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Good evening, I don’t want to start this edition on a somewhat dystopian note, but I couldn’t resist when I first came across this fascinating story about a North Korean smartphone. It’s not as feature-rich as, say, a Samsung or an iPhone, but it has something unique about it. I’ll spare the usual review-speak, such as “form factor” and the like; however, in a country where both information and access to it are tightly controlled, with propaganda at its heart, this smartphone speaks for itself. Last week, the BBC reported on the smartphone smuggled out of North Korea in 2024. The curious (or the Orwellian) bit, if you like, is its autocorrect feature, which doesn't hesitate. If someone types the South Korean word “oppa,” which means “elder brother,” the software autocorrects it to “comrade.” Ditto for South Korea itself, which throws up a translated version of “puppet state.” The smartphone runs on a modified version of Android that only allows users to connect to a local, North Korean intranet called Kwangmyong, which hosts information approved by the Kim Jong Un-led regime. On that note, let’s dive in 👇🏽
📝 The Debrief
The US trains its guns on Gautam Adani’s empire, again
Nearly eight months after the Justice Department indicted him and his associates with alleged bribery and fraud, Gautam Adani finds himself in the crosshairs of US prosecutors once more. On Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Adani and his companies are facing an investigation “into whether his companies are buying Iranian petrochemical products.” The US Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn, New York, the report added, is digging into his companies’ importing liquified petroleum gas (LPG) from Iran into India “through the company’s Mundra port,” despite US sanctions on Iran. The company, in a statement, denied “any deliberate engagement in sanctions evasion or trade involving Iranian-origin LPG,” adding that it “was not aware of any investigation by US authorities on this subject.” Warning shot: Last month, he trained his guns on those purchasing petrochemical products from Iran, threatening secondary sanctions if they did not stop immediately. On Truth Social, he wrote, “Any Country or person who buys ANY AMOUNT of OIL or PETROCHEMICALS from Iran will be subject to, immediately, Secondary Sanctions. They will not be allowed to do business with the United States of America in any way, shape, or form.” The move was primarily directed at China, which imports over 1 million barrels of oil per day, and is akin to his threat to impose secondary tariffs on countries buying oil from Venezuela. The investigation: The probe, the WSJ added, zeroes in on LPG tankers travelling between Mundra in Gujarat and the Persian Gulf exhibiting traits “common for ships evading sanctions.” It adds, “A common tactic includes manipulating the ship’s automatic identification system or AIS, which shares a ship’s position…” And one such April 2024 journey “was undertaken by a ship that carried an LPG cargo for Adani, the Panamanian-flagged SMS Bros, demonstrates some of the patterns.” Besides SMS Bros, the report cites three other LPG tankers that have made the journey from Mundra to the Persian Gulf, specifically the ports at Khor al Zubair in Basra, Iraq and Sohar in Oman. Timing: The investigation could potentially pose a setback to Adani, who hoped to benefit from the Trump administration’s lenient approach to certain white-collar crimes, including those related to foreign bribery, public corruption, money laundering, and crypto markets. This move followed Trump’s signing of an executive order directing the Justice Department to stop prosecuting Americans accused of bribing foreign officials to secure overseas business deals. Subsequently, Trump’s Attorney General Pam Bondi has instructed US prosecutors to focus their “anti-money-laundering” and “sanctions-evasion” efforts on drug cartels and international crime organisations.
✍️ From our newsroom
Ee Saala, finally? In less than an hour, the IPL final between the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and the Punjab Kings will commence. In focus (as always) is RCB’s talisman, Virat Kohli, whose relationship with the IPL has always been part romance, part reckoning—an unending saga of brilliance, heartbreak, and a near-mythical wait. In a candid chat with RCB’s women’s team a couple of years ago, Kohli reflected, “I was caught up with ‘me me me’... I forgot how to play the game.” The fire remains, the fist pumps, the stare-downs, but there’s also perspective. “If we don’t win, I’m not going to my grave thinking only if I had won the IPL…” This season, under RCB skipper Rajat Patidar and coach Andy Flower, Kohli has had the freedom to play his game while others have taken risks. He’s mellowed in some ways, sharp as ever in others. The final against Shreyas Iyer’s Punjab Kings, also chasing an 18-year dream, offers Kohli a chance to script the ending he’s long awaited. Whether it’s fate or just another chapter, we’ll soon find out.
🔎 Need to know
Coming soon: US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that India and the United States could sign an interim trade agreement in “not too distant future.” Lutnick’s comments follow Donald Trump’s comments on Friday that the US was “very close” to making a deal with India.
Nabbed: A resident of Punjab’s Tarn Taran district was arrested for allegedly sharing sensitive information with Pakistani intelligence operatives during Operation Sindoor. Gagandeep Singh, a resident of Mohalla Rodupur, allegedly shared information “concerning army movements” with Pakistan-based Khalistani supporter Gopal Singh Chawla. Unwanted record: In one of the largest gold heists in India, gold worth over Rs 52 crore was stolen from a Canara Bank branch in Karnataka’s Vijayapura. The incident occurred at the Managuli branch during a weekend last month, with thieves absconding with over 51 kgs of gold ornaments. The police have yet to make arrests in the case.
🎙️Expresso Playlist!
In today’s Playlist, I recommend an excellent episode from our in-house podcast, Our Own Devices, where host Nandagopal Rajan speaks to Meta India head Sandhya Devanathan about the company’s expansive AI play and how India fits into it. It's well worth your time.
That’s all from me today. Thank you so much for reading this edition. If you enjoy the Evening Expresso, tell your friends to subscribe to the newsletter. You can do so by signing up for the Morning Expresso. Additionally, you can reach me via email for tips, feedback, or simply to say hello! 😀 Until tomorrow, Venkat Ananth |
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