June 3, 2023

Good morning. Every Saturday, we publish the results of polls from feature stories that were published the past week. We also give a brief overview of the topics that were discussed.

🗳️ POLL RESULTS – Week 127

🗓️ THE WEEK THAT WAS

Is Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) crumbling?

Daily | 29 May 2023

Pakistan’s former Prime Minister, Imran Khan, was arrested. This set off national alarm bells, with incidents of violence catapulting the country into a national crisis. While he’s got some relief from the Supreme Court, what comes next? Khan surely isn’t going down without a fight. Others say there’s no hope for his political future or the future of his Tehreek-e-Insaf party, which hangs in the balance. Read more on this here.

Should the Sengol be placed in the new Parliament of India?

Daily | 30 May 2023

One flashpoint between the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Centre and the Congress party is the use of Sengol in the Parliament’s inauguration, among other religious rituals. While the Centre claims it represented the transfer of power from the British to Indians in 1947, the Congress disagrees. So do a lot of media publications, like The Hindu and The News Minute. We discuss it here.

Does banning short-haul flights help tackle climate change?

Daily | 31 May 2023

Travel means hopping on a flight – particularly for holidays and business. It makes up a good chunk of people’s carbon footprint. There might be a way to reduce this if the aviation sector is ready to weather the storm and people tweak their travelling habits. Countries like France have pioneered a solution by banning short-haul flights. However, is this a feasible long-term solution or a grossly unscientific one? We unpack this here.

Do plants feel pain?

Daily | 1 June 2023

The idea of plants feeling pain is almost always used to dissuade kids from picking flowers. It’s also frequently used as a counterargument by meat-eaters against vegans in a debate about which diet causes suffering and which doesn’t. It looks like a recent study has the power to neutralise this debate once and for all. It argues that plants scream in pain when cut, plucked, or dehydrated. Find the debate here.

How effective is India’s organ transplantation system?

Daily | 2 June 2023

It’s easy to see just how vital organ transplantation is. Apart from the obvious medical aspects, organ donation is a complex system to regulate. In India, the record is mixed. While there are policies in place that have increased awareness of organ donation and helped the cause, they’ve been skewed to those who have access and can afford them. More on this story here.