A new piece of tech allows its user to 're-cast' everything from a subject's mind to a screen: fears, secrets, memories, and lived experiences are captured to the last detail.

Masterworks is a blockchain platform where classical and popular art pieces are acquired, then broken down into several pieces called 'tokens'. These tokens are then bought and sold by anyone with an account on the platform, much like shares on the stock market. Token holders gain money if the art piece appreciates in value, and earn dividend income when they are put up on exhibitions, shows, galleries etc. Person X is a budding artist from a marginalized community with a growing fanbase, whose art has undertones of lived experiences. X has received an offer to list their art pieces on Masterworks at a very attractive valuation.

New Zealand has announced it will outlaw smoking for the next generation so that those who are aged 14 and under today will never be legally able to buy tobacco. New legislation means the legal smoking age will increase every year, to create a smoke-free generation of New Zealand. The government announced other measures alongside to make smoking unaffordable and inaccessible to try to reach its goal of making the country entirely smoke-free within the next few years. Other measures include reducing the legal amount of nicotine in tobacco products and cutting down the number of shops that have licenses (~ 480 to 50 shops). Opposition, while agreeing with the harms of smoking, have criticised the legal move.

The Biden campaign on student debt forgiveness proposed two things:
a) Forgiving $10,000 in federal student-loan
b) Forgiving debt of people who attended public colleges or minority-serving nonprofit colleges..

Kazakhstan saw violent protests over the rise of energy prices recently. They were mainly focused in a volatile region, that both US and Russia are fighting for. They also symbolize discontent with Kazakhstan's authoritarian government.

Plant-based meat has recently been on the rise, often advertised viscerally to advertise authenticity in taste. For example, "meat that bleeds". These alternatives, while vegan, are advertised in depiction as the same as real meat.

An algorithm widely used by US hospitals and insurers to allocate health care to patients has been systematically discriminating against black people. A study concluded (and proved) that the algorithm was less likely to refer black people than white people who were equally sick to programmes that aim to improve care for patients with complex medical needs. This is reflective of larger trends in healthcare and AI.

Various actions have been taken by the global community in response to the horrifying Russian invasion of Ukraine. These include barring trade with Russia in commodities such as oil, arrests warrants against leaders, funding Ukraine's war efforts, freezing and currency reserves, pressurising countries to break away from Russia and condemn it among other measures.
India is one of the biggest economies ailing from after effects of covid and war. India is a net oil importer and witnessing rising inflation levels and unprecedented reduction in purchasing power.
Russia has reached out to India, with discounted oil prices considering the lack of buyers of Russian oil.

Congress Working Committee is a 15 member executive panel of the INC and in a way, the de facto governing body of the party. It is currently headed by Sonia Gandhi, who had been the President of the committee since 1998 (with the exception of Rahul Gandhi serving as the President from 2017-2019).

Model A: A voluntary organ donation program, where citizens can enroll by filling out a volunteer form. Usually sees organ donation from 25% population.
Model B: A mandatory organ donation program, where every healthy citizen is signed up automatically once they are 18. No one is exempted except in special circumstances (such as unusable organs, previous ailment etc.)

The D10 is a concept founded by US Dept. policy planners in 2006, that comprised the G7 + EU, South Korea and Australia. Recently, it has been revived by the British government to comprise the G7 + South Korea, Australia and India. The aim of Britain's proposed D10 is to counterbalance China. Eg: Chinese growing 5G networks, disregard for IPR, etc.

Competitive Federalism aims to encourage healthy competition among states through transparent rankings, in various sectors. NITI Aayog will develop a state competitiveness index that will rank states on their overall resourcefulness in attracting investments. The idea is to pit states against one another in becoming more competitive, which could accelerate economic growth and investment activity to help India achieve $5 trillion economy goal.

Japan’s school system appears to prioritise producing good citizens. Moral education is being taught on a par with subjects such as Japanese or mathematics, through honing skills like diligence, endurance and generally working hard. This is a system that occurs till middle school.

Delimitation is the process of redrawing boundaries of Lok Sabha to map constituencies on which elections can be conducted. The Delimitation Commission uses projected population figures as a basis to redraw constituencies every 30 years, due in 2026. A move like this would favor states with a high population growth rate (like UP) by giving them a higher number of Lok Sabha seats, as opposed to states that have implemented family planning policies, e.g. Tamil Nadu

"Cookie fine" is a fine imposed by the government on companies which collect data from users to show targeted ads. The fine is based on factors like the volume of data stored, sensitivity of data, how long the data has been stored for etc.

You're a married individual X living a relatively happy life with your decade-long spouse and kids.
Recently, a technology has been rolled out which gives you the name of your soulmate with 100% accuracy if you enroll in the program. Your soulmate doesn't necessarily have to be in your proximity with respect to space or time.