Researched by: Rachel John, Aarthi Ramnath, Anannya Parekh & Aakriti Anand
Say hello to headlines in five
Have you checked out our excellent daily news wrap ‘What the F*** Happened Here?’. It tells you what happened during the day—in around 5 minutes. As always, we are here to make it easier to know what’s up—without noise, negativity or that existential feeling of despair. The Wednesday pm edition is below. Follow us on YouTube to get your daily dose.
PS: We also did a video explainer on why OTT platforms are heavily censoring series and movies—even removing them entirely:
War on Gaza: The latest update
Rafah is happening: Despite repeated warnings from human rights groups, the UN and its allies, Israel will invade the last remaining refuge of Gazans—likely this week. Tel Aviv claims it has plans to relocate civilians—to the coast which is already overflowing with refugees and has no available space. We have no words. (New York Times)
A new hostage video: Hamas released a video of a young man—who fought bravely to save others during the October 7 attacks. He has clearly been seriously injured—and has lost an arm. Families of hostages once again called on the government to negotiate with Hamas. The government instead vowed to flatten Gaza to retrieve the hostages. (CBS News)
Elections 2024: The latest update
A primetime analysis: The News Minute looked at 429 segments on primetime shows hosted by six anchors on six channels—between February 1 and April 12. The results were unsurprising: 52% focused on negative coverage of the Opposition—and 27% praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government. Only 1.4% raised questions about issues such as jobs and inflation. FYI: According to the latest V-Dem report, we are ranked at #161 on the press freedom index. The News Minute piece has way more details.
Vote Vimanam: Thousands of Malayalis working in the Gulf are jumping on a special flight to cast their vote. The Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre has organised a special chartered flight called ‘Vote Vimanam’ to ship them home—as have other organisations such as the Overseas Indian Cultural Congress. Indian Express and Al Jazeera have loads more on the enthusiasm of Indian workers in the Gulf.
State Department calls out human rights in India
Since 1977, the US State Department has released an annual human rights report card for nearly 200 countries. It recently released the 2023 edition—which flagged “significant human rights abuses” in India. The language is surprisingly strong—given the White House is doing its best to keep New Delhi happy. For example:
The report… highlighted that “the outbreak of ethnic conflict between the Kuki and Meitei ethnic groups” resulted in “significant human rights abuses”. It also noted that “the government took minimal credible steps or action to identify and punish officials who may have committed human rights abuses.”
But, but, but: When asked about the report, a State Department official played it down: “What I will say is the U.S. and India regularly consult at the highest levels on democracy and human rights issues.” Point to note: The State Department has also called out a host of abuses in Gaza and the West Bank. It won’t have much effect on White House policy either. All of which suggests, the report is more about virtue-signalling. (The Hindu)
A sex abuse scandal in Bharatanatyam
Chennai police have arrested the well-known Bharatanatyam dancer and choreographer Sheejith Krishna. He has been accused by two former students of sexual assault—which included “non-consensual kissing and touching”—and also at least one allegation of rape. One of the women was 15 years old at the time. Point to note: The abuse occurred during his tenure at the Kalakshetra—which was rocked by a sexual harassment scandal last year. The institution was accused of covering up multiple allegations against at least four teachers. We covered it in this Big Story. (Indian Express)
Cricket’s got a cool ambassador
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has named the legendary runner Usain Bolt as the ambassador of the upcoming T20 World Cup. The tournament will be co-hosted by the US and the West Indies. Bolt said he was thrilled to be chosen: “Coming from the Caribbean where cricket is a part of life, the sport has always held a special place in my heart.” FYI: Bolt played a lot of cricket as a kid—and was an all-rounder. True story: Bolt smashed a six off Chris Gayle at a charity match—and then got run out. Oh, the irony! Watch him at the match below. (The Hindu)
Is Apple Vision Pro a dud?
Apple’s Vision Pro is in danger of bombing, much like those ghastly Google Glasses. The company is already cutting back shipments due to low demand. After a lot of launch hype in February, many of the early users didn’t keep the product beyond the return period. And it’s getting hard to find new buyers. Apple now expects to only sell around 400,000 devices—compared to the projected 800,000.
What went wrong: One reason may be the $3,500 price tag. You expect a lot if you’re going to pay that kind of money. Turns out the Vision Pro was just horribly uncomfortable to wear—and not suited for daily use. It’s a big blow to the virtual reality market—which has not hit the big time, despite all those rosy pundit predictions. It’s an even bigger blow to Apple—which is struggling with falling iPhone sales. Good thing price-conscious Indians have fallen in love with those pricey Apple Stores. They are doing booming business in Mumbai and Delhi.
Meanwhile, over at Tesla: The car company is doing waaay worse. Its profits fell by a staggering 55%—according to the latest numbers released today. Revenue dipped to $21.3 billion—and profits to $1.1 billion. And that’s because sales of Tesla EVs have dipped by 8.5%. This explains why the company sacked nearly 5,000 workers last week. It’s also why it cut prices at the same time. But Tesla is struggling to attract new buyers even at the low price.
Experts say Tesla survived on its rep as a cool brand—and Elon Musk’s promise to launch a self-driving car. Instead, the promised car never arrived—and both Musk and Tesla stopped being cool.
“Tesla lived on the coolness of its car, the idea that the company was about to launch autonomous vehicles and investor confidence in Mr. Musk’s ability to do nearly impossible things,” Erik Gordon, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, said in an email. “Now its cars are old, the fleet of Robotaxis promised five years ago hasn’t arrived, and confidence in Mr. Musk is battered by disappointments and behavior that mystifies investors.”
All of which explains why Musk is planning to come to India—a country where rich folks can’t find enough reasons to burn their money. iPhones, Teslas—Indians are keeping the world’s tech bros afloat! (New York Times)
Meanwhile, over at X: The company unveiled the X TV App for smart televisions—which looks a lot like YouTube. Basically, you can upload and watch vids—but without those annoying ads. FYI: Trump’s Truth Social is also gearing up to launch a streaming app. You can watch a teaser for X TV below. Don’t miss the thumbnail for Tucker Carlson’s interview with Vladimir Putin, and footage of a SpaceX rocket lifting off. (Techcrunch)
Big Tech gets serious about kid safety
OpenAI, Meta and Google have signed on to a new set of guidelines to protect children from AI. The big worry is that the technology will soon be used to churn out fake sexual content with images of children. The companies want to stop the flood before it starts. For starters, all training material for the machines will be scrubbed of such content. That’s a bigger problem than it sounds. Back in December, a Stanford researcher showed that a popular database used to turn text into images included hundreds of sexual images of children.
But, but, but: The hope is that if the machine doesn’t learn to churn out this content, it simply won’t. But that’s not true. AI models can still combine parts of different images to create a new image—even when its training materials don't include them. It's the same ability that allows it to create that cool image of a panda on a surfboard. There’s a lot that still needs to be done to child-proof AI. But it will require more tech development. But new tech tools will need to be stress-tested against material—which is banned by the law.
In any case, it’s one more reason not to post images of kids on our social media. Protecting your kids has whole new meaning, in these dangerous days. (Wall Street Journal, paywall, Engadget)
Indian cinema stages a comeback!
According to a new industry report, 157.4 million Indians went to the movie theatres at least once in 2023. That’s a 29% jump from the previous year—and 8% higher than pre-pandemic numbers. All of which added up to a lot of ka-ching! Box office revenues exceeded Rs 120 billion (12,000 crore) for the first time.In other words, the Indian movie industry has staged a big comeback! Especially Bollywood—which registered the biggest jump. Its audience rose to 92 million—a 58% increase over 2022.
But, but, but: There’s a catch. Even though more people went to the theatres—they made the trip less frequently than before the pandemic. That signals a 20 to 25% dip in ticket buyers overall. Although 1,000-plus films were released in 2023, only the top 10 films accounted for 40% of the total box office.
One reason is the rising price of cinema tickets—accompanied by a boom in streaming. It’s easier to watch a flick at home than shell out for overpriced popcorn at the movies. But if we continue down this path, many Indians will not be able to afford the collective experience of watching a film in a cinema hall. And that’s really sad. (Mint)
A ‘bionic eye’ finds Plato’s grave
It’s taken 2,371 years, but researchers have finally tracked down where Plato was buried in 348 BC. Using advanced scanning techniques of a “bionic eye,” they were able to read a previously illegible 2,000-year-old carbonised scroll—which revealed the location of his grave—“in the garden of his academy in Athens, near to a sacred shrine.” The scroll is part of a text titled ‘The History of the Academy’—written by Philodemus. It details a school set up by Plato in Athens, back in 4 BC.
Why this is notable: Papyrus scrolls that were carbonised by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius (of Pompeii fame) in 79 AD are now readable—thanks to advanced tech. There are many more scrolls to be read and uncovered—which may include lost plays by Sophocles or tracts by Aristotle. (Telegraph UK)
Four things to see
One: Horses ran free through the streets of London on Wednesday morning—frightening pedestrians and endangering cars (and presumably themselves). They belong to the royal regiment—the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment—and got spooked by construction noise while out on their exercises. Mercifully, no serious injuries were reported—to either humans or animals. (BBC News)
Two: A protest at Jantar Mantar was more colourful than usual. Farmers from Tamil Nadu climbed a mobile tower nearby to register their protest. They want higher prices for crops, insurance, pension—and more water. And if their demands are not met, they will run against Prime Minister Modi in his constituency in Varanasi. Honestly, we’d pay to see Tamil farmers trying to get votes from UP bhaiyyas. In any case, all’s well that ends well. The police used a crane to bring down the farmers from their dizzying heights. (The Hindu)
Three: Researchers in Mexico have discovered six full-body fossils of the shark-like predator Ptychodus. The sea creatures lived about 105 to 72 million years ago. You can see the very pretty fossil below. (New Scientist, paywall, Science Alert)
Four: Musician Jean-Michel Jarre took a test drive in a new electric flying car from KleinVision. It has a 1.6 litre BMW engine and goes from sports car to plane in a matter of minutes. Yes, you will need both a driver's and a pilot’s licence to take it for a spin. See the AirCar take a flight below. (Sky News)
