migration.
Nita and Akash Ambani have joined the board of Viacom18, ahead of its merger with Disney in India.
Twitter/X has released its first transparency report under Elon Musk’s ownership. The key stat: the company suspended 5.3 million accounts since his takeover.
Move over Murati, no sign of Suzuki—OpenAI’s CTO has left the building amid a wave of executive departures, as Sam Altman plans to turn his startup into a for-profit firm.

sports & entertainment

The Guardian has a must-read on how North Korea has nurtured football’s newest golden generation, as their under-20 women’s team won their age group World Cup.
New Lines Magazine has a good read on the continued dominance of masculinity in Indian cricket, despite the growing popularity of the women’s game.
Bangladesh’s talisman Shakib al Hasan has announced his retirement from T20Is and said that the upcoming Test match against India in Kanpur could be his last.
India’s National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) has served a whereabouts failure notice to Vinesh Phogat—who retired from wrestling after her Paris Olympics disqualification and has since joined politics.
‘The Death of Beerbiceps’ is upon us—popular podcaster Ranveer Allahbadia’s YouTube channels have been hacked, leading to most of his content being deleted.
The fallout of Diddy’s arrest on sex trafficking and rape charges continues—Netflix has acquired the rights to a docuseries on Diddy produced by… 50 Cent, who has a longstanding rap feud with Diddy.
In light of the controversy surrounding the casting of Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi in Emerald Fennell’s adaptation of ‘Wuthering Heights’, BBC News has an interesting piece on Hollywood’s ‘worst casting decisions’.

as for the rest

‘Hindus, go back!’—is one among several anti-Hindu messages sprayed on a mandir in California’s capital Sacramento.
The Indian government has extended the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) in parts of Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland for six more months, with effect from October 1. Check out our Big Story for more on AFSPA.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut has been handed a 15-day jail sentence—and has been granted bail—in a defamation case filed by BJP leader Kirti Somaiya’s wife.
Two former editors of the now defunct Hong Kong-based Stand News have been sentenced to 21 months in prison for publishing “seditious” articles.
Another day, another round of US military aid to Ukraine—in this case, $8 billion worth.
The Taliban said it’s absurd to accuse them of gender discrimination, as four countries prepare to start legal proceedings against them for violating a UN convention on women.
Karnataka’s government has decided to withdraw general consent given to the CBI to investigate cases in the state.

Five things to see

One: Inspired by Moo Deng’s runaway celebrity, zoos around the world are sharing clips of their babies. Say hello to the first ever aardvark calf born at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in the US! FYI: while the baby hasn’t been named, her mummy is called Padmae. Yes, Star Wars geeks are everywhere. (NBC News)

Two: Dearest gentle readers, an unofficial Bridgerton-themed ball in Detroit turned out to be a massive sh*tshow—drawing comparisons to the infamous Fyre Fest—and earning the name ‘Scamerton’. The event promised classical music, good food, a play, and a cash prize for the “diamond” of the season. What they got: undercooked food, cheap decorations, a single violinist, and a pole dance! You can admire this touch of Regency era authenticity below. (USA Today)

Three: Rejoice, Formula 1 fans! You can pay $136,448 for an F1 simulator—brought to you by the Red Bull team. It looks exactly like the 2023 car that won 21 of the 22 races that year—except it doesn’t move an inch. So it’s a lot of money to go absolutely nowhere. But hey, it comes with a monitor, a steering wheel, pedals, and a gaming PC to boot. (The Verge)

Four: Mark Zuckerberg unveiled a bunch of high-tech wearables at the company’s developer conference. First up: a pair of “full holographic AR glasses” called Orion. It can track hand and eye movements—and has a neural interface. And it can do cool things like spit out a recipe based on your ingredients—when you look in the fridge. But don’t get too excited—it doesn’t ship until 2027. Watch the demo vid below. TechCrunch has a list of all the new launches.

Five: We leave you with this gorgeous image of a biofluorescent frog—sitting atop a bioluminescent mushroom. Taken by Toby Schrapel on a plantation in Tasmania, it is poetically titled ‘When the night unfurls its splendour’—which we lurve! You can see more of his work here. PetaPixel has more details and photos of the other winners in the competition.

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