Yer canceled: Is the White House targeting Indian students?

Written by: Aarthi Ramnath, Raghav Bikhchandani & Yash Budhwar

Yer canceled: Is the White House targeting Indian students?

JD Vance arrives in India today—likely to a far warmer welcome than he received in Greenland. Not feeling so warm towards the White House: Indian parents—whose kids have become collateral damage in its wrecking ball approach to college education. A new survey by the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) has revealed that Indians received 50% of the 4,000 student visa cancellation notices sent out in the past two months. China—supposedly the great foe of America—is a distant second at 14%.

One possible reason: There are just way more Indian students—who are the biggest slice of the international enrollment pie. As of 2024, 330,000 Indians accounted for 29% of the total international student population of 1.12 million. But still… 50%?

Another possible reason: The Department of Homeland Security is sweeping up all foreign students whose names feature in any police database. So you could lose your visa for random reasons:

[M]any of those whose visa has been revoked had been in police reports for minor traffic violations or campus infractions, while in an extreme case, a student who was a victim of domestic abuse had their visa cancelled because their name appeared in the police complaint.

Only 2 of the 327 responses to the AILA survey had anything to do with political activity—which seems about right. Good Indian parents do not encourage their spawn to engage in any kind of activism.

Who’s the real target? The crackdown may not be aimed at foreign students—or even pro-Palestine activism. The real target are US colleges and universities themselves—who rely heavily on international students for revenue. The White House has a big plan to remake US college education—which is seen as a bastion for dirty liberals.

But, but, but: This political vendetta is likely to boomerang on Americans. International students pumped nearly $44 billion into the US economy and generated 378,000 jobs last year. They also subsidize the higher education of Americans:

Dr. Khanna’s research found schools that could attract students from abroad were often able to avoid raising in-state tuition for domestic students and major research and instructional cuts. “To keep doors open for local students, you need to let in more international students,” he said.

It also discourages the best talent from applying to US graduate or research programs. FYI: The Aix-Marseille University in France has received 300 applications from US researchers for its Safe Place For Science program—which offers “a safe and stimulating environment for scientists wishing to pursue their research in complete freedom.”

Reading list: The Hindu has the reporting on the visa cancellations. Hindustan Times has the data on international students from India. For more on the potential impact of a decline in international admissions on US colleges, check out New York Times (login required).

Meanwhile, in Washington: The US Supreme Court finally leaped into action and issued an urgent, one-paragraph order blocking the Trump administration’s out-of-control deportations. The White House is using an eighteenth century-era wartime law—the Alien Enemies Act of 1788—to deport a group of Venezuelan migrants—by pretending they are gang members. What’s notable is not just the speed of the order but also its brevity: “The Government is directed not to remove any member of the putative class of detainees from the United States until further order of this Court.” (New York Times)

Say hello to Vaibhav Suryavanshi: Child star of the IPL

Over the weekend, the Rajasthan Royals broke an IPL record when they sent out Vaibhav Suryavanshi to open the batting against the Lucknow Super Giants. At 14 years and 23 days, Suryavanshi is now the youngest ever IPL player. In keeping with this historic and dramatic debut, he hit his first ball for six.

Cue media hype about the ‘magic’ of IPL and puff pieces on a schoolkid’s preseason preparation.

First, meet Vaibhav Suryavanshi: The kid from Samastipur district has been representing Bihar in domestic tournaments since January 2024. While his performance at home hasn’t been anything special, he scored a century off just 58 balls for India’s Under-19 team last year—which attracted the attention of IPL franchise owners. The bidding war for Suryavanshi at the November mega auction ended with the Rajasthan Royals bagging him for Rs 1.1 crore ($130,500).

The underage elephant in the room: Cricket is the only team sport that does not place any restrictions on minors playing for adult teams. Since 2005, the NBA has banned franchises from drafting high schoolers. While minors are allowed to play senior-level football on paper, FIFA doesn’t allow clubs to transfer them to overseas teams—unless one parent also goes with them. Several Olympic sports also have minimum age requirements—and there’s a universal mandate requiring chaperones for all under-16 athletes. Reminder: Figure skating raised the age requirement to 17 in 2022—to protect teenage bodies from being driven too hard by coaches.

Point to note: The other problem is a video interview with Suryavanshi that reveals he was already going to turn fourteen in September 2023—which makes him way closer to 16 right now. Cricket may be the only sport where athletes pretend to be younger to play in adult teams—as it is likely to increase the hype. In other parts of the world, ages are fudged upwards to avoid disqualification. BBC News has the story on Suryavanshi’s debut.

Climate change is making your rice toxic

A first-of-its-kind study shows that rises in temperature and carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the atmosphere will increase arsenic levels in rice. Now, all rice already contains naturally occurring arsenic—found in rocks and soils. The reason: rice cultivation uses a lot of water:

[F]armers germinate the seeds, and when the seedlings are ready, plant them in wet soil. They then flood their fields, which suppresses weeds, but allows the rice to flourish. Rice readily absorbs the water and everything in it—including arsenic, either naturally occurring or not. Most of the world’s rice is grown this way.

But climate change is dangerously increasing these natural levels of arsenic.

The reason: The flooded fields are a problem for bacteria in the sodden soil—which turn to arsenic as a substitute for oxygen. That process also makes it easier for rice to absorb arsenic through their root systems. Climate change is making this bacteria “more active” and prolific:

This bacteria in the soil is getting more carbon. It's getting warmer. And it's being more active," [co-author Lewis] Ziska says. "It really is a synergistic effect. You're making the little bacteria happier with warm, warmer temperatures, but you're also giving them more carbon, and they just go crazy.

Researchers detected this effect in about 90% of the 28 different types of rice they grew over their 10-year study.

Why this is really scary: The levels of inorganic arsenic—byproduct of mining, coal burning etc—in the soil is rapidly increasing—especially in South and Southeast Asia—where people also eat a lot of rice. Add pollution to global warming… (BBC News)

Ferries that cut commutes and pollution—and fly

Say hello to the world's fastest and longest-range electric ferry—the Candela P-12 aka Nova. This Stockholm ferry can do 40 nautical miles at 30 mph. The really cool bit: It can “fly”:

The ship rises above the waves on a set of underwater wings known as hydrofoils. The wings cut through the water with very little resistance, allowing this electric ship to travel faster than the diesel ferries that ply Stockholm’s waterways while using much less energy and creating 98% fewer carbon emissions.

You can see how it works below:

Coming soon: The e-ferry may soon become part of waterfronts around the world—including Lake Tahoe, New York and even Mumbai. Also coming soon: The world’s biggest electric ferry that will carry up to 2,100 passengers and 225 cars between Argentina and Uruguay. A distance of 55 kilometres—shown on the map below. ABC News has more on that e-ferry. (Washington Post, paywalled)

what caught our eye

business & tech

Gizmodo reports on the vehicle supply shortage due to Trump’s tariffs and the boycott of Tesla.
Another lay-off season: Google is planning to fire employees in advertising, sales and marketing roles in Hyderabad and Bangalore.
Forbes profiles 30-year-old Lucy Guo—co founder of Scale AI—who has dethroned 35-year-old Taylor Swift as the world’s youngest self-made woman billionaire.

sports & entertainment

A bitter management shake-up and angry public outbursts—Hollywood Reporter has a must-read on WTF is happening with the once-mighty Justin Bieber.
In this weekend’s edition of regional cricket politicking, the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) has ordered the removal of former India captain—and HCA president—Mohammed Azharuddin’s name from a stand at the city’s premier stadium.
The MI midseason revival is slowly gaining steam—Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav’s demolition job over a hapless CSK marked their third consecutive win.
Oscar Piastri snatched the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix win amid penalty drama, vaulting to the top of the F1 standings.

health & environment

India’s bringing in eight more cheetahs from Botswana—four by May—as Project Cheetah expands beyond Kuno to Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary.
Good news for conservation: A survey has found that endangered sea turtle populations show signs of recovery in more than half the world!
We know humans choose their mates through smell. A new study has found that women rely partly on smell when choosing friends too.
Scientists have found that lichens—a type of symbiont ie 90% fungus and 10% algae or cyanobacteria—could survive on Mars. Ars Technica has more on this nerdy study.
Ghost forests in North Carolina are growing as sea levels rise—but that may not be an entirely bad thing.

meanwhile, in the world

It’s happened again! Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared top-secret Yemen war plans in a Signal chat with his wife, brother, and lawyer—on his personal phone, no less.
Pope Francis was a no-show at the Vatican’s official meeting with Veep JD Vance—instead, he sent his deputy Cardinal Pietro Parolin to deliver a lecture on compassion.
US Congress is investigating 23andMe’s handling of personal data—in light of the genomics company’s bankruptcy.
Another day, another anti-Trump mass protest—this time, thousands took to the streets across major US cities, raging against his trampling of civil liberties and the rule of law.
In typical fashion, an Israeli military probe blamed "professional failures" for the killing of the 15 paramedics in Gaza in March—defending the soldiers' actions as mistakes, not ethical lapses.
Ukraine accused Russia of breaking its own Easter ceasefire, with artillery fire and drone attacks heating up the frontlines. Russia, again very expectedly, blamed Ukraine instead.
Washington DC and Tehran are actively holding talks over the latter’s advancing nuclear program, with both sides referring to Saturday’s meeting in Rome as productive.
China's hydrogen bomb test unleashed a fireball 15 times longer than TNT's, powered by magnesium hydride for that extra thermal punch.

meanwhile, in India

With the India-US trade deal on the line, New Delhi’s saying no to American dairy unless their cows are fed vegetarian feed—though it’s open to cutting tariffs on nuts and fruits.
US veep JD Vance is making a four-day trip to India with his family, landing in Delhi today, for meetings with PM Modi and visits to Agra and Jaipur as well.
Vir Sanghvi in The Print expresses sympathy for former spy AS Dulat—whose new book on his friendship with Farooq Abdullah has caused controversy over claims that Farooq knew in advance about, and supported, the abrogation of Article 370.
The Hindu (login required) has an investigative report on how a Jaipur-based NGO operated as a front for human trafficking—having ‘sold’ over 1,500 women from vulnerable backgrounds into marriages.

Three things to see

One: A local gurdwara in Vancouver has been spray-painted with offensive graffiti—saying ‘Khalistan zindabad!’, ‘F*** India’ and ‘Kill Modi’. The gurdwara’s management has blamed it on “an ongoing campaign by extremist forces that seek to instill fear and division within the Canadian Sikh community.” The timing is also suspect: The Canadian elections are just a week away. (Hindustan Times)

Two: The Yizhuang half-marathon in Beijing welcomed a special group of runners—21 humanoid robots. The winning robot was Tiangong Ultra—which clocked a time of 2 hours and 40 minutes. Don’t worry, it was way slower than the human winner. So we may not need to worry about an AI invasion of marathons… just yet. Below is the clip showing Tiangong Ultra’s win. (Reuters)

Three: US scientists have discovered a new colour! The blue-green hue is called “olo”—but can be seen by humans only by manipulating a specific group of cones in our retinas. Explained at great length by Gizmodo.